by Shay Emms
A long while passed before Airily could master herself. At last, her tears dried up and with a few shuddering heaves she pulled away from Poppa.
“I’m so sorry,” she said again, hoping he believed her. So often those words meant nothing when coming from her. This time she felt them all the way to her bones.
“Sorry or not, it changes nothing,” Poppa said. He let out an exhausted sigh. “You put us all in jeopardy. Do you understand?”
Airily nodded, unsure she could trust herself not to start bawling again.
“We may have to move. It’s one thing to bind the boy to a promise, it’s another to trust him to keep it.” Poppa shook his head. “I should clip your wings for this.”
“No.” Airily backed away from her father. That was the most humiliating punishment Poppa could dole out. Snipping the tips of her flight feathers would leave her housebound for weeks until they grew back. “Please, Poppa,” she begged. Her mouth snapped shut when he looked her in the eye.
“I would clip them if it didn’t mean you’d miss your meeting with that human.”
Poppa’s rage welled up again and he pursed his lips, jaw clenched. She’d never seen such anger from Poppa, not even when Momma was hit by the truck. Worse yet, deep in Poppa’s eyes, she could see disappointment. She’d broken his trust—broken the trust of all the woodland fae. If Josh used one of his questions to ask her if there were more fairies, would she say yes?
“I understand,” Airily said. All the consequences of what she’d agreed to were unknowable, but she sensed in her gut, they would be big.
“Tomorrow you must tell Fluppence and Witter what you’ve done and why you’re meeting with the boy. You aren’t to leave the house without my permission, and when you have it, you may not go any farther than the yard. Got it?”
“B-but you need my help collecting. I can still get food–”
“No. You heard me. All the house chores are yours until I say otherwise.”
“But, that–”
“Stop it, Airily!” Poppa shouted. He paused and took a deep breath, eyes closing for a second while he collected himself. “Just stop. You’ve done enough damage.”
His words hurt more than any punishments Poppa could heap on her. Her eyes stung with fresh tears. As much as she wanted to blame Poppa, to convince herself he didn’t love her or trust her, she knew this was her fault.
“Now go home.”
Airily left the rooftop and flung herself into the night sky. Poppa’s wings fluttered loudly behind her, making sure she did what she was told.
CHAPTER SIX
A
irily sat in the doorway nest, looking at the sky. The blue faded, at last, replaced by orange and pink. She could make out the distant spot of light from some star, barely visible in the sunset.
Today was the most humiliating day of her life. Poppa had woken her early and gathered the whole family together in the main room. He’d stood behind her while she confessed to Fluppence and Witter all that had happened. He nudged her every time she faltered, and she could sense him glaring at the back of her head the entire time.
When she’d finished, Witter and Fluppence sat in silence for about a second before exploding with feelings. Witter yelled at her worse than Poppa had the night before.
Fluppence teared up, put her head in her heads, and kept repeating, “I don’t want to move.” Poppa banished Airily to her room, and she’d listened to him trying to soothe her
siblings for nearly an hour. Once the uproar died down, Poppa knocked on Airily’s door and told her he was taking Fluppence and Witter collecting at the Carlisle’s.
The Carlisle’s lived two farmhouses beyond the
Leonetti’s, and Airily had never been allowed to go. Now Poppa was taking Fluppence and Witter? It wasn’t fair. How much more could Poppa punish her?
He’d made Airily promise to stay inside and do the housework until her meeting with Josh. Everything in the house gleamed after she had finished dusting and scrubbing. And then she still had most of the day to mope around.
The joke was on Poppa. Flup and Witter didn’t have the stamina to get to the Carlisle’s, let alone fly back with full collecting sacks. It must be why they weren’t home yet.
Airily forced a mean smirk, hoping she’d feel better—but she didn’t. She wished her family was home and wanted to know if her siblings had forgiven her yet, or if they ever would.
The back door of the House banged open and then slammed shut. Airily jumped, hitting her head on the nest's twig and mud ceiling. Below her, Josh ran across the shaggy lawn and climbed the cherry tree. Old branch stumps had been sawn off, making perfect foot and hand holds for
humans. He slipped a couple times but settled on a wide ‘Y’ fork where a sturdy limb jutted from the trunk.
Once, a long time ago, Momma told her cherry trees weren’t usually as stout and thick as this one. Fairy magic, possibly even the presence of the Sparrow family, made their tree so big and strong with an abundant crop year after year.
Airily remained in the nest a few minutes longer,
watching Josh wait for her.
He peered up into the tree’s empty branches. “Airily, I’m here!”
Airily shook her head at his enthusiasm. Josh was getting the better end of the bargain, for sure. Her wings caught the air and she flew to the tree. Josh was too busy craning his neck—
trying to see to the highest branches—to notice her land on a branch next to his perch.
“Josh, down here,” she said.
He startled and lost his balance for a second, arms
swinging to catch the tree trunk and steady himself. Airily stifled a giggle behind her hands.
He spotted her and grinned. “This is the first tree I ever climbed,” he said.
“Really? I’m in trees all the time.”
“It’s easier with wings. You have no idea how much I’d like to fly. What’s it like?”
“Fun. But it’s a lot of work too,” Airily said. “Have you thought of your second question?”
“I have. But before that…here.” Josh dug his hand into the pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a small, folded square of paper. “I made this for you,” he said.
“What is it?” Airily eyed the paper in his enormous hand. It was actually several sheets of paper cut to be about her size and stapled in the middle.
“It’s a book,” Josh said, and his chest swelled. “I made it today. I scanned the first chapter of one of my books and shrank it down on the computer; I printed it out and stapled it. It’s kind of big for you, but any smaller and I don’t think the words would be legible.”
Airily didn’t touch the slender, homemade volume. She was bewildered by his explanation of how he made it. To her, it looked like magic.
“How Televisions Work,” she read slowly. “I always
wondered about that.”
Josh nodded. “I thought maybe you’d like to learn stuff. Mom got mad because I spent all day on the computer, and I was supposed to be unpacking. I was going to do the whole book, but it took a really long time to scan. Maybe I can
figure out a way to loan you more.”
Airily slowly picked up the gift. With a wary eye on Josh, she held her wings ready to fly in case he decided to spring another trap. She opened the pamphlet. The print was small but legible and densely packed. All the pages were blank on one side. Fluppence would be thrilled to have this: a book her size and blank paper to boot! Clean, blank paper was one of the hardest things to get. Fluppence had Airily scavenge used memos, crumpled notes, and even grocery store
receipts out of the neighborhood garbage bins to have something to write on. Josh probably had all the paper he wanted. Maybe she could get something out of this “friendship” after all.
“Josh?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you a few things?” Airily watched him carefully.
“Sure,” he said,
straightening his posture.
“Can you tell me how you caught me?”
A bright smile flashed across his face. “I spent all day
setting that up.” He adjusted his glasses like a TV professor. “The net was just mosquito netting from a camping trip. I threaded fishing line through it and hung it from the pothooks over the island. One end of the fishing line was tied to a remote-control helicopter and the other was left unsecured. So, when I used the helicopter to pull the string, the net fell. I had to do a lot of experimenting to get it to work. I set the toast out for bait. Then I hid in a box with my night vision goggles. Uh…Mom and Dad don’t know about that part.”
“I wasn’t actually looking for toast,” Airily said. She hated to think it, but Josh was awfully clever. “So that part of your trap didn’t work at all.”
Josh shrugged. “I had a whole list of food I was going to try leaving out. I was going to start with the rest of the pizza crusts, but Dad ate them for breakfast.”
“How long were you going to wait?” Airily asked.
“As long as it took. Or, at least, until school started. It’s okay if I get caught out of bed in summer but not during the school year.”
Airily’s brow furrowed. Josh was smart and patient. He was going to be harder to shake than she thought. A heavy gloom settled over her like when her feathers were too wet to fly.
“Now, back to my question,” Josh said.
“What is it?” Airily braced herself. Her hand tightened on the book, crinkling the paper.
“How does magic work?”
She blew out her breath. She could explain what little she understood with some thoughtful editing.
“Alright,” Airily began. She told him about the ancient fae and the power they were said to wield, then about glamour and how her minor magic worked. Josh liked that and called it a natural self-defense mechanism.
“I don’t know a lot,” Airily said after she’d finished her explanation. “Saying it out loud, it doesn’t amount to much.”
“You might call it magic, but I bet there’s a scientific explanation.” He took his glasses off and cleaned the lenses on the corner of his T-shirt. “I wonder if I could come up with an experiment to figure out the forces at work.”
“Experiments aren’t part of our agreement,” she said. It was better if humans remained ignorant of the fae in their midst. They couldn’t be trusted not to hunt them down and lock them up, or to try to take their magic. But answering Josh’s questions brought up dozens more for Airily. She decided to ask Owlby more about magic during her next visit. He knew everything there was to know.
“Could we make another agreement about experiments?”
“No,” Airily crossed her arms. “And I have to go make dinner now.”
“Already? Look, I won’t mention anything else about
experiments, okay?”
“We’ve been talking for a while, and I really do have to go.”
“I guess…”
Josh might not have anything to do but Airily did. She wanted to be home when Poppa and her siblings returned. They might already be waiting for her, but she couldn’t tell Josh that.
Suddenly, a black shape spiraled out of the sky and crashed in the backyard.
“What the heck?” Josh jumped and the branch shook.
Black Burn. Airily’s mouth fell open.
Josh climbed down the tree.
“Stop!” Airily yelled. She had to keep Josh from finding out about the others.
Josh’s feet thumped as he hit the ground, and he raced over to the spot where Burn had crashed.
Airily flew in front of Josh, hovering over the misshapen lump that was Black Burn. She looked gravely ill. The crow’s wings were splayed at wrong angles, her glossy feathers dusty. Her face was pale and sweaty, and her black braids, usually perfect and neat on either side of her head, had come undone.
“No!” Airily shouted. “Go back inside!”
“Whoa,” Josh whispered. He stared at the grass, ignoring Airily’s protests. “Another fairy.”
Airily landed next to Burn’s head. “Burn? Burn? Can you hear me?” She gripped Black Burn’s shoulder and shook her.
“No, stop.” Josh knelt in the grass beside Airily.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Airily said. “You shouldn’t see her.”
“Hang on.” Josh sprang up. “Stay here but don’t move her, okay?” He ran for the back door of the House. “I know first aid,” he called back.
Airily had no idea what Josh was doing. She took Burn’s clammy hand in both of hers. Black Burn was too heavy for Airily to move on her own.
“Burn. What happened?” Airily asked.
She was surprised when Burn stirred and one eye cracked open.
“It’s coming,” Burn said so faintly Airily wasn’t sure she’d heard right.
“What’s coming, Burn?” Airily asked. Burn’s eye shut again and, for a worrisome second, Airily thought Burn might be dead. She checked Burn’s wrist for a pulse. There was a weak, irregular throb in her veins.
She squeezed Burn’s hand. “Hang on.”
If something was coming for the crow, Airily should keep a lookout. She flew up to the roof and gazed over the tall grass. The House’s front yard was shorter, trimmed
occasionally by the real estate company before Josh’s family moved in. But the backyard was an un-mowed meadow with grasses reaching past Josh’s waist. Anything could be hiding there.
She stared until the dry, warm air made her eyes sting. Airily blinked and as her eyes opened, halfway between the House and the woods, the tall green stalks shifted. The weeds swayed and then fell quiet as if whatever was out there knew Airily was watching. The shadows in the grass seemed to thicken, growing darker than they were even at sundown.
Her spine turned into an icicle of fear. The crow was way too big. Where was Josh? They needed to get inside to safety.
Just then, the back door of the House banged open. Josh came rushing out with a cardboard box in his arms. Airily flew back to Burn’s side.
“Can we move her?” Airily asked.
“Just a sec.” Josh crouched next to Black Burn. The box contained a pillowcase, sock, and tape piled on top of a folded towel that neatly cushioned the bottom.
“We have to hurry,” Airily whispered.
“What? Why?”
Airily hovered by Josh’s ear long enough to say, “I think the thing that hurt Burn is in the meadow.”
Josh whipped around and looked out over the backyard. “I don’t see anything.”
“Just hurry,” Airily said.
Josh turned back to Burn. He reached for the unconscious crow.
“What are you doing?” Airily asked. She didn’t think Burn would like to be touched by a human.
“I’m feeling her neck bones to make sure nothing’s broken.” Josh delicately probed Burn’s neck with his fingertips. “I told you, I took first aid last year. If you move someone with a neck injury, you could paralyze them. She seems okay though.”
“Let's go.” Airily checked the meadow for any more
disturbances. She realized the evening was dead silent.
Crickets should have been chirping. Flocks of birds should have been raucously settling down to sleep, singing and
calling to flock members. Instead, the air was heavy with
malice.
“Hurry,” Airily urged him. She wasn’t sure about the killer’s nature, but she couldn’t risk it being scared of a twelve-year-old human.
Josh wrapped the sock around Burn’s neck, then taped it in place.
“What’s that?”
“A neck brace, it’ll hold her head immobile.” Josh put on a few more strips of tape before deciding the sock brace was secure. He pulled out the pillowcase and flattened it beside Burn. “This is for a stretcher,” he explained, even though
Airily hadn’t asked.
With h
is hands held flat, Josh slid them under Burn and carefully set her on the pillowcase. She was still in the same twisted position she’d landed in.
“We have to get inside,” Airily whispered urgently.
“Got it. I’ll put her in the attic,” Josh said. He pulled the pillowcase taut and transferred Burn to the box.
“Can you get her past your parents? You promised not to tell them about fairies.” Airily’s chest tightened with panic.
“Don’t worry. Mom’s setting up her computer, and Dad’s unpacking his books in the study. They won’t even
notice.”
“Good. I’ll meet you up there,” Airily said. There was no choice but to trust he’d keep silent about Burn. Josh lifted the box and carried Airily’s friend inside.
Airily flew up to the nest in the eaves and landed. She looked over the yard one last time. The grass seemed
undisturbed, but that didn’t mean the attacker was gone.
Airily ran into the house calling to see if Poppa was home yet.
The rooms were dark and Airily turned on the lights. At least Poppa wouldn’t come home to a dark house. She was supposed to get supper ready, but Black Burn needed her more. Poppa couldn’t fault her for staying by a friend’s sick bed.
Airily opened the door into the walls. Instead of taking the ladder down, she climbed through a short, wooden walkway that led to the attic hatch. It was so narrow Airily’s wings brushed the wall, gathering plaster flakes as she hurried past.
On its newly greased hinges, the hatch door slid open
silently. Airily spotted Josh bent over the box he had used to carry Burn. Storage bins were piled high all around the
injured crow, hiding her from an intruder’s view. Josh had kept his word, and she was surprised.
Airily stepped onto the wide perch of a window casing and shut the hatch. After landing on a stack next to Josh, she looked down at Burn. Josh dabbed a long cotton swab into a bottle and the tip came out yellow.
“What’s that?” Airily asked.
Josh gasped and jumped, nearly spilling the bottle. “Where did you come from?”