A knock at the door interrupted Keelie’s thoughts.
“Hey, Human. Somebody is at the door. Can you ask them if they have some fertilizer? It will be an improvement over the company in this place.” The goblin tree swatted a branch at Knot as he strolled past on his way to the door.
Knot hissed and smacked the air in front of the pot.
Keelie needed a shovel to bury… no, to replant the tree in some clean, nourishing soil that might help with its attitude. Maybe a personality transplant could be done too.
She opened the door of the RV, blinking in the bright daylight that streamed in. Outside, Lily Limerton was looking up at her. She wore a T-shirt and jeans, and looked like a mundane except for the fake glittery wings still on her back.
“Finch said she needs to see you in her office,” Lily announced.
“When?”
“Like an hour ago,” Lily Limerton said. “I got lost.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thanks. I don’t want to make her mad. She scares me.”
“Me too.” Keelie wondered if she and the fairy girl could become friends. She seemed nice when she wasn’t in character.
Lily pursed her lips and rocked back on her heels. “You know, I shouldn’t ask, but I was wondering, since you and Sean aren’t together right now, if it would be okay if I went out with him?”
Keelie felt as if she’d been knee-punched in the stomach. How had word gotten out so quickly? Forget the part about being friends. “Sean is a big boy,” she managed to say.
“Thanks.” Lily smiled. “Hob said you were scary, but I don’t see it.”
“Hob said that about me?” Maybe she and Finch hadn’t been as discreet about their investigation as they’d thought.
“He doesn’t seem to like you.”
“I don’t know why.” Keelie felt miffed. Hob had certainly pretended to like her.
“See you later,” Lily Limerton waved, spun around, and walked away, almost skipping.
Keelie slammed the door.
“Sounds like Hob and I need to have a drink together,” the goblin tree said.
Tired and mad at the world, Keelie decided she might as well make her way to Finch’s office. She thought she’d take the path by the elven village in hopes of maybe seeing Dad or Sean. Give both of them a piece of her mind.
Crossing the bridge over the stream, Keelie listened for the water sprite, but she wasn’t revealing herself. If she’d had time, she would’ve tried the To See Truly spell. Cricket followed her, munching on bits of trash he found along the way. Knot kept step with her. He’d been by her side almost constantly lately. Good old Knot.
Sticks crackled in the bushes nearby. Keelie’s pulse quickened, but she steadied herself.
Keep calm, she thought.
She felt the Dread when she got within several feet of the path that, hidden among the trees, led to the elven camp. She clasped a polished rose quartz tightly and felt the elves’ strong aversion spell being beaten back by Earth magic. Her anxiety eased.
The bushes rustled again. Keelie’s heart raced with real fear as she searched the darkly shadowed trees for any sign of goblins.
An elf stepped out in front of her. She started to relax until she saw that it was Sean’s father, Niriel.
“Halt! Who goes there?” Niriel raised the sword in his right hand.
He knew who she was. Keelie lifted her hands to show she was unarmed. “It’s me.”
Knot hissed at Niriel.
“Identify yourself. You might be a goblin in disguise,” Niriel commanded.
Keelie sighed. “Keliel Katharine Heartwood, daughter of the Lord of the Dread Forest.” She needed to remember to act like the daughter of the Lord of the Forest when dealing with Niriel and other Council elves. “I was walking past the camp, and I thought I would see if Dad was out of his Council meeting.”
“Keliel, you may be the daughter of our Lord of the Forest, and some of the elves may think you’re special, but to me you’re an abomination, a mutt. Something that should not exist in this world.” Niriel narrowed his eyes. “Why you? Why were you chosen to be blessed with magic? I don’t understand.”
Cricket climbed up Niriel’s leg, chirping in delight at the chain mail leggings, which made an easy climbing wall of metal links.
“Speaking of abomination-this creature needs to be destroyed. The fewer of them, the better.” Niriel pulled Cricket off his leg. The goblin’s little legs scrambled in the air, looking for purchase.
“Hey, let him go.”
Niriel threw Cricket, not even turning to watch where he landed. “Take your goblin and get out of here. Your kind isn’t wanted. The Council has moved to banish you until the end of the faire. If I see you or that creature skulking in this area, then I will have no choice but to turn you in.” He flourished his sword at Keelie. “Or I may mete out your punishment myself.”
Keelie plucked Cricket from the ground and cradled him. “Banished? When did that happen?” She wasn’t upset, since hanging out at the elven village wasn’t among her favorite activities.
“At a recent Council meeting, according to our laws.” Anger simmered underneath Niriel’s cool elven exterior, and she had to admit he was scary.
“Glad to hear you get stuff done at those endless Council meetings.”
“You scoff, Keliel Heartwood, but you will find how serious a matter this truly is. It is good to see your father acting like a true elf.” Niriel peered down his nose at her. “I suggest you follow his example.”
“Come on, Knot. I know where we’re not wanted.”
“Smart move, girl. I never understood what my son saw in you.”
Keelie blinked back tears as she clenched her fists. She wanted to hurl a green energy ball at Niriel, but it would be considered an attack, and Dad would experience the consequences from the Council. She didn’t want him to lose his position because his mutt daughter had lost her temper and used magic against the elves.
She remembered what she’d said in the Redwoods, when confronting Bella Matera, the mother tree of the forest. She wondered if it would confuse Niriel.
“Ever heard of the karma fairy?” Keelie kept her voice calm.
He shuddered and his voice constricted. “Karma fairy?”
“She balances magic and punishes those who do wrong.” Keelie projected her voice like Mom would in the courtroom, making her appear more confident and stronger. Convincing. “If I were you, I’d be careful, because you know I have fae blood-which makes me, as you put it, a mutt. But the karma fairy still sees me as one of her own.”
“Then leave before you befoul me with your evil magic.” Niriel’s nostrils flared and his ear tips turned red as he shoved his sword back into his scabbard. “Be gone and take your creature with you.”
Keelie marched away with Knot following her. She grinned down at the fairy cat.
“Meow not trust him.”
“No kidding.”
As Keelie traveled up the East Road, she stopped in at Mrs. Butters’ and grabbed a turkey-on-whole-wheat sandwich. She just about inhaled it, she was so hungry. Shimmerlight and Lavender Lollipop were back in costume and character. They sat at a corner table along with Thomas the glassblower.
“I think we need to run Vangar out of the faire,” Thomas was saying.
“Hob’s got our back, but Finch doesn’t. How are we going to entertain the people when our jousting arena has been burnt?” Lavender said in a conspiratorial whisper. She caught sight of Keelie and her face flushed bright red.
“Poor Sean is beside himself,” Shimmerlight said in a very loud voice. “Lost his love, and now his jousting ring.”
It was time to leave before they broke out in song.
Keelie paid for her lunch. A lot of the faire folk were disgruntled, and she questioned whether the faire should open at all this weekend. But she also knew things would be worse if they were closed. If people started to put two and two together, they might thi
nk she was a jinx. But it was the goblins, and Peascod, and whoever controlled them who were making the faire a dark place.
She cut by the Muck and Mire Show stage and found herself on King’s Way. It all came down to discovering the truth about Hob, she realized. He seemed to be fanning the embers of discontent among the shopkeepers and performers at the faire. Finch might know what the next step should be.
twelve
Keelie shifted uncomfortably on one of the hard plastic lawn chairs that furnished Finch’s low-key office. Vangar and Finch were watching Sally as she hummed over her tarot cards, supposedly to tap into the energy field around the faire.
When Keelie had burst into the Admin building fifteen minutes earlier, she’d shared with Finch some of the conversations she’d overhead on her way through the faire. It made smoke billow out of the dragon’s ears-she wasn’t happy to learn that a lot of the faire folk were scared and unhappy not only because of the spontaneous nature of the fires, but also because of the way they’d been handled. There was no natural cause of the fires, yet also no arson investigation. The rumors that Vangar was responsible for the Heartwood fire were now circulating widely, and there was talk that the whole faire was cursed. The faire folk didn’t realize how close to the truth this was, Keelie thought grimly. The faire was cursed-with goblins, hiding Under-the-Hill.
As everyone remained hushed to allow Sally to concentrate on the cards, Keelie examined the fantasy-book-cover posters of dragons that decorated the walls. She recognized many of the artists, some of whom had booths and shops at the faire. One picture, of a red dragon with golden scales, looked suspiciously like Ermentrude.
Sally stopped humming and shuffled the cards. “I need a break-too many powerful beings in this room,” she muttered.
“I can’t believe people said those things about me.” Vangar’s bronze eyes glinted with sadness. He tapped his fingers on the edge of his chair, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
Keelie felt sorry for him. Since she’d arrived, she hadn’t heard anyone say anything nice about Vangar, and if he was telling the truth, he’d done nothing to deserve it.
“While Sally ponders the card, what else can you tell me?” Finch glared at Keelie from across her desk. The pad in front of her was full of names.
“That’s it.” Feeling like a snitch, Keelie leaned back in her chair.
“So, Lavender and Shimmerlight think I’m doing a piss-poor job of handling the faire? Stupid fairies with their little glitter wings and tulle skirts, skipping around all happy.” Finch broke her pencil in two. Today, her red hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun and she was dressed in a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and serious steel-toed work boots with flames stitched on the sides. They looked like they could kick some fairy butt.
Knot hopped through the open office window, dragging a bedraggled puppet in his mouth. He jumped into Vangar’s lap.
“What do you have there, buddy?” Vangar removed the weird little puppet from Knot’s mouth. The cat swatted at it. It looked flat and lifeless without Hob to animate it. The puppet’s red and gold outfit was muddy and smelled smoky. Strange. Must be because the mask store was next to Heartwood.
“Why did you take Hob’s puppet, you bad kitty?” Keelie asked.
“You’re right, it’s Hob’s poppet,” Sally said.
“You mean puppet,” Keelie corrected her. “He calls it Toshi.”
“No, a poppet. They’re used to enchant people, to make them do their will,” Sally explained. “The way people act around here, I’m thinking he’s got them enchanted. It’s dark stuff. Most practitioners won’t touch it.” She waved her hands, as if wafting away the bad vibes.
Whatever it was, the puppet looked the worse for wear, thanks to Knot. Its dark beady eyes still shone with a sinister gleam.
“Poppets can be very powerful,” Sally said. “A lot of practitioners will find a spell in a grimoire and shape it to their purpose.”
“What do you want me to do with it?” Vangar asked, picking it up gingerly.
If Keelie had had the Compendium, she might have been able to find a spell to take care of the poppet.
“I’ll get rid of it.” Sally reached for Toshi, touching its hat. The bell in Keelie’s pocket rang as if in recognition. Keelie put her hand over the bell to quiet it as Sally took the puppet outside. Finch, Vangar, and Keelie followed her to the door and watched as Sally walked to the privies on the other side of the front gate. The privies were the perfect place for the horrible little poppet.
“Where are you, sweeting?” a sad and plaintive voice shouted. Keelie turned in the direction of the heart-wrenching plea. Immediately she stepped back into the safety of the office; Hob was wobbling down King’s Way as if he’d had too many meads down at the Poacher’s Inn. “Where are you?” he shouted outside the Magic Maze. “I need you. Sweetness, come back. Toshi. I need my Toshi.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Keelie asked.
“He’s acting weirder than usual.” Vangar arched an eyebrow. “He was in his mask shop screeching about something earlier. I’d say he’s been hanging out with his masks too long. All those empty eye sockets watching him all day long probably pushed him over the edge.”
Keelie could totally see that.
“Strange… ” Finch mused. “He has several dozen Toshi puppets in his store, but he’s going nuts looking for this one? Too late now, unless he goes searching in the privies.” She wrinkled her nose. “Never mind. Let’s get back to the reading.”
Keelie glimpsed several large books stacked in a corner behind Finch’s desk. Some of the books shimmered; but when she looked again, nothing. She wondered if these were magic books and her To See Truly abilities were kicking in.
Sally, who had remained outside, joined them and began shuffling cards. “Something is definitely wrong with Hob,” she said. “I saw him dart between the Magic Maze and the candle shop, and then he bolted down the lane when Tarl asked him if he needed any help.” She shook her head. “Enough distractions. Let’s concentrate on the cards.”
For a moment, the only sound was the ticking of the dragon clock hanging behind Finch, its pendulum tail swinging back and forth, ticking with each movement. The Timekeeper would’ve liked this clock, Keelie thought. Maybe Finch bought it at the Quicksilver Faire, or perhaps it was a present from Ermentrude.
Knot hopped onto the edge of Finch’s desk, closed his eyes, and purred like a contented feline Porsche.
Sally studied her cards, her gaze contemplative. “I have seen great danger. The cards say that something moves this way, and we must be prepared.”
“It’s goblins,” Keelie said. She’d seen them-she didn’t need a tarot card to tell her to be prepared.
“We know it’s goblins.” Finch motioned toward the cards. “What do they say?”
Sally spread more cards out on the desk. She didn’t blink at the mention of goblins, so Keelie figured she’d been around magic folk for a while.
The back of this tarot deck was very pretty, gold trim around a black and white checkerboard design. Sally deftly swept the cards into a deck with one smooth move. “Let’s try something new, to use all the energy in the room. Tap them.”
Finch did.
Vangar snorted, unimpressed.
“Each of you will draw a card,” Sally said as she held out the deck. “First, Finch.”
Finch pulled from the top.
Sally walked over to Vangar, who rolled his eyes. “Do I have to?” He cut a questioning glance over to Finch.
Her red brows rose to her hairline. “We talked about this.”
Keelie knew who wore the pants in this relationship. She smiled.
Vangar sighed. He pulled a card from the middle of the deck.
Sally strolled over to Keelie. “Now you.”
Keelie didn’t know why she was nervous. She’d drawn a tarot card before, but something felt different in the room, as if there was a layer of magic filtering through the doorw
ay and settling around Sally. Keelie removed a card from the bottom.
Sally tapped the deck again. “Reveal your cards, at the same time, on the desk.”
Keelie leaned forward, as did Vangar and Finch. They laid their cards out at the same time. Finch had a red dragon-the seven of swords. Vangar’s was the King of Wands, a big gold dragon with glistening scales that would have made Shimmerlight jealous with its sparkles.
And when Keelie flipped her card over… the Fool, here pictured as a jester whose stare glittered at her through a mask’s eyeholes. Great. This meant one thing: Peascod.
“Now what?” Finch barked.
“Now you each study your card. Together they have a larger meaning.”
The gold dragon on Vangar’s card winked at Keelie, and gave her a thumbs-up. Since when did tarot cards come with animation?
“Wait a minute-I saw that dragon wink at me,” Keelie said.
Vangar grinned. “Rascal.”
“This is a deck brought to me from the Quicksilver Faire,” Sally said. A faerie deck. Keelie knew it.
Sally pointed to the red dragon on Finch’s card; it flew above a castle as a ragtag army of seven peasants gathered outside the drawbridge. “You will have to be a leader, even to those who are afraid of you,” she told Finch. “But you will be able to rally the troops if you can cast aside the doubt within. You must find the inner strength to lead.”
Finch sighed. “This means that we’re going to have to teach the humans how to fight. Davey and I were talking about that last night.”
Sally arched an eyebrow. “Right. Vangar, do you have any idea what your card might mean?”
He stared at the gold dragon as if might talk to him. “No.”
Simple enough. Keelie liked that about Vangar. You got what you saw.
“It means you’ve led a lonely existence, by yourself, flying from one location to another.” Sally pointed to the sky on the card. “Do you see that star?”
“Yeah,” Vangar said.
Keelie leaned forward, and sure enough, there was a star on the horizon. That hadn’t been there before, but then again, this tarot deck was from the Quicksilver Faire.
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