Made of Magic and True Grit

by Landry-Daniel Lié

  All the other boys gathered around him and joined the hug.

  Chapter 9

  Thieves in disguise

  “R ise and shine!” George said as he pulled the covers off Pinly and Vince. The boys yawned their frustration as they began to wake up, stretching their limbs as far as they would go. Despite the nightmares, Pinly hadn't slept that well in weeks and wished he could stay a few more minutes in bed, but George wasn't going to let that happen. He tipped the mattress over, sending them both crashing on the hardwood floor.

  “George!” Vince protested, but he was already gone, his footsteps echoing down the creaking corridor outside. “Pinly…” Vince murmured, but Pinly was too tired to answer. He called several times before nudging him with his foot.

  Pinly finally relented. “Mmh.”

  “What time do you reckon it is?” Vince asked.

  Pinly slowly opened his eyes and turned to the window. The sun was high and the sky was of the clearest blue, not a cloud in sight

  “Noon, probably,” he replied.

  Vince instantly sat up. “What?” Vince stood and began to run around the room maniacally. “Wake up! We have to go now!” He threw some clothes at Pinly, who painfully tried to wake up. “Pinly! Let's go!” he insisted.

  Pinly had no choice but to get on his two feet, pick up the clothes and follow Vince, who rushed down the stairs.

  “We're off,” Vince said as they zoomed out the door. Pinly tried to keep up with his friend, but the pile of clothes he was given kept falling out of his arms and he had to stop to pick them up. They ran through the maze, turning left and right. Pinly almost lost sight of Vince twice before the boy stopped in front of an abandoned fountain. He started undressing until he had nothing on but his grey trunks. which were probably white at some point.

  “Get in!” He told Pinly who stood on the side. There were people passing by. Vince didn't seem to care, but Pinly did.

  “Come on,” Vince insisted. Pinly timidly took his clothes off and dipped his legs into the freezing water. He shivered and crossed his arms as he waded towards Vince. He was already scrubbing himself with his hands. Layers of dirt slid off him and revealed rosy cheeks and pale skin. It was as though Pinly was looking at another person. It was the first time that Pinly was down to his underwear in front of passing strangers, he felt a little embarrassed but they didn’t seem to care at all, no one paid them any mind.

  When they were done cleaning themselves, Vince took out a comb and began brushing his hair back. When he was done, he passed the comb to Pinly, who did the same. Vince began going through the pile of colourful garments. Although ugly, the clothes looked very fancy. There was no way Vince was able to afford them. He must have stolen them some time before meeting Pinly. He handed a vest to Pinly and funny shaped trousers. Vince hurried to put on a matching outfit. Pinly barely recognised himself in the outfit, while Vince, on the other hand, seemed very comfortable in it. He began walking in a different way, his head held ridiculously high, his chest puffed up, as if he owned the streets of Chavo. Pinly laughed at him.

  “I take it, it's working, then.” Vince bowed dramatically.

  “It is, kind sir.” Pinly bowed the same way.

  “Let's go, then,” Vince said, dropping the act.

  They ran through long corridors, dark alleys, clean and dirty ones before arriving in an extremely busy town square. No one had any space to move in any direction. Pinly had never seen that side of town before. Here the white stoned buildings were higher, cleaner with shiny gold balconies. People were gathered watching a parade.

  “What is this?” Pinly pointed at the procession of golden chariots. Colourful music ensembles playing the trumpets, and important-looking people waving at the crowd, wearing more gold around their necks than Pinly had ever seen anywhere. That was what Vince’s focus now seemed to be on.

  “It's the royal parade. So pretentious.” Vince scowled. “We need to make our way inside it.”

  In their new outfits, they looked exactly like the children walking close to the fancy carriages. Pinly wondered how long Vince had been planning this. If they were caught, he wasn't sure what the punishment would be, but it wouldn't be a simple slap on the wrist; they'd probably lose a hand or a foot.

  “Here's the plan.” Vince spoke close to Pinly's ear. “We get in the parade, I'll start taking the necklaces off and you hide the ones I give you in your pockets, understood?”

  Pinly nodded, not sure if he still wanted to go ahead with it.

  “He’s our way in” Vince pointed at a very tall and broad man “Follow my lead,” Vince said before taking a few steps back into the maze, he ran then impacted with the big man. Everyone in front fell forward. The people on the first row fell onto the parade, old women fell onto children, trumpets and drums impacted with the floor. Vince and Pinly took advantage of the confusion to swiftly join the kids in the parade. They helped people to get back on their feet just as the other kids did. It took a minute for things to get back in order. The carriages were halted, the music had stopped and the royal guards were agitated, trying to get everything back to normal. Pinly's heart raced. One of the guards was looking at him funny and kept looking even as the parade went back on track. Pliny tried to act as if he belonged. He even caught another boy by the shoulder as if they were friends, the boy frowned for a second then put his arm around Pinly’s shoulder as if he knew him. There were so many kids dressed like him, they couldn’t all know each other he thought.

  “Hey, you!” He heard. Without needing to turn around, Pinly knew the voice was calling for him and he knew it was the guard.

  His panic grew as the voice got closer. “Oi!” the guard kept calling until the metallic hand gripped his shoulder.

  His heart stopped.

  “You dropped this.” The guard handed him a shiny golden necklace. Pinly took it without looking the guard in the eyes.

  “Thank you,” he said, mimicking the elegant accent Vince had shown him. The soldier backed away and returned to his position.

  “That was so close.” Vince giggled quietly. He showed Pliny the inside of his pocket; there were already five necklaces tucked in there. Pinly gaped, amazed at how Vince managed to take the necklaces off the other children without them noticing a thing. They marched and chanted with no clue of what was happening right in front of their eyes, Vince's pockets were getting bigger by the minute. After a half hour, they were full, so he started filling Pinly's.

  As they worked their way through the crowd, Pinly noticed something had caught Vince's eye. The sun shone upon it, brighter than on any other jewel: a green amulet dangling around the neck of an older boy. He wore a furred cape over his other fancy garments, and his ginger hair was impeccable; not a strand out of place.

  “No, Vince, you've got enough here,” Pinly said, tapping on his fully loaded pockets.

  “That's the last one, I promise. Then we can go home.”

  “It's too risky. He's got to be a prince or someone important,” Pinly said.

  “Even better.” Vince grinned.

  Pinly followed him reluctantly, trusting Vince's thieving skills. They approached the long-haired prince. They used the euphory of the other kids as cover, hugging and laughing their way to the prince. By then they knew part of the song, so they also chanted with the other kids to avoid suspicious stares. Pinly stayed back and watched as Vince got closer to the prince. When he was close enough, his fingers began to work their magic around the prince’s neck with their catlike touch. He was at it for a few seconds, but to Pinly it felt more like hours.

  The chain began to fall and as it landed in Vince's hand, a voice up in the carriages screamed, “Thief!” An old woman with a crown on her head was glaring down at Vince, her long, bony finger pointed at him. Her voice screeched above the sound of the music as she repeated “Thief!” again and again.

  The prince reacted fast enough and caught Vince's arm. The boy struggled to fight him off as the guards pushed their way to
wards them.

  “Get off me!” Vince struck at the prince, but he was stronger than him.

  Pinly wasn't sure what to do. He grabbed one of the necklaces in his pocket, held up the sharp end of the pendant, he ran, pushing his way through the crowd, then swung it at the prince. Members of the crowd shrieked and gasped. Blood began to gush from the cut he had made on the prince's cheek. The blood poured over his fingers when he put a hand to his face. The prince had let go of Vince.

  “He cut me! Catch them! I want their heads. Now!”

  The old woman on the carriage fainted, a hand over her wrinkled forehead.

  Pinly and Vince ran through the square and into the streets, but the maze was blocked by masses of guards and panicked people. Pliny glanced back and saw a dozen soldiers rushing after them.

  Pinly ran after Vince as fast as he could whilst holding on tight to his loot so it didn't fall out his pockets. The clanking of heavy armours resonated behind them. Pinly panted as he struggled to put a safe distance between him and the closest guards. Two necklaces fell out of Vince's pocket. He stopped running and went back for them.

  “Don't! Keep going,” Pinly shouted, but Vince didn’t listen and reached back for the necklaces, he failed to see a guard coming to his left. The armoured man smashed into him. Vince went tumbling. More of his necklaces clattered on the ground in loud clinks.

  Pinly stopped running. “Stand up! Let's go!” he shouted, but as Vince tried to get back on his feet, he was kicked back down by the guard. The other guards stood behind him, shouting insults, as he kicked the boy mercilessly again and again.

  “Stop!” Pinly cried out. For a second, images of the day the silver soldier attacked him and Lion flashed in front of him. Something inside Pinly began to stir, he had only felt that in Soubrey when he had struck the silver soldier with the powerful white light. His aura lifted, it whirled around him like a silent tornado. Rage began to consume him. Pinly ran towards the guard, who waited for him with a malicious grin, ready to beat him the same way he did Vince.

  “Enough!” Pinly shouted. He felt an incredible amount of power leave his body has white light shot out of him on impact. It sent the guard flying back fifty yards. Everyone was as stunned as he was. He realised there were so many people looking at him when he raised his head. Their mouths were wide open; The people looking out their windows, the ones passing by and the guards, none knew what to do or say. Even Pinly was surprised by his own power, he looked at his shaky hands in disbelief.

  “Amazing!” Vince shouted, before pulling Pinly away from the scene. He seemed to know the streets of Chavo like the back of his hand. After running for a while, he managed to find a hiding place, far from the high white stoned buildings. The marks of a long-extinguished fire covered the facade of an old abandoned mansion. They seeked refuge inside.

  As soon as they crossed the threshold, Pinly crumbled to his knees, panting. Vince looked as though he was bursting with excitement from what he had just seen. “A-ma-zing!!”

  “I killed a man!” Pinly shouted and pounded his fist on the creaking floor boards.

  “So what? They were about to kill us, do you think they'd cry about it?”

  “How are you not worried? They’ll be after us! After Leo, Dave, Matt and George!”

  “No, they won't, do you think anyone could recognise me in these clothes? Once I change again, I'll be a totally different guy.”

  “Still, we were reckless. Now they'll want to burn me alive.”

  “And you think I'll let them? They'll have to burn me too! And there's nothing they can do to you with these powers! I've never seen anything like it, that was incredible!!” Vince kept celebrating as he emptied his pockets full of gold necklaces and put them all on himself. Pinly half paid attention to him, not really hearing what he said anymore. He could feel the power stirring round and round. Something inside him had been unlocked. He trembled as it rose through the air.

  He abruptly came back to his senses, thanks to Vince, who was shaking him. “Pinly? Pinly?” Vince's green eyes stared into his. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, I'm fine,” Pinly lied. He felt dizzy and needed to sit down.

  “So, what exactly are you?” Vince asked.

  “A fairy,” Pinly almost whispered.

  “A fairy?” Vince looked confused. “But...where are your wings?”

  Pinly shrugged. He knew that some fairies had wings, but he had never seen it himself. “I don't know, I just don't have any.”

  “But all fairies have wings, that's kind of the whole point. Maybe you're just a talented wizard,” Vince said.

  “I'm not a wizard, Vince!” Pinly was irritated by the remark. “Wings are not the whole point of being a fairy. No one where I'm from has wings and we do just fine without them.”

  “Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. Don't bite my head off,” Vince said. “So, what else can you do? Oh my god, can you fly?” Vince bounced in excitement at his last question.

  Pinly did the thing that was the most natural to him, he had wanted to do it for weeks now. He began to soar through the air, his body as light as a feather. He couldn't hold back his smile as the air caressed his skin that special way again.

  By the time he heard Vince’s footsteps, the boy had jumped from a table and was mid-air reaching for him. He jumped on Pinly's back. Pinly almost hit the ground because of the sudden extra weight and after a wonky start, they began flying all around the mansion. Pinly couldn't believe how much stronger his flight was. He was barely able to support his own weight before, but now he flew effortlessly with someone on his back. He spiralled, flipped and circled in the air. The feeling of being free to fly again, and with such ease, was overwhelming. So much so that he forgot Vince was on his back.

  “Stop! Put me down, I feel dizzy,” Vince shouted.

  Pinly landed on the ground. He laughed at Vince, who could barely stand up, his legs wobbled until they collapsed from under him. “Why didn't you say you were a fairy before?” Vince asked, still holding his head.

  Pinly shrugged. “You saw how people react to fairies, what choice did I have?”

  “But you could have told me. I know you've only known me for a day and a bit, but still…”

  “Well, now you know.”

  “I do... So what else can you do?”

  Pinly snapped his fingers and an egg materialised in his hand.

  “Well, that's underwhelming.” Vince giggled.

  “Shut up!” Pinly said.

  “Can you make more than an egg?” he asked.

  Pinly thought about trying something else. After all, he was more powerful than before— but then again everything needed practising first and he didn't want to fail at an attempt to impress Vince.

  “I'm still working on it,” he replied.

  “You're full of surprises, aren't you?... I'm glad we've met. You saved my life twice.”

  “Anyone hanging around you is bound to save your life at least once,” Pinly said and they laughed.

  A few times during that afternoon, they heard the royal guards run past the mansion, but never stopping to check inside. Pinly couldn’t help but think about the one he had killed, he could still see his motionless body, his metal armour destroyed by the blast. The stares from the others. Pinly watched as Vince counted his pile of gold. He had the biggest smile on his face.

  “One hundred and three, one hundred and four…” The last item was the green amulet that had attracted attention to them. Vince raised it up to admire it even more, then kissed it. “I can't even imagine how much this is worth.”

  “Where will you sell all that?” Pinly asked.

  “I know a place, I could be there in a day or two if I leave today”

  “Is it on my way?” Deep down Pinly hoped Vince would say yes. He hadn't had anyone to talk to for so long, and he would have liked to spend a few more days with Vince.

  “Well, I don't even know where you're headed yet.”

  Pinly had
tried so hard to stay discreet about his destination that he had left out the only person willing to help him find his way.

  “Well, I'm not sure either…” He was about to tell his story when Vince interrupted.

  “What about fairy country? I'm not sure exactly where it is, but I have an idea of the direction we could be taking.”

  “Fairy country?” Pinly moved closer to Vince.

  “You never heard of fairy country?” Pinly shook his head. “What kind of a fairy are you?”

  “Well, how do you know about it, then, smartass?”

  “You remember what I told you about my mother?”

  Pinly nodded “she was accused of being a witch”

  “Well she wasn’t a witch but she did have a collection of strange books, I managed to keep one of them, most of it is gibberish to me since I can’t really read, but there are a lot of drawings in it… of fairies and wizards and all sorts of maps, I don’t think any of them are accurate but…”

  “But they’re our best bet” Pinly couldn't believe his ears.

  “I reckon they could help you get there, if it really exists.”

  Pinly nodded, thinking about a whole country full of fairies. His skin prickled with goosebumps just thinking about winged fairies standing in front of him.”I reckon they would. But what about you, is that on your way?”

  “I've got all the time in the world. I'll leave the gold with George; he'll know what to do with it.”

  Chapter 10

  Leaving Town

  N ever had hide and seek been so dangerous. This time, the seeker wouldn't just say “you're it” and run off in the other direction, hoping it would take Pinly a while to find where they hid. No, this time if he was found, it would most probably be his last game.

  The royal guards trotted by, carrying torches and lances, their swords drawn and ready to strike. They were on a witch hunt, or in this case a fairy hunt. Pinly's heart raced as they began moving forward. From head to toe Pinly shook with terror as they reached a busy part of town. He watched the guards describing him to the population. Most people just shook their heads and the guards moved on to the next ones. They sneaked behind bushes and brushed against walls.