Daughter of Danger: The Dark Avenger's Sidekick Book One (Moth & Cobweb 4)

by John C. Wright

  Elfine came bouncing back while Ami stared. “Do you own a cat?”

  Elfine said, “I don’t know if anyone can own a cat. They are very self-possessed creatures. Can you speak to animals? Let me do your hair while you’re eating.”

  There was leftover salmon and hot buttered toast with jam for breakfast. Elfine ate the petals off the rose that sat in a vase in the middle of the table and a cube of sugar. Ami’s hair was a tangled mess.

  Ami sat in a chair in the breakfast nook while Elfine stood behind her and brushed out her tangles. “It is easy to unsnarl elf locks,” Elfine chatted, “Once you know the secret. It is all in the wrist. I have a cousin somewhere here in the city who has the knack of speech with animals. John Doolittle of Caundle Marsh Parish also had it; he was of Oberon’s blood without knowing. It is a very rare gift!”

  Ami was startled that Elfine could not only brush out her snarled hair without yanking on her scalp, but that, at the end, the hair was as dark, full, lustrous, and shining as something seen on a shampoo commercial.

  “How did you do that with just a brush?” Wondered Ami aloud, looking at her coiffure in the mirror. “You even got the ends to curl without using a curling iron!” Ami put her elbows in the air and began to fold plaits of hair together. “And, no, I don’t talk to animals. Not that I remember. Why do you ask?”

  Elfine said, “What are you doing?”

  Ami said, “Last night I swallowed very much hair, and it was in my nose and eyes. I promised myself I would braid it or get a cap.”

  “Oh! Let me!” So Elfine did up her hair in a nice French braid and gathered tails into a bun at the nape of Ami’s neck, which she tied in place with a big red ribbon. Elfine pulled out one strand to let hang by Ami’s cheek.

  In the mirror, Ami was amazed. She turned her head this way and that. She had not realized her hair could look so pretty.

  Elfine said, “It is very stylish. You cannot have perfect hair, or else the goddesses get jealous, so you need one strand out of place. Let’s do earrings next!” and she clapped her hands in excitement.

  “No, thank you. They might snag. Besides, my ears are not pierced.”

  “A necklace?”

  “Only if it is very fine. It should give way if tugged on.”

  Elfine returned from the jewelry shelf in the closet with a chain as thin as spider’s silk, with a white pearl for a pendant.

  Next, Elfine dressed her. Ami thought it was a little odd to have another woman helping her with her underthings, buttoning her blouse, and doing up her skirt, but she did not remember whether that was unusual, so she voiced no objection.

  The jacket did not fit, so Elfine skipped into the walk-in closet, and brought out a sharp looking businesswoman’s jacket with padded shoulders and a pinched waist. “This should fit you! It is not shame not to talk to beasts. Man lost the power to understand the beasts under his dominion when he broke fealty with Heaven. That was in Eden. Then, he lost the power to understand his neighbor at the Tower of Babel. And in Hell, each lonely soul loses understanding altogether so that all they can do is scream and hear screaming. No one talks in Hell. You haven’t tried on the shoes! Did I forget stockings?”

  Elfine went into the closet and starting looking on high shelves and under the bed, peering cautiously into the pillow cases. Ami pulled open a drawer on the bureau next to the shoe rack, where socks and stockings neatly folded and arranged by shade and hue were stored. “Elfine, do you not know where your own sock drawer is?”

  Instead of answering, Elfine led Ami into the den and pushed her down on the couch. Elfine took out pen and notepad from a drawer under the phone, and threw herself down on the carpet to sit crosslegged on the floor with the pad on a low coffee table.

  “Now we are ready! I will call this The Case of the Cursed Crimefightress! Or do you think Confused Crimefightress sounds better?”

  Tongue between her lips, she scratched out and rewrote the marks she was making on the page. Ami did not recognize the form of writing Elfine used: it consisted of vertical and diagonal strokes of one to five marks arranged in rows.

  “Tell me the whole story!” said Elfine. “Everything you remember that happened from the moment you woke up!”

  2. On the Case

  It took over an hour to go through the whole story and then more time as Elfine cross-examined her, asking questions that varied from the penetrating to the bizarrely irrelevant.

  When they were done talking, Elfine snapped her fingers, leaped to her feet, and fetched something from the bathroom. “This is yours!”

  Elfine handed her the American flag Ami had been wearing yesterday. It was neatly folded into a triangle.

  Elfine explained, “I saw you rolling and sliding last night. Or was it this morning? If the colors touch the ground, you have to burn them. Let’s do that later. There is no fireplace in here.

  “Now, then, what is our first clue?” Elfine continued briskly. “You don’t have any scars or bumps on your head—I looked when I was brushing your hair—so your amnesia may not be due to physical trauma. What do you remember of your childhood?”

  “Nothing.”

  “A Mickey Finn—that is what they call it here in America, but he changed his name to Rufus—usually affects only short-term memory. The active ingredient there is chloral hydrate. It would leave childhood memories intact. That leads us to our next clue!”

  “And what is our next clue?”

  “I don’t know! We’ll find it at the scene of the crime!”

  Ami stepped into the shoes Elfine provided. These were dress shoes with too high a heel, and Ami did not like the sensation of walking in them. They were too unsteady. She found that by turning the intaglio of her ring inward, halfway between silver and pewter, the high heels made no noise even on a hard floor, and she could move smoothly.

  Elfine went to a closet and tried on one coat and then another, finally donning a long beige jacket that fell to her knees. It had a hood that she pulled up over her riotous mop of yellow curls. Then, she strode dramatically to the front door and yanked it open. “Let’s go! We can talk as we walk. And talk as we walk. Both at once. A mute digitambulist has to do one or the other!”

  Ami said, “Where are we going? Aren’t you taking your notes?” For Elfine had left the notepad with the strange writing sitting on the coffee table.

  “I don’t need it. Fairies have photogenic memories.”

  “Photographic.”

  “That, too.”

  “And—aren’t you going to clean up your dishes?” She pointed at the breakfast table.

  “The servants do that!”

  “You means the housekeeping staff here does dishes?”

  “I forgot to feed them last night. But why did I forget? Because I was distracted! A phonographic memory does you no good if you forget to look at the photograms in your memory! But why did you forget? Aha! Why indeed! I think we can rule out mundane explanations, such as an emotional shock or head trauma. There are no signs that you are in a fugue state. You recall what things like dishes and beds and bathtubs are. This would imply it is dissociative amnesia: only personal memories are affected. It is most likely psychogenic rather than structural.”

  Ami nodded eagerly, looking impressed “Now, suddenly, you are making sense.”

  “Worldly memories are stored in the brain, which is material, but personal memories are stored in the soul, which is quintessential and immaterial!”

  Ami stopped nodding. “And then, suddenly, less sense…”

  “Off we go! Dayfolk tend to forget us, except for Irishmen, so talking to witnesses may not be fruitful. But there will be a record of your admittance at the hospital. Also a diagnosis. Skull X-rays. Name of next of kin. Humans love writing things down. They don’t have phototropic memories.”

  “Photographic.”

  “Nor that, either!”

  Ami looked at her sidelong as the two walked down the corridor toward the elevator. “That– actually
seems surprisingly– ah– like a good plan. A good place to start. Have you done detective work before?”

  “You are not my first case! I helped that fox cub I told you about last night! He had to find his home.”

  Ami frowned. “I am not sure these cases are the same.”

  “You are a lost little foxcub! We just need to find your den. It is the same. Don’t worry. I know my way around the human world! I’ve got it covered. I’ve read about it in my father’s books.”

  At the end of the corridor, Elfine raised her bare leg and pushed the elevator call button with the toe of her green slipper.

  Ami sighed. “I am sure we will fit right in.”

  3. Familiar and Unfamiliar

  On the way out, Elfine rushed up the to the doorman and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Everything was wonderful! We had the most wonderful time! Just perfect!” The man looked a little flustered, but he put a finger to his cap and gave her a friendly salute.

  Out on the street, it was hot and bright, and traffic was crawling just as slowly as it had been last night, except now there seemed to be more honking and cursing.

  Elfine had a brisk stride, swinging her arms, and only every now and again skipping like a child, or cutting a caper like a tap-dancer, or twirling on her toes like a ballerina. Ami walked more sedately, her eyes in constant motion, up and down, and watching the hands, gait, and gazes of pedestrians coming the other way, treading warily when passing in front of doors or corners of buildings.

  Elfine spoke as she walked. She said, “If you’ve never been in a big city before, there are some things you have to remember. When Man moved into cities out from the dark woods, he did not bring any ravaging beasts with him, so some of the men volunteered to act as beasts of predation, and they are hidden among the humans on whom they prey. The black-skinned ones are often more dangerous, but it could be any of them. They are Ethiopian, and were brought here as slaves in chains, and forever seek revenge against those who once were their masters, whom they hate.”

  Ami said thoughtfully, “You are not from America, are you?”

  “No. I was raised in the Third Hemisphere. But I have read much about America! The shire-reeves here are called ‘coppers’ and dress in blue and carry billies, and they protect the humans, but the humans don’t like them because the humans want to afflict themselves with alchemical potions that drive them mad, opium and morphine, and the blue coppers beat them and take their worldly goods. And everyone in America has rights, but no one has responsibilities because the elfs are in charge. The elfs rule here, and men are their cattle. It was different in older days. We want to avoid the coppers because they might report us.”

  Ami said, “Why? What have we done?”

  Elfine said, “I don’t know about you, but I am a smuggler.”

  “What do you smuggle?”

  “Me. Elfine Luminiferous Moth. I smuggled myself into this hemisphere! I am a loveable rogue, you see.”

  Ami once again stared in confusion. “You’re a what?”

  Elfine threw back her head and pitched her voice to a lower octave. “Don’t be too sure I’m as crooked as I’m supposed to be. That kind of reputation might be good business, bringing in high-priced jobs and making it easier to deal with the enemy.” But then she pouted and bit on her thumbnail with a fretful look on her face. In her normal soprano voice, she said, “But you are a crimefightress. Once your memory is back, you might have to turn me in.”

  Ami said, “Elfine, don’t take this the wrong way, but–”

  “Yes…?”

  “How do I know you are not a madwoman?”

  “That is easy! On the night of a full moon, take a silver platter from a wedding feast that held the bridal cake. Sleep with it under your pillow. If you dream of me and see me in a vision wearing a funnel hat or straws in my hair, that proves me to be mad.”

  “That does not actually sound all that easy,” she said, wondering when the next full moon was due.”

  Elfine laughed. “Easier to prove it the other way then! If I find out your lost name and nurture, kindred and kinfolk, and who cursed you, then sane I am. Aha! I have another plan!” Elfine clapped her hands as if applauding herself. “How clever I am!”

  “Did something happen to the first plan?”

  “We can do both at once! You thought it was odd when I explained how lightbulbs worked, didn’t you?”

  Ami nodded. “It sounded strange.”

  “That’s a clue. Now, cross the street.”

  Ami put out her hand and took Elfine by the elbow, “Wait for the light.”

  Elfine craned her neck and looked up at the sun. “The light?”

  “The red light. It must turn green.”

  “Oh! Another rule! No one else waits!”

  By the time they reached the curb on the far side, Elfine was wreathed in smiles. Ami said, “What is it?”

  Elfine said, “When you crossed, you looked to the left, not the right. See?”

  Ami said, “You are always supposed to look before crossing the street.”

  Elfine said, “But in Japan, they drive on the left, so you would look right to see if a car is approaching. Looking left in Japan, you would only see the taillight of a car receding. That means you were here, or, at least, somewhere with motorcars that keep to the right, long enough to make a habit of looking left when crossing! By listing what else you find ordinary or extraordinary, we can deduce backward what kind of a place you are from! For example: how many bullets go into the clip of a revolver?”

  “Um. Six?”

  “No! None! A revolver has a cylinder, not a clip! So you don’t use a gun. That is to be expected! I bet you use a lariat or a boomerang or a throwing star shaped like the stars on the flag. What is the capital of Texas?”

  “Austin.”

  “No, it is Dallas. Capital of New York?”

  “Is Albany.”

  “Nope! New York City! Everyone gets that one wrong. I bet you are not an American.”

  Ami said, “Well… maybe not. But all this looks and sounds very familiar.” She pointed at a billboard and at the storefronts. “I have seen that movie. The one with the spaceships in it. And I recognize that perfume company.”

  “That movie is new, so you were here recently.”

  Ami frowned. “Is it?”

  “It is still in theaters. Do you remember anything about the movie?”

  “Only that it is not the kind of movie I like. I keep thinking that if the filmmaker liked spaceships so much, for the same money it took to make the film, couldn’t you build a real space rocket? Do something real?”

  “I mean, do you remember the plot?”

  “What plot? It was just a bunch of robots and laser blasts and scenes of buildings blowing up. They made the hero a buffoon so that his girlfriend could solve all the problems. In the last scene, when they are on the planet that is about to explode and ram into the sun that is about to go nova and fall into a black hole, the girlfriend picks up a laser-sword she’s never held before and beats up the dark warlord of the Omega Nebula. Her stance was terrible. He falls into the mouth of the planet-pulverizing volcano-beam weapon cannon just as it goes off. She should have turned on her jetpack, flown up, and shot him from a distance with her atomic-powered crossbow. From ambush. Or just gotten on the spaceship and left because the world was going to blow up. And the dead guy came back to life in the Lazarus Vortex, but the tiny little robot that sacrificed itself to save him, it could not be fixed, and stayed dead. How does that make any sense?” Her voice trailed off. “That’s… strange. I am pretty sure I don’t go to spaceship movies. Never.” She scowled. “For that matter, I don’t wear perfume. I wonder why I recognized both of those things… Why can I remember these details and not my name?”

  Elfine said briskly, “Next question: What is the emergency number on a telephone?”

  “Nine one one.”

  “But you did not call that number last night. Why not?”

&nb
sp; Ami shook her head.

  Elfine said, “I think you are one of us.”

  Ami said, “Us?”

  “Half and half. Like the cream. You instinctively avoided drawing attention. We do not fit in man’s world, and the elfs who treat men like cattle—well, we don’t fit into their world either, except to flatter, fetch, and tote! Everyone sneers at us.”

  “Us? Us who?”

  4. Three-Fourths Fairy

  “We are the people of the twilight. Men and dolphins are Dayfolk. Theirs is the daylight world. Elfs and efts and their serfs, svarts, spooks, and pooks are Nightfolk. They are of the night world. We are neither.

  “Now then!” Elfine waved her finger. “I don’t mean a parallel dimension or anything like that. Nightlings and Twilightlings have dusk and dawn, winter and summer, same as humans. We just live in the Third Hemisphere, the one they don’t see. There are other planets like Mars or the Moon, but they are haunted by dead races, and no one goes there, except one crazy boy who is a cousin of mine. My third cousin four times removed, actually.”

  Ami’s eyes lit up. “That is amazing! I mean, going to the moon is….” Words failed her. She was awed. “He must be very brave, your cousin.”

  “Or crazy.” Elfine shrugged. “In any case, there are four big clans of the Twilight Folk that were scattered after the Elf Queen was lost. First are the Moths, who are friendly to mankind; next are the Cobwebs, who are not; third are the Mustardseeds, who are friendly to the Summer King and can work the metals of Tubalcain for him, which elfs otherwise cannot touch.”

  “That is only three.”

  “Last is the Peaseblossoms, who are the smart and sneaky ones that no one trusts, so they are forbidden to leave the Third Hemisphere. I do not think you would be allowed to be here if you were a Peaseblossom. And they have a distinctive scent. Unmistakable.”