by A W Hartoin
“You should’ve told me. I’m your sister. You know everything about me.”
Soren pushed us toward each other. “It seems you have underestimated your sister, Matilda.”
I hugged Iris hard. “You’re really not afraid of me?”
“People say kindlers are bad because they can’t control themselves. They have accidents that burn down houses and set people on fire.” She looked at the charred ring. “You won’t have any accidents. If you burn anything up, it’ll be on purpose.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I should’ve.”
Iris hugged me and I wobbled from relief.
Soren laughed. “You have Easy’s location?”
“The apothecary cabinet by the front door.”
“Let’s retrieve him before the buyers show up.” Soren left orders for the commander to join us when the spriggan leader was secured.
We left the cashier area and walked around the side past more of the commander’s troops, resting under their shells. A loud clunk startled us and light flooded the antique mall. I clapped my hands over my eyes and stumbled. Soren caught me before I fell and held me for a second. I peeked out between my fingers, squinting and blinking. Glaring white light bathed the antique furniture to the right of us and made it look stark and cold. Every detail of the grungy linoleum floor showed in the harsh light and my lip curled up at the sight. I’d gotten comfortable with the dark. The dimness was closer to the light of Whipplethorn Manor than the glaring whiteness.
“Open for business,” said Soren. “I should’ve warned you. That light can be shocking until you get used to it.”
We walked alongside the counter until Iris grabbed my arm. “Humans are coming.”
Soren nodded and told us to get close to the counter. Then a human came around the corner. Her enormous shoes stomped past us. The wind she created blew our hair back.
“Christ, Larry. Did you see the mess in here?” The woman’s voice boomed. She was so loud, even I heard her clearly.
“What mess?” said a man.
“There’s a burn on the floor and paper’s strewn all over. Yuck. It smells like something died in here.”
“What about the cash registers?” asked the man.
“They seem okay and the alarm wasn’t tripped,” said the woman. “I guess it was that worthless Joe. I swear, he can’t do anything right.”
“True enough.”
The humans kept talking about Joe and his worthlessness while Soren, Iris, and I walked to the front of the mall. We passed the edge of the counter and saw huge glass doors with morning sunlight streaming in. Flecks of multi-colored dust hung in the air, and heat from the sun on my face made my skin prickle like my palms when I made fire.
Next to the doors was a small area stuffed with antiques of questionable age. Festoons of plastic flowers hung from the ceiling around vintage windows suspended by wires. Soren continued into the area and stopped in front of a tall cabinet covered in little drawers with white porcelain knobs.
“There you are,” he said. “The apothecary cabinet.”
“Where is he?” I asked. The cabinet had at least a hundred drawers. How in the world were we supposed to know which one Easy was in?
Soren cocked an eyebrow at Iris. “You tell me.”
Iris bit her lip and listened. Then she pointed and said, “That one.”
I rolled my eyes. “That one” could’ve been any one of twenty. “Be more specific.”
“Fifth row up, middle drawer. How’s that?” Iris grinned, looking slightly superior.
“Are you sure he’s in that one?”
“I’m sure,” said Iris. “I can hear him breathing.”
“Really?” I flew up and pressed my ear to the wood. I couldn’t hear anything. Even if Easy had been screaming, I probably wouldn’t have heard it through the wood. I was lucky to have Iris. Without her, Easy would be stuck in there, while I tried every single drawer.
Iris flew up next to me and knocked on the drawer. “Easy. It’s us come to get you.” She nodded at me. “He’s okay, I think. He’s just making those little chirps, not crying or anything.”
We tugged on the porcelain knob. The drawer shifted but didn’t open. We tried again, beating the air furiously with our wings. I stopped and wiped the sweat from my brow, wondering if there was a way to burn our way through.
Iris and I jetted sideways when a voice next to us said, “Here, let me.”
I panted with my hands on my chest. “Don’t do that.”
“You scared me to death,” said Iris.
The commander stood on the drawer below Easy’s the same as if he were standing on the floor. He didn’t have his shell on, but his smoking stick was clamped between his teeth.
“How’d you do that?” I asked. “Can you fly?”
“Not hardly. I am Spiderman.” He showed us the palm of one hand.
I blinked. “What?”
“You should get out more often. I can’t fly, but I can stick to things. I can stand on the ceiling if I want to.”
“Why would you want to?” asked Iris.
“I don’t. It’s just an example. Come on. Let’s get this kid out. I’ve got people to see and orders to give. I expect those spriggans to retaliate tonight at the latest.”
The commander walked up to the drawer above Easy’s and grasped the knob on Easy’s drawer. Iris and I got hand-holds on bottom edges and together we pulled. The drawer scooted out a bit, but not enough to get Easy out. A little brown hand waved at us from the opening. I grasped it and kissed a finger. Tears flooded my eyes and I turned away.
“Time enough for that later,” said the commander. “Let’s get her done.”
I got back into position and pulled with everything I had. I could hardly see through the tears, but that made me pull harder. The drawer inched open. We stopped pulling and peeked over the edge. Easy sat in the drawer, naked, with a pile of clothes next to him.
Iris and I lifted Easy out of the drawer and cradled him between us. Our cheeks rested on his dark curls and warm tears rolled from our eyes onto his plump cheeks. Our wings beat in time, floating on the warm air of the antique mall.
“You did it,” said Iris.
“We did it. With a whole lot of help.” I smiled at the commander and then down at Soren. “Let’s get back to the mantel before another disaster strikes.”
“Disaster’s your middle name, ain’t it?” asked the commander as he walked down the side of the cabinet. “You’d think you’d learn to prepare. You want his clothes?”
Iris wrinkled her nose. “They stink. We can get more from his house.”
I nodded. I didn’t know how we’d get the clothes anyway, since the commander was already headed to the floor. One of us might’ve been able to carry Easy alone, but I wasn’t ready to try it. “Let’s go down and thank them again.”
We flew down and landed next to the commander’s shell. He arrived a second later and popped it back on. Easy patted his mouth and chirped. The commander stood on his toes to get a better look at Easy and then looked pointedly at Soren, who gazed at Easy with a concerned expression.
“He’s a good looking boy, no doubt, but there has to be more to it,” said the commander.
“What do you mean?” I asked, shifting all of Easy’s weight to my hip.
“The spriggans took a chance kidnapping him. They don’t usually operate that way in the mall. They know Soren won’t tolerate it.” The commander tapped the unlit end of his stick against his chin. “I wonder what made him worth it.”
“The spriggan baby said he was special,” said Iris, stretching her arms.
“The spriggan baby?” Soren jerked his gaze from Easy to us. “Of course, they would’ve left you one of those treasures. I should’ve thought of it before. Do you want it?”
“No,” Iris and I said, shaking our heads.
The commander laughed. “With Soren’s permission, I’ll take him off your hands and get him back where he belongs.
”
I agreed, but I felt a little queasy about it. The spriggan baby made it clear he didn’t want to go back and I said I wouldn’t trade him. But giving him to the commander to be taken back wasn’t trading him, was it? He should be with other spriggans. I certainly wanted him to be with other spriggans.
“Can’t stand around here all day dawdling. That’s how you get in these fixes.” The commander looked ready to race off.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “What did you mean by that? It’s not our fault the spriggans wanted Easy. We didn’t know they’d take him.”
I feared the commander would say it was my fault. That if I’d been a better babysitter or if I could hear better, Easy wouldn’t have gotten stolen. Instead, he gave me a weary glance and shook his head.
“What?” I asked, not sure if I wanted an honest answer.
Soren took my hand. “It’s not you Kukri’s referring to. It’s us.”
The commander ran a hand over his face. “We should’ve protected you better. It’s my duty, in particular.”
“We all failed, Kukri,” said Soren. “I should’ve put guards on you the moment I discovered you were here.”
“You couldn’t know,” said the commander. “I’m looking at this boy and I can’t figure out why the spriggans wanted him. It ain’t obvious. That’s for sure.”
“Matilda.” Iris yanked on my arm.
I ignored Iris and pulled my arm away. “Easy’s just a wood fairy, like the rest of us.”
“Matilda, listen to me,” said Iris.
“Stop it, Iris.” I hugged Easy tight to my chest and looked down at him. “Are you a kindler?”
Easy shook his head no. Both the commander and Soren looked at him thoughtfully.
“Matilda, Matilda!” yelled Iris.
“For God’s sake, Iris. Stop it!”
“Gerald’s screaming!”
“What?”
“Gerald’s screaming. Something’s happening to the mantel.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I shoved Easy into Soren’s arms.
“Hey!” yelled the commander.
I flew upward and then in a circle. My heart thumped hard in my chest and then I recognized a cupboard with tin panels at the corner and remembered the way back to the mantel. I zipped by the cupboard, gaining speed with the mall’s hot air rushing past my face. My skull felt empty, with only the one thought of getting back to Gerald rattling around in there.
Someone tugged my foot. Iris was huffing and puffing behind me. She shook her head and gasped something.
“What?” I asked.
Iris broke away and stopped. I pivoted in the air and flew back to her.
“Not that way.” Iris clutched her chest and sunk down almost to the floor.
I floated down beside Iris. “Which way?”
Iris pointed to the left. “Humans are taking the mantel away, but you’ll never find Gerald without my ears.”
“All right, but you’ve got to hurry.”
We flew together around corners and through areas I hadn’t seen before. We dodged around shopping humans and under dusty tables. When Iris slowed, I took her hand and pulled her. She spread her wings and glided along, catching her breath and resting. We came around a large bank of filing cabinets with me pulling and Iris resting. On the other side was the mantel. It sat, leaning back, on a wheeled metal contraption painted bright yellow. A man pulled the mantel toward an opening in the wall. Another man gave him directions and warned him to hurry up.
I let go of Iris’s hand and zipped to the mantel. Gerald was at my bedroom window, a pretty fleur-de-lis. His little face peered out the opening. He pushed, but he couldn’t get it fully open because of the weight.
“Matilda, Matilda!”
I landed on the mantel, balancing on a wooden flower petal next to my window. I stuck my fingers under the window and it popped open with much less effort than I expected. Gerald held his arms up to me and I pulled him through. The window slammed shut. The edge missed his feet by the tiniest margin. Gerald stared at the window and shivered in my arms for a second, his tears soaking me to the skin.
“I’ve got you,” I said.
“I thought you weren’t coming back.”
“I told you I would,” I said. “Come on. Iris is waiting.”
The workman continued pulling the mantel toward the door. A cool wind blew in through the opening and chilled me as we flew off the mantel. Iris hovered by the filing cabinets. Her lower lip trembled as she watched the mantel.
“Where are they taking it?” she asked when we flew up to her.
“I don’t know.” I felt so sad watching our mantel being wheeled away. I wanted so badly to go with it, to stay within its solid walls. I didn’t know if it was because it was my tree, as Soren would’ve said, or because it was home. I only knew I wanted to stay with it forever.
“We have to go with it. It’s our home,” said Iris. “How will Mom and Dad find us if we’re not with the mantel?”
“If they follow the mantel, they’ll come here and find us.” I felt sure this was true, but it didn’t make me want to stay and find out.
“I’d rather be out here than in there,” said Gerald. “Nasty.”
Iris wheeled around on him. Her hands were on her hips and her lip wasn’t trembling anymore. She grimaced at him until he retreated behind me. “What do you mean our home is nasty? It’s not nasty.”
“Not the mantel,” said Gerald, peeking out from behind my flapping wings. “That baby’s completely gross. He’s nasty.”
Iris’s eyes met mine. “Oh no!”
“What?” asked Gerald.
“The spriggan baby’s still in there,” I said.
“So what? Leave him. He stinks,” said Gerald.
“We can’t leave him,” I said. “He’s a baby. He’ll die.”
The workman pulled the mantel up a large hump in the opening. He groaned and yelled for help. Another workman came over and pulled with him. I landed on the mantel, looking frantically for an opening. All the windows and doors lay firmly closed. I pulled the hidden latch on the front door, but it didn’t budge.
The mantel went up over the hump, driving me off the wood. The mantel began moving faster once it was outside the mall. The workmen joshed each other about being weak while practically breaking into a run. I landed back on the mantel, wobbling back and forth. I slid down the extreme angle and bumped into the threshold. The mantel jumped again and I cracked my head on the door. Strong arms wrapped around me and lifted me off the mantel. I didn’t spread my wings. I let myself be carried, thinking somehow it must be Soren.
When I opened my eyes, I found Gerald supporting me on one side and Iris on the other. They strained to hold me up, their faces red and pinched.
“You got me,” I said.
Gerald and Iris only nodded and floated down until we all landed on the cold grey concrete. The three of us staggered and sat down. The mantel continued to race away toward a white van with the words, “Things Past Antique Mall Jarvis Hornbuckle, Proprietor” painted on the side.
“It’s not your fault,” said Iris.
Gerald nodded. “Nobody could’ve done it. Not even my dad.”
Nobody? I didn’t think so. There had to be something. Maybe I wasn’t strong enough, but there had to be another way.
Iris hugged me. “Gerald’s right. Nobody could.”
I pushed Iris away and stood up. I wasn’t nobody. I was definitely a somebody. Somebody with fire.
CHAPTER 13
THE workman bellowed and danced around in a circle. I grinned and formed another fireball, blue and crackling with heat. The workman stamped his foot, waving his arms and spitting curse words like watermelon seeds. The other one stared at him with a gaping mouth.
“Dude, what’s your problem?” he asked, edging away while pushing the metal cart with the mantel on it.
“I’m going to kill you, man,” said the hopping workman.
“What’s wrong
?”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? I’ll show you what’s wrong.” The workman stopped dancing and thrust his left foot at his co-worker. “You set fire to my boot. You’re going to pay for that.”
The workman leaned over and eyed his partner’s boot. A blackened area decorated the side. It smelled of burning leather and plastic. I watched them, ready with another blue fire ball poised in my hand. The human’s shoe caught fire better than I expected. But three fire balls weren’t enough. The men had stopped dragging the mantel toward the van, but the mantel was still tilted back. We couldn’t get in unless it was upright.
The men argued. They yelled so loud they rained spit on each other and that only made them madder. The one with the scorched boot grabbed the one holding the mantel’s cart. He held him by the neck and squeezed. The man’s face turned purple. He flailed his free arm and the mantel rocked on the cart. It shifted a few inches to the right and teetered as the men’s tussle became more intense.
Gerald flew up beside me. “Great plan, genius. They won’t take the mantel away. They’ll just break it into a million zillion pieces.”
“Shut up, Gerald,” I said.
“Don’t tell me to shut up. I’m not the one who keeps screwing up.”
“Well, I’m the one who keeps saving everybody, including you.” My fireball grew larger.
“Don’t throw that,” said Gerald. “They’ll break it.”
“Throw it, Matilda,” said Iris from behind Gerald.
Gerald turned on her. “You don’t know. She’s going to wreck everything.”
“Throw it. You have to stop them. The more fire, the better,” said Iris.
“If they drop the mantel, they’ll kill the baby.” Gerald crossed his arms and smiled triumphantly.
“If they take the mantel, he’s dead for sure. Stop them.” Iris stuck her tongue out at him.
The fire ball tickled my hand, begging me to throw it. And I wanted to. I wanted to set the workmen’s pants on fire and watch them bark like madmen. What did they mean by taking our home? I’d teach them a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget.
“You’ll kill that baby,” said Gerald again.