“Can all Fairy Godmonsters do that?”
She turns and smiles. “Not a chance.” She purrs, “Call me Faro.”
Chapter 12: Be Prepared To Stop For Enemies
The next morning I’m scared awake by someone pounding on my door.
“You hurt my cat!” screeches Daria.
I lie back on my pillow and moan.
She pounds harder and screams, “What did you do? Gazella never claws curtains.”
No, only live victims, I think.
Kong growls softly in my ear.
“Ssh.” I pat his head.
I wipe the sleep from my eyes with a stiff and aching hand. I roll over. Yeeks! Fairy Godmonster sleeps next to me clothed in a lacy, pink nightgown. If I could be half as cool as she looks asleep, I’d have a dozen boyfriends.
I leap out of bed and notice the time. Nine. Whoa. I missed stable duty and breakfast. I quickly pull on clothes.
Fairy Godmonster removes her mask and opens her yellow eyes. I gasp. Cat, fox and human are combined into an amazing beauty.
Daria wails, “She won’t come out from under the bed.”
“How annoying.” Fairy Godmonster stares at the door, her eyes flashing red. “She has a big mouth for such a little thing.”
Kong whines to get out.
“I have to get Kong to the stable.”
She shrugs. “So, take him out.”
“I’ll get in trouble.”
“Big deal. What can they do, send you to the attic?” She laughs softly.
I walk to the door. “Are you still there, Daria?”
She whines, “Open up.”
“I’m coming out and my dog is with me,” I warn.
“Liar!”
Kong barks, deep and low.
Daria screams. I hear running steps and a door slam.
“Please stay here, Fairy G– er – Faro.”
”If you insist.”
“You can’t come downstairs,” I say.
“I’m trying to figure out how.”
Is she teasing me or does she really mean it? Nervously, I open the door quickly and lock it behind me.
Kong runs down the stairs past Weasel. She barely gets out of his way in time.
“What have you done to my little girl?” She grabs my arm. “Answer me, young lady.”
“Nothing.” I yank away from her. I run after Kong who heads for the kitchen. When I get there, Dad is putting him outside.
He turns around frowning. “He’s supposed to stay in the stable. It’s safer for him.”
He’s seen the scratches.
“I was lonely here while you were gone. It was an accident. I needed more pens from my room and forgot about the cat.”
“David did your stable chores.”
“I’m sorry, Dad. I was so tired from doing the invitations, I didn’t wake up in time. I didn’t mean to keep Kong inside to scare Daria. She didn’t even see him.”
“Why did she scream?”
“He barked at her from the other side of the door.”
Dad turns away from me, but I see him smile. I’m relieved to see a glimpse of the old Dad.
Weasel comes downstairs. “Daria says you’ve done something to her cat.”
“It scratched me.” I show her my hand and the punctures on the top of my head.
“Winifred. Are you all right?” Dad examines the wounds.
“Ow! Still tender, Dad.”
“At least, they’re not infected. Are you all right?”
“Yeah. You couldn’t pay me to be in the same room with that wildcat.”
“I thought you said your daughter’s cat was harmless, Erminia.”
Weasel shrugs. “I imagine that beast you call a dog, terrorized her. She has always been a model cat.”
Dad frowns. “I insist that you keep the cat upstairs in the bedroom at all times until you return home.”
“Of course,” sniffs Weasel.
Whoa. I really want to get out of here. “I finished the invitations, Mrs. Dudley. All five hundred.”
“Five hundred!” exclaims Dad. “All by yourself?”
“Who else was here, Dad? My Fairy Godmother?”
Weasel says, “I don’t allow talking back in my household.”
Dad clenches his jaw. “This is my house.”
Weasel lifts her nose.
I hurry out of the room before more sparks fly. “I’ll get the invitations.”
As I leave, I hear Dad say, “Erminia, that was quite a lot of work to ask of Winifred in one evening. How many people are you expecting?”
“With the great distance from Boston, I doubt there will be more than two hundred or so. It always pays to send out more than you actually want to come. I’ll know for sure when I receive the RSVP’S.”
Wish I could see the look on Dad’s face.
Daria is rattling my attic door when I get upstairs.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
She turns and sneers. “I know you were in my room,” she accuses me.
“My room,” I correct her. I unlock the door. She tries to follow me in. “Get away from me. If you ever try to get in here, I’ll bring my dog back up.”
I see the fear in her eyes. Then defiance. She says as she stomps away, “I’ll find out what’s in there and you’ll be sorry.”
“No, you will. You need to learn to respect other people’s privacy and their property.” I open the door, slam it closed and lock it.
I turn around and freeze. Shiny, modern exercise equipment covers the floor. Fairy Godmonster, in a silver leotard, is riding a stationary bicycle.
“What happened to the furniture?” I gasp weakly.
“Chill. Everything’s still here.”
“Where?”
“In this NTMT chip.”
“In what?” I stare at the four-inch square she removes from her pocket.
“Nanoparticle Transference Miniaturization Transmitter.”
I stare at the transmitter, stunned. Then stammer, “I-I can’t have a gym up here.
Someone will hear you.”
“Don’t concern yourself with trivialities.”
My voice rises. “Trivialities? My life is hard enough without trying to hide you and all this.”
“I got my whip to work. Made the walls soundproof.”
“You can’t stay here.”
Her yellow eyes turn black. “Where do you expect me to stay? In the deep, dark forest?”
“You’re a monster!”
Fairy Godmonster slowly climbs off the bicycle. Her back stiffens with disapproval. Yellow eyes bore into mine.
“I AM A FAIRY GODMONSTER. I expect to be treated as such.”
“Conjure up something.”
She sniffs, “My whip is limited until FIMM gets fixed. Luckily, I always travel with everything I need. I need to exercise every morning. You don’t think looking like this is easy, do you?”
Fairy Godmonster moves gracefully to a weightlifting machine.
There’s a knock on the door. “Go away,” I yell.
“Telephone, Win,” says David.
“Thanks. Be there in a minute.”
I trip over some equipment. Fairy Godmonster grabs me before I conk my head on a barbell.
“You could use some dance lessons to make you more graceful.”
Great. Criticism from my Fairy Godmonster. That’s all I need. I hear hard rock blasting out of the headphones she puts on.
David adds, “Cell phone’s downstairs in the hall. Dad says it won’t work up here.”
The cell phone! It’s Jac. My best friend is the only one who calls me on the cell. I unlock the door and slip out.
“Sorry I yelled, David. I thought you were Daria.”
David grins, “I’ve felt that way a few times myself.”
Locking the door, I run downstairs and grab the phone. Hurrying outside, I sit under the willow tree for privacy.
“Are you home?” I ask. Please say yes. Please
say yes.
“Hi to you, too,” Jac says. “We’re still in Mexico.”
“Oh, Jac. I need you here. I’ve had two bad days.”
“Bad as in awesome or really bad.”
“Really bad. When are you coming back?”
“We’re hoping to be home a few days before the wedding. “What’s going on? She asks.
I tell her everything. Except about Fairy Godmonster.
“Scott sounds cool. Do you like him?”
I think about it. My heart beats faster. “Yeah.”
“I knew it!” she exclaims. “Your voice sounds different when you talk about him.”
I’m glad she can’t see my face.
“Here’s my advice,” she adds. “Be careful around Weasel. She could give you big trouble. Ignore the brat.”
She chats on. “This is what you do. Everything they tell you to. It’s the only way to keep the peace. Weddings are very stressful. Once I was a bridesmaid for my cousin, Perlita. She locked herself in the bathroom with the groom and made the wedding two hours late. The guests ate the reception buffet while they were waiting.”
We laugh and Jac catches me up on her vacation and the three boys competing for
her attention. She keeps talking, her favorite thing to do, until her mother makes her hang up.
I feel better. Until I walk back into the house.
Chapter 13: Road Closed - Deserted
Weasel is waiting for me in the hall. “I need the invitations, Winifred.”
Dad strides into the room. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Erminia. I need to talk to Winifred privately. I haven’t had time to discuss my business plans with her.”
“Of course, Charles.” She smiles at him and joins her husband who is on the phone in the living room. Daria sits next to him, kicking Mr. Dudley’s leg. He ignores her.
I turn to Dad. “What’s up?”
“Let’s go outside.”
I follow him out the back door.
“Win, I’m buying the stallion we wanted.”
“Awesome! This is so great! Wow! Who will you breed him to first? Mitsu? Delilah, Sonora - ?”
Dad interrupts, laughing. “Calm down. I’m as excited as you are. There’s a hitch. The owner won’t hold him until after the wedding. I have to get him now.”
“A road trip.” I sigh with happiness. “It’ll be great, just the two of us.”
“I’m sorry, Win. As much as I want you with me, you have to stay home.”
“What!”
“The stallion is in Florida. If I leave now, I can just make it back before the rehearsal dinner,” Dad says.
“You can’t leave me here. Hire a transport.”
“You know I personally take care of our horses, Win.”
“Please, let me go. You have trouble staying awake. Mr. Winters and his son always take over the ranch when we have to go on a trip.”
“Not this time. Mr. Winters is on vacation and I won’t trust my ranch to anyone else. David is too busy with the wedding.”
He hesitates.
A horrible heaviness seeps into me. I wait for the bomb to explode.
“Now don’t be mad. I asked Scott to go with me. He’s old enough to help drive.”
The world stops. My heart explodes and the ground seems mushy under my feet. I can barely breathe. I stand there, dazed.
“It’s awkward enough, having to leave our guests for over two weeks. Luckily, the
Dudley’s understand and support my decision. I want you to be very grownup.”
“I don’t want to be grownup if it means I can’t be with you,” I mumble.
“We don’t always have a choice. I need you to stay here.”
Stay here? With the rat, the brat and the cat?
“But, Dad - ”
“We’re leaving in a few minutes.”
I shout, “I’m glad you decided to inform me before you left!”
Dad frowns. “Your sarcasm is getting out of control, young lady. I know it won’t be easy for you. Erminia can be demanding. Impossible, even. I don’t have a choice. I expect you to do everything she wants or needs. With respect. I don’t want to come home and hear that you have misbehaved. She is in charge.”
“It’s my house.”
“I know. She’s the adult. Do you understand?”
“I understand that you are leaving me in the hands of a closet dictator. I’ll be lucky to be alive when you return.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic.”
My heart is breaking and he keeps talking.
“I left all the directions for everything on my desk in the stable. I know you can handle it. David and John will help with the outside chores. Can I count on you?”
I hate those words. Count on you. Like it’s okay to be a kid until a dad wants something from you. Why do parents count on you when you don’t want them to?
“Winifred?”
I swallow the bitter taste in my mouth. “Sure, Dad. I’ll take care of the zoo.” Don’t forget to bring back a straitjacket, I think.
The lump in my throat grows when David drives the green and gold horse van out of the barn. My home away from home with all the comforts inside; beds, refrigerator, stove, bathroom as well as horse compartments and hay storage.
David jumps out, leaving the motor running.
I shut down inside.
David says, “Since you’re going to be gone, I’ll use the barn for building everything I need for the garden, Dad. The supplies are supposed to be delivered today. We’ll be lucky to finish in time.”
Dad hugs David. “Good luck, Son. Help Win as much as possible.”
Scott whistles as he comes out of the kitchen with a duffel bag. He stops when he sees my face. “Er, ready to go, Mr. Smith.”
I want to throw up.
John and Claire follow him outside. John ruffles his brother’s hair. “Be good and drive carefully. You’re not used to such a big rig.”
Scott says, “I’ll get lots of practice before we pick up the horse.”
Dad looks at all of us. “I’m sorry I have to leave. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to get this stallion.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” says David. “Claire, John and I will help Winifred. You be safe and don’t worry.”
Scott turns to me. “I’m sorry you can’t go, too.”
I can’t speak, ‘cause if I do, I’ll burst into tears.
Mr. Dudley comes outside. He shakes Dad’s hand. “Have a good trip and don’t
worry about things here. Erminia is great at organizing.”
He goes back inside and I hear Weasel. “I don’t really want to do this, Otis.”
Otis says, “You have to do your part, Erminia.”
“What will I cook?” she asks.
“We don’t need extravagant dinners, dear. Cook something simple, like chili. You haven’t made chili in twenty years.”
Dad winces. “Help as much as you can.” He kisses me goodbye.
I grab his arm. He pats it. “You’ll be so busy with the wedding, you won’t miss me. I’ll call to check in with you. Be good.”
Dad and Scott climb into the van.
I can hardly stand up when Dad drives away. At least, I could talk to Scott. And now he’s gone.
“Dad, don’t leave me. Please come back,” I whisper.
The van disappears around a corner.
“Winfred!” commands Weasel from the back door. “I need those invitations before the mail comes and we need to discuss your chores.”
“I thought we were going to plan them together.”
“You are always gone, so I made them. She hands me a bunch of papers. “Here is the list of daily chores and here is the list of things that absolutely have to be done before the wedding.”
I don’t want to look. I know her lists. I stuff them into a pocket.
“Sorry, the horses come first.” I take off for the stable.
I collapse in Dad’s office chair and read his list. Kong put
s his head in my lap. Pain and betrayal wash over me.
I gotta’ get out of here. I feed all the horses, except Dancer. I bridle him, grab my hardhat and we ride out of the stable.
Daria runs from the house shrieking, “Winifred, Mommy wants you to come at once!”
Dancer does a little sideways hop and rears. “Whoa, boy. Easy.” We were way too close to Daria.
I calm my horse down, burning inside. I see red. “Don’t ever scream around a horse again. Do you want to be trampled?”
Horrified, Daria bursts into tears and scrambles toward the house. “Mommy! She tried to kill me with her horse!” She slams through the kitchen door.
Squeezing Dancer’s sides, we gallop away. The wind rushes through my hair. I wish I could ride and never come back until after the wedding.
Remembering Dad’s instructions, I return two hours later.
Big mistake.
Chapter 14: Detour - Trouble Ahead
I walk straight into the kitchen. Weasel stirs a pot of chili that simmers on the stove.
“That smells good!” I say.
Her back stiffens. “I need the wedding invitations.”
“Sorry, with Dad leaving, I forgot.”
I rush out of the room and hurry to unlock the attic door. Drumbeats pound through my body. I rush inside.
My bedroom has changed into some kind of crazy jungle of orange vines and purple trees with blue leaves.
Fairy Godmonster is dancing in the middle of the room in a tiger-striped jumpsuit. Wild natives with strangely painted faces peer out of the trees and bang on their big drums.
“What are you doing?” I yell over the drumbeats.
“I need to keep in touch with my wild side. Very therapeutic.”
I look around frantically. “Where are the wedding invitations? I need them right away.”
Fairy Godmonster pulls out her NTMT chip and when she pushes the buttons, it chirps like a hungry baby bird. Mom’s bed and the invitations appear in the room. I grab them and rush out the door.
When I return to the kitchen, I ask, “Where would you like me to put them, Mrs. Dudley?”
Her voice shakes me to the core. “They missed the mail today. It’s bad enough that I am not giving my guests the proper amount of time to respond without you causing more delays. Taking off without telling anyone is childish and inconsiderate. I expect more from a teenaged girl.”
My Fairy Godmonster Page 6