“Well, classes haven’t been that great. I thought I was doing well, but my professors think I’m no good. I met with Brainstorm Ketty, and she said we might have to consider a cameo role. I was so desperate after hearing that…I almost went to Fester to try out being a bad guy.”
Mrs. Pennington nodded. “So you’ve forgotten.”
“Forgotten what?”
“Who you are,” Mrs. Pennington said quietly. “I did too, when Patch’s father left us. A thing like that will make you feel all kinds of doubt. The worst part is that we all go through hard times that make us forget. Each and every one of us. I remember one night I felt sad about it all, and Patch climbed onto my lap. He just wanted to cheer me up. He told me he liked my pies. They were the best. He told me he thought my eyes were pretty, like marbles. He said my hair was nice and that I made him feel special. He reminded me who I was.”
“You’re not going to do that for me, are you?” Indira asked. She didn’t think she’d like such honest things to be said about her, even if she needed to hear them.
“I won’t sit on your lap,” Mrs. Pennington said with a laugh, “but you do need to remember who you are. You’re courageous. You are kind. I don’t usually entrust Patch to other people, but if I dropped dead tomorrow, it would be all right so long as he had you. You’re thoughtful, too. You picked us when you could have picked other, flashier families. Without you, we’d still be at the Adoption Agency. Oh, the list goes on, Indira. You just have to believe that an Author is going to see everything that we see.”
“Thanks, Mom.” It didn’t feel like pretend. Mrs. Pennington was the real thing.
Patch chose that moment to stumble down the stairs. He had a massive map tucked under one arm and a handful of crayons. He smiled when he saw Indira.
“You’re home! Good.” He waved the map. “We attack at sunset!”
Indira exchanged a smile with Mrs. Pennington. “Not so fast!” she replied. “I told you to stop planning pirate raids for the neighbors. It’s time for bed! Indira, you’re grounded. Patch, back upstairs. Scoot, scoot, scoot. Let’s get moving.”
Before Indira could push up to her feet, though, the entire right wall of their house started to collapse. Instinct had her reaching for the hammer at her hip. Were they under attack? Another part of her brain thought maybe she was hallucinating. The wall landed with a boom, dust rising, and Indira squinted. Five people were sitting in directors’ chairs, clipboards in hand, all of them taking notes. The five of them exchanged smiles before one of them stood.
“Bravo! What a moving scene. All the advice was just pristine, Mrs. Pennington!” The spectacled man was walking forward, hand outstretched. “Not to mention that comic relief Patch provided toward the end. Flawless delivery! You’ve got the highest marks this season.”
Mrs. Pennington’s cheeks bloomed red. She shook the man’s outstretched hand and glanced over at Indira, clearly confused. “Was—I’m sorry. What’s happening?”
“Auditions, of course!” the man exclaimed. “Surely you read the semester outline? We’ve started doing our randomly appointed observations. This scene was just brilliant. As I’ve said, highest marks all year. We’ll get to work on your story placement right away. There’s a formal exam that you’ll still need to take, but you’re clearly a natural!”
Mrs. Pennington blushed even more. “How long have you been behind the walls?”
“We set up this morning!” he said.
“Oh—oh!” Mrs. Pennington covered her mouth. “You didn’t hear…”
“Your solo performance of the entire Adele collection?” He nodded. “Definitely heard all of that. For hours. Don’t worry! That only counted in your favor. Potentially embarrassing singing! That’s very in with our teenage characters at the moment.”
Mrs. Pennington buried her face in her hands. “Oh dear.”
“Anyway,” the man said, “we’ll get out of your hair. Great job! There’s a story waiting for you out there, I’m sure of it. Good luck on the formal exam!”
It took a few minutes to get the wall put back up and for all five of the random board members to exit. Indira watched it all with curiosity. She’d known that the family auditions in Fable were different, but the idea that you could be auditioning without having any clue? It was a little terrifying. She was just glad that the Penningtons’ audition had gone so well. Her performance and story placement depended on how she performed in school, but she still felt as if she was a part of the Pennington family, and the idea of them getting into a story made her heart leap with excitement too.
She went upstairs after the dust settled and helped Mrs. Pennington get Patch to bed. When the little guy finally fell asleep, Mrs. Pennington hurried Indira down for a celebratory ice cream. After that, she insisted that Indira was still grounded, even with all the good news.
That made Indira smile. She needed sleep about as much as she had needed a good talk. And the success of the Penningtons just made her feel more confident about her own chances. Upstairs, Indira closed the door to her room. Mrs. Pennington had made her bed and cleaned the whole place. It smelled like home.
Indira had the most vivid dream.
She found herself sitting in an open field. Children were playing in the distance. Someone had given them a bow-and-arrow set. Adults were sitting in a row of lawn chairs, watching them fire arrows at a target. Indira looked to her right and saw the Author she’d seen in the mirror during that first visit to the Talespin with Maxi. He shouted some advice about aiming. Indira could barely make out the words. She took a step closer, curious, when the same voice she’d heard that day thundered around her:
“Mine! Get away! Get out! Mine!”
She woke up to pain throbbing at both temples. Indira’s headache wouldn’t fade, but Mrs. Pennington’s morning bustle was enough to keep the nightmarish voice from the forefront of her mind. Her foster mother saw her off before heading to work. Indira turned the corner and was thrilled to find that Fable had changed costumes yet again. The floating castles had vanished overnight.
Indira walked her familiar route and found herself in a dusty Wild West town. Horses swished their tails, tied to posts in front of saloons and general stores. Marks strode by her, tipping their cowboy hats and chewing straw. The city shone under a baked-red sun. Indira even saw a pair of wizards casting tumbleweeds from one of the rooftops. It felt like an appropriate setting. Indira had the feeling a showdown was on the horizon.
She found the school easily. Even in the chaos of carriage-filled streets, Protagonist Preparatory towered over the other buildings, still looking a little older and more stately. Its wooden doors were thrown open in welcome. Indira took a deep breath and made her way inside. She went straight to Hearth Hall in search of little Margaret.
Unfortunately, the room was empty. It was still early, but her friend wasn’t in her normal spot in front of the Courage Hearth. She sat down to wait and listened to the fire’s quiet reassurances. “I thought I’d find you here,” a voice said behind her. Gavin Grant rocked her chair and smiled. “Decided to take the day off yesterday, huh?”
She smiled back. “Something like that.”
“Well, you missed all the good stuff. Margaret was suspended.”
Indira nearly fell out of her chair. “Our little Margaret?”
“I don’t think the word little suits her now,” he replied. “She confronted Chem. Big-time shouting match, but Margaret totally won. It was all over school.”
“I guess you’re right. I need to stop thinking of her as little Margaret.” Indira shook her head in disbelief. “I feel bad, though. I wasn’t trying to get her in trouble.”
Gavin shrugged. “Don’t worry. She needed it. She wasn’t crying or anything when she told me what happened. Looked kind of like she’d finally come out of her shell.”
Indira tried to picture it an
d couldn’t. “She really yelled at Chem?”
“Let’s just say Margaret wasn’t using her inside voice,” Gavin replied. “She’ll be back tomorrow, I think. Did you hear about Brainstorm Vesulias?”
Indira nodded. “Underglass cleared him.”
“Off the hook. Guess Montague’s attacker is out there somewhere. He’s still in the infirmary.”
Indira didn’t know how to respond. She’d stopped suspecting Vesulias, but what would happen if they uncovered that Brainstorm Ketty had been behind the attack? She just hoped that Brainstorm Underglass would actually believe her. The warnings Deus had given echoed back to her: You’re already caught up in what’s going on….Be a hero. Trust your instincts.
“Speaking of Montague,” Indira said, “has he said anything yet?”
Gavin shook his head. “Apparently, it’s a pretty complicated spell. And he can’t exactly tell them anything, ’cause whoever did it took his voice.”
Indira considered that detail for the first time. The attacker—Brainstorm Ketty, she felt sure of that now—had gone specifically after his voice and his eyes. There was no question about that.
“And you’ve heard about the dreams, right?” Gavin asked.
“The dreams?” Indira asked. Her dream had certainly been memorable. She still had a little lingering headache. “What dreams?”
Gavin gave her an uncertain look. “Well, everyone had dreams last night. At least, everyone I’ve talked to so far. The folks at the Talespin this morning said it was some kinda fluctuation between the Real World and ours? I don’t know.”
“Fluctuation?” Indira asked, heart pounding.
“Beats me.” Gavin looked at her and frowned. “Hey, where’s your jacket?”
Indira groaned. So much had happened over the past few days. She’d completely forgotten that the dog-ear had stolen her jacket. “Lost it.”
“Rough week,” he said. “Anyway. I’m late for Dorothy’s Right Place at the Right Time class. How about we catch up in Darcy’s?”
Indira headed to Mr. Threepwood’s class. Wanted signs had been posted all over the school. They had a blank outline of a person and warned characters to be watchful for any suspicious activities. If they saw someone using illegal magic, they should report it immediately. Her class buzzed with conversation about the dreams. It was honestly nice to discover none of the conversation was about her and Chem. She heard students recounting what they had seen and how it had felt and what it could mean.
Mr. Threepwood spent five minutes calming everyone down before realizing it would be more fruitful to tackle the topic that had his class’s attention. “All right, all right,” the ponytailed teacher said. “Settle down. This is just one of those odd little things that sometimes happen when our world brushes shoulders with the Real World.”
“But what does it mean?” one of the protagonists asked.
“Normally? Nothing. There have been characters who meddled with the connection between the two worlds before. Bad things always happen. Normally, though, it means that the two worlds are just growing.”
“But isn’t it weird that we all had the dreams at the same time?” Maxi asked.
Indira glanced sideways at her friend. The two of them hadn’t had time to touch base yet today, but Maxi seemed to be keeping up normal spoiled-protagonist appearances with the other characters. Indira still couldn’t process the idea that her friend was on a quest to be some kind of secret agent. It was pretty cool.
Mr. Threepwood answered, “That is a little strange, I suppose. There have definitely been times in history when Imagination has reacted to what’s happening in the Real World. It’s not an exact science, though. It could be anything.”
“So what will happen now?” Maxi asked.
“I’d guess things will return to normal.”
After the class ended, Indira tried to get Maxi’s attention, but her friend glided past her without a word. Before Indira could say something, their hands grazed. Indira barely held on to the note that Maxi managed to slide into her palm. She had to admit it was a pretty smooth move. Indira waited until she was alone in the hallway to read the glittered message:
Can’t hang today! I have some “shopping” to do today.
Meet me in the Red Slippers Lounge tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.
I heard there’s some really cool shops that you might like in the Librarian Hall of Fame.
I’m pretty sure you’d like their new Checkshire scarves!
Take a look and we can show each other our new “outfits” tomorrow!
Indira wasn’t sure what Maxi had planned, but she doubted it had anything to do with actual shopping. Hopefully Maxi could use her skills to dig up more information. It helped that her friend had been a little obvious in her directions for Indira.
There must have been someone or something in the Librarian Hall of Fame that Indira needed to find. The only clear clue she could see was the word Checkshire. She’d heard of cashmere scarves. She’d also heard of Cheshire cats. But what was a Checkshire? Indira tucked the note back into her pocket and headed down the hallway, eager to investigate.
School continued as if things were normal, but outside, a storm was brewing—literally. In between classes, Indira could see the gray clouds gathering, the sky growing as dark as a whispered threat. Deus had predicted something, Indira just hadn’t known it would be an actual storm.
Indira made it fifty yards before Alice summoned her to class in the usual way. Which is to say, Indira was convinced to climb into a dumbwaiter by a rather aggressive rabbit and lowered into an old, empty ballroom. For the first time, however, she was the first to arrive.
Alice wore her hair in a tight bun. She sat cross-legged on the floor and gestured for Indira to sit next to her. “I finally get to talk to you alone!” she said excitedly.
Indira glanced around the empty room and smiled. “Looks that way.”
“You weren’t in the building yesterday. Were you feeling sick?”
For some reason, Indira felt that Alice already knew the answer.
“No, ma’am. I had some…adventuring to do.”
Alice smiled mischievously. “Naturally. Tell me the story?”
“I’m not sure where to start.”
Alice gave her a grave and important look.
“Begin at the beginning. Go on till you come to the end. Then stop.”
Indira wasn’t certain why, but those words made her feel safe. She told the story about how she’d hunted down the Mark, and how at the last minute she had changed her mind about going to Antagonist Academy. Alice even cried a little when Indira described the visit to her brother. And she really loved the part about the backward sphinx.
“I’ve thought since the beginning that you have such a knack for adventure.” Alice smiled kindly at Indira. “Of all my students, you have the best nose for it.”
Unexpectedly, Alice reached out and plucked at Indira’s nose. She pretended to have stolen it, laughed to herself, and waited. Indira could only frown in return.
“But I thought you didn’t like me,” she said.
“Didn’t like you? Of course I like you. You’re one of my best students.”
“But Brainstorm Ketty…in her office there was a quote…”
Alarm bells rang inside Indira’s head. Not only had Brainstorm Ketty given her cursed stationery, but she had lied to Indira. Why lie about how Alice felt? Had she lied about the other teachers too? There had to be a reason. This was the second piece of evidence that showed Ketty trying to make Indira feel like a bad character. It didn’t make any sense.
“See what I mean?” Alice asked, laughing lightly. “You’re doing it again. Seeking the adventure. Finding the clues. Solving the puzzles. You really are the best.”
“You mean the best of your side characters,” In
dira pointed out.
“No, not at all!” Alice replied firmly. “I have two classes that are only for protagonists. No one else has your instincts. Some of the best I’ve ever seen, honestly. Oh! The others will be here soon. Do you have any other questions?”
Indira stared. The compliment floored her. Only Mrs. Pennington had ever said something so nice. After a second, she remembered that Alice had asked if she had any questions. “Actually, I do have a question.”
“Hurry, then. The rabbits are bringing the other students now.”
“If you have a gut feeling about something, but that gut feeling could get you in trouble with some pretty powerful people, what would you do?”
“I’d take my gut feeling to someone just as powerful.” Alice shrugged. “Or find a way to make that person less powerful? You should always trust your gut, though.”
Indira gave Alice a tight nod. Doors at the other end of the ballroom opened, and her classmates were coming, escorted by the bizarre white rabbits. “Ms. Alice, I know I missed your class yesterday, but I need to go follow my gut. Is that okay?”
“Sounds like an adventure. Always an excused absence in my book.” Alice stood. “Take the dumbwaiter.”
Maxi wanted to meet up tomorrow, but Indira needed to follow her gut. She knew that, in all the classic stories, characters were constantly miscommunicating. Alice was right. She needed to go to someone who could really help them stop Brainstorm Ketty. Indira hadn’t forgotten the crackle of power that had surrounded Brainstorm Underglass down in the Sepulcher. If anyone could match Ketty, it would be the other two brainstorms. Awkwardly, they all kept their offices in the same hallway. Indira headed there, hoping not to run into Brainstorm Ketty along the way. Just in case, she made a mental note that if she did get spotted by her own brainstorm, she’d ask about what school clubs she should join.
Walking down the hallway, she passed the front entrance to Protagonist Preparatory. The doors, as always, stood wide open. Outside, Indira saw lightning strike.
Saving Fable Page 17