The Perfect Match

by E. D. Baker

  “Why does the boss always do that?” one highwayman asked another.

  “He says it’s a tradition in his family. You know . . . kissed the girls and made them cry. And he has to run away before the boys show up.”

  “You mean the law?”

  “Exactly!”

  The leader of the highwaymen tilted his hat to the girls he had just kissed. “Good day, ladies!” he said, then turned and started for his horse.

  The men were riding away when Olot asked everyone if they were all right. Chancy was crying over the loss of her wedding ring, and Cory was so angry about her bracelet that she had knots in her stomach. Daisy and Goldilocks were also upset, but no one was hurt, so Olot went to talk to the centaurs, who were already unhitching themselves. Father and son left a minute later to find the horses and bring them back.

  “You can get in the carriage if you want to,” Olot told the band members. “Although we may be here a while.”

  Cheeble had been unusually quiet the whole time, looking more angry than afraid. He was so mad that he was shaking when he turned to Olot and said, “You should have done something! You’re an ogre! If they’d shot you, even frozen peas would have bounced off your tough hide. Why did you let them do this? I’ve seen you rip people’s heads off for less.”

  “I don’t do that anymore!” Olot growled. “I promised Chancy that I would never rip any more heads off. I always keep my promises, especially to her! If I had gone after those highwaymen, someone in our group was bound to get hurt, and I couldn’t risk anyone’s safety that way.” The look Olot gave his wife was so tender that no one could have doubted who he really meant.

  “Huh!” was all Cheeble said. He was the first back on the carriage, stomping to his seat so hard that the whole carriage shook. Perky and Skippy climbed on next with Daisy close behind, while Olot took Chancy aside so they could talk in private.

  Instead of getting on the carriage, Goldilocks joined Cory at the side of the road. “Why did you kiss him like that?” Cory asked her. “You looked as if you liked it at first.”

  Goldilocks opened her hand to reveal a small box. “I noticed the shape of this in his top pocket. I couldn’t stop him from taking our jewelry, so I decided to take something of his instead. I thought if it was valuable enough, he might give our jewelry back to us in exchange for this. I kissed him so I had enough time to take it from him.” Both girls leaned closer when Goldilocks lifted the lid. Inside the box, a ring with a huge diamond sparkled on a bed of velvet.

  “If that’s real, it’s probably worth a lot of money,” said Cory. “If it is, would you still want to exchange it for our jewelry?”

  Goldilocks nodded. “My father gave me that necklace shortly before I was kidnapped. It’s the only thing I have from my real father.”

  “It may be a while before we can find the highwaymen and get our jewelry back,” said Cory.

  “I don’t care how long it takes,” Goldilocks replied. “That necklace means the world to me!”

  CHAPTER

  13

  Cory had begun to think that the centaurs might never bring the horses back. After they left, she had expected to see them again at any moment, but after hours of waiting, the only creatures that emerged from among the trees were a doe and her two fawns. Cory stayed in the carriage for a long time, but she finally got out to walk up and down the road, never going out of sight of the carriage in case the highwaymen returned. Daisy joined her for a little while, and Chancy walked with her a few minutes, but no one seemed to be as antsy as Cory.

  When the centaurs finally did come back, they had two horses with them. After tying them to a tree, they went in search of the others. The centaurs were back with a gelding in less than an hour, but the fourth horse seemed more elusive and it was almost dark when they returned, leading the last nervous mare.

  Everyone climbed into the carriage then and the mood was suddenly better than it had been all day. After the long, private conversation she’d had with her husband, even Chancy was in a better mood. Rested and cheerful, Cheeble led them in some of their favorite songs, making the rest of the trip pass quickly. They were between songs when they first heard the waterfall. After that they were too excited to sing.

  Daisy was chattering, fairly bouncing on her seat, when they finally approached the river. Fast and deep, the water rushed past as the road followed the course of the river upstream, although it was too dark to see much. When they reached the two protective jetties where the ferry was supposed to be docked, the ferry wasn’t there.

  Although Cory and her friends could see the shape of the island and the castle it supported, the sky was overcast and they couldn’t see either one very well. Olot got out to learn what was going on, and was back a few minutes later to repeat what he had heard.

  “The only way to get across is to wait until the Head Water Nymph calms the water. She was here earlier, but when we didn’t show up like we were supposed to, she went back to the castle. Horace has gone to see about sending word that we’re here. It may take a while because someone over there will have to find her. The temperature is dropping, so Horace has agreed that we can stay in the carriage until the ferry is ready to go. Sit back and relax. We’ll cross as soon as we can.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” grumbled Cheeble, his foul mood returning. “You get to walk around outside and be in the thick of the action while we’re stuck in here.”

  “You’re welcome to come out if you’d like,” Olot told him. “You all are. I just thought you’d be more comfortable in here.”

  “Maybe I will and maybe I won’t,” grumbled the brownie. “I’m going to walk around.”

  No one else seemed interested in going with him, so he stomped off by himself. He was back in a few minutes, shivering. “The wind coming off that water is really cold!” he said, blowing on his fingers to warm them.

  “The water comes from high in the mountains,” said Chancy. “It’s said to be clean and pure and almost as cold as ice.”

  “I can believe it,” Cheeble muttered as he returned to his seat.

  Most of them had fallen asleep in the darkened carriage by the time the Head Water Nymph showed up. She was an older woman with round, pink cheeks and gray hair pulled back in a severe bun. Although she would barely come up to Cory’s shoulder, she seemed larger than that with her authoritative voice and piercing gaze.

  Olot was waiting inside with the others when she arrived. A few people were talking in quiet voices until she stepped into the carriage. “My name is Serelia Quirt. I’m the Head Water Nymph at Misty Falls. I understand you’re ready to cross.”

  Olot jumped to his feet. “Yes, ma’am, we are.”

  “Then get your luggage moved and start boarding. I have a warm bed waiting for me and I aim to be in it soon.”

  Olot followed the nymph out the door, and hurried to take charge of unloading the instruments and getting them on board. The centaurs helped move most things, while Olot, Skippy, Perky, and Goldilocks jumped in to help when they could. When they had everything on the ferry, the band members started boarding. A few of them were wearing warm coats, but the rest were shivering so hard that their teeth chattered.

  “Olot told everyone that it gets cold here at night and you should all bring warm coats!” Chancy said, looking at them accusingly.

  Goldilocks gave Cory an irritated look. “No one told me.”

  “I thought we were going to get here during the day and I wouldn’t need my coat right away,” Daisy told them. “But don’t worry; I have extras of everything. We’ll just have to wait until I unpack because I don’t remember which bag I put my coats in.”

  Shivering, Cory didn’t say anything. She really hadn’t paid attention when Olot told them what to bring, so she didn’t have anyone to blame but herself.

  With all their luggage and instruments taking up two-thirds of the ferry, they had to stand huddled together at one end. Cory had been on ferries before, but never one crossing su
ch a wild river. She’d expected the nymph to calm the water so that it was almost placid, but it was still rough when they started across. Even so, she could see from the strain on the nymph’s face how much effort it took to reduce eight-foot waves to ones that wouldn’t overturn the ferry.

  Between the dark of night and the mist from the falls, there really wasn’t much to see other than the waves lashing the ferry. Everyone had a death grip on the railings, but while some of Cory’s friends seemed to be enjoying the ride, others were turning pale and glassy-eyed. The next time she glanced at her companions, Olot was hovering beside Chancy, who was getting sick over the side. A swell lifted the ferry and let it slam back down, and suddenly Cory felt ill, too. Her nausea grew as the ride continued until she wondered if one could die from it. Even after they reached the island and had staggered ashore, her stomach roiled and she had to fight to hold in the little she had eaten that day.

  The rest of the evening went by in a blur as the steward greeted them and showed them to their rooms. Although Chancy and Olot got a room of their own, Cory, Daisy, and Goldilocks would share one, while Cheeble, Skippy, and Perky would share another. As soon as the steward pointed out her room, Cory went in and collapsed on a bed, leaving Daisy and Goldilocks to join Cheeble for dinner. Everyone else was too ill to eat, and they were going straight to bed.

  When Cory awoke the next morning, she had only the fuzziest of memories about the night before. She pulled the covers back and found that she was still wearing the clothes she’d worn on their trip. Climbing out of bed, she was happy to see that someone had brought their luggage into the room during the night. She was wondering what to wear when she saw that some clothes had been laid across the bench at the foot of each bed and recognized the gowns that Chancy had made.

  Daisy and Goldilocks were still asleep in their own beds when Cory started changing her clothes. She liked the green gown edged with silver lace the best, but decided to save it for their performance. The simple blue dress with embroidery around the neck was very comfortable. Both gowns gave her enough freedom of movement to play her drums.

  Cory was brushing her hair when Daisy woke up. “How do you feel today?” her friend asked.

  “Fine,” said Cory. “Actually, I’m starving.”

  “Me too!” Daisy said, throwing back the covers. Spotting the clothes at the end of her bed, she jumped up and picked out the bright yellow gown. “I’ve been looking forward to wearing this! What do you think? Won’t it look heavenly on me?”

  Cory laughed as her friend twirled in place, holding the dress in front of her.

  “Do you have to make a racket?” Goldilocks asked, glaring at them through bleary eyes. “I’m still trying to sleep.”

  “Sorry!” Daisy said brightly. “I’ll get dressed and Cory and I will be out of here.”

  Mumbling to herself, Goldilocks pulled the covers over her head.

  While Daisy changed into the yellow gown, Cory studied the room. The three narrow beds and trunks took up one entire side. Two chairs and a small table had been placed by the opposite wall, with a third chair next to the only window. Although it was a fairly small room, it was cozy with creamy walls and coverlets and upholstery awash in pale pink with tiny, multicolored flowers. Someone had placed a bouquet in a pale green vase on the table, and there were pictures of the castle and the falls on every wall.

  “I’m ready!” Daisy announced, then cast a worried glance at the lump in Goldilocks’s bed. Gesturing to Cory, she pointed to the door and led the way, tiptoeing.

  There wasn’t anyone in the corridor when they shut the door behind them. Cory had no idea which way to go, but Daisy turned left and started walking as if she knew where she was headed.

  “They said that an informal breakfast is served in the great hall every morning. You wouldn’t believe how many dishes they served last night. We got here too late to eat with everyone else, but they’d saved us some food and we ate in a corner of the hall. I’m sorry you missed it. Everything was delicious! Although I do have to tell you, most of the people here are humans and they do eat meat.”

  Cory winced. Fairies never ate meat and she grew up believing she was a full-blooded fairy. She could eat meat if she wanted to, she supposed, but the thought turned her stomach, which wasn’t quite as recovered as she’d thought. “I’ll stick with fairy fare,” she told Daisy, who would never consider eating anything else.

  They saw a few people in the corridor, and began to see more as they approached the entrance of the great hall. The people arriving and the people leaving were trying to edge past a group who had stopped to talk in the entrance.

  “It’s rude of those people to block the entrance that way,” Cory said to Daisy.

  “That’s the prince and his friends,” said the woman behind them. “They do whatever they want here, and no one tells them they can’t.”

  Cory didn’t care who it was, she didn’t think it was right. As she edged past the crowd, she tried to spot the prince. A number of the young men had dark hair like Rupert, but she couldn’t see all their faces. The ones that she could see were very handsome, however, and she wondered how many of them were royalty. She paused for a moment to take a second look at one of the young men. There was something about him that was vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t figure out what it might be.

  When Cory and Daisy finally entered the hall, they found that one end was reserved for those eating breakfast, while the rest of the hall was filled with people going about their everyday business. Many were just sitting around talking, but some were sewing or polishing weapons, some were playing chess or jacks, and a few were trying to sleep on benches placed against the walls.

  “Look at these people,” Cory whispered to Daisy. “I wonder where they put them all.”

  “It looks as if that man slept there all night,” Daisy said, pointing to a man who was sound asleep on a bench with his belongings piled up beside him.

  “Either we were very fortunate, or someone thinks very highly of Zephyr. They gave us three rooms to use!” said Cory.

  Heading toward the side where breakfast was being served, they passed a table that had been set up to display a scale model of the castle. It was the model that Cory’s maternal grandfather had been building the last time she visited her grandparents. With all of the scales attached and the last details finished, it looked even more beautiful than she remembered it.

  “That’s gorgeous!” said Daisy. “This card says it was built by Clayton Fleuren. Cory, isn’t that your grandfather?”

  Cory nodded. “He is,” she said, but the press of people made them move on and the girls turned toward the breakfast table.

  They found seats with a group of jugglers who had to move their juggling pins aside to make room for the girls. “Hello, ladies,” said a young man around their own age. “New arrivals?”

  Cory nodded. “We got here last night. Oh, thank you,” she told a girl in servant’s clothes who had handed her a bowl of steaming porridge laced with cinnamon and nuts.

  “Are you with the group Zephyr?” the young man asked. “We heard that they didn’t get here until late. Everyone was worried that you weren’t coming.”

  “You know about us?” asked Daisy.

  “Everybody does! You’re the most popular band around! Anyone who makes it in town is a really big deal out here in the kingdoms.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Daisy said. From the look she was giving the young man, Cory wondered if her waiter boyfriend’s days were numbered.

  “Have you been here long?” Cory asked him.

  “Almost a week,” he told her. “My name is Jarid, if you’re interested.”

  “Oh, I am!” said Daisy.

  Cory leaned a little closer, earning a nasty look from Daisy. “Then I bet you know who everyone is and everything that’s happening here.”

  “Sure do!” the young man told her. “Let’s see . . . That’s the steward, Sorly. He’s all right, although a little short
tempered if you knock something over with a juggling pin and break it. And that’s Lady Clementine, one of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting. She doesn’t talk to jugglers.”

  Cory listened intently, trying to remember everything Jarid said about people, while Daisy made dreamy eyes at the young man. According to Jarid, the royal family consisted of Rupert’s father, King Cole, and mother, Queen Aleris.

  “Princess Lillian is here with her parents, of course. King Doegolf and Queen Irene don’t talk to anyone but other royals. Lillian is nice, though. There she is. Rupert’s there, too, over by that crate.”

  Cory turned around on the bench, but Daisy stood up until Jarid pulled her back, saying, “Don’t be so obvious!”

  Rupert looked just like the picture Chancy had shown the band. He stood in the middle of the hall with a girl who was a few years older than Cory. Lillian looked sweet and innocent with softly curling light-brown hair and a heart-shaped face. While Rupert told a servant how to pry the crate open, Lillian pretended to be excited about whatever was inside; Cory thought she looked nervous. When the last nail holding the crate closed was pulled out, Rupert made a show of presenting it to Lillian and opened the door himself.

  Apparently, he thought something was going to come out. When nothing happened, he took one of the just-removed boards and poked it into the crate. A copper-colored creature no bigger than the bread box in Cory’s kitchen shot out of the crate only to curl up on the floor and whimper.

  Prince Rupert looked disgusted. Taking a whistle on a chain out from under the neck of his tunic, he blew into it until he ran out of breath.

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Daisy said in a loud whisper. “What kind of whistle is that?”

  “Just watch!” Jarid replied.

  The little creature covered its head and shook as if it was in pain while everyone looked around in anticipation. Only a few seconds passed before something blue flew into the hall and landed at the prince’s feet. The people closest to the prince stepped back, leaving a bigger space around him and Lillian. The princess gasped and tried to back away as well, but Rupert’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm so that she couldn’t go anywhere.