Tamora Carter

by Jim Hines

  Farther on, concrete steps curved uphill, past a small shed or security station. A group of peafowl had gathered here, occasionally chirping to one another. Tamora counted nine, five of whom were female.

  How could she tell which, if any, was Karina? Even if she could write perfect Korean, Karina wouldn’t recognize it. Speaking was impossible. Trying to pantomime anything in this body would just convince the other animals she was crazy.

  Flaring her wings in exasperation, Tamora walked to the building and thumped her head against the wall.

  Think like a bird, Tamora. There had to be a way. Her pigeon had no problem communicating with her. Woodstock would scatter seeds, splash water, coo at her, bang his beak against the metal mirror in his cage, and so much more. He had countless ways of letting his human know what he wanted.

  Tamora deliberately tapped her beak against the wooden wall. The impact jarred her face and skull, but it wasn’t too bad. More importantly, it made a nice, sharp sound.

  Television and movies were always showing heroes tapping out secret messages in Morse code. Which would have been perfect, if Tamora had known Morse code. So she tried a different rhythm. Tap-tap-ta-tap-tap.

  Several birds looked at her curiously, but none responded. She tried again. Tap-tap-ta-tap-tap.

  One of the peahens jumped like she’d been stung. She crept closer, her attention locked on Tamora.

  Tamora repeated the pattern one more time, then stepped back to let the other bird take her spot.

  Very carefully, the peahen stretched her neck and struck the wall twice to finish the familiar “Shave and a Haircut” beat. Tap-tap.

  Tamora spread her wings before remembering she couldn’t actually hug Karina like this. The other peahen was equally excited, chirping and shaking her feathers. Karina might not know for certain this was Tamora, but she knew it was another person. She knew she wasn’t alone.

  Karina used a wing to sweep a patch of trail smooth. With both wings outstretched, she bent over and dragged her beak through the dirt. It was much more effective than Tamora’s attempts to draw with her talons. Karina quickly sketched a rectangular shape, topped by a series of spiky triangles. Once she finished, she stepped back, pointed a wing at Tamora, and cocked her head quizzically.

  Tamora studied the drawing, trying to understand. It could be a trio of upward-pointing teeth, or maybe three mountains, or—

  She let out a warbling cry that would have been laughter, had she been human. It was a crown. A crown for Tamora, queen of the goblins. She turned back to Karina and gave a slow, exaggerated nod.

  Karina rushed back to Tamora. They leaned against one another. Tamora could feel Karina’s heart pounding. She would have given so much to be able to talk, to tell the older girl what she’d learned and ask how Karina had ended up here.

  But maybe it was better that they couldn’t talk. This way, Tamora didn’t have to admit she still had no idea how to get them out.

  Chapter 14: Liberation and Library Books

  Something jostled Tamora awake. She hadn’t intended to sleep, but her body had other plans. She yawned, stretched, and immediately fell over.

  Right. She was a peahen now. Her balance was all wrong. She also had a strange craving for bugs.

  Karina nudged her again. That must have been what woke her.

  Tamora scrambled to her feet, her senses alert for danger. It was still dark. Her wings stretched out, her body instinctively preparing to fly away from the threat.

  “Tamora?”

  Dad! The familiar voice burned through her fatigue. She started down the path.

  Karina didn’t move. Tamora spun back and nipped Karina’s feathers, trying to urge the other girl—the other peahen—along. Karina backed away and moved her head from side to side. Tamora let out a loud maow of frustration.

  She could understand Karina’s fear. Karina didn’t really know Tamora’s dad. She might not recognize his voice. Even if she did, how could he have tracked them here? It could be a trick. Neither of them knew everything Ms. Anna could do with her magic.

  But why would the elf bother? Tamora and Karina were both trapped. What would be the point?

  A flashlight beam swept back and forth in the distance. Tamora took several steps before twisting to look at Karina. I’m going, with or without you.

  The next time Tamora walked away, Karina shook her head, but jogged after her.

  They kept to the edge of the path where it would be easier to hide behind benches, bushes, trash cans, or whatever other cover presented itself. The flashlight made it hard to see any details, but Tamora saw at least two figures. One was her father, and the other moved like…was that a goblin?

  “Tam, are you here?” Dad pointed the light into a nearby cage, where a large vulture slept in the corner.

  “So many cages.” It was Gulk’s voice. The goblin sounded terrified. “So many elf prisoners, transformed into beasts.”

  “These aren’t prisoners,” said Dad. “This is a zoo. Humans keep different animals here.”

  “Ah. Gulk understands.” He looked through the bars. “For food.”

  “No, we don’t eat them. We come to the zoo to look at the animals.”

  “Just look? No eating?”

  “That’s right.”

  Gulk stared at him. “Humans weird.”

  Tamora pressed her wing to Karina’s chest, telling her to stay here, then stepped to the middle of the path. She called softly.

  Dad jumped and aimed his flashlight at her like it was a weapon. Gulk dove into the bushes beside the trail.

  Tamora walked closer, silently begging Dad to recognize her. He held up a hand and said, “Easy, there. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

  Tamora brushed the path with her wings, bent down, and drew her beak through the dirt. This was much easier than using her claws. She made the characters as large as she could, for legibility. When she finished, she backed away so Dad could see what she’d drawn.

  수진

  The flashlight fell from his hand as he read the characters for her middle name. “Soo-jin. How…? Tam, is that you?”

  She gave an exaggerated nod and ran to him, pressing her neck and body against his leg. He dropped to one knee and carefully encircled her with his arms.

  “Queen Tamora.” Gulk emerged from the bushes. “Gulk found you!”

  “They said…I didn’t believe it…” whispered Dad. “Who did this to you?”

  Tamora cocked her head, silently asking how the heck he expected her to answer.

  “Elf magic,” said Gulk.

  Tamora nodded again, then pulled away.

  “Wait!” Dad reached for her.

  She didn’t go far, stopping in the shadows where Karina waited. Tamora clumsily patted the other peahen with her wing and led her toward Dad and Gulk.

  “Who’s this?” Dad had retrieved the flashlight, and played the beam over them both.

  “Food?” Gulk asked hopefully.

  Tamora spread her wings and shouted at him. He jumped back, looking abashed.

  “I don’t understand what’s happening here, but we’ll fix this,” said Dad. “You hear me? I’m going to change you back.”

  She knew he was trying to comfort her. But even if they found a way to restore Tamora and Karina, there was nothing anyone could do for the pix who’d died as part of Tamora’s failed plan. Some things couldn’t be fixed.

  * * *

  “Wait here,” Dad said when they reached the front gate. He ducked into a small booth, and Tamora saw a man slumped against the wall. Had Dad punched out a guard to get in here?

  No, that was ridiculous. Ms. Anna must have done something to make sure the man wouldn’t interfere with her delivery of a new peahen.

  Dad checked the man’s pulse, then peeled back one eyelid. “He’s all right,” he assured Tamora. “I mean, I think he is. I can’t find anything physically wrong. I’m calling 911 as soon as we leave, to be safe.”

  Mac waited outside the fence
, along with the pix clad in Vernors armor. Tamora called out with relief to see them both.

  “I like the wings.” Vernors flew over the gate, her own wings buzzing loudly.

  Mac paced in front of the gate, his body rocking with each step. “You found Karina too!”

  Tamora squawked again, then bobbed her head.

  Dad turned from Mac to Karina and back. “How do you know that’s her?”

  “From the way she’s moving.” Mac laughed. “I know how to fix them!”

  Gulk stared. “Human boy does magic?”

  Mac’s fingers flew over his iPad. “Ms. Pookie gave me a library book I’d never seen before, a fairy tale called The Peafowl Princess. It’s like The Six Swans or The Twelve Brothers, with humans who are transformed into birds. It’s type 450 on the Aarne-Thompson classification system. In most versions, the sister has to make shirts to restore her brothers to their human forms. In this story, the brother saves his sister using a well-loved shirt from her wardrobe. But the brother has to face three obstacles before he can reach the wardrobe: an ogre, a serpent, and a witch. A lot of fairy tales include sets of three. He tricks the ogre by—”

  Tamora’s shout made both humans jump. Mac almost dropped his iPad. Once she was sure she had their attention, she walked to Gulk and nipped his purple sequined T-shirt. The T-shirt that used to belong to Tamora.

  “What’s your name again?” Dad asked.

  “Gulk.”

  “Gulk, we need my daughter’s shirt.”

  The goblin hugged his chest and shook his head. “My armor!”

  “You’ll get it back,” Dad snapped.

  “You’re the only one who can save your queen,” added Mac.

  Dad turned to stare at him. “Gulk called her Queen Tamora. When exactly did your sister get promoted to royalty?”

  Mac shrugged and continued to pace.

  Scowling, Gulk stripped off the filthy T-shirt and shoved it at Dad.

  “What do I do with it?” asked Dad.

  “Just put it on her,” said Mac.

  Dad bunched up the shirt and stretched the collar. “Hold still, Tam.” He was using his nurse voice, all calm and reassuring. “Your brother thinks this might change you back.”

  I heard, Dad. I was standing right here. She stepped forward and thrust her head through the shirt. There was no way for her to get her thick, flat wings through the arm holes, so she waited while Dad tugged the shirt over her body.

  An itch like a fresh mosquito bite stung her back. She twisted her head to attack the itch with her beak. Feathers pulled free. Her body was warm, and her skin felt tight, like clothes three sizes too small. She dropped onto her side. Her vision wavered, doubling and shifting like a camera unable to focus. She squeezed her eyes shut to stop the dizziness.

  Her stomach knotted. She flexed her hands, and her knuckles popped. The rest of her joints followed suit, crackling like she was made of popcorn.

  She breathed slowly to keep from throwing up. Gentle hands caught her shoulders and rolled her onto her back. When she opened her eyes, she saw Dad, Gulk, Vernors, and Karina the peahen all looking down at her.

  “Tell me your name, where you are, and what day it is,” said Dad.

  “Tamora Carter. The zoo. It’s either Thursday night or Friday morning.” She frowned. “I missed roller derby practice.”

  “I think being turned into a bird is a valid excuse.” A choked laugh escaped her father’s mouth. He gestured toward her and Karina. “Why didn’t you tell me about all this?”

  She reached up to wrap her familiar, human arms around his neck and shoulders. “I’m sorry. First I didn’t think you’d believe me. Then I was afraid you wouldn’t let me keep looking for Andre. I thought I could do this without help, especially after the dragon.”

  She felt his shoulders tense. “Dragon?”

  “Big dragon!” Gulk said helpfully.

  “You should have told me.” He pulled back and began checking her over with the quick, quiet efficiency he always got in emergencies. He pressed his fingers to her throat and glanced at his watch. “Pulse is a little quick, but not dangerously so.”

  “I’m all right, Dad.” Tamora looked down at herself. She was dressed as before, save for the addition of a tattered ribbon knotted around her neck. A single tug tore it free. The blue ribbon had turned black, and flaked away like ash in her hand.

  She forced herself to meet Vernors’ eyes. “I’m sorry about Captain—about your leader. If I hadn’t—”

  “Starflight,” Vernors said. “That was his name. After a star that fell from the sky the day he was born. Don’t be blaming yourself for what happened, lass. We pix make our own choices, every one of us.”

  “I’ve been looking for you all night.” Dad’s voice shook. “I’ve called half of Grand River trying to find you.”

  She wiped her eyes. “Dad, they took Andre. They’re going to kill him. Kevin and Lizzy too.”

  Karina let out a wail of distress.

  “Ms. Anna told me,” Tamora said. “She killed Starflight, and she threatened to hurt my family, and I couldn’t stop her.”

  “That tears it,” said Vernors. “I’m gonna put an arrow right up that woman’s—”

  Dad cleared his throat.

  “—nose.”

  Tamora stood up, and the ground seemed to tilt. Dad caught her arm and helped her stay vertical until the dizziness passed. “How did you find me?”

  Gulk puffed out his chest. “Gulk and green pix followed Queen Tamora. Wanted to watch queen slay elf.”

  “You were there when that woman took my daughter?” Dad demanded. “And you didn’t do anything?”

  “Elves scary,” said Gulk, as if that explained everything. For a goblin, it probably did.

  “Starflight wanted me there as backup, in case things went sour,” Vernors said. “As the elf was pulling away in her metal carriage, I flew down and settled myself on the rack on top. Ridiculously fast contraptions. I like ’em. I think I ate a couple of bugs on the way, though. I watched her take you in, then flew off to meet up with the garbage-eater there.”

  “No garbage. Pizza and pup tarts!” Gulk pointed to Mac. “Took pix to human wizard with trapped voice for help.”

  “Mac’s no wizard,” said Tamora.

  “He reversed elf’s spell,” Gulk countered.

  Tamora had no answer to that.

  The goblin folded his arms. “Shirt?”

  She pulled off the T-shirt and tossed it to Gulk. To her brother, she said, “Can you turn Karina back too?”

  “I’d need one of her shirts. Something important or significant to her.”

  Tamora thought about it. “Like her cheerleading uniform?”

  “That would probably work.”

  “We should find Karina’s parents,” Dad said firmly.

  Tamora hesitated. “They’re divorced. She lives with her father, but I never saw him when I was over there. I don’t know how to reach either of her parents.”

  “The police could—”

  “Even if they believed us, we don’t have time,” she interrupted.

  He folded his arms. “Time to do what?”

  “To save Andre and the others.”

  “Stop.” Dad rarely raised his voice, but his words sped up and his Tennessee accent grew thicker when he was upset. “Tam, this isn’t a game. It isn’t one of Mac’s fairy tales.”

  “Those fairy tales saved me,” Tamora countered. And wasn’t it convenient that Ms. Pookie had given Mac that particular story? She filed the thought away for later. “Dad, please. I need your help. All of you.”

  He pointed to Gulk and Vernors, then to Karina. “I don’t understand, but you’ve obviously discovered something incredible. You followed clues nobody else could see. I’m proud of you, I really am. But you could have been killed tonight. Do you know how lucky you are?”

  “Andre won’t be that lucky,” she said quietly. “Neither will Kevin and Lizzy.”

  “I
want to help them too, but my first job is to keep you safe. You’re twelve years old. You can’t—”

  “Yes, I can. I mean, we can. Mac, Karina, and I figured out where the portal was, and who was using it. We found the flute Ms. Anna enchanted to control Andre and the others.”

  He didn’t answer. Tamora couldn’t tell if he was listening or simply too angry to speak.

  “I watched her kill Starflight,” she said quietly. “She took another pix, one who was trying to help me.” She was crying again, but she didn’t care. “It’s my fault.”

  “Don’t be daft, girl.” Vernors flew over to hover in front of Tamora’s face. “Ye’re not the one who cast the spell. Ye’re not the one who dashed him to the ground. We know exactly whose fault it was, and we’ll be making darn sure she pays for that, with or without you.”

  “She’s right.” Dad stepped past the pix and clutched Tamora’s shoulders. “Listen to me. What happened isn’t your fault.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Tamora. “I can’t let her hurt anyone else.”

  “Then you understand how I feel. I can’t let you or your brother get hurt.”

  “So help us. Help all of us. I have a plan to get them back from Bansa. Part of a plan.”

  “Bansa?” Dad smiled. “Did you come up with that?”

  “Yeah.”

  For a long time, neither spoke. Tamora held her ground, refusing to look away.

  To her surprise, it was Dad who broke the silence. “All right. Tell me about this plan.”

  Tamora took a slow breath and glanced over at Gulk and Vernors. “Ms. Anna said one elf was worth a hundred of us. I think we should check her math…”

  Chapter 15: Tamora’s Troops

  Tamora hated waiting. Who knew how much time Andre and the others had, or what Ms. Anna would do to Fanta? What if Ms. Anna returned to the zoo and realized Tamora and Karina had escaped? But it wasn’t like they could cram an army of goblins and pix into the trunk of Dad’s car, and having seen Ms. Anna’s power, Tamora wanted all the help she could get.

  They’d returned home instead. Dad would rent a moving truck while the others slept. Vernors volunteered to rest on the roof. She said pix were light sleepers, and she’d wake up if anyone approached. Gulk took Mac’s quiet room in the basement. And Karina followed Tamora to her room.