by Leah Day
She flew down the steps three at a time. The witch had heard her shout and was just turning to look when Mally caught her in the back and shoved. Menda bounced down the steps and landed with a sickening thud on the ground.
“Protect Grandma!” Mally yelled and a massive flock of birds took to the air. Dozens of flying geese swooped out of the sky and surrounded Grandma, forming a thick ring of triangles around her body.
Mally kept her eyes fixed on the witch. Part of her torso had untwisted and her arms flopped uselessly in the air. With a thunder of marching feet, animals emerged from the trees.
“Come to finish the job, Mally May?” Menda slurred. The stuffing in her head had shifted again and only half of her mouth moved. “Ready to be a killer and Queen?”
“If that’s what it takes, yes,” Mally said, pulling out her largest pair of scissors from her back pocket. But she hesitated, shifting from foot to foot. Menda’s mouth crooked up in one corner and she laughed softly.
“It’s one thing to rip a creature when her back is turned. It’s another thing to look me in the eye while you end me.” Her head wobbled from side to side as she chuckled. “I’ve grown to enjoy those expressions. Your rabbit was especially fun. She was so sweet and innocent. Right up to the second I carved out her chest. I watched her eyes change. I warned you. She’ll never be the same again.”
“Stop it!” Mally shouted. She jumped down the last two steps and leaned over the witch, brandishing the scissors in her face. “What did you do with her missing pieces? Where are Shadow’s pieces? How do I fix them?”
“Fix them, HA!” Menda barked out a laugh as she rolled awkwardly to one side. “You have no idea what it means to be queen. You’re just a stupid little girl playing pretend. As I said… She will never. Be. The same. Again.” She stretched out each word. The stuffing in her head shifted and her mouth suddenly bulged in a wide grin.
Without warning the witch lunged forward with shocking speed. She lashed out and the scissors flew from Mally’s hand. The witch’s contorted body wound around her in seconds, her long arms clamped around her neck. Mally felt the sharp bite of metal press against her throat.
“Back up! Back off!” the witch barked at the animals surrounding them. “You make one more move, you’ll get to see a Maker turned inside out. And you —” She waved her seam ripper at the flying geese surrounding Grandma. “Take off. My Maker needs to see what she made.”
The birds took flight at her command. Grandma rose shakily to her feet and watched as Menda pulled Mally up the steps one by one. The witch’s arms were surprisingly strong and gripped her neck so tight she could barely breathe.
Mally struggled against her hold, but the seam ripper bit deep into her skin and she gasped at the sharp pain. The witch jerked her close as they neared the Open Door as she shouted at the top of her voice.
“Is this your queen? Did you really think a child could beat me?” She gripped Mally’s hair in her fist and shoved her down, forcing her to sit on the top step so she could stand above her.
“Menda Amare, stop this. She doesn’t have anything to do with you,” Grandma called. “Let me take her home. We’ll leave and you can have this world all to yourself.”
“That’s not good enough!” Menda shrieked. “I deserve to be worshipped! You will stay here forever and make me anything I want! And it all starts with me being Queen.”
Mally felt the crown being lifted from her head. She could do nothing to stop it. Tears streamed down her face as the familiar weight disappeared. She turned and watched Menda lift the crown high into the air. Light from the door and the rising suns glinted off the silver and gold fabrics.
“I have the crown! Bow to me! I am your Queen!” The Ripping Witch brought the patchwork ring down and settled it around her lumpy head. She threw out her arms and screamed. “Bow!”
But no one moved. Row after row of mice, turkeys, monkeys, frogs, cats, foxes, chickens, and bears all stood still as statues, staring up at her. There was a ripple through the crowd as a few animals crossed their arms or turned their backs.
A band of glittery ducklings suddenly raced around the bottom of the courthouse steps, giggling madly. The laughter rippled through the crowd and suddenly everyone was laughing. Bears slapped their knees as the flying geese nearly fell off their branches, doubled over with mirth.
“I said bow! Why aren’t you obeying me?!” Menda shouted. She looked on the verge of screaming again when the crown on her head suddenly exploded. Four silver and gold birds burst from the center and attacked her mitten hand. Her last weapon flew in a wide arc and disappeared into the Open Door.
Menda stumbled backward. She caught herself on the door frame, shaking her head from side to side. The light in the door wrapped around her dark body. Even from several steps away, Mally could feel the pull of the real world sucking her inside.
“It would help if you knew your quilt blocks,” Grandma said. “Menda Amare, you should’ve known the difference between a Chimney Swallows and Coronation block.”
“What? How could you trick me like that?” Menda cried, her voice suddenly high and pleading as she clung to the door frame.
“I found a book of quilt blocks in the Great Tree,” Mally explained. “That block was listed by both names, but once I made it, the birds were more than happy to help out.” She waved to the chimney swallows as they flashed around the steps, then soared off with a glimmer of gold and silver fabrics.
“No! I am the Queen of Quilst!” the witch shrieked, but her velvet hands slipped on the soft fabric. She was sliding into the door frame, one inch at a time. Her eyes fell on Grandma. “You did this to me! You made me what I am! This is MY world! MINE!!!”
Her last shriek stretched out long and high. Then the sound cut off abruptly as her body disappeared into the bright light of the Open Door.
Ringing silence filled the air and Mally let out a great sigh of relief. “She’s gone,” she whispered. Then she turned and lifted her arms high and yelled the words. “She’s gone!”
The shout was taken up and soon turned into a roar as everyone in Quilst celebrated. Something tickled her bare leg and she looked down to find Ms. Bunny scrambling up to her shoulder. She scooped her friend into her arms and hugged her hard.
“We won,” she whispered. As she pulled away she noticed Ms. Bunny wasn’t smiling, but there wasn’t time to ask what was wrong. They were immediately engulfed by a crowd of animals all laughing, talking, and cheering at once.
A trumpet blast sounded and Thimble appeared at the bottom of the steps with Hoop and Pattern at her side. The elephant carried the real crown balanced on her long trunk. Mally had left it with her just in case their plan didn’t work.
The crowd around Mally hushed as the three animals walked slowly up the steps. Hoop lifted the crown and placed it back on her head, then hung her scissor necklace back around her neck.
“Thank you,” Mally said with a sigh of relief. The crown rested still and steady on her brow. Quilst was whole once more.
“Thank you, Maker,” Hoop said, then whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” Mally shook her head, confused as another voice rang out over the crowd.
“The Maker of Menda has been found.”
The crowd parted to reveal Oak standing at the foot of the Courthouse Steps, her long mane blowing in the wind. Shadow was perched on her back, the red heart stitched on his chest clearly visible even from a distance. A few animals Mally had never seen before clustered around the horse, their eyes wide and wary.
Mally didn’t have a chance to wonder about the new creatures as Oak shouted, “Grace Wright, step forward.”
A murmur ran through the crowd as Grandma moved into the open space. She walked up the steps slowly, her head bowed. When she reached the top, Mally couldn’t help herself. She threw her arms around her. “Grandma!”
“Intention or not, you are the Maker of Menda. The harm she inflicted on Quilst may never be fully healed and you are responsible,” Oak said. “As proclaimed last night by the Queen of Quilst herself, ‘the Maker of Menda must leave the world of Quilst forever.’”
“Wait, right now?” Mally cried. She glanced from face to face and found many animals were avoiding her gaze. “Menda’s gone. I thought we would have a day together at least.”
“No, she’s right. It’s for the best,” Grandma said softly. She turned to gaze out over the landscape she had made, one stitch at a time. “I loved it here. It was such a surprise the first time I came. Well, you must know what that’s like.” She smiled, glancing at the crown on Mally’s head, then she spotted Ms. Bunny sitting on her shoulder and chuckled softly. “This is an incredible world, isn’t it?”
“But where have you been this whole time? Why didn’t you come home?” Mally gripped her wrinkled hands. Her heart squeezed tight at the sight of Grandma’s thick knuckles and paper thin skin.
“Ah, I’m afraid that’s a very long story. Much too long to begin right now. Let’s just say if I could have come home, I would have… I never meant for anyone to know I’d even been gone.”
“But what are you going to tell Mama?” Mally asked. “She’s been looking for you for months. She’s… changed. And Daddy. He might have seen me leave the last time. What will you tell them?”
Grandma smiled. “Did you get that quilt block I left you? I saw a pretty bird sneaking around and figured she would get it to you.”
“The hourglass? Yes, that’s how I was able to turn back time to save you, but how did you know it would work?
“Menda Amare let a lot slip. She happened to mention there were lots of new animals loose in the world and I put two and two together. I figured if you could bring a Monkey Wrench block to life, an hourglass might just turn back time.”
“It should have worked for you too.” Mally was confused. “I brought all of the animals to Quilst when I was just a Maker, before I was queen.”
“Didn’t you notice yesterday was a lot longer than it should have been?” Grandma winked. “I might have stretched things out a bit. But I’m ready to go home now, Mally May.”
“What do you… Oh.” The crown planted an image in her mind. The hourglass block tossed in the middle of the Open Door. “Do you think it will work?”
“Only one way to find out.” Grandma gave her one more hug, then turned to face the Open Door. “You’re making something new here, Mally. The only thing you can know for sure is you have a lot to learn.”
Ms. Bunny unpinned the quilt block from her dress and held it out. Mally took it, being careful not to rotate the cloth as she pressed it between her hands and focused on what she wanted. What do I need to say to send Grandma back so she never went missing? She opened her mouth and let the words flow.
“Stitch this Maker back to the hour she first left home. Preserve the quilt, this world of Quilst, exactly as it is today so everyone can live here and flourish.”
Mally threw the hourglass into the door. A strong wind kicked up instantly, blowing her hair into her eyes. All around her animals crouched low, digging their paws into the fabric on the steps. Instead of sucking inward, the rush of air now pushed outward. The white space in the door frame changed. Black, silver, and white threads swirled together creating a vortex of color in the center.
Grandma turned, her hair swirling crazily around her head. “You’ll be coming home soon too?” she asked, but her tone wasn’t really a question. She planted a soft kiss on Mally’s cheek, gave Ms. Bunny’s ear a tweak, and without another word she stepped forward and disappeared into the Open Door.
Mally sighed as the light in the door dimmed. The rushing wind died down, but the swirl of colors remained, beckoning her to return home. If the hourglass block worked, Grandma would be back and it would be as if she’d never gone missing. Would Mama be okay? Would everything be back to normal?
I want to go home, Mally thought. For the first time since she’d stepped inside Quilst, she wanted to leave. She took a step towards the Open Door, then another. She was just one step away when a familiar voice called her back.
“You’re not leaving us without saying good-bye, little Queen?” Patch asked. He’d shrunk down to the size he’d been when they met and was stretched out, sunning himself on the top of the steps. “Hardly like you to stitch and run.”
Mally turned and found all of the creatures of Quilst watching her. Baby chicks flittered between patchwork legs while monkeys and frogs bounced happily up and down the steps. Hoop and Thimble gazed at her from the grassy landscape along with all the new friends she’d made over the last two days. But the pull to return home was overwhelming.
“I’m sorry. I need to go home too,” she said. “I want to make sure Grandma returned safely and if my Mama is… well again. I miss my family.”
“Aren’t we your family now too?” Goldie asked. She was perched on Seam’s shoulder and her triangular face drooped sadly.
“Of course you are!” Mally said quickly. “I just need to make sure everything is okay back home. If the hourglass block worked properly, then I’ll never have to worry about spending time here again.”
“But what about us? Who will lead us?” a baby chick yelled from the back of a pink rooster. Everyone turned to look at her and she rushed to hide under his legs.
“I… um…” Mally was at a loss for words. “I don’t know.”
“She needs to go home, immediately,” Oak called. “With the Ripping Witch gone, we don’t need her here. The trouble only started when the Makers came.”
“Be nice, Oak,” Shadow said in his quiet voice. “Before the Makers came, we didn’t exist. There are a lot more animals in the quilt now. We will need a ruler.”
“She must return. She’s missing school,” Hoop added. She must have sent a bird back to the Great Tree for Mally’s bookbag because she was suddenly carrying it up the steps, slipping the largest pair of scissors back inside. “And we need to check if this time change thing is working.”
“Thank you,” Mally said quietly, slipping the straps over her shoulders. Her head spun as more animals begged her to stay and two mice from the Christmas Gang ran up to wrap their little arms around her ankles.
“But we’re going to miss her! It won’t be fun without Mally the Maker inside Quilst!” Sunshine cried. In seconds she had a crowd of flying geese chanting ‘Stay! Stay! Stay!’ which pretty much drowned out all other argument.
Mally pressed her hands over her ears and tried not to command everyone to be quiet. Thankfully they all caught on within a few seconds and quieted down on their own.
“What about a regent?” Spool called from the middle of the steps. His blue feathers still stuck up on his head like a mohawk. No one seemed to want to tell him about it. “Someone or several of us could help while she is beyond the Open Door.”
“Like that council of the First Made?” Oak tossed her head. “You know, you were only the first made by THAT Maker. The Originals need a say too. There are more of us than you know.”
The debate heated up again, but Mally ignored them. She caught Patch’s eye and held out her hands.
“Would you take care of this world for me?” she asked.
“Not on your life,” the cat said, lazily stretching his paws over the steps. For the first time in several days he looked like a normal tabby cat. “I’m destined for a decade long cat nap in the sun after this adventure.” It was clear he was joking, but her heart twisted. If Patch wasn’t willing to be her regent, there was
really only one other choice.
Ms. Bunny slipped down from her shoulder. She pressed her paw into Mally’s hand, against the stitches that were still tender. They both knew without speaking exactly what she meant – this is going to hurt.
“You want to stay?” Mally whispered. “Don’t you want to come home with me?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, dear.” Ms. Bunny said, pressing her other paw to her chest. “I don’t think I can leave. I’m tied to this world now.”
Mally’s eyes filled with tears. “I thought kicking Menda out would fix that. But it didn’t, did it?
Ms. Bunny shook her head.
Thick tears slid down Mally’s cheeks as the doll wrapped her arms around her neck. “I’ll take care of things here. I promise. I’ll keep that horse in check.”
Mally laughed in spite of her tears, but wanted to cry all over again as Ms. Bunny lifted one of her ears to dry her eyes. The soft fabric slid over her face and Mally knew she would miss this most of all.
She gave her friend one last hug and set her on the ground in the middle of the tallest step where everyone could see her. Then Mally smoothed her ears around her little chest and adjusted her dress so it hung just right, as if she was still the cloth doll she liked to play with.
The crowd went quiet as Mally lifted the crown off her head. A pulse of electricity shot up her arms and she saw three images in her mind. She followed their direction and pressed her hands together on either side of the crown.
Blinding light burst from the center of the braided ring. As her hands moved, she considered her words. Only when she had it just right, did she raise her face to the crowd and speak.
“I, Mally, Queen of Quilst, have selected a regent to be my eyes, my ears, my voice, my hands and my heart in this world at all times when I am beyond the Open Door. Ms. Bunny, will you accept this duty?”
