Chapter 8
As time will, it passes in what seems the blink of an eye. We were armpit deep in customers shortly after the doors opened and not very long after that an ill wind blew in, in the form of a sensuously, beautiful woman – her body svelte, her hair hung long, dark, and unruly over her shoulders. Lengthy lashes, I swore were fake, fluttered over her jet orbs that held a mischievous gleam. Her garb turned heads as she strolled through the room toward the cupcakes displayed in the case. All she needed was a witch hat to finish off the outfit.
“Dona DeMaie,” she said as I stepped up to take her order.
“That’s lovely, what can I get for you?” I asked with a light smile and a full-on sense of dread.
“Would you happen to have any faerie wings to go with the faerie cakes?” Dona asked conspiratorially. “I adore faerie wings, they melt in my mouth like spun sugar.”
If she was talking cotton candy, she sure wasn’t from around here. Nobody called it spun sugar, and I was certain that’s what Dona meant.
I gave her a look, like the one your mother gives you when you’ve said something bizarre. “We’re fresh out. Would you like a cupcake and a cup of tea?”
Following a huge, dramatic sigh, Dona shook her head in despair. “I really wanted faerie wings. You’re sure you don’t have some stored in the cupboard?”
“Ms. DeMaie, we don’t serve faerie wings, chicken wings, or any other kind of wings, at Faerie Cake Junction. You have your choice of cupcakes and tea – no wings.” I smiled patiently. Had the woman escaped the funny farm? Was I having a bad dream? Would somebody kindly wake me up?
Ms. DeMaie spread her hands on the glass, her gaze measuring me. With a chilling glint in her artistically made-up eyes, she said, “I said I wanted faerie wings, not chicken wings. What kind of place offers faerie cakes, but no wings?”
“Madam, cupcakes are the American equivalent of Britain’s faerie cakes. I’m sure the Brits don’t serve faerie wings either.” Okay, so my patience had run its course. I was on the verge of asking, no, telling her to leave my shop when the door swung open and things took a turn for the worse. Calis stood in the doorway, an ominous expression on his face and his eyes were as dark as any fierce storm known to mankind. Oh, my.
Our gazes locked as he strode forward. DeMaie turned… She stiffened when she saw him, and then she scooted along the corridor and out the back door with Calis hot on her heels. The door slammed shut as he exited. Uncertain of what had just happened, I held my breath and then expelled it slowly.
The patrons gaped at one another and then gawked at me. I gave them a wide smile and said, “She’s an actress from Boston. I heard she’s trying out for a new play in Portland.” When they nodded and returned to their pastry, I heaved a sigh of relief.
Annie sidled up and whispered, “What on earth is going on?”
I glanced at her, shrugged my shoulders, and said I hadn’t a clue before I headed for the gift shop.
Dilly followed me. “Luna, wasn’t that Jones woman supposed to start today?”
I glanced at my watch. Eleven-thirty and counting. “Yes, I wonder what’s happened, she hasn’t called and neither has Stephanie. I should call and see what’s held her up.”
With a nod, Dilly said, “I’ll keep watch over the gift shop and handle the customers. The dining room crowd is thinning.” Dilly walked away, stopped, and turned. “Luna, I didn’t realize you knew actresses.”
I nodded, smiled, and turned toward the kitchen, muttering under my breath, “I’m such a liar.”
I’d picked up the phone when Leslie Jones entered the Junction by the rear entrance. She apologized for her tardiness and said Stephanie’s car was acting up, or she’d have been on time. “We were stuck on Old Cottage Road and luck would have it that Steph couldn’t get a phone signal. Honestly, I’m so sorry, Luna.”
“Not to worry,” I said and beckoned to Annie. “Annie will to show you the ropes, and your apron is in the kitchen.” I handed her off to Annie and scooted toward the backyard.
I’d walked the path and lingered behind a cluster of poplar trees after I heard Calis say, “You’re not to come here again, understand? This isn’t a good place for you.”
“Don’t get high and mighty with me, Calis. I know what’s going on. As much as you’d like me to stay out of your way, I won’t do it.”
“Just give me space, then,” he remarked coldly.
“All fluttery over the human, are you?” DeMaie said in a seductive tone.
I edged closer to peer through the branches. Calis offered DeMaie a cool smile.
“Not at all, she’s merely a means to an end. You and I both know it, and I’m aware of who’s pilfering dust from the faeries, which has to stop.”
DeMaie nodded in agreement and said slyly, “Mm, dead faeries – that is a problem.”
“Leave this place and keep away from these woods. As a matter of fact, go back to wherever you were,” Calis ordered.
I heard her sultry laughter before she diminished in size. Iridescent wings popped through gaps in the filmy fabric Dona wore. She raised her arms away from her body and flew toward the field on other side of the wooded landscape. A faerie? Dona was a faerie? What kind of faerie? Why wasn’t she more concerned about the demise of her fellow faeries?
Dumbfounded, I realized then that she was joking when she’d asked for faerie wing treats. A faerie had never before entered the Junction. That she did so stirred something deep within me that I didn’t know how to deal with.
I heard Calis mutter under his breath as he turned his rich gaze to my hiding place. He’d known I was spying. “You may as well join me. It’s bad manners to eavesdrop, but I’m sure you couldn’t help yourself.”
I traipsed past thick the stand of trees and stood before him. “She’s a faerie?”
His brows rose as he said, “I’m afraid so. One with her own agenda that will complicate matters at hand, and that bodes ill for us. Stealth will be our only solution to avoiding her. Dona isn’t able to use invisibility like other faeries, and that’s to our advantage. We’ll know when she’s around, so worry not.”
“Easy for you to say. I’m human, while you’re, uh, well… I don’t know what you are. I’ve never dealt with this much faerie business before. They keep their business to themselves, and I manage my own. I’m thinking we should let the situation play itself out and take it from there.” I watched his eyes grow darker until their rich blue color turned nearly black. Yep, he’d become annoyed, or worse, at my idea. “Oh, and by the way, I’ll be away for a bit this weekend.”
“Visiting your lover, I assume?”
“Not that it’s any business of yours – but yes. I’ll leave Saturday after the shop closes and return on Sunday afternoon. I can’t be away longer than that,” I said. Somewhere along the line, I had subconsciously made the decision to visit Devin. It would be a nice surprise for him, William, and Ida, if I popped in for a brief stay. I’d become worried over Devin’s change in attitude and unwillingness to return home.
“Who’ll take care of the beasty?” Calis smiled, but there was no humor in it.
“I’m sure Annie will. She has a key to the shop and can come and go when it’s convenient for her.”
While we’d been talking, Calis had guided me along the path and into the yard behind the shop. I gave him a quick glance and then mounted the porch steps. “Keep your eye on faerie things while I’m away, will you?” Why I trusted a man, for lack of a better word, like Calis kept me wondering about my marbles, and if maybe – as the police suggested – I’d misplaced a few.
“Sure, I have nothing else to deal with, so why not? Would you like me to make the cupcakes, too?”
I rounded on him. “Listen smarty-pants, I’m not asking for miracles. I’m merely ask that you take care of the faeries while I’m gone. Since that’s what your job is all about, surely it won’t be too much of a task for you.” I flounced into the Junction and let the door close with a snap
behind me.
The customers had dwindled and a small group left the parking lot in one car. Two customers browsed giftware and a few cupcake fans indulged in their favorites. Otherwise, the place was quiet. It had been a long day and it wasn’t over yet. I’d headed into the galley for tea and a cake of my own when the phone rang. I stepped behind the cake-filled glass case and answered the phone.
“Help, help,” Arianna cried.
“Hello? Hello?” Bewildered, I held the phone away and stared at it. Annie stood in the opening to the galley, watching me. I hung up the phone and rushed toward the door as I said, “I’ve got to leave. Hold down the fort, okay?”
* * *
Fading afternoon sunlight dappled the ground as I hastened along the path toward Arianna’s house. Halfway there, I’d rounded a sharp bend and skidded to a halt, my arms flailing in an effort to catch my balance. A giant-sized mound of pulsating brownish-green guck barred my way. Every time I moved to get past it, it would spread. When I moved back in place, it moved as well. I sniffed the air. No aroma emanated from it. I leaned in closer and sniffed again. Still nothing.
Uneasy, I shifted from one foot to the other while trying to decide my best course of action. I had no choice but to return to the shop and drive to Arianna’s. Turning to head home, I was confronted with another such mound of guck. What was I to do? Wondering wouldn’t get me anywhere, so I glanced around for a fallen branch. I found one that wasn’t too short and used it to poke the mound. Instantly, the gooey blob popped, deflating as would a pin-pricked balloon. Goo splattered and oozed across the ground before it completely disappeared.
I rounded on the other blob and found it closer than it had been. I reached out with the branch and pierced it, too. When it popped, a shower of guck splashed over my slacks and shoes before the eerie material ran down to puddle around my feet. Then it was gone.
I tucked the branch into a belt loop of my slacks and ran the rest of the distance to Arianna’s.
The house lay empty. No one answered when I called. I stared at the chimney that seemed to erupt from the roof of the barn studio. Smoke puffed from it. In less than a minute, I opened the door to Arianna’s workroom and stepped inside. Dressed in a fireproof apron, thick work gloves and protective goggles, she’d withdrawn a metal pipe covered with molten glass and had begun to blow into the cold hollow tube.
I stopped short, watched her expertly shape a large bubble and curve the end of the glass to make a smooth, rounded hanger. The lovely decoration would someday adorn a Christmas tree.
I stepped closer, noting the sparkle within the glass ball. Faerie dust swirled inside the sphere. I caught my breath. How had it gotten in there? Arianna heard my breath intake and set the rod down carefully before she turned to me. She hitched the goggles up on her forehead, withdrew the gloves, and put her hands on her hips.
“What, exactly, are you doing here, Luna? You nearly scared me to death,” she remarked.
“But, but, you called and said you needed help,” I answered.
“I haven’t been near the phone all day, much less called you for help. Are you sure it was me?” Ari asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.
A tidbit of doubt crept into my mind as I considered her question. I nodded. “I could swear it was you, although you sounded hysterical. I thought the pixies were after you, or maybe Calis had you by your throat. Either way, it scared me enough to race over here and leave the Junction in the hands of my help.”
Arianna stared at me. She scowled and said, “From the look of you, I suppose you met up with something in the wood?”
How did she know? What exactly was it that I’d encountered? Things were out of control, my life was heading downhill fast, and now I wondered if I’d lost most of my marbles. Had anyone seen them haphazardly rolling around?
“Now that you mention it, I did come across something I’ve never encountered before.” As I was about to tell her, I caught her sideway glance and knew we weren’t alone. It took only a second before she ushered me outside and firmly closed the studio door behind her.
“Tell me,” she urged.
“Brownish-green guck blocked my path, divided itself in two, and prevented me when I tried to turn around and return to the Junction. I poked the goo with a stick. It popped and dissipated without a sign it had ever been there in the first place. Weird, really weird.”
She began to chuckle and then stopped. “The pixies are having fun at your expense. They enjoy a good bit of trouble. The little twits pull stunts here quite often, so I’m used to them.”
“I figured it might be an ogre or a troll when I first saw the mound. It was huge.” I shivered and rubbed my hands together before I stuffed them into my jacket pockets.
With a cool stare, Arianna remarked in an odd tone, “Whoever has fed you that load of crap should be slapped. We have no ogres, trolls, or giants here that I’m aware of. They stick to their own habitats.”
“You’re sure, then?”
A half-smile formed on her lips as she said, “I’m sure. I’d offer you a cup of tea, but I really need to finish the work I’ve scheduled for today. I hope you don’t mind.”
I waved her words away and said I had my own work to do, but adding I was happy to find her safe and well.
Dark clouds had rolled in, raindrops began to fall, and I entered the woods. The same woods that Calis had insisted I stay out of. I’d not be fooled again by the pixies, the little troublemakers would no longer get the bits and bobs of finery I usually tossed to them from the steps of the porch either. Pixies adore sparkly doodads and bits of ribbon. I kept snippets of leftover package decorations until I had enough to offer them as a reward for being friendly and having protected me in the past.
I strode through the woods with purpose, my eyes flicking back and forth in search of signs of danger, pixies, or even for Calis for that matter. I’d come to the small bridge that crossed a stream and was about to walk over it when I heard a rustling noise behind me. With a glance over my shoulder, I yelped and ran like hell.
A fierce-looking, thick-scaled beast emerged from behind a massive tree trunk and clawed the air with long, talon-tipped fingers. He gave a deep, horrific roar as I increased my speed. “Run, run away,” the wicked beast bellowed.
I did. I moved, with the wind pushing me faster and faster with each step. When I reached my backyard, I heard a twitter of laughter and saw two blue faeries perched on a cluster of dried out hydrangeas.
“Run fast, you have,” one blue faerie said.
“Scared, you are,” the other chimed in.
I nodded and gasped for air. I hadn’t known I could run like that.
“No need, fear not,” they said in unison and flew away before I could ask why.
Up the steps I went, into the shop that was now loaded to the hilt with customers. My help looked harried. Guilt washed over me as I scrambled into the kitchen to work alongside them.
“Where’s Dilly?” I asked Annie.
“She’s handling the gift shop while Leslie and I wait on customers. You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Everything all right?” Annie gave me the once over as she handed me an apron.
I nodded, gave her what I hoped was a bright, happy smile and left for the dining room. Trays overflowed with teacups, saucers and dainty plates. I hauled each one into the galley and set them down for Annie to clear. She emptied and reloaded the dishwasher while I set about filling tea pots. Leslie took orders and handed them over the counter in return for cash.
All went smoothly until I glanced up and saw Calis standing inside the doorway. His face emotionless, his eyes darting here and there, taking in the crowd. I took the final request, plopped a cupcake onto a dish that matched the teacup and pot, and then passed it to Leslie before I joined him.
I motioned for Calis to join me on the porch. Without a word, he followed me toward a table with two cushioned chairs. Even though it was October, I hadn’t yet put the furniture into storage. Many customers st
ill enjoyed their tea outdoors on warmer days.
Before he settled across from me, I blurted, “I received a call from somebody I thought was Arianna. She yelled for help, and then the call was disconnected. Do you know anything about that?”
His eyes fixed on mine, Calis said, “No, nothing. What was her problem?”
“That’s just it, when I got to her, she said she hadn’t made the call or used the phone all day, and then she said the pixies were amusing themselves at my expense.”
“That’s likely. Though, I’ve never heard of a pixie using the telephone before.” Calis leaned back in the chair. Lost in thought he stared at the table for a bit. When he looked at me, he smiled and said, “They’re a magical lot, with mischief at the top of their to-do list. I’d say you’ve been had.” He snickered.
Put out by his inability to take the episode seriously, I snapped, “Real funny. I didn’t think it so funny when I went through the woods to Ari’s and was stopped by two mounds of goo that burst like balloons when I pierced them. Then on my return home, I was frightened by a scaly monster with claws the size of butcher knives. Find humor in that, I dare you.”
His face straightened as I blathered on about the monstrous things I’d seen in the woods. Calis leaned forward and gripped my hand so tight I could hear the bones scream for help. “You didn’t listen to me when I ordered you to stay clear of the forest. How can I make you understand that you should listen to what I say?”
I yanked my hand from his grasp and gently massaged the offended bones and tendons. “It was the fastest route, and frankly, I don’t take orders from you or anyone else, so get over yourself.”
Faerie Dust Dead (The Luna Devere Series Book 2) Page 8
