Grim Hill: Carnival of Secrets

by Linda DeMeulemeester

  Clive snorted. “You’re kidding me! That’s your plan?”

  I sighed. Clive had already forgotten his resolution to sound less judgmental.

  Lea held up her hand. “Hold on, Jasper’s onto something. When we cross the threshold of Grimoire School, we will be in enchanted territory. Have you ever noticed how sometimes fairies look like nothing more than shadows?”

  “It’s true,” I exclaimed, remembering how those fairy girls at the carnival had simply melted into the shade so the others had not even noticed them.

  “It’s the same in reverse, “said Lea. “To fairies, it takes a keen eye, or,” she smiled, “a lot of exposure to see humans clearly. You are also like shadows to us. So if some of you are disguised to trick the fairies, the rest of you could disappear into the shadows, sneak off, and capture the Grimoire.”

  “How exactly do we disguise ourselves as fairies?” Clive said dubiously.

  “I could have done it for you if Cat hadn’t made me lose all my glitter pens,” Sookie couldn’t help point out. “I would’ve made you masks.”

  Clive snorted again.

  “No, wait,” I said. “Masks might work.” We’d used masks to trick the fairies at Samhain, or what we called Halloween.

  “Oh, masks would work,” announced Lea. “A new fairy troop would wear masks when visiting a strange fairy hill. They would keep their loyalties hidden and stay disguised until it became clear if the others were friend or foe.”

  “So we all get masks,” said Mitch pounding his fists together. “Let’s get on it.”

  Lea held up her hand. “I suggest only one of you joins me for the sporting challenge to distract the fairies. I think it should be Cat. While two of us distract the fairies, the rest of you can escape more easily once you find the Book of All Magic.”

  “You can’t play many games with two people,” Clive scoffed.

  “What if they challenge the fairies to a penalty shot playoff at the soccer field?” Jasper fiddled with his glasses. “That would get other fairies in the school out on the field as spectators.”

  “That could work,” said Mitch. “One can be a goalie, and the other person could take the shots against the fairies. It seems crazy,” said Mitch, “but soccer is our sport.” Then he frowned. “Does it matter who wins?”

  Lea’s fair complexion paled. “I …” She shook her head side-to-side. “It doesn’t matter.”

  But I noticed she didn’t seem too sure.

  CHAPTER 24 A Grave Plan

  Clive stepped forward. “Messing with fairies is dangerous. I’ll go with Lea and challenge the fairies while the rest of you find the Grimoire.”

  I said, “No … I … think it’s got to be me, on account of Lea’s déjà vu thing.”

  “I’ve outshot you before,” Clive pointed out.

  “But Cat’s scored goals on fairies before, I’ve seen that.” Amarjeet’s voice was solemn.

  “That’s true. Cat was the only one of us who scored against the Grimoire girls’ team.” Mia’s head bobbed in agreement. “But Cat, what if …”

  Clive shook his head. “Exactly, it’s too dangerous. And like I said, I’m the best shot.”

  I held up my hand. “Jasper told me this is the time in the Celtic calendar when second sight is the most potent, and trust me, I’m getting a …” what was the word? “… a premonition that this is how it should go.”

  What I wouldn’t say out loud to my friends was that I’d also rather face fairies in the soccer field than go back inside that horrible library. I never wanted to return there.

  “I think Cat is right,” said Lea coming to my defense. “Besides, because of the magic that is inside Cat, she’ll be easier to disguise and fool the fairies.”

  Why did people keep telling me I had magic? I certainly didn’t feel magical. Not to mention that I didn’t even want any magic.

  “So it’s settled,” said Jasper.

  “But I can’t make masks,” Sookie sounded unusually worried. “I don’t have my glitter pens. Sorry, Cat, I guess you have to make another plan.”

  “Alice Greystone has art supplies,” I said remembering her room.

  “But she won’t have glitter pens,” insisted Sookie. “They won’t be invented yet.”

  “Don’t worry, little one.” Lea put her arm around Sookie. “You only need to make one mask. I’ll wear my scarf draped over my face.” Then Lea hit on what was really bugging Sookie. “And don’t worry, I’ll watch out for your sister.” Then, smiling her sad smile, my fairy friend added, “No matter what.”

  But Sookie kept frowning. Finally she said, “Okay, I’ll go to Alice’s. You two had better wait for me at my house.” Then she sped off with Skeeter.

  “Come on,” I said to the others. “Let’s go back to the house and I’ll draw you a layout of the school and show you where the library is. That’s where the Grimoire will be.”

  By the time we got to Sookie’s witch house, the sun was dipping into the horizon, and the first gloom of twilight crept toward the house.

  Amarjeet lit a couple of Sookie’s black candles and in their flickering light, I quickly finished the map. The others bent over the table to study what I had drawn, and soon had their plan in place.

  As we finished up, we heard a tapping that gave us a start. I looked out to see Sookie rapping softly on the kitchen window. “Psst, Cat.” She beckoned me outside. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw that she and Skeeter had arrived back with Alice and her tall friend from school in tow. I shot Sookie a dismayed look. We didn’t have time for chitchat.

  Skeeter was gazing through the window staring at the sketch I’d drawn of Grimoire School. “Cool, is that a pirate’s map?” He ran inside the kitchen.

  “I’m glad your sister found me. We were looking for you.” The urgency in Alice’s voice made me move off the porch with them and into the backyard out of earshot.

  “Wiggleworm is on the warpath,” confided her friend.

  Alice nodded. “We came here to warn you that my mother is part of the parent association at school. Mr. Wegglesworth lodged a complaint about you and Clive with the police. They’ll be sending the truant officer here anytime. I think you’re in big trouble.”

  Just great. I turned to Sookie. “How much time do you need to make a mask?”

  Sookie whispered in excitement, “None. Look what Alice gave me.” From behind her back Sookie produced a Halloween mask.

  It was as if my breath turned to ice inside my chest, and a hollow feeling rattled around my heart. I had seen that mask once before.

  Almost a year ago, a strange, ghostly girl had visited my Halloween party. She had worn this silvery mask with white feathers. That had been Lucinda.

  “What’s wrong, Cat, don’t you like it?” Sookie looked alarmed.

  “It used to be my cousin’s, I think,” said Alice.

  “It’s good, it’ll do the trick.” I shook my head. It didn’t help. Dizziness rocked me as if I was tumbling around in one of those spinning tunnels at an amusement park like I had seen in my dream. It really felt as if the past, present and future were whirling around me all at once. I pulled my thoughts together. “Thanks for the warning,” I told Alice and her friend.

  “If you need any more help, just let us know,” said Alice. A loud refrain of the carousel’s calliope carried up the river, and Alice let out a hiss. “I hate that music.”

  As I stood in front of the graveyard listening to that mournful tune, I felt as though I were caught up in the whirl of the carousel spinning out of control. My second sight blossomed like spilled ink on paper. There had to be a reason I kept seeing a carousel in my dreams!

  Suddenly I understood what might be the key to help the ghost boy, and maybe save us. “Alice, you could help us.”

  I rattled off instructions. “Would the two of you grab a couple of sacks and fill them with dirt from this graveyard.” I waved past the hedge. “Then take that dirt to the carnival and spread it in a circle aroun
d the carousel.”

  Alice did a double take. “Take graveyard dirt to the carnival?” She shook her head. “I … don’t know.”

  “I’ll do it,” said her friend. She peered at me over her glasses, and I got another uncanny sensation that we’d met before.

  “Anybody who dares stands up to old Wiggleworm deserves my help. That horrible man doesn’t deserve to teach.”

  I held out my hand. “Thank you …”

  “Maggie,” she said shaking my hand. “Maggie Dreeble.”

  I had to smile. Now I realized why she seemed familiar. I’d meet her granddaughter or great niece one day

  – she’d be my science teacher. Then Alice nodded. “Okeydokey. Just don’t tell my mother.” “Nobody’s going to snitch to your mother, you goose,” said Maggie. They ran off to get the sacks.

  I bent down and looked Sookie in the eye. “This is very important,” I told my sister. “I need you and Skeeter to do the same thing. Dig under the hedge and gather bags of graveyard dirt. Then take the dirt and spill it around the carousel. Don’t dump all the dirt, though. Save a bit. And leave one small spot of ground uncovered.”

  Understanding lit Sookie’s eyes. “So Lea can cross unconsecrated ground and get on the carousel with us.”

  I nodded. “Then I need the both of you to climb onto those carousel horses, hang on tight, and wait there for me.”

  Sookie stared back solemnly. “I promise, Cat.”

  I looked closely at my little sister. She was little again,

  no longer adult sized, but she seemed to be growing up in other ways.

  I hated to send her on that nightmare carousel – but it looked like we were all in for a dangerous Lamas night.

  CHAPTER 25 A Ghastly Bargain

  “What if we end up being chased?” Mitch said to the group after I filled them in on the details.

  “Good question,” I said. I’d learned my lesson about planning for any last minute surprises. Also, it was better to brainstorm as a group to check for any pitfalls.

  Clive pointed to the backyard hedge. “We could cut through the graveyard.”

  “The fairies might split up and wait on the other side,” I worried. “And we’ll need to get to the carnival.”

  “We’ll have to sidetrack them,” Amarjeet paced back and forth then stopped. “Could we make some kind of decoy?”

  Mia got up from her chair and opened the huge blank Book of All Magic on the table. “Why don’t we leave the kitchen door wide open, and set the fake Grimoire book on the table in plain sight. It’ll be closed and those evil creatures might not know it’s the wrong book. At least it might confuse them for a few minutes.”

  “Fairies are not stupid,” Lea said. “They would be suspicious if we left the book out unguarded.”

  “I didn’t mean any offense,” Mia cast her eyes down.

  “None taken,” said Lea. “It’s just that if we leave the book unguarded …”

  “Obviously the fairies will suspect a trap,” finished Clive. Seeing Mia’s crestfallen face, he added in a less impatient voice, “but you still might be onto something.”

  “Yeah,” said Mitch. “Display the book but make it less obvious … somehow …”

  I continued checking out the kitchen for something else – though I wasn’t sure quite what. “If we make it look like we’re here too – we’d need to put jackets on chairs or…”

  “We didn’t bring any jackets and I wish we had,” Amarjeet rubbed her shoulders. “It’s the end of summer and the weather’s getting cool.”

  “What about piling rocks in the form of a statue?” suggested Mitch.

  “Or maybe we could use old crumpled paper,” said Clive.

  Ah, that’s what I’d been looking for without specifically knowing it. I went out onto the porch where Mia and Amarjeet had deposited Sookie’s dolls. I carried them inside and dumped one in a kitchen chair.

  “But Sookie doesn’t have the power to actually transform the poppets anymore.” Jasper’s brown eyes clouded with doubt. “This doll doesn’t look human.”

  “Fairies won’t fall for dolls,” said Mia, trying to show Lea she didn’t really think fairies were stupid.

  “It will be dark by the time we return,” I said, checking with Lea. She nodded. “And the poppets will be in shadows. Remember fairies have a hard time seeing our world as much more than shadows. That could confuse them. If we stage it right, the fairies will be drawn here first. It could delay them just long enough.”

  Using everyone’s ideas, we made Sookie’s dolls seem bigger by sitting them up on rocks and crumpled paper. The poppets sat in a circle with the blank Grimoire book set in the middle of the table. The dolls even drooped over the table edge making it look like they were pouring over magic spells. As the sun sank deeper in the horizon and the gloom darkened, the flickering candlelight in the kitchen made the poppets’ shadows stretch and lurch forward. I thought from a distance even I might be fooled.

  We quickly stuffed down some of the food Alice had sent us as we waited for the sky to grow darker.

  While we waited, my fears started getting the best of me. It was almost time to put our daring plan into action. If it worked, we might get home and save those trapped in the fair. If we failed … well, I didn’t want to think about that. My stomach cramped, knotting itself tight as I thought of what we were up against. But I remembered once again my mother’s words, spoken what seemed like ages ago, when she had reminded me of my “steely determination” and “competitive spirit.” This is like pregame jitters, I told myself. We just need to get into the game.

  Sure enough, as we left the house and began walking toward Grim Hill, it was as if that knot began unravelling. Getting on with the task was better than waiting and worrying. Of course, there’d be no turning back …

  We made our way through the wooded trail that wound upwards on the gloomy hill. Mitch and Mia were hand in hand, Clive flanked my left, and Lea my right. Behind me, Amarjeet and Jasper brought up the rear. Our footsteps crunched over fallen leaves, and the dark forest pressed down upon us. However, I noticed that the usual haunting despair that hung over the hill was missing. The bitter air was gone, too. Instead, I could smell the peculiar but more pleasant fragrance of roses and cinnamon.

  “It’s like the fairies aren’t trying to turn people away

  – like they’re not expecting anyone to mess with them,” I observed.

  “That’s exactly it,” explained Lea. “Their power is strongest at this night of the year, and when fairy glamour is used full force, it makes everything seem pleasing to mortals.”

  “A sparkling web might seem attractive to a fly – that is, until it’s trapped and a spider is scrambling toward it,” warned Jasper.

  “Yes, the fairy power is attracting and alluring like that,” Lea answered her voice sorrowful. “And for that, I am sorry, my dear friends.” Lea couldn’t change the fact that she was an enchanted being who, if she didn’t keep her guard up, would lead young men into doom. Yet this filled her with distress and not glee. She was unlike any of the other fairy folk I’d encountered.

  “There it is,” said a hollow voiced Amarjeet.

  Grimoire School sat at the top of Grim Hill. The school looked like a tilted, haunted mansion towering above us. At one time, I thought the stone turrets covered with red ivy and narrow arched windows seemed magnificent. But now they were only threatening and menacing, like those evil looking crows squatting in the nearby trees looking down on us. Warily, we made our way toward the huge oaken front doors.

  Lea wrapped her glimmering pink scarf around her mouth and nose like an outlaw. Following Lea’s example, I slipped on the silver mask. We climbed the steps and tugged the door until it opened with a groan. Both of us strode into the school.

  Even though it had technically been over sixty years since my last visit, the school appeared as I remembered. The black and white tiles made me feel as if I stood on a gigantic chess board. The stained gla
ss windows above my head glimmered in the dwindling light like glasses of blood. The huge oak staircase spiraled to the next floor. Fortunately, the hall was deserted. With a low whistle, I signaled my friends. They crept into the school entrance and moved cautiously down the shadowed hallway.

  Once they were hidden in one of the rooms, Lea announced in a loud voice, “It is Lughnasa, and I wish to wager a sport competition. Is there anyone here up to the challenge?” For once, her voice was not soft like wind chimes, but rang and echoed through the great entranceway and up the stairs.

  A scurrying sound above made my skin grow clammy. Footsteps scuttled, and I did a double take as shadows on walls flowed down the staircase. The closer the shadows came, the less they appeared as phantoms. By the time the shaded figures had reached the bottom of the staircase, they looked like Grimoire girls, dressed in the school uniform of black silk tunics with purple and orange pinstripes.

  One young woman stepped forward. Although her hair was blond, she had attractive features similar to the other girls. Still, there was something off about her look – how her appearance seemed to shimmer and shift in the shadows from young to old depending on where she stood under the torchlight. I wanted to cower under the cruel glint of her empty eyes, but I forced myself to stand tall while beads collected beneath my silver mask. Her smile twisted wickedly.

  “Choose your sport.” Her voice rustled like the leaves of Grim Forest, making me more uneasy.

  “Soccer,” said Lea. “A shootout.”

  Excitement snapped like electricity in the room, and the girls huddled in a group. From the group the blond re-emerged and announced herself as their goalie.

  “You challenged us,” she said. “So we state the wager.”

  With a wicked laugh, the Grimoire girl rubbed her hands together. “You win, we let you live. You lose – you die.”