CHAPTER 26 A Deadly Shootout
“What kind of bargain is that?” I sputtered behind my mask.
Lea held her hand out signaling me to keep silent. Still, I bristled.
“True, it is I who came to your hill,” continued Lea. “But your terms are too harsh. Nobody dies. Agree, or I will find another troop to compete with.”
“But it won’t be a proper Lughnasa if we don’t have a competition,” complained a fairy girl.
“And it is more exciting if we wage sport against someone outside the school.” Another girl’s icy stare sent shivers up my back.
“Fine,” said the goalie. “You win, you live – you lose, you must pay us one year of servitude.”
“One more thing,” said Lea. “The bargain is between only you and me – no one else. My teammate isn’t part of it.” She nodded toward me.
The young woman hesitated, but at the urging of the other girls, nodded in agreement.
The contest is just a distraction, I told myself. We’re only buying our friends time to capture the Book of All Magic and escape. But Lea looked so sad, which made that voice in my head sound off a warning. Still, the deal was struck and there was nothing I could do – except now I had to make sure I won the game!
I must admit that even though I was still wearing the mask, I breathed easier once we went outside the school toward the goalpost on the playground. I knew I would never return to that hateful place.
Out on the soccer field, the sun sank in a crimson haze and plunged the field into shadow. The growing gloom made it hard enough to see, not to mention I had to look through the narrow eye slits in my mask, which kept sliding about from the sweat on my face.
“We get first shot,” said the blond fairy. “Because it is Lughnasa we get three shots each. Three is the magical number.” Her lips jeered and in the twilight, her face seemed to shift again in the shadow, this time into an ugly grimace. “Oh, did I mention that in order for you to win you must score a point. A tie is as good as a loss.”
Fairy bargains were never good.
Lea crouched in front of the net, moving her feet. I held my breath as a dark-haired Grimoire girl approached the ball and slammed her shot. The shot rocketed toward the left corner, but Lea, like a flash, flitted in front of it and tipped it away.
We didn’t cheer. The last thing we wanted to do was make them mad. I had learned that for sure in my soccer career. Don’t rile up a sleeping team.
Then it was my turn.
I adjusted my mask for optimum vision and hitched the string more securely behind my ears. I didn’t have cleats on but I wouldn’t be running far, and the grass was dry. A lighter foot might even make it easier to kick the ball. I took my time setting the ball on the penalty spot, hoping to give the group in the school some more time. I backed up slowly.
The Grimoire goalie hunched in front of the net and at one moment looked huge and solid, and the next like a wavering vision. I took a running start when she appeared more solid.
I flew across the field and despite the danger, my heart sang because I was playing soccer. In the net, the goalie hovered between the middle and the left. I aimed at a target in my mind. Then all the pent up frustration from a summer of no sports channeled down my body and into my foot. I launched the ball, and it hurtled true to the top right corner of the net.
The goalie blurred and seemed to split in two. One second she was in one place, and the next she suddenly appeared on the other side of the net. She caught my ball.
I shook my head. Of course. The fairies were using magic, and if I complained, they’d know I was human. So very not good …
“Zero, zero,” sneered the goalie. “Remember ties do not count.”
Once again, a Grimoire girl took her shot against Lea, and I gasped as the ball flew toward a far corner. But Lea reached high, dove and fisted the ball over the bar. Saved!
My turn again. This time as I took my run at the ball I pulled up short. Either I had double vision or the goalie was tricking me. She appeared in several places at once! I had to randomly take a shot and hope the ball made it through. But I had lost my momentum when I pulled up and now my shot was pitiful. It just dribbled at the goal. The fairy girls all laughed and jeered. Needless to say, I didn’t score. “Hey!…” I started to argue that they weren’t playing proper soccer, but Lea shook her head in warning.
“You only get one more shot and it is still zero to zero,” said the goalie. This time she cackled and the sound of it made me shudder with déjà vu. I shrugged it off and tried to focus. I told myself, Don’t let them get to you.
I watched as the last Grimoire girl took her shot. This time Lea floated up in the air to easily catch the ball. “It’s no advantage between fairies to use glamour and magic,” shouted Lea. “I can match your magic with my magic.”
Except it was an advantage over me, and my friend already knew that. Was Lea trying to give me a hint? I wasn’t a fairy. I couldn’t see past the goalie’s glamour!
But what if I could!
I turned my back to everyone and unfastened the white feather from my belt. It glowed red in my hand. I stuck the feather into my mask along with the other white feathers.
“Ready,” I called out turning back to the game. This time, because of the feather, I could see one solid figure amongst the other flickering images of the goalie. The real goalie stood at the right of the goal. Her shimmering mirage hovered at the left trying to distract me.
My heart hammered in my chest. My mouth was dry and I grew chilled. This was a good thing, because I stopped sweating and my mask stayed in place. No game had this much pressure. I had to make this, or else Lea would be a slave to that nasty girl for an entire year.
I began jogging toward the ball and then accelerated to full speed. I aimed my body toward the fairy girl, then swerved at the last moment. My ball launched dead left, sailed straight through the mirage, and landed square in the net.
“We won!” I shouted. My whole body felt like it could float like a fairy.
“So you did,” announced the goalie. Funny, she didn’t seem upset. And why were the Grimoire girls laughing?
My stomach churned as the treacherous creatures swarmed around us. Soooo not good …
CHAPTER 27 A Cruel Fate
“As the winner you will not be my servant for one year.” The fairy goalie loomed over us as she morphed in front of our eyes, growing taller and older. “Instead, you will be my servant for seventy years.” She grabbed Lea’s arm. “Welcome, my new little niece.”
I gasped in terror. It was Lea’s Aunt Bea. The most treacherous, vile and demonic banshee ever – and she had just tricked us.
“Sorry about your other friend,” she cackled, “but we’ll have to capture her too.”
The Grimoire girls glided towards me. Raising their arms, their hands curved into claws. I jostled and fought and kicked as they dragged me back to Grimoire School. On the doorstep, I managed to break away only to trip and be dragged back again. I wedged my arm against the doorjamb and pulled with all my strength. I swung my other arm to fight back the girls, but someone grabbed my wrist and twisted.
“Ow!” But it wasn’t me who had shouted.
A soccer ball landed at my feet. A Grimoire girl released my arm and rubbed her head. “Who did that?” I looked out into the yard and could see that Lea had just kicked a hard shot into the crowd.
Suddenly, the school doors flew open, knocking two of the fairy girls down, and Clive barreled through the girls. “Run,” shouted Clive.
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I shot out of the doorway and launched myself into the air, tumbling in a somersault onto the grass past the steps. I scrambled up and dashed into the darkness, leaping through brambles and running until I was past the trees.
My chest burned as I panted for air. I pulled off my mask and clipped the feather back on my belt. The cool air felt good on my bare face.
But I couldn’t hear anyone behind me. Clive and Le
a hadn’t followed. Cautiously, I crept through the brush. I peeked through the brambles and watched in horror as my struggling friends were pushed back inside the school. The great oak door slammed shut, and I heard a huge bolt slide across the door. Its hollow echo sliced into my heart.
Why had Clive been alone? Had he been a decoy so the others could escape, or had he stayed behind to make sure we were all right with those untrustworthy fairies? That would be just like him. No matter, it appeared that no one else had escaped but me. If they were all trapped inside the school, there was nothing I could do. Collapsing on the ground, I huddled under the brambles and shivered in despair. I couldn’t ever go back in that school.
***
“Get up, girl,” whispered that voice inside me. “You have to go inside and get everyone out before the night turns and Lamas ends.”
“I can’t.” A sob caught in my throat. “The door is bolted.”
“There is another way in.”
Funny, that pesky voice inside my head sounded different.
“Hey, is that my mask?”
I looked up. A ghostly image of a girl flickered in front of me. Except this time I recognized it was no ghost.
“Lucinda?”
“That’s my name, all right. But only Mother calls me that. Everyone else calls me Cindy.” The Goth looking girl with jet-black bangs grew more solid in the air. Her pale blue eyes shone with interest as she picked up the silver mask. “Where did you get this?”
“From your sister,” I said calmly although my heart was banging against my ribs. “She loaned it to me.”
“Figures, Alice always helps herself to my things.” Lucinda tucked the mask under her arm. Then she sighed and added, “But I miss her anyways. I would like to go home soon.”
What could I say to a girl that would spend her life trapped in a fairy ring? I knew I couldn’t change her cruel fate. The future Lucinda had been trapped, so there was no escape for the young Cindy.
I swallowed and decided part of the truth might console her. “It will only feel like you’re gone for a few more days.”
Cindy’s face brightened. “Right, then – like I said, there’s another way into the hill if you want to help your friends.”
“I … can’t,” the words stumbled out and my face burned in shame. “I’ve failed them.”
Lucinda smiled sadly. “Someone I admire once said, ‘When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others.’”
“Amelia Earhart,” I said.
Cindy nodded. “That’s right!”
“But I’ve already made a bunch of mistakes.”
“I always thought she meant that failing is better than not trying,” Cindy mused. “And I made a terrible mistake once. I ignored everything but my own desire. Otherwise, my friends and I could have avoided this fairy trap. Let my failure be your challenge, girl.”
“Cat,” I said.
“What a peculiar name.” Cindy shook her head. “Not that it matters. I shan’t recall it. The fairies are distracted and that’s why I could sneak up here. Soon they’ll be back, and I won’t even remember I met you.” Lucinda started flickering again. “Hurry, it’s starting to happen. Follow me.”
Behind an iron park bench was an open metal culvert lid. When Lucinda climbed inside the tunnel, I slid into the passageway behind her before I could change my mind. Inside, the tunnel was dark and dank, and I dared not think about all the creepy crawlies I could hear skittering along the walls. We were moving toward what I knew to be a passageway of stairs. I’d crept down those treacherous stone steps before. After only a few moments, we could hear voices.
“It’s them, they’re returning,” gasped Lucinda. She pushed me against the wall. “Don’t move, don’t breathe,” she hissed. “Stay in the shadows and they won’t notice you. After they pass, climb the steps. At the top there will be a small latch. Pull it and a door will swing open.”
Cindy turned and ran in the opposite direction. I could see a soft glow of orange the size of a tennis ball at her end of the tunnel – I had also visited there once before. How could I ever forget the huge bonfire burning on that soccer field under an eerie orange sky? Fairy! A cold chill settled over my heart.
As Cindy rushed back to the fairy ring, something skittered against my neck and began crawling down my back. I bit my lip so as not to scream. Footsteps drummed, echoing down the tunnel. I pressed myself even harder against the wall and held my breath as some Grimoire girls hurried past me.
“Why couldn’t we bring the human boy with us,” said a fairy girl “We could add him to our collection.”
“I think he should join the fairy ring. Then we could dance with him,” added another girl.
“He’ll stay in my room upstairs,” snapped the voice I now recognized as Bea’s. “I bargained for two, and so he belongs to me. You know what his fate will be.”
Air burned in my lungs as I held my breath, but I dared not flinch as that evil banshee walked by. I thought I’d pass out from fear when the swish of her tunic brushed my legs. Two more fairy girls trailed behind.
“Why should Bea Ann Shee get to drink his blood? Then he’ll die and we won’t have a plaything,” complained the Grimoire girl.
“Do you want to defy her?” asked the other fairy girl. There was no answer.
After they passed by, I released my breath in a low hiss. I couldn’t help but suck in the vile air around me. I could still smell the cinnamon and rose, but now it smelled like rotting flowers and moldy incense. I tried not to gag.
As fast as I dared, I climbed the narrow, slippery stone steps. I kept my arm over my hair in case there were bats, but they were either still sleeping or out hunting. At the top of the steps it was pitch dark, and I realized a flaw in Cindy’s plan. How could I find the release latch if I couldn’t see my nose in front of my face?
Trapped, I dared not go back. The fairy air began to work its way into me, chilling my blood and numbing my mind. Soon I’d grow confused and forget why I’d come. Don’t panic. Think, Cat, nagged that voice.
I rubbed my freezing hands against my leg and brushed them against my silver chain. With trembling hands, I pulled out my feather and it glowed a soft gold in the dark. Right! I held the feather up against the wall and could finally make out the latch.
Without even caring about what waited for me on the other side, I yanked the lever and shoved the door open … creeeeaaaaak!!
CHAPTER 28 A Haunting Déjà Vu
I stood inside a bizarre and ancient room. Tall skinny shelves lined the walls but they held no books. Long, narrow windows of stained glass reached the tiled floor. Thick green velvet curtains framed the widows and dust motes swirled in flickering lamplight. I had climbed into the Grimoire library.
My heart sank when I spotted the fat book that lay open on a pedestal in the middle of the room. My friends had not stolen the Grimoire. It was still here!
“Ahchoo!”
I jumped at the sneeze and my eyes darted around the room. Then I noticed several pairs of sneakers poking below the velvet curtain. I’d hidden behind those curtains once myself.
“Jasper? Amarjeet? Everyone?”
My friends popped out from behind the curtains. We were so glad to see each other, we pounded each other’s backs like we’d just won a game. Mia sighed in relief. “I’m glad it’s you, Cat. I couldn’t help but sneeze, and I thought we were doomed.”
“We located the Grimoire pretty quickly,” said Amarjeet.
“Yea,” said Jasper, “I guess the fairies weren’t too worried. They left it in the library and they all stopped guarding it to go out and see the big competition.”
“Yeah,” piped up Mitch, “your distraction did a great job, Cat.”
My friends explained how they’d almost made it to the front door with the Grimoire when they had heard the commotion of the fairies trying to get me through the door.
“Clive stayed inside the hall as lookout while we tried to find another way out,” ex
plained Jasper. “He’d wanted to make sure you both were safe. Did you find Lea and Clive?”
They didn’t know what had happened, and before I explained Amarjeet cut in.
“We had to hide in the library again,” she said. “So we thought we’d better replace the book. It was a good thing too, as a bunch of fairies came through here and disappeared into the secret passageway just before you got here. How did you get by them?”
“I’ll explain it all later,” I said, “For now let’s get out of here before …” I was about to say, “before Bea returns to kill Clive,” but finished with, “uh … anyone comes back.” I didn’t want to tell them about Clive. I would have to rescue him myself.
“We’d better hurry,” said Mitch, looking at his watch, “It’s only a few minutes until midnight!”
Jasper and Mitch hoisted the Grimoire book off the pedestal. All of us made our way through the hall past the cruel eyes in the hanging portraits of Grimoire students that still hung in our time. We crept to the end of the hall and Amarjeet and I slid back the huge bolt on the front door. My friends filed out lugging the giant tome. But I hung back, whispering to Amarjeet, “Don’t wait for me. Go straight to the carousel. I sent Alice and the kids there.”
Before I could close the door, Jasper slipped back in. “Lea and Clive haven’t escaped, have they.”
“I’ll find them,” I promised. But Jasper wouldn’t budge. “I’m going with you. We have to finish this together since we started together,” he said,
“Okay,” I agreed, “but just you.”
Amarjeet returned. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re just going to wait for Lea and Clive. They’ll be here any minute,” I said calmly, hiding my worst fears. “It’s important that the rest of you don’t wait. I need you guys to go and make sure Sookie unlocks the Grimoire and gets everything prepared at the carnival.”
Although my friend looked worried, she nodded, and the three of them sped off, while I shut the door. Now I was stuck in Grimoire. Would I ever get out of this place?
Grim Hill: Carnival of Secrets Page 14
