by Zoe Arden
"Yeah, fine," I told him. "Just thinking."
"Well, don't do too much of that, it'll hurt your head." He chuckled to himself and went about his work.
He was busy with his own stuff today. I think Eleanor had him making chocolate bunnies that she planned to dip in our new "quiet time extract." It was one of my favorite inventions. I'd come up with the idea one day when Natalie Vargas was in here with her kids and they wouldn't be quiet.
I figured that there came a time in every parent's life when they just needed their kids to quiet down, so why not have an extract that could help aid you in that situation? If you put the extract into something sure to entice young children—like a chocolate bunny, for example—then you had a surefire hit on your hands. Parents and children would both be clamoring for more.
The dividing door between the front and back of the bakery opened and Eleanor came in. She was followed by Perx. Her face was colored like a red rose, and her eyes flashed with irritation.
"Look who's come for another report," Eleanor said through clenched teeth.
Perx ignored my father and went right up to me.
"What have you found out since we last spoke?" he asked, getting right to business and not even saying hello. There were few pleasantries with goblins.
I straightened in my chair and put down my extract. It was ruined anyway. I felt his eyes on me, as well as my father's and Eleanor's. I'd told them both about Dr. Dunne but had left out the stuff about Melbourne until I could talk to Trixie alone.
"Do you have new information for me or should I just accept that we may never see our king again and our entire kingdom will be lost?" Perx asked.
Wow. Talk about a guilt trip.
"Zulubar's sick," I said. "At least I think he is."
Perx was quiet for a moment. "Sick?" he asked uncertainly.
I nodded. "I found out that he went to see one of our doctors—"
"A wizard's doctor? Why would he not see one of our own doctors if he was ill? Someone better suited to his needs?"
"I don't know," I said.
Eleanor stepped forward. "It may be that he knew someone was after him and was trying to be careful."
"Or," said my dad, "if he was sick, maybe he didn't want your people to find out. He might've been afraid it would start a panic."
Perx nodded as if that made sense to him.
"What sort of illness is he suffering from?" Perx asked.
"I don't know yet," I said. "When I spoke with Dr. Dunne, he refused to tell me anything. Wizards and humans both have this thing called 'doctor-patient confidentiality.' It's not something that can be easily broken."
Perx's eyes widened. "He refused to help you? When the survival of our species is in jeopardy?" He was shaking with fury. "You must go back to him and demand answers. You must not wait."
"You want me to go now?" I asked uncertainly, looking at Eleanor.
"Yes. You should not need me to tell you to do something so obvious."
He stomped away from me, pausing just beside the dividing door. "If you cannot help us, then the deaths of every goblin in the world will be on your hands." He stormed out of the bakery, leaving me shaking.
I looked at my dad, my bottom lip quivering.
"He's just being dramatic," my father said.
"You know how goblins are," said Eleanor, but she was shaking as well.
"I'd better go," I told them. "I need to talk to Dr. Dunne and explain to him how important it is that he tell me what was wrong with Zulubar. Especially if it can lead to us finding him."
"Do you want me to come?" asked Eleanor.
"No. Dr. Dunne was reluctant to talk to me before; if there are two of us he might be even more reluctant."
She nodded, understanding.
I hurried to Sweetland Hospital, going straight to Dr. Dunne's office, hoping I'd find him willing to listen to reason.
I knocked on his door. "Dr. Dunne?" I called.
There was no answer. I sighed and knocked again.
"Dr. Dunne?"
Still no answer.
I tried the knob and it turned easily. I pushed the door open and stepped into the office.
"Dr. Dunne!" I cried.
He was lying sprawled on the floor, his legs sticking out at odd angles, an arrow sticking out of his back.
* * *
CHAPTER
TWENTY
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I paced back and forth in the waiting room. It had been over an hour. I turned to Eleanor. "What's taking them so long?"
"Relax," Eleanor said. She rose to her feet and linked arms with me. "He'll be okay."
Trixie rose from her seat and joined us. The three of us began pacing the room together. It was an odd sort of comfort. A product of nervousness, but one which brought us all together. Having each of them so near to me made me feel just a little better.
"I'll see if Sadie can tell us anything," my dad said. He hurried off in search of her.
On our third round around the waiting room, Eleanor paused. "I'm getting dizzy," she said.
"I need some coffee," Trixie said. "Anyone else?"
"Hospital coffee?" I asked, scrunching my face up.
"Who cares how it tastes?" said Trixie. "It has caffeine. That's the whole point of coffee, isn't it?"
I bowed my head to her. "You're a wise woman. One cup, please."
"And me," Eleanor said.
"I might as well bring one for Eli, too," she said. "Does he take cream and sugar?"
"Always," I replied.
Eleanor and I were left alone together. Well, not alone. There were several other people stranded in the waiting area. Three of them were sleeping, three more were sitting and playing with their phones. A couple kept glancing up at the television, but all that was showing was a Spanish soap opera. Everyone looked bored. Everyone looked tired. Everyone looked worried.
"Let's sit," Eleanor said. "I'm tired of walking."
"Let me know when you get bored again; we'll tackle the stairways next."
"The stairs you can tackle with your father. I'm in no shape for climbing anything higher than a stepstool."
I giggled and leaned my back in the chair as best I could. Hospital furniture, in general, wasn't the most comfortable, and Sweetland Hospital was no exception.
"Ava, there's something I haven't told you yet. I was going to tell you when you got back to the bakery, but..."
She didn't have to say it. I had called Eleanor just after finding Dr. Dunne. I'd been hysterical; it was a miracle she could understand me as well as she had. She, Trixie, and my dad had closed up the shop and gotten to Sweetland Hospital as quickly as possible.
"What is it?" I asked her.
Eleanor bit her bottom lip and reached into her purse. She withdrew a long, gold envelope. My eyes widened.
"Is that...?" I said. She nodded. "When did you get hold of it?"
"Last night. Zane got a phone call from Otis in the middle of the night, and I ran down to his office. Apparently, Tadpole had gotten himself caught inside of a washing machine and Otis was in a fit." She raised her hand to stop me from asking any questions.
"The answers are: Tadpole is fine, and I have no idea."
My mind pictured Tadpole lying inside a washing machine, basking in its warmth, lounging languidly by as Otis freaked out.
"How long was he gone?" I asked.
"Long enough."
I looked at the envelope again. "You haven't opened it yet."
"No, I was waiting for you."
"You're scared of what we might find inside, aren't you?"
Eleanor pursed her lips, and I had my answer. I didn't blame her. After all, there was a part of me that was terrified I'd find out Colt was a goblin killer. It didn't have to all make sense, the worry was present day and night and would continue to be there until I figured this out.
"You go ahead," I told her
, handing the envelope back.
She pushed it back toward me. "No, you open it."
"He's your husband," I said.
"He's your sheriff."
"He's everyone's sheriff." We looked at each other and started laughing.
"We're being silly, aren't we?" Eleanor asked. "Were acting like there's some sort of hex inside this envelope that's going to jump out and kill us."
I paused. "There couldn't really be a hex in there... could there?"
"Doubtful," she said, then paused as well. "Though not impossible." We both stared at the envelope some more.
One of us had to do something. I finally grabbed the envelope from her and ripped it open. Inside was a letter written on light gold paper. The handwriting was neat and elegant. Eleanor took it from me now that it was safe. A letter was just a letter, after all, no matter what it might have said.
"Dear Sheriff Knoxx," Eleanor read out loud. "We are happy to inform you that..."
"What?" I asked, holding my breath.
Eleanor had stopped reading out loud. She silently scanned the letter, moving her lips but with no sound coming out.
"What?" I asked again, a flash of irritation racing through me.
She looked up at me, her eyes dazed as if she'd just seen something extraordinary—something like a UFO or a cartoon genie popping out of a lamp. Real genies didn't live in lamps; that was something that had been invented for the movies.
"Eleanor..." I said.
"He's a prince."
I blinked, thinking I'd misheard her. "What?" I asked.
"Or a king. I don't know what you'd call him exactly." She turned to me, her mouth open, and a loud croak came out of her. She sounded like a bullfrog. "Zane is royalty."
I laughed, thinking she was joking. She didn't laugh with me.
"Royalty?" I grabbed the letter from her and quickly scanned it. "Is this for real?"
"It has the official seal."
"Yeah, but... Sheriff Knoxx? Goblin royalty?" I shook my head. "Impossible."
I looked at the letter again, rereading what appeared to be a congratulatory letter. Whoever had sent it seemed to think that Sheriff Knoxx would welcome this news.
According to what the letter said, his great-great-great, or whatever, grandmother—the one who'd walked into the forest and come out with the goblin husband disguised as a man—hadn't just walked out of the forest with any ordinary goblin. It had been a goblin prince.
"No wonder he's been so moody," Eleanor said. "It all makes sense now."
I looked at her. "What's so bad about being royalty?"
"Remember what Perx said?" she asked. "Zulubar is the last of his kind. If he really is sick, and if Zane knows that, he might be worried that he'll be expected to take Zulubar's place once he's gone."
My mouth dropped open. "Of course. That makes perfect sense."
I felt bad for the sheriff, but there was a limit to how far my sympathy went. After all, he had just been named royalty. That was something most people dreamed of. Of course, Sheriff Knoxx wasn't most people.
My dad reappeared just then, Sadie in tow. Trixie was still getting our coffees. Eleanor tucked the gold envelope back into her purse and out of sight.
"I'll tell Trixie and your dad about this later," she whispered, "when we're back at home."
I nodded.
"Well?" I asked, looking at Sadie and my dad.
"Dr. Dunne is going to live," Sadie said.
"Oh, thank the witches," said Eleanor.
"He's not exactly out of the woods just yet," Sadie said. "But he should survive. There's just one problem..." She looked at my father, and I felt anxiety prick at my heart.
"What's that?" I asked.
Sadie looked back at me and cleared her throat. "He won't wake up."
* * *
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
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Sheriff Knoxx wasn't at the station. We had to track him down. He was probably out somewhere trying to figure out who had shot Dr. Dunne with a bow and arrow.
"I think he went to the library," Elwin said.
"The library?" I asked. "Why would he go there? Does he think the killer works there?"
Elwin shrugged. "I think he said the book he'd reserved came in."
Eleanor and I looked at each other. Why would he be worried about library book when Dr. Dunne was lying in the hospital? That didn't make any sense. Even with his strange behavior of late, this was out of character for him.
"Let's see if he's there first before we go making any conclusions," Eleanor said as we left the station. "Maybe Elwin's mistaken."
"Maybe," I said.
It turned out Eleanor was right, and Elwin was mistaken. Sheriff Knoxx wasn't at the library. They hadn't even seen him there.
With no other ideas, we walked up and down downtown Sweetland looking for him. It wasn't as much work as it might've sounded like. Downtown Sweetland was maybe two miles wide at the most. Eleanor had already tried calling him about thirty times, but he hadn't answered his phone, so this seemed like the next best idea.
"Do you think he could be at home?" I asked her an hour later when we still hadn't run into him.
"In the middle the day?" She drew her brows tightly together. "It's possible, I suppose, though it seems unlikely. I've never known Zane to come home in the middle of the afternoon before. "
"Maybe he wasn't feeling well," I offered.
"The last time he had the flu, he sat up at the station all night with a 103-degree temperature just because he was on duty. I finally went down there to get him and had to use a feather charm so that I could lighten him up enough to carry him home. Even then he argued with me."
But when we had finally visited every store in Sweetland and had still found neither hide nor hair of him, Eleanor relented. We opened the front door to Eleanor's house and heard a racket coming from the direction of the study.
"I guess you were right," Eleanor said.
"Are you sure it's him?" I asked.
A loud roar rumbled from that side of the house. It sounded like a volcano going off. "I'm sure," Eleanor said.
We walked down the hallway and paused outside his office door. "Maybe I should go first," Eleanor said.
I nodded. For once, we were in total agreement on something. Eleanor peeked her head into the room and gasped. She flung the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside.
"What have you done?" she cried.
I looked into the room and my eyes widened. It was a mess. Papers were strewn everywhere. The desk chair was turned upside down. It looked as if a tornado had gone off inside the room. Sheriff Knoxx was standing in the middle of it all. He was sweating as if he'd just come from a steam room.
"I was looking for something," he said in answer to a question neither of us had asked. "Something important."
"Was it a million dollars?" Eleanor asked, her hands on her hips.
He stared blankly at her. "No."
"Then you'd better have this room cleaned up by the time we go to bed."
He let out a heavy sigh. "I will, promise."
"What are you looking for, anyway?" Eleanor asked.
I wanted to shake her. I couldn't believe she hadn't figured it out by now. What was the one thing that could've sent the sheriff off the deep end like this? What was the one thing he'd been trying to keep from her for the past how many weeks?
"Just a letter," he said, and her mouth dropped open. Now she had it. Too bad for her Sheriff Knoxx was a pretty smart man.
"Eleanor," he said, catching the look on her face. "You didn't happen to take a letter from my desk, did you?"
"I might have," she said, casting her eyes to the floor.
His face contorted into one big snarl. "You took my letter?"
"Well, I took a letter. I don't know if it's the same one you're looking for."
I took a s
tep back. Sheriff Knoxx's top was about to blow, and I didn't want to be anywhere near it when it did.
"How dare you?" he cried. He rounded his shoulders back, gearing up for a fight.
Eleanor rounded her own shoulders back, gearing up for the same. "How dare I, how dare you?"
"What are you talking about?" Sheriff Knoxx demanded.
"I'm talking about a certain secret you've been keeping from me for who knows how long."
His cheeks colored. He looked caught. He pulled at the collar of his shirt like it was choking him.
"You read it," he said.
"Yes, I read it."
For the first time since coming into the house, he looked at me. "You, too?" he asked, and I nodded.
He let out a loud sigh that was more like a wail. He threw his hands up into the air. "I'm sorry," he said. He bent over at the waist and sat down, dropping his head between his knees. For a moment, it looked like he was crying, but then he lifted his head and although his eyes were red, there were no tears.
"I'm sorry," he said again.
"Why didn't you tell me what was going on?" asked Eleanor. "How long have you known that you're royalty?"
"Not long, about three weeks."
"Three weeks?" Eleanor screeched, blowing her own top. "You've known about this for three weeks, and you haven't said anything to me? I'm your wife."
"I was hoping that they'd go away."
"That who'd go away?" she asked.
"The goblins." He sighed. "They've been mailing me at home, at the station, everywhere. I even found a letter under the windshield of my car one morning."
"What do they want from you?" I asked.
"They want to anoint me."
"Anoint you?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. In some grand ceremony. They say that if anything happens to Zulubar, I'm the next in line. And now that it looks like something actually may have happened to him, they won't leave me alone. They want to make it all official."
I looked at Eleanor. Her face softened considerably. Sheriff Knoxx looked so miserable that I couldn't blame her. I'd thought it was sort of cool that he was royalty, but seeing him now there was nothing cool about it. He looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there.
