The Clockwork Fairy Kingdom

by Leah Cutter

  Dale, of course, was already gone. He’d taken Grandpa Lewis’ toolkit with him, as well as the fairy machine. Nora knew he wasn’t coming home, not on his own. She’d just have to go get him.

  The door to Mom’s bedroom was still closed. Nora didn’t want to disturb her; she’d been so tired all day the day before.

  Nora went into her mom’s office and turned on her computer. She wasn’t supposed to use the Internet without permission, but she felt justified. Dale was in trouble. She knew most of what she’d read would be wrong—fairies weren’t cute, small, or likely to grant wishes. Mischievous? Possibly. Bloodthirsty? Nora remembered the warriors and their sharp teeth. Definitely.

  After about an hour, Nora didn’t have a plan, but she had a few ideas. She had to finish one or more versions of her bracelet. Fairies were masters at illusions and she needed every trick available to her. She was close to completing one, particularly because Kostya was no longer distracting her.

  Mom still wasn’t awake. Nora wondered if maybe Dale was right and she was just sick. Nora went into the kitchen and fixed coffee for her, as well as some toast. Then she knocked softly on her door. “Mom?”

  The sound of rustling came through the door, followed by a soft moan.

  “Mom?” Nora burst through the door.

  Her mom lay on the floor, tangled in sheets. Nora put down the tray she held and ran to her. “Mom? Are you okay?” Tears streamed down Nora’s face. “Please, you have to be okay. You can’t die. Please.”

  Mom’s eyes fluttered open. She took a deep, raspy breath. “911,” she said. “My heart.”

  Nora looked around the room. She didn’t see a phone. “I’ll be right back. I promise.” She raced to her own room for her cell phone.

  “My mom’s had a heart attack. You need to get here. Now.” Nora rattled off the address. “Yes, she’s had problems with her heart before. She has a pacemaker.” Nora gathered supplies, throwing them into a bag as she talked. “Please, hurry.” She ran back to her mom’s room, dropping down next to her and taking her hand.

  “Where’s Dale?”

  “Gone,” Nora said bitterly. “Don’t you worry. I’ll find him. I’ll get him back.”

  Sirens sounded in the distance. Nora went outside to direct them. She tried Dale’s cell phone—it went straight to voicemail, as she’d expected. She’d just have to rescue Dale later. She refused to lose any more members of her family.

  ***

  The screaming sirens repelled Adele, forcing her up and away from the Tinker’s house. She stayed hidden from sight against the gray clouds—not that anyone looked up. After the loud boxy vehicles had gone, Adele dropped back down and quietly approached the house. Her steps grew slower, sluggish. Magnets and cold iron hung from the corners of the roof. One of the old-timers who knew about fairies must have lived here before the Tinker and his family.

  Adele stared at the house, fuming, searching for an obvious entrance, like an open window, that would have allowed her to fly in without touching the ground or the house. Once inside, she wouldn’t be able to stay long; the electronics would drive her mad. Quiet descended on the house. It took Adele another turn around the building before she realized the house was too still. The loud boxes had taken away both the mother and the Maker.

  Cursing, Adele took to the air, spreading her powerful wings. The cars traveled much faster than she could, so she followed the noise, the vibrations of the screams.

  By noon, Adele determined the place the boxy vehicles had gone: a large, gray stone building with many yellow windows. The smell of blood and sickness drifted from it. Had the Maker gotten sick? Or her mother? The Tinker didn’t know, she was certain.

  Adele set a magic watcher on the door in the back, tuned to the Tinker and those related to him, then waited next to a small fountain in the front. Either the Maker or the mother would come out. Adele would be ready either way.

  ***

  Chris returned to town still singing along with the radio. Today, he would find where that bitch of a wife had hidden his boy and he would steal him back. They’d leave the coast and drive across the country together. Maybe take a look at the Grand Canyon, daring each other to throw rocks over the edge. Maybe they’d go see those old presidents carved into the side of a mountain, and take pictures of each other pretending to pick those statues’ noses. Then they’d settle down somewhere wholesome in the Midwest, away from the coast and the types of people who lived there.

  Chris didn’t know what he was going to do to Robert. His dreams of revenge tasted sweet, but vanished quickly in the light. Maybe Chris would just run into him. He planned on going to some of the fast food restaurants downtown, since that was where Robert had called him from. If Chris found him, he had a ready lie and a more ready fist.

  The hospital didn’t impress Chris. Obviously built in the 1950s and remodeled. The first floor was original; the upper stories weren’t. It probably was the best in the area, however. He drove past the entrance to the parking lot as he studied the area. Cursing, he turned the corner, intending to drive around the block again, when dark hair caught his eye.

  Nora.

  Where was Denise? Why was Nora here, coming out of a flower shop, alone? Was Dale hurt?

  Maybe Chris’ mama had been right. Denise’s heart was weak. Had it finally gone out? Had Chris’ luck finally changed? If Denise was sick, she couldn’t stop him from taking the kids.

  Humming, Chris finished going around the complex and pulled into the parking lot. Of course, someone had their hand out, looking for him to pay. It was just one more thing that had gone wrong in America. He should be able to park where he pleased and for free. He sullenly handed over the money, buying only an hour of time. Dale had probably stayed with Denise—he was a good boy like that, looking after his mom.

  However, Denise would have to get better without Dale. Chris was here to rescue him.

  ***

  Nora waited in the hospital room while Mom was in surgery. White daisies listed to one side of the soda can Nora used for a vase. She’d taken a couple of the flowers out and put them on the window sills. She’s asked for the other bed for her mom, the one away from the windows, but this was the one they’d put her mom in. The plastic of the chair stuck to Nora’s legs and the stink of medicine clung to her. White and gray made up the entire room—the floor, the walls, and the chair. The only color was Nora herself. She felt herself fading.

  A tall, red-faced woman doctor had talked with Nora for a while. She’d remembered to bring her mom’s wallet, and had answered the paramedics’ questions as well as she could. They didn’t know for certain what had happened, but the doctor assumed that the battery was bad in her pacemaker. It had lost all its power too early.

  Nora knew what had happened. The fairy machine, the one Dale had brought into the house, had shut down the electricity and hurt their mom. Nora was going to kill Dale once she got him away from the fairies.

  Stubbornly, Nora pulled out one of the knot-work bracelets she’d been working on. It wasn’t the one Kostya had shown her, but her own design. She needed to finish at least one of the bracelets before she faced the fairies. Nothing in the room inspired her. The bleakness made her shiver. Determined, she pulled out the brightest pink thread she had. She tied in the new color and started the finishing knots, turning the eye knots inward as well as outward. Kostya had insisted they all went one direction; however, that didn’t feel right to Nora. Very few patterns called only for purl and no knit stitches.

  “There’s my girl, always making something.”

  Nora looked up at the familiar voice. “Daddy!” she cried. She threw her knotwork down and ran to him. He leaned over and gave her a big hug. “Where’s Dale?” he asked.

  “He’s—he’s at a friend’s house,” Nora told him, hurt he hadn’t asked about her, or Mom. Then she saw the doctor standing in the doorway.

  “This is your father?” the doctor asked. She held her square jaw firmly in disapproval.
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  “Yes!” Nora declared, swinging his hand. “It’s my dad.”

  “I see,” the doctor said, looking from Nora to her father. “I thought you were divorced, and your wife’s been living here alone.”

  “No, no, I was just on an extended business trip. Right, darling?” Dad squeezed Nora’s hand.

  Nora knew enough to play along if she wanted to get her family back together. “He’s been out of town,” Nora said, nodding. “But he’s back now.”

  “I see,” the doctor said again. “Where’s your brother?”

  “He staying at a friend’s house,” Nora explained breezily.

  “We were just going to fetch him,” Dad said.

  Nora opened her mouth, then shut it again. How could she explain Dale, the fairies, and Kostya? Maybe Dad would let her go get Dale on her own.

  “What about your wife?” the doctor asked. “She’s still in surgery.”

  “Will she be awake when she comes out?” Dad asked.

  “No, but—”

  “We’ll be back long before she’s up,” Dad assured her. “Come on, Nora. Let’s go fetch your brother.”

  “Just a sec,” Nora said, letting go of Dad’s hand. She picked up her knotwork, then stuffed one of the daisies into her pocket. “Now we can go.”

  “Child never goes anywhere without one of her projects,” Dad told the doctor, rolling his eyes and sounding like Dale. Nora knew he didn’t mean anything by it. She reminded herself that he was just jealous that he couldn’t make things like she could.

  Outside, more clouds had cleared away and the sun was starting to peek through. Everything was looking up.

  “So are you going to come live with us, now, Dad?” Nora asked, skipping beside him. “All of us together again?”

  “Sure, sure, if that’s what you’d like,” Dad said easily.

  “Really? That’s so great! Just wait ’til I tell Dale,” Nora said. She paused for a moment after Dad opened the passenger side door as a strong breeze blew her hair into her face. “He said we’d never be a family again,” Nora added as she sat down.

  “We’re going to be a family again,” Dad told her seriously. “Just as soon as we get Dale.”

  “That might be a problem,” Nora finally admitted as they drove out of the parking lot.

  ***

  Nora cringed again as Dad laughed at her. “Fairies? Machines that stopped your mother’s heart? Where did you learn to be such a good storyteller?”

  “I’m not,” Nora said angrily. She pulled out the bracelet she’d been working on. “This. See? It’s magic. Or it will be once I finish it.”

  “There’s no such thing as magic,” Dad said firmly.

  “Yes, there is,” Nora replied stubbornly as she knotted. Left. Left. Right. “Lots of magic, like art and knitting and family and love.” Right. Right. Left. “This is just extra magic.” She burned inside, as she had when she’d braided that grass, so long ago.

  “I have to take you away too, don’t I?” Dad said, looking at her sadly. “For your own sake.”

  “It’s real. It’s real. It’s real,” Nora chanted, willing it to be so. Her fingers flew, throwing the strings back and forth as she knotted. She directed her fire there, pushing it with all her might. “There. You’ll see.” She slipped the bracelet over her wrist, then tied the final knots, all three of them, defiantly pulling them together with her teeth.

  When Nora looked up, the world had shifted.

  The sun shone crystalline bright through the clouds. Colored sheets hung in the air, floating gracefully on strange breezes. She sucked in her breath. “Can’t you see?” she asked, turning to her dad. He, too, had changed. His eyes had turned small and mean, while his nose more resembled a snout. “See what?” he squeaked.

  The pit of Nora’s stomach dropped. This selfish pig couldn’t be her dad. There must be something wrong with the magic. She turned her bracelet, trying to deny it. The world stayed sharp and new. She saw the truth. The darkness of the interior of the car made her feel trapped. She needed to get outside, away from all this, from her false father.

  “We’re only going to get your brother,” Dad said. At least that’s what Nora thought he said. His lips moved funny and not in time with his words. “I’m going to steal him back, then leave you on the side of the road. You’re too damaged.” Then he laughed, as if he’d told a great joke.

  “No,” Nora said. “I won’t go with you. And neither will Dale.”

  “What are you going to do about it, little girl?” Dad sneered. “How are you going to stop me?”

  Movement in the back seat caught Nora’s eye. As she stared, the spot wavered, then solidified, growing firm and real.

  A fairy sat behind Nora. She had a big, bony ridge covering her nose, sharp teeth, and a yellow, baleful glare. Nora’s eyes grew big as the fairy spread out her clockwork wings, taking up the entire backseat. As frightening as the fairy was, even Nora could see the grace in her, understand why Dale had followed the queen.

  With a satisfied sigh, Nora turned back forward, though she held the gaze of the fairy in the mirror. “I want to leave the car,” she stated plainly.

  “No.”

  “Then it isn’t me you have to worry about,” Nora said, bracing herself.

  Dad snorted. “Who do I have to worry about?”

  “Me,” Queen Adele said.

  ***

  Robert rode uncomfortably in the back of Larry and Mike’s—the bouncers’—car. They’d confiscated Robert’s phone and now drove toward the dot that represented, to them, Robert’s money. Fast food wrappers littered the floor of the backseat and the car smelled like rancid grease. Larry and Mike had made it evident to Robert that he couldn’t leave. Robert didn’t care about the money, or what happened to Chris at this point—he just needed to survive.

  Larry called out directions while Mike drove. “Turn right. Here.”

  Mike made an abrupt left turn, cutting off traffic from the opposing lane, causing them to brake and honk.

  “No, you idiot, your other right,” Larry said, hitting Mike’s arm.

  “Hell,” Mike said, looking for a place to turn around.

  Robert shook his head and bit his lip so he wouldn’t start calling Mike “Moe” and asking where Curly was.

  “Hey, it’s stopped,” Larry said. He held up Robert’s phone, so he could see. “Why’d it stop?”

  “Chris has probably stopped driving.”

  Larry looked again at the map. “That’s the hospital.”

  Robert remembered Denise saying something about an operation she couldn’t afford. “We should wait until he leaves the hospital,” Robert told them.

  “Oh yeah?” Larry asked.

  “Oh yeah?” Mike sneered.

  “Too many cops,” Robert explained.

  “Oh,” Mike said.

  “So we should wait?” Larry asked.

  “Yes, we should wait,” Robert said. “Why don’t we park next to the hospital parking lot, so we can follow Chris when he leaves?” Robert assumed he wouldn’t have to explain what it meant to follow someone in a car, though he was certain these two wouldn’t know how to do it subtly or well.

  If Robert had had access to a gun, he might have shot himself once they’d parked and Larry and Mike started debating about an old PC baseball game, and whether modern equipment, when used by some of the old-timers, would have made a difference. It was trivia he couldn’t understand—how did it help him bet today?

  Fortunately, before Robert had reached the screaming stage, he recognized Chris’ car as it pulled out of the lot. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to get too close,” he warned as Mike pulled out right behind him. “He has someone else in the car with him.” Robert thought it was the daughter, Nora, based on the dark hair.

  Larry shrugged. “Might be his kid, right? Might be good leverage.”

  Robert shook his head. Kids made bad leverage. Parents did crazy things when their kids were involved. However, t
here was nothing he could say. These two would never listen.

  When a dark shape appeared in the backseat of Chris’ car, Larry asked, “What the hell is that?”

  Chris’ car abruptly swerved into the oncoming traffic. Mike swore, but couldn’t stop in time, bashing into the side rear of Chris’ car hard enough that the front seat air bags exploded, knocking both Larry and Mike unconscious. Only Robert had been wearing his seatbelt.

  Once the car stopped moving, Robert looked around, unsure what to do. If he left, would they find him? Could he send the money he owed later, or would they hunt him down?

  The dark figure in the car ahead of them turned and grinned at him—a mere skull floating on top of a shadowy body.

  Robert took it as a sign. Leave. Now. He kicked open the car door and rose to his shaking feet, gulping the clean air.

  Bystanders asked Robert if he was all right. He shook them off and started walking. He didn’t slow down when they called after him, and didn’t look back. He kept going, straight back to his hotel, grateful that no one had tried to stop him.

  The face of the shadowy figure haunted Robert as he walked—the jagged teeth, the crazed golden eyes. Though the sun had broken through the clouds, Robert still felt numb and cold. He couldn’t shake the feeling he’d just avoided something nastier than any loan shark.

  When Robert got back to his room, he started packing. Leave. Now. He had to get out of there before that thing came after him.

  As Robert zipped up his suitcase, he remembered the girl, Nora. He didn’t care what had happened to Chris or the bouncers—they deserved what they got from that thing. Nora, though. She and Denise and Dale. They all deserved better.

  Robert didn’t want to go back. He’d left his conscience behind long ago, or so he told himself. It wasn’t his business. Yet, he was the one who had brought Chris here, who had started the tide of events. Chris had lied to Robert as well and never paid him. In addition to making sure the girl was all right, Robert still wanted his revenge.