by Amy Boyles
I can’t say how long the creature walked. Maybe ten minutes, maybe thirty, but finally we came to a cave. I was pulled from the creature’s back and settled against the wall.
Before I could run straight out screaming, the creature retrieved a large boulder and covered the entrance.
Most of the hole was blocked except for a large wedge at the top. It was enough to allow a little light in. I watched him rummage through a sack and pull out sticks and a stone.
A pile of logs sat near the entrance. The beast went about starting a fire, which was nice because it ate at the damp that had set in, but bad because I had a feeling I would be getting cooked on that fire.
The creature shoved the boulder aside and stepped out.
“Nowhere for human to run,” it said before closing the cave back up.
I struggled with my binds. My fingers prodded the wall until they brushed against a jagged edge.
Thank goodness.
Working quickly, I grazed my binds up and down the edge, trying to fray the rope enough so that I could get my hands free.
Just when I’d started gaining progress, the boulder moved and the creature returned, whistling.
“Will make a spit for you,” he said.
Oh good, something to look forward to. I wondered if the beast also had an apple to stick in my mouth while I roasted.
Better not to think about things like that.
As quietly as possible, I kept working the binds while the creature wound strips of leather around the sticks to make the spit.
When it was satisfied, the creature turned to me.
I yanked on the rope, but my binds weren’t cut through enough. Had to bide time.
“Why do you want to eat me?”
“Hungry,” he replied.
Okay, so I admit that was a stupid question. Obviously the creature was hungry; there was no other reason for it to want to eat me. Perhaps another tactic would be better.
“I have food.”
“You are food.”
So we weren’t getting anywhere. I wanted to hit my head against a rock.
“I mean, not far from here I have food. A lot of food. More food than you can imagine. My grandmother is a great cook. You like biscuits and gravy? She’ll make it. You like fried chicken? Woo-wee,” I exclaimed, “she makes the best fried chicken you’ve ever tasted. Better than KFC and Cracker Barrel, even.”
He stared at me as if I was speaking gibberish. I mean, why did I expect this creature to know what Cracker Barrel was?
Rookie mistake.
“My point,” I said as the creature produced a knife from his belt and proceeded to sharpen it, “is that if you just eat me, you’re missing out on an entire feast. And I don’t mean a one-time feast. I mean every day. Betty will cook a huge meal for you every single day. You won’t have to waste a meal on stringy old me. Why would you want to do that? I’m skin and bones.”
Total lie but a girl had to do what a girl had to do. Especially when it came to staying alive.
The creature pulled a strip of clothing from the bottom of his, dare I say, tunic, and ran the knife down it.
The cloth cut cleanly in half.
I gulped down an Easter egg that had formed in the back of my throat. I had a feeling I wasn’t getting through to this creature. Heck, if talk of fried chicken wasn’t going to sway him, what was?
“You seem very bored out here,” I said. “Very bored. It must be a really lonely life foraging in my forest.”
The creature cocked a brow at me. “Your forest?”
I nodded. “Yes. You’re in my forest. You came from my nightmare. Did you know that? As of three days ago you didn’t even exist. But the other night I dreamed about you and poof! You became real.”
He frowned. “I have always been.”
“If always means this week, then you’re right,” I corrected. “But I wonder what happens when I stop dreaming about you? Or if you kill me? Since I created you from my mind, if you kill and eat me, then you’ll probably disappear. Vanish. Go back to where you came from—which is the stuff of dreams. Dust. Celestial powder.”
Heck, it sounded good. I didn’t know if I was right. I wanted to be right. I wanted to be one hundred percent correct in my theory. It made sense.
If the creature had sprouted from my brain, then that meant if my brain was damaged in some way, he would vanish.
The creature sucked his teeth. Methinks I had his attention now.
“I’m just saying,” I said. “If you kill me, you’ll die, too.”
He pointed the knife at me. The steel flashed in the firelight. “You lie.”
“Nope. I’m not lying. How far back do you remember? Do you remember your parents? You had to have been born. Or do you only remember this forest and a couple of sunrises.”
The creature stroked his chin. He eyed me with curiosity sprinkled with a dash of skepticism. I didn’t blame him. If I’d been living on nuts and berries for a few days and finally had access to a great meal and then my food told me if I ate them, I’d die, I’d be skeptical, too.
I’d want some answers—concrete ones before I moved along in my grand plan.
“I remember the sunrise,” he finally said.
“How many?” Could the creature even count? It wasn’t like he had a high school degree or anything. He could barely form a coherent sentence.
Finally he held up two fingers. I pushed down the smile that threatened to invade my face.
“Only two. That proves what I’m telling you is correct. Listen, you can eat me, which I do not suggest because of—well, you know the reason. Or you can let me go. Release me and you’ll live. But”—and I made a point of enunciating the word—“there is a witch who brought you into existence. She’s evil. I need help defeating her and stopping her evil plan.”
“What her plan?”
I grimaced. “That I’m not really sure of. All I know is that if you help me, you have a chance of staying alive. If you don’t, you’ll disappear forever. I won’t be able to help you. Heck, I won’t even be able to help myself.”
I gazed at the burning fire and the spit settled above it. “So. What do you say?”
My hands were free by this time. Yes, I could’ve worked some magic on Grumpy or whatever his name was, but the last magic I flung at him had negated.
The work of Misery, no doubt.
I extended my free hand. “Do we have a deal?”
Surprise filled the creature’s face as he glanced at my hand. Then slowly, at what felt like a slug’s pace, the creature offered his own hand.
I grasped it and shook. “Deal?” I repeated.
The creature nodded. “Deal.”
Chapter 16
I started calling him Grumpy. It seemed a decent enough name. I wasn’t sure if he knew what it actually meant, but to be fair, he was a bit grumpy.
His footfalls were heavy, his shoulders a little hunched. Plus Grumpy had wanted to eat me. In my opinion that most definitely made him grumpy.
Grumpy was true to his word. He moved the boulder, and we headed into the forest. By the time we reached the clearing, I found the search party that was looking for me.
Axel flew on his cast-iron skillet. Betty and my cousins circled the meadow and trees, canvassing the area like experts.
I didn’t see Hugo until he swooped down and landed right in front of me. He opened his wings for a hug and licked my face.
I giggled. “Good to see you too, buddy.”
Axel landed his skillet softly on the ground. He rushed up and pulled me into a hug. “We were so worried. We looked everywhere. We even sent search orbs to find you but nothing.”
Axel stroked my cheeks. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Betty, Cordelia and Amelia landed behind Axel. Axel straightened. His entire body stiffened as he took in Grumpy.
“Who is that?” he said.
I smirked. This should be fun. I strode over to Grumpy and tugged him f
orward. Grumpy held his ground, digging his massive heels into the grass.
“Come on,” I said. “Don’t be shy. All they want to do is meet you.”
“No meet,” he said gruffly.
I nodded toward Betty. “See the white-haired one over there? She’s the one who cooks good.”
Grumpy eyed Betty with interest.
Frustration rose in Axel’s voice. “Pepper, who or what is that?”
“I’ll tell you what it is,” Betty snapped. All gazes landed on her.
A slow smile spread across my face. I wondered if she would guess right.
Of course she would. She was Betty, all-knowing witch of Magnolia Cove. At least according to her she was.
“That,” she pointed to Grumpy, “is the stuff of nightmares come true. It’s the manifestation of a nightmare. Only somehow you friended it, Pepper. How’d you manage that?”
I clicked my tongue. “Funny you should ask. Grumpy—that’s what I named him—was about to eat me, and I convinced him that one, you’re a great cook, and two, he might disappear if I died.”
Betty stroked her chin. She shot Axel a knowing look. “What do you think about your fiancée’s theory?”
Axel studied Grumpy. “What do you say we go back, heat up a slice of pie and discuss it?”
Betty poked the air. “I just happen to have a fresh pecan pie ripe for slicing into.”
Axel nodded. “Sounds perfect.”
We reached the house a few minutes later. You should have seen the stares Grumpy received as we walked through town.
“He’s a distant cousin,” Axel said to anyone glancing our way.
Needless to say, Grumpy was tall. Betty had to widen and stretch the door to the cottage just so he could enter. Once inside, she gave him a pecan pie to eat, plus a turkey leg, sweet potato casserole and a loaf of freshly baked bread.
I hoped that curbed Grumpy’s appetite for flesh.
After he had finished eating, I invited Grumpy to go outside and play fetch with Hugo. Grumpy did exactly as I requested, and Hugo was glad to have someone to play with, even if it was basically a terrifying ogre.
“That’s the thing that looked like me?” Cordelia said, not bothering to hide the shock in her voice.
“That’s the one,” I said.
“It’s uglier than either of us,” Amelia scoffed. “I’m insulted.”
I flared my arms. “Anyway. Let’s get to what’s at hand. That creature was my dream. My powers didn’t work on it. I couldn’t stop it. It was like Misery’s curse or whatever negated it.”
Betty frowned. She peered through the kitchen window and studied Grumpy while he tossed a Frisbee at Hugo. It sailed into the air and out of sight. Hugo darted after it.
“Same as with the orb. We’ve got to get Misery to talk to us. Call off the curse.”
I shook my head. “She’s not going to talk. Isn’t that obvious after this morning?”
Axel scratched the stubble on his chin. “It’s time to get Garrick involved. If he goes to her with his deputies, maybe she’ll listen.”
Cordelia scoffed. “I doubt it. You saw what happened to us. Attacked by a bunch of crows. She’s not letting anyone inside her fortress.”
Betty nodded. “I agree. We tell Garrick, but we’ll have to take matters into our own hands.”
“Which means?” I said.
She hiked a shoulder to her ear. “Which means we either find a way to break the curse or we try to find the beginning of it. If something started the chain of events that has caused all of this to happen, then we need to locate it.”
Betty paused. She glanced at each of us in turn. “Do any of y’all have an idea about something that may be connected? It would give us a place to start.”
I racked my brain, but it didn’t take very long for me to come up with something. “A crow.”
All gazes latched onto me. “There’s been a crow around ever since we returned.”
Interest glinted in Axel’s eyes. “When did you last see it?”
I shrugged. “This morning maybe.” I thought back. “I think so. I never really know where it’s going to turn up, but the darned thing seems to follow me. I’ve seen it outside Familiar Place at least twice. One of those was before Idie showed up and the whole dove-harpy thing happened.”
I shuddered just remembering how awful that near-death experience had been. At least I’d been able to talk Grumpy down. Reason with him. But if these nightmares continued, someone would get hurt. I had no doubt.
Betty tapped a finger to her mouth. “It’s a good place to start. We search for this crow and catch it. Once we’ve got it, we question the thing.”
“What if that doesn’t work?” I said.
Betty’s eyes narrowed to slitty wedges of death. “Then we take it back to Misery and present our hostage. That oughtta get the old biddy’s attention.”
I exchanged a pointed look with Axel. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
Amelia seconded that. “Heck, sounds like the best plan we’ve had all day. I say we go after this bird. See if we can catch him.”
Betty moved from the window. “In the meantime, while y’all are coming up with a plan, I’ll call Garrick. Fill him in on the situation.”
I saw Cordelia stiffen, but she said nothing. I put my arm around her. I knew she must’ve been feeling hurt, angry, unsure if she wanted to see him.
I also knew that Garrick and Cordelia needed to talk it over. They needed to communicate about what had happened. After all, we still didn’t know his side of the story.
All I knew was Cordelia’s, and she hadn’t listened to one word he’d said.
I hugged her close. “It’ll be okay.”
Turned out, it wasn’t.
Within five minutes of Garrick’s arrival, Cordelia was shooting flaming arrows at him from across the room.
“I wish he would leave,” she hissed.
Amelia, Cordelia and I were figuring out a way to scour Magnolia Cove while Axel and Betty briefed Garrick, who looked almost as annoyed as Cordelia that he was at the house at all, not to mention just now hearing about some nightmare curse.
Garrick rubbed the back of his neck. “Is that why my dreams have been so strange?”
Cordelia called out. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the woman I caught you cheating on me with.”
Garrick’s face burned bright red. “I was not cheating!”
“Sure looked like it to me.”
“You didn’t stop to listen to me.” Garrick rose. His fists were clenched and his jaw tight. “You haven’t answered my calls. If you would stop being immature and would, for once, listen to what I have to say, you’d know the truth!”
Fuming, Cordelia crossed the room. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” Garrick snapped.
She folded her arms. “And what is that truth? That she’s only a friend? Likely story.”
“She’s not a friend,” he argued.
Cordelia slapped her thighs. “See? I knew she wasn’t a friend. I knew you were running around behind my back!”
“Would you listen to me?”
“No, I won’t.”
A loud whistle broke through their arguing. Betty glared at both of them. She pointed a finger at Cordelia.
“Listen here, kid. You need to stop being so immature and hear what this man has to say. You have to live in the same town as he does. So you might as well try to get along.”
“If I had my choice, he’d leave,” she snarled.
“And you”—Betty jabbed her finger at Garrick—“you need to just come out and tell her what’s going on. You pussyfooting around it ain’t helping anything. Tell her who that lady was.”
Garrick sighed. Cordelia scowled.
Garrick hung his head. “That woman was my sister.”
“Likely story,” Cordelia said.
“Cordelia,” Betty warned.
My cousin rolled her eyes. “Fine. She’s your sister. I don’t know why you wou
ldn’t tell me that, first of all, your sister had come into town. And second of all, why you wouldn’t answer my calls that day if it was only your sister.”
Garrick rubbed his eyes. “I should have told you. It was my mistake that I didn’t. See, she’s been going through some things. Rough stuff. She came into town to discuss that and I wanted to talk to you, to tell you what was going on, but she didn’t want anyone to know she was here.”
“Why?” Cordelia asked.
“Because it’s a whole bunch of personal stuff I can’t go into. I was going to call you back later that night and explain, but my sister was really fragile. I didn’t want to risk revealing anything to you that would upset her.”
Garrick closed his eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you know sooner, but her visit was a surprise to me. I didn’t know she was arriving until it happened.” He paused. “Can you forgive me?”
Cordelia slowly lifted her gaze. As soon as Garrick had started explaining more about his sister, her eyes had locked in on the floor as if she was ashamed of her actions.
Well, as much as I hated to admit it, she should be. Not that I was perfect—far from it. In the past I’d put Axel through some serious hoops before I finally committed to him, being all worried about the whole bonding thing we’d go through after we married and such, but at least I’d listened to him.
Eventually, I suppose.
And now Cordelia understood what not listening had meant. It could have caused her entire relationship with Garrick to crumble. Deep down, I knew that wasn’t what she wanted. Cordelia loved Garrick and he loved her.
Heck, I knew that any day now he’d be proposing. He only had to find the right opportunity.
Cordelia slowly nodded. “I’m sorry I flew off the handle,” she said barely above a whisper.
Garrick’s lips coiled into a sincere smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you know what was going on.”
Her eyes were wet with tears. “Can you forgive me for being so childish?”
“If you can forgive me for not keeping you in the loop.”
“I can,” she said.
“Then so can I.”
They embraced and shared a sweet kiss. The room erupted into applause as all of us started clapping. My gaze snagged on Axel’s, and he smiled and winked at me.
