Chapter 16

When Cory stumbled out of her room the next morning, knuckling the sleep from her eyes, she noticed that the front door was standing open. “Uncle Micah?” she called.

“I’m out here,” her uncle replied from the front porch. “We’ve had another visitor.”

Cory’s heart sank as she headed for the porch. What awful thing had the TFG done this time? Expecting to find splattered mud or squirming worms, she was surprised to see that the vandalism was actually pretty. Someone had planted bright red poppies in the front lawn, spelling out Corialis Feathering Is a Traitor!

“The flowers are so beautiful that I almost hate to dig them up,” her uncle told her.

“If only it said something nice,” said Cory.

Micah turned to face her. “Are you too busy to deal with this today? You could dig them up or mow them down. Mowing would be faster if you’re pinched for time.”

“I think I’ll transplant them,” Cory told him. “I don’t have any plans until tonight. Zephyr is playing at the Shady Nook, but I’m free until then. The way things are going, I think I’d rather stay home today anyway.”

“In that case,” said Micah, “you can plant them wherever you’d like.”

“I know just where to put them,” said Cory. “But first I should send a message to Johnny.”

This time she kept the message very short.

More vandalism.

Cory

Cory was outside waiting for Johnny when he rode up on a solar cycle. The cycle reminded her of the noisy motorcycles she’d seen in the human world, only these were solar powered and nearly silent. A rider started the cycle by pedaling for a minute or two. After that, the solar power kicked in and he wouldn’t need to pedal again unless the day became overcast. The more expensive cycles were spell powered and never needed pedaling, but Johnny’s was the less-expensive kind.

After propping his cycle against a tree, Johnny came to the porch to see her.

“It was like this when my uncle got up this morning,” Cory told him as she gestured to the flowers. “I love the poppies and would leave them there if they didn’t call me a traitor.”

Johnny nodded and went right to work examining the flowers and writing things down on a fresh leaf while she stood on the porch and watched him.

“Someone took a lot of care in planting these flowers,” Johnny said a few minutes later. “Whoever did it planted them at just the right depth. If we were to dig them up now, I bet we’d find that they had been fertilized, too. It looks like flower-fairy work. If the Tooth Fairy Guild is behind this, they must have enlisted the Flower Fairy Guild to help them.”

“I met a woman recently who told me that she used to be a flower fairy, but after she married a human the guild kicked her out and tried to ruin her life.”

“I had no idea that the guilds did this kind of thing,” said Johnny. “I don’t know if anyone in the squad does either. To be honest, the officers act like I’m wasting my time here. I tried to find out if that woman, Mary Mary, is a member of the TFG, but the guild is very secretive. When I asked the members of the squad, they were less than helpful. I’ll keep digging and see what I can find. Speaking of digging, would you like some help with the flowers? Do you want to dig them up or mow them down or what?”

“Actually, I thought I’d transplant them and—”

A faint chime rang nearby. Johnny patted his pocket and pulled out a rigid, flat leaf. After studying it for a moment, he put it back in his pocket and said, “I have to go. Send me another message if anything else happens. I’ll try to see what I can learn about the guilds.”

Cory watched Johnny ride off, wishing he could have stayed a little longer. He was nearly out of sight when she went back inside to feed Noodles and eat her own breakfast. When they were finished, she lugged him outside and kept an eye on him while she dug up the plants at the end of the sentence. She was placing the plants in a basket to carry to another part of the yard when a little woman walking her boar stopped by.

“ ‘Corialis Feathering is a trai’ …,” the woman read. “At first I thought you were planting the flowers, but now I see you’re digging them up. What’s wrong with them? Did you misspell something?”

Cory sighed. It was bad enough explaining to people she knew that she’d quit the guild. It was worse if the people asking questions were strangers. Who in their right mind leaves a prestigious career without knowing what she’s going to do next? Even so, Cory hated lying even more than she hated explaining herself.

“I quit the Tooth Fairy Guild recently,” she finally said. “They’re showing how mad they are by doing things like this. Before I started digging the flowers up, it said, ‘Corialis Feathering Is a Traitor.’ ”

“A guild did that? Pay them no mind. The guilds think they can run our lives. They don’t own us, and it’s about time they learned it.”

“You sound as if you were in a guild,” Cory said.

“No, but two different witches’ guilds have tried to make me join. The OWOW, or Organized Witches of the World, and the WU, Witches United. I’m an independent and always have been. Theodore! Stop rooting around those flowers! This isn’t your yard.”

The boar snorted and turned to look at the witch. Taking a beet out of her purse, she waved it in the air until the boar came waddling over. “I’d better go,” said the witch. “Theo gets ornery if he’s not fed right after his walk. We’re neighbors, by the way. I live two doors down in the house with the miniature mangrove swamp in the back.”

“Nice to meet you!” said Cory.

“You, too!” said the witch. “I’m Wanita, by the way. Too bad about the flowers. They are pretty!”

“Would you like some?” Cory asked, gesturing to the rest of the poppy sentence. “I really don’t need so many.”

“I could use some in my window box …”

“Help yourself!” Cory told her.

Promising to return with a basket for the plants, Wanita left, taking her boar home. Minutes later, Salazar and his iguana, Boris, passed by. The genie wouldn’t have stopped if the iguana hadn’t seen the flowers and tried to drag his owner halfway across the yard.

“Sorry about this,” Salazar said as he pulled the iguana off the lawn. The lizard had a mouthful of blossoms and kept turning its head to eye the rest.

“It’s all right,” said Cory. “It just means there are fewer to transplant.”

“ ‘Corialis Featheri,’ ” read the genie.

Wanita arrived in a puff of smoke with a large, flat-bottomed basket. “… ‘Is a Traitor!’ I don’t mean she is, but that’s what the sign said. The Tooth Fairy Guild is persecuting her because she quit the guild.”

“Really?” said Salazar, his wispy blue eyebrows shooting up. “Good for you! I wish I’d quit the Genie Guild when I was young enough to do something else. I retired last year after a thousand years of the same old drudgery. Oh, sure, I enjoyed the job for a century or two, but after that it was the same thing, year after year. If I could have found another way to make a living, I would have done it a dozen times over. So, what is it you do now?”

“I’m sort of between careers,” said Cory. “Right now, I’m taking jobs here and there until I find what I really want to do.”

“That’s a good idea!” said the witch. “A lot of people would be happier if they turned their favorite pursuit into a career. I know that I’ve been happier since I started creating mayhem.”

Wanita was still talking when the brown-haired, cat-eyed girl who lived down the street strolled to the edge of the yard. The black leopard she was walking sat down beside her to stare at Cory. “What’s going on?” the girl asked. “Are you planning some sort of party? Because if you are, I want in. What’s that you wrote? ‘Corialis Featheri’ … Is having a birthday party? Is that what it’s going to say?”

“I didn’t actually write this,” Cory said as she glanced at the poppies. When she turned back to the girl, she blinked and stared openmouthed. A spotted leopard now sat where the girl had stood, and a girl with long black hair stood where the black leopard had been sitting.

“The Tooth Fairy Guild did it,” announced Wanita. “Don’t mind Felice and Selene,” she told Cory. “They’re shape-shifters and love to play that trick on people. They live in the house just past mine.”

The girl with the long dark hair laughed. “Sorry, we can’t resist. I’m Selene and my sister is Felice.”

The air shimmered around the spotted leopard and it disappeared, leaving the girl with brown hair in its place. “Whoever planted the flowers did a beautiful job. I didn’t know the members of the Tooth Fairy Guild were so good with plants,” she said. “If you ask me, they had a flower fairy do it.”

“I think you’re right,” Cory said. “I met a former flower fairy recently who said that her guild hounded her, too. She told me that the guilds all stick together.”

“Well, I’ve never been a guild member and I never want to be!” said Selene. “It sounds as if they can be really nasty if you cross them.”

“Which flowers can I take?” Wanita asked, holding up her basket.

“Whichever ones you want,” said Cory.

“Can I have some, too?” asked Felice. “I’d like to put them by the entrance to our den.”

Cory laughed, happy to have fewer plants to move. “Be my guest. Would you like some as well?” she asked the genie.

“I’m tempted, but I really shouldn’t,” he replied, tugging the iguana back with its leash. “Boris would eat them and get sick to his stomach.”

“This is very kind of you,” Wanita said as she filled her basket. “And I’ve made a habit of rewarding kindness. Is there anything I can do for you in return?”

“Not really,” said Cory. “But I’ll let you know if I think of something.”

After her neighbors had taken some of the plants, Cory transplanted the rest to the sunny side of the house. It took her most of the day, with only a short break for lunch. Noodles waddled around the yard, nibbling grass and starting a hole by the garden shed. He seemed to enjoy spending the day outdoors, but Cory’s knees and back hurt by the time she was finished.

That night Cory left early for the Shady Nook with her uncle Micah, who wanted to hear the band play. Cheeble, Olot, and Chancy were there when they arrived and had already unloaded Cory’s drums from Olot’s cart. She was checking her drums, making sure everything was the way she wanted it, when she saw Marjorie come in and take a seat by the stage. A few minutes later Olot introduced the band and Cory became lost in the music.

They started with “Morning Mist,” earning even bigger applause than when they’d played it at Sprats’. The clapping had scarcely died down when they began to play “Rebirth,” a song that carried the audience from autumn through spring. “Owl Goes A-Hunting” brought the night sounds of the forest into the restaurant, ending with the squeak of a captured mouse. More than one person jumped in his seat, as startled as the mouse, then laughed at his own reaction. “Storm-Chased Maid” brought the audience to their feet and some of them began dancing. After playing “Shooting Stars,” the band finally took a break.

“Perky, come with me,” Cory said, gesturing to the elf before he could leave the stage. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Perky’s eyes lit up when he saw Marjorie. She welcomed him to her table, and Cory excused herself, thinking that she might find Johnny Blue. He wasn’t there, however, and she was surprised by how disappointed she felt. She’d been so certain he’d come to hear Zephyr as he had when they’d played at Sprats’.

Cory was headed into the back room to get a drink of juice when she bumped into Daisy. They went in together and got their juice before taking seats in an out-of-the-way corner. “How are things with you and Peterby?” Cory asked before taking a sip. “Has he freed any unicorns lately?”

Daisy shrugged. “Probably. He’s in the Blue Forest now. Yesterday he heard that Prince Rupert had a unicorn in his menagerie, so he went to free it. When we started dating, I didn’t know he was going to be gone most of the time.”

“If he’s freeing unicorns …,” said Cory.

“I know, I know. He has to go where the unicorns are held, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. That’s all right. I already have a new boyfriend. He works for one of the guilds, so he spends most of his time in town.”

“What does he do?” Cory asked.

“Security,” said Daisy.

Olot appeared in the doorway and waved to them. “Come along, ladies. Our break is over.”

Cory and Daisy drained their drinks and hurried after him. “We’ll talk later,” Daisy said as they approached the bandstand.

When everyone had returned to the stage, they played more of their older songs, starting with “The Last Flight of Silver Streak.” Cory had a long solo in “Thunder’s Clap” with Cheeble stepping in now and then to wave a big sheet of metal, creating the rumble of thunder. People got up and danced during most of the last set, so the band ended with a slow song, “Dusk in the Meadow,” inviting more couples to dance.

Cory felt exhilarated when they finished playing. The audience had loved their music, Zephyr had played their very best, and she had enjoyed herself tremendously. She was so excited that she wanted to talk to someone about it, and noticed that Perky was talking to Marjorie, and Daisy was talking to Micah, Olot, and Chancy. Before she could join them, however, she had to take care of her drums.

She had just finished covering her drums when a waitress who had been talking to someone near the stage turned suddenly and bumped into her. A glass of raspberry juice fell over on her tray, dumping its contents on Cory.

“I’m so sorry!” the waitress cried.

“It’s all right,” said Cory, examining the damp spot on her shirt. “Just tell me how to get to the washing up room so I can clean this off.” Cory left and was back only a few minutes later, but when she looked for her friends, the only ones left were Olot and Chancy.

“Where did everyone go?” she asked Chancy.

“They left just a minute ago,” said Chancy. “We thought you’d already gone.”

Feeling let down, Cory left the Shady Nook and turned toward home. She was too excited to fly straight there, so she decided to walk, hoping she might run into her friends on the way. Although it was after midnight, the streets were still bustling with people enjoying the cool night air. Cory was passing Sprats’ restaurant when she noticed a sign on the door announcing that Johnny Blue was appearing there solo that night.

That’s why he didn’t come to hear us, she thought, feeling oddly relieved. There was no one at the door to seat her, so she slipped inside and stood near the back of the room. Johnny was perched on a stool in the middle of the stage, playing a song that was so beautiful she was entranced within moments. When he finished playing, the restaurant was completely silent until suddenly the applause began and everyone was on their feet. Johnny looked up and grinned. “Thank you,” was all he said before leaving the stage.

Johnny was on his way to the office in the back of the restaurant when Cory started toward him. When he stopped to speak with someone, she hurried to get closer and was at arm’s length when he finally noticed her.

“Cory! What are you doing here? I thought Zephyr was playing at the Shady Nook tonight.”

“We were, I mean, we did,” she told him. “We finished just a little while ago.”

“In that case, why don’t you join me for a late supper? Unless you aren’t hungry.”

“I’m hungry, all right,” said Cory. “I haven’t had much to eat today.”

Many of the restaurants’ patrons had left when Johnny finished playing, so they didn’t have any trouble finding a table. Cory was delighted when he pulled a chair out for her, something Walker had never done. “How did it go?” he asked as he sat down. “Did you like playing at the Shady Nook?”

“It was fantastic!” said Cory. “I think it was the best we’ve ever played, and the audience loved us and my solo went off perfectly and … Wait! Here I am talking about my playing when I really wanted to tell you how much I loved yours. I heard only the last song, but it was so beautiful!”

“Thank you!” he said, giving her a warm smile. “I wrote it myself. I’m sorry I missed hearing you play tonight. Maybe next time …”

A waiter appeared at the table and they sat back in their seats while he placed menus in front of them. He was just walking away when a beautiful blond-haired girl only a little older than Cory appeared.

“Johnny? Johnny Blue? Is that really you? I’m sure you don’t remember me, but my family used to live just down the lane from yours. I’m Mary Lambkin. When I was a young girl, you had a black sheep and one summer you got three bags of wool from it. You gave one to the man you were working for, one to your mother, and one to me. That wool changed my life.”

“I remember that!” said Johnny. “What did you do with the wool?’

“I washed it and carded it and spun it into yarn. That wool is what started my interest in fashion. I have my own company and … oh, do you mind if I sit down?” she said, turning to Cory.

“Not at all,” Cory said, although she really didn’t like the way the girl had intruded and wished she would go away.

The girl gave her a bright smile and took a seat between Cory and Johnny. Turning her back to Cory, she continued to tell Johnny Blue about how much the gift of wool had meant to her.

“We were about to order supper,” Johnny said when the waiter stopped to see if they were ready. “Would you like to join us?”

“I’d love to!” she replied. “I just need a moment to look at the menu.”

Cory’s heart sank as the waiter walked away. Up until then, she had assumed the girl would leave at any moment, but now she knew that wasn’t going to happen. The more Mary Lambkin talked about old times, the more left out Cory felt. When the waiter came back again, Cory set her menu on the table and pushed back her chair. “I’m sorry, it’s getting late and I’m going to have a busy day tomorrow. Thank you for inviting me to stay,” she told Johnny. “Enjoy your supper,” she told them both.

Cory walked away, thinking that Johnny and Mary Lambkin were really hitting it off, but when she glanced back and saw the way he was watching her instead of the girl sitting beside him, Cory wasn’t so sure.