Cory woke up knowing that something wasn’t right, but it wasn’t until she was getting out of bed that she remembered about Rupert and Goldilocks. She had no idea what she should do about it, so she decided to turn to the one person who could give her informed advice: her grandfather, Lionel. Determined to get an early start, she got dressed before leaving her room. When she reached the kitchen, she found her uncle lingering over his last cup of berry juice, waiting to talk to her.
“That was some surprise last night,” he said, pushing the pitcher of juice toward her. “It’s a good thing you woke when you did.”
“It was Noodles. He growled and it woke me. You’re a good boy, Noodles!”
The woodchuck was lying on his back under the table. When Cory rubbed his belly with her foot, he made a happy rumbling sound.
“Here, he can have some of these,” Micah said, reaching for a bowl of beet greens that he’d left on the counter. He dropped a large bunch on the floor beside Noodles and turned back to Cory. “Tell me more about the woodchuck you saw yesterday. You mentioned him in your note.”
“It was a girl,” Cory replied. “At least she looked more feminine than our big guy here.” She nudged Noodles with her foot, but he just grumbled and kept nibbling the beet greens.
When the finch chirped on the mantel in the main room, her uncle stood up. “Time for me to go. I should be home earlier tonight. I might even be back before you leave for rehearsal. Are you staying around the house today? I know you have to get ready for your trip tomorrow.”
“I do have to do some laundry and pack my bag, but I want to see Lionel this morning. There’s something I want to ask him.”
“Just stay safe,” Micah said, and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. “And say hello to your grandfather for me.”
Knowing that Lionel always fed her, Cory had a small glass of juice and a handful of nuts for breakfast. “Come on, Noodles,” she told the woodchuck. “You can stay in your enclosure while I’m gone. Just actually stay in it this time. I don’t want to have to go looking for you again.”
Tempting him with a lettuce leaf, she got him to stand and follow her from the room and out the door. She gave him the leaf once he was inside the enclosure and was on her way back to the house to lock up when a tiny bag fell from the sky and landed at her feet, exploding into a puff of insects. When she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, she looked up to see fairies dropping bags all over her yard. Each bag was filled with hopping, crawling, biting insects.
“Stop it!” Cory shouted as another wave of fairies arrived.
Grabbing the hose, she turned it on and began to spray them. Some dropped their bags early, and others flew off before they reached the yard, but the fairies soon fled, leaving Cory surrounded by a cloud of mosquitoes, gnats, and hornets.
Cory was slapping at the mosquitoes landing on her arms when Wanita ran up, shouting, “I saw everything! Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.”
With a wave of her arms and a twiddle of her fingers, the witch summoned a flock of birds. Cory ducked as barn swallows zipped past, snatching insects out of the air. Starlings landed on the ground, devouring anything that wriggled or squirmed. Crows, finches, cardinals, thrushes, and jays helped themselves to the delicacies. The birds were so noisy that Cory had to cover her ears, but in less time than it had taken the fairies to deliver their bombs, the birds had eaten every insect in the yard.
“Thank you, Wanita,” Cory said as the birds flew away. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t helped out.”
“Just returning a favor,” the witch replied. “Now we’re even!”
Scratching her newly acquired mosquito bites, Cory grinned and said, “Let me know when you need another favor. I have a feeling I’m going to need your help again before this thing with the guilds is over.”
Wanita cackled. “I’ll keep that in mind!” she exclaimed before heading home.
When the pedal-bus let Cory off in front of her grandfather’s house, she took a long look around. The neighborhood was filled with stately houses that had been a little intimidating at first, but Cory was already beginning to feel comfortable there. Her grandfather had invited her to share the big house with him so he could teach her more about being a Cupid. Cory had been considering it; she just wasn’t sure she was ready to take such a big step yet.
Walking up the long, curving driveway, she realized that she no longer minded the heart motif that seemed to be everywhere. Instead of thinking it sappy, she’d come to consider it the symbol of what Cupids did. The TFG had its flying tooth everywhere, why couldn’t Cupid do the same, even if only Cory, Lionel, and the putti knew what the heart really meant?
When Cory pressed the heart-shaped mother-of-pearl button by the door, Orville was there within moments, almost as if he’d known she was coming. “Welcome, Miss Cory!” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you, too,” she replied as she stepped into the enormous foyer. “Is my grandfather here?”
“He’s having his morning juice on the back terrace, miss,” the putti said. Instead of turning to lead the way, he took a step closer and peered up at her. “What happened to you, if you don’t mind my asking? Did someone do this to you? Who was it? You tell me and I’ll lay him out flat!”
Even as Cory tried to stifle a smile, her hand flew to the cut on her forehead. “No one did this, Orville, although I do appreciate the offer. I was in an accident yesterday, but I’m fine, really.”
“If you say so,” he said as if he didn’t believe her.
He looked worried as he turned away, but Cory had told him the truth and didn’t know what to say that would make him worry less. She followed as he toddled across the smooth stone floor, his babylike legs unsteady and his arms out as if to help him keep his balance. She’d discovered over the last few weeks that the putti, who were no taller than her knees and looked like human babies, or Cupids without wings, were actually very proud. Although she thought they were adorable and longed to pick one up and cuddle him, she didn’t dare.
Her grandfather was seated just where he always was in the morning, sipping his juice and reading The Fey Express. He smiled up at her as she took the seat across from him, but his smile turned into a frown when he saw her cuts and scrapes. “What happened to you?” he asked.
Cory sighed, wondering how many times she was going to have to tell the same story. “There was an accident at a water nymph performance of Swan Lake yesterday. Blue and I were there and the water collapsed on us. Blue kept me from being badly hurt.”
Lionel’s expression was grim when he asked, “Was it the TFG again?”
“I don’t think so. A young water nymph learning to control her powers was there. I think it was just an accident. The Tooth Fairy Guild has been harassing me again, though. So has the Flower Fairy Guild. I received a sickeningly sweet box of candy after I gave my statement about the guilds to the FLEA and agreed to testify in front of the big jury. Sending candy like that is the kind of thing the TFG does as a warning. Then it rained just over Micah’s house and the Flower Fairy guild planted weeds all over the yard. This morning fairies dropped insect bombs when I was outside. The worst thing happened last night. I woke up with a sandman in my room, about to send me a bad dream. The Sandman Guild had already sent me a nightmare the night before. The guilds have been harassing my friend Stella, too. She was a flower fairy who married a human years ago and the FFG took her fairy abilities away like the TFG took mine.”
Her grandfather’s frown had deepened while she spoke. “It sounds as if the guilds are getting nervous,” he said, “especially if they’ve brought the Sandman Guild into it, too. I’m afraid they won’t stop until the courts make them stop. The FLEA doesn’t do anything fast, but I’ll hurry them as best I can. Be careful in the meantime. Ah, I see that Cook has made you breakfast. She doesn’t have to ask anymore, does she?”
Cory smiled as Orville set a glass of juice in front of her and began unloading a tray of coddled eggs, blueberry muffins, sliced melon, and fresh peaches on the table. Cory helped herself while her grandfather accepted another glass of juice.
“Thank you, Orville,” said Cory. “Grandfather, I wanted to tell you what the guilds have been doing, but that wasn’t the real reason I came to see you. I have a different sort of problem and I don’t know what to do about it. It’s a Cupid kind of problem.”
“Ah,” Lionel said, leaning back in his seat and steepling his fingers in front of him. “Perhaps we can solve it together.”
“I hope so!” said Cory. “I met a girl who wants me to find a match for her. She has no idea that I’m a Cupid; she just knows that I’ve helped other people. Anyway, I saw who her match is, but I didn’t know who he was until last night. Zephyr has been asked to play at Prince Rupert’s wedding, and Chancy—you met her at my party—showed us pictures of his castle. I saw the young man from my vision in one of the pictures. It’s Prince Rupert himself. And that’s the problem. The prince is engaged to someone else, but his true love is this girl named Goldilocks. She pestered me to take her on as a client, and then I saw her with Rupert and I don’t know what to do about it. I mean, should I let Rupert marry his fiancée, or should I match him up with Goldilocks?”
“That’s a good question,” said Lionel. “Cupids have agonized over just such dilemmas for centuries. I’m going to tell you what my father told me when I first asked him about a difficult decision that I had to make. You are a Cupid and your gifts will guide you. Follow your heart and remember that no marriage will be truly happy if the couple is not meant for each other. We have no say over whom we are meant to help, nor whom their true love might be. Do what you feel is right.”
“But that’s just it! I don’t know what’s right!” said Cory.
“Perhaps you don’t now, but you will when the time comes. It takes a while to learn everything about being a Cupid. I’m still learning and I’ve been doing it for centuries. You won’t always like the people you match. And you may not find matches for people you do like. Then again, just because you don’t see a match for someone doesn’t mean that you won’t see one later on. Your visions won’t show you matches until both parties are ready for love. Now eat your breakfast. It sounds as if you have a lot to do, and you’ll need the energy.”
When Cory left her grandfather’s house, she was still as confused as she had been before, only now she had a plan. If she wouldn’t know what to do until the time came, she’d have to make sure she was ready one way or the other. To do that, Goldilocks would have to go to the wedding.
Cory took the pedal-bus to her uncle’s house, although she wasn’t planning to stay there long. Riffling through the messages she’d received from clients, she found one that Goldilocks had sent her and used it to send a new reply.
Goldilocks,
We need to meet. It’s about a possible match for you.
Cory
She wasn’t sure Goldilocks would get back to her right away, and was pleased when the answer came only a few minutes later.
Cory,
Come to my house. 5 Deep Woods Drive.
Goldilocks
“Huh,” Cory murmured. “She lives on the same street as the Bruins. That means she’s been stealing from her neighbors.” Cory shook her head. After spending a little more time with Goldilocks, Cory had almost come to like her. She thought she understood the girl a little better, too, but that didn’t mean she liked everything Goldilocks did.
Once again Cory took the pedal-bus to Deep Woods Drive. Although she found the mailbox for number five easily enough, the house was set so far off the road on a twisty path that she began to think it wasn’t really there. Even when she was standing right in front of the house, she might have kept on going if Goldilocks hadn’t called out to her. “Hey, Cory! What took you so long?”
Cory looked all around, but didn’t see the house until Goldilocks shouted, “Up here! That’s it. I’m right in front of you.”
“In front and above,” Cory muttered when she saw Goldilocks standing on a platform at least twenty feet above her.
The platform formed the porch to a tree house in one of the largest trees Cory had seen in a while. It started at the platform where Goldilocks stood, then rose into the branches with one cube here, another offset above it, leading to more cubes until it reached the widest part of the tree, where it actually looked like a house.
“The steps are on the other side!” Goldilocks shouted, so Cory stayed on the path as it wound behind the tree.
The narrow steps switched back and forth on the back side of the trunk until they reached the platform, where Goldilocks was waiting. Cory climbed the steps and took a seat beside Goldilocks when she reached the top.
“I don’t understand,” Cory told her. “If you send all the money you make to your family, how can you afford such a nice house?”
Goldilocks laughed, an infectious sound that made Cory smile. “This isn’t my house!” Goldilocks finally said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I’m house-sitting for a friend. I’ve been here for two years and he hasn’t come back yet.”
“But you’ve been stealing!” said Cory.
Goldilocks shrugged. “Neighbors like the Bruins didn’t seem to mind until recently. If they had, they would have kept their doors locked like they do now. So, what did you want to tell me? It must be important for you to come all the way out here.”
“It is,” said Cory. “I think I’ve found the man who would be just right for you, but you’re going to have to travel to meet him. Are you up to going with me to Dorrigal? I’ve heard that he’s going to be at the royal wedding.”
“Royal wedding? I can manage that! How are we getting there?”
“You’ll have to go with my band, Zephyr,” said Cory. “We’ll be playing at the wedding and you can go with us to help lug the instruments around and set them up, run errands, get band members drinks of water, and things like that. Do you think you can handle it?”
“Sure,” said Goldilocks. “If it means I can see a royal wedding. And meet this guy you found for me. Is he handsome?”
“Very! We’re going to leave early tomorrow morning. Be at this address by six a.m.,” she said, handing her a slip of parchment. “Make sure you’re there on time, or we’ll leave without you.”
“Oh, I’ll be there,” said Goldilocks. “You can count on me!”