ten

For the first time in ages, Keelie liked the look of the girl gazing back at her from the mirror. Her new top and blue jeans made her feel like her old self, the happy old self who still had Mom. She pulled her top up to look at her unpierced belly button, imagining the ring she'd put there. Left side, or right?

She placed her fingertips on the mirror and pretended Mom was there, behind her. That Mom was here with Dad, that they were together as a family; but no matter how hard Keelie tried to picture her, Mom didn't appear in the mirror.

She suddenly wondered if her mental image of her mother was right. Was she forgetting something? The way she wore her hair, the little smile that meant she wasn't really mad, those were there, safe in Keelie's brain. But what had slipped away? She felt sick.

Would it ever stop? This throbbing and burning pain in her chest whenever she thought of Mom? Would she outgrow the longing and wishing that life would go back to the way it was before the plane crash? Would it ever go away? Hoping that Mom would walk in the door and that her death was all a bad dream?

The fear that gnawed at Keelie, the one thing that she couldn't cope with, was that she would lose Mom all the way, even lose Mom in her heart-if she allowed herself to love anyone as much. She feared that love might be like a computer file, the old overwritten by the new. She would never let that happen. Then a chill skipped down her spine when she remembered Elianard's words: Heartwood's human half-breed.

The telephone rang. She pushed aside the bedroom curtains and rushed out, but Dad had answered it. No. Even though she'd grown closer to him yesterday at the mall, she still couldn't call him Dad. Mom left his world and he'd let her. He was Zeke.

"Hello?" Zeke glanced at Keelie, receiver to his ear. He looked like his old self again. "Yes, it is," he told the caller. "Oh, really? That's interesting. The entire matching set has been scanned and recorded." He gave her a thumbs-up sign.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Her luggage must be on its way back to her from Istanbul.

"Thank you. Just fly them out from there, and hopefully, we'll get them in a few days."

He hung up the phone.

She couldn't conceal the elation in her voice. "Well, what did they say? When will my luggage be here?"

Zeke laughed. "The good news is that all ten pieces of your luggage have been tagged-in Amsterdam. And they'll fly out from there in the next day or two."

"Amsterdam. As in Holland. As in the Netherlands." The image that came to mind was of her suitcases, alone and looking forlorn on a cobbled street, surrounded by tulips, windmills, and smiling people on bicycles.

"I think your luggage has traveled farther than anyone I know," he said, admiringly.

"Unreal," she agreed.

"I like your outfit," her father said. He sat on his sofa and drank some herbal tea from his mug. He still looked pale. "You look wonderful in your new clothes."

She couldn't stop the smile. Okay, she'd give him just this one. "Thanks. I like them, too. Where's Knot?" She searched for the room for any telltale sign of her fuzzy orange nemesis.

"He's running some errands."

"Errands?"

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Zeke shouted.

"Hey, Zeke," Scott said, poking his head in the door. His shoulders were so wide that they filled the door. He wore a mud-stained 2002 Sterling Renaissance Festival T-shirt. His gaze wandered over to Keelie. "You clean up well."

"Thanks, I think," she said. She didn't really want him looking at her like that. She didn't offer any comment on what she thought about his appearance. Not out loud.

Scott turned to Keelie with a smile. "Hey Keelie, maybe this weekend during the Faire you might like to go have some tea or something."

Shocked, Keelie's tongue froze. Was Scott asking her for a date?

"You'll be too busy working the booth this weekend, Scott," Zeke said in a firm tone.

Thank goodness Zeke interceded.

"Okay, I get it. Don't ask the boss's daughter out for a cup of tea. I'm putting that on my `no-no' list," said Scott, rolling his eyes.

Scott looked at Keelie and winked at her. "You look great in your new clothes. You'd better watch out for pirates, errant knights, and other such Faire folk."

Her cheeks burned when he said pirates. Did Scott know?

"By the way, I'm having a big problem with the wood that came in yesterday from Oregon," Scott said. "I was wondering if you could give it the old Zeke touch and tell me what to do."

"Is it the oak?"

Scott nodded.

Envy fired up in Keelie. She hated seeing the easy rapport that flowed between Zeke and Scott. If she'd been around Zeke for the past thirteen years, she could help him with the oak.

Zeke frowned. "Leave it alone, it's a sad case. I'll give it my personal attention."

"Knot's upset, too. We're getting that buzzing, you know. He's running in circles and biting at his tail. I think he needs to be flea-dipped."

"I'll get to it this afternoon as soon as I can," Zeke said. He swirled his tea around in his mug, then took a sip. He still had dark circles underneath his eyes, but he had a mischievous smile on his face. "I'll make spaghetti tonight, and put extra garlic in the sauce. Garlic helps get rid of fleas."

Fleas. That cat was so not going to sleep with her. She scratched her arm.

Keelie glanced at the (what else!) tree-shaped clock hanging above the stove. "Time for me to go to the mews and feed Ariel."

"I'm going with you." Scott waggled his eyebrows up and down, and gave her his dorky grin. He needed to floss; he had a chunk of something brown stuck in between his two front teeth.

"No, you're not. Cameron didn't invite you."

"Scott is escorting you to the mews. I asked him to." Zeke was putting on his no-nonsense parental voice.

She glowered at her father. "I'm in high school. I don't need him," she jabbed a finger at Scott, "to go with me to the mews." She was hoping to run into Sean in her new clothes. Having Zeke's shop boy running herd on her like a Border collie would cramp her style.

"Scott is going with you. End of discussion," Zeke said. "Be back in three hours. Four o'clock. Any later, I'll personally make it my mission to escort you everywhere you go until you're eighteen."

Keelie shrieked. Marching ahead of Scott, she found the deserted Faire jolting. Some of the Renaissance residents wore normal everyday clothes like she'd seen in the Shire yesterday. Some Rennies were in costume. She guessed their brains were permanently time-warped to the medieval ages.

She missed the bustle of the crowds, where even in her mud clothes she could go unnoticed. But, for some reason, in the midst of the quiet and in her mundane clothes, she felt glaringly different.

Scott caught up with her, his legs keeping pace with her brisk walk.

"Heard about your adventures in the Shire with Captain Dandy Randy," he said.

She knew it. Although her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, Keelie couldn't help but glance over at Scott, and if she had a ball of mud she would've smeared it over the smirk on his face. She wasn't going to bother replying.

Scott continued. "He was telling everyone you were giving away free samples."

Keelie stopped.

Scott stopped, too. He grinned, spreading his mouth extra wide so she got a really good view of his back molars.

"He said what?"

"You were giving away free samples, and they were mighty sweet."

She spun on her heel, heading in the direction of the Shire. "Where is he?" She pounded a fist in her open palm, envisioning Captain Randy's face with a broken nose. The bastard would probably look good.

"He's supposedly working on some new software game. Perilous Pirate or something stupid like that."

"I'm going to show him a perilous pirate. Me."

"I wouldn't worry. Raven set him straight. Besides, he knows that if he said anything to anyone else, she'd tell Zeke. And everyone knows just because your dad lives and works with us normal people, he's not quite like us. Captain Randy got scared."

"What do you mean, my dad is not normal? Who is normal in this place?"

"Ah, come on, Keelie. You know what I'm talking about."

"All right, all-knowing wise ass. You tell me what's different about my dad, since I just got here and you've spent all this time with him."

Scott studied Keelie, but he blinked nervously several times as she kept her gaze level with his. Suddenly, it hit her: he was pumping her for information.

She could feel the corners of her mouth lift up in a smile. "Let's keep it our secret." Whatever he was trying to get out of her wasn't going to happen, because she was clueless about a lot of things about Zeke. And what she did know she wasn't going to share with Scott. She had other problems, and one was a pirate named Captain Dandy Randy. She didn't want Zeke to find out about her Shire activities from the other night until after she went home to California. Worse, if he found out he might get all fatherly, as he was doing back at the apartment a few minutes ago. He'd insist she come back to live with him until she was eighteen. Not having Mom and Dad divorced had thrown a major mountain range in her plans to go live with Elizabeth and Laurie.

Down Ironmonger's Way, the nasty lady from the jewelry booth walked toward them. Her nose looked kind of normal with her giant bosom to balance it. She wore a pink blouse and blue jeans and kept glancing down at a clipboard. It was weird seeing these Renaissance people in regular clothes. The woman looked up and frowned at Keelie, but then she smiled when she saw Scott. Keelie walked on. She wouldn't give this woman the time of day. Anyway, Ariel would be waiting for Keelie to feed her lunch. Though excited to see Ariel, Keelie didn't relish the idea of touching a dead rat or watching it get eaten.

"Good afternoon, Scott. How was business at Heartwood this weekend?" the jewelry lady asked.

"Hey, Tania. Not bad. You know Zeke. He attracts the ladies, so he's not hurting. How's it going with your shop?"

"With these cursed rains keeping the customers away? Everyone is feeling the pinch. This year's been bad for a lot of us, except for Elianard's crew. They never seem to be hurting economically. Business is up for them." Tania strode closer. "Al at the pub says he has the sight, inherited from his Irish grandmother Janie. He says something nasty has brought its dark ways to the Faire." She cocked her head, waiting for Scott's reaction, but her eyes were on Keelie.

Scott nodded, "Yeah, Cameron's been worried. Said she's seen a strange little man with a weird laugh hanging out near the mews at dawn and sometimes around twilight."

The woman said, "See. Cameron's one of those I would say has the sight. I heard over at the pub last night that they think the little man in the red cap might be the one that started the fire. One of the belly dancers thought she saw him head over into the woods past the meadow."

Keelie stopped and spun around on her heel. Red cap. Woods past the meadow. More than one person had seen the little manic midget. She hadn't been the only victim. He was an arsonist.

Scott whistled. "Really. I wonder what Admin is going to do."

"I don't know. I bet someone from that land development company put him up to it. Why don't you stop and have a cup of coffee with me? We can talk some more." Tania batted her eyes at him.

Keelie was going to heave.

"Oh, I can't. I'm on an important errand. I have to get Zeke's daughter to the mews," Scott replied.

"She's Zeke Heartwood's daughter?" Keelie thought Tania was going to choke on the words.

Keelie joined Scott, feeling much better. Watching the woman's face as she learned that Keelie was Zeke Heartwood's daughter was worth the delay. She was starting to appreciate her father's importance at the Faire.

"I saw her yesterday, but I thought she was a new performer in the Muck and Mire Show."

"It was so nice of Tarl to come to my rescue and loan me some clothes, because all of my everyday wear is in Europe." Keelie batted her eyelashes, too. If Scott started on his, the breeze from all three pairs of eyes would be noticeable.

"Europe." She looked Keelie up and down, as if she was tabulating the cost of Keelie's outfit. "My goodness. I didn't realize you were Zeke's daughter." The woman smiled, but it wasn't a genuine smile. It was like the one that Mom's tennis rival wore whenever she and Mom met at the grocery store. Mom would go, "Beverly, darling, how are you?" Beverly would reply, "Fabulous, Katy, darling. I can't wait till our rematch down at the club." Though their verbal exchange would sound amiable, Keelie felt the venom dripping with each word they exchanged. Air kisses at twenty paces.

"Keelie, I know you liked that fairy necklace. I still have it," said Tania. She pointed through the woods in the direction of her booth. "I can get it for you, if you still want it."

Shaking her head, Keelie said, "No, thanks. I really must be going. I have to get to the mews. Cameron is waiting for me."

Walking away, Keelie sensed hostility flow from Tania, just as it had from Mom's tennis rival. Keelie felt very satisfied. More than likely, the fairy necklace would've turned her neck green. Maybe that's why Tania wasn't making any money-shoddy merchandise.

At the raptor mews, Keelie ran to Ariel's cage. The hawk was sitting on her perch and opened her eyes, turning her head to watch Keelie's approach. The hawk's golden eye gleamed, and her posture looked noble. Keelie knew the other eye, milky white, was the reason Ariel could no longer soar, and she felt sad for the poor bird.

"Here you are. You've been delivered safe and sound. I'll be back around three forty-five to walk you back. Have fun with the dead rats." Scott nodded at one of the mews workers and sauntered off.

Cameron approached, carrying a brown paper bag marked "Ariel" in black marker. "Good morrow, Keelie. Ariel's been waiting for you." She gave Keelie two sturdy leather gloves.

"I can't wait." Not.

"Where's your father? I needed to speak to him." Worry lines creased her face.

"He's resting. He's not feeling well after our trip to the mall yesterday." Keelie put the gloves on. "I think it might have been MSG in his tofu."

"Your father went to the mall?" Cameron's mouth hung open.

"Yeah. According to Raven, it was a historical event. I needed clothes. All I had to wear were the mud clothes. The airline's lost my luggage, and Knot peed on my underwear." The comment about Knot whizzing on her underwear always solicited sympathy.

"Knot peed on your underwear?"

Keelie nodded.

Cameron scrunched her face up and shook her head. "Knowing Knot, he might have been telling someone or something you belonged to him. Marking you as his territory, so to speak. Some cats do that."

Keelie stared at the bird woman in total shocked silence. Somebody had been hanging out with her fine- feathered friends for way too long. "I am so not his territory. I think it was a hate message: Leave now."

Smiling, Cameron said, "Well, Knot has always been a bit unusual, even for a cat. I hope Zeke feels better. Do you think he'll be up for a visit tomorrow?"

"I think so."

Cameron opened the bag. "Okay, Keelie, reach in there and retrieve Ariel's dinner."

The thick leather of the gloves made her fingers feel clumsy. Reaching into the bag, Keelie grasped something thin but heavy. She slowly lifted a large, dead white rat out of the bag. Its tail hung limp and disgusting, but thankfully, its eyes were closed. Keelie looked away, afraid she'd hurl her lunch.

"Gross, but necessary, Keelie. Give it to Ariel," Cameron said.

Keelie made her way to the cage. Ariel's good eye watched her-or rather, the rat.

A bundle of autumn-colored fur ran toward Keelie. What was that sadistic cat doing here? Had he heard them talking about him? Forget him.

Keelie focused on Ariel. She locked eyes with the hawk as she approached, cursing Knot silently for weaving in and out of her legs. When she reached to open Ariel's door, she felt claws at her ankle and stepped back, tripping over the cat. She reached for the wooden cage with one hand to break her fall. As she did, she dropped the rat, which landed with a thud as the cage door popped open.

The cat yowled like a banshee when the chilled rat landed on him. Ariel stretched her wings once, then flew out and spiraled into the trees.

Knot shot into the woods, as if aware of the chaos he'd caused.

Cameron cried out for him to stop, but the cat kept running, leaving a trail of waving grasses in his wake.

In the air, Ariel paused as if noticing new prey, then shot down in pursuit.

All the birds began screeching and flapping their wings against the bars of their enclosures. It seemed to Keelie that they were cheering Ariel on as the hawk flew in pursuit of the rapidly retreating Knot. Keelie wanted to run, too.

Her second day on the job, and she'd lost the hawk.