Into the Wildewood (31 page)

More cinnamon wafted toward Keelie. Maybe going with Elianard wouldn’t be so bad …

She shook her head, wrapping herself in green tree magic to clear away the spell, but it didn’t work. Cinnamon … Keelie realized that he was using the elven charm magic on her. Her fingers closed around the pouch at her waist. Of course. That was where she’d put the rose quartz. She held it tightly, and the smell faded. Her headache eased to a dull thudding.

“Obviously the child is not feeling well. She can rest, and Elia can take care of her.” He forced seldom-used muscles around his mouth into a smile. It looked really creepy on him. “We can make arrangements to send her friend back to California.”

Laurie put her fists on her hips. “I’m staying with Keelie. She needs me.”

“I want to go with Davey.” Actually, Keelie didn’t want to go anywhere until the unicorn was healed.

“Do you disobey your father’s and grandmother’s wishes?” Elianard’s green eyes darkened. Something like smoke swam in his irises.

Keelie motioned with her hand toward the cell phone still on the counter. “Let’s call him and find out.”

Laurie reached back and grabbed it. “I’ll dial the number for you.”

“I know the number.” Sir Davey held out his hand for the phone. “Let’s ask Zeke.” He held Elianard’s gaze.

“Do you really want to wake your father up, Keelie? He needs his rest.” Elianard’s face was full of fake concern.

She didn’t want to wake Dad up, but she didn’t want to go with Elianard. She knew Dad wouldn’t want her to go with him, but Finch needed to hear it herself.

“Call him, Sir Davey.”

Finch arched an eyebrow. “Sir Davey, take the two girls. I know Zeke trusts you.”

Elianard was about to speak, but Finch made a cutting motion with her hand across her neck. “Listen, I don’t care what Grandma said, take it up with Zeke. Furthermore, I wouldn’t subject a rat to your daughter’s care.”

Elianard’s face reddened. He straightened and pointed a finger at Finch, who, in turn, thrust her corseted chest out and said very loudly, “I don’t have time for this, Elianard. I have to go and tell everyone at this Faire that they have to leave, and it’s going to take me hours to do it, and not only that, I’m going to have to listen to people whine and pitch fits like they’re little kindergartners because they don’t want to go, they’re losing money, and because life isn’t fair. So, I don’t have time to put up with one of your tantrums, and if you keep pushing me, you’re going to make me mad, and you really don’t want to make me mad, do you?”

Elianard backed up.

Finch left.

Sir Davey looked around. “Do you girls need help closing up the shop?”

“You’ll regret interfering, dwarf,” Elianard said. “Keelie goes with me.”

The inside of the amethyst geode began to glow with a bright purple light. Sir Davey placed it up on his shoulder like a bazooka. “If you don’t get out of here, then your elven healers will be plucking purple crystals out of your backside.”

Elianard kept a wary eye on Sir Davey as the dwarf advanced on him. Then he turned around and walked away—not in a hurried trying-to-get-away-from-a-dwarf gait, but Keelie noticed a quicker pace to his stride.

“A crystal bazooka. Mom would die.” Laurie looked impressed. “You know, we have a fair amount of crime in LA.”

Keelie pulled the rose quartz out of her pouch, tempted to kiss it. Elianard had almost succeeded. And who would have thought that Finch would turn out to be their hero?

twenty-five

That evening, at the RV’s dining table, Keelie rubbed her tektite between her fingers and watched as Sir Davey used wire cutters to snip several strands of silver wire from a large roll. He wore glasses with magnifying lenses that really super-sized his eyebrows, making them look like mutant caterpillars.

Laurie searched through a basket of gemstones, picking out her personal stones at Sir Davey’s urging.

“And don’t pick one because it’ll go with a certain outfit. You’ve got to get one that feels right, and you’ll know it when you find it. Keelie did.” He held his hand out for the tektite, and then lifted the leaf-shaped meteor fragment up to the light, examining it like a jeweler does a diamond.

A blue carafe, with a silver dragon etched on the top, sat upon the table between them. Keelie thought the dragon looked like Finch, especially the smoke coming out of its nostrils. She’d had to drink three cups of Sir Davey’s super-strong coffee before her headache had dissipated. But her recovery time had drastically improved. The first time she’d used tree magic, it had taken her a couple of days to get over it, and this time it had been less than twelve hours.

“I think I found the one.” Laurie held up a stone, then dropped it, disappointed. “No, I don’t feel anything.”

“Keep looking.”

Keelie gazed out the small window and watched the trees blowing in the wind. There were dark clouds hanging in the horizon, reminding her of Elianard’s eyes earlier. There was something menacing in the air. If there was a storm, she’d have to go out in it. She had to find Einhorn. She stared at the carafe and then poured herself another cup of coffee, thinking that she’d have to stay awake for the quest ahead.

Laurie shouted. “Whoa, I’m feeling the vibe from this one.” She held up a white stone that reflected little rainbows in the light.

“Ah, a good choice, Laurie.” Sir Davey smiled. “It’s a moonstone. It’ll protect you, but mostly it brings happiness to its wearer. And it helps the wearer accept changes in her life.”

“Cool. After the stuff I’ve seen and heard today,” Laurie’s gaze held Keelie’s, “I need some moonstone in my life.”

“I’m going to wrap your tektite in silver wire so that you can wear it.” Sir Davey unrolled thin strips of silver from the spool. “It’s time to do some Earth magic.”

He formed a silver wire net around the tektite and rolled one edge over to form a loop, then handed it to Laurie, who threaded a leather cord through it and tied it around Keelie’s neck.

The tektite pendant felt heavy next to the Queen Aspen heart, but Keelie didn’t have to draw on it as she did the rose quartz. She felt enveloped in an invisible shield.

At eleven, Sir Davey put down his tools. “I’m exhausted. We’ll clean up tomorrow. But remember, lasses, wear your protective stones wherever you go.”

“We will.” Keelie gave Sir Davey a kiss on his cheek, as did Laurie, who now wore the moonstone dangling from a pink silk cord.

By midnight everyone settled down to sleep, except for Keelie, who was determined to stay awake. Sir Davey had gone to bunk with the two remaining Merry Men next door.

Laurie lay in Davey’s humongous bed, looking little and alone in the middle of it. She watched Keelie brush her hair. “You know, I should be freaking out about you being an elf and having magic. I should be running back to California. But you know, I’ve always felt that life wasn’t always what we could see. I mean, I wanted fairies to be real. I wanted magic to be real, and it is.”

Keelie turned from the mirror to face her friend. “Magic is real, but it’s not all fairy-tale stuff like Cinderella. I mean, Elia threatened to harm a child at the Maypole, and at the High Mountain Faire, she blinded a hawk named Ariel.”

Laurie yawned and shook her head. “That Elia is a wicked bitch. You can save the trees and your dad, Keelie. You have to find a way. I’ll help you.” She yawned again.

“Good night, Laurie.”

No answer. Laurie was out already.

Keelie’s eyelids were heavy, too. She was so tired. She thought about Einhorn, Oamlik the oak, and Dad. They all needed her. She sat at the foot of the bed and rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t stay awake. As her eyes finally closed, Keelie heard the sounds of a harp echoing in her mind.

A picture of Elianard’s face formed. He was twirling a cord with a thorn-wrapped acorn pendant at the end of it. The cord twirled round and round, and Elianard’s patronizing voice asked over and over, “Where’s the unicorn?”

A harp played, background music to his repetitive droning. Keelie couldn’t wake up; she couldn’t escape Elianard. She ran, but his disembodied head appeared in front of her. In one vista, she found herself on a mountaintop, and Elianard stood beside her and waved his hand.

“The unicorn uses his magic to conceal himself from me, and now the human scientists will find him before I can complete my work. I think you know where the wily beast is hiding.”

An image formed of one of the EPA agents. They were in the campground on the other side of the power plant. Somewhere nearby was the unicorn. She had to get to him. She remembered the satellite images of the area from Sir Davey’s computer. The forest area around the power plant had once been sentient, but now it was dead—because its guardian was dying.

“You’re killing the unicorn.” Keelie wanted to get away from Elianard, but she couldn’t. His image loomed over her as if he were on an IMAX movie screen.

“I’m not killing him; I’m only borrowing his magic. The humans are to blame, with their poisons.” Elianard’s forehead furrowed. “I do not have to explain myself to an insignificant Round Ear. Tell me what I want to know.”

“No.” Keelie tried to cling to the vision of the unicorn, but it faded and vanished.

“Perhaps there is something else that can persuade you.”

Suddenly they were in a candlelit chamber. The flickering flames cast tall shadows on the log walls. A small cot was in one corner of the otherwise empty room. Dad was on it, clammy and gray, and he looked very sick. Keelie ran to his side. “Dad, can you hear me? It’s me, Keelie.” She tried to touch him, but her hand passed through him. This was just a dream, she told herself.

She turned to look at Elianard. He stood before her, looking real enough to touch. Around them were the faces of tree phantoms. Their mouths moved silently, trying to speak to her, but she heard nothing.

“Tell me where Einhorn is, or your father’s death is on your head.” Elianard spoke as if her choice troubled him. The green of his eyes was rimmed with black, a darkness she’d seen before—the mark of dark magic. “If you help me, the sickness will go away, and you’ll have saved the Dread Forest as well. What’s one sad unicorn? It’s a blessing to put him out of his pain.”

She looked down at her father. This was more than a dream. Somewhere, Dad was lying sick, and she had no way of knowing where this cabin was in all the vast forest around them. She had to choose. Einhorn, or Dad. The forest might grow again, but she had only one father. Of course, maybe he wouldn’t forgive her if she let the unicorn die.

The harp music increased in tempo, and the thorn-entwined acorn spun round and round in time to the music.

“Tell me, Keliel.” Elianard walked forward and Keelie stepped back. It wasn’t until her right foot hit air that she realized they were back on the mountaintop and she had stepped off onto nothingness. She fell, soaring through the air. This must be how Ariel felt when she flew. She hit the ground—

—and woke up. Something really heavy landed on her chest, and her breath whooshed out. Knot sat on her stomach and stared at her. His eyes glowed silver with reflected moonlight.

She gasped for air. “Crazy cat. I nearly jumped out of my skin.”

Something was pounding the trailer with hard blows. It was rocking back and forth. An earthquake!

Outside, there were shouts from the Merry Men’s tent. Keelie heard Sir Davey’s voice in the mayhem.

She shook Laurie’s shoulder. Her friend mumbled, “What?” Then Laurie sat straight up. “Earthquake!” Her California instincts kicked in and she rolled onto the floor and crawled to the doorway.

“It’s not an earthquake. I think the trees are attacking the tents. Come on, we have to get out of here. We have to help the others.”

She remembered Elianard’s threat. Keelie knew that it had been no mere dream. Her father was in dire danger, but right now she was, too. She jumped out of the RV, Laurie right behind her, and leaned into the wind that blew in strong, hard gusts. It took her a second to make sense of what she was seeing. Screams and angry yells filled the night. Dark shapes moved all over the campground. To one side, a car fire burned, but no one seemed to take notice. The air was filled with the smell of turned earth, mixed with the stink of burning rubber.

The looming shapes were trees. A giant crunch of metal made them turn. A branch lay in a crease on top of Sir Davey’s RV. Keelie cried out as she realized it was still attached to the tree, which was lifting the massive branch to crunch it down once more.

Laurie looked up. “Watch out!” she screamed, leaping to one side. Keelie staggered back as a branch came down hard between them.

She grabbed the Queen Aspen’s heart and opened her thoughts, but her mind boiled with the murderous rage of the forest around her. Keelie quickly released the talisman to break the bond. There was no reasoning with these trees. They’d gone crazy. “Run!” she shouted.

Laurie sprinted, but a tree sprang up in front of her and she quickly veered toward Keelie. Suddenly, a broad-shouldered figure blocked their path. “Get behind me, girls.” It was Little John, wearing nothing but a kilt and boots, his quarterstaff in his hands.

He confronted the tree with his weapon, which was formidable for a human but looked pitiful against the huge oak that faced him. Behind the tree, no clouds marred the perfect black sky.

Finch’s strident voice carried across the campground battlefield. “Davey!”

Davey. Where was he? Keelie glanced toward the camp-ground’s edge, where the Faire administrator stood looking more like a fiery dragon than ever, her red hair twisting in the wind and her arms out as if she would throttle the tree that dared come near her.

Finch put her hands to her mouth and yelled again. “Gather everyone and bring them to Admin.”

Sir Davey appeared, dashing between lifting tree roots with a black bundle in his arms. Keelie called out to him, and he turned and ran toward them. Little John was engaged in battle, whooping a war cry as he clacked his quarterstaff against the branches that threatened him. Keelie was suddenly glad Little John never shed his Rennie persona.

Davey’s face was covered in dirt.