The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker (22 page)

This time when the wolf huffed and puffed, Cory could feel the entire structure shake. The wolf's breath whistled around the house, sounding like the wind during a bad storm. There was a tearing sound overhead and two loud bangs on the porch. Cory's hand covered her mouth as she backed away from the window, certain
that the wolf's next breath would bring the walls crashing down.

The wolf was taking another deep breath when it suddenly stopped and turned toward the street. A moment later, it tore off through the yard in the opposite direction, disappearing through the trees behind the house.

Cory ran to the front window to see what had scared off the wolf. Johnny Blue was there along with Wanita and Salazar. Johnny was hurrying up the walk to the house while the other two stayed by the street, talking. In a flash, Cory was out the door, running down the porch steps in her bare feet.

“Are you all right?” Johnny asked.

Before Cory knew what was happening, he had scooped her up in his arms and was holding her so tightly she could scarcely breathe. “I'm fine,” she panted. For the first few seconds, his arms felt wonderful around her. She felt warm and safe and happy and as if she could stay there forever. But then the nausea began; a feeling so sudden and intense that it was almost overwhelming.

“I was so worried!” Johnny said, his breath ruffling her hair. “I've wanted to tell you how I feel about you for a long time now. I care about you, Cory. More than I've ever cared for anyone. I think I might even—”

Cory gasped when her stomach roiled again. “Don't!”
she cried, squirming out of Johnny's arms even as she pushed him away. Her face twisted in a look of revulsion as her stomach continued to churn.

“What's wrong?” Johnny asked.

“I can't … I just …,” Cory said, but she really couldn't talk. As she stepped back, her stomach grew calmer, although the feeling didn't disappear completely.

Johnny reached for her and she shook her head. “Don't touch me!” she said, then regretted her words the moment she saw his expression change.

“Do I disgust you that much?” he asked.

“No, that's not it at all!” said Cory, although she couldn't help but take another step back.

“It seems that I do,” Johnny Blue said, his eyes showing how hurt he felt. “In that case, I won't overstay my welcome. Before I go, I wanted to tell you that I spoke with the captain. He said that I'm not supposed to investigate this anymore. If the Tooth Fairy Guild is involved, it's guild business and we aren't allowed to interfere. Judge Randal Jehosephat Dumpty backs the guild in all of these cases, which is why we've never won a case against them.”

“I know the wife of an RJ Dumpty,” said Cory. “It's possible that he's the judge. But I couldn't ask for any help from her. She hates me.”

“Then don't even mention it to her,” Johnny told her.

“So you're not going to look into it anymore?” asked Cory. She couldn't blame him. Not after she'd hurt him so badly.

“Officially, no. But I'm not giving up. Contact me if you need me.”

“There's something I don't understand,” said Cory. “The captain didn't know that you were helping me until you told him, right? But you said you'd talked to the other officers in the FLEA, so they had to know.”

“They knew all right. They just thought it was a big joke. Most of them thought I was using the investigation as an excuse to see my girlfriend.”

“Why would they think I was your girlfriend?”

Johnny Blue looked away, unable to meet her eyes. “I might have said how much I like you. And I might have told them how much I enjoyed seeing you play with your band. They thought I was dating you, and I suppose I let them.”

“Oh,” Cory said, and suddenly she felt even worse than before, although this time it wasn't her stomach that hurt. It was somewhere in her chest.

Johnny Blue left then, his back rigid, his eyes straight ahead as he strode to his cycle. Wanita and Salazar were still standing by the street, talking while the boar and the iguana eyed each other warily. When Cory saw them, she slipped on her shoes and went outside.

“Did you see the wolf?” she asked them.

“Why do you think we're here?” said Wanita. “Salazar and I heard all the ruckus and saw that nice young man tear past on his cycle. We followed him and got here just as he started waving his arms at the wolf. It looked as if he needed some help, so we did our best to scare the wolf away.”

“Whatever you did, thank you!” Cory cried. “How
did
you chase the wolf off?”

Wanita laughed. “We can both be scary when we want to be. Watch this.” Holding her arms straight out to her sides, the witch began waving them while shouting a spell. As the last word of the spell left her lips, sparks started shooting from her fingertips.

At the same time that the witch was casting her spell, the genie began to grow and didn't stop until he was twelve feet tall. His eyes turned red with a flash and he was engulfed in a ball of flame.

“That would do it,” said Cory. “You're both terrifying.”

“Sorry we didn't get here before the wolf damaged your house,” Salazar told her as he returned to his normal size.

Cory turned around to look the house over. Twigs and broken branches were scattered across the yard, and great sections of thatching were missing from the roof. The two chairs had fallen over on the porch; one of them was
broken. Many of the poppies she had planted only days before lay flattened on the ground.

“It's not nearly as bad as it could have been,” she told her neighbors. “I guess you've paid me back for the flowers.”

“What? This?” said Wanita. “No, this was fun! I still owe you for the flowers. I'm sure I'll think of something!”

Cory wasn't sure what the witch might do to pay her back, but she appreciated what Wanita and Salazar had done. She waited until they started down the street before cleaning up the yard. After putting the broken poppies in the composter behind the garden shed, she collected the twigs and branches, making a pile next to the composter. She would ask her uncle later if he wanted her to carry them into the woods or keep them for firewood. A lot of the thatch had blown away, but she picked up what she could find, not sure if the roofer could use any of it.

As soon as she went back in the house, Cory sent a message to someone who could fix the roof, adding the cost to all the other things she'd have to pay for. While waiting for a reply, she washed the plate and cup she'd left in the sink, and made herself a cup of herbal tea to get rid of her headache. She sat at the table, sipping the tea, until a
ping!
in the main room announced the arrival of a message. The roofer would be out the next day.

It was past the time she should have left for band rehearsal when Cory stepped onto the porch and locked the door behind her. Knowing her uncle should be home soon, she'd left him a note on the table telling him what had happened and that she had scheduled a repairman. Her head still ached, and she had considered skipping rehearsal, but the way her day had gone she thought it would be nice to see people who actually liked her.

Cory's head wasn't getting any better by the time she reached Olot's cave and she was almost sorry she'd gone. She tried to smile at her friends, but she wasn't feeling very friendly. When they began to play their instruments, the music seemed so much louder than usual, and her headache only grew worse. After they had finished practicing and were putting their instruments away, Olot came to see her.

“Is something wrong?” he asked. “You don't seem like your usual self.”

Cory shrugged. “I've had a truly rotten day.”

Olot pulled a stool over and sat down. “I'm ready to listen if you want to tell me about it. I know it helps me to talk about things sometimes.”

“Are you sure?” Cory asked him. “Chancy might need you to—”

“Chancy will be fine,” said Olot. “What happened?”

It didn't take long for Cory to tell him about the wolf
trying to blow down the house, and all the things that had gone wrong when the Clauses were looking at Suzy's house. Olot was so understanding that she told him about Humpty and the mice, how the pigs were afraid in their own home, how the matches she set up hadn't been working, and how Noodles had gone missing. Olot's frown was so deep by the time she finished that it looked as if someone had used a chisel to carve the creases in his forehead. When she told him that everything that had gone wrong had been her fault and that she felt terrible about it, he patted her shoulder as gently as an ogre could.

“I'm sorry to hear that things have been so rough lately, but maybe I can help solve one of your problems,” he told her. “I own another cave not far from here. It's smaller than this one, and I've been using it for storage, but I've been thinking about selling it. I put a nice stout door on it last year, so no one could break into it. We could take your pig friends to see it if you think they might be interested.”

“I don't know,” Cory said. “How would they get to town to work or do their shopping?”

“They could take the pedal-bus, like Chancy and I do,” said Olot. “It goes right past here.”

“In that case I'll tell the pigs about your cave tomorrow and let you know if they're interested.”

“Good,” said Olot. “Chancy would like to have neighbors.”

Cory's headache wasn't as bad when she flew home and she was definitely in a better mood. It was dark out when she reached her uncle's house, but the lights were on inside, making it look warm and welcoming. Landing at the bottom of the stairs, she stepped onto the porch in her human size and almost tripped over the furry creature chewing the sea-grass mat.

“Noodles!” she cried. The woodchuck glanced at her and grunted when she picked him up.

Struggling to open the door while supporting Noodle's weight, she called to her uncle, “Look who I found! Do we have any salad for a hungry woodchuck?”

Cory had a terrible time going to sleep that night. Although Noodles was back, Cory was still worried about who had taken him and where he had been. She was also afraid that the wolf might come back to try again. But it wasn't thinking about Noodle's kidnappers or the nasty wolf that kept her awake, it was the thought of how she had upset Johnny Blue when he came to help her. She liked Johnny, and when they were apart she knew that she liked him a lot. Otherwise, she wouldn't think about him all the time, would she? But even thinking about him made her feel a little queasy. Being with him made her stomach hurt. It was worse when they actually touched. The whole thing was very confusing and she didn't know what to do.

Cory wasn't sure Johnny Blue wanted to hear from
her, but she thought she should send him a message anyway. She had already reported that the woodchuck was missing, and thought it was only right to report that he had returned. As soon as she got out of bed the next morning, she hurried to send a short message.

Noodles is back.

Cory

She joined her uncle for breakfast a few minutes later. He tried to start a conversation more than once, but she didn't feel like talking.

Only minutes after Micah left for work, there was a knock at the door. Cory opened it, expecting to see either the repairman or Johnny, and nearly shut it again when she saw that her mother was standing on the porch.

“May I come in?” her mother asked, giving Cory a tentative smile.

Cory shrugged. “I suppose.” She knew that she wasn't being very gracious, but after all the things that the Tooth Fairy Guild had done to her, she felt as if her mother was working for her enemy.

Her mother took a seat in the main room, setting her rose petal–covered purse by her feet. “I know you don't really want to talk to me, but I had to come see you. I'm worried about you, Cory. The Tooth Fairy
Guild will be patient for only so long before they take stronger measures.”

“You mean they'll do something worse than plaguing me with worms and crabs and seagulls?” Cory asked, feeling her temper rise. “Or tormenting me with bad weather, or the long-winded wolf and oversize teeth and mud? What about the—”

“Yes,” her mother interrupted. “They are quite capable of doing things that are much worse than any of those. I begged them to give you one more chance to return to the guild, but if you don't do it now, well, I really can't say what they might do.”

“I'm not rejoining the guild, Mother,” Cory said. “Especially after what they've already done.”

“Are you sure? Please reconsider, for your own sake!”

Cory shook her head. “I'm never going to change my mind.”

Her mother picked up her purse and tucked it under her arm as she got to her feet. “Then I'm wasting my breath. I really shouldn't have bothered arguing with the guild on your behalf. I knew you had a lot of your father's father in you, but I hoped there was still a chance that you would listen to reason. You're just as stubborn as he ever was. He's always been certain that he was right, too. Well, when it's all over, don't say I didn't warn you.”

“Did you say he
is
certain, Mother? You've always led me to believe that he's dead,” Cory said, following her mother to the door.

Delphinium looked alarmed when she turned back to Cory. “No! No! It was just a slip of the tongue. You don't have to pick apart every little thing I say! Now, be careful, Cory. And please remember that I'll always be there when you need me.”

Cory let her mother leave without saying any more, but she was sure that Delphinium hadn't been completely truthful.

After cleaning up the breakfast dishes, Cory sent a message to the three little pigs, telling them about the cave. When they said that they were interested and able to look at it that morning, she suggested that they take the pedal-bus and gave them the address that Olot had mentioned, promising to meet them there.