Wings (24 page)

They explored the forest after that, watching the fairies who washed the flowers with dew, snipped the spent flowers off their stems, and polished the rocks until they gleamed. They saw goblin women baking bread in ovens made of clay and fairies mixing juice in a hollowed-out log. Nymphs stepped out of their trees to pick baskets of nuts and fruit while a troll woman made dainty pastries with her big, beefy hands.

An old wooden door had been placed atop two stumps, creating a table to hold the food. After filling plates made from tightly woven grasses, Jak and Tamisin wandered until they reached the ring where the fairies would dance that night. They chose a boulder set just outside the ring and sat side by side to watch the fairies trim the grass and decorate the surrounding trees with flowers.

“So what do you intend to do next?” Tamisin asked Jak between bites.

“I think I’d like to go back to your town,” said Jak. “The people are friendlier there and they accept each other for who they are. Humans aren’t very well liked here, and I’m tired of being told that I have ‘tainted’ blood.”

“Not everybody is accepting in my world,” said Tamisin.

Jak shrugged. “Of course, even if we could get there, you know we wouldn’t be left alone. The goblins would come looking for you and probably me as well. Don’t worry,” he added. “I’ll think of something. We’ll both be going back there. Just wait and see.”

“They told me I could find ya here,” said a voice, and they looked up to find Tobi with a peach in his hand.

“Where did you go?” Jak asked. “The last time I saw you, Nihlo was trying to separate me from my hide.”

“Ya looked like ya could handle yerself, so I took off. I didn’t want to get in yer way.”

Jak shook his head. “More likely you went to report to the fairy queen. We know you’re her spy, Tobi. You don’t need to pretend that you aren’t.”

“What? Me? I never …,” Tobi began, but then he shrugged when he saw the expressions on their faces. “’Twasn’t like it was my idea. She made me do it after she heard that a human girl had seen me. She wanted to know what ya looked like, Tamisin. When I told her that the girl looked just like her, she made me promise to tell her anything more I heard about ya. I didn’t have anything to tell her until Targin wanted me to help Jak find ya. Now she wants me to tell her every little thing! She’d said I couldn’t tell ya about her bein’ yer mother, but when I heard that those goblins tried to kill ya …”

“Your Highness!” called a full-sized fairy from the other side of the ring. Her arms were cradling something blue and frothy that sparkled in the sunlight. Ignoring the outraged cries of the fairies who’d been meticulously grooming the center of the circle, she traipsed across it,
scowling at Jak and Tamisin. “You should have told someone where you were going. I’ve wasted a lot of time looking for you. The queen says that you must wear this to the dance.” The fairy handed Tamisin the blue dress she’d been carrying, then stepped back and shrank to the size of a dragonfly.

“Wait!” shouted Tamisin. “I’d like to talk to my mother.”

The little fairy turned big again in a shower of sparkling lights. “Her Highness is busy with important matters and can’t be bothered now,” she said, looking annoyed.

“When can I talk to her again?” asked Tamisin.

“When she wants to talk to you,” said the fairy. This time when she shrank, she darted away before Tamisin could say another word.

“What is it?” Jak asked, but Tamisin was already shaking out the fabric and holding it up at arm’s length. A pair of shoes that had been wrapped inside the fabric fell to the ground, the light reflecting off pale blue crystals.

“Ohh!” she breathed. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!” It was a sleeveless dress made of fabric the same shade of blue as the summer sky on a cloudless day. Slender green vines twined across the bodice and over the shoulder straps, then encircled the back that had been cut low enough for wings. Tiny crystals matching those on the shoes were scattered across the dress, making it shimmer at the slightest movement.

“Very nice,” said Jak.

“It’s glorious!” she said. “But what about you? She didn’t send anything for you to wear.”

“I doubt they expect me to dance,” said Jak.

“I’ll dance!” said Tobi. “I’m real light on my toes.”

“But you’ll go, won’t you?” Tamisin asked, reaching for Jak’s hand. “I don’t want to go unless you go with me.”

“I will if you want me to,” said Jak.

“I do!” Tamisin said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I have got to go try this on! Do you mind?”

“Go right ahead,” he said.

Tamisin left and Tobi disappeared to find more food, leaving Jak staring blankly at the ground in front of him. Although Tamisin didn’t want to stay with the fairies, Jak knew that at least for the time being it was the right place for her. Unfortunately, as far as he could see he had no place to go. As a goblin, he couldn’t stay with the fairies much longer. He was sure that the only reason he had been allowed in their forest at all was because he had escorted Tamisin. His welcome was bound to run out soon, and when it did, he’d have to find somewhere to live. He would have gone back to his uncle’s, but he doubted that Targin would want to see him after he’d messed up his plans, whatever they had been. And although he would have liked to return to Tamisin’s school, it wouldn’t be the same unless she was there.

He was still thinking about what he would do next when a voice called, “
Psst
! Hey, Jak!” It was Bruno, calling to him from a group of holly trees set back from the fairy ring.

“Bruno! How are you doing? Are you off duty now?”

“Shh!” Bruno whispered so loudly that the fairies
trimming the far side of the ring turned to look. Waving his paw in the air, the bear goblin gestured for Jak to join him. Curious, Jak followed Bruno deeper into the woods, away from the ring and the watching eyes of the fairies. They didn’t stop walking until they’d left the last of the fairies behind and come to a part of the forest that wasn’t nearly as well tended as the rest.

“Why are you being so secretive?” Jak asked when Bruno finally turned to face him.

“Because
he’s
here.” Bruno stepped aside so Jak could see Barth. “He came to see you,” said Bruno, “but I had to sneak him in. He’s not supposed to be here, and frankly, I’m not either. Make this fast. I have to be back at my station in a few minutes.”

Barth nodded. “I won’t be long. I had to come warn you, Jak. Word is out that your cousin is planning to kidnap that girl during some dance.”

“The dance is tonight, but what can Nihlo do? There are guards at the entrances, and I’m sure they won’t let any goblins get near Tamisin.”

“Nihlo is tricky,” said Barth. “I don’t know the details, but I heard from a friend who has a friend who knows Nihlo, who said that there’s a Gate to a Gate. I was hoping that you would know what that meant, because I sure don’t.”

Jak shook his head. “I don’t either. Maybe your friend heard it wrong.”

“Maybe,” said Barth. “Anyway, I thought you should know.”

“Thanks,” said Jak. “I appreciate it.”

“Come on, Barth, I don’t know how I’m going to sneak you past Leadless a second time, but I’m going to try. See ya, Jak.”

“Yeah,” said Jak, whose mind was already somewhere else. Although Jak didn’t know exactly what Barth might have meant by Gate to a Gate, something was nagging at him. It had happened the Halloween that he went to the city with his class, but he just couldn’t… And then he remembered the Gates. He had arrived through one and left through another. Although the Gates at the school had been fairly close together, the Gates in the city had been miles apart. What if the reverse was also true if only one could find it? What if there was a Gate in the world of the fey that could take one to a Gate in the human world close to another Gate that would take them somewhere very different in the world of the fey? And what if that other Gate was within an enemy’s territory, somewhere no one would expect it to be? “Gate to a Gate,” Jak said out loud. “That has to be it!”

“Good for you!” said a voice only a few feet away. Jak spun around, but he already knew it was too late. Bruno and Barth were gone, and he was alone in the forest with Nihlo and the boar goblin, the last people he wanted to see. The guards had taken away his knife before he was allowed to enter the fairies’ forest, so Jak no longer had a weapon with which to defend himself or the time to make one. “I knew you would figure it out,” said Nihlo. “Tobi was right. You are smart, for a human that is.”

“Bruno and Barth aren’t—”

“In on this? No, I used those two berry brains to get
you here, that’s all. It was easy to let Barth learn just enough of my plan that he would think he was really on to something.”

“But why …” Jak turned his head as the boar goblin plunged a slim knife into his back. The poison worked faster this time, perhaps because it was closer to his heart. His cousin was waiting to catch him when his legs collapsed, then a hooded figure stepped out of the shadows behind Nihlo and turned toward the light shimmering between two trees. Remembering what it had been like the last time he’d been poisoned, Jak closed his eyes so they wouldn’t dry out. Unable to see or move, all Jak could do was listen as they dragged him to the Gate.

Tamisin loved the dress. It fit her as if it had been made for her, which she thought was probably true. She loved the silky feel of it on her skin. She loved the way it rustled when she walked. But most of all she loved the way it looked when she saw her reflection in a small pond. The nymph who lived in the pond had been kind enough to still the water so Tamisin could see herself. At first Tamisin had thought it was a trick and that she wasn’t looking at herself at all, but when she moved her hand and the reflection did, too, she began to see that maybe she
was
the beautiful creature looking back at her.
If only my mother could see me
, she thought, but it wasn’t Titania she had in mind.

Tamisin was still admiring the image in the pond when a fairy in a fluffy pink dress and matching cap
stopped by to fix her hair. The fairy brushed it with a nettle brush, shaking her head and clucking her tongue at the snarls. When she was finished, she looked pleased with her creation and even more pleased when Tamisin said how much she liked it. Tamisin’s long blond hair was still loose around her shoulders, but now she had a dusting of mica specks to make it sparkle and sprigs of forget-me-nots tucked among the locks.

By the time Tamisin went to look for Jak, the entire forest was alive with creatures big and small hustling and bustling as they prepared for the dance. Fairy and goblin handmaidens hurried back and forth on errands for the queen. Some of the goblins ran on four feet and some on two, while some of the fairies flew and others walked. Tamisin had to keep watch in all directions so she didn’t bump into anyone or get in their way. Their excitement was contagious and she found herself looking forward to the dance, if only she could find Jak—she couldn’t find him anywhere.

Feeling lonesome and a little bit lost, she decided to go see Titania, regardless of what the fairy who had brought the dress had said. After finding a familiar part of the forest, Tamisin retraced her steps to where she thought she might find the mossy glade. She found what she thought were the same rhododendrons, but instead of a clearing behind them there were only more shrubs and trees. Confused, she stopped the next big fairy she saw. “I’d like to speak to the queen,” she said. “Can you tell me how to find her?”

The fairy seemed irritated at first, but then she took a
good look at Tamisin, her eyes opened wide, and she gasped, “It’s you! You’re the one who released me when that awful boy had me trapped in a cup. I never thought I’d get the chance to thank you.”

Tamisin smiled. “I’m glad I was able to help. Do you think you could help me now, though? I was sure the queen’s throne was around here somewhere.”

The fairy shook her mop of pale blue curls. “No one can find Titania unless she wants to be found, unless of course you’re one of her guards or handmaidens. And don’t ask one of them to take you because they won’t unless she tells them to.”

“But I was just talking to her a few hours ago, and her throne was right there,” said Tamisin, pointing at the shrubs.

“It’s not there now, is it?” said the fairy, not bothering to turn around. “I wouldn’t keep looking for it if I were you. It would just be a waste of time. Speaking of time, I still have so much to do. Thanks again for helping me!” With a wave of her hand, the fairy scurried off.

Tamisin felt lonelier than ever. Whenever she got ready for a dance at home, her mother fussed over her. Although she’d found it irritating, she missed it now and wished she were home where people cared about her. Trying not to think about all the people she might never see again, she started back to where she had last seen Jak. She passed the spot where they’d eaten their lunch, but the boulder they’d sat on had been moved, and any sign that they had dawdled there had been swept away. Preparations were almost finished around the fairy ring.
Trolls were rearranging the boulders, which pixies draped with cloths in bright flower colors. Fairies placed bowls of fruit and nuts on the cloths while lady gnomes lugged out pot after pot of nectar, honey, and fresh cream.