Extraordinary October (13 page)

His eyes went cold. “You will be Queen. You must be. You were born a Queen. You will be one when you turn eighteen whether you want to or not. And you will take me with you.”

“No! I'm going to college. I'm going to study animals. Now that I can understand them, I'll be a superstar. This is what I've planned for my whole life.”

“But you didn't know this isn't your real life.”

“This is my real life. You and Walker and Madame Gold and the rest are not for me. None of you. Out there.” I pointed to the houses and buildings and all the humans in them. “Out there, people run governments and organize the world and do important work. I want my mom and dad and Luisa and the rest of my senior year. I want to go to prom and graduation. Nobody even believes in you anymore.”

Trevor did not disagree. “That's why we need you. Our world is changing. Fairies and trolls are leaving our world to live in the human world. Why not? Humans don't believe in a little pixie dust. Parents give their kids money before the tooth fairy even has a chance. Even little children won't clap to keep Tinkerbell alive.” He looked at me and his eyes were glittering coldly. “But you, as our new Queen, someone who has lived out there, can return us to glory. You can make us more modern. And with me beside you, we will secure our borders. No troll will leave to live in the human world. And nothing, not a goblin or a gnome and certainly no more fairies will get in.”

“No, thank you.”

“Our line will be pure.”

“Except for me. And meanwhile Madame Gold will keep digging up mushrooms and enslaving fairies while we do nothing. I don't like you—any of you—very much.” I opened my car door. “You killed Luisa for nothing.”

“I didn't do it.”

“It doesn't matter who actually did the deed. It was you and Madame Gold and your sister and Walker and all the other creatures who want to keep everything so pure.”

“Trolls are good!” Trevor protested. “We protect the soil and the groundwater and the shrubs and the mushrooms.”

“Goodbye.”

“What?” he said.

“I command you to never bother me again.”

“Wait a minute…”

“You know what? I do want to be Queen.” His face lit up. “I want to be Queen just so you and Madame Gold are not.” I got in my car and slammed the door shut.

“Where are you going?”

“Home,” I said.

“That's the first place she'll look.”

“I'm ready for her.”

14. Two Hours Until My Birthday

The clock in the car said it was 9:47. Just a little more than two hours until my birthday. I pulled up in the driveway, glad to see lights on in the house. Mom was finally home. Together we would figure out how to save Dad and stop Madame Gold.

“Mom?” I ran up the porch steps and through the front door. “Mom?”

Oberon trotted out of the kitchen wagging his tail. Walker came out next. I sighed. The last person I wanted to see. “Where's my mom?”

“She's missing,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“She came home right after she got your text about your father. But then she went outside and disappeared. Trolls are good at that.”

I ignored his disparaging tone. I wanted my mom—I wanted her badly. “Luisa's dead,” I said. “They used her as a decoy to get me to the portal.”

He nodded. He knew all about it.

“Madame Gold has your… kind, you know all the fairies, under her control. She's digging up your forest. Searching for some kind of mushroom.”

He nodded again. He knew everything.

“We have to stop her,” I said.

“That's easy.” But his face looked anything but easy. “All we have to do is keep you safe until midnight and then you marry Trevor. You and he will be King and Queen of both worlds.”

“Trevor? Why would I marry him?”

“It's okay. I get it. He won. You kissed him.” Walker's shoulders slumped. “Maybe you marrying him will make Madame Gold go away.”

I was horrified he knew I'd kissed Trevor. But more importantly why did that mean that Trevor had won? Won what?

“It wasn't a competition,” I said. “And I am not a prize.”

“But you kissed him. You belong together now.”

“What is it with you magical beings and one kiss? Most girls I know kiss a whole lot of guys and don't marry any of them.”

“That's not why you kissed him?”

“No. I just… I just… wanted to see what it would be like.”

“What was it like?”

“Oh Walker, none of your business, but it was fine.”

He was quiet. “The earth didn't move?”

“It stayed absolutely still.” I could see his relief. “How did you know I kissed him? How did you know I'd come home?”

“I always know where you are. Don't you feel our connection?”

I did. I didn't want to, but I did. I changed the subject. “I have to find my mom.”

He didn't say anything.

“I have to find my mom, save my dad, and kill Madame Gold.”

Walker looked shocked. “Fairies don't kill.”

“Good thing I'm not really a fairy.” I waited, but he didn't try to talk me out of it. “What is she?” I asked. “She said she had an itch. But she can't be a fairy.”

“Not like any fairy I've ever seen.”

“There's something she's hiding. I think she has a secret and secrets make people vulnerable.” I was hungry again—always—and started for the kitchen. “If we can figure it out, it might be a way to get to her.”

“October.” Walker's voice was low. “October. October, please. Look at me.”

I turned to him and he looked so sad it worried me.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “About before. I've been thinking about it and you're right. None of this would have happened if we had allowed Princess Russula and Prince Neomarica to stay together in our world. They would be Queen and King now. Madame Gold would have no power at all.”

“That's true. None of this would've happened. But would you really be okay with a troll as your queen?”

“I'm trying. I am. I look at you and I see the best of both worlds.” His voice was so quiet I had to lean in to hear him. “If you want to marry Trevor, I understand. I just want you to be happy.”

He was very considerate and very ridiculous. “I'm not marrying anybody. I'm certainly not marrying Trevor.” I told him the truth. “I'm sorry I kissed him.”

“I thought it was different between us,” Walker said. “I thought you felt it too.”

I had felt it. I was still feeling it. When I was with him it was exactly right, like the banana pancakes my dad made me. Slightly exotic, mostly sweet, warm and delicious. But he had let me down. I couldn't be with someone who had such deep-rooted prejudices. He said he was trying, but I would have to wait and see.

I put my hand on his arm, just to comfort him. Touching him made my whole body glow. And before I knew it, he grabbed me and kissed me. From having never been kissed, I had kissed two guys in less than hour, but I didn't have a chance to feel like a slut. Walker's kiss was a real kiss. It was a perfect kiss. My first perfect kiss. An electric current started in my chest, swelled and radiated out to every part of my body. It made the backs of my knees tremble, the soles of my feet warm, and finally the ground seemed to vibrate beneath us. The earth really had moved. I never wanted it to end.

He broke away first. “I shouldn't have done that.”

“Yes, you should have.” I pulled him to me.

“No, I shouldn't. I can't. You can only be with royalty.”

“Another of your stupid rules?” So much for all the changing he was supposedly doing. “Even the future King of England was allowed to marry a commoner. Besides, I thought I was the only royalty left. Other than Trevor.”

He looked up, down, anywhere but at me. “There's a distant fairy nobleman.”

“Noble-man?”

“He has no claim on the throne, but he's from an important family. I think he's still alive. By now he'd be close to 120 years old.”

“Wow. That's so appealing.” I stepped away from him. And another step. The further I got, the more my head cleared. “We have to go. We have a lot to do.” I hurried into the den. “Enoki threw my phone in the river, but I bet my dad's is here somewhere. Just so you and I can stay in touch—in case we get separated.”

“We should stay here.”

“We have to stop Madame Gold.”

“We should just stay here.” Walker came to the doorway. “Lay low, stay safe for two hours until you're Queen.”

I ignored him. The phone was on Dad's worktable next to his latest birdhouse project. I checked it was charged and quickly texted my mom. “It's me, not Dad. I know everything. Where are you?” I hit ‘send'. I would go upstairs, get my backpack and take a few essentials this time, like a flashlight and some money and a knife or something.

Walker stopped me at the bottom of the stairs. “We have to stay,” he said. “Oberon and I can protect you here.”

I knew the look on Walker's face. I could feel his determination. He and Oberon would tie me to a chair if they thought it would keep me safe. Somehow I had to get rid of him. I wanted him with me, but I would find Madame Gold and save the day without him if I had to.

“Make me a sandwich?” I asked. “I command you to make me a sandwich.”

He looked so completely flummoxed I had to laugh. No one had ever asked him that before.

“A sandwich?”

“Two slices of bread. Lettuce, tomato, cheese, mustard, no mayonnaise in between. Or maybe peanut butter and jelly. No. Make it cheese and avocado. I think there's some cream cheese. And raisins. That'd be good. Whole wheat. No, white. No, whole wheat.” I was trying to confuse him. It was working. “Oberon can help you.”

“Sandwich, sandwich, sandwich.” If it was food then Oberon—typical dog—was excited.

“I think there's turkey for Oberon.”

“Turkey! Come on, Walker. Come on!!!” Oberon dragged Walker into the kitchen.

My mom's keys were on the table by the front door. For a brief moment I debated waiting the remaining sixty-eight minutes until I was really, truly Queen, but I couldn't be sure it would help. Maybe officially turning eighteen would kill me. Maybe I'd lose my mind and become a babbling container of pudding. Walker had told me no one knew exactly what would happen. With my luck, it would all go bad. I needed to act now.
I picked up the keys and silently, like the good sneaky teenager I was, went out the front door.

It was chilly, but the stars were brilliant and there were a zillion of them. More than I had ever seen. The leaves in the trees and bushes rustled in the breeze. It sounded like whispering and giggling. In the distance I heard a pack of coyotes crying and howling just for the joy of it and I saw an owl swoop across the sky and a mouse scurry under the leaves. There was a lot of urban nature I was suddenly able to hear and see. Or had I just ignored it before? I opened my mom's car door and got in. I didn't close it, didn't want to make any sound, and I put the car in neutral and coasted out of the driveway. Then I turned the car on and drove. Drove as fast as I could. I looked in the rearview mirror surprised no one was chasing me. Asking Walker and Oberon to make me a sandwich really had them stumped.

All the lights were with me as I drove back to the L.A. River. Every red turned green as I approached. I remembered that had happened driving with Enoki and I wondered if it was part of being a troll. I was thinking more clearly and I was wide awake, but I was a little sick to my stomach, queasy and jittery like after too much coffee. Except I hadn't had any coffee. The skin on my hands on the steering wheel seemed to sparkle as I passed under the streetlights—like Walker's skin did, but not as much. I was not as pale as he was either. I checked my arms. I was a more ruddy, golden color. I'd never had a tan, never outside enough, but I looked tan now. Or something. Turning eighteen was only forty-two minutes away.

I got out in the same parking lot by the restaurant, now closed, and hurried through the gate to the trail by the river. I had my dad's cell in my pocket, thank goodness, but I'd never filled my backpack with those things I thought I might need. No flashlight, no sweatshirt, no knife. But it was fine—I didn't need any of them. I was perfectly warm. I could see fine. And if I actually had a knife, I knew I'd only end up cutting myself.

I came out from under the bridge and I stopped. The river was amazing. A full moon had risen. In the distance the buildings of the Los Angeles skyline were glittering against the night sky. The river reflected the moonlight in a thousand shining ripples. Reeds and cattails swayed in the soft breeze. This way, they seemed to call to me, come down and be with us. Madame Gold frightened me, but not this place. Not at all. I felt at peace with all the plants and the animals, birds, and fish, even with the scuzzy water on its journey to the Pacific Ocean. I knew what Luisa must have felt when she came here. It made my chest hurt to think she would never have that again.

A dog barked. I knew that bark. Oberon. “Over here,” he was saying. “She's here.”

Walker ran up to me out of breath, his face more pale than usual. “Don't ever do that to me again.”

I felt safer having him with me, but I stepped back out of his reach. I didn't need his touch messing with my mind. “Took you long enough,” I said.

“I have six different sandwiches in my car.”

I laughed.

“We should have waited at your house.” Walker chastised me.

I looked at my dad's phone. “I'll be Queen in thirty-seven minutes.”

Oberon began to growl—and then bark his danger bark. Walker and I turned.

“Not soon enough,” Walker said.

Out of the shadows from under the bridge strode Madame Gold in her long flowing dress. Her hair was long and wild and a lustrous red even in the dim light. She looked angry. A black panther slunk out of the dark to her side. It hissed at Oberon, then looked at me and growled. A panther. Where did that come from?

I could understand Oberon's barking, “Get out of here, Cat!” but I couldn't understand the panther, couldn't hear the words in its growling. I saw some images, but they didn't make sense. The freeway rushing by. A blanket in a cold, dark room. I got an odd feeling from it too, as if it weren't an animal at all, not even a dumb one like a crow. I could understand the crows—they just didn't say anything worth listening to.

Walker gave Madame Gold the smallest of bows. “We've been expecting you.”

“Why are you bowing to her?” I said to him. “She's a monster.”

“So are you,” she said. “Half-breed. Neither nor.”

“I don't want to hurt anybody.”

“Didn't you say you wanted to kill me?” She nodded at the phone in my hand. “Too bad I have your father. And your mother has gone AWOL.”

I was dizzy all of a sudden and stumbled a little. Blotches and big red welts covered my hands and arms.

“Not feeling well?”

Her smirk turned my fear into anger. “I'm glad I have an allergic reaction to you. It just proves how disgusting you are.”

I held up my hands, willed the welts to be gone, and they were. I didn't know how long I could keep them that way, but it had the desired effect. Madame Gold frowned and took a step back.

“She's powerful,” Walker said. “She's going to be very powerful.”

“October?” Madame Gold recovered and gave her terrible laugh. “Oh Walker. You're so cute when you're funny.”

How did she know him? It seemed she knew everything. Or Walker did. Or they both did.

“Come on, Miss Fetterhoff.” When Madame Gold turned to me it was with all her previous confidence. “I said I want us to be friends.”

Yeah, right.

“I'm impressed at how hard you're fighting this. We really are two peas in a pod, aren't we? We fight for what we want.”

“I'm not a thing like you.”

“More than you know. We really could be very good friends.” She took a step closer. “I could learn to like you. Enoki on the other hand…”

That's when I saw Enoki standing behind her. She was seething. Her face was flushed red and her hands were balled into fists. Her lips curled back from her teeth. She wanted to rip me open and I wasn't sure why.