Stiltskin (Andrew Buckley) (29 page)

“Robert,” said Lily’s voice from behind him.

He’d been looking down into the valley and turned now to see Lily walking out of the forest. She was completely naked and streaked with mud. Her hair was matted and she had deep circles under her eyes. She had what looked like blood around her mouth. Despite all this, and it could have been due to sleep exhaustion, Robert still found her beautiful. In her left hand hung something silver: Robert’s necklace and vial of blood from the White Rabbit.

Of course, she’d tried to tear him to pieces last night, but now she was Lily again. Or Lillian Redcloak as the Historian had referred to her.
Redcloak
.

“Little Red Riding Hood,” he said as the realization dawned on him.

Lily stood a few feet away, arms at her side.

“Yes, that’s what I’m called in Othaside. A true bastardization of the real tale, as you saw last night.” She looked ashamed.

“Yes, it’s a bit different than what was read to us in elementary school. Although the real story would have scarred us for life, I imagine.”

Lily smiled, and then tears began to flow, creating clean lines through the streaks of mud on her face.

“I’m so sorry, Robert. Even after all this time…” She collapsed to her knees and began to sob.

Robert knelt beside her, pulling off his sweater, then pulling it over her head to cover her up. A part of him, the very male part that purely enjoyed the naked female form in all its glory, said
awwww
in disappointment. But he knew it was the right thing to do.

Lily smeared the arm of the sweater across her eyes. “I can control it when I effect the change myself, by my own choice. But if it’s the moon that triggers it, I have no control. I didn’t mean to attack you.”

“I think you were hunting me, actually.”

“I can see everything that’s going on but I can’t do anything. I hate feeling that powerless, I hate it! It makes me feel the way I did when he first attacked me.”

“He knew the moon had come up. He stalled us, didn’t he?” asked Robert.

“Yes, he must’ve known; maybe he’s so old he can sense it. The moon in Thiside ignores all lunar cycles, making it hard to predict when a full moon will rise, but usually there’s at least a half moon the night before, so I know to be locked up.” Lily looked at Robert then as if she’d realized something. “How did you get back here? I saw you go through the door.”

“You told me there were doors everywhere all the time in different places. I just kept going through until I ended up back here. I’ve honestly lost count. I think I’m going madder. I’ve been talking to the voice in my head all night. And I’m beyond tired.” Even as he said the words, he realized that he actually didn’t feel that tired at all. If anything, he felt invigorated.

“You’ve been jumping doors all night?”

“Yeah, I saw some amazing sights. And creatures. Did you know Mermaids are bloodthirsty creatures? Scared the life out of me!”

Lily smiled a tired smile. “Do you know what happened to Gnick and the General?”

There was a buzzing sound from above and two pixies flew out from over the forest. One carried a bundle in its hands. Both of them were tied around the mouth and each had a Gnome on its back. The Pixies landed and Robert saw that the Gnomes had gagged the Pixies with the rope so they could steer them. The Pixies looked angry. The one with the bundle threw it at Robert as the Gnomes untied their transportation.

“Youze orrible lil Gnomesez!” spat one of the Pixies as they retreated into the air.

“Soddingz lil blanderzkitez,” agreed the other. And they buzzed off, back toward the archives.

The Gnomes approached.

“I’m sorry,” said Lily resolutely.

“It’s forgotten,” said General Gnarly and nodded slightly. “It seems my reports of you were true after all. That’s a powerful creature you have inside of you.”

“Nice to see you’re still in one piece, moron,” said Gnick.

“How did you get away from her?” asked the General.

“I’ve been door jumping all night, according to Lily.”

“All night?” asked the General.

“Why is that so surprising to everyone? I just kept heading back through the doors and I kept coming out in different places in Thiside. Lily… uhh… the werewolf version took my passport when she attacked me.”

Lily grabbed Robert’s head and pushed it forward and pulled back his shirt. “You’re not even marked? There’s not even a scar!”

Robert had forgotten about the blood he’d felt on his back. He’d felt the burning, he knew she’d cut him. Not long after he’d been jumping through the doors, he’d forgotten all about it.

“That’s a neat trick,” said Gnick.

“The doors,” explained General Gnarly, “you’ve noticed the discomfort when you’re going through them?”

“You mean when it feels like someone’s sticking a finger in your brain and swirling it around?”

“Not exactly as I would have put it, but yes. How many times did you go through?” asked Gnarly.

“Lots,” said Robert and shrugged.

“Robert, door jumping is very rare,” said Lily. “It takes an amazing amount of resilience and stamina to do it. There’s a race of humans here called Fanderwinks who are like adrenaline junkies. They go door jumping for fun but even they can only make it maybe thirty or forty times before they start losing the feeling in their limbs, all sense of equilibrium, and in some cases, lose their minds completely. What you did is unheard of!”

“Well, yay me, I guess.”

“We procured some clothes for you,” said General Gnarly and handed the bundle to Lily. “We should really get going.”

“Which brings up the question, where are we going?” added Gnick.

Lily stood and stripped off Robert’s sweater, at which Robert did his best to avert his eyes.

“We’re going to the City of Oz to see the wizard Niggle,” said Lily.

“And as time is of the essence, how are we to get there?” said the General.

“I know it’s not your favorite way to travel, General, but we’ll need to use the doors to at least get close,” said Lily. “Are you going to be okay, Robert?”

“I’ll live.”

“Then we should find one.”

“Your Fairy’s back,” said Gnick as Veszico flew down from the sky. She landed in Lily’s outstretched palm, stretched, and then she spoke. Robert had expected to hear the usual sound of a tiny bell that he normally heard when Veszico spoke, but instead he actually heard a voice.

“I delivered the message to Tweedle; he didn’t seem happy about it,” said the Fairy.

“I can hear you!” said Robert.

“I told you that you would. The more you become ingrained in this world, the more things will make sense,” said Lily.

“I’ve been flying all night; do you mind if I rest?” asked Veszico.

“Not at all.”

The Fairy crouched into a ball, wrapping her wings around her upper body, and curled up. The air shimmered and it looked like Lily was holding a rock, which she stuck in her pocket.

“There’s a door over there,” said the voice in Robert’s head.

“There’s a door over there,” said Robert and pointed to the shimmering slice in reality.

“I just said that,” said the voice.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t take credit.”

“It’s okay, no need to apologize. We’ve been through a lot.”

“Well, I don’t want to take you for granted.”

The two Gnomes and Lily were staring at him.

“Sorry,” said Robert. “I’ve had no one to talk to all night.”

Lily took Robert by the hand, which felt natural to him. This woman had led him into a completely new reality, introduced him to strange creatures and new lands, and then she’d turned into a giant wolf creature and tried to kill him. That was a special kind of bond that didn’t happen every day.

The foursome headed toward the door. Lily stopped and pulled the silver chain with the vial from her pocket and put it around his neck. “You should have this back.”

“Wait, what happens when I go through the door? With the passport on me, won’t I just jump to a door in Othaside?” asked Robert, suddenly panicked.

Lily pulled up her sleeve to reveal the dragon tattoo. “This is my passport; the red eye is the blood of the White Rabbit. All Agents receive it. All you need to do is cover it with your hand, so hold the vial tightly. The passport reacts to the essence of the doorway. If the vial can’t touch it, you’ll remain in Thiside.”

“Got it.”

“Oh, you’ll need to carry Gnick. We need to be touching so we don’t end up in different places.”

Gnick climbed up Robert’s leg, across his back and up onto his shoulder. “Don’t drop me, moron.”

General Gnarly jumped onto Lily’s shoulder while her left arm linked with Robert’s. She covered her tattoo with her hand and Robert gripped the vial of blood around his neck tightly.

The group stepped forward and vanished through the door.

he wizard Niggle had barely slept. His night had been ruined by the events of the previous day. He could go for weeks on end without anyone showing up at his door. The Dwarf Rumpelstiltskin had been one thing, but the Agent Jack threatening him afterward had been enough to push Niggle’s nerves over the edge. He’d tried mixing a potion normally used for calming livestock before slaughter, and drunk it with Flabber-juice, an alcoholic beverage much like vodka only three hundred and twenty times stronger. The concoction hadn’t made a dent. He’d sat up on the edge of his bed all night, staring at the window, twitching spasmodically.

He looked at the same window now and the two Gnomes sitting on his window ledge stared back. One of them held a small dagger and was trimming his beard with it.

“Hello, wizard,” said the one not performing personal grooming.

“H-h-hello. I… uh… who, er… who are you?” Niggle could feel his insides begin to recoil, and sweat broke out on his brow. The best-case scenario was that he was hallucinating. Oh, how he wished he was hallucinating.

“My name is General Gnarly of the Warrior Gnomes of the Grimm Mountains and this is my lieutenant, Gnick.”

Not a hallucination, then.

“Uh, and why is he… uh… doing that?”

“Our beards grow an inch a day; they need trimming often.”

The wizard was feeling more and more queasy. “And h-h-how can I h-help you?”

“You can start by answering your door.”