"Yes, Keelie, whatever is the matter?" asked an oily voice. Elianard entered the shop and Keelie grimaced. Cinnamon was still the smell of the Dread. And of Elianard.
Elianard was a Ren Faire G.o.d in his flowing, embroidered robes. He lowered his gaze to the blocks on the worktable and smiled. "Your daughter is making your toys? How gratified you must be, Zekeliel. She is just like you. Well, the elven part." He looked up, green eyes full of malice. "The forest dies around us, and you make toys, Tree Shepherd."
Ouch. He was saying exactly what she"d been thinking. How disturbing to share opinions with evil Elianard. Keelie stood with her hands on her hips, determined not to let him get to her anymore. The magic rose in her. She stepped away from the walls and furniture, seeking distance between herself and wood. The hair on her arms stood on end, and Elianard"s long silvery locks starting to float around his head. He looked like a dandelion puff she could magically blow.
Dad stepped between her and Elianard, blocking the haughty elf"s gaze. "What do you want?"
"I"m here to deliver a message from the Council." He smiled. "They"ll be arriving from Florida and Oregon. You"ve been summoned to answer for the oaks and for the status of the Wildewood. In the meantime, three of us wish to speak to the evergreens. We want to hear from them personally what ails this woodland realm because the Dread will soon be following the same pattern. You will be our guide, Tree Shepherd."
"If I refuse?"
Elianard smiled. "You have no choice. Keliatiel commands it, as she should, given your family"s history."
Dad flinched as if Elianard had punched him in the face.
"We"re meeting tonight at moonrise, in the old oak glade in the shadow of the three mountains. You"ve been summoned ... " Elianard raised an arm and pointed toward the hills that towered over the river"s edge. His long sleeve swept back, the end trailing the ground, the embroidery shimmering in the soft light. All of him seemed to glow with some type of luminescence. " ... To take us to the evergreens."
No wonder Dad looked shocked. His own mother had sided against him. Normally, Keelie couldn"t stand Elianard, but there was something about him today that intrigued her, a charisma that hadn"t been there before. Was Dad"s charm magic still lingering in the air? She couldn"t tell. The Dread smelled of cinnamon, too.
"And you volunteered to meet with the evergreens?" Dad arched an eyebrow. "Why? What do you really want?" Keelie knew he suspected Elianard of bringing the Red Cap down on them in Colorado, and wondered why he didn"t just accuse him.
Elianard put a hand against his chest, frowning as if injured. "Don"t you trust me? Surely you do not think that the unfortunate series of circ.u.mstances at the High Mountain Faire had anything to do with me?"
Dad nodded solemnly. "I cannot accuse where there is no proof. Yet you are the only one who knows the lore books well enough to call upon the dark fae."
"One could likewise accuse your daughter. Perhaps it was her tainted human half that lured the Red Cap to us."
Yeah, right. Keelie had been there. She"d almost died trying to save the trees of the High Mountain, and Sir Davey had been injured.
Dad lowered his head, his eyes still on Elianard like a bull about to charge. He seemed stronger. "Whenever you"re around, magic is blighted. I can"t prove to the Council that you are the cause, but I can prevent you from harming my daughter. I warn you, stay away from her."
Elianard"s face hardened. "Is that a threat, Zekeliel?"
"If that is how you choose to interpret my words, so be it."
"I should report your irrational behavior to Lord Niriel," Elianard said stiffly.
"And risk exposing yourself? An empty threat, Elianard." Dad stepped forward. "If the Council wishes to inform me of a meeting, they"d best send another messenger. It is difficult for me to accept your words as truth. And as far as being your guide to the evergreens, speak to them yourself."
Whoa.
Elianard"s voice dripped with restrained contempt. "You"ll guide us to the evergreens whether you want to or not. We must know what is going on in the forest. Have you been feeling a little under the weather, lately, Zekeliel? If so, you"re not the only one of the Faire Folk to feel sick."
Dad shrugged. "There"s a bug going around, as my daughter would say."
"The elven are not the only ones falling prey to the illness. The Council has issued a mandatory quarantine at the lodge and a curious journalist is investigating why some of the humans are getting sick. She"s noticed some odd differences between some of the Faire workers, and is calling attention to the EPA"s presence at the Faire."
Dad"s expression went from nonchalant to pensive. "This goes along with information I received this afternoon from a human scientist. I"ll send a message to the Council. The EPA was indeed here, and they"re going to investigate even more closely."
Elianard"s complexion whitened a shade or two. He reached for the worktable and steadied himself, then looked at Dad, who had crossed his arms over his chest. An understanding glance pa.s.sed between the two men, as if they"d declared a truce. They"d probably realized that they were going to have to work together against the EPA.
The turbulent energy in the shop settled down. It was still tense, but calmer. Keelie turned away, but stopped-"Lulu?"
The puppet woman stood at the shop entrance wearing full fairy G.o.dmother gear, including sparkling wings. Dad and Elianard turned at the same time and stared, open-mouthed, at Lulu.
She came inside, but stopped when she saw Elianard. Keelie noticed that Lulu"s costume exposed quite a bit of cleavage; she looked more wenchy than fairy G.o.dmothery.
With her gaze glued on Elianard, Lulu leaned against a post and spoke in a smoky, seductive voice. "h.e.l.lo. What is your name?"
Dad"s eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Lulu? Is everything okay?"
"I"m fine. Never better, but you must introduce me to your handsome friend here." Her voice became even darker and s.e.xier.
Keelie turned to look at Elianard. Again, there was something about him today that just drew you into his energy. It was like being mesmerized by a candle flame and wanting to reach out to touch the fire.
Lulu did a va-va-voom saunter over to Elianard, who seemed very uncomfortable to have a human woman openly flirting with him. This was good. Keelie was still miffed with the puppet lady after the Plumpkin incident, but all would be forgiven after this little spectacle.
Dipping her shoulder seductively, so that Elianard could get a good view of her chest, Lulu lifted her skirt to expose some calf from beneath her white sparkly dress. "Oh, baby, I"ve been looking for a man like you. You"ve got power unlike anything I"ve ever sensed before, and I"m looking for a man with energy like yours. You can handle me."
Mother Goose was on the loose, and she"d found her an elfman to keep her warm. Keelie clapped her hand over her mouth.
Elianard looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming tractor-trailer.
Lulu placed her hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear.
Dad walked over to Keelie and smiled at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
"There"s something about you that I find deeply attractive. Want to come over and play with my puppets?" Lulu gave him a seductive pout and made kissy motions.
Elianard grimaced and removed Lulu"s hand from his shoulder, a scornful look on his face. "I must pa.s.s on your, er, eloquent invitation."
"Oh, baby, don"t say no, come down to my camper and I"ll bake you my special chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. You won"t be able to resist my cupcakes. They"re so yummy." She waggled her shoulders, giving a different meaning to the idea of baked goods.
Elianard turned and left the shop, walking quickly. The amorous puppet lady trotted at his heels, making kissy noises.
Dad"s whisper interrupted Keelie"s enjoyment of the sickly fascinating scene. "I need to save Elianard."
"Don"t you mean save Lulu?"
"Not really. Interesting comment Lulu made about Elianard being a powerful man, but for the moment let it suffice to say that Lulu is a witch, and Elianard is Elianard. Even though they deserve one another, we need to discover the source of the elven flu."
"Lulu"s a witch?"
Dad nodded. "Have you noticed the way children flock to her booth? It"s not just because of the toys she sells. I was going to inquire about her with the WWA."
"WWA?" Keelie frowned. "Sounds like some television wrestling league."
"It"s the Wizards and Witches a.s.sociation. I think Lulu is enchanting children and stealing their energy."
"That is so vile." Keelie remembered the kids with blank faces who trailed around after the puppet lady.
"The Faire isn"t just a good cover for elves. A great many beings find it convenient ... "
Lulu, across the lane, was plastered against Elianard, body to body. The veins in his forehead popped out like thin purple rivers. He bit down on his lips as if he were trying hard not to scratch a really bad itchy rash in public.
The ground seemed to surge and billow around Keelie, and the oaks seemed to be walking toward her. Clammy, cold, and disoriented, she tried to breathe, but cinnamon clogged her nose. The Dread was. .h.i.tting her like a tidal wave.
thirteen.
Keelie gasped for air, and then Dad"s hand was on her shoulder. The world righted itself.
"Watch this," he whispered into her elven ear. "Your old man is about to show off." He motioned with his hand, fingers spread wide. The leaves in the oak trees swayed, and suddenly a volley of acorns launched at Elianard and Lulu.
The trees had awakened. The majority of their missiles landed on Lulu"s head. She screamed and ran back to her shop. "Oh, those accursed trees!" she wailed. "I"m going to hire a woodcutter to chop them down."
Keelie heard howls of indignation from the oaks. She covered her ears with her hands. Everyone else heard the agitated rustling of leaves.
Elianard inclined his head toward Dad, apparently in grat.i.tude for ridding him of Lulu. But he didn"t count on the oaks. With Lulu safely inside the sanctuary of her booth, Elianard was now the prime target, and they had really good aim.
Too bad there wasn"t a tree version of baseball for them to play. Elianard lifted his robes, revealing pale, skinny legs clad in custom-made Lady Annie boots. Life was so unfair!
That night, Keelie washed the dinner dishes in Sir Davey"s camper. Dad had left after dinner to take Elianard and two other unnamed elves to meet with some evergreens. Keelie didn"t trust Elianard, but Dad had rea.s.sured her that he"d be fine.
Sir Davey was at the tiny dining room table, comparing the inventory he"d done that day to a computer printout.
Keelie"s upper back ached from leaning over to reach the Davey-sized sink. She had forgotten to remind Dad about Laurie coming in the morning. She hoped he remembered.
Sir Davey looked up from his papers. "Talked to Janice. Raven"s coming to the Faire to help her mom. She sends her love."
"Right, but not for weeks yet. I can"t wait to see her." Her glamorous older friend would probably be wearing designer clothes and have a great haircut, along with exciting stories about her internship at Doom Kitty. Whereas Keelie so far had failed at a number of dead-end jobs, and was reduced to sawing branches into blocks.
"Apparently, something went wrong with her job at that Squirrel of Doom place." Sir Davey sounded pleased that Raven"s city life hadn"t worked out. "She"ll be here in a couple of days."
Keelie felt a dread more frightening than elf-magic Dread wash over her. Raven was not going to want to hang out with her. She was a college student and had worked at a cool company-she"d think Keelie was a loser. Along those lines, how was Laurie going to react to the "new Keelie"? Maybe she"d changed too much to have anything in common with her old California friend.
Glumly, Keelie imagined Laurie and Raven meeting. They would be wowed by one another and talk about their exciting lives. In her worst nightmare, her best friends would hit it off and ditch her, while Finch screamed at her to work some strange dork job and Elia and her elven friends sneered and pointed. Maybe Sean would show up and fall in love with Laurie.
She must be under too much stress. Keelie dried the last plate and placed it on the rack. She plopped into the booth seat across from Sir Davey, and sighed. He lowered his papers and studied her.
"Need some good news?" He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Janice said Zeke could use her Jeep Wagoneer to pick up your friend tomorrow morning at the train station."
"Great." She sighed again.
"Worried?"
"About what?"
"About how your friend is going to react to the Faire? And what if she discovers you have tree magic? How are you going to hide that from her?"
"I don"t know." Keelie put her chin in her hands. Davey had totally hit on her dilemma, and she had no solution.
Keelie looked at the spot on the couch where Dad crashed since they"d started sleeping in Sir Davey"s camper. He was not there, and it was already 9:00 AM. The pillows were still in the same position as last night. Fabulous. Dad hadn"t been to bed yet, or if he had, it wasn"t here. They were going to have to leave in one hour to go get Laurie at the Canooga Springs train station, and Dad was nowhere around.
Sir Davey was missing, too. Indignant, Keelie realized that they might have left without her. She was beginning to understand why Finch was so dragonish. You depended on people to follow through, and what happened?
Keelie sighed. She grabbed the rose quartz from where she"d placed it by the sink last night when washing dishes.
She needed an alternative plan. Janice had said they could use her Wagoneer, but she"d thought that Zeke was available to drive. For all Keelie knew, Dad was still with Elianard and the evergreens. Maybe Janice would take her. She sure wasn"t going to ask Finch-she was too young to die. Keelie thought about the Council meeting again. She was starting to worry.
This waiting was so frustrating. She walked over to the pillow, picked it up, and punched it. She threw it back down on the sofa. This was exactly why they needed cell phones. Real ones, not ones connected to trees. She opened the door to the camper and stepped outside, blinking up at the sunny sky. At least the weather was good. She needed to find out how Dad was doing, and let him know she was going to talk to Janice about taking her into town.
Keelie walked over to the hemlocks and closed her eyes. She tightened her hand around the quartz. It shielded her with a pink light, and then a bright green glow surrounded the pink light. Keelie opened herself to the tree energy, but this time she was able to gauge it. It didn"t overwhelm her. One tree in particular answered her summons. Its name was Tavak, the Douglas fir Dad had mentioned.
Tree Shepherdess, you call?
Where is my father? Is he with you?
No, he left our meeting at the rise of the sun. He is with the other elves.
Elianard?
No, but others who seek his wisdom on matters concerning the Wildewood.
Now she was mad. Dad knew they needed to be at the Canooga train station. Where was he? Still hanging out with the elves, talking shop.
She knew some of the elves were sick, but this was so much like Mom putting a client"s needs ahead of Keelie"s. She couldn"t leave Laurie stuck in town waiting for her. It wouldn"t take long to drive into Canooga Springs, collect Laurie, and skedaddle back to the Faire, and then Dad could get back to his meeting.
Tell him we need to go to town to pick up Laurie.
Keelie to town to pick up a Laurie.
It was cryptic, but okay. Dad would get the gist of it.
Keelie suddenly wondered whether, since the trees could send a message to Dad, they could send one to the unicorn. He was the guardian of the forest, so they should be able to communicate with him. She hadn"t seen the unicorn for almost a week, and was worried about him-especially now with the EPA guys in the woods. She should have thought about telepathically corresponding with him before, but talking to unicorns was all new to her.
Keelie liked this Tavak. Dad was right; she sensed a keen intelligence from the tree.
Thank you, Tavak. I need you to send one more message-to the unicorn.