Fablehaven I (16 page)

behind him.

The mug was still a third full. Holding the jar over the

sink, he poured some of the hot chocolate onto the lid.

Most ran down the side of the jar, but a little dripped

through the holes in the top.

One drop plopped on the creature’s shoulder. It angrily

motioned for Seth to unscrew the lid, and then pointed at

the cup. Apparently it wanted to drink straight from the

mug.

Seth examined the room. The window was shut, the

door locked. He wadded a towel against the space at the

bottom of the door. Inside the jar, the creature made pleading

motions and pantomimed drinking from a cup.

Seth unscrewed the lid. With a powerful leap, the creature

jumped out, landing on the counter. Crouching,

snarling, it glared at Seth.

I’m sorry your wings fell off, he said. This might

help.

He held the mug out toward the creature, wondering if

it would sip the flavored milk or just climb inside the cup.

Instead, it snapped at him, barely missing his finger. Seth

jerked his hand away, sloshing hot chocolate onto the

counter. Hissing, the agile creature dropped to the floor,

raced over to the bathtub, and vaulted inside.

Before Seth could react, the creature squirmed down

the drain. A final garbled burst of complaints issued from

the dark hole, and then the creature was gone. Seth poured

the remnants of the hot chocolate into the drain in case it*

could be of use to the deformed fairy.

He looked back at the jar, empty now except for a few

wilting flower petals. He was not sure what he had done

wrong, but he doubted Maddox would be very proud.

Later that morning, Seth sat in the tree house trying to

find puzzle pieces that fit together. Now that the perimeter

was finished, adding pieces was a challenge. They all

looked the same.

He had avoided Kendra all morning. He did not feel

like talking to anybody. He could not get over how foul the

fairy had become. He was not sure what he had done, but

he knew it was somehow his fault, some accidental consequence

of catching the fairy. That was why she had been so

frightened the night before. She knew he had doomed her

to change into an ugly little monster.

The puzzle pieces started to vibrate. Soon the whole

tree house was trembling. Were they having an earthquake?

He had never been in an earthquake before.

Seth ran to the window. Fairies hovered everywhere,

gathered in the air all around the tree house. Their arms

were raised, and they seemed to be chanting.

One of the fairies pointed at Seth. Several glided

closer to the window. One held her palm out in his direction;

with a flash of light, the windowpane shattered.

Seth jumped away from the window as several fairies flew

in.

He ran to the hatch, but the tree house lurched so violently

that he fell to the floor. The shaking was becoming

intense. The floor was no longer level. A chair tipped over.

The door to the hatch had slammed shut. He crawled

toward it. Something hot stung the back of his neck.

Multicolored lights began flashing.

Seth grabbed the door to the hatch, but it would not

open. He tugged hard. Something seared the back of his

hand.

Panicked, he returned to the window, struggling to

keep his balance as the floor quaked beneath him. The

flock of fairies continued to chant. He could hear their

little voices. With a loud crack, the tree house suddenly

tilted sideways. The view out the window switched from

the fairies to the rapidly approaching ground.

Seth experienced a momentary sensation of weightlessness.

Every object in the tree house was floating as everything

plummeted together. Puzzle pieces filled the air. And

then the tree house imploded.

Kendra smeared sunblock across her arms, disliking the

greasy feel of the lotion against her skin. She was tanner

than when she had first arrived, but the sun was hot today,

and she did not want to take any chances.

Her shadow was a small puddle at her feet. It was

almost noon. Lunch was not far off, and then Grandpa

Sorenson would take them to the granary. Kendra quietly

hoped she would see a unicorn.

Suddenly she heard a tremendous crash from the corner

of the yard. Then she heard Seth screaming.

What could have made such a huge noise? She did not

have to run far in order to see the broken pile of rubble at

the base of the tree.

Seth was sprinting toward her. His shirt was torn. He

had blood on his face. Scores of fairies appeared to be in

pursuit. Her initial thought was to make a joke about the

fairies wanting revenge for him trying to catch them, until

she realized it was probably true. Had the fairies thrown

down the tree house?

They’re after me! he yelled.

Jump in the pool! Kendra called.

Seth swerved in the direction of the pool and began

pulling off his shirt. The ominous cloud of fairies had no

trouble keeping up with him. They hurled sparkling

streams of glitter. Casting his shirt aside, Seth sprang into

the water.

The fairies are after Seth! Kendra cried, watching in

horrified dismay.

The fairies hovered over the pool. After a few moments

Seth surfaced. In flawless synchronization, the cloud of

fairies swooped, diving toward him. He yelled as blazing

rays of light began flaring around him, and ducked underwater

again. The fairies plunged in after him.

He came to the surface gasping. The water churned.

Seth floundered at the center of an underwater pyrotechnics

display. Kendra rushed to the edge of the pool.

Help! he cried, raising a hand out of the water. The

fingers were fused together like a flipper.

Kendra screamed. They’re attacking Seth! Help!

Somebody! They’re attacking Seth!

He flailed toward the side of the pool. The roiling mass

of fairies converged on Seth again, hauling him to the bottom

of the pool amid eerie bursts of light. Kendra ran and

seized the pool skimmer, swinging it at the relentless horde

of fairies, never touching any of them no matter how dense

the swarm appeared.

Seth resurfaced at the edge of the pool and threw his

arms up onto the flagstones, trying to drag himself out of

the water. Kendra stooped to assist him but shrieked

instead. One arm was broad, flat, and rubbery. No elbow,

no hand. A flipper coated in human skin. The other was

long and boneless, a fleshy tentacle with limp fingers at the

end.

She looked at his face. Long tusks curved down from a

wide, lipless mouth. Patches of hair were missing. His eyes

were glazed with terror.

The frenzied fairies mobbed him again, and he lost his

grip on the side, vanishing in another pulsing succession of

colored flashes. Steam sizzled up from the seething water.

What is the meaning of this? Grandpa Sorenson

hollered, hustling to the edge of the pool. Lena followed

behind him. The water in the pool flickered a few more

times. Many of the fairies whizzed away. A few flew over to

Grandpa.

One fairy in particular chirped angrily. She had short

blue hair and silvery wings.

He did what? Grandpa said.

An unrecognizable monstrosity heaved itself out of the

water and lay panting on the flagstones. The deformed

creature had no clothes. Lena crouched beside him, placing

a hand on his side.

He had no idea that would happen, Grandpa complained.

It was innocent!

The fairy twittered her disapproval.

Kendra gaped at the freakish form of her brother. Most

of his hair had fallen out, revealing a lumpy scalp stippled

with moles. His face was broader and flatter, with sunken

eyes and tusks the size of bananas protruding from his

mouth. A misshapen hump swelled high above his shoulders.

On his back below the hump, four blowholes puckered

for air. His legs had united into a single crude tail. He

slapped the ground with his flipper arm. The tentacle

writhed like a snake.

An unlucky coincidence, Grandpa said consolingly.

Most unfortunate. Can’t you have mercy on the boy?

The fairy chirped vehemently.

I’m sorry you feel that way. I feel terrible about what

happened. I assure you the atrocity was unintentional.

After a final outburst of squealing sounds, the fairy

zoomed away.

Are you okay? Kendra said, squatting beside Seth.

He made a garbled moan, then a second, more distressed

complaint that sounded like a donkey gargling

mouthwash.

Hush, Seth, Grandpa said. You’ve lost the ability of

speech.

I’ll fetch Dale, Lena said, hurrying off.

What have they done to him? Kendra asked.

An act of vengeance, Grandpa said grimly.

For trying to catch fairies?

For succeeding.

He caught one?

He did.

So they turned him into a deformed walrus? I thought

they couldn’t use magic against us!

He used potent magic to transform the captured fairy

into an imp, unwittingly opening the door for magical retribution.

Seth doesn’t know any magic!

I’m sure it was accidental, Grandpa said. Can you

understand me, Seth? Slap your flipper three times if you

grasp what I am saying.

The flipper flapped against the flagstones three times.

It was very foolish to catch a fairy, Seth, Grandpa

said. I warned you they were unsafe. But I share some of

the blame. I’m sure you were inspired by Maddox and

wanted to begin a career as a fairy broker.

Seth nodded awkwardly, his entire bloated torso bobbing

up and down.

I should have specifically forbidden it. I forget how

curious and daring children can be. And how resourceful.

I would never have supposed you were capable of actually

trapping one.

What magic did he use? Kendra asked, on the verge

of hysterics.

If a captured fairy is kept indoors from sunset to sunrise,

it changes into an imp.

What’s an imp?

A fallen fairy. Nasty little creatures. Imps despise

themselves as much as fairies adore themselves. Just as

fairies are drawn to beauty, imps are drawn to ugliness.

Their personalities change so quickly?

Their personalities remain the same, Grandpa said.

Shallow and self-absorbed. The change in appearance

reveals the tragic side of that mind-set. Vanity curdles into

misery. They become spiteful and jealous, wallowing in

wretchedness.

What about the fairies Maddox caught? Why don’t

they change?

He avoids leaving the cages indoors overnight. His