My Unfair Godmother (36 page)

Sandra held Stetson in her arms, gently bouncing him on her hip. I caught sight of my dad in the hallway, checking the rest of the house.

The desk in the family room was gone, but the computer sat on the floor, still plugged in. Nick was bringing up an Internet page. Hudson, sitting next to him, looked at me wryly. “Did you say your good-byes to Robin Hood?”

“I did. And he was very grateful for the chance to change his destiny.”

“Oh really? How grateful?”

Nick jiggled the mouse in an attempt to hurry along the computer.

“She couldn’t have gotten in much trouble. She was only there about ten seconds longer than we were.”

“Yeah, but that’s probably twenty minutes in Middle Ages time,” Hudson said, and he looked considerably less certain about my ability to stay out of trouble for that long.

332/356

I needed to tell Hudson what I’d done, but I couldn’t just blurt out that I had changed his whole last year. What would he think about stepping into a completely different life now?

I would break the news to him carefully.

“Um,” I said, but didn’t get any further.

Sandra walked over to me and gave me a hug. “Thank goodness you made it back. Now I can stop worrying and start cleaning.” She handed the baby to me, and he grabbed hold of my neck eagerly, clearly not knowing what to make of this strange, empty place.

“When is Chrissy going to take Stetson back to the future?” Sandra asked.

I held Stetson so his head rested against my cheek. His hair felt like silk against my skin. “I don’t know.” Sandra gave him a kiss on the back of the head. “I’m glad we had the chance to spend some time with him.” I wondered if she would be as glad if she knew he might have to stay here.

The computer screen popped up, and Nick said, “It’s last Monday morning at 7:03 a.m. We didn’t even miss a day of school. If we hurried now, we could make it on time.”

“Except that all your clothes are gone,” Dad said, coming into the room. “The dressers, the beds—everything was taken.” Nick gestured to his dirt-splattered tunic. “We can’t go anywhere like this. How are we going to shop for new clothes?” Dad rubbed the back of his neck. “Especially since we left our cars in the Middle Ages.”

Hudson stood up. “I can’t wait to find new clothes. I need to call my dad now. He’s probably been looking for me all night. What am I going to tell him?” He took a step toward the kitchen and then turned back to us, snapping his fingers. “I’ve got our story: the police have 333/356

been searching for Robin Hood—I mean, the medieval bandits. We’ll tell the police that they broke in here, took our clothes, made us dress in their medieval stuff, and then held us hostage while they cleaned out this place. They only just left, and now we’re alerting the authorities.”

“Why did they make us dress in medieval clothes?” Sandra asked.

Her eyes were wide at the prospect of having to know facts about this story. She wasn’t used to lying.

Hudson held out a hand as though grasping at the air for details.

“They’re some sort of revolutionary group that’s trying to bring back the feudal system. They stole your cars, and we heard them saying they’re driving to California and then flying back to England. That way, the police will stop working overtime to look for them in town.” His glance slid over me, and his lips twitched in dissatisfaction. “Well, the bandits made all of us wear their medieval clothes except for Tansy, who was clearly on her way to the Oscars when the bandits broke in.”

“Hey,” I said. “It’s not my fault Chrissy was in charge of my wardrobe.”

Nick regarded me. “They made Tansy put on an old prom dress because that’s the sort of gown befitting a maiden.” Sandra bit her lip. “You think the police will buy any of that?” Hudson nodded. “The Merry Men stole silverware from the Village Inn and a nose ring from a store clerk. They set a precedent for weird behavior.”

He strode toward the kitchen, and I called out, “What about your hair?”

“What about it?” he asked.

“How are you going to explain that it’s a couple of inches longer than it was yesterday?”

334/356

Hudson stopped in his tracks and ran a hand through his hair.

Sandra headed to the hallway. “Let me see if we still have the haircutting scissors.”

Hudson followed her, rubbing his hand against his cheek. “I should shave too.”

Dad went with them. “I think we still have some razors. I’ll show you where.”

For the next few minutes, Hudson, Nick, and Dad shaved. After that, Sandra trimmed Hudson’s hair. Thankfully, the haircutting scissors were in a black plastic box that the thieves hadn’t found interesting enough to take. I stood near the bathroom door with Stetson, watching Hudson’s hair flutter to the ground.

“I need to talk to you in private when you have a minute,” I said. I kept my voice casual so I didn’t lead him into asking a lot of questions.

“Right.” His gaze went to the baby and he smiled. “When is Chrissy going to send Stetson to the future?” I shrugged. Every minute that ticked by made me worry a little more. Perhaps she hadn’t come because Stetson no longer existed in the future. Had I changed things that much?

From the living room, Dad called out, “Tansy, how are we supposed to move this?”

Oh. The diaper bag. I went to go talk to him. When I reached the family room, Dad and Nick were fingering through the bag. Dad took out a bright gold bottle. “Why did you change this stuff? The police are going to wonder why we have golden baby toys, diapers, and wet wipes in a place thieves just left.”

“I gave the enchantment back to Chrissy,” I said. “But I wanted to have some gold first. I didn’t know the police would be checking it.

Sorry.”

335/356

Dad stared at me in surprise. “After all the trouble you went through to get the enchantment, you gave it back to Chrissy? Why?”

“It put all of us in danger during the Middle Ages,” I said. “I didn’t know if the danger would stop once we got back home. Chrissy said that kings, giants, and pirates come after you if you can produce gold.

Besides, the enchantment was never meant for humans, so it hurt my heart. And,” I added more quietly, “I traded it for something Hudson needed.”

“Ahh,” Nick said, like the last sentence explained everything.

My father sighed and turned the gold bottle over in his hands.

“You’re probably right. Unending wealth might have its downsides. All those servants getting in the way. The car insurance rates on our Ca-dillacs.” He let out another sigh. “I sure hope Hudson appreciates whatever you got him.”

“I hope so too,” I said.

Nick picked up a gold pacifier. “Gold is worth thousands of dollars a pound. We still have a pretty good fortune here.”

“The bag is too heavy to move,” Dad said. “We’ll have to take it piece by piece to the safe in my closet. That way, the police won’t see it.”

I helped Dad and Nick move a few of the lighter items. It was hard for me to carry much while I was toting around a baby.

When I went to check on Hudson, he was done with his haircut and was on the phone. I didn’t have to listen for long to figure out it was someone at the police station. He was giving a description of our cars and their destination.

Which meant the police would be here soon and I would have even less of a chance of speaking to Hudson privately.

When he hung up, I said, “I need to talk to you about something.” 336/356

“Right. In a minute.” He walked toward the family room. “Where is everybody? We need to go over our story to make sure we get it straight.”

“They’re moving gold from the diaper bag into my dad’s safe.”

“What?” he asked, but we reached the family room and he saw what was happening. He went to help, shaking his head at me as he did. “You know, if you could have waited until after the police left to create ducky-shaped treasures, it would have made things easier.” I followed after him. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Gold?” he asked, and the way he said it sounded like it was the last thing he wanted to talk about.

“Not gold specifically. I want to tell you what happened after you guys came back home.”

“Oh, Robin Hood then.” He sounded even less thrilled by this subject.

“No, not Robin Hood either.”

Hudson picked up the last of the gold items, a pair of booties, and headed toward my father’s room with everybody else. He motioned for me to come with them. “We can talk later; we need to go over our story before the police get here.” Loudly enough for everybody to hear, he said, “Okay, last night while your parents made dinner, Nick and I were sitting at the table doing homework. The doorbell rang and you went and opened the door without looking through the peephole first.”

“Oh, I get to be an idiot.”

“No, you’re just the trusting sort. The medieval bandits pushed their way inside with their swords drawn. They made us change clothes, then held us at sword-point in the kitchen while they robbed your house. We already know what Robin Hood and the Merry Men look like, so we shouldn’t have any problems giving descriptions.” 337/356

We had reached the closet. While my dad tried to make everything fit into the safe, Hudson went on describing details of our night. He ended with, “Stetson will be Sandra’s nephew that she’s babysitting. We have to hope he doesn’t vanish during the investiga-tion, because, yeah, there’s no good way to explain that.” I looked at Hudson impatiently. “Now can we talk for a minute?”

“Sure.”

The two of us headed back to the family room while Nick and Sandra stayed behind to help Dad. I stroked Stetson’s back and tried to think of the best way to break the news to Hudson. “Well …,” I said, and didn’t say anything else for a moment.

He tilted his head, trying to read my expression. “Is this about you moving to some luxury apartment in New York?”

“No, it’s about your wish.”

“What wish?”

“The wish you would have made.” It was the wrong place to start.

He looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. I tried again. “You see, after the rest of you left, I made a deal with Chrissy—” He didn’t let me finish. “
You what?
”

“It worked out well,” I said. “At least I think it did. I’m not really sure yet.”

He let out a groan and put his hand over his eyes. “Tansy, Chrissy made a mess of your wishes. Haven’t you had enough near-death experiences?”

I didn’t answer. We were in the family room, and I could see a police car pulling up in front of the house.

“What deal did you make?” he asked.

I still didn’t answer. How could I tell him what I’d done and why I did it when he was glaring at me?

338/356

“You said it was my wish,” he said. “How am I involved? What’s going to happen?”

The doorbell rang. The police were here. Hudson turned to me, waiting for my answer.

This might be it, I realized—the reason Hudson and I didn’t get together in the future. He was mad at me for interfering in his life, for making changes without consulting him.

“I changed the past,” I said.

“Right. You gave Robin Hood
The Change Enchantment
.”

“No, I mean,
your
past.”

He gave me a puzzled look. “What? My past in the Middle Ages?” There was a knock at the door, and then a man’s voice called,

“Hudson?”

Hudson turned away from me. “That’s my dad. I’ve got to let him in.”

He walked to the door and as soon as he opened it, his father stepped inside. He was tall, like Hudson, with streaks of gray coloring his hair. His features were sharp, imposing even, but his eyes softened when he saw his son. “Hudson,” he called with relief and gave him a hug. “You’re all right? Everyone is okay?” Hudson nodded.

His father kept his hand on Hudson’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, son.

We’ll get the men that did this.”

Well, the police chief was probably going to be disappointed in that regard.

Hudson’s father kept patting his shoulder as though he didn’t want to let go. “I’ve never seen your mom so worried. We were calling people half the night looking for you.”

“Mom?” Hudson repeated.

“I already called her. She’s on her way.” 339/356

Hudson turned to me, but he didn’t speak.

“
That
past,” I said.

Hudson paled and then flushed. He turned back to his dad. “Mom is coming?” He didn’t sound like he believed it.

Mr. Gardner smiled wearily. “I know, I know. Neither of us will get a word in edgewise about the robbery until she’s had her say, but I couldn’t let her keep worrying about you.” Hudson gazed through the living room window, where a car had screeched to a stop in front of the house.

“There she is now,” the police chief said.

Hudson walked to the door slower than I expected. I think he was in shock. He opened the door as she reached the front step. Without a word, he threw his arms around her.

She had plenty to say, but I didn’t hear what. It was all murmured into his chest. After a minute, the two walked back into the house. She held on to his arm with one hand and brushed tears from her face with her other. “I just knew something bad had happened to you. I was so afraid I’d never see you again. You can’t imagine.” His eyes didn’t leave her. “Yes, I can.”

“Oh, of course you can.” She turned and hugged him again. “I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through.” He blinked and hugged her back, burying his face into her hair.

He was trembling. When he looked up, I saw the gratitude in his eyes.

I smiled. He was happy, for now at least. I hoped he remembered this moment when he found out he had no real memories of the last year.

Sandra, Nick, and my dad came into the room. “Are the police here?” Dad asked.

Mrs. Gardner stepped toward them. “Are you folks all right?” 340/356

“Yes,” Sandra said, and then stopped suddenly when she saw who was speaking. Sandra drew in a gasp, her head tilted back in astonishment, and she fainted. She would have hit the floor if Nick hadn’t caught her. He eased her down to the ground and fanned her face with his hand.

Mrs. Gardner pressed her lips together and motioned to her husband. “Dear, you’d better call the paramedics.”