The Truest Heart Page 4

  Ping! The bell announced the arrival of a message. “I’ll be out in just a minute,” Cory told Macks. Taking the message from the incoming basket, she opened it and read,

  Cory,

  My brothers and I are having a housewarming party tomorrow night. We would really like it if you and Blue could be there.

  Your friend,

  Alphonse Porcine

  She had just written back, saying that she and Blue would love to attend the pig brothers’ party, when another message arrived.

  Cory,

  Yes, I’m interested!

  Mary

  Cory’s next message was to Jasper.

  Mr. Wilkins,

  I am a matchmaker working in the area. I have the perfect match for you! Would you be interested in meeting her?

  Corialis Feathering

  She waited in the main room, straightening the furniture and cleaning up after the bird that lived on the mantel. If Jasper Wilkins turned her down, she’d have to find another way to bring them together, but this would certainly be the easiest. To her relief, it wasn’t long before he sent a message back.

  Miss Feathering,

  I’ve heard of you. You made a match for my friend Jack Nimble. I’d be happy to meet the lovely lady you have in mind.

  Jasper Wilkins

  It took Cory only a few minutes to write messages to both Mary Lambkin and Jasper Wilkins, setting up the date. Instead of waiting for a reply again, she hurried outside to talk to Macks. She had just told him where to put the dead flowers he’d already dug up when Weegie plopped down by her feet.

  “Whatcha doing?” the woodchuck asked.

  “We’re cleaning up after the latest visit from the frost fairy,” said Cory. “Did you or Noodles see them do this yesterday?”

  “If we had, we would have stopped them, now, wouldn’t we?” Weegie snapped. “We didn’t see anything. Noodles and I have been digging a den in your yard. Noodles wants to stay here with you, but I can’t sleep in that house anymore. We should be done in a day or two. In the meantime, would you please tell that big guy to stop trying to fill in our hole? It’s going to take forever if we have to keep digging it out again.”

  Cory glanced at Macks. “I’ll tell him if you’ll tell me something first. Did you ask Micah if you could dig up his yard? This is his house, you know.”

  “Of course we asked him! It was yesterday morning when he was running down the sidewalk, saying he was late for work. He said, ‘Sure, sure. Whatever you need.’ He’s an awfully accommodating man.”

  “Somehow I don’t think he knew what he was agreeing to. Oh, well. Dig your hole. We can always set a post next to it or plant some flowers around it so people know it’s there and don’t step in it and get hurt.”

  “Landscaping! I like it!” said Weegie.

  Cory smiled as the woodchuck waddled off. Having a talking animal around certainly was interesting.

  Cory and Macks spent the entire morning working in the yard. After digging up the plants, they filled in the holes and raked the dirt smooth. The dead plants went in the compost bin behind the garden shed. When Macks offered to mow the lawn, Cory opened the door to the shed and he got the mower out. Cory cleaned up the dirt they’d spilled while removing the dead plant from the pot on the porch, then decided that the whole porch needed washing. While Macks mowed, Cory scrubbed the porch, including the railings. She was working on the steps when Macks started trimming the tall grass edging the house.

  They were both hungry when Cory went inside to get cleaned up and make sandwiches. After lunch, she started a casserole. Zephyr was playing at the Shady Nook that night, so they’d have to eat an early supper. Cory was cleaning up the kitchen when she remembered the messages she’d sent. Two replies were waiting in the basket. Both Mary and Jasper had agreed to the time and place.

  Blue was a little late getting home that night, so Cory already had the food on the table when he arrived. Because Macks was going to the Shady Nook with them, they all sat down to eat, saving some of the casserole for Micah, who wasn’t home yet. They left soon after that, knowing how hard it was to find solar-cycle parking near the Shady Nook on the nights Zephyr was playing.

  People were already lining up outside the restaurant when Cory, Blue, and Macks arrived. Many of them recognized Cory and Blue, and they crowded around, shouting, while Macks tried to make them keep their distance. Although Cory was afraid that some of them might be as unfriendly as the people at the market, she was delighted that they all seemed to be fans.

  Once they were inside, Cory sighed with relief. She loved her fans, but the press of people had been frightening. She was glad that Blue and Macks were there, not knowing what she would have done if she’d shown up by herself.

  When it occurred to her that some of her bandmates might show up alone, she turned to Macks. “Would you mind standing outside and making sure that the rest of the people in Zephyr can get through the crowd?”

  “No problem,” said the ogre, and headed back outside.

  While Blue found a table near the front of the room, Cory checked on her drums. Olot and Chancy had already brought in all the instruments and had nearly finished setting up everything. Cory was moving a few things when Daisy and Cheeble walked in. Less than a minute later, Daisy came over to talk to her.

  “How have you been?” asked Daisy. “Things have been so crazy lately that I haven’t had a chance to really talk to you.”

  “It’s been crazy for me, too,” Cory said. “The guilds harass me every chance they get.”

  “What are you doing tomorrow night? Would you and Blue like to come over for supper?”

  “That’s awfully nice,” said Cory, “but we already have plans. The three little pigs are having a housewarming party and invited us.”

  “That’s right!” Daisy said. “They bought Olot’s spare cave.”

  Cory nodded. “I can’t wait to see what they did with it.”

  “Ladies, it’s time to warm up,” Olot announced.

  Cory glanced at the door. Jack Horner had opened it, letting his patrons in. Even though he’d instituted a cover charge when Zephyr played, the restaurant was soon packed.

  “I’ll talk to you later,” Daisy said, and returned to her place on the stage.

  Cory picked up her drumsticks and began her warm-up exercises. When they actually began to play, she let herself get immersed in the music. The audience loved “Morning Mist” like they always did.

  “And now we’d like to introduce a new song,” said Olot. “We wrote it ourselves and named it ‘Summer Heat.’ ”

  Cory was surprised. Usually they practiced a song more before they played it in public for the first time. When they started, however, everyone played without any hitches. Like “Morning Mist,” a song they had also written, “Summer Heat” seemed to transport the audience to a different time and place. It was a summer day and the sun burned a hole in the sky directly overhead. Hot air shimmered above the baking rocks. Frantic bees buzzed around a patch of wildflowers, rich with heavy perfume. Dried, yellowing grass crunched underfoot. When the music changed, introducing the whisper of a light breeze to cool the air, people in the audience sighed as if they could actually feel it. Leaves rustled in the nearby trees, offering shade. Water gurgled over smooth pebbles in a clear stream, inviting bare feet to dandle and hands to splash. It was a summer that many remembered, and those who didn’t wished that they did.

  There was magic in the music; everyone could feel it. Cory’s grandfather had told her that her Cupid’s magic had changed her other songs. She had a feeling that it was true about this one as well.

  When the song was over, the crowd stood to applaud, shouting the names of their favorite band members. Apparently, they had liked the new song even more than “Morning Mist.” It took a few minutes for the audience to calm down. When they did, Zephyr started to play “June Bug Jamboree,” but they had played only a few meters when a woman in the back of the restaurant started to shr
iek. People turned to look as others began to scream and jump on their chairs.

  “Rats!” a man yelled. “There are rats all over the place!”

  Cory noticed movement in the rear of the room as three people ran out the door. And then others were getting out of their seats and turning toward the exits. When they started to run, their feet flew out from under them and they landed flat on their backs.

  The screaming grew louder as people realized that ice covered the floor and they couldn’t leave without risk of falling. Cory could see the rats now, running between the tables and up the backs of chairs. A man threw a salt shaker at a rat, and soon everyone was throwing things at them.

  “Quiet!” Olot bellowed, and everyone grew still.

  Blue hopped onto the stage beside Olot. “Everyone stay right where you are. I’m FLEA Junior Officer Blue. We need to find out what just happened. First of all, is anyone injured?”

  When no one replied, he continued. “Did anyone notice anything suspicious before the rats appeared?”

  Everyone looked at everyone else, but no one spoke up.

  “Who was the first person to see a rat?” Blue asked.

  The woman who had shrieked raised her hand. “I think I did,” she said, her voice shaky.

  “I saw them, too!” called out another woman.

  “So did I!” shouted a man.

  “So they started in the back of the room and spread out from there. I know that this restaurant does not have rats, so someone must have brought them in. Did anyone see someone who didn’t belong?”

  Cory raised her hand. “I saw three people run out the door right after the screaming started.”

  “I want everyone to look around you. Do you see any empty seats or notice that anyone you saw earlier is missing? Please raise your hand if you do.”

  No one raised a hand.

  “That means that someone came in after the concert started. At least one person brought in rats, and at least one put ice on the floor. Has anyone noticed anything else that was unusual?”

  No one answered until a voice called from the floor. “May I get up now?” asked a dwarf who was lying on his back. “This floor is really cold.”

  Nervous laughter ran through the crowd.

  “Everyone, stay where you are until we come help you. We don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Blue announced before turning to Olot. “We’ll start at the back and help them out the door. The rest of the band should stay on the stage for now.”

  Cory set her drumsticks down. She already knew what had happened and was sure Blue did, too. Fairies from one guild or another had brought rats to the restaurant. A frost fairy had frozen the floor. It was all because she was there, playing the drums. The fairies weren’t going to let her go one day without doing something to plague her. She was just surprised that they had done it in such a public place with so many people present.

  The members of Zephyr packed up their instruments while Blue, Olot, Jack Horner, and his waiters helped the patrons across the slippery floor and out the door. It was a long, slow process, made messier as the ice began to melt. A shape-shifter in the audience volunteered to catch the rats, but Jack Horner asked him to wait until all the paying customers were gone. When the last one had reached the door, the shape-shifter turned into a bobcat and began to chase the rats, devouring each one he caught.

  There was nothing but water on the floor when Blue said that the band members could go. Cory stayed by her drums while Blue and Olot talked to Jack Horner.

  “You know I can’t pay you for tonight,” Jack told Olot. “I had to offer refunds to anyone who asked, and now I have to pay for the damage. Look at my floors! There are scratch marks on chairs and tables where the rats climbed them. And I’ll have to hire an exterminator to get rid of the rats that cat guy doesn’t catch.”

  “I understand,” said Olot.

  “By all accounts, you should send the bill to the guilds that did the damage,” Blue told him. “We know that at least one frost fairy was here, and possibly one or two members of another guild. I’m going to investigate. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  “You do that,” said Jack Horner. “But I can tell you right now, I won’t be asking Zephyr to play here again. Or in any of my other restaurants. Not as long as this kind of thing might happen.”

  Although Cory wanted to say something to Olot as he started carrying the instruments to his cart, she saw the look on his face and didn’t dare. “Wait a few days,” Blue told her when he saw the way she was watching Olot. “He might be ready to talk to you by then.”

  CHAPTER

  5

  Cory didn’t sleep well that night. It had occurred to her that she should quit Zephyr so they could play without the guilds’ interference. But she loved playing with the band and knew she would feel like a part of her was missing if she quit. She was making money by playing the drums, too, which was a big help now that she couldn’t do odd jobs. Wondering how much more of her life the guilds were going to ruin, she fell into a troubled sleep and woke in a bad mood.

  She didn’t say much to Blue or Micah at breakfast, and fed Noodles and Weegie without a word. When Macks arrived, she still didn’t have much to say. Remembering that she and Blue were supposed to go to the pigs’ party that night, she wondered if she should try to get out of it, but couldn’t think of a good enough reason.

  It occurred to her that if they were going, she’d have to get the pigs a housewarming gift. That meant a trip to the market, yet another thing that she didn’t feel like doing. If she did go, she didn’t want to be recognized, especially after what had happened last time.

  Cory was trying to think of a way to change her appearance that didn’t look fake or silly, when a message arrived in the basket.

  Miss Feathering,

  I am the Prosecuting Law Upholder in the case People versus Guilds. As such, I need to meet with you. Are you available this morning?

  Natinia Blunk

  Why not? Cory thought, and sent a message back asking what time she would like to meet. She turned around in surprise when there was a knock at the door.

  “I’ll get that,” said Macks, looking grim. “Stay back in case it’s someone from a guild.”

  Cory stood in the entrance to the hallway leading to the bedrooms so she could run into one if necessary. She watched as Macks opened the door, straining to listen to his conversation. Whoever had come to the door was very soft-spoken. Cory could hear only Macks’s side of the conversation, which consisted mostly of “Yeah” and “Uh-huh.”

  “Who is it, Macks?” Cory finally asked him.

  “She says her name is Natinia Blunk,” Macks said, opening the door wide.

  Cory blinked in surprise. “That was fast.”

  Natinia slipped her small, portable message sender back into her purse and looked up at Cory. The woman barely came up to Cory’s waist, and was very well dressed in a stylish blue suit. The biggest surprise was that she was a goblin. Cory had never spoken to a female goblin before. Most goblins believed that their women should stay at home and not work outside the house. Obviously, Natinia didn’t feel that way.

  “You said you could meet, so I thought, why not now?” Natinia said in a soft, sweet voice that didn’t go with her lumpy goblin nose and sharply pointed ears that stuck out through her carefully styled hair. “I was in the area anyway, but I didn’t want to stop by without giving you some warning. May I come in?”

  “Oh my, yes! Please do,” Cory told her, walking into the main room. “Would you like to sit down?”

  “Yes, thank you. These shoes are new and aren’t broken in yet. I’m happy for any excuse to sit. So, Miss Feathering—”

  “You can call me Cory.”

  “I’ll be outside,” said Macks. “Holler if you need me.”

  Natinia smiled as the door shut behind the ogre. “All right, Cory. It sounds as if you have a real grievance against the Tooth Fairy Guild, the Flower Fairy Guild, the Frost Fairy Guild, the
Itinerant Troublemakers Guild, and the Housecleaning Guild. Have I left anyone out?”

  “The Sandman Guild,” said Cory. “One of their members came by the house two nights in a row, even though my uncle had filled out a do-not-visit form.”

  “Ah, yes. I see that’s listed here. Would you mind telling me in your own words how these guilds harassed you?”

  “Not at all,” said Cory. “It started when I quit the Tooth Fairy Guild.” She told the woman everything, from the day she quit the guild, to the day the guild locked her in a glass cylinder and took away her fairy abilities, including her fairy wings. She told Natinia of all the awful things the various guilds had done since then, right up to bringing the rats and freezing the floor at the Shady Nook the night before. The only part she left out was her discovery that she was a Cupid and the job that came with it.

  Natinia wrote everything down, nodding now and then, and saying “Oh my!” or “They didn’t!” in such a soft voice that Cory almost didn’t hear her. When Cory was finished, Natinia set down her ink stick and leaned back in the chair.

  “I know you told most of this to the big jury,” said Natinia, “but I wanted to hear it for myself. The harassment doesn’t seem to have stopped, does it?”

  “Not at all,” said Cory.

  “Well, then, it’s time we did something about it. You are going to be called to testify at court tomorrow. I will be there asking questions, and so will the attorney representing the guilds. Be forewarned, their attorney will not be nice. He will try to pick apart your story or get you so confused that you contradict yourself. Don’t let him do this. Be calm, and don’t let his little games rattle you. Remember this and I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

  “You just made me a whole lot more nervous than I was before,” Cory said with a little laugh.

  “Better warned than taken by surprise,” Natinia said as she gathered her belongings. “I’ll see you at court tomorrow.”

  “She seemed nice!” Macks said when Natinia was gone.

  “You sound as if you didn’t expect her to be nice,” said Cory.