“Wow!” Humpty said. “I’d like to see a mouse like that! Could I see one? Could you bring one here?”
“If you are very good, and listen to me today, and don’t try to climb anymore, I’ll see if I can bring all three the next time I come. In the meantime, why don’t you help me think of names for them?”
“I can do that!” said Humpty. “We can call one Fuzzy, or Tiger or Giggles or …”
Cory and Humpty were still sitting in the grass talking about the mice when his mother returned home. She seemed delighted to find them there and handed Cory some money even as she thanked her over and over for keeping Humpty on the ground.
“He was a very good boy today,” Cory said as Humpty ran into the house with a small toy flower-fairy cart that his mother had just bought him. “The next time I come, he wants me to—”
Mrs. Dumpty started to back away. “Excuse me, but I’ve got to run inside. I don’t want Humpty to play with that cart on my good furniture. It has water in a little toy barrel and he … Never mind! I’ll see you next time! I’m sure whatever you want to do will be just fine!”
“—bring some mice,” Cory finished, her voice fading away as Mrs. Dumpty dashed into the house.
It was late afternoon when Cory returned home to find another message waiting for her. A woman named Mary Mary needed some help with odd jobs. She wrote that she wanted to come by to discuss the jobs and talk about the fee. Cory felt a sense of satisfaction as she sent her a confirmation for a meeting the next morning. She’d had a good day with more work headed her way. She was making more money than she’d ever made as a tooth fairy while actually helping people. Delphinium might not like what her daughter was doing, but for once Cory could say that she was enjoying her work.
Chapter 15
Cory was up early the next day and dressed for her first meeting before her uncle Micah had even left the house. While waiting for Mary Mary to arrive, Cory washed the breakfast dishes, stood outside waiting for Noodles to finish snuffling around the yard, then went inside to tidy the main room.
Noodles was asleep in the kitchen when Mary Mary arrived. Although Cory had no idea what her visitor looked like, she didn’t expect the stern-faced woman who knocked on the door. Mary Mary was older than Cory’s own mother and looked as if she had never smiled in her whole life. Her eyes were a cold gray and her handshake was just as chilly.
Cory felt uncomfortable when Mary Mary’s eyes swept over her from head to toe. “So you’re Cory. There’s not much to you. Probably can’t manage any heavy work. I don’t know how you make a living doing this.”
“What kind of jobs did you have in mind?” asked Cory.
“This and that,” said Mary Mary. “I wanted to meet you before I invited you into my house. Unlike some of your customers, I won’t let just any riffraff in. So tell me, what kind of work do you do exactly? How much experience do you have? I’ll need a list of your former employers and references from each of them before I’ll even consider hiring you.”
Cory decided that she didn’t like this woman. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to do any work for her. “I’m afraid I don’t give out the names of my clients,” Cory replied. “And the work I do for them is confidential.”
“How do I know you’re honest and won’t rob me?” said Mary Mary.
“I, uh …”
“If I’m not satisfied with your work, I won’t pay you,” Mary Mary declared.
“That’s not how it—”
“It’s the only way I’d hire you,” the woman announced. She let her gaze wander across the room, examining everything from where she stood. Suddenly, she turned back to Cory, saying, “I need a drink of water. The air in your house is very dry.”
“Uh, sure,” said Cory. “I’ll be right back.”
Cory was fuming when she entered the kitchen. Not only was the woman unpleasant, but she was rude and demanding as well. While Cory fetched a glass of fresh spring water, she resolved to ask the woman to leave once she’d had her drink. However, when she returned to the main room, she forgot all about the water. The woman was standing by the message basket, paging through the list of clients in Cory’s notebook.
“What are you doing?” Cory demanded.
The woman shut the notebook and set it down. “Don’t use that tone with me!” she said as if Cory was the one who was rude.
“I want you to leave this house right now,” Cory told her. “Get out and don’t come back.”
Mary Mary looked down her nose at Cory and said in a haughty voice, “No one has ever spoken to me that way before!”
“Well, someone has now!” Cory said, taking a step toward the woman.
Mary Mary retreated to the door. After casting one last disdainful glance at Cory, she strode from the house, leaving the door standing open behind her. Cory was closing the door when Noodles shambled into the room, sniffing the air as if he smelled something bad. Picking him up, Cory rubbed her cheek against his fur, gaining a small degree of comfort from his warmth.
“I don’t know what just happened here,” she murmured into his fur. “But I’m glad she’s gone.”
Cory thought for a moment about contacting Johnny Blue, but what would she tell him? Should she say that a nosy woman snooped through her notebook? Or that someone had come to her house and been very rude? She didn’t really think that Mary Mary’s visit was enough to report to the FLEA. After all, the woman hadn’t taken anything. But even more than that, Cory was afraid that if she contacted Johnny Blue to tell him what had happened, it might look as if she was making up excuses to see him. For all she knew, it might be true.
Cory met with Priscilla Hood at Perfect Pastry for rose-hip tea. Priscilla arrived only a few minutes after Cory, who had already ordered them each a chocolate éclair. The waiter set the éclairs in front of them just as Cory turned to Priscilla and said, “Tell me a little about yourself. What do you do for a living?”
“I model outerwear,” said Priscilla. “I just finished a big campaign for Lambkin’s newest line of jackets. I started modeling when I was a little girl. That’s where I got the name, Little Red Riding Hood.”
“Uh-huh,” said Cory. She wasn’t surprised that Priscilla was a model. The young woman was as beautiful as a flower fairy with her long dark hair and green eyes. Cory had a feeling that men were going to fight over the chance to go out with Priscilla. “You’re a beautiful young woman. Why do you want my help?”
“Most men go by first impressions. I want to meet someone who likes me for the person I am, not for the way I look or what I can do for them. Half of the men I meet want to show me off to their friends. The other half want only one thing from me—free outerwear. They dump me as soon as they learn that I don’t have anything to do with men’s overcoats or parkas. I want to meet ordinary men and I thought an ordinary girl like you could help me.”
“Yeah, ordinary,” Cory said with a wry twist to her lips. “What do you like to do?”
“I like to hike, swim, go rock climbing, hunt, and fish,” said Priscilla. “Outdoors things mostly. I grew up in the forest and that’s where I like to spend my free time.”
“What kind of person do you want to meet?” asked Cory.
“Oh, gee,” said Priscilla. “I guess he has to be intelligent, friendly, and adventuresome. He needs to like the same outdoors things that I do, especially hunting. That’s very important. Now I have a question for you. How much do you charge for helping people?”
Cory wasn’t sure what to say. She had never thought about charging Marjorie, the only other person she had tried to help.
“How about fifteen gold crowns to start?” said Priscilla. “That’s all I can afford right now, but if you think it should be more I can see about—”
“No, no! Fifteen gold crowns is just fine,” Cory said, trying not to show her excitement. That was more than her mother earned in three months as a tooth fairy. To think that someone would be willing to pay that just to meet the right man!
“And in exchange for the fifteen gold crowns, you’ll introduce me to eligible men until I meet the one I really like?”
“Uh, yes, that’s exactly what I’ll do,” said Cory. Even if it took her years, she was sure she could find the right person for Priscilla.
Cory had to walk home because of the heavy coins, but that didn’t stop her from smiling all the way to her uncle’s house, the weight of the coins in her purse a reminder of her new wealth. Even the discovery that Noodles had chewed a hole in her bedroom carpet didn’t dampen her spirits.
After cleaning up the bits of carpet fiber, she was walking through the main room when she glanced at the birds’ nest on the mantel. The eggs had started hatching and the parents were flying out the window and returning with insects to feed their babies. While Cory watched, an adult bird brought back a large, wiggling spider to drop into a waiting hatchling’s open beak. Suddenly, Cory had an idea.
After sending Marjorie a message, Cory gathered what she needed. She carried all of Noodle’s toys to her room and closed him in, determined to talk to her uncle about a better way to house the woodchuck. The flight to Marjorie’s didn’t take long, and she was happy to find her friend waiting for her with a pitcher of tea and two tulip cups.
“I haven’t seen you in a few days, so I thought we could talk for a bit before you get started,” said Marjorie. “What have you been up to?”
“All sorts of things,” Cory said, accepting a cup of tea. “I learned how to can beans, and I babysat again. Oh, a friend of yours contacted me. Priscilla Hood wants me to help her find the right man for her.”
“I did mention you to her, but I didn’t know she was thinking of contacting you,” said Marjorie. “Are you going to do it?”
Cory nodded. “She’s paying me to help her. For the amount she offered, I couldn’t turn her down.”
“She’s paying you! Then I suppose I should, too. How much do you charge?”
“I don’t intend to charge you anything,” said Cory. “I’m doing it as a friend.”
“Yes, I know that, but I think it’s only right that if Priscilla is paying you, that I pay the same amount. How much is she giving you?”
“Fifteen gold crowns, but that’s—”
“Then fifteen it is! I’ll have to get my purse, though. It’s in the house. So, now that that’s settled, do you have anyone else for me to meet?”
“I do, actually,” said Cory. She had given it a lot of thought and decided that Marjorie and Perky might get along very well. Marjorie wanted to meet someone with a good sense of humor and Perky had made everyone laugh at the last band rehearsal. Perky was a lot taller than Marjorie, but some girls preferred taller men. “His name is Perky and he’s one of Santa’s elves. He’s living here in town now and has already joined Zephyr. I think you’ll like him. He has a great sense of humor.”
“I’d love to meet him!” Marjorie cried. “When can you arrange it?”
“Zephyr is playing at the Shady Nook tomorrow night. Come see the show and I’ll introduce you to Perky between sets.”
When both of the girls had finished their drinks, Cory took the small bag of birdseed out of her purse. “I don’t see how you can get rid of spiders with that,” said Marjorie.
“Open the door to your house and watch,” Cory told her.
Marjorie looked skeptical when she opened the back door, but she stepped aside and watched as Cory scattered birdseed across the yard and through the open door. A few minutes later, a sparrow spotted the seed and landed on the ground close enough to inspect it. As the little bird hopped closer, other birds came to investigate the bounty and soon a flock had gathered to peck at the seed. When one adventurous bird hopped across the threshold, following the trail of seed into the house, others soon joined him.
Cory and Marjorie peeked through the opening, trying not to startle the birds. A crow was pecking at the seeds on the kitchen floor when a spider the length of Cory’s thumb emerged from under a cupboard. The bird cocked its head to the side, eyeing the spider. An instant later it jumped on the spider and swallowed it in one gulp. As other spiders emerged from the cracks in the floorboards and cupboards, birds flocked to snatch up the tasty treats.
Cory was beginning to think that her plan had been a success when a spider as big as her head scurried in from another room. The moment the enormous spider showed itself, the birds scattered, squawking and flying every which way until they found their way out the door. The spider froze at the sound of their cries and seemed to shrink in on itself, not moving until the birds were gone.
“Well, it got rid of some of the spiders,” Marjorie said when she saw the disappointed look on Cory’s face.
“I know, which is better than nothing, but I was hoping it would get rid of them all,” said Cory. “I’ll find something that will eventually, I’m sure of it.”
“I’m sure you will, too,” Marjorie told her. “It’s just a matter of time.”
“Speaking of time,” said Cory. “What day is today?”
“Thursday. Why?”
“Because I have somewhere that I have to be on Thursday and I forgot all about it! I have three lawns to mow, and if I hurry I might have time before the sun sets.”
“Bye, Cory!” Marjorie said as Cory shrank and spread her wings. “Thanks for trying!”
When Cory arrived at Cozynest Lane, she wasn’t sure at first that she had reached the right place. Only one cottage stood at the end of the street—the brick house where Alphonse Porcine lived. The other two cottages were gone, their yards filled with debris. Straw, twigs, and pieces of broken furniture littered the ground where the houses had stood.
Cory was horrified. Had a tornado come through the town and touched down only on this street? Had something exploded, knocking these two cottages down? She hoped the two pigs who had lived in them were all right!
Cory glanced at the still-standing brick cottage and saw one of the curtains twitch back in place. Hurrying to the front door, she knocked and called out, “It’s me, Cory. What happened here?”
“Is he gone?” called a frightened voice.
“Is who gone?” Cory asked. “There’s no one out here but me.”
“Go look around the house. We’re not opening this door until we know for sure he’s not there.”
“I’ll go look,” said Cory. “But it would help to know who I’m looking for.”
Cory walked around the house, looking for someone hiding in the bushes or behind the trees. She didn’t see anything suspicious until she spotted large paw prints that showed some animal approached the house, and walked away again. She found the same thing in three other spots, but no sign that the animal was still there. After searching the area thoroughly, she returned to the front door and knocked again. “I looked all over. No one is out here.”
“Are you sure?” a pig asked, opening the door a crack so she could see only part of its face.
“Yes, I’m sure. Tell me, what happened?” Cory said.
“It was the wolf,” Alphonse told her as he nudged his brother aside and opened the door all the way. “I don’t know how he found us, but he came by just a little while ago.”
“He threatened Roger first,” said Bertie. “When Roger wouldn’t come out of his house of straw, the wolf blew it down.”
Roger stepped into the doorway. “I ran out the back door to Bertie’s house.”
“So then he threatened us both. When he started huffing and puffing, we ran out the back door of my house and came here, to Alphonse’s. The stupid wolf blew down my lovely house of twigs!” said Bertie.
“He tried to blow my house down, too,” said Alphonse, “but even a wolf as big and bad as Lewis can’t blow down bricks.”
“You know his name?” said Cory.
Bertie nodded. “He’s the reason we went into hiding.”
“Let me tell her,” said Roger. “It’s my story. One day when I was just a piglet, I was on my way home from school when I saw the wolf blow do
wn a flower fairy’s shop.”
“It was Goldenrod, a friend of ours, who had given up taking care of goldenrod flowers so she could sell lots of different kinds. The Flower Fairy Guild got mad and sent Lewis after her. No one would have known that if Roger hadn’t seen Lewis blow down the shop,” said Bertie.
“My story, remember!” Roger told him. “Anyway, when I told Alphonse and Bertie what I’d seen, they had me go to the Fey Law Enforcement Agency. The FLEA went after Lewis, and he was locked away for a year. Before he went to jail, he sent one of his men to kidnap me.”
“Tom Tom had Roger for less than an hour before the police caught him,” said Alphonse. “It scared us all, so we went into hiding. I wish I knew how they found us today.”
“I think I might know,” said Cory. “A woman came by my home this morning. She looked through my notebook when I left the room and may have seen your address there. I suppose it’s possible that she told the wolf.”
“So it’s your fault!” Bertie exclaimed.
“Now we’re going to have to move again!” cried Roger. “Where are we going to go?”
Alphonse sighed. “We’ll have to start looking. And I did so like this neighborhood.”
“Did you call the FLEA today?” asked Cory.
“Why? I would just make Lewis madder and then he’d come back for sure. We want him to go away and stay away.”
“But the FLEA could protect you,” said Cory.
Alphonse shook his head. “What are they going to do—camp out in front of our house? They won’t do anything until something dire happens first. No, the only thing that can protect us is a house with stout walls and we’re going to have to find that ourselves!”
When Cory returned to her uncle’s house, she sent a message to Johnny Blue as soon as she walked in the door. All she did was ask him to come see her, because she wasn’t sure what else to say. The pigs weren’t going to contact the FLEA, but at least she could report her side of what had happened. She felt terrible about what the wolf had done and was convinced that it was all her fault. If only she hadn’t written their names and addresses in her notebook. If only she hadn’t let Mary Mary in the house, or left her alone in the room. If only … Cory sat on the edge of a chair and stared blindly out the window. She could “if only” from here to tomorrow, but that wasn’t going to change the real reason this had happened: she had left the Tooth Fairy Guild and tried to make a living without it.