Jamie’s stomach growled. He pressed his hands against it and scooted forward a bit toward Annie, overwhelmed by the chaos. He couldn’t believe this disorganized crew was in charge of the town and his safety.
With a clap of her hands, Miss Cornelia made all the noise stop. The Council members’ mouths moved, but no squeaks or roars or bellows or sounds of any sort came out.
“It’s so humiliating for all of us when I have to resort to that,” Miss Cornelia fussed and then primly wiped her hands against each other. She motioned for Jamie to approach the stage. “Jamie, please tell me what happened.”
“May I speak?” he asked.
“Yes, you certainly may.” Miss Cornelia winked at him. “At least now we all know that you are rather calm and most definitely quiet when given alarming news. Just another thing to like about you. Everyone else sit down, or flutter down—Aelfric, I’m talking to you—and once Jamie is done, I’ll give you all your voices back.”
Walburga grabbed a fountain pen and sprawled out a sentence on a piece of paper and then held it up for Cornelia to read.
“You hate when I do this. Yes … yes … I know, Walburga. I hate that I have to,” Miss Cornelia chided. “Go ahead, Jamie.”
As quickly and as calmly as he could, Jamie told the Council what they had seen in the barrens. He stuffed his hands in his pockets so they wouldn’t see them shaking from nerves.
“Well, then.” Miss Cornelia thanked him and then admonished everyone to stay calm and not talk all at once. Her face was paler than normal, and the crinkle lines by her eyes seemed deeper. “Members of the Council, I propose we fully prepare for battle. No more half measures or time to waste. All citizens must be armed and battle plans ready. Shall we vote?”
She snapped her fingers and Eva snorted. “I’ll lead the battle!”
“Eva!” Annie yanked her backward by her arm. “Shh …”
Eva stomped her foot but stayed quiet as words exploded in front of each Council member, writing out their votes in large, glittering letters before dissolving into fireworks or snakes, depending on how they voted.
YES, voted Arrius Herman.
NO, voted Walburga Wakanda, who muttered, “Too much panic when you arm everyone. Does anyone truly want pixies running around with machetes? I think not!”
YES, voted Leodora Leksi.
NO, voted Aelfric Darling. “What the witch said. I don’t even want that dwarf girl armed.”
“I AM ALWAYS ARMED!” Eva yelled, unsheathing her ax and waving it at him. “Do you want to feel the blade of my ax?”
“This is exactly what I mean,” Aelfric said, arching a perfectly manicured eyebrow and tapping his nails against the glossy wooden tabletop.
Miss Cornelia cautioned Eva to be quiet. “Two for and two against. All that remains to vote are Nicodemus and me. Nicodemus?”
“Better to be ready.” The word YES exploded in front of the dwarf.
“If Miss Cornelia votes no, it’ll be a tie,” Eva groaned to Jamie. “Please don’t let her vote no. Please don’t let her vote no …”
A YES YES YES materialized and then pranced away like unicorn fireworks in front of Miss Cornelia. “I feel the same as Nicodemus, I’m afraid. Would the four of you children please go ring the tower bell? The bell will alert everyone of impending danger. Leodora, Nicodemus, let’s round up the dwarfs and go to the armory. We have weapons to distribute. Canin, please begin fortifying the town borders with the stone giants and do pass out that nasty-smelling troll repellant. Walburga and Aelfric, gather up the fliers to man the watchtowers. I shall start conjuring up a new protection spell. I don’t know if it will hold, but I must try. We’ll also need to enlist Helena and Gramma Doris’s help. They can bake up some poison pies. Even evil needs to eat.”
Miss Cornelia stood up with a flourish. “There we are, then. I guess someone should tell the mayor. Stone giants are great pacifists, you know. They are loath to fight. But sometimes, it seems, we have no choice.”
20
Arms at the Armory
Eva rushed up the cramped, narrow wooden stairs of the bell tower with Jamie, Annie, and Bloom close behind her.
“We have to ring the bell,” she huffed, struggling for breath. “We ring the big bell at the top, and then the belles come out. They’re the town’s emergency alert system.”
“Like a siren?” Jamie asked as she stopped for breath.
“Exactly.”
“Eva.” Annie peered into her face. “No offense, but you look horrible.”
“Dwarfs aren’t made for running up stairs.” She leaned over, panting. “Bloom says it’s easier to just throw me.”
There were a lot of stairs left in the bell tower. Jamie bit his lip for a second. “You and Bloom head back down. Annie and I’ll go up.”
Relief washed over Eva’s face. “You sure?”
“Absolutely. Just tell us what to do,” Annie said, nodding to Jamie, and in another moment they were off, charging up the stairs, three at a time.
The top of the stairs ended in a small square chamber that was dominated by a huge brass bell. The ringer was attached to a long rope. Jamie grabbed it, and Annie announced just as Eva had told them to, “Belles! We have an emergency. Please tell everyone to meet at the armory.”
Jamie yanked the rope as hard as he could and waited for a giant ringing noise. He’d prove to everyone that he was useful, not some troll-in-waiting, but an asset to the community. It was the least he could do.
The bell was silent. He pulled again, horrified. Was he not strong enough?
Just then, dozens of tiny women wearing bonnets and far-too-large-for-them pastel dresses with hoop skirts flew out of the big bell. They twirled around Annie and Jamie once and then scattered out the tower arches, singing into the sky in the tiniest of voices, “Emergency … Emergency, y’all. We have an event in town. Please go to the armory at once. E-mer-gen-cy.”
Stunned and wondering how on earth anyone would hear the call, Annie and Jamie watched the belles flitter away and then rushed back down the stairs to their friends.
But, hear them they did. In no time at all, the mayor and townspeople spilled out into the street from Tasha’s Tavern and multiple stores to gather in front of the armory’s wide concrete doors. Annie and Jamie marveled at the green and red dragons painted on them.
Arrius Herman spoke a strange combination of words beneath his breath and then shot a beam of pink light out of his index fingers. The doors swung open, and Nicodemus Metal Smith jumped in front, shouting, “One at a time, please. One at a time! And only those who do not have weapons at home, please. We want to make sure there’s enough for everyone. Hags first.”
The children watched as the hags hobbled forward, grabbing bottles of angry green-colored potions and iron claws, which they quickly placed over their own twisted hands.
“That’s Fall-Down-and-Die potion,” SalGoud explained sadly. “Very toxic.”
“Are you getting a weapon?” Jamie asked.
“Stone giants don’t fight except in self-defense, and then we just throw stones,” SalGoud said, shifting uncomfortably.
“If monsters attack you, it’s freaking self-defense,” Eva blurted, hopping up to sit on SalGoud’s shoulder. “But don’t worry, I’ll protect you. I’ll protect all of you.”
Bloom rolled his eyes, and then a group of vampires came up, capes fluttering behind them. Some wore cowboy hats. Others had tutus.
“They have fangs, so they just get swords,” Eva announced. “Fangs should be enough. If I had fangs … hoo, boy. The world would have to watch out.”
Group after group marched through the doors of the armory. The Big Feet were handed dead trees spiked with nails. Brounies were equipped with magical rolling pins, Make-You-Tiny flour dust, and exploding cookie dough. The pixies and fairies were given tiny bows and knives as well as bee stingers and dizzying powder. The mermen and merwomen were handed tridents and ice cubes that froze their enemies, as well as whistles
that called sharks to their aid.
“There are no dwarfs,” Annie said as everyone finished gathering their weapons. “And not many shifters.”
“We all have weapons already. No good dwarf goes around without a weapon,” explained Eva.
Once armed, the group stood in front of the armory doors, waiting for further instructions. Miss Cornelia fluttered to the front of the crowd, flanked by Gramma Doris and Ned the Doctor. She clapped her hands, and Arrius Herman blew sparkling red dust at her feet. Instantly, she hovered twenty feet above the crowd.
“That is so cool,” Annie whispered. Jamie agreed but didn’t say anything because Miss Cornelia had begun to speak.
“Citizens of Aurora! As you now know, two monsters have been sighted within our town’s boundaries. Without the gnome, we are exposed for the time being to evil elements and therefore vulnerable. I beg you to take care of and watch out for one another. For we are not just a town; we are a family.”
She paused, and it seemed to Jamie that she tried to look each citizen in the eye, making a connection with every one of them. “Proceed with the rest of the night as you would, and make haste to your homes. Remember that the good in your hearts can never be vanquished by evil. Even in death, the good remains strong.”
She fell from the sky, but was neatly caught in Ned’s stony arms. He placed her on her feet as Annie turned to Jamie.
“Death?”
He didn’t know what to say. His bones felt wiggly all of a sudden, as if shock and fear had weakened them.
“Annie and Jamie, you are to head back to Aquarius House immediately,” Miss Cornelia ordered. “That’s the safest place for you right now. And you, too, Bloom. I don’t want anyone left alone. Not tonight.”
“I will escort them and protect Bloom’s elfy self from all things dangerous,” Eva said, to which Miss Cornelia gave a curt nod.
Bloom let out a hot breath but said nothing.
Eva slapped her hands together and ran toward her dad, who now had two axes over one shoulder and a pipe dangling over his ear. “DAD! CAN I BORROW THE SNOWMOBILE?”
His mustache twitched. “You are grounded, Eva Beryl-Axe.”
“Dad,” she whined, “there are monsters and I already told Miss Cornelia and it would be so much faster …”
Mr. Beryl-Axe seemed to contemplate this and then clapped his daughter on the shoulder with a strong, beefy hand. “You go out there, keep your friends safe, and make the Beryl-Axes proud. What will the monsters eat if they meet you, daughter?”
“My ax!” she announced and punched her dad in the arm before taking off to get the snowmobile. “I’ll be right back!”
“Good! Because you are still grounded!” Mr. Beryl-Axe huffed. “And I am busy because I have to go tell Nicodemus how fantastic his recent welding of the mayor’s gate was. Artfully done …” He turned back once more. “Make your dwarf species proud, girl! And if you see any monsters?”
“Smite them!” Eva yelled back, pounding her chest with her fist.
“Just no fainting,” Bloom mumbled. “She’s always fainting.”
Five minutes later, they all piled onto the hovering snow-mobile. Ten minutes later, Eva took a sharp turn to avoid a tree and Annie toppled off, gashing her cheek on a rock. Fifteen minutes later, back on the snowmobile again, Bloom told Annie to close her eyes and be ready.
The snowmobile smashed to a stop at the fence surrounding Aquarius House, but Bloom and Jamie both made sure Annie didn’t fall off again. Tala came bounding out to greet them.
Annie turned to Eva. “Thanks for giving us a ride and everything.”
“Sorry you fell off. You need to hold on better,” Eva grumped.
“You can say that again.” Annie shuddered. Her hand fluttered to her face. Touching the cut gave her another piercing pain. She pulled away her fingers, revealing blood. It dripped.
“That is SUCH a cool war wound. I never get war wounds.” Eva leaped off the snowmobile and crossed her arms over her chest. “You should see Canin’s. He went one-on-one with an orc during the Purge. He’s got bite marks all down his back. And my dad—he’s got a huge scar across his calf from a machete-slicing vampire—the evil kind, of course.”
“You’re not supposed to want war wounds, Eva. They are the mark of a weak warrior.” Bloom cringed and then apologized, “No offense.”
“They’re amazingly cool, dorkus! They mean you battled and survived,” Eva roared. “My dad is not a weak warrior. He won! So did Canin. Winning comes with a price!”
“So does losing,” Bloom said quietly.
Annie wiped her bloody hand on her pants, unsure of what to say. Bloom’s face turned inward, and his mouth became just a straight line toward nothingness. Annie had never seen him like that in the short time she’d known him, and she didn’t like it at all.
His parents had died. They were gone forever. Just like hers. But his had been killed. She didn’t know what had happened to her parents. They might even still be alive and just not want her because … because … she was so … un-wantable. But Bloom, his parents were probably lovely and good like him, and someone had killed them. It was so wrong.
“Do you think Miss Cornelia expects me to do something now?” Annie said hesitantly, trying to change the subject. “I mean, since she thinks I’m a Stopper? How am I supposed to help out? How can I protect Aurora?”
Bloom’s face took on a determined look. “A Time Stopper is a very, very powerful being. It’s the Stopper who keeps the bad away and our entire world running, really. All the rest of us feed off their magic. And more importantly, they keep the portals to the other realms closed. They keep evil from sneaking over and ransacking the earth, fae and human alike.”
“Portals?”
Bloom explained, “Doorways to other places, bad places, places of darkness, like where the Raiff is trapped.”
“Monsters?” Annie asked. “Like we saw?”
Jamie’s hand clutched the railing. “Monsters like trolls?”
“MONSTERS THAT I SHOULD KILL!” Eva leaped up, brandishing a branch like a sword and stabbing imaginary evil things.
Bloom ignored her and continued. “Miss Cornelia is a Stopper. The Raiff was a Stopper, who used his power for evil. Annie, you’re a Stopper, too. The Council has said so for years, and they got their info from a good source—not some two-bit seer.”
Annie swallowed hard again, and the wound on her face flared with pain. “I’m really one of them?”
Bloom grabbed her hand. “Yes.”
Annie shivered. The trees swayed with the wind.
“I’m really sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t think I am,” Annie said in a small voice. “There’s nothing special about me. Really. I wish I were …”
Eva had had enough. “Okay. I know you don’t seem like one. Maybe I had my doubts when I saw you, but I think you’ve got warrior stuff underneath somewhere. You just need to find your power.”
Annie leaned forward, holding on to Bloom’s hand more tightly.
“Maybe.” Eva started scratching Tala’s ears. “You just need some confidence and something worth fighting for.”
“Like Aurora?” Annie asked.
Bloom’s face shadowed. “Like Aurora.”
21
Evil Arrives
The moment they walked through the door, warmth flooded toward them, heating their chilled bodies. Eva decided to stay for a cup of hot cocoa, figuring she couldn’t get into more trouble with her father since she was already grounded. She’d just tell him she needed to fortify her innards for battle. Bloom and Tala shook the snow out of their hair and fur. Jamie unzipped his coat while Annie stared at the puddle she made on the floor.
“I’m getting everything wet,” she said, panicked.
“So?”
“Miss Cornelia will get mad. There must be rules,” Annie said, thinking of Mrs. Wiegle’s list, all of her foster families’ lists, while trying to wipe up the puddles her sneakers had made.
“Of course there are rules, Annie, but that’s not one of them,” Miss Cornelia said coming down the stairs, smiling. “Our main rule is to try to always be kind.”
She snapped her fingers and the puddles disappeared. Jamie jumped back, astonished.
“Wow,” he whispered. He reached down and touched the floor. It wasn’t wet at all.
“I still have a little useful magic left in me,” Miss Cornelia said as she helped Annie up and hugged her, Eva, and Bloom hello. She kissed all three of them right on the tops of their heads. She motioned for Jamie. “You, too.”
He didn’t think anyone had ever kissed the top of his head before. He’d barely even been hugged. Jamie shook his head. “I still can’t believe I’m here.”
The mermaids splashed about the fountain and waved.
“Well, you are,” Miss Cornelia said, hustling them farther into the house. “Now, let’s go in the library.”
She ushered them into the room and sat Annie down on a couch. Annie wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. Miss Cornelia snapped her fingers, and a bunny produced a tissue.
“Thank you,” Annie said, blowing her nose. When she was finished the tissue disappeared.
“Wow,” Jamie murmured again, checking out the room.
Books were lined up in mahogany shelves that extended up to the ceiling. Small pixies flitted in the upper reaches of the room by a ceiling that sparkled like diamonds and kept rearranging itself into pictures from famous books. First there was a scene from Dragons of the Seven Skies where the Dragon Boucher brings the children through the sky toward another world. Then there was a scene from Kelsa in Maryland where Kelsa jumps into a hamster cage and becomes a hamster hero adorned with a crab cape. Then there was a scene from Magic Martin where Martin turns the evil police chief into a wormy piece of corn on the cob.
“Wow,” Annie repeated Jamie’s word, staring.
“It’s cool, isn’t it?” Bloom said. “I like the scenes from Elves for the Win the best. Have you read Elves for the Win?”