May Bird Among the Stars (15 page)

She pulled out a black velvet garment with a hood and a cinched collar. May lifted it to herself gingerly It was much lighter than the shroud she wore, which was by now muddy and crusted with goo and cat fuzz. May untied her old cape and laid it aside, then pulled the new one around her shoulders. She tied it at her neck and stood, surveying herself.

“Whoa!” The moment she rose, she
rose.
May's feet lifted inches off the ground. She swayed and wiggled in the air, tilting every which way, thrusting her arms out for balance.

“Wow!” She laughed and spun around, her feet fanning out beneath her. She looked down at her body, which was now just as transparent as Bea's or Fabbio's or Pumpkin's. She shuffled her feet in the air. She leaned forward and drifted effortlessly
from one end of the tree limb to the other. At the very tip she stumbled forward and almost fell. May jerked backward, balanced herself, and—sobered a little—drifted back to the bag. Apparently,
floating
didn't mean she could
fly.

She dug in the bag again, this time pulling out a much smaller cape with a little hood and ear holes. She laughed with delight.

The bathing suit came next. She peered around to make sure no one was looking, then pulled off her shorts and her old suit, yanking on the new one and pulling the straps over her shoulders. She looked down at the fabric and gasped. The sky and stars in the fabric were moving. Nebulae bursting with colors, floating clouds of cosmic dust, twinkling stars, sparkling supernovas, tiny comets shooting across the sky Her bathing suit looked like the night sky, for real.

Grinning, May dug in again and retrieved a compass like the one Arista had given her back in Belle Morte that said
RIGHT WAY, WRONG WAY,
and
SCENIC ROUTE.
By the look of it, there was only one thing left. May was glad the surprise would come last.

She reached into the bag, and her hand closed on something cold and metal. She felt along to one end of it and felt her heart thud. She turned the bag inside out, revealing the surprise: a bow and a silver quiver full of gleaming silver arrows.

There was a tag attached to one of them:
EXOR-ARROWS. THEY TURN DARK SPIRITS TO SOLID SILVER. TAKE THEM.

May stood and floated backward awkwardly, thrusting out her arms for balance. The girl in the cave had had these too. She didn't want them.

May looked at the arrows. They didn't just glint, they
gleamed.
She drifted back toward the spot and touched one silver shaft—it felt cool to the touch, but her finger, once she pulled it away, went warm and tingly.

They
were
beautiful.

Slowly, May pulled one of the arrows out of the quiver. Instead of having a sharp point, it was tipped with a silver magnolia petal.

May lifted the quiver gently. She pulled the strap over her head and around her back. The arrows were as light as a feather. Strangely, they felt like they belonged.

The others were gathered in an anxious circle in Arista's living room when May returned. They all leaped out of their seats—all but Arista—when she came through the door and gaped as she floated before them.

They stared at her in silence for a few moments.

“Meay,” Somber Kitty said, leaping onto her shroud and clinging to it until she lifted him into her arms. She looked around the room. Pumpkin had his fingers in his mouth, suddenly shy Fabbio and Beatrice stared at her as if they'd never seen her before. Arista's antennae twitched excitedly.

May, confused, turned to see herself in the mirror beside the door. Her bathing suit spun with stars. She floated an inch above the ground. Her bow and arrows glinted on her back. She turned back to the others, blushing.

“Zzzz,
my dear. You are—”

“Magnificent!” Bea gushed.

“I need to leave the Ever After,” she said. “And I need to go to South Place to do it.” She waited for a moment, her chin
lifted defiantly in case they should try to talk her out of it. “I'm sorry. But I've got to go.”

The group all gaped at her, then cast looks at one another.

“South Place!” Fabbio finally exclaimed, slapping his hands against the sides of his face. “And May is a sorry!”

Bea stilled him with her hand, then turned her big blue eyes on May and nodded. “We're going with you.”

T
he following morning Arista woke them all. They had stayed up late the night before, discussing their route to the Dead Sea. Arista had directed them to a town called Hocus Pocus.

“It's the gateway town for the Dead Sea,” he'd explained. “They manufacture most of the stuff that's used to terrorize people on Earth. Nightmare potions and hexes and so on. Wild town. Lots of Dark Spirits coming to dance at the clubs, get their fortunes read, gamble. Occasionally, they eat someone, but nobody does much about it. They can't these days, really.
Zzz,
there's a lighthouse there—it's the entrance to South Place.”

May quickly shot a glance at Pumpkin, who was still hunched over his elbows, sulking because he hadn't gotten a present from the Lady.

“Zzz,
to get to the realm below, Dark Spirits can simply
jump
into the water. But for anyone else, jumping in zaps you straight to the Dungeons of Abandoned Hope.” Arista shivered. “Or so I hear.
Zzzz
Far better to use the door. Of course, I hope you don't run into anything,
zzz,
unsightly on the stairs.”

Arista opened the curtains to let in the starlight.
“Zzzz,
time to get started. Better to get as far as you can before the Dark Spirits get wind you'll be going this way They'll be looking for you.
Zzz
Be sure to keep your destination under your hat.” His antennae twitched toward Pumpkin in particular. “Unless you want a greeting party waiting for you when you get there.
Zzz”

When everyone had packed their things, Arista drifted to the front door. “I have something for you.” He ushered them outside, where everyone let out sighs of amazement. Four glowing horses floated in a line outside the door.

“They won't take you far—they're banished from the rest of the realm, as you know.
Zzzz
But they'll get you to the edge of the pass at least.”

There was a gentle white horse for Bea. A regimental horse in braids and ribbons for Fabbio. A speckled pinto for Pumpkin. The only horse left was a huge black stallion in silver reins, with a pouch hanging off the side for Somber Kitty “I suppose that's yours, May,” Beatrice said.

Pumpkin bear-hugged Arista, his gangly limbs flailing. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He then ran up to his horse and threw his arms around its neck.

Sometime later, after a tearful good-bye, the weary group set out into the cold.

Hours afterward only Pumpkin had perked up, rocking back and forth on his horse and singing:
“Ohhhhh, a horse is a horse, of course, of course, and no one has one in the realm, of course, unless that horse is a spirit horse named Pumpkin Is the Besssst!”

“I can't believe you named your horse Pumpkin Is the Best,” May mused with a sardonic smile, shivering.

Fabbio held up his new compass for the thirtieth time that morning. “We are all accounted for,” he said. “Heading the Right Way.”

Nobody made one complaint, but May knew what they must be feeling. They had come all this way with hope of rest. And here they were, on a path more dangerous than ever.

The group wended its way out of the valley along the east side. They drifted along the lowest rise of the snowy mountains and climbed steadily, May and Kitty snuggling together for warmth.

When they crested the mountain, they took a break. On one side they could see the green, lush forest of North Farm. On the other there was the unmistakable, permanent dusk of the Ever After, a vast empty plain crisscrossed above by shooting stars. May looked back toward the Lady's tree. She gave a little wave but could not tell if anyone was watching.

They decided to camp there for the night. Somber Kitty, enchanted with his custom death shroud, chased his transparent tail, zipping between May's hovering feet and executing the occasional flip. Pumpkin, Bea, and Fabbio said very little, staring at one another somberly. Without having to ask, May knew they were thinking about the same thing: South Place.

The next morning they left as soon as May and Kitty woke. Even on the east side of the Petrified Pass, the bones of the ancient giants were strewn everywhere. The group did not slow until they were approaching the edge of the pass.

“The Nothing Platte,” Beatrice said, scanning the view of the empty flatness in front of them, punctuated only by the
giant bones that lay just outside the very edges of the pass. “There isn't anything for miles now but the Scrap Mountains. It's a wasteland.”

Fabbio held his compass aloft, proudly, clearly convinced that the Lady's gift confirmed he was the group's trusted navigator and captain.

May, on the other hand, was distracted. She had the uneasy feeling that something wasn't right.

“We go,” Fabbio said, climbing down from his horse. The others followed. Only Pumpkin remained on his mount, laying flat on his stomach and holding him tight about the neck, staring at May pitifully, his bottom lip stuck out.

“Pumpkin, we have to let them go,” May said, reaching up to pat his arm.

Pumpkin flipped his head so it was facing the other way. His tuft of yellow hair waved at May defiantly. “No.”

“Pumpkin,” May said more sternly. “You need to get down this instant.”

“No.”

May looked back at Captain Fabbio and Bea, who shrugged helplessly.

“Pumpkin, maybe Captain Fabbio will let you hold his compass for a while if you come down.” She sent a pleading look back at Fabbio, who clutched his compass to his chest protectively. Then, shooting a look at Pumpkin, he softened.

“It's a very shiny, Punkin,” the captain said enticingly.

Slowly, and with great, loud sniffles, Pumpkin slid off Pumpkin Is the Best. He held out his long bony fingers for the compass.

Once the horses had gone, the group continued forward out of the pass, coming to the last set of giant bones—two enormous skeletons with their hands outstretched to each other.

Pumpkin drifted into the space between the enormous fingers. “It's creepy here.” He frowned, turning toward May. “Do we really have to go to Hocus Pocus?”

“Shhh!”
everyone hissed at once.

“What?” Pumpkin looked around.

“Arista said to keep that quiet, about Hocus Pocus.”

Pumpkin looked back and forth. “There's nobody here.”

Just then a little black blob emerged from behind one of the giant bones. Everyone froze.

“Is another cat?” Fabbio whispered.

“Mew,” Somber Kitty said, insulted.

Upon closer inspection, the blob looked like a goblin, only sort of friendly. It was smiling at them widely with its razor-sharp teeth. It reached into the pocket of its gabardine skirt and pulled out what appeared to be a pack of Ghouly Gum, offering it to them. Everybody drifted backward except for Pumpkin.

“Oh,” Pumpkin said, staring at the gum, clearly torn. It even had a shiny wrapper. He looked at May, who shook her head furiously, then he nibbled on his fingers and looked back at the goblin. “Well, I don't mind if I do.”

Pumpkin squatted and took the gum. “Thanks.” He smiled companionably at the goblin, who smiled back, wider than ever. Pumpkin unwrapped the gum and put it in his mouth. Chewing, he let out a sigh of satisfaction and looked back to the others as if to say,
See?

And then the creature smiled even wider, opened its mouth, and tried to bite off Pumpkin's arm.

“hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

As if on signal, a score of goblins leaped out from behind the bones and onto Pumpkin.
“Ahhhhh!”
Pumpkins mouth spread into a huge, crooked, screaming O as he zipped ahead, trying to shake them off as they dangled from his shoulders, his shirt. One held the puff of his hair as if it were a pair of reins.

Pumpkin zigzagged toward May and the others, waving his arms in the air and screaming furiously, “Help! Help meeee!” With a thud, he knocked into Fabbio, sending him sprawling.

Like fleas, a few of the goblins hurled themselves at Fabbio's knees while three more leaped straight for his shoulders and grabbed his military medals, trying to pry them off.

“Helllpppp!”
Bea called, just as a gaggle of goblins leaped onto her dress and untied her sash. She swatted at them with one hand as she rummaged in her backpack with the other, yanking out the large, thick, dusty book on Dark Spirits. She waved it at the goblins, knocking them off of her dress. May started toward her, but Pumpkin crossed between them, three creatures dangling from his legs, trying to tie him with a long rope. The two on his shoulders jumped off and scurried toward May. Hissing and spitting, Kitty leaped before her and reared his claws.

It was at that moment that May remembered her bow and fumbled over her shoulder for it. Her arrows went clattering out of the quiver onto the ground. She swooped downward and grabbed one, stringing it, her hands shaking as if they'd been electrified. She aimed first at the goblin tugging at the bottom of
Bea's skirt. Then at the one dangling from Pumpkin's hair. Back and forth, back and forth. Finally, she chose her target and, holding her breath, let her arrow fly. The arrow gently soared into the air, poised there for a moment, and then drifted to the ground like a feather.

“Mama mia!” Fabbio howled, waving his sword from the ground as two goblins tied a length of rope around his feet in a nice bow. “What those arrows are made of? Spaghetti?!”

Bea, who'd been tripped and now sat on the ground scooting backward, flipped madly through her book, occasionally using it as a weapon. “Goblins, goblins,” she muttered as she fanned the pages madly.