My Fairy Godmonster (15 page)

Doing dishes after a dinner of sandwiches, I
hear Mr. Dudley’s voice boom from the living room. “Daria, be
quiet. I have to take this call. You will have to wait.”

She whines, “You never keep promises.”

“Go away.”

I hear her slam out the front door. Then the
door slams again.

Daria skips into the kitchen. “There’s a
horse trailer outside.”

“Dad!” I drop everything and run. Daria beats
me to the front door and bars the way, pouting.

“
Move, Daria.”

She opens the door slowly and goes out first.
I want to push her aside, but restrain myself.

Dad jumps out of the horse trailer and waves.
His smile is so big it could eat you up. Scott follows him,
whistling. I can’t believe how much I missed that.

“Hey, Dad! Scott!” I wave in excitement.
Rushing forward, I trip and fall headfirst toward the steps. I
catch the railing with one hand, slip and hit my cheekbone on the
top step. Blood spurts everywhere. I grab my cheek, knowing from
experience how much head wounds bleed. I think of Mom and am
thankful that I don’t have the disease she carried.

“Winifred! My God!” Dad and Scott come
running. Dad picks me up. Scott’s expression looks like thunder as
he snatches open the door.

Daria’s face is white, her eyes terrified.
She sees my bloody shirt, screams and faints.

Weasel comes running from the bedroom.
“Daria!” She scoops up her daughter. “Otis, Otis, get off the
phone!”

Dad carries me into the bathroom. It’s a
relief to get away from them for a few minutes.

I hug Dad with one arm. “I’m so glad you’re
home! Tell me everything.”

“Let’s get you fixed up first.”

My cheek throbs. I’m afraid to move my bloody
hand and look in the mirror.

Dad sits me on the sink, gets a washrag and
turns on the water. “Come on, Win. Move your hand.”

“I’m afraid to.”

“I’ll hold pressure on it.”

Dad turns me away from the mirror. He washes
the wound, but I can tell he’s worried. I hold still and try not to
cry. Finally he says, “Hand me the aloe vera.”

I do as I’m told. I turn to see my face.

“Don’t move. I want to get the bandage on to
stop the bleeding.” He gently dabs on the aloe.

“Ooohh, it stings!”

“It’ll only last a minute.” He puts on a
butterfly bandage. “We need to call Doc Waverly. He might want to
put in stitches.”

“How big is it?”

“Little over an inch.”

“I don’t want stitches in my face for the
wedding,” I moan.

“How did you fall?”

I shrug. “You know me.”

I want to tell him everything that has
happened and talk to him about Mom. Suddenly, I realize it can wait
two more days when we can be alone.

Dad looks me over from head to foot. “You
look different.”

“You haven’t seen me for two weeks.”

“You’ve lost weight. Have you been eating?”
Dad kisses me on the forehead.

“When I have time.”

“I missed you,” Dad says.

“Don’t ever leave me again.”

“Not on your life.”

“Can I see the stallion?” I ask.

“You’re a mess. You need to change your
clothes. I’ll get some from the attic.”

“No! Er, I don’t want to wait another minute
to see the horse. I have clean clothes in the laundry room that I
haven’t taken upstairs yet.”

I slide off the counter, a little dizzy.

“Stay here.”

He returns with a clean shirt. “Thanks, Dad.”
I smile. Ouch. Smiling is not good.

We walk through the hall. My legs are shaky
so I grab Dad’s arm. We pass the

living room. Daria’s parents fuss over her.
I’ve never seen her look so happy. Claire drops Daria’s hand and
rushes up to me.

“Winifred, are you all right?”

“I will be.” I don’t tell her about my wobbly
knees.

Dad leads me to the front porch. “Sit down,
Win. I’ll bring out the stallion.” He hurries to the trailer.

Scott follows us out and whispers in my ear,
“Daria deliberately tripped you.”

“What?” I melt when I stare up into his face.
He looks even better than I remember. My heart does gymnastics
inside my chest.

“Please, don’t say anything.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to spoil this moment. We’ve
worked very hard and saved a long time to be able to buy this
horse.”

Dad opens the trailer’s back doors and
disappears inside. He walks out proudly, leading the stallion. The
horse takes my breath away. He’s the most beautiful bay I have ever
seen, shiny brown with a black mane, tail and stockings. A white
diamond shines on his forehead. He snorts and tosses his long mane,
feet prancing. His muscles ripple in the dusk.

“He’s magnificent! What’s his name?” I
ask.

“Romero.”

I laugh and wince. “It suits him.”

Mr. Dudley comes onto the porch. “Handsome
animal, Charles. Come in and tell us about your trip.”

“I’ll be in after I stable the horse.” He
leads Romero around the corner.

I sigh with happiness. Our Paso Fino stock is
going to be fantastic.

When I stand up, my cheek pounds and my eyes
blur.

Scott grabs my arm. “Easy there. Let me help
you.”

“I need a drink of water,” I whisper.

He puts his arm around my shoulder and we
slowly walk into the kitchen. Warmth radiates from his body. I like
this boy thing.

Scott gets me a drink. His brown eyes bore
into mine and warm waves sweep up and down my spine. “What’s been
going on?” You look terrible,” he says.

“Just what a girl wants to hear.”

“Tell me.”

So I do. Except about Fairy Godmonster.

“You need to tell your father.”

“What good would it do?”

Scott says, “I don’t know. It’s kind of
awkward with them being David’s new in-laws.”

“I’m trying to be mature about this. I don’t
want to worry Dad. I can muddle through two more days. It’ll be
busy tomorrow. The wedding people will be swarming all over to set
up.”

“I’m going to keep my eye on the brat. And
I’ll help you as much as possible,” says Scott.

“Thanks.” I wish I could tell him how good he
looks.

Dad comes in the back door with David and
John. David is so excited he can hardly

get his words out fast enough.

“Wait until you see it!” he exclaims. “It’s
my best work. I could never have done it without John.”

John laughs. “His brain, my brawn.”

David sees my face and strides over to me.
“What did you do now?”

Those are David’s famous words. I was a
clumsy child, my mind faster than my feet. He always fixed me
up.

“Tripped. When do we get to see the
garden?”

“Let’s get the rest of the family so I can
show you together.” He practically runs into the living room.

The Dudley’s meet us in the kitchen.

Dad looks around. “I’ve never seen this house
look so good, Erminia.”

“I’ve done my best,” she says.

Claire stares at her mother in shock.
“Winifred is responsible for how the house looks, Mr. Smith. She’s
done it all.”

Weasel sniffs, “She’s been very helpful.”

“My Win did all this?” Dad asks. He looks at
me. Pride shines in his eyes. Warmth spreads through my whole body.
I feel so good. It’s worth all the hard work and sore muscles.

David pulls on Claire’s hand. “Come on!”

We follow them out the back door. All the
barricades around the garden are down.

David says, “Please don’t talk until you have
seen everything. I want you to experience it.”

I stop, unable to breathe. Thousands and
thousands of tiny white lights nestle in the trees, plants and
flowers. Like all the stars fell out of the sky and landed in the
garden. Magic. I swallow hard. Oh, Mom, I think. It’s like
heaven.

Instead of being bunched together, the
benches are scattered separately among the trees and shrubs. They
look like they have been there for years. I can’t even see them
all.

David leads us down a curving path of moss
that has white, star-shaped flowers. I walk on the delicate
blossoms and they squish into the moss unhurt. The path leads to
one bench, then around to the next and the next. It continues to
wind around the benches until it comes to an end.

I stare in awe. In front of the white lilac
tree under my attic window, is a heart made of twisted vines and
stems. Tall, wide and about five feet deep, it rises from the grass
like it’s growing out of the ground. On each side are plants in
different heights, all with white blooms and real-looking white
birds.

Claire whispers, “Oh, David, it’s
perfect.”

Dad pats David on the back. “Beautiful. Well
done, Son.” Dad shakes hands with John. “Terrific job, young man.
If you ever decide you don’t want to be a lawyer, I’m sure David
will hire you.”

“Thanks, Mr. Smith.”

“Win, come and stand under the heart.” David
grabs my hand and leads me inside. He turns me around.

I can’t believe what I see. Every bench in
the garden has a view of the heart, yet they don’t distract from
the garden itself.

“How did you do it?”

David laughs. “Inspiration and hard
work.”

“Come look, Claire,” I say.

Claire turns and sighs. She touches David’s
cheek with her hand. “Thank you, David.”

I look at Weasel. I know she’s trying hard to
find something to complain about. She says, “You will have to be
careful, Claire, walking in heels on this moss.”

Mr. Dudley shakes David’s hand. “Fantastic
job.” He kisses Claire on the head. “You are a very lucky
girl.”

Daria is quiet for once.

I hug David. “You made the garden even
better.”

“Thanks, Win,” he says hugging me back.

My cheek throbs. “I need to go to bed.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”

Dad says, “Sure you don’t want to see the
doctor?”

“I’m fine. As much as I’d like to hear about
your trip, I think I’d better get some sleep.”

Scott says, “I’ll help you upstairs.”

I smile at him. “Thanks.”

We reach the upstairs hall and I stick a hand
in my pocket. No key. Whoa. Fairy Godmonster will have to let me in
the attic. I can’t let Scott know about her.

“You don’t have to walk me to my door. It’s
not like a date or anything.”

He smiles.

I lock my knees so I don’t fall down. My
words come out in a croak. “You need to unload your stuff from the
trailer. Dad could use your help.”

“You sure?”

“Go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight.” He whistles as he leaves.

I can’t wait to talk to Jac about Scott when
she gets home tomorrow night.

Knocking on the attic door, I wonder how
Fairy Godmonster is going to unlock it. I hear the click five
minutes later.

“CRIPES! I knew I wasn’t eating enough red
meat,” she groans. She examines one claw. It’s missing the sharp
point.

“Does it hurt?”

“Of course not.” She looks up. “What happened
to your face?”

I go to the mirror and peel up the bandage. I
gasp when I see the cut. I hold in the tears.

“Who did this to you!” Fairy Godmonster’s
eyes flash black.

I’m glad she’s on my side. I tell her
everything.

“That child and her mother will regret their
actions before I leave here.”

“
I’m really worried about
the key,” I say. “No one can come in here and see the hot tub or
you. What am I going to do?”

Fairy Godmonster glares at the whip lying on
the bed. “Wretched thing.” Her eyes glow purple. “How about a
trap?”

I laugh, even if it hurts my face.

How did I know what horror was to follow?

Chapter 23: Danger! Disaster Ahead

Fairy Godmonster gets a large plastic bowl
from her NTMT chip.

I ask, “What are you going to do?”

“Keep the brat out. Fill this bowl with
water.”

I do as she says and return from the bathroom
to find handcuffs and other creepy devices hooked together and
hanging over the door. She sets the bowl of water into the thing
and hooks a dangling wire from it to the doorknob.

By the time we finish, I can hardly keep my
eyes open. I collapse on the bed and fall asleep instantly.

It’s still dark when a noise wakes me up. I
look at the clock. One.

The door creaks and opens an inch.

My heart leaps to my throat. I can hardly see
with the clouds covering the moon. I put my hand on Fairy
Godmonster’s mouth. She wakes with a start and grabs my neck in a
flash.

“Urrp.”

“Sorry,” she whispers, letting go.

I point frantically to the door. She glides
to her motorcycle and pushes it toward the window.

Creeping out of bed, I whisper in her ear.
“You can’t start the motor.”

“I don’t need the motor. It’s just for show.
If I can get it out the window, I can fly away.”

“What about the hot tub?”

She whispers back. “I doubt it will be
noticed. Keep the lights off.”

Creak. The door opens farther. The bowl
wobbles overhead. WHOOSH! Water splashes all over Daria and
Godzilla.

“EEEKKK!” Daria slips to the floor.

MEOWWRRR!

The cat jumps out of Daria’s arms. The bowl
clatters to the floor.

Fairy Godmonster has half of the Harley out
the window. Her muscles strain to hold it. She hurries to climb
out, fox tail twitching. Godzilla leaps through the air and bites
down on it.

“CRIPES!”

I reach for the cat. Too late. Fairy
Godmonster tumbles out the window taking Godzilla with her.

What happens next is
like a slow motion nightmare. The motorcycle,
Fairy Godmonster and Godzilla crash through the top of the wedding
heart with a sickening crack. Bushes and flowers smash. Godzilla
hangs on until Fairy Godmonster hits the ground then jumps under a
bush.