1 The Bitches of Everafter (10 page)

17

Bella of the Ball

Snow spun around, the keys jingling in her hand, to find Bella standing in the open doorway arms crossed, one eyebrow strategically arched, tapping her black leather boot on the parquet floor. Snow slid her eyes around the ballroom as if an answer to Bella’s question would appear out of thin air.

Bella walked toward Snow, her heels thumping on the floor. She picked up the broom and held it out to Snow. “I thought we had an agreement. Remember?” She pointed at Snow and in a thick, stilted voice said, “You no cleany. Cleany bad. Make work for all.”

Snow just blinked at her, stone still.

Bella sighed and dropped the broom. It landed with a smacking sound. “That was my impersonation of a giant. Most people laugh.”

Of course it was. Why was she so on edge around these women? Snow tossed her head back and cackled. “I’m sorry, I thought maybe you were having a stroke.” She slapped her knee. “That was a good one, Bella. Very amusing.”

The brunette wrinkled her nose at Snow and brushed past her. She circled the room, sniffing the air. “Did you light a fire? It smells of burning embers in here.”

She approached the fireplace and crouched down to take a better look. Steadying herself, she placed a hand on one knee for balance, grabbed a poker and prodded the bricks.

There was no trace of ash from the phantom fire, and Snow was grateful. She had enough to worry about with Aura, this mysterious house, and whatever might be in that locked room without humiliating herself in front of the only woman she respected here.

Bella had good sense. She radiated awareness, intelligence, and a longing to
know things
, which probably made the no-books rule all that much more frustrating. On a few occasions Snow had spotted Bella flipping through discarded newspapers, reading instruction manuals, even skimming the backs of cereal boxes, shampoo bottles, and warning labels. Snow wondered why that rule had been implemented at all. What had Bella done to deserve such a harsh punishment?

The silence had spread throughout the room and Snow thought she should fill it with an explanation. “I’m sorry Bella, but with Granny’s bad leg, I didn’t see the harm in tidying up here on the second floor.”

Bella aimed her gaze at Snow. “Really? So who cleaned up the rest of the place then? Forest creatures?”

Bella was still exploring the ballroom. She reached over and touched a curtain, staring out the window for the longest time. She seemed mesmerized by something—or someone—outside. Frozen in place.

Snow crept forward, her keys clinking. “Bella, are you all right?”

She didn’t answer.

The window was steps away, so Snow took a look for herself. All she saw was Beast lying in the grass, soaking up the sun, and Hansel, mowing the lawn, shirtless.

Bella shook her head. “Yes, I’m fine.” She seemed to break away from the temporary trance. She turned to gape at the room once more. “I’ve never been up here. I thought I heard a noise, so I followed it. I never even knew those back stairs existed.” Her face screwed into a mask of wonder and her head tilted as though she were listening to a song that stopped playing long ago.  “It’s strange…it...feels familiar to me.” Her voice was soft, a whisper almost.

Snow widened her eyes. Did Bella feel it too? Was something happening to her as well? “It does? How so?”

“I don’t know. It’s the curtains.” She waved her hand toward them. “Or maybe the fireplace, or—” She stopped short, as if she were about to reveal something she wanted no one to ever know. Something that would cause her a great deal of pain.

Her tone brightened as she sprung over to the fireplace. “Or maybe there’s a magical linen closet hidden behind that wall.” She looked at Snow and added, “Muahhhahahahhah.” Her eyes bulged as she mimicked Frankenstein.

Snow crossed her arms. “Very funny.” She knew these women were feeling the same things she was even if they didn’t
see
the same things. Although she was certain both Aura in the closet and now Bella at the window had seen or felt something. So why wouldn’t they admit to it?

Bella said, “I couldn’t resist. I ran into Aura on her way out. She told me about your little “episode.” She drew air quotes.

Snow cast a hard look, whirled around, picked up the broom, and walked away from Bella.

Bella followed Snow down the stairs. “Hey don’t run away pissed off.”

Snow smirked. “Just run away, right? Another zinger, Bella.”

“Hold on, I wasn’t going to say that. My jokes are much more advanced.”

Snow hurried down the stairs. What was the point anyway? She knew these people didn’t like her, and she didn’t really care all that much for them. It was just that they shared this one horrible experience in common and weren’t people supposed to bond over things like that?

“Can you slow down, please?”

“Forget it, Bella.”

They reached the end of the stairwell. Bella grabbed the neck of Snow White’s shirt and yanked her backward. She spun her around, shoved her down onto the last step and said, “You need to calm down.”

“I’m perfectly calm.”

Bella said, “You’re not going to last if you don’t learn to take a joke once in a while. Or a punch.”

Snow frowned, touching her cheek. She hadn’t ever been struck before and she wasn’t convinced she could take a blow.

Bella tapped Snow’s knee with her foot. “I was kidding about the punch. But just in case, stay away from Cindy when she’s hammered.” Bella thought for a moment, tapping her chin. “And Punzie, just in general.”

Bella cracked a smile and Snow couldn’t help but match it. She stood and pulled out the key ring Aura had given her. She motioned over to the door she wasn’t able to unlock earlier. “None of the keys fit this one.”

A slow smile spread across Bella’s face. “Well, I’ll be damned, Princess. You’ve got a bit of dark blood in you after all.” She parked her hands on her hips. “How in the hell did you pry those from that greedy bitch’s hands?”

Snow twirled the key ring feeling a bit brazen. “I helped her with an infestation problem.”

Bella clapped her hands. “Ha! You bribed her? I love it.” Her face got serious. “Bugs?”

“Frog. Singular.”

Bella shook her head. “Is that the one that’s been stalking Punzie around the house? She told me she was going to catch it and put it in Aura’s room. I just didn’t think she had the gonads to do it.”

Snow shrugged. “I guess so.” She twirled the keys in her hand. “None of these unlock that door. Do you know what’s in there?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. It’s always been locked. Some of them, like that closet we snuck into yesterday, are never locked. There’s no rhyme or reason around here.”

Snow wondered if Aura really could break into anything. Maybe if she had the right motivation.

Bella said, “You know it’s just junk in these rooms. Granny’s a flea market, garage sale, swap meet, auction house addict. To her it’s a safer form of gambling. She buys all this junk, tosses it into these dusty old rooms and forgets about it. You really are wasting your time. There’s no holy grail in this house.”

But what about the clocks? Surely that collection, tucked away as it was, had to signify something. Didn’t it? Snow decided not to mention it to Bella. At least not until she had more time to figure this place out.

Bella said, “Look it’s getting late and Granny will be coming home soon. Don’t let her catch you with those keys and especially not the cleaning supplies. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Bella nodded and started away.

After a moment, Snow said, “Bella?”

She turned. “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being my friend.”

Bella stared at Snow a few beats, a gloomy expression clouding her face. “We’re not friends, Princess. This isn’t a fairy tale.”

Snow stiffened. Every time she thought she was making strides to fit in, she got sucker-punched. “What are we then?” she asked in a tight-lipped voice. She hoped she sounded mean. She wanted to be mean back, just once.

Bella spread her arms wide and smiled. “Partners in crime, of course.”

Snow flipped the keys in her hand, watching Bella saunter down the hall and wondered.

Would she be able to commit another crime? If it meant finding out the truth?

18

Don't Piss Off the Pixie

The only free time Tink had was a few hours on Saturday nights, and she used every bit of it to get closer to Doctor Jack Bean. Except this night. That kook, Aura, had ruined her plans by causing a scene and spoiling the good doctor’s meal. He went home early, a grim look on his face, before Tink could even say a proper hello.

Stupid Aura with her stupid temper and her stupid anger management sessions where she gets to see the doctor three days a week
, Tink thought as she drove back to the judge’s house. And for what? Because she broke the law, she got to spend time in the presence of that great man.

Well Tink thought that was absurd. She had a good mind to break the law herself if she thought it wouldn’t get her fired. Then she could see more of the doctor too.

Tink realized she’d been lost in her anger when she saw Aura’s strawberry blonde hair flapping out of the car window in front of her.

She thought back to the meeting she had overheard between Robin Hood and the judge and an idea formed in her mind—an idea that ordinarily would never occur to a soul as sweet as Tink’s, but love and rage had blinded her.

She pressed her foot more firmly on the gas pedal, barely making the green arrow for her left turn. There was Aura still ahead of her. Tink was close enough to follow, yet far enough away not to be spotted. She was pretty sure that’s how they did it in spy novels. Tink was a huge fan of John Rain books.

What was it the judge had said to Robin? Something about keeping closer tabs on the girls at Granny’s? Upping the surveillance. He hadn’t seemed too pleased about that suggestion as she recalled. In fact, he seemed downright put out. But when one of these wretched women hurts a man as gallant as Jack Bean, well then she should be watched with a closer eye. Luckily, Tink’s eyes were as sharp as her ears.

The car Aura was driving made another left and pulled into a quiet driveway on a dark street in front of a brick ranch home. Tink watched as Aura got out of the car and retrieved something from the back seat. It was a bag of food from Gretel’s. Part of Aura’s punishment was to volunteer for meals on wheels, so perhaps that was what she was doing now.

Aura rang the bell and a gray haired woman answered. They spoke to each other briefly, the woman sticking her hand out of the door to motion for Aura to enter. Aura stepped inside and the door closed behind her.

“I’ve got my eye on you, Aura Rose,” Tink said.

Perhaps, if all went well and she was able to find that Aura had broken the law or violated probation, the judge might give Tink a raise.

If that didn’t work, there was always plan B.

Robin Hood rarely got angry, but when he did he drank milk straight from the bottle and ate a double cheeseburger with everything on it. He was a wild man tonight.

He was already wolfing down his second double cheeseburger and had nearly finished the entire quart of milk, and it wasn’t even eight o’clock. Robin had earmarked both of these items to bring home to his bride. And he would have except that insufferable judge had sent her assistant, Tink, to do Robin’s job.

This should have been an easy run. Make sure Aura was where she was supposed to be. She is. The end.

But here he had a civilian running her own stakeout. Aura was taking longer than she should on her delivery, and there was no bathroom in sight. Any minute now, Robin would be forced to finish the milk and deposit it right back into the bottle.

So much for date night with the wife. The greasy burger would have been a bad enough substitute for a romantic dinner, but at least it would have told Marion he had been thinking about her. Now what was he supposed to bring her? Certainly not the milk jug.

Robin was contemplating what stores were open on his route home when a bright flash of light exploded from the house followed by a booming noise. Everything on the block fell into darkness. There wasn’t a street lamp, porch light, or night light lit on the entire street.

“What the heck?”

Robin tried to start his own car, to no avail. “Aw, damn, not again!” He slammed his fist on the steering wheel.

There was a wave of movement to his right. He looked over and saw that Aura’s car was gone.

Except it hadn’t made a sound. It had simply vanished.

Tink’s car was parked in the same spot as when Robin had pulled up. She got out, checked under the hood, then threw her hands in the air in frustration.

Robin was debating his next move when the streetlights flickered and Tink stood there staring at Robin like a deer caught in headlights.