A Fairy Tale (15 page)

Maeve jumped to her feet. “We should go up to my rooms and catch up,” she said, smiling as though attempting to convey friendliness, even while her tone suggested she was inviting her guest to visit her torture chamber. “It’s hardly fitting for you to mingle with the commoners, Tallulah.”

Tallulah’s smile in response said, “Ha! Knew it!” Emily silently prayed for her to refuse to move, but she rose gratefully to her feet. “I’d be honored.”

Emily groaned as the crowd parted to allow the two fairy women to reach the staircase. She was sure this conversation would reveal something about Maeve’s scheme, especially since Maeve had insisted on moving it to a more private venue. Emily doubted she’d be a welcome guest for this little tête-à-tête.

Once Maeve and Tallulah had passed, the crowd filled in behind them, which impeded Emily’s progress while also making it less obvious that she was following them. People stood along the sides of the great staircase and on the balcony above, so nobody noticed her. She just had to resist the urge to elbow people aside in her impatience. She reached the hallway in time to see the two women go through a doorway. Emily remembered that the balcony behind the apartment spanned multiple rooms, so she took a chance and opened the nearest door.

The room she entered could only be called a boudoir. Calling it a bedroom sold it short. It was a room for lolling in sultry elegance on the satin-draped bed or maybe even for performing a musical number about falling in love while dancing around in cute pajamas. “I was born at the wrong time,” she lamented softly to herself. They didn’t make movie musicals the way they used to. But it looked like someone had tossed the place. The bed was unmade, and she’d have bet that the CSI guys from TV would find interesting stains on the sheets with their special lights. Pieces of clothing were strewn everywhere, which Emily found odd, considering that Maeve’s attire seemed to be mostly glamour. Did she conjure up and scatter lingerie just for atmosphere?

But she wasn’t there to analyze Maeve’s wardrobe or critique her housekeeping. There was a wall of heavy curtains on the other end of the room that she hoped hid balcony doors, and she hurried over there. She was sidetracked along the way by a piece of paper on the nightstand. It had something drawn on it that looked like the maps at the beginnings of fantasy novels. She wouldn’t have thought maps would be very useful in the Realm since the geography was so fluid, but why would Maeve have it if it didn’t mean anything? Maybe it was a map to that missing palace and Eamon could make some sense out of it if he made it back. She didn’t have time to study it, but she got her phone out of her pocket and found that although she didn’t have network access, the camera still worked. She snapped a couple of pictures of the map, then headed for the balcony.

It was the way she remembered it from her earlier escape attempt. The next set of doors along the balcony were open, though blocked by the heavy curtains. She heard voices coming from within and recognized the tone of compliments thinly veiling cattiness as Tallulah remarked on Maeve’s décor. Emily had heard similar conversations conducted in similar tones at many a small-town social. Sophie was a master of the art.

Emily found a slight gap between the curtains where she could glimpse Maeve’s living room without touching the curtains. Tallulah finished her survey of the surroundings and seated herself on Maeve’s sofa, patting the cushion beside her to indicate that Maeve should join her. Emily was surprised when Maeve did so without protest. She reminded Emily of a junior employee who’d been called into the boss’s office but wasn’t sure if she was going to be promoted or fired.

Tallulah kept Maeve sweating while she took a sip of the drink she still held. When it seemed as though Maeve was about to explode, Tallulah finally spoke. “As I said downstairs, I’m impressed that you’re working so hard to move up in the world. Such initiative!” She took another sip, and her lips curled into a smirk behind her glass. “Though it is unlike you to make such a premature announcement. Usually, you have everything in place behind everyone’s backs before you reveal your intentions. I expected to find you already sitting on the throne.”

“All the pieces are in place,” Maeve said stiffly. Emily wished she could see her face, but the tension in her neck and shoulders was obvious.

Tallulah raised an eyebrow. “Are they, now?
Something
must be missing, or you would have acted. I get the impression it involves a mutual friend of ours.”

Mutual friend?
Emily wondered. Did they mean Sophie?

Recovering some of her composure, Maeve gave a tinkling laugh and said, “Whatever gave you that impression?”

“The fact that she’s been in the Realm, asking for me.”
Definitely Sophie,
Emily decided. “You’re making me look bad again. I haven’t forgotten that your actions lost me something very valuable and wasted a great deal of work and potential. I don’t appreciate being blamed for your schemes.”

“You can’t argue that something isn’t needed,” Maeve shot back. “I’m sure you’ve noticed. Time may finally be running out for us.”

“And you think you’re the one to save us?”

Emily pressed closer to make sure she didn’t miss a word. Not that their cryptic conversation told her much. She must have moved too close, though, because Tallulah glanced up and looked directly at her. Emily held her breath and froze, hoping she hadn’t disturbed the curtain.

“Someone has to,” Maeve said. “No one else has come this close.”

Tallulah sighed and shook her head. “Oh, Maeve, not again.” She put her glass down and rose gracefully to her feet. “I’d better go warn my people. Some of them still haven’t recovered from the last time.” Then she smiled. “It’s likely that I’ll find her before you do. Have you planned for that possibility?” Without waiting for Maeve’s response, she turned and strode briskly to the door.

Emily rushed down the terrace for the boudoir door, ran through that room and burst out into the hallway while Tallulah was still making her way down the stairs. “Please, wait!” she called out before Tallulah reached the lobby. “You know Sophie?” she blurted when Tallulah turned to face her.

“I once did.”

“What did you want with my sister?”

“I wanted to make her the greatest dancer who ever lived.”

That wasn’t the answer Emily had expected, and it didn’t explain anything. She tried a different question. “What does Maeve want with her?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll admit, I’m very curious.” She turned to head for the exit, ending the conversation abruptly. Emily tried to follow her but was stopped at the door the same way she’d been when she’d tried to escape with Eamon. She felt like she’d gained some new clues, but she had no idea what to make of them, and now it seemed like there was yet another fairy who wanted Sophie.

The Upper West Side

Thursday, 2:00 p.m.

A To Sophie’s body, it had been nearly her bedtime when Michael left after breakfast, and the day before had been incredibly long and tiring, so when she finally went to bed, she slept far too long for all she needed to do and not nearly long enough to be well-rested. Losing all that time in the Realm had been worse than European jet lag. To force herself to full alertness, she did as many ballet exercises as she could manage in Emily’s tiny apartment, took a long shower, and made a pot of tea. She’d just sat down with her teacup and the newspaper when Beau butted her leg with his head. “Do you need something?” she asked.

He trotted to the door, then looked back at her. “I thought you were supposed to be lazy,” she said, getting to her feet and putting on her shoes. “This must be a real emergency.”

She clipped his leash to his collar, then was barely able to hold him back while she shut and locked the door. At the foot of the front steps, he paused to water a tree, then he took off down the sidewalk at a rapid pace. “Do you have a train to catch?” she asked. He turned the next corner at full speed, and she had to jog a few steps to keep up with him. If the world’s laziest dog, according to Michael Murray, wanted to go somewhere that badly, she felt she owed it to him to let him go, especially after he’d defended her so valiantly.

Beau forged doggedly ahead without stopping to sniff the fire hydrants along the way. They crossed two streets and went down a mostly residential block, then the dog veered to the side and headed down a flight of metal steps leading to a shop on the building’s ground floor. She followed Beau down the stairs and eased the shop’s front door open.

She’d planned to leave Beau outside, but he charged past her into the shop like he owned the place, dragging her behind him. “Beauregard! No! Stay!” she called, then muttered, “Just what I need, a bulldog in a china shop.” In her most commanding voice, she snapped, “I said
stay
.” The dog immediately stopped and sat down. “That’s more like it.”

A tiny woman scurried to the front of the shop, saying, “Beau! I haven’t seen you in ages!” A fat, solid white braid fell over the woman’s shoulder to brush the floor when she bent to scratch Beau behind the ears. Beau’s curled stub of a tail wasn’t much use for wagging, but he wiggled his hind end in pleasure.

The woman straightened and looked up at Sophie. It was difficult to tell how old she was. Her skin had the crepey quality that comes with age, but it was mostly unlined, and her gray eyes were sharp and alert. She wore chunky dangling earrings shaped like apples, a string of beads that matched the earrings, an eyelet-trimmed T-shirt with an apple appliqué on the front, cropped jeans, and red Keds. She looked like a young kindergarten teacher who’d been dramatically aged by the class from hell, Sophie thought. She’d taught a few ballet classes like that.

The woman’s appearance told Sophie where she was. Sophie smiled and said, “You must be Miss Athena Abercrombie. Emily has told me so much about you and your lovely shop.” Emily worked at an antique shop when she was between shows and had made it sound far more elegant than this little den full of old china. Sophie wouldn’t have recognized the place from Emily’s description, but Emily had been dead-on in describing Athena Abercrombie’s unique style. “I’m Sophie, Emily’s sister.”

Athena beamed at her. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Emily. It’s a treat to meet you in person. How is Emily? I know she’s been busy with her big starring role. Amelia and I were talking about getting tickets for later in the week. I suppose you’ve come to town to see her.”

Sophie hated to dampen Athena’s enthusiasm, but there was no easy way to break this news. “I’m afraid Emily’s missing. She didn’t show up for yesterday’s matinee, and no one has been able to reach her since soon after her first performance.”

Athena looked alarmed, but not all that shocked. She went pale and put her hand on the counter to steady herself, but there was no gasp of surprise. It was as though something she’d been dreading had finally come to pass.

Sophie dropped Beau’s leash and took Athena’s arm. “Maybe you’d better sit down,” she said gently.

Athena shook her off. “I’m fine. It was just a bit of a shock.”

Beau wandered behind the counter, and Sophie was about to call him back when she noticed the water dish with his name stenciled on it and the dog bed decorated with a bulldog appliqué, where Beau promptly curled up and began snoring.
No wonder he wanted to come here,
she thought.

The front door chimed, and a tall, glamorous woman entered. Sophie stepped out of the way so Athena could deal with the customer, but Athena rushed toward the woman, crying, “Oh, Amelia! Emily’s missing!” The newcomer was likely Amelia Abernathy, Athena’s younger sister and co-owner of the shop. She had the same ancient agelessness as her sister, with white hair in a French twist and aged but unlined skin, but she was dressed more appropriately to her years in a simple silk blouse and knee-length straight skirt, with silk stockings and sensible pumps. A single strand of pearls circled her long, slender neck. As she watched the two women together, Sophie was gratified to see that she wasn’t the only woman whose “little” sister towered over her.

“Amelia, this is—” Athena began, but Amelia waved her off.

“Yes, I know, it’s Sophie.” She extended a hand for Sophie to shake. “How do you do? I’m Amelia Abernathy. Now, what happened?”

While Sophie told about Emily’s disappearance, she assessed the shop. Most of the inventory consisted of mismatched pieces of fine china. A display case in front of the counter held an array of silverware, and a glass case on the wall behind the counter held antique-looking jewelry. There were also various ceramic decorative items on display.

But what Sophie found truly interesting was the amount of iron in the shop. The burglar bars in the front windows were perfectly understandable in an urban area, but filigreed bits of wrought iron also formed the backdrop for most of the displays. The sisters were keeping something out, and she didn’t think it was burglars.

Therefore, it wasn’t much of a shock when Amelia said, “The fairies must have finally got her.”

Sophie was acutely aware that her response was being judged, so she tried not to react at all. “Yes, I believe a fairy named Tallulah has her. She’s sent her people after Emily before, back in Louisiana, but she seems to have followed Emily here.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘here’ where the fairies are concerned,” Amelia said. “The Realm is only tethered to physical reality in spots. The rest of it exists outside our concept of space and time. No matter where in the world you enter, it is still the same Realm.”

“Which explains how I entered near Tavern on the Green yesterday evening and came out about an hour later this morning in Riverside Park,” Sophie said with a nod. Then she sighed and leaned against the counter. “But it also means I was wrong when I sent Emily here to keep her safe from the local fairies back home.”

“Do you mean you actually went inside, on your own?” Amelia asked, stepping closer to her, her sister right behind her, both of them wide-eyed.

“Well, yes. I used to do it all the time. I know the tricks to finding the gateways, and I have a four-leaf clover, so I can pass through into the Realm.”