Chapter 19
"Who
is responsible for this heinous act?" demanded Ian, glaring about him.
"Uh-oh,"
said Lokey and Magbert, backing up.
"This
is the ogre?" Dab whispered to her in shock.
"Uh-huh,"
replied Crystal weakly.
"We're
in trouble," squeaked Dabble.
Force
of habit caused Crystal to whir into flight as she explained. "Ian,
waitaminute, you don't understand what happened!"
"I
don't need to," he said, trying to grab her as she dodged in a panic.
"I have you and you've either got an explanation or you die."
"It
was the brownie that did it, I swear!" she shrieked.
Dab
was already halfway into the underbrush when Ian bore down upon him, grabbed
him up in one brownie crushing grip. "You are responsible?"
Ian asked politely, squeezing Dab until his face turned red.
Dabble
was too afraid to do anything but nod and gasp for air.
"Good,"
said Ian, his scapegoat found. "Then you die."
Dabble's
face fell the several feet down to where Crystal, now standing on the stump,
looked up at him. A crushing wave of responsibility was overriding her natural
fear of Ian's retribution. Perhaps that was what caused her to fly up into his
face and yell,
"WAIT!!!"
Ian
frowned. This waiting was not the customary procedure when it came to his
victims. No one had ever asked him to...wait? His grip on the brownie loosened
for a moment. "What?" he asked, echoed by Magbert and Lokey.
"I
said...wait a minute," Crystal replied nervously. "He's still fixing
her."
"Fixing
who?" asked Ian.
"Fixing
Pandora," she answered.
"Fixing
her?"
"Fixing
her."
"I'm
wha..." began Dabble, but he was stopped by a warning look from Crystal.
"Fixing...oh...oh, yeah, fixing her, fixing her!" he nodded in
sudden agreement.
"Are
you...done fixing her yet?" Ian asked.
Dab
looked at Crystal, who was vehemently shaking her head. "Uh...no?"
"Then
finish up so I can kill you," said Ian, setting him down.
"'Finish
up so I can kill you?!?" gasped Dab, throwing his hands up in
protest. "What kinda motivational statement is that? Doesn't this sound
stupid to anyone else?"
"Knocking
out an ogre's girlfriend smacks of stupidity, too, y'know," said Magbert,
who had gone to kneel by Pandora.
"Yeah,
well, how was I s'posed to know who she was? She just came through here and
it's my..." began Dab.
"I
never said she was my girlfriend," said Ian.
Lokey
and Magbert looked at each other, then smiled with a condescending nod at Ian.
"We know," they said.
"You're
stalling for time, kid," said Lokey, looking at Dabble. "And why
she's helping you, I don't know," he added, looking at Crystal.
"She's
not helping me," said Dabble. "I have to have, uh...fairy dust to
make the antidote work."
"Fairy
dust?" echoed Lokey.
"You
got it now?" asked Ian.
Dab
pretended to to look around for it. "Darn it, I sure don't. Guess I better
go look for some." He started to walk away, but Lokey and Ian placed a
foot in front and behind him, barring escape and retreat.
"Fairy
dust?" Lokey repeated.
"Hey,
I've gotta have it to make her wake up, but if you wanna let her lay there
forever out cold, then..." As he spoke, Pandora moaned softly and opened
her eyes a little.
"Ian?"
she said.
"Why
me?" whimpered Dabble.
"When
did you get here?" Pandora asked Ian. He smiled at her, then turned back
to Dabble.
"I
think I'll take it for granted that you're finished," Ian said, grinning
down at him wickedly.
"No,
wait!" yelled Dab, but he was scooped up again in Ian's hand.
"Ian,
what are you doing?" asked Pandora, trying to focus on him.
"I'm
killin' the brownie," he replied briefly, proceeding to squeeze the life
out of Dab.
"No!"
Crystal said, not really meaning to.
"Why
are you helping him?" asked Magbert curiously. Crystal was at a
loss for an answer, but was saved from trying by Pandora.
"Ian,
don't kill him; he's just a baby," said Pandora, attempting to sit up
unsteadily.
"I
am...not...a...baby!" said Dab, his voice strained as he gasped for
air. "Help!"
"Ian,
really, don't kill him," said Crystal, landing on his forearm and running
up its length to Ian's fist. "He was just defending himself."
Again,
Ian was confused. No one, except the one dying, ever asked him to stop killing
them. And even that wouldn't have mattered if it had just been Crystal. Pandora
had asked, too, and, worse yet, she had asked nicely.
Ian
let Dabble drop from his hand with a shrug. He was flexible.
Dab
fell with a shriek of pre-impact agony, which stopped a few seconds after
Crystal flew under and caught him.
"Are
you crazy?" Dabble yelled, barely before he had gotten his breath
back. "You coulda killed me!!!"
"But
I didn't," said Ian.
"But
you coulda!" Dab retorted.
"But
I didn't."
"But
you..."
"Rule
number one," said Crystal, covering Dab's mouth. "Never argue with
Ian." He still looked ready to protest and she added, "I know, I
haven't learned to accept it, either," Crystal nodded understandingly.
"Somehow, they just understand it as fact."
"I
don't believe this bunch," sighed Dab, rolling his eyes.
"Well,
you're still alive, so go on before he changes his mind," said Lokey, as
Crystal set the brownie on the ground.
Dab
blinked at Crystal in confusion. "Well, I was sorta hoping...I mean, I thought..."
"You
thought wrong, so go on," Lokey urged.
"Well,
I can't stay here now; I'll be bored," Dab shrugged.
"Well,
you can't come with us," came Lokey's reply. "It's too
dangerous."
"That's
never stopped any brownie before," said Dabble, holding himself up
proudly. Pandora and Ian laughed in spite of themselves.
"Let
him come," said Pandora. "He can take care of himself."
"And
if he can't, he doesn't need to be with us, anyway, right?" said Crystal.
She looked at Ian, who shrugged noncommitantly, then she looked directly at the
person who'd have the most negative say in the matter; Lokey.
"You've
gotta be kidding," he muttered, looking away.
"I
agree with Lokey," said Magbert. Everyone looked at him in surprise. Hot
only was he the most accomodating of the three males in the group, he usually
agreed with Crystal in some way. "That kid can't come with us; he'll get
hurt."
"He'll
be into everything," added Lokey.
"He'll
drive me crazy!" said Lokey and Magbert almost simultaneously.
"I'll
be good, I swear!" Dab pleaded.
"No!"
said Lokey.
"Well,
that's final, kiddo," said Crystal. "Even following us from a
distance is a bad idea."
"Who
said anything about him fol...?" began Magbert.
"Nobody,
but now that you've brought it up, honey, that is a possibility,"
said Crystal brightly. "And we certainly don't want that."
"Oh,
certainly not," agreed Pandora, adopting Crystal's tone.
"Having a brownie tagalong is completely undesirable."
"Completely,"
nodded Crystal earnestly.
"I
mean, how would we know what he was up to from a distance?" asked Pandora.
"Well,
unless he followed within eye and earshot."
"Ridiculous.
We'd be looking over our shoulders all day long," said Pandora.
"Oh,
no, we couldn't have that."
"Yes,
that would be terrible."
"Well,
I suppose we'll just have to take him with us."
"Yes,
I suppose we are resigned to it," sighed Pandora. "Come along, you
dreadful burden you," she added, picking him up and setting him on her
shoulder as she walked off. Crystal settled on her other shoulder, while Dab
looked smugly back at the other three with a wave.
Ian,
Lokey and Magbert looked after Pandora and her "burden", then at each
other.
"I
think we've been had," sighed Magbert.
"Didja
see that?" demanded Lokey. "Huh?"
"Artful,"
said Ian, with a smile. "Extremely artful."
"Artful
nothing!" snapped Lokey. "She's got you as a pinky ring (here he
pointed from Crystal to Magbert) and she's got you as a charm bracelet (he
pointed from Pandora to Ian). Anyone whose heart wasn't in some woman's pocket
coulda seen right through that!"
"Then
what was your excuse?" asked Magbert. He and Ian looked at Lokey
expectantly.
He
opened his mouth to speak, then stopped, fuming. "This is why we
weren't dealing with women in the first place," he growled, storming off
after Pandora, Crystal and Dabble.
Magbert
followed him with a knowing grin. "He likes them both," he said.
"He's trying not to, but he does."
Ian
followed, too, with another shrug. He was still flexible.