Fairysitters
Part 5
Target
entered his weapon room and found no one there. Being able to notice even the
littlest things out of place, he immediately saw Marcus' crossbow missing. He
knelt down to the floor and found exactly what he was looking for. The
strange-shaped bits of dirt on the floor could only have come from Christine's
"sneakers". He noticed another set of prints, a bit smaller and
rightly judged them to be Katy's. The other prints he knew to be Marcus' boots,
so he picked up a bit of the dirt on the floor and sniffed it. It was darker
than the usual dust about the castle and had bit of green it it, which he could
tell was moss, but not the moss of the forests near the castle.
"Woods,"
he said to himself. "They're in a forest. Somewhere."
"You
hear something?" whispered Marcus.
"No,"
frowned Chris, straining to hear.
"I
think it's the leaves," said Katy.
"Marcus..."
"Shh!"
He sat listening intently again, then shook his head. "What?"
"We
can't hide in the trees for-ever," said Chris.
"We
gotta tell somebody, or we might get into real trouble." said Katy.
"We
are in real trouble," returned Chris.
Marcus
looked down from where he sat in the huge maple tree next to the path, then up
at the girls on the above branch. "I know," he sighed, at last.
"So who'll we get help from? Lady Robin, Target or Lady Daina?"
"Daina's
sick," said Chris.
"Lady
Robin's probably too busy," added Marcus.
"We
were gonna tell Target before," shrugged Katy.
"We
could always try again," said Chris. Marcus nodded and swung down to the
next branch, then reached up to help Katy and Chris down.
"Alright,
now what the heck's going on?!" I demanded. Target grinned amiably at my
worry and shook his head.
"Now
who's the big worrier?" he replied. "I'm just bringing the runt back
for dinner, is all. Now, d'ye mind if I go look for 'er in 'ere?"
"Nice
try, but, but you don't look for her unless I go, too," I said, struggling
to get out of bed. Target was on me immediately and physically, as he leapt
from his standing position to one that ended up pinning me to the bed. In less
time than it took me to breathe in, he had tied me to the bed and in less time
than it took me to think "If I don't concentrate on the door, it won't be
there", he was through it and gone, pausing long enough to flash that
maddeningly cocky grin back at me.
There
was the initial futile struggle to free myself, of course, but I've been jumped
enough times in my mind to know that I'm no escape artist. Simply waking up was
also out of the question, so my struggle ended in a small temper tantrum, and a
deep set desire to somehow render the Nightshade twins fatherless.
"What
was that?" said Marcus, freezing in place.
"Will
you cut that out?" whispered Chris exasperatedly. "Let's just get out
of here!" She concentrated on the door, then shoved Marcus toward it. He
didn't budge. In fact, he didn't even blink. "Marcus?"
"Marcus?"
repeated Katy, standing on tiptoe and waving a hand in his face. Her hand
brushed against it and she drew it back in alarm.
"He's frozen!" breathed Chris,
saying what Katy had just realized.
"Um,
I don't think this is a good sign, Chris," said Katy, nervously.
"Yeah,
but what.."
"Do
it now!" came a voice from behind them. Startled, both girls turned and
saw the bushes behind them part. Before Christine had even gotten a clear look
at the owner of the voice, she moved the door from behind them to underneath
them. Instead of dropping down with Marcus and Katy, however, she suddenly
found herself standing in front of the two imposters. "It's about time you
did something right," said Naomi to her companion, taking an energy gun
from its holster and aiming it at Chris.
Target
saw the energy glow out of the corner of his eye, heard the little shriek and
crashed though the woods, completely ditching the idea of stealth. As he broke
into the little clearing, he saw Naomi and aimed at her. She smiled and waited
and he frowned in confusion. That is, until he saw her source of confidence.
Even
the best shot in the world couldn't have hit Naomi without endangering the
unconscious body of the very little girl he was trying to rescue. He was
completely helpless and they both knew it.
Slowly,
he lowered his weapon, gazed momentarily at the ground, then back at Naomi. She
turned to her companion, then disappeared. Immediately, he trained his gun on
the other fairy, a wild stare in his eyes. It was the unnerving gaze of a
vengeful man.
Which
is probably why she fainted before he could fire...
"I've
locked the brat up," said Naomi, thumbing over her shoulder.
"Good,"
said Corwin, staring at his fingertips as he tapped them lightly together.
"Bringing the Lady Daina here will be quite simple with her little sister
in check. In fact, the whole operation will be greatly facilitated by her
presence. You have both done well." He looked up from his fingers and
asked, "Where is...?"
"Left
her back in the forest with your son."
"She
has betrayed us?" he frowned.
"I
dunno. The kid knew about us seeing you. She might've tipped her off."
"Does
Lady Daina know?"
"I
don't think so. She'd have definitely said something or gotten rid of us.
Anyway, with her and Target on the job, all of the loose ends'll be gotten rid
of."
Corwin
nodded slowly, then said, "Lure Target back to the forest and leave him,
then bring the Lady Daina to me."
"How'm
I supposed to do that?"
Corwin
stood up from his table and chair. "I am sure, my dear bounty hunter, that
you'll come up with something." As he spoke, he put a finger under the
shackled little dreamweaver's chin, just as she began to come around. He turned
back to Naomi and smiled.
"Please,
I swear to you I can explain everything!" begged K'rin from the jar I'd
placed her in. The large black widow spider I'd thrown in was making her rather
nervous, to say the least. Target sat in the corner by my nightstand trying to
control the vengeance he was sure to let become dangerously explosive. As a
precationary measure, I had put his energy gun on my nightstand.
"Is
that lil' ol'spider scaring you?" I asked sweetly. "Maybe just one
more..."
"No,
please!" she sobbed. "Let me explain...!"
"Explain?!"
I exploded. "Explain to me how you could betray the trust of any child,
let alone your employer! Explain to me how you could watch Naomi shoot a poor
innocent little girl in cold blood without so much as a peep! And when you're
done, I'll explain to you the effects of spider poison on the average 3 inch
tall traitor!" I turned to grab the energy gun and Target jumped up to
grab me. Just as I was rolling back over to shoot, he dove across the bed and
yanked the gun from my hands. A good move, considering that as angry as I was
and as great as I had been feeling, I could've destroyed my entire conscious
and subconscious mind. Luckily, as my anger grew, Target grew calmer and more
composed.
"`Ere,
now, killin' this wench ain't gonna do any of us much good. She might know where
Naomi's got to." he said, holding me down with one hand. "Maybe even
`ow she got there from them woods," he added.
"Listen
to the man," came an annoying drawl from the door. "After all, he is
the bounty hunter." All three of us turned to find Naomi vanishing
tauntingly through the door. Target checked his weapon, sprang from the bed and
follwed her back to the forest in one swift, all-encompassing movement. I moved
to follow him, but was yanked back by my hair. At first, I thought Target had
learned a little magic of his own, but when I found myself staring at
Naomi...well, then I really got confused.
"Get
rid of that door," she said, putting a knife under my chin. I gave her a
look which she rightly interpreted as something other than compliance. She
sighed, then said, "Christine made that hologram of me just for you, you
know. It would be best if both of you stayed alive for a while long..."
"Al-right!"
I interrupted. The door faded, leaving Target trapped in the forest. A feeling
of dread flashed through my mind as I wondered what happened to the worlds I
made when I wasn't in them, but the pressure of cold platinum under my chin was
an unwelcome reminder of my own problems. I glared without speaking up at
Naomi. There was no point in giving her an ultimatum, so I decided to wait and
see what her plans were.
"Much
better," she smiled, sliding the knife out from under my chin and leaving
a thin and bloody gash in its place. I gasped in pain, then felt myself
drifting into unconsciousness almost immediately.
"You
little...!" I said, not even bothering to mention the obviously tainted
knife.
"Count
on it," she smirked. I fought to stay awake, but to no avail."So,
whadaya say we go visit yer ol' buddy Corwin, hmm?" Strangely enough, as I
went under, all I could think of was the blood all over the sheets...