Fairy Magic: The Forest Wars of the Fairy Princess and the Goblin Witch

Chapter 4

Slimy liquid slid down Ali's cheek. She rolled over and wiped her face. Ugh. Dog slobber.

"Theo, get off my bed."

She squinted against the morning sunlight.

Her puppy wagged his tail as it panted directly into her face. Yuck. Dog breath. Disgusting. She pushed Theo out of the bed, then sat up.

"Girls, time for breakfast," Dad said.

Ali stretched and shuffled out of bed. Then she trudged down the stairs. The smell of bacon and eggs filled the kitchen.

Burnt bacon and eggs, anyway.

Dad's music blared in the background as he danced--no, attempted to dance--around the kitchen in his flannel robe. He looked like a lumberjack minus a beard.

Ali grabbed a plate. "Morning, Dad."

Her father waved the spatula in his hand, then paused.

"Feeling better this morning."

Ali rolled her eyes.

Is he really going to bring that up again? Ugh. Better change the subject fast.

She shrugged. "Hey, I ran into Mr. Wilkins on the way home yesterday."

Dad passed her a plate of bacon and eggs.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Ali grabbed a slice of bacon and bit into it. She crunched with each bite. "Why do all of the grown-ups in town call him Crazy Jay?"

Dad frowned. "Ali, that's not really something a kid needs to know about."

"He's not a creeper or anything is he?"

Dad shook his head. "No. No. Nothing like that."

"Then what?"

Dad furrowed his eyebrows. "Where's Gabrielle?"

Ali shrugged.

"Gabrielle, your breakfast is getting cold," Dad shouted upstairs.

"Dad, for real."

"Look, we're new here. For all I know, it could just be small-town gossip."

Ali folded her arms.

Really?

Dad raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Okay, okay. According to the locals, he had some traumatic experience when he was little. Had to go to a psychiatric ward for a couple years."

Woah. A psycho ward. That was pretty juicy. No wonder Dad didn't want to say anything.

"And you think he's safe to be around?"

"Look, I know he's a little," Dad paused apparently looking for the right term, "misunderstood. But he's completely harmless."

Ali cocked an eyebrow. She wasn't completely convinced. But, Dad was a pretty good judge of character. And while Mr. Wilkins did come off as strange, she never thought he was creepy. Still, what the heck did he mean about magic?

"Gabrielle Bailey, come downstairs right this minute," Dad said, in his grumpy voice.

Good. Finally, the turd's gonna get it.

He looked to Ali. "Where's Gabby?"

Ali took a bite out of her bacon, then shrugged. "Don't know."

"She hasn't come down yet. Could you go check on her?"

Ali eye-rolled.

Typical.

"Sure."

Her Dad smiled. "Thanks, hon."

Ali trekked back up the stairs. "Gabby, wake up. Time for breakfast." Her sister didn't respond. What a lazy turd. She's probably still snoring in bed. Ali navigated past the stuffed animals and piles of dirty clothes on the floor. She evaded blocks and dolls and colored papers scattered about. When she finally reached Gabby's bed, she pounced onto the mattress.

"Wake up!"

Gabby didn't answer.

Strange.

Ali pulled the sheets up.

The turd wasn't there.

Where the heck was Gabby?