Oliver #2
“Another passage,” Edgar explains. He whistles to the fairies, who flutter to his side, each taking a corner of the small item.
“Good to see you’re feeling better,” he says to Ember, who flickers in response.
The fairies fly the tiny disk closer to the surface of the book so that we can see it better.
“Is that…a biscuit?” I ask.
“Well. We’re not sure,” Jules admits. “We haven’t done a taste test.”
I read the piped inscription: WISH UPON A STAR. “Have you tried wishing?” I ask.
“Of course,” Edgar says. “It didn’t work. I even said the whole star light, star bright thing.”
“You’re not supposed to wish on the cookie,” Delilah interjects. “You have to eat it.”
“Why on earth would anyone eat a star?” I ask.
“Haven’t you ever read Alice in Wonderland?” she asks, and glances at both Edgar and Jules, who shrug. “Jeez. You two really need to pay more attention in English class. This is just like the treats Alice eats that make her grow and shrink.”
“Treats?” says Humphrey, nudging Edgar’s tunic. “Can I have one?”
“For heaven’s sake, don’t let him eat that biscuit,” I say. “It will start raining tennis balls.”
Orville takes a step forward. “Oliver has a point,” he muses.
“Whoever eats the biscuit should have the purest wish. That’s the only way to be certain that everyone winds up where they need to be.
” He glances between Edgar and Jules. “For example, Edgar, you appear to have a newfound conflict of interest.”
Delilah’s eyes widen. “No way. You two?”
“You of all people should understand that he’s hot!” Jules says.
“What about Chris?” Delilah asks.
“Yeah,” Edgar asks pointedly. “What about Chris?”
“Can we please talk about this later?” I interrupt. “Orville, you were saying?”
“Whoever is chosen to consume that biscuit must be focused on nothing but getting you and Seraphima back home.”
Queen Maureen clears her throat delicately.
“I’ll do it,” she volunteers, breaking through the crowd.
“I miss you terribly, Oliver. There’s nothing I’d like more than to have you here again, as selfish as that may be.
And to be frank, I’ve never understood the whole Zorg plot anyway.
” She glances at Edgar. “No offense, dear.”
“None taken,” he murmurs.
“Shall I do it now?” she asks, reaching for the biscuit.
“No!” I yell, and everyone on the beach freezes. “Erm, I mean, Seraphima isn’t with us. She’s at Delilah’s home. We’ll come back in a few hours and make the switch then.”
Trogg waves to me. “Wait’ll you hear the nocturne I’ve written for the flute, Oliver!”
“You’ll have to see what I’ve done with my cave,” Rapscullio adds. “I’ve completely redecorated.”
“I’ll make your favorite meal,” Queen Maureen promises.
I paste a smile on my face. “I can’t wait,” I tell them, when in reality, I’d rather postpone this forever.
Delilah shuts the book and zips it into her backpack. I hold out my arms, and she settles into them. “We have seven hours,” she says quietly. “I can’t believe we have to spend them in school.”
I look at her. “Who says we have to?”
We can’t go to Delilah’s house, because Seraphima is there, still sobbing. We can’t stay on the grounds of the school, because we will be caught. So instead we get into Delilah’s car and drive until the road ends. She parks in front of a low wall, over which I can just see the ocean.
This time of year, there is no one on the beach. It’s cold, and we only have each other to keep warm. As we sit on the sand, I hold Delilah’s hand, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. “How much trouble will you get into for skipping school?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she says, leaning her head against my shoulder. The wind whips her hair around us.
“Do you remember when I told you that you were the biggest adventure of my life?” I ask.
She nods. “Before you left the book.”
“Until you came along, I didn’t think I had a purpose. Why was I written? Why was my existence even necessary? But when you read me, you made me real. And when you fell for me, you made me understand why I’m here.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s to love you, unconditionally.”
Delilah turns, her eyes damp. “I don’t know who to be, without you.”
“You’ll be who you always were. The girl who brought me to life…and took my breath away.”
“More like the resident pariah,” Delilah replies.
I lift her palm and brush a kiss over it. “I’m rather fond of pariahs,” I say.
When she looks at me, as if even the sweetest compliment has shattered her, I fall to pieces. “I don’t want to go,” I whisper, my voice shaking.
“Oliver—”
“No.” I put a finger against her lips. “Right now, I’m not leaving.
Right now, I’m not gone forever. Right now, it’s just you and me, like it was the first time we met…
when this was all I dreamed of.” I pull Delilah into my arms and kiss her, softly at first, and then more insistently.
We lie back on the cool sand, and her arms close around me, a vise.
I run my hands from her shoulders down her spine, tracing every inch, locking her hips against mine.
I try to press into her skin a memory of what it feels like to be held by me.
How can one feel this much passion, pain, sorrow—emotion—without breaking apart? How do ordinary people fall in love every day?
The rest of my existence will consist of me rescuing a princess I care little about, kissing her, wishing for a life with her. But every time, I will be saving Delilah. I will be kissing Delilah. I will be dreaming of forever with Delilah.
By the time we return to Delilah’s house that afternoon, I can’t let go of her. I hold her free hand while she drives; I slip my arm around her waist as we walk inside and climb the stairs. I feel like a condemned prisoner, marching to his death.
Luckily Delilah’s mother is still at work, so she won’t ask what’s wrong when she sees us, red-eyed and grim. Delilah reaches for the knob of her bedroom door, hesitating. “Are you ready?” she asks.
“I’ll never be ready,” I tell her.
She wraps her arms around me, burying her face against my neck. “I heard it’s going to rain tomorrow,” Delilah whispers.
Puzzled, I draw back. “I beg your pardon?”
“I just want the last words I say to you here to be totally ordinary. Something I might say to you if I were going to see you tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.”
I nod gravely. “Perhaps it will be sunny on Wednesday,” I say, playing along.
She takes a deep breath and opens the door.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed is Seraphima. Her eyes are swollen; she is surrounded by a heap of plastic food wrappers. She takes a tissue from the box and blows her nose, loudly, in its center. “When can I go home?” she asks, sniffling.
I sit down beside her as Delilah takes the fairy tale from her backpack. “Now,” I tell her. “Edgar’s found a way. And you’re not alone.” I look up at Delilah, holding her gaze. “I’m going with you.”
Seraphima throws her arms around my neck, crying again. “I’m so glad,” she sobs. “I was afraid to go back by myself. What if something awful happens?”
Something awful already has, I think.
Delilah sets the book on the bed and threads her fingers through mine. “Here goes,” she says, and she opens to the last page.
Delight immediately breaks over Seraphima’s face as she sees the family she has missed. Edgar and Jules scramble to their feet. “Ready?” he asks.
I nod. “Are you?”
He takes a deep breath, reaching for Jules. “Yes,” he says, and he turns to Queen Maureen, who gives me an encouraging smile.
Edgar reaches into the pocket of his tunic—my tunic—and his face freezes. “Where did it go?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, my heart starting to race. If he can’t find the biscuit, I can’t go back into the book.
“It was right here a minute ago.” He turns to Queen Maureen. “Did you take it?”
“Why would I take it, dear? You were guarding it like it was the crown jewel.”
He begins to turn in a circle, staring at the ground. “Nobody move,” he cautions. “I don’t want to crush it, if it fell….”
Humphrey begins to sniff around, drooling a trail. “I can smell it….I can smell it….I can smell it….No, wait, it’s a horse.”
He smacks into Socks’s considerable bottom.
The pony turns around, half of a star biscuit dangling from his lips.
He looks absolutely chagrined to be caught in the act.
“I couldn’t help it,” he says, his teeth still clenched on the treat.
“It was literally calling my name. So-o-ocks…I’m only a hundred calllllllories… .”
“I can’t believe this!” Edgar shouts. “Don’t take another bite.”
“I swear,” Socks promises. “The diet starts tomorrow.”
Edgar rips the remainder of the biscuit from Socks’s mouth and hands it to Queen Maureen, who wipes the horse slobber on her velvet robes.
“Half a cookie won’t do,” Orville says. “It’s too risky. The magic might be diluted. Socks will have to be the one to wish you back home.”
Socks looks anxious and holds a hoof up to his chest. “Me?” he asks. “I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t prepare for this. I haven’t practiced a speech. And I’m not wearing the right color saddle or anything….”
“Socks,” I say firmly. “You can do this. I believe in you.”
He looks up at me. “Thanks, Ollie. But what if I mess up?”
“You want me to return, don’t you? You want to be able to take a breathless ride through the unicorn meadow with me on your back. And you want Seraphima there too, so that she can braid daisies into your mane just the way you like.”
Socks thinks about this. “I do look good in daisies….”
“You see? It’s simple. All you have to do is eat that biscuit, close your eyes, and imagine your dreams coming true.”
He hesitates. “I was going to wrap up the other half and save it for later….”
“Are you kidding?” Delilah says. “Socks, I was actually going to say something to you. You look way too thin. I can even see your ribs. I’m worried you haven’t been eating enough.”