17. Phil
Phil
“W hat’s wrong, Phil?” Dillon wiggled his way over to my side. The crown of his head was momentarily covered in pink pixie dust, but it quickly disappeared.
“Nothing’s wrong. Why?”
Dillon crossed his arms and gave me an incredulous look. His seriousness appeared ridiculous on his seven-year-old body. Wisely, I stifled a chuckle. “Your wings are twittering like mad, and the whole place is a cloud of dust. You’re nervous about something. Ruthie and I can tell.”
“Oh.” I forced my wings to still. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.” I looked around the room and saw that Dillon was right. There was a smokey haze that lit in the sunbeams. Now that I’d stopped my wings, it would be gone soon enough.
“We don’t care about the dust.”
I wondered how Dillon could be so certain of Ruthie’s thoughts but didn’t question him.
“But why are you upset?”
I crouched to Dillon and Ruthie’s level. “I’m not upset, not really. Maybe more worried. My friend, Peaches, is on his way. You’ve heard me talk about him before.”
Dillon and Ruthie both nodded. “Uncle Sed growls when you say his name. Does he know Peaches is coming?” Dillon gave me a conspiratorial grin like I was up to something nefarious and he was more than happy to join in.
“He knows.” I released the chuckle I’d swallowed earlier. “Peaches is a garden pixie, and he’s going to see if he can form a barrier around the garden to contain the gnomes.”
Dillon perked up at that and asked, “Can we watch?”
My wings fluttered again. I hadn’t talked to Sedrick about that, and he was already at work. I could call but didn’t think I needed to. “Maybe from inside the house.”
Dillon pouted. “Just because I’m a kid doesn’t mean I’m useless. I can help.”
“You are the farthest thing from useless, Dillon. You and Ruthie both. But honestly, there’s not much I can do to help either. I’ll be outside with Peaches just in case he gets into trouble, but that’s all. This is something only he can manage.”
Dillon didn’t look convinced. His arms were still crossed over his chest, and he wouldn’t look at me with his eyes downcast. Ruthie clung to a stuffed bunny that had seen far better days.
I crouched again. “Listen, Dillon. We’re all different and have things we are good at and things that others are better at than us.
No one can manage everything. That’s why there are so many species, businesses, and specialists.
And that’s a good thing. I’m really glad Peaches is a garden pixie, and I’m even happier that I’m a home-and-hearth pixie.
Remember how you don’t like cleaning, but I do? ”
Dillon gave a reluctant nod. “I think you’ve got a screw loose.” Dillon uncrossed his arms and tapped his temple for emphasis.
“Maybe,” I agreed with a laugh.
Dillon’s and Ruthie’s heads turned toward the door, and Dillon said, “I think he’s almost here. I can hear a car coming.”
I ran over to the window and peeked out.
There was a car coming down the drive. They pulled up in front of the house, and Peaches stepped out.
His feet had barely hit the gravel when his wings flicked and he rose into the air, hovering just above the ground.
I threw the door open and went out to greet my friend as his rideshare drove back down the driveway.
“Peaches,” I screamed like I hadn’t seen him in ages when we’d sat on his bed talking the night before.
“Hey, Phil.” Peaches flew to me, and we hugged. It was our automatic greeting. “The place looks beautiful,” Peaches praised Sedrick’s home and my work. “It’s just like you said, only better.” Peaches’s eyes roamed, their golden color catching in the sunlight.
My friend appeared properly awed, and I flushed with pride. I’d been out to Peaches’s orchard and was impressed by the health and productivity of the trees. Peaches had been just as proud of his orchard as I was of the home I’d made for Sedrick and the kids.
“Thank you, Peaches. There are still some areas that could use some TLC.” That was true, but the windows were no longer dust-covered, the shutters were pristine and painted moss green, the roof was tended and repaired, and the front flower gardens were weeded and set to rights. The inside was even better.
Peaches released me from our embrace, and a gentle smile curved his lips. “Hello. Are you Dillon and Ruthie?” Peaches flew around me but waited for me to move with him toward the children.
Dillon’s shoulders straightened, and he thrust his chest out. Standing just a little in front of Ruthie, he shot out a hand and said, “Yes. You’re Peaches, Phil’s friend, right?”
“I am.” Peaches’s grin widened until his eyes fairly crinkled.
Feet back on the ground, Peaches’s wings calmed to little more than an occasional flutter.
Grasping Dillon’s hand, Peaches said, “It’s very nice to meet you both.
I’ve heard more about you two than the house. Phil’s very happy to be here with you.”
Dillon’s chest puffed up, and his gaze flashed toward me before he answered, “Phil’s weird and likes to clean and do the dishes. We like having him here too.”
Peaches laughed, soft and musical. Dillon’s face flushed, and Ruthie’s lower lip dropped open as she goggled at my friend.
Jealousy, sharp and vicious, stabbed through my chest. I’d had a niggling fear that meeting Peaches, seeing what a typical pixie was supposed to look like, would make Dillon and Ruthie wish they had a more conventional pixie too.
It was a horrible feeling to be jealous of my best friend.
I’d never felt that way about Peaches before.
I’d been eager for him to meet the kids and Sedrick.
But now I wondered if I’d been horribly na?ve.
Peaches’s gossamer and creamy silks flowed around his body, loosely catching on the breeze.
His long, golden hair was completely down, free, and hung past his waist. Peaches had purchased the more expensive hair glitter and tried it out last night.
He evidently got what he paid for where hair glitter was concerned.
Peaches’s hair caught the sun’s rays and shimmered almost as much as his wings and pixie dust. He was a sunflower come to life.
He was beautiful. By pixie standards, Peaches was perfect.
I’d never felt so drab in my life. Standing there in my dark gray t-shirt and near black jeans with equally dark, heavy boots covering my feet.
Peaches’s toes were free, and his nails shimmered gold, just like his wings.
Most pixie nails matched the color of their hair and wings.
My fingernails were light pink, but my toenails were dark magenta like the tips of my hair.
Dillon and Ruthie had never seen my toenails.
“Are you coming, Phil?” Peaches interrupted my brooding thoughts. He was almost through the door. I could hear Dillon going on about things inside the house, trying to tell Peaches about this and that. Peaches gave me a hesitant, concerned look.
“Right behind you.” I put as much casual joy as possible into those three words and tried my best not to feel second place. But Peaches was a difficult act to follow.
Ruthie sneezed as I shut the door, locking all of us inside with Peaches’s pixie dust.
* * *
“I t’s a big garden, Phil.” Awe clearly floated through Peaches’s voice. “I never dreamed it was this large. Then again, with the level of gnome problem you’ve got, the space would need to be big. No wonder they moved in.”
I stared at the weed patch that had once been Sedrick’s vegetable garden and tried to see what Peaches saw.
“I’ve never really known where the boundaries are.
The area is so overgrown.” I pointed toward the shed on the other side.
“There are a few boxes in the shed. It’s nice and dry, and some of Dillon and Ruthie’s things from their previous home are in there. ”
Peaches’s eyes flew wide, and he stared at me with alarm. “Please tell me you didn’t walk through the garden to get there.”
“No. I flew.”
Peaches breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank the goddess. This is a real problem, Phil.”
A constant rustling could be heard, and weeds shifted here and there.
I could only imagine it was due to the gnomes.
Gnomes mostly traveled underground like moles, only larger.
They built mounds of dirt that housed their colonies and went far underground.
It was one of the reasons they were so difficult to exterminate.
Peeking over the tops of some of the weeds, I could see the pyramidal tips of some of those dirt dwellings.
“Look how high they are.” Peaches pointed to one of the mounds I’d just been looking at and shook his head. “I’ve never seen them build that high before. I can’t even begin to imagine how many are out there.”
“Is it too much?” I asked, afraid that Peaches had made the trip out for nothing.
“No.” Peaches didn’t sound hesitant. “It’s a larger area to try to block off, but it’s no different from what I’d originally planned.
” Peaches made a circle of the area with his arm.
“I just need to do the perimeter. Actually, I think it might be easier than I thought. The plants aren’t happy about the gnomes.
All that digging is really destructive. They destroy the roots, and plants start to die.
You’ve seen the swaths of emptiness in the Great Plains.
Gnomes contributed as much to the Dust Bowl as poor agricultural practices. ”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. I’d told Dillon the truth earlier but still asked just in case.
“Not really,” Peaches answered the way I expected.
“Maybe just keep an eye out for wayward, overaggressive gnomes. Thankfully, there are a lot of trees in the area. Gnomes can’t go through their roots as easily.
I’ll ask the trees to guide their roots around the perimeter, and in exchange, I’ll help them grow and expand those roots. ”