17. Phil #2
“And if the tree doesn’t want to do that?” I had no idea how Peaches communicated with trees or anything that didn’t have a mouth or tongue.
“I won’t force them, but I doubt it will be a problem. Trees are typically congenial and easy to work with.”
Huh ? was about all my brain could come up with.
The hum of Peaches’s wings thrummed through the early afternoon air. It was a pleasant day. Rain was forecast for overnight, but the day was supposed to be barely overcast and beautiful.
Eyes closed, Peaches hovered in the air, his arms loosely hanging by his sides.
With his body slightly bent, Peaches’s wings kept him aloft, but the rest of him appeared to be taking a nap.
It was weird to see him at work. I glanced at the house and saw Dillon’s and Ruthie’s large, brown eyes staring back at me.
Both their faces were plastered against the window, their gazes fixed on Peaches’s seemingly hanging body.
My attention snapped back to the garden when I felt the earth rumble.
Around the edges of the garden, the ground rippled and buckled.
The tops of half-dead weeds and plants within the garden rustled with increasing urgency.
Squeaks and squeals erupted—their pitch painful to my ears.
I could only imagine what they sounded like to werewolf hearing.
I was extra glad I’d made the kids stay inside.
Peaches’s actions riled up the gnomes. They sounded frantic.
My eyes focused on the perimeter, expecting a gnome to dash out at me any second.
Deciding to be safe rather than sorry, I rose above the ground.
Not for the first time, Peaches’s and my pixie dust combined to form a rose-gold haze.
From this angle, I could barely make out darting figures running here and there within those shivering weeds.
Green erupted from the shifting ground, and a thick hedge of bushes formed, encasing the garden and forming a wall around it. Closer inspection revealed those bushes were covered in thick thorns.
“Wow.”
My head jerked so fast that it turned my body mid-air. “Dillon,” I shouted, “I told you and Ruthie to stay indoors.”
“But I’m just outside the door. Besides, I couldn’t see everything from inside.” Dillon puffed up. “Those gnomes don’t scare me.”
It looked like Sedrick’s little talk about stupidity versus bravery had fallen on childish ears.
I flew down and tried to shoo Dillon inside. Of course, Ruthie came out with him. “You’re going to give me heart failure. Just go back inside where it’s safe and—”
A screech, higher pitched than anything I’d heard yet, sounded from inside the garden. I clapped my hands over my ears, and Dillon and Ruthie did the same, doubling over in pain.
“Phil!” Peaches screamed as a gnome raced past me.
But it wasn’t just one; it was at least a dozen. Dillon had closed the door behind him, and the gnomes bounced off the glass surface. They were furious. Teeth bared, their needle points were jagged. They opened their mouths, and more of that horrible noise came from their gaping maws.
Ruthie screamed as they shot toward her and Dillon.
I didn’t have time to register that it was the most noise I’d ever heard from her.
From one blink to the next, Dillon was no longer a human-looking child but a small wolf.
Snarling, he slammed into one of the gnomes, grabbing it around the neck and biting down hard.
The gnomes screamed even louder, and more broke through Peaches’s forming hedgerow.
Still in flight, I dove for Ruthie first. Peaches started to follow, but I shouted at him to continue working on the barrier. Gnomes were flowing through like a wave breaking on a sandy beach. We needed to stop them; to do that, Peaches needed to complete the thorn-filled barrier.
With Ruthie in my arms, I flew to the nearest window.
Thankfully it was unlocked. I reached for the sill, which opened before I could touch the pane.
I didn’t have time to check on her further.
Slamming the window closed, I flew back toward Dillon.
Gnomes were coming at him from every direction.
Thankfully, their tide had started to slow, and the ones that had gotten through were bleeding from the myriad of cuts from the thorns.
“The barrier is almost done, Phil,” Peaches hollered. “They’re on the other side but aren’t coming through anymore. They can’t safely get through the thorns, and the roots are blocking their digging.”
While that was great news, we still had the gnomes on this side of the barrier to contend with. I had to get them back on the other side somehow and get Dillon away from them.
Dillon’s wolf looked bigger than his humanoid body, but he was still getting overrun. I didn’t have much choice in weapons. Quick as I could, I found the largest fallen branch I could. Branch in hand, I landed next to Dillon and started swatting gnomes away. The branch only stunned them.
When I could get to Dillon’s snarling wolf, I grabbed him.
Dillon was in fighting mode and couldn’t tell friend from foe.
His teeth clamped down on my arm, and I screamed.
Claws scraping me, Dillon easily cut through the fabric of my shirt.
His back claws sank into my legs, the heavy jeans little barrier.
Two gnomes clung to Dillon, their teeth locked tight on each leg.
I flew over the barrier and hovered over the garden.
Between Dillon kicking his legs and my batting at the gnomes, they fell off and back behind the protection of the barrier.
Free from gnomes, I flew Dillon back to the house. Bless Ruthie’s heart, she already had the window open, and I chucked Dillon through. He barely fit in his larger wolf form but wiggled through, and I slammed the window shut again.
Children safely back in the house, I found my dropped stick.
Hovering above the gnomes, I started whacking them again.
Only this time, when possible, I aimed my swings toward the garden.
I sent more than a few of them flying. The ones I couldn’t aim that way, I knocked out the best I could and picked them up.
Some woke and added their own teeth marks to my arm.
Peaches swatted one that latched itself onto my wing. Thankfully, he stayed clear of the danger, and when all was said and done, I was the only one bleeding between the two of us.
I landed on the ground, panting for breath, adrenaline pumping through my veins. “Is . . . is that a-all of them?” I rested my palms on my thighs and heaved in lungfuls of air.
“I’ll check.” Peaches launched off the ground.
He was a golden blur as he flew over and around the garden, checking for escaped gnomes.
Peaches even headed to the front of the house to ensure none had gotten that far.
He landed beside me and didn’t sound nearly as out of breath when he said, “I think so. If there are any more, they’ve burrowed underground, but I didn’t see any signs of that either. ”
“G-good,” I wheezed. Blood ran freely down my arms, and with the adrenaline starting to fade, throbbing pain took its place.
“Shit,” I stupidly said as I stared down at my teeth-riddled arms. Bite marks dented my boots, but they hadn’t pierced the thick leather.
My jeans had mostly protected me from the gnomes as well.
They hadn’t stood up as well against Dillon’s wolf claws.
“We need to get you inside, Phil.” Peaches tugged my arm, and I stumbled. Peaches caught me.
“Dillon? Ruthie?” I worriedly asked while allowing Peaches to pull me toward the back door.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Peaches tried to reassure me. “You got to Ruthie before any gnomes could, and werewolves are tough. Most likely, Dillon will just need to shift a couple of times, and he’ll be right as rain.”
As if he wanted to prove Peaches right, Dillon opened the door, naked as the day he was born. Blood streaked down his legs and arms, but it already looked dry. I thought I could see the hint of bruises behind that dried crimson but wasn’t sure.
“Phil!” Dillon grabbed hold of my thigh and tried to help support me.
It was more than a little awkward. It was also frightening just how much I needed the help.
“Come lay on the couch.” Dillon started to direct me.
Somewhere in the background, I thought I heard Ruthie crying, but my brain felt fuzzy, and the edges of my vision were going dark.
“A bed would be better,” I heard Peaches say. “We need to lay him down on his stomach to help protect his wings.”
“Uncle Sed’s bed is the biggest.”
I tottered down the hall. My boot caught, and I almost went down. Dillon grunted but helped hold me up. Somehow, we managed, and a bed swam in my vision.
“Call Sedrick,” I managed to get out right before I landed on the mattress, face first. “Number on fridge.”
“I’ve got it,” Peaches answered near my ear. I heard him order Dillon to call right before the world faded and left the throbbing pain behind. I welcomed oblivion with open arms.