Chapter 15 #2
“Why crush your dreams? Okay, never mind your disappointment. This is made by the Transylvanians. Which means we have twenty-four hours to reverse it before they’re permanently frozen.”
Devon nodded. “It also lends credence to Paige’s theory that they were planning to use your family as a bargaining chip. If we can reverse this, we should. It takes away their power.”
“If?” Paige questioned.
“This is going to take some doing,” Devon said. “Reverse freezing isn’t as simple as heating them and melting the layer off them.”
“I need to get a list of ingredients,” Dewey said, fluttering into the air. “I need a formula. I’ve got to get back to the house.”
“Okay, Dewey, let’s go,” Paige said. “We’ll figure this out.”
“Will we?” Dewey snapped. He squeezed his eyes closed. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. You’re allowed to fall apart. It’s your family.”
Dewey landed on her shoulder and wrapped his paws around her neck, laying his head on hers. “Thanks, Paige. You’re a really good friend.”
She patted his shoulder as she hurried toward the entrance. “Hey, you helped me when Dickens accidentally became huge and you cured my beast mark, so I owe you.”
“Time for me to collect,” Dewey answered. “Let’s go!”
They trudged back through the jungle to the village and snaked their way through the streets to Dewey’s family home.
He buzzed inside, making a beeline to the back of the house.
Paige and Devon hurried after him. He flew into an office and grabbed a large tablet that stood just shy of Paige’s height.
He balanced it against the wall, and they gathered around it.
Dewey woke it from sleep mode and tapped to find the browser.
“We probably should contact Ronnie,” Paige said. “I’m sure she’s heard about the crash by now. We should check in and let her know we’re delayed.”
“Right, especially now,” Dewey said.
He tapped the video chat icon with his paw and input Ronnie’s information before pressing the call icon. They waited as the line trilled a few times before Ronnie’s face appeared.
“Ronnie La–Paige! Dewey! Oh, thank heavens.” She pressed a hand to her chest and slid her eyes closed.
“We’re okay, Ronnie,” Paige said with a wave as she stood in front of the massive camera. “We’ve had a few blips since we jumped out of the plane, but we’re all right. Any word on the pilots?”
“They’re fine. They managed to make an emergency landing. The plane’s a bit mangled, but we were in the market for a new one anyway. The important thing is, everyone is all right.” Ronnie waved a hand in the air.
“Well, almost,” Paige said, with a crinkled nose.
Ronnie reached for the phone on her desk. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
“No, no, we’re all fine. But we walked to Dewey’s parents’ house…”
“Ronnie, the Transylvanians have been here. They froze my entire village,” Dewey said as he fluttered closer to the camera.
“Oh, no,” Ronnie said. “Can you reverse it?”
“We’re trying. We’re going to look for the antidote now and try to fix this before we move on to the ring.”
Ronnie bobbed her head up and down. “Keep me up-to-date when you can. And good luck. If you need anything, let me know. I’ll do what I can to get it there.”
“Thanks, Ronnie,” Dewey said. “My parents have a Pamazon account, too, so we can use that if we need supplies.”
“Perfect. Email me receipts so we can reimburse them.”
“Will do. Thanks, Ronnie,” Dewey said before he jabbed at the button to end the call.
“I’m so glad the pilots are okay.”
“Wonder where they crash-landed?” Devon asked as he ran his hands through his hair.
“Hopefully, nowhere near a harpy community,” Paige answered as Dewey fluttered around, typing in a search term. “Let me help you. I’ll get the letters on the left.”
With Paige’s help, he input a search for reversing a Transylvanian freezing agent. After a few dead ends, they stumbled upon a promising lead.
“Here we go,” Dewey said as he flicked through the blog post.
“Will you stop skipping that stuff? It’s always important to read the entire context.”
Dewey shook his head as he continued to flick his paw up and scroll through the page. “No one cares about the blogger’s life. We just need the recipe.”
“Except there may be some important information in that part about side effects or something.”
“Doubt it,” Dewey said. “You know, I have this idea when I finish writing Malice in Wonderland . It’s about a recipe blogger. They confess to murder in every blog post, but no one catches them, because no one actually reads the blog.”
Paige crinkled her nose as Dewey continued to blaze to the page’s bottom recipe. She shot a glance at Devon, who shrugged.
“Seriously, Paige, no one reads the blog post.”
“Here we go. Got it,” Dewey said as the formatted recipe appeared. He rubbed his chin as he murmured through the list. “Uh huh, yeah, power pepper, should have that. Jalapeno juice, sure. Golem goo. May need to order that.”
He scrolled a bit further before he froze, his eyes going wide. “No!”
“What is it? Is eye of newt out of stock on Pamazon?” Paige asked, with a chuckle.
“No,” Dewey said with a shake of his head, his paws curling into fists. “It says we need ground seeds from the Harpy Heat.”
Paige shrugged. “What’s that?”
“A plant grown by Harpies. It’s similar to a ghost pepper.”
“Do they have it on Pamazon?” Paige questioned.
“No, Paige. They don’t have Harpy Heat on Pamazon.
It’s banned for sale in over thirty countries because of how hot it is.
It makes sense that we’d need it to counteract the Transylvanians’ freezing agent, but…
” Dewey let his dejected gaze fall to the floor.
“We’ll never get it. We’re doomed. My family is dead. ”