Chapter 24
LEO’S NOTES
Place: Private collection, Plymouth, England
Favorite quote: The goblin’s eyes were made of coal, his fur, the oily filth of an unshaven sheep. The creature was slick with the blood of his prey and smelled of death.
Misc: Sounds terrifying!
Leo eyed Pan as he drove across the island toward the house of the kid with the bird-herding gift.
She still looked a little tense, ready to take the blame for the problems on the island.
As if getting her gift was cause for anything but celebration.
It was like she expected punishment for refusing to want a gift, while he was more excited about her gift than his own.
He’d been too young to realize how important getting his gift was, but hers would change both their lives.
He still needed to talk to her. To convince her that he’d never thought she wasn’t good enough for him—he just hadn’t wanted her life to become as painful as his mother’s.
Leo and his father never complained about Leora to other faerie-kin, of course.
They’d kept their special care of her to themselves.
She wouldn’t have wanted their pity. But her life would’ve been so much easier if she’d lived among the normals and hadn’t been constantly exposed to magic.
So yeah, he and Pan needed to talk, but now wasn’t the time. Not when she wouldn’t stop worrying that she’d somehow vandalized the entire island while sleeping in the library. He didn’t want to add to her burden. And reassuring her wasn’t helping, so he drove in silence.
He hadn’t come to this side of the island in years, though he’d seen it from the water.
Albert and Hattie lived out here, along with the Shrigleys—and judging by the boulder sculptures, so did Philip.
Leo followed the narrow winding road through sparse forest, enjoying the scent of pine needles and the company of Pan.
“What should we ask Trevor?” he asked.
“How about ‘Did you send your birds on a rampage downtown?’”
“What if he did?”
“Then we’ll tell his mom. But, Leo, what if he didn’t? What if this is… something else?”
He heard an anxious note in her voice, so he said, “We’ll follow the evidence, partner. We’ll work the streets. We won’t play by the rules. I don’t care if they take my badge, the only chief I answer to is justice.”
That made her smile. “We’re faerie-kin detectives.”
“Welcome to the F-Files.”
“The truth is out there,” she intoned. “I guess we’ll start by asking where Trevor was last night?”
“Makes sense.”
Pan pointed to the next house up the road. “It’s that one.”
Leo slowed alongside a large field in which birds swooped through the grass, hunting for bugs. They were black and white birds with yellow caps that looked like bleached blond crewcuts.
“Are those the bobolinks?” he asked.
“A.K.A. the suspects,” she said.
Leo parked in the gravel drive of the old two-story farmhouse. Chickens clucked and pecked in the vegetable garden alongside the house, and a handmade sign offered eggs for sale.
“We need faerie-kin detective badges,” Pan said.
“You used to babysit him. Let’s just say we came to warn him that a cop may come by, so he better get his story straight.”
They got halfway to the front door before Pan frowned in the direction of the back yard. She headed that way, and Leo followed her toward a woman collecting eggs from a hen house. The woman looked only vaguely familiar to Leo; she was about forty, with her brown hair pulled into a ponytail.
“Morning, Hannah—” Pan started.
The woman startled, and almost dropped an egg. “Back again? I’m still not—oh! Pandora! I thought you were that realtor.”
“Nope, just me,” Pan said.
“I haven’t seen you in years,” Hannah said. “How are you?”
“Well, I finally got my gift.”
“Laurels and laudations! What is it?”
Pan shifted awkwardly. “I’m still working that out. We, uh, actually came to talk to Trevor.”
“Oh, did you see his show at the lobster bake?”
“It was beautiful. But, uh, that’s why we’re here. A cop stopped by Leo’s house—you know Leo, don’t you? He’s Leora and Leonard’s son.”
“Of course,” the woman said. “Please thank your mom again for the wonderful party. Such a great hostess.”
Leo smiled. “I’ll let her know, thanks.”
Pan explained that the cops thought Trevor had something to do with the chaos in town, and Hannah just laughed. “Trev’s been off the island for days. Staying with his dad in Portland.”
“He wasn’t on Beane Isle last night?” Leo asked.
“Nope.” The woman set down her basket of eggs. “And he wouldn’t do that sort of thing. You should know that, Pandora.”
“Oh, of course not,” Pan said. “We just wanted to check he hadn’t lost control of his gift somehow.”
Hannah squinted at her. “How would he lose control of his gift?”
“That’s a good question,” Leo said. “That we definitely don’t have the answer to.”
“At least not yet,” Pan said.
“Well, that sounds ominous.”
Leo smiled reassuringly. “Oh, Pan’s just a bit lightheaded from getting her gift. Everything’s fine.” He took Pan’s hand. “Everything is going to be fine.”