VELVETEEN PRESENTS JACQUELINE CLAUS vs. The Lost and the Found #2
They wouldn’t last long. The normal aesthetics of the Crystal Glitter Unicorn Cloud Castle would reassert themselves in no time, and the unseasonable holiday decorations would melt back into the walls, vanishing until the next time Jack walked by.
Sometimes she wondered what the place looked like when she wasn’t around.
She wasn’t sure she’d ever have the opportunity to find out.
The macaw led her to a tall door in a gilt frame. It flapped over to perch on the top of a tapestry, watching to see what she would do next.
She opened the door and let herself inside, of course. There wasn’t really anything else to do.
The recovery room was huge and airy, with walls made entirely of colored glass panels. It was like walking into a rainbow. “Polychrome would love it here,” she blurted, unthinking.
“We should call her.” The Princess looked away from the…
pumpkin? Maybe. Some sort of gourd, anyway.
It was huge and orange and sitting atop a mattress, attached to the bedframe by a green stalk.
The Princess was standing next to it, and it was sort of sad that this was still not the strangest thing Jack had seen all day.
“I was hoping to wait until the Night Shift got back to me, but I don’t think Yelena will be all that happy if she finds out we’ve got Vel and we haven’t been pickin’ up the phone. ”
Jack opened her mouth. Then she stopped herself, understanding sweeping across her face, and said, “She’s in the pumpkin, isn’t she? You put her inside the pumpkin.”
“Pumpkins have a lot of strength in fairy tales. They can put broken things back together, if you know how to use them right.”
“You’re not worried about giving Halloween more of a claim over her?”
The Princess looked at her levelly. “Sweetie, am I worried about that, or are you worried about that? Think carefully on your answer now. I asked you here because I was hoping you could help, but I won’t hesitate to send you back to the North Pole if you’re here on holiday business, instead of as a friend. ”
“I’m Vel’s friend before I’m anything else,” said Jack firmly, and the words were true and false at the same time.
If she’d been the honest spirit of Winter, instead of the selfless one, she would have shunted herself out of existence in that moment, joining Jackie in whatever waited for Spirits of the Season who could no longer do their jobs.
“I’m here for her. And I know that she doesn’t want to go to Halloween.
Or she didn’t, before she did her term of service with them. ”
“About that,” said the Princess. “I thought she was going to be gone for a year.”
“So did I,” said Jack. “I guess the people in charge had other ideas.”
The Princess looked at her thoughtfully, and Jack met her eyes without looking away.
It was funny. People knew that her father was scrupulously honest—that he had to be, in order for the Nice List to mean anything—and so they assumed that the same was true of her.
They didn’t understand that sometimes selflessness was more dishonest than selfishness.
That she had to be prepared to hide hunger and thirst and desire under a veil of giving back to the world.
Jackie Frost had been a natural disaster, but she’d been an honest one.
Jacqueline Claus was a sweet smile and a warm hand, and she could lie through her teeth without ever letting her smile slip.
“You ever going to tell me what happened to her while she was in the Seasonal Lands, Jack?” the Princess asked, and her voice was soft, but it wasn’t gentle.
Jack shook her head. “It’s not my place,” she said.
“Papa gave me my orders. I’m allowed to say that she came to Winter.
That she stayed for a year. That she moved on to Spring.
That’s it. Anything that she did or didn’t do while she was outside the normal flow of time is nobody’s business but hers and the Seasons that she served. ”
“I don’t see how she could have served a year when she’s only been gone from here for a week. Not even a week, in fact. Six days. How does six days equal a year with you and however much time she spent with the other Seasons?”
“Time doesn’t work the same when you’re outside the calendar.
I guess Papa just wanted to be sure she could come back home before people got too used to her not being there.
” That felt right. It felt wrong at the same time.
The Seasons wanted Velveteen to choose one of them.
Why would they go out of their way to make her comfortable in the world they were trying to get her to leave behind?
Jack felt like she was missing something, and she didn’t like the feeling one little bit.
“If you say so.” The Princess touched the tough orange skin of the pumpkin with one hand.
“I already called Torrey and left a message for when she gets back. She’ll pass it on to Lena, I’m sure.
I couldn’t think of who else to tell. Our girl has allies, but she’s never been much of one for makin’ friends. ”
“Are any of us?” Jack buried her hands in the skirt of her ball gown to keep herself from fidgeting.
The fabric was soothingly slick. She twisted it between her thumb and forefinger, bending it into rosettes.
“I have you, and Vel, and the penguins.” Jackie had had more.
Jackie had had Tag, and everyone she’d met through ice skating and the X-Games and how had Vel even met Tag, in this world without a Jackie?
Jack didn’t know. She knew so much about this life she’d been dropped into, but there were still pieces missing, and she had no idea how to patch them.
“Aw, sugar, it’s all right. You know I love you, even if you don’t have much of a social life.
I just worry about our girl. She was supposed to get a break.
She was supposed to go off and serve the Seasons and have some time to think about what just happened.
She wasn’t supposed to get dropped right back where she started, beat all to hell and with no room for recovery.
You know the wolves are gonna be at the door as soon as the news gets out. ”
“Wolves?” asked Jack blankly.
“Honey, I know you’ve been off at the North Pole bein’ above all the bull we have to deal with down here on the ground, but I’ve done six interviews in the last six days.
Would’ve been more if I didn’t have the company filtering the press inquiries for me.
They’re fielding the subpoenas, too. There’s a lot of folks who want to know more about what happened at The Super Patriots, Inc.
, and Vel’s more than just a person of interest in this whole affair.
Once they know she’s here, they’re going to get a lot more aggressive. ”
“So we don’t tell anyone,” said Jack. “We give her time.”
A ringing like crystal chimes spread through the castle. The Princess sighed. “I don’t think that’s our call,” she said. “Come on. Let’s go see our guests.”
* * *
Getting to the Crystal Glitter Unicorn Cloud Castle was supposedly difficult for people who didn’t have access to magic mirrors or other forms of fairy tale travel.
Sadly, the nature of the Princess’s contract with the corporation which funded her and kept her free of The Super Patriots, Inc.
meant that she had to have at least one doorway connected to at least one of their properties at all times.
She moved those doorways regularly, trying to preserve her privacy, but people always found them.
Sometimes the doors were found by children clutching plastic wands and wearing puffy, costume-grade ball gowns over their jeans and character shirts.
They wandered into her really for real fairy tale castle with wide eyes, and could be bribed into leaving with hugs and autographs and silver apples from the bowl she kept in the foyer.
Sometimes the doors were found by teens with scars on their wrists and shadows in their eyes, looking for magic in all the wrong places.
Those, she walked with in the garden, and talked, and listened, until they were ready to leave her for the real world.
Sometimes the doors were found by adults who needed, truly needed proof that magic was real, that their lives hadn’t been wasted on wishing.
They were her petitioners, and she welcomed them all.
Mostly, though, the doors were found by assholes.
Like this one. The Princess crossed her arms and frowned disapprovingly at the man who stood in front of her, shifting his weight from foot to foot, trying to look like he wasn’t uncomfortable.
The Night Shift waited behind him, currently split into four identical bodies, each one holding a bag of medical supplies.
“What’n the name of the seventy-three known variations of ‘The Princess and the Pea’ are you doin’ here?” the Princess asked. “And don’t say you just dropped by to talk to me. I know that ain’t true. Wasting my time isn’t going to make me like you any more than I already don’t.”
“Is it true?” asked Action Dude. “Is Vel back already?”
The Princess unfolded her arms in order to study her nails.
“Night Shift, you can come in. Just follow the bird butlers back to the recovery room, an’ you can get started.
If you need anything, tell a critter. Squirrel, raccoon, it doesn’t matter.
They’ll get it for you. As for you…” She focused her gaze on Action Dude.
“You want to tell me how The Super Patriots already know about this, if y’all don’t have me under surveillance?
Consider your answer real carefully. It’s going to have consequences. ”
“The Night Shift was on a date with the American Dream when you called and said you needed her to come in,” said Action Dude. “Please don’t be mad at her. She didn’t mean to tell.”
“And I didn’t tell her it was a secret big enough to keep from a lover,” allowed the Princess. “I don’t think I want you here.”
“I know,” said Action Dude. “Can I come in?”