Fairy Metal Thunder (Songs of Magic, #1) (5 page)

Jason glanced behind him. Grizlemor was
nowhere in sight, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the goblin wasn’t
planning to return. There were countless little round doors packed
in tight rows along the wall—Jason would never be able to figure
out the one to Grizlemor’s house.

On the other hand…he wondered what his band
could accomplish if they had those magic fairy instruments to play.
He imagined crowds of people entranced by the music, unable to stop
dancing until they fell over from exhaustion. With the magic
instruments, they’d be able to get gigs all over Minneapolis, maybe
even play somewhere in Chicago. And that would make Erin extremely
happy, probably more than any stupid necklace.

Jason strolled up the street to the little
park, keeping his head low. He checked across the street, down the
alley. Nobody in the band was looking this way. They looked pretty
exhausted from their set.

Jason picked up the lute. It was carved from
heavy, dark wood with runes carved all over the surface. The tuning
pegs glittered like gold. Violet amethysts were embedded here and
there in the soundboard, and instead of an open sound hole, it had
three floral shapes carved under the strings. The lute felt warm
and inviting in his hands, heating his fingers like sunlight.

He looked over at the cafe again. So far,
nobody had noticed him. Even with all the fireflies, there was
still some darkness in the city night.

Jason could barely fit the little lute’s
leather strap over his shoulder and neck. The instrument pressed
tight against his back.

He picked up the drum, which was covered with
more of the strange fairy runes, and also had a strap for carrying
and wearing. The interior was hollow, so he placed the reed pipes
and the little silver harp inside it. Then he slung the drum’s
strap over the opposite shoulder from the lute.

Jason glanced sideways towards the fairy cafe
as he started back down the street. The fairies were chatting
rapidly now, as if energized by their drinks.

He walked away feeling extremely nervous, but
he resisted the urge to run until he was out of sight of the cafe.
Then he took off down the street, going back the way he’d come,
through the crowded market.

The theft wasn’t such a bad thing, Jason
reasoned, because obviously the fairies were using the instruments
to take advantage of people. Luring kids down here, draining them
of their energy, sending them back exhausted…that didn’t seem
like a very nice thing to do. What had the goblin said? The fairies
stole young people’s energy to help power their magic.

He followed the curving roads out to the
stone arch, then really put on speed when he hit the cobblestone
road through the dark forest. He ran past tree after tree with the
little doors built into them, until he saw an arched green door in
an old elm. It looked like the door through which he’d entered the
world of Faerie.

Jason ducked and entered the door, and closed
it tight behind him. He ran up the spiraling root-and-dirt
staircase. The stairwell grew narrower, darker and more cramped as
he climbed back to his own world.

By the time he reached the small door at the
top of the stairs, Jason was covered in a fresh layer of dirt. He
pushed open the arched green door and faced an unexpected rush of
bright sunlight. How could it be daytime? He’d only been gone a
couple of hours, at most. It shouldn’t be much later than
midnight.

He poked his head out the door. It was
definitely daytime, though still shadowy in Mrs. Dullahan’s back
yard. It wasn’t early morning light, either, but the full
brightness of midday or afternoon.

His parents were going to kill him.

Jason looked at the house. Mrs. Dullahan
wasn’t outside, thankfully, and the narrow windows were shuttered
or hung with dark curtains. Maybe she wouldn’t see him.

The tiny doorway didn’t look big enough for
Jason to fit through. He took the instruments off his shoulders,
and he put the lute outside first, laying it carefully in the high
weeds. Then he pushed the drum out, scraping it on both sides as he
forced it out the door. He lay flat on the ground and just barely
managed to squirm his way through the little doorway.

Once he was out, the door slowly swung
closed, while both the doorway and the door itself shrunk back to
their original, even smaller size, as if the doorway had stretched
to let him out.

Jason got to his feet and brushed off leaves
and dirt. He wondered how many hours had passed. He’d left Katie
alone, scared of the “monster” she’d seen. How long had she been
waiting for him?

He climbed one of the old trees and out on a
limb over the wall, then switched to another tree and climbed down.
The instruments were strangely heavy for their small size, and
they’d already made his back and shoulders sore.

He trudged through the woods, feeling
drained, eager to reach his own bed and collapse. He knew he
wouldn’t get it so easy, though, if he’d left Katie alone all
night. He’d have to get yelled at for a long time before he could
sleep.

Jason reached his back yard, and he stopped
in the garage to hide the instruments. His dad had an old Corvette
convertible under a tarp, which had been there about as long as
Jason could remember. He tucked the instruments in the narrow space
between the draped car and the garage wall.

Then he approached the door into the house,
took a deep breath, and walked inside.

His father was in the living room watching a
fishing show, and he immediately stood up when Jason walked in.

“He’s back,” Jason’s father announced.
Jason’s mother came down the short flight of steps from the
kitchen. Katie trailed behind her, looking scared.

Jason’s parents stood together and glared at
him.

“Um…hi,” Jason said.

“Hi?” his mother said. “Hi? After what you
put us through, all you can say is ‘hi’?”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said.

“Where have you been, Jason?” his father
asked.

“And who were you with?” his mother asked.
“And why are you so filthy?”

“It’s really hard to explain,” Jason
said.

“I told you,” Katie spoke up. “He chased
after the monster. The burglar monster. Cause it stoled your
earrings.”

“Oh, yeah, I got your earrings back, Mom!”
Jason took the ruby pair of earrings from his pocket.

“They’re covered in dirt!” His mom took them
from his soil-encrusted hand. “Why did you take these?”

“I didn’t,” Jason said. “It was—”

“The monster!” Katie interrupted. “The
monster stole them and Jason brought them back. Like he said he
was.”

“Katie, go to your room,” his mom said.

“Why am I in trouble? What did I do?”

“You’re not in trouble. Just go.”

“But, the monster—” Katie began.

“Listen to your mother, Katie,” his dad said.
“We need to have a talk with Jason.”

Katie frowned and stomped up the stairs to
the kitchen.

“You still haven’t told us where you were,”
his dad said.

“I was in the woods. A guy stole Mom’s
earrings, and I chased after him, and…”

“And what?” his mom asked.

“Then I got them back.”

“From where?” his dad asked. “Who was this
person?”

“It’s really hard to explain. Can I just go
to bed? I’ll try to explain later.”

“You will not ‘just go to bed,’” his mother
said. “We were worried sick. You left your cell phone here, too, so
we couldn’t call you. Were you with those wild kids from that band
again?”

“They aren’t that wild,” Jason said.

“Mildred Zweig?” she asked. “And the
Schneidowski kid? That Kavanagh girl, with all the weird colored
hair? What’s that hair about, if she’s not wild?”

“How wild can you get in Chippewa Falls,
anyway?” Jason asked. “Wearing plaid socks that don’t match?
Ordering the Tutti Frutti ice cream at The Creamery, just because
nobody else does?”

“Don’t be a smartmouth,” his mom said. “What
were you thinking, leaving your little sister alone like that?
Don’t you know she was terrified when we got home?”

“No, I wasn’t!” Katie shouted down the
stairs. “Cause Jason got rid of the monster!”

“Katie, go to your room!” his father shouted.
“Jason, you’re grounded. Obviously.”

“For how long?” Jason asked.

“We’ll talk in a month.”

“But I have band practice. And our audition
is Thursday—”

“You are not going to Minneapolis with those
kids!” Jason’s mother said. “Not after disappearing all night like
that!”

Jason still couldn’t understand how time had
flown by so quickly.

“I don’t want to hear anymore about this band
nonsense,” his dad said. “As soon as your final exams are over,
you’re getting a summer job. You need something to keep you
busy.”

“But I have to at least go to the audition
with everybody,” Jason said.

“Jason, no,” his dad said. “Not one more word
about it.”

“But they’re counting on me—”

“You should have thought of that before you
decided to leave your sister alone and spend the night out with
your friends,” his mom said.

Jason realized it was pointless to argue
anymore. If he told his parents he’d chased a goblin to the fairy
world, he’d probably just get grounded even longer. And sent to a
psychiatrist.

“Now, go and wash up,” his mom said. “You’re
dripping dirt all over my carpet. And stay in your room while we
rest. We were up all night worried about you.”

Though he was very tired, Jason couldn’t get
to sleep Sunday night. He kept looking at his window, waiting for
something to crawl through into his room—Grizlemor the goblin
maybe, or a violet-haired fairy with a heart tattoo, or the hairy
ogre-creature that played the drum. He jumped every time the wind
made the trees creak outside. He was still awake when his alarm
went off for school.

Monday morning, Jason left the house through
the garage. Before he left, he peeked behind the old Corvette and
lifted the drop cloth he’d used to cover the stolen
instruments.

What he found surprised him. All four of the
instruments had shrunk in size until they looked like toys. The
lute was smaller than a violin, the harp would have fit in the palm
of his hand, and the set of reed pipes was no bigger than a
whistle. The drum was the size of a cupcake.

Jason could just imagine how Erin, Mitch and
Dred would react if he brought these to school and suggested they
use them to make music. They would laugh at him, or think he was
crazy, or both. What had seemed like a brilliant idea in the land
of Faerie on Saturday night looked ridiculous in the gray light of
a Monday morning.

He covered up the instruments again, got on
his bike, and rode to school.

While he was changing out books at his locker
before homeroom, somebody grabbed his arm and he jumped, nearly
losing his balance.

“Hi, Jason,” Erin said. “Scared you, didn’t
I?”

Jason was surprised to see her—Erin didn’t
normally hang out with him at school. She had her own friends. The
sight of her tied up his tongue. He was only just barely able to
say her name aloud: “Erin.”

“Why are you so jumpy?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t get a lot of sleep.
Weird weekend.”

She leaned against the locker next to his.
“Aren’t you excited about this audition? I was thinking about it
all weekend, and I really think this could be the one. The place
isn’t too big, kind of a college crowd…”

Jason was nodding along. He couldn’t really
look at her and talk like an intelligent human being at the same
time, so he focused on changing out his books. “Yeah,” he said.

“Don’t you have a good feeling about it? I
feel something good’s about to happen.”

“I hope you’re right.” Jason didn’t want to
tell her that his parents had grounded him, and he wasn’t allowed
to be in the band anymore. He knew he should be honest, but he was
afraid she’d be disappointed in him. Or angry. Or decide not to
talk to him again.

“You’re going to be at practice?” she
asked.

“I don’t know—my parents are kind of mad at
me, they don’t want me going anywhere—”

“But you can come out for the audition
Thursday right?” She touched his arm and looked into his eyes.
“Right? Are you feeling okay, Jason?”

“Just tired. Couldn’t sleep,” Jason said.

“Did you have bad dreams?”

“I did.”

“I hate that. I get nightmares all the time.”
She squeezed his arm, and Jason felt his heart flutter. “I’m really
glad you joined the band, Jason. I think it’s working out
great.”

“Me, too,” Jason said. His smile felt a
little too wobbly. He could feel himself starting to blush, too,
which only made him more embarrassed.

“Oh, there’s Kennedy and Parker. I have to
go.” Erin backed away toward her friends. “So, I’ll see you
Thursday. If you can’t come to practice sooner.”

“Right,” Jason said.

He watched her go, feeling his insides
tremble. Why did he have to be such a dork around her?

Later, at lunch, Jason sat outside in his
usual corner of the courtyard. The school lunch was some kind of
soy-burger sandwich with brown mystery vegetables. He could see
Erin across the way on one of the concrete benches outside the
cafeteria doors, with Kennedy and Parker and assorted other
friends. It seemed like a large group to Jason. How did you keep up
a conversation with that many people?

“What’s happening, brother?” Mitch asked,
sitting down next to him. At school, Mitch wore his goofy plaid
driving cap, with his long hair tucked behind his ears, and his
John Lennon glasses. He looked in the direction where Jason had
been gazing.

“Just thinking.”

“She’s a good singer, isn’t she?” Mitch
asked. “Songwriter, harmonica. We’re lucky to have her.”