Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (34 page)

BOOK: Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series)
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In the off chance these
were
real
elves, this was
like hitting the jackpot
.
It couldn’t hurt to ask for a few things.


I would like a Sliver Gaming System with graphics capabilities and
unlimited
data access
.
I’d also like a Ross & Wesson jacket
in lilac
.
I’d also like
Maiden’s Revenge
and
Space Raiders
, fourth edition
.
Now this wouldn’t be for just me, but for the whole family, a RECs would be awesome
.
And
I know some kids complain about getting underwear, but not me
.
Would you like me to write down the sizes?
Nevermind,
just get me a gift card
.

The list was longer, but
Glory
thought
s
he better not sound too greedy. H
er
requests hung in the air an uncomfortably long time
.

The man with the shor
test beard stared hard
at her
.
He was the one with the silver spike tucked into his hatband, but it wasn’t glowing like it had the first night
.
The length and color
reminded h
er
of one of
Nana
's knitting needles
.
Glory
named him Needle
.

Needle smiled, revealing red mottled gums and a row of pointed crooked teeth
.
Glory
suppressed a gag
.

“Have ye been a good
girl
?” Needle asked.

Clearing h
er
throat,
Glory
informed them,

I've been very good.

Saying that made h
er
feel childish and stupid, but what the he
ck
.


Liar
,”
Bone said, spittle flying
.

Ye've been very bad

snooping around Queen's
Mesa
and taking things that don’t belong to ye.

Glory
grimaced
.
How’d they find out
?

Needle held up a pair of sturdy all-terrain sneakers
.

“My shoes!”

“Yes,” Needle said, narrowing his eyes
.
“When ye were standing on
the
barn ladder I saw the bottom of your shoes. The soles are a perfect match with the footprints we saw at the caverns
the
day
the
Elboni
went missing
.”

“Ah,
when you said
this is the soul
.
I thought you were talking about my spirit or something. It all makes sense now
. You
stole my shoes to match up the soles with the footprints near the cavern.”

“Not stole

borrowed
,” Needle said, letting the shoes in his hands drop on the floor
.


Father Winter’s helpers
are
supposed to give things, not take them
,”
Glory
said, trying to trip them up
.

This
is
mighty odd behavior for elves.

“We GAVE you back the shoes,” Bone pointed
to the pair on the floor
.
“Now give us back our
Elboni
.

Glory
looked at their sharp teeth, and the long needle in Needle’s hatband, and the bone in Bone's hatband
.
Elves, my
butt
,
Glory
thought
.
But
s
he wasn’t about to argue
.
These men were Wybbils only pretending to be elves—but why?

“That hardly seems like a fair trade.”

Glory
gazed at their boots.
Catch a
Wybbil
by the toe,
rang through
the halls of her head
.
It was time to make a move, but it was three against one
.
The hairs on the back of h
er
neck prickled at the thought of a physical confrontation
.


Queen's
Mesa
be private proper
t
y,

said White Feather
.
“Didn’t ye see the sign?”

“Well, yeah,”
Glory
’s
voice was shaky
.

But the best rocks are there.

“Indeed,” Bone replied, his brow furrowing
.
“The greatest rock of all
resides
there

at least it
d
id
until you stole it.

Bone took a menacing step toward the bed, hands raised
.

Glory
cried out, thinking
he was going to strangle h
er
.
Needle stepped in front of his angry companion and Bone backed off.


Rock Collector
,” Needle said
softly
.

A very special
thing
be
missing from Queen’s Mesa and we have been sent here to retrieve it.”

“I don’t know anything about a special
thing
.”

“Quit playing games,
Tullah
n,” Bone said, his pink face turning red
.
“We know y
e
took
the
Elboni
Stone
so tell us wh
at you did with it.


Elboni
Stone?”
Glory
played
dumb
.
“Never heard of it. What does it look like?

“It looks perfect,” White Feather said
.
“Even a
Tullah
n could recognize that much.”

“Hmm,”
Glory
stalled, glancing down at their boots, wondering if
s
he should dare
.
“I’m trying to remember
.
Hu
ndreds
of stones
passed through my hands that day, but n
othing really stand
s
out.”

“Think hard,” Needled pleaded
.
“It’s very important.”

“Hmmm,”
Glory
tapped h
er
chin.
“I
did take a few from the cavern that day.

“Where be these rocks now?”


I can’t remember where I put all of them
.
But some
are
out in the garden.

"We checked
the
garden, fields, barn and house
.
Where else should we be looking?"

"I threw some into the stream."

Bone’s eyes widened, his mouth fell open
.
“What!”


Quiet,

White Feather admonished
.


Who ye be telling to be quiet!

Bone gave White Feather a push, which quickly turned into a shoving match and ended just as fast
.

As
Glory
watched their large feet scuffing over the floor, the words continued to play through h
er
head like a nursery rhyme
.
Catch a
Wybbil
by the toe and he has to give me whatever I want.


Tell us,

Needle said.

The stones ye be throwing into
the
stream, what did they look like?


They were flat and made superb skipping stones.


Where else did you drop them?


I dropped some in the cavern to light
en my load when the
Hoogula
was chasing
me.

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