My Unfair Godmother (35 page)

Robin Hood waved their words away. “Do you want to be turned into something filthy like mushrooms?” I leaned toward Chrissy. “Can I give
The Change Enchantment
to Robin Hood when I’m done with it? He didn’t like how his story ended.”

Chrissy smiled at the idea. “If that’s what you want to do with it.”

“Good,” I said. “Can you send my family home first, and I’ll stay for a few minutes and explain things to Robin Hood?”

“Sure,” she said, even though neither my father nor Hudson looked pleased about my staying behind for a few minutes.

I turned back to the book and held it up a bit, suddenly too shy to let anyone see the moral I had chosen for the story. I wrote the words, wishing I could have thought up some really elegant phrase to say what I was feeling, but everyone was waiting and I’d never been very poetic or profound.

I placed a period at the end of the sentence and watched to see if the words disappeared. They didn’t. They glowed as though I had written them with fire, blazing so brightly that I had to shut my eyes.

When I opened them, my family was gone and Robin Hood stood in front of me. He looked at Chrissy in surprise and frustration. “I have not yet finished composing your sonnet.”

“Relax,” she said. “I brought you over because Tansy wants to give you something.”

I shut the book. The spinning wheel on the cover still spun in a way that shouldn’t have been possible for an embossed illustration.

“This is
The Change Enchantment
. If you accept it, then you’ll be able to change your story. Your ending won’t have to be like the one in the 324/356

novel I gave you. I don’t know if it will be better or worse, but it will be yours.” I held the book out to him. “Do you want it?” He hesitated, then slowly took the book from my hand. “I’m not sure whether it is wisdom or folly, but yes, I want it.” The spinning wheel vanished from the cover, and a green feathered hat appeared. He flipped open the first page. It showed a painting of Robin Hood, rugged and handsome, surveying the forest.

He read the text under the picture. “Robin Hood was wise and generous.” He nodded. “Quite true. And …” He peered at the picture more closely. “I cut a dashing figure in that tunic. I will have to procure one like it.”

“You’re quite wealthy now,” I told him. “You could help the villagers around Sherwood Forest if you wanted. You could be the Robin Hood so many generations will love—or now that we’ve changed things, your story could disappear from my culture altogether.

Someone has to love you enough to record your good deeds for posterity.”

Robin Hood flipped to the next page of the book. It was another picture of him. “It does seem a pity to disappoint future generations, doesn’t it?”

“And just think, somewhere along the line you’ll probably get to meet a very pretty woman named Maid Marian.” He chuckled, then swept a hand toward Chrissy and me. “If she is half as fetching as either of you, my dear ladies, I shall deem myself a fortunate man.”

Chrissy let out a tinkling laugh. “That is quite enough poetry from you. You may return to your men.” He smiled, bowed, and walked back to the Merry Men with the book tucked under his arm.

“Now to get you back home—” Chrissy raised her wand.

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I held up a hand to stop her. “Wait, there’s something else I want to talk to you about.” I had been thinking about this since I walked in-to the forest. I would only have one chance to ask.

Chrissy paused, her wand still lifted. “What?”

“This gold enchantment I have is valuable, even to the magical community, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “Like I said, the leprechaun union has a monopoly on them.”

“I propose a trade. I’ll give you the gold enchantment if you let me make a detour through time on the way home.” Chrissy lowered her wand, tapping it against the palm of her hand as she considered my proposal. “And what sort of thing would you be doing while you made your detour?”

“I want to save Hudson’s mother.”

She let out a patient sigh. “You realize that if you alter the outcome of that event, it will have a ripple effect on the events around it.

Anything and everything could change when you get home. Hudson will still have his old memories, but his alternate self—the self he would have been if his mother hadn’t died—will have lived a completely different life during the last year. He’ll have no memory of that life. And he’ll most likely have another girlfriend. Nothing will have stopped his alternate self from being social over the last year. Do you really want that?”

I had to think about this for several moments. She was right. If I changed that one event, Hudson’s life would be completely different.

What if he liked his alternate life and alternate girlfriend better?

Would that still be worth it?

“Will it change Stetson’s future?” I asked. “Will he still be born?” Chrissy’s wings opened, shimmering with a light all their own.

“Maybe. Right now, the baby is at your house with your family. I was 326/356

going to let you say good-bye to him before I sent him back to the future. But if you change things too drastically, he might have no future to return to.”

I pondered this, already missing his dimpled cheeks and toothless grin. “Then I’ll keep Stetson with me in the present day. Can I do that?”

Chrissy put her fingers to her temple and let out a small groan.

“Do you have any idea of the paperwork involved in permanently transferring a mortal to—”

I didn’t let her finish. “I got rid of an evil ex-fairy—one who didn’t like you or the Alliance. Just think what he might have done if—”

“Oh, all right.” She let out a begrudging huff. “But only because fairies don’t like being indebted to mortals. It’s unnatural. And embarrassing.” She held a hand out to me in a conciliatory gesture. “If Stetson wouldn’t exist in the future, he can stay with you in your present.

That’s the only consequence I’ll be able to adjust for you, though. If things are worse off because of your efforts—if Hudson doesn’t care about you anymore, you’ll have to live with it. The only thing I can guarantee that won’t have changed are your wishes and their consequences. Magic is beyond the grasp of time.” I hesitated then, doubts chipping away my resolve. Who was I to play with time?

Then I thought of the pain in Hudson’s eyes when he talked about that night, the guilt and responsibility that weighed on him. What was the point of having the enchantment, I had asked earlier, if I didn’t use it to help people? Hudson had told me some things were worth the risk. This was one of those things.

“I have to try to save her,” I said. It meant saving a part of Hudson. “I just need to do one more thing first.” I knelt down beside the diaper bag and used the enchantment for a last time to turn the things 327/356

inside to gold. Dad and Sandra would need it to buy new furniture, cars, and everything else my wish had ruined.

As I thought about how my wishes had gone, more doubts filled my mind. What if Chrissy somehow messed this up?

Then I pushed the worries away. This wasn’t a wish; it was a business deal. Rumpelstiltskin had told me mortals had recourse with the Alliance if a business deal with a fairy wasn’t performed correctly.

When I was done creating gold diapers, formula, and toys, I stood up. Chrissy held her palm out to me. In an official-sounding voice, she said, “Give me the enchantment and your request will be granted.” I took hold of the edges of the gold heart that pulsed over my own.

It was attached to my chest so tightly that I was afraid I would tear away a huge chunk of skin when I pulled it off. But it came off with only a little tug. My own heart immediately felt better, lighter. My lungs could finally expand fully.

I put the still-beating heart in Chrissy’s hand, and it transformed from a heart into a gold apple. She smiled at it, satisfied, and slipped it into her purse. “I’m totally going to gloat to Clover about having his enchantment. It serves him right for making deals behind my back.” Her voice faded, and a dizzying array of lights went off around me. It felt like soda bubbles were fizzing past me. When they cleared, I wasn’t in the forest any longer. I stood on a modern street back in Rock Canyon—I could tell by the stucco houses, the hot evening air, and the cacti and palm trees perched in the lawns.

Chrissy leaned over my shoulder, pointing far down the street.

“Hudson’s house is that one. His mother is about to come out.” And then Chrissy vanished.

The door opened. A tall woman with Hudson’s brown hair stepped out. Even from a distance, I could tell she slammed the door behind her. She strode across her lawn and went down the sidewalk 328/356

heading in my direction. Her gaze was down, her expression furious.

She didn’t see me. She wasn’t paying attention to anything around her.

I glanced back at Hudson’s house. It sat silently behind a manicured lawn. Hudson was inside right now, thinking he should go after his mother. But he wouldn’t.

She came closer, her pace fast, and I felt awkward standing in the middle of the sidewalk wearing an evening gown and baby sling. I took off the sling and shoved it into the diaper bag that sat at my feet.

Which only made me marginally more normal. I still had the evening gown and diaper bag.

Hudson’s mother glanced up long enough to see me. She was pretty in a motherly sort of way. Her hair and makeup were still done at this late hour, and she wore a crisp tailored blouse. She struck me as the type who would run the PTO, be on all sorts of committees, and make sure her family ate nutritious dinners.

“Mrs. Gardner?” I called to her.

She paused, looked at me more closely, and stopped altogether.

Surprise flitted across her large, brown eyes. Hudson’s eyes. Stetson’s eyes.

“Mrs. Gardner?” I asked again. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” Her gaze ran over me. “Do we know each other?”

“I’m one of Hudson’s friends. I wanted to talk to you about the party tonight.”

Her lips thinned into a tight line. “You were there too? I didn’t know it was a formal event.”

“You need to know that Hudson is sorry. He wasn’t trying to undermine his father, or the law, or set a bad example. He went to the party because his friends were there, and he didn’t consider the consequences. He wants you to come back home so you can talk about it.” 329/356

Her eyebrows rose and she scrutinized me for a moment. “How do you know that?”

I couldn’t tell her we had chatted about it in the twelfth century, but I didn’t want to risk lying. Chrissy had said the liar’s hat would only be in effect until my wishes were fulfilled, but I wasn’t sure if this trip counted as part of my wishes. “Cell phones are wonderful things,” I said.

Mrs. Gardner looked around the street, as though she might see Hudson. “Why didn’t he tell me any of this himself?”

“Sometimes it’s hard to say those sorts of things, and then it’s too late.”

She put one hand on her hip, drumming her fingers against her pants. “He realized I’m going down to the party to break it up, didn’t he? He doesn’t want me to embarrass him in front of his friends. Well, you can tell him he’ll be a lot more embarrassed if his father breaks it up and hauls his friends off to the station.” She moved to go past me, and I reached out, brushing my fingertips against her arm. “Please, go back to the house and talk to him. He loves you. He would be so devastated if anything happened to you.” She stopped and tilted her head at me. “If anything happened to me? What exactly are they doing at this party?” I hadn’t expected changing history to be quite this hard. My words came out too fast and emotional. “Call your husband about the party if you want, but go back and talk to Hudson.” I stopped and held out a pleading hand. “You’re his mother. He needs you.” I saw the break in her anger. It slid away from her, taking the tension in her expression with it. She ran a hand through her hair, then looked back at the house. “Okay,” she said, “I’ll talk to him.” She turned to me, putting on a polite smile. “It was nice of you to come out and talk to me, uh …”

330/356

She was waiting for me to tell her my name, and I couldn’t lie, but I hesitated, not wanting to impact the future more than I already had.

“Tansy,” I said. “But don’t tell him you talked with me. I wouldn’t want him to …”
Tell you he doesn’t know anyone named Tansy.

She nodded. “It will stay between us.” She looked like she was about to say more, but a car barreled down the street, tires screeching as it turned onto the street next to us.

It went up on the sidewalk and across a corner of the lawn as it made the turn. I let out a slow breath. Mrs. Gardner would have been there if she hadn’t stopped to talk to me.

She watched the car and reached into her pocket for her cell phone. As she punched in the number, she shook her head. “This is why those parties are a bad idea. That guy is going to hurt somebody.

Did you get the license plate number?” I hadn’t been looking, but I knew it anyway. NDSTRCT. It was Bo’s brother’s car. I had recognized Bo in the driver’s seat.

I gave her the license plate letters, feeling both sick and relieved.

Had Bo even realized what he’d done that night? How could he have lived with himself if he had known? I wasn’t sure whether to feel angry or sorry for him.

Mrs. Gardner’s phone call connected. She was no longer looking at me, but down the street where Bo had turned. She gave her husband the information and told him about the party. I was glad she wasn’t looking at me because I saw lights spinning around me, coming in close, and then I stood in my family room.

Chapter 24

The room wasn’t like it had been before our trip to the Middle Ages.

The furniture and curtains were gone, and the carpet had been pulled up, as though someone tried to take it but realized it was too big and heavy to move. Clutter lay everywhere. Books, pencils, electronics, canned food. Apparently the thieves hadn’t known what to make of a lot of our modern things.

I was definitely back on our street. Through the bare windows of the living room, sunshine poured in. I could see the paved road, the neighbors’ houses, the streetlamps standing sentry over the sidewalks.