Operation Tenley (21 page)

Pennie blinked at him. “
Feel
good? What do you mean
feel
good?”

Laraby wiggled out from under Gavron’s arm. “Gavron, are you saying family
was
there to catch them when they fell?”

“You know it, bro.” Gavron high-fived him.

“Wait,
what
?” Pennie asked.

“We caught ’em.” Gavron smiled his gray teeth at her.

“
Both
of them?” She could almost hug Gavron.
Almost.
“You caught both of them?”

“Well … it was a joint effort, right, boys?”

The sipLips popped up again, drooling and waving.

Pennie looked at Laraby. “Is this true?”

“They would have no reason to lie about this, especially because if they did, the consequences would be an all-time high.” Laraby glared at his brother.

Gavron threw his arms up. “Hold onto your head mobiles, Fairly Ones. It’s all true
.
”

Pennie spun around. “So where are they?”

“I dunno” Gavron shrugged. “Hey, boys, where
did
you put those slimy clients?”

The sipLips started miming their rescue, flapping their arms and snatching at the air. They continued flapping with one arm while they held something large in the other, until it looked like that something was slipping out of their hold. And then the something did slip out of their hold—you could tell by how they smashed their palms onto their foreheads, looking worried and searching the ground below.

“They dropped ‘em,” Gavron translated.

Pennie gasped.

“
Dropped
them, where?” Laraby asked.

Gavron wiped some drool off his chin. “Couldn’t tell ya.”

“
Where
, Gavron?”

Annoyed, Gavron turned back to his boys. The sipLips mimicked falling through something and landing hard on the ground. “Here,” Gavron interpreted. “They fell somewhere in here, too.”

Pennie stormed over and grabbed Gavron’s robes. “Are they alive?”

“Idk, Fairly One. Our job was to catch them if they fell, pull them out if they drowned, lift them up if they sank. Your overall rescue operation protocol.”

Pennie released him. “How did you know they were even in danger?”

“He told us.” Gavron pointed to Laraby.

“You could say it was an educated guess; we
are
talking about you and your client. Now, if what Gavron is saying is true—”

“Which it is,” Gavron huffed.

“It means Tenley and Holden might have survived.”

Pennie turned away. “Tenley! Holden!”

“Quiet!” Laraby warned. “The last thing we want is for you-know-who to find
us
before we find
them
.”

“And who would we be talking about exactly?” Gavron inquired.

“Mother Nature,” Pennie answered.

Gavron exploded, suddenly trying to catch his breath. “Are you telling me we fell into her
gardens
? But that’s
underground
. I can’t breathe, I can’t
breathe
.”

“Knock it off.” Laraby punched him in the shoulder. “You were breathing just fine a second ago. Obviously her gardens have their own atmosphere.”

“Doesn’t look like it’s working too well.” Gavron frowned and glanced around.

“That’s because Mother Nature’s gardens are but a microcosm of her bigger planet,” Laraby explained.

“I knew that. Everyone knows that.” Gavron cleared his throat and kicked at the ground.

“I don’t,” Pennie admitted.

Trying his best to be patient, although it
was
in the Manual, Laraby said, “The state of the Earth is directly reflected here in the state of these gardens. In other words, as the Earth becomes more polluted, so do these gardens. It’s no wonder she wants to destroy humans.”

“
Right
?” Gavron agreed.

A high-pitched yell echoed through the forest.

“Over there,” Laraby pointed.

The faster they walked, the thicker and blacker the forest became and the harder it was to navigate. A few times, Laraby tripped over his robes, catching himself just before hitting the ground.

Gavron spotted them first. “There,” he said, pointing up.

Seventy meters high, in between a set of trees, two figures were dangling in midair.

Pennie started to run toward them but Gavron grabbed her. “Don’t.”

“He’s right,” Laraby said.

“How are they staying there, in the air like that?”

“Webs. She hangs uninvited guests in them,” Gavron whispered.

“How do you know that, Gavron?” Pennie asked.

“Let’s just say not all of Mama N’s Weathers are loyal to her. And me and my boys, we might hang out with few of those Renegade-types.”

“Your
boys
.” Laraby grabbed Gavron’s shoulder. “That’s it. We’ll send
your boys
in to get them.”

Gavron pursed his lips. “It’ll cost you.”

“What do I have left to give you?”

“Too true.” Gavron smirked, lifting his battered robes to expose Laraby’s impressive tool belt wrapped around his under-bloomers.

“You gave him your
tools
?” Pennie frowned at Laraby.

“Family might be there to catch you when you fall, but it’ll cost you.” Gavron dropped his robes and stepped back. “Which reminds me, this thing’s a dud.” He threw the garage-door opener at Pennie.

Above them, Tenley let out another shriek. Her leg had fallen through the net.

“She’s falling!” Pennie panicked.

“Technically, it looks like the net is disintegrating,” Laraby corrected her. “Gavron, how long do you think they have?”

“Not long.”

Another scream. Holden’s arm was hanging below his torso now.

“Not long at all,” Gavron repeated.

“Your sipLips are the only ones quick enough and small enough to get through those branches. They’re our only chance,” Laraby said.

Gavron scrunched up his nose. “Okay, but like I said, I don’t work for free. It sets up a bad precedent. Happened to my friend Dromo. Now he’s got no respect. Can’t even—”

Laraby grabbed Gavron’s collar and yanked him close. “If you don’t send in your boys right now—” He whispered something into his ear. Gavron’s eyes went wide. He turned back to make sure the other sipLips hadn’t heard.

“Videos
and
photos,” Laraby added.

“You wouldn’t do that,” Gavron challenged him. “Those are private family moments.”

Before Laraby could argue, more screams came from the trees. Tenley’s arm had fallen through. Holden fought to get to her, but the more he moved, the faster the web disintegrated.

Laraby turned back to Gavron. “You have three seconds.”

“Please, Gavron,” Pennie begged. “They can’t hold on much longer.”

Gavron looked back to the sipLips before turning to Laraby again. “Fine. But you owe me.” He snapped his fingers. “Go get them,” he ordered the sipLips. “And make sure you wash your hands afterwards.”

The sipLips activated their sorry-looking propellers and zoomed away.

Pennie turned to Laraby. “What did you say to him?”

“I have some videos that, let’s just say, he wouldn’t want to go public. Think underwear and cowboy boots.”

Overhead, the sipLips popped out of the leaves and flew toward the net.

The empty net.

Tenley let out a blood-curdling scream—but not at the sipLips above them, at the ground rushing toward her below.

From Pennie and Laraby’s point of view, it was impossible to know if the sipLips would reach them in time.

Mother Nature’s Garden

“Let go of me, you freak!” Tenley screamed.

“
No
!” Pennie and Laraby yelled up to the sipLips. “Don’t let go.”

“Put ’em down right here, boys.” Gavron directed them toward a broken tree trunk. “Nice and easy now.”

The sipLips dropped Tenley and Holden with a thump and zoomed off.

“Ow!” Tenley said. “But, thank you. Thank you so much, weird things.”

“Pennie!” Holden brightened. “What were those things? They had propellers.”

“I’m so happy you’re both okay!” Pennie turned to Laraby. “This is Laraby. He can explain everything.”

“Um, I’m sorry. What are you even
wearing
?” Tenley asked.

“Uniform,” Pennie answered, nodding to Laraby’s torn-up robes. “He works here, so that’s what he wears.”

Laraby stood transfixed by Holden. Pennie elbowed him. “
Laraby
.” She recognized that look. It was the same one she’d had when she’d first seen Tenley in person.

Holden’s face folded. “Wait a minute. How do you know him, Pennie? I thought you’d never been to Adventures, Inc. before.”

“Right, no,” Pennie stalled. “We’re friends.”

“You have a lot of old friends.”

“Where’s Dan?” Tenley straightened up. “Did he see me save that little kid?”

“I think he did,” Pennie told her. “He had to go.”

“Wait a minute.” Tenley narrowed her eyes. “Why didn’t you guys have to go on that, that”—she looked to Holden for help—“whatcha call it. Stupid virtual reality invisible thing that dumped us onto that invisible net thing, where we almost
died?
”

“The visual effects were epic,” Holden smiled weakly. “Except it really seemed like that lady was trying to hurt us.”

This shook Laraby out of his trance. “Lady?”

“More like a witch,” Tenley groaned.

“What did she look like?”

“Really old,” Holden said.

“Anything else you noticed about her?”

“Uh, yeah. She’s missing her heart.” Tenley shivered. “She applied the crazy and just stood there while a swarm of bees attacked us and then like a million spiders crawled around us. She didn’t even care, she just stepped back into her lame petal and left
.
”

“That’s her,” Laraby mumbled to Pennie.

“Who?” Holden asked.

“Someone else who works here,” Pennie answered.

Tenley slapped her hands on her hips. “I could sue for, like, a thousand reasons. No seatbelts, for one thing. My Uggs are ruined. And we never even signed a
waiver.
”

“It wasn’t that bad, parts of it were pretty awesome. Like that air surfing. And those little propeller guys.” Holden looked at Pennie. “I’ll go on it again with you, if you want.”

“I think we should get back to the bus.” Pennie glanced at Laraby.

“I agree. Let’s go,” Tenley said.

“Pennie. We might want to look a little harder for that
thing
before we go,” Laraby nudged her. “That
thing
you lost?”

“The thing I lost,” Pennie reacted. “You’re right. We should find it.”

“Which reminds me,” Holden said. “I found your necklace.” He pulled it out of his pocket.

Laraby’s eyes bugged. “Yes, very good. That’s what she lost.”

Holden handed it to Pennie.

“Thanks Holden. Where’d you—”

Something slurped.

“How about we all FaceTime later?” Tenley suggested. “This place gives me the creeps.”

“Good idea,” Laraby said. “Pennie, come with me. Let’s look for the exit this way.”

The two stepped away. Pennie slipped him the crystal.

Holden and Tenley followed, but stopped when they heard leaves crunching behind them.

“Howdy-do,” Gavron slurped.

Tenley backed away. “Why does
no one
wash their clothes around here?”

Pennie and Laraby spun around.

“Couldn’t help but overhear the gravity-groper mention a necklace. You still owe me for that broken wall opener. Mind if I take a look at it, Fair One?”

“Don’t even
think
about it,” Laraby warned.

“Jam your hype, bro. I was talking to the
other
Fair One.”

“I don’t have a necklace.” Pennie held her hands up to prove it.

“Yes you do. The one with the infinity sign. I just gave it to you,” Holden reminded her. “Why is everyone calling each other Fair Ones, anyway? What is that?”

“Didn’t you watch the remix, Wonderall? It’s like a fairy, but with tools. That’s what Pennie told me.”

“You told her?” Laraby turned to Pennie.

“Yup, she told me everything,” Tenley answered.

Laraby threw his hands up. “Okay, now we have a serious problem.”

“Aww. You took my advice, Fairly One,” Gavron said proudly. “Are we in love?”

“You told your client about us because
he
told you to?” Laraby pointed at Gavron.

Holden groaned. “What is going on here? Why am I the only one who doesn’t know what any of you are talking about?”

Pennie turned to him. “Holden, what Tenley just said is true.”

Holden crossed his arms. “You said it was a play, you were rehearsing your lines for a play.”

Pennie looked down. “I’m sorry.”

“Wait. So, you’re saying you’re a
fairy
?”

“
Fair One
,” Tenley and Pennie said together.

Laraby groaned. “You’re lucky Fair Force can’t monitor us in here, Pennie, because you’ve just committed serious crimes.
Serious
crimes.”

“I had to tell her, Lar. Nothing else was working.”

“Well, now we’re going to have to erase their memories.”

“
What
?” Tenley grabbed her head. “You can’t erase my memory. I need to know who I am at the ANMIT auditions. What if I think I’m someone else? Like someone who can juggle or something. I can’t juggle.”

Gavron reached into his tool belt. “I’ll do it.”

“Gavron,” Laraby said. “Put those away. We can’t let her see those.”

“Who?” Tenley asked. “You mean that old lady in the ugly jumpsuit?
She’s
the evil queen?”

“Mother Nature,” Gavron said. “She’s trying to kill you.”

“
That
was Mother Nature? You didn’t tell me she wore a
jumpsuit
?” Tenley turned to Pennie.

“Okay. Every single one of you is sounding bonkers.” Holden backed away.

Pennie leaned into Laraby. “If we’re going to erase their memory
anyway
? What’s the harm in telling them?”

Laraby considered. “All right. But keep it PG. Nothing too gory.”

Pennie turned back to Holden. “That old lady
is
Mother Nature. And Gavron’s right, she’s not very pleased with what’s happening to her planet. That’s where we come in. We protect you from her, as best we can.”