Darkling Green. Kim Thompson
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Название: Darkling Green
Автор: Kim Thompson
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Детская фантастика
Серия: The Eldritch Manor Series
isbn: 9781459736245
isbn:
“It’s his name, Mab. I like it.”
Mab leaned closer, staring into the baby’s eyes, and her expression softened. “I shall call him Evling. Evling. Evvie wevvie bevvie boo! Wuvey dovey boy!”
Willa stared. This was a side of Mab she’d never seen before. Sulky she had seen, as well as haughty, outraged, spiteful, and wary. But coochie-cooing? Never!
Willa looked after Everett for a couple of hours, two or three times a week. Whenever Mab heard Everett’s gurgly laughter, she came out to play peekaboo. She even nestled onto his pillow and sang lullabies. She had a knack for lulling him to sleep even in his crankiest moods, which made Willa uneasy.
“You’re not magicking him to sleep, are you? I’d rather you didn’t,” she said one day, but Mab paid no attention.
The snow continued to fall. Mab refused to go outside, but the other fairies took to winter with glee. Fashioning bulky coats from moss and dandelion fuzz, they seemed impervious to the cold and devoted themselves to inventing new and ever more dangerous winter sports. They began sliding down snowbanks on a dead leaf, then took to leaping from high branches and plunging into the high drifts. Willa suggested once that Mab should go out and join them, but Mab was horrified at the thought of dressing up in a snowsuit. Willa admitted the bulky clothes made the fairies look like puffballs, but they were having such fun. Mab harumphed and disappeared into her wasp nest.
When the excitement of jumping into snowbanks wore off, Willa was shocked to catch them bumper-shining: flying up behind cars on the road, grabbing onto the back bumper, and hanging on for dear life as the car slid and skidded down the icy road. Willa called a halt to that one right away.
“What if you were seen? Or hurt? We wouldn’t be able to find you, and … and …” This appeal had no effect on them, so Willa asked Mab to ban bumper-shining as “inherently unfairylike,” and that stopped the practice.
“Goodness gracious,” muttered Willa. “Why can’t you just busy yourself with drawing those pretty frost patterns on the windows? And putting hoarfrost on the trees? I thought that’s what fairies did all winter.”
Sarah rolled her eyes at that. “So last century!”
January and February passed quite agreeably. Miss Trang snoozed on in the hallway, serving as a convenient bench for taking off one’s boots. Everyone stayed cozy, and naps were frequent. Even the dwarves slowed in their work and spent the afternoons snoring in their hammocks. Willa walked to and from school in the soft whiteness of winter and did her homework in the quiet of the sleeping house.
The first of March dawned frosty and cold, with no sign of spring in sight.
“This is beyond my doing,” Horace maintained. “Spring will come when it’s ready, I suppose, and not a minute before.”
It was another two weeks before Willa saw what she considered to be a real sign of spring. As she swept the snow from the porch, she had a sudden sensation of being watched. She looked up to see a small dark shape on the front walk: a brown hare, standing up on his hind legs and giving her a serious look. As Willa stared, he dropped down onto his four paws, but not before she caught a glimpse of gold at his breast.
Willa didn’t know Roshni was around, but there was a sudden silent flash as the bird streaked down, and before the hare had time to react, Roshni had snatched him in her claws and lifted him into the air.
“Roshni!” hollered Willa. “No!”
Surprised, Roshni let go, and the rabbit dropped heavily to the ground. Willa ran up, not sure what to do. He lay on his back, panting heavily. Around his neck he wore a golden chain with a sun-shaped pendant.
Roshni landed nearby and paced, her head hung low. Willa positioned herself between the rabbit and the bird.
“I’m sorry, Roshni. I know you’re a carnivore and everything, but this rabbit seems … different somehow. I mean, look! He’s wearing a necklace.”
At this the hare clapped a paw over it and gave her an indignant look. He leapt to his feet and bolted from the yard. As he paused in the street, looking back at her, his face broke into a wide, loopy grin. He took a wild leap into the air, twisting crazily, landed on four paws, and dashed from sight.
“Mad as a March hare,” said Willa thoughtfully. It was an expression of her grandpa’s that she’d never quite understood until this moment. Roshni nuzzled her beak under Willa’s hand. “Oh it’s all right, Roshni. You didn’t know. That was no ordinary rabbit, so it’s just as well you didn’t eat him.”
Willa gazed down the street and felt a warm breeze on her cheek. It did feel like spring all of a sudden, and she felt restless. She felt like leaping up in the air for no reason, just like the rabbit.
Mad as a March hare, she thought again, and took Roshni inside for a less bloodthirsty snack of raisin scones.
Chapter Five
An unexpected visitor
Willa soon forgot all about the strange rabbit. There was new excitement afoot, as the fairies had cooked up a very special event for the Spring Equinox: the first annual Eldritch Winter Games. It started out as the Fairy Winter Games, but Tengu and Robert declared there should be events for normal-sized individuals as well, and they joined the planning committee. Willa wasn’t sure about the details of the games, but she was kept busy with fairy requests for fabric, bits of wood, scraps of plastic, paint, toothpicks, plastic wrap, tiny wheels, pillows, and all sorts of miscellaneous items. Excitement grew as the big day approached.
“This is going to be the biggest event of the year, next to Walpurgis Night,” said Baz enthusiastically.
“What’s Walpurgis Night?” asked Willa.
Baz squinted at her. “You’re kidding, right?”
Willa shook her head. Baz rolled her eyes. “Humans are so clueless.” And she wouldn’t say another word about it.
The Winter Games fell on a cold, overcast Saturday. Willa came over in the morning, opening the front door and ducking reflexively under the chandelier before realizing it was suddenly a full foot above her head. Not just the chandelier — the ceiling itself was higher. The main hall seemed to be expanding upward.
Nothing surprises me about this place anymore, she thought with a smile, as she stepped around Miss Trang into the parlour. The house was quiet and empty, but she could hear hoots of laughter and cheering coming from the backyard. Willa peeked into the bowl on the mantle and was glad to see a healthy bundle of knitted scarf.
Good, Mab has been keeping up, she thought. She stood in the sunshine of the parlour, breathing in the silence, and had a sudden strange feeling that the peace would not last long. She sighed and went out into the yard.
The spectators were gathered: Belle in her wheelchair and the others in lawn chairs, everyone bundled up in mufflers and blankets. They were all looking down into the empty pool. At one end, a snowdrift sloped from the edge of the pool down to the СКАЧАТЬ