Free A Fairy's Guide to Disaster by A W Hartoin Page A

condition.” She turned and left, closing the door behind her.
    I brought the clothes to my nose and sniffed them. They smelled like Dad’s wood shop just after he’d cut a fresh piece of maple. I breathed the scent in until my lungs could take no more, and then slowly let the air out, pressing the fabric to my face. I heard the door open and looked up.
    Soren’s mother peeked around the edge of the door. “Hurry, dear. There’s no time to lose.” Then she disappeared again.
    I nodded and wiped my face and scratches. There must’ve been an antiseptic on the cloth because all my scratches tingled and left a pink tinge on the cloth. I realized how awful I must look. It was a wonder Soren didn’t run the other way when he saw me. I probably looked like I’d been in a war, and in a way, I had. A war where I seemed to lose every battle.
    I slipped off my tattered jumper, blouse, and tights. The blouse survived all right, but my jumper and tights were trashed. The new clothes were way too long for me, but fit in every other respect, except that there was no place for my wings to emerge. The clothes felt wonderfully clean and new against my skin. They were soft, probably woven from cotton and painted with intricate detail.
    The door opened again and Soren’s mother asked, “Are you finished?”
    “Yes, but the clothes are too long and I can’t get my wings out.”
    She came in with a piece of glass. “No matter. We’ll fix that.” She cut the hem of the pants and the cuffs of the sleeves. Behind me, she cut long slits down the back of the top and pulled my wings through.
    “Done,” she said, patting my shoulder.
    “If the spriggans got my sister, what would they do to her?” I asked.
    “How old is she?”
    “Ten.”
    “She’s too old for them. We’re lucky you’re long past the valuable age. You’d have brought a pretty price,” she said. “We must go. Soren will already be leading the search.”
    We went out the door to find most of the other dryads were gone or still walking away. They didn’t move very fast, but they looked determined with their straight backs and strong steady strides.
    “What would they do to Gerald then? He’s eight,” I said.
    “They’d sell him. They’re traders. Children are their favorite merchandise.”
    “Sell him. Like a slave?”
    “Exactly like that. Children are easier to work with. They adapt better than adults,” said Soren’s mother.
    I walked beside the dryad in silence. It was unbelievable. Slavery. I had heard of it, but didn’t know it was still practiced. My parents definitely should’ve told us about spriggans. Sometimes scared is better than ignorant. But who would buy Gerald? All he could do was annoy people. As worried as I was about Gerald, I still had a queasy pit in my stomach about Iris. I couldn’t remember a time when my little sister wasn’t dogging my heels. We were always together, whether I wanted to be or not. Now Iris was all alone with Easy. I didn’t think she’d open the door to the spriggan, but maybe he could trick her. Iris was as curious as she was sweet.
    Soren’s mother took my hand. “It’s not too late. We’ll find him.”
    I nodded. All I wanted to do was get back to the mantel and check on Iris but I couldn’t, because of Gerald. If anything happened to Iris because of that stink fairy, he’d regret it.

CHAPTER 8

    I spent the whole afternoon searching the antique mall with Soren and the other Dryads, but sometimes I went off alone, flying up high and fast.
    No luck, not even a glimpse of Gerald. That stink fairy. Was he hiding from me? Or worse, had something happened to him?
    Soren Maple waved at me from beside a large woven basket. I took one last look from my high vantage point near the ceiling, tucked my wings, and dove straight down to the dryad. I smiled at the nervous look on Soren’s face as I pulled up at the last second to land beside him. When my feet touched the linoleum, my knees nearly went out