In the bathroom, Makenna tried unlocking the window, but Raeven hovered beside the door, listening to the conversation at the front door.
“Makenna,” he spoke. “Quiet. Come here.”
“Come here?” Makenna asked. “You’re the reason I’m in this mess, chief!” She continued to prowl around the window.
“Makenna, wait!” said Raeven. He flew to her and bit down on a strand of her hair. He then pulled her to the door. “I think they’re talking to Peter Nelson.”
Mr. and Mrs. Nelson had just finished introducing themselves to Mrs. Delling, and Peter asked her, “Do you think I could pick her up tomorrow around five? The dance starts at six. I mean, that’s as if you’re okay with it. She did tell you she was going to the dance with me, right?”
“Sure, sure!” quickly spoke Mrs. Delling. “Of course, Peter! Of course!” She sighed. “You can pick her up tomorrow, but make sure you bring her home by ten!”
Mr. Delling groaned and smacked his palm to his face.
Back in the bathroom, Makenna and Raeven glanced into each other’s eyes. They then pressed their ears against the door.
“Is Makenna here?” Peter again asked Mrs. Delling.
She quickly shook her head. “No, no. She’s visiting her friend in the hospital. You know, Tracey?”
“Visiting?” asked Liana. “You mean, you just left her? She can’t even drive yet! How did she get there?”
“Well, uh-uh,” Mrs. Delling stammered. “Ma-Maybe she fl-flew?”
“Flew?” wondered Liana. She placed her hands on her hips. “What are you talking about, Mrs. Delling?”
Mrs. Delling started to sweat.
Peter soon nudged his father, who still held a pair of binoculars, and he nodded. “Mrs. Delling,” he said, standing before his son and wife so he could meet Mrs. Delling’s eyes. “Do you know anything about fairies?”
“Fairies?” nervously asked Michelle. “Uh, no. Well, maybe a little, but I don’t have time to talk about them. I-I have to get Makenna ready for the dance.” She shooed Peter’s family members away.
Where Makenna and Raeven were, Raeven said, “Yep, that woman’s crazy.”
Makenna’s entire face turned blue.
“I’ll see you tomorrow when you pick her up to take her to the dance,” Mrs. Delling told the Nelson family. “Makenna’s looking forward to it. For now, though, bye. Thank you for dropping in.”
“But...” started Peter.
Mrs. Delling slammed the door on their faces and locked it. When she was sure Peter and his parents had reached the base of their staircase, she sighed and passed Mr. Delling and Caleb, heading toward the bathroom. Michelle unlocked it and threw open the door, gasping.
Makenna stood before her, Raeven hiding behind her shoulder, and she looked annoyed.
“Oh, Mom,” Makenna said after a bit, “why?”
***
Peter and his parents sauntered down Jenkins Point toward their own house and crossed the bridge.
Mr. Nelson and Peter had their thinking faces on, but Mrs. Nelson admired the sunset scenery. “Check out that heron!” she announced. She pointed at the marsh to a heron who flew away, but Mr. Nelson and Peter didn’t see it. They stood side by side, their fingers at their chins.
Mrs. Nelson finally turned to them and inquired, “Hello? I’m going to throw myself off the bridge.”
“Dad,” Peter spoke, “it’s obvious that Makenna’s parents know Tracey’s a fairy.”
“It’s almost too obvious,” said Mr. Nelson.
“Yoo-hoo!” Mrs. Nelson called to them. “I’m getting closer to jumping off the bridge!”
Peter and Cody lifted their heads and met eyes.
“It sounds to me,” said Peter, “that Makenna may be a fairy, too.”
“What?” Mr. Nelson yelped. “Why?”
“Think about it,” explained Peter. “Every time I’m with her, she always has to leave at sunset. Her mother also sounded pretty freaked out when you asked her if she knew anything about fairies. Besides, yesterday, when I met up with her to take her to Freshfields, I heard her saying to the Gator Pond that she and Tracey are very alike. Don’t even get me started on how much she likes him. Ooohh!” Peter clenched his fists. “It makes me so jealous thinking about it!”
“Oh!” yelled Mrs. Nelson. She waved at her son and husband. “The heat! The heat is too much for me to take!” Mrs. Nelson sank to the ground and closed her eyes.
Peter and Mr. Nelson continued to ignore her.
Cody smirked and reached into his pocket, pulling out the crumpled-up piece of paper with Tracey’s wings on it. “Double prizes! Two fairies! Two real fairies! If we work together to catch Makenna tomorrow, then we’ll be able to learn from her where Tracey is!”
“Commence Operation: Catch the Fairies,” Peter spoke. “I like that, Dad.”
“However, how will we convince Makenna to tell us?” questioned Mr. Nelson.
Peter gave him a Joker face. “Don’t worry, Dad,” he said, reaching into a leather bag he wore over his shoulder. “I have the perfect weapon to get her to talk.”
“Ooh. Let’s see it, then.”
Mrs. Nelson finally just gave up. She sat on the road, crossed her arms, and waited, grumbling, “Men.” Standing, she turned on her heel and left Peter and Mr. Nelson.
“Dad,” Peter said, grabbing something from inside his bag, “I present to you, my ultimate weapon!”
Mr. Nelson watched intrigued; however, his grin quickly died when Peter announced, “Here it is!” From his bag, he pulled out a wrapped chocolate cake.
There was a long, awkward silence. The crickets started to chirp.
Finally, Mr. Nelson asked, “Cake? That’s your ultimate weapon? A piece of cake?”
“Yeah,” Peter whimpered. He started unwrapping it.
“Uh,” said Mr. Nelson, “exactly how is it going to help us?”
“Oh, it will, Dad,” Peter evilly told him. “Trust me, it will.”
“Okay,” sighed Mr. Nelson. He pushed past his son and started to leave. “Whatever you say, Pete, but don’t come crying to me when we catch the Cookie Monster instead of Makenna. When we get home, we have to sit down and put together the plan for tomorrow. Are you coming?” Mr. Nelson stopped and turned back.
“I am, Dad,” Peter answered. “In just a sec. I need to do something first. You head on home. I’m right behind.”
“Okay,” again said Mr. Nelson, and he jogged after his wife. “Liana!” He waved at her, and Peter was left behind.
He waited for a minute or two until his parents disappeared, and then he examined the cake he held. He reached into his bag again and moved out of the way when a car crossed the bridge, passing him.
While he rummaged, Peter told himself, “I’ll show, Dad. I’ll show him why this piece of cake will be my ultimate weapon.” Next, he removed a bag of nuts from his bag.
Peter sank to his knees and sat on his heels in the road. He finished unwrapping the cake and placed the bag of nuts on top of the tinfoil so it wouldn’t blow away. Peter opened it and pulled out an almond. He broke it into smaller pieces and leaned over the cake. He carefully pushed the almond pieces deep inside and ensured they were well hidden.
After finishing with the almonds, Peter released a few more nuts and repeated the process. He broke them into smaller pieces and hid them in the cake, using a total of four nuts: almonds, cashews, peanuts, and hazelnuts.
Once Peter completed the process, he wrapped the cake back up and held it before him. “Hee, hee, hee, this is going to be a show. You might as well try all you can to get Makenna to the hospital, paramedics, but I’m not going to let you. Tomorrow night, her life is going to end, and you will never find her body, unless you decide to drive the ambulance to the bottom of the Ashley River. Hee, hee.” Peter picked up the nut bag and chucked it into the marsh.
Immediately, a flock of herons and egrets approached and started fighting over it.
“Tomorrow night,” Peter continued as he made his way back over the bridge, “Tracey will be ours. Dad and I will be considered the greatest celebrities in all of history.” He chortled and stepped off the bridge, heading home, a wicked smirk on his face the entire way.
ns216.73.216.103da2
and then Add to home screen.