Ruby Fairygale – The Call of the Mysterious Creatures A Children’s Book by Kira Gembri © 2020 Loewe Verlag GmbH
no. 0459, 320 pages, for readers aged 10+
Prologue Later they would say that she had found the baby at the port. “It was just laying on the pier,” she would say, “and whoever passed it would have found it.” But that was a lie. She had really fished it out of the sea at the North Beach, in the little rocky bay that no island inhabitant ever went to. Cleo Collins did not want to tell the others why she had been there – and she was exceptionally good in keeping secrets. The only thing she was even better in was rescuing needy creatures. She gently wrapped the baby in her coat and pressed it to her chest. Strangely enough, it did not seem chilled through even though it had been laying naked in the ice-cold water. Its tiny hands felt warm and it had red cheeks. “Red like a sweet apple,” Cleo noted. “I think I will call you Ruby. What do you think?” The baby apparently did not have any objection. It dreamily listened to the seagulls as if their mewing was a nice melody. Cleo looked down on the tiny bare head and felt a twitch deep inside her. She had had countless little fosterlings which she had dismissed again into freedom later: birds with broken wings, stray cats, lonely baby seals. And still she shivered thinking that she would have to give away the warm bundle in her arms at some point. “Ruby,” she said slowly, almost ceremoniously. The storm tore the words from her lips and blew it over the sea. “Brave little Ruby. I think fortune has brought you to exactly the right place.” 1
CHAPTER 2
A sinister phone call We lived so close to the sea that I could see it sparkle from my room when the sun was shining. Then I liked to look towards the beach and had the feeling that the ocean was winking at me. When it was storming, though, and you could hear the roaring waves even through the closed window, I was so afraid that I pulled the blanket over my head at night. In contrast to me, Nana though that every mood of the sea was wonderful. She was the bravest person I knew, and always found something to do. Most of the time she walked around in leggings, rain boots and big sweaters, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. On her left ear there was a silver ring and to protect her against sun, rain, and wind she wore a scarf around her head that she knotted together in her neck. (…) “So, what did you want to tell me?” I cleared my throat. “When I was at Cathleen’s …,” I began, when the phone started ringing. It was a huge, outdated telephone, and the ringing always startled us. Most of the people only called in emergencies. Whoever was in for a natter just came by personally. “I’m sorry, dear.” Nana jumped up and took up the phone. “Animal doctor Collins, how can I help?” she asked. Then she made a relieved expression, and I exhaled. Apparently, there was no animal at need. I was just about to turn back to my cake when Nana suddenly knitted her dark eyebrows. “I understand,” she said. “Hm, we’ll see. Hm, hm.” Every new ‘hm’ sounded a little grimmer than the last one. Finally, Nana hung up with a bang and sat back down with me. “It was tattletale Tilda,” she said, even though she had forbidden me to use this name for the talkative librarian. “You cannot imagine what she found out in the bakery!” “Yes, I can,” I said and had to grin. “It’s what I’ve been wanting to tell you the whole time. Cormac will bring some guests from America to the island, isn’t that exciting?” Nana leaned forward. “Ruby, it’s not just a nice little family that is about to come,” she said solemnly. “Cormac just told Cathleen at the phone, and Tilda could hear everything. Apparently, the guests are a teenager and his supervisor…” “Supervisor?” I looked at her blankly. “You mean like a caretaker?” “Well, he is probably his private teacher. At least the supervising part did not work out.” She made a little break and her expression seemed so dark that my excitement was immediately gone. I chewed my lower lip nervously while she continued. “It sounds like the boy is an especially difficult case. Shortly before the departure of the ferry he just ran away. Tilda says that Cormac and the supervisor have been looking for him until the night. That’s why they only arrive today.” She looked at me expectantly, but it took me a moment to assimilate the news. Suddenly my hopedfor new friend had turned into a boy. A difficult boy. One who did not have any interest to come to Patch Island… And then I finally understood why Nana looked so worried. This boy was not a normal vacationist. A runaway like him would certainly not be satisfied with having cake at Cathleen’s, take a walk on the South Beach or have a picknick on the meadow. Instead, he would examine every corner in Patch Island carefully – the little rocky bay in the north as well. He would be looking for anything that would be exciting, even dangerous and that is where he would find it. My throat tightened. “What do you think he will do if he finds out about our secret?” I asked hoarsely. “I don’t even want to think about that,” Nana muttered, but she gave me the impression as if she was doing exactly that. “Anyway, it doesn’t make any sense to panic already. Maybe it is all rumours!” 2
I swallowed with an effort. “And if not …?” “Then we will think of something.” Nana took her fork but I had lost my appetite entirely. I shoved my plate away quickly and stood up. (…)
CHAPTER 3
I’m seeing black On Patch Island, rumours spread just as fast as avalanches: they moved terrifically fast and became bigger and bigger. This is why I was not surprised that most of the island inhabitants had already gathered at the port and talked across each other. What we called ‘port’ was actually only a tiny pier. The only ships that you would see here were Cormack’s cutter and the post boat. (…) Finally, the cabin door opened and two figures appeared. One of them, a small man with glasses and a half-bald head began to beam immediately. He waved at us cheerfully even though it must have been weird for him that we were all staring at him like this. “So nice!” he exclaimed. “Look, is this not a wonderful welcome?” He didn’t get an answer. The other traveller trotted onshore silently, his fists buried deep in his pockets. “That has to be him,” Nana whispered even though I naturally knew myself who was standing in front of us. While the supervisor and Cormack unloaded the luggage, I mustered the boy unsuspiciously. He was about one year older than me, had suntanned skin and frizzy dark hair. He would probably have looked pretty nice if his expression hadn’t been so sinister. His clothing did not exactly help to make him look friendlier as this sweater, the jeans and even his sneakers were all pitch-black. (…) “Welcome on Patch Island!” Nana called exuberantly and walked towards the caretaker. “You have chosen a wonderful day to arrive on our island. We don’t exactly have this weather often. Last year summer was on a Wednesday!” The man grinned – apparently, he actually thought that Nana’s joke was funny. And he didn’t seem to care that a stranger was behaving so intrusively. “Yes, the sun over the sea was wonderful,” he raved. Unfortunately, it did become a little too chilly for us on deck as we are not used to these temperatures in California.” It became perfectly still around me all of a sudden. Surely everyone was trying to remember what they knew about California. I could think of luxurious swimming pools (there was not even one on Patch Island), muscular surfers (I also only knew them from television) and beaches where you could actually tan your skin (here, you would become rusty at most). But the slender, pale spectacle wearer did not fit with any of these clichés and I could not imagine the sweater boy splashing around happily in the pool either. (…) “Please excuse Noah’s behaviour,” he told Nana. “He is in a difficult phase right now. But where could a … overburdened boy regenerate better than on an island without tourists, action and stress? By the way, I am happy to see that there is someone his age!” That seemed to be my keyword. I took a deep breath and turned to Noah. “Hi, I am Ruby,” I said and forced myself to smile. “Ruby Fairygale.” Noah mustered me with narrow eyes. “Of course you are,” he said, his eyes on my hair. To my annoyance, my cheeks heated up. In fact, I had gotten used to this kind of comment but Noah’s mocking tone of voice confused me totally. “Yes Ruby – like ruby-red,” I confirmed quickly. “But that doesn’t have anything to do with my hair. My grandmother had no idea that I would be a redhead. She is not actually related to me but found me as a baby when I was as bald as a potato…” 3
I bit my lip alarmed. When I was nervous I tended to talk way too much. Noah already made a scornful face as if he could see the potato head clearly in his head. “Gripping story,” he said. “Why don’t you tell it to someone who is interested in it?” “We’ll go to the hotel now and rest now, before you offend someone here,” Mr Bennet stepped in. He chuckled as if it was a joke, but for the first time his happy expression seemed a little strained. (…)
CHAPTER 4
The little bay in the north I wanted to run as fast as possible, but I forced myself to walk in a comfortable walking pace. I always did that when I was on my way to the North Beach. In case another island inhabitant would show up, I would just tell them that I was going for a walk. Only when I reached the last hill I started running. The little trail, which had been formed through Nana’s and my feet, went downhill between moss-covered rocks and blackberry bushes. Most probably, no one had been here in years except for us. That might seem strange on an island as small as this one, but most of the inhabitants were actually convinced that this place was haunted. They told each other that a man had fallen into the sea and drowned after spending the night in a tavern. Only that he hadn’t noticed that he had died. That’s why he was still sitting on a rock close to the shore, drank salt water from the sea and became more and more grumpy because his beer tasted so bad. (…) While I walked towards the shed I had to think about the day my grandmother had taken me for the first time. She had opened the door without forewarning and the smell had first reminded me a little of the nursing ward next to our house. But then I had seen eyes glow in the dark – eyes that were way too big, light and too far up to be of a cat. In that moment it became clear to me that this had to be something very different. “Really the difference is not that big,” Nana kept saying. Mysterious Creatures can be just as imperative as cats, as playful as dogs or as cheeky as seagulls. And if they are injured it hurts them just as much.” Still she had admitted that at her first encounter with a mystical creature she had been taken by complete surprise. It was about twenty years ago when Nana had found a little man on her doorstep. To be exact: A man the size of a lemonade bottle. Nana had known immediately that he belonged to the goblins – the leprechauns who had a role in countless Irish legends. Jumping with fright she had cursed and thus sympathized with the goblin immediately as goblins love to curse. “My leg is loused up,” he had explained groaning. “Verminous seal crab, it hurts! Would you be so nice and apply one of those stupid splints, human woman?” Nana would not have been herself had she not offered her help to him. Instead of attaching a splint, though, she put a plaster cast on the goblin’s leg which healed his leg correctly. He told his friends and relatives enthusiastically about it so that soon more and more little people asked for Nana’s help. Shortly afterwards, Nana’s yard was overrun by a variety of creatures which supposedly only existed in fairy tales. This is why Nana had reconstructed the old fisher shed at the North Beach to be a secret nursing ward. To camouflage it, she left the outer part like it was and she never repaired the rusty lock on the door either. Whoever was injured or sick should be able to seek shelter in the nursing ward at any time. The patients would have refused to be locked anyway. The loved to romp about on the beach whenever they were fit enough to do so – but that was exactly what they could not allow in the near future. Unfortunately, I doubted that such a rule would be followed. A working lock would have been practical for a change. 4
I took another deep breath and opened the door. “Listen everyone, please!” I yelled and peered into the darkness. “We have a problem.” “Did you forget the candies?” someone peeped from a corner. I could not make out who it had been but it was not important. Most of our supernatural patients were just as crazy about Cathleen’s sweets as I was. “Yes,” I admitted and a many-voiced howling sounded in my direction. “But that’s not important right now.” “You’ve got it easy. I can smell that you’ve already had cake today,” someone bickered while I plodded further into the semi-darkness. “And you let us starve?” another asked reproachfully. “Typically human.” The mystical creatures ranted and growled in a wild disorder until I clapped my hands a few times. This is how I actually succeeded in silencing them. One after another they directed their big and small eyes towards me and it became very quiet. I nervously shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I felt exactly like when I had to present in front of the whole class in the Island Primary School. No, even worse because in school there were only six listeners. (…) “So, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I began and tried to speak slowly. “I need to ask you not to leave the shed in the following days. Also, you need to be really quiet, okay? Foreign people came on the island and at least one of the is going to rove about everywhere!” (…)
CHAPTER 6
Floppy hat on wrong ways In the waiting room of Nana’s practice there were piles of animal journals. Every now and then I pilfered a few of them to read them before going to bed. One of the articles was about a man who had lived with a wolfhound. He stayed with the wolfs for years without taking a shower and even ate the same things that they did so that they would accept him. Out of pure desperation I made the decision to try the same with Noah. No, of course I wouldn’t go to the meeting with him without showering and I hadn’t planned to invite him to a raw piece of deer leg. But it might not be a bad idea to adjust a little. The next morning, I combed through my wardrobes right after breakfast. Nana and I both loved colourful clothes, but I did have a pair of black leggings and in Nana’s clothes I found a men’s pullover in the same colour. Maybe it had once belonged to a former lover? At least I knew she hadn’t been married, she had told me that much. I slipped into the pullover and then rummaged through our box with rain stuff where I found black rain boots and a black floppy hat. Covered in darkness from head to toe I marched down the stairs. (…) “How do I look?” I asked and did a quick spin around myself. “As if you were going to rob a bank,” Nana said, honest as always. “Dear, are you sure this is a good idea?” I had already told her at breakfast that I wanted to play tourist guide for Noah and she was not excited about this plan at all. In her opinion it was enough if the mystical creatures kept hidden in the nursing ward. But I thought very differently about it. Whoever messed with Cathleen’s cake would surely not bother to leave a foreign shed alone. And even less so if the door wasn’t locked. A little nervous, I moved the floppy head out of my forehead. “You will see that it will work,” I tried to convince my grandmother just as much as myself. “First I will take him back and forth on the whole 5
island until he has had enough of discovery tours and then I will claim that he has seen everything important. This way he won’t even get close to the small bay in the first place. – And I’ll do my homework later, I promise!” “Hmm.” Nana hesitated a little before she opened the door. For a change she couldn’t think of any optimistic saying. “Break a leg, then,” she just murmured while I passed her in my black rain boots. I felt more and more queasy the closer I got to Graham’s Inn. From the last bend I could already see two figures standing in front of the Inn. Mr Bennet had put his hand on Noah’s shoulder as if he was trying to keep him from running away. At the same time, he beamed over his whole face. “Ruby!” he called in my direction. “We are so happy that you took the time. Aren’t we?” Noah didn’t deign to look at me but shrugged his shoulders in silence. He acted as if Mr Bennet was holding him a little too firm, even though I could hardly imagine. Finally, the caretaker let him go. “So, I hope you’ll have a great time revealing the secrets of this island,” he said. He winked at me in a good mood before he disappeared into the Inn. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed that I had winced a little at his words. Only when the caretaker had left, Noah lifted his head. “What a bootlicker,” he said derogatively. I was going to say that I thought Mr Bennet was pretty nice but that probably wouldn’t have matched my sinister outfit. So, I rolled my eyes exaggeratedly. “Yea … such a pain,” I sighed like a ghoul with a toothache. “Let’s bunk before this lame guy shows up again.” Apparently, I had convinced Noah. At least he trotted beside me without objection when I started moving. He did not seem to be up for a conversation, though. There was an embarrassing silence between us and I feverishly tried to think of something to say. “Why are you in trouble with your dad?” “How much does Mr Bennet earn for guarding you?” “Did you not feel a little sorry for Cathleen’s poor cake?” Nothing seemed useful to gain his confidence. While I was still contemplating something better, Noah broke the silence. “By the way, what are you wearing?” he asked and examined me from the side. “Are we going to a funeral now or something?” Incredible! How was it possible for him not to notice that we were dressed in matching clothes?? “Nah, it’s just a few of my favourite clothes,” I said quickly (and hopefully somewhat cool). In the next moment a gust of wind swept over us and I had to hold on to the hat with both hands while my hair was blown wildly around my head. “You look like a burning piece of coal,” Noah noted. Maybe that was true, but my mood was now at the bottom. Was it normal that boys acted like this? Was it maybe some sort of transition phase when they became adult men? I didn’t really have a lot of experience in this field because Orin’s thirty-yearold nephew had been by far the youngest man on Patch Island. But I had read some love stories for adults from the island library. The heroes in those stories were usually funny and charming, and when they smiled there were dimples in their cheeks. I would never know if Noah had dimples. Before he smiled, sheep would probably learn how to fly. “Are we there yet?” he grumbled now even though we hadn’t been walking for long. You couldn’t really go far distances on the island anyway except if you ran in a circle. “It’s over there,” I said and pointed at a moss-covered rock which stood out between the broom shrubs. “Can you see the rock that looks a little like a door? This is supposedly the entrance to the fairy world and they say that it brings you luck to sit here at night.” Of course, I knew that it wasn’t true. Fairies would never arrange the entrance to their world so prominently, as they didn’t value any unbidden guests. Still I liked the story, and if anything on Patch 6
Island could be called an object of interest, then it would be this door rock. But Noah looked at me as flabbergasted as if I had just presented the biggest cowpat of the island to him. “Oh man,” he sighed. “First the landlady tells me that she regularly puts out a bowl with milk for the brownies and now you come along with this bollock! Is everyone on this island dopey?” ‘Not everyone,’ I thought. ‘But some fairies are pretty crazy and when the goblins are drunk they do show off sometimes.’ “That is not dopey,” I said aloud. “These are stories and customs that simply belong to Ireland. And some people do believe in them. There has to be something that you believe in, right?” “Indeed.” Suddenly the mocking expression on his face was gone and his look became dark again. “I believe that this tour is a waste of time. It looks like it would even have been more exciting to do a vocabulary quiz with the bootlicker!” Really, I should have been happy about these words – there couldn’t happen anything better for the mystical creatures than the fact that Noah thought the whole island was boring. But for some reason it bugged me to hear him talk so disparagingly about my home. “What did you expect?” I asked. “Bungee-Jumping or Disney World?” “There is at least a beach here, right?” Noah answered. He had caught me on the hop. “Y… yes,” I stuttered. “The South Beach. Or the Only Beach, like I like to call it. There is only one, because the island is so small, you know? It’s over there.” With my arm stretched out I pointed to the direction of the port and it didn’t matter to me that Noah looked at me again as if I was crazy. The important thing was that he didn’t get the idea to walk into the other direction. When we reached the beach a little later I was convinced that Noah would start complaining again immediately. For instance, because there were no beach chairs, no snack bar and obviously not volleyball net. But he just stomped through the sand in silence until the points of his black sneakers were almost in the water. Then he stared at the horizon without moving. I could only think of two reasons why someone speechlessly looked at the sea: he wanted to enjoy the view or he wished to be somewhere else. For Noah it could only be the second option. I was surprised how depressed he suddenly looked. “Are you…” I started saying and was going to say “ok,” but then I screamed “hat!” A gust of wind had blown the floppy hat from my head and span it a few meters through the air. Subsequently, the black thing landed with the brim on the waves. “Oh, well, that was it,” I said without much regret – but Noah seemed to disagree. Blazingly fast he slipped out of his sneakers and dragged the pullover over his head. “You won’t …!” I only said, then he dove headlong with jeans and t-shirt into the sea. When he hit the water, he balked for a second, he was probably used to warmer temperatures from home. But he still wasn’t dissuaded from his intention. After hesitating for a second, he started swimming and ploughed through the waves with astonishing speed. I watched taken aback how he brought the hat back to the beach in no time at all. “What was that about?” I gasped when he was back out of the water. “You just said it was one of your favourite pieces of clothes,” Noah said and handed the soaking wet hat to me. “It… at least is among my top 50,” I stuttered, still pretty confused. Noah had just acted like a dimple hero from a novel, and more so for an old floppy hat! But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that the rescue mission had only been a pretence. “You are part of the swim team, right?” I deduced trenchantly. Noah would probably have taken the next best opportunity to bolt into the water. Why he had kept on his trousers and t-shirt though was a mystery to me. 7
“I was part of the swim team,” Noah affirmed and pulled his sweater over the wet clothes. “But dad took me from the school. So, I am out.” “Why did your father do that?” I asked without expecting an answer. Noah’s face looked expressionless, almost turned into stone. To my surprise, he said: “Well, there were too many complaints about me. T’was this really exclusive school, and they didn’t really cope well with me. Dad had to keep interrupting his business trips because I was in trouble.” “Why?” I inquired carefully. Noah shrug his shoulders. “Nothing special. I bunked, got into beatings … you know.” “Of course,” I said, as if I had an idea about these things. Bunking was impossible if you were taught at home at the kitchen table. And who should I have beaten up here? (…) “At least now dad has his peace because I have to pass the summer with the bootlicker Bennet,” he said. “And after the summer break he will probably put me into a boarding school. We’ll see, maybe they have a swim team as well.” He looked out into the sea again, as if he preferred to be somewhere else. But whichever place he thought of, it was surely not the boarding school. (…) “I can imagine how the vacation here feels like to you,” I blurted out. “In books foundlings usually have a letter or piece of jewellery with them which helps them to find their parents later. But I wasn’t even wearing clothes. Whoever has left me there … I mean here, apparently did not want to see me ever again.” “And what does that have to do with me?” Noah asked. “Well, because your dad just sent you here to work in peace,” I heard myself say, even though a voice inside my head yelled constantly: ‘No, stop, hold your mouth!’ “And because he will probably push you off to a boarding school. I know how it feels when parents want to get rid of you.” From one moment to the next Noah’s eyes became really small. “You didn’t understand correctly,” he said icily. “My father does not want to get rid of me, he just has a whole lot to do. But one probably can’t understand that after growing up between sheep and seagull dung. “Bye, I’ll get along by myself here.” With those words he turned around and walked away towards the north.
CHAPTER 7
About Smuggle and defensive walls “Hold on, please!” As soon as I had yelled it, I regretted it. Nana always said that as an animal doctor you shouldn’t be timid. (…) So, I added with a firm voice: “You surely don’t want to bolt before you have seen one of my absolutely favourite places, right?” (…) “So, this is it?” he asked. “The great attraction that you wanted to show me – a fat pug and sick poultry?” (…) Even though he was soaking wet, I felt like someone had tipped a bucket with ice-cold water over my head. (…) “You know what? You are right, it really is a waste of time. And I’m not just talking about the tour, but about your whole stay on this island!” Noah opened his mouth, but I didn’t let him speak. My pulse was racing, there was a rush in my ears, and I had lost all reservation. “Your father has to be crazy if he thinks that you would change in any way.” I blurted out. 8
“You are unbearable and you will always stay like that. No wonder that he does not want to have anything to do with you!” I spun around and stormed out of the nursing ward. (…) It took a moment before I could make out the huddled-up figure in the back of the room. He was kneeling in front of a kennel and had stuck his right hand through the bars. A shiver ran down my spine when I realized who was on the other side of the bars. Smuggle, the grumpiest dog in the world would bite Noah’s fingers off like sausages. I was just about to yell a warning when I realized that it wasn’t necessary. The huge grey wolfhound was laying on its side and allowed Noah to ruffle its fur. (…) “Well. Sometimes people behave nasty without actually being it,” Noah said. (…) And then, suddenly, I understood. Noah presented himself just as unfriendly as Smuggle but it was only a defensive wall. He really didn’t want people to leave him alone. He knew that his father received regular reports about his behaviour and he finally wanted him to pay attention to him. As soon as I had figured him out, my anger faded away entirely. Somehow, I could even understand him. (…) “How come that you know so well how to handle dogs?” (…) “So, I used to have one,” he began slowly. “Tucker. I got him from the animal home and in the beginning he was just as cheesy as this one.” He lifted his chin in Smuggle’s direction. “But after a while, he became really friendly. Mom and I always went on trips with Tuck when dad was away. We went to the woods with him or to the beaches where dogs were allowed to run around without leash. And then … one day … we had an accident. A truck directly collided with us. The only one who survived was me.” (…) “Hey, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. With the fat pug and the poultry. This,” he gesticulated around himself, “is actually pretty cool.” (…) He didn’t have dimples, by the way. But his smile was pretty nice, anyway.
CHAPTER 16
I’m promoted “Listen, sweetheart,” she said, “there’s this little examination that the doctors want to do with me.” The shock went through me like a cold lightning. “You’re not sick again, are you?” I asked breathlessly. I had to think immediately about the time in the beginning of this year, when Nana had been in the hospital for a heart surgery. I had never been so afraid for someone in my whole life. “No worries, it is just a check-up,” Nana reassured me. “The want to monitor me forty-eight hours and check if my heart is doing it’s work nicely. I should have done this a while ago, but there’s always so much to do …” “But you wouldn’t be here for two nights!” I objected. “I can’t care for the patients all by myself for that long!” Nana shook her head thoughtfully. “No, honey, it would be too much. You can’t care for the normal and the magical nursing ward all by yourself. But I’ve been watching you and Noah closely you seem to be doing the work pretty well together. Especially now that Clover is acting much better. So, if you are confident enough, I will promote you to be the main caretaker and Noah will be your assistant.” “Of course, I do!” I exclaimed with all my power of persuasion that I could muster. “Don’t you dare cancel the examination again!” Grinning, nana put a hand to her forehead. “Aye, aye, captain,” she said. “Don’t look so serious, I will do it. Tomorrow morning I’ll take the post ship – the postman still owes me because I took Smuggle. And on Wednesday Cormack will pick me up with his cutter.” (…) 9
“We’ll get along perfectly,” I assured her. “The normal nursing ward is almost empty and in the shed everyone is doing better as well.” “It is a good time,” Nana agreed. “I checked it today. Except this flipping Fitz gives me a headache.” (…) “And… if I accommodate him in your room while you’re gone?” I suggested after a while. “Then he has his peace from the other goblins and I can monitor him better.” Nana looked at me surprised while she slowly started to smile. “That could work! The lad will be beam with pride when you tell him that he will have a special new accommodation. Nothing can go wrong this way.” (…) I would have agreed to any silly ritual to avoid what would happen in the next days. Unfortunately, I didn’t do any of it – and maybe that’s why bad luck began to run its course.
CHAPTER 20
The suspicion “Morning, Smuggle,” I murmured after dragging myself downstairs. “Are you coming with me to check on the nursing animals?” Smuggle didn’t move. I could only see his behind stick out from under the table and heard him grumble reluctantly. Surely, he was still tired because he had been sitting next to me in the hall for hours last night. Only thinking about it gave me a bad conscience. And I hadn’t just kept up Smuggle, but also the sick Fitz. Compunctiously, I decided to serve their breakfast later and sneaked outside as quietly as possible. (…) When I returned to the house after my round in the nursing ward and casted a glance into the hall mirror I almost had to laugh despite my lousy mood. My curls looked so matted that they reminded me of a goblin’s beard. “Check out how fancy I look,” I called out in a happy voice, tore the door to Nana’s bedroom wide open – and froze. The doll bed was empty. “Fitz?” I gasped while I stumbled into the room. “Come on, this is not funny! Where did you hide?” No answer. With a pounding heart I dragged pillow and blankets out of the doll bed, moved the dresser and looked into the bin. There was no trace of the goblin. (…) The thought sank into me like a thorn. I wanted to shake it off, not believe it, but it all fit together. What had Noah told me on the door rock? “I would prefer to just bolt, but where should I go without money…” Fitz had money, plenty of it actually. Somewhere on this island there was a bucket of gold buried and he was the only one to know the hiding place. The thought that Noah was using the goblin to find out about his secret made me feel sick. Was he really able to carry out such a cruelty? (…)
CHAPTER 21
A truckload of misfortune When I opened the door to the magical nursing ward I immediately felt the cold. Usually it was cosily warm here during this nasty weather because it adjusted to the needs of the patients. But now the air was damp and smelled a little mouldy, just like a normal fisherman’s shed. (…) 10
A little insecure I whispered the magical spell: “Let there be light!” Immediately, the room became light and I exhaled. At least this seemed to still be working. Relieved, I bent down to Smuggle and petted him between his ears because he was growling strangely. Even his neck fur was bristled. “Are you not looking forward to see your lad Clover?” I asked surprised, then I looked up. The sight felt like a punch in the stomach. For a moment I couldn’t even breathe while I stumbled further into the shed. I hoped with all might that this was just another bad dream and that I would wake up from any second. But no matter how often I squinted my eyes, the mystical creatures were still gone. (…) “Rosaleen?” I panted as soon as I had reached the Banshee department. In my haste I almost tripped over a root that rose out of the mouldy soil. (…) When Rosaleen took off her hood I fell silent in shock. From under it, an infinitely sad expression emerged – not the usual Banshee way sad, but entirely hopeless. (…) “Yes,” the death fairy said lowly, “you asked us to stay in the shed, and we fulfilled your request. Then you brought a foreign human and we trusted you. But we shouldn’t have done so. We should not have believed you when you said that the boy was no danger for us. (…) “You mean, they listened to our fight?” Rosaleen shook her head, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “It was no fight. When the goblins were close enough to listen, you had just proposed to sell Fiona to an aquarium and Clover to a circus. Noah had answered: “Sure, I’m only doing the job as a caregiver to become rich.” “But we didn’t mean it like that!” I exclaimed appalled. “At least I didn’t!” (…) “Please, believe me, Rosie,” I pleaded, “I only wanted to show Noah with my examples how terrible it is to exploit a mystical creature. Fitz disappeared last night, and I am pretty sure that Noah kidnapped him!” Rosaleen seemed to think for a moment. Then she wiped her tears away with the tip of her cloak and said miserably: “I do want to believe you, Ruby. The others would never have expected anything so horrible from you, either. But that doesn’t change the fact that they did not feel safe anymore. So, they left.” She swallowed hard before she said: “Forever.” (…)
CHAPTER 25
In danger I would never forget the fear in Rosaleen’s eyes. In slow motion Noah grabbed Smuggle’s collar and clenched his fist around it. “There we go. If you want to you can be reasonable after all,” Mr Bennet praised him without lowering the spade. “I will tell you know how we’ll do this. First, you lash back the mutt, and then we leave the shed together. Whenever we are far enough away, I will let the whining fairy go if you want. Would be too complicated to take her to America anyway. But the goblin stays with me and if you make any trouble, he will have to atone. (…) “I hope you have leashed the beast sufficiently,” he hissed. “He better doesn’t break free!” He looked over his shoulder nervously and I understood that Noah had been right: Mr Bennet was actually a coward. But that made him even more dangerous. To get to the exit quicker, he pushed Rosaleen so hard that she fell on her knees. Noah pointed the flashlight in her direction and I could see that she 11
had been hurt by the spade. A silver gleaming scratch was visible across her throat. While I looked alarmed at the wound, Mr Bennet seized the Banshee on her hair again. “Up with you! Quickly!” he roared – and then my fear was gone from one minute to the next. “Human lad,” I heard myself yell clearly, “that’s enough! Let go of my sister immediately!” It was hard to say who was more surprised in this instant: Mr Bennet or I. (…) Mr Bennet clicked his tongue irritated. “Your sister? Don’t make a fool out of yourself. You are just a badly brought-up, bog-standard child.” (…) I took a deep breath and then called with all the power my lungs could master: “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” In the next moment, various things happened simultaneously. Light flooded the room so that we were all dazzled. Mr Bennet gasped appalled while he was holding a hand in front of his eyes. The spade clattered on the floor and I took a leap forward. “Artur Bennet!” I howled in the most gruesome voice that I had heard from a ghoul. It sounded half wailing, half menacing and I myself got goose bumps. “You will immediately hand out your phone, the goblin and the death fairy! Then you will disappear from here and never return to Patch Island, or… or…” This is when I stumbled, but luckily Mr Bennet did as well. He had backed off slowly, his eyes as big as saucers, and stumbled over his own feet. He paddled with his arms in the air a few times before he fell on his behind with a piglet-like squeak. To be honest, it looked pretty funny. But I was way too nervous to laugh. I was afraid that my spooky effect on Mr Bennet would fizzle out soon – but before I could panic again, a weird, high sound penetrated my ears. A sound which probably no other human had ever heard. The giggling of a death fairy. I looked over to Rosaleen incredulously. The tears were still shining on her cheeks, but aside from that she looked completely changed. Since her arrival at the nursing ward she had always seemed afraid, timid and jumpy. No sedative drops, herbal teas or comforting words had changed anything about it. Now it had finally happened: Rosie was not afraid any more. “Or,” she continued my unfinished menace, “you will bitterly regret it. Because a death fairy never forgets.” And then she started to scream. (…) Mr Bennet had picked himself up and raced towards the door. Without turning around, he took flight headlong out of the shed.
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Epilogue Cleo May Collins was standing next to her granddaughter at the port and gazed out into the sea. When she squinted her eyes, she could just see the ship that was disappearing gradually at the horizon. To Ruby’s left Noah lifted his arms ceremoniously. “A miracle has happened,” he announced. “This is the first time a farewell leaves me entirely cold. – I think I’m getting old,” he added with a croaking goblin voice. Ruby giggled. “Could it also have to do with the fact that your father is standing by himself on board of the yacht while you are allowed to stay on the coolest island on the whole Atlantic Ocean?” “Oh, right.” Noah lowered his arms and grinned at her. “Then the wonder is the fact that dad left me here.” “Only for the summer,” Ruby objected and the beam on her face was gone for a moment. But Noah remained undisturbed. “The summer is long. And at the end of it at least I don’t have to go to St. Aurelius. Dad already called to unblock my spot. I would never thought that he would do that! Somehow everyone who gets in touch this island is changed by it.” “Right. Smuggle turned from a mean street dog into a family member,” Ruby said and stroked the wolfdog between his ears. “Fergus has shown his cool side,” Noah added. “The goblins had a bad conscience.” “Rosaleen was scary.” “And you not so much anymore,” it escaped Ruby. Shortly afterwards her face had turned almost as red as her hair while Noah started laughing. (…) Cleo had followed the conversation amused but now she flinched. Quickly, she looked back at the horizon. She knew that she urgently had to tell her granddaughter about some things. Things that had happened during her absence on Patch Island. But there was no worse time for such confessions on a carefree summer night with a rose-coloured sky, gentle breeze and glittering sea. So, Cleo decided to postpone the conversation a little longer. For the last time, she thought. At the next opportunity she would clear the air. Because Noah was right: The summer was long. Who knew what all could happen…
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