as usual, but his book lay open and unread in his lap as he snoozed with his head propped in his hand. Fadiyah was hopping about restlessly on her perch. Willa put her hand on the bars of the cage and the bird stopped and looked at her. As usual, waves of reassurance wafted over her, like a gentle breeze. She took a deep breath and felt calm. The bird nodded.
Baz was still asleep. Willa could hear her snoring through the heavy door. Robert’s room, however, was empty. Willa hurried back to Belle, still at the window.
“Belle! Where’s Robert?”
The old lady raised an eyebrow. “Oh, Robert had a fine time last night, thanks to the Scotch. You should have heard him carrying on … the old goat.”
“But where is he? Where did he go?”
Belle nodded toward the yard. “He was partying with the floozies back there.”
“Who?” Willa was confused.
“The wood nymphs,” Belle answered wearily as she wheeled away. “I need a nap.”
Tengu was in the dining room with his head down on the table, fast asleep. Willa gently shook his arm.
“Tengu! Wake up! We have to go find Robert.”
He lifted his bleary head and blinked. “Okay.”
“Why is everyone so tired? How late did you stay up?”
“Oh, I went to bed right away, but I didn’t sleep well. Don’t feel rested at all.”
“I had the same kind of night.” Willa yawned, and they went out the kitchen door into the misty back garden.
The stable was straight ahead, in the back left corner of the property, but it could barely be seen, covered in ivy and drowning in tall grass. To the right of the stable was a stand of trees, strung heavily with vines and moss. Further to the right, next to the high fence that separated them from the Hacketts, was an open sunny area, but it was so clogged with grasses and prickly blackberry bushes that it was even more impassable than the woods.
Tengu led the way into the trees, following the loud sound of snoring. He pushed aside the branches and thorns for Willa, but she still found it hard to keep up with the agile little man. Once she heard a strange breath, like a sigh, that came from all sides at once. It sounded ancient and sad and chilled her to the bone. She hurried to catch up to Tengu, who was waiting for her.
“You’d better stick with me. Don’t want you wandering off on your own. You might fall in the pool or something.”
“There’s a pool?”
He waved vaguely toward the open area. “Yes, but it’s all grown over, full of weeds and slimy things. Best left alone.” They continued on.
Finally, beside the stable, they came upon a very strange sight. Robert was sound asleep sitting against the stone wall. Lying on the ground around him were a couple dozen little fairies, also asleep. With their long hair matted and their leafy clothing in severe disarray, they looked like discarded dolls. All was quiet except for snoring, Robert’s booming and the wood nymphs’ squeaky little snorts.
Willa couldn’t help but laugh. “So these are wood nymphs!”
Tengu nodded, also giggling a little. “A real disgrace, they are.”
Willa always had an eye on the Hackett house. To her relief the corner of the garden where Robert and the nymphs were passed out was shielded from the neighbours’ sight by thick vines and branches. However, they had to traverse a rather open area of the yard to get back in the house, so she fetched a blanket to throw over Robert’s head and shoulders. It was quite a struggle, but they finally got him to his feet, or his hooves, and he lurched toward the back door, moaning and grumbling.
Willa could see Mr. and Mrs. Hackett sitting in their kitchen, and when Robert’s hooves hit the back steps with a loud thud, Mr. Hackett leaned to peer out the window at them. Pulling the blanket firmly over Robert’s head, Willa and Tengu desperately shoved him into the kitchen, resulting in more crashing and cursing. Willa was stumbling up the steps, about to follow them inside, when she heard Mr. Hackett.
“Oh, Willaaaa!” He was on the back step now, hands on his hips. He wore that smug look that could only mean he had a grievance.
Willa sighed and conjured up a cheerful expression. “Hello, Mr. Hackett.”
“Was that a horse I just saw? It’s against zoning to have livestock, you know.”
“No, no,” Willa laughed nervously. “It’s not a real horse, just a costume. We, uh, had a costume party last night. I hope we didn’t make too much noise.” She knew the mention of noise would divert Mr. Hackett’s attention away from Robert. Noise was one of his favourite topics. She was right.
“Indeed! An unholy row it was, and after midnight too!” He was just getting revved up when Mrs. Hackett popped her head out the door.
“Later than that. I looked at my bedside clock and it said one thirty-seven precisely. I remember. One thirty-seven.”
“It’s really unacceptable, Willa,” continued Mr. Hackett. “I very nearly called the police.”
“Oh, thank you for not calling. It won’t happen again. We won’t have any more parties, I promise.”
“I should hope not,” sniffed Mrs. Hackett, patting her curlers and disappearing inside. Mr. Hackett remained, still peering curiously at the house. Willa smiled brightly, edging away.
“Welllll, anyway ... sorry for your trouble. Have a nice day!” As she opened the kitchen door there was another loud crash from inside. She gave Mr. Hackett another smile and a shrug, and hurried inside.
Robert had paused for a breather, leaning against the kitchen wall, and Tengu was picking up the chairs he’d knocked over. Willa took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts.
“Okay. We’ll get Robert up to his room where he can sleep it off.” Robert merely grunted in reply and rubbed his eyes. Willa squinted out the window. “I hope the nymphs are all right out there.”
“They’ll have to be,” replied Tengu. “We can’t bring them in here. They don’t get along with Mab at all. Some kind of fairy feud.”
Willa froze. “Omigosh. Mab!”
Rushing into the parlour, she retrieved the tiny key from the mantlepiece and paused before the dollhouse. She’d locked Mab in there before dinner last night and had forgotten to let her out again. She unclicked the lock and swung the side of the house open to see Mab sitting on the bed, arms crossed and staring daggers at her. The fairy’s face was purple with rage. Willa stuttered her apologies but Mab silently glared her down. Willa was relieved for the distraction of Robert clip-clopping through the house, moaning piteously. She joined Tengu, watching helplessly as the centaur staggered up the stairs, leaning against the wall or the bannister, which creaked under his weight, threatening imminent collapse. At the top he knocked a painting off the wall, slumped around the corner, and finally disappeared into his room.
Willa sighed. “No more booze for Robert.”
