“Tell me the last time a true hero walked among the fey folk,” said Simon. “Jack is the personal protégé of Merlin the Magician. And a close personal friend of mine. I thought you girls would enjoy meeting him before he becomes famous.”
Simon lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard. “Jack’s going to save the world from the forces of eternal night. How often does someone like that come along? Remember all the trouble it was getting to see Arthur?”
April giggled. “It was worth the effort,” she declared. The nymph laughed again. “Even with the scandal afterward.”
May and June blushed. All over, Jack noted with wide eyes. Hours later, he tried imagining what might embarrass one of the mall nymphs. His mind boggled at the possibilities.
“Dietrich von Bern claims Jack is yesterday’s news,” said July, arching one eyebrow. “According to the German, in a few more days he’s going to be running the whole show. He sounds pretty sure of himself.”
Simon sneered. “So did Hitler. And the Kaiser. And Bismarck. All the way back to Charlemagne. Overconfidence is part of the German national character. It’s bred into them like beer and sauerkraut.”
July stretched her arms over her head, setting the sweat on Jack’s back sizzling. But what she had to say cooled his passion instantly. “Von Bern intends sacrificing a bunch of human women to the dark gods. Burning them alive, if I remember correctly. Are you two planning to stop him?”
“Maybe,” answered Simon warily. “What’s it to you?”
“We hate human sacrifice,” said May. “We’re creatures of pleasure, not pain. Von Bern’s a handsome devil, and usually we enjoy partying with him. But he’s stepped over the line with this scheme.”
“Then you’ll tell us where the ceremony is going to take place?” asked Jack.
“Would if we could,” said May. “But von Bern keeps information like that to himself. Now that I think of it, though, I remember Jan saying she heard the German mention something about his hideout the other night.”
“Jan?” said Jack.
“Our other sister,” explained April. “Jan’s short for January. She’s off visiting the naiads at the aquarium today. You’ll have to return tomorrow evening if you want to talk to her.”
“Terrific,” said Jack, rising to his feet. They finally had a lead. “We’ll be back.”
“Oh, you can’t leave yet,” said May, also rising. “We don’t allow our guests to depart so quickly. That would be rude.”
“Oh, sure,” said Jack, realizing for the first time that without the nymphs’ cooperation, he was trapped in the courtyard. “We’re not in any rush.”
“That’s good,” said May, running one hand slowly along Jack’s arm. “Because what we have in mind might take a while.”
25
Nearly two hours later. Jack and Simon stumbled out into the momentarily deserted corridor. “See you tomorrow,” April’s voice echoed after them.
Gasping, Jack grabbed the water fountain and gulped down what seemed like a gallon of water. Afterward, he splashed several handfuls of the liquid in his face.
“Are they always so… enthusiastic?” he finally managed to ask his companion.
“They are incredibly vigorous,” said Simon, sticking his face directly into the stream of cold water. “Remarkable girls, especially when you consider they’ve been around for thousands of years.”
“Remarkable,” agreed Jack, straightening his clothes. “We should move. Cassandra’s probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”
Simon shrugged. “She knows the nymphs’ tastes too well to worry. Though, if I was you, I wouldn’t mention what went on in the courtyard to her. Ever.”
“It’s our secret,” said Jack. “Uh, Simon. The games the nymphs played with us… and that King Arthur nonsense Hazel mentioned this morning…?”
“Pretty much the same,” said Simon. “You understand why Merlin hushed up the whole incident?”
“You bet,” said Jack. “My lips are sealed. Permanently. Let’s hit those department stores. I definitely have to buy some new clothes. My wardrobe needs replacing. April’s nails ripped the back of my shirt to shreds.”
Jack soon discovered his bizarre appearance proved no deterrent to his spending money. Though most of the sales people eyed the floor when talking to him, they all readily accepted his cash. Five shirts, three pair of jeans, and several packages of underwear and socks swiftly filled his shopping bags.
“That should do it,” he decided, stuffing the loose change back into his pockets. Located a few stores away was the exit to the parking lot. “This has been a very satisfying day. I won’t forget our visit to the mall quickly.”
Glancing about, his gaze settled for an instant on a Radio Shack a dozen feet away. A window display of radios and CD players caught his attention. A memory from breakfast floated through his mind. Hazel’s portable radio needed batteries. “One last errand,” he told Simon, handing him the bags of clothing. “It won’t take a minute.”
Stepping into the store, Jack looked around for electrical supplies. Not finding them, he strolled further back into the shop. And found his path blocked by a huge exhibit advertising the chain’s new CD-ROM computer.
“Nice system,” said Jack, momentarily distracted by the hardware. He bent over and ran his fingers over the computer keyboard, calling up the tutorial. As he did so, a ripple of cold fire crossed his body.
“Bad move,” he said to himself and glanced at his reflection in the monitor. His normal, non-purple features glared out from the glass. “I’m not sure why, but that was awfully dumb, Jack,”
Anxiously, he backed out of the store and into the mall. Simon’s eyes bulged when the changeling saw him.
“The spell wore off,” said the faerie softly as Jack clutched one of the shopping bags up to his face.
“Right you are,” said Jack, his voice muffled by the heavy paper. “Maybe our luck will hold and no one will notice. Head for the car.”
“I’ll steer,” said Simon, linking arms with Jack. “Ready?”
“Ready,” said Jack and, without thinking, stepped forward—directly into the path of a tiny, white-haired old lady. The collision sent them both sprawling to the floor.
“I’m terribly sorry,” said Jack, scrambling to his feet. Bending over, he offered the woman his hand. “The packages I was holding blocked my view.”
“No problem,” said the old lady, peering curiously at Jack’s face. “My, you look so familiar. Do I know you?”
Before Jack could answer, the woman nodded as if answering her own question. “Help, help!” she shrieked in a voice louder than most air-raid sirens. “Murderer!”
“What the hell?” swore Jack, straightening in shock. All over the mall, people were staring at him and the little old lady at his feet. Out of the corner of an eye, Jack spotted a mall security officer hurrying towards them.
“Drug lord! Drug lord!” the white-haired woman screamed. “Help, help, help!”
“We’re trapped,” wailed Simon.
“Not yet,” said Jack. Reaching with both hands into his pockets, he pulled out all of his loose cash. Though he had spent freely, there were still hundreds of dollars left.
“Free money!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, and threw the bills into the air. “Free money!”
The mall erupted like a volcano. Crowds appeared out of nowhere. People shot out of store fronts as if propelled by cannons. Men and women, children and adults all raced madly for the cash cascading onto the pavement.
“Free money!” Jack shouted again, and tossed the rest of his reserve high over his head.