235. Missing Candle

235. Missing Candle

The next day, at ten o’clock sharp, I was at the back door  of the Gentlerains’ house. I didn’t have to knock. Not only was the door open, but Pearl was at a window, looking anxiously out at the backyard. She was outside before I reached the door.

“Today of all days my brother-in-law was taking forever to leave his house. He gets up every morning at dawn, like my husband, who is also a workoholic, and can’t stay put. August walks all over the house making sure everything is just like he left it the night before and then goes out to the garden, probably to check if everything is  right there too. He observes the neighbours’ territory from the corner of his eye because he disapproves of these people who, he says, have yet to be romanized, though he does nothing to bother them. Then he stares at the sea as if turned to stone for a few minutes and that is all the time he can be still in the whole day. He may be checking for sea serpents, who knows, but he stays put. And if there were trash here over at the beach, I am sure he would go down there with a bag and clean it all up, but of course, there is not even a sample of litter out there. So, he goes back into the house, to the kitchen, where he helps my gran make breakfast. Or so my gran tells me, because when I get here, it is about nine o’clock, since I have to see to my younger kids before I leave home. So by then, your uncle August has left, or I catch him walking out the door. Mabel gets up much later, but that is because she doesn’t sleep much nights, they say. It seems she spends many a night chattering with her papa about highbrow stuff in the inner dining room. There’s another odd creature for you, Mab’s daddy. Always looking overwhelmed and swaying giddily when he walks.”

“The Mnemosinite?”

“The Memorion,” nodded Pearl.

“I believe he lives in a boat, so maybe he suffers from sea legs. Speaking of homes, Pearl, I’ve seen your house here in Apple Island from the outside and it has to be a wonder of this world. I would never leave it if it were mine. I don’t know why you bother to come to cook here. Mabel doesn’t care a fig what she eats or how this house is run. Her husband brings squads to keep it in order and I think he has lunch at work and may even have dined before returning here in the evening. I don’t think Granny Milksops has much to do here and…”

Pearl interrupted me.

“Sure,” she said. “I know my brother-in-law could find Gran a much better aide than I am. And he himself is of much more help than I, when he rolls up his impeccably ironed sleeves and gets down to it. But I have my reasons for wanting to come here. Do you really like my house? Well, it’s just the same on the inside, as you’ll see one of these days.”

It is impossible not to notice the Brightfire house, because it is all made of precious metals. The roofs are of solid gold richly encrusted with pearls from the oysters they eat daily. It is in the same neighourhood as the homes of three of my elder sisters and though all the houses in this island are enchanting, Pearl’s stands out because it is most opulent and modern.

All this we said while we stood at the door, where we chatted until little Candle flew out the open kitchen window to see who her mum was speaking with. When Pearl saw the child, her face changed and became as white as a blank sheet of paper. “Go with great gran, dearie,” she said to the child. “Your cousin and I have things to talk about.”

Before she left, the little fairy flew to me and kissed me on the forehead to say hi, transfering to me a bit of flour from the tip of her nose. And she left, making cute little noises, buzzing like a busy little bee, as she always does.

“This kid is probably a workoholic too,” I said. “She’s just like a baby bee. Her name should be Melissa.”

“Yes, that’s what her name is. Melissa,” said Pearl. She paled again. And now she even looked squalid.

“What?” I murmurred, not knowing what to say.

“That’s not Candle. Candle was stolen by the undergrounders. Can you see what a problem I have now?”

When I had recovered my speech, I asked Pearl, “And who is this?”

“I don’t rightly know. They didn’t leave a replacement when they took Candle. This is a kid I myself personally kidnapped without leaving a substitute either. I did this so your uncle wouldn’t kill me for losing our baby.”

I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Tonight is the invisible phase. New moon. That means that by twelve p.m. everyone on the island will have turned off the lights that can be seen from outside so whoever wants to can enjoy the utter darkness. That’s why I need you.”

“How can I be of help?”

“Twist the arm of the Old Man of the Mound,” said Pearl.

“So he will tell us where Candle is. Yes, I will do that. I sure will! Who is he and where can he be found?”

“No. By now, Candle has to have been warped. She is sure to have turned into a different person herself. What I want you to do is to force the Old Man of the Mound to promise to make my new daughter able to shake gold. You see, I’m transforming this child. She had darkish, chestnut hair, like yours, and I’ve turned that into a  reddish yellow, like my kids have. I´ve also changed her voice, so she can’t speak like we do and no one can understand her. She can only buzz like a bee. That’s so she can’t tell on me. And I’ve taught her to cook, so I can say she at least resembles me and my granny. But she has to shake gold, because this special ability is the first gift Fi gives his children. He gives them this as soon as he recognizes them as his own. And this one can’t shake a penny, because she doesn’t have the gift. What Fi gave Candle, Candy took with her when she disappeared.”

“Aunt, you have no idea how shocked I am. This is the most horrible story I have heard in my life. I think…I don’t know where to begin to digest it. Could you tell me the whole story from the very beginning?”

“No, because we have no time for that. Tonight is the invisible phase of the moon. New Moon. The old man will come out and stand at the top of his mound to inhale the darkness. Can you see well in the dark?”

I nodded.

“Well, you have to seize him by a wrist or an ankle and not let him go till he promises to give the little bee the gift of shaking gold. He knows how that’s done. I don’t.”

“I will do that, though it isn’t right to harass other fairies. I will start y doing that, because it is urgent for you. But I also mean to find Candle. I won’t leave a stone unturned till I find her. We are not going to give her up.”

“What are you going to do that for?” asked Pearl, despondently. “We don’t need two little girls. I don't think they will have eaten her. It could be, but that would be too horrible. But it is almost certain that she has been corrupted. Turned into a delinquent like her abductors. Or she may have been sold to a half human bad witch, who will treat her like a golden egg laying goose. But let’s not think of her. I feel awful when I do. And I become paralyzed and can’t do what I have to. You concentrate on the old man.”

I could understand Pearl’s fear of Brightfire’s bursts of rage. But I thought of what my mother would do if one of us were kidnapped. She would never just accept that we were lost. I could only conclude that Pearl had lost her better judgement because of her distress. 

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll start by coercing the primordial fellow. But this won’t end with that. I’m going to recover my cousin.”