Fallen Thief Read online

  “Peter’s not home?” Mira asked at once. She felt the blood drain from her face. Since when does Peter go off on his own? she threw her thoughts to Kay, who shook his head, his eyes wide.

  “Oh, so he isn’t with you?” Mrs. Waylor’s sweet voice now had a tinge of panic to it. She turned to Mr. Waylor and muttered, “I told you it was strange that the front door was unlocked.”

  “Were you together before you came home?” Appoline asked Mira and Kay as she showed the Waylors inside.

  “We all went back to the workshop together,” Kay said. “Then Mira and I came home.”

  “Was anything else missing when you got home?” Mira asked.

  This question earned her confused stares. With a nervous gulp, Mira began to explain the figure they had seen through the workshop window earlier that evening.

  A moment later, they were all hurrying back to the Waylors’ home.

  There really was someone in there, said Kay’s voice. Mira was panting as she and Kay led the way to the puppet shop, unable to keep from running in their rising panic.

  Mira took in a shaky breath. Peter can’t be missing—he just can’t be. Even as she thought the words, she couldn’t quite fight off the uneasy feeling that was making her stomach churn.

  Once Mr. Waylor opened the front door, Mira and Kay darted up to the workshop, nearly stumbling as it was completely dark. They stood still for a moment, panting until Mr. Waylor joined them with a lit lantern at hand.

  “The conch!” Kay exclaimed immediately, pointing down at the floor by the shelves at the old box Peter had used to hide the conch shell. He ran over and picked up the striped box and swung the lid back onto it with a snap. He turned to Mira. “The box is empty!”

  “What conch?” Mrs. Waylor said as she and Appoline entered the room.

  “We—Peter—” Kay stammered. “There was an important conch shell in this box! A Shadowveil must’ve stolen it—that’s who was in here in the first place!”

  “And the Shadowveil’s gone and kidnapped Peter, too,” Mira said numbly.

  Kay hurried to the door. “Come on, then! He’s out there, somewhere—we’ve got to find him!”

  Mira bounded after him, ignoring the questions their parents were throwing at them. Kay found a watchman down the street and blurted out in a rush that a Shadowveil had kidnapped their friend.

  “Who?” the watchman asked.

  “Peter Waylor.”

  “Why would a Shadowveil kidnap this boy?”

  “I—he—” Kay stammered. “The Shadowveil was after a conch shell he was hiding! It’s really important, and now it’s missing. Hurry, we have to catch him—we can’t let him get away!”

  “And what did the Shadowveil look like?”

  Kay turned to Mira desperately, clearly not knowing what to say.

  “He can turn into an animal.” Mira hoped her steady voice sounded confident enough for the man to believe her. As she spoke, she remembered the open window that didn’t look wide enough for a person to fit through, though somehow the Shadowveil who had snuck in and out of the workshop had clearly managed it. “If he’s not in the form of a man in a black cloak, he’ll be a small animal.”

  The window, said Kay’s voice. Mira nodded once, keeping her gaze steady on the watchman.

  The watchman stared back for a moment. Then he pressed his lips together skeptically, but he rang his bell all the same.

  “Thief!” he boomed. “Kidnapper on the loose!”

  A moment later, they heard the faint sounds of more bells being rung in the distance. A few curious neighbors poked their heads out their windows.

  “Show me where it happened,” the watchman said, and Mira and Kay led him to the puppet shop.

  About an hour later, the Waylors’ home was filled with people. Two more watchmen holding intimidating spears had joined them to tell them nothing out of the ordinary had been found, and soon a pair of town councilors joined to see what the commotion was about.

  Mira wondered how many more times they would have to tell the same story over again before the whole town knew what happened. Peter’s parents were beside themselves with worry, and Appoline kept asking them how it was that the conch shell was of utmost importance when Mr. and Mrs. Waylor had never even seen a conch shell before in their lives. Mira and Kay only bit their lips and kept silent.

  Scoffing about the absurdity of it all, two of the watchmen left to continue patrolling the streets. Mira melted under the stern gaze of her mother, knowing that she and Kay were in for even tougher questioning once they were back at home, but she didn’t care as long as they found Peter.

  When yet another person arrived at the shop that night, they all turned to find a most unwelcome face at the door.

  “What is the meaning of this?” said Mr. Streck slowly as he took a step inside. “Word of a shape-shifting Shadowveil, stealing shells across town? Kidnapping children?”

  “We’re taking care of it, sir,” the watchman said.

  “I don’t think you are,” Mr. Streck replied. “I, for one, am sick of the games these children are playing—running about, frightening other families with their nonsensical stories and unnatural tricks.”

  “At least we don’t go running around punching other kids,” Kay spat.

  The room was silent for a moment.

  Mr. Streck sniffed, apparently unbothered. “Indeed. If I see any of you lay so much as a finger on any of my children, I’ll—”

  “Careful, Mr. Streck,” Appoline interrupted him, her voice as soft as ever, but her gaze looked like it could burn through walls. “Mr. Wells, here, is a watchman, and as a watchman, he may report directly to the mayor. You wouldn’t want him to report you for threatening to hurt a child, I expect? How would that look for a member of the Town Council? And all while you hint that you believe my children have cooked up a story about their missing friend. How shameful.”

  Mr. Streck’s jaw muscles pulsed as he clenched furiously. A moment later, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the shop. Mira fought the urge to run across the room and hug her mother. Appoline did not seem to be in the mood for anything other than business.

  The watchman named Mr. Wells reluctantly agreed to stand guard outside the shop for the night while another went off to make sure the search for Peter continued. Mira and Kay muttered their goodbyes and walked home after Appoline with heavy feet.

  Mira was already exhausted by the time Appoline sat her and Kay down in the living room of their home. Still, she didn’t waste a moment and immediately told her mother everything: about the fairy story they heard from the Fabler, their trips to Nesston, the falling tower, and the two valuable items they had found in the sorcerer’s secret lair. Kay was surprisingly silent, watching Mira explain as he sat stiffly next to her.

  Appoline’s reaction was far less frightening than Mira expected.

  “Do you have this vial of blood?” Appoline asked calmly once Mira had come to a breathless end to her story.

  Mira jumped up and ran to her bedroom to retrieve it. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat in panic, for she wondered if the Shadowveil had also stolen the vial. But when she felt it underneath her mattress, she relaxed.

  Back in the living room, she held out the vial hanging from its chain for Appoline to take. Appoline’s face didn’t betray a shred of surprise as she turned the glass over and considered its shimmering contents, but Mira thought she saw a trace of fear in her eyes. She handed it back to Mira.

  “I don’t know what to do with you two,” Appoline said finally.

  “Oh, Mother, don’t be angry,” Mira rushed to say. “We did it because we had to! The Shadowveils are only trying to stop us because we’re on the right track—you said it your—”

  “Peter got hurt,” Appoline cut in. “And now he is missing.”

  Mira felt like her breath was knocked out of her. Her mother was right. Peter, her best friend in the entire kingdom, was ki
dnapped—all because they had given him the conch shell to hide. She clasped her hands together tightly and fought back tears.

  “Alexandra already got hurt,” Kay said. Mira turned to him in surprise. “She kept us safe for months, and now she’s stuck in an everlasting sleep because she was protecting us. We’ve almost found the only cure that might exist to wake her up. You want us to just stop trying? And just give up on Aristide, who’s the only merrow who can help us figure out what the Shadowveils are up to? The Shadowveils are going to keep hurting people until we stop them.”

  Appoline watched him in thought for a moment. Then she sighed and stood up.

  “It is time for dinner and then bed. We will talk about this again tomorrow, but for now, we need to rest. Hopefully, the watchmen will find Peter tonight and—”

  “I’m not hungry,” Kay muttered, getting up and heading to the stairs.

  Mira stood up, too, and after a second of hesitation, she followed her brother to their bedroom. As soon as she closed the door behind her, Kay spoke.

  “You need to get into Peter’s thoughts. It might be our only chance at finding him.”

  Kay’s words didn’t surprise Mira. She took a deep breath and nodded. She was desperate to hear her friend’s voice, to know that he was all right.

  She sat down on the edge of her bed and closed her eyes, silently sending off the words, Peter, tell me where you are.

  She willed herself to feel the bubble around her thoughts, to push forward until it enveloped Peter’s mind. Instead of leaving it at that, she dug deeper, willing her thoughts to flow with Peter’s. With a strange sense of clarity, she suddenly knew that she had reached her friend.

  A second later, her mind buzzed with a mixture of fear and desperation.

  “…hope you can hear me. I can’t see anything, I—”

  Peter?

  “Mira! Can you hear me?”

  Yes—where are you?

  “He’s covered my eyes, and my hands are tied. I have no idea where I am. He’s here and he can change…”

  Peter’s voice began to fade just as a dull pain crept into Mira’s head. She fought through it, pressing her eyes shut and thinking frantically, Who’s got you?

  But she was only met with silence.

  She opened her eyes gingerly and saw Kay watching her intently.

  “Well?”

  “I heard him.”

  Kay looked like he’d been slapped across the face. He blinked rapidly.

  “You did it?” he asked, dumbfounded. “Well, where is he?”

  Mira shook her head, suddenly tired. “He doesn’t know. The Shadowveil’s blindfolded him. I tried to ask him more questions, but his voice just slipped away…” She rubbed her temples.

  “What about the Shadowveil?”

  Mira looked up at her brother.

  “What about him?”

  “Odds are he’s the same one from the Day of Dreams, right? The watchman said that something chewed through the rope that held up the sign. It must’ve been the Shadowveil, in an animal form, so that it wouldn’t be seen at the festival, just like how he must’ve turned into an animal to get out of that window without us seeing him in the workshop!”

  “You’re right,” Mira said slowly. Then she shook her head, for her thoughts still felt heavy with her headache. “So…you think I can get into his mind again? Like at the festival?”

  “You’re the only one out of all of us who’s seen this Shadowveil if he really is the same one.”

  “I didn’t see him,” Mira corrected. “But I think I remember what his voice sounded like…”

  “Might as well try.”

  Mira hesitated but quickly pushed aside the thought of the headache that was sure to come. She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath, trying to ignore her growing headache. She shut out the world around her and thought only of the voice she had heard weeks ago.

  It is done, it had said.

  She reached for the sound in her mind with a sense of certainty that she hadn’t felt before. She knew her thoughts would find the voice, wherever it may be.

  “…another way to see the message. Confounded thing—it’s useless. She’ll kill me if I hand her an empty shell. Curse those slithering, worthless—”

  A flash of white and red smashing against a stone wall. Pieces of the conch shell sprinkled down onto a dirt floor. A few jagged shards stood out against the wooden window ledge, blinking in the faint light coming from the cottage across the street…

  Mira opened her eyes but quickly closed them with a gasp and buried her face in her hands. The pain in her head was so bad that she thought her skull might crack.

  “What happened?” Kay said in a rush. Mira felt the bed move as her brother sat next to her. She inhaled steadily and pulled her hands from her face, trying to open her eyes through the sharpness of the pain.

  “My head—it’s unbearable,” she gasped.

  “It hurts?”

  “Worse than anything I’ve ever felt.”

  She glanced at Kay’s worried face through the blur of tears that stung her eyes. He jumped up.

  “We should get Appoline,” he said.

  “Yes.” Mira stood up on wobbly legs, trying to think straight through the pain. “We need to tell her where the Shadowveil is keeping Peter.”

  Kay’s jaw dropped.

  “You know?”

  “I saw it. They’re in the shed behind the Fabler’s cottage, next to the stables.”

  Appoline wasn’t happy when they burst into the kitchen to ask her to help them track down the Shadowveil, but once Mira explained what she had seen through the Shadowveil’s eyes, she gave in. They grabbed their cloaks and were on their way.

  Mira’s head was still throbbing, but the cool air seemed to help ease the pain. She could see straight again, at least, as they hurried through the night. They passed by two watchmen as they approached the stables, and Appoline stopped to speak to them.

  “My daughter has found the location of the Shadowveil. We could use your help to capture him and rescue the boy he’s kidnapped.”

  “And how does your daughter know where he is?” said one of the men skeptically.

  “There is no time to explain. We have to go before the kidnapper has a chance to escape with the boy.”

  The men seemed to shrink under Appoline’s determined stare.

  “Where do you suppose this kidnapper is hiding, then?”

  They took the watchmen through the town towards the Fabler’s cottage, trying their hardest not to make a sound. Mira stopped when they were in front of the cottage, with the stables and shed just visible beyond the hill.

  “He’ll see us through the window if we keep going this way,” Mira whispered as they huddled together. “We have to go around the other side of the hill.”

  “We’ll lead the way ‘round back, then,” one watchman said firmly. He held up his hand when Mira began to protest. “You’ll stay behind us, little lady. No point in anyone getting hurt if we can avoid it.”

  Mira pursed her lips and nodded. She could only hope the men would stay quiet. She didn’t know what this ruthless Shadowveil might do if he heard them. She couldn’t risk Peter getting hurt yet again. Appoline gave her shoulder a squeeze as she hurried behind the guard. Mira and Kay followed.

  They slowed down as they took the final steps towards the shed. A faint flickering light told them someone was inside with a lit candle.

  “It’s bolted shut from the outside,” one watchman whispered. They gave each other a single look. With a nod, one of them ushered the others behind the larger man, who inched closer to the door. With a sudden jerk, he kicked the door, which tore the lock right off the wall as the door slammed open. The two watchmen disappeared into the shed, holding up their spears.

  “What are you—” yelled a familiar voice.

  Through her ebbing headache, Mira felt a flash of anger run through her body at
the sound of the voice. This was the man who had nearly killed the Fabler, who had hurt and kidnapped her best friend—and perhaps even the man who had tried to kill Appoline in the fire, and then Mira and Kay inside the sorcerer’s tower. She pushed past her mother and bounded inside after the guard, desperate to see that Peter was all right.

  “Mira!” came the sound of Peter’s muffled voice. “Mira, is that you?”

  Peter was sitting against the wall with his hands and feet tied with rope, his head covered in a sack, struggling against his bonds. On the other side of the room, a thin man dressed in a black robe was standing with his back pressed against the wall, his round eyes darting from one face to another. The watchmen pointed their spears at him as Mira ran over to Peter and ripped the sack off his head. Peter’s face was bright red and his hair utterly disheveled, but he managed to give her a relieved smile before they turned to look at the Shadowveil.

  “Calder Hill,” Appoline breathed from the doorway. “Councilor—h-how is this possible?”

  “The councilor from Aindel?” one watchman asked in confusion.

  Mira’s eyes widened. It was, indeed, the councilor she had seen at the Town Hall—the one who had later questioned her about the Shadowveils alongside Mr. Streck. He looked thinner now and more haggard.

  “What is the meaning of this?” the Shadowveil yelled. His voice was deep, the way Mira remembered from her visions into his mind, but nothing like the soft, nasal voice that she had heard him use out loud. “Why are you here?” he demanded.

  “We could ask you the same question,” the other watchman said.

  Mira pointed at the pieces of broken shell littering the ground by the window. “Those are the pieces of the conch shell,” she said.

  “Why you traitorous—” the Shadowveil began, but a threatening twitch of the guard’s spear made him press his lips together.

  “You’re one of them,” Appoline whispered with a look of disgust Mira had never seen on her mother’s face before. “You have been trying to harm my children.”

  “Oh, but they are not yours, are they?” sneered the Shadowveil. He let out a spine-tingling laugh. “Though it does not matter. They will leave you soon enough, Byron, whether they want to or not.”