Dust girl

Shimmy. “I must say, for a man doing something so stupid as turning down a kingdom, he did it up right. Broke his sword across his knee, kicked his crown across the floor.”

“Swore three times he’d never sit on your granddaddy’s throne.” Shimmy shook her head. “Then he walked out, leavin’ all of us with our jaws flappin’ right down to our knees.”

It took a while for these new words to settle in and make their manners with all the other impossible ideas that had set up housekeeping inside me over the past few days. But once they did, I knew they were staying for good.

“My papa’s a prince?”

Shake examined the burning end of his cigarette. “That he is. Now ask the next question, Callie.” My heart was knocking against my ribs. Jack touched my wrist, to back me up or to warn me away, I couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter. I had to ask.

“What does that make me?”

Shimmy looked to Shake, and Shake nodded. Shimmy smiled broad and slow, and she got to her feet.

“Never thought I’d be the first to say it.” She put one foot behind the other and bent her knees, sinking low. It took a second to realize she was making a curtsy to me. “Welcome home, Your Highness.”

12

They May Beg You to Go with Them

“No. No. This ain’t right.” I looked to Jack for some kind of help, but he was just sitting there with his jaw hanging open like it had come unhinged. “This can’t be right.”

“It is right.” Shimmy straightened up, smoothing her skirt.

“You, Callie LeRoux, are the heir to the Midnight Throne.” Shake smiled and blew another big cloud of smoke. His gold-and-silver eyes glittered on the other side of the cloud, and I shivered.

“Your grandparents have had us out looking for you for the last thirteen years,” Shimmy went on.

Jack finally managed to pull himself back together a little bit. “If it’s what you say… why’d her papa leave? Why didn’t he bring her mama to the… her grandparents’ kingdom?”

Shimmy probably would have ignored him, but I folded my arms and cocked my head, because it was a really good question. Shimmy saw my stubborn face and sighed. “Your papa was supposed to marry the Seelie princess, but he’d already fallen in love with your mama. So he decided to run off and be a mortal man with a mortal wife.” Shimmy plucked Shake’s cigarette out of his fingers and took a drag. “As if Their Majesties were ever gonna let that happen.” She blew the smoke toward the ceiling and handed the cigarette back to Shake.

He runs for that other woman, but he can’t run fast enough. The Shining Ones capture him and lock him away, but he still won’t marry their woman. The room tried to start spinning. I knotted my fists and dug in my heels. There was no telling how much longer these two would feel like talking. I would just have to get dizzy later.

“So where is he?”

Shimmy shrugged. “If you don’t know, nobody does.”

“Do you know?” Shake looked at the glowing tip of that cigarette, but I could feel him watching me.

I shook my head and tried hard to think about the taste of the barbeque we’d just finished, instead of what Baya had told me. Just in case they could read minds or something. If they were… were… fairies, they just might.

Shimmy frowned, and I felt something bunch up tight inside her.

“Well, that’s all right,” said Shake. “We’ve got you here and that’s what counts. Your grandparents are gonna be real happy when we take you to them.” His eyes sparkled through the smoke again.

I was beginning to wish I hadn’t eaten so much, because my stomach and heart were both flipping back and forth, not sure which way to settle. On the one hand, I did not like Shake. I did not like the way he looked at me with those glittery gold-and-silver eyes, as if he hadn’t had enough dessert.

But at the same time, he’d said I had grandparents. Grandparents. Mama’s parents were dead. I’d never really let myself think about my papa having family. Longing rose up in me as strong as the hunger had been. Right then I didn’t care if they were a king and a queen; what mattered was that they were alive and I could talk to them.

“If her grandparents want to find her so bad, why aren’t they here?” prompted Jack. It was funny: he was the one who’d wanted all this fairy stuff to be true, but now that it was, he couldn’t seem to believe a word they said.

Shimmy rolled her eyes. “Since when does the king run his own errands?”

I thought that made sense, but there was no way to be sure. Too much had piled up in my mind. I needed room to breathe and clear it all out.

“I know it’s tough, honey.” Shimmy laid her hand over mine. It was cool and soft. Shimmy was not somebody who did a lot of work. “And we’ll help you all we can.”

“That’s right.” Shake nodded and stubbed out his cigarette. I felt a current between them so strong that if I’d thrown a rock at it, I’d have struck sparks.

“I ain’t staying with you.”

“None of us is staying here. Too many of them around.” Shake jerked his chin toward the window. “Looking for you, may I add. We gotta head for the city gates and get you safe inside.”

“No.” I shook my head again. “I gotta find Mama. When that’s done, I’ll come see my… whoever wants to talk to me.”

“Your mama.” Shake made a face like he wanted to spit. “They got your mama.”

“Who?”

“Them,” snapped Shimmy. “The pretty, shiny ones. The bright, light, straight, and uptight.”

“You mean the Seelie court,” said Jack.

Shake tilted his head toward Jack, like he was just seeing him properly for the first time. I edged a little closer to Jack, because something way down inside me said he didn’t want Shake to see him, not really. “That’s right, young man. They got her but good,” Shake said, all slow and thoughtful.

“Then I’ll get her back,” I said, trying to sound like it was no big deal.

“Ha!” laughed Shake. “You don’t understand, do you? They got her. She won’t want to leave now.”

“Don’t listen to him, Callie,” said Jack. “He’s just trying to get you all mixed up.”

He was right. I shouldn’t listen. They’d already tried to fool me twice that I knew about.

“You trust this boy over one of your kin?” Shake asked softly. “Callie girl, you ain’t even begun to find out what kind of liar he is.”

I was glad he said that, because it reminded me who my friends really were. “You leave Jack alone!”

“You’re the one who should leave him alone.” Shimmy leaned forward, her brown eyes shimmering, her voice low and urgent. “You come with me and Shake. We’ll take you to your grandparents. They’re the ones who want you. They’re the ones who will teach you who you really are, Your Highness,” she added.

I felt the current rolling between Shake and Shimmy again. It was almost like the feeling of the magic when it shot through my blood. All at once, Shimmy shifted gears.

“Poor Callie,” she said suddenly. “You’ve had a bad time, haven’t you? And so much to wrap your head around. You deserve a treat. Both of you.” She tossed a smile toward Jack. “I tell you what. Why don’t the pair of you go to the pictures?” She got her purse from where it sat on the back of the piano and pulled out two green cardboard stubs.

“Shimmy…,” said Shake. “That is not a good idea.”