“Not exactly.” Matt scratched the back of his head. “She woke up yesterday and found herself…looking a little different.”
“What, did someone cut off all her hair or dye it some wild color?” I asked.
My brother looked me straight in the eyes. “No. She somehow grew…bigger.”
I gaped at him. “Like, wider bigger?” Holding out my hands to the side, I guesstimated how much weight I thought a fairy could gain.
He moved my hands from horizontal to vertical. “Like, taller. Not as tall as you, but definitely not the size she was.”
“Wo-o-o-w,” I drew out, trying to picture Sassy at almost my height.
“Here’s where it goes from weird to maybe a little bad,” Matt continued. “Her wings stayed the same dimensions.”
It took me a second to understand why that would be weird. “Wait, so her body’s bigger, but her wings are small. So, that means…”
“She can’t fly anymore,” Matt finished. “Doc said that even though he’s not supposed to talk about other patients, it’s the darnedest thing he’s ever seen.”
“I think our list of crazy things is getting too big to ignore.” My stomach rumbled, but not from hunger.
The lights in the house flickered on and off several times before quitting altogether. “Sweet honeysuckle iced tea, now what?”
Matt held up his finger, “Give it a second.” The power came back on to full strength. “That started about two days ago. At first, it was only at night, so hardly anybody noticed. It’s definitely becoming more frequent.”
“What does it mean?” I asked.
“Nothing good,” my brother said. “You know our town’s power doesn’t come from electrical lines or power plants.”
“It’s part of the original foundation of the whole place, which means whatever’s going on, it involved the Founders’ Tree.” I whistled low. “Yeah, that ain’t good. Is that the worst news?”
Matt snorted. “I wish. The night after we found you, Blythe let us know that she couldn’t find Fenwen. I guess she was supposed to help her transition from the Wilkes’ house to yours?”
“I remember agreeing to that.” Something about hearing the sprite’s name nagged at me.
“Well, David started a search party when she couldn’t be located. He enlisted the help of as many newcomers as he possibly could as well as any other volunteers.” My brother paused to take a breath.
“Did you help?”
He shook his head no. “I couldn’t leave you and Nana.”
I nudged him with my shoulder. “Go on.”
“Well, David didn’t like when everyone gave up after a full day’s search. Some of the fae began to accuse the witches of the town of doing something to her, and…”
I scrunched up my face. “It sounds like it didn’t go over well.”
“No. There was a bit of a riot on Main Street. Magic was used to try and stop it, and things erupted from there. Several fae are under house arrest since we used up all the space we had at the station.” Matt scratched his days-old stubble. “It’s a mess, and it’s done damage to relations between the newcomers and the older residents.”
“And given Aunt Nora fodder to use to push her agenda,” I uttered.
Matt shrugged. “She’s been quiet so far. A little too quiet, if you ask me.” He pushed himself up from the bed and stood. “I’m going to go check on Nana. You really do need to eat more.”
I clutched my twisting tummy. “I don’t know if I can. Something’s terribly wrong. And the best person to figure things out is laying in that room across the hall.” I pointed.
Matt looked in that direction but glanced back at me. “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure her granddaughter has a talent for figuring things out, too.” He winked with a slight grin.
“And her grandson,” I reminded him. “He’s not too shabby.”
“Gee, thanks.” My brother wiggled his fingers at me.
A loud crash of the front door reverberated and shouting echoed from downstairs. Someone stomped as they ran up the stairs and Big Willie stood in the doorway, leaning against it, and taking off his sheriff’s hat to fan his hairy face.
“Have y’all heard?” he asked, a little breathless. “Your aunt’s gone and called an emergency town meeting. She means to push for an immediate vote for the high seat position.”
Ada and Mimsy rushed across the hall. “What’s all this commotion about?”
“Aunt Nora losing what little sanity she has left,” Matt complained. “I can’t believe she would twist what’s going on to her advantage.”
“I can.” With great effort, I maneuvered myself to a seated position with my feet dangling off the bed. Once I got to my feet, I stumbled a bit, and my brother rushed to catch me.
“What do you think you’re doing? You’re in no condition to go anywhere,” he insisted, trying to make me return to the bed.
I squeezed his arm that held me up. “You just said it yourself. We’re the only Goodwins left who can do something. And I’m pretty sure this is what Nana meant.”
“She said to stop her,” Matt exhaled. “So, what are we going to do?”
In my dizzying haste, I hadn’t gotten that far. I looked around at the others, hoping someone would chime in.
“You represent your family and confront her,” Dash’s deep voice stated from outside the bedroom. “If she’s forcing a vote, then one of you will have to stand for the Goodwins and throw your lot in for the high seat. Either that or you take her out.”
All of us stared at him with mouths open.
Big Willie replaced the hat on his head. “Son, did you just threaten a council member in front of the sheriff?”
“No, I don’t believe I did,” Dash countered. “All I’m doing is giving you advice based on what had to happen with my pack. We plucked out the bad so the good could grow again. How you do your weeding, well, that’s kinda up to them.” He pointed at my
