By Fairy Means or Foul: A Starfig Investigations Novel(69)

“You’ll see in a minute. Ah, there.” I pointed as the ghost ship rose over a distant sand dune.

“Is that a pirate ship?” Bill’s hand came up to shield his eyes and he squinted.

“A ghost one.”

“Huh. Good thing I brought my journal.”

“We might as well sit and wait for it. It won’t be long now.” I sank down onto the hot sand since there was no shade in sight.

A short time later the ship slowed to a halt in front of us.

“Ahoy, there!” a familiar voice called.

“Hi, Pie,” Quinn called back. “Let us up. We may be able to help you get home.”

A gangplank lowered and we trundled up until we were on deck. Bill seemed to memorize every detail and I could tell he wanted to write it all down as soon as possible.

“Ye came back! Good to see ye, mateys.” Pie fluttered down to greet us, but he squawked when he saw Bill. “A demon, a demon!” He shot to the lookout way up on the mast.

“Come on down, Pie. Bill’s not going to hurt you.”

“Bill?” Pie didn’t immediately fly down, but he did fluff his wings.

“Yeah, we can’t know his real name, but he likes being called Bill.”

Bill nodded vigorously, smiled. Unfortunately, it made all three rows of teeth evident and Pie squawked again.

“Pie, if you don’t come down, Bill won’t help you,” Quinn said. “Come on, he’s not going to hurt you. Are you, Bill?”

“Of course not,” Bill groaned.

Pie eyed us for a moment more before fluttering down to my shoulder. He nuzzled my cheek and I patted his back. “Pie, this is Bill. Bill, this is Pie.”

Quinn explained the situation to Bill. “Any idea how we can send him to join the others?”

Bill ran a hand across his chin. “Absolutely. I can send him home.”

“Ye can?” Pie looked so hopeful.

“Sure. You really want to leave this realm, though? Once you cross through, you won’t be able to come back.”

“Will I be with me captain again?”

“Yes. And the rest of the crew.”

“Do ye know if it’s terrible where I be going?”

Bill shrugged. “I don’t think so. I mean, you’ll be at peace, so I would think that’s a good thing.”

“Then, aye, I want to go.” He whistled and fluffed his feathers again. “What do I have to do?”

“Nothing. It’s what I have to do. Quinn, Twig, we should get off the ship so I can do it. That is if you’re ready, Pie.”

Pie nodded enthusiastically. “Thank ye, Mr. Twig, Mr. Quinn. Ye’ve turned out to be good mateys. I’ll never forget ye.”

Quinn stroked Pie’s head with a finger. “We’ll never forget you either.”

After goodbyes, we exited the ship and then Bill laid his hands on it. He sniffed. “A common scourge demon. Not very powerful, but hella spiteful.” His whole body lit up. The glow spread from his hands to cover the galleon. After a minute it wavered, then disappeared, a slight shimmer in the air.

Quinn gave me a watery smile and I had to admit, I’d miss Pie.

Bill dusted off his hands. “It’s done. Now can we please go back to your place?”

We turned to go, our hearts a little heavy.

A tearing sound had us all spinning back around. A hole appeared above us, jagged edges black against the blue sky.

“Bill, what did you do?” Quinn gripped my arm.

“Me? I didn’t do anything.” Bill’s voice had risen an octave. Maybe two.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Not sure,” Quinn said. “Bill, could you have torn a hole between realms?”

“Certainly not.” His chest puffed out, and he stared us down over the rim of his glasses.

This was so not good.

“Can you close it? . . . or whatever . . . ” I asked.

“I don’t even know what it is.” Quinn and Bill exchanged glances.

Bill shrugged. “I could pop us to your place and we could just forget about it.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’m pretty sure—What in hellafuck is that?” I pointed to the opening where wispy tendrils that looked like oversized fingers scrabbled along the edge. “Quinn, we gotta close it. Now!”

“Bill, help me seal it!” Quinn’s hands shot into the air, a glowing light filling his palms. Bill grabbed Quinn’s wrist with one clawed hand and his other blazed with the same light as Quinn’s. The light spread slowly out from their grasp toward the hole.

As if sensing what was coming, the wispy tendrils drew back. A loud screech pierced the air as a small object hurtled through the opening and landed with a thud near my feet.

I jumped back, knocking over Bill and Quinn and shielding them with my body. I’d unintentionally severed the link to their magic, sparks shooting from the tips of Quinn’s fingers as I took them to the ground.

“Twig! Get off me,” Quinn shouted. “We need to close that hole.”

I rolled off them and stared at the opening. A sucking sound drew the sides of the hole together into the appearance of pursed lips. For a moment it seemed to smile, then with a kissing sound, it disappeared. I blinked. Would it reappear?