hands to its ears and moaned before it rolled over on its side and started yelling out. "Stop that infernal noise! I'll talk!"
I stopped laughing, but it was a little harder for Kyle and Ivan. Ivan pointed at the little monster as it kicked its elephant legs in the air. It was kind of amusing. Too bad I was the one that wasn't feeling the happy. Happy was a foreign emotion to me. Happy left town. And took joy and excitement with him.
I poked the Boggart with my boot. "Spill it. Why are you in my shop? How did you get past our wards? And how the hell did you get to this world?" I assumed he came through a Cairn somewhere, a halfway place between our world and that of Alfheim. Cairns were traditionally built out of simple objects, like a ring of toadstools or stacked stones, but I'd seen one in the shape of a sewer grate, as well as a door at the bottom of a pond.
It righted itself again and lowered its arms as it wobbled like a Weeble to face me. It had to throw its head way back to look up at me. To my surprise, it bowed. "My dear Sorceress, this humble Boggart is Cordelia Happenstance, resident of the realm of the Summer Queen."
Cordelia?
This is a girl?
And…from Tzariene's court?
And then, crap…more Faeries.
I looked at Ivan and Kyle who shared my surprise. Well okay. Go with it. Looking back down, I nodded. "Okay. That's nice, Cordy, but you haven't answered my questions."
She came out of her bow and opened her mouth, then closed it. Then, "I'm afraid I forgot them."
That was another thing about Boggarts. Not a lot of RAM memory on board. They had memories like sieves, except when it came to a purpose. If you give a Boggart a job to do, they do it. It might take them a hundred years, but they wouldn't forget that purpose. I put my hands on my hips. "Why are you in my shop?"
Cordy looked thoughtful, then she snapped her thick fingers. The sound they made was like a deep thud. "Because I smelled the magic of home. So I followed it here. And you," she said as she took a step closer and inhaled. "You smell just like the Queen."
Oh. Great. She was talking about the reek of Arcane. Apparently it smells good to denizens of Alfheim? "Okay Cordy. Keep going. You smelled home."
"Yes, yes. And I was hoping to find home. But there is no Cairn here."
"So you just fell into old patterns?" Kyle said and Cordy wobbled back and forth as she turned to face him. "You saw three victims to feed off their nightmares?"
"Oh no, no. Not so much like that. It's a defense," she pulled on her fingers. "You scared Cordelia."
"Hey, eyes back to me," I said and waited for her to wobble back around. "You want to go back home. Why did you come through a Cairn in the first place?" I narrowed my eyes. "You did come through a Cairn, right?"
"Yes, yes I did. It was some time ago, I believe. Time is so fast here, isn't it? It tick-tocks differently. But there was lots of shouting and running, so Cordelia followed along," she shook her head and looked upset. "Such sadness. Lots of the shouters perished. Turned to ash they did. But Cordelia didn't. Touched the ground and did not die." Cordy put her arms behind her. "But Cordelia doesn't like this world and wishes to go home. Cordelia is pretty sure her mother is missing her."
"So," Ivan began. "You joined a flash mob and ended up here?"
It was a simple way to put it, but I doubted the Boggart would get the vernacular.
She looked back at Ivan and nodded. "Cordelia is wishing for home. But doesn't know where the Cairn is."
"How did you get in here?" Kyle asked. "I didn't feel anything on the wards. Did you?" He looked at me.
I shook my head. "Nope. Spill it, Cordy."
Cordy's large, luminous eyes looked up at me. Charm wasn't really one of a Boggart's selling points. Mostly because of the whole worst nightmare thing. And I wasn't about to trust this one. "I don't know. Cordelia just walked through," she moved her shoulders up and down. "It tickled."
Stepping through a spelled protection ward wasn't supposed to tickle. I looked at Kyle who slowly shook his head. "I don't know, Sam. Maybe the ward didn't see the thing as