The Ill-Starred Blumaroo: Part Four

by scriptfox

The next morning I got to the office somewhat later than usual. I had deliberately overslept a bit, partly because I'd been up late the night before and partly because I didn't plan on getting much sleep the next night, either. You learn in the military to get your sleep when you can, and old habits die hard.

The first thing I did was send Neomail to Dot, telling her to meet me at my office and to be sure to bring the money with her. I told her to show up at six, which left a good six hours before the rendezvous... and which most likely meant six more hours on her account, which was fine with me.

I sat down to catch up on the latest requests. There weren't too many. One request was from a jealous pet who suspected her owner of having multiple identities in order to keep more than four pets. I thought it over for a minute before dropping it into the reject drawer. The authorities don't seem to care much about owners with multiple identities, as long as they don't try to manipulate the stock market, or some other nefarious scheme. I failed to see why I should work my tail off proving something that wouldn't have any action done for it when I did get it. Besides, I was an only pet myself, and I knew from experience that there are worse things than having a lot of siblings.

All of these reasons were very good, but in the end they were beside the point. The truth was that I also failed to see how a young Cybunny with at least three and perhaps more siblings would be able to scrape together enough Neopoints to make it worth my time. I have to eat, too, as I always tell people. It annoys me that the closer and more personally rewarding a service that you offer to people, the more likely they are to assume you should do it for nothing. They'll flip twenty Neopoints into the wishing well for nothing more than a whim or slight chance at getting something, but ask them for payment to help find a long-lost relative, or prove that they're innocent of some crime, and you'd think you had committed sacrilege.

The rest of the morning went much the same way. I did make some points by doing some online searches, finding obscure bits of information about people and things that others wanted to know. Sometimes, it seems that people think I'm a librarian. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. In fact, it's some of the easiest jobs I get. Most of them fall into various categories and I can have most, if not all, of it figured out just by clicking the right keys and accessing the right sources of information.

I didn't bother with the stupid blue Quiggle toy where it sat on the corner of my desk, bobbling up and down with those big eyes. I was tense and on edge, and even less likely to be able to concentrate on alchemical abilities than ever. The mood pretty much continued until a little after lunch, when it occurred to me that there was another source of possible information on Schnitzel that I hadn't investigated yet.

I stood in the center of the Central Marketplace and admired it before I went in. There are many magical places in Neopia, but one of the most simple and prettiest lies in its heart, next to the Money Tree. It's the Rainbow Pool. A pool of water with a slightly misty look and a huge beautiful rainbow arching out of it. Through some quirk of the magic, it doesn't follow the ordinary rules for rainbows, and instead of seeing it some distance away you see it always ending right in the middle of the pool, no matter which angle you're viewing it from. The colours are so bright it seems like solid light, although I've been told that's a contradiction in terms.

Whatever else it was, it was beautiful, but I hadn't come just to look. Holding my breath, I dived into the pool. I held my eyes open and watched as the whole world turned pale blue with the rainbow colours streaming everywhere. Instead of gradually getting darker as I sank, the colours became brighter and more dizzying, until I landed with a whump! on a solid floor inside of a chamber with a peach-coloured glow coming from the rounded ceiling. The entrance portal behind me still glowed with brilliant lights.

"Hey, Jack!" I said to the gnome-like figure sitting behind the desk. He looked up and grinned. All of the workers at the Rainbow Pool are named Jack, and what one knows they all know. Whether it's actually a race of Faerie-like goblins or simply one individual with some way to be in multiple places, I don't know. It really doesn't matter, I suppose.

"Hey there, MonoKeras! I see the paint job is holding up."

"Of course it is. It is magical after all. On me, more than most." I couldn't help preening a bit as Jack chortled.

"Modesty ill-becomes a Uni, as usual. So, what are you needing? Got a new paintbrush?"

"Nope, I'm on a case. I'm looking for this pet..." I passed him one of the last pictures I had of Schnitzel.

He studied it with interest. "Indeed, very intriguing. And you thought I'd recognize not only who it was, but be able to tell you... what? When we did it?"

"Right. Or if he got redone recently, too. Maybe give me the handle to help trace him."

Jack shook his head and tsk'ed at that last. "Naughty boy. We wouldn't do that, even for you."

"No, but you'd do it for his owner, and that's who hired me to find him."

Jack grimaced to hide a smile. "Always finding the loopholes, aren't we. You know us too well." He sighed and sat back.

"So, can you tell me when you did it?"

Jack laughed out loud. "I sure can!" he crowed. I got that thrill that I always get when I hit paydirt- and it was certainly justified this time.

My mind was spinning almost as fast as the lights as I dived into the portal to return to "normal" Neopia. Rising to the surface and crawling out of the pond, I trotted off to another appointment. I now knew pretty much who, and something of what and why. If I was right....

I was. That next interview was even more rewarding than the last. By the time Dot showed up in the office that evening, I had everything pinned down except for the one last loose end that we were going to attend to that night.

There was another reason I'd asked Dot to show up at 6. I had the feeling she'd try to renege on getting the money. I was right. Not that this was unusual- all too sadly, the opposite was true. I'd expected it because almost everyone does it, or tries to. We went through the usual song and dance of "if you were good, why wouldn't you do it without the money" and "I trust you to get them back safe" etc., etc., etc.

I finally managed to show her the facts of life- that a kidnapper will often honor their word. That, in fact, their own best interests are usually served by letting their victim go. It makes business easier to conduct next time. The bank was open until seven on Friday evenings, and we made it there with about fifteen minutes to spare. Just as well- I doubt they had one hundred grand in their ATM machine, or that they would've dispensed it if they had. Dot sniffled as she took out "almost all of my life's savings" but she did it. She knew it was worth whatever it took to get her precious Schnitzel back.

Afterwards, I tried to relax the tension by suggesting we go back to her house for supper, since she'd skipped it. She wasn't too enthusiastic about it- she'd been too tense to eat earlier, and wasn't feeling much better now. But I talked her into it, and we went to her place. Korrell was glad to serve up dinner, and produced some delicious pies. For some reason, Dot burst into laughter that threatened to become hysterics when I complimented Korrell by telling him he produced delicious Kau pies. Humans are weird, sometimes.

Then, the three of us sat around and played Cheat! for a while. I was tense too, but I could concentrate well enough. Korrell was a good player, but Dot clearly wasn't watching what she was doing. We cleaned her out three times, and Korrell wound up with the pot twice. It finally got so bad that Korrell- after giving me a warning glance not to call him on it- laid down five cards and said "five aces."

After Dot just nodded and dropped down two sevens, I got up and suggested it was time we leave. It was about ten when we arrived in the central market, which was virtually deserted. The nightlife in Neopia just doesn't concentrate around its stores, or even the now gently glowing Rainbow Pool, where little flickers of light in its Rainbow marked the rise and fall of Faeries out for a joyride in it. We pushed our way through the foliage to the back of the Magic Shop. Whoever it was that had sent the note knew their business- the Magic Shop is off of the road, through a back lot or two. By the time we got back there it was pitch black.

Dot managed to trip a couple of times. It's amazing how humans can be clumsier on two feet than Unis are on four, but I refrained from saying anything. They usually don't take it in stride- pun intended. I put the cloth bag containing the money next to the back wall of the magic store, and as I stood back up I looked around carefully. Dot never noticed, of course, but my magically sensitive vision picked out two faint splotches of purple colour, and I could feel them watching. My helpers were in place, and I was sure they wouldn't be noticed- they make it a point of pride not to be noticed until they want to be.

We managed to get back into the middle of the square, and I let Dot collapse onto a nearby park bench. She simply sat there, moaning slightly and nursing a stubbed toe.

"This is going to be awful, I just know it," she moaned. "I'm going to lose all my money, and Schnitzel will never come back. I can feel it in my bones."

"Awful, perhaps, but not for us," I said confidently. "You'll see."

"When?"

That was the problem. We had most of two hours left until the deadline. What do you do with two hours of totally dead time? We wound up doing what anyone with sense would do. Dot, despite both physical and emotional aches, managed to fall asleep. I settled back into a relaxed state which was almost sleep, but from which I could "wake up" instantly. I have the ability to know within about five or ten minutes what time it is, so I woke Dot up at what I judged was about five till midnight. Her mood wasn't much improved, although she was now shivering and complaining about the cold instead of about the stakeout. I told her to wait and listen, and to be prepared to run back there when we heard the alert sounds.

She didn't know what I meant, and I told her that I had helpers back there- specialists in concealment that I had met during my service in the Tyrannian army. I conveniently left out the fact that they were also Dark Faeries, and Dot managed to get the idea they were just pets. My explanations, in fact, occupied enough time so that we didn't have any time at all to wait. We'd just finished talking when a scream sounded in the woods. I felt it stir all my hairs as the magic behind it blasted through the area. A sizzling sound behind us told my subconscious that I'd just missed the marvelous sight of hundreds of Faeries blasting out of the Rainbow pool into the night sky when they heard their dark sisters in full hunting mode.

We ran for the rendezvous spot, and once again four hooves beat two feet. I arrived on the scene to see three purple-cloaked figures standing in the clear spot behind the store. It was easy to see- and hear- who the fake was. The one in the middle was struggling and swearing while the other two simply laughed, showing their pointed teeth as they tightened their grips on him and lifted him off the ground. (I assumed it was a him, anyway- I'd hate to have heard such language coming from the lips of a lady.)

I pulled out a light and shone it on our would-be kidnapper's face. It was a striped Aisha, and he snarled back at me. His face had that pinched, feral look that pets often get when they are too long without an owner- and, in the case of this miserable specimen, who had turned to crime for a living.

"Well, well, well," I said lightly. "Aren't you a little out of your league here, Ryuko?" He didn't bother to reply, just glaring while his captors burst out into peels of that maniacal laughter of theirs. They were helping me, and it still lifted my mane hairs. Even Ryuko's fake bravado showed cracks as his eyes flicked back and forth between them. "I'll be at the usual place at six, Kittara, and we can conclude our business then. I trust that you will leave something of the body?"

Kittara's eyes glowed from violet to blood red as she chuckled in her throat. "Young Uni, we will still be feasting on his mental anguish by then. This is going to provide days of entertainment!" She and Sirrya burst into laughter again. In fact, their laughter had almost not stopped since they'd managed to catch their thief. In anyone else, it would have started to get repetitive. But with them, it was like listening to the fury of a storm that managed to grow louder and more fearful the longer it went on. There was a loud ripping sound as they flicked back to their underground halls, taking their victim with them.

I turned to find Dot plastered against a tree, shaking like a leaf as she stared wild-eyed at the spot where the faeries had stood. "What were... those.... creatures?" Her voice was shrill and the last word emerged as a frightened squeak.

"Dark Faeries," I replied in an offhand tone as I went to retrieve the money.

Dot gasped. "You know Dark Faeries?"

"Of course. Ryuko got too clever for his own good. He probably purchased a stolen cloak on the black market and figured he had a perfect disguise. He never counted on the real thing showing up."

Dot just moaned. I put an arm around her and cuddled her to me in an attempt to soothe her as I helped her back to the road. "Don't worry," I said calmly as we stepped onto the road. "We'll find out everything we need to know. They'll question him and tell me exactly where Schnitzel is in the morning. You just come to my office at nine and we'll go together to get him."

As it turned out, I had to help Dot all the way home and tell Korrell about the appointment. Dot's nerves were shot, for which I didn't blame her, really. I left Korrell taking care of his mistress and headed to my bed. I hadn't told either of them, but although I had sounded confident, I wasn't. I "just knew" myself that it was likely that we'd never see poor Schnitzel again. But I knew that wasn't what Dot wanted to hear, and besides, I'd give him a last chance... even when that chance meant taking the words of a pet slowly being destroyed at the hands of Dark Faeries.

To be continued...