The Midnight Embezzlement

By Jennifer Dyer

The harsh lights in the interrogation room stung my eyes as Detective Ironflutter smacked her police-issued wand against her palm and fluttered her wings to loom over me. “C’mon, Ivory. Just tell us where the fairy godmother’s wand is.”

I leaned back but forced my eyes to meet hers. My grandmother used to say a fairy needn’t worry if she wasn’t guilty, but Gran hadn’t spent two hours under Ironflutter’s sharp gaze. “I don’t know where it is.” Ugh, I hated the pleading whine coloring my words, but I had to convince her.

Ironflutter dropped back to the floor, wings sagging. She flicked her wand, and blue numbers shimmered on the wall. Eleven-fifteen, less than an hour until midnight. If the missing wand wasn’t recovered by then, another fairy could try to master it, if their magic was strong enough. With a powerful relic like the Original Fairy Godmother’s wand, that could mean trouble for all the creatures in Hidden Wood.

The detective rubbed her forehead. “Start at the beginning.”

“You mean when I got the job cleaning the museum?”

She shuffled her notes, golden fairy dust shimmering off the paper. “This would be after you flunked out of the Godmother Academy?”

“I left the GA. Creative differences with one of the professors.”

Irritated I’d corrected her, she swiped a hand across her pink hair. The color enchantment was wearing thin, exposing dark roots.

I continued. “Since I’ve always loved history, I applied at Hidden Wood Museum.” I picked at my threadbare uniform. I’d only been able to afford the one, and the seams were fraying. Guess I too needed a fairy godmother to help me out. If only.

Ironflutter glanced at the mirror behind her, which was obviously a window where Chief Evensong and his deputies were watching. “Were you aware at the time they’d just opened the Cinderella exhibit?”

“Wasn’t everyone?” If ticket sales were any indication, all of Hidden Wood wanted to see it. “Those miniature pumpkin carriage toys are flying off the shelves. And don’t get me started on the pumpkin swirl ice cream.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You had an incident with ice cream just before you reported the wand missing, yes?”

“Incident? You mean prank. That kid’s spell splattered a caramel-pumpkin sundae all over The Fairy Godmother’s Wand display case.” An unbelievable mess. “Have you ever seen Zesty Buttontop’s crème caramel sauce? That stuff is so thick and sticky it could suffocate spells.”

“Enough about the caramel.” Ironflutter whipped out a quill. “Just give me the facts.”

“At sunlight I took a ride on Festo, my Yorkshire terrier. Then we played fetch, although he hides the sticks, so I have to put retrieval spells on the good ones—”

She groaned. “What happened with the display case? Did you switch the wand with a duplicate?”

I laughed at the insinuation. Me, Ivory Winkleclover, a petty thief? “I told you, the case was covered with caramel after the wand ‘incident.’ Took me an hour to chisel it off.”

“But the wand?”

I lifted my hands. “Museum security had sealed the case with locking spells. The wand was there while I was cleaning. Afterward, it’d disappeared.”

“Stop lying, Winkleclover!”

I stared at my wand held captive in Ironflutter’s pocket. This would be the perfect time for Gran’s “Do It My Way” spell. One tiny swish, dab, and flick could have the detective’s expression shifting from narrow-eyed suspicion to an open smile, willing to do whatever I asked…

Ironflutter leaned on the table. “Your grandmother and The Fairy Godmother had a falling out. What happened?”

“Gran didn’t like to talk about it. If you don’t have anything else, I’ll just be—”

“Not so fast. What happened after the ice cream incident?”

Ack, the way she emphasized that word. “I took a break and played fetch with Festo. Bless him, he waits outside while I work.”

She cast another “Tell Me the Time” spell. Eleven-thirty. The minutes were running out, and the queen would pitch a fit. If the wand wound up under the wrong fairy’s control, even Hidden Wood’s ruler wasn’t safe.

Ironflutter brandished her wand. That witch of a fairy was going to put a spell on me. “Everyone else has been searched. You were the last to see it.”

I braced myself. This would be a great time for Gran’s “Now You See It, Now You Don’t” disappearing spell.

The detective turned her back to the interrogation mirror and gave three tiny flicks of her wand plus a swish. The hairs on my neck raised, and the smell of bitter grapes filled my nostrils. She’d cast her “Tell Me No Lies” spell, which was illegal without a warrant. “Where’s the wand?”

The truth pulled from my stomach like it was on a string. I gritted my teeth against her power, but Ironflutter was a master at this. My lips moved on their own. “I don’t know.”

She sank to her chair, staring at her wand, sweat beading on her forehead. Ironflutter was out of time.

The door opened and a uniformed fairy motioned for me to follow him. Ironflutter handed over my wand.

Outside, I took a long breath. Everything smelled of mint, pine, and freedom.

Festo waited around the corner, my faithful companion. I hopped on his back. “Let’s find where you hid that fetching stick I gave you today.”

We raced through the underbrush, bobbing and weaving. The retrieval spell blasted from my wand, lifting the silky hair on Festo’s neck. A moment later, his new stick hurtled through the air, landing in my waiting hand.

I fingered the soft wood, worn from hundreds of years of use, my heart hammering. Finally. After months of planning, I’d done it.

In the distance, the first chime of midnight sounded from the castle tower. I held the new wand aloft and cast Gran’s “Be-Mine” spell. Hidden Wood would soon find out there was a new fairy godmother in town.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Dyer spent her childhood aspiring to be a ninja-Jedi princess and has been imagining adventures ever since. Her short story, The Midnight Requirement, will appear in the upcoming Meet Me at Midnight anthology. Her writing has garnered several awards, including first place in the Toronto Romance Writers’ Catherine Contest.

You can hear an audio narration of “The Midnight Embezzlement” on the Finding Fantasy Reads podcast.

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