Fairy Metal Thunder (Songs of Magic, #1) Read Free

house.”
    “You said what?” Jason asked, startled.
    “Just little things,” his mom told him. “Mow
the lawn, trim those wild shrubs, maybe do something about all that
moss on her wall.”
    “Those don’t sound like little things,” Jason
said.
    “She’ll turn you into a toad!” Katie
said.
    “Katie, enough! Jason, it would be nice if
you would do a few things to help out your elders. It builds
character. The poor woman’s completely cut off from everyone.”
    “Maybe she likes being cut off,” Jason said.
“How do we even know she wants help?”
    “Why wouldn’t she?” his mom asked.
    “Anyway, I’m busy with school.” Jason hated
the idea of going to Mrs. Dullahan’s house. Every kid in town
learned to fear her. Terrible stories were whispered about her.
Jason was old enough to know that she wasn’t really a witch or
anything supernatural, but he couldn’t help feeling scared of her
anyway.
    “School didn’t stop you from working at the
car wash,” his dad said. “Might as well find something useful to do
with yourself, now that you quit your job.”
    “Dad, I told you, I only got that job so I
could save up for my guitar. Now I don’t need to work anymore.”
    “Must be nice,” his dad said, returning his
attention to the paper.
    “I don’t know what’s gotten into you with
that guitar,” his mom said. “You hardly ever practice your clarinet
anymore. You’ll have to work a lot harder if you want to be first
chair in the school band next year.”
    “I’m not too worried about that,” Jason
said.
    “You’d better worry about it. That Laura Wu
is going to be serious competition for you,” his mom said. “I want
to see you working hard.”
    “I don’t really like the clarinet. I like the
guitar.”
    “What’s not to like about the clarinet?” His
mom looked scandalized. “You used to love your clarinet.”
    “I wouldn’t say I loved it.”
    “Well, I was first chair clarinet in my high
school band,” his mom said. “If I can manage it, you can, too. And
your father’s right, we can’t just let you loaf around with your
friends all summer.”
    “We’re not loafing, we’re rehearsing.”
    “What you’re not doing is working ,”
his dad said. “You know, at a job? If you want to come to Bill’s
House of Tractor with me, Bill might be able to find work for you.”
Jason’s dad sold farm equipment at Bill’s, a large retailer in Eau
Claire.
    “Um…” Jason said. The idea of having his
dad for his boss wasn’t quite as terrifying as the thought of going
to Mrs. Dullahan’s house, but it was up there.
    “Why don’t you drop by Mrs. Dullahan’s
tomorrow afternoon?” his mom said. “Introduce yourself and
volunteer to help out? That would be so nice.”
    “She’ll probably think I’m trying to scam
her.”
    “A nice young man like you?” his mom asked.
“Besides, you’ll be bringing one of Dotty Schuler’s famous muffin
baskets. That should settle any of her concerns.”
    “I can’t tomorrow,” Jason said. “We have
rehearsal. There’s an audition at The Patch in Minneapolis next
week.”
    “Oh, I don’t know,” his mother said. “I don’t
like the idea of you going into the Cities with you friends. That’s
a rough area. You could get into trouble.”
    “There aren’t any rough areas in
Minneapolis,” Jason said. “You make it sound like Las Vegas.”
    “Don’t smartmouth your mother,” his dad
said.
    “I’m not, Dad!”
    “Don’t yell at your father,” his mom said. “I
don’t want to hear any more nonsense about this. You’re going to
Mrs. Dullahan’s tomorrow, and you’re going to be pleasant and
useful.”
    Jason sighed and stirred his mashed
potatoes.
     

Chapter Three
    After school on Friday, Jason picked up a
cellophane-wrapped, ribbon-topped muffin basket from Mrs. Schuler,
who ran a small gift shop in town. He pedaled over to Mrs.
Dullahan’s, whose house was several streets away from his own, at
the dead end