The Clockwork Fairy Kingdom Read Free

Dale still knew that Nora wanted more than to
just watch him work.
    “What do you think Dad’s doing?” Nora finally asked.
    “Don’t know. Don’t care.”
    “He’d never hurt Mom.”
    Dale merely glared at her.
    “She was the one who spanked us as kids. Not him.”
    “He threatened to hurt her.” Dale remembered the stark
terror in his mother’s voice as she’d talked to her own mother, told her what
her husband had done, how he’d threatened to strangle her. Mom didn’t know Dale
had heard her; he’d never told her.
    “Dad was just exaggerating. You know how he is.”
    “Yes, I do.” Dale couldn’t tell Nora, couldn’t tell anyone
that his dad was a bully. Like most of his class, Dale had laughed and rolled
his eyes at his teacher’s solemn proclamations of what a bully was and how they
needed to report any such behavior. Inside, he’d been shaken.
    Everything they’d said had fit his dad.
    However, Nora didn’t see it. Dad also hadn’t picked on her
as much. Or when he had, she’d put him down in return. That was another thing
Dale wouldn’t tell his sister: how much he admired her. “And no, you can’t call
him,” he said, cutting her off.
    “It’s his birthday at the end of the month!”
    “Send a card to Grandma. Have her forward it.”
    Nora nodded slowly. “I could do that.”
    “Just don’t call. And don’t tell him where we are.”
    “But maybe if Mom and Dad talked—”
    “No.”
    “She never gave him a chance to tell his side!”
    “What part of ‘I’ll kill you if you try to divorce me’
should she listen to?” Dale asked, fuming.
    “But—”
    “No, Nora. Now just shut up for a second. Let me
concentrate.” Dale used tweezers to move a delicate wire from one gear to a different
one, then carefully coiled a spring. When he let it go, the flywheel spun on
its own.
    The lights went out.
    “Damn it!” Dale said. “I hate this place.” The electricity
went out on a regular basis. Even their cell phones only worked half the time.
    “Nor—do you remember where my penlight was?” Dale
asked, patting the ground on either side.
    “Why? Afraid of the dark?” Nora teased.
    “No, I just like to see,” Dale complained. He wouldn’t tell
her that he was a little frightened. It was so dark out here and they had no
close neighbors. He turned and felt behind him, searching for the familiar
shape.
    A light came on near Nora.
    “Did you find…” Dale let his question die.
    The little piece of machinery had kept turning and now
glowed with a cool blue light.
    “Kids?”
    “We’re in here, Mom,” Nora called out before Dale could stop
her.
    “ Shhh ,” Dale hissed. He finally
grabbed his flashlight and tried to turn it on. When it didn’t light
immediately, he tried a second, then a third time. Finally it lit up.
    The light from the machine softly faded.
    “Come on,” Dale said, standing.
    Mom appeared in the doorway. “Looks like candles and cards,”
she said. She held a small flashlight as well.
    Nora turned to Dale. He knew what she was asking, and
nodded. Mom needed them. It wasn’t like he’d be able to get any more work done,
anyway.
    Dale closed the door to his room as he walked out, then
grabbed Nora’s arm. “Don’t tell her about the machine,” he hissed.
    “Duh,” Nora said, pulling away. “You still owe me,” she
reminded him.
    Dale grinned. Sometimes his sister was all right.
    ***
    Anger kept Queen Adele’s backbone ramrod straight through
her husband Thaddeus’ funeral. She shed no tears behind her black lace veil;
rage had burned them all away. Now, at the end of the ceremony, she stood on a
makeshift platform supported by wooden scaffolding, above the white marble
staircase leading into the depths of the hill and the catacombs.
    By watching over the proceedings from a high vantage point,
Adele’s presence was meant to reassure her people of the continuation of her
rule. She wanted to comfort them any way she could: though her loss