“My siblings and I will do everything we can to help. We want to help transformed creatures. But, of course, you must remember your promise to us.”
“I will.”
The two swans raise their wings as if in salute. Then, looking left and right to make sure no one sees them, they push through the revolving door and down the street.
I watch them leave. Farnesworth is going to flip.
“They’ll come back if they find something?” I say to Ernest and Margarita.
“As soon as we hear something, I’ll tell you,” Margarita says.
I’m still wearing the cloak, so I wish myself back home.
As soon as I do, I’m there in the kitchen. My mother sort of starts when I appear. She stammers, unable to speak.
“It’s real,” I tell her, “all of it.”
Chapter 13
It being real changes everything. It means I’m not taking Princess Victoriana’s money for a free trip bumming around the Keys. I’m taking it for a quest, a discovery—like Christopher Columbus discovering America, only for real. And if I find the frog, I get the princess. Mind-blowing. I woke up this morning an ordinary slob who didn’t know there was such a thing as curses and spells and swan people, and now . . .
Whoa.
So I’m going on a quest. For real. First, I send a bill up to Victoriana’s room with the words “Paid in full for services to be rendered” written on it. Then, I need to talk to Meg.
As soon as she comes in, I corner her. “Hey, got a minute?”
“I have to put the coffee on. Have a seat.”
I sit, figuring it will be a long wait while she cleans out the old coffee, then starts new. But she walks across the shining white floor, flips a switch, then returns. “’Sup?”
“I have to go away for a while.”
“Away?” She looks surprised. She knows I never go anywhere or do anything. I knew there’d be questions, so I’d worked on my lie.
“It’s about my father,” I say. “We have some news about him.”
“Your father?” More surprise. I never talk about my father, mostly because I don’t know anything about him. “Wow, that’s great, Johnny. But didn’t you think he was—?”
“Dead? Yeah, he’s been as good as. I haven’t seen him in forever. But my mom heard from his sister, my aunt Patty. She says he showed up, and he got some money. He, um, won the lottery.”
“Really? The Florida lottery?”
I think fast. She’d be able to find out if he won the Florida lottery, so I say, “Ah, no. The Alabama lottery. That’s where he lives, Alabama. So I’m going up to see him. In Alabama.” Alabama is a ten-hour drive. “The money would really help now.”
“Your mom’s sending you?” Meg glances at the coffeemaker to see if the light’s on. “Wouldn’t it be better to hire a lawyer?”
“That’s our backup plan, but it would take a long time. She figures maybe if I showed up, he’d just write a check. Besides, I wouldn’t mind seeing him. He’s my father.”
Her dark eyes meet mine. She looks disappointed, somehow, and for a second, I’m sure she knows I’m lying.
“Yeah, I guess you’re really excited about meeting him. Where in Alabama?”
“Montgomery,” I say, remembering the name from when we learned state capitals in fifth grade. If I thought hard enough, I could probably come up with the state flower too. “The Yellowhammer State.”
Meg nods. “Well, that sure is exciting, him winning the Alabama lottery and all.” Again, there’s something in her voice like she knows I’m lying. But she can’t. All I’ve ever told her about my father is that he’s gone.
“Yeah, anyway, I was hoping you could, um, keep an eye on Mom while I’m gone?”
“In Alabama?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said. I worry about her.”
“Yeah. She’ll worry about you too. I hope you’re not doing anything dangerous.”
I guess I didn’t think out the story well enough, but it’s not like I could tell Meg the truth. She’d never believe me. I mean, I didn’t believe all the stuff about enchanted frogs, at least not until I met the nice talking swan. Besides, I told Victoriana I’d keep her secret. And Meg doesn’t approve of Victoriana. She’d have major problems with me marrying her.
Still, it feels crummy lying to Meg. She’s my best friend.
“Don’t worry.” She touches my hand and looks all sympathetic, which makes me feel worse. “You know what Maya Angelou said.”
“What?”
“‘All God’s children need traveling shoes.’ Oh.” She points at a one-shoed businessman at my counter. “Looks like you’ve got an emergency.”
It’s hours before I talk to Meg again. Every time I try to look at her, she becomes very involved in sweeping crumbs or straightening croissants. So I’m surprised when, at three o’clock, she shows up at my counter.
“I wanted you to have this.” She holds out a small, blue drawstring bag. “For luck.”
I pull the bag’s silken strings and find inside a man’s gold ring with a flat white stone. When I look closer, I see every color I can imagine, gleaming like the scales of a reef fish.
“It’s an opal,” Meg says. “Been in my family for generations.”
“You want to give it to me?”
“It’s a loan. My grandmother Maeve gave it to me. You can give it back when you return.”
“But what if—?”
“Opals are fragile, so don’t wear it all the time. But if you’re ever in trouble, put it on, and it will bring you luck. Luck o’ the Irish, you know.”
“Luck. Good. I’ll need it.
Meg smirks. “At least, that’s what my grandmother says. Superstitious. I’m not sure I believe in luck, but I’ve worn it for big tests, and I’ve always done well.”
“Could be because you studied?”
And yet, it doesn’t sound as dumb as I thought it would. I believe in magic now, so why not good old Irish luck. I return the ring to its bag and pocket it. “Thanks, Meg.”
“Only put it on if you’re in trouble. But if you’re ever having a hard time in Alabama, it may work.”
“I will.”
“What’s going on with the shoes?”
I shrug. “Still breaking.”
“No, silly, your designs. The ones you were going to ask Princess Perfect to wear.”
“I guess I’ll finish them when I get back.”
“Do you have the designs you drew?”
“Under the counter.”
“Why don’t you leave them with me while you’re gone?” Meg asks.
“Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. If your mom hires someone to help, they might snoop through them.”
I start to point out that I could just leave them at home, but I stop myself. Why not let Meg hold on to them while I’m gone? I trust her. I know she’d never lie to me the way I’m lying to her. So I hand them over.