My Unfair Godmother(15)

I snatched the novel from his hand before he could drop it. “It’s a book, and that’s not how you treat it.” This is what happens when you’re raised by a librarian. Even though I had refused to read books for years, I still couldn’t stand to see one ruined. I reshelved it with a forceful thud. “Chrissy,” I hissed toward the ceiling. “We really need to talk.” My giddy-fan feelings for Robin Hood were fading fast. These men didn’t belong here, and they had to go back before my dad or Sandra discovered them here.

A car passed by our house, and Robin Hood and Little John simultaneously gasped.

Little John leaned into the window until his nose touched the glass. “What strange manner of beast was that? Lights streamed from its face.”

“A car,” I said. “They’re one of the twenty-first century’s very useful things. They’re faster than horses and easier to take care of.” Robin Hood put one hand on the glass and peered farther down the street. “Are they friendly?”

“They’re not alive. They’re machines, like …” but I couldn’t think what machines they had back in the Middle Ages. “They’re tools.

When you turn the key, they start up so you can drive them down the street.”



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Friar Tuck had finished going through my jewelry box and stuffed several rings and necklaces into the pockets of his robe. None of them were expensive, but still. “Hey, stop that,” I said walking over to him.

“You can’t take those.”

He smiled a nearly toothless grin. “I’m simply admiring them.”

“Well, admire them in my jewelry box, not in your pockets.” Another of the Merry Men had thrown open my closet and pulled out shirts. “Behold the finery,” he called to the others. “Her wardrobe puts the king’s to shame.” And then he looked at me accusingly, as though I had been hoarding shirts.

“Everyone has a lot of clothes now,” I said, and went to take the hangers from his hand. “I’m not one of the rich, if that’s what you’re thinking. Far from it.”

Robin Hood still scanned the street. “Wench,” he called to me,

“how can I procure one of these cars?” Wench? “My name is Tansy,” I said. “And will you please tell your men to stop pawing through my stuff?” Robin Hood glanced lazily around the room. He let out a bird whistle and the men grudgingly turned their attention to him. I winced. If Dad and Sandra heard weird noises coming from my room, they would come in. How was I going to explain the presence of a dozen smelly men dressed in ratty clothes and wielding swords?

“Unhand the wench’s things,” Robin Hood said. “I want to go forth and discover what the world has become. Who is with me?” The men let out a shout of agreement, still clutching shirts, knickknacks, and scented candles.

“Shhh,” I called to them. “My dad and stepmother are down the hallway.”

“How many men at arms be at your castle?” Little John asked.



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I vaguely remembered from my reading days that men at arms were soldiers.

“This is a small house,” I told him. “Only my family lives here.” Will Scarlet took hold of my doorknob and opened the door a few inches. I nearly threw myself against it. “You can’t go out there.

Someone will see you.”

Robin Hood gestured out the window to the neighbors’ homes.

“And the other buildings nearby, are they small houses as well?”

“Yes,” I said. “Mostly.”

Robin Hood and Little John exchanged a look and grinned. Robin Hood, unlike so many of his men, had straight, beautiful teeth. Still, his smile made me uneasy.

I stepped away from the door and held my hands out to Robin Hood, pleading. “Look, you need to stay put until I can get hold of my fairy godmother. She had a job interview to go to, which is probably why she’s not answering me, but that can’t take long. Then we’ll get this straightened out and she’ll send you back to your home. In the meantime, you need to be quiet.”

I had barely finished speaking when I heard Nick at the door. He knocked then said, “Dad says to turn off your iPod and go to sleep.” I didn’t have my iPod on. “Okay,” I called back.

I hoped he would go away, but he opened the door instead. “What are you listening to anyway? It sounds like—” He stared at the occupants of the room with wide-eyed surprise and then took in my long dress and hair. His voice dropped to an indignant grumble. “You’re having a costume party in your bedroom?

Aren’t you in enough trouble already?”