and patted Tennyson on the shoulder, then moved away from him to come and crouch in front of my chair.
"Hey," he said quietly. "Is my voice too loud?"
I shook my head. "It's normal. Do I sound all squeaky?" It was surprising he could hear me at all, actually, even with the super hearing.
"You're fine," he said. "It must be part of the magic. Are you warm enough? Do you feel okay?"
I nodded, then sat down cross-legged and stared at him. His face was so huge.
"Am I the only one?" I asked. The thought of everyone who had chased me into the bamboo forest all being shrunk and running around like manic pixies was more than a little funny and would cheer me up to no end.
He nodded. "Nobody else even saw the spell. Tennyson sensed it and was just headed to the spot the last spell happened when he found you. Were you really trying to ride a rat?"
"I was trying not to get eaten," I said loftily. "And not to freeze to death. It is a harsh, harsh world when you are a tiny person, you know. You shouldn't judge."
"That's hardly what's important here," said Tennyson Wilde. He still stood by the mantel and was obviously trying to look uninterested, flipping through a book and not looking at us. "What details do you remember from the spell?"
I told them what had happened, what little there was, but that seemed to bother all four of them.
"Surely you're forgetting something," Tennyson said.
Althea and Nikolai exchanged unreadable looks and Sam's claws were digging into his leg.
"Why's it such a big deal?" I asked. "Maybe whoever it is just couldn't be bothered with all the fancy stuff. Maybe they just wanted to get to some food. You know it was mini pastries today." I sighed. What a regretful life this was, with no mini pastries.
"You're hungry?" Sam asked. He reached over to the table and picked up a plate. "It's not mini pastries but these aren't too bad."
He sat the plate down on my chair beside me and I stood up to get a better look. Giant sandwiches! They were big enough to feed a family of five for a year! Well, the bread would obviously go stale, but you could probably freeze them. I climbed up onto the plate to start nibbling at a ham and cheese one. I wondered if maybe I could get the rest of my family shrunk as well. Our living expenses would be literally nothing if we were all tiny.
"There are rituals that have to be obeyed with this sort of thing," Tennyson was saying. "You can't just wave a magic wand and shrink people. Try to remember!"
Oh, he was talking to me. I looked up at him over a chunk of Jarlsberg cheese the size of my head. It had always been my life's dream to have a whole wheel of Jarlsberg cheese, I used to stare at them all bright and beautiful through the window of the local deli, imagining the luxury of having such an abundance of cheese all to myself. This was even bigger than a wheel of Jarlsberg and I was not going to let Tennyson Wilde ruin it for me.
"Don't get all mad at me," I said. "This is your fault. You're the one who couldn't even look after a stupid little magic ball." I clutched my cheese and turned my back on him.
"She's not wrong," Nikolai muttered, cutting of Tennyson's reply. "That shouldn't have happened. I know it wasn't your fault but how did they get through our security."
"Whoever is behind this is stronger than we thought," said Althea.
"And they're targeting Lucy."
Targeting me into cheese heaven, maybe, I thought. Now that I was out of the cold, getting shrunk seemed like maybe the best thing ever. The bullies couldn't hurt me now; they couldn't even find me. I mean, in the long term things like going to class or walking up a flight of stairs might be difficult, but people lived with disabilities every day in this world, much worse things than just being a bit short. I wasn't going to let it get me down.
Tennyson and Althea decided to do some research and Nikolai had plans, so when I finished my sandwiches, Sam put out his hand for me to climb into and he took me up
"Hey," he said quietly. "Is my voice too loud?"
I shook my head. "It's normal. Do I sound all squeaky?" It was surprising he could hear me at all, actually, even with the super hearing.
"You're fine," he said. "It must be part of the magic. Are you warm enough? Do you feel okay?"
I nodded, then sat down cross-legged and stared at him. His face was so huge.
"Am I the only one?" I asked. The thought of everyone who had chased me into the bamboo forest all being shrunk and running around like manic pixies was more than a little funny and would cheer me up to no end.
He nodded. "Nobody else even saw the spell. Tennyson sensed it and was just headed to the spot the last spell happened when he found you. Were you really trying to ride a rat?"
"I was trying not to get eaten," I said loftily. "And not to freeze to death. It is a harsh, harsh world when you are a tiny person, you know. You shouldn't judge."
"That's hardly what's important here," said Tennyson Wilde. He still stood by the mantel and was obviously trying to look uninterested, flipping through a book and not looking at us. "What details do you remember from the spell?"
I told them what had happened, what little there was, but that seemed to bother all four of them.
"Surely you're forgetting something," Tennyson said.
Althea and Nikolai exchanged unreadable looks and Sam's claws were digging into his leg.
"Why's it such a big deal?" I asked. "Maybe whoever it is just couldn't be bothered with all the fancy stuff. Maybe they just wanted to get to some food. You know it was mini pastries today." I sighed. What a regretful life this was, with no mini pastries.
"You're hungry?" Sam asked. He reached over to the table and picked up a plate. "It's not mini pastries but these aren't too bad."
He sat the plate down on my chair beside me and I stood up to get a better look. Giant sandwiches! They were big enough to feed a family of five for a year! Well, the bread would obviously go stale, but you could probably freeze them. I climbed up onto the plate to start nibbling at a ham and cheese one. I wondered if maybe I could get the rest of my family shrunk as well. Our living expenses would be literally nothing if we were all tiny.
"There are rituals that have to be obeyed with this sort of thing," Tennyson was saying. "You can't just wave a magic wand and shrink people. Try to remember!"
Oh, he was talking to me. I looked up at him over a chunk of Jarlsberg cheese the size of my head. It had always been my life's dream to have a whole wheel of Jarlsberg cheese, I used to stare at them all bright and beautiful through the window of the local deli, imagining the luxury of having such an abundance of cheese all to myself. This was even bigger than a wheel of Jarlsberg and I was not going to let Tennyson Wilde ruin it for me.
"Don't get all mad at me," I said. "This is your fault. You're the one who couldn't even look after a stupid little magic ball." I clutched my cheese and turned my back on him.
"She's not wrong," Nikolai muttered, cutting of Tennyson's reply. "That shouldn't have happened. I know it wasn't your fault but how did they get through our security."
"Whoever is behind this is stronger than we thought," said Althea.
"And they're targeting Lucy."
Targeting me into cheese heaven, maybe, I thought. Now that I was out of the cold, getting shrunk seemed like maybe the best thing ever. The bullies couldn't hurt me now; they couldn't even find me. I mean, in the long term things like going to class or walking up a flight of stairs might be difficult, but people lived with disabilities every day in this world, much worse things than just being a bit short. I wasn't going to let it get me down.
Tennyson and Althea decided to do some research and Nikolai had plans, so when I finished my sandwiches, Sam put out his hand for me to climb into and he took me up
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