The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker (3 page)

“And I've told you that I want to quit I don't know how many times, but I always let you talk me out of it. This time is different, Mother. I'm not meant to be a tooth fairy. I don't like it the way you do. Flying around
at night collecting teeth is not how I want to spend the rest of my life. I want to do something that matters, something that will make a real difference, something that will help people. Collecting teeth isn't at all what you said it would be, and I am not going to do it anymore.”

“But the job … The prestige … Being a tooth fairy is one of the most exalted jobs a fairy can hope to earn! Most fairies can only dream of belonging to the TFG!”

“Maybe,” said Cory. “But it's not my dream. Honestly, Mother, I've given the job a chance like I told you I would, but I can't just—”

Her mother's eyes had narrowed when her glance fell on the tooth washer that had already finished cleaning Cory's collection. “How many did you get?” she interrupted, lifting the lid and peering inside. “Four! You got only four teeth in an entire night!”

Cory winced as her mother's voice grew shriller. “I had a bad night.”

“You must not have tried!” Delphinium cried, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. “You collected more teeth your very first night out!”

“I'm no good at it, Mother. I'll certainly never be as good as you.”

Delphinium pulled one of the mushroom-shaped stools out from under the table and sat down with a
groan. “Good or bad, the Tooth Fairy Guild will never let you quit. You've gone through all the levels of training. You've learned everything they have to teach you. If you were going to quit, you should have done it before you reached the third level and learned their most guarded secrets. No one outside of the special guilds is supposed to know how to go from our world to the humans', or pass through solid objects when the job requires it. I was so certain that you would learn to love the job. I just didn't want to see you throw your life away on some second-rate job as a flower fairy.”

“I never wanted to be a tooth fairy, Mother. If only you had listened to me!”

Delphinium slapped the table so loudly that Noodles, Cory's pet woodchuck, woke in his basket in the corner, blinking up at them with his big, brown eyes. “Oh, I listened to you, all right! I've heard nothing but complaints from you, even though I did my very best teaching you everything I know, but have you ever thanked me or shown any sort of appreciation? I don't know why I ever bothered. But there's only one thing you can do now,” she said, getting to her feet. “You have to take a new leaf and write to the guild, telling them that it was a mistake and you didn't really mean to quit.” Her back was stiff as she strode to her desk and took out a fresh leaf, thrusting it at Cory.

“I'm not doing that!” Cory said, backing away from her mother. “I'm glad I quit and I'm not going to take it back. I'll see you later. I can't talk to you when you're like this.”

“When I'm like what?” her mother called after her as Cory stalked out the front door.

Cory was furious. When her basic tooth-fairy training was over and Cory still didn't like it, Delphinium had told her that she'd enjoy it once she'd learned all there was to learn. And now that Cory had learned everything, Delphinium had the nerve to say that it was too late to quit, that Cory should have left the guild sooner. As far as Cory was concerned, saying that prestige was more important than how much one liked a job or how fulfilling one found it didn't make it true.

Delphinium had once said that most people didn't like what they did for a living, and that Cory was naive to think that she could ever have a job that she enjoyed. But Delphinium loved the job and had declared countless times that it was the job she had dreamed of when she was a little girl. For her to say that most people didn't like their jobs didn't make sense. Where did she think Cory had gotten the idea that she could love a job, if not from watching her?

Cory had been wandering for nearly an hour when she
realized that she had walked in a big loop and was near her uncle's house. Her uncle, Micah, was her mother's brother and was nothing like Delphinium. Both of their parents were flower fairies, but Delphinium was all about appearances and climbing the fairy ladder, while Micah dressed like a flower fairy, acted like a flower fairy, and had taught at the Junior Fey School since before Cory was born.

“I wonder if he's left for work yet,” Cory murmured, and turned toward her uncle's house. If anyone could give her good advice, it would be her uncle Micah.

He was there still, seated at his kitchen table with a cup of berry juice and a plate of cold, roasted parsnips and potatoes in front of him. His pet squirrel, Flicket, sat on the table, gnawing a walnut and dribbling pieces of shell.

“Uncle Micah, is it okay if I come in?” Cory said through the open window.

Her uncle glanced up from passing another walnut to the squirrel and smiled. “Cory! Of course you can come in. You're always welcome here. You know that. Are you hungry? Have you eaten breakfast yet? Or would you call it dinner since I assume you'll be going to bed soon?”

“I'm too upset to eat,” Cory said as she came through the door. She shooed a blue jay off a mushroom stool
and took a seat at the table. “I just had another argument with Mother. I quit my job at the TFG today.”

“Ah,” said Micah. “Then your mother must be upset, too. Oh, don't get me wrong. I know how much you disliked the job, so I think you did the right thing, but I can also see how your mother would be unhappy. Everyone knows how highly she thinks of the TFG.”

“She wants me to tell them that I made a mistake and don't really want to quit. I'm not going to do it, but I know she's going to keep after me until I give in. I dread going home just to have the same argument all over again.”

Micah picked up his cup of berry juice and fished out a bit of walnut shell before taking a sip. “You can always stay here with me while you look for another job. I have a guest room if you want it.”

“Are you sure? Because I'd much rather stay here than face my mother.”

“I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it.”

“Would you mind if I brought Noodles?” Cory asked. “He and Mother don't really get along.”

“The more the merrier,” said Micah. “You know I like animals.”

“In that case, can I move in tonight? I'd like to wait to get my stuff when Mother goes to work.”

“Tonight would be fine. I have to leave in a few
minutes, so make yourself at home. The guest bed is already made up if you want to get some sleep.”

“That sounds perfect,” Cory told him. “But do you think I could have something to eat first? My appetite just came back.”

Cory had a flying dream, which wasn't unusual for a fairy. But in this dream she was soaring high above the clouds, which fairies never did. She woke suddenly and sat up, wondering why she felt so free, when she remembered that she had quit the TFG and never had to collect another tooth. Feeling as if she had shed a great weight, she sprang out of bed and spread her arms wide, twirling on her toes.

When she glanced outside, she saw children walking home from school. That meant it was late afternoon and Walker would be up now. If she left soon, she could ask him to help her get her things from her mother's before he went to work.

Walker lived in the north end of town with his older brother, who was also a sandman. They came from a
long line of sandmen, another prestigious guild in the fairy world. Cory and Walker had met when they were in Junior Fey School, and both were on the path to careers in the guilds. Even then Cory had wondered if that was one of the things that Walker had liked about her; he often said that he was going to be an important person someday and that he expected his wife to be, too.

They had dated since they graduated from Junior Fey School. A lot of people thought they would be together forever, but Cory wasn't so sure. She liked him well enough, but she wasn't in love with him, not the way she thought two people should be.

It didn't take long for Cory to shrink to flower-fairy size and fly to Walker's house. He was outside with his brother, Sandy, polishing the glass covering his house that gave it a dreamlike quality as it reflected the sky and clouds above. Like many of the wealthier fey, the brothers wanted the exterior of their home to hint at their trade.

Cory had just turned back to her normal size when Sandy noticed her walking toward the house. Wadding up a dripping, soapy rag, he threw it at Walker, hitting him with a
sploot!

“Hey!” Walker shouted, glaring at his brother. “What was that for?”

“You have company,” Sandy told him, grinning at Cory. “How are you doing, Cory?”

“Really good, thanks,” she replied. “Walker, can I drag you away for a minute? I need to talk.”

“Go on,” Sandy told him. “We're almost finished here.”

Walker grinned as he climbed down the ladder and dropped his rag into the bucket. “I'm glad you came by,” he told Cory as he led the way to the back of the house. “I hate cleaning glass. I've been telling Sandy we should hire someone, but he's too cheap to consider it.” He took a seat on the garden bench and gestured for Cory to join him. “What's up? You don't usually come around this time of day. Shouldn't you be getting ready for work? Some of those little kids go to bed pretty early.”

“I'm not going to work. That's one of the reasons I wanted to see you. I resigned from the guild today. I'm free now! I can do whatever I want.”

“If this is a joke, it's not very funny,” Walker said, his brow knitting together in a frown. “The guild was your life!”

“No, it wasn't. Or at least I didn't want it to be. You know how miserable I've been collecting teeth! Or haven't you been listening when I talk to you?”

“Of course I've been listening,” Walker said, sounding irritated. “But I thought it was just beginner's
whining. Everyone complains about a job when they first start. Most people try to stick it out, though—not give up when the going gets hard. I thought the guild was a lifetime commitment.”

Cory was getting angry. This wasn't at all the sympathetic response she'd expected from her boyfriend. “Now you sound like my mother. I thought you had more faith in me than that.”

Hearing the tone in Cory's voice, Walker put up his hands as if to stop a charging unicorn. “No need to get all riled up! I do have faith in you, Sweet Pea. I'm sure you're doing what you feel is right for you. But you do realize that whatever job you get now, we probably won't have the same work hours.”

“I know, but I just can't do this anymore. This isn't the right job for me. I've known it since the beginning, but no one would listen. My mother wants me to tell the guild that I didn't mean it when I told them I was quitting, but that isn't going to happen. I know she isn't going to let up on me, so I'm moving out tonight. I was hoping you could come help me get my things.”

Walker shook his head. “Sorry, I can't tonight. I have to be at work early. I have a special meeting with my supervisor.”

“Tomorrow night then?” Cory asked.

“I can't. I have a meeting then, too.”

“Then I guess I'll have to do it without you,” she said, disappointed and more than a little angry. She didn't understand why he had meetings now; he'd never had to go in for early meetings before.

Daisy still lived with her parents, whose cottage was only six away from Delphinium's. When Cory turned up on her doorstep, Daisy was happy to see her. She was even happier when she heard that Cory had quit her job.

“You finally did it! I knew that job was all wrong for you. It was making you miserable and it was only going to get worse. I never could understand why your mother made you stay with something you disliked so much. What did she say when you told her you'd quit?”

“I didn't tell her. The Tooth Fairy Guild notified her before I had the chance. She was furious, of course. She tried to make me tell the guild that I'd made a mistake and wasn't really quitting.”

“Which you refused to do, I hope,” said Daisy.

“Uh-huh,” said Cory. “I left and ended up at my uncle Micah's house. He offered me a room there; I'm moving my stuff tonight while Mother is at work. I was wondering if you would help me.”

“I told Nimzy that I'd hang out with him later, but I have some time right now. Let me get my shoes on. Do you need boxes or anything?”

“A couple, I guess. I'm not getting everything. Just the stuff I need the most. And Noodles. I can't abandon him.”

“I don't know why not,” Daisy said. “I'd leave the little monster behind.”

Cory laughed as she followed her friend into the house. “You say that only because he doesn't like you.”

“He doesn't like
anyone
but you,” said Daisy, rummaging through a closet. “Are three boxes enough? We can use my daisy cart to haul them.”

“Three should be fine,” Cory said, taking the boxes from her friend. “I can go back to get the rest another day.”

“My cart is in the backyard. I'll meet you around front in a minute.”

While Cory hauled the boxes out the front door, Daisy went to fetch the cart. It was a small cart meant to hold bouquets of daisies, but flower fairies often used their carts for other things, like bringing home groceries, giving small children rides, and collecting twigs from the yard after a storm.

Fairies flew everywhere when they were small, but their full-size bodies were too heavy for their frail wings to lift them. Small fairies couldn't carry heavy objects, which meant that they had to be big and walk if they were carrying an object that weighed more than a
few ounces. Most flower fairies used a cart when they needed to haul away dead flowers or plants that were being transplanted. Sometimes there were so many carts on the paths that traffic jams were common. Although it was annoying for fairies in a hurry, it was a pretty sight with the carts decorated in the owners' special designs. Every inch of Daisy's wooden cart was carved with daisies painted a bright, sunny yellow. The flowers looked so real that one almost expected their petals to ruffle in the wind.