Chapter 45

Ruby

Even though I promised Atwood when I first came here that I wouldn’t use my dazing ability anymore, I don’t have a choice now. There’s no other way for me to get to Greenwood, where I’ll be able to pawn off the brooch at a local pawn shop, unless someone drives me.

Using my ability on one of the guards doesn’t count though, right?

The day after my meeting with the Queen, I wake up and change into plain clothes: a pair of black jeans, a black hoodie, and sneakers. I make sure to wear my beanie and sunglasses as well to help hide my identity when I get to Greenwood, then slip out of my room to find a guard to daze.

Thankfully, it’s still early and Atwood, the Queen, and Alice are nowhere to be found. I suspect that Atwood is probably in his study, and Alice is probably preparing breakfast. I’m not sure what the Queen does in the early mornings; maybe she’s still asleep. I know for a fact that Edith is at school, since she didn’t get kicked out.

I quietly walk around the hallways until I find a half-asleep guard standing watch at one of the back entrances. He barely notices when I walk up to him: he’s practically sleeping as he leans against the stone wall.

“Good morning,” I say in a sweet voice as I saunter up to him, employing the very limits of my dazing ability. He turns toward me, and as soon as our eyes lock, I know that I have him in my grasp.

“Uh… G’mornin’, Princess,” he slurs, his sleepy eyes half closed. His pupils swirl around ever so slightly to indicate that he’s susceptible to my commands.

“I need you to drive me to Greenwood,” I say, making sure to be quick and quiet. “And don’t tell anyone where you’re going. Tell them that you’re picking up a supply order. Bring one of the black cars around, then drive for me.”

The guard pauses, and for a moment I think that my ability has failed, and that he’s going to tell on me.

But then, he bows.

“Right away, Princess,” he says, turning on his heel and heading for the garage to get a car. I watch until he’s out of my sight, then I look around to make sure no one is around before quietly sneaking out the back door. I stand beneath an arbor where I know no one will see me if they look out a window while I wait for the guard to pull the car up.

Within a few moments, we’re on our way to Greenwood. I check my phone the entire time to make sure that Atwood hasn’t contacted me, but as we arrive at the shopping district twenty minutes later with no call from Atwood, I know that I’m in the clear. Hopefully I’ll be able to pawn off the brooch and return before anyone notices that I’m gone.

I order the guard to park in an inconspicuous spot before I start searching for a pawn shop. I remember overhearing some of the other students at school talking about an oddities shop in Greenwood a while back, so I know there’s one here.

After awhile of searching, I finally come across the oddities shop. It’s tucked away in a dark alley with a broken wooden sign that reads “Mirabel’s Oddities & Antiquities”. The sign is so faded and broken that I don’t even notice right away that the shop is even open, but a dim light catches my eye in the window.

As I enter the shop, a bell jingles on the door and an old woman pokes her head up from behind the counter. Her wiry gray hair is piled into a messy bun atop her head, and she’s barely taller than the counter with the way her back is hunched. If it weren’t for her hair, I wouldn’t have even seen her.

“Hello, dearie,” she says in a withered old voice. “Can I help you?”

I look around to see that no one else is in here before I walk up to the counter. “I have something I’d like to sell.”

The old woman frowns. “I’m not accepting new items,” she says, narrowing her eyes at me. I pause, biting my lip, before digging into my pocket to retrieve the brooch.

I hold the brooch out to her, and as I do, her eyes practically become as large as saucers. “I-It’s just this,” I say timidly. The old woman reaches out to snatch the brooch, but I pull it away before she can grab it. She looks annoyed, but intrigued.

“How much will you give me for it?” I ask. I don’t say this out loud, but all I really need is three hundred dollars in order to buy two train tickets to the next town over and some food for Tamara and myself. Honestly, I don’t expect much more for the old brooch. It was precious to my mother, but I doubt that it’s really worth that much.

The old woman scratches her chin and pulls out a magnifying glass. She inspects the brooch in my palm for several moments, muttering to herself, before putting away the magnifying glass and tapping on her calculator.

“Let’s see,” she says, “I could give you… one hundred dollars.”

“Only a hundred?” I ask, disappointed.

The old woman frowns again and folds her spindly arms across her chest, pursing her thin lips.

“A hundred dollars would be generous,” she says. “Besides, what could a girl your age need more money for?”

Frowning, I pocket the brooch again with a plan in mind to try somewhere else. I know that this brooch is worth more than a hundred dollars. I need this brooch to be worth more than that. “I’ll go somewhere else, then,” I say, turning on my heel and heading for the door.

“Wait!” the old woman shouts. I turn around to see her scurrying toward me. She must have been standing on a stool behind the counter, because she’s even more tiny now.

“Two hundred,” she says, eyeing my pocket containing the brooch enviously.

I thumb the brooch in my pocket thoughtfully as I consider her offer. It’s a lot less than I had hoped for still, but it would be enough for the train tickets. We could figure something out as far as food goes, just for the time being. Maybe Cayden would have enough to help us.

As I’m thinking, I look around at the disheveled shop. It all seems like a bunch of junk… But then, something catches my eye. A necklace in the case. It’s got a small blue pendant that almost seems to absorb the light.

“What’s that?” I ask, pointing toward the necklace.

The old woman turns to look at it, then back at me with a grin before scurrying over to the case and taking it out.

“This, my dear, is a protection charm,” she says. I walk over to the counter as she holds it out to me. When I take it, it’s heavier than I expected. The pendant is cold to the touch.

I can’t explain it, but something draws me to the necklace. If it truly is a protection charm, I could give it to Tamara. I’d do anything to make sure that she stays safe on our next journey.

“Two hundred, and this,” I say, eyeing the old woman.

She barely hesitates. “Yes!” she says, opening the cash register with a ding and fishing out a couple of hundred dollar bills. I reach into my pocket and take the brooch out. Before I can take one last look at my mother’s brooch, the old woman snatches it out of my palm and replaces it with the money and the necklace.

“Thank you for your business!” she calls over her shoulder as she dashes off to a back room, leaving me alone.

It pains me to watch the strange old woman run off with my mother’s brooch.

I’m sorry, mom, I think to myself as I leave the store, pocketing my money and the protection charm. As I climb back into the car and order the guard to take me home, a tear rolls down my cheek.