Wood Sprites полностью

Other sources, though, pointed out that Windwolf had been the one who meted out the punishment on the criminally negligent. Sparrow’s sense of justice was unknown. Analysts were optimistic. Louise was not.

It was surreal to stand on the train platform, hear the endless speculation, and know what the rest of the world didn’t. Surely this is what a sighted person would feel like in a country of blind people.

Sparrow would take command of the Westernlands until Queen Soulful Ember could choose a new viceroy. Between the moles in the EIA and her leadership of the Elves, Pittsburgh had fallen into the hands of the very people who had attacked Windwolf. There had been a reason that Sparrow wanted Windwolf dead. It may have been solely for the ability to start a war. By secretly controlling both sides, Sparrow could easily manipulate conflicts until humans and elves were at each other’s throats.

Zahara ambushed them at the top of the stairs to the fifth-grade floor. “Did you see the news?”

“About Windwolf?” Louise felt guilty. Guilty that she hadn’t been able to warn anyone on Elfhome. Guilty that she hadn’t told any of her friends. Guilty that they needed to go on acting like they knew nothing about forces of evil trying to destroy the peace that existed between humans and elves.

“No. Not that. That sucks. I mean about Nigel Reid.”

“What happened to Nigel?” Louise cried. The last twenty-four hours had been nothing but bad news.

“He’s going to Elfhome!” Zahara obviously thought this was good news. “NBC announced it this morning! He’s going to be doing a show called Chased by Monsters, and they’re going to start filming next Shutdown.”

“Last I heard, he was filming the pilot here on Earth.” The twins had verified Aunt Kitty’s news while arranging to give Nigel the gossamer call at the gala.

“What? No. The network pulled serious strings yesterday and pushed the visas through.”

“Why?” Louise cried. “This is the worse time possible for him to go!”

“Taggart,” Jillian muttered darkly.

“Huh?” Zahara was lost in the conversation.

“Taggart is a famous war correspondent,” Jillian explained. “He left CNN to team up with Nigel to do nature documentaries. NBC must be counting on war breaking out and want someone there that can cover it for them.”

“Why would a war break out?” Zahara asked.

The bell for homeroom saved Louise from having to answer.

With the addition of Iggy and three of his biggest pirate classmates, they were trooped downstairs to the auditorium for an entire day of flying. They were going to choreograph the fight scene on the Jolly Roger. The main focus of the battle was Hook and Peter’s duel, but the three Darling children would flit about on the edges, having their own moments as they took on and conquered a pirate. Louise had written big sweeping fight music for the battle, but it needed logical pauses in the score for Jillian and the others to deliver their lines.

Louise took her place at the control board and opened up a browser to the Internet. As Zahara claimed, NBC stated that Nigel would be sent to Elfhome next Shutdown to film Chased by Monsters. Horrible, horrible title for such a noble, gentle, and intelligent man. What was he thinking? She checked Nigel’s website. He had the same information that he’d featured a week ago. It was possible that the sudden change had flooded him with things that needed to be done since he had only twenty-some days to prepare for filming on another planet and get to the Pittsburgh border. The NBC press release said nothing about Windwolf or Taggart or EIA or visa problems. Zahara’s statement about the network pulling strings sounded right, but where would she get that idea, since she clearly wasn’t thinking about political ramifications?

Louise checked Jello Shots. The website was in furious debate. The source of Zahara’s comment was obvious as the fans weighed in on how NBC had rammed Nigel through the EIA’s visa bottleneck. What would their beloved Lemon-Lime do about Windwolf’s death? Would Lemon-Lime ignore it and continue on with Prince Yardstick or herald in Sparrow as the new viceroy of the Westernlands?

The question made Louise want to rage. She would never acknowledge Sparrow’s character, Jerked, as viceroy, even if the real person claimed the title. Prince Yardstick would survive the attack in their videos.

A new thread popped up: Did Lemon-Lime put Nigel in the last video knowing that Taggart would be needed on Elfhome?

Louise stared at the heading in dismay and anger. They had made the video before they had overheard Sparrow plotting. And certainly, they had never expected to be able to influence anyone to the point of getting Nigel a visa to Elfhome. If they’d known all that was coming and the extent of their fame. .