Fairy Thief by Johanna Frappier Page B

must rest your soul from time to time!” Saffron could hardly hear Li because Tai and Wo had linked arms, and were already flying her away.
    “ Why do I have to sleep?”
    “ Oh, we’ll tell you later, babe. Shet your yap, now.” Tai winked at her.
    “ No. You tell me right now!” Saffron spat, and tried to yank her arm from Tai’s grasp. The twins ignored her.
    “ Crap!” Wo did not fit the majestic and enchanting title of ‘fairy’ or ‘winged child,’ when he said, ‘crap.’
    “ What?” Tai howled with laughter at Wo saying, ‘crap.’
    “ Where are we going, Tai?”
    “ Hell, man, I don’t know — I thought you knew!”
    Wo sighed, “Turn around everybody, we’re headed back.”
    “ What? ….Oh fantastic! How are you two supposed to help me search ‘several hundred realms’?”
    “ Keep your panties on lady — we just need a starting point.”
    Saffron glared at Tai. He was so rude!
    Several streaks of lightning ripped through the sky behind him, casting him in an eerie light.
    Saffron instantly felt nervous as he shrieked like a maniac.
    They landed in front of Li. She answered their question before they asked. “The caves in New Mexico.”
    “ Come on, Daffy Saffy,” Tai sang out and grasped the belt loop on the backside of Saffron’s jeans.
    Wo gently took her arm. The trio shot into the sky.
    “ Wah – what? What the hell are you doing?” Saffron was spitting-cat-mad as they gained altitude.
    “ I am whisking you away, oh, great lady, to the portal of your dreams!”
    “ Listen, ass — you’re not carrying me from portal to portal by my belt loop! And why the hell are my jeans going up my rear if I’m only a soul. Why can I still feel this? Why can I feel everything? This is so aggravating!”
    “ Now, now, Luv — calm down. Of course you can feel everything. Your soul is working on autopilot. You don’t need your body to experience physical sensations — you’ve got the memory of your body within your soul. It’s kind of like ‘phantom pain’, you know, when people lose a limb — an arm or a leg — they swear they can still feel pain in the missing limb.”
    “ Ah, yeah — I was told this already! I was also told it would go away! When is it going to go away?”
    “ When are you going to let it go?” Tai yanked her wedgie higher.
    Saffron roared.
    The wind pressed Wo’s baby curls flat. “Be careful, Saffron. It’s not safe to hold onto these memories of physical feeling. If you think someone has chopped your arm off, you’ll really lose it, if that’s what you believe.”
    “ And by the way, Saffron,” Tai elbowed her hard, so that she went sliding into Wo, “we aren’t going to make you feel all dopey like the fairies did on your other rides to our realm. It takes energy to give you such a comfy ride, and, sorry but, I’m using all of my energy to get around — no cushy, cushy, here.” He smirked.
    Wo shrugged and continued to fly her straight ahead.
    “ And why did you call me that stupid nickname? How do you know that name? Don’t call me that ever again!”
    “ Saffron, we know a lot about you!”
    Tai’s smile was so ugly, Saffron was afraid Ny had broadcast their filthy relationship for the whole world. Had he? Saffron wanted to shrivel up and die. She looked over her shoulder at Wo.
    He nodded and raised his eyebrows twice in confirmation.
    She wasn’t too thrilled to be strapped to these arrogant little punks. Maybe she shouldn’t have complained and just done this with Li. Who knew there could be fairies more annoying than Mother-Hubbard-loving-smothering, Li? “Great.” She lowered her eyebrows and sulked all the way to New Mexico.

Chapter 9
     
     
    T hey arrived at Bandelier National Monument half an hour later, as the sun was setting. They landed on ground that ran along the top of a red clay cliff. Two hikers were coming along the path, straight for them. The hikers startled Saffron. She gasped, then hurried to back out of