Serial Saturday: "Fairies Under Glass", Part 11

Part 11

"The New Arrival"

Lewis spent the evening going over multiple iterations of some kind of plan with Ashwyn, trying to figure out how he could smuggle the Queen out of the museum. He knew he wasn't going to be able to use that hallway again--but what other option did they have?

"Wait a minute," Lewis mused to himself, studying their meager list of options. "There was a truck beside the building once--they would use their own doors, wouldn't they?"

"You mean, there's another way to get into that room?" Ashwyn asked hopefully.

Lewis slumped on his bed. "I don't know... maybe." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Ashwyn came to settle on top of his alarm clock. "What's the matter?" she asked.

Lewis sighed and lay down. "I just... I have lasted this long without getting into trouble, and--" He stopped and cast a worried glance out the window. "If I'm caught now, what will that do to my chances?"

The little fairy leaned back and kicked her dangling feet. "Are you so sure you will get caught?" she mused.

Lewis felt sleep tugging at the back of his eyelids as he reached up to turn out the lamp. "Trust me," he murmured. "I'm terrible at being stealthy."

In the darkness, Ashwyn's wings flickered briefly as she moved over to the door of her little house. "You were stealthy enough to rescue me," she murmured as the boy drifted off to sleep. "I think you'll find a way to save us all."

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As it turned out, Lewis didn't have long to wait before figuring out what to do about rescuing the Queen.
Right after his first class of the day, Melanie stood waiting for him, with wriggling, barking Keats at her side. The puppy yelped and dashed over to Lewis as he approached, and then, just before he was in arm's reach of the boy, the little dog stopped dead in his tracks.

Lewis laughed and reached forward, but Keats dodged his hand.
"Hey," Lewis muttered. "What's the idea?"

Keats yapped, jumping toward Lewis' chest, but still evading any touch from his hand. When Lewis gave up and stood back, Keats darted back to Melanie and curled his body around her legs.

The young woman gave a light chuckle, staring at her dog in confusion. "That's strange... usually he's more friendly and sociable than that. Go on, you goof," she stepped aside, giving Keats some reassuring pats. "You know Lewis; say hi!"

The puppy yapped a few more times, but refused to leave Melanie's side. The faculty aide sighed. "Oh well, so much for that." She beckoned to Lewis. "Come on, I'm supposed to bring you to Moulton House. You're needed for some heavy-duty cleaning."

Lewis fell into step beside her, the anxiety climbing in his chest. What sort of mess could have been made in a single night that qualified as "heavy-duty"?

He arrived at the museum to find Exhibit Hall G roped off by barriers of yellow caution tape. The doors had been removed, and a good portion of the wall as well, three feet on either side of the door well and all the way up to the twenty-foot ceiling.

Lewis had to stop and stare, fully aware that his mouth was probably hanging open, and yet too preoccupied to care.
"What... the..."

"Oh, heavens! Grant's here, good," Whimpered a voice, and a very disheveled-looking Mr. Gilroy emerged from one of the far hallways and headed straight for Lewis. "Why are you just standing there? It's so incredibly rude of him to go over my head like this--I thought this museum was for temporary exhibits, not permanent alterations that risk compromising the structural integrity of this building! Go, go, go, my boy!" Gilroy rounded Lewis and gave him gentle, insistent taps on the shoulder. "Get your uniform on, quickly! It's a disaster area in there, and I don't want to know what Herr Schlimme might charge if any of his artwork is ruined on our account!"

Lewis peeled his eyes away from the bizarre sight of the all-but-gutted room, and his mind buzzed with curiosity as he rushed to the hallway and dashed for his locker.

The moment he whipped his vest off, Ashwyn burst from his chest pocket.
"Oh, boy! That was a close one!" she jangled, diving for her customary shelf in his locker. "What's going on? Something amazing, I'm guessing!" Her wings shimmered in the shadows. "I can feel it in the air!"

Lewis paused in thought as he pulled his jumpsuit around his shoulders. "Hm, that's funny," he mumbled.

"What is?" Ashwyn stood on the edge of the shelf where he could see her.

Lewis shrugged. "I guess I've gotten used to you by now; once I started Lit class this morning, I completely forgot that I carry a fairy around in my shirt pocket."

"Yes, well," Ashwyn huffed, "I hope you're not claiming that as your excuse for the way you let that monster attack me!"

Lewis furrowed his brow. "What monster? We weren't attacked by any--"

"You know the one!" Ashwyn persisted. "It smells bad, and it's noisy, and I think you called it Kees or something--"

"Keats?" Lewis corrected absently. "The dog? But he wasn't--oh!" Suddenly, the rambunctious puppy's strange behavior made a whole lot more sense. Lewis laughed. "Sorry about that whole thing earlier; dogs are pretty harmless creatures, but he probably smelled you in my pocket and freaked out because he didn't know what he was smelling!" The way Keats had focused so intently on Lewis' vest--Lewis himself couldn't tell if fairies had a scent, but a dog certainly would!

More banging and shouts issued from the museum floor outside, so Lewis quickly loaded up his cart and left--barely noticing the fact that Ashwyn still waited on the shelf when he shut the door of his locker and hustled into the hallway.

As he neared Exhibit Hall G, he could hear Krasimir Schlimme's voice booming amid the bangs, crashes, and whirring of sawblades.
"Vhere is ze boy? Ve must get zese pieces out of here! Mein Gott, if he is not coming until his normal hour--"

Lewis ducked under the caution tape and pulled his cart through behind him. "Here, sir! Sorry I'm la--" The words died in his mouth as he came into the room and saw the absolute mess of the place.

The glittering curtain of fairies now lay on a heap in one corner, while the chunks of drywall and brick from the removed portion of the wall lay in various heaps around the open spaces.

Nearly all of the displays had been moved or dismantled, about half of them stacked against the sides of the room while the free-standing walls had all been shifted to the back of the exhibit hall. The space at the front of the room was twice the size of Casey's garage--what did they need such a large open area for?

As Lewis proceeded further into the room, he saw the display case with the red-horned unicorn, and noted that the gryphon had been returned to its original position, posed as if attacking the unicorn.
But if the unicorn is the protector, it wouldn't make sense for the gryphon to show animosity toward it, Lewis thought. Unless the gryphon is somehow a threat to the good creatures of Phantasm. He shuddered, hoping he would never have to find out which side the gryphon was on.

A thick layer of plaster dust coated just about every surface, so Lewis figured he could take the initiative. He grabbed the broom and started sweeping the dust into a pile as Adolf walked in with a stack of crates twice the big man's height.

Lewis glanced over as the burly security guard walked to the nearest stack of artwork and began loading the larger, undamaged pieces into the slots of the crate.

Krasimir finished shouting at the remodeling team and came into the space. "She is almost here! Why do we move so slowly?" he exclaimed frantically. He flailed his arms at Adolf. "Nein! Ve haf no time for care! Mach schneller!" He darted for a pile of broken frames and shattered glass--displays that had not fared so well during the demolition phase. These he began tossing willy-nilly into Lewis' trash cart.
Under the guise of dumping a pile of dust into the cart, Lewis glanced down.

Amid the glass shards and splinters, he could see pieces of backdrop material and twisted limbs--was Krasimir so callous to be throwing away live creatures to end up in some landfill somewhere?

The artist himself interrupted Lewis' musings as he had calmed down somewhat. In his hands, he held a stack of small, undamaged wall displays, and these he perched delicately on top of the full cart.
"Take zem all down at the same time, bitte," Mr. Schlimme instructed, "and if zey are undamaged, put zem vis ze others. If zey are damaged, put zem in ze trash."

Lewis obediently rolled the cart out of the exhibit hall when the full impact of his instructions hit him, drawing him up straight. Schlimme had told him to bring the displays down with the others. That meant he had permission to go to the basement storage area! Feeling like a key character in a heist film, Lewis moseyed straight down the "forbidden" hallway and paused at the top of the stairs. He glanced around for a ramp down to the lower level, but saw none.

Lewis sighed. "Guess I'm going to have to take these down a few at a time," he said to himself, eyeing the stack of displays.

He began transporting them down a few at a time. No sense in risking the wrath of the artist if any of these displays got damaged after leaving the exhibit hall!

Lewis gently stacked the art atop a closed crate, doing his best to never stack higher than three frames, in order to reduce the risk of crushing. Upon seeing the familiar Queen's Court display, Lewis remembered his original intention for the day--and now here was the perfect cover for it! On one of the last trips down, he stayed in the storage area and searched for the crate containing the Queen. There she was, back in that same slot Ashwyn had found.

His heart thumped wildly as he carried her to the long table at the center of the room. His ears seemed keyed up to the slightest noise as he stared at her glittering winter display. How was he going to sneak her out of the room? Krasimir expected him to leave all the intact displays behind.

Lewis' gaze shifted to the scissors and pliers in a bin at the back of the table. But what if hers was just another busted display? his thoughts inquired.

Lewis gently lifted the frame to access the back panel. Working gently, he removed the fasteners, and the whole back came along with it. inside the wooden frame was a canvas frame, on which the Queen was suspended. Lewis winced as he saw that she wasn't held prisoner by a few large staples, but by dozens of fine stitches--he couldn't free her here and now. Besides, he could hear the shuffling steps and heavy grunts of Adolf walking through the lobby. If he caught Lewis in there...
He had to act quickly.

"Sorry, Your Majesty," Lewis whispered as he took a box knife and cut out the chunk of canvas around the trapped fairy. He piled the scraps of canvas all around her, concealing what it was, and set the frame aside with a collection of other empty frames. He gently cradled the wad of canvas in his hands and had just placed it at the top of the pile of trash in his cart when Adolf rounded the corner and immediately scowled at the sight of him.

"You!" snarled the angry man, getting close enough to Lewis that the boy could smell his horrible breath. "I thought the Boss told you not to be down here--"

"He-He gave me permission!" Lewis squeaked, fighting to keep from shaking all over. "I was just taking out the trash!" He pointed to the cart, almost daring Adolf to try and find fault with a dumb student who was just following orders.

Lewis saw Adolf's nostrils flare. Why was he smelling the trash?

"Well then," Adolf finally stepped back and pointed behind him. "Be on your way," he rumbled.
Lewis felt lighter than air as relief cascaded over him. He was almost home free! He could just imagine how Ashwyn would react when she saw the dozen or so fairies he was able to rescue just by calling them "trash."

"Look out, there! Coming through!"

Lewis stopped in his tracks as he heard the warning, while a sustained, pulsing beep alerted anyone that a "wide load" was on its way--as in through the double-doors of Moulton House, Krasimir Schlimme's latest display arrived:

A giant girl, curled up on a mattress about three feet thick. Lewis felt his jaw drop a second time as he watched them slowly maneuver the massive "sculpture" into the room. They did it feet-first, so that the last thing Lewis watched was her innocent face, seven feet from her chin to her scalp, eyes closed as if in slumber. Her shoulders spanned an additional six feet from the surface of the mattress. Once the Warehouse 31 movers got the bed into place, they started cleaning up around the threshold to replace the doors. 

Only then did Lewis find the wherewithal to shake himself and push through the rest of his sweeping. Once the floors had been cleared of debris, he rushed to the janitor's locker with his cart full of "contraband" fairies. His mind spun. How had Krasimir managed to ensnare such a large trophy, and how did he transport it from Phantasm to this world without anyone knowing? How exactly had he done any of it? Lewis wondered if--should the artist's secret be discovered--he would ever learn exactly how it happened.

He didn't have long to wonder about this, though, because as soon as he opened his locker door, Ashwyn darted out and began zooming around the room, jabbering at a million miles an hour.
"Let me tell you, it is not exciting to be shut up in a tiny room with only your clothes and books for company! Why didn't you let me out? Did you really not want me around? Just say the word, and I'll leave you forever, if this is the way you're going to treat me! After all the secrets I've explained to you? After all we've been through together? This is what you do to friends? I won't have it! I--" She stopped as Lewis reached into the cart and lifted out the wad of shredded canvas with a grin on his face.

He sat on a nearby bench and began unfolding it. Curiously, the fairy perched on his knee as he pulled open the last bit of fabric, revealing the paralyzed Queen.

"Oh!" Ashwyn gasped, dropping to her knees. "You did it! You saved her!"

Lewis nodded, gesturing to the bin. "And there are more."

Ashwyn's irritation at being left behind evaporated as she dove into the mass of paint, scraps, splinters, and shards. "Oh! You wonderful human! I can't believe you've done it! This isn't everybody, though?" She asked at last, climbing out of the tangle.

Lewis sighed. "No, but at least Krasimir is not going to miss these."

Ashwyn settled on the side of the trash cart. "Why was he just going to throw all these fairies away? After everything he did to capture us--and now we're suddenly garbage to him?"

Lewis rubbed the back of his neck. "Ashwyn, are there giants in Phantasm?"

She smiled. "Oh yes! Many of them are friendly, even. Fairykind don't have much to do with the giants, though, because we're so small and they're so large, and that--oh!" She gasped and jumped to her feet, the purple skirts flouncing. "You mean he has one?"

Lewis nodded. "Sleeping, and probably paralyzed like you all."

Ashwyn wrapped her arms around herself. "Oh, this is terrible! First the red-horned unicorn, now a giant, too? Please, Lewis," she scurried along the side of the cart to put her hands on Lewis' arm. "You've got to help us!"

Lewis huffed. "I'm trying!" he complained, and his thoughts added, But every moment, the situation just gets more and more complicated!

Ashwyn's wings twitched. She pointed to the cart. "We can help you! Can we free all of these now?"

Lewis checked his watch. His shift was ending soon, and he would need to get back to his building to receive a list of the assignments he missed so he would be able to stay on track. "Not here," he said. "But if we can fit everyone into my backpack, I can carry them back to my room where we can free them all in privacy."

"On it!" Ashwyn curved a loop in the air. By the time Lewis' shift ended, Ashwyn somehow packed all of the paralyzed fairies safely and securely inside the backpack. As it turned out, there weren't quite as many as Lewis thought--a few fairies and elves didn't survive the process, either from suffocating as an art piece, or too badly injured in the process of taking them off the wall. Ashwyn shed a few tears for them, as Lewis dutifully emptied his cart into the big trash bin headed for the dumpster.

In the end, Lewis calmly trudged out of the front door of Moulton House with a backpack brimming with fairies. He was committed now, no doubt about it!

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