Serial Saturday: "Fairies Under Glass" Part 17

Part 17

"The Ride-Along"

Lewis flinched, earning him a confused frown from the student walking by him, but he managed to regain his composure and keep a straight face as he rounded several corners to isolate himself. He put out his hand, and Ashwyn landed on his palm, her wings flickering with excitement.

"You found it?" he asked.

"Yes! It's here--in another building, though," she answered. "Building C--I saw a few people with the same clothes that you usually wore, so I think you could trade with them. The Captor has commandeered almost half the building with crates of Phantasmians and Underworlders, and actual structures and plants he's brought back from our world."

Lewis sighed. "So, where exactly is the Gyth? Did you see it?"

Ashwyn nodded. "Through a window, in a small room on the side near the front of the building--just like Lisa said, this room is guarded by armored ogres. But inside, I could see it in a glass case, just like Gathlen and the gryphon."

Lewis felt the excitement tingling through his arms. He felt like a criminal mastermind, casing for the heist of a lifetime. "So once we get into the building, all we'd have to do is figure out how to get past the ogres, and we'd have the Gyth, just like that!"

Ashwyn bobbed into the air. "Fairykind could do that easily, especially the elves because they don't glow like we fairies do."

Lewis tensed as he heard footsteps approaching, but the person kept walking down another aisle, and he could continue the conversation, albeit much quieter. He squinted at the fairy standing in front of him. "Does this mean I'm going to have to rescue more fairies?"

Ashwyn's wings twitched. "Maybe?" She chimed coyly. "Just a few more elves, at least. If that makes you nervous," she chattered on, as Lewis was about to cut her off with a protest, "I and a few other fairies can sneak in while you're at class, find the pieces with elves in them, and that way, you can come in later and know exactly who to look for."

Lewis considered the ramifications of his actions. "I don't know..." he groaned. "I think at this point, if I show my face at Moulton House, Krasimir will find out, and he'll get suspicious--"

"Not if you take the place of the student who is supposed to be there!" Ashwyn offered brightly. "You wear a uniform, and you already know how to act like you are just there to do your job."

"Ashwyn," Lewis complained. "I just started this new job! I don't want to do anything to jeopardize it. In a week, maybe--but not on the first day!"

"Fine," the little fairy retorted. "I'll let Queen Evalia know you're laying low for now. We'll be ready when you call for us, and we'll be watching for anything you should know about at the museum."

Lewis nodded. "Okay." He turned away and walked to another section of his assigned area. Once he finished his task list for the day, he checked in with his supervisor, a trim young man with a blunt haircut and narrow eyes. His name was Stanley.

"Got it all done?" Stanley grunted, looking over the list.

Lewis nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Any problems?"

"No, sir."

"Good; report back tomorrow after classes, and you'll do the same tasks again."

"Mr. Stanley," Lewis licked his lips and did his best to appear confident and yet nonchalant, "Can I ask--"

"What?" Stanley grunted, focusing his squinting gaze on Lewis in a way that made the words stick in the younger lad's mouth.

"Um," Lewis stammered, "Is there a chance I could maybe rotate to another building? Or am I stuck at this one warehouse for the rest of the semester?"

Stanley snorted. "What do you think this is, a scenic tour? Hate to break it to ya, but warehouse is pretty much drudge work all the time. I mean, if you want a change of scenery, I guess you could help unload the trucks as they come in, but as far as storage and maintenance, you're pretty much in charge of one area, and one area only. No swaps or rotations."

Well, there went that idea. "Okay, thanks," Lewis muttered, and trudged out of the warehouse lot.
That evening, at Study Hall, Quincy immediately wanted to know what Lewis thought of his new job, and for once, Lewis was glad that there wasn't much to tell.

"We report in, clean our areas, make sure the bins stay organized, sort the shipments as they come in, and keep a log of everything," he said. "That's all." He shrugged and sat back, shooting a glance toward Quincy herself. "What about you? What new job are you trying out this semester?"

The dark-haired girl grinned. "I've got a job at the Browning News Agency, as a journalist. It's so much more exciting than working at the library, but there's still a lot of research and reading and writing to do--I think I like it a lot!"

Jesse had traded in his food court job for a shift at the grocery store, and Henry had found a much calmer, simpler assignment at City Hall.

"New semesters are for trying new things," Jesse remarked, saluting the group with his slice of pizza. "I guess we all took that to heart!"

Meanwhile, Lewis found himself only half-present in the conversation, as the focus shifted to textbooks and upcoming quizzes. Part of him listened and nodded along as the others took turns reading through information about art styles at the turn of the century. The other part of him thought about a room full of stiff, captive fantasy creatures, and a baseball-sized gem sparkling in the moonlight.

For three days straight, Lewis kept his head down and stayed dedicated to his work at Warehouse 31. By the time Friday arrived, he reported to his section of the warehouse dressed in the official Warehouse 31 jumpsuit, just in time for Stanley to jog over.

"Grant!" Stanley barked.

Lewis wiped his hands and turned to face his supervisor. "Yes, sir?"

"Get over to Building C. They're loading a bunch of crates and they need an extra pair of hands."

Lewis didn't hesitate. "Right away, sir." He strode out of the warehouse and headed down the lane to the building with a large WAREHOUSE 31 truck parked in front of the loading dock.

Sure enough, jumpsuit-clad workers bustled in and out of the warehouse with crates stamped with the destination of Moulton House.

One of them stopped when he noticed the young man gawking at them. "What are you doing over here?" he barked.

Lewis raised his hand and waved. "Hi, I'm... here to help."

The dock worker shrugged and waved his hand toward the open bay doors. "Get in there and close up the crates. We need to get them delivered as soon as possible."

Lewis felt a tremor race down his spine. What a great time to have the fairies nearby... if only he'd known about this opportunity ahead of time, he could have brought Ashwyn along! He hustled inside the warehouse.

As expected, several tall, leathery monsters stood against the back wall, some of them only having one eye, while several small crates lined the sides. As Ashwyn had said, there was a portion of this section especially walled-off, with a thick door and a keypad at the entrance. However, when Lewis crept closer and peered through the small window into the room, he didn't see any massive gem. The tables inside the secure area were all empty--and where were the disguised ogres?

"Hey, you!" Someone shouted, and Lewis tried his best to appear as innocent as possible. The man glared at him in much the same way Adolf would. The man even curled his lip at the sight of him, the same reaction as the burly bodyguard. "What are you doing over there?"

Lewis stammered a few unintelligible syllables, trying to craft an excuse on the fly, when the man pointed to where a few open crates stood next to a table laid with row upon row of glittering brooches and sculptures that looked like they were intended for the museum gift shop. "We're supposed to be packing these ones, dingus. You're not authorized to touch anything else."

Lewis nodded emphatically. "Oh, right, okay!" He shuffled over and began fitting the lids on the crates as the other man nailed them shut.

As he grabbed the lid for the next crate, a flashy object caught his eye: there, amid the jeweled roses, strange coins, and bedazzling dragonflies (and miniature dragon sculptures) was a large white gem in a gold setting. The shimmering gem was about the size of his fist, and Lewis didn't have any doubts as to what he was seeing. The Gyth! Out here among the rhinestones and quartzite "crystals"!

Lewis quickly checked with his eyes. The man's back was turned, and the only other people in the room were fussing with an eight-foot-tall crate. Quickly, he snatched the Gyth and shoved it into the crate in front of him with one hand, while fitting the lid on top of it with the other. The lid settled over the frame of the crate with a thud that brought the other man's attention around.

"What are you doing?" he snarled.

Lewis patted the top of the crate. "Just making sure everything is secure, sir," he murmured.

The man rolled his eyes, but he walked over as Lewis backed off, nailing the crate shut.

Lewis cleared his throat. "Will that be all?" he asked.

The man shrugged as the others came in to cart away the sealed crates. "Yeah, that's what we needed here... unless you wanted to do a ride-along--"

"Sure!" Lewis didn't want to appear too eager, but just as someone curious about the warehouse jobs in general. "That sounds great."

The man jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Get in the truck, then. We'll drive out to the museum, unload, and drive back."

Lewis nodded quickly and headed for the loading bay. The last few crates were going in the cargo space, and he headed for the cab.

"I'm a student intern going to ride along," he informed the confused driver.

The driver shrugged. "Okay, just sit in that middle seat there and try not to bother any of us."

Lewis obediently took the seat he indicated. A few minutes later, four workers opened the doors of the cab, but there were really only three seats available.

The driver shrugged. "Gonna have to squeeze. The kid is riding along with us."

The next thing he knew, Lewis felt the rumble of the engine under him as he sat, the only teen in a cramped cab full of adults in the same pale warehouse jumpsuits, headed back toward the center of Browning Academy campus en route to Moulton House.

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