Molar, Cuspid, and Innie flew through every room in the Dental Delivery Station, searching for Ginger. They could hear her whimpering, but couldn’t find her.
“Ginger.” Innie shouted.
“Shhh. Innie, I hear her.” Molar held up his hand for the trio to stop.
“It’s hard to tell, but I think she must be in the Containment Labs.” Cuspid fluttered her eyes.
“Go. Go. Go.” Molar ordered, as the trio flew to the glass doors, but they didn’t slide open.
“What the heck?” Cuspid shook her wings. “The sensor thingy is on the floor, dag gone it.”
“Stack it up fairies.” Molar commanded, stilled his wings and dropped to the floor. Cuspid and Innie followed suit, all sitting atop the other, hoping to trigger the door to open. “Now, I’m going to jump, don’t move a wing.”
“Yes, sir,” Innie answered.
Molar heaved himself, and the other teeth, off the floor. Landing with a thud on the trigger, the trio didn’t speak. The glass doors slid open. Erupting in a boisterous laughter, the trio glided into the lab, spinning and turning—chest bumping and high-fiving.
“Whew. That was awesome.” Molar said breathlessly. “Now, what exactly…”
“Ginger. Where’s Ginger?” Cuspid searched.
“Right. Ginger,” Molar called.
A cry came from the closet. The trio rushed to the door.
“Ginger? You in there?” Cuspid spoke to the crack in the doorframe.
“Here I am. This is me. This is nowhere on earth I wanna be. I’ve been waiting for you.” Her tone was far too high to match the Bryan Adams timbre.
“Great. How are we supposed to open this door? It’s locked.” Innie sighed.
“No. Betty made this one Tooth Fairy proof, ‘cause I got locked in here once. Watch this,” Molar soared to the top of the door frame and smashed down a button with his wand. The door’s locked clicked and Ginger pushed it open.
“Now we gotta cut loose, we’re loose. Kick off our Sunday shoes.” Ginger’s excitement confused the words to her favorite Kenny Loggins tune.
Following the singing panicked familiar out to the yard, they all gawked at the sight of witches, warlocks, and Shifters chasing after Job.
“Holy tooth fairy! What the warlock is happening?” Molar sped toward the action.
“Wait, we need backup.” Cuspid took a nosedive toward the habitats of waiting tooth fairies. “Ginger, help us get them out of these containments. Hurry.”
Ginger and the tooth fairy trio drug the habitats off the cart and ripped them open, releasing the new tooth fairies into the night sky, where they hovered.
“Listen to me, young tooth fairies,” Molar used his best King-like deep voice. “We must stop Job from getting to that door in the tree. I know he taught you to fly, but Betty is our one and only Tooth Fairy Whisperer. She is the one who saved you, and so many others like you, from a life without purpose or pride.”
“Betty. Betty. Betty.” The swarm of new tooth fairies chanted.
“Let’s do this! Charge!” Molar barked out the command and the horde of tooth fairies rushed to the small door in the crook of the Dawn Redwood tree, with Ginger leading the pack.
“Gates, look. It’s Ginger and my tooth fairies. All of them.” Betty pointed to the cloud gaining ground on Job, Granny Franny, the boys, and Birdie.
Birdie moved on a cloud. The rainbow puff carrying her emanated sparks of every color, surrounded by a swarm of butterflies.
“Birdie, don’t please,” Betty cried. “Gates, we have to stop her.”
“Betty, we can’t stop her.” Gates held Betty’s arms. “That’s why I’m here.”
“I don’t understand what you are saying. Why you’re here? But Birdie’s going to get hurt. She’s too young. She might….” Her voice trailed off.
“Betty, I’m here to stop you.” Gates hugged her arms tight against her body. “Let her. She’s the only one who can stop him.”
“You’re crazy.” Millie charged forward.
Gates closed his eyes, shook and unfurled his wings, putting up a barrier between the crowd behind him — Millie, Guy, Porter and Vera — and the action in front of him.
“What the hell are you?” Vera whispered.
“Gates.” Betty mouthed.
“Let them be. I’m…”
“A mystic angel.” Porter stated.
“Yes, and I know this is hard. Everything that is happening is meant to happen. It’s hard to watch, Betty. Letting them grow up always is, but you have to trust me.” Gates pleaded.
He held her tight. “She’s finding her true purpose.”
“But what am I supposed to do?” Betty sobbed as she watched Birdie move further away from her toward the trouble.
“You’re supposed to let her go.” Gates’ voice was soft in her ear.
Running faster and faster to the Dawn Redwood, a warm breeze and a buzzing noise overwhelmed Job. Looking above, he saw an undulating creamy colored haze full of wings.
“My tooth fairies!” He shouted in excitement. “You’ve come to help me. I knew you loved me. I knew you did.”
The tooth fairy cloud began to chant again, “Betty. Betty. Betty.”
“Damn rotten teeth.” Job screamed.
The Shifters made it to the big tree well before the others. They surrounded the tree in protective stances. No one was getting past the Thatchers.
Granny Franny skipped and rolled along, cackling and coughing, but doing her best to keep pace. Passing her with a gentle wind and glowing smile, was Birdie on her cloud of colors.
“You go get ‘em girl.” Granny Franny shook a fist in the air and stumbled.
Rolling past everyone, Birdie caught up to Job just as he tripped over the first large, gnarly root of the redwood tree. Gnomelder in his brown jar went flying and crashed against the tree. The small creature fell out and lay dazed and confused on the ground, while the trio of tooth fairies and their new tooth fairy haze covered every crevasse in the old crooked tree.
“Job,” Birdie spoke softly.
“Back off witch girl.” Job patted the ground for the black-rimmed glasses he’d lost in the fall.
“I can’t do that.” The cloud faded from underneath her, and her feet reconnected with the ground.
“I’ll curse you, just like I did Ginger,” Job hissed.
The lot of witches, warlocks, Shifters, and tooth fairies gasped.
“What? It’s funny.” Job looked around at the crowd, staring at him.
“Bad, Bad Job Barker, baddest man in the whole damn town.” Ginger sang her favorite Jim Croce song.
“See. That is stupid hilarious.” Job tittered.
“Undo that curse,” Millie pointed at him. “Or so help me, I will… I will.”
“What? Give me a tail.” Job poked fun at her former threats.
“Please, everyone, silence.” Birdie’s soft voice transformed to a boom.
“Little witchy’s got some lungs on her.” Granny Franny’s eyes grew wide, and she laughed into her hand.
“Birdie?” Betty reached out.
“It’s okay Betty. Listen to her.” Gates begged.
“I’m all ears. I swear we ain’t seen nothing in Rabbit Hash this exciting… well, it’s been long enough.” Vera locked arms with Porter and squeezed. “And we’re right here for that baby girl if she needs us.”
“No doubt.” Porter agreed.
Job cowered in the folds of the tree, feeling around for the glasses, trying not to be noticed, “where are they?”
Betty waved her hand and snapped her fingers, materializing the glasses in her hand. “Sorry, Job.”
“No. You can’t take them back. You’re taking everything.” He scrambled to his feet, diving for the nooks and crannies of the old tree. “Where is it? Where is that damn gnome?”
Gnomelder jumped on top of the largest root, “Re Ima Ob Arker. Ou na rut Molder. Molder na arth fa Ob.”
“Damn you little gnome.” Job cursed.
“Enough, Job,” Birdie soothed and calmly walked over to the warlock, backing him against the tree. “Give me your hand.”
“Wait, Birdie,” Betty struggled to get away from Gates.
Leaning down and taking Job’s hand in hers, she whistled for Ginger.
Trotting over, Ginger sat beside them.
“Paw.” Birdie patted the bond between her hand and Job’s. Ginger laid her paw on top of their entwined fingers. Taking deep breaths, the tiny witch stilled and took in the curse, the anger, and the insecurity—draining all the evil from Job, and the misplaced curse from Ginger. She grew pale as Job twisted in her grasp. Ginger whined. Then Birdie slummed to the ground, releasing them both.
“Birdie,” Betty called out, and Gates let her go.
“No.” Millie followed along with Vera, Porter and Guy.