THE GOLD WAS gone. Gone. Arden fought not to throw up as he left the vault and entered the bank proper again. Kerry clung to him, but he doubted it had to do with the magic, and more like she tried to support him with what he just discovered. He drew upon her strength as he left Gerst standing in the middle of the bank, wondering what everyone was even doing there.
As he stepped out into the dark night, he doubled over, hands on his knees as he took several deep breaths to steady his nerves. He felt Kerry’s hand on his back as she silently offered her support. Quinn stood to the side, wringing his hands as he stared off into the night.
The gold was gone. Paddy somehow managed to sneak in and get it out without anyone being any the wiser, and the maggot did it right under their noses. How would Arden ever be able to salvage this?
“We need to call the Elders back home?” Quinn said, his tone soft, shaky. “Perhaps they’ll know what to do.”
Arden took a few more deep breaths before standing, hands on his hips. “No. We need to find the gold and get it back before Paddy moves it out of Black Hollow.”
“And just how do ya think we’re to do that?” Quinn snapped. “We don’t even know where he’s hiding it, or how he managed to get it out of the vault.”
“Yes, you do,” Kerry said, and both men turned their gazes to her.
“Oh, we do, do we?” Quinn said harshly. “And just what do we know?”
She shrugged. “There’s only one way to get the gold out of the vault. He shrunk it. He had to make it small enough to fit into something to carry it out the door.” She turned to Arden. “You said the lights went out yesterday, and then suddenly, Paddy was in his teller booth. That’s when he did it. While the lights were out, he snuck into the vault, shrunk the pots of gold, replacing them with his illusion, and then returned to his window.” She shrugged. “All he needed to do then was wait until closing time and walk out with the gold. No one would bother him, because people avoid him with the strong smell of alcohol he wears like a cloak.” She turned to Quinn. “You said you always smell it on him, but never on his breath. I think that’s on purpose. He knows people will shy away from him if he reeks of booze, and it helps him avoid people looking at him too closely. No one gave him a second look when he left, because they were just glad he left.”
Arden had to confess that a lot of what she said made sense. The cluricaun proved to be a master at subterfuge. “That still doesn’t explain why he set off the alarm the other day, tipping us off that someone was after the gold,” Arden said. “Why do that? He could have taken off with the gold without us even knowing until it was too late.”
“My guess would be he was about to, but Brandie got in his way,” Kerry said as she crossed her arms over her chest, staring out into the night. “That’s probably why he did something to her, but what?”
Quinn stared at her, and Arden saw the fear on his friend’s features. “You don’t think he…?” Quinn couldn’t bring himself to finish the question.
Kerry turned to face Arden, her expression telling him she feared the same thing Quinn did. Arden’s heart ached for her, knowing he was the one who put Brandie in danger. “We’ll find her,” he assured her, but the promise felt hollow in their current situation.
“For Paddy’s sake, I hope so,” she snarled. “Or Black Hollow will be short one cluricaun.”
“Oh, I already decided he’s going to be gone one way or the other,” Quinn vowed. “Now, where do we go from here?”
Arden stared down the street toward the woods at the end. “We need to find him, so we need to go back to the faerie knoll.” He turned his attention to Quinn. “We should bring Nunk and the others in on this. We may need their help.”
“They let him walk out with the damn gold!” Quinn said. “I think they’ve done enough to help.” He shook his head. “No, we started this without others, and we’ll finish it the same way. We’re going to get our gold back as well as Brandie, and then, I’m going to shove that maggot through the earth and back to the home country.”
Arden took a deep breath. He turned to Kerry, knowing the answer to his next question even before he asked. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to get you to remain here, is there? This might get a little dangerous with Paddy’s magic and all. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
She smiled at him. “I don’t want to see me get hurt, either, but I’m going. Until Brandie’s safe, I’m in this.”
Arden nodded. “I thought you’d say that. All right, let’s go find the thief.” He started off, instinctively reaching out and taking Kerry’s hand in his.
She took it, giving his hand a squeeze and smiling over at him as they crossed the street, heading for the woods. “We’ll get your gold back,” she said, and the fact that their roles had reversed and she now assured him was not lost on him.
“I don’t doubt it,” he replied. “We’ll get things back to normal.”
She grinned at him before turning back to face the direction they walked. “And then, you can show me around this unusual town properly.”
He almost stopped dead in his tracks at her words. “You’re going to stay around Black Hollow?”
He noticed she didn’t turn to face him this time, instead choosing to keep moving forward. However, she couldn’t hide the smile that turned up the corners of her mouth. “I’m thinking about it,” she said. “After all, you’ve shown me some of the highlights without any real depth to what I’ve seen. A town of paranormals? Who wouldn’t want a better look?” Now she glanced over at him. “Think you’re up for it?”
He squeezed her hand. “I think I can handle the task.”
“Oh for crying out loud,” Quinn sighed. “Can we finish this before you two set your agenda for a walkabout?” The tiny man shook his head as he picked up the pace, trying his best to leave the others behind. With his size, however, it took three of his strides to make one of theirs, so he was out of breath before he covered fifteen yards.
Arden refrained from laughing.
It didn’t take long for them to walk to the end of the block and enter the woods, night now a thicker blanket enshrouding the dogwoods and underbrush that tried to bar their way. Arden pulled some of the low-hanging branches out of the way as he made a trail for the others to follow. He tried to focus on the task at hand, knowing he should be worried about what he would find when they reached Paddy’s, but his mind was on everything he wanted to show Kerry about Black Hollow. He couldn’t believe she planned on staying after they found her sister. Not only did his heart pound in his chest at her words, but his manhood twitched, as hope surged within him that he might actually get the chance to be with the woman he couldn’t get out of his mind.
Of course, if they didn’t find Brandie Underwood, Arden had no idea what he would do. No, we’ll find Brandie and the gold. We’ll make everything like it was, and then, I can convince Kerry to do more than just visit.
As they neared the faerie knoll, lights shone from small windows and smoke rose out of the tiny chimneys. Voices could be heard coming from the small hovels, some singing as well, all except one. Paddy McDuffy’s. His had a small flicker of light bouncing around the inside, but there was no sound to be heard. Arden strained to hear anything from inside as he approached the front door, praying they weren’t too late, and Paddy had already slipped out of town. Had the cluricaun had enough time to retrieve the pots of gold since he vanished a short time ago? Damn! I should have followed him instead of going to the bank.
They avoided the magical path to the front door, Arden desiring to stay man-sized for better leverage with what he might face. Bending over, he reached for the doorknob,, ready to barge in and confront Paddy, but someone jerked the door out of his grip and opened it from the inside. Paddy tumbled out, coming to a quick halt before running into Arden’s chest—well, rather his waist. The cluricaun yelped and shoved backward into a shrunken Ruck who stood there with wide eyes and open mouth.