Jennifer Crusie - The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes

‘I think my heart is breaking,’ Lizzie said from the floor, and Dee looked down and saw her and got to her feet.

‘How long has she been like that?’ she said to Mare, suddenly sounding frightened.

‘Couple minutes,’ Mare said. ‘You know Lizzie. There should be bunnies any time now.’ She looked around and felt a chill that had nothing to do with her lowered body temperature. ‘Wait a minute. Why aren’t there bunnies?

Dee was on her knees beside Lizzie, gathering her up into her arms. ‘It’s all right, baby, it’s all right, I’m here, it’s all right. I’ll take care of you.’

‘I’m so cold,’ Lizzie said to her. And my heart is breaking.’

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Mare said, dropping to the floor beside Dee, really frightened now. ‘What’s wrong with her?’

‘Xan,’ Dee said, holding Lizzie tightly against her, as if to wrap her in warmth. ‘That’s what Mama said right before she died, when Xan took her power’ She met Mare’s eyes over Lizzie’s bright curls. ‘She was cold and shivering and rocking like this and that’s what she said and then she died.’

‘You’re cold, too,’ Mare said, putting her arms around them both. And so am I. I was cold after I left Xan. What did she do to us?’

Mother put the tea tray down on the floor beside them: a teapot, three cups, and a plateful of cookies covered in sugar. ‘Eat. You need sugar.’

‘Sugar’s going to take care of this?’ Dee said, incredulous, as Mare tightened her arms around all of them for warmth.

‘Cookies, just like the ones they give you after you give blood,’ Mother said cheerfully. ‘Instant energy’

‘We didn’t give blood,’ Mare said.

‘Oh,’ Mother said and left them alone.

Dee looked stricken. ‘What did Xan do? Did she touch you? She took my hand. She twisted my fingers with hers. And she was holding Mama’s hand the same way right before…’ She turned to Lizzie. ‘Did she touch you?’ She looked at Mare.

Mare nodded. ‘Yeah. She did. Just like that. That twisting thing.’

‘She took our power,’ Dee said, still rocking Lizzie. ‘I know you think Xan’s my nightmare in the closet, but she took our power.’

‘No, I believe you, I’m with you now.’ Mare picked up a cup and held it to Lizzie’s lips. ‘Drink, Lizzie.’

Lizzie sipped and made a face. ‘Too sweet.’

‘Drink it anyway, baby’ Dee said, and Lizzie did, sipping at first and then gulping, and when Lizzie was done, Mare gave Dee a cup, too, and then picked up the third cup and drained it.

‘Did Xan take all our power?’ Mare said, and then answered her question by lifting the needle off Mother’s tray from across the room. ‘Still got that.’ She tried for her bag, much heavier, and couldn’t budge it. ‘She took part of it. A pint. Like at the blood bank, she took some off the top. What was she doing?’ She picked up a cookie as if it were a life source and chomped her way through it.

‘Maybe she didn’t have time,’ Dee said, sipping and rocking. ‘We’d have noticed if she’d taken more. We’d have fought. But if she finds a way to take it all…’

‘I become a spoiled brat forever,’ Mare said, and called out, ‘I’m sorry I was rude, Mother’ She picked up the teapot and filled everybody’s cup again. ‘Tea. Cookies. Eat. Drink.’

‘And I become the most annoying victim on the planet,’ Dee said, her voice already stronger. And Lizzie…’

They both looked at Lizzie, gulping her second cup of tea as if it were a lifeline.

Lizzie curls up and dies just like Mama, Mare thought. We’d all die.

‘You three feeling better?’ Mother said, coming back in. ‘I’ve turned up the heat.’

‘Thank you,’ Mare said.

‘You shouldn’t give blood when you’re not feeling well,’ Mother said. ‘I’ll fill in the black on your tattoo now’

Mare thought about saying, ‘You know damn well we didn’t give blood,’ but if Mother was rewinding to normal, that worked for her. She got up and sat down on the chair again, feeling the chill abate. It really was like giving blood, she thought. Probably in a couple of hours, she’d have built her power back up again. As long as nobody came along and sucked more off. Or took too much. Like her mother. Xan had taken too much from her mother. Dee had been right all along.

Any fascination Mare had for Xan died on the instant. Lizzie pulled away and reached for another cookie, and Dee took a deep breath. ‘We need to think. We need to work this out. Xan wants our powers, and she has a plan and the guys have something to do with it. But I think she’s telling the truth about them being our true loves.’

‘She thinks she made a mistake with Jude,’ Mare said. ‘And I have to agree there.’

‘I think we have to go back to the guys and ask them about it,’ Dee said. ‘Tell them what just happened and ask them. If they really do love us, they’ll tell us the truth.’

‘Elric loves me,’ Lizzie said, sounding stronger. ‘He left me, but he loves me. When he finds out what she did…’

Mare frowned. ‘Jude doesn’t love me, but I bet he knows something.’

‘Can you seduce it out of him?’ Dee said.

‘No, but I can beat it out of him,’ Mare said, looking over her shoulder as Mother filled in her tattoo.

Lizzie watched her finish.

‘What’s it look like, Liz?’ Mare said when she was done.

‘Like you,’ Lizzie said. ‘Like a warrior’ Her color was back, her hands were no longer shaking, and for the first time in her life she looked strong and determined. ‘I want a butterfly,’ she said to Mother. ‘But not a warrior. I want a sorcerer butterfly. I want the magic.’

Mother handed Lizzie a book of flash and then smeared cream on Mare’s back and covered it with plastic wrap, while Lizzie began to look for her sorcerer tat.

‘That one, the sorcerer butterfly,’ Lizzie said a few moments later, handing Mother the book as she took Mare’s place on the chair. ‘But small on my ankle. Something that’ll look great with my shoes. Whatever they turn into.’

Dee put down her cup and got to her feet. ‘I think that’s my cue to leave. We all know about Xan now, we’re all protected because we know, we’ll talk to the guys-’

Mother turned those gray eyes on Dee. ‘Three sisters. Three tattoos. Different but the same.’

‘I am not getting a tattoo,’ Dee said.

Mother nodded, still serene, and handed her a second book of flash.

‘Save yourself a little time,’ Mare said to Mother, ‘don’t bother with Dee and the flash. It’s not going to happen.’

Mother sighed. ‘You’ll be fine, Mare. Stop trying to control the universe. It’s not trying to control you.’ She put a gentle hand on her arm and Mare almost burst into tears. ‘And give my love to Crash when you see him.’

Mare sniffed. ‘Okay,’ she said, and headed for the door.

The last thing she heard was Dee saying, ‘Really, I am not getting a tattoo.’

Xan was lighting the candle under her chafing dish when she saw Maxine in the see glass, huddled next to the Dumpster, looking tense. She frowned and then waved her hand and opened the portal, and Maxine stumbled into the room.

‘What’s wrong?’ Xan said, not unkindly. Maxine looked around, trying to hide her nervousness. ‘Hey, it’s nice in here. I never been in this room before.’

‘It’s my kitchen.’

‘Yeah,’ Maxine said, reaching out to stroke the black granite countertops. ‘Are those cherrywood cabinets? They’re really red. This is something.’

‘Thank you.’ Xan watched her for a moment and then went back to the silver chafing dish.