Chapter 7
A Delivery
It was close to the afternoon, on a day when people could feel the change of seasons slowly take place.
"Feels like winter is coming," Peggy muttered to herself, commenting on the frequent bursts of cold air she felt as she arrived at the gates of a large compound of big, fancy buildings.
Earlier, the Boss announced he was going to go on a delivery run. Business had slowed in the shop and Peggy had worked long enough to earn his trust that he felt he could leave her to look after the shop on her own while he was gone.
"I didn't know we did deliveries here," Peggy had said.
The Boss replied, "Normally, we don't. But the customer is an old friend of the last owner, and a regular. He really loved the cookies we make here, but has been so busy, he hasn't had the chance to come by lately. I thought I'd do him a solid to keep us in his good graces."
"Keep in his good graces?" Peggy raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like he's some kind of bigshot."
"Well he is, in a way," the Boss replied. "I'll tell you more about him later."
But just then, as soon as his hand touched the door handle, music played from his pocket. He pulled out a hand mirror and looked at it with a frown.
"It's a call from George's school," he muttered. "I wonder what this could be about."
He put the mirror to his ear and said, "Hello?"
Sometimes, Peggy thought, I see this and wonder if that thing is actually a smartphone and they just call them magic mirrors here.
She was startled when the Boss suddenly shouted, "He what!?"
Whatever that call was about, it must be bad news, thought Peggy.
The Boss went, "Uh-huh. Okay. Got it," while his forehead furrowed into stress lines. And then, after promising to come by, he put the mirror back into his pocket, put a hand over his eyes and groaned.
"What's wrong, Boss?" Peggy asked out of concern. "Is George okay?"
Boss answered, "No, he's not okay, Well, he's not hurt or anything like that. But I have to get to his school ASAP. Hold on a moment and let me think."
He paused a moment to sort out his thoughts, and then made a decision.
"Alright, change of plans," he said. "Sorry, Peggy, but I'm going to need you to deliver the cookies instead while I go to George's school to sort out his mess."
"But what about the shop?" Peggy asked.
"We got no choice but to close it," the Boss said. "No sense keeping a shop open when there's no one to run it. Luckily, business is slow around this time so it shouldn't hurt us too bad. Anyway, here's where you'll be going. I'll let the customer know you're on the way."
After handing Peggy the huge, huge paper bag full of cookies and a piece of paper with notes scribbled down, Boss threw on his cape, turned around, and disappeared in a flock of bats that sprang out from his shadow. And so, using the notes Boss gave her, Peggy made her way to the customer's place, which turned out to be one of the biggest, and most expensive, schools in the town of Featherkeep.
But for a school, especially in the afternoon when lessons have only just ended, it was eerily quiet. Peggy could see beyond the gates' bars but there was no one around. Absolutely no one, except for a lone lady in bright blue robes and dress with big, round glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.
As soon as she spotted Peggy, the lady gave a deep bow and said, "Welcome to the Paladia School of Advance Magic. My name is Daisy. How can I help you?"
"Uh . . ." Peggy quickly glanced at Boss's notes before replying, "Delivery for Ethan Stonecrest."
"Oh!" exclaimed Daisy. "We've been expecting you. Come right this way."
She clapped her hands twice and the gates slowly parted. As if a veil had been lifted, the once empty roads were suddenly full of schoolchildren in robes and blazer uniforms wandering around in the place in small groups, heading from one building to the next, or just loitering in the grassy courtyards. Some students headed for the gateway, but as soon as they reached the threshold, they suddenly disappeared.
Peggy jumped back, startled.
"What just happened?" she cried out.
"Oh, the gates are enchanted to send whoever crosses them straight home," Daisy explained. "They also keep people outside from spying inside as well as keep intruders out. We take safety of the children very seriously here at Paladia, so for privacy and security, the school is full of spells, enchantments, and deadly curses."
Peggy blinked.
"What was that last part again?" she asked.
But Daisy ignored her and said, "Please follow me. We shouldn't keep Chief Director Stonecrest waiting."
"Oh, sure," said Peggy. "But, seriously, what was that last part again? I thought I heard something about deadly curses."
Daisy continued to ignore and dodge Peggy's questions about deadly curses and led her into the school grounds. As soon as she set foot pass the gates, Peggy felt an intense prickling feeling against her skin. She fought through it and continued on inside, but things only got more intense from there.
First came a rush of air around her ears. Next, a stream of fire blew out in front of her face that made her stumble back in surprise.
Daisy angrily snapped at the fire-breathing boy, "Hey! No playing with fire magic in the courtyard! That sort of magic's only allowed in special training fields! Are you okay?"
Peggy, unable to say anything from the sudden shock she received after being close to barbecued, nodded.
As she followed Daisy down the road, Peggy looked around and was treated to sights more magical than anything magical she had seen before. She spotted children floating in the air like balloons, gently hopping from the ground to building rooftops like astronauts on the moon, or racing over the roads on broomsticks. There was a girl with long, pointed ears playing a wooden flute while bright green lights shaped like butterflies fluttered around her. A young werewolf and a human boy cheered on two dolls made of rocks that wrestled each other to the ground while a few feet away, a koi fish suddenly flew out of a painting drawn by a fluffy raccoon wearing a scholar cap. Some passing teenagers called the raccoon, "Professor."
"As you can see," said Daisy, "we are a school focused on growing our students' magical talents. And we're the best in the business. In fact, most of our students can already use Three-Star magic by the time they're ten years old!"
So I'm a total noob to ten-year-olds, Peggy thought wryly. Good to know.
"Anyway, we don't have far to go," Daisy continued. "Chief Director Stonecrest's office is at the admin building, which is right in front of us. It's that mansion-looking one. Speaking of the admin building, did you know that it is actually the oldest building in the school? At two hundred years old, it's been around since the school was founded!"
While Peggy listened to Daisy's tour guide spiel, neither ladies noticed three kids closing in while wheeling a giant paper-mache dragon. The dragon was big and green, and laid on the cart on its big, fat belly. One kid, a black-haired elf girl was at the back of the dragon, pushing the cart, while another, a human boy with red hair and freckles, pulled the cart with a rope. The third kid, a werecat girl with orange fur, had her hand on the right side of the cart.
After she finished talking about the history of the admin building, Daisy turned around to ask, "So, any ques-"
And then the paper-mache dragon went, "Chomp!" on Peggy.
"-tions?"
Daisy stared at the empty space Peggy had been, face frozen in an empty smile. And then she looked up at the dragon that made a loud gulp noise, before letting out a loud burp that echoed. Lastly, the paper-mache dragon settled down into a sleepy smile, while its tongue jutted out the side of its mouth.
"Ah . . . AAAAAAAAAAH!" Daisy grabbed the sides of her head, screaming. "WHAT HAVE YOU BRATS DONE!? SPIT HER OUT NOW!"
"I-I'm sorry, Miss," stammered the boy. "But it's too late!"
Unable to run away in time, the three students shrank beneath Daisy's understandable rage.
"It's too late? What do you mean it's too late?" she growled. "Don't tell me she's dead!"
"What? No!" the boy cried out. "That's not it at all! Don't you remember? This fake dragon as a portal in its stomach. We made it as a fun way to get around the school during the festival last week."
"I'm the one who used puppet magic to make it move like it's alive," said the werecat. "Even the burping."
"So not important right now," Daisy snapped. "Anyway, where'd this piece of junk send her?"
The three kids all looked at one another and then shrugged their shoulders.
Daisy glared at them. "You don't know? Does that mean that you just teleported an important guest of the chief director with an important package for the chief director to some random part of the school, a school with lots and lots of places that are scary to normal people not used to magic?"
The three kids looked at one another again and then replied, "Yeah, pretty much."
