“You can’t blame a boy for being curious,” she pressed, then turned to me. “You see, Gil, pixie dust can be very dangerous in the wrong hands.”
“I didn’t know,” I said, scuffing the toe of my boot against the ground. “I’m real sorry.”
James narrowed his eyes. “I’ll hold the packages.” He didn’t give the bit of fabric back, so I handed the parcels over before he could demand I turn out my pockets and find the first bit.
“My mam will be expecting me anyway,” I said hurriedly. “Good luck with your baby.”
“Thank you,” Tinkerbell said, rubbing a hand over her belly again. “And tell your mother that she should be proud of raising such a chivalrous son.”
“Thieving son,” James muttered under his breath. He crumbled the fabric and shoved it into his own pocket.
“Hush, you,” Tinkerbell told him, and smiled at me once more. “Thank you for holding the things today, and stay away from pixie dust or you’ll never grow up.”
“Bye,” I said, edging back so I could fade into the crowd. “It was nice to meet you.”
Once they were out of sight, I went back to my inn room to collect a few supplies. If I had to spend another night in a hollowed-out log, I wasn’t going to do it on an empty stomach.
The silk fabric had been folded so the pixie dust slid to the middle, and I was rather disheartened to see that there wasn’t even a palmful. It was a pinch, at best. Even in the dim light, it seemed to give off a shimmering gleam that glittered and drew my eyes. What did Peter want with it? The most I’d heard about pixies were old stories and tales that sailors told late at night in seedy taverns, and I’d never thought that they were true.
And yet here was living proof that at least one still existed. Was this dust the equivalent of human dandruff? I tilted my head. Siren blood was a sedative for humans. I could only hypothesize what pixie dust did. But as much as I wanted to experiment with it to find out, I couldn’t waste a single speck. I carefully wrapped it back up and tucked it into my pocket, wishing that the pixie’s husband had been less observant. Collecting pixie dust at this rate would take an eternity to fill a bottle. Peter would have to be satisfied with what I’d already gathered, at least temporarily.
CHAPTER 7
Iwalked back to where Peter had turned off the path and began calling out for him, crashing through underbrush and shouting his name while the sun slowly began to set. The best way to avoid being seen as a threat was to appear a bumbling fool, and after stashing my supplies, I went about trying to get Peter’s attention.
I hadn’t been at it for very long when he came out of the foliage, accompanied by the same dark-haired man I’d seen selling baby blankets to Tinkerbell’s husband only a few hours before. I’d noticed he was handsome when I saw him at the market, but I’d been so focused on collecting the dust that I hadn’t paid him much attention. An unfamiliar fluttering sensation rippled through my insides. This man wasveryhandsome, with dark, straight hair that spilled across his forehead and gave him a dashing, roguish look.
“Gil!” Peter smiled from ear to ear and came forward, trailed by the taller man. “Lochlan, this is my friend Gil. Gil, this is Lochlan, who works with me from time to time and who is also a trained healer.”
“I think I saw you earlier today,” I told him brightly, sticking out my hand and internally scolding myself for noticing his appearance. It didn’t matter what anyone looked like. “You were selling some blankets to that pirate with a hook.”
“What are you doing here?” Lochlan asked gruffly. “The woods get dangerous at night.”
“I brought something for Peter that he wanted. He asked me?—”
“You got some?” Peter said eagerly. “Already? Where is it?”
“Only a little,” I said with an apologetic shrug. “I’d show you here, but it’s pretty windy, and?—”
“No, don’t show me here. I can’t bear to watch any more of it blow away. Follow me.” He turned and began to tramp back into the forest, but Lochlan threw out an arm to stop him.
“What are you thinking? We can’t bring a boy back there,” he hissed in a low voice to Peter. “Roderick would have a fit.”
“No, he’d be pleased. This is why he brought me on, and I need to show him.”
“That boy isn’t even old enough to shave. I’ll not have him mixed up in this sort of thing,” Lochlan said angrily.
“He won’t get mixed up, and we don’t have to tell him anything,” Peter argued back. “Gil knows how to keep his mouth shut; I’ve worked with him before.”
“I can hear you two,” I reminded them. “I’m right here. And I won’t tell anybody anything.”
Lochlan frowned.
“There isn’t anything for him to see that he hasn’t already seen,” Peter added. “You haven’t even seen any dust yet; only I have.”
“How do you know Peter?” Lochlan asked me, rather aggressively.
“I was Tyrone Renshaw’s cabin boy while Peter was aboard,” I answered promptly. “And Peter saved my life. I wouldn’t everdo anything to betray him.” I widened my eyes innocently. “He just asked me to get some pixie dust and I did.”
