The Great Big Fairy (The Fairies Saga Book 4) Read online

  The Great Big Fairy

  Fourth book

  In the Time Travel Series

  The Fairies Saga

  by

  Dani Haviland

  Praise for The Great Big Fairy

  … thestory flows swiftly, with plenty of action, emotion and spirited characterization. As with the 18th century setting, both protagonists are vividly drawn and written, allowing for immersion in their internal lives and developing relationship. ~Judge, Writers Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards

  In the last 3 years, these are the first books that I have finished "just for fun." After I started them they were so entertaining that I finished both of them in just one week!! Roosaddiction

  The descriptions and detailing made me feel like I was there and the characters felt like old friends. The story was paced well and I never felt lost which I have in other time travel stories. ChristieC

  Dani Haviland’s The Fairies Saga includes Naked in the Winter Wind ~ Aye, I am a Fairy (summer 2014) ~ Dances Naked ~ and Fairies Down Under (winter 2014)

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  Afterword

  Other Works by Dani Haviland

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  Table of Contents

  Cast of Characters

  Previously…

  August 17, 2013

  Greensboro, North Carolina

  Police Department

  B illy was finally finished with his paperwork. It had been a long night. James and Leah had left only an hour and a half ago and unless something drastic occurred—and he didn’t even want to speculate on that possibility—he would never see his newfound brother or sister-in-law/best friend again. But, now he, Billy Burke the lifelong orphan, had a mother, and that blessing he had stopped hoping for about fifteen years ago. He also knew who his father was and, although he may never be able to meet the elusive Marty Melbourne, he could find out more about him from his mother, the sweetest woman in the world, Bibb Stephens.

  There was no reason for him to delay his final task. It was time to head out of town and pick up his going away present from James: the ‘Beast,’ the classic 1964 red Dodge pickup truck. He’d get one of the officers to drop him off near the site; he wouldn’t have to give him an explanation. That would make the task easier, but he still wasn’t ready to admit the finality of their departure. He already missed them both and actually hurt physically from their absence. The ache of emptiness went from his shoulders to his kneecaps and made it feel like his spine was an iced up rope, just dangling down through his midsection, holding his pelvis to his collarbones. He snorted; Leah would have told him that that was anatomically impossible, but that was how he felt.

  He gathered up the piles of reports, straightened the edges by banging them just a little too hard on the top of the desk, and tugged at the drawer with more force than necessary. It felt like his left hand had four thumbs as he fumbled through the dividers. He finally found the file for the case and tossed it in like a shovelful of coal into a furnace, messing up the neat pile that he had just put it into. “That’s enough of you!” he said. Hopefully, he would never hear the name Atholl MacLeod again.

  “Sir, there’s someone here to see you. He says it’s very important,” Dyane called over the intercom.

  “Have Sergeant Carter take care of it, will you? I’m off shift now,” he replied with exasperation. He realized it was the wrong tone, but it was better than the one he was holding back. He didn’t know if he wanted to scream or cry or laugh. But he did know that work was not the place to let loose. He stood up to leave then scanned the remaining papers still on his desk, making sure they were devoid of anything that would remind him of his time traveling family when he came back to work that evening.

  “Sir,” Dyane called back, “He says it’s about someone named Evie and her daughter Leah, the nurse. He says you’ll know who he’s talking about.”

  Billy went weak in the knees then everywhere else. Fortunately, his chair, strategically placed, caught him as he plopped down in a solid, controlled fall. He swallowed hard, started to speak, but only an embarrassing squeak came out. He tried again. “Send him in,” he said, this time, the words coming together and finding a way out of his mouth.

  Dyane opened the door for the large visitor. Billy stood up and his eyes widened as they watched the man duck his head in order to enter the office. He wasn’t the tallest man he had ever seen—he had met a couple of the gangly basketball players with the Hornets—but he was the biggest in terms of being a proportionately built man. Billy quickly tipped his head down when he realized he was staring. He walked around to the front of his desk and shook the hand of the huge man with auburn red hair. He glanced up again and the gentle giant grinned and whispered, “Six seven,” like he was sharing a secret.

  Billy pointed to the chair, offering his congenial new acquaintance a place to sit, then walked back around his desk, touching its surface as much for reassurance that he was awake, as for physical support lest he fall down from shock. He sat down slowly in his seat, his head bowed down, concentrating on the desktop. He didn’t think he could make the transition from standing to sitting while looking into the face of this big man.

  “I didn’t mean to stare,” Billy apologized as he looked up again. “It’s just that you remind me of someone. All you’re missing is the Scots accent.” Billy couldn’t help but think of the man’s resemblance to Jody Pomeroy of the Lost novels. If James and Leah had just gone back to his time, the 18th century, could it be that Jody Pomeroy had come back here, to this time? He fought back the urge to shake his head ‘no’ in answer to his own unspoken question and smiled nervously.

  “Weel, I guess I lost a bit of the accent since I’ve been back here in North Carolina. Now, that bein’ said, are ye the one to talk to about Leah and Evie?”

  “Who are you?” Billy asked incredulously before he answered the Jody look-alike’s question.

  “I’m sorry. I dinna introduce myself. I’m Benjamin MacKay, but ye can call me Benji.”

  Billy nodded his head slowly in answer to Benji’s question about being familiar with Leah and Evie. He didn’t even try to talk lest the sounds come out as the ‘baa, baa, babble’ that were coursing through his brain. He’d read all the Lisa Sinclaire novels at least once. Benji was Jody Pomeroy’s grandson and he was now sitting in front of him, all grown up. He was supposed to be a fictional character!

  “Weel then, I hope it’s not too late to catch a ride back with Leah. I got distracted with a couple of unsavory characters. But, it seems that ye’ve helped me quite a bit and have the MacLeod brothers out of my hair now. I, um, heard that Leah was goin’ back to see her mother soon. I understand she knows how to, um, travel safely and without a lot of pain involved?” he asked rather than stated, focusing on Billy’s eyes for his reaction.

  Benji could see by the detective’s wide-eyed and slack-jawed appearance that Billy understood what he was talking about. He waited for his reply, but the stunned police officer just sat at his desk, palms flat as if he was holding down the wooden furniture, and shook his head back and forth slowly. “You’re too late,” he whispered, his head still moving at the same, slow pace. “About two hours too late. They’ve already gone.”

  Benji winched, shut his eyes, and shook his head with a look of sadness and frustration. “Jest two hours…” He exhaled. “Um, do ye happen to know how they traveled?” he asked tentatively.

  Billy pinched the bridge of his nose then spread his thumb and index finger out over his eyebrows, rubbing them back and forth in a nervous manner
. He wanted to delay the answer. He didn’t know if this Benji, this 21st century Benji, was a good person or not. Could it be that he was in with the MacLeods? Before he could answer, he heard the cautious question.

  “Are ye related to Marty Melbourne, per chance?”

  Billy’s head snapped to attention, the fog of indecision blown away with the hurricane force of the shocking inquiry. “Why?” was all that he could think to reply.

  Benji chortled. “Weel, ye must be then or ye woulda answered ‘who’ or ‘no.’ Ye look jest like him, have his same nervous habit of pinchin’ yer eyebrows, and I’ll wager if ye had the English accent, ye’d sound jest like him, too. But, yer not his grandson James, are ye? I mean, yer an American and an officer of the law. He’s a member of parliament and a businessman.”

  Billy drew a deep breath, making the snap, gut decision that this was a good man and could be trusted. “James is my brother and Marty is my father,” he said. He started to say more of their relationship but stopped. He’d let Benji talk and see how much he knew.

  “Ye said ‘they’ went back, not jest Leah. Who went with her?” Benji asked.

  “James did. He’s her husband now. I don’t think he would have let her go by herself. He was quite smitten with her. They only knew each other two weeks, but as soon as I saw those two together, I knew it wouldn’t be too long and… Hey, how did you know Leah went back?” Billy asked, losing his original train of thought. This man was sharp and didn’t miss a word.

  “I read about it in a letter,” Benji said plainly. He opened his mouth to say more then decided he’d wait to see if this American was going to let something slip. He wanted to know how much he knew before talking about time travel to a total stranger.

  But, Billy was smart, too. He was also playing the ‘show me your cards and I’ll show you mine’ game. “So, how do you know Marty Melbourne?” he asked with a glint in his eye, letting the big Scot know that they were playing mental poker.

  Benji grinned and replied, “Ye make a livin’ out of this, aye? I mean, jest any little thing a man says ye can use to find out more about a situation.”

  Billy pointed to the first part of the nametag on his desk. “It says detective, aye? So how do ye ken him?” he asked, mimicking Benji’s accent.

  “He came to our place when I was much younger. He and my father talked fer quite a while. Ye see, my father had read a letter about a James Melbourne and was tryin’ to find him. He dinna ken much about him or his family, but what he kent was enough. It turns out that both men were lookin’ fer each other. My father was writin’ a book about, um, writin’ a book that interested Lord Melbourne and the two actually took a trip here to North Carolina in the early 90’s. Young James and I came with them.”

  Billy decided to lay out a card and see if he could gain Benji’s confidence. “So was the book about,” he paused then made eye contact with the large red haired man, “about time travel?”

  “What?” his new acquaintance laughed, “Do ye believe in that nonsense?”

  But Billy could tell that Benji was just having fun with him. The walls were down and they were both now comfortable. “So, does this mean that you’ve traveled and it was painful? I mean, you mentioned Leah finding a way to travel without pain.”

  Benji rolled his eyes. “Ye have no idea how painful. I was only a lad, but I get the cold goose flesh jest thinkin’ about it. I guess this means ye never went, um, back?”

  “No, I’m sort of new to all of this. Have you had breakfast yet? I’m just getting off work and I think we have a lot to talk about.”

  1 They Might Be Giants

  August 17, 2013

  Greensboro, North Carolina

  “Y e said I jest missed them?” Benji repeated, hoping to get more information out of Billy before they went to breakfast.

  “Benji, I’m afraid that Leah and James left at dawn. I know how they did it; I can tell you all about how they managed it, the time traveling secrets as it were but...” Billy suddenly changed the subject. "Can you drive?"

  "Anythin' with wheels, wings, or tracks!" Benji boasted.

  "Good; I have to go just outside of town to pick up my truck. Come on; we'll go get some breakfast first. I know a sweet little place that has an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet.”

  "Um," Benji paused then looked down in embarrassment.

  "My treat, of course," Billy announced as he slapped the red headed giant on the upper arm. He couldn't reach the place behind the shoulders where an 'atta boy' was usually administered without reaching up awkwardly. The man was huge!

  "I appreciate it," Benji said as he held the door open for the man who he was sure would become a good friend. He could already tell he was a decent person.

  As they walked through the lobby Billy admitted to Benji, “Actually, I’d like you to come with me out to the site for another reason, not just to drive the truck back to my place. I’m sure that they made it but if something did happen to go wrong, I certainly want someone to be there with me. Are you game?”

  Benji grinned, sniffed under his right armpit, made an ugly face then laughed as he said, “Aye, I’m a bit gamey, but if ye’ll let me use yer shower after we get back from the site, then maybe I’ll smell a bit better. In the meantime, ye might want to drive with the windows down. It’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of bein’ intimate with a bar of soap.”

  “No worries there. I’m sure that I’ve smelled worse but having the windows down will feel good, too. Now, do you have your bags or luggage or whatever?” Billy asked.

  “Nothin’ fer me,” Benji said as he opened the door. “The only bags I have are under my eyes from lack of sleep so let’s get this show on the road. After we get done with the chores, I’d like a quick shower, maybe give these clothes a quick scrubbin’ so I dinna cause the weak of heart to pass out from the smell, and then I want to go back, too!”

  Billy didn’t know what to say so didn’t say anything. How was he going to tell him the bad news? Instead, he addressed the immediate task. “That’s my car there: the blue Vette.” Billy looked over at his new acquaintance. "Six seven?" he asked although he was sure that those were the first words the man had spoken to him.

  "Give or take half an inch and whether ‘tis morn or evenin'. I tend to shrink durin' the course of the day if I've been workin' hard."

  Benji cocked his head as he looked at the compact accommodations of the passenger side of the vintage Corvette. Billy came up next to him, unlocked the door, and said with almost a straight face, “I can go back to the maintenance department and get some grease if you think it would help you to squeeze into it.”

  “Nah,” Benji joked back, “I’ll jest suck in my breath and poke the parts that dinna fit out the window.” He squeezed into the seat, brought his knees toward his chest, wedged his raggedy shoes into the narrow foot space, and hunched his shoulders forward. He reached his left arm under his right to pull the door closed and managed to roll the window down, too. He twisted his upper body toward the door and placed his right arm out the window, his left arm still crossed in front of him, his hand gripping the door since it was either that or hold it straight up in the air. “Ye did say it was jest a bit down the road, aye? I feel like a bear hangin’ out o’ the front seat.”

  “It’s not too far,” Billy replied then crowed like Jim Carrey in The Mask, “Hold on to yer lug nuts; we’re on our way and in style.” He popped the transmission into reverse, spun the car backwards in a half circle, crammed it into first gear, revved the engine, and then proceeded to enter the highway cautiously and at the speed limit. “We won’t get there any faster with speeding, getting caught, and having to stop for a ticket than if we just go the limit and hit all the lights. Besides, the boys’d never let me live it down. I only go fast when I’m out of this jurisdiction and when the roads are cleared. Are you going to make it?”

  “I’ll bide as long as I dinna smile.”

  “What?” Billy shouted over the roa
d noise.

  Benji turned back toward him and answered, “If I smile, I’ll git bugs in my teeth. And I hate bugs!” then faced straight ahead and grinned with his mouth shut, just in case.

  2 Breakfast for the Boys

  "I sure hope these people dinna go out of business from feedin' me," Benji said as he polished off another plate of bacon, grits, and scrambled eggs. "It's been quite a while since I could eat my fill and, weel, with such a spread, I kinda felt it hard to stop."

  "Don't worry about them. I just came into a few extra bucks and I'll leave a generous tip. Now, just let me get rid of some of this coffee and we can hit the road." Billy excused himself with a nod and left the table to go the restroom.

  Benji leaned sideways in the booth and stretched his legs out and his arms up, fully satiated and hopeful. It looked like Billy was a man he could trust. He turned back around and waited for the dark haired and mustached police officer to return to the table.

  "Ready?"

  Benji climbed out of the booth then held up his index finger. "That musta been Indian coffee; it kinda crept up on me. I'll need to make as much room as possible before I get back into that wee car of yers."

  Billy waited outside for Benji. He unlocked the passenger door of the classic blue Corvette and looked under the seat mechanism to see if there was a way to override the glide on it. Even with the seat scooted all the way back, Benji's knees were in his face. Benji came out and saw what Billy was obviously trying to accomplish. "If ye have a socket set, I can probably jest remove the stop. I'll put it back when we get to wherever it is we're goin'. I've done this before. It works fine as long as I dinna stretch out too much. I dinna want to wind up with my neck stickin’ out the rear window," he said playfully.