Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven #3)

Advancing patiently, Broadhoof reared again and again, front hooves flailing. Each time Patton kept just out of reach. "I am not here to dance," Patton mimicked with a smirk.

The spectators chuckled.

Angered, Broadhoof curveted recklessly forward, stamping and bucking and swinging his fists. Dancing nimbly, ducking and twisting, Patton ended up at the side of the wild centaur and vaulted onto his back, clamping Broadhoof in a headlock while riding him like a rodeo cowboy. Leaping and plunging, Broadhoof reached back for Patton. Taking the opportunity to release the headlock and seize one of Broadhoof's hands, Patton slid off his back and abruptly wrenched the centaur to the ground.

With one palm braced against Broadhoof's meaty forearm, Patton bent the centaur's hand to an unnatural angle. He also appeared to have one of his fingers in a painful lock. The centaur's face contorted in agony. When Broadhoof endeavored to rise, Kendra heard a sharp crack. The centaur quit struggling, and Patton shifted his grip.

"I have the upper hand here," Patton warned loudly. "Yield, or I'll break your bones one by one."

"Never," Broadhoof gasped venomously.

Cupping one hand, Patton momentarily relinquished his hold in order to clap the centaur on the ear. Broadhoof howled. Patton quickly reestablished the hold, levering the centaur's arm to a more vicious angle.

"This contest is over, Broadhoof," Patton said. "I don't want to leave you permanently maimed, or to deprive you of your senses. Yield." Sweat shined on Broadhoof's flushed face. "Never."

The crowd was now silent.

Patton added pressure to the trembling arm. "Which is worse? To yield, or to lie before an audience while a human humiliates you with his bare hands?"

"Slay me," Broadhoof pleaded.

"Centaurs are nearly immortal," Patton said. "My intent is not to prove why we say 'nearly.' I vowed to best you, not to dispatch you. If I must, I'll simply leave you incapacitated for whatever time remains to you, an irrefutable monument to human superiority."

Cloudwing walked forward. "You are at his mercy, Broadhoof. If Patton refuses to end your life, you must yield."

"I yield," Broadhoof relented.

The crowd roared. Kendra stared in shocked relief, hardly noticing as the enthusiastic satyrs jostled against her. She saw Patton help Broadhoof to his feet, but could not hear the words they exchanged over the clamor around her. Kendra began shouldering through the crowd to get to the lawn. She had not fully appreciated how much the satyrs disliked the centaurs until she witnessed the exultant tears they shed as they embraced one another.

As Broadhoof plodded away with Cloudwing, Kendra and Seth ran to Patton. None of the satyrs or naiads were thronging him. They apparently preferred celebrating at a distance.

"That was incredible," Seth said. "I heard something snap..."

"A finger," Patton said. "Remember this day, Seth, and take great care before you offend a centaur. I despise injuring a vanquished opponent. Curse Broadhoof for his stubborn pride!" Patton clenched his jaw. Were his eyes misty?

"He forced the situation," Kendra reminded him.

"I fought him because the brute would have it no other way," Patton said. "I hurt him for the same reason. Yet I cannot help admiring his resistance to yield. Breaking him was not pleasurable, even knowing that he would have killed me had our roles been reversed."

"I'm so sorry it happened," Seth said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. One moment." Patton cupped his hands around his mouth and raised his voice. "Satyrs, dryads, and other spectators-but most especially satyrs. The price of these festivities is that you return the field to how it looked before. I want every tent stake where it belongs. Do we have an understanding?"

With no direct response, the satyrs moved to carry out his orders.

Patton turned back to Kendra and Seth. "Now, if I cornprehend the situation correctly, Lena is over yonder in the pond?"

"Right," Kendra said. "She's a naiad again."

Patton placed his hands on his hips and sniffed. "Then I expect I had better go say hello to the missus."

Chapter Twenty

History

"Even though Lena went back into the water against her will, she has voluntarily remained there," Patton recapped as he, Seth, and Kendra overlooked the pier from a gazebo. Although he had set off full of confidence to converse with Lena, he now seemed nervous about her potential reaction.

"Right," Kendra said. "But she has always been very responsive to any mention of you. I think she'll come when you call."

"Naiads are peculiar creatures," Patton said. "Of all the beings at Fablehaven, I consider them the most selfish. Fairies take notice if you flatter them. Centaurs get riled if you insult them. It is difficult to win the attention of a naiad. Their only preoccupation is their next diversion." "Then why do they bother drowning people?" Seth asked.

"For sport," Patton said. "Why else? There is little deliberate malice in it. Swimming is all they know. They find the idea of water killing somebody hilarious. They can never get enough of it. Plus, naiads are avid collectors. Lena once mentioned they have a chamber full of prized trinkets and skeletons."

"But Lena is different from other naiads," Kendra said. "She cares about you."

"A victory years in the making," Patton sighed, "hopefully not undone by her return to the water. Her interest in me was what eventually separated Lena from the other naiads. Little by little, she began to care for someone other than herself. She began to enjoy my company. The others loathed her for it. They despised having a reason to wonder whether there might be more to existence than wallowing in fruitless self-absorption. But now I worry that her mind may have reverted. You say Lena remembers our marriage fondly?"

"After you died, I don't think she ever really found her place," Kendra said. "She went out to experience the world, but ended up back here. I know she hated growing old."

"She would," Patton smiled. "Lena dislikes many aspects of mortality. We've been married five years-from my point of view, I mean-and our relationship has not been easy. We had a very stormy argument not long before I came here. We have yet to make up. Back in my time, if Lena received an offer to return to the water, I suspect she might gladly accept it. I'm encouraged to hear that our marriage survives in the end. Shall we find out if she still wants me?" He studied the water with trepidation.

"We need her to grab the bowl," Kendra said. "At least to try." As they had conversed in the gazebo, Kendra had explained how she became fairykind, and how she hoped to use the bowl to approach the Fairy Queen a second time.

"I wish I had my violin," Patton lamented. "I know just the melody I would use. Wooing Lena the first time around was hard enough, but at least I had time and resources. I hope she responds favorably. I would prefer wrestling another centaur to learning that her affection for me has cooled."

"Only one way to find out," Seth said.

Patton descended the stairs from the gazebo to the pier, tugging on his sleeves and smoothing his shirt. Seth moved to follow him but Kendra held him back. "We should watch from here."

Patton strode along the pier. "I'm looking for Lena Burgess!" he called. "My wife."

Numerous overlapping voices responded.

"It couldn't be."

"He's dead."

"They were chanting his name earlier."

"Must be a trick."

"It sounds just like him."

Several heads surfaced as he reached the end of the pier.

"He's back!"

"Oh, no!"

"The devil himself!"

"Don't let her see!"

The water near the end of the pier became turbulent. Lena poked her head up, eyes wide, and was promptly dragged under. After a moment she resurfaced. "Patton?"

"I'm here, Lena," he said. "What are you doing in the water?" He kept his voice conversational with a hint of curiosity.

Lena's head disappeared again. The water churned.

Voices resumed.

"She saw him!"

"What do we do?"

"She's too wriggly!"

Lena yelled, "Unhand me or I'll leave the pond this instant!"

A moment later her head rose above the water again. She gazed raptly at Patton. "How are you here?"

"I came forward in time," he said. "I am only visiting for three days. We could use some assistance-"

Lena held up a hand to silence him. "Say no more, human," she demanded sternly. "After much travail, I have reclaimed my true life. Do not attempt to befuddle me. I need time alone to realign my thoughts." With a wink, she disappeared beneath the water.

Kendra heard the naiads murmuring in surprised approval. Patton did not move.

"You heard her," a snide voice called to him. "Why don't you crawl back into your grave!"

A few nervous titters followed the comment. Then Kendra heard other voices, desperate ones.

"Stop her!"

"Grab her!"

"Thief!"

"Traitor!"

Lena burst from the water at the end of the pier, leaping into the air like a dolphin. Patton caught her in a strong embrace, dousing his shirt and trousers in the process. She wore a shimmering green slip. Her long, glossy hair hung heavy and wet, draped over her shoulders like a shawl. In one webbed hand, she gripped the silver bowl from the Fairy Queen's shrine. Lena leaned her forehead against Patton's, then her lips found his. As they kissed, the webbing between her fingers dissolved.

All around the pier, naiads wailed and cursed.

Cradling Lena in his arms, Patton walked back toward the gazebo. Kendra and Seth descended the stairs to the pier. Patton deposited Lena on her feet.

"Hi, Kendra," Lena said with a warm smile. She was familiar-her eyes, her face, her voice-and yet so different. She stood a couple of inches taller than before, her skin smooth and unblemished, her body curvy and fit.

"You're beautiful," Kendra said, reaching to give her a hug.

Lena stepped back, grasping Kendra's hands instead. "I'll get you soaked. You've grown so tall, dear. And Seth! You're a giant!"

"Only compared to tiny naiads," Seth said, looking pleased. Standing straighter, he was more than half a head taller than her.

"You'll only have Patton for three days," Kendra reminded her friend, concerned that Lena would end up regretting her decision.

Lena handed Kendra the untarnished bowl, then gazed adoringly at her husband, caressing his face. "I would have left the pond for three minutes."

Tilting his head down, Patton rubbed his nose against hers.

"I think they need some alone time," Seth said disgustedly, tugging on Kendra.

Patton locked eyes with Seth. "Don't go. We have much to discuss."

"The yellow and purple tent is soundproof," Seth said.

"Sounds perfect." Holding Lena's hand, Patton led her up the stairs and into the gazebo.

"Not long before you died," Lena said, "you told me we would be together again someday, young and healthy. At the time I assumed you meant heaven."

Patton gave her a wry smile. "I probably meant this. But heaven will be nice too."

"I can't tell you how thrilling it feels to be young again," Lena gushed. "You look fairly boyish yourself. You're what, thirty-six?"

"That's not far off."

Stopping, Lena pulled her hand from his and folded her arms. "Wait a minute. Early in our marriage, you came forward in time to visit me, and you never told me."

"Evidently not."

"You and your secrets." She returned her hand to his. They continued across the field toward the striped tent. "What were you doing before you came here?"

"Last thing I did was press a button on the Chronometer," Patton said in a confidential tone, nodding to the sphere Seth was carrying. "I was hiding it in the manor. Before I locked it up, I pushed a button that would send me forward in time to the next instance when the button was pressed."

"I pressed it," Seth announced.

"You didn't tell me about the artifact until you were in your sixties," Lena scolded. "I rarely knew what you were up to."

"We just had a fight," Patton said. "About the drapes in our bedroom. Remember? It started about the drapes, and ended up being about how I wasn't living up to my promises-"

"I remember that spat!" Lena said nostalgically. "In fact, that may have been the last time you ever raised your voice at me. That was a hard period for both of us. Take heart. Not long afterward, we hit our stride. We had a beautiful marriage, Patton. You made me feel like a queen, and reciprocating was effortless."

"Resist telling me too much," Patton said, covering his ears. "I would rather watch it unfold."

They reached the tent and entered. Patton dropped the flap to shield the door. They sat down on the floor, facing one another.

"I can't believe you left the pond so eagerly," Kendra said to Lena. "I've wanted you out of there ever since you entered."

"You were sweet to come for me," Lena replied. "I remember when you first tried to talk me out of it. My mind was cloudy. It functioned differently. I had lost much of who I became in mortality. Not enough to really fit in, but enough to stay put. Life in the pond is indescribably easy. Virtually meaningless, but devoid of pain, almost devoid of thought. There were many things I did not miss about mortality. In a way, returning to the water was like dying. I no longer had to cope with living. Until I saw Patton, I wanted to stay dead."