Page 28 of Buckle Up, Buttercup

“Bye,” the sheriff says brusquely, clicking off before I can even ask him anything about the new person.

Hadrian tucks his giant wings tightly at his back, grinning at me. “That’s exciting, huh?”

“Did you know?”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t, but if I had to guess, I’d guess it’s Shroud, one of the older guys on our team. He’s been quiet lately, lost in thought.”

I look around the store, hating that I’ll have to close. But nobody will be around during a skyball game anyhow. The whole haven comes to a standstill when skyball’s going.

Hadrian smiles at me, offering his arm. “Shall we, Miss Tucker?”

I slip my hand through the crook of his arm and head for the front door. He flips the Open sign to Closed, then grabs the door for me.

“Bye, Bodice,” I call out to the store. She doesn’t answer, but I have to keep trying despite my mounting frustration.

Outside we find Main Street full of monsters waiting for Mabel the train. A few folks turn to look at us when Hadrian appears in the street.

“I should be going,” he says quietly. “I’ll fly, but I’ll see you at the game, right?”

“Always,” I assure him, grateful that our vibe is back to normal.

“Okay, well, see you later.” He flares his wings wide.

Whispers rise up around us at the black-and-gold coloring, but I do my best to ignore it.

Until I see Merit and Bryony, PG’s resident pixie snoops and owners of the Gulch Gossip, snapping a pic of his wings. I’m probably in that pic. Ugh.

Hadrian gives me a final look then pushes gracefully off the ground and up into the sky. I force myself not to watch him flap away as I look around. I recognize most of the locals waiting for the train, but it’s always exciting when out of towners visit for skyball.

A train whistle announces Mabel’s arrival. Two minutes after the shrill sound, the train herself chugs slowly into view up Main Street, her red-and-black engine shiny with a fresh coat of paint after a recent run-in with a truck parked on her tracks. You couldn’t tell, though; she looks great.

And I did that, using my black magic to heal the engine so she could be repainted.

Mable choo-choos happily when she sees me standing there. Like always, I wait for the visitors to board her first, and then I board near the end. It’ll mean I have to stand most of the way to the skyball arena, but that’s okay. I love monster-watching the others as they experience Pine Gulch through the perspective of the train.

Forty minutes later, we disembark into a huge crowd tailgating outside our beautiful skyball arena. Everyone’s still in monster form, so the new human must not be here yet. The idea of another human in town pulls my lips into a smile. My brothers and I grew up in Pine Gulch, but my mother called my father here the same way one of the players called this woman.

It’s a lovely bit of magic that helps us expand when a monster feels strongly about a connection in the outside world. I wonder how he met her? How he knew of her? Since he’s a gargoyle, he must have met her in the human world to know she was his mate. Now she gets to learn about his world.

Following the crowd into the arena, I flash my season pass and head for our seats with a Pine Gulch welcome book under one arm. My brothers and parents are already there, decked out in the Pine Gulch Punishers black and gold. The team isn’t on the field yet, but Sheriff Rygold stands in the middle of the field with a microphone in one purple hand.

He’s looking better than usual, stronger despite the broken horn and the giant scar that bisects the left side of his face.

As the stadium fills, he clears his throat. “Welcome, one and all, to today’s Punishers game! We thank you for visiting our beautiful Pine Gulch, and today is particularly special because we called a human here from the outside world, and she’ll be arriving any minute. For those monsters who don’t know, I serve as this haven’s Keeper, so I’ll be glamouring the entire stadium. Like in any haven, I’ll pull the glamour down once our calling monster has had a chance to make contact. Thanks again for being here.”

He lifts a cowboy hat and slots it down over his horns as he clicks the microphone off and stalks off the field with his tail lashing behind him like an angry cat.

“That’s the most pleasant I’ve ever heard him be,” my mother mutters, glancing at me. “How you doing today, sweetheart? I hoped I’d see you at breakfast.”

I smile and pat her knee. “All good, Mama. Just busy, like always.”

“Don’t work yourself into a lather, dear,” she says sweetly, putting her arm around me. “You like to stay busy, I know that, but come to breakfast soon. We miss having you at home.” She leans in close, bring her mouth to my ear. “I’m outnumbered and it sucks.”

Holding back a laugh, I lean into her as the sheriff comes back on the microphone to let us know he’s going to place the glamour.

He stands on the sidelines up from us, and it’s as fascinating as ever to watch him mutter a spell to make everything appear human. A glittering line of magic sinks down over the stadium, transforming all the monsters into human form. The skyball pitch shifts and moves until it looks more like a football field. It’s fascinating to look around and see monsters I’ve known my whole life in glamoured human form.

There’s Varek Shorthorn, the minotaur land developer, looking like Shrek’s human form with a huge square jaw, piercing chocolate eyes and a fantastic head of brown wavy hair.