The Perfect Match by E. D. Baker
“Not until I get his information,” said Blue. Still holding the Thing down with one hand, he whipped his leaf pad out of his pocket and set it on the floor. Taking an ink stick from his other pocket, he asked the creature for its name, address, guild affiliation, and guild ID number. When he had all the information he needed, he picked up the creature with one hand and marched it to the door. The creature was so short that Blue had to bend over to keep his hand on the back of its neck. “Don’t ever come back here!”
“I won’t!” said the Thing. As soon as Blue let it go, the creature fled into the night, crying.
Cory noticed that Blue was still wearing the clothes he had worn all day. “If you’re going to make a habit of staying here, you might want to bring something more comfortable to sleep in,” she told him.
“I plan to,” said Blue. “Good night again!”
“Good night,” Cory said as she headed back to her room.
Noodles had followed her from the room. Now he turned and headed back in ahead of her. She had just reached the doorway when she heard him snarling. “What is it, Noodles?” she asked, and turned on her lamp.
The woodchuck was lying on his stomach with his head stuck under her bed and his whole body quivering. Cory crouched down beside him and lifted the dangling edge of her blanket. Two eyes in a cloud of gray dust stared back at her. “Uh, Blue,” she called. “Noodles found another intruder.”
Blue stepped into her room. She moved out of the way as he knelt down to peer under the bed. “Come out or I’ll drag you out,” he told the creature under the bed.
“There’s something else?” Micah said as he came into the room.
There was a grunt and dust puffed out from under the bed as the gray creature emerged. It was hard to make out his shape under all the dust covering him.
“Well, I’ll be!” said Micah. “That’s a Monster Under the Bed! You don’t see them very often. They’re actually quite rare.”
“Name, address, guild affiliation, and guild ID number, please,” Blue said, reaching for his leaf pad again.
Cory wasn’t surprised to hear that the monster was also a member of the ITG. “Two in one night,” she said. “I hope that’s all for now.”
“I’m going to lodge a complaint in the morning,” said her uncle. “The ITG is never supposed to have more than one of its members pestering a household at a time.”
“I guess they really want to scare me,” said Cory. “Although I think this guy isn’t scary at all. He has nice eyes.”
The monster blushed then, and the dust around him turned pink. His voice was whispery soft when he gave his information to Blue. Even Cory, who was standing a few feet away, couldn’t really hear it.
After Blue had hustled the monster out the front door, he came back to look around her room. “No more monsters,” he said once he’d looked in the closet and under the bed again. “Maybe now we can get some sleep.”
“I sure hope so,” Micah said with a yawn. “I have students giving oral presentations in the morning and I want to look alert and at least semi-interested.”
“Good night, again!” Blue said, closing Cory’s door behind him.
Cory climbed back in bed and had just gotten comfortable when something scratched at her window. “Oh, for goodness’ sake!” she said. “Is this harassment through lack of sleep? What is it this time?” When she peered out the window, she saw a ghostly face floating on the other side of the glass. Startled, Cory jumped back and nearly tripped over Noodles, who had come up behind her. When she looked again, the face was still there, but a moment later it let out a small shriek and disappeared.
Not wanting to wake her uncle in case he actually had gone back to sleep, Cory ran into the main room and said in a loud whisper, “Blue, there’s something outside my window!”
Blue was on his feet in a flash. “Stay here,” he said, and headed out the door.
Cory waited in the main room, so anxious that she couldn’t stand still. When Blue came back a few minutes later, he had Weegie and a girl Cory’s age with him.
“The girl says she knows you,” Blue said, gesturing to the girl.
“Harmony Twitchet! What are you doing here?” Cory asked, surprised. Harmony had been a friend of hers in Junior Fey School. After graduating, Harmony had taken seasonal jobs.
“I came to warn you,” said Harmony. “I’ve been working for the ITG for the last few months, filling in for the Thing That Scratches at Your Window while she’s on maternity leave.” She held up her hands, showing Cory her long, artificial nails. “I was trying to get your attention when this animal bit me!” Harmony gave Weegie a dirty look.
“You aren’t supposed to be here!” said Weegie. “This is nighttime and any two-legger who comes around after everyone has gone to bed is up to no good. Noodles told me so!”
“Uh, thank you, Weegie,” Cory said. “But if Harmony came to warn me, I would like to hear what she has to say.”
“The Itinerant Troublemakers Guild has teamed up with the Tooth Fairy Guild and the Flower Fairy Guild to keep you from turning people against them,” said Harmony.
“I know. We’ve already had two visitors from the ITG tonight,” Cory told her.
Harmony nodded. “I was there when the assignments were handed out, so I know all about them. Sol and Pickles are actually nice guys once you get to know them. But word is that they were supposed to soften you up. The guild has sent for some truly nasty members and they’re supposed to arrive next week.”
“Do you know what they are?” asked Blue.
Harmony shook her head. “I have no idea, but the longtimers in the guild were calling them the Big Baddies.”
“Great!” Cory said. “More to look forward to. Oh, I know it’s not your fault, Harmony. Thanks for coming by to let me know about them.”
“You’re welcome,” her friend told her. “Do you happen to know if your woodchuck has been vaccinated? He doesn’t have any communicable diseases, does he?” She turned her leg to look at the back, but all Cory could see were two puncture holes in her friend’s pants leg.
“I’ll have you know that I am a girl!” said Weegie. “And I don’t have any diseases, communicable or otherwise!”
“I’d better get going,” said Harmony. “Good luck, Cory.”
“Thanks,” Cory said. “I have a feeling that I’m going to need it.”
After Harmony left and Weegie went back outside to “lurk in the shrubs,” Blue shut and locked the door. “So, have you changed your mind about staying here?” he asked Cory. “It still isn’t too late to join Stella Nimble.”
“No, I’m staying,” said Cory. “With you and Micah and the two woodchucks here to protect me, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“You know I would never let anything bad happen to you,” he said, caressing her cheek with his fingers.
“I’m counting on it!” Cory told him as she leaned in for a kiss.
ALSO BY E. D. BAKER
THE TALES OF THE FROG PRINCESS:
The Frog Princess
Dragon’s Breath
Once Upon a Curse
No Place for Magic
The Salamander Spell
The Dragon Princess
Dragon Kiss
A Prince among Frogs
Fairy Wings
Fairy Lies
TALES OF THE WIDE-AWAKE PRINCESS:
The Wide-Awake Princess
Unlocking the Spell
The Bravest Princess
Princess in Disguise
A Question of Magic
The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker
Copyright © 2015 by E. D. Baker
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauth
First published in the United States of America in October 2015
by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
E-book edition published in October 2015
www.bloomsbury.com
Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 1385 Broadway, New York, New York 10018
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Baker, E. D., author.
The perfect match: a Fairy-tale matchmaker book / by E. D. Baker.
pages cm
Summary: When former tooth-fairy-in-training Cory Feathering was stripped of her fairy skills, she discovered that, as the descendent of a Cupid, she was born to be a matchmaker, and now her latest job is to find the perfect match for Goldilocks—the only trouble is that he is getting married to someone else.
ISBN 978-1-61963-588-3 (hardcover) • ISBN 978-1-61963-589-0 (e-book)
1. Tooth Fairy (Legendary character)—Juvenile fiction. 2. Fairies—Juvenile fiction. 3. Characters and characteristics—Juvenile fiction. 4. Dating services—Juvenile fiction. [1. Tooth Fairy—Fiction. 2. Fairies—Fiction. 3. Characters in literature—Fiction. 4. Dating services—Fiction. 5. Humorous stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.B17005Pe 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2014036489
ISBN 978-1-61963-589-0 (e-book)
E. D. Baker, The Perfect Match