Author Notes:
I've tried to remain as true to the books as possible. The conversation between Amy and Seamus is highly plausible. Rich and prominet citizens are frequently mentioned in news papers and Artemis Fowl senior's supposed death was probably publicised along with the rumors involving the Russian mafia. Despite the fact that Amy lives near tara , and has seen a fairy she will not turn into a super crime obsessed Mary Sue who can speak gnomish better then Artemis and has psychic powers. I've always thought it would be interesting to see how an ordinary boring person would react to Tara and the LEP.
I would like to thank my first and only reviewer Eleida! you rock ! and I hope my spelling has improved in this chapter. I swear Spell checkers make more mistakes then they correct.
Officially Career day ended at three p.m. Amy was secretly thankful , her father had kept her locked up in her room all morning and she was anxious to escape. What she really wanted to do was go to the shopping center . Mainly because her friend Seamus's father owned the computer store and allowed them to play video games in the back room. Amy wasn't particularly good at playing computer games , in fact she was hopeless. She played them any way because Seamus took them very seriously and would get extremely annoyed with her when ever she made a mistake accidentally on purpose. Annoying Seamus , in Amy's opinion was a leisure activity that rivaled a trip to the cinema.
Anxiously Amy peered around her doorway her eyes crinkling with concentration. Her father was still on the phone talking to Granny , he had been on the phone for the past two hours. He seemed to be very concerned about Amy's sudden bought of sleep walking. Amy wasn't sure why he was talking to Granny about it . Granny, in Amy's opinion was daft and insane. She kept out saucers of milk for the fairies and talked to her cats as if they were really alive.
"Where are you going lass?" Her father suddenly asked his back stiffening , Amy bit her lip thoughtfully.
"We need more bread" Amy lied quickly , her family always needed more bread.
"You sure your up to it?" He asked with concern and Amy gave him a funny look.
"Of course I'm up for it , its just riding my bike" she pointed out and her father bit his lip a habit similar to her own.
" Here take this with you" he suddenly said reaching into the kitchen draw his ear still pressed against the phone. He placed an old iron nail into her hand.
"Why would I need this?" Amy asked with confusion.
" In case you need to hammer something , I don't know" her father said distracted gesturing for her to leave the kitchen. Amy merely shrugged her shoulders and put on her favorite denim jacket.
Bike riding , in Amy's opinion was as close to flying as humanly possible. For as far back as she could remember , she had always had vague dreams involving flying. Not the sort of flying involving hang gliders or planes , flying where you could just step into the sky and swim through it.
Amy's bike was old and clunky , it once belonged to her older brother and before that her father. She wanted a new one , but her parents refused to spoil her despite the fact they earned a comfortable amount of money.
It took twenty minutes to reach the main town , and another ten to get to the small shopping center. Amy enjoyed the bike ride , it gave her time to look around and not think.. She wasn't a big fan of thinking. Eventually she reached the shopping strip and she stopped next to an old panel van.
The first thing she saw was Caitlin Turner , leaning against a fashion boutiques window. Caitlin was a big fan of leaning against buildings in sensual ways.
" Oh god its you , heard you spent all day cleaning up cow shit" Caitlin smirked puffing on the dog end of a cigarette. Caitlin was thirteen however she appeared to be much older. Their was a pretty face hidden under all her make up and eye liner. Some how , it seemed very familiar.
"I heard you spent all day robbing a morgue" Amy thought , but did'nt say. Instead she ignored the girl and proceeded to lock up her bike.
"Don't ignore me McGraney! " Caitlin ordered and Amy's knuckles grew white.
"I have to .. I have to go" Amy muttered barely looking at her. Before Caitlin could speak again Amy had disappeared.
Amy breathed a sigh of relief , she was safely inside the computer store.
The store was bright and modern , with air conditioning and clean white shelves. School had only just come out , so there were not to many children playing on the sample computer games. Tucking her hair behind one ear Amy walked into the back store room. Surprisingly Seamus was not playing one of the games , he was actually working using a sticker gun to label merchandise. Before Amy could protest he stuck a sticker onto her jacket.
" Now every one will know your damaged stock!" He laughed.
"You've been waiting for me to come in all day just so you could do that" Amy pointed out and Seamus's grin disappeared.
" Have not" he protested weekly , Amy just scowled at him and ripped the sticker up before tossing it onto the floor.
"How was career day?" Amy asked changing the subject.
" Boring as hell , dad made me spend all day sticking price tags on a new shipment we got in this morning.Its some new form of computer hardware made by Fowl industries" Seamus droned rolling his pale blue eyes. Seamus and Amy had become friends by default when they were in kindergarten. When all the other children had paired off into groups they were the last two left standing by the alphabet poster.
"Fowl industries? That's a weird name" Amy remarked.
"It's fowl as in the bird , not the adjective" Seamus pointed out and Amy pretended she understood.
"So what do they do?" She asked sitting on one of the unpacked boxes.
"How am I supposed to know? Computer stuff probably. Dad said the guy who used to own the company drowned" Seamus said moving the conversation to a far more interesting point.
"Drowned! That's horrible!" Amy squealed her eyes opening wide with shock.
"Uh huh.. It happened in Russia! The Mafia sunk his boat , it was in all the papers" Seamus began his eyes lighting up with the zeal of an interesting story.
" How come I never read about it?" Amy asked defensively.
" You never read the paper" Seamus pointed out.
"True" Amy admitted.
"Any way , to make the story even more interesting.. turns out the guy had a son , a son with a really weird name or .. You know what ever. The son was weird to , really smart or something" Seamus said vaguely.
"Wait a second.. How do you know all this?" Amy asked raising an eyebrow.
" I hear lots of rumors in certain Internet chat rooms , a year ago some one claiming to be the kid sent out an Internet flag offering cash for any one who knew any information about fairies" Seamus said rolling his eyes . Amy's breath caught in her throat momentarily. For some reason she couldn't fathom, the word fairy had caused her heart to beat incredibly fast.
"Sound pretty stupid to me" Amy managed to say rolling her eyes theatrically.
"Rich people are stupid , do you want to help me finish with these stickers?" He asked.
"No" Amy stated.
"Fine then go" Seamus replied.
" I will then!" Amy snarled hopping off the box of computer hardware.
"Your not staying for dinner then?" Seamus yelled with disappointment , but it was to late Amy had left the shop.
****
Dinner , was incredibly awkward and wrong with out the presence of Amy's mum. For one thing they were eating Pizza strait out of the box. Amy's older brother James had picked some up in town on his way home from work.
"I hate supreme pizza" Amy reminded him as she picked an olive off the pizza.
"I know , that's why I bought it" James laughed. In Amy's opinion , James was ugly and stupid he also had ginger hair.
"You two.." Their father warned , and silently the two siblings returned to their pizza.
Tick , tick , tick , went the kitchen clock. Farmer McGraney cleared his throat , James coughed momentarily Amy merely stared at them both with silent contempt.
"I dug up another priceless piece of art work dad" said James after a moments silence.
"That's nice" their father managed to say .The McGraney's dug up valuable treasures around once a month. It really was quite bizzare . Archaelogists who had visited the farm could not explain why the earth would be filled with dirt and bones one day , then the next it would contain a priceless viking treasure chest or an origenal Piccasso framed sketch.
"It was one of those statue things" James continued.
"A bust" Amy interjected tiredly.
" Dad , Amy's being perverted" James whined.
"I was not , that's what those things are called.. Busts.. We learnt all about them in ancient history " Amy snarled .
"It was near the privy" James continued and Amy blushed bright red , only her family would still have an outdoor privy which was nothing more then a glorified hole in the ground.
"Ewww James , it wasn't dirty was it?" Amy asked turning green.
"A bit" James admitted proudly.
" You did'nt touch it son?" Their father asked.
" No I aint daft , I put mums washing gloves on first then I washed it in the bath" James grinned , Farmer McGraney turned very pale.. He was planning on having a bath after dinner.
" I suppose I'll have to have a shower" he muttered before taking another bite of pizza. The room was silent once again , Amy pulled a piece of pepperoni off her pizza and chewed on it absently.
"Dad?" Amy asked after swallowing , her dad looked up absently.
" Yes?" He asked.
"Have you ever heard of fowl industries , the bird not the adjective?" She asked curiously and her fathers eye brows shot up with surprise.
" Quite a few people have heard of them luv , their not the sort of people we talk about over dinner though" her father said darkly .
"Why?" Amy persisted.
" Because.. Well the fowls aren't all together honest people are they?" Her father stated and James bit into his pizza.
" Of course their not , their birds aren't they?" He asked. Amy , and her father stared at James momentarily pondering how some one so stupid managed to graduate from high school.
" Are the Fowls in the Irish Mafia dad?" Amy asked excited referring to the infamous underground crime circuit that spread all the way to Chicago. Amy half expected her father to tell her to stop talking nonsense. Instead he shook his head sheepishly.
"Perhaps , they are after all a pretty dodgey lot" he admitted and Amy realized her father was not going to say any more. The three lapsed into silence once again , after a few minutes they were distracted by the sound of some thing scratching at the kitchen window.
" It's Mrs. Mendelburg" James said tiredly.
" The cats name is Daisy not Mrs. what ever the hell you just said" Amy grumbled.
"Daisy's a stupid pooferina name" James muttered darkly.
"She's a girl ! She's allowed to have a girlie name" Amy pointed out.
"It's still a stupid name" James roared.
" She's my cat and I can name her what ever I want!" Amy snarled.
"Lass , ignore your brother and go let the damned feline in" her father ordered her Amy glared at them both scathingly . She marched towards the back door and pointedly slammed it behind her.
A blue ink night greeted Amy as the door shut behind her. The air was slightly chilly , and she breathed in deeply thankful that it was almost summer. Dreamily Amy allowed herself to stare up at the night sky momentarily. The Sky was purple gray with rain clouds , she could see the occasional patch of stars. It was one of the only good points about living on a boring farm.. The stars were always so bright and clear. Before Granny had gone barmy she had attempted to teach Amy a thing or to about Astrology. Amy thought the whole practice was daft , but she did it any way because it was nice spending hours staring at the pretty points of light.
Reluctantly Amy tore her eyes away and began to search the vegetable patch for Daisy , it wasn't as hard as she origenally thought. Daisy was a house cat and only went outside in order to go to the bathroom . The fat tortoise shell cat immediately began bumping her head against Amy's legs and the young girl was forced to pick her up. Suddenly , a sound caught Amy's attention. It was a car , purring down the dirt road leading into the farm.
"Mum!" Amy cried with relief assuming that her mother had arrived home early. Still clutching onto a meowing Daisy she ran towards the road.
It was not Mrs. McGraney , Amy soon realized. Her mother drove a beaten up white ford with a bumper sticker on it from the fairy store. This car was as black as tar , and as long as a bus. It's windows were thick and smokey , putting a fairy bumper sticker on it would insult it. Amy gasped causing Daisy to tumble from her arms. Daisy looked at her vaguely insulted before dashing inside.
Amy ignored the cat and slowly concealed her self in the shadows watching the car. It continued to drive until it reached the familiar hillock. Amy bit her lip terrified not quite sure what to do , should she call her father? Or wait until they went away ?
The car slowly pulled to a stop. It was momentarily quite. Then , one of the doors slowly opened but nothing came out. If Amy concentrated she could almost see a heat shimmer in the air. The second car door opened. A man stepped out , impossibly huge dressed immaculately in a black suite. The moonlight passed over his face briefly and he appeared to be Euro Asian. The man reached into the back seat of the car and practically dragged out the final figure.
It was a boy ! no older then Amy , he was also small and delicate. Amy gasped again and bit onto her knuckles in order to prevent herself from crying out. He appeared to be unconscious , the man carefully cradled him in his arms. The boys head lolled backwards like a drunken dolls , the moonlight lit his features and Amy's eyes opened wide with horror. The boys face was so innocent , so pale ... he was also rather good looking in a vampire sort of way. If Amy had been shocked , she was about to be astonished. For while she was gazing dreamily at the boys young face something rather strange was happening to the hillock.
The top part of it had snapped off like the lid of a canister. Amy looked up with shock , she did'nt know anything about geography but she was pretty sure that hills were not hollow like an Easter egg. Then with a very impressive "pop" a sleek cubicle emerged from the hillock and opened its doors. It looked like an elevator shaft , or possibly an egg. It was made out of the sort of futuristic materials one would only see on Star Trek. The metal egg opened , and the heat shimmer disappeared inside , it ( what ever it was) was soon followed by the Eurasian clutching onto the teenage boy. Part of Amy , the more practical part said she should forget about it and go inside and finish her pizza before James did. Another part , a smaller more rebellious part screamed at her to stay and pay attention.
The egg closed , and it then elegantly descended into the hillock. The hillocks top then flipped back on . Amy dashed towards the hillock as quickly as possible. She studied the earth searching for a gap , but there was none. She then proceeded to dig at a bare spot hoping to reveal the hollow chamber , still nothing!
Sighing with frustration Amy sat down crossing her feet . She wasn't quite sure what the hell she had seen , was it a foiled kidnapping? A government conspiracy? And why was there a silver egg thing in the hillock on HER farm?
Something caught Amy's attention , a small scrap of paper fluttering on the grass , caught up between a piece of wild heather. Amy slowly picked it up , it had a single word printed on it along with what appeared to be a partial school crest.
"Artemis" Amy breathed her brow furrowing up with confusion.
" What a weird word" she finished scrunching up the piece of paper in her hand. As she walked down the hillock her eyes fell firmly on the sleek black limousine , it was still there.
That night Amy had trouble sleeping , her room was far to hot and muggy the sound of the kitchen clock was ticking far to loud and her mind was filled with to many worries. The word Artemis kept swirling around in her mind. Was Artemis a name for something? No that seemed ridicules.. No one in their right mind would name their child Artemis. Unless of course it was a nick name , for an incredibly cool girl who wore black lip stick and listened to system of the down. The sort of girl Amy secretly wanted to be just like. Amy refused to even contemplate that Artemis may possibly be male , as her brother put it Artemis was a " pooferina" name.
"Maybe I just dreamed it" Amy said hopefully to her Seth Green Poster. Amy was forever day dreaming and it often got her into trouble. She wondered if she was going as mad as Granny , after all she could normally tell the difference between her day dreams and reality. Frustrated she kicked her covers off and sat up breathing heavily. She slowly stood up clutching the old t shirt she wore as a night gown around her frame. Her eyes fell on her alarm clock , it was still rather early only 11: Am. she could hear her brothers television blaring softly in the back round. Carefully she crept out of her bedroom and into the living room towards the phone. Her brother snoozed noisily a left over slice of pizza balancing on his stomach. She reached over him and grabbed the telephone. Then , silently she carried the phone to the hall closet and locked herself inside. Her hands hovered over the key pad and she pressed the button labeled " Granny" and pressed it against her ear.
"Hello?" A piping elderly voice inquired.
"Granny , its me Amy" Amy said and she couldn't believe what she was doing.
"Oh you poor wee little bonnie lass ! Your papa told me what happened to you" Granny shrilled.
"You mean the sleep walking?" Amy asked carefully and there was a faint gasp.
"Is that what he told you?" He grandmother asked.
"Yes"
"Well its a lie , you did'nt sleep walk ! The little buggers stole part of your memory" her grandmother stated gravely.
"What little buggers , granny have you been forgetting to take your pills again?" Amy asked kindly.
"Don't patronize me you silly gel , their all as real as you or me" Granny scolded her and Amy bit her lip.
"Who are you talking about?" Amy asked frustrated.
"The fairies of course!" He grandmother cried triumphantly and Amy gasped .The word fairy echoed in her mind , and caused her heart to start beating a firm tattoo.
"See lass , your mind doesn't remember but your heart does.. Your body cant forget" her grandmother whispered down the phone.
" I refuse to believe this , fairies don't exist" Amy stated firmly but her voice was trembling.
" Is there anything else you want to tell Granny?" Her grandmother probed .
"I saw a car a few hours ago , and the hillock opened up" Amy stated her voice trembling.
"You saw Tara" he grandmother insisted gently.
"Tar.. What?" Amy asked.
" You saw the entrance into their world gel , now listen to me luv they'll try to make you forget but you mustn't ! if you forget to many times you'll go as blind as your granddad" Granny said firmly and Amy hesitantly nodded remembering she was on the phone. Her Grandfather had been dafter then Granny , he was also completely blind by his early fifties.
"There's one thing from mythology that can protect you luv , cold iron" he grandmother said firmly and Amy briefly remembered the nail her father had given her that afternoon.
"I understand Granny" Amy said , although she wasn't sure if she did.
"Now you tell your papa I'll be visiting tomorrow afternoon to investigate that car you saw" her Granny ordered her.
" What if its gone?" Amy asked hesitantly.
"Trust me lass , it wont be" Granny muttered darkly then there was nothing but the dial tone , her grandmother had hung up. Amy remained in the broom closet leaning against a moth eaten coat , the phone still in her lap. She had to admit , something rather odd was going on . But fairies ? Elves? It all sounded a little bit to much like lord of the rings for her liking. Sleepily Amy closed her eyes her acne scarred cheek brushing against her fathers coat. Obviously her Granny was as Barmy as ever , but she was right about something. Amy knew she had forgotten something important however as soon as she thought about it her mind would latch onto something else. Soon her thoughts had returned to there usual jumbly state and with out even realizing it Amy had fallen into a shallow sleep still clutching onto the telephone , the dial tone ringing in her ear.
I've tried to remain as true to the books as possible. The conversation between Amy and Seamus is highly plausible. Rich and prominet citizens are frequently mentioned in news papers and Artemis Fowl senior's supposed death was probably publicised along with the rumors involving the Russian mafia. Despite the fact that Amy lives near tara , and has seen a fairy she will not turn into a super crime obsessed Mary Sue who can speak gnomish better then Artemis and has psychic powers. I've always thought it would be interesting to see how an ordinary boring person would react to Tara and the LEP.
I would like to thank my first and only reviewer Eleida! you rock ! and I hope my spelling has improved in this chapter. I swear Spell checkers make more mistakes then they correct.
Officially Career day ended at three p.m. Amy was secretly thankful , her father had kept her locked up in her room all morning and she was anxious to escape. What she really wanted to do was go to the shopping center . Mainly because her friend Seamus's father owned the computer store and allowed them to play video games in the back room. Amy wasn't particularly good at playing computer games , in fact she was hopeless. She played them any way because Seamus took them very seriously and would get extremely annoyed with her when ever she made a mistake accidentally on purpose. Annoying Seamus , in Amy's opinion was a leisure activity that rivaled a trip to the cinema.
Anxiously Amy peered around her doorway her eyes crinkling with concentration. Her father was still on the phone talking to Granny , he had been on the phone for the past two hours. He seemed to be very concerned about Amy's sudden bought of sleep walking. Amy wasn't sure why he was talking to Granny about it . Granny, in Amy's opinion was daft and insane. She kept out saucers of milk for the fairies and talked to her cats as if they were really alive.
"Where are you going lass?" Her father suddenly asked his back stiffening , Amy bit her lip thoughtfully.
"We need more bread" Amy lied quickly , her family always needed more bread.
"You sure your up to it?" He asked with concern and Amy gave him a funny look.
"Of course I'm up for it , its just riding my bike" she pointed out and her father bit his lip a habit similar to her own.
" Here take this with you" he suddenly said reaching into the kitchen draw his ear still pressed against the phone. He placed an old iron nail into her hand.
"Why would I need this?" Amy asked with confusion.
" In case you need to hammer something , I don't know" her father said distracted gesturing for her to leave the kitchen. Amy merely shrugged her shoulders and put on her favorite denim jacket.
Bike riding , in Amy's opinion was as close to flying as humanly possible. For as far back as she could remember , she had always had vague dreams involving flying. Not the sort of flying involving hang gliders or planes , flying where you could just step into the sky and swim through it.
Amy's bike was old and clunky , it once belonged to her older brother and before that her father. She wanted a new one , but her parents refused to spoil her despite the fact they earned a comfortable amount of money.
It took twenty minutes to reach the main town , and another ten to get to the small shopping center. Amy enjoyed the bike ride , it gave her time to look around and not think.. She wasn't a big fan of thinking. Eventually she reached the shopping strip and she stopped next to an old panel van.
The first thing she saw was Caitlin Turner , leaning against a fashion boutiques window. Caitlin was a big fan of leaning against buildings in sensual ways.
" Oh god its you , heard you spent all day cleaning up cow shit" Caitlin smirked puffing on the dog end of a cigarette. Caitlin was thirteen however she appeared to be much older. Their was a pretty face hidden under all her make up and eye liner. Some how , it seemed very familiar.
"I heard you spent all day robbing a morgue" Amy thought , but did'nt say. Instead she ignored the girl and proceeded to lock up her bike.
"Don't ignore me McGraney! " Caitlin ordered and Amy's knuckles grew white.
"I have to .. I have to go" Amy muttered barely looking at her. Before Caitlin could speak again Amy had disappeared.
Amy breathed a sigh of relief , she was safely inside the computer store.
The store was bright and modern , with air conditioning and clean white shelves. School had only just come out , so there were not to many children playing on the sample computer games. Tucking her hair behind one ear Amy walked into the back store room. Surprisingly Seamus was not playing one of the games , he was actually working using a sticker gun to label merchandise. Before Amy could protest he stuck a sticker onto her jacket.
" Now every one will know your damaged stock!" He laughed.
"You've been waiting for me to come in all day just so you could do that" Amy pointed out and Seamus's grin disappeared.
" Have not" he protested weekly , Amy just scowled at him and ripped the sticker up before tossing it onto the floor.
"How was career day?" Amy asked changing the subject.
" Boring as hell , dad made me spend all day sticking price tags on a new shipment we got in this morning.Its some new form of computer hardware made by Fowl industries" Seamus droned rolling his pale blue eyes. Seamus and Amy had become friends by default when they were in kindergarten. When all the other children had paired off into groups they were the last two left standing by the alphabet poster.
"Fowl industries? That's a weird name" Amy remarked.
"It's fowl as in the bird , not the adjective" Seamus pointed out and Amy pretended she understood.
"So what do they do?" She asked sitting on one of the unpacked boxes.
"How am I supposed to know? Computer stuff probably. Dad said the guy who used to own the company drowned" Seamus said moving the conversation to a far more interesting point.
"Drowned! That's horrible!" Amy squealed her eyes opening wide with shock.
"Uh huh.. It happened in Russia! The Mafia sunk his boat , it was in all the papers" Seamus began his eyes lighting up with the zeal of an interesting story.
" How come I never read about it?" Amy asked defensively.
" You never read the paper" Seamus pointed out.
"True" Amy admitted.
"Any way , to make the story even more interesting.. turns out the guy had a son , a son with a really weird name or .. You know what ever. The son was weird to , really smart or something" Seamus said vaguely.
"Wait a second.. How do you know all this?" Amy asked raising an eyebrow.
" I hear lots of rumors in certain Internet chat rooms , a year ago some one claiming to be the kid sent out an Internet flag offering cash for any one who knew any information about fairies" Seamus said rolling his eyes . Amy's breath caught in her throat momentarily. For some reason she couldn't fathom, the word fairy had caused her heart to beat incredibly fast.
"Sound pretty stupid to me" Amy managed to say rolling her eyes theatrically.
"Rich people are stupid , do you want to help me finish with these stickers?" He asked.
"No" Amy stated.
"Fine then go" Seamus replied.
" I will then!" Amy snarled hopping off the box of computer hardware.
"Your not staying for dinner then?" Seamus yelled with disappointment , but it was to late Amy had left the shop.
****
Dinner , was incredibly awkward and wrong with out the presence of Amy's mum. For one thing they were eating Pizza strait out of the box. Amy's older brother James had picked some up in town on his way home from work.
"I hate supreme pizza" Amy reminded him as she picked an olive off the pizza.
"I know , that's why I bought it" James laughed. In Amy's opinion , James was ugly and stupid he also had ginger hair.
"You two.." Their father warned , and silently the two siblings returned to their pizza.
Tick , tick , tick , went the kitchen clock. Farmer McGraney cleared his throat , James coughed momentarily Amy merely stared at them both with silent contempt.
"I dug up another priceless piece of art work dad" said James after a moments silence.
"That's nice" their father managed to say .The McGraney's dug up valuable treasures around once a month. It really was quite bizzare . Archaelogists who had visited the farm could not explain why the earth would be filled with dirt and bones one day , then the next it would contain a priceless viking treasure chest or an origenal Piccasso framed sketch.
"It was one of those statue things" James continued.
"A bust" Amy interjected tiredly.
" Dad , Amy's being perverted" James whined.
"I was not , that's what those things are called.. Busts.. We learnt all about them in ancient history " Amy snarled .
"It was near the privy" James continued and Amy blushed bright red , only her family would still have an outdoor privy which was nothing more then a glorified hole in the ground.
"Ewww James , it wasn't dirty was it?" Amy asked turning green.
"A bit" James admitted proudly.
" You did'nt touch it son?" Their father asked.
" No I aint daft , I put mums washing gloves on first then I washed it in the bath" James grinned , Farmer McGraney turned very pale.. He was planning on having a bath after dinner.
" I suppose I'll have to have a shower" he muttered before taking another bite of pizza. The room was silent once again , Amy pulled a piece of pepperoni off her pizza and chewed on it absently.
"Dad?" Amy asked after swallowing , her dad looked up absently.
" Yes?" He asked.
"Have you ever heard of fowl industries , the bird not the adjective?" She asked curiously and her fathers eye brows shot up with surprise.
" Quite a few people have heard of them luv , their not the sort of people we talk about over dinner though" her father said darkly .
"Why?" Amy persisted.
" Because.. Well the fowls aren't all together honest people are they?" Her father stated and James bit into his pizza.
" Of course their not , their birds aren't they?" He asked. Amy , and her father stared at James momentarily pondering how some one so stupid managed to graduate from high school.
" Are the Fowls in the Irish Mafia dad?" Amy asked excited referring to the infamous underground crime circuit that spread all the way to Chicago. Amy half expected her father to tell her to stop talking nonsense. Instead he shook his head sheepishly.
"Perhaps , they are after all a pretty dodgey lot" he admitted and Amy realized her father was not going to say any more. The three lapsed into silence once again , after a few minutes they were distracted by the sound of some thing scratching at the kitchen window.
" It's Mrs. Mendelburg" James said tiredly.
" The cats name is Daisy not Mrs. what ever the hell you just said" Amy grumbled.
"Daisy's a stupid pooferina name" James muttered darkly.
"She's a girl ! She's allowed to have a girlie name" Amy pointed out.
"It's still a stupid name" James roared.
" She's my cat and I can name her what ever I want!" Amy snarled.
"Lass , ignore your brother and go let the damned feline in" her father ordered her Amy glared at them both scathingly . She marched towards the back door and pointedly slammed it behind her.
A blue ink night greeted Amy as the door shut behind her. The air was slightly chilly , and she breathed in deeply thankful that it was almost summer. Dreamily Amy allowed herself to stare up at the night sky momentarily. The Sky was purple gray with rain clouds , she could see the occasional patch of stars. It was one of the only good points about living on a boring farm.. The stars were always so bright and clear. Before Granny had gone barmy she had attempted to teach Amy a thing or to about Astrology. Amy thought the whole practice was daft , but she did it any way because it was nice spending hours staring at the pretty points of light.
Reluctantly Amy tore her eyes away and began to search the vegetable patch for Daisy , it wasn't as hard as she origenally thought. Daisy was a house cat and only went outside in order to go to the bathroom . The fat tortoise shell cat immediately began bumping her head against Amy's legs and the young girl was forced to pick her up. Suddenly , a sound caught Amy's attention. It was a car , purring down the dirt road leading into the farm.
"Mum!" Amy cried with relief assuming that her mother had arrived home early. Still clutching onto a meowing Daisy she ran towards the road.
It was not Mrs. McGraney , Amy soon realized. Her mother drove a beaten up white ford with a bumper sticker on it from the fairy store. This car was as black as tar , and as long as a bus. It's windows were thick and smokey , putting a fairy bumper sticker on it would insult it. Amy gasped causing Daisy to tumble from her arms. Daisy looked at her vaguely insulted before dashing inside.
Amy ignored the cat and slowly concealed her self in the shadows watching the car. It continued to drive until it reached the familiar hillock. Amy bit her lip terrified not quite sure what to do , should she call her father? Or wait until they went away ?
The car slowly pulled to a stop. It was momentarily quite. Then , one of the doors slowly opened but nothing came out. If Amy concentrated she could almost see a heat shimmer in the air. The second car door opened. A man stepped out , impossibly huge dressed immaculately in a black suite. The moonlight passed over his face briefly and he appeared to be Euro Asian. The man reached into the back seat of the car and practically dragged out the final figure.
It was a boy ! no older then Amy , he was also small and delicate. Amy gasped again and bit onto her knuckles in order to prevent herself from crying out. He appeared to be unconscious , the man carefully cradled him in his arms. The boys head lolled backwards like a drunken dolls , the moonlight lit his features and Amy's eyes opened wide with horror. The boys face was so innocent , so pale ... he was also rather good looking in a vampire sort of way. If Amy had been shocked , she was about to be astonished. For while she was gazing dreamily at the boys young face something rather strange was happening to the hillock.
The top part of it had snapped off like the lid of a canister. Amy looked up with shock , she did'nt know anything about geography but she was pretty sure that hills were not hollow like an Easter egg. Then with a very impressive "pop" a sleek cubicle emerged from the hillock and opened its doors. It looked like an elevator shaft , or possibly an egg. It was made out of the sort of futuristic materials one would only see on Star Trek. The metal egg opened , and the heat shimmer disappeared inside , it ( what ever it was) was soon followed by the Eurasian clutching onto the teenage boy. Part of Amy , the more practical part said she should forget about it and go inside and finish her pizza before James did. Another part , a smaller more rebellious part screamed at her to stay and pay attention.
The egg closed , and it then elegantly descended into the hillock. The hillocks top then flipped back on . Amy dashed towards the hillock as quickly as possible. She studied the earth searching for a gap , but there was none. She then proceeded to dig at a bare spot hoping to reveal the hollow chamber , still nothing!
Sighing with frustration Amy sat down crossing her feet . She wasn't quite sure what the hell she had seen , was it a foiled kidnapping? A government conspiracy? And why was there a silver egg thing in the hillock on HER farm?
Something caught Amy's attention , a small scrap of paper fluttering on the grass , caught up between a piece of wild heather. Amy slowly picked it up , it had a single word printed on it along with what appeared to be a partial school crest.
"Artemis" Amy breathed her brow furrowing up with confusion.
" What a weird word" she finished scrunching up the piece of paper in her hand. As she walked down the hillock her eyes fell firmly on the sleek black limousine , it was still there.
That night Amy had trouble sleeping , her room was far to hot and muggy the sound of the kitchen clock was ticking far to loud and her mind was filled with to many worries. The word Artemis kept swirling around in her mind. Was Artemis a name for something? No that seemed ridicules.. No one in their right mind would name their child Artemis. Unless of course it was a nick name , for an incredibly cool girl who wore black lip stick and listened to system of the down. The sort of girl Amy secretly wanted to be just like. Amy refused to even contemplate that Artemis may possibly be male , as her brother put it Artemis was a " pooferina" name.
"Maybe I just dreamed it" Amy said hopefully to her Seth Green Poster. Amy was forever day dreaming and it often got her into trouble. She wondered if she was going as mad as Granny , after all she could normally tell the difference between her day dreams and reality. Frustrated she kicked her covers off and sat up breathing heavily. She slowly stood up clutching the old t shirt she wore as a night gown around her frame. Her eyes fell on her alarm clock , it was still rather early only 11: Am. she could hear her brothers television blaring softly in the back round. Carefully she crept out of her bedroom and into the living room towards the phone. Her brother snoozed noisily a left over slice of pizza balancing on his stomach. She reached over him and grabbed the telephone. Then , silently she carried the phone to the hall closet and locked herself inside. Her hands hovered over the key pad and she pressed the button labeled " Granny" and pressed it against her ear.
"Hello?" A piping elderly voice inquired.
"Granny , its me Amy" Amy said and she couldn't believe what she was doing.
"Oh you poor wee little bonnie lass ! Your papa told me what happened to you" Granny shrilled.
"You mean the sleep walking?" Amy asked carefully and there was a faint gasp.
"Is that what he told you?" He grandmother asked.
"Yes"
"Well its a lie , you did'nt sleep walk ! The little buggers stole part of your memory" her grandmother stated gravely.
"What little buggers , granny have you been forgetting to take your pills again?" Amy asked kindly.
"Don't patronize me you silly gel , their all as real as you or me" Granny scolded her and Amy bit her lip.
"Who are you talking about?" Amy asked frustrated.
"The fairies of course!" He grandmother cried triumphantly and Amy gasped .The word fairy echoed in her mind , and caused her heart to start beating a firm tattoo.
"See lass , your mind doesn't remember but your heart does.. Your body cant forget" her grandmother whispered down the phone.
" I refuse to believe this , fairies don't exist" Amy stated firmly but her voice was trembling.
" Is there anything else you want to tell Granny?" Her grandmother probed .
"I saw a car a few hours ago , and the hillock opened up" Amy stated her voice trembling.
"You saw Tara" he grandmother insisted gently.
"Tar.. What?" Amy asked.
" You saw the entrance into their world gel , now listen to me luv they'll try to make you forget but you mustn't ! if you forget to many times you'll go as blind as your granddad" Granny said firmly and Amy hesitantly nodded remembering she was on the phone. Her Grandfather had been dafter then Granny , he was also completely blind by his early fifties.
"There's one thing from mythology that can protect you luv , cold iron" he grandmother said firmly and Amy briefly remembered the nail her father had given her that afternoon.
"I understand Granny" Amy said , although she wasn't sure if she did.
"Now you tell your papa I'll be visiting tomorrow afternoon to investigate that car you saw" her Granny ordered her.
" What if its gone?" Amy asked hesitantly.
"Trust me lass , it wont be" Granny muttered darkly then there was nothing but the dial tone , her grandmother had hung up. Amy remained in the broom closet leaning against a moth eaten coat , the phone still in her lap. She had to admit , something rather odd was going on . But fairies ? Elves? It all sounded a little bit to much like lord of the rings for her liking. Sleepily Amy closed her eyes her acne scarred cheek brushing against her fathers coat. Obviously her Granny was as Barmy as ever , but she was right about something. Amy knew she had forgotten something important however as soon as she thought about it her mind would latch onto something else. Soon her thoughts had returned to there usual jumbly state and with out even realizing it Amy had fallen into a shallow sleep still clutching onto the telephone , the dial tone ringing in her ear.