- Fowl Manor, Ireland -
Angeline Fowl got off the phone with her son, a bemused smile on her face. "What is it?" Artemis Fowl Senior asked, looking over his newspaper. Although he had gotten a prosthesis for his leg, plastic surgery could not completely hide the scars that were the all-too-visible reminders of his time in Russia.
"Arty's bringing a friend back with him."
"Oh? What's his name?"
Angeline raised an eyebrow. "Her name is Katherine."
He stared at her. "My God, has he actually found a girl?"
"Certainly sounds like it." Angeline picked up her crocheting. "She has never met her father, but supposedly has found enough information to think he might be around here somewhere. Always the gentleman, Arty offered to have her stay here for a while and was calling to make sure it was all right with us."
"And the, ah, friend he was originally visiting? The one from the university?"
"Mysteriously disappeared." Mrs. Fowl smiled at her work. "I hate to read too much into this, but I doubt Arty will be returning to the university in the fall."
"You've enough of a memory to believe in love at first sight." The elder Artemis took her hand, a tender smile on his face.
Angeline gave it a squeeze. "Exactly. Now, which room should we prepare for her?"
- Place Unknown -
It had been a sudden attack; that was all Foaly, Holly, Chix, and Root could agree upon. They were the only four fairies in their cell, though it was an interesting sort of cell. The walls were a sort of neon orange that was just barely translucent enough to let in light. Sometimes they were able to see large shapes going past, presumably their captors. Who their captors were, and what they wanted, was anyone's guess.
Foaly was most distressed by the nature of their prison. They stayed almost directly in the middle of the circle of floor space; if any of the fairies tried to move to the walls, there was increasing uneasiness that led to pain so unbearable that they could not get within two feet of the wall, much less search for a way out.
They did not speak much; they had said it all before and did not want to just have to get mad at everyone all over again. They were going stir- crazy, and you do not want to be in a room when two fairies, a centaur, and a sprite go stir crazy. Root was routinely a deep purple color, Holly snapped at them, Chix was overly defensive, and Foaly was just plain sarcastic. Three times a day - they guessed, as they had no means of telling time - food slid through what seemed to be a rip in the wall.
Foaly sighed. He wondered if Artemis had found the girl yet, if he had noticed they had not been contacting them regularly, if he would ever have to deal with the Mud Boy again . . . Once a day - guessing the day, of course - there was an all-too-close scream that sounded like a fairy being tortured, and it always cut off abruptly. As if the fairy passed out, or . . . Foaly shuddered. He did not want to think about that.
He wanted to get out of here, or at least figure out what was going on. The only problem was, no one really knew if anyone out there knew they were in here, and it's kind of hard to have a team rescue you when they don't even know you need help.
- Minnesota, the middle of nowhere -
Kip was actually kind of nervous about asking Joe for the time off, especially because she had to do it in the kitchen in front of everyone else. He was giving her a strange look. "Kid, you've never asked for time off in the years you've been here - never even taken a sick day - and now you want an indefinite amount of time as soon as possible? What's going on?"
She sighed. She may as well stick as close to the truth as possible. "After eighteen years my dad's shown an interest in trying to find me. I'm going to Great Britain to meet him there."
"Great Britain?" Liz popped her gum.
"I don't have to pay for the ticket."
Joe seemed to be measuring her. "Your father."
"So he claims."
"After eighteen years. Kid, you sure you want to do this?"
No. "Yes."
Joe sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're going alone?"
Great, now they would be laughing at her. "With Artemis and his . . . uncle. They sort of know the guy, except they don't really trust him completely - "
"Neither do we," Liz muttered.
"- so they're going with me."
Joe nodded slowly. "Right, then. You be safe, you hear? You can take as much time as you need. If you decide to stay over there, good luck. If you come back, we'll gladly take you back. You leave as soon as you want."
Kip's eyes suddenly threatened to fill with tears. These people - Liz, Joe, the cook who was trying to ignore them - they were close enough to be her family. "Thank you," she managed, barely stopping herself from giving Joe a big hug.
"You let us know how this turns out, kid," Liz ordered sternly, except she looked a bit weepy, as well.
Kip promised she would and went out to take an order before they burst into tears and made Joe feel more than a bit exasperated with his two best waitresses.
- Somewhere over the Atlantic -
Kip had been wringing her hands, so Artemis - feeling infinitely brave - reached over and laced his fingers through hers. "Hey, you're all right."
"It's my first time on a plane, Artemis." She was not looking at him, yet she did not pull away. "And now I'm having doubts about actually meeting this guy. I've gone almost nineteen years without knowing him; you ask me, I could go the rest of my life."
"Well, just because you're coming with me doesn't mean you have to actually see him." That was getting into something he didn't want to talk about at the moment, so he changed the subject. A bit. "I think you'll like my parents."
"Are they anything like you?" Kip grinned at him mischievously.
"Would you like them better if they were?"
Her cheeks had a definite pink tinge. "Possibly."
Artemis smiled, relaxing back in his seat, though the armrest was bothering him - it was rather uncomfortable to keep holding her hand with it down. "Mind if we get rid of this?"
"Go for it." She helped him put it back with her free hand, leaning against him slightly once it was gone, not really looking him in the eye. "Artemis?"
"Yes?"
"What did you tell them about me?"
He hesitated. "What did I tell them, or what do they probably suspect?" he asked finally.
Her grip tightened. "You don't care if I never see him, do you? You just want me to come back with you."
"Kip . . . I've never felt this was about anyone." Artemis was glad they were seated; it was easier to say when not looking her in the eyes, since, this way, he did not have to see if she laughed at him. "I couldn't just go back, and leave you there. Never see you again . . . "
She smiled. "I'm glad Butler had to travel coach."
He turned to look at her and their noses bumped. Kip pulled back a bit, though he was still holding her hand. "I feel like I'm walking on a tightrope: one wrong step and I'll fall."
"Then walk slowly, and you won't."
Her eyes had him captivated. God, she could be using the Mesmer on him right now, and he wouldn't care. Artemis simply transferred her hand to his other one and the settled back, his arm around her, to watch the in-flight movie.
- Fowl Manor, Ireland -
Angeline Fowl smiled at her husband. "Well?"
The elder Artemis shrugged. "He has it, and he has it bad."
"She is a rather nice girl," Butler said, standing stiffly in the corner. Under normal circumstances he would have still been with Artemis, even in his own house, but since Kip was around . . . well, the rules were being bent.
"She seems like it." Angeline picked up her knitting. "And she's looking for her father?" The way she said it showed she would not be surprised if that had been a story concocted to get Kip to come back with Artemis, and she would not mind, either.
"Actually, that part is true." Butler would have smiled smugly if he had been a man to do such a thing, but paid bodyguards rarely did. "We have a contact, a sort of go-between who is going to send word to us where this . . . man . . . is, and when he wants to meet her."
Mr. Fowl frowned. "An eighteen year old American girl in Ireland going to meet a man who may or may not be lying?"
"You will be going with her, of course," Angeline said. "I figure I do not have to tell Arty."
The general laughter showed the entire room was in agreement on that one.
- Operations Booth -
Mulch was afraid. He had come down here to scope out the territory and perhaps leave a message for Foaly or someone to find, saying the girl was in Ireland and to contact her at Fowl Manor, but it was eerily empty. The machines that made the pressure so deep below the surface the same as aboveground was not running, which was fine for Mulch, but humans, at least, would be having trouble breathing.
What was even scarier was that there was no sign of a struggle. Everyone was just . . . gone. Even the computers in Foaly's booth had been carefully removed so the wall- and floor-paneling was not even scratched. Mulch was feeling quite creeped out as he began the long tunnel to Ireland and Fowl Manor.
Angeline Fowl got off the phone with her son, a bemused smile on her face. "What is it?" Artemis Fowl Senior asked, looking over his newspaper. Although he had gotten a prosthesis for his leg, plastic surgery could not completely hide the scars that were the all-too-visible reminders of his time in Russia.
"Arty's bringing a friend back with him."
"Oh? What's his name?"
Angeline raised an eyebrow. "Her name is Katherine."
He stared at her. "My God, has he actually found a girl?"
"Certainly sounds like it." Angeline picked up her crocheting. "She has never met her father, but supposedly has found enough information to think he might be around here somewhere. Always the gentleman, Arty offered to have her stay here for a while and was calling to make sure it was all right with us."
"And the, ah, friend he was originally visiting? The one from the university?"
"Mysteriously disappeared." Mrs. Fowl smiled at her work. "I hate to read too much into this, but I doubt Arty will be returning to the university in the fall."
"You've enough of a memory to believe in love at first sight." The elder Artemis took her hand, a tender smile on his face.
Angeline gave it a squeeze. "Exactly. Now, which room should we prepare for her?"
- Place Unknown -
It had been a sudden attack; that was all Foaly, Holly, Chix, and Root could agree upon. They were the only four fairies in their cell, though it was an interesting sort of cell. The walls were a sort of neon orange that was just barely translucent enough to let in light. Sometimes they were able to see large shapes going past, presumably their captors. Who their captors were, and what they wanted, was anyone's guess.
Foaly was most distressed by the nature of their prison. They stayed almost directly in the middle of the circle of floor space; if any of the fairies tried to move to the walls, there was increasing uneasiness that led to pain so unbearable that they could not get within two feet of the wall, much less search for a way out.
They did not speak much; they had said it all before and did not want to just have to get mad at everyone all over again. They were going stir- crazy, and you do not want to be in a room when two fairies, a centaur, and a sprite go stir crazy. Root was routinely a deep purple color, Holly snapped at them, Chix was overly defensive, and Foaly was just plain sarcastic. Three times a day - they guessed, as they had no means of telling time - food slid through what seemed to be a rip in the wall.
Foaly sighed. He wondered if Artemis had found the girl yet, if he had noticed they had not been contacting them regularly, if he would ever have to deal with the Mud Boy again . . . Once a day - guessing the day, of course - there was an all-too-close scream that sounded like a fairy being tortured, and it always cut off abruptly. As if the fairy passed out, or . . . Foaly shuddered. He did not want to think about that.
He wanted to get out of here, or at least figure out what was going on. The only problem was, no one really knew if anyone out there knew they were in here, and it's kind of hard to have a team rescue you when they don't even know you need help.
- Minnesota, the middle of nowhere -
Kip was actually kind of nervous about asking Joe for the time off, especially because she had to do it in the kitchen in front of everyone else. He was giving her a strange look. "Kid, you've never asked for time off in the years you've been here - never even taken a sick day - and now you want an indefinite amount of time as soon as possible? What's going on?"
She sighed. She may as well stick as close to the truth as possible. "After eighteen years my dad's shown an interest in trying to find me. I'm going to Great Britain to meet him there."
"Great Britain?" Liz popped her gum.
"I don't have to pay for the ticket."
Joe seemed to be measuring her. "Your father."
"So he claims."
"After eighteen years. Kid, you sure you want to do this?"
No. "Yes."
Joe sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're going alone?"
Great, now they would be laughing at her. "With Artemis and his . . . uncle. They sort of know the guy, except they don't really trust him completely - "
"Neither do we," Liz muttered.
"- so they're going with me."
Joe nodded slowly. "Right, then. You be safe, you hear? You can take as much time as you need. If you decide to stay over there, good luck. If you come back, we'll gladly take you back. You leave as soon as you want."
Kip's eyes suddenly threatened to fill with tears. These people - Liz, Joe, the cook who was trying to ignore them - they were close enough to be her family. "Thank you," she managed, barely stopping herself from giving Joe a big hug.
"You let us know how this turns out, kid," Liz ordered sternly, except she looked a bit weepy, as well.
Kip promised she would and went out to take an order before they burst into tears and made Joe feel more than a bit exasperated with his two best waitresses.
- Somewhere over the Atlantic -
Kip had been wringing her hands, so Artemis - feeling infinitely brave - reached over and laced his fingers through hers. "Hey, you're all right."
"It's my first time on a plane, Artemis." She was not looking at him, yet she did not pull away. "And now I'm having doubts about actually meeting this guy. I've gone almost nineteen years without knowing him; you ask me, I could go the rest of my life."
"Well, just because you're coming with me doesn't mean you have to actually see him." That was getting into something he didn't want to talk about at the moment, so he changed the subject. A bit. "I think you'll like my parents."
"Are they anything like you?" Kip grinned at him mischievously.
"Would you like them better if they were?"
Her cheeks had a definite pink tinge. "Possibly."
Artemis smiled, relaxing back in his seat, though the armrest was bothering him - it was rather uncomfortable to keep holding her hand with it down. "Mind if we get rid of this?"
"Go for it." She helped him put it back with her free hand, leaning against him slightly once it was gone, not really looking him in the eye. "Artemis?"
"Yes?"
"What did you tell them about me?"
He hesitated. "What did I tell them, or what do they probably suspect?" he asked finally.
Her grip tightened. "You don't care if I never see him, do you? You just want me to come back with you."
"Kip . . . I've never felt this was about anyone." Artemis was glad they were seated; it was easier to say when not looking her in the eyes, since, this way, he did not have to see if she laughed at him. "I couldn't just go back, and leave you there. Never see you again . . . "
She smiled. "I'm glad Butler had to travel coach."
He turned to look at her and their noses bumped. Kip pulled back a bit, though he was still holding her hand. "I feel like I'm walking on a tightrope: one wrong step and I'll fall."
"Then walk slowly, and you won't."
Her eyes had him captivated. God, she could be using the Mesmer on him right now, and he wouldn't care. Artemis simply transferred her hand to his other one and the settled back, his arm around her, to watch the in-flight movie.
- Fowl Manor, Ireland -
Angeline Fowl smiled at her husband. "Well?"
The elder Artemis shrugged. "He has it, and he has it bad."
"She is a rather nice girl," Butler said, standing stiffly in the corner. Under normal circumstances he would have still been with Artemis, even in his own house, but since Kip was around . . . well, the rules were being bent.
"She seems like it." Angeline picked up her knitting. "And she's looking for her father?" The way she said it showed she would not be surprised if that had been a story concocted to get Kip to come back with Artemis, and she would not mind, either.
"Actually, that part is true." Butler would have smiled smugly if he had been a man to do such a thing, but paid bodyguards rarely did. "We have a contact, a sort of go-between who is going to send word to us where this . . . man . . . is, and when he wants to meet her."
Mr. Fowl frowned. "An eighteen year old American girl in Ireland going to meet a man who may or may not be lying?"
"You will be going with her, of course," Angeline said. "I figure I do not have to tell Arty."
The general laughter showed the entire room was in agreement on that one.
- Operations Booth -
Mulch was afraid. He had come down here to scope out the territory and perhaps leave a message for Foaly or someone to find, saying the girl was in Ireland and to contact her at Fowl Manor, but it was eerily empty. The machines that made the pressure so deep below the surface the same as aboveground was not running, which was fine for Mulch, but humans, at least, would be having trouble breathing.
What was even scarier was that there was no sign of a struggle. Everyone was just . . . gone. Even the computers in Foaly's booth had been carefully removed so the wall- and floor-paneling was not even scratched. Mulch was feeling quite creeped out as he began the long tunnel to Ireland and Fowl Manor.