Author's Note: Okay, sorry this chapter is shorter. I'm issuing a warning:
This story is nearing its end. Only another couple of chapters left (I'll
try and make the last one an epilogue if I can). Hope you like this, read
it. If you like it, REVIEW it. If you don't like it, REVIEW it anyway!
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Inside, Artemis saw a pile of magazines as tall as Holly herself and a second pile starting. The elf-sized bed was covered with rumpled blue sheets and blankets. Books ran along in rows one wall. Weights were in a corner. A wardrobe stood half open (though most of the clothes were scattered over the floor). There appeared to be some sort of machine inside the wardrobe. There was a desk with a lamp on it and something that looked like one of those new flat-screen computer monitors (only flatter and with a row of symbols along the bottom) as well as lots of paper and things to write with. There was a door.
Holly didn't bother trying to pick her way between clothes, she just stepped on top of them; pausing only long enough to pick up an armload and toss it into the machine inside the bottom of the open wardrobe and press a button. Artemis realized this must be a washing machine.
Holly typed in the row of symbols and a well-furnished room appeared. "Butler? Butler? Butler! If you can hear my voice, go to where the sound is coming from."
"Where are you, Captain Short?" the voice was distant and muffled.
Holly called louder, "I'm calling you on a phone. Go to the drawing room. First door on your left if you're in the hallway. You'll see a screen sitting on the desk. Come to it and you can talk to Artemis." She kept repeating herself until he appeared. Then she left, "Don't run up my phone bill," she chided. "Press this button to disconnect when you've finished your call."
"Artemis, how are you being treated? If she's hurt you at all, I'll kill her."
"Relax, Butler. There was a rough start, but all seems to be going well. I am going to talk to Foaly after you and I are done. I am going to find out what the situation is and how much longer we need stay here. It might be beneficial to remain and see what I can learn about fairy technology, but as is I believe we need to report back to Fowl Manor some explanation of our absence. Perhaps a last minute ski trip to Austria a friend invited me on."
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm perfectly fine. How are you faring at Julius's home?"
"It's quiet. He's gone off to work and he has no family."
"Excuse me a moment." He went and checked the door he had not come in by. As he suspected, it led to the backyard (which was why he had not heard Holly leave and go into the backyard the night before).
"Something wrong?"
"No. Just something I wanted to check out. You were saying?"
"Nothing. So what have you been doing? No trouble?"
Artemis smiled. "Actually Trouble is here, but over all there are no difficulties."
"Trouble?"
"Officer Kelp has come by today to keep Holly company. I strongly suspect Root was behind it. Otherwise where else could he have gotten these atrocious clothes?"
"What are you wearing?"
"A fairy shirt, large human jeans, and my own shoes. The stench of unicorns is being washed off of my uniform."
"I see." He plainly didn't.
"I'm going to give Foaly a call. I may call you back later." He pressed the button to disconnect the call. He carefully stepped over the piles of clothing, rather than wading through them. He glanced at the magazines and books. For curiosity's sake he tried to pick up one of the exercise weights. He barely got it six inches from the ground. It was much heavier than it looked. Since his time on the swim team he wasn't quite as weak as he used to be.
"Having fun?" asked Trouble, leaning on the door frame.
Artemis let go of the weight slowly. "I was just on my way to ask how I might dial Foaly's number?"
"Teach you how to use the phone? I don't think so. I'll dial." He waded through the clothing, careful not to look at any of it. He leaned over the desk and quickly typed in a series of symbols. "Done."
"What do you want, Trouble?"
"Not much. Fowl wants to talk to you."
"The Mud Boy's there?"
"Yeah. Talk to him a minute while I go get Holls."
When Holly and Trouble came back in, Artemis and Foaly were "discussing" something very scientific that didn't make a bit of sense to Holly.
"Shut-up, you too. We've got important things to discuss. Number 1, Foaly, you and Artemis have to set up a message and send it to Fowl Manor. His parents ought to be getting back any time now."
"Right."
"So where are we on the situation with the hidden cameras?"
"Some upstart who'd been studying under Koboi before she was arrested, sent in the 'repairmen' to spy on me and try to make a big name for himself. Some idiot named Fletcher. Anyway, we sent Recon and Retrieval out and they got Fletcher and brought him back. Looks like all our problems are solved." He smiled smugly.
Holly and Trouble were irate. "WHAT? Our squads were out there catching bad guys while we were stuck here babysitting Fowl? Something's wrong with that equation, Foaly!"
"Root's orders kept the two of you there. Not mine. Did you talk?"
Holly frowned. There was something odd about the way he said, "talk". She said, "Yeah. We made fun of Artemis's clothes. Or you talking about something else?"
Foaly just stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "I figured you'd just talk to each other and let the Mud Boy disassemble your television or something."
"You really want him figuring out how more of your technology works?"
"No."
"That's what I thought."
"So we can get rid of him now?"
"Yeah. Root's arranging the shuttle ride now and you take off early tomorrow, Holly."
"Great. The sooner life gets back to normal, the better." But she wasn't sure she meant it. Life was always more . . . interesting . . . during one of these Fowl cases. Interesting wasn't always bad. She just didn't want Artemis staying in her house. Already she was mad that she had had to let him in her room. She had a bet with herself that she could keep him from coming in here. Great, now she had to do laundry. Stupid bet. She thought to herself, I bet he went through all of my things in here!
Trouble nodded. Maybe he'd be able to work up the nerve to talk to Holly after Artemis was gone. He could come back in a couple days and talk to her. Foaly interrupted his thoughts, "Trouble, Root says you're working an early shift tomorrow. Says you should probably go home now and catch a few Zs."
Trouble didn't like this. He didn't want Holly to be stuck home, alone, with the Mud Boy. He didn't listen while Foaly explain the details of Artemis's departure to Holly. Holly and Trouble left the room while Foaly and Fowl went back to their "discussion" on complicated things and somehow managed to send a message and put it on Artemis's answering machine that he was away with friends and would be back in a day or two.
Trouble said, "I'll see you at work tomorrow?"
"No. Root told me to go straight to the shuttle. That way I can get rid of Artemis sooner."
"Oh. Okay." He bit his lip to keep from saying anything else. It almost started to bleed.
"I think Root's sending somebody to keep me company on the way back, but I'm not sure."
"I see."
"You know, you're really moody. What's with you tonight?"
"It's just-nothing. Never mind."
"I don't believe that for one minute. But if you say so: Fine."
"I'll see you in a couple of days."
"Yeah. Whatever." He shuffled out of the house, grabbing his coat off the back of a chair.
She stared after him, wondering why he'd been acting so strangely the last few days. It wasn't as if he was completely himself again after the breakup, but the last week or so seemed worse than before.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Inside, Artemis saw a pile of magazines as tall as Holly herself and a second pile starting. The elf-sized bed was covered with rumpled blue sheets and blankets. Books ran along in rows one wall. Weights were in a corner. A wardrobe stood half open (though most of the clothes were scattered over the floor). There appeared to be some sort of machine inside the wardrobe. There was a desk with a lamp on it and something that looked like one of those new flat-screen computer monitors (only flatter and with a row of symbols along the bottom) as well as lots of paper and things to write with. There was a door.
Holly didn't bother trying to pick her way between clothes, she just stepped on top of them; pausing only long enough to pick up an armload and toss it into the machine inside the bottom of the open wardrobe and press a button. Artemis realized this must be a washing machine.
Holly typed in the row of symbols and a well-furnished room appeared. "Butler? Butler? Butler! If you can hear my voice, go to where the sound is coming from."
"Where are you, Captain Short?" the voice was distant and muffled.
Holly called louder, "I'm calling you on a phone. Go to the drawing room. First door on your left if you're in the hallway. You'll see a screen sitting on the desk. Come to it and you can talk to Artemis." She kept repeating herself until he appeared. Then she left, "Don't run up my phone bill," she chided. "Press this button to disconnect when you've finished your call."
"Artemis, how are you being treated? If she's hurt you at all, I'll kill her."
"Relax, Butler. There was a rough start, but all seems to be going well. I am going to talk to Foaly after you and I are done. I am going to find out what the situation is and how much longer we need stay here. It might be beneficial to remain and see what I can learn about fairy technology, but as is I believe we need to report back to Fowl Manor some explanation of our absence. Perhaps a last minute ski trip to Austria a friend invited me on."
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm perfectly fine. How are you faring at Julius's home?"
"It's quiet. He's gone off to work and he has no family."
"Excuse me a moment." He went and checked the door he had not come in by. As he suspected, it led to the backyard (which was why he had not heard Holly leave and go into the backyard the night before).
"Something wrong?"
"No. Just something I wanted to check out. You were saying?"
"Nothing. So what have you been doing? No trouble?"
Artemis smiled. "Actually Trouble is here, but over all there are no difficulties."
"Trouble?"
"Officer Kelp has come by today to keep Holly company. I strongly suspect Root was behind it. Otherwise where else could he have gotten these atrocious clothes?"
"What are you wearing?"
"A fairy shirt, large human jeans, and my own shoes. The stench of unicorns is being washed off of my uniform."
"I see." He plainly didn't.
"I'm going to give Foaly a call. I may call you back later." He pressed the button to disconnect the call. He carefully stepped over the piles of clothing, rather than wading through them. He glanced at the magazines and books. For curiosity's sake he tried to pick up one of the exercise weights. He barely got it six inches from the ground. It was much heavier than it looked. Since his time on the swim team he wasn't quite as weak as he used to be.
"Having fun?" asked Trouble, leaning on the door frame.
Artemis let go of the weight slowly. "I was just on my way to ask how I might dial Foaly's number?"
"Teach you how to use the phone? I don't think so. I'll dial." He waded through the clothing, careful not to look at any of it. He leaned over the desk and quickly typed in a series of symbols. "Done."
"What do you want, Trouble?"
"Not much. Fowl wants to talk to you."
"The Mud Boy's there?"
"Yeah. Talk to him a minute while I go get Holls."
When Holly and Trouble came back in, Artemis and Foaly were "discussing" something very scientific that didn't make a bit of sense to Holly.
"Shut-up, you too. We've got important things to discuss. Number 1, Foaly, you and Artemis have to set up a message and send it to Fowl Manor. His parents ought to be getting back any time now."
"Right."
"So where are we on the situation with the hidden cameras?"
"Some upstart who'd been studying under Koboi before she was arrested, sent in the 'repairmen' to spy on me and try to make a big name for himself. Some idiot named Fletcher. Anyway, we sent Recon and Retrieval out and they got Fletcher and brought him back. Looks like all our problems are solved." He smiled smugly.
Holly and Trouble were irate. "WHAT? Our squads were out there catching bad guys while we were stuck here babysitting Fowl? Something's wrong with that equation, Foaly!"
"Root's orders kept the two of you there. Not mine. Did you talk?"
Holly frowned. There was something odd about the way he said, "talk". She said, "Yeah. We made fun of Artemis's clothes. Or you talking about something else?"
Foaly just stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "I figured you'd just talk to each other and let the Mud Boy disassemble your television or something."
"You really want him figuring out how more of your technology works?"
"No."
"That's what I thought."
"So we can get rid of him now?"
"Yeah. Root's arranging the shuttle ride now and you take off early tomorrow, Holly."
"Great. The sooner life gets back to normal, the better." But she wasn't sure she meant it. Life was always more . . . interesting . . . during one of these Fowl cases. Interesting wasn't always bad. She just didn't want Artemis staying in her house. Already she was mad that she had had to let him in her room. She had a bet with herself that she could keep him from coming in here. Great, now she had to do laundry. Stupid bet. She thought to herself, I bet he went through all of my things in here!
Trouble nodded. Maybe he'd be able to work up the nerve to talk to Holly after Artemis was gone. He could come back in a couple days and talk to her. Foaly interrupted his thoughts, "Trouble, Root says you're working an early shift tomorrow. Says you should probably go home now and catch a few Zs."
Trouble didn't like this. He didn't want Holly to be stuck home, alone, with the Mud Boy. He didn't listen while Foaly explain the details of Artemis's departure to Holly. Holly and Trouble left the room while Foaly and Fowl went back to their "discussion" on complicated things and somehow managed to send a message and put it on Artemis's answering machine that he was away with friends and would be back in a day or two.
Trouble said, "I'll see you at work tomorrow?"
"No. Root told me to go straight to the shuttle. That way I can get rid of Artemis sooner."
"Oh. Okay." He bit his lip to keep from saying anything else. It almost started to bleed.
"I think Root's sending somebody to keep me company on the way back, but I'm not sure."
"I see."
"You know, you're really moody. What's with you tonight?"
"It's just-nothing. Never mind."
"I don't believe that for one minute. But if you say so: Fine."
"I'll see you in a couple of days."
"Yeah. Whatever." He shuffled out of the house, grabbing his coat off the back of a chair.
She stared after him, wondering why he'd been acting so strangely the last few days. It wasn't as if he was completely himself again after the breakup, but the last week or so seemed worse than before.