Page 30 of Dreaming of the Demon

“Oh, really?” Goody Albright looked at me skeptically over the rim of her gold spectacles. “Are yousureabout that?”

“Okay, Idohave feelings for Malik—but he’ll never want to see me again after the way I talked to him!” I said.

“Don’t be too sure about that, dear. After all, he has ties to your bloodline and your family. That counts for a lot in the magical world,” she told me. “All you need to do is call his name and I bet he’ll appear instantly.”

“I just don’t—” I began but just then a strange looking person came up the porch steps and approached me.

“Excuse me, but are you Celia Hatch?” she asked. She was wearing a long black cloak that rustled when she walked and her face was extremely ugly with a large, beak-like nose, thin lips, and narrow orange eyes.

“Er, yes—that’s me,” I said.

“Good. I’m here to serve you with some legal documents,” she said, pronouncing it “dawk-uments” in a voice that sounded like the cawing of a crow.

“Legal documents?” I said, feeling my stomach drop to the floor. “You mean because of the pear tarts?”

“Exactly.” She nodded and spread her cloak open—I realized when she did why it had been rustling. It was made of long black feathers the length of my arm. Underneath she was wearing a black business suit and her legs, when they were revealed, were spindly and yellow. They ended in three-toed feet that looked like enormous bird’s feet.

I couldn’t figure out what kind of Creature the woman was—maybe a Harpy? At any rate, she clearly wasn’t human. However, I was more concerned about the documents she was holding out to me than placing exactly what magical species she was.

“What are these for?” I asked, looking down at the documents which were covered in a tiny, dense script I didn’tthink I’d be able to read without a microscope. “Is someone upset about the, er, effects of the pear tarts?”

“Not quite—this is a suit brought against you by Mr. Goremouth,” she said in her cawing voice.

“Who?” I shook my head—I didn’t remember having a customer with that name.

“Mr. Guglor Goremouth—the Ogre you stole the Golden-Skinned Warbler pears from in order to make your tarts,” she snapped. “He’s summoning you to court at once for immediate satisfaction!”

“What? You can’t just—” I began.

“Yes, we can. I’m his attorney, Counselor Heketate. Here!” And she shoved the papers at me.

Goody Albright, who was still standing beside me, suddenly gripped my arm.

“No, Celia! Don’t accept—” she began but my hand was already closing on the sheaf of papers.

The moment the paperwork was in my grasp, the world around me melted away. The front porch of the Red Lion and Main Street itself were suddenly gone and I was floating in a terrifying black void.

I had no idea what as happening—all I knew was that I was scared to death.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

For a moment there was nothing but a terrifying black void all around me. Then the world began to take shape and I found I was standing in a courtroom—but it wasn’t like any courtroom in the Mortal Realm.

It was a huge, shadowy room with glowing green doors on either side—one on the left and one on the right. The judge’s seat was located at least ten feet above the rest of the courtroom and there was no place to sit for either the defendant or the plaintiff. Speaking of the plaintiff, where was he?

I looked to my left and saw the enormous, smelly Ogre who had chased me down the path behind my house. It appeared like he had at least tried to dress for court. His long orange pelt had been combed into some semblance of order—though to be honest, the comb tracks in it only made it look greasier since it was very clear he hadn’t washed it. He was wearing longer trousers too, though still no shoes or shirt. He did however, have a lime green tie around his thick neck. It was too long and hung down almost to his crotch.

Standing by his side was the Harpy lawyer who had served me with the magical papers that caused me to appear in the courtroom. But there was no one waiting to represent me, I sawwith dismay. And where was the judge? How could we have a trial without one?

As if in answer to my question, a booming, disembodied voice rang out,

“All rise for the judge and adjudicator of this case!”

Since we were all already standing, nobody moved as one of the glowing green doors opened and in walked an elderly warlock in a long black robe.

My heart sank when I saw who it was—none other than the head of The Council of Wisdom—Grand Wizard Henkelman.

I remembered now that Goody Albright had said that he and The Council went all around the world presiding over cases in the magical court system. But what terrible luck for him to be the judge of this particular case! Why couldn’t I have gotten Goody Tandy, the sweet old witch who wanted to try my cinnamon rolls instead?

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