The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes Read online

  She was shuddering with cold now, feeling dizzy and sick in the heat of the day, chilled in the sun, not sure what had just happened.

  Something’s wrong, she thought and put the hoodie on and headed for the tattoo parlor.

  * * *

  ‘A butterfly,’ Mare said to Mother ten minutes later as she handed her the drawing, still shivering, and now really annoyed about everything. ‘And I don’t want to hear any crap about how it’s the most common tat for a girl. My name’s Mariposa and I want another butterfly.’ She felt like pouting, life was so unfair. Pouting and shivering and throwing up. ‘It’s cold in here.’

  ‘Feeling testy, are we?’ Mother said, straightening her white lab coat. She looked at Mare strangely, her cool gray eyes level under her neatly razor-cut gray hair, and Mare took a deep breath and relaxed a little. ‘That’s better’

  ‘Well, it was either a butterfly or the Statue of Liberty.’ Mare dropped her bag in the middle of the floor and stepped over it. ‘I think of her as a kindred spirit.’

  ‘She stands in one place holding a light for everybody else,’ Mother said, picking up Mare’s bag and moving it to one side. ‘How is she like you?’

  ‘She’s tall, everybody knows who she is, she’s a classy dresser, and nobody kicks her around.’ Mare hiked up her skirt and sat down with her back to Mother. And in moments of stress, I could beat somebody senseless with that big torch.’

  ‘Of course,’ Mother said, looking at Mare’s Corpse Bride dress. ‘Where do you want this tattoo?’

  ‘Right there at the base of my spine. Only tilt it. Like the world’s tilting.’ The world felt like it was tilting. She really was going to throw up if Mother didn’t get a move on.

  ‘Trailer trash license plate.’ Mother tucked the skirt of Mare’s dress into the neck of the hoodie and then held the drawing up. ‘Very buff butterfly.’ She put it on the copier and punched the button.

  ‘Yeah,’ Mare said, trying to sound chipper as the copier hummed and her stomach churned. ‘I’m surrounded by jerks. I need a butterfly that can kick a little ass on my ass.

  Jesus, it’s cold in here.’ Her skin felt damp, clammy, and she shivered again.

  ‘Color?’ Mother said.

  ‘Just black,’ Mare said. ‘If I wanted color, I’d have said color, okay?’

  Mother put her hands on her hips and looked at her, as if something was wrong or something.

  ‘I’m broke, okay?’ Mare said, looking away. ‘Plus, I like tribal. More butch.’

  ‘Yes, the world needs more butch butterflies.’ Mother snapped on latex gloves and picked up a razor. Anything happen today I should know about?’

  ‘There’d be a hell of a lot fewer victims if butterflies went armed,’ Mare said, and then Lizzie came into the back of the shop hugging herself and shivering and said, ‘Mare?’ in this tiny little voice, and Mother looked up from shaving Mare’s tailbone.

  ‘Mother, this is my sister Lizzie,’ Mare said. ‘Lizzie, this is Mother. What’s wrong with you?’

  ‘Hello, Lizzie,’ Mother said. ‘Lovely to meet you.’

  ‘You, too,’ Lizzie said, shivering hard, her voice breaking, and Mare realized she was close to tears.

  What a wimp, Mare thought and sighed. ‘What happened now?’

  ‘He’s gone.’

  ‘Charles?’ Mare said. ‘Well, yeah, I told you, he’s in Alaska. And good riddance-’

  ‘Elric,’ Lizzie said, and sat down on the floor in a heap, her arms crossed over her chest. ‘My heart hurts.’

  ‘Oh, okay,’ Mare said. Drama queen. We’re gonna be ass deep in rabbits here in a minute. ‘Deep breaths.’ She shivered as Mother spread cream on her lower back and then smoothed the drawing over it. She was really cold, dammit. And her stomach hurt, probably got ptomaine at the Fork. ‘So what did Elric say when you asked him if he knew Xan?’

  ‘He said yes.’ Lizzie made a little aching sound in her throat. ‘He said yes.’

  ‘Well,’ Mare said. ‘Points for honesty. Did he say what he was supposed to do? Like wrap us up and deliver us or something? Because I just met her-’

  ‘No. He came because I was screwing up… things.’ Lizzie began to rock back and forth. ‘My heart really hurts.’

  ‘Yeah, I know, I got a stomachache.’ Mare looked over her shoulder to see Mother studying the transfer on her tailbone. ‘How we doing?’

  I’m doing fine,’ Mother said and handed her a mirror. ‘Your sister is sick. Doesn’t that bother you?’

  ‘She gets like this.’ Mare gave the mirror a perfunctory glance. ‘Great.’ She handed the mirror back to Mother. ‘He said you’re screwing up things,’ she prompted Lizzie.

  ‘I was doing things against the rules.’

  ‘The rules.’

  Lizzie leaned forward. ‘Of the universe,’ she whispered, her face pale and damp.

  ‘Oh.’ Mare thought about telling her that rules were for the little people, but given the scope of Lizzie’s powers, that could lead to mushroom clouds and planet-sized charcoal briquettes, so she said, ‘So did he help you?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lizzie said, almost sobbing, ‘but then I told him to go and he did.’ She curled up and lay down on Mother’s floor in the fetal position, still rocking.

  ‘Quitter’ Mare sucked in her breath as she heard the hum and felt the bite of Mother’s needle. She shivered and her stomach turned over again. ‘Oh, sit up, Lizzie, he’ll be back. He’s your true love. Xan sent him.’

  ‘I know,’ Lizzie, still in the fetal position, said, her voice breaking. ‘She told me.’

  ‘She talked to you, too?’ Mare felt disappointed. That was no good, Xan wasn’t supposed to talk to anybody else, only to her, because she was special. ‘She told me we could be normal if we wanted to. Ouch.’ She looked over her shoulder. ‘Hey.’

  ‘You want painless tattoos, get a rub-on,’ Mother said serenely.

  ‘She told me to sacrifice anything for true love,’ Lizzie said, tears leaking from her eyes, the big baby. ‘She said Elric’s love was worth anything, even my power. I thought I didn’t want my power, but ever since Elric’s been here I’ve been changing my mind, and now I can’t even think straight…’

  Mare frowned at her and jerked her head toward Mother, who appeared to be oblivious. ‘Shhhh,’ she said to Lizzie, but Lizzie just kept rocking and shivering.

  Well, Mother was keeping it damn near freezing in there, so no wonder.

  ‘Is there a reason you have the air-conditioning on “frigid”?’ she snapped at Mother.

  Mother turned the needle off. ‘I think I’ll make some tea.’

  ‘Or you could just turn the goddamned air-conditioning down,’ Mare said and went over to do it herself.

  It was off.

  ‘What the fuck?’ Mare said, and then her stomach roiled again and she pressed her arms against it. The door opened.

  ‘Xan’s here,’ Dee said, sounding like Eeyore as she closed the door behind her. I’m really confused. But I think we have to go. No, I know we have to go. God, my head hurts.’

  ‘I don’t want to go.’ Mare crossed her arms over her stomach tighter, both for warmth and to block Dee.

  Dee started pacing. ‘You don’t understand,’ she said, rubbing her forehead. ‘She killed Mom and Dad. It was an accident, she said, she was just trying to take their powers to help them, but she killed them. She says she knows how to do it right this time, but I’m afraid.’

  ‘I don’t care, I’m not going, don’t care what you say, not going,’ Mare singsonged, shivering.

  All right, that’s it,’ Dee said, walking faster, her voice rising to a thin whine. ‘I have a headache, I’m freezing, and I’m tired of saving your ungrateful ass. Do I always have to make the decisions in this family? A little help would be nice for a change. But that’s fine. I’ll save you – again - and damn well drag you along.’

  Mare leaned forward. ‘Make me. I dare you. Make me.’

  Lizzie started to cry.