Page 35 of Magical Moonbeam

But I believed that.

He turned away and began walking back into the trees, waving lazily over his shoulder.

“Think about it. I’ll be around.”

And then he was gone. He vanished into the wildwood, like fog fading from glass.

I stood there for a long time.

Then I turned back toward the Academy, still uncertain and shaken.

But one new thought threaded through the noise.

What if Skonk was right?

Perhaps it wasn’t about trust.

Maybe it was about having the right kind of wild on your side.

Chapter Nine

I heard the shriek before I saw Twobble’s green body speed by me and jump on his cousin. At first, I thought it might be some sort of goblin welcome dance, all flailing limbs and screeches. But then I realized Twobble wasn’t welcoming him at all.

He was attacking him.

“You rotten toadstool!” Twobble howled, riding Skonk to the ground like a particularly wrathful squirrel. “You camehere?! You stood onoursteps?! Did you enter my room?!”

“Unhand me, you fungus-brained relic!” Skonk yelped, scrambling and kicking, pebbles spilling from his vest like angry marbles. “I was INVITED!”

“Bywhom?The voices in your sock drawer?!” Twobble screeched, tugging at Skonk’s vest with all the fury of a goblin scorned.

I stood frozen in the entry corridor of the Academy, halfway between breakfast and a perfectly ordinary morning, now watching two green whirlwinds roll across the polished stone floor. A sprite floated above them nervously with a pitcher of juice, not sure whether to intervene or pour a drink.

My dad let out a low, resigned groan from beside me and sank into a seat, clearly recognizing this particular flavor of chaos.

I was suddenly regretting my decision to call Skonk back to the Academy.

“I should stop them,” I murmured.

“No!” Skonk yelped as Twobble tried to shove a decorative rock into his ear. “Let the lady watch! I deserve an audience!”

“You deserve to be banished!”

“Twobble!” I stepped forward, using myheadmistress voice, which didn’t often come out, but when it did, it meant business. “Off. Now.”

With a grunt and one final shove that knocked Skonk’s hat askew, Twobble scrambled off his cousin and stood panting, hair sticking up in furious tufts.

He pointed a trembling finger. “He hasno rightto be here.”

Skonk lay flat on his back like a starfish, adjusting his vest calmly. “I haveeveryright. You can’t own a whole Academy, Twiblet.”

“That’s not my name!”

“It is now,” Skonk said with a wicked grin.

Twobble made a noise that might’ve been a curse or the sound of a toad being sat on.

I took a deep breath and turned to the one who was clearly enjoying himself too much.