Freddie's Shadow Cards Read online

  “Any song?” Ally asked doubtfully.

  Freddie nodded and dusted powdered sugar off her hands. “Yeah. Take your Auradonnas final competition song, ‘Would You Rather.’ If you changed up the percussion a little, slowed it down, added a few extra notes to the harmony, and altered the rhythm, it would sound something like this.” Freddie cleared her throat and began to sing the Auradonnas’ upbeat, bubbly competition song with a slower, groovier jazz feel.

  “Good, bad, dark, light. What you rather be tonight?”

  She closed her eyes, feeling the music move through her, letting it overtake her. In fact, she got so lost in the music she didn’t even realize that the entire club—including the musicians on the stage—had fallen quiet….

  Until she opened her eyes and noticed everyone in the restaurant watching her.

  Embarrassed, Freddie quickly finished up her song and the whole room broke into applause. Even Ally and Jordan clapped.

  “That was amazing!” Ally said, beaming. Then, as though she suddenly remembered why they were there in the first place, she wiped the grin from her face and added, “I mean, it was all right.”

  Freddie looked sheepishly around the club and gave a little wave.

  A moment later, one of the musicians—a tall, broad-shouldered sax player—stepped down from the stage and approached Freddie. “Dang, girl, you got some vocals on you.”

  Freddie couldn’t help smiling at his familiar southern drawl. “Thank you.”

  “What brought you into our little club?” he asked.

  “We’re looking for Mama Odie!” Ally said excitedly. “Do you know where she lives?”

  “Sure, I do,” the man said. “Everyone round here knows where Mama Odie lives. She’s out in a houseboat in the swamp.”

  All the color drained from Ally’s face. “The swamp?” she repeated with panic and disgust.

  The musician tipped back his head and laughed. “Y’all aren’t from around these parts, are ya?”

  Ally and Jordan shook their heads in perfect synchronization.

  “They’re not,” Freddie replied. “But my daddy grew up here.”

  The sax player was instantly intrigued. “I thought you looked familiar. Who’s your daddy?”

  Freddie opened her mouth to make up some lie—she definitely didn’t want anyone here to know who she really was—but before she could utter a word, Ally blurted out, “Dr. Facilier! Do you know him?”

  And once again, the entire club fell silent. But certainly not for the same reason as before.

  The musician’s face went from friendly to suspicious in a frightening heartbeat. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing!” Ally chirped, covering her mouth. She must have realized her mistake because now every single person in there was glaring at them.

  “You say you’re related to the shadow man?” the musician asked, sounding more angry by the second.

  “No,” Jordan was quick to say. “You must have misunderstood.”

  “There ain’t no misunderstanding the shadow man,” the musician said sternly. “He put a curse on my grandmother, a real bad one. She never recovered. And I always swore if I saw the shadow man or any of his family again, I would get my revenge.”

  Freddie could see rage building in the man’s eyes.

  “Oh, crumbs,” Ally said, her voice shaking. “This isn’t good.”

  “Don’t panic,” Freddie whispered to the girls. “Let’s just calmly stand up and leave.”

  The three of them rose slowly from their seats and started backing toward the door.

  “Not so fast,” the large musician drawled, stomping ominously after them. The floor seemed to vibrate with each heavy step he took. “I think you and I have some business to take care of.”

  “Actually,” Freddie said, her voice squeaking, “as much as we’d love to stay and chat, we really should be going.”

  But when they reached the front door, they found another burly musician blocking it, his muscular arms crossed over his chest.

  The sax player took another menacing step toward them. “I’ve been waiting a long time for the shadow man to return.”

  “What about now?” Ally asked. “Can we panic now?”

  Freddie glanced around the small restaurant. There seemed to be no way out. And the scary sax player was getting closer.

  They were most definitely trapped.

  “Yeah,” Freddie said, her stomach clenching. “I think we can panic now.”

  This is bad. Very bad. (And not in the fun way.)

  If there’s anything I learned from the isle, it’s to shuffle in a scuffle.

  Freddie shut her eyes tight. Whatever happened next, she didn’t want to see it. Then she heard a loud crash and the sound of something breaking.

  Ally screamed.

  Freddie opened her eyes to see broken glass scattered on the floor. She froze, panicked, but then she heard Jordan call out, “C’mon, you guys! Through here!”

  Freddie turned to see Jordan had climbed out the broken window and was reaching her hands back through. She helped Ally out first and then reached back in to grab Freddie.

  Once the girls were outside the club, they started to run.

  Freddie could’ve sworn she heard someone chasing them, but she didn’t dare look behind her to check. She just kept her head down and ran as fast she could, slowing only long enough to make sure Ally and Jordan were still with her.

  Scenery started to change around them. Buildings turned to trees, sidewalks came to an end, and soon the paved street they were running on morphed into a muddy dirt road, finally coming to a dead end at a giant body of greenish-black water.

  They slowed to a stop and struggled to catch their breath.

  “I think we lost them,” Jordan said, wheezing, with her hands on her knees.

  “I’m so sorry!” Ally cried. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s all my fault. It’s just that I don’t think before I speak and sometimes things just plop out of my mouth and I can’t take them back.”

  “It’s okay,” Freddie told her. “We’re fine now. We made it.”

  “But where are we?” Ally asked, spinning around and taking in their rugged surroundings. She eyed the sludgy water in front of them with great skepticism.

  Freddie laughed. “I think we made it to the swamp.”

  Ally leaned forward to peer into the water and shuddered. “Ugh. It looks dreadful. I can’t even see the bottom. How are we supposed to get across it?”

  “If memory serves,” Freddie said, dipping a foot into the water and letting it sink down. The swamp came up to her knee. “It’s not very deep. We can walk.”

  Ally crossed her arms over her chest. “No way. I am not walking in that.”

  “I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Freddie pointed out. “That musician told us Mama Odie lives in the swamp. This is the swamp.”

  Jordan sighed, hiked up her blue harem pants, and waded into the thick water after Freddie. “What I wouldn’t give for a flying carpet right now,” she grumbled. “C’mon, Ally.”

  “You don’t understand,” Ally replied, pointing at her shiny black shoes. “These are patent leather. They’re not swamp-proof.”

  “That’s fine,” Freddie said, walking farther into the water. “You stay there. Jordan and I will get our problems sorted out and you can just, I don’t know, deal with the tea shop yourself.”

  Freddie knew that would do the trick.

  Ally harrumphed, bent down to remove her shoes, and hesitantly lowered her stockinged foot into the water. “This better not get in my hair, though. I just washed it this morning. Eek!” she screamed. “What was that? I just stepped on something slimy! Do you think it was a snake?”

  Jordan rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. Snakes don’t live under water.”

  Ally looked relieved as she stepped in with her other foot.

  “Actually,” Freddie began, “there are a few varieties of snakes that live—” But sh
e was cut off by a single sharp glance from Jordan.

  Freddie took the lead and waded into the swamp. She had no idea if she was walking in the right direction, but she wasn’t about to let those two know that.

  Jordan followed after Freddie, and Ally brought up the rear. She was significantly slower than the other two.

  “C’mon, Wonderland!” Jordan called over her shoulder. “Pick up the pace! If Princess Tiana can do it, so you can you!”

  “Princess Tiana was a frog!” Ally called back. “If I was a frog, this would be easier.”

  “That can be arranged,” Freddie murmured under her breath.

  “Oh, dear! What was that?” Ally cried out, stopping in the water. She blew out a breath. “Never mind. Just a pebble! Keep going!”

  Freddie rolled her eyes and trudged on. This was going to take a while.

  If Ally thinks she sees one more swamp critter, I’ll show her a real swamp critter.

  “I do hope I don’t catch any strange swamp diseases,” Ally said as they trudged farther into the swamp.

  “There’s no such thing as a swamp disease,” Freddie called back to her.

  “Oh, sure there is,” Ally retorted. “There’s swamp flu and sludge fever and mud pox.”

  “Those aren’t real diseases,” Freddie grumbled.

  Ally continued to argue but Freddie stopped listening. Instead she kept her eyes peeled for signs of Mama Odie’s houseboat and suspicious-looking rocks in the water. She’d learned from her father’s stories about the bayou that alligators roamed this swamp. They would swim just under the surface, only their eyes poking out of the water. The eyes would usually look like floating pebbles.

  As Freddie waded through the murky water, listening to Ally list off more imaginary illnesses, she made a mental note of all of the creatures of the swamp her father had told her about over the years.

  Obviously there were the gators. Those were dangerous. The egrets—tall white birds with pointy beaks—were only a problem if you were a frog. Crayfish could pinch you under the water, but nothing deadly. And she wasn’t even going to think about the scorpions and anacondas.

  But as she ticked off the animals on her fingers, she had the feeling she was forgetting something. Something important. Something big. Something…

  Freddie heard a vicious snarl and froze in her tracks.

  Something like that.

  Jordan, who clearly failed to notice that Freddie had stopped, ran right into Freddie’s back, nearly knocking her down in the knee-deep water.

  “What’s the deal?” Jordan griped. “Why are we stop—” But she never finished her question, because suddenly she saw the thing too.

  It was standing on a rock in the middle of the swamp, like a king of a small island, completely blocking their passage.

  It was huge. It was terrifying.

  And it was angry.

  The beast opened its mouth and let out a roar, showing off its humongous fangs.

  “What is it?” Jordan whispered, her voice trembling.

  “I think it’s a—” Freddie started to say, but she was interrupted by Ally, who was excitedly moving toward the terrifying creature.

  “Aww! It’s a big kitty!”

  Freddie tried to grab Ally to pull her back, but Ally was already too far ahead and approaching the giant cat, which snarled and hissed at her.

  “Come here, pretty kitty!” Ally cooed.

  “Ally!” Freddie whispered frantically. “Come back! That’s not a kitty. It’s a cougar!”

  But Ally ignored her and kept moving forward, her hand outstretched.

  Freddie couldn’t watch. Ally was about to get her hand chomped off by a vicious cougar!

  The cat roared again and lashed out at Ally with an angry swipe of its paw. Ally yelped and jumped back, landing on her bottom in the swamp water. After a moment, she pushed herself back to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. “How rude!” she scolded the cat. “Naughty kitty! Naughty, naughty kitty!”

  The cougar hissed in response, shaking its head.

  “Ally,” Jordan warned, “I think we need to turn back. That is not a kitty. That is a very angry cougar and—”

  “No,” Ally retorted. “We came this far. I’m drenched in muddy swamp water. I’m covered in mosquito bites. I am not turning back just because this kitty doesn’t remember its manners.”

  “Ally,” Freddie said, her wide eyes pinned on the cat, “it’s a wild animal. It doesn’t know any manners.”

  “Nonsense,” Ally insisted. “That’s no excuse. Mum says everyone should have good manners. I’ll just have to explain that to him.”

  Freddie was starting to lose her patience. She would’ve liked to just grab Ally and drag her away, but she didn’t want to get any closer to that ferocious cat. “Ally, you can’t explain anything to a wild cougar.”

  But Ally ignored her. She placed her hands on her hips and in a stern yet patient voice said to the cougar, “Now, you listen here, kitty. Just because you live in a swamp, that does not give you an excuse to be rude.”

  The cougar hissed and spat, clawing at the air with its mighty paw.

  “That’s a good point,” Ally said, as though actually responding to something the cat was saying. “We are strangers walking through your home. So why don’t we all get to know each other. My name is Ally. And this is Freddie and Jordan.”

  Jordan gave a weak, petrified wave, but Freddie refused to move.

  “Freddie,” Ally admonished. “Say hi to the kitty so you’re not strangers anymore.”

  This is ridiculous! Freddie thought.

  Freddie had always suspected Ally was a little peculiar, but now she was sure of it. In fact, this girl had to be mad as a hatter. And she was about to get them all eaten because of it.

  “Freddie,” Ally warned again.

  “Hi, kitty,” Freddie said reluctantly.

  “Very good. Now what is your name?” Ally asked the cougar.

  The cat roared and crouched low, looking like he was ready to pounce.

  “Ally,” Freddie said. She was terrified now. “He’s about to attack.”

  “Biscuit!” Ally exclaimed. “Well, that’s a lovely name.”

  Biscuit? Freddie thought. Is she serious? Where does she get this stuff?

  “Now, Biscuit,” Ally went on. “I would like you to be a good little kitty and lie down so I can pet your belly.”

  The cat couched lower, narrowing its dark vicious eyes at Ally and flicking its tail. It was definitely going to attack.

  Freddie readied herself to run. Ally could do what she wanted, but Freddie was not going to get mauled by a swamp cougar.

  “All the way down,” Ally commanded, pointing toward the ground with her finger.

  Then, just when Freddie swore it was about to spring into the air and make a delicious lunch out of Ally, the cougar lay down instead. Freddie’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

  Was that a coincidence?

  “Good kitty,” Ally commended. “Now roll over.”

  The cat rolled onto its back, his legs sticking straight into the air.

  Freddie couldn’t believe what she was seeing!

  “There you go,” Ally said, approaching the cougar. She slowly extended a hand and scratched its stomach. The cat began to purr.

  “Is this for real?” Jordan murmured to Freddie out of the side of her mouth, keeping her gaze locked on the scene in front of them.

  “I’m not sure,” Freddie admitted.

  “Good Biscuit,” Ally trilled, reaching up to scratch the cat’s neck.

  The cat purred louder and let his head hang back.

  “Pretty kitty.”

  The cat licked its paw and rubbed its ear, grooming itself. Ally laughed. “Yes, you are a pretty kitty. Yes, you are!”

  Careful not to scare the creature, Freddie slowly approached and gaped at Ally in wonder.

  “What?” Ally asked, seeing Freddie’s astonished expression.

  “
So you really can talk to cats?”

  Ally tilted her head like she didn’t understand the question. “You can talk to anyone.”

  “No, I mean, they can actually understand what you’re saying,” Freddie clarified.

  Ally stood up and wiped her slightly dirty hands on her dress. “Of course they can, silly.”

  Then she walked around the rock, where the subdued cougar was still lying, and continued wading through the swamp. Freddie just stood there, still in shock, as she glanced back and forth between Ally and the wild cat, which right then looked no scarier than a stuffed animal.

  Maybe she’s kind of a genius.

  “Hey, slowpokes!” Ally called back to them. “Are you guys coming or not?

  Freddie looked at Jordan, who looked back at Freddie.

  “Uh, did Ally just save us from a swamp cat?” Jordan asked.

  Freddie nodded, still completely stunned by the recent turn of events. “I think she did.”

  Then, less than thirty seconds later, Freddie heard Ally scream.

  So Ally had a few tricks of her own up her sleeve.

  But now what? We don’t have time to be hanging around.

  Freddie and Jordan ran as fast as they could through the sludgy water, which, admittedly, was not very fast. They reached a thicket of weeds, which were taller than their heads, and fought to cut through them as they followed the sound of Ally’s screams.

  When they finally came to a clearing, Freddie had to blink to make sense of what she was seeing. Ally was suspended ten feet in the air, trapped inside a small cage made out of what looked like bamboo shoots.

  Freddie and Jordan each took a step toward her.

  “No!” Ally cried. “Go back! It’s a—”

  But it was too late. Freddie heard a loud snap! Suddenly, she felt the ground being ripped out from under her as another giant bamboo cage closed around both her and Jordan and lifted them into the air.

  Now all three of them were dangling over the swamp. Ally in her cage hanging from one tree, and Jordan and Freddie in their cage hanging from another.

  The cage was not roomy by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it was really cramped. Jordan and Freddie were completely tangled up, to the point where Freddie couldn’t tell whose limb was whose.