Pixielle is a bit of an airhead and Cilla’s had enough. If Pix doesn’t get a grip, she might have to do something drastic…
“I don’t understand what all the fuss is about,” Pixielle argued.
“Of course you don’t!” I shouted at her. “Your head is so far up in the clouds, nothing ever gets through to that floaty brain of yours!”
She pouted. “That’s not very nice, Cilla.”
I wanted to shake her. Didn’t she understand the situation we were in? Couldn’t she see the danger? “Pix, we’re going to die in here!”
Laughing, she shook her head. “You’re always so dramatic.”
“I’m not being a drama queen. It’s the truth! If we don’t get out of here, we will die! And it will be all your fault!”
“I don’t know why you insist on blaming me,” she said airily. “It’s not like I made it happen.”
“Yes! Yes, you did! You never pay attention to what’s going on around you! The cloud that your head is stuck in obscures everything that happens to us down here on earth. You’re so oblivious to everything! You don’t even notice that both Cruin and Vendar like you and vie for your attention. They constantly fight about who you give more attention to.”
Pix glanced uncertainly at the two boys in our group. Their faces had gone bright red and they didn’t meet her gaze. Cruin shot me a vicious glare. I rolled my eyes. It’s not like they were discreet about it. Everyone knew they liked Pix. Well, with the exception of Pix herself. Obviously.
Pix crossed her arms. “I’m not completely oblivious,” she muttered. “It’s not my fault we’re down here.”
“Let’s go back over what happened, shall we? Did you, or did you not, pull the red lever?”
She gave me a serene smile. I wanted to slap it off her face. “Of course I pulled the lever. You told me to, Cilla. Doesn’t that make this all your fault.”
I shook my head with a sigh. “Do you remember exactly what I said to you about the lever?”
A small frown creased her delicate eyebrows. “You just told me to pull down.”
“No, I told you to pull down on the green lever! Green! Not red. Green!”
“I don’t think you did,” she insisted. “I’m sure you only told me to pull the lever. You didn’t mention a colour.”
“Cruin, Vendar. Did I tell her what colour to choose?”
Reluctantly, Vendar nodded. “Yes. Pix, she did tell you to pull the green one.”
I smiled triumphantly at her. “See? Now get off your cloud, princess, and come and join the rest of us in the real world. You got us into this mess, you’re going to do the hard work to get us out again. Otherwise, I’m kicking you off the team.”
Tears gathered in Pix’s eyes. “I didn’t mean to cause this! I’m sorry. Please, Cilla, don’t kick me out!”
“I’m not …” I sighed in exasperation. “I’m not going to kick you out, but these dungeons are dangerous. You really need to keep your wits about you or you will end up getting us all killed. Understand?”
She nodded dolefully. “I’ll try to do better, Cilla. I’ll listen carefully to what you say.”
“Finally. Well, you’d better get your wand out. We are going to need a lot of magic.”
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