Jack woke later that afternoon, feeling confused, sore, and starving. “Ow,” he groaned, blinking against the light. “Spiders!”

  He bolted upright… then regretted it as the world spun like a bad carnival ride. When things stopped tilting, he glanced around, squinting. “Wait… why am I in here?”

  This wasn’t his room. It was Polly’s; a battlefield of half-folded clothes, open sketchbooks, and other stuff he didn’t want to think about or be near.

  He licked his lips; they were bone dry. A glass of water sat on the dresser beside him. He reached for it as if it were liquid treasure. Mom thinks of everything, he thought, gulping it down. “That’s better,” he muttered, exhaling.

  The numbness and paralysis from the spider bites had faded. His limbs no longer felt full of syrup. And then… the memories came creeping back. Itching. Panic. Biting. Paralysis. Spiders. Crawling. His mother saving him. The healer.

  “Why does this kind of thing keep happening to me?” he muttered, peering down at his body. He was in his underwear under the sheet, with only faint pink pinpricks dotting his skin. He rubbed at a few of them. No swellings or pain. “Huh. Could’ve been worse.”

  At the foot of the bed sat a folded change of clothes. He dressed, still a little shaky, then padded towards the door. As he opened it, a strong scent hit him… mint, sharp and clean, but layered with something earthier, less pleasant.

  “What’s that smell?” he muttered. Is it burnt herbs? Maybe… or rotten eggs? “Mom?” he called, stepping into the hallway.

  “You’re up!” came her voice from downstairs.

  A moment later, Anna appeared at the top of the stairs, with Zia clinging to her leg like a shy squirrel.

  His mom gave him a worried smile. “You feeling better, Jack? You gave us a bit of a scare.”

  Jack nodded. “Yeah… sore, a little light-headed. But I’m okay.” He looked at the little girl at his mother’s side and felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Fuck! Thank the Gods I didn’t follow through with the prank.

  Anna moved closer, supporting his arm. “Do you want to lie back down for a bit? Your room’s been fumigated. All the spiders are gone.”

  I could’ve killed them! He shook his head. “No… Toilet first. Then food; lots of food, please.”

  Anna chuckled. “That’s a good sign.”

  She looked down at Zia. “See? I told you he’d be fine. He’s as strong as a troll, this one.” She leaned closer to the little girl, stage-whispering, “But uglier. Much, much uglier. Look at that nose. No troll would have a nose that bad. And those ears? Have mercy on us.”

  Zia giggled behind her hands.

  Jack laughed too, his voice still a little raspy. “I could eat a troll right now. Maybe not the nose or ears though… too many hairy warts.”

  Zia grinned. “Eww!”

  Anna smiled. “Feeling hungry means your body is healing. Why don’t we get something ready while Jack uses the bathroom?”

  Zia nodded. “Wh-what do you want to eat, Jack?”

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  “I’m that hungry I might go for troll nose and ears despite the warts,” he said in a gruff voice, pretending to pick a wart from his own nose and eat it. “Make sure they’ve got extra hairs. I want the good crusty ones. You know the ones, so wide they take a thumb to pick ‘em clean.” He mimicked picking his nose with his thumb.

  Zia laughed again, much louder this time.

  And with that, he shuffled off towards the bathroom at the speed of an old man who’d already lost the race, muttering under his breath about spiders and their terrible table manners.

  ***

  “This soup’s perfect, Mom,” Jack said, finishing off his second bowl with a satisfied sigh.

  His mother had prepared a batch of old faithful, chicken soup.

  Anna smiled as she stirred something at the stove. “Glad to see you haven’t lost your appetite and that you’re feeling much better.” She wiped her hands and turned, pulling out a chair across from him. She sat down, gave him a warm but piercing look, and said, “Now… how did hundreds of forest spiders end up in your room, Jack?”

  Jack froze mid-spoon.

  His mom gave him the look, the one that said she already knows everything.

  Jack never quite knew if she knew or was bluffing, so he’d spill the beans. He took a slow breath and lied. “I, uh… saw some interesting spider egg sacs in the forest. Thought I’d bring them home to see what kind of spider they were. Thought I might draw them as they got bigger. You know, practice my [Draughtsmanship] skill.”

  Anna narrowed her eyes.

  I thought that was a good lie. He wished he were wearing his mask. Anything to hide the heat crawling up his neck.

  His mom’s silence got to him.

  “I forgot all about them after I got injured,” he added, trying to sound casual. “Could’ve happened to anyone.” He gulped. Damn it! I went too far at the end. Shut up, Jack. Shut up!

  “Mmm-hmm.” Anna tapped her index finger against the table, once, twice, three times. Then stood and returned to the oven.

  Shit. She knows. What does she know? She knows something. Guilt squirmed in his gut, but he wasn’t about to admit he’d been planning to let them hatch in Polly’s room. Desperate to change the subject, he turned to Zia. “So… what’ve you been up to?”

  Zia grinned with pride. “Learning about herbs and stuff! I helped mix the infectyourside that killed all the spiders!”

  Anna chuckled from the stove. “It’s insecticide, sweetie. Do you remember what we used to make it?”

  Zia frowned in thought. “Umm… wormwood… smelly fruit oil, like oranges; they smell really nice. Where was I?” She scratched her nose. “Wormwood… erm, and the yellow stinky powder stuff… erm, sul-fur!”

  She looked towards Anna, who gave her an encouraging smile.

  Zia’s brow furrowed. “And… something else smelly… lavender. Was it lavender?”

  Anna applauded and gave her a hug. “Well done. You remembered most of the ingredients. We added peppermint because spiders don’t like the smell. We could’ve used lavender, but peppermint is better.”

  “Good memory, Zia.” Jack smiled. “That explains what I was smelling earlier.”

  Anna grinned. “Wait until you go back to your room. You should open your window for a few hours.”

  Jack nodded. “Noted.”

  After half an hour of chatting with Anna and Zia, Jack made his way back to his room. The door creaked open to reveal a space that had been cleaned within an inch of its life. His shelves were rearranged, the floor scrubbed, and the scent of peppermint and sulphur clung to everything like a fog.

  He took one look around and sighed. They’d moved everything. Every book, drawer, and pouch had been shaken out and cleansed with herbal death.

  Jack crossed to the window, flung it open, and took a deep breath of fresh air. “I’m never touching another spider egg sac again.”

  He sat on the bed, new bedding, of course, and rubbed his face. His eyes landed on his pack. It had been emptied and repacked with suspicious neatness. His cloak and mask were hung on pegs by the door. “Shit…” he muttered.

  How was he going to explain those? His mom would definitely be asking.

  He slumped back onto the bed. “Could this day get any worse?” His eyes wandered to his desk, and there sat PenDragon, his tiny enchanted toy dragon, back in its place. “At least PenDragon survived.”

  The toy dragon stirred at the sound of its name, waiting for orders.

  “Thanks for trying,” Jack murmured. He remembered how the little dragon had charged into the mass of spiders, firing harmless aether-steam and flailing its wings. “You might have saved my life by distracting some of the spiders.”

  The hundred or so spiders chasing the toy meant fewer were biting him. Had PenDragon not been involved, the extra paralytic might have been the difference between reaching safety in time. He could have found himself paralysed a few feet away from his parents’ bedroom door.

  He yawned. A wide, bone-deep yawn. “Ugh. I’m exhausted.” He pulled the covers over his head and was asleep in minutes.