Matilda was back in school after a week. She was gloomy and not in the mood for anything; not for playing ball or for climbing the trees. She was picked up from school every day by her father, the saddest man Ferry has ever seen. The girl was distracted in class and, for some time, she had difficulties writing, for almost all the time her hands were full of sores and calluses.
Miss Summer was deeply concerned about her, and one of those days, she eventually called her father to school. But to no avail. Matilda was getting sadder and more absent-minded with every day that passed.
"What's wrong, Matt?" Ferry asked her one morning. "We don't play anymore, we don't talk to each other... Have I done something wrong?"
Matilda frowned, "That's none of your business, Ferry! Leave me alone, please..."
"But something IS going on," he insisted. "It's like you're not... you anymore. I know you miss your grandma, but..."
"What do you know about missing someone? Or about love? What do you know about being lonely? Just leave me alone, all right?"
"This is not fair, Matt. I was just trying to help. Isn't your mother worried about you?"
Matilda gave him a wild glance. "Don't you ever talk about my mother!" she shouted.
"But why?" the boy wondered.
"To me, my mother is dead! She left when I was a little girl. She abandoned us, my father and me. And I know nothing about her to this day. And to be honest with you, I don't really want to know anything about her!"
She was barely breathing.
"I'm sorry," Ferry whispered. "I didn't know. I was just trying to─"
"I don't need your help, you freak!" she shouted, pushing him out of her way. Then she broke into a run without looking back.
At school, she asked Miss Summer to be moved to one of the front desks, pretending she couldn't see the writing on the blackboard. And Ferry was now sitting alone, feeling lonelier than ever.
At home, things seemed to go just as wrong. Besides the cold weather which didn't allow him to stay outside anymore, strange things began to happen. Stranger than before, that is. The kitchen was the first place where the oddities occurred. Mrs. Donovan had just taken out a tray of cookies from the oven. Then, she looked away for only a few seconds and half of the cookies were gone.
"Did you take the cookies, Ferry?" she asked her son, who was drawing in the living room. "You know you're not allowed any cookies before dinner."
"No, Mum," he answered.
But that very night, noises and thuds could be heard on the first floor of the house. Mr. Donovan came down the stairs cursing. When he reached the kitchen, he found the drawer of sweets open. Ferry had limited access to that drawer ─ only two times a week. And now biscuits, candies, cookies, they were all spread on the kitchen floor.
"You're not allowed sweets for a whole month!" Mr. Donovan shouted the next day at breakfast.
"But Dad─"
"This will teach you not to eat at night. And in secret, on top of it!"
"Perhaps there was a mouse in the kitchen and ─"
"And the mouse opened the top drawer, isn't that so?" his father's voice thundered.
Ferry didn't say another word. But strange things were happening to him, too. As soon as he went to bed, he had the funny feeling he was being watched.
And on top of that, his raven was not visiting anymore. He had started to get fond of his raven. The bird had been coming to his room for weeks now, each time studying it with great curiosity. Now, when he needed him the most, it was missing.
He couldn't tell his parents about the presence in his room. Mrs. Donovan would have blamed it on his imagination while Mr. Donovan would have called him a liar. All he had to do was wait and see what would happen next.
But things got worse. That eerie presence whose cold breath he could feel everywhere became increasingly disturbing. It would pull off the blanket or hit him. It would push him and make him fall. Each time, an evil, creepy laughter would fill the room. Then, the presence went away for several hours to come back again, more terrifying than before.
One morning, Ferry woke up with all his hair disheveled on the top of his head. And no matter how hard his mother tried to tame it, she failed every single time and eventually gave up. To Ferry's despair, he had to go to school with that ridiculous hair, the shape of a giant cactus on the top of his head.
"Have you been to the hairdresser, Donovan?" Billy Pride shouted the moment he saw him.
"Could you tell us the name of this new, amazing haircut? Who knows? You might become the town's sensation. In a weird way, that is," he continued, with a smirk on his face.
"I think he fell asleep, hanging from the ceiling," Danny The Bully Stevens added. "And his mother accidentally threw laundry starch on it. She must have had been mistaken his hair for a tablecloth," he laughed.
Ferry had to endure the children's mockery all day long. But strange enough, funny accidents happened to all the children who laughed at him that day; Billy Pride fell off his chair out of the blue, to everyone's amusement. On his way to the blackboard, Danny Stevens stumbled and fell to the floor, as heavy as he was. So Ferry was not the only one to be laughed at. Nevertheless, the jokes continued for a whole week, even after his hair eventually turned back to normal. However, Ferry coped with the creature, even though the sleepless nights didn't pass unnoticed by Miss Summer. In class, Ferry was always sleepy, and he was now getting bad grades because of it.
After a while, the presence became more daring. It eventually got bored with Ferry's room and started to visit his parents' bedroom. One morning, Mrs. Donovan woke up with such flashy makeup on her face, she made her husband fall off the bed the moment he saw her. The following days, Mr. Donovan woke up with his mustache styled in the most fashionable ways of past eras — thin like a musketeer's mustache, or short like the one of a dandy, with twisted ends like a sheriff's, and even shaggy and unkempt like the one of a school teacher.
"Clearly, the boy is not only disturbed; he's sleepwalking, too," he would mumble every morning at the reflection of his fashionable mustache in the mirror. "As if being mad was not enough... That's my reward when I work all day long to put some food on the table."
"But how come we never see or feel anything?" his wife tried to calm him down. "I'm pretty sure it's because you sleep differently, face on the pillow, I mean."
"Well, that makes you a sleepwalker, too, since you wake up every morning with that painted monkey face," he added. "This is what I have to bear for marrying you. I've never heard of such weird, crazy things happening in my family," he said, thinking of all the jokes at his expense, at work.
Ferry, who usually witnessed his father's complaints, decided it was time things went back to normal. In time, he had learned not to be affected so much by his father's words. He had always been grumpy, and the boy couldn't remember hearing a nice word coming from him. But he couldn't stand to see his mother upset. So he decided to face the creature, whatever it was.
That very night, he sneaked into his father's workshop and grabbed a small, empty wooden barrel his mother used for pickles. Then he put the barrel in the middle of his room and some butter and raisin cookies below, supporting the edge of the barrel with a stick, and a rope at the stick's end. He laid down on his bed with the rope in his hand. It wasn't long before the room became cold again, and the sound of crunches could be heard from under the barrel. With his heart racing, Ferry pulled the rope. The barrel landed with a thud and immediately began to shake, a sign that someone or something was trapped inside. Ferry held the barrel as hard as he could, although its iron rings were hurting his bare hands. He carefully turned the barrel over and put the wooden lid on.
"Let me go! Let me go!" he could hear a high-pitched voice coming from inside.
"If I let you go, you'll escape and trouble my family again," said Ferry.
"No. I promise you I won't! Now that you caught me, you are my master, and I must obey... "Ferry slowly opened the barrel. A strange little man with a wrinkled face and gray beard came out. He was wearing black leather pants with suspenders and a white shirt with a green jacket on top. The jacket was decorated with seven rows of seven golden buttons each. The buttons shone in the dark rooms like tiny candles. The buckles of his shoes were just as shiny. The little man was no taller than three feet. He looked at Ferry with his greenish, watery eyes.
"Who are you?" the boy whispered.
"My name is HoityToity, and I'm a leprechaun; at least that's how humans call my kind."
"It's nice to meet you, but why are you troubling my family, Hoity? What have we done to you?"
The little man started to lament, "You took my shoe! Where is my shoe?"
"What shoe? What are you talking about?" Ferry wondered.
"My golden, precious, little shoe... I've lost it..."
And he sat down to weep, with hiccups and sighs.
"Shh, quiet! You're going to wake up my parents."
The little man wiped off his tears with the sleeve of his jacket. He looked at Ferry with a benign stare. "I have gold if you want. I can give you a gold coin if you let me go." And he pulled out of his pocket a small, sparkling coin. It was so shiny, it lightened the whole room like a light bulb.
"I can't let you go," Ferry protested. "You're going to cause me nothing but trouble. Put that coin away!"
"So be it!" said the sulky midget. "Help me find my shoe and I'll grant you three wishes. And then you'll have to let me go. But say, how come you can see me? Most people can't," he said, raising an eyebrow.
"You're lucky," said Ferry. "I can see things that aren't there. I don't know if it's a gift or a curse..."
"Doesn't that make you a little... mad?" the dwarf asked with a strange, benign sparkle in his eyes. "What if I'm only in your imagination?"
"Maybe you're only in my mind, but this barrel isn't," said Ferry, and he locked the little man in the barrel again. Then he went to bed and after many sleepless, restless nights, he finally had a deep, peaceful sleep.
⃰
Ferry couldn't leave Hoity Toity at home an entire day. Especially since he had to go to school and the creature would have stayed unwatched all day long, risking a fright to his poor mother. Luckily, the little man could shrink his size so much, he could easily reach the size of a finger. So it was very easy for Ferry to carry him in his school bag. All Hoity had to do was stay quiet. The first class was Math, and Ferry had a test for that day which proved to be rather difficult, especially since Ferry hadn't had the time to study with all the fuss at home. So he was now staring at the paper in front of him, filled with numbers and calculations.
"Boy, it would be so great to have the answers appear like magic on the paper," he whispered to himself.
He didn't even finish his thought before the paper started to fill up with numbers as if written by an invisible hand. Thus, Ferry was among the first students to finish the test.
The day had started well. The Donovans had a quiet night and Ferry could finally be at peace. Something was missing, though. Looking at the first desk, Ferry saw Matilda. She was just as sad, trying hard to write with her bandaged hand. He missed Matilda's friendship, her cheerful nature, and their games together. Now he had Ben, but Ben preferred to read instead of playing ball or running.
Even now, after they finished classes, Ben was still talking about school, which Ferry found rather boring. They saw Matilda passing by, her head bowed. Then a thought came to his mind. He said goodbye to Ben and started to follow the girl. As preoccupied as she was, she didn't even realize she was being followed. She went into her house without so much of a backward glance.
When he saw there was nobody around, Ferry climbed the fence and the next moment he was in Matilda's front yard. He slid slowly by the rose bushes, near the window of her father's workshop. Then, he saw Matt coming in, smiling to her father and putting an apron on. She sat on a small chair and started to work on a boot. The tiny room was full of shoes of all kinds, piles of them. Most of them were still broken. So this is how she got wounded. Matilda's father was late with all the work, and she was helping him. It was just the two of them, two lonely souls, keeping each other's company.
Ferry went home with a broken heart. He found his mother sewing in her rocking chair and thought about how lucky he was to have her. Then, he hugged her.
"What's the matter with you?" she asked smiling, putting her stitchery in her lap. The thimble on her finger shone in the lamp's light. Ferry examined it.
"What's that?" he asked.
"It's a thimble. Or at least I think it is. I found it in front of our home the other day. I thought it might bring us good luck," she said.
"Can I keep it, Mum?"
"Of course, dear. I hope it'll bring you good luck."
Ferry couldn't take his eyes away from the shiny object. It looked like it was madeout of pure gold, encrusted with small, blue stones, shining in small sparks. Ferry knew right then and there it was HoityToity's missing shoe.
⃰
"That wish doesn't count! I haven't even thought about something like that!" Ferry shouted.
"Yes, it counts!" Hoity's squeaky voice pierced Ferry's room. "You wished that at least once you could know all the answers to the test. And that's exactly what happened."
"But I wanted another wish! Something more important," Ferry protested.
"A wish is a wish, no matter how big or small. So you've only got two wishes left."
Ferry has been arguing for more than half an hour with Hoity. The little man was back to his normal size, and he was now sitting on Ferry's bed, eating butter and raisin cookies, his favorite.
"And how long will you be around?" Ferry asked, pretending he didn't care.
"Until I'll find my shoe," Hoity answered, spreading cookie crumbs while talking.
"Why is that shoe so important to you?" the boy wondered.
For a moment, Hoity gave him a suspicious glare. He didn't answer.
"You said I'm now your master. So I have to know. And no, it is NOT a wish. It's a request," said Ferry as firm as can be.
"Well, I suppose I could tell you," said the little man. "This small shoe belongs to a fairy. A naughty, tricky fairy. Picky, moreover. When she's in a good mood, she's the nicest fairy in the whole world. But when she's moody... may the Forest's Protector have mercy on you! Well, and this fairy really likes to dance and bounce. And in one of those dances, she broke her shoe. And sent it to me to fix it. I'm one of the best shoemakers, you know. And if I don't return her shoe soon enough, she and her sisters will make my life miserable. That's why I need to fulfill your wishes sooner and be free. So I can find that damn shoe," said Hoity, starting to prepare Ferry's bed for the night, without forgetting to complain, as he usually did, about the knots of the mattress. Ferry has been sleeping on the floor ever since he became Hoity's master. Some master...
Accompanied by the little man's snore, Ferry thought about the wish he should ask next; but he had no particular wish. If he came to think of it, he had everything he ever wanted. But even so, deep inside, something had burned since he was able to remember. Something he could not tell. A strong desire for running away, without knowing where. As if another place, other than his home, was waiting for him. Calling him.
The next day, he was forced to take Hoity with him again. The little man shrunk and entered Ferry's schoolbag, muttering as usual.
The morning was terribly cold. Ferry's hands, even with gloves on, were completely frozen. He couldn't feel his face. When he was about to declare war to cold in his mind, suddenly Matilda appeared in front of him. She was barely dragging her feet. They hadn't talked to each other for two weeks.
"Hello, Matt," said Ferry with a cheerful tone, as if they were still the best of friends.
Matilda mumbled some sort of hello and carried on. Ferry joined her and they walked together for a while without saying a word.
"I wish I could have a cup of hot chocolate in my hand. It would feel so good..." he said to the girl, trying to start a conversation.
But as soon as he finished talking, a cup of hot chocolate appeared right under his nose, floating in the air. The most flavored, tempting hot chocolate he had ever seen. Ferry quickly grabbed the cup and threw it away. Luckily, Matilda was absent-minded, as always, and didn't see a thing.
Hoity, thought Ferry. He did it again. Now he had only one wish left.
Matilda was far ahead now, and Ferry rushed to reach her.
"Listen, Matt," he said, "I know what's going on. I know you're helping your father in his workshop."
"And how come you know that?" she said with a hint of a quarrel in her voice. "Did Miss Summer tell you? She's not supposed to do that, you know."
"No, Miss Summer didn't tell me. Don't ask me how I found out, but I know."
Matilda surrendered. Tears were now pouring down her face. "Daddy is way behind with work. And he has no one to help him. And now that Grandma is gone, he has to take care of me, too," she said between sobs.
"Why don't you let me help you?" the boy asked, with a sparkle in his eyes. He had just found a way to help his friend.
"What can you do?" she wondered.
"I can help you. But you have to promise me that tonight, under any circumstances, you and your father will not enter the workshop!"
Matilda nodded while blowing her nose. And Ferry knew what the third and last wish would be.
⃰
When his parents fell asleep, Ferry opened his room's window and jumped. He was in the backyard in a second. Jumping and climbing were second nature as if he was born for that. When it was a full moon, like that night, those skills seemed to grow even stronger.
He kept Hoity hidden in his coat because the little man was very sensitive to cold. In a few minutes, they were in front of Matilda's house. The girl had left the workshop's door open, as promised.
Ferry gently took Hoity out of his coat. The leprechaun had mumbled all the way, complaining about the weather of the world of humans. Ferry put him on the floor and said loud and clear, "I wish all these shoes to be as good as new by tomorrow morning."
That very moment, HoityToity began to fix the shoes at great speed. One moment he was on the shelves, the other second, he was in the corner and the next one he was on the working table. Ferry found it very difficult to watch him. When he finished, all the pairs of shoes were nicely arranged on the shelves and the workshop was perfectly clean.
After finishing, HoityToity rushed to Ferry and stood right under his nose, with a demanding stare. "Now you'll have to set me free."
Ferry smiled at him and took the little fairy shoe out of his pocket. He then offered it to Hoity. The little man's eyes sparkled. And even if he didn't say a word, Ferry would know he was grateful.
"Will I ever see you again?" the boy asked.
For the first time, Hoity smiled. "If you ever need a good shoemaker, think about me," he said.
"Now I really have to go. I've spent enough time in the world of humans. Although I can't say that living with you was that bad..."
"Before you go, can I ask you something? Are you the one who's drawing on my behalf? Or punishing the ones who treat me bad?"
Hoity shook his head. "No, that was not me. I've spent some time around here only to look for my shoe. Oh, speaking of, you should thank me. You have an ugly, big bird that kept knocking at your window, did you know that? But don't worry. I've chased it away every single time."
Ferry felt the blood rushing to his head. "Leave! Before I catch you and lock you up again," he said, trying hard to hold his temper.
HoityToity didn't waste any time. He took his sack of tools and melted in the morning fog, whistling a song, so familiar to Ferry. Too familiar. He knew he had heard it before, but didn't know where. Then he hurried home, for it was almost daybreak.
The next day, the moment she saw Ferry, Matilda ran at him and hugged him.
"Thank you!" she whispered. "I'm so sorry for the way I treated you..."
"You don't have to thank me," said the boy. "That's what friends are for."
That night, his raven came back which made Ferry very happy. He fell asleep almost the second he put his head on the pillow. And when he was ready to reach the land of dreams, the same song Hoity whistled echoed in his mind, blending with the wind outside.
Come along, you Ferry boy...
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