It was time for Olivia’s cheerleader skills again. She took two steps back, squared her shoulders and catapulted herself into the air, performing a perfect somersault before landing free and clear of the plant beds.
As she dusted off her clothes, Helga the Greenhouse Lady appeared at her side. ‘My dear, are you all right? I saw you fall into the . . . into the . . . Oh, no!’ She was staring at the crushed bed of plants at the base of the tree.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to damage them. It was an accid–’
But before Olivia could finish, Helga grabbed her round the waist and slung her over her shoulder! ‘I don’t care what you’ve done to the plants, it’s what the plants have done to you!’ she gasped.
‘Wha– what’s going on?’ Olivia cried as the woman broke into a run. Her body jiggled painfully against the gardener’s collar bone. Helga was racing back to the greenhouse with her as cargo! All she could do was watch the scenery go by as if in fast-forward. Helga pushed through a glass door, which grazed Olivia’s hair as it slammed shut behind them.
‘Don’t worry, don’t worry,’ Helga muttered under her breath, setting Olivia down on a metal table covered with various garden tools and bags of loose soil. ‘I have just the thing for you.’
For me?
Olivia stared open-mouthed at the high-tech greenhouse surrounding her. Artificial rain poured down from shiny, silver trays over rows of lush plants, complete with a soundtrack of rolling thunder. A miniature blimp buzzed around a track, sprinkling coloured fertiliser, and Olivia listened as giant, metal turbines mixed mulch in the corner.
Meanwhile, Helga bustled around, opening cabinets and grabbing colourful bottles. Olivia wanted to tell her that she wasn’t actually worried at all, but the woman seemed so concerned that Olivia thought it might be best to leave her alone.
‘I’ve only just started working here.’ Helga sniffed a purple bottle. ‘So I don’t quite know where everything is kept yet.’ She opened another steel cabinet and peered inside. ‘Ah, here it is!’ Helga wetted a strip of gauze with yellow liquid from a silver jar and began scrubbing Olivia’s legs with it.
‘Oh my goodness!’ Olivia looked down at her legs. Now she saw why Helga was worried. Her legs had changed colour from tanned to an angry red. A mass of swollen lumps had risen up on her shins. ‘What happened to me?’ she asked. While Helga scrubbed, Olivia scratched, but nothing could stop the terrible itching that was crawling up the length of her legs. Ew, a rash! She hoped it wasn’t contagious.
‘You got yourself caught in a crop of Bloodbite Nettles,’ Helga told her. Olivia groaned – even the name of the plant sounded painful! Helga wetted the gauze again and continued rubbing.
Olivia wanted to tell Helga that she was sorry about crushing the nettles, but all that came out was a long wheezing breath. She reached for her throat. Her lungs felt raw and swollen. She couldn’t speak. She waved her hands wildly at Helga.
‘Oh dear.’ Helga cleared the table of gardening tools. ‘Lie down.’ Olivia obeyed. ‘Yes, put your legs up, that’s right. Unfortunately, Bloodbite Nettles can have this effect.’
I wish those things had come with a warning label, thought Olivia, her chest heaving.
Helga rested an icy vampire hand on Olivia’s forehead. ‘Just lie very still and this will pass.’ Olivia blinked twice in response.
The greenhouse door was flung open and in burst Horatio. ‘I was washing the car and saw you rush in with Olivia. Miss Olivia, are you OK?’
Olivia rolled her head to the side and tried to smile, but she couldn’t because her face was swelling like she’d been stung by a whole swarm of bees. She knew Horatio must have been lingering nearby in the hopes of seeing Helga. After all, he had arrived very quickly – even for a vampire.
‘She’ll be fine,’ said Helga. She glanced sideways at Horatio, who was standing there like he didn’t know what to do with his hands – just like he had done during the car ride to the airport. ‘Would you mind passing me that corked bottle to your left?’ Helga asked. Their fingers brushed as Horatio passed the bottle and Olivia thought she noticed the faintest hint of a quiver run through the butler. ‘Thank you.’
Helga was grinding herbs into a thick paste that let out noisy squelches each time she stirred. She pointed and Horatio passed and, with each new solution added to the gooey mix, the smell wafting out of the bowl became more and more foul.
‘Once you drink this –’ Helga held up a spoonful of slimy, dripping goop – ‘you’ll feel one thousand times better.’
Drink? Olivia tried to let out a groan but her throat was now so swollen that making any kind of noise was out of the question. Horatio took a step forwards, opening his mouth to say something, but then stopped and retreated again. Helga turned just in time to see Horatio step back.
‘Oh, were you about to –’
‘No, I just . . .’ Horatio wrung his hands.
‘Oh, right, well I’d better . . .’ Helga trailed off and went back to stirring. Horatio, normally a giant, seemed suddenly shorter. Olivia frowned with frustration. If only I could talk! I would get those two chatting away in no time! But her tongue was filling her entire mouth and anything she managed to garble would have come out as nonsense. Not to mention the fact that the allergic reaction was boggling her brain, too! What if she couldn’t breathe? What if she swelled up into a big balloon and floated away? All while Horatio and Helga were making googly-eyes at one another.
OK, calm down, Olivia. Focus on the positive. She tried to relax and redirect her thoughts towards something more productive.
For instance, Olivia had managed to get these two together and talking – in a way. So what if she had only been trying to take her mind off Jackson? It didn’t matter, because Helga and Horatio would make the cutest vampire couple ever!
H + H . . . How sweet!
Helga turned to pour her mixture into a glass as Horatio helped Olivia sit up. She jerked her head in Helga’s direction, lifting her eyebrows as if to tell him, Go on, say something! Why couldn’t she be telepathic?
Horatio squinted, staring at Olivia. Olivia jerked her head again, but Horatio just peered closer.
‘Come quickly,’ he said, ‘I think something is wrong with Miss Olivia!’ Olivia tried to shake her head. You’re missing the point!