Part 2 (2/2)
”I don't know what you're talking about.” Elia said coolly.
Knot made a disgusting sound and the car filled with a noxious odor.
Elia covered her mouth, eyes wide.
Miszrial shot her a panicked look and swerved the SUV to a shuddering stop on the side of the road. She'd learned her lesson.
Elia flew out of the car and knelt in the tall gra.s.s at the road's edge, shoulders heaving.
Keelie sighed and climbed out after her, ignoring Miszrial and Sean, who were rolling down windows and fanning the air. Knot jumped down next to Keelie and trotted, tail held high, to where Elia was being sick. Keelie didn't want to get too close. Instead, she turned to the trees, huge robust pines that seemed to flourish here in the Northwoods. She opened her mind to the trees. Spruce, Frazier fir, and many others. So many.
Tree shepherdess, tales of your deeds precede you. The speaker was a small fir that was straining at the soil, as if it was ready to bound down the hill toward her. She smiled.
Good tales, I hope. I'm pleased to visit your beautiful forest. She might as well practice her diplomatic skills. So far, her visit had consisted of elf vomit and frightening visions. Maybe she could take a moment now to call Dad. She thought of their comfy home, back in the Dread Forest in Oregon. Their house was filled with his beautiful woodwork. She wished he hadn't insisted that she could do this job.
”I feel better, I think,” Elia gasped from behind her.
Keelie turned. ”You look better.” More diplomacy. She was starting to figure out that ”diplomacy” was another word for ”big, fat, schmoozy lie.” The kind of lie that made people feel better, like ”You don't look fat in that baggy knit dress.”
A blur of movement caught her eye and she spun. She examined the trees, wondering what it had been.
”What's the matter?” Miszrial's voice sounded panicky.
”Nothing,” Keelie called back. ”Just thought I saw something.” She didn't find the elf's fear rea.s.suring.
”Like a snake?” Elia eyed the forest warily.
”No snakes up here.” Miszrial sounded calmer.
Then the creature buzzed down, and Keelie gasped in delight. It was a bhata, a woods fairy. Two rough-barked sticks held together with stringy moss, full of the spark of life and magic.
It skittered around the tree, almost like a kitten playing. She smiled, the scary mask at the Crystal Faire forgotten. She knew the bhata, and their presence made the forest seem more like home.
”Lady Keliel, we must hurry.” Miszrial's voice rang against the trees, and Keelie waved goodbye to the little creature, and to the trees, then hurried back to the SUV.
The rest of the trip sped by, as Miszrial gunned the vehicle around narrow curving roads, climbing into the mountains. They pulled off onto a dirt road which entered the forest. A mile later, the unpaved road widened on the left into a graveled lot with eight cars in a tidy row. Miszrial pulled onto the gravel and parked the SUV.
”Where are we? There's no village anywhere near here.” Keelie looked out of the car windows.
”How do you know?” Miszrial said tightly.
”The trees tell me.”
Miszrial's eyes widened. ”You are a tree shepherd, like Lord Norzan. I had a hard time believing it.”
”Why, because I'm part human?”
The elf woman reddened and didn't answer. ”Let's get on with it. A wagon will now take us to Grey Mantle. It's not far.”
Elia and Miszrial exchanged angry looks, and Sean eyed them warily.
Before Keelie could figure out what had gone on between them, they were interrupted by the clopping of hooves. Two large horses pulling a wagon appeared on the road, the elaborate harness beautiful against their glossy hides. A tall, imperious elf held the reins, sitting high on the seat above them.
The horses stopped and the elf looked down over his axe-blade nose. ”Welcome to Grey Mantle. Allow me to move your luggage.”
He hopped down from the tall seat and started hauling suitcases out of the back of the SUV and tossing them into the wagon as if they didn't weigh anything. Sean had been ready to help, but instead he shrugged and gave Keelie a look of good-humored puzzlement. She smiled back in agreement. This guy had a serious anger problem.
Keelie grabbed Knot and held the squirming cat close to her chest. Elia stepped out of the SUV and beamed at the wagon driver as he finished loading the wagon.
”Greetings, cousin. It is I, Elia, daughter of Elianard and Cilene.”
No expression crossed his face as he stopped and looked at Elia, then continued to pack the wagon. When the SUV was empty, he climbed onto the wagon seat again. Elia stood frozen on the gravel, shock on her face.
”Come on, we've got to ride in the back.” Miszrial grabbed a rope that was dangling from the back gate of the wagon and pulled herself aboard. She turned and extended a hand to Elia, who didn't seem to notice her.
Elia wasn't her best friend, nor her worst enemy anymore, but Keelie couldn't stand to see her in pain. She didn't know who the wagon driver was, but when he ignored Elia, it had hurt her feelings.
”Let's rescue Elia,” she said to Sean. ”Something's not right here.”
”I've been saying that since we hit town,” Sean muttered. ”This is not good, Keelie. Elia is correct in her expectation of a huge celebration in honor of her return to the forest of her mother's people. The baby alone merits much feasting and happiness.”
Keelie dropped Knot and went over to the elf, who stared down at her. She glared back, then ignored him as he'd ignored Elia.
”Come on Elia, I'll help you get in the wagon.”
Elia lifted an eyebrow. ”Why do you think I need your help?” She walked stiffly to the wagon, grabbed the rope, and struggled to get in.
Keelie wanted to give her a swift kick in the backside to help her up, but just watched as she wriggled and flailed her way into the wagon bed, finally accepting Sean's help.
Keelie looked down at Knot. ”So do you need help getting in, or are you just going to snarl at me too?”
Knot grinned, showing impressive kitty fangs, then leaped lightly into the wagon. Judging from the distance between the ground and the wagon bed, he must have flown part of the way. Yet nothing surprised her about Knot. Keelie sighed and grabbed the rope and Sean's extended hand. He pulled her up easily, then motioned her to sit on a suitcase as the others had done.
The wagon lurched forward.
”This is fun,” Keelie said brightly. ”We're starting off with a hayride.”
Silence from the elves shut her up. See if she would try to lighten the mood again-if they all wanted to sulk, great. Keelie could tell that this was going to be the worst trip ever. Elia was watching her, but turned her face when Keelie looked at her.
Keelie examined the pa.s.sing forest. A huge beetle buzzed past, then swooped around and landed on the suitcase beside her. Knot looked at it curiously, but the others didn't seem to notice it. The beetle stood on its hind legs and nodded its insect head at Keelie, its feelers waving around. Keelie nodded back. The feithid daoine were secretive and although she'd seen them frequently, she'd only interacted with them once, when they'd attacked her at the High Mountain Renaissance Faire. She'd been a little leery of them ever since, but they'd left her alone.
This feithid daoine pointed up with one pincer-ended leg. Keelie looked up and was amazed to see that bhata were following them, leaping from branch to branch overhead. The forest was filled with them. Whoa.
”We're almost there.” Elia's voice interrupted her. ”I must say again that I hope you don't feel slighted, Keelie. As a daughter of the soil and, of course, because of this”-she smiled down at her bulging baby belly-”I'll be welcomed with utmost respect and joy.” She smiled at Keelie. ”You are a tree shepherdess, of course, so you are due respect as well, but there's that unfortunate, um...” She touched her pointed ear and glanced at Miszrial, as if pointing out that one of Keelie's ears was rounded.
Keelie rolled her eyes. ”Fine. I get it. You're the returning princess. I'm just the mongrel come to help out.”
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