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Post By Rhiannon Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 01:27:45 pm EST |
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The Girl Who Saw Fairies 2 - Into the Unknown. | |
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In a dream Lily spoke with her grandmother… As the dream unfolded it became a replay of a previous meeting between the two, the last conversation they would ever share.  The ten year old Lily sat comfortably by the fire and listened intently to the ancient old woman whose voice and the creaking of the equally ancient rocking chair were the only sounds to be heard in the firelit room. The tale told was a good one. It spoke of the ancient power hidden within the forest and the terrible evil that sought to use it for its own purpose. As with all tales this one had a hero as well, a young girl from the nearby village who learned of the plot and discovered the age old tunnel that led her to the heart of the forest. There she had called upon the power that lay hidden and became its protector. She defeated the evil, and in time built her home above the tunnel entrance so that her descendants might protect the power also. It was one of Lily’s favourite stories. The girl in it could also see fairies. With shining eyes the child by the fireside turned her gaze to the storyteller as the tale ended, with an awed voice she asked: “Grandma, is the story… real?” “Child,” Hannah Woodside smiled, “It is as real as the fairies that you see and hear.” At this Lily’s face broke into a smile. The tale was true. There was more to the world than the simple, busy, confusing place her parents believed in, much more. “Now,” Suddenly Lily’s grandmother’s face was serious, though her eyes still held an unspoken smile, “Tell me of your friends.” “Well there’s Whisper and Heatherbush and Wisk,” The girl stopped then, sensing that these where not who her grandmother wished to speak of. “There’s also Daydream,” she ventured, gaining this time a short nod as a sign to continue. With a grin Lily described her mischievous best friend to her grandmother, then, prompted by her curiosity, asked, “What is it, Grandma? Why do you want to know?” Hannah sighed. She had known that her granddaughter would ask this should she question her on the subject. Maybe that’s why she had done so. The question had been asked though, and now it must be answered. “You know, child, that your friends are not powerful, at least not by fairy standards. They are as minor as a fairy can be naturally.” Lily nodded, she knew this. “However, I have reason to believe that your friend Daydream is somewhat more than this,” Now Lily frowned; never had Daydream said anything about this, “What I mean, child, is that your friend has more… potential than the others you know, that she has gifts greater than they that are as yet dormant, gifts of which she knows nothing.” “I see.” In truth Lily only partly understood what she was being told. Quickly she changed the subject, “What can a powerful fairy do?” “Well,” Hannah began staring out of the rain covered window and into the storm beyond, “Can you feel the storm around us?” It was obvious Lily did, “Fairies may call on storms, as well as many other natural powers. That is just the start though, child. Do you know the tale of sleeping beauty? Let me tell you, many a powerful fairy uses their gifts for good and for bad in that story.” Lily knew the common fairy tale, and not just the Disney version either, but gladly she listened to her grandmothers telling. Her calm was not to last however, for just as Hannah reached the part where the whole castle fell under the magic spell that made them sleep for a hundred years the door opened and in walked her son, Simon Woodside. “Mother, surely you know better than to fill the girl’s head with nonsense. She’s absent minded enough as it is.” He began, launching into the well know Fairies Aren’t Real, You Should Know Better, The Girl Is Far Too Absent Minded speech. “Sometimes,” Hannah cut him short glaring, “sometimes, the fool is the one who will not accept the truth as it does not suit him to,” Here she all but laughed, “The truth is rarely easy and rarely simple, but that does not make it any less the truth.” Then in a far kinder voice, “Child, I am afraid it is time for you to go to bed” “Oh, Grandma!” Lily protested, far too interested in the suddenly cut short story to go to bed now. “It is time for you to say goodbye now, child,” Hannah said, and it was, for that day, and forever. She had just one last secret to share with her granddaughter, “This wall,” She turned her back on her confused son who promptly left the room and indicated the plain stone wall beside her, “is ancient. It holds very many secrets,” She took Lily’s hand and pressed its fingers to the rough stonework, pulling the hand sideways till it was brushing along the wall, “You may not discover them all in one look.” As the stone passed beneath her fingers Lily felt something strange about one of the bricks. As she examined it closer she examined it closer she realised that it was loose and could be removed, “Grandma…” She began. “Not yet, child,” Hannah smiled and hugged her granddaughter for what would be the last time, “It’s not yet time.” She looked at the girl she had taught all she knew save a few facts and truths that she would discover with time, “You’ll know when it’s time.” Lily woke with a start, confused for a moment as to her surroundings till the familiar scene of her bedroom made itself apparent. Slipping out of bed, she lit the candle on her bedside table and ran the dream through her mind. It was a week now since the incident with the strange organisation and she knew it was only time before they struck back. She could not help but feel that the strange dream and its timing were somehow important. Suddenly Lily realised what had eluded her before, the tiny detail that in her grief over her grandmothers death she had forgotten. She picked up the candle and padded out onto the landing. It was time. Outside of Lily’s house were shadows, and in those shadows were many secrets. Secrets that circled the house as they prepared to attack. The Organisation had come for Lily Woodside. The room was old and ancient, it had a creaking wooden floor and stone walls without wallpaper or plaster. There was the smell of firewood hanging in the air, centred about the dusty, empty fireplace around which chairs where positioned. The only light was that of the moon. It came in through the French windows that stood opposite the fireplace as one of the heavy curtains had not been properly closed. The effect was that a silver streak of light was painted across the grey room. Now a new light came, and with that light a shadow, leaping and dancing across the walls as the candle flickered. Slowly, cautiously the caster of the shadow approached the room, making barely a sound as she crossed the floor and warily moved towards the great fireplace. She paused, setting the candle down upon the table and turned, not to the fireplace, but to the wall beside it. Lily shivered. The sitting room was cold, though now when she glanced around at it, transformed in the firelight, it seemed less scary and more… lived in. But, she thought with a sigh, it would never seem fully like part of her home without her grandmother there, by the fire. She felt her way along the wall. There it was, the loose stone. With great care she eased it out, peering into the gloom to make out what had been revealed. There was a space behind where the brick had been lined with wood. It looked rather like a box on its side. It was obviously old, maybe even as old as the house itself. Inside the secret compartment were three items. The first reflected in the candle light as she pulled it out. It was a tiny glass figurine of a fairy, only one inch high. It was on a silver chain and, Lily realised as she examined it closer, was a necklace! Lily had never seen anything as lovely in her entire life. The second item Lily pulled from the compartment was an old purse. Inside was all her grandmother’s life savings, hidden safe where no robber would think to look, or, Lily added grimly in her head, no parent. Only Lily, who had been shown the compartment, could possibly have found it, just as Hannah Woodside had intended. Last was a faded, unsealed, unmarked envelope. Lily quickly opened it and pulled out a letter. As Lily read it was as if her grandmother was in the room with her, telling her in person. Dearest Lily, The letter read: A storm is coming and you must meet it. You alone have the gift to do so and therefore you alone may complete this task. I will tell you now and plainly that you must, for the gathering of darkness is growing strong indeed. I must say however child, how very proud of you I am. I have ever searched for one to teach that that I know unto, that which I learned from the fairies. For I too, child, have seen the fairies, much like you do. Over time however my gift faded, starting to do so the day I became an adult. Do not dwell on such, you have long left to enjoy your gifts. As in many a tale, in time you shall be called, to leave home and journey into the unknown. As aid in this I have left you these items: The necklace, as it was special to me and to the fairies, and it does indeed hold some magic. And the money, I have no need of it now and so leave it to you, for you will indeed find need of it. Furthermore, though it will not help you in your task the house is also yours. It was owned in my name you see. Now I have left it to you alongside every other thing I own. Complete your task child, then I would suggest you look for other hiding places within the house. Lastly, I strongly advise that you keep close the book I gave you, Fairy Tales of Myth and Legend. It holds many secrets that you will find in time. Good luck Lily, my granddaughter. Lily stood there for some time, weeping silently at all her grandmother had said, and hadn’t said. She longed for some form of acknowledgement, a message to tell her that she had been loved, that she still was. But there, her grandmother had said that she was proud of her. What’s more she had called Lily her granddaughter as she never had when she was alive. In those two words were so much pride, so much love. Lily smiled. She needed no further confirmation than that. Then she turned her gaze to the gifts her grandmother had left her. The necklace was beautiful. The glass pendent was smooth and had felt surprisingly cool when Lily had touched it. It shone like a star in the moonlight. Suddenly she was submerged in sound as multiple raised voices all called for her attention at once and a flight of fairies swarmed about her. “Danger Lili! Danger!” “There’s trouble outside Lili! Don’t go outside Lili!” “Look out Lili!” “Hurry! Hurry Lili!” “Wait a minute, what’s…” Lilys voice trailed off as she realised that no one was paying her the slightest bit of attention, sighing she stuck her fingers in her ears and yelled, “QUIET!” That worked. She took a deep breath and then, in a far calmer voice, “Now what on earth has got you lot so agitated?” “Is them Lili. Is them.” She needn’t ask who they where. “They’re in the shadows outside, going to attack soon.” “Yes, we heard them talking, there’s only five minutes left. Four now.” “They’re all around the house Lili. How do you get out now?” That was a good question, and Lily didn’t have long to ponder it. “I know what to do,” She told her friends heading back upstairs “Trust me.” Once in her room she had just time to grab her backpack, add the gifts of her grandmother to the precious bundle of essentials she’d packed, somehow knowing that it would come to this. Then she hurried back to the sitting room; the house was very old and had many secrets. “Sir!” Emily Ashtree called out, “I’ve got a sighting!” At that moment in time Emily Ashtree was crouched in the dirt at the back of the flowerbeds trying to lean against a particularly spiky hedge. She held a pair of black binoculars and the uniform she was wearing was all black too. When she’d questioned the colour scheme she had been simply been told that it was because of the ‘look’ of a group (only they called it a squad) of people all dressed in black was extremely impressive. The Organisation, she had been told, had an image to maintain. And Emily Ashtree was part of the Organisation. She had been in the middle of an internal ‘How did I get into this?’ moan when she had noticed movement through the sitting room window. “Very good agent 57. Report.” “O.K…” She muttered to herself focusing her binoculars. The girl was dressed in a white nightgown and had a backpack hanging off one arm. She held a candle in an old-fashioned candle holder in one hand and used the other to shelter the flame. If not for the backpack she would have seemed like an image from another time and Emily would have sworn it was a ghost. Emily watched with care as the girl carefully, quietly opened the cellar door and paused, her eyes running across the room and resting, terrified of the view through the window. It was impossible, Emily knew, for the girl to have seen any trace of the Organisation’s presence, yet she felt sure, sure, that the girl was looking at her and was somehow making eye contact. ‘She’s just a girl!’ Emily realised, ‘Just a little girl who’s scared and cornered and is having to leave home!’ It never crossed Emilys mind from that point on that the girl wasn’t aware of the Organisations presence, though Emily had never thought of it before, that or the idea that the girl who they intended to use as a conduit was actually a person. “Agent 57? Report?” Her Superior Squad Member prompted. “It’s her, the girl, she’s gone down into the cellar,” She replied. “There’s no way out from the cellars,” The SSM noted, “I’ll inform the Mission Commander that the conduit is cornered.” That remark made Emily’s blood boil. The girl was a person and should be spoken of as such, not simply termed ‘the conduit’. She glared angrily at her SSM as he spoke over the radio to the MC. She knew she ought to think of them as her Superior Squad Member and the Mission Commander but really it was much simpler to think of them as the shortenings she had thought up for them. Then the order was given, and the Organisation moved in. “What’s Lili looking for?” Daydream wondered as she watched Lily carefully examine the cellar wall, though in truth it continued upwards to become the sitting room wall as well. That was what Lily was counting on. The sound of heavy boots on stone stairs warned that a large group of people where descending down upon Lily. She didn’t look up, searching frantically now. She found at last what she had searched for. She grinned. The Organisation was professional. Four agents sought out and captured ‘the conduit’s’ parents, six agents kept watch and the remaining twelve agents descended into the cellar to acquire the conduit. No one in the neighbourhood noticed anything, there was no equipment damaged, there was no agents damaged, only one thing went slightly wrong. Lily got away. “Where are we?” Wisk asked quietly. It was a good question, the girl and her fairy friends where at that moment walking along an ancient tunnel with carved walls by the light of Lily’s candle. “My grandmother once told me a story,” Lily explained, “About the heart of the forest and the passageway to it. The girl in the story could hear fairies. She built her home over the passageway. My grandmother could hear fairies, if you assume the gift runs in the female side of the family…” She glanced up at the carvings warily. They unnerved her a little, as if she could sense their age, “I was also told that that wall in particular held more than one secret. It fits together.” she finished. The group continued to walk along the ancient tunnel. That morning the milkman was much surprised to find the door to Lily’s house (Lily did own it after all) unlocked and hanging open. Further investigation showed no sign of anything out of the ordinary save that the house’s occupants were missing and all the beds were unmade. A lengthy police survey turned up no answers and eventually they gave it up as a lost cause. Rumours got around that the Woodsides had been kidnapped by aliens and as result many a local youth was disappointed that the watch the police set on the house would not allow them to view the scene of the crime. The Organisation also set a watch on the house in the vain hope that ‘the conduit’ would return to her former dwelling. But it would be a long time before Lily Woodside returned home. The door in the rock opened easily as if it was regularly oiled. There, right in front of it stood two trees, their branches intertwining to create an arch. Though Lily could not see she could sense the beautiful, wonderful thing beyond. With great difficulty she turned away. The Heart of the Forest was not yet for her. In her bag was a change of clothes, candles, matches, a small amount of food, her hairbrush, a book on fairies, a purse full of money and a letter written by a long dead woman. The magic necklace that was her grandmothers hung around her neck. Her only companions where the fairies she had so much to thank for. She had nowhere to go and no one to go to. It was going to be an adventure. And so Lily Woodside set of into the unknown. Rhiannon Rose Watson Concepts, characters, and situations copyright © 2006 reserved by Rhiannon Rose Watson. The right of Rhiannon Rose Watson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. |
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