Ashcroft, page 1
part #2 of Ashcroft Forest Series Series
ASHCROFT
Search for
the Dixon Glade
BY
ALICE MICHELLE HOOK
FOX FIRE PUBLICATIONS, LLC 2022
Text copyright © 2022 by Alice Michelle Hook
Illustration copyright © 2022 by www.SelfPubBookCovers.com/RLSather
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-950745-24-1
eBook ISBN: 978-1-950745-25-8
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First Ashcroft: Search for the Dixon Glade paperback printing, August 2022
Acknowledgements
To my real-life Jay, Joe, and Jordi. I love you. Thank you for sharing in these stories with me.
To my mom and dad who read to me any time they got the chance and opened my mind to these amazing worlds.
To TJ Berry, my co-author, co-editor, partner in the crime of the missing Oxford comma. I couldn’t do it without you, and I wouldn’t want to.
To my Edie, thank you for beginning this journey with me so many years ago.
To the sprites of the Ashcroft Forest and the Dixon Glade. Thank you for being my muse.
And to two of my favorites who finally get a character in this adventure: Clark and Alene. You both taught me a love of writing and editing in your own way. I am forever grateful to both of you and the time you invested in me.
Fox Fire Publications would like to thank www.SelfPubBookCovers.com/RLSather for this amazing cover.
Search for the Dixon Glade
Chapter One Memories
Chapter Two Welcome
Chapter Three Abbie’s Idea
Chapter Four Parvack
Chapter Five Legend Has It
Chapter Six Strawberry Fields
Chapter Seven Reunion
Chapter Eight A Walk Through the Forest
Chapter Nine Homecoming
Chapter Ten Jay’s Decision
Chapter Eleven Settling In
Chapter Twelve Conversations
Chapter Thirteen Wedding Plans
Chapter Fourteen Reception
Chapter Fifteen Journey
Chapter Sixteen Found
Chapter Seventeen Return
Chapter One
Memories
“Jay!” Michael exclaimed, looking at him in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I came looking for the rest of our tribe. What are you doing here?” Jay asked in shock.
“This was the first place I found after I got separated from all of you,” Michael replied, thinking back on the events of the past few months. He walked over to Jay and embraced him. “Fen, the tribe leader, allowed me to stay here. I’ve become friends with a lot of the sprites, including Abbie and Edie.” He motioned to the two of them, but Jay continued to stare at him.
“I’m so glad to see you alive, Michael,” Jay said. “We were all so worried about you after we got separated.”
“You just don’t know how happy I am to see you, Jay. I didn’t know how to find any of you, and I was worried I’d never get to see you again,” Michael responded, his voice choked with emotion.
“Why don’t Abbie and I finish preparing lunch and let the two of you catch up?” offered Edie. Jay looked away from Michael for the first time when she said that. He seemed to finally realize there were others there.
“Actually, our food is ready,” Michael replied. We only need one more sandwich.”
“I’ll make another sandwich for myself if you’ll bring the rest out, Edie,” Abbie suggested.
“Sure,” Edie agreed. She took the sandwiches and baked butternut squash out to the table and set the table for four. Abbie made a honey and berry sandwich for herself. They all sat down and began their meal. Abbie and Edie ate quietly. Edie eyed Jay with interest but kept quiet. Jay brightened with the food. He looked less frightening and calmer as he ate.
“Why did everyone leave? What happened to the tribe after I got separated from you? Is everyone OK? How did you end up getting separated as well?” Michael asked.
“Slow down there, Michael,” Jay requested, laughing and clearing his mouth of food. “Before we get into that, do you remember what happened right before we lost you?”
“I think I do, but everything in my mind around that time is so fuzzy. I don’t know if what I’m remembering is real or something I imagined,” Michael answered honestly. “So why don’t you tell us what really went on?”
Jay laughed again. “Alright. Let me paint a picture for Edie and Abbie to help them see this in their mind more easily,” Jay said to Michael. “Our glade lies in the middle of a large forest and at the base of a mountain. It was a charming village that held many sprites that I cared about.”
“Wait,” Abbie interrupted before she could stop herself. “You said it WAS a charming village. What happened to it?”
Jay answered her, “One night, a large storm raged. There was a lot of heavy rain, and the village began to flood. We rarely had trouble with flooding, but on that night, the water running off the mountain was collecting in the glade. Our emergency plan was to travel up the mountain and stay in a cave until the rain stopped. Then we would go out and survey the damage. So, we followed the plan and headed up the mountain. Michael and I were the last sprites out of the village because we stayed behind to make sure that everyone got out. The rain grew harder as we made our way up the mountain together.
“Just as we were about to reach the top of the mountain, a bolt of lightning hit a tree nearby. One of the limbs snapped and hit Michael. I’m not sure where the limb hit him, but he dropped quickly. Still fresh from the shock of what happened, I tried to follow where he fell, but the rain obscured my vision, and I couldn’t find him.
“I searched for hours. The only reason I stopped my search for you was that two of the older sprites forced me into the cave so that I wouldn’t get hurt too. They promised me that we would resume the search for Michael the next morning. I was so worried about Michael that I didn’t sleep very much that night. The next day, we searched all day, but we found no sign of Michael. I was distraught, as were Michael’s parents. We hoped that nothing bad had happened to you, Michael, but the rain had washed away any clues of where you had gone.
“While we were searching for you, several of the other sprites went to survey the state of the village. They returned with bad news. Most of the homes in the glade had been destroyed. We all knew that we couldn’t live in the cramped little cave for very long, and the ground was too wet to start building houses any time soon. We salvaged all of the belongings and memories that we could. Then we set off to try to find somewhere either to stay until the ground dried out or to build a completely new village.
“Early in the morning every day, several sprites scouted new places and then we moved everything to a new site every afternoon. For almost two weeks, we would camp somewhere different every day. Then we got too exhausted to continue at that pace. We decided to continue to send a few scouts out each day to see if we could find a piece of land that would be a good place for us to settle permanently.
“I was one of the sprites who went out on scouting trips every other day. It took my mind off thinking about what fate had befallen you. The other scouts and I had a hard time finding anywhere that was proper to build a completely new village. One night I returned from scouting to find that our whole camp was gone. Michael, I know exactly how you must have felt to be without your friends and family.”
Jay stopped at this point to drink some water and take a deep breath. Michael patted him on the shoulder and then Jay continued. “As you might think, I was incredibly upset to find that all of the sprites had suddenly left. Not knowing what to do, I stayed in the area where the camp had been until the next afternoon. I had hoped that some of the sprites would come back, but when the sun began to set, I knew I had to find some place to sleep. I found a place where I would be somewhat protected and settled down for the night.
“It’s been almost a week since I lost the rest of our tribe. I’ve been on the move during the day to see if I could find them, or anyone else for that matter. At night, I’ve not slept much, but I’ve found places that would give me a little shelter and some protection from the elements. I was just about to go crazy from loneliness and hunger when I stumbled upon your village just now. I never expected that I would find you here, Michael,” Jay said.
“I never expected to see any of you again,” Michael replied quietly.
Jay’s eyes misted slightly as he thought about the events in his story. After a few minutes, his eyes held a look of keen interest. “So now I can ask the question that I’ve been longing to know the answer to for months. What h
Michael began, “I woke up on the ground shivering. The rain was beating down on me, and my whole body felt so sore that I didn’t want to move. I had no memory of who I was or where I was. The only thing I knew was that I had to get out of the rain. I immediately got up and searched for some place that would give me shelter. That would explain why I wasn’t there the next morning when you came to find me.”
“Ah. That makes sense then,” Jay said.
Michael nodded and then continued, “The next morning I set out to try to find something that would bring back any memories of who I was. I wandered around by myself the first day. I slowly gained memories of my past and remembered that I had once lived in a large group of sprites. I started to look for any other creature to ask where I had lived.
“On my second day of traveling, I met a kindly sparrow who told me about a little sprite community that he knew of. The sparrow gave me directions of how to get here. I hoped that this could possibly be the group I had become separated from.
“After another two days of travel, I arrived at the sprite village here in the Ashcroft Forest. I went to Fen, the village leader at the time and told him of my situation. He graciously told me that I would be welcome in the Ashcroft Forest for as long as I wanted to stay. Although I didn’t find the sprites from my tribe, I did meet these two wonderful sprites sitting with us. Abbie and Edie have been great friends to me while I’ve been here. We’ve had quite the…adventure or two.”
He shared a brief glance with Abbie and then Edie. He didn’t feel like now was the time to tell Jay everything that had happened since he had last seen Jay. About a month after Michael had arrived, Edie, Michael, and Abbie had traveled to Holli Lake to lift a curse from Edie. The three sprites had barely returned from the visit with the fairies when Fen, one of the village’s co-leaders, had an accident and was knocked unconscious. The village council asked a sprite named Mac to take Fen’s position while he recovered. Mac reluctantly agreed, hoping that nothing would go wrong. Unfortunately, the troubled fairy who put a curse on Edie came back to put a curse on most of the sprites in the village, including Michael. This curse had turned them all into different animals. Edie and Abbie had to journey to Holli Lake to again ask for help from the fairies.
On the way, Edie and Abbie had stopped in a cave for shelter. The cave they happened to stop in was the prison of the dragon, Parvack. He had been cursed not to leave the cave they found him in, and he held Abbie hostage while Edie went to beg the fairies for help. Edie made it to Holli Lake and convinced Queen Sharon to help her rescue Abbie from Parvack and then go with her to the Ashcroft Forest.
Edie and the fairies had arrived in time to rescue Abbie and free Parvack from his imprisonment. Then they went to the Ashcroft Forest to take the curse off the other sprites. It only took them a few days to rid the sprites of the curse. Before the fairies went back to Holli Lake, they found the misguided fairy who had put the curse on them and helped heal him as well.
Michael gave a short breath of a laugh at all that had transpired in the short time he had lived in the Ashcroft Forest.
“I’m glad that you found some wonderful friends like that, Michael,” Jay said, smiling as he finished off his sandwich. “Thank you so much for the food, Michael. Now I just need to figure out what I should do now.”
“You’re quite welcome, Jay. It’s probably a good idea to take you to meet Mac and Joneé. They’re the tribe leaders now. Fen had an accident a few months back, and he’s unconscious,” Michael replied.
“Oh, I see,” Jay said, wiping his hands on his already dirty tan slacks. “Well, let’s go meet Mac and Joneé!” Jay said enthusiastically.
“Do you mind if we tag along?” Abbie asked.
“Of course, we don’t mind! Michael exclaimed. “Come with us!”
Chapter Two
Welcome
The four sprites left Michael’s house and headed to Mac’s house first. Mac gladly welcomed Jay to the Ashcroft Forest. Mac then led them over to Joneé’s house so that he and Joneé could both talk to Jay.
Joneé welcomed everyone when the group arrived at her doorstep. Joneé had a large sitting room that she welcomed the group in to. After Joneé had been introduced to Jay, she immediately wrapped him up in a hug. “I’m so glad you found us, dear!” Joneé said to Jay when she had released him. Jay was so shocked at this outward display of emotion that his face turned bright red, but he hugged her back. Joneé took no notice of Jay’s embarrassment. She offered Jay the most comfortable seat so that she could hear his story.
After he poured out his tale, she said, “I’m sure you’ll want to stay with us, at least just for a little while before you decide what to do.” Jay nodded after a moment’s thought. “Well, we have two empty houses right now. You may take your pick of whichever one you would like to live in. They’re both fully furnished, so you don’t have to worry about sleeping on the floor. Michael, Edie, and Abbie can help you with just about anything you’ll need but let Mac or me know if there’s anything we can help you with. Is there anything I’ve forgotten, Mac?”
“I can’t think of anything right now. If I do, I’ll let you know, Jay,” Mac answered.
“Alright then. Michael, Edie, and Abbie, will you please show Jay the houses and help him settle in?” Joneé asked.
“Absolutely,” Michael answered. Edie and Abbie nodded in agreement.
“Thank you so much for your hospitality,” Jay said, looking slightly overwhelmed.
“You’re welcome,” replied Joneé with a smile. Mac opened the door and led the guests out of Joneé’s house. Abbie was the last in the group to leave. Just before she reached the door, Joneé called Abbie’s name.
“Yes, Joneé?” Abbie responded, turning back to face her.
“Make sure Jay gets some rest. He looks exhausted,” Joneé said in a motherly tone.
“I will,” Abbie replied, trying not to smile. Though Joneé had only just met Jay, she was already looking after him as one of her own.
“Thank you, sweetie,” Joneé called as Abbie was closing the door.
Michael, Abbie, and Edie spent the rest of the afternoon with Jay. They showed him both of the empty houses, helped him decide which one he liked better (the one closer to Michael), and then helped him spruce things up and settle in. The house had recently been cleaned since the Holli Lake fairies who had healed the sprites had just left, so there were no surprises in it as there had been for Michael when he moved in. Jay had nothing with him, so there was nothing necessarily to move in. Both houses were fully furnished with the basic necessities like furniture and dishes, however, so Jay was not left needing much. Michael brought over an extra set of clothes for his friend. They would work on getting him more clothes in the coming days.
Night was falling when Edie and Abbie went to Abbie’s house to fix a quick dinner for the four of them. Abbie and Edie pulled out a few things to eat and took them back to Jay’s new house.
“Now we can break in your new home with its first meal,” Abbie said with a smile as she passed out the bowls.
“Thanks for the help the three of you gave me today,” Jay replied.
“It’s no problem, Jay,” Michael responded. There were a few moments of silence while the four sprites ate the soup Abbie and Edie had made. Then Michael spoke again.
“Jay, do you have any plans to go look for the rest of our tribe?” Michael asked him.
“Michael, I would love to be reunited with the rest of our tribe. As I told you before, however, I have no idea where to being looking for them. They left while I was out on the scouting mission, and there was no sign of which direction they went. Frankly, I’m not even sure that I could find my way back to where we were camping that night,” Jay replied.
Michael lowered his head and said in a discouraged tone, “I know. I just hoped that you might have a plan of how to find them.”
The room again lapsed into silence as the sprites finished their meal. Abbie cleared the plates and left them to soak in Jay’s wash basin. Then she walked back to the other sprites.
