Ashcroft, page 9
part #2 of Ashcroft Forest Series Series
Edie felt the heaviness of what had happened in the area begin to overwhelm her, so she flew up the mountain in search of the cave where the Dixon Glade sprites had taken refuge. She found the cave fairly easily and landed in it. She found herself reminded with a shiver of Parvack’s cave. She wondered if Amirnov had ever slept here. Edie wondered how all of the Dixon Glade sprites had been comfortable in a cave like this, but she knew they had just done what they had to do.
She flew back down to the glade, and Katherine extended a red bell-shaped flower to her. Edie had never seen a flower like it before. “They only grow around the Dixon Glade,” Katherine said seeing the curious look on Edie’s face.
“Look, Abbie!” Edie said calling her friend over. “Look at how beautiful it is.”
Katherine turned to Abbie and extended the flower to her. “These flowers are only from around the Dixon Glade. It would look beautiful in your hair,” Katherine said. Abbie took the flower and twirled it between her fingers before putting it in her hair.
“Thank you, Katherine,” Abbie said. Katherine just smiled in return.
Abbie and Edie then found Michael. Edie put an arm around his shoulders. Michael smiled weakly at the gesture, and Edie could tell he was trying not to cry.
“Oh, I almost forgot that I promised Jay something,” he said with a sniff before moving toward Jay’s house. The two female sprites followed him in curiosity.
“I promised Jay that if we came back, I’d look for the spoon his grandmother gave him,” he said, continuing to the house.
“A spoon?” Edie posed.
Michael shrugged while pawing through the kitchen drawers of Jay’s house. He pulled on one drawer, and the moldy bottom fell out, spilling kitchen utensils all over the floor. Edie jumped, and Abbie and Michael laughed at the situation.
“Everyone OK in here?” Max asked from outside.
“Yes,” they answered.
“OK, well we should probably be going,” Max said.
“Just a moment, Max,” Michael told him. “Jay asked me to look for something specific.”
“That’s fine,” he replied. “I’ll round everyone else up.”
The three sorted through the spilled utensils before Abbie noticed a peculiar spoon. It was solid wood that looked to be black cherry wood. The spoon was short and flat with a big bowl on the end. The handle was carved with a tree that had tiny crystals laid into the leaves that looked like fireflies. It didn’t look like a typical eating instrument as the bowl was too large for a mouth, but it looked like a good stirring spoon.
“This one?” Abbie asked Michael, holding it up.
“That’s the one,” Michael said wiping his hands on his pants and standing. He took it and held it in his hands. “Jay said it was very important, so I promised I’d get it home to him.”
Michael stuck it in his backpack, and the three exited Jay’s former house. Max and the rest of the tribe were waiting outside. They decided to set off on foot in case the other sprites had doubled back to the site of their former residence.
Abbie could tell that Michael was in a wistful state being back in the area where he had grown up. She got him to tell them some of the stories of his childhood. The other sprites chimed in appropriately during his storytelling. It seemed to improve their mood after such a somber day.
The sprites walked until nightfall, finding no sign of life other than a few birds and squirrels. As the sprites bedded down for the night, Max told them they would search the next day and then head back to the Ashcroft Forest for a break.
Chapter Sixteen
Found
Abbie woke to a shrill whistle. She at first thought that Edie might be making tea in the kitchen. Then she realized it was the middle of the night, and she was in the middle of the forest. She sat up and saw strange looking figures walking through their camp with torches.
She was terrified at first and immediately reached to wake Edie. She found Edie’s hand beside her and realized Edie was already awake. Edie gripped Abbie’s hand with the same terror Abbie felt.
Edie managed to find her voice and whisper, “Who are they?”
“What are they?” Abbie asked in response. “Are they sprites or something else?”
“Max?” a tiny melodic voice said as she reached him.
Edie blinked in the light of the fiery torches and saw that the figures were sprites. She saw Max jump to his feet and brandish a small dagger. Katherine stepped in front of him as she realized who the sprites were.
“Max, stop!” she yelled. “It’s Lucy!”
Max rubbed his eyes and looked more closely at the torch-bearing sprites. He did not lower his weapon but turned to one of the other sprites in the group. “Why are you ambushing us at night?” he asked.
“We’ve been tracking you for two days,” a stern-looking sprite with dark hair and beard said. The two stared at each other for a moment in silence. He then walked up to Max and gave him a hug. Max finally lowered the weapon. All around Edie and Abbie, the sprites were embracing.
“They’ve found us,” Edie whispered to Abbie with emphasis on her first word. Abbie nodded in response, relief sweeping over her.
Although it took her a moment in the light of the torches, Abbie only counted eleven new sprites. She wondered what had happened to the rest of them. She knew that their journey could not have been easy.
The sprites they had found all crowded around Michael when they realized he was there. Edie knew that they must have all thought he was dead. The sprites pooled their torches and sat around the campfire they had made to talk. Max told them about their new home in the Ashcroft Forest and told them that Jay was safe. He told them that they were all welcome to come back with them to the Ashcroft Forest.
“So why did you reveal yourselves at night?” Katherine asked.
“As I said, we had been following you for two days. When we realized how close we were to finally finding you, we couldn’t wait any longer. We couldn’t even wait until morning,” the dark-haired sprite said.
“We should make some introductions,” Max said. “These two kind sprites sitting over here are Abbie and Edie.” He gestured at the two of them. “And I know the rest of us know each other, but let’s run through who our new members are.”
There was a pause before any of the new Dixon Glade sprites said anything. Edie could not see much of the sprites’ features in the campfire light like their wing colors. She knew that she would see them the next morning.
“I’ll go first,” the dark-haired sprite said with a small wave and bob of his head. “I’m Alakai. I’ve been the impromptu leader of these sprites since Jay, Max, and Katherine were all gone.”
Skylar made the next introduction. “This is my sister, Lucy,” she said, motioning to the small blonde sprite with large eyes whom Max had pulled the dagger on earlier. She sat very close to Skylar, holding her arm like she might disappear at any moment.
“These are James and Jaclyn’s children, Brenden, Meg, and Lorelei,” Skylar said motioning to three sprites who were not quite yet adults with auburn hair. Edie’s mouth dropped open, and she shared a glance with Abbie. She had no idea that James and Jaclyn had been separated from their children. Now she wished she had gotten to know them a little better and resolved to herself to learn more about all of these sprites in the coming days.
Gari and Teri were married and introduced each other. “Max frequently mixes up their names,” Michael whispered to Edie and Abbie with a laugh. “Gari is the husband, and Teri is the wife.”
Zarth was an older dark-skinned sprite who Michael told them was also a carpenter. Pam was a sprite whom Michael said had suffered a mysterious disease before the village had been destroyed but had been healed by their village doctors.
The two village doctors introduced themselves next. Debbie and Alan were a married couple who had taken on the role of doctors in the Dixon Glade. Abbie had seen Debbie’s beautiful red hair reflected in the fire light. Michael told Abbie and Edie that Debbie had contracted the same disease as Pam while caring for her, but that Alan had helped to heal her as well.
“Where is Harold?” Michael asked, looking around when all of the introductions were finished.
Alakai grew somber before responding. “Harold didn’t survive the dragon attack. We found him a few days later.”
Edie and Abbie gasped. They had been much luckier in their encounter with Parvack.
Alakai continued, “Clark also didn’t survive the dragon attack. He was severely burned, and he couldn’t recover. We tended to him not far from here until he succumbed to his injuries.”
Abbie looked over at Michael, who had tears in his eyes. He whispered to Abbie and Edie, “Harold was Jay’s father. He’s going to be devasted.” Abbie could feel her eyes fill with tears at this unexpected revelation. She exhaled a deep breath, wondering how he would take this. She didn’t even know that his father had been one of the missing.
Michael continued, “And Clark was the village historian…and my mentor…” He trailed off, choking back a sob. “He was like a father to so many of us. I will miss him greatly.”
Abbie and Edie hugged him from either side. He took a deep breath before asking, “Did we lose anyone else?”
Alakai hesitated and looked to Debbie and Alan. Alan walked closer to Michael and sat down. “I tried everything that I could for them, Michael. But your parents also sustained injuries from the dragon attack. You can take comfort knowing that they were together in the end.”
“NO!” Michael wailed, covering his face with his hands. Edie, still sitting close to him, rubbed his back while he sobbed. She looked at Abbie, who had tears in her eyes and still held Michael’s other arm. She could only imagine the sorrow at having lost so many of those he loved.
Alan returned to Debbie, who rubbed his shoulders comfortingly as well. Abbie knew that it must be hard for him to lose a patient he had been so close to, let alone so many. Abbie shivered thinking about what Amirnov had done to these poor sprites, and the bravery Alakai had shown in leading them. Alakai stood with his eyes downcast, a somber expression on his face. The gathered sprites grappled with their grief in silence only broken by sobs and sniffles.
“OK,” Max said finally, composing himself. “This has been an unexpectedly eventful night with difficult news. Let’s all try to get some sleep, and we can set off for the Ashcroft Forest in the morning.”
The sprites all bedded down for the night. Abbie and Edie were close to Michael. Edie fell asleep to the sounds of Michael softly sniffling.
Chapter Seventeen
Return
The large group of sprites began the journey to the Ashcroft Forest the next morning. Abbie picked several more of the beautiful, sweet-smelling red flowers before she left so that she could give them to Jay. She tucked them into her water canteen so that she wouldn’t have to dry them before they reached the Ashcroft Forest.
Trying to stay together slowed them down a little, but they were so happy to all be together that they didn’t care. The sprites arrived three days later back in the Ashcroft Forest.
Joe was one of the first to spot the large group arriving, and he quickly went to get Jay. It was a tearful reunion between him and the other sprites. Abbie knew that he was devastated to hear about his father and about Clark. He hid it as best he could since there was so much to do. Michael knew that he would break down later when he was in private. Abbie and Edie set about finding places for all of the new sprites to stay.
Abbie found herself wanting to catch up with Jay, but she and Edie had a job to do. They helped all of the sprites get settled into their new spaces. Abbie helped Alakai settle into Jay’s house. She gave the still-fresh delicate red flowers a deep inhale before leaving them on Jay’s pillow. They smelled sweeter than any other flower she had smelled near the Ashcroft Forest. She smiled to herself, thinking about the little touch of his previous home she was giving him.
As with the first group of the Dixon Glade sprites, the group had few possessions left, so move in was quick and easy. By mid-afternoon, Abbie’s head was pounding, so she headed home for a nap. Muzuru met her at the door and began jumping up and down at her feet.
Abbie picked him up, and he snuggled in next to her to nap. When Abbie woke up several hours later, she felt groggy, and her head was still pounding. She stood up and immediately felt dizzy. She quickly sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Abbie, ok?” Muzuru asked, having woken up when Abbie stirred.
“I’m not sure, Muzuru,” Abbie said. She tried to take a deep breath, but felt it catch in her chest. Muzuru looked at her intently. She tried to stand to get herself something to eat. However, her unsteady legs gave way, and she collapsed to the floor. She tried to take a deep breath to steady herself before getting up, but she could only take small gulps.
“Muzuru go get help,” the small trunkaloose said. “You lay down.” He gave her a small pat with his trunk before jumping off the bed.
“Get Alan or Lenk,” Abbie managed, and the trunkaloose bobbed his head as he scuttled out.
Abbie nodded absently and turned to get on her knees. She pushed her body up and pulled herself onto the bed and collapsed from the exertion. She suddenly felt cold but was sweating at the same time. She closed her eyes and waited for Muzuru…or someone to find her…fighting the sleep she could feel overtaking her…
Alice Michelle Hook, Ashcroft
