The Rapha and the Firefly, page 19
Ariel’s heart fell as she listened to the old man’s words.
“But this one stands apart,” he clarified. “I don’t see the wariness in her eyes that most of them have. She stands here before us weaponless, and she has shown no signs of hostility. And her speech – I don’t think there’s a flyer in this whole valley who could have memorized something like that, let alone understand it. Searching for answers? Goodness knows, all the flyers I’ve ever met were only searching for food or weapons!
“No, this child isn’t a flyer. She’s a seeker, and this is right where seekers should be. She gets my vote.”
Hollow, Keeper, Ariel and the Rapha stood there amazed, unable to speak.
River, the water nymph council member, nodded and clapped Willow on the shoulder. “I’m in.”
“Me too!” Grandma Love chimed in.
Hollow whirled on her.
“You’re vote doesn’t count!” he reminded her. Before the Rapha could protest again, the other High Council and People’s council members were voicing their opinions.
“Aye.” agreed a young wood sprite. The other shook his head, looking at Ariel with distrust.
The nymphs of the people’s council looked at each other, both shrugged and nodded their consent. Both the hoppers cast wary eyes at Hollow. One shook his head apologetically as the other nodded his approval, not daring to look at Hollow again. One gnome voted for and the other against.
Sage did the tally in his head. “That’s seven for and three against, even without the vote of the rest of us,” he informed Hollow. “She’s been accepted.”
Hollow fumed. “She isn’t to be trusted! She isn’t to be allowed near children!”
“She goes on rounds with us!” Rosie protested. “She’s fine around them!”
“It was voted on, Justin!” Keeper curtly reminded the council member.
The name did nothing to calm Hollow down. He whirled about to glare at the council leader.
“You will call me Hollow when we are in council!” he spat out.
“Then you shall call me by my title,” Keeper shot back. “Or did you forget I’m the Elder Plains’ Keeper?”
Hollow did not respond, but the two stood facing each other, shooting fiery looks at each other.
Willow stepped between them and put a large hand on each one’s shoulder.
“She will be chaperoned while she’s in the colony,” he informed them.
“Already taken care of,” Sage grinned. Willow raised an eyebrow, impressed.
“How’s she being taught?” he asked.
“She’s been going with someone new each week, observing and learning about us,” Rosie expounded. “And in the afternoons, Basil’s been doing reading and writing lessons with her. Chaperoned, of course. Currently, she’s working in Tanner’s shop to earn a pair of boots.”
Willow smiled. “So, you have already planned her education out!”
“Yes, Willow!” Rosie beamed. “And she’s learning splendidly!”
“Well, well! Then it sounds like she’s off to a good start. I don’t think we could ask for much better, now.”
“You are much too trusting, Solomon!” Hollow pointed out. “She’s a flyer! She needs to be watched like a hawk!”
“Oh, come on, Hollow,” Dill piped in. “What’s the gripe? Ariel isn’t doing anything. She’s no more dangerous than any one of us.”
Hollow smirked and regarded him coldly. “Interesting words coming from a filthy little gypsy thief.”
Once again, the quick reactions of the other Raphas saved Hollow from a punch in the face. The hopper leader stepped back hastily.
“There! You see who this girl’s teachers are?” he exhorted to the other council members. “What kind of lessons do you think they’re teaching her?”
“Only that rude remarks could get your eye blackened without the fast reactions of good friends,” River guffawed. “We’ve talked enough, Hollow. I’m sure my wife is holding dinner for me, and my stomach is starting to grumble. We’ve already agreed on chaperoning and continuing the girl’s education. Now, unless you have any valid conditions to add, I do believe this meeting is closed.”
Hollow glowered. “No,” he finally consented. “That will be all.”
“Meeting adjourned then,” River announced. “Little lady, welcome to the Colony of the Keepers of the Plains. I will look forward to seeing you at our next Assembly.” And he grandly took Ariel’s hand, lifted it to his face and softly kissed it. Then turning, he left by the back entrance and the river, looking forward to his dinner.
“Good day, Young Ariel.” Smiling, Willow gave a slight bow to the princess, nodded his goodbye to the others and sank into the floor.
The others began filing out with various parting words. Keeper didn’t wait for any salutations.
“My place,” he hissed to the Rapha, and abruptly left. His students looked at one another in bewilderment. Hadn’t they won? What was Keeper so upset about? They said their goodbyes to the other council members as quickly as was respectable and flagged down respective rides for their teacher’s house.
30
Banished!
Ariel flew beside the sparrow Basil and Dill shared. They all flew in silence, hardly daring to look at one another. When they touched down on Keeper’s hill, Rosie, Sage and Thyme were already there outside the door waiting for them. Grandma arrived a moment later. They all exchanged looks again, squared their shoulders, and headed down the hallway.
Tanner was seated in a chair, warily watching his friend who leaned against the edge of the table, arms angrily crossed. In the doorway to the library stood the Chameleon, appearing as a young adult male hopper this time. He was unnoticed by Tanner and pointedly ignored by Keeper.
The Rapha silently filed in, casting looks at the two elders, wondering what was happening. As soon as Ariel came within his line of vision, Keeper exploded.
“YOU!” he bellowed. “I WANT YOU OUT OF HERE! NOW!”
Ariel took a few hasty steps backwards. “I…I’ll wait outside.”
“NO!” the elder countered. “I want you out of here permanently! Out of my house and out of our part of the valley! I don’t ever want to see you here again!”
“But Keeper,” Basil tentatively reminded him. “We won.”
“I don’t care! This isn’t about winning or losing! This is about her being able to do as she’s told! She was told she was not to come to Assembly and she deliberately disobeyed! She is no longer welcome here. She is too dangerous!”
The Rapha looked at each other in dismay. Grandma’s face had gone white with shock.
“What are you doing, Joseph?” she asked.
“Saving her life,” Keeper growled. He pointed Ariel to the door. “Get out!”
“But, Keeper…” Sage began.
“NO!”
“But she…” Rosie tried.
“I SAID NO!” Keeper reiterated angrily.
“Not even if she just comes to my place?” Basil asked. But the look Keeper gave him told him that wasn’t even a possibility.
A tear trickled down Ariel’s face and her heart despaired within her. This was so unfair! The council had given her permission to be there! Why couldn’t she stay? But Keeper had said no, and she knew the Rapha would side with Keeper. She slowly shuffled toward the door. As she reached the threshold, though, she remembered something. The memory lit a glow inside her. She raised her chin, squared her shoulders, and turned to face the elder.
“No!” she stated.
The response caught Keeper off guard, and he stared at her uncomprehending for a moment. Beyond Ariel, still in the library doorway, Keeper noted a subtle change in his shapeshifting guest. A glint of a smile graced his lips. It did nothing to improve the mentor’s mood.
“What?” He demanded of the flyer.
“I said no!”
Keeper glared as if she was some strange specimen that had suddenly appeared in his doorway. The Rapha looked from the leader to the princess, befuddled. The mentor’s eyes shifted over Ariel’s shoulder to the unseen guest. What did you do? He silently demanded. But, of course, the Chameleon wasn’t going to tell him. Instead, Keeper turned all his attention back to Ariel.
“Excuse me?” the elder’s eyes were taking on a very cold appearance. They bore into the girl, but she refused to drop her eyes.
“When we first met,” she explained, “we made a deal. If I keep your secret, I get to stay.”
“What secret?” Dill wanted to know. He was ignored.
“I kept my part of the bargain,” Ariel reminded Keeper. “You can’t make me leave. That would be breaking the rules. Your rules.”
Ariel didn’t think that Keeper’s eyes could get any colder, but as the reality of her words sank in, they became positively glacial. His eyes shifted again to the shape changing friend, who merely shrugged nonchalantly. Keeper’s gaze returned to the flyer. He stared at her with a mixture of anger, and distrust.
“You are playing a very dangerous game,” he growled.
“But it’s my game,” she responded.
The two glared at each other.
“What secret?” Dill still wanted to know.
“Why don’t you tell them and get it over with?” Keeper purred wickedly.
Ariel couldn’t help the smirk that crept onto her face. “I get to stay.” She declared.
“Yes and no,” he countered. “That deal isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card. You broke the rules, too. You are not to come anywhere near me or anyone else in this room for a week.”
Ariel glowered. That meant no lessons, no sewing with Rosie or Grandma or even working with Tanner. But there were other people in the colony she could visit: the Carvers, the Weaver children. She would get by. It was only a week.
“Ok,” she agreed grudgingly.
“And since we are the chaperones, you’re not to go near anyone else on this side of the valley either.”
Ariel’s jaw dropped open.
“That isn’t fair!” she cried out.
“That’s the offer.” Keeper told her definitively.
“But that’s just wrong!” the princess retorted.
“Then let’s make it two weeks.”
“WHAT?”
“Are we trying for three now?”
Ariel clamped her mouth shut and glared at the elder. He was dead serious. She looked to the Rapha for help, but it was obvious they weren’t getting into this argument. Grandma? No, her stance told the princess she better keep quiet. Tanner? He raised an eyebrow and nodded in Keeper’s direction. Accept it while you still can, his look said.
Ariel turned back to Keeper, only willing to raise her eyes as high as his chest and sighed angrily.
“Ok,” she consented reluctantly. “Two weeks.”
“Can she stay for lunch?” Rosie asked timidly.
“No! The prohibition starts as of now.”
The Rapha groaned under their breath as Keeper walked purposely over to the door. He held it open and waited. With one final look back at her friends, Ariel crossed the threshold and the door swung shut behind her.
As he latched the door, Keeper couldn’t help glancing over toward the library. His unseen guest sighed and shook his head.
“We need to talk,” he informed the mentor. “Let me know when you’re ready.” He faded from view.
Oh, I’m nowhere near ready. Keeper silently growled to the vanished friend. He turned his back on the library and addressed the others in the room.
“Okay now,” he began, “so, Timmy Weaver is finally starting to recover from his newest bout with poison ivy. How is everyone else doing?”
31
Not Being Idle
Ariel turned away from the door, dazed.
Banished! She had been banished!
Well, ok. Technically, she was only expelled for two weeks, but still… she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she ran up the entry hall, spread her wings and took to the sky, eager to put Keeper as far behind her as possible. Fuming with indignity, she flew back to the barn and glided down to the hard earth floor. No one paid her much attention, as usual. Most of her tribe were gathered around the men, watching as they gorged themselves on the remains of a few small road-kill animals they’d found. The hungry women and children watched as the men ate.
Ariel looked at the children: bone thin, hallowed eyed and starving. A few months ago, she was one of them, standing there waiting for a few scraps to stave off the hunger pains. With the Rapha she’d had as much as she wanted to eat and nearly forgotten what hunger was. The looks on the faces of the children in her tribe sent a wave of guilt and shame through her.
If I was still with the Rapha, maybe I could bring back a sandwich or two for them? she thought, but immediately knew she couldn’t. How would she be able to explain where it came from? And if she was able to sneak a few sandwiches for her sisters’ children, it would only last for one meal and then she’d have to bring more a few days later. Eventually they’d be caught, and questions would be asked that she couldn’t dare answer. No, sandwiches weren’t an option. And anyway, she wasn’t with the Rapha anymore. At least, not for the next two weeks.
She looked at the hungry children again. There had to be some way she could help them. An idea formed in her mind, and she turned it over until she came up with a plausible solution. Why, of course! It was so simple! There was a way of feeding them and not get the Rapha in trouble!
She lifted off into the air again and flew out the hay loft opening, fuming at the way irony had twisted things around: her mother’s ideas had formed the Alliance to bring the tribes together and help feed them. She’d just gotten kicked out of the Alliance. Now she was flying off to find food for the one tribe not allowed in the Alliance. The one tribe that was starving. Well, Alliance or not, this was one flyer that was no longer content with watching her people starve.
Ariel was back inside the barn in fifteen minutes carrying the biggest strawberry she was able to manage. The fruit was nearly half as big as she was!
“Look what I found!” she exclaimed, showing off her prize. Some of the others gathered around her and stared.
“That’s bird food,” Monarch finally summarized.
“Yeah,” Ariel admitted, “But I was hungry enough to have some myself. It’s really good! I found a whole bunch of them growing by the stream. The birds were eating them, and so was a turtle. So, I thought I would take a bite myself and see what it was like. I tried some and I didn’t die.” She turned the berry around so they could see where she’d pulled out a chunk. “Anyone else want to try it? It’s sweet!”
Thorn scoffed. “I don’t eat poison bird food,” he proclaimed.
Easy for you to say, Ariel thought but didn’t say it out loud. He was still holding a mouse’s femur and she could see he’d ripped off large chunks of its flesh to feed on.
Her sister Breeze looked at her hungrily. Her stomach growled.
“I’ll try some.” she said tentatively. She was starving and willing to try anything.
“No, you won’t!” Thorn slapped her hand away. Her baby, Storm, cried.
“Then I will,” Windy proclaimed. Before Monarch could protest, she gouged out a chunk of the berry and shoved it into her mouth. Monarch stared aghast.
“SkyKing!” he shouted, waving their leader over to see what was happening. Ariel grimaced but stood her ground. If she could prove it was safe to her father, the other women and children had a chance of getting fed that day.
The king came into their midst holding the remainder of his meal, and the men talked over one another, explaining the situation.
SkyKing stared at the plump red fruit. “That’s a strawberry,” he remembered. “They’re poison.”
“No, they’re not, Daddy!” Ariel explained. “I’ve seen birds and other animals eating them and they’re not dying. I’ve even seen other elves eating them.”
The group gasped and stared at her. Ariel bit her lip. She shouldn’t have said that last part. Gathering her senses, she took control of the situation by huffing.
“Of course, I’ve seen other elves!” she remarked, exasperated. “They’re all over the valley. I don’t let them see me of course, but they eat these berries. And the other berries too! The blue ones and bumpy ones. All kinds of berries! They’re eating them, Daddy, and they’re not dying.”
SkyKing stashed the remainder of his mouse meal under one arm and took the berry from her, turning it over in his hands. He risked smelling it.
“We used to eat these,” he recalled. “Back when you were young. The woman would gather them, and we’d eat them. And other berries too.
“You’ve been eating this?” he asked, seeing the cavity in the side.
“Yes! It tastes really good!” To emphasis her point, she scooped off another handful and chewed on it. Her father stared at her, as she nodded at him enthusiastically. Tentatively, he dug out a handful for himself and took another whiff of the fruit. It smelled fine. He risked licking it. There was none of the sharp bitter taste of poison he remembered in the berries from years ago.
“The other elves are eating these?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’ve seen them at it.”
Only then did he take a nibble of the fruit. It brought back a flood of memories of times long ago when there was more to eat in their colony. Not just the road kill and small animals they hunted down, and the garbage salvaged from human waste bins. No, years ago berries had been a large part of their diet. Before the season of poison. Was the threat finally over? He stared at his daughter, wanting to believe it. His gaze then took in the large eyed children gathered around staring at him hungrily, with empty bellies. How many had died on his watch? How many were dying now because there was never enough to eat? The food the hunters were able to bring back just wasn’t ever enough to go around.
