Renée finally sighed, leaned her head in, and whispered. “To speak of things, magical things, that have just happened is to jinx them. To break the spell. To bring misfortune down upon one’s head,” she said. “I will just say that what appears to have happened is what happened.”
I sighed again.
Maybe I was thick.
Chance suddenly brought his palm up and cupped it at my ear, leaning over. In a tone so quiet I could barely hear him, even though his lips were speaking so close they brushed my ears, he whispered, “The wish you made in the mushroom circle is coming true.”
He pulled back and met my eyes with a significant look.
I suddenly understood and was filled with even more questions. My mouth formed an “o” of surprise.
Renée put her finger to her lips in a silent ‘shhhh’ gesture.
It was maddening, but I understood. And we needed to get back to the Academy before night fell.
Renée nodded to me and pointed onward.
I nodded slowly, agreeing. We needed to go now.
She walked back to her place at the head of the line, and we continued to hike.
A million questions ran through my head as we walked.
Who was the man?
Why was his skin green?
Was he a faerie?
Was he a friend?
Was he going to help us?
The others seemed to think that if we remained silent and just hiked, the man would help us, and we’d get out of this.
But how? He’s not even here. He’s not leading us, Renée is.
I glanced up and over Liesl’s shoulder at Renée, wondering if she was somehow acting with the green man’s guidance.
Green Man!
Well, he had been a man, and he had been green. I wonder if he was the Green Man.
I almost instantly dismissed this idea. We’d been studying the different fae in class, and the Green Man had been one of the first lessons. He was supposed to be made of leaves, and he was part tree, literally. The man we’d seen was definitely a man wearing ivy leaves.
And he’d been muscular. Very muscular. Something told me the Green Man was not like that.
A picture in our schoolbook had shown a depiction of Green Man, and it had looked nothing like the man we’d seen. There’d also been a grainy, half-blurry photograph of the Green Man, and he had looked far more tree than human.
I remember asking the professor if the photograph had been of a person dressed up as the Green Man, like at a Halloween party, or if it was the Green Man himself. Because the lessons on the fae creature had been vague in that respect.
Was he real or just legend?
I remember the teacher had just smiled at me mysteriously and winked.
It was frustrating.
But I was beginning to just go with the flow at Titania Academy.
I was learning that many of the lessons we were taught were excruciatingly detailed in some respects, and exasperatingly vague in others.
It is the nature of faefolk legends.
Hmmm ...
I was thinking as I hiked, holding on to the back of Liesl’s tunic, and not paying much attention to my surroundings.
Everyone was stopping and crouching to hide.
What?
I dropped to the ground and knelt there, going along with the herd mentality.
Well, it had helped keep me alive before, when Aunt Clare and I traveled had through the city. So logic dictates it should keep helping now, in my new life at the Academy.
Liesl was ducking down far. Ahead of her, Renée was on all fours, her head almost to the ground.
“What is it?” I said in a nearly inaudible whisper.
Renée swung her head around and stared at me with stricken eyes, her finger to her lips.
I decided to just lay down on the ground, on my side, curled in a ball.
I closed my eyes and waited.
It’s probably a good thing I didn’t see whatever spooked the others.
A minute passed. Then another.
I could hear the forest trees creaking and sighing in the fog. It was a peculiar sound people probably didn’t often notice in a foggy forest.
Birdsong and small animal chatter are often muted when it’s this misty. And certainly, there is no breeze in a foggy wood, if there were, it would blow the fog away and clear the air a bit.
But no, in a misty wood, the forest sounds are muted, so if you hear some sound, it is usually because it is localized. Because it is near you.
So all I heard was the creaking and sighing of the trees next to me.
That was it.
Except ...
A quiet sound, if that makes sense, sounded in the stillness.
We didn’t make a sound, not a peep.
It wasn’t us.
But ...
We heard ...
Something.
“A-WOOOOoooooo ...”
A cold knot of fear bloomed in my stomach.
WHAT WAS THAT?
It sounded close by.
It sounded like it, whatever it was, was nearly on top of us.
“A-WOOOOoooooo ...”
It was a ghostly call, sounding both faint and metallic, as if it were far away, and whisper-close, as if a ghost stood next to me, whispering its call into my ear.
The chill of fear was like an icy spear in my chest now, and I was beginning to feel something else ...
Something very familiar.
What?
“A-WOOOOoooooo ...”
I realized my new feeling was a keen and desperate curiosity. The kind of intense desire to KNOW that invades the mind and will not let you go, forcing you to LOOK, even though you know it may lead to your death ...
My eyes popped open. I looked up.
The banshee from the cemetery was directly next to me.
Her grey ghostly shroud floated under her, and the bottom hem fluttered lightly in the air, though there was no breeze.
Her hands were almost skeletal at first glance, but then I realized they were just very bony and wrinkled, like the hands of an old, old woman.
She was barefoot, her feet hovering an inch off the forest floor.
Her hair was long and messy, like your hair right after you’ve woken up, before you’ve had a chance to brush it. It floated halfheartedly in the air around her face.
The banshee seemed sad.
She was looking down at me.
She was gesticulating.
Well hell.
I got to my feet. Halfway up, Chance grabbed my top and tried desperately to pull me back down.
Without taking my eyes off the banshee, I grabbed my top and yanked it out of his hands.
I stood there and stared into the banshee’s face.
It was something in her eyes that had banished all fear from me the moment we made eye contact.
She looked at me with an expression of beseeching. An expression of longing. An expression of earnest desire.
She was trying to connect with me.
“What do you want?” I murmured, staring into her face.
I barely blinked, not want this moment to end.
“Ahhhhhhhh ...” the banshee whispered.
I strained to hear. I labored to understand.
“What?” I said quietly.
“Oohhhhhhh ...” the banshee’s mouth formed into an “o” and a blast of air whooshed out of it, then she began to whisper.
Liesl had taken her cue from me and was standing up, too. She stood beside me, staring at the banshee.
After a minute, Liesl whispered in my ear. “What’s she saying?”
“You can’t hear her?” I was surprised.
Liesl shook her head, her eyes on the banshee.
It’s amazing how fear can flee when the friend next to you isn’t at all afraid.
The banshee was whispering to me.
As I listened, my eyes grew wide with surprise.
I could hear the others, but al
l my attention was on the banshee.
The ghostly apparition paused in her whispering, and I could hear a glimpse of the conversation going on outside of ours.
“Well, what do you expect me to do, Renée?” Chance was saying.
“Try to pull her away, Chance! The thing’s got her in some kind of magical grip.”
I felt a hand on my arm, and then a pulling.
Well, I want to keep staring at the banshee, but I don’t have to.
I swung around and looked at Chance and Renée.
“Cut it out, you two! I’m not in any kind of ‘magical grip,’ for Pete’s sake. I’m just listening to what she’s saying.”
Renée and Chance stared at me in surprise.
Liesl giggled.
I turned back to the banshee. She began to whisper again.
I listened intently, nodding at the instructions she was giving me.
Five minutes later, she was done.
“Can I hug you?” I whispered.
The banshee smiled and leaned toward me.
I extended my arms and reached around her to embrace her.
I was like hugging a Popsicle.
I grinned and nuzzled her cheek, and my nose got frosty from the contact.
We finally pulled away, and she bowed, then was gone.
I felt a keen sense of loss but drew comfort from the fact that I could visit the spirit any time I wanted to.
She had told me so outright.
She had told me a great many things.
I turned to my companions. “I know how to get back to the school. The banshee told me many things, and one of them was how to get back,” I said. “But we have to hurry if we’re to get back by nightfall.”
I turned and gestured to them. “Come on!”
I turned in a different direction than we’d been walking and began to trot.
“But Holly! What did she tell you?” Chance said.
“Later. We have to hurry.” I glanced back. Renée was trotting to catch up to Chance. Liesl was already next to him. “Liesl, help him, he’s sick.”
Liesl nodded and grabbed Chance’s hand, pulling him along.
Renée grabbed his other hand and helped.
I noted how much easier Liesl took direction from me.
We trust each other.
We ran through the forest, zigzagging through the trees.
At one point, Renée, puffing as she ran, asked out loud, “How does she know where she’s going?”
“I don’t know. Just follow,” Liesl answered.
We ran on, for more than an hour. Jogging through the trees and around bushes and in a few cases, jumping over fallen logs and splashing through a stream.
After a long time, I spied a break in the trees.
“Come on!” I sped up.
“Keep up, don’t lose sight of her,” Renée cried.
I glanced back, and they were both dragging Chance along; he was stumbling slightly.
I slowed until they caught up, then turned and trotted the last few hundred feet.
As we ran out of the forest and onto the Academy lawn, I heard a few shrieks of surprise.
We were home.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cursed
As we walked into the school, several students waved to us, but nobody was shocked.
We’ve been gone an entire day! Or was it two? I could no longer remember.
Chance and Renée headed to the headmistress’s office.
“Guess we’ll just wait here?” Liesl said.
We sat on the bench nearby.
After a minute, I remarked, “Chance was pretty ill. I wonder why he didn’t just go to the infirmary?”
“Yeah, that is weird,” said Liesl. “Guess he rallied at the end, in our rush running.” She glanced at me. “You’re going to have to tell me everything the banshee whispered to you. That was amazing. I don’t think the rest of us could hear her.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know why she was talking to me, or why I was the only one who could hear her.”
“We could all hear her calling, at first.”
“Was she calling? I thought she’d been moaning.”
“You know, now I’m not sure.”
We could hear voices faintly on the other side of the door. All of a sudden, we heard the headmistress’s voice, louder than the others: “WHAT??!”
Then a bit more conversation, less than a minute later: “WHERE IS SHE? GET THEM IN HERE!”
I glanced at Liesl. She had an ‘uh oh’ expression on her face.
I gulped. I hoped we weren’t in trouble. And I was starving and thirsty. We really needed to go find food.
The door swung open a foot, and Renée’s head appeared in the crack.
“Hey,” she said in a stage whisper. “You two: get in here. You are never going to believe this.”
“What?” I said as I got to my feet.
We approached the door. Renée waited till we were right next to her face. This time she really did whisper. “Holly, Liesl: it’s still the day before.”
WHAT?
“What do you mean?” asked Liesl.
“Just get in here,” Renée said, opening the door farther.
We walked into the office and also into the greatest mystery I’ve ever heard of.
“Sit down, please,” said the headmistress. “We have a lot to talk about.”
I was so tired and hungry, all intimidation was lost on me. “Can we please get some dinner? We’re all hungry and thirsty.” I glanced at Chance and Renée, and they nodded.
Chance looked bad. His face was still red, and he looked like he was swaying slightly in his chair.
“Headmistress,” said Liesl, “Chance isn’t doing well. He needs the doctor.”
“Yes, yes, Miss Becker,” said the headmistress. “I have called the nurse to come down and help Mr. Mac Craith while you all debrief us. However, I cannot release you yet. You have information that is vital, which we must hear now. It cannot wait.”
I sighed. Adults were always thinking their issues were so vitally important.
“Miss Ó Cuilinn, Miss Becker, I would like to fill you in on what Mr. Mac Craith and Miss Page and I were discussing before you joined us,” said the headmistress. “First of all, I understand you went on a picnic? And the chef tells me you stopped into the kitchens for sandwiches to bring along with you on this picnic?”
Liesl and I nodded.
The headmistress nodded as well. “And how long has it been for you since you left the school grounds?”
I glanced at Liesl.
This is weird.
“About thirty-two hours,” said Liesl. “We left right after breakfast yesterday morning. And we’ve just arrived at sunset, and I’m guessing it’s about six o’clock?”
“Well,” said the headmistress, “What’s actually happened is that, while you four were gone into the forest for over thirty-two hours, here on the school grounds, you left only this morning. It has been only about eight hours since witnesses saw you enter the forest.”
I sat up in my chair.
“And,” the headmistress continued, “I was told you had met and fought a bugbear with your familiars, Miss Ó Cuilinn?”
I nodded.
“Bugbears have been extinct in the forest for over a thousand years.”
I blinked.
“Also, Miss Page informed me that you encountered a faerie ring?”
I nodded.
“Those are extremely rare,” the headmistress explained. “Let me elaborate. They are never seen unless the fae of the forest, the faun and Kings and the sort, are reaching out to you and want you to step into one. And they are very selective.”
“My mother stepped into a faerie ring when she was just eighteen. She was on vacation in Ireland, I mean, over here,” I said, remembering the school was in Ireland. “She was on Christmas vacation and visited and found the mushroom circle and stepped inside and fell asleep. She had a fantastic dream about ki
ssing a man with horns and green skin.”
I’d been wanting to tell that story to someone for a long, long time. Aunt Clare had told it to me every Christmas since I could remember. I loved that story. It sounded so romantic.
I looked at the others and saw they were exchanging looks.
“What?”
The headmistress sighed. “I’ll continue. Mr. Mac Craith and Miss Page then told me you all saw a man in the forest?”
Liesl and I nodded.
“And he’d been one of the fae? Green? Clothed in plants?” The headmistress asked.
“Ivy,” Liesl said.
“Pardon, Miss Becker?” the headmistress’s eyebrows rose.
“Ivy,” said Liesl. “He was clothed in ivy. You know: like, the plant?”
“I know,” the headmistress said with a faint smile. “Okay, that brings us up to date on your adventures, at least what Mr. Mac Craith and Miss Page told me.” She looked at Liesl and me. “Can you please relate what happened next?”
Liesl and I filled her in on what happened after we noticed the man, until we returned to the school grounds, including what motions the man seemed to make, and the part about the banshee.
The headmistress sat back.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come,” the headmistress called out.
The nurse entered and began examining Chance.
The headmistress turned back to us while the nurse ministered to Chance, taking his temperature, drawing blood, looking in his mouth, ears, and eyes.
“All of you, I will explain what I know and what we believe caused this to happen,” the headmistress said. “Of course, we will have everything confirmed by the doctor in the infirmary. But what I think has happened is that someone has laid a curse on not only the forest, but on Mr. Mac Craith.
On Chance?!
I glanced over. Chance looked feverish.
“Was it Jessica and Naomi?” Liesl asked in a loud tone, jumping up as she spoke.
The headmistress put her hand out. “No, no, no. Such a curse, affecting an entire forest, would have to be cast by a very powerful being. Certainly not by anyone with just the first-year abilities of either the younger Miss Page or Miss Penner. No, this was not the work of schoolyard bullies.”
“Also,” the headmistress continued, “I believe that your actions in the faerie ring, Miss Ó Cuilinn, actually worked to save you and the others. When you spoke your poem, by the way, why did you recite those words, Miss Ó Cuilinn?”
Faerie Misborn Page 20
