Where the Woods Grow Wild

by Nate Philbrick

“Who did?” asked Illo.

  Elodie tried to shift her position, but Fella held her in place. “Nayadu told me.”

  The cottage fell momentarily silent.

  “I didn’t think you’d lost that much blood,” said Illo. “Maybe I was wrong.”

  “I’m not delirious,” Elodie protested. “Nayadu found me during the night, and she promised to take me to Martin. That’s when the trunders attacked us. I wouldn’t have gotten away if she hadn’t fought them off. Right before I ran, she told me to go straight south and that people would be looking for me on this side of the river. I’m not lying!”

  “No one’s saying you’re lying,” said Fella in a calm voice.

  “That old morpher never comes out of hiding.” Illo folded her arms. “And if she does, it’s certainly not to help random people. Morphers are monsters.”

  “That’s what the dryads thought, too,” said Elodie. “They were wrong. I spent time with Nayadu. She wasn’t—”

  “This isn’t the time for an argument,” said Fella. “Illo, you shouldn’t speak so hastily about matters you don’t fully understand. Let’s focus on what needs to be done now. We’ll have plenty of time for talking later.”

  Podgin got the fire blazing. He hung a small pot full of water above the flames. The water boiled in no time. Fresh, steaming rags at the ready, Fella got to work. Her motions were softer and more precise than Illo’s, but Elodie’s back smarted either way. While Fella cleaned dirt and sweat from the scratches, Illo put on another pot to boil. In a few minutes she passed around mugs of tea. She placed one on the table next to Elodie. Aguilax went outside for what he called a well-earned nap. Podgin slipped out after him with a parting sneeze.

  Once the room had cleared and she had finished with the rags, Fella helped Elodie out of the ruined dryad dress. She wound bandages around Elodie’s torso to protect the tender scratches. Illo dug up clean clothes for her. She brought warm socks that rolled up to her knees, comfortable brown pants, which Elodie had to cinch at her waist, and a green shirt that fit loosely over the bandages.

  “I can’t find that extra pair of shoes,” said Illo. “But I’m sure someone won’t mind scrubbing down your old ones. Oh, and the right shoe needs a new lace.”

  “Good idea,” said Fella. “Why don’t you take care of that for her?”

  Illo stuck her bottom lip out. She grabbed Elodie’s shoes and headed outside.

  Podgin returned shortly thereafter. A leather satchel hung over his shoulder, and from it he hauled a book twice as thick as any of the volumes in Mayor Clarenbald’s collection.

  He placed the book on the table and wiped his hands on his beard. “So dusty. Illo can read up on the beasties whenever she pleases. I’m too hungry for knowledge.”

  Fella dropped the used rags in the bucket. “I’ll give you free reign in the kitchen if you make plenty for the rest of us.”

  Podgin let out a long sigh. “If I must.”

  “Thank you, Podgin. You’ve been a great help. What would we do without you?”

  Podgin’s nose went red, but he cheered up enough to whistle on his way to the pantry.

  Elodie tested her legs. She could walk, but it hurt. “Thank you, Fella,” she said. “I’m glad Martin came across people like you.”

  Fella gave her a warm smile. “He’ll be back, I have no doubt, and he’d flip a table if he walked in the door and found you the way we did. Keeping you healthy is in everyone’s best interest.” She winked. “There’s a spare room next to mine. You need to recover. At least one of us will stay nearby at all times, but rest as long as you want.”

  Fella took the bucket of rags outside, leaving Elodie alone in the main chamber. Elodie eased past the kitchen, where Podgin muttered at a potato, and slipped into the room Fella had indicated.

  The room was plain. A low window opened to the forest, and a stool squatted next to a double bed. A small, round object gleamed in the sunlight on the stool. Her heart twisted as she picked it up. It was Martin’s brass ring, the one she had given him on the bridge. Elodie put the ring on her finger and held it close to her chest.

  Elodie stretched out on her stomach. Exhaustion overwhelmed her, a different sort of exhaustion from what she had experienced in the forest. Her body hurt from head to toe, but she was warm, bandaged, and for the first time since waking up tied to a tree by the river, she could sleep without fear of waking up to some new form of danger.

  The gentle rustle of branches outside the window blended with a distant conversation between Illo and Aguilax and lulled her into a dreamless, fearless, blissful sleep.

  Elodie reluctantly pulled out of her sleep a few hours later. The first thing she heard was a gurgle where her stomach demanded attention, then soft voices from the main room. Elodie got off the bed. The motions stretched her stiff back, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t tolerate.

  She found the others sitting around the table near the hearth. Illo methodically cleaned her bow with while Fella rested her head on Illo’s shoulder. The elder sister looked even more worn out than when she arrived. Across from them, Podgin finished off a buttered roll with his feet propped up on the table. He licked his fingers clean and then eyed the kitchen for more. Aguilax lay curled at the far end of the table, his stubby tail flicking back and forth.

  “Have a seat, Elodie,” said Fella.

  Elodie claimed an empty chair. “Any sign of him?”

  Fella shook her head. “Not yet. Aguilax flew around again while you slept, but since we have no clue what direction he went off in...”

  Elodie fell silent. Podgin grunted and made for the cupboard. Illo jumped after him. She slapped his hand away from a jar of honey and set about preparing a tray of food he had made earlier. While she worked, Fella told Elodie everything that had happened since Illo found Martin in her bog boar trap. Both Illo and Podgin butted in to contribute portions of the story.

  “I had no idea he was so close behind,” said Elodie. “Now he’s gone and I’m the one stuck here.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up too much,” said Illo. “You were smart to get far away from the dryads. Not crossing the Minnowchuck would’ve saved you a few lacerations, but hey, you didn’t know any better.”

  She set the tray on the table. There were fresh rolls, which she kept well out of Podgin’s reach, and the honey jar to go with butter, portions of meat that looked something like turkey, and a clay pitcher of water with wild mint leaves.

  Between bites of food—Elodie exercised great restraint by not shoveling the whole tray into her mouth at once—she filled in the gaps of her own story. They already knew most of it, since they had been on her trail from the beginning, and she skipped the most unpleasant parts. She told them in greater detail how Nayadu found her and watched over her throughout the night, and even Podgin paused with a slice of meat halfway to his mouth when she recounted their flight from the trunders.

  “I guess that makes some sense,” said Aguilax. “The morpher wanted to save her own skin, and you happened to be with her. That still doesn’t mean she’s not a dangerous beast herself. Next time, I recommend you run from her as fast as you can.”

  “Right, because forest forbid a morpher turn into something fast, like an ostrich,” said Podgin.

  Illo choked on a bite of bread. Elodie didn’t understand their incredulity, but she didn’t insist on the matter. She knew the truth.

  “We should be more concerned about the trunders,” said Fella.

  “Why? They never hunt past the river,” said Aguilax. “Elodie’s misfortune was simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  Illo plucked her bowstring. “Don’t forget, Podgin and I saw a trunder just over the brook. It sure didn’t act aggressive, but then again, I’m pretty intimidating.”

  Podgin rolled his eyes.

  “I agree with Fella,” said Elodie. “I’m worried about Martin, though, not us. I feel safe here, but he’s on his own in the wilderness just like I was.” Und
er the table, she toyed with the brass ring. “I want to look for him.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” said Fella. “Those cuts need to heal properly. The bandages won’t help at all if you run around and tear yourself loose.”

  “Besides, none of us know where he went,” said Illo. “I hate to say it, but the best thing to do right now is wait. Martin’s a bit thick, but not totally senseless.”

  “That’s not to say there’s nothing we can do about it.” Fella hunched over the table. “Aguilax, I want you to fly to the dryad palace. General Tum has a decent head on his shoulders. Ask him to keep his soldiers alert in the woods and to send word if they hear of Martin’s whereabouts. Podgin, I know you miss your oven, but we could really use your help around here until the dust settles.”

  Podgin slouched in his chair so that his nose quivered at table-level. “As long as no one yells at me or calls me names. And I’ve changed my mind about the spade. I want to hold those truffles by my ear and listen to their sweet melody.”

  Illo stuck her tongue out in disgust.

  “Illo, you and I will keep an eye on the woods around here. Don’t leave the cottage without your bow, not with trunders roaming around. And remember…”

  “If it’s bigger than me, don’t fight it alone. If I don’t know what it is, don’t kill it without asking questions. I know, I know.”

  Fella smiled. “And if you have to shoot...”

  “Shoot straight. When do I ever not?” She grabbed her bow and quiver and was halfway up an oak before the door swung shut.

  Podgin got to work clearing the table, and Aguilax hopped out the window.

  “As for you, Elodie,” said Fella, “I need you to trust us and to be patient. I’ll make sure you and Martin get back together safe and sound. I promise.”

  * * *

  The rest of the day stretched on and on as Elodie waited for news. Though her head shot up every time the door opened, she did her best not to pester the others with questions. She already knew what answers to expect.

  Aguilax came back from the dryad palace with a promise from Tum to keep an eye on the woods around their island. Illo spent most of the afternoon and evening in the trees, and Podgin snoozed by the fireplace whenever Fella didn’t need help from him.

  During one of her breaks, Illo sat at the table and flipped through the pages of Forest Flora and Fauna, from Floodweed to Fanged Fledglings, the book Podgin had brought from his house. Podgin joined her, kneeling on a chair to see. Elodie watched them glue their noses to the old pages until they waved her over.

  Illo had the tome open to a page near the back. “Look, I found it.”

  The sketch on the page was rough, but Elodie recognized the trunder right away. Its snout hung low to the ground, and its wings stretched out, ready for flight.

  Elodie looked away. “I’ve seen too much of them already.”

  “Forget bog boar,” said Illo. “Can you imagine how thrilling it must be to hunt one of these? There’s not much written about them, though. I’m not surprised. It’s hard to learn stuff about an animal that’ll attack pretty much anything.”

  Aguilax lifted his head from the corner. “What savages.”

  “Hold on, here’s something interesting,” said Illo. “Trunders inject a toxin into their prey when they bite. I wonder why, when they can just rip—”

  She caught Elodie’s raised eyebrows and shut her mouth.

  Elodie retired to her room when the sun set. She tried to sleep on her back, but the pressure was too much even with the layer of bandages. By breakfast the next morning, her wound had stiffened so much that she couldn’t get out of bed by herself, and Fella had to help her stand up. Elodie trudged through her second day in the cottage at the same discouraging rate as her first.

  On the third day, however, she could walk around without triggering any bouts of pain. Fella checked the wound to make sure it wasn’t infected and to change the bandages. By the afternoon, Elodie’s back only hurt when she stretched too far or made sudden motions, and on the morning of the fourth day she felt ready to tear the forest apart and drag Martin back by his toes.

  Elodie knew she would shrivel up like a cherry in the sun if she constantly worried, so she found ways to pass the time and keep her mind occupied.

  Illo became her main source of companionship. When not scouting the forest around the cottage, she made sure Elodie had something to do. She tried to teach her to shoot arrows until, on their second morning of practice, one of Elodie’s arrows flew wide and whizzed right past Podgin, who had wandered into their target area on a truffle mission.

  “You almost got him,” said Illo. “You should keep practicing!”

  Elodie graciously declined. Inasmuch as her back allowed, she helped Fella weed the garden behind the cottage where potatoes, rhubarb, green onions, and a couple rows of herbs grew. She also suffered through Podgin’s monologues about edible mushrooms, and how portabellas were better than white buttons even though they were harder to find.

  The fifth day rolled around, and there was still no news about Martin. Aguilax spent more and more time searching without anyone asking him to. Elodie suspected the lynx had noticed her frequent sighs and glances at the door. Illo started to go with him as well. She ran through the trees almost as fast as the lynx flew.

  Halfway through the day, the cottage eased into silence. Aguilax had gone out to hunt for himself, and Illo was up an oak somewhere. Fella and Podgin were both resting, she in her room with the door shut and he under the table with an empty basket tucked under his head.

  Elodie didn’t want to sit around by herself. The sun was bright and warm outside, and the scent of blooms permeated the forest. It reminded her of spring days when she and Martin shared secrets in the orchard. A walk seemed the best thing to keep herself busy until the others came back or woke up, so she slipped on her clean courier shoes.

  She stood by the brook for a minute, enjoying the sun on her face. Then, not wanting to be spotted, she hurried away. She eased up when the cottage was out of sight. It felt good to put her muscles to use.

  Elodie rolled up her sleeves and pant legs, and even considered kicking off her shoes. She walked slowly, taking in as many colorful details as she could: sparrows with crimson wings hopped in the brush, a handful of golden butterflies bobbed past her head, and best of all, she found a small glade where little orange flowers grew in thick clusters. Elodie sat among the flowers. It wasn’t clover like the fields, but the glade reminded her of good times.

  She thought of Nayadu. Surely she had escaped the trunders unharmed, but what then? Was Nayadu watching her right now, disguised as a bird or an insect? Even if she couldn’t see her, knowing that Nayadu watched out for people in the woods ebbed her worry over Martin. She just wished the others would open their minds.

  Content to stay in the glade, Elodie got comfortable on her side and let her mind drift. She began to doze off. Then she snapped out of her drowsiness. Branches shifted above her, and a quick shadow moved along the edge of the glade.

  Elodie sat up. “You might as well come down and join me.”

  Illo dropped from a tree. “I didn’t think you’d realize I was here.”

  “I work for the mayor. Everyone’s always sneaking up on everyone else. I think I’ve developed an extra sense. Want to sit?”

  “I should keep on the lookout. And I wasn’t sneaking.”

  Elodie patted the ground next to her. “No one’s going to die if you relax for ten minutes.”

  Illo dropped her bow and quiver full of arrows. “Aren’t you the one worrying your socks off?”

  “I am,” said Elodie. “But I’ve been trying not to let it get the best of me. I guess I don’t feel so anxious today. That’s good, right?”

  “Sure.” Illo plopped down next to her. Within a minute she was fidgeting with blades of grass, twirling them between her fingers. “I don’t see how you can sit still for so long. What do you do?”

  “Depends. Som
etimes I think about life and what I want to do in the next two years. Other times I plan how to sneak oranges out of the mayor’s study.”

  “What about this time?”

  Elodie looked around. “This glade reminds me of the fields back home,” said Elodie. “I was going over good memories.”

  “About him?”

  “Some of them.” She grinned. “Okay, a lot of them.”

  Illo plucked a handful of flowers and twined the stems together into a miniature wreath. “You’re stronger than I thought you’d be. I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I were in your skin.”

  “It’s hard not to cave in, but I have faith in him. Besides, he’d better be alright, because if anything or anyone hurts him, I’ll rip them apart.”

  Illo’s fingers stopped fiddling. “You didn’t strike me as the kind of person to say things like that.”

  “You didn’t strike me as the kind of person who makes flower wreaths.”

  “Fair enough.” Illo picked more flowers to twist together. “When I found Martin, he was floundering around in my pit. I called him a trout because he looked a little pathetic.”

  Elodie couldn’t hold back a laugh. “You called him a trout?”

  “And more. I’ve been hard on him. More than I should have. At first I only helped him look for you because Fella made me. When push comes to shove, I have to do what she says. She’s the oldest, you know. But Martin’s arm kept getting us in trouble, and I thought babysitting him was just a waste of my time. I...I haven’t told anyone, but I’m worried he took off on his own because of me.”

  “I don’t think he would do that,” said Elodie. “You said it yourself, he can be thick, but not totally senseless. If I know Martin, he left because he thought he found a way to make things right on his own, not because of anything you said, but because he’s proud, and he knows his arm sometimes makes him a burden.”

  “You’re honest about him,” said Illo.

  “I can’t expect him to be perfect, can I?”

  Illo slid her finished wreath over her hand. “I just hope one of his episodes hasn’t knocked him out in some ditch.”