With some relief, Tabitha resolved to stop by the water here for a little while. Just while she rested a bit. She hadn't realised quite how much she'd been longing to be in the river. Perhaps that was part of what had been making her feel so miserable over the past few days – and if paddling in the shallows would make her feel even a little bit better, then she was willing to do it.
Tabitha eased her shoes off her aching feet, and turned to put them with her bag – and then almost dropped them again. Poking through her belongings were three of the strangest little creatures she had ever seen – even relative to the monsters that she had seen in her village these past few days. Tabitha stared.
The creatures so cleverly blended in with the riverbank that she might not have noticed them at all if they hadn't been so obviously rifling through her bag. They were all vaguely humanoid in appearance, but each was scarcely bigger than her hand, with skin so pale that it was almost blue, and limbs that were distended in a way that reminded her of insects. There the similarities between them ended. Each of them was covered in a distinctive pattern of scales and webbing and stranger features that strongly reminded Tabitha of the plants that were growing in the river.
The first creature most closely resembled a human, with pale, translucent skin, dark scales covering her hands and forearms and legs, and wings like a dragonfly. She was unpicking the knots holding Tabitha's bag together.
The second looked more like a plant, the blue of its skin darker, turning into a deep emerald around the face and limbs with tiny green and white blooms covering its head and back. It was digging into the contents of Tabitha's bag, straining to pull out her belongings, which were clearly far too heavy for it.
The third seemed to be overseeing the operation, standing to the side of the bag and waving its arms at the plant-like creature in a gesture that clearly meant hurry up. This creature was taller than the other two, long and thin and insect-like, like a stick insect.
“Hey!” Tabitha finally cried out as she watched them pull out another item of her clothing.
She crossed her arms and tried not to appear as frightened as she was. She was bigger than them, she told herself. And if nothing else, she was sure she could run faster than they could. She tried not to let her voice tremble.
“Just what do you think you're doing?”
The creatures apparently understood her well enough to drop what they were holding and gape up at her with their round, black eyes. They quelled under Tabitha's stern gaze, and scrambled to gather together, clinging on to each other's arms – well, to what Tabitha assumed were arms, anyway.
“Well?” Tabitha demanded, still trying to sound authoritative. She had heard her grandmother put on this voice so many times before, and people always listened to her when she did. Tabitha hoped it would have the same effect coming from her, and that it would work as well on these strange little creatures as it did on other people.
The creature with the dragonfly wings tiptoed forwards, and then flung herself down low in a dramatic bow. Tabitha tried to look as though she had expected this.
“Hello, sister,” the creature cried out, not looking up from her bow.
Tabitha faltered as the other creatures crept forward and both mimicked the first's low bow.
“We've been waiting to meet you, river witch,” the insect-like creature said, giving her a cunning smile.
“You're mistaken,” Tabitha stammered, her authority quickly dwindling. “I'm not a river witch. I don't even know what a river witch is.”
The creatures exchanged glances, and returned to their huddle, from which they keenly observed Tabitha.
“You have the river in your soul, sister,” the one with the dragonfly wings said to her. “We do too. That's how you found us.”
Tabitha felt her heart begin to hammer as the creature echoed the words that her grandmother had always said to her. She understood what the creatures meant, she thought – although it was unthinkable to her that she shared anything with these strange creatures. And, guiltily, Tabitha remembered that the river hadn't been talking to her just recently. She didn't know whether that meant it had left her soul, too. But Tabitha thought that there was a right time to make that sort of announcement, and that this probably wasn't it.
She crouched down beside the creatures, so that she could look at them at eye level.
“Why were you going through my things?” She tried to sound stern again.
The creatures clutched at each other more desperately, wriggling in discomfort.
“Oh, sister!” the plant-like creature cried. “We know we shouldn't have looked!”
“Your belongings all have the scent of the river about them, sister,” the insect-like creature said. “We couldn't help ourselves.”
Tabitha considered this.
“My name's Tabitha,” she said eventually, trying to buy herself some time to think. “Please, call me Tab.”
They all nodded and bowed low again, pushing each other back and stumbling and giggling as they tried to bow lower than each other.
“And what are your names?”
“I'm Aninata Anitera,” the creature with dragonfly wings said, “but if we can call you Tab, you can call me Ani.”
“I'm Corida,” the insect-like creature bowed again.
“And I'm Bellat,” the plant-like creature added.
“Ani... Corida... Bellat...”
Tabitha realised she was staring – but although she still retained a distant sense that they shouldn't have been going through her bag, and that she ought to ask them something more about this, a feeling of fascination was rapidly overtaking her indignation. She did recognise something of the river in them, she thought. Maybe they really were harmless.
“What are you?” she asked.
“We're water sprites, silly,” Ani giggled. “Didn't you know?”
Tabitha blushed, making the three sprites giggle some more.
“I've never met a sprite before,” she said, “but I'm very pleased to have met you three.”
The three sprites fell about laughing at this, but seemed to appreciate Tabitha's comment nonetheless. They began preening, like little birds fluffing up their feathers, showing off to one another. And then they were racing past her for the river. Tabitha turned to see them disappear under the water.
That was the end of that, she thought glumly.
But no – they hadn't run off. Tab jumped as the sprites erupted from the water again, in a mess of bubbles and rainbows. They dived elegantly in and out of the water, almost as if – were they showing off? To her?
“Come on!” Bellat called. “Aren't you coming in?”
Tabitha froze. Were they trying to trick her?
“It might not be safe,” she said cautiously, inching close to the riverside. She peered in. She supposed it was very shallow...
Tabitha squealed as Ani sprayed water into her face.
“You're the river witch,” Ani sighed, her dragonfly wings glimmering where tiny droplets of water had stuck to them. “You can't stay out of the river forever.”
Tabitha tentatively put a foot in the water. Nothing happened. So she inched forwards, feeling the pebbles at the bottom digging into her feet and the cold water biting at her ankles. Tabitha exhaled. The relief she felt at being back in the water was incredible. Perhaps whatever dangers had woken up back at home hadn't caught up with her here.
Tabitha shrieked again as Ani sprayed yet more water in her face, and bent down to splash the water back at the sprites. They gave peals of laughter, for they were already soaked through anyway, and so Tabitha's splashing about yielded little effect. Tabitha grew steadily wetter as their silly games continued, until eventually she was sat contently at the edge of the river, reaching for the beautiful bubbles that Corida was somehow conjuring up and allowing Ani and Bellat to drape plants over her head like long strands of green hair.
“Why do you keep your hair so short?” Ani asked, wrinkling her nose. “It would be so l
ovely if you wore it long.”
“Long hair is impractical,” Tabitha shrugged. “I don't need it to be lovely.”
Ani pouted. “But if you could have something lovely, why wouldn't you?”
Tabitha didn't pay her much attention. For the first time since before the river had stopped talking to her, she felt relaxed and happy and in her element. It was almost as if it was talking to her again, with these funny little water creatures – sprites – here chattering to her. She wished she could just stay with them.
With a sigh, Tabitha got to her feet, and began raking the river weeds out of her hair. She had only meant to stop for a little while, and the sun was already getting lower in the sky.
“What are you doing?” Bellat said crossly. “I hadn't finished.”
“I know,” Tabitha said reluctantly, “but the day is passing quickly... and I need to get going.”
“No!” the three wailed in unison. “You mustn't go!”
“I have to,” Tabitha said. “I have to find the place where my mother lived... a place called the Iron City,” she added hopefully, but it was clear from the blank expressions on the sprites' faces that this was meaningless to them. Although perhaps that was for the best, since the reason she was going to the Iron City was that it was supposed to be a place which would keep her safe from the faeries. Presumably the sprites wouldn't be welcome there. She resolved not to mention it in front of them again.
The three sprites retreated into a little huddle in the shallows while Tabitha tried her best to dry herself off, and repacked the things they had spread out from her bag. When she was done, she turned back to the river to see the three sprites lined up in front of her, all wearing the same solemn expression. Corida stepped forward.
“We don't know this city where your mother lived,” he said solemnly, “but if you're travelling alongside the river then we would like to come with you.”
“Really?” Tabitha asked brightly.
“It's so long since we met a human,” Bellat said, “and you aren't just any human, river witch. You share our soul. We would like to explore this strange new world with you.”
“It's so similar to when we were here before,” Ani said, looking around with something like sorrow on her face, “and yet somehow everything is different.”
“So you've just woken up, too,” Tabitha said softly.
Perhaps she had done some good by interrupting the dance in the forest, after all. It was sad to think that these playful little creatures had been sleeping as well as the river mermaid and the great snake. It must be wonderful for them to finally wake up after such a long time – to be able to play in the river again. She couldn't bear to think what it must be like to be kept away from the river for so long.
Perhaps these were the sidekicks she had hoped for, even if they didn't look quite as she had imagined a sidekick to look. Nothing had been quite as she had imagined so far.
“I would love to travel with you,” Tabitha said.
10
CHAPTER TEN
Tabitha woke, as she had done every morning that week, to find her faery companions already awake and staring owlishly at her in the dark.
She had found it unnerving at first, to wake up to the uncanny glint of the sprites' unblinking black eyes, which they evidently kept trained upon her as she slept. The first morning she had almost jumped out of her skin, having forgotten that she had picked up this little gang of accomplices the day before. But Tabitha had been surprised at how quickly she had grown used to their company, even to their eerie habit of watching her through the night. Now she thought of the sprites as her night watchmen, keeping a close eye on her throughout the dark hours. The thought comforted her, and with that in mind she was even able to forget about the cold and the hard ground and the damp when she lay down to sleep. She slept well, better than she had done even since before leaving the village.
The sprites had, to her surprise and delight, made her life considerably easier. Tabitha gave a long stretch and shooed the sprites away while she got dressed. They scurried off, giggling, and she gave an affectionate smile at their retreating backs. The sprites had found the fish in the river which she could not. They showed her where to forage for blackberries and apples and wet walnuts and mushrooms and nettles, and then they would all share whatever they had gathered. More than once, Tabitha had thought how lucky she was that this had all happened at this time of year, when there was plenty of food on the ground and in the trees. She tried not to think too much about what would happen if she didn't find the Iron City before the winter really set in. And so although occasionally Tabitha would be racked with a craving for the potatoes they grew at home, for the most part, thanks to the sprites, she was eating well enough, and she was grateful for their help and their company.
Once she had dressed, Tabitha allowed herself to wander slowly back and forth for a minute, taking her time to stretch out her neck and back and arms. Sleeping on the ground was still taking some getting used to.
“Are you hurting?” Ani called, and fluttered back over to Tabitha's shoulder, digging her little hands into Tabitha's neck to try and rub out some of the tension. She was by far the most considerate of the three sprites, although the most wicked whenever they teased Tabitha or came up with filthy jokes.
“It's okay,” Tabitha assured her, although she didn't stop her from kneading the knots out of her shoulders. “I'll get used to it.”
But Ani quickly grew bored and flew back to where her brothers were sitting in the dew-ridden grass. Tabitha tilted her head in one final stretch of her neck, and then stooped to roll up her canvas, shaking off the water that had gathered on it during the night. It was beginning to smell unpleasantly damp, she thought, wrinkling her nose up in disgust, but while it was still so wet during the days it seemed pointless to try and air it out. Tabitha retrieved an apple from her pack for breakfast, offered some blackberries to the sprites, which they rejected, and then the unlikely companions began to walk onwards again.
They were still following the river, which had at least widened out again now even if it remained quite unlike the river that Tabitha knew at home. She missed the taste of salt on her tongue, the flatness of the earth around it, the skies that seemed to stretch to the ends of the earth. Here the undergrowth grew thick and wild, and even as it began to wilt and brown in the autumn it remained dense enough that at times Tabitha had to walk away from the riverbank. It didn't seem to bother the sprites, who could slip in and out of the brambles, but Tabitha found it unnerving whenever she had to separate herself from the water. That had been her grandmother's only advice – to keep following the river – and she didn't like to think that she might wander away from it and get lost.
They continued walking for half a day, and then stopped as usual so that Tabitha could eat some lunch and have a break. She had begun to allow herself to progress more slowly. With the sprites to distract her, she didn't mind quite so much if she had the time to stop and think. They often simply dived back into the water, as they did today, but Tabitha still didn't feel lonely now that she knew they would always return. Whatever they were doing, she was calmer for knowing that they were nearby.
Casting a weary look at the grey clouds above, Tabitha sat down against a big oak tree, hoping that it might offer her some shelter from the drizzle. She made an examination of the blisters on her feet – which were improving, she thought – and then took out some of the fish remaining from last night. Her stomach growled, and she wondered whether she was getting enough to eat. She devoured the fish quickly, and lay back against the tree trunk to wait for the sprites to return.
She was definitely feeling calmer, even if she did still feel a little as though she was just walking aimlessly each day. Besides, she had no alternative plan to follow even if she wanted to. Although as each day passed there was still no sign of any other human or village who might help her to find the Iron City, with the sprites alongside her Tabitha was confident that eventually they wou
ld find what she was looking for. And importantly, she had their company in the meantime. She sometimes wondered what the Iron City would say when she arrived with the sprites in tow. They didn't seem very dangerous to her, and she hoped that the Iron City would realise it when they saw them. Even if they would be able to protect her from the kind of monsters who had surfaced in her village, she hoped that didn't mean that they would be suspicious of the sprites.
Tabitha wondered again whether she ought to retrieveA Compendium of Faerie from her bag in order to start reading up on the faeries she had encountered so far – as well as to learn more about what might lie ahead. But she still couldn't bring herself to read the book. Whenever she considered it, a wash of misery came over her. All of these revelations had stirred up all sorts of old emotions about her mother; she wasn't sure that she was ready to look at the old stories they had read together again just yet.
“Tab!” Ani's high, excited voice reached her before she spotted the sprites racing back towards her.
“Tab, Tab!”
They were all calling her name, over and over. Tabitha spotted them falling over each other in their efforts to get back to her quickly. For a moment she was worried; and then she realised that they were simply wildly overexcited.
“Tab, Tab, listen!” Ani gabbled, taking hold of whatever material of Tabitha's clothes she could and trying to pull her up.
“We've got such a surprise for you!” Bellat rubbed his hands together gleefully.
“Come on, Tab,” Corida said impatiently.
“What is it?” Tabitha asked nervously.
“We've met one of our friends,” Ani said joyfully.
“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Bellat scowled, but his irritation was quickly replaced with the same wild overexcitement that danced in the others' eyes.
“We're going to be able to travel so much faster!” Ani clapped her hands together with delight.
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