by Isobel Bird
As Annie looked on, six figures walked into the clearing. She couldn’t tell if they were women or men because they were wearing masks. Each mask was different, but each was an animal from the forest. There was a stag, a bear, a fox, a hare, a bird, and, coming at the end of the procession, a hedgehog.
“That’s my mask!” Annie said. She had left it at the table when she’d gone to help the Oak King prepare for the battle. Someone must have picked it up and decided to wear it.
The six animals were carrying a long, flat object that looked like several thin saplings lashed together with rope to form a crude sort of stretcher. They walked over to the Oak King and laid the thing on the ground. Then they lifted him onto it and arranged his hands over his chest. Throughout the whole thing the man playing the Oak King never moved. He really did seem to be dead, which made Annie feel sadder than she knew she probably should.
The animal-faced people lifted the Oak King, each one holding the stretcher at a different point, like pallbearers at a funeral. As they carried him out of the clearing they sang.
Gone away, beloved king.
Sleep and dream while winter storms.
With the Goddess you are resting,
cradled in her loving arms.
The song was sung like a lullaby, the six voices gentle and soothing. Annie could almost picture the Oak King being held by the Goddess as a mother would hold a baby she was comforting. It made her feel better, and it also made her feel a little sad. Many times she’d fallen asleep in her own mother’s arms after having a nightmare or a stomachache. She missed that.
The animal people disappeared into the woods with the Oak King, but Annie could still hear them singing as they walked away from the clearing. Where were they taking the Oak King? What would they do with him? Would he reappear later at the big Midsummer dance? She hoped so. She wanted to have the chance to tell him how much she’d enjoyed the ritual and what it had shown her about herself.
She still didn’t really understand the ritual. Why were people celebrating the fact that the king was dead? That didn’t fit anything she’d ever heard about Wicca or experienced in any of the rituals she’d been involved in. Witchcraft was all about celebrating life. Death wasn’t something that was supposed to make people happy. She certainly didn’t feel happy watching everyone make a big fuss over the Holly King.
She walked away from the crowd and sat beneath the banners of the Oak King. They hung limply, barely moving in the breeze. As Annie sat, watching everyone crowd around the new king of the woods, she found herself wanting to run after the six people who had carried the king away. It reminded her too much of having her parents taken away from her before she really had a chance to say everything that she wanted to say. No one was mourning the king’s death. They were too busy having another party to even think about him, or at least that’s what it seemed like to her.
“Why are you not joining in the festivities?” someone asked her.
She looked up. Standing over her was the Holly King. His fighting robes had been replaced by much finer ones of dark green and silver. In his hand was a cup, and he seemed in fine spirits.
“I don’t really feel like it,” Annie said.
The Holly King nodded. “The death of my brother has upset you,” he said.
“I know it’s all just a game,” said Annie. “But I don’t understand. Why doesn’t anyone seem to care? Why did the Oak King have to die? Why do you get to win?”
“For the same reason that my brother will win at Yule and I will die,” the Holly King answered. “That is the way of it. A king must die in order that his people may live.”
Annie sighed. She still didn’t get it. “I still don’t like it,” she said.
The Holly King held out his hand. “Come with me,” he said. “There is something I want to show you.”
Annie wasn’t at all sure that she wanted to go with the Holly King. Actor or not, he had just pretended to kill someone she really liked. She knew that being angry at him was like being angry at the villains on a soap opera, but she couldn’t help seeing him as a traitor.
“Please,” the Holly King said, sensing her hesitation. “I think this will help you understand.”
Reluctantly, Annie reached out and took the king’s hand, and he helped her to her feet. The Holly King took one of the torches, and he and Annie walked together out of the clearing, leaving the noise of the party behind them. As they passed beneath the trees at the edge of the circle, Annie thought how odd it was that she had entered the clearing with the Oak King and now she was leaving it with the Holly King, his brother—and his murderer.
CHAPTER 11
It was getting late. The moon was high overhead, and Kate was tired. She was also lost. She’d wandered in the woods for what seemed like hours without seeing anyone. She knew she should have run into other Midsummer revelers, or even into some random campers, but she’d seen no one. It was as if she was somehow being led deeper and deeper into the woods and farther and farther away from where she wanted to be. She’d left Scott and his flashlight behind long ago, and she hadn’t caught even a glimpse of Tyler.
She had been walking gradually uphill for some time, and now she found herself at the top of a small rise. The other side sloped steeply down, and she couldn’t see what waited for her at the bottom. She didn’t think she wanted to find out. All she wanted to do was get back to familiar faces and have a drink. Her throat was parched, and she was exhausted from all the walking.
She sat down on a fallen log to rest and get her bearings. Her feet hurt, and she knew her hair and makeup probably looked terrible. If she didn’t find her way back soon she was going to miss the big dance, too, and then her whole trip would be ruined. As if it isn’t already ruined, she told herself miserably. She was alone, Tyler was gone, and Scott had made her think about things she didn’t want to think about.
“Stupid boys,” she said as she stood up. She was angry again, and determined to find her way out of the forest. She didn’t care if she found Tyler or not, and she wasn’t about to have her dance ruined because of him or Scott.
As she stood up her foot slipped, and she found herself sliding backward. She was going down the hill. She tried to grab on to something to stop her fall, but her hand closed on empty air. Then she began to roll, her body tumbling over the pine needles. In the dark she couldn’t tell which way was up and which was down, and before she knew it she was lying at the bottom of the hill in a heap.
After a moment she sat up. Luckily, the pine needles were fairly soft, and she hadn’t been hurt. She was just roughed up a little, all except her wings, which were bent. For some reason that was the last straw. Kate found herself crying, and she couldn’t stop. She sat in the needles, her broken wings hanging limply at her sides, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. A moment later someone was kneeling beside her and brushing her face with a gentle hand.
“Are you all right?” a concerned voice asked.
Kate looked up into the face of the faun. His nose was only inches away, and his dark eyes stared down at her. For a moment she was almost frightened, but he sounded so worried that instead she just felt grateful to see a familiar face.
“I’m okay,” she said. “It’s really just my costume that got damaged.”
“I came looking for you after you ran off,” the faun said. “I was worried that you might get hurt.”
Kate sniffled. “Thanks,” she said. “But I’m all right.” She was glad that the organizers of the evening were at least watching out for the people in the woods.
The faun crouched down on the ground next to her, peering at her through the gloom. “I don’t think you’re all right,” he said.
“No, really,” Kate said. “I’m fine. Thanks for helping me though.”
She tried to stand and winced as pain shot through her leg. She sat down again with a huff. “Or maybe I’m not fine,” she said. “I think I bruised something. It should be okay if I just sit for a while.”
The two of them sat in silence for a minute. Kate was glad that the faun was there, but she was also a little uneasy about sitting in the dark with him. Why had he followed her? Had he really been concerned for her welfare, or did he have other motives? Something about him unnerved her a little bit. But was it him, or was it something about herself that was troubling her?
“Can I ask why you were running away?” the faun said suddenly.
Kate sighed. She really didn’t want to talk about the subject, especially with a stranger. At the same time, though, she knew that there really wasn’t anyone else she could talk about it with. Cooper and Annie were her best friends, but she wasn’t sure this was something she wanted to discuss with them. She couldn’t talk to her mother, as much as she loved talking to her. And she certainly couldn’t talk to the two guys at the center of her emotional storm. Maybe spilling her soul to a stranger in the middle of the woods was exactly what she did need.
“I was trying to find someone I really love and trying to get away from someone else who wants me to love him,” she said.
“And you don’t love this other person?” asked the faun.
Kate didn’t know how to answer that question. Did she love Scott? She had once, and she certainly liked kissing him. But did she love him?
“I don’t think so,” she said.
“But you aren’t sure?” the faun pressed, thoughtfully scratching his beard.
“Maybe I don’t really know what being in love is,” answered Kate. “I thought it meant wanting to be with someone so much that no one else could get your attention. Now I’m not sure.”
“This person you think you love,” said the faun, “why do you think that?”
Kate thought about Tyler. She pictured his face as he told her a joke, and imagined holding hands with him as they stood in a ritual circle. She thought about how happy it made her when he called, and how she liked discussing Wicca with him.
“He makes me feel good about myself,” Kate said, more to herself than to the faun. “He makes me think that I can do anything I want to.”
“And the other person?” the faun continued.
Now, Kate thought about Scott. She thought about how it felt to be held by him, and how time seemed to stop when he kissed her. She remembered how excited she’d been when he’d finally asked her out; she’d felt like the most beautiful girl in school.
“He makes me feel special,” said Kate. “He makes me feel pretty.”
The faun didn’t say anything. Kate looked over at him and saw that his head was hanging down as if he was sad. Had she said something wrong?
“Now you’re the one who doesn’t look fine,” she said teasingly.
The faun looked up. “I was just thinking that the one you love is very lucky,” he said.
Kate looked away. She felt self-conscious. Here she was, telling a total stranger her most intimate thoughts. It was a good thing she didn’t really know him. If she did, she would find it hard to face him at the end of the evening.
“Have you ever been in love?” she asked him, curious to hear his answer.
“Yes,” the faun said. “With a beautiful girl.”
“What happened?” Kate asked when the faun didn’t continue.
“She ran away,” he said simply.
Kate wanted to say something comforting, but she didn’t know what to say. Was the faun telling her the truth, or was he just making up a story to go along with his character? She didn’t know the answer to that.
“I’m sorry,” she said, not knowing what else to say. Then she stretched her leg and found that it didn’t hurt quite as much as it had before. “I think I can walk now,” she said. “Shall we try to head back?”
The faun got up and offered her his hand. She took it and got to her feet. There was a little bit of pain when she put her weight on her foot, but she would be fine. She looked up the steep hill and sighed. “Here goes nothing,” she said.
She and the faun climbed slowly up the hill, with Kate leaning on his shoulder whenever the climb got too difficult. She couldn’t believe he was doing all of that climbing so easily, but he didn’t seem to be having any trouble. When they finally reached the top, she paused to catch her breath.
“Remind me not to go on any more nature hikes by myself in the dark,” she said jokingly.
They began to walk back through the woods. Kate didn’t know if they were going in the right direction, but she assumed the faun knew where they were headed. They walked slowly because her leg was still a little sore, and from time to time she needed to take the faun’s hand when they went down an incline.
“I don’t know who you are,” Kate said to him at one point, “but you’re the nicest faun I’ve ever met. Thanks again for helping me.”
“It’s my pleasure,” he answered. “Perhaps in return you would give me a little gift?”
Kate was puzzled. “But I don’t have anything,” she said.
The faun smiled. “You have a kiss,” he said.
Kate felt herself blushing. The faun was looking at her, his dark eyes twinkling.
“I told you that I once loved a beautiful girl who ran away,” the faun said. “That girl is you.”
Kate laughed. “That’s a line if I ever heard one,” she said. “How can you love someone you just met?”
“But I do,” the faun said. “I know your heart belongs to another, but perhaps you will give me just one small kiss?”
Kate looked at him. He was really cute. For a faun. Would it hurt to give him just one kiss? At first she thought it wouldn’t. Then she remembered how one small kiss with Scott had turned into a great big problem.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
The faun sighed. “You’ve broken my heart,” he said sadly, but Kate had the feeling he was being overly dramatic as part of the game.
The faun continued walking. “We’re almost there now,” he said cheerfully, seeming to have forgotten already all about how she’d broken his heart.
Kate breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, her nightmare was almost over. All she wanted to do was get back to the cabin, clean up, maybe get something to eat and drink, and then join her friends for the big dance. Who knows what kind of excitement I missed while I was out in those woods, she thought bitterly. Cooper and Annie had probably been off having all kinds of fun without her. Even Tyler was probably having fun without her. And what was she doing? Spending her evening with a faun. Just what a faerie princess would wish for, she thought.
They had reached a part of the woods that Kate thought she recognized. At least now they were on a trail instead of just walking blindly through the trees. She could probably make it on her own from there.
She was about to tell the faun that she could go the rest of the way by herself when suddenly she saw lights twinkling in the darkness. They were floating in the air, flickering softly and hovering at various heights. It took Kate a moment to realize that they were fireflies.
“Look at that,” she said to the faun. “I’ve never seen so many in one place.”
But instead of being excited about the intriguing sight, the faun seemed startled. He stopped, pulling away from Kate.
“I have to leave you now,” he said. “But you’ll be fine. Just keep following the path.”
Before Kate could stop him, he turned and dashed back into the darkness. Why does everyone run away from me? she asked herself. First Tyler and now the faun. She was starting to take it personally. The only person who seemed to want to be around her was Scott, and he was the one person she didn’t want to see.
The fireflies grew nearer, and as they did Kate saw that they were all forming a tighter and tighter group. In fact, they seemed to be taking shape. They were still too far away for her to really tell what was happening, but it certainly looked like the light was becoming something more solid.
Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the lights went out. The plunge into blackness was disorienting,
and Kate stood in one spot, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the darkness once more. When she could see again, she was surprised to find that the two children she had seen emerge from beneath Maeve’s skirts were standing in front of her.
“Hi,” she said. “How’d you do that trick with the lights? And isn’t it a little late for the two of you to be out here?”
The girl and the boy looked at one another and laughed. Then they turned back to Kate.
“Maeve requests your presence,” they said in unison. “Come with us.”
Without waiting for an answer, they turned and walked away hand in hand. Kate looked at their retreating backs, trying to decide what to do. She really wanted to get back to the cabin. She was tired of these games, even if the people involved were really good at it. Would they be upset if she skipped this part of things? Surely no one would notice. Besides, her wings were broken. She didn’t want people to see her looking like that.
Then again, it might be interesting. So far Maeve had been the most spectacular part of the celebration. Kate wouldn’t mind seeing what tricks she had up her sleeve. And it probably wouldn’t take all that long. She could go see what was happening, race back to the cabin, and get back in time for the dance. When would she ever have another chance to see something like this?
She made up her mind. Trying not to run too much because of her leg, she hobbled after the two kids. “Hey!” she called out. “Wait for me.”
CHAPTER 12
As she darted through the forest, racing around trees and ducking under low-lying limbs, Cooper stole quick glances over her shoulder. Each time, the “dogs” seemed to get closer and closer. They had seen her, and it had thrown them into a frenzy. They leaped and crashed through the forest, bounding over logs and running around anything that was too heavy to knock over or too tall to jump. They yipped and barked in their human voices, but she still thought of them as animals. The sight and sound of them filled her with terror. It was as if the whole group of kids had gone insane, turning into mindless creatures who wanted nothing more than to win the bizarre game they were now playing. She felt like she was being hunted. You are being hunted, she reminded herself. But why?
