Winter of Elves

by Joanne Vruno

  Chapter 22

  Emily and I were somewhat dreading the day as we ate our bowls of cereal. The room was so silent even Mom noticed our behavior. “Are you two extra tired today?” she asked. You’re so quiet. Is something wrong?”

  “No, this is just the last vacation day before the holiday. School is in two days,” I said.

  Mom laughed, “Oh, I remember that feeling. School breaks always seemed too short.”

  As Mom dropped us off, she said, “Enjoy today!”

  After entering Grandma’s house, we quickly changed our clothes so we could go out by the wolves. Grandma and I decided to transport them together so neither of us would be tired for the rest of the day. Lunt, Alma, Lina, Berg, Agda, and Dolph all came to say their goodbyes.

  Emily ran to give both wolves a final hug as tears rolled down her face. Lina then held her in a motherly embraced as she kept crying.

  Dolph and Lunt both told the wolves what a honor it was to have met them.

  Grandma gave them both a hug and thanked them for being such good patients.

  I was the last to say my goodbyes, but to my surprise both wolves nuzzled my face as they thanked me for bringing them to Grandma’s house. I ended up hugging them with tears, also.

  When I gained my composure, Grandma and I held hands and said, “Send Fen and Fir to Queen Elin. Send Fen and Fir to Queen Elin. Send Fen and Fir to Queen Elin.” Poof! The wolves were gone.

  “Now those were magnificent animals,” said Lunt.

  “They sure were,” agreed Dolph.

  “I hope they stay safe,” I said as I started taking down the wolf tent.

  “Aly, wait a minute. Let’s send away all of the wolf scent first,” said Grandma.

  We quickly eliminated all the wolf scent in the yard. Then Emily and I brought down the tent and put it away. The yard looked so bare with just the packed-down snow where the tent once stood.

  Both Emily and I were now allowed to change back into our own clothes. We helped Grandma wash her old clothes that we had been wearing.

  Grandma wanted to keep us busy, so we started baking some pies for the New Year’s Eve dinner the next night. We both enjoyed baking with Grandma and learning all her secret recipes.

  After all the pies were in the oven, I asked Grandma if I could take Emily to Agda and Beck’s village. Grandma thought that would be fine.

  Emily was so excited when we arrived. Beck and Agda came out to welcome her. I explained to the elves that she was my sister and would soon be another guardian. I took her around introducing her to elf after elf. It wasn’t until we met up with Koppor and her students, all the new elves, that I realized I hadn’t met them individually yet, either. Koppor took on the task of introducing us to everyone.

  “We were just going out of the village to heal some trees that are taking a beating from deer and rabbits eating away at their bark,” Koppor said. “Would you like to join us? The woods right now are free of any dangers, according to the sentries.”

  “Emily, what do you think?” I asked.

  “I would love to!”

  Koppor led the way with her large group of new light elves while Emily and I followed behind. Koppor identified the plants along the way. Listening to her, I realized she was a great teacher along with being a healer. It was nice to see her back in a leadership role. She finally stopped at a group of bushes almost completely peeled of bark. “I want each elf to reach out and touch a branch,” she instructed. “Can you feel the pain in the branch? Now I want you to concentrate on that pain until you can feel it enter you. Don’t worry—it won’t hurt you. The light of a light elf dissolves the pain. Just keep your eyes on the bush.”

  Gasps and laughter arose from the group as they watched bark re-grow over the bare branches.

  “You all have become healers today,” said Koppor.

  Emily and I smiled at each other. “That was so cool!” said Emily.

  “I’ve never seen the healing until today,” I said.

  A bird call sounded in the woods.

  “Back to the village quickly!” shouted Koppor.

  All the light elves scrabbled to the village as fast as they could. I took out the amulet and put an invisible shield on us.

  As soon as we made it to the village we saw the danger: two crows with riders. Rock elf scouts. I knew immediately what to do. I held out the amulet toward the two flying birds when they were close enough to get them with one flash and said, “Slumber now!”

  Both birds and riders fell to the ground. Koppor and I approached them, and I stood back while she examined them both.

  Koppor turned to me. “Can you heal them first of their injuries?” she asked. “The fall broke a wing on each of the birds and the rock elves also took some injuries.”

  I walked over and used my healing magic to fix all the injuries to the birds and then I woke them and quickly transported them away, knowing they would be free again as they should be.

  I could hear the new village elves’ comments of surprise when the crows vanished. I looked toward them and said, “They’re fine, I just sent them away. They’ll never know they were working with the rock elves.”

  Next I ran my hands over the rock elves, healing any injuries they might have. When I finished I looked toward Koppor. “Can they be transformed?”

  Instead of answering Koppor soon lit up with light and joined one elf and then the other.

  We smiled at each other when she was finished. I held out the amulet and said, “Awaken now!” The two new light elves looked very confused at Koppor and then me. Koppor approached them and told them what happened. Agda came forward and took them by the hand to her home. I knew with her sweet way they would soon understand it all.

  Beck approached Emily and me. “Let the others know we have now hopefully stopped the threat of the dwarf-rock elf bands from finding us. I’m sure glad you chose to visit.”

  “Me too!” I said as I turned to Koppor. “You’ve turned into a secret weapon, in a way,” I told her. “It has to frighten the other dwarfs and rock elves that their members are just disappearing.”

  Koppor and Beck chuckled.

  “I guess my healing power is also a good form of defense,” said Koppor with pride. “Who knew I’d be the one who could stump King Helmar by taking away his troops?”

  “Does it hurt when you light up?” asked Emily.

  “No, Emily, it’s like I have extra power for a few moments. It must be like when you transport yourself. It only lasts a few moments, but it energizes you for a short time. Is that how you feel?” asked Koppor.

  “Not yet. I only feel shock at what I’ve done!” said Emily.

  “That’s because you’ve only transported twice so far,” I told her. “In time you’ll feel something similar to what Koppor said.”

  “Hmm . . .” replied Emily. “I may like it then.”

  “Well, you two really put on a show the new light elves will never forget,” said Beck. “I think now they know they’re safe from the rock elves.”

  “Oh, I hope so,” said Koppor. “I want them to feel part of our village soon. It has to be scary being taken out of their homes. I know their new life is much better, but I do feel sorry for them in the beginning.”

  “Think of it this way: their old life was under orders from King Helmar, while their new life is having freedom of choice on what they do. They’ll soon notice that,” said Beck.

  “Plus, how cool is it to have done what you taught them in the woods today?” said Emily.

  “You liked that?” asked Koppor.

  “Yeah! I’d like those powers. I never even thought of someone healing bushes. I was told light elves save nature, but to see it . . . wow!” said Emily.

  “Emily, I think you finally know why we protect light elves,” I said
, giving my sister a big smile. “Now it’s time we should return to Grandma’s. School starts next week, so I’ll stop by in the afternoon one day to see how things are going,” I told Koppor. “I know you’ll be very busy teaching the new light elves how to heal.” With that, Emily and I left the village.

  As we arrived at Grandma’s, Emily was speaking nonstop of our adventure at the elf village. I was so glad I took her there. I knew now she understood the importance of what we were doing and all of this training. No matter how difficult it seemed at times, we did have an important purpose.

  Chapter 23

  New Year’s Eve was always a fun night. In the morning Mom and Dad took us grocery shopping at Lunds & Byerlys to purchase steaks, potatoes, and unique fruit that seemed to be only found at this store. It was a night we celebrated with the most expensive meal of the year. Sometimes we even bought lobster tails.

  Mom and Dad picked out the meat as Emily and I hurried to the fruit section to see what we could find. Being that we lived in a northern state, tropical fruit was an adventure. This New Year’s we picked out passion fruit and some persimmons, along with a bunch of kiwi we already knew we loved.

  As we found Mom and Dad choosing bottles of sparkling juice, we went over to find new cheeses and crackers to add to our celebration. It was going to be another wonderful night.

  We took the full cart to the cashier and watched Dad cringe a little at the cost. Soon we were home unpacking and Mom and I started planning how we were going to prepare it all. Dad picked up Grandma at three o’clock. He didn’t like her driving at night and we knew she would be here until after dark. Dad, Emily, and Grandma started playing a game of Spy Alley as Mom and I started cooking.

  Soon we were sitting down around the dining table. Fruit was placed in the middle, along with the crackers and cheese. It was what we called our sampling area. Mom loaded each plate with steak and a baked potato. Before anyone dug into their meal, Dad passed out slips of paper and pencils. It was time for us to write down what we hoped would happen in the next year. When we were all done, we emptied out the last year’s notes from the “New Year’s Jar,” as we called it, and put the new ones in. Then we read each of our last year’s notes out loud.

  “Aly, you achieved yours with making a hat trick in hockey. Emily, have you made two new friends this year?” Dad asked.

  Emily smiled at Grandma and me as she answered, “I did!”

  “Mom, did you increase your flower garden this year?” asked Dad.

  “With Aly’s help, we did make it larger on the side of the house,” said Grandma.

  “Beth, have you discovered two new recipes?”

  “I have—a new beef stroganoff and sun-dried tomato pizza.”

  “We loved both of them. I also met my goals. I caught the largest amount of fish in one day at the Boundary Waters! I guess this has been a good year for us all!” said Dad with a huge smile. “Now let’s eat!”

  We stayed at the table eating and talking for over an hour. I was completely full when we finished. I helped put away the leftovers while Mom did the dishes with Grandma. “It’s funny how we have holidays where we gorge ourselves with food. I may change into my yoga pants after we’re done here. My waistband is digging into my full stomach,” announced Mom.

  “I feel your pain,” replied Grandma, patting her stomach and chuckling.

  When dishes were done we brought the sparkling juice for Emily and me and some wine for Mom, Dad, and Grandma downstairs as we watched the celebrations of fireworks from different countries. Australia’s always seemed the biggest.

  “Aly, tomorrow we’ll go and watch the championship game of the New Year’s Tournament. Your hockey team is in it. I just got the text from your coach. Starting a week from now, you can join the team again in practices,” said Dad.

  All the creature activity had taken my mind off not playing hockey. With the snow, we never got the rink up in the backyard. Today I realized it would be fun getting back into the game. My leg was strong and normal again, though it had been for a while thanks to Emily healing it. I now had something to look forward to—hockey!

  We counted down to midnight and then screamed, “Happy New Year!”

  Shortly after that, Dad took Grandma home. Before I went to bed I sat down and reflected on all that had happened to me in one year in hockey, school, at Grandma’s house and yard, with creatures, and guardianship. The one thing I realized was I had grown, not in size but in strength, wisdom, confidence, determination, and magic. What a year it had been! Would this new year be easier or harder? I guessed I’d just have to wait to find out.

  Chapter 24

  Mom and Dad let us sleep in until ten o’clock, when Chica insisted she needed to go out. The hockey game was at noon, so I changed into some warm clothes to sit in the stands. I put my jersey over my hooded sweatshirt to show my support. When we got to the arena, the team seemed happy I was there. I went into the locker room with them as they got their skates on. As I was there I heard all their strategies against the other team. It felt so good being back with my team. The coach told me to come and sit on the bench. After all, I was still part of the team. Dad sat directly behind us as the game started.

  In the first period the other team got one goal on us, which was disappointing. In the second we scored two goals on them. The third period was a nail-biter, shot after shot with both goalies holding their own. It stayed that way until the end. We had won two to one!

  I joined the girls in the locker room and congratulated each one. Molly came up to me and asked, “Aly, when can you return?”

  All eyes were on me when I answered, “My dad says I can practice again in a week. It may take awhile before I can play in a game. My mom hasn’t been too happy that I want to come back, but she’s slowly accepting it.”

  “Yeah, last year when I sprained my leg, my mom was the same way,” Mariela said. “I’m glad you can finish the season with us. We’ve missed you. Coach keeps telling us we need everyone at every game because Aly’s missing.”

  “I can’t wait to get on the ice. With this snow we didn’t get our backyard rink up, so I haven’t skated at all. My grandma always says our team’s the quickest on the ice, so I hope I don’t hold anyone back until I regain my speed,” said Aly.

  “You’ll be fine. In two weeks of skating I bet you’re back to your normal playing.” said Mariela.

  “I sure hope so,” I replied.

  “Aly, are you ready to go?” Dad asked as I walked out of the locker room.

  “Yeah, I’m set.” I answered.

  “We have one more stop to make before we can go home,” he said.

  “Where’s that?” I asked as I climbed into the car.

  “Well, because you’re dressed for hockey, I thought the Wild game!”

  “Really?”

  “Really. A friend gave me two tickets last week for today’s game. Are you up for it?” asked Dad with a wide smile.

  “Definitely! Thanks, Dad!”

  “It’s the Winter Classic game so it’s at Target Field, where the Twins play, instead of the Xcel Center. I have some jackets in the backseat for us. They’re playing the Chicago Blackhawks. With the snow at Christmas the NHL was a little worried if the ice would be ready, but it looked good yesterday. This reminds me of when I was young. We always played on outdoor rinks. Now everyone plays games at the indoor arenas. I’m glad you still have the occasional outdoor practice.”

  “This is going to be really cool!” Both my dad and I followed the Wild games throughout their season. I was hoping Zach Parise would have a great game.

  It seemed strange walking into a baseball stadium and seeing a hockey rink in the center of the field. I missed the flashing lights at the Xcel when the team came out or scored, but they did highlight the players on the big screen in the center.

 
Unfortunately, the Blackhawks scored right away. The rest of the game was more one-sided, even if the Wild came close to a tying goal at the end. I had fun watching even though we lost. Dad said it was one of the rare moments to see a NHL game played outside and I might never have the chance again.

  When we got home I told Mom and Emily all about the game. Then I realized I had homework to finish and quickly went to my room to complete it. I never liked the back-to-school feeling after a break. I didn’t know what it was, but I always felt I forgot something I was supposed to do. I went over my checklist for homework and it looked good. All was ready to go.

  Chapter 25

  Life soon returned to the normal routine of school and Emily’s training before Mom came home. With the wolves gone, the dwarf traffic disappeared. January was a calm month until the very end, when the St. Paul Winter Carnival started.

  Each year at the end of January, the capital city of St. Paul hosted a winter carnival that turned St. Paul into a winter wonderland for ten days. Downtown lights were strung up in the parks, and Rice Park by the Landmark Center became an enchanted place with an ice skating rink, music, and ice sculptures. There were parades and the pageantry of King Boreas, the king of the winds, who had decided to keep St. Paul a winter playground until Vulcanus Rex, the god of fire, put an end to it and allowed winter to leave.

  But the part of the carnival which caused us grief was the medallion hunt. Each year a medallion was hidden in a Ramsey County park and the Pioneer Press ran daily clues on where it might be. This year the third clue had the world “battle” in it, and both parks which held elf villages were bombarded with treasure hunters bearing shovels and digging through the snow in hopes of finding the medallion, which would give them a sizable prize of money if they had a registered carnival pin.

  Luckily, both villages were deep in the woods and away from the public picnic areas and trails. The sentries were allowed out of the villages but other elves were told to stay put. Most humans could not see them but could easily stomp on the elves as they tore up the open park area. The treasure hunters were not respectful of nature, and the elves could only sit and wait because they would need to repair all the damage done.