Fairy Gifts: A Between the Worlds Anthology

by Morgan Daimler

  She barely paid attention to the rest of the conversation, her mind on the ghost. As quickly as she could politely she was saying goodbye and leaving Janet to her work. With the dress carefully wrapped and packed, Allie headed out but she didn’t leave. Instead when she reached the lobby she ducked into the ladies room, standing awkwardly in the middle of the opulent bathroom and waiting to see if the ghost girl would put in another appearance.

  She didn’t have long to wait; within less than a minute the girl materialized, looking exactly as she had before. She titled her head to one side, the gesture oddly reminding Allie of elven body language to indicate you were giving someone your full attention. After the silence had started to drag out Allie finally spoke, “Hello again.”

  “You came back,” the girl said, her voice curious.

  “Yeah, I did,” Allie agreed. “I had to pick something up. I was hoping I’d see you again though.”

  “Why?”

  “I think I can help you,” Allie said honestly.

  “You said that before,” the girl said drifting closer. “Other people have tried and I’m still here. How do you think you can help me?”

  “I think we – I – need to find your lost necklace,” Allie said slowly.

  The girl blinked at her slowly. She didn’t ask why. She didn’t argue. She didn’t react at all. Finally she said, “My name is Esther. Esther Mae Brown.”

  And then she was gone.

  Allie stood there waiting for something else to happen, but nothing did. The bathroom was completely silent. She started to step towards the door then stopped, thinking fast Alright well she obviously either won’t or can’t help me anymore than she already has, if you can call that help Allie thought, frowning. No, that’s not fair, telling me her name must be significant somehow or she wouldn’t have said it like that. So okay. I know her name, her full name. But how do I find her necklace? Yesterday she said she was killed when she was looking for it here. So logically the necklace is most likely here…unless someone in the last hundred-and-however-many years already found it. She sighed aloud, the sound strange in the tiled room. Okay, so, then how do I find something lost for that long? How do I find something lost…well I could try a pendulum I guess.

  Unsure what else to do Allie went out to her car, safely stowing the precious dress in the trunk and then retrieving a pendulum from her glove compartment. She couldn’t remember now how the copper and quartz pendulum had ended up there but at the moment she was just glad she wasn’t going to have to go home to get one. Feeling like a trespasser now that she had no legitimate, explainable reason to be there she went back into the lobby. It was still deserted and Allie decided that the actors must be on stage rehearsing. She sent up a quick prayer that they’d stay busy for a while and that no one would need to run out for anything and then got to work.

  Visualizing the ghost she held the pendulum out in her right hand, ensuring that it was hanging straight and still. She focused on the idea of the missing necklace then chanted as quietly as she could manage, “What is hidden, be revealed, what was lost, be returned, what is sought, be received.”

  She halfway expected nothing to happen but the pendulum began swinging strongly in the direction of the back hallway. She hesitated slightly then walked slowly in the direction the pendulum was pointing. She had to stop to open the door and then re-set and start over on the other side, now nervous that Janet might hear her or just through sheer bad luck come out and find her in the hallway. But she walked the length of the hall uninterrupted.

  At the far end was another door and the pendulum swung strongly towards it. Again Allie hesitated, not wanting to go through a door when she didn’t know what was on the other side, but feeling like she’d already gone too far to turn back now. Starting to sweat in her heavy winter coat, she licked her lips, palmed the pendulum, and opened the door as slowly and carefully as possible.

  The door creaked loudly making her wince and freeze but after a moment of silence she pressed on. There were voices on the other side of the open door but they were muffled and indistinct. The space was dark but as Allie eased forward, trying to let the door close as slowly as she’d opened it, she had a sense of a lot of open space. Looking around, and thanking the mercurial Gods for her excellent night vision, she realized that she was standing in the very back of the stage area. The voices coming from the front were the actors who did indeed seem to be rehearsing. Allie bit back a curse, but stayed where she was, knowing that she was well hidden in the darkness and behind layers of curtains and stage sets.

  Getting her courage back she held the pendulum up again and refocused for the third time. The pendulum was swinging so strongly now that she had to clench her hand closed to keep her grip on it, and the magic made her whole arm tingle. She followed obediently where the crystal pointed, edging along the back of the stage, glad that the entire backdrop of A Christmas Carol was already set up and screening her from anyone’s sight. Still it was nerve wracking to know that the actors were so close and she could hear them more clearly now, reading sections of script and blocking out the scene they were working on.

  Almost two-thirds of the way across the stage the pendulum stopped, Allie almost tripping over herself not to walk past that point. The crystal vibrated, suspended straight up and down, but still as full of magic as before, telling her that it hadn’t lost the trace but that she’d found the spot. Trembling she released her focus, letting the magic run off like water, and knelt careful over the space the pendulum had indicated, shoving the magical item into the pocket of her jeans. This section of the stage area was old and hadn’t received some of the care that the other areas had, probably Allie thought because so few people ever went back here. Peering down she could see that the floorboards here had some significant gaps between them and her shoulders slumped.

  She bit her lip thinking hard. Alright so I know it’s here, but looking at this floor I’d bet money when Esther lost it the necklace fell between the floorboards. And I’d guess there’s a decent amount of space down there, maybe even several feet. Crap. So how do I get the necklace out without ripping up the floor which I obviously cannot do? Hmmmm, well there is that one spell Bleidd had taught me to try to get me to stop climbing on chairs to get stuff of higher shelves around the house. I’ve only used it to knock things off the edge of a shelf before, but in theory its designed to call stuff to my hand…if I’m not being lazy using it.

  Having made up her mind Allie took a deep breath and crouched down, focused the magical energy around herself and then into her hand which she held over the space where she guessed the necklace was. She traced the shape of the elven rune that represented attraction in the air then whispered the few words of the spell while thinking hard of how much she needed that necklace. The energy funneled out and down and after a moment Allie closed her eyes, trying to put as much extra energy as she could into the spell. Her eyes flew open in surprise when something small and cold flew into her palm; her hand closed reflexively.

  Rocking back on her heels she opened her palm to see what she was holding. In her hand was a small gold chain and cameo, the pendant peach colored and featuring the porcelain white profile of a woman. She stared at it for another minute wondering how she’d be sure it was the right missing necklace but the question answered itself.

  The air around her began to glow slightly and as she looked up Esther appeared, her form seeming incandescent in the darkness. The girl’s features were the most animated Allie had seen them, her hands clutched at her chest and her face ecstatic. There was even the hint of a blush on her pale cheeks. “You did it! You found it! Oh, my beautiful necklace. Please hold it up so I can see it.”

  Allie did as she’d been asked, holding the necklace up by the chain so that the cameo swung in the air. The ghost reached out an insubstantial hand and cupped her fingers around the necklace; as she did Allie waited for any sign that she had been released from the earthplane. To her immense disappointment there was none
. The girl remained exactly as she had been, with no sign of her form lightening or fading out, no sense of her spirit being pulled elsewhere. Allie felt a crushing wave of disappointment, even though Esther was obviously thrilled. “Thank you so much. You don’t know what this means to me.”

  “You’re welcome,” Allie said softly. “I will still find a way to set you free.”

  “If you could do this,” Esther said, her eyes shining in her white face like torches, “then I believe you.”

  And with that she was gone.

  Allie stood slowly, disappointment being replaced with determination. I will figure this out she thought, pocketing the necklace. I will. And she turned and worked her way back out of the theater heading towards her car already thinking about what else might be anchoring the ghost here.

  The Solstice

  Allie was sitting on the attic floor, surrounded by a dozen open books, the house cat sitting off to one side purring, when Jason found her.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, his voice equal parts confused and annoyed.

  “Huh?” she said, glancing up and then immediately back down. “Research.”

  “Research? Are you kidding me?” he said coming all the way over to where she was sitting. “Allie you’re getting married today, why are you up here doing this?”

  “It’s a long story, but there’s this ghost at the theater, this little girl, and I’m trying to help her, “Allie said, distracted as she flipped from one book to another.

  “What?” Jason sputtered. “Allie! Look at me. You are getting married today, you should be relaxing and getting ready for that, not up here taking notes about ghost busting.”

  “I’m not trying to bust anything,” she muttered, “Just help her move on. I found her necklace Jason, but that’s not enough. I mean it’s her anchor like I thought but I’m not sure what to do with it now to break her tie to it.”

  “Are you even listening to me?” when Allie didn’t immediately respond Jason threw his hands up in the air. “What do Jessilaen and Bleidd think about this?”

  “Huh? Oh they don’t know. They’re at the Outpost, at the temple there, celebrating Grianstad, the elvish solstice holiday,” she mumbled.

  “And they left this morning without noticing you were focused on this ghost adventure?”

  “I told them last night that it was a human custom for the bride not see the groom, er well grooms in this case, the day of the wedding until the ceremony, so I haven’t seen either of them today,” she said, sighing and finally looking up at her friend since it was obvious he wasn’t simply going to leave her alone to focus.

  He frowned. “Where’d you sleep last night?”

  “In the spare room of course,” she said. “And the wedding isn’t until this evening, I have time to get this finished before then.”

  “Do you hear yourself?” he said. “You’re going to spend your wedding day, an unknown amount of time on your wedding day, trying to put some ghost to rest instead of getting ready?”

  “What’s to get ready?” she said, annoyed now. “All I have to do is get dressed. I already have my vows written and I have the rings. Hannah won’t let me help with the decorations and you won’t let me help with the food – which okay is probably smart – but what else do I need to do?”

  “Is this cold feet?” Jason asked seriously. “Do you not want to get married and this is how you’re expressing it?”

  “Of course I want to get married!” she snapped. “I would have signed the contracts already if you hadn’t suggested the wedding.”

  “Then why are you doing this?”

  “I don’t know,” she looked back down at the books. “Maybe I just want to help this ghost, is that so wrong?”

  “Of course it’s not wrong,” he said, giving her a long, puzzled look. “But unless you’re leaving out some important detail you can do this later. Like tomorrow. Or next week.”

  Allie grimaced and shook her head, “I don’t want to wait that long.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m so close Jason,” she said earnestly. “I’m so close to having this figured out. I can feel it, like I’m almost there.”

  Sighing he sat down next to her. “Allie you know I love you, but you sound crazy right now.”

  She rolled her eyes at him, reaching for another book, but he grabbed her hand and held it. “I mean it, why are you really doing this?”

  Her fingers closed on his, holding his hand. “I love you too Jason, you’re my best friend. And I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, for us, in putting this wedding together. But I need to do this.”

  “Why?” he pressed, refusing to give up.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe because I can’t help Syndra, can’t free her. Maybe because I couldn’t help Liz. Maybe because I worry that I’m not really a very good person and this makes me feel like I’m doing something good, something unselfish for someone no one else can do anything for.”

  “Of course you’re a good person,” Jason said, his emotions swirling around her, upset and unhappy.

  Allie fought the reflexive urge to shake her head, seeing dead birds when she closed her eyes and feeling the press of dark magic around her like a cold wind. She knew that she could never truly undo the things she’d done in the past, and that some of them, like using dark magic to save Bleidd’s life, she wouldn’t change even if she could, but the guilt still weighed on her. Finally she said, “It’s just that I feel like I need to do this. I can’t explain it any better than that.”

  He looked at her uncertainly and slowly let her hand go, his emotions still unhappy. “Okay, you need to do this. And you know, I hope, that anything you need to do if I can help I will. But not today Allie, okay? Today you should be relaxing and enjoying yourself and getting excited about tonight. Everyone who was coming to the party wanted to come to the wedding too, and Tony and I made a cake that I think you’ll love. Hannah’s super excited about the decorations. Shawn won’t shut up about this dress he helped you get. And I kind of can’t wait to see the ceremony that you guys worked out with your priestess friend. It’s going to be amazing.”

  “I know everyone has put a lot of effort into this,” Allie agreed, feeling her mouth going dry.

  Jason relaxed slightly, smiling, “Right, so just table this ghost issue for a couple days, okay? The ghost will still be there right?”

  “She’ll be there until someone frees her, yes,” Allie said softly.

  Jason patted her hand. “And you can do that in a couple days.”

  “Jason, can I ask you something, no offense meant?”

  “Uh, I guess?” he said, already standing and starting to step away.

  “Why does this wedding mean so much to you?” Allie asked, looking down at the books scattered across the floor.

  He looked away as well, shrugging, “I don’t know. Maybe I figure it’s the closest I’m ever going to get to it myself, you know?”

  She looked up sharply, shocked, but he was already walking out the door and she didn’t know what to say to that anyway.

  ******************************

  Jess stood next to Bleidd in the temple, near the rest of his family, both his close kin and extended kin, and listened as the high priest talked about the power of the light within the darkness. Of course the priest meant it symbolically but in his mind Jess imagined the decorated tree back in the home he shared with his lovers, soon to be his wedded kin. He saw behind his eyes the glow of the electric lights, illuminating the dark room and reflecting off the sundry items hung in the tree’s branches. He pictured the shiny star that topped the tree, glinting and glittering above it all, and slipping one hand surreptitiously into his pocket his fingers found the two rings he was keeping there, the metal warmed by his body heat.

  He kept his face schooled in a carefully respectful expression, but inside he felt almost deliriously happy.

  He could not imagine wanting anything more in life than wh
at he had now.

  ******************************

  Allie parked her car, looking around nervously even though there was no reason for concern. She’d snuck out of the house without anyone noticing, when they’d all been busy with other things, and she’d been sure to have a legitimate reason for going out in case anyone asked. Luath lay in the backseat, looking out the window, and Allie couldn’t resist a smile as she glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the fairy hound.

  After several hours of reading that morning she’d come up with a few possibilities for how to free Esther. Ultimately though the one that she’d kept going back to was in her own personal book, a copied line from her great-grandfather’s book: “to free an earthbound spirit with a physical anchor you must reunite the item with the person.”

  She had always assumed that meant bringing the thing and the spirit together, but obviously she’d done that last night and it had no effect. But as she’d read over other methods, some of them really unpleasant, she’d given it more thought and started to wonder if her great-grandfather had actually meant it literally. The person, not the spirit. Or more to the point the person’s body. So here she was, in the oldest cemetery in Ashwood prepared to start looking for Esther’s grave. She knew she might not find it here and might end up trying several different cemeteries but she had a good feeling about this one.

  Bracing herself for the glare of the late morning sun on the snow she grabbed the spade she’d brought with her and opened her door. She let Luath out as well, the fairy hound leaping merrily around in the snow piled at the edge of the parking lot. Allie had learned when the weather turned colder that the puppy enjoyed snow, so much that it was sometimes hard to get her to come back inside when she was playing in it in the mornings. It was impossible if it was actually snowing, but luckily Bleidd had taught her how to open and close doors so that Luath could let herself in and out when she needed to.