by B. J. Smash
But it wouldn’t be now that I stole the whip. For ten seconds after I spotted them, they disappeared.
Chapter Fourteen
The morning had been pleasant with not a cloud in the pale blue sky. Birds were chirping, and the squirrels were scurrying about. I’d even seen a couple of grey rabbits nibbling at some clover, and basil plants. The forest was teeming with life.
Who would have thought things were about to take such a horrific turn?
We’d just left a wider than average river and were climbing the rocky bank on the other side. Not paying attention, I stepped on a rock about the size of a volley ball. It dislodged from the ground and I lost my balance and slid down the slope. An avalanche of rocks came along with me, rolling by and splashing into the water. Solstice stopped, perked his ears up, and peered over his shoulder. Lucian came back for me, and held out his hand for me to clasp. I took it, and he yanked me up. I brushed the dirt from the long scrape on my arm.
I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, and nonchalantly turned to see Ladriant the Dark Elf. He was standing thigh deep in the river. With quick movements he slid his hand in the water and snatched out a big trout. He didn’t even have to use a bow and arrow, or even a spear.
I stood there watching him. There was no doubt in my mind that in a battle, he’d be lightning fast. He was so swift that he had to be Drumm’s rival. We briefly made eye contact, and then I watched him take one big, long stride and leap out of the water. He landed on the bank and walked into the woods ahead of us.
Lucian followed my gaze and said, “He’s been tailing us for quite some time. I wonder what his problem is.”
I hadn’t noticed that he’d been following us. Normally, I could heighten my own senses by bonding with nature, but Drumm had been on my mind. I couldn’t focus on anything else. I asked Lucian how he knew that Ladriant had been following us.
“I can smell him,” Lucian said in a husky voice. “Come on. Let’s go.”
We continued on, and about a mile into the forest we met up with Ish McTish. He was standing on his large white deer trying to gather apples from a tall spindly tree when we came upon him. It was an accident when we spooked the deer—it kicked its hind legs out and Ish lost his balance. He toppled back onto the deer, holding the saddle with one hand while he draped over the side. Most of the apples spilled out of the sack, and to the ground. One of the apples bounced off the deer’s backside and Ish caught it with his free hand. He bit into it to hold it in place while he shook his fist at us. He was so angry, that his face began to match the red skin of the apple he held between his teeth. His beard was white as snow, and the contrast with his red face was astonishing.
“Sorry!” I called out nicely. But he extended a certain finger at me which caused me to gasp. This spooked the deer further and it kicked again, causing the apple to fall out of Ish’s mouth. It took off deeper into the forest with Ish bouncing around on its side.
“He’s definitely blaming us for that,” I said.
While I walked over to pick up the apples, Lucian said, “Man. That little guy has a temper. He just flipped you the bird.”
All that could be heard were Ish’s screams. “You bloody horse! Slow down you fool.”
“And he calls his deer…a horse?” Lucian asked.
“Guess so,” I raised my eyebrows. “Help me pick these up. If we see him again we’ll give them back.”
“Maybe we can spare a jackfruit chip as a peace offering,” Lucian said sarcastically.
We collected the fruit into my own bag, but before we left I noticed a slender green and brown tin box. Bending down to pick it up, I saw that the brown was rust. It had one gold latch that held the contents securely inside.
“I wonder what is in here?” I was tempted to open it, but that would be dishonest. Even if Ish was my enemy, I wasn’t going to snoop through his belongings.
“Probably tobacco or something. Or some type of herb that he’s planning to sprinkle over us to poison us in our sleep. Just open it,” Lucian said.
“No. We can’t do that,” I said as I observed the box.
“Sure we can. Let me see it,” Lucian argued.
“No. Let’s just give it back.”
“It’s like Pandora’s box. Don’t you want to know what is in there?” Lucian asked.
“I do…but no.”
It really never was my plan to open the box; but as I stepped forward, I slid on an apple. The box flew out of my hand, and smacked into a tree. When the golden latch hit the tree just right, the box opened up, landed on the ground, and all the contents spilled out.
“You have been such a klutz recently. You really should watch where you’re going,” Lucian said, teasingly.
I ignored his comment and stepped forward. My jaw dropped when I realized what had been in the tin box. Bending down, I picked up a locket of red hair, a black candle and a dried root from some plant. Upon closer observation, I knew that it was monkshood root—a deadly plant to begin with. But when you used its roots in magic; it became even deadlier.
“Ish is planning to hex someone,” I said.
Lucian pointed to the tin. “What’s inside? On the lid?” He bent down and picked up the tin. “A picture of some red-haired girl.”
With a sudden intake of breath, I said, “Izadora! He plans to somehow hex her.” I grabbed the picture. The younger version of Izadora was looking down at a flower. I couldn’t see her full face, but I knew she had reddish brown hair when she was a young woman. I know this because I’d seen her as a young woman when Izaill had placed the maiden-mother-crone spell upon her. I could tell this photo had once been in black and white but someone had digitally, or magically, added color to it.
“You think he has a plan to harm Izadora? How? She’s like…over the top powerful,” Lucian said while waving his hand around to accentuate his point.
“I’m not sure, but he has a lock of her hair, and a picture. That’s all he really needs in order to try and hex her. The thing is…if he wanted to harm her…why would he wait until now? He’s had a long dang time to try and hex her,” I said. This was baffling to me.
“Maybe he plans to do it after he gets the djinn bottle?” Lucian suggested.
“Nah. I don’t think so.” Yet, I couldn’t imagine what he actually thought he was going to try and do. She could turn him into a chicken with the swipe of her hand. Then she’d probably put him in a stew!
“I think he hasn’t tried it yet because the repercussions on someone’s soul for hexing or jinxing another person is extremely bad. What you put out there in the Universe comes back to you sevenfold. Maybe he hasn’t the courage to try it,” I said.
“Who knows? All I do know is we better get moving. The sun will be setting in about an hour and we need to find a place to camp. I have a feeling we need to be prepared for another night of the wolverines.” He started walking and then said, “One thing I do know is, I’ve met some pretty shady witches in my life. I don’t think some of them care about the sevenfold rule.”
“Well they should,” I said. I took Solstice by the reigns and pulled him along. As we made our way through the dense trees and over a low stoned wall covered in moss, I told Lucian a story that Izadora had once told me.
“She knew of a girl named Alma, and Alma was jealous of her cousin, Natalia. Initially, Alma was dating a young man but he ended up dating and eventually marrying, Natalia. Natalia was a great beauty and this irked Alma to no end. Alma came to Izadora for help. Izadora told her that the best thing she could do was send blessings toward the couple. ‘Do not harm them. Fate is fate. Get on with your life.’ Izadora had told her. But Alma didn’t listen. Her jealousy was so great that she bought an old grimoire from someone and placed a horrible curse on Natalia. She cursed her to be barren. For eight years the woman could not have a child. Alma was delighted with the bad news and harbored the hatred for her cousin, who was now, her enemy. But things did not work out so good for her either. Within the next
year, Alma lost her farm. She lost patches of her hair and fell into a deep depression and lived in ditches and caves. She had a lot of time to think about what she’d done. How was any man—especially one that didn’t love her back—worth losing everything? Besides, she was starting to feel sorry for Natalia who cried night and day…her wails of mental anguish could be heard throughout the forest. Alma was ready to repent.
“Alma begged Izadora to reverse the curse. She told Izadora that she’d learned her lesson. She was sorry and she never meant to harm her dear friend. Izadora turned her away.
“When I asked Izadora why she had turned her away, she’d told me that it was because things had to play out in a different way. I have no idea what she’d meant by this. Anyway, Alma sought out help from Magella. Now, Magella as you know, has no pity for anyone. But as the story goes, it is rumored that even Magella felt sorry for this women in her thirties, who looked like she was already old and about to die. She told Alma that she would have to confess to Natalia what she’d done. After she did that, Magella would reverse the curse. Alma did confess to Natalia. It was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do.
“For reasons unknown, Magella, did reverse the curse. Within two years Alma’s hair grew back and she met a man, married him and she had her own child. She turned her life around, and now people say she’s an old mid-wife. She’s been one for years and years. She visits pregnant ladies and brings them cheese and homemade brownies.”
Luican squinted and appeared thoughtful. “What happened to Natalia?”
“Oh…she went on to have ten kids,” I said.
“Ten?!”
“Yup. She and Alma became friends again.” I looked to Lucian, “I guess the moral of my story is…cursing is bad.”
He frowned and pondered this over for a moment. A crease formed between his brows.
“And don’t let jealousy fester in your heart,” he said, turning his gaze forward. I think his statement had more meaning to it than he wanted me to know. I just hoped that he wasn’t jealous of Drumm.
***
We set up camp on the driest part of land we could find. Everywhere around us was marshy and boggy. This meant tons of mosquitos. Lucky for me, mosquitos didn’t care for elven blood. Solstice and I were safe. However, it wasn’t so great for Lucian. They loved him. Mosquitos the size of little hummingbirds, flocked around him. It was actually pretty disturbing to watch.
“How are these blood-sucking beasts so unbelievably large?!” he complained. He smacked one from his arm. It came back and he slapped it three times before it fell to the ground.
“Lucky for you…you heal quickly. Each time they bite you…within minutes you’re better.” I tried to sound positive.
“That doesn’t help with the itching!” He then did a circle whacking at three mosquitos as he spun.
“Let’s just get a fire going and I might have something in my bag to help ward them off,” I said.
After we got the fire going, we sat around it, and we each ate an apple and a jackfruit chip. The sun was already setting but it couldn’t be seen through the dark wooded forest. The air had a chill to it, and it was bound to be cold tonight. There weren’t any chattering birds, and I hadn’t seen a single animal scurrying about in hours. None at all.
“This place gives me the creeps,” I said as I rummaged through my bag. I pulled out a small container of apple cider vinegar and some thyme leaves. Izadora had given me a few things to take along, and I didn’t know why I’d need them until now.
I put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar into a vial and I crushed a sprig of thyme between my fingers and added it in. I spoke a repellent spell over the liquid and specifically made sure that I used the term “mosquitos” as the key thing that was to be repelled. Otherwise, we might all find Lucian distasteful.
“Open your mouth,” I commanded him, “and drink this.”
He swatted a mosquito from his cheek and did as I said. Within seconds the big nasty bugs were reluctant to bite. They buzzed around his head for a time, deciding if he was worth it. They certainly were the biggest mosquitos I’d ever seen. I was coming to find out that this disappearing town, called Helsberg, was definitely weird.
Finally, they buzzed away to find another victim.
They didn’t have to look far. I could hear Tom and William about a stone’s throw away from our camp.
Tom sounded possessed as he said, “Get away! Get away you bloody sons of …” and then a loud smacking sound could be heard.
“Ouch!” Tom yelled. I could see him now as he walked toward us. He balled his fists up, and William jumped back in surprise.
“He was biting your forehead! What was I supposed to do, Tom? Leave him there?” William said.
“I hate these creatures of damNATION!” Again, he sounded possessed. “Worse than a bed bug butt rash!”
“You ever have one of those, Tom?” William asked.
“Have one of what?” Tom swatted at another mosquito.
“A bed bug butt rash?” William asked.
“No! I haven’t.” Tom pushed aside a thorny branch and stepped through. His dirty blond hair clung to his face with sweat, and it was evident that he’d had a rough day.
“Me either,” William said.
Soon, a disheveled Tom with numerous red spots on his face and arms stood beside our campfire. The bugs weren’t bothering William as much, but he had a few welts on his arms.
“Hello,” both men said.
“Why aren’t the bugs bothering you folks? Tell me you have bug spray. Someone…” and Tom rolled his eyes, “forgot the damn bug spray back at mam’s.”
“Not my fault, Tom. It was in the bag with your lucky underwear. You should have remembered your own lucky underwear,” William said.
“It can’t be in the bag with my lucky drawers—I’m wearing them now!” Tom yelled at William. He then turned to us with a forced smile on his face. “Sorry. It’s been a rough day. I’m tired, and oh…by the way…I’m tired.” His slacked shoulders accentuated his point. He leaned one arm up on a tree and said, “Bug spray?”
“Um…Sure.” While they continued to bicker back and forth about Tom’s lucky underwear, I repeated the process that I’d done for Lucian, and prepared a vile of apple cider vinegar—doubling the amount to two teaspoons—and added two crushed thyme sprigs. I whispered my spell over the vial and handed it to Tom. “Drink half and give the other half to William.”
Tom tipped the vial up, drank almost the whole entire contents, and handed a few drops to William. William dribbled it into his mouth and then checked the vial to see if there was more in there. There wasn’t, and I thought that I’d have to prepare more, but instead William just said, “Let’s go Tom; I’m dead tired.”
It occurred to me then, to ask if Ella still rode with them.
“Yes. Ella still rides with us. She’s like a thorn stuck in my arse,” Tom said. He ran his hand through his damp hair. It now spiked up high in the front.
“Hey, don’t talk about my lady friend that way.” William tightened his lips in protest. I noticed then that he wasn’t wearing his eye patch. I figured that it must have something to do with impressing Ella.
“She ain’t your girlfriend, William. She’s playing you up; eating our food. Probably stole the horses by now.” He looked over his shoulder appearing to check.
“Shut-up,” William said.
“Whatever. I’ve had enough of the both of you. She’s always giggling, which makes you giggle—which drives me bananas. It’s like traveling with a couple of baboons jacked up on fermented fruit.”
“She’s funny. And she smells like pretty flowers. A little while ago, she rubbed my sore shoulders,” William yawned.
I knew exactly what was going on. Ella wasn’t rubbing William’s shoulders, she was stealing William’s energy. As for Tom, I don’t think she ever got the chance to touch him. He seemed to dislike her quite a bit. Nope. His problem was, William and Ella were getting on his nerv
es, and that was draining all of his energy.
Tom held his hand up to silence William. William folded his arms over his chest and moped.
“Let me talk to the grown-ups now.” Tom rolled his eyes so far back into their sockets, I didn’t think they’d return. When they finally did, he let out what seemed like an endless sigh and continued talking. “How have the two of you been? By the way…thank you for that bug potion. Seems to be working.”
We briefly shared small talk, and then he said, “Have the two of you seen that horse whipping guy. I’d like to wrap that whip ‘round his throat and pull.”
I told him that we’d seen him once, but he disappeared. He was probably way ahead of us; which made me want to travel at night. Not because we’d get to our destination first, but because I was too antsy to sit still.
Lucian must have read my mind, or body language, and said, “It wouldn’t pay to travel at night. Don’t even think about it.”
“Travel at night? Whooosh. You’d have to be crazy. The damn wolves would rip you to shreds,” Tom said, and then continued with his gossiping. “We have seen the wizard guy, and he had that terrifying creature wrapped around his neck. Ya know…the charmer guy?”
“You mean…Carmen?” I asked. I wanted to refer to him as Snake Man, but I didn’t want to sound rude.
“Yeah – that fella. He’s staying right down past us in a clump of trees. He’s a weird one, let me tell ya. He never takes that creature from damnation off his neck. I have to wonder if his head would fall off if he did remove it. I heard tell of a story about a man like that once…only it was a rope, not a snake.”
“I think it would fall off,” William said while he slyly used the tip of his thumb to pick his nose.
Lucian had been trying not to laugh the entire conversation. Apparently he found Tom’s discomfort entertaining. Tom continued to gossip, but my thoughts drifted to the werewolves. Only when Tom mentioned—the Dark Elf—did my attention focus back to him.
