The Fairy Club

by Moshe Harel

  My smile widened. “No. Dorna suggested to let my milk come out of her. She’s breastfeeding Nick, magically getting my milk to her. Nick doesn’t mind and she seems to enjoy it.”

  “She’s going to be a great fairy and a wonderful mother, I’m sure,” Gran said appreciatively.

  We spent some time learning how to operate the conferencing system and then discussing the plans for the first day before our club members started arriving. Not surprisingly, the group of pixies arrived first, led by Carl, who opened the portal. Evidently, Gran had shown him the place before. He only shook hands with us and disappeared, probably going to join Dorna in our apartment.

  The others arrived one by one over the span of half an hour, using either public transportation, taxi, or private vehicles, as none knew how to travel magically by that time.

  We handled the introductions and let Gran chat a bit with the new fairies. Brian sat at the computer and made sure the other locations were getting ready. When all signs turned green, he signaled to Gran and then started the transmission. We could see her on both front and back monitors, but we could only hear her, not the loudspeakers.

  Gran began the start-of-club speech, as usual, only mentioning this was the first time it had multiple locations. She could only interact with the local group, but that seemed to be good enough, according to Brian, who was monitoring the other groups through the computer. She then moved aside, after presenting me as “Junior Sophie, one of the most powerful fairies if not the most powerful ever,” letting me lead. I thought it was a good idea to let everybody know who this fairy, who only presented herself as “Sophie’s grandmother”, really was.

  “Thank you, grandmother, for the introduction, and for those of you who don’t know this fine lady, her name is Edith Smith, also known among the fairies as Fairlady Edith, the newly re-elected chairman of the Elder Council of the fairies, the highest position in the fairy hierarchy.” Gran looked surprised and then a bit angry before the applause made her smile and bow her thanks.

  Despite having our lectures broadcast to many other locations, it wasn’t much different than the previous times, except for when I had to monitor the computer while Brian took the lecturer position. It was even easy enough to answer questions coming from other locations. Still, the afternoon lectures, which were only done locally, felt much nicer.

  41 A Well Deserved Vacation

  The new “mega” club was a big success. Using modern communication technology allowed us to teach all those many new fairies without giving up the personal touch when each group studied alone. By the end of the club, we had quite a few new magically mated couples, which I considered good news. Some of these new couples were even of pixies and fairies, further enhancing the concept that we were all one species.

  Still, I was really relieved when the club reached its end and I could finally return to being a young mother of two with only a few additional responsibilities. I could no longer skip the Elders’ meetings, but they were not very demanding, compared to all that I needed to do the previous year.

  I was wondering if I should continue my studies, get my masters, or even a doctorate at something one day, or just try to find a job and gain some “real life” experience before seeking higher studies.

  Of course, I should have known better. Two weeks after the end of the club, Gran came for a visit. “I can clearly see that you need another vacation,” she told me with a warm smile. “Why don’t you get the children to spend some time in Avalon? The elves would certainly welcome you, and so will the angels, and you don’t need to transform to fit in.”

  Actually, this was a very good suggestion, and yet I had a nagging feeling that gran had some ulterior motives for that.

  “I’m not sure. Although a vacation could be beneficial, I think we should start thinking about what comes next and act on it. I was wondering if we should gain some experience in our chosen fields before seeking higher education, or skip it and try to gain mastery and doctorate as soon as we can, so we’ll be able to put our studies behind us.”

  She looked contemplatively at me. “I believe you’ve got more than enough practical experience. I’m not really sure you even need more studies, but I understand your wish to get to the top.” She then smiled with some evident mischief. “I’d say you’re already closer to the top than you realize.” She turned serious again. “You’ll need to rent or buy a bigger apartment now. Let me handle that. I think I know exactly what would make you happy. Just grab your children and your mate and take a well-deserved vacation.”

  I was still unsure. “Maybe I should ask Dorna to come too. Nick is still very demanding.”

  She smiled. “Dorna would like an excuse to spend some more time with her friends. Both she and her mate have already gained the respect of the fairies and the pixies, and I dare say that the Eeves and the angels are also aware of their achievements. They would be just as welcome there.”

  Brian didn’t even need to think about that idea. Although he hadn’t been pregnant and hadn’t given birth nor breastfed (I was actually playing with the idea of using Dorna’s method in order to let him try it, if only I could find how to make his breasts appropriate for the task,) he had worked just as hard with his studies, his duties as a Junior and trying to do as much as possible to ease the burden on me. “We could certainly use a vacation. It could also help tighten the family.” He then frowned. “Wouldn’t it interfere with the children’s development, though?”

  Gran smiled knowingly. “I can’t see Tracey objecting to such an experience, and as you’re going to keep your size and features, it would be just like visiting some strange place, for her. Nick will hardly notice anything, at his age.”

  It took us less than two hours to pack all that we felt necessary and open a portal to the elf village on Avalon. Evidently, someone had already informed them of our imminent arrival, as we were immediately escorted to the palace, where the king and the queen were expecting us.

  Unlike our first meeting, that was quite formal, being held at the main reception hall, this time we were shown immediately to the private wing, where the royal couple invited us to join them for tea. Little Tracey was looking at everything with utter curiosity and wonderment, not uttering a word. I was sure she’d flood us with questions as soon as the novelty of this experience wore off. Nick, on the other hand, paid no attention to his surroundings. At barely three months, he was quite content to be held tight in my arms, close to my chest. As I had fed him shortly before passing to Avalon, he was also quite sleepy.

  After some polite conversation and a few sips of tea, the queen rose from her seat and approached Tracey, who seemed suddenly shy, moving closer to Brian. “How old are you, dear?” the queen asked her.

  “Two,” she answered, barely audibly.

  The queen passed her hand over Tracey’s head several times, looking more surprised each time. I was starting to get worried, and then I felt Brian in my head. ‘She’s not worried, just surprised.’ That calmed me a bit.

  The queen smiled at Tracey. “I can see that you’re going to bring even more changes than your mother. I will surely be delighted to watch you grow and gain your powers.”

  Tracey said nothing, although I was sure she heard and understood every word. She would probably ask us later.

  The queen turned to Nick, who was already sleeping peacefully in my arms. Once again she seemed surprised. I already knew that his magic was just as strong as his sister’s, so it didn’t bother me, until she frowned.

  “What have you found?” I asked her.

  She turned to look at me. “Nothing to worry about, dear, but still something unusual. Your son seems to have a different kind of magic, although I can’t really identify it. Your daughter also has something different there, although her magic is certainly Fairy Magic, but there’s something else in there as well.”

  She could explain no more, although she tried. Eventually, our conversation moved to other topics. The royal couple was interested
in our studies and in our plans for the future, and even more interested to hear as much as we could tell about the rework of the rune stones in the palace and the removal of that ancient curse.

  After a while, the elves had to excuse themselves, as they also had other obligations than just entertaining guests. They let us stay in one of the guest apartments in the palace and assigned two elf maidens to help us with the children.

  As soon as we were left alone, Tracey regained her speech. She had seen a lot of things she hadn’t seen before and needed to comment or ask about most of them. “Why are these people dressed so funny? Why are their ears pointy? Why did that woman put her hands over my head and Nick’s? How did we come here? We only took a few steps and we were here, not in the other room. Why . . .”

  It took us the rest of the afternoon to answer most of her questions to the best of our ability, trying to keep the explanations simple enough for her age. Although she was highly intelligent, (Ask any mother how intelligent her child is. They’re all geniuses!) we just couldn’t explain some things in a way she could understand. Well, some things I couldn’t understand either, like the whole concept of magic. Despite using magic extensively, at times, I was still struggling with its mere existence. I wondered how my own magic would have been affected, had I been fully accepting of it existing.

  Tracey got tired by all these new experiences and then the long talks. She fell asleep in Brian’s lap and he put her in the bed that was assigned to her. We were thinking of some private time, before the children woke, when somebody knocked on the door.

  I opened it, expecting one of the elf maidens assigned to help us. To my surprise, the one at the door was no other than Dorna in her human shape. “What are you doing here?” I blurted. Despite mentioning the possibility of her helping us when speaking with Gran, we hadn’t invited her to join.

  “Visiting Avalon, like you. The elves were kind enough to invite us and give us the adjacent apartment, so I can take care of Nick and let you better enjoy your vacation,” she explained, with a spark of mischief in her eyes.

  I was actually glad to see her. The elf company could sometimes be too taxing, with its aloofness and its exclusive knowledge. Dorna could give me some down-to-earth company, some idle talk to let my mind rest after the demands it had to endure for the graduation and then the fairy club. Besides, I could always use another pair of eyes to watch Tracey.

  Her usefulness was unexpectedly put to test the next morning. Some elf maidens wanted to bathe in the small river at the edge of the village. I thought that some swimming and some relaxing in the shallow parts could do me good. One of our elf escorts was keeping an eye on Nick, after I made sure that he was fed and clean, while another took Tracey to the shallowest part of the river, where two elf children about her age were also playing under the watchful eyes of their mothers. Dorna joined them, knowing how unexpectedly Tracey might act.

  Tracey was quite well behaved for her age and had never been to a river or the seaside. I thought she would even be apprehensive at seeing so much water. She’d never even visited a pool, despite some books recommending exposing babies to swimming, as it would do them good in many ways. We were just too busy, unable to find enough time for such visits. I didn’t expect Tracey to cause any trouble. I followed the elf maidens to the river, undressed and plunged into the water along with them. I swam for a few minutes, letting the freshwater invigorate me and then moved to the bank, where the water was barely higher than my calf and lay down, enjoying some warm sun-rays that penetrated between the trees on the bank, finding this very relaxing. Brian plopped at my side. Although he was completely faithful to me, as our magical mating dictated, he still enjoyed seeing naked women (or elf maidens or fairies) as any young man would. The way he was looking at me, I was sure that we’d spend some intimate time as soon as we returned to our apartment.

  My tranquility was shattered by a shrill cry, “Tracey!” coming from two girls. I turned quickly and noticed both Dorna and that elf maiden assigned to us looking alarmed as they watched the river. Both seemed to move closer to the water but none jumped into it, making me understand that whatever was happening there didn’t put Tracey in any real danger. I still ran there, arriving short of breath. “What happened?” I asked.

  Dorna pointed at the water, where I could see Tracey swimming underwater, moving swiftly and easily, undulating her way between the water plants on the bottom of the river. She didn’t seem to be in any danger and her face expressed unexpected joy. It took me some time to realize that she hadn’t surfaced for air and she didn’t seem to be lacking oxygen either. Looking attentively at her, I thought I saw some dark red marks on the sides of her neck, but with the flowing water, it was quite difficult to discern details.

  It took a few more minutes before Tracey turned around and seemed to notice me. She quickly swam underwater back to the shallow part and then stood up, the water reaching only to her chest. “Mamma, I can swim like The Little Mermaid. You see?”

  I could only nod in disbelief. The red blotches at the sides of her neck seemed to disappear as soon as she came out of the water. I thought it might have been some red water-weed that fell back. “Mamma, come swim with me!” the little tyrant demanded.

  “I think you swam quite enough for your first time. You can swim some more in the afternoon and tomorrow if you like. Now, come sit with me.”

  She frowned a little, clearly wanting to swim some more, but sitting with me was also something she hadn’t had enough of for quite some time, so she accepted my request with no complaint and came to sit in my lap. I hugged her tightly and she seemed to doze a bit.

  I turned to Dorna. “Can you now tell me what happened?”

  She took a deep breath as if preparing for some unpleasantness. “We introduced Tracey to the other children and their mothers and they all played for a while on the sandy bank. Then one child started throwing sand and they were soon all full of sand, on their skins, in their hair, and even in their mouths. We stopped it as soon as we could and took the children to the shallow water to rinse them of the sand. Tracey squirmed out of my hold in the water and before I could do anything, she dived into the deeper water. I panicked, fearing she would drown, but she swam like she was a fish. You’ve seen the rest.”

  I looked at the elf maiden that was supposed to watch Tracey. She blushed at my inquisitive glance and said, “It was as if the water made her much stronger. I tried to hold her along with Dorna, but none of us could stop her. She just slipped away like an eel.”

  Brian had come to my side, bringing my clothes along. I let him hold Tracey in his arms, as she had already fallen asleep. I got dressed quickly and we all returned to our apartment.

  42 Flight

  Tracey woke up as soon as Brian tried to put her in her bed, her previous enthusiasm returning along with her wakefulness. “Daddy, you saw me swim?” she asked, quite proud of her deed.

  “Yes, darling, I saw that, but I was quite frightened. You never learned swimming and I was worried you could drown. How did you even breathe in the water?”

  She looked confused like it was something she’d never even thought about. She seemed to think for a moment before answering. “Don’t know. I breathed water, but not in my nose . . .” This seemed to really bewilder her.

  “But how did you know how to swim?” I insisted.

  “I did like the little mermaid. You told me to watch.”

  Indeed, as we couldn’t spend much time with her during the last few months, we let her watch various programs for small children on the television. We even downloaded some educational series to our computers and transferred them to the television. One of the series she had watched was using the little mermaid as the main character. Had her magic responded to that? We had a lot of questions but no real answers.

  That afternoon, we took her back to the river. This time, I went to the water with her. “I want to make sure you’re safe and I want to understand how you can breathe in the water, s
o stay near me. If I stop for air, don’t go any farther until I’m back in the water, even if you don’t need air,” I told her.

  Once again, as soon as she was in the water, she seemed to gain confidence and fluidity that no two-year child is expected to have. As she put her head into the water I saw two red patches appear on her neck. Looking closer, they looked like several layers of fine meshes, full of blood vessels. They reminded me of gills, only they were external. She started swimming almost at once, her motions reminding me of some kind of fish.

  I couldn’t hold my breath for long. I stopped for some air and Tracey waited impatiently in the water. When I lifted my head out of the water for the third time, I heard Brian call to me, “Use your magic!” Well, maybe it was just a thought message, but I couldn’t concentrate on that. Still, once I submerged again, I thought ‘Gills!’ A moment later, I had gills similar to Tracey’s. It took me a bit longer to notice that my nose seemed to block the water from coming in and that I needed to be in motion for the gills to function, or I might suffocate. When I stopped for a moment, I also noticed that my hands and feet became webbed, giving me better agility in the water. Tracey seemed to have gone through the same changes.

  Although I enjoyed the new experience, I didn’t neglect my motherly duties. After a few minutes, I grabbed Tracey’s hand and indicated that we should return to shore. She gave me an adorable pout but did as requested. I had to think ‘No gills!’ as soon as I emerged from the water. It seemed to happen by itself with Tracey.

  We had a message waiting for us when we returned. The queen invited us to share dinner with the royal family. The message, passed to us by one of the younger elves, also stated that no special clothing was needed and we could just wear whatever we felt comfortable in. The children were not invited.

  I made sure to breastfeed Nick just before needing to leave. With the two elf maidens there, he was quite safe. I hoped Tracey would pose no problem either.