Into The Wildewood Part 14

"I think he's sweet." Laurie snapped her fingers at him. "Come on, Knotsie."

"Knotsie? Oh, gag." Keelie opened the door and pushed her foot forward, launching Knot down the stairs. He flew down, legs outspread, purring loudly, then flipped in the air and landed on the bottom step. He blinked up at them, unfazed.

"Keelie, I can't believe you did that." Laurie seemed ready to run to Knot's rescue. "You used to be an animal lover."

"He's fine." Laurie didn't know what Knot was capable of-that he wasn't a cat at all, but some fairy, um, thing.

Knot's buzz-saw purr rose up to meet them.

"You don't have to live with Pickles, the demon cat." Laurie's cat was famous for snagging bare toes by the pool. Not even close to Knot's level of evil.

Knot batted at Keelie's pant leg as she walked past, then the orange hairball ran in front of her just as she reached for the door.

Laurie had turned into the bigger room and spun around in a circle, taking in Janice's apothecary shop. Her face was etched with wonder as she tried to drink in the sight. Dried bunches of herbs hung from the exposed ceiling beams. Cobalt blue gla.s.s containers filled with healing elixirs sparkled in the sunbeams that shone on the back wall.

Knot reached up on his hind legs and touched the door-k.n.o.b with his paw. And the door opened.

Laurie turned around in time to see Knot's latest trick. "Whoa, that's a smart cat. This place is so cool. My mom would go nuts in here. By the way, you didn't tell me that your dad is way good looking. He's like the Johnny Depp of the Renaissance Faire."

"Eew, Laurie, you're talking about my dad."

"Hey listen, if my mom and her friends ever lay eyes on him, then it's going to be like Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives."

Keelie smiled. Through the window, she saw a bhata bhata climb up to a higher branch in an oak tree, and then like a woodland acrobat disappear into the leaves of the oaks. Thank goodness the oaks were still asleep. No acorns. climb up to a higher branch in an oak tree, and then like a woodland acrobat disappear into the leaves of the oaks. Thank goodness the oaks were still asleep. No acorns.

She glanced over at Laurie-and for a moment panic set in, because Laurie's eyes were wide with wonder. But Keelie relaxed as she realized that this was still Laurie's reaction to Janice's shop.

They stepped outside and closed the door after them. The woodland setting gave the place a fairy-tale feeling. Admin had cleared off the acorns and leaves that had littered the dirt lane.

Infused with enthusiasm, Keelie danced ahead. "Come on, I'll show you the inside of our shop. This is called Enchanted Lane. You've seen Lulu's puppet shop. Over there is the blacksmith's building, and over there is Lady Annie's boot shop, and here is ours. It's not like our really cool shop in Colorado, but it works."

The carved Heartwood sign swung from a spear-shaped pole. They stepped off the dirt path onto the wooden floor, and Laurie looked around at Dad's creations. She was wide-eyed. "I've never seen anything like this."

Keelie ran her hand over one of the crystal-embellished chairs by the front entrance. Elm, from fallen branches. Not that Laurie would be able to sense it, since she was one hundred percent normal. Human.

"You know, Keelie, not only does your family have a shop on Enchanted Lane, but you're living an enchanted life."

"Let's see if you say that after you've been here for a while and you're stuck feeding bits of rat to a hawk."

"That's so not happening." Laurie laughed and walked farther into the shop. She stopped and turned a quizzical eye to Keelie. "Is it?"

"Welcome to my world."

sixteen.

The unicorn shone bright against the dark pines. He stared at Keelie, as if trying to communicate. Keelie stepped toward him, hand outstretched to touch the luminous horn. It was slightly curved, like a strung bow.

As her fingers brushed the cool ivory, he reared, hooves flashing past her startled face, and galloped through the trees.

Keelie awoke, gasping, sitting up in bed. Her breathing slowed as she realized that she was safe in Sir Davey's camper. Laurie turned over, pulling the covers with her. Keelie grabbed the edge of the blanket as it left her legs and tugged it back, smiling. Still a total bed hog.

No unicorn. It was a dream. She was about to lie down again when a green whisper tickled her mind.

It was Tavak. Tree Shepherdess. It is time. Tree Shepherdess. It is time.

Keelie bolted upright. She touched her Queen Aspen heart, and the tree's telepathic connection became stronger.

Tree Shepherdess, Keliel, Lord Einhorn needs to see you-now-it is most urgent.

Einhorn. One horn. Keelie gazed at the alarm clock: 3:00 AM. Whatever happened to "he'd be there when I was ready"? He must be getting sicker.

Knot sat at the end of the bed, watching her with eyes that glowed like two round green lanterns. He meowed.

Keelie glared at him. "I'm not talking to you." She glanced down at Laurie. Still asleep, thank goodness. She sent her thoughts to the forest.

Where do I meet Lord Einhorn?

In the forest, near the human merrymaking place.

Merrymaking place?

Images of a huge white merchant tent, much bigger than anything in the staff parking lot, filled Keelie's mind, as did mental pictures of the Merry Men and the handsome actor who played Robin Hood, and she heard the familiar music of Rigadoon. She understood. The unicorn wanted to meet near Rivendell.

Tavak, I've never been to Rivendell from the campground. Will you show me the way?

The path glowed in her head, as if seen from a great height. Duh, of course. Tree height.

Keelie eased out of bed and dropped her rose quartz into the front pocket of her pajama top. She wished she had the tekt.i.te, too, but she didn't know where Sir Davey had stashed it. After the sapling incident, she wasn't going anywhere near a tree without her rose quartz. Plus, she had a feeling it might be needed to heal Einhorn. Keelie slipped her feet into her tennis shoes and tiptoed to the RV's door. Laurie would freak if she knew she was sneaking out to meet a unicorn.

Keelie slipped outside, latching the door carefully behind her. The air was crisp and cool and, above, the almost-fullmoon's light blocked the stars and illuminated the ground before her like a giant lantern. Farther away, stars shone like little diamond points in the sky. Keelie thought of the starbursts on the unicorn painting at the crystal shop. She touched the rose quartz, easing the flutters in her stomach, missing the tekt.i.te she'd left behind. She stopped to get her bearings. The path the tree had shown her started behind the RV. The campground was quiet, and few lights glowed in the tents.

Tree Shepherdess, follow the cat.

Knot ran before her, then stopped and looked back as if she were being too pokey. The walk to Rivendell was easy, and they didn't encounter anyone but a few bhata bhata who followed along in the bushes by the path. Keelie ignored them, knowing from experience that if she looked at them they might attack, pinching and tugging her hair. It was nothing deadly, but neither were wasps, for most folks. who followed along in the bushes by the path. Keelie ignored them, knowing from experience that if she looked at them they might attack, pinching and tugging her hair. It was nothing deadly, but neither were wasps, for most folks.

Party central at Rivendell was a canvas tent, which sat at one end of the fenced pasture where the jousting horses were corralled at night. Large bodies shifted, and ears on ma.s.sive heads twitched as she and Knot went by. It looked just as Keelie had imagined it.

Outside the tent, someone strummed a guitar, and the notes seem to linger in the air as if Keelie could reach out and touch them with her fingers. Magic was all about her. Her body tingled with it. She skirted around the edge of the tent, staying out of sight, and entered the forest. Knot hurried, and she sped up to reach him. Twenty feet into the woods she could no longer see the lights of Rivendell when she turned.

Then, a dim glow ahead resolved itself into the unicorn. He was standing in a ring of pines, and seemed brighter as her eyes grew accustomed to the dark. The scent of forest loam tickled Keelie's nose, and the thick bed of old needles was like a cushion under her feet. It broke her heart to see the unicorn. His coat seemed even more tattered and lackl.u.s.ter; he looked like a sick, ill-used horse, with a fake horn stuck to his head. She had to help him.

"I'm here," she said aloud. "What can I do to help you?"

He nodded his head and pawed the ground, but said nothing.

She opened her mind and the trees crowded in hungrily. She quickly pulled away.

She had no idea how to talk to a unicorn. She may as well chat with Knot. She pulled the rose quartz from her pocket and held it up. Closing her eyes, Keelie opened herself to the trees. Help me to speak with him. Help me to speak with him.

A chorus of green filled her mind. We are here for you, Tree Shepherdess. We are here for you, Tree Shepherdess.

Why can't I speak with the unicorn? What does he want of me?

Tavak's voice crowded out the others. He does not speak directly for fear the others will hear him and know he is here. He does not speak directly for fear the others will hear him and know he is here.

What others?

Those who seek to capture him for his power.

Someone was out to catch the unicorn, but there weren't many who could even see him. She had an image of a group of evil virgins chasing him. Maybe she could just cure him and go back to bed before Dad found out she was gone.

The rose quartz glowed as she held it out. Earth magic and tree magic might be the combination to cure Einhorn. These were the only kinds of magic that she knew. She grasped the amulet on its silver chain. From the charred aspen wood, warmth flowed through Keelie's hand. Magic, green magic, streamed through her body, tingling sharply.

Tavak warned, Someone comes. Someone comes.

The tingling increased, becoming a stabbing, shocklike pain. Keelie released the amulet; the warmth faded away, and with it the magic did too.

The unicorn pawed the ground. He tilted his head, staggered a bit, and then gathered himself and ran past her, heading deeper into the forest. The horses at Rivendell whinnied to him as he galloped away.

The light of the rose quartz grew fainter until it was completely extinguished, like a dying candle flame.

A stick snapped nearby. She jumped and whirled, expecting to see Elianard. But it was Laurie, standing in her red plaid pajama bottoms and her Baywood Academy T-shirt.

"What are you doing here?" Keelie asked.

"I knew it. You're a Wiccan, and you're doing some ritual. You going to show me?"

"I'm taking a walk."

"At three in the morning? You're doing something, I know it. Margaret Seastrunk is a Wiccan, and she says she performs rituals under a full moon, but I don't think it's real, because she learned it from a book. Plus, she sings in the choir at Greater L.A. Unitarian."

Keelie interrupted her babbling. "What did you see?"

Laurie frowned. "Chill, Keelie. I heard you leave, and followed your pink flashlight. You don't have to get all huffy."

Pink flashlight. The rose quartz must have been giving off light the whole way. She'd been visible to anyone who cared to look. "You didn't see anything else?" The unicorn must have sped right past her, within touching distance.

"Just that crazy white horse. Did you let it out of the pasture?"

Keelie stared at her friend. Just a horse? Who was keeping secrets now? Her mind swirled with a thousand questions she wanted to ask. Laurie would've told her if she'd had s.e.x. Something like that was monumental, the kind of event that best friends shared. They'd told each other everything growing up. Suddenly, she was sad.

"h.e.l.lo?" Laurie waved her hands in front of Keelie's face. "So are you going to tell me what you were doing out here?" The jousters' horses whinnied in the background.

"My cat. I was following Knot." It sounded lame.

"Uh-huh, right! What's the big secret? I'll bet it's a guy."

"I was following Knot. That's all. " Keelie was beginning to sound like Dad when he denied he could speak to the cat. She lifted her gaze up to the treetops, and she saw the silhouettes of several bhata bhata moving in, around, and among the tree limbs. To the unknowing eye, it appeared as if a breeze were blowing. moving in, around, and among the tree limbs. To the unknowing eye, it appeared as if a breeze were blowing.

The horses turned and ran to the center of the pasture, spooked. A dark figure came out of the Rivendell tent, and as it moved away from the tent's shadow, she saw that it was one of the jousters. He circled the perimeter of the fence, sword in hand, and watched the horses run.

Laurie inched closer to Keelie and grabbed her hand. "Is that him? Your secret boyfriend?"

Keelie rolled her eyes. "He's just a jouster. Probably in charge of the horses. I don't have a secret boyfriend."

Laurie moved forward, releasing her hand. "A real jouster? Like he does it for a living?"

"Yes. They travel from Faire to Faire. Kind of like a medieval PGA Tour."

Blessed by the moon's silver glow, the meadow with its ivory-colored tent looked like a medieval tapestry. It was oddly quiet, though, even for this time of the night. Back in Colorado, the Shire's night owls had kept the music and conversations going until dawn, especially on weeknights, when no one had to perform the next day. Were that many people sick? Of course, she didn't know how many actually stayed on site, and how many were at the lodge in town.

The figure returned to the tent, as the tent door opened, the light from inside briefly illuminated the man.

The lone guitar's music began anew and added to the mystical ambience, but it brought Keelie back to the reality of her situation. She and Laurie needed to sneak past before the man with the sword noticed them and got word back to Dad. They'd said they were going to work together to help the unicorn, and if he found out that she'd come out here alone, especially after the last tree incident, he'd be furious. She didn't want to worry him, even if he was feeling better.

Laurie climbed up onto the pasture's wooden fence. "Listen, Keelie. Hear that music? Someone's playing the guitar out here in the middle of nowhere. This feels like a dream." In the moonlight, Laurie's face changed from dreamy musing to comprehension, as if she'd just figured out a piece of a missing puzzle. "You are so lying, Keelie Heartwood. Your secret boyfriend is down there in that tent."

"I am not! I was trying to find the stray white cat that's been hanging around and I thought Knot would lead me to him, since they're buddies now. I've been worried about it."

"Prove it." Laurie crossed her arms over her chest.

"Prove what?" Keelie answered. "I don't have to prove anything."

"That you don't have a secret boyfriend at this Faire. I mean, Sean's in Florida, and he wouldn't know if you were seeing someone on the sly."

"Sean and I weren't really dating." Keelie's face burned, because she had been having some naughty thoughts about the Robin Hood actor. Not that it was a crime to think about someone else, but it seemed to be sort of cheating to think about someone-you know-naked, when you'd been out with a guy you really liked and were desperate to hear from again.

"Okay. Don't be so touchy. I mean, you never know when someone will cheat."

Keelie definitely picked up an undercurrent of bitterness. Sounded like Laurie might be talking about Trent. They'd been tight when Keelie had to leave after Mom's death. Funny how Laurie hadn't mentioned his name since her arrival. Of course, Keelie hadn't asked, but maybe he'd been the one. Laurie hadn't seen the unicorn.

Her friend was looking longingly at the golden lights of the tent. "Let's just go down there and check it out. Who knows, there may be a party."

"I don't hear one. Besides, I can't. Dad will kill me."

"He doesn't have to know. We'll stay an hour, and then rush back to the camper. Who's going to tell him?"

"Knot."

"Yeah right, the cat." Laurie trucked off toward the tent. "I'm going."

"Laurie," Keelie whispered as loudly as she could from the safety of the trees' shadows. "Get back here."