The Secret of the Dread Forest: The Faire Folk Trilogy

by Gillian Summers

  She wrapped her arms around Alora’s pot and heaved it up, then carefully walked to the hall, bracing herself against the wall when she got tired.

  “What are you doing, Keelie? Are we going shopping? Laurie told me about shopping. I need new twinkles for my branches.”

  The treeling didn’t know the word for the finery she wore, so she projected the effect she wanted, twinkling her branches covered in gems.

  Keelie snorted. “No, we’re not going shopping, but you are about to get a major twinkle, and it will be our secret.”

  She carried Alora’s pot outside, past Dad’s workshop. The treeling talked nonstop. By the time she set the pot down, Keelie was ready to heave her over the closest hedge.

  Inside the workshop she found a large clay pot that Dad had prepared to allow for Alora’s growth. It was half full of rich soil. Keelie dragged it outside, then took the amulet off and dropped it into the pot, digging it in with her fingers.

  Alora watched, quiet. Keelie turned to her. “I want you to take care of this necklace,” she whispered aloud. She was glad the treeling could hear and that she didn’t have to send the message telepathically, in case other trees overheard.

  “It’s beautiful,” Alora whispered back. “But very cold.”

  “Must be the magic. I’m going to repot you.”

  A surge of treeling happiness filled her mind. Alora was glad to get a new pot and a new necklace. Keelie tilted Alora’s pot and tapped it all around, loosening the soil, then grasped the treeling low on her trunk and pulled a little. She came up easily. Keelie dangled the little tree over the new pot, letting the roots barely touch the soil.

  Alora giggled. “That tickles. Hurry, Keelie. My toes are cold.”

  “You don’t have toes. You have rootlets.”

  Alora made a rude noise.

  Keelie grasped a handful of soil and dribbled it around Alora’s roots, repeating until Alora could sit comfortably. Then she grabbed the old pot by the rim, upending it into the new pot so that all the soil fell in. She tucked Alora snugly into her new home.

  “Remember, no one must know that the necklace is under you.”

  “Okay, but I must have a gift for my silence.”

  A bribe. Twice in one day. “What do you want?”

  “More twinkles. Twinkles that show.”

  “I’ll get you something.”

  Alora hummed happily. Keelie left her there for the time being and went to wash the dirt from her hands, smiling at Dad in the kitchen. “I repotted Alora. She’s outgrowing the old pot.”

  “That’s great, Keelie. I’m pleased that you are so responsible with the Great Tree’s gift.” He was chopping onions and tears glimmered in his eyes. Keelie used the kitchen towel she’d dried her hands on to dab at his eyes.

  “Onions are killer, aren’t they? My Grandma Jo always said the stronger the onion, the better the flavor.”

  Dad smiled. “I’ll remember that.” He started to pluck tiny leaves from a branch of thyme, letting them fall on the diced onions.

  Keelie got the clothes from the hall closet and went out the front door to avoid running into Dad again. She sent a thought to the trees.

  Oh guardians of the Dread Forest, show me where the human boy is.

  She got back confusion and doubt. She tried again. The human boy named Jake. I was with him.

  We see no one but you and the elf, the aunties trilled.

  Had he left and gone back home? She’d been worried all this time for nothing.

  I see him. It was Alora.

  Get over yourself, Keelie answered. This isn’t how you’ll get another twinkly.

  But I can see him, she insisted. He’s a dark cloud, and he was a dark cloud when you spoke to him with Elia.

  A dark cloud? Keelie shrugged. Maybe he had some kind of magic doohickey that let him withstand the Dread, and it made him invisible to the trees.

  “Show me where he is, Alora.”

  “Take me with you.”

  Keelie gritted her teeth. She had to get back home in time for dinner or Dad would get suspicious. She walked around the side of the house, and with the clothes pulled tight to her chest, she picked up the new, even heavier pot, and staggered to the cart Dad used for hauling firewood. She wrestled Alora’s pot into the makeshift rickshaw and pulled the cart into the dark forest, with Alora guiding her.

  She had almost arrived at the stream when Alora announced, “There he is.”

  Keelie squinted into the darkness and saw a dark, foglike swirl low to the ground, like a shadow serpent coming toward her. It slowed, and then stopped, and Jake stepped out of it, the fog clinging to his skin like damp cloth.

  This was not human behavior. Her life was getting really complicated.

  seven

  Keelie jumped behind the cart, her heart thumping hard against her rib cage as her brain tried to reason out what she’d just seen. Watching Jake materialize out of thin air had to be right at the top of the list of the weird things she’d seen in the past several months. Keelie didn’t know whether to run or stay. She took a deep breath of the soothing scent of the surrounding evergreens, trying to calm herself. Something warm and furry rubbed against her ankle. She glanced down, saw Knot, and relaxed a fraction, feeling safer.

  Mist swirled around Jake’s feet. It was as if he had a fog machine hidden in his ragged boots. Fat water droplets dripped from the trees, making little puddles on the ground. She stared up at him. His eyes were bright green like an elf’s, but the veins in his eyes bulged bright red, blood red. His skin was as white as the snow atop the highest Cascade mountain peaks.

  The mist twirled around him like a vapory snake, and its tendrils reached out for her. Keelie stepped back. Behind her, a loud stick snapped. A jolt of panic filled her and she almost tripped, hitting the cart heavily.

  “Don’t knock me over,” Alora said in a frightened voice.

  Keelie’s palms were sweaty. Little beads of condensation had formed on Alora’s leaves. Keelie closed her eyes and connected to the forest’s magic, trying to find an answer from the trees. But there was no answer. She envisioned the green around her, and a wave of energy flowed from her to Alora. The clay flower pot glowed with a golden light. It wasn’t hot, but bright. Uh-oh! Keelie sensed that the amulet was reacting to her tree magic. She could only hope there wasn’t going to be any big problems because she did. The comforting scent of loamy soil filled the air, which glittered with gold and silver flecks.

  Keelie could see the bhata all around them, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the water sprite’s huge eyes peering at them from the stream bank.

  “Keelie, don’t be afraid.” Jake said. His voice sounded as if he were faraway or not altogether there, as if bits and pieces of him were still forming. The mist encircled him, and sparkles like silver glitter revolved around him. Jake closed his eyes, and when the sparkles disappeared, he looked like a normal boy, like he did the first time she saw him sleeping in the woods.

  “I think we’re both more than mere humans. So who’s going to explain first?” Keelie asked.

  Silence.

  Knot sat down on Keelie’s foot, a heavy lump of fur. The cat’s purring filled the silent forest, accompanied by an occasional plip-plop from the water dripping from the trees.

  “Gentlemen usually go first.” Keelie prompted.

  “Who said I was a gentleman?”

  “Well, what are you?”

  “What areyou?”

  Keelie sighed. “We could play this game all day, but if we’re going to get anywhere, somebody has to ‘fess up first.”

  Alora’s face pushed out from the bark on her trunk and she piped up. “I’ll start. I’m Princess Alora, the Princess of the Great Oak of the Wildewood.”

  Jake bowed elegantly. “It is the greatest honor and pleasure to meet you, Princess Alora.”

  Shocked, Keelie looked at the little treeling, then at Jake. Only tree shepherds could hear trees talk, even when they spoke aloud.


  Alora lifted her little branches to her face and giggled, her twinkles glistening even in the dark shade of the trees.Keelie noticed that Alora’s face seemed more human—her nose more pronounced, her eyes more expressive, and her mouth rounder with human-like lips.

  She looked from Alora to Jake. “You can truly see her? And hear her?”

  Jake nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. He seemed like an ordinary teenager—just one who talked to trees, like she did. She glanced at his ears again, wondering if they’d suddenly turned pointy, but his head was blurry in spots. She rubbed her eyes and turned to Alora. When they got back home, she was going to scold the treeling for revealing herself to someone she didn’t know. Time for the stranger-danger talk.

  Alora leaned back and lifted a leafy branch as if she was about to share a secret with her best friend. She whispered, “He’s nice. Don’t worry—we can trust him.”

  Jake grinned.

  Keelie didn’t grin back. She studied him. He was still pale, and his curly hair was wild. The blur was still there. Tree magic wasn’t helping, so she touched the rose quartz at her belt and reached for the Earth magic it could summon. The blur vanished, revealing pointed ear tips. “You’re an elf.”

  He frowned. “Not so much, anymore.” He looked at Keelie, and then down at Knot. “Once a long time ago, but…”

  “But—what?” Keelie encouraged him to continue. She wanted to know what happened to him, and if maybe they were related.

  Knot meowed. Jake kneeled to pet the cat on the head. To Keelie’s surprise, Knot didn’t hiss or swat at him, but purred. He was still sitting on her foot, which felt like it was going to sleep.

  Jake nodded. “If you think it’s best.”

  Knot meowed. So, apparently, the cat could talk to Jake but not to Keelie. Not like she wanted to speak meow anyway. Maybe she should kick him off her foot, but she liked having him there.

  Still camping out on her foot, Knot placed his paw on Jake’s hand. Jake stood. “I will tell you my story, Keliel Katharine Heartwood.”

  She gasped. “How do you know my full name?” Unfair, he knew about her, but she didn’t have a clue as to his real identity or to what he was. She looked down at the cat. “You told him.”

  “I’ve been watching you as you run through the forest chasing the hawk. I heard the elves talking about Zeke Heartwood’s Round Ear child.”

  Even though she didn’t show it, a sharp pain stung Keelie in her chest. Despite everything she’d done for the elves, they still called her Round Ear. Although she promised Dad she’d tried to fit in with them, she didn’t know if they’d ever accept her as one of their own. She straightened, mentally preparing herself for any more insults Jake might have heard the elves say about her.

  “What are you?” Keelie asked. If Jake was half-human, she hoped her fate wouldn’t be to turn into mist and lose her great tan, because she was more determined than ever to hang onto humanity.

  Jake spread his arms and stood before them, like a storyteller at a theme park. Alora leaned forward as if she was about to hear a really good tale.

  “I was once an elf,” Jake began, “but I was born with wanderlust. I had to see the world, and I traveled. When I returned home, I discovered that logging companies were going to build a railroad through the Dread Forest. The elves were sick and the Dread was receding. A wizard who’d discovered the secret of the Dread made a deal with a railroad baron, to remove the Dread so that humans could enter.”

  “No way,” Alora shouted. She put her branches to her mouth.

  Jake nodded. “The wizard said he could find a way into the forest and make it so the workers wouldn’t be afraid. They wanted to bring iron in. It would’ve killed the fairies, and the forest would have died, too. The trees would’ve been poisoned by the coal. My people, tied to the forest, would be lost and forlorn on Earth. We’d traveled from Europe, and found our home here. Where else could we go? To join our kin in Canada? Each elf becomes attuned to a place where his soul lives in harmony with the forest. This was our forest.”

  Keelie nodded. Dad had told her so. Alora leaned closer to her, and the treeling’s branches scratched her face.

  “Do you mind?”

  “Oops, sorry.” Alora sounded a lot like Laurie.

  “There seemed little choice,” Jake continued. “I had to stop it.”

  Keelie couldn’t imagine a railroad through this forest. She shivered with fear for the trees.

  “I had knowledge of our lore, and I knew that during the Middle Ages, an elven alchemist had tapped into the fairies’ dark magic to stop an army from taking over our lands. It stopped the army, but the alchemist was transformed by his use of the forces of darkness.”

  Keelie looked at Jake. “Transformed, how?” She bet he’d turned into a Red Cap; nothing could be darker than that little minion.

  “He turned into a vampire. A creature of the night—a creature twisted by dark magic despite his willing sacrifice to save his people.”

  Keelie flinched. “Vampire?”

  Jake was by her side in a blink. He placed a cold hand on her shoulder. “You’re so warm.”

  She looked up at him, and he held her gaze, his eyes bright green, but rimmed in red. A zing went through Keelie. Alarmed, she mistrusted the warm feeling she got from his gaze. Something about him touched her heart and made her feel all bright inside, but his words had been frightening. Dark magic. She shrugged his hand off and backed away until she felt the reassuring roughness of bark from the oak behind her.

  “You’re the one who saved the Dread Forest from the railroad all those years ago.”

  Bingo.

  “You used dark magic, and now you’re a vampire, just like the alchemist.”

  “Yes. And I was banished by the elves because of it.”

  Keelie’s chest ached as she thought of him, homeless and wandering, far from the forest to which he was still tied.

  Jake turned away and gazed down at Alora. “Let me carry her for you.” He reached for the flower pot. Keelie stepped between him and the cart, not trusting his intentions. Maybe he would be drawn to the dark magic of the amulet hidden between Alora’s roots.

  “You can trust him.” Alora’s little voice was confident.

  Jake bowed his head. “Princess Alora of the Wildewood Forest is safe with me.”

  Alora might be safe, but Keelie wasn’t safe from a sudden awareness that she liked Jake, even though he was cursed. He had saved the forest from the railroads, so he knew how to work dark magic. Keelie thought about the design on grandmother’s book and wondered if there could be a cure for Ariel’s curse in there—if she was willing to use the amulet. Maybe Jake could show her how. Such a tiny amount of dark magic wouldn’t have the same dark consequences.

  Jake’s eyes darkened. “Remember always, Keelie, even though we think we’re justified in using dark magic, there is a price to be paid for such knowledge and actions.”

  Had he read her mind? He was watching her like a predator watches its prey.

  “If you saved the Dread,” Keelie managed to ask, “why did the elves treat you so badly? Surely they understood your sacrifice?” There were parallels to their stories, and she shivered thinking of her own brush with dark magic.

  “For the safety of the other elves and the forest.” Jake stayed close to her. “Cold? Or are you afraid of me now?”

  Keelie thrust her chin up. “No. If Knot trusts you and Alora trusts you, then I’ll have to trust you.” She was taking a risk trusting the opinions of a trickster cat and a newborn sapling.

  “You’re a rare being among the elven, the humans, and even among the fae, Keelie Heartwood. Most people would be afraid of me.”

  “I think it’s because I’ve seen dwarves, elves, and water sprites. However, if you ever wear a red hat, then I’m going to run from you.”

  Jake smiled. “I’ll pull Alora’s cart for you until we’re almost at the village.”

  In a way, it was li
ke a guy offering to carry her books, except in Keelie’s case, it was her tree.

  She couldn’t say no, even though she suspected that he’d feel the amulet’s presence. She surreptitiously unclipped the rose quartz from her pants loop and leaned over to tuck it into the soil, whispering the shielding spell Sir Davey had taught her.

  Above her, Alora giggled. “That tickles.”

  Keelie straightened, and the second her finger lost contact with the Earth magic-shielded soil, the Dread slammed into her. She forced herself to straighten, knowing that the urge to run screaming was just an illusion.

  They walked slowly, and Jake chatted about elves while Keelie concentrated on acting normally. The faint sound of village life grew louder. Music, talk, the clanging of the blacksmith’s hammer—all meant that soon she’d stop feeling so awful.

  A tiny, sane part of her mind thought that they were acting like friends, until Jake asked about Elia.

  “She’s Elianard’s daughter, and we’ve had some runins,” Keelie said through gritted teeth. “He’s my elven lore teacher.” She made air quotes around “elven lore.” “You shouldn’t trust Elia. She seems nice now, but she’s done some awful stuff.”

  “She’s not so bad. I see the beauty in her heart.” Jake looked a little moonstruck. “I can see that she loves her father very much. She’s loyal.”

  Keelie snorted.

  Jake stopped walking, and as soon as he released the cart handles Keelie felt in Alora’s dirt for her rose quartz.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Getting my house key.” Her fingers closed around the smooth stone and she almost sobbed with relief. An empty pillowy feeling in her head took the place of the squeezing fear.

  Keelie turned to Jake. “I think Elia saw you, but she said she’d give you a few more days before she tells the other elves. So you’ve got to go somewhere else, or we’ve got to figure out a way to convince the elves to let you stay in the forest.”

  Jake shook his head and stepped back. “They’ll never reverse the banishment. And things will go badly for you if you tell others about me.”