The Secret of the Dread Forest: The Faire Folk Trilogy

by Gillian Summers

  Keelie nodded. The leaves were beginning to unfurl.

  “We’ll fix it.” He patted her on the arm. “We’ll figure it out.”

  Comfort ebbed over her. Keelie was glad she’d talked to him.

  “Dad, about Jake. Like I said, I just want him to be safe. I don’t want the elves to hurt him.”

  “I know, Keelie. Me neither.”

  At the Magic Forest Tattoo shop, Zabrina’s mouth fell open in shock when she saw the tree ring. “Kid, this is an original.” She put on her rhinestone-encrusted catframed glasses and examined Keelie’s stomach. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” The wings of Zabrina’s fairy tattoo fluttered. Dad’s eyes widened in surprise as the twodimensional fairy tattoo floated off Zabrina’s arm and hovered over Keelie’s shoulder, joining them in staring at the little branch growing from her navel ring.

  “Can you take it out?” Keelie tried to keep the panic out of her voice.

  “I can try. I’ll be right back.” She exited through the beaded curtains. The fairy tattoo smiled, bent her head coyly, and batted her eyelashes at Dad.

  Dad turned around and stared at the equipment on the other side of the shop, then at the artwork on the wall. “What is she?”

  “She’s half fairy.”

  Zabrina returned with her wire cutters. “If this doesn’t work, then we’ll use this.” She held up a huge bolt cutter.

  Keelie gulped.

  Dad’s eyebrows rose. Zabrina offered the bolt cutter to Dad. “Here, hold this.”

  After cleaning the area with disinfectant, Zabrina placed her glasses on her nose. The rhinestones sparkled brightly. “Aha, here it is.” She inserted the wire cutters and pushed down on the handles. Keelie braced herself for pain. There was a loud click, and Zabrina held up the broken tree ring.

  “Here you go.”

  “Well done.” Dad looked at her with an admiring but inquisitive gaze. “Was there magic in the ring?”

  “Nope.” She pointed to her glasses. “These help me see any glamours or illusions.” She held up the wire cutters, the broken tree clasped in their grip, and pointed at them. “This, however, is not an illusion. Your daughter transformed silver into wood. If I were you, I’d figure out why, and very soon.”

  fourteen

  Grandmother Keliatiel rushed outside to greet them.

  “Where have you been? I’ve been worried.”

  “I had to run to town,” Dad motioned toward the house. “Mother, you need to rest.”

  “Why did you have to go into town?” Keliatiel waved her hand. “Never mind. Etilafael needs to speak with you on a matter most urgent. It’s about Elianard.”

  Dad nodded. “I’ll go talk with her.”

  “She’s at the Council house.”

  “Keelie, I need to go, but when I return, we’ll figure out this problem. Mother, you need to rest. You know you shouldn’t be up.”

  “What problem? Perhaps I can help Keelie. I do need to speak to her.”

  “No. I want you resting,” Dad insisted. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

  “I need to go check on Alora and Ariel,” Keelie said hastily. “I’ll see you later, Dad.” She waved at him as she headed up the stairs.

  He smiled. “Hopefully sooner than later. Stay by the house, and don’t go into the woods.”

  Upstairs in her room, Keelie listened to Alora’s complaints. “Why didn’t you take me to town? I’ve been stuck in this flowerpot. The aunties told me they wanted me to visit. So you need to take me to them.”

  “I can’t take you into the woods. Dad told me to stay by the house.” Keelie was determined to be good.

  “But the aunties said it was important for you to come. They want to talk to you—in person.”

  “I can’t go and see the aunties.” Keelie lifted her shirt, relieved to see that the rash was gone. A circle of green now ringed her navel—chlorophyll poisoning. Of course. Coffee would take care of it.

  “You have to go and see the aunties!” Alora insisted.

  “I can’t. I told Dad I’d stay near the house, and I will.”

  “The aunties have something to show you.” The treeling lifted her face up.

  “If the aunties want to talk to me, then they can telepathically tell me whatever they have to say.”

  “Fine, try it,” Alora grumbled. “I know it’s important.”

  “We’ll see.” Keelie opened her senses and sought out the aunties.

  Old ones, I’m here.

  A stern voice rang in Keelie’s head. Shepherdess, we seek an audience with thee.

  Yes, do not keep us waiting. The Tree Shepherd comes to us when we command, another haughty voice chimed in.

  We are most insistent you come now. Quit being an impertinent little acorn, a third voice demanded.

  Impertinent little acorn! Demanding old biddy trees. Who did they think they were? The queens of the forest? Keelie had met a tree queen before, and she hadn’t acted like this.

  I can’t, Keelie replied. I promised Dad I’d stay here at the house. There are dangers in the forest.

  There was a knock at Keelie’s bedroom door. “Keelie, I really must speak to you.” Oh joy. It was Grandmother Keliatiel.

  I must go. She closed her mind to the aunties.

  Alora shook her branches disapprovingly. “They’re not going to be happy with you.”

  “Tell them to get in line.”

  Keelie opened her door. Grandmother stood there, tapping her foot impatiently. “I wish to speak to you downstairs.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Grandmother leaned closer, peered at Keelie, frowned. “Are you all right? You’re looking a little green.”

  “I’m fine. Just tree shepherd stuff.”

  “Your grandfather always turned green after using magic, when he was your age.”

  “Really?”

  Grandmother nodded. “Yes, he would have green fingernails and toenails, too. And the veins in his eyes would be green.” She smiled at the long-ago memory.

  “Wow. When was that?”

  “Let me think.” Grandmother wrinkled her brow and stared at the ceiling. “Was it after As You Like It? Yes, I think it was.”

  Warmed by her grandmother’s conversation, Keelie grinned at her. Maybe things were thawing between them. She opened the door a little further and leaned against the doorjamb. “I love As You Like It, too. Where did you see it?”

  “Gibbons’ Tennis Court. I think it was in 1669. Or was that in 1730 at Drury Lane?” Grandmother’s eyes lost focus as she remembered.

  Keelie couldn’t imagine remembering all the facts that a multiple-century lifespan would cram into a person’s skull.

  “We treated your grandfather’s headaches with an herbal tea given to us by the…” She stopped as if a forbidden name was about to escape from her tongue. “I need to speak with you, downstairs. Now.”

  “Can’t we talk here?”

  Grandmother glanced at Alora, almost too quickly to be noticed. “Downstairs, please.”

  “I’ll be down in a minute. I have tree shepherd business with Princess Alora.”

  Grandmother scowled. “Well, hurry.”

  Keelie closed her door and leaned against it, as if willing Grandmother to go away. She heard footsteps on the wooden floor, leading away from her room.

  “I need to see you downstairs.” She mimicked Grandmother’s stern voice.

  “The aunties are mad at you. You need to go and see them.” Alora glared as she crossed her branches over her chest.

  “Well, they’re not the first. Lately everyone needs to see me privately. I just can’t go out. It’s too dangerous.”

  “You’re in trouble with them.”

  “I’ll talk to them later.”

  Keelie went downstairs and found her Grandmother sitting in the chair with the big cushy pillows.

  “We need to talk about that.” Grandmother pointed toward Mom’s wood-carved portrait. “You must persuade your
father to remove it. When I insisted, he refused. He said you wanted it in view, therefore it stays. Is this correct?”

  Warmth and love for Dad filled Keelie. “Yes. I want it here. It’s beautiful.” She gazed lovingly at the sculpted lines of Mom’s face. “And I miss her so much.” Pain made the words come out in a whisper.

  “No doubt you do.” Her grandmother’s voice was emotionless. “The craftsmanship is superb. But I think the living room mantel is hardly the place to display it. Why don’t you move it to your bedroom? I think it makes Zeke think too much about Katharine.”

  Keelie stared at her Grandmother in disbelief. “Yeah, so, he loved her. What’s your problem?”

  “And she broke his heart.” Grandmother looked angry.

  Keelie suddenly realized something. “When you look at me, you see her don’t you?”

  “You have her way about you.” Grandmother frowned and examined the armrest of her chair.

  Keelie looked up at Mom’s portrait as if it would give her strength. “The portrait stays.”

  “You dare defy me?”

  “Yes, I do. And I think you need to understand. I’m staying. Dad loved her, and he loves me.”

  “Keelie, this is not a request, it is an order. I want you to tell your father that you would like him to remove this portrait. Say whatever you wish.” Grandmother made a cutting motion in the air. “I just want it done.”

  “No.” Anger burned Keelie’s cheeks. “I won’t. You may run this forest, but you don’t run me.”

  Grandmother pointed a thin finger at Keelie. “Oh, but I do. You are my blood, for good or bad, and I am the head of this family. I will not lose Zeke, not even to his daughter.

  I’ve lost one son, I won’t lose the other. I want the portrait gone tonight.”

  Wind blew outside, and Ariel called out plaintively from the mews.

  “No.” Keelie shook her head. It hit her, once again, that her grandmother would never accept her. Like the elves, Keliatiel couldn’t overlook the fact that Keelie was half-human; but her grandmother had an additional reason for not wanting Keelie around. She was afraid of losing Dad.

  Ariel cried out again.

  Grandmother leaned back in the chair. Her voice was high with tension and anger. “That hawk has been shrieking all day. Go and take care of it. I don’t know why you even keep it alive.”

  “How can you be so cruel?”

  “You think me cruel, child?” Grandmother closed her eyes and then opened them. “I am tired. Maybe I’ve seen too many cruel things and had too many cruel things happen to me, and they’ve hardened my heart. You count your years in decades, Keliel, but I’m hundreds of years old.” She shifted in her chair. “I’ve lived through a long swathe of the history of this world, times where I’ve seen firsthand the cruelty of the human race. You think me unkind and unloving to you, child. It may be that time has warped me.” She sighed. “Let my experience guide you. You can’t heal that hawk. There is no way to break the curse. She can’t fly, and by nature’s design a hawk is meant to feel the wind in her wings. Be kind to her, Keliel. Let Ariel die.”

  Keelie recoiled. “No!” She jumped up, ready to argue.

  The elderly elf continued as if she hadn’t heard her. “Your father is going to have to lead the elves, and he can’t live in the past.” She stood and walked to Mom’s portrait. “You can’t live in the past, either.” She turned to Keelie. “Be kind to your father, too—let him be free of the past. Allow him to let your mother go.”

  With tears brimming in her eyes, Keelie spun on her heels and walked out the front door, letting it slam. She’d missed lunch, but the confrontation with Grandmother had killed her appetite. She ran to Ariel’s cage.

  The hawk beat her wings against the wire. “I would never kill you, Ariel. Never. Never. I’ll do whatever I have to do to save you.”

  The hawk cocked her head to listen. Her milky white eyes staring at nothing. She beat her wings against the cage. Keelie stepped back and looked up at the pale sky. The wind rustled through the trees. “Calm down girl. Do you want to fly with the trees to help you? It’s just so dangerous out there.”

  She shuddered at the thought of Elianard catching Ariel and drinking her blood. A breeze rustled the branches above them. Ariel lifted her head and called out again.

  Ariel had been flying, though, aided by trees. Wasn’t that enough? And was death freedom, or did you simply cease to exist? Keelie thought about Mom. She wasn’t here anymore and all Keelie had were memories. She couldn’t touch her, talk to her, or see her. She lived in fear of not remembering what Mom’s voice sounded like. Keelie wiped away the tears dripping down her face and leaned against the bars of the cage. “Ariel, I don’t know what to do. I refuse to just let you die.”

  “May I make a suggestion?” a voice asked. Keelie turned around as Niriel stepped into the mews. “She’s a beautiful bird. Sad her fate is to be condemned, blind, and held captive in a cage. Her only other option is death.”

  Keelie groaned inwardly. Here was the last person she wanted to see, and he was being as rude as Elianard had always been.

  Niriel’s sad smile twitched at one side, as if he was having trouble keeping up the empathy. He was a total fake. “Too bad you don’t have the knowledge to save her.”

  “Dad says elven curses can’t be lifted.”

  Niriel arched an eyebrow and gazed up at the house. The light in the living room was on. He rubbed his chin as if something was bothering him.

  He knew something.

  “What is it?” Keelie demanded. If there was a way to break the curse, she wanted to know about it. She wouldn’t let Ariel die.

  “Long ago, we elves had the knowledge. We were powerful then, and wielded magic easily. We have since lost the knowledge held in our great books of magic, shared with the Shining Ones. The amulet key has been lost as well.”

  Keelie immediately thought about Elianard’s amulet, which she’d left with the sprite. It was a key? To what? Her skin was cold where it had lain against her. “But that’s dark magic.”

  Niriel shrugged. “To save a little bird would require just a little magic. Too bad we no longer have the knowledge.” His voice was deep and warm, its tone comforting. Keelie felt sleepy. Her little bird needed just a little magic. She’d thought the same thing.

  Something sharp sank deep into her leg. “Ow!”

  At her feet, Knot glared up at her, his ears pressed against his head. She pushed at him with her foot. He purred.

  When she looked up again, Niriel had disappeared. Ariel spread her wings wide, as if telling Keelie that she wanted to fly.

  She’d used a huge amount of magic at the Wildewood, and it hadn’t hurt anything. Using a little dark magic wouldn’t be noticeable, and if it meant Ariel would fly unaided again, it would be for a good cause. Ariel would have a chance to live a normal life. Surely, Dad would understand why she did it.

  Keelie looked around the side of the house, but Niriel was nowhere in sight. Good. Grandmother was resting and she could get the book, then run to the stream, get the amulet from the sprite, break the curse on Ariel, and still have time to put the amulet back before anyone noticed that she was gone.

  She went into the house, ignoring Ariel’s cries behind her. “You’ll be free soon, my friend,” she whispered.

  fifteen

  Keelie hurried to her room and changed into hiking boots, then crept along the hall, listening for her grandmother. She needed to get to the forest quickly. If she didn’t do it right this moment, she was afraid she’d never find the courage. Dad would have to forgive her for using dark magic. He would understand her reasons.

  As she made her way down the stairs, she heard the front door open.

  Dad walked in and Keelie stepped back into the shadows. If he saw her, she’d be in trouble.

  His shoulders slumped. Grandmother greeted him at the door. Dad wrapped his arms around her. “Mother you need to sit.”

  “How is he? Is t
here hope?”

  “No. He has chosen to fade. He sealed his fate when he tried to kill Einhorn in the Wildewood. Strangely enough, though, Elia said Keelie has something that could cure Elianard.”

  It had to be the amulet. That was what would cure Elianard.

  “Keelie?” Grandmother inhaled and let loose a plaintive cry. “Poor Elia. She’s desperate. She’ll do or say anything to save her father. What will happen to her?”

  “She will stay with her father until he fades. After that, she does not know what she will do.”

  Keelie listened, her heart breaking for Elia. Her mother was dead. Now, her father was dying, or fading, as it was for elves. Keelie knew what it was like to lose one parent, but to lose both? At the thought of losing Dad, fear squeezed its cold hand around her heart.

  “Mother, I wish to check on Keelie.” Fatigue was in his voice. It had been a long day. “Please go home and get some rest. I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

  As Grandmother gathered her shawl and headed for the door, Keelie rushed back to her room, Dad on the stairs right behind her. She barely made it.

  Alora, who had been sleeping, lifted her leafy head, “The aunties say the humans are in the forest.”

  Dad walked into Keelie’s room. “What are the aunties saying, Alora?” His eyes were bright with concern.

  “Humans are in the heart of the forest. Their machines are so loud.”

  Dad closed his eyes and Keelie knew he was telepathically contacting the aunties. When he opened them, they were bright green. His face flushed red.

  “The Dread has been broken.” Dad clenched his fists. “There are some teenagers with ATVs creating havoc. The trees are frightened. It could be like in the Wildewood— they could become angry and turn against the humans.”

  “Dad, can I help?”

  “Not now. I want you to watch over your grandmother.”

  “Dad, I need to help you. I need to be out there helping you with the trees.”

  “Keelie, I know, but I need you to stay with Grandmother.” He clasped her shoulders. “That is how you can help best.”