by B. J. Smash
We all watched him intently, waiting for something to happen. Anything! Only after several minutes did he say, “I feel warm. Happy. At peace. And”—his cataract-filled eyes began to turn the coffee brown that I had always known—“alive.”
His gray hair began to change from the drab gray to the dark brown that he’d had his whole life. Not even a single gray remained. Even before he had gone to fairyland, he had had a few grays on his sideburns. No more. They were pure brown. Simultaneously, the wrinkles smoothed and fully diminished. His back straightened, and he stood tall.
Joy swept over me as I asked, “Father? Did it work?” I knew the answer was obvious and that he looked like the father I had always known, but I had to ask.
“Ivy! I feel like a young man again.” He jumped up and clicked his heels. I guess he was feeling young and chipper again.
I felt tingles cover my entire body, as this was one of the best days of my life. And to top it off, my father would be healthy for two hundred years! Being Elven, I knew that I would be living for a long time, whether I wanted to or not. The Elven, I had learned, lived almost forever, or so it seemed. If they died from natural causes, they could live for up to a thousand years. And to have my father with me—this would be amazing. I had often dreaded the thought that I would have to one day part with my family members.
“Phew.” Gran wiped her brow. Grandfather laughed heartily, and even Izadora had a half grin.
Drumm stood tall and said, “Of course it worked. Maximus gave you the cure, didn’t he? He never fails.” His turquoise eyes lit up, sparkling.
Aunt Clover was just patting the dirt over the scarf. She stood, wiping her hands on her dress. “Well, I’ll be damned. It worked! Thank goodness, too. I thought he’d never be the same.”
I hugged my father close. After all that worry, and all the pain and suffering he had gone through, he would be fine.
“Well, that was quite embarrassing.” My father looked up at the tree that he had just been hanging from not ten minutes ago. He raised one brow and turned back to us. “I can’t imagine where my head was at.” He peered around him. “And that little man…where did he go? Ah, no matter. I feel wonderful.”
I, too, pushed the idea of the little man, or rather, the leprechaun, from my mind. If he returned, he’d be handled. I didn’t quite know the powers he held and what he had meant to show my father, but I wasn’t too worried.
And then my father went on to apologize profusely for his actions over the past few weeks. We all assured him it was no fault of his. My grandmother told him to stay away from fairyland. “Never go back!” she scolded.
Everyone was in such a great mood that when Izadora spoke of the scarf again, we would have just brushed it aside. However, she spoke to my Aunt Clover.
“With the scarf buried, you can now become friends with Silvie again. I don’t see why you should remain enemies. After all, it was my sister’s dark magic that influenced you.” She raised her eyebrows. “I know for a fact that she’d be glad to see you again.”
Aunt Clover looked doubtful. “She tried to kill me, Izadora. I can’t forgive her for that.”
“Unfortunately, you both did some regrettable things. Perhaps with time, you will change your mind,” Izadora said dryly.
Gran looked from one to the other. “The Seaforths and McCallisters have always been tied together, like a shoelace. She might be right, Clover.”
“Just stay away.” Izadora accentuated her speech. “Stay away from Magella. Do you hear me, Clover? Stay away from that old hag. She’s always up to no good. In fact, I know she already plots to get Aggie’s book of spells back. But she’ll have a hard time accomplishing that.” She patted her robe, and I knew somewhere in there lay the book. You couldn’t see any bulge or any indication that it was there, but it was.
“You know, it’s funny. Whenever you wouldn’t give Cora and me what we wanted, we always went to Magella. She would be more than happy to give us something. But I see now that she never had good intentions. I am done with her, trust me,” Aunt Clover said. “But you know, it was Cora that gave Silvie the spell. A heart’s desire spell—”
“She couldn’t have known where Silvie’s head was at the time. Just like you didn’t know just how powerful Magella’s spell was. Magella had cast such a spell over that scarf that you were not in your right mind. Just like John Basil here, only moments ago.”
Everyone was in silent agreement. You could tell by the nods of their heads.
“You would do well to remember: don’t mess with the dark side. Dark magic always has a payday. And it will never turn out good,” Izadora said frankly. Then before our eyes, she changed into a black crow and flew up high into the treetops, soon out of view.
We all went back to the house. Aunt Clover went about preparing bread pudding, while Grandfather and Gran sat at the table. Father soon joined them, and Drumm and I stood by the kitchen island.
“Where is your sister?” my father asked me.
I had dreaded this question, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him what her outcome was. I couldn’t bring myself to say that she would have to live with Magella for a year, only escaping for a short time every month.
“She’ll come around soon, Father. Don’t you worry about things. She will be fine.” And in the back of my mind, although Zinnia didn’t deserve it, I was forming plans to help her escape the grasp of Magella the terrible. Even though Magella had helped us cross the ocean to the land of the Elven, and even though she had helped us stave off the giant waves that had threatened us, she could not be trusted.
But for now, we sat around the heart of the home: the kitchen. We were content as content could be.
“And Cora?” Grandfather asked. “Where is she?”
A smile spread across my face, and Drumm couldn’t help but laugh.
“Cora is fine. Might have found a beau,” I said. “She’s happy, and will soon return.”
The answer satisfied them all, and we went about being happy—for who knew how long it would be this way? Who knew how long we’d remain in peace? Chaos was always knocking at the door. In my world, a world filled with magic and mishaps, one could never tell.
***
Meanwhile, in the deep, dark forest on the island of Hy Brasil, Kepler meandered lazily around the trees, in search of truffles. He wasn’t on a quest for Maximus to find the truffles, as he often was. Maximus sometimes sent him out to find the truffles for his cooking. But this time, he had snuck away to find them for himself.
In the early morning sun, he shuffled his nose through the twigs and leaves below an old oak. He thought he had hit the jackpot. And so when his snout touched something hard and smooth, it surprised him. He further used his nose and foot to uncover this strange object.
A soft glow emitted up from the ground, and he let out a loud squeal and hefty snort. Replacing the twigs and leaves to hide his discovery, he then spun around and ran off to find Maximus. With the dirt falling from his snout, he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. He surely knew that this discovery was of great importance.
***