by Tara Maya, Elle Casey, J L Bryan, Anthea Sharp, Jenna Elizabeth Johnson, Alexia Purdy (epub)
"And which one would that be?" asked Gilly.
"The one on my map." I struggled to pull it out of my bag. "Right here, at this spot." I held the map out to her, stretching my arm as far as it would go, a little worried about the dirty gnome coming too near.
Gilly arched her eyebrows, widening her eyes, but she didn't come any closer. Her eyes kept darting to my stick.
I put it behind my back, tucking it in my waistband, realizing it worried her. I didn't know why. The worst it could do was scratch her, and her skin looked so lumpy, I doubted it would even penetrate. Ugh, it was like looking at flesh-colored toad skin.
After the stick was out of sight, Gilly moved forward cautiously, snatching the map from my hand and stepping back.
"Hey, that's my map!" I said.
A voice came from behind us. "Doan give 'er that map! She'll ruin it fer certain!"
Tony spun around to see who it was.
I glanced back but then returned my gaze to Gilly. I didn't want her taking off with my map. "What the hell is it now, Tony?"
"It's another gnome. I think this one is a guy."
"Eh? What'd ye say there, human boy?"
I could hear the leaves rustle as the second gnome approached. "Ye humans are all the same. Ye come in here, tramping around, making all kinds o' noise, disturbing the peace - doan even have the common decency to introduce yerselves. And now look - ye've gone and given yer map to Gilly here. I hope it wasn't important to ye, because she'll surely never get it back to ye in one piece."
"Shut yer yap, ye old turkey waddle. I'm just takin' a look to see which waypoint they want."
"Well, I'd think that'd be obvious. They'd be wantin' the one by the High River of course, it be the closest one."
"How do ye know they didna want to go to the one in the Dell, eh? That one's the best one by me reckonin'. I'd go to that one if it be me."
"Well it's not ye, is it then? It's these two young humans." The second gnome turned to us now. "And what would two humans be wantin' with the waypoints, anyway, eh? And how did ye get here then? Who sent ye?"
The first gnome chimed in. "There ye go again, giving orders, expectin' people to just jump when ye haven't even bothered to introduce yerself. You know, that's the problem with fa...forest dwellers these days, don't even bother with the niceties anymore ... "
The headache was coming back. "Holy horseshit-on-a-stick, Tony, these gnomes are nuts." They couldn't even hear me, they were arguing back and forth so much about common courtesy and manners. What was it with these gnomes and their manners, anyway?
"Excuse me, sir and ma'am!" said Tony loudly, immediately causing the gnomes to stop talking and give him their full attention.
He started with a small, awkward bow, hurriedly tucking his axe back in his bag. "My friend Jayne and I - I am Tony by the way, it's nice to meet you - would like to humbly beg you for directions to the waypoint by the High River. And if it wouldn't be too much trouble, further directions to the waypoint in the Dell. Please accept my humblest apologies for my late and hasty introduction." He bowed again when he finished.
I stared at him, incredulous. He sounded like he was reading out of a book for the Knights of the Round Table or something.
He nudged me in the side and said, "Bow!" out of the corner of his mouth.
I dropped down into the stupidest looking curtsy imaginable.
Both gnomes instantly reacted. Huge smiles broke out across their faces. I tried not to grimace at the dirt between their disgusting, pointy teeth. They seemed so happy, almost to the point of embarrassment. I saw a faint pink color rising up on their lumpy facial skin, visible even beneath the dirt streaks.
The second gnome was the first to speak. "Sir Tony, it would be our pleasure to direct ye as ye wish. I, Gander, and me mate Gilly, will happily tell ye which way to go. First, ye must know that the waypoints are located equally distant from one t'other in the Green Forest, in the four different territories of the fae folk. Ye and yer lady friend Jayne, of course, be in the territory of the Gar. Welcome to our home." They both bowed. Once again, I was damn glad I wasn't standing behind Gilly and her short skirt.
"The best way to get to the waypoint of the Gar, located at the High River, be to go that direction for seventy-two oaks and fifteen maples, making certain to continue in a south-westerly direction." He finished with a self-satisfied grin and a sharp nod of affirmation.
"Please allow me to correct me mate Gander's directions just a wee bit so that ye will successfully reach yer destination. Ye must, in fact, go only sixty-one oaks, and fourteen maples, followed by six birch saplings, of course in a south-south west direction. Then fer certain, ye will be at the waypoint of the Gar."
Gander got a grumpy look on his face and turned to look crossly at Gilly. "Dear Gilly, ye know ye be hopelessly incorrect, as usual. Ye know direction is not yer strong suit. Now, if one needs to find a hidden tulip bulb, lost in the Spring frost, or the bones of a woodchuck, then yer the one to call fer certain. But when it comes to finding one's way in the Green Forest, I'm the gnome all the Gar can depend on." He jabbed himself in the chest with his tiny, stubby thumb.
Gilly rounded on Gander with her next volley of arguments against his sense of direction, raising her finger to wag it in his face.
Deciding we didn't need to stick around for this lover's quarrel, I said, "Tony, I think it's time we got the hell out of here."
"I agree. Can you get your map?"
Gilly, in her excitement, had dropped it. It was lying on the ground a few feet away from her. I sidestepped over, bending down slowly to pick it up. I walked backwards towards Tony once I had it in hand, and he took my arm to guide me slowly away from the gnomes. They looked harmless enough, but their teeth were sharp and dirty, and I knew for sure I'd want to vomit if either one of them touched me with their creepy, lumpy hands. As soon as we were out of sight of the gnomes, we took off jogging.
"Are we following their directions?" I asked, breathlessly.
"Yes. They both said southwest-ish, so that's the way I'm going."
"How do you know?"
"I don't. I'm going the way they pointed."
I didn't count, but I was willing to bet that as we arrived at the waypoint of the Gar, we had passed about sixty-one oaks and a couple of maples. Those two gnomes made a good couple.
Chapter Seventeen
The waypoint of the Gar rose up out of the ground in front of us. It was an obelisk landmark of granite or some other heavy-looking gray stone, topped with a metal spike that looked like it was made of brass. It couldn't be brass though, I decided, because it was so shiny. Real brass would have been dark and weathered, being exposed to the elements like this one was. At my dad's house, the one he lived in with my stepmother, he had a brass bell outside the front door. My anal, OCD stepmother would polish it every Sunday to keep it looking perfect, because if she missed a week it would start to turn a funky, mottled brown.
The waypoint was in the center of a small clearing. Where the forest had been full of the sounds of birdcalls, and bird flight, leaves rustling and wind blowing - the space surrounding the waypoint was totally silent. It didn't feel right talking out loud when we arrived, so I whispered.
"We made it, Tones!"
"Yes, we did." He grabbed my shoulder in a side hug.
"Give me one of your flags," I said, reaching into my bag to grab one of mine.
Tony handed me a strip of green cloth.
We walked up to the obelisk together, looking for a place to tie our flags - one green and one purple. The entire surface was smooth and shiny. There was nothing to tie the flags to that I could see.
"Where are we supposed to put these friggin' things?" I asked, looking around.
Tony didn't say anything; he just pointed.
Above my head and on the side of the obelisk facing away from me was a thick iron ring sticking out. It was rusted, and some of the mottled orange color had moved to the stone where the ring was embedde
d. It looked really, really old. Attached to the ring were the tattered remains of two flags - one yellow and one pink. Pink wasn't assigned to anyone in our group, but yellow was. Yellow was Jared's color. But these flags looked like they'd been there for a while, faded from the sun and shaggy, their woven threads beginning to unravel.
"Tony," I asked in hushed tones, "do you see what I see?"
"Two flags. Old ones from the looks of it."
"Yeah, but did you notice the colors?"
"Pink and yellow. So?"
"So yellow is Jared's color. And these have been here a while."
"Just because it's yellow doesn't mean Jared put it there."
"But what if Jared has been here before? And this is from another test he did ...earlier?"
"Jayne, you're being paranoid. We went over to that table with Niles and picked up bags randomly. I could have just as easily grabbed the yellow flags as the green ones."
"Yeah, but isn't it strange that you, Tony Green, got green flags, and I got my favorite color, purple? Don't you find that pretty coincidental? Plus with all of Jared's weirdness going on and ... "
"Enough, Jayne! You're starting to scare me with your conspiracy theories. And I don't mean 'scare me' as in I'm starting to believe you - I mean 'scare me' as in I'm starting to doubt your sanity. Just let it go, okay?"
I could tell he was irritated with me, so I dropped it. But only for now. I was still going to be figuring this out and watching for signs of Jared's previous participation.
I slowly reached up and tied our flags to the pole, touching the others gently with my fingertips as my hand came back down. I wondered who had put the pink flag there, and where he or she was now. I sent up a silent prayer that this mystery person was still alive and happily drinking hot chocolate in front of a crackling fire at home with a mom, dad, and a family pet.
Tony interrupted my nonsensical daydream with, "I guess at the very least, this means we're not the first ones here. This isn't the first test they've had, I mean."
"I guess not."
"I wonder where the flag owners are now."
"Stop reading my mind, Tony."
"I wasn't!" he said, a little guiltily.
I shot him a look.
"Okay, fine, I was feeling you a little."
"Feeling me sounds kinda creepy, don't you think?"
"Okay, I was vibing you then."
"Vibing me? Okay, well, stop vibing me, then."
"I would if I could, believe me."
"Yes, I know, you've already told me how nutty it is in there - in my head."
"Not nutty, that's not the right word. It's just ... intense. Sometimes I just can't keep up and I get a little lost. Anyone watching me would probably think I was having a major brain fart or something."
I laughed, reaching over to hug him tight. "Tony, thank you for saying brain fart. That really brought me down to Earth."
He smiled. "Down here on Earth where there are vampires and gnomes, you mean?"
"Shit, don't remind me." I pulled my map out of my bag again. "Tell me where we need to go next, would ya?"
We looked over the map together. The next waypoint was directly south of this one. The color on the map was a slightly darker green through the area where we had to travel, so we assumed that meant the forest would be thicker, which seemed hardly possible. I wondered if the trees there gave hugs.
"What?" asked Tony.
"What, what?"
"What were you just thinking about?"
"Why?"
"I was accidentally vibing you ... sorry. It's just that I was feeling something like when you and Becky were messing around in the forest earlier."
I smacked Tony on the back of the head.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"For saying I was messing around with Becky. We were peeing, that's all."
"Well, then you get way too much pleasure out of peeing with another girl." He ducked, moving his head out of my reach and wagging his finger at me. "No hitting!"
"If you keep hinting around that I'm hot for Becky, I'm gonna do more than hit you, brain fart boy."
"Well, tell me what that vibe was all about, then. You seemed so happy and excited."
I gave him a warning look.
"Not excited in a sexual way - just really happy."
I sighed. I didn't like keeping secrets from Tony, and it wasn't like I was intentionally not telling him. It just seemed too weird to talk about. I decided that it would just be better to show him.
"Come on, follow me."
"Why won't you tell me?"
"I'm going to show you, not tell you. It'll be better that way."
Tony got a gleam in his eye. "Are we going to play doctor?" He jumped out of the way before I could smack him again, yelling, "Missed me!"
I shook my head. "What's gotten into you, Tony? You're not normally this hyper."
"I don't know. The joy of being alive, I guess. Where are we going, anyway?"
"Just farther into the trees."
We went away from the clearing, over to an area where the trees were bigger. They were close together too, blocking out most of the sun. A little light filtered through, but not much.
I stopped, surveying the area around us. "Pick a tree."
"Pick a tree? What, are we going to pee together?"
I sighed. "Just say that one more time and see what happens."
"Okay, okay, fine." Tony looked around. "Should I pick something special, like a certain kind of tree?"
"I don't think so. Just pick one and we'll see."
"That one." Tony was pointing to a giant reddish-brown tree. It was nearly twice as big as the first one Becky and I had touched.
I looked at its base and then slowly ran my eyes up to the top of it. I actually couldn't see it very well, since it was so obscured by its own branches and those of the nearby trees. I walked over, urging Tony to follow. "Come on, we have to touch the tree."
I arrived at the trunk and put my feet on either side of a huge root that was running from the tree quite a distance across the forest floor. "Stand here next to me and put your arms out, towards the tree."
Tony didn't say anything, he just stepped up to the tree and stood where I told him to, stretching his arms out. I loved that he just followed my directions without question. It showed me how much he trusted me, even when I was being weird. That said a lot about our friendship.
"Now, put your arms out to the side, like this. We're going to hug the tree."
Tony looked at me like I was crazy. "Hug the tree? That's what this is all about?"
"Shut up and hug the damn tree, Tony. Maybe in a second it will all make sense."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Here goes nothin'." He leaned towards the tree, steadying himself with his hands and then stretching his arms out to lay them horizontally against the bark. "Now what?"
"Just wait a second." I put my hands out to steady myself against the trunk, getting ready to lay my body against it. Already I could feel the energy, with only my hands touching. "Yeah, I think this is going to work."
"What's going to work? Come on, Jayne, I feel stupid standing here like this."
I leaned into the tree, moving my arms out laterally into hugging position. I stretched out my right arm so it rested on top of Tony's while also touching the tree. I turned towards Tony's so I could see his reaction.
His face instantly lit up as soon as we connected. "What the heck ... ?"
I smiled. "This is what Becky and I were doing in the forest."
Tony closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. "My god, the feelings ... Can you feel that? It's ... it's ... unbelievable."
"I know." There was nothing else to say. This tree was ancient. I didn't have to see its size to know this. It had been here a very, very long time. There was a sense of peace, a deep understanding, flowing through our connection. Strength. A certain knowledge that whatever was happening right now was just a moment of time in an infinite amount of time. Years, centur
ies, eons would come and go, and this tree would still be here, standing sentinel. Wars would be fought and won or lost, and this tree would still be here. Silently. Waiting and watching.
Through this connection, I was able to realize for the first time that everything in this forest was linked. The trees were connected to each other, to the land, to the things that walked the forest floor and flew through the air. The memories were all still here. I couldn't see them like pictures; I only got the sense that anything that happened here, stayed here as shadows. And there were lots of shadows in this forest.
Something was niggling the back of my mind. Something was there, wanting me to pay attention. But then Tony began speaking, and I lost it.
"I feel like I'm being rocked in a rocking chair by a grandma I never had. This is just ... so incredible. No wonder you were vibing all that happiness. I'm, like, on cloud nine right now." He smiled contentedly at me, and for the first time, I realized how truly beautiful my friend Tony was on the outside. I've always known about his inner beauty, but with the clothes and the glasses and everything, his outer gorgeousness was sometimes too easily hidden.
"You're really beautiful, you know that, Tones?"
"I was just thinking the same thing about you."
We both smiled.
"What are two gorgeous bombshells like us doing out here in this fucked up forest full of messed up creatures, anyway?" I asked.
"I don't know. But as much as I'd like to stay here and hug this tree all day, I think we really need to get going to that other waypoint." Tony broke the connection, pulling away from the tree and standing up straight. The light on his face faded out and he became regular old, serious Tony again.
I sent a big thank you up to the tree as best I could, hoping it could read my mind and feel the gratitude I was trying to transfer through my arms, before standing to join Tony.
"When do you think the others will get to the first waypoint?" I asked. I had half expected them to show up while we were there.
"I don't know. From the look of the map, it seems like maybe an hour or two after us. We were just lucky to have met those gnome things."
"Yeah, well at least they didn't try to eat us."