Inside the Hollow Tree

by Laurel Veil

  I was pulled from my thoughts when a car screeched its brakes in my driveway and doors slammed. I heard several voices yelling. “I’m gonna rip her hair out by the roots.” “I’m gonna kick her ass!” “Let’s get her!”

  It was Daisy, Angela, and Hazel! They started banging on the door. “Open up!” demanded Daisy. She was suddenly tougher with her minions at her side.

  I rose quietly and swiftly made my way to the tree.

  I scooped up a handful of mud and smeared it on the emerald stone to hide it. I didn’t think they would be able to travel through the portal, but I didn’t want to take any chances. I heard their footsteps—they were coming! I placed my hand on the stone and shut my eyes.

  14.

  With hesitation I stepped into the daylight. I was relieved to see that I had made it back to the other garden. I walked over to the pond and knelt to wash the mud from my hands. The water was so clear, I was able to see tiny silver and gold fish darting all around.

  Suddenly, I felt a chill in the air that I hadn’t a moment ago, and a gentle breeze lifted my hair. Before I had a chance to get to my feet, the fog from my first visit to the garden engulfed me. I turned and saw the familiar face of the ghost-like creature. She smiled.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “I am the spirit of the garden.” She moved about like a whisper of smoke. “Few can feel my presence and even less can see me.” She came closer.

  She radiated tranquility and I absorbed it, like rays from the sun. I could feel myself revitalizing.

  ◆◆◆

  Hours must have slipped away, because when I came out of my trance-like state, the sun was setting low in the sky. I felt like I had awakened from a deep sleep. I was jittery with energy and my mind was sharp and focused.

  “Thank you, Spirit.”

  She smiled, but then something distracted her. Her eyes looked past me and then she dashed into the trees like a skittish doe.

  When I turned around, I saw Dirk looking back at me. “Come with me,” he said.

  My eyes gave away what I was thinking when I looked at the exit to the garden.

  “If you do it, you’ll die.” He smiled.

  Something moved behind me. It was a shadow creature! It suddenly occurred to me, that I might die in the same spot that Ty had. The thought terrified me, and then it comforted me.

  Suddenly, thick clouds began to engulf me. It took a moment for me to realize, the spirit of the garden was helping me to escape.

  I felt my way through the dense fog and finally made it out of the garden. I ran through the forest until I couldn’t breathe and then collapsed. I didn’t know what I was going to do or where I was going.

  I decided that once the garden was clear, I would return to my home. And if the garden at home was clear of Daisy, Angela and Hazel, I would then set out to find Jackson once more.

  When I got up from my rest, I wasn’t sure which way to go to get to the garden. I picked the way I thought I should go and walked until night.

  Baying wolves and hooting owls usually didn’t frighten me, but the sounds of the forest were terrifying at night when you were all alone. I curled up into a ball in a pile of leaves and shivered. I did the same thing for the next several nights. I was lost.

  ◆◆◆

  “What have we here?” said a strange male voice.

  I sat up immediately. To my horror, there must have been a dozen men surrounding me. They weren’t dressed like soldiers, but I found myself wishing that Dirk would step out from among them and take me back to the safety of the castle. I was cold, hungry and exhausted.

  “Kill her, Bart,” said a female voice.

  “Come now, Brit. You know that’s against protocol.”

  “She’s of no use to us,” she said.

  “So brutal, Brit. Why not suggest we leave her?” asked Bart.

  The girl stepped into view.

  I gasped. “You’re the one who was in my house!”

  “You know her?” Bart asked Brit. When she didn't answer he looked at me. "What is your name?"

  "Falon."

  Bart looked at Brit. "So, she is the one and for some reason, you don't like her."

  The men gave each other a look and chuckled. Brit didn’t like being laughed at. She sprang forward like a cat and put her blade to my throat.

  “Easy now, Brit. Let’s take her to Dugwerth so we can see about getting her to Landon. Don’t do anything you’ll regret,” said Bart. He turned to me, “Wasn’t expecting to find you way out here. Come on, back to the castle with ya.”

  I didn’t put up a fight. It wasn’t worth the effort. I was weak, cold, and hungry and I didn’t want to wind up dead. And, I was looking forward to seeing Maggie again.

  I was surprised when Brit offered me a drink, and a bite of bread. I had been living off wild berries for the last few days, so I gladly accepted.

  We made our way through thick brush and low hanging limbs to their campsite. I was happy to see they had horses. And even more delighted when I realized one of them was hitched to a small wagon. As I had hoped, Bart told me to climb in back. I was weary, so I gladly made myself comfortable on the hay it was hauling. Someone tossed a blanket on me. The wagon had barely starting rocking when I felt myself being lulled to sleep. It didn’t make sense that I was this tired after having just woke.

  Brit was on her horse, behind the wagon, watching me. She gave me a peculiar look before riding off. Then it hit me. She put something in the water!

  ◆◆◆

  A large man—a soldier, I assumed, scooped me up in his arms. I opened my eyes for a brief moment and all I could see when I looked up was a long beard. Was it Dirk? My lids were heavy, so I closed them and rested my head against his breast plate. That was the last thing I remembered.

  I woke up with a bit of a headache. It was probably a hangover from whatever Brit had given me. I was expecting to see the familiar surroundings of the castle, but I was somewhere new. My previous room had been elegant and feminine. This room was like a man cave. There was a suit of armor standing in one corner and a real bear, stuffed and standing in another. Its fangs were bared and his arms were stretched out like he was about to swipe someone with his long claws.

  “You’re up.”

  I was startled when I saw a man standing at the door. He wasn’t a butler or a servant of any kind. He had a sword at his side. He must’ve been a soldier.

  “Come this way,” he said.

  I got up and followed him. I definitely wasn’t in the same castle as before. It was a castle, but not Landon’s. We descended a flight of stairs and then entered a cavernous room lit by torches along its stone walls.

  We walked down a narrow rug and stopped when we approached a large man draped in animal furs sitting on a bulky throne made of stained cedar.

  “I have brought her as you asked, King Dugwerth,” said my escort before bowing and then stepping off to the side, leaving me standing all alone before the intimidating king.

  “So you are Princess Falon.” His voice was deep, but not frightening as I thought it might be. There seemed to be a warmth to it—it was kind.

  “Yes, at least that’s what I’ve been told.”

  He gave me a quizzical look. “I will have my men take you to King Landon right away.”

  “No. Thank you, I can get there just fine by myself,” I said, though I had no intention of returning there. I needed to get to Jackson.

  “King Landon has offered a hefty reward for your safe return. You must be very important to him. I will see to it that my men get you to him safely, and promptly.” He turned to the man who had escorted me into the room. “Take her outside now, so they can go. And send a messanger hawk, so King Landon will know to expect them.”

  The soldier nodded and took me by the arm. Two other soldiers held the doors for us, so we could step outside. As my eyes adjusted to the morning light, I looked around at a group of men who were carrying on, laughing and shoving one another. One
by one they grew still and silent when they noticed me. Brit was among them. She ignored me and continued holding a flask to some poor guy's mouth. As he wiped his face he finally turned to see what the others were looking at. It took me a second before I realized…it was Ty. He was alive! My pulse quickened.

  We locked eyes. What was he doing here? And with her? I was thrilled, confused and jealous all at once. Something was terribly wrong though—he didn’t recognize me. My heart was shouting, but not even a whisper escaped my lips. I couldn’t believe he was standing there in front of me!

  Brit obviously sensed the connection that was happening between us, because she put her arm around him, placed her hand on his chin and turned his face toward her.

  Ty looked at her, but only briefly before turning his gaze back to me. I could feel that the crowd was watching us, but I didn’t care. We held each other’s eyes once more. I knew I looked familiar to him. I could barely breathe.

  I flinched when a voice boomed from the crowd, “We all have a job to do if we are to get Princess Falon back safely to King Landon. Ty, since you seem to be so good at it, your job can be to keep an eye on her.” The crowd roared with laughter. "Don’t let her out of your sight. Let’s move out!”

  “You look lost,” said a kind voice.

  I turned to see a tall, sandy haired young man looking down at me. He smiled.

  “Is he always that loud?” I asked.

  “Most of the time. That’s Zander. He’s our leader. Come on. I’ll show you to your horse.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He led me to a steel grey horse with blue eyes. “He’s beautiful,” I said as I stroked his nose.

  “That, he is,” agreed the young man.

  “Does he have a name?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “He’s too handsome not to have one.” I studied him a moment. He's so tall and strong. I think I’ll call him Samson.”

  He grinned. “I’m Morris, by the way.”

  I began to introduce myself, but he cut me off. “I know who you are.”

  I felt Ty’s eyes on us as we talked. Remember me, Ty, I thought. Please.

  “Shall I help you up?” Morris offered.

  I was more than capable. I had ridden horses since I was old enough to walk. But I agreed to let him. He was being so kind, he already felt like a friend.

  I inserted my foot into one of the stirrups and Morris placed his hands on my waist.

  Ty abruptly stepped forward and Morris dropped his hands, as if he’d been caught doing something that he shouldn’t have been.

  “I’ve got this,” he barked at Morris.

  Morris’s chest swelled with anger. He started to say something and then changed his mind and went to get on his own horse. When Ty touched my waist, I felt like I might melt. I looked back at him for a long moment before hoisting myself up onto Samson’s back. I waited for him to acknowledge that he knew who I was, and when he didn’t I said, “Ty. It’s me. Don’t you remember?”

  He seemed surprised that I thought I knew him.

  “Ty!” snapped Brit, “Come on.”

  ◆◆◆

  While Ty kept an eye on me, Brit kept her eyes on him. I was grateful when Morris rode up and distracted me with small talk. He pointed out mountain ranges, and lakes and everything else that we passed along the way.

  I feigned more interest than I had because Ty turned our way every time I laughed or asked Morris a question. That’s it. Keep looking at me. Keep listening. I sound familiar, don’t I?

  ◆◆◆

  Just before sunset, Zander shouted, “Let’s stop!”

  Morris dismounted immediately.

  “Would you mind?” I asked.

  “Not at all.” He quickly stepped toward me, not allowing Ty the opportunity to cut in again and raised his arms to assist me.

  “Thank you,” I said as I came down into his arms. He held me for a second longer than necessary and I could feel Ty’s eyes boring a hole into us.

  “We’ll sleep here tonight,” said Zander. “We need food, Brit. Gather some firewood, Jon. Go with him, Morris.”

  I started to follow behind Morris.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Ty demanded.

  I shrugged. “I thought I’d help.”

  “Escape you mean? I don’t think so.”

  “You still don’t remember me, do you?”

  He ignored me and tied up our horses. I felt guilty watching everyone working around me as I stood awkwardly doing nothing.

  “You know, it’s kind of silly for me to just stand here.”

  “You’ll stay put where I can keep an eye on you,” he said as he began to unsaddle his horse.

  “Well, can I at least help you?”

  “No,” he snapped with annoyance.

  I watched him as he moved on to the next horse. Tan skin covered toned muscles. He looked just like my Ty, but I was a stranger to him. The thought made my eyes tear up. I attempted to hide my face by looking off. Ty noticed and misunderstood.

  “Fine,” he said reluctantly. “You can help.”

  I brushed the horses’ coats and brought them water to drink. Now and then I would catch Ty looking at me. I would simply smile and continue with what I was doing.

  “Here,” he said as he came up from behind and handed me a cluster of carrots.

  “A bouquet of carrots! Oh, Ty, you shouldn’t have.”

  He grinned. “Ha, ha. I thought you would enjoy feeding them.”

  “I would, actually.” I took the first one, “Here you go, Samson.” I laughed as he gobbled it up.

  “Samson, huh?”

  I nodded and pet him for a long while before I realized Ty was looking at me and not the horse.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  He shook his head.

  “There’s something you want to say, so, just say it,” I coaxed him.

  “I think you might be right. I think I do know you. I’m just not sure from where—or how.”.

  He was starting to remember! I wanted to tell him everything, but I didn’t think he would believe me. I wouldn’t have believed me. And, I didn’t want to risk scaring him away.

  “Never mind,” he said dismissively. He had misjudged my silence.

  “No, I—”

  “There you are,” said Brit as she stepped in between us. She proudly held up several dead rabbits by their ears. “We’re going to eat good tonight. Come on, let’s get started skinning them.”

  Ty turned to follow her, and then looked back. “We’ll talk later.” He grinned and my heart skipped a beat.

  ◆◆◆

  It wasn’t long before the starry night was filled with the aroma of grilled meat and the sounds of laughter and conversation. I watched as Brit stirred a large kettle of stew. She was not only the hunter, but she was the cook too. When I saw her sprinkle in a pinch of this and a dash of that, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

  “What are you smiling about?” said Morris as he sat down next to me on the blanket.

  “I was just watching Brit stir the pot and thought how much more appropriate it would be if she had a big, black caldron.”

  Morris chuckled. “She can act like a witch that’s for sure.”

  “Ya think?”

  He laughed again. “I suppose you know that better than any of us.”

  “Why is that? Why does she hate me so much?”

  “Look around.”

  “What?”

  “You're the only other female here.”

  “So?”

  “You’re competition.”

  “What am I going to do, shoot more rabbits than her?”

  He laughed. “She’s protective of Ty.”

  Morris and I were both looking at them now. We watched as she held a spoon to Ty’s mouth so he could sample a taste of her stew. She then took a flask from a holster that hung from her hip. She gave it a quick shake and gave him a sip. I felt my stomach twist into a kno
t.

  “Why are they acting like that? Didn’t they just meet?” I asked in a low voice.

  “Who knows?” He shrugged. “Brit never says a whole lot. She just showed up with him one day.”

  We stopped talking when Ty approached us, and he offered me a bowl of stew.

  I turned away from him and looked at the fire. “No, thank you,” I said flatly.

  “You need to eat,” he said softly. He was being kind, so it made it hard to resist him.

  “She doesn’t want it,” said Morris gruffly. Ty’s eyes cut to him.

  “I don’t want any trouble,” said Zander. “Go get more wood, Morris.”

  Reluctantly, Morris stood. His eyes were locked with Ty’s the entire time. The sternness in Morris’s face made him almost unrecognizable. As soon as he stepped away, Ty sat down.

  “You’re not hungry?”

  “I’m hungry. I just don’t want anything she made.”

  He grinned. “And why is that?” he asked as he set the bowl off to the side.

  “She put something in my water the other day. It knocked me out. She’ll probably try to poison me next.”

  “I’m sure she was just trying to help you relax so you could get some rest.”

  “So…she did put something in my water? This isn’t a surprise to you?”

  “She told me her mother and aunt taught her how to make all sorts of potions. It’s in her blood.” He raised his shirt. “See this?” My breath caught as I looked at his scar. “I was shot not too long ago and she fixed me up.”

  “She healed you?” Brit was the reason he was alive. I was grateful to her for that.

  “Yeah. I don’t remember what happened. But when I woke up, she was there caring for me. The wound healed fast, but I still have to take stuff to fight off illness. The arrow I was shot with was coated in poison.”

  “That’s terrible,” I said.

  Brit stepped in front of Ty, the light from the fire made her body a curvy, black silhouette.

  “You need to rest,” she told him.

  “That’s what I’m doing,” he said.

  I could feel her glaring at me, but I refused to acknowledge her. I stared at the fire until she walked away.