Autumn Awakens

by M. J. Padgett

  Thaddeus grew annoyed and grabbed them both, then practically tossed them through the portal. “Go, I’ll be behind you!” he called.

  I leaped through and saw him coming closely behind, then Clara let out a cry of pain as the portal snapped shut. She barely made it through. We were falling, but the drop wasn’t far. Even so, Clara couldn’t orient herself, so I shifted and flew to her as quickly as possible. I caught her mid-fall, and she managed to wrap her exhausted arms around my neck. I flapped gently so I wouldn’t throw her off, then landed in a cobblestone courtyard.

  “What the... Jay! Marcus!” a man yelled as he slowly backed away from the pile of people in the middle of what appeared to be the central courtyard of the castle.

  Wolves shifted all around us, children scattered, soldiers pulled their swords, townspeople readied themselves with pitchforks and other sharp objects as my companions tried to untangle themselves from the mess they’d landed in. Seline managed to get herself out of the pile and upright, then ran toward the man who’d called for back-up.

  “Wil! Get my mother quickly!”

  “Seline? What on earth—” Wil began.

  “Hurry! My adoptive mother is injured!” Seline cried, pointing toward Caroline.

  Wil took off while the rest of us oriented ourselves. Ophelia’s eyes scanned the open courtyard, taking in each detail. Jordan brushed his shirt off, then lifted his eyes to the grandiose structure.

  “Holy mackerel. Where are we?” he asked.

  “Welcome to Schwarzwald,” Henry said. “I’ve never entered the castle grounds quite like that before.” The soldiers eased when Henry spoke, then many of them sheathed their swords and came to greet us.

  “General! You have returned,” a decorated guard said.

  “Jeremiah, it is good to see your face old friend. Please, spread word that there is nothing to fear, then prepare the guards for a family meeting in the dining hall,” Henry replied as he shared a strange handshake greeting with the soldier.

  “Yes, General,” Jeremiah said, then went on with his orders.

  Wil returned with several other people, all of whom were complete strangers to me.

  “There, Ravenna. It’s Seline’s mother,” Wil said, pointing to Caroline who reclined against Thaddeus. Her eyes were wide and terrified, but she didn’t say a word. Ravenna hurried to the woman and assessed her wounds.

  “I can fix this, but I’m not sure what the consequences might be. Come on, let’s get her to the infirmary. Quickly now, we haven’t time to waste,” Ravenna said. Thaddeus picked Caroline up and carried her behind Ravenna. The three disappeared with Henry and Seline.

  Wil and a dark-haired woman approached Jemma and spoke quietly with her. The woman glanced at me a few times but said nothing. I felt as if I were in a line-up or a puppy in a cage waiting to be picked for adoption. Another man appeared in the courtyard with dark, slicked-back hair. By his side was another, taller dark-haired man. They joined the conversation as children spilled from a door along the east side of the open yard. A blonde-haired woman followed them.

  “Don’t think you’ll be getting early dismissals every day!” she yelled, then wandered toward where the rest of us stood.

  “What the heck have we gotten ourselves into?” Ross mumbled.

  “I dunno,” Chris whispered in reply.

  Clara recovered quickly, and I spied her doing some sort of magical transfer spell to revive the fairies’ magic. As the cousins accepted their magic, their hands lit in a rainbow of colors. Magic, I decided, was beautiful.

  “I feel like this is a dream, and when I wake up, I’m going to feel like an idiot who has super weird dreams,” Jordan said.

  “Ditto,” Ophelia muttered, still clutching my hand. It was going numb but given a choice between a tingly hand and releasing her, I’d sooner let my hand fall off.

  After a few more moments of discussion, one of the dark-haired men approached us.

  “Welcome to Schwarzwald. I’m King Marcellus, but you can call me Marcus. If you just follow me, we’ll go to the dining hall and figure out what we’re supposed to do now.”

  We shuffled about and followed him into the castle. I couldn’t quell my curiosity, wondering if my mother was there somewhere and which of the women moving around in the dining hall might be Calla, the woman my biological mother had adopted. I wondered if Sierra and Cecily were there, if we were safe or if I should worry Rose could hurt my family again, but more than anything I wondered if I would ever feel normal again. It was a lot of wondering that clouded my mind further.

  I heard the blonde-haired woman from earlier speaking, and I looked over my shoulder. She was on the phone. “Yes, mother, I understand, but something came up.” After a short pause, she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “I’m aware, but things happen. It was an emergency... Yes, I know... I said something came up, what does it matter what it was?” She was growing angry, then said, “Don’t you ‘now Kylie’ me! You never cared before, so why are you—you know what, I’m done with this conversation... Because I want to be... Because, mother, there are magical portal things and people falling from the sky, and I must help with that. Have a nice day.” She ended the call with a grumble and shoved the phone in her pocket.

  Marcus stood at one end of a long table and addressed one of the soldiers. “Briard, please send word to Goldene Stadt and Schattenland that the others have returned. They will want to reunite with their families, I am sure.” A soldier shuffled and nodded, then headed toward the exit.

  The chaos only seemed to grow as more people entered the hall. I felt suffocated, claustrophobic, and cornered—all very bad things for a person who could shift into a giant cat without warning. Ophelia felt my tension and squeezed my hand. I tried to focus on her. Her gentle breathing, her steady pulse against my hand, her body snuggled up to mine in a protective stance—but the room began to spin. It was too much, and I was afraid I would hurt someone.

  “I... I just need a minute,” I said, then released Ophelia’s hand and bolted from the room.

  Back in the courtyard, I saw several soldiers making phone calls. I couldn’t say why I expected them to mount their horses and ride all the way to the neighboring kingdoms, but I did, so seeing them on cell phones freaked me out. The entire situation was an unusual melding of modern and ancient, fantasy and reality, magic and—

  A clattering of dishes startled me, and I nearly shifted.

  “Oh, my...”

  I glanced up and saw a woman standing over a shattered plate, chocolate cake sprawled on the ground in front of her. She stared at me, her eyes wide and mouth agape. My own mouth fell open as I stared into the eyes of Rebecca, my old foster mother—but not Rebecca. I knew it was impossible, the woman standing before me could not be a dead woman. I was there when we lowered Rebecca’s body into the ground, but there she was standing in front of me.

  “Mom? Are you okay?” a woman asked—dark, wavy hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a kind face. She placed a hand gently on Rebecca look-alike’s back and let her eyes rise to meet mine.

  “Oh,” she said. “Are you Parker?”

  I felt my head nod slowly, my eyes glued to the woman she called Mom.

  “Oh,” she said again. “Um, my name is Calla. This is...” She glanced back toward her mother, then said, “I guess this is your mother, Jeanine.” Her voice was shaky, and I assumed it was for the same reason I couldn’t stop staring at them.

  My whole life, I wondered what it would be like to have a mother and a father who loved me, who wanted me, and who would do anything to protect me. There she stood over a shattered and smashed chocolate cake with the girl she’d adopted in this life, her face as shocked as mine, identical to the woman who had taken me in when I needed it most.

  “How... I don’t understand. You look just like her,” I managed to spit out.

  “Her who?” Calla asked while Jeanine remained silent, her eyes glued to me.

  “M-my foster mother. She... You... Yo
u look identical to her,” I sputtered, pointing to Jeanine.

  Calla looked at her mother, then back to me. “Maybe we should go somewhere more private to talk. Come with me, I know just the place.”

  My feet were frozen in place, but a gentle tug on my hand led me in the right direction. Ophelia was by my side again, guiding me through the craziness and offering me the strength I desperately needed. I had too many questions to organize in my mind, but as we followed Calla, one question made it to the top of my list.

  Was the life I thought I had real, or just one big magical bomb ticking away the seconds until it blew up in my face, forcing me to question everything I had ever known?

  Chapter Nine

  Another man followed us. His quiet footfalls echoed behind us as Ophelia, and I walked into the unknown together. I instinctively knew they meant us no harm, especially Jeanine, the woman who had gone to considerable lengths to protect us from Rose centuries ago. Even so, anxiety built deep in my chest. I knew once I spoke with them, there was no going back. This was it, my life forever. I stifled the sudden urge to shift and fly away into the abyss.

  We entered a large room, not unlike the library the fairies had, but this one was more welcoming. Fire kept the place warm, the fireplace’s large stones a beautiful offset to the log-paneled walls of the library. The space in front of the fireplace appeared well-used with soft upholstered chairs and plush blankets, a nice place to sit and read. I wished I were only there to read, but Calla’s voice broke the serenity of the moment.

  “We can relax here and talk away from the craziness happening in the courtyard and dining hall. Forgive us, but the more people we find, the more outrageous those meetings get.” She sat in one of the oversized chairs and neatly tucked a blanket around her legs. The man who followed us, Wil, motioned for us to take a seat. Ophelia chose to sit on a long sofa opposite Calla, so I sat beside her. Wil sat on the floor near Calla’s feet while Jeanine stood staring into the fire.

  “Mother?” Calla called softly.

  Jeanine blinked and shook her head a bit, then sat in a chair across from me. She picked up a throw pillow and hugged it against her chest. Wil gave her a sympathetic look, then turned his attention to me.

  “I’m sure this is overwhelming. It sure has been for us. It’s not everyday people drop in so unexpectedly,” he said.

  Ophelia giggled a bit at his unintentional pun, but it was all it took to ease the tension that had built among the five of us. Calla burst into hysterics, forcing a smile from Jeanine.

  “Oh, dear. Well, you did drop in,” Wil said with a chuckle. He reached up and took Calla’s hand, calming her laughter. I smiled, feeling a bit more relaxed than before.

  “I am overwhelmed, that’s true. It has been one adventure after another,” I admitted.

  “You’re safe here. No one can harm you inside our borders,” Wil said.

  Ophelia chuckled again. “Unless they open a portal thing and drop in, right?”

  Wil shrugged. “Yes, well, my sister is on top of that issue as we speak. No one else should drop in by an unexplained hole in the sky. That said, I believe you know why we’ve separated you from the rest of the group. Meeting Jeanine this way wasn’t how we planned it for the two of you, but it’s what happened so we should try to make the best of it.”

  “Mother, are you alright?” Calla asked, reaching for her mother—my mother.

  Jeanine nodded. “Yes, I just... Where is Gerald?”

  “He should return soon. The recon mission to Weisserwald, remember?” Wil reminded.

  “Oh, yes. I could use my husband right now, but all the same, let’s continue.” Jeanine had avoided eye contact with me from the moment we sat, which put me off a little. Why couldn’t my own mother look at me? She must have been a kind woman to take in Calla when she needed a home. Was it me? And why, for the love of all that is holy, does she look just like Rebecca?

  The rest of the group looked at me. Wil said, “Sierra has that same bad habit. Do you always speak your thoughts aloud?”

  I remembered my former foster sister’s habit well, especially that time she admitted to having a crush on Ross. However, it wasn’t something I had ever done before. I would have been a lousy detective if it were a regular occurrence.

  “No, I think I’m still in shock. I’m not even sure shock is the right word for what I feel. I can’t understand how you look exactly like a woman that cared for us back in Florida,” I admitted.

  “It is remarkable, but you can tell the difference if you look closely. See there,” Ophelia pointed toward Jeanine’s face. “Rebecca didn’t have that beauty mark on her cheek there just under her left eye.”

  “That is curious,” Wil said. “Do you happen to have a photograph of Rebecca?”

  “Uh, maybe,” I said, then fished in my pocket for my wallet. Surprisingly, it was there. I pulled it out and dug in the back for the only photograph I had of Rebecca with the rest of us. I handed it to Wil. He gasped and gave it to Jeanine.

  She took the photo with a shaky hand and observed it for several moments before speaking. “I didn’t think it would be like this. I assumed I would experience the same thing Calla and the others did, the painful memory recall, but it’s different. It’s just like Ely and Jack. I suddenly remember like it was yesterday.” Jeanine handed the photo back to me and finally made eye contact again. “She succeeded where I failed.”

  “Who is she?” Calla asked.

  “She’s Twelve, my twin sister.”

  “Your twin?” Calla asked, stunned.

  “Yes, I had a twin, too, just like you and Marcus. Anyway, I went to find my son after my spell went wrong. It’s a bit foggy, but...” Jeanine closed her eyes to remember, then opened them with new resolve. “I saw what Rose did to the others, cursed them to shift to hellhounds at her will and forced the kingdom into a deep sleep. After seeing her magic, I had a good idea what had happened to all the missing royals in the forest. My sisters and I knew we had to save Autumn and Joel, the twins, as quickly as—”

  “Wait, twins? Joel is five years younger than me,” Ophelia interrupted.

  “Perhaps now, but then you were born only three minutes apart,” Jeanine said. “You were only a few weeks old when Rose killed your parents, the King, and Queen of Weisserwald. I sent my only son, the brave and valiant Tristan, son of Einar, to protect you both. You were to take them to another land, one safer, and keep them hidden until I called on you. Your father... I do not know what became of him. He disappeared when I was only three months pregnant with you. Perhaps if he were there...” She paused to suck in a deep breath.

  “It’s okay. If it’s too difficult to talk about now we can wait,” I said, feeling a strange tugging at my heart seeing Jeanine struggle. She reached for my hand, and I offered it to her. Her gentle squeeze felt so familiar, yet foreign at the same time.

  “The truth must be told. I will continue for everyone’s sake. Rose grew wise to our plans before we could save the twins. She had already cast the Canis Lupus spell on them before Tristan could rescue them, but once he arrived, he fought bravely to protect them. I blocked her spell from taking them completely, made it latent so the twins would not be discovered. Rose was strong then; I assume stronger now. I was able to hold her off long enough for Tristan to sneak away with the twins, but he never arrived at the secret location. Twelve and I, we vowed to search to the ends of the earth, back and forth until we found you all, but...”

  We gave her time to collect herself, but she didn’t speak again.

  “Mom? How did you end up in Maine? Why was your sister in Florida?” Calla asked.

  Jeanine raised her eyes to her daughter. “I’m afraid I don’t know. I don’t remember anything more than leaving and Twelve promising to join me soon after. She intended to tell our sisters what had happened, but I never saw her again.”

  “Fiona said she went on a mission to help the others find you. It makes no sense. If Twelve knew where you were going, then
why didn’t they just follow you?” Wil asked.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe Fiona can fill in the missing pieces? All I know is I went to find my son and the royal twins after everything went wrong, and somehow, I ended up married and adopted a child in Maine.”

  Calla licked her lips and looked at me. It didn’t take a detective to figure out what she was feeling. Jeanine’s biological child appeared out of thin air, and her place in her mother’s heart was in question. Calla sighed. “I think I understand how you felt when Ravenna came into the picture. I love you both as my mother, but sharing me must be difficult for you.”

  “It was at first, but we are all a big family. There’s enough room in it for everyone. Calla, I love you no matter how many children come into my life. Never forget that, please,” Jeanine begged.

  Calla smiled. “I know. And it looks like I have another brother.”

  Wil chuckled at that. “You needed another brother like you needed a hole in the head.”

  I hadn’t said much to that point, but I had questions, and they burned in my throat.

  “I’m not sure I understand all that happened. You said Rose went homicidal, then cursed her half-siblings, but you tried to save them by sending me. Somehow the three of us ended up in America, which is even more ironic considering I spent time in a foster home with Sierra and Cecily before finding Ophelia and Jordan in Florida. After we disappeared, you came looking for us, but something happened to you, too? Then what? Rebecca came looking for you? Why wouldn’t she tell us the truth when she was alive?”

  Jeanine winced, and I realized I’d just told her that her twin was dead in a very insensitive way.

  “I believe that is correct, but I cannot say why Twelve didn’t reveal the truth. I know Fiona went to Weisserwald to help the others search for me. Perhaps Twelve thought she could help, but something happened to her memory as well?” Jeanine offered.

  “The fairies said something their ancestors did was coming true. The royal families were all together in the same towns,” I said. “The Salien family was in Maine—”