by B. J. Smash
“I’ve always known it would come to this. Karma has a real bite to it when it returns to full circle. I knew one day he’d return. Actually, I knew he was around last year. If you remember…your father had a run-in with him.”
I did remember this one hundred percent. How could I forget? My father had been losing his mind because he’d gone to fairyland, and while there he had partaken of their food. That never fares well with anyone. They either long to go back – and they do return to fairyland. Or they continue to go crazy, and possibly die. Before he had drank the cure, he kept saying that he saw a little man, and this little man was trying to get him in the woods to “see his own funeral.” We never knew what that meant.
“Yes. Of course we remember,” Drumm said.
“I’ve always had the notion that it was Ish. But I didn’t really know right away. Leprechauns come and go, and most of them resemble one another. They usually do you no harm. I had been hoping that it was a different leprechaun.” She shook her head back and forth, “but no…it is my old friend and current enemy, Ish. I don’t have the patience to stand here and babble on all night, and so I will just tell you the basics,” she grimaced.
“Ish stole a certain bottle from my father. I stole it back. This bottle just happens to hold a djinn,” she looked to me like I should be surprised. I didn’t mention that Ian had already told me part of the story, and I averted my eyes. She continued on.
“The djinn and I became acquainted. She granted me three wishes. I won’t bother to explain what the first two things I wished for were,” she swallowed hard, and continued. “The thing about wishes, and djinn’s granting them…is that you have to be clever enough to wish for the correct thing. Otherwise, it can backfire on you in a very big way. In the end, I did the best thing possible.”
She puckered her lips and looked at the ceiling for a moment, and then back to us. “I wanted to wish for her freedom, but I had worded it foolishly. I wished that she could go to a safe town and not be bothered by anyone. Well, you see that wish had repercussions on about four hundred people. The djinn was grateful, but let’s just say that the people were not. When I wished this, the djinn told me, “Thank you, but you are now responsible for the town that will disappear.”
“You can imagine my amazement when I found out what I’d wished for. She chose randomly, a small town called Helsberg. The day I made this wish, this town was removed from the map, and was replaced in these woods that we are in now. That is why I moved here, you see. But the strange thing is…you couldn’t see this town. In fact you could walk right through it and never know it was there, and the occupants of this town could not see you either. They are set in a different dimension where they never grow old, and the time is always the same.
“Now, listen carefully. This town reappears every seven years. And when it is in this status, time will continue to tick away as it normally would. The occupants can grow older,” she finished.
“So, you are saying that while this town is in…limbo…time stands still. When it reappears, time carries on, it ticks away like normal?” I clarified.
“Yes. That is exactly what I am saying. And the reason that Hunter’s Hollow really exists, is because I needed a place to hide this town. It is like a pea inside a jar. Helsberg is the pea, and Hunter’s Hollow is the jar. Merribay is like a box, which holds the jar, which holds the pea. But the pea is only approachable every seven years.
“Sure I told everyone that I created Hunter’s Hollow to keep people from bothering me, and that is partially true. But the foremost reason is: I needed a safe place to hide Helsberg. It is, after all, my responsibility.”
“Wow, Izadora. You are telling us that you created Hunter’s Hollow just for this town!” I couldn’t believe it. This whole time I’d been led to believe it was created to keep others from pestering Izadora.
“I have to protect it, don’t I? It was my foolish wish that granted the djinn to be untouchable. But here is the catch; and there usually is a catch to djinn magic. When the town reappears, anyone can enter. But they better do it quickly, as the veil only stays open for a short time. When inside the town, they can race for the djinn bottle. Whoever gets their hands on it first – wins.”
“Race?” I asked. “You didn’t say anything about a race.”
“I would go in myself. But I am not allowed. Those people would have my head if they could. They know all about me, and who is responsible for their disappearance. And yes…Every seven years, there is a race. If you can reach the djinn first, you can have the bottle. The people inside the town cannot touch the bottle. They are forbidden. But anyone can go in during the time the town appears, and race for that bottle. They just have to be prepared when it comes time to leave or they will be stuck there. You see, there is one more thing I must tell you…no one has ever returned from Helsberg, and I don’t understand why.”
“That is just wonderful!” I said sarcastically.
Izadora explained. “If you find this bottle, you save the forest. If Ish gets his hands on the bottle; game over.”
“Okay. We will do our best for you, Izadora,” Drumm said.
I nodded, and pretended that I understood everything she said. Parallel universes, and parallel time frames just confused the heck out of me. I would just have to experience the town for myself in order to gain a better understanding.
“Oh, and by the way – I have word that the town will become visible tomorrow night. So, you don’t have much time to prepare. And it will close until the moon is full. Only then will it reopen, and you will be able to return.”
Great! I yelled in my head. I pursed my lips together so tightly that it didn’t go unnoticed. Drumm gave me a half grin and touched my forearm from across the table.
“One more thing. I saw in my blue bottle, that you have visitors. I went to see for myself this afternoon. What I saw didn’t sit well with me. Elecampane Seaforth is one you want to watch out for. I will give you back your mother’s necklace and you will wear it at all times. And tell Royal that, no, I will not tutor Ella. She is of another type of sorcery than I am. I don’t dally in the black arts. If he wishes to have a tutor that does, tell him to find Magella. But a word of warning to them: If Ella continues on this path, she will indeed pay the consequences. The black arts is never something that is for you; but against you. It will consume her, and it will eat her like a piece of cherry pie.” Izadora finished with this, “If either of them seek to harm you; they seek to harm me. And they will find that I am never…one to be toyed with.”
Little flecks of white had started to shimmer around her body, and her eyes went from a pale blue to flashes of light. This happened so briefly, that I could have imagined it, but I knew that I hadn’t.
“I’ll let them know,” I whispered.
Drumm held a smile on his face. He was always so proud of Izadora. My quandary with her was that she always sent us on these almost impossible quests that threatened our lives. We always had to do the dirty work. I wouldn’t let him know how I felt though, he’d just stick up for her.
“Don’t worry, Ivy. I’ll send you in prepared,” Izadora said, as she began to pour the contents of her brew over a cheesecloth and into a jar.
I sighed, and tried to think of something else.
“Can I ask you something off the subject?” I said.
“Go ahead,” Izadora said.
“Why did you say that Aunt Clover was a pirate in a past life?”
Drumm snorted.
“Because she was. If she wants to know more, tell her to stop by and see me. We’ll take it from there. But one thing she might want to know now…her destiny is also about to come full circle. Whether that’s a good thing…I couldn’t tell you.” And with the shrug of her shoulders, I knew that I couldn’t get any more out of her than I already had.
Chapter Six
I awoke to loud banging on my bedroom door. The sun was already up and sifting in through my windows. My pretty blue bedspread was piled u
p high on top of me, and I must have rolled around quite a bit during a fitful sleep. I couldn’t recall what it was that I had dreamt about, but I knew that Ella had been present in there somewhere; like a nightmare.
My mother had also been present. From past experiences, I knew that if she showed up, it had to do with some sort of warning. Those are the dreams that I especially took to heart, and she had been there, but I could not remember what it was that she had shown me. My head felt far too fuzzy.
There was someone else, too, that had been there.
This time the knock shook my door, and Ella said, “Wake-up, Ivy. It’s almost nine o’clock.”
“I’ll be right out, Ella.” I sighed and tossed my bedspread aside. She’d kept me up most of the night, jabbering my ears off. I finally had made my way to bed at around 1:00am. My whole body felt like it had the flu, and it had ached all over. If I didn’t get away from Ella soon, she’d be the death of me. The messed up part about it – she knew exactly what she was doing. Didn’t she? She had to know that she was an energy sucking vampire. Was it possible that she didn’t know?
As soon as my feet hit the floor, she banged the door again. “Take me running with you this morning.” Before I could respond, I heard her feet thudding across the wooden floor as she walked away.
“Of all the hussy’s to be cousins with…” I said aloud. She was getting on my very last nerve. Not only was she stealing my energy, and invading my dreams – she was becoming downright bossy and unbearable. “Grrrr,” I said to no one but myself. What was it about the dream? I couldn’t remember anything but her face.
I showered and made my way downstairs. Everyone but Aunt Clover and father sat around the kitchen table. My father had been taking care of the café for the past few days. He was out of his element, but Gran would be taking over soon. I offered to help, but Gran said to just pay attention to whatever it is that Izadora wanted. Personally, I’d rather be working at the café.
I wasn’t hungry but I forced myself to gnaw at a piece of celery. Just as Uncle Royal was about to open his mouth to speak, someone opened the front door and slammed it into the wall.
“Land sakes,” Gran said as Aunt Clover hobbled in around the corner. She held Drumm’s arm tightly as he helped her hop into the kitchen. Her dog Posie followed close behind, and even the dog’s little brown eyebrows appeared to furrow forward in concern. Aunt Clover plopped her butt down into a chair.
“Another accident,” Aunt Clover said. She appeared ruffled and she had a twig and some leaves wound up in her wavy blond hair.
GG Edmund, who’d been doing a crossword puzzle, said, “What?”
“She was walking the dog, or shall I say…crutching with the dog. They went to the field again. I found her lying there unconscious. And the dog was in Hunt…um… the woods again,” Drumm explained.
I had to wonder why he didn’t just finish his sentence. He had been about to say Hunter’s Hollow, it was plain as day. Then I realized he hadn’t wanted my Uncle and cousin to hear.
“Again?” Gran screeched.
“I’m fine mother. Just thought I’d walk the dog,” Aunt Clover defended herself.
“You should not be wandering about on crutches.” Gran scolded, “We could have driven the car down to pick you up.”
“I’m old enough to know what I should and shouldn’t be doing, Ma.”
As they continued to squabble, Granddad spoke loudly to gain their attention. “What happened to your arm?”
“Oh…that. Well, like Drumm said, somehow I fell again. This time I think I sprained my wrist,” Aunt Clover said. She held it so her palm was face up, and several scratches were on her forearm.
“Lord have mercy. I didn’t see those scratches before. Let me get you some cotton balls and peroxide!” Gran hopped out of her chair and took off to the bathroom.
“No! Not peroxide! Oh gosh. I hate it when she uses that stuff on cuts,” Aunt Clover whined and let her shoulders sag.
“Why can’t Drumm or Ivy try to heal it by sitting at ah…never mind,” Granddad started to say, but remembered who was in our company. He pretended to read the newspaper.
GG Edmund swatted his own head with the palm of his hand to signify that my Granddad had just made a huge mistake.
“Sitting at a…ah…what?” Uncle Royal’s ears were perked up now. He didn’t know that I could help heal up injuries by using a trees energy.
“Oh nothing. Anyway – take her to see Izadora. I can’t fathom why she hasn’t fixed her foot yet,” Granddad said.
“She can’t. It’s a curse. It must somehow be reversed,” Drumm said.
While they all sat there trying to out talk one another, I couldn’t help but notice that Ella was watching Drumm’s every move. Her whole demeanor had changed when he’d entered the room, and she could not wipe the silly smile from her face. At present, she was leaning her elbow on the kitchen table. The tip of her pinkie was in her mouth as she bit the nail. It was possible that she was also, drooling.
Drumm’s eyes kept glancing her way and I could tell that he felt a bit uneasy. Or was he enjoying her attention? Instantly, I chastised myself. There was no way in hades that Drumm could possibly be interested in Ella. He’d just told me last night that he didn’t even like my cousin. But why then, was I feeling weird about the whole situation. Something wasn’t right. If I remembered correctly, he had also said he found her interesting.
“Hi Drumm,” Ella said. “How are you this morning?”
I remained calm, and held back all emotion. By looking at me, I was certain that no one could see that I was becoming angry. But I had to get some fresh air. I stood and began to walk away.
“Ivy, where are you going?” Uncle Royal called after me, a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth.
“I’m headed to Izadora’s,” was all I said.
“Take Ella with you,” he said.
I turned to look his way, and with some satisfaction I said, “I must go alone. Izadora does not want either of you there.”
I could hear the intake of his breath as I turned to leave the room. Normally it would pain me to tell someone that they were not welcome. However, telling Uncle Royal that Izadora didn’t want to see them made me feel almost giddy.
“Come on Drumm, let’s go,” I said.
My little bit of happiness was soon spoiled with the next words that came out of Drumm’s mouth. “Actually, before I found Clover in the forest, I was on my way here to ask Ella if she’d like to go for a walk.”
I was just passing him when he said these words, and I stopped in my tracks. He avoided my heavy gaze and continued to watch Ella. There was no way that I could control the heat that stemmed from my stomach as it worked its way up my chest, quickly to my neck and flushed my face. A moron would be able to tell that I was angry. Good-bye to controlling my temper.
“What are you doing?” I said to Drumm in a heated whisper. I could feel that all eyes were boring into my back, and I was slightly embarrassed that he’d offered to take her on a walk in front of everyone. They all knew that Drumm and I were best friends, and may possibly be more.
“Shhhh,” he said lightly, without even looking at me.
So, now he was hushing me? First he asks my flirtatious cousin to join him on a walk, and then he hushes me? What the heck was he thinking?
And then it dawned on me. Izadora had put him up to it. She wanted to find out more about Ella, and who better to ask then Drumm. Now I was even more ticked off. They continually hid things from me, and this was where I drew the line.
Before anyone could stop me, I walked out the front door and headed for Ian’s. I didn’t look back once, until I reached his sunroom. What I found there was enough to rekindle my spirits.
***
I remember a certain day on Hy Brasil. It was a rare sunny day, with clear blue skies, and we were on a picnic. He’d told me that it was enough right now to just be friends. He’d wait for me. I had told him not to bother…Drumm was
the only one for me.
He had laughed.
Lucian sat with Ian at the white table filled with pastries and tarts. His dark hair was spiked in the front and he wore jeans and a red t-shirt that hugged his muscles. I hadn’t seen him in several months, and he was a sight for sore eyes. His frame was so large that he almost blocked out my next wonderful surprise – Aunt Cora. The moment he noticed me, he jumped up, walked forward, and pulled me into a bear hug. His cologne smelled warm and with a hint of spice.
“My day just got better,” he said, squeezing me.
I didn’t answer but nodded my head. I was just as glad to see him. When I pulled back, I noticed that he looked older. His face had thinned out and there was no trace of boyhood left. My buddy Lucian wasn’t a young man any longer, but a grown man.
He’d been away under Maximus’ care. Off and on he would visit him, and receive treatments for his demon dog scratches. The poison that flowed through his veins had to be slowed down, or he would die. This had been going on for the past year. Maximus claimed that he couldn’t heal Lucian; not yet. He didn’t have the proper ingredients, and demon dog poison was fatal. It showed in Lucian’s face now. His eyes wore dark shadows, and I’d heard that he’d been having seizures.
Aunt Cora was next. She hadn’t stopped blabbering from the moment I walked into the room. When I looked into her big brown eyes, I couldn’t help but smile. I’d missed her so much. She leaned in and gave me a hug and air kissed my cheek.
Leaning back, she said, “My oh my! Look at you. You don’t look like my little niece any more. You’ve grown into a beautiful young lady.”
“It’s only been around six months,” I snickered. How could I have changed that much? Then again, Lucian had somehow turned into a man during that time.
However, it was she that had changed. Not so much her looks, but the glow that shined on her pretty face. I had heard that she had recently become engaged to Minimus, and they were to be married this fall. The two were head over heels in love.