Oct. 15, 2008 - Found Among the Fairies---A Story : Part the Fifth and Part the Sixth

Found Among

The Fairies

Part 5&6

By Lexi

  Part the Fifth:

         Sun-beam awoke midday the next afternoon. Sitting dizzily on her knees, she gazed about confused. Not knowing where she was, (for the moor looked so different from her blossoming fairy-kingdom) she stood up, almost tipping over, for her legs shook unsteadily beneath her. “I must still be dreaming----never in my life have I been to this part of the kingdom It looks so unfamiliar.” She muttered to herself. Then glancing to the ground and spying an object, Sun-beam remembered what had happened  the night before. “This rope entangled me while I was waiting to be ushered to my party!” She gasped picking up a limp cord from beside the warm spot she had spent the night unconscious. “But it is life-less now.” She observed. Beautiful, Sun-beam, nearly grown, still arrayed in her light airy fairy gown,(and yes, still aglow with the light of sprites) stood in the middle of the human-world, not knowing it! Neither did she comprehend that the cord had been woven by her adopted fairy uncle in an attempt to capture her and now it had no power for it had crossed the mushroom ring with her into the dull, magic less world of Big-people, (or humans). I guess I should try to journey back to my part the Kingdom and seek mother and father. I guess I ran past the castle into the far East of the kingdom not knowing it. She thought. Turning on her bare-foot toes, the youthful princess made her way down the Irish moor, exactly opposite from the Fairy Ring, with high hopes that she would make it t the castle by nightfall!

     It is likely the innocent princess did not recall the possibility of having crossed into her birth land, which, to their credit, her parents quite honestly told her about, because she never really thought about herself as coming from that world, but rather from the world of the fairies. Despite knowing her origin and that she wasn’t a true blood-fairy, she always felt she was. (Although it must be said she never knew how the sensation felt to grow wings.) So, it was that the unwary traveler was headed the exact opposite way she meant to go, toward the heart of the exact opposite kingdom she was intending to visit. It can be added that she didn’t head toward the ring because it was a plain circle of grass now that she was outside of it. The extensive kingdom was invisible from the outside, and only looked like a small patch of greenery with a mushroom ring about it. Since Sun-beam still thought she as inside the kingdom, there was no reason for her to look for the mushrooms outside the kingdom.

      For a brief while, the trek across the cool moor was pleasant, but Sun-beam grew very grave when she arrived at the entrance to a city completely unlike any she had ever experienced.

       “Good, Sir, can you tell me where the fairies are?” Sun-beam smiled sweetly at large, sweaty blacksmith, who worked under a tent a dozen yards from the city-gate. She had entered the city aware that something was terribly wrong because her parents had never mentioned any other people of her size dwelling in the fairy kingdom. The hulky man glanced from his work at the curiously dressed maiden and spat. “Why girly? Wondered from you play-pin? You’re too old for such games! Foolish gal!!!!!” Although thoroughly disgusted at this man’s reply, Sun-beam finally decided he didn’t understand. Maybe I should speak to him in the ancient instead of the common tongue. Quite sure this would get a direct answer on where to find her people, Sun-beam began again in a soft, fair dialect that was enchanting and beautiful to fairy ears, but rather imposing to ordinary humans. “The stars be warned! We have a witch on our hands!” The big man cried out alarmed. His demeanor had turned in such sped from cruel to frightened, that Sun-beam thought she had made another mistake on choosing a language. Before the man could speak again, Sun-beam started again in the first language, which seemed to calm the listener down and also bring about quicker, politer answers. “No Miss….I mean…no Ma’am, no fairies here….although do mind I have no problem with their kind….nor your kind…unless witches be the same as wee-folk!” The man had a look of controlled, but still apparent terror. Sun-beam, sad that she wasn’t near her family, but pleased to get a straight answer smiled and said, “I don’t know what ‘witches’ are, but no, I’m not a fairy, I’m a human, but I live with fairies.” She admitted, still with no thought that she had arrived in the world of her origin. The blacksmith, confused but with no intention of being rude to his caller again, nodded, “Ohhhhh.” Then hastily adding politely, he suggested, “Why don’t you stay the night at me home with me wife and me daughter Shannon. Pr’hps you might tell her some fairy tales.” It could be argued the man offered this partly out of fear, but at any rate it was told in common folk-lore that fairies often helped poor-folks, and the blacksmith was now thoroughly convinced that this girl had at least supernatural connections so he decided it might bring good fortune on his poor family by assisting her. Not knowing what else to do, Sun-beam accepted. The confused youth was led to a thatched hut in back of the work-tent and sent to bed by a kindly, but homely house-wife. So it came to pass that the Princess from another world became friends with Irish peasants. Rather for good or bad, she at least had a place to stay; even it wasn’t in her new castle which waited her arrival back in fairy-land.

  Part the Sixth:

        The Blacksmith who took Sun-beam into his household was named Liam Ronald. His wife Nell and daughter Shannon instantly took a kindly interest to the girl. They called her Sally, because they thought Sun-beam a queer name for a person to be found in such a filthy, unhappy village. The family was poor, and Liam was a gruff man, not as kind as his wife. Still, Liam managed to feed Sun-beam and told himself that someday soon he’d be blessed by having the record of housing and feeding the girl. Days went by and the Ronald’s food pantry had to stretch to feed not only just the family, but also Sun-beam. This human-world was so strange to the princess, for famine and poverty had never been an issue in her fairy-kingdom. However, Sun-beam was smarter than even kind Mrs. Nell Ronald’s gave her credit for, and she soon noticed that meals became fewer and smaller in proportion. Frankly, Sun-beam became frightened and finally, one bleak afternoon, she figured out all that had been confusing her.

       Meanwhile, back in Moon Stone Kingdom, Lord Tangle-web and Lady Ivy were in the dudgeon. King Aspen had found out, rather disappointed but not quite surprised, that his brother had decided to kidnap the adopted human and lock her up in a magical tower. “You stole our store of Fairy Dust and Pixie Puffs to do so?!” Aspen had cried in disgust the day he and his trusted advisors had held court. “We have a barely a pinch left of magic dust now! Brother Tangle, you have always been a foolish Duke, but I thought you wouldn’t stoop that low!” It was known fairly common that Lord Tangle-web had an extensive criminal background, as did his wife and sons. “You know how much dust it requires to do ‘large’ projects, (especially large, ‘evil’ projects, Aspen) and your adopted daughter isn’t exactly our size!” Lord Tangle-web had sneered. “Anyway, you are just too…..well….fair, honest….niceeeeeeee! You would have let Sun-beam move from the kingdom and bring calamity on us all!” Aspen’s brother continued wickedly. The King gasped, shocked. “You are greedy enough to kidnap my daughter, so your fortune and luxuries wouldn’t be in danger!! I’ll bet you didn’t even care about everyone else who might suffer! You were willing to break the golden rule (and treat Sun-beam like a hostage if she wished to go back to her birth-land) to ensure your cozy, comfortably life wouldn’t be put in jeopardy!” At this point Queen Moss had to rush and restrain her husband from waving his scepter and turning his brother into something unnatural and painful. Seething mad, but maintaining control, King Aspen left the hall ordering his kinsman into the dungeon, which although not extravagant-was far more livable than any hutch to be found among the Irish peasants. Thorn and Thistle were likewise disposed of, and it might be added that they and their parents were the only fairies living in the dungeon at the time. (Usually the dungeon was used as a temporary ‘storage’ place for drunken fairies, who were unconscious and hadn’t any type of identification on themselves as to where they lived.”

      King Aspen knew the thoughts of his people were inclined to think that disaster surly would come in the absence of Sun-beam, but he had never been able to reconcile holding her against her will in order to have a prosperous kingdom. She was a definite blessing to the kingdom however, and that the king would readily admit. Now the question entered his mind, where was Sun-beam? Could she be outside the Kingdom? What would really happen to the state of the Empire if she was beyond its borders? The kind Lord was in distress. Thorn and Thistle had been extremely peevish and snippy when questioned about their part in the proceedings during the celebration night, but it was learned that Princess Sun-beam had fled toward the direction of the bordering mushrooms. Plus, she had not turned up yet. Had the cord strangled her to death in a corner of the kingdom? Had she escaped alive outside the kingdom? If she had escaped, where was she now?

      The citizens of Moon Stone Kingdom were in desperation when they heard what had happened. However, they were more upset that Lord tangle-web had been so cruel, than they were at the thought of perhaps losing their homes to calamity. (It should be told right here that there was no danger for the Empire if Sun-beam left, it was just a belief thoroughly fixed in the minds of the citizens)

        Within one sunrise-sunset, a “Finding” party of brave fairy-folk had been arranged and setoff to search for Sun-beam. But search as they might, Sun-beam was not found in the kingdom. Reasoning with herself and her husband, Queen Moss came to the decision that a search-party should be sent into the human-world! “My dear Aspen, I doubt Sun-beam left the borders by her own choice. It was her birthday! She was such a good, faithful child. I doubt she meant to flee beyond the mushroom ring!”  

        Fifty dispatches of fairy sentinels set forth. Butterflies armed with poison-gases and gravel-slings, pollinated bees ready to plant gardens when cover needed, and frog look-outs, accompanied each group. Careful to be undiscovered by humans, the different armies set out to towns all across the moor, searching for their beloved Sun-beam.

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