The Tree Shepherd's Daughter (34 page)

"Good night, Keelie."

She opened her eyes to see Sean walking away into
the darkness. Eighty-five years old. What was she getting
into?

An orange blur followed him. Things wouldn't be so
dreadful in the Dread Forest. She just had to get over this
age thing.

Upstairs, Keelie lifted the green pillow from her father's
face and smacked him on the legs with it. He bolted up.
"What? Keelie, are you all right?"

She placed her hands on her hips. "We need to talk.
Now!"

Keelie liked her new look. The mirror reflected a curlyhaired brunette with fashionable flair. Maybe Mom would
have enjoyed the way Keelie had redone Renaissance flair
with contemporary touches.

Her cool new boots were an old pair of her mother's
that Dad had saved for all these years. They fit her perfectly.

She thought she looked great, except for the dirt under
her nails. She could almost hear Mom's voice saying,
"Keelie, what were you thinking? You need a manicure."

Keelie put a hand over her heart. "You're here, Mom;
I'll love you forever."

Keelie and Dad had talked for hours. He'd answered
some of her questions, although she was still confused.

"Keelie, wait up." Raven jogged toward her, wearing
some of her new clothes, too. "I heard you were out with
Sean last night. Elia is so mad she can't stand it."

"Yeah?" Keelie felt a mixture of fear and joy. She was
afraid of what Elia would do, but it was great that she was
suffering. She tried to dredge up a little pity for the elf girl,
but none came.

Keelie was grateful that Raven didn't bring up Keelie's
abrupt departure from the belly dance shop. "So she's really
mad?"

"Sure enough. So far today, she's pulled her best friend's
hair, slapped one of the members of the Royal Court, and
pitched a fit in front of the Rose Arbor." Raven laughed.
"Everyone is enjoying it so much. We've never seen her
this angry before."

"I wonder how she found out." She either had a spy in
the woods or Sean had told her. Or Elia herself had followed them. That last one didn't seem likely.

She thought of sixty-year-old Elia. She didn't know
how much Raven knew, but she was pretty sure that some
aspects of the elves' lives, including maybe that they were
elves, weren't shared with humans. Zeke had told her that
she would age a lot slower than most humans, but she
wasn't going to live to be five hundred years old, like her
grandmother.

Her dad sure didn't look 327 years old. He looked good. And Dad said the plus side was that as Keelie aged, she
wouldn't get wrinkles. So she'd never have a Botox face.

Raven headed back to her mom's shop, and Keelie went
on to the mews, still thinking about the elves. Now that
their problems were over, the trees weren't talking. They
might know something that she could do to help Ariel.
Maybe the oak in the meadow would let her know, although she wasn't excited about returning to the meadow.

At the mews, Keelie slipped her hand into the leather
gauntlet and opened Ariel's cage. Ariel called out and
flapped her wings. Keelie could not accept that Ariel
would never be free. If there wasn't a medical way to heal
her, maybe some form of magic would.

Ariel hopped onto Keelie's wrist.

Cameron popped up from behind the cages. "Hey.
Just cleaning cages." She smiled when she saw the hawk
on Keelie's wrist. "You work wonders with her. She knows
when you're coming."

Ariel rubbed her feathery head against Keelie's cheek.
Her golden eye glinted and her head bobbed up and
down, as if sensing something different about her human
best friend. Keelie wished she could talk to hawks, too.

Cameron chattered on. "And who would've thought
that Sir Davey and Louie would've bonded the way they
have."

Keelie said, "I'm going to look in on Sir Davey. I'll
check on Louie, too."

"Thanks."

Outside the mews, Keelie released Ariel, who winged
to the aspen trees near the Dragon Horde Shop. Her right wing brushed a tree and she careened toward the ground,
then recovered and flapped back up onto a branch.

Arms pressed her shoulders. Keelie didn't turn. Her
tear-filled eyes were on the hawk.

"We'll have to decide soon, Keelie. Is it fair to keep her
in a cage for the rest of her life?"

Keelie didn't want to hear Cameron's sympathy. "There
has to be a way to help her." She closed her eyes and
tapped into the trees. "Watch her."

The leaves in the tree rustled in reply.

Ariel followed her, flying from tree to tree until she got
to the Dragon Horde. "Don't go too far," she cautioned.

The shop windows glittered with crystals. She sniffed.
Coffee. Sir Davey had brewed his headache-eradicating
blend. She heard a moan from the back of the shop and
hurried toward the location of the sound.

Sir Davey sat on his little couch with a huge chunk of
hematite pressed against his forehead. Louie perched on
the sofa's edge with his beady eyes fixed on Sir Davey.

He opened his eyes. "I'm dying, lass. My head won't
stop pounding, and whenever I look up, I see this harbinger
of death looming above me. He's waiting for me to die."

Keelie said, "You need to get up and move around. Get
the bloodstream going. It worked for me."

Sir Davey moaned. "You were touched by magic. I
brought this on myself."

She went to the kitchen. She poured coffee, thick and
strong, into an earthenware mug and took it to him.

Louie spread his wings as Sir Davey sat up and accepted it. "The room won't stop spinning."

"Drink your coffee. It helps. Trust me. I know."

"I guess you do, lass. No side effects from last night?"

"No. I'm fine."

"You look different. I think it's your eyes. They seem
more Elven than human. As if you know things that others don't."

"I had a long talk with my dad. By the way, how old
are you?"

Sir Davey chuckled into his coffee mug just as he was
about to take a sip. He winced as he swallowed. "Aye,
learned about the age thing, did you?"

"Yes. So, how old are you?"

"Old enough to know better and young enough not to
stop." He put a finger in the air as if testing the wind.

"You're not going to tell me."

"No. I have to have some secrets. Keep an air of mystery about me. Ladies like that." He waggled his steel gray
caterpillar eyebrows up and down, then winced again.

Keelie stood. "You're not off the hook about this, but
get some sleep."

Louie settled back down on the edge of the sofa. Sir
Davey closed his eyes and pulled the coverlet up to his
chin. "You did good, Keelie."

She turned out the light. "I know."

Outside, the early afternoon sun was bright, and the
air was crisp and clean. She raised her face, allowing the
soothing warmth to cover her. It was the comfort of a hot
bath, as opposed to the feel of Sean's lips on hers.

Sean had said he'd wanted more than friendship, and she
was ready to explore that avenue, too, regardless of his age.

Keelie climbed Ironmonger's Way to the herb shop,
where she noticed that the blue tarp had been replaced
with a brand-new door. The scent of lavender wafted from
the shop.

Aviva was walking around the building. She blushed
when she saw Keelie and hurried past her. Try and be nice,
and some people have to be mean about it.

She knocked on the front door. "You guys open for
business yet?"

Raven opened the door. It was unlocked. "How's Sir
Davey?"

"Hung over. He'll live. You want to come up to Heartwood?"

"I can't. We've got more cleaning to do. And Mom
keeps burning candles. The shop's going to violate antismoking ordinances pretty soon. I'll be heading down to
the Shimmy Shack later if you want to join me."

Keelie dug into her pocket and pulled out a five-dollar
bill. "Will you pay for Knot's tassel? I feel really bad about
it. And I hope Aviva doesn't think I took her ring. I saw
her just now, and she didn't exactly look friendly."

Raven waved her hand. "Forget her. I was so mad at
her, and I let her know in no uncertain terms that's no way
to treat a really good fiend of mine. Besides, you returned
the ring. What planet is she from?"

"She could be like Elia, an el-"

"An elf like Elia? No, Aviva's been smoking and partying too much at the Shire. And I know all about the elf
thing, kid."

Keelie grinned. "Raven, you know everything."

"Hold on. I've got something for you." Raven ran into
the back and returned with a small box. "Open it."

"What is it?"

"It's a present, doofus."

Keelie removed the lid and pulled out a string of gold
tassels. She laughed. "Thanks, I think."

Raven shrugged. "Didn't seem fair for Knot to get one,
especially after you chased him. I figured you really wanted
that tassel."

"Knot so." Keelie tried to keep her face straight.

Raven swatted her arm. "Stop it, or I'll have to kill you.
Hey, there's a really big party down at the Shire tonight.
Word is out that the pirates have set up their own tent in
celebration of Captain Dandy Randy. Seems our Don Satterfield sold a software game he created to one of the big
companies."

"So, all that time he spent in his mother's basement
playing video games paid off? Good for him."

"Want to go? I'll be your personal security guard if
you do. The pirates won't mess with you. Unless you want
them to, of course."

"I'd love to go. I knew there was more to Captain Donald than his cute booty."

Raven rolled her eyes. "When we get to the New York
Faire, I'll show you around. They really know how to
throw a party at Rivendell."

"Rivendell? Is that the name of the town?"

"It's from The Lord of the Rings, California girl."

Everything seemed to be from The Lord of the Rings.
She'd have to read that book.

"See you tonight around nine."

"See ya."

Ariel skimmed over Keelie's head as she walked up King's
Way. The stained-glass shop was closed, and Ariel landed in
the cedar trees between it and the front gate. The hairs on
the back of Keelie's neck prickled. She looked around, but
she didn't see anything unusual. She'd gotten the same feeling from the Red Cap, but he was definitely gone.

Ariel perched on a tall cedar branch and watched her.

Keelie stared at the pay phones. She needed to do this.
Laurie would need to know that the Great Escape was off.
There was no going back to California for Keelie now.
Her life was with Dad and Ariel. She was no longer the
same person who had walked through the gates, although
Mom's girl was still there, inside of her.

Keelie pulled some quarters from her pouch and
dropped them into the pay phone's coin slot. She dialed
Laurie's number.

"Hello?" Her friend's voice seemed so normal, and
brought back memories of what normal had been for her
in California.

"Laurie, it's me, Keelie."

Keelie had to hold the phone away from her ear to protect her hearing from Laurie's loud shriek.

"Oh. My. God. I thought you were never going to call.
I mean like I've been trying to call you for ages and ages
and ages."

"What are you talking about? I've been talking to you
every other day about the Great Escape. You need to call
your cousin Addie and tell her that Sunday is off."

"What cousin Addie? What are you taking about?
I haven't talked to you since you called that night from
some pay phone. I mean, that's so desperate. Calling collect on the pay phone."

The hairs on the back of Keelie's neck were at full alert.
She sensed a tinge of the dark magic she'd experienced
with the Red Cap.

"Hey, Keelie, are you there?" Laurie's voice asked, but
she sounded faraway.

Elia stood underneath the cedar trees. She put her
thumb and index finger against her ear and mimicked a
phone call, then smiled broadly.

Keelie swallowed. She'd been had. Elf girl was toast.

"Laurie, I'll call you later. I've got to go."

"Okay, but call me back really soon. I have to tell you
all about Constance's new boyfriend, and the really cool
shirt she bought at La Jolie Rouge. It's to die for."

"Bye, Laurie." Keelie hung up, and the receiver clunked
back into place.

A beating of wings alerted Keelie in time to thrust her
leather-covered arm into the air. Ariel landed on her wrist.

Keelie's skin crawled with the green tree energy. "Beware.

Elia stood much closer, eyes small and slitted, staring at
Keelie and Ariel. How had she done that? Keelie didn't see
her move. "You should've left when you had the chance,"
Elia said.

Keelie lifted Ariel closer. The hawk shifted uneasily.
She stroked the bird's smooth, feathered back, comforting
her. "I'm not leaving, Elia. I belong with my father."

"You are a mistake. Half human. Like your stupid bird.
We Elves know what to do with mistakes. We fix them."
The air around them shimmered. Keelie shivered. It felt
like magic, but not like the warm tree magic. This was
more like fingernails scratching inside her skin.