DRAGONFLY part 4

Copyright (c) 2018 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.

By R. Peterson

            Fran followed Siltlin to the sleeping quarters. They passed by a magnificent waterfall emptying into a pond surrounded by bushes filled with fragrant flowers. A group of female Nich were frolicking naked in the water. There was so much splashing and laughing going on Fran had to smile. “What are they doing?”

            “They’re supposed to be bathing and getting ready for tonight’s festivities,” Siltlin said. “But every time they get near these waters they act like children!”

            “Is that such a bad thing?” Fran gave her friend a wiry glance.

            “Not at all!” Siltlin laughed as she shoved her friend off the path they were walking on and down into the water. “You could use a bath yourself!”

The pond in this spot was deeper than she’d thought and Fran was completely submerged. Tiny bubbles saturated every part of the water and seemed to stimulate her as she swam through them. “This feels wonderful,” she gasped when she broke the surface. “What is it?”

            “A kind of natural carbonation,” Siltlin said as she removed her own clothes and then dove in. “Most all the water sources in Motha Forest have some magical property. The stream above us tickles the young and invigorates the old … or is it the other way around?”

            “Are my clothes going to be ruined?” Fran noticed she was still wearing the yellow tunic made from rose petals and the red shoes made from poppy-seed halves.

            “All of our clothing is made from natural growing things and moisture is actually good for them, but take your clothes off and hang them on those bushes. You don’t want to show up for the party in wet things.”

            “A party?” Fran was beginning to like this place more and more. Her stepfather never allowed her or her mother to go to any parties.

            “To celebrate Lendoria’s homecoming,” Siltlin said. “No matter how angry the queen acts, she is delighted to have her daughter back.”

            “I haven’t seen the queen’s daughter since the rescue,” Fran said. “Where is she?”

            “Probably locked up in the dungeon,” Siltlin said. “Her majesty is so afraid harm will come to her daughter she keeps her almost on a leash. She was furious when Lendoria snuck away and went with us on the mission to collect thistles near the witch’s house. I’m afraid that since she didn’t know you, she thought you were somehow responsible.”

            “Does Lendoria do this kind of thing often?”

Siltlin laughed. “All the time. I used to think I was trouble … but the queen’s daughter makes me look like a church bug!”

A gasp went up from all the Nich swimming in the pond. Several were pointing to the rock cliff on one side of the water. Since the city was built inside a mountain everything was surrounded by sheer rock walls. Fran could just make out a tiny speck climbing far above them. “Who’s that?”

Siltlin shook her head. “Lendoria of course, speak her name and she makes an appearance.”

            “She’s so high up! Isn’t she afraid she might fall?”  

            “When she gets as high as possible she aims to dive.” Siltlin and the others were moving to the edge of the pond; Fran did the same.

            “Is the pond deep enough for so high a dive?” Most of the pond was just barely to Fran’s chin.

            “There is a place in the center that’s at most three times deeper than the rest,” Siltlin said. “Lendoria has to strike the water perfectly and in just the right spot to survive!”

            “Why does she do it?”

            “She knows her mother is helpless in the fight against Bonetta,” Siltlin said. “I think she must constantly prove herself because she knows one day she’ll have to face the witch and defeat her, if she wants to free her father.”

A hush fell over the crowd watching Lendoria. She was no longer clinging to the rock cliff but standing on a precipice with her arms out-stretched. “Not there!” Siltlin screamed. “You’ll never make it to the center of the pond!”

The crowd gasped as Lendoria suddenly leaped from the rock, moving her out stretched arms in graceful motion as if mimicking the flight of a butterfly. Fran wanted to close her eyes. Siltlin was right. The queen’s daughter was going to land well short of the center of the pond. It seemed as if Lendoria fell forever but it was actually only a few seconds. Just before she struck the water she stretched her arms and legs and appeared to glide. There was a giant splash. Fran couldn’t be sure where exactly in the water Lendoria had landed. The crowd held their breath. Three seconds … waves becoming ripples. Ten seconds … ripples almost gone. Twenty seconds … the pool was calm … no motion at all … another thirty seconds passed with agonizing slowness.

            “I told her … I told her not to dive there,” Siltlin moaned. Several of the Nich were lunging through the water toward the center of the pond. Two had begun to swim toward the center with frantic strokes … when suddenly with a loud laugh … Lendoria broke the surface of the water.

            “I could drown you myself,” Siltlin thundered. “You had everyone scared to death! What took you so long to come to the surface?”

            “I thought the water was probably deep enough,” Lendoria said as she began to swim to shore. Fran thought her strokes looked awkward and wondered if she might be hurt. “I forgot about all the mud at the bottom …. I’m afraid I got stuck!”

When the queen’s daughter climbed from the water she was covered from the chest down with sticky brown goo. She saw Fran and smiled. “I saw what you did on the back of Siltlin’s dragonfly … you risked your own life when you gave up your seat for me.” Lendoria stuck out her hand and then blushed when Fran looked at her in surprise. “Guess I’d better wash up first.”

            “It’s just a little mud!” Fran took the slimy hand in her own and shook hard it sending splatters of mud over the crowd. “I don’t know about you but I could use another bath!”

Everyone laughed as they all piled back into the water.

-------2-------

            The party was even more magical than Fran could have ever imagined. The event was held in the lake in sight of the queen’s lily-pad island. Dozens of giant fish with tables and chairs mounted on their backs were herded to a place in the lake where an enormous ring of plant material had been spread in a circle. They grazed like cattle as the festivities went on.  Something far beneath the floating armada was producing hundreds of multicolored bubbles which broke the surface and then floated into the air. A half-dozen Nich with spears made from thistle thorns popped the bubbles as they floated above the crowd. Each color of bubble made a different musical tone and the Nich musicians were so talented that delightful music sounding like a symphony filled the air. Most of the food was various seeds prepared in hundreds of different ways …. Fried, dried, chopped, pulled, mashed, mixed, baked, sliced and diced. Each course was unique and to die for delicious. Drinks were served in clear goblets that resembled raindrops with one end cut level. “I’ve never seen cups like these,” Fran marveled.

            “A magical tree grows in the forest,” Siltlin said. “It’s called a Juhar and we dare not use any of the wood because the numerous enchantments are so powerful. Each fall an abundance of sap runs through the tree as clear and clean as rain. Each time a bubble of this sap falls from the tree under moonlight it becomes as solid as glass before it lands on the soft forest floor. We gather each hollow drop in the fall, cut the ends with saw-grass and make them into our celebration cups. They are one of our most prized possessions.”

            “I love them,” Fran said, holding her goblet up to lamp light. “Each time the musicians play a note it makes my cup vibrate … and it tickles a different part of my body.”

            Siltlin laughed. “I think that’s probably more of what’s in the glass than the glass itself! Or perhaps a little of both.”

Fran held her empty goblet up just as a waiter came by with a platter filled with pitchers of a pale blue liquid. He filled her up with a smirk.

            “It’s a special type of nectar,” Siltlin told her. “A little bit is fun, but too much can make you and me do foolish things.”

            “You don’t have to worry about me,” Fran shouted as she stood up and began to dance to the music. “My stepfather raised me to be proper and good … a good girl.”

After the meal the music became louder and everyone began to dance. A good looking boy with an impish face and flowing green hair asked Fran to dance. Fran was shocked when they began to dance on the surface of the water. Millions of tiny bubbles were rising so quickly they kept her from sinking …. and they tickled her feet. Fran was laughing so hard she was almost glad when the musicians finally took a break. One of the oldest Nich Fran had ever seen came out and began to tell jokes about Bonetta as everyone either laughed or groaned.

            “Do you know how to make the bad woman of the woods helpless,” the old man asked.

            “How?” the crowd answered.

            “Hide her wart cream,” the old man answered to groans and a few chuckles.

            “Do you know why Bonetta’s house is always dirty?”

            “Why?” the crowd asked.

            “She can never remember where she parked her broom.”

Later that night, hundreds of different species of fire flies, each a different brilliant color, were released into the sky from hollow milkweed stems. They burst upon the night like fireworks.

The moon had sunk into the western horizon by the time Fran finally made it back to her dwelling. She fell asleep almost instantly. It was late the next day when Fran finally opened her eyes. “Oh dear,” she moaned. “I know I was supposed to do something important today, but I don’t remember what!”

            She stood up and started to leave the tiny cottage when she bumped her head. “I don’t remember the door being this small,” she moaned. Fran looked down and noticed her rose-petal dress that had come almost to her knees before was now mid-thigh. “Oh my goodness … I’m growing!”

            Siltlin was outside her door when she went outside. Siltlin put her hands on her hips and stood looking up at Fran.

            “I was supposed to do something important today but I just don’t remember.” Fran shook her head.

            “Whatever it was will have to wait,” Siltlin told her. “We’ve got to find you some more Sinker berries or you’ll soon be too big to stay here.”

            “But that means we’ll have to go back to Bonetta’s house,” Fran moaned.

            “Don’t worry,” Siltlin said. “All we have to do is find her wart cream and hide it.”

Both girls laughed but Fran felt awkward … foolish and a lot bigger.

-------3-------

            Samuel Dodge had been working all day and all night. He was exhausted but still too afraid of the old woman to run away. Hundreds of wasp nests hung behind Bonetta’s house from her porch and trees. His tormentor insisted that they must not be seen from the front. This whole bad business was Fran’s fault.  Samuel finished hanging yet another nest from a tree and trudged back to the shed staring at the witch as she stirred a large pot over an open fire. There were at least fifty more nests piled inside the tiny building …. The witch woman wanted them all put up before dusk. “Hurry you Lunkbutt!” the old woman called out. “When you’re finished I have another task for you!”

It was mid-afternoon when Samuel finally finished. He thought about running but didn’t. The old witch poured the liquid from the large kettle into several smaller jugs. “When this cools,” she cackled. “I want you to pour it over the bushes yonder … the ones offering the red berries with green spots.”

            “What is it?” Samuel sniffed the liquid but could smell nothing.

            “A hoof of this … a hoof of that … a sticky tongue … a tail of rat.” Bonetta held a wooden spoon toward the sky as if conducting an orchestra. “Glue without sniff … luster or soot,” the old woman went on. “To catch fast an arm … finger or foot.” She began to laugh. “When you’re finished you can go home … for a short time.”

            Samuel brightened. Maybe the witch was going to release him … then he remembered.

            “For a short time?” Samuel was deflated.

            “You swat flies at your house don’t you?”

            “Sometimes,” Samuel stammered.

            “What do you use? Not those big filthy things you call hands!”

            “I have a square of thin leather tied to the end of a forked stick,” Samuel gulped. He remembered the times he had used it on Fran when she was just learning to walk.

            “Bring it with you and a few extra,” Bonetta commanded.

            “I don’t see any flies,” Samuel looked around stupidly.

            “The dragonflies will be here along with your stepdaughter,” the witch told him.

            “Fran is coming here?” Anger rose in Samuel. But the thought that he might catch the girl who had caused him such problems and punish her brightened his day. He would beat every inch of skin off from her bones.

            “Yes,” Bonetta laughed, “and I think you’ll find she is not such a large a problem as you once thought.”     

To be continued ….