DRAGONFLY part 6

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 relished the exhilaration of riding a dragonfly alone for the first time. The rushing wind ripped her long blonde trusses behind her in contrast to the glowing green hair tones of her friends. Siltlin, Donone, Gebae and Lendoria flew with her in tight formation soaring just above the tree tops of Motha Forest for a while then skimming the ground or breaking bubbles rising from a stream. “I know I’m growing larger,” Fran yelled to Siltlin, “but I hardly notice when I’m moving this fast!”

“The effects of the Sinker Berries wearing off are most pronounced when you’re at rest or sleeping,” Siltlin told her. “Doing something exciting actually slows down the growing process!”

“I wish I could stay this small forever.” Fran laughed. “You all have such a larger world to play in!” She was glad she was with friends … if she was alone she would have been lost long ago.

“It takes eating large amounts of Sinker Berries every day for at least a moon cycle for the shrinking effects to be permanent,” Gebae said. “The Sinker bushes are becoming harder and harder to find.”

“Bonetta is responsible for that!” Donone said. “She burns every bush she can find inside Motha and then nurtures the ones close to her house … trying to lure us into a trap.”

“I’d like to see that creaky old witch try to catch me!” Lendoria sped up her mount and was flying circles around the others. “She’ll pay for keeping my father a prisoner in her dirty dark cellar and for turning my mother into a frog!”

“You certainly have desire!” Siltlin tried to calm the queen’s daughter. “But you must learn patience. It’s going to take time to acquire all of the ingredients for the recipe that will reverse the spell make your frog mother a human again.”

“Are you any closer to finding Motha Bear claws or blood from both the queen’s offspring?”

“I’ve hidden a vile of my blood under a thorn bush behind Bonetta’s shed,” Lendoria told her, “just in case I’m not around when the potion is cooked.”

“I’ve thought about flying through handsome Billy Martin’s open window on one of these hot summer nights while he’s sleeping,” Gabae said dreamily. “I could make a small cut on his ear and he’d think it was only a mosquito.”

“If my brother thought a mosquito was biting his ear he’d slap you faster than you could say splat,” Lendoria told her. “No one in my family gives up their blood easily!”

“I’m most worried about getting our hands on the Motha Bear Claws,” Siltlin said. “Those ferocious beasts haven’t been seen roaming the forest for years!”

“How many of the claws would the recipe take?” Fran was trying to remember all the hunters she knew that lived in Cloverdale.

“Just a sliver of one really,” Siltlin said. “This is a very powerful ingredient!”

The expanse of trees below them ended and they were flying over an open meadow. Fran was surprised to see men, women and children all wearing sewn white cloth bags over their heads. They appeared to be working and playing around a cluster of thatched-roof huts. “What a strange group of humans,” she gasped.

            “Those are Momett,” Siltlin said. “They are the main reason Sean O’Brian established the Motha Preservation Trust and the reason the forest and all its magic and life forms are protected. Rumors say these living scarecrows were first created during the 1930’s by the white-witch Melania Descombey.”

            “I understand that wasn’t all she conjured up,” Donone added. “The scarecrows called Hodmedod who live to the East are as violent and war-like as the Momett are peaceful and placating.”

            “Two different creatures from one spell,” Fran pondered, “that’s amazing!”

            “There is balance in all things,” Siltlin said. “And dreams always come before reality. We’re getting close to Bonetta’s house now … let’s try to be as quiet as possible!”

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

Samuel watched as clouds of wasps landed in the tree branches behind Bonetta’s house and then crowded into the nests. They were followed by an equal number of the shadowy Boog which he and the witch had dug from the ground. A low buzzing sound made all the leaves on the nearby trees tremble. “How many of these blasted things are there?” Samuel swatted at a few stragglers that had flown too close to his face.

            “More than enough to destroy the Nich’s hidden city when we discover its location,” Bonetta said glancing at the sinking sun. “Quick! Let us hide inside my house. Our visitors will be arriving shortly.”

Samuel hated the smells inside the witch’s house but he was too afraid of Bonetta to disobey her. He crouched behind some boxes so he wouldn’t be seen even though the windows were covered with grime. He was next to a rotted stairway that descended into the darkness. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Samuel noticed the boxes were filled with whiskey. He took a bottle from one of the crates and began to drink … careful not to let Bonetta see.

            The witch put a finger to her lips and there was sudden silence. It was so quiet inside the house Samuel could hear his own heart thumping. Suddenly from below came a low moaning noise and what sounded like a man’s voice begging for water. “What was that?”

            “Just a human rat I keep inside a cage,” Bonetta said. “If you don’t do everything I say I’ll put you down there to keep him company!”

Samuel touched his tender ear where the witch had pinned him to a tree with a salad fork. “I swear on the good b… err on my mother’s name … that I’ll never betra …”

            “Quiet you nitwit!” Bonetta hissed. “They’re almost here!”

The witch rubbed a circle of grime from the window with her boney fingers then pressed her crooked nose against the glass. She beckoned Samuel to look with her. Five dragonflies had just landed on a tree branch near the sagging front porch. “The fools are doing just what I want!” Bonetta whispered.  She exhaled a low giggle that turned into a mean snigger just before she ran out of breath.

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

            “I don’t see anyone about,” Siltlin said as she gazed at the Sinker bush next to the dilapidated porch. “Bonetta the Demo must be resting after all the evil she does every day.” All five dragonfly riders looked around in all directions.

“Donone, Gebae and I will fly to the bush and pick as many Sinker berries as possible while you and Lendoria stay here. If there’s any trouble, or if we’re caught both of you fly back to the city and bring help.”

            “Why do I have to stay?” Lendoria protested. “I’m a better flyer than any of you. If there’s going to be a fight I want to be in on it!”

            “I’m not sure Fran can find her way back to the city alone,” Siltlin said. “If you’re chased you’ll need to be fast and smart enough to lure your pursuers in a different direction … and as you said yourself …” Siltlin raised her hands in the air as if surrendering, “you are our best flyer!”

Fran and Lendoria watched as their three friends flew to the bush. “Being the best dragonfly rider is quite a compliment,” Fran told her.

            “She’s just afraid that I’ll be hurt and my mother will be angry with her,” Lendoria grumbled. “It’s too quiet in this place … something isn’t right …”

They both heard Donone gasp. She had landed on one of the bush leaves and her dragonfly appeared to be stuck. The poor creature wiggled and thrashed trying to free its legs.

            “Stay where you are and we’ll pick you up!” Siltlin whispered.  It was too late, Donone had slid off the dragonfly’s back and now her own legs were stuck. Siltlin and Gebae hovered in the air just above their fiend trying to free her from the glue. Suddenly the door to Bonetta’s house burst open and Samuel charged out swinging a homemade fly-swatter in each hand. The witch followed close behind brandishing a broom. “It’s a trap!” Siltlin screamed at Fran and Lendoria. “Escape while you can!”

Fran and the queen’s daughter both became airborne at the same time. Fran turned toward the forest but Lendoria flew toward the porch. Fran remembered the long flight over Motha. There was no way she could find her way back alone. She turned and followed Lendoria to the fight.

Siltlin, Gebae and Lendoria were expert at evading Samuel’s swatters and the witch’s broom. They swooped and dove around the flaying arms until Samuel finally struck the witch across the face by accident. Fran’s stepfather’s face was as white as a sheet and his eyes looked like two moons. “You ignorant lout!” the witch screamed as she broke her own broom over his head.

            Samuel collapsed in a heap on the ground and for a moment Fran thought that with Bonetta vastly outnumbered they might be able to free Donone from the glue and escape.

A deep rumbling drone came from the back of the house. It turned into a roar as storm clouds of wasps ridden by shadowy creatures only visible in moonlight came from both sides and over the top of the dwelling. In an instant, there was nowhere to maneuver. Siltlin and Gebae were covered with a mass of stingers. Lendoria, obviously sensing the impending doom, broke away from the storm cloud and disappeared over the tree tops pursued by thousands of Boog mounted on the wasps. Fran was just turning to follow Lendoria when the witch’s broken broom knocked her off her mount. Several of the bristles caught in a tree branch or Fran would have been smashed.

            Fran tumbled through the air and landed on the rock foundation of the old house. She was dizzy. Several of the rocks and mortar were broken and Fran slipped into a large crack just before the witch slapped her broomstick down again. Fran was falling, falling … down … down until there was only dirt, dark … and a deep sleep.

-------4-------

            Fran Dressel opened her eyes. Her mother stood over her crying. Fran was aware that she was large again … and naked.  “Where am I?”

Edith Dodge took a blanket from another woman and draped it over her daughter. Fran was suddenly aware that the dirt floor room she was in was full of people she knew. “You’re in Bonetta Sharpstone’s cellar,” her mother explained.  “And you’ve got a nasty bump on your head.” Fran looked around the room and jumped when she saw her stepfather seated in a chair having his own head bandaged by a nurse.

            “Oh Fran! I’m so sorry!” Her mother began to cry again. “How could I ever have married this monster?” Fran stared at her stepfather. Sheriff John Walker was making him stand up and placing handcuffs on his wrists.

            “Samuel has been holding you and poor Mr. Martin in this cellar for who knows how long and for what immoral purposes.” Edith stroked her daughter’s dirty hair. “If we hadn’t found the beast passed out from alcohol under that tree outside we might never have discovered you!”

            “Where are the fairies Siltlin, Donone, Gebae, Lendoria and the witch,” Fran moaned. “Where are they, mother?”

            “My! You’re as delusional as poor Mr. Martin,” Fran’s mother said. He claims to have seen Bonetta Sharpstone too … but everyone knows the poor woman has been dead for years.”

Edith motioned to the nurse who walked over with a large hypodermic needle. “My daughter needs to sleep,” Edith said. “She needs time to forget this whole awful affair!”

Before Fran could object she felt a sharp pain in her wrist and then there was dark … only dark.

-------5-------

            A week later, at her mother’s urging Fran climbed from the hot tub she’d been soaking in and began to dress. “We have to hurry!” Her mother was excited. “William Martin and his son have invited us to supper as a kind of thank you for his rescue!”

            Fran thought her mother was quite infatuated by Billy’s father and she had to smile. If her mother only knew Mr. Martin was married to a frog!

            “Billy is becoming quite the hunter,” Edith continued as Fran brushed her hair. “He and a friend even shot a giant Motha bear on one of their hunting trips … quite rare these days I’m told. I’m sure he’ll show you the carcass. I understand he’s planning to have it mounted for display by a taxidermist.”

            “Remember that Mr. Martin is a married man,” Fran told her mother as they climbed into the wagon. “Mrs. Martin is gone …. But she will eventually return.”

Edith laughed. “She’s probably living happily in a Chicago tenant building with some slick-as-oil haired used-car salesman!”

            “Or reigning over a group of fairies from a pond lily pad,” Fran muttered as she placed the glass veil and a tiny knife in her apron pocket.  Billy would agree to go for a moonlit walk after he showed off his bear claws … he wouldn’t miss just one.  During the passion of their first kiss he’d hardly notice the tiny prick to his ear.

            Fran had spent the last three days wandering in the woods around Bonetta’s house. The Sinker berries were still there by the porch and the glue was no longer any problem. She had also found a clump of Trumpet Vines by the stream … and had noticed all the dragonflies hovering over the water. Bonetta wasn’t around and Fran thought the old witch might be hiding … or perhaps directing a far-away battle.

Fran stared at the face of Bear Mountain looming on the horizon inside Motha Forest as the wagon rumbled around a curve in the road. The sky was dark there … as if some terrible storm were raging …  

THE END?