Elia shoved her menu over to him and closed her eyes. "Order me some tea and oatmeal."
Keelie ignored her. Did the elf girl think she was going to be her personal a.s.sistant?
She opened the menu for Knot, and was not surprised when he placed his paws on the fish section. At least he had an excuse-no opposable thumbs. The women at the table next to them did a double take. Keelie glared at them with a what, you"ve never seen a cat order from a menu? look.
"Where"s Misery? Maybe we should order for her," Keelie said.
"Misery." Elia snorted and quickly covered her face. Sean grinned and shook his head.
Miszrial seemed to appear out of thin air. "Saved a spot for me?" She sat down stiffly. "I will presume that you"ve made an idiotic attempt at making a pun of my name. Miszrial, Misery." She looked at Knot. "It"s unfortunate that there are no laws in this town forbidding animals in eating establishments."
Keelie pretended to be happy, since Elia still seemed too queasy to even try. "We"re so glad you could join us. I thought you"d still be searching for a car wash."
Miszrial tilted her head. "There is a detail car wash on the other side of the parking lot." If Miszrial had left the SUV, she must be anxious to keep an eye on them.
Goodbye "hiding out in a hotel" idea, Keelie thought. Maybe she could still check out the fascinating shops in the unusual town. She felt a hum of energy threading its way through the street. It felt like magic. She glanced at Sean, who didn"t seem to be aware of it.
"Is he really reading that?" The elf guide stared at the cat, who was staring at the menu.
"Of course," Keelie answered.
Miszrial shook her head. "We need to hurry. We"re expected at Grey Mantle and I have to return to my work."
"What do you do? Are you a Healer?" Keelie studied the elf guide. She had the disciplined look of a doctor.
"Yes. I"m working on an herbal tincture that will help my people endure the winter by strengthening their immune system. Now is the time to harvest the principle ingredient, the Hunter"s Moon flower." The elf guide straightened, obviously excited by her work. "It grows on the south side of the mountain, and can only be harvested by night, so that the sun"s rays don"t dry out the delicate stalks."
Keelie felt her eyes glaze over. It was like talking to Risa. A small part of her thought that humans might use the tincture, too.
The waitress returned. "May I take your order?"
Keelie scanned the menu and decided on oatmeal too, Sylvus help her. She was becoming more and more like an elf with each pa.s.sing day. "Two oatmeals and two cups of peppermint tea." She handed her menu to the waitress.
Sean closed his menu. "A Crystal Cup special with whipped cream." He turned to Keelie. "I"ve craved fancy coffee drinks ever since that trip to the mall in Los Angeles."
"I was too busy wrestling a tree to drink mine, but I know what you mean," Keelie said. They"d ended up kidnapping the sapling in the food court"s concrete planter and giving it a permanent home by a stream near Baywood Academy, her old school.
Knot meowed and placed his paw on the menu.
Keelie nodded. "Good choice. We need a kid"s meal of fish sticks and hold the fries."
"Okay." The waitress arched an eyebrow.
"I"m not hungry." Miszrial handed the menu to the waitress, whose name tag said Hannah. "Just peppermint tea."
"Thanks." Hannah took the menu. "I"ll bring your drinks back right away."
Keelie opened her napkin and placed it on her lap. She leaned toward the elf guide. "How is Lord Norzan doing?"
"He is better. His time in the Redwood Forest drained his energy, but here in his home forest he is healing. You will see him in Grey Mantle." The elf guide placed dark sungla.s.ses over her face and turned away from Keelie, who definitely got the message: I do not want to talk to you.
Knot washed his face, ignoring all the human drama.
Keelie smiled nicely, bit down on her tongue, and didn"t say anything-the excellent advice Dad had given her many times over the past months about dealing with cranky elves. She had a feeling she would be staying silent a lot in the coming days.
As they left the Crystal Cup to return to the SUV, Keelie thought of the Green Man mask and her eerie vision. Despite having witnessed walking trees, angry fairies, and magical unicorns, she"d never seen anything like the dark, horned figure who"d beckoned to her. Or heard a voice like that.
"Keelie, are you all right? You seem worried about something." Elia was wrapping a cloak around her shoulders, shivering in the cool air. Pregnancy was occasionally doing wonders for the elf girl"s personality-as in, she"d developed one. Glimmers of niceness, anyway.
"I just zoned out." Keelie smiled at her, still worried about her vision.
"Well, don"t daydream in front of my relatives. You"ll embarra.s.s me, and since we"ll arrive together, I can"t pretend I don"t know you."
Keelie mentally crossed off the personality upgrade she thought she"d noticed. As they hurried to catch up with Misery the marching elf, they pa.s.sed the mask shop again. Keelie stumbled when she saw the Green Man mask, and Sean steadied her.
"Something"s up with you, I know it," he whispered.
"Later. I can"t talk in front of the other elves."
He frowned, but said nothing.
The parking lot was gravel, and on the other side was the detail shop that held their strange little SUV, now sparkling in the northern sun. No crowds here.
"Throwing up made me feel better, but I could use a nap." A long golden curl had come loose from Elia"s braid and blew across her face. She turned her head so that the wind swept it back, and stared into the trees. "Do you hear that? Singing."
Miszrial"s eyes widened. "Quick, into the car."
Knot meowed scornfully, but Keelie thought that maybe the elf guide had noticed a moose or bear. Or an insane masked jester. She jumped into the back seat and didn"t relax when Sean slammed the door behind them.
Miszrial drove as if they were being chased. Elia held on, turning green again.
Sean leaned forward, resting a hand on the back of the drivers" seat. "Do you want me to help with the driving?" His offer seemed to come more from self-preservation than a desire to help Miszrial.
The elf guide gritted her teeth. "No, I"m fine." Her eyes kept checking both sides of the road.
Keelie"s thoughts circled back to her strange experience at the mask shop. She"d seen various kinds of magic in the year since her mother had died, but this vision of the dark rider had been totally different from any of them. Was the Green Man-the forest G.o.d-watching her now? His magic had felt deep, old, and very dark, and just the brief encounter had made her shaky. But it intrigued her, too ... a tremor ran down Keelie"s spine. She"d never dealt with a G.o.d before.
She needed to call her father, but she didn"t want to do it in front of Miszrial. She was here to help solve a problem for the elves, but it was beginning to look like the situation was more complicated than a simple disagreement over how the magic leak started. Maybe other creatures were involved. Really scary creatures. Whatever was going on, Keelie didn"t want the Northwoods elves to think that their amba.s.sador from the Dread Forest was weak, or that she was drawing the attention of old forest G.o.ds who felt the need to utter warnings. She didn"t know what Beware meant, but it sounded alarming.
The elves might be able to tell her about this G.o.d, if they even knew he existed. The elves at home couldn"t sense lesser fae like the bhata and the feithid daoine, and they hadn"t known about Under-the-Hill beneath them. While it was hard to believe that a being as powerful as the Green Man could be a secret from the local elves, Keelie decided that she wouldn"t ask about him until Dad gave the okay.
Elia turned in her seat to look at her. "Are you going to pout all the way to Grey Mantle?"
Keelie made a face. "If being snarky makes you feel better, go for it."
Elia"s mouth fell open. "I don"t know what you mean." She muttered something.
"Did you just call me a Round Ear?" "Round Ear" was an insulting elven term for "human."
Miszrial snorted. Laugh it up, Misery, Keelie thought.
"I don"t know what you"re talking about." Elia said coolly.
Knot made a disgusting sound and the car filled with a noxious odor.
Elia covered her mouth, eyes wide.
Miszrial shot her a panicked look and swerved the SUV to a shuddering stop on the side of the road. She"d learned her lesson.
Elia flew out of the car and knelt in the tall gra.s.s at the road"s edge, shoulders heaving.
Keelie sighed and climbed out after her, ignoring Miszrial and Sean, who were rolling down windows and fanning the air. Knot jumped down next to Keelie and trotted, tail held high, to where Elia was being sick. Keelie didn"t want to get too close. Instead, she turned to the trees, huge robust pines that seemed to flourish here in the Northwoods. She opened her mind to the trees. Spruce, Frazier fir, and many others. So many.
Tree shepherdess, tales of your deeds precede you. The speaker was a small fir that was straining at the soil, as if it was ready to bound down the hill toward her. She smiled.
Good tales, I hope. I"m pleased to visit your beautiful forest. She might as well practice her diplomatic skills. So far, her visit had consisted of elf vomit and frightening visions. Maybe she could take a moment now to call Dad. She thought of their comfy home, back in the Dread Forest in Oregon. Their house was filled with his beautiful woodwork. She wished he hadn"t insisted that she could do this job.
"I feel better, I think," Elia gasped from behind her.
Keelie turned. "You look better." More diplomacy. She was starting to figure out that "diplomacy" was another word for "big, fat, schmoozy lie." The kind of lie that made people feel better, like "You don"t look fat in that baggy knit dress."
A blur of movement caught her eye and she spun. She examined the trees, wondering what it had been.
"What"s the matter?" Miszrial"s voice sounded panicky.
"Nothing," Keelie called back. "Just thought I saw something." She didn"t find the elf"s fear rea.s.suring.
"Like a snake?" Elia eyed the forest warily.
"No snakes up here." Miszrial sounded calmer.
Then the creature buzzed down, and Keelie gasped in delight. It was a bhata, a woods fairy. Two rough-barked sticks held together with stringy moss, full of the spark of life and magic.
It skittered around the tree, almost like a kitten playing. She smiled, the scary mask at the Crystal Faire forgotten. She knew the bhata, and their presence made the forest seem more like home.
"Lady Keliel, we must hurry." Miszrial"s voice rang against the trees, and Keelie waved goodbye to the little creature, and to the trees, then hurried back to the SUV.
The rest of the trip sped by, as Miszrial gunned the vehicle around narrow curving roads, climbing into the mountains. They pulled off onto a dirt road which entered the forest. A mile later, the unpaved road widened on the left into a graveled lot with eight cars in a tidy row. Miszrial pulled onto the gravel and parked the SUV.
"Where are we? There"s no village anywhere near here." Keelie looked out of the car windows.
"How do you know?" Miszrial said tightly.
"The trees tell me."
Miszrial"s eyes widened. "You are a tree shepherd, like Lord Norzan. I had a hard time believing it."
"Why, because I"m part human?"
The elf woman reddened and didn"t answer. "Let"s get on with it. A wagon will now take us to Grey Mantle. It"s not far."
Elia and Miszrial exchanged angry looks, and Sean eyed them warily.
Before Keelie could figure out what had gone on between them, they were interrupted by the clopping of hooves. Two large horses pulling a wagon appeared on the road, the elaborate harness beautiful against their glossy hides. A tall, imperious elf held the reins, sitting high on the seat above them.
The horses stopped and the elf looked down over his axe-blade nose. "Welcome to Grey Mantle. Allow me to move your luggage."
He hopped down from the tall seat and started hauling suitcases out of the back of the SUV and tossing them into the wagon as if they didn"t weigh anything. Sean had been ready to help, but instead he shrugged and gave Keelie a look of good-humored puzzlement. She smiled back in agreement. This guy had a serious anger problem.
Keelie grabbed Knot and held the squirming cat close to her chest. Elia stepped out of the SUV and beamed at the wagon driver as he finished loading the wagon.
"Greetings, cousin. It is I, Elia, daughter of Elianard and Cilene."
No expression crossed his face as he stopped and looked at Elia, then continued to pack the wagon. When the SUV was empty, he climbed onto the wagon seat again. Elia stood frozen on the gravel, shock on her face.
"Come on, we"ve got to ride in the back." Miszrial grabbed a rope that was dangling from the back gate of the wagon and pulled herself aboard. She turned and extended a hand to Elia, who didn"t seem to notice her.
Elia wasn"t her best friend, nor her worst enemy anymore, but Keelie couldn"t stand to see her in pain. She didn"t know who the wagon driver was, but when he ignored Elia, it had hurt her feelings.
"Let"s rescue Elia," she said to Sean. "Something"s not right here."
"I"ve been saying that since we hit town," Sean muttered. "This is not good, Keelie. Elia is correct in her expectation of a huge celebration in honor of her return to the forest of her mother"s people. The baby alone merits much feasting and happiness."
Keelie dropped Knot and went over to the elf, who stared down at her. She glared back, then ignored him as he"d ignored Elia.
"Come on Elia, I"ll help you get in the wagon."
Elia lifted an eyebrow. "Why do you think I need your help?" She walked stiffly to the wagon, grabbed the rope, and struggled to get in.
Keelie wanted to give her a swift kick in the backside to help her up, but just watched as she wriggled and flailed her way into the wagon bed, finally accepting Sean"s help.
Keelie looked down at Knot. "So do you need help getting in, or are you just going to snarl at me too?"
Knot grinned, showing impressive kitty fangs, then leaped lightly into the wagon. Judging from the distance between the ground and the wagon bed, he must have flown part of the way. Yet nothing surprised her about Knot. Keelie sighed and grabbed the rope and Sean"s extended hand. He pulled her up easily, then motioned her to sit on a suitcase as the others had done.
The wagon lurched forward.
"This is fun," Keelie said brightly. "We"re starting off with a hayride."
Silence from the elves shut her up. See if she would try to lighten the mood again-if they all wanted to sulk, great. Keelie could tell that this was going to be the worst trip ever. Elia was watching her, but turned her face when Keelie looked at her.
Keelie examined the pa.s.sing forest. A huge beetle buzzed past, then swooped around and landed on the suitcase beside her. Knot looked at it curiously, but the others didn"t seem to notice it. The beetle stood on its hind legs and nodded its insect head at Keelie, its feelers waving around. Keelie nodded back. The feithid daoine were secretive and although she"d seen them frequently, she"d only interacted with them once, when they"d attacked her at the High Mountain Renaissance Faire. She"d been a little leery of them ever since, but they"d left her alone.
This feithid daoine pointed up with one pincer-ended leg. Keelie looked up and was amazed to see that bhata were following them, leaping from branch to branch overhead. The forest was filled with them. Whoa.
"We"re almost there." Elia"s voice interrupted her. "I must say again that I hope you don"t feel slighted, Keelie. As a daughter of the soil and, of course, because of this"-she smiled down at her bulging baby belly-"I"ll be welcomed with utmost respect and joy." She smiled at Keelie. "You are a tree shepherdess, of course, so you are due respect as well, but there"s that unfortunate, um..." She touched her pointed ear and glanced at Miszrial, as if pointing out that one of Keelie"s ears was rounded.
Keelie rolled her eyes. "Fine. I get it. You"re the returning princess. I"m just the mongrel come to help out."