Chapter Six
“But
why?” Levi asked. “Why are you not allowed in Nowhere?”
“Unicorn
rules,” Claydo sighed. “You see, even here in Fairyland, unicorns are
endangered. There are only three of my kind aside from me. In a place like
Nowhere, it would be far too dangerous for a unicorn.”
“But
you’ll die someday,” Kyle said.
“Probably
not for another three hundred years or so.”
“Three
hundred?!” Kara shouted. “How old are
you now?”
“One
hundred and forty years old today,” Claydo said with a smile.
“You
don’t look that old,” said Levi.
The
children giggled and sang, “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy
birthday, dear Claydo, happy birthday to
you!”
“Thank
you,” Claydo told the siblings. She looked up at the growing dusk and said,
“We’d better find a place to stay. If we can make it through these woods, we
will come upon another town. I have some friends that live there who would be
happy to take us in for the night.”
So
they entered into Heatherwood
Forest and followed the
path that wove around the trees. But as they stumbled around in the dark
forest, they lost their way. To their surprise, they eventually came upon a
cottage in the middle of the forest. It was a snug little house, and the
travelers could see that someone was home because there was smoke rising from
the chimney.
“Let’s
stop here and ask for directions,” Claydo said.
They
knocked on the door, and it was answered by a middle-aged woman who invited
them to come inside. They stepped over the threshold and found that the inside
of the cottage was not as charming as the outside. The woman who owned the
house was a poor widow who barely had enough money to support herself and her
son.
“How
is it that you are in such a condition? And out here in the middle of the
forest?” Claydo asked.
The
woman replied, “Years ago my husband, son, and I lived happily in Heatherwood. My
husband owned a little shop in town called The Nutcracker. There was a ship
planning to go to another country for some imported goods, and my husband went with the crew on board.” She paused
for a moment before she continued. “The ship was lost at sea, and I have not
heard of my husband since. When I had sold all of the goods from the store, and
spent all the money we had, I had to sell the shop. I did not get much money
for it, and I did not have enough to keep up the rent for our house. So my son
and I fled to the forest, where we found this little cottage. No one was living
here, so we moved in. I believe that this cottage was once owned by the Seven
Dwarfs, because there are seven chairs, seven beds, seven bowls, seven plates,
seven everything!” She forced a smile at her guests.
Kara
looked at the woman. She looked at the woman’s son. She reached into her pocket
and pulled out the walking stick given to her by the old dwarf. She laid the
stick on the table and said, “Walking stick, though you are small, make enough
food for us all!” And just like that, a satisfying meal appeared on the table.
The
woman looked curiously at Kara, but she did not say anything. There was a brief
period of silence, broken when the woman’s son said, “Why is everyone just
standing around? Let’s eat!” So they all sat down at the table and partook of a
fine supper.
When
they had eaten their fill, Claydo said, “Ma’am, do you remember the way to the
town of Heatherwood?”
“Yes,”
answered the woman. “I remember the way very well. And I will show you. Come.”
She took a lantern off of a shelf in her kitchen and the entire party followed
her through the dark and creepy Heatherwood
Forest. At last they
could see the shining lights of town.“Here
we are!” said the woman. “Thank you for the meal.”
“Thank
you for showing us the way,” said Claydo. “Now, children, follow me to my
friend’s house.”
As
they followed the unicorn, Kyle whispered to his sister, “Why did you turn the
stick into food? You could have turned it into something to defeat Quasbed
with.”
“I
know that,” Kara whispered. “I just felt sorry for her, that’s all.”
At
last they reached a tall gray house. “Here we are!” Claydo said cheerfully.
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