The Fairy Caravan

The following day the witch made preparations to send me back to my world. During the night, she had procured a large cauldron and was mixing a potion which kept all the colours perfectly separated: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. It stewed for several hours, and the witch would stir it whenever she added a new ingredient. When it was ready, she took a ladle and poured the potion into a glass vial. The colours remained separated neatly. She then took a bundle of twigs tied together and dipped their ends into the potion. Carefully, the witch walked over to the door and flicked her wrists, sprinkling the clinging potion over the doorframe. The aspersion caused the door to glow. The witch then handed me the vial.

“Drink this and step through the doorway and then you’ll be home.”

I looked at the vial, the witch, and the doorway. This was the moment to act, but I stood still. My heart raced. Each heartbeat pounded against my chest, rising up to choke me. Emotions whelmed me as I thought of everyone in this world that I had met.

“Sorry, I can’t do this.” I handed the vial back to the witch.

“I knew you’d pick the right path,” she said with a wink.

She put the branches down and wiped the doorframe, dispelling the magical aura.

“Yeah... I’m ready to go back to my friends.”

“Here, I was saving this until you were ready to leave,” she said and she wrapped a golden sling made of wool around my left arm. “It still hasn’t healed, but this will fix it and set it right. Now, why don’t you sit down and relax. I’ll make some soup and then we can go find your companions.”

I drank the soup and then gathered my belongings. The witch gave me some provisions, saying they will help me on my journey. Various potion vials rattled around my backpack, stuffed between dried herbs and bandages woven from golden threads. For the first time since I had entered this world, I felt ready. I was ready.

“I’m all set, Granny. Let’s go.”

“Granny?”

“Well, you never told me your name—what else was I supposed to call you?”

“Hmm. Most know me as Frau Faschte, but Granny has a nice ring to it.”

We went outside and she sat me down on her broom. So witches do fly on brooms in this world. We soared through the air, down the ravine, and up to the sky above the trees. We flew until we had reached the edge of the forest when she brought the broom down. We landed in a grassy field.

“Your companions have long since left the woods and are several miles northwest of here,” she said pointing in their direction. “My broom cannot fly that far, so you’ll have to make the rest of the journey on foot.”

“All right—that’s fine. I can’t wait to see them again.”

“Stay close to the forest’s edge. It’ll guide you to your companions in no time.”

“Thanks again, Granny,” I said, hugging her. She hesitated a moment then hugged me back.

I let go of her and turned to leave but stopped.

“Your husband says hello by the way.”

“My husband? You met Dirgg?” she said full of surprise.

“Yeah, I did, and he also helped me when I was alone.”

“How did you know he was my husband?”

“It seemed like a logical conclusion.”

We waved goodbye and I started walking northwest, following the edge of the forest. If I wanted to catch up with Luna and Marisa, I needed to force myself to walk at a faster pace. The long march reminded me of a friend of mine who had become an officer in the military: one of his exams was to march one hundred kilometres in a single day. Whether I could do that was uncertain, but it gave me confidence to know that such distances were possible to cover in a single day.

The sun began to set and the day drew to a close. The sky filled with an orange glow, colouring the trees and grassy fields with the sun’s incandescence. I stopped to have some dinner and rest my weary legs. As I set my backpack down with the some difficulty, I heard a rustling sound coming from the forest. Tiny voices coud be heard coming from the direction of the rustling. I drew my sword and crept towards the forest.

A procession of small animals walked through the forest. A pony led the pack, pulling a four-wheeled caravan. Behind it were a pig, a mole, a dormouse, a squirrel, a marten, a sheep, a hamster, a shrew, a dog, a monkey, a donkey, and a rooster.

“Hey there,” I called out to the them on a whim.

This sudden, unprovoked exclamation caused many of the animals to panic and scatter. The rooster puffed its chest and spread its wings while the dog began to growl. I put my sword away and held up my hand.

Grrr “Who are you?” asked the dog.

“I’m Ferdinand. I mean you no harm. I’m passing through these lands while I look for my lost companions.”

Caw “What do you want with us?” the rooster asked.

What did I want from them? I took it for granted I was speaking to them in English.

“I’d never seen a parade of animals before and felt compelled to call out.”

“You’re not an evil spirit, are you?” asked the dog.

“No, I’m an... elemental being.”

My words were enough to cause them to relax. The dog and rooster called out to the rest of the animals that I wasn’t a threat. Slowly, the crept out of their hiding spots and then surrounded me.

“Who are you? What are you doing here? Where did you come from? Where are you going?”

The animals inundated me with endless questions. The dog shepherded them to my camp where we all sat around a fire while I told my story. I left out details that painted me in a negative light.

Ooh-ooh “Aren’t you scared travelling alone?” asked the monkey.

Squeak squeak “How will you find your friends?” asked the mole.

The shrew, who was the oldest and therefore wisest of the animals, told them to settle down.

“Let Ferdinand relax and tell his story, young ones,” he said. “Please, continue, Mr. Ferdinand.”

“Thank you, Mr. Shrew. As I was saying, the kind witch who lives at the bottom of the ravine nursed me back to health and then brought me here, telling me to walk next to the forest.”

“Oh, the witch,” they all murmured.

“All I know about my friends is that they are heading northwest to the land of the gnomes.”

“The gnomes! The gnomes!” they said excitedly.

“Mr. Ferdinand, as fate has ordained, we, too, are headed in that direction,” said the wise, old shrew. He then reached into his shabby cloak and removed a compass. “Tell me once more, by what names do your companions go by?”

“Luna and Marisa,” I answered.

“Luna and Marisa,” the shrew repeated.

The compass he held in his hand glowed and the needle spun around. When it stopped he looked at it a moment, showing it to me next. The needle pointed northwest.

“We shall accompany you until you have been reunited with your companions.”

All the animals cheered at this news. It was hard not to smile as well when everyone was so happy. That night we partied and sang songs, danced and played games until the wee hours of the morning.