Fairytale

By Maggie Shayne

Copyright © 1996 by Margaret Benson

Smashwords Edition Copyright © 2011by Maggie
Shayne

http://www.MaggieShayne.com

Cover Art © istockphoto.com/Abu

Formatted by Jessica Lewis

http://AuthorsLifeSaver.com

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Adam

June 30, 1968

Seven-year-old Adam Reid raced through the
forest, zigging and zagging like a mad bumblebee, arms spread out
at his sides. The summer breeze turned into a wind that whooshed
past his ears and tangled his hair. He pretended he was flying. He
liked pretending. Even though his father was always telling him how
bad it was, how foolish. He got the strap for it sometimes, when
his tall tales got a little too tall.

But only if his father had been drinking.

He buzzed around the base of a giant maple
tree three times, then came to a halt when his keen eyes picked out
a barely visible path beneath its broad, leafy limbs. No longer
interested in playing bumblebee, Adam lowered his arms. He hunkered
down and squinted at the almost invisible trail in the mossy
ground. No matter how many times he came out here, he never failed
to find a new adventure to pursue.

Adam loved these woods. He wasn’t supposed to
be here. The forest was not on his father’s property, but on the
state land that bordered it. And he’d been warned repeatedly to
stay away. But that hadn’t stopped Adam,

Now he began following that trail, wondering
what it might be. Deer trail, he decided, his seven years of wisdom
assuring him it was so. Maybe he’d see a big whitetail if he went
really slow and quiet.

The path meandered for a ways, wriggling this
way and that in S-patterns and loops and figure eights. Then it
vanished into a patch of mean-looking blackberry briars, with
deceptively pretty white blossoms that smelled so good he wished he
could taste them. But when Adam squatted on his haunches, he saw
that the thorny, flowering briars sort of arched over the trail. If
he bent really low, he could still follow it. So he did.

Bending almost double, even crawling on all
fours here and there, he continued to follow the path. It was like
a covered bridge now. Or a tunnel. The ground beneath him slanted
upward, taking him over a small hill and partway down the other
side before the brambles finally thinned out. He emerged on a
grassy slope that seemed to be one side of a big old hump in the
ground. And about halfway down that grassy hump, he saw a dark
hole, sinking back into the mound. It looked like...Adam ran closer
and stopped, bracing his hands on his knees and breathing fast from
excitement. It was! A cave! He’d discovered a cave. Maybe pirates
had holed up here. Or a dinosaur! Or cave men, a zillion years ago,
Neat!

Without hesitation, Adam crawled inside. The
opening wasn’t big enough to go in standing up. It was kind of
dark, and a lot cooler than it was outside. But Adam wasn’t afraid.
Not much, anyway. He had his penlight, which he was never without.
Just like his jackknife. He flicked the light on now, and ventured
deeper. The farther he went, the wider the walls opened out, and
the ceiling got higher, too. He came, at last, to what looked like
the very back of the cave. A room about the size of his tree house,
and big enough so he could stand up. This was the best discovery
he’d ever made.

He played in there for hours. He explored,
and carved his name in the stone walls, and yelled really loud to
hear his voice echo, until he got tired. And then he decided to
take a short nap before heading home. It was a long walk, after
all.

So he sat on the ground and leaned back
against the cool wall, and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, Adam wasn’t sure
if he’d been asleep or not, or if he had, how much time had passed.
Not wanting to be late for dinner and risk another walloping, he
hurried to the cave’s entrance. He had to crouch low again, of
course, but he made good time, scuttling closer to the bright
yellow sunlight he could see up ahead. He stepped out, stood up
straighter, and brushed the dirt from the knees of his jeans. Then
he brought his head up, blinking first at the brightness of the
sunlight, and then in shock.

This was not the same place he’d been to
before. This was...this was
different.

Everywhere he looked there were flowers like
he’d never seen before, blossoming in every color he could imagine
and a few he never had! And they filled the air with their smells.
Wonderful smells! There were pebbles and stones on the grassy
ground. But they were no regular stones. Every rock he saw
glittered. Like...jewels or something! Adam turned to look back at
the cave entrance, wondering if there had been another tunnel in
there, one he hadn’t noticed. He sure as heck hadn’t come out the
same way he’d gone in.

Okay, then. He’d take a look around, really
quick, and then he’d go back inside and find the right way out. If
he dawdled out here much longer he’d be in hot water with his
father for sure. But gosh, this place was too much to resist. Like
something out of
The Wizard of Oz
!

He ventured farther, and took a closer look
at the trees. Squinting, moving closer, he looked again. Heck,
there were pictures in the bark! A moon. Some stars. A sun. A
fairy.

What the heck?

Adam moved through the trees, curious,
amazed. This was no normal forest. This was...this was...

“This is Rush, young man. And you are most
certainly
not
supposed to be here.”

Her voice was like music. Like bells. Adam
whirled to see a woman...a beautiful red-haired woman whose belly
was swelled like she’d swallowed a basketball. He guessed she must
be expecting a baby. She wore the kind of glittery, gauzy dress
you’d expect to see in a fairytale, and her eyes were just about
the bluest he’d ever seen in his life.

Something moved behind her and Adam narrowed
his eyes. Then he thought he was going to drop dead in his tracks.
He blinked, rubbed his eyes and looked again.
She had wings!
Fragile-looking, like a dragonfly’s wings. You could see right
through them, but they were there.

“Who
are
you?” he managed to ask
her.

“Maire,” she said, smiling. It sounded like
“May-ruh” to Adam. But he didn’t have time to ponder it long. She
was leaning closer, squinting at him. “Few mortals can see the
doorway to this place,” she told him. “It’s enchanted, you
know.”

Adam looked around, nodding. “Yeah, I was
starting to figure that.”

“Maybe you
are
supposed to be here.”
She tapped her chin with one dainty finger. “After all, there’s no
such thing as coincidence. So, there must be a reason for your
coming here, mustn’t there?”

“Uh—I don’t think so, ma’am. I—I ought to be
getting home.” He took a step backward.

She sighed. “Yes, that’s probably for the
best.”

Adam agreed. He didn’t want any part of any
enchanted forest or any fairy godmothers or whatever the heck she
was. Sheesh, he’d read about fairies. They could be dangerous. He
turned, feeling lucky he was going to get out of here unscathed,
but then he got a chill right up his spine. Because he didn’t see
the cave. He’d wandered too far.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll show you the way.” The
lady took his hand in hers, and then she went still, and stared
down at him, her eyes sparkling, her eyebrows lifting in surprise.
“Now
I know why you’re here!” She smiled, looking at him
like she was seeing something awfully sweet. One of her hands
rested lovingly on her swollen belly, and she ran her other hand
through his hair. If she pinched his cheeks, he was outta here, he
decided. Then her smile faded, and she even looked a little sad.
“You must be a very strong little boy. And a brave one, too.”

“Well, sure I am,” he confirmed, wondering
how she could tell.

“Tell me, young Adam. Would you like to see
your fate before you go?”

“My...fate?”

“Your future. I can show you, if you
want.”

Adam swallowed hard. His heart was racing,
his hands were sweaty, and he really wanted out of here. Now. But
he’d be awfully dumb to pass up a chance to see his future,
wouldn’t he? He’d particularly like to know if he’d missed dinner,
and whether he was going to get beat when he got home tonight
because of it. Trying for a nonchalant shrug, he said, “Okay.”

The lady smiled again. She drew him off
through the trees a little ways. Then she stopped and pushed aside
a dense tangle of branches. “Look through here,” she told him.

Adam looked.

There was a pond there, with water as blue as
the winged lady’s eyes. This side of it was dense with dark green
reeds. But there was no mistaking the splashing and the laughter he
heard coming from beyond them. And when he squinted harder and
looked, he saw a woman.

Bunches of long black curls trailed over her
back and shoulders. She was playing in the water like a little
girl, only she was no little girl. He couldn’t see all of her,
which was a good thing because he didn’t think she was dressed.
Looked like she was skinny dipping to him.

All of a sudden she went still, and turned
her head in his direction. Her eyes were black as coal as they met
his through the gaps in the reeds. And Adam felt a shudder work its
way right to his toes.

Then Maire let the branches snap back into
place, cutting off his view.

“Who is she,” he asked.

“You mean, who
will
she be,” the woman
corrected him. He frowned hard at her. “She
will be
your
future, Adam. Your fate. She’ll come into your life when you least
expect it, because she needs you to show her the way.”

“What way?” He was more confused now than
he’d been when he’d spotted her fairy wings.

“The way to her sister, and then the way back
home.”

“Oh,” he said, as if he fully understood,
though he didn’t.

“Whatever you do, Adam, you mustn’t let
yourself fall in love with her. She’ll break your heart if you do.
She has to leave you in the end. Don’t forget.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t even
like
girls.” Adam turned and yanked the branches aside again, but when
he looked now there was only more forest. No pond. No woman.

“What the heck?” He turned back to Maire
again, but she was gone as well, just like the vision. And right
beyond the place where she’d been standing was the cave he knew
would lead him home again. Though Adam was certain it hadn’t been
there before.

***

Brigit

March 21, 1978

St. Mary’s Orphanage Maybourne Row, Brooklyn 9:00
p.m.

“Read it again, Sister Mary Agnes.”

Sister’s gentle smile added creases to her
lined face. One withered hand ruffled Brigit’s curls. “All right,
little one. But this is the last time.”

Brigit snuggled more deeply into the small
wooden bed. Her pillow was lumpy, and her blanket none too thick.
She ran her hands lovingly over the intricate embroidery on the
book’s cloth cover, her fingers tracing the elegant scroll of the
title,
Fairytale.
Her parents must have loved her very much,
to have made such a wonderful book for her. Brigit knew that
because Sister told her so often. She opened the book to the first
vellum page, with its brilliantly colored, hand-painted
illustration. The one showing the mystical forest, with the crystal
water in the center, and way off in the distance, the castle
spires. Brigit looked at the picture for a long time, before
pushing the book into Sister’s powdery soft hands.