Faerie Tale. Raymond E. Feist

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      Gloria jumped slightly at the sound of the kitchen door slamming. For just an instant she heard another sound in the distance, the sound of laughter. She put aside her discomfort as she heard Gabbie’s and Jack’s voices. Gloria thought she’d see how they were doing, then decided the intimate, low tones of conversation indicated any interruption would be unwelcome. Given Gabbie’s obvious attraction to the young man from North Carolina, Gloria decided to let things lie.

      She glanced over to where Phil sat studying some notes for the next day’s work. Then she heard Patrick’s voice shouting from the boys’ room. ‘Mom! Dad!’ She was out of her chair and moving towards the stairs without thought. The boy’s tone had been excited, not alarmed, but Phil followed his wife with an expression of concern on his face, wondering why she was so jumpy.

      They entered the boys’ room to find both of them seated upon their toy chest, gazing out the window with rapt expressions on their faces. Sean said, ‘Wow!’ drawing out the exclamation. Patrick echoed his brother.

      Out by the barn, a dozen tiny lights hung in the night air, pinpoints of blue-green glow, moving through the murk, blinking on and off. ‘Neat!’ said Patrick.

      Phil laughed. ‘Fireflies, boys. You think this is something? One good rain and there’ll be thousands of them out there. We’ll get a mason jar and catch some.’ To his wife he said, ‘You know, I completely forgot about lightning bugs. It’s the sort of thing you take for granted when you grow up with them. I didn’t think about how the kids would feel seeing them for the first time.’

      Gloria smiled. Something was making her jumpy and she felt foolish at her alarm. Still, she was the mother. ‘Okay, back to bed.’

      ‘Aw, Mom,’ both boys said as one.

      ‘Can’t we watch a little longer?’ asked Sean, his voice pleading.

      ‘Well, for a while. But I’m coming back in ten minutes, and if you’re not in bed, I’ll …’

      Both boys grinned. This was not a real threat. ‘We’ll go right to bed,’ assured Patrick. Everyone knew the boys would be under the covers only as soon as they heard their mother’s footfalls upon the stairs.

      ‘Okay, then. Ten minutes.’

      Phil put his arm around his wife’s waist. ‘Next year you’ll hear the peepers.’

      ‘What’s peepers?’ asked Sean.

      ‘Spring peepers,’ answered their father. ‘Little frogs, about the size of a pencil eraser; they make the loudest sound. It’s fun.’

      ‘Neat,’ said Patrick.

      ‘Good night, boys,’ said Phil, and the adults left.

      Patrick and Sean were as good as their word and went straight to bed a moment before Gloria entered the room. After she had tucked them in and returned downstairs, Patrick fell quickly asleep. But Sean felt a strange restlessness and, after ten minutes of trying hard, gave up and crept back towards the window.

      He settled comfortably atop the toy chest and watched as the tiny blue-green lights wove their dance. He was fascinated by the sight. In California’s desert climate, fireflies were unknown, and this was as good as anything he’d seen at Disneyland. Then several of the lights moved towards the house and Sean craned his neck to watch them as they vanished below the eaves beneath his gabled window.

      He could see a hint of illumination and knew the fireflies were just below where he could see them. Putting his face as close to the screen as he could, he could barely make out their presence.

      Then suddenly one came shooting up next to the screen, causing Sean to jump back a little. His eyes opened wide as he saw that before him was nothing that could be called an insect.

      Hanging in the night air was a tiny creature of light. A tiny woman, nude and perfectly formed, no bigger than Sean’s thumb, hovered like a hummingbird on faintly seen, glowing wings. Eyes that were enormous for her small face regarded Sean with merry amusement for a moment, then the creature sped off.

      Sean sat stunned. He glanced to where Patrick lay sleeping, and turned to face the door to the hall, left open a crack so his parents could check up on the twins without making a sound. He was uncertain what to do.

      After a long moment of sitting with his heart pounding, Sean returned to bed. Sleep was a long time in coming.

July

       • Chapter One •

      The band struck up ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever’, and while there seemed scant agreement among the brass and woodwinds as to the key, the crowd applauded. The Pittsville High School Cougars Marching Band led the procession down Central Avenue, past the offices of the Pittsville Herald, where it would turn onto State Street and make its way towards the municipal park. The annual Pittsville Fourth of July parade was under way.

      The boys sat on the kerb, below the press of adults, granted a clear view by virtue of their diminutive size. Each held a tiny American flag in his right hand and waved it vigorously. While the televised Rose Parade might hold little interest for them, this celebration of high school band, homemade floats and local celebrities in cars from the nearby Buick agency fascinated them. There was a raw exuberance, a joyous, genuine feeling of festival, neither had experienced before.

      Patrick elbowed his brother. Nearly any excuse was good enough for a sibling brawl and Sean made ready for a scuffle. But he halted when Patrick said, ‘There’s Gabbie!’

      Phil and Gloria stood behind their sons and waved as Gabbie and Jack rode into view. A group of local horse breeders and fanciers had organized a mounted company, all decked out in Revolutionary period costumes. Jack sat on John Adams, dressed in a woodsman’s outfit, complete with a coonskin hat and a flintlock rifle from someone’s attic. Gabbie wore a fine gown, which probably should have been in a museum, rescued from someone’s family trunk for the occasion. It was of rich silk brocade, tight at the waist and low-cut, showing her figure to good advantage and displaying an ample portion of bosom. Her appearance was greeted by several loud whistles from the older boys in the crowd. She blushed and Jack looked irritated. Spying her father and stepmother and the boys, she waved. As she passed, she mouthed the word ‘side-saddle’ and rolled her eyes heavenward, as if in despair. Gloria laughed and nodded, indicating she understood Gabbie’s discomfort.

      As the riders passed, Gloria said, ‘Isn’t she lovely.’

      Phil nodded, his expression revealing his deep love for and pride in his daughter. Gloria smiled to herself as she said, ‘Jack certainly looked handsome, too.’

      Phil shrugged as a group of children from the William Pitt Middle School came by, marching with a determination worthy of a military guard of honour. ‘I guess,’ he said absently. Gloria laughed. ‘What?’ he asked.

      ‘Just your overprotective fatherly instincts coming out again, that’s all.’

      ‘Me?’

      Gloria watched as Jack and Gabbie turned down State Street, out of sight. ‘I may be wrong, СКАЧАТЬ