23. Chapter 23

twenty-three

Harper stared at the space where her grandma stood only seconds before, a sense of loss pervading her heart. Then, she felt a small tug on her hand. She looked down to see Alida smiling up at her. Behind her, the rest of the Troop were laughing, clasping and high-fiving one another. Harper leaned down to hug Alida. Then, one by one, the rest of them approached her for hugs of their own.

"Good job, Lassie!" said Earl Grey, the last to reach her.

Letting him go, Harper inspected the now velvety-black sky above. "What now? Should we head back, or is it still too dangerous with the Halloween festivities?"

They all gathered around. Piper answered, "Well, Dearie, the First Night celebrations should be over by now. Most of the Others are back in their lairs, sleeping off the party. A few of them will move back and forth between here and the Earth Realm for the next six months. They get energy from the darker months. But we needn't fear those tonight."

The rest murmured their assent. "Is it still nighttime in the Earth Realm? I'm confused because you told me earlier that time moves differently between here and there."

Earl Grey shook his head. "No, tonight our time is the same. There are only two times a year you can count on time lining up between our lands. One is April 30 and May 1—what your culture calls May Day. And the other is October 31 and November 1, or what you call Halloween and All Saints' Day. On those days, our times are identical."

"Got it." Harper glanced around the clearing. "Do you need to take anything back with you?" The quaint little village, along with the doorway into the tree, had disappeared.

They responded with twittering laughter. "Why, bless you, no! What could we possibly need?" one of them shouted.

"As I said earlier, we were going to bring you a present, but we never had time to collect it. At any rate, it doesn't seem you'll need it now," Hawthorne said, moving to her side.

Intrigued, Harper asked, "Do you mind if I ask what it was?"

"Not at all! We planned to bring you a golden feather from one of your fellow Owl-Souls. The feathers are quite beautiful. It was to be a riddle for you to solve with time. We suspected it would serve as a clue, helping you discover what your gift might be. And in the event it didn't, it would have made a lovely decoration! Sadly, we never had a chance to find one with all the troubles. But now that you've discovered your gift, you won't be needing it after all."

Harper's eyes widened with wonder. "You knew about my gift?"

Hawthorne chuckled. "Let's just say we've suspected it."

Their trip back to the tunnel was joyful. Her friends soared through the air, tumbling about as they discussed who in the Earth Realm they planned to visit first. Apparently many birds, mammals, and other Earth creatures, including humans, comprised their social circle.

They questioned Harper about the shop's opening, and she happily filled them in. A short way down the tunnel, they re-entered the room where Harper had encountered Piper the day before. While it had been in disarray at the time, Harper could see that it was worse by magnitudes now. The unpleasant scent of sulfur lightly suffused the air. It was as though the space had been recently vacated by an out-of-control high school chemistry class. "Why were you bothering to clean up in here earlier, Piper?"

"Well now Dearie, even if they are a bunch of bogies, hobgoblins, and demons, I wanted to make things nice as I could for their big night out!"

Harper was speechless with astonishment, but the others continued striding down the tunnel like Piper's was the only sensible sentiment. "Don't worry, Lass. Some of our kind will restore it to its former state of decorum in short order."

They continued along the way and, in what seemed only a matter of minutes, they were all standing on the river's edge again. Harper could see the lamp she had left burning in her apartment shining over the bushes. As the portal disappeared behind them, Harper heard the familiar hoot of the owl and looked up. It perched on the same branch where she'd left it the morning before, close enough to reach up and touch.

She was startled when the Fae removed their hats and bowed low. Earl Grey straightened his form. "Walter! Thank you for your help back there! You showed up in the nick of time. I'll look forward to catching up later over a pint." Harper's eyes grew wide as they hurried her on by him.

"Wait!" She stopped short. "Did you say, Walter?" They twittered quietly as Harper turned back to the owl. But in place of the owl, she saw Walt with his messy, multi-hued hair, sitting on a bench underneath the tree. He silently raised a hand to her. She blinked just once, and Walt was gone. Once again, the owl sat upon the branch.

Before she had time to react, Tiptoe grabbed one of her hands and Tarryfoot took the other, whirling her around. And with that, the troop escorted her jubilantly back to the shop.

Once inside the building, Harper left her friends at their private room to check it over. Warning them that she had removed some things with good reason, she asked them to meet her at the back of the main floor when they were done. There, she had set things up before she left the shop, in hopes of a happy return. Their cushions lined the back of the room. Small plates, goblets, and napkins waited on a table. The refrigerator in her apartment held a feast of berries, nuts, and cheese. Crackers and homemade oatmeal cookies waited on the table. She also had a pitcher of cream, a bottle of wine, and a growler of beer she had bought from the brewery.

Harper closed the blinds and lighted beeswax candles. Then she went upstairs to retrieve the feast. Later, after hours of laughter, talking, eating, and drinking, they all grew quiet, as their fatigue and full bellies overpowered them. Finally, Hawthorne rose and asked if anyone had anything to share or recite to honor the occasion.

Harper was ready. She cleared her throat and recited the first three verses of "A Friend's Greeting," by Edgar A. Guest. She finished it with the final lines she had altered for the occasion:

"And could I have one wish dear ones, this only would it be:

I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me."

She turned red when done, sure they'd think her silly.

But when she was done, they clapped and whistled. Small instruments materialized, and some began playing joyful music while the others danced. When the music and the laughter died down, it was only a few hours until dawn. Harper stood and motioned them to follow her to the small special collections room.

She removed the cover from the sign beside the door. It read, "The Good Folk," with a painting of a being that looked much like Piper on it.

As she unlocked the door to the room, they crowded in to see what she had done. All four walls were covered with beautiful hand-painted murals. On discovering Nate was a budding artist, she had paid him to complete these renderings of Fae folk through the seasons. They marveled at the accuracy of his work. Harper wondered at how quickly he had completed it. Snug, cheerful upholstered armchairs were tucked in available spaces. All the books in this room were about the Fae in one way or another. There were children's fairy stories, folk tales, books of modern Fae sightings, and many others besides.

An antique, glass-fronted cabinet contained older, more valuable books. Harper held up a key to the locked case. "I'll hang this inside your room under the stairs. You can use it whenever you like."

They all buzzed with excitement as they flitted from one shelf to another exclaiming at what they found there.

Ash walked over, took her hand, and bowed over it. "You could not have pleased us more." And Harper, worn out with care, worry, excitement, and joy, burst into tears.

"What? What's the meaning of this, then?" Earl Grey said, as Ivy walked over and looked at Harper gravely.

"I'm just so happy! I never in my life expected to feel this happy. I'm so glad you like my gift! But I have to admit, I also don't think I've ever felt so tired. Please, all of you, stay for as long as you'd like. Enjoy the rest of the food and drink. Look around to your hearts' content. But right now, I must go to sleep. Thank goodness tomorrow is Wednesday, and I have the whole day off!"

They looked at her with faces that sparkled with inner light. "Sleep as long as you can, Dearie. We shan't disturb you."

She climbed the stairs to a riotous chorus of good night wishes.

In her room, she found the lamp on, and the bed covers turned down. Magic … she thought, smiling to herself. From habit, she reached for her mirror and felt sad, for only a brief second, before she crawled beneath the blanket and quilt and closed her eyes.

Around noon the next day, Harper woke in her bed with no memory of how she'd gotten there. The last thing she remembered was leaving her bed in the gray light just before sunrise and walking out to her balcony. Once there, she paused, allowing her lungs to drink in the crisp, still, pre-dawn air. Then she reached up to free her hair from its ponytail elastic before climbing onto the railing. Spreading her wings, she lifted off, sailing through the sky. She headed for the park, where she was joined by another owl, who swooped first above her, then below. Finally their paths united as they soared wingtip to wingtip over the treetops, following the path of the river toward the full moon.