Ozette's Destiny (8 page)

Gertie put four of her legs over her eyes and fainted. Abigail screamed and bolted as fast as her eight legs could carry her away from the web.

“A monster! Monster! Run for your lives!” Abigail shrieked.

Revived by her friend’s shouts, Gertie jumped up and took off without a backward glance. Ozette couldn’t suppress a giggle as she emerged from the web, once again a squirrel. She was laughing and chortling all the way back to her nest, where she found Oliver waiting.

He rubbed his eyes when he saw her. “I think I need glasses, or maybe I need to lay off the potions. I thought I saw two spiders tearing through the woods, screaming!”

Ozette laughed so hard she rolled on the ground, unable to stop her chuckles.

Oliver approached her tentatively and plucked bits of spider web from her twitching tail and whiskers. “Ozette?” he asked.

She quit laughing long enough to sputter, “Don’t ask, Oliver. Just don’t ask.”

Back in her cozy nest, Ozette was deep asleep and dreaming she was being chased by angry spiders. Her legs were pumping as fast as they could but the spiders kept gaining on her. She was startled from her sleep by a frantic voice, shouting, “Ozzzeeette!”

Ozette opened one eye, then the other, yawned and peeked out of her nest cavity.

Sydney, hair disheveled and wringing her dainty fairy hands, was at the base of her tree.

“Have you seen Oliver?” she asked worriedly.

Ozette bolted down the tree, shaking her head. “Not since yesterday,” she said, remembering she had last left Oliver when she was doubled over with laughter at the scared spiders.

“We were supposed to go swimming this morning, but he never showed up,” Sydney said, biting her lower lip.

“Have you checked his cottage?” Ozette asked.

Sydney nodded. “He’s not there. He was at my house until sunset. I gave him some colorful stones to take home for the wall he wants to build. They weren’t there either. I’m afraid he never made it home last night!”

Ozette patted the distraught fairy on her back. “We’ll find him, Sydney. He probably just stayed with a friend and isn’t home yet. You know how Oliver gets when he starts talking.”

The two friends started down the path, calling for Oliver. They passed a dragon, two koala bears and a meerkat, but none of the creatures had seen the elf.

“Let’s check his cottage again. Maybe he came home while we were searching,” Ozette suggested.

When they reached Oliver’s cottage, it looked deserted and forlorn. No fire was burning in the massive fireplace and no smell of cooking permeated the air.

“Oliver!” they called in unison, but there was no answer. Ozette briefly wondered if Oliver might have taken the cardinal potion and was flitting around eating birdseed, but then saw the vial still on the table and untouched.

All morning the fairy and squirrel combed the woods looking for their friend. Alerted by their calls, Cassady left Princess Abrianna’s cottage and ran as fast as her doggy legs could carry her to where Ozette and Sydney were searching. By noon, the trio was tired and discouraged.

“Maybe Cassady could find him if she has something with his scent on it,” Ozette suggested.

“Good idea, Ozette. Cassady and I will run back to Oliver’s cottage and see what we can find,” Sydney said.

“And I will call for reinforcements,” Ozette shouted, as she climbed to the top of an oak tree, flagging her tail vigorously and calling to spread the word that Oliver was missing. Almost instantly, friends of the popular elf joined the search.

Soon Sydney returned with Cassady, who had a pair of Oliver’s tiny boxer shorts in her mouth. Oliver was proud of his collection of handmade, miniature boxer shorts that he had even labeled as Oliver Originals. This pair was jet-black with golden embroidered kangaroos.

“I hope Cassady can find his scent. I’m so worried,” Sydney said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

They heard a rustling in the trees, and Ozette’s squirrel friends Rowdy and Daphne scampered down to give Ozette a sympathetic hug and join the search. Minutes later, her fairy and elf friends Annika, Mateo and Ariel arrived, looking determined and carrying picnic baskets filled with food to give strength to the search party. Everyone picked at the delicious fare politely, but they were all anxious to get back to the search.

They could hear other elves, fairies and animals throughout the forest, all calling for Oliver. With each passing minute, Ozette was becoming more afraid for her friend. Just then she saw McDougal, the nosy magpie, perched on a low branch of a hickory tree.

“Ozette,” the magpie called. “Do you know that Oliver is missing?”

“We’ve been looking all day,” she said, nodding.

“I saw him last night!” McDougal said. “He was heading toward home when he suddenly veered off into the forest. I tell you, Ozette. I don’t feel good about this. Not good at all,” he chattered nervously. “I was going to call out to him, but some weird feeling made me keep my beak clamped shut.”

This was even more worrisome. Ozette knew this was a major accomplishment for a magpie since they often talked before they thought.

McDougal ruffled his feathers and tilted his head.

“Lead the way and show us where you saw him,” Ozette said.

The forlorn band headed out once again, following the flight path of the black bird.

McDougal led them to the willow grove. Ozette sniffed the calm spring air and wrinkled her nose. What was that awful smell?

Suddenly, Ariel called out from underneath a large weeping willow tree. “Here’s the bag of stones! Oliver was here!”

McDougal flew over the area while the others searched the ground relentlessly. A confused Cassady was running in circles, still carrying Oliver’s boxers but no longer able to smell Oliver’s scent due to the overpowering stench.

Ozette was heartsick. “I may never see Oliver again. Never taste his baking, see his beautiful smile, or go rafting with him,” Ozette sobbed, her tears falling onto Ariel’s wings.

Ozette sniffed again. The strange smell seemed stronger now. Phew!

“What is THAT?” she cried out, standing on her tiptoes and pointing a paw at a flock of blue jays slowly descending to the ground.

She squinted. They were carrying something. As the flock flew lower, the acrid smell grew. Ozette pinched her nose shut as her eyes grew wide in disbelief! The blue jays had tiny clothespins on their beaks to block the smell! And what was that they were carrying?

She gasped. Whatever it was, it was wearing a pair of blue-and-white-striped boxer shorts. She strained to get a closer look. As the birds drifted to the ground, the smell intensified. The circle of friends drew back, but Ozette stepped closer for a better look. Her furry jaw dropped open in disbelief as the blue jays gently lowered a very dirty, disheveled and familiar-looking elf to the ground.

“Oliver!” Ozette cried.

“Ozette!” Oliver called, holding his arms out for a hug.

Ozette backed up as a wave of the horrible smell wafted closer to her. “You stay right there, Oliver. You smell like a cross between an underground sewer and a rotting swamp,” Ozette said, wrinkling her nose. “With maybe some wet groundhog mixed in.”

Oliver looked hurt, so Ozette added, “We’ll move upwind and you can tell us what happened. We’ve been so worried!”

“Well, I was walking home from Sydney’s when I saw something unusual dart across the road. And you know how adventurous I am,” he said, proudly sticking out his elfin chest. “I just had to find out what it was.”

The no-nonsense Ariel rolled her eyes. “Foolhardy is more like it,” she muttered.

“It was furry and white,” Oliver said, ignoring Ariel. “I thought it might be another white squirrel, and I wanted to surprise you with a new friend for the Spring Fling. I was running after it when I fell down into a hole,” Oliver said, shuddering.

Ozette clicked her tongue in sympathy.

“And that’s how I found out it wasn’t a cute white squirrel,” Oliver continued. “It was an albino skunk and I had fallen smack down into its lair! He ran out the other side, but not before giving me a good spray in return for his troubles. My tunic was drenched, so I threw it away. By the way, if you didn’t know this fact, albino skunk spray smells about a hundred times worse than regular skunk spray.”

Ozette nodded in agreement and waved her paw in front of her face to dissipate the odor.

“Then I took a wrong turn in its tunnel and got stuck. I yelled for hours, but no one came. Except the skunk, to give me one final spray,” Oliver said, wiping a tear from his eye with the back of a grimy hand and sniffing miserably.

“Tell us how you escaped,” Ariel said, impatiently. She was happy Oliver was back, but miffed about the worry he had caused. And besides, she didn’t know if this smell would ever wash out of her wings.

Oliver pointed to the small flock of blue jays pecking the ground. “Thankfully, these kind birds heard me. They wove some branches together, put them down into the hole for me to grab, and pulled me out using their beaks,” Oliver said. “If they hadn’t...” Oliver shivered, unable to continue.

“Now, now, young elf,” one of the jays chirped. Blue jays were always optimistic and didn’t like to dwell on the negative. “We’re just glad we came along when we did. You were in bad shape.”

“That elf has quite a set of lungs on him,” a second blue jay chimed in. “He was bellowing something fierce, so it was easy to find him. It just took a bit of teamwork to get him out.”

“Yes, no problem at all. Glad to help. It’s all in the line of duty,” added a third blue jay.

Ozette bowed to the jays and thanked them profusely. She invited them to her home to feast on as much of her stash of seed as their little bellies could hold.

Oliver’s tears dried and he smiled weakly. “Good idea. I’m famished!”

“You,” Ozette said, “are going straight to the pond for a bath.”

Ariel grimaced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she protested. “We drink from that pond.”

“Good point,” Ozette said. “Let’s see if Princess Abrianna can help us.”

Oliver sighed as they waved good-bye to the blue jays and headed off for help.

It had started sprinkling by the time the group reached the princess’s cottage. But instead of washing the skunk stink away, the rain only intensified it, so Ozette had to stay far upwind from her elf friend.

The princess was in her garden picking flowers and smiled as she saw Oliver and his friends approach. However, once she caught a whiff of the smell, her smile faltered and she began backing away.

“Please, Princess Abrianna,” Oliver said, his lower lip quivering. “I got sprayed by an albino skunk, and...well, I’ve had a terrible experience,” he said, too tired to explain the entire embarrassing episode again. “Do you have some herbal potion that will remove this smell?”

“Hmmm,” the princess said as she pinched her nose shut with one hand and thought deeply. She raised a finger, saying, “Perhaps. Let me see what I can do.”

Oliver started to follow the princess, but she wrinkled her nose and raised her hand to stop him mid-step.

“I’m sorry, Oliver, but you really do smell awful. There are some bumbleberry tarts and garbanzo legumettes in that basket over there, young elf. Help yourself while I mix up something.”

Oliver started stuffing food into his mouth as fast as he could. Now if only the princess could remove this skunk stink, he would once again be a happy elf.

Princess Abrianna returned shortly with her hands empty and shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Oliver, but I only have my Regular-Strength Stink-Away Tincture. It works on regular skunk stink, but I don’t think it would touch what you got into.”

Oliver hung his head. This wasn’t his fault. He was just trying to help Ozette. Now there was no way he could go to the Spring Fling smelling like this.

Just then Barnaby came flying up the path as fast as his wings could carry him, with Cassady racing close behind. They were both out of breath, and the elf was clutching a piece of paper in his hand.

“I think I know what we can do for Oliver,” he called. “This is my Great Great Granny’s special formula. When I heard about Oliver, I dug it out of an old recipe book she gave me.”

Ozette took the paper. It was a deskunking mixture of tomato juice, soapwort and essential oil of sage. She shook her head. “I don’t think this is strong enough, Bar– ”

The princess interrupted her. “Wait! If we add this to my Regular-Strength Stink-Away Tincture, together they might work.”

Oliver was excited, but a bit nervous. “Just what’s in that Regular-Strength Stink-Away Tincture?” he asked, thinking of some of the exotic ingredients in his potions.

“Oh, this and that. Tansy, spearmint, motherwort, skullcap, agrimony, mistletoe, goldenrod and honeysuckle. You know, the usual. I’ll also add some of these blue stones here,” she said, pulling four turquoise stones from her pocket. “They will magnify the vibrations of the mixture and increase its potency. I’ll mix it all together and stir the concoction counter-clockwise for a bit.”

“But where can we get tomato juice in Farlandia?” Ozette said. “It’s too early for ripe tomatoes.”