Shadows of the Redwood (23 page)

“Only when he needs to go out in the human world. He’s been doing research. Sometimes we go to Los Angeles or San Francisco. It’s an honor to be of service to him.”

Keelie couldn’t imagine Bloodroot in a large city, or what that would do to his elf host. It had taken Risa and Sean a whole day to recover from the trip to Los Angeles.

“Normally he wants to go to the library, but now that we have an Internet connection, he doesn’t go into the city anymore,” Tavyn added.

Keelie’s head reeled. How advanced were the Ancients if they could use the Internet? And how did Tavyn survive being possessed, anyway? He either had powerful magic protecting him, or he was a zombie elf.

The sky was darkening when Keelie finished securing the shop for the day. After hours of talking to customers and arranging furniture shipments, she just wanted to crawl under the counter and snooze. Too bad Dad hadn’t sent down any beds to sell.

The sound of laughter and applause drifted toward her, meaning that the evening performance was underway. Keelie wanted to head in the opposite direction, but Grandmother was there and she’d said that they needed to talk.

You bet they needed to talk. Keelie had a thing or two to say to her grandmother. Working in Heartwood alone was exhausting, and though they were supposed to be here to find Viran and help the trees, they had made little progress. The trees here were so powerful and scary that Keelie thought they needed more help than just one old lady elf and one half-elf teenager.

Keelie had known that the redwoods were different from other forests—more intelligent, more evolved. But she was shocked at the elves who allowed tree spirits to take them over as if they were puppets. She wondered if the Redwood Tree Shepherd had simply abandoned his post. Did tree shepherds ever ditch a job?

If even Grandmother was falling under their enthralling influence, as seemed to be the case, Viran could have fallen sway to their powerful magic.

She had to talk to Dad. She tried the elven cell phone again, but couldn’t connect. With all the massive trees around, the tree-powered elven phone should work better than ever, but she couldn’t even get a signal. Disgusted, Keelie headed toward the Globe. Maybe someone there would lend her a phone.

A jangle disrupted the air, except it didn’t sound as sinister as it normally did. Keelie stopped at the entrance to the theater, where several smaller redwoods grew close together. She searched for Peascod, and drew in a breath when she saw him hobbling along the edge of the theater to a back exit. Relief rose in her as he kept moving.

From here, she could see the stage. The nearby trees’ faces were out, lips repeating the lines they heard Hermia and Lysander speak.

“The trees really like Shakespeare.” Coyote was sitting at her feet.

She jumped, then ran her fingers through her hair, trying to pretend that she hadn’t been frightened. “What are you doing here?” The sneaky fairy was too quiet. She wondered how much he overheard when he skulked around.

“I’m observing.”

“I thought you were supposed to protect me.”

“Yes.” He looked up at her with golden-amber eyes. “I am doing so this very moment.”

Grandmother walked stiffly on stage. She had on her pearl-bedecked red wig, which made her look like the real Queen Elizabeth, but the attitude was all she really needed. Keelie noticed that Tavyn was sitting in the audience.

“My, my. She looks the part. I’ve been watching her. She enjoys being amongst actors.” Coyote grinned, showing sharp teeth. “Humans.”

“My grandmother enjoys ruling, even if it’s just pretending to be in charge of humans. She should have been a queen.”

“Perhaps once she was. Have you asked her?”

Startled, Keelie looked down at the fairy. “No. Should I?”

Coyote grinned up at her. “She likes to walk and talk to the trees, especially the ones named Bella and Bloodroot.” He lifted his pointed nose in the air and sniffed. “Be careful, Keliel. Something moves in the forest.”

Like Keelie needed to be told that. It was time to figure out the problem here, so that she could at least still enjoy her time in California. She wanted time for Sean, and time to hang out with Laurie.

Master Oswald walked out onto the stage in ridiculously stuffed pumpkin pants and a doublet with a peascod belly that made him look like a heavy-duty beer drinker. Grandmother said that the outfit was all the rage in 1680, but it was just silly.

“Lords, Ladies, Good Gentles all. It is my honor to present to you, Her Majesty the Queen.”

Coyote tilted his head, bright eyes taking in everything.

A sharp pain hacked through Keelie’s head.

I’m close by. Watch out, tree shepherdess. Beware.

Cold green energy filled Keelie. She scanned the trees. The voice had to be coming from them. Keelie’s eyes locked with her Grandmother’s. She had stopped in mid-wave, her made-up face even more pale than usual.

Grandmother must have heard the voice, too. She must have felt the same brief headache. Something or someone was threatening one of them.

Keelie closed her eyes. She didn’t want to lose the connection.

Cold green filled her mind. Then she felt a caress of dark magic. It was like the seductive dark power that had flowed into her from the book she’d used in the Dread Forest, as if something was delving into her mind and her magic. Time to put up the barriers. She dug out the rose quartz that she’d shoved into her pocket.

Keelie imagined her feet like roots, seeking the power of the Earth. The raw Earth magic surged through her, casting out the invasive darkness. She opened her eyes just in time to see Grandmother crumple onto the stage.

She jumped up, ready to run to her, but tripped when her gown became snagged. She twisted to release the fabric. Coyote had her dress clenched in his teeth.

“Let go. I need to go to her.”

He held on, backing away a step, pulling her with him.

She swatted at him. “Stupid fairy. She’s in trouble. I have to go to her.”

Knot came running to Keelie’s side, hissing, his fur poofed out.

Coyote released her. “You can go now, but stay with Knot.”

Keelie ran, Knot racing ahead of her, ears flat to his skull.

Costumed actors and townspeople blocked Keelie’s view of Grandmother. She pushed her way into the crowd, jostling elbows and using her hips to shove people aside.

“Call 911,” Master Oswald shouted.

911? The human emergency responders would discover that she wasn’t human. Grandmother had to be okay. Keelie shoved her way to a clear spot, then dove between legs, dropping to the ground beside Grandmother. She lay pale and still, her red wig askew.

Knot raced in and hopped onto Grandmother’s stiff bejeweled bodice. She coughed from the impact of the large orange tabby hitting her sternum, then she wheezed and her eyelids fluttered.

She was alive!

Knot started to lick her eyebrows.

“Get that cat off of her,” someone from the crowd shouted.

Keelie wrapped her hands around Grandmother’s scrawny old-lady-elf shoulders covered in stiff quilted sleeves. She pulled on her fairy magic, energy from the Earth, and the power of the fir trees around them. She envisioned light, heat, and green all swirling together.

“Come on, you’ve got to get up,” she whispered into the pointed ear hidden by the soft, silvery hair that the wig had exposed. “Who else knows what I’ve done wrong? You’ve got to be awake to tell me how superior you are.”

A mist gathered on the stage as the trees in spirit form hovered, watching. After a moment, the fog was so thick Keelie could only see the legs of the crowd around her. She envisioned a tornado of power above her, then tried to drive the magic and energy into Grandmother. It started down, then deflected, as if Grandmother had put up a shield to defend herself from Keelie’s healing. Keelie stared down at the unconscious woman in the outlandish costume. What had Grandmother done? Was she wearing a charm against fae magic?

Master Oswald’s deep bass boomed over the muffled and confused conversation. “Ladies and gentlemen, stay where you are. This fog is normal for our area. It will soon dissipate.”

A musical voice spoke in Keelie’s mind.
What is wrong, child?

Keelie shivered as Bella Matera’s voice seemed to pour into her ears like honey.

My Grandmother
… Keelie couldn’t finish the thought.

Let me help you
. A powerful surge of buzzing green magic filled Keelie. It combined with the Earth magic she had summoned, twining like two layers that first stood apart, then slowly melted together.

Magic couldn’t be seen by humans, but if they had fairy blood in them, they might have seen a blanket of golden-green gossamer drift from Keelie to cover Grandmother.

Keelie looked up in the fog and could see Bella’s wraithlike form. Just as swiftly as it had floated in, the fog cleared.

Your Grandmother will be fine. It would do her some good to come stay with me.
Bella’s voice faded, as did the green of the magic gossamer blanket.

Suddenly Keelie could once again hear people talking around her, as if they’d been muted before. And close by, a distinct lick, lick, lick.

Knot had resumed administering his personal form of first aid. Grandmother’s eyebrows were tilted at forty-five degree angles. It gave Grandmother a very alien look, like something from Star Trek. Too bad Risa wasn’t here to witness Knot’s healing treatment.

Grandmother moaned and her grip tightened around Keelie’s hand. Knot’s tail swished back and forth, and then he jumped off of Grandmother’s chest. Relief flooded Keelie. One: Grandmother was coming round. Two: Knot had vamoosed.

“Help me up, Keliel,” Grandmother said, her voice groggy. Her eyes opened, and Keelie suppressed a gasp. The whites of her eyes were green. Was she possessed, or was it chlorophyll poisoning?

“My head hurts,” Grandmother said. She didn’t sound possessed, just frail.

“No kidding,” Keelie said. “I think you’re going to need some coffee.”

Master Oswald bent down on one knee. “My Queen, do you need a healer? Mayhap we need to take thee to a hospital?”

Grandmother rose to a sitting position and tucked her dress around her. The regal appearance was ruined by her designer eyebrows. Relieved that her grandmother was okay, Keelie bit down on her lips to keep a giggle from escaping.

“I will be fine,” Grandmother said, pulling her hand out of Master Oswald’s with a sour look. “I need to go back to my cabin and rest. I think I must have become dehydrated.”

Tavyn and several of the elven rangers appeared. Keelie studied Tavyn as he helped Grandmother to her feet.

“You should go back to the tree house. I can’t take you, but I’ll bring your truck around,” he said. His eyes were no longer that bright shade of green. If Bloodroot was here, he was not in Tavyn.

“I appreciate that,” Grandmother murmured. “Keelie, the keys are in my purse.” She motioned toward a velvet pouch which dangled from her waist by a golden cord.

Sean arrived, no doubt summoned by one of his men. Risa and Laurie came with him.

“What happened?” Sean asked.

“Grandmother collapsed. I’m going to take her back to Wena, to the house.” Keelie explained. She gave Tavyn the keys.

Risa walked forward and looped her arm through Sean’s. “I guess you’re going to have to stay with her tonight, Keelie. That’s too bad—you’re going to miss the bonfire on the beach.”

“What bonfire on the beach?” Keelie asked.

Sean glared at Risa. “I’ll stay with you, Keelie.”

“Oh, you can’t miss the bonfire,” Risa said. “Your jousters are looking forward to you being there. Your idea to plan fun outings as a group is so terrific, and I’m sure it will help with camaraderie.”

Sean never talked to Keelie about his jousters or the problems he was having. Their conversations were always interrupted by elves, cats, and other people. They were pulled in many directions, and none of the interruptions pushed them toward each other.