The Tree Shepherd's Daughter (30 page)

"Pass, but thanks for the invite."

"If you ever change your mind, you know where to
find us." The two squelched on down the path.

If you liked mud, this place was heaven. The sky had
darkened again, guaranteeing even more puddles and goo.

Raven was standing in the door of the herb shop,
which was partially covered with a blue tarp. She waved at
Keelie. "Hey, can you give me a second? I've got to run an
errand for Mom."

"Sure." Keelie welcomed the chance to go into the
fragrant shop. She spotted an orange tail dangling from
a tree branch by the door, swinging back and forth like a
pendulum. The rest of the psycho kitty was concealed in
the leaves. She remembered the Cheshire Cat from Alice in
Wonderland, whose grin was the last thing to disappear.

It would have been a shorter book if the cat had peed
in Alice's luggage.

Keelie ignored him. Why couldn't she have a normal
cat? No, wait. It wasn't her cat. He belonged to Dad. If she
were to get a pet, it would be a normal animal. Of course,
a wildebeest would be normal, compared to Knot.

The herb shop door was propped open, and Keelie
stepped inside. "Janice? It's me, Keelie," she called.

She rubbed her fingers on her skirt to make them stop
tingling. The shop door was made from pine. She sniffed
deeply, eager for the scent and healing energy of the herbs.
She coughed. The shop smelled like bleach and rotten
mushrooms. The storm had destroyed the atmosphere.

Janice appeared with a large lit candle embedded with
herbs. She walked slowly so as not to disturb the flame.
"What a mess, huh? We had to throw everything out, and
it still smells." She placed the lit candle on a table.

"Can I do something to help you?" Keelie asked.

"There are more candles in the back. Bring them up,
and we'll light them here."

The back of the shop still had a roof. Plastic bags full
of herbs lined shelves, and a row of china dishes held fat
pillar candles. Keelie stacked three on top of each other,
grabbed a box of matches that was on the table next to
them, and walked back to the front room.

Lighting the candles reminded her of her mother, who
enjoyed eating by candlelight. She remembered her mother's face, glowing across the table in the golden light. She
knew that Mom had a stressful day if she served dinner on
the little table for two under the windchimes on the patio.
The candle flames would flicker and dance, an echo of the
fireflies that hovered around the flowers at the back fence.

She wondered now if those fireflies had really been
bugs. Her mother certainly would have wanted her to
think so.

Janice interrupted her thoughts. "It looks like Knot
followed you. He's sitting on my back porch washing himself. What did you do to deserve such an escort?"

Keelie hurried to the front door of the shop and
glanced across the lane, but the orange tail had disappeared. "I don't know. I keep telling him he's gross, but he
just purrs and purrs."

A big smile flowed across Janice's face. "That's because
you're an animal lover. I heard that you helped save Cameron's birds."

Keelie's smile faded. "Yes. Have you heard how the
guys who went to the hospital are doing?"

"Their injuries are healing well, but they're under psychiatric observation. They told their doctors that they were
chased and bitten by the Red Cap." Janice rolled her eyes.

Keelie stopped breathing for a moment. "Were they?"

"They had bite marks on their arms and legs." Janice
sighed. "They're seasonal employees, you know. College
students. They don't know any better. But I told your father
earlier that this is worrisome because the Red Cap allowed
itself to be seen. Those boys are so lucky to be alive."

"You think the Red Cap was going to kill them?" Keelie remembered the evil laughter and the hands pushing her under
water. It was going to kill her too, but Knot stopped it.

"The Red Cap is very dangerous. And no one knows
why it's here. Another mystery is why it came into my shop,
of all places."

"It was here?" Of course. The rotten mushrooms that
Raven had shoveled out were a sure sign. "Are you guys in
danger?"

Janice bit her lip. "Raven will be going back to school
soon, and I'll be leaving, too. There's no way I can get my
herbs back up or the smell out of here in the two weeks left. So I'm leaving in a few days. I have to make sure the shop is
repaired and winterized before I go. But we'll see each other
again. I'll be in New York, and you and your dad will be
there in about three weeks." Janice's smile was maternal.
Keelie stepped toward her, sinking into her embrace.

Janice smelled of herbs and comfort, canceling the
bleach and rot. A rush of warmth coursed through Keelie
before guilt hit her like a cement truck. What would Janice
think of her when she left? There would be no New York.

"Hey, almost forgot. I've got something for you." She
hurried to the back of the shop and returned with a cobalt
blue bottle with a dropper lid.

"Here's a tincture for your chlorophyll poisoning. Three
drops in the morning whenever you feel like you've had too
much tree loving."

She had to ask something before her heart grew any
bigger and shoved Mom out.

"Janice, remember when you mentioned that your
mother died when you were young? Have you forgotten
her over the years?"

Janice's bracelets jangled as she reached to touch Keelie's
shoulder. "Oh, baby. No. I never, ever forgot my mother.
I think about her every day. I miss her even though I'm
forty-five years old. I will always be her daughter. She will
always be my mother. Nobody can replace her. Just like no
one can replace your mom. It takes time to heal from the
pain of losing someone, but when the pain fades, the good
memories stay."

"What if I change? What if I become so different from the girl that Mom loved that she wouldn't love the new me
that I become?"

Janice brushed a curl from Keelie's forehead. "Your
mother would know you if she were to walk in right now.
She would love you even if you allow yourself to love your
father. Even in your new garb, looking like a fairy tale
princess from the Renaissance, she'd love you."

"Would she love me even if I were to believe that magic
is real, and that I can see the stick fairies? Would she love
me if I can feel the spirit in a tree? Would she love me if I
saw Knot wearing boots and waving a sword?"

Janice hugged Keelie. "Oh yes, she would. She would
love you just because you are her daughter. She loved your
father, and you're part of your father. There is nothing you
could do to stop that love."

Those words broke the lock on the box that contained Keelie's pain. The words spilled out fast, as if she
were afraid if she stopped she'd never say them. "I yelled
at Mom the morning she flew away. She didn't want me to
have my belly button pierced. I told her I didn't love her,
that she was mean. She was late for her flight, and she said
we would talk about it when she came home. She told me
she loved me, but I didn't answer her."

Janice hugged her. "Let it go, baby. Let it go. Your
mother knows that you love her. Moms always know that
their daughters love them, even when they argue. Understand this: if your life turns out differently from the one
your mother envisioned for you, it's still your life, not hers.
Don't live her life. Her gift to you, and your father's gift to
you, is your own life. She would want you to be happy."

Rubbing a tear away from her cheek, Keelie wished she
was having this talk with her father. Would he understand?

"How did you know what I'm thinking?"

"I didn't. I guessed. My mother wanted me to be a
doctor because of all of my experience with cancer. I didn't
want to do the Western-medical route. I had an intuitive
gift for herbs. Therefore, I followed my heart, and I am
doing what my mother wanted-but my way."

"Mom was pretty tough about school and becoming a
lawyer."

"Maybe you can find a way to blend some of what your
mom wanted with what you want."

Raven stuck her head in the door. "Ready for Shimmy
shopping? Are you guys having an Oprah moment? What
did I miss?"

Keelie laughed, embarrassed, and wiped her tears away.
"Not cool, am I?"

Raven grinned. "Muck and Mire clothes are uncool.
You ditched them."

"You should see the fairy wings Tarl got for his troupe."

"No way." Raven laughed. She put a hand to her forehead. "Let's go shopping. I've got to get that image out of
my mind."

"Keelie, you can come talk to me anytime about your
mom or about anything." Janice patted her arm.

"I think I'll be taking you up on that offer."

Unless she was gone on Sunday.

Exotic incense filled the air around the Shimmy Shack,
and as Raven opened the door a wave of hypnotic drumbeats rolled out. Raven snapped her fingers and circled her
hips as she walked into a room filled with the chatter of
many voices.

Keelie froze on the doorstep, struck by the colors that
filled the room. It was like being inside a rainbow, like
Aladdin's cave, like another world.

The single open room was heated by a wood stove,
making the inside toasty warm and dry. Incense filled the
air, drifting up in thin plumes from burners throughout
the large room. Rugs and large pillows covered the floor,
occupied by girls who leafed through magazines, painted
designs on each other's hands, and in general made noise.

The space behind a richly painted screen in a corner
served as a dressing room. A furry orange tail stuck out
from underneath it. The pervo cat was watching people undress. She made a note not to dress around him anymore.

The walls held pegs covered in colorful silk scarves arranged by hue. Mirrored and jeweled skirts, spangled bras,
and fringed costumes were on one side of the store, while
the other one held the tribal costumes in dark shades.
Reds, blues, and greens accented black. A counter was
stacked with henna kits for painting faces and hands.

Keelie examined everything, fascinated.

A tall woman with wavy, dark hair, wearing a sparkly
coin-embellished top and low-slung red skirt, jingled toward them on bare feet. "Raven, your veil came in."

"I was hoping it had." Raven followed the woman,
who ducked behind a wooden counter and pulled out a folded square. Keelie watched as Raven unfurled the cloth
with a flick of her wrist, then held it in the fingertips of
both hands and swirled it gracefully around her body.

"Wow." Keelie wondered how much practice it took to
move so perfectly.

"Keelie, this is Aviva. She owns this fabulous place."

Keelie smiled, thinking a handshake somehow didn't
fit the tone of this store.

Aviva grinned at her. "So you're Heartwood's heir. I've
heard good things about you, Keliel."

"Thanks." Did everyone know her weird name? Aviva.
This was the person Raven said had lost the ring. Keelie
fished the silver circle from the leather pouch slung around
her waist. "Is this yours?"

Raven stared it at, eyes wide. "That's your ring."

"It sure is." Aviva held her hand out for it. Keelie
dropped it onto her palm.

"I found it in the woods yesterday."

"I never go into the woods." Aviva eyed her suspiciously. "You wouldn't happen to know where Zak's MP3
player is, would you?"

"Aviva, shut up. You lost the ring in the Shire. Keelie's
only been there once, the first night she was here. Whoever found it-"

11 -stole it."

11
-or could have dropped it in the woods."

Aviva dropped her gaze from Raven's furious eyes.
"You're right. I'm sorry, Keelie. Thanks for finding my
ring.

"Yeah, any time."

"Hey, stop!"

Heads turned at the yell from behind the screen. Knot
had squeezed out from under it, a gold tassel in his mouth.
He looked around, wild-eyed, then ran for the door, ducking through it just as it banged shut behind the newcomer, a
startled woman who dropped the bundle she was carrying.

"Knot, come back." Keelie ran to the doorway, leaping
over the bundle and pushing aside the woman in her haste
to catch up with the cat. She saw his orange tail above the
tall grass on the other side of the path, like a flag.

"Stop, you moron cat. That's not yours." She ran
through the grass and back onto the path on the other side
of the little meadow. She passed the destroyed fairy-wing
cart, empty of its ruined and now-reincarnated merchandise, the archery stand, a couple of food stands that were
busy with the sounds of electric saws and the smell of cut
wood, then up past the kiddie area and the smell of sheep
at the petting zoo. Knot bounded ahead, the tassel flying
behind him as he raced up the path.

What was he planning to do with it? He just wanted
her to chase him, stupid furball. Sir Davey stared, astonished, as they shot past, and then they went beyond the
herb shop and the bookseller, and up Wood Row to the
clearing.