Abigail held her breath for a moment as she explored the notion. She ran her fingers over the amulet, silently asking for clarity. Her goal was to protect the school and its inhabitants, not scare them away. She knew choosing to meet a kelpie king wasn’t going to be straight forward.
“How would I go about meeting your king?” Abigail asked carefully, bracing herself for the most likely answer. An answer that would complicate the seemingly easy paycheck.
“Are you familiar with Lost Lake?” Gwen smiled as she said “Lost Lake”, the kind of smile that would make one question intent.
Abigail had heard the lore of Lost Lake many times, as it was one of her father’s favorite stories to tell at family gatherings. Just as some families would tell scary stories around campfires about ghosts and killers hiding in the woods, Abigail’s father would tell tales of Lost Lake.
“From what I have been taught, Lost Lake is in Upper Forest, can only be seen during a new moon, and only by the eyes of the lucky chosen.” Abigail recited the description from memory, using the same resonating inflections her father had used.
“Again, with the drama. Lucky chosen? I suppose humans would consider it ‘luck’.” Gwen moved toward the salt circle. A sudden breeze cut through the cafeteria, rustling the salt. As Gwen closed her eyes, the salt swirled in the air creating a funnel-shaped salt tornado. Upon opening her eyes, the salt fell to the floor, creating what looked to be a map.
Abigail’s eyes quickly scanned the salt map, looking for anything familiar, in hopes she could memorize the directions she was about to be told. She recognized the trails of Upper Forest, but there were marks that she did not recognize. Gwen followed Abigail’s gaze to a small circle towards the end of a trail.
“Surely you know of Kirk’s Well?” Gwen said in a tone that left room for Abigail to fib and agree.
“I do not. I know of the trail, I have hiked that trail many times… but I do not recall a well being there.” Admitting ignorance was difficult, but Abigail knew lying to a kelpie was a terrible idea. Gwen, enjoying the honesty, raised her head and beckoned the small circle to form a three dimensional well.
“The new moon brings light to much that is overlooked. Travel the trail, equipped with three gifts, on the night of the new moon. I will meet you at Kirk’s Well where you will offer the gifts. If my king is pleased you will have the chance to, as you say, parley.” Gwen’s flowing voice turned to a cackle as she said the word parley.
“What are the three gifts to be?” Abigail asked quickly, noting that Gwen appeared to be slowly transforming back to her equine form.
Gwen laughed, “Good effort, but you know that the choice of gifts is part of the challenge. You must earn the king’s favor.”
“I will meet you at Kirk’s Well, on the night of the full moon… which is in…” Abigail closed her eyes trying to remember the moon’s phase from the night before. “..two days from now.”
A heavy gust of wind blew through the cafeteria. Abigail opened her eyes to see Gwen was gone, leaving only puddles of soggy footprints and a small pile of salt behind. The lights flickered back on. Abigail took a deep breath in. She gathered her belongings and headed to the door. Before she could knock to let Principal Dexter know she was done, the door unlocked.
“Did it work? Is it gone? I mean, spirit, is the spirit gone?” Dexter’s voice was unsteady and nervous. He was holding a check in one hand, waving it around.
“Not yet, I have more work to do.” Abigail quickened her pace towards the entrance.
“Wait, what? What do you mean? I thought we had a deal!” Dexter’s voice rising to frenzied, high-pitched panic.
Abigail spun around on her heels. She looked Dexter deep in his eyes and paused for a second. “Look, these situations aren’t always straight-forward. This is going to require much more than me merely asking a spirit to do what I want it to do.”
Dexter folded the check and tucked it into his pocket. “What are your next steps, then? I need to know when I can promise the students and their families that the school is safe. Summer classes begin next week!” Dexter said with counterfeit confidence.
“You don’t need details of my next steps. What you need to know are the steps are dangerous and that I will be back here in three days to collect payment.” Abigail watched Dexter’s face go from feigning authority to accepting reality.
“Ok, you’re the expert. I guess I’ll see you in three days.” Dexter’s shoulders rounded in defeat.
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Abigail pushed through her office doors, opening both swinging doors at the same time, making quite the entrance.
“You’re back! How’d it go? Did you get a check? I hope so, because they turned our lights off…” Tess’s voice trailed off as Abigail blew right past her, opening a wooden trunk and rummaging through a myriad of stones, feathers, and other curious findings. As Abigail searched through the trunk, she explained her encounter with Gwen and the quest ahead of her.
“Ok, wait, hold on. I have questions.” Tess had been taking notes as Abigail explained what she was about to do, “One- what gifts will you bring? Two- how can I help? Three- the woman with the floating dog called back to report that the dog is multiplying and has offered to triple our normal fee if we could get to her by tonight.. do you think you can do that? We sort of need the money…”
Abigail stopped everything she was doing and stared at Tess. “The dog is multiplying?”
“Um..” Tess flipped through her notes, “Yes, multiplying. There are now two Bambi’s, both floating, and both speaking.” Tess bit her bottom lip, knowing that adding another urgent situation to Abigail’s plate was the last thing she needed.
👍 LIKE THIS POST to have Abigail visit the multiplying dog
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