The Fairy Portal Second Edition

Chapter Seven

Emily was still where Blake had left her, sitting crosslegged just outside the fairy ring while Tassie danced around the mushrooms.

The first thing out of Blake's mouth was, "We have to go."

Emily frowned and picked up Tassie, holding her up so the Fae could crawl onto her shoulder. Tassie stumbled a little, but made it, and nuzzled into Emily's neck.

"There are Redcaps here," Blake said. "I don't know much about it, but Seamus said --"

"Who?"

Blake's eyes darted down to Tassie, who was sitting on Emily's shoulder with her back to them, he mimed putting his hands over his ears. Emily looked at the Fae, then covered her with one hand.

"The Merrow."

"The --!"

"I know, I know," Blake said. "But we can deal with that later. Right now there are Redcaps around and I don't know much about them other than they will kill us if they find us and Tassie is too incapacitated to fight back."

Emily took half a step back, then hesitated, glancing through the trees past the fairy ring.

"We'll come back later. We have to go."

Blake ran past her, grabbing her hand and tugging her along until the woods started to thin out and they reached the picnic tables. There were more people around. So Emily moved her hand away from Tassie and tried to act like there wasn't a fairy sitting on her shoulder. She dropped her voice when Blake slowed down.

"You think it's safe here?"

"I think so. Lots of people around. I don't know anything about it, but Seamus made it sound like they just pick off people who are wandering alone." Blake approached an empty picnic table and glanced around. Nobody was paying attention to them. They were all too invested in their meals and conversations to care about two random teenagers running around. He sat and patted the table across from him. Emily sat, too, and moved Tassie to the table so she could have room to move around without the risk of a fall. Blake frowned at her.

"Did she eat it?"

"I don't think so." Emily shook her head. "She was just smelling it. The Fae must work different."

"The Fair Folk," Blake corrected. "While we're in the forest, it's The Fair Folk."

Emily nodded and prodded at Tassie. She fell backwards, her legs splayed out. Her hair stuck up every which way, still moving, like excited, but sleepy, snakes. She grabbed at Emily's finger and nipped the tip, but not hard enough to draw blood.

"Sorry," Emily said.

Blake pulled his phone out of his pocket and Emily crossed her arms over the table, looking out at the forest. He flipped through his contacts and sent a quick text to Grandma Florence:

We're in the forest preserve by our house. Can you meet us or pick us up? I need to ask you some things.

She texted back quickly. She'd never struggled with cell phones.

Sure, Sweetie! About what?

Merrows.

The reply didn't come for a few minutes, and it was much more serious in tone.

I'll be there in fifteen minutes or so.

Blake bit his lip. His eyes darted up to Tassie. She was still sitting with her legs splayed out, rocking back and forth and singing under her breath. How long would she stay like that? Long enough for Emily to distract her so he could talk to Grandma about things?