Fins and Fairyfolk

Fins & Fairyfolk

Chapter 2

For three days rain kept Samantha indoors. Only when her Aunt declared she was tired of having her underfoot was she allowed back outside. Free after being cooped up for days, the girl relished the early morning sunshine. It didn't even bother her that her third best set of boots became muddy as she walked down the path between her Uncles field and his neighbor Mrs. Agatha Greenwich.

While indoors Samantha had searched through her Uncles library for any mention of the river folk. Most of it she already knew. They were said to live somewhere underground in caves. She didn't know how anyone could live in a cave. She had no idea if they cooked their food either. She remembered the fin-men's pointed sharp teeth.

She had thought of little else but the merfolk, since meeting the merman and his daughter. She hopped the mother hadn't been cross with them. At the thought she smiled. How odd it was that such otherworldly creatures as the merfolk had squabbles over their evening meal. It was such a mundane problem. Why it was one her Aunt and Uncle argued about on a daily basis.

Slapping a stick she'd found along the path she happened upon a puddle with a dozen or so tadpoles swimming around on the muddy bottom. Were baby mermaids born like tadpoles she thought from eggs, or were they like little guppies and came out tail first. Giggling to herself she jumped up and skipped down the path some ways. The sun was already burning away the early morning dew. In the distance cries of song birds filled the forest that flanked the path on the North side.

Pulling her bonnet a little tighter she tried to keep the early morning glare of the sun from her eyes. "What games do the fin men play?" she sang an old nursery song. "Do they ride seahorses to pass the day? "

"Bubbles and foam cast them home..."

"A shell and a comb there all unknown."

"Where they hide down the caves dark and deep."

"Where little fishes like to sleep."

She hummed the rest as she made her way down to the river. Her Uncle had warned her not to visit her usual spot above the cliff. The area was still flooded with runoff. Coming to the gate of the cow pasture she climbed over it and shooed several cows off by using her stick. The mournful creatures liked to be scratched behind the ears, but she found she wasn't in the mood this morning. Skipping along she entered the forrest next to the Pasteur. Birds twittered in the trees and she heard animals moving away at her passage in the undergrowth. It was quite a ways through the woods back to the rivers edge if she remembered what her Uncle said correctly.

Several hours passed as she made her way through thickets of old elm and beach trees. Along the way she came across a profusion of spring flowers, which the rain had awakened. She filled the basket on her arm to overflowing with all types of blossoms. Lovely delicate blue flowers with purple centers. Pink daisies and wild pansies. Remembering humans could eat pansies she picked quite a cluster in hopes she could offer some to the merfolk if she saw them. Surely they could eat them too.

In a magical moment Samantha found an open area inside the Forrest where a natural clearing allowed sunlight into the forest floor below. Standing pools of water were covered in an array of brightly colored butterflies. All looking to get a drink. At her approach the butterflies took to the air in their hundreds only to realight to another pool close by. Samantha found a stump and set down to eat the lunch she'd packed. She was mesmerized by the sight before her. Never but in her dreams had she seen so many beautiful colors.

Reluctant to leave, Samantha dusted the crumbs off her dress and stood up. Stretching she looked up at the sky overhead. White puffy clouds rolled by and shading her eyes with one hand she made out that the sun was high overhead. "It must be past noon." She muttered to herself. Thinking she had better get moving if she was going to make it to the river and back before dark, she walked on through the Forrest.

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In those days it was still not unknown to come across a wild bear or a wandering centaur. Thankfully or not Samantha saw neither on the rest of her journey. Feeling hot and tired she let her bonnet swing free along her back. She raised the hem of her dress so it would not tangle so badly in the needles, which grew randomly along the forest floor.

Samantha knew little of wood lore, but thought she saw some edible mushrooms against a tree in her path. Unsure she left them and continued on. Finally after several hours journey she heard the sound of running water.

It renewed her spirits and she half skipped her way toward the sound. Peeking through a sloth of river cane she stepped out onto a Sandy beach. Several tree trunks had collected from the flooding of the last days and poked out of the sand. A fallen log provided her the perfect opportunity to set down and rest again.

The river beyond her appeared wider and more untamed than the shallower stream like branch she lived near. A heron fished for minnows in the shallows and paid little notice to the girl as she sat silent and still watching from her log.

Amazingly a pair of otters came floating down the river and stopped near the shore to look for clams or muscles in the sandy deposits at the waters edge . Samantha watched it all with awe and rapture. Here was life lived to its fullest.

These creatures were not bound by societies norms. They had to find food or starve. They were magical for there rarity. Being born in the city, Samantha had a longing for nature and the outdoors. The manicured gardens of her Aunt Berthage's family were so far removed from this place and time that there was no comparison between the two.

What would it be like to see this everyday she thought. To be free of school and all responsibilities and go wherever her feet led her? Sore blistered feet she thought. Her fancy hob nailed boots were not made for rough terrain.

Looking around she wondered if it would be so terribly improper to take her shoes and socks off and go wading in the waters of the river. She could cool the heat in her blistered feet. Doing just that she left her bonnet on the log and pulled the hem of her dress farther up her waist.

Stepping cautiously into the shallow edge of the river the water was deliciously cool against her heated skin. Unlike her older cousins she had never been taught how to look for crayfish under stones, or skip pebbles across the waters surface. Her main pleasure now was kicking her feet and making little splashing sounds as she waded farther out into the water. Noticing for the first time the color of the pebbled rocks beneath her feet she took one to examine it. It was mottled like the scales of the merfolk, black with hints of copper ore mixed within. What a beautiful thing she thought as she dried it off on her pedicoat and placed it in her pocket. Looking up river she saw several large boulders covered by moss. Trying not to slip and break her neck she jumped from one rock to another going upstream.

Eventually, Samantha found herself in a small ravine where the river had carved a deep swath through the rock. On other side of her loomed the moss and lichen covered black stone walls of ancient stone.