Magic on Changeling Mountain

The hair on the back of her neck seemed to stand up as Carolyn entered her house and she stood very still as she looked around. She transformed back into her cat and sniffed the air.

Someone had been in her house and it wasn’t anyone she knew or at least no one she recognized the scent of. She left the front door open and carefully walked through her house but didn’t find anyone. She could tell that someone had been inside and it made her feel uneasy.

She returned to the front door and found Foster flying around the opening of the front door. He was pointing to her computer and Carolyn nodded that she understood. She walked over to the computer and turned it on. She sat the microphone on the window sill and opened the window.

Foster landed on the window sill and Carolyn whispered “Did you see who came into my house tonight?”

“Yes. There were two men who came. The first one was a bear that changed into a very large man. He gathered some clothes and then he left.

The other was also another large man but he didn’t have a key. He jimmied the door with something and went inside and looked around, then took a bottle out of that big white box over there and then left.” Foster told her.

Carolyn walked over to the fridge “Out of here?” she asked and Foster said “yes”. Carolyn opened the fridge and looked inside. She couldn’t be positive but she was almost sure he must have helped himself to a bottle of water. Strange that a burglar would only take a bottle of water when she had several pieces of jewelry in her jewelry box that would be worth something at a pawn shop.

A gold necklace with a ruby pendant and a matching ruby ring that her grandmother had given her as well as a tennis bracelet that her parents had given her when she graduated from college would all bring nice sums at any pawn shop. She wondered what they wanted. Was it just gypsy’s looking for an abandoned house to live in?

“Was it just the man by himself?” She asked Foster.

“Yes, we didn’t see anyone else.” Foster replied.

“Did he walk up or did he drive?” Carolyn asked.

“He walked out of the woods almost directly across from the house. He wasn’t quiet about it either. We heard him coming from a ways off so we had time to hide before he got within sight of the house.” Foster said. “Made us realize that you are right about us living in your bush. There is too much traffic here. We’ll move higher up the mountain tomorrow. Your bush is almost healed.” Foster said.

“Good. I think I’m going to go up to my folks house tonight. I don’t feel comfortable staying here alone tonight after this.” Carolyn said. She quickly gathered up some clothes and called Colin. She let him know not only about the dogs and what the poison control center had said but also about someone being in her house tonight. “I’m dead on my feet, Colin. I’m going to go up and stay at my folks’ house tonight. If you can come by and check on things I’d appreciate it but I’m not comfortable staying here tonight.”

“Ok, Carolyn. I’m not far from you now. I’ll come up and check it out and patrol the area and see what I can find.” Colin’s animal was a wolf. One of the few in the area.

“I would explore but I’m just too tired. Oh, and Colin, I have fairies living in the bush by my mailbox. I told them they can stay the night until I can find them a better place.”

“Ok. I’ll not bother them. Did they see who came around?” Colin asked.

“Yes, that’s how I know someone was here. One of them told me that whoever it was jimmied my front door and then walked around my house and took a bottle of water out of the fridge and then left. He even relocked the door because it was locked when I got home. Foster, the fairy, told me he didn’t see him take anything else. Just a bottle of water.”

“Leave your door open so I can get in. I’ll be sure to lock it before I leave. I should be there in about 15 minutes or so.”

“OK. I’m heading out. I need to get some sleep.”

“Sleep well, Carolyn. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

Carolyn left her front door open and walked over to the rose bush. Foster came out and she whispered that Colin, the sheriff, would be stopping by in a few minutes to check on her place. She also explained that she was going up to her parents’ house farther up on the mountain. “I’ll talk to my father in the morning about a better place for you to live.”

Foster glowed and nodded his head and then waved goodbye to her. She transformed and ran up the mountain to her parents’ house. She was not surprised that the house was dark and she quietly let herself in and climbed the stairs to her old bedroom. She shed her clothes and started to climb into the bed, when something moved under the covers. She almost screamed and then remembered that Tammy was staying there tonight. Tammy moaned and turned over.

“Tammy, it’s me. Move over.” Carolyn whispered.

“Carolyn? What are you doing here?” Tammy whispered back.

“Someone broke into my house and I didn’t feel comfortable staying there tonight. Go back to sleep. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning. I’m dead tired and just want to get some sleep.”

Tammy was so sleepy, she didn’t argue and moved over so that Carolyn could fit on the queen sized mattress.

Carolyn stretched out and moaned at how good it felt to finally be able to lie down. She was asleep within minutes.

Colin drove slowly up the road to Carolyn’s house and pulled into her empty driveway. He noticed a small light glowing in the rose bush but didn’t bother them as he walked up onto the porch. He checked the door and the jam and saw where the intruder had jimmied the door open. It was barely noticeable to anyone, just a few scratches on the faceplate of the door-jamb strike plate. He sniffed the air and could smell an aroma that he knew was not Carolyn’s. She always smelled so sweet in her human form, like fresh rain. Even her cat form was not an objectionable scent to him, even though he was basically a dog and they were not supposed to get along. He walked through the house and couldn’t find anything out of place but then he had only ever been in her house once before and that was just after she had come back to the mountain after college.

He stepped back out on her porch and made sure the door locked behind him. He walked over to his car and removed his gun belt and left it on his front seat. He locked the doors and dropped his key in his pocket before transforming into a wolf.

He walked back over to the steps and sniffed around, making sure he had the intruder’s scent and then began to follow it. He went right past the rose bush and he looked up at the small glow that was deep inside the bush and saw a tiny little fairy watching him. He nodded his head and the fairy waved and he moved on.

He followed the trail back into the woods with his senses on full alert. There was something strange about this. He wondered why a human would be approaching through the woods instead of walking along the road. If he wasn’t a human, why would a changeling break into Carolyn’s house and just take a bottle of water? For that matter, why would a human? Had he been after Carolyn specifically and if so, why?

He ran through the woods, stopping every few yards to sniff and look around. Whoever it was, seemed to be heading towards town now, although they were going the long way about it. He didn’t recognize the scent, so it wasn’t a townie. He knew most everyone who lived in town and he had never smelled this person before. He finally came out of the woods onto the main road and followed the scent to the edge of the pavement.

Either the stranger had walked on the pavement or had gotten into a vehicle of some kind because his scent ended at the road. Colin checked both sides of the road for about 10 yards in both directions and saw nothing that might tell him where the stranger had gone but what perplexed him even more was that he couldn’t tell how he had gotten there.

If they had driven up here, they would have had to park somewhere and Colin couldn’t find any evidence of anyone having parked a vehicle near where his footprints had left the forest, so he decided to return to his car.

Colin ran back through the woods, using a more direct route back to Carolyn’s. He transformed and got his keys out of his pocket and unlocked his car. The bush was no longer glowing and he assumed the fairies had all gone to sleep.

He backed out and drove back to the station. He was perplexed and would let the rest of his men know that they were to keep an eye out for anyone parking along the mountain road leading up to Carolyn’s house.

He only had 5 full time deputies and they worked in rotating shifts of 8 hours each, so that at almost any given time there were at least 2 men in uniform on duty at all times but all of the men knew that their responsibilities meant they were actually on duty 24 hours a day. They knew they could be called upon to report if there was any trouble that was more than just 2 men could handle.

Something just didn’t sit right with him about this whole situation and he would make sure that not only Carolyn but her father and uncles were made aware of the situation as well.

Carolyn slept in slightly later than usual the next morning and Tammy was gone when she woke up. She lay listening to the sounds of her family as she lay there enjoying being back in the safe, warm confines of her parents’ home again. She heard her sister leaving for school and her father going out to start his day.

Her mother would be in the kitchen, cleaning up after having fed them all breakfast. Carolyn wondered if there was any coffee left as she pushed her legs out from under the covers. Suddenly she heard a car pull up and then a door slam. She walked over to the window that looked out over the front yard and saw Colin talking to her father.

“Uh-oh. I wonder if he found who it was that broke into my house last night?” She asked herself as she raced to pull on the clean clothes she had brought with her last night. She ran a brush through her hair, then shoved her feet into her loafers and ran down the stairs and out onto the front porch.

“Good morning, Carolyn. I was just telling your father here about what I found or rather didn’t find last night.” Colin told her as his hungry eyes roamed over her from head to toe. So this is what she looks like when she first wakes up! He couldn’t help the slow, small grin that crossed his face and he had to force his mind back to the business at hand as she glanced over at her father who had a scowl on his face.

“Why am I hearing about this from Colin and not you?” Her father wanted to know.

“Sorry daddy but it was so late when I got here last night and you guys were all asleep. I wasn’t hurt, nothing was taken and I knew Colin was going to check it out so I didn’t see any need to wake you up. Besides, I was dead tired and kind of upset about having to put both of my patients down and I just wanted to go to sleep.”

Carolyn’s father’s face immediately softened when she said she had had to put the dogs down. He knew that she would have only done it as a last resort and had exhausted every means possible to do everything she could before she had done it.

“Very sorry to hear about that but I do wish you would move back home. I worry about you living down there all by yourself. Anything could happen. What if you had been home alone last night? He might have hurt you.” Daniel said.

“Dad, I’ve lived there for almost 5 years now and this is the first time I’ve ever had any trouble like this. I need to be closer to the clinic so that if the townies need my help, they don’t have to come all the way up on the mountain. Can you imagine what it would be like if a townie caught someone mid transformation right here in the front yard? We’d really have trouble then!” Carolyn told him.

It was the one argument that had convinced her parents to let her have her own place. Once they realized it would be for the best, her father had helped her uncles and some of the other male neighbors to build her cottage for her. They had built the clinic the summer when she had first come home from college.

“I know but I still worry about you. I will always worry about you.” Daniel said as he dropped his arm around her shoulders.

“I know, dad, and thanks.” Carolyn smiled up at him. “So, Colin, did you find anything?”

“No. I followed his scent through the woods back down to the road and then I lost it. He either walked along the pavement or got into a vehicle and drove away. I’m guessing he drove away since there was no scent on the other side of the road either. I’ve told all of my deputies to patrol the mountain road, especially near dark and to report any parked vehicles or if they see any strangers in the area. Whoever he is, he’s not from around here.”

“You didn’t happen to see or smell any of that green goo, did you?” Carolyn asked.

“No and I’m sure I would be able to smell that even 50 yards away.” Colin said. “I checked where you said that stuff was dumped on the Ramsey’s property and I could still smell it even though you had cleaned it all up. Whew! That was nasty.”

“Yeah the poison control center said it had fish emulsion and that’s what attracted the animals. It had paint remover, bleach and liquid rat poison in it. Poor Clementine and Kimi never had a chance. I had to put them both down last night. Speaking of which, I need to get down to the clinic. The owners are going to pick their remains this morning at 9 am.”

“Want some help?” Colin asked. “I’d like to stop by your house and make sure everything is still undisturbed too.” He said more for Daniel’s benefit than Carolyn’s.

“Oh Daddy, before I forget. I’ve got fairies living in the rose bush by my mailbox. Do you know of a nice tree or bush they could move to that’s not so close to the road? They tend to glow at night.”

“Fairies? Good lord, what next? I guess they need to be close to water too? I would say they should look for somewhere close to the stream but higher up on the mountain. I’m not the realtor for magical creatures. The centaurs haven’t moved yet but should be ready to go in a couple of days. Damien came around last night and said the one called Kala is feeling better but the foal needs another day or two to have enough strength to make that long of a walk.” Daniel said.

“You’ve got centaurs living on the mountain now?” Colin asked. This was news to him. “Anything else besides fairies and centaurs I should know about?”

“Well, there may be a few trolls in the area but so far we haven’t seen them. From what I understand, they keep pretty much to themselves.” Daniel said.

“I sure am glad I don’t have to put this in my report. The mayor would never understand.” Colin said. “Are you ready to head down the mountain? I need to get back to the station. Shift change is coming up and I want to go home and get some shut eye.”

“Sure, just let me say goodbye to my mom.” Carolyn said and ran back up to the house. She found her mother in the kitchen, as usual.

“Have you heard anything from Lucinda and Amelia?” Carolyn asked.

“Last I heard they are supposed to be here later today but I don’t know a specific time yet.” Angelia said. “Are they going to be staying down at your place this time? I don’t know if I can take another one of their extended stays. They ate up almost everything I had canned from last year the last time they were here.

I’m almost done with this years’ canning and while we’ve had a decent harvest this year, I was kind of hoping to trade some of it for things we didn’t put in this year. We are behind in getting the pine nuts harvested this year with all that’s been going on.”

“I know mom and I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come and help. Maybe I can come stay up here for a few nights while they are here and I’ll help you get caught up. OK?”

“I’d like that!”

“Well, I’ve got to get going. I had to put down the two dogs last night and their owners are due to pick them up at 9 am this morning.”

“Oh I’m so sorry to hear that. Are you OK?”

“Yeah. I wish there had been more I could have done but the poison control center said there was nothing to be done judging by what was in that mixture we found and sent in for analysis. I just hope Colin can find out who it was that dumped that deadly mixture there. I’m having a hard time believing it happened by accident. Make sure you tell Kevin to stay away from anything that looks like green goo. It’s got a fishy smell to it but it’s deadly.”

Carolyn didn’t say anything to her mother about someone having broken into her house the night before. She didn’t see any reason to upset her mother about something that could have just been a hiker that got thirsty.

She kissed her mom goodbye, retrieved her dirty clothes from her bedroom and then joined Colin and her father in the front yard again. She noticed that they were both looking off into the woods on the side of the house and when she turned her head, she spotted Damien standing at the edge of the woods.

He seemed hesitant about coming out with Colin there. Carolyn walked forward a few steps and called out to him “It’s alright, Damien. Colin is a changeling too.”

Damien slowly walked towards her, keeping a wary eye on Colin. He was wary of anyone who carried a firearm. “I just wanted to inquire if your father would be able to show me the way to this cave he was telling me about. Kala said her foal should be able to make it up there if we go slowly. I would like to see if it will be suitable before I make them make the journey. The storm will be here soon.”

“Sure. If you can give me a few minutes to see to my animals in the barn, then I can lead you up there.” Daniel said.

“Good luck!” Carolyn said to Damien and kissed her father goodbye then followed Colin back down the mountain.

They briefly stopped off at Carolyn’s house and everything looked fine. She put her dirty laundry in the hamper and realized that she needed to do laundry soon. As she was leaving the house, she saw Foster sitting on a leaf waiting for her.

She looked at the clock and realized she was going to have to make this fast. The Clancy’s and the Ramsay’s would be there to pick up their pets’ remains soon. She turned on the speaker and Foster flew over to the window sill.

Carolyn whispered “Good morning. I have to be quick. I have to get to my clinic soon. I talked to my father and he said that you are welcome to stay anywhere in the woods on the mountain. If you can wait till I’m done at the clinic, I’ll come back and show you a few places that should be safe enough for you. I’ve got an idea about an old tree near a creek that should work perfectly.

The tree she was thinking about was near where Kala had taken shelter to have her foal the other day. It was close to the creek but far enough away from the razorbacks on one side and the humans on the other that the fairies should be safe enough. They would have a clear view of everything around them in the higher branches and the evergreen pine tree was dense enough that it should offer them sufficient shelter when the snows came in a month or so.

If Carolyn was honest with herself, she was going to enjoy getting to know the new creatures that had come to the mountain, especially the fairies. She hoped Foster would come visit her often but when she had time to sit and talk with him. Right now, she needs to get going. She whispered goodbye to Foster and closed the window.

She locked up her house and ran to her car and jumped inside. She drove down to the clinic and arrived just minutes before the Clancy’s and Ramsay’s. Cindy was already there and had all the paperwork in order. She just needed help lifting the animals up onto the tables to wheel them out to their owners’ cars.

“Good morning! Did you get some sleep?” Cindy asked as Carolyn entered the clinic.

“Some but not much. Someone broke into my house last night. I went up to my parents’ house to sleep but didn’t get there till about 1 am and then I had to share the bed with Tammy. She’s a bit of a cover hog.” Carolyn joked.

“Well, we don’t have anyone scheduled to come in today once the Clancy’s and Ramsay’s leave. Maybe you can go home and get some rest.” Cindy told her. “Speaking of them, they are pulling up outside.”

“Good. I just hope Mrs. Clancy keeps a handle on it. I don’t think I can take much of her mouth today.” Carolyn said.

Cindy and Carolyn watched through the window as Mr. Clancy opened the car door for his wife and helped her stand up. She had obviously been crying and held a hankie to her face and she leaned heavily on her husbands’ arm as they made their way into the clinic.

The Ramsey’s pulled in just after them and thankfully Mrs. Ramsey, while she was upset, she wasn’t carrying on like Mrs. Clancy.

Mrs. Clancy practically threw herself on one of the coffin shaped boxes holding the two dogs and wailed and cried. Her husband rolled his eyes but still tried to gently comfort her. Patting her shoulder as he stood dutifully by her side.

“We just have some paperwork to be signed and then you can take them. Records for the county, you understand. I do want to say again, how very sorry I am that there was not more we could have done but the poison control center said to have prolonged their lives would have been cruel. The dogs would never have been able to eat again and would have slowly starved to death while suffering horribly from the chemical burns.”

“We understand, dear. We know you did everything possible to save them.” Mr. Ramsay said as he signed the paperwork. Mr. Clancy eyebrows when half way up his forehead when he saw the price of the bill for Clementine but he pulled out his credit card and paid it and turned to take possession of his pet’s remains, unfortunately Mrs. Clancy had not bothered to look inside of the coffin box she had draped herself across and she had picked Kimi’s coffin.

Cindy approached her and tried to calmly tell her that she had the wrong coffin. “Mrs. Clancy? This is Kimi’s coffin. Clementine is over here.” Only Carolyn seemed to realize that Cindy was fighting hard not to laugh. Mrs. Clancy was over acting and Carolyn highly suspected that no one believed her as her eyes were dry.

Mrs. Clancy acted as if she had to stagger over to the other box, then she started all over again. “Oh, my poor baby. My poor Clementine.” She wailed.

“Mr. Clancy, we’ll help you get her loaded into your car.” Carolyn said after she had repeated the same with the Ramsay’s. Thankfully Mrs. Ramsay was not carrying on like Mrs. Clancy, who staggered back to the car as if she couldn’t walk unassisted as she plopped down on one of the benches in the lobby of the clinic and continued to carry on wailing and making crying noises, even though her eyes remained dry.

Between Cindy, Carolyn and the two men, they managed to load the two dogs into the trunks of the cars. Mr. Clancy’s patience was nearing its end with his wife’s theatrics and after loading the dog in the trunk, he called for his wife to “come on. Let’s get this over with” then he sat down in the car behind the steering wheel and started the car.

Carolyn whispered to Cindy, “Come on, let’s get her loaded up before he leaves her here.” They held her arms as she drug her feet back to the car and they helped her inside. She never thanked them or even really acknowledged them at all. She just continued to carry on like it was the end of the world.