Sprite

Pup stared at the metal link fence. “I’ve seen this before,” he murmured, once he had made sure Norah was unharmed. “It goes for miles and miles around a stretch of forest belonging to Old Hanan. I’ve encountered it in other places, but not so far west.” He whistled under his breath. “No wonder those hunters were driven off. Old man Hanan never allowed anyone near his property, not hunters, not us.” He took Norah’s arm. “We should leave. Hanan has guards who patrol along this fence. Like I said, they don’t take kindly to strangers.”

Norah swallowed her shock at hearing Papa’s name. It wasn’t Old Man Hanan, but her father, who now patrolled these woods. What would he think if he saw Norah now? She let herself be led back to their small camp.

Pup kept watch so she could sleep, and despite her trepidation, Norah drifted off quickly, warmed by Pup’s back where he leaned against her as he stared into the dark woods.

In the morning, she awoke to the sound of voices and sat up in a panic. Six armed guards surrounded them, and Pup was speaking urgently to one of them. Norah shrank back, wondering if one of these guards would recognize her as Jim’s daughter. But no one paid attention to her or any of the girls.

Roselle edged quietly over to sit beside Norah. “Who are they?” she whispered. “Hunters?”

Mutely, Norah shook her head. The three younger girls made places for themselves beside Roselle and Norah, dragging the blankets that had lately been their tents to cover their small bodies and hopefully hide their mutations. It didn’t matter; Pup and the six men ringing him were completely involved in their own heated conversation. Pup made no attempt to hide what he was. His stumpy tail and fur-clad torso marked him as a mutant. Norah realized belatedly that she had not once thought to cover her own rather obvious differences. Living for weeks—or was it months—with Neistah’s people had changed her.

Finally Pup threw up his hands in defeat and turned to face Norah and the girls. “It seems these gentlemen request our presence inside the Hanan compound. For our own safety,” he added wryly.

“Hanan?” Roselle raised her eyebrows at Norah. “Isn’t that--?”

Norah shook her head just a fraction. So far, no one had recognized her. If only Roselle would keep silent about Norah’s family connection, then maybe they would just interview them and let them go. At least these men did not appear to be mutant-haters like the hunters from Datro.

Roselle seemed to understand, nodding back slightly and helping the younger girls to their feet. “Oh, stand up straight. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she snapped, casting a challenging glare at the waiting guards.

They followed the guards through an opening in the metal fence. Norah felt a tiny tingle as she passed through. That had never happened before. She remembered Neistah’s surprise when she had handled the young hunter’s knife. Hesitantly, she reached out to touch one of the chain links, and snatched her hand back as a shock of something ran through her fingertips.

On the other side of the fence, the forest looked exactly the same except for the burn marks. The changelings trudged after Hanan’s guards, who had shown no reaction upon viewing their various mutations. Norah relaxed a fraction. Perhaps the way she was now, no one would recognize her as Jim and Miriam’s missing daughter.

There was a small building up ahead. The guard’s shelter. From it, a visible path ran further into the dark forest. Norah was sure it would lead back to the main house, or at least to a bigger track that would lead to home. She shook her head, annoyed with herself. She mustn’t think of it as her home anymore. She had thrown in her lot with the changelings, and that future was closed to her now. Whatever she was now, she was no longer Jim and Miriam’s little girl.

“We wait here.” One of the guards addressed Pup. So far, the guards had ignored the girls except to hurry them along on their march through the woods. One of the guards broke off from the rest of them and trotted down the narrow path which led into the interior, most likely to bring someone in authority. Norah swallowed apprehensively.

The door to the small guardhouse opened, and another guard emerged, weapon at the ready, to take the report from the returning patrol. A tall, thin man with piercing black eyes, the guard aimed his weapon slowly at each one of them as if numbering them. When he got to Lou, the gun faltered.

“Mack!” With a scream of disbelief, Lou launched herself across the few feet that separated them, oblivious to the gun which now pointed at the ground, and threw her arms around the tall guard’s waist. He dropped the gun with a clatter and picked her up, hugging her just as tightly, while the rest of them, changelings and guards both, stared at the two of them in astonishment.

The guard who held Lou was grinning now, and at the sight of his unnaturally long teeth, Norah recognized him as the changeling she had taken down the river in her first rescue attempt as Datro’s Sprite. Mack! This was the changeling that Lou had insisted they search for---that each of their small forays into the forest had been for! How was he even here? How was he a guard in a human compound?

Pup caught her eye. She nodded in confirmation. Yes, this was the very changeling that had gone missing.

“Everyone, this is Mack. My brother.” Lou couldn’t stop smiling. “Thank you, Norah. I knew you would find him.”

The guards focused their attention on Norah, and she tensed under their sudden scrutiny.

Mack, too, stared at her. “You!” he said, as realization dawned on him. “Weren’t you the one who . . . “ His voice trailed away as he took in the webbing on her neck and hands. His eyes widened. “Wait, are you Datro’s Sprite?”

Norah’s stomach flip-flopped. Mack knew her as Avery’s granddaughter. He knew she was a factory-owner. Now he was seeing her with her mutations and putting all the facts together. Her heart sank. She might as well face it—her secret was out.

Roselle briskly took over. “Well, of course she is, you idiot,” she barked out. “Lou knew it all along, didn’t you, Lou? Norah was the one who got Lou out of Datro, so you should be thanking her for that, too. We all are changelings living in the forest now.” She gave Mack a no-nonsense glare, and amazingly, he held his tongue about Norah’s identity, at least for the moment.

Lou gazed up at her brother. “Norah is one of us,” she said softly.

Whether it was because of Lou’s intercession, or because he acknowledged that Norah was, indeed, one of them, Mack nodded in acknowledgment.

Pup frowned. “How did you end up here?” he asked. The other guards had no mutations; they were human, as far as he could tell. “Are there any more of you? I was told there were several escaped changelings from Datro who went missing after Datro’s Sprite dropped them off in the woods.”

Norah reddened, and Mack scowled. He released Lou gently, and stooped down to pick up his dropped gun. “I’ll ask the questions,” he said gruffly, motioning for all of them to walk around to the rear of the small building. There were logs arranged in a semi-circle which served as rough seats around a central fire. Mack indicated that Pup and the girls, including Lou, should sit there. His guards stood evenly spaced behind them, except for one, who fetched a kettle which he put on the fire.

“That’s for the boss to tell,” Mack continued, as if there had been no gap in their conversation. “Now, tell me how you ended up in my woods.”

Pup spoke for them, glossing over the fact that he had been silently following the girls on their adventure, and completely omitting any reference to Earl or the hidden village’s most recent location. The less these people knew about their setup, the better for all of them. Just because these people were not hunters, and even though Mack was obviously a mutant himself, didn’t mean they could be trusted.

“We saw the fire,” Pup began. “We would have gone the other way, but there were hunters that way. If I had known we were this close to Hanan lands, I would have chanced it anyway.”

Norah wondered if he was telling the truth.

“What were you doing out here to begin with?” Mack demanded.

“We were looking for you!” Lou said, before Pup had a chance to reply.

Mack stared at his sister in astonishment.

Pup chuckled. “Ever since they escaped from Datro,” he improvised, “they have been searching for the changelings Datro’s Sprite misplaced.” He caught Norah’s eyes again. That would give them an excuse for being out wandering in the woods. “It was pure luck we actually found one.”

Mack narrowed his eyes. “We’re nowhere near where Datro’s Sprite left me off,” he said. “Surely she should know that?” He looked at Norah.

Pup answered again. “Datro’s Sprite is a water creature,” he explained as if it were self-expanatory. “She loses all sense of direction on land.”

Norah glared at him.

“When we escaped Datro, it was through the farmlands,” Roselle supplied. “That was where Lou and Patrick were being held. We couldn’t get to the river. You should be thanking Norah, not accusing her of who knows what! If it weren’t for Norah, Lou would probably be dead now!”

“Who are you?” Mack asked sullenly. “What’s your mutation?”

Roselle smiled sweetly. “You don’t want to know,” she replied.

The guard who had set the water to boiling now poured tea for all of them.

“I would have died if the boss hadn’t found me,” Mack said accusingly. “Where were the changelings when I needed them? Where were the famous sprites who were supposed to meet me and lead me to a hidden village? Datro’s Sprite left me in the middle of nowhere and I almost died a hundred times over before Jim found me.”

Norah started at the mention of her father’s name. “I didn’t know,” she whispered. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I thought if I got you to the forest, you’d be safe. I’m sorry.” She looked away.

Pup put an arm around her shoulder, to Norah’s surprise. “You did what you thought was right,” he said. “And look, Mack is fine. Now,” he turned to Mack. “Why are we being held here?”

“You know about the fires.” Mack took a sip of his tea, while his guards set out food for them to eat. “Avery’s hunters have been setting fires all over the forest.” Mack’s eyes flicked to Norah and back. “He and the Hanan family are in—disagreement—about it. Jim won’t let Avery near his land, and that includes the areas outside the fence. We’ve been putting out fires all along.”

“Why?” Norah asked before she could stop herself.

Mack smiled crookedly, which bared his sharp teeth and made him look even more menacing. “You think it’s all about the changelings. It’s not. It’s about land and ownership and who has the right to it. Avery wants it all. He figures if he just takes it by burning the sections he needs, nobody will be able to do anything about it.”

“But that’s crazy! What if the whole forest goes up in smoke?”

“Exactly.” Mack reached out and helped himself to a plate of food. “Eat up now. As soon as we hear from the boss, we’ll get moving.”

“Moving? Where?”

“The boss has been wanting to meet with some of the changeling groups for a while now,” Mack explained. “Especially one of the Sprites.” His eyes sought out Norah’s again. “Especially Datro’s Sprite.”

A clatter out front signaled that someone was approaching. Norah unconsciously moved closer to Pup, who still kept his arm around her shoulders. He accommodated her by tightening his arm. “What’s wrong?” he whispered. Norah glanced miserably at him without replying.

Mack went around front to greet their visitor, who had arrived on horseback. They could hear murmured snippets of conversation, which grew increasingly louder as Mack and the visitor made their way around the back of the building.

Norah’s eyes widened, and she stood just as the visitor rounded the corner. Adam!

Almost as if he had heard her, the boy turned to look right at her. His jaw dropped, and he took one hesitant step forward. “Norah?” He broke into a grin. “Norah! I don’t believe it! Dad was right—you are a sprite!”

That was the last reaction Norah had expected. “Adam,” she said weakly, trying to smile. “You know?”

Adam, too old for hugs, held out his hand, but rather than shaking Norah’s, he turned it over in his and inspected her webbing. “This is so cool! Dad is going to be so happy to find out you’re still alive.” His chin quivered, as the reality of what he had said caught up to him. His eyes filled with tears and he stared up at her. “You’re alive!”

“Dad?” Pup stood, too, his voice darker than it should have been. “Norah, who is this boy?” But it was obvious. They both had the same dark red hair.

Mack gave a little laugh. “Well, that clears that up. I guess you didn’t know that Datro’s Sprite is also Avery’s granddaughter, did you?”

Pup stiffened, and took a step backward.