The Jeremy Curst Story part 6

The darkness of the woods is frightening at first but Jeremy Curst is ten and ten-year-olds know there is nothing to be afraid of in the dark. He pushes through the trees and soon it doesn't feel as dark anymore. There is no path to follow but Jeremy feels that it wouldn't matter much in this forest. The trees are tall and stare down at him as if they are his father, disappointed in something he has done. Jeremy lets his mind linger on the thought of his dad. He wonders where his father is and hopes he is okay.
"Ahoy! Ahoy there boy!" Jeremy turns towards the voice. He can't see anyone. "Wait! You are going to walk right into them! Boy! Stop!"
Jeremy does not hear in time. He sees the blackness before he hears the final warning call.
He can hear a voice and the sound of bees. He hears faint shouting. It all sounds so far away. He feels as though he is spinning and falling at the same time. The blackness is only making it worse. He feels sick to his stomach, then nothing.
When Jeremy Curst opens his eyes he is forced to close them again with a moan. The light around him seems so bright. He tries again to open his eyes, very slowly this time. He finds himself tucked in a bed or bench of some sort. There is a small round window next to him and a tatched ceiling hangs low over the room. It smells warm and sweet, like when his mom bakes fresh cookies at home.
He looks around slowly. He doesn't see anyone. Jeremy sits up slowly. His head hurts right above his left eye. He reaches to rub it and feels a soft bandage. He feels with both hands. It is wrapped all the way around his head. He looks for a mirror but doesn't see one in this small room. He notices that there is only one door and it appears that this is the only room in this house. There is a table by a fireplace and two cozy-looking chairs sit near a dusty bookshelf. There is a desk nearby. Jeremy slowly gets up. He is thankful his head has stopped spinning. He wonders if he should leave quickly to be back on his mission or if he should wait and thank whoever has taken such good care of him. Just as he has decided he needs to say thankyou the door bursts open. Jeremy jumps up and almost bumps his head on a beam supporting the ceiling. A girl comes running in, the huge laugh on her face fades slightly when she sees Jeremy staring at her. She slowly turns to pull the door shut. "You are up. My brother will be glad. We were so worried about you."
"Thank you. Where am I?" Jeremy can only stare at the girl's face. She looks like she is around his age. Her face is dusty but very happy. And Jeremy doesn't want to say it, but she is kind of pretty too.
The girl smiles and squirms a little in his stare. "You are on the eastern boarder of Ever Wood. You walked into the black fairies' trap. They are always trying to catch someone, or something. It is like a game to them. The problem is they don't remember to take care of what they catch. We have found hikers and thrillseekers who have been trapped in a net for days. We always try to rescue the ones we can. The black fairies get upset but as long as you know how to bargain with them you can get away with just about anything."
The Black Fairies! Jeremy almost runs out at the mention of them. He is so close to the first task! "The black fairies? Do you know how to get stuff from them?"
"Oh, of course. We have been living at peace with them since before I am able to remember. They are very childish fairies indeed. They seem cunning but the truth is they would just as easily confuse themselves as they would their victim. We have bartered with countless fairies. We always trade with them of course as soon as they have offered whatever it is we need. They liked to take trinkets from our home when we lived in the woods. They didn't do it often while were home but as soon as we would leave they would dare one another to steal the best thing they could from our living quarters. One time a fairy stole every last one of my left shoes. You could hear the fairies laughing for miles over the thought of me having to walk around with one shoe on and one shoe off. My father helped me get them all back. After my parents passed on we moved out of the woods to this hut and have not had as many problems with the fairies since.
Jeremy smiles as the girl rambles on. She must not get to share her stories very often. She is so pleasent to listen to and her stories of the fairies bring a chuckle to his lips. It has been too long since he let a story make him laugh.
"I need to get something from the fairies. Do you think you could help me?"
"I am sure we could think of something. What did they take this time?" the girl asked. Curiousity flooded her mind. Jeremy could see it in her eyes. he didn't know whether he could tell her or not but he decided that honsety would be best in this situation.
"You see I am on a quest from the king. I am suposed to retrieve a feather from the black fairies. The king warned us that they could see the future so I am not sure how to go about getting what I need. I don't even know where to begin as you can tell from my having walked right into their trap."
The girl laughed as Jeremy rubbed his bandaged head. "Let's speak to my brother at dinner and hear what ideas he might have. Then we will help you get your feather from the fairies."
Jeremy was off to a good start. He had the help he would need. He could see that this quest would involve trusting strangers and listening to others who knew more about this strange land than he did. Even at the age of 10 he had learned to listen to wisdom and advice from people who knew what they were talking about. Sometimes even listing to opinions of people who might not really understand could help him make a decision easier than just going off of what he thought or what his gut was telling him to do.