The Veil of the Faeries

Chapter Six

Just before dawn, on Saturday morning, Cailtyn sat in the garden and tried to relax.  On her lap a platter of food lay prepared the way David's mother used to make it.  His offering to the fairies.  Julia and David sat on the veranda and watched as she made herself comfortable and began to speak.

"I know you're here...  All of you....  I know you live in the garden and I also know that you are afraid of us."  She paused waiting for a response.

Nothing moved but an eery quiet settled in and she understood that they were listening.

"You don't need to be afraid."  She continued.

"David is a really nice man and he loves you."  She was silent again but nothing happened.

"My name is Caitlyn Campton.  I live in this cottage with my mother."  She stated pointing at their new home.

"We want to talk with you."

Still nothing.

"Wont you talk to me?  I wont hurt you.  Look I brought food."  She said picking up a piece of cantaloupe and biting into it.

Making sure that they could see her, she consumed the fruit as if it was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten.

There was silence as she gobbled energetically.  It didn't take long before, what appeared to be a firefly, approached.  Caitlyn held out her hand and the tiny creature virtually crash landed.  At first she saw nothing more then a ball of light but in a matter of seconds it dimmed revealing what she waited for.

A tiny girl, about Caitlyn's age, struggled to right herself.  She held onto the teenager's thumb and fought to pull herself up.  In fascination Caitlyn studied her.  She was the size of a large meal worm with brown hair that flowed the entire length of her body.  Her eyes were glowing blue but the most exotic aspect was the color of her skin.  It was snow white with an iridescent under glow that gave it the appearance of fine opal.  The tiny creature wore a dress made from orchids with mustard seed scattered through out her hair.  The seed caught her light circle giving it the look of sparkling gold.

The fairy was exquisite in appearance but her movements were clumsy at best.  She held onto Caitlyn's thumb and attempted to pull herself up but her feet kept tangling around each other causing her to loose her balance over and over again.

Caitlyn giggled as she watched the tiny creature compose herself.  Before long the girl stood and bowed her head.  In the next second a voice irrupted in Caitlyn's own mind.

"What do you want?"  The voice asked.

"Um... cooperation?"  The teenager responded.

In her hand the little fairy let go of her thumb and began an exaggerated pacing.

"Co-operat-ion."  She stated tapping her chin with her fingertip.

"Yes."  Caitlyn responded.

"We want to be friends with you and your people."

In her head the voice became louder with anger.

"You mean you want us to leave?  Well we aren't going!  This is our place!"

"No.  That's not what I mean.  We don't want to hurt you we want to help you."

"Humf..."  The tiny voice grunted.

"Why should we believe you?  Humans can't be trusted."

Caitlyn nodded in agreement before saying,  "Yes that's true some human's can't be trusted but David's family has taken care of your people for a long time and he wants to take care of you as well if you'll let him."