The Green Guardian

Chapter 6: Vitality of the Forest

        "Evie!" Ashlynn broke free from Ms. Julie and hurried to her. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken up." Evie sat up and rubbed the back of her head. Goosebumps prickled on her arms.

Emrys, Amanda, Tate, and Ms. Julie were the next ones to approach her.

Ms. Julie picked up Annabelle. She handed her to Evie.

Annabelle had some dirt on her jacket, and her hair was in snarls. Nevertheless, Evie went ahead and hugged her. "What on earth was that?" she asked Ms. Julie. There was a pit in her stomach. She wanted to cry, but she stopped herself. Rangers didn't cry.

Ms. Julie took her shoulder. "That, my dear, was a taste of the Paperblank Forest's power."

Ashlynn brushed the dirt off Evie's white shirt. "At least you got off easy. I think Mr. Mateo got the worst of it."

Ms. Julie rose to her feet. "Why don't you guys keep her company for a little bit?" she asked the campers. "I need to make sure he's okay."

Evie's head overflowed with questions. "A taste of the Paperblank Forest's power..." Did Ms. Julie mean the pebble was from it? If so, why did it attack her and Mateo? Evie started to feel like the camp was something more than just learning how to be a ranger. She felt like it was destiny for her and Mateo to be together.

Ms. Julie hastily moved toward him.

He rolled around on the dirt, with his hands over his tummy.

"Really? Not even two days in, and you already get hurt? You're even worse than I thought, kid." The voice scared the living daylights out of the young man.

Mateo's eyes snapped open. He removed his hands from his abdomen and sat up. "Who's there?"

It was the shadow that flew after him when he left home the other day. To Mateo's surprise, a large figure landed in front of him–a Red-Crowned Crane. White feathers covered the bird's body. He had skinny, olive-green legs and three toes on his feet. His wing secondaries were black. It looked like his tail feathers were the same color, but they were white. However, his cheeks, throat, and neck were black, too. Over his head was a straw hat.

He poked Mateo with his olive-green beak. "I'm with your mother. We need to put you in a bubble," the bird laughed.

Ms. Julie made it to them, followed closely by Evie, Ashlynn, Emrys, Amanda, and Tate.

The children's eyes widened.

"Hold this," the bird said. He took his hat off his head, revealing a miraculous red crown, and set it down on Mateo's. Then, he wrapped the claws of one of his feet around his hand and pulled him up. He used his wing to brush him down.

Ms. Julie smiled at the sight of her old friend. She was also relieved that it didn't look like Mateo was too badly injured.

Evie, Ashlynn, Emrys, Amanda, and Tate stood frozen.

They paid no attention to the whispering trees and Paperblank villagers calling down from their treehouses, "Hey, it's John!"

John the Red-Crowned Crane moved his foot toward Mateo's belly, but he slapped it away.

"What are you doing here, mi amigo?" he asked.

"Ha! Well, funny story. Ya see–"

"Did my mom send you?" Mateo interrupted.

Chuckling nervously, John shrugged. "... Maybe?"