Her Magic Escape

The Caravan

She was amazed. She was scared. Most of all, she was excited.

The caravan in front of her was no runaway’s hiding hole. It was a full entourage for fantasy though. She could see elves and dwarves and a harpy. From the looks of them, they were traveling entertainers and gypsies. The boy carefully guided her to the wagon at the front of the crescent line.

An elf came out of the wagon, and looked down at her with surprise. He had long, messy brown hair, partially bound back with ribbons. His arms were covered with a light mesh fabric, and a cut-off top barely held them in place. “Good evening, miss.” His voice and movements were that of royalty.

The boy stepped forward. “Tahltae, I found her in the water, but her clothes are wet, and she’s really nice, but I don’t think she’s from around here, so maybe we can lend her some clothes?”

Tahltae’s eyebrows went up at the boy’s outburst. His mouth twitched up at the sides in what might be called a smile. He once more turned to the girl.

“My name is Tahltae, and these are my people. You are more than welcome to borrow some clothes, and help yourself to our food. Where do you live, miss…?”  The girl started as she realized he was waiting for an answer. “My name is… Hannah. I - I’m not going home. Ever.”

Without thinking, she gently touched the bruises on her arm where her father had banged her up against a wall. Too late she saw Tahltae’s eyes dart to the bruises. His eyes softened.

“You are welcome here, Hannah. You are not the first one here who has such a past. It’s best to put it behind you now.”

Her eyes filled with tears, but she calmly nodded. Tahltae opened his arms. She ran into them and cried. Her tears slowly stopped, leaving Hannah exhausted. Tahltae turned to the boy. “You can share your wagon with her. Lend her some clothes for now. When she wakes up, get her food and bring her back to me.”

Hannah’s memories of what happened next were fuzzy. The next thing she remembered was waking up early the next morning. A quick look around revealed a very messy, small room. The floor was layered with clothing and random objects. The room itself was tilted slightly, causing her hammock to brush the wall.  After several tries, she fell out of the hammock.

The door at the other end of the room slammed open. In came the boy from the day before. His eyes were locked on the floor. “Are you okay?”

Hannah looked up and smiled. “Never been in a hammock before. Never tried to get out of one either.” They both laughed. The boy mumbled something. “What did you say?”

“I said that I’m sorry I didn’t tell you my name. Michael.”

“I’m Hannah. Can I call you Mikey?”

His face twisted in disgust. “Only if I can call you Hannie!”

Silence…

“Um… “ Michael looked around and blushed at the mess. “Oh, right! Food. Are you hungry?” Hannah eagerly nodded. She thought back to the last time she ate. Breakfast, yesterday morning maybe? The both left the room.

Outside, she took a look around. The camp seemed to be packing up. As soon as they were out of Michael’s wagon, a man hooked horses onto its front, and led them to the line along the road. Around the dying campfire were kids and a couple of elders. Each had a container full of food, or in the process of emptying their full containers into their stomachs.

Hannah and Michael walked over to a crate, which held an assortment of containers. Cups, bowls, saucers, flagons, teacups, pots, and more.

Michael grabbed a chipped green bowl off of the pile. “Just grab one you want to eat out of. When we’re done, we put them in the crate over there.”  He pointed to a crate on the other side of the fire. Hannah hesitated, but pulled out a cracked teacup with half of a handle. Michael took it from her, and filled it up with a soup that was hanging over the embers. It was plain food, but there was a lot.

Hannah couldn’t believe that she was allowed to eat her fill. Her mother always said that if she ate more than a cupful, Hannah would get fat and ugly and no one would like her. She asked Michael if they would let her stay anyways.

“Your mother seems to be confused, miss Hannah.”  They turned around to see Tahltae leaning on a staff. “You won’t get fat from eating more than that. If you were to eat fifteen bowls, yes, but who wants to eat that much?” He gently patted her head. “I don’t think a sweet girl like you could ever be ugly.” Hannah bit her lip and nodded slowly.

Michael jumped up angry. “What’d you just say to her! Take it back! Why’d you make her cry, you bully!” Shocked, Hannah felt her face. She was crying. Her arms wrapped around Michael before he could take a swing at Tahltae.

“No, Michael, stop! STOP!” He looked up at her. “Tahltae didn’t do something mean. I’m happy! So happy, I’m crying with happiness!”  She laughed and laughed and cried. Suddenly, she found herself sobbing. No one has ever been so nice to her before. Kids at school ignored her, her parents hated her, and she never had a real friend. Here they were kind, and gentle, and gave her food, and… and…

Hannah was being hugged. By a lot of people.

Tahltae, and Michael, and some of the kids, and the elders, and more people. Those who couldn’t hug her put their hand on her arm, her back, wherever they could reach. Concern and care was on every face. The woman with her hand on Hannah’s head, wiped the tears away. “We are here for you, darling. Cry all you want, cuz we’ll be here to hold you up.”