THE PUDDLE PIXIES - CHAPTER 12 - LUCKY PIXIE LEPRECHAUN

Jamie was a rather unusual Puddle Pixie. Her Mum Karrie and her Dad Taran were both Puddle Pixies, as was Katie, her little sister. They lived in a lovely house near the Orchard Puddle.

However, Jamie’s Birth Father Duggan was a Leprechaun. He had gone away not long after Jamie was born, for the Leprechauns are restless folk, always on the lookout for crocks of gold at the end of rainbows; which is how he came to be in New Puddlington, where he met Karrie and they fell in love. Now, as I have said, this was quite unusual, and had come about because that Spring the March winds were particularly fierce, and one day a huge gust swept through the Puddle Pixie store-room, and blew a little cloud of magic Pixie dust out of the cupboard. It WHOOSHED through the open window, and one of the tiny sparkly specks got into Karrie’s eye.

At that very moment, a boatload of jolly leprechauns paddled into the Orchard Puddle, in their search for rainbows, and that same gust of wind blew a little speck of magic dust into the eyes of Duggan, the Captain of the leprechaun boat. He rubbed his eyes, and Karrie rubbed hers. Ching ching!!! Magic bells rang, their eyes met across the puddle and from that moment the pair were in love. When the leprechaun boat sailed away, Duggan stayed behind with Karrie. They set up home together, and soon their happiness was complete with the arrival of baby Jamie-Louise. At first, all was contentment in the little house by the Orchard Puddle.

But, it is in the nature of the leprechauns to want to travel to find their crocks of gold. Much as he loved his family, Duggan could not settle down in one place, and the next time a leprechaun boat appeared on the Puddle, Karrie said gently : `You must go with them my dear, for it is your destiny to be a traveller. You will never be really happy here in New Puddlington. Don’t worry about us, for Jamie-Louise has two Fairy Godmothers, who will always watch over us’.

And so it was, that this time when the leprechaun boat left, Duggan went with them, sad to leave his beloved family, but eager to see new places and face new challenges. In time, the magic Pixie dust faded away until it disappeared from Karrie’s eye, and she met Taran, a fine strong Puddle Pixie from the Field Puddle. They fell in love, and this time Karrie knew it was real true love, for they had not needed the help of magic dust! He loved both Karrie and Jamie-Louise, and they married and set up home together. Soon there was a pretty little sister for Jamie-Louise, called Katie, another beloved god-daughter for the two Fairy Godmothers.

Time passed happily, and the two girls grew up, always watched over by their Fairy Godmothers, Wizzie and Melinda. Over the years, Duggan occasionally came to see his daughter, and was pleased to see her happy and loved.
Now, being half Puddle Pixie and half Leprechaun made Jamie-Louise rather special. Apart from being very beautiful indeed, sometimes her dark eyes would flash and strange things would happen around her. Of course, she was born with a little of the magic dust in her soul, and she began to realise that she could do things that other pixies couldn’t! But the Leprechaun half of her made her restless by nature. She could never settle down to anything, and before she was fully grown she said a sad farewell to her family, packed a little rucksack and set off to seek her fortune.

It was very strange for Katie to be without her sister to talk to, but she was the sort of Pixie who easily made friends with both pixies and animals, and she would often have long conversations with her many pixie pets. As for Karrie and Taran, they would just sigh and shake their heads, saying ‘Ah well, it is in the nature of leprechauns to wander. And her Fairy Godmothers will always watch over her. She will be back one day.’ And indeed, she often came home to tell stories of the interesting places she had seen and the different folk she had met.

‘I always seem to be so lucky’ she said to her Mum when she came home one Christmas. ‘Even when I think I am in trouble, something amazing often happens and I am safe.’ ‘Be that as it may’ said Karrie ‘You must not take your luck for granted. You must always be very careful and not take chances, for one day your luck may run out’. After a very happy holiday spent with her family, Jamie-Louise said goodbye to them all and once again set off to see the world.

Now what Jamie-Louise had not reckoned with was that not ALL folk in the world were good and kind. The Wicked Witches and their naughty friends were always looking for a chance to spoil things for good folk; they were especially keen to upset special people like Jamie-Louise and, unknown to her, had been following her round on her travels looking for an opportunity to capture her and steal her magic; but up til now Jamie-Louise’s own special powers and the watchful eyes of her two Fairy Godmothers had been enough to thwart their mischief.

One day, it happened that Jamie-Louise had sat down for a rest in the middle of a forest. She had just spent some happy weeks with the Pixie Gypsies, but now they had gone off to visit relations in a faraway land, and Jamie was wondering where to go next. To tell the truth, she was beginning to get a bit bored with all this travelling, and was longing for a big hug with her sister and a cup of her Mum’s home-made dandelion tea.

Suddenly, out of no-where, the sky darkened and a mighty wind whipped through the branches of the trees. It began to rain hard, and Jamie-Louise looked round for shelter. She heard a voice calling : ‘Over here, over here’. Looking round, she saw a pretty young pixie girl, perhaps a little older than herself, beckoning to her from beneath a very ancient oak tree. Jamie-Louise grabbed her bundle of belongings and ran to join the girl. They both sat down inside the hollow trunk of the tree, and Jamie-Louise asked her new companion her name.

To her great surprise, the girl stood up and began to laugh. ‘Don’t you know already? You haven’t guessed?’ she said, her laugh turning into a cackle and her pretty features becoming ugly and scary. ‘I am Cherina, and I am a Wicked Witch. We have long been watching you with your special Pixie-Leprechaun magic, and now we have you!’

Jamie-Louise grabbed her rucksack, and made a dash for the door to the tree. But it had disappeared! She ran round and round, pushing frantically at the wooden sides of the trunk, but it could not be found. The Witch said : ‘You cannot go until me and my sisters set you free. But first we must take your magic powers, which are greater than you know, for there are very few Pixie-Leprechauns in the wide wide world’. Jamie-Louise replied : ‘If that’s true, then I will use my magic to escape.’ And she screwed up her pretty almond eyes and concentrated on the spot where the doorway should be. But it was no use. Nothing happened.

Cherina laughed: ‘I told you so. This is an enchanted oak-tree. It is the only place in the universe where your magic will not work, for it was created before the beginning of time by Hecate the Queen Sorceress to ensure that the Wicked Witches would eventually have power over all folk. She will be here soon to capture your powers for herself’. Jamie-Louise sat back down, head in hands. Then she had a thought. Once
again she screwed up her eyes and concentrated hard.

‘MELINDA, WIZZIE – I NEED YOUR HELP!’

she thought with all her might.

Now the two fairy Godmothers were never very far away from their two beloved children, and they had already been looking for Jamie; one had gone north, and one south, but they both got the message at the same time. It was a very quiet little voice, but they both heard it. ‘Jamie-Louise!’ they both exclaimed, and with a swish of their beautiful wings and a wave of their magic silver wands, they were both soon standing in front of the enchanted oak-tree. ‘Jamie-Louise, Jamie-Louise’ they called. ‘Are you ok?’

Jamie-Louise heard their voices, but they seemed to come from very far away. In order not to alert the Wicked Witch, she took a deep breath, and thought her special thoughts, telling her Fairy Godmothers what had happened. At that very moment, the skies darkened, lightning flashed and Hecate Queen of the Witches appeared before Jamie-Louise, lighting up the interior of the oak tree with sparks of fire from her black and red robes and the pointed crown on her head.

Cherina bowed low, saying: ‘You see, Your Royal Wicked Witchness, I have brought you the greatest prize of all – a Pixie-Leprechaun.’ The Queen turned slowly to look at the frightened Pixie. ‘Come here my lucky pixie-leprechaun, let me look at you’,
she said, a scary smile on her lips.

Jamie-Louise moved away, her back against the wall. She was very afraid, but said defiantly:‘You won’t get me, for I am loved and cared for by the two best Fairy Godmothers in the world, and they will set me free’. Hecate laughed. ‘Ha! I know all about those ninnies. I have more magic in one little finger than they have ever had in their lives. There is NOTHING they can do. NOTHING! Again came the evil laugh.
At that very moment, there was a flash of pure silver light, and Melinda and Wizzie appeared in the chamber. Both waved their magic wands, and said a magic spell:

‘COME MAGIC SPELLS FROM ALL GOOD FOLK
BREAK DOWN THIS EVIL WALL
COME THOSE WHO LOVE THIS PIXIE BEST
PROVE LOVE SHALL CONQUER ALL!’

And suddenly the room was filled with people; there was Karrie and Taran, Katie and all Jamie’s family and friends who loved her; in fact there were so many people there that the tree stretched and stretched and STRETCHED until it BURST BANG CRASH!!

Jamie-Louise felt herself flying through the air until she landed in a pair of strong arms – it was her Father, Duggan the Leprechaun, whose love for his child had drawn him to this place. ‘Father – you came too!’ Jamie said. ‘Of course, I could not stay away! replied Duggan. Then Jamies’ beautiful almond shaped eyes blinked in wonder as she saw the crowds of people who loved her stretching far into the forest.

As Duggan gently set Jamie down, there came a flash of light, and there before them stood Hecate, looking rather angry. ‘You cannot take my prize away, for my magic is the most powerful in the universe’ she said, and raising her arm pointed a spiky finger at the little family. She began to shriek :

‘COME WITCHES ALL
AND DEMONS TOO……’

The rest of the wicked spell was cut short as the two fairy godmothers stepped forward and raised their sparkling wands. Their sweet clear voices could clearly be heard ringing through the forest :

‘COME PIXIES, FAIRIES, ANGELS TOO
SHOW THE WITCH WHAT LOVE CAN DO!
SAVE JAMIE FROM HER CRUEL FATE
THE POWER OF LOVE CAN VANQUISH HATE!’

As they chanted this special spell over and over again, the crowd behind them joined in and began to move towards Hecate. Her light grew dimmer and weaker, until she was just a grey shadow, and then, finally, just a puff of dark smoke, which began to drift slowly upwards.

They could just hear her angry voice screaming : ‘Don’t think this is the last you have heard of me, Melinda and Wizzie. For I SHALL have the Pixie-Leprechaun’s magic! I SHALL!’ Then she was gone, and once again sunlight returned to the forest.

A loud cheer went up from the crowd, as Duggan led his daughter over
to where her Mum and Dad and sister Katie were waiting. Jamie ran over to them, and her Dad Taran swept her up in his strong arms and kissed her on both cheeks, tears of joy running down his face. ‘My darling child’ he said. ‘I feared we had lost you’.

Duggan stepped forward. He shook Taran warmly by the hand , saying: ‘You are the best Dad Jamie-Louise could wish for. You have loved and cared for her all her life, and I know she will always be safe and happy with you. Now I must be on my way’. He followed the crowd of well-wishers, who were beginning to move away from the old oak tree, going their own separate ways back to their homes.

The family and the two Fairy Godmothers waved until he was out of sight. Jamie-Louise was a little sad to see him go, but happy now that she knew he loved her enough to be there when she really needed him. And she knew for sure now that Taran was the best Dad ever, and that very many folk loved her dearly.

The two Godmothers kissed Katie and Jamie, and disappeared in a cloud of stardust.

The little family walked back to their cottage together, holding each other tightly by the hand and Jamie-Louise vowed that never again would she stray too far away from home!