THE PUDDLE PIXIES - CHAPTER 15 - THE SAD PRINCESS

It is a strange but true fact that people who are feeling sad, or are lost, or are in trouble, or just want to go somewhere quiet to think, often find they are drawn to water. So the Puddle Pixies are quite accustomed to finding strangers lingering at the edge of their puddles, and, being friendly folk, they are often able to help, or even just sit awhile and have a little chat.

So it was that one warm Autumn evening, as the trees were glowing red and gold and the reeds were turning dark brown, Daisy Puddle Pixie noticed someone sitting by the side of the Chestnut Puddle, with her chin resting on her hands, sighing deeply. Daisy saw she was wearing a very pretty dress, with silver shoes and a silver headband in her smooth brown hair.

‘Hello,’ she said. ‘My name is Daisy Puddle Pixie. Can I help you? Are you lost?’ The young Pixie looked up, startled. She got to her feet to run off, but seeing that Daisy had a very kind face, and was actually about the same age as herself, sat down again on the bank. ‘I don’t know if you can help me’ she replied. ‘I can’t remember my name, and I can’t remember how I got here, so unless you recognise me, I am afraid you cannot help’ And with that, she burst into tears. She reached into her pocket for her handkerchief and blew her nose loudly.

‘Oh dear’ said Daisy, sympathetically. ‘I am sorry to hear that. I am afraid I don’t think I have ever seen you before. But I see you have the letter ‘E’ embroidered on your hanky, so that must be the initial of your name. Let’s see if I can guess what it is’. And she began to name all the names she could think of beginning with ‘E’.
‘Elizabeth, Elsie, Eleanor….’
The lost Pixie shook her head.
‘Eloise, Estelle, Emma…’
Still the Pixie shook her head.

‘They don’t ring any bells with me’ she said ‘But I do like the name Emma’. ‘Then I shall call you Emma for now, until we find out who you really are’ said Daisy, and she took Emma by the hand and brought her home with her, for it was beginning to get a little chilly, and would soon be dark. Daisy’s Mum and Dad welcomed Emma to their little house behind the grassy bank, and after a lovely supper and a warm bath, she was tucked up in the spare bed in Daisy’s room.

The two girls spent the next few days together, playing on the bank and chatting endlessly into the night. Daisy told Emma all about her life, and introduced her to all her friends, who soon grew to love her, because she was as kind and thoughtful a pixie as anyone could ask for, always helpful and ready to lend a hand. But often she would sigh deeply, and look very sad indeed, although she tried not to show her true feelings to her new friends, who had cared for her with such love; and every evening, she would go off on her own to the puddle and sit looking at the water for a while, hoping to find her lost memory in its dark depths.

Nearly a week after they had met, Emma still had not remembered anything of her past life, and was beginning to wonder if she would ever find out who she was and where she had come from. But she was beginning to get a little less sad as time went on, for she knew she was loved and cared for. That evening, she went off for one of her quiet times by the Chestnut Puddle. As she sat, staring into the water and trying to remember something – anything, she heard a little mewing sound. Looking up, there was a pixie cat, clinging on to a branch of the little tree growing nearby.

‘Help me please,’ cried the little kitten, (for all Pixie animals can be understood by any Pixie) : ‘I chased a bird up this tree and now I am stuck.’ ‘Don’t move’ said Emma, and with no further ado she started climbing the tree, until she reached the frightened kitten, and took it safely in her arms. But all of a sudden there was a loud CRACK, the branch broke away from the tree and down tumbled Emma, still clutching the little cat. She banged her head on a stone as they fell, but seemed to be quite unhurt otherwise, and the cat was just a little shaken.

Daisy had been on her way to the Puddle to look for her friend when all this happened, and saw everything. As she ran over to the tree, Emma sat up, rubbing her head, watched by the kitten. ‘Are you ok Emma?’ said Daisy anxiously. ‘I think so – but my name is Princess ESMERALDA!’ she replied. ‘No wonder I was happy for you to call me Emma, for that is what my friends call me!’ I can remember everything about myself now. It must have been the fall!’

Emma and Daisy lost no time in running home to tell Daisy’s parents the wonderful news. Mum put some magic cream on the bump on Emma’s forehead, and they all sat round the kitchen table each with a cup of herbal tea, the little cat enjoying a saucer of butterfly milk under Mum’s chair, listening attentively to Emma’s tale:

‘I am Pixie Princess Esmeralda, and my parents are Jershom and Caroline, King and Queen of the Pixies. One day I was feeling very sad because my best friend in all the world had moved far away to another land with his family, and I thought I would never be happy again. I went for a walk on my own, and found myself in the Dark Forest over the Faraway Hill. I couldn’t see which way to go to get back home, and I was stumbling this way and that, trying to find a path through the trees, when suddenly a rabbit jumped out of a hole and tripped me up! I must have banged my head, for the next thing I can remember is meeting you on the Puddle bank.’

The Puddle Pixie family was astonished to hear this story, and they all stood up and began to bow and curtsey to the Princess, who laughed, and told them not to be silly because now they were part of her family, and Daisy was her bestest friend in the whole world.

At that moment, they heard the clickety-clack of horses hooves riding as fast as the wind over the hill; then there was the sound of a trumpet. All the Puddle Pixies rushed out of their houses to see what the commotion was, and they saw the Royal Herald on his Pixie Pony, about to read a very important looking scroll.

‘Hear this, all you Pixies’ he cried. ‘The King and Queen of the Pixies are offering a reward for any information about the whereabouts of their daughter the Princess Esmeralda….’

He stopped in mid sentence, jumped off the pony’s back and bowed low before Emma. ‘Your Royal Pixie Highness’ he said ‘It is so good to see you. Your parents have been so worried. You must return with me to the palace at once.’ Emma kissed her friends, and the herald helped her on to the pony. He jumped on behind her, and holding tightly to his precious Princess, they galloped away as fast as the wind. The Pixies watched and waved until they were out of sight.

Daisy was sad to see her friend leave, but happy to know that she was going home to her family.

Next day, they were just clearing the breakfast dishes, when once again they heard a commotion, and knew it was the arrival of the Royal Pixie herald. When they went outside, they saw not only the herald on his smart pony, but also a beautiful crystal coach, drawn by black and white spotted pixie ponies wearing white plumes which sparkled with stardust as they tossed their heads. Inside, sat the Pixie King and Queen and Princess Esmeralda. They all got out and walked over to the Puddle Pixie family.
The King held out his hand to them, and said:

‘We can never thank you enough for taking care of our beloved child. From this day forward you will have the titles of Lord and Ladies of Far Pixiedom, and you will be known throughout the land as Friends of the King and Queen.’

With that, he waved his bejewelled hand, and a shower of stars flew from his fingers and surrounded the Pixie family and their little house. The light from this magical milky way had made them shut their eyes against the brightness, and when they opened them, they saw that they were wearing smart new clothes, and their little house and everything in it had been painted from top to bottom! Even the little cat, which by now had decided to live with the family, and had been given the name Merlin, after a distinguished old friend of the Pixies, was wearing a smart collar made of the finest silver fabric.

Then the King said : ‘Also, your larder will never be empty, and this house will always be full of happiness’

Daisy clapped her hands with joy, and said to the King and Queen; ‘This is wonderful, but you really did not need to do all this for us. We were happy to look after Emma, for she is truly a good and gentle Pixie, and we would have loved her whoever she turned out to be’.

Before the royal party eventually returned home to the Palace, the Queen, having made sure that it was alright with Daisy’s Mum, promised that every holiday she would send her carriage to fetch Daisy to stay for a week at the royal residence, and in between times, the girls could keep in touch by special Royal Pixie Pigeon Post.

And so the two girls remained friends. Every holiday Daisy spent happy days at the Pixie Palace, and Emma loved to visit the family at the Chestnut Puddle whenever she could.

Even when the day came that Emma married a handsome Pixie Prince, and Daisy her jolly Puddle Pixie beau, the girls kept in touch for the rest of their long and happy lives, for true love and friendship last for ever.