"Willow's Missing Tail" 20

Martha hadn’t wanted to leave Perfidia behind but time was growing shorter and they needed every second of it to prepare the room. So she made the decision to go without her, even knowing Daphne wasn’t to be fully trusted.

“This space is amazing Martha; I wasn’t in here for very long the other day but I knew it was special. How did you create this?” Daphne asked as she gawked at the amazing colors of wild flowers and the number of butterflies flitting around her in the meadow.

“I have Willow to thank, which you already know because you used Thistle to enter it,” Martha informed and scolded at the same time.

“I didn’t actually ask that cat to do anything; she led me here and opened the portal. But yes, I took full advantage of it when I found out Avery was in here.”

Martha knew she was being truthful but the problems between her and Avery were misguided; she hoped to find a way to bring them together so they could discover those misunderstandings. “I know you’re upset with Avery but maybe, you should talk to him before you seek that final revenge.”

“Talk to him…Are you kidding? He didn’t talk to me before he ran off with that client and cut me out of everything we’d built together…talk?…No thank you. If I see him, I’ll let Sahara do the talking for me,” she said with a satisfied chuckle.

Martha knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task, getting them into a room and asking them to listen to each other, not without havoc flying.

“Are we almost there?” Daphne asked, sounding like an anxious child on a road trip.

“Almost,” Martha smiled leading her into a grove of cherry trees in full blossom.

Daphne was impressed. “Isn’t it a little late in the season for these trees to bloom?”

“There aren’t any distinct seasons in the meadow; here all seasons exist, as needed.”

“Really, anything can grow here all year round?”

“Yes, anything at all.”

They continued through the meadow’s twisting paths and walked deeper into its farthest land, its primitive roots, but before they stepped onto the path that led into the ancient forest Martha stopped walking. She stood under a wizened, old, vine covered tree and turned to Daphne.

Daphne’s eyes were darting all around, taking in the rare plants, the colorful birds and butterflies, and all the tall, towering trees above the lush groundcover. The meadow was a place of natural beauty and because she was looking all around instead of ahead, she almost walked into Martha’s back. She stopped just in time. 

“Why are we stopping here?” She asked looking up at a very tall, very old looking tree. It was covered in thick vines that kind of looked like braids hanging down from its top. “Is this the spot?”

“No, I need to go further, but you'll have to wait here for me.”

“Why can’t I go with you?”

“It’s the forest; it decides who can enter and it decided you can’t.”

“I don’t understand; why can’t I?”

Martha shrugged. “I’m not sure but it’s probably that you lack a required virtue.”

“Which virtue…?”

“You’d have to ask the forest guard that question.” Martha said before walking on without her.

“Wait…where do I find this forest guard?” Daphne yelled to Martha but she didn’t respond and kept on walking.

“I am here,” said a deep, growling voice from above.

Daphne looked up, way up - way, way up - to the top of the tree. Its crown was bending forward and two large burls near the top blinked at her like eyes; they were positioned symmetrically like eyes too. Even weirder, a part of the bark, lower then those burl eyes, formed shapes like a mouth moving, and it spoke again. “What is your question?” the growling voice asked.

 “Why can’t I go with Martha?” Daphne yelled, thinking she had to for the way up there tree to hear her.

“You do not have to yell,” the tree informed, “You are not worthy to proceed.” It stated the reason succinctly.

“Why am I not worthy?”

“What is in your heart? The gravelly voice asked.

“Oh the usual, aorta, auricle, pulmonary artery,”” she recited with a giggle.

The tree was not amused and shook a waterfall of loose leaves down upon her, enough to cover her up to her knees.

“Hey, I was joking.” She kicked at the leaves.

“It is not your physical heart that weighs your worth; it is what your heart seeks. What do you seek here?”

Daphne frowned and continued to kick at the pile of leaves around her as answered. “I seek to follow Martha, nothing more,” she said in a soft voice, but it was weak in truth and the tree knew it. A deep rumbling shook the ground beneath her and she looked up in fear the tree was falling but she realized, the tree guard was laughing at her. ‘It’s not funny,” she yelled.

The tree stopped rumbling and the deep voice spoke again. “You cannot hide your intentions here; you wish to seek revenge; your mission here is vengeance.”

“I…no…okay yes, but I deserve revenge. I want Avery to stand before me so I can…” her words trailed off and she shrugged.

“Destroy him?” the voice rumbled.

“No…just his business,” she clarified.

“Your desire deems you unworthy to enter the forest; revenge is not allowed.” The voice declared with finality and the burl eyes and mouth disappeared. The forest guard was gone from the old tree.

Daphne felt the weight of her anger and need for revenge press down on her shoulders; she had to lean against the tree's massive trunk to stay upright. She had every right to her anger and her desire to hurt him in return; didn’t she? The pain of Avery’s betrayal had not gone away, not with time or distance. She needed to seek recompense for that pain. What did that tree think she was supposed to do? Was she just supposed to forgive him? Was that it? How do you forgive someone for so vile an act? He’d betrayed and abandoned her and he’d left without explanation….or a goodbye.

Daphne slowly sunk down the trunk to sit with her back against the tree, mulling over her anger and the tree’s assessment of her worthiness.

*

Martha stood at the entrance to the primeval land waiting for an invitation to enter.

A rare, nearly extinct bird, a Stresemann’s Bristlefront, flew down from the tree cover to perch on a nearby umbrella tree, also called dragon’s blood tree, and scientifically known as Dracaena cinnabari.

Martha watched the bird and it watched her for several seconds. Then the small bird nodded its tiny head and flew off into the forest.

She’d just been invited to follow.

Martha now entered the deepest part of her meadow, stepping into the lands forbidden to all but the invited and breathed in the dank, musty air of time.

She stood amid thick roots that tunneled deep into the earth and spoke to the forest, telling it of her need to cure the sibling rivalry, making the request for the repression of magic from sunset to sunrise. She waited for a response and she didn’t have to wait long.

A small raptor, a Hawaiian hawk, also called an Io, flew regally towards her. It held in its beak a talisman. The hawk circled around her once then dropped the object at her feet before it disappeared back into the thick tree cover of the forest.

“Thank you,” Martha called out then bent down to pick up the small branch that she knew was from a time honored tree that lived in the forest.

She held it with reverence as she made her way out of the forest.

*

Daphne had had some time to reflect on her state of anger at Avery and her ability to forgive him. She’d concluded she didn’t know how to forget or forgive. It was a quandary for her because she wanted to be worthy of entry to that forest, but it required a kinder heart, something she didn’t currently have.

Martha found her sitting on a pile of leaves under the tree guardian and by her expression, she knew she’d undergone a bit of a transformation; not a revelation as yet, but there was a light of hope that hadn’t been there before.

Martha smiled and held up the small branch. “I’ve got the permission we need so we can go back and prepare the room.”

Daphne blinked at Martha; she’d forgotten she was waiting for her. She stood up and brushed off the clinging leaves from her clothes and scolded, “It’s about time.” But hearing her voice she sighed and softened, “I’m sorry; I’m glad you got what you need and now we can go help those cats.” She stepped away from the tree but snuck a peek at that tree’s top but the guardian was gone. She shrugged and walked over to Martha and then they walked from the meadow, back to Perfidia’s.

*

Perfidia and Chaos were escorted by Avery into what Perfidia could only describe as a terrarium room. The high ceiling was a dome of glass and in every corner and space grew magnificent plants and in the middle of this lushness, was a circle of couches and chairs positioned around a circular glass table. It was a paradise of plants and Perfidia wanted to build a room just like it in her home.

“Wow Avery, you surprise me; I didn’t know you cared about exotic and rare plants.”

“I do and I’m trying to preserve some of the endangered species, as are you.”

“You know about my plants?”

“I research everything about a person when I’m on a case.”

“Right; I was a havoc victim, got it,” she smirked and sat down on one of the white club chairs in the room just as her cell phone pinged. She looked at the message and held up her hand to stop Avery from speaking while she read the text. It was from Jon, he was confirming their date. She took a deep breath and texted him that plans had changed and invited him to her house for dinner instead. When she sent the text off she felt a shiver of regret. She put down her phone and looked back at Avery, “Okay, what were you going to say?”

“I was going to admit the research on you was for my job, but that’s not to say I didn’t find your talent and hobby interesting,” he said with a smile as he sat down on a long white couch across from her.

Chaos had settled on the arm of Perfidia’s chair and watched Avery with suspicious eyes but Perfidia was softened by the compliment.

“Thank you…and I get why you’re here, watching Daphne. I don’t blame you but once again you neglected to ask the owner for permission.”

“Perfidia, I couldn’t seek you out for that; Daphne is staying in your home.”

Perfidia hadn’t considered that. “Okay, point taken, and I’ll give you permission to camp here. Is that why you asked me in?”

“Not the only reason,” he said and nodded to the one glass wall in the room that framed her garden and her house in its glass dimensions. “I noticed Martha walking with Daphne a little earlier; I want to know why and where they were going? Are they friends now? Are you or Martha helping Daphne in her plan to ruin me?” The register of his voice dropped deeper and darker with each question and because of his tone, Max felt it necessary to enter the room and settle at his human’s side.

Perfidia stroked Chaos’s fur and shook her head. “No to all the above, but you are the reason for the collaboration.”

“Explain, please,” Avery asked with a professional politeness. Max jumped up on the couch to sit next to him.

Perfidia lifted her hand from Chaos and leaned forward as she accuse, “You found Thistle and you didn’t warn Martha. You know the cat is a big problem for Willow. So we’re all seeking a remedy to cure the cats of the rival instinct.”

“I see,” Avery sat back, his eyes narrowed with interest as he mulled over the information, “so, you’re using your house and a room within it, devoid of magic, for the cats to confront that instinct?”

“How do you know the remedy?”

“Perfidia, I have Max,” he nodded to the cat, “he is a familiar so that book had once been housed with me; of course I read it cover to cover.”

“You read that entire book? What did it take you a year?”

Avery laughed, “A weekend.”

“A weekend; I don’t believe you.”

“It was very interesting, trust me, you should read it all the way through too. But back to the subject, where did Martha go with Daphne? She wouldn’t take her to seek approval for repressing ancient magic, would she?”

Perfidia made a sour face. “I think she did; they were supposed to wait for me but they didn’t. If you saw them walking together…I assume that’s where they went.”

“But that would mean there’s an entrance to Martha’s meadow from your garden.”

“Maybe,” Perfidia shrugged.

“Obviously there is,” he smirked, “and I don’t agree with her taking Daphne along either but, having the remedy in your house gives me a plan to rid myself of Daphne’s stalking me, once and for all. I’ll be able to confront her while the magic is suppressed. I need you to invite me to the party,” he said with a smile that could only be described as wicked.

“Invite you?”

“Please.”

“Okay you’re invited but you should know, there’ll only be one room devoid of magic and the cats will be using that one.”

Avery laughed, “You didn’t read the fine print did you…on the remedy page?”

“What fine print; I didn’t see any.”

“In fairness, you’d need a high power magnifying glass, which of course I have, to read it.”

“What does it say?”

“That the room will be devoid of magic but also any wall or structure attached to said room will also be drained of power, from sunrise to sunset.”

“My entire house will be under cancel magic?”

“And garden, by way of the ground being connected,” he told her.

Perfidia eyes widened as she considered his words. “You’re kidding,” she whispered. She’d invited Jon because she was sure she could protect herself from any confronting feelings with a bubble of resistance but now, she’d have no defense.

“No, I’m not,” Avery said as he stood up and then he nodded towards the glass wall. “You need to go now; I see Daphne and Martha are heading back to your house.”

Perfidia looked out the glass wall and knew he was right; she and Chaos needed to leave.

“I’ll see you at sunset,” Avery said with a conspiratorial wink as Perfdia and Chaos walked out of his hidden home, and before he disappeared back into the nothingness behind the invisible door.

 

Perfidia had too many concerns warring for attention as she sprinted in heels, too high for the job, hoping to avoid Martha and Daphne.  They'd made it back to the house with a mere minute to spare.

Perfida and Chaos had just walked into her kitchen as the backdoor opened.