September

"Not all those who wander are lost."

JRR Tolkien "The Fellowship of the Ring"

I

Monarchs go through a cycle of four generations throughout the year. The first generation hatches in March and April from eggs laid by the last generation of the cycle. They are born caterpillars who will feed mostly on milkweed for two weeks. Then they attach themselves to a stem or a leaf to prepare for metamorphosis. After ten days the caterpillars have transformed into butterflies. They have two to six weeks left to lay eggs for the second generation before they die. The second generation of butterflies are born in May and June, the third generation in July and August.

The fourth generation is born in September and October and goes through exactly the same process as the first three generations. Except, they don't die after two to six weeks. The fourth generation of Monarchs migrates to the warmer climates of Mexico and California and lives for six to eight months until it's time to start the whole process over again.

Daniel's Monarchs had placed eggs for the fourth generation. Soon the butterfly garden was crawling with the yellow, white and black striped caterpillars who munched on the milkweed. Daniel spent hours watching them with and without a magnifying glass. He took pictures of them and looked up anything he could find about Monarchs on the internet.

Jack was pointed to some of the websites Daniel looked up and dutifully read some of the articles, too. He didn't mind. It was great to see the kid engrossed in a new hobby that chased away some of the gloom and grief.

Still, Daniel would sit by his watch post in the evening hours. Still he would take strolls around the woods, visiting all the known favorite spots of the horse.

Daniel watered and took care of his butterfly garden and they had an exciting time watching as the caterpillars started building the cocoons around themselves while the trees changed color and Indian summer made the woods appear like a blanket of red and golden fire while it was still warm.

Every day in the ten days it took the caterpillars to become butterflies Daniel went out to observe their progress. As though he could make them crawl out of their cocoons faster by sheer will.

One morning when Jack was on the porch with a cup of coffee in his hand, looking across the pond, Daniel came dashing around the house. "Jack! The cocoons!" And with that he was gone again.

Jack placed his coffee on the porch's banister and followed Daniel, affected by the youngster's excitement. They crouched by the milkweed bush that had grown a great deal over the last couple of weeks and watched the tiny cocoons as they slowly opened and the tawny orange wings unfolded from them, already perfectly lined with black and dotted with the white spots. They didn't mind the humans watching, probably didn't even notice their presence. Gracefully they spread their delicate wings and fluttered away – only to make their next stop to feed on the picnic area Daniel and Jack had created for them.

Daniel brushed an errant strand of hair out of his face. He hadn't tied it back yet and Jack wondered briefly if he'd even combed before he'd gone to visit his caterpillars this morning. Probably not. And who'd want to miss the butterflies leaving the cocoons over something negligible like bed messy hair?

Suddenly Daniel's head snapped away from the butterflies and he stared at Jack with saucer-big eyes. "The horse," he breathed.

Jack shot to his feet so abruptly, it disturbed some of the Monarchs. They flared up, circled over the garden and then settled down again elsewhere. "What?! Where?"

"She was different," Daniel murmured, gazing open mouthed at the butterflies. "I know why. I didn't understand. But I do now."

Jack opened his mouth to ask what the heck Daniel was talking about, but the words never made it across his lips. Instead he reached down and tapped the boy's shoulder. Daniel was still crouched by the cocoons where even more butterflies were emerging.

"Daniel." Jack said, his mouth suddenly dry, his eyes fixed on the tree line. From the corner by the shed, where he was standing, he could only see a small section of the worn path and the fenced pasture, with its always open gate, stretching out to the trees.

Jack's fingers curled into Daniel's shirt and literally pulled him to his feet. "Tell me I'm not hallucinating."

They stood, rooted to the spot, for a moment longer. Then Daniel's whole body began to tremble. He took a step, then another, and another... and then he was by the fence, ducked under it and crossed the pasture with long strides, but not running.

Jack followed, dumbfounded, praying it wasn't a hallucination; that it wouldn't burst like a bubble and break Daniel's heart all over again.

She came trotting down the path like any other day, the sunlight catching in her mane, turning it into molten gold. Her creamy coat was shaggy and needed a good brushing and cleaning, but she wasn't lame and looked healthy enough. Lost some weight, needed a bit of fattening up.

Jack's knees felt slightly wobbly as he watched Daniel approach her, almost sure she'd vanish into thin air the moment Daniel's fingertips touched her broad head.

She sniggered; a dark and welcoming sound – Daniel probably associated it with a safe and warm place - and put her head on the boy's shoulder. Allowed him to wrap his arms around her neck, to bury his face into her mane.

But, Jack thought in his state of shock, there's something wrong with her. She's got eight legs now... Of course, that was crap. Horses didn't grow four more legs.

Shaking himself out of it, he blinked and noticed a second tail; a much smaller one. When he lowered his eyes, he saw a long neck and a small head peering out from underneath the horse's belly.

Hadn't he just thought the horse lost weight? And hadn't she gotten a bit fat over the last few weeks before she'd left? Hadn't he read about wild horses leaving the herd to give birth? Jack's head was still spinning as he reached the happy reunion.

Daniel had let go of her now and was on his knees in the grass, gazing in wonder at the foal; a palomino like its mother. It was a miniature edition of her. Except for the white almost star shaped blaze on the forehead.

When mommy didn't show any signs of alarm, Junior got curious and rounded its mother on spindly legs. It stretched its neck and head to sniff Daniel's hair. Then it snuffled his face like a dog and Jack bit back a laugh.

Daniel held up his hands and let the foal mouth them. Then he gently cupped its small head and brushed his fingertips over its flat cheekbones. The foal started nibbling happily on Daniel's shirt.

Mother horse tousled Daniel's long hair tenderly with her lips and then swung around to Jack and shoved her big nose into his chest in a friendly 'Hey, I'm home, do I get a welcome treat or what?' manner.

Jack snorted, playfully pulled one of her ears and rubbed her neck. His other hand reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a couple of slightly mushed woodland horsetreats. Yep, he was still carrying horse treats around with him, even after three months – just in case. Daniel hadn't been the only one trying to keep his hopes up.

"Welcome home, Mom," Jack said, enjoying the familiar warmth of her breath and even the slobber on his palm when she took the treat and used her tongue to get all the crumbs, too.

She let out a low rumbling sound Jack took as a 'Thank you'. Or maybe it was 'more' because she started to paw the ground and tried to get into his pockets, which was a lost cause with that big nose.

"She's hungry," Daniel said softly, still cuddling with the mini-horse.

"Then let's feed her." Jack patted her neck and feigned a coughing fit at the emerging dust cloud. "That horse needs a washing and a serious grooming," he decided.

"She loves being washed," Daniel agreed and untangled himself from Junior.

"You get her food, I get the hose," Jack ordered, then wagged a finger at the horse. "You stay here, Missy. No more wandering off."

Daniel grinned at that. "She won't. They're home now, Jack."

"I should put them behind that fence," Jack grumbled as they went to take care of things.

He had some decisions to make regarding Mom and Junior. He just didn't know if it would go over well with them. And Daniel. Jack wasn't prepared to go through another three months like that again. And he sure didn't want anything to happen to the new member of their family. Mom would protect her baby as well as she could, but it might not be good enough. And Jack had to consider the townspeople not wanting to put up with another semi wild horse in the area.

But for now they took action by feeding and watering her while Junior docked himself onto the milk bar and took his fill. Jack put an arm around his kid's shoulders as they watched this and Daniel let out a contented sigh.

"How about a name for junior, eh?" Jack asked. "We can't just call him Junior."

"No. He's not a prim'ta," Daniel agreed, grimacing. He chewed his lower lip for a moment, then said. "But if he gets a name, she needs one, too."

"She's used to being called Horse," Jack said.

"You call her Beauty or Missy," Daniel pointed out.

"Now we can call her Mom," Jack suggested.

"So she already has four names," Daniel concluded and Jack shrugged.

A single Monarch fluttered by and chose Junior's croup to land on. Junior's short tail started to swish like a propelling feather duster. The butterfly took offense at that and continued its journey to find another resting place.

Jack thought Prince.

But Daniel said, "Elessar."

"What?" Jack asked, puzzled.

Daniel blushed a little and shuffled his feet.

"What's Elessar mean? Is that some Egyptian name for a king?"

"No."

"What?"

"It's part of Aragorn's name when he gets to be king of Gondor. It means Elfstone."

Jack glowered. "You read ahead! That's against the rules."

They had started "The Two Towers" a while back, but it seemed Daniel was way ahead of Jack.

Daniel nodded. "I had to know about Samwise's pony. And then I just had to read on and on."

"When did you read all that?" Jack couldn't believe it.

Daniel shrugged, but looked sheepish. "At nights." Then he hurried to say, "But we can still read it together. I don't mind. Okay?"

"Elessar? Can't we just call him King? Monarch?" Jack liked simple.

"I like Elessar," Daniel said. "It's beautiful and kingly. Like the foal. It's going to be strong and graceful."

Elessar finished his meal and stalked away from his mother to catch the Monarch who was foolish enough to settle on one of the fence posts. The kingly foal and the butterfly played tag for a while. And even though the Monarch wouldn't let Elessar catch him, the foal's antics were kinda graceful already. Sort of. Getting there.

II

Later Daniel hosed the horse down. At first the foal watched from a distance. When mommy didn't object and, in fact, seemed to enjoy the treatment, Elessar edged closer until a spray of water hit his nose. Shaking his head in surprise, he jumped back. But curiosity won over and soon he would stick his whole head into the shower. Daniel flicked the hose and sprayed the foal quickly, which made him buck and leap-frog in circles.

Graceful it was not. Yet. But fun to watch.

As the day moved on Jack didn't even attempt to pry Daniel away from the horses. Daniel was getting dirtier and dirtier as he brushed and combed, while the mare was turning all shiny under the thorough grooming. The water had gotten rid of a lot of the grime, but there was still enough to cover a 13 year old from head to toe, apparently. The little one was trying to get some attention, too, and Daniel had his hands full to entertain Elessar in between finishing the job on his mom.

Jack left the kids and mommy to their fun and went into the house. He put last touches on the potato salad he had prepared earlier and cooked the sausages.

By the time he was done cooking and Daniel had agreed to come inside long enough to wash himself, horse and son had moved to the pond and she was showing him the small cove at the small side where they could walk into the water and drink or just splash around.

Jack, Daniel and the – still nameless - cat had lunch on the deck as Elessar continued to explore his new home turf.

"I'll do the dishes," Daniel offered, his eyes longingly following the foal as it vanished around the corner of the house, followed by Mom.

"You sure you can stand letting them out of sight that long?" Jack teased. He reached over and ruffled Daniel's hair, which was answered by a scowl, followed by a lopsided grin. "Scoot... I'm taking over KP duty today. Just clear the table. And we have to go see Doc Meyers later. We need worm paste."

Daniel beamed at him and nodded. He grabbed their dirty plates and glasses, and was gone. A moment later Jack heard the front-back door slam.

Doc Meyers was the 'town' vet and a well of advice in anything regarding horses and cats. He was one of the very few people who never berated Jack about putting the horse behind a fence and into a stable. For some reason the old vet seemed to think the way Jack was dealing with the animal was perfectly normal. Meyers gave her her yearly shots – which she only seemed to endure because Daniel actually 'asked her to' and because Daniel talked softly to her when Meyers treated her. Meyers always gave her a once over, nodded his head and muttered, "Well, well, a mighty fine horse you have here, Jack." He wasn't much of a talker just for the sake of talking which suited Jack just fine.

Jack washed the dishes, wiped the counter of the kitchenette clean and went to look after the rest of the gang. Daniel was sitting on the bench by his butterfly garden, the horse peacefully grazing next to him while Elessar was drinking his fill. The Monarchs were still busy feasting on the flowers. They'd stay a couple of more days before they would start their journey to the warmer regions.

And next year, hopefully, they would be back spending the summer here.

Daniel looked up and waved, holding the book in his hand. "Jack!"

Jack sat down next to him and listened to Daniel's quiet voice narrating. "It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass."

And Jack gave a silent 'Amen' to that.

Conversation in the Night

Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We'll wander back and home to bed.
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!"

J R R Tolkien "The Fellowship of the Ring"

"You know, there's some stuff I don't get." Jack tousled her long mane, curling some strands around his fingers, then letting go again.

She looked at him, the moonlight reflecting in her large suave eyes.

"Why did you have to be gone for so long, eh? We missed ya. The kid..." Jack had to clear his throat because all of a sudden he found it hard to speak. "Daniel almost got lost again," he finally whispered. He got hold of her head and turned it to him. "Don't do that again. Don't leave us again." He leaned forward until their foreheads touched and breathed in the scent of her; the earth, the sun, fresh cut grass. Apparently Daniel wasn't the only one finding analogies.

He could only guess she had sensed the storm and thought it better to leave. Then the fires had maybe driven her further away and she had given birth somewhere she felt safe. Then of course she had to wait until the little one was fit to make the journey back from wherever they had been.

Daniel had shared Jack's musings on this, but none of that they'd ever know for sure.

She snorted softly and took a step away, looking after Elessar who was close by, mouthing at a tuft of weed.

"You have to stay around," Jack said, part of him still rolling his eyes about the fact that he was reasoning with a horse, for cryin' out loud. But he had been talking to her for years now and sometimes he believed she understood. She surely understood everything Daniel was telling her. "You have to take care of that little one. Keep him close to the house where he's safe."

Elessar got bored with the weed and squeezed between them, trying to stick his nose under Jack's shirt. Mom gently, but firmly, pushed her child aside. Giving Jack a low snigger she nudged Elessar forward and then walked past him.

"Beddy bye, kiddo," Jack grinned as he watched the foal follow its mother.

He was about to turn in for the night as well, when he noticed Mom guiding Elessar to the shelter at the back of the pasture. When the foal was inside, Mom turned and gave Jack a long look.

We are home, it said, and here we'll stay.

Fin