Well hot damn! I was NOT expecting the response this story it getting. I may have to really pay attention writing now. Let me address a few concerns, chapter one has been edited when I wrote it I hadn't panned out what I wanted our nameless heroine to be cursed with so there were a few discrepancies that have now been fixed. Second, I realized that she seems to be in a constant pity party that's totally intentional. I know I have pitied myself for less than being horribly ugly, come on guys! The good news is though that that will get better (Or will it?) so I hope you keep reading! FYI the pic for this story is what our lady looks like to those the curse doesn't affect.
Ch. 4 Goodness Gracious
So thinking about doing something and actually doing were two very different things. I could have taken all day to pack, I could have slowly and meticulously made sure I had hidden valuables, but once that was all done I simply stood at the entrance of my house looking out. It was truly laughable. I had crossed this threshold a millions times, but today It was like looking into the entrance of a dungeon. I had dressed in my most sturdy clothes, tossed on my hooded cape, and packed a traveling pack that now hung from my back. It was nearing midday for god sake!
"What ya doing?" The small voice made me jump a mile, and once my heart had calmed down I looked behind me to the table.
"What! What are you doing here?" I had turned too quickly in surprise and nearly fell, to look at the boy on my table. He looked much cleaner today, like his mother had giving him a good scrubbing. Looking at him now I could tell he was a cute kid. Curly brown hair with a red tint, smiling bright green eyes, when he smiled I could see he was missing a tooth, his face was littered with small freckles, he was dressed in rough looking browns and greens and when he swung his little legs back and forth before jumping down I saw a little gold earring on his right ear.
"I like it here." He said simply walking around me and if inspecting me.
"Well I'm about to leave so…go home…or something." I said pulling my hood down a bit. Kids couldn't see the curse but, it was habit now to hide.
"Yeah right, you've been standing there for an hour, I've been watching! Where are you headed? Huh? Is it somewhere fun? Is there treasure? CAN I GO?" His rapid fire questions made my head dizzy. He bounced on the balls of his shoeless feet with a grin a mile wide. I must have been gaping because he laughed at me.
"He's right you could catch flies!" He then opened his own mouth and let his tongue roll out.
"This is you, this what you look like!" He said before pulling his cheeks and blowing a raspberry at me.
"Where's your mother? I think she'll be missing you." Not blood likely, but it was worth a shot. The kid sobered up immediately and stuck his hands behind his back, head down like I had scolded him.
"Nah, momma won't miss me." He said in such a painful voice I instantly felt bad for him.
"Well…where I'm going is…dangerous so you can't go." I said grasping at straws. When he looked up his eyes were shining like emeralds in the sun.
"I love dangerous!" I felt my eye begin to twitch. Then something in my brain clicked. He had said that 'He' was right about catching flies.
"You know the crow?" I asked and wondered at the mischievous smile that graced his cute face.
"I was wondering when you would catch on to that." He said with a voice that made him seem much older than a kid not yet in the double digits.
"Kid, how old are you?" I asked beginning to feel like I was outmatched here. He held up one finger and tutted.
"One question at a time if you please!" He said giving me a look I would have expected from a scolding teacher with a pinched face.
"That old crow is the bane of my existence!" He then said dramatically. His expressions jumped so violently I was starting to wonder if he was crazy. He held a hand to his chest and one in the air.
"He's always one step ahead of me, and thwarting my plots. Like the day we met, he knew I stole that gem. I swear that bird is clairvoyant." He crossed his arms then and shook his head as if reflecting.
"Right…well that's interesting but I think it's time I go now." I said turning once more to my door. I could feel my stomach once again tie into knots.
"If you can that is." He said behind me in a mocking way. I frowned his way and readjusted my pack.
"No amount of dawdling will change the fact that all you have to do is take one step out the door. The door that no matter how long you wait will not close." He said taking that one step as if to demonstrate how easy it was. Out in the sunlight you could really see the sun catching on his hair, it almost looked like a small halo of reds and gold's around his face.
"See?" He said holding out a small hand my way. The kid was right, it was easy, and I just had to do it. Just in case though, I reached out and took that small hand feeling more vulnerable than I had in weeks.
"So this means I can go right?" He asked excitedly and for the moment I wasn't averted to the idea. I think it could have been anyone, but having someone holding my hand made me feel loads better. I shook my head at the thought, what sort of idiot did that make me? A grown woman who had to have her hand held just to leave the house. Pathetic.
"Like I said you'll have to ask your mom." I said receiving a petulant glare.
"I'm going, try and stop me! I'll just follow you, you know!" We had yet to let each other's hands go and without realizing that the kid had been leading me step after step, we had reached the garden gate. I stopped instantly then and looked back at my door, it was wide open. It looked dark and inviting, as if saying it was alright to come back.
"Close!" He said next to me and with a snap of his fingers my door obeyed! It slammed with a whoosh of finality. Looking at him in astonishment he smirked proudly at me.
"And how did you do that?" I asked squinting to scrutinize him closer. His little chest puffed out and he patted it with his free hand.
"Don't you know a Brownie when you see one? Jeez you're clueless, good thing you got me!" He said pulling on my hand and leading me down the path to the forest.
"A brownie? Like a house fairy? I thought they were supposed to be small…smaller and…you know…helpful." I said thinking about what I had heard about the house fairies. He pulled on my arm and I bent at the waist to accommodate, which was a mistake on my part because his bonked me on the head.
"I am helpful! Got you out of the gloomy house, didn't I?" He said frowning at me as I rubbed the spot her had smacked.
"Well…I guess." He smiled at me showing all his teeth.
"Then it's settled! I'm going with you, you need me! Wherever it is that you're going! I'm Bip, by the way!" He said beginning to swing our hands back and forth. After a while he stopped and looked up at me expectantly.
"What?" I asked. He frowned again.
"You didn't tell me your name, or where we're going." He said as if explaining something to a child.
"To the glade, to find someone to break my curse." I said earning a nod and another expectant look.
"And your name?" He asked.
"I don't know it." I said feeling a familiar ache in my cheek. He stared at me for a moment shrewdly.
"That have something to do with that curse?" I shrugged, I honestly didn't know my name, or didn't remember it, if I ever had one to begin with.
"Maybe, I don't know." I said finally releasing his hand, it had been warm. He shook his head and put a hand to his chin in thought.
"That's not good, a name is a powerful thing, ya know?" He looked up at me again and once again his frowning face began to smile again.
"Well the glade is as good a place as any to find one!" He took my hand in his again and began to lead the way once more only this time with my direction.
We walked for an hour maybe, I didn't really keep track of time, and once we reached what used to be the thorn wall Bip stopped me.
"Well I've decided I'll call you mistress, since I don't have a home to be fairy to." He winked at me as he said it and I could feel a smile forming on my face, pulling the scared skin on my face taught.
"By the way why'd you wait so long mistress?" He asked, seemingly genuinely curious. Of course I was beginning to think that with Bip one could never be sure if he was genuine about any of the emotions he so blatantly expressed.
"What do you mean?" I asked and watched in amusement as he smacked a hand to his face.
"Maybe I should call you dimwit instead! I mean why'd you wait so long to take care of your curse?" I laughed at that, really laughed, for the first time in a long time.
"I guess I needed someone to hold my hand." I told him tightening my grip. The little imp was silent for a moment, then his face went a little red.
"Oh shut it! Let's go and find a good place to sleep before dark and you can tell me how you got that scar!" I shook with a laugh and could still see a tint of red on his little cheeks, I wondered if traveling with Bip would be as fun as this.
Above in the trees, a crow hopped to and fro on a branch as the two walked further and further into the glade.
