As Kenzi stands next to Bruce she hears a whirring noise and sees a small streak of dust pass by on the road at high speed. "What was that?" Kenzi asks and Bruce shrugs but she suspects he knows. A moment later she hears the sound approaching again, but this time the streak enters the driveway in a power drift and streaks passed her only to make a long leap into the brook not far from Hazel.
A few seconds later a mountain lion emerges from the cold water and shakes itself off. Kenzi is surprised, but Bruce isn't. It walks to the barn and Betty emerges exhausted in damp clothes and wet hair. She walks to Bruce and Kenzi and says "Hey Bruce. Hey Kenzi." Kenzi points to the road. "Was that…?" Betty nods. "I'm in training. Soon I'll be hunted. It is pretty hard to catch a cabbit in hyper-speed without setting up a snare or a net ahead of time and they don't announce the release point for the hunt in advance. I've been getting faster. Yesterday, I passed a Ducati on the freeway. Blew that guy's mind. The cost is that you burn chi very fast as well. Bruce has been letting me take a quick dip to cool off sometimes. I was hoping to find you here eventually."
Betty suddenly realizes that there is a tiny human peering out from behind Bruce. "Who is this?" Betty asks. It is Kenzi who responds "You would know her as Thirty-four." Betty ponders "Thirty-four? Oh! Thirty-four!" Extending her hand. "Pleased to meet you Thirty-four." Hazel hesitates and Bruce says "Her name is Hazel now. If you feed from her, I'll kill you." Betty blushes, not so much in fear as in shame. "I would not." Kenzi explains "It was Betty that started the plan that had me take … Hazel's place. She saved her." Bruce nods and Hazel extends her hand and Betty takes it without feeding and lowers her head.
"Are you a fairy? I'll keep your secret." Hazel says. Betty bends down to be eye to eye with Hazel. "We usually call ourselves Fae and I appreciate you keeping my secret." Hazel smiles broadly. "If Kenzi had not taken my place, what would have happened…to me?" Betty makes a sad face. "You would have died. My younger brothers and sisters would have drained you of life while you played with them. It would have been like going to sleep." Hazel asks "Have you ever…?" Betty nods "I have, but I don't anymore." Hazel takes this in and nods. Digging her sneaker toe into the soil Hazel asks "Why didn't Kenzi die?" Betty thinks. "Well some humans have more life than they could drain." Kenzi breathes a sigh of relief. Hazel asks "Where are your wings? Fairies have wings." Betty smiles "Not all of us. I get to turn into a rabbit and run fast or be a big cat." Hazel looks Betty over carefully. "Can I talk to Kenzi alone for a few minutes?" Betty asks and Hazel returns to her reading place and Bruce returns to his work.
"In a few days, I'll be hunted at dawn on Samhain…All Saints Day… All Hallows Day… what you would call the day after Halloween…November first. I would like to feed just before. Can I visit you Halloween in the afternoon? I have to be locked up by sundown." Kenzi nods. "What will happen to you?" Betty hangs her head. "Mumphert and I will be taken to the place of release before dawn. Those that have entered the hunt will be waiting. We'll be searched for weapons. When the Sun first shines over the horizon, we'll be released to flee for our lives. When the bottom of the Sun clears the horizon, the hunters will be released. If…we survive until the Sun is fully down, our crimes will be forgiven. I expect most of the hunters will be after me…we're supposed to be tastier than brownies. You would think eating all that honey would…" Betty chokes up. Kenzi hugs her. "Feed" Kenzi says.
Betty feeds. Kenzi says "You lead them to me, and I'll slow them down…or end them." Betty shakes her head. "Nobody is allowed to help during the hunt." Kenzi says "Are you allowed to feed during the hunt?" Betty nods and Kenzi continues. "I'll feed you before and you tell me where I can meet you so you can feed again. I'll talk to Grace, I'm sure she'll feed you too. You'll have all the chi you need." Betty nods again her eyes tearing up.
After dinner Bruce looks at a notebook Hazel has been working on and he sees the first page is entitled "Fairies I've Met." Concerned he leafs through it and sees pages on himself, Tamsin, Wolf, and Betty. The fifth page has Kenzi's name with a question mark after it. Each page she has put some surprisingly good sketches for her age and some information. Bruce calls Hazel in. "You have to be careful writing things like this, but the sketches are very good." Hazel pouts. "You have that book." Bruce nods. "I'm not saying you can't, but keep it here where nobody else will see it. The book you're reading doesn't list individuals to whom you've promised to keep secret." Hazel ponders, tears the pages out of the notebook and tosses them into the fire. Bruce is shocked. "Could you do even better with the sketches if you had color pencils?" Hazel nods sadly watching her work burn. "Tomorrow, we'll get you some."
The next day Bruce walks into town with Hazel and they visit an art store where he purchases some supplies they select. They must be careful since Bruce has very little money and his reserves are already stretched by the second mouth to feed.
Their second stop is Trick's bar. Hazel walks with her left arm around Bruce's leg, in her right hand she clutches a small bag of color pencils and a sketch pad, her fearful eyes are open wide and she's looking all around, but Bruce has his massive hand reassuringly on her shoulder. They walk to the bar and Trick approaches. "What are you doing?" Bruce looks at him hard. "Are you sure?" Trick asks. Bruce turns to the patrons. He lifts Hazel up, holding her so she sits on his forearm her arms around his neck. "Her name is Hazel. I'm claiming her."
Bruce begins to leave with Hazel. The guard that was taking Thirty-four to the cabbits blocks them. "I know her. She belongs to the Light. She's called Thirty-four." Bruce begins to push by the guard. "She was supposed to be food. You stole her. You can't claim what you stole." Other Light Fae also speak up to say she must be returned to the Light Fae Commissary. Some Dark Fae respond that it doesn't matter how he got her, he has her now. Others speculate how delicious the tiny terrified human would be and how her chi has been fortified.
Unseen at the far end of the bar Kenzi begins to move but she's gently blocked by Adam. He shakes his head and quietly says "It's fae business. Learn what to stay out of." Kenzi's eyes open wide and her jaw drops. "They'll kill her." She hisses but he shakes his head and says "Sometimes bad things happen to good people." He removes his arm from her path and looks at Kenzi with a slight shake of his head. But Kenzi glances down and sees Adam has slid his right hand palm outward and thumb down under his coat covering the move with his left so it appears he's merely folded his arms. Kenzi realizes that he's ready for a combative draw of his sword. She also realizes that she's the only one in the room to know that the leader of the Four Horsemen is poised to take unleash hell and his actions belie his words. Adam senses her concern but thinks they are about their rules. "The rule about not fighting on holy ground only applies to fights between immortals." But he doesn't move, instead he watches casually but carefully, taking note of the positions each fae takes on what should happen with Hazel..
"How can you just sit there and watch?" Kenzi hisses. Adam smiles a bit. "Because there isn't anybody in this room this that could stop him… " Kenzi shakes her head. "He's clumsy and slow…" Adam grins and shakes his head. Kenzi nods her head. "Bo can beat kick his ass." Adam chuckles. "Beat him perhaps. But she couldn't stop him. He's didn't ask them, he informed them of what had already occurred. He's made up his mind….and he's more powerful than any of them know…he may be more powerful than he knows."
Bruce states "Anyone who harms her or even touches her…I'll kill them." An old Dark Fae responds "You don't have the right to commit fae-cide over a human, claimed or not." Evony speaks up "I give him that right over the Dark Fae…and if he doesn't…I will. He has the right to defend his property…from anybody but me."
Trick says "The girl is his. The Light Fae are still investigating how that happened. But the cabbit children were fed and she's not ours anymore. The only thing that is different is she's living with him instead of being dead. No harm, no foul. Let him pass."
The guard starts to object but stops when Hale quietly says "We're investigating how it was that you didn't complete your task. Pray we don't find out you decided to drink instead…" The guard slinks out in silence. He knows he should not have let Dyson finish his task for him and he knows that Dyson and Hale are friends, now he fears he'll take the fall.
On their way home, Bruce and Hazel stop at a junkyard where Bruce occasionally does some work in trade for getting some materials he wants. "What does it mean that you're claiming me?" Hazel asks. "It means that you are not… It means that we're sort of a family." Hazel nods. "I like that." She concludes.
Hazel explores the junkyard as Bruce negotiates with the owner and pulls some scrap out to be picked up by a paying customer in return for some scrap for himself. He takes a couple of leaf springs from a car and puts them in a pile. "Okay to take these?" he asks and the owner nods. "Making more knives? Or maybe swords?" Bruce shrugs. "I make whatever people want."
Hazel returns holding a taillight lens and asks Bruce. "I don't know why, but I like it. Can I have it?" Bruce says "It isn't mine to give. But you can have it if you earn it." Hazel pouts. "I don't have anything except my pencils and I need those." Bruce nods. "Well, perhaps Ben would want his portrait done." Ben shakes his head with a smile. "She can have it." Bruce shakes his head. "She should earn it." Ben nods. "Well, I don't need a picture of myself. But I would like a design for my business cards… a drawing of my tow truck." Ben points to his truck. Hazel nods and goes to work.
Bruce and Ben stand in the shade watching Hazel start sketching the truck. "I didn't know you had a kid Bruce." Ben asks and Bruce responds "I didn't until recently. She's adopted." Ben nods. "She's got a good eye. That was a particularly rare lens. It is interesting how they refract the light." Bruce asks if there is anything else Ben needs moved more gently than Ben can with his backhoe. While Hazel draws Bruce does some additional work. When Hazel is done she presents her drawing to Ben. The drawing shows his truck with his phone number and company name on the side door and with Ben driving it. "Well, that is certainly exactly what I was looking for and more." Ben says with honest appreciation. "Dave down at the plumbing supply house is also looking to update his card. I'll tell him about you little lady." Bruce picks up the leaf springs and Hazel carries her prize as they head home. Ben calls after them. "Hey Bruce, I got some old steel…good stuff, original, not recycled. The others that come in here won't appreciate it like you. How about I drop it off later?" Bruce looks back and says "I can't pay you now. But can you put is aside for me?" Ben nods. "I'll put it aside at your place. You pay me when you can…or you can pay Hazel. This design is worth the lens and the steel… You should have seen the estimate I got from the graphic artist at the print shop…" Hazel smiles and Bruce nods.
After walking away for awhile Hazel asks "So how much is that metal worth?" Bruce smiles, realizing where this conversation is headed. "Well, let's see… There are your meals, you dumped my beer and wine down the drain, you use a ridiculous amount of shampoo and hot water for one your size…" Hazel grins. "You don't use any shampoo and you take your showers cold… Okay, so we'll call it even." Bruce lifts his arm where he's holding her hand hoisting Hazel right off the ground before gently returning her to her feet. "I think I should make you a camp knife. That's a utility knife that you can do a lot of things with like cut your meat, or whittle, or sharpen your pencils. It will be a very special knife…made with Damascus steel with a grip made from one of the antlers Wolf gave me. But the most special thing is that we'll make it together."
"Those people in the bar, were they fairies?" Hazel asks. "They seemed angry. I was scared." Bruce nods. "Some of them… They aren't allowed to harm you now. I'm sorry you were scared, but you are safe now."
That evening a pickup truck pulls in and backs up near the barn. Ben gets out and knocks on the door to Bruce's home. Bruce opens the door and Ben says "Where do you want the steel? Barn?" Bruce nods and goes outside. A woman is getting out of the pick up truck with a bedroll. She's perhaps thirty years old or younger with her reddish brown hair swept up on top of her head. The corners of her mouth turn down giving her a somewhat sad and lonely expression. Bruce glances at the woman and then to Ben. Ben shrugs. "I found her walking out here; she asked if I knew where your place was, so I offered her a ride. She's hardly said a word. Pretty little thing though." Bruce and Ben unload the steel as the woman wonders about a bit, finally stopping to stand watching the stream flow. They finish stashing the steel. Ben looks to the woman and then back to Bruce with a shrug before driving away.
Hazel watches from the door. When the truck leaves the woman strolls toward Bruce. "I've heard you can make brilliant swords." She says in a refined voice with a hint of a British accent and Bruce nods. "Good. I'm looking for someone to make this." She gets out a sketch of a curved short sword. "This is a kukri." Bruce says recognizing the shape of the blade. The woman nods and says quietly, almost shyly "There is no guard. The design of the handle is especially important to keep my hand from sliding forward onto the blade. The notch on the blade is necessary to catch an attacking blade. It also marks the end of the hardened edge of the blade." Bruce studies the sketch, and then a thought crosses his mind. "Did you say your hand?" The woman nods. Bruce ponders further but decides not to ask the question on his mind. "I can do it." The woman smiles.
"I have money to pay you. But I'm new in town and it's getting dark; may I sleep in your barn tonight?" Bruce shakes his head. "You take my bed. I'll sleep on the floor in the living room. Would you like some food?" The woman nods cautiously and follows him into the house. Soon she is nibbling at some pizza with a knife and fork and drinking beer. Hazel watches her intently. "Don't stare. It isn't polite." Bruce cautions quietly. The woman responds "It is fine. Usually the looks I get are less friendly."
Hazel tugs at Bruce's hand and nods toward the living room. Getting Bruce away, she says "Did she tell you her name? I think I've seen her before." Bruce worries. "At the…orphanage?" He asks but Hazel shakes her head. "No, in a book, but it doesn't make any sense. She looks like Etta Place." Bruce shrugs in confusion. Hazel rolls her eyes. "The Sundance Kid's girlfriend..." Bruce is still confused. "Back in the old days there was a bank robber and she was his girlfriend…back when they rode horses… Butch Cassidy? The Wild Bunch?" Bruce nods but doesn't fully understand. He has a doctorate in classical Fae prose but is only dimly aware of the human American Wild West. Hazel shakes her head sadly. "If we had wifi… if we had ANY access to the web… I could show you."
There is a slight chuckle and they turn to see the unknown woman standing in the door. Smiling at Hazel the woman gives a nearly imperceptible wink and nod. Hazel's jaw drops and the woman returns to the table.
Hazel grips Bruce's pinky finger with one hand and his thumb with the other excitedly alternating pulling his fingers apart and then pushing them back together. "Shhhhh She's a fairy. Fairies live a long time and she looks the same as she did over a hundred years ago." Bruce isn't so sure. The two return to the table.
Hazel matter of factly says "You aren't allowed to eat me because he claimed me." The woman is surprised and mystified. "I have no intention of … eating you? Why ever would you say such a thing?" Hazel munches on the tip of a fresh slice, holding it folded in half in both tiny hands out of necessity. "Because that's what fairies do. But you aren't allowed to do that to me." The woman is puzzled. "I wasn't aware that fairies eat people." Hazel cocks her head and does a slow blink as if she were explaining the obvious to someone who was only playing stupid. "They don't eat the bodies. They just take the life out of them." Bruce gets up and begins to clean the table, which consists of putting the pizza box into the refrigerator. "Perhaps we should not discuss fairies Hazel." He says.
Hazel gets her color pencils and her notebook and begins to make a series of quick sketches of the woman. While Hazel works, the woman goes to her bedroll and unrolls it and returns with the well worn handle of a kukri and gives it to Bruce. "The handle worked well and I'd like the new one to match it. This ring isn't decoration; it fits between the ring and middle fingers and keeps it from sliding." She puts it in her hand and demonstrates. Bruce observes carefully. "Hmmmm." He says before going out to the barn and returning with some modeling clay and a piece of round stock. He works it loosening it and warming it up, wrapping it around the steel rod shaping it into a rough cylinder, and finally handing it to her. "Grip this and work it until it is comfortable." The woman moves the rod into various positions, occasionally moving her fingers and working the clay before repeating the positions. After repeating the process several times, she's satisfied and returns it. "It's not traditional, but will it work for you?" he asks. After careful consideration she says "It will." Looking at the old handle, Bruce says "I'd like to give it a full tang for more strength." She nods listening. "I'd also like to give it a small guard for protecting your hand." The woman nods a bit skeptically as the weapon becomes less traditional. "Do you have the blade from the old one?" Bruce asks and she retrieves it. Bruce examines it closely, noting how very thick the back of the blade is and feeling how the weight is distributed further forward than most swords.
A bored Hazel asks "Can we go look at the stars?" while putting her pencils back in their box carefully sorted by color. Bruce nods and they go outside where she sits on his lap in their nightly ritual. Hazel sadly asks "Do you think Betty will be all right?" Bruce answers slowly. "I think so. She's very fast and those hunting her must go on foot. Some of them might be fast too, but she'll have a head start. She can also hide. But keep her in your prayers." From inside they hear the few utensils and glasses they used being washed. After awhile, the woman joins them and she points out some constellations they didn't know and gives alternate names for some they did. Hazel yawns and Bruce carries her in and puts her on the couch where she quickly falls asleep.
He goes back outside. "I sought you out because I heard about the work you did. I think you know… what I am… The child was right. I was once known as Etta Place." Bruce studies her and says "I had suspicions. I will not make the sword for you unless you give me your word that it will not be used against my friends. If you lie to me, you should know the child was also right about fairies." Etta nods "I promise that I will not use the sword or any other against your friends unless they attack me or it is the time of the Gathering, at which time none of us will have a choice as the urge to fight is irresistible. Of course, that time will not come until only a few remain so I might not be there anyway." Bruce nods in agreement.
"So fairies exist?" she teases. Bruce nods. Looking toward the forest across the stream "Does the white wolf still rule the forest?" she adds with a grin. Bruce is shocked. "I was a student of hers for awhile. So your friends… are they Grace the doctor, Kenzi the Ulfberht wielder?" Bruce nods and she responds. "They were safe anyway. I don't hunt."
"I can't pay you for the room and board with money… But I can give you a free one." Etta says to Bruce's shock. "Free what?" Then realizing what, he answers "No, that won't be necessary." Etta shrugs "I understand. Maybe while your daughter is in school tomorrow..." Bruce shakes his head. "She doesn't go to school." Etta is confused. "She's old enough to be in school." Bruce hadn't considered registering Hazel for school and thinking about it, he can't see how he could, after all, officially, Hazel doesn't or shouldn't exist. Thinking quickly he says "She's home schooled." Etta nods. "Well I could help with that instead if you'd rather." Bruce doesn't respond. He's not liking the idea of Etta around Hazel.
Etta goes inside. Bruce sits outside pondering the day's events.
