They'd closed a case on Friday, and Nick had already submitted his report. No need to come in Saturday like some of the others needed to. He was running low on his allotted overtime anyway, so he'd not waste it. And there was a reason he wanted to have the day free on Saturday. He was going back to the woods.
He had absolutely no way of knowing if he'd find Jennifer again. And really, why on earth would she be in those woods again? It made no sense, really. But that dream was still stuck in his head. He'd not forgotten a moment of it, and when he was not busy with work or engaged in something else, that was where his mind drifted. He had to at least try to see what was going on, to see if he could find her and get the answers to questions he did not even know how to ask.
And so here he was. Parking his car at the entrance to the woods. There weren't many others, which was good. Something told him that if the paths were crowded, he'd not be successful in finding anything he was looking for. He put his water bottle in his backpack and locked up the car before making his way into the forest.
It was another beautiful day. Sun shining but not too hot, breeze rustling the trees. Nick walked in the general direction of where he's found Jennifer the first time and enjoyed the serenity of nature around him. These woods had always been his favorite. His father used to take him out here when Nick was a boy. Those were nice memories.
After almost an hour of walking and not getting anywhere, Nick was startled by a distinctive bird call. Like a peacock only higher pitched. He knew that call. It was that bird. That weird black and gold bird that had led him to Jennifer before. Nick looked around desperately, trying to see the bird making that sound. He walked faster, following the call through the woods.
Off in the distance, he heard the sounds of laughter. That made him falter, wondering if he should go towards where he knew there were other people. This whole errand was extremely foolish and he'd not wanted to have witnesses to it, if he could help it. But then the bird flew down right in front of Nick's face and gave its loud cry right at him. That seemed as definitive as anything to keep following.
The dense forests opened into a clearing. Not the same one where he'd rescued Jennifer from the hunter's net. This one was deeper in the woods and somehow even more secluded. And there was laughter. Three people laughing. Two children, a boy and a girl, and one adult. Jennifer.
Nick halted where he stood, staring in amazement at her. She was holding the children's hands and looking at the bird questioningly. One of the children, the little boy, noticed Nick and pointed. "Look!" he cried.
Jennifer turned sharply. "Oh!" she exclaimed in surprise. "It's you!"
"Hi," Nick replied rather stupidly. But he had no words. He was shocked to have actually found her. And now with children.
She glanced back over at the bird, perched on a low branch just nearby, and glared at it. Strange. Though no stranger than finding her at all, wearing another flowing dress, this one covered in lavender and purple and green flowers. It went to her ankles, like the last one, but this time had long sleeves.
And the children with her were dressed equally strangely for being in the woods. The little boy—Nick guessed he might have been about seven—wore blue soft trousers and a matching tunic with heavy brown boots. The little girl, perhaps about four or five years old, had a pink and white dress that seemed to be a miniature of the style Jennifer wore.
The little girl tugged on Jennifer's hand. "Who is that?" she asked quietly.
Jennifer looked at him and hesitated for a moment before she said, "This is my friend Nick. He helped me a few days ago. He lives in a big house made of red rocks."
"Brick," Nick supplied.
The details did not seem important to Jennifer. "Joey, Kayla, can you go play over there? Stay where I can see you. But I've got to talk to Nick for a moment."
The little boy and girl let go of her hands and went to the tree where the bird was perched. It cooed to them softly and they started talking to it. Strange, strange bird.
Jennifer watched the children protectively for a moment and then, deciding they were alright, she crossed the clearing to Nick. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I was looking for you. And I found that bird and it led me here."
She sighed. "He does things like that."
"He?"
"His name is Jerry."
Nick just stared at her. Of course. Why wouldn't the golden bird be named Jerry?
Jennifer continued, "I'm sorry I left your house so abruptly. I knew you had questions and I didn't want to answer them."
"Okay," he said. There wasn't much else he could say. He did have questions, but there wasn't much to be done if she wasn't going to answer them.
"I think I can answer some of them now. Not too many yet. But if you were allowed to find me again, I should be allowed to tell you some things."
Nick didn't quite know what to say to that.
"I can't leave the children though," she explained. "Joey and Kayla belong to a friend of mine. Today is the anniversary of their mother's death, so I'm staying with them while their father hosts a memorial with her parents. It's too hard for the kids to be around that, to be reminded all the time of a mother they can't even really remember." Jennifer shook her head sadly and looked over to where they were still playing with Jerry the bird. "They're alright for now, I think."
"Why are you in the woods?" Nick asked abruptly.
"Same as you," she answered with a small smile. "Enjoying the trees. It's so peaceful and beautiful here. Different from where we live."
"Where do you live?"
"It's not far. But it's a different world from this."
Nick was very familiar with interview techniques. He had been asking questions to murder suspects for a decade. He knew when someone did not want to give a straight answer and would not do so without some kind of incentive. Jennifer was not going to really answer his questions. And really, she had no reason to. Who was he to her? Just some man she'd met in the woods. And she was just some woman he'd rescued from a net. Even thinking about it was ridiculous.
Jennifer was looking at him very carefully as he quietly thought about how to proceed. "I wonder why you were allowed to find me," she said softly, probably more to herself than to him.
"What do you mean?" he could not help asking.
"We don't exactly advertise that we're here. Only a few people in your world have ever found us. We like to keep it that way."
"I don't understand," he admitted.
She smiled gently. "I know. And that's alright. But there's something special about you, Nick. And I'm glad you were the one to find me in that net. I don't know what I would have done otherwise."
"Is your leg alright?"
"All healed, thank you."
He nodded. "Good." Nick did not know what else to say. It was one thing when he was on the job, talking to people to get answers to solve a homicide. But out in the world, he tended to be very quiet and keep to himself. He tended to have friends who were much more outgoing and gregarious, like Duncan and Simon, who he was happy to sit back and watch or help. Nick wasn't a talkative type, which served him well in life but hindered him in cases like this where he needed something to say.
For better or worse, they were interrupted by the sound of Nick's phone going off. He quickly fished it out of his pocket as the children, curious from the noise, came to see what was going on. Jennifer held her arm out to keep them back for a reason Nick did not quite understand.
Nick checked the text message that just came through. He sighed to himself upon reading it. Duncan wanted to know if they could meet at the bar at four. Nick had forgotten he'd agreed to go out with him tonight. Apparently he'd finished his own report and was eager to have some fun. Nick couldn't blame him. They'd both been putting in a lot of hours lately. But for Nick, if he was going to meet Dunny at four, he needed to get back to his car and back to his house and have a shower in time. And that meant he'd need to leave now.
"Everything alright?" Jennifer asked.
He looked up. "Hmm?"
"You look a bit frustrated," she explained.
Nick wasn't used to that. He wasn't used to people being able to read him. "Yeah, I…sorry, I've gotta go. I'm supposed to meet a friend, and it'll take me a while to get back."
Jennifer nodded. "Well, you found me twice now. I'm sure you'll find me again. Or maybe I'll find you." She did not wait for him to respond. She turned to the children. "Joey, Kayla, it's time for us to go home now."
"Do we have to Auntie Jen?" Joey whined.
"Yes," she answered. There was no trace of annoyance in her voice, the clear sign of someone who had a lot of patience for and experience with children. Though, if she were Auntie Jen, perhaps she was with these children a lot.
Jerry the bird gave another of his loud calls. Jennifer looked at him with a knowing smile. "You need to go, Nick," she reminded him, turning back to him one last time.
"Yeah," he conceded. "I'll…see you soon?"
"I think you will."
And with that, Nick went back into the woods, hurrying back to his car and back to the real world. Though he had succeeded in his goal of seeing Jennifer again, he could not help but feel that he knew anything more than when he'd started.