Chapter 107

Later that night the young faun woke suddenly from a fitful slumber, her senses on high alert.

Something very bad was moving nearby.

She lay perfectly still under her thorny covering, hoping her stillness would protect her.

Her young heart beat rapidly in her fear, while her deerlike ears strained to hear the faint foot falls of a night hunter on the stalk.

Soon, she could hear the deep breaths of something large and a twig crunched underfoot as her stalker crept nearer.

It was coming from the woods behind her and working its way around her thorny bower.

Realizing that her stillness was no longer working for her, she shot forward and bolted for her life.

She heard it grunt as it leapt after her and a sudden impact on her left rear nearly toppled her, but her flailing feet found purchase on the ground and she shot forward into the darkness.

Her every instinct screamed for her to run for the deeper woods but her brain took over and she ran down towards the big house with her pursuer's breath, literally on her neck and its teeth nipping at her tail.

A blow to her right side staggered her but her feet instinctively kept going as she ran down the hill.

Her cloven hooved feet pounded the hard packed dirt as she passed the nearly finished barn where the big horse lived and he too, began adding his own cries of fear and panic to the confusion.

Redoubling her efforts, she ran faster than she ever had before, the house was now almost within reach when she felt something seize her tail.

Her pursuer had caught her!

Her dark eyes widened in her terror and she felt another blow to her thigh causing her to slow suddenly.

Crying out in anguish, she expected a violent end to her brief foray into the human world.

Lights came on outside the big house and out of their glare, three gigantic wolves came charging out of the house straight towards her, their powerful jaws opened wide.

Her tormentor let go of her as the wolves ran past her to engage the intruder and her momentum carried her forwards until she nearly collided with the man she had seen before.

Her last reserves spent, she collapsed to the ground and lay there gasping while the wolves chewed and bit the intruder in defense of their home.

She heard the man exclaiming as her consciousness faded to black.

It was nearly midnight when the giant wolves suddenly perked up their ears, something was happening outside.

Roger could hear it too, Samson was frightened, something had scared him.

Sasha and Golden Eyes suddenly went to the door, demanding to be let out.

By the time Roger had gotten to the door, their son Axel had joined them followed by Anita Larsen, his diminutive human companion.

Clad in only a nightshirt and slippers and armed with a flashlight, she paused when Roger edged her aside saying tersely, "You stay in here, this could get ugly!"

Right behind him was Freya, also fully clad, in one hand she carried a stout cudgel. She'd been through this before.

He paused a moment then opened the door.

The huge wolves falked each other briefly in their eagerness to get outside, but were soon charging into the night, jaws snapping.

Roger, true to form was right behind them with Freya close by his side.

The slender girl suddenly appeared in front of him and he barely dodged aside as she staggered and collapsed, nearly at his feet.

He cried, "What the..." As he looked down on the naked child laying there gasping painfully, her dark eyes opening and closing as she vainly fought off unconsciousness before going limp.

He now knew what it was he had glimpsed near the apricot trees, it was her, a young faun.

And she was injured.

What ever it was the wolves were dealing with had attacked her and succeeded in clawing up her hips and thighs, as they were bleeding from several deep scratches on each side.

Apparently she had been struck in an attempt to knock her down for the kill.

Only her speed was either too great, or she was damn lucky.

While Freya was dealing with the wolves in their efforts to get rid of the intruder.

Anita came out of the house with an old blanket which she gently laid over the unconscious child.

"Is she what I think she is?" Asked she.

"Yes, she's a faun and a young one at that from her appearance. Of course, she could be centuries old in spite of her youthful appearance." muttered Roger.

"What are we going to do with her? We can't just leave her out here like this!"

Smiling at Anita, he stooped and gently gathered the injured faun into his arms.

"Let's get her inside where she'll be safer."

Said Roger as he carried the unconscious child inside the large house.

Silky's face showed her concern as she led him to an unoccupied bedroom downstairs.

As he tenderly laid the wounded faun on the spare bed, he said to Silky, "Silky dear, could you please send a note to Doctor Shannon asking her for advice?"

The silk clad house spirit nodded, and with a soft swishing of voluminous lavender skirts, she scurried off to send a note under the hill, via Hazel the centaurian courier.

Gently extending the childlike faun's slender legs, Roger carefully examined her wounds.

They appeared to be fairly clean and thankfully, were fairly superficial, her leg muscles were not torn or shredded and fresh, red blood was slowly oozing from her wounds, a good sign.

Glancing up at a worried Anita, Roger said, "I'm gonna need some hot water and some old clean towels and see if you can bring me the first aid kit while you're at it."

Anita scurried off and moments later, Silky stuck her head in the door and by signs, indicated that she had sent the note like he had asked her to.

Thanking her, he looked the childlike faun over.

She had the build of a slender, pubescent girl from her hips to her neck.

Her face was quite pretty in a woodland creature sort of way with well formed lips and a longish nose with a black, deerlike tip, indicating she had a good sense of smell.

Her long ears were also deerlike, indicating her hearing was also quite good.

Above her smooth brow vestigial horns protruded from her dark, curly hair.

From her slender hips on down lay the big difference between hers and human physiology.

Her hips, thighs and legs, resembled those of a fawn with white spots speckling the tawny fur on that portion of her anatomy.

Her legs were long and quite slender and ended in cloven hooved feet while her bare skin was a golden brown color that matched the fur on her deerlike portions.

Roger could see why the prince of Albion was so fond of creatures like her, she was such a pretty child, and as an adult she would become the seductress of myth and legend.

He briefly recalled Titania's remarks about looking out for stray fauns at the recent midwinter solstice event, and resolved to take care of her.

Anita returned with the items he had requested and she had her smartphone.

Roger set to work, gently washing and cleaning the child's wounds and applying an antiseptic ointment to her scratches.

Occasionally he heard a soft 'snap' as Anita took yet another picture of him diligently cleaning the injured girl's wounds, while she murmured, "We may never get another chance to get pictures like this."

There was a brief commotion at the front door when Freya and the wolves returned from dealing with the intruder.

Coming into the house, she declared, "He may hae gotten awa' but he'll remember thes hoose fur a lang time tae cam!"

Moments later, Freya entered the disused bedroom after telling the sprites to stay out of the sickroom for now.

He smiled to himself when he heard her say, "An' 'at includes ye tay, Dena Greenwood!"

"Awwww!" squealed the tiny wood elf.

A knock at the front door interrupted and Freya said, "Ah'll get it!"

Moments later she came back with Ildico Swensen right behind her, Ildico was carrying her medical kit with her.

"I heard Samson's screaming and the wolvies fighting and figured you guys might need my help!"

She glanced at the wounded faun and said, "And what do we have here? Clearly she's not human."

Freya replied,"She, is a faun. Apparently she moved haur recently an' was livin' by th' auld oak tree up near th' woods."

Ildico nodded and opened up her kit.

After sanitizing her hands, she slipped on a pair of exam gloves and carefully looked over the injured girl's legs.

Looking up from her examination she said to Roger, "You did a pretty good job of cleaning these wounds."

He grinned and replied, "This is not my first time at this."

She returned her attention to the child, "Did you give her anything for the pain?"

"No, I did not. I have no idea if our medicine will do her any good."

He added, "I asked Silky to send a note under the hill asking Doctor Shannon for advice in treating her."

Anita smiled at the mention of her name and Ildico muttered "Why does that name sound familiar?"

She asked, "Any ideas on how this girl got so scratched up like this?"

"I figure she was being hunted by whatever it was that scared our horse and set the wolvies off." replied Roger.

Ildico looked down at the delicately built faun and murmured, "What would hunt someone as beautiful as her?"

She looked up at him and said, "Is this something we need to be concerned about? Could this...Thing you mentioned, go after a human?"

Smiling, he replied,"Humans who lack the 'sight' have nothing to fear from our 'neighbors'. Several of us here do have the 'sight' and we have neighbors living with us.

"Silky and Dena being just two examples.

You only see them because they trust you, otherwise you'd never know they existed."

There was a soft rapping on their front door and Anita went to get it.

"Doctor Shannon! How nice to see you! Come in, come in, I'll show you where she is." Cried Anita and moments later, she and the slender elf woman entered the impromptu sick room to the accompaniment of the tittering of tiny sprites, all greeting the elvish doctor.

Ildico's jaw dropped at the sight of the blonde haired, female elf wearing a white lab coat.

In her right hand, she carried a stethoscope and carried a physician's medical kit bag with her left hand.

Ildico blurted out, "Doctor Shannon?! You're alive! How?!"

The beautiful elf smiled at Ildico and replied, "Hello Ildico, how have you been?"

The tall blonde nurse began crying and she wiped away her tears to say, "I thought you were dead...I went to your funeral. How is it you're alive?!"

Doctor Shannon smiled at the teary eyed nurse and said apologetically, "It's a little complicated and I'll explain later, once our patient is out of danger."

Ildico nodded her acknowledgement and stepped aside.

"This, Doctor, is the patient in question. Her wounds were given a preliminary cleaning by Roger here and they look good to me.

"He has not given her any sort of medication as he had no idea if human medicines would work on the patient before us."

Doctor Shannon nodded and replied,"That is good, human medicines may not always work with 'neighbors' physiologies. A wise decision."

Doctor Shannon carefully examined the injured woodland creature for a few minutes, while Roger and the others looked on.

Finally, she looked up and asked, "Any ideas on what caused these injuries?"

She smiled as Silky silently presented her with a cup of tea and she murmured a thank you to the silk clad, house spirit.

Freya replied, "Ah didnae get a real guid look at th' creature as th' wolvies waur kinda in th' way ay me sight. Whit Ah coods see waur aw dark an' furry."

"Some kind of boggart perhaps? We did get one last year and the wolvies chewed it up pretty good." pondered Roger.

Doctor Shannon mulled over their remarks and said, "I'll ask spriggan if he can spare any of his people to watch over this area. If you're having issues with boggarts and the like, that is not a good sign."

She glanced at the unconscious faun and said, "If you'd like, I can put in a few sutures to close up the deeper scratches. Or..."

She grinned at Ildico and with a twinkle in her eye, said, "Ildi here can stitch her up, after all, you are one of the best around when it comes to applying sutures!"

Ildico flushed nearly scarlet at Doctor Shannon's remark and stammered, "Th, thank you doctor, that's very kind of you to say that."

The beautiful elf smiled and said, "I meant every word of what I said and it is very good to see you again, Ildico."

Turning her attention back to the injured faun, Doctor Shannon said, "I can apply a numbing antiseptic cream to her wounds so you can stitch them up and afterwards, we'll just let her sleep it off."

She glanced around the room and said quietly, "You might want to put her back outside before she wakes up in here and panics."

Roger nodded at her remark and said, "I have a fairly good idea of where she sleeps, I can put her back there before she wakes up."

He looked down at the young faun and said quietly, "Rachel's gonna flip, yet again."

At Doctor Shannon's puzzled expression he added, "Rachel Thompson is my boss at the Museum of Cryptozoology and she'll expect a detailed report on this girl and what happened here over the past few days.

"The pictures Anita took earlier, if they come out, will definitely come in handy when I file my report."

The elf doctor smiled and remarked, "I take it she's heard about me and the other 'neighbors' you've interacted with?"

"Of course!" He grinned, "Everyone here has been mentioned to her. Our interactions with our 'neighbors' are quite important to our mission. "To learn about the unseen beings we share our world with."

Doctor Shannon chuckled and said drily, "I imagine tonight's report ought to be a good one, then!"

Turning her attention back to Ildico, she said, "How're your sewing skills?"

Ildico grinned and replied, "As good as ever!"

Doctor Shannon grinned and reached into her bag. Taking out a small clay jar and a suture kit she said, "Let's go wash up!"

Grinning at each other, the two of them left the room for a few minutes and when they returned, they slipped on surgical gloves from Ildico's medical kit.

Doctor Shannon sighed and muttered, "I ran out of those a while back, they sure save a lot of scrubbing!"

Ildico replied, "I'll get you as many as you want and any other medical supplies you might need."

"That would be wonderful!"

Taking up the small clay jar, Doctor Shannon began slathering a greenish goop all along the wounded faun's injuries, while singing in a low voice.

Her soothing tones had a calming effect on all concerned and the young faun slipped into a deeper sleep, her slender body relaxing as the song spell and the numbing cream took effect.

Closing up the jar again, Doctor Shannon said softly, "She's in a deep, healing sleep and will wake in the morning, feeling refreshed."

Nodding at Ildico she said, "The patient is all yours, nurse."

Ildico smiled and with forceps in one hand and a curved needle in the other, she began carefully stitching the child's injuries.

Working swiftly and efficiently, Ildico closed up the worst of the long scratches with her neat rows of tiny stitches.

Out of the corner of his eye, Roger saw Anita holding up her smartphone to record what was happening.

He leaned towards her and murmured, "Hopefully that'll work for you. Doctor Shannon and the faun are both 'neighbors'. Your phone may not pick both of them up, even though you can see them."

Anita looked at him and whispered, "For real? I can see them just fine."

"That's because you have the 'sight'. Normies can't see or hear our 'neighbors'. I'm not saying to stop, I'm just saying it might not work for you, who knows?"

"Ah"

Ildico was so focused on her stitchery that she was totally unaware of the cluster of sprites silently watching her at work.

They had surreptitiously fluttered in one by one until they were all perched about the normally closed room, now a temporary operating theater.

They had seen her many times as she went on her daily runs with Roger and sometimes Freya, when she felt like it.

The six foot tall athletic blonde was a familiar sight and because she was a neighbor and a friend of the family's, they refrained from dropping tiny twigs and dead leaves on her.

They also knew that if Roger ever caught them pranking her, he would withhold the tiny chocolate morsels they all loved.

Finishing up her work, Ildico straightened up again and said softly, "There, all closed up and she won't have too many scars!"

She looked down at the sleeping child and said softly, "It's too bad I can't tell anyone at work about this, my encounter with a mythical being.

Sighing, she said glumly,"How could I explain seeing a former colleague, a colleague whose funeral many of us attended?"

Looking at Doctor Shannon she said frankly, "You said you would explain later, I think later finally got here."

Ildico glanced around, "Is there any coffee available? No sense trying to go back to bed now, my night is shot. Thank goodness I had today off!"

Doctor Shannon smiled and replied, "Yes, I do owe you an explanation and explain I shall, over some coffee! I haven't had coffee in forever!"

As if on cue, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted into the impromptu sick room, Silky was on duty and in charge!

Anita smiled at the two women and said brightly, "Would you care for some coffee and a nibblie or two? Silky makes the best orange marmalade scones!"

They smiled at her and nodded a yes.

Anita led them out of the room leaving Roger and Freya looking down at the injured faun.

Dena had gone off to round up her 'volunteers' and put them to work tidying up after the fracas outside.

No need for any of their neighbors to see any clumps of fur and bits of flesh cluttering up the front yard.

Roger said quietly, "I guess we can put her back in her little nest up in the old oak tree and when she wakes up, it'll all have been a bad dream."

Freya nodded and murmured, "Ah'll carry her, jist in case she wakes up early."

"Good idea."

With that, Freya gently wrapped the slender faun in the old blanket Anita had draped over her, and lifted her from the bed.

Accompanied by two of the giant wolves, they made their way past Dena and her crew tidying up from the night before.

Continuing past the nearly finished barn, they saw to their relief that Samson was uninjured and recovering from his fright.

He nickered at them as if to ask what was going on, Roger simply waved at him for the moment.

Approaching the hollow where the old oak had grown, Roger held up his lantern and they entered the hollow.

Freya gently laid the sleeping faun inside the burned out trunk of the huge old tree and stepped aside as the wolvies slipped inside the tree's hollow interior and curled up around the young faun.

They would protect her now.

Roger unslung the cloth bag he'd filled with food for the young faun and laid it along side the clay jar full of water he'd brought, right where she would find it.

They stepped outside and took a few moments to look around before leaving.

All was well again, even the tree spirits were soundly sleeping.

With the eastern sky brightening as dawn approached, Roger and Freya joined hands and he walked with his towering young giantess back to the house and their guests.

Entering the kitchen together, they saw Ildico and Doctor Shannon chatting like old times, while Anita quietly took notes and sipped at her tea.

Ildico smiled at him and said, "Shannon explained everything to me. It's funny how I never once thought anything was amiss when I worked with her, I just thought she looked so young for her age!"

The two shared a laugh and Ildico continued,"The past few years have been an eye opener for me. I've encountered legendary beings like Jotuns and their giant wolves. A silky, a wood wife and tree sprites like the ones I saw up in Canada and tonight, I met an elf who turned out to be someone I had worked alongside in the emergency room and never once suspected a thing."

Doctor Shannon smiled and said wistfully, "Of all the people I hated leaving the most, it would have to be Ildi here. We just clicked in the E.R. and worked as a team together."

She sighed, "Faking my death and leaving her and my other friends behind, was not easy."

Smiling at the tall blonde, she said, "I'm glad I came here tonight. I got to make things right between us and Ildi's gonna help me get medical supplies and some sorely needed equipment."

Ildico grinned and said brightly, "I can just give everything to Silky and she can have it delivered by Hazel. How cool is that?"

It was nearly dawn when Doctor Shannon went back under the hill, her medical kit bag stuffed with items Ildico had insisted she take with her.

The two women embraced tearfully and promised to see each other again, real soon.

Roger glanced at the two girls he lived with and said, "If you guys don't feel up to school today, I'm okay with that. Truth is, I don't feel like taking you guys to school, I just wanna crash."

Anita grinned and said, "I kinda feel like a mental health day is waaay overdue and today, would be a perfect time to take one."

Freya just yawned and muttered, "Whit she said..."

After a brief round of hugs, they all toddled off to bed.

It was late afternoon when the young faun awoke and found herself lying between two massive, furred bodies.

The bodies that had been keeping her warm.

She recognized their scent at once, they were two of the giant wolves that lived in the big house down the hill.

What were they doing with her?

She stretched out her slender legs only to wince at the painful reminder of her ordeal the night before.

The night hunter had struck her across her slender bottom and legs several times as she fled.

Curious about her injuries, her questing fingers found the long, neat rows of tiny stitches running along her hips, buttocks and thighs.

Who had done this?

She also realized she was lying on a blanket, in addition to being sandwiched between two pony sized wolves.

Belatedly, she remembered collapsing almost at the feet of the man who lived in the big house, just before everything had gone dark.

Sitting up slowly and painfully, she saw the huge female wolf regarding her warmly. She would be safe now, no one would harm her.

Not while mama wolf was around!

Within easy reach was the cloth bag from before, it had been refilled with dried fruits, nuts and even more of those colorful, berry like things that went 'crunch' in her mouth and tasted sooo good.

Next to it was a clay jar filled with water for her to drink while she healed.

The young faun found herself yawning hugely and she snuggled down between the two wolves and dropped back into slumberland.

She was home now and here, she would stay.