Kendra’s Visit

Helen Chapman

 

            Tara was six shortly after her parents moved into Clych Twylych. Her mom Jennifer promised her a celebration birthday party at a hamburger restaurant, and of course Tara was very excited. So were her fairy friends.

            Tara would have liked to take them all with her, but Jennifer said she might have trouble explaining fairies to her schoolfriends. So Tara and her mother agreed she could take Pennywhistle and Rhiannon, because they were the smallest, and Pennywhistle and Rhiannon agreed to tell all the other fairies.

            Tara put her favorite pinafore over her dress when it was time to go, and went out into the garden. The fairy folk gathered around to wave goodbye as Rhiannon and Pennywhistle ducked down into Tara’s pinafore pockets, curling up so they could not be seen.

            Tara did not say much on her way to the hamburger restaurant, but she did giggle softly from time to time, because sometimes can be very ticklish to carry a small wigglyPillywiggin.

            She found her friends already waiting for her , and they all sat down to eat.  Tara made sure that she fed a drop of two of her milk shake into her pinafore pockets for her two little Faeries, even though Faeries do not normally drink milk shakes.She knew that her mother would not be angry at her making chocolate spots. But she had great difficulty in keeping herself from laughing out loud when she felt Pennywhistle the Pillywiggin trying to nibble ice cream from the end of her finger.

            She also let the two little Faeries taste the frosting on her dessert. However the frosting was rather thicker than the milkshake, and Rhiannon nipped Tara’s finger quite sharply. But Tara was very brave, and never said a word, not even ‘ouch’. It just would not have done for anyone to realize she had Faeries in her pockets.

            Tara opened all her presents after they had eaten. She thanked all the other children very politely, and her mother took a picture of each present.

            The sound of the children clapping and cheering each new gift quite fascinated Pennywhistle, and she popped her head of of Tara’s pocket to see what was going on. Tara looked down, and quickly put her hand over the Faerie’s head.  But she was not fast enough to stop her cousin Kendra noticing.

            Then it was time for everyone to go home.  Kendra asked Tara’s mom if she could home with Tara to play.  Jennifer  thought for a moment, and then agreed. But she made up her mind to get outside into the garden first, to warn all the Fairy folk.  She did not want her manor house suddenly turning into a mediaeval castle in front of a little girl who did not share Tara’s secrets. Fortunately the two little Faeries slipped out of her pockets and flitted into the shrubs the moment she got out of her mom’s car.

            Tara led the way upstairs, to show Kendra her bedroom. She had a pretty new bed with a pink and purple canopy, to match Scathlatch, the Changeling, because she and Scathlatch liked to play hide and seek.

            The two little girls piled Tara’s birthday presents on her bed, and sat on the floor to play. But Kendra liked her new toy bucket and spade best of all.

             ‘Let’s go out into the garden,’ she begged. Kendra lived in an apartment, and only went out to shop, or for walks in the park. She never got to dig, and she also wanted to know what she had seen jumping out of Tara’s pinafore pocket.

            Her request worried Tara a little, because Tara feared Kendra might discover the fairies in the garden. But then she agreed.  But she warned her cousin to stay close to the manor house.

            So Kendra took Tara’s bucket and spade and ran down the steps and out through the kitchen door. Tara followed, stopping on her way to tell her mother. Jennifer smiled, and told Tara to have a good time. She said that she would call the two little girls in when it was time for them to eat.

            However Kendra had vanished by the time Tara walked out through the back door. Tara looked here, and then there, and then all around, but she could see no sign of Kendra.  She searched behind the rhododendrons, and under the hollies, and even by the lake where Spindlestone liked to meet with his apprentices.  But there was no sign of Kendra.

            She called Kendra’s name over and over again, but she only heard some birds singing.  No matter where she looked, she could not find her cousin. In the end she ran back into the house to ask her mother to help. Now she was really rather frightened.

            ‘Mama, Mama!’ She called as she burst through the back door, and tears began to trickle down her cheeks.  ‘I can’t find Kendra anywhere. She’s gone!’

            Jennifer sat down and pulled Tara onto her lap.  ‘Did you look everywhere?’

            Tara nodded and then sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.  She was glad to be safe in her mother’s arms, but she was still frightened for her cousin.

            Jennifer smiled, and pulled out a hanky to wipe Tara’s face.  ‘Did you look behind the rhododendrons and behind the hollies? Remember, she wanted to play with your bucket and spade, and that’s where the dirt is the softest.’

            Tara nodded doubtfully. ‘I looked there, Mama, and I even looked way back by the lake.’ She sniffed again. ‘I told her not to go far, because she might get lost, but I could not find her anywhere at all.’  She began to cry in earnest.

            Jennifer hugged her tight, and then put on her feet, and stood up.  ‘Well, we’ll just have to find her then, won’t we?’

            Together, they walked out into the garden and past the holly hedge. Jennifer led the way down the path towards the park.  Every few steps she would call Kendra’s name, and then they would stop to listen. After a moment Jennifer heard a buzzing noise close to her ear.  She turned and saw Pennywhistle the Pillywiggin hovering right in front of her. ‘Have you seen a little girl, Pennywhistle?’

            Pennywhistle nodded.  ‘You mean the little girl who rode home with us?’

            Jennifer nodded. ‘Do you know where she went?’

            Pennywhistle flew a couple of circles, climbing higher and higher, and then very high indeed. She was gone for quite a long while, and then she came back, looking very concerned, and her voice was very squeaky when she spoke.

            ‘Oh, dear. Oh, dearie, dearie me.’ Her little faerie eyes had grown quite round with alarm. ‘I’ve seen her, but I think she’s a prisoner.’

            Now it was Jennifer’s turn to look alarmed. ‘How do you mean, a prisoner?’

            Pennywhistle began to cry. ‘Magnus and Banning, the trolls, have got her.’

            Jennifer frowned. ‘How do you mean, they have got her?’

            ‘She’s in their hole, Tara’s mom, and I think they won’t let her out.’

            Jennifer looked rather fierce. She was not going to stand for Fairy folk taking prisoners in her garden. She stared at the Pillywiggin very hard. ‘Will you take us there?’

            Pennywhistle nodded doubtfully. ‘It’s very very far, Mrs. Jennifer. It is way on the other side of the lake.’ She was silent for a moment, hovering between Tara and her mother, her little wings fluttering so fast that they were almost invisible. Then she nodded again. ‘But I can take you there if you can follow me.’

            Jennifer knew the lake was a long and tiring flight for a Pillywiggin, even if not far for a human. She held out her hand..  ‘Pennywhistle, can you guide us, if you ride on my hand?  We might get there faster.’

            Pennywhistle agreed, and the three of them set off beyond the manor garden’s holly hedges into the deer park.  Jennifer noticed was that there was no sign of the fairy folk who were usually about in the park. The physician was not by the linden trees, Tanner was not working with his leathercraft. The deer park seemed deserted. But then, as they passed the lake, Jennifer heard a loud growl, like a tiger in the zoo might make.  She and Tara began to walk a bit faster, because she realised that the growl was the sound of a very upset Troll.

            They passed a stand of beech trees, and found Magnus and Banning, both jumping up and down and shaking their hairy Troll fists in the air. Every so often, Magnus let out a might roar.

            Poor Pennywhistle was so nervous that she flew straight up into the nearest beech tree. Jennifer stopped, and called out to the two Trolls. She knew that it would not do to sneak up on them when they were so upset. ‘Magnus, Banning, what’s wrong?’

            Magnus roared again, a terrible sound that sent the birds flying away in fright.  ‘There is a . . .a. . . .person in our hole, Missus Lady.  It will not leave.  Get it out.’

            Jennifer came nearer, still holding onto Tara’s hand, and found a deep Troll hole. Kendra was seated at the bottom of the hole, happily playing with Tara’s new bucket and spade. The three Pixies were with her, and she was making castles for them to dance around.  The four were laughing gaily as the two Trolls bellowed in rage.

            Jennifer stood for a moment, watching, and then asked Magnus if he would allow her to go down into the hole and get Kendra out.  Magnus was not a bad Troll, and about as polite as a Troll is able to be, so he offered her his big hand.  But instead of helping her down, he picked Jennifer up in his hand and set her down beside Kendra. 

            Tara was very impressed with this Troll elevator, and asked Magnus very politely to put her in with her mother and her cousin.  But Magnus just looked at Tara and growled that two persons and three Pixies were really quite enough, even for a deep Troll hole.

            Meanwhile Jennifer sat at the bottom of the hole, explaining to Kendra that it was time for her and the pixies to come out.  She explained that Magnus had grown very upset, and the she was keeping Banning from his work. But Kendra just sat and shoveled more dirt into her pail.

            ‘But I like it down here, Aunt Jennifer. Tara never told me you have all these funny people in your garden, and I’ve never seen dolls like these.  They dance and do everything like people, and yet they are so tiny. Now I know why Tara took some to her party in her pinafore pocket.’

            Jennifer realized that she had some explaining to do. ‘ But Kendra, these little people are Pixies, not dolls. They love dancing more than anything else. Dancing is what they do best.’ She thought for a moment, wondering how best to tempt Kendra out of the Troll hole without sending her into a flood of tears. Then she had an idea. ‘ If you ask them nicely, they will come to the house with us. Then you and Tara can have a tea party for them in the garden.’

            The thought of a tea party worked like a charm. Kendra looked up hopefully, popping Tara’s spade into her bucket.  ‘Will we really have a tea party in the garden, Aunt Jennifer?  Will the Pixies really come?’

            Jennifer smiled, and eyed the three Pixies. ‘Have you all introduced yourselves?’

            Colby held out his tiny hand, and Kendra’s eyes opened wide when she heard him speak. ‘Hello. My name is Colby.  These are my friends, Stilton and Cheddar.  We would be pleased to take tea with you.’  He looked up at Jennifer.  ‘So long as there’s plenty of sugar.’

            Jennifer laughed and lifted Kendra out of the dirt and brushed off her dress.  ‘Magnus,’ she called, ‘will you help Kendra up please?’

           The great Troll reached down and lifted both of them and set them next to Tara, and the Pixies scrambled up the side of the Troll hole on their own and stood with them.   

            Kendra looked down at them curiously, and then up at Tara’s mom. ‘Aunt Jennifer, why do you have Pixies in your garden?  And why are these funny men here digging holes? We don’t have Pixies at our apartment.’

            Jennifer thanked Magnus for his help, and took both the little girls by the hand. But she weaited until they were almost back at the holly hedge before replying. ‘Perhaps you do have some Pixies, Kendra.  Lots of houses have them, and Faeries, too. But not everyone gets to see them.  So that means the Pixies must think you are very special.’

            Kendra smiled happily, because she liked the idea of being special.  ‘May I tell my mother when she gets back?’, she said. ‘Will the Pixies let her see them too? Will she be special as well?’

            Jennifer laughed.  ‘You will have to ask the Pixies yourself, over tea, Kendra.  But I am sure they will agree, and then you can tell your Mom. But don’t tell anyone else, because otherwise everyone will want to come and look at our garden.’

            Kendra nodded wisely. She liked the idea of having the Pixies as her own special playmates.

            Jennifer told Kendra and Tara to wait in the garden while she made tea, and Kendra had great fun playing with the Pixies. But she was not very impressed by their table manners, because the Pixies slurped tea from their spoons, and made great smacking noises with their lips as they raided the sugar bowl. So she decided not to introduce them to her parents when her mother and father arrived to collect her. She thought they were much too rude, and Tara agreed, because she was afraid the Pixies would get her a bad name.

            Kendra’s mother came out into the garden, and stopped short as she saw her daughter, with all the dirty marks she had made playing in the Troll hole. ‘Oh, Kendra, you’re filthy. However did you ever get so dirty? You look like you’ve been digging in the dirt.’

            Kendra laughed.  ‘I have been, Mama. Tara got the best spade and pail. I had such fun playing with it. I never get to play in dirt at home.’ But she decided not to tell her mother too much about the big hairy men and her new Pixie friends.

            Her mother laughed.  ‘Well, perhaps that’s for the best: look at how dirty your new dress is.  I think it’s time we went home, before you get your Aunt’s house all messy.’

            Jennifer smiled at them both. She thought she might have a lot of explaining to do to her sister. But she also knew that Kendra had been a good little girl - and that counted most of all.