The Hunt of the Grimalkin (Erresuma Book 1) by Dani Swanson (read aloud books txt) 📕

said in a stutter as she saw the twisted expression on Eleonore’s face. Thea brought the subject back to her faulty memory to avoid more discussion on what the fairies had called her magic.

The women continued to talk about what they could piece together and what questions Thea still had. “I just wanted to find another human to help me. Or at least to tell me who I am and where I belong.”

Eleonore laughed as Thea said that statement to her. “Oh dearie, we’re not humans.” As her smile widen on her lips, Eleonore continued to chuckle. “Remember dearie, not everything is as it seems.”

CHAPTER SIX

 

“What do you mean you’re not humans?” Thea asked the little woman nervously.

“We’re Brownies,” Eleonore stated matter-of-factly. “Let me see that Book of Creatures you were talking about.”

Thea pulled out the book and handed it to Eleonore. She flipped through the book and found the page of brownies. Thea read the information learning that they were similar to elves, that they clean houses, and work with metal. There was a drawing of a man who looked similar to Flynn. All of the magic that came with the brownies had to do with the functioning of the house, and maintaining of it. Eleonore agreed with the majority of things on the page. “We use to do all of these things,” she said with a melancholy smile. “About a hundred years ago, when we were still young enough to move around that well.”

Thea spent the afternoon snacking on sweet baked treats with Eleonore, learning more about the Brownies. Eleonore told her how she cleans houses for the humans in town and dresses as a human. “Not everything is as it seems, dearie.”

Thea then ventured out to help Flynn mend the broken fence. She helped the old man lift new timbers across the stone supports. The little brownie made new metal supports for the fence that looked to be strong and elegant. By supper time, they had the south side of the fence completed with new reinforcements.

The three of them sat at the table and dined on pork and fresh vegetables. Fig sat at the fireplace lazily lapping up milk from the saucer. They made plans to fix the fence and round up all of the animals that were roaming in the woods. Eleonore had collected some seeds and leaves to replant their gardens. They helped Thea fix up the barn for her to stay a bit, since Thea had offered to help the Brownies fix up their home.

Days passed quickly. Flynn and Thea rebuilt the entire fence, and reinforced the woodwork with a beautiful cast iron pickets. Eleonore spent the majority of her days out in their field replanting seeds, sowing the land.

“Good idea leaving the gate open last night. Some of the animals have made their way back to the barn,” Thea sleepily reported as she sipped her tea by the fire. Over the previous night a few of the horses had wandered back to the barn, along with a cow and a pair of pigs.

“The last thing we need to do is build a chicken coop, and then we should be back to normal around here,” Flynn stated happily. “I think that’s one thing I can handle on my own.”

“It’s Tuesday, dearie. We had better get moving,” Eleonore said to Thea.

“Where are we going?” Thea questioned.

“We need to go to market today. I have blankets to sell,” the little brownie woman wrapped her head with a green scarf and slowly made her way to the barn. Thea collected her bag and helped the little woman onto a horse with her heaps of hand woven blankets on the back. Thea mounted a golden horse herself, and little Fig perched up onto her shoulder. They rode down the dirt road, headed to the east, through the dark forest.

Thea kept seeing glimpses of sparkling shimmers through the trees. Eleonore noticed them too, “Better keep moving, dearie. There are always beautiful things, but dangerous too.”

Thea felt the uncomfortable tingle of being watched, as they continued down the path. Fig watched little frogs bounce through the grass and little fairies buzz overhead. If she hadn’t already known what they were, Thea would have assumed they were humming birds. A horse ran across the path in front of them. It was white with a flowing mane that shined like silver. The little horse had a small horn growing from the middle of its head. Eleonore stopped her own mount and pointed to a few strands of the snowy mane stuck on a bush.

“Get that!” she cried with excitement. “I’m sure you can use that with your healings.” Thea hopped down from the horse and collected the stands, putting them into her bag. The texture felt smoother than normal horse hair, and was cold to the touch. She hopped back on the horse, picking Fig up by the scruff of his neck and placed him back on her shoulder. They started off again to market.

The market was a bright colored array of booths. There were hundreds of people in well pressed clothes, walking from stall to stall, buying and trading their wares. The women were in flowing dresses and the men in pressed linens.

Eleonore walked Thea over to a empty, dusty booth. “This is your booth, dearie,” she said. The booth had months’ worth of dust covering it; there was a faded sign that said “Tonics” across the top. Behind the counter there was a cabinet closed with an old lock. She tugged on it a few times and it wouldn’t budge. She remember she carried an old key with her that she had discovered in her bag when she first woke up on the bank. After some rummaging, she found it. She stuck it in the lock, which groaned as she turned the key.

Inside she found cloths,