Ticket to Faerie (4 page)

"Watch it, love!" Lilse shouted.

Alyssa paused with her foot in the air poised to step on the
next rock. Confused, she pulled her foot back and the stone
disappeared into the muck.

"That one, to your left." The mouse pointed with one paw,
while holding onto Max's ear with the other.

Alyssa stepped where instructed and tried to stay more
alert. But the heavy air made her drowsy. Sweat trickled down her
back and between her breasts and dampened the sweatshirt under
her pits.
Great, as if I didn't stink bad enough
. She saw several
spots off the path that looked inviting and safe where she could curl
up and take a nap.

"Don't give up now, love," the mouse called. "We're so close.
Honest."

After pulling her hoodie up from the waist over her chest,
Alyssa switched the jug to her other shoulder and followed Max from
stone to stone. With a final leap, he left the rocks behind and sat in
front of a stone arch spanning the path. As soon as Alyssa's feet
touched the dirt of the road, a giant with mottled red and blue skin
emerged from under the arch. He stood even taller than her dad and
his arms were the size of small trees. Bushy blue eyebrows stretched
above red eyes that glowered at her. "Watcha want?"

Alyssa swallowed. At least he hadn't tried to eat her. "You
must be the gatekeeper, sir. We're looking for the coach stop."

The giant growled. He looked at Max. "You look familiar.
Been here before?"

Max stood up on his hind legs and pointed one paw toward
Alyssa. "Yes, I visited here once with her grandmother. I believe the
bear was white."

"Correct." The giant shook Max's paw. "You may pass."

Max dropped to all fours and went through the arch, but
when Alyssa tried to follow, the giant put an arm across the opening.
"Not so fast, Missy. You need to answer a question first."

"The bear was white?"

"Wrong answer."

"But you told Max it was correct." Alyssa set the jug down
and removed the pack so she could pull her hoodie up over her
head.

"Correct answer to the question I asked him." The giant
moved so he stood in front of Alyssa. "You have to answer a different
question."

Alyssa stuffed her hoodie back in the pack. "What question
do I have to answer?"

"Justin left the Prince's castle the day before yesterday. He
rode to the inn on the mountain which took him all day. He spent the
night and rode to the cottage in the forest which took another day.
Justin stayed overnight at the cottage and rode back to the Prince's
castle in the morning. He arrived on Same Day. How is that
possible?"

Alyssa stared at the giant. "How would I know?"

"That's your question." He sat down, legs crossed. "You don't
get through until you answer it."

"Max!" Alyssa hollered, but the dog didn't respond and she
couldn't see him.

Even sitting, the giant's head was at Alyssa's eye level. He
looked like he could toss her over the arch if he chose.

"Ummm, how many tries do I get?"

"Just one."

"What if I answer wrong?"

"You can never leave Faerie." The giant leaned against one
side of the arch and propped his feet up on the other. He wore green
fringed moccasins that looked big enough for Max to crawl inside of
and take a nap.

Alyssa put her head in her hands and wept. Her dog and the
mouse had deserted her and she had no idea how to survive in
Faerie on her own. She had no clue how to answer the giant's
question, and Grandma would die if she didn't. Plus, she'd never get
to see Mom and Dad and all her friends or even, apparently, Max
again.

"Please, Mr. Giant. I'm so very tired and I just want to go
home. I'm only sixteen. I don't know anything about magic. I miss my
mom. My grandma's sick. Can't you just let me go through?" She dug
into her pack and pulled out her Swiss Army knife. "Can I use this to
pay the toll?"

The giant grabbed the knife, and turned it over and over in
his hands. "Thanks. But you still have to answer the question." He
stuck the knife in the pocket of his green leather jerkin.

Alyssa hiccupped. Tears hadn't worked. Apparently, nothing
in her pack would get her through the arch. She sat down and leaned
her head against the jug.

"Umm, could you repeat the question?"

"Nope." The giant scratched his blue and red belly where it
protruded below the belt that held his jerkin closed.

Alyssa thought about the riddle. She couldn't remember
where Justin went, only that he rode about for three days and ended
up getting home on the same day. Something about the puzzle struck
her as familiar. She tried to remember the silly riddles her best
friend Tory always repeated including the one that asked what color
the bear was. She took a deep breath. "Justin rode a horse named
Same Day."

The giant scrunched up his nose and made a noise in his
throat that sounded like a fog horn. He stood up and stretched,
stomped his feet, and stood to one side.

At first, Alyssa was too scared to move. Then she grabbed
the pack and the jug and scooted through the arch, afraid he might
change his mind. She saw Max sitting next to the road and heard the
thunder of galloping hoofs in the distance. Shouldering the pack, she
ran her fingers through her hair and resettled her hat with the brim
to one side. Of course, after two days of mucking about Faerie
without a bath, she most likely looked frightful.
My face is
probably covered in zits
.

Four black geldings pulled a striped red and blue coach to a
stop in front of her. A large tabby cat in pink livery stepped down.
"Ticket, please." The cat purred.

Alyssa plucked the mouse from Max's head and held her up
for the cat to see. It opened the coach door.

"We part ways here, love." Lilse crawled up Alyssa's arm to
her shoulder. "This coach'll take you home and you've no further
need for a ticket." She gave Alyssa a peck on the cheek. "Hope what's
in the jug does the trick for your gram."

"Thanks for your help." Alyssa lifted the mouse from her
shoulder and set her on the road.

"My pleasure, love. Cheerio." The mouse scampered back
toward the arch.

Alyssa set the jug on the coach floor, pushed it toward the
other side, and hauled herself up into the empty carriage. Max
jumped up behind her. She took off her pack, braced herself in one
corner of the front-facing seat, and fell asleep.

The next thing she knew the cat was calling to her through
the open door of the coach. "This is your stop, Miss."

She dragged the jug and her pack out of the coach, set them
down on the bench inside the bus stop shelter, and watched the
coach disappear around a bend in the asphalt highway. When she
dug her cell phone out of her pack and turned it on, it got a signal
right away. She leaned her back against the shelter wall and slid
down to the seat, tears of relief leaking out of her eyes. She dialed
her home number. Fortunately, her mom answered.

"Mom, it's Alyssa. Can you come pick me up at the school
bus stop down by the highway? I'm just too tired to drag this jug up
to the house."

"What jug? Never mind." Her mother sighed. "I'm sorry you
couldn't make the magic work this time either, dear."

"But, I did, Mom. It wasn't much fun, actually it was pretty
nasty, and I had to give up my MP3 player to get a magic potion for
Grandma. That's what's in the jug. Magic from Faerie."

"How in the world? You only left the house an hour or so
ago." Her mother paused. "How long were you in Faerie,
Alyssa?"

"Two horribly long days." Alyssa blinked back tears.
I
shouldn't cry now, I'm almost home
.

Mom gasped. "I'll drive right down to get you."

Alyssa ended the call. At least Mom would believe her. She
knew Dad wouldn't and didn't plan to tell him, even if that meant he
wouldn't let her get her belly button pierced or buy her a new MP3
player.
My friends'll think I'm nuts if I try to explain where I
went.

Max rested his head on her lap and she scratched his ear.
"Must be hard not being able to talk." He just looked at her with big
brown eyes and wagged his tail. She patted the jug. "At least we got
this boy. At least we got this."

If the magic worked, she promised herself, she would spend
the two weeks before school started with Grandma. Maybe she
would let Alyssa try again on some of the presents from before.
I
still have a lot of freckles, and this year the jazz band's supposed to go
to New York City.

Poet, story teller, and book designer, F.I. Goldhaber continues
writing professionally after more than a quarter century, including six years
as a reporter and editor at newspapers in three states and more than a
decade as business writer, editor, and marketing communications
consultant for corporate, government, and not-for-profit entities.

She wins awards for her fiction and poetry. Preditors &
Editors readers poll ranked her second poetry collection, Pairs of Poems
number three in poetry and various organizations honor her erotica works.
Her short stories, novelettes, poems, news stories, feature articles, essays,
editorial columns, and reviews appear in magazines, e-zines, newspapers,
calendars, and anthologies and she published five erotica novels under
another name.

In addition to paper, electronic, and audio publications, F.I. shares
her words at events in Salem, Keizer, Portland, Seattle and on the radio. She
appeared at venues such as Wordstock, Oregon Literary Review,
bookstores, libraries, and Chemeketa Community College; gives
presentations on subjects as diverse as marketing, writing erotica, and
building volunteer organizations; and taught Introduction to Indie
Publishing at Portland Community College and as a weekend intensive.

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