Chapter Twenty-Eight: Twilight Excursions
Guardians of the Twilight Lands -- The Sixth Book of Unexpected Enlightenment
“We’re going to ride a what?” Sigfried asked, flying beside Rachel on yet another borrowed bristleless as they headed for the forest beyond the lake.
“A tree.”
They had spent the afternoon helping her parents entertain the crowds; or rather Rachel had spent it helping her mother in the duchess's capacity as the hostess—to her delight, she had been assigned to entertaining the young children—and Sigfried had spent it showing off Lucky and signing autographs for those who were fans of the famous dragon slaying boy. He retold the story of how he slew the dragon at least three times, telling it slightly differently each time. Fortunately, except for Rachel, none of the people listening to any one of the retelling heard the others.
It had taken some clever planning to slip away, especially as sunset would be at six twenty-eight, and dinner was to be served at six. However, Rachel had been entertaining the children near the refreshment table all afternoon. The splendid high tea laid out there had included the family tea blend, Double Devon cream, homemade whortleberry jam, Cook’s best Devonshire honeycake drizzled with oodles of buttered honey, plus stacks of cucumber sandwiches, trays of newly-baked scones, fresh fruit grown in the Gryphon Park wintergarden, local Sharpham and Devon blue cheese, and much more. So her claim of having already eaten too much was accepted. She promised the still-hungry Siggy that they could visit the kitchen when they came back from their excursions. This was enough to convince him. Sigfried now loved the kitchen.
“Tree riding. That’ll be exciting,” Siggy groused. “Oh, look. There’s a rock. And, ten minutes later, yep. Same rock. Half an hour. Yep. Still there. Same rock. Woohoo.”
Rachel could not help it. She started giggling. Soon, her shoulders shook with glee.
“At least Lucky can set the trees on fire. That’ll break up the tedium—for a few minutes.”
“Oh!” Rachel frowned, uncertain.
“What’s it now?”
“I’m not sure Lucky should come.”
“Why not? Where I go, Lucky goes. I’m not going if Lucky can’t go.”
“It’s just the trees are a bit afraid of fire. I’m afraid he’ll scare away the dryads.”
“Hmm. That’s a problem.” Siggy stroked his chin.
“I could go fly up to Luckey Tor,” offered Lucky. “If you need me, I’ll rush right back.”
“I guess that’ll work,” Siggy said, looking glum as Lucky snaked off into the sunset. “You can drop many rocks into the gorge while I’m stuck sitting on a tree, staring at one rock.”
* * *
The sun was low over the moors, filling the sky with peach, gold, and dark rose. They flew by the kennels and the stables and then by the lake. Dogs barked; horses whinnied; a tawny owl hooted mournfully. Siggy wanted to take a boat to the island. Rachel promised him they could do it another day and pressed on until they were in the deep, majestic forest.
“This is my favorite riding tree,” she announced. “See how it grows sideways for two feet before it grows up again, making a place where you can sit? You need to find one like this. There are several, there, there, and there. Peter usually rides that poplar. Pick the one you like best.”
Rachel leaned Vroomie against a mossy boulder. Then, having had the foresight to put on sweatpants under her dress, she climbed up and straddled the tree, a downy birch. With its white bark and black eye-like markings, the moor birch looked much like the paper birches visible out of the window of her dorm room, back at Roanoke, except the bark of the paper birch tended to peel off in long parchment-like strips. She put her arms around the vertical rise of the trunk. It was cold and hard, but it shivered beneath her palms. She loved the feel of the trunk, but the temperature was falling fast. She wondered if she should put on her mittens.
“What about this?” Sigfried pointed to a massive beech. Technically, it counted, as it grew sideways and then up, but the truck was enormous, far too wide to encircle with one's arms.
“I think that’s too big. You might fall off.”
“Falling off? At least that would be more exciting than staring at a rock.”
Rachel hid a smirk. “Sigfried, this’ll be nothing like staring at a rock. At precisely five minutes before sundown, something amazing will happen. It is quite important you hold on.”
“Hold on, schmold on,” scoffed Sigfried. “I’ll be fine.”
* * *
They sat on their trees for a time. Siggy reported upon a boulder as if it were a sporting event. Rachel ignored him, awaiting the approaching Twilight. She would not let anything disturb her joy. Then, it happened. The sun formed a golden line along the horizon. The forest grew hushed. The tree trembled.
“Hey, this tree is moving! Is that the wind?” Sigfried looked around, frowning when he saw that none of the branches above him were waving.
“Shhh!” Rachel put her finger to her mouth and then grabbed the tree again. “You have to be utterly silent, or you’ll scare them. Trust me and wait. This is worth it! And don’t stop looking around, especially at the other trees!”
“What about—“ Siggy began.
Rachel cut him off. She leaned forward and said softly, “Hush. You will behold wonders.”
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