Little Girl Lost

Little Girl Lost

“Another one,” Sorin said with a note of sadness in his voice.

“Humans are so careless with their young.” Davina let herself land next to the sleeping child.

“This one is a lot smaller than the others.” Nilsa, the youngest of the clan whispered as she kissed the child's nose.

Sitara hovered over the human child that slept on the soft grass inside the circle of mushrooms. Being inside the circle is what alerted them to her presence, it also entitled them to take her if they wanted. Sitara only did that in dire circumstances.

She had blond hair in a long braid that hung over her shoulder. A chubby face and bow-shaped lips. She would make a beautiful fairy. She was younger than the other ones they found, probably the youngest yet. It was a good age to take them. It made the adjustment easier. Sitara fluttered her golden wings and moved closer to the child. She wore a pink tank top and a soiled diaper. Nothing else. She had fallen asleep clutching a single yellow marigold flower as if it was her favorite teddy bear. “She’s so young, how did she get this far on her own?”

“It looks like she walked.” Farren placed a small hand on the child's bloody feet. “They are full of thorns.”

Sitara joined Farren by the child's legs. She sighed heavily. “The thorn field, she must have walked through it to get the marigold.”

“I'm surprised she made it here on those feet,” Farren said

“Looks like she crawled part of the way.” Davina pulled a thorn from the child's raw knees causing her to stir briefly.

“The flower must hold meaning for her” Nilsa said petting her cheek.

“Dash, go and see if you can find her family,” Sitara ordered “Sorin, you go and pick me one of the calendula flowers and stop at the maple tree and ask the bees if we can have a bit of honey. Nilsa, you go and see if you can find something to replace her soiled diaper. The rest of you will help me get these thorns out.”

“Now what?” Davina asked once the child was cleaned and her wounds dressed.

“Now we watch over her until her people find her,” Sitara answered ignoring Davina’s eye roll.

“Can't we keep this one? She's inside the circle.” Nilsa asked

“She would make a beautiful Fairy.” Sitara admitted with a soft smile “But she belongs with her own kind.”

“They don't even know she is missing,” Dash said reentering the circle “They aren't looking for her.”

Sitara frowned in his direction. “It's been hours, are you sure you found the right family?”

“They are the only humans in the area.” dash replied mildly insulted that she asked. “There is also a small pack of wolves heading this way.”

Farren dropped a pile of berries next to the child's face. “Why is she still asleep, is she ill?”

Nilsa pet her face fondly “She is tired, she had a long journey.”

“I gave her something to keep her calm,” Davina admitted

“DAVINA!” Nilsa scolded

“It will not harm her Nilsa. We can not have her trying to walk on those feet. She will go lame.”

“Maybe Dash and I should try to draw attention to her absence?” Sorin asked. Sitara nodded

It was an average human camp, exactly like the others they had seen over the years except this one had a plastic coral for the children. The gate was open…

“What if we knock that over?” Dash offered. Pointing to the kid coral.

“Looks too heavy.” Sorin said, “Do you think you can call enough wind to move the gate?”

“They didn't seem to notice when it opened the first time,” Dash said bitterly “ But I'll try” Dash sat on the plastic gate and called to the wind. She answered.

The gate blew open with a bang, then closed, then opened then closed…. Dash laughed enjoying the ride.

One of the female humans sitting around the fire stood up and looked toward the corral. “Where are the kids?” Sarah asked “Tabitha!”

“We are here” Tabitha called back. The adults sat back in their chairs believing the crisis had passed. Tabitha stepped into the light of the fire “Jake and Shannon wanted to play by the water.”

“I told you to stay away from the water when it's dark.” Sarah scolded

“Where is Hadley?” Jessica asked fighting back the panic that wanted to grow in her.

Tabitha looked towards the empty kid corral.

“Didn't you take Hadley with you to the shore?” Sarah asked her oldest daughter

Tabitha looked nervously down at her fingers and shook her head.

“Hadley!” Jessica yelled. She frantically searched inside each tent then the corral down by the water…. “Derrick! Hadley is missing!”

“I'm already looking! I told you she was too young for camping!” Derrick accused

“It's not the time for that right now,” Jonathan, Sarah’s husband said firmly. He grabbed two flashlights.

“Tabitha,” Sarah began trying to be calm and not frighten her child “Where was the last place you saw Hadley?”

Tabitha pointed to a spot at the edge of the camp near the woods, Sarahs heart sank.

“How long ago?” Jessica asked impatiently.

Tears stung Tabitha’s eyes. “I don't know… long … It was still light out.”

“Oh My God… Three hours ago… more?” Jessica said not knowing how many hours had passed but knowing it was way too long.

Jonathan handed his wife his phone “Call the police.” he told her “Derrick and I will go looking. She's only two, how far could she have gotten?”

“ It has been hours. Humans are so incomitent.” Davina complained

“They are searching in the wrong spot.” A strange voice growled from behind them. A large grey wolf stepped into the circle. His head low, his teeth bared… “Step aside Sitara. I'm hungry.”

“The child is protected by the circle Fenrir,” Sitara warned

“I am not scared of your circle Sitara, step aside my pack is hungry!”

Davina stepped between the wolf and her queen “You can't hunt a human child you fool. You will bring the whole town into the forest. They will hunt and kill you, your pack, and any other thing that gets in their way.”

“Our entire clan will have to move deeper into the woods to hide our existence,” Farren added

Fenrir growled at her and took another step into the circle closer to the baby. He stretched his head out and pressed his nose to the child's head and inhaled deeply.

Nilsa slapped his nose “No, Get out of here!” she ordered

The wolf jerked his head back in surprise and unwillingly followed her command.

“Thank you, Nilsa,” Sitara said gently squeezing her shoulder. “ It has been too long though. If they are searching in the wrong spot we may have to lead them here."

A crowd of police and volunteers filled the campsite. Half of them had already left on the search. The rest were waiting for instructions.

“What is that?” A female officer asked

“What?” The chief asked looking in the direction she was looking.

“That green light just inside the trees.” Officer Jan pointed in the direction that Hadley had disappeared.

“I don't see anything. Maybe it’s a flashlight” The chief dismissed

“ Nope, it's not a flashlight.” The officer corrected and began to follow it. Jessica followed her.

“Is it a firefly?” Jessica asked

“No, it's too big to be a firefly.” officer Jan

replied

They walked for about 20 minutes in silence when officer Jan suddenly said “Where'd it go?”

A green ball of light darted out from a cluster of thick trees and did several circles around them then continued in the direction it had been going in.

“Does it seem like… Like it's leading us somewhere?”

“I believe so. Hopefully to your daughter.” They followed it for another half hour or more

“Maybe it's not really going anywhere or maybe it's trying to get away from us. There is no way Hadley could have come this far. She's only two and didn't have any shoes on. Maybe we should go back.”

The green ball of light was suddenly buzzing around them hissing angrily. Jessica put her hands up in surrender “Okay, okay lead on” Jessica said and was surprised when it did.

Another ten minutes of walking and Jessica stopped walking and listened. “SHHH.” she snapped at officer Jan when she tried to talk.

A baby cried

“Hadley!” she yelled running in the direction of the sound. Lost she stopped and listened again “Hadley I’m coming!” She ran around a thick clutch of trees and stopped

There was Hadley sitting on a patch of grass happily eating berries. At least half a dozen green balls of light hovered on or near her.

The lights shot into the trees when Jessica approached her daughter. “What in hell were they?”

“Fairies,” officer Jan said with a child-like smile

on her face “ They were watching over her until she could be found. It isnt the first time this has happened in this park. Thank you,"