Counting with Fairies Ch 5

Chapter 5

Sally watched the young girl with the heavy sack of flour on her back and the bulging baby belly in the front.  "Should she be carrying that heavy sack on her back when she is expecting?"  Sally asked.

"Probably not," the Doctor said.

"Are you really the kind of doctor what would know about babies?"  Sally asked.

The Doctor laughed, "No, I'm not, but I know many things and the basics of human reproduction is among my knowledge.  In this period of history, births are attended by local mid-wives.  Only the very rich can afford doctors.  Marie-Claire had me at a bit of a disadvantage.  She had a doctor sitting next to her and she decided to take advantage of that by asking my opinion.  I wasn't going to take the time to explain otherwise and disappoint her."

"So you lied to her?"

"No, of course not.  As soon as that man on the road accused her of being a bad omen, I scanned her.  She is fine and so it the baby."

"What do you mean you scanned her?"  Sally asked.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and showed it to her.  "I scanned her with this.  It's a sonic screwdriver.  Very handy little gadget."

"I don't guess you are going to explain to me what that really is or how it works."  The Doctor smiled a half-smile at her.  "Technology from my future, right?"  Sally smiled.

"Exactly," the Doctor answered.

He held the sonic screwdriver out in front of him and pressed a button.  It lit up and started to make a humming noise. He pointed it at a group of trees and then looked at the tiny display.  He nodded his head.  He then looked around him, up and down the road, making sure that they were alone.  He leaned in and spoke to the carriage.  "Hello?  Are you alright?  I'm a friend and will not harm you.  Can I help?"

The Doctor sat very still for a few moments.  Sally held her breath.  She wondered if perhaps fairies were real after all.  She about jumped out of her skin when she heard the tiniest voice coming from the carriage.

"And the female?" the voice said.

"She will not harm you either,"  the Doctor said.

The door to the carriage opened and out stepped the tiniest figure Sally could have ever imagined.  A fairy.  A real live fairy.  She recalled a book she had as a child with a fairy on the cover.  This fairy didn't look at all like the fairy on her book cover did.  Sally guessed the fairy was five inches high.  She was dressed in a regal gown made of daisy petals.  Her hair was purple and in a long plait down her back.  She looked quite disheveled.

"I'm sorry for all the rough movement you must have experienced while I carried you.  I was as gentle as I could be," the Doctor said.

"I appreciate that.   Thank you for rescuing me from those peasants on the road.  They would have killed me for sure," the tiny fairy said.  "I am Lady Columbine, one of Queen Oona's ladies-in-waiting."

"It is an honor to meet you Lady Columbine.  I am the Doctor and this is Sally," the Doctor introduced.  He bowed his head to the fairy.  Sally followed his example.  "What happened Lady Columbine?  Why did your carriage crash?"

The fairy, which had been standing on the ground since emerging from the carriage, unfolded purple and green wings and few up to the Doctor's face.  "Here is not a good place to talk.  It is too open, too dangerous. Follow me."

And with that, the fairy flew off like a shot, leaving a light trail of purple dust behind her.  The Doctor jumped up and began running after the trail of fairy dust.  Sally stood up and tried to run, but momentarily tripped on her dresses.  She wasn't use to wearing long skirts.  They just weren't practical or stylish back home.  Holding onto the skirt and lifting them to her knees, she was able to run.  She was glad for the trainers she was wearing.  She couldn't see the trail of purple dust, but she could see the Doctor and she ran after him.

The Doctor reached the grove of trees and ran into them.  When Sally reached the spot where she had seen the Doctor go into the trees, she slowed her run down.  She couldn't see him anywhere.

"Doctor," she called, "Doctor where are you?"

"Over here, Sally!" she heard him call back to her.  She followed his voice further into the trees and found him standing in a small clearing.  On the ground at his feet was a circle of mushrooms.  As Sally drew near, the Doctor held out his arm.  "Don't step into the circle, Sally."

"It's a fairy ring," Sally said in surprise.  She had never seen one before and being a scientist, she had always found a good scientific answer to such anomalies as fairy rings.  But here was one and standing in the middle were several fairies.

"Yes.  The ring is the gateway to their kingdom.  You and I cannot enter without harming ourselves, so we must be careful," the Doctor explained.

Columbine was sitting on a large mushroom.  Two other fairies were bringing her a tray with several gold cups filled with a golden liquid.  Columbine took one of the cups from the tray and took a sip.  "Thank you Lady Rain, this is exactly what I needed.  Please, take a cup to my rescuers."

Lady Rain unfolded her blue wings and flew first to the Doctor.  She held the tray out and the Doctor took the tiny cup in his fingers.  The fairy then flew to Sally and Sally took the other cup.  She and the Doctor lifted the tiny cups to their lips.  It was hardly enough liquid in them to wet their tongues, but its effect was immediate.  It made Sally feel warm and happy.  The Doctor smiled and thanked Lady Rain.

"That was wonderful," the Doctor said, returning the cup to the tray.  "Thank you for sharing your nectar with us."  Columbine smiled.

"Nectar?" Sally asked.

"Yes," the Doctor explained.  "It's the fairies specialty.  It's like tea for them; very calming. However for us it is a little different.  It isn't alcohol, but you might feel a little giddy"

Sally smiled.  "I already do, but in a nice way."  She turned to the fairy, "Thank you."  Sally put her cup back onto the tray.

"Now," said the Doctor, getting down to business, "What is going on?  Oh! I almost forgot," the Doctor reached into his pocket and gently pulled the tiny horse out.  It was still wrapped in his handkerchief.  "I'm afraid he seems badly injured."

Columbine flew up to the Doctor's hand and looked at the horse.  "My poor Sterling."

The horse moved a bit at the sound of its owner's voice and whinnied.  Sally noticed for the first time that it was a winged horse.  It's wings had been folded and were the exact color of his fur.

"Please place him into the ring," Columbine instructed.  The Doctor unwrapped the horse and gently laid him in the center of the circle.  A moment later another fairy popped up in the ring, right next to the horse.  The fairy bent down and examined it.

"Do not worry Lady Columbine, Sterling will be healed."  The fairy tossed some golden dust onto the horse and a moment later they had both disappeared.

Sally was more amazed with each passing moment.  Things she never dreamed to be real were happening right before her.  She looked at the Doctor, but he didn't seem so impressed and awestruck as Sally felt.  It was as if he conversed with fairies all the time and he was all business.

"Now Columbine, please tell me what is going on," the Doctor implored.

"My carriage was attacked.  Until recently, our society and life was quite normal.  Things were as they have been for the last thousand years.  Then, several moons ago, a new group of fairies arrived.

Lady Rain made a sound of disgust, interrupting Columbine's story.  "Lady Rain, please," Columbine scolded.

My apologies, Lady Columbine," Lady Rain said, looking properly chastened. 

"She is quite right to scoff, though," Columbine said.  "They are fairy like, but they are not proper fairies.  They call themselves Poikyo."

"Poikyo!" the Doctor cried.  "How in the universe did they get here?"

"You know of the Poikyo?" Columbine asked.

"Well, yes, just a little bit.  They live on the planet Bhafaigja. They are the fairies of their world," the Doctor said.

"You mean fairies are aliens?" Sally was astounded.

Columbine, Rain and the other fairy, which had been quiet up to this point all flew into Sally's face shouting at her.

"How dare she?" Columbine screamed.

"Wait, wait, wait," the Doctor said.  He put an arm protectively across Sally's chest.  Sally leaned back away from the angry fairies.

"Forgive me!" Sally said, "I did not think before I spoke.  I meant no insult."

The three fairies backed away from Sally.  They hovered for a moment, watching Sally with angry faces.  Finally Columbine flew back to the circle of mushrooms and sat down on the biggest on.  The two other fairies followed her.  Sally took a deep breath of relief.

"Of course fairies are not aliens," the Doctor explained.  "They are native to Earth, just as humans are.  But, just as you and I look alike, despite being from two different planets and being two difference species, so are fairies and Poikyo.  They are fairies of their worlds, similar in some ways, but very different in others."

Sally couldn't believe what she was hearing.  The Doctor was from another planet?  That explained a few things.  Sally started to say something, but one look from the Doctor kept her quiet.  Now wasn't the time to ask him about aliens.  She added it to the mental list of questions she was coming up with for him to explain to her later.  Sally nodded her head in understanding.  "I see," she said.  "So how did the Poikyo end up here?"

"That's a good question," the Doctor said.  He was relieved she seemed to understand which questions were appropriate and which ones were not.  Except for the one outburst, her scientific curiosity was more in charge than her human curiosity.  The Doctor was only slightly familiar with the Poikyo.  On their own planet, they are the creatures of stories and legends, like fairies on Earth.  However, they were much more violent and aggressive than the troublemaking Earth fairies.  They didn't belong on Earth and the Doctor couldn't understand how they had managed to leave their home planet.

"We don't know where they came from or how they got here," Columbine answered Sally's question.  "All we know is that there has been nothing but trouble since they arrived."

"So the Poikyo arrived here several months ago and just began attacking you?"  The Doctor asked.

"That's about the whole of it.  We tried to talk to them, make friends with them, reason with them, but they would not cooperate.  They began to cause trouble in the village, more so than we do.  We make mischief," Columbine smiled, "but we are not mean to those who have caused us no harm.  We do not destroy.  There have been a few small fights and arguments with the Poikyo, but recently things have escalated.  They threatened our queen.  If they kill her, they will become our rulers and we their slaves.  We cannot permit that, so today a plan was set into action to protect our queen.  She has gone into hiding.  In order to distract the Poikyo from our queen, several of us went out in the royal carriages today, each headed in a different direction."

"You set up a clever diversion," the Doctor said.

"Yes, and as suspected and as we hoped, the Poikyo followed me.  They attacked my carriage," Columbine said.  "I don't know what happened to the other carriages and if they experienced my fate."

"What about your queen?" Sally asked.  "Did she make it safely into hiding?"

"I don't know.  I assume so.  If the Poikyo had her in their custody, we would know by now," Columbine said.  She looked Lady Rain and the other fairy for an answer, but they both shook their head.  They didn't know either.

"Yes, you're probably right.  You would know if they had the queen."  The Doctor rubbed his chin for a moment.  His eyes were staring at one of the mushrooms in the ring, lost in thought.  "I need to find the Poikyo and see if they need any help."

"You would give aid to our enemies?" Columbine shouted?

"I would not help them to harm you or capture your queen, Lady Columbine.  However, if they are stranded here, I can help them to get home.  I could take them away.  Then they could return to their normal life and you to yours."  The Doctor knew that an aggressive species like the Poikyo would only become more so if they were trapped in a place they didn't belong or want to be in.  He needed to find the Poikyo and get them off the planet before an all out fairy war began.  "Do you have any idea where the Poikyo are?"

"Not exactly.  From what we can tell, they have made a nearby cave their home.  At least, that is the direction most of their attacks have come from."  Columbine answered.

"Then I guess that is where we need to go next," the Doctor said.  He stood up. "Thank you, Lady Columbine for your hospitality.  I hope we meet again soon."

Lady Columbine flew up to the Doctor's face.  "Please Doctor, don't lead our enemies to us," she pleaded.

"I'll do my best," the Doctor said.  He knew he could make no such promise to never do something or let something happen, but he would do everything he could to not bring harm to the fairies.

"Doctor," Columbine said, "there is an oak tree alone in the field north of here.  Hanging from one of the lower limbs is a bell, disguised as an acorn.  If you ring it, a fairy will appear.  This way you can get a message to us without returning to a fairy ring.  If our enemies are watching you, they will not learn the locations of the entrances to our kingdom.  Remember Doctor, the oak tree to the north."

"I won't forget it," the Doctor bowed to the fairy, turned and left the clearing.

Continue to Chapter 6