“You've lost it,” Tamara sighed, “Even if you're right, which I'm not saying you are...”
“Quit being a hypocrite!” Hayden snapped.
“I'm not,” Tamara said, “I'm just saying. Where the heck are we supposed to find a faerie ring?”
“Well, most likely some where close to the school or the library.”
“What?”
“Well, we know they come to take the stuff left with Sir Bedivere and the book was at the library,” he said.
“Yeah, but they we're also at the hotel ballroom?”
“Well, if we can't find them here or at the library, that will be our next stop,” Hayden said.
“Where do we start looking? I know you said here at the school, but I don't think a faerie ring would go unnoticed for very long.”
“Well, we lived our whole lives without ever noticing faeries until we messed with them, so anything's possible.”
“Fine,” Tamara sighed in defeat, “lead the way.”
Hayden took her hand again and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Tamara stopped just inside the door's main enternace to zip her hoodie and pull up the hood, “It's freezing out there.”
“If I'm right, this shouldn't take long. I mean I don't know how long it'll take to fix this, but I think I know where the faerie ring would be.”
“Where?” Tamara asked, shoving her hands in her pockets and following Hayden outside.
“By the football field,” Hayden said, “I've only been there once, when I got lost on the way to P.E., but I remember seeing mushrooms. I haven't seen them anywhere else in this whole damn town, so I'm betting if faeries do live in mushrooms, they live there.”
“Let's go then,” Tamara sighed and then fell silent. The air was nippy and their breath danced before them as they made their way to the football field.
“We're here,” Tamara said, “Where are the mushrooms?”
“It was on the other side,” Hayden said, “Like I said, I really got lost and had to wander around for awhile to find my way back.”
“Sounds like bad excuse for cutting class,” Tamara laughed.
“Maybe,” Hayden shrugged and began to jog around the outside of the field. Tamara jogged behind him, thankful for the quick movements warming her.
“Stop!” Hayden said, holding out his arms to either side of his body. Lost in her own thoughts, Tamara crashed into him before she was able to come to a complete stop.
“Ouch!” she said, “What the…?”
Hayden was pointing to a ring of mushrooms about ten feet from where they stood. If you weren't looking for a ring of them, you'd never notice it. The mushrooms were spaced sporadically, but formed a ring.
“That's why no one notices it,” Tamara said, rubbing her cold hands together.
“Exactly,” Hayden nodded.
“Hello?” Tamara called out,stepping past Hayden, “Anyone home?”
A miniscule light sparkled a few feet away from them before bouncing forward.
“Should we follow?” Hayden asked, but Tamara was already moving.
Once the light was inside the ring of mushrooms, it transformed into a woman so tiny that Tamara had to squint to be sure of what she was seeing, “Hello?” she said again.
“The queen said if you survived long enough to find the ring I was to take pity on you, so I will. So shut up and listen. I don't much like wasting my time on humans anyway, especially not rude and ignorant humans,” the faerie said, fluttering her wings and landing with a soft thump atop a mushroom. Tamara wondered if this particular faerie lived in that particular mushroom.
“We're not ignorant!” Hayden said.
“Shut up, Hayden. I want to hear what she has to say!”
“You should listen to your girlfriend before I dye your hair again, human boy!”
Tamara and Hayden spoke at the same time. Tamara retorting that she wasn't Hayden's girlfriend and Hayden cursing up a storm at the faerie who had spiked his shampoo.
“It was I,” the faerie laughed, “One of my prouder moments, if I do say so myself.” Pride radiated from her as she spoke with fluttering wings, “And human girl, you are his girlfriend or will be soon enough. So hush your mouths, both of you, or I'm not going to tell my story!”
“Sorry,” they said.
“Well, sit down, just mind you don't sit on anyone's house,” the faerie said indicating the grass around the faerie ring.
Tamara dropped to the ground, pulling her hoodie tightly around her. The ground was cold and it radiated through her body making her shiver. Hayden sat down next to her and pulled her close to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder and looked to the faerie.