Wood Sprites(183)
“He came to the mansion asking for help…” Louise started.
Jillian continued, “He needed help because royal marines from his country were coming to arrest him. They found out he’s oni.”
Louise added. “Crown Prince Kiss Butt of the oni told him to run and hide and not come back!”
Jillian held up her right hand and smashed thumb and pointer finger together. “Dokadokadokadoka.”
“Purple.” Louise breathed. “The hidden king tortured him with magic before telling him to run away. It was scary.”
Jillian nodded. “They put us into a cage but we managed to escape! They caught us again and broke Crow Warrior’s leg. They said they were going to cut off his feet. But then there was big explosion. Boom! Everything was burning and we got away.”
They had to wait a long time for the machine to translate and then Officer Cohen puzzle out the basic gist of their night.
“How did you get here?” Cohen asked.
Good question. Louise frowned at the translator as if it had said something strange. Intermixing babble with actual real information was harder than she thought.
“The box that moves on wheels.” Jillian made motor noise while indicating spinning tires by twirling both pointer fingers in circles.
“Automobile!” Louise provided the term that the elves used for cars.
Jillian clapped with excitement. “Purple! Purple! Automobile! We came in an automobile!”
The police officer looked to Crow Boy.
“Purple,” Crow Boy confirmed faintly. “Automobile.”
The police officer frowned at the machine with frustration. He obviously wanted to ask all sorts of questions but they had him on the ropes.
“They’re going to kidnap Tinker domi…” Louise started and faltered.
“She invented hoverbikes.” Jillian launched into an elaborate mime that seemed to involve weaving clothe. “They are full of eels!”
“Her father made the gate that the oni created in space.” Louise pointed up at the sky.
“The oni thinks that the apple never falls far from the raccoon.” Jillian stood up, picked up one of the hospital gowns stacked nearby and tossed it over Louise’s head.
Luckily Louise had realized what Jillian intended to do. She did not startle at being blindfolded. As the world vanished, she was filled with a sense of calm. She knew exactly what to say. “Black wings murdered time and now wait in timeless darkness. The dream crow stirs. She will cry out and the blood of her beloved will answer. The promised time is at hand. Let the flock be gathered and stand strong against those who enslaved them. Providence will provide. His child returns, bringing forth all that is needed for salvation. Impatience will…”
There was a loud outcry as Crow Boy suddenly lunged off the table and landed at her feet. Catching hold of her hands, he gripped them painfully tight. “Jin is alive?”
“No, no, no!” the doctor shouted. “Orderly!”
“Is Jin alive?” Crow Boy cried.
Louise squeezed close her eyes, trying to hold on to the sense of calm knowing. “His prison is about to be broken and he will be set free to fly again. The door is closing, but evil has taken root on Elfhome. All can be lost…”
The blindfold was torn away as Crow Boy was muscled back into his bed, gently but firmly, by two large male orderlies.
“He tore out his IV,” someone cried and Louise realized that her hands were covered with blood. Louise stared at her bloody fingers. How did this keep happening? Up to today, blood was something that she half-expected after a great deal of planning and debate and risk assessment. It never came as a surprise. Other than Jillian’s, she had never even seen someone else’s blood and here it was, all over her, again and again.
Jillian started to whimper, a prelude to real crying. Fake crying would have been loud and instant. With her sniffles, the day proved too much for Louise and she felt hot tears filling her eyes.
“Ooookay.” The police officer was shaking his head. “I have not a clue what the hell that was all about.
“We need to put the boy under.” The doctor murmured as he pressed his hand over the machine’s microphone. “None of our translators are loaded with Elvish. Can you help us explain to the children what’s about to happen?”
* * *
It was stressful to watch them apply the anesthesia and Crow Boy become totally helpless. Louise hugged Nikola tight, trying to find the inner calm that she experienced just moments before. It had been as if she’d stepped out of herself, shedding all the fears and worries along the way.
As they wheeled Crow Boy away, she realized that Joy was rummaging through medical supplies, tearing open plastic wrappings to taste the contents. The girls were out, scurrying about in their mice robot bodies.