Because of one family thing or another, Penny and I didn’t get back to the Grove until mid-October. But when we finally did, we made a day of it. I packed my daypack with food, coat, Athame, and a book on magic I was reading. Penny brought a detailed map of the area she found. We stashed our bikes and sat down to plan our adventure.
“If we go up the stream,” I said, pointing at the map, “past the spring and into these woods, maybe we can circle around to the east and see if there are any roads or trails over there.”
“I’ll draw whatever we find on the map,” Penny said.
We started walking up the stream amongst maples and firs. There were often old roads in these woods, but they were grown up in young trees, and you could tell how long since they’d been used by how big the trees were.
We came to the spring and had a cold, fresh drink. There was a little meadow beyond, which we crossed quickly. Back in the woods, we found a deer trail that ran east. We guessed that the Grove was about a quarter mile north of us, so as we followed the trail, we looked for any paths going off that way.
The trail faded, to the point that we didn’t think it had been used for many years. Ferns and vines closed in on us. We were just about to strike into the woods when we spotted an old wooden house.
“Look at that, Ariel! It looks ancient!” We peeked into a window. The floor inside couldn’t even be walked on.
“I’m amazed the roof is still on it,” I said. “Seen enough?”
“I bet the berry vines are holding up the roof. Let’s go.”
Once we were in the woods and away from the vines and brush of the clearing, it was easier going. We worked our way north through alders until we thought we had gone about a quarter mile. Gulls flew by over the trees.
“Ariel, I think we should go straight east from here and see what’s there and how far, and then we can come back and find the Grove.”
“Okay,” I said.
We wandered eastward. Alders changed to firs. After a while we came to a fence, and could see the pastures on Perkins Road beyond. A car went by in the distance.
“How far would you say it is to that road?” Penny asked.
“Three hundred yards or so,” I said.
Penny made a line on the map. “This should be the fence line. It’s probably the park’s property line.”
We headed back west to find our Grove. Firs, then alders. We passed the place where we had come from the old house, and kept going. A few minutes later we came to the same kind of wicked thorn bushes we had gone through on the other side. Did they go all the way around the Grove? We crawled, and finally came through them and started going uphill.
There was our Grove, ahead and a little more to the north.
“You know something, Penny. I haven’t even seen an old logging stump anywhere between the thorns and the Grove. Could it be . . . that no one has ever come here before?”
“I bet the people who lived in that old house came here,” Penny said.
“I guess you’re right. But no sign of a road or trail, at least on the south side.”
“I’m hungry,” she said. “Let’s wait until after lunch to explore the north side, okay?”
“Sure. I want to build a fire pit, if you think the place I picked is okay,” I said.
“I think so. Let’s think of all the different things we want to do here.”
We arrived at the top of the hill, among the cedars. It was exactly as we remembered it.
“We might want to camp here in the summer,” Penny said.
“Hey, great! That would be fun!” I said. “Those flat places between the outer trees would be good for tents and sleeping bags.”
We sat on a log and nibbled our lunch. It was a still, dreamy day, not too cold, and I was glad to slow down after the rush of September.
“Shall we go trick-or-treating together?” I asked.
“You really want to? I didn’t know kids in middle school did that anymore.”
“They don’t. But I do!”
“Are you going to any parties?” she asked.
“I don’t have that kind of friends anymore, remember? But I’d love to go to all the Haunted Houses, if you’d like to.”
“I’d love to!” Penny said. “My mom thinks you’re a good influence on me, and she’ll let me do almost anything with you, especially since the First Aid class.”
“My mom thinks you’re a good influence on me too. For a while she thought the minute I started middle school I was going to start smoking, take drugs, get pregnant, and play hard rock at full blast. I was almost sorry to have to disappoint her.”
We ate in silence for a while, then I went off to collect rocks for a fire pit.
“I think we’re right about here,” Penny said when I got back, showing me the map.
“After we learn more about the place, would you draw a map of the Grove in our Grimoire?”
“Sure!” she said.
We left our packs behind and headed east again, this time to explore the area northward. We came to the fence line again and followed it. The first thing that caught our attention was an old road that ran back west. It was ten feet tall in young alders, but it could lead people to us, so we worked our way along it.
After a while it curved north and took us up to Carter Road. We were glad.
We walked along the road for a little ways, then cut back into the wild area woods.
“This is about how I found it,” Penny said. “I went to the left of the High Hill, then found those wicked thorns. I got confused for a while which way
was which, so I went through the thorns.”
“I wonder if we can see it from the High Hill.”
We climbed the hill and tried to look eastward through the trees. “I can’t see anything,” I said.
“Maybe someone could see a fire at night from here,” Penny said.
“Hardly anybody ever comes here even during the day!”
We decided to walk all the way around the thorn hedge to see if it really did completely surround the Grove. We went north first, then back down south to where we started, between the two hills. It was solid, and no sign of a track anywhere. The walk around had taken a long time, and it was getting toward late afternoon.
“That’s almost spooky, but I’m glad it’s there,” I said. “The chances of anyone wanting to go through that without a bulldozer are pretty small.”
“I don’t think bull dozers are allowed in the park,” Penny said with a grin.
We crawled through the thorns.
“This place will be super-secret, right?” Penny said.
“Yeah. And no one gets to come here until they are a trusted and tested member of the Grove!”
We climbed back up to the cedars. I stretched out on the soft needles and munched potato chips.
“Goodness, Truth, and Beauty.”
“What?” Penny asked.
“The three main spiritual values. From a book I was looking at.”
“I kind of know how to tell goodness and beauty. How do you know what truth is?” she asked.
I thought for a while. “I’m not exactly sure, Penny. I guess we just have to keep our eyes and ears open. I’m so sleepy. I could just take a nap right here.”
“Me too. It’s so quiet and peaceful.”
“Penny?” I woke up and everything was dark. “Penny! Wake up!”
“What’s wrong? Why is it dark?”
“We fell asleep. What time is it?” I asked.
“I’d tell you if I could see my watch!”
I looked around. I was starting to be able to make out the shapes of the trees, but nothing else. There were thick clouds in the sky, and not a hint of moonlight or starlight.
“What are we going to do, Ariel?”
“Well, we’re Sprites, aren’t we? If we can run through these woods in the daylight, I hope we can at least crawl out of them in the dark.”
“I hope so too!” she said, but didn’t sound completely sure.
“Maybe that would be a good thing to add to our training. All of the ancient holiday celebrations start at night, and if we come here for them, we’ll have to be able to do it in the dark.”
“Okay . . . but I’m . . . a little . . . afraid of the dark.”
“I was afraid of alder trees.”
“Yeah. And I was afraid of maples.”
We groped around and got all our stuff into the daypacks.
“Jeez, it’s dark! I can only see things if they’re silhouetted against the sky.”
“Me
too.”
We held hands and started down the hill, feeling and groping our way along.
“Wait a minute! You’re going too fast!”
“Ouch! What’s that?”
“A
tree.”
After a little ways, we found we did better without holding hands.
“I’m going over a log now. Branches sticking out.”
“Okay, I feel it.”
“Some vines here, and a rabbit hole.”
“I think we should go a little bit more to the right.”
“Okay. A tree right here.”
It seemed to take hours, but we finally came to the thorn hedge.
“Your turn to lead,” I said.
“Thanks. I’m crawling. Ouch! Thorns on both sides.”
“I’m coming. Ouch!”
“Can’t go straight. To the right.”
“Ouch!”
I think that 10 feet took half an hour, but we got through it.
“Whew!”
“Quiet! What’s that?!”
“I don’t know!”
We listened. Crunch. Snap. Crunch. I reached out and took Penny’s hand. Snap. Scrape.
“I’m scared!” Penny whispered.
I squeezed her hand.
“Ariel, what . . .”
Just as she spoke, something bounced away, crashing through the trees.
“I caught a glimpse of it, Penny. Deer!”
“I’ve never been so scared in my life! And I love deer.”
We both stood up.
“I’m convinced now, Penny. If we’re going to call ourselves Sprites, we have to get used to the dark.”
“Okay, I suppose so,” she said. We started working our way through the woods again, toward, we hoped, the picnic area. I was leading again.
“Big tree here . . .” I froze. I couldn’t say anything. Two green eyes were looking at me. “P-penny!” I gasped.
“What is it?”
“Eyes!”
I felt her beside me. “Fox?” she whispered.
I slowly stooped down and felt for something. A stick. I stood up and tossed it toward the eyes. They disappeared with a hiss and ran away through the woods.
“Cat!” Penny said.
We continued our journey, Penny leading.
“Tall ferns and brush. Tree on the right.”
“Got
it.”
It wasn’t too much longer before we could see the light at the picnic area, and that helped us, first by silhouetting things, then by giving some real light.
We ran out into the open space and laughed our heads off.
“Wood Sprites afraid of the dark!” Penny said. “We’ll have to fix that!”
We got our bikes and headed home, wondering what to tell our parents.