Chapter 6
6
W hen warm rays of sunshine tickled Anna's nose, she woke up. She blinked lazily. Since when did her bed rock back and forth? And since when did she sleep without a pillow?
"Good morning, Anemone. Did you sleep well?"
Startled by the calm deep voice, her light blue eyes widened and she shot upright. The memory of the previous evening came flooding back. So, it had actually happened. Pirates had abducted her in a flying ship and taken her to a magical land where she'd met a giant who introduced himself as her best friend.
Suddenly wide awake, she glanced around. The sun's rays illuminated a meadow that stretched to the sides endlessly, the grass appearing a little dry. Not a single flower was to be seen snuggled between the stalks. There were a few bushes and trees, but they weren't blooming either. And it was springtime here. Perhaps the seasons were different in this land. In the distance, Anna spotted a forest that Anton was heading toward.
"We'll be home soon."
Home? No village, farm, or isolated building could be seen.
"Where are the houses?"
"You live in the forest."
"In the forest?" A crooked wooden house hidden between oaks and fir trees popped into her mind. She liked plants and flowers, but she couldn't imagine living among them. When had she lived here? Excited, she sat up and pushed the blanket, — or rather, the giant's handkerchief — off her legs. The sunlight was strong and warm.
Anton took his handkerchief, shook it out once, and stuffed it back into his breast pocket as he plodded leisurely toward the tall trees with Anna in his hand. His movements were calm and steady — or was he actually just exhausted?
Worried, she looked at him. "Did you sleep at all?"
"Not since we've met up again, but that doesn't matter. I said I'd take care of you and I have. We'll be with your family in a moment."
Thrilled, Anna clapped her hands together. "I'm so excited." Would she possibly see her beloved parents and then, after hearing everything they told her, question everything she had previously believed? She imagined the two of them standing in the trees waving at her. Oddly enough, she couldn't picture their faces. They were strangely fuzzy, as if she had never actually seen them.
Anton sighed almost imperceptibly, interrupting her musings. Before she could understand what the sigh meant, he stopped at the tree line. His strides were so long that they had already reached the forest and he was so tall that his head rose above the treetops.
"Why don't you continue?"
"Because I don't want to destroy your home." He leaned over the forest and stretched. He held the hand that Anna was sitting on next to his head so that she could look down from above into the forest, which stretched on forever.
It was such an extraordinary feeling to look at trees from above.
It appeared to be an ordinary mixed forest. Nothing suggested any form of magic, let alone fairies. If she weren’t sitting on the hand of a man taller than a tree, she would never consider that such things truly existed. Would she really see a fairy later that day? Would she then be granted three wishes?
"Do you see? There they are. I'll set you down next to them. They'll be amazed you're back." With those words, Anton lowered the hand she was sitting on to the forest floor. An oak branch brushed Anna's head and a leaf stuck in her hair. She casually fished it out of the strands as her eyes scanned the ground in excitement. The dripping of a spring caught her attention. The sound seemed familiar, as if she had heard it before. Were forgotten memories actually coming back?
She spotted the fresh water trickling out between stacked stones and bubbling into a small spring pond. The water level was noticeably low, and there were water lilies growing on the surface. However, there wasn't a single flower next to the round leaves. Where had all the flowers gone? Weren't they in the Kingdom of Flowers?
The giant carefully placed her on the mossy forest floor. Ferns lined up around her and oaks and spruces blocked the morning sun, but Anna didn't see a house anywhere. A bunny swiftly hopped behind a bush and a chaffinch flew up into the branches of an oak tree, but nobody came to welcome Anna. This was where she'd supposedly lived? Where was the family Anton spoke of?
"Hello?"
Nobody responded.
She tilted her head back and peered up at the giant through the leafy canopy. "Toni, are you sure we're in the right spot? Nobody's here."
Anton furrowed his thick eyebrows. "I was afraid this might happen."
"Did they move?" It was supposed to be a joke, but the idea unexpectedly filled her heart with pain. Even though she still wanted to go home and have all of this turn out to be a dream, a small part of her hoped she would actually come to encounter her parents here.
The giant sighed loudly and a sharp wind swept across the treetops, rustling the leaves that then fell to the ground. "No…they're still mad."
"Mad?"
"Look who's here," Anton called out in an unusually loud voice from above into the forest. Still, no one responded.
She spun around. Nobody appeared. "There isn't… "
Anna's attention was attracted by a sparkle darting from one fern leaf to another. Curious, she crouched down. Had the pirates been there, spreading around the glittery stuff? Or was that one of those fairies? If she actually saw one now, she swore she wouldn't doubt anything Anton said. Or at least consider that it wasn't all…made up.
Careful not to scare the delicate creature — if that was indeed what it was — she slowly leaned closer and lifted the fern leaf.
And underneath stood a…
Anna's eyes opened wide in amazement.
…a fairy.
An incredibly tiny woman, barely the size of a daisy, whose wings reached far above her head and almost dragged on the ground. And they sparkled as soon as a ray of sunlight penetrated the canopy of leaves. She wore a dress of white petals that was so cleverly tailored that it could have been presented on any catwalk. Small, yellow beads formed a belt that accentuated her slim waist. She stood barefoot on the moss and her disbelieving eyes were at least as wide as Anna's as she stared at her.
"Anemone? Is that you?" Her voice sounded melodious and as she flapped her wings in front of Anna's face, she jingled with every beat.
Instinctively, Anna reached out her hand, but the fairy didn't land on it. Rather, she kept her distance as if she feared Anna even though she had called her by what was allegedly her real name.
"I…" Anna was speechless.
Well, that settled it. She'd told herself she would no longer doubt what was happening if she saw a fairy. Well, that time had come. How could all this be real? Was this fairy truly in front of her? Just as a giant had carried her in his hand to this forest? Her heart and her thoughts both raced wildly. She needed to calm down before she went crazy. Starting a conversation was one way…
"My name is Anna and…"
"Anna?" The fairy tilted her head skeptically and looked at her. Her long blonde strands fell over her shoulders. Aside from her tiny size and the wings, she looked so…normal.
Anton took a restless step, causing the forest to tremble. "She's forgotten everything," he cried out, peering down at them through the oak trees. Anna was surprised he could even see the fairy at all, given her size. She herself was quite small compared to Anton, as the fairy was to her. How tiny this delicate creature must have seemed to him!
Astonished, the fairy glanced back and forth between the giant and Anna. "You what…?"
Anna broke out in a sweat. She needed some semblance of normalcy to hold on to. "Can you tell me where my parents are? Toni promised they would explain everything to me."
"Your parents? But…" She looked up at Anton again. "She's forgotten everything?"
Anton nodded, and the sad expression returned to his face. But then he clenched his gigantic hand. "Tell her. I'm sure she'll remember and save us all."
"Save us all?" boomed an imperious voice from one of the oak trees. "After the stupid thing brought about our downfall?"
Torn between irritation and bewilderment at what she hoped was an unjustifiably angry outburst, Anna peered over at the old tree. Another fairy had emerged from its knothole. She stopped in the air in front of Anna and flapped her wings slowly so that she could examine Anna leisurely. She had puffed out her chest, folded her little arms across it, and was peering at Anna disparagingly. Her long black hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail and her dress of purple petals wasn't quite as sophisticated as the other fairy's, but it still looked pretty. The fairy had a stately, domineering appearance. Was she perhaps the queen?
"Who are you?" Anna tried to keep her tone calm, betraying neither her outrage at the cruel accusation nor the trembling in her voice. The fairy, however, mercilessly stared her down with her blue eyes. A vein pulsed furiously on her forehead, giving her a frightening air despite her tiny size. Could fairies also conjure up evil? Anna involuntarily took a step back.
The other fairy quickly flew between them. Was she also afraid that the angry woman would harm Anna with a spell? She raised her hands placatingly. "She's forgotten everything."
The dark-haired fairy's angry gaze remained unchanged. "So I heard — but that doesn't undo the injustice!"
"Take her with you," Anton said, "and explain it to her. Perhaps… "
"Never!" the fairy angrily interrupted.
What kind of request was that anyway? How was Anna supposed to fit into that knothole? And as if she would accompany the crazed fairy. She preferred to stay with the giant. Before she could comment, the fairy added coldly, "Anemone is no longer welcome here!"
The words hit Anna like a slap in the face. Even though she didn't know what was going on, the statement disturbed her, as if someone had pulled the rug out from under her.
"Don't be too long, Margerite." While the angry fairy decisively turned her back and disappeared into the knothole as quick as an arrow, the blonde one stayed behind. Anna breathed deeply until she was certain the angry one wasn't coming back and her pulse went back to its normal pace. Maybe she would learn something helpful from the nicer fairy.
"You're Margerite?"
The fairy nodded and looked at her with pity.
"Please, could you tell her everything?" Anton urged.
Margerite put her hands together and kneaded them. "I'm also extremely skeptical about your return, but…well…everyone makes mistakes sometimes — even if yours threw everything out of balance."
Impatience and anger boiled up in Anna. Why were the fairies so angry and reproachful? "I don't know what you want from me. Actually, I live among humans, in a world without magic. I don't remember ever being here and yet you claim I'm the main villain in your magical land. If you don't explain to me what's going on, I might as well say goodbye and go home. Do I need to go that way?" She pointed in the direction she'd come from with Anton.
"No," the giant whispered in a strangled voice. His eyes were shining as tears welled up in them. Anna smiled at him comfortingly as Margerite sighed in resignation.
"Okay, I'll tell you, but not here. We should keep our distance from the others, especially Iris. Otherwise, I can't guarantee anything."
"Iris is the angry one?"
Margerite nodded and peered anxiously at the knothole. "Come on, let's take a walk. The movement will help you take it all in."
Finally!
"I'll stay close to you, Anemone, don't worry." The giant's voice was gentle — too gentle as if he were speaking to a small child who shouldn't be afraid. She probably wouldn't like what Margerite had to say.
Anna hid her inner turmoil so Margerite wouldn't feel vindicated in her accusations. With an oppressive feeling in her chest, she walked alongside the fairy as she flew slowly through the forest. Apart from Anna's footsteps and the delicate tinkling of Margerite's wings, for a while there was nothing to be heard. The fairy seemed to be searching for words while Anna examined the forest. She'd give the fairy time to deliberate until they reached the pine tree ahead, no longer. Her patience was gradually wearing thin.
They'd taken five more steps and still had a good ways to go before arriving at the pine tree. Anna couldn't take it anymore. "What happened back then?"
Margerite sighed again. "I don't know how to begin."
Anna barely suppressed an impatient snort. "I'll ask my questions and everything will fall into place. Deal?"
Margerite nodded.
Anna started with what was most important to her. "Where are my parents?"
"You're starting with the most difficult subject." Margerite laughed unhappily and fell silent again. She couldn't bear it. Anna took in a deep breath to keep her temper under control.
"Okay, let's start with something easier. Do all fairies have flower names?"
As Margerite nodded enthusiastically and Anton poked his head through the treetops to beam at her joyfully, the wheels in Anna's head began to move. She glanced up at Anton, her heart beating wildly. And then at Margerite. "Why did you call me Anemone?"
Anton and Margerite didn't say anything but just looked at her expectantly, their eyes wide. This meant the answer was left entirely to her imagination. To her own upsetting thoughts. Her pulse quickened again. This magical journey was definitely not healthy for her.
"Anemone nemorosa, thimbleweed. Why do I also have a flower name?"
Anton chuckled happily. "It's coming back, the memories are coming back."
Anna refused to consider what this could mean until Margerite tilted her head and nodded slowly.
"Yes, Anemone, you're a fairy."