The Many Adventures of Fay Fairburn - Part Nine
[This story is a continuation of Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part 9. You may want to read those first.]
Bupkis curled into a ball at the base of his trees roots. Vervain had created the dark cellar, because it was tight and cramped and a space that completely deprived him of light. Trees thrive on light, she well knew. It was so dark, he couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed.
He pressed fingers into the earth. A beetle crawled across his shoulder. Bupkis breathed slowly in an out. He missed the light, it was true, but there was one thing that Vervain did not realize. Trees thrived on earth, as well as the sun, and the ground beneath him was rich and touching him made him feel calm, stable.
He had had no idea Fay would be so foolish as to ask Vervain about his heart. In a way it moved him out of his anger, which now seemed so stupid. Fay, he realized as he touched his forehead to the ground, probably loved her father as much as he loved his tree.
Sap tears fell from his cheeks and made dirty, sticky smears across his face.
Time passed.
He felt the thump, thump, thump in the earth, then silence, then the thumps leading away. A short while later, the door to the cellar clicked open, letting in a shard of light.
Bupkis was reluctant to move, but after a while, he stood and stepped into the hall.
In the kitchen, Vervain was sitting on the table, staring intently at the bird cage in which with Fay was housed. As soon as Bupkis entered the room, Fay started fluttering, her blue wings beating against the sides of the cage in a flurry of feathers.
“What do you know about her?” said Vervain, finally.
“I don’t-“
“Don’t pretend you don’t know anything. You two made friends enough to plot to steal my home from me.”
Bupkis steams, the sap in his veins so hot, it’s near boiling.
“Bupkis…,” she said, her voice dangerous.
“She came from New York in the other world. She’s looking for her father, a tall man with brown hair and a mustache that looks like a fat, furry mouse.”
“Is that all?”
“She’s naïve and innocent,” said Bupkis. His paused, then added without any anger, “and she’s human and breaks her promises.”
“What promises? Vervain turned to him and he could see the strain, some secret worry causing creases to form around her green eyes and furrowing her forehead. “What promise?”
He clamped his lips tight, until the color drained from his rough lips.
Vervain waited. She didn’t have to ask, she could make him do whatever she wanted. She owned the heart of his tree, so she also owned his soul.
The silence stretched out.
Bupkis let out his breath in a soft hiss. “She promised to find my heart, and I promised to set her free.”
Vervain scowled and for a moment Bupkis thought she was going to strike him.
“How did she break it? The promise.”
He told her about how Fay had found a soothsayer, how she had asked for her father and not for him.
Vervain snorted. “And what did the fool promise?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did it have anything to do with the fire in the market.”
“I don’t know,” he said again, though he suspected it probably did.
"We're in trouble," Vervain said. "I don't know for sure, but I doubt that giant came here by accident. If our little idiot Fay's angered someone it comes back to me. I'll be held responsible" Her eyebrows knitted together.
Bupkis stared at the wood floor of his gutted tree and said nothing. He couldn't imagine Fay angering anyone on purpose.
“Go collect verbena, the flowers and the leaves. Bring armfuls. Collect them right, and offer gratitude and praise to them, like I told you to,” said Vervain. She stared hard at Bupkis. “Don’t you dare go thinking you can skip it or come up with some way to do it better. We need protection. We need lots of protection and it needs doing right.”
Bupkis bowed his head and went to the door.
“Bupkis.”
He stopped and looked back. Vervian was watched the cage with Fay in it again. She said, “If you screw this up, I’ll beat you until the sap runs from your wounds.”
He nodded and opened the door.
“Bupkis,” she said again, her voice almost inaudible. “If you ever plot against me again, I’ll crush the heart and you and your tree can wither away to dust. You understand.”
He shrunk under the weight of the words, and nodded again.
Bupkis curled into a ball at the base of his trees roots. Vervain had created the dark cellar, because it was tight and cramped and a space that completely deprived him of light. Trees thrive on light, she well knew. It was so dark, he couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed.
He pressed fingers into the earth. A beetle crawled across his shoulder. Bupkis breathed slowly in an out. He missed the light, it was true, but there was one thing that Vervain did not realize. Trees thrived on earth, as well as the sun, and the ground beneath him was rich and touching him made him feel calm, stable.
He had had no idea Fay would be so foolish as to ask Vervain about his heart. In a way it moved him out of his anger, which now seemed so stupid. Fay, he realized as he touched his forehead to the ground, probably loved her father as much as he loved his tree.
Sap tears fell from his cheeks and made dirty, sticky smears across his face.
Time passed.
He felt the thump, thump, thump in the earth, then silence, then the thumps leading away. A short while later, the door to the cellar clicked open, letting in a shard of light.
Bupkis was reluctant to move, but after a while, he stood and stepped into the hall.
In the kitchen, Vervain was sitting on the table, staring intently at the bird cage in which with Fay was housed. As soon as Bupkis entered the room, Fay started fluttering, her blue wings beating against the sides of the cage in a flurry of feathers.
“What do you know about her?” said Vervain, finally.
“I don’t-“
“Don’t pretend you don’t know anything. You two made friends enough to plot to steal my home from me.”
Bupkis steams, the sap in his veins so hot, it’s near boiling.
“Bupkis…,” she said, her voice dangerous.
“She came from New York in the other world. She’s looking for her father, a tall man with brown hair and a mustache that looks like a fat, furry mouse.”
“Is that all?”
“She’s naïve and innocent,” said Bupkis. His paused, then added without any anger, “and she’s human and breaks her promises.”
“What promises? Vervain turned to him and he could see the strain, some secret worry causing creases to form around her green eyes and furrowing her forehead. “What promise?”
He clamped his lips tight, until the color drained from his rough lips.
Vervain waited. She didn’t have to ask, she could make him do whatever she wanted. She owned the heart of his tree, so she also owned his soul.
The silence stretched out.
Bupkis let out his breath in a soft hiss. “She promised to find my heart, and I promised to set her free.”
Vervain scowled and for a moment Bupkis thought she was going to strike him.
“How did she break it? The promise.”
He told her about how Fay had found a soothsayer, how she had asked for her father and not for him.
Vervain snorted. “And what did the fool promise?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did it have anything to do with the fire in the market.”
“I don’t know,” he said again, though he suspected it probably did.
"We're in trouble," Vervain said. "I don't know for sure, but I doubt that giant came here by accident. If our little idiot Fay's angered someone it comes back to me. I'll be held responsible" Her eyebrows knitted together.
Bupkis stared at the wood floor of his gutted tree and said nothing. He couldn't imagine Fay angering anyone on purpose.
“Go collect verbena, the flowers and the leaves. Bring armfuls. Collect them right, and offer gratitude and praise to them, like I told you to,” said Vervain. She stared hard at Bupkis. “Don’t you dare go thinking you can skip it or come up with some way to do it better. We need protection. We need lots of protection and it needs doing right.”
Bupkis bowed his head and went to the door.
“Bupkis.”
He stopped and looked back. Vervian was watched the cage with Fay in it again. She said, “If you screw this up, I’ll beat you until the sap runs from your wounds.”
He nodded and opened the door.
“Bupkis,” she said again, her voice almost inaudible. “If you ever plot against me again, I’ll crush the heart and you and your tree can wither away to dust. You understand.”
He shrunk under the weight of the words, and nodded again.