Chapter 8 - Aurehaven
8
Aurehaven
Zibby scrambled to her feet. The stone monster had dropped her just before her feet would have brushed the ground, and was now folding up its wings on the lawn next to her. On one side, she could see the great golden wall that had shimmered like a gold chain from the
sky. It looked a lot smaller when we were flying, she thought. The thing was huge, and made of solid gold! Gold was the same as money, Bobby had said. This monster must be a very rich monster.
The monster was not actually being much of a monster at all. It had sat back on its haunches, and was now licking the hard, stony pads of its forepaws with a long, stony tongue. It didn’t seem to want to eat her. At least, it didn’t seem to want to eat her right now.
As Zibby watched it, wondering if she should try to run away, she noticed something she had not seen before. The winged beast was wearing a thick golden collar around its neck, and attached to a little loop in the front was a golden charm - it was a fo
ur-leaf clover, glinting in the yellow sun.
“MITTENS!” Zibby nearly jumped out of her skin, and even the monster swung its head up, perking up tiny ears behind the big, curling horns. Zibby spun around to look for the source of the voice and soon found it.
The mighty shriek came from another little girl, standing on the golden walltop. She was quite a bit taller than Zibby, and wore fine clothes, all made of a rich, soft-looking green material with little golden buttons and buckles. A short green cape was fastened at her throat with a clasp bearing the same golden shamrock that adorned the monster’s collar. The girl seemed to be covered in gold; she had golden bracelets, golden earrings, and even soft round beads of gold in her hair. She had a thick, wild mane of fiery red curls, bits of which were knotted into little braids. Hiding within the curls was a golden circlet, which was only clearly visible on her pale forehead.
Zibby gazed up at the girl. She must be a princess, she thought, wondering how much money all her gold was worth. The girl realized she was being stared at, grinned, and took a flying leap off of the wall. Zibby yelped, afraid that the girl was going to break her legs. It was rather a high wall. She needn’t to have worried, though, because the girl glided lightly to the ground, her cape whipping about behind her like a flag.
“Pardon me, miss,” she said, nodding politely at Zibby, “but I must speak with my pet.” With that, she hopped and skipped over to the big gray monster, who crouched down low to the ground to look at its tiny mistress.
“Mittens!” the girl scolded, trying to make her voice scornful. The creature drew back and folded down its ears at hearing its name again. “What have I told you about bringing little girls into the garden?”
Zibby watched in astonishment as the monster suddenly looked very guilty. It turned its face away from its master and whined, a low and terrifying sound.
“You’re not to do it, Mittens.” With this, the beast tried to crouch even lower to the ground, dared a glance at its mistress, and then looked quickly away, looking more ashamed then ever. “I’m your girl. Me. And you can’t go around picking up every red-headed little urchin you find! And you certainly can’t bring them back here! Am I clear, Mittens?”
The monster raised its sad gray eyes to the little girl’s face and nodded. It was easily ten times her size, but seemed to think it was as tiny as a kitten. Zibby couldn’t help but giggle, and clapped her hand over her mouth.
The stern look on the green-clad princess’s face melted, and she smiled. She looked very much like the paintings of baby angels Zibby and her brother had seen in a church a few months ago. She had a round, sweet face, big round eyes, and dimples in her rosy cheeks. She was pale as milk, and her mouth was a deep red color that made Zibby wish that she had been born with such a fair complexion.
The girl reached up to pat the monster’s granite head and it started to growl again. Zibby was frightened at first, but when the monster rolled over on its back and allowed the girl to rub its tummy, she realized that it was not growling at all. It was purring, which was exactly what it had been doing when it saw her in the forest.
Zibby found herself laughing again, and bounced on the balls of her feet, excited about getting to talk to this wonderful girl. The shamrock princess noticed her, as though she’d forgotten there was a stranger in her garden. So, with a final pat to the monster’s elbow, she skipped back over to Zibby. She’s a bit like a frog, Zibby thought, with all that green and the way she skips around. Maybe she’s the princess that lost the golden ball, and had to kiss the frog prince to get it back. She didn’t say this out loud, though, and curtsied politely as the princess reached her.
The curly-haired girl giggled and bowed in return. “My name is Lizzie,” she said. “Welcome to Aurehaven.”
Bobby’s wings gave out just as he appeared over the wall. He dropped to the ground and tumbled a few feet before coming to a halt right between the two little girls.
“Zibby,” he panted, “Are you…all…right?”
Zibby nodded and threw her arms around his neck. She drew back from the embrace, grinning at her brother. “It’s a kitty!”
“A…what?” He started to get to his feet, but the curly-haired girl interjected.
“You stay here. I’ll get us all some lemonade, and we can talk.” And she skipped away into the depths of the wild garden, the big gray gargoyle at her heels.
In no time, the strange girl had returned alone (Mittens was hunting gnomes, she said) and had spread out a blanket for them, where the three sat. They had lemonade and lemon cookies dusted with sugar. Lizzie was a bright, kind person, and although she looked to be about six, she seemed much older when talking to Bobby, and much younger when talking to Zibby.
Zibby was fascinated by the garden itself. While Bobby related their story to Lizzie, the youngest girl found herself distracted by not only the beauty of the place, but also the strange creatures that seemed to fill it. There were the usual squirrels and songbirds common to any garden, but there were also tiny little men with long white beards that peeped around stones, and stilt-legged pink birds that craned their long necks around to survey the garden. Large, glass spheres rested on pedestals throughout the garden; some reflected the trees and flowers surrounding them, and others colored the light that shined through them. There were statues everywhere - animals, fairies, and gargoyles, to name a few - and they were most unusual statues. Zibby was caught quite off guard when a small marble fairy maiden winked at her, and then was even more surprised when a granite terrier jumped from his podium to chase a porcelain rabbit across the lawn. There were statues of dryads that peered out mysteriously from between flowering bushes, and of enormous lizards that pulled mouthfuls of leaves from every tree they passed.
“I made them,” Lizzie said, seeing Zibby’s interest. “It’s sometimes quite lonely here, so I gave them life and a place to live. And as you see,” her green eyes flicked upward, where Mittens was lumbering on the walltop, “every one’s got a mind of its own. Mittens loves little girls, and no matter how many times I scold him, he often soars off to the village and brings them home like gifts for me. And Keep - she’s over there near the cherry tree - has been begging me to make her a boyfriend.”
Zibby and Bobby looked over to the cherry tree, and saw a beautiful girl made of marble the color of storm clouds. She had long marble ringlets and delicate wings like a dragon’s that were thin enough in some places to be translucent. She watched them intently, and Bobby could not read the expression on her face.
“Keep is my finest guard. She watches the castle at night when I’m sleeping, and she can see things for miles away.” Lizzie looked around the garden, apparently very pleased with the kingdom she had created.
“You sleep here?” asked Bobby.
“I live here!” she replied happily. “Aurehaven is my home. I leave if I like...but I have everything I need here, so I usually stay within its walls.”
“Do your mother and father live here too?” Bobby asked.
“I don’t have a mother and father,” Lizzie said, with a smile that showed all her little white teeth. “And even if I did, I’m far too old to live with my parents. Bonjiron stays with me, though, and I guess he’s the closest to a guardian that I have.”
Bobby thought. His pale green eyes seemed deep as oceans in the sunlight, and it was obvious he was thinking very hard about something. “So you live here, and Bon-whatever, and…no one else?”
Lizzie’s brow furrowed. “Well, kind of…we have all the statues for company, and visitors are always passing through.” She stretched out on the grass next to the blanket and folded her hands behind her head, staring up at the cloud-dotted sky. Her eyes were as green as emeralds, and quite as rich as the clothes she wore.
“And it’s a safe place?” Bobby asked. His wings were positioned in such a way that they left a faint, veined shadow on one side of his face.
“Safest in the world,” Lizzie said. “And I know. I’ve lived here a very long time.”
Bobby nodded. He seemed to be quite resolved in something. He reached into his knapsack and, after digging for a moment, pulled out the smooth, soft gold piece Zibby had found in the forest. “Can my sister and I stay here a while? I’ll offer you this in payment.” He held out the gold piece to her, and she took it and pulled herself up on one elbow to examine it. A second later, she broke out into boyish laughter.
Bobby’s face reddened, all the way to the tips of his pointed ears. “It’s all we have.” The girl continued to laugh, and Bobby scowled defensively. “If it’s not welcome here, we can leave.”
“No, no,” Lizzie cackled, “It’s not that. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like. I just…I just have to show you something.” She clambered to her feet, and then held out both hands to help the other children up. “You see, I have plenty of those. I have more of those than I can count, and I’m always getting more.”
She led the two children through the garden and into a cool orchard. At the back of the orchard was what could best be described as a large house of piled rocks with a wide opening in the front. As they approached it, she yelled, “Bonjie! Bonjiron, come meet our new guests!”
There was a great metallic rustling from inside the cave, and then a slow and heavy chink, chink, chink, as though someone was shaking an enormous suit of chainmail. Zibby and Bobby had to shade their eyes as a huge creature emerged from the cave. Every ray of light was reflected tenfold by the beast’s body. First, the giant dog-like head appeared, big black eyes glistening. Next came the long neck, taloned feet, and shining leathery wings. With every step, the creature jingled as its metallic scales ruffled and settled against each other. Finally, a shining tail emerged, as thick as a full-grown man’s chest, and the creature carefully curled it around its hind feet.
It was a dragon, and its scales were made of soft, pure gold.
“He sheds his scales about once a month, and he sheds these,” Lizzie said, eyes twinkling. The piece of gold she held between her fingers, Zibby’s supposed coin, was the precise shape and size of the scales on the dragon’s back. “As you can see, we do not often want for gold.”
Realizing the true character of the gold coin he had offered Lizzie, Bobby burst into laughter himself. Zibby joined in because her brother was laughing. All three children were soon rollicking through the orchard, and the golden dragon Bonjiron watched them happily. He lowered his head gently when they came near so that they could touch him, and took car when he moved his feet and tail so he would not accidently crush them. They spent the rest of the afternoon in the orchard, and all fell asleep in the lawn as night fell. The marble girl Keep guarded them from the walltop. For the first of many nights to come, the children slept safely and happily.
