Chapter Four: Felicie's Secret

The sun shone with a gentle warmth as the three adventurers started up the low hill behind the village. The castle was only a couple of hills beyond, but even as the trio approached the base of that hill, no ruins were visible.

"It's still a real tangle of trees on this side," Felicie said as she pointed upwards. "On the other side, several of the trees have fallen, or died. The cold north wind is hard on that side in the winter" She turned to Addi. "Your cousin's village is only a short walk northwest from here."

"Now," Felicie said in a louder tone, "let me show you how to gather these rose hips."

Addi and Sig had already decided that Sig would make the first clandestine trip up to the old castle. Felicie was completely absorbed in her work, and Addi laughed at Felicie's surprise upon looking up and seeing Sig gone.

It took Sig longer to complete his investigation than Addi. Sig relied on his visual tracking skills, and his ability to blend into the trees and tall grasses. Addi's talents were her speed, and her enhanced sense of smell. Although her eyesight was also keen, Sig's years of training had made him almost as good as picking out the smallest details as Addi herself.

On Addi's return, she and Sig quietly made sure that they were ready to leave, and after a little more work with Felicie, they headed back to her cottage.

Sig glanced at Addi a few times as they made their over the gentle hills, wondering what she was thinking. The cozy village below them, and its bucolic peace, to Sig's eyes, was a comfortable contrast to the desolation he had seen at the ruins. The trees and vines, once set out to protect the castle, were now aiding in its destruction, and wove in and out of crumbled walls and empty windows with blank stares. Sig had actually been surprised to find the footprints of a human, probably a female, among the clusters of animal tracks. Still, he reasoned, it was probably just another botanist like Felicie, or at most, someone else curious about the place. Certainly its bleakness told of a time that had come and gone, leaving only faded emptiness.

Out of courtesy, and a lack of any important information, Sig gestured to Addi that she should speak first, once they were seated again at Felicie's table. Used to Addi's crisp, practical nature, Addi's first words to Felicie still hit him like a clap of thunder.

"Were you planning on telling us that you're a fairy?"

If Sig was startled, Felicie was completely calm. She even smiled. "You are as intelligent and observant as your cousin Louise said you were."

"But how did you figure that out?" Sig said.

"Partially by my senses, and partially, I admit, by guesswork, " Addi replied. "Beings who are born with magical gifts, like fairies, have a slightly different scent than unmagical mortals." Felicie nodded.

"So you could tell right away that she was magical, and you never told me," Sig said. "Did you not trust me?"

"Oh Sig, I trust you absolutely. But I didn't know, Felicie, what kind of being you were. For all the book learning that I've had, and stories that I've heard, I've not been able to travel and meet many others from the Marchen world before. I've come across witches, but they're simply normal humans, whose magic isn't innate. The mostly likely creature you could be was a fairy, especially since I knew for a fact that fairies did live here, but I decided to see what other clues I could pick up before I shared my knowledge. And then I discovered something further at the castle.

"One thing I have noticed, on the evilest witches I've met -- do you remember Beru, Sig? -- was a hint of sulfur. And there was a stronger odor of sulfur at the ruins today, especially strong along the path of those human, or seemingly human, footprints we saw."

Sig was pleased that Addi took it for granted that he too had noticed the signs that any creatures but animals had been there recently. "So whoever walked through there was someone else who has embraced evil. And you could tell it was someone magical."

"Yes. And the underlying scent was very similar to Felicie's. After that, it was a guess, but an informed one." Addi turned to Felicie. "That last fairy that lived on here, that helped rescue Princess Constance. That was..."

"My mother," Felicie said. "She told me her story, and brought me up to work with the other Marchen in this area, like your cousins, to be on watch for any new evil that might arise. I didn't want to tell you I was a fairy, Addi, because I wanted to see what evidence you could discover on your own. Your cousins got close enough that night to sense the presence of evil, but they didn't want to draw attention to their whole village by doing a deeper investigation. A magical being might even recognize them as Ulfer in their wolf forms. You and Sig knew enough about our world to investigate, without drawing attention to anyone here as a Marchen."

"Except you," said Sig.

"Well yes, an evil fairy could probably tell right away that I'm another fairy," said Felicie with a sad smile. "But we couldn't trust a non-Marchen with the story either. Better to put me alone at risk than an entire village of Ulfer."

"You said another fairy could *probably* tell," said Sig. "Do you not know for sure?"

But before Felicie could answer, there was a knock at her front door.

Quck Post

Just throwing this up here to say that I am still alive, and I really, really want to post the next chapter in my story. But I had a bad weekend and a busy day today. And then finally one of the tires on my car got a big hole in it and shredded itself by the time I could get off the freeway. So I don't know how I'm going to be spending tomorrow, either. I'm too tired to even crop and throw up some pictures I've taken while shopping recently. I hope you all are doing well.

New Stuff at Target and Walmart Plus a New Doll Line and Horses by Just Play

Let's get right to the new line first! I don't know if any of you remember a movie called Spirit, which was made by DreamWorks. Apparently, there's a new Spirit movie coming out on Netflix, with three human girls (I think the first film just had horses.) The pictures I took were what Target currently has on the shelves. If you want to see (most) everything that will be produced, go to Just Play's Spirit page

What caught my eye first was the 11 1/2" doll. Her name is Lucky, and she appears to be the main human character in Spirit: Riding Free. She actually seems to have decent articulation!

I presume at least her knees bend, and she also has wrist articulation in addition to bending elbows. As you can see from the box next to Lucky, most of the horses being produced are far smaller than the deluxe doll. At least three of the horses will come with a 5" doll version of one of the three girls from the movie. No individual horses are seen on Just Play's product site, but I saw one in Target, as well as mini Lucky and her 7" steed.

I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of all the horses. I just grabbed a couple because we were in a hurry. If you look past Lucky and Spirit's box, it looks like one of the other mini dolls with her horse was also on the shelves. All three of the girl characters, Lucky, Abigail, and Prudence, will be produced in mini size with her horse, and 11 1/2" size without a horse. It looks like there will be a deluxe Lucky and Spirit set in the 11 1/2" range that will also include a novelization of the movie. From the pictures, the 14" Spirit looks as blocky as the mini Spirit above, plus the taller Spirit has a mechanism where she can "really" eat carrots (carrots included.) However, the Lucky in the deluxe set with the horse is wearing the same costume the Lucky dolls here are. Yeah, it's her signature outfit, but it might give parents more incentive to buy both the individual doll and the doll and horse set if they looked somewhat different. Anyway, it's exciting to see something new being produced.

Also at Target was a new Our Generation veterinarian examination room. I really like the counter with sink and the cupboard above. I wonder if that furniture would work for the 16" tall dolls. I kind of think it would. For some reason, I especially like the very realistic looking paper towel roll holder.

Oh, look, it's my finger.

Lastly, there's a new entry in the DC Super Hero Girls line. Starfire has been produced with her sister Blackfire. At least in the Teen Titans cartoon series, Blackfire and Starfire were really not best buds. Then again, in the adult DC universe, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are sociopathic killers, so whatever.

I saw this camping themed playset at Walmart a few weeks ago. I think most of it looks very promising: the chairs, the fireplace display, the couch and the coffee table. Plus the coffee table and the couch have a fake wood grain which is a touch of realism you don't always get with Barbie playsets. But repaint those chairs and the fireplace back wall and they'd be nice for display, too. I'll be getting this at some point.

Lastly, I saw this Barbie Club Chelsea doll, and wanted to share a picture with you. To me, she looked like a total vampire toddler, like she would burn up in the sunlight. The blank stare doesn't help her spooky appearance. In the store, her pale skin seemed to "glow" even more. Maybe she's the baby from Twilight. In which case I guess she would just sparkle in the sun (blech.)

Come play with me!

Have you seen anything new on toy shelves? Are you looking forward to a new toy that's yet to appear?