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Angelina wandered through the woods, the berry wreath lighting her way, but her heart was heavy. Finally, too tired to go any further, she lay down beneath a giant oak tree and fell asleep.
Hours later, morning sunlight filtered through the leaves, along with the chatter of squirrels. Thousands of them.
They scampered along the branches, barreling around the trunk, catapulting between the leaves, arguing and challenging one another as they sprinted from bough to bough.
“You know you stole my acorns! Give them back or I will appeal to the High Climber himself!”
“I didn’t! You just can’t remember where you buried your stash!”
The pair scurried off, still arguing, as a quartet came into view.
“I tell you; cashews are better than walnuts any day.”
“But really, Alfie, where are you going to get cashews in these woods?”
“Seb is right. They don’t grow around here.”
“But we could plant them, right?”
“Nope. Ya can’t just plant any nuts you like and expect them to grow like that. Takes special magic for stuff like that...”
They passed into the upper reaches of the tree, leaving Angelina gaping in sleepy-eyed confusion.
“Thief!” One squirrel chased another under Angelina’s nose and over her back, hollering all the way.
The other squirrel stopped dead, perched on Angelina’s hip. “I am not a thief!” she said hotly. “You are the thief, stealing food from between my children’s paws!”
The first squirrel’s tail quivered in outrage. “I never ONCE stole from a youngling! But you—”
Angelina bolted to her feet, dumping both squirrels on the ground. They glared up at her before returning to their argument.
“We’ll take this up with the High Climber!” they shouted together, and chased each other back up the tree, disappearing into the leaves while accusing one another of various crimes and misdemeanors.
“They’re all crazy,” Angelina muttered to herself.
She laid back down in the soft grass, trying to figure out what to do next. She still didn’t know where Warbel was, and she didn’t want to continue the journey without her. But Angelina missed her mom and sisters. She wanted to go home.
“What was next on the list?” she mused. “The wind. That’s right. ‘A bottle of wind in the midst of its blowing.’ How do I get that?”
Just then, another squirrel, larger and considerably fatter than the others she’d seen, eased his way down the oak’s mighty trunk. He wore a red velvet doublet and puffy pantaloons with gold stripes. A long crimson cloak attached to the doublet at the shoulders. It looked very fine indeed, but interfered with his climbing ability until he gruffly commanded three other squirrels to “Hold it up, won’t you?” A gold crown sat askew between his ears, and he straightened it once he reached the ground.
“The High Climber, King of all Squirrels, comes!” the squirrels chanted. A great crowd gathered around the base of the tree, waiting for the king to descend.
Nine other squirrels in serious black robes jumped from limb to limb down the Oak behind him. Once they reached the ground, the entire scurry stalked toward her with all the squirrelish dignity they could muster.
Angelina worked hard not to giggle.
One of the black-robed squirrels stepped out from the rest and addressed her in a high-pitched voice. “Are you the Deliberate Earthquake?”
Angelina smiled at him. “I am a unicorn.”
He sighed. “I can see that. Are you also a Deliberate Earthquake?”
Confused, Angelina’s smile faded. “Well, I used to be a human girl, and I’d like to one be again, but I—”
“Yes, yes, all remarkably interesting, I’m sure. But what we want to know is, did you, or did you not, jump to your feet and dump Edith and Henry onto the ground on purpose a few moments ago?”
“Who are Edith and Henry?” Angelina’s head hurt.
“Doesn’t matter!” Another black-robed squirrel stepped forward. “She’s obviously not an earthquake, deliberate or otherwise. Earthquakes don’t have horns.”
Angelina blinked at him. “Of course I’m not an earthquake.”
The squirrel beamed at her. “See? Told you.”
A robeless squirrel leaped out of the crowd. “But you dumped us on the ground. Rude, it was!”
Angelina recognized him as the squirrel who had perched on her hip. She pawed the ground. “You scampered over my chest and sat on my hip without even asking. Talk about rude!”
The High Climber glared at the robeless one. “Is that true?”
“Well, yes, but she was just lying there. We didn’t think she’d mind.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Angelina said. “You’d mind if I sat on your hip, right?”
“Of course I would. But you are several hundred times my size, so you’d likely crush me. Big difference,” he pointed out reasonably.
“No, no, no,” the High Climber said. “Consent always matters. You did not get consent; therefore, your suit is moot. Court dismissed. I’m late for my massage. You three.” He pointed at three random squirrels without robes. “Help me with my cloak.”
The squirrels all dispersed, the black-robed ones going much slower than the rest, since their clothes kept them from scampering well.
“Wait,” Angelina said. “I have a question.”
The High Climber turned to frown at her. “Well? Hurry now. Haven’t all day, you know.” The black-robed squirrels came back.
“Do you know where I can find the wind to trap it in a bottle?”
He raised a bushy eyebrow. “All of it? I only ask because the wind has important work to do, and if you take all of it, that could prove problematic for the rest of us.”
“Oh, I see. Well, no. I don’t need it all, just a little. Even a breeze would probably do,” Angelina replied.
“I see. It is an interesting question,” the High Climber said. “I shall inquire of my council.” He turned to the black-robed squirrels. “What say you?”
“Well, first, she’ll need better clothes,” the first said. “The wind is very particular about his companions. He won’t come to just anyone.”
“What?” Angelina said. “That’s ridic—”
“Hush, unicorn. We are advising the king,” said a second squirrel. “I believe it is more important that she get a manicure. Can you imagine the wind allowing himself to be captured by such unprepossessing hooves?”
Angelina stared at her hooves in dismay. It was true. The journey had not been kind to them.
The other squirrels chuckled and a third spoke up. “No, no, it’s all quite impossible. Unicorns are meant to be ridden by fair maidens. To suggest any other task for them is ludicrous.”
“I’m not being ridden by anyone, fair maidens included,” Angelina grumped.
“What about a handsome lad? I hear they are quite nice and make interesting companions,” another squirrel asked.
“Ugh,” Angelina said.
“No, no, it has to be a fair maiden,” the first squirrel insisted. “All the stories say so.”
The High Climber sighed as the council fell to arguing the merits of handsome lads over fair maidens. Angelina realized she’d never get the answers she needed from any of them and took the opportunity to walk away.
Looking up into the sky, she noticed the sun was setting. She must have spent longer with the squirrels, and wandered further from them, than she thought. Indeed, the massive oak was gone from sight and the chittering of the squirrels lost in the distance.
Now the forest whispered to her. Oaks and maples, birches and pines swayed together in the rising wind. The sky painted her cloud garments scarlet and gold as the sun began its descent.
The wind picked up as evening came on, sifting through the tree leaves. Then she saw Warbel above her, riding the breeze higher and higher. She barely had to flap her wings; it was so strong.
A zephyr swept down, ruffling Angelina’s mane and tickling her chin whiskers playfully. It caught some flower petals and wove them into the strands. Angelina laughed.
Why hadn’t she seen it before? She didn’t have to go anywhere. The wind was all around her. All she had to do was figure out a way to bottle some of it.
Opening her pack, she nuzzled about inside and came up with a little glass cylinder, its top stoppered with a cork plug. Pinning the bottle between her hooves, she carefully pried the cork free with her teeth. When she stepped away, the bottle fell over.
Gently, carefully, she picked it up with her lips, maneuvering the glass so that the open end pointed out. As she bent to lift the bottle from the ground, a petal fell into it from her beard.
The wind whistled into the bottle, making the petal dance and jump inside the glass. Now, how was she going to put the cap on?
Warbel swooped down, plucking up the cork in her beak. She shoved it into the neck of the bottle. “Brilliant,” she trilled. “I knew you’d figure it out.”
“I wish I’d known,” Angelina grumbled.
“Ah, dear unicorn girl. All you had to do was trust yourself, as I’ve done all along.”
“That’s nice to hear. I was worried, when you flew off, that you might not come back.” Angelina flopped down on a patch of grass and flowers. She was hungry and thirsty, but at least they had the first three items on the list.
“Not come back? Why would I do that? We have a pact, you and me. I’ll see it through to the end.”
“Good to know. I could have used some of that dedication with the sapphire.”
The wren hopped about on a branch. “I told you; I couldn’t go with you on that part. You got the stone, yes?”
“No thanks to you. That cave almost ate me, you know.”
“Oh, the cave wouldn’t have eaten you.”
“You don’t know that. Did you see its teeth?” Angelina felt a cold shudder run through her just thinking about it.
“I have seen the teeth, but it’s all for show. The cave is a vegetarian.”
“It’s... what?”
“A vegetarian. Only eats plants and the occasional bug. But that’s on accident, or so it claims. Besides, Valus was there. He wouldn’t let you get hurt.”
Angelina rolled her eyes. “You could have told me that before you took off. I needed your help. And things aren’t getting any easier.” Angelina chewed her lower lip.
The first ingredient had been a challenge. The second ended up being downright dangerous, but that was her own fault. Getting the wind in a bottle had turned out to be simple enough, but there were still two ingredients to go.
Catching a sun ray was going to be the hardest task yet, she just knew it.
“What do you mean?” Warbel asked. “You’ve only got two more things to find.”
“Yes, but a ray of sun? The tears of a banshee? How am I going to get those?”
“Same way you got the first two. Go to the person who has them and ask politely.”
Angelina pawed the ground nervously. “And I suppose you know exactly who controls the sun?”
“Oh, we don’t need to go all the way to Helios’ palace,” Warbel said. “The throne room of the Queen of Dawn will be far enough.”
“Another queen?” Angelina was glad she was laying down. Her legs felt funny, like they wouldn’t support her if she tried to stand.
Warbel laughed. “Don’t worry. You’ll like Aurora. She’s nice.”
Angelina settled her head on her forelegs and closed her eyes. “That’s what I thought about Felicity, until her house tried to eat me,” she muttered just before she fell asleep.
