Faire Eve Read online

  Faire Eve

  By Catherine Stovall

  This Book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  Published by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing

  Text Copyright 2013 by Catherine Stovall

  Cover by Nicola Ormerod for Vivid Designs

  1

  Eve’s first memory was of wandering through the large backyard of her northern Connecticut home. On the day that she would never forget, but could never exactly remember, she turned six years old. She recalled seeing something glimmer in the distance. She ran towards the shiny object lying beneath the massive old oak tree. She hoped to find an old bottle cap to show her father or a quarter to buy bubble gum from the machine at the store. She loved the large red machine with its slides and lights. The gum spun and swirled in crazy patterns until she heard the rewarding clink of the hard outer shell hitting the tiny metal door.

  The item of her desire lay near a group of large white mushrooms. Eve liked mushrooms, especially the big white ones. To her, they always seemed clean and pretty. Her mother told her mushrooms were dangerous and she should stay away from them. Her mother also said the yummy brown ones on pizza were okay to eat, but the kind growing outside were poisonous and could make her ill. Eve didn’t like to be sick and she wanted to be a good girl. She simply could not resist her urge to look closer.

  Eve skipped to the oak tree and skidded to a wary stop near the first bulging fungus. The mysterious glimmer seemed to beckon to her. She eyed the mushrooms carefully, liking how they looked gathered in a circle. Each bulbous top sat far enough from the other, it left a place big enough for her to enter without touching. To Eve, they looked like lumps of vanilla ice cream precariously balanced on small sticks. The mushrooms didn’t look scary or poisonous. Knowing her mother would be angry, Eve meant to step into the circle, grab the shiny thing, and run back across the yard.

  Eve looked over her shoulder to see her mother still sitting with her back to the yard while she read. Her mother loved to lounge in the sun on uncharacteristically warm fall days. She would allow Eve to play while she read a novel and sipped her coffee. By some stroke of luck, her mother seemed to be unaware the ring of fungi existed. She normally would have refused to allow the child access to the yard until her dad mowed them down.

  Eve crossed the line into the circle cautiously. She slipped one pink sneaker clad foot in first and then the other. Nothing happened. Eve debated with herself. Maybe not all mushrooms are as bad as mommy said. Perhaps the pretty mushrooms are pretty and don’t make people sick unless they touch them.

  Stealing another furtive glance in her mother’s direction, Eve inched forward on the bright green grass. She couldn’t seem to find the object. Forgetting to be wary of her mother’s attention, she plopped down and began rooting through the greenery for her reward.

  The blades of grass were soft and plush, not yet browned and hardened by the frigid temperatures of winter. Thinking of the north winds that would come to sweep away the last of the warm days and bring the bitter cold she hated, Eve did not want to leave the spot. The sun seemed to shine brighter in the little circle. Tilting her round face towards the sky, Eve forgot her mission, and her mother’s admonishments slipped from her childish mind.

  She lay on her back and the air seemed to fill with iridescent rainbows. Delighted by the beautiful illusion, she giggled and waved her hands above her. Each motion sent ripples through the colorful arches and caused them to blend in an array of combinations. The sound of tiny wings and laughter flitted around her. Her voice seemed to lift out of her and create another languid rainbow.

  A figure hovered beyond her reach. The blinding sun and pretty colors made it difficult to see. Her tiny hand reached out to catch the strange object and the world shattered. Her mother’s voice rang out. Two firm hands pulled her from the effervescent surroundings. Eve blinked her eyes and her mother’s terrified face came into view.

  Her mother rushed toward the house, cradling a crying Eve tightly to her. She knew she would be in trouble for not listening. She knew her mom would tell her daddy when he came home from work. Her naughty behavior would earn her a timeout with no ice cream or TV before bed. Eve whimpered as she apologized repeatedly.

  “I’m sorry, Mommy. I was only trying to find the shiny thing. I know mushrooms will make me sick. I promise not to do it again.” Despite her sincerity, her trembling baby voice did not reach her worried mother’s ears.

  When they were safely indoors, Eve’s mother sat her on the countertop and stared at her in disbelief. “Baby, I’m not mad. You scared me. I told you, mushrooms could make you sick. If you get sick, you have to go to the hospital and you may have to stay for a long time.”

  Eve may have grown up believing the incident was a dream. She may have forgotten about it over the years. Instead, the countenance of terror and her mother’s words set the scene into her mind. Her memories of the day seemed hazy and she felt strange when she tried to rationalize what the glimmering colors could have been.

  Eve never went near the mushrooms again, she didn’t crawl under the hedgerows, and she never threw pennies into fountains or wishing wells. She always minded her mother. Even if other children did such things, Eve never did. Sometimes she shut her eyes tight and pretended not to see the pretty rainbows in the fountain outside the library. She would sing a little song to herself when she passed the shrubbery. The tune drowned out the tiny fluttering and twinkling bells.

  Their beautiful home had a magnificent yard, but unlike the neighbors’, there were no roses, tulips, or honeysuckle. No humming bird feeders graced their trees and no birdbaths sat in honor of the cardinals, which came each spring. Beyond the patio doors, lay a barren ocean of green. Eve’s mother never allowed her to play outside without supervision.

  Every year, on the last day of April, her mother and father took her to the city. Eve loved going to New York City. Even the two-hour car ride didn’t seem to be as dreadful as the one-hour drive to grandma’s house in Albany. She loved staying in the fancy hotels and visiting all the exciting places. She enjoyed the crowds of people and the enormous buildings. Yet, she was always happiest on the way home. Knowing the busy streets and crowded spaces would soon turn into rolling hills and trees, uplifted her heart.

  When children are very small, the world tends to look like a great place of large-scale wonders, magic seems embedded in every detail, and a child can believe in anything they like. As a child grows, fact replaces mystery, doubt replaces belief, and the world loses its sparkle. As all children do, Eve grew into a teenager.

  She no longer had to force herself to ignore the whispers of magic eking out of the things and places her mother said were dangerous. She became blind to the wonders of the world as her eyes tuned to electronics and boys. As the music of her peers filled her ears, she became deaf to the sound of tiny laughter. In fact, she had no recollection of anything out of ordinary, other than the one day in the yard years prior.

  When the memory did reach out and capture her attention, Eve shrugged it off as simple imagination intensified by her mother’s reaction. Perhaps a bee or some other stinging bug had come near her. She once asked about the mushroom circle incident and her mother said she didn’t recall it. Eve had a strange feeling that she wasn’t being honest but she didn’t push the issue. She saw worry in her mother’s eyes and Eve hated to worry others.

  As a teen, magic beyond the modern miracle was lost on Eve. She lived a norm
al childhood. Her mother no longer feared to allow her to venture into the yard or beyond. She went to school, had lots of friends, and the occasional boyfriend. She no longer cared if there were no flowers in the yard. If she wanted to look at flowers, she could take a walk and admire them from afar. Her mother’s heart broke each time she saw evidence of Eve’s maturing mind and her disbelief in anything fantastical. Yet, she could not protect her child if she allowed her to believe. The woman knew her daughter could never know the secrets she kept safe without being in danger.

  2

  Eve stood with her arms crossed over her chest, she arched her golden eyebrows as if questioning the world, and her painted pink lips pursed. “No.” The two letters hung in the air daring someone to contradict her choices.

  All too familiar with such scenes, the tone of her mother’s voice warned Eve that she was pushing her luck. “We discussed this. You are not staying here. You are coming with me and your father to New York.”

  Eve resisted the urge to stomp her feet, but she couldn’t help the tears welling up in her amber eyes. When the light hit them, they took on hues of orange and gold. The effect was unusual and strangers often commented on the rare color.

  “Eve you used to love our trips to New York. You know this is the only time of year we have a chance to get away and really spend some quality time with you. Why can’t you understand how important this is to us?”

  “I will be missing out on the last dance of the year.” She hiccupped a sob. “Jeremy was going to ask me and I want to go. All the other girls are going. Why can’t we be normal and go on vacation during the summer like everyone else?” Her voice rose higher in both tone and volume.

  “We have been over this. We have to work. It’s one dance honey. I know it seems like it is very important, but there will be other dances. Jeremy will still be here when you get back in two weeks. Please calm down. Your father will be home any moment and you know how he hates to see you upset.”

  “No.” Her quickening sobs and flood of crocodile tears muffled the one syllable word.

  Eve turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs, each heavy step resonated through the house. When she reached her room, she slammed the door hard. Seconds later, a dull thud followed as she tossed a shoe at the wall in her frustration.

  Eve laid in bed for the next two hours, texting her friends about the unfairness of her tyrannical parents. She knew the falseness of her words, but it felt good to say them anyway. Her parents were kind and treated her extremely well, but she wanted nothing more than to go to the dance with Jeremy.

  She heard her father’s car in the drive and was tempted to run down the stairs and plead her case with him. Only the thought of his gentle brown eyes, brimming with compassion for her hurt feelings as he reinforced her mother’s rule, stopped her. Her dad always sympathized more with her, but her mother was the law in their house.

  Instead, Eve stayed in her room and waited. Tucking herself into the window seat, she looked out at the night. She hoped her mother would feel bad and change her mind. She prayed her father would come upstairs when he noticed she didn’t come down to see him. A shooting star struck out across the dark sky. Eve had never seen one before and she couldn’t resist the urge.

  Scrunching her eyes shut tight, she put every bit of her heart into the words, “Please let my parents say I can stay here and not go to New York.”

  She left her eyes shut for a moment longer and pictured herself slow dancing with Jeremy in the dark high school gym among the balloons and gaudy tissue paper flowers. The vision of the perfect night captured her completely and she nearly missed the whisper.

  A small voice came from somewhere near her. “She didn’t say I wish. It’s not a wish if she doesn’t say the words.”

  Eve’s eyes flew open and the quick movement in the tree outside sent her scurrying backward. She fell onto the beige carpeting with a thump. She saw something on the nearest branch, something small but not animal like. She rubbed the last of her tears from her eyes and crawled back to peer out the glass pane. Eve raised her head just enough to see out but the branches held nothing.

  She knew tiny creatures were not outside her window. The possibility was absurd. Yet, her hands trembled and goose bumps crept up her arms. Not wanting to be alone, Eve overcame her anger at her parents and headed down to join them. Her mother’s voice floated up the stairs. She sounded strained and worried.

  Pausing before she descended to a point where they might spot her, Eve listened. The words were not all clear. The conversation rose up from the kitchen in hushed tones. She heard her mother say something about a place called Beltane and something else about a woman named Fay. Her father’s voice carried farther, despite his attempt to speak quietly. He tried to reassure her mother. He told her it had been years since anything happened. He sounded completely sure of himself when he said the trip to New York would go as it did every year.

  Eve began to feel guilty about eavesdropping and she made a show of noisily clomping down the rest of the stairway. Her mother’s back was to her, but her father beamed.

  “Hey, Pumpkin. Mom tells me you don’t want to go to New York this year. I thought we might go to Coney Island, if it helps.”

  Eve dreamed of going to Coney Island. Her mother, always overprotective, feared she was too young and might be lost in the crowds. The offer was a bribe. Her mother would have to swallow many of her fears to accept it. Eve knew she should stand her ground. After all, Jeremy was worth more than an amusement park.

  Her mind betrayed her when it questioned, Wasn’t he? The answer came. Well, maybe not. Eve decided she could be bought for the right price. Her price happened to be one trip to the infamous Coney Island.

  She forgot her tears, the strangeness of the voices upstairs, and the odd conversation between her parents. With an excitement she couldn’t have imagined being capable of minutes before, Eve embraced her father. When she unwound herself from him, she skipped across the kitchen to her mother and hugged her as well.

  “I really wanted to go to the dance with Jeremy but since I get to go to the New York Aquarium and to Luna Park, I think I will survive.”

  Her parents laughed at her sudden change of mind, but Eve could still hear a note of unhappiness in her mother’s normally light voice. Feeling another pang of guilt, Eve looked into her mother’s face. “Momma, I’m sorry I was being such a brat.”

  Her mother hugged her tightly, running one delicate hand over Eve’s short hair. “I know it’s hard sometimes sweetheart. I was once a teenager too, many years ago.”

  Eve’s father strolled over to include himself in the embrace. “You are even more beautiful than you were then.” A look of powerful love passed between the two adults and Eve hoped to marry a man like her father. She wanted a husband who would love and admire her, no matter how old she grew.

  They talked all through dinner about the upcoming trip. They discussed where they would stay, where they would go, favorite places to visit, and new ones they would add to the long-standing tradition. Eve commandeered most of the conversation. She couldn’t talk enough about Coney Island. When she finally paused in explaining her dream itinerary, she noticed the distant look on her mother’s face.

  “Hey Mom, Earth to Mom. Please come in.” Eve laughed as her mother jumped a little and turned her surprised face towards Eve.

  “Sorry honey, I was thinking about the first time I met your father.” Her mother’s voice sounded far away and dreamy, much like the look in her eyes.

  Her father looked surprised but remained silent. Eve was excited as she realized she had never heard the story of how her parents had met. “Oh, please tell me. Was it something super romantic?”

  Eve’s mother looked as if she were worlds away. Snapping back to reality, she began, “I was seventeen when I met your father. My parents took me to Coney Island as a graduation present. The trip was a big deal because we didn’t live as close as your father did at the time. We stayed in the N
ew Yorker Hotel and I was in awe of everything. My life changed forever the first time I left Tiffin. I never saw anything as magnificent as New York City.”

  “My father allowed my Uncle Dain to take me to Coney Island one day while he and my mother attended to some business. My uncle was fond of the Coney Island lager and promptly set me free to do as I pleased. I couldn’t get enough of the Boardwalk and the ocean in June. I met your father there.” She raised her eyes to meet Eve’s and smiled sweetly. Eve could see the girl she had been on the long ago day.

  “Your father walked right up to me and introduced himself. He told me, right there on the spot, I was the prettiest girl he ever saw and he would simply perish if I did not agree to have dinner with him that night. At first, I was afraid. I nearly ran away. He caught me by the hand and begged me to say yes.”

  Eve looked disbelievingly at her father who nodded to say her mother spoke the truth. If Eve didn’t know better, she would swear he blushed. She found it difficult to imagine her father being dramatically romantic.

  “I couldn’t meet him. My father would never let me go unattended out into the city. I promised to meet him the next day in the same spot. He was excited. I was nervous, excited, terrified, and overjoyed. I never had a boyfriend and my experience with men was limited to those who were family members, a few family friends, and my father’s business partners.”

  “We walked together on the beach until I had to tear myself away. Your father was a charming young man. I found it quite difficult to leave. Only his reassurance he would meet me again, gave me the strength to find Uncle Dain.”

  “I worried he wouldn’t be there the next day, I wouldn’t look beautiful enough, or I would do something foolish and he would laugh at me. I barely slept a wink. I changed my clothes a thousand times and almost talked myself out of going more than once. Yet, when the time came, I was too excited not to go.”