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Another Man's Storm Prologue Part 1

Prologue 

Malosi stood by his canoe and watched breathlessly as his son, Ala, grabbed on to a single root protruding from a ledge along the cliff above him. The boy clung to the bluff as he climbed, his tan arms and legs sprawled across the rock much like a spider weaving a web. If Malosi were not confident in Ala’s abilities, he’d never have let him continue this quest.  But Ala was coming into manhood and had been preparing for this day.  His son had scouted the location of the nest and had primed his hands and feet to adhere to the slippery bluff with sap from the pinions. The boy had watched the dragons for weeks, rising from his bed before sunrise. In those misty hours before the light of day, the horned creatures hovered over their breeding places and fed their young. The dragons blocked out the first rays of the sun with their majestic wings shadowing the land, and then as if cued by the wind, the dragons soared into the air and disappeared beyond the clouds, leaving their hatchlings in shallow caves along the southern shore. Today, Ala was reaping his reward for his hard work, and Malosi refused to interfere.

Not to say observing the task wasn’t nerve wracking. Ala was his son, his flesh, and blood. He would die if anything happened to the boy, and so he watched with angst at the figure far from safety.

Malosi breathed in deeply when Ala reached a ledge, turned around, and waved.

“Just find the nest,” the father whispered as he gritted his teeth.

The ocean roared, sending sprays of foam into the air whenever it crashed against the rocks at the base of the bluff. Soon high tide would break against the precipice, making Ala’s mission perilous on his way down, unless he should decide to climb to the summit instead. Were Malosi’s wife, Dai, there, she’d be calling out for her son to be careful, though her voice would be lost in the wind. Fortunately, she was not there. Her presence would have added to Malosi’s anxiety. She had taken the day’s journey inland to tend to the Unfortunates and would not be back until the evening having left with just one goodbye.

“I cannot watch,” she had said.

She had a right to be nervous. An island boy who had climbed the same cliff last year had fallen; his body washed away by the angry sea. There had been no Atanda for him, the afterlife where the dead live forever with the dragons because, sadly, the boy had not found a hatchling.

Just as Ala scrambled into a cave on the side of the bluff, Malosi’s attention was diverted by a man calling his name. Sir Walter of Ellington, a knight from the continent who had come to Queensland specifically for information—information Malosi had refused to reveal. The man’s tall boots crunched in the sand as he approached. His cape overly warm under the sun, a sharp contrast to Malosi’s linen shirt blowing freely in the breeze. Sir Walter’s hounding had become a nuisance ever since he arrived with his fleet of ships. That he was, even at this moment, stalking Malosi and his son, made Malosi’s position difficult.

“I see Ala is mountain-climbing again. He wouldn’t be in search of dragons, would he?”

“Ala’s business is his own,” Malosi replied sharply.

“His own and the Queen’s, I might add.”

“Add what you like. Neither Ala, nor I, nor our tribe belong to your queen. You can wager your sword that there are no dragons belonging to the Queen either.”

Sir Walter glanced up at the cliffs behind Malosi and squinted, shading his eyes with his hand. “Indeed, your boy is on quite the quest. I presume he’s not risking his life simply for the fun of it.”

Malosi glared at him.

“The queen has a handsome prize for you both if you accept my offer. But you must do it soon. I have little time to waste. We leave in the morning.”

Malosi glanced over his shoulder, hoping beyond hope that Ala did not appear from out of that cave with a dragon in his arms while Sir Walter was watching.

“You would only need to advise. There would be no threat to your lives,” the ambassador whispered. “Nor to your son’s. We would pay you in ships, gold, and fabric for your lady. Your entire tribe would be blessed.”

Malosi sighed heavily and met the knight’s gentle gaze. There was nothing insincere about the man. Malosi had walked with him on this beach many an evening discussing the war that plagued Ellington. The help of one powerful dragon would put their strife to rest.

“Believe me, if there were another way to come out of this siege, we wouldn’t have come to you. But the might of the empire is unwavering. They’ve taken our villages to the east and even now ships from the north are coming to invade. We’re a small kingdom. Our people are farmers and sheepherders. We have little to defend ourselves with. We need your help.”

“I will discuss it with Dai.”

“Of course.” The man held his gaze, an earnest plea in his brown eyes. He was middle age, like Malosi. And like Malosi, was no stranger to sorrow. And in a sense, the tribe had a debt to pay the kingdom of Ellington. It was their medicine men who had helped see their tribe through the plague. That was the year when the Unfortunates were taken to live along the river so as not to infect the healthy under the advice of Ellington’s physicians. 

“Send me word with your decision. I’m counting on you.” He nodded toward the cliffs again. “Your boy was successful. It’s no secret what you folks are doing here.”

Sir Walter patted him on the arm, turned and walked away. Malosi reeled around in time to see Ala step out of the cave with a shimmering green, and gold creature tucked under his arm.

 

Dai returned not long after they had a fire going inside the stone structure they called home. A humble abode, furnished with bamboo mats, a table carved from manzanita, and windowsills decorated with Dai’s collection of shells and mother-of-pearl, now glittering in the firelight. When she entered and set her empty basket on the floor next to the door, she smiled at both him and Ala.

“I see you made it home safely, Ala.” Her sigh of relief soothed the entire house.

“Not only I, but look,” Ala had already unwrapped the blanket around his hatchling and swooped the baby dragon into his arms. With only a wing stretch and the blinking of its eyes, it leaned its head against Ala’s chest. “Look how tranquil he is, as if he loves us, Mother!”

“Indeed.” She took the creature's scaly head in her hands and touched its nose with a kiss. “He’s quite happy.”

Dai sat on the mat next to Malosi and took his hand. “And how did you spend your day.”

“Holding my breath,” Malosi laughed and nodded at Ala.

“Did you doubt I would make it, Father?”

“There is always room for doubt, my son. None of us are immortal.”

“But we needn’t worry, now. We have a dragon to see us to the afterlife. Me, you and Mother.”

“So legend tells us,” Dai said softly. “I worry about the Unfortunates though who will never have a quest.”

Malosi did not know how to answer. In all their tribe’s stories, never were the Unfortunates mentioned.

“It is almost as though they are their own tribe, with their own elders,” she added. They miss us, the council, the ocean. They’ve become river people. Some have moved further into the woods and up the mountains, afraid to step foot near any of us.”

“Then how are you able to visit so often?” Ala asked.

“Ala, some of these people were my friends. Some helped raise me. And besides,” she touched his cheek, “my presence brings them healing. I’m not sure why.”

Ala smiled lovingly at his mother and hugged her.

“You had a long day. Take your hatchling and make a bed of straw for it outside next to your window, and then get some sleep.”

Ala tucked the dragon under his arm, gathered the blanket into a ball, and tossed it over his shoulder. “I will sleep outside with him.”

When the room was silent, Malosi took Dai’s hand and kissed it.

“I worry about you visiting the ill so often.”

“Did you worry about Ala today?” she asked.

He huffed a laugh.

“It is my calling to help them.”

They watched the fire for a long while until Malosi garnered enough nerve to speak his mind. Hesitant, for he already knew how Dai felt about the ambassador and his soldiers from the mainland. Still, he promised he would discuss the proposition with her.

“Sir Walter came to the beach today.”

She frowned, her smooth skin glowing in the firelight, her dark eyes studied him.

“Did he see Ala on the cliff?”

“He saw Ala with the hatchling.”

She grunted and sat back. “He wants a dragon,” she whispered.

“It’s their only hope. They are a small kingdom. I doubt they have much of an army and the force is heavy against them.”

She looked up, alarm in her eyes. “You’re thinking of going?”

“I’m torn.”

“Mal,” she took both of his hands in hers and held them tightly. “Why would you leave this place? You cannot leave your son, not now.”

“Ala would go with me.”

“No! No, please. This war means nothing to you. Why invest in another man’s worries?”

He stared at her. Dai who risked her life working with the Unfortunates now begged him not to help a nation who needed him.

“Dai,” he began.

She sighed and leaned back. If he didn’t love her so much, he’d decide without her input. But she was his life. Never had he loved anyone as much as he loved her. His respect for her exceeded that which he held for the elders, or for his parents.

“When does he need to know?”

“In the morning.”

Her gaze returned to the fire.

“Sir Walter invited the family. He said we would not do battle, only advise.”

“And bring the dragons?”

“One, only. That was the promise.”

“Which one, Mal?” she asked, her eyes so intent they bore into his soul.

“The elders will decide.”

“What if it should die?”

“I cannot answer that.”

She shook her head. The decision was not easy for him either. Weighing the worth of the life of a dragon against that of a nation should be left to the gods, not a mortal man.

“Why blow wind in another man’s storm?” she breathed.

He could not answer that question either.

“I will sleep on it,” he whispered. 

 

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New story. The world is inspired by the Oregon Coastline.

Prologue

 

Malosi watched breathlessly as his son, Ala, grabbed on to the single root protruding from a ledge along the golden cliff above him. The boy clung to the bluff as he climbed, his tan arms and legs sprawled across the rock much like a spider weaving a web. If Malosi were not confident in Ala’s abilities, he’d never have let him continue this quest.  But Ala was coming into manhood and had been preparing for this day.  Ala had scouted the location of the nest alone and had primed his hands and feet to adhere to the slippery bluff with sap from the pinions. The boy had watched the dragons for weeks, rising from his bed before sunrise. In those misty hours before the light of day, the horned creatures hovered over their breeding places and fed their young. Ala would hide when the dragons blocked out the first rays of the sun with their majestic wings shadowing the land, and then as if cued by the wind, the dragons disappeared beyond the clouds to unknown skies, leaving their hatchlings in shallow caves along the southern shore. Now the boy was finally reaping his reward, and Malosi refused to interfere.

Not to say observing the task wasn’t nerve wracking. Ala was his son, his flesh, and blood. He would die if anything happened to him. He breathed in deeply when Ala reached a safe ledge and waved.

“Just find the nest,” the father whispered as he gritted his teeth.

The ocean roared, sending sprays of foam into the air whenever it crashed against the rocks at the base of the bluff. Soon high tide would break against the precipice, making Ala’s mission perilous on his way down, unless he should decide to climb to the precipice. Were Malosi’s wife, Dai, here, she’d be calling out for her son to be careful, though her voice would be lost in the wind. She had a right to be nervous. An island boy who had climbed the same cliff last year had fallen; his body washed away by the angry sea. There had been no Atanda for him, the afterlife where the dead live forever with the dragons.

Fortunately, Dai was not here. Her presence would have added to Malosi’s anxiety. She had taken the day’s journey inland to tend to the Unfortunates and would not be back until the evening having left with just one goodbye. “I cannot watch,” she had said.

Doing some demographics

Because there are three books out to this series, and the first book is free, I'm waiting before I go any further writing book 4. I don't want to waste my energy and writing time creating a sequel that few people will get to. Instead I think I will wait a year before I venture into the next mystery. Before I make a final decision, I'd like to get some feedback from my readers.

Write book 4 to Hoarfrost to Roses (I plan on reading them all). 
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Wait until you see if there is read through with books 1 - 3. 
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I'd rather read a new fantasy series. 
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Just spend the year marketing and good luck. 
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Want to see my process? Follow along!

This is the very first impression of a new Hoarfrost Mystery story forming. Not saying this is a first chapter, or if it will even make the cut. But it's creating the mood and giving me something to work with. The idea for the story has already been mapped out and partially outlined. Creating images in Midjourney is quick and easy to get me inspired and in the mood and helps me with my descriptions as well. Good tool.

Lucille adjusted the comb in her hair as she considered her reflection in the mirror. How the years had aged her. She did not recognize herself, the gray hair, the lines around her mouth, the endless pout that seemed planted on her face, the double chin pushing against the high collar around her neck. Even her eyes had dulled. She was fading away, and to what end?  No wonder her son refused to visit. She snickered, angry that Grai had left her but little more than a widow.

Ever since her husband, his step-father, had been arrested and accused of conspiring his murder, she had to deal with life and its injustices alone. Were it not for her two servants and the coachman, Lucille would have been a pauper on the streets. And would Grai have cared?

Surely not.

The downturn lips bent further as she turned away from the gilded glass on the wall and glanced out the window in time to see a carriage come to a halt at her porch. Who was this?

Gina the maid brushed by her, gliding swiftly to the door. Lucille peered around the corner and watched as the colored girl opened the ingress and bowed.

“Yes sir, Mistress Lucille is in the parlor. One moment please,” she said.

“Who is it?” Lucille asked as the woman hurried into the darkened space where Lucille cowered. Strangers were never welcome at her manor. Not while she lived alone.

“I don’t recognize a one of them, Madam. There are two men at the door. Young good-looking men and I saw another three persons in the coach. Dressed rugged as if they’d been traveling a long while. Smell of horse and dust and all. They know your name though.”

“Very well, get Brent and have him come to the living room as quickly as possible.”

Lucille wrung her hands and glared at the closed door, curious as to who the strangers were on the other side. She could see restless shapes through the stained glass. Men she didn’t know pacing on her doorstep waiting to come in out of the heat. There would be no hospitality without the consent of her butler. She trusted Brent not only for the daily regime of her household, but as a protector as well.

Brent, a lean middle-aged man with graying hair and a thick black mustache bowed when he stepped into the parlor.

“Gina tells me there are travelers at your door.”

“I want you to see who they are. You know I cannot trust a soul in this town.”

“Gina says they appear to be from out of town.”

“Worse,” Lucille retorted.

Brent bowed again without arguing and stepped into the entry way, opened the door slightly and spoke.

“Who might I say is calling?”

“Danny,” came the answer and a blond-haired man stuck his head in the door, peeking past the butler. “Aunt Lucille?”

It couldn’t be Daniel, her sister’s son!

 

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Coffers of Youth

A fantasy story that takes place right here in my hometown in the Pacific Northwest.

There once was an old woman named Madeline who lived in a military port town in the Pacific Northwest. Being old and having lived in that town for near thirty years, she had witnessed the quaint little neighborhood become a disrupting metropolis. From picturesque ferry boats, rural roads, and shaded lanes, to highways, construction sites, and chain stores, the ocean air now smelled of exhaust, the sky appeared a dirty brown, and the water never cast a blue hue as it once had.  Since she loved nature so much, the encroaching urbanization of her homeland filled her with sadness. To escape, she visited the wooded park near her wisteria-devoured farmhouse every day.  She loved the untamed undergrowth, fallen trees among the towering firs, mysterious nooks made from ferns and salals, ponds hidden by blackberry and thimbleberry, woodpeckers rattling on limbs far above and out of sight, and the scent of bear and deer hiding from human foot traffic. It was in this forest she felt the most fulfilled, as if she had a purpose and that purpose was simply to live.

When she heard the news that the county was considering selling the park to developers, she panicked. Soon, there would be nowhere else for her to go for peace of mind. There had to be a way to stop them, and the only way she knew of was an item tucked away in a secret box that her grandmother had given her. The sight of the big machinery on the road towards the forest was a clear sign that action needed to be taken immediately.

Fumbling through her clothes drawer where ten-year-old sleeveless cotton shirts were crammed into an untidy nest, Madeline searched for the key to the drawer that shelved the treasure box.

“It must be here somewhere,” she mumbled to herself. (Madeline frequently talked to herself. Rumors of dementia frightened her and so she meant to vocalize her thoughts lest she forget them). “I know I put it somewhere with the summer clothes, or was it in the winter drawer? Ah!”

Elated, Madeline held the key in front of her and sighed with relief.

“Now, to find the box.”

The buffet stood upright in the kitchen, the maple wood a bright orange in the morning sun, but the small box she needed was elusive. She wished she had remembered where she last put her reading glasses for without them, she’d never be able to locate it. Stumbling to her desk, she felt through the papers like a blind person. It wasn’t until she tapped herself on the head that she realized she had never taken them off.

With her spectacles on her nose, she hurried to the buffet again just as the house rattled from the backhoe traveling on her road. Her hands shook as she glanced at her Hummel figurines, worried they might fall.  She must hurry. Surely after they destroy the forest, they will come demolish her house too!

A click of the key and soon random objects flew out of the buffet drawer as she ransacked through them. Empty medicine bottles, papers, keepsakes she hadn’t meant to keep, a miniature flashlight with no batteries, toothpicks, a letter opener, staples. She hadn’t seen the staple gun for years. Old film, good grief, what images were on those rolls? She could only imagine! She hadn’t dusted off that Brownie camera for years.

Deep toward the back, she found it. A ceramic box that fit in her palm. Cold to the touch, she gently pulled it out of the drawer and stepped back, tripping on a plastic pill bottle. Luckily, she fell only as far as the seat of a chair, the Coffer of Youth still unharmed in her hand.

The top was painted with figures of two children swinging under an oak tree. A boy with blond hair and a girl with red curls. He wore knee britches, suspenders, and a newsboy cap. She wore a pink dress, Mary Jane shoes and white socks with lace on the cuffs. A dog barked at their heels and a bluebird sang in the trees. Madeline closed her eyes, remembering the day her grandmother handed her this treasure.

“This is where you put your dreams,” Grandma had said. “A pebble, a coin, a scrap of paper. Let each little icon be a reminder of those dreams. Drop them in here and save them.”

 “How can I contain all my dreams in a little box?” young Madeline had argued.

Grandma laughed. “Some of your dreams will come true and there’s no need to keep them in a box. This chest is reserved for the things that are difficult to get and that are priceless to you.”

What could be more priceless than a forest, eh?

So Madeline reached in the box and took out a small pebble the size of her fingernail. She remembered when she gathered this little stone. It had been embedded in a nest of lichen on a stump in the very woods she hoped to save. What made this rock special was that the day she found it was the day she saw Big Foot.

“Must be his magic,” she whispered and rubbed the stone between her fingers affectionately. If the stone would take her some place, maybe she’d stay there and never come back. She was so mad at those wicked developers she felt like leaving this world for good! Yet saving the forest wasn’t just for her sake. An ancient magic existed in those woods—a magic that gave speech to the trees and song to the wild animals that lived there. What she kept in her box was the portal to the source of that magic. Maybe she’d find a shield of some sort to keep the tree choppers away.  The problem was the price she had to pay to get there. Grandma had told her the cost and warned her about using the magic frivolously.

“You had better be careful, Maddie, lest you get yourself in a situation you can’t get out of.”

“What, Grandma? What would happen if I used the magic?”

“Slavery, my dear child. You will become an indentured servant to whoever grants your wish.”

Madeline held the pebble tight in her hand. Seventy years of living and never once was she indebted to another person. She had lived life to its fullest—had a home, presentable and friendly neighbors, and a lovely garden. She had never sacrificed for anyone.

Maybe now was the time to give back.

She closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and whispered the magic words that her grandmother had taught her.

“Woony, doony, break my spoony. Half-pence shy and off to the moony!”

An icy wind gushed over her. Too nervous to open her eyes, she clenched tightly to the stone and felt herself traveling through the air as if she’d been picked up by a storm and transported to another place. It took all but a minute, but that fleeting moment seemed like an eternity. When she finally landed on her posterior, the surface under her was hard and a sharp pain jostled up her spine.

“Oh!” she squealed and opened her eyes to something so close, she had no view of her surroundings.

“Why are you here?” it said.

“Oh!” Madeline repeated and blinked.  At first, she thought it was a tree talking to her, but it was too hairy to be a tree, even a tree covered with moss or lichen. She followed its trunk with her gaze. Or was that a trunk? They could be legs. Yes, they were, and it had arms, too. And a neck with dark hair bouncing on its shoulders and a face with huge brown eyes that seemed more sympathetic than angry.

He was backlit by the sun, for he stood well above the treetops that surrounded him.

“I…um,” Madeline explained.                                              

“You hold the stone,” the thing said.

“I found this stone years ago.”

“I remember. The day you first saw me.”

“You’re Sasquatch?”

“Ah, so you remembered. Perhaps you remember that you were warned about the stone.” He put his hands on his hips and frowned. His bottom lip stuck out and looked like a log stuck to his mouth.

“How did you know?”

“I knew your grandmother.”

Madeline had no questions, no excuses. Blood rushed to her head in embarrassment. Yes, she’d been warned, and here she was facing Big Foot. If he granted her request, she’d be indebted to him. Or she could pass this all up and not even ask him for help. Still, how would she get home? And what about the woods she came here to save? She had no choice but to ask him for help. It was too late to back out.

Great, she thought.

“Well, I guess I’m committed, then.”

“You are. I hope your request is worth the trouble that is coming to you.”

“I want you to save the forest that is located near my house,” she explained, her mouth dry, and sweat seeping down her cheeks.

Sasquatch’s frown grew deeper and more dramatic, almost frightening. Madeline swallowed and would have stepped away from him if she weren’t sitting down.

“What forest?”

“Banner is the name.”

Sasquatch stuck out his large, furry hand. At first Madeline thought he was going to strike her, his movement was so powerful. But when he stood motionless in front of her, his eyes still gentle, his fuzzy palm up, she realized he was offering to help her stand. She reached out and touched him. With no hesitation, he lifted her off the log.

“Hold on to me,” he said. Before she could respond, the wind picked up and swooped them both into the air.

“Oh…,” Madeline cried out as already dizziness overwhelmed her and she had to shut her eyes again to keep from vomiting.

Wherever she had been when she met up with Sasquatch, she was soon gone, her feet planted firmly on a familiar trail in Banner Woods. Sasquatch was already a few feet ahead of her, marching toward the road.

Daylight had already dimmed, giving way to a sunset that topped the trees with a rich golden hue. The fresh scent of pine lifted her spirits, for to Madeline, this was home, and she followed Big Foot with a new confidence. As frightening as he was, the creature had a presence that brought things to life. The trees bent in tribute, the ferns waved, the berries ripened and popped into his mouth as he nodded a greeting. Even the rubber lizards that hikers had tacked to trees along the trail came to life and scurried after him. Chipmunks chattered and raced along his side. Crows announced his coming. Woodpeckers drummed on hollow trees in exaltation. By the time Sasquatch had reached the parking lot that bordered the forest, he had gathered a following of every creature in the vicinity, including a mother black bear and her cubs and two cougars. Ordinarily, Madeline would have been afraid, but Sasquatch kept her close to him. He turned to his audience and grunted.

“You’re safe,” he simply said. With a mixture of chatter, sighs, and laughter, the animals of the woods left. Madeline turned to Sasquatch, wondering what he would do. But Big foot simply sat on a log with no explanation, so she sat next to him.

“You’re my servant, now,” he said.  

She nodded, not wanting to argue, but she knew he had to fulfill her wish before he could make that claim. Still, who would argue with someone as large and mighty as Big Foot? Madeline yawned, for the night had fallen on them and even traffic on the road nearby had dwindled to nothing. The anxiety of the day had taken its toll on her and though she fought sleep, she couldn’t resist it.

She woke before the sun rose. The sky had morphed from black to midnight blue. As she stirred from her slumber, she noticed the sensation of hair tickling her nose and realized that she had been sleeping on Big Foot's lap, cocooned in the softness of his fur. She sat up with a start, but there was no time to apologize for burdening him, as the sound of heavy equipment had already rattled Sasquatch awake and he stood.

That was all it took.

Brakes squealed.

Logging trucks that had been parked flashed on their lights.

Engines roared.

 Before a dump truck could leave the scene, Sasquatch picked up the honey bucket that had been left in the parking lot and threw it into the back.

Madeline, mouth agape, watched the stream of taillights head down the road.

“They won’t be back,” Sasquatch said after the forest was quiet again. “And neither will you,” he added.

Madeline’s joy nosedived to dread when he offered his hand again.

There was no way out. The deal had been made. She sold her soul to Sasquatch, at least for a couple of years should she live that long.

“I’m just an old lady,” she muttered, her voice trembling.

“We can fix that,” Big Foot said.

When she took his hand and traveled through space, or time, or wherever it was they went, the journey magically revitalized her and this time she did not feel like vomiting. No, this time she enjoyed the flight and laughed. When she looked up at Sasquatch, her heart got caught in her throat, so to speak, for the wind not only blew against his fur, but blew it off and the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on appeared, grinning at her.

They landed in woods like Banner, only more colorful, filled with berries and fruit trees and a comfortable log cabin.

“Two years,” he whispered and turned to her. He had lost all that extra height. It had blown away with his fur, so now he was only an inch taller than her. He wore human clothes, jeans, and a flannel shirt and she could have easily mistaken him for a lumberjack.

“Oh,” Madeline said. What could such a handsome man want with an old lady like her?

“I can cook and sew new clothes for you,” she said timidly.

“Without knowing the outcome, you sacrificed for those woods and all the living beings in it. I don’t need you to work for me. I would prefer you just keep me company. It gets awfully lonesome wandering around the woods, towering over the trees, and looking like a freak.”

“So…you will be…you know. Big Foot again?”

“Whenever I’m needed to save the forest. Yes. I can grow on cue. And you will keep your end of the deal? You’ll stay here with me?”

Madeline swallowed. No longer did she fear staying with him. He was the most caring man she’d ever met, and they had a common interest. She formed the words ‘yes’ but no words passed her lips.

“Two years?” he asked.
Maybe more, she thought.

It wasn’t Banner Forest, but it was home. Madeline swore if she could swing it, two years would only be the beginning.

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