Chapter 3. The Fairy, the Mushroom and the Medicine Woman

The Fairy, the Mushroom and the Medicine Woman

by Marc Archambault

Copyright. All rights reserved. No copying without permission, etc. etc.

If you haven't yet the preceding chapters, here are the links:
Chapter 1: Home

Chapter 2: Surprise!

Chapter 3: Amends

Gwen sat sadly, looking up at the spot in the tree where the fairy had disappeared. This is not going well, she thought. She was truly sorry, but what more was there she could do to make things right? George's mother was still sick. She had to get back and make the medicine. She would just have to find a different mushroom. She sighed quietly and rose to leave. As she stepped away, she felt something hard bounce lightly off her head. She looked down. A cone from the evergreen lay at her feet. Another bounced off her back, then another off her arm.
"Just where do you think you're going?" The little fairy's voice came from the tree. Gwen could tell the fairy was doing her best to sound menacing, but the voice still sounded sweet and innocent to her.
"Well" said Gwen, "since there is nothing more I can do to make amends, and my friend’s mother is still sick, I am going to look for another mushroom."
"Good. Get going!" the fairy called. She threw another cone at Gwen, but missed this time. Gwen turned sadly and walked away. She looked at the sky. The moon was almost gone. If she didn't find a new mushroom soon she wouldn't be able to make the medicine tonight, because the mushroom had to be picked when the moon was out.

Celia followed Gwen through the nighttime forest. Silently gliding from tree to fern to flower, always keeping out of sight. She watched the young medicine woman search in damp hollows and in the cool shade of large trees for another red mushroom. Even though Gwen had made a mistake and hurt Celia, she seemed to be a good woman, with a kind heart. Celia found herself warming to the healer. She didn't like that. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her face. She stamped her feet in the air. But it was no use. She couldn’t make herself feel angry again. Just then she heard Gwen give a little shout of triumph as she pushed aside some ferns to reveal a bright red mushroom. Then she looked at the sky and let out a load moan, slumping to the ground.
"What's wrong?" asked Celia, forgetting that she was supposed to be hiding. Gwen started, then looked at the fairy that was approaching her. "By the light of a bright fairy moon, you must choose the brightest red mushroom," she said. "That's what the medicine recipe says. The moon has set. I cannot pick this mushroom now. It wouldn't work. I will have to wait until tomorrow night when the moon is up to pick it, and by then it may be too late for Annia."
Celia flew over to the mushroom and sat on it. She looked around at the area surrounding the mushroom. There were a few large beautiful trees growing in a half circle around the mushroom. There were lovely ferns surrounding it. There was even a big rock nearby. Even though there was no brook right beside it, she could hear the running of a creek not far away.
"I have an idea," she said to Gwen. "Go back and take the mushroom you already picked. I can use this one to make a new house. The other one was just a practice one anyway. This one will be even better."
Gwen brightened. "Really? Truly?"
"Yes, now go." Celia had already tied her hair back and gotten her knife ready. But before starting to work, she sat quietly and watched Gwen as the young woman rushed back through the forest.