Just as Jacob the frog had predicted, they found some Gnome houses not far from where John had picked up the walking stick.
They were hidden away high in the leaves. John would have walked right by them, except Benjamin thought he saw something moving up in one of the treetops. As they were walking through the interconnected tree branches, they got off of one branch and onto another, and then followed this branch all the way to the tree trunk, where they found a series of mushroom steps just like the ones that had led them up into the trees in the first place. They climbed up these mushrooms until they got into some leafy branches. It was so dense with leaves that they had to constantly push the leaves out of the way in order to walk anywhere. But after making their way through several layers of leaves, they stumbled upon a small little village of tiny houses hidden amongst the leaves in the treetops.
That is to say, the houses would look tiny to any full size human. But John had been shrunk down to only the size of a thumb. The gnomes were twice as big as John were. So the houses didn’t look tiny to John--not from his current vantage point anyway.
But even by John’s standards, the houses weren’t huge. You can’t have huge houses balanced in the tree branches without them falling out. Each house was a modest one room affair, but there were several of them nestled up in the branches of the trees.
And the sprites were here as well, flying from branch to branch. Some of them took an interest in John. One of them flew right above John. “You’re very small for a gnome,” she said.
“He’s a human,” said Benjamin. “A shrunken human.”
The sprites thought this was very funny, and laughed and laughed, before flying back into the leaves.
“I’ve never realized how many fairies there are in the trees,” said John.
Jacob corrected him. “They’re not fairies. They’re sprites. They’re smaller. And they don’t have as much magic. They live up in the trees and use their magic to help the flowers bloom in spring, and then help the flowers turn into leaves.”
“You mean they take care of the trees?”
“Well, part of it anyway. They don’t have anything to do with the trunk or the big wood parts, but they take care of the leaves and the blossoms.”
“And what do they get in return?”
“They don’t really think about that. They just love to grow leaves and flowers--the way some humans have gardening as a hobby. But they do also get plenty in return. The leaves protect them and hide them from any dangers.”
“I see,” said John.
The sprites were still laughing as they flew back up towards the leaves, and the gnomes, hearing the laughter, began to step out of their houses.
They saw John, and came down to see what he wanted.
“Hello,” said Jacob the frog. “We were wondering if you could help us. This small fellow here is a human who’s been shrunk down. He needs help getting back to his home in the castle. Do you know any animals who could help carry him there?”
“Possibly,” said one of the gnomes. “Come inside our meeting house, and we will discuss it.”
The gnomes, as Jacob and Benjamin explained to John, were well-connected with all the medium sized animals of the forest. The bigger animals, like the deer or the horses, ignored the gnomes, but the gnomes were very friendly with hedgehogs, foxes, weasels, porcupines, and all the middle sized animals. If John wanted to hitch a ride on the back of a racoon or a groundhog, or any other medium sized animal, then the gnomes were the ones to ask. They could determine which animals were close by, and which animals would be willing to take on the job.
But first the gnomes, being by very nature curious creatures, wanted to hear what John was doing in the forest, and how he had been shrunken down to 3 inches.
John told the story as best he could. There were a number of things that were confusing even to John--who was this strange old woman he had met on the forest paths, and what was her history with King Carlyle? But John explained what he knew, and the gnomes nodded sagely. It appeared to John that they knew some things about this situation that he did not (they seemed to understand more than he told them). But exactly what they knew wasn’t clear, since the gnomes didn’t give him any extra information.
When John was finished with story, the gnomes decided it would be a relatively easy matter to arrange for an animal to bring him back. “What about Tarquin the fox?” someone suggested. He was small enough to be on the level of the gnomes, and yet swift enough that he could run through the forest.
And then John, aided by Benjamin and Jacob, told the story of how they had encountered Tarquin in the forest already, and how Tarquin had tried to eat them.
The gnomes were appalled. This went against the law of the forest. Sure, there had always been rumors that some of the carnivores ate the smaller animals when no one was looking. But rumors are one thing. Direct eye-witness testimony was another. If Tarquin was eating the small animals, that was tantamount to murder. Justice would have to be served.
It was at this point that John, Benjamin and Jacob also mentioned the spider in the tree, and again the gnomes were surprised. They knew that hole in the tree, and they even knew that spider--they weren’t exactly friendly with him, but they knew who he was. They couldn’t believe that even in the tree tops the law of the forest was being violated.
But what to do about it?
It was decided to deal with the spider first. He was the easier target. Everyone knew where he was--he was in his hole in the tree. Plus he was smaller, and should be easier to catch.
So, one by one the gnomes came out of their houses. There were 16 of them in all, and they marched down the branches, and after crossing a few tree tops, arrived at where the spider’s hole was.
“Gaius, we know you’re in there,” one of the gnomes called out to the hole. “Come out and talk to us.”
“Who dares disturb my rest,” grumbled the spider’s voice from within the hole. “I’ve had a bad morning, and I need to rest.”
“We’ve heard that you’ve been violating the law of the forest,” said one of the gnomes. “Come out and explain yourself.”
“I don’t have to answer to you,” came back the voice. “Who appointed you gnomes guardians of the forest? You are not charged with enforcing the laws.”
There was a brief discussion about what to do next. Some of the gnomes favored going in the hole and dragging the spider out by his legs, but then they remembered his poisonous fangs. Although the gnomes would doubtless overpower the spider in the end, no one wanted to risk any casualties. So at last, they delivered an ultimatum to the spider. “We’re going back to our homes to arm ourselves with armor and swords,” they said. “If you still refuse to come out of your hole when we return, we will consider it an invitation to combat. We will come into your hole and drag you out by force.”
“If you come into my hole, you will not come out again,” said the spider’s menacing voice.
The gnomes rushed back to their little tree top village. As they ran back, John began imagining each gnome dressed in a suit of armor and carrying a shield and sword, like a little army of miniature knights. But when they got back to the village, and the gnomes had had time to calm down, it became apparent that actually they didn’t have a full set of armor and weapons. They did have some armor. There was at least one gnome sized breast plate, and there were a couple of gnome sized swords. But that was about it. It turned out they had been exaggerating their capabilities when they had told the spider that would return with swords and armor.
Once they sat down in their houses to discuss what they should do, they decided that they had probably been a bit impetuous anyway. As the spider had said, they were not the police of the forest. They had neither the duty, nor arguably the right, to subdue and pass judgement on any animals that were violating the law of the forest.
They decided, therefore, to call a forest council for that night.
Now, the gnomes technically had no more authority to call a forest council then they did to punish Gaius. And yet, although they could not compel any animals to come, they certainly could suggest the idea of a meeting. The birds in the tree top were told of the meeting first, and then the birds flew around the forest and informed the other animals.
Within a few hours, a big group of animals began gathering on the forest floor. The gnomes went down to the forest floor via another one of the mushroom staircases on a tree trunk. (This was not the same one that John had climbed up earlier, but apparently the gnomes had many of these staircases all over the forest.
A big group of animals were assembled, and John and Jacob the frog and Benjamin the mouse all told their story. The assembly voted almost overwhelmingly that Gaius the spider must be brought before the assembly. There were a handful of animals present who said that they did not trust the story for one reason or another--there are always skeptics in every group. But the vast majority decided that the stories of John, Jacob and Benjamin were convincing, and that Gaius must be brought down to give his side of the story.
But then, it was remembered about Gaius, and his poisonous fangs, and there was some concern about who would drag him out of his hole and bring him down.
However, as it happened there was included in this assembly several spiders. Spiders, you see, are just like any other animal in the forest. Some of them may break the rules from time to time, but as a whole, most of them are decent, and support the laws of the forest. And in fact, it is often the case that it is the spiders themselves who get angriest when they hear about other spiders breaking the law of the forest. Partly, this is because it affects the reputation of all spiders. And partly (at least so it has been rumored) it is because they don’t think it’s fair that some spiders get to eat prey when others have abstained from it. So in the end, it was a party of spiders who volunteered to go into Gaius’s hole and drag him out.
But then, it was reported by some of the birds that Gaius had fled from his hole hours ago, when he had first heard about the assembly being called, and that Gaius was last seen running away as fast as he could, and there’s no telling which part of the forest he was in now.
The assembled animals and the gnomes became upset at this, and wanted to know why they hadn’t been told this at the start of the meeting. To which the birds replied that they had been patiently waiting to speak this whole time, but had never been recognized by the gnomes. (The gnomes had taken it upon themselves to chair the meeting.)
Once all the commotion and yelling had died down, the gnomes then announced that they had also had reports that Tarquin the fox had also broken the law of the forest. But now sooner was this information announced then the birds said that Tarquin the fox had also started fleeing as soon as he had heard a meeting was being called.
In the end, the assembly broke up without really having accomplished much, other than to pass a resolution that in the future, any animal who got report of any other animal eating or attempting to eat someone must report it to the forest at once.
John was incredibly frustrated by the whole affair, but as the animal assembly gradually broke up, and as the animals went their separate ways, Midor emerged from the trees. “Don’t be discouraged John,” Midor said. “I thought you did very well.”
“Midor!” John called out. “Boy, am I glad to see you!” (Even though John was only 3 inches tall, his voice still carried.)
“Good to see you too, John,” said Midor. “It looks like you’ve managed to survive the dangers of the forest quite well.”
“But how did you hear about the meeting?” John asked.
Midor smiled. “Don’t you know my reputation, John? There’s nothing that happens in this forest that I don’t know about. Why, I practically organized this meeting!”
“I thought the birds organized it.”
“Who do you think the birds came to first?” said Midor. “They know the fastest way to get the word out is to tell me.”
“So you’ve been watching this meeting the whole time, and you didn’t say anything?”
“I thought you were doing well by yourself,” said Midor. “I didn’t want to interrupt you when you were making your speech at the meeting. But now, I’m here to take you home. And to see if we can get you turned back to normal size.”
Midor stepped forward, bent down so that he was near to the ground, and held out his hand for John to climb into. But just as he had done that, there came the sound of laughing. “Ah, Midor,” came a mocking voice. “You know all about the forest, but you don’t know anything about magic.”
Midor didn’t turn around. “Catherine,” he said.
“Bingo. You could track down an ant from miles away, but you couldn’t sense magic when it was right in front of you. Not that I blame you of course. You haven’t had any training in the magical arts. If I had walked through the forest like a normal human, I’m sure you would have noticed the leaves rustling or the twigs crackling. But how does a ranger track something which is invisible, and makes no sound?”
“Yes, you’ve always been smarter than me, Catherine. Is that what you want to hear me say?”
“Partly. But don’t you have anything else to say to me? Any apologies?”
“I’ve never harmed you.”
“You’ve never helped me either. You didn’t raise a finger to help me when Carlyle banished me.”
“Catherine, I don’t know what you want, but you must know that King Carlyle hates me more than he hates you.”
“Don’t call him King!” The voice shouted now at an almost deafening roar. John covered his ears to protect himself against the noise. And yet, John still couldn’t see Catherine. It was only a voice. “He’s a usurper. He’s not the king.”
Midor straightened to a standing position, but he still didn’t bother to look around for Catherine. “You’re right. He was a usurper. And yet, he is king nonetheless. What do you want from me, Catherine? You know I have no influence with King Carlyle.”
“You underestimate yourself, Midor. You have plenty of influence with Vivian. And she has influence with Carlyle. I’d quite like to add you to my collection.”
And then, out of nowhere, out of the air, Catherine appeared. She stood right in front of Midor and John, and she waved her wand before Midor could stop her, and uttered a spell, and Midor suddenly shrank down to three inches. Midor was now the same height as John.
“Aren’t you going to try to stop me?” Catherine said. At first John couldn’t see who she was talking to, but then Talon appeared out of the air as well.
“Hello, Catherine,” he said. “No, I’m not. King Carlyle’s instructions were explicit on this point. I was not to help Midor in any way.”
“No one can hold a grudge like that man can,” Catherine said. “I should know. Of course, you should know too.”
“What have you heard,” said Talon.
“You have your networks, I have mine,” said Catherine.
“The ravens,” said Talon. “Of course. They’ve been bringing you information.”
“Bits and pieces. But enough for me to know that you’re out of favor right now. Carlyle is waiting for his chance to make a move against you.”
Talon stood quiet, and did not speak.
“Ah, but you already knew this. You had guessed they were spying on you with that girl. They need you right now, because of the monsters. But the moment they don’t need you again, then what?” Catherine smiled, and drew closer. “And the irony is, you’re more powerful than any of them. You have more power in your wand than the whole family put together. But you don’t dare make a move against them, because if you harmed them, then you’d be a sorcerer without a job. You’d never get another job again with the sorcerer’s guild once it became known you acted against your employers. And what’s more, that castle has been home to you for so long that you can’t bear the thought of leaving it.”
“What do you want?” said Talon coldly. He was irritated because Catherine was hitting close to home, and because she was gloating now.
“I want you to think about something. I’m the rightful ruler of that castle. Not Carlyle. Me. He can’t get rid of you if I’m the queen of that castle. I’ll make sure your job is protected for as long as you want. And you wouldn’t even be violating your oath of employment. You swore to serve the rulers of that castle, and I am the rightful ruler. We could make a powerful team, you and I.”
“We could indeed,” Talon said slowly. “They wouldn’t have a chance against the two of us together.”
“So what do you say?”
Talon thought for a moment. “Call me sentimental if you will, but I have some affection for the families in that castle. I practically helped raise those children.”
“Of course, of course, none of Carlyle’s children or grandchildren will be harmed. Why, they’re my own nieces and nephews. They’ll even be welcome to stay in the castle. But I must have my vengeance on Carlyle himself.”
“We have a deal,” said Talon, sticking out his hand. “I hereby recognize you as the rightful queen of Castle Tauna, and I will use my magic to aid in restoring you to your throne.”
“Excellent,” cackled Catherine. “Excellent. So, how shall we get him? I know you’ve been preparing a lot of magic spells for just this occasion.”
“The easiest thing to do,” said Talon, “Would be for me to go back to the castle, walk right up to Carlyle, and turn him into a frog.”
“We’d have to check the ancient laws on this one,” said Catherine. “But I don’t believe there’s any rule to prevent him from remaining as King even if he’s a frog. I want him out of the way completely. What about just stopping his heart? I know you’ve been preparing some of those spells.”
“Your ravens have seen much,” said Talon. “Yes, I have. But those were for a worst case scenario. I don’t like messing around with that black magic. People say it warps your soul when you use it.” Talon realized who he was talking to, and then quickly added, “No offense intended.”
“Oh, I’ve heard them all,” said Catherine. “Everyone has an opinion on black magic. But it’s not so bad once you get used to it.”
“All the same, I don’t think we need to resort to that,” said Talon. “We could change him into a frog, and then feed him to a snake. There are plenty of snakes in the forest. I’m sure we could find one willing to break the laws.”
“A snake willing to break the law of the forest? We could find 5 before breakfast,” said Catherine. “Or I could just change myself into a snake. Cut out the middle-man. Okay, have it your way. We’ll change him into a frog. I can’t wait to see this. You can undo the charms keeping me out of the castle?”
“I’m the one who put them up there. I can undo them.”
“Let’s go then! I can’t wait to see Carlyle’s face when we walk in.”
“What about Midor? You’ve let him get away.”
“Oh, so I have!” said Catherine, looking down at the ground and seeing that Midor and John were nowhere to be seen. “I guess I got distracted. Well, who needs them anyway? The only reason I needed them was as a bargaining chip to get into the castle. If I’ve got you to let me into the castle, then I don’t need them. Let’s go.”
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