Opal's Circle Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Coming Out

“Oh!” I didn’t know if I was thrilled or terrified; perhaps a little of both.
“Of course, if you don’t feel ready to join the circle…” Aunt Opal teased. I jumped out of my chair and started clearing the tea things from the table in a mad rush.
Grandma chuckled. “Leave that Opal, we’ll clean it up later. Right now the others are waiting for us.”
We walked quietly through the back yard, past the towering magnolia tree, its large glossy green leaves reflecting the moonlight. Fireflies flashing beacons made their presence known to the night as they flittered here and there. The heady scent of gardenias mingling with the slightly milder fragrance of roses in full glorious bloom causing us all to breathe deeply filling our senses with the heavenly aroma. The empty clothes line and the old wooden swing hanging on it’s A-frame brought a smile to my lips as I thought about the many happy hours Justin and I had spent playing in this grassy paradise.
Then I remembered what Aunt Margie had said about Aunt Opal painting Justin’s portrait. “Are you really going to paint another picture of Justin for the missing persons wall, Aunt Opal?”
“Another picture? Oh! The baby picture. Um, why do you call it the missing persons wall?”
“Well, you remember when you added Mama and Daddy’s picture?” I swallowed hard as I relived the hanging of their painting just a month after they disappeared. “Justin said then it was just like an FBI missing persons wall what with Grandpa John and our parents all having vanished like they did and we’ve called it that ever since. But we never could figure out why Justin’s baby picture is there.”
“The baby picture is there because your mother asked me to paint a portrait of her first born.” Aunt Opal glanced at Grandma who reached over and patted her shoulder. Aunt Opal nodded briefly and fell silent. Grandma was wearing her it’s time to be quiet now look and that put the kibosh on the conversation.
As we moved around the vegetable garden I glanced to the other side of the path at the goats and saw them all settled down for the night, the two new kids sleeping curled up against the nanny’s side. A few more steps and we entered the woods; a possum waddled onto the path directly in front of us. She stopped and looked up at us with small bright eyes. We yielded her the right of way. She moved slowly on into the trees and went about her nocturnal business.
Grandma led the way down the path toward the fairy circle. We were almost there when she stopped and turned to face me. “Opal Jane, we’re going to blindfold you.” I could hear the excitement in her voice. “Don’t be frightened, Sunshine. It will only be for a few minutes and we will be right here with you. Luna, you take her hand. There are three stairs on the center stone. Luna will lead you to them. I want you to climb the stairs, then remove your blindfold and look around.”
Uncle John kept the meadow located right smack in the center of our woods clean and mowed in a perfect circle. In the center of the circle there’s a very large chunk of granite buried in the ground. I have enjoyed many sunny hours sprawled lazily on the flat top of this huge rock, day dreaming while braiding garlands of wild flowers and many night time hours gazing into the glory of the heavens. Everyone had always referred to this clearing as the fairy circle. I had a feeling I was about to find out why.
“Three stairs. Gotcha.” I nodded. Why on Earth would they put stairs on a rock in the middle of a meadow? Puzzled but trusting, I closed my eyes and stood very still as Aunt Opal tied a white cloth over them.
“Just keep your eyes closed and you don’t have to worry about peeking.” She whispered as she pulled the knot tight in the back of my head. I nodded again. Then Luna started tugging on my hand and we moved forward. I was a little worried about walking with the blindfold on but I managed not to trip over anything and at last Luna stopped.
“Okay, Little Opie, the first step is right in front of you.” She let go of my hand. I reached out with my right foot and sure enough there was a step up. My left foot found the second step. Right foot to the third step. As I brought my left foot to rest beside my right I reached up and pulled the blindfold from my eyes. Luna was standing straight in front of me. I gazed into her warm amber eyes and followed them as she looked down towards our feet. There were no stairs! We were floating in the air three feet above the rock! I started to tip but Luna grabbed my arms.
“Whoa there! You’ve got it now hold it steady!” She giggled. I stood back up straight and looked around me.
The circle was full of… I wasn’t really quite sure what I was seeing. They were of all sizes and shapes. Some could almost pass for human while others were the stuff fairy tales are made of. One lovely green girl with long pointed ears smiled at me and I smiled back. I spied a whole group darting about looking for all the world like itsy bitsy people with butterfly wings! A rather handsome young man with horns and a tail walking on goats feet and waving a flute around, appeared to be organizing the band. A pretty little blonde haired girl with the palest of blue eyes sported a covering of matching blonde fur from her neck down and was holding her tail draped over one arm. There were fifty or sixty creatures of varying levels of strangeness and nearly all of them were looking at me in anticipation.
“You doing okay, Opie?” I brought my eyes back to Luna’s smiling face and nodded, unable to find my voice just yet. “Feel the slight tingling? That’s the magic flowing through you. You caught it beautifully!”
Suddenly music filled the air and the strange crowd broke into the wildest frenzy of yelling and leaping about I’d ever witnessed. I laughed out loud unable to contain the feelings of joy bubbling up from inside me. “Do you want to climb higher?” Luna asked.
“Or perhaps, Mademoiselle would care to dance?” said a strong masculine voice from behind me. A voice I’d never expected to hear outside the attic.
“Sam!” I spun around to face him. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into his arms.
“After you pass your test comes your party. And as we are now dancing in the air under the full moon it would appear that the test is over. I must say I am most impressed with you, my dear. You caught the magic perfectly on your first try!” As we twirled around the circle I noticed Aunt April helping Luna into a frilly pink party dress (size two toddler). No one in this crowd seemed to notice or care that a grown woman had just become a baby girl. Oh, well that’s my Luna! I smiled as I shook my head then brought my attention back to my attic friend who was most defiantly not in the attic now.
“Sam, how are you out of the attic? Who are all these, uh, people?” I asked as we continued our orbit around the center stone.
“I am not restricted to the attic, Opal, I go wherever I please. I’ve only just gone to the attic to meet you whenever you’ve called to me. And these people are your party guests. Most of them are fairies and all are old friends of your grandmother. In time you’ll get to know them well.”
“And you Sam? What are you? Are you a fairy, too?” It was the first time I’d ever dared to ask the question. A sad frown claimed the place his smile had held before I spoke my query and wished I could recall my words. “I’m sorry, Sam. I know it’s none of my business. I had no right to ask.”
“No, Opal. You have the right as my dear friend to ask whatever you will. I am only trying to compose an answer that will not frighten or alienate you.”
“In that case, let’s say you tell me the truth and see how that goes? We are dancing in the air after all. I don’t think I’m going to scare off at this point. Really, Sam!”
“I am not a fairy. I was a normal human man. I lived with my parents and my two younger sisters in the very house that you are living in now. That was many years ago before even your Grandmother Helen was born. In fact my mother was Helen’s great aunt.” He paused and looked at me. His eyes full of worry. “Are you sure that this is the story you want to hear first? Don’t you want to know about the fairies?”
“Yes, I do want to know about the fairies. But why don’t you let them speak for themselves? If you don’t want to talk about your past then I will respect that. You don’t have to say another word. We’ve been friends for a long time now and nothing you say or don’t say will ever change that.” He really had my curiosity stirred up. I hoped he would continue with his story but I really, really hated to beg for him to tell me!
“Okay, Opal, it’s like this, I’m not altogether sure that you are right about that. You might think very ill of me once you know the truth.”
“Does my grandmother think ill of you? Do my aunts?” He shook his head no. “I take it that they all know this big horrible secret that you’re afraid to tell me?” A nod this time. “Well then?”
“I… I did something… something, um, bad… very bad.” He shot me a worried look. I nodded for him to continue. “I allowed myself to be touched by the Mother of all evil. I knew full well what she was and what she wanted me to become and I allowed her to come to me. I allowed her to touch me. I knew it was a mistake as soon as she laid her hands on me. I managed to run away from her before she could enslave me completely but it was too late to save… too late to save myself from becoming what you see before you.” He hung his head shamefully.
I put my hand under his chin and lifted his face so I could look into his remorseful green eyes, giving him my best encouraging smile. “And what exactly do I see before me other than my good friend?”
“I am neither here nor there, Opal. I can not die but neither can I live. If Lilith had finished having her way with me I would be what you refer to as a... vampire. There, I’ve said it. Walk away now if you must, Sweet Opal, but please don’t hate me.”
I put both of my arms around him and hugged him tight as I could. “Sam, Sam, I could never hate you! I should be angry that you ever thought I could!” Letting go of him I punched him lightly on the arm as he searched my face for any sign of a lie. Then we both burst out laughing. As we laughed we floated slowly to the tree tops.
“You come back down, Lil’ Opie! Come back down here and meet the fairy people!”
“Uh, Luna’s paging me. I guess we’d better get our feet back on the ground.” As soon as I thought about going down we began to descend.
My mind on Sam’s revelation, we slowly returned to the stone in the center of the circle. “Sam, does what happened to you mean that there are real vampires out there? I mean drinking people’s blood and all that?” I cringed. “You don’t… you know…?” I blushed at the audacity of my own question.
I was startled when he laughed. “No. No, I’ve never… harmed a soul. Well, not in the way you mean. I don’t drink blood.” He made a disgusted face. “I don’t drink anything. Before you ask, I don’t eat either. I have no physical needs whatsoever. But I am sorry to tell you that there are indeed real bloodsucking vampires about. You already have the acquaintance of one.” I was astounded by that statement.
“What? Who?”
“Can you think of no evil person in your life? Ah, well, you are always ready to think the best of everyone even when they decidedly do not deserve it, aren’t you?” I just stared into his face as our feet touched the ground. Then he whispered in my ear. “Your forever young and handsome uncle, Steven P. Mills, Attorney at Law.”
“Daddy’s brother? Uncle Steve is a…?” Luna was tugging on my hand pulling me away from Sam.
“Come on, Opie. Come play with the fairies!”
“Go.” Sam said quietly. “We’ll talk about this later. This is a party! Go be merry!”
“Okay Luna! Introduce me to these fairies!” I put on my happy face and shoved all thoughts of evil things to the back of my mind.
She giggled and levitated her baby girl body up to my eye level. I’d never seen her do that before! “Me first!” She laughed. Her eyes were sparkling.
“Is that what you are, Luna? Are you a fairy?” I laughed with her. “And here all this time I thought you were just an ordinary house cat!”
“I’m a pooka. I’m a fairy who can change into whatever I want to be.” She announced in a matter of fact voice. “I came to America with your ancestor, Molly O’Brien. I’ve been with the women of this family for over eight hundred years and I will stay with you as long as there is a girl to wear the stone.”
“Wow. Luna! You’re eight hundred years old?” I was very surprised at this news flash.
“No, silly Little Opie! I’ve been since the beginning. I’ll be at the end. I’m not old!” She wasn’t making any sense now.
“What’s the stone you mentioned, Luna?”
“The stone that hangs around Big Opie’s neck. The magic ruby. You’ll wear it when your aunt… Oh, my!” She exclaimed as if something had just occurred to her. “That’s right! You’ll wear it tonight!” She searched the circle with her glowing eyes then bounced away toward Aunt Opal.
I looked around the circle at the fairies, my friends, my family (even grumpy old Uncle John), all singing and dancing happily then I thought about Justin and wished he could be a part of this. Sam’s vampire tale tried creeping into my thoughts but I shoved it firmly into a tiny compartment in my head and locked it up tight. I’d deal with that later. Tonight I just wanted to relax and let my brain catch up with the fact that I really could fly!
A very tall, very thin man that I can only describe as altogether brown approached me with his hands out. His skin, his hair, his eyes and his clothes were all varying shades of brown. I took his warm brown hands in mine and said, “Hello.”
“Hello, Opal. I’ve watched you grow up. I’m pleased to be allowed to speak to you face to face at last.” His voice was deep as a fog horn and slow as molasses. “My name is Pith.”
Grandma put her arm around my shoulders. “I see you’ve met Pith.” She said to me. Then looking up at the brown man she said, “Hello Pith. How are those new oaks doing?”
“Not as well as I’d like, Helen. Not as well as I’d like at all. The balance is slipping more and more every year, now.” He answered sadly.
“New oaks?” I asked.
“That's what I do. I take care of the trees, shrubberies and such on this side of the land. Up in these parts my territory reaches all the way to the big river. All of these trees are mine. Yep, that’s my purpose.”
“That’s a pretty big job.” I said, attempting to make polite conversation with a man who was obviously something more than a man. “Do you have helpers?”
“Well now, we all get help whenever we need it. But you know that.”
A new voice spoke, “Fewer of my animals are surviving long enough to procreate. It’s all so sad.” A very short stout woman dressed in what appeared to be leaves and flower petals pasted together joined the conversation. Her pale blonde hair was adorned with leaves and a bird’s nest. I was greatly surprised when a bird actually landed on her head and hopped into the nest. “This will be one large ball of lifeless stone and dirt in another hundred years, maybe less. I’ve seen it all before, you know.”
The brown fairy shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think this planet will be stripped of life the way Ma… the way your old home was when Eden blew up, Cyndle.”
Grandma took one look at the bewildered expression on my face and said, “Enough of this gloom and doom, Cyndle, Pith! Tonight we celebrate Opal Jane’s coming of age. No more talk about unhappy things!” She put her other arm around the bird crowned woman who was apparently called Cyndle and pulled us both back into the dance. I watched for the bird to fly away but it simply fluffed it’s feathers and settled down into the nest as the fairy danced away.
“Grandma?”
“Yes, Sunshine?”
“Pith meant Mars, didn’t he?” He was about to say Mars. I knew it. The very idea sent a chill through me. “Cyndle is a Martian? A Martian fairy?”
“They’ve come to us from very many places, Opal Jane. They’re all here fighting for our side.” Grandma smiled at me. “Don’t let it worry you right now, Sunshine. Tonight you just take it easy and enjoy your party.”
“I am enjoying the party. Thank you, Grandma.” I kissed her cheek.
Uncle John claimed my attention next. He actually seemed happy now. I wondered why but I wasn’t about to start asking anything that might dampen his rare good mood. I just took his hand when he offered it and didn’t say a word as he turned me around the circle.
“I should’ve known you would be a natural just like your mother.” He quickly hugged me then twirled me back into the circle of dancers. He didn’t spin around as fast or as much as the others but he was dancing, sort of.
“My mother?” I whispered.
“Oh, yes, my sister Goldie, your mother, is simply the best at controlling the magic. She’s much stronger than Opal Anne or even Aunt Margie. I guess I’ve wasted a lot of time worrying about you, Opal Jane.” He shook his head and smiled at me. “I should have known you’d be like her. I should have had more faith.” I felt a flush of pride at being compared to Mama.
“Uncle John, how come you know about all this and we can’t even mention it to Justin?” I took the chance of asking since he seemed to be in a talkative mood for once.
“I thought Mother would have explained that to you, girl. Your brother can’t see anything. It’s like he’s walking around with his eyes closed. Like he’s asleep and doesn’t want to wake up. A naked fairy could land on his nose and he’d swat at her like she was a fly. Don’t worry he’ll be alright. Measures are being taken. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about a thing. This is a night for you to celebrate.” That was the longest speech I’d ever heard out of Uncle John and the friendliest as well.
The fairy music played continually. There were no pauses between the different numbers like you would expect from human musicians. The fairies just kept right on playing one tune leading into another like they intended to play all night without stopping. After a while Samuel tapped Uncle John lightly on the shoulder.
“Ah, Sammy.” He said as he released his hold on me and handed me smoothly to Sam.
“Try and see if you can keep her feet out of the air this time. Not all of us can fly, you know.”
Sam, as it turned out, was a very good dancer even on the ground. I’d never done much dancing before. Aunt Opal had taken some time to show Justin and me basic dance steps once a while back, just in case we wanted to go to the school dances. (Like that was ever going to happen.) Following Sam as he whirled around the circle made every move seem simple. I discovered that I enjoyed dancing very much.
“Happy?” He asked, smiling down at me.
“Very happy.” I answered. “I feel like I’m in a dream and I wonder how I’m going to deal with the disappointment when I wake up.”
“I believe that Opal Anne is trying to get your attention. Shall we go find out what she wants?” As we turned I saw Aunt Opal standing on the rock in the center of the fairy circle waving at us. Luna was at her side attempting, quite unsuccessfully, to not jump up and down. Aunt Margie began walking toward them from the other side of the circle.
Sam spun me one more time then he let go of me and the music suddenly stopped. I could feel every eye on me as I walked to the center rock. Stopping in front of Aunt Opal, I stood still waiting for her to speak.
“Opal Jane Mills you have proven yourself able and these fairies gathered here tonight have confirmed your goodness and the purity of your heart. Will you accept the gem stone and become the center of this circle?” Aunt Opal had removed the talisman from around her neck and was holding it up for all to see. It didn’t look like anything special, just a small red ruby on a silver chain. This was the first time I’d ever seen it off of Aunt Opal.
Suddenly I felt very unsure of myself. I didn’t have any idea what they expected of me. I stole a glace up at Sam. He winked and nodded slightly. Then I noticed that it was all Luna could do to contain her exuberance. My grandmother smiled and nodded as well. I took another step toward my aunt and my mind became crystal clear.
“I will accept the center position and fight on the side of Goodness and Light.” The words came to me from out of nowhere but as I spoke them I knew this was the proper response. I also knew that my life was never going to be the same again. Aunt Opal leaned forward and dropped the chain with the stone around my neck. The circle erupted into cheering. Everyone was shouting and hugging and jumping all over the meadow. The music began again and the wild dancing of the fairies now was a wonder to behold! Sam and Luna were both hugging me and we were all laughing. Our laughter carried us up toward the tree tops once again.
“Did I do alright, Luna? Sam?” I wasn’t really worried at this point. Everyone seemed quite pleased with the way things were proceeding. I only asked for the approval of my friends from force of habit.
“You are amazing! I have seen this ceremony more times than I wish to remember and nobody has ever come close to your perfection, my dear.” Sam had one arm around my waist with Luna in the other arm, her little head on his shoulder.
“Down! Go down now!” Luna sang. “Call the raccoons! Call the rabbits!” Call the deer! She clapped her baby hands and leapt away from me and Sam. Once again, with a thought, we were floating slowly back to the earth.
“Do you know what she’s talking about, Sam?”
“I believe that she is challenging you to exercise your new found grasp on the magic. I will not be surprised when you find yourself already able to communicate with the local wildlife.” Sam didn’t seem to think I could fail. Well, neither did I, not really. I mean, come on, I’m able to defy gravity! What’s talking to a few animals next to that?
My feet touched the center stone and Luna launched herself into my arms. “Now! Call them, let’s see who comes!” Her honey eyes were sparkling with excitement.
“Okay, Luna, give me a minute to figure this out.” I said. <i> “I can’t imagine how to go about this. Nothing is coming to mind.”</i> I looked at her and silently asked for her assistance. I was sure she and Grandma talked to one another in their heads. Maybe she and I could communicate telepathically as well.
Sure enough, she answered me without speaking, <i>“Just think about who you want and say come. Don’t look so surprised, Little Opie. We’ve been reading each others minds for years you just never thought about it before tonight.”</i>
“Are you sure? How could I have not noticed something so... so…”
<i>“Quit stalling, Lil’ Opie! Call to them. Do it now!”</i> She was becoming impatient with me. Was this another test? “No, silly girl, no more tests. Just do it. There’s a surprise!” She answered my thought out loud.
I closed my eyes and pictured deer. <i>“Come.”</i> I thought and opened my eyes. At first I thought it hadn’t worked. Nothing was happening.
“Just wait.” Luna giggled and patted my cheek with her tiny hand.
Suddenly two does walked calmly into the hubbub and frenzied gyration occurring in the fairy circle. They didn’t hesitate for a second, just walked straight through the laughing and leaping fairy folk and stopped directly in front of me. Then stood gazing at me with large limpid brown eyes as if waiting for instructions. There was a large brown lump on the back of one doe that looked out of place. Before I had time to think of what it might be the lump stretched and stood up. It was a small monkey!
“A monkey! In Georgia?” I squealed with delight. “Thank you for bringing this little friend to me.” I said to the deer as the monkey jumped off the doe and onto my shoulder. The response was a warm flow of feelings with no words attached. Mostly the deer sent contentment and peacefulness into my mind then turned and walked back into the woods and were gone.
“Ha. This is a fine little fellow!” Sam said. “I wonder how he came to our wood?”
“The old man died and Mister Bojangles ran away from the people who came and tried to shove him into a cage. The animals here told him it’s safe in these woods so he has been living here for, oh, a little while now. The squirrels don’t like him much. He ate a bunch of their food.” Luna illuminated us.
“Okay, we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for angry squirrels.” Sam laughed and scratched the monkey on the head.
“Mister Bojangles isn’t a very original name for a monkey.” I complained.
<i>“Well, you can take that up with him. He’s the one who said that he was Mister Bojangles.”</i> Luna thought to me then she laughed out loud. “Go on talk to him.”
I looked at the monkey. “What shall we call you little one? How about Daniel?”
<i>“Mister Bojangles! Mister Bojangles! Mister Bojangles! Dance!”</i> The voice in my head sang in a mellow tenor. The fellow in question did a pirouette right there on my shoulder, sat down and clapped his hands.
“All right then. Mister Bojangles it is! Samuel Sullivan, meet Mister Bojangles. Mister Bojangles, this is my good friend, Sam.” Mister Bojangles eyed Sam suspiciously for about two seconds before deciding to jump off my shoulder and claim the position of sitting on the top of Sam’s head. “I think he likes you.” I laughed.
Several hours later I was sitting on the center stone gazing at the fairy lights glowing all around the circle. Sam sat beside me, Luna, a cat again, was curled up with Mister Bojangles, both asleep on my lap. Aunt April came and sat on the other side of me and I leaned my head on her shoulder. The music was still playing and the fairies were still dancing. “How long does this go on?” I wondered aloud.
“Oh, they’ll start to wander away here soon. They’ll all be gone before the dawn.” Aunt April said quietly. “It’s not required to stay all night if you are too tired. Look around you, you’ll see that Helen, Margie and John have already gone back to the house.”
My eyes did a quick scan of the meadow. The only human still dancing was Aunt Opal. The others were no where to be seen. I stifled a yawn. “I want to stay until it’s over.”
“In that case, here are Luna’s clothes, both sets, you never know what she’ll be in a few minutes.” She smiled and handed me a canvas bag. “I think I’ll walk back now before I fall asleep in the fairy circle again.”
Sam stood up as Aunt April did. “Do you require my arm as you walk, Miss April?” Always the perfect gentleman, that’s my Sam.
“That would be lovely, Samuel.” Aunt April replied as she took his proffered arm.
Sam smiled down at me. “I shall return to you posthaste, my friend.” I nodded while covering another yawn with my hand.
<i>The wind that blew through the empty fairy circle had the feel of winter ice as it touched my bare arms. I looked at the lioness standing by my side. Her honey colored eyes were full of agitation. Suddenly Justin walked into the circle. He smiled and waved to me. As I raised my arm to wave back to him a second Justin walked into the circle, coming up behind the first one. This second Justin did not smile. He did not wave. His face was hard and full of hate. He was looking at the first Justin with murder in his eyes. I tried to yell, to warn the first Justin of danger but I had no voice…</i>
“Wake up, sleepyhead!” I opened my eyes. Luna was leaning over me, a young woman again, properly attired and ready to face the new day. Mister Bojangles, sitting on her shoulder had his nimble little hands combing through her short pumpkin colored hair. Sam was sitting on the center rock and I had my head in his lap. From the position of the sun I knew it was already mid morning. I sat up and looked around at the empty fairy circle. Not a trace remained of last night’s revelries.
“Oh, wow, I’m sorry. I can’t believe I fell asleep!” I said as I stretched and shook my head. Already the dream was beginning to fade away. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing of dire importance.” Sam answered.
Luna laughed. “Only more mad fairy dancing and watching them pop out of sight one by one as the morning light approached. Shall we head back to the house? Your next guest will be arriving shortly and I know you don’t want to miss this one, Opie.” She picked up the monkey and walked out of the fairy circle, chuckling as she went.
Sam stood and pulled me to my feet. Hand in hand we walked back to the house without speaking. My mind was on getting to the bathroom, peeing, brushing my teeth, getting out of the clothes I’d slept outside in and finding some breakfast. In that order. The dream was forgotten. I didn’t give a second thought to Luna’s comment about another guest; crazy cat was always spouting nonsense. As we approached the back door Sam stopped walking. I looked up at his handsome face and thought again how strange it was to see him outside, in the sunshine now. He released my hand and opened the door for me.
“Go,” he said, patting me on the top of my head like I was a small child. “Go attend to your morning rituals. I’ll be here when you call to me.” He turned and was gone before I could even think about an answer. I walked into the house alone closing the door behind me.