Brann
Goes on a Picnic
Bounce.
Bounce.
Run, run, run!
UP go the arms, way up
high.
WHOOSH!
Down come the arms in a
big wide circle!
Spin, spin, around and
around!
PLOP!
Sit down right on the
ground.
JUMP!
Bounce.
Bounce.
Run, run, run!
Brann was getting a little
tired but would
not
Not
NOT
slow down.
He had places to go,
things to do, people to see; he did not want to waste his time resting when HE
HAD SO MUCH TO DO!
Besides, Caileen was
here. And Caileen was a mighty fine friend for a boy like Brann. He
walked over to her and stood in front of her.
Brann looked at Caileen
and gave her his best smile, the one that always worked.
Caileen looked at
him. Then she looked at Mama Aine.
Caileen gave Mama Aine
the exact same smile that Brann had just used. He
narrowed his eyes just a little while he thought about that. He watched
Mama Aine while she thought about it too.
'Well?' asked
Caileen. 'What do you think?'
'I think both of you
are nuts. That's what I think.' But Brann saw that little twink
that Mama Aine got in her eyes when she was going to say YES, and he danced a
little jig.
Mama Aine sighed a HUGE
sigh, and tried to frown at both her sister and her son at the same time.
Since she didn't really mean it, it wasn't very convincing.
'Okay, fine! Out
with the two of you. If you get rained on, and are cold and miserable,
don't come crying to me!'
Caileen grabbed Brann's
hands and they did a little jig of their own right then and there. Then
they grabbed Mama Aine's hands and danced her into joining their jig.
Mama Aine was a great jig-dancer, once she got going.
'Now, let's see what
kind of supplies we have for an adventure. You never know what we might
need,' Mama Aine said.
Brann and Caileen
glanced quickly at each other. Mama Aine had said 'WE' but didn't seem to
realize it so neither Brann nor Caileen said a word. They just gleamed at
each other.
As Mama Aine bustled
around in the kitchen, Brann snagged his sporran off his bed and Caileen dumped
everything out of her carry pack so there would be room for supplies. It
made a mess on the table but Mama was too busy gathering snacks and juice and
jerky and making sandwiches and all that stuff to even notice.
She poked one last
bannock into the bulging pack, swiped her hands over her hips, and said,
'There! That ought to do it!'
Caileen grabbed the
pack and almost fell over when she lifted it.
'Um, you might have to
take Brann,' she said. 'My hands are kind of full. And don't forget
the blanket. And bring your plaid too, okay?'
'Okay, I'm on it,' said
Mama Aine. She grabbed the blanket, wrapped the plaid around Brann, who
just about disappeared in it, and out the door she went with Brann in
tow. He grinned at Caileen behind Mama Aine's back.
Outside, it was grey
and gloomy. The sky looked like it was going to dump a lot of rain on
them any minute. Mama Ainehurried them all to the small cart, Called the
horses and hitched them up, tucked Brann into his youngling seat, and got in herself.
When she noticed
Caileen looking at her she said, 'Well, let's go! Without me along, you
two won't know enough to come in out of the rain! Besides, there's no
food left in the house; it's all in the pack.'
Brann gave a bounce in
his seat, grabbed hold of Mama Aine's plaid, and said, 'Mmmmm-hmm!'
Caileen drove off of
Dunnottar and headed for the forest.
The forest was one of
the best places in the world for adventures.
Once they were deep in
the woods, they parked the cart, loosed the horses, and left them behind.
Caileen heaved the pack
onto her back, Mama Aine hoisted her go-bag with the blanket folded on top of
it, and Brann hitched Mama Aine's plaid onto his own little back so it
wouldn't drag on the ground. He grabbed the hands of Mama Aine and Caileen
and pulled them between trees and through bushes.
Deeper into the forest
they went, until they came to a clearing in the woods.
'I think this is a
faerie circle,' said Caileen. 'See how perfectly round it is?'
Mama Aine looked around
and said, 'I think you're right. We'd better not be here after the sun
goes down!'
Brann looked around but
all he saw was the forest surrounding the clearing with its grass and flowers.
It was the perfect
place for a picnic, so they spread the blanket on the ground and thunked their
packs onto it. Mama Aine's plaid didn't thunk when Brann unwrapped
himself from it and put it down. It didn't weigh as much as the packs.
While they ate, Mama
Aine and Caileen talked about faeries and told stories about them while Brann
listened.
Once he was full, Brann
put his head on Mama Aine's plaid and looked up through the leaves and branches
at the sky. It was still grey but it wasn't raining yet.
The next thing he knew,
it started to rain and it was very dark. He sat up and held Mama Aine's
plaid on his lap.
Mama Aine and Caileen
picked up the blanket, grabbed the packs, and carried Brann between them to the
edge of the clearing, under the trees. They draped the blanket over some
low branches and everyone got underneath it.
Brann thought it was
great fun, although Mama Aine and Caileen were looking a bit squashed in the
small space they had.
'I wish we had a snug
cottage with a nice fire in the fireplace,' said Mama Aine, wringing rain out
of her hair.
Caileen nudged Mama
Aine and said, 'Look!'
'Look at what?' asked Mama Aine, still wringing out her hair.
Then she looked.
'Oh,' said Mama Aine. 'I see what you mean.'
In the very center of clearing stood a little stone cottage, with smoke coming out of its chimney.
Brann and Mead and Ale, his magical wolf friends, weren't wasting around about things. With Brann on his back, Mead headed for the cottage at warp speed, with Ale right beside them.
Mama Aine and Caileen came along a little more slowly, and got quite a bit more wet as a result. Mama Aine had to wring her hair out again once they got inside.
Inside was warm, and dry, and that was about it.
Brann, having more experience with such things than the grown-ups, carefully explored every square inch of the little cottage from the flag-stone floor to the beams in the ceiling above their heads. Not that there was much to explore as the place was entirely empty except for them, their stuff, and the fire in the fireplace.
'Mm-hmmm,' he said. 'I know what we need. We need some cozy chairs.'
Three cozy chairs stood
by the fireplace and everyone except Mead and Ale sat down with sighs of
relief. Being wolves, Mead and Ale preferred the floor.
Caileen rummaged in the pack for left-overs from their picnic and came up with two juices, half a sandwich, and a bannock. She and Mama Aine looked at one another like they were going to cry. It wasn't much for three people and two wolves to live on.
Seeing their faces, and knowing what was bothering them, Brann grinned and said, 'A big pack full of good things to eat would be nice.'
Across the room from the fireplace appeared a big pack. Mama Aine and Caileen wrinkled their eyebrows at each other and walked over to see what it was. When they opened it, they looked at each other and suddenly started smiling real big!
'Spread the blanket on the floor, it's time for another picnic!' said Caileen.
Out of the pack Mama got a ham, a dozen hard-boiled eggs, bunches of greens, baked beans, rye bread, a bowl of venison stew, slices of cheese, a platter of barbequed ribs, sweet bannocks, strawberries on a dish with whipped cream in an attached bowl, a pan of sausage, a pile of flat bread rounds, two whole chickens (raw), several apple cakes, one big bottle of honey water, and two little bottles of sweet mead. It was quite a spread and filled the whole blanket right up.
When Mama Aine went to dish up the ham, she realized she had to cut it. Looking around, she didn't find anything she could use.
Brann said, 'Here, use this Mama Aine' and handed her his sword, which was plenty sharp enough to cut that ham, even the bone if she wanted.
'Where did that come from?' asked Mama.
'Oh, I never go anywhere without it,' answered Brann. 'You never know when you might need it for something or other.'
And so they feasted like kings and queens, and Mead and Ale ate the raw chickens with relish.
Being full after eating so much, everyone just wanted to rest.
Caileen yawned and said, 'I wish we had some snuggly beds to crawl into!'
The big pack having vanished once they had emptied it, that wall was empty again. Except for the three comfortable-looking beds lining it, that is.
As they climbed into the beds, Mama Aine said, 'We ought to thank whoever's doing this for us.'
Standing in front of the fireplace were five figures, but Mama Aine and the others didn't see them.
Eyes heavy with sleep, Caileen said, 'Maybe they'll come wake us up when the weather clears,' and then she fell fast asleep and so did Mama Aine and Brann and Mead and Ale.
The quiet figures in front of the fireplace gently moved their arms and little swirls of life filled the air. The little ones were beautiful little creatures, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow and flitting about the cottage like sunbeams on the move while the people and the lion slept. Their laughter sounded like larks and robins singing, only quieter as they didn't want to wake their guests, and the touch of their tiny fingers went unfelt on the brows of those asleep while the quiet ones watched, smiling.
Gradually the weather cleared, the skies were blue again, and the air warmed. As the sunshine climbed through the windows, the little ones laughed aloud, sounding for all the world like a room filled with songbirds.
The music woke everyone and this time they did not fail to notice the tiny magical beings (produced by the silent figures in front of the fireplace) who were flying and air-dancing all over the room in blitzes of brilliant rainbows.
Mama Aine, Caileen, Brann, and Mead and Ale all stood and watched what seemed to be northern lights going off inside to the tune of birds singing their hearts out.
Everyone was struck speechless at the display.
Finally Brann gathered his wits about him and said, 'If they'd slow down we could see them better.'
The little ones zipped together in mid-air and held hands in a circle as they flew around the room more slowly, in a magical dance of color and movement. Spellbound, everyone watched in fascination.
Mama Aine, who now had the hang of things, knew what to do. She said, 'I wish they would stay still long enough for us to acknowledge them,' and smiled when the little ones did stop, right where they were in the air.
Caileen, Mama Aine, Brann, and Mead and Ale all faced them, held each others' hands (and paws), bowed together toward the little ones, and said, 'We recognize your kindness and generosity.'
And the quiet ones in front of the fireplace smiled gently on them, turned, and disappeared, never having been seen by Caileen, Mamm, or Brann, although Mead and Ale bowed again as the quiet ones left.
The skies were blue,
the air warm, and the sunshine bright in the little clearing in the woods as
Caileen, Mama Aine, and Brann carried their packs back to the cart and horses.
The weather had cleared
up quite nicely after all, thank you very much, and everyone's hearts felt
lighter and more cheerful.
