{"id":2148,"date":"2020-12-12T20:18:17","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T03:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2148"},"modified":"2020-12-16T17:04:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T00:04:11","slug":"the-faerie-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/12\/the-faerie-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"The Faerie Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write about someone investigating a break-in at a bakery. The only thing missing? A very secret ingredient….<\/em><\/em>
available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gavin wrung his soft hat between worried hands. He paced around the office, bare feet silent on the carpet, coming within an inch of running into every piece of furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat leaned out from behind the screen she was studying. “Gavin! Knock it off!” She didn\u2019t have the patience to deal with his fidgeting at six o\u2019clock in the morning, especially after the stress of the previous night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stopped and leaned against the door, banging his head against the doorknob. “Ow! Stupid, big-people rooms!” The room was a standard human-scale room, but at just over three feet, the red-headed, freckle-faced halfling was at a constant disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m looking at the logs,” Kat said, “and it looks like the alarms were turned off at 10:50 last night. Who else has the key and the code?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Just me and Carlos,” he said, “and he was with me last night at the casino until after midnight. We were celebrating my birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So, someone has a copy of the key and the code.” Kat sighed. “First thing, we’ll change all the locks and reset the code. Next thing, you need to file a police report for the stolen items.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We, uh, c\u2013can’t,” he stammered, “not without, uh… never mind.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you don’t file a police report, they can’t investigate,” Kat said, as she stood. “You say you want me to figure it out, but if you don’t tell me what was stolen, I can’t help you either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He looked up at the orc. Six and a half feet of muscle, topped with waves of messy onyx hair spilling over her warm, tawny skin, remnants of the previous night’s makeup still around her eyes, a bit of lipstick smear on her right tusk. “Swear on your tusks you won’t turn me in when I tell you?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I can’t do that,” she said. “If you’re going to tell me you had slaves that have been stolen, I’ll turn in whatever scraps are left after I tear you apart.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Nothing like that,” he said, eyes wide, “I swear, it’s not bad, it’s just not… exactly legal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Fine, then. What was stolen?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gavin considered. After watching the video of her call out her father\u2019s racism in front of the cameras the previous night he knew she at least had a moral compass. “Okay. It was a stone.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Like a diamond?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No, a stone. You know, a faery stone.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose are illegal. The Indigenous People Protection Act bans trafficking in their cultural items. Did you steal it yourself or buy it on the black market?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No, that’s not it at all.” He climbed into the chair and made himself comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Enlighten me.” Kat leaned against the desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The fae used to practice a form of ritual magic that involved an altar,” he said, his hands wringing his cap again. “They would sacrifice things\u2026 flowers they grew, food they cooked, jewelry or tools they made, by crushing them on a carved altar stone, as big to them as a car is to us… well to elves and humans anyway,”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You stole one of their ancient altars?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m getting there,” he said. Gavin took a deep breath and relaxed his hands, smoothing out his flat cap on his leg. “Halflings dealt with the fae for about two hundred years. We traded goods and gold for magic trinkets with pixies, sprites, and brownies long before IPPA was a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So, this was a trade item from a long time ago?” Kat asked. \u201cThose were supposed to have been returned or given to museums per the nineteen-seventy-whatever Native Rights Restoration Act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Please, let me finish.” Gavin stood in the chair, almost reaching eye level with the reclining orc. “All faeries have magic, some elves do, and a very few humans\u2026 even a couple orcs, I\u2019ve heard. Not halflings. Not a single one of us. We seem to be immune to most magic, too. The exception is magic items.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat was about to interject another question but held her tongue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe pixies and sprites mostly traded enchanted jewelry. The brownies traded us used altars. That\u2019s what the so-called faery stones are. Once the altar had too much history tied into it, they replaced it.” He began wringing his hat again. “That history is pure magic, stored up like a massive battery. We found out that they ‘program’ themselves, if you will, to perform certain magics, based on what happens around them for a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he had been silent for a full minute, Kat spoke up. “You had one of these altars in the bakery?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yes, it\u2026,\u201d he paused, “it kind of\u2026 blessed everything that came out of the ovens.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Doesn’t sound like a big deal.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy great-great grandmother kept it as a good-luck token in her kitchen. So did my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mother.\u201d He took a deep breath. \u201cAll those years of kitchen mojo, if you will, are stored in that stone. That\u2019s why everything that comes out of the bakery reminds people of their mothers and grandmothers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour bakery\u2019s slogan,\u201d she said, \u201cJust like Granny\u2019s. But do you really need it, or is it a placebo?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gavin jumped down from the chair and picked up the bag he\u2019d left by the door. He offered two identical cookies to Kat. \u201cSee if you can tell the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She took the cookies and examined them. \u201cThey look the same to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTry them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat bit into the first cookie. \u201cTasty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFeel anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot particularly. It\u2019s a really good cookie, though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTry the other one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She took a bite of the other cookie and closed her eyes, her head leaning back in bliss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTastes the same, but it feels like being ten, at Nanna Berta\u2019s place\u2026 at Christmas.\u201d Kat let out a contented sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat cookie\u2019s from yesterday, when the stone was still there,\u201d Gavin said. \u201cThe other is from this morning, before we figured out it was gone. Without it, we\u2019ll lose all our business to the chain bakery downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI said I won\u2019t turn you in,\u201d Kat said, \u201cand I\u2019ll hold to that. You\u2019re not getting the stone back, though. It belongs with the brownies. You can\u2019t steal cultural items for your own gain, even if you think it was a \u2018fair trade.\u2019 How would you feel if elves started buying your grain goddess statues from your shrines as decorations for their kitchen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActually,\u201d Gavin said, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t care. My husband, though\u2026.\u201d Gavin\u2019s face dropped. \u201cCarlos is devout, and a true believer. He would be livid\u2026 and hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight. So, I need to review the video from the security cameras, and we need to figure out who has it,\u201d she said. Kat sat back at her desk and began calling up the security videos from the cloud. \u201cOnce we know that, we need to let the police know what they have. They won\u2019t get picked up for theft, but they\u2019ll still do time, and the altar will go back to where it belongs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wonder if it\u2019s the same people that broke our windows with stones last month,\u201d Gavin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t hear about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour father didn\u2019t think it was anything to worry about,\u201d he said. \u201cProbably just kids or something. They were small stones, one every Friday in the same small pane of the side window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you have any of those?\u201d Kat asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, your father threw them out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She growled, and then stopped. \u201cInvisible\u2026 bypassing locks and alarms\u2026 sounds like brownies. Yep. I think you\u2019d like to see this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gavin came around to the back of the desk. \u201cI can\u2019t see the screen from here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat stood, and offered her chair. Gavin climbed into it, and she acted as though she was leaning on it to keep it from swiveling without being obvious. He stood in the chair and said, \u201cThanks for not picking me up, or offering to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWouldn\u2019t think of it,\u201d she said. She played back the video from the camera just inside the rear door of the bakery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the video, the door opened and closed without anything else showing. The alarm keypad lit up and then went dark. The faery stone rose into the air and floated to the door. Three tiny figures appeared, and one of them floated up to the camera, holding a small card with fae writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat took a screenshot. \u201cIt looks like the brownies took their altar back all on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt does look that way,\u201d Gavin said. He looked as though he might be sick at any minute. \u201cI\u2019m finished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan you read the card?\u201d Kat asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, can you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t, but I bet my girlfriend can,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat pulled out her cell phone and called. Gwen\u2019s pale pink face, violet eyes, and pure white hair filled the screen. \u201cHey, Grumpy, we\u2019re having dinner with my folks tonight. Did you get everything squared away?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot yet,\u201d she said. She turned the phone toward the monitor. \u201cCan you read that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a brownie! What\u2019s he doing in the city?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt says, you owe four month\u2019s payment for the altar, at the trading creek. Turn me back around, Grumpy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat turned the phone back around. \u201cI assume the last bit wasn\u2019t on there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Gwen said, \u201cbut if your halfling friend has a faery stone, he could be in big trouble. Especially if the brownies take it to the Indigenous Court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid it say anything about how to get in touch with them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all it said. Is he there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat moved closer to the chair so that Gavin was in frame, and he waved with a sheepish grin. \u201cHi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoes the trading creek mean anything to you?\u201d Gwen asked. \u201cBecause if you don\u2019t know where to go or what to pay, you can say goodbye to your bakery. Brownies will burn that bitch down before you know it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know where it is,\u201d he said. \u201cI haven\u2019t been there in over fifty years, but I know it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat happened four months ago?\u201d Kat asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mother passed four and half months ago,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for Carlos, I don\u2019t think I\u2019d have kept it together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, Grumpy, you look like hell. You get cleaned up, and I\u2019ll meet you both at the bakery in an hour,\u201d Gwen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow, taking charge, Squeaky?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll need an interpreter,\u201d she said, \u201cand we should settle this while Mr. Gavin still has a bakery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSee you there,\u201d Kat said, blowing a kiss before hanging up. \u201cI assume that works for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt does,\u201d he said. \u201cCould you give a hand down? This chair is pretty high.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat offered a hand for him to hold on to and lowered it slowly as he dangled from a firm grip around two of her fingers. \u201cI\u2019ll run home and clean up and see you there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat arrived to see Gwen and Gavin in an animated conversation in front of the bakery. They kept being interrupted for an autograph, but neither of them let it slow down the chatter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat poked her head inside the bakery. Everything in front of the counter was human scale, the floor a couple feet lower than the floor behind, where everything was set up for someone Gavin and Carlos\u2019 size. \u201cHey, Carlos. We\u2019re going to get your situation sorted today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks!\u201d Carlos was maintaining a cheerful demeanor, pulling an espresso, but the customers all seemed to be disheartened. \u201cYou hear that, everyone? She\u2019s going to get our secret ingredient back!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were a few cheers, and an \u201cI hope so!\u201d from the customers, but Kat had to fight from releasing a growl. She went back out front and said, \u201cLet\u2019s get this over with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They piled into Gwen\u2019s sports car, Gavin fitting comfortably in the abbreviated back seat. He gave Gwen the address and she plugged it into the GPS. The drive was less than five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe probably could\u2019ve walked it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody walks in L.A.,\u201d Gavin replied with a laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They parked on the side of the road near a wooded park. \u201cThis is really where the brownies are living?\u201d Kat asked. \u201cIn that tiny little patch of trees?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you were ten inches tall,\u201d Gavin said, \u201chow big would that be to you? That\u2019s what, an acre of park land? That\u2019s like miles to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrue,\u201d she said. \u201cHow far in is the creek? I don\u2019t want to step on anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just inside the trees,\u201d Gavin said. \u201cStill, watch your step.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs posted around the trees declared that they were entering the Yuet Chekka Reservation, an autonomous, indigenous nation under the NRRA and IPPA in association with the US Bureau of Indigenous Affairs. The text was repeated below in Anglicized Fae, and below that in fae script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They walked in slowly, careful about every footfall. Gavin stopped them just a couple of yards in. A tiny trickle of water in a small clearing, with a ring of stones around it lay in front of them. \u201cThis is it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four brownies appeared, sitting on the stones. Less than a foot tall, with swarthy brown skin and curly brown hair, all dressed in garish colored robes. One stood and spoke in Fae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHer name is Utlik Chuin,\u201d Gwen said, \u201cwhich means \u2018apple flower bud,\u2019 by the way, and she\u2019s the law speaker. She wants to know if we have their payment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gavin swallowed hard. \u201cCan you ask her what is owed? I assume my mother handled this before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere is she?\u201d Gwen asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2026 passed,\u201d he said, \u201cfour months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gwen translated and the four brownies spoke among themselves for a moment, too fast for anyone to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utlik Chuin looked back to them and spoke, while Gwen translated. \u201cWe are sad that your mother has gone, but glad that she is with her mother, and her mother\u2019s mother, and her mother before her. The payment for the altar is one sweet and one savory every moon. Because of your circumstance, we will let this go and you can take the altar back with you. The blessings of your ancestors have been very good to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gavin spoke, going slowly so that Gwen could translate back. \u201cIf I had known I would surely have paid. I will have someone bring compensation immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utlik shook her head. \u201cIf it was not baked with the blessings of your ancestors it does us no good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly things baked yesterday, when the stone was still there.\u201d He didn\u2019t wait for a response but pulled out his cell phone instead. \u201cCarlos, how many cakes do we have left over from yesterday? \u2026 Okay, and cookies? \u2026 How about personal quiches? \u2026 Good. Bring the cake, a dozen cookies, the quiches, and a loaf of rye. \u2026 No, only stuff that was baked yesterday. \u2026 Yes, to the park. Lily can handle the store while you\u2019re out. Yes, see you in a few.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brownies were talking among themselves again, at break-neck speed. \u201cShould I tell them it\u2019s on the way?\u201d Gwen asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, please. There\u2019s a full cake, a dozen cookies, six personal quiches and a loaf of rye bread coming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Gwen passed the message on the brownies went quiet. One of them disappeared and a moment later several dozen appeared around the speaker, all waiting silently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sound of a scooter carried from the road. \u201cThat\u2019ll be the delivery,\u201d Gavin said. He looked at Kat. \u201cCan you help Carlos bring that in?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat nodded and headed out to the road. She took the large bundle from Carlos, watching his curly black hair bounce as he ran to the trees. As she followed behind, she wondered about the stone. Should she let Gavin keep it? The brownies seemed to be okay with it, but a few baked goods every month is in no way payment for taking away a cultural artifact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She set the bundle in the middle of the circle of stones and unwrapped it. The brownies\u2019 eyes went wide, and Utlik chattered something at one of them who disappeared. The stone floated out from the trees and landed at Gavin\u2019s feet. Kat stopped him before he could pick it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat faced Utlik and spoke slowly so Gwen could translate. \u201cThis is a treasure of your culture. Why do you give it away for a pittance? It seems he is taking advantage of you for his own gain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utlik laughed. \u201cNo, we<\/em> are taking advantage. Every time his ancestors brought us their food, they shared their blessings with us. We have grown healthy, strong, and numerous. This feast, though, is far too large for us, so we are inviting the nearby pixies and sprites, and you all, to join us. These blessings are all we ask in return.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She walked down to the cake which stood taller than herself and pointed at one of the cookies. \u201cOne of these, and a bun, brings us enough love and luck to carry through the worst month. This,\u201d she spread her arms wide, \u201cis a blessing for a thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt still feels wrong,\u201d Kat said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I made this deal with his ancestor,\u201d Utlik said, \u201cI expected food for the tribe, nothing more. After a few moons, though, that food brought us more. The magic of his people has given us far more than we could ever repay. Please, return the altar back to its rightful place above your ovens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat nodded, while Gavin and Carlos looked at each other in shock. \u201cWe have magic!?\u201d they exclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Gwen said, \u201cyou do. We\u2019d stay, but we already have a dinner engagement.\u201d Kat and Gwen walked out of the park, holding hands, while overhead hundreds of flying fae buzzed past towards the woods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prompt: Write about someone investigating a break-in at a bakery. The only thing missing? A very secret ingredient….available at Reedsy Gavin wrung his soft hat between worried hands. He paced around the office, bare feet …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[210,217,209,220],"class_list":["post-2148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-fiction","tag-mystery","tag-short-story","tag-urban-fantasy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pxT7i-yE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2148"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2165,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148\/revisions\/2165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}