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| Maybe not the best place to go camping |
Tom and his friends had gone on a camping trip in the national park. This wasn't all that unusual. Tom and Lindsey went camping in that forest fairly often and Tom had taken a guys' weekend out there. What was unusual was that he had disappeared when they were out hiking. The guys had all been laughing and joking and suddenly Tom wasn't there. Of course, his friends had searched all around for him, but it was soon clear that this wasn't a joke. Something had happened to their friend. They tried to call 911, but they couldn't get any cell signal out there. They hiked back to camp and managed to get a call through. They showed the park rangers where Tom had disappeared, but the rangers didn't have any better luck than Tom's friends did. It was like the earth had just swallowed him up.
Lindsey was not going to take this lying down. As soon as she heard the news, which wasn't until the next day, she went out there herself. Tom's friends had been able to figure out the coordinates, with the rangers' help, and that's where Lindsey went. She knew that if everyone else had already tried looking for him, there was no way that she could find him. But that wasn't a reason not to try. "Tom!" Lindsey yelled. "Tom!" She wasn't really expecting an answer. Still, the disappointment of that silence hit her like a wave. She choked back her emotion. "Tom, you come out here right now!" she yelled.
"Lindsey!" He was right next to her. How had he done that? And he was wearing white armor.
"Tom!" She hugged him so tightly she didn't ever think she could let him go. Finally, she loosened her hold on him just a bit. "What happened? And why are you wearing armor?"
"I was kidnapped," Tom said. "One minute, I was hiking with the guys and then this woman had pulled me through the ground. She made me put this on."
"A woman pulled you through the ground?"
"I know how it sounds, but she's the fairy queen. Apparently she likes to steal mortals who trespass on their land." Tom shivered. "She's not going to let me go. It was all I could do to slip away just now to tell you."
"How do I get you out?" Lindsey asked.
"I don't know if you can."
"Give me something to work with. I can't just go digging in the hill and hope to find you."
"Tomorrow night!" Tom said. "At moonrise. I heard them talking. Tomorrow night, we're going to go on horseback. It's right down the ridge where you and I like to camp. If you can pull me off my horse and hold onto me, no matter what, then you can save me. I'll be the only one wearing white armor like this."
"Hold onto you? What will happen?"
"Well, I'll change. I'm not sure into what. Maybe a lizard, or a cougar, but they say the fairy queen always ends with a red hot coal."
Lindsey winced. "I'll do it."
"But-"
"Tom. Do you want me to save you?"
He swallowed. "Yes."
"Then I'll be there. And I'll figure something out. I love you. I'm not letting another woman steal you, even if she is a fairy queen."
Tom smiled. "Thank you, Lindsey."
"Of course."
Tom leaned forward and Lindsey kissed him, but even as she was kissing him, she felt him melt away. She opened her eyes and he was gone. Lindsey looked around, and hardened her resolve. She could do this.
Lindsey called off from work and spent the next day getting ready. It was odd. The park rangers and others were combing the forest, but they never stumbled on her or her preparations. Maybe someone was looking out for her after all.
Finally, everything was done and Lindsey settled in. She couldn't risk leaving and not being able to get back here, so she pulled out a book and read. Eventually, it got dark and Lindsey ate a quick dinner, burying what was left. It got too dark to read, but Lindsey knew she didn't have too long to wait before moonrise.
She was watching, but she wasn't sure exactly when the horseman appeared on the ridge. It was almost as if they slid in from another dimension. Tom was right, he was the only one wearing white armor. Lindsey let them pass until Tom's horse moved into position. Then she yanked on the tripwire she'd set up and the horse went sprawling. Not waiting a second, Lindsey ran forward and grabbed Tom.
Instantly, Lindsey was holding onto a snake that tried to wriggle through her fingers. Lindsey tightened her hold through her gloves. This snake wasn't getting away from her. Then, the snake changed into a bear. Lindsey wrapped her arms around its neck and hung on for dear life. She locked her legs around as much of him as she could. Then it changed again and Lindsey found herself holding onto a red-hot coal. Even through her heat-resistant gloves, she could feel how hot it was. Lindsey gritted her teeth and kept her grip on it. There was no way she was letting him go now, not when she was so close.
"Enough!" a woman yelled.
Tom was standing in front of her. Lindsey grabbed onto his arm.
"You have won," the woman said, her glare burning holes into Lindsey. "If I had known I was going to lose him, I would have taken out his heart and replaced it with a stone. And taken his beautiful eyes and replaced them with stars."
"But you lost him," Lindsey replied. "So stop stealing people. They have lives here."
The fairy queen laughed. "A mortal thinks to tell me what to do? Guard your back well. You have no idea what I would do to you if you fell into my clutches."
Despite her bravado, Lindsey shivered.
The fairy queen smiled. "Keep your mortal man," she said, "and enjoy him for as long as you can." Then her horse turned its nose forward and Lindsey and Tom watched as they rode past and finally disappeared.
"We're never going camping here again," Tom said.
Lindsey agreed.
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