The grass was cold and soft beneath my feet. Damp from the morning dew. Beth’s brown curls twisted in the breeze, spreading the scent of cloves. Her mother loved to coat everything in the exotic spice, and Beth was no different. We easily snuck into the Meyer’s barn, crawling in through a gap in the wood. It was rotting in some places with the paint falling off in sheets. While there were many treasures to enjoy inside the barn, what we wanted was beyond it.

  The sound of our toes tapping against the earth caused the horses to watch us anxiously. Beth jumped into a large pile of hay, waving for me to join her. I looked around for Mr. Meyer before crawling under the hay with her. We giggled to ourselves, hidden from even the horses’ view. Beth turned to me and shushed, causing me to laugh even more. If we were caught, Mr. Meyer would yell at us for playing on his farm.

  “Norman, you’re going to get us caught,” Beth whispered.

  “No one’s going to catch us, I’m too sneaky for them,” I said, not as quietly.

  She shook her head and stepped out from the pile of hay. We were planning on stealing some fruit from the Meyer’s trees. They never liked to give out stuff from their farm for free. Anything they couldn’t sell, they saved for themselves. All that good food not going into my belly was a waste. Beth held up a hand as she looked out the barn door. Across an empty dirt road were the coveted fruit trees.

  Peaches, oranges, apricots, and other sweet fruits sparkled in the morning sun. I watched Beth move forward, taking care not to make herself known. Once she was a reasonable distance across the road, I hurried after her. I made sure to watch where I stepped, though it was pointless. The path was clear of any debris that would have made noise.

  We both heard the sound of Mr. Meyer’s wagon and stopped. He was supposed to be further down the farm, working on a new field he had purchased. That had been the basis of conducting this operation. From the corner of my eye, I could see a horse pulling a small wagon that creaked with every turn of its wheels. Cloth goggles covered the horse’s eyes to keep the dust out of them. I looked back at Beth who was already hurrying to the safety of the orchard.

  Beth rushed to the fence marking the edge of the orchard, where our coveted fruit trees awaited us. She dove into the shadows of a peach tree. I ran back to the barn, hiding behind the large door we had snuck out of. Beth’s face was barely visible from where I was hiding.

  Mr. Meyer’s horses trotted down the road, leading the wagon past our hiding spots. Sitting next to him was his wife, driving the horses forward. He stopped the wagon close to the barn and said something to his wife, I couldn’t hear what though. Then he turned toward the Meyer’s house and called out.

  “Watch the farm while we’re gone! Keep her safe, Zadona.”

  With that, he commanded the horses forward. I looked toward the house, which was difficult to see from where I was crouched. A young elvish girl with long white hair sat on the doorstep. She had brown skin, unlike the elves that usually lived around here. Even with how far away I was, I could still see her red eyes. She couldn’t have been much older than me. I continued to stare at her as she waved back to Mr. Meyer.

  “Take care Ma! Take care Pa!” she called out.

  I had never seen that girl before. The Meyers had other kids, but they were human, like their parents. I wondered if Zadona was recently adopted, or the tragic evidence of a torrid affair.

  I waited a long time for her to go back inside. She remained on that doorstep for what seemed like hours. Beth had already begun to pick some of the fruit off the trees. Juices ran down her face as she stuffed her mouth with the delicious treasures. I hoped she could see me glaring at her. Finally, the girl went back inside the house, and I ran across the field. I dove under one of the trees and tackled Beth for the fruit she carried.

  Surprised by my attack, Beth fell onto her back. Fruit flew into the air, landing with soft thuds on the ground. I was worried it would be bruised, but there was plenty of good fruit left on the trees. Jumping off her, I grabbed a peach. The first bite was sweet. Juices dripped down my cheeks as I happily munched on my prize. While I was enjoying myself, Beth had other plans.

  She grabbed my shirt and pulled me down. My peach slipped out of my hand and rolled into the dirt. Holding my arms to the ground, she climbed on top of me. I struggled to get free, but she was much stronger. Beth laughed as she held me in place. Even though she was a year younger than me, she usually won.

  “You think you can tackle me and get away with it?” she asked, laughing at my attempts to get free.

  “Let me go! Let me go!” I begged. Beth giggled but did let me sit up.

  She got up, dusted the front of her dress, and sat down under a peach tree. I joined her—sat cross-legged by her side—scanning the area around us for my peach. It was covered in dirt, totally ruined. Tears welled in my eyes. I didn’t like how I could never win. Beth looked back at me and laughed again. Now I was worried someone would come over and check on us from all the noise.

  “Stop being a baby. Here.” Beth picked a peach from the tree above us and handed it to me. “Friends?”

  I accepted the peach and bit into it. The sweet juices refreshed my good spirits. “Friends.”

  We sat there for a while, enjoying each other’s company. I would make her laugh with funny stories Pop had told me. She would show me cool tricks like how to whistle. Beth sat close to me, her shoulder touching mine. My face felt hot, my heart pounded in my chest, but I didn’t know why.

  “What are you doing?”

  Our heads whipped around, our eyes widening as we met the red eyes of the elvish girl. Her eyes glanced at the fruit still in our hands, her head tilted slightly. I panicked, immediately hiding my half-eaten peach behind my back. Whereas Beth smiled and picked another peach off the tree and held it out for the girl.

  “Try one,” said Beth.

  The girl took a step back. “I’m not sure I should.”

  Beth wiggled the peach she was eating at the girl. “It's really good!”

  The elvish girl looked down the road then took the peach and bit into it, revealing her sharp canines. She resembled a stray cat as she ate without taking her eyes off us. As I watched her chew, I tried to think of an excuse for why we were there. Mr. Meyer had asked her to watch the farm, would she tell on us?

  “What’s your name?” asked Beth.

  “Zadona,” said the girl.

  “I’m Norman,” I replied, a little too quickly, too friendly. “And this is Beth.”

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  Zadona knelted on the ground next to us. “I liked your story, Norman.”

  Any anxiety I felt disappeared as pride surged through me. “Really?” I smiled. “You wanna hear another?”

  Beth raised her hand, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I can tell a story! Pick me!”

  Zadona giggled. “I don’t know who to choose.”

  Jumping up, I pointed to a broken fence post several feet away. “First to the post gets to tell a story!”

  Like an arrow from a bow, Beth flew toward the post. I tried to keep pace, but she was too fast. Even Zadona passed me, her laughter sweet like the peaches we’d enjoyed. Joining in her laughter, I pushed myself harder. Beth beat me to the post, which stung a bit, but that wasn’t surprising.

  The sun began to set on our happy, little adventure. All of us had our fill of the delicious fruit and needed to get home. I dreaded having to hear Ma yell at me for coming home after dark. Pop wouldn’t care, he trusted me to be safe. Though I knew Beth’s parents wouldn’t let us hang out with each other if she came back too late.

  “Come on.” I wiped the dirt from my pants and stretched. “Let’s head back.”

  As the three of us walked home, I felt my vision starting to blur. Beth looked back at me, but Zadona kept moving forward. My balance wavered and soon I was falling. The second I hit the ground, I woke up. Shooting up in bed, I gasped before the sensation of falling drifted away. It was all a dream, but a dream I was very familiar with.

  Beth stirred beside me, groaning as she covered her face to block the morning sun. Once my heart rate settled, I pulled off my covers and stood up. It was morning. Sunlight poured through the window as it rose over the mountains. Another morning on the Benson Family Farm.

  Three years ago, my brother and daughter were both taken by cat-like creatures known as Harska. I left home to find them, only to get captured myself. With help from a strong warrior and a druid, we fought against the harska king and saved our loved ones. Since then, I’d settled back into the farming life. Save for the mysterious dreams about my childhood friend.

  They’d been happening more and more since returning home. At first, they were nothing more than a combination of vague images and familiar sounds. Then they started to change. In the past week, I had replayed every memory I ever had of Zadona in my dreams. It was exhausting.

  I grabbed my straw hat and strolled out into the cool morning air to clear my head. Zadona was gone, I hadn’t seen her since she left so many years ago. Thinking about her wasn’t going to do me any good. Still, seeing her again in my dreams made me realize how much I missed her. I wondered if Beth missed her too. She had been closer to Zadona than I was.

  Scraps, my dog, quickly joined me. The two of us let the cows out to graze while we watched the sun rise higher in the sky. Since returning home, I found mornings strangely calming. Maybe it had something to do with watching the sunrise. Under the Sapphire Mountains, I rarely knew what day it was.

  I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn’t hear the sound of the door opening and closing. Carefully, a young girl snuck behind me. Once she was close, I did hear her footsteps, but I decided to ignore them. Scraps was resting nearby, her eyes watching the girl move closer, but she didn’t raise her head as my daughter got closer. Crouching down, Arienne jumped onto my back, almost making me lose balance.

  “What the—!” I yelled, turning my head to see what attacked me.

  Arienne smiled, clinging to my back with all her strength. “Got you!”

  Now that she was nine, I had a difficult time staying aloft with her on top of me. Dropping to one knee, I tried to shake her off, but she held on with all her strength. Giggling madly, she wrapped her legs around my waist. It was too much, I fell to the ground. My hat rolled a few feet away from us.

  “You got me.”

  Disappointed by the lack of effort I put into stopping her, Arienne shook me. “No, Poppy! I want to keep playing.”

  “You’re a bit too old to be climbing on me like that,” I replied.

  “You let Charlie climb on you. Why can’t I?”

  I sighed. “Charlie is seven.”

  “You’re too weak,” said Arienne, climbing off me and wiping the dirt off her clothes. She wore a bright red tunic with flowers sewn on by Beth. Underneath it was a pair of brown trousers. They had been mine when I was younger.

  Shaking my head, I sat up and wiped the dirt off my clothes. With her hands on her hips, Arienne glared at me. She was the spitting image of her mother. My dream flashed through my head again. Arienne was nine, the same age I was when I met Zadona. Was that why I’d been having those dreams?

  Pushing those thoughts to the side, I stood up and cracked my back. Arienne couldn’t help but smile as I exaggerated every ache and pain while I stretched. “You’re killing me,” I muttered, barely able to hide my grin.

  “Poppy?” asked Arienne. “Can I help you with your chores?”

  I looked over at Scraps, whose tail swiped at the dirt furiously as our eyes met. She was sitting on my hat. “Sorry, but I finished most of them. If you’d like, you can come with me to get the mail.”

  Arienne nodded. “Okay! Do you think Auntie Nia wrote me back?” Nia was the warrior who helped me save Henry and Arienne. Her girlfriend, Tamara, had also been captured by the harska. One of many blacksmiths taken and forced to build weapons or armor.

  I shrugged. “She usually does.” Since returning from our journey, Nia and Tamara have become part of the family. The druid Greenspring had too, but he lived too far away for the kids to see him often. It had been some time since his last visit. Nia and Tamara were close enough that they could visit during holidays.

  Arienne especially enjoyed their visits. After learning how to read and write, she started exchanging letters with the two of them. Well, mostly Nia. Tamara was too busy with her work at the forge. I was glad they were getting along, but Beth was starting to get jealous of how close Nia and Arienne were getting. At least she always had Charlie, unless he found someone else to idolize.

  Speaking of Charlie. “Pa!” yelled Charlie, running across the lawn toward me. Scraps jumped up and met him halfway, eagerly walking beside him as he moved past her. “Ma says breakfast is ready!”

  “Alright then, tell her we’ll be there after we get the mail. Unless you’d like to come with us?”

  He stopped in front of me, a sour look on his face. “No.”

  “Come on, Charlie,” said Arienne, grabbing his hands. “It will be fun!”

  He shook his head. “I’m hungry. I don’t want to get the mail.”

  I sighed, reaching down to pet Scraps to hide my disappointment. “Alright then, tell your mother we’ll be quick.”

  As Charlie ran back to the house, Scraps raced after him. I bent down and grabbed my hat off the ground, smacking it against my leg to get the dust off. Once I saw him reach the doorstep, I turned and started walking. Arienne stayed still for a few moments as she was also watching Charlie leave. Once she noticed I’d already started walking, she quickly followed.

  By the time we reached town, most people were awake and going about their day. It was a bit difficult to maneuver around the crowds, but the two of us managed. Arienne held my hand the entire time, still not used to being around so many people. I didn’t mind holding her hand, the memory of her kidnapping was still fresh.

  The post office was in the center of town, directly off the main road. There were a couple of trade routes that passed through Xalir, so mail arrived quickly. I waved to the postmaster as we entered the small building. He nodded at Arienne and me before going back to sorting piles of mail. Small baskets next to him indicated ingoing and outgoing mail.

  Since we were common visitors to the post office, our mail was set aside by the door. It was wrapped in cloth ribbons with the words ‘Benson Family’ written on them. Our pile of mail was just a few letters today. I tossed a silver coin to the postmaster, then picked up the pile and left.

  “Can I see! Can I see!” exclaimed Arienne, her whole body shaking with excitement.

  “Give me a second.” As we walked, I thumbed through each of the letters. One of them was from Bagheera, the current king of the harska. Another was from Nia, which I gave to Arienne.

  The last letter I didn’t recognize. It was wrapped in a tiny beige envelope with no name indicating who it was from. Inside, there was a small piece of paper with gold swirls engraved on the front and back. I opened the letter and read it carefully, my eyes widening the further down I got.

  Norman,

  I know it has been years since we last spoke, but I need your help. My boss has heard of your exploits with the harska and requests your presence up north. We will meet you in Adelbern. I wish I could tell you exactly what he wants, but he refuses to tell me. Send Beth my regards.

  Your friend, Zadona Meyer.