SIXTY-NINE
“Well, there you are,” a man said.
He dropped a coat over me. I squinted through a blinding lantern glow.
“Sure enough. They said you’d be here. Those nutters were right.”
I tried to push myself up but found my arms had no strength.
“Here. Let me help you. Hadyn’s my name.”
He set the lantern down while he stooped to loop his arm under mine. “This will be a trick. You’re much bigger than I am.”
Hadyn pulled me to my knees at least. His face was at my eye level.
“You’re a little man,” I said.
He looked around. “Well, I’ll be. You’re right. How peculiar.”
I chuckled. “My name’s Niawen.”
“Here, push off my shoulders as I hoist you from around the waist.”
It took some effort to climb to my feet with his arms tugging and tugging. The ordeal was comical, and I laughed, despite my sorrow.
“Come, now. I’ll take you somewhere warm. Oh, I nearly forgot.” He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a bite-sized, cloth-wrapped square. “I should have given this to you before. It will give you energy. We have to hike a ways.”
I unwrapped the cube. The substance was tacky and squishy. I popped it into my mouth. Nougaty texture, maple taste. A fire burned in my stomach. My senses pricked up, making me keenly alert.
“That’s from the tegyd. The knuckleheads. Drive me batty. But they’re always right and always handy.”
Hadyn held my hand through the woods. His lantern was a pleasant comfort. Though he was a middle-aged man, he had few wrinkles, and he was strong.
“These trees have been here for centuries,” he muttered. “Nothing could cut them down. Bizarre how they’ve grown. People become lost all the time.”
We squeezed between two trunks. After we rounded a tree for several minutes, we stopped at a cart. Or rather, a basket of hammered-together wood roughly four feet square, but only three feet tall.
“You’ll have to sit in the bottom,” he said.
“I don’t understand.”
He tipped his chin toward the canopy. “We need to get up there.” He shook a chain on the basket’s corner.
That’s when I realized the chains extended skyward from the basket’s four corners.
“It’s a lift,” Hadyn said. “It’s secure. The line’s checked every day. In ten minutes we’ll reach the top.”
My fragile, near-mortal state reminded me how I’d die if the chains snapped. I backed away. “I don’t think I can.”
“How do you think I got down here? I promise you’ll be fine.” He rummaged in his pocket. “Would you like a sedative to ease the journey?”
He held out another chewy square.
“That looks identical to the other one!” I exclaimed. “How did you not give me that one before?”
Hadyn held the nougat close to his face and examined it. “Uh, you were lucky?”
What had I gotten myself into?
“Look, miss, I’m ravenous. The missus will have a fine stew. And we can have you toasty in twenty minutes flat. We have a short walk once we reach the canopy.”
“Short walk to where? Are we going to walk through the treetops?” I’m dreaming. This is a delirium.
“You don’t trust people easily.”
“Should I?”
“No, you shouldn’t. Very smart.”
I rested my hands on my hips. “Then what do you propose I do?”
“Trust me.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Are you afraid of heights?”
I laughed, thinking of Kelyn. “I’m not afraid of heights.”
“All right, then. Let’s go.” He lifted a latch and opened a door on the basket.
I tucked into the small space and sat with my knees to my chest to conserve heat. After Hadyn secured us, he reached toward the trunk and used a mallet to strike a small bell, which was attached to a wire running up the tree. Within a few seconds, the chains started creaking. As the basket lifted off the ground, we swayed.
Hadyn steadied himself. “The ride will be over before you know it. A fine night for a jaunt, eh? A fine night indeed.”
He took out a pipe and lit it, relaxing as we ascended to… I couldn’t guess.
SEVENTY
I was welcomed into the world of little people. A strange place to find myself in. Hadyn escorted me along planked bridges connecting decks that were constructed around the trees’ tops. Humble dwellings hugged each tree trunk, making a community of hundreds. A few torches marked the bridges, and while most houses were dark, we finally came to one whose windows were lit.
“Come in, come in,” Hadyn said.
I ducked under a five-foot-tall doorway and entered a delightfully cozy living space. A cheery fire brightened the room, fending off the cold that had crept in when we’d opened the door.
A little lady with a mop of curly brown hair was cooking stew over the fireplace. The smell filled me from head to toe. I’d taken for granted how the light sustained a body. I must have been hungry for two days or more since I wasn’t sure how long I’d run through the forest.
“Look at her! You found her!” the lady exclaimed.
“This here’s my wife, Emlyn,” Hadyn replied.
“Pleased to meet you,” I said.
Emlyn took my hands. “Oh, you’re frigid! Sit here and warm yourself.” She settled me into an armchair in front of the fire and dished out steaming stew.
I ate with much thanks while listening to the little people whisper together.
“Found ten trees away from the lift, poor girl,” Hadyn said. “All frightened and chilled to the bone.”
“Poor dear. We’ll keep her safe,” Emlyn said.
“I can’t believe those tegyd were right, looney lot.”
“I’m not
