War of the Fairies

By Judy Lennington

The Baker children are visiting their grandparent’s farm after the death of their
father. Life on the farm was a new experience for the children who were used to
city life. It is here they discover strange insects with tiny voices.   e scouts, who
fl ew about in search of threats, the keepers, who were protector

• Language: English
• Publisher: LitFire Publishing
• Release date: Sep 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643988528

Judy Lennington

Deb’s Alienation is the 19th novel written by Judy Lennington, a retired factory worker of thirty-eight years. Growing up in a family of storytellers, she continues the family tradition. Only now, she hopes to tell her stories to the world.

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War Of The Fairies

Copyright © 2019 by Judy Lennington

ISBN: 978-1-64398-852-8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher or author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.

Printed in the United States of America

LitFire LLC

1-800-511-9787

www.litfirepublishing.com

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Thank you, David Lennington, for making this possible.

You are my hero.

I dedicate this book to Corey Richard Baker,

Nikolas Adam Baker, Nathan Baker, Adrienne Baker, Vaira Baker, and Kai Alexander Baker.

Thank you, Debby Mora, Lucille Huston, and

Craig Andrews for watching my back.

So lucky to have you on my team.

Chapter One

It was late summer. Nikolas stared out the window of the van as his mother drove the country roads. They were on their way to visit Nik’s gra ndparents.

Laney began to fuss. Nik, would you find Laney’s pacifier, please? his mother asked.

Nik leaned forward and reached down into his new baby sister’s car seat. Feeling around, he found the pacifier and placed it into Laney’s mouth. He watched as she closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep again.

Nikolas looked to Laney’s left where his sister Vaira slept, her head slumped to the right. In the third row, his other sister Adrienne played with a ball of play dough she had taken from the plastic container.

To his right was his younger brother, Nathan. Nathan stared out the window as the trees moved in the breeze. How much longer, Mommy? Nathan whined.

It won’t be long now. We will stop when I find a safe place to pull off the road. You can stretch your legs and eat something before we continue any further, Mommy said.

It grew quiet again, and Nik allowed his mind to drift as the scenery moved quickly by, and the rumbling of the tires upon the asphalt filled his head.

They were going to visit their grandma and grandpa who lived on a farm. It was a long drive. At least it seemed that way to Nik. Mommy had said they would be there by suppertime. Nik and Nathan had helped Mommy pack a picnic lunch for all of them.

They were spending the rest of their summer vacation with their grandparents. Nik’s family lived in the city. Nik had been learning about nature and all the creatures that lived in the forests and grass lands. He seldom saw anything exciting while living in the city, other than insects and toads. He was excited at the thought of playing in the forest on the farm where his grandparents lived.

Mommy pulled off the road and spread a blanket on a grassy hillside. She fed baby Laney as the others ran about excitedly, happy to get out of the van for a while. Nik and Nathan investigated a ditch and learned there were frogs hiding in the tall grass.

Don’t handle those frogs! Mommy called out to them. You’ll get warts all over your hands.

Mommy these aren’t toads, Nik called back. Besides, that isn’t true. You don’t get warts by handling toads. That is a myth.

What is a myth? Adrienne asked.

It’s something that isn’t true, Nik explained.

It’s a lie, then, Adrienne said.

No not like a lie, exactly, Nik tried to explain.

It’s a lie, Nathan said, without looking up from the ditch.

Nikolas sighed and washed his hands in the water from the ditch. He looked down the road to his left and then to his right. There aren’t any cars on this road, he said.

Oh, I’m certain cars travel this road. I don’t think there are as many as you are used to seeing in the city, Mommy said. Come help me pack up so we can get back on the road. We don’t want to be traveling after dark on these narrow roads.

Nik sighed again. He didn’t want to get back in the van. He was tired of riding in his seat, but he knew it would only be for a while longer. He was the oldest and since his daddy died, it was his responsibility to help his mother. His daddy would be proud of him for helping without whining about it. So, he did as he was told. It made him feel closer to Daddy in this way.

Mommy instructed them all to sanitize their hands, and soon they were piling back into the van. A pickup truck drove by and a little girl waved at them from the window. Nik waved back. Adrienne fussed at being put back in the car seat and Vaira cried. Nathan picked on Adrienne which only caused her to be more agitated. Laney slept through it all. Now they were once again bouncing along the road. Nathan was talking constantly which interrupted Nickolas’ thoughts. Now Adrienne was sleeping, and Laney was fussing. Once again, Nick was fishing for the pacifier which had fallen into the car seat somewhere.

The hot sun beat down upon the back window, causing Nik, Nathan, and Adrienne to sweat. Adrienne slept, and Nathan whined about being hot. Nik tried to block the sound from his mind as they moved along. He watched four buzzards gliding over the tops of the trees as they moved down the highway. He wondered if they were waiting for a chance at something that had been killed on the road. There it was, a dead raccoon was lying on the edge of the road.

Soon, mommy was pulling into a dirt drive. It wound past the mail box and the van began to bounce along the rutted drive. Nik noticed that grass grew in the center of the dirt road. It was barely wide enough for the van as they moved along. A wooden fence lined both sides of the road as they continued onward. Soon a chimney came into view, then a rusted metal roof. Now the old farm house was fully visible.

Are there ghosts in that house, Mommy? Nathan asked.

Mommy laughed. I don’t think so Nathan. You will have to ask your grandparents.

It looks like ghosts live in that house to me, Nathan whispered to Nikolas.

Nik did not respond. He was focused on the two elderly people who were coming outside to meet them. The older woman held her arms open wide and they were smiling. So, this was their grandparents. It had been a long time since Nikolas had seen them last. He hadn’t recalled them being this old the last time they had met.

Finally, I was so worried that something must have happened, Grandma said.

We stopped for a picnic lunch and I let them stretch their legs a while, Mommy said.

What’s that you have on your back side, Adrienne? his grandfather asked, laughing.

Oh, Mommy said. It looks like she sat on her play dough.

Well, no harm done, Grandma said. Let’s get you all inside and get some hot dinner into your bellies.

Nik did not want to go inside. He wanted to explore the farm. He noticed the forest off in the distance beyond a field of corn. Can I go play? he asked.

Oh, not right now, Nikolas, Mommy said. You help me get Vaira and Adrienne inside. Maybe after you eat you can go exploring.

So, Nik did as he was told again. He looked up at the porch roof where a single window looked down upon them. Maybe that had been his daddy’s room. Maybe his daddy was looking down at him. He would do as he was told. He would make his daddy proud.

Grandma had made fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. Nik wanted to hurry so he could get outside, however, everything tasted so good. They were having ice cream for dessert, but Grandma said they could eat it on the porch.

Nik, Nathan, and Adrienne sat on the porch steps eating their ice cream. Vaira sat on Mommy’s lap and Grandma held Laney in her arms while she and Grandpa sat on the porch swing.

Is that woods yours? Nik asked pointing to the forest line.

It certainly is, Grandpa said, rising to his feet. He went to sit next to Nikolas. He pointed in all directions as he said, Everything you see is ours. That corn field is ours, but a neighbor owns the corn. We lease the land to him, so he can plant crops on it. We weren’t using it anyway.

What does lease mean? Nathan asked.

Lease means we rent the land to him. He pays us to use the land for his crops. The land belongs to us, but the corn belongs to Mr. Chaney, Grandpa explained.

Does your neighbor lease the woods too? Nik asked.

His grandfather chuckled as he replied, No, the woods is all ours. It stretches all the way to the road out that way, his grandfather pointed down the lane toward the mailbox that was not visible from here. And all the way to the highway out that way, he pointed toward the woods. It’s a mighty big forest and I wouldn’t go too far without a grown up, or you might get lost.

Can we go exploring? Nick asked, excited.

Maybe tomorrow. It will be dark soon. If you wait just a little while longer, you will see lightning bugs all over the yard. Do you know what a lightning bug is? he asked, looking down at Nathan.

Nathan shook his head. Yes, you do, Nate, Nik said. We call them fire flies.

Oh, I know what fire flies are, Nathan said, nodding his head.

Well, Grandpa began, you wait a little bit and you will see the yard full of fire flies.

And just as he finished speaking, a fire fly began blinking in the yard right in front of them. Look! Adrienne called out, pointing to it. There is one!

Can we catch it? Nathan asked.

Grandpa laughed. I’ll get you a glass jar. He stood up and disappeared into the house.

We’re catching lightning bugs, Mommy! Adrienne said, clapping her hands excitedly.

Grandpa returned with a mason jar. He had punched a hole in the top of the jar to allow the bug to breath.

By the time Nathan caught the lightning bug, the yard was full of blinking lights. They scrambled about jumping and catching bugs while Grandpa put them inside the jar.

I think that is enough bugs for tonight. We don’t want to catch them all. Grandpa said.

Something landed on Nik’s back. It crawled up his shoulder and he thought he heard a tiny voice, but it was so faint he could not make out what it was saying. He reached up to catch it, but it quickly flew away.

Time to go inside, Mommy said. Tomorrow you can play outside all day if you want to.

Nik and Nathan bathed in the huge porcelain bath tub. Grandma had filled it with bubbles. They were dressed in their pajamas and the tub was filled again for Adrienne and Vaira. Soon they were all nestled into their beds for the night. They were sleeping in the room over the porch. Nikolas looked out the window at the full moon hanging over the tree line of the forest. Blinking lights were everywhere as the lightning bugs continued to fly about the house in the darkness of the night.

Chapter Two

Nathan woke to the sounds of birds chirping. He sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes. It was morning. He shook Nikolas by the shoulder. It’s morning, Nik, come on, he said.

He scrambled from his bed without waiting on his brother. They had shared a bed in the room over the porch. Nathan thought he heard sounds in the night and slept with his head covered for he feared it might be ghosts. Even though Nikolas slept next to him, he was frightened. The bed was against the wall. Normally, he would fight with his brother for the spot out front, but not while sleeping in this room. The sounds he heard in the night only confirmed his suspicions.

He pulled his sagging pajama bottoms up as he went down the stairs. It seemed a long way down to the bottom. He would love to explore the rooms of this big old house but was afraid of who he might run into. He smelled bacon even before reaching the bottom of the stairs.

Mommy sat at the table with Laney in her lap. Vaira was leaning upon the table to be close to Mommy in their strange surroundings. Vaira and Adrienne had slept together in another room.

There’s Nathan. Where is your bother? Mommy asked.

I think he is still sleeping, Nathan said, climbing up onto a chair. I think there are ghosts in our room.

Grandma turned and smiled down at Nathan. There are no ghosts in this house, Nathan, she said.

I heard something, Nathan said, looking up at her wide eyed.

This old house makes all kinds of creaking sounds all day and all night. It is just the old wood settling and shifting in the wind. I assure you there are no ghosts in this house,