Chương 17: Bonny Fox: I – A Terrible Fate

Maeve was not so proud as to deny that she was… lost. U tterly lost. She had only planned to be out for a few hours before being home for dinner, lest her mum scold her further. But now she had no idea where home even was since the old path through the field was gone. As was the field, in fact. She knew she had been going the right way until… right when she started walking back through the fen dividing Sean and Neil's fields.

She had tripped over the uneven and uncertain ground and when she'd stood back up again the sky seemed a bit brighter and the fields had been gone. In their place had been untamed grass in one direction and more fen in the other. She had chosen the grass, not wanting to become any more wet than she already was. Now, after having walked through the grass for nearly an hour, she had come upon unfamiliar-looking trees.

That was when she had started to truly worry, not knowing where she was and becoming increasingly certain it wasn't the isle. But she had spotted a dirt path snaking its way out of the trees and into the grass some ways away, that had buoyed her spirits. The path had to lead somewhere after all. One way led out the way she had come from, and since she hadn't seen anything while she had been walking, she decided on the other way.

This place looked almost like an orchard, the trees spaced a little too evenly to be natural, though she wasn't sure what kind of trees they were. The leaves had odd shapes, though it looked as if they were just starting to turn to Autumn as well. Maeve shivered, it was starting to get dark and she still hadn't found anyone yet. Her clothes had dried onto her by now and they were starting to itch. She found herself wanting to cry and felt the telltale tightening of her throat before a sound caught her attention.

It sounded like metal rattling, a ' clink click clink' of something man-made, and Maeve almost burst into tears for a different reason now. Quickly, she started moving to where she thought the sounds were coming from, even after they stopped as she drew closer. She gasped as she saw what had been making the noise. It wasn't a person but a large, dare she say giant, fox in some kind of trap she'd never seen before.

It looked like a band of metal had been made to close around the thing's front paw and drive barbs into it as two chains on either side pulled it off the ground enough so the fox couldn't move. Oh and what a pretty fox it was too. A shiny, dark-grey coat, little red paws, a red streak going down the back of its head, a fluffy tail that shaded from grey to black, an adorable tuft of black fur on its chest, and such beautiful sky-blue eyes with three red circles in the fur around each of them.

She could easily see why someone would want its pelt, but she couldn't stand seeing it hanging there in pain. She could see its eyes on her, could feel them, so she took a better look at the trap to see if she could at least loosen the chains first. One was driven into a tree with no-less-than three anchors, and she could see that the spikes went out the other side of the tree too. The other chain was connected to some kind of solid spring mechanism that she had no hope of moving.

Taking it together, she was shocked the poor fox's leg hadn't been torn off when the trap sprung. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. She decided to see if she could undo the band around its leg instead. Moving closer to the fox, she was surprised it didn't try to bolt as she approached, even chained as it was. Bending down, Maeve hesitated to reach for the fox when she locked eyes with it.

Its eyes were expressive in a way that mere foxes weren't, they were pleading with her, holding back tears a real fox wouldn't shed. Some facts about her day and old stories ran through her mind quickly. Getting lost in such a strange way, how the day had seemed to grow longer once she did, such a beautiful creature that she was sure was more than it seemed, and how it was stuck in a solid metal trap.

"You're not just a bonny fox, are you?" She felt compelled to ask. Confusion crossed its vulpine face, briefly displacing the pain before it replied, "No?" Maeve felt her world shake. It- He had answered. And frighteningly, she had understood words that were not English or French. She glanced at his stuck paw, "Right, I'm… I'm going to get you out, and then you're going to help me out afterward. Is that right?" She asked the strange fox.

"Yes, yes please!" He replied immediately, nodding his head.

"Okay, but this will probably hurt." She told him as she tried to figure out just how to remove the band. In the end, it proved both rather simple and as painful as she expected for the poor fox. The band needed to be pulled slightly tighter before she shoved a thin stone she found between the strange mechanism to loosen it, and thus, release the fae creature. As the fox-thing fell to the ground he yelped, lifting the paw that had been trapped before Maeve heard a pitiful whine coming from him.

As she watched, transfixed by the fairy's movements she had a realization as to why he couldn't stop moving his leg.

"Oh," She said, even as she was looking for a bandage-cloth. Between her summer skirts, her shirt, and her headscarf, the scarf was the best cloth she could afford to lose and still maintain her dignity.

"Here, let me help." Removing the scarf, she sidled over to the fox and lifted the cloth gently around his leg before tying it tight the way her pa had taught her to when someone was bleeding.

"Thank you!" The fox cried, before breaking into tears and repeating his words, "Thank you! Thank you!" He then leaned into her, still crying though now quiet. They remained that way long enough for the world to go dark, the sun had finished setting before the fox clumsily stepped back from the girl.

Eyes now red-rimmed, he sniffled a bit before he started speaking, "I was so lost and I just wanted some food or clean water and then I stepped into that human trap and-I-didn't-think-anyone-would-save-me-and-then-you-showed-up-andIthoughtyoumightbeabouttokillmebutyoudidn'tlooklikeahumanthatwouldsetatrapand-" He rambled before stopping to take a breath. Before he could continue, Maeve decided to stop him with a hug.

"I'm lost too." She told him.

"I tripped and when I got back up I was somewhere else." She choked, feeling her own tears coming, "And all I could think to do was keep walking. I was hoping to find someone to help point me home, but I don't even know if this is Ireland." Her tears were falling freely now, she pushed on, "You'll still help me right? Even though I don't know where we are either?"

"Of, course!" He said, nodding, the fur on his face still wet, "I said I would didn't I?" The fox stood to three lags before pausing, then staring at Maeve, "Why did you say 'either?'" He asked the girl.

"You said you were lost too?" Maeve answered, her confusion evident.

"Oh! Oh! You can understand me!" The fox exclaimed, excitedly wiggling for a moment before a hiss broke through his lips, "Gha- Um, do you think you could carry me?" He asked her sheepishly.

"Yes, of course." She said apologetically, wiping away some of her tears. She hadn't thought to help ease his pain further. After lifting the fox into her arms she asked, "What should we do now?"

"You want to find other humans right?" At Maeve's nod, he continued, "We should probably find the edge of this grove and skirt around the farm then." He said.

"Most farmers don't like it when they find you on their land. That's what the elders say." That didn't sound right to Maeve, but then, she had known Sean and Neil her whole life. Almost shrugging before realizing that would jostle the fox, she asked, "Do you know which way will get us out the quickest?" At the fox's aborted gesture, she started walking again, ignoring the growing urge to stroke the fairy's ears. She didn't hold out for long.