Changelings

Chapter 1 There was a spring in Jacob’s step as he walked the well-worn path through the woods. The air was clean and fresh, though tinged with the musty, mildewy aroma of the damp leaf litter beneath his feet. It had been raining heavily these past few weeks and the rain had permeated everything. Even the bark on the trees had turned from dull greys and browns to a palette of greens as the various mosses and lichens took full advantage of the moist conditions. Mosses similarly covered the many granite rocks, sheathing them completely in a velvety mid-green. Amongst the Bracken ferns, which grew in great profusion, small groups of mushrooms managed to find space enough to sprout and grow. Especially beautiful were the amanita muscaria, or fly agaric, whose beautiful red caps spotted with white, always captured Jacob’s attention. As did the Chicken of the Woods, a yellow-orange fan-shaped fungus that grew on rotting logs and on the bark of trees. Overhead, the forest canopy was alive. Robins, t**s and thrush, along with red squirrels, hurried about their business, gathering food and repairing nests while the weather permitted. He spotted a grey field mouse scurry into its burrow beneath the roots of one of the ancient oaks. Everything had a sense of urgency about it since the few patches of blue sky were already being swallowed up by great islands of dark grey cloud. Yet not even the threat of a sudden downpour could dampen Jacob’s spirits. He smiled to himself thinking about the meal he was going to cook for Robert, his partner of the past three and a half years. It would be an hour before Robert arrived home from his veterinary clinic in the city, exhausted though satisfied in his soul at the good work he was doing. In the net bag Jacob carried were two prime steaks, potatoes, fresh greens, and a crusty French baguette. For afters he planned to reheat the leftover apple pie from the previous night and serve it with a dollop or two of freshly whipped cream. There was no special occasion. Jacob enjoyed cooking for Robert. It was a pleasure. And afterwards they’d shun the dishes to retire upstairs where they’d make love for an hour or so before falling asleep, with Robert cuddling him from behind, his lover’s muscular arms wrapped around him to keep him safe and warm. It was because he wasn’t really watching where he was going Jacob assumed the movement that had caught his eye had been a bird. It had come from out of nowhere, flitting past him at such a speed that by the time Jacob was able to gather his wits together enough to focus on the winged creature, its little body had almost been swallowed up by pale shadows. Almost. In the second or two before it disappeared completely, Jacob could have sworn he’d seen the tiny being glance back over its shoulder at him. The face had not been that of any bird, but rather one with human features. Furthermore, Jacob had recognised an expression of concern, or was it alarm, on its face before little wings that were a blur above its body took it deeper into the woods and out of sight. Jacob stood staring after it, scouring the leafy branches and hoping to catch one last glimpse of the diminutive creature so he could be sure he hadn’t imagined it. But as the late afternoon breeze began to quicken and carry on it the promise of more rain, Jacob shivered and realised the skies had grown much darker. He hurried along the track, his attention on the muddy ground with its myriad puddles. His thoughts remained on the tiny winged creature he was now certain was anything but a bird. Its body had been too large and its wings, which grew from its back not from its sides, had beaten too fast. They’d been a blur and had carried their owner at a much more rapid rate through the air than those of a bird ever could. And that face. More than anything else, the image of that face, those tiny pin-prick eyes and the expression of alarm, haunted him. It could only have been one thing and despite the fact logic told him he was mistaken, there could be no other explanation. It had been a fairy.