Page 84 (2/2)

"What, out here, you ed "A little fresh air should fix her right up And I could use the company" When Sara didn’t answer, Peter said, "Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye What do you say, Kate?"

"You’re sure about this?" Sara pressed

"Sure I’ets sleepy, I’ll bring her inside" He propped his rifle against the building and held out his ar no for an answer"

Sara acquiesced, shifting Kate fros around hiht

Sara stood back a bit to regard the two of theot to say, this isn’t a version of you I’ve seen before"

He felt hie"

"Well, it suits you" A sudden yawn seized her "Seriously, if she gets to be a bother "

"She won’t Noill you go? Get some sleep"

Sara left them alone Peter lowered himself into the chair, shifted Kate to his lap, and turned her body toward the winter sky "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I dunno"

"Not tired at all?"

"Nope"

"How about we count so herself comfortable, then commanded: "Tell me a story"

"A story What kind?"

"A once-upon-a-ti never done this before Yet as he considered the girl’s request, a rush of h hi in circle with the other children, their legs folded under them; Teacher, her pale,anis in their castles and ships crossing the sea in search of treasure; the drowsy sensation of the words passing through hi hi his own body They were recollections of another life; they were so distant as to feel historical; yet sitting in the winter cold with Sara’s daughter on his lap, they did not seee of regret: he’d never told Caleb a story

"So" He cleared his throat, stalling to asse; every story from his childhood had suddenly fled hisit "Let’s see-"

"It needs a girl in it," Kate said, helpfully

"So it does I was just getting to that So, once upon a tiirl-"

"What did she look like?"

"Hmm Well, she was very pretty A lot like you, actually"

"Was she a princess?"

"Are you going to let me tell this or not? But now that you mention it, she was Theis, she didn’t know she was a princess That’s the interesting part"

Kate frowned bossily "Why didn’t she know?"

So in his mind

"That is a very excellent question What happened was this When she was very young, notand queen, took her on a picnic in the royal forest It was a sunny day, and the little girl, whose name was Princess "

"Elizabeth"

"Princess Elizabeth, saw a butterfly An a attention, and she followed the butterfly into the woods, trying to catch it But the thing is, it wasn’t a butterfly It wasa fairy queen"

"Really?"

"It’s true Now, the thing about fairies is, they don’t trust people They pretty much keep to themselves, and that’s the way they like it But the fairy queen was different She’d alanted a daughter Fairies don’t have children of their own It irl to take care of, and when she saw Princess Elizabeth, she was so moved by her beauty that she couldn’t help herself She led the child away, deeper and deeper into the woods Soon the little girl was lost and began to cry The fairy queen landed on her nose, and brushed her tears aith her delicate wings, and said, ’Don’t be sad I’ll take care of you You will behollow tree where she lived with all her fairy subjects, and gave her food to eat and a table to sit at and a little bed to sleep in, and before too long Princess Elizabeth had nothe fairies of the forest"

Kate was nodding along "What happened then?"

"Well, nothing Not right away For a while they were very happy together, the fairy queen especially Hoonderful it felt for her to have a little girl of her own But as Elizabeth grew, she began to feel that soht Do you knohat that was?"

"She wasn’t a fairy?"

"Exactly Good for you, for figuring that out She wasn’t a fairy, she was a little girl, and not so little anymore Why arew, the harder this was for the fairy queen to conceal Why do my feet stick out from my bed, Elizabeth would ask her, and the fairy queen would say, Because beds are always small, that’s just how they are Why is my table so tiny, Elizabeth asked, and the fairy queen said, I’m sorry, it’s not the table’s fault, you’ll just have to stop growing Which, of course, she couldn’t do She grew and grew, and soon she barely fit inside the tree anymore All the other fairies complained They were afraid she’d eat all their food and there’d be nothing left They were afraid she’d accidentally squash the had to be done, but the fairy queen refused With me so far?"