The carpet ride itself was a comfortable ride once you got used to it. It was, however, very different from flying on a broom. One thing was becoming a bit of a sore point, however. The complete lack of a way to support your back. Since I usually flew side-saddle, that was never an issue, but in this case, it was becoming an obvious source of annoyance. Even though the enchantments lessened the inertia, I was still almost falling onto my back if I sped up too fast. And so were the others.

  “Some growing pains, that’s for sure. I will have to add some more enchantments, I think.” Soot hopped up next to me. “It’s fine for me, Winter and Midnight, but I can see how this becomes annoying for you guys.” He hopped into my lap. I smiled down at him and conjured a magical hand to give him some pats and scratches. “Well, that’s good, at the very least.”

  As I spoke, I noticed the orchards of Apple ridge coming into view. “Everyone, your attention, please. If you look ahead and down, you can see Apple Ridge’s massive orchard. And no, Ivy, we will not stay long enough for you to go wild in it, so don’t even ask.” There came a disappointed “Aw.” from behind. I circled the farm for a moment as I slowed down and put the carpet down in front of the house.

  As I did, the door opened and Alder stepped outside. “Oh, Morgana, how delightful, and you have company I see. I will admit you have come at a rather inopportune time.” He seemed apologetic. “The kids I take it?” He nodded. “Well, look on the bright side. I won’t distract you for long. I was planning a picnic and was hoping for some freshly picked fruits and maybe some more cocoa beans if that harvest has finished.”

  Alder perked up. “Ah, of course, Morgana. Any preferences?” I glanced at the others. Miva raised a hand. “Apples, please!” Ivy seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. “You have more of those small round green things?” Alder blinked a few times. “Small round… You mean grapes?” Ivy perked up and nodded so fast she made a rapid trilling noise. “You’re in luck. We finished a harvest of those just a few hours ago. I’ll get you a few clusters. And what about you Ms… Huh… you know you look quite similar to Morgana, younger sibling, I take it?” He peered at Meleri with a pleasant smile.

  Meleri returned it. “I’m her younger sister, Meleri. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alder. My sister has told me about you.” She hopped off the carpet and offered Alder a handshake. Alder chuckled as he accepted it. “Only good things, I hope?” Meleri gave a single nod. “It was mostly about how you met, and from what I can see I take it you get along well, which is always a good thing, I think. My sister has a rather… prickly personality, after all.” Alder, to his credit, suppressed an amused smile, barely.

  “Yes, yes, hilarious, sis. Now, why don’t you decide on what you want as greens for the picnic.” Meleri paused for a moment. “Do you have any pears?” Alder nodded. "A bunch, harvested them a few days ago, but they are still fresh, given the conservative magics at play." Meleri stepped back with a wide grin. “Excellent.” I hopped off the carpet as well. “And I will take some clementines, as they should have been harvested by now, if I’m not mistaken.”

  Alder nodded. “That sounds great just-” There was a noise from inside and the door opened. Alder turned around and saw Allen looking out at us. “Oh, Morgana. A pleasure. Alder, my boy, head inside again. Gwen needs your help with the kids. Go on now. I’ll handle whatever Morgana needs.”

  Alder Hesitated for a moment, then gave us all a polite nod and hurried inside as Allen took his place. Allen gave a chuckle as he stepped off the porch. “As lively as ever these days. Now then, why don’t you all follow me and explain what you need on the way to the barn?” I turned to the others. “Well, you heard him get off the carpet.” They complied quickly, and shortly after I rolled it up and stashed it away. I knew better than to leave that sort of thing unattended with Allen’s great grandkids roaming about.

  Allen glanced over. “Still not trusting the kids after that one time, huh?” I shook my head. “She was lucky the broom has safety spells on it. A fall from that height would have been lethal. Not to mention she didn’t know how to land the damn thing. And no, the broom does not have safety features to prevent crashing, as it’s not meant to be used by amateurs.”

  Allen took a deep breath. “Fair.” By now we reached the barn, a massive red building that housed their cattle, sheep, ducks and geese. Next to it was a henhouse that housed their chickens. I listed the various requests out loud. “So, pears, apples, clementines, and grapes. And some meat for my darling trio.” Allen glanced over at Midnight, Soot, and Winter. “Hmm poultry and beef then, I take it, given their preferences. I don’t have any fish for the cat, but I take it she won’t mind.” I shook my head. “We can get fish where we’re going, so that’s not a problem.”

  Allen nodded and led the way into the bard. Inside there were crates upon crates and barrels upon barrels of stored goods. “Honestly, we have so much of this stuff that we are running out of space to store it all, even with enchanted barrels. And that’s after half our stock was bought up by Jaira, I might add What I’m trying to say is, if you know anyone that would like to buy a ton of fruits and the like, I’d be happy to provide.”

  I looked around. “I could ask Erydhe and Ilmahir if they’d want some. Aside from them, I think your best bet would be the one place you don’t want to go.” Allen’s expression darkened. “I am not selling any of my produce to Mendir. I refuse to set hoof in that city ever again.” Not a surprising reaction.

  “Quite understandable, that aside, however, have you considered increasing the amount you sell to Nettledale? I know an old Brownie in that town that would be ecstatic to have access to some of your more exotic produce for his brews.” Allen eyed me for a moment. “Ah, I think I know the one. Old, red cap, extremely well kempt beard?” A pretty apt description of Tobin if there ever was one. “Indeed. Tobin is his name. He’s a friendly old fella, as long as you don’t take his drink from him.”

  Allen nodded slowly. “So he enjoys the art of brewing, too. Hmm, that would help to get rid of some of it. I will accept your offer about getting us in contact with the local Fae Court. Sure, our produce might not measure up to their magical and fantastical fruits, but as you said, some of these are exotics for the local area.”

  That reminded me. “Speaking of exotics, you wouldn’t have some more cocoa beans? I have run out, you see.” Allen shook his head. “Not right now, I’m afraid. I will send a bunch over to you along with the next batch of tax, however. And don’t you dare think about payment. It’s the least I can do for all you’ve done for us.”

  I wasn’t about to argue with him about it. I knew Allen felt that even after all this time, he still owed me for what I did for them back then. And I would not trample his feelings by rejecting his kindness. Besides, Appleridge was not in any danger of going bankrupt.

  The farm was selling their produce to Nettledale and Nekkal on top of supplying me. To top it all off, if Erydhe and Ilmahir liked the fruits as well, then their business would be set for generations to come. So I would not reject a few freebies that were freely offered.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Alright, Allen, that sounds good to me. Oh, that reminds me, could we get a few melons?” Allen tilted his head, then made the connection at my earlier mention of fish. “Oh, yeah, they would like that, wouldn’t they. Say you think they would be interested in trading?” I shook my head. “I doubt that would be feasible, given all the circumstances.” Allen deflated a bit, but recovered swiftly. “Alright, that’s fair. I’ll get some. Just give me a moment.”

  As Allen disappeared inside again, Ivy seemed to have put two and two together finally. “Melons, fish, wait, are we going-” Soot let out a loud caw, causing Ivy to flinch in surprise. She blinked for a few moments, then realized she nearly ruined it for everyone else. “Oh, me and my mouth, thanks for that, Soot. Bestest bestie indeed.”

  Allen returned with a crate full of melons and another crate underneath it with the other fruits we asked for. Then we left for the nearby storehouse for the requested meat. “I see you have plenty leftover despite how much you’re selling in Nekkal.” I noted as I looked up at the numerous hams, sausages and other meats dangling from the ceiling or stored on shelves high on the wall. Allen looked quite pleased. “Indeed, business is, and your enchantment is helping the animals stay healthy and well-fed. Add in the new shepherd we hired and things are going great!”

  New shepherd? “Why’d you need to hire a new shepherd?” Allen looked at me. “It’s not that we really needed it. However, the poor thing was starving and offered to work for food. Rejecting someone that miserable, when we were benefitting from your mercy, seemed wrong. Besides, given the massive mutt that was accompanying the poor thing, the job was a shoe inn. I mean, sure, it seemed liable to eat the flock as much as watch it early on. But it has proven to be an excellent shepherd’s hound.” Allen seemed quite pleased.

  “Sounds like you’ve gotten yourself a reliable farmhand, then. That’s good.” I stashed the offered meats away in the pouch. “Anyway, Allen, we should probably get going. Have a good one and say hi to Faye and the others for us.” I pulled out the carpet and set it to hover just outside the storehouse. The others scrambled on, and we waved as I ascended into the sky. Then we sped back the way we came, well, almost. Our destination was deep into the eastern forest, and with our current speed, we’d arrive an hour or two before noon.

  Meleri and Miva were, by now, looking perplexed as we were speeding away. Miva scooted up beside me. “Surely, we’re not going back to the house, right?” Meleri picked her up and placed Miva on her lap. “I don’t think so. Our course is a bit off if we were heading back to the house.” It figures Meleri would know, since we both possessed the same compass sense.

  “Meleri’s right, we were just doing a pit stop at Appleridge to grab some food for the trip. I could have grabbed something from the pantry, but I wanted to bring some gifts to the locals, so I didn’t have a choice but to make a quick trip to Appleridge first, anyway.” Midnight padded over. “Couldn’t you have just used the mirror and made use of the tax box? No wait, never mind, forget I asked. That would be rather rude, wouldn’t it?” She sat down and licked her paws.

  The reminder of the trip to our destination was rather quiet, filled with small-talk and speculation. I was keeping the carpet low to mask our destination as long as possible. It would be pretty obvious once we got close if I didn’t. We kept zooming across the endless sea of leaves, interspersed here and there by a giant mushroom.

  Then I could see a glint over the trees. “Well, everyone, your attention, please. If you look ahead, you can now see our destination coming up.” As they all looked ahead, I pulled the carpet up, giving them a good view of our destination. A massive pristine lake, with a cleared out area near it, which seemed well maintained. I did a circle above the cleared, grassy area, but didn’t land. Instead, I pulled out a horn and blew a single long note. Once it faded away, I brought the carpet down.

  Meleri looked at me. “What was that all about?” I focused on bringing the carpet down safely, so I didn’t look at her. “Security, or to be more exact, tell them who was coming.” Meleri seemed confused. “Tell who?” then, out of the trees and water, her answer arrived. The most numerous were various vaguely human-like creatures made from leaves, vines and other plant material. They arrived from the forest and some from the lake.

  From the lake also arrived others, their skin were various hues between sky blue and viridian. With long hair in practically any color you could imagine. Their long, thin arms and legs ended in webbed hands and feet. In their mouth were a set of sharp, pointy fangs. Their eyes were large and sky blue where a human’s would be white, with yellow irises, and pupils akin to those of a frog.

  In place of noses, they possessed two small holes that could be opened and closed with muscle flaps. Their ears were almost as long as a man’s lower arm and grew out from their heads at a sharp angle. If seen as an outline, their heads would almost look like a circle with cone-like wings. On their backs were a pair of large iridescent fins, that almost looked like bat wings. From their heads grew long, silky hair in many fantastical colors, some even having multiple colors.

  Meleri looked curious, while Miva looked absolutely shocked. “Are… Are those Torgols?” I hopped off the carpet. I didn’t need to answer Miva, as it was obvious enough for her. “Hello everyone, long time no - oof... Cure… can’t… breathe.” One of the Torgols, a pink haired one with teal skin, was giving me a massive, and if it were anyone but me, bone-crushing hug.

  “Friend Morgana, long time no see! What bring you here?” Cure, the Torgol in question, was grinning up at me. I looked down at her and traced a finger along the red tattoo on her forehead. “Well, I’ll be. Congratulations, Cure. I didn’t know you were the new chief of the tribe.”

  Cure grinned up at me. “Unanimous choice by all. Cure best huntress, after all. Again, though, what bring friend Morgana and strangers?” I gently extracted myself from Cures hug, and with a swift spell dried myself, again. “Well, first, it’s been a few seasons since my last visit. Second, I wanted to have a picnic with my family and friends. I figured that there was no place better for that than here.” There was a rustling from behind and one of the leaflike creatures moved in close. “It has been more than a few seasons, but even so you are always welcome here, Milady.” The voice was like the rustling of leaves.

  “Thank you, Marhavi. You and the rest of the Leaf Folk have been a great aid in safeguarding this tribe. As always, you have my gratitude.” Marhavi’s arm rustled as the spirit waved me off. “Think nothing of it. They are our friends. It’s the least we can do for them, given the hardship they and their people have endured.” In response to his words, Cure pulled the spirit into a hug, too. “Marhavi friend, good friend. Let’s have fun with friend Morgana, friend Marhavi!” the spirit’s form shuddered under the strain of Cure’s hug, but didn’t seem to mind.

  I glanced over at the others, who were having a conversation between them. Likely Miva telling Meleri about the Leaf Folk and Torgols. Or the official version of their story, at any rate. “I take it the feasting stone is available for use?” Cure looked over at me. “Of course. Feasting stone can be used for friend Morgana’s picnic.” I gave her a friendly smile as I pulled out the crate of melons.

  “Here, for you guys.” I tossed her the crate, which Cure caught with ease, despite her thin frame. Just like me, Torgols were deceptively strong. She opened it and with a big grin fished out a melon. “Sweet fruits, thanks friend Morgana!” Soon the Torgols were gathered around the crate, fishing out melon after melon and eating them with eager grins. As with all the storage crates from Appleridge, it contained far more than its original size would show at a glance.

  I walked back to the others. Both Miva and Meleri looked curious. “I’ll explain while we eat. Why don’t you follow me so we can get the meal started.” With that, I led them towards a huge circular stone slab, large enough to allow some thirty people to sit around it comfortably. I directed the carpet to land on the table with a simple spell and sat down on top of it. “Take a seat while I set the table.” With that, I pulled out the remaining two crates, along with some bottles I brought from home containing juice. This was going to be an entertaining little picnic, no doubt.