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August 23, 1999

The Hatchling1998

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XXVII—The Maypole Conflict

"Look, Dark Star, Dolorum's growing borage in his garden." Holly's voice was bright as the late April sun. Lupine was down upon his knees to smell the bleeding hearts. Lupine loved smelling every flower he saw!

Arnica, Holly and Lupine had brought the hatchling into Merrywood to have lunch with Pastor Dolorum. He was still in his study working at his desk so they were passing time in the garden which his mother, Mildora, had kept until she passed into the Otherworld a year ago last Hallows. Her passing had opened the older Mysteries to Dolorum who now, despite his working for the Church of the Martyr, secretly had become part of the coven which met at the cabin in the woods.

"Go ahead, Dark Star, you can have some of the borage." A voice laughed through a window as Dark Star was caught completely by surprise. The look on the three year old's face left all four men laughing. "I'll be done in a few minutes," said Pastor Dolorum, closing the window to return to his work.

For the next ten minutes Holly and Lupine picked borage blooms and played with Dark Star. Lupine would toss one in the air, one at a time and the unicolt would catch them with her tongue. Arnica sat on a bench at the edge of a garden, deep in thought. Watching the flowers, he noticed that here, too, there were less bees. Merrydale was a wonderful place to live and others thought so too. Despite all their efforts, Merrywood was losing some of its trees to make space and materials for new homes. 'Change was inevitable,' Arnica mused, 'but did it have to be so hard upon our Mother Earth?'

Arnica set the letter down upon the coffee table. Without thinking, he rubbed his fingers upon the fabric of his pants as if to clean them from the words printed upon the paper.

"What thoughts do you have?" asked Dolorum.

"It's obvious that the bishop is determined to stop you from having the Maypole for the children of your parish," said Arnica. "Do you know Carlos, Gino's father?" Dolorum nodded. "He told me that a friend of his in Mill City overheard the bishop speaking to a group of mill owners, telling them that allowing Maypoles will encourage people to work against The Society for the Forest."

"Well, there's truth in that," Lupine's dark braid was dancing behind him as he and Holly played with Dark Star. The hatchling looked quite at home in Dolorum's study. It was safe here and her horn was visible. The men were very careful to rub it with Arnica's magickal formula. Over the past three years, only Gino had ever seen Dark Star to truly be a Unicorn.

"What will you do?" asked Holly. "All the children would be sorely disappointed."

"So would many of their parents," said Dolorum. He turned to Arnica. "Have you heard nothing about the article in the Merrywood Gazette? Has nothing reached Mill City?"

"It certainly was major news here in Merrywood, but nothing seems to have much happened in Mill City. We're dealing with a large consortium of wealthy Users. Only two years ago the Politicos were passing laws allowing more and more of the woodlands to be cut for lumber. We've seen it happening. There is a lot of money to be made. Locally people now know that the Society for the Forest is actually a front for wealthy lumber barons who want our trees, but they control so many aspects of life in Mill City that it's easy for them to suppress the news. Each day in our morning ritual we offer blessings to any brave journalists who might be willing to take the Gazette's exposé and uncover these wrongs."

Dolorum turned to Holly and Lupine. "So, for now, our Maypole goes on but the truth is, the bishop can stop me from having one and he can have me removed from my church. Sometimes compromise is what allows us to get greater work done over a longer period of time."

It was a quiet trio of men who were about to tether the hatching to a hawthorne tree behind the postmarm's. The work they'd done at Eostara to bring the truth to the people had not worked as they'd hoped. A bell tinkled, the sound of the postmarm's office door. Iris came running toward them as a wave of excitement rolled over them.

"Have you seen it? Look!" Iris' eyes were bright. Her hair, usually neatly braided, was loose and free like the postmarm's energy. "I can't believe it. I've been checking every issue of the Mill City News and for weeks there's been nothing, then this!"

"What is it?" asked Arnica.

"We won this victory," said Iris, almost breathless. "This young journalist saw the article in the Gazette last March and she's been researching and collecting data. Not only that but she got a camera and another reporter from the Mill City television station to go with her when she went to the bishop's office with her facts." Iris held up the paper. The words of the banner were clear: Friends of the Forest Outed: Bishop Denies Knowledge. "Not only that," Iris continued, her voice filled with the edge of excitement, "but the Committee of Internal Affairs, almost all old Politicos, is being forced to conduct a hearing. It's likely that a couple of the old-boy Politicos will find themselves out of Parliament before this is done."

Dark Star was very excited. She began prancing about the yard, her hooves light as a child's feet, as she danced in circles about the hawthorne.

Holly began laughing. His long months' training to learn to 'hear' Dark Star speak through the crystal orb was paying off. Sometimes he simply knew what was in the hatchling's mind! "Dark Star knows that Merrydale will have its Maypole. She's also hoping that we'll have one at the cabin just for our coven so she can dance as well."

"Hooray, hooray for the first of May," sang Lupine, already feeling the exuberance of Beltane. "We may have April showers left this month, but this is such wonderful news!"

"I must go in and call Dolorum about this," said Arnica.

"Beat you to the punch," Iris said quickly, blushing lightly. "You had just left his home when I rang him up. He feels certain that the bishop will be more than distracted in the coming weeks and plans to move forward with the children's Maypole." Iris was certain that Arnica had seen her blush. She and Dolorum were in the very early stages of discovering their attraction to each other.

Arnica acted as if he hadn't seen. The spark between them was still more apparent to others than it was to the two of them. Iris was well-known for her activism. People remembered Iris for the march to Fern Holly she organized nearing two years ago. 'Why,' Arnica thought to himself, 'I wonder if the seeds of their attraction date back to that September when Dolorum brought his congregation to join Iris' demonstration.'

"Hey, you," Iris said, poking Arnica in the shoulder. "Did you even hear what I was saying?"

"I'm so sorry. My mind was wandering." Arnica deftly covered his mind's tracks. "I was remembering the march you organized to Fern Hollow and thinking about how things have changed in the past two years. Amethyst and Crystal have moved away to Cloverville. You've become like a sister and are part of our coven. And Dolorum! Who would have thought?" Arnica quickly lowered his voice. "I knew his mother, yet not even in my dreams would I have imagined him being part of our coven. There's much magick about in Merrydale, Iris, and like it or not you have been the catalyst for it. I've often thought that the town post office is the true heart of our village."

Iris didn't know what to say. She often had trouble with compliments. She turned to Holly and Lupine, both still rolling in the grass with Dark Star. 'There was still a touch of boy in both men,' she thought to herself.

"Holly, Lupine," she called to them. "I have some things to send back to the cabin with you. Could you bring them from the back porch? And there's also a plate with some cookies—made with honey, not with refined sugar—on my kitchen table. Grab a couple for each of you."

Dark Star trotted up to Iris, snorting and whinnying like a child begging for a cookie.

"Silly hatchling," Iris laughed. "You can have all the borage flowers you want but cookies are simply not good for your diet and I love you too much to give in to your teasing." Dark Star nuzzled Iris' hands and waited for Holly and Lupine to fasten the baskets to her back for the walk back to the cabin.

The cabin is quiet, save for the occasional pop of a log in the fireplace. Dark Star is laying on the floor before the fireplace, all the ribbons from this year's Maypole attached to her horn and draped loosely around her neck like a rainbow-colored garland. His arm around her neck as well, Lupine is snuggled against her, his face smiling at some wonderful dream. Both share the same quilt which will keep them warm after the fire tires. It will not be long.

Several candles sit upon the table in the kitchen, warming the room with a gentle glow. Holly and Arnica sit on their chairs, sharing a cup of late-night tea.

"It's good to share this peace," mused Arnica. This past week had been a flurry of excitement. Pastor Dolorum's 'ecumenical Maypole' had done well. As expected, the bishop was too busy with his own travails to worry much about Merrydale. He was trying to put out a political fire on the other side of the mountains.

"I liked the way Dolorum presented the Maypole to the town," Holly offered, raising a pottery mug of chamomile and peppermint to his lips. The scent was heavenly. Nothing had been mentioned about a Maypole being an old pagan tradition. All Dolorum said or wrote was that it was 'a holiday custom your grandparents may have loved.'

"Did you hear what he said this evening before the ritual?" asked Arnica.

"No, what was it?"

"When I made a comment about the success of his project," the memory brought a smile to Arnica, "he said it was ecumenical 'more than they knew.'"

It had been a lovely evening. Their Circle was joyful this year. Jewel and Lotus left Dagon with his grandmother. Imagine! Dagon would be three years old in a couple of weeks. They looked good. Parenting brought a wonderful quality to them. Pearl had begun to teach needlework classes at the Community Center. To her surprise the classes were attracting younger, school-age women and girls. Very gently she was weaving in concepts of living in harmony with the earth, of the sacredness of all things. Pearl was a wonderful teacher and her new life was growing with beauty.

"Gino's getting older," Holly commented. Arnica nodded in agreement. Gino had grown a lot in the past three years. He was growing into a young man and looking more like his father. Learning the ritual disciplines and religious philosophies had given him many skills which carried over to school. His mother was so proud of his grades, which had so improved, as well as his growing self-confidence which gave him social skills he'd not had.

Arnica picked up a candle snuffer and handed it to Holly. "Well, I think they've done it," he said, carrying the tea mugs to the sink to rinse.

The light began to dim as Holly put the candles to rest. "They looked wonderful," he answered. As the kitchen settled into darkness, their hearts felt warmed remembering the look on Iris and Dolorum's eyes as they sat in Circle, openly holding hands. The discovery of love was a sure sign of Beltane.

Soon the cabin was quiet. Dark Star slept before the glowing embers. Did you know that a unicolt can snore? Very gently, however. It's a most magickal sound. Lupine had stirred and brought his blanket to bed where the three were sleeping in the large bed. Beltane Eve was turning into morn and everything seemed at peace with the world. Yet, on the other side of the mountains, there was trouble afoot. Merrywood was not yet safe.

XXVIII—What The Devas Said

"Look at all the apples," Holly mused. He was thinning the apples on their trees, leaving only one fruit from each cluster of blossoms.

"We have bees everywhere. Despite the difficulties in the bee populations in parts of the country and what seemed like a late start here, we've an abundance of bees. Why, there must be at least fifty on the small patch of creeping thyme by the fruit jar shed."

It was true, there were bees everywhere. Dark Star, the unicorn hatchling, seemed to enjoy them. More than once they'd seen her gently lift a bee from a flower with the tip of her horn and carry it to another bed, as if showing the buzzer additional sources of nectar. To their amazement the bees didn't mind at all and made no attempt to fly away.

"I read Lady Ellhorn's letter." Holly's voice quieted.

"It's frightening, isn't it? There are major fires throughout many of the warm climates of our planet, in all hemispheres. To think that there is so much smoke it's drifting all the way into Cloverville, over eight hundred miles to the north!" Arnica was concerned about the global changes impacting the planet's climate. "Catch…" and he tossed a handful of borage flowers in the air.

Dark Star loved this game. Nibbling at borage blooms was her favorite garden pastime. Each flower was like a cobalt-blue, five-pointed star. Perhaps the borage flower was a symbolic connection with her name? Or perhaps it was just one of those 'unicorn things.'

Holly had taken a bowl of tiny apples to the compost bin. Knowing that Dark Star was distracted by Arnica and the borage flowers, he snuck up behind her and pounced and soon Holly and Dark Star were rolling in the grass as if they were a young boy and a puppy. Arnica sat back against a tree and laughed so hard his stomach muscles began to hurt.

Just then Iris came through the gate. "What is going on here?" She was not accustomed to seeing Arnica doubled over with laughter. The very sight of the two men and their unicolt left her laughing.

Holly, breathless, said, "oh, nothing. We're just playing."

Arnica rose to his feet, giving the postmarm a warm embrace. "It's true," he said. "You should see the two of them. There's still a lot of boy in Holly."

Holly laughed and hugged Iris. "You're early, aren't you? We haven't even begun to set the outdoor circle for tonight's Midsummer's Eve ritual."

"Yes, I am," Iris answered, "but I thought you'd want to see this." She opened up the newspaper which she'd brought with her. The headline was dark and loud: Bishop Decries Earthkin, claims their destructive ways blind him to God's work.

"Let me see this," Arnica said, a tone of alarm in his voice. Iris handed him the paper and he began reading aloud. "The Bishop met with reporters late yesterday. When asked about his involvement in the now-dismantled 'Friends of the Forest,' Bishop Miter, his wife at his side, offered his explanation. Claiming the increase of non Kristos in our cities and rural areas is causing an erosion of family values, he said that he sincerely believed leaders behind the Friends of the Forest had good in their hearts. Bishop Miter called for new laws aimed at defining religious rights more closely and called for classes in religion in school. Miter claims that it was a secret pagan and homosexual agenda which eroded prayer in the classroom. Miter, his voice heavy with emotion, told us 'any politician who deserves to remain in office would make it illegal for homosexual and other sick people to worship the devil and dance around their May poles.'"

"Don't read any more," Holly said. "You told me the other week that you expected this type of backlash."

"It's absurd. Hatchitt's investigation into Kalven's death has been set aside. Instead he turned his committee of Politicos to the 'Friends of the Forest' and says he can find no wrong. And the Bishop?" Arnica's emotions were strong. There was too much injustice.

"Innocent, of course. And his church is behind him 100% and that's enough!" Iris grabbed the paper back from Arnica and stuffed it into her nap bag. "Now it's time to prepare for ritual. Look, Dark Star, I brought you a treat from town." The hatchling perked right up. Not all that interested in listening to human's politics, she was watching the butterflies and the birds in their flying dances about the gardens but now she was watching Iris intently. Dark Star loved treats. Iris reached into her bag and brought out a beautiful crown made of fresh flowers…

The coven sat around the circle in the gardens. Candles flamed at the quarters and upon the altar. Lamp beetles flew among the hawthornes, their night lights flickering on and off and on as they pursued their Midsummer mating quest.

The dance was completed, the cone of power raised and the veils separating them from the Realm of the Faerie were opened. Midsummer's Eve was when they sought visions of wisdom from the realm of the plant and forest spirits. They sat about the Circle, quiet, as each worked to further enter a deeper level of awareness. Music began to drift through the trees, as if a dance for the lamp beetles. Why, it sounded just like Wren's lute!

There was a soft intake of breath as the coven saw the lights come together forming a small sprite.

"Tonight's the night for Deva sight, we're out this night to bring you light. Messages of news I bring and Music to your hearts I sing." The little being looked quite pleased with her own rhyme. "I am the Deva of the Elfwort. Last Beltane I was crowned Queen of the Garden and it is my role to come to you and speak." The tiny, glowing wings moved quick, like those of a hummingbird as the Elfwort Deva hovered above the center of the Circle. Turning toward Arnica and Holly, as she spoke again the notes of the lute spilled out of the trees like stars in a sky. "Gentle herbal gardeners, we thank you for providing safe haven for all the Devas. Be warned: dark forces would see your gardens and woodlands taken from you."

"We do know," answered Arnica. His arm held Holly closer.

Holly loved Midsummer. It had long been one of his favorite Sabbats. "Dear Deva," he said, "we ask that you and your kindred lend your strength to our work."

The spirit did not answer Holly but moved toward the West altar where Iris and Dolorum sat next each other. "Dolorum, why have you not spoken your heart? Bind your love then prepare for the fight. She will join you" Iris blushed. Did Dolorum as well? Everyone knew what was asked by the first question. The fight? They knew the Bishop was not pleased with Pastor Dolorum's liberal views.

"You, young man," the Deva speaking to Gino now, "you must be discreet. Speak no magick outside this Circle. It would be best if your parents knew not that you were here but this cannot be. Be careful."

Gino was sitting next to Pearl, his first teacher. He pulled his robe about him, the lovely, hand-embroidered robe Pearl had sewn for him. Still a year short of his teens, Gino was a mixture of wise, young man and frolicsome boy, not always understanding how the changing political tides could impact his future and endanger his family.

Now the sprite flitted close to Jewel and Lotus, who were seated together near the South altar. "Dagon holds promise, but his future is not what you expect." Now that was a cryptic comment!

Flying quick across the circle toward the north, the Deva stopped near Lupine, seated upon the grass with his arm around Dark Star. "Lupine, you must return. You know what you have left behind and you cannot move forward until you face your past. You cannot hide any longer."

"Look!" Iris pointed up at the sky where a dazzling meteor shot like a star through the heavens. And just like that the Deva was gone and the Midsummer rite was ended.

All the ritual things were put away and the candle lanterns were hung back in the storage shed. Their friends gone, Dark Star was sitting upon the kitchen floor. She leaned her head from left to right to left to right. The circlet of flowers which Iris had sewn together slid from one side to the other. The sight of their hatchling playing filled the room with joy. And yet…

Lupine's aura had become like a cloud filled with impending rain…

"What is it, Lupine," Arnica asked with concern. Lupine had come to them last winter seeking training for the Renaissance Priesthood. Having completed his quests which sent him to Atlantikos and then to Heartland, he was well liked by those in their circle and filled a niche in their simple cabin. Lupine fit well into Arnica and Holly's family.

"I hadn't told you before. I was afraid you wouldn't accept me for study," Lupine said.

"What is it, my brother?" Holly quickly came to his dark-haired friend and put his arms around him.

"Arnica, I'm sorry. My being here has not been in Perfect Trust and the gods have brought me face to face with my karma. I must return to Heartland. I have not paid my tithing for several years and my moving about was an attempt to avoid facing my debts. I realize now that I can never have freedom if I do not embrace my responsibilities. I love being here and perhaps I can return once again, but tomorrow I will pack my things and catch the afternoon coach back to Heartland."

Arnica and Holly understood. This answered an underlying sense of unease which was becoming apparent to them. All was not right with Lupine. The Deva had spoken.

Tomorrow would be the first day of summer. The days would begin growing shorter and changes would be coming. Would the Politicos be successful in clearing the forests? Would the Earthkin lose their freedom? Tomorrow Arnica and Holly would turn to their gardens. Working among the Devas was where life made the most sense.

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