Rachel's Secret
Rachel paid her friend little attention as she talked merrily about their next stop. If she was even more than slightly aware she was not alone, she didn't let it show. Binnie thought Rachel had forgotten her and would have left if she hadn't been filled with curiosity. She listened to Rachel's constant chatter floating back to her upon the barely moving breeze among the stems of the flowers. Each step she took felt like a new discovery, a miracle, as she dodged holes large enough for a fairy to fall through them but small enough to leave paths among the forest stems around her. Small mountains and slippery hills loomed ahead of her and behind her as she wondered at her luck at having been brave enough to talk to Rachel.
Binnie had often seen the little fairy teased by others, but had never dared think that Rachel would want company or would even let her near. Her only regret was that she had not been brave enough to approach the strangely wonderful little fairy before today. Binnie thought about why today she had allowed her heart to try one more time for its most treasured desire. It hadn't really been all that different than any other day, except that Rachel had cried. She had forgotten for only a second her own fears as Rachel's tears had called to a deeper place within her. It had been her heart's unstoppable need to be compassionate that had overruled her shyness, her fear of rejection, and her own private turmoil.
Binnie, however, had never cried. She couldn't. She knew that her father's people cried, but their tears weren't magical. Her mother's people, the fairies, cried magical tears that created the rainbows after a thunderstorm. The magic of their tears were only released then because too many of the humans like her father may take notice if they were allowed to escape the special storage locket each fairy wore around their neck for such displays of magic at any other time. Humans, she knew from listening to her mother and those fairies that went to the Academy, needed reasons for everything. They thought the rain brought the rainbows, and that kept them from searching too hard for the fairies. Besides, it was only the human children that the fairies were allowed to have contact with and there were rules for that to keep the fairies safe. Human children did not always remember to be gentle and fairies were fragile.
"Wait, Binnie," Rachel rambled ahead of her, barely breathing between words, "Princess Melody is going to be so happy to meet you, but I don't know if we'll get to see the queen or not because sometimes she doesn't allow anyone into her chambers. Fred and Leroy are going to flip when they find out I have a friend and that means that Leroy is going to have to pay up on his bet because they have one going and Lucy will want to show you the special gardens, but those are really dark so you may not like them unless you can get a few of the fireflies to go with you....."
Binnie scratched her head and hurried to keep up with her excited friend. She could see the pretty glow that all fairies had when they were especially happy, but she herself couldn't do that either. She could, however make her own light. Her eyes were only black when she was in the light above the shadows and Binnie wondered how Rachel would react when she saw Binnie's own surprise. Fairies often borrowed light to see from the fireflies as their own glow prevented them from seeing anything outside its soft shimmer except that which was shown in the light of fireflies. It extended the circle and let the fairies see farther when they were consumed with delight.
Binnie's eyes sparked bright white light that shone on everything within a few feet of her when she had been in the dark too long. It was why her mother made her sleep in a separate flower than the rest of her family every night. She couldn't help it, but her eyes lit up the petals as if it were midday deep into the darkness of the night. Even when asleep, the beams of brightness escaped her closed lids and disturbed every fairy that shared her petals. As Rachel began to turn around to face her, Binnie lowered her head, hoping it would hide the growing light that had already started illuminating the garden floor.
Rachel gasped. She had felt the warmth of the sun which seldom reached the hidden corners below the surface of the garden. Because of her own glow, she hadn't seen the source. As Binnie entered her circle, she had to blink hard. It was as if the sun had come to visit. Binnie's eyes glistened brightly, casting a light that was filled with reassuring heat. Rachel watched in shocked silence as the shadows ran from the depths of the strange, yet comforting light that seemed to be coming from her new friend's eyes.
"Binnie," Rachel finally choked out. "What is that in your eyes?"
Binnie swallowed hard. She didn't know what to tell Rachel, but she was afraid the truth would destroy her newfound exhilaration at having someone to share her long, lonely days. She was even more afraid of lying, though, as her words could come back to haunt her should Rachel ever find out.
"It's like your glow, is all," Binnie whispered as her cheeks began to burn with embarrassment. "but it doesn't mean I'm happy like yours does. It just happens when it's dark. I'm sorry, Rachel, I can't turn it off like you do your glow when your mood changes."
Binnie hung her head and tried to brace herself for what she knew would be coming. Her eyes, more than anything else that was different about her, had always caused the most brutal of the teasing. She only hoped that Rachel would still be willing to show her the way back to her home. If not, Binnie doubted she would be able to on her own.
"You're gonna love the tunnels then! Oh and I guess the garden won't scare you either because you can just light it up, and think of how easy you'll be able to see my friends because they live in the tunnels and..." Rachel rambled cheerfully, thankful that her friend was not becoming ill as she had feared. She had no idea what she would do if Binnie became too ill to follow her back and the revelation of the meaning of her shining eyes came as a relief. Rachel had already began thinking of whom to ask for help that wouldn't scare Binnie as much as some of her ground friends might.
Binnie glanced at Rachel, careful not to meet her eyes so that her light wouldn't hurt Rachel, and unsure if her ears were working correctly. No one had ever reacted to her strangeness the way that Rachel had and she didn't know if she could fully trust in what she thought was said. However, the little fairy was glowing even brighter than before, and the truth of her words was evident through the brightness that now surrounded both of them. She allowed Rachel to grasp her hand tightly and lead her up the steep side of a large hill among the flower stems before stopping at the crater at its top. Binnie gazed into its endless darkness and wondered why Rachel would want to go in even as Rachel began pulling Binnie closer to the edge.
"Wait until you meet the queen! She's always so nice when I'm here and she has the best stories and the most wonderful adventures and everything!" Rachel exclaimed as she and Binnie began sliding down the deep crevice. "INCOMING!" she shouted as they slid through bouts of bubbling laughter.
After what seemed an eternity, both fairies plopped down upon the end of the landing and stood shakily. Rachel's giggles escaped easily, but Binnie felt her skin tingle as her eyes lit the place they had ended up. Illuminating brightness didn't help when there were passageways everywhere and none looked any different than another. As Binnie slowly spun in a full circle to get a better view of their surroundings, she lost track of the tunnel that they had come down. Even it had disappeared in the midst of so many similar ones. She shot her eyes toward Rachel and wondered how she could be so calm when surely they were thoroughly lost and would never see the warm sunlight again.
"I wonder where everyone is," Rachel said uneasily. She had never been inside the ant's colony when it was so empty. She strained her ears, but no sound found its way through the tunnels toward her. Rachel turned around, straining to find any movement, but not even the soil walls shifted. It was the first time that Rachel had ever felt any fear inside the underground maze and she began to worry about her friends. Grabbing Binnie's hand, she started down the middle tunnel, knowing the only place she might find answers lay at the end of it.
Binnie watched her friend fall silent and her glow disappear completely. As Rachel's shimmering happiness faded, Binnie worried more but she didn't resist when Rachel wanted to go deeper into the abyss. She no longer knew her way out and only hoped that Rachel did. She didn't want to die deep in the heart of the earth away from everything she had ever known.
Along the path, Rachel and Binnie passed many rooms. Some held stored food and others small mounds of dirt that had been crafted into chairs and tables. Tiny mushroom cups hung from racks in one of the rooms to the right and it was larger than any of the other rooms they had encountered thus far. Rachel pulled Binnie into the room and felt her heart drop. Something had happened, she was sure of it. Plates of the special fungi salad that her friends were fond of still sat untouched on tables and mushroom cups were scattered carelessly, some tipped, some still full. In the pit of her stomach, Rachel knew that the ants would never have left in the middle of dinner if it hadn't been an emergency. Her mind raced to thoughts of the queen, who Rachel knew could not move like the other ants. She wondered if her favorite in the ant kingdom were well and decided that no more time could be wasted looking into empty room after empty room for clues as to where her friends had gone. She had to see the queen, had to make sure that the mother of all ants was not suffering or worse without her servant daughters.
Rachel didn't even let her disturbing thoughts turn to Princess Eva. The queen had already told her that her time was near. She had ruled the mighty colony for almost thirteen years and everyone was depending on Princess Eva to replace the queen over the next two years. The young ant had been being prepared for the task and was already treated like a queen among her mother's faithful servants. They would only go to slightly less drastic measures to protect Eva and only then if the queen needed them more. Rachel thought Princess Eva was the most beautiful ant with her glistening, translucent wings and perfectly sculpted shape. But, it was Princess Eva's kindness that she valued above all else.
It had been Princess Eva who had first taken Rachel into the ant tunnels after finding her crying with a torn wing on one of her very first trips below the colorful flowers. Rachel hadn't made friends with the other creatures yet and although she sensed they felt badly for her, only Princess Eva dared to bridge the grip of fear and offer friendship. Then, she had offered to take her to someone who could help heal her torn wing. Rachel never thought of refusing, sure that such a compassionate creature as Princess Eva would take her to no harm. She hadn't even known that the princess was an ant, didn't fully understand that she was a princess at all and that not all ants had wings. Rachel had just assumed that Princess Eva was a different kind of fairy as she had told Rachel of having once torn her own wing while playing and that her mother had known how to fix it. She had been sure that her mother could also mend Rachel's injured wing.
Binnie followed faithfully as Rachel led her deeper into the cavern, expecting to see light at any time announcing their arrival at the exit. Instead, when Rachel finally stopped her frantic pace, Binnie's hand flew to her mouth to suppress a scream as her eyes drank in the monstrous sight before her. A huge blob of moving, quivering flesh lay upon a bed of soft algae-like materials. Across the massive width of the creature ran a few ants, stopping to groom the heap with a vigor that Binnie could not understand. As her stomach churned, she closed her eyes to get away from the awful image.
Rachel, having no such reactions and in fact thinking of the beast as beautiful, approached the head of the bed and curtsied low, staying on one knee as she spoke.
"My Queen, where is everyone? Why are you left with so few and where is Princess Eva?"
The queen sighed heavily, birthing still more daughters as she thought of how to answer such an innocent question from a fairy she knew was little more than a baby. For a long moment, she said nothing, postponing her message of despair as she alone understood the grave condition of her colony. The only thing she had succeeded in doing since the events that began late in the evening the day before was mourning the loss of her powerful kingdom. Her precious Eva had been kidnapped. She had immediately sent nearly every member of her army to find her and bring her home, but with less care, her time was diminishing quickly. She doubted the newly birthed reinforcements would ever have the chance to grow past their larva-hood and she had no doubt that her colony would fall prey to death as there was not a princess left to save them.
"I didn't expect them gone so long," she whispered weakly. "Rachel, dear child, promise me you will never forget the things I have taught you, the lessons that you have learned, and the wisdom behind your kindness."
"Of course I won't!" cried Rachel. "And I'll learn all that you will teach me."
"Dear girl," the queen hoarsely croaked, "there will be no more lessons. The princess is gone, my army is gone, and I will not remain much longer. There is only one thing that can save us now, but I haven't the ants to send. Dear Rachel, soon there will be no hill of my name."
The queen told the girls all that she knew. Princess Eva, often bored with life as a pampered ant, had decided to play above the protection of the anthill. A team of aphids had stolen her away, aided by the grasshoppers. A ransom had arrived seconds later and alarms sounded, the search began. The queen had heard that she was being held in an aphid prison deep inside the garden. She could tell the girls nothing else other than the ransom had guaranteed the princess's release in exchange for the ant's protection against their enemies, the beetles. However, as she hadn't heard from any member of her colony in hours, the queen had come to the realization that they were gone, probably lost to war as was her royal daughter.
When she finished, Rachel asked quietly, "What is the one hope that is left, Dear Queen?"
"I need messengers to deliver a note to the beetles. They are the only ones able to stop what fate has already set in motion, but I have no one left to send."
"We'll deliver your message, My Queen. We'll go for the beetles." Rachel confidently stated, remembering all of the kindnesses she had received in this very chamber when she had needed it most. She thought it the least she could do.
"Very well," said the queen, sizing the girls up and making what she believed would be her last decision. "But, you must hurry, before it's too late if it isn't already."
With that, the queen hastily gave the girls her urgent message and Rachel flew, dragging Binnie behind her, toward the exit of the underground sanctuary.
