The Fairy Trek is a journey at the beginning of an era of enchantment where all the fae meet up at the Fairy Moot to consolidate their magic.
Fairies live together quite well usually since they are small and each is aligned with a different earth power, air, earth, water fire and light so overcrowding isn’t a problem.
Fairies are very much like us, some hardworking and kind, some a bit grumpy and enjoying trouble and some shy and secretive. In the world of fairies Brownies are the organisers. Our guide on the Fairy Trek is Abella, she is always cheerful, always interested in new discoveries and has a fantastic memory but she also has a special power.
Its an unusual power in that she is able to give to others the exact knowledge they need to complete a task, not only complete the task but do it to absolute perfection. This power only lasts a few hours but many a fairy’s life has been changed by a chance encounter with Abella.
Take Lapidus the Le Prechaun for example, Le Prechchauns are always on the move and Lapidus was no exception on more than one occasion he would wear huge holes in his boots and they always let the rain in. Have you ever had that experience where you only discover a hole in your shoe when one part of your foot becomes colder than the rest as the water seeps through your socks. There is a disturbing delay as your walk starts off trouble free then after a short delay the damp gets in and you start to walk in an odd and peculiar way so that you can keep the hole off the ground and out of the wet!
Anyway Lapidus was making his way home one day, not really looking where he was going and looking down staring at the path ahead as he was checking for puddles and sharp stones. Hearing a polite cough he looked up to see Abella. Both were slightly startled so to break the awkwardness Abella started a conversation after a while she asked couldn’t resit asking about why Lapidus was walking on the sides of his feet in that decidedly odd way.
Lapidus explained, slightly embarrassed that he had worn another hole in his boot, a hole that let the cold in as always.
Abella went very quiet for a while and Lapidus wondered if she had taken a nap or something, he was slightly startled when she suddenly turned to him to speak. She explained she knew of a fae she had met on her journeys who was clever enough to mend footwear but not quite good enough to make shoes. Footwear often got worn out walking over cobbles, which were annoying but necessary to avoid muddy paths. Cobbles are stones larger than pebbles but smaller than boulders lain on busy paths thing was to avoid slipping the best ones were very rough and abrasive.
At the time the fae had shown Abella a few tricks with his sharp, strong needle called an awl that could stitch a patch of leather over a wear hole in footwear, in return Abella had shown him a shortcut home that saved him hours. Abella forgot to ask him his name but whenever she told the story she called him a cobbler when recounting their meeting. During Abella’s apparent lapse of concentration she had craftily magically passed the skill and information on to Lapidus, she then as if it was the normal thing in the world asked Lapidus if he had any use for this sharp pointed needled she had acquired. Lapidus greatfully accepted as if it were the most common thing in the world to be offered by a fellow traveller, he did, however, wonder how he knew about such things.
As soon as Lapidus touched the needle he instantly knew what to do with it, within a few minutes he gathered some tough grass that he twisted and plaited into tough thread and threaded the awl with it, he used his pocket knife to cut a patch of leather from the top of his boots and neatly and precisely sewed it over the hole in the bottom.. He beamed cheerfully at Abella showing her how clever he was and Abella exclaimed he was just like the cobbler man she met once.
They parted and went their separate ways, Abella smiling inwardly and Lapidus firmly planting his now dry boots on the path ahead as he trekked home. Lapidus never forgot how to do it and he confidently repaired lots of footwear in the days to come, eventually going on to learn how to become a qualified shoe maker.