Holly’s gaze was drawn to movement outside of the barn window, a shadowy mass moving down the path through the trees. She perked up when she realized the massive shape was that of a wagon. It wasn’t coming from Sagewood, but from the north, where the others had gone. Could it be them returning? Had they stolen the wagon from the Baron?

She tilted her head as she scrutinized the wagon. It looked familiar, though she couldn’t explain why. She strained her magical senses to feel for any auras, something that had never been easy for her. There was a familiar aura aboard the wagon—not as strong as a sprite’s, but stronger than a human’s. It couldn’t be Melvin the wizard, so who was it?

“Clay, can you sense that?” Holly asked, not tearing her eyes from the approaching wagon. Clay looked up from the job Holly had given him—detangling Bessie’s hair. Ivy had given Holly that job before they’d left, but Holly had expertly delegated it to Clay and Flint. Ivy would have been proud of her leadership skills.

“No, I don’t sense anything,” Clay said, drawing his eyebrows together as he worked on the tangles Bessie had accumulated during her pasture time that day. He gave Holly a frustrated look. “Holly, this is really hard to do with one hand.”

“I can sense it,” Flint said. “I feel like I recognize that aura as well. Who is it?” He gave a sympathetic glance to Clay as he struggled to detangle the cow’s thick copper-colored hair.

Holly focused on the aura again. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew this person but hadn’t been around them recently. Whoever it was, it was worth investigating.

“You two keep working, I’m going to go check it out,” she said, but before she could leave, Flint stopped her.

“Holly, we've been at this for forever, and I was supposed to meet Fern an hour ago—”

Holly silenced him with a glare. “Then you’d better speed things up, huh? Wouldn’t want to leave your precious Ferny waiting up for you.”

Flint fell silent as his ears turned bright red. Holly smiled with satisfaction as she slipped out the back door of the barn. “Many hands make light work, or whatever,” she called back to the two sprite boys.

“But we only have three hands between the two of us,” she heard Clay say to Flint as she slipped out into the evening.

Stealthily, Holly made her way up to the farmhouse porch, sticking to the shadows to remain unseen by the owner of the familiar aura. She saw the wagon belonging to the archeologists trudging down the path to Sagewood. They’d stuck around for a few hours to help with the chores only humans could do, occasionally asking questions about sprites. Woods had told the sprites to only give the bare minimum when it came to answering their questions. When it had started to get dark, they’d packed up their things and left, promising to return tomorrow morning to help.

Holly watched as the wagon stopped in front of the farmhouse. A hooded figure slid off the driver’s seat, mumbling something to the horse that pulled the wagon. Holly narrowed her eyes, trying to determine who it was that would be coming to the farm at such a late hour.

As the figure turned to the farmhouse, Holly recognized the long locks of dark wavy hair cascading from under the hood, the plain blue dress and thick dark eyelashes rimming two iridescent blue eyes that reflected the rising moon’s light. It was her. Leia Rockborn. The elf girl who had broken Matt’s heart last season, leaving him like a love-sick puppy.

Holly crinkled her nose in disgust at the mere sight of the unwelcome visitor, but her quick mind was already spinning with devious ideas. She scurried back to the barn, careful to avoid being seen by Leia.

Holly entered the barn, moving quickly to tell Flint and Clay of her plans for the unwelcome visitor. Coal, the southern sprite, had joined Flint and Clay, helping brush out Bessie’s tangled hair. Coal worked alongside the others, not saying anything as usual. Holly wasn’t sure if he couldn’t talk, like Maple, or if he was just quiet. Either way, she liked that quality in a sprite.

“Holly, look! We got more hands to help with Bessie! Now we’re up to five!” Clay beamed at her.

She returned his smile with her own impish grin.

Flint noticed her predatory smile and ran a hand over his face. “Oh no,” he muttered to himself.

Holly ignored him. “Forget Bessie. What do you boys say we take a break to play a little prank?”

The three sprites looked at her, each with varying degrees of anticipation in their eyes.

“On who?” Clay asked hesitantly.

“Only the girl who broke Matt’s heart last season. Leia Rockborn.”

Flint, Clay and Coal all exchanged uncertain glances. Before they could interrupt, Holly spoke up again. “We’re going to need a few buckets of water from the well, and the beehive that’s in the forest just west of here.”

“Do we even know why she’s here?” Flint asked, looking concerned.

Before Holly could answer him, Clay spoke up again. “That seems mean,” he began, drawing his brows together. “Matt would be upset if we did something like that—”

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Holly laughed, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “She broke Matt’s heart, Clay. We can’t just let that slide.”

“But what if she’s coming back to say sorry—”

“It doesn’t matter, Clay. Are you going to help us or not?”

***

Leia knocked on the door to Matt’s farmhouse. Her heart had sunk when she crested the hill that overlooked his farm, noticing the windows of the farmhouse were dark. She’d had an inkling that maybe Matt was away, as his sprite friends were away as well, but Matt hadn’t been with them, and they’d disappeared too quickly after saving her for her to ask any questions.

She couldn’t fathom why the sprites would be away from the farm, though she was grateful they’d stepped in when they had. She hoped Matt was safe, as he didn’t look like he was home at the moment.

Still, she’d come all this way, maybe he was just sleeping and the sprites being off the farm was completely unrelated. Surely, he wouldn’t be mad at her if she woke him from his slumber. It was barely dusk, after all, and she’d travelled many miles to see him. A small smile graced her lips as she thought of Matt. If she did wake him, she’d be sure to make it up to him.

Leia hesitated as she raised her hand to knock on the farmhouse door, her heart pounding as she summoned the courage. She knocked three times, her hand shaking as she did so. As she waited for a response, her mind raced with memories from winter. She wondered if Matt harbored any resentment toward her for how their relationship had ended. Rather, how she’d ended it. How she’d abruptly left with little explanation and even less time for a proper goodbye. She’d been a fool, and she knew it. But she couldn't help it—she needed to see what was outside of Sagewood. It had always been her dream to live in a big city. Now, as she stood there waiting, she hoped Matt would give her a chance to explain herself. A chance to tell him that while she’d been out seeing the city, her thoughts had only been on him, and how much she’d missed him during her time away.

Leia’s heart sank with each passing moment, the weight of disappointment settling heavily upon her shoulders. She knocked once more, harder this time. No one answered.

She turned to leave, but her gaze caught a flicker of light from the barn. It seemed a candle had been lit inside one of the rooms, casting an orange glow through one of the windows. Had it been lit before, as she’d pulled up to the farm? She searched her memory but came up blank. Still, curiosity and a small glimmer of hope pulled her toward the barn, and she opened the door, peering inside the dimly lit space. A cow mooed softly from one of the back stalls, one she couldn’t see. There was a soft whinny, suggesting a horse occupied one of the back stalls as well.

“Matt? Are you in here?”

There was no answer, so she pressed on, stepping into the barn and shutting the door behind her.

Leia’s heart raced as she walked deeper into the building, the shadows of the dimly lit space dancing along wooden walls. The stalls on either side of her were empty, so Matt must’ve just had the one or two animals in the back. She heard the occasional rustling of hay from the hayloft but shrugged it off as the sound went away. A faint glow of candlelight spilled from a slightly ajar door on the far wall where the stalls ended.

“Matt?” she said, this time slightly louder. Again, there was no answer. Leia began to feel a sense of unease, wondering if she should turn back and try to find him tomorrow. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to just take a quick peek into the room. She stepped forward, cautiously opening the door only to find the room empty, a solitary candle flickering in the darkness. She lingered in the doorway, trying to make sense of the strange scene.

“Well, no wonder his other barn burned down last year….” She trailed off as a slight breeze blew the candle out, leaving her and the rest of the barn in complete darkness. She was indoors, so where would the breeze have come from?

Suddenly, something cold and wet splashed over her, drenching her from head to foot, as if someone had poured a bucket of icy water from the rafters above. Leia screamed and took a step backwards, slamming the door to the supply room closed behind her. As she stepped back out into the line of stalls, she felt her boot slip on something sticky. She fell backwards, her hands and back of her dress quickly coated in the stuff. She brought her hand close to her face, rubbing her fingers together to try and determine what it was.

“What the—is this… honey?” She fumbled in the darkness, trying to stand. The once-stable ground beneath her feet had transformed into a sticky trap, coated with a thick layer of honey. She struggled to maintain her balance, but the gooey substance sent her careening wildly around the barn. She was thoroughly soaked, covered head to toe in a mixture of water and honey, struggling to find the door that led out of the barn. The cow mooed from the back stall again, this time sounding more concerned.

As she tried to regain solid footing, Leia couldn’t help but wonder if this was some sort of twisted prank. But who would do something like this? And where was Matt?

She reached for the doorknob, her honey covered fingers slipping against the cool metal until she managed to turn it. The door swung open, the light of the moon spilling into the darkened barn.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the evening, she saw a red-haired sprite standing a few paces from the doorway. The sprite’s arms were crossed in front of her, and a smug grin played across her face. As Leia met the sprite’s mischievous, ruby red eyes, she recalled when they’d met before. This sprite was one of Matt’s friends.

“That’s for breaking Matt’s heart,” the sprite said, uncrossing her arms and snapping her fingers. Another bucket of ice-cold water poured down from the rafters, drenching Leia again. She yelped, stumbling out of the doorway and into the coming night.

The evil sprite’s grin widened. “And that’s for daring to show your face around here again.”

Leia glared down at the sprite, her wet hair plastered to her forehead and her clothes soaked through to the skin. Though it wasn’t a particularly cold night, a shiver went through her.

Leia turned, not bothering to respond to the sprite. With as much dignity as she could muster while soaked and coated in honey, she climbed aboard her wagon and whipped the reigns, turning the horse drawn wagon toward the path to Sagewood.

“Leia?”

She screamed when she realized that she was not alone on the driver’s bench. The sprite held up a single hand in a placating gesture, his eyes wide as she turned on him.

“Wait—I’m not going to hurt you—I… I’m sorry for what the others did. I told them not to….” The sprite looked like he was about to cry as he continued. “I know Matt wouldn’t have let them do that to you if he was here.”

Leia paused, putting her anger aside briefly. She recognized this sprite as well from the same time she’d met the other, more terrible red-haired sprite. But he looked different. She distinctly remembered him having two arms. What had happened to him? She pushed those thoughts away, turning her mind back to the reason she’d come to the farm. “Where’s Matt? Why isn’t he here?”

The sprite looked up at her, worry plain on his face. “The others went to go rescue him from the Baron. He was kidnapped.” His shoulders slumped. “I’m really worried about him, they left a while ago and aren’t back yet.”