Chapter 1 - The Cave & The Caddy
We weren’t criminals; we was in love. Not that it made a lick of difference to folks, ‘specially not Daisy’s parents. They didn’t take kindly to her runnin’ ‘round with me. Said I was nothin’ but a no-good scoundrel, just like my daddy. They figured it was only a matter of time ‘fore I ended up in jail like him or worse.
I tried explainin’ to ‘em that I was different, that I wasn’t my old man, but they didn’t wanna hear it. Eventually, they flat-out forbid her from seein’ me. Funny thing is, if they hadn’t tried so hard to keep us apart, I probably wouldn’t’ve done what I did. And she wouldn’t have neither.
On prom night, Daisy snuck out and stole her daddy’s prized red convertible—a 1961 Cadillac, cherry red, he always kept it shiny as a new penny. It was a car you could spot from a mile off. They’d taken her car away last time she’d slipped off to see me, so she didn’t have too many options. When her daddy realized both his girl and his car were gone, he went and told the law I’d kidnapped her and swiped the Caddy.
No one’d ever believe I’d tried tellin’ Daisy not to come, not to steal that car. But that girl, she was wild and free. You couldn’t make her do nothin’ she didn’t wanna do, and that’s just one of the reasons I loved her. She had this spark, see, a fire that wasn’t about to get dimmed for nobody.
“I don’t want a future without you in it, Duke,” she had said, her voice soft but sure. As much as I wanted that too, I worried she was just too good for me, that someday she’d see things her parents’ way. But whenever I’d fret over that, she’d just stroke my hair, lookin’ at me like I was the only thing that mattered.
So, when she pulled up that night in her daddy’s Cadillac and looked me dead in eye and said, “Let’s get outta here, Duke. Run away with me,” I couldn’t say no.
“But where will we go?” I wondered.
“I know a secret place.” She said, smilin’ at me.
And, hell, I went.
---
The drive that night was somethin’ out of a dream. We tore off down back roads, the cops’ sirens blarin’ in the distance. I didn’t know where we were headin’, but Daisy did. She was navigatin’ by some ol’ map she’d found in the glovebox, tellin’ me where to turn till we finally got to this thick woods, where even the dirt roads ran out.
“Keep goin’,” she urged, even as the Caddy’s wheels bumped along the rough earth. Soon enough, we found ourselves at the mouth of a cave.
“A cave, Daisy?” I asked, feelin’ a bit underwhelmed.
“You’ll see, Duke,” she whispered, her eyes shinin’ like the stars above. And I’ll be damned if I didn’t.
We drove right on in, but the headlights didn’t do a lick of good. The dark swallowed ‘em up, like we’d driven straight into a black hole. The deeper we went, the stranger it felt, like we was driftin’ through some thick fog you couldn’t see, hear, or feel—just pure, unsettlin’ black. I did my best to hold the wheel steady, but my stach was doin’ backflips, and I was wonderin’ if I was turnin’ in circles, but Daisy just kept her gaze ahead, eyes wide as if she was lookin’ at somethin’ beautiful, while all I saw was dark. For what felt like forever, I drove on straight ahead, losing all sense of direction or time.
Just when I thought I might go crazy from the dark, we saw a flicker of light. And, as we came out the other side, there in the purple sky, we saw it—big ol’ dragon with a tail long as a river and wings spread wide, glidin’ away. Far ahead, there stood a castle perched on a distant mountain, high and regal against a deep purple sky. Around us, the woods were covered in trees with leaves not green but blue, bright as a new morning. Flowers of yellows and strange reds bloomed from vines that wrapped themselves around the trunks, and fireflies danced among the branches, glimmerin’ like stars close enough to touch.
“Daisy…” I whispered, feelin’ like I was talkin’ in a dream.
She took my hand, squeezin’ it, her smile wide. “See, Duke? Ain’t it somethin’?”
“I'd say, but what is this place? What are we we doing here?”
“Lookin’ for somewhere we can be free.”
—
We drove on, the tires rollin’ along a dirt road that cut through the blue forest. Every now and then, I’d stop the car for Daisy to jump out and pick one of the strange flowers. She sketched it up in her little notebook she kept in her purse, tryin’ to make sense of all the new things. She was real artistic.
And me, I didn’t know nothing about flowers. Couldn’t tell daisies from daffodils. So I just watched her, feelin’ a peace I hadn’t known before, knowing no one, no police, no parents, no law could keep us apart. I didn’t much care what we did, so long as we were together. I could drive her around forever if she wanted, just picking flowers.
But before too long, as we was drivin’ along, we heard the rumblin’ of wheels and hammerin’ of hooves at a fork in the road up ahead—knights on horses, travelin’ with a big ol’ carriage and starin’ at us like we were ghosts.
“Who goes there?” one of ‘em called out.
I cleared my throat. “Name’s Duke. And this here’s Daisy.”
They looked at each other, clearly unsure what to make of us. “Are y’all… wizards?”
Daisy and I looked at each other and shrugged. “Sure,” I replied. “You could say that.”
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Their captain looked wary. “Well, what’s yer business on the king’s road?”
“Pickin’ flowers,” Daisy chimed in, as sweet as pie. That answer got them grumblin’ and lookin’ at each other and at us, a familiar look. People had looked at me like that my whole life. Like I was some kind of criminal for just existing.
“Y’all know it’s forbidden to pick flowers in the King’s Wood, don’t ya?”
There it was again. Forbidden. Everywhere we turned, some rule or law tryin’ to tell us what we could or couldn’t do. I felt the familiar burn of rebellion risin’ in my chest.
“Yes, sir,” I shot back, “and ain’t it just a shame.”
That didn’t go over too well. The knights put their hands on their swords, lookin’ ready to start somethin’ when Daisy stepped in, charm drippin’ from her voice.
“We just didn’t know we was in the King’s Wood,” she said, sugarin’ ‘em up, “besides, what kind of king forbids travelin’ his roads and pickin’ flowers?”
“You insult the king in the face of the king’s guard? You must be very sure of your powers, witch!”
“The king’s in there?” She asked.
“Who else?” The knight scoffed.
“Can we meet him?” Daisy asked, to my surprise. God damn, she could be bold.
One of ‘em was just openin’ his mouth to say somethin’ when a voice came from the carriage and out stepped the king himself, dressed to the nines, real spiffy. Big puffy hat with a crown jammed on top of it. Long cape like he stole the red carpet. Long hair and bags under his eyes, which were ignorin’ us, mostly, but he sure was eyein’ the Cadillac, like it was somethin’ from another world. Like he was seein’ god.
“Now, there’s a fine carriage,” he said, his gaze fixated on the Caddy’s gleamin’ paint. “I’ve never seen anything’ like it. Is it– magic?”
I nodded, “S’pose so.” might as well be, far as he knew.
“How does it move without horses?”
“It’s got a magical heart, called an engine, pumpin’ the blood of the earth through its veins.” Daisy explained as best she could, in a way she thought he might understand.
But I guessed it just sounded like witch talk to these folk who had never seen its like.
“Does it go very fast?” The king wanted to know.
“Real fast” I assured him, gloatin’ a little and enjoyin’ it, “fast as a dragon, it’s got 1000 horsepower.”
“Could you kindly summon one for me?” he asked.
“No,” I said too quickly, which seemed to agitate them, so I added quickly, “it takes many hundreds of specially trained wizards to make such a carriage. It’s really one of a kind.”
“I see,” he said, lookin’ real disappointed. He pondered for a minute, pacin’ around the Caddy in a semi-circle, eyein’ it like he was at a car lot.
Then he looked at me, flashing a big smile, “How much do you want for it?” The question took me by surprise.
I looked at Daisy. She shook her head.
“Ain’t for sale,” I said, hopin’ that’d be the end of it.
The king’s smile faded, and he narrowed his eyes. “Are you refusin’ yer king?”
This was a dangerous question. Couldn’t say no, ‘cuz then I’d have to sell him the Caddy. Couldn’t say yes, ‘cuz I got the distinct impression sayin no to the king was a no-no, and if I did, I’d soon be down on the ground with humpty dumpty, cut to pieces, and all the king’s men wouldn’t put me together again. What a pickle. Lucky, Daisy always knew just what to say.
“It’s no use to you.” She said, “it needs– magic to keep it running.”
So, you see, we weren’t really refusing him the way she explained it, we was looking out for him is all.
“That’s no matter he said. I have many wizards back at my castle.”
“Not like us, I’m afraid. Only specially trained wizards like us can dribe this carriage.”
“What if I hired you?” He asked, relentless.
“We aren’t for sale either.” I said, soundin’ insulted.
“I’d pay you well, I always have need of powerful wizards.” He tried flattering.
“Sorry,” I said, “not lookin’ fer work. We’re just passin’ through.”
“Ah, well…” He said, nodding, finally relenting, “... so be it. I tried.” Then he turned to his knights and said, “Kill them! seize the carriage!”
The knights drew their swords, and charged forward on their horses, but Daisy was ready.
While the king and I were jabberin’ she had opened up the glovebox and found her daddy’s pistol.
When the closest knight raised his sword to cut me down, she whipped out her daddy’s handgun and fired a shot that echoed through the forest, droppin’ that knights where he stood. Everyone froze like they was starin’ straight at medusa herself.
“Back off!” Daisy yelled, pointin’ the gun at the king. “Or the next one goes through his head.”
---
The king’s guards backed up, and Daisy, cool as a cucumber, ordered me to check the carriage.
“Why?” I asked, still a little shocked at how quick the situation was escalatin’.
“Do it!” She shouted at me, she was not messin’ around.
“Yes, m’am.” I answered, knowin’ better’n to argue with a woman like daisy while she was holdin’ a pistol, and so did the king and his knights. They saw the fire in her eyes.
That’s why they gave me a wide berth as I walked to the carriage, climbed the single step to reach up, and swung the carriage door open.
I stuck my head inside, and found somethin’ I wasn’t expectin’—a young girl, ‘bout our age.
She looked at me like I was the devil himself.
“Daisy– there’s someone in here…”
“Pull ‘em out.”
I did like she told me to, offerin” my hand to the girl in the carriage. For a hot second I thought she wasn’t goin’ to take it, and she was goin’ to make me drag her out the carriage kickin’ and screamin’.
But, to my surprise, after a moment of deep contemplation, she sighed and took my hand.
“Who is it?” Daisy asked when she saw the girl exit the carriage.
The king’s face was expressionless. “That’s my daughter, the princess.”
Daisy’s eyes sparked with a plan. “Well then, we’re takin’ her with us. And if y’all so much as follow us, we’ll drag her body behind this here car until our wheels fall off. Am I makin’ myself clear?”
The King didn’t react. He didn’t nod. He said nothing. But she knew that he heard her.
“Take her.” She said, “Let’s go.”
And with that, we hightailed it outta there, leavin’ the king and his men in the dust as we sped off in our Cadillac carriage on the king’s road into the unknown. Where it’d lead us, we didn’t know. But as long as I had Daisy, I didn’t care.
***
“Is he dead, Sir Crysteffor?
“He is, yer majesty. The metal wand they carried made a hole in the breastplate, it went straight through his heart. Black magic of some kind, I fear. But not like any I’ve ever seen.”
The king smiled, clearly unconcerned with the death of his knight.
“Take half the men. Follow them.”
“What about the princess, yer majesty?”
“I want that carriage.”