When we last left Olivia she had just discovered that her winged necklace was an exact match to the mysterious carvings in the shutters of her home. When Olivia held up the necklace to show both Music and Ralph how the gold wing matched the carvings, the shutters shook and then suddenly came loose, carrying Olivia off. After twirling and twisting through a spinning tunnel, she landed on her feet in front of an elf named Darius, an Elder of Fifty-Fifty Land, a place where Chosen Ones go for a day or two to be taught helpful lessons about how to be a Chosen One. Olivia partners with an elfin girl named Willa who helps Olivia to understand her true calling and the importance of being a Chosen One. Meanwhile the Evil Vole King Teivel is making plans to attack the school with his huge army of evil minions. He wants to gain the land the school sits on so he can increase the size of his Kingdom of Evil in hopes of ruling all evil. Mischievous twin brothers Colin and Riley McPatrick are students at the school who hear of the Evil Vole's intentions and take it upon themselves to spy on the Voles in hopes of getting valuable information for the leaders of the school, but instead find themselves being captured. Read as Olivia and Willa - helped by Olivia's faithful dog Ralph, her charming cat Music, and her steadfast horse The General - take on the adventure of rescuing the McPatrick boys.
The Skeleton Leaf Stories
Behind the ShuttersBy Jane Boatwright-CookAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2012 Jane Boatwright-Cook
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4772-1347-6Contents
Chapter One The New Arrivals................................1Chapter Two The Makings of an Evil Plan.....................36Chapter Three Bad News Arrives..............................51Chapter Four McPatrick Boy's................................67Chapter Five Music's Big Idea...............................79Chapter Six Back To School..................................93Chapter Seven Home Sweet Home...............................104
Chapter One
The New Arrivals
"Oh-Oh! Already? Olivia Anne Maitland, what or where are you heading to now? What am I to fight now?" As I was being lifted and tossed around in a wind tunnel, these thoughts entered my head along with a few others. Suddenly, swoosh! I had landed on my feet in front of an older looking elf. Much to my surprise, he knew my name.
"Well, hello Miss Maitland! What a pleasant surprise to have you here. We were not expecting you for another year. You must be a clever one indeed to figure out how to get here already. Well done, young lady! My name is Darius, and I am one of the Elders here in Fifty-Fifty Land. I hope you enjoy your stay with us."
"It is nice to meet you too sir," Although my head was still spinning, I squeaked out my answer, wondering how long this dizziness would last?
As Darius continued, speaking to each of the new arrivals, I found myself getting lost in the beauty of Fifty-Fifty Land. I looked around and could see a panorama of beautiful lush green hillsides with very large trees. The leaves on the trees were brightly colored which made the hillside twinkle up as though by tiny lights. Also here and there, dotting the hillsides, were mushroom-shaped homes with beautiful flower beds surrounding each one. Colorful birds were flying and singing around me. The birds seemed to match the beautiful colors of the tree leaves. There were flower-lined paths leading to the many different areas around this Fifty-Fifty Land. I felt like I was in a beautiful landscape picture you might see in a fairytale book.
After taking in the view, I realized I was so busy looking around that I wasn't listening to Darius, so I quickly turned my attention back to him and began to focus on his welcoming speech. I heard him explaining why we were here and what to expect in the next few days.
"... Because there are many faces attached to Evil, we won't have the time to teach you the behaviors of them all, but we will explain those you are most certain to see in your time of being a Chosen One. You also will learn some helpful hints with Spielings and Glangers. Also some Fighting Moves and Healing Herbs for your job as a Chosen One. Because this will take two or three days of classes depending upon your needs, we have accommodations for you while you are here. Are there any questions?"
No hands went up, and so Darius continued: "Let us not dawdle. Follow me. I will point you to your new temporary lodging." Darius began walking. We all stared at each other and then one by one followed Darius up the flowered path.
I did have questions, many questions, but decided to wait to ask them later since no one else seemed to have any questions needing answers. I also did not know if I should have explained to Darius that it was just by chance that I was here and not so much of being a "clever girl." I was simply excited to see that the design on the shutter on my house matched the design on my winged necklace, and I never dreamed that together they would bring me here. Then I started thinking that perhaps it was after all a little clever of me to notice the match of my wing and the shutter ...
But where is Fifty-Fifty Land, and what exactly does the name mean? And what are the Spielings and Glangers that Darius was talking about? The last thing I remember before being swept here was wanting to show my cat Music and my dog Ralph what I had discovered.... Oh no! Ralph and Music! They must be wondering where I am. And what about Mother and Father and anyone else who might notice that I'm gone. Will they panic, wondering what happened to me? I did not want to scare my family by my disappearance. How could I get word to my mother? Then I remembered what Mother had said about Nature correcting itself by re-setting time upon my return. That made me feel a little better about being here. I decided to let the thought go and focus more on where I was and why I was here. Besides there really wasn't anything I could do now since I was here — wherever "here" was.
As we all walked up the flower-lined paths toward our huts, younger and older children were running around laughing. It looked like they were playing a game of tag. While we all were still following Darius, I glanced at them and noticed that some of the children were elfin looking, some were animal looking, and others were children that looked similar to me. I saw fairies flying around laughing, and I wondered if any of them did what I did to get here – or did someone have to show them how to use the shutters. We got closer to the small huts when a young elf girl came up and starting walking with me.
"Hi. My name is Wilhelmina, but everyone calls me Willa. Your name is Olivia, right?"
"Yes, my name is Olivia," I answered with a smile.
Willa's voice was very childlike. "You're a human child and the first one I have ever gotten to be partnered with at school," Willa announced with great enthusiasm.
"You have been here before?" I asked.
Willa said, "Yes, my sister and I come to help when a larger than normal batch of new arrivals come. It seems each year more and more people show up. Oddly it must mean that Evil is growing too. This is my fifth year helping out."
"So I am the first human you have been a partner with? Well, I have to say I have met a fairy before, but not an elf."
Willa giggled and said, "Yes, you have – you have met me silly."
Willa's face just lit up to her own joke. I could not help but giggle with her over such a bad joke since her little giggle alone made me want to giggle too.
Willa came to my shoulder, with long shiny brown hair that hung down to her waist. Her eyes were a lavender color and sparkled as she spoke. Her clothes were pretty and colorful: A bright green sweater and blue pants with embroidery flowers along the bottom of each leg. She had a soft, warm, gentle smile that seemed to never leave her face even while she was talking. When she tucked her hair behind her ears, I noticed that her ears had a slight point to them. Willa was about the same age as me, or so I thought until I started doing the math.
"Willa, you were only five when you first came here?"
"No, I am twenty years old today. We elves age differently than you humans do."
"Oh! Well then, how old were you when you found out you were a Chosen One?'
"Most elves are born to help with the fight against Evil. Unfortunately some do choose to join Evil, but to answer your question, I guess you could say all my life."
"Willa," I continued, "Darius mentioned learning Spielings and Glangers – what are those?"
A deep, thoughtful came upon Willa's face, and she finally answered, "Ummm, I think in your world you might call them chants and mixtures or potions, something like that. Spielings and Glangers are elfin words."
"Oh, okay. I will have to remember that. I like using new words ... Wait! My world? Where the heck are we, anyway?"
Willa was just beginning to tell me...
