Autumn woke up in her bed. The curtains were closed, but the sunlight was streaming in, gentle and warm rather than piercingly bright.
She couldn’t remember getting to bed at all. She thought back to the events of the night before. The Wildfolk, The Council, the Giants, the Ckel. Osa.
After the Ckel had vanished back into the river, there had been a lot of commotion amongst the people of the woods, and a lot of discussion between her parents, Rose, and the leaders. Autumn and Erland had eventually sat down underneath a tree just off the path, and after a short while they had fallen asleep.
Autumn sat up in bed and stretched. Rose’s staff was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room.
They had summoned the Giants.
Autumn had tried to return the staff to Rose later, but Rose had just smiled and told her to hang onto it a little longer. One of the leaders had made a comment Autumn hadn’t quite heard, and two of the other leaders had laughed. The fourth, the leader of the Larchwood, had smiled and inclined her head slightly in Autumn’s direction.
Autumn was so lost in thought, she didn’t notice her dad in the doorway until he spoke.
“Good evening, sleepyhead,” he smiled. “You’ve slept most of the day.”
Autumn smiled at him. As she did, she remembered seeing him with tears in his eyes the night before, kneeling to the ground in front of Osa, and burying his head into Osa’s fur. Osa had nuzzled his head against him, and Autumn heard her dad whispering something to him. Her mum had been crying too. There had been many hugs before Osa had eventually licked both of their hands in farewell and trotted off into the night. Erland had made a beeline for Osa almost as soon as the Ckel has disappeared, and the two of them had sat curled up together for quite some time. Autumn had managed some strokes, too.
“Most of the day?” said Autumn in surprise, replaying in her head what her dad had just said. “What time is it?”
“Nearly half past six,” said her mum, walking into the room, followed almost immediately by Erland, who ran in and dived on Autumn’s bed. “Come on, you need to get up and get some food in you.”
Autumn’s stomach grumbled, and she suddenly realised how hungry she was. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked at Erland, sitting grinning at her. He looked his usual self again, no sign of being upset by last night’s events. Autumn thought back to both him and their mum summoning the Ckel, how calm and grown-up Erland had looked in those moments.
“Is everything alright, now?” asked Autumn. “Is it all over?”
“Well,” said her mum, smiling, “everything is alright. Though it depends what you mean by everything being all over. Come on, there’s food in the kitchen. Let’s get you fed, and then you can take a shower and get ready. There’s somewhere we need to be tonight.”
