Cricket201901

HOURS LATER, PEGEEN came strolling along the beach. Fourteen
years old, she lived with her grandfather nearby. They’d had years of lean
harvests on their small farm. Pegeen loved to walk beside the sea: breath-
ing in the cool salt air felt like a tonic for her troubles.
She loved to read, too, but owned only three books, so she ran to the
mysterious parchment. Unhappily, she didn’t seize it because it rested
upon a certain green stone. Flat and oval, veined in white, the stone lay
flush to the cliff ’s face.
When Pegeen was a child, walking with her grandfather, she’d seen a
spiral shell on the stone. As she reached to scoop it up, Granda swung her
into his strong arms. “The pretty shell belongs to the faeries, love. That’s
their doorstep, like the flagstone in front of our cottage.”
“Where’s their door?”
“We can’t see it.”
“Have you ever seen a faerie?”
Granda shook his head. “In the old times, they used to visit our world
more often.”
“Do you know what they’re like?”
“Many faeries are helpful. Others might deceive us. They’re as different
as people, Peg. Anyway, sometimes you’ll spy things on their doorstep:
once Great-Gran saw a golden egg. But nothing on the faeries’ flagstone
is ours.”
Now, Pegeen longed for the parchment as light winds ruffled it, show-
ing precise lettering so tiny a mouse might have penned it. Sshhh! A breeze
blew it toward her. Jumping, she plucked it from the air to put it back—
and it crumbled into dust that sprinkled a cresting wave.
Something enormous writhed in the ocean. Spiny fins tall as ships’
masts burst skyward. Up rose a sea serpent, pointed ears twitching. Before
Pegeen could flee, it slid across the sand, trapping her between the cliff ’s
sheer wall and a dripping wall of emerald scales. She snatched up a rock.
The creature opened a toothy mouth twice her height.
“You are safe, Pegeen,” it said in a surprisingly soft voice. “I come here
to announce: ‘His majesty the faerie king invites you to attempt a task.
Succeed, and you shall receive ten gold coins.’”
It waited in silence. Pegeen decided it truly meant no harm. “Forgive
me, Serpent.” She dropped the rock. And then dropped a curtsey. “The