Breakfast was over and Hermonia watched her mum and grandmum get ready for the day. It seemed they took so long to get ready when they were already beautiful the way they were when they awoke. Hermonia quickly grew bored watching adults primp and buried her nose in a book until they were ready.
Crispin devoured his breakfast and slipped out of the house when Zovah departed to tend to the bigger dragons. “She won’t really miss me for a couple of hours and if she does,” he thought to himself “she’ll assume I’ve found some place warm and dark to nap.”
Flinn had returned with the rosemary and lilies as requested, and without a word of thanks his mother shooed him from the house. “Just make yourself scarce while I have visitors this morning, they have no need or want to associate with the likes of you.” Flinn was so accustomed to these slights and paid no attention. He was actually grateful this time because he needed to go meet Crispin and Arsenic before his mother’s guests arrived. Flinn slung his fishing pole on his left shoulder and headed off toward the river. If his mother or Brock spared him a second glance, they would assume he had gone fishing for the day.
The rays of morning sun bathed Arsenic in light, creating a halo affect perfectly contrasting his red wings against the moss that made up his bed. This was the one place where Arsenic didn’t kill the flora and thus he was happy sleeping here on the ground, smelling the moss, and curling up into a tight ball at night, a crimson speck on a bed of silvery green under the moon. The morning sun quickly roused him and he fluttered awake and turned his face to the sun. He allowed himself to soak up the warmth of the sun as his wings dried the last of the night dew from their crimson petals.
Warm, dry, and hungry Arsenic was ready to meet Flinn and Crispin. He thought about stopping for some honey and biscuits made by his sisters but was too eager to learn how his plan was going to pan out. He was cautiously optimistic, he just had one of those feelings. He may be the worst flower fairy ever be Arsenic knew, deep in his soul, that he was meant for great things and those things were centered around helping the village.
Like actors backstage, our unlikely band of heroes were missing out on what was taking place in the village they all loved. In the smallest house in town, at the furthest edge of the village square was the home of June and her four children. This morning, like most morning, the children would go without breakfast. June’s husband, Harold had left on a fishing trip two weeks ago but had yet to return. The house had run out of food stocks and Harold had taken the family savings with him. June hadn’t grown up in Dragon’s Head and was slow to make friends. Her pride and shyness kept her from asking for help. As she sent the children outside, June heard their stomachs rumble in protest and it was all June could do to not break down in tears of desperation and humiliation.
Arsenic flew by as the four children entered the front garden, he heard their stomachs rumbling and he paused to watch. He perched himself on the window ledge and listened. Despite their obvious hunger, the children were happy and cheerful. Arsenic decided to spy on their mother and his first look at her face made him flutter to the window ledge like a petal falling from a flower. The despair and guilt on the woman’s face moved Arsenic and he knew what the first mission would be. Arsenic threw off the weight of emotion and sprung back into the air and flew as quickly as possible to the meeting with Flinn and Crispin. It was time to meet the others and get Hermonia to join them in their cause.
