The Secrets of the Boggy Marsh

  Chapter 7: The Task

  Paddy entered Hag Head’s house and immediately bumped into Seamus, who had stopped just inside the doorway. Seamus shuffled forward a bit to allow Paddy room to enter.

  “What were you thinking, just stopping in the doorway like that?” Paddy asked, angrily. Then he got his first glimpse of the room. “Oh, oh my, this room is beautiful,” he breathed.

  The room they had entered was spotlessly clean. A small table with four chairs sat in the middle of the room and a large vase of beautiful fresh flowers sat on table. Through a large window on one side of the room, oddly hued sunlight flooded in. The walls were freshly painted and a couple of pictures hung on them, showing scenes of beautiful forests. On the far side of the room two closed doors could be seen.

  Hag Head, however, wasn’t in the room.

  Mr. Elf was gazing around the room with a surprised expression on his face. “Well, well,” he said, “this isn’t what I was expecting at all. There’s obviously more to Hag Head than I first thought.”

  Mody walked over to the large window. “What’s that blue stuff and the big warm bright thing?” she asked.

  Seamus joined Mody at the window. “That’s the sky and the sun,” he answered, with amusement. “But it’s different from the normal sky and sun. There is something decidedly odd about it.”

  “Oh,” Mody said. “I haven’t seen anything like that before. Sunlight like that doesn’t get through the mist in the marsh. So, what’s all that green stuff out there?”

  “That would be grass and bushes,” Mr. Elf said, joining them at the window. “The real question is, what happened to Boggy Marsh?”

  The view outside the window was of a lovely sun drenched meadow, with long lush grass. Strangest of all were the bushes, which were in the shapes of animals at play. Nowhere through the window could they see any sign of Boggy Marsh.

  Hag Head chose that moment to enter the room through one of the two doors. “This room is where you will spend the night. Do not, under any circumstances, leave this room until I tell you it is safe to do so. I would hate for you to get lost, and I don’t have the time to come looking for you.”

  “Where are we and where is Boggy Marsh?” Seamus blurted.

  “Neither of those questions is important. What is important, is that while you are in this room, you will be safe. Do you understand?”

  The companions all nodded solemnly.

  Hag Head waved her claw like hand towards the window and suddenly it was night outside. At the same time, various candles around the room burst into flame, providing light in the now darkened room.

  “I will leave you for the night. In the morning, I will return and we will discuss what happens next. I have prepared an evening meal for you. Eat what you will, and then I suggest you get some sleep.” With that said, Hag Head simply disappeared.

  “But … oh …,” Paddy said, when he realized Hag Head had gone. “I wanted to ask some questions.”

  “Wow, look at this!” Paddy exclaimed. The table in the middle of the room was now covered with plates of various types of food. “Whatever else you might want to say about Hag Head, she certainly knows how to feed her guests.”

  Seamus hurried over to the table, sat down on a chair and examined the plate in front of him. “Urgh!” he exclaimed. “Don’t be too sure about that, Paddy. This bowl has nothing but seeds in it.”

  Mr. Elf chuckled. “I think that bowl is intended for Mody, Seamus.”

  “Ah, yes of course,” Seamus said. “Sorry, Mody, I didn’t think about what you might like to eat.” Seamus shuffled over to the next seat where the food was more appealing.

  Mody climbed up onto the chair Seamus had vacated and sniffed at the bowl of seeds, nodding happily.

  Mr. Elf and Paddy settled themselves down for their meal, each choosing a plate of food that seemed to be suited to their preferences.

  “What do you suppose she wants with us?” Mody asked, between pecks at the seed.

  “I can’t begin to imagine,” Mr. Elf replied. “She is without a doubt the most powerful magical being I have ever met. I find it hard to believe there is anything we have that she could want.”

  “If she really is that powerful, why doesn’t she do something about the way she looks,” Seamus stated. “This place is lovely and the food is very good, but really, I’ve seen more attractive Ogre’s bottoms.”

  Mody squeaked loudly and looked around the room with a worried expression. “Please don’t be saying things that might make her angry. How do you know she isn’t listening to us now?”

  “Mody’s right, Seamus; whoever, or whatever Hag Head is, she is definitely someone you don’t want to upset,” the Aelf stated, between bites of his food.

  “Don’t the Aelfin have the most powerful magic?” Paddy asked Mr. Elf.

  Mr. Elf fidgeted, as he answered Paddy’s question. “As a group, the Aelfin are very strong with magic; as individuals, the level of magical power depends on a whole lot of different things.”

  “Have you seen any Aelf with as much magic as Hag Head seems to have?” Seamus asked.

  Mr. Elf squirmed uncomfortably. “I can’t really answer that question; we’re not supposed to talk about Aelfin magic with the other peoples.”

  Paddy finished his food and examined the room with renewed interest. “So what do you think is on the other side of those doors?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, and we’re not going to try to find out,” Mr. Elf stated firmly. “Hag Head told us to stay in here, and that is exactly what we are going to do.”

  “Mr. Elf is right, Paddy. We’re not going to do anything to make Hag Head angry with us,” Seamus confirmed, with a yawn. “I’m quite tired now anyway. I suggest we all get some sleep and wait to see what happens in the morning.”

  Mr. Elf quickly tidied up the plates and stacked them neatly at one end of the table. With that done, the companions settled down for the night.

  ⚔

  The next morning, just as the first rays of sunlight were starting to creep in through the window, Mr. Elf awoke. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Hag Head sitting at the end of the table watching him.

  “You have been away from the Aelfin for far too long,” Hag Head stated, disapprovingly. “You should have awakened as soon as I entered the room.”

  Still half-asleep and caught completely off guard, Mr. Elf mumbled an apology.

  “Hmmm, a time is coming when your people will need your unique outlook and your guidance. I suggest you rejoin your people, and very soon if you are to be of any use,” the witch said, quietly.

  Mr. Elf was now wide-awake and completely confused. “Who are you to be saying such things to me? And what do you mean ‘if I am to be of any use’?”

  “I am who I am, and I can tell you I have very little patience with young Leprechauns who pretend to be asleep, so they can listen to others talking,” Hag Head said, staring challengingly at Paddy and Seamus.

  Paddy and Seamus both sat up looking suitably embarrassed at having been caught eavesdropping. “Sorry,” they said, at the same time.

  Mody walked across the room to stand at Hag Head’s feet. “Good morning,” she said, politely, to the witch. “Is there anymore of that seed I had last night, it was very good.”

  “So this is what it’s like to have a house full of children,” Hag Head muttered under her breath. The witch woman made an impatient wave with her left hand and breakfast appeared on the table. “You all might as well eat; you’re going to have a busy day.”

  Hag Head sat and watched quietly, as the companions ate their breakfast. Eventually, Mody asked the question they were all dying to ask. “What do you mean: we are going to have a busy day?”

  Hag Head smiled, which was an awful sight up close. Each of the companions felt their stomach’s grumble and lurch in response to the smile. “I have a task for you, and you must complete the task before you will be able to leave Boggy Marsh.”

  “W
hat sort of a task?” Paddy asked, trying not to stare at the wart on Hag Heads nose.

  “I want an egg,” the witch woman stated, quietly.

  Seamus looked hopefully at Mody. “You couldn’t help out, could you, Mody?”

  “No, I certainly could not,” Mody said, sounding very offended.

  “Invisibility Birds can’t start laying eggs until they’re at least two years old,” Mr. Elf interrupted. “And even then, they don’t start until they have a mate.”

  “The egg that I want is a very special egg. I want a Dragon’s egg, and I want it from a particular Dragon,” Hag Head said.

  “Oh no, I don’t think so!” said a very alarmed Mr. Elf. “I am not about to try and take an egg from a Dragon. I may have been silly enough to get mixed up with these Leprechauns, but I’m not that foolish.”

  “Ah, I don’t want to do it either,” Paddy stated, boldly.

  “That’s fine,” Hag Head said, suddenly seeming to be uglier and bigger than she had been moments before. “Because you will be staying with me while your friends fetch the egg. When they return to me with the egg, I will allow you to leave.”

  “You can’t do this!” Mody squeaked. “It’s mean.”

  Hag Head laughed her dry cackling laugh. “Mean or not, I want that egg and I shall have it.”

  “What do you want to do with the egg?” Seamus asked.

  “None of your business,” Hag Head snapped. “All you need to know is that the egg is with the guardian at the end of the rainbow. I believe you were on your way there for the gold anyway. So, just collect the egg, as well as the gold, and I will let you all leave Boggy Marsh.”

  “We won’t do it,” Seamus stated, flatly.

  “Oh, but you will,” Hag Head cackled. She gave an imperious wave and the door opened behind them.

  Seamus, Mr. Elf and Mody all slid towards the open door. Paddy, however, found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move a single muscle.

  “Once you have possession of the egg, call my name and I will come to you,” Hag Head called, as the three friends slid out the door into the waiting mist.

  Paddy let out a load shout of, “Nooooooo …!” and then the door slammed shut.