"Would it be all right if I invited a friend to stay with us?"
Maddy looked around at Daisy. "Sure. Is it the forest deva you were talking about?" As you can see, our mad makeover artist, John-John, had been working his magic on Daisy. I am seriously envying those silver boots. So space-age. Just the thing to wear to the launch of a certain guitarist's totally awesome Satellite....
"No. I mean, she'll be back eventually, but this is another deva. I mean, they're friends, but..."
"Sure, no problem. Is she a forest deva, too?"
"I think she's a landscape deva. I know she's one of the Findhorn devas," Daisy said.
"John-John will love that," I said, looking around from the book I was reading over Fawn's shoulder. I think she's discovered science fiction.
"How is that book?" Shel said.
"It's really good. Strange that it's set in 1993, though," Fawn said. "Of course, the title page said it was published in 1963, so at the time that was thirty years in the future."
"Did you say something about Findhorn devas?" John-John said, coming in.
"I know one," Daisy said.
"I'd love to meet her," John-John said, joining us.
"She's really nice. She's friends with Scaramouche, the forest deva I was talking about," Daisy explained. "She teaches classes in plant working. How to read plants, how to communicate with them, reading the weather so you can work effectively with them...."
"Reading the weather?" Fawn said. "I thought devas controlled it."
"Not really. They're just really good at reading it," Daisy explained. "But it's important to be able to tell if a storm is building, for instance, and how bad it's going to be. If there's going to be a lot of wind and hail, for example, you can warn the plants to turn their leaves up before it hits." She looked at Maddy. "That's where your old human saying about the leaves turning their backs to the rain comes from. It helps keep them from getting damaged."
"That's awesome," John-John said. "I'd really love to meet her."
"So would I," Maddy said. "If she'll talk to a human, that is."
"In general, devas like you humans. Most of us pixies do, too," Daisy said. "We like that there are more and more of you who do your best to work with nature and not against it - like working with us and growing plants that will thrive instead of trying to force plants not meant for the climate or environment to grow instead. It makes our jobs a lot easier." She made a face. "There's really only so much I can to to keep the deer out of all that hosta your father put in."
"Don't sweat it. I'd like to take most of it out. I already took out all of it from under the front of the house. But now it's coming up wild all over the yard. I bet it gets classified as an invasive species soon."
"I noticed that," Daisy said.
"Does she teach non-devas?" John-John said.
"You have to have some magickal ability to do some of what she teaches, but she's willing to show anyone how to read the plants and weather. She's great. She even put up with Torii without strangling her."
"Who's that?" I said.
"I don't know if she's a pixie or what. Someone told me she was half-fairy. Personally, I think she's part troll. She thinks she's the hottest thing going, but she's a total ignoramus." Daisy rolled her eyes. "I think she's with the Light Court in the south right now. That is, if they haven't thrown her out."
"Wait. Does she have pink hair? Dresses like whatshername who sings that song about a wrecking ball?" Fawn said.
"You know her?" Daisy said.
"Unfortunately. She was one of the reasons I left there so early. I decided I'd rather take my chances with the Unseelie than deal with her."
She must be pretty obnoxious if Fawn said that. She doesn't say anything bad about anyone. She will, however, say nothing at all when the situation warrants....
~*~
(Maddy's note - the book Fawn is reading is "Lords of the Psychon" by Daniel F. Galouye. It's out of print, but I found that copy recently on Amazon. It's a really good read.)
"And you must be Caroline. Daisy's told me all about you."
