Penny hadn't planned to be hiking the woods, wading creeks, and jumping fences onto private property when she'd put on her favorite flamingo sundress. She'd at least found a pair of Gammy's rubber boots in the trunk and saved herself the trouble of ruining her flats. The dress was miraculously intact, but her hair had frizzed and curled and it stuck to her forehead and neck in itchy pink clumps.

Leander seemed to be feeling the heat as well. He braced his hands on the dashboard, the A/C blowing his hair dry as they drove past the sign for a state park. Penny pulled the bug over to the side of the road where he pointed. The sky was dark and the air was thick with enough humidity that Penny thought she might be able to swim in it.

The park was more of a field of rolling hills with a path cut through the tall grass.

"This way," Leander said; he seemed to know the way to each ward without a map.

Penny chalked it up to magic. Leander's fairy senses, or whatever it was, lead them to the center of the field. Surround by tall grasses and a smattering of wildflowers that made Penny's legs itch, was a small clearing. So far they'd plucked vines off of chipped garden gnomes, straightened scarecrows and wrested brambles from an old wishing well. Many of the wards were weakened by the forces of nature, but according to Leander, they were making progress.

The wards and the invisible barrier between them were getting stronger.

In the clearing they found a stack of rocks, graduating from large to small, the smallest on top. It was clearly an intentional construct and the next ward.

"This looks fine," Penny said, as she wiped sweat from the back of her neck. "And we've only made it halfway around the town."

"Yeah," Leander said with a nod and his hands braced on the back of his head. "It's good."

Penny had made sure to check the time before they left the car; it was nearing one. "We'd better get going. It's going to rain." As she spoke the wind picked up and sent her an skirt whipping about her legs and a cool shiver over her exposed skin. The last thing she wanted was to be caught in the middle of a field when the thunderstorm hit.

"Let's go."

Leander grabbed her by the hand and as they turned to head for the car, Penny felt the first drop of rain on her cheek. She just had time to check her phone before the skies opened up on them. One o'clock. She should have known not to test the accuracy of her father's forecasts.

When they clambered into the car, Penny's dress had been soaked through. Flamingos clung to her in places a lady should never have flamingos, but her attention was on Leander. His white shirt revealed long lean muscles that she hadn't expected to see.

Leander braced his hands on his knees. His lips were worked into a frown. "Penny?" he asked hesitantly

"Yeah?"

"What happened to your mom?"

Penny's stomach clenched as her mind reeled. She'd never had to explain the story; she'd been young enough when it happened that no one asked her then. It had been all in the papers so everyone on Sugar Falls knew and they knew better than to ask about it now.

"I was twelve," she started. "Mom, dad, Peter and I were hiking out at Squaw Ridge. It was in June, a sunny day without a single cloud in the sky. We were walking along the cliff that overlooks Sugar River, dad in front, me behind him, and Peter and my mom at the rear." Penny could feel her voice start to shake as she recounted the day that was burned permanently into her memory. "We didn't hear any thunder—" Her insides turned to mush.

Leander seemed to sense her distress. He grabbed her right hand and wrapped it tightly in his. "Penny, it's okay. If it's too hard to talk abou—"

"No. It's for the best that you know." Leander didn't release her hand as she continued and she didn't want him to. "Did you know lightning can strike the ground 25 miles away from the cloud in originated?"

Leander shook his head.

"Well a strong storm had just rolled off Lake Erie and it's hard to predict those. I don't know anything was happening until I heard the boom."

"I'm so sorry, Penny," he whispered.

"The lightning hit Peter and mom and it stopped both of their hearts. My dad immediately started CPR on Peter. And I..." Her voice faltered as she swallowed the lump growing in her throat. "I couldn't move. I was frozen and my ears went all fuzzy from the sound of it. I just stood there watching my dad. My mind was begging me to move, to help my mom if I could just copy what my dad did, but it was like my body wouldn't listen."

"I'm sorry," Leander said again. "I don't know what else to say."

"It's okay. What is there to say when something like this happens? Peter survived and my mom didn't but only 1 out of 10 people die from lightning strikes—the odds were in our favor."

"I can't believe you want to chase storms after that."

"Well," Penny said as she listened to the sound of rain thrumming against the room of the car. "Part of chasing storms is studying them and learning to predict them. If we can predict whether a storm cell is actually going to become a funnel, we can save lives."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Not really. Not of something I can understand. It's dangerous, yes, but only without the proper knowledge and precautions." Penny shivered with wet clothes stuck to her so she turned down the air conditioner.

"You're cold," Leander said.

He finally released her, and with a wave of his hand, a warm breeze swept over Penny's skin. When she looked down, her dress was fully dried. The magic had even taken care to move the spots of dirt she'd gotten on it.

"Magic... now that's terrifying."

Leander smiled as he waved his hand and dried his own shirt and pants. "I don't see you running."

"I'm not going anywhere. Well, anywhere without you until we fix your wards and clear out these pesky storms."

Leander cracked each of his knuckles before he pressed his hands to the dash. "Head east. I have a good feeling the next ward is in town."

Penny checked her phone before she pulled the car onto the main road. She slid open a notification from Anna.

Excuse me! Did you just ditch this snooze-fest? And you left with a guy who is totally Burberry model material? Who are you?

Anna would have to wait. Penny would tell her everything soon, but the wards were her priority. If it meant sparing her dad from the angry mob of townspeople who she had no doubt already made angry calls to his station, there was nothing she wouldn't try.

And then there was how to explain Leander. She was still trying to work out her feelings on the matter. Sure there was hurt and betrayal and a fair amount of sadness, but there was still a feeling deep in her chest that seemed drawn to him like he was sucking her in. As Penny steered the car towards town, she tried to place her finger on it. Perhaps it was the familiarity of him. Seeing him again was like finding an old sweater at the start of autumn, a favorite sweater. Except when Penny dug old sweaters out of the basement, they never looked as good as they did the year before. Leander looked twice as good. That part was problematic.

The road into town was crowded with towering, old growth trees and historical homes like the Batesons. Many homes boasted perfectly straight picket fences standing proudly against the sidewalk. Every lawn was trimmed and every garden blossomed with extra color as the town put on its best face for the Brambleberry Festival.

Downtown Sugar Falls looked like most small towns across Ohio. Main Street was crowded with two-story brick storefronts, each filled with a local staple, the bookshop, the bakery, Sugar Falls Hardware, and Penny's favorite, The Hive—a coffee shop that served the best Toasted Honeycomb Latte a beekeeper's granddaughter could ask for.

It was still pouring rain, but the sky had lightened so Penny still had hope for relief. The downtown itself was close to the town line. Penny parked the car behind the stationary shop and after finding an umbrella in the back seat, they headed into the drizzle.

Leander had gotten to be quite tall, even from Penny's point of reference. She was a solid five feet, seven inches. He offered to hold the umbrella and Penny obliged, though they were still quite cramped beneath it. They had to walk shoulder to shoulder if Penny didn't want the umbrella to drip down the back of her neck. Even after the midday heat, the rain was quite cold and the storm had dropped the temperature significantly.

They passed the town park where a gazebo dominated the entrance. The rest of the park was filled with tents and the makings of carnival games and rides that would make up the midway for the weekend.

"I've never been to the carnival," Leander said as they hurried past.

"Really never?"

"Nope"

Penny always loved the carnival even when she was probably too old for most of the rides. She still got excited when she first saw the Ferris wheel over the tops of the trees as she drove into town. "You really have to go. It's quite fun if you don't mind the crowds. You have to ride the Ferris wheel at least," she said.

He eyed the top of the giant metal wheel warily. Penny couldn't blame him. Peter called it the giant wheel of death and he probably wasn't wrong. He usually rattled off statistics about how many people died on carnival rides each year when Penny used to beg him to ride the rides with her. But he was married now and would soon be depriving his own children of the joys of carnival amusements.

"Will you ride it with me?" Leander asked.

Penny paused and her heart gave a sudden jolt. At Sugar Falls High, it was commonly accepted knowledge that it was bad luck to leave Sugar Falls without kissing someone on the Brambleberry Carnival Ferris Wheel. Penny had her diploma and a letter of acceptance. August was coming fast and, oh yeah, she'd never been kissed. Her lips were virgin territory and that wasn't likely going to change anytime soon.

Penny felt a heat rise to her cheeks.

"I'll ride the Ferris Wheel with you if we can stop the rain."

"It's a deal," he said.

Penny wasn't sure whether she should have told him about the town legend, but thinking about kissing with her arm pressed up against Leander's, made her stomach do funny things she didn't like.

***

Leander followed the trail of the next ward like a magic-seeking bloodhound on a scent. The drizzle eventually slowed to a stop so Leander closed the umbrella and took the lead. They headed to the end of Main Street where it dead-ended at the public library. Leander continued on across the street and up the sidewalk to the old, white columned building that was the library.

"Is there a ward in the library?" Penny asked incredulously.

Leander paused and scratched one of his subtly pointed ears. "Nope. The next ward still feels faint, but we should be getting close. I should feel it stronger by now, but I'm not."

With a little hop step, he launched off across the library lawn and around towards the back of the building. He moved faster now and Penny had to jog to keep up with his long strides. They rounded the building and found a parking lot between them and wooded area. An alley ran alongside the library, a strip of asphalt between it and the river that ran through town. From where they stood, Penny could see the Water Street bridge over the river. She followed Leander into the woods.

This kind of forest was tough to move through. There was thick brush that needed navigating, and Penny was starting to slip on wet leaves as the grade increased. Leander slowed too and turned back to help Penny up the last, and the steepest part of the hill out of the valley the town sat in.

"We're almost there," Leander said in a tender way that made Penny feel weird.

It wasn't a bad weird, but that was Leander now.

"I'm keeping up fine," she said. The words had an edge, and Penny felt bad about it. It wasn't like it wasn't Leander's fault. Well, it sort of was, but he couldn't help being different. He could have helped leaving for eight years.

Penny trudged on ahead through the rain-darkened wood. Every leaf shined and sparkled as the sun peeked out of the clouds and struck the treetops. She'd seen more of Sugar Falls in one afternoon than she'd seen in all her eighteen years there, but this site was by far the most breathtaking. She tried to imagine what magic felt to Leander. Her bones seemed to quiver as she caught sight of a break in the tree canopy ahead.

"Is that it?" she asked, pointing to patch of sunlight directly in their path.

Leander smiled but her sharp words seemed to have put him on edge. He lips drew up at the corners, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "I think you're right."

They made for the clearing and found that it wasn't so much part of the woods. They'd stumbled on an old graveyard. An old iron fence circled the weathered, crooked headstones. Leander moved around the perimeter of the fence, his arm extended out so his fingers brushed against each of the pointed metal posts.

Penny didn't quite know what they were going to look for in a graveyard. A large oak took up most of the sectioned plot of land. Roots had pushed up out of the ground, knocking many of the headstones askew. Perhaps it was the brilliant sunlight after the rain, but Penny didn't find the graveyard particularly creepy. Peaceful was how she would describe it.

Leander found the main gate and pushed it open. Rusted pin barrel hinges screamed out through the quiet and Penny felt guilty for disturbing the peace.

Inside the fence, Leander paused. He dragged a hand through his hair and all the way back to rub his neck.

"There should be a ward here but I... I don't feel it."

Penny swallowed. This was the first Leander looked worried and she didn't like it.

"Should we split up and start looking?"

Leander shot her a nervous glance. "We don't have to," he said.

Penny nodded.

They moved row by row through headstones. Most were too old to make out the inscriptions.

"It wouldn't be a headstone, would it?"

"I don't think so. It would have been replaced several times over the centuries."

Centuries. Penny was not quite accustomed to thinking in terms of centuries outside of history class. She followed Leander around the gnarled roots at the base of the oak, but she almost ran into him as he stopped abruptly. In the grass lay the shattered remains of something white and marble. The only thing left intact was the face of a woman who peered serenely up at them.

"I think this was a statue," Penny said as she lifted the face out of the grass.

"Most likely," Leander said. "What concerns me is the state it's in. It's not just toppled or covered with vines; this has been smashed deliberately."

Penny placed the statue's back into the grass. "How did they even find this place?"

Leander glanced through the trees. "I can't think that anyone who wasn't capable of detecting magic could have found this. Someone familiar with fairies knew what they were looking for."

"Well, can we fix?" Penny asked, panicked. She wracked her brain as she tried to puzzle out who would do such a thing. Sure, most people in Sugar Falls kept fairy fountains and set pixie traps to keep them from eating their fruit, but as far as she knew, no ever talked about big magic like that of the wards. Leander's magic was a whole new level of complexity. And who would willingly set out to harm the town?

"This can't be saved. We need a whole new ward."

"Oh man," Penny groaned. "All I have is an umbrella. Will that do?"

Leander shook his head. "It has to be something more stable, more permanent."

"Come on then," Penny said as she turned back towards town. "There are like five different shops in Sugar Falls that sell garden gnomes."

Leander joined her as they headed back towards the woods. "That will do but I'm not exactly sure how to make a ward. I might have to go home and read a couple books on the matter."

"Oh," Penny said as she realized they would be parting ways soon.

"I won't be gone long," he added.

"It's fine. Anna and I are going to the opening of the carnival tonight."

They moved a lot faster going downhill but Penny took care not to lose her footing.

"That sounds like fun. Maybe I could stop by. I mean, if it's all right with you."

"I wouldn't mind," she said as they stumbled out of the woods and into the parking lot behind the library.

This brought a genuine smile to Leander's lips and her heart gave a sudden jolt as she was glad to have put it there.

But what was she thinking? Feelings like that were not what she supposed to be feeling. This was Leander. He was not just some cute guys she could have a summer fling with and discard when she went off to college. He was something infinitely more complicated than that. He was a familiar presence even after eight years apart and they had enough shared memories that they probably would always be friends. And then there was the fact that he was a prince too. A fairy prince with a family and a kingdom she'd never actually seen somewhere in the woods behind her house.

They reached the car and while they hadn't said much else, Penny had caught herself watching Leander as he peered eagerly into every shop window and flashed brilliant smiles at everyone they passed. She got the impression that he wasn't often allowed out of the woods.

The ride home was equally quiet as she felt Leander's mood shift. She turned into Gammy's driveway when Leander asked, "Will everything be okay with us?"

Penny felt each of his words like a sharp tug at her heart. "I don't know. Every hour I spent talking with Gammy's bees, I just really wish I'd been talking with you."

"Bees are terrible gossips, you know."

Penny laughed until she realized he was actually serious. "Wait. You mean the bees talk about me."

Leander raised a shoulder bashfully. "They talk to me."

"Oh my gosh." Penny buried her face in her hands. "That's so embarrassing; I told them everything! What did they tell you?"

"They told me you were happy. They told me about when you got promoted to shift manager at the Dairy Bar when your soccer team won districts when you broke your arm falling out of August Fitzwilliam's truck after prom because you were too scared to kiss him."

"Oh man."

Penny peeked her head out of her hands to see what Leander's face looked like at mentioning that. His cheeks had colored a bit.

"Mostly," he continued, "they told me all about how well you were doing. I was so upset with myself for how I left. I'd been so confused and in my confusion, I thought you'd be better off without me. I didn't realize how much I would miss you, but I was too scared to come back."

Penny lifted her head from her hands. "I'm leaving in two months."

"I know."

"You couldn't have come back sooner?"

"I'm a coward."

Fat raindrops hit the windshield. Sometime during their conversation, dark clouds had rolled back in. Penny looked at the clock on the dash: 2:59. Why couldn't her dad have been a crappy weatherman like all the other charlatans across the country?

"I should go. It's going to start pouring any minute now."

"Me too." Leander opened the passenger side door and slid out. "I've got reading to do."

Penny followed and locked it behind her. "Good luck."

Leander gave a little wave before shoving his hands into his pockets and heading for the wilderness behind Gammy's garden.

Penny turned away before she could watch him disappear.

Thank you all for reading! If you are enjoying this little story, please make sure to vote, comment, and share his story with others by adding it to your reading lists! I love all feedback so lay it on me! What did you think of Chapter 4?