Welcome Wanders!
Well, there has been a change of plans concerning my new series of short stories and my newsletter. I have mentioned in various places that I got a job. That part-time librarian job turned into a full- time teacher position in which I will be teaching library, elementary school Latin, and elementary school chess at Jackson Hole Classical Academy where my husband is Dean of Academics this year and my youngest son is going into 2nd Grade. My oldest son will be a busy 11th grader at the public high school, and my daughter will be attending our church’s preschool. We are going to be super busy this year! So, I need to simplify my plan to celebrate 10 years of Gryphendale having been published. Instead of launching two tiers of newsletters with the serial being behind a paywall, I will just turn my free quarterly newsletter into a monthly newsletter with a small author update and my short story afterwards. I hope you enjoy the change!
Here is Episode 1 of my new Gryphendale serial, The Gryphon’s Inner Dale.
Episode 1
I never thought I would find fairies in the Teton Mountains. It all started when my little CRX decided to break down yet again on Hwy 89 just north of Jackson. I was pretty sure I was in the Teton National Park and about to pass the airport when my car started sputtering. I turned off the highway down a random road, hoping to find some human structure in the middle of quaking aspens, white pines, and silver spruces. The car gave up its soul about a hundred yards from the highway, just as a two-story wooden building came into view.
It was a beautiful spring day, so I got out and pushed my car towards the building. I'm only a 5-foot-2 and a half-inch woman, but my two-seater car is the kind of vehicle that two high school boys could lift and move for a prank. Yes, I do know this from experience.
The building was old, like the kind of thing some settler had built during the days of the dude ranches. Parts of the building were newer, such as the porch and steps. Random antiques lay around the porch and hung on the building. I wasn't sure if it was decorative or just lazy, but it was the kind of aesthetic one saw on many old shops around the West. Wagon wheels, ceramic pots for flour or sugar, riding tack, parts of an old John Deere tractor, and more littered the building.
On the surface, it seemed as American as one could get. It was a true log cabin with chinking and a sign announcing "The Gryphon's Inner Dale: Books, Coffee, and Fairies."
When you looked closer, though, there was a true Scottish tartan draped over French antique furniture. On a small shelf sat an English tea set with a Japanese bonsai next to it. A Spanish sabre hung over the door leading in.
I had a long time to study the place as I pushed my car up to it. Finally, I left my car in the gravel and dirt driveway to walk up the steps. A moose stared at me from the trees and met my eyes. I jumped into the front door and slammed it closed behind me.
No one prepares you for how big a moose is. A full-grown horse is comparable with their calves. Most people also don't know just how dangerous they can be.
So, when I entered the building, I saw nothing. I had immediately turned around to stare at the moose who decided to munch on the tree next to my car.
"Can I help you?" asked a little old man behind a counter.
I turned towards him and blinked.
He was a short, round man who stood on a crate to look customers in the eye behind the counter. He had a hand knitted cap that seemed like it belonged in the Norse countries. He had a long beard too, but that isn't unusual around here.
"My car broke down. I have my phone," I replied, holding up my cell phone. "I just need to call a tow truck or a mechanic."
He hopped down and walked around the counter. "If you want, I can take a look at it."
"Sure," I said and tossed him my keys. "Watch out for the moose."
He paused in mid stride at the door, and looked out the door window. The moose was still munching at the tree right next to the car.
"Hump," he said, tossing me the keys again. "Do you drink tea or coffee?"
"Coffee."
"We'll have a snack first, and then I will check your car."
"I have it already," said a woman's voice from a room in the back behind the counter.
Out walked a tall, thin woman of uncertain age. She placed a tray on one of the few tables between the door and the counter. As gracefully as a geisha, she placed some coffee cups and scones on the table, took the tray back to the counter, and left it there.
We took our seats at the table. I was hungry.
"I'm Summer," said the woman, "and this is my husband, Cedar."
"I'm Mina,” I replied. “I drove here from Florida for a job at the resorts.”
“Would you want to work here instead?” asked Summer. “We could use a human around here.”
I nearly spit out my coffee. “A human!”
Summer continued as though she didn’t hear me, “We have a small apartment upstairs where you could stay. We live in a house just a little way back, so you will have privacy. We pay well. This is an expensive part of the country. We also have cabins nearby for guests, and would really like to have someone always at the shop. The work is easy too. Dusting, working the register, making a sandwich or coffee when people come, and helping visitors with directions. It's never busy, but you can call us if you don't know what to do. The main thing is that we get unusual people at odd times.”
“How unusual?” I asked.
Cedar started laughing. “Well, do you believe in fairies?”
I looked around me and saw what I hadn’t noticed before. Floral fairy patterns were carved in the wood trim of the room and in the table legs. Statues of fairies, mermaids, dragons, and gryphons dotted the shelves. The books were about fairytales, myths, and legends. The dishes had gnomes in the pattern.
“What do you mean?” I wondered if I should run out of the building.
“I’m a sprite,” said Summer, “and my husband is a gnome. Humans don’t usually find this place. We typically serve those traveling to the mountain portal, which leads to the fairy world.”
“Portal?” I repeated.
“Well, actually, this whole area is a thin place. Sometimes we get humans,” said Cedar with a shrug. “Though they usually have encountered our kind before.”
Then I remembered the time I had been in California and had an odd encounter. “Yes, I think I have met one once before.”
I looked around me. I had come for an adventure. "Let me call the tow truck and think about the job offer."
"Sure, look around," said Summer as she got up from the table.
Cedar cleared the table and didn't ask to see the car again. I was glad because I wanted to speak with a local and find out if these were a bunch of crazies. I used Google to find a mechanic on my phone and called him while I walked around the room looking at the books and decor. The books were classics like Grimm's Fairy Tales, Lang's colored fairy books, multiple collections of folktales from around the world, and Greek and Roman myths.
When Ron’s tow truck drove up, the moose was gone. I walked outside to talk to him about the car and the fairies.
I told Ron, or maybe that was just his company’s name, what happened to the car and handed him my keys. As he slid into the driver's seat of the car, I asked him about the owners of the shop.
"Yep," he replied. "They are the real thing. You see all sorts of people coming here to visit the parks, including some from the fairy world underground. Most people don't talk about it, but they have lived here as long as I can remember. I suppose some people think they are just pretending for the sake of getting customers, but I have seen things that make me believe them. They came up the mountain once when I was hurt from a climb gone wrong. I am sure there was some magic in what they did. Either way, they helped me out. They are good people, and you will be safe working here, whether or not you believe in fairies."
He continued to open the hood of my car and glanced inside the engine. He then looked under the car and sniffed.
"You have a fuel leak somewhere," he said. "I'll have to tow it to my shop."
I groaned. I didn't have the money for the repair. My decision was made for me. I grabbed my bags from the car and walked back into the shop.
"I'll take the job," I announced to the couple.
Yep, I had no idea what I was getting into.
See my next newsletter for the next episode…