The Feast of Peace was that night at 6:30 in the center of the village. There was both indoor and outdoor seating. The specialty was a buffet table.
Mateo got all decked out for the event. He changed into an orange, matador-like jacket and orange pants. Silver lace gave his pants a very formal appearance. Up near his neck was a red bow. He wore a sombrero on his head.
Evie kept her white shirt and jean shorts on. She smiled when her group reached the village's heart. The first thing she saw was a large bonfire. Tables and chairs were all over the place, and there was even a stage. Strings of different-colored lights stretched over her group's heads. The buffet table was next to the stage and near the indoor seating.
Paperblank villagers wore traditional clothing and danced for the campers. The women had long, flowing dresses with different colors. They wore their hair up in high pigtails.
Ashlynn pointed out a banner that read: Welcome to Paperblank Village, campers.
The group met up with the rest of the camp crew near the buffet table. Fireflies flickered by their heads like lanterns.
Ms. Julie clapped her hands together. She announced in an excited voice, "Welcome to the Feast of Peace, campers. Feel free to grab whatever you want to eat. The performance will start in about an hour."
"Performance?" a little girl asked.
"To welcome us to the forest," Ms. Julie explained. "Y'all are going to learn the legend that had been passed down in this village for generations." She grinned. "The legend of the Green Guardian."
Instantly, the children were intrigued. They exchanged looks with one another and started to mutter.
The Green Guardian sounded interesting to Evie, but also eerie.
Mateo felt the same way. He lowered his sombrero over his face.
Ashlynn touched Evie's shoulder. "Come on, Evie! Let's eat!"
There was so much food. Evie had no idea where to begin: those steaming potatoes, the deliciously rolled burritos, or that flat, perfectly cut ham? She and Ashlynn grabbed their plates from the table's end. They were warm as if someone had just pulled them out of an oven.
The first thing Evie picked up was some bread. She held it in her hand like a baseball bat and tasted it. The crunchiness melted on her tongue. She said with a full mouth, "Oh my gosh. This bread is delicious."
Next to her, Ashlynn chuckled. She got some bread of her own. She and Evie filled their plates and found a table that was close to the stage and dance floor.
Mateo sat all alone across from them. He wasn't super hungry. He propped up his head with one hand and poked his salad with his fork. He seemed lost in thought.
Ashlynn glanced at Evie and gestured at him.
She shook her head, but Ashlynn went ahead and pulled her to her feet. The two girls joined Mateo at his table.
"Mind if we sit here, Mr. Mateo?" Ashlynn questioned.
Evie noticed she was blushing.
"No, not at all. Have a seat," Mateo said.
At his command, the two friends sat down. They set their plates in front of them.
Like Ashlynn, Evie blushed.
Ashlynn glanced at Mateo's full plate. "Not hungry tonight?"
Mateo shook his head. "I'm not feeling like myself, muchachas."
Evie cringed. She tried to distract herself by looking at all the wonderful hanging lights. She kept telling herself that nothing was wrong with her counselor.
"What's bothering you?" Ashlynn said.
"It's nothing for you to worry about. It's adult things." Mateo picked up some salad. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it. The young man shook his head. He set the fork down on his plate.
The rest of his group members joined him. Amanda slid in next to Evie and Ashlynn, while Emrys and Tate plopped down next to Mateo.
"The other counselors aren't as fun," Amanda admitted.
"Aw thank you, muchacha." Mateo meant what he said. His group members were the emotional support he needed. He started to feel a little more confident.
Paperblank dancers floated by their table. They put flower veils over Evie, Ashlynn, and Amanda's necks. Afterward, they clapped their hands in a Flamenco-like style and danced in a circle. The show wasn't much, but it was still engaging. The dancers looked like fairies hopping from cloud to cloud and leaf to leaf.
One dancer took Mateo's hands and pulled him up from the table. She wanted him to dance with her.
Evie and Ashlynn assumed she was trying to flirt.
The woman winked and bumped Mateo with her hip.
He could not accept her. He had a fiancée, and no other woman was going to replace her. He was not that kind of man. Just thinking about Maria, Mateo felt a pit in his stomach. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He released his hands from the dancer's grasp and turned to his group. "Excuse me, troops." He got no more than two steps in before he collapsed to his hands and knees.
His group quickly got up from their seats. "Mr. Mateo!" they chanted.
Mateo pushed himself to his feet. His world spun momentarily, and he reached for his head. His poor belly. However, he refused to see a doctor. He had more important things to do.
Mateo lowered his hand. He shook his head and told his campers, "Don't worry about me." With those words, he pushed past the dancers and headed toward the edge of Paperblank Village. He vanished into the darkness beyond the banquet.
***
Evie left the party so she could find her counselor. Behind the stage was a path that led to a porch-like overlook. It had a gate-like feature around it, but the overlook's edge was free. From it, there was a clear view of the stream and trees, as well as a meadow.
Mateo sat at the end of the overlook. He had taken off his sombrero and put it next to him. His legs dangled over the overlook's edge. With his elbows on his knees, he propped up his head.
Evie took a deep breath. Her hero was directly in front of her. She just had to try small talk. She wanted him to accidentally spoil his secret. Evie had so many questions for him. She took a few minutes to build up her confidence, and then she approached him. Evie sat down next to her counselor. "What's wrong, Mr. Mateo?" was what she started the conversation with.
"Evie, what are you doing out here?" Mateo dropped his hands and glanced at her. "You're too young to be roaming the village alone at night."
"Sorry. You just look like you need some company." Evie inhaled deeply. "Why are you stressed?"
Mateo was unable to answer because his phone suddenly rang from his pocket. Not his ranger device; his phone. "Oh, sweet cheese and carrots! Who is it this time?" he groaned. He swore he couldn't go an hour without either the Union, his fiancée, or his mom calling him. He reached his hand into his pocket and tried to silence his phone. Only, he accidentally hit the button for the speaker. He ripped his phone out, but it was too late.
A woman's voice yelled at him from the other line. "Mateo, it's Mommy!"
Evie snorted. She rubbed snot from her nose.
Mateo tried his best to act as casual as possible, even though he was beyond embarrassed. "Hello… Barbara. Sorry, but I am unavailable at the moment."
His mother ignored his plea. "Are you enjoying being a counselor? Does my baby boy have plenty of underwear?"
Evie laughed harder. Oh, poor Mateo. The situation was one where she could not keep a straight face. She rubbed tears from her eyes.
Mateo lowered his voice and growled into his phone, "Mom, I can't talk now. There is an eleven-year-old right next to me."
Again, his mother ignored him. "Sweet cakes, I went to the store today. For my yoga class, do you think I should buy a sports bra or a multiway one?"
Without thinking, Mateo shouted, "A sports one!" He calmed himself before he could get too angry and added, "Wait, they have multiway bras?"
"Why of course, sugar cube, but I think I'll save those for your wedding."
"Wedding?" Evie stopped laughing. A huge grin broke across her young face. "You're getting married, Mr. Mateo? Oh, that's adorable!" She slapped her hands together. Hearing that Ranger Anthony was engaged was one of the best things to ever happen to her.
"Is that one of your campers?" Ms. Brook asked. "He sure is, little one. The young woman he's marrying is perfect. She's gonna take good care of my little Mateo Waeo."
"Mom! Shut up!"
The scene may have been amusing, but it also reminded Evie of her parents. Her smile faded.
Mateo finally just got so fed up that he ended the call without telling his mom "goodbye" or "I love you".
"Don't mention this to anybody!" he begged Evie.
In a feeble voice, Evie said, "I won't." In a way, she got him. There was no doubt her mom would call her at the wrong time when she turned twenty-one, too. Though, she felt a pinch of homesickness. Hearing Mateo's mom reminded her how much she loved hers.
***
Evie and her counselor were quiet on their way back to the banquet. They made it just in time. The performance was starting.
Colorful dry ice exploded across the stage. The villagers and campers turned their heads to it.
Mateo and Evie sat down at the closest table they could find. The dry ice startled Evie a little bit. Her reflexes kicked it, and she grabbed Mateo's arm.
He felt her and peered down at her hand.
Evie soon realized she had grabbed him, so she quickly pulled away.
Paperblank dancers emerged from the dry ice. They flapped their dresses and twirled in all compass directions. The dancers came together and then moved apart. They opened the stage for a single woman.
She was young. Her long red hair flapped behind her head. She wore a white flower behind her ear and a stunning, multi-colored dress. The storyteller twirled and danced on stage. She disappeared in the dry ice and then reappeared. Her body was close to the ground. She held her hand up to the ice and started her tale. "Sixty years past; a boy yonder, a fairy astray, and a hunter engaged. The forest sings, and the boy and Guardian cling. The boy fights a pain so great; it causes him to hallucinate. The hunter, with one dead one, gains. But the Guardian cries. The trees speak and take her to keep. The boy vanishes without a trace."
Poof! All at once, the dry ice disappeared from the stage. The beginning dancers picked up their dresses. They tap-danced around the storyteller and kicked up their legs. Since their dresses flowed so gracefully, the whole stage looked like an umbrella.
The storyteller turned her back to the audience, but she peered over her shoulder and held up one finger. "Only one clue remains; a pebble that the boy contains."
At the mention of a pebble, Evie perked up. She leaned in close to Mateo and asked, "Mr. Mateo, is this a true story?"
He nodded. "It sure is, muchacha. This is the legend of the Green Guardian."
The dancer held her arms over her head. She moved toward the edge of the stage.
Behind her, the dancers got in a straight line. Mateo recognized one of them as the woman who hit on him earlier.
"The Guardian is weak, but the pebble speaks," chanted the storyteller. "Found in a stream, it climbs to its peak. Two shall find it. Two share its magic–the magic of the Green Guardian. The boy shall return."
At their cue, the dancers swooped off stage. They swerved through the audience and stopped at Mateo and Evie.
They gave them confused looks.
Without warning, the dancers wrapped their dresses around them like a parachute. They picked them up. Mateo and Evie could no longer see the storyteller, but they still heard her.
"But beware. One breath of the air, and the fairy will snare. If the forest sings, do not move, for you could wind up with the same fate as the boy. Fate is coy, and its determination comes from the foy." She was at the last part of the prophecy.
The dancers removed their dresses from Evie and Mateo.
Their jaws dropped when they saw they stood on the stage. About a hundred eyes stared them down. Evie's landed on Ashlynn. She looked a little jealous.
The dancers backed away from Evie and Mateo.
The storyteller approached them. She touched each youth on the cheeks. They felt a tingling sensation when she did. The storyteller held her hands out to them. "The Pebble Masters will never shine the same again. Instead, they will regain." Then, just like that, she clapped her hands together. The woman vanished in a cloud of smoke, as well as the other dancers. They reappeared behind Evie and Mateo.
Bewildered, they glanced at one another. There were so many unanswered questions swarming in their brains.
The audience cheered. They got up from their seats and clapped their hands. "Bravo! Bravo!"
Evie tried to dissect the whole legend, but it was beyond difficult. Why did the dancers bring her and Mateo up to the stage when the storyteller reached the Pebble Masters part of the story? She stumbled off the stage, but the dancer who flirted with Mateo earlier stopped him before he could follow.
"Please dance with me," she begged. "I heard you have quite good footwork." She did not want to miss the opportunity to dance with one of the Pebble Masters.
Mateo chuckled sarcastically. "Look, miss, I have a fiancée."
"This is just for fun. Honest." The woman brought her hands together. She gave Mateo the puppy dog eyes. He could not say no to those.
He sighed. "Ugh, fine."
Instantly, the woman perked up. "Yay! You know the Fairy Dance, right?"
"I do." Mateo nodded. "It's a dance that's been passed down through Paperblank Village history to honor the fae."
"That's the one we'll do." Excited, the woman moved over to a group of musicians who stood at the base of the stage. They were patiently waiting for their turn in the spotlight. The woman whispered into their ears. She then returned to Mateo.
"Whoa, Evie! How come you were the lucky goat to go on stage?" Evie's friends asked when she returned to the camp crew.
She plopped down next to Ashlynn. Honestly, she did not know how to answer her friends' questions, so all she said was, "I don't know."
Ms. Julie, who stood over them, brought her finger to her lips. "Shh, look at the stage."
The children did. Their eyes widened when they saw Mr. Mateo take the dancer's hand in his. He tossed his sombrero behind him.
"Is that Mr. Mateo?" Amanda asked.
"Is he going to dance?" another child added.
The whole area fell into complete silence. All eyes landed on the stage.
The dancer nodded at the musicians.
They returned it. At the same time, they started playing their instruments.
The tune was Spanish-like. It was not too fast or too slow. It was supposed to represent the fairies of the Paperblank Forest flying to meet the Green Guardian.
Mateo wrapped his hands around the dancer's waist. He gently dragged her across the stage.
She tossed her hands into the sky and shook her fingers. The motion represented the fairies' fairy dust. The dancer twirled away from Mateo.
He mimicked her action.
Together, the two looked out at the audience. They put their hands behind their backs and tapped their feet to the beat of the music.
Evie's jaw dropped. Mateo could dance, and... Whoa! She fell even more in love with him.
The two dancers shifted in a circle around the stage. They swiftly waved their arms like waves and performed the same hand motion.
The female dancer moved to the center of their circle. She was now the Green Guardian.
Mateo lowered himself to the ground. He bent his right knee but stretched his left leg behind him. It almost looked like he was doing a split. He offered the dancer his hands, signifying the fae offering the Green Guardian a gift, and slid around her.
She hooked hands with him.
Mateo lifted her into the sky and spun her in a circle.
The dancer held her arms out to her sides like wings.
As the song progressed, it grew more forte. It was the cue for the dancers to move their feet even faster. Eventually, they danced so quickly that nobody could see their shoes.
Mateo was having so much fun. Since he'd been so busy lately, he had not danced as much as he used to. He and the dancer were coming up on the last part of the dance. Unfortunately, they could not finish it.
***
John the Red-Crowned Crane appeared over the party. He came in for a landing and held his feet in front of him.
The audience gasped at the sight of him.
"John?" Paperblank villagers asked, moving off to the side.
John crashed to the ground. He ended up tipping over the buffet table. Food scattered all over the place.
Evie's eyes widened. That was the crane she and her group members met earlier.
Her counselor stopped dancing. He kissed his partner's hands and rushed off the stage.
John got up, but he had the table's blanket over his head. He shook it off. His dark eyes landed on his friend. "Mateo!"
Ms. Julie and the rest of the camp counselors defensively held their arms up to the children.
Evie looked over Ms. Julie's arm. She tried to push past it, but Ms. Julie only dug it into her chest.
Mateo stopped in front of the bird. "John, what has your feathery clumsiness done this time? You can't just drop in here!"
John was freaking out too much to accept his Howler. He lifted his foot and pointed in the direction of the Paperblank Forest. "Emergency! Emergency! The time traveler… the basilisk… the time traveler…!"
Mateo held his hands out to him. "What are you talking about? You're talking way too fast."
"The time traveler is back, and the basilisk is after him!" John's voice shook like an earthquake.
"Wait, you're serious?" Mateo asked.
John bobbed his head up and down. "Yes! The boy has the pebble. He can't fight off the monster because he's unconscious. Mateo, we have to go."
"Right," Mateo said. He glanced at the campers. "I'm sorry, y'all."
Every kid gave him a weird look.
Evie glanced at Ashlynn. "Now do you believe me when I say he's a ranger?" she proudly asked.
Ashlynn was too surprised to even speak.
The fireflies left the banquet. What started as a beautiful arena was now splattered with food and broken plates.
Mateo poked John's chest. "I'll meet you at the rendezvous," he told him.
John nodded and lifted into the sky. He and Mateo went their separate ways.
While Mateo ran, he pulled his walkie-talkie-like device out of his pocket and called into it. "Mayday! Mayday! The time traveler has returned, and the basilisk is after him. I need backup." He hurried through the darkness of Paperblank Village and crossed bridges until he finally made it to his group's cabin.
Owls hooted in the darkness of the night.
Mateo sprinted up the stairs and threw open the door. He dove into his room and pulled his suitcase out from under his bed. Opening it, he dug out the orange and black uniform he packed his jackets on top of. It was his ranger uniform. At the bottom of the suitcase was a long rope with a hook at the end of it.
Mateo changed quickly. He tied his rope to his uniform's belt. His pants, boots, and fingerless gloves were black, whereas his top was orange. He slipped a black vest over it. The last thing he put on was an orange and black cap. He tucked his pants into his boots and his shirt into his pants. Momentarily, he visited the bathroom to check himself out in the mirror. The young man, who stood behind the white counter, adjusted his collar. To himself, he said, "Mateo, you're ready for action." It was time for the fun to begin.
He left the bathroom, but before he could make it to the cabin's door, a sudden gold light flickered around his tummy. Mateo slightly screamed when a bomb of excruciating pain blasted it. He fell to his hands and knees but tried to endure the pain.
The ranger caught his breath, even though it was a bit difficult to breathe. He dragged himself to the cabin's door and reached for the doorknob. Mateo used it to help him stand. His feet wobbled under him. He was not going to let a little stomach pain interfere with his mission. He was Ranger Anthony, and the time-traveling boy needed him.