Afternoon Tea for Four

Making her way back to the house, Kiki took in all that had happened today until she suddenly heard a faint noise in the distance. She stopped in her tracks. Was that someone calling out? Once again the noise happened and she could just make out a word. Yes, she was sure of it, someone was calling out for help. Kiki looked over to her right where the edge of the village became densely packed trees. She was certain the noise was coming from that direction. Her heart pounded in her chest as worries filled her mind. What could be the problem? Was the creature in the forest alright and would she get to them in time? The fairy pushed the foliage apart: it definitely wasn’t the easiest route but it should get her there more quickly. She was getting out of breath as branches, grass and bushes seemed to pass in front of her forever until finally she reached a clearing where she could finally fly without obstacles.  Once again she heard someone cry out for help. Looking around, she saw a brown bear slumped against a tree trunk about six feet away. She rushed over as the bear looked up and saw her. Its green eyes didn’t sparkle like they should, signs of something wrong. Slowly the bear reached out to the fairy for help: each movement seemed like a big effort and the fluffy brown bear seemed quite unwell.

Concern flooded Kiki’s face as she drew closer to the bear.”Hello I’m Kiki. What’s the matter, are you hurt or maybe unwell?” asked Kiki, hoping the bear had the strength to say more than the word help. The bear put its hand to its stomach and managed to get out the words “Mishka” and “hungry”. Kiki understood immediately and knew that the best person to help at this moment was Ruby but she didn’t want to leave Mishka alone again, especially as she didn’t know if she would find the bear again so easily - they must somehow make their way to Ruby. Kiki looked at the bear, uncertain what it could manage. “Mishka, do you think you can walk a little bit so we can get you to someone who can help?’ asked Kiki, switching into problem solving mode. Mishka gave a small nod and slowly made his way onto his feet with a little help from Kiki. Each step was a huge effort for the hungry bear and little Kiki wasn’t strong enough to give him that much help. All she could do was hold the bear's hand and guide him towards the house.

It took them  quite a long time, but eventually the pair arrived at the house where Ruby was. Kiki slammed open the door and called out “Help! I need you to help!”. During the time it took for Kiki to get back, the effects of the coffee had set in and Kemuri was feeling revitalised and full of energy, so Ruby and Kemuri rushed to the door. Kiki was fine when she left, what could be the matter now? By the time they reached the door, Mishka had once again slumped to the floor, hungry and exhausted. It took their combined strength to help to carry the brown bear to a seat in the kitchen and they were all very glad at this point that Kemuri had regained some energy as they wouldn’t have been able to achieve it without her. Once Mishka was safely seated, Kiki quickly explained to Ruby the situation and wondered if she had anything with her for the bear to eat as she was unsure Mishka would be able to cope waiting for something to be cooked.

Ruby knew she had some things with her but didn’t know if she had enough to help the starving bear, but she agreed and quickly made her way back over to the kitchen. Once more reaching into her purse, she pulled out all of the ingredients she had with her. First, she pulled out the loaf of bread she knew she had, but she couldn’t give the bear plain bread, the cook within her knew she could do better than that. Next she pulled out some potatoes and spices. They wouldn’t do. Soon, the worktop was full of all the ingredients Ruby had with her that she could try to make something with. She surveyed everything in front of her and started to make a plan. Knowing she didn’t have time to cook, she packed away everything she couldn’t use before calling over Kemuri and asking for her assistance. Ruby decided on an afternoon tea. There were some things she still needed to prepare and so some assistance would be important to make things happen as quickly as possible.

Kemuri was tasked with adding jam and cream to perfectly baked, golden scones before  finding plates and placing the assembled scones, fluffy muffins and beautiful pastries onto them, whilst Ruby started to cut up vegetables for a salad and get together sandwich fillings. Inside the kitchen cupboards, Kemuri found beautiful chinaware in her favourite colours, perfect for the occasion. A combination of light and dark blue accents adorned many of the plates, cups and bowls which meant they paired together marvellously. The little cat’s favourite detail was the deep blue flower pattern found on the cups and teapot and it brought a smile to her face to see such lovely items they could use. And then, nestled right at the back of one of the cupboards stood the perfect item - a silver cake stand with a heart shape right at the top. She placed the scones, muffins and some of the pastries on top before plating a croissant for each of them onto separate smaller plates. Next, Ruby asked Kemuri to brew the kettle and place the salad into a bowl whilst she finished cutting the loaf of bread and making the sandwiches. After a couple of minutes the dining table was filled with a variety of foods and fresh tea, creating the perfect quick meal for the brown bear’s hungry belly. There were enough options that hopefully there would be something that Mishka would like and even enough for the rest of them.

Mishka’s head slowly rose as the wonderful aroma of food filled his nose. His mouth dropped in amazement when he saw the food in front of him and his belly growled. Ruby gave a small laugh and said “Help yourself everyone.” Ruby tried to explain how she scrounged together what she could and started to apologise that it wasn’t anything more but all she got in return was a few strange looks as Kiki replied “Don’t be silly, this look wonderful. I couldn’t have done better if I had weeks to prepare!” A silence filled the room as each of them concentrated on choosing what they wanted to eat first. Mishka’s eyes focused on the croissant on the plate in front of him. He had never seen anything like it but it looked so delicious to him. As he took a bite, flakes of pastry dropped onto his plate before a small smile crept across his face. It was delicious. He couldn’t wait to taste everything else. The rest of the table tucked in and they all enjoyed their food in silence, focusing on each wonderful bite. Ruby smiled, seeing everyone was enjoying their food.

After finishing his croissant along with a few sandwiches, Mishka finally had the strength to talk as the food started to fill the emptiness in his stomach. “Thank you so much!” he exclaimed. “I haven’t been able to find food for days now." Kiki was astounded. How could he not have found food? She had been working through the food store in the Library and would have to find some at some point but surely it wasn’t that difficult to find food in the forest, the village had never had problems before. Mishka continued and explained how he had been scrounging for food for a while now, finding whatever he could or anyone who was willing to share what they had. The poor bear didn’t know how to cook and often struggled to find any ingredients, even if he did have the skills. He had been wandering around the woods for a few days without finding anything and had grown so hungry that when he smelt something delicious coming from this direction, he instinctively found whatever strength he had to make his way over. Kiki realised he must have smelt the coffee she was bringing to the dragons but still found it concerning how hungry Mishka must have been. Mishka spent a while explaining more about his situation as the food on the table slowly disappeared, everyone loving every item they tried. Feeling full, Kiki sipped her tea and listened to the conversation as the rest of her guests ate the delicious food and shared stories of their experience of animals going hungry in the forest. Kiki discovered from their discussion that Mishka was not the only animal in the forest who struggled to find food and that many of them were too anxious to venture out of the forest as they didn’t know what it was like beyond as they had never left the comfort of the Emerald Forest. This meant that food was scarce for many of the forest inhabitants and some would become too hungry to share what they found. Ruby began to recognise why she had had so many visitors to her campsite whilst she had been in the Forest the last few days. They not only enjoyed what she was making, but also needed the food, and she had more to go around then most of them as she had her magic purse and often visited places outside of the forest and stocked up on ingredients before leaving there.

The group sat, ate and chatted for quite a long time before the plates were empty and all that was left was the tea. Kiki had spent a lot of time contemplating the situation, wondering what she should do as she sipped her tea and listened before finally coming to a conclusion. She had realised in this time how much Kemuri seemed to like this house and all the contents of it. Kiki had grown fond of her and thought the little grey cat would get on very well with the other village inhabitant and it would be great for Prickles to have another friend as he was often on his own as the dragons were very busy helping her sort out the Library. “Kemuri” said Kiki when there was the opportunity for her to speak. The striped cat turned towards her as Kiki continued “Would you be interested in staying here? This house could be yours if you would like.”  Kemuri looked at Kiki with surprise and excitement.  “Really? You’re sure?” answered Kemuri already decided to accept the offer. Kiki nodded with a large smile before noticing Mishka who was quietly staring into his tea.

Kiki had been thinking more about Mishka this whole time. She found his story very sad and wanted more than anything to help him out but one of her best ideas was going to need Ruby’s help and she couldn’t offer Mishka her idea without asking Ruby privately first. One thing was certain though, she couldn’t bear to let him go back out into the forest where he would once again struggle with food. “Mishka” she called out across the table, snapping him out of his dazed stare. “There aren’t many of us here but we have a lot of empty houses. I would be delighted if you would like to pick one to call home as well” Kiki said with a small smile, not wanting to pressure him too much. Tears began to well up in Mishka’s eyes as he replied “Are you sure? You’ve done so much for me already. I wouldn’t want to impose.“ Everyone comforted him as Kiki assured him that he was very welcome to stay and that they would all enjoy having him around.

Ruby looked at her childhood friend Kiki. She was so proud of her and so grateful that she was offering all these creatures places to stay. Ruby was happy with all she had done since leaving the fairy village, but it was sad to come back and see it so empty. She looked forward to seeing what it would become as this was definitely the start of something new. She could see that the village would grow from this point under Kiki’s caring and inviting watch. Ruby had planned to stay for a few days simply to learn Dragon cuisine but she knew that there was something equally important for her to do now. Ruby knew that there was only so much Kiki could do to help Mishka as she had other responsibilities so Ruby turned to an already emotional bear, and offered to teach him how to cook while she stayed in the village for a while so he could make him own meals when she left and wouldn’t go hungry again. Mishka’s eyes lit up as he quickly wiped the tears away whilst Kiki silently thanked Ruby as the mushroom fairy had suggested the exact idea Kiki had without needing to be asked.

The room was abuzz with excitement  as Mishka started to explain all the pastries he wanted to learn to make and Kemuri asked Ruby to teach her all about the proper coffee brewing methods. The two fairies looked at each other and laughed. This was going to be fun!