“Jase Fisher, I’ve been looking for you!”

I stop walking towards the village and turn in the direction of the shout. Trinity is jogging towards Lily and I. Her familiar is running beside her.

“This could be trouble,” Lily told me.

“You’re probably right.”

“Of course, I am,” Lily deadpanned. I turn my head to see the huge grin on her face.

“Smart aleck,” I replied making sure she could feel my humor across our bond.

“Have I steered you wrong yet?”

“No,” I agreed. “I just wish I could stop you from pranking me.”

“That won’t happen…ever.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“Oh! Speaking of pranks,” Lily said before starting to fly toward the village’s newest resident. She stops as Trinity trips and falls to one knee. Lily flies back to me. “Never mind.”

I hear laughter coming from all around us. I resume walking toward the village and woman in the path. Lily flies beside me.

“You know you’re a lot worse about pranking me with all the others around.”

“Maybe.”

“Uh huh,” I replied. I stopped before Trinity. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” the alchemist replied. “I tripped over something.”

“Yeah,” I said. Her ferret is sniffing the ground. I see an almost clear broken fishing string on the ground. I follow it and see that it is tied to a small tree. Trinity turns and sees what her familiar has found.

“Now who would deliberately want to set a trap like this in the path to your home?” Trinity asked. She looks up to me. “Was it you?”

“No. It’s right at the edge of my property, so I have a good idea,” I answer. Lily giggles and shakes her head. I hold my hand out and she lands in my palm. “You encouraged the guilty party though, didn’t you?”

“Perhaps…”

“You should punish your familiar if she did this,” Trinity said as she stood.

“Nope. I’ll never hurt Lily. Would you do anything to Rikki?” I replied. Trinity just glances down at the ferret. “That’s what I thought.”

“But my Rikki is not a prank loving pixie.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I replied looking fondly at Lily. I looked back at the young woman standing in front of me. “She does love pranks but wouldn’t harm a soul. And she didn’t do this one, though she did encourage the ones that did it.”

Trinity looks around. “There are more pixies here?”

“There are pixies everywhere. They do love my land though.”

“Is that why anyone that tries to cross into the land you claimed is attacked?”

“Perhaps or perhaps the pixies respect borders unlike my fellow humans,” I replied. Seeing the look in her eyes, I continue. “There are visible stakes marking my land every 50 feet.”

“Not all stakes are visible,” Trinity shrugged.

I turned and started walking back to the cottage.

“We’re not going into the village?” Lily asked.

“No. I want to mark our land’s borders even more before going into the village again.”

“Where are you going?” Trinity calls to me.

“Home. I’ve found I suddenly have work to do,” I holler back.

“Are we going to build a fence?” Lily asked.

“Not a bad idea. We’ll do that along the village facing side of the land. The rest we can mark with more flags or something.”

“Paint marks on the trees,” my familiar suggested.

“Good idea. We have some bright paint, don’t we?”

“Yes. Want me to ask the others to help?”

“Please.”

“Ok,” Lily said. She takes flight into the trees while I walk home.

*

“Why should we help you fence your land along the village’s border?” Trillium asked. “And why should we mark the rest beyond the stakes we have already helped place?”

“Elder…” Lily began.

“Silence child. This is beyond our agreement. Let your human speak.”

“Yes elder,” Lily replied. She gives me a sad smile.

“This is not beyond our agreement,” I reply after thinking about it for a moment.

“Explain.”

“Fencing and marking the land is just going another step or two further to more clearly mark what was claimed for all of us,” I answered.

Trillium smiles. “You are learning.”

“Thank you. Come with me to the kitchen and I’ll show you why the pixies should help,” I said. I hold the door open and let Lily, Trillium, and a few more pixies into the cottage. Lily is grinning from ear to ear. “Lily told me it doesn’t have the color that you would remember, but I think you’ll like the smell and hopefully the taste.”

“You’ve made chocolate ice cream,” Trillium states. I nod as I open the freezer and take out a small container.

“This one was made with the chocolate mint, so the ice cream is green,” I said as I opened the container. The pixie elder flies to the container and sniffs.

“That is the smell. What about the daisies?” Trillium asked. In answer, I open another small container after taking it out of the freezer. This ice cream was yellowish green with splashes of red in it.

“Smells the same to me.”

“And me,” Lily added. “We haven’t tried it yet.”

“Were you waiting for me?” Trillium asked. The other pixies gather around.

“Can we try it elder?” Yam asked as the others nod in agreement.

“I shall try it first,” Trillium said. A spoon appears in her hand.

“I really wish I could learn how you guys do that,” I said.

“Perhaps you can in time,” Lily replied producing her own spoon.

“Both of them taste just like real chocolate ice cream,” Trillium said after sampling both. “Dig in children.”

I watch in amusement as the pixies do as their elder bid. Within a few minutes, both little containers are empty.

“You’re all pigs!”

“Oink, oink,” the pixies chorus. Then they laugh.

“How much ice cream have you made?” April asked.

“Ten gallons of vanilla flavored and only a pint of the two chocolate flavors over the last few days,” I answered.

“Can you make strawberry flavored ice cream too?” Willow asked.

“Crabapple!” a different pixie said.

“Honey!” another adds.

“It’s not strawberry season,” Lily said.

“Oh!” Willow huffs.

“It’s something that can be made year-round, so I’ll experiment,” I tell the pixies. They cheer.

“Very well. We will help you fence and mark the land,” Trillium says after the others calm down. “But you must make more of the chocolate as soon as possible.”

“I will,” I promise. “Thank you for the help.”

“You’re welcome. We’ll start in the morning,” Trillium replied. I nod in agreement. “Now, if you’ll be a dear and take out the two pints of chocolate, please?