“Morning Jase,” Henry greeted me. He gestured to a couple of others with him and his familiar. “These two are my kids, Preston and Prissy. You’ve already sort of met Bessie.”

“Dad…” the girl, no, young woman complained. I reckoned she was a year or two younger than I was. Her brother looked to be my age but didn’t have a familiar.

“Alright. This is my daughter, Priscilla. We call her Prissy though,” the farmer said grinning.

“Good morning to all of you,” I replied. I yawned. “Excuse me. I’m not used to getting up quite this early.” The sun was just beginning to peek over a mountain to our east. I gestured to the waving pixie on my shoulder. “This is my familiar, Lilly.”

“It’s 6:45. We’re a few minutes early,” Henry said as he and his children returned Lily’s wave.

“How did you bond with a pixie?” Priscilla asked.

“Why did you do so?” Preston asked at the same time.

“Kids! We’re here to help Jase plow his garden,” Henry chided his children.

“I don’t know why. Unless he’s going to plant pumpkins it’s too late for a garden,” Preston said.

“It’s not too late for certain plants and herbs,” I replied to Preston. “Those are what the garden will be for.”

“My Jase has been working long into the night lately, so he’s been sleeping till 9 or 10 in the morning,” Lily explained before adding, “good morning to you all too.”

“Pixies can talk?” Priscilla asked looking back and forth between her dad, Lily, and me.

“Is that why you bonded with her?” Preston asked.

“Kids…” Henry warned.

“It’s alright. I bonded with Lily because we belong together,” I said. Lily kissed my cheek. The Farmers didn’t need to know about Lily and I pledging ourselves to each other when I was a child. “And as I told your dad yesterday, Lily is a person. She can talk when she wants to.”

“Can anybody bond with a pixie?” Priscilla asked.

“And do they all talk?” Preston asked. He had noticed that Jase had said Lily could talk, not others.

“You’re too young and still have a couple years to go before thinking about finding your familiar,” Henry said.

“We can all talk, and we can bond with anyone we choose to do so with,” Lily answered. I noticed a few pixies started circling over the Farmers’ heads as Lily talked. The Farmers looked up and the pixies flew away giggling.

“What was that all about?” Henry asked.

“Looked to me like they were checking you guys out,” I answered.

“They were,” Lily added. Prissy looked excited about that while Preston looked more thoughtful.

“Preston will take part in the choosing ceremony in a few months,” Henry said after noticing his children’s expressions. “Let’s see this plot of land you want to use.”

“Right this way,” I replied walking toward where I wanted the garden.

*

Henry and Preston not only plowed the area I had in mind, but they also taught me how to do it as well. Plowing was hard work even though Bessie was doing most of the work and the area was small. Lily mostly talked and played with Prissy while we worked. Priscilla did help though with doing some hoeing and carrying away clumps of grass and weeds.

“Jase, I’ll be back!” Lily shouted before speeding away.

“What was that about?” Henry asked.

“Don’t know. She’s excited though,” I answered.

*

“Get out of my way pests!” Trinity growled at the pixies keeping her from walking through the gate and onto my land. “Ow!” She screamed and rubbed the place on her arm where May zapped her. “Do that again and I’ll pluck your wings off!”

“No, you won’t!” May replied.

“Leave and the rest of us won’t zap you!” April added. “You’re not wanted or allowed on Jase’s property.”

“That is for Jase to decide, not you,” Trinity retorted.

“He already has, and my kin are correct,” Lily said flying up to them. “You are not wanted here.”

“We’ll see about that,” Trinity said taking a step forward. A shadow fell across her and she looked up. She knew the sky was a perfect clear blue. Her eyes landed on a large grey cat standing on a tree branch off the trail. The cat jumped and landed before her scattering the pixies. Trinity fell onto her backside as the cat turned to face her and screeched.

“We’ll distract her! Run Trinity!” Lily shouted.

The cougar spun to face the pixie. The other pixies started to dart to the large great cat and tap her, distracting the cougar from the human. Rikki scampered into the bag the woman had slung over her shoulder. Trinity crawled away and then ran towards the village. As she disappeared, the pixies stopped diving towards the cougar. The cat sat just inside the gate.

“That was fun!” Lily said as she flew down and hugged the cougar. The cat chuffed as the other pixies laughed. “You know you enjoyed scaring her off, Sara!”

“So, you’re the one Lily wanted to help us defend Jase’s land?” Willow asked the cougar. Sara purred. “It’s nice meeting you. Let me introduce the others.”

Sara chuffed at each pixie as they were introduced.

“Can we scare Jase too?” Yam asked.

“Better not,” Lily replied from where she sat on Sara’s back. “You know the Farmers are helping him today.”

“True. Guess we just get to introduce Sara then.”

“Yep,” Lily agreed. “Ready Sara?”

*

“Jase!” Lily yelled. “Look! We have a guest.”

“Who?” I asked looking toward the path. We were taking a break. Henry and his kids turned to look as well.

“Kids, run into the woods and make your way to the village!” Henry shouted jumping to his feet as a large grey cougar came into view.

“Don’t run!” I countered. “Lily is riding the cougar.”

“She is riding it,” Prissy agreed. Bessie didn’t even shy away from the great cat.

“Bessie isn’t concerned,” Henry said warily turning from the cougar to his familiar and back. The horse continued eating grass while the Farmers still looked afraid.

“Sara?” I asked. The cougar chuffed and sat a few feet from us. Lily flew from Sara to me. “Lily, do you care to explain this?”

“I sent Sara a message a while ago asking her to come live on our land. I thought she would be great at keeping us safe from other beasts in the area.”

“As well as certain villagers,” I concluded. Lily nodded in agreement.

“I’ve never seen a cougar that large,” Henry said. “Especially a female.”

“Can we touch her?” Preston asked starting to walk toward the cat.

“Better not,” Lily said. “Sara is free and will not bond with a human.”

“Oh,” Preston replied lowering his hand and stopping.

“Sara is mutated,” I added.

“That explains her size,” Henry replied.

“I don’t think the rest of the village will be happy about her,” Priscilla said.

“They’ll have to learn to live with her though,” I said making a decision. I turned from the Farmers to the cat. “Sara, will you live in the fenced in area of my land and only hunt inside the fence or further north into the mountains?”

The cougar regarded me for a moment. She nodded and chuffed her agreement.

“That’s a yes,” Lily helpfully said.

“We can see that,” Henry replied.

“You’re a bit of a smart aleck, aren’t you?” Priscilla asked my familiar.

“Of course. All pixies are,” Lily answered.

“I think I want one as my familiar,” Prissy said.

“Good luck with that,” Henry replied. “The cat won’t hurt us?”

“No,” Lily and I replied. Sara stood and ran towards the house. She leapt onto the porch roof and laid down in the sun.

“Then let’s get your plot done so we can go home,” Henry said.

“Good idea dad,” Preston replied not taking his eyes off Sara.