Oh, dear reader, how like a dream it all was, and yet… I know it to be true. I know I was there and I will be there again, yet still how strangely and beautifully all the memories swirl in my mind. And such possibilities… my heart can hardly contain it! We did find the final spot on the map, we did use the key, and in a way, we did meet the Green Sister.
It was on our second day of travel, about midmorning, that we noticed the trees around us were growing larger, and the vines with the green fruit were thickening on the forest floor. The river too was growing wider the deeper we dove into the forest. My whole cottage probably could have sat snuggly between its banks. Then after cresting a hill, we saw it, that magnificent ancient place! Oh, how can I describe it? I will do my best.
Atop another hill, across from where we stood, was an edifice, a grand wall made of gray stones circling the crest. Stone giants, even taller than the ones we encountered before, stood with their backs to the wall, like sentries guarding the fortress. But their arms were open wide… welcoming. Water, indeed what seemed the source of the river itself, flowed freely from an arch at the base of the wall, and from the top more vines spilled over its edge, crawling down the stones and reaching out in all directions. But perhaps the most impressive, the most astonishing thing was an enormous oak tree that towered over it all. The base of its trunk was hidden behind the wall, but mighty roots reached out through cracks, covering the entirety of the hill in curling, flowing knots. It looked down on every other tree, and its abundant leaves where a ghostly shade of white.
We all sat on our horses, silent. I know that I, myself, was too much in awe to speak. What a sight! After what felt like an eternity, Lorenz spoke my name and pointed to the side of the wall, so I followed his gaze. A door! Oh goodness, dear reader, my heart was trembling. Could it be? Could we go in? Down our hill and up again to the entrance. Its metal hinges and lock were ornately decorated in the same fashion as my mirror and the key, which Lorenz pulled out from his pocket. My hands shook as he passed it to me… and yes! With three turns of the key and a slow labored push, the door groaned and opened to us as if awakening from a sleep of ages.
Oh, that there is such a place in the world! Inside it was like a courtyard or a cloister; we could see covered walkways along the sides, and more doors beyond those. The great tree stood in the middle with a smaller wall encircling it. The vines seemed to begin growing from somewhere behind it. They covered so much of the ground that it was difficult to walk without stepping on them. Alexander, filled with such excitement, ran to the wall, but he stopped short to look over the edge with care. Down he peered, then turned and shouted for the rest of us to come and see.
It was a well, but of no sort any of us had ever seen. Deep, deep down… down to where the tree and the vines sank their roots, past stone alcoves in the sides we could hear and see… water? I remember how Mrs. Hume and Baron Rhodes both gasped. It glowed and sparkled like an Impression, but it was all the colors all at once, iridescent, like a butterfly’s wing, or a beetle’s shell, oh, or a soap bubble! How beautiful! It was the closest thing to pure magic I could have ever dreamed of, and yet there it was, a deep well full of color and light. So overwhelmed was I; I turned about to catch my breath… and then I saw her.
I laugh to think that all I could say was “Oh”, but how struck I was in that moment. Carved above the door we had entered by, was a lady, her eyes closed, her ears and hands leafy. The painted colors had somehow endured the untold years, making the earthy green of her face and skin unmistakable. It felt like seeing a strange reflection of myself. I felt Lorenz’s hand on my shoulder and he whispered, “She does look like you.” Mrs. Hume sighed that it must be the queen of the faeries herself, and the baron with a voice surprisingly soft told Alexander, “I’ve been seeing that smile for weeks now in my dreams. It reminds me of your mother.”
Oh, dear reader, I… I could have stayed there in that place forever. Indeed, we have already made plans to visit again. The baron has given Alexander his permission to join us in the forest, when invited and on the condition that he is dutiful in his lessons. I think never has a boy been so eager to be “dutiful” in his lessons as Alexander. The baron also said that we were free to share with him whatever we might learn about this place and the forest at large, and to not hesitate should we require his help. He said it was high time he understood the forest better and showed it the respect it deserved. I could see Mrs. Hume grinning from ear to ear at these words. It seems her prediction came true; the woods have won him over. As for Lorenz and myself, well, we feel the earnest need to learn as much about this place as possible. We both have so many ideas, so many questions. I think perhaps the strange water feeds not just the great white tree and the vines, but maybe the whole forest, like a deep well of magic. Lorenz wonders what people built the stone giants, and the walls, and the many rooms and passages as yet waiting to be explored. I wonder what their relationship to the Green Sister was, that lady we saw spinning in our dreams. I have not seen her again, perhaps because we already found what she wanted us to find. Still, I was utterly delighted and surprised at, well, everything. When I drew an Impression of all we had seen, all we had dreamed… dear reader, it looks like the water, like swirling colors of magic. What else could I call this Remedy but Dreams? I hope your dreams are sweet tonight, dear reader, as this season and journey come to an end and as a whole new dream and adventure are about to begin. I cannot wait to share it all with you.