Magic on Changeling Mountain
Chapter 13

Fairies! The bush was literally alive with fairies! Since she was in her cat form, they didn’t seem overly worried when she appeared but the light got dimmer as she slowly approached. She tried to think-talking to them but it did no good. She stood looking at the bush for a couple of minutes and then stepped back and transformed.

She approached the bush again and whispered “Look, I’m not going to harm you but we need to talk. Can you please come out?” She stood and waited for a few minutes and finally one fairy came and stood on a leaf.

It was slightly smaller than a praying mantis would be but larger than a bee. Carolyn could tell that it was trying to communicate with her but unfortunately, it was so small that she couldn’t make out what it was saying in her human form. She whispered, “Wait. Maybe I can hear you better if I’m in my cat form.”

She transformed and the fairy flew closer but it was nervous about getting so close to her while she was like that. Cats were naturally quicker than humans, and the fairy was afraid of becoming a cat toy. She could barely hear what the fairy had to say and since they couldn’t hear her when she think-talked to them, she was going to have to come up with something else. She looked over her shoulder and spotted her computer sitting near the window in her living room. She transformed again and whispered to the fairy. “Fly up to that window when I open it. I’ve got an idea on how we can communicate.” She said, pointing to the window over her shoulder.

The fairy nodded and Carolyn stood up to go inside. She quickly opened the window and turned on the computer. She whispered to the fairy “If you will speak into this, I should be able to hear you through these.” She told the fairy as she pulled one of the speakers close to her and turned the volume up as high as it would go. The fairy looked at her uncertainty but nodded its head. When the computer was done gearing up, Carolyn whispered. “Go ahead and say something.”

At first it sounded like a tinkling noise but then Carolyn heard “Hello. My name is Foster. Who are you?”

“Hello Foster. I am Dr. Carolyn Masters but you may call me Carolyn. Why have you taken up in my camellia bush? You are too close to the road to remain hidden for long.” Carolyn whispered.

“Your camellia bush, as you call it, is sick. We are trying to heal it as well as look for a place to live. The humans where we were living have cleared the land and they tore down our home. We were living in a great oak tree that was over 100 years old and they cut it down like it meant nothing.” Foster said, sadly.

“I’m very sorry to hear that. Were you living in the same forest as the centaurs?” Carolyn whispered.

“Yes. Did they make it out alright? When the humans came, we all just scattered and ran for our lives. We don’t know what happened to any of the other magical creatures that were living in our forest.” Foster told her.

“Well, 10 of them showed up here yesterday. I helped one of them give birth to her foal earlier today. It was coming out breech and she was so weak, poor thing. She had a beautiful golden colored foal.” Carolyn whispered. She looked over at the camellia bush which was glowing brightly again. “What are they doing?”

“Like I said, your bush is sick. They are trying to heal it.” Foster said.

“Well, I thank you for that. I did notice that it did not give as many blooms this year as it usually does but I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had time to tend to my yard as I usually do. But on to your problem. As much as I would love to have you stay in my yard and care for all of my plants, it is not safe for you here. We are going to have to find you a place, higher on the mountain where you will be safe.”

“Yes, we stopped here because we are tired and needed to rest. We need someplace where we will be able to hide from the coming storm. It will be here in a day or two.” Foster said.

“Well, if a storm does come and you are still here, you can hide in my hidey hole under the house.” Carolyn whispered. “Look, I’ve got to finish checking on the area.

We’ve had problems with someone dumping poison in the area and two towners dogs have eaten it and are very sick. I need to get back to my clinic but I want to finish my rounds first. If anyone else comes near here, I would suggest you stop glowing until they leave. Not everyone will be as welcoming.” Carolyn whispered with a smile and Foster said he understood.

Carolyn went through her house, making sure all the windows and doors were closed up and locked before she returned to the porch, where she transformed and continued on her rounds. She considered going up to talk to her parents but she didn’t want to leave Cindy on her own for that long.

She had already been gone longer than she intended so once she had satisfied herself that everything was going to be quiet for the night, she headed back to the clinic. She ran by where the centaurs all lay sleeping on the ground but did not disturb them, however, Damien lifted his head and seemed to sniff the air as she stood watching them but he could not see her. She stepped back and gave a low growl in her throat, hoping he would realize it was her. Damien came to his feet almost immediately and stood listening intently.

“Damien, it is only me, Carolyn. I’m just doing my nightly patrol to make sure that all is well on the mountain.” Carolyn said, as she transformed and stepped into a patch of moonlight where he could see her. “I’m sorry if I woke you or startled you.”

“All is well, Carolyn and thank you for checking on us. We will be moving in a few days and you will no longer have to worry about us.” Damien said as he stepped quietly away from the other sleeping centaurs.

“Are you going up to the cave my father and uncle found for you?” Carolyn asked.

“Well, I will journey up there and see if it will be suitable but more than likely, yes, when Kala and her foal are able to travel. Thank you for helping her.” Damien said.

“That’s what I do. Please don’t hesitate to call on me again if you need anything. I also wanted to let you know that someone has been dumping poison around town. Well at least once. Two dogs got into it and they are very ill at my clinic right now. It killed a raccoon and some mice so it is very potent. Please beware of a green foul smelling substance and if you find any of it, please let me know right away.” Carolyn said. “Well, I’d better get back to Cindy. She’s going to think I forgot about her. Good night and sleep well.”

“Good night.” Damien said and returned to his place next to his mate, a very pretty mare with dark brown hair.

Carolyn ran back through the woods to the clinic and transformed outside the back door. She opened the door to find a very frantic Cindy running back towards the area where the two dogs were being kept.

“Oh, thank goodness you are back. Clementine has taken a turn for the worse. She’s been puking and pooping blood and she’s running a fever. I went in to check on her a few minutes ago and she didn’t react when I went in the room. When I touched her she felt hot.” Cindy told her.

“I was afraid of this. We’d better get some shots of the inside of her stomach. Set up the scope camera. I’ll get the shots ready. How does Kimi look?” Carolyn asked.

“I think she must not have eaten as much because she doesn’t seem as bad but then she’s not as high strung as Clementine.” Cindy replied as she pulled the scope machine out of the corner and began to set it up.

Between the two of them they managed to lift the large poodle onto the examination table and Clementine lay quietly as Carolyn gave her the sedative that would knock her out. She was not going to like this one bit if she was awake but Carolyn needed to see what was going on inside of her body.

She suspected that the poison had burned the inside of her stomach and she also suspected that Clementine had ulcers, which the poison would have caused to open. As soon as Clementine was fully asleep, Carolyn began feeding the tube down her throat and as she suspected, the lining all the way down had the look of a chemical burn. Her throat especially was raw and bleeding profusely. She had several quarter sized ulcers as well as some smaller ones that were bleeding as well.

Carolyn took pictures of all of it and then pulled the camera tube out. She wanted to cry. She felt so sorry for the poor dog but from the looks of it, there was not much that could be done. Her whole stomach was inflamed and bleeding. She left her sedated while she went to call Mrs. Clancy.

Carolyn was glad when Mr. Clancy answered the phone. She quickly explained to him what was going on and what her recommendation was.

“Mr. Clancy, you know I would not even suggest this if there was anything more I could do but Clementine seems to have consumed so much of that green goo that all of her insides are burned and raw. She is literally bleeding to death inside and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I hate to see her suffer like this and I hate to say it but I think it would be best for her if we put her down.” Carolyn told him.

“I understand Carolyn and I’m sure you have done everything you can.” Mr. Clancy said.

“If you and your wife would like to come down and say goodbye, we are here. I had to sedate her so she is unconscious right now but I can hold off on putting her down until you’ve had a chance to be with her for a few minutes if you can come now.” Carolyn said.

“Hold on and let me ask my wife. She is her dog after all.” Mr. Clancy said and Carolyn heard him put down the phone and walk across the room and then she heard Mrs. Clancy almost scream and begin to cry. She could hear Mr. Clancy trying to console his wife and after a few minutes, she seemed to calm down and Mr. Clancy came back on the phone.

“Carolyn? No, just go ahead and do what you have to do. We’ll come tomorrow and collect her and make arrangements for her to be buried. Mrs. Clancy said she would rather remember her like she was.”

“I’m sorry there was not more I could do but she ate too much of it and the damage was just too extensive. I’ll take care of it and have her ready for you to pick up tomorrow. Say around 9 am?” Carolyn said.

“Yes, that’s fine. Thank you. We’ll see you in the morning.” Mr. Clancy said and then hung up.

Carolyn plodded back down the hall and back into the room where Cindy was cleaning up the camera equipment. She already had the shot ready that would end Clementine’s life and Carolyn walked over and picked up the needle. She hated this part of her job but she hated seeing an animal suffer even more.

She said a small prayer and injected the needle into Clementine. Big tears rolled down her face as she pushed the plunger. She stood stroking the dogs’ soft fur and crying as she prayed that Clementine would be happy in heaven.

Cindy’s eyes were red and watery as she came up next to Carolyn and laid her hand on the dogs’ soft fur. “When are they going to come for her?”

“In the morning, about 9. Let’s get her in a burial box and ready to go. Mr. Clancy said that his wife wants to remember Clementine like she was. Oh Cindy you should have heard her scream and cry when he told her. It was awful.

I don’t care much for the way she treats her animals but she does love them and it sounded like her heart was breaking when he told her.” Carolyn told her as big tears ran down their faces.

“Man, if I ever find out who it was that dumped that stuff there, I’m going to prosecute him or her to the full extent of the law. There is just no excuse for this.” Carolyn said. Her sorrow was turning into anger and she decided to call the sheriff’s office and let Colin know that Clementine had died.

She asked if he had any clues as to who could have done something like this and he said he suspected it was just someone dumping a variety of chemicals in the same spot. “So you mean, it could be either Mr. Clancy or Mr. Ramsey?”

“Yep. Carolyn, wait until you get the results back from the poison center before you mention this to anyone, even your staff. Let’s be sure of all the facts before we go jumping to conclusions.” Colin told her.

“Ok Colin.” Carolyn said as she hung up.

She went to check on Kimi and while she was not whining or puking, there was evidence of blood in her stool and Carolyn was worried that she was going to have to put her down as well.

It had been several hours since she had sent the Fedex package off and she wondered where it was in transit or if it had been delivered yet. She grabbed the receipt the man had given them that showed the tracking number and went over to the computer. She punched in the number and hit enter. It took a minute but finally the tracking information showed up and she was glad to see that it had been delivered over an hour ago. She wondered if they had any results yet and was looking up the number when the phone rang. It was the poison control center.

“This is Adam Richardson from the poison control center in Washington. May I please speak to Dr. Carolyn Masters?” He asked.

Carolyn identified herself and asked if they had the results.

“We have run the analysis on the sample you sent in. It’s a mixture of paint remover, antifreeze, bleach and liquid rat poison and fish emulsion. The fish emulsion is what is giving it that awful smell. If an animal has consumed this and is still alive, first of all I would be greatly surprised, but the most humane thing to do for them would be to put them down. Anything that has consumed this mixture is going to suffer greatly and will never have a normal life again. They will just slowly die a horrible death.”

“We’ve already had to put down one of the two dogs that got into it. I was hoping you were going to tell me there was something I could do to save the other one. They are both very sweet animals.” Carolyn said. “Can you tell me what to do if I had been able to get to them quicker?”

“No, there’s nothing that can be done. Just getting it in their mouths would have been enough. It would have burned the inside of the mouth so badly that they would never be able to eat again and would just slowly starve to death.

But once it’s swallowed, death is certain within a relatively short period of time, depending on the size of the animal. Something the size of a cat or a small dog would die on its own within half an hour. A large dog might last several hours but they are going to suffer a lot. Don’t even get it on your skin. It will burn and leave a scar.”

“Thank you, Adam. I’ve got one more patient to deal with and need to call her owners before I put her down.” Carolyn said.

“Well, if you catch whoever did this, please let us know. We keep a database on things like this for the national registry.” Adam told her.

“That’s very interesting and good to know. Thank you.” Carolyn said and hung up.

She dialed the Ramsey’s number and informed them of the results and recommendations of the poison control center and Mr. Ramsey said he would inform his wife and told Carolyn that his wife had been so upset over the dog that she had taken a sleeping pill and gone to bed.

“You do what you must and we’ll pick her up in the morning. This is going to break her heart. She really loves that dog.” Mr. Ramsey told her.

“I know. I’ve already had to put down Clementine, the Clancy’s dog. Please keep an eye out for any strangers in the area. The poison control center told me there is nothing that can be done and that the most humane thing to do is to put them out of their misery.” Carolyn told him. “I suspect Colin Nolan will want to ask you some questions. I’m going to be calling him next.”

“Well, I haven’t noticed anyone out of the ordinary in the neighborhood but then we don’t go out much once it gets dark. I don’t see well at night.” Mr. Ramsey said.

“Well, watch out for anyone you don’t recognize in the area. Have you had anyone come do work in the yard in the past week?” Carolyn asked.

“I keep the grass cut with a riding mower but I do have a man come and help keep the large bushes trimmed and do the fertilizing but I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary when I cut the grass a couple of days ago.” Mr. Ramsey said.

“I’m sure you would have smelled it. The stench is very strong.” Carolyn said. “Well, I’m going to go attend Kimi. Try to get some sleep and we’ll see you in the morning. The Clancy’s will be picking up Clementine around 9 am.”

“Thank you, Carolyn. We’ll see you tomorrow.” Mr. Ramsey said and then hung up.

Carolyn hung up and sat looking at the phone for a moment, debating on calling Colin now or waiting. She decided to wait and went to see about Kimi. She entered the room where Kimi seemed to be quietly resting and found Cindy there, waiting.

“We’re going to have to put her down?” Cindy asked.

“I’m afraid so. The poison control center said it would be cruel not to. Even if she survives it, she would not live long because never be able to eat again and she would be in incredible pain. I can’t stand to let her suffer.” Carolyn told her.

“It’s so sad. She’s such a good dog.”

“Yeah, I know. But right now, even though she’s not showing it, she’s suffering. Let’s get it over with and get them ready for pick up and then we can go home and get some sleep. I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted.”

Cindy didn’t reply but just handed the syringe to Carolyn. Carolyn knelt down next to the dog who lifted its head to look at her and the dog almost seemed to smile as she rubbed her hand over her head. She could feel that the dog was beginning to run a fever and the inside of her mouth was red and raw and had an awful smell. “I’m so sorry Kimi, but there’s nothing more I can do. Be happy in heaven.” She said as she administered the injection. Kimi put her head down on her paws and quietly went to sleep.

They prepared the two dogs to be picked up the next day and then locked up the clinic. “It’s after 11 and man, I’m tired. You are welcome to come sleep over at my house if you want. Tammy is staying up at my folk’s house tonight so the spare bedroom is empty.”

“Thanks but I’d rather go home to my own bed.” Cindy said. “I’ll be back in the morning to help you with them.”

“I understand. Ok. Just be safe driving and we’ll see you in the morning.” Carolyn told her as Cindy climbed into her little hatchback. Carolyn’s jeep was still up at her parents’ house. She debated about going up to get it tonight but then decided that in the morning would be soon enough. She just wanted a proper shower and her bed right now.

As Cindy pulled out of the parking area, Carolyn transformed and she trotted up the road towards her house. She saw the rose bush near her mailbox was no longer glowing as she drew near the house. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she jumped up onto her front porch and transformed. She pulled her house key out of her pocket and opened her front door.

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