Millicent Price Reporting

 

!🔥!

            The skies in Milltown had been grey with smoke from the east for quite a few days. The light was strangely orange at both sunrise and sunset. Some people could smell smoke quite strongly, and some had burning eyes. It looked exactly like what it was, a sky pretty near several smallish wildfires. One of the fires was not so small and it was the closest to the home clearing.
            Millicent sat at her desk up on the third floor of her building thinking.  She frowned. She had been monitoring the weather news. She was concerned for her friends up in the Baker Snoqualmie National Forest. But, of course, there was no way to check on them except in person.
            She wished that Maeve would call on her and at least give her a quick situation report.
            Of course, this type of investigative reporting was just what Millicent was born for. She could feel a story growing in the back of her mind. So, she wandered off down the hall to her boss’ office to square the project with him. It didn’t have a lot of direct impact on Milltown, just some health issues for some citizens. But that would have to do. She wasn’t going to explain to him the true nature of her interest.
            After listening to her, with one eyebrow up a little, because he knew things could get a little strange if Millicent was the prime actor, he said “alright, do it.” He also knew she wouldn’t stop chewing on the idea anyhow.  May as well let her go.
            Therefore, since it was still early Monday morning, she decided to go home and change into jeans and grab some supplies and drive right up into the Cascade Range foothills immediately. She was wracking her mind to try to imagine what they could need up there at a time like this.  Nothing really concrete came to mind.
            But just in case hunting was difficult in these conditions, she went to Safeway and bought a couple of bags of picnic type food. Sausages, cheese, baguette, butter, chocolate, and some bottled fizzy waters. It seemed like even if they were fine, that they might like some goodies from the store, something Ramona wouldn’t need to cook. Most everyday cooks like a break, even one as dedicated as Ramona.
            She put everything in the trunk of her Passat and started up into the hills. She drove north to Arlington, then took 530 to Darrington. She stopped for coffee at the one coffee stand in town and discussed the smoke with the girl working the stand. This girl said they were pretty tired of smelling smoke night and day; they were just waiting for the rains to start.
            Now, the way to Ralph’s forest enclave can be a bit mysterious. Always before Millicent had a guide in the form of Maeve, or some written directions which read more like a spell. So, this time she was kind of on her own.
            What Milly didn’t know was that the written directions had been intended to keep things mysterious. But as we know, she is nothing if not a Pro investigator. She thought she would kind of follow her nose, and her nose hadn’t really ever let her down yet.  Nor did it this time.
            She was several miles north east of Darrington when she decided to just park the Passat beside the highway and think about where she was going for a minute. She had an intuitive sense of where Ralph and family lived, and it did not comport with the way she had been directed to get there before. She felt very near them right where she was.
            Just as she sat there finishing her coffee, a large Raven drifted down out of the tree tops and landed on her hood with a solid thump. Millicent turned the key partway and rolled down her window.
            “Maeve?” said Millicent, “is that you?”
            “Of course it is,” said Maeve. “I saw the car and figured it must be yours. So, I came down to inspect.”
            “I drove up here through all this smoke to see if Ralph and his family are okay,” said Millicent. “I brought a picnic, just in case you know. Am I very far from them?”
            I don’t know if Ravens laugh exactly, but they do chuckle. A kind of sound like someone hitting an empty wooden cupboard with a stick. Something like that.
            Maeve said, while Raven-knocking, “no, you’re as close as a car can get.  The path is right here.  In fact, you’re parked right where Billy O’Dear and those yahoos were parked a while back. It takes me about fifty wing beats to fly there!” This might have been a slight understatement of fact.
            “Great!” said Millicent. She was ready to roll.
            “You just follow the path, and I will go tell them you’re coming,” said Maeve, who then took off straight into the forest.
            So, Millicent got out and opened the trunk, donning her backpack and taking a grocery bag in each hand, she locked up her car. The trail head was right on the other side of her car, so it wasn’t hard to find at all. She squared her shoulders. She took a look at the smoke drifting all through the trees, smelled the heavy scent of burning evergreens, shook her head and started walking.
            The path was not well worn, but it was clear enough. It took her into deep forest immediately. It was dim and primordial looking. She had a sense of transition as she walked along. Something which she couldn’t quite put her finger on changed as she walked into Ralph’s domain. Maybe it was a sense of timelessness. Or, maybe her sense of location drifted away.
            Soon, she saw a familiar large dark figure coming to meet her. He moved with massive grace. As soon as he got close, he smiled, as he always had.
            “Milly! Maeve says you are worried about us,” said Ralph, taking the bags from her.
            “Thanks, Ralph. Yeah, I kept looking at the smoke blowing through town, and I wondered what it was like up here. It seems even smokier, of course.”
            “Why don’t we just go on up to the clearing and see Ramona and we’ll tell you about it,” rumbled Ralph in his calm basso voice. “We’re nearly there.”  And they were nearly there all of a sudden.
            Just like in a stage setting, the brush parted and there it was.  The cave, the fire circle, the conveniently place seating logs, all of it just as she remembered it. The smoke was very greatly diminished here. In fact, she wasn’t sure she could see any smoke there at all.
            Ramona was sitting by her fire, holding Cherry, who was getting to be nearly a year old and was still platinum blond. Twigg and the puma bros were just off the scene a bit, but she could hear them well enough.
            “Hi, Millicent. Thank you for coming,” said Ramona. “You are always welcome here. Will you have a seat by me?” Ramona patted her log and smiled.
            “Yes, I will,” said Millicent Price, thrilled to pieces at the welcome. “As you see I brought some things you might enjoy, just in case, you know?”
            She sat beside Ramona, looking around. “May I hold Cherry for a moment,” she asked. “I never get to hold a baby. No one I know has one!”
            “Of course,” with a bit of a giggle. “There you go Cherry, go see Millicent.” With that, Cherry lifted up out of her mother’s arms as if gravity had no hold on her. Lightly, she settled down in Millicent’s lap. She looked up, smiling at the sensation she had caused.
            “I thought I had seen everything….” Millicent’s voice trailed off. “Cherry, you take the prize!” But here, in Ralph’s world this didn’t seem beyond the bounds of believable.
            “She doesn’t walk yet, but she does that,” said Ramona, laughing. “We noticed soon after she was born. She stays near. It’s like she’s tied to me somehow.”
            Ralph sat down opposite Ramona and Millicent. “Yes, there is a fire not too far away, but it doesn’t really affect us here. Fires and weather come and go, but we abide, Milly. I don’t know how to explain it to you.”  He smiled his huge angelic smile.
            They ate the picnic together by just a small fire. Ralph and Ramona and Twigg enjoyed the unfamiliar treats. Cherry had a bit of bread and butter and a little cheese. The fizzy drinks were a great hit. Berry and Bob each had a big sausage.
            Millicent said she had better go. They said their farewells, all promising to see each other again some time. Millicent walked back down the path to the highway.  It took longer going out than it had going in.
            She drove back to Milltown, that smoky place. She heard on her radio that the wind was going to shift the next day and blow it all to the east. Her heart was at peace.

All Ralph All The Time