It was a long festive night, after the wedding of Benny and Lily. Everybody
but Twigg and Cherry sat up talking and getting to know each other until the
sky began to lighten. It’s something that Forest Keepers can get away with,
even the old ones.
Now it happens that in the mystical lands and among the people of that land, there is a tradition called “the long way home.” A new couple traditionally takes a tour of the great lands and mountains. Their passage is known to be a blessing, and they are greeted and feted by all they meet on this long walk home.
Benny and Lily were no different. Sleep or no sleep, the next morning they began their walk home, by the long route.
Daddy and Mama said their farewells to their new friends, blessed the kids and headed back to Concrete as directly as they could manage, and a good nap when they got there. Since their duties had been accomplished, they just might have decided to take one of those mysterious short cuts that Forest People know about.
Ralph, and then Ramona congratulated the kids and told them to have a great walk home.
Lily kissed Cherry and Twigg. Benny noogied Bob and Berry. They rolled their eyes but allowed it.
Maeve said, “happy nesting evermore!”
So Benny, the Trickster, and Lily, the ex-damsel in distress, started out on their wedding journey in the great forest and environs. They headed out towards Marblemount by the deep woods route. It was a brave start on no sleep.
In a couple of hours Lily was yawning and kept wanting to stop and sit down. Then she would nod off and start to lie down. Some random place in the woods didn’t seem like a good place to sleep to Benny so he considered what to do.
While he was considering, he noticed a summer cabin still surrounded by a bit of snow. No one was home because it wasn’t summer. A tree had fallen across the front yard. It was a medium sized dead fir. It was still there, so it really seemed that no one was there.
“Come on Lily,” said the Trickster. “I have a good idea!”
She yawned and got up on her feet ready to follow him.
It wasn’t a fancy house. It was just little. Maybe 18 by 24 feet and all wooden. Benny was still Benny, so he forced the back door just by turning the knob a little too hard and sort of breaking the locking mechanism.
Like Goldilocks sneaking into the bears’ house, they sneaked into this cabin. Neither one of them had ever been in a house before. It looked like unaccustomed luxury to Benny and Lily. Why, there was a sofa in the main room, and a bed in the other room. There was a little bathroom and a rather basic kitchen. They experimented with running water from the faucets, didn’t mess with the stove, but Benny did make a little fire in the fireplace with wood stacked nearby. He had seen a Bic before and knew how they worked. There was one on the counter. They ate the Oreo cookies in the cupboard and a jar or two of sardines.
When they got done fooling around with all that stuff they went to sleep in the bed and slept until the next day at noon.
“I’m a little bit worried,” said Lily. “What if the people come home?”
“I’ll do something for them, in thanks for the loan,” said Benny.
Benny went out to the front yard and broke up all the fir branches into handy lengths for the fireplace and brought about half of a cord of this into the house and placed it neatly by the fireplace.
Being a strapping young fellow, he also busted up the trunk into six foot sections and stacked them neatly to the side of the yard, handy for the owner to deal with as he wished.
Lily made sure all of the cupboards were shut, kinda of tidied up the bed Squatch style, and made sure all the faucets were turned off.
Benny pulled the door into position after they left and kind of made it look OK. It looked more like someone was home when he was done with the dead tree. Without really understanding why, he made a little message out of twigs and hung it on the door knob. Perhaps it was a little warding spell?
“Let’s go upland, Lily. I want to see that big white mountain we see from home when the sky is clear.”
Benny led Lily northward then, over the ripples in the earth of the Cascades, through dips and valleys, and between the all those great trees.
When they got to the mountain, it was a darkish weekday morning, and nobody was skiing. The lifts were running though, just in case somebody showed up. Benny could see the potential for fun with these moving seats. He looked both directions. He didn’t see anyone.
At the place where the ride begins he boosted Lily into a seat and climbed in next to her himself. They flew over the surface of the snow into the grey sky. It was great.
Then they slid down the slopes on their bottoms, laughing like huge children, which if you think about it, they sorta were!
On the last trip up the mountain side they were spotted on the lift by a guy with an iPhone. He made video, he made stills, he thought.
Lily spotted him, and when they got off up on top of Baker, they didn’t slide back down.
When the guy checked his photos later they were all Squatchmaybeblobs!
So far, Benny and Lily had not run into any other Forest People on their trek, and they were feeling the need for some company. They hadn’t seen anyone since leaving Ralph and the crew.
“Let’s go closer to town, Lily. Maybe we’ll find somebody down south,” said Benny.
He held her hand and led her to the southwest, toward the small city of Sedro Woolley. This was mostly easy downhill strolling, and they knew enough not to go all the way into downtown Sedro Woolley. No Squatch wants to make the evening news.
Remember Ferdie, the super handsome fellow who married Constance in the Home Clearing? Well, they lived in the hills around S.W. in a structure Ferdie had made of logs. He had seen some log cabins, and the design seemed good to him, so he made his version, low to the ground and very hard to pick out in the landscape if a person’s eyes happened to pass over the area.
Ferdie was out hunting when he found Benny and Lily asleep in a little unroofed nest made of ferns and grass, like two big kids on a campout. He woke them up and brought them home to Constance and baby Rowen.
Constance had learned a lot from Ramona, so she made a fine dinner of one of those wild pigs, roasted, that are fondly believed to not live in Washington, but do, actually. She also made a salad of dandelion greens and a couple of safe mushrooms.
It was a good connection, and they were all glad to get to know each other. Lily was delighted with Rowen. She and Constance talked babies and Firekeeping long into the night while Ferdie and Benny discussed hunting and what things were like in Concrete vs Sedro Woolley. Benny described the living sapling house he had made for Lily, but that they had never lived in it yet because they were still on their Long Walk Home. Ferdie was suitably impressed.
Constance tucked them into a bed of grass and ferns with small fir branches, newly gathered, for the night.
In the early morning light, looking at each other, they both got the same idea.
“Let’s go home now,” said Benny. “We can roam around some more later.”
“Yeah, I’m ready to go home,” agreed Lily.
It’s not a far stroll for Squatches from Sedro Woolley to the Concrete area. They walked in the tree line near Highway 20.
Lily had never seen the Sapling House yet. It was traditionally not done for the prospective bride to inspect the home being built for her. She had to wait. So, wait Lily did.
She was, in fact, dying of curiosity to see the house and Benny was dying to see how she would like it. That had a lot to do with their decision to go home when they did!
Well, as you can imagine, Lily was thrilled with her own Sapling House.
“It’s even better than Mama’s Basket House, Benny! Oh, it’s beautiful!” said Lily. And it was beautiful. It was formed of small trees brought together at their tops. Branches had been woven in laterally, and cedar bark lapped over the top to shed the rain. Over the months ferns had regrown up around it, and some blackberry vines also. On top, where the trees joined, some small birds had made a nest. Bees gathered at huckleberry bushes nearby. To Lily, it looked like the best dream a girl could ever have.
“I will be proud to be your Firekeeper here, Benny!” she said.
“It’s built of love,” Benny said.
And they went inside for the very first time, together.
Now it happens that in the mystical lands and among the people of that land, there is a tradition called “the long way home.” A new couple traditionally takes a tour of the great lands and mountains. Their passage is known to be a blessing, and they are greeted and feted by all they meet on this long walk home.
Benny and Lily were no different. Sleep or no sleep, the next morning they began their walk home, by the long route.
Daddy and Mama said their farewells to their new friends, blessed the kids and headed back to Concrete as directly as they could manage, and a good nap when they got there. Since their duties had been accomplished, they just might have decided to take one of those mysterious short cuts that Forest People know about.
Ralph, and then Ramona congratulated the kids and told them to have a great walk home.
Lily kissed Cherry and Twigg. Benny noogied Bob and Berry. They rolled their eyes but allowed it.
Maeve said, “happy nesting evermore!”
So Benny, the Trickster, and Lily, the ex-damsel in distress, started out on their wedding journey in the great forest and environs. They headed out towards Marblemount by the deep woods route. It was a brave start on no sleep.
In a couple of hours Lily was yawning and kept wanting to stop and sit down. Then she would nod off and start to lie down. Some random place in the woods didn’t seem like a good place to sleep to Benny so he considered what to do.
While he was considering, he noticed a summer cabin still surrounded by a bit of snow. No one was home because it wasn’t summer. A tree had fallen across the front yard. It was a medium sized dead fir. It was still there, so it really seemed that no one was there.
“Come on Lily,” said the Trickster. “I have a good idea!”
She yawned and got up on her feet ready to follow him.
It wasn’t a fancy house. It was just little. Maybe 18 by 24 feet and all wooden. Benny was still Benny, so he forced the back door just by turning the knob a little too hard and sort of breaking the locking mechanism.
Like Goldilocks sneaking into the bears’ house, they sneaked into this cabin. Neither one of them had ever been in a house before. It looked like unaccustomed luxury to Benny and Lily. Why, there was a sofa in the main room, and a bed in the other room. There was a little bathroom and a rather basic kitchen. They experimented with running water from the faucets, didn’t mess with the stove, but Benny did make a little fire in the fireplace with wood stacked nearby. He had seen a Bic before and knew how they worked. There was one on the counter. They ate the Oreo cookies in the cupboard and a jar or two of sardines.
When they got done fooling around with all that stuff they went to sleep in the bed and slept until the next day at noon.
“I’m a little bit worried,” said Lily. “What if the people come home?”
“I’ll do something for them, in thanks for the loan,” said Benny.
Benny went out to the front yard and broke up all the fir branches into handy lengths for the fireplace and brought about half of a cord of this into the house and placed it neatly by the fireplace.
Being a strapping young fellow, he also busted up the trunk into six foot sections and stacked them neatly to the side of the yard, handy for the owner to deal with as he wished.
Lily made sure all of the cupboards were shut, kinda of tidied up the bed Squatch style, and made sure all the faucets were turned off.
Benny pulled the door into position after they left and kind of made it look OK. It looked more like someone was home when he was done with the dead tree. Without really understanding why, he made a little message out of twigs and hung it on the door knob. Perhaps it was a little warding spell?
“Let’s go upland, Lily. I want to see that big white mountain we see from home when the sky is clear.”
Benny led Lily northward then, over the ripples in the earth of the Cascades, through dips and valleys, and between the all those great trees.
When they got to the mountain, it was a darkish weekday morning, and nobody was skiing. The lifts were running though, just in case somebody showed up. Benny could see the potential for fun with these moving seats. He looked both directions. He didn’t see anyone.
At the place where the ride begins he boosted Lily into a seat and climbed in next to her himself. They flew over the surface of the snow into the grey sky. It was great.
Then they slid down the slopes on their bottoms, laughing like huge children, which if you think about it, they sorta were!
On the last trip up the mountain side they were spotted on the lift by a guy with an iPhone. He made video, he made stills, he thought.
Lily spotted him, and when they got off up on top of Baker, they didn’t slide back down.
When the guy checked his photos later they were all Squatchmaybeblobs!
So far, Benny and Lily had not run into any other Forest People on their trek, and they were feeling the need for some company. They hadn’t seen anyone since leaving Ralph and the crew.
“Let’s go closer to town, Lily. Maybe we’ll find somebody down south,” said Benny.
He held her hand and led her to the southwest, toward the small city of Sedro Woolley. This was mostly easy downhill strolling, and they knew enough not to go all the way into downtown Sedro Woolley. No Squatch wants to make the evening news.
Remember Ferdie, the super handsome fellow who married Constance in the Home Clearing? Well, they lived in the hills around S.W. in a structure Ferdie had made of logs. He had seen some log cabins, and the design seemed good to him, so he made his version, low to the ground and very hard to pick out in the landscape if a person’s eyes happened to pass over the area.
Ferdie was out hunting when he found Benny and Lily asleep in a little unroofed nest made of ferns and grass, like two big kids on a campout. He woke them up and brought them home to Constance and baby Rowen.
Constance had learned a lot from Ramona, so she made a fine dinner of one of those wild pigs, roasted, that are fondly believed to not live in Washington, but do, actually. She also made a salad of dandelion greens and a couple of safe mushrooms.
It was a good connection, and they were all glad to get to know each other. Lily was delighted with Rowen. She and Constance talked babies and Firekeeping long into the night while Ferdie and Benny discussed hunting and what things were like in Concrete vs Sedro Woolley. Benny described the living sapling house he had made for Lily, but that they had never lived in it yet because they were still on their Long Walk Home. Ferdie was suitably impressed.
Constance tucked them into a bed of grass and ferns with small fir branches, newly gathered, for the night.
In the early morning light, looking at each other, they both got the same idea.
“Let’s go home now,” said Benny. “We can roam around some more later.”
“Yeah, I’m ready to go home,” agreed Lily.
It’s not a far stroll for Squatches from Sedro Woolley to the Concrete area. They walked in the tree line near Highway 20.
Lily had never seen the Sapling House yet. It was traditionally not done for the prospective bride to inspect the home being built for her. She had to wait. So, wait Lily did.
She was, in fact, dying of curiosity to see the house and Benny was dying to see how she would like it. That had a lot to do with their decision to go home when they did!
Well, as you can imagine, Lily was thrilled with her own Sapling House.
“It’s even better than Mama’s Basket House, Benny! Oh, it’s beautiful!” said Lily. And it was beautiful. It was formed of small trees brought together at their tops. Branches had been woven in laterally, and cedar bark lapped over the top to shed the rain. Over the months ferns had regrown up around it, and some blackberry vines also. On top, where the trees joined, some small birds had made a nest. Bees gathered at huckleberry bushes nearby. To Lily, it looked like the best dream a girl could ever have.
“I will be proud to be your Firekeeper here, Benny!” she said.
“It’s built of love,” Benny said.
And they went inside for the very first time, together.
🤍
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