Elves Reunited

Haldir glared at Dave and Dave glared back.  The elderly grocer looked at each and decided to retreat to the relative safety of the back shop.

“What are you doing here?”  Dave demanded.  He had not seen this particular Elf in a long time, and their last meeting had been, well…painful to say the least.

“I’ve moved to the village.  Anyway, never mind me – what are you doing here?”  Haldir fixed Dave with a steely gaze, puffing up his chest and narrowing his eyes in an attempt to appear intimidating.  Dave held his gaze.  Neither Elf turned away and neither spoke for some moments.  The shop bell dinged once more, but nothing could draw Haldir’s attention away from Dave and vice versa.  It was only a throaty cough, coupled with a nose being blown that broke the spell.

“Dave!  Nice to see you – atchoo!  Who’s this then?”  A ruddy-faced man, with a tissue pressed to his nose turned to Haldir.  Dave looked at Haldir and blinked a few times.

“This, Geoff is my uh…my cousin.  Haldir, this is Geoff Baynes.  He owns the village’s only pub, the Badger's Nadgers.  Geoff, this is Haldir, my cousin.  He’s just moved to the village.”  The fact that Dave cringed every time he looked at Haldir did not escape Geoff’s attention, but given he was a polite man who minded his own business, he said nothing.  Instead, he turned to Haldir and gave him a friendly greeting then shuffled off in the direction of the tissues and cold remedies.

“Cousin?”  Haldir cocked his head at Dave.  Dave grumbled his annoyance and took Haldir by the arm, guiding him outside the shop and up towards the village green.

“They’re not used to seeing more than one Elf around here.  Besides, I thought it was a more palatable reason than the real one.  It took them long enough to accept an Elf into their village, generations in fact.  I don’t think they’d look too kindly upon – now, how would the vicar put it?  Oh yes, sexual deviants.  As far as most people are aware, I’m a beekeeping Elf who gets involved in the community and is pleasant and polite.  Oh, and they think I’m a widower.  It explains the lack of wife.”  Dave blushed and Haldir looked curious.  “When I first moved here, they were very wary of me.  As the older ones passed on and the younger ones grew up, people became used to me.  Now, there is no-one left who remembers me when I first arrived and everyone just sees me as part of the village.  You see the shopkeeper in there?”  Dave pointed and Haldir nodded.  “I knew his mother when she was a child.  I’ve lived here for a very long time.  Every so often, one of the young females would try to woo me or a kindly old aunt or grandmother would try to set me up with someone.  Rather than tell them I’m just not interested, I told them I was grieving for someone I loved and lost.  And rather than give them any more details than that, I sort of let them believe that I was married.  To a woman.  Who died.  Whenever someone brings up my status as single, I look forlorn and my eyes well up with tears.  Yes, it’s deceitful, but it’s a lot easier than explaining the truth.  I’m sure you can understand why I am so reluctant for people to know that about me.”  Dave gave Haldir a loaded look.

Haldir looked thoughtful.  “Riiiiight.  I appreciate your telling me all of that, but I was only going to ask why you didn’t say I was an old friend?”

‘Oh.”

“So no one here knows that you...you know…?”  Dave shook his head.  “And since you moved here, have you...you know?”  Dave shook his head again, this time he looked sad.  Haldir pondered for a moment longer.  “So you weren’t really married, then?”  Dave narrowed his eyes, trying to decide whether Haldir was joking or not.  His mind was made up when Haldir grinned at him.

“The pub’s not open yet, so would you like to come up to my cottage?  We could catch up on old times and I’ll let you taste some of my honey.”  Dave surprised himself with the invitation, although it felt entirely natural to talk to Haldir again and even more natural to invite him home.

“Do you really keep bees?”  Haldir asked as they walked up the road to Dave’s cottage.  He smiled, remembering the past.  Dave had always been an Elf of fairly simple tastes.  He had preferred communing with nature to communing with other Elves.  Haldir had to hold back a chuckle as he remembered one particular occasion when Dave had fallen asleep, resting against a tree and woke up to find a family of squirrels playing with his hair.  It did not really surprise Haldir that Dave had chosen to move to a village like this, or that he had taken up beekeeping.

“My bees produce the best honey in the area.  I only have a few hives, so it’s quite a modest business but it’s not like I need the money.  Besides, I enjoy it and the folks around here love the honey.”  Dave looked proud.  “Well, here we are.  It’s not much, but it’s home.”  Haldir looked up the path.  Dave’s cottage was slightly smaller than Haldir’s but it looked very cosy and welcoming.  The front garden was smaller, but Dave assured him that the back garden was vast.  Ceramic animals of all varieties were dotted around the flower beds and there were at least three bird tables and even a few feeders hanging from an apple tree.  Haldir was impressed.  Dave opened the front door and welcomed Haldir inside, then led him though to the conservatory.  A small black and white cat was curled up on one of the padded wicker chairs. 

“This is Milo,” Dave said as he tickled the cat’s ear.  “His sister, Juniper should be around somewhere.”  Dave picked Milo up, sat on the chair and placed the cat onto his lap.  He gestured for Haldir to sit down as well.  “So, how are your brothers?  Have they moved here with you?”

“They’re both fine and no, they’ve not moved with me.  Don’t look so surprised!  We don’t do everything together you know!  No, it’s just me.  Oh, and Flora.”  Dave’s expression immediately changed from amusement to surprise.

“Flora?  You mean you got married?”  Dave’s surprise and confusion grew when Haldir started laughing heartily.

“Married?  Me?  Oh goodness, no!  Flora is my cat!”  Through his tears of laughter, Haldir wondered if the look of relief on Dave’s face was because Haldir wasn’t married or because he had a cat.

Haldir and Dave passed the rest of the morning chatting about cats, Haldir’s brothers and village life.  Neither could bear to spoil the mood by bringing up the past.  Morning turned into lunchtime and lunchtime into afternoon.  Evening was fast approaching when Haldir realised that despite his visit to the village shop, he had failed to make any purchases.

“Dave, I’d better go.  There’s no food in the house, for me or Flora.  I need to go and get some provisions.”  Haldir looked apologetic.  Dave nodded and stood to see him to the door.

“It was good to see you again, Haldir.  I hope we will see much more of each other now that you’ve moved to the village.”  Dave leaned against the doorframe.  He ached to hug Haldir, but didn’t for fear of rejection.

“I hope so too.”  Haldir started to walk down the path but stopped and turned around.  He looked Dave in the eye and whispered, “I’m sorry for…well, everything.  If it’s any consolation, I’ve always regretted what happened.  If only things had been different…”

Dave took a step towards Haldir.  “It’s okay.  It’s all in the past.  For a while, I was very bitter but I’ve moved on from that.”  Dave chewed his bottom lip, unsure of what to say or do next.  Haldir made the decision for him, leaning forward and placing a kiss on Dave’s brow.

“I hope we can become good friends again?”  Dave smiled and replied, “Me too.”

Dave watched Haldir walk down the path, through the gate and across the road before he went back into his home.  He closed the door and leaned against it.  His fingers brushed the spot where Haldir had kissed him, his pulse racing.  He felt a nudge at his lower leg and looked down to see Juniper rubbing against him.  He scooped the cat into his arms and hugged her close.

“Where have you been hiding?  We had a visitor and you missed him.”  The cat peered up at him, purring.  “Never mind, I’m sure you’ll meet him next time.  And won’t that be a treat for you?  The chance to meet the Elf who broke my heart?”

TBC