Denis landed on the platform and rushed to the little shack to put his backpack and belt back.
He left quickly and went straight to Alex's store. He went to open the door but it wouldn't budge. He looked over at the window. A little wooden side said 'sorry, closed' with a little sad face beneath it. Denis groaned and flew away.
He went up towards the top of the tree and looked over all the cottage numbers. He stopped at one and knocked on the door.
An older woman opened the door. She was short and her ginger hair was in a braid that hung over her shoulder. She smiled and turned to the inside of the house.
"Alex! Your friend is here!" She called. She had a slight Irish accent. Denis heard a chair move before his friend arrived at the door.
"Oh! Hey Denis," He said and stepped back to invite him inside. Denis shook his head.
"I need to talk to you about something. Privately." He mumbled. He looked at his friend's mother. "Sorry Mrs.Orman. No gossip today."
"That's alright, Deary," She waddled off to the other room. Alex turned to the room she went into.
"Bye Mum! Bye Ma!" Alex yelled. There was an inaudible mutter that Alex responded to by saying 'I promise not to stay out late' as he playfully rolled his eyes and closed the door.
"We should probably go somewhere else. They'll be pressed against the door trying to listen in." Denis nodded and flew down to the ground floor. He walked to the edge of the tree's shadow and looked out over the field. Alex stood next to him and looked over at his friend with slight worry.
"You look upset," He said blatantly.
"I saw something," Denis whispered. "At the house." Alex spun around to him.
"You went to the house?!" He yelled. Denis quickly covered his friend's mouth as people looked over. He pulled Alex behind a building before removing his head.
"What is wrong with you?!" Alex whisper-yelled.
"I just looked in through the windows! No one was home. I saw them leave in their big car!"
"Still! You went to their house!" Alex rubbed his eyes. He sighed and looked back up at Denis. "What did you see then?" Denis clenched his fists. He fiddled with his green, oak tree shirt. Alex swatted his hand away.
"Don't rip it. That took me a while to make," He muttered. Denis sighed.
"They had butterflies pinned up on their wall." Denis blurted out. Alex's face immediately became surprised and more serious. His wings dropped a little. "They were in frames behind glass. It made me feel sick just looking at it." Alex looked back at the house.
"We need to tell the Queen. She'll tell everyone and make sure we're all safe." Alex grabbed Denis' hand and fluttered his wings to pull him up. Denis pulled his hand away.
"No! That'll just scare everyone! No one will want to leave the village and all the nature in the area will suffer. Even the flower fairies were hesitant to leave this morning! And we've been attacked by birds!"
Alex gripped his hair and paced back and forth. He poked his head out to look around then looked back at the house. He noticed that less people were out. Especially children.
"Well, what do we do? We have to tell someone!" He said. Denis stayed silent for a moment before opening his mouth to speak. He paused as he heard something fall on the side of the building. The two looked at each other.
"I think someone else already knows..." Denis whispered. They both looked back at where the noise came from. Denis began to slowly walk toward it. He slightly looked around the corner and saw Elijah trying to put the sticks that he'd knocked over back against the building. He saw Denis looking at him and jumped.
