Chapter Four

Hazel woke with a start as the taxi van went over a slight bump in the road. She looked around hazily, blinking to get used to the dull interior lighting of the car. The sky was still dark outside and they were still on the motorway. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but she felt a lot better having gotten some shuteye. The remnants of her dream still clung to the edges of her mind, the howl of the wolf still ringing in her ears.

"You have a good nap?" Margaret asked from the driver's seat.

"Yeah, I think so." Hazel replied. "How long was I out?"

"About four hours, I think. It's just gone half past three in the morning." She explained.

"Man... I thought I had slept for longer. Well, I'm up now, I suppose. How far have we come?" Hazel asked, looking at the radio as she noticed that music was still playing, just on a much quieter volume.

"Still got about six or seven hours left of driving, I'm afraid. We'll pull into a rest stop soon, too, so we can all get out and stretch our legs a bit. I'm sure your dog back there wouldn't mind a quick walk around either." Margaret said, gesturing to the back of the van.

"Sound good. She's probably not too keen on having to lie in that crate for hours on end, she's just too polite to say anything." Hazel joked. "Her name is Floss, by the way." she added.

"Floss, huh? It suits her! She does look like a big ol' ball of candy floss" Margaret laughed in agreement.

"Do you get a lot of jobs that take you far out of town?" Hazel asked, changing the subject.

"Sure, I get a few, but none usually this far out. Bleydh Forest is really in the middle of nowhere, and Fernwood is right in the middle of the middle of nowhere." She chuckled. "It's nice though, I like a good, long drive. Makes it feel like a fun road trip, you know." 

"Yeah, I get that. I wish I could have travelled more over the years." Hazel said.

"What's got you moving so far out anyway? I know you said you inherited the house and your parents aren't the best, but a rich girl like you could probably go anywhere she wanted." Margaret asked, curiously, taking a quick peek over to gauge Hazel's reaction.

"Well, it kind of just came at the perfect time." She admitted. "But I used to love visiting my grandma when I was little. She was this amazing free spirit and she love the forest more than anything. I wasn't allowed to visit her much when I started getting older, though. My parents thought that she would go putting all sorts of wild ideas in my head. I hold my memories of her dearly though, even though I wish I could have gotten to know her better while she was alive... I think she must have known what my parents are like and wanted to help me, offer me a way out of there if I ever wanted it." Hazel finished her explanation with a sad smile. She missed her grandma a lot and was more thankful for her gift of freedom than she would ever be able to express.

"Well, she sounds like a stand-up woman. It's nice that you're going out there. I'm sure you'll end up liking it a lot better than that big old house you came from. I can't imagine what so few people do with so much space." Margaret joked.

Hazel laughed at that, she had to; not even she knew what her parents did with most of those extra rooms. For all she knew they were completely empty and left gathering cobwebs. They couldn't all be assumed to be spare bedrooms and studies, she wasn't even sure they knew that many people to have over at one time.

"You know, I've never really thought about it. For all I know, they were all just completely empty." Hazel giggled.

"Ha! I knew it!" Margaret grinned.

It was only about ten minutes before they reach the next service station. The turn-off was lit up between the trees was lit up by big neon signs advertising the various shops and restaurants that the services had to offer. Hazel even spotted one for her favourite coffee chain and immediately perked up.

Margaret pulled them into the large car park. It was mostly empty, though there was a coach over on the other side of the car park and there were a few other vans, trucks and cars dotted around nearer to the entrance. There were a few street lamps lit up around the area, but overall it was very quiet.

"Alright. This is our chance for a bathroom break, to stretch our legs, get some coffee or snacks or whatever we want before we set off again. We'll meet back here and we can set off whenever you're ready." Margaret said, turning off the engine and opening up her door.

"Right! I'll just take Floss out and then head inside." Hazel replied.

Hazel jumped out of the car and shut the door. She went around to the back and let Floss out of her dog crate. Floss seemed very excited to be out of the van again as she walked around Hazel's legs and wagged her tail energetically. 

"Here, take they keys and don't forget to lock up when you put Floss back in her crate." Margaret said, tossing Hazel the keys to her taxi van.

"Thanks! I will! I'll see you inside" Hazel agreed.

Hazel gave a brief wave to Margaret as she walked away before she grabbed Floss' lead and clipped it to her collar, stuffed her pockets with doggy bags and a packet of treats and they headed off around the grassier parts of the service station that lead between the main services and the petrol station. Hazel let her mind run blank as they walked around, not really thinking of anything much other than watching Floss walk around sniffing patches of grass and the occasional lamp post.

Soon, though, she decided she should probably head back to the van. She took Floss and started walking back to the car park, letting Floss do her business on the way. At the edge of the path, she chucked away the used doggy bag and stepped off the curb.

It wasn't difficult to get Floss to jump back up into the back and settle back down into her crate. She lay down and wiggled herself into her blankets and placed her head on her big, fluffy paws, looking up at Hazel gratefully. Hazel smiled and patted her on the head, giving her some fresh water and some food to eat. She made sue the secured bowls weren't too full, so they wouldn't slosh around when they started driving again.

Hazel locked up, rearranged her handbag on her shoulder and headed into the services. 

When she walked though the door she was blasted by the air conditioning and the smells coming from the various food places inside. There was a small Japanese food place, a fast food restaurant, a coffee shop and a doughnut stand at first sight, but as Hazel walked along,, she noticed that there were also a couple of convenience stores selling overpriced snacks, books and neck pillows. 

She headed over to one of the convenience store and got herself some snacks and a couple of bottles of water. She took a moment to walk up and down the small number of aisles to browse the book selection and decided to pick up some cheesy romance novel that looked like it would be easy and fun. If nothing else, it would help her to stay awake during the rest of the drive if she had something to focus on.

After paying, she picked herself up a snack box of vegetarian sushi and headed over to the coffee shop, where she could see Margaret waiting for her order and scrolling through her phone. Hazel went up and ordered a small cinnamon latte before going over to stand with Margaret. 

"Hey, you ready to head back on the road after this?" Margaret asked, looking up from her phone.

"Yeah, Floss has some food in the back and I've done my little bit of snack shopping." Hazel replied.

"That's good. We've still got a long way to go, so make sure to let me know if you need to make another service stop along the way. It's better not to leave it too long though, because there won't be any once we start approaching the Bleydh Forest area." Margaret advised.

"Thanks, I'll make sure to let you know. I think it'll take me a while to get used to living so far removed from all the big shopping centres, but I think it'll be good to get away from it all. Plus, there's always online shopping and delivery." Hazel said with a smile.

"I think you'll be just fine out there. You've come this far on your own and I haven't known you for long, but you seem like self-sufficient girl, you seem like you've got a good head on your shoulders. Taking that big step to reach out on your own can be really difficult and intimidating, but I'm sure you'll take to it like a duck to water." Margaret encouraged and it warmed Hazel's heart to hear it.

"Thank you... for saying that. Not many people believe in me, but you do after only knowing me for about four or five hours and I slept through most of that." Hazel said sincerely, chuckling a little at the end.

They got their orders and headed back to the taxi van. Margaret opened the door for Hazel, so she could get in without accidentally spilling anything and then got into the driver's side. They settled into their seats and placed their drinks into the two cup-holders that were under the radio and in front of the gear stick. 

Hazel dug through her bag of snacks and pulled out her sushi pack. She had bought it on a whim after having not eaten sushi in quite a while and she was excited to have some again. She had gotten luck, too as the stand had her favourite type of sushi still in stock. It was the vegetarian kind with avocado and cucumber, as well of some of the miniature ones with pepper in them. 

She picked out one of the avocado ones and popped it into her mouth, humming happily as she chewed.

Margaret took a big swig of her large coffee and started up the engine again. She pulled out of the car park and made a quick stop at the fuel station before heading back out onto the highway. There luckily wasn't much traffic on the road and it would still be dark outside for another hour or so. It was the middle of Summer, so they would probably see some daylight by around five o'clock in the morning. 

Hazel started reading her cheesy romance book and they drove mostly in silence for a while, Margaret turning the radio back on and changing it to a different station that played more upbeat pop music. She said something about needing to listen to something peppy to help her stay awake and alert as they continued their journey, though there wasn't a single moment that Hazel could pick out in her memory where Margaret seemed even a little bit tired. It was like the woman had a pool of infinite energy inside her. Goodness knows that Hazel herself couldn't have kept herself awake for that long during the night without needing at least a short nap.

Soon enough, the sun was peeking up over the tops of the trees and the sky had faded from black, to bursts of yellow, orange, pink and blue, and had settled on a hazy pale blue as the sun rose further into the sky.

It was a very pretty morning and also a very warm one. Looking out of the front window, Hazel could see a haze dancing across the surface of the road ahead of them like pools of water. They would appear in the distance and then vanish just as they had come as soon as they drew close enough. Hazel had always found it strange, the way the heat could cause a mirage like that. 

Hazel put her book away and opened up one of her bottles of water and took a long sip before twisting the lid back on and popping it back into the bag. She asked Margaret if it was alright for her to open the window, which of course, was agreed to rather quickly. 

She could tell that they must be drawing into the outskirts of Bleydh Forest by now, as the trees at the sides of the road only became thicker and taller, and more dense the further they progressed. There was a mix of trees from what Hazel could see, but it looked as though it was mostly ferns and fir trees, with the occasional oak or redwood as they got deeper into the forested route. 

Hazel watched the line of trees and the clouds moving steadily above them as Margaret turned off onto a smaller road. It was still a 50 miles-per-hour zone, but the road was much smaller than the open motorway. It was definitely wide enough to fit three cars side by side, but there were only two lanes. 

As she looked out of the window, between the branches and trunks, she saw a small river winding along next to the road, just behind the verge and the first line of trees. She could us about make out the sound of the water babbling over whatever pebbles and stray twigs made up the riverbed, over the noise of the car as it drove. 

She tilted her face into the wind and let it rush through her hair, making it dance behind her in the rush of wind. She closed her eyes for a moment just to feel the fresh air brush over her face. She took a deep breath in through her nose and smelt the unmistakable scent of the forest, of the bark and the leaves and the grass that grew greener by the water's edge. It was like everything that she had always dreamed of and they weren't even all the way there yet.

Hazel drew her head back and opened her eyes, remembering the food that had been packed for her and feeling her stomach grumble hungrily. She reached down to the cool bag that was sitting in the spacious foot well and opened it up, pulling apart the Velcro seal with a satisfying rip. She delved around inside and pulled out the sandwiches. She opened up the tupperware with a click and took the first bite. It was avocado and chicken.

She happily munched away on her homemade sandwich, watching the trees pass them by again. Hazel allowed her mind to wander, thinking about what the house might be like and how she would get along with the locals. She vaguely registered Margaret turning up the radio when a specific song came up and Hazel felt herself absent-mindedly nodding along to the catchy tune. It took her an embarrassingly long moment to realise that it was the same song that she had set as her ring tone. 

Hazel only really came out of her peaceful thoughts when she heard Floss whining in the back of the taxi van. It seemed that she wanted to go out and so Hazel asked that they pull over at the next opportunity so she could take her for a short walk.

Luckily, it was only a few minutes before a turn-off appeared where they could stop. It looked like a park or the entrance to a woodland trail. There also seemed to be a row of small shops hidden behind the trees.

Once they were all standing outside, with Hazel holding on to Floss' lead as she sniffed around the unfamiliar environment, she could make out what looked like a café and a couple of other shops that seemed to sell travel necessities and camping gear and one that was a small convenience store.

Margaret decided to take the opportunity to join Hazel in walking Floss around the small wooded area by the shops. She said that it would do her some good to exercise her legs a bit before the final stretch. After all, they had been on the road for an incredibly long time. It was almost funny to Hazel, thinking about how her parents probably had no idea that she was even gone yet.

"Not long now, Hazel. We've only got about an hour left of driving before we reach your part of Bleydh Forest." Margaret said, stepping over a large twig.

"I know, it almost feels surreal to be this close. I think it's finally setting in properly... now that I can smell the trees and breathe the air here... it reminds me a dream I had. I was in the forest and sand a duet with a wolf." Hazel replied, remembering the dream fondly.

"A duet with a wolf, huh?" Margaret seemed to contemplate that for a while before deciding to move on. "So, does it feel like how you thought it would? To be all the way out here in Bleydh Forest, almost in Fernwood?" Margaret asked.

"I honestly thought that I would be more nervous. I thought that I would be jittery or something, but this is the calmest and most serene I've ever felt. In a strange way, it doesn't even feel like I'm moving to a new place, it's more like I'm coming home." Hazel said with a smile. 

"I think that's a good sign, it means you made the right choice in coming here." Margaret said, reaching down to ruffle Floss' fur as they kept walking. "I think this fluffy girl will like it much better where there's all this space for her to run around." she added.

"Yeah, I've always wanted better for her, and not just myself. She means the world to me... I'm glad that I can finally offer her the life that she deserves." Hazel smiled warmly. 

They took about twenty minutes to walk around and get some fresh air. It was weird at first, walking and standing up after sitting for so long in the taxi. Margaret and Hazel chatted amiably as they went and talked about some of their interests and thoughts about the trip.

Soon enough they were back at the taxi van again. Floss was appeased with her walk, was well fed and watered and even got a couple of tasty treats for being such a good girl. Once floss was comfortable in the back again, her water refilled, Hazel and Margaret hopped back into their respective seats and they set off again, back towards the town.

The drive seemed as though it was a lot quicker than it was. It took them around and hour and a half to reach their destination, though it had felt to have taken about half of that time. The drive was fascinating. Hazel spent the whole time looking out of the window at the edge of her seat. The closer they got to the town, the more excited she became to see her new home.

She felt butterflies in her tummy as the big sign saying "Welcome To Fernwood" came into view. It was an old and worn wooden sign, but he paint looked like it was well-maintained, having been re-painted some time in the last few weeks.

The road into the heart of the town was mostly either gravel or cobblestone, making the van bounce up and  down and wobble as it rolled over the uneven ground.

It wasn't long before Hazel could see what must have been her grandmother's house. It was a little removed from the village itself, having a long drive way leading up to the front. The grass on wither side of the drive was lush and speckled richly with wildflowers. 

The house itself had two floors and and an attic conversion. It looked spacious from the outside and came with a sizeable plot of land that stretched out around it on all sides, longer in the front and back. It had a neatly tiled roof and visible beams across the front, which was painted pale cream. There was an arched trellis by the door that was covered with ivy and the door just beyond was a glossy sky blue with a little sign hanging on it under the porthole window and above the little gold letterbox that read "Crescent Moon Cottage".

It was beautiful. It was perfect.