Breath of Fire help please

I am wondering why I can't do what the walkthrough says. I was stuck a long
time and decided to read the walkthrough on WWW.GAMEFAQS.COM. I am trying to
get a gold bar and to free the son of an old lady. The fairies is said to
ask if I can stop the boy from logging, but they never asked. They just say
if I am here to cut trees, they will cast a spell on me. The boy is
wandering around in circles saying some force is keeping him there. How do I
get him free?

Please help, this game is illogical at times and I think there must be
something wrong or have I missed something? Is there any items that would do
a difference?

Thanks for looking and hopefully helping.