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Sometimes I get a wild hair. Last night was one of those nights. I had a story niggling and I could not sleep until I wrote it down.
Here is the first chapter:
The army was small, but with many squads. Most squads had only two, enough to go past all but the most alert guards. Who would look twice at two old women, burdened with parcels, followed by a yipping and scruffy dog? Yet, if the guards had known, these women would have been burned, stoned, set out naked into the cold, drowned, or hung, depending on the customs of the scattered villages through which they traveled.
Superstition was strong. Demons were real, witches realer. Everyone had a story of dry cows, flooded fields and fires that swept away all. Surely such destruction must have a cause. These women were not witches of that sort, but witches they were. Carefully bundled in their parcels were leaves. Oak, birch, fir, and many more. Each had a power. Each had a meaning.
This town the two women had visited before. Perhaps the villagers would remember, perhaps not. It should not matter. Ammah knew the way and Ellia followed. The house, barely a hut, was at the farthest reach of the village. Isolated and surrounded by dusty bare earth and a garden that would barely produce enough for a month, much less a winter. Ammah hallooed the house and a small girl, barefoot, peeked out.
“Girl! Where is your sister? Veeia?”
“Veeia is dead. She took the fever.”
Ammah flashed anger and briefly became taller before remembering and hunching over again.
“How long?”
“I don’t know. During the rains.”
“Damn.” Ammah muttered under her breath. “I know where they bury souls.”
The two women went back the way they had come and past the crossroads to a small field guarded by a crude sculpture of a sheep and a wolf. They walked slowly passed the disturbed ground. It had been a bad season and there were many mounds, most short in length. Ammah stopped.
“This one.”
“Yes. I can feel it. She is very angry.”
Ammah dropped her bundles. A knife, long and sharp and far more cruel than would be expected of two traveling peasants, appeared in her hand.
“Holly, perhaps. What do you think?”
Ellia placed her hands on the soil. “No, holly is too strong. This is a girl, even a strong one, she is still a girl. I think a bramble. Raspberry. Sharp, but also sweet.”
Ammah nodded her head. Yes, that was right. Raspberry should be easy to find. And yes, a hedge was across the road. She cut a cane of green wood, avoiding the thorns as best she could, but was still rewarded by punctures in both thumbs. Back at the sad mound of earth she carefully wrapped the cane in her shawl so as to protect her hands. Slowly and firmly she pushed the end of the cane into the earth. It moved more easily than would have been thought, almost as if it were being drawn in. The cane had almost completely disappeared when it stopped. Ammah disentangled her shawl from the nub of cane and the two old women sat on the ground on opposite sides of the grave, with the cane between them. As they watched the cane turned brown. A few moments more and it was smoking. Finally a small flame burst from the end. They sat and watched as the small flame burned the cane to the ground. They sat and watched as a small wisp of smoke rose from the ground and the cane below ground also burned. Finally nothing was left, no ash or wood, just the quiet of the grave. Ammah sighed heavily as she levered herself off the ground.
“We should test the sister.”
“Aye.”
The walk back to the hut was slower, their rangy dog leading the way in a lopsided gait.
“I may be too old for this, Ellia. That is the third lost one this season. She had such potential, too.”
“You are younger than I.” Ellia winked at Ammah. “You will go to the end and you know it.”
“Pffft. So you say.” Ammah stopped a distance from the hut. “Halloo the house” she called.
The barefoot girl appeared again and stared.
“Is your father home?” Ammah remembered that the mother had passed the previous season. It had been a harsh year.
“No. He has been gone for days.”
“May we come in and talk to you?”
“I have no food for you.”
Ammah sighed. “Child, we do not need your food. To the contrary, we have bread and dried meat and a few apples. You may have it.”
The child’s eyes widened. “You may come in. The dog stays outside, though.”
“Oh, the dog always says outside. He does not understand walls and roofs.”
Ammah and Ellia carried their parcels into the dimness of the hut. A fire so small it didn’t smoke or give off heat, a table empty of food, a baby in a basket, a pile of ragged blankets were the entire furnishings. Ammah creaked as she lowered herself to look the girl in the eye. “Your father has been gone longer than a few days.” she stated.
The girl looked at the floor and nodded.
“That is that, then. No matter what the results, you are coming with us. And the baby as well.” With that settled, Ellia picked up the blankets and shook them. The best one she folded and placed on the table. The others she left on the floor. Ammah picked up the basket with the baby. A girl. Too small and quiet. She placed the basket on the table and Ammah reached into the nearest bundle, bringing out a parcel. Carefully unwrapped, the leaves inside looked as fresh as the day they were picked. She arranged them on the blanket on the table. Each separate, not touching. Birch, aspen, ash, oak, fir, holly and many more. Each green, waxy, some fleshy, some gossamer, depending on the type. Ammah gently guided the girl child to the leaves.
“Choose one. Just one and don’t touch any others.”
“Veeia did this. She told me when she was ill.”
“Yes, she did. Did she tell you which leaf she chose?”
“No. She said it was a secret.”
“That is as it should be. Your path is not hers and it is well that you are not confused. What is your name, child?”
“Bia. And the baby is called Nol, but that is not her chosen name. She is too young.”
“Then, Bia, choose. Do not hurry.”
Bia looked at the leaves. The light coming in from the door cut across the display putting some leaves in shadow and making some glow. Her hand hovered over the blanket. She closed her eyes and Ammah nodded approvingly. Slowly her hand descended and she grasped a frond of fern, delicately and surely. Bia opened her eyes, a bit surprised with her choice.
“Very good, Bia. Hold the frond for a moment.”
Bia did as she was told and the fern seemed to unfurl a bit and lengthen.
“Excellent. You chose well. Do not touch the other leaves, and keep the fern in a safe place.” Ammah bent to retrieve the bundle to replace the parcel of leaves. As she turned away the baby reached a too thin arm out of the basket and grasped a leaf. Not the nearest. It was deliberate and Ellia saw it, but could not stop it. An oak leaf. Into the basket it went and the baby clutched it in both hands. An acorn dropped onto her chest and then another. Ammah was now standing and unable to act. The leaf was claimed. Too soon. And too powerful. She had been careless, lulled by the dullness of the child. She had missed the bright eyes.
Quickly and carefully she gathered the rest of the leaves, needles and fronds and securely wrapped them.
“We must leave now. Bia, you shall eat as we walk. Is there someone I should tell that you are going?”
“Mother Eda brings us food in the evening. She should know.”
“Take me there.”
Left alone with the baby girl, Ellia was uncomfortable. The leaf was still clutched, although no more acorns appeared. She carefully removed the acorns from the basket and buried them in the dirt floor. Almost immediately shoots appeared. Quickly Ellia removed their parcels, kicked the fire out and picked up the baby and the blanket. A glance around that there was nothing else to take and she was out the door. Just in time. Oak leaves were poking out the door and in not too long she heard the creaks of limbs pushing against the roof. Ellia moved everything to the edge of the road and sat with the dog to wait. She did not look behind her as the hut was gutted by the two entwined oak trees. She did not look as the shade cooled her skin. She did not look as the rustling slowed and stopped.
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Because Life is a Treasure Already!
Last edited by Tuna on Sat Apr 04, 2015 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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