“I swear,” the maid replied without hesitation, starting to tidy the things Olivia had taken off. “Even though I’m a wee bit insulted that ye feel the need to ask me that.”
“Sorry,” Olivia offered. ‘’Tis nae that I dinnae trust ye, but I’d prefer to keep it between us two.”
“Me lips are sealed, Me Lady.”
“All right. I’ll tell ye. Nearly every night for the last two weeks, I’ve been havin’ the same dream.”
Megan stopped what she was doing to look at her mistress, her eyes full of concern mixed with curiosity.
“And ’tis so vivid that it feels real, like ’tis really happenin’. And it always ends with me wakin’ up with a start. And after that, I cannae shake it off me mind, and ’tis impossible to get back to sleep again,” Olivia explained, relieved to be able to share her secret with someone she could trust.
“What is the dream about, Me Lady?”
“’Tis night. I’m alone in a dark forest, somewhere I dinnae recognize at all. I’m lost, and I cannae see a way out, and I start panickin’. Because the forest feels evil, like the trees and the darkness are closin’ in on me, suffocatin’ me, and if I dinnae get out, I’ll die.”
Megan gasped, her hand flying to her chest. “Ach, Lord above, Me Lady, that’s terrible!” she exclaimed. “It sounds more like a nightmare than a dream. But what happens then? Did ye manage to escape?”
“Well, I’m runnin’ about in a blind panic, tryin’ to find a way out. But there’s nay path or track to be seen, and the darkness is pressin’ in on me. Then, when I can run nay more and I feel like I’m about to take me last breath, I see a light comin’ towards me through the trees.” Olivia paused, the indelible memory unfurling vividly in her mind’s eye.
“And what happens then?” Megan asked, clearly riveted.
“The light keeps comin’ and growin’ brighter like someone is comin’ towards me with a lantern. But the light is so bright that I cannae see a thing. I ken I should be scared, but mepanic’s suddenly gone, and I’m nae afraid at all. I just stand there, starin’ at it, like I’m waitin’ for whoever or whatever it is to arrive. Then—and this is the really strange part—’tis like the light opens a way between the trees, and standin’ there in front of me is an enormous white hart, with a full crown of antlers this wide.”
She demonstrated the unusual width of the stag’s antlers with her hands and looked at Megan questioningly. “What do ye think it means?”
“I dinnae ken yet,” Megan replied, her brow creased in thought. “It depends. What does the hart do?”
“It just stands there, and I can see ’tis its coat that’s shinin’ so brightly. Och, ’tis beautiful, Megan. The most beautiful beast I’ve ever seen, a truly magical creature of the forest. It comes slowly towards me, and its black eyes are so gentle, like its tellin’ me nae to be afraid, as if it wants to comfort me.”
Olivia could feel the same sense of wonder just describing the fabulous beast as she did seeing it in the dream.
“It comes right up to me, and when I reach out me hand, it nuzzles me fingers like a dog. Then, it turns and leads me down the path, and I ken it’s showing me the way out of the forest, and that I’m perfectly safe as long as it’s with me. That’s where the dream ends—in a burst of light.”
She looked at Megan, about to ask her what she made of it. But the broad smile on the maid’s face and the excitement in her eyes told her there was no need.
“Why, this is truly amazin’, Me Lady! And ye’ve had this dream every night for the last two weeks, ye say?”
“Aye.”
“And the same thing happens—the white hart comes and leads ye out of the dark forest every time?”
“Aye. Is that important?”
“Why, I should say it is! A white hart isnae like any ordinary stag, is it? In real life, ’tis very rare that anyone ever sees one, and then ’tis very lucky, indeed.” Megan sat back down and looked earnestly at Olivia.
“But that’s just superstition, Megan,” Olivia said, knowing full well that superstition was the glue that held Megan’s world together. They differed greatly in the store they set by it.
“Nay! A white hart is a good omen, nay question about it. The fact that the beast appears in yer dream can only mean one thing.”
“And what is that?” Olivia asked, intrigued yet skeptical at the same time.
Megan smiled happily. “It means, Me Lady, that great changes are about to happen to ye!”
“Well, I could have told ye that meself. Of course, great changes are comin’. Me husband’s dead, and the council wants me to marry another man in his place!” Olivia told her, disappointed.
She had hoped for some explanation for the dream that made sense, or at least comforting words, not superstitious nonsense.
“But do ye nae see, Me Lady?” Megan argued, seemingly undeterred by Olivia’s skepticism. “The white hart only brings tidings of good things, nae bad. The dream is tellin’ ye that whatever ye think is goin’ to happen, somethin’ is goin’ to come into yer life and change it for the better.”
