Page 80 of Anywhere

“Dinnie be afraid about what ya were always destined ta do. Ya’ar a natural leader, and I know dat the McCabes and da Kelly’s will stand wit ya. I will stand wit ya, no matter what.”

Placing my fist over my heart, I nodded to my friend and walked out the door. Tomorrow we would perform a ritual to seek the answers we needed to protect ourselves and defeat this foe, but it would be the first time that I called the meeting and the first time I would be asked to lead it. I could only pray that Caleb was right, and the rest of the families would listen to what I had to say, or there was a good chance that we would all be paying with far more than lost crops.

Elewyen

I layed on the massive bed staring at the ceiling while I tried to get comfortable. The thing could easily fit five or six people back home in my coven. Many a winter we all huddled inside one of the large brush huts with fur blankets and cuddled with one another to stay warm. The winters were the hardest, and we always expected for the oldest of us to perish before the snow melted.

Turning onto my side, I looked out the window at the stars and tried to picture this place becoming my new normal if I stayed. Reaching up, I ran my fingers over the small squirrel curled up on the pillow. Barry was snoring with his nose buried under his tail. Why this wee fella decided to stick with me, I had no idea, but I was sure happy to have him.

My soul ached for things that were new, while my heart ached to go home and see Keeva. I decided that if they wanted me to consider this arrangement, she would need to come here. Maybe all the women would need to come here if they chose, but especially Keeva. She deserved a chance at a different life and not one filled with hiding in the shadows and being chased with torches and pitchforks.

That was one thing I did really like so far about this place. They didn’t seem to mind my red hair. In fact, it seemed to make me special rather than a pariah. I still had to go looking for the babes left by the villagers, but maybe I wouldn’t have to travel alone or on foot. Maybe the villagers could simply bring the babes here. That thought warmed my heart.

The fragrance Mari used on my hair wafted towards my nose and I couldn’t stop sniffing it and feeling how soft it was. I had my first shower with water and soap, which is what I learned the round colourful balls were, and now I smelt like flowers and my skin felt different. Not that I didn’t stay clean by going and bathing in the streams, but this was different.

The water was hot, and Mari rubbed my hair for me, then I sat on a soft seat while she brushed it out. Mari was so kind, and yet the entire time, I could feel her heart hurting like it was breaking. I watched her in the mirror, and although she hadn’t said a word as to why, her eyes shimmered with a layer of tears.

“Ya be sad cause of yer ma,” I asked in the long silence.

Her hand stilled as she showed me how to do something called shaving my legs. I never thought about taking the hair off my body, but she said that it was normal in this weird way of living. I had to admit that my skin felt as soft as a wee babe’s bottom.

“Whaddya mean?”

“Yer ma be passed, ya?” I asked.

“Aye. How do ya know dat?” Mari asked, her eyes finding mine as she sat beside me on the comfy bench.

“She be out in da garden. I tink she be lingerin’ for a reason,” I explained, and Mari’s eyes filled with tears. “She was admirin’ da roses.”

“Ya saw me ma?”

I nodded, and Mari bit her lip before wiping away tears. The corner of her mouth pulled up in a small smile. “Ya, I miss me Ma, but why ya say dat I be sad?”

Picking up her hand, I held it between my own. “I’za can feel it. Yer heart be heavy like ya suffered a loss.”

Mari looked away from my eyes and cleared her throat as she pulled away to stand. “I’ma gonna git back ta yer hair. It be almost ready ta braid.”

“It be Rhys, den?” I asked, not letting the topic drop.

Mari’s face flushed bright pink, and she walked to the thing she called a vanity. “I tink it be best if we no talk about dat,” Mari said softly.

“If ya ‘ave feelin’s for him, den why ya no do dis triad ting wit him?”

She held a fluffy looking piece of material to her chest, and her accent slipped back to her foreign one. “Because it doesn’t work like that, Elewyen. The triad is picked by the spirits that have passed on. They choose who will be best suited together. They chose Rook, Rhys, and you. Besides, Rook is my cousin, and I’d probably kill him even if we weren’t.”

“Killin’ him be an option?”

Mari laughed and shook her head. “Naw, it no be an option, but I’d be bloody tempted.”

“Aye, I’ma tempted now,” I said, making us both laugh.

Someone knocked at the door, and I sat up with a start. I waited, counting my heartbeats, when the sound of knuckles on wood came again. I looked around for a weapon and decided on a heavy-looking statue. Gripping it tight, I crept towards the door in the dark, my heart pounding harder with each step I took.

“Who be dere?” I asked, standing off to the side, ready for whoever decided to come in and try to hurt me.

“It’s me. I wanted to apologize,” Rook said.

My arm relaxed. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him after what had happened in his room, but I watched my hand reach for the handle as if his presence, commanded me to do so. Pulling the door open, I decided it had been a terrible idea. The dark demons had certainly known what they were doing when they created this man. My heart pounded hard as my blood heated all throughout my body in a way that I’d never experienced before the first time I laid eyes on him.