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“Hello,” I say again.
The woman doesn’t look over, so I walk closer. A tangy, almost coppery scent fills the air. Something about the odor hints of something wrong, something foul.
“Excuse me, I don’t want to startle you.”
I motion with my hand, trying to catch her attention. I’m only a few feet away when she stops. She stares at the cloth in her hand with her shoulders hunched. She turns slowly towards me and fear flutters in my chest.
Her matted gray hair is thick and knotted, hanging in such a way as to hide her face as she moves. When I see her face, she’s old. Ancient would be more accurate, lines so deep on her face they could be valleys of their own. Her eyes are milky white as if covered with cataracts. She smiles, a joyless, toothless grin that stops me in my tracks. In her hand the cloth drips red and I realize, knowing it straight into my core, that it isn’t dye dripping off the cloth. It’s blood.
My eyes dart to the cloth, only for a second, but when I return them to the woman she’s gone. Goose pimples race along my arms and chills go down my spine. I want to run but I’m frozen in place, staring at the empty space where a moment before the woman was.
A raven caws and the paralysis breaks. I do the only sensible thing I can think of: I run.
I run across the green grass of the highlands, through the azure blue sky, heart pounding in my ears as my breath comes shorter and shorter. A stitch forms in my side and some unknowable distance behind me I hear laughter.
I stumble more than once, landing hard and scraping my knees and hands. I barely notice the pain because adrenaline is still pumping through me. I’m so scared, I leap up each time and continue running. I run until I see the village. I pause to catch my breath, but the back of my neck tingles and that sense of danger is too much.
I resume my run, barreling past the cows and almost tripping over a goat. I stumble into the open ground at the center of the village. The group of women that work in front of Agnes’ house stop to stare. I can’t catch my breath, bent over, hands on knees as I gasp for air. One of the women makes the sign of the cross but I’m too out of breath to care. Agnes, of all of them, rises to her feet and comes to my side.
“What on God’s green earth are ya doing?” she asks.
Sweat burns my eyes, running long rivulets down my back. I gasp air, working my mouth to try and find enough moisture to be able to speak.
“I saw… something…. by river….” I can’t say more; I’m totally out of breath.
“Saw what?” Agnes asks as the other women come around.
They press in close, making it harder to catch my breath. It feels like they’re stealing all the oxygen with the pressure of their looming bodies.
“A woman, in white,” I say, forcing myself to stand up straight. I square my shoulders, huff another breath, then meet Agnes’ narrowed eyes.
“What kind of woman in white?” Agnes asks.
The pressure of the women’s presence ratchets up to eleven. It’s palpable against my skin, a great weight pushing in on me from all around. I glance around to look at their suspicious eyes. I shouldn’t be telling them this. I should go to Alesoun first. I’ve screwed up.
“Nothing. I need to get to Alesoun,” I say.
“Do nae say was nothin’,” Agnes snaps. “What did the woman look like? What was she doing? What were you doing?”
“I was gathering berries and came across a river where I—”
“Was she washing cloth?” Agnes interrupts.
“Yeah,” I say, eyes widening in surprise. How does she already know? “And the river was—”
“Red,” Agnes interrupts again. “Blood red.”
I nod.
Agnes is as pale as the woman in white’s dress. Her hands flutter up around her face then clench under her chin. She closes her eyes and mutters something I can’t hear then makes the sign of the cross. The rest of the women mimic the gesture.
“What? Who was she? How did you know?”
“Do you nae know anything?” one of the women I don’t know asks harshly.
“She’s an outlander,” Agnes says. “What do they know of the Highlands? Nothing. She knows nothing.”
“Please,” I beg. “I don’t understand. I’ve never felt so… cold. So afraid.”
