Freya woke to the gentle shaking and stretched. She sat up straight panicking when she realised she was in a car and ahead of her was a cabin which was surrounded by woods. Was she about to be sacrificed? She could hear Ali telling her she told her so.
She turned to a soft chuckle, ‘I told you we are not a cult and I promise we are not going to harm you.’
Penelope smiled, she looked tired.
Freya realised she must have slept all night. All she remembered was texting Alex and Ali to say she was going to have an early night, getting in the car and saying hello and now waking up.
‘Sorry. It was awful of us to make you sleep but you did look ever so tired and we’ve had a long drive to get here. Can you forgive us Freya?’
Freya looked around the clearing. The cabin did look very welcoming with its wooden porch where she could see the wolfdog, Aland was settled on a swing seat. Smoke was twisting into the pale morning sky. It looked very inviting. She realised that she felt more refreshed than she had for years.
She stretched and yawned, ‘Sorry!’
‘Oh, don’t worry Freya. You will soon know all our little powers and until the end of time you will never stare into Drakon’s cane again. He’s the one who helped you nod off.’
‘Listen, come on. I know you met the others briefly last night but let’s get inside and have something to eat and we can tell you anything you need to know and I promise if you don’t want to stay I will take you straight back home.’
‘No bludgeoning me to death or sacrificing me to the Gods then?’ Freya asked, arching her eyebrow.
Penelope’s smile widened, ‘You are just the tonic we need and I cross my heart and hope not to die,’ Penelope made a sign in the air but it wasn’t a cross, ‘that we will not sacrifice you to any Gods and you will leave here in one piece. Will that do?’
Freya detected a serious question despite the levity of the answer. These strange new friends had secrets a plenty and they just might cause her untold grief and pain. Freya opened the door and climbed out. Turning she said, ‘Let’s go.’
***
Mary felt as if a lifetime had passed by the time night fell and the time came for her to leave her village, her home for the last time. She’d worried all day that it wasn’t true. That in desperation of a new life she had made up the encounter and everything that was happening to her. How could she be the guardian of anything? Only her father had thought anything of her and he had been missing for years.
She still held onto the hope that he was still alive. The ship he had been on had never made it to port but they’d all heard the stories of people surviving. She dreamed of him shipwrecked on an island, fighting to stay alive and waiting for another ship to bring him home. She would ask to go with him next time, would follow him and sneak onto his ship.
Mary tied her bag together trying to ignore his pain when he returned home and found her dead as the village would come to believe. Maybe one day she could get word to him. maybe not. Her bag didn’t contain much, she’d never had much, just one change of garments. The book was wrapped carefully in a homespun shawl she’d found left behind by one of the parishioners. She agonised about taking it but she knew it was the right thing to do. The rest of the items she’d buried in the churchyard. She didn’t know why, only that they didn’t seem safe left in their hiding place without the book.
She knew all the graves and who attended them and had chosen one hidden away. A fox had watched from the shadows and she’d smiled. The items would be protected.
Mary turned the key in the lock after checking for the thousandth time that everything was safe. Not that it mattered. Whatever protection had been in that room was now with her. She’d done everything she could. As she carefully made her way down the spiral steps she felt sadness at leaving this sanctuary but an overwhelming excitement bubbled inside her. No matter what happened she felt as if her life was starting and she was ready.
She left the church and the hooting of an owl signalled everything was okay. She was safe. The soft call of her name from the shadows didn’t startle her. She moved towards the large oak tree as a person stepped from behind.
‘Mary?’ A strange accent which she didn’t recognise spoke softly, her name lost on the breeze.
‘Yes. Are you…?
‘Tobias, yes. Come. We will talk soon.’
Mary followed Tobias through the graveyard, over the crumbling wall and into the dense forest. She didn’t look back.
(Please note: this story is just a bit of fun and writing practice for me. It hasn’t been edited so if mistakes send shivers down your spine, then don’t read it 😉)
C.L. Peache 