Wight Fright: "Fog on the Barrow-Downs" RPG

[Durelin]

Bree, 2939 TA

They had first talked about going at night - sneaking out of their beds, climbing out their windows, and sneaking back in an hour or so before dawn...they all had talked that way, but none of them was about to say, "let's go tonight!" They had all heard the stories - who hadn't? It was the last mistake anyone made, to end up in the Barrow-Downs when the light of the world went out.

So it was that a small group started down the East Road in the late morning - they were just keeping to the road for now, of course - toward the East and toward the gloomy mounds on the edge of the Old Forest.

It had been Edwin's suggestion, that morning when they all had nothing better to do than chores (and yeah, sure, they'd be back in time to finish those before supper, he reassured those concerned), that they should enter the Barrow-Downs like they had talked about. They all wanted to know if the stories were true, if the mounds were really even tombs like people said. And how many Breelanders could say they had been that far from town, much less into the Downs themselves?

Well, Edwin was going, and if he went alone, all the better perhaps. He could tell them whatever he liked about the place when he got back, and they would have to believe him.

Needless to say, Edwin did not go alone. He and his friends told their plan to anyone they passed on the way whom they could trust (meaning no adults and no snitches), and soon a few party members became several, and so forth.

Soon they wandered off the road, Edwin leading them - but only ever allowing himself to walk slightly out front of the others - toward the ominous green mounds and lonely stones, and the dark and tangled mass of the Old Forest beyond.

For now the sky was clear and the sun shown comfortably above them...


Join the fun! Anyone may post - just try to follow the basic RPing rules. This is an informal RP just in time for Halloween - see the discussion thread (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=15856) for some details.

[Bêthberry]

Stooped and favouring her left leg, the old woman wrapped pulled her shawl tighter around her narrow, boney shoulders as she dragged a small cart behind her. She snuffled as she limped along, as if the autumn wind had chilled her breath and stiffened her legs and hips despite the shining sun. Her hands bore traces of her endeavour, her nails filled with dirt, for Meg Rushlight was harvesting peat. There was a good market for it if she could find the richest patches and if it didn't rain and dampen the peat.

And the best peat was found near the old barrows, so there she was headed, even though she'd never tell anyone where she found her peat as she would never then get a pretty price for it.

Startled, she heard voices and turned around. "Who would be coming out ta th'barrows?" she thought. Then she saw them, a rag tag group of childerns with that Edwin in the lead. She didn't fancy meeting them, not at all, so she searched for a hill or stone to cover her presence.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy Woodseaves was one of those who joined Edwin's party. She hadn't exactly been invited but having four elder brothers made a girl adept at finding ways of joining in with things that hadn't been intended to include her. Tall for her age (which was ten) even by the standards of the Big Folk, her long legs meant she could easily keep up with the older children and there was absolutely no point in telling her she couldn't or shouldn't do things because she was a girl.

That was a battle that her mother fought with her on a regular basis. Jessamy had been born a full fifteen years after her eldest brother and perhaps no child could fulfil the hopes of so long a wait, certainly not one whose from her earliest years had preferred trailing after her brothers around the family's farm near Staddle, to playing with dolls and wearing the pretty dresses her mother lovingly made her.

It wasn't that Jessamy wanted to deceive her parents but it was the only way to get any freedom. And so it was that Mrs Woodseaves waved her daughter off from the kitchen door in the belief that Jess would complete her errands in Bree and then spend the rest of the day with her friend Calendula Boffin. She never suspected that Jessamy knew full well that the Boffins had gone to spend the Dame school's Autumn break with family in the Shire and that though she would pass the South Gate wearing a new blue wool dress and her hair in beribboned bunches of ringlets, she would leave by the West Gate in some of her brother's cast offs and her hair in a messy and truth be told somewhat gingery plait. She had managed to slip enough food from the larder for a decent picnic and this she carried in a little oil cloth knapsack along with her cloak.

She wasn't expected back for hours and so really there would be no harm done...

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Ouch! Oh dear, she’s trying to pull my laces tighter. Looks like she had too many birthday parties, afternoon teas and second breakfasts in the past year. Even here, away from the Shire, there are enough Hobbits to provide an active social life, and for them, that means meals.

I always know it’s autumn when she pulls me out of the drawer. I guess a Hobbit doesn’t have opportunities to wear a black bodice for the rest of the year. That’s why I spend most of my existence crushed under bright yellows, cheerful greens, and earthy browns – ugh! That’s more depressing than the colour of my fabric.

Ouch again! I don’t know which will tear first, my laces or the eyelets. Something’s gotta give when she attempts to press her ample shape into my svelte form.

Sigh... I suppose that means she’s off to do something adventurous on this day of deathly hallows. You’d think she would have outgrown such pranks by now, almost at the end of her tweens. We could have had a comfortable evening at the Green Dragon, checking out the “Biggest Pumpkin” contest to see if a Great Pumpkin shows up. But no, that would have meant food and drink; the strain would have been too much for me.

I can only hope she’s not going out to collect treats! :eek:

On the other hand, if she lets herself get scared like she did last year, the sudden intake of breath could wreak havoc with my seams.

It seems I am doomed no matter what happens today – or tonight. This could well be the last day of my existence. Now that’s scary!

[Durelin]

As soon as he was convinced that his feet had stepped over whatever border there was between the quiet hills of western Bree-land and the even quieter hills of the Barrow-downs, Edwin felt a chill come over him and hoped dearly that no one would see the goosebumps on his arms. He thought about unrolling his sleeves, but that would be too obvious. They passed the first barrow a little ways off to their right, as Edwin could not quite bring his feet to veer in that direction. He stared up at the stone, which looked like it was being swallowed up by the barrow, as it was half grown over with green. It really was a bit chilly... No, no fidgeting, he told himself. Too awkward.

He turned around to walk backwards pretend-casually. As he turned, though, he thought he caught a glimpse of movement behind the barrow, but when he turned his head to look directly at the barrow again, there was nothing there. His stomach tied itself into a knot, and for a moment all of his being was focused on that barrow.

Edwin found himself tripping backward, barely catching himself from falling, as someone bumped straight into him. Apparently he had stopped walking, as well. barrows and wights all but forgotten, Edwin did his best to recover. "Watch where you're going! Is this just an afternoon stroll, or do you actually want to check out one of these barrows?" He was still looking at the barrow they had just passed, not sure if he wanted to know if he really did see anything or not.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy who had found her clothing a little too warm on the walk was now grateful for the hairy wool sweater. It's mustardy coulour was not the best complement to rusty hair but its hem fell near to her knees and having forgotten to bring gloves she allowed the too long sleeves to slip over her hands. Even so she too shivered a little but would not think of getting her cloak from her bag while there were boys still in shirtsleeves.

The Downs did not seem such an enticing place now. She had seen them before but only from the road - her father had taken her along on a short trip to the Shire a few years ago when he had been looking in to growing pipeweed, and in the early light of a clear midsummer morning they had seemed ripe for exploration and quite unthreatening. But now she was not safely tucked in the back of the little farm waggon with the reassuring presence of her father and eldest brother on the boxseat. She only had the company of some other children scarce older or larger than herself and suddenly she felt a little scared. she had never been so far without adults or at least one of the big brothers, who, much as they had grumbled at times at having their pesky little sister tag along, had succesfully protected her from any peril of the world greater than bramble scratches or grazed knees.

But they were all grown now or nearly - the eldest Silas was married and living in Archet where he worked with his father-in-law, a woodman, Seth worked with his father on the farm and the younger two, Bryn and Filbert apprentices in Bree-town and so not free to join the expedition even if they knew about it.

Her nerves made her answer to Edwin more scornful than she really intended.

"Of course we do! You aren't scared are you". The sun seemed to have faded from the sky and she silently chanted to herself "I am not scared, I am not scared"...

[Durelin]

Edwin turned his attention from the oaf of a boy who had bumped into him toward the girl. She wasn't that much shorter than him, he realized, which made him feel even more self-conscious. Where did she come from? He didn't remember seeing her join the group. He had seen her before, though, always hanging around, pestering the older kids rather than spending time with those closer to her age and in the sight of her parents.

"That's what I want to know of you all! Are you too scared?" he spoke half to the hobbit girl, and half to the rest of the party, hoping he would not have to go near that barrow by himself. "It's alright if you are - it's brave enough that you came all the way out here without your mother."

Edwin turned his back to the others a bit dramatically, and began strolling toward the barrow as casually as he could manage, listening for following footsteps. His eyes were again locked on the barrow. He tried to tell himself that he had not seen anything, but he could picture in his mind the glimpse he had of the figure all too easily.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy bristled. Her blue eyes flashed with anger, "I go lots of places without my mother!" she pronounced. She did not elaborate, having the wit to realise that School, her brother's place and other routine errands round Breeland, where just about everyone knew everyone else and watched out for each others' children, weren't in the same league as wandering the downs amongst these strange stones and mounds. She remembered that her father had said that they were tombs of the ancient kings, that they were many strange tales about them and the old forest beyond but though Jessamy was a great one for stories of the old days she pushed them to the back of her mind now.

She squared her shoulders, and marched determinedly towards the barrow's entrance, her pace enough to overtake Edwin, hissing "I am not scared" defiantly as she did so. Yet she too saw a flicker of something as she reached the stone portal. Just a shadow she told herself knowing full well that the sun was still too high to cast a shadow so long and too pale for one so strong. She could not flinch in front of Edwin now. It would be as bad as showing fear in front of Filbert. The youngest of her brothers, for so long the youngest child, felt less responsibility for her than his elders and bore perhaps a lingering slight resentment towards his usurper which meant he would lead her wilfully into mischief at times.

Jessamy walked on, only pausing under the stone lintel to turn and enquire of Edwin with deliberate insouciance - "I don't suppose you thought to bring a lamp?"

[Bêthberry]

Meg held her wheezy breath, feeling her hip ache from the effort of fast movement towards the barrow. Luckily she was able to push her cart ahead of her into the barrow, but she held the line at entering too far into it herself.

That drated Edwin, she thought to herself. Why would he venture out here? And bring a pack of boys full of tomfoolery. She'd been tormented enough lately around Bree with the bratty boys who felt so lordly threatening an old woman. And why that girl was so fond of following after them she couldn't fathom. Slowly Meg's breath calmed down and she took a quick peek out towards the entrance in the hopes the childern would walk past the barrow.

A noise at her back made her start and she gulped air, stale and foul tasting air.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy was annoyed with herself for not thinking about light but she had been so preoccupied with getting away to join the expedition that she hadn't really thought about what they would do when they got there. It would have been hard to explain why she was taking a lantern to visit a school friend but she could easily have smuggled a candle or two from the kitchen. It was too late to worry about it now..if none of the others were better prepared then they would have to do without. Light or no light she couldn't see a way of backing out of this with dignity.

Waiting for an answer she thought she heard something but from inside the barrow not from the boys outside. Her heart froze and instinctively she flattened herself against the stone of the portal. Jessamy could feel its cold through her clothes but it seemed less than the chill within.

Now she heard one of the boys' voices "What's the matter ? Lost your nerve?"

"Shhh I think I can hear something!", replied the girl turning towards the others. Her boots seemed disproportionately noisy as they ground on the small loose stones on the entrance floor. "It was like a creak and a sigh"

"Probably just the wind"

But Jessamy was sure it wasn't the wind . The day was still and this sound had definitely come from inside the barrow.

[Durelin]

Edwin grinned at the girl's reply. 'Lots of places!' Like where? His grin, to his own surprise, lingered as he approached the barrow behind Jessamy. But at her question, Edwin's grin disappeared. No, he had not thought to bring any source of light. His hand slipped into his shirt pocket, where he had a flint and steel - it was for some reason just the sort of thing he carried with him - but that would do him little good with nothing to light. He was trying to think of a response that might rescue him from looking like a fool when suddenly a noise came from the barrow.

Edwin fought with himself frantically over whether it had come from inside the barrow or not. The suggestion that it was the wind did not settle his mind. If it was the wind, how could the sound be from inside the barrow?

"Does anyone have anything we can light?" he asked, trying vainly to make his voice even. "Anything at all?" He was not sure why he still felt it necessary to follow through with investigating this barrow, but part of him wanted to now more than ever.

One of the boys stepped forward enough to produce a few long wicks. Edwin lit one and held it in front of him and over Jessamy's shoulder. He was not sure how long it would take him to get himself to take even a step into the barrow, so after watching the flame flicker for a moment, it barely denting the shadows on the edge of which it hovered, he tossed the burning wick through the doorway of stones.

[Bêthberry]

Drat those childerns, Meg said to herself as she stumbled backwards against the cold, damp stone. She struggled to control her shock and surprise at the noise behind her and at the scent of sulphur coming from outside the barrow and all she could do was move sideways. She wondered if maybe it would be best just to walk out openly and surprise them, maybe giving them a fright. Would they think she was an old witch come from the back of the barrow to turn their flesh clammy and cold? Could she do something that wouldn't identify her but would send them running away scared?

The she caught it and almost laughed aloud as she identified the foul, rank air she had inhaled. The flare that the boy threw into the entrance to the barrow illuminated the cause of her fright. She clearly saw it: a black underbelly with a glowing white stripe atop its body. And it was even more angered now than when she had run her cart into it inadvertently. Yes, it was poised to strike again. And she was well away from it, just as she had been for its first salvo. But the burning wick and the boy who threw it were directly in its range.

[Mithalwen]

The flame gave Jessamy all the confirmation she needed - she did not know what she saw but she definitely saw something..

"There IS something in there and it's alive" she cried. As she spoke she stepped backwards cannoning into Edwin and then losing her footing tumbled over. The gravel grazed her outstretched hands but she knew that to show any pain would only add to the shame of having backed away from the entrance. She started to scramble to her knees, wiping her bloodied hands on her breeches as she did so then steeled herself to turn and look back at the barrow's mouth.

[Bêthberry]

Meg, thankful for the sudden appearance of a distraction, slunk back against the wall of the barrow as much as she could to avoid the noxious spray of the skunk. She watched the proceedings while her mind considered options. She wasn't sure if the skunk had hit anyone, but she watched as the girl careened back into Edwin and the two went tumbling just after Edwin had thrown the flaming wick. The other children shrieked and ran off, scrambling to get as far away as possible from whatever it was that Jessamy had seen. And from the scent.

That girl has poise and courage, Meg thought; she didn't cry out when the gravel scraped her hand. Meg contemplated trying to win the girl over as an ally but finally decided against it. She didn't know the girl well enough, had only seen her on market days in Bree. No, something else was needed.

Watching the flaming wick gave her an idea. It might not work, but was her best chance. Meg stepped sideways towards her cart. The wood was smelling now; it had caught a direct salvo from the skunk. Maybe that will keep it safe; who would want a stinking cart? she thought. Coming closer she was able to dig her hands into the pile of peat she had collected. Deep into the dirt her fingers dug, filling her nails and wrinkled skin with dirt. She grabbed a piece of peat without much time to take a good aim and threw it towards the entrance. Would it land before the wick?

Yes, yes it did. And seconds later the flames buried themselves into the dry mound of peat, sputtering at first and then suddenly bursting into glowing red embers, like an evil red eye come to spy on intruders. Some of the children screamed for real this time.

Meg saw her chance; while the children were watching the sudden appearance of burning embers she slunk out the far side of the barrow, rounded the corner, and hobbled away as fast as her aged hips would carry her. Another barrow, she thought. Let me find another barrow. Or better yet, a standing stone to hide behind. She tripped in the dark and rolled over, coming up against a stone. It would have to do. She pulled herself behind it, gasping for breath, feeling the gritty dirt in her nails as she ran her hands over the stone.

[Durelin]

As the small flame flashed through the darkness of the barrow, a shape shifted and eyes glinted in the light. Edwin went to take a step back, but not as quickly as Jessamy did. She slipped, falling onto the stones in front of the barrow, and taking him with her. He fell on his fear, and scrambled backward and up onto his feet again.

"What was that?" The words came out of his mouth practically before he could form them in his mind, crying out almost simultaneously with the girl. He heard a strange scratching in the barrow, and then he was hit by an awful stench.

"What is that?" he echoed himself.

Suddenly the flame disappeared, only to reappear as a deep and eerie glow. Some of the others cried out, but Edwin couldn't find the breath to do so. The scratching he had heard turned into heavy shuffling.

A low, guttural noise came from the barrow, and Edwin took another step back. The shape shifted around the smoldering light, part of it glowing red like the fire. Someone took off running behind him, and he was not sure why he didn't follow. In moments the creature crawled slowly into the afternoon light outside the barrow, growling and eyeing the humans.

Edwin felt his face redden, forgetting about the barrow and about the transforming flame. That was all it was...some big rodent. "Get," he yelled at it, prepared to chase it off. He looked for a stone nearby to toss at it.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy's freckled nose wrinkled at the smell and her eyes provided mere confirmation of the nature of the beast. "Oh it's only a skunk!" she said and laughed with relief at the all too natural horror. She hoped that she hadn't caught the smell on her clothes - she was going to have to change back into her dress anyway before she got home but that wouldn't help her get the smell from her skin.

Back on her feet now she drifted away from the barrow's mouth so she could tell if she carried the stench with her - seems like she was lucky but there still would be her grazed hands to explain. Jessamy remembered seeing a little rivulet over the way, she would only be a moment and the others were scattered but not far away. And though she spent only a couple of minutes rinsing the blood and dust from her palms when she stood back up she could not see the others and though she heard voices it was hard to decide where they came from. Jessamy tried to retrace her steps but there was something strange about this place and she began to feel quite disorientated - and alone.

[Durelin]

"Oh it's only a skunk!" Edwin heard the girl say. Oh yes, he knew about skunks (or at least thought he did), though this was actually his first encounter with one. This was the farthest he'd been from the town himself, as it was for most with him. So he threw a good sized stone at the animal, foolishly not prepared for more of its stench. As soon as it triggered its defense mechanism all over him, Edwin cried out in disgust and took off, trying to escape the awful smell. Of course it only followed him, as it seeped into his clothes.

When he stopped, trying not to breathe through his nose, he looked around him. It seemed to have gotten darker, though they could not have been here in the Downs that long. He felt like he could not see as far as normally, as he could not see any of his companions. Even the barrow that he swore was the one the skunk had emerged from looked different.

Turning around, Edwin found himself looking at the edges of the Old Forest only meters away. How had he gotten here? Surely he had not run that far. He shuddered as he gazed into the trees, and into what was already darkness even though it was still in the afternoon. Or at least he thought it was. He looked up at the sky, but all he saw was a hazy glow low on the horizon.

Oh he'd better beat his father home. He had to head back. So he picked a direction, and called out nervously to his friends whom he expected to still be nearby at least. "Hey! Where'd you all go? I'm heading home to wash up!" "Ick," he added to himself.

A barrow seemed to suddenly rise up in front of him. He started to step around it, and found himself nearly standing under the stone lintel of its entrance. He scrambled away from it, only to find himself looking again into the wild shadows of the Old Forest. And he thought a pair of eyes were looking back at him.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy really wasn't sure where she was now. The voices seemed to have led her deeper into the downs - she was sure she was now a long way from the road. Though it wasn't late in the afternoon, the days were short at this time of the year and already it seemed the light was fading. Maybe it was just the shadows cast by the mounds and standing stones. She started to feel scared and fought off the sudden urge to cry.

She shivered. It was really getting quite chilly now and she drew her hands up the sleeves of her jersey before remembering she had a cloak in her knapsack. And some food. She was too anxious to be really hungry even though it was a long time since breakfast but she felt she might just have a bit of the parkin Mrs Butterbur had given her at the Pony that morning. It's sweetness and the warmth of its ginger spice lifted her energy and spirits and she decided to climb one of the barrows to better spot her companions from a high vantage point.

Brushing away the crumbs and drawing the soft grey woollen folds of her cloak closer about her she made her way carefully up the steep sides of the nearest barrow.

[Durelin]

A howl came from the woods, and Edwin tore his eyes away from those orbs shining in the darkness of the Old Forest. He ran, and hesitated a few moments in front of a barrow, staring at the darkness of the stone-framed opening. A man had been buried in there, a long time ago. And they say he later walked again, that he was filled with an evil spirit... But there had been no one who knew anything but stories for generations.

There was another howl that could be heard across the Downs, and Edwin thought he heard from somewhere nearby the scratching of claws on hard, cold earth. He shuddered, and ducked into the barrow, holding his breath as he pressed himself against the wall of the barrow near the doorway. He would not go any further into the mound. But how could he escape the nose of a wolf smelling like he did? The boy was completely torn between two fears, one very real and the other unknown, but both clutching strongly at his heart.

[Mithalwen]

The life of a farmer’s wife was always busy but now that three of her children were no longer living at home there was a reduction in Sukebind Woodseaves' workload that almost disconcerted her. She had spent years cooking for a family of seven and now there were only four of them. Less food to prepare, less laundry to do and the house seemed to stay a lot tidier even though Jessamy was one of those still living in it. Things had almost seemed normal during harvest when all the boys had returned to the farm to help - as was the custom in Breeland. The welfare of all depended on a successful crop gathering so many were diverted from their usual occupations. But Harvest had finished some weeks ago and Bryn had returned to the forge and Filbert to the Pony and the farm seemed very quiet again.

It seemed particularly quiet today - Seth and Erling were ploughing and had taken food with them so not to waste any of the short day and dry weather and she didn’t really expect to see Jessamy much before nightfall. She had made quick work of preparing a stew for supper and it was already simmering gently on the range. Dough was proving in a covered bowl by the hearth and she decided there were enough eggs to use up the old loaves in a bread and butter pudding. but this too was the work of few minutes for a skilled cook. She thought of the the skein of fine white wool she had bought at market a couple of months ago and had put aside fearing that she would tempt fate if she crafted too soon for her first grandchild due in early spring. Maybe it was not too soon now. She smiled at the thought and went out side to rinse her hands under the pump. Returning she admired the winter jessamine that flowered by the kitchen door its flowers like yellow stars against the green. A welcome bit of colour in the darker days she always thought and like many Breelanders, Sukebind had named her daughter for a favourite flower. As she passed into the parlour to dig out her needles and patterns she thought of Jessamy and hoped she was having a nice time.

[Mithalwen]

At that moment Jessamy was not having a nice time at all. Shrouded in her cloak, ghostlike save for the bright tangle of her hair as she stood on the top of the barrow the folly of the venture was beginning to hit home.

Although the downs started only a few miles from Bree she knew that they spanned about ten miles at their widest, from the Greenway to the Old Forest and from her vantage point she saw that the shadows of the trees were much closer than she thought they should be. How could they possibley have wandered so far... there wasn't the time. Yet she could see the trees but neither the Greenway nor the Shire Road. Then she remembered one of the stories she had heard... that the trees of the Old Forest were said to move. She had dismissed it at the time as just one of those things elder brothers tell you to scare you but now she recalled her father saying there were legends in the South of trees that walked. As the light dimmed it seemed all more plausible.

Jessamy could not decide which possibility was worse - either they were too far away to have any hope of getting home before night or she was far too close to a living moving forest.

Then she heard the howl and courage failing she added her own wail to the air.

[Mithalwen]

"This is no good" thought Jessamy. If she could climb up here on two legs she was pretty sure whatever was howling could make it on four and she was just making herself conspicuous. The sensible thing to do would be to set her back to the fading sun and try to bear left a little - that way she should hit either the East Road or the Greenway sooner or later. She wouldn't get home on time but she would get home. She had her cloak she had food she would be alright.

"But what about the others ..." she thought. They wouldn't know she had gone and they might be looking for her, she reasoned. Part of her mind argued that they had probably gone already.. and even if they hadn't she could get help as soon as she got back to the town. Another part reminded her that she had wandered away. Jessamy was torn, the longer she delayed the less likely she was to get back on familiar terrain before dark but she couldn't just abandon the others without trying to find them.

She slid down the barrow and started to call the others' names:

"Edwin... where are you?"

[Durelin]

Karl caught up with the dog to find it staring and sniffing in the direction of one of the barrows in the Downs. It had caught the scent of something, and Karl now could smell it as well.

"Duke," he called, "shut up and get away from there. I'm not bringing you home again if you go after a skunk."

With one more urging, the dog gave up its sniffing. Karl grumbled under his breath about Duke being "worthless" as the dog attempted to follow him from ahead rather than behind. He had a single rabbit in the sack over his shoulder. He had almost had a bird...

Since the cur had broken the edge of the forest into the Downs, Karl decided one rabbit was enough to last him. He was comfortable in the Old Forest -- though obviously he avoided it at night -- but the Barrow-downs made him shake and feel like a hundred eyes were on him.

So he stopped dead in his tracks when he thought he heard a voice. Duke gave a short bark in response and Karl hastily shushed him. The man scanned around him, focusing especially on the barrows, but saw nothing. While he was straining to find whatever it was that was causing goosebumps to rise on his skin, Duke took off toward one of the barrows a good way off.

"Duke! Get back here! Duke!"

~*~

Edwin heard Karl berating his dog, and breathed a little easier for the moment. Part of him wished to leap out of the barrow and beg the man to take him back to town, but the rest of him was more concerned with what the man might think of a boy in the middle of the Barrow-downs smelling like a skunk...and what the others might think when the man brought him home.

He steeled himself, trying not to inhale too much and keeping his eyes on his feet until he was sure Karl and Duke had moved on. He rushed out of the mound, kicking up dust and stone. Perhaps he could find somewhere to wash up...though he dared not enter the Old Forest. If he managed to get lost in the Downs, he could only imagine how long he might find himself wandering that tangled, unfriendly mess of trees.

[Mithalwen]

At Woodseaves Farm

"Mum? Where are you?"

"In here Seth.... I mean Silas". Sukey had seen the tall figure looming in the shadow of the kitchen doorway and not unreasonably had assumed it was her resident son not her first born. The two eldest were fairly alike having their father's height and lean build but their mother's hair.

"Can't you tell us apart yet, Mother?"

"Of course, I can dear - I just wasn't expecting you. What brings you here?" She left her wool and returned to the kitchen to put the kettle on the stove, correctly anticipating that tea was unlikely to be refused.

"We broke a haul chain this morning - I have been in the workshop trying to mend it but it's no good. I'll have to take it to the forge and get Bryn to fix it properly - I have to take a load of firewood to the Pony anyway later and I thought Seth might lend me a hand in return for a pint" .

"I think you can take that as a given - he is up in top field ploughing at the moment but they shouldn't be long now... why don't you bring Fern with you and she can stay with me while you go into town and tell me what she wants me to do with that wool. Then you can both stay to supper.. I have made too much again" she added ruefully.

"That sound's like a plan... what have you done with Jessie?"

"Oh she has gone to see Cal Boffin - you can round her up for me if she isn't back by the time you go". This information stirred something in Silas' memory but it was only later, back in his own cottage, when he relayed the invitation to his wife that he remembered that the Boffins had gone away to the Shire and that it would be odd if Jessamy hadn't known that full well.

On the Downs

Jessamy's imagination was too full of wolves to pass off the faint regular thudding noise as merely the sound of her own blood pounding as her heart rate increased with her fear. She knew the sound of a dog running well enough but now was convinced that this faint beat belonged to a larger fiercer version. She started to run full pelt no longer heeding the direction of woods or fading sun only caring to get as far away as possible from the beast that followed her. She hurtled along seeking a route between the mounds having dismissed the idea of sheltering in one... the skunk incident hadn't dismissed the notion that things more sinister might lurk within. She'd take her chances in the open.

However quick she was, two feet were never going to outpace four. The footfalls got closer and closer; she did not dare to look round yet even so, in her haste, she tripped and fell for the second time that day and as she fell she knew that the beast had caught her up. She closed her eyes and steeled her self for whatever was to come, curling into a ball her arms over her face.

The lick to her hand was not what she expected at all she uncovered her face and opened her eyes to see a dog, large and dark and a bit rough looking but still a perfectly ordinary dog. And one she thought she knew.... Prince was it? No.....

"Hullo Duke" she murmured stroking his ears, "you did scare me, you silly thing, what are you doing up here?"

[Durelin]

As Karl went after Duke, jogging a bit but not really rushing to catch the dog, he thought he heard a voice -- a female voice. Soon he discovered the source of it, as he came upon Duke and what he had found.

"Jessamy!" Karl could not help by cry out. "What...what are you doing out here?" he asked with great concern. "And alone, that's even worse..." he continued, rambling a bit in his surprise.

~*~

Edwin wandered in what he believed to be the general direction of home. He was surprised when he came across a small pool of water, really a puddle, though it had been several days since it last rained. He eyed it for a moment -- it was not the most pleasant looking water -- but shortly he bent down and splashed some of the water on his face to feel at least a little less...disgusting.

Drops of the water unavoidably passed his lips, and when he found himself licking them off the inside of his lips by habit, he discovered he was quite thirsty and the water did not seem so bad after all. It tasted almost...sweet. So he cupped his hands in the pool and put them up to his mouth. Feeling refreshed and, strangely, far less afraid, Edwin went to stand from his crouched position, and instead only wobbled a bit before he fell over beside the pool, the world suddenly lost to him.

~*~

Meanwhile... There was a crispness and coolness about the air, and the whole world had turned a bit grey even as evening approached. It always snuck up on you around this time of year, the approach of darkness and supper time. Soon pieces of heaven began to fall from the sky, white flakes fluttering down to stick tentatively to the cold grass.

[Mithalwen]

On the Downs

"Hullo Karl" , answered Jessamy. She didn't know Karl well - noone seemed to really - but so relieved was she to see someone that wasn't a spectre or a werewolf that she couldn't care less that most Breelanders thought that he was a queer fish. Besides she remembered her father's words when he had chided the youngest of her brothers for some derogatory comment about him "He walks to the beat of a different drum but that doesn't mean there is any harm in him". Erling Woodseaves had been an outsider himself, having migrated up the Greenway after the floods that followed the Fell Winter destroyed Tharbad. Nearly thirty years on this was seldom remembered save by the few who bore a lingering resentment that he had acquired by marriage a fine farm as well as a fair wife. He had become a part of the community but he would not tolerate narrowmindedness in his children.


"It was meant to be an adventure...but it has turned out quite horribly ... and I didn't come alone ...Edwin and some others were here but we got separated and I didn't like to go home without them... and now it is getting dark and I am going to be in so much trouble... " her voice tailed of and she was trying hard not to cry with the relief of no longer being alone.

Breeland

Knowing Jessamy could not possibly be where she was placed her eldest brother on the horns of a dilemma. Silas was torn between sibling loyalty and the fear that something bad might have happened to his sister which would be exacerbated by his silence. Their mother’s heedless request that they fetch her home with them now filled him with guilt.

He hoped in vain that Jessamy would be already home when he returned to the farm and it was only when Fern was safely installed in the cosy parlour with Sukey and the knitting wool that he confided his fears to Seth as they set off.


Seth had laughed at his worries teasing him that it was impending fatherhood that had made him overly concerned and rather enjoying the opportunity to lecture his elder brother. “No, I don’t think we should tell Dad. We skived off enough when we were her age and no harm done. Jessie won’t thank you for getting her into trouble for nothing. Chances are we will find her in the snug of the Pony, pestering hapless travellers for stories and drinking Mrs Butterbur’s hot chocolate - besides Dad’s done in, he was asleep in his chair more or less as soon as we got in. And mum would be frantic... no need to worry them until we know there is something to worry about”.

Silas nodded but his mood did not lighten. Maybe Seth was right and he was going soft but he was particularly fond of his baby sister - after a succession of brothers she had been a novelty, like a foxcub, with her russet hair and bright blue eyes, and when she had curled her tiny fist around his finger she had set a grip on his heart that had not weakened a decade later. And nothing Seth could say would dispel the fear that he might not see her again. It was as well the sturdy ponies that drew the waggon knew the road for they got little guidance from their fretful master.

Soon the waggon reached Bree’s South gate. They stopped first at the forge, dropped off the chain that needed mending and learnt from Bryn some news of their sister. Jessamy had passed by first thing in the morning but he hadn’t seen her since - though he was of a mind with Seth that she was probably fine. Shorter and stockier than his elder brothers he had an easygoing nature that wasn’t prone to flights of imagination. “I’ll just finish off here” he said wiping his hands on his leather apron, and I’ll join you at the inn - if she’s not there I’ll help you look and if she is you can buy me a pint”.

[Durelin]

Karl shook his head again as he tried to control Duke. The dog at least was staying relatively still, though he shook slightly with excitement, and would not heed any indication to sit. As the man looked up into the sky and saw the white flurries drifting down around him, for the moment sparse, he realized why the dog had been so antsy this afternoon. He was still particularly impressed by snow. He had fur.

"An adventure? You should have more sense than to follow that boy Edwin. He hasn't got a decent head on his shoulders, not yet anyway. And at his rate he won't live to grow one. Now what did you think you would find out here, other than a lot of mounds and stones. Has some fool gone and started rumors about treasure again? Whether or not you believe that nonsense about the barrow-men you're a fool to think there's still anything in those graves that hasn't been taken by some scoundrel before our grandfathers were born."

Karl rambled slightly, which was typical for someone who did not consistently talk to another human. He talked to Duke as if he were another man -- though really more as if he was a child -- and was quite accustomed to such speechless if not quiet company. He did not notice any sign of distress in Jessamy's face or voice as he continued to talk half to himself.

"Duke is no good at finding any creatures, but he does seem pretty good at finding kids out here. Not that that's a common find. Should we go look for that blockhead Edwin?" he asked, but then almost immediately furrowed his brow and shook his head to himself. "No, no, maybe we should get you home first, and I can find the boy. And let his folks know..."

[Mithalwen]

On the downs

Jessamy hadn't immediately noticed the snow her gaze had been downcast through a mixture of shyness and shame at her folly and weakness but she followed Karl's gaze upwards and saw the flakes pale against the fading sky. They already started to settle on her hair and chilled her upturned face... she shivered and drew her cloak around her, grateful that she had brought it despite the bright promise of the morning - winter sun had no heat in it and a bright day often was followed by a very cold night. She so wanted to be home, safe by the fire with her family near that she nearly agreed with Karl ...but then she remembered Edwin standing at the barrow entrance in his shirtsleeves....

"No Karl we can't , it is too far... by the time you get me home it will be dark and Edwin hasn't got a cloak or anything... if he is stuck out here he will freeze."


In Bree
Jessamy was not at the Pony and at that point, Seth conceded that maybe Silas had not been worrying unnecessarily. Especially since Filbert, the youngest of the brothers was decidedly shifty when asked if he knew where she was. His brothers knew of old ways to extract the truth; resistance was futile - and potentially painful - in the face of the united front presented by his elders.

“Ow Seth, get off me... I think she’s gone to the Barrow Downs”.

Seth’s grip released through shock rather than mercy and all looked at Filbert aghast. It was not a place any off them would chose to venture save perhaps in the warmth and light of a midsummer day.

“What do you mean you think she’s gone?”

Filbert’s words now came in a rush “A group of lads have been planning to go for ages ... its been an open secret for weeks...Edwin and his crowd - and they went this morning - I think Jessamy tagged along.. she was here earlier.. Mum sent some stuff to Mrs Butterbur - then I think Jess changed clothes in the barn. Her basket is hidden in there with her dress.. When I saw her going towards the West gate she was wearing breeches and one of your old jerseys...”

He eyed nervously his brothers who were regarding him with something near digust

“You let her go? She’s ten Fil... didn’t you think you should stop her? Or at least tell someone?”

“I knew you were jealous of her, but I didn’t realise you actually hated her” , Seth’s accusation was painfully close to the truth.

“I ..I don’t hate her...” but Filbert had to admit to himself that he had hoped the sister he regarded as a spoilt brat would get into trouble for once.

“Well you better hope she gets back alright then”, Seth snarled and his fist clenched. Silas laid his had on his brother’s arm "I thought I was the over protective one" he observed drily.

Ever practical, it was Bryn who pointed out that recriminations wouldn’t help them find Jessamy.

Bryn and Silas unloaded the cart as quickly as possible while Seth ran to the East Gatehouse for news and Filbert was sent in to find if any new comers to the inn had travelled that road. Seth was back first and gasped his message as his brothers stacked the last of the logs. Jessamy had definitely followed the group but there had been no sight of any of them since the morning. But from the look of the clouds to the East he guessed there would be snow on the Downs ere night fall.

[Durelin]

Karl twisted his lips in consternation. The girl was right, but he felt terribly irresponsible to let her stay out here in the Downs even a moment longer. What would her parents think, if they came out to find her, and saw that she was with him, but he had done nothing to take her back home? Oh, he thought to himself, since when have I cared what anyone sees me as. I am a bit of a fool like they say, anyhow.

"Oh," he voiced his worry, "you're right, you're right. The fool boy, not even prepared for his great journey, of course. And if any others are out... Here, it may not be dark yet, but let me get out my lantern, and hopefully anyone out here will see it and come to us, unless of course there's some stories about deathly lights or some such..." Karl finished with a mutter, and pulled a lantern from a hook on his pack and lit it.

"Let's see if Duke can track another one of you kids. There's little else alive out here, at least that he's interested in. Though there was that skunk he got hung up on...let's hope he doesn't just pick that scent up again..."

"Go, Duke!" he called a command, and the dog did at least stop his happy shaking and started sniffing the ground.

[Mithalwen]

On the Downs

At first Jessamy tried to keep pace with the dog but his four legs had more energy left in them now than her two and after a short while she stopped running, let Duke go ahead and paused to waiting for the man to catch up.

Though the snow seemed to slow the fading of the light the Downs was still an eerie and greying world and looking back the glow of the lantern, small in the vastness of the landscape, made Karl’s talk of willow the wisps seem plausible.

“It don’t know what I expected to find here... I didn’t really think the stories were true ... until I was up here on my own” she added trying to convince herself and chosing to ignore the fact that she had had nightmares for a week after Seth had responded to her demand for a bedtime story with a particularly gruesome version of the legend of the old kings. After all she had only been seven at the time.

“Though treasure would have been nice ...” her voice tailed off as her mind wandered to the old story of the fairy princess and the magic necklace and Jessamy imagined what it would be like to have such a thing. Then she remembered that that story had wolves in it too. But it also had a brave and loyal hound and she turned her gaze back to Duke lest she lose sight of him as the snow fell thicker. The large soft flakes were settling on her cloak hood and she wrapped the ends of her sleeves around her hands. She hoped that Duke would find the others soon or if he found nothing maybe that was a sign that the others had already gone back to town and they could head back with a clearer conscience.

Karl might be an unlikely representative of her normal world but having been found by him she was no longer strictly speaking lost - though her relief was tempered by the certainty she wouuld face punishment on her return. She knew the later she was back the more severe it would be but it couldn't be helped. She couldn't have let Karl see her safe home without a thought for Edwin and the others.

She briefly wrapped her small cold hand around Karl's. "I am sorry to be a nuisance - but I am so glad you found me"

Then before he could react Jessamy remembered something he had said earlier and added "Did you say Duke found a skunk... we did too in one of the Barrows - that was how we got separated running away from the smell - I didn't get squirted 'cos I had alreday fallen over out of the way... but the others might have... and unless there are lots of skunks up there we might not be so far away after all. I don't think I went so far but it seems hard to keep people in sight up here" she added.

[Durelin]

Karl smiled at Jessamy when she took his hand and thanked him. She was a good and nice lass, and he was sorry she had been lead out here by some dim-witted boys. Her hands were so cold -- he wondered if this day might put her in bed for a while with a chill. Poor girl. Her only consolation he thought now would be that her family would be so relieved to get her home that they wouldn't think too much on what she had done wrong.

At her remark about the skunk he nodded thoughtfully, looking up at the sky, staring into nothing. "Yes, this place does tend to play tricks on you at times...and the weather is turning grey which doesn't help..." He shook his head and chuckled. "I wonder now if Duke found a skunk or found one of your friends. Though I doubt it. He was growling like mad at the opening of a barrow -- I doubt any of them would want to venture in there. Spooky, wights or no."

He turned his gaze back down at Jessamy as he held tightly to Duke's lead as the dog strained at it, sniffing constantly. "Sorry about Duke, he's always in a rush whenever I don't want him to be."

The dog started straining harder at his lead and Karl, distracted by trying to keep from practically dragging the poor girl along found the lead slip through his fingers. "Duke!" he yelled, afraid that the dog would just take off into the woods. The dog disappeared behind a mound and let out a few barks.

"Well, unless he's messing with me, he seems to have found something. But those aren't excited barks..."

Karl kept a pace Jessamy could manage and then went around the back of the barrow. There Duke stood over the still form of Edwin, licking at the side of his face. The other side was in the edge of a small pool of water.

"Oh no..." Karl rushed to the boy and picked him up to place him on the ground away from the pool. Perhaps he was the skunk, he thought, feeling guilt rush over him. I should have checked what it was...

"Edwin!" he called to the boy as he looked him over. He seemed untouched, no injury on his head. And he was breathing. But his eyes did not open. "What on earth..."

[Mithalwen]

In Bree-town

On most evenings the brothers would have been happy to install themselves in the Pony for a few hours of drinking ale and catching up the local news but the weather was such tonight that even Seth would have forgone Butterbur’s finest brew and flirting with the comely serving maids to be back at the farm with no need to go out again that day.


Seeing the Woodeaves enter, the landlord had reached for their pewter tankards,which hung like those of other regulars from hooks along the bar shelves. The boys’ mugs were next to their father’s - now dark in colour and worn after nigh on thirty years use- Bryn’s was still shiny since only one full year had passed since he had been allowed this coveted badge of adulthood. Seth grinned momentarily as he remembered how Jessamy had horrified their mother by asking when she would be old enough to have one too. But it was only a moment’s respite from the the anxiety that he could not dispell. "I don't think we have time today - we need to get looking for that silly sister of ours" said Seth.

"So I've heard but I've mulled some ale - you'll need something warm inside you on a night like this" replied the Landlord and Seth let him fill the three tankards with the brew which he took across to the table where Silas was studying the framed map of the Downs which he had taken from the wall.

While he tried to work out how far they might have gone and in which direction and ever practical Bryn was back and forth organising everything they might need , Seth fretted resenting now each moments delay. The warmth and welcome of the inn served now only to remind him that Jessamy was out there somewhere freezing to death if she weren’t scared there first. He looked around the bar - quieter than usual - and muttered about how there was never a ranger around when they might be useful. The wandering folk were subject of a certain amount of mistrust in Bree but they were nevertheless known to possess the tracking skill of bloodhounds.

“Seth, what has got into you? Not an hour ago you were saying that we used to get up to all sorts of mischief and never came to any harm..” Silas pointed out.
“That was when I thought she was just hanging around Bree.. we never did anything so daft as to go off on the Downs on our own ...and well I blame myself”

“How do you work that one out” asked Silas looking up from the map, intrigued and amazed in equal measure.

Well you and Bryn were both so much more patient with her when you were at home and even when Filbert was still there - well they argued like cat and dog but it kept them occupied but now it is just us - Jessie always wants to helpout on the farm but she is too little to do somethings and a lot of other stuff it is quicker to do yourself than show her how ... so mostly I tell her to buzz off and help Mum if she wants to make her self useful..”

“Well she has got to get used to that - she will have to start pulling her weight in the house whether she likes it or not... “ Silas pointed out.

“But that is it ..she doesn’t like it at all - she loves being outside, she never grumbles about helping Mum with the chickens or the bees or the garden but she hates housework and she knows that is pretty much what her future holds. We all got more freedom as we got older and were able to chose work that suited us .. but it is different for girls. Jessie isn’t knows that she will have a couple more years at the Dame school and then she will be kept on a tight rein until she is wed. No wonder she went for an adventure when she had the chance. Maybe if I had let her help me during the holiday she wouldn’t have felt the need.” Seth added mournfully.

“I think you are taking this a bit too personally”said Bryn “ I think she would have gone no matter what - I mean she looks like she was prepared to go - it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision, she had brought a change of clothes and if she did that she probably took food as well. Did she ask to help you today?”

"No she did her chores early and was off - but I just thought she was keen to see her friend ..”

"Well there you go then.. and now I think we are ready. Fil knows what he has to do." The brother's drained their mugs taking up their cloaks left the warmth of the bar, trotted down the steps and back into the courtyard where Silas's ponies waited with a sturdy saddle horse that Bryn had borrowed. All that was needed was to light the lamps on the cart and they were off. Bryn leading the way to the Westgate and on into to the East Road. They had not gone so very far when they began to discern several small figures trailing along the road towards them. In hope they urged the horses faster into the gloom.

On the Downs

Jessamy followed after Karl as swiftly as her tired limbs would allow and her heart filled sucessively with relief when she realised that the dog really had found Edwin and then horror when she saw his seemingly lifeless body.

"Is he ....dead?" she whispered hanging back a little in fear. Karl shook his head "No, he breathes" but it was clear that something was very wrong.
"Exposure?" asked Jessamy, remembering how they sometimes lost lambs on the farm when the weather changed suddenly, and how they looked and how the ewes mourned . Although she was far from warm herself she took off her cloak and tried to put it around Edwin.
There seemed to be no rousing him... what on earth was wrong with him? She bit her lip and trying not to cry she asked Karl "What are we going to do?" She was used to her elders having all the answers but had a feeling that this was out of the ordinary.

[Durelin]

Karl and Jessamy both tried to wake Edwin, but he did not stir. Even Duke gave the boy a little nudge, and sitting back down gave a little whine to show he was not comfortable with the situation. His nose twitched frantically, and he leaned toward Edwin again, sniffing confusedly. It was a boy, but it smelled like a skunk!

"Exposure?" Karl repeated absently. "I...I don't know, might be. He might have caught a chill out here, I suppose. He seemed to be thirsty at least, maybe he just needs some warm food and drink..." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself. It was foolish but he felt his skin prickling as every one of his hairs stood on end, and not from the cold.

At Jessamy's question, which she asked in a bit of a choked voice, Karl smiled at her. He couldn't just stand around and fret, he had to take care of these two. Putting his thoughts into easing Jessamy's worry kept him from worrying too much himself.

"It will be alright; he's breathing fine. We'll get him back...it may be slow going but I can carry him."

It was not the most comfortable way to travel, but Karl picked up Edwin's limp body to put him over his shoulder, letting out an "oomph" as he did so. It might be slow going indeed...

"You mind carrying the lantern now Jessamy?" he asked, hoping she would not mind being given something to do, something to focus on...and hopefully just having the light with her would make her feel a little more secure in this place, especially as twilight was fading into night. The days were not long enough this time of year.

"Let's try to cut straight to the road and get back to town to see if everyone else has made it home already. I wouldn't be surprised if there are already some out looking for you kids, especially with it getting dark. Hopefully if there are people searching we'll run into them along the road."

Karl looked around him. He knew what direction the Old Forest was in even if he could not make out any of the trees on its edge. It was strange; it was not so dark yet, but everything already seemed to be a little hazy. He got his bearings and headed in what he determined to be south toward the East Road.

[Mithalwen]

On the road

Bryn would reach the straggled out group first there would be no doubt - he could ride quicker along the grass verge than even an anxious Silas would drive his ponies on an increasingly icy road. But even before their brother reached the returning children, Seth and Silas' hope that Jessamy were among them had dwindled – though the figures were too distant to distinguish face or form clearly but there was nothing familiar in gait or stance that gave them hope that one of the hoods raised against the weather concealed their sister’s distinctive hair.
“She isn’t there is she?” Seth’s words were more statement than question. His brother shook his head.
“I don’t think so, no.”
Now they could see Bryn was among the children and a gesture from him confirmed their suspicions.
“What if we can’t find her Si? I’ll finish mum off”
“It would be worse for Dad” Silas responded grimly with a flash of insight combined with memory,” but we can’t think like that. We have to find her. Come on they have to have told Bryn something that will help.” And before Seth could get him to explain they had reached the others.
It the ensuing dialogue the Woodseaves learnt of the barrow, the skunk and the groups dispersal and that only Edwin and their sister were missing of their number.
The younger boys learnt that it was wise not to make jokes about a girl in the presence of her anxious brothers and that there were limits to even Bryn’s good nature. Offers to help look for the two they had assumed already returned home was rejected and they were instructed to leave word at the Prancing Pony on their way home.

[Mithalwen]

On the Downs

Jessamy had shouldered her knapsack and taken the proffered lamp, Lantern holding was something she could do. In fact it was almost an area of expertise. So often if there was a minor emergency on the farm - a difficult lambing or a injured beast, she had been told "If you want to make yourself useful you can hold the lantern". In the byre or barn the lamp would create a comforting pool of light but here its glimmer seemed merely to show how vast and gloomy the Downs were. Even Duke seemed to have lost his exuberance and stayed close by; Jessamy found his presence as comforting as the light.

She really wanted to believe Karl but it was hard. She was accustomed to seeing death - you couldn't be raised a farmer's child and not be - but this was different. She had known old folk who had died at the fullness of their years and of babes that had been born to soon and failed to thrive. However usually the Breelanders were a healthy enough lot and if you survived your first year or two you were considered good for sixty or seventy more, barring accident. She had never known a young person sicken and die and she didn't want to. Edwin's stillness unnerved her and she could not believe all would be well. Nor did she believe that they would be met by a search party on the road. Not for her anyway. Noone knew she was here but there was no point in telling Karl that. He probably hoped that there would be someone to help him with his burden. But she had lied and her family thought her safe at the Boffins' . So it would be a long and dismal walk home and at journeys end what then. Even if by some lucky chance Edwin revived that wouldn't be the end of her troubles. Would her parents be furious or perhaps worse saddened by her deceit? She scarce had the energy to wonder anymore. At least it was easier to match Karl's pace now he was carrying Edwin but she had to concentrate to keep her cold, weary feet from stumbling.

[Envinyatar]

Willem was a wanderer. That’s just how he thought of himself. Wherever the wind blew him, that’s where he fared. There were no kin as he’d lay claim to; no piece of earth in which he’d sunk roots, deep or shallow. ‘Just Willem,’ he’d say, if you asked his name. ‘Got no people waitin’ back nor forward for me.’ ‘Just Willem,’ he’d say with a twitch of his thin shoulders, as if to shrug off any further inquiries.

And now this particular cold wind had urged him up the Greenway toward Bree-land. With a short side trip along the edge of the Barrow-downs where it nudged up against The Old Forest – to the Withywindle. There were stones hidden in those dark old waters, stones in whose depths lay shimmers of dark blues and deep greens waiting to be teased out with careful polishing.

He was one of those jacks-of-all-trades. He could sharpen knives, shears, pitchforks, shovels; mend pots and pans; repair shoes and boots, mend bridles. All of which services he traded for food and other needed supplies. His heart, though, was in the fine metal-working he liked to do. Silver, mostly, engraved with intricate designs and often set with little, pretty stones. Necklaces, bracelets, clasps for the hair, buckles for belts…..

It had been a good two days he spent along the banks of the old river. He’d replenished his store of rough pebbles and larger stones, talking all the while to the lazy waters to keep the ripples and eddies distracted from his ‘borrowings’. When he’d taken all that he gauged river would tolerate, Willem packed up his little caravan and hitched his horse to it, continuing his way northward.

Darkness was falling fast and the snow which had begun earlier as a light dusting, now fell with more heavily. Willem had lit the little lantern that hung from the van’s eaves nearest his seat at the front. More for a bit of cheer for himself in the bleak evening than for any real light to shed on his way. Catkin picked her way slowly along beneath the trees, snorting and huffing every so often as if to comment on the trip in general.

‘There, now, lady,’ Willem murmured softly to Catkin’s chuffed commentary. ‘We’ll stop soon enough when we get to an open place.’

A break in the clouds let some late evening’s light settle almost to the forest floor. Willem pulled his heavy woolen cloak more closely about him as he peered at the passing trees. ‘Hmmmm….. Looks like one of the Old Men has been moving his flock about a bit…..don’t you think, my dove?’ Catkin twitched her ears at this question, but made no answer.

Willem's little ginger haired dog, Jumble, tucked himself more snugly inside the warm blue cloak and leaned heavily against his human's side. As long as he was warm and comfortable, Jumble had no care concerning where the trees and bushes chose to roost. He could lift his leg in one spot as well as another.

The wheels of the little caravan crunched noisily over the fallen needles, branches, old leaves. ‘I’ll trust you to find our way,’ he called out as he flicked the reins lightly against the horse’s flanks. Catkin, for her part, shook her mane and snorted a final comment as she picked up the pace just barely.

[Mithalwen]

At Woodseaves Farm

Erling Woodseaves woke and yawned. The house was quiet, only the sound of the fire in the range and the faint murmuring of the women in the parlour next door. He half grinned to himself as he remembered none of his brood was in - there was seldom silence where his youngest child was. He smiled at the thought of her, the long awaited daughter had been expected to be her mother's pet lamb but she had turned out to be his, determined to help around the farm even when she was scarce bigger than the buckets she was trying to carry. And then she was the one who really resembled him, at least in looks. She was a living reminder of the kin he had lost in the Fell Winter, and enough time had passed for that to be a joyful remembrance. He attributed the child’s stubbornness, however, entirely to her mother.

A cold draught caught him and rising from his chair with a stretch and a sigh, feeling his years catch up with him as stiffened joints protested at fresh use after so long a day. He crossed to the window and pulled the shutter ajar. It was snowing - the hedges and outbuildings already had alight coating and it had even begun to settle in the yard. It was too early in the year for this he thought. He looked for a glimmer of waggon lamps guiding his children safely home and hoped they would not be long. Erling was no less happy than Sukebind to have them under their roof - no matter how noisy they were. He found a bit of rag to stop the draught and closed the shutter; he’d make a proper repair in the morning.

Erling went through to the parlour where he was informed his announcement that it was snowing wasn’t news to those of them who hadn’t been asleep for the past hour. But he continued beginning to fret though he knew it wasn’t really so late yet.

“They should be back… not a night to be out unless you have to … you and Silas better stay here tonight Fern…. Jessie will be frozen – did she even take a cloak this morning? “

“She won’t be frozen at the Boffin’s - that smial of theirs is cozier than any house ..”
Erling noticed Fern flinch - “What ails you lass? The child…?”

“No, I’m fine..” Fern could keep her secret no longer .. “It is Jessamy..she's not at the Boffins'” .
Within five minutes Erling was on his way into Bree-town.

On the Downs

Jessamy was frozen. She had given her cloak to cover Edwin - not that it was doing him much good and though the old sweater she wore had felted when it shrank in the wash, it wasn't enough to keep the out the snow's damp. She could scarcely feel her feet or fingers and there was a dull ache behind her forehead - the only part of her that had any heat in it.

Jessamy stumbled on, still beside Karl. The mounds and menhirs seemed even more sinister under their snowcovering and she was beginning to think they had passed them more than once. The fading light and fast falling snow were so swiftly obscuring their tracks. It was so hard to keep one's head here..even if it weren't swimming. It also seemed to be getting a bit foggy.

Neither she nor Karl had the inclination to talk. It would waste energy and since their predicament, specially Edwin's were the only likely subjects it wasn't going to be cheering. All she could hear was her own footsteps, Karl's heavier tread and the softer, quicker sound of Duke's paws dipping into the snow. But after a while she fancied she heard something else. Distant but definitely there. A rhythmic thud accompanied by random creaks and rattles. She was beyond reminding herself that twice today she had been scared by sounds that had turned out to be nothing more sinister than a skunk and a dog.

All she could remember was Seth's bedtime story, still vivid three years after it was first told with its clanking chains and pale swords and evil spirits, thralls of an undead king, who would come to find her if she weren't good and would trap her in his barrow. And she hadn't been good. Now she could hear what her mind, all reason fled, told her was a barrow wight plodding relentlessly towards her, rattling his sword and dragging chains to bind her. She had turned to face the sounds and now backing away from them, she bumped against a standing stone. Its touch might as well have been a wraith's embrace for the effect it had on her. Terrified out of her wits and with no strength and nowhere to run she screamed as if her soul were being torn from her body, and struggled to get away from the monstrous stone. For the third time that day she fell. But this time there was pain. And darkness.

[Envinyatar]

From the beneath Willem’s cloak, Jumble’s ears snapped to attention. His left ear swiveled forward, the right to the side, the better to pinpoint where the horrid scream was coming from. There! he thought with a small woof. He poked his head out from the thick folds of wool, lifting his long snout to the winter night’s air.

‘You heard it, then, too?’ Willem said, tucking the dog up onto his lap. The awful, high-pitched howl had stopped abruptly, leaving only the blanket of the normal forest sounds to fall around them once again.

‘Wotcher think, m’lady? Over there?’ he said tugging on the right rein. ‘And a bit ahead of us, too, eh?’ Catkin nodded her head and shook her mane, sending a little dusting of snowflakes flying. For his part, Jumble danced from paw to paw, making his own statement of accord.

Catkin picked up her pace, veering right through the trees. The lantern which hung from the forward eave of the caravan swung wildly with the increased speed. Hanging from hooks beneath the eaves, the tools and chains and pots waiting to be mended clanked and rattled even more loudly against the wooden sides.

There in the distance, flickering from opening to opening between the trees as the trio made their way toward the scream’s source, was a small light.

‘Who’s there?’ Willem called out as loudly as he could. But against the distance and the wind and snow and thickets of trees, he doubted he would be heard at all.

[Mithalwen]

In Bree-Town

"Filbert, maybe you can explain to me exactly what is going on?"

Erling Woodseaves walked to the town reasoning that by the time he had saddled the cob he would be half way there and believed that he would arrive to find that Jessamy would have already been rounded up by her brothers and they would all be back before they knew it. Thus he had tried to reassure his wife and daughter-in-law. But real or feigned his confidence had dwindled as he progressed to the Inn. The keeper of the South Gate had been unusually taciturn and it seemed that rumours murmured about Bree, which fell silent as he passed. Now he had finally caught up with his youngest son and demanded explanation of the few fragments that had reached his ears, of the Downs and missing children, some returned some not.

Erling loved all his children and had more than a little sympathy for Filbert. It wasn't his fault he had been born a boy when a girl had been hoped for, that he had neither the privileges of eldest or youngest child, that he had neither Seth’s striking good looks nor Bryn’s easy nature, that he had struggled to find his niche. But he had to concede that the lad didn’t always make things easy for himself and there was something shifty about the lad’s demeanour that suggested that this might be one of those occasions.

“Where is Jessamy? Where are your brothers?”. No reaction that Filbert might have feared to his answer was as horrible as his father’s silence as he absorbed the news .

On the road

Jessamy's brothers had reached the point on the road, as far as they could judge from the boys' garbled and confused reports of their adventures, where Edwin's group had left it to head towards the mounds and stones.

Night was not now far off and the landmarks, so obvious in the day were now little more than shadows in the murk.

"They say the trees of the Forest walk and now I believe it - I did not think it so close" remarked Seth noting the deeper shade on the horizon.

"I think it is in part a trick of the light - or lack of it -and the lie of the land... but it does seem to have spread since that map in the Pony was drawn," answered Silas not wanting to think about walking trees as well as the evil spirits that were meant to haunt the barrows. What could be regarded as fairy stories from the safety of one's own hearth seemed a lot more plausible here.

"How are we going to find her in this? It'd take a blood hound" Seth despaired

"Which is about the one thing we haven't brought with us. But we have to try - because if we wait for light chances are we will be looking for her body". Bryn might not be troubled by imagination but was quite aware of the more mundane but very real dangers of the cold. Before his brothers could reproach him for saying what they were all thinking, they heard in the distance a horrible but not unfamiliar sound. They might have done so with less malice than their brother but all three had teased Jessamy beyond the limit of her endurance.

On the Downs

Jessamy came round to Karl calling her name, offering her his free hand to help her up but her mind was so mazed she scarcely registered him let alone the pain in her ankle. She cowered against the stone, still clasping the lantern, gibbering about a wight coming to get her and completely unable to hold back the sobs that had threatened for so long.

Still there was that terrible noise getting ever louder and closer. Surely Karl must hear it? The dog, Duke, heard something seemingly for he pricked up his ears, inexplicably barked as if for joy and belted off towards the approaching clatter.

[Durelin]

Karl tried to tell himself to consider all the possibilities for the source of these noises. He tried to remind himself that he had been on these Downs numerous times, and even into the edges of the Old Forest. But all his mind choes to recall was that he always did so in the daytime...and the dark was starting to come quite early this time of year.

He was so caught up in straining to hear every sound around him and see every stone and shadow around him, while keeping Edwin's sleeping form balanced as best he could -- he was so caught up in this that he rather lost track of Jessamy for a moment. When he heard the scream his heart and breath stopped in his chest.

He whirled around to find her and rushed to help her up and still keep a hold on Edwin who was feeling heavier and heavier. "What happened? Did you hurt yourself?"

Once she was fairly standing, though looking pale with fear and cold, he turned from her to the direction of the sounds and back again. Then Duke's bark reminded him of his familiar companion's presence and he watched as the dog bolted off -- again -- toward whatever he found interesting.

Karl's breathing relaxed a little. He should have payed more attention to the dog from the start. "Well Duke doesn't seem to think whatever it is is a problem...I think we're alright, Jess." He may not be the best trained hunting dog because Karl failed to ever be stern enough, but his instincts were usually in the right place.

[Envinyatar]

The light was still shining between the trees, less faint now as Catkin quickened her pace through the falling snow. ‘The Old Man does shepherd his herd tonight, I think,’ Willem spoke, to the wind and the drifting flakes, his eyes taking in the occasional shadow that moved across the distant gleam.

He strained his hearing to catch another sound of that high pitched scream. Here and there from numerous directions came the creaking of large wooden branches as the wind moved through them…..though, likely, too, they’d be the great hoary roots of the trees as they moved over the wintry forest floor. No scream, though.....no keening howl…..

It was Jumble, his nose to the cold, biting air and his head cocked to catch what sounds he might that heard something approaching as they traveled on. He gave a bark and a whine of anticipation, his body snapping to attention on the seat beside Willem.

A large, dark, four legged shadow came loping out from under the shadowed branches of the nearby trees. Willem squinted his eyes, trying to make out the animal as his hand strayed to the large ax tucked at the side of his seat. Catkin came to an abrupt halt, her ears flicking nervously. She pawed at the ground, intending to strike the beast if it came close to her.

But Jumble caught the intruder’s scent and began wagging his tail furiously. He barked, a definite bark of welcome and made his way down to the ground.

‘Why, look at that!’ Willem called out to his horse. ‘We know that fellow! It’s Duke, Karl’s dog!’ ‘See, Jumble knows him,’ he went on in an assuring manner to the skittish Catkin.

He set the brake and jumped down. ‘What’s the matter, pup?’ he said, running his hands over the large dog. Duke looked alright, no wounds, no signs of a fight about him. ‘Where’s Karl, boy?’ Willem narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance, the way from which the dog had come.

‘Can you take me to Karl?’ Duke goggled up at him, an expectant look on his face. ‘Karl,’ Willem said again, ‘Find him.’ Jumble nudged the larger dog with an insistent push and gave an imperative whine as he ran a little ways back down Duke’s path and then circled back.

‘That’s right! Go with Jumble, Duke.’ He climbed back to his seat and urged Catkin forward.

Back and forth the two dogs ran, keeping the wagon on track, until at last they broke from the tree line. A short ways away Willem could just make out two figures, near one of the standing stones. One tall, the other much smaller, like a child. And the bigger one appeared to have something slung over his shoulder like a large, lumpish sack.

‘Karl! That you, man?’ Willem called out, bringing the caravan to a halt. ‘It’s me, Willem. You alright? You hurt?’

[Mithalwen]

"I think we're all right, Jess" Karl's words weren't enough to completely reassure Jessamy, but they were enough to stop her from screaming again. She hobbled closer to Karl as best she could and had wit enough remaining to be embarrassed that she had hurt herself falling, yet again, and worse that she had fainted. Filbert would never let her hear the end of that if he found out.

But oh her head felt so fuzzy and she could scarce put weight on her ankle and that noise was still getting closer. But suddenly Duke was back with another dog, a smaller, odd-looking mongrel and then the caravan came into sight and it's driver was calling Karl's name. Maybe they were going to be alright after all. She relaxed for a moment and then remembered Edwin,

it was horrible seeing him like that and though she stayed close by Karl's side she could not bear to look at the boy. Instead she looked at the caravan. It was the most marvellous thing to a child's eyes - especially one with such a fondness for stories. It looked like a wonderful Wendy house on wheels with its colours bright as a child's painting, and it was drawn by a pretty grey mare, bigger than Silas' ponies but finer than the farm horses. Maybe she was still dreaming. How could a real person have such a fantastic home. Her eyes were as big as saucers as she tried to make out if the driver were a Wizard. She knew they existed - they said one visited the Prancing Pony from time to time. If he were a wizard, maybe he could magick Edwin better?

[Envinyatar]

Willem climbed down from the caravan and hurried over to Karl. A quick look assured him the man was alright. His gaze dipped down to fix on the young girl who hovered near Karl. She looked cold and pale, and a little frightened – her eyes large as they slid from him to his caravan and back again.

‘Oh, little darlin’,’ he said softly, crouching down to her level. ‘You look cold as the North Wind’s nose.’ ‘Here,’ he went on, swinging his thick wool cloak from his shoulders and wrapping it round hers. ‘This should warm you up a bit and keep the snow from creeping in.’ He pulled the generous hood up over her hair so that it shielded her face.

‘And what’s that you’ve got slung over your shoulder, Karl?’ Willem peered more closely at the limp bundle. ‘By the One!’ His eyes went wide as he took in the seeming lifeless body of the boy. A ghastly shade of pale and so limp, though Willem noted a flicker here and there beneath the lad’s bloodless eyelids. ‘Where do you wander, boy?’ he said, brushing Edwin’s hair back from his face. ‘Are you lost?’ He took Edwin from Karl’s shoulder. ‘We’re here, you know…..turn and come back….’

‘Let’s go into the wagon,’ he said, nodding his head toward the caravan. ‘I’ll light the lanterns; it’ll be a bit warmer. And we can lay this one on the bunk, under a stack of blankets.’

[Durelin]

Karl felt his relief fulfilled and nearly let Edwin slide from his shoulder. He knew this man! Willem was another sort of wanderer like himself, but a bit more professional about it. His brightly painted caravan made for an excellent home on the move. Karl only wandered very far in spurts, liking to have some kind of home to return to.

Duke sniffed furiously, happy to see a familiar friend as well.

“No, not hurt.” He looked to Jessamy, worried that she might have hurt herself when she tripped. Willem was off the cart and kindly tending to Jessamy before Karl could really think. “This is Jessamy.”

Karl followed Willem to the caravan. “I came across these two on the Downs. This boy, Edwin, I found like this. Was getting near to believing in the tales myself…”

“Stay, Duke,” he said, as Karl followed awkwardly up the steps into the caravan, ready to help Jessamy up if she needed it. But overall he felt rather useless now. He did his best to take up as little room as possible in the small space, and looked around, trying not to seem too nosy.

“What do you think we can do for Edwin, other than warm him up and see if he wakes?” Karl felt suddenly he should thank the man, but it seemed the wrong time now.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy met Willem's gaze but was too shy suddenly even to whisper her thanks as he wrapped her in his cape. Too, shy, too busy trying to discern any clue that he was a wizard and just too slow as he moved on to Karl and Edwin before she could respond. She tottered after them mutely. Willem's cape, near full length on her, disguised her limp and it's deep hood hid her face and the wince that accompanied each step. Karl's outstretched hand aided her ascent in to the caravan but then the two men's immediate attention was all on Edwin and she was free to take in her new surroundings unobserved.

The waggon was as intriguing inside as out - more so since she would never have believed that it was possible to fit so much in the space. Not an inch was wasted it seemed. There was the bunk where they laid Edwin, and a cunning little table that could be folded away when not needed. Then a couple of bench seats but these had drawers and cupboards beneath, higher up were galleried shelves where jars and crockery could be safely stowed and little lockers and cubbyholes. Finally there were hooks bearing all manner of things that Jessamy couldn't quite make out in the dimming light of Karl's lantern. This she had placed on a convenient ledge while she installed herself on one of the benches and wrapped the thich, dark folds of the cloak closer about her. Then Willem lit the caravan's own lamps and she could see just about everything.

Unlike the brightly painted exterior, the woodwork inside was left natural save for a coat of wax or varnish but much of it was carved and Jessamy gasped as she saw the detail in it. Berry heavy ivy crept along the shelf edges, twining with the woodbine and sweetbriar that climbed the uprights. Posies of flowers adorned cupboard doors - many she recognised and some she didn't. Most enchanting of all was the tiny oaken mouse she sighted creeping among the foliage. Willem had to be a magician, it was the only explanation for such wonders.

Meanwhile the two men were discussing what could be done to help Edwin. If Willem uttered a reply to Karl's question, Jessamy didn't catch it but both went outside and from what she could make out they were lighting a fire. She realised she had forgotten the boy's plight lost in her fascination for the caravan and felt guilty. Now Willem returned and crouched down and opened a chest by the door which she hadn't noticed before because Karl had been in the way, If anything its carving was more ornate and its wood was different, darker. Maybe there was something in there that would help Edwin. Willem had taken something from the chest then gone again and Jessamy craned forward to get a closer look. The chest was zinc lined and seemed to contain many little packets and jars. The girl crept towards it, full of trepidation as to what she would see and then realised that it was effectively the man's larder and the glass jars contained as far as she could tell, nothing more remarkable than honey. Pale meadow set honey and dark liquid forest honey and several in between. She heard the creak of foot on step and retreated to the bench deflated and feeling the pain in her ankle more as she warmed up a little. Willem came back in and she had the feeling he knew she had been spying. She watched him silently from her corner as he took a packet and a jar from the chest and red glazed mugs from the shelf and a dark blue teapot. Karl arrived with kettle and a few minutes later Willem was adding some of the forest honey to the tea and offering her one of the mugs.

"Thank-you, sir", she whispered, breaking her silence at last. The heat of the mug was almost too much, the steam made her face tingle. She took a sip and its heat coursed through her. Emboldened and a little strenthened she asked, "Please, Willem, do you know what is wrong with Edwin? Can you make him better?".

[Envinyatar]

‘The boy looks like he had a dose of one of the old ghostie men. A wight as some names ‘em.’ Willem’s brow puckered as he looked down on Edwin’s still form. ‘So pale and cold he is and lost in some frightening dream. Poking round the wrong barrow’d be my guess. They’re still some of them jealous, those men of old, guarding treasures their bony old hands can never grab hold on again. Most have passed on; but some linger, the dark and twisty ones still waiting for the shadow to return.’ He shook his head. ‘Best to heed the stories about the barrow-downs and stay away. Hard for ordinary folk to say which mounds are naught but old grave sites and which still hold a waiting horror.’

‘But let’s see what we can do for him, eh?’ He gave her what he hope was a reassuring smile, though from the look dawning on her face he doubted its effectiveness.

‘Now, somewhere here,’ he went on, poking in the darker recesses of a corner cabinet, ‘I have a little something as might let him sleep more restfully. Did a little work for the Fair Folk and got this in return.’ His fingers found the plain little silvery-white box in the far corner. Untying the gold colored ribbon wrapped round it, he opened the lid and drew out a clear glass vial. ‘Give me a thimbleful of your tea,’ he asked Jessie, handing her the small silver cup which had lain beside the vial. ‘We’ll put a drop of this in it and see if we can get him to drink it.’

He lifted Edwin’s head up from the pillow and dripped the scant amount of liquid between the boy’s lips. ‘Our best hope, though, for him is just to get him through til morning. Sun’s light burns through old evil’s wicked spells, I’m told.’

Willem sat down on the edge of the cot, his hand resting lightly on Edwin's chest. He hummed a little tune under his breath as he looked at the boy's face.

'How are you doing?' he said, turning his head toward Jess. 'Did I notice a little twinge from you every now and then? Are you hurting somewhere?'

[Mithalwen]

Thoughts tumbled over themselves in Jessamy’s mind as she processed the significance of Willem’s words. She was so overwhelmed that at first she could do no more than follow his instructions and as she dipped the little silver measure in her tea she scarcely registered that she was handling something made by the fabled Elves. It seemed al l the old stories were true after all. Maybe there really were walking trees too.
Willem’s tea was starting to ease the pressure behind her eyes but her head was far from clear.

She had the inkling that there was no point in lying to Willem, not that she really had the inclination – despite her deception of that morning she was usually a truthful girl.

“I have twisted my ankle a bit, that’s all” she admitted, “I thought you were a barrow wight come to get me” she explained, “and I was trying to get away “

“They say third time pays for all” she added ruefully. “I fell over this morning when we found the skunk in the first barrow – that’s how I got separated from the others. Then I fell when Duke found me, he was chasing me and I thought he was a warg.” Jessamy looked a bit sheepish at this – the dog was so obviously as soft as butter. “Then Duke found Edwin and he was so strange. And I heard the chains clanking but we couldn’t see the caravan so it sounded just like the stories one of my brothers told me when I was little” she continued without a trace of irony, “about the ghosts of the old kings and how they would come to get me if I had been naughty – and I have, I did such a bad thing and now they will be so angry with me”. The girl bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop the tears that were forming again. The ordinary dread of the trouble she was surely in with her family was ever ready to resurface if the supernatural terrors left the forefront of her mind for a moment.

She remembered the pretty little box and desire to change the subject won over her residual shyness and Jessamy asked the question that had been tantalising her since she first set eyes on Willem
“So if you know the fairy folk – does that mean you really are a wizard?”

[Durelin]

Karl just stared blankly at Willem. He knew the man was odd, but Karl felt that he was odd himself. He was certainly the odd man out among most folks. Compared to Willem apparently he was a bit more regular. The man spoke as if he had experience with wights, straight out of the stories.

But then Karl thought about the fog, and the strange way the landscape seemed at times to change itself, or drive you in a different direction from what you intended. He had never been out on the Downs that late before. And why had he avoided it? Of course not because of the stories...

He looked at Jessamy, who seemed to take this explanation much better than he did. He felt bad that he had not immediately done anything after that fall, but what could he have done for a twisted ankle? Carry her too?

Karl's eyes widened at Jessamy's very direct question of Willem. "I have heard stories of a wizard of the Old Forest, as well," he said with a chuckle that did not sound altogether sincere. He wasn't sure what to believe anymore. He thought he was acquainted with this man well enough, but this evening Willem seemed like a whole new person. He somehow seemed larger, darker...more wild. Like the Downs and the Forest themselves.

~*~

Much of the color was returning to Edwin's face and hands. The dreams of ghostly hands and faces faded, and he felt himself become aware of his sleep. He was aware he was dreaming now, when he was dreaming of his body at home in his bed. He tried to force himself awake, but every part of him felt so heavy.

[Envinyatar]

A barrow wight! A wizard! Willem’s dark eyes glinted with amusement. He bit back a laugh, but unsuccessfully. ‘What wondrous imaginings, little mistress!’ He chuckled again and shook his head. ‘And the best that in the last you thought me a wizard and no wight.’

‘Nay, Jessamy, I’m no wizard,’ he went on, holding out his hands before him as if to inspect them front and back. ‘Just ordinary workings is what these do. I mend things; take care of what needs taking care of.’ He raised his brows a bit and looked as if into the distance. ‘Keep things safe as needed.’

‘As to the Fair Folk, I have had some dealings with them. Ones that worked out to both our benefit, I think. They keep their own counsel about things and it’s hard to say how well a person can ever know them.’

Willem crouched down in front of her, his gaze catching hers. ‘Sorry to disappoint you if I’ve done so by my words.’ He coaxed her injured foot out from his cloak gently removed her shoe and sock. ‘Ah, poor thing,’ he murmured, manipulating the ankle with a light touch. From a drawer beneath the cot he fetched out another little chest. This one holding a number of small, red clay pots, each sealed with a cork. Each cork had a small line drawing in black on its top. ‘Ah, this one will do.’ He pulled one out with some sort of leaf drawn on it.

‘It’s soothing ointment made of poplar buds,’ Willem explained as he spread it round her ankle. ‘Helps to take down the swelling and helps the pain.’ Once the area was covered to his satisfaction, he wrapped the foot with a long cloth strip to give the ankle support. ‘That’ll help, Jess,’ he said smiling up at her. ‘Though as with most things it will be old Time that brings the full healing.’ He helped her on with her sock and shoe. ‘No more adventuring ‘til it’s all right again, promise?’ He propped her feet up on a little stool, a pillow to cushion them, and drew the length of his cloak back over her legs.

Willem glanced toward Edwin, checking to see how he was doing. ‘Ah, look! There’s a little color coming back into his face.’ He smiled and nodded as he noted the retreating pallor on Edwin’s face.

‘I think I’ll go outside for a little while. Got to check on Catkin, and such. Want to make sure everything is alright. Karl, why don’t you and Jess stay snug in here. There’s more tea in the pot there. And here’s a little basket of nut cookies a kind lady gave me for mending a spoon or two for her.’

-o-o-o-

Willem unhitched Catkin and threw a warm blanket over her back. ‘Here, girl, have a nosebag of oats,’ he went on, fitting the straps to the bag behind her ears. ‘Not sure we’ll be staying here the night or going on….but nonetheless there’s no need for the waiting or going on an empty stomach.’ He gave her neck a pat. ‘Be back in two winks of the stone King’s eye,’ he whispered.

For the moment the snow had stopped. The moon had risen, high and bright above the shifting trees. Willem slipped in among the branches, his nose sorting out the night’s scents.

[Mithalwen]

"Well he would say that wouldn't he?" said Jessamy, thinking aloud as much as she was talking to Karl. She helped herself to a biscuit and dipped it in her tea before letting it dissolve deliciously in her mouth. She broke off part of the remaining half and slipped it to Jumble, who had stayed behind and had joined Jessamy on her bench, reckoning perhaps that his rightful place was nestled in his Willem's cloak even if his master wasn't wearing it.

"Maybe he isn't allowed to say he's a wizard - like Bryn can't really say he's a blacksmith 'til he has finished his apprenticeship" Jessamy paused realising that the idea of a man who seemed about the age of her father being an apprentice was a bit silly but wizards in stories were very old with long grey hair and beards so maybe it wasn't so daft. "But he clearly isn't ordinary is he? What was that he said about ordinary folk not knowing which of the barrows were safe, as if he were talking about other people but not himself? And he has this magic potion from the Elves that has made Edwin better - ish"

She could look at him now he seemed to be sleeping normally. Karl stared at her seeming a bit bewildered and she supposed she was talking nonsense. She finished her biscuit and looked instead out of the little window next to her - it was lighter than before outside - the clouds had cleared enough to let the new risen moon refect on the carpet of snow. She thought for a moment she saw something move out there but turned away. She had fancied enough terrors for one day. What ever Willem was she felt safe here now. And he had worked some magic on her ankle even if it had been the everyday sort. Her mother could not have been more gentle - indeed might have been a lot less so, since a quarter of a century of patching up five children had left her with a fairly brisk approach to minor injuries - and Willem hadn't felt the need to accompany his treatment with a reproachful commentary on her clumsiness. No adventuring 'til it's all right again? She hardly needed to promise. She doubted she would ever be allowed out again and would be lucky if she weren't chained up, she rued.

But with Jumble providing an extra source of heat and her foot at ease Jessamy started to feel warm and comfortable enough to feel a bit sleepy. It had been a long day and her eyelids felt heavy. They started to close but then opened wide

"Willem will freeze - I still have his cloak!"

[Mithalwen]

"Jessameeeeeeeee, Jessameeeeee, where are you?". All three of her brothers were calling much the same thing but none got any response, save that of their own voices echoing among the stones. The light from their lanterns and torches weren't making them look any more friendly. The trio had ventured off the road at the point they thought parrelel to where they had heard Jessamy scream. Sometimes one thought they saw a light glimmering but never for long enough for them to hold a course on the wandering paths of the Downs.

Bryn took the lead but never went far ahead of the cart.. his horse was reluctant to leave the company of the others and he himself wasn't overly keen. Their progress was slow, even though the snow had stopped, and they were losing confidence that they were getting anywhere - some of the rock formations they passed looked too familiar.

Then the moon rose and showed both their proximity to the Old Forest and that they were following an all to recognisable set of tracks.

"So I think we can safely say we are going round in circles" said Silas,"and there's not a trace of Jessamy". It seemed a long time since they heard the scream and while that had been proof that she was alive it was also proof that she had been terrified.

"Yes but at least the moon is up now we can navigate by that" pointed out Bryn.

"Doesn't tell us where Jessie is though does it" said Seth gloomily "and that Forest IS too close for my liking I'd swear the trees are moving.. or something is moving in them"

"Don't Seth - you are as bad as Jessamy for imagining stuff. We have enough real problems as it is without you making them up"

"I'm not making this up - I tell you I saw something" insisted Seth to his elder brother "Look!"

"I can't see anything .. but oh there are some more tracks". Silas pointed to where the snow was patchy in the lee of the too close trees.

Bryn rode ahead with his brothers following close behind "So are they ours? asked Seth.

Bryn looked at his brother as if he were an idiot .... "Well no ... look there is just the one set of hoof prints..."

" Could be your horse..." Seth interrupted.

"Only if Willow and Hazel had learnt to walk on air .... by my anvil, Seth, I know you are worrying about Jessie - we all are - but you have really lost your wits, if it isn't walking forests it's floating ponies..." He shook his head in wonderment. This horse is smaller than mine but larger than Silas'and pulling a waggon of some sort, out of the forest and faster than we have gone I guess - I think we would have remembered going throught the forest. I don't think the trees move THAT quickly".

"Oh alright Bryn, I only got a quick look... we aren't all obsessed with horses' feet .... can you see where they start again..." he scanned the breaks in the snow field.

Silas had got down from the box and was examining the ground a few yards away and his face was pale under the torchlight. "Um.... Bryn .. maybe Seth hasn't lost his mind, come and have a look at this".

Silas was looking at fresh tracks in the snow. "Don't even think to say they are from a dog ... those are dog tracks over there but no dog has feet that could make these and if it did it would be the size of a horse".

"But it can't be" said Bryn... "of all the tales of the Forest I never heard that - there haven't been wolves even round here since the Fell Winter".

All three brothers straightened as one and gazed nervously in to the shadows of the forest. And over their shoulders to the Downs. The barrow ghosts might haunt their minds but this was almost worse.

[Envinyatar]

There were things in the forest, Willem knew, that wished nothing but ill to those who entered beneath the old trees’ boughs. His intent was just a quick patrol to make sure they would be safe should they stay here for the night. He had gone some distance when his ears picked up the sound of voices calling loudly, to his right.

Now who are these, looking for Jessamy? he wondered, padding silently closer to the group.

The long, lean, brown bear lifted his snout and took a deep sniff-in of the three men. They smell alike, he thought, and like a heavier version of Jess’ scent. And a little afraid, too, though they work hard at hiding it.

Were these the brothers she had mentioned?

He watched as they examined the ground and then made ready to begin their hunt for their sister again.

They'll never find her! They're facing the wrong way.

Willem gave a low, reassuring growl, hoping the horses would understand he bore them no ill will. Within the shadows of the trees, he loped from one side of the trio, around them on the east, to the other side and back again, growling low in his chest – hoping to drive them in the direction of the caravan. The horses whickered and pawed the ground, the bear’s feral, dangerous scent conflicting with the more amiable message he had vocalized. In the end they were cajoled into taking the course the bear urged.

[Mithalwen]

"Well Jessamy isn't here and I am not sure I want to be" said Silas.. "what ever it was that made those prints... the horses don't want to hang around either" . He had resumed his seat on the waggon to better control the fretful ponies - docile beasts who normally needed no more than a twitch of the rein to restrain or guide them. Bryn's horse was equally restive, flicking his ears back, hearing things his master couldn't it seemed.

Seth had the sharpest hearing of the three brothers; he didn't spend his working life filtering out the sound of hammer on anvil or saw on bough. He heard, was sure he heard a soft growl from the forest behind them and saw a long low shadow passing through the trees. It was enough for him to grab the reins off his brother and let the ponies have their head. Hazel and Willow needed no encouragement and set off at a canter with Bryn riding hard at their heels.

On the box of the waggon Silas had taken back control and was berating his brother "What do you think you were doing, back there?"

"Getting us away from a bear - don't try and deny it, you saw the tracks as clear as I did, and I heard a growl - and so did the horses. "

"But a bear.. how can there be a bear in the old Forest and no one heard of it?"

"Not many folk go in there do they? Only rangers and the like and they don't talk much" replied Seth, before a too hideous thought crossed his mind " What if it was that that made Jessie scream?"

"Then Silas is going to have to explain to Mum and Dad that Jess has been eaten by a bear" said Bryn, now alongside..

"That's what I love about you Bryn, your unfailing optimism... and why do I have to be the one who tells them? " replied Silas.

"Because you're the eldest!" chorused his brothers. Silas had played that trump card too often in earlier times.

The path jinked back between two mounds and revealed what had previously been concealed. The horses were halted as the brothers gaped in amazement at the strange sight. There in the midst of the bleak snowcapped barrows and stones was a brightly coloured caravan, lit up inside and with the remains of a small fire glowing near it. A pretty little grey mare whickered into her nosebag nearby and their own horses answered.

"Woudn't be my choice of campsite but it explains those other tracks... " noted Bryn as they drew closer, wondering who would choose to linger in this forsaken place. He had no time to ponder more since first a large dog sprang out, barking, from under the wagon and caused his horse to shy and then the door to the caravan burst open to reveal a figure, small, but somehow regal - the thick folds of the borrowed cloak draped elegantly from her slight shouders, her hair was a backlit cloud of gold around her head. Less elegantly a mug was clasped in her hand.

"Jessamy!"

"Nnnnnnnnghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhllll" Jessamy squealed happily. With a cookie clamped between her teeth she stumblled down the steps to cannon into the nearest of her brothers which happened to be Silas. He had happily passed the reins now to his brother, leaving him to cope with the joyous assaults of Duke who bounced around barking happily having some inexplicable fascination with horsedrawn vehicles. Bryn consequently had an easier time to master his own horse and take some amusement in the plight of the brother who, in family tradition, was "the one with most skill with animals".

"Is she alright?" he called returning his attention back to his sister.

"Alright? She's drinking tea and eating biscuits!!" Silas' relief manifested itself as anger and he found himself shaking his sister "You little fool, have you any idea what you have put us all through you ginger-pated ninny - fog, and snow and bears. What did you think you were doing?"

"Leave her alone Silas," Seth, having calmed horse and hound, pulled her away from his elder brother and half crushed her against his chest "I'm sorry I was horrid to you, Jessie, I'll make it up to you, I promise" .

The world seemed to be slipping away from Jessamy... she must be dreaming she had never seen Silas so angry and Seth.. why was Seth apologising to her? She couldn't believe it but her superior, sardonic brother seemed to have tears forming in his dark eyes while Silas' blue ones glittered in his wrath. Jessie started to cry as her eldest brothers vented their anxiety in argument. But there was Bryn, on his own feet now, solid, even tempered Bryn. Bryn who picked her up easily and gently and sat her back on the waggon steps.

"You alright half-pint?", Bryn straightened her cloak and ruffled her hair.

Jessamy nodded. "Karl found me...I hurt my ankle but Willem has bound it up"

"Willem? Who is Willem" Bryn asked gently wiping away her tears.

"Someone Karl knows - this is his caravan. He is really kind. So is Karl" She looked up to where her rescuer lurked awkwardly in the doorway...

"And what about Edwin? Is he here too." Jessamy nodded

"Inside.. he got too cold or something" she elided "He seems to be getting better now" Jessamy wasn't going to lie again but she didn't see the need to tell the whole truth at the moment. "Willem gave him some tea with honey and stuff in it."

"This Willem sounds quite a character - where is he?"

"I don't think he has gone far .. he was just taking a look around I think, make sure we were safe" . Bryn nodded and standing turned his attention back towards his elder siblings.

"Do you think that you could manage to be pleased for a moment that we have found Jessamy safe and more or less sound? And not kill each other? You know the whole point of this effort was that we ended the day with the same size family as we started it ...and we are going to have to go through all the whys and wherefores when we get home so lets leave it for now. The main thing is that Jessie is safe, thanks to Karl and Willem - whoever he may be".

[Durelin]

Karl wondered a bit at Willem's way with Jessamy. He seemed to interact with her with ease, and know exactly what to say. People in general were never particularly easy to interact with, and children least of all. Karl did not find them bothersome, but he just was not sure how to handle them.

Willem left and Jessamy's mind seemed to follow him out. It seemed she was greatly intrigued by this man, for which Karl couldn't blame her. He was more confused by him than intrigued at this point, but maybe that was just because he had some catching up to do, when Jessamy's mind had already run far ahead.

The thoughts she shared certainly were too fast and too far ahead for him. Karl was mulling over what she said, trying to connect it all, and of course trying to come up with some reasonable response. He couldn't go encouraging her to believe in certain things, particularly since her parents may not want her to believe in certain stories. He didn't think there was really a problem with believing in them, at least for a while...and then even at his age believing in parts of them. Karl believed in the sort of evil that a barrow-wight embodied, whether they were evil dead men or evil spirits in their bodies...well he didn't know about any of that, or any of their magic songs. But he knew there was plenty to fear in this world, even now.

He looked at Jessamy. And yet even she could take it all in stride. Or perhaps she could better than most.

Karl had almost decided no response was necessary, and then Jessamy brought his mulling to an end. All of a sudden she was worried about Willem being cold? As he had thought...all in stride. No reason to sit around worrying about wights and wizards, whether they were good or bad...worry about other people and whether or not they were cold.

Karl smiled and followed Jessamy out, feeling the need not to let her out of his sight. Sure Willem was right outside, but...well, the way the evening had gone, he didn't assume anything would be the way it should. Which meant perhaps that he had absolutely no reason to think Willem couldn't be a wizard. He glanced at Edwin's still sleeping form before heading toward the doorway of the wagon.

No, there was no Willem. But there were others...Jessamy's official rescue had arrived.

Karl observed the reunion, watching the shapes at the edge of the fire light. He stayed in the doorway, not wishing to interrupt. Duke of course had no sense of manners, and was happily barking at the new arrivals. "C'mere, Duke," he said, getting the dog to come sit near the caravan, away from both the poor horse and the family reunion. "Now shush."

He stepped down the stairs but stayed near the door, peeking in at Edwin again before closing it behind him to keep out the cold. He scanned around the edge of the fire, wondering where Willem was. Could something have happened to him? Surely not, considering the type of man he was. But one could have too much confidence and not enough caution, even on the road.

Karl walked over toward the boy's cart and Duke followed, wagging and twitching but resisting the urge to bark and jump at all the new people. "Did you run into any trouble on the trip out here?" If Willem had found trouble, perhaps the boys had run into it too.

He felt like he should perhaps explain things, but Jessamy had already told them the necessary pieces of the story it seemed. And what was he to say, other than reassure them that their sister was alright, even with him. He was a little nervous about what these young men thought of him, but he was also a touch disappointed that he was no longer a rescuer at all...now that he had been rescued by Willem, as well. But mostly, of course, he was just relieved. Perhaps he could even avoid the entire trip back to Bree-town, and the awkward return to parents.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy looked at Bryn gratefully. Even so she felt the need to firmly establish Karl as a hero "I don't know what I would have done if Karl hadn't found me" she said "I was so scared and so cold. And he was bringing me home but then we found Edwin and ... he couldn't walk and Karl had to carry him so it was taking ages, and I and sprained my ankle ...so when we met Willem..." She was desperate for her brothers to realise that she hadn't been delaying on purpose and was relieved when her brothers stopped their bickering and went to thank him, apologising for the trouble their silly sister had given him.

"Trouble? Apart from the snow and the dark and going round in circles and being worried sick about this one even before she screamed like a banshee? - what was that about Jessie? - Well Seth reckons he saw a bear in the forest - does that count"

"We all saw the print Bryn ... don't pretend we didn't "

"We don't know it was a bear though... "

"Well what else woud it be? It certainly wasn't any sort of dog - not that shape, not that size - and whatever it was it put the wind up the horses "

"I screamed because we heard the chains rattling on the caravan before we saw it and I thought it was a Barrow wight" - Jessamy finally got a word in edgewise and looked accusingly at Seth, who had the grace to look embarassed. "That is when I fell and hurt my ankle"...

She wished Willem would return. She knew that getting her home would be the next thing on her brothers' mind and part of her wanted nothing more to be back there. But being in Willem's caravan was like being in a fairy tale and she was loathe to leave it so soon.

[Envinyatar]

Willem hopped about on one exceedingly cold foot, trying as quickly as he could to pull on a sock and cram his other foot into a boot. ‘Thorns and thistles!’ he muttered, brushing the snow from his cold bare foot. He pulled his other sock on and jammed his now nearly numb appendage into its boot. It was at times like this that he wished he could just stay in bear form. His clothes, which he’d stowed on the low bough of a tree, were chill against his skin. And no amount of rubbing his hands together brought any of the sought warmth to his fingers. Teeth chattering a bit, he hurried in the direction of the little fire at the back of his caravan.

The brothers’ horses snorted as he drew near them. Arching their necks, heads held high, they whinnied and stamped the frozen ground. ‘S’all right; hush, hush now,’ he spoke low to them as he ran his hand along the side of the one nearest him. The urgent whinnies changed to quiet nickers as they crowded near him, nudging against his torso with their muzzles.

‘Now, don’t knock me down little darlin’s!’ Willem said with a chuckle. ‘I’m cold enough as it is!’

He felt the men’s eyes on him as he turned about and stepped toward the little group. ‘I’m Willem,’ he said, offering his hand in greeting. ‘And you must be Jess’ brothers. I can see the resemblance.’ He smiled, his eyes twinkling. ‘I’m so glad you found your way here.’ Behind him, one of the horses snorted, as if amused at some private joke.

[Durelin]

Karl couldn't help but feel a swell of pride and worth as Jessamy told her brothers how he was essentially her rescuer. He had been able to do so little for her, he thought, but at least he had come across her and been able to offer what help he could. He at least thought he had a much better sense of the land than she did, though this evening that had seemed somewhat questionable.

At the mention of Edwin, he glanced back toward the cart. He quietly accepted the brothers' thanks, shaking his head but not knowing what else to say. He had happened to come across her, what else would he have done? Leave her on her own?

Duke's attention seemed caught by something outside the fire's light. Karl watched him, not sure from Duke's appearance if he sensed friend or foe, man or creature. Perhaps Duke didn't know himself. Then Willem stepped into the firelight, startling the horses.

Karl wondered where Willem had been, but he had no reason to be nosey and question him. It seemed that would be particularly impolite at this point, considering he had just introduced himself to the brothers.

Karl murmured that he was going to check on Edwin, not worrying overmuch if anyone heard him, and dragged Duke along with him to stay near the steps of the caravan and away from the people on whom he so wanted to jump.

[Mithalwen]

“So are we, sir,” said Silas having taken Willem’s frozen hand “and even gladder to find Jessamy safe and looked after. I..” Silas stopped himself from tactlessly expressing the received wisdom of Breeland, that he thought only strange folk like the Rangers or worse frequented the Downs and the Forest and that it was a wonder that Jessie had managed encounter only people who wished her no ill. Somewhat clumsily he picked up on Willem’s earlier comment.

“I… I suppose the likeness shows more when we are together. Jessie is most like Dad, our other brother looks like our mother, and the rest of us are in between one way or another. But sorry we haven’t introduced ourselves I’m Silas, and these two are Seth and Bryn” he added as his brothers shook hands with Willem in their turn.

"Now you look as cold as the Northwind's nose" Jessamy chided limping towards the group, unfolding herself from Willem’s cloak as she did so and offering it back to him. She was sure she had seen him shiver and felt a wave of guilt. “I told Karl you should have taken your cloak. Shall I make you some tea?”

“This isn’t a picnic, Jessie,” reproved Silas “ – there are people at home worried about you , Mum , Dad, Fern, Filbert , no doubt about Edwin too."
“Filbert? I don’t think so.. “

“To be fair he might be more worried about what Seth would do to him if we didn’t find you” clarified Bryn “and seeing how cold it is we might not have found you in time “ he pointed out, ever the realist.

“We might never have found you at all” added Silas gloomily – we were going round in circles until the horses decided they knew where they were going – maybe they sensed Willem’s mare”

“Or maybe they were frightened by Seth’s bear… “ added Bryn grinning.

“I don’t know why you call it my bear just because you are too deaf to hear and too stubborn to believe what your eyes are showing you – don’t forget we will be going back that way .. and what happened to just being happy Jess is safe? Does it help to point out that she might have been eaten by a bear if she didn’t freeze to death first? “

“Might not do any harm to have a brew while we decide what to do next if you don’t mind, Willem. We have firewood and other supplies on the cart – the horses could use a breather and Jessie could be warmer by the look of her”. Bryn suggested realising that their sister’s rescuers were being ignored as family bickering resumed.

“That is true enough” said Seth who had substituted his own cloak for Willem’s returned one “What about the boy Edwin? Is he fit to travel? “
“ I don’t know – I think maybe Karl has gone to check on him” answered Bryn looking towards the caravan - so what about that tea?”, Silas had slipped away for a moment to put rugs over the horses and he might as well collect what was needed from the waggon at the same time Bryn reasoned.

“I’ll make it!” Jessamy offered trying to make amends.

“You ought to be resting your foot “

“Why are you being so nice, Seth?” Jessie asked bewildered.

“Don’t get used to it. As soon as we get back I am going to get Bryn to make you a cage… you are never going off the farm again” he wrapped his arms about her shoulders protectively

“Never? “

“Well if you are good I’ll take you in to town once a year on your birthday ..on a chain”

“Oh” Jessie’s face fell... Seth’s joke was too close to the punishment she feared she deserved. Though, before her rescue, she had longed to home and never leave, meeting Willem had revived the attraction of the wider world. Now the doors to that seemed to be closing against her forever and as firmly as the arms that held her. Too weary, confused and dejected now to cry she crumpled against her brother and looked helplessly towards Willem and the caravan, as if he or Karl might be able to rescue her from this fate too.

[Durelin]

Edwin really did seem to be returning to health. Karl touched the boy's forehead with his cold hand to feel how warm he was. Edwin's eyes shot open. "Wha? Who?" He sat up, looking terrified. "Who are you?" The boy had no idea where he was, but he had no desire to move any further.

Karl looked almost as terrified as Edwin. "It's okay, it's okay... I'm Karl, I'm around the town sometimes..." He didn't expect the boy to know who he was, of course he didn't... "I found you out on the Downs; you were out cold. We're in a man name Willem's caravan, he's helped you get better."

Edwin did recognize this man, but he did not particularly trust him, and he had no idea who Willem was. "Where are the others? Did you do something to them? Did the Wights get them?" He felt as if he was on the edge of hysteria, breathing fast, shallow breaths.

"Calm down. I don't know about all of the others, but Jessamy is outside, with her brothers from town. We'll be heading back soon I promise. Now just stay lying down, we don't want you passing out again." Karl was feeling a little frustrated and he didn't want to have to literally carry this boy back to his parents.

"Get away from me," Edwin said, but he did not shout. He pushed his way around Karl who was afraid to grab him and be too rough with him, and burst out of the caravan...missing the steps and falling hard on his knees and hands.

[Envinyatar]

It was all he could do to control the anger that flared up as he listened to Seth’s comments. Was this how those of Bree dealt with their children? Willem looked from Silas at the horses to Bryn by the wagon, wondering why Jessamy’s other two brothers did not speak up in her defense.

Memories of traveling players with a caged bear in tow to entertain the crowd loomed up unbidden.

A cage….. he fumed silently, his dark eyes glinting dangerously. A chain to lead her out on…...

A low growl began deep in his chest. Willem’s hands clenched and unclenched beneath his cloak. The brothers' horses whinnied nervously and backed away from him, intending to bolt. Jumble barked loudly as he began a frantic pacing back and forth before his master. Duke, for his part, disappeared into the trees behind the caravan with a panicked whine.

‘You jest, of course,’ he managed to say, swallowing down the desire to give them all a severe thumping. His hands relaxed. Looking from one to the other, his eyes settling at last on Seth, he reached out a hand to rest protectively on Jessamy’s shoulder. ‘She’s but a young cub; we all were once, weren’t we?’ He managed a smile. ‘Surely there are other ways to help her learn from her mistakes in judgment – other than threatening such dire punishments.’

The caravan’s door burst open before a reply could be made.. Edwin came hurtling out, his hasty exit propelling him over the steps to a most graceless and likely painful landing on his hands and knees. He had a confounded look as Willem hauled him to a standing position.

‘Back with us now, eh boy?’ Willem asked, giving him a once over glance.

[Mithalwen]

"Oh of course he is, " started Bryn, returning "he has been worrying his guts out about Jess all the way here, he just doesn't want to admit it ". He threw a spare cloak at his brother's face and Seth, still bewildered by Willem's palpable hostility in response to what seemed an obvious joke, let go of Jessamy.

Bryn would have scooped her up again, reassured her,scolded Seth for still not knowing when to stop winding their sister up, but Edwin hurtling out of the caravan like a cork from a bottle had claimed her attention before he could put down the other things he was carrying.

Jessamy managed a smile for Willem, grateful for the comfort of his hand on her shoulder, even she hadn't really taken in the tension that surrounded the gesture. The world was getting fuzzy at the edges again and she could only take in one thing at a time. For now it was the boy she had left pale and unconscious in the caravan. She tottered forward "Edwin! You're awake!!!" she declared happily But then she remembered she and Edwin had been quarrelling before they had been separated and she stopped.

Meanwhile her brothers regathered around her, each trying to square their sister's evident trust in Willem and man's strange, almost dangerous presence. It wasn't something they quite pinpointed at the time but it was as if the atmosphere changed with the older man's mood. None of them quite dared to really answer his question.

[Durelin]

Edwin choked, looking into the eyes of this strange man. There was something wild in them, like those eyes he thought he’d seen peering at him from the edge of the Forest. He would have thought he was still in those empty dreams, but compared to them, even this world made sense.

He whipped his head around at the sound of his name. He didn’t think he would be happy to see the face of someone who up until now was just an annoyance to him. But there was no stopping the relief that filled him at seeing Jess.

“Wha…I…yes, I’m awake…I don’t know what happened…” He was shaking; Willem still held on to his arm and Edwin was using his support to stay on his feet. He swallowed. No, no, what was this! He couldn’t cry. Oh no. He looked around at all the faces. All Jess’ brothers, all older than him. And these men. Oh what would they think?

He cried. “I’m sorry, Jessamy… Where are the others? This is all my fault…I’m sorry…” He wasn’t sure who he was apologizing to, really. Everyone and everything. It was his fault this had happened to him as well. And what would happen when he got home!

Karl tried to step quietly out of the caravan, not sure what was going on. Poor Edwin. He was so young, even if he didn’t think so. Should he apologize to the boy? But he had done nothing wrong; simply his presence had startled him. Karl stood up against the side of the caravan, once again observing the scene, but also looking around him for where Duke had gotten off to. Dog wasn’t good at staying. Or going where he was told.

[Mithalwen]

"It's not all your fault, Edwin, " said Jessamy quietly and she was the one who was crying as she stood unsteadily between the boy and her brothers. "You didn't ask me to come out here."

Silas's anger melted into pity "And I don't suppose you could have stopped her if you'd tried" he said gently to the boy, as he moved towards Jessamy and slipped his arm around her heaving shoulders. "The others should be home by now - we met them on the road on the way. And no doubt our Dad will have things to say to Jess when we get back and your folks will be the same with you. But the important thing is, barring further mishap, "you do get to go home. And for that you have Karl and Willem to thank". He added before addressing his sister.

"Come on Jess, don’t cry, it’s cold and damp enough out here”

"But you were so angry with me and so will Mum and Dad be. .. and Seth is being .."

"Is just being Seth. He can't help it " supplied Bryn helpfully.

“We were scared we had lost you, little one, but it will be alright. I promise we will make it alright somehow" Silas resolved realising Jess’ tears were of genuine contrition rather than born merely of self pity. ”Don’t worry about it now”.

But still his sister wept finding it harder to stem her tears in the face of kindness than anger, and no longer caring what Edwin or anyone else might think.

[Durelin]

Edwin wasn’t sure what was happening. Her crying too just made it worse! He sniffed and swallowed and tried to right is breathing, and tried not to feel annoyed that Jess had her brothers all consoling her while he was left to awkwardly cry alone. Well, Jess cried with him, he supposed, but…that was different.

He was almost holding back all the tears, almost settled down. He tried to think of something to say. Thank you? “Thank you,” he said, turning to Karl and then Willem, whose gaze he couldn’t hold for more than a second.

Suddenly a high-pitched whine followed by a low bellow came from the trees behind the caravan, and the noises came closer until Duke burst into the firelight and started running in circles around the fire and Karl. Duke’s muzzle was covered in long spines.

Edwin couldn’t help but laugh. He looked a little guilty after, hoping someone else found it funny. Sure he felt bad for the dog’s pain, but it was his own fault. Kind of like Edwin’s situation.

Karl groaned and called to Duke, trying to keep his voice gentle. He managed to grab the dog by the scruff and then, getting on his knees, held Duke with both arms. Karl spoke gentle words to him while getting a hold on his head and trying to pull each spine out quickly.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy started to laugh too. The sight of the dog with his pincushion nose was just too ridiculous, but the reviving effects of the tea and biscuits had worn off and she rested wearily against Silas. Seth had gone over to try to help Karl while Bryn was still holding the things he had fetched from the waggon.

"Right shall I get the kettle on?" He asked his eldest brother.

"I don't know, Bryn, Jessie's done in, maybe we should get on our way straight away - it's getting late and the sooner she is safe home the better . "

Jessamy raised her head and asked "What about Karl and Willem?".

"I hope they'll agree to come back with us - think we owe them some hospitality if they'll accept it" . Silas looked inquiringly at the two older men.

Seth’s mind, as he held Duke while Karl extracted quills, was occupied with Willem. The man had growled at him he was sure... and what had he called Jessamy “a young cub”? He made him nervous and now.. oh wonderful Silas had invited him back to the farm.

But what was he thinking? He chided himself for imagining all sorts of fancies and fairy-tales. This place was getting to him and he was reading too much into things. He remembered that Silas had likened Jessamy a fox-cub the day she was born and many times since. She did look like a wild little creature with that great shock of hair and ever curious eyes. Besides Jess might be thoughtless but her instincts about people were usually good. And with Willem, she behaved as if she had known him all her life not just a matter of hours.

Poor Jessie he thought , realising that she must envy the freedom of the life led by Willem and even Karl . Willem’s words haunted him . It wasn’t so much helping her learn from her mistakes.. . she was bright enough not to repeat this escapade he guessed – it was the future he worried about and the dangers she wasn’t aware of, how could they keep her safe without crushing her spirit?

[Envinyatar]

Willem watched the little scene play out. Poor pup! he thought, hearing Duke whine as each quill was eased out. He shook his head, knowing that by morning the dog would be even more miserable than he was now - his snout would be swollen and very tender.

‘Shall I get the kettle on?’ The voice of Jessamy’s youngest brother caught his attention.

‘That would be nice . . . a big mug of hot tea!’ Willem rubbed his cold hands together as he murmured aloud, more in response to the frigid night air than to the young man’s question. ‘You know, it will take some time before all the quills are out. Better if they’re eased out, at least for Duke, that is.’

He glanced to where Jessamy leaned against Silas. ‘She looks a might cold, too’ he said motioning with his chin to the girl. ‘It’s warmer in my caravan . . . Silas, isn’t it?’ He nodded toward Edwin. ‘Maybe you can take the boy and Jessamy in there.’ He gave a quick smile toward Jess. ‘She can help you find some biscuits and tea . . . and bread and jam, too, in the yellow carved chest beneath the bed.’

Willem stepped nearer to Bryn. ‘We can build a little fire here . . .leave the other fire’s light to Karl..’ He looked from one brother to the other. ‘The night’s dark is well upon us,’ he said. ‘And it looks like the snow is starting to come down more heavily.’ His hands gestured about the small camp. ‘You’re more than welcome to share this little camp . . . if you wish.’

[Durelin]

Karl muttered about them not having to wait for him, but he doubted anyone was listening and he wasn’t sure if he wanted them to be. He had not been in the company of this many people in…well, a long time. It was starting to grate on him a little, but there was also a warmth about it. Especially on a snowy night like this.

He smiled at Seth, thanking him for his help. Duke wasn't upset to have another person's soothing attention. He was such a social animal, he did not hide from people when hurt but rather sought their comfort. Upon hearing Willem’s comment about removing the quills slowly, Karl reddened a little and glanced at Seth. "Hope I haven't been making it worse..." he murmured. Well, he did not have experience with porcupines. It was rather surprising, considering all that Duke tended to get into. He gently eased out the next quill. Duke was being as strong as he could, his whines becoming more like whimpers.

~*~

Edwin felt out of place. His awkward ‘entrance’ into this impromptu campsite had brought attention to him for a time, but now he was just a part of the group, and a part that was not connected to any others. Somehow the Willem person was familiar with Jessamy, and of course there were her brothers. And this Willem knew Karl, which was not at all surprising since they both seemed rather strange. And then there was Edwin…‘the boy.’

When Jessamy’s brothers began talking about heading back to town, Edwin sunk into his thoughts. With any luck, by the time they got back, his father would already be passed out and he could put him to bed without any fuss from him. It wasn’t as if he was worried about punishment, but…he made it worse. When he did things like this and made his father worry, it made his father worse. And yet he kept doing them, he kept pushing it. Though nothing he had gotten into before could compare with this afternoon and evening.

Willem, whose eyes seemed as if they could never look kind yet were filled at the moment with warmth, included him at least, suggesting he go with Jessamy and one of her brothers back into the caravan. “Thank you,” he murmured to Willem. Biscuits and bread weren’t quite as appetizing right now as soup or stew might be, but he wasn’t about to complain.

[Mithalwen]

"I don't know... we don't get many porcupines on the farm - sometimes the quicker out the better with splinters and the like but this one has so many in his muzzle that it would be too much." Seth tried to console the dog, rubbing the loose skin at the scruff of his neck while keeping a firm hold on his collar with his other hand, "sometimes there isn't a simple right answer" he added aware of the dilemma facing his elder brother dithering over whether they should stay or start out.

"Duke will be a bit sorry for himself for a while but he will get over it in a day or two, maybe learn not to make the same mistake again, Bit of luck and the same will be true of Jess and Edwin".

“Well?” Bryn, asked his eldest brother, who was clearly torn –“It isn’t like we didn’t come prepared to stay out if we had to, and I really think we would be daft to set out now it is snowing again – we could end up stuck and more cold, tired and hungry than we are now. “ Bryn would normally defer to Silas in this sort of decision – but he guessed that his desire to get back was skewing his judgement. “Why not do as Willem suggested and get these two inside and I’ll get the fire going If the snow stops quickly we could rethink but for now we might as well eat and get as warm as we can?”

Silas gave in - “Alright, you win…come on Jess, lead the way “ His sister returned Willem’s smile, and still hobbling a little climbed back into the caravan, eager to resume her place in the cosy interior and perhaps discover more of its, and Willem’s secrets.

Bryn waited for the door to close behind his brother and just caught his gasp of amazement as he saw the caravan’s remarkable interior. Then he spoke to Willem.
“Now we can get on. We have bread too as well as soup and cheese and well I’m not sure what else - but there seems to be lots of it. He prodded around the large basket he had fetched from the waggon. “so we won’t starve. We have plenty of firewood – what with Silas being in the trade – so the fire needn’t be so little maybe . It’s under a tarpaulin so it should be dry enough. With a bit of luck we should be more or less ready by the time they have sorted out that poor dog” . Bryn made to go back to the waggon when he paused and turned to Willem, a moment of doubt creeping into even his practical mind. “You seem to know this place well enough – do you think it is safer to stay here than to try to get back- they say a lot of strange things about the downs and the forest “ he glanced towards the mounds and trees in turn knowing in his heart he had not forgotten the tracks they had seen earlier.

[Envinyatar]

Willem fetched the little shovel and the hand axe from the long box which hung beneath the wagon. ‘Breeze’s from the north, at least for now,’ he said, holding his hand up at arm’s length to catch the direction. ‘Let’s get the fire going here,’ he went on, starting to dig out a small pit. ‘The caravan should block most of the wind, I think.’

‘About your question…..’ Willem knelt down by the shallow pit and began shaving wood to start the fire. ‘I think you might find it safer just to stay here tonight. The trees can be tricky in the dark.’ He sat back as Bryn piled the kindling and some of the wood over the shavings. ‘And sometimes those that make their homes hereabout are less than friendly to those just passing through.....But, as I said, you'll be safe enough here.'

He rubbed his hands together near the blossoming fire and smiled towards Bryn. 'So, where's that soup you mentioned, eh?'

[Mithalwen]

"I'll get it, " said Bryn, "we had it in a bucket of hot ash on the waggon but it will be all the better for being properly hot" he added as he returned moments later with a good-sized billy-can and a hooked iron spike which he set at an angle across the little fire pit. He lifted the lid with his gloved hand "Looks like vegetable and bean - still some warmth it it so shouldn't be too long." He set the billy on the hook above the burgeoning fire and nodded approvingly. He couldn't have done a better job even at the forge.

"I'll talk to Silas if he starts to fret - for myself I'd rather wait til it was light to go near those woods again..." he shuddered momentarily then forced his mind back to more immediate issues. "Though we brought food enough, we haven't got much to eat it off - only a few tin mugs and plates - we didn't expect such a party, only reckoned on staying out if we hadn't found them. May be you have extra?" Bryn asked the older man tentatively not sure if someone who lived an itinerant life would be geared up for company.

In the caravan, Silas gazed in amazement at the intricately carved interior. His sister had swiftly resumed her previous spot, discarded her boots and rested her feet on the little stool. From which position she could direct Silas as to where to find things.

"Could you make me one of these?"Jessamy asked hopefully. Silas laughed " the structure maybe, if I didn't have to earn a living - but this carving work would take me years even if I had the skill." He smiled and touched the little mouse on the high shelf. "If your friend Willem did this, he is a true craftsman. "

Jessamy gave Edwin a sidelong glance and thought he seemed troubled - she realised that he hadn't been in here before awake and hoped he was alright. She would love to have another look at the little Elvish phial but she could hardly poke around other than as Willem had permitted, at least with witnesses. And since she had elided how ill Edwin had seemed, she felt she couldn't really bring it up now with Silas around. "Are you really better now Edwin?" she asked, thinking how strange it must have been to wake up somewhere so different.

[Durelin]

Edwin was thrilled to hear Jessamy’s brothers had brought soup, something warm and filling. He felt chilled inside and out, and though his stomach didn’t feel quite right he hoped eating would make him feel better. He followed Jess and one of the brothers, Silas, into the caravan. This time he actually had a look around, and wondered at the woodwork of the interior. Edwin could never imagine living in one of these instead of a house, but it did seem pretty cozy.

Even inside the caravan Edwin clutched himself and Karl’s cloak around him. It felt a little like he would never be warm again, even if he sat right up against a fire indoors. It was cold out, so it was really no wonder, but…this chill felt different somehow. He was just wondering at it when Jess asked if he was alright.

He nodded, and thought about what had happened. Was it the water? Water that put him to sleep…sounded like magic, which was absurd. “Just…cold. Feels like when I fall asleep during the day for a little and wake up feeling heavy, but worse.” He looked at his feet. “I guess I owe a lot of thanks.” Could he have died? Surely he could have, from the cold, if not from…whatever had happened to him. What had it taken to wake him up? Just the warmth of the caravan. Not that it felt especially warm at the moment, but warmer than outside…

[Durelin]

At the Prancing Pony

Tate sat at a familiar table at the Pony, staring into a mug of watered down ale. He knew the innkeeper watered it down, but not to get more money out of him. Just to keep him busy and keep him less drunk, for a time. Tate didn’t have much to return to from the shop in the evening. All he had was his son. And now he might not have anything at all.

The word was that Edwin had gone out to the Downs. It was just like him, to take the lead and do something crazy like that. Some of the children had come back to their parents, spooked. But Edwin had not come back. No one knew where he was. What if he had wandered into the Old Forest? Or fallen in to an old crypt and broken his neck?

Tate took another long, slow drink and stared at the table, trying to ignore the angry man standing over him. As if it was his fault that Erling’s daughter had gotten herself lost as well? How could he go berating him when he had lost his son as well? It was cruel. Erling had all those sons…Tate had one, and now he was gone. Oh Cassy, he thought of his wife, I’ve lost our only son!

[Mithalwen]

Perhaps he should have said nothing. Erling Woodseaves was not particularly swift to anger, His wife was far more quick tempered and had passed the trait, in some measure, to all their children save Bryn, who was was harder to rouse even than his father. However even the most placid of men have their limits and Erling had got too close to his.

If his sons were his pride, his daughter was his joy. Sukey had craved a girl but he had been content with his fine boys. Jessamy had been born so long after her brothers that the hope had been all but deferred to the next generation. Erling had had to learn late how to raise a maid-child. Maybe he had not learnt well, having been enchanted. Perhaps he had spoiled her but it had seemed to do no harm. He had thought there was mischief but no malice in the child. And the sprite- a funny little creature all limbs and hair - made him laugh and so charmed him that when she raised her blue eyes to meet his own and said "Sorry Daddy" all was forgiven and forgotten - too quickly perhaps.

He had sent Filbert back to the farm - it would be some comfort to Sukebind to have one of her chicks safe in the the nest. For himself he couldn't face going home while the rest of his children were out on the Downs and in this snow too. He wasn't so worried about the boys - they were grown and well equipped and above all, together. And they had horses with them and beasts, Erling felt, had more sense to get out of danger and find their way home than most men. But Jessamy was a different matter - she was so young and alone (or at best in the company of the boy Edwin which was small comfort). He didn't blame the lad - from what he had learned from his youngest son, Jessamy had gone on this escapade more than willingly and her participation was premeditated. He was a little shocked by her deceit. But that was an issue to be tackled when they got her back. If they got her back.

The thought they might not was unbearable. It had occured to him at Silas' wedding that a time would surely come when he must hand his daughter over into another man's keeping and the mere idea caused a wrench years before it could become reality. But that was no loss at all to the one he now faced. He touched neither the food nor the ale offered him and despite the long day following the plough he could not keep to his seat either, pacing the room pausing only to gaze through the windows desperate for a sign of his children's return. The sight of Edwin's father was sitting in his usual spot, drinking as much as usual infuriated Erling. Yes the cobbler had lost his wife. It was a tragedy but not an unique one - Erling had lost everyone and everything but the clothes he stood up in when he arrived in Bree. Tate had drowned his sadness in his beer mug and maybe it was no wonder his boy had gone a wandering. Little enough for him at home, Erling guessed and then wondered at his own child's reasons. Eventually he could take no more of the man sitting morosely in his cups.

"How can you just sit there and drink when they are out there? " his voice was harsher than usual. As tall and lean as his elder sons still, he towered over the seated figure. Erling's hair which had once been as bright as his daughter's was now mostly grey and he was a good decade - maybe even two- older than Tate but he cut a more imposing figure at that moment.

"My boys are out there looking for yours - and my little girl - and all you can do is swill ale!". Erling slammed his fist onto the table in frustration. He was not inclined to violence but he was sore tempted to shake the man if not smite him.

[Durelin]

Tate sniffed and avoided looking at Erling, as if he were trying to hide behind his messy dark hair. “I didn’t ask nobody to go looking for my son,” he all but muttered. It was heading towards dark, and his boy wasn’t back yet. But what was he to do? It would be night before he got out to the Downs, and then what were his chances of finding Edwin in the dark? He was just one man…he did not have a host of strong young sons to send out!

“And I don’t have nobody to send. What could I do, wandering those cursed mounds in the dark? Oh if only I’d made him help me in the shop today…but he’ll never stay to help, no way to make him, not anymore… Maybe if I’d known earlier but how was I to know…man has to make his living, though I don’t know why now, if my boy’s gone…” He choked, ending his rambling for few moments, at least.

The truth was it had been a slow day at his shop, as usual. But Edwin was heading toward adulthood in…a couple years, a few years? Regardless Tate didn’t have apron strings to lead his boy by. At this the man tried to steel himself a little. There, Edwin was no witless babe! He was a smart boy, he would make it home. Telling himself to forget all that superstition, he shuddered.

[Mithalwen]

Erling's ire faded almost as quickly as it flowered. What was the point in losing his temper with this broken man? He suddenly felt exhausted as if his anger had been the only thing sustaining him. He crumpled into the window seat and gazed once more through the shutters left part open to the road.

He drank without thinking from the mug on the little table by him and spoke to the room as much as Tate, he did not move his glance from the too empty street, where snowflakes danced in the lamplight.

"I didn't send them.. I didn't know anything about it 'til they didn't come home. Didn't want to worry me, didn't want to wait..thought they could sort it themselves.. " Erling was torn between pride in his grown sons and pique that they clearly felt they didn't need him any more, "and the other one - my youngest lad didn't use the wits he was born with. He knew the children were going and kept quiet." Erling shook his head in disbelief " I sent him home to his mother. Think his brothers gave him a hard time for not telling and maybe Sukey will give him worse" or maybe not.. Erling knew his wife had a bit of a blind spot concering their youngest son. And he was as bad with Jessie. He sighed, how had they managed to get worse at raising children the longer they did it...


"Still Filbert said Jessamy took some food with her and maybe your boy would know how to start a fire if they found any dry kindling?" Erling was farily sure Jess wouldn't have the skill herself out in the wild "so maybe if they were able to stay together when they got separated from the rest they won't be so cold and hungry" Erling tried not to think of how little there would be to make a fire among those bare stones. A fire would give hope of guiding their rescuers to them as well as warmth.

[Mithalwen]

Jessamy waited a moment for Silas to leave with the tea and the suggestion his sister cut some bread before she answered Edwin with more than a nod. She stood and took up her station at the little counter formed by the cupboard extending out beyond the line of the shelves above. Before she started she gave Edwin the sort of appraising look her mother would give a market purchase.

It was odd she realised that she had known Edwin all her life, growing up in the same small town but didn't really know him at all. Didn't know if she could trust him. He wasn't quite close enough in age to be friends with her brothers - Filbert wasn't the sort to attract the hero worship of younger boys and - and had no brothers of his own who might have been their contemporaries. She had been to his father's shop though - shoemaking being one of the things that the family couldn't manage themselves. She remembered her mother once meeting one of her cronies after they had taken some boots in for mending and them talking about how sad it was the cobbler had started to drink after his wife died. Jessamy hadn't understood at the time - didn't everyone drink? Now a little older she realised her mother didn't mean tea or water or even the mug or two ale or cider that her father and eldest brothers might take of an evening. Yet Edwin of himself did not invite pity. He had been the ringmaster of the adventure, leader of his little group and had they not been alone, Jessamy would not likely not have had the nerve to speak as she did.

"Owe thanks? Yes you do - to Karl and Willem..and...and me. Karl wanted to take me straight home when he found me and it might have saved me a lot of trouble if he had. But I wouldn't let him. And whe we found you you were lying practically in a little pool of water and you were so cold and we couldn't rouse you" Jessamy was cuttting rough slices of bread from the loaf as she spoke. "I haven't told them "she indicated her brothers with a nod towards the door, "much about what happened before they arrived, and I don't see I have to. But people are funny about anyone different in Bree so it would be a shame if Karl and Willem's kindness caused them any trouble: I might have to explain how Karl had to carry you because you were in a dead faint rather than just cold... And Willem said..." The girl paused and gave Edwin another quick glance, her blue eyes fierce. " Promise I can trust you ..then I'll tell you!"

Jessamy realised that she was waving the knife and put it on the bread board. "I'll just take this bread out to Silas. I won't be a minute. You could put the blankets back round you if you are still cold." Then she wrapped Seth's dark green cloak tight around her, picked up the wooden platter holding the slices of bread and went out still favouring her good leg.

[Durelin]

Tate

Tate listened to about half of what Erling said, and about half of that really registered with his mind. He couldn’t tell for sure if the man was still angry or not, but at least he wasn’t standing over him anymore or looking at him accusingly. As if he had much of any say in what his son did at all these days! Erling’s sons had gone behind their father’s back as well, it seemed, which somehow made Tate feel a little better.

He tried to focus on the last bit, as Erling’s voice seemed to indicate he was talking directly to him again. At the words ‘cold and hungry’ Tate sniveled a bit before shoving his face back into his mug, or vice-versa.

~*~

Edwin

Edwin shrank back slightly at Jessamy’s words. What was the matter with him?! Was he afraid of her? What could she do to him? What could anyone do to him? His father likely wouldn’t remember this night, like every other night.

It was another feeling entirely. Something gnawing at him, making him just want to disappear. But no, it wasn’t fear.

Edwin’s eyes widened a bit as Jessamy went on about having to explain things to people back in town. Oh no, no, no…he was so happy to just be alive and a little warmer, and had been thinking of nothing but food. He had not thought one bit about what he would tell people when they inevitably asked him on the morrow, or commented on his disappearance for days, maybe even months afterward. What would he tell the other boys? He could come up with a number of stories that would impress them, but there were all these witnesses!

He blinked at Jessamy as she walked out. What had Willem said? What did she have to tell him? He would keep any secret in the world, especially for Jessamy at this point. He would do anything she asked if only she wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened. He had been afraid…

He wrapped his arms around himself and stared at the caravan door as it closed behind her.

[piosenniel]

~*~ Moving this thread to Elvenhome ~*~

Today is 5/29/2015 - last post to this thread was 08-12-2011.