[piosenniel]

Pippin Pondlily's post:

Esmerelda stood over a cauldron of hot water and stirred with a thick staff her family’s laundry. Cottons and linens in earthy tones would surface and recede at random as they were soaked through in preparation to be soaped down and cleaned. She stopped for a moment to prod at the coals beneath the large iron pot and waited for signs of an orange glow before she resumed her stirring.

This was a wretched day for doing laundry. The sweltering afternoon heat was relentless as it beat down through the feeble shade of an old hickory and Esmerelda was very uncomfortable in her soft brown overdress and itched incessantly underneath the blue sash coiled about her waist.

Finally satisfied with the hot laundry she picked out one of Rhysdan’s shirts and set it hissing into a wide pan of cool water and draped it over the wash board. Securing the gathered ties of her linen chemise above her elbows she went to work soaping and scrubbing the shirt until the water was murky with dirt and grime. As she moved the fabric up and down over the ridges of the board the wooden disc that hung on a chord around her neck repeatedly knocked against the frame until she finally tucked it behind her into the back of her dress’s neckline, the front neckline she preferred for the hot weather being too low.

After four shirts, two of them Rhysdan’s and two of them Elian’s, Esmerelda sought out the water pump to refresh herself and splashed water onto her face and hands and in her mouth. As she was walking back to the cauldron a hot wind picked up and blew dust about the base of the cauldron and made the clothing hanging on the line snap in a frenzy. The hickory tree groaned and shuddered and the leaves rustled frantically. In the street and up across the hills Esmerelda could hear dogs barking and in the paddock outside the barn the horses reared and whinnied. She looked around for some explanation searching the horizons when an immense shadow passed across the fields before her. The woman shielded her eyes and squinted up into the sky. Her heart beat fast in her chest and her mouth opened in shock as she took in the gigantic, red-gold figure that soared overhead.

Esmerelda watched only for a second before quickly dousing the coals beneath the pot and abandoning the rest of her washing. She yanked open the back door of their home.

“Daisy! Daisy, come down here!” she called up the stairs to the bedrooms. There was no answer. “Daisy?” she walked into the kitchen and dining room area. The wind was ripping through the open window and whistling through the gaps in the boards. It had already blown the flowers from table onto the floor and the hanging herbs and roots were parallel to the ground and spinning, straining against their strings. “Daisy!” Esmerelda shouted again. When it was clear that her daughter was not in the house, the tall woman ran out the front door into the street. She cupped her hands about her mouth and called, “Daisy!” There was still no answer and her voice had to fight the wind to be heard. Her eyes searched about her frantically, up and down the street but there was no sign of her daughter. Then she rounded the house and nearly stumbled upon her.

“Mother!” the little girl cried, leaping up from her huddled position alongside the house. She wrapped her arms tightly around her mother’s neck and buried her face into her shoulder. Esmerelda held her daughter tightly, whispered soothingly into her ear and ran her fingers through her hair. “It’s alright darling, I’m here, shh, it’s alright.” She went around again to the front of the house and stepped up onto the small porch ducking again into the doorway. Holding still to her daughter she crossed the living room into the kitchen and peered out the window. The dragon had flown to the edge of the town and was just out of sight. Then she glanced across the fields to the hills where her husband was tending the sheep. There was no way to reach him, undoubtedly he’d seen the beast. Suddenly she thought of Elian. Out for the day with his cousin, probably a mile north!

“Mummy, I’m scared,” whispered Daisy, her frightened body tense and salty tears hot against her mother’s cheek and neck. Esmerelda patted her back tenderly.

“It’s alright,” she said calmly, “we’re going to wait here for Daddy and Elian for a little while longer and then we’ll go over to see Uncle Arinn and Aunt Willow, alright?” Daisy nodded, her face still muffled in Esmerelda’s shoulder. “You’re a very brave girl,” she whispered, “it will be alright.” If Elian wasn’t back soon, she would take Daisy over to the Millwinds’ and go out to find him. She looked up again into the sky, the dragon was headed back their way…