Page 9 of Curse of Immortality
The good and bad, we’ll still be here.
For even in the dark, the sun will be near.
Hmm-hmm-mm-hmm
As the girls sang each verse with gentle voices, a breeze suddenly emerged from their palms. It made Maeve jerk her body back in surprise.
“Stop,” Althea said, lowering her hand. “The wind is only making the fire bigger.”
“Then what about water?” Maeve asked, looking at the fire that was slowly starting to become bigger.
The girls raised their palms once again and began to sing the song their aunt had sung for them since they were five years old.
The palms of their hands became moist and soon small droplets of water separated themselves from their wet hands. Althea and Maeve continued singing their gentle song as they held their hands above the fire and let water fall onto the flame. Slowly but surely they extinguished the flames.
With her mouth dropped open, Rose watched with amazement. She felt proud of her accomplished nieces, but her throat tightened, knowing what she had promised them if they succeeded. Being a woman of her word, meant that she would have to bring Althea and Maeve with her to the village.
After the horrific night of terror she’d had, she had a strong feeling that nothing good would come of this.
CHAPTER 4
First Time in the Village
On Saturday morning, Rose brought the girls with her to the local town, Lerwick. The contrast between the girl’s bubbly excitement and Rose’s quiet concern made it a strained conversation as they walked to the marketplace where they would sell produce just like Rose had done for years.
“Remember not to talk to anyone,” she ordered for the tenth time. “You are there to observe and as soon as we have sold the flowers and vegetables, we’re leaving.”
“Yes, Rose.” Althea nodded before sending her sister another glance with suppressed excitement and her eyes glistening.
To others, the small, English town would have been a dull experience, but Althea and Maeve had been isolated in the forest for nine years. At fourteen they were longing to see more than trees, moss, animals, and clouds in the sky.
As they reached the outskirts of the town, Althea fisted her hand into her skirt feeling the need to hold on to something as they ventured into danger. It all felt forbidden and scary at first, but things changed the moment they walked down the street among houses, people, chickens, and children laughing while chasing one another. Memories from their childhood rushed back and overwhelmed both Althea and Maeve while Rose kept her head down and hurried Tobias along. The horse moved in a slow walk, carrying the heavy burden of leeks, carrots, apples, plums, and rhubarb in buckets tied across his back.
For years, the girls had imagined the town to be a place of danger and now that they were here, they saw ordinary people going about their day. A man greeted them with a friendly smile, raising his hat before passing them.
“Morning, ladies,”
Maeve smiled and greeted him back, but that made Rose whisper a warning.
“You’re drawing attention to yourself. Don’t meet their eyes and don’t greet them back. Humans may look kind, but they are unpredictable and can turn on you fast.”
Once they reached the town square other merchants were already setting up their products on display. While Althea helped Rose unload the buckets from Tobias’s back, Maeve stood taking everything in.
There was a lovely scent from the left where a woman sold freshly made oak cakes. A butcher was calling out to some passers-by to come and test a sample of his juicy ham.
A young man who was no more than a teenager himself was red-faced from carrying wooden boxes with bottles. He was the son of the brewer and helped his father sell beer and cider.
Maeve couldn’t take her gaze off him because the young man was the first person her age that she had seen in nine years.
“Look,” Maeve whispered to Althea and showed the direction with her eyes.
Althea stood with four apples in her hands and turned to see just as the young man set down a heavy box and rose to stretch his back. When he saw Althea and Maeve staring at him, his eyes widened a bit at the sight of such beautiful girls, and he quickly found a better posture, pushing out his chest to make himself appear bigger.
“Don’t just stand with the apples. Put them with the others.” Rose’s instructions broke the moment and made both girls refocus on their aunt.
But youth is a tricky thing and so is curiosity. Despite the warnings from their aunt, both girls kept exchanging glances with the brewer’s son, and by the time the sun had reached the church tower, he found the courage to approach them.
With color on his cheeks, he came with a bottle. “Ehm… my father and I were wondering if you would trade some of your plums for a bottle of our finest cider.”
