Water and Wind

Chapter 3

Thursday, August 11th, 1398:

"Grandma, tell the story again!" The little children sit at her feet, begging with their little hands under their chins. They look angelic, innocent, pleading.

The old lady in the chair peers through them, squinting even with her heavy spectacles. She is not one to tease, having remembered clearly how awful it felt to be teased by her older brothers.

She is not really their grandma. She is grandma to only two children, and both are living far away. She scowls. Her son took them away, said she was crazy for still believing the old myths, but she knows them to be true. She knows them to be true better than anyone. But her son said that the children couldn't grow up in fear forever, so he'd taken them away, spirited them to the distant village of their mother's hometown. She'd scowled the day he'd announced it, leaning over to whisper in his ear dangerously.

"La Esperanta follows anyone who has lived in her cabin." They both know very well that her son and his family lived in the cabin for almost a year without incident, despite the rumors.

Her son merely pulled away. "Goodbye Mother."

He doesn't want to believe her? Well, fine. She has other people to tell. She glances down at the kids sitting in front of her. She is grandma to all of them. They call her grandma of the whole village, because she is the oldest one here. Well, oldest except for Ol' Joe, but he's so old and wrinkly he may as well be dead.

She smiles down at her little angels, with their perfectly chubby rosy cheeks. "Okay, children. Just one more story. Which one shall it be?" She asks for formality's sake. She knows.

Their eyes brighten as they inch closer to her bare feet, sandals thrown carelessly aside. Their little mouths open all at once as their faces light up. They chorus together. "La Esperanta, Grandma. La Esperanta."

And so she begins. Her mouth opens and the kids squeal in delight.

"Once upon a time..."

70 years ago...

It is nighttime. Every shade is pulled down, every window shut despite the heat. The villagers all know what day it is. And none are willing to take their chances, even if Esperanta only takes from the cabin or the forest. They say she wanders through the village too, taking any available children, which is why the children are all bundled away in blankets. Don't take your chances.

Inside a small house sits a teenage girl. Her knees are curled up to her chest as she sits in a mound of blankets. Esperanta looks for the little children, the ones who resemble her own, that is what they say. The village considers it a curse for anyone to be born with dark hair or eyes now. Esperanta will take them first. The golden haired, blue eyed ones are the lucky ones, the darling cherubs. Their privilege is getting to sleep safely.

She is contemplating, that girl. Her dark hair is tied back with a ribbon. She knows her looks provide her no protection. What does is her age. Maybe Esperanta will not want her.

Her brothers have dared her. "Just a wee step outside Rosy. A small one can't hurt."

She doesn't know why she even bothers. Oh wait. She does. Her annoying brothers will never let her live it down. The eldest, Johnny, has promised her a sack of credits if she goes into the forest. She can't resist.

Standing up, she pulls a dress out of her bureau, yanking her nightgown over her head and tossing it carelessly on the bed. She is doing this, she thinks as she slips into her shoes. The second eldest, James, is outside her door. "Ready Rosy?" He dares, taking a poke at her.