Forest Guardian

Part 3

As I walk down the rutted road toward the cabin, I stumble a couple of times and almost fall over. That's because I hardly ever look under my feet. I keep trying to spot the cabin so I don't miss it. The only thing I pay attention to is the fact that the sky is already gradually beginning to turn scarlet and orange, like a ripe pear. So I decide to speed up.

And to my luck I don't have to walk for long. Almost at the beginning of the forest thicket I notice an inconspicuous wooden house. It is well hidden behind the thick crown of fir trees. I stop for a second and look around. I do not know why, but after this morning, I think this habit will stay with me for a long time.

I look carefully around the cabin, but there are no lights in the windows, and it doesn't look like anyone can live in this house. Doubts begin to envelop me as to whether the woman is home at all. But as soon as I raise my hand to knock on the dilapidated wooden door, it opens with a nasty creak, and a woman appears on the threshold.

The woman looked at me from head to toe with a scrutinizing glance, then stepped back and shook her head, letting me in.

"Come in," her voice was too low and a little hoarse. "Now!" She barked the last word to me.

The last word she growled in my face like a wild animal, and I decided not to make her angrier, so I pressed the bundle harder against my chest and stepped inside.

As soon as I'm in the dark and musty room of the cabin, I hear the door close behind me with a loud sound, and a chill runs down my spine.

The woman, as if she didn't notice me, walks deep into the stove and starts stirring the wood.

And while she does not pay attention to me, I decide to look around. To my surprise, the hut inside was a little bigger than I thought it would be from the outside. To the left of the door was a huge stove, and it was the only reason why it was warm inside. There was a small square table in the middle, and a dilapidated old bed across from it. All the windows are covered with century-old dust and soot, so there are only a few candles on small wooden shelves on each wall.

But then, she turned her head sharply in my direction, so that I was afraid she might break her neck. A small candle flame reflected in her dark eyes. Her full gray hair was tied tightly behind her, and she wore a simple lace-up dress on her frail and emaciated body, and I'd say it was more of a nightgown than a dress. A black, slightly frayed scarf covers her shoulders. Thin, bony arms peek out from underneath it. And I am surprised to note that she has unusually long, and even though she is thin, graceful hands.

She frowns her eyebrows, and, keeping her gaze fixed on me, heads toward the table. With a loud grunt, she sits down in one of the chairs, and with her head points to the one and only chair across the table. I swallow nervously, but decide to do as she tells me.

We sit in silence for a few more minutes while Old Suir scrutinizes every inch of my face. And just as I was about to start talking, the woman spoke up:

"And what is the daughter of the famous hunter Sovera doing here?" the woman leans back and folds her arms across her chest, wheezing the question.

"Do you know who I am?" I ask in surprise.

"Of course I know you, Rin Sovera," Suir pauses for a moment, then continues. - There are rumors about you.

Oh, yes! How could I forget!

"And you believe all the rumors?" I repeat the pose of my companion without hiding my irritation.

"No," the woman shook her head with a chuckle. "What am I to rumors? Whoever wants to, so it is judged. And I know better than anyone how a simple word, thrown by someone in a joke, can ruin your life and turn into something you never wanted to be."