The Green Witch

Chapter Fifteen

     It was the day of the dance.

     The family spent the morning working the farm as normal, and after lunch Tala, Dougal, Daisy and Brian bathed together in the washroom, each in their own tin bathtub.

     It was the first time Tala and Dougal had ever been naked together and the young witch took off her clothes slowly and nervously, expecting her fianceé (which was what he was, even though he'd never actually proposed to her) to stare excitedly at her body. Although he made no attempt to hide his occasional glances, though, she was relieved when he kept his eyes on hers most of the time while talking to her. It emboldened her, when Dougal got out of his bath, to take a quick look at his body in return, and when Dougal saw he just smiled distractedly. When you've shared beds and bath times with a brother and a sister, she supposed, the bare skin of other people just didn't have the same fascination it would have had for someone from a more modest household.

     Sarah had offered to let Tara wear one of her old dresses for the dance, and the two of them had spent the evening before taking it in to fit her. When she'd dried herself off, she and Sarah went into the clean living room and the woman who would soon become her mother-in-law helped her into it.

     "Pretty as a pin," said Sarah, stepping back to look at her. "Every young man will be looking at you. You just make sure to let them know you're already taken."

     "I will," Tala promised, looking at herself in the mirror. She picked up a comb and began running it through her hair. "I hardly recognise myself," she said.

     "You were pretty before and you're pretty now," Sarah told her. "Just a different kind of pretty. You too, Daisy."

     The thirteen year old smiled as she put on her own dress, which who'd spent the last few days making from a bolt of material her mother had taken from a storage closet for her. Tala thought she'd done a pretty good job. Sarah had clearly given her daughter plenty of advice and many suggestions, but Daisy had done all the actual work herself and Tala was impressed by the quality. The stitching was all out of sight, the seams straight and neat, and the overall design was pleasing to the eye. If she ever decided not to marry into a farming family, Tala thought she could make a pretty good living as a professional dressmaker.

     Dougal and Brian, on the other hand, hadn't bothered to procure special clothes for themselves. They were wearing their sunday clothes, the clothes they wore to church, although they were freshly washed and had had several small tears and bare patches repaired. "You didn't think I was worth the expense?" Tala teased him as they met up in the kitchen, all dressed and ready to leave.

     "The clothes aren't as important as the person inside them," Dougal replied. "So the question is, do you think the man wearing these clothes is worth your effort?"

     "Of course," Tala replied. "I just wish I'd known before we did all the work on this." She ran her hands down her dress. "I'd have gone in my working clothes."

     Dougal laughed and came forward to kiss her. He did it without asking, as if, having kissed her once, her lips now belonged to him and he could help himself to them any time he wanted. Tala felt a moment of annoyance at having her body intruded upon, but decided not to make an issue of it and kissed him back. She was going to marry him. It was necessary and unavoidable. She might as well get used to the idea.

     Drisco had already hitched the horse to the buggy and was waiting for them as they filed out into the yard. "What a fine looking bunch of kids," he said as they climbed aboard; Dougal and Tala in the front, Brian and Daisy facing backwards behind them. "You guys have fun, and make sure you're not too late back. We've got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow and you'll all need to be up early."