In The Woods Somewhere - The Books Of Beginning AU

4. Into The Woods

Granny Peet's home was small, old, and one of the most comforting places in the entire world, at least according to Gabriel. She'd taken him in when he was a pre-teen, despite having already been getting on in years back then, after his parents died in a car crash on a mountainous road. He'd spent his teenage years living there, sleeping on the pullout-couch and learning both how to cook and how to care for others by Granny's side. In her kitchen, packed with drying herbs and potted plants, hand-scrawled recipes and brewing broths that perfumed the air with the smell of spices and meat, he had always felt wholly safe. 

Now, for the first time, he stood in this place of sanctuary and paced, frightened. Though the smell of the rosemary Granny was drying by the window managed to ease some of the stiffness from his shoulders, it was not enough to banish the bone-deep worry over Michael and Emma's wellbeing. Were they unharmed, wherever they were? Had they been separated or were they still together? Were they every bit as afraid as he was?

"Gabriel," Granny Peet said, kind but stern, "I love you very much, and I understand your fear, but please, stop stomping about. You're shaking the cabinets, and you're bound to knock something over if you keep it up. I'd rather not have to deal with a broken cast iron skillet, thank you."

He scowled, but did as the old woman said, pausing his pacing in favor of leaning against the counter, looking at Granny and Kate, who were seated at the ancient kitchen table. The two were carefully packing bottles and tins in Kate's backpack, all containing the homemade remedies that Granny Peet was well know for. 

(If Dr. Pym was the spiritual authority of Cambridge Falls, their own personal brand of priest, Granny Peet was the local witch doctor - though she preferred to be called a wisewoman. She was incredibly knowledgeable about medicinal plants, and she was also reputed to commune with some of the preternatural forces in the forest. She created remedies and healed injuries, and it was well known among these parts that if you were in a pinch and couldn't get out of town to the hospital, your best option was Granny Peet.)

"You've got tinctures for skin irritation and sprains, a potion to combat ingested toxins - might be useful for fending off evil spells, too - a salve for cuts, some extra herbs in event of breathing problems or concussions, and bandages; I know you've packed some of those yourself, but you can never have too many," Granny Peet told Gabriel as Kate zipped up her bag.

"Thank you," Gabriel said, and he could feel his prickly mood softening. After the morning he'd had, being inundated with the passiveness and pity of the townsfolk, the desperation of Dr. Pym, the way everyone was already talking about the children like they were lost forever, and the mere existence of Declan fucking Rourke, he had been feeling particularly temperamental. But here was Granny Peet, who had always looked out for him, who now looked out for his children, who was the one person besides himself and Kate who would not give up on Michael and Emma. "You're truly the best."

"I know," Granny said, voice soft and kind where it usually would've been proud and wry. She reached over the table and took Kate's hand. "If I were younger, I'd go with you two in a heartbeat, but..."

She sighed and glanced down at herself. Though the old woman had one of the keenest minds in the world, though her soul was that of a warrior's, she was still confined by the limits of her body. She had retained her arm strength and deft hands through the years, but she also had developed aching knees and back pain, limiting her mobility. (If she could, she would traipse through the woods and fend off monsters with just her incantations, her knowledge of herbs, and some well timed blows of her frying pan, but she couldn't do that. She would only slow Gabriel and Kate down. So instead of accompanying them, Granny Peet settled for preparing them.)

"You're doing more than enough," Kate reassured her adoptive grandmother. "Besides, someone has to keep an eye on the town while Gabriel and I are gone."