Calanthe

Chapter I

Calanthe

A young woman of 16 summers swung a pail of water from her right hand with the rhythm of her steps. Her long blonde hair was tied back with a strip of brown cloth that only a few unruly wisps could escape. She crossed the muddy path towards a paddock that held five cows. There, a water trough stood. The woman peered into the trough and sighed in irritation when she saw it was already full from the rain. Her mother had sent her to fill the trough even though it had rained only hours earlier.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning illuminated the dreary day and the woman whipped her head up to the heavens in surprise. The thunder rolled past only two seconds later. The lightning storm was too close for her liking. Quickly, the young woman turned and ran across the slippery mud trail to make it home before the brewing rain clouds let loose.

One wrong step on the sodden ground made her right foot slide unexpectedly sideways, causing her to throw her arms out to balance herself. This sudden movement sent the pail into the air. The water inside sprayed out and doused the woman, causing her to shriek in surprise. Dripping wet, she waited a moment to collect herself. The shriek had disturbed a cow who let out a great moo. Jumping in surprise she turned around to look at the cow. It's great black eyes stared at her critically while it chewed thoughtfully on its cud. Appearing to lose interest in her, it bent down to nibble on the grass in front of it. The young woman turned back around and bent over to pick up the recently emptied pail before hurrying forwards again. Each step left a smudge in the mud and made a squelching sound. Her plain brown shoes soon had mud and dirt caked to them. The mud was reaching up the sides from the soles to try and find skin. In her hurried state her feet would accidentally flick up the soggy mud and it would soar in an arc to land on the back of her calves. Sometimes the mud droplets would soar high enough in their journey that they would land on the hem of her dress. In irritation the young woman hoped for rain so that she would be able to use fresh water to wash herself, her shoes and her dress. The clouds chose that moment to grant her wish by letting loose the droplets they had been clutching.

Heavy drops fell from the sky thick and fast. Another sound of thunder rolled through the land as the young woman kept her head down and jogged towards shelter. Soon she was soaked to the bone. The cream dress hung limply to her and the hem dripped with the rain. Her blonde hair turned dark and plastered itself to her head and the bits that were not restrained stuck to her dripping face.

Reaching the door to her hut she knocked on it and waited. When it opened, candle light spilled out onto the muddy ground. A short, plump woman stood there clutching a handkerchief. When she took in the sight of the young woman she gasped in horror. "Calanthe! How could you get yourself so wet?" Calanthe answered by looking up to the clouds that were still letting their torrent down. The short women harrumphed before replying "Well, you are not coming in here like that."

"But the rain will not stop for hours and it is nearly nightfall, where shall I sleep?" Calanthe asked, her patience waning thin. The woman pointed to the stables before shutting the door in her face. Calanthe's face heated up in indignation before she turned and followed the direction the plump woman had pointed.

As Calanthe made her way to the stables she felt her hot tears of frustration mingle with the rain dripping down her face. Elfreda wasn't her real mother but she had raised Calanthe since she arrived with the Lord Hereric when she was only six summers old. She had been orphaned and captured to be kept as a slave. Elfreda and her husband Edric worked on the Lord's farmstead and took Calanthe in. They were the closest to parents that the young woman had. But she was not happy with her life, as most slaves weren't, for obvious reasons. Elfreda and Edric had talked about ,adopting her and buying her freedom but the fact was that they would never be in possession of such money. Calanthe thought selfishly, at times like this, that sometimes her adoptive parents didn't want her to be free. As long as she was a slave they could still make her obey them and do the tasks that they didn't want to do themselves.

The dripping Calanthe ran towards the barn like a crazed woman. She finally reached the old wooden door and tried to tug at it to open it. The barn was only opened during the winter and was used only as storage space during the summer months. The heavy doors were jammed and would not open for Calanthe. Holding back a scream of irritation, Calanthe ran around the back of the structure. Because she grew up on the farm she had spent many hours exploring the land until she knew every nook and cranny of every building and every bush and tree on Lord Hereric's farm. She knew that there was a small gap that she used to be able to squeeze through underneath a few of the wood panels on the back wall. When she was younger she used to squeeze through the gap and hide inside when Edric or Elfreda were angry with her. The last time that she had tried to squeeze through was a year ago and she had only just fit through, with the help of one ripped and ruined dress from the experience. That event was not warmly welcomed when she had gone home and she had to do double the chores for three months just to pay for the ruined dress. Luckily she was saved from a beating from Edric and his short temper by Lord Hereric's monthly check in to the running of the farmstead. Not caring for a second round of punishment Calanthe hoped that the rain would help her slip through the gap because the sodden dress was stuck to Calanthe's body like a second skin. She was glad when she realised her state of dress that Cedric, the Lord's son, would be indoors.

Cedric was a constant tormentor to Calanthe. He was two years her senior and loved to embarrass and ridicule her. Unfortunately he was the only person who treated her like she existed, apart from her adoptive parents. Everyone else would avert their eyes when they caught sight of her. A slave was the lowest in ranking in their society and was only just higher in level to a common rodent. Calanthe was grateful to Elfreda and Edric because they protected her from much of the issues that plagued other slaves. She always had suitable clothing and she was educated on as much as Elfreda and Edric knew, which was little but much more than other slaves. Somehow Calanthe had not yet fallen prey to a man's lust as she had seen happen to other female slaves. She credited this to Edric's standing in the village. He was a well respected man, despite his temper, for being a peacemaker. He would break up fights and try to stop crimes from occurring. Calanthe was just surprised that he had not yet discovered his own wife's criminal behaviour. Calanthe knew that Elfreda would steal from the late Lady Cybiburg's possessions to sell on the black market. The Lady had died in childbirth only a couple years after Calanthe was captured. The child had died also and that was the final straw in dowsing the fire inside the fearsome Lord Hereric. He had only one child who was Cedric. He had never remarried after his wife and child's death because he closed off. Lord Hereric was now only seen at the monthly check on his farmstead. Cedric had free rein over all his fathers lands and did what he pleased without any cares. The boy grew up to be arrogant and obnoxious and terrorise Calanthe with rude remarks which would make her cheeks flame red.

Crouching on all fours, Calanthe peered at the wooden boards to find the gap to squeeze through. Her fingers felt around the boards searching for the familiar gap. Feeling the familiar grooves underneath the boards she lay down and wedged herself through the tight gap. Indeed the sodden clothes did aid her in getting through the small space, for, with only some struggle of squeezing her flesh through, she was able to slip inside. Finally with shelter from the rain Calanthe had a chance to dry. Peeling off her clothes, she squeezed them so that water dripped out and ran out back through the gap. Then she took several steps into the room and laid them out flat on the ground to dry. Hay was stacked to the left back of the barns walls and an assortment of farming tools were carefully stored around the rest of the shed. Gingerly, Calanthe took a few steps towards the hay piles before gaining speed to sprint to the hay in eagerness. She dived in and although she got itchy and had red scratches all over she was finally warm. Slowly her tired eyes closed and she slept.