Calanthe

Chapter III

Calanthe

The next morning Calanthe awoke to the sun streaming through one of the cracks in the barn doors and straight into her blue eyes. Blinking the sleep from them, she sat up and looked around her. The hay poked into her skin from all angles making her realise her state of dress. Scanning the barn she spotted her clothes lain out on the floor and dashed to them. Picking up her dress she examined it. It was slightly damp to her touch. Calanthe turned it around to examine the back, the side that had been lying on the ground. She let out a grown of regret when she noticed that the whole back was covered in muck from the ground, as were all her other garments. Shuddering as she put each piece of moist clothing on, she then tried to dust the dirt off each one. The feeling of still damp clothes brought Calanthe fully awake and aware of her groaning stomach. She hadn't had any dinner the night before and was starving. She needed to get back to the hut to break her fast.

From the inside of the barn she was able to push the doors open. She was not taking her chances with the gap at the back again. Fresh air and sunlight greeted her when she stepped through the doors and outside. She took a few moments to appreciate the day. The storm must have stopped sometime during the night. Big puddles littered the ground and the bright, warm sun revealed a rainbow. She turned and shut the doors behind her again and set off at a brisk walk towards her home. She had to take extra care to avoid all the puddles and extra muddy spots.

...

"It may be a Sunday but that doesn't  mean there's any rest for us.
Get up, get up, you silly girl!
Stop dawdling. Go and feed the chooks."

The words shot out of Elfreda's mouth as they usually did after a meal. Something about time pausing when everyone sat down to eat made her antsy. Maybe it was because she had no children of her own that she could fuss over. All her attention was instead on working. If Calanthe was still a child then maybe things would be different. Calanthe often wondered why her step parents never had any children of their own. Calanthe knew that Elfreda wanted to be a mother, otherwise she wouldn't have 'adopted'. She guessed that maybe they couldn't have children. That would explain why she was always so keen to babysit or hold a child and Calanthe had noticed that she had tears in her eyes some of those times.

"Move it" The sharp words interrupted Calanthe's thoughts. She rose out of her seat to collect a basket for eggs and a bucket of scraps to feed the chooks. She started off towards the chicken pen. "Make sure you don't feed them onion! I don't want Lord Hereric to eat the one egg we don't sell to the market which just happens to..." Elfreda yells were soon too far in the distance behind Calanthe to be audiable.

Leaning against a tree outside the chicken enclosure was Cedric. Calanthe took an audible intake of breath "Go away Cedric."

"What are you going to do? It's my land." Sighing, Calanthe continued to throw the scraps into the ground around the chicken enclosure. She was not in the mood for Cedric at that moment. She ached all over from the new sleeping arrangements the night before. Cedric pushed his straight brown locks out of his eyes. His sparkling brown eyes watched her intently.
"You have such lovely fair hair, Calanthe. It is such a shame that Saxon girls don't share the same trait."
"Ah, but I love their brown hair Cedric. The rich girls decorate it so nicely and it goes lovely with all the nicest colour dresses and accessories."
"Their hair may be fine but it is yours which intrigues me. Imagine if I had children running around with blonde hair? I'm sure the boys could have any pick of woman and if there were girls they could find themselves a rich husband."
"But Cedric, you yourself do not have blonde hair. How do you suppose your children would get it." Calanthe wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. All the talk of hair bored her. She walked over to the chicken house and reached in.

"Well, of course I'd have to have children with a fair haired woman. She'd have to be-" Calanthe pulled out five round, unblemished eggs "-beautiful, of course. Obedient, definitely. Yet their is something about the disobedient women. Much more entertaining to... argue with." Calanthe put the eggs in her basket "She would have to be able to provide me with many children. I, myself, have had such a lonely childhood. At least six children would do." Cedric paused waiting for some sort of reply. Calanthe spoke just to give the appearance of interest. "And what gender would you want those children to be?"

"Ah, yes. Four strong boys. Two girls, although I'm not particularly sure if I would need them, but I would have loved a sister." Cedric grew quite then. Calanthe started to crawl on her knees around the outside of the chicken hut. There was always one chicken who chose to lay her egg outside.

"This is quite the view." Cedric commented. Calanthe felt his eyes fixed firmly to her bottom. Her face grew hot with embarrassment. In her current position she had her back facing him. She was on all fours and gave him a perfect view of her behind. Spotting the egg she quickly grabbed it and put it in her basket. Then she stood up and spun around to face Cedric. His uprooted gaze rose, briefly pausing before continuing back to her face. His intense stare made her shift her feet uncomfortably. "You are beautiful Calanthe" whispered Cedric. Turning pink, Calanthe left in a hurry. She was suddenly anxious to make it back to her home and to any other chores that awaited.