Birgitta the Nun

Part 5 - The Wizard

Birgitta turned to the young Madeleine as they continued along the corridor, abandoning the wizard and the guest room, "Right, let's resume your education. Where were we—yes, wizards, yes." Again she turned away, focused on the floor before her. "Do forget about wizards. They're not part of our cloistered life. If you want action, you're in the wrong place."

"Why did you become a nun?" Madeleine interrupted her mentor.

Birgitta gave a quick frown. "Because my parents were atheists." The reply was short but Madeleine let it not hang in the air—

"So you're a rebel?"

"No. Not really." Birgitta's face cleared, her eyebrows raised. "They showed me hell—and if hell exists so does heaven, and so does the mother of heaven."

"Why not become a priest? It would have been easier, less restricted—" Madeleine also raised her eyebrows, searched the face of Birgitta.

"Oh no. No. Priests are sociable creatures—and, as you can see," Birgitta indicated the two of them, "I'm not very good with people." She hurried her steps, stretched her legs away from Madeleine, settling the affair.

Madeleine followed suit, however, unsettling the affair. "Are you wicked, then?"

"Never, just bothered," Birgitta's voice was sharp but low. "And that is not a sin, if you ask me. Or the abbess." She made a second attempt at ending the conversation, to walk away, but Madeleine persisted—

"What did Hell look like?"

Birgitta stopped. She heaved a sigh and squared her shoulders, "It was dark, and full of spiders."

Madeleine gave a nervous laugh. "You did not grow up in the city, did you?" She blushed as she received the full focus of the elder.

"No, I did not. I grew up in a barn. Did you know that the devil has eight legs?"

"No—no, I didn't know that."

"Then you're as innocent as you look. And by innocent I mean ignorant."

Madeleine lowered her gaze, left out her last remark.

"In all respects—" Birgitta let her voice soften. "I think that'll do for today. It's late, and you've got a great deal to take in. You could always study on your own, you know. Yes?" She cocked an eyebrow and searched the face of Madeleine. "You're an independent being, after all - all grown up and—independent."

As it was, this put an end the interrogation, Birgitta was sure. She made a sharp right and took off down an adjoining corridor. Not looking back, she was sure to shaken off her protégée.

But no. Poor Madeleine persisted. She was faithful and she would follow.

A faint humming reached Birgitta's ears as she rushed through the corridor, took a right, rushed up a staircase. Wherever she went, the tune would follow. Down, ending in another flight of stairs—

An accident, however, would soon interrupt their exercise - in the middle of her humming, Madeleine, lost her balance, and slipped. She slid down the stairs on her heels, caught Birgitta on her way, and brought her down with her in the fall. They landed in a tumult at the foot of the stairs, Birgitta crying like a siren. She had lost her patience.

"Sorry Birgitta—I'm so sorry," Madeleine cried. "I was lost in my thoughts, I wasn't looking."

"You're not a monk, are you," Birgitta hissed. "Humming and pondering at the same time—you should know better. Now go and make yourself useful—water a plant or something."