The Maid and The Selkie

Part 13

The meetings at the shore lasted for the better part of a year and a half. Macrae snuck away from home whenever she could, always afraid that this meeting with Elspeth would be her last. Yet time after time, she came back to the strange girl waiting patiently on the beach. By the end of it, Elspeth could start a fire and sew. Macrae, on the other hand, was now armed with a multitude of stories and songs. It was the best year and a half Macrae could remember.

This meant, of course, that the day it ended was the worst day of Macrae's life.

She was skipping down to the beach, when she heard footsteps running behind her. Fearing it was one of her brothers, she stopped and hid in a bush. To her amazement, she watched a woman, quickly tearing off layers of clothing, making a mad dash toward the water. Macrae followed, as quickly and quietly as she could, until the edge of the forest.

Macrae stopped just inside the treeline, watching. Elspeth was there, like she always was. The woman ran up the Elspeth, only a heavy hide cloak left in her arms. She rushed to speak, in the same strange language Elspeth always spoke in. Only, Macrae couldn't understand it anymore. Elspeth argued back with the woman, and the only word Macrae understood was her own name.

The woman ignored Elspeth's protests, pulling her toward the water. Macrae's eyes started filling with tears. She shifted to a spot for a better view. In the seconds that Macrae's vision was blocked, Elspeth collected a cloak of the same hide as the woman. "Wait!" Macrae's voice came out much quieter than she wanted. She took a moment to compose herself. In that moment, the woman disappeared.
"Elspeth!"

The child stopped, cloak sitting unclasped across her shoulders, and looked to the forest. "Please, don't leave." Macrae couldn't move. Somehow, she understood then that she would not be seeing Elspeth for a long time, if ever. Elspeth simply shook her head sadly, and disappeared into the waves.

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Stubborn and stupid, Macrae didn't give up on Elspeth returning. For years, she returned to that beach, sometimes with food, and sometimes without. After a while, she stopped being surprised that no one was there. After a while, she stopped going all together.

Her life changed when she turned 13, and her oldest brother left to join a war. He didn't come back. Her family mourned, and moved on.

The next year, the second oldest brother left, his fate the same.

Her third brother followed their father to the sea two years after that.

Her fourth brother got sick. There was nothing anyone could do.

When she turned 16, the last of her brothers married a woman from the next village over, and moved across the lake with her to help her aging parents tend the family farm.

Macrae's siblings left the family home to her. She did her best, and thankfully no one took it from her. She got a job, helping the baker six days a week.