The Maid and The Selkie

Part 24

Macrae's home was built from the same fire that Macrae herself had been. That was the only explanation Elspeth could give for why the building was so warm. It was full of wonderful Cloakless things. There was dried meat stored in boxes, bread in baskets. There was a strange wooden stringed thing in the corner. When Elspeth ran her hand along the strings, it made a beautiful sound. "That's my harp," Macrae told her.

    As the day went on, Macrae explained why she was now alone. She told Elspeth of her brothers, her father, and the mother she had never known, barely holding her tears in at moments. They played music and sang all the songs Elspeth had learned.

Elspeth wondered long and hard that night how any of her people could fear the Cloakless.

    By sunset, Elspeth could feel the cold again. It was a weak pull, easy to ignore. Apparently, it was not as easy to hide. Macrae kept offering Elspeth blankets or shawls, anything made of warm, woven cloth. She would not say it to her friend, but Elspeth feared the Cloakless's cloths. After all, if her own cloak turned her, what would a Cloakless cloak do?

    After sunset, Elspeth warmed without cloth anyway. Although the dark did not bother her eyes, Macrae had to light candles in order to see. Elspeth stared at the little dancing flame, entranced. It was somehow different from the cooking flame of her childhood. She could see nothing else. She did not hear "Goodnight" or "please blow the candle out before you sleep". She vaugely felt the other candles being blown out, but she did not care. Her candle still burned.