A Country Life

CHAPTER 18 - ELIZABETH

Lizzy stirred from her slumber, rising slowly into a drowsy half-awake awareness, warm and comfortable and snugly wrapped from head to toe in a thick blanket, safe and secure in her bunk and lulled back towards sleep by the sound of water rushing past the hull of the Guillemot as it took her steadfastly onwards towards the far horizon and the promise of adventure and discovery that lay beyond. The creak of ropes and pulleys in the rigging, muted talk from the crew on deck, and the thump of her father's feet as he tried in vain to move quietly around the great cabin were a comfort to her, familiar and reassuring.

And all of it wrong.

The sound of running water was the sound of wind in trees and rain falling on a roof of thin thatch. The creak of ropes was the creak of hinges as the poorly fitting door of the hut blew open and closed, and the muted talk and stamp of boots came from outside and within the hut, as whoever had come in through the door and left it open walked over to where Lizzie lay wedged against the wall and half under a rough wooden table. Even the blanket wasn't the comfort of her dream - it was stiff and itchy, and there were things crawling around in it that made her scratch and itch even more, but at least it was warm, and for that she was thankful.

Two days and three nights had passed since Lizzy had been brought to Ghostwood by the woodsman, Venyamin. In that time, Lizzy had been told many things about the people who had captured her friends and father that she found hard to believe were true, things which frightened and appalled her in equal measure. She found what she was being told too difficult to believe; too outlandish and bizarre, and she had refused to accept it until she was shown the evidence of what they had done and were doing still to defenceless and vulnerable children. An image of the girl came back to her, dead eyed and listless, living yet not alive - a plague-wraith, beautiful and delicate, but broken beyond all hope of repair.

"Elizabeth, it is time."

Lizzy wiped tears from her eyes before emerging from the blanket and peering up at Venyamin, who stood over her dressed in his coat adorned with talismans. In his hands he held her clothes, washed and dried in preparation for the trip they were about to embark upon.

"I leave these here for you. When you are ready, come to the meeting house, Napravljat."

Venyamin using the name the clan elders had chosen to call her brought to the forefront of her mind the responsibility placed upon her by the clan Seaward. The thought of her being given such responsibility, and so unexpectedly, was strange and confusing. Stranger still, after only two days among these proud and kindly people, she found herself being referred to as leader; one of a select group that decided on matters of import to the clan. The other elders - a group that included Venyamin and two brothers who had been with Venyamin in the woods above the bay when Lizzy first met him - were all men, some in quite frail health. The clan had always been led this way she was told; the more experienced and wiser men naturally becoming clan elders, the honour passed on between father and son from one generation to another. Rarely had there been any women in the group - the clan retained a mentality from early on in its founding, when times demanded a war-like mindset; for predominantly male leadership. Yet the whole clan had accepted the elders proclamation that she, a thirteen year old girl just arrived from a far away country, would be the clan's leader and guide - Napravljat - whose purpose would be the finding and return of clan Seaward's lost children.

Lizzy discarded her blanket, then washed her face in a bowl of water to remove the salt of her tears, and wake herself fully for the day ahead. She had arrived at the Ghostwood holdfast wondering only how she would rescue her father and friends, and return home to Boston. Now she was the guide and leader of a whole community who had never met her three days ago. But then, as she'd learnt soon after arriving, some in the clan had known a lot about her for months.