The Wise Women

Chapter 8

When Nesta woke again, the pale light of dawn shone through the windows. The cottage was empty but muffled voices and the gentle cooing of doves drifted in through the open door.

Fresh undergarments and a dark green tunic lay folded on the floor beside her makeshift bed. The smell of toast, eggs and cooked berries hit her nostrils, making her mouth water. How long had it been since she'd last eaten? She cast the blanket aside.

Nesta perched on a crate at the kitchen table and stared at a breakfast feast of thick porridge with cream and fruit, glistening poached eggs and doorsteps of buttered toast. She poured steaming herb-scented tea into an earthenware mug and lifted it to her mouth.

'Morning!' Leonia's hearty salutation made Nesta start. Her tea slopped on the table. The older woman's dark hair was twisted up into a bun. She rolled up the sleeves of her farmer's smock and hoisted two of the haversacks from the pile by the door onto her shoulders. The half-laden cart was just visible beyond the front door.

'Morning!' Nesta patted her scalded lips.

'When you've eaten, you can wash in the stream down the lane. We'll get going as soon as you're ready.'

Half an hour later, Nesta walked back up the lane towards the cottage, skin tingling from the cold stream water. In the front garden Leonia was hitching her dapple grey mare to the cart.

Nesta stepped over the crumbling wall into the backyard. Beside the dovecote, Theresa and Rosamund stared wide-eyed into the wood that bordered the tangled mess of an overgrown garden. Theresa bounced up and down on her heels, hands clasped in front of her mouth. Rosamund danced an excited little jig, her auburn corkscrew curls bobbing up and down on her shoulders.

'Hey, you two.' Nesta waved as she approached, 'What are you . . .?'

She trailed off. Both women had gone very still. Even the doves had fallen silent.

Two brilliant white horses stepped out of the trees and onto the lawn. Nesta stopped in her tracks, sensing the subtle change in the atmosphere they brought with them. They were unlike any horses she'd ever seen. Swishing their tails and snorting clouds of steam in the cool morning air, they seemed to glow with a mysterious luminescence as if they'd just emerged from another far purer world.

Time stood still. Theresa and Rosamund gazed at the horses, their faces shining with wonder. A tear glistened in Theresa's eye. One of the horses stepped forward and nuzzled her cheek. Theresa lifted her hand and caressed the animal's soft face with such tenderness, such exquisite tenderness. Nesta's heart swelled in sympathy. As she watched the tear spill down Theresa's face, her heart felt too big for her chest. The sweetness of the moment transported her to another, more rarefied plane.

'Hey, Nesta, Don't just stand there!' Leonia's barked instruction broke the enchantment. 'Get your haversack. We'll take the cart. Rosa and Tess will ride on the . . . horses.'

Jolted back to earth, Nesta blinked and looked around. Someone was missing. 'Where's Ada?'

'She's . . .' Leonia buckled the harness round the mare's flank. 'She'll meet us there. Tess! Rose! Saddle up, you two.'

Suddenly Leonia jerked her head round towards the road that led to the city gates. Nesta's gaze followed hers and a chill ran down her spine. Three figures in royal blue cloaks and iron helmets were riding down the hill towards them.

'Hurry up!' Leonia shouted, her voice high-pitched with panic. 'We've no time to waste.'
Fear crackled in the air between the four women. Nesta's skin turned to goose flesh. She scrambled for her haversack while Leonia threw the last of the bags into the back of the cart. Ada's two cats jumped in after them and prowled between the luggage, tails up, mewing loudly. Rosamund and Theresa fumbled saddles onto their horses. Leonia clicked her tongue, shook the reins and the four of them galloped off down the road away from the city, leaving the cottage door open in their haste.

*****

'We're alright.' Theresa rode up beside the cart. 'It's been an hour. If they were following us, we'd know it by now.' Leonia gave a tight-lipped nod. Keeping one hand on the reins, she unpinned the blue ribbon from her smock and tossed it into the ditch with a flick of her wrist. Theresa urged her horse forward and fell into step beside Rosamund's at a gentle ambling pace. Nesta sighed with relief as she felt Leonia's tension finally draining away. She watched out of the corner of her eye as her companion's wild-eyed, hunted expression relaxed into a smile.

It was time. Nesta had questions and they wouldn't wait any longer.

First and foremost: 'Leonia, where are we going?'

'To the Wise Women's Village. It's a way away, deep in the heart of the forest.'

'The Wise Women have a village?'

'Yes, it's where the Burned One lives. She's the head of our order.'

'The Burned One? Why do you call her that?'

'Oh, you'll meet her soon enough,' Leonia grinned wearily. 'Maybe I'll let her answer that question.'

'Okay,' Nesta sighed, 'Can you at least tell me more about the Village, then?'

'There are thirty or so Wise Women who live there permanently. The rest of us go and visit to train or seek guidance from the Burned One, to spend time with our sisters and recharge our spiritual energy before we move on to the next place. You know Wise Women are outlawed in every kingdom of Tarth. We can never stay in any one place too long. As soon as people start getting suspicious, we have to up sticks and move on.'

'Is that why you moved here from Frailing?'

She paused before answering. Her eyes shone with unshed tears.

'Yes.' Her voice was soft, wistful. 'I stayed too long really. I have family there — in Merlax. I was happy. But then,' She wiped her sleeve across her face. 'It was my own fault, I suppose. I saw a little boy get knocked over in the street by a runaway horse.' Leonia exhaled slowly. Nesta's heart twisted with her companion's pain but she willed her to continue. She wanted to know everything.

'He was very badly injured. People gathered round but they didn't know how to help. I couldn't bear to watch him suffer. So I healed him. Right there in the street, with everybody watching. When I'd finished, he was completely recovered. . . but the looks people were giving me!' She shook her head. 'I had to pack up and leave that night.'

'How awful for you.' Nesta knew more than most what that felt like.

'Why don't you all just go and live in the Village? You'd be much safer.'

Leonia sighed. 'Our mission is to heal the world. We can't do that by hiding away in the middle of the forest.'

The cart bumped along the country roads. The cats had curled up between the haversacks and gone to sleep. The two white horses and their riders strolled along in front. Another question pushed itself to the forefront of Nesta's mind.

'Last night you said I'd morphed. What does it mean? Have you seen it happen before?'

'No, never. But I have heard of it. It's a very rare gift that some Wise Women have . . .'

'Gift?' Nesta scoffed. 'Don't you mean "curse"?'

'It may feel like that now while you can't control it. But when you've trained with the Burned One and strengthened your inner self, you'll be able to hold on to your own form no matter how strong the emotional onslaughts you're faced with. And eventually, after years of serious training, you may even be able to take other forms at will. Only to achieve a higher purpose of course, and when there are no other options. Wise Women take an oath to use their powers only for good.'

Nesta couldn't imagine ever wanting to take on another form voluntarily and another question was lining up insistently behind the last.

'Why did Theresa say she's a danger to the people around her? Who are the Tiny Ones?'

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