by Lady Virginia of Marmist
"Giddy up". She squeezed Fido harder with her knees so he would gallop faster.
She hadn't named him that of course. It was her little brother. She had received
the horse for a birthday gift and her brother had run into the barn yelling
“Fido!” and after that, the horse wouldn’t answer to anything else. That was
before the awful virus, the killer, before her mother sent her on this journey.
She knew she mustn’t think about this. It was in the past and she must keep her
mind on the here and now. Time was short and she must concentrate on her goal.
Pretty soon she once again fell into the rhythm of clopping hooves and clanking
reins. She only saw the narrow dirt road below her, the blue sky above her and
the endless forest beside her. Her stomach began to growl and she decided that
it would soon be time to stop for the night. She noticed that the terrain around
her was changing, the road becomin! g steeper. The coniferous trees were
becoming smaller and more numerous and the cold air was biting at her nose and
chin. Reaching for her woolly scarf to pull around her face, she nudged Fido to
a halt. The sun was setting fast and the sky was turning pink on the horizon.
She paused for a moment to look at the vibrant sky and then got moving. Quickly
she dismounted her horse, took off his saddle and blanket and began to set up
camp. She scurried around, hurriedly getting matches from her pack and gathering
dry wood and leaves to start a fire before the cold became unbearable. Finally,
she sat down to warm herself. Her mind began to wander and everything that
happened in the past few weeks came flooding back, however much she tried not to
think about it. An awful virus had struck her village and Great Aunt Millie was
last to fall ill. The village healing woman, who was her mother, had run out of
the critical ingredient for her healing potion. This potion would kill t! he
virus almost instantly, but the ingredients were in short supply and very hard
to come by. As her mother’s oldest child, she was sent to fetch the herb from
the city just north of her village, surrounding the castle. The castle was the
wonderful part of her dreadful voyage. She had never seen it, and had only heard
of its beauty. She had longingly looked forward to the moment she could see it
for most of her life. This would be her chance. She only wished she could look
at it without having to worry about her great aunt’s health. As her feet became
just too warm by the fire, she heard a mewing from her pack. She had almost
forgotten her faithful friend, Lune, named for the crescent on his forehead.
Glancing at this mark, and then at the one in the sky, she thought longingly of
home. Looking back at the cat she thought of when she had rescued the scrawny
cat when she was only ten. She had saved him from a roaming, hungry pack of dogs
that was passing through her villag! e. That was five years ago and her ginger
friend was no longer a kitten and he was her best friend, next to Fido. She
stood up from her fire, went to her pack and took Lune out. She got a slice of
cheese and one of meat to feed the animal and gave Fido his fill of grain. After
eating one of the sandwiches her mother made her, she settled down for a good
night's rest. The next morning she awoke with a start to see Lune ripping apart
a mouse he had caught. She looked on in disgust, as the animal’s insides became
a mutilated mess. She hated when he did this and wished he would spare her the
sight by eating it somewhere else. Not to mention she had brought plenty of food
for the both of them. Turing away from the awful view, she fed Fido and herself
once again, tore down camp and continued on her journey. She would soon reach
the city. As the road became wider, passersby became more numerous. She could
hardly contain her excitement. It was almost impossible to focus ! on her goal,
the village and sick Aunt Millie. "Excuse me." She looked up to see a tall,
sandy haired boy of about seventeen, on a beautiful horse with a mane and tail
like sand and a coat like the clouds. He also had a cat, pure black with eyes
that were a startling sapphire. He was giving her an odd look. Without noticing
she had wandered off in thought, as well as off the road. "Are you lost?" "Oh
dear," she said looking for the road. Clearly she had gone out of her way quite
far. "I was heading into town but I must not have been paying attention to where
I was going. Can you point me in the right direction?" No response came. Finally
she looked at him and noticed he was staring. Lune was staring right back. "Is
this your cat?" he asked. "Yes," she replied as he began to stroke him. "He's
very pretty. What's his name?" "It's Lune. Now could you kindly point me in the
direction of the road?" "Of course." He pointed off to the north and she trott!
ed off. At the last minute she turned back to thank him and he was nowhere to be
seen. It was as if he simply disappeared. "Oh well," she thought, blaming it on
the coldness, telling herself it was biting at her brain as well as her nose.
She road on a little further, seeing the tips of the castle’s towers becoming
closer every second. She would be there in no time. A few hours later she
approached the city gates and could hardly stifle her glee. She new the feeing
in her stomach was not hunger; mother had supplied her with plenty of food for
the road. She could already hear the noises of horses clopping, carts rattling
and the endless chatter of people buying and selling. As soon as she entered the
city she saw the castle towering above her. From her view at the edge of the
city she could see it at the center quit clearly, as it was so large. The castle
itself was more beautiful and wondrous than she could have imagined. It's tall
towers and high walls went on endle! ssly as though it were as big as the entire
city. She wished her sisters could be seeing it with her. It was pearly white
with rooftops as black as night. She wanted to stare longer at this magnificent
sight but she had no time to linger. Aunt Millie and her village were waiting.
Suddenly she realized she had never been in this city before and didn't know
where to go. Wandering the streets, she thought to ask for help, but a friendly
face could not be found. As people rudely brushed passed her she felt
insignificant and scared. She never new a place could be so big. What was she to
do? If only she had asked the sandy haired boy about an herb shop in the city.
Looking at Lune for some reassurance, she noticed a rolled up bit of paper tied
to his forepaw. Picking it up, she unrolled the crinkly note. In an untidy
scrawl there was written: Erva's Herb Hideaway Pike Street 5th building on the
left. On the back was: The sandy haired boy. "How?" She! thought but then
realized she had no time to consider how this happened. If she was to make it
out of the city by nightfall she had to hurry. Her mother had warned her of
things that went on in the dark streets of strange places, especially places as
big and crowded as this. She was simply terrified of staying too long. She found
the shop. It was a ratty old hut with only one door and no windows. The doorknob
was falling off and hanging by one rusty nail above the door was a sign that
read Erva’s Herb Hideaway. She tied up Fido and went inside. It was a musty
place and smelled strongly of garlic, with endless shelves along the walls
packed with everything from rosemary to rotten eggs. The latter reached her nose
with an awful stench and she couldn’t help gagging. Slamming behind her, the
door brought out an old woman. "Can I help you missy?" she crackled. Her curly
gray hair was pulled tightly into a bun and she wore a dress that was almost as
tattered as her face. ! "Yes," she stammered and reaching into her pocket, she
pulled out the piece of paper and showed it to the woman. “Are you Erva?” "Yes,
of course" muttered the old woman, "what do you need?" She told the woman what
her mother had asked for and as the herb woman shuffled into the back room she
mumbled something about meddlesome fools and what have they ever done for her
with a disgruntled look on her face Erva came back into the room with the herbs
and plopped them on the counter half-heartedly. "Here you go.” Croaked the
woman. She paid and quickly left the shop, thanking the old woman as she mounted
Fido. When she turned around she saw only an empty alley. Where was the store?
And Erva the herb woman? Then she realized there was no time to think about that
now. She had to get back to Aunt Millie. She quickly left the city and hurried
on her way, careful to watch where she was going. With one last glance at the
castle, the beautiful giant, she passed through the gates! , eager to get home.
Two days later her journey came to an end when she saw the familiar rooftops of
home and heard the mooing and clanking of Bessie, their milk cow. She put Fido
in the stable and hurried to tell her mother of her adventures and all about the
vanishing boy and shop. Suddenly she came to screeching halt. Standing in front
of the door was a man of about thirty. He put his finger to his lips and winked
at her. Slowly, right before her eyes she saw him change first into the old
woman and then into the sandy haired boy, then vanish. She couldn't believe her
eyes. Shaking, She pushed open the door and her hand rubbed against a piece of
paper. She hurriedly opened it and read: Don't tell On the back was: Erva the
herb woman The sandy haired boy She ran inside to bring mother the herbs
Story text © Lady Virginia of Marmist
© Lady Star