Harmon paused in mid-step and then turned to face his daughter. “Why do you ask?” His eyes had a strange look in them. He wondered why Ashley had asked that question.
“Just curious how you know so much about the dragon,” Ashley responded, not wanting to tell her father that the dragon had spoken to her. “Did the dragon speak to our ancestors?”
“Dragons only speak to very powerful sorcerers and even then the sorcerer has to have a special ability to allow them to hear the dragons. In our long family history, only one of our ancestors had that ability. He was the one Snowden spoke to when he first came to our valley.”
Ashley nodded to herself. But her father had said only truly powerful sorcerers could hear the dragon. If that was so, then how could she hear Snowden? Her secret powers of sorcery weren’t that strong. There was a mystery here that needed to be solved, and only by returning to the cave could she solve it.
“We need to hurry,” her father said, starting back down the mountain. “You’re mother will be waiting.”
-
When they reached home, her father and Stephen went into the study, and Ashley went to help her mother with supper. Entering the kitchen, she saw that supper was nearly done.
“I was wondering when you three were going to make it back,” Katrina said. She was standing next to the large wood cook stove stirring a large pot of stew.
“You want me to stir that, mother?” Ashley asked as she stood next to the stove, breathing in the tantalizing smell of the stew. Her mother was a great cook and just smelling the stew made Ashley feel instantly hungry.
“Go ahead and start setting the table, dear,” her mother replied, smiling. “Where did you ride today?”
“Just around,” Ashley replied, not wanting to worry her mother about being up on Beaver Mountain.
“It was a nice day to go out riding,” continued her mother, taking a small wooden spoon and sampling the stew. “Needs a little more salt. I noticed your father and Stephen went out riding today also.”
“That’s what Stephen said,” Ashley replied, not wanting to say much more.
She placed four large wooden bowls on the table and then put a medium size spoon next to each. Going to the pantry, she took out a loaf of bread that she had helped her mother bake the day before. Returning to the table, she set the bread on a cutting board and took out a sharp knife from a drawer. Ashley began carefully to cut the bread into eatable slices.
Her father and Stephen came in just as her mother began ladling generous portions of the steaming stew into the waiting bowls on the table.
“Stew!” Stephen said with a big grin. Stew the way his mother cooked it was one of his favorite meals. Reaching for his spoon, he was soon deep into his bowl, pausing only long enough to take an occasional bite of bread.
“So where did you ride today?” asked Katrina, looking over at her husband.
Harmon paused with his spoon halfway to his mouth. “We rode over to the base of Beaver Mountain. There are some old trees over on one of the lower slopes I would like to cut down. We can use them to build a small barn in the far meadow for our cattle. The winters have been so bad recently that our cattle could certainly use the added protection.”
“Yes, they could,” replied Katrina, smiling. Her husband was always worried about their animals.
Katrina noticed that Stephen’s bowl was nearly empty. Standing up, she filled it again. He certainly had a healthy appetite. “So did anything interesting happen today?”
“Not really,” replied Harmon, smiling at his wife. “I showed Stephen a few sorcery spells he could use, and I told him a little of our old family history.”
“More old stories,” Katrina said with a laugh. “I hope you didn’t bore Stephen to death.”
The four finished their meal and afterwards, Ashley did the dishes while her mother and father sat outside on the porch swing watching the sunset. Living in the valley, the sunsets were gorgeous. The sun would little by little set behind the mountains and the darkening shadows would slowly march down the slopes.
-
After doing the dishes, Ashley took a quick shower. Her father had rigged up a system where water was brought to the house and stored in several large wooden barrels up off the ground. The water was heated by the sun and brought into the house by a system of wooden pipes. During the summer, they could enjoy taking a relaxing shower every so often.
Returning to her room, Ashley pulled back her blankets and paused in surprise. There was an old book laying there. Picking it up, she saw that it was a sorcery book. She opened the book and glanced at several of the pages. This book was used to train new sorcerers.
She felt panic for a moment. There were only three people who could have put that book there. She didn’t think it could be Stephen, he would have just handed her the book. It also couldn’t be her father. He had spoken often enough about why women weren’t allowed to use sorcery. That only left her mother. Ashley sat down on the bed, deep in thought. How had her mother found out, and how had she managed to sneak this book out of the study? It had taken Ashley nearly two months to manage to get the current one she was using from her father’s study. She was always careful to choose one that her father wouldn’t miss.
Her mother had never said anything to Ashley about sorcery. Katrina was extremely proud of what her husband could do and had been very encouraging toward Stephen. Ashley wondered what she had done to give herself away. She just hoped that her mother would keep her secret. Judging from the way the book had been hidden under the blankets, her mother didn’t intend to let Ashley’s secret out.
Ashley took the book and opened one of the drawers on her dresser. She carefully hid the precious book beneath several sweaters. Making sure it was out of sight; she shut the drawer and returned to her bed. After blowing out the lamp, Ashley lay down to go to sleep. Just as she was falling asleep, she felt a thought invade her mind. “Come see me soon, I can help you.”
Snowden, Ashley realized, her eyes coming wide open. The dragon could communicate with her clear from its lair on Beaver Mountain! Ashley knew that sometime soon she would have to return to the mountain. Somehow, she felt that Snowden and she had a destiny to share together; something important the two of them were meant to do.
After a few more minutes, Ashley felt herself drifting off to sleep. Snowden and the sorcery book would have to wait until morning. She was too tired to think about either until she had a good night’s sleep.
-
In his lair on Beaver Mountain, Snowden stirred, sleepily. The strengthened spell from the crystal allowed Snowden to sleep for long periods without the need to hunt. Snowden was also dimly aware of his surroundings and could rouse himself any time he wanted, something he had never revealed to the sorcerers that came to his cave every so often to renew the sleeping spell. The young girl who had come into his lair earlier had been a pleasant surprise to Snowden. He could detect the stirrings of the power within the girl. Very powerful stirrings; stronger than any he had ever detected outside the great mountain. This girl was very special, and Snowden knew that he could help her. Well did he remember the lessons that his friend Cathy had studied. With his help, this young girl could become a very powerful sorceress and a much-needed friend to the dragon.
Chapter Four
Several weeks passed quickly by. Ashley stayed busy helping her mother and working the family’s large garden. The excess vegetables from their garden were traded at the general store in Plainview. Ashley’s father and brother had been busy checking the fences and getting things ready for the coming winter. Very soon, the trees would be taking on their fall foliage with all the browns and golds that made fall so breathtaking in the valley. They had even laid out the floor of the new barn they had told Katrina they were going to build.
Each evening, when Ashley was finished with her chores, she would sneak off to the barn and climb up into the hayloft. She spent a lot of time studying the new sorcery book. The spells and instruct
ions in the book were well written and easy to follow. It was obvious that someone who was highly experienced in sorcery had written it.
So far, no one in her family had admitted or given any sign that they had placed the book on her bed. Her mother, father, and brother all acted as if they had no knowledge of the sorcery book. Ashley still felt fairly certain it had been her mother, but Katrina had never said a word or given a hint that she knew Ashley had any powers of sorcery.
Taking a deep breath, Ashley sat down on a bale of hay and opened the sorcery book to the spell she was currently trying to master. There was still enough light coming in through the open windows of the barn to allow her to read the ancient words easily. She spent a few minutes going over the spell and practicing the complicated hand gestures that went with it. There were also a few words that had to be spoken. When she was confident that she had the spell memorized, she closed the book and repeated the spell once more.
Carefully putting the spell book back up in its hiding place, she descended the ladder from the hayloft and returned to the garden. Looking around to make sure no one was watching she pulled her light blue amulet from beneath her blouse. Holding her amulet in her left hand, she slowly began constructing the weave for the spell. Ashley closed her eyes. She had found that with her eyes closed it helped with her concentration and allowed her to better focus on the spell.
She pictured in her mind the completed weave of the spell and the magical energy lines needed to construct the pattern. When it was nearly complete, she spoke the words needed to activate the spell. Opening her eyes, she cast her completed spell at the garden.
Her eyes widened as she saw the leaves on the plants actually begin to shimmer. She could swear that the plants were actually growing larger. Bending down, she gazed at a small, three-inch cucumber. Even as she watched, the cucumber seemed to begin to grow and shortly was a good five inches in length. The same thing was happening throughout the garden to all the plants and vegetables.
The spell she had cast was supposed to stimulate plant growth. She had expected the growth to take effect over several days, not immediately. After another minute, the spell began to fade away. Ashley looked around the garden in amazement; she could hardly believe what she was seeing. The garden was full of vegetables ready to harvest. The plants looked healthier and larger than they had just a few short minutes ago. She would have a lot of work to do tomorrow picking the garden. She also wondered how she would explain the sudden garden growth to her parents. Hopefully they wouldn’t notice anything.
“This spell really worked!” mused Ashley aloud, surprised at the spell’s strength.
It was strange that her father had never mentioned this spell before. It could really help with growing food. She also wondered why she had never seen her father use it.
The door slamming startled her, and she glanced guiltily toward the house. There was no one there. Ashley wondered if someone had been watching her and knew she had just cast a spell. Was it her mother?
Someone whistling down by the barn drew her attention from the house and the speculation about her mother. Stephen was coming around the barn with his horse, pulling a small cart loaded down with firewood. Ashley watched as Stephen stopped next to a large pile of wood and began unloading the wagon.
Ashley walked down toward Stephen. She was still wondering if anyone had been out on the porch watching her. She needed to be more careful when she was practicing her sorcery. It definitely hadn’t been Stephen.
“Need some help?” Ashley asked her brother. She knew he had been working extremely hard with their father the last few days. Sometimes, Ashley was glad she was a girl.
“Sure,” Stephen replied glad that his sister had come down to the growing pile of wood to help. He had spent the latter part of the afternoon with their father chopping firewood. His job now was to get it all hauled in so they could begin splitting it. “Have you been working in the garden?”
“Yes,” admitted Ashley, casually. “It’s really putting on the vegetables. I could use some help tomorrow picking everything.”
“I can help some in the morning,” Stephen replied as he tossed several large logs on top of the growing pile. He stopped and wiped his brow. “Tomorrow afternoon I have to chop more firewood with Dad.
Ashley went to the back of the wagon and helped her brother pick up several of the larger logs. “I would really appreciate that, Stephen. We should have quite a lot of vegetables to trade at the general store. Maybe Mom will let us get something.”
“I sure wish they had those fruit drinks that Todd bought for us over at Glendon,” Stephen said ruefully. “Those were really good.”
“Yes, they were,” agreed Ashley, recalling their meeting with Todd. “I wonder how Todd is doing? He seemed like a nice person.”
“He’s a lot nicer than his brother,” muttered Stephen, shaking his head. “I think Edward is going to be a problem someday. Dad says that the Sorensons are becoming more demanding on their side of the valley.”
“I just hope they stay on their side of the valley,” Ashley responded. She was worried about Edward also.
She was afraid that when Todd’s brother got older he might be a problem. He didn’t seem like one to keep his sorcery in check. He had already demonstrated that in his harassment of Stephen. They would have to be extremely careful whenever they went to Glendon.
“They wouldn’t dare come over to our side of the valley without permission,” spoke Stephen, stopping just long enough to wipe the sweat from his brow. “Dad feels pretty confident about that, but I can tell that he’s worried.”
Ashley nodded as she listened to her younger brother. Her father hadn’t said much about the Sorensons recently. Evidently, since Stephen and he were together so much, he had said something to Stephen.
“How are your sorcery lessons going?”
“Dad and I spend an hour every night practicing my sorcery,” Stephen said as he reached for another log. “Dad also talks a lot while we’re out working. I think he’s going to meet Uncle Mark and Uncle Robert in Plainview in a few days to discuss the Sorensons.”
“Does Dad think the Sorensons might bother us?” asked Ashley, feeling concerned. The Sorensons very seldom ventured into the Andrews’ part of the valley just as the Andrews didn’t venture into the Sorensons’ part.
“Dad says it’s because of Edward,” responded Stephen, pausing for a moment to catch his breath. He was glad that Ashley had come over to help him. “Edward already has very powerful abilities. From what Dad heard in Glendon, Edward may be the most powerful sorcerer born into the Sorenson family in generations.”
“He’s expecting trouble,” Ashley responded not liking what she was hearing. She wished she could speak with Todd. He had seemed so levelheaded. Perhaps he could tell her what was going on.
“I think so,” Stephen replied as he and Ashley pulled the last log out of the wagon and carried it over to the large pile. “I don’t think Dad is expecting trouble anytime soon, but when Edward gets older there could be problems, perhaps in Glendon.”
“Let’s hope not,” replied Ashley, putting her hands on her hips and looking at the large pile of firewood. Her father and Stephen were going to have a lot of log splitting to do. She didn’t envy them at all. Splitting all these logs was going to be hard work.
Ashley knew the Sorensons and the Andrews had not been close for generations. She didn’t know what had caused the problems in the beginning, but the distrust had been passed down over the generations. That was one reason why the Sorensons were on one end of the valley and the Andrews were on the other. Glendon was supposed to be neutral territory. But after what she had experienced and seen the last time they had been to Glendon with Edward, Ashley wondered if that were true anymore. She wondered if the Sorensons now considered Glendon part of their end of the valley.
-
Ashley, Stephen, and both of her parents were in the large wagon. Ashley tried to wriggle around on the lightly cush
ioned seat to get more comfortable. She could feel every bump on the well-traveled road. Her father had slowed the horses down when her mother had complained about several bone jarring jolts. They were going to Plainview to trade their vegetables, as well as some other farm products.
It was early morning with just the slightest hint of a chill in the air. Since the valley was enclosed by mountains, the mornings this time of year as they entered fall could be quite cool. It was still a good three to four weeks before they would experience their first freeze. But winter would be here soon, and then the first snow.
The countryside around them was still a lush green, with the trees just showing a hint of their fall colors. Ashley moved her hand to the top of her blouse and touched her amulet, hidden beneath. She knew that very soon she needed to return to Beaver Mountain. That mysterious message from Snowden still haunted her every night. Why did the dragon want her to come to his lair? She wasn’t frightened; it didn’t mean her any harm. She had sensed that in that brief contact. Ashley knew she had to get to the dragon’s lair before the first snow flew. Once it began to snow, then Snowden’s lair would be out of reach until late spring.
“I wish this road wasn’t so bumpy,” her mother complained, holding on to her husband’s arm as the wagon bounced slightly. “Is there any way you could use your sorcery to smooth it out?”
Harmon laughed and reached over and patted his wife on her leg. “Just enjoy the ride. It’s not every day we get to ride in the wagon together, and it’s really nice this morning. Not much of a breeze, and not too warm.”
“Yes, it is,” replied Katrina, looking back behind her at the kids in the second seat. “I just don’t want to bounce one of the kids out.”
“We’re fine, mother,” responded Stephen, grinning. He knew Ashley didn’t care for all the bumps either.
As they reached the village, Ashley noticed there were other farmers bringing their excess crops in also. Several other wagons were already pulled up to the general store and being unloaded. She knew there were several large underground root cellars behind the store as well as several solid storage buildings for the excess crops. That way the vegetables and other farm products could be kept safely stored until they were needed during the winter. Her father stopped their wagon behind the others and climbed down. The storeowner, Alfred Dotson, met him before he had taken more than a few steps.
Snowden the White Dragon Page 5
