A Tiny Bit Mortal

by Lindsay Bassett

  “Nothing.” I whispered back. “Now we run.”

  We ran north for hours, with the blur of night in the periphery. We ran past a few lakes, crossed a river, and as the landscape changed I recognized we’d just passed from California into Oregon.

  As the sun began to rise, we climbed to the peak of a small mountain. We stopped at the summit. I looked to the west, knowing that my Dad’s house and the Hall of Elders were in that direction. Vidar stopped next to me.

  He looked me up and down. “Interesting dress.” he said, with his eyes locked onto my breasts that showed through the fabric.

  Looking down, I blushed. The chill of the air and my aching body quickly overshadowed my self consciousness. “Stop staring.” I said.

  Vidar looked away and laughed. He paced back and forth and then stopped behind me. I felt a tug on my hair and then whipped around to see him drop a strand of my hair.

  “You remind me of someone.” I said. He gave me a questioning look. “He looks a bit like you.” I said. “He sits in the Hall of Elders.”

  “What is the Hall of Elders?” he asked.

  “It wasn’t around before you were imprisoned?” I asked.

  “No.” he said

  Describing the Hall of Elders in detail to him, I included the “test” they had given me. Vidar’s face looked grim.

  Then I described to him the bearded man in the hall that reminded me of Vidar. His face transformed from the grim look to a wistful one. He looked away and stared out into the darkness. “One of my brothers, I’m sure.” he said.

  We stood side by side, overlooking the view of the valleys below and the rolling tree covered mountains in the distance. “We are at a crossroads.” I said.

  Turning to face the west, Vidar turned with me. “We can go back to your brother.” I said. “My father, my mother, and safety are there.”

  I turned to face the east. Vidar faced the east with me. We stared together, down to the valley below. “Or.” I said. “We can make our own way.”

  “I think we both know where we are going.” he said.

  After nodding, I became aware of the icy mountain breeze blowing through my dress. My skin burned and my body ached. I was exhausted. I took a knee and shivered.

  “I’m getting tired.” I said.

  “Well I’m not.” he said, looking out at the sun rising over the mountains. “I’ve never felt so alive.”

  He began laughing, deeply, from his belly. I looked up at him from the ground where I crouched and realized how large he was. I could fit two of me in the ragged old pants he wore.

  He looked down at me with wet eyes. “I’ll carry you, little hero.” he said. He picked me up like I weighed nothing and flung me onto his back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he held on to my legs.

  His warmth felt like a blanket, and I watched the trees flash by and then turn into a blur. My eyelids felt heavy, and I gave up on keeping them open.

  Waking up, I felt disoriented. As reality came in to focus I saw that I was in a room with four walls made up of logs on their sides. There was a fire burning in a little potbelly stove in the corner of the room. The bed I had slept in was a small cot.

  Standing up, I examined the cabin around me. There was a little table, a sink, and shelves with jars and sacks of flour leaning up against the wall. My stomach growled at the sight of food.

  Staring at the only door in the room, I listened for a moment and could hear whispering outside. When I opened the door the bright light of afternoon came pouring in at me.

  Vidar was kneeling at a small post fence that appeared to span around the yard of the tiny cabin. “May you let no one, mortal or immortal, pass through. Only Emily and Vidar.” he whispered with his hand on the fence.

  I waited patiently in the shadows of the wraparound porch of the cabin. He made his way around the fence, kneeling and whispering with his hands on the wooden posts. He disappeared around the back of the house.

  After my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw a small gate along the fence that led to a wide field of wildflowers and brush. The field ended abruptly with a wall of forest trees.

  Vidar emerged from the other side of the house, completing his rotation. He turned towards me and smiled. Walking up to the porch he stood next to me, then wrapped an arm around me.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “A cabin.” he said.

  “I see that.” I said. “Who’s cabin is this?”

  “Ours.” he said. “I just finished building it.”

  I looked around, confused. “You’ve been asleep for days.” he said.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “Idaho.” he said. “I had some gold buried not far from here from when we came out west. I bartered with some Amish people a few days back for this land and supplies. Nice folk.”

  Standing in silence for a while, I replaced the memories of our escape in my mind with the view of the countryside in front of me. I stepped off the porch and looked around.

  “Will anyone find us here?” I asked.

  “No.” he said. “The land here has agreed to shelter us. If anyone searches the world, listening for us, they will hear silence as if we’d left the earth. No one knows we are here except for the Amish fellow I traded with. They seem pretty isolated.”

  Looking Vidar in the eye I asked “What do we do now?”

  “We farm.” he said. “We trade with our Amish neighbors. We live here in peace for as long as the land allows it.”

  He grabbed my hand and put it in his. “As far as anyone will ever know, we are a husband and wife living in solitude in the countryside of Idaho.”

  Looking down at the ground, I felt uncomfortable with his statement.

  “Emily.” he said.

  I looked up into his eyes.

  “I would never expect you to act like my wife.” he said with a smile. “I’m ages too old for you.”

  Sighing with relief, I relaxed a little.

  He winked at me and said “Though if you ever wanted to, I wouldn’t pass a fine woman like you up.”

  “Vidar.” I said, scolding. Remembering my previous see-through dress, I looked down to see that I was clothed in a blue floral print dress. Vidar had dressed me while I was sleeping. I didn’t know how to feel about that though I had been nearly naked when we ran away from Muriel’s mansion.

  Turning around, I looked at the cabin. It was small and cozy. I imagined myself living in the tiny, one room cabin with Vidar. I wasn’t sure how it would work.

  “Vidar.” I said. “I’m used to some privacy.”

  Vidar grabbed on to the straps of his suspender’s that completed his Amish man’s outfit. He laughed a low laugh in his belly, leaning back into it.

  I crossed my arms and tapped my left foot on the dirt under my bare feet.

  “Well.” he said. “You can head back to the west if you’d like. Or you can stay with Vidar.” He grinned at me and ran his fingers through the wavy hair of his beard.

  “Oh fine.” I said, as I marched back to the cabin. As I let go of the door behind me it squeaked and then slammed.

  Walking over to the shelves and began looking through the supplies. After finding some eggs and butter, I spotted a cast iron pan and a spatula on the stove.

  Hovering my hand over the top of the stove, I moved the pan to the hottest place and tossed in a pad of butter. After it melted I cracked the eggs. My stomach growled as I watched them sizzle.

  After consuming the eggs my eyes wandered to a jar of peaches on the shelf. I unscrewed the ring around the jar and popped the sealed lid. Peaches never tasted so sweet.

  Flopping back on the single cot in the room, my big floral dress puffed out like a parachute around me. I sighed, glad to be in the tiny cabin, Vidar or no Vidar.

  There was no one commanding me, judging me, or keeping me hostage. Vidar made it clear that I was welcome to leave. It was for that reason I stayed.

  XVII

  Farmers

/>   When Vidar walked in to the room I sat up in the cot, hanging my feet over the side. Smoothing out my long blue floral dress with my hands I noticed Vidar placing a pair of socks and boots next to my feet.

  I looked up at him and he motioned to the boots. After pulling up the socks, they felt nice against my skin. I’d been wearing heels that pinched without socks for so long.

  After wriggling my feet into the boots, I struggled with the quick-laces. “Here, let me show you.” said Vidar, crouching down next to me. “First you pull, and then you weave the laces through the hooks like so.”

  I tried the way he showed me with the next boot, with success. Looking up at Vidar, I smiled. Looking back down at my feet, I wiggled my new boots around with my legs dangling over the edge of the cot.

  Remembering my black Mary Jane shoes, the changes of my shoes seemed to mark different eras in my life. From Mary Janes, to heels, to boots. “Come on now.” he said, heading out the door.

  Hopping up from the cot I followed him. He headed through the front door and out the swinging gate that hung from the little post fence. I had to jog to catch up with him. “Where are we going?” I asked, when I finally caught up.

  “To fetch some animals from that Amish fellow.” he said.

  “Okay.” I said. “Shall we run?”

  “No.” he said. “We are farmers now.”

  “What does that have to do with running?” I asked.

  Vidar stopped and said “What would the Amish fellow think if I suddenly showed up after I’d just been there. I left with my pack full of supplies.”

  “Oh.” I said. “You’ve got a point.”

  “Also.” he said. “You need your conserve your energy. You are young and you still get tired.”

  I laughed and said “I thought it was the old that got tired.”

  Vidar chuckled, and we began walking again. I looked up at the canopy of trees as we walked along. The branches were swaying, and the light flashed through the cracks of the canopy as I moved along.

  I took in a deep breath. The afternoon air was warm and crisp. After walking what seemed like several miles, we approached a barn that was set near a farmhouse.

  The Amish man came out to greet us. “Hello.” he said.

  “Hello.” I said with a smile.

  “Through here.” he said with a wave around the barn.

  “He sure cuts to the chase.” I whispered towards Vidar.

  Vidar leaned and whispered into my ear “He doesn’t trust us.”

  He handed off two goats tied with rope leashes to Vidar. “Thank you.” said Vidar.

  “You’re welcome.” said the man.

  Vidar handed me the rope to one of the goats. I set off to follow Vidar, and his goat seemed to be cooperating in a way that mine wasn’t. My goat wanted to go the other direction, and the more I pulled the more he pulled. I was playing tug-a-war with a goat.

  We made it to the tree line, with me struggling the whole way, when Vidar started laughing. I stopped and held out my free hand with a “what?” look.

  “I would have said something earlier,” he said, “but it was just too funny.”

  I scowled. “Said what?” I asked.

  “I knew the goat was stubborn.” he said. “I was the one that picked him out.”

  “Hilarious.” I said, leaning back with the rope as the goat tried to go the opposite direction. Vidar laughed some more and then handed me the rope with the compliant goat on the end. He swept up the stubborn goat into his big arms and it said “behhhh.”

  I laughed, but not because I thought Vidar’s prank was funny. It was funny that I was walking into the woods with two goats and an immortal man dressed up like an Amish man. Looking down at my dress, I laughed again because I was also dressed up like an Amish woman.

  I walked along, with my compliant goat at the end of the rope leash that I held. I kicked stray rocks and thought about how strange life was. My life had been so simple before. Everything fit into tiny, normal boxes. My life had gone from simple, to crazy, to more crazy, to a fresh new kind of crazy.

  “Vidar?” I asked.

  “Yes, Emily.” he said.

  “What are we doing with these goats?” I asked.

  “We are farmers.” he said.

  “Okay, so what do the goats have to do with farming?” I asked.

  “One is a male, and the other is female.” he said. “The female is a milking goat, and this stubborn male will make babies with her. We will use their manure for fertilizer.”

  “Oh.” I said, wrinkling up my nose at the thought of drinking goat milk. I’d only ever tasted goat cheese, so I imagined the milk as tangy.

  We worked the rest of the day creating an elaborate pen for the goats. Vidar told me that goats were especially clever, and the pen needed be built like a war fortress.

  After sawing and hammering the afternoon away, my dress was covered in dirt and soaked in sweat. I began to call for the wind to cool me, but Vidar stopped me.

  “Don’t.” he said.

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Does the world serve you, Emily?” he said.

  “I…” I said, not sure what to say.

  “Don’t ask for favors unless you really need it.” he said.

  I crossed my arms. “I’m hot, sweaty, and covered in dirt.” I said. “I’d do anything for a breeze.”

  “I’ll tell you what.” he said. “This pen is almost done. Why don’t you go down to the stream and bathe?”

  Looking out to the tree-line, I could hear a little stream flowing. Imagining the water sweeping away my dirt and sweat, I said “I’d love that.”

  “There is another dress, and some under-things in the cabin.” he said. “On the shelf, wrapped in paper.”

  I found the clothes, and the dress was the same blue floral style, but with a different type of flower pattern. I jogged to the stream, at human speed, with the dress I carried flying behind me like a kite.

  I felt good, and free. “No more Muriel.” I thought, as I bounded over a fallen log.

  Entering into the tree-line I found the stream. I had to walk a ways up to find where the water narrowed and deepened. After looking around I laid my clean clothes over a fallen log.

  Stripping off my dirty, sweaty clothes I threw myself into the water. Floating backwards in the cold water, my mind flashed to the memory of Tim floating on his back in the large pool, smiling up at me.

  Pushing away the memory, I looked up at the trees and then to the shrubs around me. I could hear the sounds of creatures in the woods, little insects, squirrels and chattering birds. It was comforting.

  The heat I’d worked up in my body didn’t last long in the chill of the stream. It was early summer and the water was freshly melted snow from the mountains.

  Shivering as I got out of the water, I realized I didn’t have a towel. I tried sweeping the water off of my body, but I felt too moist to get into my clothes.

  I thought of Vidar’s nagging about using my abilities. “I think this is a need situation.” I thought.

  I gently spoke to the wind, asking it to work with the warmth of the sunlight to dry my skin. Standing with my arms out to my sides, it felt like I was being kissed and caressed. Taking in a deep breath, I sighed.

  After I was sufficiently dry I whispered polite thank-yous to the light and the breeze and put on my clothes. I laced up my boots while sitting on the log and then stood up and smoothed out my dress.

  “From Hollywood to Little House on the Prairie.” I thought, laughing to myself while I combed my hair with my fingertips.

  Meandering back to the cabin, I took my time and kicked rocks along the way. Swinging the fence gate open, I approached the cabin. The cabin door was propped open, and I found Vidar stirring something over the stove.

  “Soup.” he said. “From a can.”

  I shrugged, and he handed me a bowl of soup with a spoon. I sat down at the tiny beat up table and ate like I’d been starving. Before I could
ask for more, Vidar tossed some cornbread into my empty bowl. “Thank you.” I said.

  “You’re welcome, little wife.” he said.

  I gave him a look, and he responded with a wink.

  Sighing, I gathered the up the dishes and washed up in the sink. By the time I finished cleaning up the sky had grown dark and Vidar lit up a kerosene lamp.

  Looking over at the single cot I wondered what kind of sleeping arrangement would happen. I didn’t want Vidar to get any ideas. “Let’s sleep under the stars tonight.” he said.

  I agreed, and we gathered up the goose down pad that covered the cot, and several blankets. As we stepped outside the creaky front door slammed behind us. The sound was becoming familiar.

  Crickets hummed, and the goats went “behhh, behhh.” Vidar spread out and arranged the pad on the ground. He lay down on it and patted the ground next to him.

  I just stood there, looking at him.

  “We sat back to back in a prison cell for hours.” he said. “We held hands and shed tears together. You are afraid to lie next to me?”

  I shifted my weight from leg to leg and crossed my arms. “I just don’t want you to try anything funny.” I said. “It’s not going to be like that.”

  “Oh, Emily.” he said. “I know that your heart belongs to someone else. I’m not going to ‘try anything funny,’ so come here.”

  Hesitantly, I lay down next to him and he put his arm around me. We both looked up at the stars together, with the back of my head resting on his arm.

  “I count you as a friend Emily.” he said. “You had my back, and I swear to you I will always have yours.”

  Looking over at him I said “That means a lot to me, Vidar.”

  We were silent for a while, looking at the blanket of stars covering the sky. Searching my memories I couldn’t think of a time that I’d seen so many stars in the sky.

  “Are their more stars in Idaho?” I asked.