by Kit Berry
Marigold was up to her elbows in flour when Cherry hurried into the kitchens.
‘Sister, you need to come quick and look at this.’
‘Now? You can see—’
‘This moment!’
Marigold cleaned herself hastily and followed her sister into the little office they’d always shared by the kitchens. On the table lay a screwed-up sheet of parchment paper, and Cherry eyed it with distaste.
‘That – that’s the thing you must see, Marigold.’
Marigold uncrumpled it, smoothing out the thick paper as best she could. It was a charcoal drawing and had become a little smudged with the rough handling, but despite the creases and smears, the subject was very clear. It was beautifully done, with bold, simple lines, and depicted a scene by the sea. On the long rock lay a naked woman, her hair spread out like seaweed. In her arms was a man, distinctive by the dark curly hair and the faint scars all over his back. It was signed Rainbow.
‘What . . .?’
Marigold’s mouth hung open and her cheeks flushed. She wasn’t often lost for words, but at this moment was incapable of forming any.
‘ ’Twere in the bedroom she slept in on this visit, up in their apartments in the children’s old room,’ said Cherry. ‘She’d propped it against the mirror on the dressing table. And o’ course, who should go in there first to change the bedding but that silly Primrose and Sorrel. Neither o’ them girls would ever keep their mouths shut, would they? Both daft little gossips, the pair o’ them. I were in the master bedroom where Buzz had slept and I heard ’em shrieking. ’Twere me as screwed it up, o’course.’
‘Oh my sweet Goddess!’ whispered Marigold. ‘And do you think . . . is it just a wish? Or something that happened?’
Cherry shook her head in sorrow.
‘I’d like to say a wish, but ’tis too detailed, too real. I know the little vixen’s an artist, but even so . . . See those scars on his back? Yul don’t show his back to many – always keeps it covered. So how does she know about that? ’Tis real, and I reckon it happened back in the summer.’
‘Aye, couldn’t have been this visit as ’tis much too cold for cavorting by the sea, and besides, I don’t think Yul even knew she were here this time around. Not many saw her, tucked away up there with Buzz,’ said Marigold. ‘But what about Sylvie? D’you think she knows what her husband’s been getting up to?’
Cherry shook her head.
‘No I don’t, and she mustn’t hear about it from others! I told them girls to tell nobody, but I know they will. They was giggling and whispering and they’ve got no idea o’ the mischief they could make. We got to find Sylvie and tell her afore she hears it from someone else.’
Sylvie had been searching for Leveret for ages, first looking in the tower and then the hospital wing, as well as the old folks’ day room. She’d also looked in the Kitchen Gardens, where she knew Leveret spent time cultivating her herbs and medicinal plants, but found only Magpie there. He beamed at her and Sylvie greeted him warmly. She’d become fond of the strange boy, having seen how gentle and kind he was with her daughters. They loved him, not in the rough and tumble way that they climbed all over Rufus, but more respectfully, as if he were someone very special whom they were honoured to know. The illustrations he’d drawn in their little story books were exquisite, and what with the painting for her birthday too, Sylvie was amazed at the lad’s talent.
‘I don’t suppose you know where Leveret is, do you, Magpie?’ she asked, but when he nodded and pointed emphatically, she was still none the wiser.
She then bumped into Clip, wrapped up in a heavy cloak and carrying a bag, just leaving to spend the rest of the day up at the Dolmen.
‘She’s popped up to Mother Heggy’s cottage,’ he said. ‘She’s coming back soon I think – she’s spending Hunter’s Moon up there tonight and wanted to get it all ready now. Magpie’s going up too if you want him to take a message, but I’m pretty sure she’s coming back down here first. She’s only taking firewood and giving the place a clean at the moment, I believe.’
‘She’s such a busy girl,’ said Sylvie. ‘How does she fit in all her studies too? She’s in her last year at school now, isn’t she?’
Clip chuckled.
‘Oh, she does it all, believe me. She works late into the night and always has her nose buried in a book. Sylvie . . . when I’ve left, you will look out for her, won’t you?’
‘Of course I will.’
‘She’s very keen to stay in the tower and I’d like that too. She can take her meals in the Dining Hall and she’ll be warm and comfortable, but I don’t want her getting too solitary. I know she works with Hazel every day and with the old folk, and increasingly she spends more time cultivating, gathering and making her remedies, and Magpie’s with her a lot. But she needs ordinary social company too, and family life. I know she thinks the world of her nieces, and you too. And I gather things are better between her and Yul now?’
Sylvie nodded at this.
‘Yes definitely, and improving all the time, as is his relationship with Rufus. It’s just me there’s a problem with now.’
‘Oh Sylvie – I thought it was all getting better?’
She stared out of the window, her grey eyes soft with longing.
‘It was . . . there’s just been a misunderstanding, but I’m determined not to let it become a huge set-back. I wanted to speak to Leveret and ask her for some assistance; she’s such a magical girl and so in harmony with everything here. I thought maybe she could help me. I’ll go up to Mother Heggy’s cottage and see if I can find her there.’
‘I’m sure things will all work out,’ said Clip. ‘We’ll have a chat tomorrow.’
Sylvie could see he was anxious to be on his way, so, avoiding everyone bustling around the Hall, she headed off for the ancient cottage near the cliffs.
Despite the coolness of the late October day, Cherry arrived breathless and sweating at Maizie’s cottage. She’d hoped to find Sylvie in her office but it seemed she wasn’t working there today, so the Village was her next destination. But Maizie, who’d just arrived back herself with the bread and a brace of rabbits for supper, had no idea where Sylvie might be. The girls were in Nursery and she could be anywhere.
‘Come on in and have a cup o’ tea anyway,’ said Maizie, putting the kettle on the range. ‘I were just having one myself afore I go into the garden to pull the vegetables for tonight. ’Tis not often I entertain you in my cottage, Cherry.’
But when she was shown the purpose of the visit, Maizie handed back the picture in dismay.
‘Oh the stupid, stupid boy! What were he thinking of?’
‘So you reckon it did happen then? ’Tis not just a drawing o’ Rainbow’s imagination and wishful longings?’
Maizie’s plump face was crumpled with dismay as she shook her head.
‘No – there’s something in the drawing . . . Rainbow’s known Yul, you can tell just by looking at that. Somehow the picture shows it. Oh poor Sylvie! This will really cut her to the quick, and just when I were hoping all would be right between the pair o’ them.’
‘I wanted to tell her myself, gently like, afore any o’ the tittle-tattles do. Them youngsters up the Hall – they got no idea and ‘twould be terrible if she heard it from the likes o’ them.’
‘Aye, you’re right there, Cherry, but best of all, Yul should tell her. ’Tis his duty, right enough. Why don’t you give the drawing to him and let him search out the poor maid?’
Leveret had swept and dusted the place and filled the water jar from the nearby spring by the time Sylvie arrived at the cottage. Shadow growled menacingly as he heard someone on the track and moved closer to protect Leveret. She rested her hand on his shaggy head and he looked up at her with enormous, adoring eyes that were fast disappearing behind a great fringe of wiry fur.
‘Look, it’s Sylvie!’ said Leveret. ‘She’s a friend.’
His tail wagged in welcome and he bounded forward to bestow his puppy
greetings.
‘Shadow! Gently!’ cried Leveret and Sylvie laughed at his enthusiasm.
‘He is gorgeous!’ she said, trying to stroke him as he bounced around her legs in great excitement. ‘What a lovely boy you are, Shadow! Leveret, do bring him down to the cottage soon, won’t you? I’d like the girls to play with him. I wonder if there are any more puppies in the litter? I’d love to have one for Celandine and Bluebell.’
‘I don’t think so – these Stonewylde sheepdogs are bred very carefully and they’re mostly spoken for before birth. If you stay living with Mother, I know she wouldn’t want a dog in the house. In her mind, dogs are for herding sheep and cattle, or for taking out rabbiting or ratting, but not just for playing with and keeping as a pet. Maybe a kitten? She’d understand that a cat’s useful for keeping the field-mice at bay.’
‘I was hoping we wouldn’t be living there much longer,’ said Sylvie sadly. ‘I’d thought we might get a cottage of our own together, but it all seems to have gone wrong again which is so ridiculous. I came to ask if you could . . . I don’t know . . . try to focus on me and Yul tonight, at the Moon Fullness? It’s almost as if there’s some kind of curse on us. Every time things start to get better again, something else goes wrong. I know Yul and I belong together and I know Stonewylde needs us to be in harmony. But there’s something blocking us and if there’s anything magical that would help, please could you do it?’
Leveret smiled at her and nodded. She took Sylvie’s hands in hers and closed her eyes. All around the sounds of the world receded as she entered the other place, somewhere full of shadows and mists and . . .
‘Oh Sylvie!’ she exclaimed. ‘A Beltane baby!’
Sylvie blanched and sat down on the chair quickly.
‘Leveret, nobody knows about that except me and Hazel!’
Leveret’s smile turned to a frown and she swayed slightly on her feet.
‘But there’s something else . . . something dark and . . . I don’t know.’
She stared down at Sylvie in consternation, wondering again why she saw a little toad with golden eyes. This was the second time and she’d have to look up the symbolic significance of the toad.
‘What? Not something bad about the baby is it?’
‘No, no!’ said Leveret hastily, realising that she must learn to guard her tongue more carefully. ‘Nothing bad – I see a lovely little boy, just like Yul, dark-haired and laughing. That’s all, so don’t worry.’
At that moment the crow announced its arrival and hopped through the open door. Shadow went over for a tentative sniff, having been pecked on the nose too often to attempt anything more exuberant.
‘I was going to tell Yul the other day, but then Buzz intervened and everything fell apart again. All I want is for us to be together. So if you could do anything for me tonight please?’
‘I’ll do my best,’ promised Leveret. ‘It’s an eclipse tonight and I’ll be in here, hopefully with Mother Heggy’s spirit.’
‘I’ve promised Celandine we’ll dance on the Village Green, and Bluebell can stay home with Maizie. It’s getting really cold at night-time now and I won’t take her up to Hare Stone again until the spring. Though of course with this little one on the way . . .’ She patted her belly and smiled. ‘I know we’ve broken the two-children rule and Hazel blames you, Leveret, but we—’
‘Me? Why?’
‘St. John’s Wort – it can apparently affect hormonal contraception. Though the implant was at the end of its life anyway, so don’t worry, it could’ve been that. And I’m so pleased about it! Hazel says it’s almost definite I wouldn’t suffer again with that psychosis I had after Bluebell’s birth. And if you reckon it’s a boy this time, everything will be different anyway. Oh Leveret – the thought of giving Yul a son!’
‘I’m really sorry if it was my fault,’ Leveret chuckled. ‘I didn’t realise that was a side effect, and I should’ve been more careful. But as long as you’re happy . . .’
‘Oh yes! Now I must get back to the Village and get to work on some sewing. We’re getting on really well with that Aitch stuff and I just want it all finished and done with.’
She rose and hugged Leveret, then patted Shadow’s curly head.
‘Goodbye, Leveret, and goodbye to you, Shadow and Crow.’
‘Sylvie!’
She spun round to see Rowan and Faun approaching from the other path, trying to catch her up. Faun was dressed today in a jacket identical to the ones from the photo-shoot, and Sylvie noticed her felt hat was also from the collection.
‘Oh hello, Rowan. You’re looking very fashionable, Faun!’
Faun preened and flicked back her thick blonde hair with a satisfied smile.
‘Aye, she’s perfect for that Earth Ethics look with her beautiful colouring she got from her father. Well, Sylvie I just wanted to say how sorry I am – we all are.’
‘Oh? I don’t . . .’
Sylvie looked at Rowan’s lovely face, now gleeful with a strange look of spite, and felt a prickle of fear.
‘It must be awful with everyone a-gossiping. Folk can be cruel.’
‘I’m not sure . . . what do you mean?’
‘All the gossip! About Yul and Rainbow – ’tis shocking!’
‘Yul and Rainbow? What? What are you talking about, Rowan?’
‘Oh Mother!’ cried Faun. ‘She don’t know yet! Nobody’s told her!’
Faun covered her mouth with her hand and rolled her eyes in mock horror. Sylvie felt her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth and everything went slightly fuzzy around the edges. Rowan grabbed her arm and peered into her face.
‘You gone very pale, Sylvie! Are you alright? Haven’t you heard the news then? Your husband – they say he were making love with Rainbow all summer long behind your back! ’Tis terrible and we’re so sorry for you. Aren’t we, Faun?’
‘Oh yes, we’re so very sorry for you, Sylvie!’
26
‘Rufus, run down to the Village, would you? Tell Maizie that Sylvie’s with me and she’ll be staying here tonight. She’s a bit upset and I want her to have some space, away from the girls. Maybe Maizie would let you stay the night there? Take your toothbrush just in case she says yes.’
He pulled on his jacket and hurried out of the Tudor wing, using the private staircase leading to the outside door. Sylvie’s old bedroom was his now and she’d arrived this way earlier, giving him a shock when she turned up with eyes almost shut with puffiness. He’d thought at first she was really ill – maybe one of the awful allergic reactions his mother had told him she used to get in the Outside World. Then he realised that she’d simply been crying very hard. He felt very sorry for her but was glad to escape, and the thought of staying the night in Maizie’s cottage was exciting. He hoped she’d say yes – and maybe he could sleep in Yul’s old bedroom? Rufus broke into a long-legged run as he cleared the corner of the wing and headed round towards the front of the Hall to join the main drive.
On the track leading down to the Village he bumped into Leveret, on her way back to the Hall. She smiled and he grinned back, blushing under his thatch of silky red hair. Knowing that Leveret was his sister made him very happy indeed, although neither of them had spoken much about it. He wanted to have a good talk with her at some point about becoming a doctor, knowing her interest in healing. He knew she spent a lot of time with Hazel and he hoped to do the same, although he suspected the doctor would say he was still too young.
‘I’m off to see Maizie and the girls,’ he said. ‘Sylvie’s with Mum in our rooms.’
‘I’ve just come back from my mother and the girls in the Village,’ she replied. ‘They were wondering where Sylvie had got to.’
‘She’s upset about something,’ he said, ‘and that’s why she’s there.’
‘Upset? I saw her earlier and she was fine. What’s the matter?’
But Rufus only shrugged, having kept well out of the tearful discussion he’d heard vaguely through closed doors.
‘I think Yul’s done something wrong but I really don’t know.’
‘Oh well, I’m sure they’ll sort it out. I’ve been on a wild goose chase,’ said Leveret. ‘It’s really annoying – I’d just got back to the tower and there was a note saying my mother wanted to see me urgently. But when I got down to the Village she knew nothing about it! So I’ve been all the way down there for nothing, and now I must hurry to get to Mother Heggy’s cottage in time for the moon rise. I’m just nipping back to the tower to collect my things and Shadow and Hare, and I hope Magpie’s ready.’
‘Have fun then,’ said Rufus. ‘Bright blessings!’
‘And to you!’ she replied. ‘I like Hunter’s Moon – and it’s an eclipse tonight! Make sure you watch it, won’t you? It’s quite early I think – a couple of hours after sunset. I expect Celandine will love it, seeing as how she’s moongazy. Look after her, won’t you Rufus, if Sylvie’s not there.’
‘Yes I will, don’t worry.’
They parted company and Leveret hurried to the tower, still cross that she’d wasted so much time on a false errand. Maizie had been very distracted but was adamant she’d never sent for her. Leveret climbed up the outside stairs, the quicker route than going into the Hall itself and through all the corridors, and let herself into the upstairs room. Of course Clip had left ages ago for the Dolmen, but it was strangely quiet. Hare looked up sleepily from the basket but Shadow was nowhere in sight.
