[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Colin looked at Maggie. Obyiously the birth had taken place. What else, then, could be the punch line? He had to admit he didn't know.
"Why, Her Ladyship, Ellender, came trippin' down from the castle to the cottage, is what! Maudie nearly threw her out at first, but I could tell she meant no harm and made Maudie let her in. Do you know, young man, I think that right there is where Maggie and Winnie got to be such great friends?"
Colin, having no idea what she meant, nodded and kept quiet, and hoped she'd elucidate so that he wouldn't have to seem ignorant.
"Ellender was pregnant at the time, poor thing, and her people, the foreign faery folk I was telling you about? They'd sent her some special elixir for labor pain. Faeries intermarrying with mortals had caused some difficulties with the birthings, but this elixir was to make it all seem like a walk in the garden. Bron'd been having a hard time of it, you could hear her hollering all about, I would imagine. Clear to the castle, probably, which must have been what brought Eliender down." Tears began to gather in her eyes. "Do you know-um-in spite of
what Maudie could do, none of her medicines were of any help to Bron, and she could give her nothing more without harming the babe and-do you--" she stopped for a moment to compose herself. "Do you know that that silly faery lass gave Bronwyn her elixir? Just a bit at first, but as it only helped some, she gave her more and more, till it all was gone."
"That was certainly a very kind thing to do."
"It was kinder than that. Her own folk never got more elixir to her before little Amberwine was born, and she died herself giving birth. That was when Bron moved into the castle to care for little Winnie along with Maggie, and when a decent time of mourning passed, Willie married my niece and acknowledged Maggie as well." The old lady was quiet for a time. Maggie had disappeared into the house, which caught the last pink rays of sundown on its soundly wafered roof, as tight and neat and pretty a cottage as any made of more conventional building materials.
"In East Headpenney, people would have said Bronwyn personally saw to it that the lady would die in childbirth so she could take over and be a wicked stepmother and ..."
"If anybody had said such a thing, they'd have had the whole clan down on them, particularly young Winnie, for Bronwyn was the only mother she knew. Funny, you know. I myself wouldn't think being a crow would be such an awful thing, but--"
"I take your point."
"Oh, Auntie, that was so good," Maggie sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"Your voice is a bit crackly, dear," said her aunt. "Care for some honey in your tea?"
"Don't mind if I do, at that." She cleared her throat and rubbed her arms with the opposing hands. "I'm so hoarse and weary from all that spell-casting, I couldn't boil water for tea right now."
"Well, it certainly looks lovely, darling. I appreciate it so much. Under normal circumstances it's an enormous chore to keep this old place up, but with all this rain I was quite sure I'd finally be forced to move."
"Just don't let the children eat at it any more, Auntie. You'll have to keep a conventional cookie jar for that I'm afraid. I put such a strong preservative spell on it, it will be quite inedible."
"Don't worry about it, dear. It was a wicked idea to begin
with, that has deteriorated into being merely frivolous. I'll be glad to have a roof over my head that won't turn to goo. When mother and Fearchar lived here the two of them could keep it up-he was rather handy as a boy."
"Tell me about Uncle Fearchar, Auntie," Maggie said. "None of the villagers seem to know much about him, and Gran never speaks of him at all."
The old lady didn't say anything for a moment as she cleared the table and poured the tea. Ching was stretched full length in front of the emberous hearth fire, dying now that it was not needed for cooking. The evening sky had been clearing as the three people and Ching had come into the cottage for dinner, and the night was warmer than it had been at any time on their journey.
"I was going to mention Fearchar anyway, Maggie. Colin and I were having a talk while you were working and, as I told him, I wanted to tell you one or two family things that might be- painful-for Maudie. You may think that I'm an interfering old woman--" she held up her hand to ward off Maggie's protestations. "Yes, you well may. Quite a few do. But someone with my talent-to see so much denied the rest of you-it may be arrogant of me, but I feel that I have an obligation to give you some advice, to make things easier. And I'll do a sighting, as well, of course, but we can do that later."
She stared for a moment into her earthenware cup. "You see, dear, there was a quarrel, years ago, before you girls were born, and Fearchar left, and we haven't heard from or seen him since."
"Not even you?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]