Josla (Part 5)

Hedy said that Ryatka was very good natured about it all but didn't seem to understand what the fuss was all about. The screaming reactions of humans in our village were just another idiosyncrasy of our people. Marlee tried her best to explain the incident with Ragefur but it just seemed to confuse Ryatka. Eventually the sun found its rest and Marlee covered Ryatka up as best she could and escorted her out the back towards the forest. About the same time, the Watering Hole crowd had gathered up their chemical courage and begun marching over to my house to see for themselves what was going on. Well, Mother opened up and told them that Benjamin was much improved and the kind priest who had helped him was already on her way out of town. Of course they wouldn't take her at her word, so they barged past her and searched the house, finding only a much healthier Benjamin and Hedy inside. Things would have been great if ol' Turner hadn't been sober enough to realize that Hedy wasn't me.

Hedy said he asked her, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just helping tend Benjamin today," she replied.

"Hmmph! Well where's his sister? She should be here not you."

"She, uh, went off to find ol' Ragefur to see if he had any poultices or such." (She told me she was proud of that lie - too bad more of the men's brains had started to engage.)

"Now wait just a minute, here," interrupted Ted Brown. "You mean to tell me she's off in the forest after dark?"

"M-maybe she's having trouble finding him." The way the men narrowed their eyes was making her nervous.

"All right, men, let's go out and search for her. We can't have one of our village's girls out with those elves after dark." That was the Mayor. Hedy breathed a sigh of relief as the men left the house, even as she uttered a silent prayer that her mother and Ryatka were far away.

The men grabbed some torches and headed out into the forest. We'll never know how, but they found Marlee and Ryatka. It was the crowd screaming "Heresy!" and "Witchcraft!" that Ragefur and I saw moving through town. I watched helplessly from the forest as Hedy and my mother ran after them begging them to let the two prisoners go. Ragefur held me tight as some of the men roughly grabbed them and carried them back to my house, setting a guard by the door to keep them from interfering.

I could hear them yelling at Marlee, no doubt claiming she had planned all along to replace Friar Lynn with a demon to corrupt the village children.

"Why? Why won't you stop them?" I begged of Ragefur.

He looked at me sadly. "I am deeply sorry. I was once in that same position and only John could save me. He is not here now and I do not have his sway over these people. Only one of two things can happen if I try to interfere. Either I will burn with the two women or I will kill or maim many men trying to rescue them. My elders have forbidden the latter option, and if I stay here, perhaps I can aid you and your family in escaping later tonight. I do not believe this village will be safe for you anymore."

I kicked and screamed, but he wouldn't let me go. I could only watch as they burned at the stake the woman who had become like a second mother to me and the woman who had just saved my little brother's life. I wept. I think even Ragefur cried. Eventually, the men returned to their homes, content with their handiwork. No doubt they were very pleased with themselves.