Harvest Moon, Part 14

She hobbled forward, continuing to call out her line as if she were some kind of broken record. Just skipping, waiting for a response. It was that, and the dark pink coloration that formed over all her eyes that told she was blind. Or at least possessing very bad eyesight. Instead, she acted like the Old Man turning her head from side to side hoping to hear something and sticking her nose in the air to catch a whiff.

I remained still, trying not to make a sound. Unfortunately, my clothes would most likely give me away. I had once been told that people feared lighting a match near me as my jacket alone would light up the night sky.

Though, it seemed their claim was mistaken as the old woman continued to prod around me unable to get any sort of sense to focus in on me.

“I know you’re there,” she said. “I heard you. Now you don’t move, but that is not what concerns me. You have no sent. Nothing animal. Nothing human. Nothing Fae.”

Her face contorted in a smile, one for radio. “Why have you come here Fetch? What is it you seek?”

I didn’t answer. And she didn’t continue. She simply waited. And waited. And waited. She didn’t move and neither did I. The shadows stretched out as light began to disappear in our small clearing. Time was running out.

And I was trapped in place by some old, blind lady. Was I really that helpless? I just fought a damn wolf man and come out with only a few gaping holes in my abdomen. Could she really do any worse to me? The forest that protected her had even shined away from my iron dagger. I was Elroy Fucking Reardon, the Fae don’t scare me. I scare them. I made the decision then and there to move, consequences be damned.

“Oh well, guess it was my old mind playing tricks on me,” she said just as I was about to take off. She laughed, suddenly a little more kindly in her jovial nature. “I shouldn’t waste time on such silly pursuits. Not when other matters are at hand.”

She clucked and shuffled around the side of the house, continuing the light chiding of her actions and foolishness. I stood poised, ready with the iron dagger. I was fully prepared to assault the rest home retiree. I took a deep breath and exhaled when she was gone, loosening up on the dagger slightly. Not fully tucking it away though, I still had to get through the forest again and was still going to need it.

A small path meandered around her home the other way and I began to follow, about ready to leave the when I heard the small whimper coming from inside the house. It was the noise of a younger person, a childe. Delicate. More feminine. A sound of distress.

I moved closer to the once sugar glass window, which had become tarnished with dirt and pollen after the glamour fell. With my sleeve, I wiped away a small circle to look inside.

She stood on a box because she could not reach all the way to the top of the stove. Various copper and ceramic pots and pans sat over the open wood fire beneath while inside a myriad dishes were being prepared. Her clothes had become tattered and dirty. She wore only one shoe. This Margret Dietrich looked quite different from the one I had seen two nights ago in her parents apartment. The little girl sobbed as she stirred a large wooden spoon inside one of the back burning pans. She looked as though she may topple into the fire herself.

The kindly old lady turned evil turned kindly was the Lady of the Harvest after all. Typical Earth Court, still calling themselves ladies when they had gone far past their prime. Though, vanity was the least of her crimes right now.

I twisted and turned, but Jacob was nowhere to be found inside. Margret may know where we can find him though, and with the old woman gone this was my best chance of getting her out. I checked once more around the general area, she was almost certainly gone. Then I snuck inside the house.

A buffet had been made and set upon the large table in the first room. That certainly said something if the old woman ate in the opening room. Then again, she was the Lady of the Harvest. Everything was laid out. From pies made of apple and blueberry, to sweet breads, at least four kinds of potatoes, greens of all types with vegetables of every letter of the alphabet. The table was strangely devoid of any meats, again she was the Lady of the Harvest. Only one Fae covered the Hunt and it certainly wasn’t a woman.

I hurried quickly through and tried not to let my hungry mind linger, the taste from the house had only wet my hunger. Much of the place was old wood, splintering and about ready to fall in on itself. It was strange with all the good foods around, I quickly noticed the smell of rot and decay. The house was dying. Not dead yet though, how appropriate.

Margret moved from one pot to the next when I stepped into the kitchen, she picked up the pace at the sound of footsteps. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m cooking.”

“Sssh,” I hissed and moved closer. “Keep it down, she’ll hear you.”

The little girl turned, and she blinked back to tears then leapt at me. It took me by surprise and I was quick enough to drop the dagger before she skewered herself upon it. She squeezed tight onto my waist, it hurt a little and I was afraid would bust the seams I had just sewn back in.

I tried to pry her off, but she’d have none of it. “She is going to eat my brother, you have to rescue him. She was making me fatten him up. I didn’t want to, but she hurt me when I wouldn’t. Jacob said to do it, it would be ok. He’d solve everything.”

She spoke like a tommy gun fired, I couldn’t keep up with every word of it. “Ok, ok. Where is your brother now?”

“The old lady keeps him outside. In a cage. You have to help him.”

“I will,” I promised. “But first, we need to get you to safety.” I stooped down and put a hand on her head while I reached for the knife with the other. “Now, where exactly-”

Margret shook her head as he mouth stretched wide to say something. It all played out slower than earlier. I didn’t even really feel the blow to the back of my head. The room all of a sudden just got a little to spinny, and I found myself falling to the floor. I think the girl was screaming, couldn’t tell really. Too much ringing in my ears.

Blackness was closing in around my eyes. I hadn’t heard her. She was too silent. I hadn’t smelt her. The house overpowered it. I had turned my back on my enemy and paid for it. The old woman stood over me with a rolling pin in her hand, no blood on it. No cotton. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to stitch back a hole in my head. Those never turn out right.