Chapter 3: At the Village

Mabel ran through the last of the night, leaving now prints or sign in her path. She hoped the pillows she'd left behind in her bed would make Mama and Papa think she was sleeping late. They often seemed forgetful the morning after a fight, but she wasn't sure. She didn't tire. Mama never worried about her getting enough sleep, but her never ending energy seemed to be one of the few things about her that genuinely worried Papa. She didn't know it, but he was worried about keeping up with her some day.

Mabel reached the village by dawn. The people were just waking up and setting about their chores. Pulling her shawl up and around her face, Mabel slipped behind a house. She wandered through the village, watching the women hanging their laundry, the men rushing off to business or to the pubs. In just a few short hours the whole place was alive, and busier than Mabel had ever seen it before. At first, the noise and the bustle scared her, and she stayed close in the shadows. Little by little though, she felt herself drawn in. Mabel had spent many a day creeping near the animals and watching them for hours. She was surprised how similar people felt. The old men chatted like sparrows. The young men bounded around like the stags, and the mothers guarded their babes like the bears. Her favorite, were the children though. They swooped in and out of the adults like a flock of fledgling birds, trying their wings for the first time.

Inch by inch, Mabel moved closer and closer to them. She was particularly drawn in by a group of children kicking and passing a small ball back and forth. It was like the one mother and knit for her, but larger, and not made of wool. They all laughed and cheered as it rolled along, when suddenly with a badly placed kick by one eager boy, it landed right in front of Mabel. She froze like a deer as all the children turned to look at her. Mabel clenched her jaw close tightly and pulled her shawl forward.

"Well?" called one of the girls impatiently.

Mabel remained frozen.

"Throw it!" cried one of the boys.

Mabel gripped her shawl.

"Kick it!" shouted another little boy and he started to step forward to retrieve the ball.

Startled, Mabel kicked the ball quickly to him, hoping to keep him back, but it went flying past him and into the gut of the boy who'd shouted to throw it.

"Ooof" he gasped as he grabbed his stomach. Some of the children looked chocked, a couple of them giggled, but the closest boy look delighted.

"Aye, that was well done!...for a girl," he added, curbing his enthusiasm.

Mabel just nodded, and hoped they'd turn away. Fortunately, the boy she'd kicked the ball too also wanted to redirect their admiration, so he threw the ball hard towards the head of one of the little girls.

"Hey!" she cried ducking. Her friend grabbed the ball and chucked it back towards the offending boy, and the game continued. Mabel started to step back, but someone threw the ball her way again, so she kicked it, more softly this time, before anyone could step closer to her. For the next few minutes Mabel quietly enjoyed the game, even starting to smile and give a little chuckle every time the ball came her way. All the children spoke similar to the way Papa did. She'd never wondered about where her parents came from, but the similarity made Mabel feel more at ease. Still, she was always quick to kick the ball away, not wanting anyone to come too close to her.

But they were getting closer. The game slowly started to gravitate closer and closer towards the corner of the house where Mabel stood.

Finally, one little girl threw the ball right at Mabel's head. Reflexively, she raised her hands to catch it, letting her shawl fall back.

With the sun rising behind her in the East, the children did not look to closely, so none of them saw that her eyes were any particular color under the shade of the house, or the small fangs peeking out as her giggle escaped her, but just as she threw the ball back, she heard a noise behind her and turned. A woman had just stepped out of the house and turned to call to her children in their game when Mabel turned. The sun now fell directly onto Mabel's face, lighting up her haunting features and glinting off her blood red eyes.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" screamed the woman, falling back against her door, and grabbing her broom. She started swinging it in front of her, trying to hit Mabel. Mabel jumped back quickly, her mouth opening in surprise and showing her fangs.

"A Hexentochter!" she cried. "The child of a witch! Devil's spawn!"

Mabel stepped further back, and glanced over her shoulder. All the children could see her clearly now, and started running away and shrieking in terror. Except for the boy who had complimented her kick. he stood there, frozen in surprise, his mouth open in a large O. But when Mabel looked at him, his movement came back and he dropped to his knees to grab stones. Before Mabel realized what was happening, the boy was throwing the stones at her as his mother swung the broom. Dodging to avoid a rock Mabel ran too close to the woman, and felt the broom come crashing down on her head.

"Help, help!" cried the woman. Mabel dazedly looked up as the woman came closer. Panicked, she threw her arms up and growled "ARGHHHHH!" The woman dropped her broom in fright and fell up as her young boy came running in front of her, a rock in each hand.

"Get away from my mother you monster!" he cried.

Mabel dropped her arms. "I...I didn't..."

"Don't hex us!" he cried, throwing a rock. Mabel ducked, and then jumped up and started running. She could hear the voices behind her multiplying. Hear the screams and shrieks.

Her face started to burn and sting. Raising her hand to her face, she felt her tears, like flames on her skin.

Mabel hurried into the woods. She could run fMabel than any of the villagers, but she'd already been running that morning, and she was starting to wear down.

"Hurry!" she heard a voice call.

"That way!" cried another, even closer.

Panicked, Mabel looked behind her. She could just make out a crowd tearing through the trees towards her. She could see the sun glinting off the farming tools they carried.

The look cost her though as one of the younger men broke through the trees, catching site of her. Mabel took of running again, but they had seen her, and were determined not to lose sight of her. Mabel passed the bushes on the ground, but she was scared to hide so close to the men. Suddenly, Mabel tripped on a large tree root.

"There," cried one of the men. "She's down!"

Grabbing the tree, Mabel clawed herself into a standing position and then took off. She ran around a corner, and rushed to another tree, scaling it as fast as she could. FMabel then she ever had before. She did not stop at the sturdy branches. She did not stop when it swayed. She kept going till she was as high as she could go without moving out of the thick branches to hide her. She could hear the men running below her, but not all of them kept going.

"Spread out!" called one. "She wasn't going fast enough to have gotten away! The demon was slowing after her fall."

Mabel caught her breath and gripped the tree. The men where starting to search the ground, whacking their hoes and stabbing their pitchforks at the bushes.

"Papa!" she called in her mind. If she spoke out loud, they would know where she was. Her Father couldn't always hear her, but she hoped he could now. Silently, she clung tighter to the trunk of the tree, as the voices grew closer and closer.

"Where'd the Hexentochter go?"

The men started to look up into the tree tops. Some even used their farming tools to rake the branches, and pull them lower.

"She can't be far, watch for her glowing red eyes!"

Did her eyes really glow? Terrified, Mabel shut her eyelids tight. She could hear them getting even closer.

"There in that tree! The Hexentochter!"

The men swarmed around Mabel's tree. They tried to reach her with their pitchforks and shovels, but she had climbed too high. Roaring in frustration, they tried to pelt her with stones, but they only succeeded in bonking themselves on the head. Suddenly, Mabel heard cheering. The mob parted and allowed two men carrying axes to near the trunk. Taking turns, they started to chop away at the tree.

Mabel could feel each stroke vibrate in the branches. As they chopped fMabel, she had to cling tighter to the swaying giant to keep her seat.

Suddenly, over the cheering of the men, she heard the familiar cry of a gold finch. Peering carefully over the branches, she saw her father racing towards her, her mother close behind.

"It's almost there!" "Quick, out of it's way!"

With a last chop, the tree started to topple. "Papa!" Mabel cried.

Karl turned to his wife. "Do something!" he cried

Dropping his arm, she raised her hands and started muttering. Focusing on Mabel, she watched the way the tree would fall.

Mabel could feel her mother's spell around her. She slowed her breathing, and let the magic envelop her. When the tree thudded to the ground, Mabel didn't feel a thing. Standing shakily, she could feel that nothing had broken. Before she could feel more, she felt two strong arms wrap around her, and smelt her father's familiar pine smell.

"I've got ye" she heard her father say just as his warm arms clasped her close. He turned and handed her to her mother. The men were charging forward.

"There's the Witch and her thrall."

"GO!" Karl shouted, unhooking his ax from his belt as he turned to face the rushing mob.

Without a word, Greta ran into the woods.

"No!" shrieked Mabel, but her mother kept running. She pushed against her mother, and fell to the ground, but her mother grabbed her arm and kept running forward. Mabel could hear the shouts and screams behind them. The sound of wood and steel...and bone. They kept running. Mabel knew her mother would be heading for the bear's cave. Her Mother had taken her there many times when Papa was gone. It wouldn't harm them, but it would scare away the men. They were almost to the cave, when Mabel felt it. It was like a knife in her heart. She fell to the ground in searing pain, and then all was black.

"Papa!" She cried. Her mother silently lifted her again, and ran into the cave.