The wind howled outside the little girl’s window as she shivered under the covers.
The door banged in the wind and she whimpered.
A woman suddenly stood in the doorway of the bedroom, a dark shadow covering her face. Suddenly the candles in the room lit up, showing the woman’s face.
She had a stern look on her face, with a small nose and severe mouth. Her dark green eyes sparkled underneath thick black eye lashes.
“Get up,” she ordered the girl.
She crawled off the bed, wondering who this strange lady was and what she was doing.
“Get dressed,” the woman said, before walking out the little bedroom and into the kitchen.
The six year old girl pulled on a pinafore and apron, then her stockings and boots over her nightgown, before pulling a small shawl around her shoulders and walking into the kitchen.
“What’s your name, girl?” the woman asked as she put bread, fruit and other things in a sack from the cupboards.
“Catherine,” the girl said softly.
“And you know where your parents are?”
“Dead,” the girl said as a tear slid down her face. She wiped it away quickly as the woman turned.
“You understand how?”
‘”No.”
“It was in the magics war. Thousands died and millions of orphans are left behind for me to pick up. Hurry up, now. I’ve three more to pick up,” the woman said as she ushered the girl out into the snowy lane.
The woman clutched the girl’s wrist, the other occupied with a sack, the woman muttered a word and suddenly they were standing in front of a castle, richly furnished, but with black smudges on the stone walls where fire had been thrown.
Catherine stared up at the turrets as the woman pulled her along and pushed on the door hidden by a trellis. She yanked the girl in, and then sat her down.
“Wait here, don’t move. There are dangerous things out there,” the woman said, before walking off. Catherine watched her walk away, before turning to the trellis. A vine was entangled in it’s wooden frame and beside her shoulder a small bud was half opened. The white flower seemed soft, but when the girl touched it, it crumbled in her fingers.
Catherine looked up as the woman walk over a tall boy trailing her while protesting.
‘I have no time to quarrel with silly nobles. We need to move on, quickly. I’ve two more places to visit,” the woman snapped at him, before picking Catherine up and dumping her in his arms.
“Hey, I’m not a servant, you know! I’m a noble, a duke’s son,” he protested, holding the girl away from his fine shirt.
“And I’m a magic, so shut up, and do as you’re told,” the woman said, before pulling him through the trellis door and out to the courtyard. She grabbed the boy’s hand and muttered another word.
“Whoa,” the boy said as they suddenly appeared in the middle of a forest. Catherine, suddenly frightened, clutched the strange boy and whimpered.
“Stop it,” he said in an ordering tone, before the woman took Catherine from the boy.
“She’s only six. Don’t be rude.”
“Well, I don’t care. I’m older than her.”
“By how many years?”
“Seven,” the boy admitted.
“Then you should know better that she’s scared,” the woman said, putting Catherine on her hip. She felt the girl nuzzled her face into her shoulder and sighed.
“I should never have taken up this job,” she muttered before walking through the tightly enclosed trees to a little cottage, where a large fire was burning at the door.
“Now you really need to hold her,” the woman said to the boy, before handing Catherine over and running to the house.
“What are you looking at?” the boy asked angrily as Catherine stared at him.
She whimpered and suddenly there was an explosion.
The boy glared at the small girl in his arms as she hid her face in his shirt, before looking up.
The woman ran to them, a child on her back, and dragging one behind as the houseexploded again, and fresh wisps of fire reached towards the pine trees.
“Get moving, boy! And you’re stuck with that one,” she yelled as he puit her down, to give to the woman.
“Run!” the woman yelled as fire above them crawled through the trees.
The boy reluctantly grabbed Catherine’s hand and ran behind the woman, trying to urge the frightened girl along. She stumbled and fell letting go of his hand, and the boy turned.
“Rghhh,” he growled angrily, before running back, picking her up, and turning to run after the woman.
“Hurry up you stupid boy! Get over here quickly,” the woman yelled standing in a small circular grove as the branches above them all crackled and spat sparks down below.
The boy ran to her and she grabbed him, clutching the two children. She muttered a word and they were gone.
http://missmagicsforum.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,97.msg463.html#msg4631~The Magics-The story of an orphan