Free Rain Glade by John H. Carroll Page B

that had been brewing in Rain’s mind
for the last couple of days.
    Verna raised an eyebrow. “It’s unlikely
they’ll give information to you.”
    “I don’t care.” Rain stretched an arm along
the cool grass. “I have to know, even if I’m being a stupid little
peasant girl.”
    A sad expression came over Verna. “I hate it when you talk about yourself like that, Rain.”
    Rain studied her friend for a moment. “I’m
sorry. I don’t feel that way when I’m with you. People have told me
that my whole life, so . . . I believe them, I guess.”
    “Well it’s not true.” Verna went back to
tattooing while Rain played with blades of grass, twirling them in
her fingers. When Verna finished the tattoo, she spread oil on it.
“Take a couple of the wind chimes you’ve made. You can sell them.
That will give you an excuse to be there and talk to people.”
    Rain sat up. “You’d let me do that?”
    “ You made them with items from the
forest. Of course you can sell them, especially since your father
won’t let you keep them at home.” Verna frowned. “Towns are a
dangerous place for a young woman though. I worry about you.”
    “Every place is dangerous for me, Verna. I’m
tired of having to mind my manners and be properly afraid of
everything.” Rain ran fingers over the tattoo. The orange colors
with a touch of purple were vibrant in the sunset colors of the
sky. “It’s beautiful. I see you added more of the raindrops around
it.”
    “I couldn’t help myself.” Verna grinned
bashfully. “They look so good and they’re perfect for you.” They
walked back to the house. “Stay with me tonight. We’ll pick out the
wind chimes and you can leave in the morning for Seyten.”
     
    ***
     
    The next morning dawned sunny without the
usual mist. Verna put a waterskin over Rain’s shoulder along with
the pack containing the wind chimes for sale. “It’s a beautiful day
to walk to Seyten. The only problem is that you’re going someplace
where there will be more people.” Verna winked.
    Rain laughed. “You don’t like people. It will
be an adventure though. At least that’s how I’m thinking about it,
else I might lose my nerve.” She held her stomach, which had begun
tumbling at the thought of traveling so far away.
    “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Enjoy the journey
and don’t let anyone get you alone. Try to stay around people if
someone talks to you.” Verna hugged her. “Go on now.”
    Rain walked down the path, waving as the
house disappeared from sight. Verna waved back the entire time.
When they could no longer see each other, Rain began to skip. It
helped to burn off the nervous energy she was feeling.
    She took another path that skirted the
village, not wanting to talk to anyone or have to explain where she
was going. She stopped a number of times along the way to say hello
to pretty butterflies or capture the aroma of a flower blooming in
the morning warmth.
    In the back of her mind, she worried about
Jacob. She missed him and hoped he wouldn’t be mad if he discovered
she was coming to see him. If the village of Zethbern was at the
border of the provinces as Jacob had told her, they might even be
back in Seyten already. Hopefully she would be a pleasant surprise,
not an unwelcome one.
    The path came out on the road north of
Cothbern, just as Verna had told her it would. Rain looked both
ways and saw that the road was empty. There was no law against her
traveling, but she didn’t want to answer questions either. Verna
said that bad things happened to young women alone on the road, but
Rain didn’t know if that was true or just because the Druid didn’t
like people.
    The road was dry, but heavily rutted, so Rain
made her way alongside it most of the time. Warmer air brought more
insects that droned in the noon sun. Rain enjoyed the sounds
surrounding her and the smells of the warming wood. There were a
few farms along the way and she would wave pleasantly if someone
were in sight,