Chapter 3
Strange Powers and a Surprise!
San walks down the forest path carefully. Seeing the entrance, to the woods, she hurries towards it. As she finally makes it out of the woods San gives a sigh of relief. She checks her lamp to make sure the oil isn’t too low.
“At least I am out of the woods now. Now I won’t have to worry about the wolves that live in there. But, now I have to worry about bandits on the roads home. If I am lucky they will not be looking to steal form a peasant girl.” San thinks to herself. San hurries past farmer’s fields and meadows. Just as she is about to turn to the road that leads to her home a man jumps out of the bushes on the side of the road, in front of her. The bandit is skinny and sly looking and has a dangerous glint in his eye
“Hey little girl what to you got in the bag,” the sly looking bandit whispers to her in a dangerous voice.
“Nothing, just some herbs for my family,” San mumbles to the bandit.
“Well, why don’t I just take a look if it’s just herbs,” the sly looking bandit whispers to her again.
“NO!” San yells at him. She turns around to run back the way she came, but instead bumps into a big burly bandit, that had snuck up behind her, without her noticing.
“Give me her bag and you hold onto her, while I look through it,” the sly looking bandit orders the burly bandit.
“Can I have her when you are done searching? I could use a bit a new slave,” the burly bandit. The sly-looking bandit ignores the burly bandit as he approaches San to take her bag from her. Fear claims San as she realizes what the burly bandit might do to her. She struggles more in his grip trying to get away. San feels a strange heat rush through her body. Her body goes stiff and her mind goes blank.
The sly-looking bandit and burly bandit look in amazement at San. Sans eyes glow with the color of the depths of pools of glacier water. All of a sudden waves of air pulse from San, making the burly bandit drop her and fall down on his back. Both of the bandits look in amazement and fear as they see San floating in the air above them. The sly-bandit curses.
“We should have known, that she’s a witch,” curses the sly-bandit.
“C-Come on l-lets get out of h-here,” stammers the burly bandit.
“Yeah, okay,” blurts out the sly-looking bandit. Both of the bandits run away from San. As the bandits run over the hill, San’s body slowly floats to the ground. As soon as her head touches the ground her eyes close and she falls asleep.
A few hours later… San moans as she turns to her side, then her eyes flutter open. San realizes that she has fallen sleep, and sits straight up at realizing this. She soon realizes her mistake at doing so. San is hit with a headache and the ground in front of her won’t stop spinning, causing her stomach to dance with nausea. San tries to remember what had happened to her. Then the memory of the bandits hits her.
“I remember the bandits and how they what the burly bandit had said, and how I was gripped with fear. Then I felt really strange and my mind went blank, and I don’t remember anything else after that. I better not tell my parents about this, they might think me a freak or something like that,” San thinks. “Oh, good my vision has stopped spinning, I better get home.” San picks herself up and brushes the dirt off of herself and her bag. As soon as San finishes brushes her self off, she wearily trudges to her home.
At the family farm…
San carefully opens up the back door of the house. She walks in, seeing that nobody is up waiting for her, she gives a sigh of relief.
“I better hide the stone from Ianthe, cause if she sees it she will want it, and make her father to take it from me and give it to her. I will give Ianthe’s farther the Ewe’s tears in the morning, to show him that I can be useful,” San thinks to herself. San puts her bag on the kitchen table and opens it up. San pushes the away herbs that she had collected, away from the stone as she lifts it out of her bag. Finally satisfied that the stone is free of dirt and herb leaves, San lowers it carefully on the table to examine it. As San runs her hands over the stone, to feel for cracks, she notices something strange.
“Is it just me or does the stone feel warmer than it was before? It should be cold by now, from the night air,” San thinks. Seeing that there are no cracks marring the surface, and that nothing else strange, she puts it back in her bag.
While, walking up stairs, San sees her sister coming down the stairs, with her eyes almost closed. San presses herself against the stairway wall, as her sister passes her, seemingly not noticing her. Ianthe is so tired with sleep that all she sees is a blurry stairway as she makes her way downstairs. As soon as Ianthe passes her, San quietly runs up the stairs, making sure to step over the steps that creak.
When San reaches her room, she closes the door, then slumps up against it with a sigh of relief. Sitting upon the floor, San takes out the stone again.
Holding in her lap San asks to her self out loud, “Now what should I do with you? I don’t think I am going to sell you, even if I do. I am going to need to hide you from Ianthe, anyway.” San looks around the room. She spots a shelf that is near the ceiling, above her bed.
“I know won’t Ianthe try to get it down from there. She would be too scared, that she would fall off the bed and mar her pretty face,” San thinks. Taking out the Ewe’s Tears, and then putting the stone back in her bag. San climbs on top of her and Ianthe’s bed to reach the shelf. Groaning with effort, San slowly gets the bag up on to the shelf. Satisfied that the bag will not fall off the shelf, San starts to get her night clothes, before her sister comes back.
Morning…San wakes up with a start. She looks out the window, seeing how late it is San jumps out of bed and puts on her work blouse and skirt. San hops around the room as she tries, with not much success, tries to put her socks. As San opens the door, she tries to put on her shoes. Having a tuff time putting on her left shoe and afraid of being late. San hops out of the doorway and down the hallway. About halfway down the hall San falls flat on her face. San just lies on the floor, blaming herself for being so stupid. She hears footsteps that stop in front of her. San looks up to see her staring at her with her hands on her hips.
“San why in the world are you on the floor?” asks her mother.
“I was trying to put on my shoes, but I was afraid that I was going to be in trouble. So I tried to put on my shoes while hopping down the hallway,” San tells her mother.
“Now that wasn’t very smart, dear, now was it? You could have gotten your shoes on faster and a whole lot easier if you just had sat down and put them on,” San’s mother tells her.
“I guess I wasn’t acting very smart,” San mumbles.
“Its okay honey, and don’t worry your not in trouble. I convinced your father to let you sleep and your step-sister not to bother you. I know you had a very tiring day yesterday and would need your sleep.” San’s mother tells he, “Now get up from that floor and have come down stairs, with me, and have some breakfast.”
“Hey mom is it okay if I have it in my room? I don’t’ want dad or Ianthe to know that I am up yet,” asks San.
“That’s okay honey I understand, I’ll just warm it up for you,” her mother, winks with a big grin on her face, before she turns around.
“I’ll be back upstairs in a few minutes,” San’s mother calls over her shoulder. San turns around to go back into her room. Just as her mother said, she was back upstairs in a few minutes, and this time with a bowl of steaming cinnamon porridge.
“Be careful not to burn your tong, it’s hot. Blow on it before you eat it,” warns her with a smile.
“Mom I know that, I’m not a little kid anymore,” San tells her mother in a sarcastic voice.
“I know that, but I just can’t help treating you like a little girl. You’re just growing up to fast for,” San’s mother says lovingly to her daughter. Once her mother is gone San starts to eat her porridge
Upon smelling food, the she-dragonet wakes up. She uncurls herself, and finds out that she is in a bag. She probes around with her nose to find the opening. When she finds it, the she-dragonet pushes it open with her head. Unknowingly the she-dragonet walks forward and falls off the shelf and lands in a girls lap.
San almost screams, with surprise and fear, when a white lizard as, large as a small cat, lands in her lap. She jumps out of bed, uncertain if its dangerous. The lizard thing heads straight for her bowl of porridge, and starts eating it.
“HEY! That’s my food. SHOO, go away from that,” Yells San angrily. The white lizard thing amazingly jumps off the bed and glides away, in fright, landing on her dresser. Seeing that the creature means no harm, San calms down and tries to get it down to study it.
“Now don’t be afraid little one. I am not going to hurt you. Come down and let me take a look at you” Upon receiving a hiss, San decides to try a different method. She runs downstairs and goes outside to the smoke house. She enters the smoke house and chooses a medium sized piece of smoked meat, from the selection of meats. She hides the piece of meat under her tunic. With the piece of meat hidden, San runs back inside and upstairs to her room. Taking the piece of smoked meat out from under her tunic, she breaks it up into little pieces.
San approaches the creature, and waves a piece of meat in front of its face. The creature tries to snatch the meat from her fingers, with it forepaws.
“Na ah. You have to come down from there and be good, before you can get a piece. The creature slowly comes to edge of the dresser. Still cautious, the little creature glides back to the bed. San quickly moves her hand away, after she gives it a piece of the meat. It cautiously takes it from her hands, then retreats to the farthest corner of her bed. It sniffs the meat, then deciding that it is safe to eat, eats it. After finishing that piece, it comes back to San for more meat, but this time it stays closer to her, as it eats the food.
“Now isn’t that better, little one?” San says sweetly, adoring the coloring of its eyes and skin. After the little creature eats all the meat it looks at her for more.
“Sorry I don’t have anymore,” she tells it. It looks at her with disappointment; it then decides that it should sit in her lap. San, a little bit surprised, lets it lay her lap. It snuggles closer into her and then falls asleep. San starts to, adoringly; study the little creature sitting in her lap.
“I can’t believe it, this beautifully colored and shaped creature, is a dragonet. That would account how it looks and why it has bat wings. But where did it come from.” San looks up at the shelf where her bag, with stone in it is, and sees that bag is empty.
“You must have been that rock, but at that time I didn’t know that you were the rock.” San looks at the dragonet adoringly.
“I better ask if mom, after dinner, if she will let me take the day off, on Market Day. Maybe I will introduce her to the dragonet when Ianthe and dad go to the market. I’ll have to hide it in the loft of the barn tonight,” San whispers to the dragonet. San puts the sleeping dragonet back in her bag. She puts the Ewe’s tears on top of the dragonet, so that no one will find it easily. San slings the bag over her shoulder, gently, and picks up her bowl of porridge. As she passes the kitchen sink, San drops her bowl in it, and heads outside. As soon as she is outside, she heads straight for barn. Seeing that her father is in the barn, with the ewes, San heads for him
“Farther I got the Ewe’s Tears for you as you asked.”
“Good girl. Why don’t you go crush them now? So we can force it easier into the ewes’ throats. Please do it fast, the ewes should be birthing very soon.” San reluctantly goes and gets the pewter bowl and grinding stone
“I hate grinding herbs.” Tirelessly grinds the herbs with renewed anger at the bowl and stone in her hands, until they are mashed to a liquid form.
“Here father, do you want me to help you with giving the herb to the ewes or helping you with the births’'?” Asks San in a bored voice.
“No dear, but can you get your mother, out here. So she can help me with the births, and get your sister to cook dinner tonight.” San’s step-father says, as he waves her away. San hurries to the smoke house to gather a lot more meat. Slipping two medium chunks of meat under her blouse, San heads for the back exit in the barn. Once inside the back of the barn, where her father can’t see her, San closes the barn door gently. San sneaks to the barn ladder. Sweating from anxiety of getting caught by her father. San checks to see if her father is looking, near her, every time she crawls to a new hiding place. Finally reaching the ladder. San scrambles up it as fats and quietly as she can. Once in the loft San sits down and wipes the sweat of her forehead and gives a sigh of relief.
San puts the bag on a soft bed of hay, and takes out the dragonet. The dragonet blinks in confusion as it wakes up from its sleep, and finds out that it is in a new place.
“Its okay little one. I just brought you to the loft to hide you from my family. If you don’t leave here, and hide when someone comes up here. You should be safe,” San says lovingly to the dragonet.
“I just hope you understand?” San says to herself, worryingly. San goes over to the farthest corner of the loft and puts down the meat. The little dragonet waddles after her, chirping to be held.
San laughs to herself to see the cute dragonet waddling towards her, with its belly still bulging with its last meal.
San sits down and starts to tear up one of the chunks of meat. The dragonet insistently tries to crawl in to her lap, but San keeps pushing it away. Finally getting very annoyed, San yells at the dragonet. Causing the poor thing to waddle, as fast as it can, away from her in fear, and hide under some moldy hay. San instantly regrets in yelling at the dragonet in her moment of anger. She puts down the meat, and goes over to the dragonet, with concern and love in her eyes. San picks up the dragonet, and soothes its fear, until it falls asleep in her arms.
San goes over to where she was working and makes a bed of hay right next to her, for the dragonet. Once San puts the dragonet in its bed of hay, she goes back to work. After San finishes tearing up the one piece of meat, into little pieces, she goes and puts the other piece in a cool spot of the loft. She checks the dragonet to make sure it is still sleeping and then goes back down the ladder to get a bucket of cold water. As soon as she is down the ladder San checks to see if her father is still in the barn. Seeing that he isn’t, San goes to the stream near the barn, grabbing a bucket from the wall on the way out, and fills it with water. San goes back up the ladder and places the bucket of water next to the pile of meat. She strokes the dragonet, affectionately, before she goes back down the ladder to do what her father asked.
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