Page 82 of Snow Hunted

I changed my voice to what I imagined a frail woman would sound like. “Oh dear. It’s quite alright.” I shifted uncomfortably from side to side. “I was hoping… if you’d be interested in some of these fine necklaces here.” I held them up, but let my arm shake from the weight.

“Oh, my.” She looked behind me. “Have you walked all this way?”

I nodded. “My cart got stuck in some mud a ways back, but I was hoping perhaps you and your husband could help an old woman out and purchase a piece or two of fine jewelry. A house as grand as this and a neck as beautiful as yours deserves to be adorned in finery.”

“Oh.” She laughed gratingly. “I’m not married.”

I peeked around her arm. “You have a table for so many. I thought for sure a young and beautiful woman such as yourself would have a husband with many children.”

She laughed. “Maybe one day.”

Not likely. “Well.” I shook the necklaces in my arm.

“I don’t know if I need a necklace now, plus I have no money.”

“Oh.” I lowered my arm. “I was hoping to sell at least three more of these this month so I could buy some food for my children.”

Her face fell. Always such the soft heart. I smiled at the thought of holding it in my hands in mere minutes.

“How many children do you have?”

“Five children… full of energy.” And delicious youth.

Her eyes focused on me. “Are you alright? Your eye…”

“My eye?” I reached up to touch it.

“It’s twitching.”

“Oh… it does that sometimes. Old age…” It shouldn’t be the body decaying… I hadn’t been in it long enough. Perhaps the old hag had a twitching eye already? I never noticed, granted I never paid much attention to her. I looked around. “Do you think I could come in and wait for a bit? Let my feet rest before I go back to my cart?”

She looked over her shoulder, hesitating, so I dropped my leg and let out a gasp.

“Yes, yes, of course.” She backed out of the door. “The men will be home in just a little while and will be able to help you with your cart.”

“Oh, goddess bless you, child.”

She smiled and guided me over to the couch.

“Such a big house you keep.”

“It’s great. I was just about to go harvest some vegetables in the garden. Will you be ok in here on your own?”

“Yes. Let me rest for a moment and I can come out and help you.”

“Nonsense. You have had a long and tiring journey.”

“It’s not a bother. My mother always said gardening was good for the health.”

She giggled, “I, also, find it relaxing.”

“I’ll be right out in a little.”

She closed the door, and I heard her melodic voice filtering in through the windows and felt my body cringing at the sound. I walked around the kitchen, letting my fingers glide carelessly over the counter, and stopped at the knife block. My fingers padded across the handles of each of the knives, landing on the center one. I pulled it out and the sound of the metal scraping sent a euphoric feeling through me. I put the knife in the skirt's pocket and continued moving around the house.

I wandered up the wooden staircase and stopped on the first floor. I opened the door to the left and stepped into a rather small room with an enormous bed and a dresser. I bounced on the edge of the bed, but was distracted by Snow yelling out something.

I moved to the window and peeked through the curtains to see her looking out across the field with her hands on her hips. I laughed when I realized she was looking for that stupid horse!

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