Rampion - Chapter 3

"What are you looking for?"

Elias stood in the chill, knee-deep water, his pants and sleeves rolled up to keep dry. He moved carefully along the bank of the creek, scooping up fistfuls of sand and pebbles. "I'm looking for adder stones."

"For what?" Heinrich looked up from under the cloth he had spread over his face. Earlier in the morning, they had walked into the stream, each standing beside one bank, with a net stretched out between them. Within a few minutes, they had 3 good-sized fish trapped. Then Heinrich had managed to fling an eel from the water onto the bank, where Elias had bashed its head with a rock. They had built a fire on a large, flat rock that stood along the water, skewered the eel, and Elias had slowly turned it over the flame until the smell made his mouth water. After having eaten their fill, Elias had dropped back into the water to begin his search. Heinrich was stretched out in the sun.

Elias dragged his fingers through the water, washing away the grit, then plunged his arms to the bottom of the stream and brought up another fistful of rocks. "An adder stone is a small rock or pebble with a hole in the middle." Satisfaction and relief surged through Elias's chest. "Like this one." He held up a small white stone with a slightly off-center hole through it. Elias climbed up the bank of the stream and sat on the rock next to Heinrich. He held the stone up to his eye, peering down the length of the stream. Switching the stone to the other eye, he glanced the other way down the stream, then froze. Up the stream, at the top of a small waterfall, stood a woman draped in white. Her dress and hair moved wildly around her, though it was a calm, windless day. Her face was blank, eyes a deep, black void. As Elias gazed at her, she raised a hand, beckoning to him. She knew he could see her.

"Can I see it?" Elias started at the sound of Heinrich's voice; quickly pulled the stone from his eye. He carefully placed the stone in the palm Heinrich held out, and turned his back on the spot where he knew the woman stood. Panic suddenly gripped his heart as Heinrich mimicked what he had done, holding the stone up to his eye and gazing up the stream.

"What's this for? Why are you looking for them?"

Elias sighed. He hadn't seen the woman. He couldn't see the woman.

"It's just meant to bring good luck," Elias answered, choosing his words carefully. "I'll put it on a string and someone can wear it."

"Hmmm." Heinrich passed the stone back, then stretched back out on the rock, yawning hugely.

"Are you feeling okay?" Elias glanced over his shoulder as he asked. Without the stone he couldn't see her, but now he could feel her watching them.

"I didn't sleep well." Heinrich yawned again. "Gertrud could not keep still, nor could the babe. He kicked incessantly."

Elias forgot the white woman for a moment, and starred at Heinrich. The babe had been moving all night. It had probably sensed them, those things. "Why do you say he?"

"Oh, I don't know," Heinrich responded. "I just have a feeling."

"I think it's a girl," Elias said.

"Well, I suppose in a few month's time we will see who is right." Heinrich rolled over and promptly fell asleep.

***

While Heinrich napped, Elias continued to look for stones. Now, he could feel the woman watching him; could sense her empty eyes on his back. As long as she didn't come any closer, which he didn't think she had, they would be fine. At one point, Katze emerged from some bushes and came to lay across Heinrich's chest, staring off in the direction of the woman. This made Elias feel better. If she came closer, Katze would sense it, would let him know.

Heinrich couldn't see the woman. This meant that, whatever the baby's powers, they weren't inherited from him. Gertrud did not seem to possess any talents either though. Perhaps the child had simply been blessed by nature. Perhaps she would never know where her talents came from, just as he might never know.