The Forest Witch

A carnivorous willow's prehensile tendrils reached out for Jessica, but Grace grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her to safety. Jessica yelped as the ravening tree ripped out a small lock of her hair.

"At least it's just hair," Grace smiled.

"Ever the optimist." Jessica rubbed her scalp with a scowl. "I told you this place is dangerous."

Grace took Jessica's arm companionably. "I think the village exaggerates how dangerous the woods are, just to keep us in line."

The two young women continued their walk into the enchanted forest. Morning sunlight trickled through the thick green foliage overhead.

Jessica said, "I suppose you're right. Mr. Elmwood certainly doesn't want us speaking with the Forest Witch."

"The less Mr. Elmwood knows, the better," Grace responded. "Did you hear his sermon yesterday? 'The servitude of women.' Ugh."

Jessica sighed.

"What is it?" Grace asked.

"Mr. Elmwood has every reason to expect a subservient wife. Did you know that he has a fortune of eight thousand pounds?"

Grace shrugged. "I may have heard something like that.”

"My father keeps inviting Mr. Elmwood around for supper," Jessica continued. "Father always has me wear my best dresses for it. I'm sure he wants to marry me off to the parson."

"Watch your step!" Grace said abruptly. She tugged her friend away from a small vine with bright red leaves. "That one harms the skin."

"Oh!" Jessica said. "Thank you." Then she laughed. "All that talk of vicious man-eating trees and swarms of bloodsucking butterflies, and here we are, avoiding a rash."

Grace hesitated. "I don't know if I'd call it a rash, really. The Huntsman's Field Guide said it 'boils upon touch.'"

"Oh."

They walked on in relative peace, until Grace bluntly asked, "Do you love Mr. Elmood?"

"Love?!" The word twisted Jessica's face like an unexpectedly sour apricot. She quickly composed herself, hiding her disgust with a polite smile. "I think highly of him. He's a capable parson and a well-mannered man."

Grace nodded. As usual, her mind could not be read on her face.

They came upon what appeared to be an old, mossy bridge over a shallow stream. Grace poked at it with her parasol and it thumped solidly enough.

"What if it gives way?" Jessica asked.

"Then I suppose my shoes will get uncomfortably muddy," Grace answered.

Jessica pointed at the nearby lush green plants with clusters of yellow blossoms. "Are those dangerous?"

"Kingcups," Grace said. "Also known as marsh marigolds. They're just flowers." She smiled kindly. "Not everything out here is dangerous to us." She crossed the bridge, then turned back to Jessica with an inviting gesture.

Jessica stepped up on the bridge. It lurched. She grabbed hold of a damp, irregular handrail, but it crumbled and fell--it had only been a loose branch. Jessica yelped in surprise and flailed her arms, managing somehow to regain her balance. Under her feet, the "bridge" sprouted legs, pincers, antennae, and eyes.

Jessica screamed and jumped towards Grace, who caught her. They backed away from the creature, which slowly scuttled towards the kingcups and started munching.

Grace and Jessica's shocked expressions relaxed into laughter.

"A woodcrab. They dig out shells from fallen logs," Grace explained. She told it, "Thanks helping us cross the stream!"

Jessica waved shyly. "Enjoy your meal."

"See?" Grace said, leading her friend further on. "This place isn't so bad."

The small trail wound them past a knot of cherry trees. Heavenly floral aromas embraced the young women like a comforting blanket.

"Maybe we should rest a little," Grace said. "We've been walking for hours and my legs are so heavy." She stepped off the path, towards the blossoming trees.

"Wait," Jessica called after her. "It hasn't been hours."

She yawned and followed after Grace, who found a soft bed of ferns at the base of a cherry tree. Grace sat down and leaned against the trunk.

"Grace," Jessica said. "It hasn't been hours. Look at the sun. We've only been in the woods for ninety minutes or so."

"Just a quick rest," Grace murmured.

Jessica knelt beside her friend, yawning again. "This doesn't feel right." She tugged at her friend’s arm, but Grace only replied with a small, sleepy noise.

Jessica laid down and rested her head in Grace's lap. "We need to keep moving," she said. Her head encountered a hard object. Jessica pulled the small book from Grace's pocket. "The Huntsman's Field Guide," she read. "I knew you couldn't have memorized the whole thing."

Jessica settled back down in Grace's lap, her eyes barely open. She held the book lazily in front of her and checked the index in the back. "Cherries, page 19," she read out loud. "Cherry blossoms, 19. Cherry trees, 19. Cherry badger, 34."

Jessica immediately sat upright and turned to page 34. She read quickly, pocketed the book, and scanned the forest floor for signs of movement.

"Grace." Jessica's voice had a sharp edge now. She maneuvered herself into a crouching position. "Grace, get up. Now."

"Need sleep," Grace mumbled.

Jessica slapped her friend's face.

Grace gasped and stared at her.

"Move!"

Jessica pulled Grace to her feet. They turned their frantic steps back towards the path, but the first five-foot-tall beast emerged from the underbrush. It opened its mouth, revealing deadly sharp teeth. It emitted a low hissing noise, accompanied by a fine, sweet-smelling mist.

Jessica backed away. Grace spun around. "Three more!" she exclaimed.

All four badgers hissed, overwhelming Jessica and Grace with the seductive aroma of flowers and sleep. Birds and squirrels nearby fell to the ground.

Jessica unfurled her parasol and charged at the first badger, dragging Grace behind her. The creature made a strange squealing sound which may have been surprise. It bolted back into the underbrush.

Jessica half-dragged, half-cajoled Grace down the path until the knot of cherry trees was out of sight. Grace sank down to her hands and knees. "The mist. The scent." She yawned and pulled at the lacings of her dress. "All over us."

"Good thinking." Jessica stripped down to her shift and tied her hair back in a practical low knot. She helped Grace, whose fingers still stumbled with fatigue.

"Good thinking, you," Grace groggily replied. "The parasol."

"You knew about those things?" Jessica asked.

Grace nodded. "I thought I'd be too strong-willed for their effect. I didn't realize…"

Jessica pulled away the last of the badger-misted fabric and tossed both dresses into the woods.

Grace considered the pile of clothes. "My father will murder me if he ever finds out I wandered in these woods with only a shift, a book, and a parasol."

Jessica replied, "My father would die of shame. 'You've done it now, Jessie. You'll never impress Mr. Elmwood after this stunt."

"Jessica." For once, Grace allowed her cheeks to redden. "Mr. Elmwood is already… impressed…"

Jessica stared at Grace and waited for her to continue.

Grace swallowed hard. "I listened at the door to my father's study last night. The parson asked Papa's permission to propose to me."

"You decided to go on a quest in a life-threatening enchanted forest to consult a dangerous magician… to avoid having a wealthy man propose to you?"

Grace's expression cooled back to an approximation of her usual composure. "Yes."

Tears poured down Jessica's cheeks. She wiped them away impatiently. "Right, then," she said. "Let’s find the Forest Witch."

They returned to their feet and continued walking. Grace took Jessica's arm again. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this," Grace said.

"Nonsense," Jessica replied. "I wouldn't want that stuffy parson proposing to me, either. Did you hear his sermon yesterday?"

Grace laughed a little.

As the two young women walked, they picked up on the general rhythm of the forest. Before another hour had passed, they mastered the warning signs of numerous dangers. They plucked fresh wild strawberries. They drank from a cold, swift river. They carefully diverted their steps to remain downwind from a herd of spotted deer and a single silvery unicorn.

In the early afternoon, the path beneath the young women's feet widened. Trees around them grew taller, with thicker trunks and less undergrowth between them.

"The witch's grove," Grace said, gently touching the trunk of a large tree. "We're nearly there."

"What's that smell?" Jessica asked. "Another danger?"

Grace sniffed the air. "I don't think so. It smells like the spice merchant's cart."

They proceeded arm in arm, finally spotting a green thicket surrounding a particularly large tree. As they stepped closer, they determined that the thicket grew around a lattice of white wooden strips--simultaneously garden fence, and garden. Herbal odors filled the air.

Jessica and Grace paused for a moment before the garden gate.

"Do we knock?" Jessica quietly asked Grace. "Do we enter here, and knock at the door? Is there a bell to ring?"

A voice answered from the other side: "You could just halloo. I'm not big on ceremony."

The gate swung open, revealing a short, pretty woman in a practical dark dress. Before Jessica or Grace could respond, a gray cougar stepped out from the garden and circled them, purring loudly and rubbing against them with aggressive affection.

"Lily, in," the woman commanded with a snap of her fingers. The cougar nudged against Grace and returned inside. "You two can come in, too. I've already got the kettle on."

A network of gravel paths twisted between raised beds of the widest variety of plants in the world. As she walked, the witch gestured at a tilled plant bed and a basket of bulbs. "I'm in the middle of some gardening. I'll get you girls set up, and then you can join me when you're ready. Come on."

She brought them inside her cabin, showed them the washroom with two fresh shifts and dresses in their sizes, and began steeping tea on a table set for two. "Bring your cups to me when you've finished," she instructed. With that, she walked out the door.

Lily stretched out in a sunbeam by the front door. Grace and Jessica washed, dressed, and ate their scones with gusto. They leaned back in their chairs, sipping their tea. The cougar sauntered over and laid her soft head in Grace's lap, purring loudly.

Grace stroked Lily. "This feels so surreal," she said. She finished her tea and stared at the damp leaves at the bottom of her cup.

Jessica took her last sip, too. "Ready?"

Lily followed them out into the garden, where the Forest Witch planted her last bulb.

"All right," the witch said. She stood, pulled off her gardening gloves, and surveyed her guests. She pointed at Jessica: "You're first."

Jessica handed over her teacup. "I suppose I want to know if I get to marry for love. And, you know, when. And who?"

The witch looked at Jessica's tea leaves, then at Jessica. "Be honest with yourself. Do you actually want to marry?"

Jessica hesitated. "I think… I just… I haven't met the right man."

"Be honest with yourself," witch repeated, returning Jessica's cup. She held out her hand for Grace's.

"I need advice," Grace said, passing her cup over. "The village parson is going to propose to me."

The witch briefly glanced at Grace's tea leaves, then handed this cup to Jessica as well. The witch put her hands on Grace's upper arms, looked her square in the eyes, and said: "You aren't broken. Your feelings are natural and healthy."

Grace broke into tears, sobbing freely.

Both teacups shattered on the gravel path as Jessica wrapped her arms around Grace. They wept together, declared their undying love for each other, kissed, embraced, wept more, and so on. From that day, they faced all their challenges together.