The wind began to die as Tala trudged slowly and miserably to town, and half way there it started to rain. A hard, driving rain that found its way inside her coat and plastered her hair to the sides of her face. Soon she was treading her way through a rapidly flowing stream of water that followed the road, hiding the depth of potholes until she stepped into them and sank down to the ankle. Soon her feet were just as wet as the rest of her and her boots squelched with every step. In her current frame of mind, though, she barely noticed. She walked like a robot, virtually asleep on her feet. Her body working automatically while her mind hid away at the back of her head as if hiding from a predator in a cave.

     She would probably have walked right through town and back into the countryside on the other side if Sam, the apprentice blacksmith, hadn't seen her and, driven by curiosity, crossed the street to see her. "Tala?" he asked. "We weren't expecting to see you today. Everyone thought through rain would keep you home."

     When Tala didn't answer the fifteen year old moved closer, suddenly concerned. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Tala? Come on, let's get inside. You can dry off and... Has something happened?"

     "My house burned down," said Tala numbly, not pausing in her steps.

     Sam stared. "What?"

     "My house burned down. A branch fell from a tree, right through my roof and broke an oil lamp. The whole house burned down."

     "Oh my God! Are you alright?" He examined her, staring at her face, looking for burns. "You're bleeding," he said. "Come on, let's see Grady." Tala didn't seem to hear him, so Sam took her gently by the arm and steered her towards the house of the healer. Tala went without protest, still seeming barely aware of his presence.

     Sam thumped on the door, then opened it and put his hand on Tala's back to gently urge her in, yelling for help. Grady appeared from a back room and took in the scene at a glance. "She says her house burned down," said Sam, still staring at Tala with concern. "She must have walked all the way in the rain."

     "Are you alright?" Grady asked Tala, taking her coat and laying it across the back of a chair. He stared at the cut on her face, then went to the sink and wet a cloth in a bowl of water. He came back and started wiping the soot and blood from her face. "Just a scratch," he said. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

     "No, Tala replied. "I'm fine."

     "You're not fine. You're cold and exhausted. Ethel!"

     His wife appeared in the doorway. "I heard," she said. "I'm warming some soup up. Come on dear, let's get your wet things off. You'll feel like a new women when you're warm and dry."

     "Give her a quick examination while she's got no clothes on," her husband told her. "She may have injuries she doesn't know about."

     "I know how to care for a patient," Ethel replied brusquely. "Haven't we been treating the sick and injured for forty years? Come on, my dear. Let's go to the back room. No windows."

     Tala followed her, still walking as if in a dream, and Ethel closed the door behind her.

☆☆☆

     Half an hour later, dressed in some of Ethel's spare clothes and gratefully spooning soup into her mouth, Tala finally began to feel herself again. She was tired, but near enough back to her right mind to begin thinking about how she was going to make a new future for herself. So her house had burned down. That was bad, but she was still a schoolteacher. She had a source of income, and she could get another job to help make ends meet. It might be nothing more than serving drinks in the tavern, but in her present circumstances she couldn't afford to be choosy.

     Ethel went off to tell her husband that their patient was decently dressed again and the healer appeared a moment later. "No injuries," Ethel told him. "She's a fine healthy lass."

     "Thank you for your help," Tala told him, putting the spoon down for a moment. "I can't pay you yet, but as soon as I get my next weeks pay for the schoolteaching..."

     "Nonsense, nonsense," said Grady, though. "All you've had from us is a few minutes of our time and a bowl of soup. What kind of people would we be if we demanded payment?"

     "You need money as much as anyone else," said Tala, though. "You have to buy food, clothes..."

     "You let us worry about that," said Grady, though. "All you've got to worry about is getting your strength back. There's a bed upstairs you can lie down on when you've finished your breakfast. I expect you'll be tired and things will look a lot different when you've got a clear head."

     "My head is clear enough," said Tala, though. "Clear enough to know that I have to pay my way in this world. I will pay you for what you've done for me, just as soon as I'm able to. I promise."

     "We'll talk about that later," said Grady, though. "The room is at the top of the stairs, at the end of the landing. Sleep as long as you want and we'll talk again when you're rested. Now finish your soup before it gets cold."

     He beckoned to Ethel and the two of them left the room, Ethel giving Tala a warm smile before closing the door behind her.

☆☆☆

     Tala thought she wouldn't be able to sleep, but she was tired, the bed was comfy and warm and no sooner had she slipped between the sheets than she was asleep.

     When she awoke it was still full daylight. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining in through the lace curtains that framed the room's small window. The temptation to just go on lying there was great, but she had to get her life sorted out. Where was she going to spend the night? The town had a boarding house, but she had no money, and even if she did the rooms cost more than she could afford on a schoolteacher's salary. Grady and Ethel would probably let her stay for a few days if she absolutely had nowhere else to go, but they wouldn't want her to stay permanently. The room she was currently occupying was normally for the use of bedridden patients and they would want be able to go on taking in people needing constant care and attention. Besides, she wouldn't want to impose on their hospitality in any case. She had her pride and wanted to be able to make her own way in the world.

     So what did that leave? Well, she could make a new home for herself on the site of her old home, where she had a well from which she could draw fresh water. If she could find her hundred florins, that would be enough to buy food for a few days, and an axe. With the axe, she could chop branches from trees and use them to make a primitive conical hut. Just enough to keep out the wind and the rain. Over the following weeks and months she could improve on it, add to it. Slap mud on the walls. Maybe chop some thicker logs from the forest trees to make a proper log cabin.

     It would be a tremendous endeavour but she was young and strong and it was something that she knew people actually did. Hunters made temporary huts for themselves in the woods in which to spend the night when foraging far from home. It was something they could knock up in just an hour or so, and if they could do it then so could she. It wouldn't be pretty, but she would have her independence and she'd be able to keep her secret safe.

     As she thought about it more, though, reality began to intrude. Very soon, her clothes would turn to rags and it would be a while before she could afford to buy more. If she was to live independently she would need a source of income, but she thought it unlikely that the people of the town would want to keep hiring a grimy, unkempt hermit to teach their children. Until now, she'd had good clothes and had been able to keep herself clean and well groomed. It had given her an air of respectability that allowed her to engage in village life as an equal. All that would be lost if she chose this path, though. She would become an outcast from society. The mad woman of the woods that children laughed at and dared each other to throw stones at. The more she thought about it, the more horrified she became and the more she retreated from the idea. The trouble was that there was really only one alternative. Marry someone and live as his wife. But if she did that, how long could she keep her secret?

     One day at a time, she thought. Just take things one day at a time. She would go out into town. Just walk around while she turned things over in her head. Maybe something would occur to her. Something she hadn't thought of yet. She would go see the priest, she thought. Maybe he would give her an advance on her wages. If so, it would be money in her pocket and she wouldn't feel quire so hopeless and destitute. She'd be able to buy food for herself. Pay Grady and Ethel what she owed them for their kindness... No, not yet. She would need the money too much for other things for a while, but she would pay them back. She made a vow to herself that she would.

     She found her clothes draped across an airer at the end of the bed. Ethel must have put them there while she'd been asleep. They were dry and most of the mud had been washed off. She mentally blessed Ethel as she got dressed. Then she opened the door and left the room.

     Grady and Ethel were nowhere to be seen. Maybe they'd been called out to see to a sick person and had trusted her not to steal anything from the house. Not that they had anything really valuable to steal. The trust warmed her heart, though, as she stepped out into the street to see what the world had waiting for her.

     The sun was out, and the warmth had brought people out into the street. Heads immediately turned towards her and people began whispering to each other, making Tala groan unhappily. Word had evidently spread and the whole town knew what had happened to her. Fifteen year old blacksmiths apprentices liked to gossip as much as anyone else, it seemed.

     There was a horse and carriage in the street, standing outside the corner shop, and a bearded man was loading a pile of blankets into it. Tala groaned when she saw that it was Drisco Tanner. Dougal's father. Seeing her, he put the blankets down and hurried across the street to her.

     "I heard what happened," he said. "Are you alright?"

     "Fine," Tala replied. She fingered the cut on her face, which itched a bit. "I got lucky. I got out of the house before it all fell down on me."

     "You're a lucky girl, that's for sure. I've seen a house burn down before and those folks weren't so lucky. Where are you going to spend the night? Have you got relatives who'll take you in?"

     Tala shook her head. "I'll be alright," she said. She wouldn't ask to be taken in by him. She had too much pride. Dougal was her future now, though. She saw no alternative to being a man's wife, and if she had to marry it might as well be to someone she liked. Someone who evidently liked her in return. She would worry about how she would protect her secret later. Perhaps if she simply never used her abilities, never spoke to animals again. It would be hard, but she would be protecting not only herself but Dougal and his family as well. The law was just as hard on those sheltering a green witch as it was on the witch herself.

     "You can come stay with us for a while," said Drisco. "We have a spare room you can have, and..." He cut himself off hastily, but she smiled as she guessed what he'd almost said. You'll be sharing Dougal's room before long. Dougal was at the age where his parents would be looking for a match for him, and Tala knew she was considered good looking. Also, she had thick, strong arms and legs. Good for helping to work a farm. People hereabouts had no problem with young people having sex before marriage, so long as they were in a serious relationship with each another, and Drisco had apparently taken a liking to her. Drisco already saw her as a ready made match for his son, it seemed, and Tala was in no position to argue.

     "I don't want to impose..." said Tala automatically. It was what you said in a situation like this, but they both knew she would be accepting the offer.

     "Nonsense. You saved my son from a pack of ravenous wolves. We owe you for that. You're welcome to stay for as long as you like. Until you find something that suits you better. Come on, lass. What do you say?"

     Tala smiled. "Thank you," she said. "You're very kind. I'd be glad to accept your offer."

     Drisco smiled broadly. "Jump aboard then," he said, slapping the carriage with his broad, hairy hand. "Let's go home."