To Call Down the Thunder... # added a chapter on page 4

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:

that one is done - it's sort of a complete story - but the next one is partially finished - I have the intro, and maybe the first chapter or two done.

The second one goes on with Bronwyn, Adam and Stephen and their next adventure.

I can maybe post what I have for the second one - I haven't worked on it in years, would have to dig it up and put it into a word processor again (it is in MSWorks format - very ancient

)

I'll put the first bit I have done on here, just to tease ya all.

meri

LOL..i said finish it when i was still on chapter 7.

Again..Amazing stuff!

Thanks SO much for sharing it with us!

Oh

I thought you had it all read before posting that

Actually, in the first one, I was afraid the ending might be a bit of a cop-out. I mean, it just sort of ends and you don't really know much where they go from there - that is why I wrote the intro (with the Bard) so I could put the ending on it (again with the Bard). I just needed to tie a few loose ends up.

I hate reading a book that leaves me hanging.

meri

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Ok I changed all the Kennys to Owens (I hope I got them all).

meri

 

[froggie71]

Ok, I just finished what you post of the 2nd story and I need more!!!

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:

that was the easy part I had all of that written (for years). I'll need to start back writing on it to finish that story.

I was also playing with another tale of theirs (when I got writers block on this one...) But I hardly have anything written on that one.

Maybe I should try to find someone who would look at the first one (the complete one) to see if they'd consider it for editing/publishing, then that'll make me finish the latest one

eta - maybe I ought to send a copy of it to Llewellyn Publishing

they publish almost anything if it has a pagan theme.

meri

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Ok, so, I went looking for publishing guidelines....

My story is a bit too short - been trying to add words to it

It was a little over 31,000 words - I'm up almost to 35,000 (the least amount I need).

I added in more descriptive stuff, like Meriahs cottage clearing, etc... and some other things to it. Not done yet, then need to go back and read it all again, to make sure it flows ok and doesn't look cut and pasted. Oh and I added more to the ending.

I'll let ya all know if I ever get it sent in.

meri

 

[TheForgottenScribe]

Oh hai! i cant believe you posted this, or even still had it!
oh and uhh hai mom, i was thinking of this the other night when is at down and started writing again!

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
heya kid

everyone, meet my kid - kid, meet everyone

meri

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Oh, btw - found another chapter....

CHAPTER 6 -

The next morning, Meriah was gone before anyone got out of bed. Her orb had told her the night before that this beast was not a construct, which eased her mind a bit. “It might have been easier in the long run if it had been,” Meriah said to herself as she hurried through the wood towards the village. “I could have had a quiet little magical battle with this thing and been done with it. Now I get to figure out how to uncross the poor creature.”

The ice and snow had melted in an overnight rain, so it was damp, but easy walking through the underbrush. Shortly before the road widened going into the village, Meriah crossed it and kept going off into the wood once again. She was circling the Village so that she didn’t have to get caught up in gossip and pleasantries with anyone. She was on business this morning, and she didn’t necessarily want anyone to know what business it was. The wood appeared to grow thicker and harder to traverse finally, and she knew she was getting nearer to Angel’s cottage. It always made Meriah smile when she thought of her friend’s name. Perhaps her parents had been wishing for something a bit more conventional and pious in a child. Sadly, they didn’t quite get what they wished for.

Angel lived near to town, but far enough out to not be bothered by a lot of traffic and visitors. To help this bit of privacy along, she also had spelled her little corner of the forest to seem so thick and overgrown as to make folks naturally avoid it for cleaner and easier paths. In reality it was not any worse than the rest of the forest for traversing, but the glamour had done its work, and indeed, many in the Village didn’t even know of Angel’s existence. She kept to herself as much as she could, partly to avoid the church, and partly to avoid the more conventional folks that might frown on her lifestyle. Angel grew just about anything she needed anyway. In a land where people were self-sufficient by necessity, Angel had made it a fine art form. She could live for years without seeing another person or needing to, and she liked that just fine. Not that she was ever lonely, she had her daughter, Rhian, and also had ways of getting company when she wanted to.

Meriah had come to see her this morning on business, though, not for idle chatting. Angel had a different way of looking at life, and that is just what Meriah needed this morning - a new point of view in this matter. She arrived at Angel’s cottage and was greeted by the myriad of strays and unwanted pets which always managed to find their way to Angel’s hearth. There were cats ranging in age from tiny kittens to ones so old they could hardly walk. Dogs, too, but not as many of those. Most farmers needed their dogs, and the dogs were easier to keep from wandering away than the cats. Angel also had wild animals meandering through her yard. Deer, skunks, raccoons, she even had an old badger which lived under her porch. There were rarely any serious fights between the animals, and Meriah wondered what magic Angel had put upon her yard to keep the peace. Out in the wild, or even just a little further from this place and these animals would be hunting each other. Angel’s porch roof was a perch, at the moment, for a large raven. The raven was Rhian’s special pet, and one of the few creatures that had a name. He had watched Meriah’s approach with a cocked head and announced finally, in raven speak that she was welcome.

Angel came to stand in the door of the cottage wiping her hands on her apron, smiling. “Meriah, so glad to see you, come on in for some coffee, or I have tea, someplace, here,” she said as she turned and went back into the kitchen. Angel had ways of getting food items that did not grow in their part of the world, and always had something strange for Meriah to see. The coffee was supplied by a friend of hers who came around once or twice a year to trade with the village, and who brought other items for Angel, which none in the village ever saw. The coffee came from him, Meriah was sure, as did the other odd herbs and foods which hung in every corner of Angel’s home. Meriah went on into the cottage and sat at the kitchen table, where Rhian was just setting a cup of steaming coffee in front of her.

“I added a bit of cream to it, for you,” Rhian said as her mother sat down to drink from her own cup. “Can I get you anything else? A muffin perhaps, I baked some early this morning?” Rhian was Angel’s daughter, and one of the sweetest children Meriah had ever met.

“No thank you, I’ve not much stomach for food this morning,” she said. Rhian smiled then, and with a look from her mother, took a bowl off the table and went out the door to feed the stock and gather eggs.

“So, what brings you to see me this morning?” Angel asked with an innocent smile.

Meriah smiled back and said, “You’re getting very good at this, you almost look like you don’t know why I am here.”

Angel try not to smile and tried harder to look innocent, “I don’t get out much, so I surely don’t know what you refer to.” She could bluff most people, but not a close friend, so she finally laughed and said, “Seriously, I haven’t seen it, and I don’t know the one who brought it here.”

“Regardless of how much you know of it, or how you got the knowledge, I need to hear whatever you can tell me.” Angel was more serious then, and leaned back in her chair to look at Meriah across the table from her. “I need to know every tiny bit of information I can get if I am going to free this thing and keep my wood peaceful.”

“Are you seriously going to bother with this?” Angel asked her friend.

“I have to, it has invaded my woods and it has gotten dangerous. Not to mention its owner needs a lesson in humility and compassion.”

Angel grinned again, “Compassion I can do without, but humility I can understand.”

Meriah knew her friend was more compassionate than she liked to let on. It was not her style to let anyone know whom the mysterious, often life saving, gifts came from, though, so Meriah kept her friend’s secrets. Meriah smiled then, and asked, “Well, if you were the compassionate type, what would you do?”

“I suppose I’d have to keep my people safe,” Angel answered. “But, I would also make sure that lesson in humility was a good one,” she added with a bit of a wicked smile on her face. “Good enough to not allow it to happen again from this woman or anyone else who got ideas.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Meriah said.

“So what manner of beast are we talking about?” Angel asked.

“It isn’t a construct, it’s either a bespelled wolf, or a bespelled man. I am more inclined to think it’s a man, as they are more easily led into consorting with the wrong types. I like to think that a wild animal has better taste than to willingly go into her area. Humans, on the other hand, are overall pretty ignorant of the wiles of a sneaky little magician such as Imellia.”

“Well, since no one has disappeared from the local villages, it would have to be someone she brought with her.”

“Has your friend been to visit lately? Perhaps he’s heard in other villages of someone who has gone missing, or left his family, or whatnot. I had a man in my care for a time who was also a traveler, but he was in no shape to give me much reliable information.”

“No,” Angel answered, “I haven’t seen Matthew in quite a while, he should be coming before the deep snow sets in, though, so I can ask him if he does come.”

“Well, we’ll have to just go with what we know, and work from there, then.”

Angel put her cup down on the table and looked directly at Meriah. “You want me to work on this with you? I thought you worked alone,” she said.

“I can use all the help I can get,” Meriah answered, “Will you help me with this one?”

Angel sat in silence then for a bit. She didn’t wish to risk her privacy by being involved in something so obvious as werewolf battling. It would be hard to keep secret once they got started, and Angel was in no mood to have the sort of daily company that came to Meriah’s home.

“If I can help without risking my daughter or my privacy, then I will. I have no urge to be some Forestwife and have a bunch of idiots and helpless villagers coming to me with every little problem they might imagine they have. I also do not want those ridiculous Priests knocking on my door and asking me questions I may not wish to answer.”

“Agreed,” Meriah said. “As much as I can keep you and Rhian out of this, I will. I thank you for helping, though, Angel. I didn’t know who else might have the skills to fight this thing if I fail.”

“Bronwyn hasn’t the skills to do this?” Angel asked.

“She could, if she had training. I really must begin teaching her a few things of the more magical side of life before I am too old to remember half of it. But, in this matter, I do not have time to teach her of such things. And though she has gifts that would come in quite handy in this, I do not wish to have a half-trained apprentice at my side. You never know what the untrained might do, or might be subject to have done to them. Imellia could use Bronwyn against me, and I don’t wish to have to make choices like that.”

“Bronwyn knows more than you give her credit for, Meriah,” Angel said.

“I know she does, but as I said, Imellia might use magic against her which, without experience, she could not react to quickly enough.”

“I take it you have a plan of action then,” Angel smiled across the table at her friend.

“Yes, I do,” Meriah smiled back.
~~~~~~~~~~

Bronwyn awoke and climbed out of her warm bed to go get some tea. Maggie was already up and sitting at the table, with a cup in her hand. She looked at Bron and merely pointed at the pot on the fire hook that was steaming away.

“You don’t look as if you’re awake yet, Maggie,” she said as she sat down at the table.

“Make that ‘awake still’ and you’ve about got it right,” Maggie answered tiredly. “I’ve been up since before dawn.”

“What kept you awake all night?” Bron asked.

“What else?” Maggie answered, “All this talk about werewolves and magic and strange beasts.” She looked directly at Bronwyn then, and said in a serious voice, “I am not sure that I can do this anymore, Bronwyn.”

“Do what?” Bronwyn asked, not knowing for sure what Maggie meant.

“Be your mother’s apprentice.”

Bronwyn was floored. That was the last thing she ever thought to hear from Maggie. Ever since Bron could remember Maggie had hung around the cottage, pestering Meriah to teach her healing and herblore. She looked at Maggie now with her mouth hanging open and shock in her eyes.

“You’re joking, right?” She asked.

“No,” Maggie replied, “I just can’t take it anymore. It’s not the work, it’s not the loneliness out here,” she trailed off a bit, trying to make the words form in her own mind before saying them aloud. “It’s the magic, the witchcraft,” she finished with a whisper.

Bronwyn gave Maggie a hard look. “That is a dangerous word, Maggie.”
“Oh, I would never say it to anyone else,” Maggie said hurriedly, “but I cannot do it, myself. I won’t do it, I just can’t.” She trailed off again.

“Maggie, have you any idea what you are saying? Or rather, what I am hearing?”

“I know it sounds bad, but I do not mean it that way. I know your mother is not evil, she’s a good kind soul, but I just cannot…” Maggie shook her head, “I just cannot do this.”

“Mother is not asking you to do magic, Maggie,” Bronwyn began.

“I know that, but she does magic and I fear it. I fear what is drawn to this hearth, and I fear what would happen if the priests found out, and I fear what will happen to my soul.” She turned again and looked at Bronwyn, “What if it is wrong, what if the priests are right?”

“Maggie, your own grandmother was Forestwife before Meriah, do you think she was wrong also? It is in your blood.”

“I know,” Maggie said in an anguished voice, “and I am afraid it has darn me already, without my having done a thing.”

Bronwyn didn’t know what to say to Maggie. This was the last thing she expected from her friend, a girl she had known since she was born. “Where does all this talk come from?” she asked, “Have you been speaking to the priests?”

“Robert is a churchman, he has taken me to mass a few times, on my days off, I never shirked my duties.”

“I am not accusing you of shirking duties, Maggie, I am trying to discover why all of a sudden you think that being the Forestwife is a damning profession.”

“It isn’t the healing part, “she answered Bronwyn, “I like that part. I love to learn about the medicines and such, it is just this business with the magic, it frightens me.”

“Have you spoken to Mother yet about it?” Bron asked.

“No, she’s been so busy, and she’s so… imposing. I am afraid of what she will say to me, also.”

“You will have to speak to her. Perhaps she can ease your mind, or at least give you other options. She is not going to hate you if you wish to quit, Maggie.”

“No, but she will think less of me. Even though I do not agree with her magic making, I still respect her. I cannot help but respect your mother.” Maggie looked torn and confused.

Bronwyn sat and looked at Maggie for a long while. Finally she said, “Well, think on this, then. Mother has never lied to you, Maggie. She has never told you false stories or put you down, nor has she ever made you obey her through fear. If you can say the same for your Priests, then you are welcome to them and I will never say another word about this.” Bronwyn got up then and went out the door to gather eggs, without a backward glance at Maggie.

Maggie sat at the table holding her teacup in her hand, and trying not to cry.