Fernrose: Chapter 3

This is Chapter 3, to read Chapters 1 and 2 Click Here

I woke up the next morning to the sounds of a hushed but furious argument which was being conducted on the grassy mound next to mine.

“Lily,” Anna hissed. “You can’t ignore facts! You know it was all a mistake . . .”

“There isn’t the slightest bit of proof for that,” snapped her eyes flashing dangerously. “I think you’re being horrid. There aren’t supposed to be any more mistakes. We saw to that after the last one left.”

Something kept me from calling attention to my consciousness.

“Lily, an exception to every rule! What do you think that means?” This was Sarah, pleading.

Edward snorted. “You don’t believe the rot she dreamt up, do you? It’s ridiculous! You know very well that she only said that to nettle us after I pulled her hair.”

“But just the same, I can’t help but feel that she’s the one.” Sarah’s eyes were wide, her face pale. “It’s been so long since one came. Remember Old Mother Well’s rhyme?” She chanted dreamily -

“An exception to every rule,

When kind will turn to cruel,

After many years alone at home,

A stranger will have come,

Capped with unknown love

And destined to return above.”

“Rubbish!” Lily tugged at her braids.“That’s a lie and you know it. No one can return above. No magic is deeper than the vow of Old Mother Well.”

“There is deeper magic.” Anna gazed solemnly at Lily. “The will of the World Above.”

“But -” Lily broke off with a gasp as my arm gave an involuntary twitch. “Elizabeth! You’re awake . . .”

I sat up, rubbing my eyes with elaborate carelessness. My heart was pounding. You know it was all a mistake . . . an exception to every rule . . . she’s the one . . . capped in unknown love . . . the World Above. I couldn’t voice the sudden fear that chilled me. I swallowed and said, “You promised to tell me how to leave the well.”

“Oh, but -” Lily began.

“Yes, we did,” said Anna firmly, cutting her eyes at Lily. “Elizabeth, sometimes there are mistakes made - not mistakes, really. We call them mistakes, but they’re really meant to be.” She paused. “Sometimes, the wrong person falls into the Wellwood, and . . . things can get bad if they don’t leave.”

“But how do they leave?” I asked, my nails digging into my palms.

“They - they consult with Old Mother Well. She’s like - I don’t know - the Wellwood’s queen. She’s the wisest and smartest person living in the Wellwood, and when you have a serious problem, you have to consult her. Those who believe that their arrival was a mistake seek her out and ask her if this is true.” Anna swallowed. “Not one of them was ever seen again. Not here. They went back to the World Above.”

There was silence in the clearing.

“But you’re not a mistake,” said Lily firmly. “There aren’t any more mistakes. Not since - since - well, there are no more. Now, come,” she added, extending her hand to me. “Breakfast is waiting.”

* * * * * *

Breakfast was eaten in the middle of a green grove of golden oaks. We sat perched atop smooth stones and ate across a bigger rock in the middle of them, with a mat woven from grass to serve as a tablecloth, sticks for silverware, and little slats of wood for plates. I ate my share, like everyone else, but I really wasn’t hungry. The words I’d overheard rushed through my head. My stomach churned. What was wrong with me?

“Now, Elizabeth,” said Lily briskly after the meal was concluded. “Today’s going to be busy. We’ve got to get you moved into one of the cottages, with an arranged mother.” She saw my blank look and answered my question. “An arranged mother is a woman who will take care of you while you’re still a child. Mine is named Charlotte, Anna’s is Fiona, Sarah’s is Willow, and Edward’s is Marcie. Yours, I suppose, will be Emma. She’s the only one who’s free just now.”

“Why aren’t there arranged fathers?” I wanted to know.

“All of them were taken up before we came to the Wellwood. There really aren’t many people who fall in, you know.”

“So . . . Emma’s to be my mother . . . and I’ve got to move in with her?” I gulped back a lump in my throat. The thought that anyone could replace my beloved mother . . .

“Well,” said Lily, so gently that her earlier fury seemed a distant memory, “if you’d like to. But if - if you’re not ready then you needn’t just now. You can wait.”

I nodded, tears misting my eyes. Edward gingerly patted my back. Lily sighed. “Elizabeth, eventually you will forget your family. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. And it might be better if you tried to - soon.”

“But not if it doesn’t feel right,” Anna cut in, flashing Lily a piercing glance that I intercepted. “You don’t have to yet.”

Lily let out her breath in a huff. “Anna . . .” She ground her teeth in frustration, and then began to speak to me, evidently choosing her words very carefully. “Elizabeth, the fact that you’re here after a few years with no new arrivals is . . . suggestive. But only to those who believe in the prophecies of Old Mother Well.”

“I thought everyone did. Isn’t she the wisest person in the Wellwood? And what does that have to do with me?” I demanded.

Lily ignored my last question. “Yes, but . . . well . . . sometimes she goes a bit, er, batty. She can say things that aren’t exactly true, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes,” I said, thinking of mother’s delirium as she suffered in the awful clutches of pneumonia.

“The thing is, some people disagree on that point. And the last prophecy that she delivered - there’s been a bit of controversy on its meaning. Anna and Sarah believe that you are the answer.” Suddenly her voice grew very stern. “But you’re not to concern yourself with that, all right?”

“So . . . I’m the answer to a prophecy and you want me to ignore it.”

“Elizabeth -” Lily began.

Edward interrupted. “We don’t know enough to tell, Elizabeth. We need to find Old Mother Well if we want to know, and we’re not even sure if the matter is worth pursuing.”

“But what is the matter? Am I supposed to leave the Wellwood?”

The group exchanged careful glances. “Well . . .” Anna said finally. “There’s a bit of history to this. You see, when Lily came in, her sister Verity was with her.”

“Anna,” said Lily in a choked voice.

“Lily, she’s got to know!” Anna took a breath and then continued. “But Verity hated the Wellwood. She was homesick. So, without telling us, she found Old Mother Well . . . and we think that she’s back up. Lily couldn’t bear the thought of more of such sadness, so she went to Old Mother Well and brought her back, and she got Mother to make sure that there wouldn’t be any more mistakes. And we all thought she did. But Old Mother Well - she delivered a prophecy, a few weeks ago, just before you came along.” Anna cleared her throat, prepared to recite, but I stopped her.

“I know, I heard it this morning. But . . . am I the exception to the rule? Am I the mistake?”

There was silence. I glanced at Anna, who had gone pale; Sarah, whose fists were clenched by her sides; Edward, who was turned away from me; and lastly, Lily, who was weeping quietly into one of the stones.

This was answer enough.

“You know,” I said, a strange ringing in my ears. “You all know. Even Lily and Edward. I’ve got to leave. I’ve got to go back to Great-Aunt Matilda.” My gaze slid through the clearing and came to rest on Anna’s white face. “I’ve got to get out of the Wellwood.”

To be continued