Beltane Night -- Part 4 (con't)

Beltane Night (con't)


" Never go out on Beltane Night to cross the moors alone..."

Nan said this with a very serious tone and now no smile was on her face. Lindella's heart skipped a beat and started to pound hard.

"...the Faeryfolk come out at dark, to dance around the Rowan."

Now her mind was surely playing tricks on her, ...or was it the alcohol ? 'I haven't thought of this old nursery rhyme in years..of course I've never been out on the moors after dark on Beltane either, ...and I am all alone.'

Lindella quickened her step, ... 'or,....am I ? '

"Stay inside, lock the doors and sit down by the fire,
leave the Wee Folk to their ways... and their own desire"

Nan eyes always grew darker and darker as she spoke the next few lines, and this time was no different.

"When seasons change and Beltane comes, ....then moves the Faery Host,
from Winter's Quarters cross the moors, to their fresh Springtime Post."

She moved faster and faster, now at the base of the second knoll, 'when I crest this hill I'll see my house' she tried to think of anything else,
but her Nan's voice kept pushing through and the rhyme continued...

"If ever a woman, man or child, should dare to catch a glimpse, ...
a curse will fall upon their heads, ...from these mischievous imps."

She tried to swallow hard so her heart would go back and pound away, in her chest, instead of her throat.
This once harmless verse of her Nan's, ... had suddenly become much more sinister than she had ever recalled from her childhood, but still her Nan's voice raged on...

" Some lose their sight, some lose their hair, a strong man lost his mind,
a woman once went barren... and, .............that lad; we never did find."

Finally, ...the base of the knoll....

The 2nd knoll was steeper and harder to climb then she'd ever experienced, and her breathe was well laboured by the time she reached the top.

"What the" ...her vision was blurred a bit but she could swear she'd seen a flicker of lights in the heath below, about halfway between the back of her house and the 3rd knoll beyond.

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and brush her hair back, squinting to look again.
But ...couldn't find a thing there, ....'I must be losing my mind.....it's got to be fear-induced...all this'.

The more she remembered the more frightened she became, coupled with the fact that she'd had herself a fair share of whisky, ....didn't help much. She stumbled a bit, but never lost speed.

'What was I thinking staying out so late...' Again she thought she saw those lights but this time made a conscience decision to ignore it.

'Oh, ... what was I thinking....I been told these tales my whole life, ....so now .....am I destined to be one of those tales myself ... told to those, .. that come after?'