A Sprig of Holly by J A Clement

Author:J A Clement [Clement, J A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: kindle, fiction, sf, fantasy
Publisher: Weasel Green Press
Published: 2012-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

4

Matthias

Out on the mountains, another traveller was consumed with similar thoughts. Matthias was struggling to light a fire in order to set up camp for the night, cursing the luck that had sent his wagon off the track and into the ditch earlier in the day. He should have been home by now, and with the skies as dark and ominous as they were, it was entirely possibly that it was about to snow again and maroon him here. Oh, he’d be right enough in his warm little caravan, but he did not think the horses would survive the night despite anything he could do .

And then the horses began to rear and whinny nervously, so he opened the door of the caravan and looked out, on the alert for wolves. It wasn’t wolves, though. He took down the lantern from the inside of his caravan and went back out to investigate, and suddenly, bold as brass, a great hare appeared and simply sat there in front of him. Normally he would’ve had his little crossbow to hand and the hare would have gone straight into the pot, but there was something so intelligent about the way this hare looked at him that even the thought of making any attempt on it faded.

Behind the hare, another movement; and this time Matthias had to rub his eyes, and rub them again, for it was to all intents and purposes a woman made of snow, beautifully carved apart from the hands, and wearing a crimson shawl which he knew he had seen before.

“That’s Greta’s mother’s shawl!” he gasped, and was doubly amazed when the creature bobbed its head in acknowledgement. “What have you done with Greta?”

The snowmaiden shook its head and gestured him to follow.

“You have done nothing to harm her?” he demanded, standing his ground. The creature shook its head. “What do you want from me?”

The snowmaiden beckoned again, and pulled at the shawl and beckoned.

“Do you mean that Greta wants something from me?” It nodded. “Is she safe?” Its hesitation was clear to see, and it spurred him into action. “The wagon is stuck in the ditch – I’ll have to take the horses…” The snowmaiden strode over to the wagon, considered the matter and then pushed it forward out of the ditch. Matthias fell silent for a moment, then grinned, nervous. “Very well, I’ll take the wagon…” He gave the lantern to the creature while he harnessed the horses, and when all was ready it moved on ahead of him with it, lighting the way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.