Matchsticks: A Dark Spirits Fairytale by S.J. Sanders

Author:S.J. Sanders [Sanders, S.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

The cold wind bit deep, and Agatha shivered. Was it possible that it was even colder than it had been last time she woke? Clearing her throat, she glanced at another woman who had scurried up closer to the fire, her shawl raised to wrap around her head and shoulders against the wind. She had a basket of her own filled with knitted goods that sat at her feet as she shivered. Agatha vaguely recognized her.

Marah, Mia… No, Miranda. Agatha didn’t know her personally but had seen her. She was a local seamstress, no doubt taking advantage of the poor weather in an attempt to make some extra coin by selling her knitted goods. She certainly didn’t appear to be suffering any being out there. Indeed, on closer inspection, Miranda wore newer clothes that were noticeably warm and well-made. The bright red shawl she had wrapped snugly around her was without a fray or stain as she pulled it tighter around her and warmed her hands at the fire.

Pushing aside her own embarrassment of how she appeared in comparison, Agatha picked up her own basket and drew closer to the fire.

“Excuse me?”

The woman glanced up at her in surprise, and her nose immediately wrinkled with distaste before she caught herself and gave Agatha a tight smile.

“Can I help you?”

Agatha stared at her uncertainly but eventually nodded. She was bound to sound crazy, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Has the seventh hour bell rung yet?” she asked as she tried to control another shiver.

Unlike many other struggling towns, Garden Tower had arranged a bell system which was overseen by a handful of individuals. It rang on the hour every day, silencing only for the span of time between the final bell at eleven and the first bell rung eight times to signal the eighth hour of the morning. It was the seventh hour evening bell that she listened for every day to release her from whatever task she had been assigned so she could go home. It must have been near that, though it was hard to tell with the heavy snow muting out the sunlight so that she couldn’t even determine the sun’s position in the sky.

Miranda’s eyebrows shot up with surprise at the question.

“Are you serious? What, are you drunk? The third hour bell only just rung a few minutes ago,” the other woman said in a bewildered voice. She eyed Agatha for a long moment before she shook her head and picked up her basket. “I need to keep moving. You might want to consider getting back to work too,” she said with a meaningful glance toward Agatha’s full basket. She looked back up at Agatha with some sympathy. “I know this life is hard now, but you won’t eat if you don’t sell those. We all have to pull our weight if we want to survive.”

Agatha stared after her as Miranda hurried away with her basket of goods to a group of people gathered a short distance away.

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