(eng) Niall Teasdale - Misfits 02 by Misfit Witchcraft

Author:Misfit Witchcraft [Witchcraft, Misfit]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Part Three: The Tangleroots Witch

Tangleroots, Concordance, 5th Day of Highsummer, 1000.

On the first night, they made camp beside a small pond. It had been cooler beneath the trees and the tracks were good. Jesse estimated that they had covered thirty miles, which was good, according to her.

Jesse and Xanthe got a fire going while Charlotte filled their water canteens. The blue dragon knew how to move water about, so she was able to stream water from the pond into the canteens, leaving anything else behind. Xanthe had been ready to purify the water with a spell to kill any bugs which might have been in it, but Charlotte’s spell worked exactly as described and she was called upon again to run water into a cooking pot to make stew.

They were travelling fairly light. Everyone had their own sleeping kit and canteen, and then there were a few general items shared out between them, though Trudy, Charlotte, and Ramona were taking a bigger share of the weight because they were stronger than the other four. Thus, there was a cooking pot: not a huge one, but big enough to make up some stew for all seven girls. There was food, mostly dried food which could be eaten as-was if necessary, but only managed to be palatable when made into a stew or soup. They had ten days’ supply, but Xanthe and Jesse were confident that they could supplement the rations with foraged foods. There were bowls and spoons to eat with, which Felicia found almost civilised. And there was a short folding shovel which, when she found out its purpose, Felicia went a little green over; that was likely because she had just realised there was no plumbing in Tangleroots.

Krystal and Trudy were sharing the cooking duties. Trudy was a little annoyed to discover that Krystal was a slightly better cook than she was, or she was until they were all sitting down around the fire and eating the stew which had been flavoured with berries and herbs Jesse had quickly gathered while collecting firewood.

‘It’s not fair,’ Trudy stated as she spooned stew into her mouth. ‘You’re good at everything. How’s a girl supposed to compete with you?’

Krystal pursed her lips. ‘Sometimes, the only way to win a game is to avoid playing.’

‘Is that something the nuns taught you?’

‘Yes, actually, but I am not good at everything. For example, yes, I knew what to do with the berries and herbs, because Jesse said they were safe to eat and I could taste the stew and tell what would enhance the flavour. But, if you’d sent me out to get the berries and herbs, I figure there’s a fifty-fifty chance I’d have poisoned everyone. I don’t recognise at least two of those leaves Jesse found.’

‘That’ll be the ones which don’t grow outside Tangleroots,’ Jesse said. ‘There are a few plants deep in the forest which don’t have proper names. No one’s sat down and identified them properly.’ She frowned. ‘Actually, sitting down and identifying some of them would be bad.

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