The Lonely House
Many years ago, as famine swept across the Commonlands, a woodcutter’s wife decided to take her children into the woods and leave them there, so that she and her husband would not have to share their limited food and would not starve to death.
The two children overheard the woodcutter's wife explaining her plan to her husband, and so they sneaked out of the house and gathered as many pebbles as they could before returning to their rooms.
The next day the family took a long walk, deep into the Weald. As they did so the boy placed trails of white pebbles, so that they might find their way out. Their father lit a fire for them in the woods and went to gather more wood.
When the children realised that their father wasn’t coming back, the girl began to cry, but her brother reassured her that all would be fine. The children returned home, following the shiny pebbles to their house.
As they arrived however, they saw a terrible sight! Their father was hanging from a noose at the threshold, and his guts had been pulled from his chest and arrayed on the grass like fine red strings.
An old lady came out of the house to find the children standing in shock.
"Come inside my pretties," she said. "Ignore the scene at the door, my butcher has been busy. There is plenty of warm food inside."
The children warily followed her inside, their grumbling stomachs that had not been full for weeks urging them on.
Indeed, the table was arrayed with great provender! The two children sat down and set to, greedily munching their way through a variety of savoury pies of exquisite flavour.
"Yes, eat up my sweetmeats, you both need fattening up," the old crone cackled, poking at them with bony fingers.
As the girl bit into another pie, she found something cold and hard inside the meat. Looking down she saw a golden finger ring, and she dropped the pie and screamed.
The old lady grinned. "You recognise that do you dearie?" she asked. "It is your mother's wedding band. Eat up! You need to grow to fill my cauldron."
And Granny Nightshade began to laugh...
Related People
Comments