Greta’s Summoning
Shantell LeLong saw the tall single rider with a black hat approaching the homestead,
before any one else.
She ran from the herb garden, where she was weeding, to tell her parents.
Nathen LeLong walked to the front of the house to meet the approaching dark messenger. The tall man rode his horse to the front of the house. With a grin that was not quite a smile , he dismounted and greeted Nathen
"Progenitor LeLong, how fare you on this fine day" "Good as unto the day" replied Nathen, noncommittally. "I trust that the two sacks of seed grain and the pregnant goat that initate Whalen delivered to you were well received" inquired the tall man." "Well Calthroun, if I felt they were true gifts and not the down payment on a transaction I have not agreed to, they might have been better received." replied the slightly aggrieved Nathen
With a long slow look that encompassed most of the small homestead Caulthron remarked,
" It must be hard to run a homestead with six offspring and a sickly wife. So many things could go wrong, accidents can and do happen. Your irrigation canals could dry up. Loose cattle could break through your fences." He looked directly at Nathen, his smile started to curve up at the edges, but only a little. " The holder of your overdue mortgage could call in your debt."
Nathen tried not to let the resentment he felt for the Joiner Council member show on his face. He tried not to let the gut churning fear he felt for the power the man, and by inference, the Joiner Creche Mother held over him, his family and his 17 year old daughter.
He tried to not let the sense of dispair, that rolled over him of late, everytime he was in the man's presence, cloud his mind.
He failed miserably.
17 year old Gretta Le Long stood in the shadow of the curtain, that framed the window and shielded the cool interior of the house from searing sun.
When Shantell had come running, shouting that a rider was approaching the homestead. Gretta felt the general unease of the past three years, turn into a genuine sense of foreboding.
It had started when she was 14 years old. The much larger and more prosperous Joiner homestead had invited the surrounding community to a celebration of bounty. This was held every year after harvest. The LeLong family usually enjoyed these generous, if not somewhat eccentric, feasts.
The feast began by what the Joiner homestead Creche Mother described as the sharing. Each guest was required to have a small clip of hair removed and given to the Creche Mother. Mother Kincade, as she was called, would then start the feast. After the large bountiful meal was served the communal homestead would have long readings from the Book of Settlement. It described the truly horrible events that those who lived through the bombardment and the plagues afterward experienced. Then as if the darkness of the time had lifted they described the founding of the first Creche. The feeding of the foundlings, the creation of farming commues to feed the Creches. Then the enlightenment. The founding of the great purpose that the creches were intended to bring about.
The celebration ended with the presenting of small useful gifts to the attendees.
In the intervening time since that first Joiner feast she noticed a change in the way the Joiners acted toward her. Normally cordial but distant, members of the community that would not notice her, started to pay unexpected attention to her. At first it was flattering, but as time went on it turned into an almost cloying sense of possession. They spoke of her as a future member of the community. Encouraged her to join in their activities. Acted as though her participation in the group was a foregone conclusion.
The unwanted attention reached a high water mark after her 16 th birthday. She was told, by Mother Kincade, that she had reached the age of membership and would be accepted into the community. When she ,feeling cornered, stated she had no intention of becoming a member of the Joiners, the Creche Mother adopted a serene smile and stated, " No one can deny their destiny, dear. The Great Purpose moves forward,... no matter what our intentions".
Mother Kincade then stared at her with a look that seemed to see through her and into a place beyond her mortal body that Gretta knew about, but could not see.
She felt her future being ripped inexorably out of her possession, just the way a rabbit feels, before a fox takes its life.
In the months after her birthday, things got bad for Gretta's family. People who formerly bought their crops said they couldn't, because," We can't afford to fight the Joiners." Credit at the local stores began to evaporate. "We have to pay our debts too," said a local shopkeeper, glancing meaningly at a Joiner couple at the other end of the store. Joiners would periodically arrive at the farm offering help and care for Gretta's mother, "If only Gretta would be reasonable."
Gretta went to her mother in times of crises. Her usually calm, resourceful way of looking at things had a soothing effect on Gretta's mind. However, the sickness had taken it toll upon the woman. Her formerly bright shining eyes, now were a dull remnant of their incandescence. She had the dreamy look of a person whose surcease from pain had bled the fire of her life down to a dull ember. Gretta recounted the problem with the Joiners, her discomfort with their all knowing assumption that her compliance was a foregone conclusion. Their complete disregard for the effect their pressure were having on the ability of the homestead to function. Her own feelings on the path her life was to take. Her mother looked at her with sad eyes, but said nothing. Gretta's older brother, Talen and her sister, Faun started to hint that becoming a Joiner might not be as bad as it sounded. Talen, who would inherit the homestead and and by right of mothers responsibility, the support of his mother and siblings, if his father passed on, stated that as it was the family was hard pressed to support the 8 people living on it now. Faun reminded her that staying on the homestead had limited prospects, either to expand, or marry into a larger property. She pointed out that you never saw a Joiner woman clothed in hand-me -down garments or looking like they wanted for a meal. Gretta did note that her own wishes were not being taken into consideration. She wanted to get educated, to plot her own course into the future, to study engineering. To make something lasting beyond her own life.
Caulthron looked at the all but broken Nathen standing before him. He was not a mean-spirited man by nature. He preferred the art of genial persuasion to rough antagonism. However, his was the mandate of the Creche Mother Kincade. She had decided that Gretta LeLong would become an initiate, she was part of The Great Purpose. As such he would be the instrument of the Creche Mother's will. He moved closer to Nathen, his large height & frame looming over the slighter, smaller man. "The time for gentle whispers and calm suggestions has passed", he rumbled. "You will, in the next 24 hours, present Gretta LeLong to the Joiner Homestead to start her training as an initiate and to fulfill her place in The Great Purpose." He paused and looked down at the intimidated Nathen. "Failure to do so will have the remainder of your family put on the road with only the clothes on their back in less than a fortnight. I doubt your wife will survive long in that condition. Your younger children could find refuge as foundlings, but for you and your older children the future looks less certain. Heed this last Summons well Nathen. You and yours will not get another." Caulthron then mounted his horse and proceeded down the road from whence he came. Later that night, after a subdued family dinner. Gretta tried to get to sleep, but it eluded her. She left her room and sat in the hall by her parents bedroom. She listened to her father recount the final Joiner decree and tell her mother that the family could survive with one less mouth to feed. That would have been believable if he had not said it with a choking and tearstained voice. Gretta's mother did not respond in any way she could hear. After a time, Gretta sought the comfort of her own bed again. Eventually, a troubled sleep was possible. After only an hour or so of sleep, Gretta was awakened by a dragging noise outside her door. She went to open it and saw her mother on her hands and knees trying to reach the door knob. Gretta helped her into her room and sat her on the bed. Her mother was in obvious pain, but her eyes had their former brightness and her next words attested to a lucid mind. "Time is short, so listen to me child. Go to the stable and take Stalwart. He isn't the biggest or the fastest horse but he has an ambling gait that he can keep up for hours. Ride through the night to Gershows Depot. Release Stalwart, he'll find his way home, he's done it before, then walk into the town." She dug into the pocket of her night gown and took out a stack of credits. " This is as much money as I could safely give you without the family suffering overmuch. Take the train as far as this will get you. Head West toward the Heavens Gate Mountains. Find a way safely across them." "I can not save you from the fate the Joiners have planned for you. However, I can enable you to outrun it." "The Joiners will not suspect your father of helping you escape because he will not know about it, no one one else in the family will. Take a backpack and get food from the cold shed and water from the well and leave in the next half hour. Go out the window and down the gutter like I know you have before." The Joiners are not interested in this hardscrabble homestead, they want you, if you are not here the homestead has no value to them. If anyone wanted to buy it, our creditors would have sold it long ago." Her mother finger- combed Gretta's hair. She looked at her with the bird bright eyes that Gretta remembered from before the sickness. " Listen daughter of mine, I do not know what fate the Joiners have in store for you, but I know it is not the one you would have chosen. Take this opportunity to escape and do it now, it will not exist by morning." With these words, Gretta's mother pushed her toward the window and made to crawl back to her bed. Gretta rode Stalwalt to the hill overlooking the homestead. She looked back one last time at the home of her first seventeen years, then with firm resolve she headed over the hill. She had a summoning to attend to, but this was of her own choosing and her own destiny.
Nathen LeLong walked to the front of the house to meet the approaching dark messenger. The tall man rode his horse to the front of the house. With a grin that was not quite a smile , he dismounted and greeted Nathen
"Progenitor LeLong, how fare you on this fine day" "Good as unto the day" replied Nathen, noncommittally. "I trust that the two sacks of seed grain and the pregnant goat that initate Whalen delivered to you were well received" inquired the tall man." "Well Calthroun, if I felt they were true gifts and not the down payment on a transaction I have not agreed to, they might have been better received." replied the slightly aggrieved Nathen
With a long slow look that encompassed most of the small homestead Caulthron remarked,
" It must be hard to run a homestead with six offspring and a sickly wife. So many things could go wrong, accidents can and do happen. Your irrigation canals could dry up. Loose cattle could break through your fences." He looked directly at Nathen, his smile started to curve up at the edges, but only a little. " The holder of your overdue mortgage could call in your debt."
Nathen tried not to let the resentment he felt for the Joiner Council member show on his face. He tried not to let the gut churning fear he felt for the power the man, and by inference, the Joiner Creche Mother held over him, his family and his 17 year old daughter.
He tried to not let the sense of dispair, that rolled over him of late, everytime he was in the man's presence, cloud his mind.
He failed miserably.
17 year old Gretta Le Long stood in the shadow of the curtain, that framed the window and shielded the cool interior of the house from searing sun.
When Shantell had come running, shouting that a rider was approaching the homestead. Gretta felt the general unease of the past three years, turn into a genuine sense of foreboding.
It had started when she was 14 years old. The much larger and more prosperous Joiner homestead had invited the surrounding community to a celebration of bounty. This was held every year after harvest. The LeLong family usually enjoyed these generous, if not somewhat eccentric, feasts.
The feast began by what the Joiner homestead Creche Mother described as the sharing. Each guest was required to have a small clip of hair removed and given to the Creche Mother. Mother Kincade, as she was called, would then start the feast. After the large bountiful meal was served the communal homestead would have long readings from the Book of Settlement. It described the truly horrible events that those who lived through the bombardment and the plagues afterward experienced. Then as if the darkness of the time had lifted they described the founding of the first Creche. The feeding of the foundlings, the creation of farming commues to feed the Creches. Then the enlightenment. The founding of the great purpose that the creches were intended to bring about.
The celebration ended with the presenting of small useful gifts to the attendees.
In the intervening time since that first Joiner feast she noticed a change in the way the Joiners acted toward her. Normally cordial but distant, members of the community that would not notice her, started to pay unexpected attention to her. At first it was flattering, but as time went on it turned into an almost cloying sense of possession. They spoke of her as a future member of the community. Encouraged her to join in their activities. Acted as though her participation in the group was a foregone conclusion.
The unwanted attention reached a high water mark after her 16 th birthday. She was told, by Mother Kincade, that she had reached the age of membership and would be accepted into the community. When she ,feeling cornered, stated she had no intention of becoming a member of the Joiners, the Creche Mother adopted a serene smile and stated, " No one can deny their destiny, dear. The Great Purpose moves forward,... no matter what our intentions".
Mother Kincade then stared at her with a look that seemed to see through her and into a place beyond her mortal body that Gretta knew about, but could not see.
She felt her future being ripped inexorably out of her possession, just the way a rabbit feels, before a fox takes its life.
In the months after her birthday, things got bad for Gretta's family. People who formerly bought their crops said they couldn't, because," We can't afford to fight the Joiners." Credit at the local stores began to evaporate. "We have to pay our debts too," said a local shopkeeper, glancing meaningly at a Joiner couple at the other end of the store. Joiners would periodically arrive at the farm offering help and care for Gretta's mother, "If only Gretta would be reasonable."
Gretta went to her mother in times of crises. Her usually calm, resourceful way of looking at things had a soothing effect on Gretta's mind. However, the sickness had taken it toll upon the woman. Her formerly bright shining eyes, now were a dull remnant of their incandescence. She had the dreamy look of a person whose surcease from pain had bled the fire of her life down to a dull ember. Gretta recounted the problem with the Joiners, her discomfort with their all knowing assumption that her compliance was a foregone conclusion. Their complete disregard for the effect their pressure were having on the ability of the homestead to function. Her own feelings on the path her life was to take. Her mother looked at her with sad eyes, but said nothing. Gretta's older brother, Talen and her sister, Faun started to hint that becoming a Joiner might not be as bad as it sounded. Talen, who would inherit the homestead and and by right of mothers responsibility, the support of his mother and siblings, if his father passed on, stated that as it was the family was hard pressed to support the 8 people living on it now. Faun reminded her that staying on the homestead had limited prospects, either to expand, or marry into a larger property. She pointed out that you never saw a Joiner woman clothed in hand-me -down garments or looking like they wanted for a meal. Gretta did note that her own wishes were not being taken into consideration. She wanted to get educated, to plot her own course into the future, to study engineering. To make something lasting beyond her own life.
Caulthron looked at the all but broken Nathen standing before him. He was not a mean-spirited man by nature. He preferred the art of genial persuasion to rough antagonism. However, his was the mandate of the Creche Mother Kincade. She had decided that Gretta LeLong would become an initiate, she was part of The Great Purpose. As such he would be the instrument of the Creche Mother's will. He moved closer to Nathen, his large height & frame looming over the slighter, smaller man. "The time for gentle whispers and calm suggestions has passed", he rumbled. "You will, in the next 24 hours, present Gretta LeLong to the Joiner Homestead to start her training as an initiate and to fulfill her place in The Great Purpose." He paused and looked down at the intimidated Nathen. "Failure to do so will have the remainder of your family put on the road with only the clothes on their back in less than a fortnight. I doubt your wife will survive long in that condition. Your younger children could find refuge as foundlings, but for you and your older children the future looks less certain. Heed this last Summons well Nathen. You and yours will not get another." Caulthron then mounted his horse and proceeded down the road from whence he came. Later that night, after a subdued family dinner. Gretta tried to get to sleep, but it eluded her. She left her room and sat in the hall by her parents bedroom. She listened to her father recount the final Joiner decree and tell her mother that the family could survive with one less mouth to feed. That would have been believable if he had not said it with a choking and tearstained voice. Gretta's mother did not respond in any way she could hear. After a time, Gretta sought the comfort of her own bed again. Eventually, a troubled sleep was possible. After only an hour or so of sleep, Gretta was awakened by a dragging noise outside her door. She went to open it and saw her mother on her hands and knees trying to reach the door knob. Gretta helped her into her room and sat her on the bed. Her mother was in obvious pain, but her eyes had their former brightness and her next words attested to a lucid mind. "Time is short, so listen to me child. Go to the stable and take Stalwart. He isn't the biggest or the fastest horse but he has an ambling gait that he can keep up for hours. Ride through the night to Gershows Depot. Release Stalwart, he'll find his way home, he's done it before, then walk into the town." She dug into the pocket of her night gown and took out a stack of credits. " This is as much money as I could safely give you without the family suffering overmuch. Take the train as far as this will get you. Head West toward the Heavens Gate Mountains. Find a way safely across them." "I can not save you from the fate the Joiners have planned for you. However, I can enable you to outrun it." "The Joiners will not suspect your father of helping you escape because he will not know about it, no one one else in the family will. Take a backpack and get food from the cold shed and water from the well and leave in the next half hour. Go out the window and down the gutter like I know you have before." The Joiners are not interested in this hardscrabble homestead, they want you, if you are not here the homestead has no value to them. If anyone wanted to buy it, our creditors would have sold it long ago." Her mother finger- combed Gretta's hair. She looked at her with the bird bright eyes that Gretta remembered from before the sickness. " Listen daughter of mine, I do not know what fate the Joiners have in store for you, but I know it is not the one you would have chosen. Take this opportunity to escape and do it now, it will not exist by morning." With these words, Gretta's mother pushed her toward the window and made to crawl back to her bed. Gretta rode Stalwalt to the hill overlooking the homestead. She looked back one last time at the home of her first seventeen years, then with firm resolve she headed over the hill. She had a summoning to attend to, but this was of her own choosing and her own destiny.
So Brother mine, As a stand alone and a short I would say it is good. With the information I know of your world it is better. My best recommendation would be to include it as part of several shorts or build it into a longer story. B3ast of B3astworld
Thanks for your constructive feedback. This story, unfortunately, had to serve 2 masters. 1 as an entry to Spooktober and 2 as a background for a character in as yet unpublished manuscript. However , the idea of several background stories for different characters in one area is very interesting to me.