Glass Maker: A Fairy Tale

Chapter Two

Katherine had never held a bird or a mouse before, but she imagined it would feel much like the weight of the small glass girl in her palm. It still sat in her pocket of her dress, jolting with her steps and the jouncing of the hike down from the cemetery. In a moment of anxiety, Katherine had decided that the risk of the girl falling out of her pocket was too high, and so had resolved to hold it in her palm within the pocket.

She didn't know what exactly had changed about it, but she did know she wouldn't want to lose it before she got a chance to inspect it on her own. 

What seemed like a pleasurable walk from town on the way into the forest now felt marathon length, and Katherine felt every pebble and stone through the fabric of her soft slippers. Her legs burned, even though much was downhill and the cawing of crows and the snaps of twigs caused her to jump and startle. 

She had to get back to the town, but with the fading light filtering slowly through the leaves and the canopy of the trees, she couldn't go too fast. What would be worse? To arrive just after curfew, and have to beg the gate keepers to let her in, trying to convince them she was herself and not a shade? Or to fall and have to explain a wound or a tear and arrive much later than curfew?

The latter would certainly land her in a whole host of trouble, but all the same, she hurried her pace. Through the treetops and in gaps of the green and blooming foliage, she could see the roofs of the taller buildings, closest to the town wall.

These already sat in shadow, as the mountains that enclosed the town like a gaping mouth had long since swallowed the sun. The stars, with the constellations that Katherine used to know the names of but no longer did, would soon appear to light her path, as would their second moon. 

If she lived in any other time, the coming of the strange man would've been an omen of good tidings, but post the burnings--

Katherine shuddered. Best not to think what would become of her if anyone discovered her conversation with Samuel.

Night sounds of the mountain and forest surrounded her as she came upon the outskirts of her town. Market day had given way to after dark preparations for the upcoming Spring equinox celebrations. As she walked up to the stone towers separating the wilds from within, men stood on rickety wooden ladders hanging yellow, lavender, and light blue pennants from across the stone streets. Some wrapped the pennants around the few trees that stood within the town green.

On a different Spring equinox eve, Katherine would be bundled with her sister by their father's forge fire, especially on the years where winter's chill had yet to dissipate. Stories of spring tidings, songs of nature and the spirits of the forest, and baking from earlier in the day kept them up until sunrise. 

The glass girl in her pocket mocked her. Her gift to her sister had ended up in Katherine's pocket instead of at her graveside, but in this moment, Katherine was glad.

She would do anything to feel a connection to her sister again, and the fluttering of the glass's newly found magic made it feel almost alive.  She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling its hum, but opened them as a clatter of voices arose down the street.

The sounds bounced off of the cobblestones, the cacophony traveling from further into town to her ears. Drunken revelry for Spring tidings were already underway, but Katherine flinched as a familiar tone reached her.

"Hold on, hold on-- I can pay! I always pay in the end!"

A group of men stood huddled around the door of the lower workers' preferred tavern, the Ambrose. It was the kind of place that men with nowhere to go and nowhere better to be went, not that anywhere better would take them. The clientele could be seen at all times of day, hanging onto each other and laughing loudly as they drank cheap ale and spoke glibly.