The Cursed Village

The First Girl (1)

It was one of those rare days where the sea and the sky were of an identical colour. Some small rafts were floating on the sea; fishermen trying to catch what they could in preparation for the great feast. It would be seven days from today; until that day the fish would be in a barrel over a fire, absorbing the smoke. It took very little imagination to see the fishermen float away, until they reached the sky to catch the fish that swam among the stars.

On the small strip of beach that was between Senna village and the sea stood a young woman. She'd only recently turned twenty years old, and was aware that she wouldn't live to see the next month. The upcoming feast was in her honour, to celebrate the sacrifice she would make. A sacrifice that was expected of her, even though she had never agreed on it.

She shook her head. It was too late to think about such things; there were few other girls of the right age, and none of them were fit to become the sacrifice. They'd gotten married, were raising children, and one of them was pregnant for the second time. She was the only one without such connections. At the age where most girls were given to husbands, she was given to the temple, to serve for a few years until the day of the sacrifice. Within a year a new girl would be born, who would take her place, and another one, until the witch was appeased.

'Laura, do you have any regrets?' a voice asked her from behind. She turned around to see a man in similar clothes to her own, although his were of a different colour. Sir Robert, the high priest of the temple.

'None at all,' she answered. Why should she have regrets? She'd been excluded from normal life, but since the day she was born that was already known. When she was younger she'd planned on running away, simply following the one road out of town. She'd tried it once, but had gotten lost in Witches Grove. People from the village had found her, and brought her back home. Laura didn't want to try that road again; there was something about the forest that scared her out of her wits.

She looked past the high priest at Senna Village. It was a small village, consisting mostly of farms and fishermen's houses. Other than that, there was the temple, located near the middle of the village. Apparently it had once been located on the outskirts, but slowly the village had moved around it. On the same town square were the well, the single blacksmith, and the high priest's house.

'Sir Robert?' Laura asked, looking back at the priest, 'how many of these celebrations have you seen so far?'

He laughed in return.

'Are you afraid something will go wrong at the ceremony?' he asked. Laura shook her head. As she looked at the high priest she realised that it most likely was the first one he'd organised; he looked too young for it to be otherwise. His long hair was still black, and his face showed almost no wrinkles, except when he frowned.

'Laura, I will ensure there will be no problems. After all...'

'Senna village would be ruined if there were,' Laura finished the sentence, 'you're right. I'm worrying about nothing.'

She turned back to the sea, and breathed in the salty air. In the distance a fisherman pulled up the nets, although they were still empty and thrown back again within minutes.

Behind her she heard the high priest say something, although she didn't quite understand what. She turned around and asked him to repeat it.

'According to Aunt Tess there are merchants in town. Do you want to go see?' Sir Robert smiled, 'It may take your thoughts off these things.'

Laura agreed, although she feared that it would take more than that to change anything.

A horse-pulled cart was standing a few feet from the well, and in front of the temple. Sir Robert frowned when he saw its position and Laura understood why; he would consider it blatant disrespect towards him and the temple he owned, and by extention even to the gods that were revered in the temple. Merchants only honour one thing, he always said, and that is money. In front of the cart stood an old lady, with hair that had already turned gray and was slowly turning white. Aunt Tess was nobody's aunt, but she was one of the oldest people in the village, and respected by all. This respect was only fortified by her knowledge; she had seen most people in the village grow up, and knew everything about everyone. As always, she was wearing a dark green shawl over her clothes, as she seemed to be inspecting the merchants' wares.

'Good day, Aunt Tess,' Sir Robert said, as they approached the stall. Aunt Tess turned around and frowned when she saw Sir Robert. Then her eyes wandered to Laura and a forced smile appeared on her face.

'Good day, Laura, Robert,' she said, 'if you're looking for wares for the celebration, you can return.'

Sir Robert frowned, no doubt insulted by the way he was adressed last.

'Don't worry, I already have the entire celebration planned out,' he said, 'and accounted for anything that could go wrong.

'Of course you have,' Aunt Tess said, turning back to face the cart and the goods on it. Laura could hear the old woman muttering something under her breath, although she could not understand what exactly was said.

She approached the cart as well and finally noticed the man who was standing behind it, half hidden behind Aunt Tess.

'What is this I hear about a celebration?' the man laughed, 'I'm sure we have some ribbons left. A cute girl like you should look her best, of course.'

A second man walked away from the well and joined the first merchant, and at this point Laura realised he was not from the village either.

'I'm sure your husband would be willing to pay, the first man said, looking at Sir Robert. Laura blushed.

'You're wrong, we're not...' she stammered.

'You have the wrong idea,' Sir Robert said, 'my position would not allow me to get married.'

Laura looked at him.

'After all,' Sir Robert continued, 'my mind and body belong to the temple already. I would not be able to satisfy a wife.'

After a while Laura had gotten tired of the wares of the merchants, and as their sales tactics became more straightforward, more people arrived on the village square, to see the wares the strangers had bought. After a while one of them got distracted by another customer, so that Laura quickly escaped in the direction of the sea again. When she reached the beach, she saw someone was standing there, at the position where she had stood earlier.

'Aunt Tess,' Laura said, approaching the figure. As she saw the old woman's face it became clear she had been crying.

'Laura, don't you want to go with those two men?' Aunt Tess asked, 'away from this village, so that you can live.'