Wicked Roots (Teaser)

“I really can’t thank you enough for taking me in Kusya.”

“Any sister of Jacob’s is a daughter of mine,” she poked Marya’s belly. “What kind of mother would I be if I had turned you away?”

Marya smiled and said “Well I thank you still, I don’t know what would have happened if Jacob hadn’t brought me here.”

Not wanting to think about that possibility, Kusya nodded toward the door.

“You get yourself to bed, we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Marya yawned in response and started for the door. She looked back over her shoulder to see Kusya still standing there holding the tray and smiling at her. She smiled back, opened the door and went into the small room.

It was dimly lit, but inviting. It was apparently a storage room which had been converted to a bedroom for Marya. There were deep shelves along the walls which held stacks of tanned leather and folded cloth. There was a cot along one wall, piled with two thick blankets and flannel sheets. The pillow was stuffed with down from snow geese and covered with soft linen.

She went to the edge of the bed and pulled the covers back. She stood there for a moment, remembering the horror she had witnessed that morning. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head in an effort to banish the unbidden memory.

When she opened her eyes, she was looking at a fat little tufted ear squirrel sitting on her pillow, gazing at her.

“What are you looking at?” She asked with a slight smile.

The creature chattered and sniffed the air, then jumped onto the shelf above the bed. It sat there a moment, scurried behind a box, chattered at her again then fell silent. She looked at the box warily, and then sat on the bed. She had never heard of anyone being attacked by a squirrel, but that didn’t mean it never happened.

“Silly girl,” she said to herself and giggled.

Then, without warning, the image of her uncle’s torn body came into her mind. The entrails scattered across the floor, the meerks lapping at the pools of fresh blood, her brother standing there like a man possessed. She closed her eyes, but the picture only grew more vivid, details of the carnage swimming through her vision. She was sobbing now, her hands over her eyes.

“No…noo, NOOOO!!”

Kusya threw the door open and saw her sitting on the bed, doubled over and shaking violently. She rushed to the girl’s side and put a hand on her shoulder.

Marya screamed and leaped up from the bed, whirling to face Kusya.

“Don’t touch me!” she shrieked.

Kusya’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She regained herself and held out a hand to the frightened little girl before her.

She smiled and said, “Come child, come sit with me.”

Marya stood there, eyes wide and bright with tears; every muscle tense. She looked at Kusya, but saw her uncle, fat and leering; smelling of sap and vomit.

Kusya spoke again, firmly this time. “Marya, you stop it this instant!”

The girl stood there, her fists raised in defiance. She let out a wordless scream and grabbed Kusya by the hair. She hauled the woman to the door and flung her into the hall like a pile of rags.

Kusya hit the wall with a thump, lost her footing and fell to her knees. She looked over her shoulder in time to see Marya coming at her, a malevolent light in her eyes.