I was glad to find one friend from Bree, then two and sooner than I expected, I found a third one. Along with Terry, I had another dear and close friend of mine. And I know very well that bestest is not a word. That it is best, not bestest. But I believe bestest describes so well how close friends we were. It was also a word we used between us, telling each other: “You are my bestest friend.” There is no shame in using such a word. My bestest friend’s name was Skarly.
Bree was full of peculiar personalities and Skarly definitely fitted in this group. One might find her strange at first glance. She spoke of herself in third person, referring to herself as Skarly. To anyone important enough she made up a nickname that often related to their physical appearance, and she referred to these people only by this name. For example she called me Redlady, for I always wore red. Osyth was Strawhair for his blonde hair. Miss Celnessyn was called Bathlady for she worked in a bath house (a topic I shall tell more about later in this journal). And the list goes on. At first it was hard to keep up with the names she gave to people, but soon I started to use them myself when speaking with her.
Skarly also was one of those who speak their mind freely. She could blurt out a matter that normally people would avoid. She would question her surrounding and people’s behavior, pointing out peculiar habits or if something did not make sense to her. As with her other habits, I eventually got used to this one as well. By her influence I started to do so myself, though not as directly. We caused quite a bit of mischief together.
I must admit though. Like many others, I first saw Skarly as a mad woman. She seemed to be touched on her head! Should someone told me when we first met, that one day I would see this strange woman as my closest friend, I would have surely laughed. I believed us to be so different. That we could not ever understand what the other one means. But slowly but surely we became friends. And I am glad about that.
I did not change my mind on the matter until Miss Celnessyn scolded me and Osyth as we said Skarly is crazy. Miss Celnessyn did not say anything however, but her eyes and the disapproval look on her face was enough to make me feel that I had done something horribly wrong. That night I lied on my bed and could not sleep. I kept thinking if I had been mean to another being. As the sun rose I decided that should our paths cross again with Miss Skarly, I would be nice to her. And whether I had hoped it or not, soon I did meet her again. I tried to be more polite to her, ask for her wellbeing, trying to understand what she says. And I believe that was the first step towards our friendship.
I slowly started to understand her better as I spoke to her. And then I saw that she was not crazy, not at all. Skarly was special, for she had a talent that not many others have. She could see spirits, let us call them that. One might call them as ghosts; I believe that is a more common word for them. Skarly said there are two different kinds of spirits: the White Ones and the Shadows. The former are good ones, often people who refuse to leave our world, for a reason or another. They do not hurt us, but we may feel their presence. But the latter, the Shadows, they are not good. And they will hurt us, if they are given a chance.
I have seen her summon them, the Shadows. There was a man who was tormented by the Shadows and a lot of misfortune was placed on him due to that. He asked help from Skarly, and Skarly asked me to assist her. One cannot call the Shadows on their own, you see. I cannot unfortunately tell you the name of this man, for I promised I will never tell anyone of what had happened. Not even to Osyth, as much as I wished to tell him. Not that I was given a chance to.
It was a sight I shall never forget. One cannot describe Shadows with words. But the feeling I had when I saw them is something I could describe. It was if I was dead myself. My skin got cold and I could barely breathe. All I wished was to run away from them, but my feet would not move. But I could have not run away, even if I wished to. I had to be strong. I had to be strong for Skarly and I had to be strong for the man we were helping. For if I had run away, who would have been there to help them, if something had gone wrong?
Granny once said that my strength against darkness is my pure heart. I am not quite certain what she meant with that, but that was something that gave me comfort before facing the Shadows. And when I stood there, looking at them, I kept my morale high and thought to myself: “You never can take away the goodness in me.” Did they believe me or if it did work, I do not know. But we all walked unharmed from this confrontation. I truly wish the man found the peace he wished for.
One might call Skarly as a witch. I am not sure if she was. If she was, she was not a first witch I had met. There was this old woman back in our village. I used to call her as Granny. You might wonder my reason to do so. You see, my grandmothers, both of them, had died long before I was born. And I had envied those who had grannies and really wished for a one. So when I stumbled on the cabin of this old lady who was said to be a witch, I wished to call her Granny. Thus I did, even though she never liked that.
Granny once said to me there are two kinds of witches. Good and bad ones. She also said there are more of the bad ones. For witchery exposes one to evil and if you are not careful enough, it would rotten your soul. Granny did not wish me to learn her skills, but she taught me some. I hope that one day I might help Skarly again, should I still be alive and she let me.
There was a short time when we had a dispute and we did not speak to one another. And it was such a horrible time for me. I feared that I had lost my dear friend. For the fight began when Osyth declared that he no longer wishes to be involved with Skarly and Skarly got upset about it. It was not easy to balance between your best friend and the man you love. But luckily soon we made up and agreed to be friends again. My world would have been darker place without the wise words from my friend.
Skarly was the first one who noticed how strongly I felt towards him before I had realized myself it. That I loved him. That I loved another person. I did not believe it myself, nor that I would wish to marry. But as I talked to Skarly, I became more aware of my feelings. She was always supportive of it and helped me with gaining his feelings. She even crafted me a love talisman. She was also the only one who supported me when everyone else said that Osyth had left me for another woman. She was truly a good friend.
Skarly, my dear friend. Oh how I miss you on times like these! How I wish you would be here, telling me that it was just a bad dream. For I have pinched my arm many times. But I cannot wake up from this nightmare. I cannot wake up. I wish you could say that they were wrong, that it was all lies. That what I believed deep in my heart was true.
