(Directly continued from part three)
After such an outstanding entrance, the two were marked as generous eccentrics and were generally accepted by the locals of the town. Many had seen Horfryth before and although Sefa had never been that way, a few recognised her from themselves having travelled to Dale before. Pleasant rumours whispered around the town of the travelling child and her seemingly father-figure who were adjourning in the confines of their beloved abode.
Meanwhile, the pair had a tendency for rising early and busying themselves for every scrap of daylight and often deeply into the cold, dark evening and early night. They would be seen to disappear into the woodlands or to vanish to the lake side by the early rises. Once there, Horfryth took great pleasure in teaching his niece gentle skills of hunting, fishing and the like. Though she was young and he had little time, equipment and had picked rather the wrong season for such pursuits, she learnt well enough of him. He gifted her with a small number of the basics, so that later she would be able to practice them alone or perhaps with Joran, in the area around her village. Not for any true reason, simply for the pleasure of giving her more skills to take with her into her adulthood. In later years, as she recollected these memories and utilised the skills she gained from her time with her uncle, the one thing that had stood with her throughout her life was perhaps the most hard won and reluctant skill of the entire venture – the ability to swim.
It was a clear morning, one where the mist rose from the cold ground, leaving trails of frost on those branches that were not caressed by snow, their delicate strands looking like silver spiders webs. The sun hung weakly in the Eastern sky, slowly starting to burn through the thin mist that blanketed the forest, promising a clear if cool day. Making their way through the edge of the forest, bordering the lake, the two travellers passed; their passage disturbing little bar the birds that trilled the dawn chorus. They blended in with the winter wonderland, both wearing thick white furs and warm, brown leathers – practical, comfortable and sensible clothing for their location and the time of year.
Despite their appropriate clothing, they had no intention of going far and indeed, before long, Horfryth stopped at the edge of the lake and turned to his niece. Offering her a warm smile, he gestured to the mist shrouded lake and took her by the shoulder. Turning her towards the lake, he leant down to get nearer to her level and said in a triumphant voice; “Today, you shall become what you want! Break every barrier and learn how to harness the water.” He seemed proud of his words, although her quizzical look soon made him expand upon his point, “Indeed, you shall become a real woman and I shall teach you how. You shall learn to swim and learn in the cold. Yet it is a good day for it! The sun shines and the mist shall clear! What more would a woman want?” Sefa gave him a doubtful look before she trailed her gaze over the gleaming waters, her mind turning over the challenge. After ruminating for a few moments, she nodded to him, rolling her shoulders as though mentally preparing for it. His eyes twinkled with the reflection of the ever brightening sun upon the water and snow around them, the fog all but lifted by now, as he watched her with marked pride.
Upon his instruction, she had bought a thin, lightweight set of cheap clothing from that she had once brought from a stall in the Lake Town. These she had brought with her, carried in a small bag that graced her shoulder. At his word, she disappeared behind a tree and changed into the garments, him following suite with similar apparel. Both waded out into the water, gasping at the shock of the cold as it hit them, numbing them both almost instantaneously so that they almost lost all feeling in their limbs. Yet they were determined – perhaps foolishly so. They halted their wading when the water level was at the height of Sefa’s waist; Horfryth evidently not wishing to put her in water too deep too soon.
Perhaps it was simply a credit to Horfryth’s teaching skills, or perhaps she was a fish in a past life or some such for she took to the water like an otter. Once he had shown her roughly what to do in the freezing lake, she would imitate him, following his movements as he watched her with a critical eye. Despite often having been marked for being rather slow for picking up new skills, it seemed that every movement he taught her, she would imitate and pick up almost instantly. Soon, she was able to do a distance of maybe seven yards or so without putting her feet down and he acclaimed this feat with great praise and a short interlude on dry land to warm up and have a spot of lunch.
After filling up on homemade bread and smoked fish, the two rested off their lunch with a short nap by a roaring fire. It was peaceful, the crackling of the flames and the gentle lapping of the water mingling with the faint sound of the wind whistling through the trees of the forest and it created a sense of lethargy to the pair so that they slept until the middle of the afternoon. It was Sefa who awoke first, the girl stretching languidly and rubbing at her eyes, opening them to be met by the unusual sight of a dear lapping up the lake water. Her eyebrows shot up and a slow grin spread over her features.
Moving like a lithe shadow, she slowly rose to her feet, padding softly across the leaf litter that carpeted the outskirts of the forest. Slowly, she made her way over to her Uncle’s discarded clothes, him wrapped in his swimming clothes and a warm, thick cloak. Picking up the belt, she unsheathed his razor sharp skinning knife and cast the belt aside. Slowly, she started stalking the innocent deer, her stride nimble and slow. The deer’s head jolted up from the water, sending droplets shimmering down to ripple onto the still surface of the lake. Its ears pricked up, listening to some threat that a sixth sense must have picked up. Freezing on the spot, the girl waited until the deer was more relaxed and had resumed its drinking once more, before she prowled towards it. Bending her knees, she crouched a little before the twelve year old sprang forwards, leaping onto the deer’s back and sending the knife plummeting into the soft tissue of its neck...
