THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART FOUR )

Now the child whose name was Fern was a pretty
girl, she was eleven summers old, she had long
dark hair like her mother, it was almost down to
her waist, sometimes she would plait it and her
mother would tie a strand of bear skin to hold
it in place.

Fern was a small child for her age, she loved her
mother dearly and hated it when she was scolded,
her mother and father had named her Fern, as she
was actually born on a bed of ferns.

Fern lay quietly in a corner of the hut, she could
hear her father snoring heavily as he always did
when he had been drinking, but she knew he must
not be disturbed on any account.

She thought of her younger brother going out
hunting with their father, her brother's name was
Jay, because the Jay was her mother's favourite
bird, a Jay would often come to Evelyne, it became
quite tame almost as tame as the Robin, whom
Evelyne said she would name her next child.

Jay was three summers old, he had his father's
hair colouring, which was slightly lighter than
Fern's. Jay had green eyes which Evelyne said
were unusual, that made him a special child, Fern
had brown eyes, she sometimes wished she had green
eyes so that her mother would say she was special.

Later on that night Jay was asleep and so was her
mother and father, Fern was the only one awake,
she tossed and turned, but finally after what
seemed like ages she managed to get off to sleep.

The next morning Fern decided to make the most of
such a beautiful day, she helped her mother, by
washing some clothes down at the stream, she knew
this would please her mother, she took Jay with
her but he kept getting the clothes dirty by
dragging them along the ground, Fern scolded him
and Jay began to cry, "stop it Jay!" she said.
"but it's fun," cried Jay. Fern took him back up
to the hut and set him down, then went back to the
stream to finish the washing, she then hung it
over some tree twigs to dry in the sun.

Fern felt a lot happier, her father had got up
early that morning and had gone hunting. The birds
were singing as she hung the last of the washing
out. She decided she needed to walk, she thought
she would visit her friend Bella.

When she got back to the hut, her mother was
playing with Jay, "mother do you need me for
anymore jobs?" she asked.
"I don't think so," replied her mother, "why do
you ask?"
"It's just that I thought I would visit Bella,
if that's okay with you?"
Evelyne was not really sure after the day before,
with the hunters, but she knew she could not keep
her daughter with her all the time, so she told
Fern to be very careful and stick to the way she
knew that was safe, through the forest.
Fern promised, kissed her mother and told her not
to worry.

To be continued ..........