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On a grey day in February, snow silently slid down the window pane as the winter wind whistled through the trees in the courtyard. But despite the cold and unfeeling British weather the Elwood manor was full of warmth and happiness.
“Look at her, dad! Isn’t she cute?” Malcolm beamed, cradling the little bundle in his arms.
“Sure is. But I thought you would be sad...no son to-” His father Alan had been staying for the winter before heading back out to hunt in the spring.
“This is better,” Malcolm smiled softly, carefully adjusting his hold on his newly-born daughter. “She’ll be kept out of harm's way. She can keep Lizzy company whilst we’re away.”
“Maybe you should take some time to be with your family. I’m sure there's plenty you can teach her”
“There’s nothing I can teach her-” Malcolm stated firmly. “She’s going to become a fine lady and our work is no place for that.”
-Six years later-
A little girl with long golden curls pushed open the heavy front door and ran outside, oblivious to the rain. “Papa!!”
“My little Cassandra,” he beamed, dropping all his belongings and scooping her up to spin her around in the air before hugging her tightly. It had almost been a year since he saw her.
“I’m not little anymore,” she protested “I’m already six” she added defiantly as he set her down,
“I know, and look how tall you’ve gotten already.” Malcolm smiled, resting a hand on her head. “Go on inside, you don’t want to catch a cold.”
It was good to be home.
-
“Goodnight, pigeon.” He moved to kiss her forehead but she moved away and his heart sank.
Does she hate me? Have I been away too long?
“Papa, you promised to read with me when you got back,” she pouted.
Malcolm smiled in relief: he hadn’t thought she would remember a promise made a year ago. “So I did. Go fetch your book then.”
Cassandra clambered off the bed and ran to her shelf, hauling out a heavy book which she slung it onto the bed before climbing back and snuggling up to him. “This one,” she said proudly, patting the old leather cover.
Malcolm knew this book well, one he studied and his father before him. “This was in my study...on the top shelf.”
“I climbed.” She grinned up at him and opened the book impatiently to a page marked with a little paper bat “Start here.” She shuffled closer and looked from the book to him. “Papa?”
All he could do was laugh: he’d tried so hard to keep her out of their heritage, but it seemed it had found her, or more like she found it. “Well, then. Banshees. Women of the fairy mound. They herald death, usually by wailing, shrieking or keening.”
“What's keening?” she interrupted.
Malcolm stopped to think,
what was it again?
“It’s a song for the dead,” he explained when it sprang back into his thoughts. “
There are many different descriptions of the banshee. Sometimes she has long flowing hair and wears a grey cloak over a moss green dress, and her eyes are red from weeping”
“Why does she cry?” Cassandra interrupted again. “Is she lonely? Is that why she brings death? So she has company?”
Malcolm opened his mouth in surprise. “You don’t think she sounds scary?”
She shook her head. “She’s sounds very pretty. Is she a fairy?”
“Banshee are classified as fae-folk.”
“Do they not like her sad songs?”
“No. I suppose they don’t.”
“That’s sad, I bet her songs are nice.” Cassandra smiled up at him, which made Malcolm brim with pride: she was so understanding.
Perhaps. Just perhaps...
“Your mother is going to see Aunt Jemima tomorrow.” He chuckled at the disgusted face she made; he wasn’t fond of his sister-in-law either. “How about you come walking with me? I think there’s something you’d like to see.”
“Can I?”
“Of course, but don’t tell – it’ll be our secret.” Cassandra grinned so brightly Malcolm couldn’t help but copy as she moved to hug him tightly.
“Love you, papa!”
He wrapped his arms around her; though he’d travelled far and wide, nothing brought him more joy than being with his family.
-
Malcolm had come to see his wife off and also to deliver the news that their daughter wouldn’t be accompanying her. The arched front door was open letting in the cool spring air. The coach was ready and awaiting its occupants.
“What do you mean she’s not well? Goodness. I was hoping to introduce her to the Hughes, they have older daughters who would be good role models for her.” No matter the occasion, he always felt underdressed when standing near Elizabeth. She was a proper lady, always so finely dressed not a hair out of place, he certainly didn’t deserve such a beautiful woman she could have married anyone but her family deemed him worthy enough or at least his family name was worthy.
“Bit early to be thinking about that, Lizzy. She’s a child. She needs to have freedom and-“
“Nonsense, Malcolm. She must learn to be a lady and wife. That is our duty as women . And for the last time do not call me Lizzy!” Elizabeth sighed and touched her head in frustration turning to a maid. “Make sure she stays in bed, and if you deem it necessary get a doctor to look at her.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“I shall be back in two days. Stay out of trouble, dear.”
“Of course, my love. Safe travels.” He smiled kissing his wife’s gloved hand “Until you return.”
He watched the coach disappear from the courtyard then headed back into the manor. He heard giggling and looked around to find a mischievous imp hiding poorly behind the grandfather clock in the hall.
“Cassandra.”
“Can we go?” She was all ready, hair tied back, and somehow she had procured pantaloons, a shirt and even boots. A little satchel hung at her side which appeared to be full.
Malcolm chuckled, though running a hand through his dark blonde hair he could practically hear Elizabeth’s blood pressure rising. If she saw their daughter dressed like a boy… “Where on Earth did you get those?”
“Found them in one of the rooms,” she replied quickly. “Can we go now?”
The maid that had seen Elizabeth off caught sight of Cassandra as she’d passed Malcolm “Young miss. Back to bed, now!” The maid ordered, but Malcolm held up a hand.
“It’s alright. We’re going for a walk. Fresh air will do her good.” He held out his hand and Cassandra grabbed it eagerly and followed him out of the manor.
“Did you bring the things I told you to?” She looked up and nodded. They headed out of the courtyard and into the forest that lined the dirt path that led towards the city. “This way. Mind your step.”
The forest wasn’t far but with the length of the courtyard it often seemed further away and with a child whose steps were considerably smaller than his, the walk took almost ten minutes longer but he didn’t mind. He was excited to show his daughter the secrets of the innocent looking forest that surrounded their home.
The forest was cool and cooler with the recent rain. “Princess, are you cold?”
She shook her head. “I’m alright, papa.”
He stopped walking and crouched down. “Look.” He pushed a low hanging branch aside to reveal a ring of red-topped mushrooms. “Do you know what these are?”
“Oh! I do! Fairy ring. Those- those are- fly..fly age-aga...toadstools!” She stuttered as she struggled to pronounce the mushroom’s name but he was proud she knew what it was.
“Fly agaric. You shouldn’t eat them, they’re dangerous,” Malcolm explained even though he had a hunch his little girl knew the dangers of them. “Now, then - the reason we came out here. Take the things you brought with you.”
Cassandra set her satchel down amidst the undergrowth and rummaged around, pulling out half a fresh loaf of bread and a little blue and white china pot full of butter.
“Alright. Place them in the circle.”
“I thought Fae folk disliked bread,” she frowned, coming to kneel next to him once the items were in the circle.
“On my travels I leant that that’s not true. The Irish use these as offerings – and now we wait.”
It didn’t take too long for the forest folk to appear. The shrubs rustled around them and little voices chatted to each other
“It’s Mal!”
“Mal is here!”
“And a child.”
They appeared first as grasshoppers, butterflies and moths before shifting to the forms of small human-like beings, still donning part of their insect facade until they deemed it completely safe.
“It is good to see you all again.” Malcolm smiled resting a hand on Cassandra’s shoulder who was wide-eyed in awe. “And this is my daughter.”
“We know this child.” The moth fairy spoke as it nibbled at a piece of bread. Malcolm felt a lump in his throat:
how can they know her...perhaps she’s played here before.
“What? How?” he asked slowly,
“As a babe. It was brought to us. Offered,” the grasshopper replied,
Malcolm was shocked to hear them say such things “That can’t be.” He shook his head. “Why?”
“She asked for a son.” he felt sick to his stomach; why? Elizabeth was so happy to have a child what did it’s gender matter? Cassandra sat quietly beside him. “We knew this babe was yours so we did not answer.”
“Cass, sweetheart-“ She looked up at him with a weak smile and tugged at the white shirt she wore,
“I knew. I found these in the room mama cries in sometimes.” She turned back to the faes. “These fairies are so much prettier than in the book.” She held out a hand and the butterfly fairy landed in her palm.
Malcolm watched her interact with the fairies happily. After Cassandra’s birth, he had taken his father’s advice and stayed in Britain for a while. He took small jobs that meant he wasn’t away over night but he did find himself studying late into the night because sleep rarely came that easily. But he was still around for Elizabeth and Cassandra. How had he not noticed? Did she not love Cassandra?
He reached to ruffle her hair. “I think it’s time we headed back.” He looked at the fairies. “Goodbye for now. You should be seeing a little more of us.”
“Bye-bye,” Cassandra smiled, curtsying to the fairies who took their offering and disappeared back into the woods. “Fairies! I knew they were real!” She bounced around ecstatically, tugging on his hand. “Can we meet the banshee next?”
Malcolm laughed. “We’d have to go to Ireland to see them and I don’t think I’d be allowed to take you that far.”
He held her hand all the way back to the house. Cassandra remained ever smiling even though she had heard such upsetting news, “you know mama and I love you right?” she nodded hopping up the steps to the front door.
“mama, said you’d want a son. That’s why you’re away so much because you need an air. Disa..disa-pointed-”
“disappointed? Nonsense. I love both of you so much..” He said kneeling down to set his hands on her shoulders “An heir? Why would I need a son for that? I have you pumpkin. I kept you from our legacy to keep you safe but you found it and you have the heart to be a hunter.”
“really?! But why do we hunt? that’s bad.” she asked with a cock of her head,
“I’ll teach you everything. Don’t worry. I’ll explain it to mama alright?”
He could never breach that topic with Elizabeth. She was a traditionalist, so Cassandra would be taught to be a proper lady and that meant no gun slinging and nothing she deemed inappropriate for a lady.
For now anyway.
This particular venture had taken a lot longer than he had planned and a year had soon passed by.
He had traveled across the sea to the
old continent with his father. So it was no wonder Elizabeth had objected to him leaving again after just a month.
“Malcolm! I will not be left alone again! Either stay, or take me with you!” Elizabeth demanded.
Malcolm had known this argument would arrive eventually. “Father has a lovely place in the country. It’ll be big enough for us all. You’ll love it, Lizzy.” That nickname always slipped when he got excited. She didn’t mind it when they were alone but when people might hear she put her foot down.
“Don’t call me that!” she snapped, and he could see the displeasure in her face at the answer she didn’t want. “No. I want to stay here in Britain.” she argued, Malcolm reached to touch her cheek but she jerked away
“Liz, sweetheart, darling,” he circled her to stop her walking away “Please.” he took her hands and ran his thumb over the top of hand “I don’t know how long I’ll be away. I hate leaving you here. Please. We need to be together as a family.” he moved to follow her gaze but didn’t let go of her hands once “It’ll be a long journey, but Cass will love it. So will you. Think of it as a summer home.”
She looked away stubbornly her earrings jangling in the motion “Very well. We’ll stay over there as long as it takes or until Cassandra is of age and then we shall return. I want to see her suitably married.”
“I don’t,” Malcolm mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” she asked with a scowl.
“Nothing, I- I just don’t think there’s anyone suitable for our precious Cassandra.” Malcolm grinned kissing her softly “Thank you Elizabeth.” he whispered pulling her into a warm embrace “It’ll be good for all of us.”
“who will watch the house?”
“What about your brother?”
“I suppose I could ask him.” Elizabeth sighed pushing away from Malcolm “Now then I have a lot to prepare, a lot to pack-”
“don’t pack too much we do have a lot of travelling to do.” Malcolm advised following his wife down the corridor with a slight skip in his step. It would be a new chapter for all of them.
The journey across the ocean was rough and when they reached France’s shore there was even more travelling towards their destination Hallstatt, Austria. Cassandra found the ordeal exciting, it was an adventure and at any given chance she was wandering off to explore or as far as Elizabeth would allow her. His dear wife of the hand was not enjoying the travel and had everything to complain about.
“Malcolm!” His father had sorted the house for their arrival. The house stood on the outskirts of the town closer to the mountains. It was an old farmhouse but it was properly furnished for four people now. There was a small split staircase leading up to the rectangular teak wood front door with two small windows on it, the windows had matching wooden shutters on the exterior, the roof had black slate tiles, vines grew up and around the windows and it was also a fraction of the size of the Elwood manor back in Britain. The view from their new home was far grander than the acres of meaningless grass. Their house backed onto a forest that lined the mountains and just a short walk away was the large and the
Hallstätter See a beautiful subterranean salt lake. The air was crisp and clear. It was beautiful, the perfect place for his family.
“Grandpa!” Cassandra leapt from the carriage and sprinted towards the older man who swept her off her feet “Grandpa, I missed you!”
“So did I. Please, you all must be tired. Come inside.”
Elizabeth could not hide her disgust as she looked around the house. Cassandra was bounding around happily finding which room was hers.
“Papa! Papa! My room is so cute! It has a desk like your room at home! And a skull!” she announced, holding aloft the skull in question.
“A skull?!” Elizabeth shrieked rounding on Alan. “How is that appropriate for a child?!”
“Hamlet has a skull,” Cassandra replied “To be or not to be...” she quoted, trying to keep a serious face. Alan cleared his throat, a smile tugging at his lips, and took the skull from her, setting it down on an end table.
“Cassandra, why don’t we go have a look at the garden?” He ushered the excitable child outside leaving Malcolm to talk with his fretful wife.
“Malcolm! What on earth is all this?!”she snapped “When you agreed to bring us with you, I thought at least it would be a civilised town! This is a farming town!”
“The people here are lovely, Liz. Sure it’s a smaller community, a lot smaller. I should have mentioned that. I just think this sort of environment will be better for her to learn.”
Elizabeth froze, her frown deepening. “Learn what exactly? You can’t possibly think of teaching her your trade...she’s a lady! She doesn’t have time to be filling her head with poppycock!”
Her patience had clearly reached its limit and so had his. He was just doing what he thought was right. To keep them all together.
“Poppycock? Elizabeth, how can you say that when you tried to trade our daughter for a son?” He watched the colour drain from her face.
“I did no such thing!”
“The fae in woods knew and so did Cassandra.” Malcolm said, watching as Elizabeth's’ stony face slowly succumbed to tears.
“I just wanted you to give you the son you hoped for!”
“I never asked for a son. Admittedly I never said I’m sorry. Sure a son would have carried on my family heritage but I thought a daughter meant I wouldn’t have to be worried about her out in the field but she’s got an interest in it I don’t want to deny her her legacy. I am happy to have a beautiful daughter and a lovely wife.” He smiled, reaching to wipe the tears from her eyes “Elizabeth I’m sorry I left you alone a lot. I promise, when she’s of age we’ll go back to Britain and I’ll stop hunting. Just a few more years.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” He held her tightly. He knew he’d been selfish all these years, doing what he pleased and expecting Elizabeth to wait for him patiently. “I love you, Elizabeth. Please don’t ever forget that.”
-
“Well, I’ll be!” Malcolm smirked, running a hand through his hair as he watched his now ten-year-old daughter load a rifle and hit the target dead centre. “You’re a natural,” he smiled as she hurried over to him. He glanced up to see his father coming out of the house. “Oh, dad! Great timing!” He ruffled her hair.
“Now show your grandfather what we’ve learned.”
She hurried off and raised the rifle, hitting the target dead on again. Malcolm and Cassandra both whirled round at the same time excitedly.
“Well, bloody hell,” Alan hummed, scratching his beard thoughtfully.
“Grandpa! I’m going to be a hunter like you and papa,” she announced, proudly shouldering her rifle.
“Oh, and I’m sure Elizabeth will be overjoyed by that news.” Alan looked skeptically at Malcolm. “Or is that why your unadventurous wife is out trying to be social with the neighbours?”
Malcolm shrugged. “I’m going to tell her- eventually.” Malcolm brightened. “For now, though, I thought her beloved grandfather could show her some expert shooting.”
Before Alan could answer Cassandra was looking up at him with wonder. He sighed. “Well, I can’t disappoint my favourite granddaughter, especially if she’s going to be carrying on our legacy.” Alan took the rifle from the little girl by his side. “We’ll be needing to teach you how to ride as well.”
“We should go for a trek in the woods and-”
Alan held up a hand to silence Malcolm. “Remember why you’re here in the first place. You can’t leave Elizabeth alone. I’ll take Cassandra to France for a little while teach her a few things. You stay here and have some time alone with your wife,” he added sternly.
“We’re going to visit Grandma?”
“Aye, we are. We’ll teach you plenty of things so you can be a hunter like us.”
“What was that?” Malcolm and his father froze and turned to face the wrath of one very angry woman. “A hunter?! Is this-”
“Elizabeth, come now let's talk about this inside.” Malcolm smiled as he moved to embrace his wife, but she backed away from him.
“you said you’d teach her! I thought maybe a herbalist-”
“Please, darling just listen.”
This was going to be a difficult talk, and one he was not wholly ready for.