Chapter 5

When Gene awoke the next day, it was with a smile and a blush on her face. The memories came rushing back to her and she couldn't help but wonder for a second if perhaps all that had occurred the previous day had not been naught but a sweet, sweet dream!

Finding herself naked in bed quickly dispelled that notion. She pushed her blankets and embarrassment aside, and got out of bed.

Looking around her bedchamber she noticed that she was alone. Not knowing if she was happy about that or if she was sad, she got up and threw on some clothing. As she smoothed on her stockings and tied them to her garter belt she couldn't help but remember the sensation of Popo's hands upon her skin. The feel of her hands was not the same but it was still arousing her newly initiated body.

Sighing, she stopped her caressing and looked for her riding habit. She was feeling strange about the whole situation and wondered yet again why the Gods had chosen to bring such magic, and perhaps even love, into her life.

She wondered where he had gone, but figured he was cruising around the house, getting the lay of the land. Maybe even looking for some mischief to get into. 'What do enchanted men/gnomes do?' she wondered to herself with a giggle.

When she was finished getting dressed she made her way down the stairs and sought out Cook in the kitchen. It was odd, but she couldn't remember ever being as hungry as she was that very morning!

"Morning!" she cried happily to Cook who was busy at one of the counters chopping vegetables.

"Morning dear. You're up late today. Musta been all that excitement from last night", Cook replied with a chuckle.

"Must have been", Gene replied absentmindedly. Grabbing a hunk of fresh bread and slathering some butter and honey on it, she sat at the long table in the kitchen and quickly found herself lost in her thoughts.

Cook went to pour the girl a glass of fresh cold milk to go with her breakfast. But when she turned to the table she found Gene sitting there, staring off into space. She noticed that there was a fresh flush to the girl's face, her lips looked slightly swollen (as if she had been thoroughly kissed) and the girl was staring off into space with a faraway look in her eyes. If Cook didn't know any better, she would have thought that the girl had a thoroughly satisfied gloss about her; she had the look of a woman well fucked.

'Nah, ' she thought as she shook her head in the negative. 'Not my sweet Gene; she's not one to be giving away her charms like that slut sister of hers'. If she was seeing anything it was nothing more than her own selfish wish for the girl to find true love and everlasting happiness with a good and steady man.

"What's on your mind dear? Why, you seem to be a million miles away!"

"Wha-?..." replied a startled Gene. Blushing in embarrassment at being caught day dreaming, she said: "oh,... haha... I don't know... nothing. Maybe I'm still sleepwalking or something. I just feel strange today; perhaps it's nothing more than the excitement of yesterday as you say." Cook grunted in response and turned back to her duties.

Gene fought the urge to return to her very graphic and sexual daydreams and decided to focus on the problem of Popo the gnome, not Popo the sexy, wonderful, beautiful, man with the silky hair and bright blue ey-

Shaking herself free of her fantasizing once more she turned to Cook and decided to question her about what she knew about the witch. It didn't hurt to ask after all!

"Miriam, have you ever heard about the witch of the woods?"

Cook had been happily chopping away at some carrots when that question was posed. Her sharp knife slowed then stopped completely mid chop. 'Where did that come from?', she thought fearfully. She was actually a little afraid to respond, but thought perhaps it was just the curious musings of a girl. No harm there.

"Mmm, not much dear. Have you been listening to the tales of the old men in the village? Don't pay them no mind." She tried to sound as dismissive as possible in order not to rouse the girl's curiosity.

"No, it's not that. I'm just wondering what happened, and if it's really true that Leah was cursed to haunt the woods. I mean, is it true? Is the crone dangerous?"

Cook felt a chill run down her spine at the mention of Leah's name. As far as she knew, that was not a name that was frequently mentioned; in fact, it was a name that the elders had forbidden when she was naught but a little girl.

"Where did you hear that name?" she asked as casually as she could. She turned to face Gene who was quietly nibbling on her breakfast. The girl did not look like she was overly concerned; maybe someone had accidentally mentioned the name and she was only curious.

"Mmm Po-... mmm nowhere. I don't remember where. Do you know anything about the story? Oh please tell me!" she asked in a sweet and exuberant manner that would have normally had Cook laughing at her.

Gene discarded the tasty morsel she was munching on and turned her full attention to Cook. It was obvious she knew something. Maybe it would help her free Popo from his curse. 'Maybe if he is free, we can be together!', she thought excitedly. 'Maybe I can talk Papa into letting me marry him and we can be together happily ever after!' she dreamed.

Cook noticed the sparkle in the girl's eye and the obvious excitement she was feeling. Why would talking about a witch excite her like that? Something was up with the girl and she was going to get to the bottom of it if it was the last thing she did. As brave and self reliant as the girl thought she was, she was just a girl of seventeen; she needed to be warned of the dangers of the forest so that she didn't get it into her head to go off exploring on her own.

Miriam poured out a couple of cups of hot water from the kettle that always hung form the stove. After adding some lemon balm and some bergamot oil, she walked to the table and sat next to Gene. Handing her a cup she sighed and took a moment to collect her thoughts.

Gene took the fragrant mug and eagerly sipped the aromatic mixture. "Mmm... Delicious!" she said as a way to break Cooks pensive silence.

"You know dear. Maybe the elders were wrong to keep this story a secret", she said at last.

"What secret?"

"About the crone. About Leah the witch."

"So tell me about it!" She was so excited she could barely sit still. Gene had already heard the story from Popo, but maybe there was something here that could help; maybe there was something he didn't know about, seeing as he had been in the forest for 200 years.

"Do you often go to the forest when you ride?" Cook asked instead of telling.

"Mmm... no, not really. Just once in the last couple of years. To be truthful, I was scared of the stories the villagers told. But now that I'm older, I figured that it was just an old tale told to scare the children away." She answered truthfully. Then crossing her fingers in her lap, she said "there was nothing amiss when I went there. That's why I'm curious."

Cook sighed in relief; she was more than eager to believe her story. But the truth was, the girl still had a right to know about the witch of the woods, if only to keep her own children from them one day.

"Do me a favor Gene. Don't go back there. Promise me!"

"I uhh...", what could she say to that other than lie. "I promise not to return if you tell me the truth!"

"Very well dear, you deserve to know seeing as it is your father's property that borders the woods. This may well be yours one day".

Gene really did feel bad about lying. It was not a habit that she often indulged in.

Cook, satisfied, nodded and began her tale:

"It was more of a fairy tale, that I was told when I was younger. I would even say there was no truth to the tale except that my momma saw the crone once.

It is a story that has been passed down through a couple of generations. You see dear, the people of this village are the descendants of the villagers in the tale.

A long time ago there was a village, not far from here. This village was the home of a great man, with a great family that was destined for the crown. I don't know the details of that, except that the king of the land was enraged when the family disappeared. The forest would probably have been burned down in order to destroy the witch had the king not died soon after learning that the family he had bequeathed his crown to had disappeared. As it was, the crown was given to another high noble in trust for the real heir, and the matter was quickly forgotten; as far as I know, not too much of an effort was ever made to find any heirs. It's rather shocking actually, but who am I to question the actions of the nobility?

But that is just a bit of little known history.

The story starts with the son of the great man. His name was Patrick Paul Hue. From what I was told, he was quite a good-looking lad, but a bit of a heartbreaker. He was known to use the girls and then forget them; it was a miracle that he never got any of the lasses with child or the father's of the village might have lynched him.

The story goes that Leah appeared in the village one day and took up residence in a little cottage in the woods. It's said that she was lovely girl in face and form. When Patrick saw her he vowed to have her. He even boasted of it to some of the villagers and no one doubted he would do as he said.

After leading him a merry chase, Leah gave herself to him.

From there the story gets a little muddled because who could really know what was on the minds of Patrick and his family. What is rumored is that the father finally got fed up with his son's womanizing ways and sent him away to learn something of world.

Not much time passed before it was discovered that Leah was pregnant. Everyone knew who the father was because she was not a girl to dally with lots of men. Imagine the shame the poor girl must have felt at being left with child in a village where she had no family or friends to aid her. She was a healer then and the old men, unused to such an independent woman, would call her a witch.

When she went to Patrick's father, he laughed in her face and claimed that his son could not sire the child; actually, it would have been hard to prove seeing as no child had ever been produced from his previous dalliances.

Dismissing her, he left her to her own devices.

Not long after, the great man's family was discovered dead. Some claimed that Leah had done it but there was no proof. It looked as though they came down with some strange illness one day; it appeared to be this illness that killed them.

Leah remained in the woods and carried her child to term. She and the child were seen once in the forest by some hunters; but only once.

The tale goes that Leah grew bitter over the disappearance of the little prince and as a way of getting vengeance, she turned to the dark magics. She sacrificed the little babe to the lord of all demons himself in return for the power to get even with Patrick.

All that had happened had made her crazy, a mad witch! She ended up taking refuge in the woods, waiting for the little prince to return.

Eventually he did. But by that point, the village had fallen on harsh times. The villagers had fled in fear of Leah and settled here. The few that remained told him of what occurred with his family and he vowed vengeance on Leah; I think that in his grief, he blamed the witch as many of the villagers had done.

I'm not one to say that she was without fault. But I can only imagine what she must have gone through for her to become so embittered with the world that she was forced to take refuge in witchcraft. And the little prince was far from noble himself.

Alas, the tragedy did not end there. The prince went into the forest and never returned. One can only assume that Leah got her wish and managed to destroy the one that had betrayer her.

But her actions had consequences, as actions are wont to do. As a result of the deal she made with the devil, she was never able to leave the forest. It is said that part of what she exchanged her soul, and babe for, was immortality. But the lord of all demons is not known for fair bargains. He gave her immortality, but not youth.

So she wonders there still, an old crone, with nothing but bitterness and an eternity of time to keep her company. That is why her name was banned and the children were warned to stay out of the forest. People of the village feared she would try to sacrifice more children to the demons for some relief from her curse.

As for the old village: it is gone. Almost as if by magic, it was claimed by the forest. The trees grew over it and all that remains, if you know where to look, are the ruins of a village that once was the home of a future king.

Gene stared at Cook in rapt fascination. How did one respond to that? Whose version of the story was really the truth, Popo's or Cook's?

"Promise me again girl, promise me you won't go back there and look for trouble. Even if it is just a fairy tale, promise me!" Cook suddenly demanded in a vehement manner. She grabbed Gene by the shoulders and shook her hard to get her point across. "Promise me on your sweet mama's grave you won't ever return there! Promise me!"

Gene's eyes were as big as saucers and Cook mistook her hesitation as mere shock.

Gene was in shock, but only because she didn't know if she could keep her promise. If she did she might not be able to help Popo; it was not in her nature to let suffering continue. But now she was not sure if what he had told her was the truth.