Chapter 1: The Haunted Mill

The Mill stood on a small stream at the brink of a great forest that stretched many miles to the east. It was an old building, long destroyed by a heavy storm. There wasn't a wheel on the mossy wall, only a few decayed timber beams lay forgotten in the high gras beside the stream. Long ago the miller, his wife and their two sons died from the Black Death and many days after that no one dared to sleep within these walls. "The Mill is haunted" the people in the nearest village muttered to every stranger who came to the tavern.

But twenty years later a impecunious farmer and his wife found the mill in the shadow of the great oak tree which stretched his branches over the sunken roof and the little wooden shack beside the old mill.

Henry and his wife Sara fled from the war and conflict in the south to this place at the border, where the tax collectors and soldiers of the king were rarely seen. They searched for a nice and quiet place where they could raise the baby which grew in Saras belly for almost seven months.

It was a wonder for them when Sara became pregnant. Nearly five years the pair has tried without any success. She was 29 years old and that was almost too old in these times to raise a child properly. But they were glad about the news and moved from the greater villages in the south to the lonely towns and steadings in the far north of the land.

With nothing but their clothes, a knapsack on Henry's back and a small bag with seeds and a shovel they came to the small town. Strangers weren't seen here very often and the people weren't very friendly to them, as they came to the small tavern in the middle of the town.

"We searched for a place to live", Henry said to the owner of the tavern behind the old and yellowed counter. "My wife is pregnant, and we fled from the wartorn lands in the south. I was once a farmer. We mean no harm to your people here, we only want a nice place to plant something and raise our child."

The old man behind the counter watched Henry carefully for a few seconds, then his eyes observed the pregnant Sara for a while.

"There is no place in this town for you, farmer", he said in a sullen voice. "We have our own problems here. Go to any other village to the east behind the woods or back to the south."

There were two other men in the tavern, one of them an old man in shabby leather clothes with mud on the underside of his boots. On the table beside him there was a longbow and a rusty knife. It seemed that he was a hunter or maybe a deserter from the armies in the south. He stood up und walked over to Henry and Sara.

The man reeked of animals, beer and sweat. Henry's pose was very tense, as he inspected the man carefully. He didn't missed the glare in his eyes, as the bastard ogled the body of his pregnant wife. But he said nothing. It was not the first man who did this. So long as it was only the eyes, not the hands, Henry wouldn't do anything.

"Hello, good folks. I'm Jacob. Two Miles to the west, near the forest there is an old mill", the man said. His breath stank of rotten teeth and beer. "No one lives there. I think you could live in the old house and perhaps plant something on the old field nearby."

Henry thought about it. They have wandered enough. And the baby was on the way. Perhaps, they could look at this old house...

The Mill was old, that was clear. There were holes in the roof, and the sunken walls were mossy and green. Some broken tools, a rusty hark and a old spade projected out of the sprawling gras. The place had something sinister about it, with the large, dark forest looming behind the decayed house and the little, purling stream.

Sara grabbed Henry's arm, while Jacob stood a few feet away and chewed some stinking herb with his yellow, teeth. "I don't like it", she whispered to her husband. "It looks rather creepy."

She was right, Henry thought, but said nothing. However it was the best, they could have hoped for. He was a passable craftsman. He could repair the hole in the roof with new bundles of straw and darn the few tools. And in the small clear area between the stream and the forest they could easy plant some vegetables. With the village nearby, he could ask for work in a fitting time.

"Who lived here?" Sara asked.

Jacob shrugged his shoulders. "Some miller and his family long ago. The folk fear the dark woods in the north and don't come here anymore. They talk about ghosts in the forest and other stupid things." He laughed. "Ghosts. I have walked all forests in this land and never encountered a ghost. Damn idiots, these townspeople."

Henry turned to Jacob and said:"Ok, if this mill is owned by nobody, I and my wife will probably establish us here." He hesitated. "I thank you, Jacob. God will bless you for your kindness."

The filthy man nodded, grinning. "No, problem, sir. I'm a ranger and travel a lot between the few villages in this area. Sometimes I probably need a roof over my head for a few days in the future."

A ranger? Henry thought. More easily a poacher. But despite his aversion against the man he answered:"You are always welcome here. Thank you."

And that was it. Henry looked back at the ruinous mill and to his not overly excited wife. It's done, he thought. We can't run away forever. Here will be the place for our little family.

And so it was done.

And something in the dark forest behind the mill smiled...

The child was born two months later and was named Jack. He was a healthy little thing, babbling and crying all day and night, but that made his parents only prouder. Such a gift from god, they had both not expected after their dark times in the south. A healthy child who survived the first winter in the wilds was something wonderful.

By this time Henry and Sara had settled in the old mill house and Henry has fixed a lot of things, like the roof and a few furnitures. They had two rooms in the house, one little room for the food, the tools and other stuff. And one bigger room with two little windows, a fireplace, an old chest for their clothes and a narrow bed, which Henry had build all by himself. The first winter in the mill was not so hard, as they had expected. A friendly farmer a few miles away from the mill, had given them some food, some warm hides and it was not so cold, so the wolves stayed in the woods.

It was all very well, until Sara found the bones.

It was a beautiful day, some days after a light snowfall and the land was covered in a white sheet all around the mill. Henry was in the house and worked on some carving and the baby was sleeping in the bed. Sara need some time in the fresh, cold air, and as the sun began to climb the horizon, she took her coat and a hide and walked outside. The bed was too small for two grown people and a baby, she thought. And she missed the intimate moments with Henry a lot. Sex was not possible with the baby screaming all night and wanted much attention over the day.

For Sara sex was something rare and a little bit unrewarding. But she wasn't the fairiest of all women and she thought she should have been satisfied with what she had with Henry. He was a good man. Not cruel like some other men in the south towns. But sometimes she wants ... more. As she had missed something and didn't know how to grasp this odd nagging thought.

Anyway, on that particular day in winter she walked along the small stream and watched the thin icesheet above the water. The air was clear and she inhaled it deep, glad to get away from the small room in the old house which reeked of smoke, fire and old weed.

Then, she found the bones.

A few feet away from the stream there was a whole in the ground, where some boars from the wood had searched for some food or something and they had opened the dark earth under the thin sheet of snow. Something white and yellow glanced there and she kneeled before it. And jerked back in horror. Bones. The bones of two grown people and two childs...

Horrified, Sara ran back to the house and dragged her frowning husband to the place.

"Look, Henry", she said, trembling. "What is this?"

For a moment, Henry looked at the bones, then he kneeld beside it and examined the bones more precisely. "It looks like a grave. For two children, a woman and a man. Perhaps the old occupants of our new home."

His voice wasn't overly concerned, Sara noticed. She however was terrified. Her anxious fears on the first day, Jacob had shown them the mill, came back to her now.

"I will take care of it, my love", Henry said and slide his arm clumsily around her shoulders. "Go back to the baby. He needs some milk, I think."

"But if the people were right?" Sara said sternly. "What if the ghosts of these people are near the mill, or something? I have told you this is a godforsaken plave, we should..."