Chapter 5 We Met

Everyone knew Sadie; they came to her for a plethora of problems. Spiritual protection, love spells, praedial larceny, abortions et cetera. She had no children; having aborted her own to gain power, not to mention the countless animal sacrifices I've seen her do all these years made me worry. Why did she have this girl with her? Is she a sacrifice? I cleared my throat as I got closer; trying to get their attention. Now that I was here, I wasn't sure what to say. I shuffled my feet and looked at them, Sadie had stopped tending to the fire to look at me and when I looked at the girl, our eyes met. She had such dark brown colored eyes that were the size of a doe's.

"Didn't know you had family visiting?" I directed to Sadie.

Sadie raised an eyebrow at me.

"She's help with my farm and someone's ear to talk off at night." she answered. "Say hello to Logan, Cora Lynn."

A beautiful name for a beautiful girl I thought. Then the thought hit me. She probably won't want to be my friend like Bethane and the others, no female in this community wants to be my friend or fuck me.

"You look like you gave the ground a big hug," she said while pointing at my clothes

I looked down and saw my entire outfit covered in dirt. She had amusement in her eyes with a friendly smirk. Noticing Sadie was still struggling to make a fire I offered my assistance. I also needed a distraction from my red burning face. Why didn't I brush the dirt off after I fell?

"Please Sadie let me help." I say as I took the lighter and fan from her hands. Within seconds I had a fire blazing.

"Thank you so much young man," I heard Sadie say from behind me. I straightened up from the fire only to turn around into Cora Lynn. She was clutching a small purple cloth and her hands went to rubbing soil off of me; her fingers brushing against my shirt. I couldn't help noticing her long beautiful fingers and the scent of bay rum and rose that emitted from her.

"All done," she announced, dragging me out of my thoughts. Sadie's attention was now focused on making dinner and I had Cora Lynn's full attention.

"What's fun to do here?" she asked.

"There's plenty of caves to explore, scattered swings here and there, we can visit The Brundles, Lavender Road, Butterfly fields...."

"What's The Brundles?" She asked, cutting me off.

"Its a small pond were we go swimming."

"Cool, I would love to see it" she said smiling brightly.

"I can take you there after school tomorrow."

"Tomorrow after school then."

I smiled down at her, liking where this is going.

Cora Lynn's POV

I sat by the fireside eating under the gentle glow of the crescent moon. It was yellow and looked like a smile. I couldn't help but think how it resembled Logan's smile. He seemed like a good kid and I could somehow tell he's treated like an outcast. Like me. I ate all the meat off the goat bone and sighed.

"Full?" asked Sadie.

"Yes, mam, thank you." I answered back.

"No need to call me mam. You're basically my daughter now and tomorrow I'll head to the county office to get you registered for school."

She got up, taking her empty plate inside and I followed suit. As she walked by the dog kennel she threw the bones to Kartel, her mongrel. I did the same. We entered the house as outside turned from dark orange to a faint evening glow. The inside looked so much bigger than outside, with her bed, night table and chiffonier were at one corner, the entry of the bathroom on the opposite end. She had paintings all around the shack, but they were disturbing. Paintings of people being hanged and animals that look tortured and in pain. I settled down on a small camping chair and turned the TV on while Sadie cleaned up dishes.

A few minutes later a funny smell drew my attention from Family Guy. It was a scent I remembered but not sure where I smelt it. I turned to look at Sadie who was mixing oils in a bowl while simultaneously placing some unto herself.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Mint, Mullien, Wormwood, Mugwort, a whole bunch of stuff," she replied.

"Why?"

"It's for your hair, it will help it to grow thick and strong. A woman's pride is her hair.

"No offence," I replied with disdain. "We don't have the same hair type, what works for you probably won't work for me.

"Nonsense child, It will help. Just trust me. I'll do it while you watch your show."

She placed the warm wooden bowl in my lap and the smells of the different oils smacked me right in the face. She dipped her fingers in the bowl and stuck her hand into my hair. Her fingers moved like a snake slithering through the brush, they found my scalp and massaged it humming as she did so

'Sanguis ad sanguinem, os ab osse, homines somniabunt cum senex et catulus vivent sicut dictum est.'

She repeated the phrase again. I glanced up at her and eyes were completely black, her voice sounding hollow and void. I felt a warmth from the tips of my toes spreading up to the crown of my head.

"What are you doing?" I questioned.

It went unanswered. She wasn't hurting me, the massage felt good so I continued to watch my show, cackling at the dark humor and enjoying the comfort of being in a home.