Chapter Six
‘Hello, Hannah, I didn’t expect you so early. I just popped out to get some more ingredients for the stew,’ said Martha, the Wise woman, whom Matthew and Hannah could now see in front of the closed door.
She had a basket of vegetables and herbs, and moved towards them. She certainly knew how to frighten people, thought Matthew, now calming down. She really did look old, at least 80, he thought. But he could see that although she looked small and frail she had some kind of strength or power. He noticed, however, that she did not look at him at all.
‘Come on. Sit down you two. You have come a long way and must be tired,’ she said. They obeyed her and sat down at the table in the middle of the room. Matthew could see there were two other doors leading off from this small dark room, which seemed to be a kitchen, dining room, and lounge all rolled into one, but its atmosphere now seemed more friendly and cosy with Martha here.
She busied herself by a dresser to the left of the fire place. Matthew felt a cat at his feet, which did not surprise him. He went to stroke it, noticing it was not black but grey. ‘If Hans likes you, you can’t be such a bad person,’ Martha said staring Matthew right in the eye when he looked up at her. He felt uncomfortable; it was as though she could see right through him. He looked away back at the cat who was purring away.
‘I thought you could help us,’ said Hannah.
‘Yes, I know why you are here, my dear, and I’m always happy to see you, but first you must tell me all that has happened to you from the time you dreamt about this boy, to finding him, and now,’ said Martha.
Matthew thought that she should already know this if she were a real witch.
Hannah then told her everything. Matthew already knew much of it but he learnt that the Clearing seemed to be a well known place where strange things happened.
‘You have done well, my dear, but you should know by now that your dreams do not always tell the whole story. The boy here, M...’
‘Matthew,’ said Hannah.
‘Matthew is certainly here for a reason, though it may not be the one you think,’ said Martha. ‘It may be to save the Land from the Baron but it may also be for other purposes, perhaps including the opposite.’
‘But what does he or we have to do next?’ asked Hannah.
‘I cannot tell Matthew or you what you have to do because I simply do not know,’ said Martha. ‘Yes, I have had visions about what may come to pass but these are only possibilities. Now is not the time to discuss them, though this may change. Whether they happen depends on the present actions of those involved and what determines these are the decisions of those involved.
You had a dream and reacted to it by fetching Matthew. This has turned out to be a good decision. If you had not then Matthew might now be in the Baron’s custody. But Matthew has brought a lot of problems with him to the Land, which may not help his decision making process.’
She then looked at Matthew but this time not so intently. ‘You should stop thinking about life too much and start living it, young man. This way you will realise that others are just like you. They like to dance and be merry and are sometimes sad in much the same ways as you, even though at times it may not appear so.
You should also trust more in yourself as well: you may not think you are the archetypical man but people are not all made in the same way and you have talents that other people do not have, like intelligence.’
Matthew was dumbfounded and felt his face go red. Where in the hell did that come from? He thought the purpose of his visit to her was to find out how he could help them, not to get a personality analysis. What is more, how could she know so much about his thoughts and feelings? This was too much. I should never have come here, he thought. If I wanted to see a shrink I could have done so in my own world.
Furthermore, she should not have said these things in front of Hannah, who might now treat him like the girls at home. He returned his attention to Hans again, angry but not wanting to make the situation worse by making a scene.
‘Don’t be so quick to be angry when someone tells you the truth, young man,’ said Martha. ‘It is sometimes useful to hear it.’
Matthew did not even look at her. What did she know of his problems? Nothing: he was quite happy with his laid back lifestyle and others did not like him so he did not bother with them; there was no point. As for not being an archetypical man, this was something he had no desire to be. Hell, never mind a shrink, I could have got this crap from my parents, he thought. He then wished he were at home and resolved to go back there as soon as possible when they returned to Hannah’s grandfather’s farm.
But Martha came over to him and touched him on the shoulder. ‘Please think better of me, Matthew; I really am only trying to help you. How you resolve your problems will determine not just your destiny but that of the Land.’
This did make him feel slightly better towards her but he was still not happy and said nothing. She then brought him and Hannah some bowls of stew and bread. After this, she sat down on her rocking chair, looking into the fire. Hans jumped on her lap and got comfortable.
Hannah looked thoughtful as she ate her food. Matthew ate his hungrily. Irrespective of her amateur psychoanalysis, the so called Wise woman certainly knew how to cook, he thought. After they had finished, Martha got up and took their dirty plates and cutlery away.
‘Can’t you give us any direction as to what we have to do next?’ asked Hannah.
From the dresser, Martha said, ‘Hannah, have you listened to nothing I have said? All right, I’ll say to you that you could start by returning to your grandfather’s farm,’ she said. ‘There you may find the answer to your question.’
Matthew looked at a curious-looking Hannah who was about to ask something else. But Martha stopped her with a gesture of her hand. ‘No more questions, Hannah. It’s been nice seeing you again, even for such a short time, and we may see each other again, soon. But it’s now time for you to go.’ Hannah got up and hugged Martha. She then got her cape and bag.
Matthew also got up and Martha said to him, ‘Don’t feel so bad about yourself, young man. But you must learn to stop complicating things and listen more to your instincts, which seem to have served you quite well in our land so far. Also, not everyone thinks badly of you.’ She smiled and looked over at Hannah. Matthew felt a little embarrassed.
Martha then took something from her apron pocket. Matthew could see it was a very small leather bag on some kind of necklace, like a shoelace. She then went to put it around his neck. He bent down out of politeness. ‘Because you are not of this world you will need this to protect you here,’ she said. ‘I can’t explain more but please wear it while in this land.’
Hannah looked over at him with approval. Martha then said, ‘All I will finally say about your being here is that whatever reason it is, there will be a conclusion to your problems and the ones we have in our land...for good or ill.’ Matthew and Hannah then left.
On the journey back, they did not speak much at all, partly because of Hannah’s setting a fast pace again. Matthew also felt that Hannah’s view of him had changed for the negative, in spite of what Martha had said at the end. He had been getting on quite well with Hannah until Martha said what she said about his thinking too much. But he now felt his usual negative self again and that Hannah viewed him thus. I am just like other people and have other talents: what did the “Wise woman” know about it? he asked himself.
He also thought about how his parents must be wondering where he was. After all, he had been gone for a day and a half now. Never mind, he thought, I should see them again tomorrow. One more night and then Tobias whoever he is will help me return to the Clearing, and I must be able to get back to the Museum from there somehow, if I did so before.
After a couple of rests for water, they arrived back at the farm several hours later, just as it was getting dark. But as they got nearer to it, they could see that there was something wrong. The door to the farm
house was off its hinges and some windows were smashed with equipment and other things strewn around. Hannah rushed towards it.
Yet Matthew could see someone moving about near the door. ‘Hang on, Hannah. There could be danger,’ Matthew implored. But she ignored him and carried on. Hell, he thought, the horsemen might get me after all, as he chased after her.