“I’m not
that young and I’m the strongest of my siblings, I mean, I havethe strongest
umpersonality.”

“No doubt.”

“What?”

“This inn
and tavern are very nice. It feels very much like a home and welcoming to
travelers such as myself.”

“Thank
you,” Tina paused, “I’m sure you must have seen some great cities and palaces.”

“Hmmyes”
was all the woman would say as she made to gather up her things, as she did she
pushed the pitcher too far, as she turned it had snagged on her cloak. Tina
caught her breathe for the sound of the crash but when she looked down she saw
that she herself had instinctively reached out and saved the pitcher.

The woman
paused in her movement and looked once again at Tina, “Thank you,” was all she
said as she took the pitcher back and turned it slowly in her hands.

Tina made
to leave, red faced but happy and tripped suddenly on the rug, she caught her
balance and quickly walked out. She winced, ‘Well so much for showing how quick
and graceful I am,’ she thought.

Tina went to the room she shared with all her sisters and
changed for bed. They were already sleeping soundly. Tina looked at her corner
of the bed that she shared with her two older sisters and over at the other bed
with her four sleeping younger siblings. She paused and touched Rose’s cheek
and brushed back her hair. Rose murmured and smiled in her sleep grasping Tina’s
hand for a moment. Tina gazed at her lovingly and then walked to the window,
she was restless.

Tina was
watching the simple green field that made up the town square and the other small
wooden houses with porches now cover in snow. She had a good view of the
neighboring stubby fields, muddy road and dark green hills in the distance. She
noticed that there was something on the ground near the house. A dark smudge or
something but as Tina leaned forward on the glass, the smudge was growing and
it wasn’t dark but actually gray. It was fog, and it was creeping quickly along
the ground. Tina shivered remember her brother’s warning that he had seen fog
and that the fairy stories told of the Takum and the Shadukk that, according to
legend creeped with the fog when they were hunting in stealth. Tina stared as
the fog hovered along almost like long old, gnarled fingers that grabbed onto
anything it could but was searching for something, something that it was
desperate for. The fog creeped around the shutter, through the floorboards and
seemed to be clutching the grass of the neighboring houses. It was getting
closer to the inn. Tina shivered and shut the eaves quickly. She ran over to
the bed and settled in under the sheets and curled up next to her slumbering
sister. She tried to get closer to her sister for warmth but she giggled as she
thought, ‘Oh great, it’s my turn to sleep next to snory, snory, snores a lot!’
She felt better and relaxed her toes, then feet, then legs, chest and head. She
went through the relaxation technique that her father had taught her. It was
funny but he taught the same technique that he taught when hunting and Tina had
never missed a rabbit because of it.