The Minstrel in the Forest

conclusion

by Tala Bar

Table of Contents
Part 1 and Part 2
appear in this issue.

III

“Stop!” A commanding voice penetrated through the fog gathering in the Minstrel’s tortured mind. It took him some more hurrying paces, and a little more time, before he was able to bring himself to a standstill, gasping for breath. He turned to look, and a strange vision encountered his misty eyes. The chase had stopped in the heart of the forest, with tall, dark trees all around them.

Intermingling with them were now three women standing around instead of the two. There was Nimmi, still holding her uplifted bow with the arrow poised on the string; but she was standing still now, her sky-blue eyes full of suspicion. Beside her the old hag was dancing on crooked legs, full of hot protest. And at some distance, with such a majestic air as if she was in perfect control of them, stood a tall woman as beautiful as he had ever seen. Through gloriously dark reddish hair surrounding her finely-carved face, a pair of strangely familiar greenish-brown eyes shone at him. It took him a moment to recall where he had seen such eyes before.

“You’ll have to stop this game, the two of you!” she commanded the other two. “Enough is enough!”

“No!” cried the old Witch. “We’re having fun and I don’t see why we shouldn’t have it any more.”

“Even though that’s the reason humans shun us and don’t want anything to do with us? No, we should never hunt humans again, maybe then we can show the people we are able to benefit their lives instead of harming them.”

“But what about Nimmi’s practice in hunting?”

“She can hunt real animals — they expect it! There’s no need to use humans for that practice!”

“But it’s much more fun hunting humans, Mother,” Nimmi intervened, but she lowered her bow and were putting the arrow back into the quiver; “they are much more intelligent than real animals, you know, which makes it more fun!”

“You’ll have to have less fun and hunt just for our meals now, Nimmi,” said Mother, severely. “We can find fun in having real relations with humans, instead of this cruel treatment of them. You asked why we have to live in the forest and never go out, and that’s your answer.”

‘Ha,’ Finbar thought to himself. ‘What have we got here, then?’

“Oh,” the Witch stopped her dancing about at last, saying with a tone of resignation, “I suppose we have no choice, Nimmi. Times have changed, and there’s nothing we can do about it. What do you think we should do, then, Mother?”

“First of all, turn this man back, Grannie. Let’s take a look at him and find out what he’s is doing inside the forest. He must be an unusual human to be here at all, without you having to kidnap him from the village.”

“He was in Bear’s company,” Nimmi commented, and Grannie gave her a baleful look. Then she shrugged as if to say, what’s done, is done.

“In Bear’s company!” cried Mother in a mixture of surprise and anger. “This is really the limit, Grannie. Now we may have real trouble!”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to settle it,” Grannie grinned with a toothless crooked mouth, and Mother gave her a look saying, ‘Oh, shut up!’

She then turned to the young girl, “And you, Nimmi, go on with the hunt for our meal; and don’t forget we are having a guest tonight. But mind you, catch a real animal this time!”

As Nimmi turned to go, Finbar looked after her as she vanished, her green-golden leafy cover mingling with the trees. The Witch, then, lifted her withered arms, and without much ceremony Finbar felt the web recovering his true body, in the same gradual way he had lost it. At last, he was free and human again, frantically moving his arms and dancing in place to stretch his legs, having been so restricted in his animal form.

“Come, stranger, we’ll go home now,” Mother turned kindly to the Minstrel, starting walking among the trees in a quick, sure pace, with Grannie skipping right behind her. Before managing to wonder how he was going to pass through the thicket, Finbar noticed a path left for him behind the two women. It was a fancy affair, glowing reddish-brown behind Mother, and dark gray behind Grannie. The two paths interlaced in a fantasy show, but when Finbar looked behind him, he saw it vanishing as he passed through.

After walking for some time, they arrived at a clearing, which was larger than any the Minstrel had seen in the forest. “Now,” said Mother as she stopped, “feel yourself at home, and we’ll see about dinner.”

Home? Finbar wondered. There was nothing there beside the forest’s undergrowth, which had been smoothed out for convenience. But there was not the slightest cover except branches from the surrounding trees, nor any sort of furniture except a couple of rocks protruding out of the ground, on which he supposed one could sit with not much comfort. It was not his idea of a “home” to come to after a day’s traveling or working.

“Oh, you look for your comfort, I see,” Mother said as she looked at the Minstrel, with a slight grin hovering on her full lips.

“Er – you know –” he expressed his embarrassment.

“Very well,” she said, lifting her arm. At once, a leafy roof covered their heads, and some comfortable chairs popped out of the ground, covered with rich padding. In place of the circle of stones to shield the fire, an elaborate fireplace appeared, with the fire already burning, and a stand over it for cooking. “Will that do?” she asked, laughing softly, sensuously.

This time he joined her laughter. “Magnificent, Mother. I salute you!” At her inviting motion he sat on a chair, stretched his legs in front and, feeling relaxed at last after the day’s troubles, closed his tired eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

When Finbar opened his eyes again, night had fallen. The only light illuminating the clearing came from the fire in the fireplace. Finbar could smell the aroma of cooking on it, stirring the saliva in his mouth and a gargling in his empty stomach.

“Hey, stranger,” he saw Nimmi standing and calling to him, “come and join us. And don’t worry, I won’t chase you again!” Her voice was as clear as gold and her laughter rolled as beads on a hard floor. He rose and approached the fire.

Mother, who was standing over it, “Dinner will be ready shortly, so why don’t you tell us something about you? We can’t go on call you stranger when you’re eating with us.”

“My name is Finbar,” said Finbar.

“Haven’t I heard about you somewhere?” croaked the old woman. Finbar could see that she appeared now more as a Grannie than Witch, finding it a little easier to talk to her. “You’re the Minstrel, aren’t you? That’s why Bear brought you to show you the forest, so you can tell some true stories about it!”

“About how you chased me and wanted to hunt and eat me?” retorted Finbar, softly.

“You can see, now, Grannie, how right I was!” Mother pointed out. “Can you imagine the tales his spirit would have spread around if you’d had your way!”

“Forget it now, Mother. What’s done, is done, and he is alive and well among us. Let’s eat and tell stories afterwards!” Mother conjured a table and some chairs around it, with crockery and cutlery to use for eating; but even before seeing it done, Finbar had an inkling what was going to happen to all of them after the meal. He was certain there would be no dishwashing that night. The meal, however, was delicious with its natural freshness, and the Minstrel thought he had not enjoyed himself so much for some time.

The women asked Finbar questions about his wandering and his tales, which he told them in a shortened versions, not needing to impress his audience. When the meal was over and nothing was left to eat on the table, Mother fulfilled Finbar’s expectation and made it disappear with a movement of her hand. “Why don’t you take our Minstrel to wash in the brook now, Nimmi,” she then suggested. “I’m sure he’d appreciate it after the events of the day,” Mother said.

Finbar rose, and the girl led him to a stream of water that ran at the edge of the clearing. Although the forest was darker than ever at night, a silver-gold glow emanating from the young creature meandered easily among the trees. A similar glow rested on the face of the water, flickering on the ripple like myriad stars. Nimmi stepped into the brook and sat in the water, her leafy cover dissolve off her body. Her bare skin shone greenish gold that almost blinded his eyes. “Come on and join me,” she called out to him.

Finbar shed his clothes, deciding it was ridiculous to be ashamed before such innocence. He stepped in a little carefully, for the stream’s bottom was covered with pebbles. Nimmi stretched her arm and tripped him, and he fell face down in the water right beside her. She started sprinkling him, caressing his body with her wet hands, and he felt and saw his arousal, unable to stop himself. She started playing with his body, and soon he found himself, willy-nilly, taking part in her game, thinking at the same time that she was a little young for that kind of play. She showed, though, no sign of being inexperienced, and soon they were involved together, bodies intertwined, caressing and nibbling and holding fast and then penetrating. It was an exhilarating game, and he came a few times in the course of what seemed to be a long interval. When they were spent at last, she stood up and pulled him to his feet. They came out of the water and instantly she was covered with those greenish gold leaves as before, while he put his clothes on his wet body.

The fire was glowing embers when they came back, not in the fireplace but in the center of a circle of stones; there was no sign for any of the furniture, and they lay on the ground, softened by vegetation and fallen leaves. There was also no sign of the other two women, and Nimmi whispered “Good night,” turned away and melted into the forest. The Minstrel lay on the ground and very soon was asleep, not thinking too much about the events of the day.

* * *

It was morning when he woke up, finding Mother standing over him, as if she was waking him up without a sound, by her gaze alone. He looked up at her, rose and stood in front of her. Her eyes shone greenish brown, and he said on an impulse, “They are like Bear’s eyes! Are you related?” She laughed softly and said, “Of course. He is my brother. I received a message from him about you. We’re never out of touch for long, you know.”

The Minstrel pondered on her words for a short while, looking around him as if expecting to see the creature breaking out from among the trees. Then his look fell on her body, not being sure at the change he had noticed. After a moment exclaimed, “Why, you’re pregnant!” being certain she hadn’t been, the night before.

Mother smiled, a glowing light saturating her face. “Of course, that’s what happens when you sleep with a woman.”

“But I slept with your daughter, not with you!” he cried out.

“It’s all the same,” she assured him.

“But how? Why?”

“It’s very simple,” she replied, swirling her regal dress. “You could not sleep with me because I am Mother, and Nimmi cannot get pregnant because she is too young. Do you see?”

“And you rear your children here, in the forest?”

“They belong in the forest, silly, all my children. I’ll have some little piglets from you, who will grow to be nice boars, perhaps with a bit of inspiration inherited from the Minstrel...”

Finbar, shocked silent, shook his head, there were no words for him to utter. “Here’s your sack,” she handed it over to him, “we’ve put a few things in it for you, so you’ll be well provided for for some time.”

“But how do I get out of the forest?” he asked, his voice getting hoarse again and he cleared his throat. “What direction should I take?”

“You take that path and it will get you out into the open. And don’t worry, we’ll always be with you, Minstrel.” As he was looking at her, she was fading, getting one with the forest which drew near around him, the clearing all but gone. But the path was there, dimly glowing in the dark atmosphere that suddenly descended among the trees. He could see nothing beyond the path itself, so he started in the direction Mother had shown him without looking left or right.

He could not tell how long it took him, but the walking was easy, and after a while he saw light shining in front of him. He quickened his pace and soon was out of the forest. It was early afternoon of a fine autumn day, the sun shining, sloping down the sky. The path continued to stretch before him and he continued to walk, humming to himself and thinking about the lovely Nimmi, the beautiful Mother, the horrible Witch Grannie and the kind Bear, who had taught him something about the forest.