It had been hours since she had seen a house, or even a sign of life. No one walked with her, no rider came by, no carriage. All was still around her, and the sun was high in the sky. She kept on her course, knowing the end of the journey was near. When she rounded the wide curve in the road and saw the lake, her heart thudded wildly in her chest. This was it.
She looked around her at the seemingly empty scene. The trees on her side were bare, as though it had been winter there for too long, and they had not been able to wake again from their long sleep. Across from her, though, the trees grew lush and green, and right to the water's edge. The dwelling she would make her sojourn in was there, within the cooling confines of those trees.
How to get there was now her greatest concern. Her work lay ahead, and many would be the challenges. This was but the first and, she suspected, the easiest of them. This was the gateway to her sojourn. She looked around her again, wishing she had the power of the Man-who-walked-on-water, or, at the very least, a bathing costume so she could swim across. She smiled at her thoughts, and rested the backpack against a dry tree. Maybe she could wash her hands and face while she figured out a way to get across.
A little breeze sprang up, kicking up her skirts as she walked toward the water's edge. It brought immense relief from the heat, and for reasons she could not have explained, she sat on the fallen trunk instead of kneeling, as she had planned, to wash her face and hands. A pair of beady black eyes appeared, watching her from the still water, and she shivered as she realized what the breeze had spared her.
The eyes kept watching her, and she sat perfectly still, waiting. There was nothing else for her to do. When it was time, she would receive the sign to do whatever it was she must do to get to where she belonged for now. The breeze kept up its cooling swirls, and when she looked again, the beady eyes were disappearing in a huff of bubbles. Another smile creased her cheeks. She felt lighthearted, although the day was growing older, and there was still no sign of help.
Perhaps she should eat the last of her meal, and try to rest her eyes. In the past, her eyes had been the first to weaken. Now seemed as good a time as any to give them some respite against the work ahead. Settling her back as best she could against the trunk of the other tree that made an L with the one she sat on, she closed her eyes, and let her thoughts flow free.
A whisper of sound did not disturb her rest. She felt safe, although she wondered who was moving around her. Perhaps, if she opened her eyes...
"Do not open your eyes, milady!" The whispered instruction teased its way into her ear. "We will take care of you!"
We? The whisper was numberless and genderless, and she could perceive no threat to her person or belongings. She kept her eyes closed, and though she felt as though she were being moved, she was not being allowed to see how or by whom. In her mind's eye, she saw again the lake, the trees, the brilliant light of midday. But she knew it was no longer bright outside the shutters of her eyelids. She felt the darkness, and the chirping of crickets, the whistling of a tree frog, and the singing of the stars, told her it was dark.
"We have arrived, milady!" the whisper said, as though she and it had been carrying on a conversation for hours. "Please open your eyes, and watch your step!"
She was not at all surprised to see that she was standing on a wooden landing, covered over by trees, and that on the other side, the dried-up trees stood lonely in the starlight. She had crossed over. A sound made her turn her head, and there it was, the little house she had known would be there. It stood back from the path, and a small light shone from its front window. And someone was moving away from it as she watched. Someone who needed her. Hoisting her backpack, she walked towards it, feeling the kick of anticipation in her heart. Her sojourn was beginning...
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