Chapter 1
It was early in the morning way before dawn when Idris shot bolt upright in her bed. Another nightmare. Ever since her mother passed away, she has never been able to sleep well. She always had fits and sometimes her father Albert's snoring kept her up. Deeming it useless trying to get back to sleep, she donned her pants and belt, strapped her various knives and put on her boots. She picked up her bow and arrows and headed for the forest to hunt. Hunting was definitely one of the activities that made the villagers ostracize her as it was unladylike to yield weapons. She snorted at the thought. "Unladylike? I don't have time to comb my hair or money for making dresses," she muttered. After all she quit enjoyed hunting. It was peaceful in the forest , plants and birds can't glare at her scornfully. She was pretty good with weapons and she was stronger than she looked as a result of strenuous work.
When she got to the forest she took a long deep breath of the damp earth and air. She gave a huge sigh as the tension and stress left her body and her senses kicked in. She stood still for a moment until she heard it. Soft hooves hitting the damp ground. Crouching low behind a shrubbery she placed her arrow on the nock , pulled it back and aligned it with her line of vision. In a few seconds an antelope skitted into the small clearing right in front of the shrubbery she was behind. Right when the animal bent it's head to chomp on grass she released the arrow and it went right between the animals eyes. Mentally patting herself on the back ,she hoisted it on her shoulders and carried it home.
By the time morning rolled in, she had skinned the antelope and hung the meat to dry so she could sell them at the market later. She proceeded to smoothen the hide for a shawl for cold nights. In the afternoon, she the market. As soon as she set foot in the market whispers started. "Oh look it's the witch!" "What is she wearing? How dreadfully indecent!" "Has she ever taken a bath? Good gracious!"
She was pretty used to the insults so she just ignored them and went to find Ranch the butcher. The only person in the village who would trade with her without calling her names. Value was his only concern and money was his language. Unsurprising,Idris was the major supplier of meat die to her good hunting skills, this the lads her peers despised her because unlike them she was unafraid to venture the forest.
After acquiring her coin, she bought some bread, milk, eggs and sugar to last a few days and headed home.
Her father had already left the house for the bar as usual. Idris couldn't recall the last time she saw him sober ever since her mother died. It's like the pain was too much for him. He acted like he lost his daughter too, he blamed her for the death of his beloved. Idris missed her mother dearly as she was forced to cater for herself since she couldn't depend on her father. Staring through the window at her mother's grave, she recalled the words she usually told her when she was feeling down. "My darling, when you're down lower than you ever have, remember you're Idris. Idris means power and elegance."
Feeling sweaty and dirty, Idris decided to go for a soak in the lagoon. It was further away from the stream but she preferred it as she mostly had it to herself. She stripped and dove into the water. She washed her hair twice and gave herself a good scrub and was now just floating about the water. That was until she heard footsteps approaching. The chief's twin sons Brad and Harry appeared with their friend. "I heard there'll be traders coming from the Ivy kingdom. Father says the people are strange looking and they practice witchery," Harry said. " There's no such thing as witches Harry, I just want to see their magnificent horses." Countered the friend.
Idris was frozen right where she was, she couldn't sneak out of the water as the were standing right next to the bush that held her clothes. She felt utterly defenseless as her knife was inside her boot. "What is that? Are those clothes? Is someone here?" Asked Brad. He lifted up the clothes inspecting them when Harry exclaimed,"oh! They're the weirdo's clothes. That girl from the cottage. She must have been taking a bath. Helloooo! We know you're here show yourself. Hey, we can have some fun you know. I can show you what a real man can do!" Brad and his friend snickered loudly. Idris dove under water to avoid being seen but her long hair was floating above a shimmering in the sun.
A pair of strong arms scooped her out of the water and threw her on the ground. "Hiding from us? Huh little rat?" Brad wacked her hard across the face. Trying her best to cover herself, Idris immediately crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh no need for hiding little rat, we're gonna have so much fun with you. We're gonna teach you how to be a woman!" Their friend said as they started undressing. A cold shiver run up Idris' spine as it dawned on her what they intended to do. She was no weakling though, she forced her mind to calm down as she tried to think of a way to get out of her predicament. There was only one way out, fight. She wished she could only teach her boots for her knife as she gazed where her boots had fallen.
When one of the boys smacked her bare ass, white hot anger flowed through her. With a force battle cry she forgot all of her dignity and jumped to her feet headbutting Brad in the process, who staggered back a few steps. Harry lunged for her but it was as if he was going in slow motion, she saw the fist before it came and easily dodged it landing one of her own on the side of his face. His head whipped to the side from the force of her punch but their friend had joined in and held her hands behind her back at a painful angle. "You stupid bitch! You'll pay for that." Harry yelled. With her hands held tightly behind her, she could defend herself further. As Harry three a fist, she instinctively ducked her head and it ended up hitting the other boy square in the face. He plopped down on the ground passed out. Taking advantage of that momentary distraction, she scooped her clothes and boots and bolted away from them. She knew there would be hell to pay later but at least she was safe for now.
Plopping down on the chairs behind her house she went to work sharpening her knives and applying poison from herbs she had earlier collected to her arrows. When she was done she spent a long time staring at the moon thinking of what life would be like in another place if she left the village. Even though nobody had ever left the village, Idris knew there was no life for her there. Her father wouldn't miss her anyway.