Unhear , undo and unsee

The sky was grey , a sheet of clouds hovered above like an widow's blanket . Strong winds blew from the West and carried the stronger scent of the forest into the orphanage . 

It was the scent of dead leaves , dry trees , sour soil and something beyond human definition . Despite it's gloomy outlook , today was a special day ; All saints day . 

It's much awaited arrival brought a sense of mild joy to those in the orphanage . On this day , before Hallowmas , children could go out to Yellow Cove and if they were permitted , buy anything they desired . 

This 'anything' of course had to be something that wouldn't blasphemy , lead a soul astray or breed unwanted behavior . Least to say , most objects picked were returned and boys would have to choose again . 

But this day was different for one boy ; Henric . After eighteen years of being trapped in the orphanage , he was permitted to join the other boys on the journey to Yellow Cove for Hallowmas . Sister Cali had granted him permission to join in outings before she left and Henric sent a prayer of thanks when he heard about it . 

He had spent the previous day preparing . His clothes were immaculate , he was as clean as a rock in a crystal stream and his hair could have been called a cloud dark black wheat . But other preparation was needed . 

He had spent two hours with Sister Irene in the infirmary , leaving when she had a patient and coming back after the said patient left . He had a good reason for coming to her ; he lacked outside experience , having never been more than ten yards from the main building . 

Sister Irene loved his flushed face as she told him about the dirty does and donts of society . The boy was so inept when it came to these things , she had decided to start on hard matters first , skipping the basics . 

" Alright , first question ; Do you know how to kiss ? " She asked him and his face turned to the color of the Cook's tomatoes . 

" I'm taking your face as a sorry no ." She said with a wicked smile and Henric tried to speak .

" Is it required of me ? " he asked and she laughed . 

" Well if you meet a lady it will be . You'll need to know how to kiss her hand when she presents it . " Irene said ," Just a light brush on the back of the hand and you're done . " 

" I ... I believe I can manage . " Henric said and Sister Irene nodded her head . Unfortunately her next question knocked the wind from Henric's lungs . 

" You'll pick some condoms if you meet anyone you fancy right ? " She asked and Henric swallowed his tongue and mouth . How could a Sister ask such a question ! 

But Sister Irene had a worldly way about her and that's what Henric needed . He would just have to answer her questions and gain some insight of the world outside . 

" No , I believe the Sisters with us will keep a tight reign on us . " Henric said but Irene laughed . 

" Tight reign ? You honestly think they'll be the same once they leave these walls ? " She asked him ," Henric , you'll be surprised by what people can do when placed from a prison even for just a few hours." 

" Prison ? What prison would that be ? " He asked and they looked at each other. They both knew what she meant . 

" Well , if you're going , atleast be careful of harlots and lecherous girls . You know they have been the downfall of many a good men. " She said and he nodded his head . He had no real interest in such things and would just enjoy the sights and sounds of the place . 

.....

" Now , we are about to arrive and I want everyone ," Sister Becca looked pointedly at Henric , the new outcomer ," to be at their best behavior . Our orphanage has a reputation to uphold and anyone , I say again , anyone found of sinful or wrong conduct will be placed in the bus , spend the duration in here until we return and then be punished severely . Am I understood ? " 

" Yes , Sister Becca ." The boys all said in unison . 

The day was light clouded with a white pale mid-afternoon sun hanging above . The boys sat inside of an old grey bus that had transported the boys to Yellow Cove for nearly seventy years . 

Around the bus were lines of trees , covering everything around them from sight . Chestnuts , maple and oaks that had been around as long as Pearl orphanage and some even longer . The boys glanced outside the bus , hoping to catch a glimpse of Yellow Cove as they arrived . 

Henric sat by a window looking out at the trees , his heart pummeling his nerves with anxiety . This was it , he thought , I will get to see a bit of the outside world . 

" Henric , are you alright ? You've been ever so quiet . " Stuart said next to him.

" His head's going to roll when he arrives , I bet . " Link said next to Stuart , they were sitting in the long back row . 

" Not a nice thing to say , Link . You know it's always frightening to be out of the orphanage at first . " Stuart said looking at Link who shrugged his shoulders . 

" I am a bit tense , I confess . This is something I have never thought would happen until my final year . " Henric said to them ," I'm worried I might make a social offence and shame us all ." 

" Then we'll stay with you , make sure nothing goes wrong ." Stuart suggested with a small smile but Link scowled . 

" I see no reason for us to tend to him as if he's a babe . Eighteen years and smart enough in classes , he needs no help from us . " Link said tensively ," Besides , what could saint Henric here do to cause offence ? Forget to greet an old lady ? " 

" Link that's a tad harsh , " Stuart said looking at Henric ," Henric is human and prone to error like all of us . " 

" He hasn't errored much . " Link put in but before Stuart could say anything the bus cleared the trees and landed on a gravel road . 

The boys in the bus grew full of excitement , looking ahead as they saw a tall building above the trees . 

" What is that ? " Henric asked . 

" It's the Yellow Cove Bell tower . Rung in crises , town meetings and to mark the hours . " Stuart said looking at it . 

" Does the town have its own chapel too ? " Henric asked and Stuart looked around to see if any Sister was listening . None paid them a glance , most of them focused on the Bell tower.

" Well , yes . It's not of our domain though . The Church chapel placed there , got burnt to the ground nearly sixty years ago . " Stuart said looking at the tower ," The new one was built by the townsfolk . The Church didn't recognize it though and when it tried to build another one ... " 

" What happened ? " asked Henric but Stuart looked down at his hands . He didn't like this part of Yellow Cove's history. 

" They burnt them . " Link answered solemnly ," They burnt the builders on stakes and tore the building down . They used the wood and timber for the chapel as fuel ." 

Henric looked aghast at such a tale , he turned to the tower once more . With this new information his feelings for the town ahead had shifted . Now a new feeling flowed Inside him with his anxiety ... it was apprehension .

....

Serena Fox looked at her shop and sighed heavily with a feeling one step behind despair . Her shop / home brought nothing but a sinking feeling of misery to her . It was a bitter reminder to the unprogressive failure of her life desires .

Not that it was a bad place though , it was wide , clean and had good decor , she had seen to that . But it had many holes ; a hole in the rafters that , when it rained or when the wind blew , created a noise like thunder and drove her insane when she slept , there was a hole in the far back corner where rats came in and , on bad nights , nibbled her toes when she lay still for too long and , not to mention , the biggest hole of all ; lack of equity . Customers came in her dreams whilst the shop door stayed closed for weeks on end .

How did she end up here ? 

She had been born into a moderate family in Virginia but unfortunately moderate didn't mean nice . Her father had been a dotting parent when people were around but in secret he had been a pained and bitter man , why ? 

Because of his wife . 

Serena's mother had been born from an octoroon who had died in their town . She had been beautiful , youthful and alluring but only one man got her and that was her father . But there were things nobody knew about Serena's mother that only came out after she married him . 

One day Serena had been walking behind their house where an orchard had been and saw her mother placing a ring of wild flowers under a tree . When she had asked her mother what she was doing , the older but still beautiful woman had said simply ; " witchcraft " . 

And that too with a smile . 

Serena's mother had been raised by negro slaves who had brought with them mystical rituals and practices that they passed on to her mother . It was no surprise that Serena's mertenal grandmother had also been a witch.

That evening she had told her father she wanted to become a witch too like her mother . The man had turned as pale as milk spilled on a white sheet. Serena hadn't known that her father didn't know what his wife did and hearing it from his daughter was a stab through the heart . 

Little to say from then on , their home had been filled with an under tension of disdain from her mother and contempt from her father . And rage aswell as mounting dislike .They stopped sleeping together , they stopped touching each other and eventually they just stopped living together .

Literally. 

Because on her sixteenth birthday Serena had been sent into town with her brother to buy some treats . When they came home , the house had been on fire , their parents were trapped and nobody could save them . 

Serena had been taken by her grandmother , a sweet old woman who clearly didn't understand how raising children worked anymore . Serena had grown bored of the constraints placed on her and had planned to flee the mundane place when the opportunity arose . 

The opportunity had come in the form of Gerald Fox , a gentleman from West county and Luna goddess was he handsome ! 

She had placed a rose in her hair and chanted an incantation her mother had taught her ( yes , she still learnt witchcraft from her mother . It had been her desire afterall .)It was for an alluring spell , to draw the heart of whoever someone wanted and she worked it on Gerald everytime she saw him in town . 

After a week , he popped up at their house and begged to marry her . Serena claimed it was her spell but her brother had told her she was beautiful on her own , no magic needed . 

Their grandmother had been stunned but after talking to him and learning about his reasonable wealth , she sent her granddaughter with the man after their marriage . Serena had kissed the old woman's rinkly cheek and waved her brother goodbye as they left with carriage to his home town of Yellow Cove . 

Little did she know that she had just married the most unfaithful man on the planet . 

Two weeks into their marriage , she had found her husband holding another woman behind their house . The woman had been nearly fifty from her guess and she hadn't known what was more vile ; her husband's infidelity or the lecherous nature of a woman old enough to be her husband's mother . 

She had expected an apology and for him to be remorseful but the bastard had instead asked if she could sleep in the guest room whilst he had ' fun ' with his lady friend . Serena had wanted to kill him ! 

But slowly she got used to it , after countless affairs , she realized something . Or rather two things ; one , her husband had no restraint when it came to his lust and two , she had not loved him to begin with . His handsomeness aside , Gerald was boring to her , he had no interest in her dark arts and thought it a joke . 

She had decided to find a place of her own , Gerald and her didn't sleep in the same bed after he slept with that old lady . Serena had bought a small shop with Gerald's money , he owed her that much , and turned it into a mystical medicine shop . 

She used many plants and potions her mother had taught her to make medication and healing pastes . Light magic and herbalism , she had said to Gerald , there'll be money pouring soon , you mark my words . 

But sadly , people in this town didn't want ' medicine ' given by a ' witch ' . The cruel irony was not lost on her , her desires had left her nothing but a dingy shop filled with potions and medicine that very few people dared to use . 

Maybe I outta cook up a sleeping potion , she thought glumly , lay down on the floor and let the rats feast on me . That might get someone to come to her shop . Then she realized that they'd only come when her body started to smell . She'd need to be awake and screaming bloody murder to get someone's attention out there . 

" A mystic shop , this deserves a peek ." A voice outside the door said and Serena straightened . 

Customers ! Serena thought excitedly , It's 'bout time ! 

She placed her hair back , looked at her reflection in the looking glass next to her and nodded her head . She put on a bright smile as the door opened and three young men walked inside . 

But when she saw the crucifixes on their necks and the clothes they wore her smiled vanished . 

She wished she had taken the sleeping potion then and sat right by the hole in the corner . Atleast the rats would have been better than the end she saw coming her way .

....

Link walked ahead of the boys as they entered the shop . Stuart was behind him and he knew he was scared witless . That's one reason he had wanted to go in the shop , to show his lover that he wasn't afraid . 

But Lord Almighty , this place was appalling . There were shelves with jars , boxes and strange plants tied with string into odd shapes . The place had no lightbulbs and only the light from the windows next to the door showed what was inside . 

Darkly bizarre , Link thought looking around and he wasn't alone in his assessment . 

Stuart looked around the place in a mild state of terror . What had Link desired that they should come into this horrid place ? He wondered , he was afraid a witch would manifest with demon hounds howling and claim their souls . Why had he not argued harder to not go into this place , oh how he wished to leave ! 

Henric , however , was not thinking like the other two boys . Truth be told , he was actually excited about the shop but his face didn't show it . He was keeping his face passive because being excited for entering a magic shop would not sit well with his friends and definitely would not sit well with the sisters . 

Yellow Cove had not disappointed him though . The place was humongous and the people he had seen had been interesting . Men dressed in fine suits and others in tattered clothing like the poor he read off . He had seen children walking with parents and dogs digging through discarded bins . It was his first time seeing a dogs . 

He had looked around cautiously though . Searching to see if the people in the town would rush up and try to harm them . No one had done that though and he had been sent off , along with Link and Stuart . 

They had walked a few streets with him staying close fearing getting lost in the madness of vehicles on the road and/or crushed by them . After a while Link had stopped by this mystic shop and suggested they go inside . Stuart had readily disagreed and looked at Henric imploringly but Henric had consented . He had wanted to see all the mystical and mysterious things the shop had to offer . 

" Please ." A voice snapped him back to the present . 

A tall light brown woman in a green and brown dress was standing behind a counter looking at them . Or rather pleading with them since her arms were placed in a gesture of pleading . 

" Please , don't burn me . I have a husband , he would be devastated if I died . Please , don't kill me , I beg you , please ." Serena said looking at them .

Henric looked at her in bafflement . What was she talking about ? 

" No burning , none today , Miss ." Stuart said giving her a small sad smile ," We're just passing through . We'll be out of your hair now . It's alright ." 

" How do I know there ain't a mob ready to kill me as soon as you walk out the door ? " Serena asked them ," You go out , call your friends , they drag me into the street and light my clothes on fire . Or worse , you'll drag me to the nearest tree and hang me to dry like a slaughtered goat ." 

" It's alright . There's no burning , we're on Hallowmas not a witch hunt . " Link said looking around ," Thought there'd be something to see in here but if it's such a bother , then out we'll go . " 

" What is this ? " Henric said stepping up between them. " Why do you speak of burning and hanging this woman ?" 

" We're not . That's her thinking . " Link said frowning at him but Henric returned the look . 

" Why do you say ' not today ' instead of saying ' not ever ' ? " Henric asked them ," Would you really burn her ? Have you lost all your senses ? " 

" Henric , it's just a bit of chatter . Nothing to think about ." Stuart said quickly ," I believe it's time to leave . We've been here long enough ." 

" No, we shall not leave until you explain why you don't tell this woman that burning someone is murder and we would never do that ." Henric said and a guffaw sounded from the counter . 

Serena placed a hand on her mouth as if she had burped in public . She knew laughing at them would be a mistake that could cost her her life but she just couldn't help it . The one with dark brown hair seemed oblivious ,so much so that it was actually comical watching his face riddled with confusion . 

" I beg your pardon , please . " She said looking at Henric fearfully as if he would cut her for laughing at him . 

" Tis fine . No offense taken , I assure you ." He said and gave her a small curved smile. Serena tilted her head and felt herself get confused . What was going on ? Why would a Pearl boy smile at her of all people ? 

" Henric , I sincerely believe our departure is long over due ." Link said turning around ," Wouldn't want Sister Becca to start hounding us , so let's be off then . "

" But answer me first . Why would you burn her ? " Henric asked them .Stuart and Link looked at each other before looking at Henric . 

" Because ... She's a witch . " Link said folding his arms ," Witches are burnt , have you not read of Joan of Arc ? " 

" How do you know this woman is a witch anymore than the mob who burnt Joan ? " Henric said ," I've always speculated on that . "

" Henric please. We can explain another time , outside of here . " Stuart said looking around the dark shadows as if a horrible creature would come and feed of them .

" Fine , another time then . " Henric said and he looked around the shop . " But do you not think we should buy something ? " 

" What ?! " The other three people in the shop said . 

Serena's eye's were wide as she heard what the man said . They wanted to buy from her shop ? It was a trick , she thought , it just had to be a trick . 

" Henric , the Sisters will not approve or allow us to take anything from here ." Link said ," And why would we ? This is a symbol of darkness in the world . Witchcraft and black magic . Surely you know about that ? "

" No , this isn't black magic or witchcraft . " Henric said taking a curled ring of a golden flower with roots on it . " It's Wicca ." 

" Wicca ? What's that ? " Link asked and Henric gave a mental smile . 

" Wicca is using nature to assist in the healing of the body . It's a female type of herbalism founded in the early sixteen hundreds ." He explained and his two friends frowned. Was that true ? 

" Truly there is no magic associated with Wicca . I see no demon idols or evil spell book, do you ? But if you still fear , then take something of little significance . Such as these ." 

He held out two rocks ,one luscious yellow gold and the other a bright ocean green . " I doubt these stones contain an evil entity . I'll place them on my cross just to show you and banish any if they are there . " Henric said rubbing the stones on the crucifix around his neck and presenting it to them ," There , demons and any sinful spirits are removed . You may take them , I doubt the Sisters will say anything for taking two colourful pebbles . " 

Link and Stuart hesitated , unsure of what he was says . True the sisters would do nothing if they took the rocks but how was Henric sure the woman wasn't a witch? What if they were inviting trouble onto themselves ? 

" Miss , " Link said looking at Serena " What do these stones do ? What are they for ? " 

" They ... They cleanse the heart by bringing a sense of peace - when you gaze upon the colours . They're lovely ain't they ? " Serena's eye's sparkled with mirth . 

" Well ... Then I'll take it . It'd be good to get some peace even if I doubt this will work ." Link said taking the yellow rock and Stuart took the other one . 

" I do like the colors . " Stuart said looking at the rock in his hand , it was smooth and cool on his palm . 

" Then we'll have them . Thank you Miss and I apologise again for the burning issue. " Henric said to Serena and the woman nodded her head . I should be thanking you , she was thinking , for getting me customers and a great laugh for later . 

" Well let's be off then . " Henric said and Stuart turned around in a flash. Finally ! He thought stepping out from the door and Link smiled fondly at his back . 

As soon as they left Serena almost crumpled to the floor in relief but then the door opened again . Serena looked up to see the boy who had probably saved her life . 

" I'm sorry , I forgot to get something for myself . " Henric said looking around ," Do you have any wiscos root ? Or chinaroroomiun ? It's great for luring fay . " 

" Yes- hold it ! Fay ? I'm just a - " 

" I believe you should give me more credit than that . I know you're a witch ,I saw the pentagram on the back corner , that's what gave me the idea for calling you Wiccan . " Henric said smiling ," I'm not here to put anything upon you , much less my judgment . I came to purchase something . " 

" Well ,color me a dingo and stick me with a tail . You knew what I was but let your friends take those stones ? " Serena asked him and Henric frowned .

" Were they cursed ? " He asked her and she smiled wickedly . 

" Not exactly but I'd keep my eye on them from now own . Any shenanigans could get them into alot of trouble . " She said ," Since you know I'm a witch , what do you want to buy ? Something to lure the ladies ? Make you strong as five men ? " 

" No , I'd like something simple . No heavy enchament. " He said and Serena tisked her tongue . 

" Like what ? " She asked him . 

" How about a rock for now . Anything before my friends start wondering what is taking me so long ." He said and Serena pouted her lips and turned around . 

Well a rock he wanted and a rock he would get , She thought , rummaging through some boxes . She found what she was looking for and laid it on the counter table . It was a round rock , no larger than a marble . It was a forest green and had a string attached to it . 

" What is it ? " He asked . 

" Well , it's meant to help you find lost things or see hidden things . I forget which it is , but here you go . " She offered it to him and Henric took it and then - he rubbed his crucifix on it . 

" Oh , you were serious . " Serena said with scowl ," Well ,you got your goods . Which reminds me , where is my payment ? You all didn't pay me . " 

" Oh , we have no money . " Henric said and Serena almost collapsed . 

" What ? " She asked him , 

" I hear that last time the other brothers were given money they spent it recklessly and so we are given no money . " He said . 

" So who is going to pay me ? Or all you just taking my goods like thieves? " She asked him . 

" No , you will receive your payment. " Henric said," You merely have to come to the orphanage and collect it . With the other shop owners , on the morrow ." 

" Go to .... Pearl orphanage ? " Serena asked Henric nodded . 

" Yes , I'll be off now . Thank you ." Henric said and he turned to leave but paused at the door," About the Wiccan story ... I do not think you should say that at the orphanage . Rather say you are a spiritual herbalist . Or you might get into trouble along with us ."

Henric then opened the door and left the shop .Serana crumpled as soon as the door shut . 

I should go over to the courthouse and sign my death certificate now , she thought, before I go and get burnt on a pyre .