The Hatchling—1999
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XXXIII—It's In The Paint
"I'm grateful for a comfortable season," Arnica commented to Holly as they walked toward Merrydale.
"I am too. Did you see the new peony shoots? Candlemas just here and you can already see them hinting at Spring?" Holly loved the peonies.
"The gardens are a better herald of the waxing sunlight than the dozens and dozens of seed and garden catalogs." Arnica pulled a fresh sprig of borage from a bag slung from his shoulder and turned to Dark Star, "Here's another." An experiment this winter had proven successful. Arnica had been growing some borage in the greenhouse just for the hatchling. Dark Star walked leisurely along her humans, a woven basket of candles for the coming year's rituals hanging from her back. They walked along quietly, then Arnica mused, "It's a blessing that the weather for our gardens has been so temperate."
"Amber said she barely made it through the pass from the River Mountains." Holly's arm stretched out so his fingers could scratch Dark Star's ears. How content she was, padding along the road to Merrydale with her two humans. "All the snow seems to be falling east of the Red Mountains. It's as if the north wind Boreas lost his grip for a bit and the arctic cold has slipped loose." As they made their way, Holly adjusted the straps on the hatchling's carry-all bags. One of them held his 'Wicca basket' which contained their best ritual tools. "Do you think this is part of global warming? Or maybe the shrinking ozone?"
"I don't know," answered Arnica. "I can say with certainty that our Mother Earth is suffering greatly from the growing population and the destruction of her resources. We know so little about our planet and her weather that unfortunately, those in power are unlikely to believe it's time for a course of action until it's too late." Arnica gently stroked his greying beard. "But isn't it wonderful that our main topic of conversation is the weather?"
Life everywhere in the land seemed quiet since the passing of Bishop Miter. Miter had become a spokesperson for the Users, the right wing of the Politicos. The Politicos were pro-business, seeing forests and minerals as theirs to be exploited, frequently quoting from the Book of Doom, their religious book, about the earth being theirs to develop for the glory of their god. But greed and spiritual imbalance had taken their toll and their movement began to unravel following the death of an Earthkin man, Kalven, in Mill City. Events reached a climax when Miter, bishop of the Cathedral of Thorns was preaching "God will punish evil" and fell dead right during his sermon. At least for the present the Users were quiet.
Despite the earlier legislation passed in Parliament requiring an oath which was clearly sectarian favoring the Kristos' god and the recent inquiry instigated at Miter's request, the educational office in Mill City had quietly approved the corporate charter for Trillium School. The District of Merrydale had offered no opposition and the Merrydale Council, for the village, realized that the town would have not one school but two. Earlier fears of a loss of enrollment in the public system were quieted when the Merrydale principal spoke on their behalf.
The coven, having celebrated their Candlemas Eve at the Grove, enjoying their intimacy in Arnica and Holly's cabin, were looking forward to a Candlemas Day celebration being held at the school. At Arnica's suggestion it was 'by invitation only' limited to the new faculty, staff, students, their parents and the families of those directly involved. Despite the recent political calm, all were in agreement that keeping the ritual low key was wise. Some voiced the opinion at the last school meeting that they didn't want to have curiosity seekers or any radical member of the User party arriving to create a disruption.
At last everyone was gathered in the courtyard. Once again they were blessed with good weather, a benefit of being on the west side of the Red Mountains. Chairs from the classrooms had been brought in and the people formed a loosely-shaped circle around the new central fountain. And what a fountain!
Lotus, known for his skill as a wood carver, had tried his hand at sculpting with a mixture of cement and other substances. Lotus had created a beautiful fountain, about five feet across at the widest, shaped like a large scallop. In the center was a small jet of water, just enough to provide the sound of running water throughout the courtyard. Carlos had done the plumbing.
Arnica, the much loved elder of the local Renaissance Tribes, was the obvious choice to lead the blessing of Trillium School on Candlemas Day. As he walked to the center of the circle to stand next to the fountain, the small crowd burst into applause, laughter and cheering. Holly's eyes opened wide: why, Arnica actually blushed!
"Dear Ones, as the President of Trillium School's new Board of Directors, I welcome you." Arnica's voice brought quiet to the courtyard, "This is quite an occasion. We will begin the blessing of our school with this fountain. Lotus…" Arnica's voice was drowned out by the sound of bells. Each person had brought a small bell to ring and the joyful tinkling was to celebrate the craftsmanship of the wood carver. The sound filled the courtyard like a wave but quickly ebbed when Arnica raised his hand. "Thank you," he said. "and thank Lotus. It was his work which brought the fountain into manifestation." Arnica waved his hand in his friend's direction.
Lotus stood shyly with all the attention, then quickly sat down to the joyful clamor of bell ringing.
Arnica continued, "There is much magick in the air surrounding Trillium School. And there is much magick in the waters of this fountain. We have collected sacred and special waters from everywhere, all of us. Tomorrow, after Iris and Flying Raven finish their sunrise smudging of all the rooms, Carlos will begin painting. We chose a water base paint so that as he mixes the colors, some water from the fountain will be added to every bucket of paint. All of the magick we set in motion will become permanently bonded to the school." There was a murmur of pleasure at this wonderful idea. "And so, should anyone ask you why Trillium, the first Earthkin school in our country, seems to have so much magick, you know what you can say: It's in the paint!"
Laughter filled the room like the heady scent of a warm garden. Holly stood, beaming like a ray of spring sunshine. "Let me introduce our teachers for you. Our math teacher, Deodar Dolorum." Holly's eyes shone with a mischievous twinkle. "Also known as the former Kristos minister of the Church of the Martyr, now liberated as the Earthkin's first school principal."
Cheers and bell-ringing filled the room. Dolly stood at the fountain, pulling one small bottle after another from various pockets and emptying them into the fountain. "I collected water from my nomadic years as a missionary when I was young. I also thought about a bottle of holy water from the Church of the Martyr but thought better of it and emptied it into the Merrydale pond." A rustle of just a slight disappointment at the latter brushed through the room. "Next, your teacher of arts and music, Pearl Lamina."
"This is water my grandmother, Lady Ellhorn, sent from an artesian well near Cloverville." Pearl emptied a small bottle of water into the fountain. The gentle splashing could be heard throughout the courtyard. "And this is a small vial of water from the Passing ritual of my late partner, Phoenix." Finished pouring, she added, "And next, Flying Raven, who has moved here from the Mothervalley to become your science teacher."
Tall and a bit stately as she walked to the fountain, Flying Raven realized her natural stature might seem too imposing. As she drew a bottle from an inner pocket she quickly did a few silly dance steps which filled the courtyard with the laughter of adults and giggles of children. "Water from the Great River of the Mothervalley." Parents and students alike knew that Flying Raven would be a much loved teacher.
Amber was next. Already well-known in Merrydale from her years owning the Crystal Emporium, she had many small vials and little bottles of water of the most interesting shapes. "This is from our tribal collection. The Elder Mothers each sent some of the most sacred waters collected over many generations." The people were very proud that Amber, a daughter of the Loon Tribe, was moving back from the River Mountains. Everyone believed that the presence of a teacher from the Descendant Tribes would maintain a healthy balance. Amber would be the history and social studies teacher.
Holly was next. He carried a large, glass jug of water which Arnica, Holly and the coven had mixed last night at the Candlemas Eve ritual."Let's see, there's water from the Grotto of Our Lady from across the great sea in land of Bavaria from the magickal spring dedicated to Pan a millennium ago."
"And water from the many years of our collection," Arnica added. "For anyone who might not already know, Holly will be your language arts teacher."
"I like the water from the Great Chasm and from the Bear Valley we collected from the geysers," Holly added.
Gino's parents were next, Carlos and Rosetta. Rosetta, the new cook for Trillium School, spoke softly, "My mother brought this over from our homeland. This is from Astarte's Well near the ancient ruins of Italica." Carlos couldn't help himself. He reached into the water to check his plumbing work.
Representing the Board of Directors, Iris brought water. Lots of water. As postmarm, she had put out a call and had been receiving two or three parcels a week from all over the world, it seemed. Jewel and Lotus brought water which they carried up with their toddler Dagon, soon to be four years old. The water was from his Wiccaning.
Water was brought forth by many present. Wren and Robin sent water from the Highlands plus some they had gathered from their trip to the ocean with Arnica and Holly three years ago this coming summer. The Rhymer sent very precious water, gathered from the Realm of the Faerie. Echo sent lake water from the Red Mountain Plateau. As it trickled into the water below, the story teller's laughter seemed to take life in the fountain.
Many of the parents and new students brought water. There were the Croffy twins, who would be in the same grade. Last was a short, dark man named Shadow Tail, recently moved to Merrydale in order to begin studying the Earthkin ways from Arnica. Shadow Tail was a member of the Loon Tribe who lived in the Lower River Plain south of Amber's homeland. A quiet sort, some of Merrydale's residents had noticed curiously that the town squirrels behaved quite differently when Shadow Tail walked through the town square.
All the water added, Arnica asked that everyone bow their head in thanks. He offered a prayer to the Mother of the Earth and the Father of the Woodlands. At a nod of his head, Carlos flipped a switch and a stream of water rose up in the fountain's center to splash down, mixing all of the waters together along with the music of the chanting.
As everyone focused upon the wonder of it all, what should happen but Dark Star, trotting up from a corner of the courtyard. Gino, the youngest member of the coven, quickly ran up to her. The people, quite accustomed to seeing this small but very curious 'horse' were very amused. As Dark Star bent forward to drink from the fountain, the jet of water came splashing down, catching her head, horn and all. As Gino watched in shock, the young unicorn's horn became visible.
Gino pulled her back and looked in panic at Arnica. Reaching quickly into his pocket, Arnica grasped a handful of a magickal herbal dust he had prepared just in case of emergency. In a quick movement he spread it into the air, spoke a word no one could understand.
The room quickly filled with the sounds of awe and amazement as everyone began talking about seeing a horn quickly appear and disappear on the colt's head. With Trillium School's mascot having earlier been announced as a unicorn, Arnica's magick worked and everyone but those in the coven were certain that they had witnessed the most marvelous optical illusion created by the magick of the waters.
Arnica aspurged water to the four corners of the earth as people offered blessings and invocations. The final act of the ritual was to carry water to a bucket sitting upon Carlos' workbench which had been set up as a carpenter's 'altar' with his new tools.
"It will be in the paint!" Arnica said. Trillium School was filled with cheering and chanting and the ringing of bells. There was much joy in Merrydale this Candlemas Day.
XXXIV—Handfasting Plans
"Look at those wild plum blossoms! Aren't they something?" Holly, Arnica and Dark Star were walking in to Merrydale. The March sun bright, Dark Star's coat was sun warmed beneath Holly's hand.
"The forsythia that Pearl brought to Eostara Eve last night was certainly a joy, wasn't it?" Arnica wore one of his straw gardening hats. "Ours is about a week later than the forsythia in Merrydale. I buried my egg by the forsythia just below the blueberries, in case you weed there this year."
The coven celebrated Eostara Eve by decorating hard-boiled eggs and writing their desires for personal change and growth upon them. Holly, with his ability to 'hear' Dark Star in his mind, created an egg for her. But what a curious message it was. Something blue was what Holly interpreted it to be and the hatchling seemed to be content with that message. Holly wrote Dark Star's message and Arnica went with the young unicorn and buried it for her. The hatchling led the older man to a spot out in the stone Circle, just about where her egg first appeared. It was four years ago this Sabbat that Dark Star had hatched from the large egg, a very momentous occasion.
They walked along in thought, just the sound of Dark Star's hooves striking an occasional rock and the quiet sound of Arnica and Holly's soft shoes.
"Did you see the look on his face?" asked Holly.
Arnica knew his partner was remembering the District Inspector's tour of Trillium School. It was quite an event. "I don't know what he was expecting…"
"A cauldron…" Holly said, laughing. Even Dark Star snorted at that one, turning her head toward her humans as they walked along the road into the town.
"It certainly wasn't what he was expecting. Carlos has worked so hard, even the kitchen was approved. How amazing to get the permits and pass inspection in but a matter of months!" Arnica knew it was a culmination of hard work, commitment and magick.
And Holly, knowing just what his love was thinking remembered how they consecrated the paint for the school building with sacred waters at their Candlemas Ritual. "It's in the paint!" he laughed.
The murmur of voices in the school's courtyard echoed the sound of water in the fountain, ornamented with laughter and the melody of people exchanging pleasantries and sharing news. Dark Star found a quiet corner. Even within the sacred space of an Earthkin school Arnica and Holly didn't want anyone outside the coven recognizing Dark Star as a unicorn. Life was safer with everyone thinking her a pony, even if she was the most amazing little colt ever seen, and there was still some talk about the 'image' of a unicorn's horn appearing last Candlemas. Fortunately, the idea of it being 'group imagination' woven out of enthusiasm for a unicorn being the school mascot was a most satisfying explanation.
Someone rang a bell. The sound cut through the festivity leaving a quiet in its path gently coddled with the soft splashing of the fountain. Arnica, the elder of the Earthkin community, went to a small dais. He thanked everyone for joining them. There was much applause. He shared the events when Trillium School passed its inspection. There was more applause and considerable laughter. Then Arnica called upon Lotus, the coven's wood worker. It was Lotus who created the fountain.
Lotus brought forth the egg which would serve as the time capsule. It was beautiful, a large egg over a foot tall carved from two pieces of madrone. There were madrone trees growing in a few magickal places. A large branch of the oldest of the Arbutus had been felled in a storm. Local Earthkin often called it the Mother Tree and the crew cleaning up after the storm brought the largest segments of the branch to Lotus in whose hands they knew the wood would continue to
have a long life.
Holding the two halves the egg, Arnica placed a small collection of papers and items into the hollowed out madrone which would serve as a time capsule for Trillium School. There were copies of the deed and the front page of the newspaper. Only the coven knew the time capsule also contained magickal script designed to protect the school, written upon a piece of ancient parchment and tied into a scroll with seven braided hairs from Dark Star's tail. The hatchling was very happy with these events. She had seen her humans work through some harrowing politics before reaching this day. All of Merrydale was buzzing with excitement over the new school. Not even the more self-righteous Politicos could avoid the contagious pride. Trillium School was the first Earthkin school ever chartered by the government. Dark Star knew that her presence was part of this magick, for that is why unicorns come to earth. She was able to sit quietly with her young friend Gino, knowing that treats were waiting for her as soon as the parents and children finished the ceremony and celebration.
Although it took longer than they hoped, eventually the Earthkin of Merrydale left for their homes, their hopes and dreams for the next generations vigorous on this special day. A few town officials had come as well, including the mayor. Despite an attempt by some of the Users, the right wing faction of the Politicos, to describe Trillium School as subversive and evil, all of Merrydale saw this as a great asset which enhanced their town's esteem.
The coven and a few staff and close friends sat about. The unofficial board of directors and trustees of the school, they were the mainstay of the local Earthkin and had worked the hardest.
Deodar Dolorum sat on the floor playing with Dagon, Jewel and Lotus' toddler. Iris looked over at her lover and smiled. He was so good with children. How she looked forward to her handfasting with Dolly at the next Sabbat.
"Jewel," Iris said, "how old will Dagon be?"
"Four just after Beltane," Jewel answered.
"Could he scatter the flower petals for the Handfasting?" Iris asked.
Dagon stopped playing with his 'Uncle Dolly' and answered, "yes, I can." Terribly precocious, ever since Dagon had slipped into the Realm of the Faerie at Midsummer three years ago he was wise well beyond his years.
"That reminds me," Pearl called across the staff and teacher's lounge to Iris. "Lady Ellhorn asked if you would like to wear her wedding dress. It's 75 years old and was hand-beaded by the last Elvenkin Priestess who had emigrated from the Otherlands."
Iris was visibly moved. Although known for being strong-willed and forthright, the postmarm had to collect herself and wipe a few tears with fingers. "Dearest Pearl! Your grandmother's wedding dress? Oh, what an honor. Do you think it would fit?"
"My eye says it's so close only minor adjustments would be needed." Pearl's reputation with the needle was well-known.
"Something borrowed…" Holly sang out.
"I still need something blue," mused Iris.
"What about Dark Star as a ring bearer," offered Arnica.
"That's perfect. Oh, I'm so excited." Iris and Dolly were a wonderful couple.
Arnica stood up. Raising a glass of grape juice he and Holly had canned last autumn, his voice charged the room with energy. "My friends, an Equinox toast." Arnica looked about the room. "Holly, where's Dark Star?"
Just then the hatchling walked in, a yellow daffodil in her mouth. She trotted over to the elderly herbalist and raised her head high, joining in with the toast. They all knew she preferred borage blossoms but the surprise daffodils which had appeared in the courtyard were a gift to them all from previous tenants of the building which was now Trillium School.
"We have done well. On Monday the home schooling class will begin here." Arnica's eyes sparkled toward Pearl.
The Pictish woman, slight of build, raised her glass. "Gino helped me finish moving my books on Thursday. I'll be happier when the other teachers have students in their rooms but I'm so very honored to be the first."
Gino raised his glass. How proud he was to be the very first student. He had worked so hard with his magickal training and was doing well with the home schooling. Gino felt he could have much better grades this fall when school started for good.
Deodar got to his feet. "The plans are nearly set. Parents were told they can begin enrolling their children for the summer session. This will give us an opportunity to make everything work. We'll have just enough students for all five of us to get our educational programs in gear."
Dolly looked toward Gino's mother as Rosetta raised her hand. Still a bit shy, the dark-haired woman looked first toward Iris and then Deodar. "If the two of you would accept it, I would like to prepare the feast for your Handfasting. Several of the mothers approached me about this. It's something we would like to do to honor you both." Dolly and Iris looked at each other. It was such an offer, they didn't know what to say. Seeing their hesitation, Rosetta added with enough hope in her voice, "It would allow me to give the new kitchen a test run."
Gino was caught by surprise. "Mom," he said, "that's really neat!" Everyone laughed.
Soon it was time to close up the school and head home. There was the usual teasing of the engaged couple, asking them how ever they could wait past Beltane Eve. Iris was able to kid them back. Only the twinkle in her eye let them know she loved the teasing. But Deodar! Dolly blushed so bright. Sometimes his old Kristos' background left him at a loss with his new freedom.
Everyone hugged everyone else. Dark Star gave Gino a big wet lick across his face. Arnica and Holly took the hatchling and headed out into the woodland as the others turned toward their homes. Spring had arrived in Merrydale.
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