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Saffron devoured her book before her mother returned home with her rowdy brother and sisters in tow. Feeling on cloud nine at the heart-warming story she’d just read, Saffron couldn’t wait for the next supply trip so she could continue with the next book in the series.
“How was your day?” Anna asked later on, as Saffron helped her prepare a beef stew.
“Fantastic, Mama! Thank you so much for getting me onto the supply trip. I can’t wait for the next one.”
Anna gave her a small smile but said nothing else on the matter.
Saffron hummed to herself as she stirred the massive pot of meat and vegetables, lost in daydreams of young love and optimism. After she had eaten and helped her mother clean up, Saffron returned to her bedroom and began to read her book all over again. She read until her eyelids became too heavy to keep open.
Falling into a deep sleep, Saffron soon found herself lost in a world of darkness...
Saffron tiptoed through the forest. An eerie silence enveloped her, pulling her into the shadows of the ancient trees. Nothing moved. Not even a leaf stirred in the dense woods surrounding her. The only movement was from her, and as quiet as she may be, being in such deathly silence meant any movement screamed as loud as a wailing banshee.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. A chill covered her body, making her shudder violently. Saffron stopped dead in her tracks. Every sense heightened twenty levels. As she slowly surveyed the black world around her, trying in vain to see anything that might be out of place, a gust of wind burst through the trees, shaking their branches.
“Safffronnnnnn.....”
She froze. The wind blew harder, knocking her into the tree behind her. Her shoulder crunched against the rough bark, a jolt of pain shooting through her bones.
“Saffffffronnnn.....”
Whirling around, her eyes wide with fear, Saffron could see nothing. Nothing but darkness. Not even a sliver of moonlight penetrated the thick canopy of treetops all around her. Putting her hands out in front of her, Saffron tentatively felt her way forwards, one step at a time.
A flicker of candlelight lit up in the middle of the abyss, not more than a few metres away. Saffron stifled a cry of joy and rushed towards it, still feeling her way with her hands. Several feet away, the wind died down, replaced instead by a gentle warm breeze that came in steady drafts.
Saffron revelled in the heat cloaking her, momentarily closing her eyes in a brief moment of pleasure. When she opened them, the candlelight was no more than an arm’s length away. Not giving any thought to what the light could be, or how it was suspended in mid-air, Saffron blindly made a grab for it.
When her hands settled around the thick wax candle, Saffron dared to whisper, “Yes!” in victory. But as she tugged it towards her, it did not move. Saffron pulled harder, wanting the heat giving light closer to her. The candle did not move.
Warm puffs of air blew on her face, billowing her hair out behind her shoulders in a sunshine yellow stream. Her eyes watering from the pressure, Saffron moved her face, trying to find some relief from the air pressure. She tilted her face up and became instantly paralysed with fear.
Two huge brown eyes stared back at her, separated by thick grey fur. Saffron screamed, her throat raw with the sheer panic erupting from her voice box...
Startling herself awake, Saffron sat bolt upright, sweat pouring from her body. Streaks of moonlight fell through her window, highlighting her bed. Her pulse racing and her head swimming from the stark reality of her nightmare, Saffron threw her covers off and padded into the kitchen for a drink of water.
As she lifted the glass to her lips, she realised her hands were shaking when she spilled water down her nightdress. Trying to push the vivid dream to the back of her mind, Saffron settled back into her bed, pulling the covers up tight to her chin.
No matter how hard she tried, she could not go back to sleep.
***
“MORNING, SWEETHEART,” Anna said, ambling into the kitchen the next morning. “Up early?”
Saffron nodded as she removed another batch of freshly baked rolls from the oven. “Thought I’d save you a job and cook breakfast.”
“Thanks, Saffron,” her mother replied, taking a seat at the table. “I really appreciate it. Did you sleep well?”
Saffron immediately stiffened, her shoulders and back visibly tense. “I had a bit of an odd dream.”
“Oh?”
Pouring some orange juice into a glass, Saffron took a seat opposite her mother and grabbed one of the warm crusty rolls. Slicing it open, she allowed all the steam to escape before smothering the insides in a thick layer of butter.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Anna said.
Saffron took a bite of her food, satisfying her stomach for a brief second. After indulging her mother in the specific details of her nightmare, Saffron felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
“I’m sure it means nothing, sweetheart. Did anything happen in the City to warrant such a dream?”
Deciding to keep the secret of her book to herself, Saffron shook her head. “No. Nothing really remarkable happened at all.”
“Not even on the journey in?”
Halfway to her mouth with her roll, Saffron froze. She lifted her eyes to meet her mother’s, shock and uncertainty swirling through her mind. Did her mother know? Was this a test? Should she skip over the drama or admit to it?
“No, Mama,” Saffron said, filling her mouth with her breakfast.
Anna nodded once but said nothing else on the matter. Her blue eyes clouded over with resignation and in that moment, Saffron knew that her mother knew, and worst of all, her mother knew she had just been lied to.
Guilt churned over and over in Saffron’s stomach, curdling with distaste the longer the silence dragged on. After a minute or so, Saffron couldn’t bear it any longer.
“Actually, thinking about it, something did happen.”
Anna raised her eyebrows, her eyes lighting up with joy. “Really? What happened?”
Saffron took a deep breath then explained what happened with the horses on the trail. When she finished, she looked at her mother, expecting some wise words or something inspiring.
“I’m sure it was all in your mind, dear.”
“But the adults all heard it, too.”
“Have you heard of folie à plusieurs?”
Saffron frowned. “Err...no.”
“It’s basically group psychosis. So when one person experiences something, those around that person also start to believe they’re experiencing the same thing.”
Saffron’s heart plummeted. “You think we were all hallucinating?”
“I’m just saying it’s an option, Saffron. No one has ever reported anything odd happening on the trails. I’m sure you were just a little frightened and excited with it being your first trip out and your brain tried to make sense of it all but ended up in a bit of a muddle. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Faking a smile, Saffron said, “I’m sure you’re right, Mama.”
“What are your plans for today?”
“The horse’s paddock needs cleaning and Henry needs to start some basic training.”
“Herr Schäfer is booked to start training him in a few weeks time.”
“I can do something before then, make it easier for him when he does start.”
“Saffron,” Anna said, leaning forwards and placing her hand over her daughter’s. “Training animals is not a woman’s job. Leave the men to it. Sometimes the animals need a firm hand.”
Saffron’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean ‘a firm hand’?”
“The general energy of a woman is much calmer and weaker than that of a man’s. With a spirited young horse like Henry, he needs a dominating strong presence to show him the way.”
“I don’t like this, Mama,” Saffron said, scraping her chair across the floor and standing up. “Everything in this town is either male or female. Why can’t a woman do a man’s job and a man do a woman’s job?”
“Saffron, sweetie—”
“No, Mama. Don’t ‘sweetie’ me. I thought Wilhelm created this whole town to give us a sense of life at its simplest form, to allow us to enjoy life and be able to do what we want to do.”
Anna jerked her head back, shocked by her daughter’s sudden outburst. It suddenly struck her that Saffron was now a teenage girl, prone to mood swings, hormone changes, and given her enquiring mind, a ticking time bomb to a whole lot of trouble if mis-managed.
“You’re right, Saffron, that is why Wilhelm created this place. However, in order to live so simply and easy, jobs had to be divided between men and women. Otherwise we’re living in no different way than those in the City.”
“Except the cars, the clothes, the money, the technology—”
“Saffron, things are the way they are here for a reason. It works. Upsetting the balance is going to achieve nothing.”
“Ok, fine. I get it—men do the hard, physical labours, women play house and have children. Answer me this—why has no boy ever gone into the forest as an Offering? Why is it all girls? Men hunt to put the meat on our tables, because that’s a man’s job, right?”
Anna nodded.
“So why is the Offering only for girls? Why is it good enough to send one of us out into the forest then, but not at any other point?”
“Because the forest has a Queen, Saffron. It needs a female essence to thrive off. Women are more in touch with their emotions than men. It would be inappropriate to pay respects to the Queen with a boy rather than a girl. Why do you think we refer to Mother Nature as exactly that rather than Father Nature?”
Saffron shrugged her shoulders. “I guess because it’s natural for a woman to be more nurturing.”
“Exactly. And that’s what this forest needs—an empathetic, nurturing soul to be its leader.”
Letting out a big sigh, Saffron resigned herself to the fact that as long as she lived in Sehrstadt, her hopes and dreams would never be truly lived. Now she began to understand why eighty percent of the town’s children skipped out to the City.
“Is Papa still sleeping?”
Anna nodded. “Why?”
“I know Sunday’s are usually Hanna’s day off, but I would like to take her for a ride around the outskirts of the forest.”
Anna raised an eyebrow. “As long as you don’t go into the forest, Saffron. I think Hanna would like that though. It’s been a while since she’s done anything but pull that cart.”
Saffron smiled at her mother. She sidestepped around the table, walked to her mother’s side, and bent down to kiss her cheek. “I’m sorry I got so worked up. It’s just really frustrating at times.”
“It’s ok, poppet,” Anna replied, lifting a hand to her daughter’s cheek. “I understand, I really do.”
Rushing out into the early morning sun, Saffron couldn’t wait for the day’s adventure ahead of her.