Gormglaith | Page 7

up on her own saying, 'Geileis my bat, thy twin daughter
Gormglaith can grip. I know her. It's thee I'm worried about!' She
knows everybody," Geileis said with a gangly shrug.
Gormglaith grinned when her twin kynn took her face in hands, kissed
her on the mouth then twirled to walk off. As Geileis loped towards a
door of wefted panes aglow with yellow light the wind gusted, blowing
straw thatch across bright eyes staring up and beyond the wych elms at
a beaming harvest moon whilst broken, ragged clouds scuttered across
it.
Gormglaith wandered into the farm's tangle lair, wind blown and fallain,
linens ruffled, knees grass stained. Enid and Giorsal sat among brightly
wafting goblins. A cast of the fat, yellow, black striped bee Gobnait
had been playing with hovered near Giorsal now, busily spitting runes.
It was harvest and sunrise would find them there.
Enid was once more in grey cutty sark and longstockings, Giorsal but
in worn dark green ones with scuffed yellow klompen, milksome
ponytails cascading over each shoulder and down her chest. They
watched a deftly ghosted earth map of the moonlit farm with reapers
and gleaners amid floating runes and numbers.
"Hi! How's harvest?"
"Harvest...?" asked Enid, grey eyes glowing in a blue swath of light
throbbing across her face.

Gormglaith watched a goblin made of two fluttering green blobs.
"This one's a bit scrozzy," she said.
"Yeah," sighed Giorsal, fingers reeling with the bee. "It says it's ok
about being a spot heater for now but'll shut down in a few hours
anyway to keep from blowing up. How boring."
"It's not like the wonted plight, is it?" Gormglaith blurted out. "I mean a
girl's kynn can't say 'Th'art green, th'ast time,' can they, when she'd be a
banshee..."
Giorsal, right hand now held over a swirling orange whorl, stared at
her.
"Flattery's a craft, Gormglaith and they've got it... with the heed of a
burrowing mote scanner."
"Oh Giorsal..."
Enid looked up, bangs sweeping in front of her face.
"What we braid," she put softly singsong, "is what we'll be and
wherever the wyrd wends, thou'lt always be our Gormglaith.
Although," she said, winking and opening her arms, "if thou dostn't
heed Giorsal and happenst to run off with them, maybe thou canst do
something about those ghastly grain plaits."
They gathered in a tight, clanniny hug and Gormglaith loped out the
door into a windswept, moonlit night on the West Meads.
Flann stared at a goblin with skeins of bobbing runes and numbers, red
hair tumbling upon freckled shoulders, the nose ring between her
nostrils catching a glint of pink light as she looked up with doeish,
wintergreen eyes.
"Tollin' the watch, eh Gormglaith?" she asked, smiling like a
maedchen.

"Yep, seein' to it my clannin's givin' fylgjic meed of milk and muffins!"
Gormglaith stood smirking.
"I guess we can squeeze something out tomorrow, if thou dostn't ask
for too much milk."
"Hast thou heard?"
"Oh yeah."
"So Flann when thou wast a scollagyn at Blairie thou knewst maegden
who pledged the Wrath..."
"I think I can stir up the hazy ghost."
"Why didstn't thou go?"
"For one thing I was never asked."
"What if?"
"Not."
"Why?"
"My friends were at Blairie. Besides, all I wanted was to get into KD
pailt so I could grok how to be a hardcore, spell sucking freayller
witch."
"So when y'all met, I mean, what'dst thou think of the Meryl and
Meredith thing?"
"Ok, I thought it was selfish. I told 'em, 'Twins are cool. I'm eighth in a
string by the wombs but if you tell her, if you lay nettles on her back, if
I ever see you grooming any moppet of ours for Wrath Ness, I'm out
the door.' As it happened Enid had said rather much the same thing to
them."

"Y'all saw to it I got a stiff fix of Eachdraidh, though."
"So split for tongue craft, if that's what thou still wantst."
"I've always liked thy nose ring," said Gormglaith, warding a finger and
grinning.
"When thou wast on my hip thou never stopped trying to yank it."
They giggled.
"A banshee's got to be a shee first though, or else pledge a teach," said
Gormglaith.
"I thought we might be leading up to that."
"Which means I'd be a scollagyn."
"That's how most do it!"
"The scollagyn I've met are lekker, but they wontedly swot up keener
and have less time to themselves."
"They've more boards is all."
"Thou always sayest thou liked it..."
"Blairie bairn..." said Flann, smirking.
"...bred, born 'n beaming!" they sang together.
"If thou goest with them, 'glaithen girl, they'll frickin' henge thee."
"Not Geileis."
"Don't forget Giorsal. Some are wont."
"I can grip."

"Look," sighed Flann, "bein' a banshee's no frolic at the feish, ok?