Gormglaith | Page 8

Wraithen's one thing, sly's another and twined it's the hackle."
"What'rt tha tuggin' now?" asked Gormglaith, nodding at the goblin.
"Oh, that... the dreaded plait, durham grian wheats. I'm looking for
ways to get by it as ever, as if, bane of my life. At least they say it won't
quicken again. That would be leeg."
"Is that what I heard Enid and thee talking about today?"
"Bloody likely," she said, eyes flicking to shuffle bobbing numbers.
Gormglaith hugged Flann so tightly her chair spun.
On a nearby hill the sprawling fieldstone house known as Lea Cairn
cast a warm blush across moonlit mead grass and elm trunks, its dozens
of windows puzzled with corundum panes sparkling in blues, reds,
greens, yellows and sheers beneath low overhanging eaves. Gormglaith,
back in her wonted short ash cutty sark and grey longstockings with
clunky black wooden klompen, walked across the mossy northern stoep
by a flock of fluttering bats towards the glow of colourful sweeping
lights. She put face and hands against a window which slid open to a
swirl of throbbing yodels and gabbing girls, then leapt over the low sill
as it shut to the sound of rustling leaves.
Hours later Gormglaith walked through Bryn Larach's back door,
stepped out of black klompen, dipped into yellow ones and clopped
rather too noisily to the ghost den. She found Geileis listening to
clarsach songs, bamfing into some spot on earth she'd found to wander
through before sleep. Gormglaith plopped down hip to hip beside her
womb kynn on the low, cotton bolstered bench. Geileis put an arm
about her and the twins snuggled in the dusky glow of Snotra with its
winding, wooded lanes, henges and gardens on the shore of loch Frigg.
"Everyone was there," said Gormglaith, nodding as they stared. "We
reeled and stuff. Rhiain and Rhiam ran their scams on Findabair,
Glynne showed off her new tongue dab mostly to Doirend and Dwyn

who were their wonted mopey selves. Anyway I didn't have time to tell
Findabair a thing and before I knew it she was folded up asleep on the
settle. Rhiain and I made out, kind of, Rhiam went into a sulk and it
was after four so I left."
Geileis gazed at Gormglaith who quickly looked back at three girls in
fir green linens frolicking near the low pink granite walls of Slane
house by cypress trees with indigo loch Frigg lapping beyond.
"Yeah, I know."
They fell asleep in each other's arms under the cool glow of a blue light
strip.
Through the thatch over her eyes Gormglaith squinted at afternoon
light streaming into the den. She popped up, stared, then bounded onto
the hard black floor in linen sheathed feet, coming across Geileis in the
airy titanium and white clunch kitchen, reading a frosty goblin with a
steaming red mug of frothed coffee and a bowl of seeds, grains and
milk before her.
"Hi kynnsikins!"
"Hi, my bat!
Gormglaith tasted Geileis' coffee and made a face.
"I still don't know how thou canst drink this stuff."
"Wait a few dozen moons more, thou wilt!"
Gormglaith took a stray jelly bun from the board and ate that whilst
looking out the window. It had been raining but the sun peeked now
and then from billowing puffy clouds over low fog and misty green.
"Where is everybody?"
"Aine came by. She and Enid have run off, somewhere, Flann's gone
stitchin' with Blaithen Brent and Giorsal's in the thorpe with Gobnait."

"Bugged out, huh?"
"I'd say fled's the word."
"I'll do my reading, then."
Geileis raised a thatchen head to watch as her twin daughter loped
away.
Gormglaith stepped from the shower bay with lank damp hair, shivered,
grabbed a towel and gazed through a narrow window at the leaf strewn
stoep where she and Geileis had talked the night before. From the wall
cupboard she took worn, frayed grey longstockings, yanked them on,
skipped out and plopped onto the cozy, steadfast staddle to flip leaves
of Eachdraidh with fingers between her legs, twining into tales of
wraithen girls by meads and hills and lochs.
Later she glanced up and said evenly, "Haunt Findabair?"
"Hey Gormglaith!" came the choppy greeting of half a dozen maegden
and maedchen as if they were by the window.
"What happened to thee?!" asked Findabair.
"Thou fellst asleep!"
"So?! Anyway we're going up the hill to gather blue daisies. Come
with?"
"I can't."
"What's on?"
"A clannin thing..."
"Ok. Meet at the Soohead later?"
"Uhm, I don't know. This might take awhile."

"Sounds kinda big!"
"It is. Snag a daisy for me, ok?"
The others slipped into giggles.
"Y'all?! Ok... bye Gormglaith!"
"Bye Gormglaith!" everybody else echoed singsong.
"Bye."
She lowered her head, brooded, got up, walked to the laser cut agate
slab desk