Somewhere Else Entirely

2 - Tanon's Caravan

Strange moons, frightening creatures, inexplicable events... the mystery woman joins her rescuers as they continue their journey.

------>

"There! You're ready to travel, now."

Merina appraised her guest, her eyes traveling from the borrowed dress to the borrowed footwear. Silna had donated both, but Merina had found a suitable underskirt of her own which went on the smaller woman with a little adjustment to the waist ties. The dress, which the woman hadn't removed since Merina and Silna had put it on her the previous day, was made from a thick woolen cloth of green and brown. It had three-quarter sleeves and the neckline was adjusted with a ribbon which ran round the edge gathering the excess material. The waist of the dress was similarly gathered and tied off in the small of the back. The skirt was full and came to mid-calf, showing just a little of the underskirt beneath it.

On her feet were curious constructions which looked as though they had been made out of furry knitted string. These came to the top of the calf and were held up with ribbons as well as lacing which went up the back of the leg. The soles of these 'boots' were made from pieces of thick leather, sewn to the base of what was essentially a thick sock.

Both Merina and Silna wore broad felted hats although these were currently dangling on their shoulder-blades from cord loops which went round their necks. Because of the warm weather, Merina had explained that these might become necessary around mid-day when the sun became too fierce. There was no spare hat, but Merina had made available a linen cap which the strange woman could wear if it became necessary. Otherwise, all three women would go bare-headed.

"Good. I don't think it'll be too cold to go out and have breakfast, but you must tell me if you begin to feel uncomfortable, won't you? We don't know how long you were out there on the mountain, or what ordeal you went through before we found you, so we want to take good care of you."

"I must thank you for all the kindness you've shown me," the woman replied. "But, these things you've given me to wear, surely I wasn't naked when you found me? What was I wearing?"

Merina's mouth went into a line before she answered. "Your clothing puzzled us, my dear, and it has raised many, many questions we'd hoped you could answer when you woke up. Unfortunately, that is not to be, so we have decided to keep the clothes in a safe place until we can properly find out what is going on. What you were wearing when you were found," she emphasized to the other woman, "would not be seemly for a woman to wear anywhere in Alaesia. That is why you are dressed as you are now, and, if I may say so, very attractive you look too."

"I don't understand any of this," the woman said, her face distressed, "and my head is beginning to hurt again."

"Let's go outside and get some breakfast," Merina said. "I should warn you that you're going to be the center of attention of twenty-four men when you step out of here, but we'll try and make sure you're not overwhelmed."

The three emerged from the enclosed awning into the middle of a crowded space. It seemed all of the men were sitting or standing around eating breakfast. Everyone stopped to stare as the women came out. An older man hurried over to them as soon as they appeared.

"There you are! Did you sleep all right, Merina?"

"Thank you, aye, we all did. My dear," she turned to the woman, "this is my husband Tanon. He owns this wagon train and employs all the men you can see here. Tanon, my dear, I'm afraid I can't properly introduce you to our guest as she doesn't remember her name."

"I'm really sorry to hear that." He extended his hand towards the woman, but she didn't have any idea what she was supposed to do, so kept her hands away from his. "Ah. You don't remember, do you?" He lowered his hand. "Not to worry, I've come across cases in the past of people losing their memory like this, and it usually comes back eventually." He waved his hand around to indicate the camp. "Everyone here will look after your interests, my dear. If you have any problem, you have only to ask. Now, perhaps you'd better get some food before these ravenous men devour it all. Sit you down, I'll get someone to bring some plates and mugs over."