CHAPTER 4
This year, it was Brygida’s turn.
She clutched the spindle of linen yarn close, weaving her way among the mossy rocks to the bank of the Skawa river in the sunset hour. Ancient oaks lined its banks, and their broad trunks cloaked the swift-moving river in shadows.
The fields of Czarnobrzeg had always been bountiful, and it was no mistake that at every harvest, a Mrok witch made an offering to the Great Mother. Every witch of Mroczne Lake served Iga Mrok, the lady of the rusałki herself who had always served Mokosza, the Great Mother, goddess of fertility, goddess of death; protector of women, wanderer, spinner, weaver; the life-giving force to whom both lord of the above, Perun, and lord of the under, Weles, were consorts.
Mama and Mamusia had slowly been teaching her all she
