The Witch and the Wind God

Chapter One: The Beginning

In a sleepy town, deep in the Karoo, a peacock is starting to stir in his high tree top nest. The sun is rising slowly on the horizon and the Peacock is eager to start his day. He calls into the fading darkness, his call echoes against the small Karoo koppies, and then everything goes eerily quiet. A young teenage girl below, called Anne, watches the peacock bob his head up and down, listening, waiting for an answer, that hasn't come. She is wide awake, and not because of the peacock, she has been wide awake all night thinking. She can't seem to stop thinking, she can't seem to relax. What happened yesterday replays in her memory. Over and over again and each time it does, it gets more and more perplexing.

What did happen yesterday?, she thinks again, and in frustration, sighs out load!

The boy next to her, in his sleeping bag, stirs!. She freezes and tries to lie as quiet as possible pretending to be asleep. Soon the boy seems to be fast asleep again. She berates herself for being so noisy, she didn't want him knowing she was awake so early, then he might wonder if she had slept at all, and a series of questions would follow that she could not and did not want to answer. She lay frozen, trying to be quiet, she looked up and watched the peacock, he was watching her too, probably trying to decide if she was a threat or not. She looked at the branch he was sitting on, so high up, surely a fall from there would kill her, or at least mangle her body....then how was she unharmed. Yesterday she had climbed up the tall tree, where the peacock was now, Daniel had dared her. Normally she would ignore him because Sam was always around....but Sam had gone off looking for more firewood and Daniel had taken the opportunity to pester her. Daniel loved goofing around and so did she....and a dare was too good to pass up. She had climbed the tree with confidence and agility, she was good at that sort of thing. Down below Daniel had kept daring her to go higher and higher, truth be told she didn't need encouragement. The other boy, Ethan had started loosing his nerve and was shouting at her to come down, but she was comfortable up there, she loved climbing trees and she loved being up high. Suddenly the boy called Ethan swore out loud, followed closely by a series of profanities from Daniel, she wondered what was going, she readjusted her grip to lean forward and peer through the branches so that she could see the boys below. She saw Daniel frantically waving his arms at her and then pointing in the northly direction, she looked over. It was Sam, he had come back quicker than expected. Currently he was wrestling with the bundle of wood and had not taken notice of them yet. She leaned back into the tree, staying close to the bark, hopefully he won't see her through the branches. She didn't have much time, Sam would notice her absence soon . 

"Lord a little help" she silently prays as she starts to move quietly downward, with any luck and a little help she will be close to the ground by the time he realizes she's gone. She hears him calling to the guys for help with the wood, Daniel and Ethan run over to assist him, she takes the opportunity to move down a few more branches quickly, she can hear Daniel chattering away like a giddy school girl.

"The fool" she thinks, he will make Sam suspect something. Daniel does normally talk a lot....but now he seems to be making random comments just for the sake of it. "Way to play it cool Daniel" she thinks. Luckily it seems Sam is too busy with the firewood to take notice, she keeps moving down and is making good progress, but she's still easily 20feet up. Suddenly she hears her name, it's Sam, he is asking where she is. Anne freezes! Daniel says she's gone to the little girls room and tries to distract Sam by telling him a joke. She peeps through the branches again, Sam is watching Daniel, his eyes grow suspicious his smile starts to fade as he looks from Daniel to Ethan. Ethan looks guilty of something, he can't meet Sam's eye and starts fidgeting with his jacket. Daniel is still yammering on, he tells Sam the firewood is wet and that they should get some more pieces, drier ones. "Okay, what's going on?" Sam asks

"Nothing bro, we just want to make a nice big fire tonight, and these wet ones won't do!" explains Daniel.

"Okay, it's your and Ethan's turn to go." Sam says with a smirk..." "and I'll go see where where Anna has gone of too".

"No don't do that bro, I told you, she's doing girly things....its gross!!. Leave her alone."

Anne rolls her eyes at Daniel's last comment , she knows Sam knows somethings up...all he needs do now is ask Ethan and they'll be busted. 

Sam is walking towards the tree, while Daniel is still talking.  He looks up, Anne moves in closer to the bark. Her heart is beating faster with nervous tension and her palms are getting sweaty. 

"Oh man, I'm in trouble" she thinks with a small smile on her face. Its not like she was afraid of Sam or anything but he did have a knack at making her feel stupid about her bad choices. Sam turns to Ethan."Ethan where is Anne?" he asks speaking over Daniel. Ethan starts going red and gives Daniel a side glance pleading for help, but Daniel just raises his shoulders at him smirking. He looks back at Sam and lifts his hand pointing up into the tree. Daniel shakes his head at Ethan in disbelief as Sam turns towards the tree again."Wow, Ethan you lasted like half a second..... tough guy!" Daniel scolds Ethan and Ethan turns even redder. Sam is looking up in the tree to see any sign of Anne, who has managed to move down a few more branches.

"Anna!!!" Sam yells up to the tree.

Anne freezes again, holding her breath.

"Anna I know you're up there!" he says.

Anne breathes out slowly at his words, Oh well, she thinks, here we go! She leans forward through the branches again...to see Sam down below. His gaze is in the tree but a lot farther down. She swallows back the nerves. "Oh Hi Sam," she says. "I didn't know you were back" she teases him giving him a small awkward smile. Sam's head snaps up, and his eyes grow larger in panic when he sees how high up she is, but he quickly regains control.

"Anna can you come down?" he asks giving her a serious disapproving look.Oh dear Anne thinks, he's not happy.

"Off course" she shouts back giving him a big smile...hoping it will calm him down a bit.

"Then come down!!....now!!... please!" he says not returning her smile and giving another disapproving look, and as she disappears into the branches again he turns to look at Daniel with unmasked fury and a promise that he would pay for this little prank later. 

Anne leans back into the tree, rolling her eyes at the mess she's got herself into. 

She turns back toward the bark to continue climbing down...she steps down one branch and suddenly feels a warm sensation running down her right arm into the palm of her hand, she steadies herself before lifting her arm up and looking at her right hand, it seems redder that usual and is warm to the touch, she feels up her arm from where the heat came, but there is nothing there. She looks around at the branch, there's nothing there either that could have caused that feeling. 

Sam calls to her again.

"I'm okay, I'm coming..."...she calls back.

But before she can move further down, it happens again, this time in her left arm. The heat moves down her arm and into her palm. Anne stares at her arms. What was that, she wonders, maybe it's the from all the climbing she thinks...she leans against a branch and turns her hands upside down looking at them closely, they are heating up and she swears her right hand is almost glowing, she looks over to her left hand and as she turns it over she sees a huge Koring kriek on her back hand, she gasps and frantically tries to shake it off, she knows they're harmless but they're disgusting looking big insects that can squirt a fowl smelling substance when threatened. As she tries to knock the insect off she unbalances herself, and suddenly she's falling through the air, branches are swooshing past at a horrible speed, some hitting her in the face, she tries to grab a hold of them, but she's falling too fast. She sees the ground approaching at an alarming speed, she is going to hit it!!! Hard!! Somewhere in the background she can hear the boys shouting at her....she stretches her arms out in front of her hoping to brace impact and soften the blow her head. 

"Oh God please," she prays loudly before squeezing her eyes shut. And all of a sudden she feels it, she feels her body slowing down, she hears the swooshing sound of branches stop and then everything stops! She opens her eyes and looks up in surprise. She has stopped falling, she is suspended in the air. someone has caught her, she glances around, relieved, but no-one is there...she seems to be hanging in mid air...her heart starts beating faster. "What the hell is happening" she thinks , feeling herself starting to panic. She looks in front of her again, Sam is right there in front of her, he has a pained shocked look on his face and is lunging towards her. She wants to call out to him, but then she realizes he's not moving, he seems to be frozen. Behind Sam, she can see Ethan and Daniel, but they're not moving either.

"What the hell?" she says out loud looking down to the ground, she is only half a meter away. She can almost touch the ground, she wriggles and tries to reach for the ground. Panic rising in her chest. And then she falls hitting the ground hard with her left cheek.

"Ow, Eina hell! she cries out. First there is silence and then she can feel someone next to her touching her shoulder, speaking to her.

Anne's head feels a bit thick, the voice sound far away.

Anna!! Anna!! someone is shouting at her and lightly shaking her shoulder. 

"Anne, can you hear me" he asks. 

It's Sam, she can make out his voice, she opens her eyes and tries to move her head, she wants to touch her stinging cheek.

"Anna are you all right....don't move, you might have broken something" Sam says trying to hold her still.

"Broken something bro???....., you mean broken everything!!! she can hear Daniel saying in a strained high pitched voice. He then curses loudly, screaming at Ethan to call for help. 

"..N...No!!! she croaks out."No, I'm fine" she says louder, pushing herself up into a seated position, Sam tries to keep her still again.

"No Sam, I'm fine really" she says "It's just my cheek" she continues rubbing her left cheek.

"Ouch!!, I hope I haven't lost a tooth" she says opening her mouth and feeling inside, she does this for a few seconds and then notices  Sam and the guys staring at her and stops!!.She slowly takes her fingers out of her mouth, they're all just staring at her. It's freaking her out.Are they all frozen again, she wonders, feeling her heart race. But then suddenly Daniel moves throwing his hands up in the air in joy and laughing. "Oh thank goodness" he says coming over and patting Anne on the back, Anne breathes out loudly in relief."Wow I thought you were a goner for sure there Banana!" Daniel continues saying using his nickname for Anne and smiling at her. Anne half heartedly smiles back at him and then turns back to look at Sam, who is still staring at her."What?" she asks him

"Anna, how are you okay? You just fell like 7meters and you don't have a scratch on you?"Anne looks back up to the tree, and everything thing comes flooding back, she feels herself falling again, she feels the fear and the panic and then she remembers the frozen state she was in, hanging in the air, and the guys not moving. Her heart beat increases as she relives the moment, her cheeks flush red and her breathing accelerates.

Sam notices the changes in her.

"Annie" he says gently

She looks at him, tears are pooling in her eyes

"I.....I don't" she stammers trying to get the right words.

Sam wraps his arms around her pulling her into a hug, holding her to his chest. "It's okay Anna, you're just in shock, you're okay now, I've got you! he whispers in her ear. 

Ethan kneels down beside them, and pats Anne on her leg. "Yes Anna, don't worry you're okay, it really wasn't that bad, and the branches helped break your fall" he says.

"What the hell are you two saying!!!" cries Daniel, "she is lucky to be alive!!!" he continues sounding slightly hysterical, and coming closer to them.

He shakes Anne on the shoulder saying

"Banana you are a FREAK of nature!!!.....and the luckiest 14yr old ever" he says winking at her and then laughing out loud. 

Ethan looks at him incredulously and Sam takes a swing at him with his left arm but Daniel jumps out of the way just in time. The scene between the boys makes Anne giggle, and the sound of her giggle relaxes Sam and Ethan. "I think we should call it a day, and go home" Sam says, looking at the other two boys. Ethan agrees immediately, standing up, but Anne sits up straight pulling away from Sam and looking him in the eye.

"No, please" she starts saying.

"Please can we stay?" she asks Sam, holding onto his arms.

"Anna, we should go, you should go to the hospital to make sure nothings broken!" Sam starts to argue.

"No really Sam, really, look" she says rising slowly to her feet, Sam follows quickly holding on to her left arm as if to keep her steady. Ethan comes closer and grabs on to her right arm. Anne gently shakes them off.

"No really, I'm fine, look!" she says walking towards Daniel, who is still looking a bit freaked out.

"Yes, I'm a little shaken, but nothing's broken I swear, please can we stay" she pleads looking at Sam again.

Sam looks at her, he is not convinced, and would feel better if they went home, they are a good 30mins out of town, and if something arises, some complication from her fall. It would take too long to get her to a doctor.

"I don't know Anna, you could be in shock...." Sam starts saying but Anne interrupts him.

"Please Sam, look I'll have some chocolate, I hear sugar is really good for shock and Ill sit nice and quietly here by the fire you were about to make, and I promise, if I feel slightly bad, I'll tell you and we can go immediately" 

"Please, if we go home now, my dad will want to know why, and if we go to the hospital the whole town will know by morning, and then I'll have to explain..... and.... and I can't" she continues sounding desperate.

"Okay, Okay" Daniel says coming up from behind her and putting his arm around her. "It's okay, we can stay, can't we Sam, look she really does look okay, the colour is coming back into her cheeks" he says and then turns to Ethan asking him to get the chocolate. 

Anne keeps looking at Sam, he is looking at her too. She looks so desperate, he caves. 

"Okay" he says and nods at Anne, who is so overjoyed she jumps into his arms giving him a hug.

He hugs her back, and pats her on the back. He then hold her at arm length and says "but as soon as you feel a little sick, were going! Okay!. Anne nods in agreement smiling from ear to ear. Sam rolls his eyes at her. 

"And come and sit down right here, and don't move, we will make a fire" he continues, helping Anne over to the cut tree stumps around the fire pit.

Anne sits down, thanking Sam and squeezing his hand. Ethan comes over and hands her some chocolate, before walking over to Daniel, who has already started packing wood for the fire. 

Sam reluctantly leaves Anne and walks over to help Daniel start the fire. Anne watches them pile logs on top of each other building a nice little tower out of firewood. She takes small bites out of the chocolate and soon the sugar is making her feel better. The guys keep glancing around every few seconds to see if she's okay, every time she catches them doing it, she fakes a smile.

She feels little tingles up and down her arms again, it feels funny, like they were asleep and are waking up. She momentarily starts thinking back to the strange warm feeling she felt in the tree, but after a few seconds she can distinctly hear hooves coming towards her in the distance. She looks up across the veld and she's sees him, Artax, her beautiful Irish Draught come galloping up towards her. How he got out is a mystery to her....but he always seems to manage it. He must have sensed her being in danger and come to find her. He always seemed to sense when she needed him the most. Artax comes right up to Anne, who has gotten up and taken a few steps towards him, he bums into her as he comes to a standstill, Anne had to take a step back and throw her arms up against his neck to stop him. He is visibly distressed, and seems to want to reassure himself of her safety by being too close. "It's okay boy... I'm okay!!" she says gently rubbing his neck. 

Oh how she adores this horse, she thinks throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him, he nudges her with his head pulling her closer and she can feel him relax a bit."Artax, I'm glad you came, just between me and you, I'm freaking out a bit" she whispers to the horse, looking over to the guys to make sure they couldn't hear her. Sam is still watching her intently, but is too far to hear her words.

She turns back towards Artax, "I shouldn't be standing here now Artax" Anne continues saying still stroking the horse and glancing up at the tree. "It's a miracle!!  ...............and...and I could swear for a min or two,...  .I was frozen!!!" she says, then looks at the horse,  too see if he was looking at her weirdly....he wasn't. She smiles at her own silliness but continues whispering to Artax "I mean not from fear but really frozen boy!!, like in time or something!!! suddenly the horse snorts giving her a fright, Anne laughs out loud, putting her head on Artax's nose"Ja" ...."I know that's ridiculous!! she says hugging him tight.