Brading The Past

JP with Lorem and Cindy

Islana gave her preferences, and the brading session was started. It was Gonyaul and Islana knew she could trust him to stop if it got to be too much.

The session started out quiet, her mind was on the old woman, their shared gift and what all of that could possibly mean.

Islana wanted to talk about it but she thought protecting Gonyaul by not telling him about her affinity with animals was more important.

The young woman's mind drifted off the questions that had no answers and to a memory. It was then she spoke quietly, as if not realizing she was speaking out loud.

"My sister, Aine, used to love to braid my hair."

Beyond telling Gonyaul and Alexis about her siblings taking care of her, her brother dying and her sister also being sold, Islana had not spoken very much about them. Many of her memories were just painful ones but they weren't all that way. Sharing a good memory wasn't a bad thing.

Gonyaul expertly managed Islana’a strands of fire. Conversation wasn’t necessary; however, he welcomed it.

“You good sister to let her. What was like?”

"Aine? She was very patient and mature. Much of her free time was spent foraging in the woods. We rarely had money for anything like flour or sugar but she could make the most amazing cakes out seeds, nuts and honey. I learned the bee sting remedy from her."

Islana paused for a moment as she remembered her sister. It had so long since the two had seen each other.

"Aine was beautiful. She had long blonde hair, worn up a lot of the time and bluish- green eyes."

Gonyaul smiled and continued working. He was a little over half done.

“Beauty run in your family, both inside and out, tis blessing.”

He concentrated a second on doing a complex folding of making two braids tucked under two much larger side braids.

“Where Aine now?”

A smile crossed the young woman's lips at the compliment.

"Thank you."

The second question was met with several seconds of silence.

"I don't know. She was sold the same day I was, to a different man. By the time I got back to our house, that day, she was gone. I don't know who bought her."

It was a question Islana wished she had an answer for.

Gonyaul could feel the shift in her tone. This truth saddened her.

“If sister like you then brave and capable. Hold hope with me she is doing well, till you meet again?”

Gonyaul finished up the last bit of the braid. He didn’t have a mirror to show her, so he ran his hands along the parts and described their meaning. He took poetic license from the original idea when she started sharing.

There were two central smaller tight braids. He ran his hand along one. “This you”.

He ran his hand along the other, “this Aine”.

He then brought both hands down to where two larger side braids wrapped overtop of the smaller braids. “This you two love for each other in warm embrace.”

He then let his hands go further to the end. All four braids joined into one final braid atop the hair that was allowed to remain free. “This hope you both find each other in memory and future, surrounded by freedom.”

He sat back on his heels. He was finished.

Islana gave a soft smile as Gonyaul explained the braids in her hair. Surprised he finished so quickly.

"That's lovely. Thank you."

Her gaze caught sight of Alexis, she then looked at Gonyaul.

"I would like to see her again, to know what happened to her but I'm also very grateful for my new family."

Knowing she was alright because of them, her eyes went to Boyce, he was getting there and Nicholaus.

"And friends, " She added.

Her hand fiddled with her bird pendant, a little.

"I was always just different than my siblings though. My father used to tell me I was more like my mother. She was supposedly good with a bow and arrow and even had red hair and green eyes, like I do. The rest of my family was blonde haired."

Gonyaul was indeed fast due to an enormous amount of practice. He returned to sitting next to her, gazing out at the celebration.

“I would like to know more about this mother if ok?” He looked to her with a soft expression.

"She died when I was born. My father only sometimes spoke about her."

Her finger tapped her bird pendant, pointing it out.

"This was hers. My father had been a woodworker, at one point, but for some reason had given up his business to build a house in the woods and live there with her."

Islana knew that part of the story but her father had never said why.

"I know she was a natural at hunting, could climb trees, like me. I was told her temperament was much like mine. My parents loved each other very much; it destroyed my father when she passed."

Could her mother have had the same ability as Islana did? Her father had never said anything about it and her siblings had been young when the woman had died. Another question with no answer.

Gonyaul had mistranslated the cue that her mother was in the past tense. He put a hand gently on her shoulder.

“I will know her more as know you more.”

He looked to the pendant she was showing him. “It is beautiful”. His other hand naturally went to touch the necklace he was wearing as he spoke.

“If you could ask her question, what would be?”

Any question? Islana felt bad that she couldn't be completely honest with Gonyaul about that. Her heart really wanted to, her mind was telling her she needed to protect the man that sat before her

"I would ask her how her life ended up living in the woods with my father. What she was like at my age." Her voice grew still and quiet. "I'd want to know what she thought of my current life."

That was more than one question but she had so many of them

Gonyaul could hear as well as see the longing in those questions. He wondered if Islana also thought that by knowing such answers she would also figure out her identity more. They were valid questions.

The likelihood of getting those questions answered though were probably going to be slim at best. To him that meant that perhaps she was focusing on the wrong questions based on the reality of the situation, but he was not one to open that discussion.

He removed his hand from her shoulder and smiled reassuringly to her, “Maybe something in unknown future will answer unknown past?”

"Maybe." Islana had really no idea if she would ever get answers to her questions.

One of the children of the tribe wandered towards the two sitting on the skin, holding her hands behind her back. The little girl with the dark hair and eyes looked to be around six with long dark hair.

The young girl glanced at Gonyaul but wasn't thrown by his appearance, Islana guessed that was because the man had been rather outgoing all evening and people had gotten more used to his appearance.

The brunette though stared at Islana, she moved one hand from behind her back and pointed at Islana's hair and then at the fire, then back at her hair.

Islana gently smiled at the girl, and nodded. "Yes, my hair looks like fire."

The girl pointed to Islana's eyes and the grass.

"And I guess my eyes look like grass."

They were emerald green but close enough. The girl just stood there for another moment staring at Islana. She then smiled back at Islana and ran off to go play.

"So, is that what it's been for you all night?"

Islana asked Gonyaul with a smile.

Gonyaul laughed, “it is a great night”. He gave Islana a friendly squeeze.

Gonyaul rose to his feet and turned to face Islana.

“Thank you for adding Aine and family to my story. I carry it into the tomorrow.” He bowed in honor of her sharing.

He then looked apologetic. “I think now good time me find Nicolaus.” He turned to show his bandages were red. The wounds had not reopened, it had just been a long while now of a slow spread.

Islana bid Gonyaul a goodbye. It wasn't long before the young girl had brought back a few friends to look at Islana.

It wasn't so bad, as they were children, and there weren't many of them. She wished she knew how to speak to them.

After a while, the novelty wore off, as children have short attention spans. It was starting to get late anyway, as some of the tribe was starting to retire to their tents.

Islana took the opportunity to go back to their group's campsite and found a quiet space, before the others returned, to sit under the night sky, as the young woman tried to sort out what had been learned tonight and the questions that still lingered.