The Pond - Part 14

Izolda’s rage lessened only slightly as she stared down at her mother’s cooling corpse. Already she was trying to figure out how to turn her impulsive act to her advantage. Quickly she gathered what she needed for a cleansing spell, to banish any trace of the magic that actually killed Olga.

Fortunately, her mother kept a well stocked larder and she easily found everything she needed. Humming under her breath as she worked, she crafted her spell quickly. When it was done, she sprinkled what looked like clear water over the body, chanting softly. After she was done, she used her magical “sight” but could find no trace of magic.

Everything went back to its place in the cupboard, and only then did Izolda let out a shriek of despair.

“Come quick! Something has happened to mother. Please, someone, help me!”

By the time Anya, the closest auntie, opened the door, followed quickly by Polina, Izolda was sitting on the floor, her mother’s head cradled in her lap, tears running down her cheeks. She looked up, every bit the grief-stricken teenager.

“I can’t get her to wake up!”

“Come away, child,” Aunt Polina said, taking her gently by the shoulders and moving her aside. “Let Anya see to her. She has a strong healing gift.”

Izolda allowed herself to be drawn away, and gritting her teeth, allowed Polina to wrap her in a comforting hug. Anya knelt on the floor beside Olga. She ran her hands along her body, a hare’s breath from touching her.

“What happened?” Polina asked.

“I—I don’t know,” Izolda gulped. “We were deciding which of the hens deserved to go in the stew pot for tonight’s dinner. Then suddenly all the colour left her face. She clutched at her chest and fell to the floor. I could not wake her!”

Polina glanced at Anya, who shook her head. Izolda, interpreting what that meant, let out a loud wail and buried her face against Polina’s shoulder.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The next few days passed in a blur. Izolda played the part of grief-stricken daughter so well, she was excused from the task of helping wash and prepare the body, which was then laid out in the front room for three days of visitations by friends and neighbors.

In part, her grief was real, because she was not able to say good bye to Nikolai before he left for the new world. She had hoped to see if at least some remnant of her spell had remained, but it was not to be. There was a part to play, that of a young girl steeped in grief over the loss of her mother, and play it she would.

At night, when there was no one else around, she stood looking down at the waxy face.

“I think we both know it was always going to end this way,” she said dispassionately. “Although I think this was a little sooner than either of us expected. Still, this is what comes of meddling with someone else’s spells.”

With a sigh, she confessed, “I am sorry it had to come to this though. But you brought it on yourself. Why did you arrange it so that I carried the power of the seventh? Perhaps you were only trying to get back at Andrei for some slight. I guess I’ll never know.”

Pacing around the body, she continued. “Did you really expect me to have this power and not use it? Such foolishness on your part. Would you have found it easy to resist using it to your own advantage? I wonder.”

Running a hand along the edge of the wooden box, she looked down for the last time at the shell of the woman who’d given her life. “You were starting to suspect I had far more power than I was letting on, weren’t you? That’s why you were keeping such a close eye on me. Oh, you thought you were being clever, but I have the power of the Rusalka in me. Did you guess? Did you know?”

Izolda stayed a few moments longer, almost as though expecting a reply. Finally, she turned and went up to bed. Her only regret was having to find a new path to take towards her future.

Another day of mourning, of doing her part with the baking and cooking for those who came to pay their respects. By the time Olga was buried in the old churchyard, Izolda had worked out the details to her new plan. This time, she would make sure nothing stopped her.