Gertie's Choice

Gertie’s Choice

By Carol Colbert

Copyright 2016 by Carol
Colbert

All rights reserved. No part
of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form without
written permission from the author, except for brief quoted
passages for review purposes.

This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination, or collective memories of people she has
known in general, put together to form various single characters,
and thus, resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, unless
explicitly noted, are entirely coincidental.

Cover by:
[email protected]

This book is dedicated to
all of the spitfires in the family – you know who you
are.

Chapter 1

“Gertrude! Stop it or I
will speak to mother!” Ophelia cried. “You have been told many
times to keep yee ankles covered.”

“But they are nice ankles
are they not, sister?” Gertrude said, slightly lifting her dress
higher in protest. “Besides, do not our ankles show when doing the
dance? You make much ado about nothing. Besides, what does it
matter? One day a prince will come and take up residence in the
Palace and when he sees me he will not be able to resist me and I
shall become queen! Then I shall show whatever pleases me. In fact,
I just might make a law saying that there is nothing wrong with
showing ankles or indeed knees if I feel the desire to. I might
even dance unclothed in a fountain!”

“Gōd
hælo
.
A lot can
happen between the cup and the lip, sister dear.” Ophelia
said.

“Thou shall see. I hear
tell that a new member of the Crown is coming to the Palace to
live. A cousin of the King. Perhaps he will be my future husband.
But do not worry, dear sister, I shall find a place for you there
as well. Perhaps you can be my chamber maid.” Gertrude
laughed.

“Oh come back, sister.”
Gertrude said as Ophelia walked off towards their house. “You have
no sense of mirth!” She cried after her when Ophelia continued to
walk away from her.

Gertrude walked over to her
favorite place to sit and think things out. It was a large, flat
rock that was near the waterfall, right at the water’s edge. She
was thinking about the Palace and how she could secure a place for
herself there when a young man she had never seen before walked up
to her.

“Excuse me, what is your
name? `I am in need of assistance.”

“Wot? Min nama is
Gertrude. Why is your tongue so strange?” Gertie said, picking up a
rock, instantly suspicious of this young man.

“I come from Germany. Thou
are beautiful, but thou are also very impolite. But then, I guess
that is to be expected. I will leave yee to yourself then, sorry to
bother. Good day.”

Gertrude looked again at
the young man before her. He was pleasant on the eyes with his
black hair and brown eyes. His clothes, although not the garb of a
nobleman, were not to be discarded as common either.

“I guess you may stay and
speak if you must.” Gertrude said with a slight smile on her lips.
“What are you called?”

“My name is
William.”

“So, William, are you by
any chance staying at the Palace?” Gertrude said, meaning only to
tease this handsome stranger.

“This is so.” William
answered.

Gertrude almost jumped up
with glee
. Could this be the King’s cousin
people are talking about? Could it be this easy after all?
Ophelia’s head will turn two shades of purple and fall off when I
tell her. I’m glad she walked off when she did.

“Have yee gone deaf,
Miss?” William asked.

“What? Oh, did you just ask
me something?” She said.

“I did. I wanted to know if
this were the path that connects to the one that would bring me
back to the palace.”

“Tis so, William. Would
you like me to walk with you so you do not get lost?” Gertrude
offered.

William looked at the girl
with the hair the color of fire and her eyes that burned just as
bright.
She is a great beauty this one,
but she looks like trouble brewing just the same. Her tongue
changes so easily.

“No thank yee, Gertrude. I
shall be on my way then, good day.” William said and walked off in
the direction of the main path.

He will be back, of this I
am sure
. Gertrude thought to herself. She
watched her potential future husband until she could see him no
more before she slowly walked back home.

“There you are, girl,
what’s this about yee showing yer legs to whomsoever eyes might be
about?” Gertrude’s mother asked.

“Not so, mother. Ophelia is
just jealous of me tis all.”

Gertrude and Ophelia’s
mother looked at her daughters and shook her head slowly.
“Gertrude, you have a rare beauty, you do, and Ophelia, you have a
great capacity for life that is still for you to be discovered.
Both of you should know by now that we have to be careful. There
are many stories and rumors, they are tenebrous in nature and we
need to take heed.”

Gertrude had mixed
feelings about what her mother was trying to tell her. She had also
heard the rumors about the purification of kingdoms. Of how people
like Gertrude and her family were being wiped out in great numbers
by those who were afraid or were suspicious of others. She did
understand the great dangers of the world, she just did not think
that could affect her.

“Mother, we know the
rumors. We also know that they think of our kind as old crones,
ugly and disfigured. Why would anyone think any of us would be one
of the hunted ones? Well, maybe Ophelia here has cause for worry.”
Gertrude said looking at her sister.

“That is not amusing,
Gertrude. Tis true we have been here for a very long time and tis
also true that we have done no harm. But the very people who have
come to rely on us for favors and special healings might be the
first to turn us in. They might not want to, but tis a foolish man
who would speak an untruth to a force with a sword against his
throat. Mark these words, daughter, the time might be upon us where
we will have to leave this land. Hold thy tongue and be mindful of
who and what is around you.”

Ophelia was listening
intently to her mother’s words. She could tell that although her
sister was pretending to listen, she was also off in her own head
thinking her own thoughts. Ophelia sat and ate her quail and
wondered just how great of a threat would they have to deal with
and how long into the future that might be.

Chapter 2

The next day Ophelia and
Gertrude were sent to the next Village over with ducks and snipes
to be bartered for turkey and partridge. As usual, Gertrude carried
the lightest load. They had to stop and secure shelter on the way
when a storm threatened to rain down on them. It became very windy
so the sisters sat next to a big tree to shield them from the
wind.

“Meat, meat, meat! Why do
we have to consume so much of it?” Gertrude said. “We should be
eating more what grows from the earth.”

“You should be thanking
the stars and skies that we have meat, sister. Some have to travel
a great distance to acquire the meat and by the time they bring it
back it has spoiled. You have to hold your noes while you eat it.”
Ophelia said. “Would you really want to have to do
that?”

“I hear the Crown has
venison nightly for their evening meal.”

“Mutton is what we will be
having tonight. You know you have to be the owner of a vast
property or know someone who is to have venison on your plate.
Venison is the symbol of the highest social status.” Ophelia
said.

“Mother warned us to watch
our tongue, sister. Would not be in our best interest to speak in
voices not of this time we are in.” Gertrude warned her
sister.

“Yee speak truth,
Gertrude. Although we both know that we could dine on venison,
sirloin of beef roast or any other meal of our choosing, we can
never draw attention to ourselves like that.” Ophelia
said.

“I know we are not to talk
of things like that, but Ophelia, I know that we will be leaving
here before too long. I know we have to fit in, no matter where we
are. Times are changing and if we want to fully be who we are, then
we must protect ourselves.”

“We need to change our
location for starters.” Ophelia said, looking around to make sure
no one was on the same path and could hear them talking.

“Well, I for one plan to
make better use of our time here. I told you about how the King’s
cousin was going to come to stay at the Palace?”

“You mentioned it – several
times. We don’t know if it is true though.”

“I do, I actually met him
yesterday morning. His name is William.” Gertrude said
smugly.

“Yer bum’s oot the
windae!” Ophelia said, looking at her sister in shock.

“No! In fact, William is
quite pleasant to the eye.”

“Aye, and if yer auntie
had baws she’d be yer uncle! And you met him, where? You and I were
together all morning if I recall. Have you been hanging around the
Palace gates just hoping for a glance at anyone unfamiliar in a
royal carriage?” Ophelia laughed.

“Of course not. In fact, he
came to me as I was reflecting on my day down by the
lake.”

“While you were wasting
time don’t you mean, sister?”

“Not at all. He was lost
and asked for my help. I can’t wait to see the inside of the
Palace! I bet it is very grand.” Gertrude said, a big smile on her
beautiful face.

“What makes you think you
will see him again, if indeed you did? And what makes you think
that he is who he says he is? Would serve you better to be watchful
of those who might be sent to harm us. Mother just warned us again
about that, Gertrude!”

“William did not say he was
the King’s cousin, he merely asked me for directions. It was I who
asked if he were staying at the Palace and asked him his name. I
have never seen that face before, and believe me, sister, I would
remember such a face.”

The girls arrived in the
Village and set about their task of bartering. They had gotten
there late due to their delay with the windstorm.

Gertrude saw a big
watermelon and she asked the lad if he would take a duck for it.
Ophelia told her sister that such a trade was not a wise one.
Gertrude insisted, saying she wanted the watermelon.

“Tis not what we came for,
sister! Mother will be expecting a turkey and the partridge.”
Ophelia scolded.

Gertrude did not care. Her
eyes were on the big watermelon and she wanted it badly. She smiled
at the lad who had it and asked him his name and acted as though
she were truly interested in him.

“Come now, flirty Gertie,
time is of the essence, the skies are darkening and we must be on
our way.” Ophelia said, struggling with the large turkey and her
other purchases.

A couple of young boys who
were nearby heard the exchange and started to laugh and run around
her. “Flirty Gertie, Flirty Gertie.” The young man who had the
watermelon moved on, but the younger boys were having too much fun
to stop. The day was coming to an end and the majority of the
people in the market place square had made their exchanges and had
already left.

Gertrude was angry and
embarrassed as she spun around in an attempt to grab one of the
children by the shirt. A dark blue mist started to appear around
Gertrude and she held her arms wide and said “Stop!”

All four of the boys were
immediately flung to the ground. As they laid there crying and
afraid, Ophelia said “What have you done?” To her sister. Her anger
not yet under control Gertrude pointed to her sister and yelled
“And may your first born daughter have a derriere the size of that
watermelon you denied me!”