Wrapping her woollen shawl tighter around her, she bent into the wind as she hurried up the path that led to the row of fishermen’s cottages. It was a clear crisp early spring day and small white clouds were scudding across the blue sky. Despite the beauty of the day around her, she felt weak and ill as she headed towards the last cottage in the row of five. Wood smoke was spiralling from its chimney, a clear sign that Mamm-Wynn Honour was at home.
As she eased it open, the wooden gate protested noisily, its screech disturbing the brown hens that were scratching around in the grass for corn.
“Mamm-Wynn?” called the young woman as she knocked on the door.
“Come in, child,” came the reply. “I’ve been expecting you.”
A welcoming warmth wrapped itself around the young woman as she entered the cottage. When the cottages had been built, the last one had been built with a different internal configuration. Instead of two rooms downstairs, it had one large room that served as kitchen and living room. Over the past thirty years, Mamm-Wynn Honour had raised four sons in the small cottage and the large wooden table had seen many a family meal. A broad ladder against the far wall led up to two tiny attic bedrooms. A black cat lay on the bottom tread keeping a watchful eye on the room.
“Sit down, child,” invited the elderly woman was standing by the fire, stirring a small kettle that was hanging over it. “Your tea is almost brewed.”
“My tea?” echoed the young woman, taking a seat on a low wooden stool.
“Yes. Ginger tea. It’ll help with the sickness if you drink it first thing in the morning,” replied Mamm-Wynn Honour. “It just needs another minute or two over the flames.”
“How did you know? I’ve not breathed a word to a soul!”
“There’s not much goes on in the village that I don’t know or sense.”
“I’ve not even told Simon yet….”
Fetching a cup from the shelf beside the fireplace, the old woman poured the fragrant steaming tea into a small cup and handed it to the girl.
“Careful, child. It’s hot.”
“Thank you,” said the young woman accepting the cup. “Will it really help with the sickness? I’ve barely been able to eat for two weeks I’ve been so sick. My father wanted to send for the doctor but my mamm said not to waste his money and that I was to come and see you. She said that you’d know what to do. Did she speak to you?”
“No, child.”
“Then how?” asked the young woman.
“Mamm-Wynn just knows,” said the pillar with a wink. “The babe will be born at the winter solstice. You’ll give birth to a healthy son.”
“I will?”
“Mamm-Wynn is never wrong about these things, child. Now drink that while I pour the rest into a jar for you fetch some eggs to take home to your mamm.”
Image sourced via Google- credits to the owner
Coral McCallum 