Nestled near the groves of a kindly empire was an ivy-covered, stucco cottage. Within it, lived a traditional country family whose fifteen-year-old daughter was pleasantly charming. Her name was Nore.

There was nothing unusual about her young life. She attended school; she helped with simple farm chores and daily cares; she had many suitors(1), fell in love, and eventually married as all young ladies her age were want to do.

Visiting a bordering village, she attended a party at the home of her aunt, her father�s sister, Tess. Attending the party was a young gentleman of twenty years, a member of the Royal Navy. She was love-struck.

His name was Will.

Tall, thin, blonde, green-eyed, he was extremely well mannered. He winked at her and struck up a conversation. She knew not to flirt and carried her side of the dialogue with charm and poise. They parted that evening, with his promise to keep in touch.

With his naval service ended the following year, Will kept his promise, as all gentlemen should, and visited her often. He would ring her up or just sit with her well into the night on the front porch swing. Years of friendship passed with many happy and memorable times.

A close, familial relationship developed between Nore and Will. They would do anything for each other.

Nore grew restless. Many of her friends already were married and starting families of their own. That was the life she wanted, a simple wish. There were never any proposals offered from Will.

Nore was now twenty and a student at the University. A proposal of marriage was forthcoming from another gentleman acquaintance whom Nore formed a grand liking to at the school. He, like Will, was of the Royal Service.

His name was Hugh.

Hugh and Will became friends. They were as different from each other as the Sky and the Sea. They were both exceptional men in their own right.

News about their betrothal(2) spread like a wildfire throughout the countryside. Some were puzzled that the gentleman chosen was not Will.

Hugh and Nore were married in the clearing beyond the glen as the Moon rose over harvested fields. What a joyous occasion it was with family and friends circled and singing around them.

Will was invited but did not attend the feast. He had sent his apologies by messenger. Nore didn�t believe his excuse for an instant but she returned a kind reply.

Will would have laughed when Nore tripped over the broom(3)! He had helped her practice the feat to perfection.

The young couple purchased a cottage outside of the city, along the hill. Years passed and the couple started their family.

Over the span of thirteen years, Nore gave birth to three children, two daughters, and a son.

Hugh was a hard worker, a smithy(4) to the local gentry. Nore stayed at home with the children and taught at the village school when the schoolmaster(5) was ill. Being a skilled instructor and lecturer, she was quite knowledgeable in the sciences. Nore was one descended from the Witan(6) who still practiced openly in the village. The elderly town folk loved her dearly because she remembered the formulas for the old-fashioned medicines and elixirs. She was always busy.

There was nothing unusual about their life. It was a normal one for the times. There was always enough bread, butter, and coins in the coffer(7).

Will visited Nore, Hugh, and the children often over many years.

The children considered him a member of the family. He loved to tease them. He would bring gifts and flowers on birthdays and special occasions. Will would put in a call almost weekly to make sure all was well. One time, after Hugh was injured and could not work for several weeks, Will paid all of the family�s expenses. That�s the kind of man Will was.

On occasion, Nore would play at matchmaker. Spells and potions failed to assist in finding a mate for Will. He knew his mind.

Nore hadn�t heard from Will in quite a long while. She knew his mother had been ill. Nore had visited �Mum� but he was not there. She thought it impolite to question the elderly woman.

Nore heard from others in the village that he had gone away. She thought that quite unusual. He would always bid her, Hugh, and the children farewell and let them know where he could be reached. She became concerned but not overly so.

Several weeks passed and Will�s sister, Maura, paid a visit. The news she carried was both wonderful and shocking.

Will had been keeping company with a woman of his age over the last few months. Maura, �Mum�, and the family didn�t hear of this or their marriage immediately because the woman did not convert to the �Church of the King�(8) as Will�s family had two generations ago. Nore and Maura knew that had �Mum� caught wind of any of this, there would have been much said.

Religious arguments did not concern Nore or Will�s sister; they were two of the few trailblazers in the village, quite freethinking for their time. Both realized that harsh criticisms ran rampant within the small town when it came to spiritual paths.

Nore understood the situation and was happy for Will.

Maura went on to say that Will �joined with her�(9) in a private ceremony. Her family was with them. Will says they are wonderful people.

Nore swallowed hard but smiled. She felt a bit foolish, being a married woman with children.

She reacted in this way because� Will had promised her so long ago that, �You�ll see, someday we�ll sit together on the porch swing well into our old age and kiss beneath the Moon.� That was what Nore was thinking about. This would be the first promise Will would need to break. Nore needed to let go of her feelings for Will.

�What is her name?� asked Nore.

�It�s Frey and she reminds me of you.� said Maura.

�Frey(10)! Such a mystical name. I like it! I take it she�s of the Old Faith like my �Da�(11) was?� questioned Nore

�Exactly the same, from the Saxons(12). So they�re keeping it quiet.� said Maura, looking a bit upset, despite her own modern convictions.

�Oh, Maura. Who are we to judge? We cannot help whom we fall in love with, although some people these days say we must. I wish people around here would stop their prejudices(13) against each other. It�s disheartening(14). I am sure Frey is a fine woman. Will would not have chosen her otherwise.� jabbered Nore.

�You�re so right. Thank you for your kind words. I need to get back to mother. She�s still a bit under the weather.� chatted Maura as she bid Nore well.

As Maura waved from the crossroads(15) she yelled, �I just wanted you to know.�

Nore waved back, closed the door, patted her red apron, and sighed.

When Will and Frey returned to the outskirts of the village to put up housekeeping, Nore visited and bestowed to them and their new home a customary blessing in the manner �Da� had taught her. Frey was delighted with Nore�s charm and acceptance.

Nore did not visit them again.

Over the years, Nore and her family saw Will and Frey only a few times. Nore felt uncomfortable being near Will now, though there was no true reason for it. Will still tried to remain friends with Nore but realized her wariness. Will knew Nore�s heart quite well.

Life went on.

Hugh and Nore raised their family and helped their grand-families well into the new century. Through good times and bane(16), they were blest in their simple life and by those who knew them.

Reaching his eighty-fifth birthday, Hugh became extremely ill during that Summer. Nore knew his breathing had been affected over the years from all of the soot and ash he had breathed in from the castfires(17) which he worked for so many years. He passed on during that Autumn, leaving her in their memory-filled, ivy-covered cottage. She was saddened but knew that this life ends as another begins(18).

Friends visited her often, with the exception of one. His name was Will.

A year and a day passed(19).

One cold, Sunday afternoon in late November Nore was at the stove making her favorite vegetable chowder. As it was simmering, she began to light a fire in the small wood stove. She sprinkled the logs with lavender she had dried before Hugh�s passing and made her customary wish for luck. The fire grew warm, bright, and ever sweet. She went back to the stove and stirred the soup.

The door chime rang. She patted her red apron and walked toward the door. As she began to open the door, a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses entered. Nore�s heart soared. She knew it was Will. Besides Hugh, only Will would remember her favorite flowers.

Opening the door full open, he stood in front of her, smiling. In her mind�s eye, he was as impressive as ever. He was a bit shorter, thin, no longer blonde, with spectacled green eyes. Ever the gentleman, he asked if he could come in. He was a handsome man of eighty-six, a seasoned veteran of the Royal Navy, a retired banker. He winked, she smiled, and they talked well into the night after dining on chowder and potato pie.

Will spoke well of Frey. He did not dwell on her illness or the details of her passing. He said they had a fine life together for which he would always be grateful. She bore them no children. The house they lived in was too large for him to care for alone. From its sale, he built a financial nest. He now was living at the Manyard Inn.

As early evening turned toward night, Will bid Nore farewell with the promise to visit soon.

They strolled, arm-in-arm, out onto the old porch and sat down on the cushioned swing. Will placed his arm around her shoulders, to ward away the chill. Nore reached for the quilted coverlet for their laps. They sat there, silently cozy(20), gazing into the darkness.

Time came for Will to return to the Inn.

He cupped Nore�s chin with his warm hands. Ever so gently, he kissed her forehead. She blushed.

The Sky slowly filled with stars as the Blue Moon(21) appeared on the horizon. Winter would arrive soon. The next First Quarter(22) would embrace the Sun�s new light(23).

Will left after thanking Nore for an enjoyable day.

She watched him walk past the crossroads out toward town, until she could no longer see his silhouette(24).

Nore turned around and closed the door. She blew out the parlor lamps and sat alone by the fire until the last sweet-scented ember faded.

Her feelings were bittersweet(25). She thought of Hugh and the children and a life well lived; she thought of Will; she hoped�

As she ascended the stairs, she closed the shutter on the hall window.

Entering her bedchamber, she gazed out of the window toward the Inn. She crossed her fingers, wished on the North Star, and blew out the lamp. On this night, she left the shutter open.

Getting into bed, she glanced at the picture of Hugh, enveloped in the glistening light of the Moon.

She picked up the silver-framed photo. �I don�t know how he knew you were gone but I do know that you�re the angel who brought him here. You always knew he was my first love. Somehow, you always knew��

Kissing her cherished photo, she wiped away a happy tear. Wrapping the image in a green velvet cloth, she tied it with a yellow ribbon and placed it in her memory chest(26).

The chapel bell was sounding midnight.

She purified the chamberstick with jasmine oil and said a night prayer as she fell into sleep. The burning candle welcomed the light of a new day.

A blessed night it had been! One of promises remembered, promises fulfilled, and promises made anew.

As the Moon continues through Her ageless phases, love lives, as the Seasons of Life, without end.

For the Month of the Blue Moon
(This story honors the Blue Moon of the year 2001 and a very special friend.)

WORD LIST FOR THIS STORY

(1)SUITORS - boyfriends

(2)BETROTHAL - promise of marriage

(3)"jumping the broom" - a Western European custom for good luck

(4) SMITHY - a blacksmith; usually skilled at making useful items from iron

(5) SCHOOLMASTER - sometimes called a Headmaster; Modern use: principal of a school

(6) WITAN - the wise ones of the Old Religion; advisors to the King

(7) COFFER - a small container, usually crafted of metal, in which money and/or other valuables are hidden

(8) "CHURCH OF THE KING" - the Anglican Church; in general, Christianity

(9) 'JOINED WITH HER' - a handfasting; a wedding ceremony of the Old Religion

(10) FREY(A) - Goddess of the Saxons; Freya

(11) 'DA' - her Father

(12) SAXONS - the 'old' Germans

(13) PREJUDICE - suspicion or hatred of other races, creeds, occupations, etc...because they are different than our own

(14) DISHEARTENING - upsetting

(15) CROSSROADS - indicating the meeting of four small roads

(16) BANE - not so good times

(17) CASTFIRES - fires used to heat iron

(18) ...this life ends as another begins - in the Old Religion, the belief in a personal incarnation to live on Earth again; in Christianity, the belief in the Eternal Life of Heaven

(19) ...a year and a day - traditionally, the time we need to honor those who have died and visit their resting places as often as possible(time of mourning)

(20) COZY - relaxed and comfortable

(21) BLUE MOON - the second Full Moon of a particular month (there is a Full Moon every 28 1/4 days)

(22) FIRST QUARTER - a phase of the Moon

(23) Sun's new light - represents the Winter Solstice when the days become longer as Earth moves toward Spring

(24) SILHOUETTE - a dark image against a light background

(25) BITTERSWEET - mixed feelings

(26) MEMORY CHEST - a small cupboard, or a drawer, where cherished mementos are reverently placed; mementos are usually wrapped in a traditional way

SableHawk
� 2001. All rights reserved.
The Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. 20559
USA

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