This week, Madison Woods’ photo prompt for Friday Fictioneers sent me back to the Middle Ages for a quiet little love story, as the young people of an ordinary village scatter through the woods to gather ripe berries…
Summer Love
Elaine pushed into the brambles, ignoring thorns. She’d be covered with scratches when Dickon joined her, but they’d be private for once.
Her hands busily picked berries, one for her, two for the basket… The berries were sweet, sweet as Dickon’s kisses. She would feed him one and tell him so.
Somewhere nearby a girl giggled. “Nobody will see us here!” Matilda’s voice. What was she doing? Flirting with a knight? He’d desert her. Elaine peered through the branches.
Matilda. And Dickon. No!
But he was hers, Elaine’s. They were betrothed; their parents would see to that. She smiled slowly. He couldn’t escape.
Thorns raked her, unheeded.
A Number of Things 
Interesting how she reacts to Dickon’s wandering! As if all that matters is that she gets him in the end. I guess it’s similar to the way she doesn’t feel the thorns. Nice descriptions, and good voice throughout!
Brian (http://pinionpost.com/2012/06/29/the-tenants/)
Yes – that’s what makes her (I think) an interesting character. Thank you!
So cute!!
Xoxo
Thanks!
Ooh, that slow smile. And completely understandable that she would not heed the thorns.
–Jan
I don’t think she can risk letting herself feel them…she probably has more thorns to come in this relationship! But yes, she has her own defenses ready 🙂
This reminds me of how we always rushed to announce our engagements in the newspapers because, once it was published, the man couldn’t back out. Only the girl could break off her engagement. If he did, he could be sued for “breach of promise”. It seems like a few centuries ago, now.
Our world changed completely sometime between 1965 and 1975, I think. Not that it hasn’t kept changing steadily since then. 😉
Nice. 🙂 Elaine sounds like a bit of a scary character—and I’m really curious to know what is so darn attractive about Dickon that makes her instantly okay with his indiscretion. I loved that you used “raked” in the last line, since Dickon seems a bit of a rake himself.
Glad you like it! As for what’s attractive about Dickon – well, it’s the middle ages, around 1200 or 1300. If you take a look at Chaucer, you’ll notice how many young girls were stuck with old husbands – so Elaine feels very lucky to be all set to marry a young, handsome guy. Also, Dickon must be quite a charmer to con Matilda into the woods when she knows (everybody in the village knows) that he’s legally tied to Elaine (betrothal in those days was not a casual thing).
But with all that said, yes, Elaine scares me a bit too.
Hell hath no fury…
http://logo-ligi.com/2012/06/28/w-m-d/
Oh, Elaine doesn’t get mad. She gets even. 😉
The passive-aggressive type, uh?
More aggressive than passive – it’s just that she didn’t know she had anything to be aggressive about until now!
Oh dear!
Yes. All three of them are going to find their lives taking a turn for the worse – Elaine might possibly come out best since she’ll be planning what happens, but on the other hand maybe she’ll drive Dickon and Matilda closer together…I haven’t thought out their personalities enough to know how they’ll respond.
Maybe she will just poke him in the eye and walk off
😀 😀
I like it. Using her brain instead of something else. A shame that she’ll be shackled to him for the rest of her life. Unless she takes some other action. Interesting. Thanks for commenting on mine.
Thank you! Actually, my first thought was to end with her just shocked and suffering. But she’s a person who does things to get what she wants – arranging to meet Dickon among the berries, for instance. So I decided to figure out how she would react after the first instant of surprise – and she still wants him, but he’s going to pay.
A bittersweet tale!
Very much so!