Page 13 of A Mutual Accord

CHAPTER 12

S trathpeffer, Scotland - 1129 AD

In a small village in the highlands, a group of Gaelic-speaking peasants gathered around a stone. Sticking at least four feet out of the ground, there were ancient carvings in the stone of an eagle, with an arch, or perhaps a horseshoe, above it.

There had been sickness in the village, and each time the small community attempted to return to their usual habits, another case of plague would turn up. Theirs was a small community, but in the last months it had been reduced by more than half.

A man dressed all in black stood behind the stone, speaking ancient words and praying ancient prayers, in a dialect of Gaelic so old, even the oldest amongst them barely understood it.

At length, the man in black led the villagers to the well, and encouraged them to drink from it. Bucket after bucket was drawn, the villagers drank heavily, and at the man’s demands, began to bathe themselves, and each other, in the icy water.

Some time later, the villagers realised that the man in black’s instructions had ceased, and that he had disappeared, seemingly right before their very eyes. A debate rang out – was he a healer? Could he have been one of the fae? Half of the village was of the belief that he had been an angel, and the rest were convinced he had been a demon, or some such evil entity.

Those who believed that the man in black was a good man, sent to help them, brought their families to the well, bade them drink and bathe, and found themselves inexplicably cured.