They had been there for a while now, about two months. At least he figured it was about that long, because there was no way to know. Nobody went out there, nobody visited, because they all knew who they were.
Forest Folk.
The Forest Folk had been visiting Aldreth for a long time now. The people of Aldreth accepted them without much fuss, offering them quality goods at fair prices, as they would do for any neighbor. The people of Aldreth accepted their business, but never talked to them that much, since they were all fairly closed-mouthed and standoffish. The fact that they knew Forest Folk visited didn't bother people, but to know where a few of them were living now, that scared them. They weren't in the Frontier anymore, they were starting to settle on what they considered the human side of the line separating Sulasia from the Frontier. Their presence, when it was noticed by some kids playing in the woods out that way, sent a storm of worry through the Aldreth folk. They had enough to worry about as it was, with the Goblinoids and the Dal armies that were marching around.
Garyth had had to almost preach to them, reminding them that it was the Forest Folk that had caused the Dal armies to pass them up. Oh, there was a garrison of them in Aldreth, twenty of them, but they didn't bother the villagers. The villagers didn't cause trouble. They just did what they did, and they didn't need all that much supervision. They certainly weren't going to revolt or do anything foolish. So long as they were left alone, things were fine. After all, the Dals wouldn't occupy them forever. Things would go back to normal with time, and the people of Aldreth were a rather patient lot. There had been Goblinoids at first, a large group of them that burned houses and terrorized the villagers, had even killed a few people. But then they simply began to die. One by one at first, then they started dying off in absolute droves. They were all found ripped up, beheaded, torn apart, and the signs were that great beasts were the ones attacking the Goblinoids. Everyone knew that the Goblinoids were terrified of the Frontier, and it wasn't much of a leap to realize that the Forest Folk had taken serious exception to the foul beasties being so close to their territory. After a few hundred of them died, the Dals moved them out, and moved themselves out to boot. They only left that small garrison of second-rate soldiers, men more interested in their tankards than their duties. Although the loss of five villagers to the bloodthirsty pack was a serious blow to the small, tight-knit community, at least the Forest Folk had driven them away before anyone else died.
Garyth wasn't all that sure that they should be afraid of these two. He had watched them for a month now, always being careful never to disturb or upset them, keeping his distance, trying to stay inobtrusive. As village mayor, it was his job to make sure everything was alright with these two, and in a strange way, he worried about them. It was a lone female with a baby, but she looked anything but feminine. She was very, very tall, taller than Tarrin himself, with strange white fur on her arms and legs, big hands and feet that had claws on them, a tail of all things, and triangular, white furry ears poking out of her wild red mane. He never got that close, but even from a distance he could see that she was very pretty. He worried that she lived alone with her baby, a baby he had only seen once, but he was certain that she could protect it. She was femininely shaped, curvy and lithe, but he'd seen her pick up an old wagon by the back axle and drag it from the barn to the woodshed. That woman was strong ! He'd watched her for a while, and she never did anything threatening or dangerous. She just lived there with her baby. It was that simple. She raised some vegetables, and the mother would go out about once every six or seven days and hunt, carrying the infant on her back in a little sling. Aside from that, she never left the farm. She rarely left the house.
He'd only seen that baby girl once, what looked to be about a yearling, with white fur like her mother and strawberry blond hair. The old Kael farm was a good place for her to raise this baby, since it was close to the human luxuries she could get from Aldreth, it was still right on the Frontier, which would give her protection from her own kind, and the farm was a big place with lots of room. He had no idea why she had come here, why she didn't stay in the Frontier. Perhaps she was thrown out. Perhaps she lost her husband, and moved away because the memory of him was too much.
He really didn't know. But he worried about them anyway. He knew he probably didn't have to do it, but he considered these strangers part of the village, since they were living on the old Kael farm.
He certainly hoped they left before Eron and Elke came back. Things would get ugly if Elke found squatters in her home. And he wasn't about to tell them that they were on someone else's land. He wouldn't do anything to make those two mad.
Her presence had upset the village for a while, but they had come to accept the woman's presence with an uneasiness. They forbade the village children from going there, which of course caused them all to just rush over and see for themselves. It had become something of a game of daring for them now, to see who would go furthest into the old farm's land, who would get the closest. From what he heard, Jale Strongoak had went so far as to go into the restored barn, before something spooked him and sent him running in panic.
This day was going to be different. He was carrying a plate of his wife's sweetrolls, and he had no intention of hiding today. It was time to face them, to meet the neighbors. His need to know had overridden his fear of this exotic neighbor, and he thought it was very unneighborly for them to treat the woman like a pariah. If she was brave enough to live on the old farm, then the villagers should be brave enough to take her in.
And so, Garyth Longhshank marched diligently up the old, weed-choked cart path, a plate of cooling sweetrolls in his hands and a resolute look on his face.
His resolve wavered a bit when he made the last turn and found himself facing the farm. It was as he remembered it, except that the months of neglect showed on the buildings that the new tenant didn't use. Instead of keeping up the second barn and the brewhouse, she was simply letting them fall down, but the house itself and the barn she did use were well maintained, clean, neat, and even painted. There were no chickens, no livestock to go with the small vegetable patch not far off from the front porch. That made things seem more out of place.
Swallowing, gathering his courage, Garyth walked into the field holding the farmstead and made his way to the house. He had been in there many times, and he was curious to see how the woman had changed it. He stepped up onto the porch, jumping slightly when the board creaked under him, gritting his teeth as if it would bring Death Herself down on his head. There was an immediate sound from inside, and before he could get to the door to knock, it swung open.
He was awestruck. To see her from a distance was nothing compared to looking up at her so closely! She was so tall! So very tall! And she was beautiful! She had the prettiest face, with strange green eyes that had vertically slitted pupils, like a cat, her expression one of sober interest. He stared up at her for a long moment, unable to speak, then he found his breath and exhaled sharply. "M-Madam," he said uncertainly. "My name is, uh, Garyth. Garyth Longshank. I'm the village mayor. May I speak with you?"