Winter came earlier that year. Between the countless hours of tanning the deer hide she had gotten from Loris, and helping her sister move out of their old man’s house, Violet almost didn’t notice. What tipped her off wasn’t the southern migration of the birds that had nested in the upper corner of the shed, nor the footprints in the backyard of the elusive fox that had been spotted in the village a fortnight ago. It wasn’t even the dripping of her kitchen tap that would close up during the colder months and required an annoyingly wet hour of screwing and unscrewing to fix.
It was that damn woman.
Violet had seen her once or twice during the last four days, hanging out by the riverbank and the edges of the pine forest. She could feel her eyes pierce through her while she was dragging her catch of the day back from the pond a few miles from her lodge, observing both her and the salmon hanging from a metal hook sewn into her coat. She had been standing behind a tree, seemingly calculating the benefits of jumping Vi and stealing the fish. Loris had informed her that she had been wandering the streets of the village during dusk, and had asked her if she needed anything.
He had only received a grunt and a sneer.
Violet had laughed so hard in his face when he told her that she stumbled backwards and broke for the second time the chair she was building, and decided that maybe that was a sign from God that she should leave that project to rot.
Now though, a storm was nearing and the woman was standing on Violet's porch. She was sitting on the rocking chair Sev had gotten Violet as a gag when she moved out, and seemed to be enjoying some of the salmon she had left out to dry during the day.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”, asked Violet, squinting at the woman.
“Enjoying the company, what about you?”, she replied, rolling her eyes. She was scantily clad, with the poncho she had been seen wearing draped over her bare knees, leaving her shoulders and collarbone to the elements.
“Very funny, but go bother someone else,” said Vi, unlocking the door. “I know you’ve been around for a while now, so get lost.”
“You are so grumpy, has anyone ever told you that? You’re like an annoyed cat.”
“Well, I’m not the stray here,” Violet mumbled for herself. She turned around. “What are you even doing here, on my porch? Can’t you just leave? And stay away from my salmon! That’s supposed to last me dinner and lunch tomorrow!”
The woman stared at her. Violet raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.
“Does it matter what I’m doing here? Aren’t you gonna invite me in, be a nice host?”
“To you? In your dreams,” Violet laughed, crossing her arms. “I have no idea who you are or what your motives are. For all I know, you are just waiting to rob me and steal whatever valuables you can find. I’ve seen how you watch me-” she leaned in,” as if weighing your options to run away or steal. I ain’t the wisest around here, but I’m not dumb either.”
The woman cocked her head, standing up from the chair. “So you know I’ve been watching you, huh?” She took a few steps forward, swaying her hips as she walked. “Maybe I just wanted to look at you, ever thought of that?”
Violet tensed as the woman started circling around her, before coming to a stop in front of her. She had her arms behind her back and was standing on her toes, looking up at Violet through her bangs. From her posture, Violet could very clearly see below the cleavage from the top, and from the way the woman was looking at her, she knew it too.
“Very cute, cupcake,” Violet hummed, letting a gloved finger brush the woman’s arm, “but I’m not interested in becoming a paying customer. You can go to Sevika’s on the other side of town, I know she frequents your services pretty often. You even look like her type.”
The woman’s smile faded in an instant, and she hit Violet’s hand away. “Fuck you, I’m not some common whore you can pass around.”
“Sure look like it, pressing your lacy tits into my face while asking me to come in. You think I didn’t notice how you have been trying to get me to let you in?”
The woman flushed, her cheeks and neck reddening. “Well I’m sorry to break your little fantasy, but I wouldn’t want you anyway. You seem like you’d be way too rough and never think about me.”
“Oh, I can be plenty sweet cupcake.” Violet looked the woman up and down, scanning her. “Or maybe you’d like me and my ego, who knows.”
The woman laughed. “You’re funny. But I’m not some prostitute you can have your way with, and I don’t wanna stick around and find out the vastness of your ego with you.” She turned around and grabbed her poncho, throwing it over her head and walking past Violet. “Have fun fixing whatevers leaking inside, asshole.” And with that, she stomped away, turning left at the shed and disappearing into the distance.
Violet sighed. This was not how she wanted her first interaction with the woman to go. Whatever. What was done was done. She unlocked the door and entered the house, kicking her boots off and throwing her gloves on a nearby stand. Something in the distance was dripping.
“Fuck! The sink!”
After an annoyingly and unnecessarily wet hour, and another much dryer one by the fireplace had gone by, the wind was starting to pick up. Violet could see the branches of the maples shaking vigorously by the treeline. She opened the backdoor and went out into the backyard, sitting down in the grass.
It was the type of wind that felt cold instantly. It didn’t embrace her, not in the way Vander used to when she and Powder got scared of the lightning. It was colder, harsher, stronger. The hairs on her arms stood up.
The forest was quiet, apart from the howling of the wind. That was never a good sign.
“Bad things to come,” Violet murmured, picking at a straw. WIth a heave, she stood up and turned back inside.
By the time she had gotten the water to boil, the snow had started to fall. At first it fell in heavy clumps, melting almost as soon as it touched ground. Later, it started to form a thin layer of disgusting, dirty slush. Now, that layer of slush was whirling around on her porch, muddying probably everything Violet owned. Meanwhile, the wind had only picked up speed and was now accompanied by distant thunder.
And that’s when she heard it.
It was faint at first, almost non-existent. A normal person wouldn't have heard anything, but Violet had lived in these woods for more than two decades and had spent her whole childhood running around in these very same forests, listening for animals and sounds.
This was different. It wasn't the normal critter or bird thumping against the wooden panels that kept her walls intact. It was something bigger.
Slowly but surely, Violet got up from her armchair. As she neared the door, she made sure to grab the axe she had hanging on the wall. You never know.
As she closed in, the sound only got clearer. And then it stopped. Violet froze. She grabbed a hold of the doorknob, and carefully peeked out.
As far as her eyes could see, the snow dominated. Blurs of white and off-white swirled around in her vision and she could feel her nose and cheeks getting redder by the second. She left the door slightly ajar and stuck her head out, axe in hand in case her visitor was a bear deciding on her as a tasty meal before hibernation.
It was the woman from before.
“Holy mother of god! Get in you bastard!” Violet shrieked, almost throwing the axe away and busting the door open. She grabbed the woman under the armpits and dragged her in, hissing at the coldness of her skin. “Fuckfuckfuckfuck-” she cursed, throwing four more pieces of timber into the fire and hurrying to get every single blanket she could find. The woman was lying in a small puddle of water, her poncho nowhere to be seen and only wearing that damn top and shorts.
Violet got a steadier hold of her this time, carrying her bridal-style to the rug in front of the fireplace that she had decorated with an array of blankets and pillows in a haphazard way of copying a birdnest. She put her down carefully and wrapped the blanket around her, being gentle with every movement and making sure not to startle the woman too much.
Violet stood up and glanced back at the woman before grabbing the boiling water and pouring it into a leather pouch she kept hanging by the stove before refilling the pot again. She closed the lid to the pouch and put it gently in the woman’s lap, gently maneuvering her fingers to lie on top and warm themselves. After that, she backed away, sitting down at a distance to the woman.
“Are you okay?”, she tried to coax a response from her, but nothing. “I’m making some tea, do you want? It’s chamomile, grown in my own yard.” When the woman still said nothing, she decided on giving her the bigger cup; she clearly needed it.
The minutes passed in silence, and Violet watched in somewhat of a trance as the woman seemed to regain both her colour and her will to exist.
As she put the cup of tea in front of the woman, she got her first response: a dart between her eyes and the cup, and trembling fingers reaching out to grab it and take it to her face. She sniffed it, and after apparently deeming it safe for consuming, downed almost the entire drink in one.
“O-oh wow,” Violet said, slightly stunned. “Must be thirsty, huh?”
“Shut up,” the woman rasped, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “I don’t need you to take care of me.”
“It kinda seems like you do, given your current state and all that.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t. So j-just, throw me back into a brothel or something, since that’s clearly where you think my worth lies.”
Violet sighed. “I’m sorry for talking like that to you. It wasn’t very proper of me. I was just… annoyed.” She shuffled down from where she was sitting on her armchair to the floor. “Can we start over? I’m Violet. And you are…?”
“I know who you are. Heard some villagers talking about your sister.” She stared into the fire. “Caitlyn.”
“Well, Caitlyn, a pleasure to meet you. I wish it could have been under better circumstances, but unfortunately you appeared in my first during the break of fall.” Violet chuckled, throwing her head back. What a weird day this was turning out to be.
The woman, Caitlyn, grunted and turned to look around the house.
“I built it myself, y’know,” Violet said absentmindedly, getting up to check on the pot of water. “Together with my old man, of course. Loris helped move the furniture, but you already met him.”
“The big guy with the weird mustache,” Caitlyn huffed. “I recall. What a lug.”
Violet cackled. “Hah! He sure is, but what a sweetheart. Maybe I should visit him when the storm’s over, invite him out for a few drinks at the tavern,” she mused, refilling Caitlyn’s cup with steaming water. “Careful, it’s piping hot.”
“Thank you,” Caitlyn whispered, stirring the leaves at the bottom. She seemed to be entranced by the design of the cup, tracing the colourful lines and characters. “You made this?”
“My sister, actually.” Violet rummaged in a few cabinets before finding the basket of vegetables, and started washing them. “She was always the more, uh, artsy one between us. She helped me decide how to decorate this place, otherwise I’d just be sleeping on the floor with an axe and a few spoons by my side.” She started cutting them up.
“You seem like the type to sleep on a rock, if I have to be honest,” Caitlyn observed, taking a sip of her tea.
The rest of the evening was spent in partial silence, the crackling of the fire and the storm outside making enough. Violet had cut all the vegetables and diced the meat into appropriate pieces for a stew, and was now making an herb blend of all the spices she had been drying during the summer.
Meanwhile, Caitlyn had taken to the armchair and was now curled up with two blankets, dozing off. The warmth radiating from the fire, and the one in her tummy from drinking all that tea had made her pretty sleepy, and Violet almost laughed when she saw her almost curled up in a circle like some sort of rodent.
Two hours later, she awoke Caitlyn from her slumber to announce that dinner was served, and asked her if she wanted to take a seat at the small dining table.
Violet took the empty stare and the unimpressed brow-raise from Caitlyn as a definitive no.
That’s how both women ended up eating warm beaver stew on the floor, alternating between courtesy smalltalk such as how is everything tasting and mind your own business, you pervert.
All in all, a normal conversation.
“So,” Violet asked, throwing another piece of wood into the flames. “You know I have to ask.” Caitlyn grunted, but didn’t say anything else. “What are you doing here?”
“Enjoying the holidays,” she said with a deadpan.
“Caitlyn…”
She sighed. “It’s a long story.” She turned to look at Violet.
“I’ve got time,” she shrugged, taking a bite out of some beef jerky.
Caitlyn brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I-I suppose I got lost, on a trip with my family and all that. I could’ve easily gone back but…” she drifted off, glancing at Violet.
“You didn't?” Caitlyn shook her head. “Why not?”
“I don’t know. It just felt, like, unnecessary, to a certain degree. I wasn’t happy there, and it was so easy to just stop walking and watch them all leave me behind. I don’t even know if they’ve noticed I’m not there.”
Oh boy. “And what are you going to do now?”
Caitlyn shrugged. “Wait out the storm. Probably go back after that, I don’t know.”
“Seems kinda boring,” Violet said, scratching her head.
“Kinda.”
Behind them, the wind roared.
“Take the bedroom, I’ll sleep on the couch. You need to keep warm.” Violet got up and put their empty plates in the sink. “It’s getting late, so we should probably get some shuteye while we’re at it.”
Caitlyn stood up and walked over to where she was standing. “Thank you, really. For all of this. I know I was rude to you earlier, and I have been stalking you this last week. You didn’t have to do all that for some weirdo stranger in the woods.”
Violet grinned, leaning back against the sink and looking at Caitlyn. “No worries, cupcake. I was a bit shaken when you showed up looking like death incarnate on my doorstep, but I’m glad I managed to get some life back into you.” She smiled, tucking one of Caitlyns hair strands behind her ear. “You just get some sleep now, okay?”
Caitlyn laughed. “Yes sir.” With that, she grabbed a handful of pillows and pranced over to the bedroom, slipping Violet a shy smile as she closed the door behind her.
In the kitchen, Violet chuckled.
What a day indeed.
She had only been asleep for a couple of minutes when the door to the bedroom slid open. The fire had almost completely died down, and a thick darkness lay heavy in the cabin.
Caitlyn tiptoed towards the small living room, coming to a stop in front of Violet.
“Need something, cupcake?” She grumbled, eyes still closed. “There’s fresh water in a jar by the bathroom if you’re thirsty.” When Caitlyn didn’t respond, she cracked an eye open.
Caitlyn had gotten rid of her shorts and was wearing one of Violet's old boxer-briefs, and had changed her top out to the one that Violet used to sleep in but had forgotten to take out today before giving her bed away. She looked so small and fragile in those big garments, her pale skin looking almost glassy in the shimmer of light that still shone from the fireplace. Violet almost had to physically fight herself from looking away from Caitlyns chest, where she could very clearly see the small ident of her, obviously perked, nipples.
Violet swallowed. “Everything alright?” she croaked, sounding like a parched baboon.
Caitlyn picked at her leg. “I’m cold.”
“Do you want another blanket?” Violet started getting up, searching for something soft she could give the woman. “I don’t know if I have any more, I could give you my coat-”
“It’s not necessary,” Caitlyn whispered. “Just, uhm…”
“What is it, Cait?” Violet wondered, looking her up and down. She took her arm carefully in her hand. “What do you need?”
A long moment of silence passed, and then-
“Could you, uhm, warm me up?”
“W-what?” Violet froze.
“Just-” Caitlyn guided Violet's hand to her hip, letting it sit tensely above the bone. “Please. I’m cold.”
“O-of course, whatever you need.” Violet's mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour. “How do you want me?”
“I-” Caitlyn’s voice seemed to waver. Suddenly, she was backing away. “Forget it, it’s nothing. I’m going to sleep, goodnight.” And with that, she slammed the door to the bedroom behind her.
Back on the sofa sat Vi, dumbfounded at the whole interaction and with her hand still in the air where Caitlyn’s hip had been a second ago. Slowly, she sank her arm and turned back down into the pillows.
Only an hour later did she get what Caitlyn had been asking of her, and she swore at herself for being so clueless. She had literally teased Caitlyn about being a common whore, and here she was freaking out over touching her hip.
She closed her eyes and told herself she’d talk to Caitlyn in the morning, and tell her she was sorry.
Only that didn’t come, because when Violet woke up it was to the grandfather clock striking four in the afternoon and her cabin empty, aside from her. Sometime in between early morning and afternoon, Caitlyn had taken her clothes and her boots and left, out into the forest that now lay serene and in a dense coat of snow.
Caitlyn had left, and Violet was an absolute idiot for letting her leave like this.
Shit.