The cool air had begun to set in around the edges of the daytime hours. Night crept in and stole the rays of early morning sunlight to create the twilight. Marganita was groggy and negligent in her actions as she foraged in the woods. Marguerite was nearby doing the same, but watchful and confident. Back with the herd, their mother and younger sister were sleeping with the basket, their bodies sandwiching it with their warmth.
Things had changed a little between the two sisters after Marganita had brought home the basket the other day. Twins, they would always be close on some level, but they had different, clashing, ideas that usually made their rapport shaky at best. But the past several days had shown Marganita that Marguerite genuinely cared for her and was willing to be less pushy and lecturing to show it. It was... touching.
The twins wore bags strapped around and behind their shoulders where they could reach. In those bags went the forage: herbs, delicious nutritious leafy greens, grasses, and berries. Marganita looked up with a gentle smile as she gazed over some underbrush at her sister.
They both tensed when they heard a rhythmic thumping and several snapped twigs. A quick "didn’t do it" look at each other and they shot back toward the sound. Marganita's jaw dropped when she saw a great stag in the distance. Little more than a silhouette, he was partially shrouded by the morning fog. They did not want any trouble so they finished up and trotted along the wooded path.
The vision of the reindeer stayed with the sisters. He seemed huge with that great rack of antlers. And his fur was bleeding-red with white spots. He was unmistakable, and should they see him again they would recognize them instantly.
Instantly, it would happen, Marganita recognized the stag later on that day. It was just too eerie how he slowly oozed out from the mists of the forest as if the fog itself did not want to let him go. And he was close. Too close. She reared up with a whinny and flared her batlike wings. The stag spooked and was gone.
"Marganita! You scared both of us!"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. He was so close I could feel his breath on me." Warm and gentle, the pulse of his breathing had been even and strong. "But, now that I think about it," she continued uncertainly, "he didn't seem like he had any bad intentions."
Nervously, Marguerite shivered. "Maybe. But I think we should head home. It's safer."
"No, I don't want to lead him back to the herd and my foal. It was hard enough to part with one of my children, I won't do it again!" Marganita flared.
"Okay, okay. Fold your wings. We'll stay." Marguerite shared a worried look with her sister and they went back to foraging, this time for shrubs and trees instead of things on the ground. It would give them better angle of sight. Nothing would sneak up on them!
The day ebbed away with the fog. The forest remained cool in the shade but warm in the sunlight. There were no more sightings, so they agreed that he likely had left their area. So they headed home.
Along the way home, a visitor joined their party. At the back, this stranger went undetected until Marguerite noticed that their shadows made three. Three shadows? She reared back and found the stag following along behind Marganita. He was clearly on her open side, as if looking out for her safety. Nevertheless, the stag reared up himself and they began a staring match. But nobody won because Marganita stepped between them.
"Stop this, both of you." Surprisingly, both the stag and her sister listened. "Why are you following... me?" She had no idea that two familiars could be with a soquili, so it never entered into her mind that he might indeed be there for her.
But no. The stag merely smiled.
"Do you understand my words?"
He nodded his head, and again he smiled gently, patiently.
"Do you want to come with us?" Marganita asked.
Again the rack bobbed, and the reindeer's big ears flopped forward and back ever so slightly.
Marganita exchanged a look with her sister. Do you think we should let him? she thought, as if her sister could hear her.
But Marguerite was perceptive and intelligent. She could read her sister's body language. Unfortunately it did not help with this decision. She smiled and shrugged. Perhaps he had a reason to meet the herd.
Marganita sighed. "Okay, you can come with us."
The stag followed along at Marganita's side until they returned to the herd. Many horses gathered to see the rare sight: a reindeer had come from far in the north to visit. Nobody knew his goal, nor his purpose. Not, that is, until he saw the basket.
The reindeer trotted lightly over to the basket. His weight seemed not to bend the grass at all. When he reached the basket, which in itself unnerved the mother, he lay down in the grass with his split hooves folded beneath his body. And from there he watched the goings on with great alertness.
"He's... my child's familiar?" Marganita asked incredulously.
But that seemed to be the case, and though she kept a close eye on the two for several days and more, never once did the stag do anything to raise her alarm. He was just calmly watched over the basket, eyes searching and ears swiveling. Eventually the herd and Marganita came to accept his presence. He became like family and he never once spoke a word. Perhaps he would speak for the child. Only time would tell.
Word Count: 961
