Blood and Clay Read Free Page B

before pressing them into
the clay images. I leaned closer to try and see what the cuttings were but I
was too far away. Then their hoods fell away and I caught a glimpse of their
faces. Mam turned towards where I stood as if she had heard me.
    I
held my breath and shot back behind the tree, hoping not to be seen. I was
terrified that even the slightest breath would give me away. I didn ’ t want to let them know I ’ d been spying on them. I had never
seen anything like this ritual, they said I was too stupid to be taught this
stuff yet, but I remembered now having seen tiny clay dolls like those before
around the house. Dolls of blood and clay designed to cause pain and death.

 
    I
left the safety of my shelter behind the tree and moved slowly away, retracing
my steps to try and get away from the clearing unnoticed. My progress was slow
but silent until there was a small snap. A twig broke. It scratched the soft
spot in the arch of my foot and I squealed in pain before I could stop myself.
Gran whipped around. And her and Mam stood staring at the exact spot where I
stood but I was too far away for them to see properly.

 
    “ Who is it? ” screeched Mam in a high pitched grating voice “ We heard you. Show yourself. ”
     
    I
began to breathe quick panting gasps. I was trapped between being frozen to the
spot and wanting to run as fast as I could. Mam ’ s temper was something I didn ’ t want to have to face. She flew into
white hot rages sometimes and she had bruised me bad more than once for a lot
less than this. Then Gran began to speak in a hissing, croaking voice which
sounded like a whisper but was unbearably clear.

 
    “ Come out now and it will be the better for you. We will
send you away merely with a limp or the loss of an eye. Stay where you are and
we will catch you anyway and then I cannot guarantee that you will make it away
alive. ”

 
    Mam
was bad but Gran was worse. She was cold and cruel in her punishments and I did
not doubt she had caused deaths before. I had waited in terror for years for
the day when I angered her enough for a doll to be made of me. I tried to
figure out what to do. If I moved, even if I ran, I would give away where I was
and they would catch me... If I stayed where I was it would only be a few
moments before they were upon me. If I went to them willingly; then what?
Perhaps that was my best option. Surely they wouldn ’ t really lame me or take an eye when
they knew it was me but still the beating I might get would be bad.The decision
was made for me. Before I could move they were moving, closing in on me fast
despite their ages. They seemed to scurry at an inhuman pace, their feet hidden
by their long layered skirts.

 
    When
they first started towards me they seemed to be bent double and unable to walk
properly but the closer they got the straighter their backs became and the
faster their feet scurried until they were all of a sudden right in front of
me. I let out a small scream of surprise before I could stop it then felt Gran ’ s bony knotted knuckles as she
pressed her hand over my mouth, pushing hard until my teeth bit into my lip and
warm blood trickled over my tongue, pooling in the gaps between my teeth and
gums. Their breath was hot on my face as they stood close, only slightly taller
than me but their presence was so filled with rage that I found I couldn ’ t move. The smell of rotten fruit and
meat came from the mouths and they were now so close to my face that I could
see the brown and blackened teeth and the cracked flaking lips that surrounded
them. I stared at the mouths, unable to look away.

 
    “ You! ”   Screeched Mam as
she jabbed a gnarled finger at my face. I flinched but forced my gaze up
towards the faces. Gran ’ s eyes stared back at me unseeing and milky white but still
staring right at the spot where I was rooted. Mam ’ s eyes were mismatched both in colour
and in the directions they rolled. I stared back then finally