this last statement. There was a growing fear, in addition to a great swell of joy and excitement for what the man would offer the community. Perhaps he would teach children some magic he learned from the interior of the Forbidden Forest, some thought. This was both a good thing and terrible thing, depending on the perspective one assumed.
Elsa stood at the back of the meeting hall, watching Chloe and Sarah squeal with delight. Priscilla, sitting next to them, looked back at Elsa, her face conveying all the fear about what the red ivy meant. Elsa herself worried what would happen if the rest of the town found out Sarah and Chloe idolized the man. He was dangerous to such young girls, particularly those prone to fantastical imaginings and exciting themselves with secrets. Elsa reached down in her pocket, gripping some wad of cloth with the red ivy, having confiscated it from the girls. Standing there in the crowd, seemingly anonymous, Elsa could feel a spotlight on her, someone looking down on her from on high, and she became suspicious the people around her, without voicing their insight, knew her secret, that she was becoming infatuated for this dear blond man whom she had never spoken a word to. That forbidden desire was growing from the interior of her heart, no matter how long or hard she struggled against it, and it would burst forth any second to take hold of her. Her heart was set ablaze by a mysterious and inexplicable tug toward that man from the moment she set her eyes on him, and this was something Elsa had never experienced. She became afraid, almost as fearful as Lili herself, that she had summoned an evil from that terrifying forest into her soul, a sickness she could never rid herself of, because she opened the door through some weakness in her personality. That she would seek the blond stranger out to keep for her own, before she knew how or why, terrified Elsa, as the emotion pulled her into action, overriding any conscious thought, in the way someone might feel when they were possessed by an evil spirit, as it took control of their soul. She prayed God would give her the strength to resist the longing for the blond man growing more powerful with every passing second, and yet grieved for the possibility as well, for this passion presented a new side to life with which she had heretofore been unfamiliar. So Elsa stood there, surrounded by scores of people, yet completely alone, resolved to avoid the blond man's cabin, while at the same time scheming a way to get as close to him as possible.
CHAPTER 7
The leaders of the community kept the blond man locked away for several weeks in a cabin by the cliff, near the sea. The house Father O'Grady offered to give him was once occupied by the oldest living member of the community, long since passed, before Elsa was born. She surmised it could have been the blacksmith who followed his children into the forest, in the hopes he could bring them back, the same man Elsa's father told her about when she was just a little kid.
The blond man didn't emerge from the cabin for days, while several village leaders guarded his door, lest the young girls like Chloe and Sarah meddle into his cabin at night, and disturb his sleep. The whole town united in solidarity in protecting the blond man, spurred by Father O'Grady, from any perturbation. Father O'Grady counseled anyone who would listen, both on Sundays in his time at the lectern and on the sidewalk as he came from his home to work every day, about the importance to letting the man be. The man gave every indication that he wasn't wanted by the community, that they would reject or ostracize him. O'Grady also made it clear to the town's people that the man would warm up to the people in time, as he promised he had no plans to inflict harm on his neighbors.
In the weeks since the announcement, the man's residence sat atop a steep hill, overlooking the sea on one side, and on the other side, a wide
Elsa stood at the back of the meeting hall, watching Chloe and Sarah squeal with delight. Priscilla, sitting next to them, looked back at Elsa, her face conveying all the fear about what the red ivy meant. Elsa herself worried what would happen if the rest of the town found out Sarah and Chloe idolized the man. He was dangerous to such young girls, particularly those prone to fantastical imaginings and exciting themselves with secrets. Elsa reached down in her pocket, gripping some wad of cloth with the red ivy, having confiscated it from the girls. Standing there in the crowd, seemingly anonymous, Elsa could feel a spotlight on her, someone looking down on her from on high, and she became suspicious the people around her, without voicing their insight, knew her secret, that she was becoming infatuated for this dear blond man whom she had never spoken a word to. That forbidden desire was growing from the interior of her heart, no matter how long or hard she struggled against it, and it would burst forth any second to take hold of her. Her heart was set ablaze by a mysterious and inexplicable tug toward that man from the moment she set her eyes on him, and this was something Elsa had never experienced. She became afraid, almost as fearful as Lili herself, that she had summoned an evil from that terrifying forest into her soul, a sickness she could never rid herself of, because she opened the door through some weakness in her personality. That she would seek the blond stranger out to keep for her own, before she knew how or why, terrified Elsa, as the emotion pulled her into action, overriding any conscious thought, in the way someone might feel when they were possessed by an evil spirit, as it took control of their soul. She prayed God would give her the strength to resist the longing for the blond man growing more powerful with every passing second, and yet grieved for the possibility as well, for this passion presented a new side to life with which she had heretofore been unfamiliar. So Elsa stood there, surrounded by scores of people, yet completely alone, resolved to avoid the blond man's cabin, while at the same time scheming a way to get as close to him as possible.
CHAPTER 7
The leaders of the community kept the blond man locked away for several weeks in a cabin by the cliff, near the sea. The house Father O'Grady offered to give him was once occupied by the oldest living member of the community, long since passed, before Elsa was born. She surmised it could have been the blacksmith who followed his children into the forest, in the hopes he could bring them back, the same man Elsa's father told her about when she was just a little kid.
The blond man didn't emerge from the cabin for days, while several village leaders guarded his door, lest the young girls like Chloe and Sarah meddle into his cabin at night, and disturb his sleep. The whole town united in solidarity in protecting the blond man, spurred by Father O'Grady, from any perturbation. Father O'Grady counseled anyone who would listen, both on Sundays in his time at the lectern and on the sidewalk as he came from his home to work every day, about the importance to letting the man be. The man gave every indication that he wasn't wanted by the community, that they would reject or ostracize him. O'Grady also made it clear to the town's people that the man would warm up to the people in time, as he promised he had no plans to inflict harm on his neighbors.
In the weeks since the announcement, the man's residence sat atop a steep hill, overlooking the sea on one side, and on the other side, a wide
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