6/29/19 the gossip led to

The Gossip leads us out of town boundaries, into the forest, looking for the well. She is short, as tall as me when I was ten, but strong and sturdy as gnarled roots crawling up and out of the earth. Her woolen clad form marches us forward as determinedly and purposefully as a turtle begun its pilgrimage. Focused, straight line, following a path of energetic bylines nobody can see and probably only she can sense by being so close to the ground. A twig snaps under my foot and I stumble slightly, mostly surprised by the sudden sound of it, sharp and cracking into the dark quiet around us. I regain my footing quickly but still glance up warily, making quick eye contact with Ian, who is grinning wryly. “Step on a crack?” he whispers out of the corner of his mouth. “Shut up” I snap, just as softly, elbowing my brother in the ribs out of reflex. My eyes fly to the bonnet-ed head of the Gossip marching in front of us, trying to detect if she had heard anything. “Fucking bonnet,” I mutter to myself for the thousandth time. Did she really have to go full Gossip regalia? Last year her hair tumbled down her back and her step was lighter, and she always kept track of us behind her. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t looked back once in the past hour. I glance over at Ian again, my eyebrows raised, and he shrugs, helplessly, then holds back a branch that would’ve snapped back and whipped me in my distraction. “It takes longer every year,” he says, a little louder than before, but still so quiet that she couldn’t hear.“The well must be getting deeper, and harder to find.”

“That, and she’s getting more and more full,” I murmur, agreeing.