Dear reader, I am finally back from my trip to Larksville! It was such a wonderful time and I am so glad I got to see Auntie Ember and Lettie and Peter, and I have wonderful news. My sister, Lettie, has come to stay with me for a while! What a surprise! When she asked if I would like her company for a while longer I simply couldn’t resist. Although she seems a little… distracted, since we arrived, but I am sure she will feel right at home soon.
But now, dear reader, I want to tell you about the story. You may remember Alexander gave me a new book before I left, one with The Green Children of Woolden inside! Oh goodness it was so exciting to finally have it in my hands, but now… well, I have read the story, and I want to share it with you to see what you make of it. It goes like this:
Once in Woolden there lived a noble man and woman. They had a stately castle and the charge of much land. They were wise and good, hardworking, and all the people loved them, but they were sad because they had no children of their own. One day as the man was out riding, he found a boy and a girl alone in the woods. They had skin as green as grass, and leaves and flowers grew from the top of their heads like hair. The man thought they must be faeries and was scared that they might play a trick on him, but seeing as their clothes were in rags and they had no place to go, he brought them home.
The children stayed with the couple, who raised them as their own. But the brother and sister were very odd. They ate no food and did not speak, but they were good and sweet children, so their mother and father could not complain. However the villagers kept their distance because the children’s appearance was so strange.
A few years later, the farmers found they could no longer grow anything in the soil and a terrible famine fell upon the land. In secret the sister said to her brother, “We must do something about this, for though the people are wary of us, it is our duty to care for the village. Perhaps if we help, they will mistrust us no longer.” So they went out into the fields and cried, and wherever their tears fell, crops shot up ready for harvest. In this way there was food enough for all and the people did not go hungry.
When their father and mother saw this, they asked how such a miracle had come to pass. The green brother and sister spoke and said that they had come from the forest, a land of the faeries where all the plants and animals sparkle and glow. They had come to the couple as a reward for all their hard work and kindness.
A prince was passing by and when he heard of the wonder that had taken place in Woolden and of the green brother and sister, he was amazed. He became a dear friend of the family and in time made the green sister his bride. The noble man and his wife lived a long and happy life, for now not only did they have children, but their children had grown up to make them very proud indeed.
And that is it, dear reader. What do you think? It seems very odd to me, and there are quite a few things that do not seem to match at all. My tears certainly can’t make anything grow! …and while I do have green skin, my hair is quite regular, no leaves and flowers. Do you suppose the marks on my ears and hands count? And it says here that the brother and sister did not speak or eat food. Auntie Ember says I was very quiet when she found me, but I can speak as well as any now. I guess the brother and sister do talk later on in the tale. But no eating?! Goodness, I love to cook and enjoy all sorts of food. Lettie asked me if I remember a glowing faery land, but truth is I can hardly recall a thing from when I was that young! I remember trees… and grass… and playing with Lettie, but nothing else. Auntie Ember says I did not even know my own name; she is the one who called me Sonya. Oh, it is such a strange story, and it seems the only similarities we share are the forest and green skin. But who knows, perhaps there are other clues I am missing, and there is more to be found. Anyway, until then, my sister is here with me and I intend to enjoy our time together.