"Silly! I'm not saying to burn the forest. I'm just thinking that we dig and see if something evil might be buried here, and if it is dangerous like it seems to be we destroy it. We have to stop whatever is causing the black dead stuff!"
Jewel tries to stop Clara from touching the black area (but apparently was surprised since she didn't think anyone would) "Don't touch it! It might spread to you! And adding curing magic to necromancy might be like pouring oil on flame. Let's go get a shovel!
"Wait, who wants to start a fire? Fires are fun!" Clara voices her opinion on the topic.
But to pass the time until someone decides what to burn and how, she goes to the tool box they brought. Rummaging through it she produces a trowel. "That will do."
She walks back to the black spot and starts digging, carelessly throwing the dirt from the black patch in the area besides it.
"Be careful with that dirt!! You don't want to let it hit you! and we don't want to grow the patch"
Digging with that small tool is not getting you real progress. And the afternoon becomes evening already. And no one feels like staying close to the patch in the dark. Together with a growling stomach there are enough reasons to go back to the village.
Once they notice the daylight dimming indicating evening Jewel wraps the blacked stick and bug in a cloth to take back home. "I think we should go to our house. They're farmers and might've seen something like this before. If not, they might know who better to ask. ??"
"We can ask them first, then ask mom if your parents don't know what to do"
"Oh, we got guests this evening?" Shelly asks as the kids come storming into the house.
Clara makes a detour to their own house. "Mom, can I take some sausages to the Branstons? We're visiting them for supper."
"Hello darling. Sure." Gertrud replies. She cuts half a dozen dried sausages off that are hanging on a stick.
Clara grabs the sausages and runs off. "Thanks mom." she calls back.
Jewel runs in with the stick and bug in her rag. When her mom asks about guests for dinner she remembers.... manners.
"Hi Mom. Oh right. Can Clara and Tarjun have dinner with us? Hey, where'd Clara go? And Mom, where's Dad? We found something strange in the woods out by the old shrine and it looks, ah strange. Thought he might've seen it as it's damage to some plants and a bug."
Clara bolts into the room where the other kids are standing, almost running into Jewel. "Hi miss Branston. I brought sausages." she proudly tells. She pants heavily from the running.
"Hello. Yes, take a seat. Will will be here soon. Supper is almost ready." Shelly replies.
"But I'm not sure all our guests will like it. Because it has lots of vegetables in it and no meat." she tells, with a smirk at Clara.
"Sure. There are some cherries. But they are for all and for desert." Shelly stops Tarjun as he already wanted to go after the sweets.
Jewel waits until Will gets to the table. "Dad. We were out by the old shrine and there's something wrong with an area of the ground there. It's a black spot and the plants there are dead and black.And there was a bug on one of the sticks. It was dying, and when I tried to use magic to keep it alive it just made it worse. I got some of the sticks and the caterpillar wrapped up in a rag over by the door. I was wondering if you've ever seen or heard of anything like it in the fields? I'm worried that it might spread. Maybe after supper you can look at it?"
"I'll look now." Will replies and goes to pick up the stuff at the door. He comes back and puts it on the table, unfolding the rag.
"Is that it? Is this some kind of prank? You burned it, didn't you?"
Jewel looks around confused. "Prank? No! Of course not! There's a small area out there that is all black like this. And that caterpillar was moving but looked hurt, and when I tried to keep it alive it died like that. Really Dad! I suggested that we dig up the black area and burn it, hoping to stop whatever was causing it. But we didn't want to start a fire out in the woods. I wrapped that up in the rag 'cause I didn't know what else to do."
"I'll take you out to it in the morning so you can see, but we didn't do it!"
"Yeah, there is all like dead! The bush, the grass, and that critter. All black and dead! Nothings growing there. Like burnt, but only black. Not to ashes. That's all so exciting!" Clara confirms with too much enthusiasm for what's happening.
Will and Shelly look at each other in disbelief. "I've never heard of something like that. But it's really thoughtful of you not to make fire in the woods." Will tells.
"There are some molds that blacken the plants, but what you brought doesn't look like it."
Shelly adds "Maybe it's a witch, that cursed the land?"
"That's old wives tales!" Will objects.
"Are you calling me old?" Shelly replies staring daggers at Will.
Jewel perks up at the word curse, "That's right. I forgot. You know we can detect magic, and Clara's really good at reading what kind of power is in the magic? Well, the black area did have a magic aura and Clara was able to see that it was necromantic power. Maybe it was a curse. But who would have cursed a little spot of grass and bushes out by the shrine? And how do you get rid of it so the plants can grow again?"
"I don't know magic. If it is no mold I can't help with that. Maybe ask Mrs Johnson? She knows some magic." Will replies.
While Shelly gives him the smug told you so look.
Jewel nods and looks down at her dinner. While she really wants an answer, she is also hungry. "Maybe after dinner? We can go over with Clara and Tobar and talk to her."
Tobar mostly just sits there as the whole discussion goes on.
"Could it be related to the ghost? Two different necromuntagic stuff in a few days seems one hel I mean HECK of a coincidence"
"Our ghost wouldn't do that." Clara objects.
"Let's hope not." Will replies to Tarjun.
Jewel focuses on her dinner, eating slightly faster than she probably should. Maybe they should have taken this to Mrs. Johnson first? But it was a plant problem! "Nah Tarjun. Like Dad said, that was mold not magic. Mold is a pain but you fix it with normal, hard work. Magic.... That's just different. Hope Mrs. Johnson knows of something! A curse? Hmm... I hope not."
Jewel considers Tarjun's question. "I don't know. Maybe Mrs. Johnson would know. Or she might know how to find out. Let's finish dinner and go ask."
Clara tries the saussages and the veggie stew, alternating between the two. She is totally immersed in that activity and doesn't notice the discussion moving on around her. The saussages are of course very good. But the vegetables aren't bad either. Maybe if both would be cooked together? Would it get better, or would it ruin both? I need to ask mom.
"Can we go now? I need to ask mom something." she states, sitting in front of her half eaten bowl of veggie stew.
"You stay here, til dinner is eaten." Shelly insists. "Including the vegetables."
This is not a real punishment, as the vegetable stew is really tasty. As everything in the bowls is eaten, and the dishes are done, the kids are allowed to leave.
"But it's dark already! You be careful, go on the direct way to the Johnson's house and come back within an hour!" Shelly commands Tarjun ans Jewel.
"Nice stew Mrs Branston. Thank you"
"G'nite Mr and Mrs Branston" Tobar says as he goes out the door
As all the kids arrive at the Johnson house, Gertrud greets them. "That's more kids than I expected at this time. You got thrown out and have no home anymore?" she jokes.
"You need me to identify some strange kind of poo?" Gertrud asks confused.
"Yes, I identified it as black macgic! That's what this necromancy means, right?" Clara adds.
"Okaay, that sounds serious. And no, that kind of magic is about death, not black." Gertrud clarifies.
"How big is the patch?" she inquires.
"Its pretty small right now. Maybe 2 or 3 feet across. But we're afraid that it might be growing."
Jewel puts out the rag with the black sticks. "I showed it to Dad and he thought we'd burnt these and were playing a trick. But we weren't! We're supposed to be the guardians there now, right? So we can't be playing tricks like that. We were just looking for places to set up targets to practice bow and arrow, you know from the tower? And we found this black spot. When my stabilize spell killed the caterpillar I got really worried. And Dad said it might be some kind of curse? What can we do against a curse!?!"
After a pause for breath and to relax a bit she finishes, "I put some sticks in the ground around the patch to see if it was growing, but we didn't stay long enough to notice any change. I think we will be able to see if there is any change in the morning."
"I'll come with you. We do that first in the morning." Gertrud tells. "But if it's necromancy, then I don't know much. And I don't think we have books on that."
"But if you have the time and the patience, you can look through the shelf in the sitting room. Maybe there is a chapter about that in one book or another."
In the sitting room, there is a shelf with about two dozen books about totally different topcs. A holy text of Desna, a book about plants, a romantic novel, a cookbook, you name it.
The wall is decorated with a few pictures showing hunting scenes in thick wooden frames made of cherrywood. From the same wood there are a round table with polished surface, three chairs and a settee. The sitting furniture is upholstered with green plush.
Jewel grins and nods agreement with Tarjun, "Yes. Books again!"
"Books aren't going to help us!"
"It's only an offer. Everyone who doesn't want to can go home, or in their bed." Gertrud tells.
Clara prefers to read over sleeping. But after two hours of hitting the books, she gives up frustrated. "Stupid books know nothing."