Stranger Safety
"Come on!" Hana grabbed my wrist and towed me further into the forest. "It'll be an adventure!"
That did not encourage me - I've never much liked adventures, and I was pretty sure we were already lost. (The fact that we had passed the same sign labelled 'Temple of Diana this way' three times was a pretty hefty clue.)
We had just passed the sign for a fourth time, when we stumbled across a small campfire. Two women sat next to it, one dressed for the outdoors in jeans, boots, and yellow flannel, the other in a simple brown skirt and yellow blouse.
The one in the skirt looked up from knitting a mitten. "You two young ladies are a long way from home," she commented.
Hana and I looked at each other and then nodded. Hana lifted her chin defiantly. "We aren't going back," she said for both of us. "It isn't safe, not with him there."
The one in jeans straightened. Her eyes were the colour of steel, and just as hard. "I'm sure, with a little hunting, that can be remedied."
"Di. Patience." The knitter smiled, warm as the flames she sat beside. "Then be welcome to my hearth, youngsters. All are safe here. My name is Hestia, and I ensure it."
We looked at each other again, and then stepped forward into warmth, and safety, and protection.
