It was a cold, dark and moonless night. No one in his or her right mind would be out tonight, All Hallows Eve, but Becca was a midwife and the babe was coming, no matter the weather, nor time of year.
Becca hurried along the dirt path, trying not to hear anything or see anything, and she was desperately trying not to think of the rumors that bad things had returned to the forest. People talked of dogs, cats, chickens and goats going missing during the night hours. There were strange footprints left under the windows of infants, and deep scratches on stout wooden doors found in the morning by bewildered folk.
An owl hooted, Becca startled, and then she laughed. “I could scare myself to death,” she mused. Then she heard the sound of brittle leaves crackling and brush moving in the stillness of the night. She stopped to look around and felt the gooseflesh travel down her arms and the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She grabbed the crucifix on the end of the gold chain around her neck and started praying, “God, your humble servant asks protection.”
Becca decided waiting there for whatever it was to come for her was not smart, so she hurried off again, walking fast on the balls of her feet, trying not to make a sound. The owl hooted again, but this time she did not stop, she just walked faster. Pulling her cloak closer around her, and trying desperately to blend in with the dark, Becca prayed, silently now, for she wanted no attention brought to bear on a single woman passing through the dark woods on this night.
Ahead of her, she saw a light. “I must be closer to the cabin than I imagined,” she thought. As she approached the light, she saw that it was not a cabin lantern, but a glow that floated a few feet off the ground in the woods to the right of the path.
Becca stopped and stared. As she stood there, the light resolved into a woman in white. “Not prepared for the weather,” Becca thought, noticing that all the woman wore a gauzy white dress that was shredded in places and a velvet cloak that hung in tatters over the dress. Becca felt drawn to the woman and began to walk toward her. As Becca approached the woman, it grew colder, much colder.
The woman smiled at her, a sad lopsided smile that showed her teeth through her cheek on one side. “Who are you?” Becca asked. The woman just shook her head and held her finger to her lips in the age-old gesture for silence. The woman beckoned to her and stepped back into the woods a ways. “What should I do?” Becca thought to herself.
Just then, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her on the path. The goose bumps crawled along her skin, so she ducked off the path and toward the woman in white. The woman moved off through the woods, looking back to make sure Becca was following. Then she stopped and motioned for Becca to get down.
As soon as Becca knelt down, the woman’s light faded. Becca was alone in the woods and feeling foolish. Then she heard something that froze her blood and almost loosened her bowels. She could hear something shuffling on the pathway, right about where she had just been standing moments ago. Whatever it was, it breathed heavily, sniffed the air and then growled. Finally, it lumbered on, leaving behind a smell of wet fur, carrion and musk. Becca had no idea what it had been, but she was glad she was off the path when it came by.
Becca stayed kneeling there, too afraid to move. She wrapped her cloak tightly around her as the air grew cold once again. The woman in white was back. Becca looked at the woman and said, “What do I do?” The woman made a shooing motion, directing Becca back on the trail.
Becca took off running and ran until she was outside the cabin of the pregnant woman. “Oh my God,” Becca murmured, “thank you for Your protection.” Being a midwife meant being calm and professional, so she straightened her cloak and took a deep breath and knocked on the cabin door.
A fair-headed man, flustered and nervous, opened the door. “Oh, thank God you are here. The baby is coming and I know not what to do.” Becca send the man after hot water, soap, towels, scissors and a bottle of alcohol. She moved competently to the woman’s bedside.
The woman was bathed in sweat, and her hair was plastered to her face. Her dark eyes were wide and she looked scared. “Oh, dear, do not be frightened. Women have been doing this for ages and it will be over soon, I promise.” The man appeared with the water, soap and towels, so the midwife washed her hands and bent to examine the woman.
“Just in the nick of time, I’ve come,” she murmured to herself, noting the baby’s head was crowning. “Okay, dear, I am going to place your legs on these pillows and you try to keep them there.” The woman was crying now. “It is almost over, Sher, do not cry. Get ready to bear down when I tell you, okay?” Becca whispered. The woman just nodded.
In a few minutes it was over and the babe, a fine young daughter for the man and woman was pronounced healthy and whole, cleaned up and given to the mother to suckle. The man stood by, amazed at all that had happened while he had gone to get the scissors and alcohol.
“What will you name the babe?” Becca asked. The man and the woman looked at each other and said, “Guinevere.” The woman looked at Becca and said, “It was my mum’s name. She died one year ago today on the trail to your home. She was slaughtered by some animal and dragged into the woods. We did not find her for days.”
Something made Becca ask, “Was she dressed in a fine white gown and a velvet cloak?” “Yes,” the woman answered, “how did you know?” Becca sat down and told the couple the story of her trip down the trail. At the end, the woman smiled and said, “Mum. That sounds just like her. She always wanted to be a grandparent.”
“Now she is,” said Becca. At that moment, the window blew open and coldness crept through the room, touching the woman, the husband and Becca. Then a small light appeared above the babe for just a moment. Then the breeze was gone and the window closed.
To this day, if you walk down that path and you need help, look for the light in the woods and the woman in white. She waits just off the trail to help you avoid her fate.
Tags: woman in white, all hallows eve, ghost grandmother, trail protector
