Miranda was a special case. Tall and slender with long straight brown hair that fell in a rather conservative braid the ended well below her waist. Her features were not unattractive, but might have been described as a bit too severe. She was also not lacking in ambition being the youngest Vice Dean of the history department at her University. She had her sights set of great things. So much so that other facets of her life had taken a back seat. Things like dating, and the self-indulgence most American women practiced in seeking the fleeting ephemera of personal pleasure seemed trivial to her when compared to the power of heading a big department at a top-flight University. Who knew? Maybe even someday aspiring to the presidency of such an establishment. The rest could wait.
This project. This one could be a significant step forward for her. Although she had already invested a lot of the University's time and money into gaining access, she was assured that the records were all there. That preserved in the moldy archives of the Monastery were the transcripts of the trials of 132 women convicted of witchcraft in the late 10
th
century. That was why she had arrive in this particularly rural corner of Wales.
The cottage they had found her was quaint. Set away from the village, it had plenty of privacy. This part of Wales alternated between thick forest and open meadows and glades which dotted the rugged hillsides and mountain ravines. History had largely bypassed this part of the country. That is, it had until now.
She'd been there for a couple of days, still getting things organized, when she heard a knock on the door. Standing there with a basket was a woman. She was about ten years Miranda's senior by all appearances. Wavelets of dirty blonde hair that framed her pleasant if somewhat pastoral face. A simple dress with a sweater draped over it. Much like what Miranda had seen in town. Fashion didn't count for much here, not that it bothered her any.
Miranda opened the door and invited her unexpected guest inside. The woman introduced herself as Deena as she looked around the cottage with a simple practical naivetΓ©.
"Welcome to the village, dear. We don't get many guests here, so we like to roll out the red carpet for those that we do get, so to speak." She said in a friendly tone.
Miranda like her right off the bat. The woman was excruciatingly simple, both in her garb and in her demeanor. All but one thing. Around her wrist she wore a bracelet that appeared to be wound out of gold and silver wire in which was set a single deep amber stone, surrounded by an even number of milky translucent stones of approximately the same size.
Miranda found that her eyes were drawn to it over and over again as the two women conversed. Finally, Deena appeared to notice, and removed the bracelet, offering it to Miranda.
"Take it, dear." She said. "I make 'em as sort of a hobby."
Miranda didn't know how to respond, finding that Deena had removed the bangle and slipped it onto Miranda's hand. She was quite honored by the stranger's generosity and quietly gave the woman a nod of gracious acceptance.
Later that night, as she slipped beneath the covers of her bed she contemplated removing the bracelet, but for some reason decided that she like having it on. She turned out the light and fell asleep. Tomorrow work would begin in earnest.
Her sleep was punctuated by strange dreams, in which she wandered a forest populated by various animals, all of which spoke to her guiding her to a cottage deep in the woods where she was surprised to find Deena tending her small herb garden. Then she'd wake up. The dream repeated several times.
Nonetheless Miranda rose refreshed in the morning other than a slight tenderness in her breasts which she noticed during her morning shower. She had heard of some women who would experience such tenderness before or during their period. It had never happened to her before, but peoples body's change over time, and she was getting close to that time of the month so she didn't give it much thought.
At least she didn't give it much thought at first, but several days later she noticed that she was having difficulty fastening her bra. Miranda looked at herself in the mirror. She had always been slender, with small breasts, but there was no mistaking that her figure was filling out up top for some reason. She probably should have been concerned. Instead, she was more fascinated than worried. She kind of liked the way they looked and how sensitive they'd become, and at night she'd find herself massaging them absentmindedly as she lay in bed.