Strange Fires at New Moon

By Jessica Harris

L.M. Montgomery, best known for "Anne of Green Gables", also wrote 
a trilogy about "Emily of New Moon" which was never as well-known 
but which I actually like much better - they're odder, darker, more 
gothic and strangely pagan books. The orphaned Emily Byrd Starr 
is sent to live with her mother's relatives at New Moon farm, her 
strict Aunt Elizabeth, kind but powerless Aunt Laura, and 
simple-minded Cousin Jimmy (who is actually her mother's cousin). 

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The light from Cousin Jimmy's bonfire flickered softly in the porch 
of the summer kitchen where Emily stood. It was a dangerous night 
for a bonfire, a wild and gusting wind blowing in over the pine 
ridge, but her aunts tried not to interfere with Jimmy when he was 
like this. The aunts had retired early to their bedrooms, and Emily 
knew that they would have drawn their curtains against the light of 
the fire. Aunt Elizabeth would be sternly reading her bible, and 
Aunt Laura would be in bed already, the golden hair that Emily 
envied braided tightly for the night.

She didn't blame them. Cousin Jimmy was a little frightening when 
he had one of his spells. Maybe it was just the light of the flames, 
but his face looked different, its usual child-like mischieviousness 
transformed into something that looked ancient and knowing and not 
entirely kind, his small stature and subtly misshapen head making 
him look like some mythical creature from the woods themselves.

But there was something about the scene that drew her, kept her 
here in the dark, watching the flames outside rise five and six 
feet into the air.

And maybe this too was just the light of the flames, but on these 
nights the land around New Moon looked changed as well. The wind 
made the pines on the ridge wave and dip wildly, the whole hill-side 
moving until the stars seemed to wheel and turn with them. The full 
moon gleamed and rippled on the water of the pond, surface stirring 
as though the water was dancing along with the leaping flames and 
the waving trees. Even the air itself seemed different, swirling 
and alive with the motion of the wind.

Emily drew her shawl tighter around her. It gave her a strange 
feeling to see the farm that had become her home changed like this. 
It made her want to throw off her shawl and run out into the night, 
join the dance of the pines, dip and spin with them in the deep blue 
darkness beneath their resin-scented branches.

But it was a desire that felt dangerous, as if she would be risking 
more than the consumption that had taken her father if she ventured 
out tonight. She felt irrationally that if she left the steady 
warmth and clean-sanded floors of New Moon tonight she would be 
leaving forever, never to return.

Cousin Jimmy stirred the fire again and the flames leapt higher, 
mesmerising her. And then Emily's heart leapt in her chest in 
terror, for it seemed that some part of the fire had escaped and 
was hovering just outside the porch, pressing a golden cat-like 
laughing face to the glass while a nimbus of flame blazed around it.

Only when the being wrinkled its nose in a familiar way did Emily 
realise it was Ilse, the flames around her merely the light of the 
fire on her tangled blond hair. Grinning, she gestured Emily to the 
door, and Emily opened it a crack.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered. "It's late, and Cousin 
Jimmy is having one of his spells."

Ilse laughed. "You sound just like Aunt Elizabeth when you say 
things like that. Don't be dull, Emily! Don't you feel strange 
tonight, with the moon and the wind and everything? It made me so 
restless I couldn't stand father's brooding, so I came to find you. 
Come out and walk with me!"

For a moment Emily hesitated, feeling New Moon's solid warmth 
around her. Then she anchored her shawl again and slipped out the 
door in her night-dress and slippers.

It was cool outside, but even from a distance the bonfire gave off 
warmth, and Emily breathed in the smell of the fire and the pines 
with a shiver of pleasure. Ilse linked an arm through hers and 
confidingly laid her head on Emily's shoulder. "There now, doesn't 
it feel better to be outside under the stars? And tell me honestly, 
don't you feel quite peculiar tonight? I feel like I could run, run 
all the way to the ocean."

Emily smiled at her. "Not run, dance. It makes me want to dance, 
dance under the pines."

"Then so we shall!" declared Ilse, and took off at a run, pulling 
Emily along behind her towards the woods. The wind was blowing 
against them, tangling their skirts about their legs, blowing Ilse's 
hair back into Emily's face, whipping the breath right from their 
mouths as they ran.

"Cousin Jimmy will see us!" laughed Emily breathlessly.

Ilse put on a final burst of speed, and pulled Emily into the 
darkness beneath the trees. "Now he won't" she said smugly. Then 
she leaned in close, and Emily jumped as Ilse pulled the ribbon 
from the end of her braid and ran her fingers through Emily's hair 
until it hung in a heavy satin curtain around her face. "There!" 
she said. 'Now you look like you belong here. Like a living 
moon-beam. Beautiful."

Emily flushed. She knew she wasn't beautiful, with her strange pale 
face and the hair that fell without a wave down her back. It was 
Ilse who was beautiful. But the admiration in Ilse's eyes made her 
heart beat faster.

"Well?" said Ilse teasingly, "dance!" And after a shy moment Emily 
did, the beat of her own heart and the sound of the wind in the 
trees spinning into some sort of rhythm, and boldly she seized 
Ilse's hands and spun her into a mad twirling capering dance, their 
hair flying around them.

Eventually Ilse stopped and leaned back on her heels, pulling on 
Emily's arms until they collapsed together in a heap on the ground.

"You've danced me half to death, Em,' she panted, wriggling until 
her head rested on Emily's chest, where the bodice of her nightgown 
had grown tight over the last year. Emily could feel Ilse's breath 
warm between her breasts, Ilse's arm about her waist, her heart 
against her rib-cage, beating rapidly as Emily's own, and she felt 
as if she were dancing still, the trees spinning around her and her 
blood singing in her veins. As if to anchor herself she tangled her 
fingers in Ilse's blond curls.

"I'm so glad you're my friend, Ilse. You know, I never really had a 
friend before. I loved my father, and he understood my heart as well 
as any daughter could wish, but he *had* to love me, after all. It's 
different when someone chooses you, when they really want to know 
the secrets of your heart.."

In answer Ilse raised her head and pressed a kiss to Emily's white 
throat, and at the touch of her friend's lips Emily shivered from 
head to toe.

"Oh!" cried Ilse in distress. "Emily, you're cold! I forgot about 
your chest - I'd never forgive myself if something were to happen 
to you because of me!" She jumped to her feet and hauled Emily up. 
"We must get you warmed up at once!"

Taking Emily's hand once more in her own, she hurried her towards 
the fire.

As they entered the circle of light cast by the flames, Cousin 
Jimmy approached them, and Emily nervously readied explanations in 
her mind. As they drew near, though, he didn't scold, but rather 
dropped to one knee, looking at them in wonder. "Lady Moon," he 
said huskily, "it's so kind of you to visit, and to bring one of 
your sisters, the stars. As you see, I've lit a fire in your honour. 
You must be cold from your journey." He rose, and solicitously led 
them closer to the fire.

Ilse looked at Emily questioningly, and when Emily nodded she 
declaimed in her grandest voice "Thank you, mortal, for sharing the 
warmth of your fire with us. Have you any sustenance we could sample 
after out long journey from the heavens?"

Cousin Jimmy nodded excitedly, dancing from foot to foot. "Potatoes! 
I have the finest baking potatoes cooking in the embers - they 
should be ready any time now!"

Ilse looked like she might giggle at this, so Emily spoke up, 
trying to make her voice as regal as Ilse's had been. "We thank you. 
Such honest mortal fare would suit us well." And before much time 
had passed, Cousin Jimmy had dug the potatoes from the embers and 
unwrapped them, splitting and salting them with a paper twist of 
salt from his pocket. With a flourish he offered them to the two 
girls, who took them gratefully, warming their hands on them. There 
was silence, then, as they ate, silence but for the crackling of the 
flames and sighing of the wind. Emily watched Ilse's face as she 
ate, admiring the way the light played over her tilted eyes and high 
cheek-bones.

The fire began to die down as they sat there, the flames burning 
low and falling into embers. Something at the hear of it suddenly 
popped and crackled, sending out a shower of sparks, and Cousin 
Jimmy sprang to his feet with an excited smile, dropping his potato 
to the ground. "Oh!" he said, "I feel a poem coming on! Excuse me, 
dear ladies - I'll be in the barn, reciting to the pigs." With that 
he dashed off.

This time neither one of them could restrain their giggles, and as 
he passed out of earshot they collapsed into laughter, covering 
their mouths with their hands for fear of waking the aunts.  At 
length Ilse stopped laughing, and looked at Emily seriously. "I'm 
so glad you came to New Moon, Em - I never had a real friend before 
either, and I never knew anyone like you. You really don't care, do 
you - you don't care about my father, or about what people say about 
Cousin Jimmy. You just love people for who they are." She tucked a 
lock of smooth black hair behind Emily's ear, and kissed her cheek. 
And when Emily turned to look at her, she kissed her again, this 
time on the mouth.

Emily gasped at the sudden contact of lips against hers, and when 
Ilse made as if to move away she wrapped her arms around her and 
drew her closer.  Ilse's lips fell open and the kiss deepened, and 
Emily could taste the inside of Ilse's mouth now, the smoky taste 
of the potatoes over an indescribable sweetness. The softness of 
Ilse's breasts were pressed against her own, she could feel hardness 
at their tips, and it sent a peculiar thrill all through her. She 
felt a slow roll and dive in the pit of her stomach, stirring 
unfamiliar sensations in the secret place between her legs.

"Oh Emily!" gasped Ilse as she pulled away, cheeks flushed, and then 
she raised her hands to cup Emily's breasts through the fabric of 
her nightgown before kissing her again, more deeply than ever.

Emily felt as thought the fire were inside her now, flames 
flickering through her veins, a fierce smouldering heat in her 
centre. Somehow they had come to rest on the warm ground beside the 
fire, and Ilse was on top of her, kissing her throat, hands still 
on her breasts, making everything inside her melt and stir and 
gather. She could see the wheeling stars over Ilse's shoulder, and 
with her heartbeat loud in her ears her body seemed to have found 
once more the rhythm they had danced to in the woods, and was 
helplessly moving to it again, her hips surging up against Ilse's 
where Ilse's pressed down against hers, their legs entwined.

Emily's breasts felt so full with sensation she thought they might 
burst, and she moved Ilse's hands gently aside and, as Ilse watched 
wide-eyed, began unbuttoning the front of her night-dress until her 
torso was exposed to the night air. With an exclamation Ilse bent 
and pressed her face to Emily's breasts, kissing their soft smooth 
skin, rolling their hard tips with her fingers.

Emily stroked Ilse's back and then, boldly, the roundness of her 
buttocks, and felt Ilse gasp against her skin. Their hips were 
moving faster against each other now and Emily felt something 
bright and tingling coil tightly inside of her. It's urgency was 
almost overwhelming, and she stopped moving for a moment, scared, 
but Ilse was oblivious, rocking faster on her, panting against her 
sensitive flesh. Then suddenly Ilse's mouth closed hotly around her 
nipple and *suckled*, and that tight coiled thing inside of Emily 
released and exploded, turning her to a shower of sparks against 
the starry sky, and she felt her whole body lift and arch against 
Ilse's as Ilse cried out in wonder and surprise.

*		*		*

Slipping lightly back through the door into New Moon, Emily paused 
a moment to look back out at the changed night landscape of the 
farm, the embers from the fire, the dancing pines, the silver pond. 
It looked as full of mystery as ever, but held no more fear for her. 
She thought half-sadly of her earlier imaginings, that if she 
ventured out tonight she could never return. She hadn't been 
entirely wrong. Although she stood here safe and sound, the house 
quiet around her, something had changed. It was a different Emily 
who had left the house earlier this night, and in truth, that 
vanished Emily would never return.

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