Let’s introduce them

At the front is Dunla, who has the lead position. She is 23 years old and already works as a teacher. She is also the hunter’s oldest daughter, our druid’s oldest granddaughter as well as a Samhain child. She is very beautiful with her long black hair and large breasts. I am certain many of the guys desire her very much. I am in fact a little worried that they might **** their Samhain child on her just to have Dunla as a trophy wife.

Just behind Dunla is Cerridwen. She is the daughter of both our carpenter and the other teacher, while at the same time being another of our druid’s grandchildren. Which makes Dunla and her cousins. Cerri used to be in a relationship with my brother but that all changed last Samhain. Since Rowen had not yet married her, Cerri was mandated to participate in last year’s Samhain. She asked him not to participate, because she didn’t want him cheating on her. But apparently, she wasn’t able to keep her black necklace herself. Which means she strayed and some guy caught her. My brother was very hurt by that and broke up with her. I really hope he catches a better girl than Cerri this time. Maybe Dunla is a good match for him.

After Cerridwen come 2 blondes. Kaileigh and Lynet. They are sisters, with Kaileigh being 21 and Lynet 19 years old. Since both of them are daughters to our cattle farmer, both of them work there as milkmaids. Many of the smaller breasted girls often joke about them having such big boobs because their bodies were jealous of all the cow udders they have to milk and grew to match those.

I heard a rumor that Kaileigh takes some guys for a tumble in the hay. That’s why everybody sees her as the sluttiest of the girls.

Lynet seems to be more promiscuous. She is the same age as my cousin and I didn’t hear about anyone catching her last year. So I think she stuck to the path.

This is where Dunla comes across a pole with a flag. I heard Tiona talk about this last year. This is the point where the woman leading the procession rings her bell. The sound of the bell is to be picked up by the women who are still in the village and they will then signify the guys that it is time for them to head into the forest. I see Dunla raise the bell above her head, and she swings and rings and a loud sound carries across the forest. I take a deep breath. It won’t be long until the men enter the forest. I better distract myself again.

Then we have Mearna, the bee keeper’s daughter. I feel for her. I really do. The poor girl is so nice, but nobody wants to be her boyfriend. Everybody expects her to stray on Samhain and nobody even blames her. It is like the only way for her to have her own family. But while I do want her to find a man, I have to admit I rather her my brother catch someone like Dunla or Lynet. Though if the choice is between Kaileigh or Mearna, I feel Mearna is the better woman for him.

So, the next girl is Finola. She’s the youngest daughter of farmer Maclain. She is 18, just like me and she has a twin brother. I Don’t know if her brother is participating in this year’s Samhain. I hope not, then she won’t have to worry about accidental ****. But she also looks too innocent to stray, so she should be safe. I do notice her smiling more than usual and she appears a little off balance. I guess she must have had a little too much mead.

Then there is Riannon. Her name is similar to my cousin, but Riannon is 23 years old and our shepherd’s Samhain child. She has a younger sister of 19, but last year she got a Samhain child. I wonder how it must feel for an older sister to watch your little sister get married first. I feel she is likely to stray and might even be going for a Samhain child this year.

The redhead in front of me is my cousin, Rianna. Her father is my father’s brother and he owns the orchard. My brother works there now, hence the reason him and I had to go collect apples there earlier today. Rianna is my uncle’s youngest child and she is also apprenticing as a weaver under my father.

This is where we reach a river. Our ancestors build our village next to it, so we’d always have fresh water. Here in the forest, we are upstream. The river is neither wide now deep, but it is still annoying to have to wade through it. That is why several bridges have been build. One of these bridges is part of the path and therefore only the women are permitted to use it.

And so, we have come to me, Rowena. My father is the village weaver and my mother is the tailor. They make a very good team. Though my mother only got into tailoring after she married my dad. I have not yet made any decision on which job I will focus on. I will have to think about that over the winter.

Next me is Igraine, one of the traveler girls. She is very pretty, with black hair and blue eyes. She’s the one who just wants to have fun, so yeah, she will be straying. She is also no longer walking while covering her breasts or privates. I guess she didn’t want to be in the minority like me. She is still blushing a lot though.

Behind us is Raelin, the other traveler girl. She too is no longer covering her body. She is the one who wants to get pregnant today. To use her body so one of her ancestors can reincarnate and rejoin their clan. And she is even willing to risk not getting a husband out of it. I don’t think I would be willing to do that. I feel Raelin is a very strong woman.

So behind us is my blonde friend, Tiona. She is one year older than me and the daughter of one of our lumberjacks. She is also apprenticing as a tanner, which means she is apprenticing under my grandfather. That makes it easy for me to hang out with her and chat while she is processing some animal skins into leather. Grandpa doesn’t like it. He feels I should let her focus on her work. But Tiona can do both.

Suddenly Igraine reaches for her belly and says, “Oh crap.”

“What’s wrong, Igraine?” I ask.

Igraine looks at me all worried and says, “I need to use the outhouse.”

I wave over at Dunla and yell, “Dunla! Igraine needs to use the outhouse!”

Dunla turns around and yells back, “tell her not to dare do it on the path! Our ancestors are watching and will give her bad luck for a year if she does.” She then points into the forest and yells, “Have her find a bush and to it over there.”

Igraine first looks at me as if she needs approval. Then with a big sigh, she heads over to the rope which marks the edge of the path. She crawls underneath it and runs over to a thick mush, squats behind it and we can hear her groan all the way over here. Many of the other girls start giggling. Us village girls know to use the outhouse before starting our walk to the bonfire. Rianna even warned them to use it before going. I guess Igraine didn’t take it seriously.

While Igraine is doing her business, Raelin starts searching for large, freshly fallen leaves and picks them up. Once she has a good couple of them, she walks over to Igraine and hands to her. Aww, that is so thoughtful of her.

We all patiently wait until Raelin and Igraine both rejoin us. Then Dunla smiles and points at the bush Igraine did her business. “For those who intend to stray on that side of the path, remember that bush and stay clear from it.”

All the girls giggle, except for Igraine for feels very much embarrassed.

“Or guide the boys to it!” Dunla’s sister adds, making all of us giggle again.

After that little intermission, we continue walking and I go back to distracting myself.

So, next Tiona is Gwyneth. As the shoemaker’s daughter, she often had to visit my grandfather to pick up some leather for her dad. But her regularly coming over also helped me to become friends with her. She is the same age as me and also hasn’t found a job to apprentice in, yet. She has an older brother, but unlike me, she doesn’t have to fear him catching her during this Samhain. It’s because he is already married to and has children with Rianna’s older sister. And yes, the last girl to cover herself with her arms has gotten used to being nude in the forest and is no longer doing so.

I spread my arms and enjoy both the sun shining through the trees as well as the mild breeze on my skin. “See, Gwyneth? It’s not so bad.” I tell my friend.

Gwyneth sigh and rolls her eyes. Then the grabs her long black hand and pulls it in front of her shoulders so it can fall on and cover her breasts. Hihi, Gwyneth can be so funny at times.

Behind her we have Aislinn. She is the rope maker’s middle child and the oldest of us at 24 years. She used to be in a relationship with the smith’s oldest son. Rumors say that they were planning to meet up on a Samhain after the bonfire and have a Samhain child, but it was very dark that evening and her boyfriend thought he caught his girlfriend and did what he needed to do to make a baby. But he had actually caught his sister instead. By the time he discovered it, his seed was already inside her AND she got his Samhain child. So, he had to marry his sister. But after his marriage, Aislinn still tried to get him for herself and ended up pregnant. I’m not sure whether that was by accident or not, but the elders decided that Kanin should stay married to his sister as his Samhain child was more important than the bastard he had with Aislinn. So now she is a single mother and none of the men are very much interested in taking care of another man’s child. This leaves Aislinn in pretty much the same position as Mearna. Use today to have some guy’s Samhain child and **** him into a marriage.

Behind Aislinn we have Iona. The third girl from the traveler clan. She is a pretty girl with small breasts and long blonde hair. From what i've heard, her mother participated in one of our Samhain events 20 years ago. Which makes Iona 19 years old and a Samhain child.

After her we have the baker twins, Glenna and Glenys. It is uncanny how much those 2 look like each other. They are like a mirror image of each other. It’s crazy. Both of them are 22 years old and, well, about 1.5 years ago they lost their mother to an illness. Last year, their father was therefore considered single and permitted to participate in Samhain. But he was still mourning his wife, so he chose not to participate. I’m not sure if he is ready to go for it now. But if he is, the twins will be at risk of getting caught by their father. That’s even worse than me getting caught by my uncle.

Second to last is Gwendolyn, the brewer’s daughter. She got caught by her brother last Samhain, but fortunately she didn’t get his Samhain child. Although I did hear that she fell in love her brother and started seducing him. That was bad. **** relations are only permitted at Samhain and she was trying to get her brother’s child outside Samhain. So, when their parents found out, they kicked her out of the house. She is now living and working at farmer Gavin’s farm. But I heard the men there are not very friendly to their women. I don’t approve of her relationship with her brother, but I really hope she’s doing alright now.

At the end, the last girl, the one who is carrying a lit torch is Maire. She is the hunter’s youngest daughter and apprentices as a hunter herself. She is also the one who brags about straying from the path every Samhain, but still manages to outwit the men and doesn’t let herself get captured. I am certain she is going to stray again this year, but she doesn’t do it out of lust or sluttiness. She does it for the sake of the thrill.

Finally, we reach our destination. The clearing for the bonfire. I look up at the sky and notice dusk is setting in. It won’t be long now until it’s dark.

We gather at the edge and I notice 2 unlit torches already waiting here. Maire brings her lit torch to them and lights them up. Only then do we walk towards the center of the clearing.