Holy herbals

The small girl had experienced her first bath with Lucette, and she was curious if she could find some of the herbs the healer had used for it. If she used her nose maybe she could find what they looked like by scent.

Alexandrite crossed the borders of Polaris into the Grapevine cathedral under the hot Auster summer sun. She swung a small basket from her tiny maw. The large leaves of the grapevines shielded the temple below, the shadows were cool and crisp and vaguely wet with dew. The little girl walked with dainty white paws through the underbrush, the lush grass parted around her as she stepped in and out of the sunbeams breaking through the canopy above like holy stain glass windows. Unfamiliar herbs and plants rose up around her, the fruit of the grapes above swollen with the cold wet juice within.

The ripening fruit masked many of the herbal scents below them. She needed to find peppermint and cat nip. She had come across the scent of peppermint before her time in the pack when she had run into the strange pup Ume who had also suffered from the insect itchy affliction. Her time with her father had started to help her identify the plants around her that always took her interest. She loved how Lucette was always gardening and helping the plants grow. She wanted to find some fresh herbs to replenish Lucettes cache.

She lifted her dark nose to sift through the wafting smells around her. Grape, grass, dew, mildew, white molds, dandelion, chickweed, broad and slender leafed plantain plants abound around her. The ancient grove hid it's catnip bounty deep under its thick boughs hidden in the shadows. The oak and maple trees towered above her.

She searched among the nestled trunks, there were no bushes or ferns beneath this canopy of grape, all the lush plants below were short and carpeted the ground in a green swath. She tripped over moss and several species of clover. She went from one tree trunk to another, namely because they were easy to locate.

Alexa then came to an open meadow, the canopy broken above but ringed in shadow.

What's this? She came upon a plant that looked a little like the peppermint but the top was ringed purple and the stem was too green. One day she'll come to know it by the name of purple dead nettle, but today it was not on her list of herbs she wished to gather. She grabbed a few anyway to show to her mentors. Perhaps they could help her identify and find its uses.

She crossed the bright meadow and descended back into the shadows of the covered cathedral.

She crossed a few more beams of light and her mismatched eyes grew luminous from the scent that crossed her path. Yes! Peppermint was somewhere nearby. The strong smell opened her sinuses to receive more of the scent and she followed it to a particularly damp part of the cathedral like copse of trees laden in grapes. There standing not very tall the oblong shaped leaves, square stem and unmistakable scent drew Alexa near. Yes, these will do nicely. She snipped several stems of the aromatic peppermint and placed them in her basket.

Now for the other plant that seemed to look similar but smelled sweeter and drove many of the companion cats crazy. She remembered the catnip grew shorter, denser and crawled along the ground unlike peppermint that grew in taller clumps.

She tiptoed over a thin gurgling brook that ran it's way through the woods and decided to follow it. Down the gentle slopes she found her way to the edge of the cathedral and looked down over the grasses to the crashing sea surf. The brook gurgled it's way to join the ocean in a thin winding line.

Would the catnip prefer this soil over the shades of the leaves? Would it like the sun bearing down on it on every sunny day? Her nose told her the scent was near, that under the salty and seaweed smells of the grassy plain catnip grew somewhere close.

She heard the call of a seabird overhead and she quickly dove back under the safety of the sweeping branched arches. It was merely a gull, no eagle to come and catch her up like a rabbit.

Her fear abated she watched as the playful wind rippled and swayed through the grasses all the way down to the shore. She walked some and searched for her herb in the small places. Suddenly she was upon the plant she sought. The blue green leaves different from the peppermint and a slightly sweeter and less minty aroma met her nose with delight. Won't Lucette be happy! And perhaps daddy too might even be proud of her for finding these herbs on her own.

She pulled a few clumps of the low growing herb and placed them in her basket. It was full to the brim and ready to be emptied at home. Home... It was nice to have a place to actually call home.

Speech/Thoughts