The Berrygnash part 2
Afternoon, the Same Day We Learn of a Greater Threat and Opportunity
Granny Lavender was everything Nell had promised.
Gathered Around Granny Lavender
She was a charming, mature soul, full of folk savvy and tall-tales. Her eyes twinkled as the stories poured from her lips. When she laughed, which was often, her pegs appeared as lithe as a young willow in a Spring zephyr. Her home was a sweet hive of activity. Venerable Tottie had found employment upstairs; she and Miss Hickory strived to bathe a reluctant, energetic young fellow.
Venerable Tottie and the Dirty Rascal
Hitty Hyacinth Paw-Paw warmed her pegs at the wood stove; Nell entertained Yorick*, who’d mysteriously managed to tag along, while seated on the floor of the cabin.
Two sprites enjoyed the attic with its many treasures.
Granny Lavender hugged a fractious infant close to her and began to speak. I sat on the very edge of my chair, drinking in all of Granny’s choice wisdom.
* Yorick is the chief thespian in the Wiregrass, and like most actors, is chronically under-employed and must scrape together what living he can. He appears in the most unlikely places and has many admirers among the Wiregrass Hitties and the Mad for the Farthing Crowd. His last major engagement was on the British stage, appearing as himself, in “Hittylet, Prince of Denmark.”
A Short Natural History of “The Berrygnash”, collected from my notes
Please note: “The Berrygnash” refers not only to the species as a group,
but may also indicate the singular.
Driven westward from the Appalachians by encroaching Dollkind, the last of the Berrygnash, Farklepithacus, a peaceful, literate species, settled in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. The abundance of berries, particularly Farkle-berries, provided the greatest lure to the species; the Boston Mountains were awash with the tasty fruit. The Berrygnash had co-existed peacefully for hundreds of years with both the small and large dolls dwelling with families living in the East. But, as more folks settled the East, less welcome were these creatures. Though Hittykind regarded them with a bit of skepticism, the Berrygnash had never been known to feast on anything other than berries. However, Hittys, never being quite sure of their place on the food chain, maintained their distance from herbivores in general and since Rowan berries were the Berrygnash’s second favorite food, could not help but wonder if a Berrygnash with a particularly refined sense of taste might use a small wooden doll to cleanse its palette between courses. This distance allowed knowledge of the Berrygnash to fade from all but a few families.
Surprisingly, the Berrygnash, on the whole, were a literate species, storytelling and reading being their chief entertainment. There is no proof that the Berrygnash employ their own alphabet, nor create their own literature, but there is ample evidence of the Berrygnash enjoying the writing also beloved by Dollkind and their people. Hittys and their pegged cousins were often unaware that, as they gathered together to share tales of adventures and travels, the Berrygnash would lurk on the outer edges of the encampment, their ears bent forward to catch every detail.
As for reading, most of Berrygnash popular literature in the late 19th and early 20th century consisted of Sears or Montgomery Ward catalogs, given that the Berrygnash had discovered that Ozark Hittykind’s people built Half Moon Relieving Caves and Libraries similarly to their Eastern cousins. It was the discovery of the Denton Family HMRC & L that elevated the literary sensibilities of Farklepithicus Ozarkus. They learned to enjoy the classics, particularly those books and fables that spoke of Beast versus Man: Beowulf, St. George and the Dragon, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Moby Dick. There is also a school of thought that suggests the Berrygnash appreciate Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field, though, to date, no evidence to support this theory exists and certainly, no copy of this volume has been found in any HMRC & L.
At this writing, scientists and cryptid hunter alike believe the Berrygnash may also have harnessed the power of fire. Fire-pits, unexplained by any other reasoning, found in the bluffs on the Denton property almost exclusively, appear to suggest that the Berrygnash use fire to not only warm themselves during the colder weather, but to cook their farkle-berries.
At the present, there remains no clear documentation as to numbers of the
Berrygnash in the Boston Mountains. As the modern world advances into the remaining wild places, HMRC & L’s are becoming things of mere memory, thereby depriving Farklepithacus Ozarkus of the mental stimulation vital to their survival. It is sadly rumored that there may be but one Berrygnash roaming the hills around the old ghost town of Schaberg.
**********To Be Continued**********