Son

The villagers call her Water Claire and, in the weeks after her arrival, they bring her gifts like a petticoat and a comb. Lame Einar, to everyone’s surprise, gives her a gift: a woven hat. Claire spends much of the summer staring out at the sea, but she doesn’t know what she’s waiting for: her memories are all gone. Alys figures she’s about 16 and, hearing this and watching children playing in the meadow, Claire is sad. Her “meadow days” are gone. But Tall Andras hears that she’s 16 and just wants to marry her. He’s annoyed when Alys and Old Benedikt tell him that Claire can’t marry until she remembers her past.

Alone with each other, Old Benedikt and Alys discuss Claire and how she remembers nothing. The two old people have been friends for 60 years. Alys is busy collecting raspberry leaf to brew a tea for Bryn, Bethan’s mother, who’s pregnant again after three miscarriages. Hopefully, the tea will help her keep this pregnancy. When Old Benedikt asks if there’s an herb Alys can give Claire to help her memory, she gives him a piece of bark and tells him to think back to any memory of his choosing. He describes a memory of dancing with Alys when they were about 13, but he can’t remember why they were dancing. Laughing, Alys turns away and says the bark doesn’t actually do anything: all a person has to do to remember is try. Claire will remember at some point.