The countryside of Noraline, was lush. Green rolling hills with long needle pines dotted the landscape among the vast array of hardwood and fir. It was the only part of the realm where the long needle pine grew. No one really knew why, only that for as long as anyone could remember, it had grown there.
“It had been discovered during the Feraling wars and was brought in with the Feralings in the town. But that’s a tale for another time child”, Gertie told her. As the young girl stepped out of the large stone tub in the middle of the room, the old woman wrapped her in a towel and briskly dried her off. The wool towel was scratchy against Chris’s skin, but she was used to it by now. The old woman would say," it’s good for gettin’ the blood flowin’ free and warmin’ the skin child."
Once into her underclothes and chemise, then into her overdress, Gertie would brush out her long golden blonde braid and re-braid it into a fine, five strand plait down her back. This was the traditional Feraling way of braiding.