Fenella McLeod's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Fenella McLeod pressed her thumb into the warm beeswax, watching it yield under the pressure. Her granddaughter Maisie was coming tomorrow, and this time she would teach her everything. The ancient chandlemaking secrets had lived in their family for two hundred years, passed from grandmother to granddaughter in an unbroken chain. Now it was Fenella's turn to share them. She rolled the wax between her palms, feeling its weight and warmth. Maisie was finally old enough to understand. Tomorrow, the lessons would begin. She walked to the window of her workshop and looked out at the snow-dusted landscape. The stone walls held the heat from the hearth, keeping the space warm enough for working wax. The thatched roof had lasted through three winters now. This was where she would teach Maisie. This was where the girl would learn to shape light from darkness, just as Fenella had learned from her own grandmother. Fenella turned back to her workbench and reached for the clay pot painted with a single bee. Inside lay chunks of golden beeswax she had gathered last autumn. She lifted a piece and breathed in its honey scent. Each candle began here, with wax from the hives. Maisie needed to understand that. The girl had to learn where everything came from before she could make anything worth keeping. She set down the wax and smiled. Tomorrow she would show Maisie the proper way to heat the pot, how to test the wax with her fingers, when to add the wick. After that, they would take their finished candles to the market on the wooden display table she kept for selling. The townspeople would buy them, and Maisie would see how their craft mattered. The chain would not break. Not on her watch.