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"You would hardly be the first," she said, for it was certainly true. More than one dazed chosen had cast their shadow over her doorstep. She was used to their confusion and seemingly undeniable need to speak. Oftentimes, she felt rather like a bartender must feel - a confidant made somehow safe by her relative anonymity. Of course, Alice did not often receive any significant compensation for lending her ear and home, and she was considerably less...considerate, she supposed. Less obviously sympathetic.

"Doubtless you will not be the last to feel the call." Not with the way events were shaping up. The darkness was stirring in the Wood. She could feel it. The wolves were already knocking at the door.

"It makes even the strongest of men dance like a puppet on strings. You need hardly feel embarrassed that it sent you traipsing away from home."

"From every Chosen I have spoken to, the longer they deny the call, the stronger it gets," she confirmed. "I see no reason to doubt that it is the same for any other, past or yet to come."

When Marie asked her fearful question, looking for all the world like a little girl begging to be told the monsters under the bead are not real, Alice sighed quietly and seemed suddenly weary. Were the stories true? Would that they were not. She would have preferred a quiet life as a simple hedge witch. It would have been so much easier if she had not been called upon to fulfill the ultimate purpose of her line. Unfortunately, life seldom works out how one wishes. It was her ill fate to be the one guarding the Wood when the darkness finally woke.

"It was not long ago at all when I found a young man on my doorstep. The wolves chased him out of the forest. He was lucky to escape with his life." She met the younger woman's eyes. "Why do you think the Guardians have been mustering their chosen?"

Leaving Marie with that rather ominous thought to consider, the woman removed a pot of boiling stew from the fire and went about gathering other bits of food from various parts of the kitchen.

Having disappeared from the mantle, Hecate was nowhere to be seen. Of course, that did not mean that she was not keeping an eye on her prey. Rather, the grimalkin seemed to be biding her time, perhaps intent on instilling a sense of paranoia in the stray.

Allison shrugged, ignoring Marie's apology. "Who can say?" She was certainly no Chosen, to commune with a Guardian and know their secrets. However, she had met more of them than most normal folk realized were about, and her bloodline was long and very aware of the existence of hedge witch and Chosen alike. So, perhaps she was wiser than most in these things.

"You would do well to ask your Guardian, should it awaken," she suggested. "But I think it is something in the heart that they look for."

After setting baskets and trays of bread and cheese and other goods and beverages on the table, she went back one last time and ladled the stew into a pair of bowls. Satisfied with the simple but well-rounded spread, she looked at the terrified woman. "Come. Eat. You will feel better."

Alice chose not to comment on how obvious it was that the girl should be ravenous. Still, she was pleased that Marie was not turning her nose up at commoner's fare. Her cooking might not be fine foreign cuisine, but the hedge witch was confident that it was good and hardy.

"Well, at least now you've an idea what you might need, should you ever find yourself needing to travel again," she observed. In fact, it would be best if the girl resupplied before making the return trip. The carriages would not be running in this weather, but perhaps they could at least find an escort for the girl in Oldcastle. Of course, she would have to learn where the girl needed to be returned to before she could really do anything to help.

"Pray tell, where is it that you will be returning to?"

Rather than further distress the girl, Alice chose not to mention that she may not have any choice in the matter. The lives of Chosen rarely went how they hoped they would. Marie might want nothing more than to remain in her hometown forever, but fate might not be so kind.

As to the specifics of the girl's living arrangements, the hedge witch could hardly care less. This "Hallow Oak" meant nothing to her, though Marie was clearly embarrassed to be living there. Of course, the girl could live on a pig farm and it would be of no consequence to Alice. She simply wanted to know where to send the girl. It did not come as a surprise to find that she came from Palisade.

"You've a long trek home, then," she observed. "But I am certain we can find someone to help you on your way."

Alice gave the girl an arch look, but refrained from commenting on her navigational skills - or more accurately, the lack thereof.

"This house lies just outside the village of Ashdown," she said, fully aware that a lady from Palisade was unlikely to have the slightest clue where that was. She took a sip of her drink. "And Oldcastle is not much farther than that." At the very least, that ought to mean something to her.

"Possibly, there will be someone in the village. More likely, we will have to send you to Oldcastle and find an escort for you there." Whether Alice took her to Oldcastle or not depended on the circumstances...and how much she liked the girl.

Well, that made things easier. It was a bit of a relief that Alice would not need to put herself out of her way to help the girl...though a tiny part of her was irritated at the girl's convenient connections. No matter. They would serve her well. If a Chosen was not resourceful, she should at least have connections and so far, little miss Marie was not looking very resourceful.

"Friendly or not, it is good you have family here," she said, and then paused a moment. "...what will you tell them?"

Unless they were going to come clean to the world, most would want an excuse with which to buy time concerning their...unexpected and lengthy disappearance.

"It is well enough known that Guardians have returned," she said. "Though some lend it more credence than others, and some do not want to admit it aloud, most know it to be true in their hearts."

With the Ward Tree so close and the history of Oldcastle being what it was, it would be difficult for anyone to truly deny Guardians. Magic was stronger here. More alive. There was no getting around it. Besides, Oldcastle and the surrounding villages probably saw more new Guardians than any other part of Sunderland. She supposed that it was all tied together - the Wood, the Tree, the ancient seat of the Chosen. As for hedge witches, well, she was certain that there was a place for them, too.