Dusty and the Seven Shudder Sisters - Part 1

This is the seventh in Dusty's stories - as you may have noticed, I came up with a numerical theme for the stories and this is number 7.

What else but the Seven Deadly Sins - and the opposing Seven Heavenly Graces - for this story.

As before, I hope you enjoy the story.

pictures from Google free to use search

---

There are seven Deadly Sins borne of man with seven Shudder Sisters to carry the sins from one realm to the next.

Where there is peace and harmony, calm and order, they arrive to create chaos.

It is their chosen task to make the lives of men miserable and if once they discover a hybrid mix of mortal and supernatural, living amongst man in contentment and peace, their goal is to disrupt that harmony and they set about their chosen mission with a gleeful determination.

And so it came to pass that a child spawned of woman and demon, possessing the kindness of the mother and the demonic abilities of the father was brought to the attention of ancient mischief-makers.

They decided that she should be the focus of their shenanigans and they set about finding her.

For seven years they conjured and connived to find her and they were patient and determined. Then they knew that the signs and symbols they had woven had led them to the right place and time.

They arrived in the town on one day and on the next it seemed as though they had always been there.

A veil had been thrown over the town and with it, a legend had grown up around their presence. It enveloped them and made the adults wary and the children either fearful or ridiculously foolhardy.

The Shudder Sisters were ancient beyond comprehension. Hunched over, haggard and stooped little women swathed in layer upon layer of shabby and predominantly black clothing. From their hats to their inappropriate boots, salvaged perhaps from army surplus, they exuded an air of malevolence.

Even if they were studied closely – and who would want to – it would be impossible to define whether they were fat or painfully thin under all their garments.

Each had a gnarled walking stick, clutched in a gnarled and rheumatoid-twisted hand.

Not that the possession of a walking aid should fool anyone or encourage them to believe the old women were frail or vulnerable – far from it. An attacker, thief or mugger could be rendered unconscious by swift and brutal retaliation.

Children getting too close could be rapped across shin or elbow with an expert and secretive swing of their stick. There were never fewer than three at any time in any place where there was likely to be people and their usual number was the full seven.

They were blamed for mishaps and maladies, for gremlins in the works and the ‘things just didn’t go right all day’ kind of days. The old wives’ tales of hag-ridden horses, milk curdled in the churn and even ‘getting out on the wrong side of bed’ moods could be blamed upon the old women.

The evil eye, spells and curses were attributed to wizened old women down the centuries but how much of that was truth and how much was superstition could be anyone’s guess – unless you know who the Shudder Sisters were and what they were capable of.

On occasion, a bony hand would snake out and grab hold of someone’s hand or arm. If the person was patient and didn’t struggle under the deceptively strong grip, sometimes their fortune – a scarily accurate foretelling – would be given.

If they did struggle or throw abuse, then their day was sure to go very badly from then, anything from losing a favourite piece of jewellery to losing a loved one. Some would say ‘curse’ but that could also lead to misfortune so they muttered their accusations out of earshot of the Shudder Sisters – a long way out of earshot.

It was best to allow them to tell what they wanted to tell, to then nod with gracious solemnity and move away. Whether or not notice was taken of the fortune told was down to individual preference but the Shudder Sisters knew things, sometimes it was almost as though they made the fortunes they told come true.

As much as they loathed people, animals, and especially children, they adored birds. From feeding pigeons and sparrows in the park, ducks at the pond or rooks and ravens on the edge of the wood, their cackles of delight could be heard from a way off and therefore they could be avoided.

There is speculation that they are the origins of rumours, legends and tales of witches – the evil kind, those who Rapunzel, Snow White, and Hansel and Gretel would have encountered – and if anyone would be brave enough to ask, the Shudder Sisters would be more likely to accept the connection than refute it.

The Shudder Sisters are notorious and feared by many cultures but in individual tales rather than their collective. A murder of crows, a coven of witches: a Shudder of Sisters.