Somewhere far away I thought I heard a rooster crowing.

And a few seconds later, I thought I heard another.

And a few seconds after that, a third one crowed, upon which I finally jolted awake. Apparently roosters acting as an alarm was an actual thing here, and not just made up by cartoons.

I was made to sleep on the loft bed last night, which apparently was last used by Tadhg. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but it was kinda comfy and something was better than nothing. At least it allowed me to keep my handbag out of sight, I don’t know how social or popular Saoirse is.

Speaking of, I spotted her at the other end of the cottage. She’d just finished getting dressed, and was fastening a small circular pin on her dress. Village life starts early, indeed. She noticed that I was awake, and gestured at me to get out of bed quickly.

“What happened?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

“Change now. Your clothing… strange.”

“Right, I knew that.”

I yawned, then clambered out of the loft bed as instructed. Saoirse quickly pulled out some garments from the chest in front of her bed, and threw them at me.

“Wear this. Bríd’s.”

I examined the garments. She’d given me the outfits that I’d observed the women here wearing: a long, gray, long-sleeved linen dress, and a thick, brown, long-sleeved button-up woolen overdress, though I didn’t get a pin like hers. The clothes were a little dirty, but that might just be because they’d been sitting in a chest for, well, I don’t know how long. But what I did know was that I was sleeping in her dead brother’s bed, and would soon be wearing her dead sister’s outfit. Again, I wasn’t sure how I felt about any of this.

But... change here? Right now? In front of my host?

Saoirse was glaring at me, as if trying to tell me to get a move on. I looked around at the small, roomless cottage again, and realized this was normal here. People changing in front of each other, without any sort of privacy.

I swallowed my shame and hesitantly began removing my sneakers and socks, and then my leggings, hoodie, and t-shirt. I did have a bra and panties underneath, which apparently Saoirse found odd. She came up to me, eyebrows furled in curiosity, and pointed at my bra with her hand.

“What’s–”

“Hey, let me change!”

I reflexively covered myself with my arms, while she continued to look at me weirdly. Only after a couple more minutes of staring did she leave me alone. I… was not used to this. I think the last time a girl stared at me while I changed was back when Angelina and I were dating, before I transitioned. It was uncomfortable then, and only slightly less uncomfortable now.

A few minutes later I was successfully decked out in the local attire. As it turned out, I didn’t need the pin. The shoulders and waist were a little tight and the hips were rather loose, but most clothes are like that on me. I turned to Saoirse to show her.

“How do I look?”

Saoirse turned around, but suddenly the front door swung open.

Now Erin, I should note here that while I couldn’t understand Irish then, I do now. So, I’ll translate it here for you.

So the door suddenly swung open, and a wild-haired young girl of probably 11 or 12 barged in with a net full of fish.

“Saoirse! Da caught all this fish this morning, he wanted you to–”

In her rush she ended up tripping over one of the stools and slammed right into the table, falling to the floor and dropping the fish. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Maebh!” yelled Saoirse, as she helped the girl up. “Be more careful, child!”

I chuckled, which caught Maebh’s attention. She turned to look at me, and her jaw dropped.

“Hey, how’s it going?” I said, waving my hand. Saoirse seemed confused by the gesture, while Maebh continued to gawk.

“Saoirse…” whispered Maebh. “Who is that…?”

“She is my guest,” said Saoirse, glaring at her. “Do not speak a word of her existence to the townspeople.”

“Did she fall from the sky? Is she a fairy? Her skin is so dark, what did she eat to become like that–”

“Alright, enough with you.”

Saoirse began pushing the girl out.

“But–”

“I’ll meet you by the seashore later. Go!”

Once Maebh was out Saoirse immediately slammed the door shut. Since I didn’t understand a word they said at the time, all I could do was chuckle quietly.

“Friend of yours?” I asked. Saoirse took a deep breath.

“Yes. But don’t… don’t go to town without me. You… strange… people will not be good. See how Maebh l-looked at you.”

“I see,” I said, nodding. “No, yeah, that makes sense.”

“No-yeah…?”

I laughed.

“Er, I mean, yeah, that makes sense. I won’t go into town without you. I don’t speak your language, for one thing.”

“Good,” said Saoirse. “Eat now, then work.”

“Right.”