Jadith Boyer and her parents were out on their regular Saturday Morning hike, and were completely unaware that there was a boy from the town who was lost in The Woods, and had been since Thursday. Had they known, they would have gone to visit the other folk who lived in The Woods and put a search party together. As much as the townsfolk might worry about the missing boy, their superstitions were severe enough that venturing into The Woods was completely out of the question. No, townsfolk would never venture into The Woods. They’d rather wring their hands in worry in the safety and comfort of their homes. Folk from The Woods had no such fears, but without knowledge of the townsfolks’ worries, no search party was organized.
Jadith’s mom and dad were always teaching her about one thing or another, and on this walk, her dad was teaching her about various roots, berries, and fungi that could be used as food or medicine, and teaching her how to differentiate between the beneficial ones and the ones that were harmful. Of course, Jadith already knew a fair bit of this…knowing what is safe to eat in The Woods is a matter of life and death, but it was a lesson that her dad knew was important enough to bear repeating numerous times, and each time, Jadith learned a bit more.
After the lesson was over, Jadith’s mom suggested that Jadith use some of her knowledge to choose some berries to add flavour to the oatmeal porridge that was cooling back at the cabin. Jadith’s stomach began rumbling as she thought about it. Their custom was to go for their hike before breakfast, and so the first meal of Saturday always seemed to taste better than their breakfasts any other day of the week. After another half hour of gathering berries, they began to head home.
Quest for Whirled Peas 