She had always been thought of as slightly different which in a town like Beguile was something indeed. Beatrice communed so readily with animals, especially the birds, in particular the black birds, that she was treated with suspicion by some and held in awe by others.
She remembers the first time she heard an animal speak to her. Beatrice had been just five years old and after a particularly bad time with her abusive father she had headed into the woods crying. Her tear streaked face was warm and she wiped at her tears. A deer had been standing close by and had come forward nuzzling gently at her cheek. Beatrice had looked up surprised and then she heard the gentle feminine voice telling her not to cry. Other animals had joined the conversation that evening and the child Beatrice had told them all what was happening.
That very night a strange thing had happened and her father had been killed by a wolf, a surprise in a town where wolves were very rare. A kindly aunt of her mother, who had gone missing the year Beatrice was born, had come to live at the house and had bought Beatrice up in a happy home. Most often residents of Beguile would find Beatrice in a field surrounded by animals chatting away.
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