Alicia's Tale - Chapter 1 - Fire in the Valley

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Story by Jeremy Vail - Images selected by Shelly - Alicia by me

She was born in Chambery, France. situated in the south-east of France, 325 miles from Paris. 62 miles from Lyon. It is found in a large valley, surrounded by the Massif des Bauges to the east, Mont Granier and the Chaîne de Belledonne to the south, the Chaîne de l'Épine (the most southern mountain of the Jura) to the west and the Lac du Bourget to the north. Although there have been people in Rhône-Alpes since pre-historic times, the earliest recorded settlers of the region were the Gauls (Celts). Cities such as Lyon were founded by them and the region traded with both northern and southern Europe. Most of the area became part of Roman territory during the invasion of Celtic Gaul led by Julius Caesar and was at various times part of the regions of Lugdunensis and Gallia. Lyon itself became a major city in the Roman Empire.





The region, excepting Savoy, was part of the Merovingian and Carolingian Kingdoms before becoming a royal territory under the Capetians. As it became a royal territory early on in French history, its cultural, political and economic influences and developments paralleled those of greater France.

Chambery is a city in the department of Savoie. Together with the Haute-Savoie, Savoie is one of the two departments of the historic region of Savoy that was annexed by France on June 14, 1860, following the signature of the treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860.
Chambery is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V. Count of Savoy, made the city his seat of power.

In essence, Chambery in this time belongs to an Italian Monarchy, yet her people and there language are of a French majority.

She was...
Born Alisa Jeanine Beaufort in 1762 to Natacha Aglaé Beufort, and Gérard Tuor Beufort. Not much is known of her family's life but Alisa was a well known child. As a child, she had unique signs of a mental prowess that cursed her with being estranged from the entire community.
Upon the day of her delivery, the local nurse recalled, "There was no crying at birth."
This alarmed the doctor but that wasn't all. Her mother after waiting anxiously to hold her newborn baby suddenly went queer the moment the unusually silent child was placed in her arms. She immediately told the nurse to take her child back and place her in the crib.
This awkward moment would fade under her mother's love. Though it would happen a few more times, her mother loved her as any good mother would and somehow got used to it.
"It's as if she somehow retreats into my head." Her mother once claimed.
"She cries but only to me."
Her mother would never give any further explanation of this but knew as any mother could know, her child was exceptionally different.
Within the following year many thought she may be mute. A diagnosis that changed when she finally spoke. However that would not happen until she was almost 3.
The mute diagnosis was one of many misgivings. People just didn't feel right around her.
"There was something in her gaze."
Many would say.
Even more still, it was in her presence. It wouldn't be long before the doctor and the local prêtre would stop making regular visits. Soon her parents would keep her at home and gradually out of sight.
At age 3, Alisa's first word did not come alone. In fact, Alisa didn't have a first word but a full sentence.
"Qu'avez-vous fait , mon petit une?"
(What have you done, My little one?)
Events like these, at times impressed her parents but more often worried them. What sort of child were they raising? Was she sick?

Throughout her young childhood her parents had difficulty coping with the unique differences displayed by their only child. The decisions to keep her in seclusion made these moments witnessed more by her parents then anyone else.
Her mother was practically her teacher as she was kept from schooling (and other social settings) her father grew distant towards his strange daughter. He had grown indifferent to his strange daughter's peculiar ways.
Yet, Alisa was not always kept out of sight. As she became older her ability to find opportunities at freedom grew. She found ways in relaxing her mothers thoughts and lulling her to sleep. Alisa began to get out more often then her mother would like, and soon sightings of her would also become a thing of legend.

One local story speaks of a foreign traveler from Austria. The story tells of his journey by horse carriage down a road passing the outskirts of Chambery. Where it then passed by a little girl on the side of the mountain road.
"As she gazed up at me her eyes pierced through me." He recalled,
"I was being invaded. I withdrew into the carriage and waited for this feeling to pass. I then tried to forget it."
He later told at the local tavern he had strange nightmares visited upon him where he recalled the face of the young girl.
"You must be speaking of that Beaufort girl." One bar maid said, "Possessed she is... Cursed."
Many locals would share similar stories.
Any mysterious misfortunes that took place in Chambery, (and there were many) would only draw more suspicions towards Alisa. Seclusion only made the rumors grow.

~The world is full of strange and I am no different.~ Alicia Beufort

*1770*
Winter that year was particularly harsh, food would soon become scarce...
Alicia's mom made a point not to let the family go to bed hungry but waking up was a different story.

(Bonjour petit une...  Mon petit une...  Si doux ... si terrible)
Natacha's eyes shot open as she layed in bed early that morning hearing her daughters voice in her head. This was different, as she rose up and glanced at the 8yr olds empty bed. She wasn't speaking to her mother as she did so often. Secretly in her head.
She raced through the home only to be stopped in shear shock at the back doorway. A view of a young Alisa standing near the open field that lead up the east range of the mountain. A field dotted with the formation of at least 20 wolves standing, with ears pointed. Their full gaze locked directly on her child who was looking back into the one wolf standing directly in front of her.
Natacha froze with fear. The shock of such a sight was the only reason a scream wasn't let out.
The wolf which stood clearly superior to the small child turned away to retrieve a large animal carcass obscured in tall grass. Then returned dragging the large trophy animal and placing it before Alisa. The young girl smiled and gave a sound that she began to frequently make, "tut-tut-tut-tut..."
The feral creature appeared to almost bow before her as she leaned forward placing a small kiss to it's forehead.
The awe of such a site taking it's toll, Natacha simply passed out.

"Seen??? "She could have been killed!"
Natacha tried to refrain from yelling at her husband.
"Well she seemed pretty well in charge from where I was standing!" Gérard, not really certain on what to make of any of it. The red deer given by her feral friend was more then a dinner. Still Alisa couldn't avoid the fights no matter what she did.
The wolf incident was at least, never witnessed again. Yet, on occasion  there were local sightings of her being followed by birds, rabbits, and other, woodland creatures. Though never again in the presence of her parents.
She was too connected to her mother to avoid the needless worries. She didn't understand the upheaval.  Nor could she comprehend the reason why she was considered so different. Her mother could hear her thoughts just as Alisa could hear her mothers. Yet her mother refused to answer her except by voice. Her father would sometimes gaze at her bewilderingly, but mostly ignored her. Could they not read each others thoughts? She was glad to be kept  unseen by others. Everyone else seemed dirty and judgemental. She simply didn't understand anything of her life. She tried to be good. She tried to help. Yet, everything she did was a strange and forbidden act of some kind that no one could explain. Not even to her.
Her life would change. She could sense it... but for good or bad, was uncertain.
Alisa began to have a growing resentment towards her parents. By age 10 she understood being different but also that it wasn't her fault. Her parents attempt to hide her felt more like shame then protection.

Her father never tried to understand but then again, he tried nothing at all. He stayed distant and often kept to himself. She could hear him humming a tune in his head but one look at Alisa and he would stop. She would hear him in many different ways keeping his words to her short and search for ways to escape her presence, no matter how awkward.
Her mother grew in worry and despair. Yet, to Alisa it was overbearing and irritating. When she placed her first swear word in her mother's head, she received her first scolded lashing. After which she stopped the telepathy with her mother.
At age 13, Alisa learned not only the changes of her body but how to control and therefore hide most of her mysterious mind. She would spend almost everyday that summer outside and almost out of view of her parents.
One particular spot was the cliff overlooking the mountain road. She learned she could watch the passing carriages without being seen. There she learned that deep thoughts and concentration had different effects. She could stop a carriage by making the passengers hear her thoughts, as if she were actually inside the carriage speaking aloud...
"Stop!" A passenger would cry.
Alisa would back out of view and fall to the ground in silent laughter, as she heard the passengers get out in a panic.
One couple told the driver, "Forget you! We'll walk the rest of the way."
In boredom she discovered she could sometimes change birds in their flying formations. Unbeknownst to her, this wreaked havoc on the farmers weather predictions that year. She also discovered boys. She could make them come calling without even knowing their  names. Aside from the boys entranced, Alisa would continue to try and keep her honed skills secret. If and when her mother found out she would be kept inside with work for several days.

One such day there was another argument with her mother. After ignoring her for several days for a previous punishment, her mother decided her sentence to stay inside needed an extension. Alisa argued to no avail. She looked her mother in the eyes and without saying a word. She said, "I hate you." Despite not saying it aloud her mother acknowledged the projected thought with a firm slap across Alisa's face. As the pain reddened the skin of her cheek, Alisa eyes welled up with water as she ran to her room and slammed the door. She stayed there for the remainder of the day and into the night in silence.
The following morning Alisa awoke to the sound of her mother coughing. She came out of her room and helped prepare breakfast. She didn't speak to her mother that morning. By afternoon she was cleaning when her mother sat down at the table tired with her head in her hands. Alisa without thinking asked "Can I go outside?" Her mother continued holding her head and face in her hands almost looking exhausted. "The sun is out, and I would very..." before she could finish her mother sighed, "Go."
Alisa didn't hesitate to rush out in excitement. Simply getting outside was freedom despite being alone. She also didn't hesitate in returning late for supper, but her mother hadn't called to her. She came home to her father sitting at the table alone. He had already had half his dinner when Alisa returned, "Sorry I'm late Papa." She said, "Where's Mama?"
"She's went to bed early. Tired." Gérard replied, with his quick as usual exit...
Not a bad day, I even escaped her punishment. She thought.

She was awakened by her mother the following morning. Earlier then usual and she sounded particularly demanding. She had stopped reading her mother's thoughts, they had simply became annoying, not to mention the natural connection she had made it all too easy for her mother to pick up on it and even catch some words Alisa didn't intend for her to hear.
Once again, Alisa wasn't able to go outside. Her mother had her doing all the work while she sat in the parlor mending old trousers. What cruel and unusual punishment is this? She wondered. Now I don't have to do anything wrong to get locked up.
By dinner her father returned home and again her mother went to bed early. Tired, she said. From what? Sewing patches? Alisa began to wonder how long this would keep up...

One evening she was awakened to the sound of her mother coughing. As the coughing continued it was apparent that no one was getting sleep this night.
By morning Alisa was up again starting the work with no hope of getting out. What would her mother do today? There couldn't be any more mending to do. Her mother had spent an entire week sewing away in the parlor. She again heard her mother coughing and both her and her father were in the bedroom as breakfast was getting cold. Something wasn't right. Gérard came to the table, as Alisa had started eating and was almost finished. "Why don't you go outside Alisa." Go enjoy the sun but don't go too far. He leaned in kissed the top of her head and held his pressed lips to her head for a moment. She could hear "worry" in his thoughts. For all of them. An uncertain anxiety she was not familiar with.

For the next three days Alisa would spend time outside. Her father made strange meals without a hunt or crop and she hadn't seen her mother leave the bedroom.
One day coming home she saw the local médecin leaving the house. She was worried but strangely dismissed her mother for being dramatic. It was nothing. she told herself.

It hadn't happened in over a year...
She awoke to her mothers voice in her head. A bond long since lost had returned before daybreak. Alisa's head was on fire. A fever that was almost blinding and her mother calling to her.
It was too much. She laid in bed pushing her mother out of her head. The pain of the fever too much. Still barley awake it had to be a nightmare.
The next morning she awoke fine, but it was late in the day. She slept in and no one awakened her? The house was silent and her father was no where in sight, but the bedroom door was open and she looked in and saw the shocking sight of her weakened mother.
It was a sight that weakened Alisa as well.
Her mother could not speak but called to her. It had been awhile since she had heard or listened for her mothers thoughts, or even looked upon her mother, but there in the room she was surprised to look upon this aged and helpless woman laying in bed, blind and terrified. She could hear her mothers thoughts.

Thoughts of feeling scared and alone, tired, and weak and then she soon regretted every moment of her life where she felt anger or resentment... She realized she loved her mother.. despite her determination not to. For the first time since she was a child, Alisa went to her. She crawled into her mothers bed and curled up in her weak arms and soothed her mothers final moments. She was never prepared to say goodbye to the woman that gave her life. The woman that did the best she could for her despite the hardships. She had realised Her mother had never given up on her and yet Alisa had in a way given up on her mother.
Why did I ever feel it? How could I have been so angry? Oh the terrible person I have been. She thought. She felt her mother terrified until she placed her head on her shoulder and felt the frailty of her mothers cold hand as it took hers. She wept tears that could not be held back. Her mother was not afraid any more... her mother had no anger in her, despite the last few years of rebelling against her. It was all forgotten. Yet before Alisa could say, "I'm sorry" before "I love you" could be said... Natacha was gone. Alisa instantly felt loss. Her body ached to scream, "No" Her inner thoughts became a little girl screaming "No, Mother! Don't leave me!" But inside Alisa felt it completely... She was now alone.
Grief had never been felt by Alisa until now, and it would never fully go away. Alisa for a time, felt not passing her parting words of love to her mother, an unforgivable circumstance.

She no longer could hear her thoughts. She couldn't feel her presence. Her mother had gone to a far away unreachable place that Alisa could not comprehend. What was left behind was a weak and deteriorated shell that had small resemblance to her mother, but even that slight reminder was beautiful enough to want to keep.
She begged god and the heavens to bring her back, if even for a day to change the course of her final memories.
"Come on Alisa darling, it's alright. Papa is here." Gérard scooped his distressed daughter up and took her outside...
Alisa still crying he placed her in the open carriage and went back inside.
As Alisa had time to compose herself she looked around in her exhausted state. Something wasn't right. The carriage had some loose belongings in it but no luggage. What few items there were, they were all hers? Even a couple of outfits but nothing belonging to her father or mother. Once again, the reality that she would never see her mother again brought back tears and hysterics.
Gérard rushed out again but not to console his griefing daughter but to immediately get moving. "We have to go now, No time."
A strange voice was heard in Alisa's grieving thoughts. The strange voice emanating from her fathers thoughts?
"Where are we going papa?" Alisa asked nervously.
"Someplace safe." A muttered response without hesitation from her father as he navigated the rough trail unusually fast and now moving away from home...

"What is going on?"
"Why is all this happening?"
Two thoughts that consumed a shocked and grieving Alisa.
She seemed too uncertain to read her fathers thoughts. Could all this be her fault?
"Where are we going papa?" "I'm scared."  Alisa continued to cry as this strange journey continued.
"It's alright, love." Her father replied, without taking his eyes from the strange and unknown road. She felt as though her father was even more of a stranger then before.
As the single horse wagon turned the next road was straight with a subtle declining landscape. Along side a vast lake through the trees, she could see an approaching monastery. Her father slowed down finally, turning off the main road down a narrow passage leading to it's entrance. Within a slightly wider entryway Gerard circled the carriage round before coming to a stop. Gerard simply and quietly hopped out and came  around the carriage and assisted his daughter down out of the carriage "Come on. Quickly." He again strangely muttered.
"Where are we?" She asked,
Without a response from her father she could sense he wasn't himself.
Without a word he took her few belongings out of the carriage and placed them beside her. Then he simply climbed in the carriage and left.
Watching her father drive away she knew she would never see him again. Filled with a tremendous fear and uncertainty she knew she was now at that changing point she had predicted so long ago...
But how?

She had been taken in by the nuns. Even though she couldn't understand what they were saying she understood their thoughts and her circumstance. She was now an orphan.
Later that evening, after being cleaned up and fed by these kind strangers, only the exhaustion of her own anxieties had put her to sleep in her new home. She then had a vision and knowledge of another terrible event that had come to pass.

She was back in the carriage riding away from the peaceful monastery.
As she looked back she looked at herself and noticed the expression she was giving at the sight of her father riding away, leaving her.

Yet, now her mind placed her back in the buggy which her father had used to return to their home. There he went inside and preceded in setting the home on fire with he and her mothers body inside. He never made a sound or came out as the blaze overtook the home.
She also was mysteriously aware this was not her fathers doing. He wasn't himself.

Once the remains were discovered an investigation ruled the death of Gerard Beaufort a suicide. In reaction to her mother's death that had been brought on by a possible brain tumor that metabolized in her lungs.