The sun was high in the sky and Linea was glad she'd worn a hat, though she could still feel the skin on her nose starting to crisp a little. But the carrot patch needed to be weeded, the tomatoes needed to be pruned and she wanted to cut some rosemary so it could start drying in the same sun that was making her a little uncomfortable.

"Oh well, I'll have to get some stronger sun cream. You'll just have to deal with it for now, nose."

She tried to look at her nose while she talked to it, and realised how silly this would look to an observer. Never mind, maybe the plants got a laugh out of it. Giggling a little, she stretched her back, knelt back down and continued to carefully pluck the weeds from between the rows of bushy little carrot plants. "The chickens are going to enjoy munching these" - into the chicken basket they went.

Linea continued to pull the weeds around her for her chickens when she started hearing an odd whispering. She looked up and around, frowning at the breeze drifting passed. The voice sounded as if it was low to the ground in the nearby hedge beyond the patch of carrots, but she didn't see anyone.

The whispering seemed to turn into the hushed bickering of two, so she put her next handful of weeds into the basket looped around an arm and walked to the edge of the patch toward the voices.

A gasp sprung from the long hedge followed by a shushing and then silence.

"Um... Hello?" Linea peered around the edge of the bush and still saw no one. The foliage suddenly rustled, then the kerfuffle of quiet voices rang out again.

"Ouch! Make room, would you?"

"I'm trying! It doesn't help that you're twice my size."

As she heard a scoff in response to the second voice's comment, Linea cradled her basket of weeds to crouch.

"Look, there's a perfectly good spot right-- Oh, no. See how loud you've been? Now she's on to us, you flea-brain," the first one said hoarsely.

Linea's hat fell from her head as she tilted too far trying to get a better angle of sight under the hedge branches. "I can hear you, you know. Why are you spying on me? And how are you hiding in this hedge?" She inspected the gaps between the supporting branches of each interlaced bush. "It's big but not human big."

The second voice spoke up. "Ah, well. You see--"

"Shush! We're not supposed to engage!" A bit of foliage rustled again, and when Linea moved to part the leaves in one area, a sizeable dark blob dropped to the ground with a thud.

Linea gasped and shot upright, weeds tumbling from her basket still looped around her arm. Eight legs wriggled to maneuver itself back upright.

"Holy big spider! You're a big spider! Hello, spider!" Linea babbled, swaying between each foot.

"Uh-- Indeed! 'Tis not a human who speaks to theeee!" The creature waved its front legs dramatically, much like a jumping spider does in self-defense.

Before Linea could find the words to speak or the action to take, an even bigger arachnid skittered down from the hedge branches. "Please, no need to fear, human," this one said boldly. "We are merely wolf spiders who also tend to your garden." Somehow their voices sprung from their little mandibles, but she couldn't see them moving in sync with their words.

Wide-eyed, Linea remained relatively frozen and grasping her basket. "Wolf spiders, right." She breathed the words weakly.

"Yes. And please ignore my brother's posturing. He doesn't know how to read situations. As a matter of fact, ignore both of us. We shouldn't be here right now."

Immediately chiming in, the smaller one said, "We were wondering why you started speaking to your nose, though."

"Brother!" The bigger one chided, jolting to face him.

Despite the jarring movement, Linea chuckled. "Oh," she said with a nervous smile. "I-I was just being goofy. And here I thought no one saw me!"

A brief silence of confusion passed between them. "Hah! Humans will forever fascinate me," the bigger one replied. "Anyway, we must take our leave." He turned in place -- spindly legs taking turns adjusting position -- and began walking away. He stretched out a leg to poke his brother in the gentle yet prone-to-twitch way that only a spider can achieve. "Come on now."

"Right, right." The smaller one began to follow.

The growing realization that they weren't a threat despite their frightening appearance and size as well as the growing distance between them and herself snapped Linea out of her stunned state. "Wait!"

The two wolf spiders stopped and turned to face her.

"...Why...are you also tending to my garden? And, more curiously..." She shifted on her feet again. "How are you able to speak with me?"

Jerking toward his little brother again, they whispered amongst themselves once more, continuously poking each other as they returned to bickering. Linea caught something about needing to sleep with the sun already well risen and following instructions left by their old friend. They seemed to settle on a conclusion when they turned back to her.

"Ohoho, it's a doozy of a story," the bigger one said, pattering back toward her.

"Yes. Full of mystery. Intrigue. Adventure!" His smaller brother pulled up next to him. "The kind witch who used to live here cast a sort of spell on this land. It's granted several of the animals who live nearby to be able to speak with her...or speak with anyone who lives here apparently."

"It's also kept a sinister darkness at bay for many years now," the older spider added. "And as for the garden," he said, emphasizing his words with his body as if gesturing, "we eat the pests that would otherwise harm what is grown here. It used to be for the witch's herbs and such, but now it's for the things you grow because we still care about this place."

The younger brother took a couple more steps forward and postured his legs dramatically again. Linea held her ground, more curious now. "We also act as sort of warning bells for the eeevil we mentioned before."

"Yes, the aforementioned evil."

"The darkness aforenamed."

"The foreboding mentioned prior."

Linea held up her hands. "Okay, okay." She snickered. "I see now." Taking a long look between them, she smiled and said to herself, "Well, isn't this kind of...fun?"

The older spider tittered. "Other than that threat still kept at bay," the older spider responded, "I must say that I agree. It's been quite entertaining to have worked with the witch."

"What happened to her?"

"We can tell you the tale if you wish," he said. "There's a nice grove where we like to rest in during the day if you'd like to come with and hear it on the way."

Linea looked toward her chicken coop. She still had so many tasks to do. She sighed. "Maybe later then. I have much to do around here still." She frowned and looked back to the wolf spiders. "Why have you been so forthcoming about all this?"

They both twitched, and the younger one hesitantly spoke up. "We're trying to figure out if it you'd be able to take up the witch's mantle in her stead."

Linea raised her brows with surprise and the onslaught of more questions bubbling into her mind.

"But! That's a conversation for later," the older spider interjected. "We must rest now. I don't want to miss out on hunting tonight from oversleeping."

"Ah." Linea cordially nodded but shifted her eyes back and forth, tentatively accepting the bizarre situation.

"We'll check in later then." He spun around and began skittering away again. "It'll be nice to try getting back into a routine like we had with the witch."

The younger wolf spider approached Linea's fallen hat and nudged it toward her.

"Oh, thanks." She stooped to place it back on her head and quickly gathered the weeds that flew out of her basket earlier. "So, you're sort of like protectors then?"

While backing away, the small one poised his arachnid body in what Linea supposed was meant to be heroic. He put on an accent and praised theatrically, "Aye, the protectors of the garden."

Linea kept on with her chores, but considerably slower than any other day, granted she just had a very strange, entirely unbelievable, and possibly hallucinated encounter. She had been in the sun for a while. Maybe it was getting to her. I mean, really, talking spiders? That's absurd. She convinced herself she was getting heatstroke and moved on with her day.

As it turns out, talking spiders weren't as absurd as previously thought. They came back. Linea was just sitting on her back porch with a glass of water, watching the sun settle behind the mountains, and they waltzed up and initiated contact.

"Why hello again!"

"Would you mind coming with us?"

Linea may or may not have shrieked just a little. But in all fairness, enormous spiders are considerably frightening.

"Where... well, if I were to go with you, where would we be going?"

The smaller and browner of the two spoke up first. "Oh, just a more ideal spot for important conversation."

"Important conversation?"

"Do you not remember our conversation earlier? We need you to step up and help us. With, you know, the stuff."

"Oh, of course, the stuff. How could I forget?"

"Ah, see? There you go."

It was then that the other spider decided finally to intervene.

"Thrin, she's joking. She obviously forgot. Humans are notoriously unintelligent. No offense."

"Offense taken. You come into my garden, start parading around like you own the place, ask to take me to suspicious places, and call me, and I quote, 'notoriously unintelligent.' I think I deserve to take a bit of offense."

"Take all you want, but we do need to have a discussion."

"And another thing, you never introduced yourselves. I assume your name is Thrin, and might I say, you've been considerably more polite than your older brother. Applause for you."

"Why, thank you!" Thrin said. "And you're completely right, Pielon is a stick in the mud. I apologize on his behalf, if you'd accept a third party."

"Ah, why not? You know, you two are very lucky that you got me. A lot of other humans would have called the exterminator by now."

"Then we are lucky, indeed! You've been taking this well. Applause for you. Humans are so fun."

"Enough fooling around, both of you."

Pielon drew himself up as much as a spider really can, and proclaimed, in a strangely loud voice, "Linea Anne Harker of the Pinewall house, we formally request and beseech you to take up the official title of Witch of the Woods, assuming all duties and abilities associated."

It took her a moment.

"... Uh, could- Could you say that again?"

"Okay. Linea Anne Harker of the Pinewall house, we formally request and beseech you to take up the official title of Witch of the Woods, assuming all duties and abilities associated."

"WOAH. You want me to become a witch?"

"Yes."

"How do you know my full name?"

"We know a lot of things."

"What's Pinewall house?"

"This house that you have assumed ownership of."

"What kinds of duties and abilities are we talking about here?"

"You find out when you accept the offer."

"Wow. I'll uhh, I'll think about it. Come back tomorrow."

"We await your decision anxiously. Farewell until tomorrow, Linea of the Pinewall house."

"Yeah, uh, seeya Piedon."

"Pielon."

"Oh, sorry. Bye, Thrin! I enjoyed having you!"

"Goodbye Linea! We'll see you tomorrow!"