I am a thorn in my mother’s side. I am unwomanly, she says. So say many, actually. My mother raised me to behave as a young woman ought, but somehow I resisted the lessons. I like my freedom, physically, and intellectually. I sometimes wish I had been born a man; it would make things easier. I am oft at odds with family, whose reputation and honor I ought to place above my own desires. I cannot seem to comport myself with the proper degree of modesty and humility.

Once, I thought I might be a free spirit. I asked Blind Meg, our local healing woman, if she thought it might be so. I received a curious answer.

“No, my dear,” she said. “You are not a free spirit. You are not free from your perceptions of right and wrong, and you need to try to see things as they are. Most of all, you are not free of your desire to make others see what you see. I do not say this is an error on your part, but it is a trait that will always cause you difficulty. You must resign yourself to that, if you do not change your ways.

“You are more like a questing knight, Rowena, seeking evil to thwart and wrongs to right. This is a perilous path, especially for a woman.”

That is the most I had ever heard at one time from Blind Meg. I liked the idea of a questing knight even better than that of a free spirit. No doubt it will get me into even more trouble.