The Leaving of Golden Valley

 

And so it was that the daughters of Marden and Hetty Pegler bade farewell to their mothers and left the land of their birth.

 

As day broke on the eleventh day in the month of June, the sisters Flowerdown and Sarum mounted their chariot and prepared to travel many times further than the longest trek. Accompanied by their attendants, at last they reached their new home in the fair country of Wales where a gathering of gentlefolk greeted them.

 

There, a fine new palace awaited them set in a sunny meadow full of lush grass and protected by the shade of tall, mature trees. In the distance to the West stood the ancient hillfort of Twm Barlwm and to the North could be seen the bold silhouette of The Sugarloaf mountain. There was much feasting throughout the day and late into the night to celebrate the sisters’ homecoming.

 

Later, when news of their arrival had spread, the children of the village brought their parents, and young men brought young women to wonder at the beautiful creatures that had come to live amongst them. All agreed that these were, indeed, the most wondrous beasts that they ever had seen.