One day Justice said that they needed to go see someone. It wasn’t exactly an arrest, but they needed to investigate a certain person’s motives. The Fool didn’t know what that meant, but he was excited to wander this world some more.
The Chariot came and picked them up, and they flew over the land. The Fool could see their shadow following quickly behind them over the landscape.
They arrived in a small village. The road was muddy and full of ruts and there were a few people milling around. They got out of the Chariot and walked through the thick mud towards a manor at the end of the road. The house was big and probably had been nice at one time, but now it was in disrepair. Shutters were sagging or had fallen off, shingles from the roof had slipped to reveal giant holes, and the paint was peeling, showing bare wood.
Justice knocked, and waited for a long time, but no one came to the door. They walked around the house to the backyard, where there was a barn with an open door. A loud clanking noise was coming from the barn and the Fool and Justice could see the shape of a person working around a hot fire.
They entered through the huge open doorway to find a woman hard at work. She was metalsmithing, hammering huge coins. There were several on the wall already, and they were beautiful. The craftsmanship was perfect. The Fool could see his own reflection in the large discs.
We are here to ask you some questions, Justice asked the woman. Please put down your hammer.
The woman stopped, her hammer high in the air, and regarded this woman in a black habit, holding scales and an executioner’s axe. She sighed and put the hammer down.
You have been accused of neglecting your family, Justice declared. What say you?
The woman looked hard at Justice and then down at her hands. She had large, calloused hands. Burn marks were all over her naked arms. Her hair was up, but the Fool could see that she hadn’t washed it in weeks.
I must work, the woman replied, I must create these perfect coins.
Why can’t you do that and still be a part of your family? Justice asked.
If they needed me, then they could have come down here and told me themselves, the woman responded curtly.
They have, Justice said calmly and deadpan, but they moved out last year. Your children went to your parents’, and your husband is living in another village.
The woman seemed surprised by that. She staggered back and sat down on a barrel. She looked up at the house and it seemed she was seeing the neglect for the first time. She had gone a year without seeing her children or her husband, and she didn’t even notice. She only went into the house to sleep and change clothes once in a while.
I had to choose work, the woman said with tears in her eyes, I had to create these for our family. I did all of this for them!
It’s important to create balance, Justice said, putting her hand on the woman’s shoulder. We can’t just work or just play. Some even do nothing all day – and here she looked at the Fool.
What do I do? the woman asked.
Justice could see that the woman was sincere in her plea, so she put the scale down and added the defects and the assets. The scale went back and forth, not quite balancing until Justice finished. When she had, the scale was ever so slightly favoring one side.
You will begin a year and a week ago, Justice said. This is a week before your husband decided to leave. You will have that one week to create a balance in your home, being a mother, a wife, a homeowner, a member of a community, an owner of a business, and a soul.
If you don’t repair your relationships and ways, Justice added, I come back for you. And with that, Justice ran her finger down the edge of her executioner’s axe.
Suddenly, the Fool and Justice were in the Chariot again, heading back to the plateau. The Fool would often wonder how the woman had done in changing her ways, but he never ran into a future version of her.
Or did he?