It had become a status war and Hroombra, Lynhi and Abdhe hoped that Jahrra wouldn’t get caught up in the middle of it. What Abdhe and Lynhi knew, however, was that above everything else Jahrra’s true identity must be kept secret. But for now, the only thing they need be concerned about was getting Jahrra to her first day of school on time.
Jahrra traipsed downstairs into the kitchen of the small cabin breathing in the rich aromas of bacon, eggs and fried potatoes. These scents along with the anticipation of another great story of dragons and unicorns and other mystical creatures from Hroombra had finally coaxed her out of bed. Her hair looked like a tangled haystack and her eyes were gritty but she was now fully awake. She took a deep breath and thought a little about the dream of the hooded figure still lingering in her mind. She often wondered if he could be someone she’d once known or someone who existed in real life. Maybe he’s my true father coming to visit me in my dreams! she mused before forgetting it altogether.
This thought often made her feel guilty, so she dashed it aside immediately if it ever pushed itself to the front of her mind. Jahrra knew that she was adopted. Abdhe and Lynhi had told her that her true mother and father died when she was just a baby. She loved them both very much but always wondered what her real parents had been like.
Jahrra sighed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and shuffled across the rough stone floor and down the stairs to meet breakfast. She would think about her dream later when there weren’t so many smells distracting her nose and stomach. She entered the tiny kitchen to find her mother working over the food on the stove. Her father was sitting at their little dining table, smoking his pipe and fidgeting with a tool.
“What’re you doing Pada?” Jahrra asked through a yawn.
“I’m just fixing my ball peen hammer. Look, the metal part has loosened from the wood.”
Abdhe lowered the tool so she could see. He wore his usual brown work pants, white shirt and faded vest. His age-roughened face was covered in stubble and his feathery light hair floated around his head as if it wasn’t attached to anything.
His eyes were fixed on the hammer in intense concentration. “I’m trying to attach a metal strip to keep it in place.”
He had such old hands, Jahrra thought, but they were experienced hands. They had made so many things grow and had created so many wonderful objects that they’d become tools themselves.
“Alright, breakfast is ready. Jahrra! You’re not dressed! Go get dressed while I make your plate,” Lynhi scolded in a terse voice as she scraped some eggs onto a chipped plate.
Jahrra scuffled back upstairs in a disgruntled manner. She hated having to change clothes all the time, and she was hungry. Once back in her room, she quickly pulled on her new school uniform, a plain white shirt and a blue plaid jumper. Jahrra cringed as she pulled the jumper over her head. Yuck! she thought, I hate dresses!
Her mother had insisted that it was more of a long shirt and not a dress at all but Jahrra wasn’t fooled. She could sniff out a dress if it were buried in the back of an immense closet jammed with clothes. Unfortunately, it had to be worn to her new school. The only way that Lynhi convinced Jahrra to wear it at all was by threatening to keep her from attending Hroombra’s lessons. Jahrra would do anything to keep visiting Hroombra, even wear a pudgy, itchy, bulky dress.
Jahrra quickly pulled on her long socks over her bare feet, squirming as she tried to move in the restrictive uniform. She didn’t usually wear anything so formal but was always running about in long pants and shirts that were too big for her, her hair streaming wildly behind her like golden silk.
Jahrra yanked at her collar as she scurried back downstairs as fast as she could, anticipating potatoes and eggs. The sun was poking its fingers through the trees in the east when she finally sat down to a plate of steaming food. The little bit of fog that lingered on the edge of the woods was slowly creeping away and the golden sunlight pierced through the cool autumn air like a hot knife through butter.
“Hroombra tells us that he’ll be taking you to your first day of school.” Lynhi began the conversation somewhat cautiously, setting down her half-eaten toast. “In fact, he told us that he’s sure there’ll be at least fifteen other students in your class. You’ll get to meet other children from around Oescienne, how does that sound?”
Jahrra sat poking at her bacon with her fork. She didn’t like the idea of sharing Hroombra with anyone else but she answered her mother nonetheless, “Good I suppose.”
“Just good? I think it’ll be great for you to meet someone else your own age. You’ll make friends and play games and learn so much more. Aren’t you looking forward to it?”
Jahrra thought about this for a while and then figured it would be nice to see what other children were like. She nodded with a small smile and got back to breakfast. Lynhi in turn looked at her husband who gave her a quick she’s-going-to-be-just-fine look before returning to his work.
Jahrra finished her breakfast and dumped the plate into the hot, soapy water waiting in the sink. She grabbed the thick wool sweater her mother had knitted for her, pulled on her mud-crusted boots and ran out the front door, jamming it shut behind her.
“Now be careful, and mind your manners! And be sure to keep your shoes on the entire day!” Lynhi shouted after her, following her halfway to the closed door.
Abdhe chuckled behind her.
“What?” she asked in a snappish manner, turning to glare at him with her hands on her hips.
Abdhe smiled, thinking amusedly of how much his wife sometimes reminded him of a spirited child stuck in an older woman’s body.
“You worry too much. If she makes a few mistakes the first day, it’s not the end of the world. We’re all entitled to some mistakes when we’re first learning.”
When Lynhi continued to glare down at him with her lips pursed in slight annoyance he took a wearied breath and continued, “She isn’t the only one going to her first day of school you know. The other children are facing the same fear that she is. Relax, she’ll be fine.”
Lynhi eased a little and moved to gaze out the front window.
“I hope you’re right,” she said as she watched their young daughter skip down the path.
Abdhe simply smiled and chortled and shook his head as he fidgeted some more with the hammer that refused to cooperate with him.
As Lynhi peered out the window like a mother bear eyeing her cub, Jahrra sprinted to the end of the rocky path that led to the main road. She eventually stopped to catch her breath and glance back at the little stone cabin. It looked the same way it did six years ago when she first arrived here; nothing had changed but perhaps a little growth on the trees in the orchard and a little more moss on the roof.
The small, two-storied structure was the image of home to Jahrra. She simply adored the way that none of the stones in the walls were smooth, but rather they were rough and jagged like they’d been chipped off of some huge rock by a giant’s pick. The tiny house always smelled of earthly things like old smoke, dried lavender, soil, leather and eucalyptus oil. Sometimes it would smell of the wildflowers she or her mother collected in the spring and summer and every night and every morning it held the aroma of home cooking. Jahrra could always count on that.
The first sound of rickety cart wheels in the distance caused the young girl to jump out of her reverie and release a small yelp of fright. Once she saw that it was only the mail cart creeping up over the hill in the distance however, she grinned in relief. The mail cart always picked Jahrra up on the days she met with Hroombra and it was always driven by Mr. Dharedth the mail carrier. The mailman was a kind soul, not grumpy like most letter carriers in town. He was big and jovial with brown hair, brown eyes and a full beard, one that he was quite proud of.