?He likes you,? Kiema sing-songed to her sister from behind a tree where she had hidden. The sun was high and warm in its blue hammock of sky. It was a good day for people to call upon neighbors and children to be outside playing. The Buie girls had each been doing one or the other near the road that crossed the front of their family?s property. It was a fine, small estate with a few fields tenanted by farmers. It made their home a modest, but comfortable one.
Marinia?s golden hair gleamed in echo of the sunshine as she turned, and she stuck her tongue out at her little sister. ?And what would you know of it, Kiema? You?re naught but seven.? Kiema pouted at her big sister as the hurt welled up. She did not know it, could not feel it, but her bright blue eyes began to darken. Marinia became alarmed and rushed over, grabbed her arm and drew her after as they ran up the lane to their home.
Scared and confused, Kiema stumbled and cried behind her sister, eyes dark and streaming tears, she screamed for her sister to stop. The noise brought their mother out from the house to meet them at the doorway. ?Great mother night, what are you doing to your sister, Marinia?? Mother opened her arms to hold the trembling Kiema close as she waited for her eldest daughter to explain.
?They changed, mother, just as you feared. I saw them. I saw them change. And she said something.? Marinia was barely capable of speaking; she was near out of breath. Her dove skin was a sickly pale except for splotches of red about her throat from the heat of the run up the lane.
?Shush,? Mother said sharply and hurried her children inside the house, closing the door behind them tight. ?Take Kiema into the kitchen, Mari, and get her a cool glass of water. I will find your father. Do not let Kiema out of the house.?
Marinia nodded and put her arms around Kiema, ?Come on, Kie, let?s get you some water.?
Kiema continued to tremble with fear, not only her own fear, but that of those around her like a chord struck and the nearby strings too begin to vibrate. She could feel their fear just as she could feel the young man, Matthias Saphan?s, affection for her sister. She knew it.
She did not want to know.
Marinia?s golden hair gleamed in echo of the sunshine as she turned, and she stuck her tongue out at her little sister. ?And what would you know of it, Kiema? You?re naught but seven.? Kiema pouted at her big sister as the hurt welled up. She did not know it, could not feel it, but her bright blue eyes began to darken. Marinia became alarmed and rushed over, grabbed her arm and drew her after as they ran up the lane to their home.
Scared and confused, Kiema stumbled and cried behind her sister, eyes dark and streaming tears, she screamed for her sister to stop. The noise brought their mother out from the house to meet them at the doorway. ?Great mother night, what are you doing to your sister, Marinia?? Mother opened her arms to hold the trembling Kiema close as she waited for her eldest daughter to explain.
?They changed, mother, just as you feared. I saw them. I saw them change. And she said something.? Marinia was barely capable of speaking; she was near out of breath. Her dove skin was a sickly pale except for splotches of red about her throat from the heat of the run up the lane.
?Shush,? Mother said sharply and hurried her children inside the house, closing the door behind them tight. ?Take Kiema into the kitchen, Mari, and get her a cool glass of water. I will find your father. Do not let Kiema out of the house.?
Marinia nodded and put her arms around Kiema, ?Come on, Kie, let?s get you some water.?
Kiema continued to tremble with fear, not only her own fear, but that of those around her like a chord struck and the nearby strings too begin to vibrate. She could feel their fear just as she could feel the young man, Matthias Saphan?s, affection for her sister. She knew it.
She did not want to know.