Sky had been in two minds about whether to bring up the possibility of a new resident to the cottage and juggled the very thought while preparing dinner. The kitchen on the average evening was filled with bright yellow laughter and it carried over into dinner and well after, only dying down as the children were tucked into their beds and their minds fed fat with stories from faraway. But tonight the kitchen was peculiar, pale lemon with every creak of the house heard where of the norm it would be part of the chirrup.
Her own quiet was not uncharacteristic; Sky was not of an overly zealous make and rarely one to spare a word that didn't need a fitting, but still there was a liveliness lacking to that cycle of the day. Ruthie sat silently on the wood floor with a shameless green crayon drawing castles on paper held tight against her leg, Tamas on the back stoop watching the night birds and the older girls, Suzanne and Dorothy, had continued the affair of Agatha and Billy Boo who had recently turned the couch into a fearsome empire ruled by the ragdoll (Agatha) and starring Billy Boo the hot pink elephant as the tyrant figure and arch nemesis of CouchLand. The children had looked at their ward with conspicuous glances until Ruthie had had enough of staying within the lines and stood up and began pulling on Sky's skirt, covered in a fine patina of flour from an accident in an alley way earlier.
"Where are all the words gone?"
It was simple and beautiful and arrested Sky as she stopped mid way through paring a tomato to look down at the tousle haired girl. She found she could not answer, not immediately.
"Something happened and she won't tell!", Tamas sung out, while peering through the binoculars hanging around his neck.
Nudging aside the drowsy golden strands that liked to haunt her cheeks no matter what she was doing, Sky put aside the knife, cupped the diced into a small bowl and crouched down, wiping the traces from her hands onto her skirt, already soiled and in need of a scrub.
"I'm sorry, Ruthie", she said with distress, "Is your castle done?" The girl nodded but didn't turn back to fetch the paper and show the drawing off as she usually did.
"Where are the woooorrrrrds, she crooned in a wail.
When it came to the children she fostered from clinic, church or those dropped in by the homeless appeal, she pledged to them not only all her compassion but her honesty. Anytime a visitor was due, even someone familiar to her lot, she told them, but so far, she had left out coloring their lives with mention of him.
"I have been holding onto them, until they were right to come out."
Tamas quickly lost all interest in the trees, the girls in Billy's fury at Agatha's betrayal in deciding to relocate to the bedroom to run her kingdom there. The three joined Ruthie in a calm circle where a secret could be shared.
"We may have someone staying with us for a little while. "
Excitement flickered to life into their darling faces and Tamas began hopping up and down. It caught on and they all began chattering and hopping and reaching for her hair or her sleeves or a finger, little hands to pull the whole tale out of her and she laughed. She didn't want to impose unnecessary knowledge or suspense on them, but even if there was the slightest chance it would transpire, the children had to know.
"Who?" "Where they from?" "What's her name?" "Ruthie, it might be a boy!" "Are they tall?" "Do they play the drums?"
The barrage of questions assaulted her in a wave of commotion so no answer would make it out of her alive for long. She calmed them again gently, bringing the youngest with her turret-less castle to her lap. "He's not little, he's a sailor, and I don't imagine he's from Rhy'Din and perhaps, Su, you can ask him if he plays the drums.?
"I bet he's really a PIRATE!", squealed Dorothy. Tamas began making kissy sounds, which promptly had the lot of them in stitches. Sky rolled her eyes with a light grin, and tickled Ruthie, and soon her worry over telling them was gone and the kitchen was filled with bright yellow laughter again.
Her own quiet was not uncharacteristic; Sky was not of an overly zealous make and rarely one to spare a word that didn't need a fitting, but still there was a liveliness lacking to that cycle of the day. Ruthie sat silently on the wood floor with a shameless green crayon drawing castles on paper held tight against her leg, Tamas on the back stoop watching the night birds and the older girls, Suzanne and Dorothy, had continued the affair of Agatha and Billy Boo who had recently turned the couch into a fearsome empire ruled by the ragdoll (Agatha) and starring Billy Boo the hot pink elephant as the tyrant figure and arch nemesis of CouchLand. The children had looked at their ward with conspicuous glances until Ruthie had had enough of staying within the lines and stood up and began pulling on Sky's skirt, covered in a fine patina of flour from an accident in an alley way earlier.
"Where are all the words gone?"
It was simple and beautiful and arrested Sky as she stopped mid way through paring a tomato to look down at the tousle haired girl. She found she could not answer, not immediately.
"Something happened and she won't tell!", Tamas sung out, while peering through the binoculars hanging around his neck.
Nudging aside the drowsy golden strands that liked to haunt her cheeks no matter what she was doing, Sky put aside the knife, cupped the diced into a small bowl and crouched down, wiping the traces from her hands onto her skirt, already soiled and in need of a scrub.
"I'm sorry, Ruthie", she said with distress, "Is your castle done?" The girl nodded but didn't turn back to fetch the paper and show the drawing off as she usually did.
"Where are the woooorrrrrds, she crooned in a wail.
When it came to the children she fostered from clinic, church or those dropped in by the homeless appeal, she pledged to them not only all her compassion but her honesty. Anytime a visitor was due, even someone familiar to her lot, she told them, but so far, she had left out coloring their lives with mention of him.
"I have been holding onto them, until they were right to come out."
Tamas quickly lost all interest in the trees, the girls in Billy's fury at Agatha's betrayal in deciding to relocate to the bedroom to run her kingdom there. The three joined Ruthie in a calm circle where a secret could be shared.
"We may have someone staying with us for a little while. "
Excitement flickered to life into their darling faces and Tamas began hopping up and down. It caught on and they all began chattering and hopping and reaching for her hair or her sleeves or a finger, little hands to pull the whole tale out of her and she laughed. She didn't want to impose unnecessary knowledge or suspense on them, but even if there was the slightest chance it would transpire, the children had to know.
"Who?" "Where they from?" "What's her name?" "Ruthie, it might be a boy!" "Are they tall?" "Do they play the drums?"
The barrage of questions assaulted her in a wave of commotion so no answer would make it out of her alive for long. She calmed them again gently, bringing the youngest with her turret-less castle to her lap. "He's not little, he's a sailor, and I don't imagine he's from Rhy'Din and perhaps, Su, you can ask him if he plays the drums.?
"I bet he's really a PIRATE!", squealed Dorothy. Tamas began making kissy sounds, which promptly had the lot of them in stitches. Sky rolled her eyes with a light grin, and tickled Ruthie, and soon her worry over telling them was gone and the kitchen was filled with bright yellow laughter again.