A Dragon's Promise

Chapter Four

Teekra woke up to the smell of rabbit stew. This time she was in the bed she shared with Corbin. She smiled as she walked into the kitchen. “Rabbit stew, just like when I was a child.”

“You're still a child to me,” Lillygale replied. “Now sit down, it's getting cold.”

Teekra did as she was told. It was nice to have someone else take care of things for a change.

“Hi Ma-Ma, wook, Na-Na here, See dat? Me got bupper.” Nygol proudly showed off his bowl of stew. “Ma-Ma wan eat dat?”

Teekra held back a groan. “Thank-you sweetheart, Na-Na's getting Ma-Ma some of her own.”

Lillygale handed Teekra a bowl of stew and sat down with her own. The family held hands and bowed their heads. Lillygale began. “We give thanks to the creators, for the food we are about to receive and the good fortune that has kept us safe. May you give us guidance and help in the days to ahead.”

“Grandma,” Kelvin began. “How did you know to come? I mean you were just waiting here when we came home.”

Lillygale looked from one grandchild to another. Only Nygol seemed more interested in his food than her answer. “I can hear things in the wind. I heard your mother call for help, I felt your sister take the magic from the earth and release it into the air, and finally I saw your mother give life to your sister.”

“Excuse me please.” Athena stood up in front of the bench. “I'd say I've been pretty patient here, but I would like some answers. It seems as though I missed the only interesting thing to happen here since I was born and I would like to know WHAT HAPPENED!”

“Kelvin,” Teekra took a sip of her tea. “Why don't you tell the story starting with where you were going in such a hurry.”

“Well, this morning I got up to help Pa get ready to take the sheep out, just like I always do except that.., that..”

Lillygale put her hand on Kelvin's. “It's all right son you can tell them”

“Except that Pa's not really Pa, at least not the Pa we thought he was, he's a stranger.”

Athena looked at her brother as if he had suddenly grown an extra head. “What do you mean Pa's not Pa, are you trying to tell me some evil spirit has taken over his body?”

Teekra sat back and took a deep breath. She knew that someday she would have to tell her children, but why did ‘someday' have to be today? “Children, please sit quietly, I have a story to tell you.”

By the time Teekra was finished, there weren't many secrets left untold. Where Kelvin had been confused, Athena was excited.

“I always knew that I was different from the other girls in the village, I just didn't know how.”

Tomah listened quietly to the tale before talking. “I don't know what the big deal is. So Father wasn't born here, he lives here now. Everyone in the village likes him, I don‘t see any problem.”

Teekra smiled at her son and turned her gaze to Geni. “How do you feel about all of this?”

Geni looked up, “Hu Mom?”

“How do you feel about all of this?”

“You mean about Dad? I already knew.”

“You already knew?” Her mother asked.

Geni looked at all the faces around the table. “I thought everyone knew.”

Teekra opened her mouth to ask Geni more, then changed her mind. Instead she turned to Kelvin. “You still haven't told us where you were going.”

Kelvin cast his eyes to the floor. “Pa told me he was from, or at least that he wasn't from here. I was angry and let him go without walking to the woods with him. I just turned away. I tried working but I couldn't deal with how I felt. I got on my horse and without really planning it, I went to Grandma's house. She helped me to see Pa for what he is, not where he came from.” Kelvin looked up at his mother. “I felt ashamed for being so cold to father. I was going to see him, to tell him I'm sorry.”

Teekra put her hand on her son's shoulder. “It's natural for you to feel angry and confused. You have gone through your whole life believing something that isn't true. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. Things were going so well, you were all so happy. It just seemed easier to tell you, I don't know...later.”

“Mom, I still need to see father.” Kelvin pushed away his half eaten bowl of stew and stood up. “I want to leave torrow at dawn, and come back the next day.”

Athena jumped up from the chair. “Can I go too? I want to see Pa and ask him about the other lands, please Mom?”

Kelvin shook his head. “No way. For starters she'll never get up in the morning, and..” He looked at his mother pleadingly, “you know, she’s a girl. She's got girl things to do.”

Had it not been for his last comment he might have had his way. Teekra looked at her eldest daughter. “If you can be ready by dawn, you may go. If you're not, then Kelvin will leave without you.”




Copyright Sandy Jasper 2001






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