Monday, April 9, 2018

Wolves: Chapter 7

           I rose before the sun, as I always did, and took Cara’s cooing baby from his small crib, changing his diaper as quiet rays of light started coming through the locked shutters. I carried the child with me as I opened the shutters, checking to ground below to see if we had nighttime visitors still prowling. No sign of wolves, so I started pumping water and pulled wood in for a fire. The girls would want warm water to bathe before we started our jump.
            They began rising slowly, silent but smiling. I had been preparing them for weeks so even though it was sooner than I had intended, we were ready. Everyone knew today was a big day.
            We took turns helping the younger girls bathe, then I dressed them while the older girls got ready. Annette made sure everyone had breakfast of bread and apple slices and didn’t misplace their dresses in their small bags. No one owned much, but it was precious to them. I knew it would help them in their transition to the new world.
            “Is something wrong?” Kailah brushed a girl’s hair while I laced her boots. The little girl skipped off to beg some more apple slices from Annette.
            “Just worried,” I admitted. “I know I can jump everyone, but I usually have more time to prepare.” I glanced around the room. “I’m worried this will be my last jump before the masks catch me. I don’t have an apprentice like Faula did, so there is no one to take my place. I just…” I trailed off, rubbing my forehead and trying not to think about the girls who would be trapped in Dark Houses without me. I didn’t save them all, that was for sure. There were hundreds of Dark Houses but I frequented three and had visited seven total.
            Kailah took my hand and squeezed gently. “I’m sure this will go well. You know what you’re doing.”
            I smiled appreciatively. “Thank you, Kailah.”
            She followed me to the pump, were I filled a bowl to fill the tub again. “How many girls have you jumped?”
            “In total or at a time?”
            Kailah considered. “Both?”
            The fire was getting low, so I added a few logs, considering. “About fifteen at a time. Faula could do thirty. But I’ve never had that many girls at a time anyway, so I’ve never tried. Overall…probably six hundred?”
            She did some quick mental math. “That’s forty jumps. How long have you been doing this?”
            “Well…” I stepped onto the front porch and Kailah followed. I blew out the lamp that kept ghosts away at night and stared at the horizon. “I did it for about two with Faula. Then it took me ten years to build the portal…maybe ten years? After I finished the portal.”
            Kailah laughed. Her laughter was infectious and I started to smile, but I was confused. “What’s funny?”         
            “You can’t be older than twenty-five. You’re telling me you’ve been doing this for twenty-two years? Since you were ten?”
            I smiled wryly and shook my head. “I don’t age here. I’m a lot older than I look.”
            “How is it possible for you to not age here but to…I mean, you age in other worlds?”
            “Only in my homeplace.”
            “Where is that?”
            Annette appeared at the doorway. “We’re ready.”

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