That same morning, Syp scrambled some eggs, fried bacon, and toasted bread like Eiske had taught it. It cleaned up while he read medical articles, then checked on the plants it had started. It went outside to look over the chicken house and shed for the goats. Syp decided to tramp through the forest. “Blackberry bushes!” Further along it found blueberry and raspberry bushes. It was very pleased when it came upon some asparagus plants. “A few more weeks and the other early plants will come up!”
Syp retrieved the hand spade and buckets from the shed, then walked south through the forest and dug up rooted parts of the various bushes and plants. The ground was frozen, but Syp was persistent.
At lunch, Syp asked Eiske to help her dig up a section of the garden.
“It’s too early to plant seeds, Syp.”
“I need to transplant the bushes and other things I collected this morning while they're dormant.” After they cleaned up the dishes, Syp showed him the mass of plants it had gathered.
“You’ve been busy. Yes, I’ll help you dig up a row. Let's wait until the sun has been up a while. That will melt some of the snow. This evening let’s decide what seeds we’ll need for a spring garden. We'll have to order it all ahead of time anyway. Solrio was here while you were outside. You need to get busy on your schoolwork.”
When Syp went into the sleeping room, it discovered that a computer had been set up at a study center. As it worked on a science lesson, its stomach became hard and upset. At the same time, it felt an awareness of the world around it, and somehow could see a picture of the dome of the Protectorate Enclave. “Something’s not right, there’s going to be trouble. I wonder what that’s all about?” it wondered. A moment later, the uneasy feelings passed. Syp pushed back the chair and went to where Eiske sat reading.
He had just finished an article. “Are you finished with today’s lessons?” Syp told him it was and then hesitated. He saw the look on its face. “What is it?”
“Something’s wrong, Eiske.” It told him of the scene it had viewed, and the sense that there was going to be more trouble.
“My friend told me once that some Stafriez have an ability to sense things before they happen. Your dad and brothers are there. Maybe things aren’t going well for them.”
“I hope you’re wrong.”
“Would you help me fill the chicken feeders and the watering jars? When we’re done, we can pick up the chicks.”
“Do you really need me to go along? I could keep studying while you’re gone.”
“Let me think about that.” Syp followed him out to the chicken shed and they prepared for the baby chicks. When they were finished, he looked at the garden and the collection of plants. “You may stay here while I go into the village. If a patient comes, tell them I’ll be right back. Do you know how to do basic first aid?” He led Syp into the medical area.
“No.”
“If someone comes in here bleeding, press this button, and wash your hands like this.” He held his arms inside a decontamination unit. “Apply a tourniquet above the injury.” He showed Syp how to do that. “Apply pressure with these,” he pointed to thick gauze pads. “Keep the pressure on for several minutes and wrap the injury with a clean gauze bandage.” Syp repeated the instructions back to him. “Good. I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”
He locked the entry to the medical rooms and left. Syp was studying entrepreneurship when it heard a vehicle. Syp went and locked the back door. Peeking out the kitchen window, it could see Geldou going to the medical entrance. After making certain the security camera was on, Syp ran to the sleeping room and pulled the curtains shut. It returned to its computer. Syp could hear Geldou banging at the door and calling for Eiske. This went on for several minutes. Syp began to smell something odd. “What’s going on out there?”
As Syp walked through the house toward the medical rooms, it saw smoke. It raced into Eiske’s bedroom and peeked out the window. Syp saw Geldou leave in her hovercraft. Syp ran through the house back to the medical entrance. Smoke was seeping under the door. Syp ran through the house and out the back door. As it rounded the corner of the house it saw that the entryway was burning. The green flames produced only a little smoke but were doing a lot of damage! Panicking, it searched for a hose. “Where’s the faucet?”
She realized a hose would be frozen if it were outside. “What should I do?" Then it remembered the button on its shirt. “Code Two! Code Two!”
A minute later, four Protectorat guards appeared. One carried a huge case with a hose. “What was used to start it?” one asked. Syp told them that it had no idea. One pressed a button on the case and sprayed yellow foam at the entry way. The fire was out in just a few minutes.
“Tell us what happened here!” one demanded. Syp explained what it had seen. A moment later, all of them were viewing the security tapes. Two guards stayed and two disappeared.
Eiske could see a cloud of smoke from a few kilometers away and smelled it as he drove onto his property. He sprang from the hovercraft and dashed toward the house. “Syp! Syp! Are you okay?” Eiske saw the burned entry way and the guards talking to Syp. “What on earth happened? I wasn’t gone that long!” Again, Syp explained what had happened.
“The security tapes confirm what Bahansir the Younger said. Geldou Bron was just stopped enroute to Pencadick Rill. She had accelerant and matches in her vehicle. Her hands had accelerant residue. She was apprehended and is being held at the Protectorate Enclave.”
The color drained from Eiske’s face. He tried to breathe. He wanted to curse and pound on Geldou. “Would you excuse me for a moment? I’d like to put the chicks inside.”
“Of course.”
Eiske went off to set the boxes in the shed under the warm lights. “That sister of mine,” he muttered to himself. “She got herself in trouble this time! Now five members of the family are being detained. I wonder what the officials will do now. What is their problem? Why is she so mad at me that she’d do such a stupid thing?”
The guards that stood talking with Syp were wondering the same thing. “What do you think is the reason that Geldou and Haerm Bron are acting this way?” Syp shook its head. When Eiske returned, they told the guards about the past argument and the fight in town. “We will report to the Mediator with our findings. We’re glad no one was hurt.”
“I’m so glad you’re alright, Syp.” Eiske hugged it.
“Me too!”
They stood looking at the damage. “An accelerant. She came here intentionally to burn the place down.”
“Maybe not. Maybe she came here to see you, and when she believed no one was here, did it without any thought,” Syp suggested.
“People don’t just happen to have accelerant in their vehicles,” he pointed out. “What could possibly be the motive?” They mulled over the matter while Eiske opened the boxes of chicks in the chicken house. “She tried to kill me. She tried to kill Syp. She tried to kill me. She tried to kill Syp,” the thoughts pounded through his head.
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“How many are there?” Syp spoke softly.
“She - Fifty.”
“Why so many?”
“We’ll eat some when they’re big enough. We’ll keep a couple roosters. The chickens will reproduce quickly if we let them. We can share the eggs and fresh chickens with your grandparents.” “She tried to kill me. She tried to kill Syp,” his brain repeated over and over.
“Cool!” The chicks ran to one side of the building as the two adults left.
“How far did you get in your studies before all that happened?”
"I got the reading done and was answering some questions.". Syp's mind was back on the garden and he jumped when it asked “Do you want nut trees?”
“Let me think about that.” “Think? I can’t think!” he thought wildly. “She tried to kill me. She tried to kill Syp.”
“Almonds, chestnuts, macadamia and pecans can be ground up to be used like flour.”
“Who taught you that?”
“Grandma Bron.”
“She taught you a lot about plants and trees, didn’t she?”
“Yes. It helped that she was a good cook.” Syp smiled at the memory. “I wonder where her recipes went.”
“While you finish up, I’ll start the evening meal.” Syp was nearly finished when he came to the door saying food was ready.
After the meal, Eiske brought out the seeds he’d found in the shed. “How do we know if these will grow?” Syp explained how Eaglestje had dampened them and laid them out to germinate. Together they sorted through the packets and drew a map of where to plant things. “We can put more perennials and herbs over here,” Eiske suggested.
“You won’t be able to till that area next year.”
“She tried to kill me. She tried to kill Syp.” The thoughts would not stop.“That’s okay. We can create some pathways like Eaglestje had. Did you do that too?” Syp told him that it had helped put the newer paths in. “There will always be something to do,” he laughed. When they finished, there was a list of seeds they would have to order in Dagmon. “We need to go there anyway,” Eiske pointed out. “It seems to me that you should have a haircut.”
He had been thinking about Siedeske as he’d driven to Pencadick Rill for the chicks when he'd remembered that she had put a stack of books on herbs in the attic. “I’m going into the attic." Syp followed him up the ladder and looked around. “There’s what I’m looking for, the books on herbal medicine. A whole pile.”
“Eiske, whose were these?” Syp had found a small bag.
“That was Siedeske’s stash of charms. Where did you find that?”
“On the top of that box.”
Eiske opened it. “These are Siedeske’s bottles that she used to make oils, medicines, seasonings and soaps. She asked me to save them for some young wizard that I happened to come across. If you decide to take magic lessons, you can come back for these supplies. and the magic books."
"Magic lessons?"
"Yes. There are all kinds of things you can do with magic."
"That's just in children's books," Syp objected.
"No, Syp. People here can do magic, if they're willing to learn. Let’s take this box downstairs so you can review how to use the herbs.” He looked through another stack of books.
"Can I study the books on magic? I'd like to hear more." Syp followed him down the ladder.
As Eiske closed the door, to the attic, Syp sat down. Something flashed as the cord to the attic swung back and forth. “What’s that?”
“That yellow color? That’s the security charm Siedeske rubbed every night. She would say something, but I don’t remember what it was.” “She tried to kill me. She tried to kill Syp,” the thoughts were relentless. "She’s going to try again,” Eiske thought, his pulse racing. “We need to activate that charm tonight.”
Syp picked one book after another from the stack. Eventually, it picked up the books about magic and began to read through them. “Here’s a chart.” Syp read the description of the uses of it. “The charm hanging in here is a defense charm. For use by a level two practitioner. Level two? How you earn a level?”
“You learn the spells and practice. I’m a level two.”
“You can do this stuff?” Syp looked at the cover of the book.
“If I rub this, and say the words, it will provide protection around all of my property.”
“It’s too bad it wasn’t activated when Geldou came this afternoon.” Eiske noted that Syp didn’t refer to her as Mom. “Can be used repeatedly. It tells here how to care for it. Does it tell you if someone tries to get through the barrier?”
“I believe so. If my memory is correct, it flashes.”
“Do you think you should make it work tonight?” Syp asked nervously. “Someone could walk right in, you know. The door to the medical suite won’t lock.”
Eiske glanced up from his electronic pad. “Mark that page, please? We’ll use it later.” Syp slid a bookmark into the book and set it aside. It picked up the electronic pad. “What are you reading, Syp? Is there some fiction that you like?”
“No fiction. One book I have is about the process of getting an advanced education and courses that will help you get admitted to a program. Another is about the Stafriez people, and a third is titled The Landmarks of Trazene."
“May I make some suggestions?” When Syp said yes, Eiske began to list them off. Syp added them to its list. Some were history texts, a few were writings from religious leaders, and one was about first aid. The most important one was a book about herbs and natural medicines for healing. Midway through the evening, Eiske got up and made a pot of tea. He asked Syp to bring the book with the defense charm. He stood rubbing it and read the words aloud. The room got brighter, then slowly dimmed. “There we go.”
About that time, Teed and Thys were being prepared for release from the Protectors’ Enclave. “Thys and Teed, you have signed agreements to leave Eiske and Bahansir alone,” Solrio gave each of the boys a copy. “This incident will not be entered into your records.” She said to Haerm, “If there is another incident in which Eiske or Bahansir the Younger are involved, you will be taken directly to a judge. He will sentence you to between one week and thirty months of incarceration.”
“A whole year?”
“If that’s what he or she thinks it will take to teach you to change your ways.” Solrio looked at Kryn as he was brought into the room. “Children below the age of eight are treated as juveniles. Nine-, ten-, and eleven- year-olds are treated as young adults. At age twelve, the young adults enter the system as adults." Solrio turned to the guards, "Please escort these two children home.". As the boys went down the hallway, they screamed and cried that their dad needed to be released with them.
It was after midnight when Solrio sat down with Kryn and Haerm. She gave him the same information. "Kryn, you are a juvenile. You argued all day with the people who worked with you. You’ve refused to acknowledge that you need to change your ways. This incident has been placed on your record.”
“That’s not fair!” Kryn jumped to his feet.
“It is fair. You revealed your true attitude regarding this fight and your unwillingness to change. If you are brought here for a second offense of any kind, you will go directly to the judge. Juveniles can be detained from one week to six months. There is no appeal process to change the sentence. There are separate detention facilities for juveniles and young adults. They are not allowed to see family members for two months. They are expected to take part in private counselling, be outdoors regularly, attend school, and engage in physical activity. They are allowed to practice their religion, receive medical and mental health care, and attend group counselling. Refusal to participate lengthens the stay, as you’ve discovered.”
She gave Kryn a form to sign that showed he was aware of the disciplinary actions that would be taken if a similar incident occurred. "Now, you will remain silent or you will be taken home without your father.
She gave Haerm a form to sign that showed he was aware of the disciplinary actions that would be taken if a similar incident occurred. Haerm studied Solrio’s face, which remained impassive. Kryn watched his father. A minute passed, then a second one. “Sign it, Dad! Let’s go home!”
“Silence!” Solrio shouted. “You will remain silent while your father makes his decision.”
“But the building process -”
“Guard!” A guard came from the hallway. “Remove this child! Escort him home.” Since the room was soundproof, Haerm couldn’t hear Kryn screaming for his dad.
Haerm reached for the paper. Instead of signing it, he tore it into small pieces. "Now it’s just you and I,” Haerm stated firmly. “I can take care of you before you even know what hit you. I’ve been waiting to do this.” In that instant, two guards materialized, one on either side of Haerm. They each grabbed an arm and restrained him.
“You can’t seem to learn the lesson that acting on your anger is unacceptable behavior,” Solrio observed. “Take him past detention room W1 before you place him into an alcove. You will remain here another twenty-four hours. Perhaps by then you will have resolved some of your issues.”
As Haerm was ushered down the hall, the guards pushed him through the women’s detention room. He saw Geldou in an alcove. “Where are the boys?” she asked.
“At home, I presume,” he said as the guards pulled him away. “Why are you here?” he yelled angrily.
“Why are you still here?” she screamed. “Did you lose your temper again, idiot?”
“Who’s an idiot?” he retorted. “This all started ten years ago when you were an idiot thinking you could go to university on money you made at the gaming tables! You were an idiot when you signed that paper to be a surrogate!”
“I was an idiot to marry you!” she yelled.