Geldou hurried down the path with a hot bowl wrapped in a towel. Hot potatoes were tucked in one pocket, and two hard-boiled eggs were in the other.

Syp and Nel tried to keep up with her by walking but couldn’t. Forced to run, Nel ran at his mother’s side. Syp stopped completely, then began to hop with arms outstretched. The hops turned into jumps, and she sailed into the air.

Geldou came to a halt. “What are you doing, Syp?”

“Jumping. Isn’t this how you do it?” She crouched, then pushed herself up as hard as she could. Geldou gasped when Syp went over her head and landed about four feet in front of her.

“I guess so. I’ve never seen anyone jump so high.” The trio resumed their walk.

Eiske stood at the door of his house. It was time for dinner, and he saw Geldou coming. “What is that?” He shaded his eyes and looked again. “It’s one of the children? Really?” He stepped outside just as Syp took another mighty leap and streaked through the air. In four jumps, Syp was at Eiske’s side. “Uncle Eiske! Did you see me? I can jump!”

“You most certainly can! Very good!” He looked over his glasses. “Syp?” he said puzzled.

“Yes, Uncle?”

“How long have you been jumping?”

“Just today. I jumped part of the way here.”

“Geldou, can you wait a moment? I’d like to speak to Syp alone for a minute.” Geldou eyed him curiously.“Syp, come with me please.” They stepped into the bedroom, and he looked her over. "Lift this foot.". He felt the muscles of it and realized something was different. "When you go home tonight, don't jump. Walk or run with your arms close to your sides. Tomorrow, before you come, ask your mother for some jerked meat, if she has any. ” He studied her foot coverings. “Let’s go speak to your mother.” They returned to the big room where Geldou and Nel stood waiting.

“Geldou, could you arrange for Syp to be with me tomorrow?”

“She has school.”

“Please, as a favor to me.” When she insisted he tell her why, he didn’t want to say. The siblings argued loudly. Eiske backed down and admitted that he needed help with some cleaning chores in his house.

“Let me see.” She tried to push her way to the door.

“Please don’t, Geldou. I’m embarrassed and ashamed. If Syp could come help me for a day, I would really appreciate it.”

She studied his face. Eiske had been so depressed after his wife’s death, he hadn’t even cooked. If Geldou hadn’t been bringing him meals, he would have starved to death, so great was his grief. “Very well. I’ll arrange it.”

“I’ll bring her home at chore-time. Would you mind if I stayed for dinner?”

“Are you sure you want to? It’s usually pretty chaotic.”

“I haven’t seen the children all together since Siedeske died. Perhaps being in the chaos will lift my spirits. If I stay for dinner, you won't have to make a trip here."

She thought for a moment. "I guess that its okay, Eiske. You know we'll have to butcher soon. We'll need your help. We have enough meat for about eight more meals.”

“Its the least I can do, for all the meals you've provided for me. Just let me know when. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Thank you for the meal.” The sun had set, and the temperature began to fall rapidly. The children hesitantly followed Geldou, but she didn’t pay any attention.

“Let’s hurry.” In the distance, they could see the shadows of the bokans in the grove of trees around the farm. In the summer, the mammals lumbered through the open ground between the sections of the oat field and inhaled the insects into their wide mouths. Geldou and the children heard their heavy breathing. Haerm had domesticated the animals and they were content to be fed and stay in the fenced-in, treed field. The animals were one source of protein for the Brown family and their skins were soft, like a chamois.

It didn’t take long before the trio entered the house, and the youngsters were sent to wash their hands. Hearm sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the large eating room. Melle and Obbe stood watching as he manipulated the wings of a model spaceship. After a small adjustment, Hearm returned it to Obbe, who launched it at Melle. The ship now flew soundlessly. “Thanks, Dad,” Obbe picked up the ship and went off to play.

“The food’s ready,” Geldou announced a few minutes later. There was a clamor as the group gathered around the table. Hearm took his portion first and passed the dishes to the older boys. They each filled their plates and passed the empty dishes to Geldou. She refilled the dishes and doled out portions to the younger four boys and herself before giving the last bit to Syp.

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“Everybody stop!” Hearm spoke loudly and they froze. “Come on, guys. Each of you need to give your mom two bites, one of meat and one of vegetables.”

“I have enough,” Geldou started to say.

“No, you don’t.” He took her plate, gave her two bites of food, then passed it to the left. Each of the boys gave her two bites without complaining. “We don’t need you to get sick. There is fruit, right?”

“Yes. I picked up citric fruits at the store. There’s enough for two each.”

“Good. We’ll fill up on that.” He looked at the little girl at the end of the table. “Syp, you need to give Mom two bites too.”

“Okay, Dad.”

“You look like you have something to say.”

“What is an ‘arboretum?’” the child asked seriously. “When we were on the transport, Machtelt Van Der Meer told me that her mother has an ‘arboretum.’”

“It’s a fancy word that means a plot of land that’s set aside for growing trees.”

“Just trees? Why would someone want just trees?”

“Epje Van Der Meer is a dendrologist. She is studying the trees looking for alternate sources of food. Epje has a greenhouse and does dozens of experiments on plants. She grows food for her family in there as well. Eat.”

There was relatively little speaking while the crowd rapidly worked their way through the meal. Occasionally a glass was filled from the water pitcher. “Oof,” Hearm leaned back and patted his stomach. “Oof.” “Oof.” “Oof.” Each of the children copied him in turn. Geldou went to the counter and picked up a handful of oranges. She passed them out and went back for more. Again, the children copied their dad and said, “Thank you.”

“Who has schoolwork tonight?” Geldou looked around the table.

Seven voices chorused, “I do.” Melle didn’t respond. He was looking at his timepiece.

“Melle. Do you have any homework for your community education classes?”

“I finished mine already. It was super-interesting. Can I show it to you, Dad?”

“What subject is it?”

“Business math. I had to study the spreadsheets and figure out which amounts were missing.”

“I’d love to look at it.” He turned his head to the side so the children couldn’t see the tears that sprang into his eyes. He thought to himself, “IfI hadn't met her, I'd be using my degree differently.” His thoughts turned to the farmwork. “We need to work together tonight on the farm computer network. The feed grinding system for the new chicken sheds is not functioning. They need to be before the building goes up, so they can be put in properly.”

“Dad,” Syp spoke as everyone got up. “If we grew trees, would we have more food for each of us? Would it make things easier?”

“Definitely. The thing is, someone would have to take care of them when they are little, and make sure they get watered. Our environment doesn’t necessarily provide the rainfall we need consistently. You’re still thinking about Epje Van Der Meer?” Syp nodded. “Epje receives payment from the Protectors for her work.”

“What is she trying to accomplish, do you know?”

“I’m not certain. You know that many farmers in the south are starving. There’s not enough rain to grow wheat down there.”

“Starving?”

“It’s hard to feed everyone, Syp. Food is expensive.”

Obbe and Kleis carried the dishes from the table to the sink and began to wash and dry them. Geldou mixed up a bowl of bread dough while they worked.

“Cinnamon bread, Mom?” Melle asked. She hesitated.

“Please?” The boys cajoled, “Please, Mom! We love cinnamon bread.”

She looked at their eager faces. “Let’s see what spices we have. Pepper?” The boys groaned. “Mustard?” Kleis booed. “Basil?” Thys rubbed his belly. “Here we go, cinnamon!”

Sounds of appreciation came from around the room. After the table was cleared and had been wiped clean, the children retrieved their electronic pads from their backpacks. As the bread rose, Geldou went from child to child reviewing their work and checking for messages from the teachers.

She looked over Syp’s shoulder. There was a communication from the teacher. Geldou took the electronic pad and opened the message. She scowled. “Come with me!” She pulled Syp’s sleeve, and they went into the adults' sleeping room. “What did you do today? Your teacher says you went into the wrong toilet!”

“I-I- picked the wrong door, Mom. There were no pictures, only words.”

“You went into the boys’ toilet.”

“Our class went to the demonstration room that the upper grades use for science. There were words on the door, not the symbols. I walked in, didn’t know what to do, came out and went into the other one.”

“Who saw you?”

“Kryn.”

“Did Kryn tell the teacher you were in the wrong place?”

“I don’t know, Mom. I went off to see Mrs. Boomsma. She’s helping me with reading.”

Geldou decided to let the situation go for the moment. “Did Mrs. Boomsma ask you to review anything for tomorrow?”

“Yes. I need to read this section to someone.”

Geldou looked around. “Melle, are you finished showing your father your studies?” When he said yes, Geldou asked him to help Syp with reading.

“Oh, Mom,” he groaned. “She’s so slow. She knows the words, but she talks so slow.

“When you were younger, you spoke slowly too. It shouldn’t take very long.”

Syp wasn’t going to wait around while the two of them argued. She went into the big sleeping room and sat down on her sleeping pad. She was reading the book aloud when her mother found her. “You don’t need to know that, Syp.”

"You just told Melle to help me!"

"I changed my mind."

“Everyone needs to know it, Mom. Mrs. Boomsma says there are so many things that a person needs to read in order to keep up with technology.”

“You don’t need to know it.”

“Why not? Will I learn everything by doing things, like Melle does?”

“No. You’re not going to learn anything. Really, you shouldn’t even be going to school.”

A look of confusion passed over Syp’s face. “Why do you say that?”

“No. There’s no place for people like you. You’re wasting your time and the teachers’ time.”

“Wasting the teacher’s time?” Syp echoed.

“There’s no place for people like you.”

Just as Geldou pronounced this judgment, Haerm came into the room. “Geldou, stop!” Haerm interrupted. “This isn’t the time or the place for this conversation.”

“It is! This conversation needs to happen.”

“We need to talk about this by ourselves. She’s five. She’s not going to understand.”

“Haerm, if she can ask questions about Epje Van Der Meer, she can understand. She understands that people are starving. We talk all the time about not having enough food. We need to turn her loose! If she can’t survive on her own, so be it. It’s Dinsdag. This week. We’re loosing her on Zaterdag. That’s five days.”