Solveis’s feeling that things on her land had been altered only grew more certain over days and weekends. Eventually, she gained actual evidence, though not the kind that parents or peers would consider meaningful. Some of her possessions had been moved, damaged, or stolen from some of her stashes – her hidden spots that she kept all over her mountain. The paths in the trees of the west hill were worn down more than usual. Almost everything in her own sanctuary cave was moved into slightly different positions than before.
Solveis informed Arlendr. He felt it too, but to a lesser extent. He wasn’t particularly worried about it. Also, to Solveis’s disappointment, Arlendr’s hate of the head pike was slowly fading. He was beginning to treat it more like a bush of thorns than like the pile of vomit that he had originally perceived it as. He had even explored it a few times, when the grown ups were away from it. At least he was still referring to it as the head pike. He even carved the word ‘head pike’, in his jumbled, loose handwriting, into the base of the front door. No one noticed his small rebellion besides himself and his little brother and sister.
Solveis decided not to act on her observations of intrusion, except to prevent any real harm from coming to her things. She regularly checked the locks on her tins. Regarding her stashes that had been tampered with, she slowly traded the things hidden in them with things she didn’t value. She moved the valuable things to stashes which seemed still to be securely hidden. And she kept an eye on the footpaths in the trees, pointing out any changes to Arlendr.
One Thursday, at the beginning of summer vacation, the Eigeroy family arrived at their island around lunch time. The full summer heat had finally come. It was, for now anyway, delightful. The strong permeating heat invigorated. It began to give Solveis’s skin the darker mahogany-like color of summer vacation. It touched her hair and made streaks of gold and rose-gold. It made every morning a good morning to work in the garden, even when the old man wasn’t there to help her. He had taught her enough by then to be going on with.
She made for herself a lighter, shorter sleeved, shorter waist-ed tunic. She wore and then washed it over and over again, until she had to make a couple more to rotate wearing. Each one had a different shaped sleeves and neckline, so as to get an even tan over different wears.
This Thursday morning, entering into summer vacation, was made particularly light and perfect by the absence of Girselle and her three. The Eigeroy family decided to spend an extra long weekend on their island due to the childrens’ vacation from school.
Somehow Livia discovered that they had come early this Thursday night; she’d kayaked over and had dinner with them. The summer sun was affecting her too. Her skin was darkening. It was beginning to have a color of dark mineral earth. The blue velvet undertone was becoming less saturated. On the other hand, her hair was becoming highlighted with jem-like, blue-black streaks. Solveis grabbed Livia’s arm and stared at the reverse freckles, little light spots which glistened mineral-like. Maybe they were parts that didn’t tan?
“You’re gonna be here for four whole days this time!” Livia exclaimed. “We could do every fun thing. When Ghi Ghi comes we can play a bigger game with all of us.”
Solveis would rather not think of Girselle coming tomorrow. “We have a little time tonight. What do you want to do?”
“We could go to the cave! You have anything new in the tins?” Livia suggested.
“Ok.”
They walked and chatted over to the cave. It would be a good opportunity to take inventory of the locked tins, while the intruders were away.
One of the tins was stuffed to bursting with fabric.
“What’s all that?!” Livia exclaimed about the linens of many colors.
“Is scrap fabric. Someone gave it to me.”
“Could you use it for me?” Livia asked sheepishly, looking as if she might cry if Solveis said no.
Solveis thought about it. She decided it could be a good opportunity to try another reconstruction of a costume. “Maybe another one from a character you like?”, Solveis suggested. “But, this time one that wears something lighter, so I can use this summer fabric.”
“Ok!”, Livia exclaimed. “The eptill!”
Solveis still had the same objections as before to doing a costume of the eptill. Besides, the eptill didn’t have any outfits that would work with the fabric. Solveis would have to suggest other options, doable ones. “Maybe the basic dress – the one that the princess wears when she’s in the village.”
“Or overalls! Everyone loves those!” Livia suggested unrealistically.
Overalls had to be durable, to handle weight and strain. Solveis’s scrap fabric was wrong for it. Besides, overalls were back as a new trend. Solveis wouldn’t know how to make them in the new, trendy way.
Solveis decided that the project didn’t need to be decided now, while Livia was not in the right mood to seriously discuss it. “I love my old overalls. I’m not sure yet if I love the new types of ones.”
Livia looked confused. Weren’t overalls just overalls? Everyone loved them. “It’s so cool in here, ‘cuz it’s kinda hot out today. – Maybe we can go in the kayaks and splash a little.”
“You bring a bathing suit? Well, you probably have one here. But, tomorrow will be a good day for splashing. It’ll get real hot later.” Solveis verbally developed a plan for the weekend.
“I could use one of your bathing suites.” Livia announced cheerfully. “Let’s go to kayaks!”
It occurred to Solveis that, actually, they could probably wear the same bathing suites. They had always been of comparable sizes, throughout their whole friendship. They had wildly different body types and dimensions, but for clothes, they were probably about the same size. That idea put Solveis’s mind down a path of exploration. What are clothing sizes exactly? Do modern cloths actually fit people? What does a fit actually mean?
When Solveis returned from the depths of her thoughts, her little friend was still talking, but about something entirely different.
Solveis was being pulled toward another locked container, by Livia’s sturdy child hand around her own little wrist. “Keep opening them!”, Livia pleaded. “I forget what’s in them all.”
Solveis opened the lock of the next container. It was the one that had the damaged remains of the queen doll in it, still placed gently on top. Solveis hadn’t done anything to it since the original attack of the boot. Solveis decided then that she would begin fixing the doll. She would start soon, whenever Girselle wasn’t around to observe her.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
The following morning, Solveis woke to an excited Livia, doing something noisy in their room. Since only three children were now sleeping in the whole two-room, child’s cabin, sleeping quarters were suddenly much more available. Solveis and Livia had slept in the big bed of what used to be the parents’ room. Arlendr had opted to sleep alone in the bunk room.
Solveis was drowsy and slightly irritated by the unceasing small noises of her companion which prevented her from falling back to sleep. But the big bed was so comfortable. She wanted to go back to sleep.
Suddenly she was completely pulled out of her drowse by the ajar door being pulled fully open. Arlendr, with a look of hate, glared evilly at Livia, still holding the door handle with white, gripped knuckles. Without speaking, he turned out of the room and slammed the door shut. A moment later, the girls heard him plop back down in a bunk.
“He’s grouchy,” Livia noted.
Solveis did her friendly and sisterly duty. She got dressed as quickly as she ever had. Then she pulled her little friend out of the room, grabbed a couple snack bars for them, and went outside. The sun still hadn’t come up. Why was Livia awake so early?
“Let’s go kayak!” Livia suggested excitedly.
Solveis thought it was a good idea to start their kayaking early, to get some fun in before intruders intruded. “Let me get the suites.” Solveis suggested. She needed to keep Livia from following her inside though, because Arlendr might explode at her noises. “Can you go get some juice from the cooler?” Solveis suggested a distraction.
The suites were obtained. “Let’s go change in the cave,” Solveis suggested. This had the dual purposes of getting far out of Arlendr’s way, and of killing a little time, so that it would be a little lighter out before they cast themselves on the sea.
The two girls ended up going on a dawn kayak ride. They both splashed the freezing water into the warm air, and giggled about little things, and came back tired and comfortable.
When they came back, no Girselle or En were present. Solveis was surprised. It was past time for them to stroll in. It was a holiday from school. The mother and children, at least, should have landed.
Solveis’s father happened to be outside at the table having tea and playing with Oskar.
“Have you had a good morning?” the father asked the two girls. “It’s a nice morning for a kayak trip. Where did you go?”
“Almost to Papi’s house!” Livia began telling the father the whole story of the morning. “Except we stopped before we got there. And we raced too. And I tried to spin in tight tight circles, but I couldn’t. I almost fell in. And we went all the way around to the beach. I wanted to get out there, but except that having to drag the kayaks up. So we went back and around. And the water was really so so cold.”
“Sounds like a good morning,” the father encouraged. “Your brothers haven’t done anything this morning.”
Solveis collected her courage to ask her father, “Where – uh – how comes – When are En and her coming?”
“Ah. I see,” the father replied. “Your young friends are away visiting family for a week or two for summer break. Seems like we’ll miss them for a little bit. For most of summer vacation really, since we’re going away too, to Geith next weekend.”
Solveis’s insides lit up like twinkle lights. Two or so weeks, and of summer vacation, the best weeks. She would be left to her real friends, on her mountain, with no oppressors for two or three weeks! “Oh,” she verbalized to her parent. Then she walked over to her little brother and booped his nose. He giggled. She turned her back to him and gave him the opportunity to jump on her back. He did so. The next couple hours were spent with the little boy and the two girls running and playing.
After lunch, the girls went off to the cave. They arrived bringing a new tin full of popcorn. This tin was a see-through one. The parents had bought this festive popcorn tin as a summer vacation treat. The parents misunderstood their children’s collection of tins, and believed it to be a passion for popcorn. The children never disabused them of that belief, because they did enjoy popcorn, and a new tin was always welcome. The girls both plopped down tiredly. They were both drowsy from warm weather, a long morning, and good food. Livia took a nap, all wrapped up in a quilt from one of the tins. Solveis took the queen doll out and began her task, snacking on handfuls of popcorn all the time.
She analyzed the damage to the doll. It’s torso was decimated. It would need to be completely remade. The arms and legs had originally just been bound sticks and were a little damaged now. Her little straw head was mostly intact, but her hair had been knocked quite out.
Solveis would start mostly from scratch. She would make the torso anew. It would be a stuffed doll body, stuffed from dried leaves or whatever scraps she had on hand. She could try a basket weaving technique that she had seen to make the arms and legs. She wasn’t sure about the face yet. Maybe she would ask one of the grandmothers about how to do it. And, she could try to make hair out of dried, shredded husks of some kind.
She started her task by collecting the salvageable parts of the torso, and then beginning to make a new one. She hyper-focused deep into her task, only awakening to her surroundings when Livia fell with a loud bang onto the cave floor, deep in the back of the cave.
Solveis also became aware of Arlendr taking a focused gaze away from her working hand and towards the fallen oggo.
“You fell,” Arlendr informed Livia.
Livia looked like she might cry. Then she glanced around her in fear that someone might torment her when they saw her weakness. Solveis realized that the glance had been in fear of Girselle. It made Solveis so angry that her stomach turned. She stopped her task in order to console, and hopefully distract her dramatic little friend.
“It’s probably time to go back to the cabin. Let’s go over. We can play with Oskar too,” Solveis said cheerfully. Solveis also pushed a handful of popcorn into Livia’s hand, as further consolation.
Livia had been learning to be tough. She gulped down a scared cry. When she realized that her two companions weren’t worried on her behalf, her own fear drained away. “Ok,” she sniffled, recovering herself. With a mouthful of popcorn, she suggested, “Maybe we can have yogurt.”
Solveis chatted in an effort to engage her still recovering friend while she carefully put the components of her project away and locked the tin. Before she left, she relocated the popcorn tin, putting it right beside Arlendr. She noticed that the new popcorn tin already had quite a dent made in its contents. When she passed Arlendr, on her way to the cave entrance, he pretended like he was going to trip her.
Solveis decided not to act on her observations of intrusion, except to prevent any real harm from coming to her things. She regularly checked the locks on her tins. For her stashes which had clearly been tampered with, she slowly traded the things hidden in them with things she didn’t value. She moved the valuable things to stashes which seemed still to be securely hidden. And she kept an eye on the footpaths in the trees, pointing out any changes to Arlendr.
One Thursday, at the beginning of summer vacation, the Eigeroy family arrived at their island around lunch time. The full summer heat had finally come. It was, for now anyway, delightful. The strong permeating heat invigorated. It began to give Solveis’s skin the darker mahogany-like color of summer vacation. It touched her hair and made streaks of gold and rose-gold. It made every morning a good morning to work in the garden, even when the old man wasn’t there to help her. He had taught her enough by then to be going on with.
Solveis opened the lock of the next container. It was the one that had the damaged remains of the queen doll in it, still placed gently on top. Solveis hadn’t done anything to it since the original attack of the boot. Solveis decided then that she would begin fixing the doll now – well not now, but soon, and whenever Girselle wasn’t around to observe her – maybe next weekend before they arrived.
The following morning, Solveis woke to an excited Livia, doing something noisy in the room. Since only three children had inhabited the whole two-room, child’s cabin overnight, sleeping quarters had been readily available. Solveis and Livia had slept in the big bed of what had been the parents’ room. Arlendr had opted to sleep alone in the bunk room.