torstai 28. tammikuuta 2016

Armaran chapter 12

Amina's first official day off was rainy. She got out of her bed and stared at the raindrops hitting the window for several minutes. Something in their movement was mesmerizing and relaxing at the same time. Praie was present but didn't wish to communicate with her. Amina left her room for breakfast.
The house was quiet. Breakfast had been set as usual but Amina seemed to be the first one there. She sat down and collected things for a sandwich on her plate.
After several minutes, the house maid came to check on the situation and soon after left Amina by herself again.
When Mrs. Streckke finally came to breakfast, she was tired and solemn.
Amina bid her good morning even though the morning clearly wasn't good.
Mrs. Streckke ignored her. She sat by the table and poured herself some tea. She didn't eat anything.
Amina was uneasy but she couldn't think of anything to say and she didn't dare to ask what was wrong.
The house maid returned a little later and spoke to Mrs. Streckke in a low voice, offering her a sandwich and a muffin, but he lady declined them both politely. The house maid then came over to Amina and asked her to leave as soon as she was done with her breakfast.
Amina nodded and left the room shortly. Her curiosity and worry got the best of her and she hid herself in the staircase where no one could see her, and listened. Soon she could hear two men talking in the hall near the door but they were too far for Amina to make out what they were saying. However, the tone of their conversation was serious.
Amina peeked carefully around the stair railing. Mr. Streckke was talking with the apotheracy Mr. Augustin. Mr. Augustin was a hoary, plump man, whom Amina had met briefly when Mrs. Streckke was showing her around the town. Their conversation went on and on, and Amina returned to her room.
Amina dug out some paper and carried out her plan to write to Kros. She wrote for a long time without interruption. Eventually, her stomach let out a loud growl and she left her room to see if lunch would be served soon.
Dishes for lunch had been set on the table in the dining room but no food had been put out.
Amina snuck to the kitchen door and peeked in.
The house maid noticed her and apologiced that the food had been taken back to the kitchen as no one had shown up for lunch. She gathered some luke-warm food on a plate for Amina and told her to get back to the dining room to eat.
Amina sat by the table in the dining room and ate by herself in silence. After she had finished eating, she returned to her room and began to write a letter to Jared. She left her room only to go to the bathroom, and find some evening snack because she didn't want to disturb anyone. She practised her characters on the blackboard for several hours and eventually fell asleep with her face pressed on the board.

***

Amina woke up with an aching back and shoulders and her other arm was asleep. It was very early, before sunrise, but it was slowly getting light. Amina rose to let her arm wake up and wiped chalk off her face.
Praie wanted to tell her something.
Amina closed her eyes and focused.
The spirit was a little abashed but it expressed its wish to go see the son of Streckke family.
Amina had a slightly strangling feeling in her throat. She still wasn't ready to have anything to do with the skeletal young man.
Praie was silent but didn't go back to its usual moping.
Amina cleared out the stationery and went to the bathroom to wash her face. It was far too early for breakfast but she wasn't feeling sleepy anymore. She thought about Praie's wish for a moment and after being sure the house was quiet, she snuck towards the part of the house where the bedrooms of the Streckke family were. Amina wasn't sure which one of the doors led to the son's room, but Praie said it knew.
Amina put her hand on the door handle and took a deep breath. She wished from all her heart that Praie was right and opened the door.
The large bedroom had been furnished with extravagant taste and in the bed, surrounded by velvet veils with lace linings, was lieing the son.
Amina walked quietly to the bed and placed her hand on his forehead. He didn't feel feverish or sweaty. Amina exhaled slowly and turned to leave the room, when the young man grabbed her wrist. All the hair on Amina's arms and on the back of her neck stood up and she bit her lip not to scream. Praie was immediately investigating the young man's state, ignoring Amina.
”Why are you here?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
Amina turned to face the bed again. ”No one has spoken to me since yesterday. I was just a little curious and a little worried,” she replied.
He let go of her hand and smiled. ”I'm feeling just fine. I have no fever or any pain. In a few days of rest I'll be feeling much better again.”
”You're lying,” Amina said. ”You are in pain because you are hungry.” It was Praie.
He turned his eyes on the roof. ”True greatness of mind is to be able to resist the weaknesses of the body. I eat too much, still, even though the apotheracy declares I need something to strengthen my body. Perhaps it would be so, if I was ill, but I'm not. I am healthy and not dying. I can see in the eyes of my parents that they fear so,” he croaked.
Amina pursed her lips. It was obvious that neither was he eating enough nor was he healthy. He wasn't suffering from any actual disease, but his body was suffering immensely from the lack of nutrition. ”I didn't mean to disturb you. I'm sorry to wake you up,” she said and was about to leave.
”It's allright. You'll grow up to be a kind person. It means you'll be at least a little plump, but I'm sure you will find someone who will love you more for what is on the inside, rather than the body on the outside. Or you can take care of the truely civilized like my family, who don't have enough time to worry about the trifling things in life.”
Amina bit her lip and left the room as fast as she could without making noise. Praie was curious why she was so angry. Amina was thinking whether it would be better to let the man die of his own stupidity and starve, or was there any way to get some sense through to him. She knew she wasn't fat or even slightly plump, but the values of the Streckke family that made them consider skinny people better and more civilized than others made her sick. Amina returned to the dining room and waited for breakfast.

***

After breakfast, Amina returned to her room and read through the letters she had written on the previous day. She added some details and decided to go to town to send them. When she reached the bottom of the staircaase, the house maid came to her and told her Mrs. Streckke wanted to see her.
Amina knocked on the door of Mrs. Streckke's parlour and received and invitation to enter.
Mrs. Streckke asked her kindly to join her as she was going to town to meet the apotheracy, as she felt the need for some fresh air and the apotheracy had been keen to hear about their son's condition.
Amina agreed willingly but she didn't mention her letters. She was sure she could send them while Mrs. Streckke was speaking with the apotheracy.
They left immediately. It was windy but otherwise the weather was nice. In town, they headed straight to the apotheracy, and Amina had no chance to leave Mrs. Streckke.
Mr. Augustin was just scolding some children who Amina hadn't met before as they entered. They were clearly from a poor family. When he saw Mrs. Streckke, Mr. Augustin ignored the children and greeted her.
”Good morning, Mr. Augustin. Unfortunately, I have no good news about my son. He is still too weak to get out of bed,” Mrs. Streckke said gravely.
Mr. Augustin nodded. ”Has he been able to drink or eat anything? Perhaps some medicinal tea at the very least?”
Mrs. Streckke shook her head. As she tried to reply, her voice broke off and tears filled her eyes.
Amina was uneasy. She didn't know what to think or do in the awkward situation and she was restless about the staring children a couple of metres away. She wanted to go send her letters but didn't dare to leave.
Mrs. Streckke and Mr. Augustin talked over some things for a while and neither one of them acknowledged Amina or the other children in any way. Eventually, Mrs. Streckke was ready to leave and Mr. Augustin went back to scolding the children.
Amina followed Mrs. Streckke out.
”Could you hold out your hand for me, dear?” Mrs. Streckke asked of her.
Amina held out her hand and Mrs. Streckke grabbed it for support.
Amina was vexed. She had been brought along solely as a support in case Mrs. Streckke would feel fatigued, and they were headed straight back. Amina had no chance to send her letters. She decided to do it first thing after school on the next day.

***

In the morning, Amina was brisk and ready to go to school. The atmosphere in the house was still depressing even though the son had started to show slight signs of recovery. Amina asked Praie if his recovery would take long. The spirit couldn't tell as it depended much on him getting sufficient amounts of sustenance. Amina was happy to get out for a few hours.
As she arrived at the school, Amina waited for Ms. Slava as the teacher had promised to choose her a table over the days off. As she was glancing around the classroom, Amina saw one of the children she had seen at the apotheracy the day before. The girl hadn't been at school during the previous week. Amina was absolutely certain of it.
Ms. Slava showed Amina to the table where the new girl was sitting. She was told the girl's name was Tessa and her family was so poor they couldn't afford to send her to school every week. However, Ms. Slava was keen to point out that she was willing to teach also those less fortunate who had no future in the academia. Amina had a bitter thought that her actual motive to teach anyone was only money.
After school Amina was going to finally get the letters on the way, but instead she stayed and talked with Tessa who was leaving at the same moment.
Tessa wasn't ashamed to tell about the financial situation of her family. They went without food for almost three days every week when she was attending the school and even without the school fees, everyday meals weren't a certanty.
Amina couldn't in turn tell much about the Streckke family as she had been staying with them for such a short time and most of that she had kept to herself.
Tessa knew that the son of the Streckke family had been severely ill at least three times during the past three years as she and her siblings had been gathering herbs for Mr. Augustin for a small fee. In fact, she had been there with the other children to discuss a chance to borrow a basket or two during the coming summer for the plant collecting, when Amina and Mrs. Streckke had come to the apotheracy on the previous day. Instead of giving them baskets, Mr. Augustin had scolded them big time even though the last basket they borrowed got broken but it was an accident two years earlier.
Amina was interested to hear everything, especially about the plants. She had never before heard much about medicinal herbs even though she knew a little about some of their uses and she remembered that Emma had planned to grow some in the back yard in the summer.
At last Tessa stated that she had to go back home to take care of her younger siblings so her mother could get some stuff done and they bid good day to one another.
Amina was lost in thought after the facinating conversation and all that she had learnt and forgot to send the letters again. In the evening, she added a few lines to each letter and hoped they would eventually find their way to Kros and Jared. On the next day she finally got the letters to the post.
As the son of Streckke was evidently recovering, the atmosphere in the house was lifted. Praie wasn't moping anymore but it kept to itself still. Amina decided to get to know Tessa better even though it wouldn't be possible at school as it would be inappropriate for her to befriend a child from such a poor family in public. She had plenty of free-time in the afternoons. Amina was determined to learn more about the plants. On the other hand, she was worried about Tessa's family, who – unlike the son of Streckke – simply didn't have enough food to drive their hunger away.

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