Chapter VIII - Part I

Andrew sat on his bed contemplating whether to visit the Trevinos or not. He wasn't sure they even knew about him and Eliana. They had never even talked about making it official. Of course, he had wondered if Eliana was the one he was going to marry, but it had never lead to any actions.

A part of him wanted to go but he wasn't sure why. He didn't know any of her family personally. What would he say, what would they talk about? Another part of him wanted to stay at home and wait for Andy. Rhyn said he had seen her come back late but she had been gone by the time he woke. Margaret was missing too, but it was usual in her case to spend the day off with someone other than her family. The sun was still high but he was growing worried.

He stood up and walked to the door. Then he stopped for a moment and walked back to his bed.

"If you're gonna start pacing, do it outside," his mother said. She was having one of her head-aches again so it wasn't difficult to irritate her. He sat back on the bed deciding to stay in, but as soon as he was sitting he felt like standing up again. He forced himself to stay put.

The door fell open. Andy and Margaret stepped inside. Well, actually, Andy stepped in and Margaret was kind of dragging herself holding on to his little sister. Margaret's face was red and slightly swollen. There were tears streaming down her face.

Andrew jumped up and ran to the door catching Margaret. He sent a questioning look towards Andy but her mind seemed to be elsewhere. He noticed his mother's horrified face as she was moving closer to them. She grabbed a bucket of water from the corner and some cloth from Andy's old clothes. She started soothing Margaret with the moist cloth.

"What happened?" Andrew asked. Andy sat down on her bed and shook her head.

"She was attacked by a guard. I tried to stop him."

Andrew didn't allow his sister to continue. "You confronted a guard? We will need to hide you now."

His eyes were moving around fast as if looking for places she could hide in.

Andy put her hand on his shoulder and continued. "Yes, I confronted the guard before he could do anything else to Margaret. But I wasn't strong enough to keep him off by myself. Some men came to help me and they've agreed to hide me from the guards for a while. You don't have to worry about anything. I can handle it."

She was keeping something from him but Andrew let it be. His sister was allowed to have some secrets. The most important part was that she was going to be fine.

"Who are these men?" Andy didn't expect her mother to have any questions or an opinion in this matter at all. After all, she couldn't remember the last time they had had a decent conversation. She had thought that the imprisonment had sucked all the life out of her mother. There were times when she was younger when she cried herself to sleep thinking her mother didn't love her anymore.

"They live in the A quarter. And they are not only men, there's a young woman living with them. One of the men said that he knows you. His name is Morgan."

Morgan had said that the connection he had once had with her mother might help with their cause. And it seemed to work. Her mother's eyes lit up as she heard the name and something seemed to click in her mind. "Morgan is still alive?" Andy didn't understand if the question was meant for her or if she was just talking to herself.

"He said they'll take care of me," Andy said. "They have plenty of room and the guards would never suspect me to be there. But they probably will come looking here."

His mother nodded and even Andrew seemed to have calmed down.

"Where's Grandpa?" Andy asked. If there was one person she wanted to say goodbye to just in case, it was Grandpa.

"He's sitting behind the house," answered Andrew. Andy nodded gratefully and went to her cupboard. The book was right where she had left it. She pushed it against her chest and stepped out into the dry hot air. Grandpa was sitting behind the house as Andrew had said. He was looking at the sky and there was something on his lap. Andy stepped closer and realized it was his box, the one with the stolen egg.

"Hey," said Andy and sat beside him.

"I heard rumors of a blue-haired girl attacking a guard. You know anything about it?" Grandpa didn't turn his head but kept gazing above.

"How many blue-haired girls do you know?" Andy asked. It wasn't just an answer to his question but also something she wanted to know. Aggie had said she had never seen a Cirren girl before and it seemed weird to her as she seemed to know a lot about her kind.

"Not many," he thought for a moment and said, "I guess you're the only one."

"Why?" The question seemed naive as she said it but it was what she thought.

"I don't know much about our kind. My grandfather was also a Cirren but he died when I was four. I didn't have anything to ask back then and later there was no one to ask from."

They both fell quiet. Andy raised her eyes to look at the sky. It was almost cloudless but there were some darker clouds nearing from the horizon.

"I want you to take my box," said Grandpa suddenly. Andy was speechless. He put the box on her lap and stood up. He was about to leave when he noticed something.

"I see you've found yourself a book. It's good. I really hope you'll learn to read. My mother always said that a life without reading is a life not worth living."

"Why didn't you teach us to read then?" Andy asked. If it had been that important to Grandpa and his mother. Why had it not been taught to her or Andrew?

"Your childhood was a dangerous time, Andy. Maybe some day you'll understand the choices I and your parents had to make to keep you alive. Teaching you to read was not an option back then. And later it became difficult to find the time. I hope you can forgive me." Grandpa wasn't crying but his eyes were red and tired. He seemed older now than he had ever before. Andy took his hand. She couldn't stand seeing him like that.

"Of course, I forgive you, Grandpa. There's nothing to forgive." She wrapped her arms around Grandpa and he hugged her back. At that moment Andy felt like crying herself. Why did goodbyes have to be this hard?