Mary's Path

The days went by quickly. Mary discovered that most things were easier now that she shared most of her chores with Zerden. He had stopped being grumpy and angry and for the most part she liked him.

Sometimes they had a few minutes between chores, and then Mary would try to teach him to read and write. It took him a while to realize it was the same thing.

He was a quick study, but his patience was short and without warning he could get up and start doing something completely different. On those occasions, Mary completely lost hope that he would ever be able to learn. But what he lacked patience; Mary had in spades. She continued to go through the letters with him.

It was a beautiful day, and the spring sun was shining from the sky. Spring had now come in full force, making small patches of spring flowers pop up in the courtyard.

Mary and Zerden were sitting outside by the well. They had had a moment to themselves and had gone out into the beautiful weather to continue practicing the letters.

Mary pointed to a tuft of snowdrops that grew not far from where they sat.

“What’s the first letter of their name?” she asked. He thought for a moment, Mary could se his lips moving as he sounded out the name in his mind.

“S” he replied. She nodded.

“What does S look like?” she asked. He took the stick that lay between them and thought for a while before drawing an S in the dirt, although somewhat crooked. Mary smiled at him.

“You’re getting the hang of it” she said. He smiled back at her. They heard footsteps coming towards them and saw Mrs. Karrots coming carrying a basket. They both got on their feet.

“I have a task for you,” she said as she stopped in front of them. “I need someone to go down to the market and get me four kilos of green apples, a kilo of honey and three sticks of cinnamon. Can you do that?” she asked the youngsters in front of her.

“Yes, ma’am,” they answered in unison. Mrs. Karrots was about to continue when she was interrupted by Zerden’s father.

“Mrs. Karrots,” he said.

"Castellan“ she greeted him.

“I’ve appreciated your help with my son during these weeks, but now I think it’s time for him to get back to his usual chores,” he said. Mary froze, Zerden would no longer be in the kitchen.

She hadn’t let herself think that far ahead. Now she would go back to do her chores alone, she would have no one to talk to and their lessons would end. They would probably hardly see each other again. Mary avoided to sigh out loud.

“It’s all right castellan. I’d just like to ask if he could run one last errand before he goes. I need a couple of things from the market, and I don’t want to send the girl alone” Mrs. Karrots said.

The castellan looked down at Mary, who lowered her gaze to the ground and wished with all her heart that he would say yes. The castellan was about to say something when he saw the S that was carved in the dirt.

“Who wrote this?” he asked. Both Mary and Zerden looked where he was pointing.

“It was me,” Zerden said. The castellan looked at his son.

“You can write?” he said in amazement.

“A little,” Zerden replied.

“Who taught you?”

“I’m the one who taught him sir” Mary replied. Both the castellan and Mrs. Karrots looked at her.

“How old are you, Mary?” asked Mrs. Karrots.

“Ten years old ma’am” Mary replied. Mrs. Karrots and the castellan exchanged a look that Mary could not interpret.

“I don’t see any problem with him accompanying the girl to the market” he said. Mary wanted to thank him but knew it wasn’t her place.

“Good. All right, that’s it. Here’s some money that should be enough for what I want. Make sure you don’t lose them and make sure you don’t get lost. Do you remember what you need to get?” asked Mrs. Karrots.

“Four kilos of green apples, one kilogram of honey and three sticks of cinnamon,” Mary and Zerden replied. Mrs. Karrots nodded, handing the basked to Mary and the money to Zerden, then waving her hand for them to leave.

As Mary and Zerden ran towards the gate, Mary heard the castellan ask Mrs. Karrots if he could talk to her. Mary pushed it to the back of her mind and continued out of the gate with Zerden.

This time, she immediately choose a smaller street. She wanted to avoid the main street going to the south. Zerden did not question her, just followed along.

“What chores are you going to do when you’re not working in the kitchen anymore?” asked Mary.

“It warries. Father usually makes sure I help the soldiers with what needs to be done. Watering the horses, prepare the practice field, carry sticks or make sure they have water and food,” he said.

“Is it fun work?” she asked as she turned onto a new street. He shrugged.

“Father says it’s good work. I’m going to be a soldier one day, just like my father, so it’s good training,” he said. They continued along the streets.

“Where are your parents?” Zerden asked suddenly. Mary stopped and looked at him.

“They’re gone” she said, turning away and started to walk again. She felt the knot in her stomach hurt when she said it.

“Why?” he asked.

“They got sick,” Mary said.

“Okay”

They kept walking in silence. Each of them consumed by their own thoughts.