[Child of the 7th Age]

Annunfuiniel's post for Mausi:

Mausi gathered her skirts in her left hand and tried to pick up some speed. How could I sleep so late! she scolded herself and looked down at Ella by her side. The girl clutched tight her right hand in an attempt to keep up with her mother's pace. Her eyes faced the dusty street and she kept silent, biting her lip nervously. Kali and Mondy came right behind their mother and sister, both hoping that they could have gone to the school without all this fuss. All three guessed that mima was going to make a scene...

But Mausi wasn't so sure about that after the night of little sleep and lot of thinking. It isn't Miz Andreth's fault that those rascals did what they did. To blame...

Mausi's musings came to a sudden end as the four Honeysuckles stormed around the corner to the Inn's backyard. The mother gasped and her offspring stared eyes round at the scene that was played in front of them: Big and Little Folk, parents and children; the yard swelling with people.

It took a while before Mausi could conceive what was going on. She saw Peony Woodruff step forward and heard her words: ‘We trusted you with our precious little ones, Miz Andreth. Now, I’m not saying you did anything wrong yourself, but how do we know they’ll be safe if we leave them here again?’

Mausi, still holding Ella's hand, stooped down and took Kali in her lap. Then, after telling Mondy to hold on to her girdle, she strove forward, listening as one of the Big Folk parents continued in the same tone and on the same lines as Peony:

‘We’re all busy at home, trying to make ends meet. We can’t be staying with them while they’re here. If it’s going to be like it was yesterday, best we just keep them home!’

Poor Andreth! This isn't going well at all... Mausi had time to reflect before she finally reached the front row. But as she then looked around her eyes met with the most curious sight imaginable in the circumstances: a Big Folk father squatting nearby with his daughter on one and a Hobbit child on other knee! Mausi's jaw would most likely have dropped open had not Kali's head rested right under her chin.

But Mausi wasn't given time to dive any deeper in perplexity as Delphinia Comfrey's voice from her right brought her back to the present mayhem: ‘This is too high a price to pay for a little letter learning, don’t you think?’ Mausi turned around to see what she was talking about and then drew a sharp breath as she saw the red marks on young Hamson Comfrey's arm and the bruise over his eye.

‘What are you going to do about it?’ A faceless voice came from the crowd - and suddenly all was silent. Not 'you' but... Mausi couldn't finish her thought before little Hamson spoke it out loud:

‘Couldn’t we all help?’

Now Mausi couldn't stay aside any longer. She let Kali back down beside his sister and brother and then spoke up:

"Yes, we shouldn't leave Miz Woolthistle to cope on her own. She truly hasn't done anything wrong and blaming her doesn't aid our case; let the blame be aided where it belongs." Mausi took a deep breath and stepped forward to gain a more straight contact with the Innkeeper.

"My children never lie to me..." She continued in a trusting tone; "Yet yesterday they were unwilling to tell me of the incident that happened here for they were afraid I would get angry and do something like...well, what's going on here right now. They really like it here --- and in the end that's the thing that matters the most." Mausi backed on her place beside Ella, Mondy and Kali, who then gathered around her, their smiling faces glowing with gratitude. Their mother would let them go to school!

[ November 06, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]