[Child of the 7th Age]

Andreth and Kali:

At the end of the morning, the children had gathered up the scraps of their lunch and put away their slates, tucking an apple or two into a satchel or vest pocket for a later snack and then wandering over to the side door to wait. For the most part, the schoolday had gone smoothly. The youngest ones were making good progress with deciphering words and writing out letters; those who were older were already reading simple stories and helping to list and count the foodstuffs that had come in by wagon, adding up the figures in neat, orderly rows within a special ledger. But the favorite activity of all seemed to be taking care of the animals. The children provided the beasts with fresh food and water, gathering up the eggs and helping to milk the cows, laying down clean bedding in the pens and corral.

Andreth led the class down the steps and into the yard where they could romp around and play for a few moments before leaving. Peering down the road, she could see Berilac approaching the Inn from a distance and, close behind him, those parents who had volunteered to take the other children home. She quickly counted noses and discovered that two of her class were missing: Mausi's son Kali, and her own boy.

Her initial response was concern. Edmund had stayed out of trouble in the classroom, but he seemed preoccupied and upset, and was still not mingling with the other children. She would not put it past him to be playing a prank on Kali or even starting a fist fight. Leaving one of the serving girls in charge of the group, Andreth hastily skirted the perimeter of the Inn, trying to find where the boys had disappeared. She finally discovered them inside the pen that had been set up for the conies and piglets. Kali had taken out one of his sheets from school and turned it over on its back, as he stared mesmerized at the family of rabbits. His fingers held tightly onto a small stub of chalk that he was using to sketch an amazingly lifelike drawing of the animals. Edmund remained about five paces in back, saying nothing but staring at Kali while the hobbit lad worked, and with a worried expression on his own face that made him look much older than six years. Too tired and overworked to think about what any of this might mean, Andreth gently collared the two delinquents and herded them back to the others as she watched Berilac wave his hand at her and beckon several of the children to leave with him.