Wham! by Carol Marrs Phipps & Tom Phipps

Author:Carol Marrs Phipps & Tom Phipps [Phipps, Carol Marrs & Phipps, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781533026408
Publisher: Carol Marrs Phipps & Tom Phipps
Published: 2016-05-14T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Tess awoke at the first light of dawn to the ethereal calls of a bird in the woods not far from her window. She threw back her covers and padded softly to the window and stood in the fresh air as it stirred the curtains. “Oh! I'd give anything to see it,” she murmured as she breathed in the sweet woodsy air. “'Eee-o-lay' it says. Wow! It pulls at the heart.” After a time she turned away, found her buckskin kirtle and dressed for the day.

The great house bore a deep silence as she stepped into the hallway, but by the time she had come all the way down the stairs she heard murmuring beyond the far end of the great hall and found Meri and Celeste in the kitchen having a pot of tea.

“Good morwnynge Tess,” said Celeste. “didistow slepen wel?”

“Better than I have for a very long time at the very least,” said Tess.

“Woldestow lyche a coppe? Hit wol be a coupill of howre bifore breke fast.”

“Thank you, Grandma. But I think I'd like to go outside instead and wander about until then, if you don't mind.”

“Certainly,” said Meri. “Just stay within sight of the house so it'll be easy to find you when it's time to eat.”

“That bird!” said Tess, pausing at the kitchen door. “What is it? I've never heard anything so beautiful.”

“Ah!” said Meri. “That is a wood thrush. And they are the very bells of tranquility, giving joy to be alive.”

“Thou hast nat herd hem byforn?” said Celeste. “Als hit thynketh me thou woldest hem to haven in the wodes al a-boute Gollsport.”

“I'm afraid our woods are so poisoned that you never hear birds. We still have starlings and house sparrows in town, but I've never heard or seen anything else.”

“Your world sounds worse the more we hear,” said Meri, sharing a look of shock with Celeste.

“It is hard to live there,” said Tess, looking out at the sunrise. “But since I knew nothing else growing up, it took coming here to this wonderful time to even begin to see how horrible it really is.” And before she had thought about what she was doing, she blurted out: “I just don't understand how Dad could ever have gone to the future and raised us without even letting us know who we are or anything at all about this wonderful past. He even let Children and Family come and take away Mom and Nia and him. I always thought he was wonderful. How could he!” And with that she was out the door and down the steps into the glorious new day.

“Poer child,” said Meri, rising from his chair with wide eyes. “Ich shal to gon and fynden hir.”

“Lat hir be for a tyme,” said Celeste, putting her hand on his arm. “She needeth to soortyn out thynges in hir herte.”

Tess ran down the path to the Fairy ring. When she got there, she knelt and studied it. “How odd to step across a

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