by J. M. Wilson
They helped with the wool plugs until it started to get dark, before leaving for home. Usually, this time of year, with the dark came the cold, and so most Manushi liked to be in their own homes by nightfall. Berty and Ruby were thoughtful on their way home. Both, without having discussed it, had chosen to walk along the short lane, overhung by mosses and bracken. With a quizzical tone Ruby asked,
“Did you think Big Gran and Big pop were strange tonight Berty, when I asked about my mum?”
She held out her hand as she walked along, stroking the over hanging plants in a sweeping movement as they past. Berty thought that they had been, he twizzled to look at her, hovering now right in front of her.
“Have you never asked my mum about auntie Elladore?”
With Berty hovering straight in front of her, not only was her path blocked, but with this question, also her memory. She paused to think. It was Ruby’s turn to look puzzled.
“Do you know Berty, I don’t know. Isn’t that strange?”
Some other children came past at that point, asking about school before they moved on to get home themselves. Their attention for the time being was averted by the conversation with the passers by, leading to them happily dilly-dallying home and talking about something else entirely.
That evening the Perkins sat in their partially insulated social room, the place were all the family gathered and enjoyed each others company. Whilst Berty and Ruby had been helping Gran and Gran Pop, Mr and Mrs Perkin and Goldenella had been plugging their own small living area. The floor had been covered in wool plugs and was now a cream coloured, soft and warm surface to sit on. The curved walls and ceiling were for now, still a rich earth brown colour, a real contrast to the colour and texture of the floor, but that wouldn’t be for long.
Dena sat in a ball in her own chair, her face in a blue covered book. The children were playing a board game with Mr and Mrs Perkin. It was a spelling game and it was Berty’s turn, which meant Mr and Mrs Perkin, and Ruby, had now been sat for a fair old while waiting for Berty to take his go. The room was comfortably quite as the four of them considered their spelling options and Dena read. Breaking the silence a loud crackling and bang was heard coming from somewhere in the distance, and then another.
“Goodness, it’s that time of year again,” Mrs Perkin proclaimed.
“The Humans have started to make a racket.”
Mrs Perkin was moved from her tranquil family moment. Ruby was bored now with having to wait for Berty, and because she had a good idea of what she would put for her next go, she asked
“What is that noise Gran?”
“Fireworks.”
Berty answered for his Mum, frustrated now and not concentrating properly because it was his go, and he knew they were all waiting for him to make a move. The word ‘fireworks’ turned a key in Rubys mind.
“Of course its bonfire night soon, but first its Halloween! I love Halloween!” Ruby said.
Sat on the woolly floor with Berty, their game on the little room table, she beamed at her grandparents perched on the edges of their chairs. All the Perkins looked at her. Her expression more than anything intrigued them.
“Halloween is a Human celebration Ruby, what do you mean you love it dear?” Asked Mr Perkin, slightly amused and bewildered at his granddaughter. Dena had raised her head from her book, looking over it to take notice of this conversation. Ruby answered just as quickly as before,
“I don’t know what made me say that Grand Pop!” She answered honestly.
“I really don’t!”
Then she laughed at herself dismissing her thought. The rest of the Perkin family didn’t really take much notice of what Ruby had said, it was just a child’s remark after all, but Dena had noticed, and unbeknown to Dena, Berty had watched his sister as she had taken it all in. He knew his sister, and he could well recognise when she was making her mental notes. Berty, in all probability, would have thought nothing of Ruby’s last remark, but for the fact that his sister had, and because of this, he too found himself thinking, why had Ruby said she loved the Human celebration, and why had Dena been alerted by it? Hmm, his mind turned.
“Come on Berty, take your go!” Mr Perkin commanded, as the crackle and bangs continued intermittently in the background. When he should have been concentrating on the game his mind had wandered. His Gran and Grand Pop were very weird tonight too he thought. Before he got back to thinking about his go, he concluded that something was going on!
The loud bangs from the fireworks carried on into the night. Ruby listened to them as she lay in her bed. There was something very exciting about fireworks she thought. The noise, the vibration of them in your chest, the smell of them and then there was their dazzling, sparkling, multicoloured fabulousness.
Then there was everything that went with it.
Mum made pumpkin soup and crusty bread and dad made flapjacks and toffee apples, well did dad make them or buy them?
Buy them? Buy them? What’s, buy them?
She thought it! But what was it?
What were these memories?
Had her parents taken her to a Human celebration when they were alive?
She very much doubted that, the Minushi stayed well clear of Humans.
Strange!
As usual, the following morning all the Perkins were gathered in the kitchen for breakfast. Today Gran had prepared warm oats and berries. They all sat around the kitchen table. Mr and Mrs Perkin discussed the days work ahead, and how much of the insulating they wanted to get done before the real cold weather descended upon them.
“What does, ‘buy them’ mean?” Ruby asked, interrupting her grand parents conversation.
Berty looked at Dena, she should know,
“Oh, I remember this, we did it at school Mrs Perkin.”
That was what Mr Perkin always called his wife.
“Come on, come on” he said to himself. “That’s it, I’ve got it. It’s a Human term, meaning to exchange money which has a Human value, for product!”
Mr Perkin was very pleased with himself, it wasn’t often he had to recall information from his school days, so many many years ago. He nodded to all at the table, and then looked at Dena for confirmation he was right. He also knew his gifted daughter would know, she had a real knack for retaining useless and useful information. “That’s about it dad,” Dena confirmed.
“What made you asked that Ruby?”
“I don’t know really, I just had a thought last night about my dad. Did he make toffee apples, or buy them? And I don’t know what ‘buy them’ means, so why did I think it?” The kitchen fell silent as the question Ruby posed hung in the air.
“No, No” said Mr Perkin, “you must have heard it somewhere, at school most probably. What’s a toffee apple anyway, that’s my question?”
“Mr Perkin,” said Mrs Perkin,
“Goodness you know the answer to that, it’s pieces of apple in toffee syrup left to go hard on a stick.”
Mr Perkin was about to show he’d remembered when Ruby said,
“Not pieces of apple Gran, a whole apple on a stick!”
Mr and Mrs Perkin and Berty laughed, Dena did not.
“ A whole apple Ruby, feeds everyone in Myton nearly.” said Berty. “Come on lets go to school.”
All day Ruby was distracted at school. She could see in her minds eye, a whole apple on a stick, covered in a hard red sticky coating. She even thought she could remember pulling off a red crinkly, see-through paper and it sticking to her fingers as she struggled with the big red toffee apple. The whole apple!
Yet even though she could see this in her mind and had memories so real, she knew a whole apple could feed Myton, so it was a ridiculous thought. The firework thing bothered her too, and Halloween.
Why did she feel excited?
What did she know about these celebrations anyway?
“What’s wrong Ruby?”
Asked Berty, as they once again made their way to the sheep fields,
&n
bsp; “You’ve been offish all day.”
Ruby told Berty what was on her mind, and even though Berty swirled, swinging his arm and legs in random movements, totally oblivious to how ridiculous such movements looked, he was listening. Berty had to agree it did seem rather odd “Berty, lets not go to the sheep field today. Lets go the other way, to the meadows where we played in summer.”
Berty stopped his erratic movements now and gave Ruby his full attention.
“That’s a lot further than the sheep field Ruby. It could be dark by the time we get there. If not then, by the time we get back definitely. No Ruby! Lets go another day, anyway Gran and Grand Pop are relying on us getting their wool.”
Ruby agreed, Big Gran and pop relied on their help. She flew to the field happy to be helping them, but her mind was on, not the meadow, as she had stated to Berty, but the Human village beyond.
Whilst the other Manushi children played and gathered their wool, and the adults actually did some serious work, Ruby did too. She didn’t want to play this afternoon. She was careful not to alert the sheep to her working, the quicker she got her wool loaded, the better. Berty had decided to leave Ruby to her thoughts and work. She had been boring today, distracted, not wanting to talk or get involved in anything. Katkin though, who seemed to be around a lot lately, or maybe he just noticed her more, was welcome company today, even without Syc Sic, who’d had to go straight home to help his dad do the Sycamore seed collections. Whilst Ruby seriously gathered wool, he and Katkin let off some steam and had fun.
Ruby had gathered her load a lot quicker than the other children. With her netting full, she told Berty and Katkin she was making her way back to Myton. The Sun had become yellow, bright and blinding as it began to drop in the sky, getting ready to set soon. Ruby reached the point where she should turn towards home. She rested at the point most of the gatherers rested at before moving on with their heavy load of wool. She sat on a tree branch, watching some adults in the distance carrying their load on to Myton. She was on her own, catching her breath and thinking. There were so many questions unanswered in her head. They mulled around and made her feel uneasy, confused even.
Maybe she shouldn’t, but she had to.
It was decided.
She had decided.
She was going to the village.
She would make it up to her great-grandparents. She would leave the wool here for now, tethered to the tree and collect it on the way back. Right now she had to go.
Ruby was filthy, her hair and clothes were covered in greasy lanolin, an oil produced by sheep to keep them weather-proof. The mud and dust that collects on the wool, also clung to her and her clothes. She was wearing long black trousers and feet mittens, much like socks, and a coat of layered leaf pieces, lined with soft fleece, in between these layers of leaf was trapped warming air, keeping her cosy.
Should Ruby have gone on to her great Gran and Pops, she would have had to have a quick wash before helping with the insulating, but for now, she would do. At least she was warm and dry, and after all, she was only going noseying.
Ruby was flying west, straight into the sun it seemed. Her vision was impaired because of its brightness. There was very little colour in what she could see, images became almost black and white. She flew above the grasses and so the ground below looked dark dark green, almost black in colour. The odd tall grass that raised itself high above all the other grasses, stood tall, just black stick-like shapes rising up from the ground. Ruby didn’t need the daylight to know where she was going, her night vision would kick in when it got dark, but as she travelled toward the village, in the same direction as the setting sun, she was unaware of how dark it was becoming, hence how late it was for her to be out alone.
On she went, unsure exactly as to why? The colours in the sky began to change to reds, oranges and deep purples. The clouds glistened like swirls of golden syrup melting into the last light left in the sky. In front of the rich colours of the sunset, Ruby could clearly see the black out line of the Human village, its trees and its buildings, blocking out the final bow of the setting sun. By the time she arrived on the perimeter of the Human settlement, the sun had completely gone. The village was almost in utter darkness, but for the low lit street-lights flickering as they came on, and some lights shining from the homes and the odd motor vehicle. As Ruby slowly flew through the empty streets, a wind whipped up and rustled her coat, lifting the leaves, exposing the wool-lining and releasing the trapped warm air. Her body felt a cold chill and she shuddered.
For a little while Ruby flew quite aimlessly around this strange, large Human settlement. It was fairly quiet, almost empty. Cold looking stone boxes housed these people. Curious, she went to a lit window and looked inside. The walls were flat with pictures hung on them, unlike her own home, which had rounded and curved walls. Only the floor seemed to be insulated, with what looked like coloured wool. The people didn’t look cold though. She saw a woman. How curious she thought, as she leant a little closer for a better look. Without thinking what she was doing, let alone how she did it, Ruby cast her mind, thinking about the inside of the house. As she did, she found she had entered into the human home, her body still outside at the window. She could feel the warmth of the home and smell the Humans. Perfumes, polishes, chemicals, cooking. She watched the female Human. As she watched, she entered her head and heard her thoughts. She was in a rush. She needed to get the children fed. They had to get ready. Had she forgotten anything? With that two loud and excited Human children bounded into the room, startling Ruby, and then she was back, back in her body. There she was again on the outside looking in.
How had she done that?
She put her face up against the window squashing it against the cold glass trying to get through and back in there. Nothing happened, except a cold face.
She stayed a while longer. She watched the children as they sat and ate their supper, it looked like pumpkin broth, and they were dipping chunks of bread, spread with thick cream coloured slabs of butter. Ruby had not had her supper yet and watching them was making her hungry.
Ruby took off from the windowsill and flew around some more. She could hear children, lots of children, gathering, talking and squealing in excitement. As she worked towards finding where they were, she saw other children, all moving in the same direction. They were all dressed in very strange clothes, all looking quite the same with long straggly hair, white faces with big blackened eyes and red streaks of what looked like blood smeared on them. Some had plastic capes flapping behind them. Others carried brooms or great big pitch-forks. Some had horns on their heads, and some carried pumpkins with faces cut out, lit by candles. She could smell the smoky roasting of pumpkin, a happy smell she thought. The memory lingered a while. The smell carried on wafting around her. The smell of the candles heating up the pumpkins. She knew this smell. She like this smell. The smell did it, it triggered the memory.
It was Halloween! Halloween! She flew around excited.
It was Halloween tonight! The children were dressed up, probably going to a party. She clapped her hands together, delighted with herself and with what she was seeing.
Back at the resting place, Manushis had stopped intermittently to catch their breath before the last push on back to Myton. Berty and Katkin were two of the last to arrive there. Berty noticed a net of wool tethered to the tree and a strange sense of knowing overcame him.
She’d done it. Ruby had gone to the meadows, but why, why would she go without him.
What would be the point? Of course, it came to him without another moments thought. It wasn’t the meadow Ruby wanted to see, it was the Human village! Processing what Ruby had done, and what would be best for him to do within a second, Berty asked Katkin to let his grandparents know he and Ruby would be late, that they had something important to do. As Berty tethered his own wool to the tree Katkin wondered what was going on.
“It’s almost dark Berty, what can be so important at this time?”
“To
be honest Katkin I don’t really know, but Rubys gone off to the meadow, and she’s out there alone. It’s my job to make sure she gets home safe.”
Without another word Berty hurled himself in a westerly direction.
In the fading light he instantly disappeared.