There was a clanking on the counter, followed by curses. A towel flew past the doorway , Joy craned her head around the door frame. Missy and Taylor were in the kitchenette just off the offices. ” Tosh keen durinke -” Missy nodding and took the dishes out of the dryer . ” Meng disk-
Joy grinned , of course it would be those two. ” Good Morning ? ”
Missy looked at Taylor ,a challenge given.
” Ney, quay-” He put a pot down in the box underneath. ” I wish you wouldn’t do that!” ” Tawhat?” from the squat position, his face deepening.
” I wasn’t aware that it was now illegal , to have a private conversation. Despite what Mr. Joffery demanded in the last group session. Privacy is still a free expression, ?” Joy peered at him and then at Missy
“I know , Privacy is good, but you use it to the tad degree. I don’t LIKE being isolated in a room. You think you are controlling , but you are still staying on the outside.” Joy grabbed a cup and squatted down to him. ” You still want to know all that is going on! But YOU do not WANT to join in. Is that not true? ” Taylor stood up and walked away, leaving Joy to get up on her own.
” I understand that your guest created quite an acorn , yesterday. I don’t know if that is good or bad. ” Missy took the cup from Joy and offered an elbow.”
“She apparently spoke and included all the students in a two-way conversation ” Joy smiled . ” She turned the division in a few minutes. ” Can either one of you do THAT?! ”
Taylor looked at her. ” I certainly don’t like it. We don’t know a twit about her. Where is she from? Why does she not just go home? She is not a stray cat.although she seems to not have ever seen one. She could be very bad and we wouldn’t know it. ” Missy hung the wet cloths on the line “You know, I heard that she spoke easily ,calmly and voluntarily stood up without any fear at all.
She shocked a lot of the students. They are not used to having strangers just get up and speak. She spoke their language and ignores the deliberate history .” Missy wiped her hands and reached for a stack ” I haven’t heard her talk, but apparently she speaks better than anyone. She not being a native.”
Joy put the tea bag in her cup and filled it with water . “She knew how the students wanted to be heard and she was interested enough and wanted to learn about them.” She wriggled out a plate and put her fruit bread on it. “There are too many separations and trying to keep everyone apart isn’t logical and isn’t warranted. We need someone who can talk to several parts of us ,even if we give up some identity.”
Missy shouldered her bag and picked up her drink. ” Bye? that’s right?”
Joy picked her cup and some bread ” you still think a common language is a bad decision? ” Taylor sat down beside the cabinet he had been repairing. ” Denying my background isn’t giving me a stable place. or keeping my area’s history from being killed a long death. ” He spoke slowly and precisely as if talking to an animal. It saddened her.
“Do you think that everyone else can’t be given their history and we , as a united people can’t make a history together?”

I picked up the cage and the cat shuffled sideways into the side of the cage. I winced but pushed the cage onto a wide, dark oaken table ,carved with lion heads on the feet and in the middle of the structure. There were lots of green coats and lots of blue sweaters creating a sea of smelly, dusty, warm arms and legs. A couple of girls were making faces at each other and the guys had their arms around the girls, listening apparently to the talk . I wriggled my arms through the arms and bodies , wedging myself in and out. What is the world? Several people were looking up and many were looking around in a tense, skittish way. I looked around but all I could see were red socks, red jackets and dust floated in the sunlight.
The guy- what was his name?- turned and looked down. An angry glare was focused on a blond ,joking ,teenager standing with his books close to him . The professor- ? walked over to the teenager and away from the speakers platform. I walked towards him, then changed my mind. ” Good afternoon , I hope that ya’ll have had a good day and that tonight will be fun and relaxing. ” I shouted.

All of a sudden everyone was silent and looking at me. Several heads cocked sideways which would have been comical , except for their expressions. ” I don’t know who you are , but this is off limits to just anyone. ” The heads were bobbing up and down and murmuring abounded. ” I am sorry, but I don’t understand. What is going on and why is there so much anger? ” The girl who had been making faces yelled out. “
WE worked hard to get here and now someone is trying to take away what we have. We were told we could have the place and that there would be peace and security. ” The agreements sounded clear and vibrated off the metal plaques hanging on the wall, some adding their clanging as they bounced.
I had walked down the halls and the short pathway in and there wasn’t anything around. The wind seemed to be mild compared to the air inside. One of the red shirts look at me and shouted , ” Who are you? and why are YOU here? I haven’t seen you around. ”
The way he said it ,made me feel angry. ” I live here! I work here. I was told that ya’ll were upset over here. So what is going on? “
A voice called out. ” She is the one who Professor said wanted to prevent Calico from being here. ” All eyes frowned. ” what do you have against us being here?” I shrugged, smiled and called out. I don’t have a thing against Calico . She was just visiting a bit .” I glanced over at the table but she was gone.
” I don’t have a problem with you being here. I think it rather nice having people around interested in learning. I like to research ,find facts that have been lost or look over. It’s fun to find a story or document that gives a glance into another part of a history.
I pointed at the girl in red to my left ” What do you like to look up? What is your favorite source? ” The girls jerked up and grinned with the frown still on their forehead. “I like to find out about what people wear and why? What is their reason ? ” Another guy called out and said ” Why do people separate themselves and keep their stuff to just who is in their little group? ” The discussion took off from there and the exchange of thoughts, views and puzzled questions floated across the room. Calico just watched as all the bubbles of anger popped and dissolved into a platonic exchange of ideas, puzzles and solutions tossed up.

Amy sipped her lemonade and ruefully smiled. ” I thought it was going to be a loud, vibrant meat fest. The researchers -” Marie shook her curls with a sour expression . ” look, that is what they do. It’s why they are here. ” Wiping her chin which dripped with lemonade drizzling down, she picked up the notepad off the floor. She started by saying that everyone was in the meeting hall, no easy task.
The room was crowded and shifting , the batteries were on high. Everyone looked around like the savior was arriving. The curtains moved ominously on their tracks, so many tosses and tugs added squeaks to the noise levels.
Cyrus grinned like a new proud papa with his coat partially off his shoulder and his hand running through his hair. He step up and bellowed over the din. ” I know that we all are tired , but we cannot let the sanctity of the grounds be overran with strangers who we have no idea what kind of trouble they are mixing into the respectable atmosphere of this special place. ” The buildings , the plants and all in here need to be protected” . He looked around the room and spread his arms. ” Fellow learners we are here in order to learn how to keep what is so special and to learn how to take away all that threatens our cities and our not so stable peace. ”

I walked into the large cream colored room with paintings on the walls and all the decor very tall and very heavy. There were light colored plaques and thick round carousels , full of documents . Still, the room was so full of heavy cabinets – and there was an anger in the very air.
It was so curious. What was the purpose of all this -this activity? I walked to a side wall and edged closer. Wait, I know that voice , that was the man. Where was his cat? I wanted to apologize for his misunderstanding. I looked down, not far from the line people- there she was . The cat was on the floor. If one of the line people stepped sideways, she would be knocked over. Where were all the people who cared for her?

Following Lunch on the patio, red lettuce with a creamy sweet mousse and a crunchy root( like a purple carrot) , Marie twirled her spoon in the glass. She had been thoughtful and distant, her dark,and pale waves catching the light making it hard to tell her hair color.

I dabbed at the chocolate crumbs on my plate, so yummy. I don’t know what you call it but it was just like the chocolate dream layered dessert my Mom used to make . So GOOD!! I drank some juice and folded my napkin. I am never sure where you put the napkin when you’re finished with it. I held it in my hand and then crumbled it up on top of my plate.

Marie dropped her spoon onto of her plate, shocking me into a jump, bumping my knee and almost knocking the flower vase over. Marie grabbed for the vase,righted it and carefully looked at the leaves of the two stems in the vase . She was shocked herself and I surmised that she was embarrassed at her manner,too. “Goodness, I was in a fog, !” Marie reached for her salad plate and began nibbling. She always interested me , because she also her salad last with her coffee. Oh well, I tended not to eat the salad at all. The sad expression was still in her eyes. I thought it was from the changing light of afternoon. ” I gather you know the -um – headmaster. ? ” I was nursing a carrot dipped in peanut butter.

“He is not a headmaster, heaven forbid the time when he is in charge. ” She raised her eyes skyward. There are people who like his style of leadership , I am NOT one of them. I have known him for years . He knows just enough to get by, She was stabbing at a piece of parnip and loading green tomatoes onto her fork. “some students and researchers really like his way of doing things”. She picked up her lunch plate and walked it over to the tray set up in the corner . She grinned ,her eyes shining . ” Ok, Joy and I have been talking and you need your own private room. She said that you have not gone exploring . Is this right? Regardless, of his Lordship, you are not going to get into trouble learning about the Council house. ” My eyes widened and started watering. I grabbed my hands in a tight squeeze. ” My own room?” The teardrops darkened the sleeve of my nightshirt. ” Well, I know you have your workroom , but you need a place to take a bath and store your stuff that is more secure than the garden sunroom. ” She was cheerful and her brow lifted puzzled.

, ” You need a place to get away from casual visitors, especially with all the meetings and research starting up in the season. She was looking at the door inside I picked up the rest of the dishes and walked over to the tray” but I am only here temporarily- I am going home soon. ” I was very cold, the afternoon was getting chillier. I started into my sanctuary- albeit temporary! Marie put her arm around my shoulder. ” We should have given you a room sooner. No one does well in Limbo! Not even those who are transistory in their crafts. Let’s get you settled and then I could need another viewpoint . You certainly can help for a bit, couldn’t you?” We sat on the bench against the wall ” So, do you like upstairs, dark room to sleep in or big, sunny and crowded.? We have both ,upstairs and down. ” I like dark to sleep in but I also like sunny ,comfortable uncrowded room. ” I smiled at the number of times that my sister and I argued over whose room was more cluttered and crowded AND WHO was going to be lectured first from Mom and Grandmother!

Lies in Limbo

The brown ,graying hair of the gentleman who came in was quite different from the “professor”. He was fairly tall ,with a thick folder of folders(?) tucked under his arm. The sleeve of the woven coat was folded around the folder, causing a tight vice around his elbow, making his hand red. He put down the briefcase with a loud bam on the edge table . ” What kind of ruckus or joke did you think you were pulling ? It’s hard enough keeping discipline and security without you disrupting the sessions. I don’t like the students here anyway! This is NOT a boarding school!! What Claire thought she was accomplishing by allowing access . It is STUPID!! ( at least I think that was what he was saying, I was having a lot of trouble with his accent. )

“What are you talking about? No one has been over in the conference hall , certainly not little bit and I . We have been HERE! ” Marie was standing just behind me and I couldn’t get to the couch. A room of my own sounded perfect now, with a thick deadbolt and strong hinges.!

” Cyrus is apologizing to everyone in the conference for his absence , because a council staffer stole his cat and was locking her away for being on the premises . He had to plea for her release, because she was accused of destroying property and the staff wanted to turn her over to Security for disposal! ” He came to the doorway and motioned for us to come in. I followed him into my room. His posture was tense and his demeanor was boiling , grounding him to blocking access to the interior of the room.
I looked at him and was angry! I could be just boiling and just as rooted in rug next to the sofa end table just inside the door. I have had enough . ” What? Who does He think He is ? The cat wander onto the patio and came in through the open patio door. She was just looking around . Mr. Cyrus came in and found her , I hadn’t restrained her or called anyone! ” Marie came in and stood with me. ” He was yelling at her about being in here. He was off on one of his power trips like he does when he is flustered by a student. ” Marie looked at the gentleman ” I thought Claire understood , that she was responsible for any trouble HE caused. ”

The folders were sliding and it was all I could do not to yank them away from him and put them on the table or couch or– To my relief, He dropped them on the “game” table and switched on the lamp. ” He has told everyone who would listen . There is going to be dissent and you are going to be asked a lot of questions. ” Marie slid down to the chair and grasped the table edge. ” She is our guest. This is our home. He doesn’t live here and he doesn’t want to have any responsibility except when he doesn’t like something.” The shadow crossed the far window and the room darkened. ” What can we do?”

Smoothing the soft fluffy blanket up near the pillows , I felt like I had slid down a waterfall on a warm,summer day. The bed was tall and sturdy ,dark and carved with acorns, vines and flowers around the outside and smooth as silk inside. The curtains were lightweight ,flowery and let in a little light. The room was yellow, cream and greens all blended into a meadow of furniture, rugs and watercolor pictures. It was warm and charming. I wished I could show Sissy. She would really loved it.

Amandy came in with a lot of hardbacks and deposited them on the couch. I brought some books up , since you said that you wanted to read. I gathered several and set them beside the bed. I glanced at one puzzled. Marie would need to look at them. ” did you sleep well?” I patted the bed. “I did. I stretched and rolled and had a hard time decided where to stay put.” She handed me a delicate, thin cup with fold edges . ” even in my old bed, I would curl up in a corner of my pillows . I tend to stay put. I yawned and felt like my brain was tired and desperately needed a vacation. I sipped on my drink which was not coffee exactly but not tea either . ” What is this? It tastes like roots and cinnamon , ” I paused and took another sip that warmly slithered down my throat . ” it is called Kafir. ” Kafir? ” No, it is sweet nut and spices and strong beans, roasted and steamed.” She smiled , while drinking her’s . ” “Cafer, like cafe. ” Amandy cocked her eyebrow -I ‘m not even sure she knew she was doing it.

“Joy and Marie would like you to meet them in a room down the hall.” Her face rounded as her eyes melted into her cheeks . Her grin lit up herself. She bobbed her head as she chimed ” You are so -lucky!” I walked into a large pale green seating room. Only instead of places to sit ,there were clothes in separated stacks , some slid onto the floor , there were shoes of all styles and scarfs,hats, caps,pants and boxes. Amandy grinned and walked in and out of piles. Joy walked in smiling and chuckled. ” Well, I asked for lots of choices . I see the girls had fun. Amandy, would you help Marie with the trays? ” Joy drooped onto the big sofa , pushed some clothes onto the floor.

“There is a problem and you have to go handle it. Marie and I have tried , but rumors are only getting worst. It seems that Cyrus is making a stand that you should be barred from the Council grounds. There are students up in arms because you threatened to expel his cat after luring her away. ” I didn’t do anything. The cat wondered in as I was getting up. I don’t know where she came from. Nor would I steal a cat .” “of course, that is what I said. I also , said that he had no permission to come into our personal residence . There is a difference in the buildings for a reason. ”

Joy sighed . “You are a celebrity and Mr. Joffers is getting a lot of anger directed at him for hiding an unknown person who nobody has ever seen or heard of and don’t know if you even have permission to be here! ” Marie picked up a coat and shoes then put them on a table. ” So, you have to go and make an appearance, probably answered a lot of insulting and ridiculous questions.”

” Questions? not! They are not questions- not in a defined sense. Let’s get that classification right ” Joy snapped. I cocked my own eyebrow. ” “QUESTIONS? !!! I’VE GOT SOME of MY OWN! I picked out some brown calf boots, then some brown tweed pants with a small green plaid mixed in. A dark green buttoned up fitted dress shirt and a green tartan jacket finished it off. ” I would suggest that you VOLUNTEER NO QUESTIONS OF YOUR OWN. ” Marie never looked so fierce and blocked my way. ” There will be a melee swirling around that room. Answers are not welcomed.” I picked up a large pad and a pen.” Well, then they are in for a tornado, and I come from Tornado Alley, where storms are deadly and people are accustomed to being accosted by strong ,hot swirling winds! “