GT - Chapter Thirteen

Home is defined differently in every culture. Some believe it’s wherever your family is, while for others, it’s a building, or a country. The giants of Malla Palla, however, believe that they are the dreams of a sleeping god, and that when they themselves sleep, they return home to their god. How this translates to painting themselves purple and spending each morning hopping on one foot was never adequately explained to me, but they were by far the happiest people I met during my travels, so perhaps no explanations are necessary.

-Lady Chatterwick’s Journey

While Maria’s breakfast was bland to the point of tastelessness, and had disturbing chunks of unknown objects floating in it, she managed to choke it down anyway. In fact, her cat’s palate didn’t mind the glop at all, though her princess’s mind couldn’t help but dwell on all the delicious breakfasts she had ever eaten, but failed to properly appreciate.

Tia, on the other hand, relaxed more and more as she ate two bowls full of a thick porridge that Maria’s nose reported was full of sweet grains, milk, and some form of sweetener, probably honey. By the time both girls had finished eating, there was a small crowd around Tia, who was animatedly describing how her cat had been trapped, sold as a piglet, and then thrown into the river when the error was discovered. Tia herself, of course, had dived in to save the drowning feline, and the wild river rapids had carried them miles downriver before they managed to reach the bank.

From her place huddled on the ground by the fading fire, Maria listened to this tale, and watched the admiration of the crowd grow. Truthfully, she didn’t begrudge her friend the moment of fame, since the story was as true as it could be without revealing Tia’s secret. Maria just wished that Tia would remember that the cat in question was still present, and couldn’t yet walk very well on her own.

As if he had read her mind, Fedder returned to Maria’s side, scooping her up into her strong but gentle embrace once again. His face was awed as he looked down at her. “You had such‘n adventure, kitty. I reckon you must be very brave, too.”

As his thick fingers stroked her fur carefully, Maria heard herself begin to purr. How the touch of someone so large could be so tender, she didn’t know, but it didn’t take long for her eyes to begin drifting shut. She was still terribly tired and weak, and now that she had a full belly and felt safe, all she wanted to do was sleep the day away.

She thought she did sleep, briefly, but she woke when Fedder carefully placed her into Tia’s arms. Maria blinked up at her friend, who smiled down with a more honest expression of happiness than Maria remembered seeing before, even when Tia was still a cat.

Most of the crowd had drifted away, each to their own tasks, and only a few remained near where Tia sat. Hattie was gone, though the sound of clattering dishes told Maria that the woman was probably cleaning up after breakfast. Marfa was speaking animatedly to a man whose right arm and leg were significantly longer than his left. He wore a strange, tall shoe on his left foot, which equalized the length of the two limbs, but there was nothing to be done for the arm, or the small, close-set features on the left side of his face.

“Marfa,” the man said, his voice slurred by his twisted mouth, “we need to leave. We’re already late, and if we’re going to have time to set up and send out the advance man today, we’ve got to go, and you know it.”

Marfa glared stubbornly. “We can’t just leave this girl behind! She’s had a terrible fright, and wherever she came from, it’s certainly not somewhere she should go back to. Besides, just look at ‘er! How can you ask if she’d fit in here?”

The man sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. He lowered his voice, but Maria could still understand him. “Marfa, we’re barely keepin’ our heads above water as it is.” He paused when Marfa pinched his arm, hard, glancing back at Tia, who was watching them, her happiness fading visibly. He seemed to remember that Tia had just literally nearly drowned, and smiled at the girl. He probably meant it to be apologetic, but his asymmetrical features turned it into a grimace.

Turning his back, he leaned over so he could whisper into Marfa’s ear. Between his speech impediment and the shift in position, even Maria could only make out a low mumble, and she wondered if Tia was doing any better. Looking up, she saw that though the girl wasn’t watching the two adults any longer, her furry black ears were twisted toward them.

After a few heated exchanges, the man tilted his head in defeat, and limped away. Marfa turned back toward Maria and Tia with a bright smile on her face. “There, now, lass! Slant’s not a bad man, but he’s got the weight of this whole carnival on his shoulders, he does, and it’s a heavy thing. Still, that’s worked out.”

The short, motherly woman bustled toward them, urging Tia up off the ingenious folding stool she was sitting on. She showed Tia how to fold the thing up, and ushered the girl back in the direction from which they’d come. “Now, m’dear, I hope you’ll listen to me all the way through before you answer, eh?” Her rosy cheeks creased in a smile when Tia nodded, clearly overwhelmed.

They continued walking as Marfa went on. “No doubt you’ve figured out by now that this is no ordinary caravan. No! This is the best carnival this side o’ the capital, and there’s no doubt of it. The people may be a little… different, but they’re good, hard-working people just like any other. I’ve been with ‘em for almost eight years now, ever since my Fedder started growing so big. It was one thing when he was a little boy, just perhaps not as smart as some others. But when he started growin’ into his man-size, well, there were those who wanted to turn him into some kind of soldier, or gladiator. None of that for my sweet Fedder, so we left, an’ soon enough found ourselves here. Now I make costumes, and Fedder’s the strong man. None better, either.”

She paused outside the wagon that Maria could now see had THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD painted on its side in big, bold letters. “Seems like people don’t like carnivals as much lately. There are rumors that we’re all criminals, and our shows are fake. Doesn’t stop some, but people don’t let the kids come and spend their pennies as much, and it makes a difference. Still, we can afford to take in a little girl and her cat, and, well,” she eyes Tia consideringly, “if you’re willing to put on an act, I can guarantee you a decent living, and adventures with good friends.”

She held up her hand as Tia started to speak. “Slant’s right. We’ve got to keep movin’, so we’re going to pack up camp. I want you to think on it. Give me an answer when we’re ready to move. You’re welcome to come with us, even if you want to stay behind the curtain instead of in front of ‘em. I can tell you haven’t had a regular upbringing, and I can even teach you your letters and some numbers, too. Fedder didn’t take to ‘em, but I taught all the carnie kids since we joined.”

The woman swooped in and gathered Tia into a hug. Maria, held close in Tia’s arms, was surrounded by warmth, softness, and the scent of some lightly perfumed powder or soap. “I hope you’ll come with us,” the woman murmured. “I’ve always wanted a daughter, an’ I’ll treat you like my own. Fedder’d be right pleased to have a sister, too.” She stepped back, patting Tia’s shoulder kindly, before walking toward a group of women who were gathering plants and firewood to take into town with them, since there’d be no foraging once they passed the gate.

Tia stared after her, mouth slightly open in astonishment. Finally, she looked down at Maria. “Did you hear her? Stay here?”

Maria nodded. “She seems very nice, but of course we can’t stay.”

The other girl’s yellow eyes were oddly bright. “She wants me too, though. Wants me, even though I look like this.” She reached up to pull at one of her feline ears. “No one has ever… I mean, even my family…”

Maria patted a paw on the arm that held her. “Have you given them a chance? You said they don’t even know that you can change, much less what you look like. How do you know how they’d react?”

Tia bit her lip. “It’s not just them, though. It’s all the Felis. The Grimalkin. I’d rather be a failure than a freak!”

Fedder’s tenor voice made them both jump and whip around. The big man smiled gently and spread his huge hands, which looked larger than Tia’s head. “Bein’ a freak’s not so bad,” he said softly. “I was a failure to my Pa. Couldn’t read, couldn’t think good, couldn’t even fight right, no matter how hard he tried t’teach me. But Mum, she didn’t care. An’ my friends here, they don’t care either. I’m just Fedder to them. We’re all strange. Just some of us show it on the outside, an’ some keep it hidden away. Mum says you know you’re home when you’re loved anyway.”

Tears suddenly overflowed Tia’s brilliant daffodil-colored eyes, and poor Fedder stopped, expression stricken. He took a step toward Tia, then paused, and took another step in the direction Marfa had gone. He repeated this pattern twice more, until he seemed to be dancing in place, and Tia giggled moistly. She reached way up, touching her fingers to Fedder’s thickly-muscled forearm.

“It’s all right, Fedder. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just,” she sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the back of her free hand. “Just nobody ever said anything like that to me before. I spent an awful lot of time waiting until I could get away, and I just… I just realized I want to go home.” The last word was almost lost in another flood of tears, and Fedder patted her on the head awkwardly.

A soft sigh came from behind them. “I guess you won’t be coming with us, then,” Marfa said, her voice melancholy. “Well, that’s all right. If your home is someplace you miss that much, I reckon it can’t be as bad as I was thinking.”

Tia had frozen at the sound of the woman’s voice, and now she stared at the ground, still crying, but apparently unable to look her benefactress in the face. Over Tia’s shoulder, Maria watched as Marfa strode toward them. She stopped short of hugging Tia, this time, but she did lay a comforting arm around the girl’s shoulders.

“T’be honest, I had a feeling you’d say no. I was coming over to bring you this.” Releasing Tia, she pulled a piece of green fabric out from under her other arm. Shaking it out, she held it up so the girls could see that it was a simple cloak with a deep hood. “It’s still chilly in the mornings and evenings. If you wear this then, no one’ll question it. You can have this, too.”

She thrust a thin pouch into Tia’s unresisting fingers. The pouch clinked dully. “It’s not much, but it’ll buy a little food, and a safe place to sleep for a night or two. Hattie has a pouch of food for you, too. We’ve got to get goin’, but if you follow the river a day or two, you’ll come to Bremerton.”

She misinterpreted Tia’s sudden stillness, and hurried on. “It’s an odd little town, an’ you may have heard some frightening rumors about them, but they’re good people, and there’s a carriage depot there. Save your money, an’ you can get to the capital, though it may not be comfortable. Or home, wherever your home is.”

Tia gulped audibly, and accepted the cloak with trembling fingers. “How… How do you know, I don’t want to go into town with you?”

Marfa shrugged, though she looked sad. “Mother’s intuition? Experience? I’m guessin’ you’re a runaway. We get those, now and then. Usually, we send them on back home, but you… Well, I thought maybe you’d been locked up for being strange, and had just escaped. You wouldn’t be the first of those, either. In any case, if you wanted to go into town, you’d have said so. Besides, I reckon that’s where you fell into the river. No child your age wouldn’t have been missed by now, and there should be search parties out lookin’ for you, if you had any family at all.”

Tia just nodded. Gently, she set Maria down by her feet, and Maria found that her legs were now able to hold her with a minimum of shaking. Tia shrugged into the cloak, and leaned in to hug Marfa’s waist tightly. “Thank you,” she mumbled. “Thank you so much.”

Marfa hugged the girl back, and then Tia scooped Maria back into her arms, and they went looking for Hattie.