“It’s because they’re afraid of Eydeth and Ellysian,” Gieaun often told her. “Not because they don’t like you.”
Jahrra tried to take this to heart, but with or without supporters, the twins were always looking for ways to ruin her day. Very early on they noticed that Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede liked to sit in a far secluded corner of the schoolyard. Before the first week was over, the twins had made it their place to sit during recess.
When Jahrra and her friends moved to another location, they followed. At first Jahrra had been intimidated by this tactic, but soon she learned to avoid her classmates by lingering inside after class had been dismissed. Once she saw where Ellysian was going she’d head in the opposite direction with Gieaun and Scede.
“Thank goodness Ellysian is so snooty,” Gieaun whispered as they headed for their favorite corner of the yard for the first time in weeks.
“I know. She’s so busy talking about how wonderful she is that she didn’t even notice us!” Jahrra said, unable to conceal a smile.
Scede merely nodded, trailing after the two girls quietly as they crept across the yard. He may have opened up at home but he barely ever said a word at school.
Jahrra knew that if she remained in the shadows and didn’t draw attention to herself, she could usually make it through the day. But no matter how hard she tried she never could quite shake them off for good. If Ellysian ever came down from her imaginary castle or if her horrible brother had the notion to realize they hadn’t tortured Jahrra and her friends in a while, the tables would turn.
Eydeth had taken up the sport of hunting the “Dragon Dung Dweebs” as Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede had come to be known. While his sister sat at the lunch tables crowing about her six white ponies, Eydeth would sneak off, leaving the main crowd of children in order creep up on Jahrra and her two best friends. He would sneak up behind the great granite rock they sat on and listen quietly to their conversation, waiting for them to say something he could tease them about.
One particularly awful incident occurred the day Jahrra told Gieaun and Scede about the nightmare she’d had over the weekend.
“It was terrible! Strange men came to the Castle Guard Ruin and started teasing and throwing things at Master Hroombra,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “I had Nida and Pada take me to the Ruin first thing the next morning to make sure he was alright.”
Jahrra was sitting on top of the flat, cold granite, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as the chill of the stone combined with the chill she felt from the image of the dream. Suddenly, Eydeth jumped out from behind the stone, nearly causing the three of them to tumble to the ground from fright.
“Ha-ha!” the evil boy chirped, pointing a menacing finger in their direction. “The Dragon Dung Dweebs are over here crying about that stupid lizard!”
Before the stunned friends could comprehend what was happening, Ellysian had them surrounded by her band of followers. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Jahrra watched and listened helplessly as the entire class, except for maybe five or so students her own age, closed in and maliciously chanted, “The Three D’s the Three D’s, nothing more than babies!” over and over again.
Jahrra turned bright red and Gieaun and Scede moved in closer to her. This wasn’t the first time that Eydeth had snuck up on them, but Jahrra decided right then and there it would be the last. After Mr. Cohrbin came out to break up the commotion, Jahrra and her two friends remained on the rock for a little while longer.
“I’ve had it!” she fumed. “How dare he? I only wanted you two to know about that dream!”
Jahrra allowed one last tear of anger to run down her face, burning her skin like acid. Gieaun and Scede put their arms around her to comfort her and Jahrra took a deep breath.
“I know what to do,” she said stoically after calming a bit. “I’m going to trick Eydeth, just like he tricks us. I’m going to build a mud trap and see how he likes to get caught!”
Gieaun was surprised at Jahrra’s sudden thirst for vengeance. “Oh, Jahrra, do you think that’ll work? What if he tells on us and we get in trouble?”
“It has to work,” Jahrra insisted. “And I don’t care if we do get in trouble!”
During the next week they worked quietly on Jahrra’s plan. They dug a hole behind their granite perch and slowly filled it with water from the school’s well, making a muddy, boggy mess at the bottom of it. Gieaun and Scede even gathered some rotting vegetables from their garden to make the mud even nastier.
Finally they covered the gaping hole with branches and leaves and simply waited for Eydeth to taunt them again. They didn’t have to wait long. Two days after they finished their trap they got their chance. Eydeth snuck up on them again and started teasing them, but this time the three friends were prepared.
“That’s right,” Jahrra said, shaking nervously, “we are the Dragon Dung Dweebs, and here’s some dung to prove it!”
She scooped up a prepared blob of muck off the top of their granite slab and launched it at Eydeth, watching in delighted horror as it splacked against his white uniform shirt. Eydeth looked down at the black muck sticking to his chest in hollow shock. He turned his squinty eyes up at Jahrra, his alarm slowly turning to anger as his face flushed red.
“You’ll pay for that Nesnan!” he breathed and rushed at the low stone.
“Quick, down the other side!” Jahrra hissed giving Scede and Gieaun a shove.
By now the whole class had noticed that something unusual was going on in Jahrra’s corner of the yard. Eydeth wasn’t chanting like he usually did after scaring the Dweebs. Instead, he was shouting and scrambling up the rock. Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede slid down the back of their boulder, side-stepping their mud trap and secretly hoping that Eydeth didn’t notice.
As they clambered up the trunk of the nearest oak tree, Eydeth heaved himself on top of the rock and it wasn’t long before he jumped down the side to follow them. He sprinted to catch up to his prey and as he made the last leap to snatch at Gieaun’s ankle, his own feet went crashing through the thatching that hid the mud-lined hole.
The angry boy made a strangled screaming sound as he tripped face first into a trough of sticky, smelly mud. Jahrra watched breathlessly from a high branch in the tree as the boy started screaming and crying, his own sister reluctant to help him up out of the trap. Jahrra had to stifle a laugh as Eydeth dragged himself out of the filth, looking like an angry, muddy rat. The class sniggered and laughed at the fuming boy who was carrying on and on about how Jahrra and her friends had thrown mud at him.
“Honestly, Eydeth,” Ellysian said, her arms crossed and her face twisted in disgust, “you fell into the mud, you didn’t have it thrown at you!”
Ellysian and the rest of the children slowly moved away, hiding their giggles as the filthy boy gaped and bellowed at them.
Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede were beside themselves with glee.
“At least he should leave us alone for a while,” Scede said between giggles.
“Or he’ll be twice as mean,” Gieaun added nervously.
“Either way,” Jahrra laughed, “it was worth it!”
Though the attack on Eydeth hadn’t completely ended the assaults from either of them, it had put a dent in their dominance over Jahrra and her friends. They seldom ever came around the boulder any longer and only harassed Jahrra if she wandered too close to their side of the schoolyard. Whenever their behavior was particularly nasty however, Jahrra simply recalled what it had felt like to throw the ball of mud at Eydeth. That pleasant memory was usually enough to get her through a tough day.