After several recurring dreams of this horrible scene, Jahrra became angry with him. Why wouldn’t he help her parents? Why did he just look on like nothing was happening?
As the weeks went on, this didn’t change. Her parents were always torn from her and the hooded figure always watched like a statue. Jahrra thought this torture would never end, but gradually, as gradually as the earth itself changes, she found herself looking to the hooded figure, finding comfort in his mere presence. It was then that she realized he could do nothing, for this wasn’t his dream, this wasn’t his sorrow, but hers. He was doing all he could just by being there on the edge of her nightmare.
Soon, Jahrra no longer saw the monster as it took her parents away, and she no longer felt as mournful as she had before. This being, this person, whoever he was, had helped her get past the loss of her parents more than she could ever know. She no longer hated him, but looked to him as a beacon of comfort when the dreams came, and soon, sooner than she would have thought, she was no longer waking up in tears.
The soft, mournful hooting of an owl reminded Jahrra that the day was over. She put her hands to her cheeks to wipe away her tears only to be surprised to find them warm and dry. She took a deep breath, shaking the remaining images of her dreams from her mind. It had done her some good to think about them, even if they had been terrifying at first. Her dreams had shown her the truth of her pain, of her sorrow, and that it was time for her to move on. Jahrra walked back to the Castle Guard Ruin in the twilight hoping that this coming year would pass with less pain and sadness. Somehow, she knew that it would.
Spring was a whirlwind of activity with Jahrra much improved from last year, despite her winter-time gloominess. It was almost as if she had been a dormant tree, bursting into life once the weather warmed. She was much more animated, actually smiling and laughing at least once a day. She even lashed out at the twins’ rude comments every now and again, something she hadn’t done since numbly joining the class once again in the fall.
Summer took an eternity to arrive, as always, and all because Kaihmen and Nuhra promised to help Jahrra saddle-train Phrym at school’s end. Her best friends were already riding their own horses, Bhun, a chocolate gelding for Scede and Aimhe, a palomino mare for Gieaun. Jahrra was in a constant pout about this until Kaihmen informed her that Phrym had finally grown big enough to start riding.
“You have to go easy on him. He’s still very much a foal,” Kaihmen told Jahrra the first time she got in the saddle with Phrym.
At first, he reacted as any horse would; uncomfortable and edgy with an extra weight on his back. Once he realized it was Jahrra, however, he calmed down and became quite agreeable. Kaihmen had been nervous about Jahrra being the first to ride Phrym; he was so strong and so tall. And if she fell off . . . But he really didn’t need to worry at all.
“Well, would you look at that! It must be a new record,” Nuhra said, as Jahrra went tearing across the fields atop Phrym after only a few minutes of sitting on his back.
The Resai woman had been thrown so many times by new horses that she was almost jealous of Jahrra’s success, but in truth, she was beyond pleased for the young girl.
Now that Phrym was suitable for riding, Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede spent the better part of the summer fixing up the old stable on the grounds of the Castle Guard Ruin. Phrym wouldn’t be visiting here, like she had once thought when she first got him, he would be living here. Jahrra quickly dashed the memory away, fearing it would bring on tears, tears that wouldn’t bring back her past life. Instead, she distracted herself with work.
“Just think!” she said as she dragged the old rotting wood out of the stable bed with Gieaun and Scede, “We’ll all be able to ride to school in the fall!”
On the summer weekends, Kaihmen and Nuhra took the children to the lakes to go fishing. They would swim on the warm afternoons and catch frogs and insects, build forts on the shores and just catch up on the things that had happened that week. Many of the local youngsters came to the lake as well, but they were all either much younger or much older than Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede, and more often than not, they were here to work, not play.
Jahrra watched in slight pity as the youngest would help their mothers gather reeds or freshwater shellfish along the muddy banks. The older boys helped their fathers and uncles haul bulging nets of slippery fish out of the water and the older girls would clean the catch the men brought in.
Once their work was through, the young children were permitted to play, kicking around a ball constructed of tightly wound strips of hide. Jahrra always smiled her best when she saw the looks of joy on the children’s faces as they went careening down the boardwalk after the lopsided ball, laughing and shrieking in fun.
Sometimes she would join them with Gieaun and Scede, but today they were busy floating on rafts across the cool lake surface. Jahrra took a long, deep breath and let it out slowly. The raft she was floating on had drifted towards the middle of the lake, but she hadn’t noticed.
“Jahrra!” Gieaun’s voice invaded her calm mind. “The lake monster will get you!”
Jahrra closed her eyes and smiled, having half a mind to pretend to get pulled under by the mysterious beast. She rolled over onto her stomach and began paddling back towards the boardwalk where Gieaun and Scede were lying upon their own homemade rafts.
“Gieaun! Will you ever give it up? There is no lake monster!” Jahrra proclaimed once she’d reached them.
“Sure there isn’t,” Scede teased, his impish grin matching her own.
The three friends enjoyed the rest of the afternoon along the banks of the lake searching for frogs and turtles before finally making the journey home. The summer had flown by as usual, but Jahrra had enjoyed it more than any summer she could remember. School would be starting again soon and she cringed at the thought. Oh well, she sighed inwardly, I’ll just have to make the best of it.
The twins weren’t at school on the first day back, and Jahrra almost burst with happiness at the idea that they might not be coming back at all. The very next day, however, they showed up in one of their fancy carriages, going on and on about how they got delayed on a vacation to some castle in the north.
Jahrra was bitterly disappointed, but she wasn’t going to let it get her down, not this year. The summer had revived her in a way and her renewed spirit inspired her to create a garden outside her bedroom window in that tiny enclosed space that was once another room. She’d spent so many lonely afternoons staring out her window that she felt she needed to do something to the sad, empty space.
“This is for Nida and Pada,” she told Hroombra one early fall day when he finally abandoned his studies to see what the young girl was up to. “I want to grow things like they did.”
The old dragon watched thoughtfully as Jahrra toted an armful of various plants and bulbs towards the western edge of the Ruin. He smiled broadly; Jahrra was back, the spirited little girl who loved life so much had returned. He didn’t know what had brought her back, but he was grateful nonetheless.
Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede spent most of that fall gathering seeds to plant in the garden. Hroombra didn’t mind that the Castle Guard Ruin was becoming a pile of earth and plant debris, he was just happy that Jahrra had found something to occupy her mind. She’s finally healing, he reminded himself as he listened to the chatting children through the window of his study.
Of course, Jahrra had come to terms with her sorrow the winter before, through her dreams, despite the fact that they had begun as nightmares. The soothing passage of time had worked out the rest for her.