Chapter Text
The quiet summer morning was dressed in fog and promised an uneventfully warm day. The farmer’s son was already stumbling through the fields, giddily ready to awaken the carpenters son and the governor’s daughter. As his legs trotted and ran as fast as they could, he caught a glimpse of the yellow, roly-poly shaped car slowly driving through the unkept roads. He paused, sweeping the stray black hairs from his forehead as he watched them slowly peel through the village until he couldn’t see it any more. He shrugged his shoulders, smiling brightly as he knocked on first the governor’s door, watching the tall, darkly dressed man open the door, only to smile at him and call for his child.
“Rue! C’mon, we gotta get Fakir!” Mytho shouted, bouncing in anticipation of their newest adventure. The girl rushed down her stairs, pulling her blouse on and tucking it into her shirt awkwardly. Before she left the door, she planted a kiss on her father’s cheek and wished him well. From his steps, he called for her to return before the sun set. Next was the carpenters’ son, who was already on the steps of his home, staring in the direction that the car had gone. But as soon as he saw his friends, he smiled and waved to them, rushing out towards the Puddle River from which their town bore its name; Puddletown.
The three young children kicked off their shoes and socks as soon as they met with the banks, the crystalline water slipping through their little toes and fingers as they scavenged for buried treasure on the muddy bank. While Rue scoured the slick mud for tiny frogs, Mytho and Fakir sifted through heaps of clay and mud for shiny coins and funny rocks. As their collection of colourful rocks and skipping stones started to grow, so too did their curiosity about the house on the ridge, where the yellow roly-poly car was parked. First it was Rue, who could see a tall, oddly pale woman carrying box after box into the house, followed by a very small girl. Rue ran her hands through the cold water before walking over, still barefoot, to the house.
It was called the Duck’s Cottage, but the paint on the outside resembled more of an ugly, brown white than the yellow it was supposed to be. Rue crept close, staring from behind a set of bushes as she watched the tall woman and her small person follow behind. The tall lady had bright green-blue hair in two long pigtails, and her clothes were coloured like candy floss. The little girl following her around looked more normal, Rue thought. She had long orange hair that was tied into twin braids, and she was wearing a bright yellow dress. She peeked her head up for a moment too long, and the tall woman saw her. Rue felt her heart pump into full throttle as she started running down to her two friends, who had only just noticed her absence.
“There’s a witch!” She shouted, only just catching her breath as she gripped her knees. “And she has a little girl with her!”
“Are you sure?” Mytho asked, pouring a handful of water over a very muddy rock he had found, suddenly enamoured by the sparkly veins. “My dad says witches aren’t real.”
“I just saw her, I swear! She looked like a real witch!” The young girl pointed at the house, prompting the two boys to check over her shoulder. There stood the tall woman, crouching down as she smoothed out the younger girl's dress, glancing over at the kids. The two boys became frigid as the woman stood up and ushered the young girl towards them.
~~~
“But Edel, I don’t know them,” The little girl pouted, nervous tears brimming in her eyes. Her godmother smiled, slowly wiping away her tears with her soft handkerchief. “What if they don’t like me..?”
“Oh, duckling. How can you know if you don’t try?” She said, gently kissing the young girl’s forehead and smoothing out the wrinkles her dress had accumulated. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
And with that, Ahiru took a deep breath, and nodded, taking steps towards the other children. For a moment, she turned her head over to her godmother, who was still watching, her hands folded over her stomach. The little girl gave her the biggest, most confident smile she could, before running down to meet the other children. Though the closer she became, the more obvious it became that they were watching her every move.
There was a good ten feet between them, and for a couple seconds, it was pure silence. She felt her tummy squirm with nerves, as she watched them back. There were two boys and a girl. The girl had long, black hair, and big red eyes. One of the boys also had black hair, but he had green instead of red eyes. The other boy had gold eyes and white hair. He was the prettiest of them, Ahiru thought. As soon as she opened her mouth, the girl held up her hand and narrowed her eyes.
“Is your mum a witch?” She asked, bold and firm. Ahiru was shocked, shaken a bit. She didn’t know how to respond, and after a moment of hesitation, shook her head no. The little girl dropped her hand, but her eyes stayed narrow. “Are you a witch?”
“No, I’m a girl,” Ahiru responded, straightening out her dress. She looked like a little girl, didn’t she? She had never been a witch before, and she hadn’t ever seen a witch that looked younger than thirty. The three other children looked between one another for a moment, convening into a huddled group as they spoke in whispers, only occasionally peering up to look at her. It took a minute, before they all three stood in a line together.
“How old are you, Miss ‘Not-A-Witch’?” The white haired boy asks.
“Seven and a quarter.” Ahiru said, making sure of it on her fingers. There’s a hum of silence before the black-haired boy turned back into the river and continued to sift through the river bank.
“I’m Rue,” the young girl smiled, sitting back on the cool grass. Ahiru sat beside her, introducing herself. “That’s Fakir. And that’s Mytho.” Rue pointed to the two boys accordingly as she started searching between pieces of long grass. Ahiru searched with her, for what, she didn’t know, but she was happy to help.
“I’m Ahiru, and my god-mom says it means Duck.” She explained, watching as Rue snatched up a slimy little snail and held it in her hands. Ahiru crawled forward a bit, staring at the little thing. It was not larger than her thumb, and it was the same colour as sand.
“So that’s not your mum?” Mytho asked, as he pocketed a shiny, wet stone. Ahiru shook her head, taking hold of the snail as it slipped along her hands.
“Nope,” Ahiru said, her voice still pleasant. Mytho peeked up from the river, holding a glittering red stone in his palm. The other three children stared at it, unsure what else they could do but admire it.
As the children continued to scavenge for treasures only they could understand, they started sharing stories of grand adventures they had before.
“And I’m always the princess,” Rue boasted firmly as she stood on her tiptoes, showing off the exercises she had memorised. Ahiru watched excitedly, patting her thighs with anticipation. Fakir and Mytho picked up two sticks they had found in the river, and pretending to fence one another. Rue rolled her eyes. “Mytho is always the prince, and Fakir is always the knight, but they’re not as important as the princess, because without me, the ballet wouldn’t even happen!” She sat back down on the grass, resting her head in Ahiru’s lap as she stared at her.
“Do you think I could be the princess?” She asked as she stared at the two boys, still fighting one another.
“No,” Rue replied, matter-of-factly. “But you could be the princesses helper.” Rue sat back up, and held Ahiru’s hand, guiding her through the steps that they would do together. Rue was quick to help her stand when her feet slipped. As the two girls continued their ballet, and the boys continued their search for buried treasure, the day slowly waned into noon, and parents called for their children to come inside. Ahiru waved to the group as, one by one, they left for their home. It wasn’t long before she was called inside as well.
“And then—Edel are you listening?” Ahiru said excitedly as she chomped away at the snack she had been prepared. The older woman smiled, nodding her head as she unpacked the young girl's clothes from one of the seemingly hundreds of boxes.
“I am, duckling.”
“Okay, good. And then Rue said that everyone gets flowers once the ballet is over, and that they get their pictures taken! Can I be a ballerina too, Edel?” The little girl bounced from foot to foot, anxious to hear her godmothers answer. Edel folded the girls blouses and kissed her forehead.
“Being a ballerina is a lot of work, and it will make your feet ache.”
“I know! But I wanna be a princess on stage like her! I wanna be a princess one day!” She cried out, flopping onto the plastic laden couch. Edel held her laughter behind her hand, watching as the child groaned in play-like agony, only to beg even louder.
“Alright, alright. I’ll be sure to enrol you as soon as school starts up. Now please, duckling, eat your banana bread.” And, just as she was asked, the young girl did. Once she had finished eating, Ahiru began unpacking what few things she thought were most important right now; her duck blanket, her plush lamb, and a little photo album. The last one was one that Edel had told her to take, since she didn’t have a lot of photos from home, and it would be nice to look at when she’s older. Ahiru flipped her blanket over her shoulders, sidled her lamb between her pudgy little thighs, and showed her lamb the photos within the album.
Between each flip of the book, she explained each image as best as she could to the fuzzy little creature. She pointed to a photo on the beach, both her fathers smiling brightly as they walked along the sandy shores with her. “I don’t remember this, but that’s because I was really really little.” She told her lamb, aptly named Lammie. She leaned down, listening to Lammie’s questions. “Why yes! We should go to the beach sometime. Maybe there’s a beach close to the river.” Ahiru thought for a long time.
She had learned from her dad that rivers always went somewhere, and since England was an island, that meant that they had to be close to the ocean. She closed the book, instead starting to open other boxes and unpack what she could manage to carry. It took a few more hours, but eventually her room was mostly unpacked, and with Edel’s help, it was almost entirely clean. Ahiru held the womans hand, and squeezed it tight with her little pudgy fingers.