Sixth Son: Villager in Another World 9

Nine.

Helen gave her fraternal twin a glare, but still patted herself off. I pulled a few strands of grass off of her back.

“I did finish my lesson,” she protested.

“Tell that to Mum. Come on. If she has to come find you, who knows what will happen to supper.”

Helen’s face twisted. I gave them a quizzical look, but they did not elaborate. She followed him grudgingly. I stood bemused. Helen paused for a moment in thought, then gestured with her chin for me to follow. I retrieved my staff and trailed after the gangly duo.

“I’ve brought her,” he said as he ducked into the house.

“Get in here Helen Katherine and don’t forget to wipe your shoes,” Agnes ordered sternly.

“We’ve got company,” Helen said as she wiped her shoes.

The lines on Agnes’s face relaxed once she saw me.

“Who? Oh, it’s you Sextus. Helen can’t play right now, since she left her lessons undone,” Agnes said.

“I did do them,” the girl protested.

“They were all wrong.”

“But I did do them.”

“The purpose is for you to learn.”

Just then, Alden appeared from an inner room with a pole over his shoulder. He grabbed a slice of dark bread from the table and wrapped it in a cloth. He gave Agnes a peck on the cheek.

“Be back before dark,” Agnes said.

“Yes, Mum,” he said.

“Traitor,” Helen hissed.

“Later, sis,” he said as he jauntily left.

“This is so not fair.”

Agnes studied her sulking daughter and me. I began to feel awkward and shifted in place, wondering if I should leave.

“Why don’t you come in, Sextus? You can leave your stick at the doorway.”

I nodded in assent, carefully wiped my wooden shoes, and crossed the doorway. The door closed behind me. Helen slouched over the heavy plank table near the fireplace. A piece of coarse cloth & charcoal were set before her. I sat next to her, while her mother took the seat opposite of her.

And so her lesson resumed, while my first one began.