Not forgotten

[Bella Pious]

"Mom! I told you we are not playing. It is called 'training' !" Julia exclaimed. Her voice startled Emerik and a boom came from the bottle in his hands and smoke came about everywhere. Julia murmured and coughed, "We are not little kids anymore .... why can't you understand ...?"

There came minutes of complete silence while Bella tried to put her thoughts together. She looked blankly around Garden Evergreen where Julia had been "playing" her flute, Emia had been "playing" with bones, and Emerik had been "playing" with his bottles, and then at Mr. Tealeaf whose face was scotched with smoke. The 4 pairs of eyes stared back at her, while 4 heads nodded in agreement. "Mother," Emerik broke the silence with a quiet voice, "I do not think I need Mr. Tealeaf's help in my experiments. His coughing really distracted me."

"And he ran whenever I successfully made a moving skeleton," Emia added with a giggle, "Seriously, I think Mister Tealeaf needs more protection than us, Mother." And Mr. Tealeaf nodded again in agreement.

Bella turned to her husband, "Tale?" she asked.

"The kids are fine," Talerco said, without looking up from the map he had been passionately studying. Bella sighed, rubbing the side of her forehead. "I am sorry Mr. Tealeaf, for this confusion. You look like you need a good wash up. May I suggest you take the rest of the day off and relax on the beach? Let Viola know what you need and she will manage." Then she turned towards the house, but only to stop at the gate. "Children," Bella said, "I hope you would understand that no matter how a child grow, a child will always be a child in the eyes of the mother."

The following week there was no sign of Bella at the breakfast table, nor the two weeks after. One late night they faintly heard the approach of hooves, and a low female voice speaking in a distance, but then as the sound of hooves galloped away, they all fell back to their sleep. The next morning, Julia woke up with a box on her desk, and a note. "You have grown, my sweet girl. I am sure this white dragon dress will look stunning on you."

To Emia was a book of complete Codex. "You have a special ability to understand the things which I cannot. I have been getting this book ready for you when you grow, and I am proud to say now it is the time. Mother." Then they heard Emerik laughing, and as the girls rushed down to the Southern Wing, they saw Emerik's barrels were filled with all kinds of reagents. "The tools are in your hand, my dear boy. May you learn wisdom of how to use them correctly."

[Ricardus]

.