Vyshmere

Chapter 3

         Jesse lay in her bed unable to sleep.  Her mind kept going over everything the Wizard Jacob had had to say about the changes that were going to happen to her now that she had Majik.  She kept worrying over things to the point that sleep would not come.
         
         "Jesse will go to the academy," the Wizard had said as he started to explain what was going to happen.  "That is the first fact that she needs to get herself used to."  He stopped and looked at Jesse.  "It is the law, not only of this kingdom, but of Majik as well, that any person showing to have Majikal abilities cannot go untrained.  It is also a law that, in this kingdom at least, any child with Majik goes to the academy.  There, they are taught by Wizards and other instructors that are well practiced in their craft."  He sighed as he softened his gaze.  "I'm sorry, Jesse," he told her, "but there is no other way."
         
         Maria squeezed the hand that Jesse had reached out to her as she had heard her daughter's sharp intake of breath.  "Does she have to go right away, Jacob?" she wanted to know.
         
         "Well," the young Wizard turned to Maria, "I suppose she will have a little bit of time to get used to the idea.  I need time to get her journey preparations in order."  He turned thoughtful for a moment.  "As a matter of fact," he added, "It may help her to get more used to the idea that she has to go away.  Also, it will give some time for me to evaluate her powers and to contact the directors of the academy regarding her development.  That way," he finished, "they can prepare for her coming."
         
         Jesse turned over, in her restlessness, and she faced the wall.  She was starting to cry a bit, and she didn't want anyone to walk past her door and see.
         
         "Does it really take all that much to prepare for a student to come into the academy?"  Alia wanted to know.
         
         "Well," the Wizard turned to the young lady and smiled into her shimmering jade eyes, "not normally."  He nodded as he exempted, "But, it is the end of the normal academy year.  Most of the students will be getting ready to go home.  The directors and instructors will not be expecting any younglings to be coming in, at this time, as most of the little ones that will be developing their powers over the summer can afford to wait until harvest time to begin their studies."
         
         "Why can't Jesse wait?" Alia insisted.
         
         The Wizard sighed with a bit of impatience, but he had been expecting a lot of questions.  He just hadn't expected them to be coming from the direction they were.  He had expected them to be coming from Jesse's parents.  However, as they had been through this with one child, already, it occurred to him that they may not really have all that many questions.  It was Alia, with her worry for her little sister, that wanted to have all the reassuring, and her parents were going to sit back and let her get it.
         
         "Jesse will need to have arrangements made for her to be able to start classes this summer," he explained.  "she will need that time to be able to start with catching up with other students her age.  Since her Majik didn't show up at the normal age, she will be woefully behind all the other teenagers at the academy."  He paused for a moment as he thought about the time frame.  "As a matter of fact," he added, "by the middle of next week, the hopeful graduates will be sent off to the island for their final testing.  If we time it right, Jesse may be able to arrive during the break, and she can have some time to settle in to her rooms before she has to start any classes and deal with a lot of other people."
         
         Jesse tossed a little bit more and mumbled, "I'm not so worried about dealing with a lot of other people."  She took a deep breath, let it out with a sigh, and settled back down to her weeping.  "I just don't want to leave home.  I want to stay here with Momma and Poppa."
         
         "Jesse's not used to being around a lot of people," Maria provided.  "I'm worried about how she's going to do in a crowd."
         
         "Oh, Momma," Jesse piped in, "I'll be fine.  It's not crowds I'm worried about anyway," she added.  "I just don't want to leave home."
         
         "Jesse will have plenty of room to move around in," Jacob assured Maria.  "A lot of the students go home for the summer.  Only ones that are either behind on their studies, or ones that have a particular area of study that they are interest in, stay during that time.  Other than them, the only other  students that will be in attendance, for the summer, will be if there are any other little ones that have developed a Majik late, or so strong that they cannot afford to wait until harvest time like everyone else.  With the diminished number in attendance for meal times, class times, and such, Jesse will have an easier time of getting used to academy atmosphere before she would have to be subjected to the entire enclave of children the occupy it's halls during the regular academy year."
         
         Jonathan nodded at this idea.  "I think that would, probably, be the best idea for her.  Her being as small as she is, if there were to be too many others around her, she might get hurt or even lost."
         
         The Wizard turned to direct his next comment directly at Jesse's Poppa.  "Yes sir, but," he explained, "while Jesse may be small, she's no smaller than most of the other beginning students.  Even though their size is due to their age, there's not much difference.  They all tend to be small in the beginning anyway.  I doubt that Jesse would be apt to get lost or hurt, in any way, no matter what time of the year she arrived."
         
         Maria spoke up in her husband's defense.  "Still," she said, "it'll make me, and my husband," she added as she patted Jonathan's knee, "feel a lot better.  And," she continued as she turned to her youngest child, "I'm sure it'll take some of the stress off of you, Sweetling."
         
         Jesse thought about this part of the conversation as she continued to try to get to sleep.  She realized that, although she was petite for her age, her parents main worry was over her adjusting to the new situation.  Yet, they also tended; every once in a while; to treat her as if she were younger than her actual age, just because she was as small as she was.  Sometimes her size was an advantage.  At other times, like this, it was a hindrance.
         
         At this point in the conversation, although Jesse was present, Jacob feared that it may seem like they were talking about her as if she weren't.  Therefore, he turned to her to ask her what she thought about what had been said so far.  It wasn't as if he hadn't noted her comment, earlier, to her mother.  It was simply that, at the time, he felt that it was more important to address her parents questions.  Thus, the Wizard looked at the girl.  "Well," he asked her, "do you have anything to say, so far, Jesse?"
         
         Jesse, while having listened to the entire conversation that had been going on around her, honed in on the one thing that had caught her attention the most.  "I know that I will have to be gone for the summer, this year, but," she wanted to know, will I get to come home during other summers and holidays, Wizard Jacob?"
         
         Jacob sighed.  He knew that what he was going to have to tell the child would not make her very happy.  "Well, Jesse," he started, "the students that get to go home, during the holiday breaks, are the ones that live in the same city as the academy.  If they don't live there, they live in one of the neighboring villages.  Otherwise," he added, "they only really get to go home during the summer."  He took another deep breath before continuing.  "The academy, I'm afraid, is so far away from here, that it would take the whole break time just for you to dome home, turn around, and get back to the academy in time for the next round of classes; if not longer.  Also," he wanted her to understand, "you will have to take extra classes for more than just this on summer.  You have, at least, three to four years of work you will need to do in order to make up in as little time as possible, if you are to catch up to your year-mates."
         
         Jesse, done with her crying for the night, turned back over to her preferred side and stared out the door of her bed chamber into the hall.  "That's not fair," she said to herself.  "It's not my fault my Majik didn't show up at an earlier age.  I shouldn't have to be punished just because my stupid Majik didn't come out when everyone else's usually does.
         
         Jonathan gently patted his daughter's back.  He caressed her hair and tried to soothe her.  He had felt her tense up at what the Wizard had told her, and he was afraid that she would start crying again.  Much to his relief, however, she did not.  ""It's just how things happen," he told her, "and you're going to have to deal with it; whether you like it or not.  Your mother and I can make visits to you, during your class breaks, at the academy.  It won't be every time, but we will come when we are able to get away from the ranch."
         
         While her lip did not go in, and the pout remained on her face, Jesse wanted to make her parents feel better.  She knew that it was not anything they could help, and that her being so upset was upsetting them.  Therefore, she conceded the point with, "I guess that would be okay.  At least I would get to see my Momma and Poppa every once in a while that way."
         
         "Good," Maria said.  "I don't want Jesse to think she won't have any contact with us at all.  She has to know that we will be here for her; no matter what."
         
         Jonathan reached over and patted his wife on the knee, "Of course we are," he agreed.  "And," he added, "we always will be."
         
         Having gotten comfortable on her right side, Jesse finished going over the rest of the conversation, and; comforted by the fact that she knew her parents and family were there to support her; she finally managed to doze off.  Her sleep, however, was nowhere near peaceful.

# # #

         
         "What is that!?!" Jonathan exclaimed as he jumped out of his bed and onto his feet.  He had been sound asleep when, out of nowhere, he was awakened by a rumbling that was shaking the house.
         
         "I don't know," Maria answered sleepily.  Yet, once her mind had registered the same rumbling that had caused her husband to make the move he had, she was quickly on the way to being as fully awake as he.  "Do you think it could be . . ."
         
         "Jesse!" Jonathan declared as he darted out of the bed chamber that he shared with his wife.  Maria was quick to throw on her dressing robe and follow on his heels as they ran down the hallway to Jesse's room.
         
         Before Maria and Jonathan could make it all the way to Jesse's door, alia, Ethan, and Michael were out in the hall.  They were looking up and down the hallway, at each other, and they were all making frantic exclamations as though they were trying to figure out what was happening.  Alia was the first ones to see their parents coming at a run.
         
         "Momma!  Poppa!" she called, frightened.  "What is it!?!"
         
         "Jesse!" they exclaimed in unison.
         
         At that declaration, all three of the young adults turned to follow their parents down the hallway and to Jesse's room.  When they entered the room, however, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Except for the fact that Jesse's room was shaking; along with the rest of the house; there was no way to tell if it were Jesse that was doing this.  Therefore, Jonathan went over to his daughter's bed and looked down at his sleeping child.  As he reached out a hand to touch her shoulder, though, Jesse turned and tossed her head.  She let out a slight moan, and he could see that her face had a slight sheen of sweat to it.
         
         "She must be having a nightmare," Maria decided."
         
         "Then," Jonathan told her, "we have to wake her up."
         
         Maria, who had walked around to the opposite side of Jesse's bed from her husband, looked down at the girl.  Neither one of them wanted to be the one to startle their daughter out of her sleep.  If her nightmare was bad enough that it was causing her to shake the house, they were worried about what startling her could, possibly, make her do to them or someone else in the room.
         
         Maria looked to her husband for the answer.  "What do we do, John?" she asked.
         
         The rumbling and shaking of the house was enough to make everyone unstable on their feet.  Jesse's siblings were holding on to either the doorframe to her bed chamber or sturdy furniture in order to try to keep their balance, and Jesse's parents were balancing, carefully, as they stood over their child.  Yet, there must have been something terrible happen, in Jesse's dream, because; all of a sudden; not only the house was shaking, but Jesse's bed started to bounce around as well.  This threw both Maria and Jonathan off their feet, and they landed on Jesse's bed; one on each side of the sleeping girl.
         
         The sudden landing, of her parents, on her bed, roused Jesse out of her nightmare, and out of sleep.  The house stopped shaking, and all was still.  Jesse, unaware of what she had been doing in her sleep, woke to find everyone just staring at her.  "What's going on?" she asked as she wiped the sleep from her eyes, and the sweat from her brow.
         
         "You were having a nightmare," her Poppa explained.
         
         "And," she wondered, "that brought all of you in here?"
         
         "Well," her mother told her, "whatever the nightmare had been about, it was causing you to shake the entire house."
         
         Jesse's eyes came wide open at this news, and she began to cry.  "Did I hurt anyone?" she wanted to know.
         
         Now that the house had stopped shaking, and he didn't have to fight to try to keep his balance, Jonathan was the first one to be calmed.  He reached out for his youngest child, and he took her in his arms.  "No, Sweetling," he soothed her, "you didn't hurt anyone.  We just needed to wake you up so that you could stop shaking the house."
         
         Jesse's tears were short lived once she found out that no one was hurt.  She rubbed away the tears that had come to replace the sleep that was in her eyes, and she looked over to her brothers and sister.  "Are you guys okay?" she worried.
         
         "We're fine," Alia answered for them all.  We were more worried about you, and we wanted to make sure that you were okay."
         
         Jesse turned to her mother, then.  "I was really shaking the whole house?" she asked in wide eyed wonder.
         
         "Yes," her mother affirmed, "you were.  And," she added, "it was enough to wake everyone up, how about that?"  She chuckled a bit as she nudged her child in an effort to get a smile.
         
         "Little ole me?" The girl was incredulous.
         
         "Yes," her Poppa laughed along with his wife.  "Little ole you."
         
         Jesse finally smiled a little, and she even managed a bit of a guffaw over the idea that she could make something as big as their house shake.  "And," she giggled, "I thought the cow was heavy."
         
         Everyone got a good laugh out of this comment, and they all started to talk at once.  The nervous energy that each had been holding in was in need of release, and they each wanted to tell the others how they were woke up, what they had been dreaming about themselves, and how it had scared them to have the house shaking like it was.  Jonathan could tell what this was from, but he didn't want this to turn into an all night affair.  They needed to get their rest.  There was still work to be done in the morning, and he wasn't about to let this nightmare keep their ranch from being maintained.
         
         "Okay, okay," Jonathan reached up a staying hand as he looked at his older children.  "I know that you were all startled.  Just as I know that it was exciting for you to be able to witness this development in Jesse's powers.  But," he added, "seeing as how you; especially Ethan and Michael; have to be able to wake up with the sun, I suggest that you go back to bed and try to gat a bit more sleep."
         
         The boys grumbled at this.  They still had quite a bit of nervous energy in them, and they were afraid that sleep would be a long time in coming.  Yet, they obeyed their father and turned to leave.  Just as Alia was about to disappear out the door, however, Jesse called out, "Alia, wait, please."
         
         Maria and Jonathan, again, looked down at Jesse.  They had questioning looks on their faces.  "Could Alia stay with me," the child asked, "just for a little bit?"  She looked to her parents in turn.  "I was scared, too, by my nightmare, and talking to her might help me to be able to get back to sleep."
         
         "Okay," Jonathan conceded after he had looked at his wife and had seen the look in her eyes.  "But," he amended, "not for long.  She may not have to do chores outside, like the boys do, but she still has responsibilities."
         
         "I know, Poppa," Jesse agreed.
         
         "All right, then," their father said as he stood up.  "Your mother and I are going to go back to bed."  He reached out to take Maria's hand, and once she had risen, he guided her to the door.  As they passed Alia, Jonathan whispered to Alia, "Take as long as you need.  She seems to need comforting, right now, and your stitch work can wait all day if it has to."  He, then, kissed her on the top of the head and the adults left the room.
         
         Maria, having heard this little bit, smiled up at her husband.  She squeezed his arm in affection and whispered, "Thank you, love."

# # #

         
         As Maria and Jonathan were settling back into their bed, Maria asked her husband, "What do you suppose she was dreaming about?"
         
         "Abijah only knows, my dear," he assured her.
         
         "I know," she agreed, "but I hope it wasn't anything too terrible."
         
         "I hope it was!" her husband laughed.
         
         Maria looked at her husband with a quizzical look in  her eyes.  "Why would you say that, my love?"
         
         "Because," he explained, "if it was only a little fright, and she shook the house, imagine what a really big scare could make her do."
         
         "Oh," she chuckled, "I hadn't thought of it like that."
         
         "I didn't think so," he confessed.
         
         "Good night, Sweetheart," she said as she blew out the bedside candle.
         
         "Good night, my love," Jonathan responded as he reached out his arm to wrap it around his wife.  "Let's hope to get some decent rest; without any more interruptions; so that we have the strength to deal with tomorrow."
         
         "Yes, dear," Maria conceded as she snuggled into her husband's embrace.

# # #