Chapter Six: The Night Before

“Well?” Papa snapped. “Is it healed or not?” He scrutinized each movement of Professor Wash as he prodded at my shoulder. “It’s already been two weeks.”

“Papa, be patient.” I squirmed under the poking of the Professor. I wriggled away.

“Would you stop moving already? You people are insufferable,” He snarled. Tightly, he gripped my shoulder. “Does this hurt?” He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Placidly, I shook my head. Then I peered up at him, hopeful. “So?” The sooner it was off, the sooner I could start looking for answers. “It feels fine.”

“Shoulders back,” He ordered. After correcting my posture, he stretched the collar of my dress to examine the wound at skin level. “And you feel no pain?”

“No pain,” I stated flatly. Groaning, I finally grew impatient. “You’ve been studying it for hours already.” As he tugged my arm, I realized he ignored my whines.

Quickly, he pulled it above my head. “Do you feel pain now?” He wondered.

“No,” I sighed exasperatedly. My arm lowered with my hand resting on my thigh. “So, can I stop wearing the sling or not?” I queried with enthused vigor.

“Would you calm yourself, girl? It is healed. Now I can finish my lectures in peace without your pestering.” He stomped upstairs, repeating his performance from a few weeks ago. Huffing and whining, he continued his moans upstairs.

Papa gave me a very small smile. “Well, we both know what this means. It means you’re off tomorrow.” Sadness was far too evident in his voice.

I frowned, “Papa…I don’t have to go. Who’s going to help you with the inn? I-”

“Jenny, no. Do not worry about that. I’ve managed on my own for these last few weeks, haven’t I? You’ve planned far too much to not go.” He sighed, “I’m going to miss you though. I still have a few last minute things for you. Just in case.” He handed me a heavy leather pouch, clinking inside when the metallic coins rubbed against each other.

I peered inside with a gasp. “This is too much money, Papa. I cannot take it all.”

“You’re going to need it. When you get to the city, you’ll need to stay in an inn and buy meals. And fund anything else you may want to do. Don’t be afraid to have fun when you’re away. Who knows how many evenings Evan and I spent drunk when we left home?” He shared a grin with me as he reminisced. “Ah, and I noticed you turned a potato sack into a knapsack. Don’t do that.” From under his bed, he pulled out a cloth and leather knapsack. “That should get you through.” He dusted it off and placed it in my lap. “And finally.” From his own pocket, he pulled a rounded bronze object. “My grandfather gave this to me when I told him that I was running away from home. I think you should have it.” Gently, he slid the cool metal into my palm. “Take good care of it.”

I opened the front to reveal the source of the gentle ticking inside. Delicately, I stroked it. My fingers coiled and uncoiled the chain attached to the watch. After sealing it back up, I noted the intricate spindly carving on the front that read Stone. “Papa, I can’t.”

Papa shook his head. “Jenny, I can’t read time. You’ve been ogling at that watch since you were a babe. It’s yours now.” He gave me a tight squeeze. “Now, come on. Do you want to eat early and listen to a lecture? Mary is speaking her theories tonight.”

I smiled at him. “I’ve not known you to enjoy the influence of women during the last era,” I teased lightheartedly.

“And I’ve not known you to want to spend the night doing laundry,” He threatened jokingly. “Do you wish to listen to it or not?” He offered a final time.

I nodded. “It was my first lesson with her. She very briefly covered it. I’m interested to hear more about it.” I began repacking in the other knapsack.

“Jenny, are you going to miss Mary when you leave? Was it a mistake to get you so attached only to have her never return? Have I made a terrible mistake?”

I shook my head before I said, “Papa, Professor Lester is not my mother; she’s not leaving forever. I guarantee she’ll return. You’ve made no mistakes in your feelings.”  

“Are you ready to eat? I made supper a little while ago.” He forged the way upstairs and I trailed behind him. In the kitchen, he sliced through a cut of a chicken lined up with some its other baked fowl friends. “The Jones’s next door were a bit angry about me buying up half their chickens…” He loaded my plate with vegetables and other foods. “You’ll need your strength for tomorrow. Eat up.”

“Papa, I will not need that much strength.” I accepted the plate from him. After I selected a table to eat at, Papa joined me. “Thank you.” I gestured to the meal.

Professor Lester sat next to Papa with her own plate. “It does look good tonight, Eric.” Apprehensively, she sipped at her tea. “Do you have any milk from the Jones’s? The tea is a bit hot.” She merely stirred and poked at the meal in front of her.

“Professor Lester, are you alright?” I asked noting her quivering fingers.

Papa stood and wiped his hands on his trousers. “Let me grab that for you, Mary.” Before he took her mug back into the kitchen, he smoothed her hair and kissed her cheek.

She remained stolid. Pain and anxiety etched itself in her face. Her eyes closed. “Of all the days,” She murmured. Her voice cracked with the threat of tears. She cleared her throat. “My apologies, Jenny, it’s just…since I was young…panic attacks…lose responsiveness…memories…” She muttered an explanation barely coherent.

“Mary.” Papa placed the lightened tea in front of her. After he sat beside her, she snuggled into him. “You need to eat something. You look faint.” He lifted a fork full of food to her mouth. Gently, he continued doing this while rubbing her shoulders.

Once she had eaten, she seemed to awaken. “Eric, I’m sorry that you had to see me like that. I- my panic attacks, I thought I had rid myself of them a long while ago.”

“Mary, you’ve nothing to apologize for. You should get ready for your presentation.” He picked up her dish and then mine, but I snatched them from him.

“I’ll take care of them. You will be washing them enough after I leave.” I placed them in the basin and pumped some water from the side yard. When I finished, I poured myself a cup of tea to enjoy while I listened to Professor Lester from the doorway.

Her lecture was amazing, even better than all of the lessons she’d been giving me. She had irrefutable evidence to support all of her theories, which were interesting and thought provoking. Even Papa was absorbed in her words. A few professors scoffed at her ideas and support of women’s power equaling men’s in the first era, yelling that there was no conclusive way to say that these women weren’t just figureheads. As she continued, Professor Lester paid them no heed. When she finished, nearly every professor clapped at her findings. Her face was in a deep blush when her crowd cleared.

Papa lingered until she was done. “That is more information than I’ve learned in my entire life. Your students next year will be lucky to have such a brilliant professor.”

She smiled at him. “I am not going to teach come fall.” She put a hand on his arm.

His face fell. “What do you mean? You have to! What-what else would you do?”

“Eric, do you want me to stay?” She asked softly.

I felt like an intruder on this moment. Slowly, I backed away into the kitchen hoping to find something to busy myself in there.

“Mary, I cannot ask you to do that for me. I will not be so lonely without Jenny.”

Professor Lester’s voice rose a bit. “I don’t believe that was an appropriate response to the question. I asked if you wanted me to stay.” She repeated calmly.

“Of course I want you to stay, but a professor shouldn’t be working at a tavern!”  

“I worked in a tavern when I was student! I need a year off. Please, Eric.”

Stealthily I peeked out the kitchen window to spy on them.

Papa was so overjoyed that he kissed her for a long while. “Thank you, Mary. I’m so glad that you’ve decided to stay. I could use the help, but I would’ve-”

Shushing him, Professor Lester cuddled into Papa. “You don’t need to say anything else, Eric. I never thanked you for earlier.”

They shared an intimate moment of silence, but it was spoiled when they sighted me peering at them through the gap in the wall. I grinned innocently.

“What am I to do with you?” Papa hid an amused smile.

Professor Lester called to me, “Jenny, would you mind joining me in my room? I have a few things for you.” Hastily, she signaled me toward her.

I clopped out, tripping on the doorway that I had been wary of since childhood. My chin smashed against the wooden flooring. “What’s the dowry up to?” I muttered. As I stood, I dusted the skirt of my dress trying to regain some lost dignity. Clumsily, I traipsed after Professor Lester. “You do not need to give me anything. Your lessons have been quite enough. And your support. Thank you, Professor Lester.”

In her room, she pulled out a small leather bound book. All of its pages were blank. A quill and black ink followed the book. “To keep a journal. They’re surprisingly useful. I had brought this one for me, but you need it more.” She beamed. “And…could I see the watch that your father gave you earlier?” Once I handed it to her, she pressed on the side, a small button that I hadn’t noticed earlier. Holding it between her thumb and her index finger, she displayed the open back of the watch, a compass. “Very useful.”

“Professor, thank you for the lessons, really. I know that I’m not the most aware student and I’ve never had formal schooling, so thank you for your patience and-”

She interrupted, “You are perhaps one of the best students that I have ever had the pleasure to teach. Seeing you and your father, it just…makes me wish I could have children.” Her voice quavered; I feared another one of her panic attacks.

“Are you okay?” I studied her face, which had gone a bit pale, but not chalky.

Deeply, she exhaled, “It’s not panic this time, only sadness. The capital is amazing, Jenny. The architecture is breathtaking and the library, enormous. It’s so odd that they have archives open to the public, very useful though. It’s where I met my first husband oddly enough. We were both tracking a professor, but tonight isn’t for me, is it? Have you had any more nightmares?” She questioned concerned.

I shrugged; it felt odd on my shoulder. “A few. Sleepwalker hasn’t tried to harm me though. Maybe he’s given up. He once told me he torments everyone in their dreams and I shouldn’t think myself special. In my last dream, he actually wished me good luck.”

She nodded. “Are you excited to go? Life experience is what professors are made of.” She playfully jabbed my side.

“Do you think I could be a professor?” I wondered, suddenly timid.

She assured me, “Not only that, but so much more.” Reassuringly, she placed her hand on my shoulder. “I always hoped for a daughter like you, a chance to make up for…” Her voice trailed off. “And I am rambling about myself again, aren’t I?”

“Could you do me a favor, Professor? Could you convince my father to move out of the cellar before winter? He caught an awful fever last year and I do not wish him to be ill again. He’s just so stubborn.” I scratched at the back of my neck hesitantly.

In reply, she nodded. “I noticed it’s a bit…drafty down there. I’ll do my best. For me though, you need to have a conversation with a boy of about your age give or take a few years, wear something other than your day dress, and read this novel.” She placed a thin book in my hands with a cloth covering. “It’s very short, but you can never travel without a good book to read.” She winked mischievously at me. “Come to think of it, there is something else that I can give you…” She paused and pulled a pair of scissors from her knapsack. “A haircut. You see, girls in the cities wear their hair a bit shorter.” She ran her fingers through it, trying to smooth it. “What do you say?”

I smirked up at her. “I say I’m leaving tomorrow. Go for it.” I close my eyes enthusiastically, still smiling like an idiot. Soon, I heard the gentle snipping.

“Fortunately for you, I’ve also apprenticed a hairdresser in Borrone for living quarters when I was a student.” She worked silently for a while. “Done.”

As I opened my eyes, she handed me a looking glass. Shocked, I stared at my reflection for a moment. “It is different.” It dropped just past my shoulders and curled more than ever. “Thank you.” I continued glaring at unsure of happiness or regret.

“Perhaps I should’ve thought of something else to keep you occupied…”

I cocked my head. “Keep me occ-” My voice was cut off by my father’s call for me, probably to go to bed early and head out even earlier. I stumbled down the stairs.

He waited at the bottom. Ruffling my hair, he exclaimed, “Would you look at that!” Papa laid his arm across my shoulders. He steered me to a table and sat me down. “Tada.” He gestured to a small frosted cake on the table. “Before you go.”

I looked back and forth between Papa and Professor Lester. My grin slackened, disappearing almost. Papa only made a cake on my birthday. How many birthdays had I imagined both of my parents standing over me? How close was I to that with Professor Lester holding my father’s hand? Should I even go? Haven’t I found enough of a mother?

Papa cut me a piece of the cake. “Are you alright, Jenny?” He pressed a cool hand to my forehead. “You feel a bit warm.” Gingerly, he pushed up my sleeves.

“It was just a rush of blood to the head. Nothing more, Papa. You did not have to prepare a cake. I thought perhaps after I left, you might have one to celebrate.”

He chuckled slightly and handed Professor Lester a slice of the sweet. Then he cut one for himself. “To Jenny and the best of luck on her travels.” He washed down the sticky cake with a sip of ale. “Too many eggs. I’ll note that for next time.”

Perplexedly, I shook my head. “I do not understand how you are able to cook just about everything to perfection when I can barely knead bread.”

“When you do not have a wife, you must learn to cook to survive. Unfortunately for me, a man cannot thrive on ale alone. When you return, it’ll be the first thing we do.”

We chatted a while, avoiding the subject of my departure because I was already apprehensive. Professor Lester asked about a few of my favorite books and Papa told his ridiculous ‘on the road’ stories of he and Uncle Evan. Mostly, we laughed.

Once in bed, I lay awake for a long while. When I finally drifted to sleep, it was thick and dreamless. I awoke the next morning earlier than Papa or Professor Lester. I triple-checked everything that I needed. Finally, I hauled my knapsack over my shoulder once everyone was awake. With a deep breath and a final wave back, I stepped out.

Author's Note

Foreshadowing! And Auf Wiedersehen, Exposition! I wanted to change it up from the Romance languages...they get too much Cred. Thanks for reading.