The Road East

It's a Deal

Linny's POV:

"Here's your tea mum!"

Mother smiled weakly and me and coughed. She took the hot tea from my hands and took a sip. My mother looked ridiculously tired and sick, she had bags under her eyes, her nose was bright red, her face was pale, and her hands didn't stop shaking.

"Are you feeling ill? You look awful."

"I believe I may have just caught a little cold, I should be better soon." She paused for a moment. "Until I do get better, will you tell Primula to cook dinner? I wouldn't want to spread the sickness through the food."

"Of course. When you finish your tea you should take a nap, some sleep will do you good."

"I believe I will, thank you Linny."

"You're welcome!"

I closed mother's door and maneuvered my way to the kitchen. Primula was on a stool dusting the tops of the cabinets.

"Primula? Mother's sick and says you need to cook dinner."

"Ok. I'll start in just a second. Can you wash that frying pan so I can use it, please?"

"Ok."

I took out the frying pan from the sink and began to pour water into it. With a towel covered in soap I scrubbed away the previous meal we had cooked last night. About five minutes later it was acceptably clean. By then, Primula was done dusting and was putting away her stool.

"Go sit outside while I cook."

"Alright!"

She didn't need to tell me twice, I was already out the door. Now she did tell me to just sit, but I don't think she actually expected me to. I ran out of our yard and to a large tree that was nearby, that I liked to climb.

I grabbed the branch closest to me and wriggled up onto it. I kept doing this until I was somewhere near the middle of the tree. That's when I heard a voice.

"Get your own tree!"

I looked over my shoulder to see one of the boys that stole my tea packets and sugar, Pippin. I sat on the branch I was on and dangled on it by my knees.

"Hello, Pippin."

He looked at me funny. "Do I know you?"

"You should remember me, I just saw you not an hour or so before now."

"Well I don't."

"You stole my tea and sugar so I tackled your friend. Don't you remember that?"

"Oh!"

I mocked him and pulled myself upright. "Oh!"

Then I added, "You must have a horrible memory."

He blushed, "Well...it's not the greatest..."

He looked around awkwardly through the tree leaves. Pippin must have spotted something because a mischievous grin spread across his face. The expression reminded me of myself every time I looked in the mirror.

"Do you know Todo Sandybanks?"

"I hate him. He tried to kill my cat once, almost drowned it to death!"

"Well, Todo sits at the base of this tree and reads every evening."

"And?"

"And here comes Merry, with a bucket of ice cold water from the Brandywine, and some tomatoes."

I picked up on what they were planning. "Can I join?"

Pippin smiled again,"Yes of course!"

Merry suddenly appeared at the base of the tree with two buckets in tow. One with water and the other with tomatoes, like Pippin said.