The Hunt for Freedom

Chapter Three

By the time the school year started I was no longer enrolled in our local elementary school. Mom told everyone, including Dad, it was for my gymnastic schedule. That was partially true, this year I was skipping a level at the gym and my new hours were extensive. I loved every minute of my time at the gym, but I was away a lot. If we were homeschooling I could get my workouts done in the afternoon before the other kids could get out of school. Not to mention that I would have far less interaction with the other girls this way. They were really not happy that I was skipping levels and getting one on one attention. They had begun to say very mean things when they thought I couldn't hear. I guess cats have excellent hearing because I heard them all. Needless to say, I was very excited about this development.

Mom and I kept two sets of books. Second grade books that I could show to my Dad, or the teacher the school sent out once a month to make sure I was doing my work. Every four weeks we would sit down with Mrs. Barnes and talk about what I had learned in that month. She was so pleased that we actually did all our work and were organized when turning it all in she didn't know what to do. Little did she know that it took me less than a day to do the month's worth of work.

Then there were my real books. Mom said we could study anything that caught my interest and I was interested in everything!

I finished grade school math by Christmas so we moved on to algebra. I also got to study real science. Chemistry was fun and anatomy was just memorizing, I couldn't get enough. I added in Spanish and Latin on the internet. School was finally fun. Then one day, just after the new year started, a letter from Mom's long last family finally arrived.

Mom brought the letter into our makeshift school room up in the attic after everyone had left for their days. Dad, off to his job in town where he ran a think tank tasked by the government to try to figure out weather manipulation to end our constant drought status. The boys, off to fifth grade, where they felt so big and important since I was obviously not ready to handle "real school" in their eyes.

On the surface our school room looked like anything you would see in a traditional classroom with bright posters on the walls in all the primary colors, children's books cleverly displayed and educational toys on the shelves. I hadn't played with toys since I was six. Mom had discreetly turned one corner of the attic into a hidden section where one would find the books I was currently interested in. Not exactly appropriate for a second grade classroom were books on physics and electricity, ancient history and a study of battles from around the world that really had captured my attention lately.

The letter from my relatives was written in a funny language I had never seen but somehow Mom could read! She told me they were so happy to hear from her, but that they didn't write anything of importance in the letter in case it was intercepted.

That sounded a little dramatic to me, but I stayed silent.

The letter went on to say that we would need to get together very soon as there was much they needed to share. How quickly could we get there?

"Momma, where's there?" I questioned envisioning a long car ride.

"A little island off the coast of Egypt." Mom said flatly, like of course I should know that.

"Egypt? The country?" Now I was shocked, " LIke in the movies? With the sand storms, and the Sphinxes?" I knew I couldn't be hearing her correctly.

Mom looked over the letter a final time, then setting it down, she turned to me. She smiled a coy smile. "I guess I never mentioned that my family comes from Egypt?"

Turns out these weren't distant relatives, but aunts and uncles, I even had grandparents! Mom explained that this is where she had grown up. She had not been on the island since she went off to school and hadn't talked to any of them in all that time. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and questions. There was so much more to Mom than excellent peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.