Tak

The Borderlands - Part 3

     Tak never forgot that incident, but over the next few days and weeks the memory faded as it was eclipsed by later events.

     Life was hard for the young boy. If Derro was in the sky his father might make him work long after the yellow sun had set in an attempt to stop the weeds from choking the crops, or gather the harvest before the rains came, but there were moments of fun as well. His father delighted in playing with his children, jumping out as they passed the spot where he lay hidden or pretending to be a monster and chasing them around the place until their disapproving mother came out to put a stop to it. "You'll scare them!" she scolded her husband, wagging a finger at him. "You'll give them bad dreams!" There had been a gleam in her eyes as she said it, though, and other times she would laugh and clap her heavily calloused hands as he allowed himself to be wrestled to the ground by her children.

     The months following the soldiers' visit were dominated by an atmosphere of tense expectancy that mystified Tak. There was something going on and he had no idea what it was. Tak's father began treating his wife as though she were made of glass. Forbidding her from doing any heavy work. Making sure she had plenty to eat instead of skimping to give more to her children as was her usual habit and making her sit down whenever she paused in whatever she was doing.

     It was such a change from her normal hard working, never any time at rest habit that Tak feared that she was ill and one day he nervously asked her if she were going to die. She laughed at that, but it was a nervous laugh and she refused to give any explanation for the change that had come over her.

     His father was similarly uncommunicative, simply snapping at him to get back to work and it was from his sister that he finally got the answer. One night, she beckoned him to come over and slip into bed with her so that they could whisper without being overheard. "Mummy's going to have a baby," she whispered into his ear. "I heard them talking about it. Mummy's got a baby growing in her tummy."

     Tak already knew where babies came from and how they were made, both from his parents' cautious explanations and from watching the livestock, principally the goats. "A baby!" he whispered back, his eyes wide with delight. "Will she let me hold it?"

     Laira ignored the question. "You mustn't talk to mummy or daddy about it," she warned. "They don't want us to know about it yet. You must pretend you don't know."

     "Why?"

     The girl paused for a moment, wondering how to explain it to a six year old boy. "They're afraid the baby might die before it's born."

     Tak stared, uncomprehendingly. "Listen," she whispered. "When you were little mummy had another baby growing in her tummy, but it died before it was born, and I think there was another one when I was little, before you were born. They don't want us to know about this one until they're sure it's going to live. Do you understand?" Tak nodded solemnly.

     "Mummy and daddy will be very sad if the baby dies," she continued. "They were last time. They cried for days and days, so if it happens again we're going to have to keep out of their way for a while, give them some space to be together. Are you old enough to understand?"

     Tak nodded, tears in his eyes as if the tragedy had already happened. "Like when I found the baby bird and brought it home and fed it and wrapped it up warm, but it died."

     "Yes," agreed Laira and kissed him on the forehead. "Just like that. Now go back to your own bed and remember, you must pretend you don't know."

     Tak padded across the bare floorboards to his own bed and slipped between the woolen sheets, the news spinning in his head and a dark horror hovering over him. Earlier that year, his father had had to deliver a baby goat that had died in its mother's womb. Normally the whole family helped deliver the kids. It was a joyful time, witnessing the emergence of new life, and it was an experience that helped bind the whole family together, but this time the children had been sent back to the house with strict instructions to stay there. Tak had crept out, though, knowing that something was going on and wanting to know what.