A Splatter of Other #Wattys2015

XXV

The storm doesn't die out after a week. Oh no, it lasts fifteen days. In that time I became a master at BlackJack, a fantastic dancer, I stepped on at least a dozen people, I realised I hated staying in one place with a bunch of loud, pushy people, my period came and went, to which Archer to great advantage of, and I had never been so high in the clouds in my life. I made plenty of friends, and despite my moments of grouchiness I was surprisingly reasonable. Artie spent time with the boys from the secondary class, teaching them sign language and occasionally spending a night together, which made Archer happy considering I would hardly touch him with Artie sleeping next to us. Once the rain past, we waited an extra couple of days before venturing into the lower caves. Naturally the bathrooms were flooded, and some of the rooms, but nothing was lost that couldn't be replaced, and everything was up and running within a couple of weeks.

I spent most of my time swapping between the Nursery and teaching the secondary class. Thoughts of home fade from my mind as I fall into routine, and I find myself feeling happier with each passing day. Several times I venture outside to play with Artie in the snow, mainly when the wolves are being exercised, but usually it's too cold to leave the mountains. Archer has returned my ring that I left for him, with a black ebony addition of intertwined thorns for my eighteenth birthday, and we spent the night drinking and dancing and loving each other. Without even realising it, another month passes, and it takes me several days to realise that I am late. I think nothing of it at first, without a calendar I can only make an estimate of when my next period will come. So I assume my counting is off by a few days.

But then a week passes...then two, and with a dawning realisation I come to a conclusion, one that both excites and terrifies me. I don't mention it to Archer, instead deciding to speak with Arronax, just in case I was mistaken. So, after returning my last basket of clean washing to its rightful place, I make my way to the old man's medicine cave. He sits hunched over his work bench, muttering and scribbling in a book. He turns as I enter, and offers a warm smile as I stand awkwardly in the entrance.

"Ah Franceska, I have not seen you in some time, how are you? It is not your leg, or another fight, is it?"

"Er, no," I shuffle forward, my face burning, "it's, uh, something else, actually."

He turns fully and sets his dark eyes on me, "Yes?"

"Well, you see, I think I may possibly, not completely certainly, be late. And I was just wondering if..." I trail off, biting the inside of my cheek as he sits back, comprehension on his face.

"I see."

"Well now, it may be nothing," I hastily point out, "I haven't been keeping a day to day count, so maybe..."

"Well, there is only one way to find out."

"I don't have to pee on wheat and barley, or stick and onion in, do I?" I inquire timidly, worried about what sort of ancient test method these cave dwellers would use.

He chuckled, or what sounded more like scraping wallpaper, "Oh nothing so ancient," he stands with a creak, and shuffles to a box in the corner. He tosses me a box, and gestures to a urine basin. "I will leave you to it then, it should only take a few minutes."

"Thank you," I croak, waiting for him to leave before opening the cardboard box and pulling the tube out. It looks like a thermometer, but where the numbers should be, there was a blank screen. I knew how to use it, all Arrow women did, so I did what needed to be done, and left it sitting by the basin while I sat opposite and waited.

"Would it be so bad," I jump as Arronax's voice whispers behind me, "if you were pregnant?"

I swallow, a sweat breaking out on my forehead as I stare across at it, "Yes. No. I don't know," I look up at his grizzled face, "I love children, I want children, but...I've only just turned eighteen."