Moongrace

Part 21

Evan finally tickled Lay to wake her up. But Eleeza knew, that Lay had been awake for some time. Her uneven breath and her heartbeat had made it obvious. But Eleeza did not care, if Lay had overheard anything. Because even if, she could have understood only half of it. Back in the house they made her sit on a bench and started preparing the breakfast and soon the others joined them.

Shortly after sunrise they sat at the table eating bread and butter and drinking tea.

"What will we do today?" Eleeza asked Evan. She sat next to him and ate her loaf of bread. She felt so full, as she had not been in a very long time. Evan repeated the question to the others and they started talking about the things to be done. There was some hard work needed on the fields and they asked Evan if he would help.

Eleeza could feel, that he really wanted to help, but he insisted to be with her. He didn't want to leave her alone on the very first day.

So the two of them ended up caring for the flowers in the garden and taking care of the children. Easy work and perfect to get to know the kids. Zoe gave one of her dresses to Eleeza, her castle gown was not very suitable for garden work. Adding that it was dirty and torn from the city. The new dress was quite big for her, but it was okay. Zoe promised her that she would sew something.

After clearing the table, Oliver and Arlen left for their work. Eleeza would have liked to get to know them a little better but they didn't even loose a word to her. The kids though guided her outside and Evan behind her called them to be more careful. Eleeza did hit herself quite a few times on some corners but she had to laugh all the time. She had a lot of fun.

Over the day the kids lost their timidity and played openly with her. None of them really did garden work except for Evan, most of the time they played, joked and talked. Eleeza was still worn out from the travel and her wounds and didn't yet know how to handle her blindness. She was unable to do so much, couldn't even move around the garden without somebody showing her the way. It was tiring to guess her surroundings and differentiate the kids. The improved sensing, she had been gifted with being a blessing and curse at the same time, overwhelmed her from time to time.

After Zoe had changed the bandages around midday, Eleeza took a nap in the room. The sleep did her good.

In the afternoon, they took a small walk through the light forest. Eleeza was impressed by all she could hear. There were more sounds than she could ever imagine... birds, mice, branches, the wind, leaves rustling, big animals running off when they heard them. She could not allot every sound to his origin, but she was still amazed by her abilities. And she could sense not only the sounds, but the smells, and the structure of the floor under her bare feet.

First Evan had protested when she took her shoes off, but she explained to him that she would feel the floor better and so might know where she was. Grass, spruce needles, stones or soft earth, she learned to tell from the ground the surrounding area. Often the kids gave her something to feel and asked her what it was. They made a game out of it, Eleeza got a point if she could tell what the item was, and if she could not, the others would get the points.

Lay did not leave her side the whole day. She was wonderful and helpful and gave Evan the needed time to breathe. Later at dinner Eleeza was tensed. She knew that she had to talk with Evans father. Because it was right and because he was the head of the family and for a peaceful living together his agreement was indispensable. But still she was afraid not to be accepted. And she still didn't know what kind of person he was. Earlier she had been able to judge strangers by their mimic, looks and their interactions with others.

She couldn't eat much that day. After they had had their soup she heard Oliver's heavy steps coming towards her.

"May I lead you outside, April?" she nodded and he took her hand. She was surprised how gentle he took it. His hand was strong and she could feel the deep furrows the famers work had forced into them over the years. But she removed her hand from his and took his elbow. It was much easier to follow a person on the elbow, than to be shoved around by a hand. Evan joined them at the door as they moved to the bench next to it.