The Fourth Law

Chapter 5, Part 1

Friday morning, being the end of the week, usually saw the kids a bit livelier than the rest of the week, so Lily made it a point to get up earlier to make sure she would stay on top of things. Her morning routine completed, she went first to the kitchen to see that all was well there.

Marienne was warming up some soup while Matt took some loaves out to the tables.

"How's breakfast?" Lily asked. Marienne smiled and gave a thumbs-up.

"Oh, that reminds me," Lily continued, "you do have basketball practice on Fridays, too, right?"

"Yes, Miss Barrett." The tall girl replied.

"Good team this year?"

A nod. "I think so. Bench is a little light, but the other four girls are... oops!" This last as the soup started toward the lip of the large pot. Lily grabbed two towels and lifted the 5-gallon pot while Marienne turned the heat down.

"Sorry, sorry!" the girl said.

Lily waved it off. "My fault for distracting you! Good work!"

Rather than cutting through the dining hall, she went out front to the garden before heading over to the dorm. However, after a few steps, she stopped and looked around. So beautiful, she thought: Matt and some of the others really do their best. She knelt down to sniff at a flower. That's right: both Thaad and Ai mentioned something about the greenery that had sprung up along the path. She stood. Or, had the plants themselves made the path? Wasn't it all just a jumble of rocks at first? She smiled. There's so much to learn!

From the girls and boys side of the dorm Mr. and Mrs. Fitzhugh were rousting out the stragglers.

"Good morning, everyone," called Lily brightly. "Happy Friday!"

A few waved back. Karl looked away quickly. Does he really not like me? I might need to look into that, she thought.

"Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzhugh!" In front of the children, all the adults stayed formal. It was a useful social skill to have. "Any problems?"

Sally Fitzhugh shook her head. For a woman of close to sixty, she was able to keep up with any of the kids, even Erik.

"No knifings, no pregnancies; all good!" She also had a great sense of humor. Her dour husband, Jake, just nodded.

"Very good! Thank you!"

As Lily moved off, Sally said to no one in particular, "She's certainly happy today..."

A glance at the lightening sky seemed to foretell another good day. She paused yet again. 'Morning,' they both said. Plenty of light, but no sun. What was time like in... that place? If she put together a list of questions and emailed them to Ai...

No. She stomped hard on that thought: these are not animals in a zoo; Ai is my friend and they... are her family? In fact, Ai may be the nicest person I've ever known. She resumed her walk. Just keep seeing them as people, and I think we'll all have fun!

With this thought at the forefront of her mind as she walked into the dining hall, she actually began to giggle to herself. It was the sudden quiet of a normally raucous breakfast time that brought her back to reality. Fourteen, no, there was Marienne in the doorway to the kitchen, so fifteen pairs of eyes stared into hers, as the children wondered what was up with their Assistant Director. It was Erik, being made of trouble, who broke the silence.

"You sure look happy about sumthin', Miss Barrett!" he said. "You get laid last night – ow!"

This last was as Marienne leaned forward and smacked him with her metal ladle.