The Riddles Club

Day 2

It was late in the week, so there were no classes or schoolwork for the children over the next couple days. Tali forgot all about the Riddles Club by the morning and was prepared to take her baskets to market with her mother, when a familiar tap echoed into the single-room abode.

It was Ysmael, and he managed to convince Tali's mother to let him take her back to what the others began to call the Tapestry Tree. Tali's mother promised to sell the baskets for her daughter, a luxury the girl wasn't offered too frequently. So she decided to suffer another round of riddling. Besides, if Rebeka was there they could go crawdad dunking much earlier than anticipated. The big crawdads were always out early.

Rebeka did happen to show up, and for precisely the same reason as Tali, it turned out. They giggled over this. But Ysmael, all business, put any budding morning rowdiness to rest.

"Since nobody could think of the answer yesterday, let me refresh your memory with the first stanza, followed by the second."

He spoke with the rehearsed tone of a schoolmaster.

"'They walk up high, they walk down low; they live in the sky, and also below. They can be straight, small, or askew; but also green, red, pink, and blue.'"

Tali bit her tongue. There was something awfully obvious about this riddle, yet the object wasn't coming to mind. It could be a spider, she mused. Spiderlings spun a thread that caught the wind. But when had there ever been a pink spider? Additionally, if one were 'askew' what would that look like? While she contemplated the answer, her gaze met Omiya's from the other side. The two girls frowned and looked away.

Heili, a petite girl, the youngest of the commonli lot, lifted a timid arm.

"Is it a flying fish?" she asked.

Ysmael shook his head; the others snickered.

"Is it the army?" a girl asked. On both sides the boys snapped their fingers and looked ready to bury their heads in shame, but to everyone's surprise Ysmael said 'no'.

It was the same ordeal as yesterday. Tali said, "I wanna wait for the next part," Omiya immediately agreed, and everyone else followed.

"So, no more answers today?"

It was unanimous. The boys were more interested in rough-housing than riddles anyway.

When Tali got up to leave, Rebeka joined her. Heili remained sitting where Margo and Franc, two boys from Commonli Layer, were scolding her for her answer.

It wasn't a flying fish, of course. It obviously wasn't. But Heili didn't know anything about riddles. Tali didn't know if Heili even got schooled. She had given the task her best and answered better than many of her seniors. It was assured then, she thought, there was something amiss about this club.

Tali spotted Ysmael leaving. She stormed after him, all of an abrupt fury. When they reached the herb garden, she grabbed his shoulder, spun him right round and, pointing her finger, shouted, "Why did you invite commonli into your club, eh? You think it's funny to see us get made fun of? Just 'cause we're not as educated as your type?"

Ysmael stared at her. This infuriated Tali further.

"I see now! Well, you've got another thing coming, you!" Tali pushed the boy aside and stomped away.

Now that it was out, Tali was sure that was the purpose of the so-called club. The whole affair was too suspect for it to not be true. One of the ayu louts would guess the riddle—that Ysmael probably told someone the answer—and it would give them a reason to poke fun at the less fortunate. He probably told Omiya. The look in that girl's eyes were to Tali a look of someone who knows secrets.