Black-and-white - life is beautiful (Translation)

26. Hestia

"Ludwig, sitting right now, Ivan is a horse and not a racing bike.
Henriette, let poor Pedro have more reins, he does not have to hold his head so high again.
Bartholomeus, leave this damned thing stuck. Who gave you the thing? That is absolutely unnecessary with Ghost! "
"I have conjured myself, I thought that belongs to riding. Is not that true? ", The boy wanted to know.
Luna shook her head in amusement.
"Not with a good animal like the dear Ghost. You got all the beginner horses from me. they are best suited for learning to ride. So, get away with the stupid part. "
"On one condition, do not call me Bartholomeus, I hate that name. My parents are sadists and I will write a book when I grow up ", the boy complained.
his outrage, of course, made for great serenity, even with Luna.
"And what should I call you then?", She wanted to know.
"Bart," promptly came the eleven-year-old.
"As the Lord desires, and now dispose of the stupid crops, thank you."

while Luna continued to teach the children riding lessons, Hestia Jones stood on the edge and watched. She had her son in her arms. Teddy loved the horses and they liked the little ones very much.
The new teacher sighed as she continued to watch the children.
"What makes you so sad, child?"
Hestia did not even have to turn around to know that it was the voice of Nicolas Flamel. No one else called an adult child, he just could not stop that. or he did not want it, so the young mother could not say that. But she liked the peculiarity of the alchemist and history teacher.
"Good day sir. I just had to think about Teddy's mother. She hated it too if she was addressed by her birth name. just like this boy. She was really in a terrible mood. "
"Do not call me sir, please, I'm Nic."
"Okay."
"You certainly miss her very much."
It was not a question, Nic was quite clear how much the young mother still mourned for her fiancee. He himself was the same after the death of Pernelle.
Hestia sighed again and put her son in the grass she knew he would not just march off.
"Every day. Whenever Teddy learns something new, I think about her. It kills me that she can not see how he grows up. dora would have loved him so much. "
"She definitely loves him and I'm sure she can see you very well. If not every step. Think of the reports of Harry's otherworldly cat friends. We are very lucky that we got this information. Only very few learn during their lifetime how it goes on after death. "
"That does not make it much easier."
"No, it really does not," the old man agreed.
"How did you survive the death of your wife? was it easier because she chose to do it voluntarily? "
"Oh, no, not at all. I understood her decision and I respected her for that. The pain was still overwhelming. "
"But how did you survive, and why did not you follow her? You did not have kids, "Hestia asked stubbornly.
For her it was clear then that she herself would continue her life only because of Teddy. The boy should have at least one parent.

Nic bent down and picked up the little boy. and he immediately tried to grow a beard, as he always did when he saw one of the two old men. The alchemist chuckled at the progress of the small metamorphic magician.
"It's true we did not have children. I just was not ready to die, that's why I stayed. As I said, I could understand Pernelle very well, but I myself could not and could not go. I was too scared of it afterwards. "
"Really?" Came Hestia's surprise.
Nic smiled sadly and kissed Teddy on the forehead, which made him giggle.
"What do you think why I became an alchemist?"
The defense teacher folded, his jaw down.
"That's why?" She gasped.
Now the old man began to giggle, which of course spurred on the boy on his arm and spurred him on to top performances.
"Of course, most of us felt the same way back then. Just think about what kind of time I was born. There was fear and terror throughout Europe. People were afraid of their own shadow. I felt the same way. "
"Is not that a bit over the top?"
"Unfortunately no, everywhere there was war, hunger, disease, tyranny. I do not want to start from the prevailing superstition. and people wanted to protect themselves against it.
Once upon a time, the alchemists were just 'researchers who wanted to make for better living conditions.'
"Extermination of diseases?"
"No, there were doctors for that, we should push progress. This included the improvement of sanitary facilities. "
"In France?", Hestia said skeptically.
"Ha, that's right, nothing really worked. You can be glad you never saw what it looked like on the farm. As I said, in the beginning the alchemists worked for progress. but in time, all they wanted was one, or rather, they wanted two things. "
"Wealth and eternal life?"
"Exactly, that's when I started to get interested in this art. I did not want to die. and my wife was no different at the time. We had unbelievable panic before death and decided to defeat him. That we really could do it we would have never dreamed ourselves. But it was probably our destiny, or just luck. "