I heard someone creeping up behind me. For a second it sprung my alarms. I was back fighting the evil village mayor, but I was not so far gone that I couldn’t pull myself together. The officer was nothing like the mayor. I knew that deep in my soul. Still, when the man placed his hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face him, I cringed from his touch.
“I would never hurt you, Shama. Do not tremble so.”
I couldn’t look the man in the eyes. I stared at a rock in the dirt, the mixture of sand and dust that coated the ground. At anything but into the eyes that were piercing me with the intensity of their gaze.
Mrs. Penn cooked us delicious meals. I knew that she wouldn’t always be doing that. I’d soon have to take over and feed the boys and myself, but that was okay, because there would be a supply of proper food. Mrs. Penn had once mentioned that I’d been almost skeleton thin when I’d first arrived. I was proud of the way I’d survived in nature, but I had probably not been getting all that my body needed. I could see the results. My hair was shinier now, and I felt better. I think I looked better, too.
In the village where I’d lived before, sometimes, good food had been hard to come by. I’d been given the cheapest and the least nutritious items in exchange for my labors. Not that the families couldn’t afford more, but because they didn’t feel I deserved better. It was different here. Would I ever find another place that fit me so well?
I had two boys who loved me, a friend in Mrs. Penn, and a blossoming acceptance from the townspeople when I visited their shops or when a delivery person dropped off groceries.
No. It was a complete lie to say that it didn’t matter if this officer sent me packing. I’d been nesting in, as Old Mother used to put it. My feet had grown roots to anchor me, or perhaps, it would be more honest to say, my heart had.