The New Life

a novel by Mark Robert Whitten

Chapter 5

The door creaked open then and Jess and Leslie glance back to see a young woman fill the doorway. A little girl about May Belle's age peeked around her. As she entered the woman regarded them with a frown. Her gaze slid to Mistress Vanderholt. "Ma, what are you doing?"

The old woman smirked. "I was just having some children for lunch."

"Mother," she said, in a rising tone of admonition. "You shouldn't scare children like that; it's no wonder you don't get any visitors."

Mistress Vanderholt shrugged as they watched the woman enter. She set down a sack and pulled off her coat, letting her auburn hair hang down her back. Leslie and Jess stood as she approached. She took a moment to throw her curled hair back off her shoulders. She extended her hand in greeting. "I'm Valerie—Valerie Vanderholt." She draped an arm around the little girl, smoothing down her flow of bright red hair. "And this is my daughter, Alexandra." She eyed Mistress Vanderholt warily. "And I can see you've already met my troublesome mother…"

The elder Vanderholt shrugged. "No more trouble than you once were, young one." She tapped a wrinkled finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "I forget dear, how many times did your father whip you when you were little?"

As Alexandra giggled, Valerie's face went as red as her hair. "Ma," she growled.

Mistress Vanderholt chuckled as she stood. "Not enough times, I guess."

Alexandra laughed again. Leslie looked as if she was trying not to laugh. Valerie shook her red head and looked down at the two of them. "I'm sorry for anything she might have done while I wasn't here." She glared again at the old woman. "She can be quite a handful sometimes…"

Mother Vanderholt coughed and mumbled something about saying the same thing to their neighbors when she was young. Valerie rolled her eyes. Jess smiled. He knew the old woman was paying her daughter back for all the embarrassment she inflicted upon her years before. He tried to think about what his own mother would do when he grew up and felt a pang of sorrow for Leslie as he remembered that she was an orphan and would never get to be embarrassed by her mother.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and took up the young woman's. He introduced Leslie first. "My friend, Leslie," he said.

She came forward and looked up into Valerie's amber eyes.

"Leslie, ma'am," she announced. "Leslie Wilkins."

She gave a short dip of her blond head and stepped back. Leslie seemed to take a liking to Valerie and even smiled at her with what seemed like genuine kindness.

Jess smiled too as Leslie introduced him. He bowed and hoped it looked okay; he didn't have much experience with meeting people and didn't know exactly what was expected. Valerie nodded and bade them sit as she took a seat beside them. Alexandra pulled a chair up close to her mother as the old woman returned to the table with the sack she had brought.

She peered inside and smiled. "You got it!"

Valerie frowned. "I told you I would."

"So you did, child," Mistress Vanderholt whispered absently as she dug through the sack. "So you did."

Valerie picked up a small piece of bread and a large piece of cheese and nibbled at them as the old woman nodded and drew out a small bottle. It was a simple thing; the firelight reflected off the smooth green surface as she placed it on the table. Jess and Leslie shared a look and shrugged. Alexandra reached for it then but Valerie slapped her little hand away. She leaned back in her chair and pouted. Jess tried not to laugh at the little scowl she wore; it could have been a match for May Belle's.

As Jess went back to eating, Leslie finally took a spoonful of stew. Jess found that his had cooled considerably and hoped Leslie was enjoying her own stew at last.

As he looked over at her, she picked up a piece of bread and dipped it in the stew. Jess thought it a good idea and did the same while Valerie sipped ginger tea and quietly watched her mother as she pulled out the other contents of the sack. There were many things he didn't recognize: odd statues, trinkets and a few books that she placed on the table. They al looked interesting, but Jess wanted to know why she wanted the bottle.

He stared at it as he finished his meal. It looked so ordinary, like something his family would have to hold spices. He guessed the Mistress Vanderholt had some special use for it. Her voice brought his attention back. "Do you like it, young man?"

He wiped some stew off his chin and slunk down. "Oh, uh, yes ma'am."

Her grin widened. "Do you know what it is?"

He shook his head.

"It's a reduction bottle."

Jess shared a look with Leslie. She shrugged and he turned to Valerie as she took a small bite of cheese. He thought she knew what it was but she shook her head, not wanting to interrupt her mother's fun.

"It's a magic bottle." She leaned across the table, her eyes wide with mischief. "Do you wish to see how it works?"

Jess chewed a mouthful of bread and nodded. He leaned in close as the old woman pulled the cork. She took an apple from a nearby bowl and placed it atop the little mouth of the bottle. She leaned close and whispered, "Reducto!"

Jess felt his eyes go wide as he watched the apple shrink. It reduced in size so quickly it slipped into the bottle before he could blink. Jess peered close to see it sitting at the bottom. It looked so small it could be a cherry. She took several more and repeated the process until the bowl was empty. Jess gaped at the sight; she had added a bowlful of apples and the bottle wasn't even close to half full.

"That's the beauty of the reduction bottle," Mistress Vanderholt explained, "You could fit an entire bushel of apples in one bottle and carry them around in your pocket."

"Can you fit other things?"

She leaned back with a satisfied smile. "Of course you can."

Mistress Vanderholt poured the apples back into the bowl, and as Jess sat back, stunned at how the apples grew back to normal size as they tumbled out of the little bottle, Mistress Vanderholt took up one of the books she had received and placed it over the bottle mouth, whispering the magic word. Before Jess could blink, the book slipped down into the reduction bottle, smaller than seemed possible. Jess blinked, astonished at the miracle. Leslie seemed unimpressed.

"I can't believe it," he whispered.

"I can," Leslie grumbled. She took an apple and crunched into it. As she chewed, she gestured to the bottle. "Where did you acquire such a rare item?"

Valerie answered before her mother could speak. "I have friends in faraway places. They bring me things for my shop."

Jess pulled his eyes away from the bottle long enough to ask a question. "What kind of shop?"

"I own a magic shop in Westwood."

Jess liked the idea of a magic shop and asked her about it. He couldn't believe that he had witnessed real magic. Leslie seemed to come out of her bad mood a little and asked a few questions of her own. They spent the rest of the afternoon in the cottage, listening to tales of their new friends lives. Jess wanted to know about the other things in the cottage, the magic items Mistress Vanderholt said she had collected over the past few years. She promised to tell him about them someday.

As it grew late Jess stood, saying they had to get home.

Leslie nodded and started for the door. She tugged Jess' arm, urging him along. He gave an apology to their new friends and followed her out, stumbling as she pulled him along into the late afternoon air. The Vanderholt family waved goodbye as they left.

As they wandered through the forest, Jess worried about how late it had become. The forest was darker than ever and getting worse as they wound their way through the trees. Jess was grateful that the two of them had gotten all their chores done already, but he feared to be later for supper. He didn't want a whipping.

As the dry leaves crunched under Leslie's high black boots, he called out to her. She looked back at him. Jess had a hard tome seeing her in the shadows and gathering gloom. "Why didn't you like them," he heard himself ask.

"I just don't like it when people pretend to be something there not," she told him. "I just didn't enjoy her ruse about being a witch."

Jess nodded. He would have expected her to protest that she did like them, but he was just has happy that she didn't evade the question.

They were about to depart from the clearing when Valerie called out to them. She came running up with something in her hand. "My mother said you might like this," she explained, and handed it to Leslie.

It was a book.

Jess grunted. Books were useless. Anything you needed to know you could hear from somebody and if you couldn't remember something then you didn't need it. Writing things down so others could read them seemed silly to him. He wondered why Leslie looked happy to receive it.

She dipped her head and smiled. "Thank you."

Valerie returned the smile and nodded. "You don't have to take the rope back."

Jess and Leslie shared a look. "Then how do we get across?" Leslie asked.

"There's a bridge," Valerie explained. "You can only see it from this side."

Leslie didn't look convinced. Jess certainly wasn't. Such things were nonsense, bridges you couldn't see, except from one side. He shot Valerie a skeptical look. "How did you find it then?"

Valerie smiled at his question. "It can only be seen on that side by those who have crossed before." She leaned down close and whispered, "Keeps people out of here—most of the time."

Jess felt his face redden. They were somewhere they didn't belong. He had told Leslie that this wasn't their land. He scratched his head and stared at the ground murmuring an apology.

Valerie laughed. "But you two are always welcome."

Jess relaxed at hearing that. He enjoyed the visit and he thought maybe he would come back. Leslie made what sounded like a false promise that they would. He considered asking her when they would visit but she pulled away and bid Valerie goodbye. He waved to her and followed his friend out of the woods.

"Leslie," he asked when they were far into the woods. "Why did she give you that?"

Leslie shrugged. She held it out in front of her then flipped through the pages. "I think she wanted me to read it."

Jess laughed.

Leslie stopped and turned to him. "What's so funny?"

"She thought you could read." He tossed a pinecone through the trees and stumbled along. "Pretty funny."

"I can read, Jess."

The words stopped him. "What are you talking about?"

She nodded. "I can read." She held the book up and pointed to the cover. She ran her finger along the words as she spoke them. Jess watched her eyes move as she read them aloud. "The Greatest Adventure."

He couldn't believe it. "You can read?"

"Of course," she said with a smile. "I love to read."

"Where did you learn to read?"

She flipped through the book, squinting to read in the dark. "At the castle."

Jess frowned. He recalled Leslie telling him some of her time before they met, when she served a noble family. "Why would they teach a servant to read?"

Her eyes came up and her mouth hung open a moment as she struggled for an answer. "I… uh, I had to learn to read so I could take orders better. I couldn't always remember things they told me and sometimes I had to fetch things that needed to be right. I couldn't be allowed to forget or make a mistake."

Jess nodded at her explanation. He didn't know anything about castle and things, but it made sense that she would need to know certain things to work for nobles.

She hooked some hair behind an ear. "So… do you want to learn?"

He blinked. "Learn? Learn… what?"

"Learn to read." She held up the book. "I could teach you, if you want."

"I… I don't know." He looked away. "Is it really hard?"

Leslie smiled. "Not if you have a good teacher."

Jess laughed a little at her self-compliment. Then he nodded. "A-alright," he said, "I-I'll learn to read."

She grinned even more.