Chapter Three
"What?" Hannah cried in disbelief. "OK, wait a minute. I can believe that you're my mother and I can sort of believe that you're a witch, but I refuse to believe that I, all of people, am a witch too!"
She gasped for breath. Her mother sighed and her shoulders slumped.
"Come on, let me show you something."
She took Hannah's hand and led her down the hall to her bedroom. It was a fairly large bedroom, with a master bed in the middle, with dark thick sheets that looked like clouds. Hannah wanted to jump on it, but held herself.
Mrs. Rosenfeld walked over to the closet, opening it and pulling out a red book. She sat on the bed and motioned for Hannah to come over. She opened the red book and sat Hannah next to her. It was a photo album and it was filled with wizard pictures.
Hannah marveled at the moving people in the photographs. Mrs. Rosenfeld turned to the second page. "Look here, here's your pa, and there's me, and there's you, when you were just a wee thing."
"How old was I?" Hannah asked.
"I believe this picture was taken a few months after our wedding, so you couldn't have been a year yet."
The picture was old and frayed. There was a young man, who looked around his mid-twenties and a woman with the same dark hair and sweet- lipped smile Mrs. Rosenfeld had. In the mother's arms was a baby with a light wisp of blackish hair tied in a bow on top of her head. She was smiling and clapping her hands.
"So that's me…" Hannah pointed, her voice trailing off, thinking.
"Where is Daddy anyway?" She remembered she hadn't seen yet. Mother looked a little taken aback by this. She started stuttering.
"Well—um, dear, he's—he passed away when you were four years old."
Hannah's eyes fluttered downward then fluttered back up in anger.
"Why did you send my away in the first place?" she put her hands on her hips.
"We—I, wanted to protect you." Mrs. Rosenfeld stroked Hannah's head. Hannah pushed her away.
"From what?" Mother sighed.
"I will explain things when you're older."
"That's what everybody says. Don't' they think I'm mature enough to take what people say? I'm smarter than I look. Old people always say that to young people thinkin' they don't know what's right. Well, I don't like being treated that way. I think it's just—unfair!"
All of a sudden, her mum burst into tears. Hannah gave a little intake of breath and then relaxed.
"Oh, Mama, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I only don't like when other people say it, not you. Besides, I can wait for anything you want to tell me."
Her mother didn't say anything, just kissed her on the forehead and said a quiet goodnight.
Hannah leaped off the bed and started off towards the door and she stopped and turned around slowly.
"You know, in Tomorrow, there'll be no one to tell me I'm too young or old to do anything. You are allowed to hear what you want."
"Yes, dear. Good night."
"Good night."
Hannah trudged off to her room.
For the rest of that year, she explored the house from top to bottom. Outside the back porch that stretched really far, there were acres and acres of land filled with secret gardens that needed naming, wood nymphs to find, butterflies to catch, and other places that needed companionship. With Sally, the head maid, she became fast friends.
"And the garden that's away far in the corner near the northern border of the field, where the big peonies are, is the Tomorrow Road. It has this little path that leads past the fence away beyond to the coast and along the beach, but I dare not go down it because the closer I'll get to Tomorrow."
Hannah was sitting on the verandah with Sally, sipping from a cup of tea one afternoon in early April. The first five months had gone without a care and to Hannah they seemed to fly.
"Soon I'll be going back to school again. Mum says I'll get a special letter from the school. I can't wait till it comes because I love receiving mail. I get letters from Melanie and the twins all the time and I write them back, but a new letter is just a bit more exciting, don't you think? I mean, no offense to the girls at all, but I know nothing about my new school because Mum wants to keep it a surprise. She says I must wait another four months and I don't think I can wait that long. That's one of my worst faults. I'm far too impatient and—
"AND your tongue was hinged in the middle," Sally interrupted, clearing the cookie plates, "now drink your tea before it gets cold."
Hannah drank her tea accordingly and started off again.
"I just finished this wonderful story where this group of boys and girls go to bring an evil ring to destroy it in the fire of a mountain called Mount Doom, right in the middle of the evil Sauron's dark land. It was creepy. And there was a girl as the main character! That never happens in books that I read, except perhaps Little Women. The main character of this story was just like me, only probably taller and stronger and braver and—
"had a little bit more common sense! You've just spilled the biscuits!" Sally picked up the now eleven-year-old from the chair and wiped up the extra cookies.
"Now, now Sally, don't you know about stories? It's so often the case that boys are the heroes in adventures. I love a story with a heroine. I find them so much more interesting. Now I'm going to the Today Road as I've finished my tea. I wish you could come with me, but you have chores. I'd help you, but 'my soul has pastured with the stars, upon the meadowlands of space.' That's a sentence I read in a book once and I love it. The Today Road is the biggest garden in the middle and it's the happiest. It has all the biggest flowers and the path is twisting and delightful. I call it the Today Road because flowers there are the marigolds and they just look like a cup of sunshine. And then there's the Yesterday Road. That's the one on the eastern side. That one's a pretty little path fill with roses. It's the Yesterday Road because, well, if there was a Today and Tomorrow Road, why not a Yesterday Road and, well, the roses come back every year, so who knows how long they've been there. They've seen so many rains and snows and suns and moons that you could tell their whole history just by looking at their petals."
"You've talked on for ten whole minutes. Now off you go to the Today Road, go on and come back before dark." Sally gave Hannah a little push down the steps.
When Hannah had skipped down the lane a little bit, Sally had her laugh.
"That girl is something else!"
Finally, after many, many months of long waiting, Hannah was interrupted from her morning reverie by Sally, who had a letter in her hands. It was early August.
Hannah looked up and gasped.
"Oh, it's here! It's here!" she ripped open the envelope, no bothering to read the emerald green label on the front. She pulled out two sheets of parchment and excitedly began to read aloud:
Dear Miss Rosenfeld,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no later than August 15.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
"Oh, wow!" Hannah looked over the list of supplies. "This is so cool! What does it mean they 'await my owl'?" she peered over her letter to her mother across the table, who smiled.
"That's our way of communicating, by owl. I have one actually, Pandora, but you've never met her. She's in the barn outside the side porch."
"This just keeps getting better and better! No telephones at all? Just owls? Wow. I like that much better than telephones."
She wrote a hurried reply, on which her mother signed and then Hannah ran off to the barn. She opened the old wooden door with a creak and stepped in. There was a fluttering of wings and a small figure perched on top of a stair railing in the corner that led to the loft. It had to be Pandora. She was a tawny brown owl and quite big. Her wins span seemed yards long. Hannah crept slowly towards her, whispering.
"Don't be afraid Pandora. Hello, I'm Hannah. Nice to meet you. I've never met an owl before."
Hannah reached out a hand to pet a feather and a claw snagged out.
"Ow! No need to worry, Pandora, I'm your friend. I'm Jennie Rosenfeld's daughter, you know, your mum! I just want to send a nice little letter off to…Hogwarts!" she glanced down at the address written neatly on the envelope and back up at the owl. It hesitated a moment, then stuck out its leg. Mum had told Hannah to tie the letter on to the leg and then set it off. Hannah did just so and the owl flew up towards the ceiling and through a little hole in the rafters.
"YES!" Hannah jumped up and down, "And I'm off to Hogwarts!"
"What?" Hannah cried in disbelief. "OK, wait a minute. I can believe that you're my mother and I can sort of believe that you're a witch, but I refuse to believe that I, all of people, am a witch too!"
She gasped for breath. Her mother sighed and her shoulders slumped.
"Come on, let me show you something."
She took Hannah's hand and led her down the hall to her bedroom. It was a fairly large bedroom, with a master bed in the middle, with dark thick sheets that looked like clouds. Hannah wanted to jump on it, but held herself.
Mrs. Rosenfeld walked over to the closet, opening it and pulling out a red book. She sat on the bed and motioned for Hannah to come over. She opened the red book and sat Hannah next to her. It was a photo album and it was filled with wizard pictures.
Hannah marveled at the moving people in the photographs. Mrs. Rosenfeld turned to the second page. "Look here, here's your pa, and there's me, and there's you, when you were just a wee thing."
"How old was I?" Hannah asked.
"I believe this picture was taken a few months after our wedding, so you couldn't have been a year yet."
The picture was old and frayed. There was a young man, who looked around his mid-twenties and a woman with the same dark hair and sweet- lipped smile Mrs. Rosenfeld had. In the mother's arms was a baby with a light wisp of blackish hair tied in a bow on top of her head. She was smiling and clapping her hands.
"So that's me…" Hannah pointed, her voice trailing off, thinking.
"Where is Daddy anyway?" She remembered she hadn't seen yet. Mother looked a little taken aback by this. She started stuttering.
"Well—um, dear, he's—he passed away when you were four years old."
Hannah's eyes fluttered downward then fluttered back up in anger.
"Why did you send my away in the first place?" she put her hands on her hips.
"We—I, wanted to protect you." Mrs. Rosenfeld stroked Hannah's head. Hannah pushed her away.
"From what?" Mother sighed.
"I will explain things when you're older."
"That's what everybody says. Don't' they think I'm mature enough to take what people say? I'm smarter than I look. Old people always say that to young people thinkin' they don't know what's right. Well, I don't like being treated that way. I think it's just—unfair!"
All of a sudden, her mum burst into tears. Hannah gave a little intake of breath and then relaxed.
"Oh, Mama, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I only don't like when other people say it, not you. Besides, I can wait for anything you want to tell me."
Her mother didn't say anything, just kissed her on the forehead and said a quiet goodnight.
Hannah leaped off the bed and started off towards the door and she stopped and turned around slowly.
"You know, in Tomorrow, there'll be no one to tell me I'm too young or old to do anything. You are allowed to hear what you want."
"Yes, dear. Good night."
"Good night."
Hannah trudged off to her room.
For the rest of that year, she explored the house from top to bottom. Outside the back porch that stretched really far, there were acres and acres of land filled with secret gardens that needed naming, wood nymphs to find, butterflies to catch, and other places that needed companionship. With Sally, the head maid, she became fast friends.
"And the garden that's away far in the corner near the northern border of the field, where the big peonies are, is the Tomorrow Road. It has this little path that leads past the fence away beyond to the coast and along the beach, but I dare not go down it because the closer I'll get to Tomorrow."
Hannah was sitting on the verandah with Sally, sipping from a cup of tea one afternoon in early April. The first five months had gone without a care and to Hannah they seemed to fly.
"Soon I'll be going back to school again. Mum says I'll get a special letter from the school. I can't wait till it comes because I love receiving mail. I get letters from Melanie and the twins all the time and I write them back, but a new letter is just a bit more exciting, don't you think? I mean, no offense to the girls at all, but I know nothing about my new school because Mum wants to keep it a surprise. She says I must wait another four months and I don't think I can wait that long. That's one of my worst faults. I'm far too impatient and—
"AND your tongue was hinged in the middle," Sally interrupted, clearing the cookie plates, "now drink your tea before it gets cold."
Hannah drank her tea accordingly and started off again.
"I just finished this wonderful story where this group of boys and girls go to bring an evil ring to destroy it in the fire of a mountain called Mount Doom, right in the middle of the evil Sauron's dark land. It was creepy. And there was a girl as the main character! That never happens in books that I read, except perhaps Little Women. The main character of this story was just like me, only probably taller and stronger and braver and—
"had a little bit more common sense! You've just spilled the biscuits!" Sally picked up the now eleven-year-old from the chair and wiped up the extra cookies.
"Now, now Sally, don't you know about stories? It's so often the case that boys are the heroes in adventures. I love a story with a heroine. I find them so much more interesting. Now I'm going to the Today Road as I've finished my tea. I wish you could come with me, but you have chores. I'd help you, but 'my soul has pastured with the stars, upon the meadowlands of space.' That's a sentence I read in a book once and I love it. The Today Road is the biggest garden in the middle and it's the happiest. It has all the biggest flowers and the path is twisting and delightful. I call it the Today Road because flowers there are the marigolds and they just look like a cup of sunshine. And then there's the Yesterday Road. That's the one on the eastern side. That one's a pretty little path fill with roses. It's the Yesterday Road because, well, if there was a Today and Tomorrow Road, why not a Yesterday Road and, well, the roses come back every year, so who knows how long they've been there. They've seen so many rains and snows and suns and moons that you could tell their whole history just by looking at their petals."
"You've talked on for ten whole minutes. Now off you go to the Today Road, go on and come back before dark." Sally gave Hannah a little push down the steps.
When Hannah had skipped down the lane a little bit, Sally had her laugh.
"That girl is something else!"
Finally, after many, many months of long waiting, Hannah was interrupted from her morning reverie by Sally, who had a letter in her hands. It was early August.
Hannah looked up and gasped.
"Oh, it's here! It's here!" she ripped open the envelope, no bothering to read the emerald green label on the front. She pulled out two sheets of parchment and excitedly began to read aloud:
Dear Miss Rosenfeld,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no later than August 15.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
"Oh, wow!" Hannah looked over the list of supplies. "This is so cool! What does it mean they 'await my owl'?" she peered over her letter to her mother across the table, who smiled.
"That's our way of communicating, by owl. I have one actually, Pandora, but you've never met her. She's in the barn outside the side porch."
"This just keeps getting better and better! No telephones at all? Just owls? Wow. I like that much better than telephones."
She wrote a hurried reply, on which her mother signed and then Hannah ran off to the barn. She opened the old wooden door with a creak and stepped in. There was a fluttering of wings and a small figure perched on top of a stair railing in the corner that led to the loft. It had to be Pandora. She was a tawny brown owl and quite big. Her wins span seemed yards long. Hannah crept slowly towards her, whispering.
"Don't be afraid Pandora. Hello, I'm Hannah. Nice to meet you. I've never met an owl before."
Hannah reached out a hand to pet a feather and a claw snagged out.
"Ow! No need to worry, Pandora, I'm your friend. I'm Jennie Rosenfeld's daughter, you know, your mum! I just want to send a nice little letter off to…Hogwarts!" she glanced down at the address written neatly on the envelope and back up at the owl. It hesitated a moment, then stuck out its leg. Mum had told Hannah to tie the letter on to the leg and then set it off. Hannah did just so and the owl flew up towards the ceiling and through a little hole in the rafters.
"YES!" Hannah jumped up and down, "And I'm off to Hogwarts!"
