Chapter 9: My new huntress

A few days later Haymitch needed to discuss something with me and we met in the admin building. "We have a problem, boy", he started. "It appears that the coal business has a little bit of a downturn, and they are starting layoffs. At this time, only a few miners have been fired, but more could follow. They are not really calling it a layoff, but are looking for excuses, like miners not performing good enough. I have contacts there and know what's really happening. Some other miners are looking for jobs somewhere else, but there are two of them I would like to hire for our work here; they are both capable and smart enough, and we need to hire more people for our projects anyway – what do you think?"

I responded: "In general I agree, but isn't there a risk to antagonize the moguls by hiring people they laid off? Wouldn't this set an example and tempt others to work for us rather for them?"

Haymitch nods: "True, and I agree that we should not do this on a larger scale. Taking a few of them should be all right, though – leave that to me, I know how to handle the situation."

Meanwhile I trusted Haymitch and agreed, so that two ex-miners – Thom and Bristel – were going to work for us from next month on.

A couple of days later Prim surprised me with a visit in the afternoon, and she brought her sister Katniss with her. I could see that Katniss was not fully comfortable coming to my place, but that was to be expected – I had been warned by Prim. I greeted them: "Katniss, Prim, good to see you. Would you like to come in and have tea with me?"

Katniss hesitated and replied: "Well, um, I came to ask about that job offer. Can we just talk about that?"

I nodded: "Sure we can. In order to show you what I have in mind, maybe we should walk to the hill over there; from the lookout on top we can see the forest and I can best explain what I have in mind. Let me just get something organized – I will be back in a moment."

With those words I rushed inside and asked my housekeeper, Mrs. Miller, to have some tea and scones brought to the hill when she had time, and she promised to get started right away. This being done, I went outside again, and we strolled to the hill and climbed to the top, where a few benches and picnic tables were placed for day like today. The sun beamed down on us, birds frolicked close by, and some butterflies swirled around the flowers – a perfect day for enjoying to be outside. Katniss and Prim looked around, and while Prim just jumped and enjoyed, Katniss looked at me, giving me a hint to start.

"Well, here we are" I said. "Over there, the big forest all belongs to the site. It almost borders the Seam area on one side, stretches a little bit into the mountains towards the mines, and also is close to my fields. Boars have been sighted to venture out of the forest at night and do damage to the fields, and occasionally rabbits also show up. In the past years, nobody really cared about the forest, but I do have some plans. In parallel to investigating crops to plant in this climate, I want to find out to what extent the forest can help to nourish the population. There is game to hunt – as you probably know better than me – and there probably are some berries, like black berries; I would expect mushrooms, too. Your job, if you accept, is to both hunt and to find out what else can contribute to feed some people. At first, it will probably be only you, but later on I might hire more people. In addition, I also want to find which type of trees are best suited for the local climate here to maintain a healthy forest. Naturally, this is a paid job. In addition, you will be allowed to take part of what you hunted home, but I also expect a doe or deer from time to time."

Katniss looked at me, still trying to full understand.

I added one more comment: "I also know that you are still at school, but isn't this your last year, and won't you be out in a month or so?"

Katniss nodded and confirmed: "Yes, school is going to be over in four weeks, and this is indeed my last year."

Hearing that I smiled and said: "Perfect. If you want, you can start right now and explore the forest in your free time, and change to a full time employee when the school year is over. All right?"

Although I could see that she still had some doubts, the offer must have been just too good to ignore, and she nodded. I explained that I had a contract ready in the office building and we could get it later on. For now, Karl and Monica, the housekeeper children, came up to us with a few boxes and started to lay one of the picnic tables. Of course I invited them to join us as well, but Katniss clearly hesitated to take a seat, so that I made sure she understood: "Katniss, eating together with me is not a special privilege, but I invite people around me as frequently as possible – please have a seat!"

Of course, Prim did not need a second invitation, and soon we all enjoyed the tea and scones, almost sitting together like a large family. Later on, Katniss signed the contract, and I got her to talk to Haymitch for some more details.

A few busy weeks followed, with seeding, fertilizing, and harvesting being discussed with the farmers. In particular, we ran extensive checks on bugs and vermin as well as fungi on the fields, and tried to correlate this with the local environments. In general, I expected the fields with most bushes and hedges around – and thus more birds cutting back on bugs and such – to be impacted the least, but the situation seemed to be more complex. Maybe there was an issue with the species of birds, but I did not know yet; for a later time, I hoped that Camilla, the farmer's daughter, might help to investigate.

After some time, I had another visit from Prim, and I immediately noticed that something bothered her. This I greeted her: "Prim, nice to see you around. What's up?"

She smiled and told me:"Hi, Tim, good to see you again. Rue has been back at home for some time, but she isn't better than before. And I do have a question, or rather Rue's parents have. I have told my mum so much about Rue, and Mrs. Hawthorne and my mother invited them to dinner next weekend Saturday, but it is going to be late. They are asking if Rue and I can stay at your place for the evening and we could kind of 'babysit' Rue."

I raised my brows: "Rue's parents got that idea? They barely know me – this is quite unexpected."

Prim moved around on her chair and admitted: "Well, they talked it over with me and asked for a place where Rue could stay during the invitation, and I suggested your place. You see, you have such a nice house, and it would be so great to spend an evening here with Rue and you. They told me that they wouldn't dare to impose on you, but I insisted that you would not mind."

Hearing this I started to laugh: "Now I understand. Well, I guess this would be nice, and if the Madisons trust me with her daughter, I'd be honored to have her and you here for that evening. Actually, we can do even better than that. It will be quite late when they are done with dinner, and I really do not want them to walk back to their home in district 11 with Rue late at night. I am going to offer guest rooms for all of them including you, what do you think?"

Now Prim started to jump up and down excitedly: "This is a great idea; I love it!"

Smiling, I replied: "Yes, I thought so. I am going to write a letter to both the Madisons and your mother confirming this offer, and I will trust you to deliver the letters promptly."

Naturally, the poorer homes in district 11 and 12 did not have a telephone and internet connection, so that sometimes the school children had to deliver messages.

A couple of day later Prim managed to get the reply letters back to me. Both her mom and the Madisons agreed to the invitation, and I was looking forward to Saturday. Rue's family was supposed to arrive in the early afternoon, and I made sure that I had proper snacks and drinks at home. The Millers would be off during that day, minus Monica, who was also going to join us. However, they were planing to be back in the evening way before Rue's parents would be getting here; guest rooms were prepared, of course. I was actually looking forward to play some games with the girls or maybe watch a movie.

The Madison arrived right on time and greeted me when I opened the door: "Mr. Sinterguth, we really hope that we don't impose on you too much by having Rue here while we go to the Seam."

Promptly I replied: "Mrs. Madison, Mr. Madison, welcome to my home. And not at all – I will be having a great time with the girls today, and this will be a nice distraction from my usual work."

Gale Hawthorne was already waiting, as he was supposed to guide them up to the Everdeen residence, and they left soon enough, leaving Rue behind with Prim (who had come with Gale), Monica (who was delighted to meet Rue) and myself. I had asked the girls to bring their swimsuits, and as it was a nice and sunny summer day, I invited them to take advantage of the swimming pool I had behind my mansion. Comfortably stretching myself in a deck chair under a sunshade, with a few drinks and snacks beside me, I enjoyed watching the three girls having fun in and around the pool. None of them could really swim well, but the pool was not very deep and they had lots of fun playing all kinds of games. When I noticed the speed of playing to slow down, I estimated them to be hungry and hurried inside to bring out a big tablet with snacks and drinks for them, which I placed on a table.

After the girls had filled their stomachs, we played board games until dusk was close. We moved inside, and I suggested to watch a movie in my big living room. As it was getting late, I was not really surprised to see the girls yawning one after another, and just when the movie was over Prim and Monica retired to Monica's room, where a second bed was prepared for Prim. Rue had a small bed ready for her in her parents' guest room, but she was already half asleep on the sofa. Softly I talked to her: "Rue, can I get you to your room?"

However, she responded: "I don't want to be alone, can I please stay here with you?"

While I guessed that she really should get to bed, maybe she could stay here and sleep for a couple of hours until her parents were back, and they could take her to their room later, so that I replied: "Okay, if you want to, let's stay here until your parents are back. You do not have to be alone if you do not want to. Let me just go to the bathroom for a few minutes and I will be right back."

When I came back to the living room, I dimmed the lights and placed myself on one of the comfortable easy chairs, which could be moved back to an almost horizontal position, grabbed a blanket and told Rue: "Well, grab a blanket if you want, sit or lie down, and let me know if you want to talk about something."

Silence was my answer, and when I looked over to her, she already looked asleep. Soon I found myself also getting tired and sleep claimed me as well. After some time I woke up by some movement, though, and I noticed Rue getting up and moving closer to me, finally stretching her body right beside me. While I was not used to have another person close to me while sleeping at all, I did not mind, and while still half asleep, I extended my blanket so that it covered both of us. Within minutes I was back asleep.

I woke up again when sun rays tickled my skin, and to my surprise I noticed that I must have slept through the night on the easy chair with Rue right beside me. The door opened and Mrs. Miller glanced in, and when I raised my hand to indicate I was awake Rue's parents came in. Carefully and trying not to wake up Rue I raised myself from the easy chair and bade them good morning: "Good morning, Mrs. Madison, Mr. Madison. I hope you came back well and had a good sleep. I know that I should have brought Rue to your room, but she did not want to sleep alone, and it looks like I also fell asleep."

Mrs. Madison replied: "Good morning to you, too. Yes, we had a good night, we were just concerned by not seeing Rue in our room. Mrs. Miller helped us to search until we found her here with you, and as both of you were sleeping peacefully, we decided not to disturb you. I assume that she decided to stay close to you rather than on the sofa?"

I confirmed: "Yes, indeed. First she dozed off on the sofa, but when I was already half asleep she suddenly moved herself closer to me, but I slept quite well."

Mrs. Madison looked at me and asked: "You really slept well? How often did she wake you up?"

I looked surprised: "Not a single time as far as I remember. I think both herself and I slept very well without interruptions."

Rue now also started to wake up and looked at us. Her mother asked her: "Rue, I just heard that you slept well. Does that imply that you did not have that many nightmares last night?"

The little girl responded happily: "Actually, not a single one, mom – I slept better than I have done for weeks!"

Mr. Madison explained: "You see, Mr. Sinterguth, Rue has had nightmares on an almost regular basis since her sister and her grandparents died in a car accident three years ago. She was in the same car and survived with minor injuries, but had to observe the others dying before help arrived. About a year ago the situation had improved a little, but in the last few weeks it has been getting worse again. Because she usually does not sleep well, she is frequently tired during the day, and when she sleeps, she hates to be alone." He did not have to add that they were very surprised to hear that no nightmares plagued Rue last night.

As all of us were awake now (maybe except for Monica and Prim) we moved to the dining room, and I started to lay the table for breakfast. While the Madisons looked a little bit uncomfortable about this, I assured them: "Please stay for breakfast with me. I would feel bad to let you go with an empty stomach, and I will have Mr. Miller drive you home later on – I insist!"

When the Madison family finally said Good Bye, Rue came close to me and said: "Thank you, Mr. Sinterguth, for having us, and specifically for giving me a sleep without nightmares."

I replied: "Rue, it was a pleasure to have you here. Feel free to visit again if you want. And I do not really know what I did to help you sleep, but you are very welcome."

Later on, Prim looked at me and told me: "During the night, I once had to go to the bathroom, and when I returned, I saw Rue and you sleeping in the easy chair. The two of you looked so comfortable and peaceful together – this was so cute!"

I replied with a frown: "Prim, I think this is probably the first since I was a toddler that someone called me cute."

Prim corrected herself quickly: "Not you by yourself, but you together with Rue!"

I was not really sure what to think about that. Yes, my sleep next to Rue had been a peaceful and good one, but us looking cute together? Really?

Well, today was Sunday, and I decided to walk Prim back to the Seam. Close to the Everdeen house we met Katniss, who just returned from a morning trip to the forest. She looked excited and told us: "Guess what – I found a huge area covered with blackberry bushes, and they are almost ripe!"

I smiled and replied: "That's great – I love blackberries! Katniss, do you think you can organize getting them picked, maybe with the help of the Seam children? I can provide buckets and baskets to collect them, and I'd suggest that a part goes to the hob for making jam and to preserve some berries, another part goes to my house and Mrs. Miller will do the same, and the rest goes to everybody who wants to eat them – what do you think?"

Before Katniss could respond, Prim shouted: "Yes, this sounds great – let's do this!", and Katniss also nodded.

As I was already here, I decided to walk into the Everdeen residence together with Prim and say hello. Before I could greet Mrs. Everdeen, though, Prim jumped up and down and started to talk like a waterfall: "Mom, guess what, we played in Tim's pool yesterday, and we played games, and we got wonderful snacks, and I slept in Monica's room, and she is nice, and we found Rue sleeping with Timotheus in the living room, and they were so cute together, and..."

"Prim, hold on and slow down, please" Mrs. Everdeen injected. "That is way too much information at once!"

Prim stopped and meekly said: "Sorry, mom."

"That's okay, Prim", Mrs. Everdeen replied, and then she looked at me with a smirk: "So, you slept with Rue?"

I may have actually blushed a little: "Well, she did not want to sleep alone, so that I invited her to stay in the living room until her parents came back, and I dozed off, and somehow she found herself next to me. By the way, did you have a good evening yesterday?"

Mrs. Everdeen smiled and nodded: "Yes, we did, indeed; thank you for asking. But let me get back to Rue for a moment, please. Her parents told me me about her nightmares – how often did she wake you up?"

"That's an interesting point, Mrs. Everdeen", I replied. "As a matter of fact, we both slept peacefully, and as far as we can tell, she did not have a single nightmare. Her parents were quite surprised to hear that."

Mrs. Everdeen also looked surprised now: "This is quite interesting, but good for her."

I definitely wanted to talk about something else now and thus asked: "How is the herb garden doing?"

Prim's mother replied happily: "Oh, just great. I have already been able to get some medical plants from there for my needs, and Prim and Leevy are really doing a great job tending the garden."

After some more small talk I left again and went home, taking the long way along the border of the forest. This allowed me to review some issues in my head, but finally I came to the conclusion that there was nothing to be ashamed of, and I was quite calm again when I reached my home.