Shinganshina County Local Schools

"Anastasia, lift your hands! Protect your face!"

"Swing your leg lower, Anastasia!"

"Perfect form! Do it again."

"You must do better tomorrow, Nastya."

.

Annie awoke with her face in the dirt. The dogs surrounded her snuggly, warming her sides. Her neck was cold and wet with dew and her damp hair clung to the sides of her face. She lifted herself up, viewing no one but herself and the dogs in the dull light of early day. The dogs and pig stood as she did, traveling behind as she walked back to the house. The rooster crowed atop the porch.

Bertholdt was already busy at the kitchen table, pen in hand as he sorted through mail. Annie dusted off her dress before she entered.

"I worried that you had run away." He said when the girl sat herself across from him at the table.

"I do not have much anywhere to run away to." She replied, causing the man to laugh a light, silvery laugh.

Annie plucked a thick paper card from the table, skimming over the print. It was nothing special, just an advertisement for a jewelry business. A box on the backside was checked with black ink. Annie raised an eyebrow, showing the card to Bertholdt.

"You send mail to salesmen so they'll come and Reiner can shoot at them?"

Bertholdt put a finger to his lips, signaling Annie to secrecy. "Don't tell Reiner. It will take all the fun out of it for him."

Annie placed the card in a pile with the others. "I suppose every man needs a hobby…"

All the requests were sent out to the mailbox before Reiner could notice them. Bertholdt began a breakfast of stirred eggs and bubbling sausage, cooking them in a single iron skillet. Annie waited quietly for her eggs, watching the dogs and pig run along the farmyard.

Reiner entered after a little while, grumbling, rubbing his shoulders irritably.

"Even with a new mattress, I'm still waking up tired and sore." He fussed, sitting with Annie at the table. The girl glanced at Bertholdt smiling knowingly.

The food was given in plateful portions. Annie was perplexed when her uncle skipped over her with the sausage, instead giving her a wilted green vegetable.

"You said you do not like pork…" He began timidly. "So I made you kale instead. Is that okay?"

"… Yes, thank you."

Pleased, the man joined the group at the table. Annie tried the tender kale, finding it bitter and tasteful. She consumed a few forkfuls before looking around the table, interest piqued.

"My mom said you two disappeared for forty years. Where did you go?"

Bertholdt finished chewing his eggs, thoughtful.

"Africa, mostly. Northern Africa: Morocco, Algeria… Kenya and Nigeria too."

"But that was when we were younger." Reiner added tartly. "We are just old Texans now."

"I bet it was quite the adventure." The girl replied. "Journeying through the Sahara and amongst the natives."

"Oh, yes, journeys they were." Reiner said with a warning inclination, Bertholdt shaking his head at his brother. Annie was unaffected. "Journeys and days that are over now. Those times are over just like we are."

"A-Annie!" Bertholdt interjected, diverting the subject swiftly. Sweat was beginning to gather at his temples. "You better finish your breakfast! We need to hurry and go to enroll you in school!"

"… Okay."

Annie dined in silence, watching Reiner with cynical eyes all the while.

.

The out-dated truck hopped along the road like a rolling, warped barrel. Annie had her hair in a neat French twist and collared dress cleanly pressed, her small form packed between her two uncles. Bertholdt smiled down at her kindly, not the one concentrating on driving.

"Do you like school, Annie?" He asked sincerely. "Do you do well in it?"

"Not really." She replied frankly to both questions. "School never teaches you anything worth knowing. And its does not matter whether I do well or not because I move around so often. In the end, it is meaningless."

"… Y-You shouldn't think of it that way…" Bertholdt encouraged with a faulty nervous twang, and Annie snubbed him, turning her head away.

"That is why so many people drop out around here." Reiner said, making a turn at a crossroad. "Because the lot of what they learn is pointless. They all are going to be farmers, or are hoping to be farmers. Even the owners of the oil companies do not live out here. Everyone does as everyone else: farms."

"… Is there so much shame in doing as everyone else?" Annie asked. "In going with the flow? In being… normal? Perhaps it is not them to be blamed. Maybe no one will listen to them if they have dreams. They do as expected of them because they must."

Reiner gave his great-niece a baffled look, quick, but prominent.

"How old are you?"

"I turned twelve on the 22nd."

"Jesus…"

"Reiner! You mustn't curse around children…"

Annie sighed.

.

The school was an old brick edifice, long past its heyday, the door hinges rusting and the windows glued shut against the drafts. The truck drove along the asphalt parking lot brimmed with cracks and dry weeds. Reiner slipped between two other cars to park.

The inside of the school was not much better with chipped paint and corrosion outlining the edges of the floor. The hallways were eerie and quiet without the presence of the children in the morning, the adults shut up in their respective classrooms. Annie could swear she saw eyes every time her and her uncle's passed a classroom.

The main office was slightly less disheveled. The carpet was worn, though clean, and everything was organized properly. The wooden desk of the secretary was polished to shine and the chairs did not squeak or collapse when sat upon. The secretary looked with surprise when the trio entered. Her brunette hair was pulled up tightly against her head, her mascara lush and pretty upon her lashes. Her lips were the color of pearls and skin the color of eggshells. Annie glanced quickly for her nameplate, finding it to read Anka Rheinberger.

"…Annie Leonhardt?" She asked after a moment, and Annie nodded to her name, confirming with a "Yes.".

"Your mother called yesterday…" She continued. Bertholdt offered an upturning of the lips. Even with the fan whirling cool air though the room he was sweating, his face bright with the liquid. Reiner said nothing, his arms crossed over his wide chest. Annie inclined her head, thinking that rather responsible of her mother.

Anka stood then, smoothing out her skirt. "I will fetch Principle Pixis to give you a tour. One moment, please." She disappeared into the back alcove. Annie and her uncles stood awkwardly in waiting.

"… She was staring at us. Why is that?" Annie asked, facing her uncles. Bertholdt rubbed his dark hair, quietly staring at the floor. Reiner met his niece's gaze, vexation twitching at his mouth.

"Because we are the Boo Radley of Shinganshina County." He spoke with a sharpness. "The amount of rumors told about us are enough to keep the quilting circles busy for a full afternoon. We are mysterious, untrustworthy, hardly seen outside our home. We are… different."

"Ah." Annie concluded in understanding. She turned as she heard the creaking of a door. Anka returned, Principle Pixis in tow. The elderly man smiled when he saw the girl, his mustache quirking. He bowed in a civil way, his bare head shining as he dipped. When he rose, Annie could see his bronze eyes were filled with light.

"Hello, Miss Leonhardt!" He greeted formally. He extended his hand and Annie took it into a firm shake, causing the man to laugh. "What fierceness! More like a man than a girl."

Annie scoffed.

The principle shared a handshake with the other two men and addressed them just as kindly. Bertholdt was nervous with the stranger, his grip sloppy, while Reiner was just a forward as Annie. Annie sighed at his abrasive nature.

"Come, come, let the tour commence!" Principle Pixis invited, motioning with his hand. "Good sirs, you may come if you like, but I only need Miss Leonhardt."

Annie looked to her uncles, waiting for a decision. They first looked at her, then at each other, a worried look coming into Bertholdt's eyes. Reiner cleared his throat.

"I think we will go with her…"

Annie had to smooth over her smile.

.

The tour was dreadfully boring, even with Pixis' enthusiasm. The school was easy to navigate due to its size and elementary essentiality. A brief history of the populating and development of the town was given, beginning with the iron-mining roots and ending in the present day. Annie heard the expectations of the school and that her schedule would be prepared for her on Monday before she left, once again wedged between the two men in the truck. They departed before the first school bus pulled in.

The activity at home was not much better. Annie was told to put on some boots and given a hoe. She, along with Reiner and Bertholdt, began tilling the earth, turning up the soil for a garden. The swinging of the tool was repetitive and boring, the exertion making Annie's shoulders sore. She did not mind much, however, worse exhaustion and pain once well-known to her.

"I hate this!" Reiner said to his brother. The dogs and pig came to watch the display, heads cocked.

"Be a little more positive, Reiner!" He encouraged. "If we garden, we get vegetables, and vegetables are good for you. You can live to be a hundred, even."

"Why would I want to live to be a hundred?"

"For the sake of saying you did." Annie said, receiving an unhappy look from her uncle. She upturned her nose.

A sudden car horn made her jump. She heard the rolling of the car up the driveway, the music filtering through the open windows. The pack of dogs made a whimpering sound and scurried off, the pig tromping behind. Reiner threw down his hoe violently and spat.

"Relatives."

A fat man bumbled from the car. His hair was pitifully thin and golden in color, curled facial hair resting on his round cheeks. He smiled at the men in the garden, opening up his arms in greeting.

"Uncle Reiner, Uncle Bertholdt! Long time no see!" His smile dropped as Reiner stormed passed him, slamming the door as he entered the house, leaving Bertholdt and Annie alone with the man.

The wife and children climbed from the car. The mother was fairy young and attractive, more-so cute, with big blue eyes and ruddy hair squared at her jaw line. The female child was the older one and had inherited her mother's brown hair, hers long and up in a ponytail, eyes large and hazel and full of happiness. The little boy was younger and had blond hair with a military cut and mischievous, grey eyes. A grin showed his teeth.

Annie looked to her remaining uncle in question, only to see his profound sadness. His eyes were slick with unshed tears and throat jumping with his suffering. He dropped his head, eyes torn from looking after his brother. He began to walk.

"Sasha, Connie, say hi to Uncle Bertholdt!" The father ordered, his children parroting him with zeal. "We know how lonely our favorite uncles get, so we are here for a nice long visit. The whole weekend!"

Bertholdt did not look up as he passed his family, quiet as he moved, and quiet as he entered the house. The man was left in puzzlement.

Annie left her hoe to follow her clearly distressed uncle, only to be stopped, the critical eyes of the man finding her. She could see his unfriendliness.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Balto!" His wife chided softly. "Please, not in front of the children…"

The man huffed, correcting himself. "Fine, Nifa: Who are you?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Annie said with an arctic coldness. Balto's cheeks became blushed with anger, his face rolling up in harsh lines. Annie's dark glare did not change.

"How rude." He commented.

His wife came to his rescue. Nifa looked the girl up and down, finding a name to her face.

"You are Annie, aren't you?" She asked more politely than her husband. "Rico's daughter?"

"I am."

"I figured she tried to muscle in." Balto said bitterly. "That window women, always running around…"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Annie challenged. Her hands clenched into fists, enraged on the behalf of her mother. "What are you trying to say?"

"Oh, nothing." He said, waving his hand in a careless circle. "Is your mother here?"

"No."

"How long are you here?"

"That is none of your concern."

"… We'll just see about that."

The man lumbered off, his wife alongside him, begging him not to be so harsh. Annie seethed silently as they departed, her hands relaxing.

The children came up to her after their parents left. The girl approached her first, smile bright, the hem of her dress in both hands.

"My name is Sasha!" She provided. "And this is my brother Connie. You are Annie, right?"

"… I am." Annie said as the boy peered around his sister, her voice touching upon tenderness. Connie gave her his infamous grin, lightening her heart, and lifting her lips slightly.

"How old are you?" Sasha asked. "I am in second grade!"

"And I'm in kindergarten!" Connie said with fervor.

"I am still twelve, still in sixth grade." Annie replied, causing the children to gasp at her seniority. She sighed, although not in exasperation.

"Dogs!" Connie shouted abruptly, pointing to the pack creeping back into the vicinity. And like that the two were off, making themselves part of the pack with barks and howls. They dashed after as the animals made a run for it, keeping pace with the pig. Annie wiped her boots before entering the house.

"Her mother is going to be back before long." Was the first thing Annie heard as she moved into the hallway, peeking around the threshold of the kitchen. Reiner had his full form puffed up and arms displayed across his chest. He was having a tense conversation with Balto, the man fired up and red in the face. Nifa held him back by his arm, trying to pacify him, her eyes sad and regretful. Bertholdt looked much the same way: his skin pale, eyes glassy, body hunched and trembling ever so marginally. He looked sick, sick with grief. Annie touched a place on her chest. It hurt.

"That woman?" Balto sneered. "I doubt she'll ever come back. Then you're stuck with her kid!"

"You shouldn't say such things!" Nifa gasped, the noise pained. "Balto, Balto, please…"

The man took a breath, putting himself in a better temper and tone. "I am telling you, you need to take her to the orphanage."

"No!" Bertholdt cried. He shot up to his normal height, that being his way of lashing out. Annie had never seen her uncle so fearful, so passionately agitated about something. All of him was shaking, the quaking clear in his voice. "N-No, no, no, we can't. N-Not the orphanage, no… There is no hope there." He then covered his face and began to sob, softly, though the pain was palpable. Reiner put a loving hand on his brother's shoulder.

"What we do with Annie is none of your business." He said with an icy glare. "She is our responsibility, not yours."

Balto did not show any signs of sobering. He only leaned back with a throaty growl. The movement must have made him detect Annie in the corner of his eye because he looked over, spotting the girl.

"There she is! Spying!"

The next thing Annie knew he had shaken from his wife's hold and was making to grab her, his large hand squeezing her shoulder hard enough to bruise. The girl panicked, she reacted, she did as she was taught and what she thought was needed. Annie ripped the hand from her shoulder and twisted it, the man yelping at her action. She fixed her hold as she lifted her leg. She dipped and swung out, battering the man in his knees. Balto fell with the motion, crashing onto his backside, the house shaking with the impact, Annie running as soon as he hit the ground. The girl flung the door open and did not look back as she raced down the driveway.

.

"Hello, Trost City School of Court Reporting."

"Yes, I need to speak with my mother, she is a student there."

"I am sorry, we're closed for today."

"It is an emergency." Annie tried to enforce the idea by putting distressed emotion in her voice. "Please. Her name is Rico Brzenska."

There was a pause as the receptionist looked through the directory. "… I'm sorry, there is no Rico Brzenska here."

Annie scowled. "Try Rico Woerman."

"… No, sorry…"

"Rico Dietrich? Rico Jarnach? Rico Leonhardt?"

"Miss, are you in some sort of trouble?"

"How can she not be there?" She avoided the question with her frustration. "She just started."

"Miss…" The receptionist began delicately. "Our classes started in December. No one could have possibly just started."

"Damn it." Annie whispered her curse.

"Hello? Miss? Do you need help? Miss?"

Annie hung the telephone upon the peg. She sat down on a log in front of the gas station, staring at her hands distantly.

.

"Oh, my head, my head…"

"Shut up!" Reiner ordered, his glacial look received via the rearview mirror to the backseat. Balto shivered.

The search for Annie had begun as soon as she left, her uncles and Balto loading up into the man's Buick. The night had come quickly and harshly, the moon overshadowed.

Bertholdt hugged his knees to himself, his size uncomfortable in the front seat. He had cooled for Annie's sake and now sat looking for her, fingers picking at a loose fiber of his pants.

"I do not understand why you get to drive my car…" Balto mumbled, shifting the deer steak on his head. "Oh, when I find that kid…"

"Reiner!" Bertholdt gasped, jolting forward suddenly. He saw the blonde hair in the light of the gas station street lamp, the girl herself looking into her lap. "Reiner, there she is!"

The car swerved to a halt. Annie spared the vehicle an apathetic glance, her eyes returning to the paper in her lap.

"Stay in the car." Reiner told Balto as he moved towards the door. He was about to argue, but froze when Bertholdt glowered at him, the man who was never mean finding a reason to be. Balto clammed up and returned to the center.

Annie did not react when her uncles joined her on the log. She continued to study her map, lips pressed. Reiner looked down at the area code map.

"Planning your next move?" Reiner inquired, and Annie nodded, still fixed to her paper.

"Where do you plan on going?" Bertholdt asked.

Annie pointed to an upper area of the map, indicating the 406 area code. "Montana. I want to go where there is no one else. To 'Big Sky Country'."

"… Why are you not going to Trost City where your mom is?"

Annie got a terrible look on her face. She snarled through her nose, her hold almost tearing her paper.

"She is not there. She lied. Again."

The brothers looked at each other sympathetically. They then returned their attention to their niece, Bertholdt swallowing thickly.

"Do… You have a father somewhere?" He asked.

"I do." Annie replied with not nearly as much ferociousness as before. "He left a couple years ago. Mother tells most people he died. But in reality, he moved away, back to his home country. He moved back to Russia."

Bertholdt made a surprised noise. He and his brother looked at one another again, speaking without words.

"You two can quit eye-fucking each other like I don't know what you're saying." Annie told them. "Yes, I know he was Red, Red as they come. Why do you think he moved away? Why do you think my mother says he died?" The girl drew up her knees, burrowing her face into her paper. A gentle shaking of her entire being began, tears welling in her eyes.

"He loved us, you know." The girl choked. "He loved me. He was the one who taught me how to fight, the one that taught me to endure… Uncle Reiner, Uncle Bertholdt, I've been to the orphan home before… I don't want to go back. There is no hope there. There is no love there."

The arm on her back was long and warm, and it quelled her, at least a little. Annie raised her streaked face, looking at her uncle Bertholdt in question. It was then she noticed he was weeping himself, his cheeks outlined in water. His voice was strained.

"Annie, dear, I know. There is no hope, no love, in a place where children are void of it. There is heartache, there is violence, there is suffering, because that is all they know. They do as expected of them because they must."

Annie chilled at seeing her uncle's state. She rubbed away her tears, her smooth nature returning.

"Uncle Bertholdt, are you adopted?" She asked, and he nodded, scrubbing at his own eyes. He took a shallow breath.

"I am. I am a little Greek boy made part of the Braun family." The statement made Reiner chuckle deep in his chest.

"I wouldn't call you 'little', Uncle Bertholdt." And they all laughed, in their own ways, with Reiner and his loud boom and Bertholdt with his uneasy twittering and Annie with her huffing chortle. Annie smiled, and it was beautiful, something to be proud of.

A honking horn sent the trio hopping. Annie glared at the car, Balto flinging himself out of the front, hiding within the shadows of the backseat. Annie sighed, standing and brushing off her skirt. She did not like the look of it with her garden boots.

"I know you would like to go to Montana…" Reiner said, joining his niece in standing. "But it is late, you know." He then laughed again, holding his stomach. "And you sure piss off the relatives! Why don't you do us a favor and stay for a while? Ruffle some feathers, maybe enough to get them to leave us alone…"

"Yes!" Bertholdt agreed, jumping up. "Won't you, Annie? Please?"

Annie hummed in thought. She looked down at the tear-splattered map in her hands, mulling over the idea. She then balled up the paper, throwing the object behind her.

"I guess I could stay a while. Seeing it is so important."

Reiner whooped and Bertholdt smiled joyfully. Annie felt as her two uncles each took an arm to lead her to the car, to the man cowering in the backseat. A twitch of a smile graced her lips.

Annie leaned into the men guiding her.