Baptism by Fire, Stacey Doss [reading rainbow books .txt] 📗

you loved traveling with him and your mama when you were smaller.”

“Yeah, I did love to go with them.” Je’ble. Yes, it would be nice to go, to get away. But could she go there, with all the memories of her time with her beloved mother? No, the memories would be too painful. “I don’t know.”

“Well, you think about it, and let me know. Papa will pick up the tickets before he comes home tonight, if you like. I’ll give him a call after lunch to let him know your decision.”

“It would be nice, Mama Joila, but Je’ble has a lot of memories of my mama.”

“Well, you could bring a friend. What about Tatana? Or Cloara?”

A friend might work…yeah…they’d keep her occupied when the memories got too bad. Hmm, it could work. But who to take? “Yeah, let me check. When does Papa think we should leave?”

“He suggested tomorrow or the next day.”

“Tomorrow? Why so fast?”

Joila looked away and swallowed. “No reason. He just thought you should get away for a bit. That’s all.”

Arlissa was skeptical. Joila was acting awfully funny, like she was nervous. Arlissa wanted to dig for more information, but she knew Joila would be closed-mouthed. She sighed. “Okay. I’ll give Tatana and Cloara a call.” Excitement and dread warred within her as she grabbed the comm-cell and hid herself in her room. She pressed the five buttons to connect to Tatana, then held the handset against her ear.

Tatana answered on the second buzz. “Hello?”

“Tatana, it’s Arlissa.”

“Hey, girl! What’s up?”

“Not a whole lot. How’s the party prep going?”

“Slow. We have pretty much all the decorations, and of course Mama can’t cook for it until that week, so we’re just in limbo for awhile. I need to get my outfit, but Mama and I are planning to visit Blen’hran in a few days. We are waiting for the new shipment from the coast.”

Of course, Arlissa thought. She swallowed the sarcastic comment before she voiced it. “So, I was wondering if you’d be able to go to Je’ble with me. Papa wants me to get away for a bit, but I don’t want to go alone.”

She could almost hear Tatana working through the pros and cons of the trip on the other end. She waited, a little impatiently, for Tatana’s answer.

“When?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? There’s no way I could be ready by then. It’d take me three days just to pack.”

No kidding. And then you’d have six hundred bags to keep track of. “Oh. Well, I guess I could ask Cloara.”

“Wait…I didn’t say I couldn’t. Let me think a minute.” The line went silent. Arlissa forgot how jealous Tatana was of Cloara. For some reason, the two girls were always in competition with each other, and the mere mention of the other’s name would set them in a tizzy. Arlissa preferred to stay out of it. “I think it could be done. Let me check with my parents, just to be sure, and I’ll let you know in a few minutes.”

“Okay.” The line went dead before she could finish the response. Maybe it’d be better to go alone, she thought, Tatana would drive me nuts. I should have called Cloara first.

She paced her room. She hated waiting. The excitement was overcoming the dread, and she wanted to finalize plans so she could pack and go. The comm-cell buzzed. “Hello?”

“Hey, Lissa. My parents are okay with it. Mama thought maybe some of the exotic plants from Je’ble would look great at the party, and this would save us having to make a special trip. What time are we leaving?”

“Let’s leave first thing in the morning. I’ll meet you at the spaceport, say, an hour after sun-up?”

Tatana groaned. Arlissa was waiting for her to change her mind, almost hoping she would. “Okay. I guess I could manage. I’ll just sleep on the trip. I better get off here and start packing. Now, what to take…” she trailed off as she disconnected the call.

“Bye,” Arlissa responded into the silent comm-cell. She left to find her step-mother, who was sitting in the living room, gazing out the picture window.

“Mama Joila, I think I will go to Je’ble. I’ve asked Tatana to go with me, and she is going to meet me at the ship in the morning. Do you think Papa would mind flying the Robin to take me to the ship?”

“No, honey, I’m sure he wouldn’t. I’ll call him here shortly to confirm the plans and get him to purchase the tickets. Why don’t you go ahead and start packing; that way you don’t have to worry about forgetting anything in the morning.”

“Good idea. I’ll see you at supper.” Arlissa headed back to her room, stopping at her parents’ bedroom to take a peek at her little brother. Jor was sleeping away, taking one of his two or three daily naps. She looked forward to the time when Jor was old enough to run around, although she was the only one. Both Joila and Papa had told her they wanted the baby to stay little and cuddly. Arlissa knew when she first started walking destruction had been left in her wake: shelving wiped clean, books and knick knacks littering the floor. She’d been a clumsy child, more than was normal for a toddler, and the house testified to the fact. Papa said he wasn’t quite ready for a repeat.

Arlissa continued to her room, leaving the sleeping baby to his dreams. She stood, hands on hips, as she looked around. Her bed, heaping with quilts and pillows, stood in the far corner, pressed against the wall. At the foot of the bed, an old, beat-up chest held some of her most cherished toys and mementos: a stuffed bear she’d had since birth, dolls and their clothes from the best shops in the city, and a picture frame with a wrinkled photograph of her mother.

She pulled out a suitcase which was crammed in the back of her overflowing closet. Piles of clothes followed, heaping in front of the closet door. She pulled item after item from the heap and the rack, tossing this one on the bed, that one into another pile beside her. Periodically she would hold up two similar tops, looking from one to the other and back until finally deciding on one. Skirts, shoes, blouses, tunics, hats – these were sorted through and either selected or rejected. After an hour, she had a mountain of clothes and accessories perched precariously on her bed, and others strewn all over the floor. It looked as if a clothes bomb had exploded. She climbed over and waded through the mess, kicking and scooting the chaos into a semblance of order. “I can’t believe I have these many clothes,” she exclaimed in disbelief.

Reaching her bed, she sat down on the very edge, gently, trying to keep from toppling her stack and having to start the sorting process all over. She grabbed the suitcase, and began folding the various items and stacking them into the open space. The suitcase was full to bursting long before the pile was removed. She stood, finger on chin, and began the selection process again. Clothes flew over her shoulder, and a striped and frilled blouse draped over her father’s head as he peeked into the room. “Hey, easy!” he exclaimed as he plucked the shirt off.

Arlissa jumped and whipped around. “Sorry, Papa!”

“Packing, I see.”

“Yeah.” She watched as he gingerly picked his way through her mess. She scooted the pile on her bed over to give him room to sit down. She began cleaning up.

“So, Joila says you have a friend going with you. That’s great!”

“Yeah.”

“Are you excited?”

“I guess. I’m more surprised, though. It seems a little, um, suspect, maybe? Yelling at me last night, then sending me on vacation today.”

“I can see your point. I’m not sending you away because I’m mad. Please don’t think that. I really think you could use some time away.” He looked out her window.

Okay, Papa, now you’re acting weird. What’s going on with this family? “So, why are you really trying to get rid of me?”

He started. “I’m not trying to get rid of you.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, and now just seems like a good time.”

“Oh.”

“Besides, I’m going to be pretty busy for awhile, and hardly home.”

“Working with the Mercs?”

“Yes.”

“Will they be here?”

“For a few days.”

“Ah. You’ll keep Jor safe, right? You won’t let him get sick?”

“Yes, he’ll be fine.”

She heard a slight catch in his voice, and she looked at him in doubt. “What’s going on, Papa?”

“Nothing, nothing. Everything’s fine.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“There’s just a lot of rumors going around that the Khartoonians are preparing for war. That’s all.”

“Is that why you’re sending me away?”

“No, I just want you to be happy, and you’ve been so miserable since your mother passed away. I want you to go to the resort, relax, have fun, and find that happy girl you used to be.”

“Okay, Papa. I believe you.” Not really, but you won’t tell me the truth, anyway, she thought.

“Good.” He rose. “I’m going to see what Joila has for supper. Don’t be too long,” he added as he exited the room.

She finished packing, pushing hard on the top of the suitcase to get it closed. Once snapped, she groaned as she moved it to the floor near her door then swept her bed clean. She surveyed the room. “I’ll clean it up when I get back. A week won’t kill it.” She walked out the door and down the hall to join the family for supper.

Jor was in high spirits. He beat the table with his spoon, giggling and gurgling in accompaniment. Arlissa tweaked his ear as she passed him, and he turned to look. A big smile split his face and he reached out his arms to his big sister. She pulled him from the chair and snuggled him on her lap. Joila placed a steaming plate of vegetables and bread before Arlissa, and she breathed in the aroma. “Mmmm,” she hummed as she recognized the sliced carrots, chunks of white potatoes, green peas and beans, and yellow squash, all fried in butter.

Kerl sat at the head of the table, and Joila took her place at his right. They all bowed their heads as Kerl prayed. Silence reigned at the table as they feasted on the garden mix, except Jor, who kept up an unintelligible commentary about each spoonful he swallowed. They finished, and Arlissa placed the boy on the floor to play as she helped clear the table.

“Mama, do you know why Papa wants me to take this trip so badly?” she asked as she helped clean the dishes.

Joila swallowed then answered, “He wants to see you relax. You’ve been tense lately, and not the happy girl he remembered, so he wants you to get away and find that joy again.”

Obviously scripted, Arlissa thought as she looked at her step-mother with skepticism. I won’t get answers from her. “Oh. That’s what he said.”

“So, do you have everything worked out with Tatana?”

“Yes, she’s going to meet me at the port.”

“Are you all packed?”

“Yeah, all