#rivervale_lodge

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Soggy message or not...

Jack Flap races through the halls up and down the stairs... bounding, leaping, springing

"Jack!" A call from the kitchen. Hearth Kerri sounds as though she's trying to be patient. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nope. I just figure if trolls are strong I need to be fast... and if I stay socially distanced, I should stay inside..so I dont' get the plague" The boy says "So I'm staying healthy and indoors." Clamber zoom

"That's...." Kerri sighs and then tries to stop him the next time he passes. "That's not what it means. Jack...I've shown you how to wash your hand properly. Have you done it?"

"I got the fronts...that's the part I eat with right?"

"You put the backs near your face, too, and other people might touch any part of your hands. Here, let me show you again. Some people like to sing when they wash, but you don't have to." She leads him to the kitchen sink (complete with helpful step stool), and shows him the process again with her own hands, quietly humming a tune as she does so. "There. Now show me."

he sighs and chants "If you want to defy the plague, wash your hands and don't be vague. Between the fingers, and over the palms. Do it calmly without alarm, soap all around before you stop, also the wrists slop slop slop. Twenty seconds will go quite fast, if you clean yoru hands to last. Back and forth and then you rinse. Washing your hands is manners and sense."

to match the tune his hands mmove and he does use the soap, and then rinses "Did I get it right?"

Kerri watches with some bemusement, and she hands him a clean dishtowel to dry with. "Well, let's see. Hold 'em up."

They are now sparkling clean, why he took long enough that even the dirt under the nails seems mostly gone

"Very impressive. Now...you do not need to stay inside the Lodge. Nor do you need to run away from 'the plague' as you say. Here's what I suggest -- you can still visit with friends, but do not touch each other, and do not stay in a group of more than ten people indoors. You can run and play outside...and as spring is approaching fast, that might be a good thing to do. Hm...wasn't the Chieftain showing you something about gardening?"

"She was!" He says the gardening more important than the other stuff "She's great. She put up my drawing"

"She did." Kerri nods. "Now, I think it would be wise if you got some of that running done outdoors...maybe help wake up the land just a little bit. Not too much, though, or it might get cranky."

"Okay" he says then stops "Miss Kerri, could I ask you something?"

"Of course, Jack. What is it?" She returns to the dish-washing she was doing before getting distracted.

"Do.. you think it's possible... that if they don't find my old parents...that maybe... the He-Chief and Chief Shacklebreaker would.. I mean, they don't have a son yet right?" nervous

Kerri pauses in washing, then sets a dish aside and turns off the water. Drying her hands, she says, "Jack, come and sit a few moments." She indicates a kitchen stool.

He winces as if sure that this is gonna lead to something bad, hunches, and goes to the stool obediently and sits waiting , trying not to fidget.

Kerri takes a moment to also get a plate with three cookies, and puts it on the kitchen table near him. She takes one of the cookies herself, breaking off a piece to eat (perhaps buying time) before asking, "Why is that something you wish for, Jack?"

Mumble mumble something 'like em and they're nice and.." mumble

"I'm glad you like them. They like you, too, I think."

Louder, and emboldened, "Chief is a great mom, and her kids aren't here a lot. And He-Chief.. Mr. Frank, he's missing a kid... and they both show me things and make me feel special. I love em" he says "I bet they could love me too. Like a .. you know, family. And I won't be too much trouble. I won't. I know they probably would want a warrior son but other than that I might be good enough."

A curious look. "Missing a kid? You mean Jessica?"

"And Siv.. because they're practially grown. But I'm still little so I .. have a niche"

Nervous tapping of hooves against the stool.

"Hmm...." She breaks off another bit of cookie to eat, and nudge the plate a little closer to him. "Jack...you are good. It is not a matter of being good enough."

"Then, why not me?" he says "I could be a good son I think" he takes a cookie and munches it, "And I care about them. I want them to be proud. It makes me happy when they're proud and when they tell me things I know they tell me because they wnt me to be better. Isn't that part of it? most of it?"

"Caring and being happy for each other is a great part of being a family. That is why we're all hoping we can find your parents again, so you can all learn to care and be happy for each other again." A pause. "Jack, I don't know if the Chieftain and Mountain are thinking of adopting a child right now. But that does not mean they cannot care and be happy for you, still."

The boy's face falls like a crater opening up beneath his soul, "You mean they dont' want me and I should do what Connor says and stop looking for new parents"

Kerri's voice is quiet. "That's not what I said. And is that what Connor told you?"

"He's hard to understand but I think so" The boy says "he doesnt' want me to get new parents."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Loyalty, because it's betraying your folks not to wait forever even when they don't look for you or want you I guess" Bitter

"Well...I'm not sure I agree with that. And it's true that there are some very unsuitable people who become parents. I can understand why you'd feel resentful that they haven't found you, yet. Do you remember them, Jack?"

"No, not even a little but for some reason I'm supposed to..." Frustration "No I don't remember. I just.. the Chief won't even have to blimp up.. like Tove has. So see how handy that is? The embarrasing part is over! Right? I mean, I'll go kiss crazy as a wilder I know but I promise not to be a jerk about it? What if I promise to never ever cause trouble?" Hopeful "Then maybe they'd take me?"

"Jack, that's an impossible promise to make, and it wouldn't be fair to expect any childling to live up to it." She looks empathetically at the boy, thinking. A quiet pause.

"I don't care about fair, I just want... I... " Tears "I'm sorry, I shouldn't asked. I just... don't know how to make it happen"

She doesn't shush him or try to get him to stop crying, but she does lay a large blue hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you asked. It's important to express how you feel, and what you hope. Things like this, though, can't be forced. You can't make it happen. And sometimes things take patience, and they resolve in ways you never expected." Her voice is calm and gentle.

"But you said they don't want a kid" Sniffle

"I said that I don't think they are considering adopting a child right now," she corrects.

"Well, how do I get em to realize? I mean.. hones is good you say?" He rubs at his eyes "Should I explain to em the many benefits of having a boy? We ... we're cheaper than girls. And not so fussy about ponies. I mean, we smell a bit more but I'll work on that"

"Jack, I think first we have to resolve the question of your own parents, don't you?"

"What if they find them, and they're horrible, and I'm stuck with them, in Memphis..forever"

Kerri sets down her half-cookie, and looks at him very seriously. "If we find your parents, and they treat you badly, or if you would come to harm in their care, we will not leave you with them." It is a firm, simple statement.

His eyes widen "Yeah?" Hopeful

Her brow furrows. "Jack...do you know the Escheat?" Did we overlook this with the boy?

"Yes, the mountain made sure I heard... Right of Rescue.. you're saying that applies" he nods "I guess I should have thunk of that but... I didn't know if it meant even from your own parents"

Kerri hesitates over how much to share. "There is somebody you have met, I think, who was rescued from a harmful parent. It is done. But it is better if the child can stay with the parent. Jack...if they were good and able to support you, would you give them a chance?"