An apology

Unfortunately, there will be no more posts until February, since we are having a screen-free month in January

Etina

PART ELEVEN

Sonia was bored. Never scared, oh no, but bored. The suite of rooms reserved for certain luckier prisoners was extremely comfortable in all but that there was nothing Sonia wanted to do. There was carpet on the floor and nice furniture, but against the wall stood a bookshelf full of nothing but dictionaries!
 She wasn’t sure how long she’d been there. At least two days. A terrified looking woman with an iron anklet had brought her more than enough food, but never stayed long enough for Sonia to say much more than “hello, what's your name? Hey! Where are you going?”.
The encounter in the Cold Forest had reminded her how lonely she had been. How she hadn’t spoken to anyone, properly, since her conversation with Mirabell. She wished there was someone she could talk to. Through experience she had learnt that talking to thin air was a poor substitute for human companionship. She’d gone through all this before in the cold forest, but there, at least, was distraction. The need for shelter and food had given an opportunity to use her mind in other ways than dwelling on such things. Here there was nothing but dictionaries! Sonia was politely awoken from her reverie by the arrival of a short, solemn faced girl in a servant’s uniform, carrying a heavy bag on her shoulder.

 For a moment they both surveyed each other. The girl unslung her bag and took out a piece of paper which she handed to Sonia. 

It said: “My name is Etina. I am to be your servant. Three years ago I was kidnapped from an island near the warmer regions. No one else wanted me because I didn’t talk.” 

When she had finished reading Sonia looked once more at the girl, who was staring expectantly back at her. 

“So your name’s Etina?” The girl nodded. “When you wrote you didn’t talk, um, well, you can talk?” she nodded again. Sonia handed back the paper which Etina took silently and replaced in her bag. “What’s in there?” Asked Sonia, feeling the need for something other than a yes or no question. The girl, instead of answering in words, showed Sonia the contents of her bag. Sonia, less interested in the bag than in Etina speaking, gave it no more than a glance. “We can’t go on like this if you’re going to be my maid.” Etina shrugged, as if to say, 

“maybe not you, but I’m sure I could.” she turned, dragged the sofa to the wall and began to make her bed. It appeared they were both prisoners. Sonia walked disconsolately away.

Apologies for the delay, I have been in the North Island since September and have only just got back