Sophia thanked the baker as she put the last of the crumpets in her bag. They smelled heavenly of honey and wheat, and she was considering offering one to her obvious tail. That woman needed some sweetness in her life.
As she turned toward the impressive dog show her chest clenched. Coming directly toward her were two older women, one obviously a former Warrior and the other wearing the necklace of a clan leader. I tried, mother, she thought to herself and decided a crumpet right now would be a good thing. She put one in her mouth before they got to her.
"Sophia, daughter of Space Woman Black," said the older woman.
She made a show of trying to chew to clear her mouth of crumpet while stalling. She nodded and smiled as best she could with honey and crumbs tumbling down her chin.
"I am Sithembile Youko, clan leader of the Youko. This is my daughter Bandile Youko." Sithembile grimaced before saying, "My granddaughter goes to your school."
Having choked down her bite and stalled as long as possible Sophia said, "Nice to meet you," she looked at Bandile and said, "I don't really know your daughter, ma'am. Really just met her a couple of days ago."
"Niece," said Bandile, "her mother is my sister. Do you know your aunts, Rainbow girl?"
"Don't have a rainbow yet, Bandile, but soon," she smiled. "I have only met my father's sisters once. And my uncles."
"Does your mother not have sisters?" asked Sithembile.
Sophia felt both these women knew her mother's family tree. If they knew enough to follow her little girl every time she came to the market, they knew about her aunt. "My mother's sister died during the rescue mission on Gamelon." She took another bite of crumpet and stared at them.
"Ahh, yes. I think I had heard that," said Sithembile. "Sorry for your loss."
Bandile glanced at her mother then said, "Sophia, we did not come to quiz you about your family, but to thank you."
"Thank me?"
"Yes, Tomoe told us what you did for the girl Orea," said Sithembile, "That was very brave. Six vs one."
Sophia was completely lost, which she didn't like. What did these people have to do with Orea?
Her expression must have communicated this because Bandile said, "Orea is the daughter of my former commander, General Black Tomahawk. I had many friends who died at the Wall, and we have, well, not really adopted her, but we care."
Sophia arched an eyebrow and said, "About the General, or Orea?"
The other two glanced at each other. "Both, of course," answered the clan leader. "The general is a friend of Youko, and her daughter has spent many days playing in our village with Tomoe."
"Huh, I'd seen the two of them together a lot at school, but like I said, I just met them a couple of days ago."
"Are you saying you'd never met Orea before you attacked her tormenters?"
Sophia shrugged, "I'd seen them around, but hadn't really talked to them or anything." She took a bite small enough to talk around, "But I know Jeza and the Jackals."
Bandies interest picked up, "The Jackals?"
"Oh yeah, you warriors have team names like that, don't you?" Not waiting for an answer, she said, "That's just a name a frenemy of a friend calls them. But it fits. Frankly I thought Orea would do it for me. That girl has a lot of rage in her. Figured they'd have brought it out and she'd destroy them."
The Wild Women looked at her confused.
"Because of her burns?" She looked at them like they were simple. "Every time someone sees her that's the first thing they see. That's how other people refer to her, 'Oh the burned girl.' Or 'She's got the burns.' That must take a toll."
"Are the girls at the Rainbow school so cruel?" asked Sithembile.
"No, of course not. Kindness is taught from day one. But it's like referring to your granddaughter as the 'Wild girl'. It's just the thing everyone notices about them. The difference is Tomoe is proud when they say it. It makes her stronger. But Orea..."
For the first time in their conversation Sophia noticed a smile come on Sithembile's face. Quickly hidden though. "Yes, when we first met her the burns were a shock."
"Truthfully," continued Bandile, "we did not handle it well either. But Tomoe always seemed to ignore it."
Sophia took another bite and said, "Good girl you have there. Like I said, I just met her, but she seems like my kind of friend."
Sithembile's eyes clouded momentarily and then she asked, "Did your mother teach you how to fight, so you could defeat six girls at once? Are the Jackals not forest girls of the north village?"
Sophia laughed and finished off her crumpet. "Look, I'm glad to let a legend build up about that fight, but I didn't defeat six girls." She thought about her mother trying to teach her anything physical and said, "I think Mother considers me too big a clutz to train to fight." Bringing her attention back, "Or too nice. I just got really mad. Punched a couple of them and jumped Jeza. Surprise was my advantage."
She dusted her hands, and said, "I better get going or I'll miss my bus. It was nice meeting you."
Unused to being dismissed, the clan leader froze.
"Hey, could you do me a favor?" Sophia pulled a crumpet from her bag. "Can you give this to that woman over there? She's had a long day following a silly little girl." She nodded at the obvious tail and thrust the crumpet into Bandile's hand. Then she picked up her bag and headed toward the park entrance, leaving the older women confused.