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Chapter 19 Tapki was just as he seemed, a very serious, dull man that was good at what he was paid to do and cared for little else. He smiled rarely and laughed even less, though Katrina believed he had that he had to do both at least once in awhile or else die of boredom. “Don’t they get cold?” Katrina kept close to Tapki’s heels as they moved across the soft green lawn in the middle of the night. “It’s freezing out here.” “The fur of the Olveck is very warm and when they sleep they do it in a pile and share body heat.” Katrina wrapped her arms tighter around herself and nodded, never losing step. Before they were within a few meters of the Olveck pen the animals began chirping and jumping about in the darkness. Light from the unshaded windows of the school reflected off the pure white coats of the fist-sized animals and made them seem as though they glowed in the darkness. “They smelled their dinner coming,” Tapki said as he stopped before the wire fence and began pulling handfuls of squirming maggots from the two metal pails he had been carrying. “Come on, girlie, it’s time to get to work.” Katrina held her breath and plunged her hand into the disgusting mess. She closed her eyes, as though that would stop the feel or smell, and quickly grabbed a handful. She tossed it at the fence but it did not make it over. The Olvecks cheeped angrily as they watched part of their dinner fall to the ground out of reach and Tapki clicked his tongue at her as he launched two fistfuls over the fence. “Keep going, you’ll get it before long.” Katrina tried again, feeling her stomach protest the move but she only pushed it back down and reminded herself that she had actually persuaded Madame Zinkrey to let her help with the Olvecks. She called herself an idiot for doing so but followed Tapki’s example. Most of the maggots flew over the fence, only a few fell short. For a fraction of a second Katrina celebrated her success, then those that hadn’t made it over fell on her head and she did lose her dinner. “Better toughen that stomach up,” Tapki called as he continued to feed the Olvecks. “You can’t be doing that too often.” Katrina wiped her mouth with the back of her hand but said nothing. She watched the Olvecks fight one another for the best feeding position and saw the little balls of fur actually expand as they ate. Amazed, she took note of the larger balls of white fluff pushing the smaller ones farther back from the main piles of food and realized that the size difference wasn’t because of age but hunger. Katrina closed her eyes so that they were only open a tiny slit and concentrated on lifting the larger Olvecks up and pulling them back to the area they had relegated the smaller creatures to. With a deep breath she opened her eyes and saw the larger Olvecks trying to fight their way back to the front. She smiled at her small accomplishment as well as the fact that the small ones were far too thrilled to have the endless supply of food to allow the larger ones anywhere near it. “Makes little difference,” Tapki said mildly. “They’ll just push their way up there again next time.” “Then I’ll just move them away again next time,” Katrina replied defensively. “Right.” “I will! You think I can’t? I can!” “Not if you’re not here. I’ve seen your type before. Did something wrong and got stuck out here with old Tapki. You’ll go back in crying to Zinkrey about how awful it is, begging forgiveness for whatever you did, and you’ll be gone by tomorrow, next week at the latest. I’ve had ‘helpers’ before, they come and go but only Tapki stays.” “I told Madame Zinkrey to give me this job,” Katrina protested stubbornly. “I’m not going to ask to leave it.” “Little girls change their minds often. You’d rather be in there, giggling with your friends and thinking of little boys or dresses or making up fantasy stories to wile away the hours. Tapki lives in real life, the here and now and none of that fits. The Olvecks may one day make your dresses, but that is a long ways off and far less interesting than trying them on.” “Olvecks don’t make dresses. They make the uniforms and it’s Tabi that really makes them.” “Oooh, met Tabi have you? Find her scary? Or do you laugh at her?” Katrina looked at the man, puzzled. She did not understand what he was talking about. When she did not answered he turned away with a sound of disgust that made Katrina realize that she had given him the wrong impression. “I like Tabi. She’s nice to me and tells me stories. She taught me to sew and even made me some clothes beside my uniform, but you can’t tell anyone. Madame Zinkrey would be very upset and punish both of us if she knew.” Tapki snorted and picked up his empty pails. Katrina followed him back into the school. She followed him through the outer room where they took off the worn coats the school and Madame Zinkrey had loaned them, as well as the heavy boots, and rinsed out the pails for the next day’s morning meal. Katrina used a soiled, frayed towel to dry the pails as Tapki began locking up the outer room and preparing it for the night. “When is the Olveck fur turned into fabric?” Katrina asked shortly before leaving for her bedroom. “In a month we will shave the rodents and bring them in for hibernation. If you’re still here, that is. Then the fur is processed and turned to thread then woven. It is a long process that would bore you, no doubt.” “Sounds interesting,” Katrina shrugged before turning down the corridor to the sound of the bell warning of the approaching lockdown. |
