Page 73 of Hollow
With that in mind, I get dressed for the day. When I head out to use the washroom, I smell a hearty breakfast of fried pork and eggs, the smell of freshly ground coffee and chicory, and hear Famke and my mother speaking in Dutch in the kitchen. I wish I could understand what they’re saying—my parents didn’t bother trying to teach me their mother tongue—but I at least know that they’re having a disagreement over something.
When I’m finally ready, sticking the final pins up in my hair, I make my way to the dining room table, where my mother is seated reading the weekly newspaper. She glances up at me but doesn’t say anything. I take my seat across from her as Famke comes in and gives me my breakfast.
“Thank you,” I say to her, and while her smile is warm for me, she turns frosty again as she glances at my mother and heads back to the kitchen.
After my altercation in the barn with Brom last night, I stayed with Snowdrop for a while. Her energy had changed after him being there, becoming anxious and pawing at the ground. It took time to calm her, and I was in no hurry to go back inside and face my mother and the Van Brunts. By the time I did go back in the house, the Van Brunts had left, my mother had already retired to bed, and Famke was cleaning up. I wanted to talk to her more about our discussion earlier, but I was tired, and she seemed a little closed off, like she’d already said too much.
“They’re having the annual bonfire this Friday,” my mother says as she scans the newspaper, her pair of spectacles held at her eyes. “If we move you to the school on Saturday, it would be a nice way to spend your last night here. You could go with Mary.”
Mary. I feel a pang of guilt. I’ve neglected her ever since I started school. In the beginning, she would often be waiting by the fence to meet me and Mathias on the way home, and after Mathias stopped riding with me, I only saw her once or twice. I should reach out to her and soon. She’s the only thing in my life that is relatively normal, though I’ll be even further removed once I start living at the school.
“I’ll make sure to ask her,” I say. Then against my better judgment, I say, “I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to lose my temper.”
My mother lowers her glasses and gives me a small smile. “It’s quite alright. I know things are overwhelming right now. In time, everything will make sense again. Just focus on your studies and on Brom.”
“Can I ask you something?”
Her expression stiffens slightly, wary of what I’m going to ask. “Of course.”
“Why do you want me to marry Brom so much? Why did you and the Van Brunts promise us to each other at such a young age?”
She lets out a laugh. A nervous laugh. “Oh. To be honest, it was all your father’s idea.”
Lies. She’s lying right to my face.
“Why?” I press. “We were wealthy. We had far more money than the Van Brunts. Why would he want me to marry someone lower-class?”
“Katrina,” she admonishes me. “Lower-class? Just because your father had a lot of money when I married him doesn’t make us any better than them. Really, after the way you treated them last night and now these haughty thoughts, I think you should be directing these questions at yourself. Look inward for a change, hmm?”
And at that, she gets up in a huff, placing her glasses and paper on the table.
I watch as she goes over to her bedroom and shuts the door behind her.
Shutting me and any of my questions out.
I let out a growl of frustration, and the coffee cups on the table start rattling violently, the dregs of coffee spilling over the edges, even though I’m not touching anything.
Goodness me. What the devil is happening?
Famke comes into the dining room and eyes the mess.
“Did you do this?” she asks.
“I guess so,” I say.
“Your magic,” she says, lowering her voice, her eyes darting to my mother’s room. “It’s coming out in times of duress. It’s unfocused.”
“I thought you didn’t know anything about magic,” I say.
“I said I’m not a witch,” she explains in a hurried whisper. “But as I said, I listen, and I watch. I know what magic looks like when it’s waning and when it’s coming into power. If I were you, I’d bring this up with your teacher. Professor Crane. Him and no one else. I think he’ll know what to do with you.”
Another thing for me to worry about, I think as I get to my feet and try to help clean up, but Famke shoos me away and tells me to get on with my day.
I glance at the clock. I wanted to get to Crane’s class early so I could talk to him, which means I’m going to have to rush.
Luckily, it doesn’t take long for me to tack up Snowdrop and lead her out of the stable, but then I see Brom mounted on Daredevil outside the house, talking about something with my mother.
Shoot. I really thought if I left early enough, I’d also miss having to ride with Brom. I’m still not sure what I have to say to him. Do I apologize? Do I stay mad? Is he still the friend I always had? Is he someone else now?