Omnipresence

[Bree Fletcher]

Then the younger one gasped and pointed at Ytha. “It’s a bear! Like me!” she said, giggling.

Kip joined in the laugh. “Mm-hm,”

“I don’t think it’s quite like you, Haley,” their mother said.

“Yes. We are rather different, little one,” Ytha said, as affectionately as she could manage. She couldn’t help but be charmed by Haley.

The girl gave a small shriek when she heard Ytha talk, and dodged behind Kip. Even Dalna gave the Osone a concerned look.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Mrs. Cerbuck said. “How about you help set the table, Kip? You…” she said to Ytha, “just stay out of the way.”

The Osone remained in the front room. She hadn’t been invited anywhere else, and had been told to stay out of the way. She figured here would be the best place to stand. There were some clinks heard from the kitchen, and more than once a playful scream from Haley, filtered through a curtain of chatter. Things like where did Kip go, and why is he back so soon, and where did he get that dangerous-looking sword, here let me take that off of your hands it’ll only get in the way anyhow.

There were footsteps outside, getting closer to the house. It was a thick slurping sound, not unlike what it sounded like getting the last dregs of “military” coffee out of the cup. Ytha noticed she was blocking the entrance, and took a few shuffling steps out of the way, into a corner of the room. On cue, the front door opened and a man in a dark brown, tattered coat was nearly blown into the house. He shifted his glasses with one hand, and started unwrapping his scarf from his neck. The door swung shut behind him with a thunk.

Hearing that, Mrs. Cerbuck shouted, “Terval? Kip’s home, honey!”

“Oh, is he now?” he said back. The man glanced down at the chair and looked down at Kip’s cap. Then he slowly moved his eyes up the length of Ytha’s perfectly still, fur-lined body until he was looking up at her face from an awkward, half-bending position.

He shifted his glasses again. “Hello, there,” Mr. Cerbuck said. No surprise, no hostility; it was just the tone of voice someone would use if they were talking to the traveler next to them on the train platform.

“Hello,” Ytha said back.

“Agnes, did you say we had another guest?” Mr. Cerbuck shouted to the kitchen.

“Oh, yes, we do,” Mrs. Cerbuck said absently.

Terval turned back to Ytha, smiling. “Welcome. Are you staying for dinner? Do, come.” So that was where Kip got his grin from.

He led the Osone into their kitchen, where a number of steaming bowls had been neatly arranged on a small table.

“I didn’t know Kip was getting back, else I would’ve made something a little more interesting,” Mrs. Cerbuck apologized. The bowls contained potato and cabbage stew.

Some failed attempts later with seating, and Ytha had an entire side of the table to herself, sitting on her knees. Haley and Dalna were to her left, Mrs. Cerbuck and Kip to her right, and Mr. Cerbuck directly opposite. Mr. Cerbuck started talking soon after they’d finally gotten the seating arranged, and informed his family that Nix Heckelsey the tanner had died that day, apparently from some sort of bad accident; he had been found in one of the tanning vats, with a large amount of skin melted off. Then he went on to inform them that Urist Pelks’s next of kin had still not been contacted successfully, and that he found it unfortunately likely that they’d simply have to cremate the body because there was no money for rites. The whole time Mr. Cerbuck was speaking he seemed… not exactly happy, but not entirely unhappy about everything either. On the other hand, he did seem involved with these people, and was genuinely disappointed about the misfortunes they had experienced.

Kip must have noticed Ytha’s slight confusion, because he whispered to her, “My dad’s an undertaker. He takes care of the burials and everything in this section of town.”

She wondered how anyone would cope with a job like that. It could very easily be someone you know passing through your hands. A friend, a family member… it could easily numb a person to the idea of death, make them forget that it was even possible once to get upset over it… in short, it could easily make a man like Mr. Cerbuck.

“So where’ve you been this time, son?” Kip’s father asked him.

“We were out in Vandland,” Kip replied. “I saw the way the sea they have there looks, once. It was… Els, you saw it, didn’t you?”

Silence. Ytha herself had almost forgotten that their Advisors weren’t with them when they had gotten off the ship. Mrs. Cerbuck pursed her mouth slightly, and looked down at her plate. The girls stared at their brother, wide-eyed. Mr. Cerbuck chuckled, after a time. “There’s a woman we ought to meet,” he said. “Every time you’re over here, you seem to forget that she’s not with you, despite the fact she’s not even anywhere to be seen. You’ve got a female on the brain.” He tapped the side of his head knowingly, and winked.

“I already told you, she can’t leave the ship,” Kip said.

“Someday, someday…” Mr. Cerbuck muttered.

The meal passed, and Kip helped with the dishes, while a sharp glance from Mrs. Cerbuck made it clear that Ytha was to “stay out of the way” again. Later, suitable bedding was hunted for, and Ytha fell asleep on the floor of a guest room that was nearly too small for her.