{"id":1712,"date":"2016-12-11T11:47:24","date_gmt":"2016-12-11T16:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vg-ford.com\/?p=1712"},"modified":"2016-12-11T11:47:24","modified_gmt":"2016-12-11T16:47:24","slug":"advent-day-11-the-scent-of-oranges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/?p=1712","title":{"rendered":"(advent) Day 11 – The scent of oranges"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday, December 11<\/span><\/p>\n

Normally, the bookstore smelled like cookies, tea, and the wonderful smell of books, combined with woodsmoke from the stove, and the subtle fragrances that Molly and Aunt Margie wore. But today, when Lily came into the store with her mother, her sister, and Jack, there were new smells that hit her nose: sharp citrus, bright and sweet, and the spicy smell of cloves. \u201cI wonder what Molly is baking,\u201d she said, taking a deep breath. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t smell like her normal cooking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I smell oranges,<\/span><\/i> Jack agreed. <\/span>And maybe lemons.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe she\u2019s making more cookies!\u201d Kaylee said, running ahead and into the tea room. Lily shook her head, but followed her. Kaylee really had only two speeds: running, and running faster. It exasperated Lily sometimes, but she had to admit that a lot of it was because she wished she could just run ahead too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes growing up was not as fun as it was made out to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHey, guys! We beat you!\u201d Gideon said, waving to them madly from where he and Kiaya were sitting. He had a crayon in one hand, and there was a coloring book in front of him. Kiaya, instead of writing, was actually sitting with a cup of tea and a book. There was a half-eaten sandwich on a plate next to her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou did!\u201d Corrine agreed, smiling. \u201cWe had to go see folks before we could come over.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw my grandma!\u201d Kaylee said. \u201cShe\u2019s making us scarves and mittens!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWow, really?\u201d Gideon said. \u201cThat\u2019s cool!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lily went and snuggled up next to Schrodinger, who was napping in his bed but made room for her. Then she pulled out her notebook and began to write.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today we saw Grandma and Grampa,<\/span><\/i> she wrote. <\/span>Grandma has new yarn that she\u2019s making stuff for us with. My yarn is purple, with bits of blue and red in it, and she\u2019s going to make me a scarf with pockets on the ends. And mittens, if she has enough. Kaylee asked for new mittens for her yarn, because she was playing with Jack and ripped one of hers. Mom was not happy about that.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

She has yarn for you too, Zoey! And she said she\u2019ll make you a scarf that matches mine! Your yarn is blue, with bits of green and yellow in it, and it\u2019s really pretty! I think you\u2019ll like it.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

She paused and looked out over the tea room. For a Sunday, it was quiet: Kiaya and Corrine were talking while Gideon and Kaylee colored, and Jack supervised. At one of the other tables, Mr. and Mrs. Dorr were sitting. She was knitting something little, not the normal blankets she worked on, and Lily wondered if it was something for a baby. He was reading out loud to her, and there was a pot of tea on the table in between them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only other person in the tea room (and that was odd, because it was usually full on Sunday afternoons, after church got out) was an older woman that Lily had never seen in the Cove before, sitting with a cup of tea and a plate of Molly\u2019s cranberry-nut bread. Her long, dark hair was intricately braided into two plaits that hung down on either side of her head, held back with an embroidered headpiece or scarf (Lily couldn\u2019t decide which it was, but it was gorgeous), and the embroidery was echoed in the long coat she wore. There was another, plainer coat on the chair next to her, obviously her overcoat, but the embroidered coat was a riot of orange, red, green, and blue, with beads and what looked to be pearls worked into the stitching. Underneath the coat was a white shirt with long, flowing sleeves – almost like Pavel\u2019s sleeves on his pirate shirts, although these did not end in lace cuffs. The bottom edges of the coat brushed her knees, and Lily could see that her dark green pants were loose and also embroidered up the sides. Her feet were enclosed in stout black boots.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was bent over a book, her dark lips moving silently as she read to herself. Lily knew she was staring, but she couldn\u2019t look away. The woman was more exotic than she\u2019d seen in a long time, and for someone living in Carter\u2019s Cove, that was saying a lot.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was just about to say something to Schrodinger when a more familiar figure came rushing into the room, and headed straight for the woman. \u201cMama!\u201d Starsha cried, her vibrant voice filling the entire room with its music. The Mareesh girl was dressed in similar robes to her mother, something Lily hadn\u2019t seen her wear before but now realized must be traditional garb from the village she was originally from. <\/span><\/p>\n

The older woman looked up, the star-shaped irises in her dark eyes unmistakably Mareesh. \u201cStarsha!\u201d Then she said something in a different, more liquid language, and embraced her daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

The noise had awoken Schrodinger, and he nosed Lily. <\/span>Still writing?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYes. It helps me remember things.\u201d Lily turned the page and put her pen away in her bag, exchanging it for a pencil. Then she began to sketch the two women as they bent over the book the older woman had been reading. The book itself was large, and brightly colored; Lily wondered what it was.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s really good,<\/span><\/i> Schrodinger said, looking at the drawing as she finished it. <\/span>I had no idea you liked to draw like that!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d Lily said, putting the pencil away as Molly came out of the kitchen, carrying the advent castle. They got up and joined the others to look for that day\u2019s number.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do we smell oranges?\u201d Lily asked Molly, as they looked for the 11 on the castle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Molly indicated the two Mareesh women. \u201cStarsha\u2019s mother Pallavi brought me oranges and lemons from her home as a thank-you gift for the friendship I\u2019ve shown Starsha over the past few years. Don\u2019t they smell amazing?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey do!\u201d Lily agreed.<\/span><\/p>\n

There it is!<\/span><\/i> Jack said suddenly. <\/span>Look, it\u2019s there, on the right side of the castle!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Kaylee pressed the 11 next to the window, which was surrounded by a flowering vine. The window opened and showed them a room piled high with citrus fruits in baskets, surrounding a couple of young women who were seated in a circle. There were wooden trays of what looked like twigs next to them, and they were busy poking holes into the fruit, and sticking twigs in them.<\/span><\/p>\n

As one of them reached in for another twig, she knocked the tray, and they went flying everywhere. One flew out the window, transforming as it landed in Kaylee\u2019s outstretched hand into a note that she handed to her sister to read.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSpice and citrus keep things safe, as well as enjoyable,\u201d Lily read. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you make some pomanders too?\u201d She looked up at Molly. \u201cWhat\u2019s a pomander?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t Molly who answered her. Starsha and her mother had joined them, and now the Mareesh girl said, \u201cPomanders are special ornaments that my people hang up every Advent season, to keep the good spirits happy, and the bad spirits away. That is part of the reason we have so much citrus.\u201d She handed a small jar to Lily, which had more of the twigs in it. \u201cThese are cloves,\u201d she said, as Lily opened the jar and a heady spicy scent wafted out. \u201cWe put them into the citrus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can also chew them,\u201d Pallavi said, her voice a richer version of her daughter\u2019s. \u201cThey make your breath fresh, and can dull tooth pain if you have it. Cloves are a special spice, and one we cherish.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lily shook out one of the little cloves and put it in her mouth. The taste, sharp and spicy and warm, exploded on her tongue, which then went a little numb. \u201cWow, that\u2019s weird!\u201d she said, chewing the little bud. \u201cBut good!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The others tried it as well, even Jack, and all of them agreed with her. Weird, but good.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo we are making pomanders?\u201d Kaylee said eagerly. \u201cWill we hang them here?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cActually, I thought it might be nice to hang them downtown at the shops down there,\u201d Molly said, picking up the castle. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you guys settle in here, and I\u2019ll bring out the oranges after I put this away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lily followed her into the kitchen. \u201cMolly, can I ask you a question?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOf course you can,\u201d Molly said, bringing the castle into the pantry. When she came back out, she said, \u201cWhat\u2019s up, peanut?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The affectionate diminutive made Lily smile, but it didn\u2019t dissuade her from the question she had to ask. \u201cWhy are we decorating the Cove?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Molly stopped and looked at her, blinking. \u00a0\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know something\u2019s up,\u201d Lily said seriously. \u201cThe other Advent calendar had us doing stuff in the area, but this seems to be pushing us to do something every day to make something, and it leaves things around the Cove. Why?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDoes there have to be a reason?\u201d Molly asked her in return.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lily thought about that as Molly piled oranges and lemons on a tray, and then said, \u201cYes, I think it does. You seem to know everything we\u2019re doing ahead of time. There\u2019s got to be a reason, and I think Schrodinger knows it. But you don\u2019t want us know – maybe because you think we\u2019re too young?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, if you\u2019re asking the question, I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re too young,\u201d Molly admitted. \u201cBut I think maybe you shouldn\u2019t tell Kaylee and Gideon.\u201d She turned and faced her niece. \u201cDo you remember Caliban?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe spirit that was courting the Snow Queen at the same time that Jack was? Sure. He didn\u2019t seem to be a very nice man,\u201d Lily said. \u201cBut didn\u2019t he go to jail?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, but he broke out,\u201d Molly said. \u201cAnd because he originally helped make the protections on the Cove, the Snow Queen and Jack were worried that he might come back here and make more trouble.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo they\u2019re having us redo the protections? Is that it?\u201d Lily said, putting everything together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Molly nodded. \u201cJade thought it might be better to have you guys do it, since the Cove really belongs to you, not to them,\u201d she explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDo you really think he might come back?\u201d Lily asked her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Molly said honestly, looking down at her niece. \u201cBut I think we\u2019re better off being safe, rather than sorry.\u201d She picked the tray up. \u201cCome on. Let\u2019s go and make some pomanders.\u201d Then she stopped, before they went out the door. \u201cAnd let\u2019s not talk about Caliban in front of the others. I don\u2019t think they need to worry about something that may not happen, okay?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d Lily agreed, following her aunt back out to the table, where Gideon, Kaylee, Jack, and Schrodinger were waiting for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pallavi and Starsha joined them to put the pomanders together, pricking the tender skins of the oranges with pins before inserting the cloves into the holes. Then Pallavi showed them how to wrap ribbons around the oranges and pinning them down, creating a strip to hang them from. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hang them in all the windows of our homes,\u201d Pallavi told them in her rich voice. \u201cAnd once the citrus dries out in the sunlight, we move them to the closets, and they stay for years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese will go down to the Tin Shop, and the other stores down in Market Square,\u201d Molly said, as they continued to work through the pile of citrus. \u201cSo let\u2019s keep going!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As she pricked oranges, Lily\u2019s mind went back to Caliban. The last time she had seen him was at the Snow Queen\u2019s Ball, where he had seemed to be more sad than anything else. <\/span>I wonder if he\u2019s just lonely,<\/span><\/i> she thought. <\/span>Loneliness is bad. Especially at Christmas.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

<><><\/span><\/p>\n

Before he\u2019d made the last Gate transfer, Caliban had stopped on the outskirts of the village to make his preparations. After his meeting with the Librarian, he had decided that his ultimate goal did need to be Carter\u2019s Cove, but he didn\u2019t want to be discovered. Luckily, he had a solution.<\/span><\/p>\n

It took some time, but he had time. All the time in the world, if he was truly honest with himself. He carefully pulled all his magic to his core, and then layered shield after shield around it. Then, once he was satisfied that no one could detect his essence, he began to shift his face and body.<\/span><\/p>\n

When he was done, he leaned over the clear stream that ran alongside the road and inspected himself. Caliban the prince had had long, dark hair, dark eyes, and a pale, haughty face. This new Caliban (and he needed another name, because Caliban would be too recognizable) was still pale, but his face was covered with a dark, scruffy beard, trending a little to grey at the edges, and his face was square-jawed, rather than long and narrow. His eyes were hazel and larger than they had been, and his ears were hidden by more long, greying hair. The clothing he wore was serviceable and bland, \u00a0nothing like the silks and satins he\u2019d worn as a prince, but he found the soft cotton more pleasing to wear against his skin. <\/span><\/p>\n

Standing back up, he settled his pack on his shoulders, picked up the walking stick he\u2019d cut from a large branch he\u2019d found on the side of the road, and walked into the village.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere to, my friend?\u201d the Station technician asked affably. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCarter\u2019s Cove,\u201d Caliban said, and his voice sounded different – deeper, older, and more tired. It matched how he felt, he realized.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBusy place,\u201d the Station tech said, typing the destination in on his console. \u201cName?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPerry,\u201d Caliban said after a moment of consideration. \u201cPerry Wandell.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The tech typed that in as well, and after a moment, said, \u201cIf you don\u2019t mind waiting a few minutes, Mr. Wandell, there\u2019s a cart coming through, heading to the Cove. You could probably ride in with them, depending on where in the Cove you\u2019re going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t thought that far in advance, actually. \u201cI\u2019m not sure,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI\u2019m assuming there\u2019s an inn or something?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, several,\u201d the tech said. \u201cWhat are you looking for?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust a place to lay my head for a few days, maybe longer,\u201d Caliban said. He hitched his pack up. \u201cBut nothing very fancy.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The old Caliban would have never have allowed those words to come from his mouth. The new Caliban realized how true it was. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen I would suggest the boarding house run by old Captain Hoskins and his wife,\u201d the tech said. \u201cIt\u2019s down by the harbor, but close enough to walk into Market Square and Town Square. You\u2019ll have plenty to do, and Mrs. Hoskins is a good cook. Plain food, but plenty of it, and a clean room.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d Caliban said politely. \u201cIt sounds perfect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When the cart rolled through a few minutes later, the tech stopped the driver, a giant of a man with a surprising light voice, and asked if Caliban could ride along. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOf course!\u201d the giant said. \u201cI would love company! Come on up!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Caliban climbed up next to him, and the giant offered a friendly handshake. \u201cI am called Monk,\u201d he said. \u201cHow may I call you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m called Perry,\u201d Caliban said, accepting the handshake. \u201cJust traveling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Monk nodded, and shook the reins. The large draft horse stirred and began placidly walking through the arch, onto the Road and off to Carter\u2019s Cove.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caliban wondered just what would be waiting there for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

>Activity: make pomanders like the others did! (<\/span>http:\/\/www.simplebites.net\/how-to-make-spiced-orange-pomander-balls\/<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday, December 11 Normally, the bookstore smelled like cookies, tea, and the wonderful smell of books, combined with woodsmoke from the stove, and the subtle fragrances that Molly and Aunt Margie wore. But today, when Lily came into the store with her mother, her sister, and Jack, there were new smells that hit her nose: …<\/p>\n

>>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-1712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent","tag-advent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1712"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1713,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1712\/revisions\/1713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vg-ford.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}