Rose Red: Moving On

[x-klara.livejournal.com]

Klara realizes she has an opportunity to escape and get help, has a surprise reunion with her brother, and learns that there are other people out there who possess unusual gifts.



Klara could hear Coop and his friends trying to hack away at the massive thorny vines, and worse, she could sense the roses' pain, but also that they wanted to protect her.

Standing up, she realized that if she stayed here, Coop would eventually get to her and he might very well slit her throat. But if she could get away...there had to be someone who could help her. The police, maybe. He had always gotten the greenhouse cleared out remarkably quickly whenever police officers came by.

At this point, her fear of being judged for her curse was overridden by her desire to stop her former benefactor. She understood one thing now - it was not her curse that had made him go mad. It was simple human greed.

Klara was conscious of where Coop and his friends were trying to cut through the maze. Taking a few breaths and concentrating as best she could, she made the maze part on the opposite side, filling back up again as she passed through it to safety. And then, Klara Prast ran faster and further than she had ever run in her short life.

By the time she reached the town, she was huffing and puffing, and grateful that she was wearing a long sleeved cotton shirt and nearly ankle-length skirt rather than the woolen clothing she wore mere months before.

She remembered overhearing Coop and his friends crack jokes about cops and donut shops. There was one on the edge of town...and it turned out there was some truth to the joke after all. There were two cars clearly labelled "police" in the parking lot.

Stepping in, huffing and puffing, her grey eyes scanned for police uniforms, and found three officers sitting at a table.

"Please...I need your help," she said urgently.

* * *

"Yes, thank you," Joesph Prast said, shaking the officer's hand. Klara's older brother was dark haired, beardless (his wife had a preference and he'd indulge that) but still modestly dressed. He did carpentry and you could tell it from his hands and the smell of wood dust that clung to him.

With a sigh he went back to the room where his sister was waiting and opened the door. He had not totally sworn off faith, but anyone looking at his little sister and seeing a witch deserved to get punched, "Guten Tag, Klara," the Amish-German still came easily to his tongue, "How are you?" he managed to contain an overly emotional recation.


"Joseph..." Klara's eyes widened, surprised to see her brother. She felt a sense of relief wash over her. Almost immediately after, it was replaced with the overwhelming sea of emotions that she'd barely managed to keep at bay.

She rushed toward her eldest brother, threw her arms around him, and felt the tears stinging her eyes.

"It was so horrible, Joseph...he hit me and he threatened me with a knife when I found out what the hemp plant really did and refused to help and the community thinks I am a witch and...I do not know what I did to deserve being cursed and..."

Her voice cracked and she began to sob uncontrollably as she buried her head into her brother's shoulder.

"Shh," big hands stroked her hair, as Joseph held his sister, "You're not a witch, Klara. You aren't cursed either," he said, wishing to the Lord that his community had not been so strict as to not even have a telephone that he could have taught his siblings to call him if they needed something from one in the near by town. There was a difference in every Amish community, he had learned when he had left, and his, Klara's, was one of the most strict ones there is.

"It's going to be okay now."

"If...if I'm not a witch or cursed, then why can I make plants grow?" she asked, still sobbing a little. "It defies the laws of nature. Normal people cannot do it. It does not feel evil or wrong but...but...I don't understand."

"Look," Joseph said, directing his little sister to sit down, "I'm sure you figured this out the hard way, but while home is right about some things they're wrong about a lot of others. No, most people can't do what you do. I... blast it; I'm not the best person to explain this. When I left home I found out about these type of people but I honestly didn't think I'd ever meat one. There's nothing wrong with you. God made you different, Klara. But he also made you special."

Klara took a moment to mull everything over. Joseph wouldn't lie to her - not even to spare her feelings. And he was right about home being wrong about a lot of things. Some things were correct...but after discovering comfortable clothing that was still modest and did not itch, indoor plumbing, and electricity, those things alone had opened her eyes to the fact that she had grown up in a very different life than most people did.

"So...there are other people who can do what I can?" she asked. It gave her a sense of hope. If there were others just like her, perhaps God made them to help grow all of the trees and other plants that people kept chopping down in order to build factories.

"Well, not exactly what you can do. But do things other people can't," he said, picking up on what his sister was thinking not through any telepathy. But just his own older brother senses, "Honestly, I've never met one before now. But they're no less human than I am, despite what people will try to tell you. Remember 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.' God has a plan for you," here he grinned at his sister, "And it doesn't include this police station. Let me get you home - my home - and we'll talk about it there. And get you something that isn't from a vending machine." Joseph had never developed a taste for excessive processing, carbonation or sugar.

"I have some apple seeds with me," said Klara, sniffling, though she was starting to smile at last. She was safe and she was with her favorite older brother and he didn't think she was a witch. It felt like everything would turn out in the end. "Can we talk about it over apple pie?"

"Absolutely," he said, "Hope they're big apples. I have hungry kids."

****

His wife made a very good apple pie. Klara had helped and after words, while his wife took care of the dishes and putting the kids to bed, Joseph poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the dining room table with his sister.

"Now, Rosebud, we do get to talk. Trust me when I say I have just as many questions as you do about a lot of this. But that's okay, I've been contacted by a school," he started.

"A school?" It seemed odd, but it piqued Klara's curiosity. One thing she had learned was that most people her age were still in school. Klara had always enjoyed school far more than labour, and she rather liked the prospect of starting back in school.

"Yes, it's in upstate New York," Joseph said, "They apparently are a school that specializes in children God has touched with special gifts. To help you figure out how they work and make sure you get a good education, so one day you'll be able to work hard. And have a normal life," he smiled, "Though hopefully not totally like the life back home. That is not normal. It isn't always wrong, but I don't think it suits you anymore than it did me."

"No, it does not," Klara admitted. "I like indoor plumbing and electricity and clothing that isn't made of wool, and I would like to attend school again. Especially at a place where there are other people who also have gifts."

Knowing that other people existed with special gifts was somewhat of a relief. And, if she thought about it, it explained why Coop had not been terribly shocked by seeing a person do what she was capable of. He hadn't told her other people had gifts, though. It was more beneficial to let her think that she was alone.

"What else did the people from the school say?" she inquired. She was curious now.

"Well, where to find you," Joesph said with a smile, "Also I arranged to bring you buy the day after tomorrow. We'll buy you clothes - no jeans - and then we can go see this school. I don't want to keep you here if that's not what's best for you." It wasn't fair to Klara, and it wouldn't be fair to God's plan for his sister.

Klara smiled and nodded. "I would like that," she said, covering her mouth as she felt a yawn coming on. She was tired and it had been a long day. But now that she was safe and knew she wasn't cursed after all, Klara felt she would sleep better than she had in quite some time.