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“How did you get on today, sweetie?” Saffron’s mother, Anna, said as she walked through the door after school.
Saffron held up her book and frowned at her mother. “I got my book, but Frau Hood wouldn’t answer my questions.”
Anna blew a blonde curl out of her eyes as she kneaded the bread dough on the aged wooden pastry board. “What questions did you have? Maybe I can help.”
Saffron dumped her new book down on the sturdy kitchen table. The resounding thud as the leather slapped against the solid oak surface made Anna jump. “What if the Chosen One doesn’t want to go to the City? Does Adala make them leave?”
“I can honestly say, sweetheart, that hardly any children want to stay here once they have the option to leave.”
“But why? This is our home.”
Anna sighed. “Most of the children have visited the City for several years beforehand. The sights, the smells, the busyness of it attracts them to want to know more.” She lifted her head and gave her daughter a beaming smile. “You’re thirteen now, Saffron. You’ll soon be adventuring on the monthly supply trips. Then you will understand why no Chosen Ones have come back.”
“What if there isn’t a suitable child for the Offering? Then what?”
Sadness filled Anna’s sky-blue eyes. “There is always a suitable child, sweetie.”
“But what if, by some freak incident, there isn’t?”
“Saffron, sweetie, you really do think about things too much.”
Saffron sighed. “When is the next Offering? Four years?”
Anna nodded.
“What if all the children who will be seventeen that year have gone by then.”
Anna gave a gentle laugh. “That won’t happen, Saffron. Are you forgetting our most basic law?”
A lightbulb went off in Saffron’s head. “No child under the age of eighteen shall leave Sehrstadt.”
“Exactly,” Anna said. “That’s not just for your protection, that’s for ours, too. Babies are being born every year, but should something happen where that doesn’t happen, we can perhaps negotiate with the forest spirits to offer a different child.”
“Why is it for our protection that we don’t leave Sehrstadt until we’re eighteen?”
“Because the City is an unforgiving modern monster. Who do you think would help someone who dresses like we do, has no money, and no sense of society? Money is a pivotal thing in the City, Saffron. Without money, you would starve to death, if you didn’t die from thirst first. City people are too wrapped up in themselves to consider helping anyone who lives like we do. They judge you on your looks and how worthy you are of their time as a result.” Anna let out a long sigh. “And the sad thing is, if you were any younger than that, going into the City alone, there are some very unsavoury characters out there who would exploit you in ways you can’t even imagine.”
Saffron looked down at her ankle length, full sleeved pink dress. “What’s wrong with the way we dress? And what do you mean they would exploit us? How?”
Anna smiled as she reached for the bread tin. “You’re a little too young to go into details of that with, Saffron.” Anna looked at her daughter and gave her a warm smile. “I tell you what, I’ll have a word with Herr Schulz and see if we can get you on the next supply trip. Then you can answer your own questions about the City.”
“Really?” Saffron squealed and clapped her hands together. “Mama, that would be amazing.” She rushed forwards and slipped her arms around her mother’s soft waist, squeezing her tight.
“Don’t thank me just yet, Saffron. Nothing has been agreed. Herr Schulz may deny the request.”
“I know, I know, but I have a good feeling about this.”
Anna pressed her lips together in a tight-lipped smile. “Let me finish this bread then, sweetie. Go and entertain yourself for a while.”
Saffron gave a contented sigh, scooped her book up from the table, and ran into her small bedroom. Her single bed sat underneath a window, its crystal-clear glass taking up half of the back wall. Saffron could see her two sisters playing ball outside with their younger brother.
Jumping onto her wad of grey wool blankets, Saffron plumped up her pillow and settled back against the solid mahogany headboard with her Sehrstadt story book. Saffron opened up the first page, drinking in the colourful picture of the forest fairy on the right-hand page. The multiple shades of greens hypnotised her as she stared at the vivid art.
Page by page, Saffron read and re-read the story of Sehrstadt until every little detail of her town’s history was engrained into her brain. Satisfied, and humming happily to herself, Saffron gently placed her new book on the large shelf above her bed, nestling it into place between all of her other books.
“Saffron!” Walter, her father, shouted her from the kitchen.
“Coming, Papa.”
Running into the kitchen, overwhelmed by the tantalising smell of freshly baked bread, Saffron saw her father stood in the doorway. His clothes were covered in black marks, most likely soot or burns, and his face harboured grubby streaks of dirt and grime.
“Come and help me with the mare, please, Saffron.”
Saffron rolled her eyes. “Hanna, Papa. She has a name.”
Walter huffed as his daughter skipped towards him. “We’ve been through this, Saffron. Naming animals makes you emotionally attached. In the world we live in, it’s best not to become attached. They serve a purpose. That is all.”
“They deserve more than being treated as slaves, Papa. We couldn’t do half of the things we do without the animals.”
“Exactly, Saffron. It’s their job. Nothing more, nothing less. They are a necessity for us, not a privilege. We name pets, not workers.”
Saffron frowned at her father. Deciding keeping quiet was the best option, mostly learned from previous experience, Saffron proceeded to help her father unharness their Belgian draught horse from their rickety old cart.
Henry, Hanna’s three-year-old son, neighed to her from their shared pasture. He trotted up and down the fence line, his brown eyes bright and full of life at seeing his mother after a long day alone.
“How has your day been?” Walter asked his daughter.
“I got my book,” Saffron said, then proceeded to explain how Frau Hood had refused to answer her questions. “Mama said that any child that goes to the City never wants to come back here. Is that true?”
Walter nodded and sighed. “Sadly, yes. The City, compared to here, is a bright, colourful world full of endless opportunities. We’re all too easily forgotten out here with our simple way of life. We have nothing to offer compared to the City.”
“But it’s wonderful living here. It’s so peaceful, everything is so easy and relaxed. I don’t understand why anyone would want to leave.”
“Think of the City as like a bright shiny ring to a magpie. It can’t resist, and neither can the children. It blinds them with opportunities and promises. Once they’ve been sucked in, it’s impossible to see anything else.”
“I want to be a blacksmith like you, Papa,” Saffron said, sliding Hanna’s bridle from her head. She held a headcollar in front of the chestnut mare’s face, which she eagerly slid her head into.
“A forge is no place for a woman, Saffron. We’ve had this discussion before. Here, we live very simple, clear cut lives. Men do physical hard-working jobs, women mind the house and the children.”
“But Frau Beck runs her own bakery.”
“Yes, Saffron. A bakery—that’s a woman’s job. It’s easy and allows for other chores to be carried out in the meantime. It fits around looking after children and the house.”
Walter pushed the cart away, heading into the barn. Saffron clicked to Hanna and led her towards the lush green field with her eager son awaiting her return. As she trundled down the gentle slope towards the wooden gate, Saffron let her eyes drift to the forest beyond. Her imagination ran wild as she fantasised about the fairy Queen coming to see her, telling her she had been chosen to give the Offering but that she could return to Sehrstadt if she so desired.
“I think I would take you, Hanna,” she said to the mare, stroking her neck. “It’s been a while since you had a day off to go for a long ride. What do you think?”
Hanna nickered in response, pricking her ears forward at Henry.
Saffron opened the gate and let Hanna through. The mare waltzed in and allowed her son to snuffle through her mane before they indulged in a mutual scratching session of each other’s backs.
Sighing in contentment, Saffron closed the gate and leaned on it, watching the two horses in blissful peace. Twilight insects started buzzing through the air and the humidity of the summer sun had lessened now sunset bathed Sehrstadt in a beautiful orange glow. A cool breeze slid through the forest, kissing Saffron’s skin with such a light touch, she shivered.
With a growling stomach, Saffron headed indoors, grateful for another day in Sehrstadt.