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Melody wanted to see them again.
Last night, Daddy took her to the top of the hill just outside the village to see the stars. The moon was a sliver in the sky, and it was so dark, she had to hold his hand to make sure she didn’t trip over anything. They lay down on the dry grass and stared upward.
Most of the time in the summer, Mommy and Daddy made her go to bed before it was even dark. Melody thought it was unfair because she was never tired that early. When they closed the shutters, the room was mostly dark, but she could still see a sliver of light through the middle, teasing her.
Above her, the stars were strewn about the sky like countless pinpricks of light. She knew there were lots of numbers in the world, but she could only count to ten. Mommy and Daddy could count higher, but even they probably couldn’t count all the stars.
“Watch,” Daddy said.
“What am I looking for?” Melody whispered. She didn’t know why; they were far enough away from all the houses in the village that a normal speaking voice wouldn’t reach them, but somehow she felt like she needed to be quiet, almost as a form of reverence.
“You’ll see.”
She was in awe of all the beautiful stars in the sky. Daddy had told her that in the capital, the king had an astronomer whose only job was to watch the stars and look for signs in the sky. When she asked if she could have that job, he told her that boys usually had that job. When she told her she wanted to be the first girl, he ruffled her hair and said that maybe she would.
If she was going to be the first female astronomer to the king, she’d have to be more familiar with the night sky, right?
After Mommy and Daddy put her to bed earlier that night, she lay awake, insistent on not falling asleep. She listened to their quiet conversation in the main room, waited until they were in their beds, and glanced over at the crack of light streaming through the shutter until it dimmed into darkness. They weren’t going to check up on her. They were asleep.
She got up, put on her clothes from earlier that day, and unlocked the shutter. There was no glass in her window—only the king and nobility were wealthy enough to afford that—so she climbed through the window, careful to place her feet on the wood of the flower box instead of in the flowers. Mommy would find out—and yell at her—if she stepped on her flowers.
She looked around before heading toward the road out of town. It was a dirt path wide enough for wagons and carts. Most of the time, the path was packed hard with the footprints of horses and people from the village’s earliest beginnings, but in the middle of the summer, like today, it was dusty, although in the rainy season it could turn into a muddy mess. There weren’t any people out, which was good for her. If she was caught, any adult would send her home to her parents, and her parents would probably spank her for sneaking out.
A sniffle behind her caught her by the ears.
It wasn’t the cry of an adult. Whoever was crying was a child, just like her. She couldn’t leave another child crying in the middle of the night, so she turned towards the noise.
A boy about her age was huddled behind her family’s barn. He looked a little familiar—perhaps she saw him on one of her trips to the middle of the village with her daddy, or maybe she saw him before at the Midsummer festival.
He looked up as she approached. He had dark brown hair that curled at the ends, olive-toned skin, and dirty smudges on his face. A high contrast to her wispy blonde hair, pale skin Mommy washed before bed, and clear blue eyes.
“Are you okay?” She sat in the dust next to him, not worried about dirtying her dress since it was the one she had worn earlier that day.
He shook his head. “Daddy got drunk again. He was yelling at Momma. I was afraid he was gonna hit her.”
Melody had seen drunk men at the Midsummer festival last month. Some of them were behaving badly, and a couple even started a fight. She wondered if one of the brawlers had been this boy’s dad.
“I’m sorry.”
One of his tears was making a muddy trail down his cheek. He sighed. “It happens sometimes.”
Melody stood up suddenly. “Hey, I got an idea,” she said. She reached for his hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something. It won’t take away the bad stuff, but maybe you can stop thinking about sad things for a while.”
He grabbed her hand, and she pulled him up.
“I’m Melody.”
“Quintus. It means five, ’cause I was the fifth baby. The rest died in Momma’s tummy.” He put his hand over his mouth. “I wasn’t s’posed to say that.”
“That’s okay.” Melody headed towards the hill, expecting him to follow.
“Where we going?” He ran to catch up to her.
“We’re gonna look at the stars.”
“I seen the stars before. What’s so great about them?”
“You’ll see.”
When they got to the top of the hill, Melody lay in the tall grass. Quintus followed her example.
“It might take a few minutes,” she said. “But it’ll be worth it.”
They stared at the night sky together. Melody silently marvelled at the stars, thinking about how big Drugar must be to have made something so amazing.
“Do you live around here?” she asked. “How’d you end up by Mommy and Daddy’s barn?”
“I live just down the road. I figure if Daddy couldn’t find me, he’d leave me alone, so I left.”
Melody nodded, even though she wasn’t sure if Quintus would see. “Well, you know where I live now, since you found our barn.”
“I start school in the fall.”
She turned to him. “Me too! I guess we’ll see each other.”
“Good. Glad I got one friend there. You do wanna be my friend, right?”
“Yeah! Mommy said I’ll make lots of friends at school.” She turned back to watching the night sky. “I’m glad, because I get lonely at home all the time, playing with my dolls and sometimes talking to Billy. He’s an older boy that comes to our house after school to help with the farm.”
“You got more than one toy? I only got a stuffed dog. Momma says they a waste of money. Besides, Daddy makes me do lots of chores. I can carry buckets of water and stuff.”
“I’ll give you one of mine if you’d like.”
“I don’t think I could take it. Daddy wouldn’t let me.”
A streak of light flashed across the sky. It was bright and nearly lit up the whole sky. Quintus gasped.
“Wow. I never seen nothing like that!”
“Pretty, huh? People call them shooting stars, but Daddy says they’re called meaty or—um—eyes. There’s supposed to be a lot of them on late summer nights like this. I wanna be the first female astronomer to the king someday!”
“That’d be nice. I just gonna be a farmer.” He sighed. “Like Daddy. But I never gonna drink that nasty stuff he does!”
“That’s good. That stuff scares me.”
They stared at the sky, watching meteorites streak through the sky, until it got cold, and Melody started shivering.
She sat up. “I should go home. It’s getting cold. It was nice meeting you.”
Quintus stood up and brushed the grass off his pants. “Nice meeting you too.”
He was frowning.
“You don’t want to go home, do you?”
He shook his head. “Daddy don’t wake up till late when he gets like this, but he might still be awake now.”
Melody gasped. “Hey! I got an idea! Why don’t you stay with me, and then go home tomorrow real early?”
“I could do that?”
“I don’t see why not! When Mommy gets up, you can just climb out the window, like I did when I left tonight. Nobody will ever know.”
“Your Momma and Daddy won’t get mad?”
“I don’t think so. First, they won’t find out, and second, what’s the worst they would do? Tell me not to do it again? They would be glad I’m helping you out.”
“Okay!”
Melody practically skipped down the hill, happy for making a friend. Mommy once told her that when she was a girl and went to school, she’d sometimes have slumber parties with the friends she made. They would stay up late and talk and play games. This would be like a slumber party, she thought, only they’d have to be quiet and sleep or her parents might wake up.
When they got to the house, she climbed up on the flowerbox, pushed open the shutter, and climbed through the window.
“Be careful not to step on Mommy’s flowers!” she whispered.
Quintus got through the window the same way she did, and Melody closed the shutters again.
“Make sure you take off your shoes before you get in the bed,” Melody whispered.
He nodded.
“I gotta put my nightgown on, so look away.” He did, and Melody pulled the dress over her head and slipped her nightgown on. “Okay.”
Melody had long thought that her bed was too big for her, but now, having a slumber party with her new friend, she was glad she had a bigger bed. Although she loved watching the shooting stars, the best part of the evening was making her new friend. She had a feeling they’d be best friends forever.