by D. J. Holmes
PARTS, THEY WILL THINK THAT YOU ARE MONSTERS. YOU MIGHT GET AN ARROW OR TWO SHOT AT YOU BEFORE YOU CAN PROVE WHO YOU ARE.”
“GOOD IDEA, PHILLIP,” Jehanne shouts back as she stands up. “We had better get going Pierre.”
“Jehanne, would you help me up again?” he asks as he holds out his hand.
“Ha, I’m not falling for that trick again, Pierre. You’ll have to get yourself out of the mud,” she says with a smile. She looks over at Phillip and yells, “SEE YOU, PHILLIP,” waving to him. After taking a few steps, she looks back at Pierre still sitting in the mud. “Come on mud man, you can move faster than that. We had better hurry and gather the sheep. Mother will be wondering where we are.”
Climbing out of the mud, Pierre hurries to catch up. By the time they arrive home, the mud which covers their bodies has dried, making it hard to walk. The bells around the sheep’s necks let Isabelle know that the sheep have arrived home. Looking out the doorway, she sees two strange beings with her sheep. Grabbing her bow and arrow, she walks toward them. “Leave my sheep alone, and leave my property!” she states with determination, holding her bow and arrow ready to shoot.
“Mother, it’s us….” Jehanne says quickly.
“…Jehanne? Pierre? Don’t ever do anything like that again! I was ready to shoot you!”
“We just fell in a puddle of mud….”
“Oh, is that all that happened? Lock the gate and come over by the well. I’ll help you get cleaned up.” Isabelle is thinking to herself, “Ha, this is going to be fun.”
Walking over to the well, Isabelle instructs them, “Stand over there I’ll get a bucket of water.” As she stands with her back to them, the smile on her face gets bigger and bigger.
Turning around, Isabelle warns, “Don’t move!” And she throws the water in the bucket directly toward them.”
SPLASH!
“Do you have to throw it so hard, Mother?” Jehanne asks.
“To get the mud off of you completely, I have to make sure that I get as much water on you as I can,” Isabelle said trying to hide her smile. “I hope you know that you’re not going into our cottage until you’re clean.”
“You can throw the water Mother, but do it quickly, it’s cold out here.”
“This is too much fun,” Isabelle finally says out loud.
Jehanne shouts in between the splattering waves of water. “Have your fun now Mother, because I’m never going to do this again,” finally realizing that her mother is playing with them.
“Aaaa, so you’ve learned your lesson?”
“Yes, Isabelle. We’ve learned our lesson,” Pierre replies.
“Good. I’ll just slowly pour it down from the top of your head then. We shouldn’t waste water like this. That is why you don’t play in the mud when you don’t have time to swim in the lake. Water, from the well, should be used sparingly.”
Shortly, both Jehanne and Pierre are free of the mud that was on their bodies. Looking at her children, holding the bucket down to her right side with her left hand on her hip, she makes an observation with a huge smile. “You look like a couple of drowned rats. Now be off with you. Get into some dry clothes, and then come into the kitchen for dinner.”
Finally they are all sitting at the table when Isabelle says, “Guess what? I got word that your father is on his way home.”
“Did everything go well for him, Mother?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that he is on his way home. Eat now, children. It is late and time to go to bed.”
A few days later Jehanne’s father returns home. He has been gone to war for two months, and even though he has a few minor wounds, he and most of his men have returned.
“The English took their time finding us…but when they saw our soldiers on top of the hill, your plan worked like a charm Jehanne. Say… where is that young man that I left here?”
“He just brought the sheep back, and is putting them in their corral for the night.”
Pierre walks in the door. “The sheep are settled down for the night.”
“Thank you, Pierre,” Isabelle states.
“Pierre? You call him Pierre?” Jacque asks with a shocked expression.
“Yes, Jacque, I thought that the villagers would question us less if he had the same name as our son. Our son is home from war for a while….”
“I knew that you were smart, Isabelle, but I didn’t know that you were this smart. I never would have thought of that. I’m glad that Jehanne has your brains, my love.”
Looking at her husband with a smile she answers, “Me too….”
Laughing at his wife’s answer, he says, “Do I smell some French food?”
“Yes, my strong protector, are you ready to eat?”
“I was ready to eat your delicious food long before I arrived home.”
As everyone sits down for the evening meal, father continues to tell them the details of the battle.
“So, everything went as planned then Father?” Jehanne asks.
“It went so well that from now on, I’m going to talk over all my plans with you before I make a final decision! Of course we won’t be able to talk about it in front of anyone in the village.”
“I know. Everyone has been looking at me strangely. Many of them don’t talk to me.”
“I still think it’s important that you know the strategy of war, Jehanne. Maybe we could also have Pierre play that war board game with us.” Looking at Pierre, he asks, “Would you like to play the game with us.”
“Yes, if it is as fun as watching Jehanne ride the sheep, and landing in a mud puddle, I would love to.” With this remark, Isabelle, Pierre and Jehanne begin to laugh, while Jacque has a “What happened?” look on his face.
“It’s a great story, Jacque.” Isabelle whispers to him, “I’ll tell you later tonight.”
“Let’s just see if he knows anything about the tactics of war. I’ll wager that I can drive you out of France, Pierre,” Jehanne challenges him.
“Very well Jehanne. The bet is on….”
With dinner over, Jacque sets up the board game. As Jehanne and Pierre continue to banter back and forth, Jacque looks over at his wife. “Isabelle, would you please come here and play this game with us? I think that it’s important for every member of this family to learn how to defend themselves.”
Pleased, Isabelle sits down by her husband.
“Jehanne, what is the main objective for the French Captains to keep in mind when fighting in a battle, or when the strategies are talked about in a war council?” Jacque asks his daughter.
“Our main objective is to deceive the enemy, so as to prevent effective opposition from their forces.”
“Perfect! Now let’s see if you can put that objective to work. We will pair up so that Isabelle and Pierre can see, by example, how to use this strategy. Isabelle and I will be side A. Jehanne, you and Pierre will be side B. After this battle, we will take turns playing against each other individually. Remember, with your imagination, anything is possible. Is everyone ready?”
“Yes, we’re ready Jacque…quit talking,” Isabelle adds smiling. “If I win, you get to make breakfast in the morning.”
“My love…. If I win or not, I would love to make breakfast for you in the morning.”
“What about me and Pierre, Father?” Jehanne asks.
“It doesn’t make any difference if you win or lose. You get to make your own breakfast,” Jacque answers, looking away from Jehanne so that she won’t see his smile.
Isabelle comments, “I saw your smile, Jacque. Why are you trying to hide it from Jehanne?”
“Me? Hiding? I was just looking at the fire to see if we had enough wood in it before we got the game started.” As he looks back at Jehanne and Pierre, everyone begins to laugh. The laughter continues throughout the evening as they all take their turn winning a battle.
Finally, as they go to their rooms to sleep, loud laughter can be heard coming from Jacque. A smile comes to her own face as Jehanne thinks, “Mothe
r must have told him about the sheep, the mud puddle and how she threw water at us to get us clean.”
