Valkyrie (Kate O'Hearn) - By Kate O'Hearn Page 0,39
not! But soon you will have to leave them to return to Asgard. Just don’t get too attached to them. It will hurt when you go.’
Freya stroked the raven and considered his words. Orus was right. She was only a visitor here. She could not stay. Once Tamika’s family was safe and Archie protected from the bullies, she would have to leave.
At that moment Archie and Tamika came running up to her. ‘So?’ Archie asked. ‘How was your first class alone? Music, wasn’t it?’
‘Fine,’ Freya said, almost too quickly. ‘Everything went fine.
Freya was grateful to finally be able to take off her coat. As she and Archie sat at the kitchen table to start their homework, she stretched out her cramped wings.
‘I’ve never kept them folded for so long,’ she complained, as she massaged an ache in the long muscle of her right wing. ‘If I keep that coat on much longer, I’ll cripple myself.’
‘Not to mention the damage it’s doing to your feathers,’ Orus added. ‘Not that you keep them well preened anyway.’
Freya stuck out her tongue at the raven and refused to tell Archie what he’d said.
‘A few cramps are better than being seen,’ Archie remarked. Then a dark twinkle rose in his eyes. ‘Though I’d pay almost anything to see JP’s reaction if he saw them.’
Freya grinned. ‘Me too. It would almost be worth it to show him!’
Later, while Freya and Orus were tackling her Maths homework, Archie ran back into the kitchen, bursting with excitement. ‘Got it!’ He waved a printed piece of paper in front of her. ‘This is the answer to the Orus situation.’
‘What Orus situation?’ Freya asked.
‘Keeping him under your coat,’ Archie continued.
Orus’s nails clicked across the table and he hopped up on Archie’s arm. ‘Thank you,’ he cawed. He looked at Freya. ‘See? At least someone here cares about me!’
‘Oh, Orus, you know I care,’ Freya shot back. She picked up the paper and started to read:
Definition of Service Animal
Public Act 97-0956 (formerly HB 3826)
. . . The law requires schools to permit a student with a disability and using a service animal to have that service animal assist them at all school functions, whether in or outside the classroom, and whether it is trained or ‘being trained’ as a hearing animal, a guide animal, an assistance animal, a seizure alert animal, a mobility animal, a psychiatric service animal, an autism service animal, or an animal trained for any other physical, mental, or intellectual disability . . .
Freya put down the paper. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘It means,’ Archie said, ‘that since you already have a sick note saying you wear a back brace and can’t let anyone touch you, you can take Orus to school without hiding him under your coat. All you need is a medical note with a forged doctor’s signature – I can do that! We can say that he’s a service animal and you need him to warn you if anyone is getting too close to you.’
‘Perfect!’ Orus cawed. ‘No more suffocation!’
Freya reached out and grasped the raven. She brought him up to her lips and kissed him on the end of his sharp, black beak. ‘And no more sharp claws cutting into my side below my breastplate!’
They celebrated with macaroni and cheese . . . again. Freya said nothing, but realized it was one of only a couple of meals that Archie knew how to prepare. He needed someone to take care of him. His mother certainly wasn’t.
As the evening wore on, they sat together watching television. Eventually Archie retired to bed. When he was gone, Freya pulled out her school books and started to study again.
‘No going out tonight?’ Orus asked.
Freya shook her head. ‘I hated not understanding things in school today. I want to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible. If humans can learn this stuff, so can I.’
The next day Orus sat on Freya’s shoulder as they walked into school. They received more than a few stares as they walked through the halls.
‘What’s going on here?’ the school secretary demanded when she saw the raven. ‘You can’t bring that bird into the school!’
‘Good morning, Mrs Bergquist,’ Archie said brightly. He handed over the forged doctor’s notes. ‘Yesterday Greta tried coming to school without her service animal. But she became frightened when some of the kids in her music class got too near. She normally keeps Orus with her to warn of people getting too close behind her.’