The Secret of Zormna Clendar by Julie Steimle (great reads .TXT) 📖

he didn’t want Jeff to go all PTSD on us so…”

Mark and Brian nodded. The last time a bad memory was triggered in Jeff, he nearly lost it. They decided to let this one go.

However, that did not mean they did not talk about it.

“So, what do you think Zormna reminds him of?” Mark murmured.

Brian shrugged. He noticed Zormna get up with Todd, heading back to them. Jennifer popped out of her seat and jogged from her boyfriend to where Zormna and Todd were going. Brian heard Jennifer say, “I’ll help.” But for what, he didn’t hear. Already Todd turned around with grief, and snapped back at his sister—something about her saying she was too busy.

“Maybe Zormna looks like an old girlfriend,” Jonathan suggested.

Shrugging again, Brian said, “I don’t think so. I think it has more to do with that gang he left.”

“Zormna?” Jonathan chuckled incredulously.

Mark snorted. “Are you saying it’s because she beat up Ted?”

“Beat him,” Brian replied, “She didn’t beat him up. She just—”

“Tackled and pinned him, ninja style,” Mark said.

Brian shrugged again.

They watched Jennifer stick out her tongue at her brother then link her arm with Zormna’s other side. Both marched to the redtop much like they were off to see the wizard. Though, Brian saw how exasperated Zormna looked between them. He choked on a laugh.

“He got in a lot of fights,” Jonathan muttered. “And those scars on his back—”

“His dad did that,” Brian said with a clenched jaw.

Todd finally let go of Zormna’s arm, shooting his sister a dirty look. Instead, he marched up to his friends. He held out his arms like making a presentation, and said, “Zormna has a favor to ask, and I think it is a cool idea.”

A cool idea? Brian lifted his eyes to the blushing blonde. Zormna had shaken Jennifer off also, straightening out her shirt.

“Really? What is it?” Mark asked.

Drawing in a breath, peeking once at Jennifer, Zormna said, “You know that house I have? I need help getting it up to spec.”

The boys stared.

It wasn’t that they had forgotten Zormna had inherited a house, but that they had put it out of their minds since it seemed more like fantasy than reality. But now she was bringing it up again.

“Mostly I need to get the old paint on the outside scraped off and repainted. And, of course, the inside is entirely dusty,” she said.

Jennifer cringed at the mention of dust. But Todd looked thoughtful. Knowing him, he was scheming up a way to slip in a party. His parents were so strict, there was no way his folks would ever let him throw one. Not at their house, at any rate.

“So, will you help me?” Zormna asked. Her earnest green eyes gazed on them hopefully.

The boys leaned conspiratorially across the table. Mark and Todd grinned widely as they shared looks. They were of the same mind.

“What do you think?” Brian asked the others.

“We should get Jeff in on this,” Mark replied. “He’s good with repairs.”

Jonathan snorted. “Forget him. He’d run at the mere mention of Zormna.”

Mark nodded with a chuckle. “They’re gonna meet sometime.”

“About the house, guys,” Brian said, shaking his head. “Do you want to do it?”

Jonathan smirked at Mark as he nodded. “Do you think she’d let us use the place sometime?”

Mark grinned, seeing a consensus of thought. He lifted his head with a full about-face. The entire group turned to look at the owner of the house to negotiate. “We’ll help you on one condition,” Mark said.

Nodding, Zormna waited expectantly. Her blushing pink cheeks and open eyes watched from that heavenly face of hers—so much that a pang of guilt doused the boys like a bucket of cold water.

“What’s the condition?” she asked.

Mark nudged Jonathan to speak. He had lost his strength. Brian wasn’t about to bring it up. Using a friend wasn’t exactly nice.

“That we can have a party there sometime,” Jonathan said, though he glared at Mark for making him say it.

Todd shrugged and nodded, pretending it had not been his idea also.

Zormna looked bemused at first. But then she chuckled and said, “Fine. You can use it sometime for a party.”

“Yes!” Jonathan grinned, pumping his fist.

“When do we have to do this?” Mark asked, already imagining the fun they were about to have.

Brian flicked the back of his head. “Get to. It is an opportunity to help someone.”

“Yes, boy scout.” Mark smirked back.

With a relieved smile and a glance to Todd, Zormna replied, “Seven a.m.?”

They all stiffened. They had forgotten she had been raised military.

Brian was the first to laugh.

“Uh, later than that, please,” Todd begged.

Blushing, Zormna glanced once at Jennifer who also blanched at the thought of being awake before ten on a Saturday.

“You propose a time.” Zormna led out a hand, thankfully accustomed to compromise.

Todd said, “Try nine a.m.”

“Try noon,” Mark muttered.

“And be out at the hottest part of the day?” Todd shot back. “No way.”

Jonathan sidled next to Zormna and asked, “Anything we need to bring?”

Zormna nodded. Her relief showed in her smile. “Yes. I am unfamiliar with how you groom the plants in the yard. I need the appropriate tools and, uh, experience to make it look neat and proper.”

Chuckling at her funny manner of speech, Jonathan nodded with a peek to Brian. “We’ve got that covered.”

Todd nodded. “Plenty of experience to be had.”

“So,” she looked to the boys with a faint glance at Jennifer, “You will all come tomorrow at…oh, ten a.m. at the latest and help me fix up my great aunt’s house?”

“I wouldn’t miss looking around that lady’s house for anything,” Brian said.

*

Early is a relative term.

Military time indeed. Zormna was up at the crack of dawn loading into the old red wagon the paint they had bought Friday afternoon. Zormna also borrowed a few old paint brushes, a bucket, and one garden hose. Jennifer had imagined Zormna marching about giving orders, but mostly Zormna did all of these things on her own. When Zormna left for the old house that morning, Jennifer realized that the girl had not expected her to come at all.

But Jennifer threw on her grubbiest clothes, a kerchief to cover her hair, and grabbed a bucket of cleaning supplies from her mother’s closet. Then she quickly joined Zormna.

“I thought you were booked up,” Zormna said, hardly looking at Jennifer.

“I said I’d help.” Jennifer marched alongside on the sidewalk to keep up.

“After the fact,” Zormna retorted.

Jennifer groaned. “A girl can change her mind.”

Halting, Zormna looked to her. “Why are you doing this? I know you do not like me.”

Jennifer’s face felt hot. She quickly averted her eyes to the concrete. “I…I don’t hate you.”

But Zormna only raised her eyebrows.

“Look,” Jennifer said. “I want to be friends, but you make it difficult sometimes.”

Zormna did not reply. But she didn’t seem angry about what was said either. She seemed to be thinking. When she lifted her eyes, the blonde said, “Ok. Just…stop getting jealous. You have no idea how much I would trade away being so conspicuous.”

Conspicuous would not have been Jennifer’s first word choice. But as Jennifer thought about it, the term fit. Because even though the boys called her sexy, Zormna never dressed or acted that way.

 

Todd was already at the house with the mower rumbling. Most of the grass had been leveled to golfing perfection. Brian and the rest were filling the bags for the city yard waste and raked-up the clippings. Once they got the hose connected, Mark hosed down the driveway. Jonathan and Brain quickly went through the flowerbeds, pulling out the tallest weeds.

“Wow,” Zormna murmured with pleasure, her eyes taking in what had already been finished. “You already got so much done.”

Brian grinned. Rising, he slapped the mud from off his pants.

Mark hopped down the driveway where Todd had pulled the mower to the sidewalk. Mark dumped the rest of the grass clippings into the heaping full can. “Well, we wanted to impress you.”

Nodding, Zormna gazed at the yard again. “You succeeded.”

Mark grinned wider, looking to the others while blushing.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t get Jeff and Alex to come,” Brian apologized sheepishly. He glanced at Todd who shrugged and nodded with him. “We got most of the yard done though.”

“I can see that,” Zormna said.

“We’re almost ready to paint,” Mark said. “Where should we start first?”

Zormna looked about and shrugged. “I have no idea. I have never done this kind of thing before.”

Chuckling, Brian scratched the back of his head and said, “Lucky for you, we have.”

Jonathan gestured to the house. “That paint needs to be scraped off before we can put on another color.”

Nodding again, Zormna peered at the powder blue paint that curled off the outside walls.

“Don’t worry.” Jennifer plucked up the scrapers from a bucket inside the wagon. “We came prepared.”

Todd immediately snatched the scraper from Jennifer’s fingers. With it, he gestured to the house. “We can do that. You can go inside and clean there.”

“Jerk.” Jennifer yanked back at the scraper, digging her fingernails into the plastic. “Don’t you just relegate me to ‘women’s work’, you creep. I came to help out, so I’m gonna help out!”

Zormna’s expression went wan.

Rolling her eyes, Zormna crossed the yard to the front door where the boys had left their buckets of cleaning supplies like they had promised. They even brought a vacuum. Taking out her keys, she unlocked the front door.

“Look, you, I was trying to be nice. Your boyfriend called and said he’s coming over to help with the plumbing.” Todd ripped the scraper from Jennifer’s hand, then shoved her towards the house. “Go in there and look busy so he can be impressed.”

But Jennifer scowled at her brother. Todd had such a stupid view of what would impress Kevin. Besides, when she had told her boyfriend about the project the day before, he had not seemed enthusiastic about helping

As Todd’s friends descended upon the red wagon to sort out the scrapers, the coversheets and paint, Zormna hauled the cleaning supplies she had brought through the open front door. She peered about the place in wonder at where to start first. Ascending the slope to the porch, Jennifer went after her. The footprints from their last house visit remained well-defined in the carpet. Jennifer noticed there were more of Zormna’s tiny foot prints going up the stairs. It was like entering a lost crypt. She only hoped they had enough vacuum bags.

“Uh, I think we should vacuum first.” Jennifer then set her hand on the upright handle.

“Not dust?” Zormna lifted her eyebrows at Jennifer. She had been staring a long time at the dust-caked beam over the stairway.

Chuckling, Jennifer replied, “We’ll just have to vacuum twice. I think walking on this floor would just kick it up when we dust and we’d have to start over again.”

“Good point,” Zormna muttered grimly.

Zormna was methodical.

And surprisingly, she really knew how to clean.

They opened all the windows first. Flakes of blue dust paint blew in along with a number of outside odors, taking off the stale-tasting air indoors. The boys outside cranked up the radio. They sang along with it. Jennifer paused to listen, as Todd had weird taste in music. Luckily it was a good station. Brian must have chosen it. And more thankfully, the boys did not sing off key. Todd’s friends were weird like that.

Jennifer and Zormna heaved off the sheets from the furniture, revealing mostly Victorian style couches, end tables and loveseats.

Then Jennifer vacuumed.

Zormna spent her time hauling rugs and drapes outside, shaking them in the backyard before stuffing them into the washer. Jennifer worried for a moment, watching her. She knew her mother had shown Zormna how to run a washing machine and a drier. But with the heaps of cloth the girl was carrying into the washroom, it looked like she was going to cram the entire collection into the machine. Rushing to the door, Jennifer peeked in just to make sure she didn’t.

A pile of sheets heaped in front of the rocking washer.

“What?” Zormna walked by with another load