Olaf the Owl
December 02, 2009 12:15 AM
A letter for Professor Flatt by Olaf the Owl
Though few at Sonora would have any cause to recognize Olaf the Owl, he was one of the three feathered family members of the California Pierce clan. He didn't often make the trip out to Arizona, as prior to this year, most letters sent back and forth from the school to the caravan had been delivered via Simon Tellerman (whom Olaf had almost started considering an owl with the number of letters he delivered in a month). But not Simon was living out in Nevada instead, and Olaf and the other two had to pick up his slack. Today was Olaf's turn.Normally, he would have expected to go to Pecari, since that's where the California Pierce of the school lived, or even Crotalus, if there was anything official the branch needed to share with the Boston matriarch, but Saul Pierce had a personal message for one of his former teachers. It was written in the hand Professor Flatt should recognize as the dictation quill's penmanship, rather than Saul's own manual handwriting. Most people would consider that a kindnesss on Saul's part, rather than simple laziness. The letter read:
Hey, Professor Flatt!
I wanted to tell someone about what I just finished doing, but everyone here already knows, and so do Elly, and Echo, and all of my other friends, and since it was kinda historical and stuff, I thought maybe you might want to know. And I guess I kinda wanted to make sure you knew I got an E on the history RATS, too. My best grade except for Divinations, which sorta surprised me, but I really was paying attention in your class, and I guess I wanted you to know that, even if I never took any of your homeworks or tests seriously. History's pretty cool.
That's why I spent the last six months riding a covered wagon. Built it myself, and it was completely period. Didn't use magic or anything, and Elly can vouch for me. Did it totally muggle, just like they did for the original Oregon Trail. Got to take care of a pair of oxen, too. Thank Merlin for them, cuz I woulda been really lonely the last three months without them to talk to. Not the best conversationalists in the world though, oxen. But I guess you can't be picky, right?
Elly was with me until the middle of August, so I think she should maybe get some extra credit, but I guess that's your call, huh? We even did our laundry the old fashioned muggle way, in streams and stuff. And some parts didn't have streams so we didn't get to wash much. Felt kinda bad for her. I think I smelled pretty bad for a spell there, when there wasn't any streams or rains for over a week. The waterskins were getting pretty low, too, and if it hadn't rained that night, we were probably gonna have to use magic or risk dehydration. It was pretty tough going there.
There were towns with supplies in them, too, of course, and even some isolated gas stations, but I tried to avoid all of those, unless they were ones that existed back then. I wanted to do everything historically right. Bet you think that's funny, don't you? All of my essays were worse than Disney in reworking history to tell a better story. But this one didn't need to be bettered.
Anyway, when Elly left to get ready to return to Sonora, we were more than halfway to Oregon. Got worse after that. Nights were getting colder as it got to be autumn, and I was getting up into the mountains, too. We'd left later than most frontiersmen did, because school didn't let out until June, and they used to start out in early spring. Got snow in late September.
I'm from California you know, and we migrate south in the winter. I was freezing. Nearly broke down and used warming charms, but I resisted. Gotta respect those old muggle folk who did this for real. Next town I got to that existed back then, I bought a lot more blankets with the last of my money. Skimped on food to do it. Tried trapping some animals, but never caught so much as squirrel. Wouldn't of known what to do with it if I had, but there wasn't much to forage either. Some blackberries, if I got lucky, but mostly I was hungry.
Never told Elly or Mom about that part. They woulda worried, but if it had gotten too bad, I'm decent at apparation. I could have made it home at any time. But that would have been cheating. Kinda felt like I was, just by having that safety net, but I made it all the way to Oregon City without once breaking my own rules. Well, except I used magic when I wrote my letters to my family and friends, because me and writing, well, you've seen what happens when I do that the normal way. I don't think that really counts though. That wasn't a survival thing, or even a comfort thing. It's just a legibility thing.
Well, anyway, I did it. I travelled the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon, drawn by oxen, and did everything like the early frontiersmen did it. Crossed five states (six if you count Missouri but we weren't there for long) in twenty-five weeks and four days. America's freaking huge, you know? As a History teacher - even a History of Magic teacher - I thought you might be interested in knowing that.
Well, I guess that's it. I'm home now, in my tent, eating pepperoni pizza, wearing freshly laundered clothes from the colonial era - and given how religiously my family keeps, repairs, and reuses clothing, they might actually be from the colonial era - and generally relaxing after a day of memorizing lines for a play I'm going to be in soon. It's historical, too. The Crucible. Bet our muggle producers wouldn'ta hired us for that one if they knew some of us really were witches and wizards, huh?
So, yeah. That's it. Bye, Professor!
Saul Pierce
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Olaf the Owl
A letter for Professor Flatt
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Olaf the Owl
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