For Ellie: Charcoal Drawings

Gobber liked his nickname Goro, because he could be an hombre goro and shove his weight around the smithy. No one challenged el hombre goro in the village, and they didn't challenge his female charges either. He had a shiny hook hand, and a peg leg that hit any malos that came for his girls. Malos were the bad people who came to laugh, to poke, to taunt. They were like barbs from stinging nettles.

Some malos Gobber could not swat away, however. They existed in nightmares and daydreams, with barbs so curled and twisted that nada would get them out. Except Gobber.

Hanna was a small, impressionable child. Her hair was like a veil as it draped across her face, and she often leaned forward when standing or sitting. When she was upset, she never cried but instead withdrew into herself. Gobber would ask "Cual es el problema?" and she wouldn't answer. Very much like her mother Valka, madre buena.

One day, to keep her occupied, Gobber brought her a few sheets of paper, which had been used to wrap pollo from the butcher. He cut and burned a charcoal pencil for her, a matched set actually. He set up a small desk for her in the back of the smithy, so that he could watch her while she drew. Perhaps it would get rid of the solemn expression in her eyes.

Hanna drew quickly. Lips pinched in concentration, her fingers quickly became smudged. When she finished with one sheet, she went to the next. One paper flew off the table, and landed by Gobber's feet. He bent and picked it up. Hanna was too focused on her next drawing.

He could feel holes, and thick lines. Hanna had pressed so hard into the paper that she had left dents between the greasy dark spots. Gobber saw thin figures in black. The figures were dancing in fire-- no, they were tied to black sticks, burning in the flames.

"Oh, mi pobrecita," he said. "Piensas mucho de tus padres?"

Hanna froze. Then she resumed drawing. Dust swirled between her and Gobber.

Gobber studied the burnt figures. One had a large beard, the other a long braid that also went up in flames. He had hoped to get Hanna out of Granada before the purges, but apparently she had witnessed some burnings. Valka and Stoick had burned at the stake, Valka for her outspoken objections to the expulsion of the Moors, and Stoick for being married to Valka. Stoick would very likely have taken Hanna to a public execution to provide a sobering life lesson: expressing opinions came at a mortal price. Then he had asked Gobber to fetch his daughter before the soldiers came to make their arrest.

"Well-drawn," he said, returning the drawing to the pile of meat wrappings. Hanna shot him a sharp look. "Pero los fuegos no hallaron tus padres. They were safe."

Hanna considered him. Her expression became sharp.

"No me miente, Goro; hay much dolor con los fuegos."

"Una intelligente. Que brillante." Gobber smiled to hide his worry. "Pero no hay fuegos aqui que maten padres."

"No." Hanna conceded this point. She seemed to relax now that she had filled several sheets with fire. "No hay fuegos peligrosos aqui."

"Dibuja mas, pobrecita. Much mas."

"Why?" This was in English.

"Because," Gobber responded. "Quieres este."

"Hmm."

Despite that note of disagreement, Hanna drew every day. The butcher used a lot of wrapping paper, though in time she'd gain a proper notebook. Gobber would ask her to draw random customers that came in, the three-legged dog that begged for scraps, and Astrid. Hanna had trouble with Astrid's nose and bangs. She learned, however, because Gobber's spunky relative had quick fists.

So that she wouldn't fear fire, Gobber taught Hanna how to stoke the coals with the bellows. She learned to hop on the bellows because of her tiny frame, and to strike hard with a hammer. Several times she placed dolls that she had carved herself on the flames, but Gobber smacked her hands to get rid of that habit. She began adjusting weight

That was how Gobber el Goro found himself with a female apprentice who liked inventing. The village noble Dagur started noticing how quickly Hanna worked, how her muscles built up with time and gave her strength.

Granada was behind them. Los fuegos quedaron en Granada. Or so Gobber crean durante el dia.