“Is that right?” Octavia rubbed her chin. “And then what?”
“I…” Henry blinked. “I will drive him back. His men will run when the center breaks. Won’t they…” A shadow of uncertainty passed behind his eyes.
“Let us find out,” she said with a wicked grin of her own.
The following thirty minutes were perhaps the most fun that Octavia had yet.
She watched with delight as the two boys brought their armies together. She withheld her laughter to see how proud Henry was of his prediction that his troops would punch through the center of Aaron’s forces. And she burst into laughter when Henry’s face dropped at the sight of Aaron bringing the wings of his men around the side of Henry’s much larger body of troops, trapping them and pushing them back into one another.
“What? No!” Henry cried. “He can’t… that’s not allowed!”
“It is!” Aaron giggled excitedly as he performed the famed pincer movement of Hannibal Barca and his Carthaginian men. “It is! Tell him, Ms. Finch.”
“You underestimated Master Aaron’s men,” she told Henry. “Being bigger and stronger isn’t always a boon.”
“But… why… what if I push this way…” He tried to move his blocks outward as if to attack the sides.
“You can try,” she said. “But now, his forces outnumber your own on the wings. See…” She showed him how. “And while they moved inwards, you are trying to push back. It is not so easy.”
“Victory!” Aaron shouted as she pushed his blocks in closer, while picking up Henry’s and tossing them away. “I win! I win!”
Although Henry was annoyed that he had lost, he was not upset. Octavia had chosen him to lose on purpose, knowing her brother would take the loss graciously… just as she knew that Aaron would not be so humble in his victory.
“I knew I would win,” he said proudly, hands on his hips. “I knew it.”
“You didn’t win,” Henry said. “Hannibal did.”
“I did win. Miss Finch, tell him!”
“The real victory is the lesson you both learned,” she said rightly.
It was as she had the boys collect the blocks that Octavia looked toward the mansion and noticed the Duke lurking in the window and watching. A small part of her worried that he might question her methods, as there was nothing traditional about what she did here today.
But a greater part knew too that he would not mind nearly as much as he might pretend. While her job was to educate Aaron, it was also to help him grow. And that was a task she had risen to in spades.
For that reason, Octavia looked directly at the Duke so that he could see her, and then she waved.
He did not wave back, which was not a surprise. Nor did he duck away from the window as he had done in the past. Rather, hecontinued to watch her, and Octavia did not mind how it felt. Not one little bit.
“What now?” Aaron asked once all the blocks were collected.
“Hhmmm…” Octavia looked to the sky, taking note of the time. They still had another hour of lessons, but she felt that such things were not needed today.
It is important to know when a victory has been won and not to push beyond what is necessary. And based on both boys’ reactions, I would say this lesson was a resounding victory, so best to savor it.
“I think a game to end the day,” she said.
They both gasped and started to buzz eagerly.
“Hide-and-seek… yes, that will do nicely. The two of you hide, and I will come find you. The loser…” She flashed her eyes at them. “I have not decided yet, but know that neither of you want to be found first.”
Octavia sat down on the grass and covered her eyes. Then she countered to one hundred as both boys scampered away, laughing the entire time.
It was only when Octavia removed her hands and called out to them that she was ready when she realized her mistake…
She looked across the garden and then toward the mansion. In all her excitement, she realized now that she had not given them any instructions on where they could and could not hide. Ordinarily, she might confine them to the lower level of the mansion, or even just the garden. In this instance, no such rules were set.
Well done, Octavia. Perhaps you could learn a thing or two from Hannibal.