Normand was scared. At least, he thought he was. In truth, Normand was so nervous that it felt like he was going to throw up. That wouldn't be a good way to treat Scarf. 

Normand was a boy at this point, roughly 14 years of age and he didn't have any right to be set out into the world. He was too young, too ignorant and too naive. He was going off to school. The only schooling that he did have was from his mother and the only thing she taught Normand to do was how to read common. At least, that's all that she taught Normand school wise. She taught Normand many of other things, like how to be nice, how to eat properly and how to not insult his peers and higher ups.

Normand would have to be put through the test though, going to a boarding school for magically gifted children. He would have to learn how to self advocate, which he did not know how to do at the time. He would have to learn how to make friends and he would have to learn how to fend for himself for the most part. Normand was slowly learning he would have to do these things and this is why he was so nervous. 

"Cheer up, lad!" Scarf said. "At least you have me!"

Normand smiled. Scarf had always been his friend, his best friend. Even though that Normand never said a word to Scarf this whole trip, he at least knew that Scarf could read his facial impressions very well. Ferrets were like that, you see.

"How much longer?" Normand asked the wagon driver.

"We'll probably get there in the morning." The dwarf driving the wagon said. "You had quite the send off, you did." The dwarf added sometime later.

"Yeah. That was my family."

"Where are you going that they can't follow, if you don't mind me asking?"

"School."

"I figured that. Which school is it?"

"Cyrus's School of Magic." 

"Oh." The dwarf driving the wagon thought it was going to be somewhere he heard of. However the dwarf didn't know many magic schools, just the prestigious ones. "So you do you know what color you're going to focus on?"

Normand didn't really think that far. He let out a sheepish "No."

"That's alright lad. As my dad used to say, 'even I don't know what to be when I grow up!'" The dwarf laughed. He must of found that funny, but Normand didn't get it. Normand looked at Scarf for clarification but received non from his ferret friend. 

The dwarf must have sensed Normand's confusion. "What I'm saying is, lad, you have your whole life ahead of you. No need to rush to the end." The dwarf explained.

"Easy for you to say," scoffed Scarf "You live fifty times longer than I do!"

Normand coughed to signal that Scarf was being rude. 

"What?" Scarf protested "It's not like that dwarf can understand me!" In truth, the dwarf only heard squeaks from the critter. Normand could understand the weasel perfectly as if he was speaking common. As a matter of fact, Normand thought some animals could speak common growing up. It wasn't until Alex came and tried to teach Normand how animals talk to humans they trust that Normand realized that Alex couldn't hear what Normand was hearing.

-

"What do you mean Sheela speaks common?" Alex asked 13 year old Normand. 

"I mean Sheela speaks common." Normand stated. 

"That's the most cotton-headed thing that I've heard of! Animals can't talk the language we can!" Alex was mad because she wished that were true. It would certainly make her job a lot easier.

"But Sheela can speak common. She ain't a dumb cow." Normand protested.

"Thank you!" Sheela said to Normand but moo'ed to everyone else. 

"You stay out of this!" Alex pouted. All her life Alex had been working with animals. Not one of them spoke common to her and she did not like that a boy was saying animal did in fact speak common. 

"So..." Alex wasn't sure where to go from here. "Sheela is pregnant, right?" 

"I don't know." Normand said. "Hey Sheela! Are you pregnant?"

"Yes, little one!" Sheela exclaimed. "Just so you know, the baby's name is Alfred."

"Sheela says the baby's name is Alfred. Oh, and that she is pregnant." translated Normand. 

Alex was getting more confused and less angry at this point. Alex had known Normand for two years and knew what Normand looked like when he was making something up and when he wasn't. This time Normand wasn't making things up.

"Alfred.... Um, give me a second. Hey Boss!" Alex shouted for Normand's Pa. 

Normand's Pa was around the corner chopping wood for the fireplace. "What is it? Normand afraid to get his hands dirty?" 

"No. I think Normand can talk to animals!" 

"Well I can talk to animals to! It's the talking back that's the worrying part!" 

"That's what I meant! The animals talk back to Normand!"

Pa stopped raising his axe at that point. He tossed it to the side and started marching to the barn where Normand was supposed to get a lesson about cows. "Are you saying my youngest son is off the level?" Pa shouted.

"No sir! I think he's perfectly sane!" Alex shouted.

This did not add up in Pa's mind. Animals could talk to animals and people could talk with people. People can try and speak to animals and vice versa, but only a simple language could be understood between the two, like dogs being trained to sit or dogs training their owners to get them food. 

Pa finally arrived at the barn door and took a look at Normand. Normand thought he was in trouble. The animals told him not to say anything to the his family about being able to understand them. Since Alex wasn't family, he thought he could tell her at least. Now that wasn't looking like that was a good idea. 

"Can animals talk to you, son?" Pa said calmly. Normand knew his father and he wasn't angry at him, which confused him. 

"Y-Yes?" Normand stammered. 

"Oh boy." Sheela mooed. She didn't like where this was going. 

Pa nodded. "So when the birds tweet, what are they saying?" 

Normand shook his head. "I don't hear them speak common. Just the farm animals!"

At this point a gathering of animals where behind Pa. The ducks, the pigs, and even Scarf showed up to see if Normand needed protecting. After all, he was everyone's favorite. 

Pa looked behind him and saw the crowd that formed behind him. He pointed one out. "Can that one speak to you?"

"Don't tell him anything!" Exclaimed Dillan the Duck. Like all of the other farm animals, Normand could hear him just fine. Pa and Alex only heard quacking. 

Normand didn't know what to do. He kept this secret all his life. He had a good steak up keeping it a secret until now. He started to make something up about it, but both Alex and Pa knew what he looked like when he did that. 

"Now son," Pa started "You're not in trouble. So if the animals can speak to you, that helps us out plenty! We can tell who's sick, tell who's hurtin', and it means you can talk to them like they're your human friends."

Normand didn't know what that last part meant. Pa sort of knew what he meant, but didn't want to let onto the fact that he said something silly to his son.

"The animals that trust me can talk to me." Normand confessed. 

"I reckon that's just about all of them." Pa said. He was still skeptical about this whole thing. Pa certainly didn't see a problem in it, but Ma sure did when she found out. 

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