CHAPTER 8 – TO SCHOOL OR NOT TO SCHOOL
17:07 (Washington Time)
Tuesday, November 4, 1986 ‘C’
326 South Grove Street, Aurora Hills
Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.
Ingrid felt a bit conflicted as she watched little Nancy play outside in the courtyard with little neighbors and friends, including Billy and Jenna Wilson. Today was Nancy’s fourth birthday and Ingrid had bought a big chocolate cake especially for that occasion, to be eaten at the end of the party and group supper. Ingrid was truly happy to celebrate that event and was also most pleased to see that Nancy presently was having lots of fun with her friends. However, Ingrid also felt unsure concerning her daughter’s education. That dilemma had been reinforced by past complaints from Nancy that her best friend Billy Wilson, now five, had started to go to kindergarten school, while she was still staying home, where Ingrid schooled her after returning from work at the White House. Since Nancy was being babysat during work hours by Jennifer Wilson, Billy’s mother, that had made Nancy even more conscious of the fact that most of her little friends were now going to school, while she was not. What made this such a dilemma for Ingrid was the fact that her daughter was no ordinary toddler girl. Rather, she could be best described as an educated adult mind with a childish temperament inside a toddler’s body, the result of Nancy now remembering all of her past twenty incarnations, lived over a period of 21 centuries. By American law, every child was entitled to publicly-provided education from age five, starting with kindergarten and going up to the completion of high school. The accepted, legal alternatives were private schools, private tutors and home schooling. Ingrid had taken some advance in that domain, giving at least one hour of home schooling to Nancy nearly every day during the past year. Since her past incarnations had already made Nancy proficient in reading, writing and counting, plus made her fluent in multiple languages, Ingrid had thus been able to concentrate on the kind of modern knowledge that her past incarnations could not have made her knowledgeable into, like modern history, modern sciences, modern literature and American history and contemporary studies. She had however been careful not to forget that her daughter was still a toddler in terms of temper and interests and needed to grow in maturity at her own rhythm while getting the kind of parental love that was so vital to a small child. Nancy also needed to continue to play and interact with other children in order to develop her social skills. Without telling Nancy about it, Ingrid had discretely studied her options about the future education of her daughter during the last few days, making inquiries and seeking information and counsel on the subject from knowledgeable persons. One thing had quickly become clear to her: Nancy was definitely not cut for a standard public school. In terms of sheer knowledge and skills levels, she would simply not fit with average children of her age. Except for the knowledge concerning modern subjects, like 20th Century history and sciences, Nancy’s educational level and reading and writing skills were basically those of a teenager of late high school age, while some of her practical skills attained mastery level by today’s standards. Even when concerning modern subjects, Nancy knew a lot more than elementary school level kids thanks to Ingrid’s home schooling, who had not needed to take time to teach her to read, write and count. Using a private tutor would have been a possibility but Ingrid had rejected that quickly: it would not have dealt with Nancy’s need to interact with other children. As for home schooling, the time Ingrid could consecrate in educating Nancy was finite, unless she quit work completely, something she was not ready for yet. That had left private schools, some of which specialized in catering to the needs of gifted children. That last option had quickly won over Ingrid and she had then contacted a few of them to get extra information about their curriculums, elective courses and activities. One such school had finally appeared to be the ideal one for Nancy and, as a result, Ingrid had booked an appointment at that school to go speak to an education counselor. Now, the only thing left to do was to ask Nancy’s opinion about it.
The opportunity for Ingrid to touch that subject with Nancy came after the birthday party and supper, when the last little visitor had left the house, leaving Ingrid alone with her daughter. Sitting in a sofa of their lounge, Ingrid then sat Nancy across her lap, with her daughter facing her.
‘’Did you like your birthday party, Nancy?’’
‘’A lot, Mommy! It was fun to play with all my friends.’’
‘’I am glad to hear that. Look, Nancy, I have been thinking about your wish to go to school, like your friends, and I did a few inquiries about it. I think that I found a special school where you could fit and be happy. If you agree to it, we can go see an education counselor at that school next Monday, to discuss with her the kind of program that would be the best for you.’’
‘’What kind of school is it, Mommy?’’
‘’A school that specializes in teaching gifted kids like you. They have a lot of extra-curricular activities which you would like, like music and horse riding, and its quality of teaching is among the best in the United States.’’
Nancy’s eyes lit up as soon as Ingrid mentioned the words ‘music’ and ‘horse riding’.
‘’That school already sounds fun to me, Mommy. Will I start in kindergarten?’’
‘’I doubt it and I would personally won’t accept that, Nancy: your general knowledge and reading and writing skills are simply too advanced for kindergarten level education. I believe that they will first make you pass a number of proficiency tests, in order to ascertain your level of knowledge and skills, before assigning you to a specific grade. So, are you ready to go visit that school on Monday?’’
‘’YES!’’ was Nancy’s enthusiastic answer.
09:15 (Washington Time)
Monday, November 10, 1986 ‘C’
Education counselor’s office, Congressional School
3229 Sleepy Hollow Road, Falls Church, Virginia
The school counselor who received Ingrid and Nancy in her office was a woman in her fifties who wore spectacles and was a bit overweight. She was conservatively dressed, as one expected from an employee of a private school, but was far from the stiff school matron image often seen in comedy movies about schools and wild partying students.
‘’Please, sit down, Misses Dows. May I ask how old is your cute daughter?’’
‘’Nancy celebrated her fourth birthday last week, Misses Shaw. Her birth day is on the Fourth of November. Here is her birth certificate, along with her vaccination booklet.’’
The woman took the certificate and the booklet and examined them quickly as Ingrid and Nancy took place in the chairs set in front of her work desk. The counselor did a doubletake on reading the place of birth of Nancy and gave her a disbelieving look.
‘’She was born on a spaceship?’’
‘’Correct, Misses Shaw: Nancy was born in deep Space, halfway between Jupiter and Saturn, aboard the U.S.S. PROMETHEUS. She then lived her first two and a half years on the spaceship, performing a space walk with the other kids on the ship and doing a rover tour on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. She is a certified member of the Zero-G Club, made up of the people of all ages who experienced zero gravity conditions in Space.’’
‘’Wow! I am jealous of her, Misses Dows. So, you want to enlist your daughter in our school for the next Fall session?’’
‘’Yes, but things are not as simple as you would think, Misses Shaw. Nancy is a very special girl, like me. You do know who I am, do you?’’
The counselor stared at Ingrid with incomprehension mixed with caution.
‘’What do you mean, Misses Dows?’’
In a way, Ingrid was relieved to see that her reputation had not preceded her… this time.
‘’To put it simply, Misses Shaw, I am sixty years old and hold a number of paranormal powers. I am retired General Ingrid Dows, ex-Commander of the United States Space Corps, Special Presidential Advisor to American Presidents since 1948 and Chosen of The One. I remember all of my past 71 incarnations, spread over seven millenniums, along with my past experiences, skills and languages. As for Nancy, she now remembers her past twenty incarnations and can speak a total of 31 languages, most of them extinct. If you doubt me, feel free to test her in spoken and written English, French, German, Farsi, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Latin and Classical Greek, which are the languages that she knows and that are still in usage today. This is to say that, with all the knowledge and skills she already has, simply placing her in a kindergarten class would be grossly inappropriate. What she lacked in terms of modern era knowledge, like 20th Century history and sciences, I already home-schooled her in them during the past year. In my opinion, she could easily fit in a fourth-grade classroom in terms of educational level. However, I believe that the best way to proceed would probably be to make her pass a few scholastic assessment tests at various grade levels. By the way, she loves music and already plays very well a number of old instruments.’’
Marylin Shaw stared for a moment at little Nancy, obviously overwhelmed, then looked at Ingrid.
‘’Has she ever passed an intelligence quota test?’’
‘’Yes! Aboard the PROMETHEUS, just before our arrival back in Earth orbit in March of last year. It gave an I.Q. of 159.’’
‘’My God! That’s well into genius level. Do you mind if I speak a bit to her in a few languages I know?’’
‘’Go right ahead, Misses Shaw.’’
Marylin Shaw then proved her culture to Ingrid by speaking to Nancy in French, Spanish, Italian and Latin. Nancy replied in fluent French and Latin, but used Castilian, an older form of Spanish, along with Lombard, an old dialect from Northern Italy. Both shaken and impressed, the counselor then asked Nancy to write a short paragraph about where she was born and to do a few simple calculations. Nancy in turn produced six lines of hand-written English of good quality, plus answered correctly the mathematical questions. Marylin Shaw contemplated for long seconds the clear and concise text written by Nancy, finally giving Ingrid a near-haggard look.
‘’Would you mind if I took a few minutes to go speak with the school’s director, miss?’’
‘’Not at all, Misses Shaw.’’
Just after Shaw left her office, Nancy looked up at Ingrid and spoke in a low voice.
‘’Did I pass her tests, Mommy?’’
‘’I believe that you did, with flying colors, sweetie.’’
Some six minutes later, Misses Shaw came back to her office, accompanied by a thin, mature man wearing thick glasses. The man then presented himself to Ingrid, who had risen from her chair at his arrival.
‘’General Dows? I am William Devers, Director of the Congressional School. It is a true honor for me to see that you came to visit us. From what Misses Shaw told and showed me, you daughter appears to be a truly exceptional little girl and I would agree with you that the best way to proceed would be to make your daughter pass a series of scholastic assessment tests, to determine where she would best fit in our school. However, independent of what those tests will say, be assured that we are committed to an inspirational, high-level of education in a diversified and respectful environment. First off, could I ask you to describe those, uh, past life experiences which your daughter remembers?’’
‘’How about asking her directly, Mister Devers? That way, you will also be able to judge at the same time her level of elocution.’’
‘’That sounds like an excellent idea, General.’’ said Devers, smiling, before sitting down on a chair set next to Shaw’s desk. He then grabbed a large notepad and a pen and smiled at Nancy.
‘’Alright, Nancy: would you mind telling me about your past lives?’’
‘’With pleasure, sir.’’ she replied in her tiny toddler’s voice. ‘’First, I will start by saying that this is the 21st body my soul is tied to and that my twenty previous incarnations spanned a length of 21 centuries through history. My first ever name, which is also the name of my soul, is ‘Hypsicratea’. I was then a Sarmatian horsewoman and warrior, born north of the Black Sea in the plains of the Caucasus at the start of the First Century B.C. The Greeks actually called us Sarmatian horsewomen ‘Amazons’ and kept telling tales of how they defeated Amazons in combat but, in reality, they were full of shit: we kicked their asses more times than they could count.’’
‘’Wait! That name, Hypsicratea, it sounds familiar to me. Was she a historically-known person?’’
Nancy grinned at his question.
‘’Probably! She was the longtime companion and lover of King Mithridates of Pontius, who fought three wars against the Romans during the First Century B.C.’’
Devers, who knew in depth the history of Antiquity, slowly shook his head in disbelief.
‘’Wow! And how much do you remember of that life as a Sarmatian woman, Nancy?’’
‘’Everything, sir! I still can ride horses, shoot a bow, hunt, throw a war axe, skin and butcher an animal and milk a mare. I can also speak Roxolani, a Sarmat dialect, along with Thracian, Armenian, Classical Greek and Latin.’’
At that point, Ingrid politely cut in to suggest something to the school director.
‘’If I may, Mister Devers, we saw as we parked that you have both a horse’s stables and an archery range on your campus, among many other exciting facilities. Maybe Nancy could give you a demonstration of her riding and archery skills. That would be one way for her to prove to you what she just said, apart from making her happy: she loves horse riding.’’
Devers and Shaw exchanged glances then, with Devers smiling as he looked back at Ingrid.
‘’That could actually prove fun for all of us, on top of helping to prove her words. But first, let’s continue to hear about her past lives. You may continue, Nancy.’’
‘’Thank you, sir! I will now review my past lives from most recent to oldest, if you don’t mind. Before becoming who I am now, I was a French woman who was born near Paris in 1919. My name was Andrée Raymonde Borrel. I was a simple farm girl, until the Germans invaded France in 1939. When that happened, I joined the French Resistance. A few months later, I crossed into Great Britain and became a British S.O.E. agent and was parachuted back in France to act as a clandestine courier.’’
‘’And what happened to her then?’’ couldn’t help ask Marylin Shaw, captivated by her story. Nancy looked at her and replied with an impassive face and a neutral voice.
‘’The Germans captured me a year later, tortured me, then sent me to the Natzweller-Struthof concentration camp, in Alsace, where I was executed in 1944. Before you become too horrified by this, don’t! Most of our past lives were harsh and filled with violence. Don’t be afraid either about the psychological impacts on me of my past lives: they are now only souvenirs, nothing more. I prefer instead to use the skills learned during those past lives, rather than delve at length in them.’’
Devers was by now looking at Nancy in a completely different way. If he would have listened to all this while keeping his eyes shut, he could have believed that it had been an adult talking, save for the tiny voice. There was no childishness in the way Nancy had told her story.
‘’Very well, Nancy. Tell us about your other past lives.’’
Devers ended listening to Nancy for nearly one hour while taking a few notes about each of her past incarnations. At the end of it, he looked at his watch and nodded his head.
‘’Well, it is nearly time for the mid-morning recreation. This could be a good time for your little Nancy to go ride a pony and shoot a few arrows. In the meantime, Misses Shaw could start preparing a Third-Grade final assessment test which Nancy could then pass today.’’
‘’I concur with you, Mister Devers. Let’s go get a pony for you, Nancy.’’
Nancy shouted in joy then and nearly jumped out of her chair. Devers did take the time before they left the office to make a couple of calls, so that a pony could be prepared for a ride and a set of children’s practice bow and arrows could be brought to the archery range. He then led Ingrid and Nancy out of the main school building and walked with them towards the stables and its fenced-out corral. Dozens of children of various ages, all wearing the regulation red polo shirts of the school, were already out in the courtyard and in the playgrounds for the mid-morning recreation. Nancy clapped her hands in joy when she saw a horse-riding instructor lead a pony out of the stables, holding his bridles.
‘’Ooh, he looks beautiful, Mommy!’’
‘’He sure is, Nancy. Now, no show-boating while you ride, please.’’
Nancy surprised the riding instructor and Devers by jumping by herself and without help atop the pony, which was much taller than her. The instructor grinned when he saw how Nancy was already controlling her pony with her bridles and with pressure from her knees and feet against the animal’s flanks.
‘’Now, there goes a born rider! How old is your kid, miss?’’
‘’Four!’’ replied Ingrid, both proud and happy at seeing the joy evident on her daughter’s face. ‘’She loves horses, like I do. Just let her do a tour by herself around the corral: she is an experienced rider.’’
The riding instructor had to quickly concede that Ingrid had not been bragging, as Nancy trotted and then galloped around the fenced corral with the assurance of a professional rodeo cowboy. William Devers, on his part, had a big grin as he watched little Nancy ride around.
‘’I must say that your little Nancy is the youngest kid I ever saw to be this good on a horse, General.’’
‘’Wait until she does a Parthian Shot{11} from horseback. Sarmatian children learned to ride nearly at the same time as they learned to walk.’’
‘’A Parthian Shot?’’ exclaimed Devers while looking at Ingrid. ‘’Your daughter could really do one of those?’’
‘’Of course she can! A Sarmatian unable to do a Parthian Shot and hit the target would have been the laughing stock of his or her tribe. Do you mind if she stays on her pony and ride to the archery range?’’
The riding instructor scratched his head at that question.
‘’Uh, normally that would not be permitted, miss, but…’’
‘’I am ready to allow it, Fred, this one time.’’ cut in Devers. ‘’Just follow us to the archery range.’’
Walking beside Nancy and her pony, the group left the corral by its gate, then followed the corral’s fence, passing by the softball field, then the soccer field, before arriving at the fenced archery range, where a sports instructor was waiting with a small bow and five practice arrows. Nancy nearly frowned on seeing that the maximum range to the targets was only 25 meters when shooting from inside the range.
‘’Mommy, could I shoot from outside the fence? The range is very short.’’
Ingrid looked at Devers, who in turn looked at the archery instructor.
‘’Jerry, would you mind letting that girl shoot from outside the fenced area, from horseback?’’
‘’Uh, if she does, then that could void our insurance on accidents, Mister Devers.’’
‘’I will assume full responsibility and costs if an accident happens.’’ said at once Ingrid. ‘’Let’s just all stay well out of the firing line of sight.’’
After a few seconds of reflection, Devers nodded his head and looked at the instructor.
‘’I will permit it, with Misses Dows assuming full responsibility. Give the bow and quiver of arrows to the girl, Jerry.’’
‘’As you wish, sir.’’ replied the instructor, not fully convinced. Walking to the pony, now stopped on the outer side of the fence, he then gave the bow and arrows to Nancy. ‘’Here you go, kid!’’
‘’Thank you! I will first fire three arrows, to get accustomed to the pull of this bow. Then, you can bring back those arrows to me before I do a grouping.’’
‘’Got it!’’
The archery instructor then stepped well out of the way, joining Ingrid, Devers and the riding instructor. Watched intently by them and by a growing group of students attracted to the sight of Nancy on her pony, Nancy set a first arrow on her bow, then progressively pulled its string while aiming. To the amazement of the archery instructor, little Nancy had the strength to pull the string all the way, something only grown teenagers and adults managed to do. The first arrow was then released from 35 meters and burrowed itself in the target, only twenty centimeters below the bullseye. The second arrow hit the bullseye, with the third hitting mere centimeters from the second arrow, right in the center.
‘’Jesus! That’s some nice shooting, miss!’’
The spectators present around applauded Nancy as the instructor went to retrieve the three arrows from the target, to then bring them back to Nancy. Still on top of her pony and controlling it with her knees and feet, Nancy aimed carefully her bow three times, making three tightly-grouped hits dead center. As enthusiastic applauses went up, Nancy suddenly made her pony pivot around and start at a gallop, surprising all but Ingrid. Then, at a distance to the target that was no less than sixty meters, she twisted around in the saddle and released one arrow at full gallop. A second arrow followed a mere five seconds later, from a distance of eighty meters. There was a concert of stunned exclamations and many jaws dropping open when the spectators saw that both arrows had hit the target. The archery instructor took his head in his hands, unable to believe his eyes.
‘’How did she do that? That’s incredible shooting!’’
‘’That, gentlemen, were Parthian Shots in the purest tradition of the steppes.’’ said Ingrid, grinning with pride. On his part, William Devers watched with renewed respect Nancy as she was calmly trotting back towards the range, applauded by the students who had watched her performance. She soon stopped beside the archery instructor and gave back to him the bow and empty quiver.
‘’Here you go, sir. Thank you for lending me their use.’’
‘’And what is your name, little one? I would love to have you on my archery team.’’
‘’I’m Nancy Dows, sir, and I am certainly looking forward to be with your team.’’ she replied, beaming.
Ingrid and Nancy ended up leaving the Congressional School only in the late afternoon, after having lunch at the school’s cafeteria and after signing the enrolment forms for Nancy to start classes in Grade Four next September. Nancy had top results in most areas of the Third-Grade final assessment test used by the school, with only slightly lower but still strong notes in the domains concerning pure sciences, in which she had lacked in actual laboratory practice, especially in chemistry and biology. Nancy was especially enthusiastic about the fact that Ingrid had enrolled her as well in a number of elective or extra-curricular courses and activities, including music, performing arts, horse riding, fencing and archery. In return, Nancy had promised to her mother that she was going to work at home to improve in those matters in which she had proved weakest in her tests. She did have a question for Ingrid as they rolled away in her red Firebird Trans Am 1974.
‘’Mommy, why didn’t we come here in your aircar? Don’t you like it?’’
‘’Of course I like it! In fact, I love it! It is just that I didn’t want to do some show-boating on the first time we came to the school. That’s all!’’
‘’Oh, okay!’’ said Nancy before closing her eyes and dreaming back to that happy moment when she was riding and shooting a bow.