What’s Jerre’s worst memory? What’s his best one?
This is a very old ask! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get around to it. Things tend to sit in my inbox for way too long 😭 I'm going to try and answer a few today!
This is a fun question. I've never considered this before, so I really had to think about it. And I'm going to assume that you're referring to Jerre's childhood, prior to his capture. (Because clearly his worst memories happen after that 🙃)
So worst memory: when Jerre was 9/10, he saved Effrim from downing. There's a line in chapter one where Jerre teases Effrim for "not being a very good swimmer," and I think it's a little nod to this event. I imagine Jerre and Effrim were playing on Worthe's dock one day - either fishing or just horsing around, as 10-year-olds tend to do - and Effrim fell in. Effrim was a lanky kid, all clumsy limbs, and in his panic he started to flounder. Jerre knew he didn't have time to run and get help, so he jumped in after him and pulled Effrim back to the dock where he could haul himself out. Effrim had a disinclination for deep water after that point (understandably) and never got back in. In their older years they would both joke about the incident, but at the time it was terrifying.
Best memory: When Jerre was 12 & Addis was 6, they discovered a litter of kittens on their family's farm, living in a hollowed-out tree trunk along the woodline of the eastern field. They spent a day or two befriending the mother, bribing her with food scraps stolen from meals, and decided to name her Nippy, since she tended to nip their fingers whenever they fed her. Eventually they worked up the courage to show the cats to their parents, hoping they might be allowed keep them. Their father staunchly refused, but their mother (who agreed the kittens were adorable) gave the boys permission to keep them in Mel's stall, where they would be sheltered and warm. Jerre and Addis were overjoyed - they moved the kittens to Mel's stall and the mother cat followed, and they fed the little family until all the kittens were grown and had wandered off. For years afterward they would see the cats wandering about the farm, and every so often, on a cold winter's morning, Jerre would go to feed Mel her breakfast and find one or two of the cats sleeping in the stall, using their old home to escape the winter chill.
This was a fun little backstory/character exercise, thank you for your ask!!
