“Ollie, a little birdie told me you’ve got a new project going on at school! Would you like to tell us about it?” Candy turned to her son inquisitively.
“Yeah! I’ll show you!” Ollie reached under the table and pulled a piece of paper out of his saddlebags, holding it up for everyone to see. “We’ve been learning all about genealogy, so I’ve been making my own family tree!”
Holly grinned. “Well I’ll be! You oughta be proud of that!”
“What’s the question mark next to Nana for?” Ollie’s sister, Hydie, asked.
“Oh! I actually wanted to ask you about that.” Ollie put the paper down and looked at Candy. “I was making this when I realized, I don’t even know who your other mom is, Mommy!”
“Well…” Candy hesitated, “Do you really need to know? You’ve got all the family you need already, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but this is for my project! Do you have a picture of her? Or does Nana, or Aunt Lulu? I at least wanna know her name!”
“Hey, why don’t you ask Grandma how her picnic with Uncle Hawk went?” Holly diverted them.
Hydie cocked an eyebrow. “But you didn’t even answer the question-“
“Let. Grandma. Talk.” Holly shot the children a glare, forcing them to move on.
As their Grandma began telling about her day, the normally-engaged Ollie was barely paying attention. Instead, his mind was still on the grandmother nobody would tell him about. Who was she and what was she like? Did she die, or did she leave Nana? Was she even a mare? And why did nobody ever talk about her?
Ollie wasn’t satisfied with the answers he got. And one way or another, he would find the truth himself.