Chap. 385 Homestead Ruminations

Chap. 385 Homestead Ruminations

“Hi, Mum, I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s about to rain, and I need to get all this Stuff under cover,” he said to Daryat. He’d left Raventh on the far side of the family cothold.

“It’s been raining off and on all day,” she said, trotting to keep up with his long stride. “We’ve needed it, badly. I’m worried that we might have drought this coming summer.”

His harness and a heavy duffle bag filled his arms. His backpack with personal items pulled on his shoulders. Siskin rode atop it, chittering in pride of his position.

I need a pack mare, he thought. I have maybe five minutes before this incoming squall hits. Risal absolutely nailed the timing of the weather here. She’s a good meteorologist. She said thundershowers tonight but tomorrow will be clear.

“Why didn’t you bring Glyena? ” Daryat asked, sounding peeved.

“Why? Mum. First, I’m at Landing, not Kahrain Weyr. Second, I’m here on duty, not pleasure,” he said, a bit irritated. “Tomorrow I’ll be going out to study a pack of susies. Besides, she’s in school and she’s doing well.”

I won’t admit that it’s been several months? since I’ve seen her.

“Oh, that’s right,” Daryat said, flustered, “You’re at Landing now. Well, okay, I understand. I miss her, I’d love to go see her. But it’s a three day ride to the Weyr.”

“Mum! I can always give you a ride to the Weyr on Raventh. All you have to do is have Sand send his fire lizard with your request.”

She stopped, dumbstruck. Her eyes searched his face, but her mind was fluttering like a bird in a net. I forgot he’s no longer at the Weyr. How could I forget he’s a dragonrider? His dragon is RIGHT there, I can see him! Something’s WRONG with my memory. The healer said not to worry, he said everyone loses some memory as we get older but how can I not worry?

“I…I forgot about that.”

He laughed, realizing, also, that the vast majority of Pernese had never had the opportunity to ”commute”.

“On a dragon, mum, it’s three heartbeats.”

I would be honored to carry your dam Raventh said.

“Raventh said he would be honored to carry you,” he said, his heart swelling with pride.

“I’m an idiot, K’ndar. It’s not as if I’ve not been on his back several times. I, um, I just,” she said, feeling sheepish.

“You’re not an idiot. Don’t say stuff like that.”

“I just don’t want you to get into trouble with your boss at Landing.” That’s the best excuse I can immediately think of, she thought. I don’t want him to think I’m losing my mind. I’ve been so forgetful of late. That worries me. That scares me.

“Mum. They pay me for my brain, NOT my dragon. If they were to fire me tomorrow, I’d still have Raventh. If and when you want a ride to the Weyr, honestly, anywhere, let me know. Okay?”

She took his arm, loving him. You turned out so well, my son, despite Hanliss. Somehow, I did that, somehow, I managed to blunt his influence on you, and your brothers. And Glyena.

“I will.”

They ducked into the cothold’s entry cavern just as the skies opened up.

There might be lightning tonight. Take cover in the cavern behind you, he warned Raventh.

I will. But for now the rain feels good.

“K’ndar! You’re looking fit! Hand me your harness, I’ll hang it up for you.” His uncle, Fland, walked up to him to bump his fist.

“Thank you, sir,” K’ndar said, fumbling to release the harness. The duffle bag made a clunking noise. It was full of observation gear..

Am I doing this because it’s a dragon’s harness? Fland wondered. He carried it to an alcove far from the entrance. How could I not? It’s what dragonriders do for each other. But oh, it smells of dragon. I’ll never, ever forget the spicy scent of a clean, healthy dragon on good leather. Oh, Lanarth, I miss you so.

K’ndar dropped his baggage below the harness. Siskin regained his perch on his shoulder.

Fland turned his head to keep the others from seeing his pain. I shouldn’t have done this, but I have to. I have to. The scent brings back good memories. K’ndar wouldn’t let me do this if he knew it hurts, but I’ll never get over it. It’s been a lifetime, without Lanarth, but it’s still so fresh. Will I ever stop hurting? he wondered for the thousandth time. I should be over this by now. But I can’t. I’ll have Lanarth in my heart forever but it’s not the same. His voice is silenced. I wish I could talk to someone like me, someone who lost his dragon but not his own life. I wonder if Lord Lytol would honor me with a few minutes of his time. Surely he must feel the same way. Or maybe he can tell me how he deals with the loss.

“Thanks, Uncle Fland. You’re looking good! You’ve put on a little weight,”K’ndar said. He noticed that Fland’s limp was almost imperceptible. “And I have to say, you seem to be walking much easier.”

Fland grasped the opportunity to distract his heart. Physical pain is good for that, he thought.

“Aye, between your mum and Cooky, I’ve been on some good pasture. And my leg is getting better, believe it or not, after all these turns. I mean years. The healer taught me what he calls physical therapy, and I have to admit it is working. Just too slowly for my liking.”

He looked sideways at Daryat, who was ahead of them, and said, softly, so she couldn’t hear, “I’d not do it at all, K’ndar, but your mum rides me like a barn sour horse ’til I submit.” He laughed.

K’ndar grinned back. When he was a child, no one laughed in the cothold. His father always took it as sedition or derision of him. Everyone had feared Hanliss, Fland’s brother and K’ndar’s father. He’d been an abusive and vitriolic tyrant, not above punishing disobedience with his fists. As the Cotholder, he could easily have banished anyone. But Hanliss was dead, everyone was glad of it, and Fland had then married Daryat.

Marriage to my mother has brought new life into your eyes, he thought. And hers.

“Well, I’ll be switched if it isn’t Shorty! Oh, wait, you’re not short anymore! How’s the weather up there, eh?” Cooky, the cothold’s cook, reached up to gently pinch his cheek. This was a game they’d played for most of his life.

He leaned down to give her a hug. She’d been like a second mother to him. She’d called him Shorty as a kid until his body decided it was time to grow. Now he towered over her. But she could never stop calling him by the nickname she’d given him out of love, not derision.

She’s the only one on Pern who can get away with calling me ‘Shorty’, he thought. “Forgive me, but it seems you’re the one who’s a bit short,” he teased.

“No, just rounder, it’s just all of me is settling ’round my middle. Gravity, you know,” she said, giggling. “You’re just in time for dinner, K’ndar, Sandriss asked me to make more for a visitor, but he didn’t say it was you! That scamp!”

“Not your beef stew?”

“Of course. And blueberry scones for dessert.”

“Your stew, Cooky! I try to keep it secret, otherwise you’d have everyone on Pern here for dinner. It’s the best.”

“Get on with you, such nonsense!” she said, swatting him, but proud of his comment. Of all Dary’s kids, you’re my favorite, she thought, sometimes I love you more than my own.

A child came running from the back cavern that opened into a cottage. Daryat held up her hands. “Natty! How many times must I remind you, no running inside? Eh?”

The child skidded to a stop, not due to her grandmother’s order but at the sight of K’ndar with Siskin on his shoulder.

Without switching her gaze from K’ndar, she said, “Lots. You allus telling me no running.” Her tone was that of impertinence.

“Don’t you hear me? Do you understand? Or do you choose not to listen?”

“I hear, I hear, I understand! I just forget to lissen.”

K’ndar bit his lip to keep from laughing. No need to encourage the little brat, he thought. He could see that the child didn’t recognize him. Well, he reflected, she had been deathly ill the last time she’d seen him, and much younger.

She pointed at him and looked at Daryat. “Who dat?”

“That’s not polite, Natty. Introduce yourself like your mother has taught you.”

“But I don’t know his name. And he gots a fire lizard.”

K’ndar drilled his eyes into hers, expecting her introduction. I’m waiting, child.

“Nattyyyy?” Daryat warned.

The child came to attention and said, “Hello, my name is Nattana of, of, um,”

“Lord Dorn’s…” Daryat coached.

“Of Lord Dorn’s Singing Waters Hold,” the child repeated by rote. He could tell they meant nothing to her. She looked at Daryat for approval. The woman nodded and indicated the girl should return her gaze to K’ndar.

“And I, Nattana, am K’ndar, rider of brown Raventh, of Landing. This is my home cothold, my mother is your grandma. And it’s ‘he HAS a fire lizard’, not “gots”.

“I know that,” the child said, and turned and began to run, then caught herself and walked past Daryat- only to break into a run once she was safely out of reach.

Daryat looked at K’ndar, shook her head ruefully and sighed. “Kids.”

“Come now, all,” Cooky cried, “Dinner’s ready.”

________________________________________________________

The rain had let up, allowing his kin to show the changes that had been made to his natal cothold.

“Come, K’ndar, let me show what we’ve accomplished since the last time you were here,” his brother, Mardriss said. “Remember the Wanderer, Cord? He was here to barter for that team of oxen you found out on the steppe?”

“I do, and he had a few people with him,” K’ndar said, “and he was going to..oh, I see it!”

Near the cothold, a tall tower made of lightwood supported a turbine. Two pipes were underneath it, one entering the earth where a narrow well had been dug, the other plumbed into a stone cistern.

His middle brother Sandriss joined them. “This thing has made life so much easier. See that stone chamber? It’s called a cistern. Watch this.”

He turned a long handle on the side of the tower, and the turbine began to turn in the breeze.

K’ndar noted the graceful cut of the blades as they swept through the air. Now I know how those were made. Grown, not made. Fascinating. When I get the time, I’ll see how it’s done. Long after that woman “Ineeta” has been ‘released’ from Landing.

Everyone looked at him expectantly, awaiting his reaction.

Just as he was beginning to wonder if the thing wasn’t working, he heard a rush of water inside the cistern.

Mardriss was elated. “See, K’ndar? It sucks the water from the aquifer, then sends it down into the cistern. When the cistern is full, we shut it off.”

Sandriss pulled aside a waterproof cover, made of withes. “It’s no chore, now, to get water. No more turning a crank to pull a heavy, sloshing bucket up from the well that wasn’t always full. And see, down here? You turn this valve and the water is shunted to the water trough on the other side of the stone wall, for the animals. You turn that one, it shunts the water to the kitchen.”

“The pipes are buried, yes?”

“Yes. They’re of lightwood, of course. The hard part was getting it green, freshly cut, and of sufficient length, and then of course we had to cut out each septum very carefully. That’s where your friend D’mitran came in. He made a dozen trips to the jungle to get fresh lightwood. And he used this new stuff, called smanda gel, to seal the pipes together.”

“D’mitran’s a good engineer,” K’ndar said, “And the smanda gel came out of Landing.” I don’t want to go into how I discovered it. I’m getting tired of telling the story.

“It’s wonderful stuff. Swells up when it’s wet and seals forever. D’mitran literally demanded to help erect the turbine. Between him and the Wanderers they really improved on the original plans. Lord Dorn is going to have turbines put in all his cotholds.”

“These flat stones cover the pipes?” K’ndar said, looking at the pathway that snaked to the cottage.

“Yes, only to keep them from being crushed. The soil is hard packed after years of us walking and riding over it.”

“Trenching it must have been a back breaker.”

“Nah. My wher did the digging. All I had to do was direct her, keep her pretty much on a straight line. Filling it back in was easy.”

“You’ll have to tell me about her, Mard! Landing was quite impressed that you’d trained her to dig on command and brought her to Landing in a wagon! And I’ve been meaning to come out and see her. Where is she?”

“Free, K’ndar. Once she reached breeding age, there was no keeping her here. I thought we’d done a good job of making solid stone walls, but she hooked her front claws in one section and pulled it out as though it were made of withes. When a wher wants to roam, there’s no fence that can keep her in. She’s returned to the wild, but sometimes I can still call her in, as long as I have something for her to eat. I never fed her any livestock, not even a dead calf or chicken. I didn’t want her to get used to eating anything not native to Pern. It’s for the best, though, keeping a wher is a lot of work for not much in return.”

He remembered the last time he’d called her in. She’d been followed by the largest male wher he’d ever seen. The male hung back, not daring to approach the cothold. She’d eaten the little bit of wherry Mardriss had offered, more out of courtesy than need, snuffled his sleeve in thanks, then turned and rejoined her mate. She’ll never come back, and that makes me both happy and sad, he thought. She was such an odd beast, not dangerous, but not affectionate, either.

K’ndar wished he’d been there to meet a semi-domesticated wher. He returned his gaze to the gracefully turning turbine blades. “How long did it take you to build this?”

“I’d say a week, maybe longer?” Mardriss said, “The best part was seeing D’mitran’s son, he brought the boy out to help and learn. The boy’s only seven but he’s a born engineer. And he was light enough to be able to climb the tower when it wasn’t secured, to tie off the horizontal sections. After it was all complete, we went up it, one man at a time, to permanently secure the connections. That boy! You would have sworn he was half quorl, the way he’d shinny up that tower. Didn’t he have fun!”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen D’mitran,” K’ndar said, regretfully.

“We know that. He speaks very highly of you. I don’t know when the last time you and he talked, but his daughter, Kira, will be coming out here for the summer. Arlita and Mardriss are going to foster her, at least for awhile,” Fland said.

“Really. That’s great! But, um, why? Is she unhappy at the Hold?”

“She’s happy, yes, but she wants to explore being a herder. In fact she insisted she wants to join us when we drive the tithe steers to Lord Dorn. We’re still debating that. The Hold has livestock, but other than the horses, they’re there for fattening and eating, not reproducing or growing. She wants to do the whole thing, from sharpening her riding, to learning to brand, drive with a whip, even shoeing horses and oxen. Kira loves horses, but it seems she has a real hankering for handling cattle,” Sandriss said.

“It will help Arlita, I hope,” Mardriss said, his expression sobering.

“What do you mean?”

Mardriss shook his head, sadly. “She’s had two miscarriages. The last one was, um, three months ago? She just can’t carry to term. She was so sad, K’ndar, this time, she was so careful, she didn’t want to lose this one. But she did. I honestly wondered if I was going to lose her, too. Cooky and Mum were with her when she collapsed, bleeding. Sand sent his fire lizard to find Healer B’rost. He’s got a fire lizard now, did you know that? He’s at Cove Hold’s Healer Hall, he’s been designated ‘air evacuation’ for all of Southern.

B’rost took her to Cove Hold, and once they stabilized her, they had the dolphins scan her. She said later the dolphins were frightening at first, but so very kind, although she had a hard time understanding them. She said it felt so odd to be scanned, but it didn’t hurt. They said she had “two wombs,” the healer explained that her uterus has a septum. Now mind you, K’ndar, we’re all men here, we don’t know diddly about uteruses. Uterusii? but she said, it’s as if there’s a wedge in it. She’ll never be able to carry a baby to term. It broke her heart, she, um, we both wanted kids so badly, but mostly her.”

He looked upwards at the lowering sky, tears stinging his eyes. “I was so scared, K’ndar, I thought she was going to die by her own hand,” he said, shaking his head. “She talked to the Cove Hold’s Master healer, I wasn’t privy to their conversation. But the Master told her she would be fine, what she was feeling was completely normal and understandable.”

“I’ve heard of women committing suicide when they couldn’t carry to term, but..well, I’m sorry, Mard, but I don’t know your wife very well.”

“I think she toyed with the idea of suicide, it was as if she’d lost the will to live. I spent so many nights just telling her how, um, how much I loved her, how bad I would feel if she left me.” Mardriss shook his head again. “She was like a horse who’s lost her foal. She watches Natty with this look on her face as if to say, I wish she were mine.”

Fland nodded. In some ways, Arlita was like me, missing a huge part of our heart.

He cleared his throat. “It was D’mitran’s wife, though, who brought up the idea of their girl fostering here for at least the summer. They asked her and she couldn’t agree fast enough.”

Mardriss nodded. “She’s eight and a half, and animal crazy,” he said, “She wants to know all about the animals here. D’mitran brought her out, much to the dismay of his son, who considers Careth “his” dragon. The girl couldn’t get enough of the beasts, especially the cattle. She’s got a knack for them, even the bull treated her as though she was one of his calves. She was stroking his ears, and his horns and telling him how beautiful they were, and that big ol’ bull was soaking it up like a dog getting a belly rub. Couldn’t get enough of her. When he lay down to chew his cud she snuggled up to him, like a lion cub snuggling up to the pride male.”

“And his cows allowed it?”

The others laughed. “I think they were just as charmed by her as he was. But he IS a gentle bull. You know how we raise them. Kindness and patience.”

“Aye,” Sandriss said, “So next time, D’mitran brought his wife out, oh, my, but she’s such a sweetheart. Our womenfolk got with her and they talked ’til midnight, I think, working out if the girl would be happy here.”

“Arlita is all for it. She’s perked up quite a bit. She’s already made room in our cottage for Kira.”

“I hope it works, Mard, for both of you,” K’ndar said.

“Thanks. I do, too.”

A bronze fire lizard appeared. He landed on Sandriss’s shoulder.

Sandriss looked at the sky. “It’s getting on towards sundown. And I know you’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

K’ndar nodded. “I do, and I’ll be leaving out of here early. I’m studying the susi pack. Remember when I brought two susi eggs here? You didn’t want to hatch them out, and I don’t blame you. We put them in an incubator at Landing, only one hatched. She was raised up like a cat or a dog. That one, I just released yesterday where I’d found it.”

“I remember that. I didn’t want to piss you off, but my gut told me it wasn’t a good idea to have a wild beast near our animals. I’ve heard stories of cotholders losing cattle and horses to susies,” Sandriss said.

“That, Sandriss, is one of the things I’ve been sent out here to learn,” K’ndar said. “I’m going to find out if that’s true.”

And if I ever catch one killing one of my animals, I’ll have to kill it, Mardriss thought, keeping his eyes from those of his youngest brother.

I was missing two cows and calves from last fall’s weaning and branding roundup. I don’t know if a susi killed them, I’ve never seen one. Giant wherrys will take a calf but not a cow. A cow is too much for a wherry. And my bull has already proven he’s not afraid to tackle a wherry. Those horns aren’t just to impress the cows.

I don’t dare even hint I may kill a susi, K’ndar. You work for Landing and Landing answers, shaff, all of us answer to the Council, even Lord Holders. You’d be obligated to report me, and I can’t hold that against you. And Lord Dorn wouldn’t have tolerated it. He supports the Charter completely. He’d banish me. But the people who wrote the Charter never had to actually deal with the repercussions of their law against killing native wildlife.

He sighed, his heart heavy at the idea of breaking the law and lying to K’ndar. But this is my livelihood. The only one I could trust to not report me is Burt. He knows better than I ever will what it means to be Holdless and destitute.

“You were right to say no, Sandriss, I wasn’t mad,” K’ndar said. “She’s a fascinating beast, highly intelligent and probably capable of killing now, even if it’s only three months old. So you were right to be wary. By the way, where is your queen fire lizard?”

“I’ve just the bronze, now,” his brother said, sadly, “my queen vanished one day. The bronze sent me images of a raptor catching her.”

The bronze made a sorrowful moan.

“I’m so sorry, Sand. I..I would be lost without my Siskin.”

Siskin chipped, softly.

“It’s okay, I mean it’s not okay, but, as you know, this really isn’t their habitat. And I was at a loss at what to do with her clutches. The last one, I had to allow to hatch without having a human nearby to impress them. I’m not a trader anymore, like I was with Lizard. I’m settled, and no one comes out here, just to buy eggs. They’re too readily available nearer to the Holds and Halls. And two were enough. I didn’t want to have an entire clutch all impressing on us.”

Sandriss sighed in resignation. “She was a good one. At least I still have the bronze.”

———————————————————————————————————–

The next morning, he rose early to get to the pack’s den at sunrise. Stealing into the kitchen to get a mug of klah, instead, he found Cooky just pulling a loaf of bread from the stone oven.

“Good morning, ma’am, but you’re up early.”

“Nay, she said, “‘Tis you who’s up early. There’s fresh klah in the kettle, and if you wait a few minutes, I’ll have some eggs for you.” She put the loaf on the table and handed him a knife.”Sit. There’s some jam for the bread, and fresh butter.”

“I hadn’t planned on breakfast,” he said, embarassed, “it’s just now dawn.”

“I know. Everyone will be coming in to feed and muck out in half an hour, you, you always were the early bird. I also know you need to be at the site before the pack comes out of their den.”

“But Cooky, this is too much.”

She stabbed a spatula at him. “It is not. This is my job, K’ndar, and you might be family but you are also my guest.”

“Cooky,”

“Hush. Eggs will be up in a moment. I’ll have a lunch packet made up for you soon as I finish this. And no, you aren’t doing KP.”

He had learned, long ago, that the cotholder may own the hold-but the cook ruled it.

He grinned at her. “Cooky?”

“What?”

“Marry me?”

She laughed. “Now what would I do with TWO men, eh?”