Elissa passing over time from 2520 to 3-03-2522

Elissa was deliriously happy!

She had never ever thought that she would be permitted an actual apprenticeship as a wood crafter; but she had been under the tuition of Weyrwoodcrafter Journeyman Bronze Rider H'llon for two turns now, and had learned to turn a hobby into a real skill. She and her fellow apprentices, Radall and Telfer, got on very well despite the wide age differences between them, and formed an enthusiastic part of the Logicator team!

Life had even got better – which was why she was so excited. H'llon had told her that he was going to show her how to make leaves of paper. Elissa hugged herself in sheer delight! The boys were not interested; but she knew that if she could help by turning out even small and low grade leaves, she could be a real help – and demonstrate to her parents that she could be useful to the Weyrwoodcrafter, not the nuisance they sometimes thought her to be! After all, reflected Elissa, she had not asked to be born a girl. And she was just as good as the boys, save for not having strong enough arms to lift as much as a boy the same size could do. She executed a little dance step as she waited for H'llon to explain things to her.

H'llon glanced up from the dried papers he was busy piling together.

"You can't make paper dancing from one foot to the other" he rebuked mildly. Elissa flushed at the remark. She was, after all, a young woman now, not a little girl to jiggle with excitement.

"Sorry H'llon."

He grinned.

"Don't be sorry – be still!" he teased gently; and she knew he was not truly cross. Nevertheless, Elissa did not want to earn the solemn young man's censure; he was an easy going taskmaster but it would have been wrong to take advantage of that. And probably unhealthy, she reflected. H'llon had no time for bullies or timewasters, and when he had been Weyrlingsecond, before graduating from under the crusty eye of Weyrlingmaster R'gar, he had been known for his uncompromising discipline usually involving dirty and unpleasant tasks for those who either slacked or threw their weight around!

oOoOo

H'llon gave a thoughtful frown as he considered how best to explain paper making. It was not something he had taught before, though he had made himself something of an expert on the basics of the subject. He began,

"You've heard people say that we make paper out of wood pulp, I expect."

Elissa nodded eagerly and he gasve a wry smile.

"Not true, I'm afraid."

She blinked, re-evaluating and the woodcrafter went on.

"Alas, there is no easy way out like that to use up wood shavings, only the old use of packing it round ice blocks in winter to keep it cold for the summer deep in the deepest caverns. I have experimented – but it will not hold together as sheets. There might be a process that permits it to do so; but if there is, we have not yet discovered it" he pulled a chagrined face. "What we need to do with wood to make paper is chiefly to burn it" he saw her look of horrified uncomprehending disbelief and laughed. "It requires hardwood – so that means Lemos or somewhere further south. Which is where the difficulty and expense come in. Master Bendarek and Lord Asgenar maintain hardwood stands, but it will be many Turns before there is a large and viable quantity. For paper we need soda ash – made like the lye that is used by some to make soap, if sweetsand is not available. The ash from the hardwood has water run through it, and this helps to break down the fibres of the raw material to make it workable and pliable."

"How does it work?" she asked.

He pulled a face.

"Now that, I'm afraid, I don't know. Any more than I know how it turns animal fat into soap" Elissa had a small bar of soap; H'llon had brought it back from the Woodcrafter Hall as a gift. It was a very pleasant way of washing and she could not see either how it had been made from animal fat! H'llon added, "Master Bendarek discovered the use of soda ash, probably" he grinned, "by accident, though never say I suggested that! I do know that he got the idea for writing leaves – paper – from watching felt being made." He told her.

"What basic raw material do we use?" she asked.

"The best Master Bendarek found was the fibrous material between birch bark and the wood. He found that rotten old rags cut small added strength and also whiteness if they were undyed. That's what the bad smell is in the boilerhouse – old rags and fibres boiling in soda ash. It can take several days to render them down to be usable."

Elissa nodded. H'llon had a huge boiler made from pumice cement in a small annexe off his main workshop under which a fierce fire could be set. Sometimes rather pungent smells would escape through the close fitting copper lid! A smile touched H'llon's face as she wrinkled her little nose in disgust at the thought of the smell.

"I imagine you might well have the same effect leaving the rags and plant material out in the weather to rot instead of speeding it up with the soda ash; but I think that would be very unhealthy as well as seeming too untidy and haphazard."

Elissa hid a smile. H'llon was well known not only for his naivety and tongue-tied aspect where women were concerned (Elissa did not count: she was in his eyes too young and his apprentice into the bargain and therefore a person not a woman) but also for his passion for having a place for everything and having everything in its place. It was Telfer's belief that this was why he had trouble with women who were not Logicators – that they were too scatty. H'llon's obsession with everything being just so made him a good Logicator: he noticed little discrepancies about people or places. It also drove his apprentices half way to between with frustration at his insistence that not only should all tools be put back in EXACTLY the right order, but that also all the handles should be level.

"Can you use anything else for raw material?" asked Elissa.

"A good question." Commented H'llon, approvingly. Elissa glowed happily at praise from her hero. He added, "Probably any plant material that is fibrous would do. Which is to say most." He declared.

"What about the reed pith paper that T'rin made at the Harper Hall?" she asked. T'rin had just Impressed Blue Renpeth and had fitted back into Weyr life as though he had never been away!

"You do keep your ears open! Yes, that was rough, because all Tyrin – as he was then – did was to moisten the pith, weave it together and bang it hard to soften flatten and smoothen it." He told her. "Treated to separate it – and I think it would not take much – and turned into a pulp I suspect it would make a finer quality paper than we now have. I've made some successful experiment with the leaves of reeds and I had intended to experiment further – but then there was Melth and I got rather busy." His face softened as he spoke of his beloved dragon so unexpectedly – to him – Impressed. He pulled himself out of his contemplative reverie and smiled. "I will show you the conventional way to make paper: and when you are competent, you shall if you wish it doo the experiments I have not found time for."

If she wished it!

"Oh yes PLEASE H'llon" she gasped, flushing with pleasure. He grunted.

"Well, don't start flying before you're hatched, youngster." He warned her. "Now come and see the process the boiled matter has to go through."

H'llon unlocked the boiler room door, locking it behind him; for paper making was a closely guarded craft secret. T'lan had probably figured out how to do it, reflected Elissa, but she felt privileged to be trusted with it! H'llon unlocked a further door that opened into a cavern carved out of the living rock and that ran, Elissa guessed, beside his workshop. He set several baskets of glows on high shelves and she gasped. A big wooden wheel turned slowly but inexorably, pushed by the laughing efforts of a small underground stream which then disappeared into a pipe like channel and doubtless emptied iself singing and gurgling into the big lake. The wheel was connected to a big paddle in a vat easily big enough for several people to bathe in. over it a frame hung on levers and pulleys, covered on its top surface by a loose woven cloth stretched taut. A second frame sat over it on its own pulleys. Several smaller versions were stacked at the side of the vat.

"You'll use the small moulds at first, and for your own experiments." H'llon told her, following her gaze. "The big mould and deckle – that's the empty frame on top, it keeps the damp pulp in until the water has drained then is lifted away from the mould – they need the pulleys to keep them straight. They are too big and awkward to handle, even for someone my size!" Elissa marvelled that there were things too big for the giant young woodcrafter to handle; but the frames did indeed look awkward – and that was often more of a problem than merely being heavy! H'llon showed her how to dip the small frame into the pulp, tilting it gently back and forth until much of the water had run out; and how to turn it out onto a prepared cloth. He helped her make a stack of sheets with a cloth between each, then took it over to the big pressing machine with its gargantuan screw.

"Before I made this, I used to put it between two boards and walk up and down on it – or get Melth to sit on it!" he told her cheerfully. "But so many people want paper I needed something more, er, EFFICIENT!" Master Fandarel was a frequent customer for paper as well as for T'lan's calculations, and Elissa chuckled at H'llon's deliberate choice of the smith's favourite word!. H'llon added "When I was an apprentice, all the pulping was done by hand. When I found the stream in here I was delighted – the water powered masher takes a lot of effort out of the job, and T'lan worked out exactly what sized cogs I needed to get the best results. I'm a believer in saving effort from mechanical tasks – and unlike some I do not believe in giving apprentices hard work for the sake of hard work. It takes their mind of the important task of learning." Elissa nodded. H'llon may be considered radical by many, but his ideas made sense. And she for one never felt that she was kicking her heels because H'llon or T'lan had invented a labour saving device – for H'llon always found plenty for his apprentices to do!

H'llon released the screw on the press as the water running out slowed to a sullen drip.

"Now each piece must be hung to dry on its cloth." He told her. "You've done that before. Then you may make another batch on your own using the pulp that remains in the vat. Once that is done, you can make the soda ash for the next lot, see to its boiling and washing; and then set the levers to pulp it. I've sent plans for this pulper to Master Bendarek: so I expect a lot of apprentices at the Woodcrafter Hall like me right now!" he added with a chuckle.

Elissa was sure he was right about that!

oOoOo

Elissa threw herself into her new chore; and it was not long before H'llon professed himself satisfied with her work. Now she was ready to start experimentation with such of the late year's growth as she could find. However, newly harvested hay was available and she added that to her work, and found it satisfactory. The husks of sweetcorn too were successful, and onion skins; though something of the smell tended to linger! Flax discarded by the Weavercraft Hall as inferior was also most satisfactory; and although it took some effort to ret down, redwort produced a pretty pink paper. Elissa had her failures too, of course; straw gave a much less satisfactory result than hay, and fellis proved too recalcitrant. The greatest success in a way was from the reed pith, but it showed a tendency to be brittle and difficult to couch onto the pressing cloths, it was also sticky and difficult to remove until it had dried several days! The winter passed quickly as Elissa worked her way through her materials, finding too that it made a difference whether some plants were gathered fresh or dried. Fresh grass made a good if dark paper, fine and with good crackle. When it dried the result was soft and floppy and rather coarse. Obviously there was something in fresh leaves that dried out of it!

oOoOo

Sufficient hardwood mysteriously appeared at regular intervals, knotted pieces or small branches, suitable for making lye if insufficient for furniture. Though there were enough large pieces secreted away in H'llon's workshop that Elissa privately suspected that H'llon and his cronies R'cal and V'gion made the odd clandestine trip further south than they had any right to be; but she kept her thoughts to herself! Instead she selected a wide range of plant materials to experiment with, and at H'llon's insistence kept extensive notes. The latter chore was not her favourite occupation: but H'llon showed her his own notes on projects he had undertaken, and explained that he had been able to send back summaries to the Master Woodcrafter to the ultimate advantage of the craft. Elissa sighed and did as she was bid; and when she had produced a wide variety of experimental leaves, H'llon selected the two best sheets of each and instructed her to write up her findings as two copies on the requisite papers. Persistent failures were mounted on standard leaves so that the nature of the failure might be examined for future avoidance – or further experimentation!

When Elissa had completed her task, she presented her sheef of papers to H'llon – but little expected the manner of their return. H'llon took the sheets away – and several days later returned two copies of beautifully bound books with the words 'paper experiments – apprentice Elissa' tooled on the cover. She was speechless.

"I should like to keep one for reference, if I may." H'llon requested. Elissa nodded, still tongue-tied as she turned her pages, looking so beautiful presented thus! H'llon continued,

"And you will need the other to show to Master Bendarek as a showpiece."

"M-Master Bendarek? Why?" she stammered..

"Because you need to go to the Woodcrafter hall if you want to continue learning. You need the specialisations of more than one journeyman – and more time being taught than I can afford to give you. You could walk the tables one day – if you want to."

"You think I could make it to journeyman?" she could scarcely believe it….

"It could take years of hard work." He warned. "but yes, I think you can. With this book and your showpiece chair I think Bendarek will accept you."

Elissa had wondered why H'llon had insisted on several different techniques on that little three-legged, high backed chair. The legs had been turned on the treadle-worked lathe H'llon had built himself: each leg as identical to the others as she could make them. The back was surmounted by a carefully chip carved dragon, its spread wings forming a support to the shoulders. The tail ran down the central strut of a pierced pack, each slot cut carefully with the fine fret saw. Elissa had earned several reproofs for her language while she cut them; it was hard work and difficult to keep the cuts straight as well. the results had been worth it; it was a very pretty piece and H'llon had already advised her to turn down a generous financial offer made for it by Pilgra.. however, she had a query about her future – and it was potentially a big one!

"What about my parents?" she asked anxiously. They had been bemused at first when H'llon had offered an apprenticeship at first; and amused at her continuing perseverance. H'llon smiled encouragingly.

"I already spoke to them. They were quite willing." He did not tell the girl that her parents had been taken aback that she should be good enough; but as all they wanted was the happiness of their (in their eyes) strange little girl they had put nothing in the way of H'llon's suggestion.

Elissa hugged H'llon; her eyes were wet with tears of joy.

"Well now!" said H'llon, embarrassed, disengaging himself. "You'd better go see them and get your things together."

oOoOo

Elissa and her parents did not get through their farewells without tears; but she promised to write often! Saying goodbye to the other apprentices and her friend Serehana was hard too; and Serehana was most disconsolate at being left without a friend of similar age and interests – but Elissa reminded her that some of the younger Green candidates might prove hopeful! What Elissa did regret that her co-apprentice Telfer would not be going with her. Although he had recovered most of his sight that had been lost in the horrific fire more than two turns before, he still had headaches. Master Oldive of the Healer Hall felt that some scar tissue was causing the problem by pressing on his worse eye; and had mooted the idea of an operation to remove it. Telfer was busy nerving himself for this, which had been scheduled for when the weather improved. Assuming it proved successful, he was hoping to join Elissa in the Summer. Telfer, however, was a good natured lad, and did not resent Elissa's good fortune although she was younger than him. As he said,

"I'd never had been given a chance to be an apprentice at anything if H'llon hadn't trusted that I could work from feel at first. And Softy helped of course" he scratched the poll of his little firelizard as he referred to him, grateful for the use of the little creature's eyes before his own sight started to improve. "and it was the care I was given here that helped me get my sight back, making sure that I got those drops from Master Oldive. No-one else would have cared for me like you High Reaches bunch have – and D're of course." He added. "Go ahead and have fun, kid – and I'll be there soon!" he gave her a brotherly hug, and Elissa found herself sniffing again. Telfer cuffed her gently. "Stow that emotion, bratllet!" he growled, sniffing himself!

oOoOo

It was with considerable trepidation that Elissa got ready for her first trip between and the opening of a new chapter in her life at the Woodcrafter Hall! She had been regularly on dragonback, so mounting the huge but obliging Melth held no terrors for her; H'llon had been in the habit of taking his apprentices for educational trips and to gather wood from the dark pine forests close to the Weyr. Doubtless H'llon would have marched them their but for his consideration for the disabilities of the boys – Telfer's initial blindness, and Radall's lack of legs. Radall himself made little of a condition he had always lived with, but although he was as fast on the flat in his cart as most people on legs, the rough mountain slopes would have presented some problems.

There was no going back now. Murmuring thanks to Melth for his extended foreleg, Elissa settled herself down. Then Melth had leaped into the air, powerful bronze wings lifting up at breath robbing speed. She looked down at the seven Spindles for the last time – for a while at least. Then they were in the black more-than-cold nothing of between!

oOoOo

Elissa knew she had yelped briefly; and was a little ashamed; but as they broke out into normality and she could breathe again, H'llon patted her shoulder.

"Good girl." He approved. "Not many get through their first trip between for the first time without much fuss." He pointed downward. "Look – your new home!"

Elissa looked – and gasped at the dense matt of the upper canopy of sky broom trees, each one exuding protective resins that resisted Thread itself! The Woodcrafter Hall stood in a wide clearing between stands of trees; a complex of stone buildings with the cots of independent woodcrafters like H'llon's parents set around it. Elissa recognised several species of trees from drawings done by Geriana at H'llon's request. The Weyrartist had reproduced general characteristics as well as close ups of leaves and fruit to help H'llon teach. Even hardwoods grew here, planted by Asgenar and maintained with F'lar's blessing.

There was a gut wrenching whoosh! As Melth dropped to land outside the main hall. Curious eyes were on Elissa as she walked beside H'llon to meet the Master Woodcrafter; but she didn't care. THIS was what she really wanted!