Chapter 11
Whether Bitrul would willingly do a favour for the Weyr or no, he considered his lady and eldest son capable of clever politicking in order to be in favour; and Bimall basked rather uncomfortably in his father's favour. Even his firelizard was almost forgiven! Life was relatively quiet and peaceful for two whole sevendays; even Jerissa managing not to do anything too drastic, so long as one did not count her and Varalie's occasional sabotage of dance measures when Sifella was being particularly spiteful about Lavanni. When Mallene noticed and called Varalie to task, the girl claimed that she could not concentrate because she was 'upset about her friend being upset'. Sifella was duly spoken to by Mallene; and kept her feelings more to herself from then on!
Varalie loved playing her new gitar and was much in demand for evening entertainments. There was a brief, unpleasant interlude when prompted by distress from Ket, Varalie went to where he was in the dormitory, to find Mirinda and a hammer next to her gitar with Ket valiantly flying at the other girl's face.
Varalie summoned Ket to her, where he sat, on her shoulder, hissing like a real kettle on her shoulder.
"Well?" said Varalie.
Mirinda sneered.
"You get yourself noticed all the time! And you're not even pretty! Yes, I was going to smash your precious gitar to smithereens! There, and I'll deny it if you sneak!"
Varalie blinked. How the Red Star was she going to deal with this.
"Yes you are much prettier than me; I'd be a fool to deny it, though you'll not remain so for long with the sneer lines and discontent lines you pull" she said evenly "And if any of my things are touched, you spiteful piece, believe me, I'll break the only thing YOU value too. Any place my gitar is broken, I'll place a slash across your face. Smash it to smithereens and you'll wish you were only Threadscored. It's not my fault I was born cleverer than you any more that it's your fault you were born prettier. For shards sake, if you wanted to play music why didn't you ask your parents to send you to the Harper Hall? Your folk are a lot better off than my grandfather, you could afford to stay more than half a turn I wager!"
Mirinda gasped in horror as Varalie threatened to cut her face. Varalie was bluffing; but her cold calm voice made Mirinda believe her!
"I'll tell Mallene what you threatened"
"And then I'll tell her I caught you in my things trying to spoil my gitar – the most expensive thing I've ever owned – and doubtless stealing from me too" said Varalie. She had transferred her store of marks to her old gitar, that looked untouched; but hinting at dishonest was a serious charge!
"I'm no thief!"
"No? What about the hard earned savings I shelled out on my gitar? Destroying stuff is the same as stealing it, you know. And if you're ready to dishonestly sneak and you do one sly thing, how do I know you don't go the whole way?" demanded Varalie. "I'm certainly going to tell the other girls I caught you in my things and suggest they check if all their marks are intact. Now get out; you make me sick. I don't ever want to talk to you again. I neither know nor care what you vaguely imagine I have done to you bar mostly ignore you to be so violently and underhandedly spiteful. I wish I might never have to see you again; but I'll be gone soon and you can throw your puppy-fat around at the new fosterlings."
That shaft went home; Mirinda's curves were voluptuous to the point of being overblown, as she wavered between her love of sweet things and trying to control her figure! Mirinda ran off.
Varalie took the hammer back to the drudge-handyman's cupboard and informed the surprised man that she had found it lying around and supposed someone unauthorised had borrowed it. He thanked her profusely; Bitrul would blame his drudges if any tools went missing!
The thought of her gitar being smashed made Varalie feel rather sick; and she was more introverted and withdrawn than was her wont, indeed more than since the apprentices at the Harper Hall had drawn her out of herself! It was this preoccupation that, she firmly believed, led her to miss the signs of incipient Jerissaness.
Varalie always scrupulously checked Threadfall charts these days in preparation for weyrling training; and found that Bimall had posted a notice to the effect that, whilst Thread was not due to fall over the Hold for another three sevendays, it would pass along the edge of the outer beholden cotholds and might, if winds were strong, blow into Twosprings territory. He asked for volunteers to walk sweep along the borders; and Varalie volunteered at once although Fall would be at night. She was getting used to Thread, as much as one ever did, and appreciated the efficiency of High Reaches Weyr that made the job easy.
It was the evening before she was due to go out that Varalie noticed that Jerissa was not in the room as she played gitar for the others to dance to; and the girl did not return either.
"I'm packing in early" she said firmly "I need an hour's rest before I have to turn out." She went however looking for Jerissa first; though she would have dearly liked to take rest.
Jerissa was not in the dormitory, where Varalie half hoped to find her, taking her own opportunity to rest if she too had decided to volunteer. Her good boots were not there either.
"Little ass!" muttered Varalie "Where's she gone now?"
"To find firelizard eggs" said Mallitta, coming in behind her. "She wouldn't let me go; said it was a stiff climb out towards Fleecytops Hold."
Varalie stared in horror.
"Fleecytops? But Threadfall is due there in just under three hours! I'll have to get her back! Mallitta, tell your mother where I've gone, and tell her that when I've found Jerissa, if she's in danger I'll send Ket to ask T'rin for aid. Don't let her worry about sending anyone after me and risking them; I'll be taking a flamethrower too and a can of agenothree in case if Threadscore! Tell Bimall I shan't make sweep too!"
Mallitta nodded, scared; and Varalie hurried to get a heavy Wherhide jacket and fill a flamethrower to take. Heavy as it was, she ran; then slowed to a jog as her injudicious pace started a stitch aching in her side.
By her reckoning, Jerissa had had an hour's start; and that would take a fit girl half way to her target. A runnerbeast would soon overtake her; the sweep walkers were to leave soon on runners, but they were using roads. The light was starting to go, as much from intermittent cloud cover as the closing of the evening's crepuscularity, and Varalie did not think herself a good enough rider not to risk taking a fall of the beast stumbled. Besides, if Jerissa was hurt, she could not protect her friend and a runner if Thread fell; and she would not wish such a death for the poor creature, for however the Weyr might be, some Thread always got through. And though the increasing grubs were starting to make some difference, Thread had still to reach the ground to reach the grubs.
The stitch became worse; and she stopped to ease it. Again she remembered Ket! She gave him the image of Jerissa, and urged the little bronze to show the girl the urgency of returning home.
Ket returned with an apologetic chirp, and images of Jerissa laughing.
"Little idiot'll laugh on the other side of her face if she walks into Fall" growled Varalie to herself.
It took Varalie almost another two hours before Ket chirped recognition of the place he had seen Jerissa; and at the sound of another firelizard, her Pell replied.
"Varalie?" a voice called from high on the river cliffs "I never thought you'd come after me, whatever did you do that for? I'm quite safe, and I was right – there's three green clutches up here!"
"And Thread due to fall in just a few minutes you wherry headed scatter brained dimglow!" cried Varalie, her voice echoing her fear.
"Thread?" Jerissa heard that fear in Varalie's voice "I didn't think it was due for days yet!"
"Not at the Hold, no! You're in a different zone now you – you CLUNCH!" said Varalie staring up at the white face that had suddenly appeared on the dark cliffs. "Is there a cave up there?"
"It's a scrape more than a cave…. I reckon we can both just about get in it" said Jerissa a little doubtfully.
"Rope? Did you bring rope? I don't climb as well as you!"
Varalie's question was answered by a rope snaking down; and she carefully tied the flamethrower to the end before climbing it with painful concentration and a facility engendered by fear. She pulled up the flamethrower onto the narrow ledge on which she found herself.
The scrape was deep enough for two young girls hunched up, and the clutch of eggs that was within it.
Jerissa scrambled out again.
"What the Fardles are you after now?" demanded Varalie.
"Two more clutches – they'll be killed when Thread falls! Here, take them!"
Varalie took the eggs passed back to her, forbearing to point out that if all the eggs laid by green firelizards hatched, then Pern would be full of green firelizards; and also did not mention that in her opinion these exposed eggs were not warm enough to have survived.
The green firelizard that had made her nest in the scrape seemed to have made a better job of things; as well as the shelter, she had made a nest of wherry-down, to which some bits of wherry was still attached, presumably scavenged after another creature's kill or an accidental death. The smell of rotting wherry did nothing for the ambience of the cave; but the heat of the decay did keep the eggs warm. And the shells did not seem to have been penetrated by anything feeding on dead wherry or live firelizard.
The first flames of the flaming dragons began high above them.
"It's Fall" said Jerissa, sounding close to tears.
"Yes" said Varalie, knowing she had to be calm for her normally insouciant and now suddenly scared friend. "I've a flamethrower; and I know how to use it. I'll protect you."
"Oh Varalie! I AM sorry!"
"I know" said Varalie, looking for any sign of silvery Thread. Shards, the cloud cover meant that the one moon that was up would be masked; it would be impossible to see! She wondered whether to give a quick burst of the flamethrower as illumination; but it would destroy what night vision she had, as well as wasting precious fuel. And her cheerful assurance that she would send to T'rin when she found Jerissa was impossible; either he was up there flying Fall or he was waiting to swap in and could not be disturbed in either case!
Indeed the situation was more difficult for T'rin than she realised; for T'rin flew on the special 'Protective' wing of just a dozen dragonriders picked from the steadiest riders and some of the strongest dragons. It was headed by H'llon and seconded by both Z'kan and K'shon, the latter of whose radical ideas had seen its improvement. K'shon could sense exactly where dragons were and one of the advantages of the wing was that all the dragons n it were friendly enough to talk to all the other Riders in it, and tuned in to K'shon, allowing them to use flamethrowers as well as flaming breath. The wing covered weyrlings bringing more firestone as well as covering the changeover of fresh Riders and dragons for tired ones, an operation co-ordinated by T'lana, with her ability to hear all dragons. The Protective Wing flew the greater part of fall, from the time firestone needed replenishing to the end and T'rin had to concentrate very hard the whole time, and literally could not have taken any message!
Varalie briefly considered sending word to H'gey, as his Brieth was still juvenile; but she did not see that there was anything the Harper could do; and she was not sure how coherent a message Ket could send. Unlike established High Reaches Weyr folk it had not become second nature to her to carry paper and a graphite stick – and she had come out without it!
The clouds cleared to a haze; and the light of Belior, the lesser moon, struggled through.
It was enough; and in time. Varalie let fly with a flamethrower.
Jerissa swallowed. Despite having seen Thread fall this was the closest she had ever been to it before!
Varalie kept concentrating; and blasted every time the clumps of squirming grey mass came anywhere near the cave.
A gold firelizard appeared from Between in front of her; gave a startled squawk, and vanished again. She wore a collar; and Varalie wondered to whom she looked.
She had not long to wonder.
The little queen turned up again and politely extended her neck to reveal a note tucked in her collar.
"Take it and read it Jer" said Varalie.
Jerissa unfolded the concertina and read,
"You silly kids, will send cover, sit tight, T'lana" in a hasty scrawl.
"Whew!" said Varalie "Give your human our thanks, little queen!"
The gold firelizard chirped obligingly and winked out again.
In just moments, it seemed, flames were roaring out above them at the height of the top of the cliff; and a merry girl's voice called,
"You kids all right?"
"Better for the company!" called Varalie.
There were several gouts of fire.
"What the fardles are you doing there?" came the question.
"My friend didn't know this was another zone" said Varalie "And when I realised she was out here I came after her. Lady Holder Mallene knows, I left a message for her."
"You'd not be Varalie and Jerissa by chance?" asked the voice.
"That's us!" called Jerissa.
"Um. I heard one of you was scatty and the other was steady – would you now" – another gout of flame – "And I'm guessing Steady followed Scatty."
"That's true, I'm afraid" called Jerissa "I'm Scatty Jerissa."
"I did bring a flamethrower" said Varalie.
"Yes; it's how T'lana saw you" said the voice "At some distance to the regular sweep. By the way, I'm Sh'anne. E'ledur and I Impressed last turn, but we've not done chewing firestone yet. Fortunately they let us loose with flamethrowers."
"Yeah" said another voice, a boy's voice. "Fortunately we got considered steady enough to learn Between flight early; so we're the spares, not on regular firestone carrying duty! I'd not be in your shoes, though, T'lana's incandescent!"
"Well it wasn't Jerissa's fault she didn't realise it was the next zone" said Varalie "And I don't see what else I could have done."
"Written an message and sent your firelizard to her to get her to come back?" suggested Sh'anne laconically.
There was a long silence.
"I never thought of it" said Varalie. "I guess I'm just not used to having writing materials; I was never permitted any when I was growing up, it's still very strange."
"I'll let T'lana know that" said Sh'anne "She'll accept that; and if it wasn't done as a lark you'll get off lighter."
Fall was almost over by this time, only clumps blown haphazardly in the light gusty breezes a potential danger; and Pell and Ket started humming. There was a SNICK! From the middle of the green's clutch.
"Ooh!" said Jerissa "I brought meat just in case – c'mon Var!"
Varalie opened her mouth to protest; then shrugged and gave in. She was of no further use with her flamethrower with Fall all but over and adequately dealt with by the senior weyrlings above.
There were six eggs in the clutch.
The first one out was a brown.
"Oooh!" said Jerissa "I thought all green firelizards laid were other greens!"
"Shut up and poke meat if you want to Impress" said Varalie.
The little brown was too busy ravenously biting at half rotten wherry to take notice of either of the girls; and other eggs were breaking! In the end they found themselves with two more firelizards each, Jerissa with two greens, and Varalie with a green and a blue! The final green firelizard and the brown evaded Impression and were gorging on the other eggs Jerissa had so carefully brought into the cave. The girl gave a sardonic laugh.
"Oh well, they were useful for something!"
"They were dead of cold out on the cliff anyway if you ask me" said Varalie.
Jerissa sighed.
"I love all animals, I hate to see unnecessary suffering and death" she said.
Varalie nodded. "It's why you're basically so nice."
Tired out, the girls leaned against each other with satiated firelizards hung about them; and were soon as fast asleep as the little creatures they had just Impressed!