First Day of Class

It never got old for the triplets, James, John and Joseph. It was the most fun they had ever had and they were already bouncing on the balls of their feet with impatience while their older brother and sister led the horses out, backed them each into their spot in front of the four-wheeled buggy and put on the harnesses. Then the boys clambered aboard, trying out different seats while Bran was getting Paul and Dane was double-checking the fittings on the harness.

It was a bright and clear morning in early fall as the team of horses started their daily trek around the mountain. Dane and his sister, Bran, had loaded up their younger siblings and took them to Fort Hold for their daily lessons. They had a deadline today. A very important deadline. Thread was scheduled to fall in the late afternoon. It was imperative that they reach Fort before the sun reached its zenith. That would give them plenty of time, even if they ran into trouble with the buggy.

Like their father had said, "Youz cud wallkit afore thread wud fall."

Neither Dane nor Bran wanted to heft 4 kids that far, although the older boys, the triplets, could walk part of the way, so they had checked the buggy over carefully for any deficiencies.

As they neared the first turn, they saw large shadows cross the road ahead and looked up quickly to see the dragons bringing their mother's students for their lessons. Bran and Dane looked at each other and laughed.

"We're taking these lil ones for their schooling and dragons are bringing adults for Mother's schooling!" Bran said, "I kinda wish I could have stayed. I like Ju and Theo, well, I actually like all the ladies!" Bran said wistfully.

"I know whatcha mean," Dane said with a nod, "Why are the men here? Do you know?"

"Yes," Bran said, "Gene and Thandle are both leather workers. Thandle is more of a harness maker, but not much need for carriage harnesses. At least, harness for four leggeds. He is searching for ways to increase the strength and durability of the dragon harness. Thinks it gives out too quickly. But gosh!" Bran exclaimed, "when you think about what precious cargo that harness keeps from falling in midair, I think it's amazing it lasts as long as it does!"

Another shadow passed over them, this one larger, meaning the dragon was lower and it covered the whole buggy momentarily. The two horses shivered and tried to take off, but Dane had anticipated them and kept a firm hand on the rein and a firm but gentle tone in his voice, encouraging the horses to remain quiet and calm.

A runaway buggy would be catastrophic! Dane thought.

Indeed, it would! a voice said in his head. He looked up abruptly and saw the dragon waggle its front leg at him. He saluted the dragon and the dragon moved on through the trees.

"Wonder if that was R'bert and Jenoth?" Dane asked out loud.

Yes, it is, was the response.

"Incredible!" Dane exclaimed excitedly, "Jenoth just spoke to me!"

"Oh! That is wonderful!" Bran said, hugging Dane's arm.

"I wanna hear! I wanna hear! Wanear! I wanna hear!" All four little boys were wailing and pounding their knees with their curled-up fists and flailing about.

"That isn't a wish I can grant," Dane said firmly, "now settle down before you upset the horses with all this noise and banging around!"

But I can grant that wish Jenoth replied in all the little boys' heads.

"More! More! More!" the boys cried.

Enough, Jenoth said firmly, echoing Dane's tone. When you are older, you will stand on the Hatching Grounds for a dragon of your own. Now obey!

And with that, the little boys fell silent, staring up at the sky where a dragon had passed over them minutes before and spoke with them. They couldn't see the dragon anymore, but the conversation? They would remember that forever!

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Ju Adjai Benden, Jan Ragan, Barr Henson, Yashma, Theo Force-Tillek, and Deboreen Pullman all came by dragon. Gene Glick and his wife, Mary, walked from Fort Hold, where they now resided. All were welcomed into Sherilayn's beautiful stone home by Anwell himself, who happened to be at home on this first day of class.

He had broken an old wood adze handle while out in the woods the previous day and had made another one after returning home. He was sanding the wood down to get all the rough patches off and then oiling the handle to protect it from him and he from it.

Sitting on a stump as the dragons landed and their passengers disembarked was an entertainment he would not soon forget.

The dragons came in away from the barns where any farm animals might be lurking. They were considerate that way. After landing, they settled onto their chests and extended a leg to help assist the passenger getting off. But it didn't always work out as expected.

Ju Adjai simply swung a leg over and dismounted like the dragon was a very large horse. She alighted agilely on her feet and then turned and reached up for the rider to hand down her carisak.

"Thank you, Ashok, Falgith," Ju said, nodding first to the rider, and then to the dragon, patting the blue dragon gently on the shoulder.

As Ju turned, she noticed Anwell sitting on the stump, rubbing oil into a new handle, "Good morning, Anwell," she said. She had been primed not to call him 'Mister' as that tended to get a huff and a lecture from him.

He chuckled as the rider saluted and the dragon sprang up into the air. "G'mornin' ta youz, Judajai," Anwell said.

"Nice handle you're making there," Ju Adjai commented, stepping over to look closer.

"Thankee, thankee," the old bewhiskered man said, grinning, "betcha din 'spec ta see me!"

"No," Ju said, graciously, "But it's always a pleasure to see the man of the house!"

The door to the dwelling swung wide and Sherilayn stepped out. Ju Adjai always forgot how tall Sheri was, so gentle and so lavishly beautiful. There will never be another woman like Sherilayn Anwell Ju said to herself.

"Come, come! It's a little chilly this morning" Sherilayn said warmly, "I've got klah going, tea is brewed and cold fruit juice." The two women leaned in to gently hug each other.

She looked at Anwell, "Honey, do you have enough to drink over there and are you needing anything else?"

"Yessum, an no, m'pet, I'z gud," Anwell said, then "'Nuther one's comin'!"

The three waited while another blue dragon landed. This time it was Yashma, with all her flowing robes and scarves. Blue Taneth settled onto his chest. Yashma waited for Daryl to dismount, but he couldn't swing a leg over behind him as he was accustomed to dismounting, so he lifted his leg over the hump in front of him and slid awkwardly down the side of his dragon to land on his feet but leaned back quickly against his dragon when his balance failed him. Then reached up to give Yashma a hand down.

Yashma apparently needed more than just a hand to get down as she refused the hand and waited. Anwell walked into the house and returned with a sturdy stool. He settled it just beyond her left foot and turned to Daryl.

"Youz gotsta stan' on da stool, retch up fer her han' an putter foot down on da stool all prit much atta same teim," the little deep south gentleman said.

"Here," Ju Adjai moved around Daryl, who was looking totally perplexed, and stepped onto the stool, took Yashma's outstretched left hand in her right hand and guided Yashma's left foot with her left hand onto the stool, "Now bend your right knee and slide!" Yashma made it, but was quite disheveled when she stood up. She shook herself and settled her many robes and scarves into a semblance of order and stepped regally down from the stool.

"Thank you, Daryl, for the ride," Yashma said formally.

"No problem!" the young man said, and with that, leaped aboard his beautiful blue and gave the order to rise.

The Glicks strolled up, holding hands, as Jerry on Manooth arrived with Barr and Jan. The agile, fit women slid off from either side of Manooth, and patting the brown dragon on the shoulders, thanked him and his rider for the trip. Jerry said that he was remaining today as sweeprider since Thread was predicted to rain down later that day.

"M'hall always sends one of us out early just in case something untoward happens or someone needs help getting back to cover," Jerry explained.

"Wal, youn' man, youz jes clim don from dat dere dragon o' yorn an' have sum of Sheri's tea," the old bewhiskered gentleman admonished Jerry.

"Can't say 'no' to that!" Jerry exclaimed and followed the rest of the folks into the cave, "I have a message for Miz Sherilayn to deliver from Thandle Daly."

"Is Thanny running late?" Sherilayn asked, handing Jerry a mug of warm honey tea.

"Uh, yeah!" Jerry stuttered, looking about the enormous living quarters of the Anwells, "this is magnificent!"

"Thank you, Jerry," Sherilayn said, continuing to hand out mugs and cups of her pupils' preferred drinks. She knew most of their preferences from when they all lived at Landing and she was involved in most of their daily lunches. Sheri had a great memory for such tidbits of information.

Deboreen and Theo came in together with Anwell bringing up the rear. All three were chattering like magpies as Deboreen and Theo were great friends through their husbands, Wil Pullman and Jim Tillek, and Anwell was the glue that held the two men together. He was a jack-of-all-trades and could fix anything that broke, including Jim's boat and Wil's machinery if the two were stumped about the problem.

"Wal, I bes be gettin' back t' da woods, Mama," Anwell said awhile later. "Gotsta be shore m' lummer is Thread bare."

"Love you, Anwell, you know that," Sherilayn said as he picked up the adze he had brought into the cave. He left and Jerry stared after him.

"What did he say about his lumber being thread bare? the rider asked.

"Oh! His humor," Sherilayn said, chuckling, "He has long planks of lumber drying out in the woods up on short stands he has made. He covers it all with sheet tin and rocks to keep it thread free. He calls it threadbare."

"But what about the wood itself, and why is this whole area so rich with plants and trees and grass and gardens?" Jerry asked, perplexed.

"Do you remember Ted Tubberman," Mary asked Jerry, edging into the conversation. The man shook his head. "You were probably standing on the hatching floor or learning about your dragon when my long-dead husband fired off his stupid, ill-advised homing capsule."

The whole group had grown quiet. They knew this was hard for Mary to talk about and harder to admit she had been married to the man. But some folks did not know the story, so it was less humiliating.

Jerry nodded, "I was learning all about dragons from the time I was 16. Never thought much about anything else. What had happened?"

"Nothing much and that's beside the point," Gene intervened for his wife, "Ted was a botanist. And he found these ancient grubs that could not have survived incursions of Thread if they didn't have some defense mechanism. Ted enhanced the mechanism. They are what have been keeping the Anwell forests, gardens and cropland so lush and vibrant." He was looking at Sherilayn for verification and she was nodding.

Then he glanced at Mary and saw the relief on her face, and knew he had done the right thing, again. He reached over and gave Mary's hand a squeeze. He loved Mary to distraction and hated it when she threw the homing capsule into the conversation. The man had been an ass, Gene felt. Screwing around with those big, wild cats, and the homing capsule. Those things were well outside Ted's area of expertise. But the grubs? The grubs were a good thing, a very vitally needed good thing, and all Mary really need concern herself with about Ted. The rest? To hell with him.

"So, let's get started, shall we? We will be well protected from Thread in here, and Jerry will take back word that we are all safe, right Jerry?" Sherilayn asked, raising an eyebrow his way.

"What about Mist.." Jerry started to say, Sherilayn interrupted him with a small hand gesture.

"Anwell, as he prefers to be called, has a small cave right near where he will be working and he pays strict attention to the grubs and the animals," Sherilayn told him, "the grubs come up to feed, the animals go down into their dens. Anwell is very capable of taking care of himself."

Theo laughed, "Very capable of that and taking care of whomever else isn't taking proper precautions!" She and Deboreen chuckled.

"So, Jerry, away with you, my good dragonrider, and do your sweeps!" Sherilayn smiled and ushered him out. She returned to the kitchen and said, "Okay, we have wasted enough of the morning. Let's get this classroom organized!"

And they did. As Sherilayn pulled things out of storage and handed them to students and told them where to put the items, things progressed fast and in next to no time the area Sherilayn had set aside for schooling was well provisioned. Next came going over the equipment. The spinning wheel was pulled in from the master bedroom and settled in front of a chair. The baskets of yarn and fibers next to the chair.

Her loom was a huge affair, built right where it stood by Anwell and Sherilayn out of local woods. It was exquisite to look at with its golden highlights gleaming in the lamplight and sunlight streaming in the windows. It was a treadle operated warp-weighted loom with an immense spread for any number of warps.

It was considered a two-person loom because its size across meant that usually two people were needed to throw the shuttle and catch the shuttle that carried the horizontal thread or yarn across the warps from one side of the loom to the other side. But Sherilayn, because of her size, had a longer than average armspan, could use the loom by herself, flicking her shuttle from side to side with only a left-to-right rocking step to augment her reach.

It looked forbiddingly large, and the ladies said as much. Sherilayn laughed, "I wanted a big loom so that if I wanted to do a tapestry for a wall, I wouldn't have to wait until Anwell could take time out to help me build a second loom. It is customizable, as you can see here. I can unbolt these three sections and have half the size loom, an innovation that Anwell made for me himself."

"It takes all thicknesses of thread, yarn and even thin rope, if you wish. The tapestries it is capable of carrying can be of heavy weight yarns that could be sheared, if desired, to create a plush, full look, or leave it unsheared," Sherilayn said, as she ran a loving hand over the wood, "I did those three tapestries of our landing and disembarking on this loom." She pointed to the wall above the seating area opposite the kitchen.

The three tapestries were longer than they were wide, with fringed edges on all four sides. The colors were vibrant and the tapestries beautifully wrought. The tapestries put the class participants right into the scene with the people at the edges nearly life sized and very recognizable. Admiral Paul Benden and Emily Boll were chatting on the right side of the middle panel. Joel Lillienkamp was directing someone off the scene to the left with his trademark sweeping left arm in the air. There was an air of controlled chaos in the center of the tapestry and one of the shuttles, in the background was being unloaded.

Barr gasp and ran to the right-hand tapestry. She pointed, overcome. She and Sallah were welcoming the Red Hanrahan family to Pern. This tapestry only had one viewpoint. Immediate immersion into the scene, at the entrance of the shuttle Yokohama.

The tapestry held Sorka, up on her tiptoes, gorgeous titian hair up above her like it was trying to keep up with her bouncing body. Her eyes were luminous and wide open with excitement. Her mother, Mairi was looking at Red, proud and excited. Brian was standing in front of his dad, with a sullen look on his face, having been momentarily distracted from exploring the new planet by his sister accidentally mashing his foot.

Sallah was so lifelike it almost scared Barr. Her beautiful brunette hair with red highlights floating in the wind, her ever-present half-smile on her lovely face, eyes sparkling with joy and good humor.

"You even," Barr stopped and swallowed hard, "Sheri, you even have her dimple showing," and she burst into tears.

Sherilayn hurried over to Barr and took the younger woman into a warm, comforting embrace. The other students gathered around, murmuring words of comfort and concern.

Barr hadn't really been able to grieve for Sallah. Handling her brood of children with Thread so new and terrifying had been enough to deal with at the time of Sallah's death. But now, so many years later, all the feelings of horror and outrage filled her. She pulled back from Sheri, her eyes still full of tears, but her face a mask of naked hatred.

"If that..woman, that horror of a selfish, narcissistic human being had made it back to Pern, I would have choked her slowly to death for what she did to Sallah!" Barr ground the words out through gritted teeth. She turned from Sherilayn and the others and started pounding her fists against the wooden arms of the sofa.

"Get in line, sweetheart," Gene said rather harshly. He felt a good dose of hard reality might snap Barr out of her destructive tantrum.

Sherilayn caught his eye and nodded. "You'd have had to fight Tarvi Telgar for the honor if there was anything left of the wench after he was through with her," Sherilayn let the sentence fade into the silence.

Barr got hold of herself and looked up, suddenly embarrassed. Her face felt hot and of course, wet and swollen. She wiped her face with her hands.

"Sherilayn, these hangings are exquisite," Barr said, turning to the people gathered around, she forced a small smile and said, "I am so sorry for the outburst."

"No problem" "We've been through it, too" "Wish things had turned out different for Sallah." "She was a lovely lady, inside and out" All the students chimed in with their comments.

They turned to the last tapestry. It was of another shuttle. Drake Bonner and Kenjo Fusaiyuki were consulting with Ezra Keroon about something. Totally immersed in mechanical things, oblivious to the lush world around them. This must have been the last trip, because three spacers were taking parts of the shuttle out, truly saying "we are home."

"Okay my friends, my students, our first day will be going over fibers available to us here on Pern, and what we can do with them. I was going to do comparisons with the fabrics we are used to, but realized that would be superfluous, because after what we have is gone, Pern's materials will be the only materials available," Sheri said, as she glanced around. Her students nodded and murmured assent.

Sherilayn plunged into the topic wholeheartedly. She had samples of the plants available for weaving. Potted and growing to give her students an idea of what the plants looked like in the field. There were thin, wispy ferns and plants with heavy shards for leaves. There were also Earth seed crops that were growing well in the Pernese soil. Wheat, rye, corn and barley. Food, yes, but very useable for linen-like fabric.

Then Sherilayn told them about the cane crop she and her family had found in the bog in their woods. She said that after harvesting the cane sugar and soaking the leaves and stems, they were pounded, shredded and allowed to dry, it was almost like bamboo to weave.

"One of our young dragonriders brought me a sample of some 'fluffy stuff' she called it. She had found it in a field in the Southern Hemisphere," Sheri said, and with that she brought out a large carisak made of leather. She opened it and drew out a heavy dark stem that looked perfectly dead until the top emerged from the sak.

"Cotton!" Ju Adjai exclaimed, "Pern has cotton?"

"Well, it does at the moment!" Sherilayn said, "I had Amy take me to where she found it and we harvested all there was in that field. We have the seed pods so we will see how well it grows in the shorter growing season of the Northern hemisphere. And if we can't get it to grow outdoors, we can always grow it hydroponically."

"That would be amazing! Growing our own cotton and flax," Ju said, "I was beginning to despair finding something to wear besides LEATHER!" and with a sweep of her hand down the front of her own body, she emphasized the fact that she was indeed clad in slim fitting leather slacks, a trim leather jerkin and a white cotton shirt that was beginning to show signs of wear the cuffs.

"And there will never be a figure it fits better," someone remarked behind her. She whirled and ran to the man standing just inside the open door of the hold. He caught her as she leapt up to plant a kiss on his smooth cheek.

"Thandle Daly, trust you to make an entrance!" Sherilayn drawled, smiling at the reunion the two were having. After the kiss on the cheek, Ju Adjai Benden turned and strolled back to the other students within the crook of T handle's arm.

Everyone was trying to look anywhere but at Paul Benden's widow in the arms of another man only a few years after his death. They thought that Ju had truly loved her husband and this…display surprised them

"Everyone, I want you to meet my brother, Thanny!" Ju Adjai Daly Benden said, grinning from ear to ear. "With Thanny on the bottom side of nowhere down at Southern Boll, I seldom get to see him! He keeps telling me that now I'm alone, I should move down, but I like where I am! When Paul and I moved back to Landing, and then made the Crossing to Fort, I was in the center of things again, able to be of use to folks that needed help!"

Everyone knew this was an understatement, as Ju Adjai was always a driving force to get things organized and running smoothly. If anyone needed anything up and functioning properly, they gave the project to Ju and sat back and watched her work.

After the disruption of her brother, Ju quickly settled down and helped the group concentrate on the information that Sherilayn was so freely giving them. For the better part of that first day, Sherilayn gave them an outline of what she hoped to impart to them over the next several weeks. They would meet two days a week and Sherilayn had split up the information into palatable units. Growing the crop, and what to watch for in the way of disease or parasites. Harvesting the crop. Which crops did better in what types of soil. Then a segment on composting. Kitchen scrap composting, horse manure composting and which did better with what crop. Finally, after harvesting the grain, preparing what was left for spinning into thread.

On her agenda for the following month was vegetable dyes and how to make them. Which dyes went best with which types of spun thread or yarn. And speaking of yarn, they would also be shearing the sheep, alpacas and llamas that belonged to the Anwells. This presented a whole new set of dying projects and spinning thread and yarn.

The poor students' heads were spinning by the time a lunch break was called. Sherilayn had made corn muffins the day before, and laid out a spread fit for a king. Corn muffins, sliced cheeses, hard salami, freshly canned sweet pickles, with freshly baked little cherry tartlets for dessert. She had buttermilk and milk for her guests, if they so preferred, or water or klah to drink.

About the time they finished up their lunch, M'hall and Jerry strode to the door and Sherilayn let them in before they had a chance to knock. They politely refused the food offered them and got right down to business.

"Thread will be falling here shortly. Have you everything under wraps that needs to be? M'hall asked the mistress of the hold.

"Yes," Sherilayn replied. "The children shuttered the barns before they left for Fort earlier today and we will shutter the hold as soon as you are out the front door." She turned to Thandle. "You did put your horse in the barn when you arrived?"

"Yes," Thandle said, "I did exactly as my dear sis said. I stripped the saddle and bridle off of Misty, put Misty in a stall in the barn and closed the door securely behind me." He nodded at each point.

"Good!" Sheri said, "The animals do spook a bit with Thread. So being in the barn with others is the best for them. They huddle together, taking comfort from each other."

"Perfect," M'hall said, looking at the strapping, healthy middle-aged man with his arm around Paul Benden's widow. But he knew who Thandle was and the glint in his eye said as much. "We will be on our way. We will return when Thread has been cleansed from the sky to check on you. But if I know anything about the Anwells, it is this: They are well prepared for any eventuality! Good Day to you folks!"

And with that, he and Jerry left. The students flowed outside and helped pull down the shutters and affix them to the stone house with great metal clips. Once that was done, they all returned to the kitchen and their interrupted lunch.

The afternoon brought Threadfall on the homestead, but very little noise was heard from outdoors because of all the chatting going on inside the homestead. The students were sorting through bags and bags of fabric, thread and cordage to good effect. The stacks of usable products far outweighed the small amounts that bugs had gotten into over the years in storage.

Sherilayn had deliberately not sorted through them, figuring it would be good practice for her students to identify the goods in the bags as cotton or other. She had been right. It was. The students could identify cotton from cotton blend, manmade 'rayon' from Pern's equivalent-"bog bottom fabric." It had been an enlightening day all around.

"You are going to have to come up with a better name for that fabric than 'bog bottom,'" Ju Adjai laughed. She held up some fabric in a particularly luscious shade of purple. "When the color comes out this beautiful, it's got to have a gorgeous name!"

"Howz 'bout 'Sheri-Ann,'" Anwell said from the open doorway where he stood with M'hall and Jerry. Behind them, the occupants of the room could see the dragons settled on the ground, looking in the windows.

"Yes! YES!" Ju exclaimed. The others chimed in, all agreeing.

"I bin wanton ta name it 'Sheri-Ann' eber sin she dun dyed da fust piece o' cloth," the old man said, "It's jist dat purdy! Ma shirt iz made offit."

"So it is! Then it's settled!" M'hall exclaimed, "I declare the new color to be 'Sheri-Ann' in honor of its' maker, Sherilayn Anwell!"

"Here, here!" "That's it!" "Way to go!" the students all chimed in.

Sherilayn flushed with pride and ducked her head. She was totally pleased that her husband loved the new color that the bog cane produced.

She had woven the cloth from the bog bottom leaves and shreddings on a lark, because she had no idea if it would spin or weave, and it had been that first piece of the fabric that Anwell had seen. He had wanted it made into a shirt for himself, which she had done, and he wore it nearly constantly. As it began to wear thin, she had made him another one, this time in a slightly looser weave and found that the fabric draped beautifully. She felt it would make wonderful gowns for gathers.

She was snapped out of her musings by M'hall declaring: "So Threadfall is over and Thread has been charred from the sky. And NO INJURIES!"

Everyone cheered and went outside. There wasn't anything to see, because the dragons had done their job very well and the grubs had done their jobs very well. But as they were outside, the dragons taking the students back to their own holds began to arrive.

"It's been a long, but productive day," Sherilayn pronounced, "I am very proud of all of you for this great beginning. We will meet again in two days' time here at the same hour. Is that good for everyone?"

"Perfect," said Ju, who appeared to be the small group's spokesperson. Helping Yashma back on the dragon was another production. Ju wondered why the woman felt the need for all her robes, but didn't ask. She had lost her husband to Thread in the very first Fall and had been bereft for months and months after. She was finally becoming a little more social and Ju did not want to say anything that might cause the woman to retreat back into her lonely existence. So she patted Yashma's foot after she helped the woman clamor aboard, looked up and gave Yashma a smile. Yashma gave a tight little smile in return.

Her ride had arrived and she asked Thandle to come to Fort and stay for a few days since it had been months since they'd seen each other.

"Sure, honey," the big man said, "I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't wait for me to eat dinner, okay? I'm going to be talkin' to Mihall and Anwell for just a little bit and will want to find Patrice and Stev, if at all possible." Ju mounted up and away her dragon went, headed for Fort.

"Stev has not been around for quite some time, Thandle," Mihall said. Anwell had stepped out of the dwelling at that moment and heard what Mihall had said.

"Yessum, strange that. Stev jis upan' dispeared. Almos' like he dun jump'd da planet," the little old geezer said, 'Him n' dat Bitra varmint wuz thick for 'while. Didja know she owned thet ford-five carat ruby from da 'nitial Pern survee? Yessum, got thet stone from her great-gramman."

"Really," Thandle said, looking at Mihall and just shaking his head, "That explains why Stev was thick with her. Stev was always lookin' for a way to get rich quick. Why he ever came to Pern is a mystery. Same with her."

The old man grinned, then shook his head, too. "No tellin' wut dem two wuz tryin' ta pull. It didna work out nohow. She dead, he gone. End o' story."

"Way before my time, I'm afraid," Mihall said drily, "What did you need to talk to us about?" Mihall said, turning to Thandle.

"Well, I'm looking to do a little trading at the moment," Thandle said, looking from Anwell to Mihall. "I'd like to get back to Fort, but I don't want to ride. Marshala said I could leave Misty here with the Anwells and the kids could take her back to Fort on their next school day. I would truly prefer to bum a lift with you and your dragon, if I may?"

"But I'm not going to Fort, Thandle," Mihall said with a mischievous look in his eye.

"Not even to chat with your parents?" Thandle looked down at his shoes, then glancing up, he saw the glint in Mihall's eye. He looked much more hopeful.

Yessum, we cun put up Misty fo a day," Anwell said, grinning at the pair,
Youz jis git on dat dere dragon an' fly on home!"

"Yes, Thandle, let's just get on Brianth and get on home," Mihall broke down laughing, "but first let's say good-bye to your hostess."