November 20, 1800. 2:48 a.m.
road up to the house
Sobek craned his neck around to look at Cathy and Maria, who were desperatley trying to keep the beams of wood in the carriage.
"Are you okay back there?"
"Wonderful!" Cathy screamed in frustration as one of the beams almost impaled her. "I've got an idea. I'll steer the horses and YOU try to keep these in place!"
The Setite turned back around. "There's no point in stopping. We're almost there."
"Tell me it doesn't get any steeper!" Maria wailed. That was their main problem. The beams were to big to fit in the bed of the carriage, so they had to be placed across the ends while the two girls stood on either end and held them in place. And that had worked just fine on level ground. Now, on the incline up the mountain, they kept threatening to slide off the back. That had even happened a couple times. Which only created more problems, because if you let go of the beams on the carriage to pick up the fallen one, they all slid off.
Which is why the trip between their home and the mountain village of Calvicht, a journey which normally took less than two hours, was taking over five.
"WHY did we need all this wood again?!" Cathy yelled for the tenth time that night.
"We're fixing things." Sobek rolled his eyes. "Just like we've been fixing things for the past two weeks."
"Can't someone else do this part?" the Brujah moaned.
"Then what would you like to do?" Maria arched an eyebrow. "Trade jobs with Carid, and get to chop this up? Trade with Seldes and sand everything down? Trade with Ben and make all this stuff look somewhat like it should to match the rest of table, chair, etc, be that carving or painting? Or trade with Sugar, and pound it all back into place? Or--"
"Alright, alright, fine!" Cathy barked.
Sobek surpressed a snicker.
They pulled up to the front of the house a few minutes and one fallen beam later.
"Whew!" Maria exclaimed, releasing her hold on the wood an allowing it to slide to the ground. Let Carid deal with it now. Speaking of the Tzimisce...
Carid appeared from around the corner of the house. "Oh look." she sighed. "More wood. Dare I hope that we're just building a bonfire?"
"Sorry." the Giovanni called, wiping her hands on her pants. Boy, it was a good thing her mother/sire wasn't here to see this! "Carleigh said something about tables, chairs, AND the banister. That's why there's so much of this."
Carid grumbled as she flounced over to the wood pile and grabbed one of the beams. "Who the hell put her in charge, anyway? Why should she gat a blasted administration position while the rest of us do hard labor?" she swung the beam (which was one by one by eight) over her shoulder and turned to go back the way she had come.
The Tzimisce circled to the back of the house and dropped the beam down in the pile of sawdust that had become her work area.
Several feet to her left, Courtney looked up from the wet clothes she was tossing over a drying line. At first, the Lasombra had objected in the strongest possible terms to laundry duty, but when forced to choose between that and helping Seldes sand wood....it wasn't too hard a choice to make.
"What are we putting back together tonight?" she called to Carid.
"How would I know?!" her sect-mate grumbled. "I'm not a Ventrue, I'm not an organizer, I don't know anything...."
"Bitter?" Courtney smirked.
"Just a tad." Carid grinned. "Well, I hope Maria was right about the tables and chairs thing, 'cause I'm chopping these thin." she grabbed the ax stuck in the ground a few feet away.
"But what if she meant the top of a table?"
"These aren't wide enough for that."
Courtney shrugged and went back to hanging the laundry. Carid hefted the ax to her shoulder and looked at the beam. Now how big were these chairs supposed to be? Not that that was really her problem; but she couldn't chop them too small.
"Carid!" Carleigh burst out the back door, looked at the Tzimisce, then breathed a sigh if relief. "Oh, good, you haven't started."
Carid did a mocking bow. "Of course not, your majesty. How could you ever believe I would even get up in the evening without leave of your divine grace?"
Carleigh rolled her eyes. She was getting very good at ignoring Carid's sarcasm by now. "Look, just chop that one and the next two at about a half meters' length. We're going to try to fix the banister. I'll let you know what to do with the others when you're done."
"Oh, THANK you." Carid bowed again. "I don't know how your clan is getting along without you, Carleigh, you're just such a wonderful organizer."
Carleigh was already back in the house at this point.
Carid shook her head, mentally measured half a meter on the block of wood, delibertely overshooting in case of any sanding and sculpting Sel and Ben might have to do, and brought the ax down in one smooth stroke.
Across the yard, Courtney looked from the laundry again. "Do you realize it's been almost a month since we came here?"
"Yeah." Carid answered, not ceasing her chopping. "Almost a month and we still haven't DONE anything. Can't that stupid witch hurry up and finish her crystal-tracker-whatever? I'm sick of venting my agressions on wood."
"What I'd like to know is where is she supposed to get this crystal?" Courtney pinned up a shirt as she spoke. "We can't contact our clans. And I don't think they sell magic crystals in Calvicht or Geneva."
"Calvicht never has anything but wood. Wood wood wood. You'd think the kine there ate wood." Carid muttered.
Courtney laughed. "But speaking of eating," she added, "when are we going to feed tonight? I mean, the blood we're living off of now tastes like ten kinds of Setite poison, but at least it's blood."
"I dunno. Michaela and Sharma aren't back yet."
"And why is there always so little of it? They have to go every single night and then they just come back with barely enough to feed everyone." she complained. "Why can't they just get a lot of it and then leave it here?"
"Well, we don't have any ice, do we?" Carid reminded her. "And besides, its almost winter. Can't be easy to find anmals around here this time of year."
"If it's winter, why hasn't it snowed? I mean, we're how many feet above sea level? It should have started snowing up here over a month ago."
"Why the hell are you complaining about a lack of snow? You want snow? With the amount we'd get up here, we'd have to leave the house by the upstwairs window, if not the attic."
"Like we're leaving..."
"Okay, true."
Carid severed the last half meter segment from the beam, then went looking for a saw to put these into more banister-like width.
road up to the house
Sobek craned his neck around to look at Cathy and Maria, who were desperatley trying to keep the beams of wood in the carriage.
"Are you okay back there?"
"Wonderful!" Cathy screamed in frustration as one of the beams almost impaled her. "I've got an idea. I'll steer the horses and YOU try to keep these in place!"
The Setite turned back around. "There's no point in stopping. We're almost there."
"Tell me it doesn't get any steeper!" Maria wailed. That was their main problem. The beams were to big to fit in the bed of the carriage, so they had to be placed across the ends while the two girls stood on either end and held them in place. And that had worked just fine on level ground. Now, on the incline up the mountain, they kept threatening to slide off the back. That had even happened a couple times. Which only created more problems, because if you let go of the beams on the carriage to pick up the fallen one, they all slid off.
Which is why the trip between their home and the mountain village of Calvicht, a journey which normally took less than two hours, was taking over five.
"WHY did we need all this wood again?!" Cathy yelled for the tenth time that night.
"We're fixing things." Sobek rolled his eyes. "Just like we've been fixing things for the past two weeks."
"Can't someone else do this part?" the Brujah moaned.
"Then what would you like to do?" Maria arched an eyebrow. "Trade jobs with Carid, and get to chop this up? Trade with Seldes and sand everything down? Trade with Ben and make all this stuff look somewhat like it should to match the rest of table, chair, etc, be that carving or painting? Or trade with Sugar, and pound it all back into place? Or--"
"Alright, alright, fine!" Cathy barked.
Sobek surpressed a snicker.
They pulled up to the front of the house a few minutes and one fallen beam later.
"Whew!" Maria exclaimed, releasing her hold on the wood an allowing it to slide to the ground. Let Carid deal with it now. Speaking of the Tzimisce...
Carid appeared from around the corner of the house. "Oh look." she sighed. "More wood. Dare I hope that we're just building a bonfire?"
"Sorry." the Giovanni called, wiping her hands on her pants. Boy, it was a good thing her mother/sire wasn't here to see this! "Carleigh said something about tables, chairs, AND the banister. That's why there's so much of this."
Carid grumbled as she flounced over to the wood pile and grabbed one of the beams. "Who the hell put her in charge, anyway? Why should she gat a blasted administration position while the rest of us do hard labor?" she swung the beam (which was one by one by eight) over her shoulder and turned to go back the way she had come.
The Tzimisce circled to the back of the house and dropped the beam down in the pile of sawdust that had become her work area.
Several feet to her left, Courtney looked up from the wet clothes she was tossing over a drying line. At first, the Lasombra had objected in the strongest possible terms to laundry duty, but when forced to choose between that and helping Seldes sand wood....it wasn't too hard a choice to make.
"What are we putting back together tonight?" she called to Carid.
"How would I know?!" her sect-mate grumbled. "I'm not a Ventrue, I'm not an organizer, I don't know anything...."
"Bitter?" Courtney smirked.
"Just a tad." Carid grinned. "Well, I hope Maria was right about the tables and chairs thing, 'cause I'm chopping these thin." she grabbed the ax stuck in the ground a few feet away.
"But what if she meant the top of a table?"
"These aren't wide enough for that."
Courtney shrugged and went back to hanging the laundry. Carid hefted the ax to her shoulder and looked at the beam. Now how big were these chairs supposed to be? Not that that was really her problem; but she couldn't chop them too small.
"Carid!" Carleigh burst out the back door, looked at the Tzimisce, then breathed a sigh if relief. "Oh, good, you haven't started."
Carid did a mocking bow. "Of course not, your majesty. How could you ever believe I would even get up in the evening without leave of your divine grace?"
Carleigh rolled her eyes. She was getting very good at ignoring Carid's sarcasm by now. "Look, just chop that one and the next two at about a half meters' length. We're going to try to fix the banister. I'll let you know what to do with the others when you're done."
"Oh, THANK you." Carid bowed again. "I don't know how your clan is getting along without you, Carleigh, you're just such a wonderful organizer."
Carleigh was already back in the house at this point.
Carid shook her head, mentally measured half a meter on the block of wood, delibertely overshooting in case of any sanding and sculpting Sel and Ben might have to do, and brought the ax down in one smooth stroke.
Across the yard, Courtney looked from the laundry again. "Do you realize it's been almost a month since we came here?"
"Yeah." Carid answered, not ceasing her chopping. "Almost a month and we still haven't DONE anything. Can't that stupid witch hurry up and finish her crystal-tracker-whatever? I'm sick of venting my agressions on wood."
"What I'd like to know is where is she supposed to get this crystal?" Courtney pinned up a shirt as she spoke. "We can't contact our clans. And I don't think they sell magic crystals in Calvicht or Geneva."
"Calvicht never has anything but wood. Wood wood wood. You'd think the kine there ate wood." Carid muttered.
Courtney laughed. "But speaking of eating," she added, "when are we going to feed tonight? I mean, the blood we're living off of now tastes like ten kinds of Setite poison, but at least it's blood."
"I dunno. Michaela and Sharma aren't back yet."
"And why is there always so little of it? They have to go every single night and then they just come back with barely enough to feed everyone." she complained. "Why can't they just get a lot of it and then leave it here?"
"Well, we don't have any ice, do we?" Carid reminded her. "And besides, its almost winter. Can't be easy to find anmals around here this time of year."
"If it's winter, why hasn't it snowed? I mean, we're how many feet above sea level? It should have started snowing up here over a month ago."
"Why the hell are you complaining about a lack of snow? You want snow? With the amount we'd get up here, we'd have to leave the house by the upstwairs window, if not the attic."
"Like we're leaving..."
"Okay, true."
Carid severed the last half meter segment from the beam, then went looking for a saw to put these into more banister-like width.