The Price of Flight 37
Hanna in Love V0.02.
Now I'm on a roll again… just getting on with it and progressing the story. One of several being actively written justnow. I think I've evaded Hanna coming up behind me and demanding action to be taken concerning her storyline. I think.
Tuesday evening, Bitterfontein, RH.
Rebecka Smith-Rhodes had left the handover notes on the surgery desk, for the Witch who would be covering her Surgery for the next two days. This was something that had been agreed earlier in the year. Olga and Irena had agreed that the Surgery needed cover on Wednesdays and Thursdays, to cover Bekki's regular absence while she was on Air Watch duty. The Steading in the Turnwise Caarp need cover, as life did not stop just because the Healthcare Practitioner had been called away. People still got injured or needed the services of a Healthcare Practitioner regardless. And the Steading, based on a working farm and business that employed lots of people locally, had expanded, by word of mouth.
Bekki tended to return from Ankh-Morpork to a backlog of patients, some of whom might have been waiting for two days to be seen. And during that time, her Steading had not been covered. This had been a growing concern in the first few months as she established herself and more and more people became aware of who she was, what she did, and where to find her.
Olga had visited. She had spotted that this was a concern, and needed a resolution.
Over a drink, she had explained to Hendricka and Mariella about the City Watch steading, housed in the lower floor of Pseudopolis Yard alongside a thriving Igor practice. She had explained how she considered all Witches, including herself, should also receive regular ongoing practical experience in the everyday nuts-and-bolts of Steading work, "or we very soon cease to be Witches, and become Watchwomen who once trained as Witches. To me, this is important. Wherever we go and whatever we do, we are still Witches."
Hendricka had got this.
"And the Watch steading covers the whole of the City. Or at least, that part of it where there are Watchmen and their families. And your off-duty Air Witches cover this work each day, according to a rota. Ja, that makes sense." she said. "And they do this willingly, for no pay, knowing this to be right and correct."
"And today, the Air Watch has expanded." Olga said. "I have far more Witches than there is rota space in the Watch steading. Meanwhile, for two days a week, you have no Healthcare Practitioner because she is working for me, at my direction. So you have no cover. It is possible we can help each other here, Hendricka. How would it be if for those two days, I provide a replacement, cover for Rebecka, so that she sees general practice in a Steading? She can also provide your therapy in the mornings. I understand by the second of Bekki's duty days, you are beginning to feel it in your legs and joints, for want of assistance."
"Hendricka, we've met several of Bekki's friends and colleagues." Mariella had said, supporting her. "Yulia, for instance. She's helped out in the surgery. And you've met Nadezhda. And others."
"Proven people." Hendricka said, thoughtfully. "Yulia is bright and clever. And Nadezhda was born to the wrong people. She's as close as you can get to a Boer while still being Rodinian."
Olga grinned. "Shared values, I think? Quite possibly why my marrying a Boer man was not such a long stretch for me. In a different world, Hendricka, in a different language, my people might not see a plaas so much as a stanitsa. That was Nadezhda's experience."
She became serious again.
"I can't guarantee the same person every week, nor even people you've met before. But it's only right I provide cover while Rebecka is doing other things for me. When I call in Stacey Matlock or Vasilisa Budonova, for instance, I ensure their Steadings are covered by an Air Witch who needs to keep up her skills at everyday Witch work. The same should apply here."(1)
Hendricka considered this. "I suspect you do not employ bad bargains, Olga. Send whoever is available. She can stay for both days and we provide bed and board."
"Khorosho." Olga paused a second. "Lekker. Unfortunately, Rebecka is my only Vondalaans-speaking pilot. Anyone you get to cover her would be Morporkian only."
"Dertein can mediate with anyone unable or unwilling to speak Morporkian." Mariella said. "Also, it occurs to me the locum Wi… Healthcare Practitioner… might need help with local terms for ailments and medical conditions. I suspect these could be baffling. They can baffle me, and I'm from a different region of this country!"
"So she has the services of Dertein, the orderly. A good man. Clever, learns quickly, and from what I see, he fits well in the surgery here. The point of continuity. Good, we're agreed." Olga said.
Bekki quickly fitted the tack and saddled up Boetjie for the flight. Wee Archie, her navigator, sat thoughtfully on the stall rail in the stables, and watched.
"You're certain you know what you need to do, Archie?" Bekki asked, making sure. Her Feegle beamed.
"Oh, aye, Miss Rebecka! Nae bother. Ah'm tae go first to Senior Sergeant Wee Mad Arthur, aye, so as tae go through official channels, and ah'm tae explain tae him why it is ah needs tae speak tae the Hag O' The High Airs, an…"
"Protocol, Archie." Bekki said, patiently. "Outside of other command officers, nobody walks directly into Olga's office and asks to speak to her. You go to your immediate commanding officer first."
He gave Bekki an appraising eye.
"And for ye, Mistress, such a request needs tae go tae the Golem herself, as she is your sergeant, and ye report tae her…"
"She's not that bad, Archie. You've seen it yourself that when it's just the two of us, out there on the Hubwards States Run, she'll relax a bit and it can get informal. Well. I still have to call her Sergeant. But she has been known to call me Rebecka. Up there, where the structure isn't so important."
"Oh, aye, Mistress. Ye and the Golem have interesting conversations, aye."
"And, as you have been advised, Archie, Gods help you if you ever break that confidence." Bekki cautioned him. Wee Archie grinned sheepishly.
"Aye, Mistress. What is said in the high airs stays in the high airs. Me and Wee Heinie both."
They contemplated Hanna von Strafenburg's Feegle navigator together. He'd entered the service as Wee Henry, a typical Feegle youth with Gonnagle inclinations. Assigned to Hanna, he was now the only Feegle who bathed twice a day, combed his hair, and regularly washed and pressed his clothing. And he could clomp to a very precise attention and salute sharply. If Feegle wore boots, there would be a heel click. And his precision, pinpoint, navigation was the talk of the Service. Only Wee Mad Arthur and Buggy Swires could do it better.
Somehow, Henry had mutated first into Heinrich, and then to Wee Heinie. (2) A Feegle with an acquired Überwaldean streak was regarded as a Phenomenon.(3)
"Ready?" Bekki said. "Then let's go!"
Mariella and Hendricka saw them off. While Tuesday evening was usually far too early for Bekki to fly out to a rostered shift day that began on Wednesday morning, both of them saw there was a pressing reason for her to fly out early. Mariella passed Despatches to her niece, to be delivered to the right people in Ankh-Morpork. Bekki quickly conferred with them about the Shopping List. (4) And then the Pegasus took to the air.
"Oskar Verdraainer is going to go insane over this." Hendricka reflected. "Which, for Oskar, is a short stroll."
"He isn't going to find out." Mariella said, practically. "Although if he sees the Air Watch coming over to take a closer look, he'll guess. He just won't be able to prove it."
Hendricka considered this, then smiled.
They watched the Pegasus ascend and then pop out of existence over the sky of Howondaland, and then returned to the huis for an evening drink.
Ankh-Morpork, Tuesday, at three-thirty in the afternoon by local time
"This is Firebird. Firebird calling Control. Report that I am incoming with Pegasus, at angels three over the Edgeway Road. Over."
~~ Fat Duck Control responding, Firebird. Read you. You're arriving early, aren't you? Over.
"Firebird to Fat Duck Control. No emergency, Fat Duck. It's quiet in Howondaland justnow, so having evening dinner with the family, and a quiet night in before work tomorrow, sounds like a good idea. Over."
~~Read you, Firebird. Advisory: no space upstairs, as not expecting you today. Land in courtyard and stable Burt... Boyt... Pegasus… in lower stable. Over.
"Acknowledged, Fat Duck. Landing in ten. Firebird out."
Bekki steered Boetjie down to the inner courtyard of the Watch headquarters, reflecting that in the old days, as a Ramkin family mansion, this yard had needed to be big, so as to accommodate all the coaches that would have brought guests here for Society Balls. A lot of balls needed a lot of space to accommodate the Society coaches.
She reflected that while part of the inner yard had been built over to accommodate an extension to the Watch stables and coach sheds for its own horsed vehicles,(5) there was still enough there to allow for musters and parades of quite a lot of Watchmen.
She also reflected that even Rodinians found her mount's name hard to pronounce, as she patiently circled until the Watchmen gathering underneath realised there was a large winged horse overhead looking to land. She steered him into a four-hoof landing, and waited for his wings to fold.
"Firebird to Fat Duck Control. Reporting safe landing. Over."
~~Read you, Firebird.
There was a muted off-speaker conversation. It came to Bekki as more than a whisper, but muted.
~~Stand by…
A new voice.
~~Syren to Firebird. Wasn't expecting to see you today, but welcome home, anyway. When you're done downstairs, devyuschka, come straight to the office, would you? Need to brief you. Acknowledge.
Olga's voice had come over loud and clear, and several nearby Watchmen grinned. Sergeant Hudson of the Mounted Watch shook his head.
"Acknowledged, Syren. I just need to get Boetjie stabled, then I'll be with you soonest. Firebird out."
She dismounted and took Boetjie's bridle, to lead him to the stables. Sergeant Hudson walked with her. The regular Mounted Watch found the Pegasi fascinating, too.
"That's what you get for turning up early, miss." he observed. "I'm just betting she's going to tell you to get into uniform and do a shift of voluntary overtime."
Bekki sighed. This had just occurred to her, too. So much for dinner at home, but at least I can do what's needed with Olga, which is the reason why I'm here a day early…
At least Sergeant Hudson, who ran the stables, knew what it meant when an extra Pegasus landed downstairs, rather than on the airstrip above. Bekki followed his lead to a vacant stall, reflecting that Boetjie would be safe and comfortable here with his needs attended to.
"Gosh, Bekki. I wasn't expecting to see you till tomorrow morning."
Bekki greeted her friend Sophie Rawlinson, a junior Pegasus pilot like herself, who had joined the Watch full time as it had the draw of lots and lots of horses. Sophie, when not on Pegasus duty or doing mandatory patrol flights, tended to not stray from the stables. She often mustered with the Mounted Police to do her mandatory Watch patrols. Olga accepted this, provided Sophie realised the Air Watch was her first priority.(6)
"I'll leave you both to it." Sergeant Hudson said. "Ladies."
Bekki and Sophie worked together on bedding down Boetjie. Bekki reclaimed the rear pannier carrying the outward-from-Howondaland shopping list and her Watch uniform, which she had been hoping the maids at home could give a final press to. The pannier clinked. Sophie grinned.
"Perk." Bekki said, firmly.
"Illegal import of wines and spirits, you mean. Smuggling." Sophie remarked. She grinned. "Then again, Snowmaiden's panniers have been known to rattle when she flies in. A bottle for Olga, one for Irena, one for Mother Hen…"
"Apparently they do really good vodkas in the Ronbas." Bekki said.
"Golly, yes! And when Greygoose does the Sumtri run, she makes sure Mr Vimes never runs out of good cigars."
The two contemplated the elastic nature of Perks together as they worked.
"So what do you do?" Bekki asked. Sophie's regular runs were to Howondaland, usually alongside Olga or Irena.
"Nobody's ever really asked, very much." Sophie said. "I bet people who want things out of Howondaland ask you first. You're family to most of them, after all. And the Zulus don't really make anything very much for export. Although when I did the Cossack country, with Vorona, flying to her people out in Mouldavia, I bought some of their tack. You know, for myself. They make good tack.".
"Bought?" Bekki asked. Sophie's wide honest face looked shifty for an instant.
"Well. You know. Witch discount." she said. "Vorona knows the leatherworker. She pointed out I'd just healed his horse. What's Rodinian for an Ob?"
A little later, Bekki ascended the rickety external stairs to the Air Watch premises. She wondered why what felt like an old fire escape had never been updated much. Maybe people had been too busy on other things, or something. Or as they tended to fly in and out, they didn't use the stairs at all, and they'd been left deliberately rickety so that only important or essential people and messages came up?
She checked in at Control first. Sergeant Raskova, a part-time pilot like herself, an older woman who had found her role as an Air Traffic Controller, smiled broadly and reminded her to go straight to the Captain.
As this was exactly where Bekki wanted to be, she didn't complain too much. Dropping her pannier in the Crew Room on the way, she found herself knocking on Olga's door.
"Officer Smith-Rhodes reporting, ma'am. You wanted to see me?"
Olga Romanoff put down the paperwork, looking grateful for the break.
"You're early, Firebird. I wasn't expecting to see you till tomorrow morning."
She left the question unsaid. Bekki, very carefully, set this aside. She sighed, and got the other thing out of the way.
"My uniform's in my bag, ma'am…."
Olga smiled.
"Rest easy, Firebird. It's a quiet day, and there's no need for me to tell you you're on shift. Besides, there's your mother. Your sisters. Your father. Ampie."
Olga smiled again, and appraised. "So I won't keep you away from him this evening. Everything between you is going well? Glad to hear it."
She smiled and paused.
"Okay, first thing."
Olga looked grave.
"Change of plan for tomorrow, devyuschka. I want to tell you this now, before you hear the gossip and the govno. Senior Sergeant von Strafenburg is currently on compassionate leave, to sort a few things out. I have told her I do not expect, or at the moment want, to see her in the Air Station until it's all dealt with."
"Oh, She's not ill or anything, is she?"
"Depends how you define illness." Olga said, drily. "Before you hear the gossip, the essential facts I can disclose concern family and personal worries. No blame attaches to her. She's just taking time off to sort her life out."
Bekki caught a spill word. She had a mental picture of Ampie that flashed and went, and realised the mental processes going on in Olga's head that had made her ask about him. She made a leap of intuition, felt incredulous for a moment, and then told herself that Hanna was human and female like everyone else. Well, like fifty percent of everybody else, anyway.
"Ma'am…. There's a man involved?" she asked, trying not to sound surprised.
Olga gave her a long cool look.
"You have been listening to the gossip." she said, drily.
"No, apart from talking to Sophie downstairs and saying "hello" to Fat Duck, I came straight here." Bekki reassured her. "And you know Sophie. If it isn't about horses in any way, it's inessential."
Olga smiled.
"I'll trust you, Firebird, with a little bit more. Hanna flies with you and she's happy for you to be her Second Pilot. Yes, there's a man, yes, she's in two minds about him, and that's why I gave her leave."
"It makes sense of something now." Bekki said. "Olga, when we fly together on the Hubland States run, when we're in the air, she gets more informal. She talks about things that aren't to do with flight and I really get the idea she's trying to be friendly and closer, but she's not sure how to do it. She doesn't really say much about herself, but she was asking me lots of questions about me and Ampie. How we met, what we do when we're together, what we talk about, do I think we'd ever get married…"
Bekki paused, realising the pieces were fitting together.
"Olga, she's never had a boyfriend, ever?"
Olga nodded.
"So… she's asking me, in a roundabout sort of way, what happens, how it's done, what to do…"
Olga nodded again.
"Firebird, it is entirely possible this is how a Prussican countess. who is possibly twelve years older than you are. would approach girl-talk and seek advice on how to manage a man, without making it obvious that she is asking your advice and your guidance."
"But… me? I'm only seventeen and she's got to be… the same age as Aunt Mariella, maybe."
Olga smiled. Bekki got that she was glad to be having this conversation.
"Bear in mind, Firebird, you may only be seventeen, as you say. But you have still had one more boyfriend than Hanna has ever had."
Bekki took this aboard as a consideration.
"And I hope your advice helped her, Firebird, even if you didn't even realise you were giving it." Olga said.
She frowned.
"You weren't completely alone up there. You had Navigators."
Bekki caught this unspoken concern too.
"Wee Archie knows better than to blab. I've advised him if he does, there'll be a reckoning. And Hanna's navigator is absolutely trustworthy. Wee Heinie. He's her Feegle."
Olga accepted this.
"And speaking of Navigators, ma'am, and especially speaking of Wee Archie, he's asked for some facetime with you, directly and personally. I said I'd ask, and I'd be obliged if you did. Errr…"
Olga scrutinised Rebecka carefully. That errr spilt a lot. Something Bekki either couldn't or wouldn't speak of. Whatever it was. But still important enough for her to make the request. And any member of the Air Watch had the right to petition the Commanding Officer. She had to be available for this.
"Okay." Olga said. "If he puts it through Channels first and speaks to Sergeant Wee Mad Arthur, as he should, I'll give him a few minutes. Anyway. Hubland States run tomorrow. You usually go alongside Hanna as Second Pilot."
Olga smiled across the desk and reached out a hand.
"You've been flying the route alongside Hanna for a year. So you know it. Hanna won't be there tomorrow. Congratulations, you are for the moment First Pilot."
"Errr… who do I get as Second Pilot, ma'am?"
Olga smiled slightly.
"I'm giving you Schpaga." she said. "Fledgling, yes. But bright. Picks things up quickly. She impressed Vetinari earlier this year.(7) He was asking if that young lady is destined for a more active role in the Air Watch. So he'll see her at the briefing tomorrow, as your Second Pilot. You know how it works, Rebecka. You've shadowed Hanna for long enough. Tomorrow you do the talking and listening, and Schpaga will be instructed to keep quiet, listen, observe and only speak when she's spoken to. Besides, you visit the Vortex Cossacks on the run and it'll be like going home for her. If your Rodinian fails, she can translate."
"And she's been having extra classes. In Geography. With Sergeant Garianova." Bekki said. Olga nodded.
"Right. I want Pegasus pilots who actually open the world atlas, and don't see it as a pretty picture. Shpaga's blind spot is that at first, she only knew where Blondograd and Lake Baikal are on the world map. Anything else to her was "here be dragons." So you are taking her to see some of those countries for real. Good for her."
Olga beamed.
"I think that's about it. Before I clock off today, Firebird, I'll speak to your navigator about whatever's on his mind, you'll get First Pilot bonus pay for tomorrow, and is there anything else?"
Bekki turned to go, then remembered.
"Just this, ma'am." she said, producing the letter. "Aunt Mariella asked me to take her routine communication for the Assassins' Guild with me. You know, local intelligence report for the attention of the Dark Council. She said nothing earth-shattering, I could leave it with you, as per standing instructions, and we can forward it to the Guild in the morning?"
"You reminded Mariella that anything coming in via the Pegasus Service goes through the Palace first?" Olga asked.
"Yes, ma'am. Potentially, nothing's private."
"Although you could have taken this home, and asked your mother to drop it off when she goes into work tomorrow." Olga observed.
"Got to follow official channels, ma'am." Bekki said, totally deadpan.
"Indeed." Olga said, accepting Mariella's report to the Guild. She dropped it onto the top of her Out tray.
"I'm going straight to the new house after work." she remarked. "To put in a few hours. You're welcome to come over and join us."
"Love to, Olga." Bekki said.
"Good. Lots to do." Olga said. "Is that everything? I don't want to keep you from your family. Or Ampie."
When she had gone, Olga retrieved Mariella's report to the Guild and turned it over, thoughtfully. The first thing she noticed was that the envelope was unsealed. The flap had simply been tucked in and the gummed edge had a complete absence of evidence that a tongue had ever gone anywhere need it. Carefully testing the envelope with her fingers, Olga did not find even the slightest evidence of those little security devices an Assassin might build into an item of mail, the sort that were designed to reward any third-party curiosity about the contents with a little extra surprise.(8)
Olga frowned. This was not usual at all for Assassin reports. And Bekki usually passed these to the Guild via her mother. It was very definitely not like Mariella to do something as sloppy as not sealing the envelope.
Olga felt a sensation of pure unfiltered Witch permeating her. She'd done Steading work, back in the day. And she remembered one characteristic of a witch could charitably be called curiosity. Also, nosiness.
She turned the letter over in her hands. It occurred to her that, if only to satisfy her curiosity, she could so easily read this, then refold it and replace it in the envelope…
Senior Navigating Sergeant Wee Mad Arthur happened next. Olga hastily dropped Mariella's report back into the out-tray and contrived to look innocent.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked.
Wee Mad Arthur threw up a salute.
"I has a requestman for ye, Mistress Olga." he said. "Tis the boy, Wee Archie Aff the Midden, who wishes to speak with ye. He yas told me what the matter concerns, in private, ye ken, and I strongly recommend that ye hear him out, aye."
"Okay, bring him in." Olga said, intrigued. She reasoned that this sudden burst of Witch-curiosity had to go somewhere, after all. It may as well go here. Burn it off.
She waited as Wee Archie was marched into the room by his Sergeant, and nodded her consent to their coming up on the desk-top where she could look at them without needing to look down too far.
"Stand easy, Navigator." she said. "Now what do you need to discuss with me?"
"Aye, well, Mistress, it's like this…" Wee Archie began. "See, Miss Rebecka and myself wuz travellin' tae a patient who needed a Healthcare Practitioner, an ould human Mevrou wi' a broken leg, ye ken, and we witnessed a strange sight in the sky…"
Little by little, an accurate picture emerged, of exactly where the Bongolfier Devices had reappeared on the Disc.
Olga thanked him, and asked, curiously
"Rebecka could have told me this herself, but she did not?"
Wee Archie shook his head, sorrowfully.
"Aye, weel, Mistress. On the same day, Mistress Rebecka was visited by an em-ees-ary of foul evil, aye. A man o' bald heid an' a vulture's beak, of no pity or human kindness. He put Miss Rebecka, aye, an' also Mistress Mariella, under a terrible and a powerful geas called an Official Secrets Act, the breakin' of which is tae break a powerful oath, wi' all consequent evils…"
Olga disentangled this. She also recognised the primal Feegle fear of paperwork, of officially and legally binding documentation.
"Oskar Verdraainer." she said. "Of the Bureau of State Security. And he binds one of my pilots to never speak to anyone in Ankh-Morpork of this matter."
Olga scowled, furiously. "And he specifically names me as a person Rebecka cannot discuss this with."
It is possible he has the right, Mistress." Wee Mad Arthur said, tentatively. "Miss Rebecka is a citizen, aye. She is bound by the laws of her country. He has the power to enforce those laws."
Olga controlled her temper and acknowledged her sergeant.
"But Miss Rebecka is clever, Mistress. She knew I am not bound by such a terrible oath. An' she took me aside and instructed me of what I need to say tae you, freely." Wee Archie said, proudly.
Olga relaxed. She forced herself to unscowl.
"Then thank Miss Rebecka for me, Navigator. And I thank you too. Now if you excuse me, I need to make a report for the Palace on this."
She looked down, with more kindness, at Wee Archie.
"As you have seen these things with your own eyes, it is possible Lord Vetinari may need to speak to you too." she warned him. "Please make Miss Rebecka aware I will not directly involve her unless there is no other alternative. But it was very clever of her to find a solution that didn't involve her breaking her agreement with Verdraainer. I appreciate that. Is there anything else, gentlemen?"
Alone in the office again, she gave way to that witch-curiosity and read Mariella's report to the Guild. This supported Wee Archie's story and added new details, such as a reconnaissance by day, riding as closely as she and Horst Lensen dared, followed by a clandestine visit by night. She and Horst had explored the military camp, easily evading the guards, and useful descriptions of the winch mechanisms, the sort of cable used, and most crucially of the spirit-driven heaters that were slung under the balloons to heat the air that provided the lift.
Olga bit back a desire to go to the door and to shout for Gertrude Schilling, remembering she too was on leave to be supportive to Hanna.
"Nichevo." Olga sighed, and painstakingly began a long-hand copy of the salient points of the report.
We were unable to take any iconographs of this propulsive mechanism, as to do so would have alerted guards to the flash of a conventional machine, which would have activated for night iconography.
Olga read on.
However, it is entirely possible friends in the city, who have access to such machines, may be able to loan me an infra-octarine night iconograph, whose flash would only be visible to a magic user.
Olga read through to the end. She found two copy iconographs of the Official Secrets Act that Bekki and Mariella had been forced to sign, and scowled.
Finally, there was a separate note in Mariella's handwriting.
I know you, Olga. You just weren't able to resist, were you? Ah well, I forgot to seal the envelope and it was intercepted in transit by an agent of the City. Whoops. I hope you found this informative. Love, M.
PS – a night-capable iconograph would be nice.
Despite herself, Olga laughed as she repacked the report. As a courtesy, she got one of her pilots to take it straight over to Filigree Street.
Bekki booked out her personal Watch broom to get her round the City. Her first call was to Auntie Heidi and Uncle Danie, to drop off the bottles of Perk of the Job that Aunt Mariella and Uncle Horst had entrusted to her.
"Wasn't expecting to see you till tomorrow." Auntie Heidi remarked, as she helped unload the drinks. There was a card from Mariella with the bottles; it read to keep you sane for the next couple of months.
"Am I allowed to tell you?" Bekki asked, regarding her aunt's expanding belly.
Heidi grinned a fatalistic grin.
"No need. Mrs Ogg said it was going to be another boy. I'll back her to be right."(9)
They discussed babies for a while, Bekki got to play with a cousin who within a few months was going to be a Big Brother, and traded family news.
"I might walk round later." Heidi said. "Reckon you're all going to be over the road?"
"Forced to be." Bekki replied. "I'm just betting Mum's over there. You know. Giving advice. Being a good neighbour."
And after that, it was a short hop over the rooftops to Home, on Spa Lane.
Claude the butler received her and gravely took her cloak. He signalled one of the maids to take her bag to her room. Beki explained her Watch uniform was folded in there and might need airing and a press. If that's okay, Eve?
The family maid said she would see to it.
"Her Ladyship is across the road at Number Seventeen." Claude said, gravely. He poured a cup of tea for Bekki. "She and other ladies are assisting with preparing the abode for habitation."
"Thanks, Claude." Bekki said. She hoped the person she needed to speak to was there. It would make life so much easier. But justnow, time for a cup of tea…
About half an hour later, she took a short stroll across Spa Lane to Number Seventeen, almost directly opposite. She reflected that she'd grown up on this street and had been here ever since she was a few weeks old, but she'd never really had much to do with the people who lived here. She was vaguely aware Mr… Nickson?... had been a civil servant or some senior clerical position at the Palace for more than one Patrician, that they had brought up children here, that they'd moved out and moved on, and now the Nicksons were approaching eighty and unable to manage stairs any more, a drawback in a house with maybe four floors. So they'd sold up and moved to a bungalow in Quiremouth, downsizing.
Seventeen Spa Lane had been bought, with no quibbling about the asking price, by another government employee who had just come into a substantial bonus conferred by Vetinari for exemplary work. That same Government employee, who was married with two children in an apartment that was getting too small for them, had also received a gift amount from her parents which had made buying into an expensive area like Spa Lane into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
A friend, Doctor Johanna Smith-Rhodes, had mentioned "the place opposite mine is coming up. Want me to make you an introduction?"
Bekki strolled up the drive, noting the Dwarf builders in consultation around the large mews garage that was a standard feature of houses on Spa Lane. She recognised Mr Oyeff among them, one of the Air Watch ground-teks, and waved hello. Mum, who had no burning desire to own a coach or stable horses here, had converted theirs into a music studio, and had a house extension built on top.
"We can fix it up. Easy, Bobby!"
"We just need to run heating pipes and elements up from the boiler in the basement. I think I've got the spec. Needs insulation in the walls. To keep the heat in. Opposite problem in the next room though. Spec is for an ice-cold plunge pool…"
"And the client wants it to be accessible only from the main house, for privacy reasons. So we need to knock through a door, in the outside wall."
"Is simple. Have built these at home. For humans, as well as for dwarfs. Simples! Hey, Miss Firebird!"
Bekki, who had an idea of what was to be built here, waved, smiled and went straight inside, as the front door was open.
She noted how everything in here was like a mirror reflection of her own home, with the same layout, only in reverse. It could get disorientating. And, she realised, while there was a growing smell of fresh paint, it wasn't everywhere, yet, and there was still a lot of mustiness, a reminder that two old people in their seventies had got comfortable here and the place, as it had been, had grown old with them.
She followed the smell of recently applied paint and the sensation of new carpet under her feet, and followed the sound of muted conversation and light work to what she knew was going to be the main room.
She reflected on the incongruity of a room full of some of the most powerful, dangerous, women in Ankh-Morpork, placidly doing normal everyday domestic things, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Then she wondered if being brought up by an Assassin with Assassins for neighbours, and having had a significant chunk of her informal education delivered by the Air Watch, might have skewed her perceptions somewhat.
"Hi, Mum." she said, noting her mother was engaged in sewing the background carrying ribbon to the top edge of a curtain. Doctor Johanna Smith-Rhodes was applying the same concentration and focus to this that she might use in planning a professional contract completion, but there'd always been one form of sharp pointy thing that could defeat her.
"Thread me a needle, would you, Bekki?" her mother asked. "You've always been good at that. Dankie."
Bekki grinned, and looked up to where Miss Alice Band, her Godsmother, was up a stepladder with a different sort of working tool, hanging a set of runners and a mounting rod for the curtain to go on. She was being assisted by Serafima "Vorona" Dospanova, an Air Watch pilot. Elsewhere, the Countess Emmanuelle de Lapoignard, Lieutenant Irena Politek, and Lieutenant Nadezhda Popova were discussing interior decoration and how the walls could be enhanced now they'd had a basic coat of white. Nadezhda's daughter Tatiana and Olga's daughter Valentina were diligently working together on inserting curtain hooks into the header ribbon of another curtain, preparatory to hanging.
Bekki set to with threading needles for her mother, making sure more than one was set up.
"Beats me how you can do that so quickly." Johanna said. Bekki smiled. It was always nice to know you could do some things better than your own mother.
"So easy when you know the trick, mum." she said. "Want me to show you?"
They talked while they worked. Bekki got mum up to date with life in Bitterfontein and the Turnwise Caarp.
"So. No men here for the heavy lifting?" Bekki asked. Nadezhda made a derisive snort. Emmanuelle snickered. Her mother grinned.
"There were. My guess is they've found somewhere to hide and drink beer. By the way, you've arrived early? I wasn't expecting you till tomorrow."
Bekki looked around the room and made eye-contact with her other Godsmother. Irena Politek nodded back.
"Any concerns, devyushka?" Irena asked.
"Actually, kuma, there is something I need to ask your advice about." Bekki said. "Witch business."
"And I'm your Kuma." Irena said. "I'm all ears."
She paused.
"Wait. Olga's here. She's just landing outside."
Olga was greeted with warmth by her daughter, and then by the other women present. Bekki got the idea. Olga Romanoff was moving into this house, with a husband and two children. Her best friends were here, showing their regard for her by helping everything to get set up and liveable. Everyone was generously donating time and love.
Bekki had a sudden flash of herself, older, moving into a marital home… she tried to fix on who the man would be, without success… and people like her mother, her closest friends, like Sophie and Apricity, Aunt Mariella, Shauna O'Hennigan, Shauna swearing as she stuck a needle into her finger…. It was a warming thought.
"Allow me to change out of my uniform, and I can be with you." Olga said. She smiled at Bekki.
"Have you had the tour yet? I know this will be boringly like your own home over the road. But I can show you what is on the way to completion, what I intend for the house, and what has not even been started yet."
Bekki smiled back.
"I overheard the builders outside. You're having the mews knocked down and a banya built?"
Olga looked happy and proud.
"A home is not complete without a banya." she said. "A place to get clean, properly clean, to invite friends, to talk, to relax. I look forward to this."
"We need to speak to Lexi." Irena Politek said, mysteriously. "She has a role to play, and a service to contribute."
Olga nodded.
"Da. Her aptitude as a Witch."
Neither of them elaborated, but Nadezhda and Vorona nodded, understanding.
"Anyway, Firebird. You said you have Witch business." Irena prompted her. "Do you want to discuss it here, publicly, or somewhere more private?"
Bekki considered. "It's about keeping confidences." she said. "But no named specific people or situations are involved. I can talk here, openly, and you can all listen, maybe offer opinions? Thank you."
Beki took a deep breath. Irena put down her work for the moment and came over to sit with her.
"Irena, you're my kuma, my Godsmother." Bekki said. "You are my sponsor into Witchcraft and my teacher. Can I run a hypothetical situation past you? This is an ethical issue, really. Let's say there's a witch, and she is a citizen of the country in which she works. The hypothetical country.
"One day, she is going about her hypothetical business as a witch. But she stumbles on something going on, involving the hypothetical armed forces of her country, who are working in association with another hypothetical country."
Bekki went on to describe hypothetical balloons floating in a hypothetical sky, large enough to carry people. You know, just as a for instance, to illustrate the point.
"Later in the same day, our witch is visited by members of her hypothetical nation's secret police."
She noted her mother's head lifting and her eyes narrowing.
"This hypothetical secret police, can we call it The Office of The Security of the State, then remind our witch she is a citizen of that country, is bound by its laws, and cannot disclose what she has seen to anyone as it is a secret critical to the security of the state."
Bekki glanced over at Olga, who was watching with great interest.
"This witch is then induced to sign a declaration, under a hypothetical Official Secrets Act, not to disclose what she has seen to anyone outside the country. As she also has citizenship of a hypothetical second country and knows people in that country's administration, she is then bound not to talk to them about it."
"Then she should keep the confidence completely and utterly." Irena said, exchanging a look with Olga and Nadezhda "Confidentiality is vital to what we do as Witches, devyushka. If you are a citizen of a nation, you are obliged to live by its laws."
"I agree." Olga Romanoff said. "If such a Witch worked for me as part of the Air Watch, I would be completely understanding that she has a conflict of interests, cannot speak about the situation, and no blame would attach."
"Thank you for raising this hypothetical situation." Irena said, completely straight-faced. "It helps to discuss these things between a teacher and her pupil, I find."
"I agree." Olga replied. "It clears the air. Thank you, Rebecka."
Bekki's mother gave her a long cool look.
"You can, however, talk about this with your mother." Johanna said. "I'd like to know more about this hypothetical Office of Security of the State. And what it induced this hypothetical Witch to do. And who did the inducing."
"And her hypothetical Aunt." Bekki added.
They went on to do more home-making for as long as the daylight lasted.
To be continued…
(1) Olga reflected that to cover Vasilisa on her duty days, she had quite a few Rodinians, including herself, to call on. And that was necessary. But Bekki was her only native Vondalaans speaker. She doubted there'd be another at any time soon, not unless she did a thing that would be highly experimental and which was likely to have the same fizz to it as dropping elemental potassium into a bowl of water. (This is to be spoken of with more detail in a coming chapter of Strandpiel. It is permissible for me to say that Olga has her eyes opened as to who else might swell Air Watch numbers by being trained as Aircrew.)
(2) There's a character in George MacDonald Fraser's McAuslan stories, about his service in the Gordon Highlanders, where a serious-looking bespectacled Highlander is nicknamed Heinrich, then Heinie, because general opinion is that he is a body-double for the late Heinrich Himmler. Anyone who has never read McAuslan should: the Gordon Highlanders of the comic military tales come over as a uniformed Feegle. You can even trace individual Gordon Highlanders across to the Discworld – these books inspired Terry Pratchett in developing the NacMacFeegle.
(3) Yulia Vizhinsky, in accordance with her streak of mischief and humour, had taken Wee Heinie as well as her own Feegle to the Nibelungenungeungen Cycle, at the Opera House for a performance of a very Überwaldean opera. Wee Heinie also attended language classes in Überwaldean in his off-duty time.(3.1)
(3.1) Author's note: I am now wondering about the phenomenon of a Feegle clan popping up in orderly and correct Überwald. German-speaking Feegle. In "Germany".
(4) Every Pegasus pilot got a shopping list, requests from people at both ends to "Could you get me this from Ankh-Morpork? Here's a few rand/roubles/rupees/zloty/Hershebian Dong to cover it." It went both ways; on this trip, Bekki was taking over a selection of Howondalandian wines and klipdrift that Auntie Heidi had requested. It was both a Perk of service and a complete nuisance. Bekki took this philosophically, reflecting that her mother genuinely did Know People who sometimes even Knew Other People, and that she could get the best possible currency exchange deal on rands-into-dollars. This was useful in a time when the international situation was depressing the value of the rand.
(5) The Air Watch, immediately above, had also benefited from a far larger landing strip and additional facilities. But with nineteen Pegasi these days, there was still not enough room to allow for Bekki arriving unexpectedly.
(6) And, as Olga remarked, somebody like Sophie Rawlinson leaning down from the saddle and shouting at an offender in a jolly loud voice, this isn't shouting, this is me speaking firmly, do you want me to actually shout? - well, that was in itself a Watch asset and an inducement to good behaviour. Sophie's background in the rural squirearchy of The Shires and an interrupted education at the Quirm School spoke volumes.
(7) to Strandpiel 2, where Schpaga gets an approving nod from Vetinari for her presence of mind and her ability to get Sam Vimes to approve an upgrade for Air Watch iconographic machines.
(8) Johanna Smith-Rhodes had once explained about this sort of thing to Olga, over a late-night drink.
(9) See Strandpiel Book One. Nanny Ogg made a Prophecy to Heidi. Heidi preferred to focus on the idea that a second son would be easier, after last time.
Notes Dump
Strandpiel2 and Price of Flight are unavoidably overlapping a lot, as they deal with events occurring in the same time frame, some of which are even related.
In Strandpiel, Bekki attends the Going Away Party for the BabaYaga, who while alive, gifts Bekki her beloved matroyschka dolls because "I can see you've fallen in love with them".
Just picked up, on another site, this concerning a Russian tradition of older days…
Some travel guides to Russia say that guests should be very careful about compliments when visiting Russian homes and keep their comments in general terms. This is because under Russian customs and traditions of hospitality if a guest says something positive about an item in a home, the host will take it as an obligation to give that item to the guest as a gift.
So Natalya was acting in accordance with Russian traditional hospitality there. (as well as bequeathing an appropriately powerful piece of Witchcraft to Bekki). I really didn't know that.