Chapter 5
Weyrleader G'narish introduced a young Brown Rider to the acrobats to be their liason.
It turned out that J'ton had been Holdless, and had escaped from the clutches of a thiefmaster to go to the Weyr; and was now proud to be friends with those who had rescued his fellows, despite forestalling him. For the youth had planned on taking his own action as soon as he could go between, and had been too late! He told Jessenia that Piaz now had two more foster brothers, a lad his own age who had been in the clutches of the thiefmaster for turns, and a babe of about 4.
"Lady Petrilla's a great one" he said. "Your friends are doing well with her. And I think I need to train harder than the other weyrling kids: if I can pose as an acrobat it'll help when I'm travelling to find more Holdless."
"If you're good enough, Grandfather will train you if you explain why; but he'll be honest" said Jessenia.
J'ton pulled a face, but nodded. "Fair, I guess" he said.
J'ton would never be a great acrobat, like Lenner, but his body was hard and fit, and he had learned suppleness during his turns as a thief and Fordel nodded satisfaction. "You can learn enough to pass," he grunted. "It'll take more than three sevendays."
J'ton grinned boyishly. "Happens this is a better place to overwinter than the Holdless caverns at Igen Hold" he said. "If you're doing the Turnover Gather, happen several of us could give you a lift down there and back – and your A-frames and ropes, too."
Fordel was hesitating, and that offer made a difference!
"It would be nice, Father," said Dukkar. "If the Weyr feels we won't overstay our welcome."
"Warm quarters that don't flood and necessaries with running water," Tanni said hungrily.
"G'narish will certainly extend the invitation to give some of us enough skill to blend in" said J'ton. "And I could work sometimes with you as a less skilled member, even taking the hat round sometimes, as though I do that for learning more. Coroseth will let me be away for a day or two."
Fordel nodded. "The Weyr exceeds its duty" he grunted. "But if others don't fulfil their duties, it has no choice. We stay if the Weyrleader is happy."
Jessenia saw his eyes flick to her, Roban and the three youngsters; and knew the Weyrleader's words about disease and disaster had affected him. Knowing the Weyr would take care of his young relatives made him unbend more towards other unfortunates than he might otherwise have done. Fordel did not lack compassion; but theirs was a precarious living and he could not afford to get too involved in the troubles of others without something like Weyr backing, even though they were actually doing very well at the moment. Even so, he had taken on that boy now with the Riverfolk: anyone willing to work got equal treatment in Fordel's book.
oOoOo
Roban had made friends with a weyrling named F'shar and his dragon Blue Brinth. F'shar was a cheerful, happy-go-lucky boy, looking forward to his first flight on Brinth's back; he and most of his clutchmates were to fly soon, though the one Bronze from the clutch and the two largest Browns had already tried their wings. F'shar took his acrobatics serenely, as a means to help avoid Thread; and asked Roban to ask Fordel to devise exercises to improve catching heavy objects like sacks of firestone from difficult angles.
Fordel approved of F'shar and did not discourage Roban's familiarity with him, though he had muttered doubly about too much familiarity with future Dragonmen.
Jessenia was approached by a girl about Roban's age.
"Hello, is it true you mean to stand for a Green Dragon one day?" The girl asked.
"I hope to" said Jessenia, a little warily. The girl beamed. She was a pretty girl, with tanned golden skin and pale gold hair, bleached almost white in the sun.
"Bretine" the girl thrust out her hand. "I'm hoping to stand for a Green too, but my father – that's Brown Rider B'tin – thinks I ought to wait a while, though I'd be in age if I were a boy. And my mother agrees, that's Nadeena, she's headwoman. So I'm going to be a Weavercraft apprentice over near High Reaches for a Turn or two, because having a craft is good, and one of the apprentices there fostered in High Reaches Weyr for a while so she can help me shake down, I hope. But if we're likely to be colleagues one day I thought we might get to know each other a bit before I go at Turnover."
"But I might not Impress, of course" said Jessenia, "though I guess a Dragonman's daughter will."
Bretine shrugged. "The dragons will choose who they want" she said. "I HOPE to Impress, and plenty of Riders have marks on YOU Impressing already."
"They do?" Jessenia was shocked.
"Oh yes, and your little brother," said Bretine. "The next one – Tas, isn't he? – is reckoned too quiet, and Lenner's out of age. But they've all been discussed, you know. Weyrs are like that – full of nosy people looking for something to wager on!"
"Er . . . no, I didn't" said Jessenia. "Well, I guess I'm glad to know – if a little taken aback."
Bretine grinned. "Cast up your eyes, throw up your hands and ignore them like you do at your brothers," she said.
"You've been watching me?"
"Of course. You and your family are exciting people. And – and I thought you might not mind me saying hello; you're friendlier and nicer than lots of Queen candidates."
Jessenia pulled a face. "Are they all as stuck up as stories say? A'tar said there was a horrid little beast who was rude about Preth's colour!"
"Don't surprise me," sniffed Bretine. "Some are all right – gotta be, I guess, or we'd never have decent Queen Riders, and Aunt Nadira's the nicest of all."
"The Weyrwoman's your aunt? I'm sorry, have I been disrespectful?"
"Oh fardles to that! Yes, my mother's her sister, they both stood for Impression together and Nadeena chose to stay when her twin Impressed. They're not identical, but they're quite alike. Nadeena's keen for me to have every chance to Impress a Green, unless there's a Queen for me, 'cos I think she'd have liked to have a dragon to share with B'tin," she confided.
"Is there any reason SHE shouldn't stand?" Asked Jessenia. "I mean, Queen candidates are put to egg older than boys, couldn't she stand for a Green egg? The Weyrwoman's pretty young, isn't she? And they're twins?"
Bretine blinked.
"Well . . . I guess . . . Nadeena's thirty-something – I don't ask, grownups get touchy about things like that – but I'll suggest it, THANK you!" Impulsively she squeezed Jessenia's hand.
Jessenia shrugged. "Just seemed like a good idea," she said.
This Bretine seemed a nice kid; a bit young for close friendship as yet, but give her a turn or two as an apprentice and maybe they could be good friends.
oOoOo
Jessenia and Roban stood to watch F'shar's first flight, and give him support; it was barely more than 30 Lengths before V'sheren signalled them down again, but F'shar and Brinth were obedient. The boy's eyes were shiny with joy.
"Well done" said V'sheren. "Tomorrow a little longer."
The other weyrlings did the same; and those who had been flying longer might make a circuit of the Weyr.
One young Brown Rider chose to go higher than he had been told he might, and Jessenia saw for herself, horrified, the crosswinds G'narish had spoken of.
She heard the boy's startled cry, and saw his dragon buffeted; heard the little creature squeal in pain for an awkwardly twisted wing. Then they plummeted outside the Weyr.
Hands to her mouth, Jessenia waited for the keening of the other dragons announcing the death of the weyrling pair, but it did not come.
V'sheren's eyes opened wide. "They're alive!" he whispered. "Dath caught onto a ledge; he's hung on! How the fardles are we going to get them down? There's no room for a dragon!"
Jessenia found her voice. "Sir, my brother and I are nimble - we could climb down with ropes. If your dragon or – or another – could perch on the edge of the Weyr we could tie the ropes to Dath's fighting straps and he could be hauled up. And the boy too, afterward," she added.
V'sheren gave her a quick look. "Yes, you know knots well enough," he said. "It could work – hop up, you two."
The rushing sound of a summons to a dragon was now familiar in Jessenia's head; and she ran over to Bronze Asreth, as she surmised was the dragon with the limp, the ugly scars of Threadscore running down his front leg. The dragon extended the leg stiffly.
"Reckon we need not hurt you, Asreth" said Jessenia, making a run up to leap, vaulting off his flank into a somersault that twisted her onto his back. Roban followed in the same way.
"Huh, I should have learned that trick" grunted V'sheren, climbing up in what was clearly a practiced manner to avoid his friend's scars. He passed forward ropes as he settled behind them, and they were airborne!
The difference between a Bronze dragon taking off, requiring only one wing beat, and that of a smaller blue was interesting, Jessenia thought. Then she gasped as they drew level with the top of the Weyr and the winds caught at her, tossing her hair and viciously whipping it across her face.
"I warn the young fools" growled V'sheren. "They've experienced it coming in . . . maybe you two will remember."
"Reckon getting Dath's rider to tell new ones how he nearly died might do more than telling" said Jessenia. "We've all thought grown-ups were fussing and ignored them . . . if we're lucky we do it young and with no real damage, like I did when I was six and went on the rope with no safety man . . . couldn't pee without pain for a week from rope burn, but it taught me.
V'sheren winced. "Landed half each side, did you?"
"And kind of sideways . . . and then slid off. Slowly and excruciatingly. Can Asreth please fly over and let us have a look at how things are, please?"
Asreth duly dropped, flying against the updrafts with powerful wings, fortunately not permanently damaged by the Threadscore that hurt his forelimb, though Jessenia saw there were scars on the mainsail.
"We came out of between into a clump" said V'sheren, answering an unspoken, indeed unformed, question.
"But you're a Dragonman . . . you can feel where Thread is, can't you?" Gasped Jessenia. "That's why I thought I had a good chance of Impression. . ."
"You feel where Thread is? We'll talk about that later" The Weyrlingmaster paused to wave to the frightened boy clinging to a frightened young dragon clinging to a ledge too small to get onto properly.
"Hang in there, S'tend, we'll get you both off!" the Weyrlingmaster called. "The acrobat lad and lass are coming down to help!"
"Dath can't fly!" the boy sounded panicked.
"Don't worry! We'll haul him out like a sack of firestone!" shouted V'sheren. "And I'll be looking forward to bawling you out you disobedient brat! You better do exactly what er, Jessenia tells you when she and her brother get down!"
S'tend was nodding fervently as Asreth let the thermals lift him above them, Jessenia and Roban noting every projection as they went.
"I think, Sir," said Jessenia, "You'll have to attack the ropes to Asreth's straps and fly outwards, before going up and into the Weyr. There's some rough projections that could fray a rope if Dath were just hauled up."
"Well, that's worth knowing now rather than later" said V'sheren. "This a good place?"
Roban looked down. "Climbed worse," he said, laconically. "I'll go first, our Jess."
Jessenia nodded, and having slithered off, helped V'sheren attack ropes to Asreth's fighting straps. Without karabiners and secondary ropes they must climb, but descending from the high wire with an improvised slide knot was child's play, and they descended rapidly to the sobbing weyrling.
"C'mon S'tend, stop blubbering, V'sheren'll give you plenty to cry about later I wager, but no need to anticipate" said Jessenia cheerfully. "Here, take my hand and climb off and onto that rough bit – you can hold on there while we make Dath safe.
"I daren't!" cried the boy.
"You have to – unless you want to be a dragonless man" said Jessenia bluntly. "Little fellow can't hold on much longer – shift you silly boy, I'll help you!"
S'tend gulped and stared in horror as she voiced the unthinkable; and unwillingly took her proffered hand. She pulled him across.
"Hold on" she said.
"I can't!" He clung to her.
"Hold me like that and I'll hit you" said Jessenia. "You'll probably only break a few bones rolling down if I have to punch you off. Dath is my concern right and should be yours."
Shaking with terror, S'tend let go of her and clung for grim death to what Jessenia thought was an easy hold.
"Got one rope on, sis" said Roban.
"Put mine on, Rob – this tuber-head is making no end of a fist of hanging on; I'd better watch him" said Jessenia, untying her own rope. "And if you grab me again S'tend, we'll both fall 'cos you're a hefty type, and too big a boy to weep like a six-Turn-old girlie who's wet her underlinen."
S'tend's resentment over that comment dried his tears fairly effectively!
"Tied" said Roban. "Weyrlingmaster?" he raised his voice. "Heave away!"
The downdraft of Asreth's wings could be felt all the way to where they were; and Dath jerked up and out, off the ledge, crooning in distress. The young dragon was lifted slowly and painfully – he was almost full grown and nearly half the size of Asreth – and the Bronze dragon chose to lower him outside the Weyr rather than risk lifting him over.
"He's safe, S'tend" said Jessenia. "Sorry to be brusque with you; he was losing his grip."
"I know . . . we were both so scared. I – I guess I owe you thanks."
"We do what we know best" said Jessenia. "Can't let the dragons down, huh? Now, hang in there. I'll be tying a rope on you shortly and helping you climb up."
oOoOo
S'tend was terrified; but Roban went ahead, freeing the rope from snags with Jessenia behind the weyrling, guiding his feet, talking soothingly to him, praising him.
It took a long time, and several fits of S'tend crying "I can't!" but they got him there.
The boy promptly passed out.
"Huh. Might have waited 'til we got him down" said Roban. "Sorry, Asreth, we'll have to climb and shove."
"Asreth says he's fine" said V'sheren. "But there are others come to take you two back; I'll get S'tend back soonest."
Asreth lifted the unconscious boy effortlessly in his front paws and sprang off; and J'ton's Coroseth landed for the two young acrobats.