It's Not As If ... (2)

Writers: Ainsley, Jane, Kaysea
Date Posted: 19th July 2009

Characters: Lihona, Jezz, Linli
Description: The little girls from the riverboat go out gathering nuts early one morning.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 3, day 24 of Turn 5
Notes: Riverboat Sungazer.

Even as she admired the nuts she heard a sound in the quiet of the morning that made her heart thump in panic. Her head jerked up as she looked back toward the river. "The whistle!"

"Uh - oh..." Linli, as if in slow motion lookd from one cousin to the other, "That wasn't the boat's whistle... it couldn't be, could it?" she asked, but started to move forward in the direction of the dock.

"It couldn't be anything else," Lihona whispered. "_First_ whistle, though. If we hurry -"

Jezz's feet were already moving, "RUN!" she called to her cousins, certain that they would follow with great haste.

Linli tried to keep her nuts in the carrier, but it was no good, the faster she ran the more they bumped and bounced around and out of the top of the carrysac. "Oh shards!" She creid, as she tripped and stumbled, her sac of nuts spraying out in front of her.

"Careful," Jezz cautioned slowing to help her cousin while avoiding the spilled nuts. "Don't Fall."

"Thanks...but...look..." Linli was close to tears, more for the graze her knees had received, than the spilled nuts. Panic had begun to set in too, fearing they would miss the boat because of her clumsiness. "We.... let's go." she said, trying to put on a brave face, as she began limping as fast as she could.

"If you're hurt we should stop," Lihona said, trying to run and get a glimpse of her cousin's knees. "Are you bleeding?"

"Yeah, a little, but it doesn't matter, we've got to keep going." she said, trying to keep the tears at bay, and be as brave as she could.

"But you're bleeding..." Jezz was unsure, worried for her cousin, but also concerned about reaching the boat. "Maybe they've blown the whistle so that we'll come. They wouldn't really leave without us."

"Dar wouldn't let them, I'm sure." Linli said, taking a swipe at her eyes.

"My mother would," Lihona said being all too aware of of Rahona's stand on such things.

"Do you think so?" Linli gaped in horror at the thought they would be left behind. "You realise, if they have gone we'll be easy targets for the hold harper, don't you?" she said nervously. "And for the hold kids."

Jezz didn't like the sound of that at all. As a bit of a scrapper, she had no intention of taking anything off the kids, cousins or not, but the harper was an adult and a whole different matter. She focused her attention back on her cousin's scraped knees. "Do you want one of us to run ahead for help?"

"I think we'd better stick together," Lihona protested. Safety in numbers and all that sort of thing.

"No no... I'll keep up." Linli shook her head and continued to stumble on.

"Come on. Over the wall," Lihona said, stopping to help her injured cousin. "And then we're nearly within sight of the docks."

Jezz came behind, ready to help should Linli have any difficulty and scrambled quickly over the wall. Looking anxiously in the direction of the docks, she had never anticipated catching a glimpse of the riverboat more.

"Won't be long now, before the last whistle blows, unless they realise we're not there." Linli said, her voice slightly quavering with worry as they had no idea of how much time they would have left. She also didn't really want to face the adults, knowing they would have held up the boat's departure.

"Uh-oh," Lihona said, catching sight in the sky of the distinctive thick dark smoke that heralded the riverboat setting off. "We're not going to make it," she predicted as the three of them heard the 'toot-toot-toot' of the second whistle. It was not the long blast of the warning whistle; it was short and sharp, an instruction to cast off the last line and a farewell to their overnight dock.

Linli came to an abrupt halt. "They're leaving us behind?" she asked, her voice registering her shock and upset at the idea her father, Eliste, Neke and Tahna hadn't cared that they had been left behind. Slow tears of shock filled her eyes as she look from Lihona to Jezz for some sign she was mistaken.

"They can't!" Jezz was incredulous.

Not having had the Sungazer as her entire world for her whole life, Lihona was less shocked by the desertion though she was very aware that actually missing the sailing increased the amount of trouble they would be in when they were next aboard - and that wouldn't be for nearly two sevendays. "It looks like they have."

Jezz scowled in indignation, "I can't believe it!" The enormity of the trouble they would be in had not yet hit her as it had her cousin. The girl of six turns was still egocentric enough to be slightly angry at having been left behind. In her mind they had been doing the crew a service in going to get the nuts! How dare they just _leave_ them here?

Lihona had other worries. "Will we be able to stay at the waypoint? Until they come back?" If not she would have to try to get word to her family at River Bluff Weyr and she didn't particularly want to give the _other_ side of her family an opportunity to be angry with her.

With a nod Jezz started to realize exactly how much trouble they would be in. "Yeah, there'll be scolding, but we'll have a place to stay and food to eat."

"And nuts," Lihona said with a giggle, looking down at what was left of her collecting after their rush to reach the riverboat.

"Nuts..." Linli shook her head. "I think I'd rather be scolded by dar, than by the family here..." Linli said quietly, now not caring that her face was awash with tears - a combination of pain, and knowing how much trouble she was in.

Upon seeing Linli's distress, Jezz curbed her giggling at Lihona's comment. "Hey don't worry," Jezz said putting her arm around her cousin. "At least we are all together. We'll be fine." The six-turn old tried to sound as confidant as she could, despite her own trepidation.

"I know..." Linli nodded, sniffing loudly, and swiping at her eyes.

"Come on then," Lihona said firmly. "We'd better let the Aunty Reitha know we're staying here for a couple of sevenday."

With a silent nod, Linli agreed, and follower behind the other two girls, quietly.

Last updated on the July 21st 2009

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It's Not As If ... (2)