Fleece (part 1)

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 6th April 2006

Characters: Larstad
Description: Larstad is summoned to a distant cot to repair a lock
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 10, day 23 of Turn 3
Notes: This is Larstad's intro, and has L1 approval. :) It's an experiment for me, so I hope that it turns out and that you enjoy it!

"Thank you for coming out so quickly, Journeyman Larstad," the
cotholder said, wringing his chapped hands miserably. He was a thin man, pale looking a little underfed, with a narrow face and thin, light hair. His clothes were wrinkled and the ghosts of sweat stains lurked beneath his arms.

It was a grey day at Amber Hills Hold, and the clouds were
fat-bellied and hung low, obscuring the mountains and threatening
rain. **Spring time in the mountains - what a pleasant time of
year,** Larstad thought dismally. He flexed his hands in his gloves and managed a tight, disdainful smile for the man twitching beneath his runner's nose.

A cotholder near the border with Amethyst Cliff's territory had
requested his presence from the Hold when his fleeces were stolen out of his shed. A guard had come by and found that the fleeces were indeed missing, but the cotholder - Tevor - had wanted him to come by to replace the busted lock on his door. Larstad had left his warm bed in the Hold at dawn and hadn't reached the cot until past noon, but one look at the place convinced him that turning back and riding home in the dark was preferable to spending the night. The place was ill cared for, and weeds grew up along the sides of the cot and between the flagstones surrounding it. There was a small front window with a
dirty pane of glass and a skinny canine who bared its teeth at him when their eyes locked. A broom with well worn bristled leaned up against one wall but the spinner webs that decorated the handle indicated that it hadn't been touched in a while. A muddy trail that led from the front door around the corner - presumably to where the ovine shed was - and he could see through the trees to a cleared pasture where forty or so ovines peacefully cropped the new spring grasses. Three quarters of them were shorn.

"You've come to fix the lock, then? I hope it's something sturdier than the last one," Tevor said. Larstad grunted in reply and swung down off his runner. "That lock didn't keep anyone out. I'm lucky that I didn't hear them, wake up, and go out to confront them since they probably would have killed me _and_ taken my fleeces, instead of just robbing me. The guard from the Hold said that Lord Benaroy will compensate me for my losses." Tevor paused, baring his teeth in a smile. "Good man, that Lord Benaroy. Without him I'd be starving."

"You could always butcher an ovine and eat that," Larstad shot back. He looked around for somewhere to tether his runner and came up with nothing.

Tevor shook his head. "I couldn't do that. I recently lost four of my flock."

"Oh?"

The cotholder shifted from side to side uncomfortably. "Problems with the neighbour. You can put your runner in with the ovines, if you want. They can keep each other company."

Larstad nodded, loosened the runner's girth, and followed Tevor
around the side of the dilapidated cot and down a narrow path to the ovine pasture. Several of the animals looked up, bleated, and ran when they saw them approaching, but most stayed put and watched them blankly. The cotholder opened the gate and Larstad removed the saddle, saddlebags and bridle from his runner before leading the animal in. The bay gelding shook his snorted and settled down to graze as Larstad returned to where Tevor was standing. "New gate?" he asked.

Tevor made a face. "Yeah. The old one broke during some spring
flooding and some of my ovines got loose."

"And that prompted the problems with your neighbour?" Larstad
guessed. He got lucky.

"Yeah. Thirteen ewes got out and got mounted by his ram as well as mine." Tevor sighed. "He demanded a stud fee, and I had to pay in livestock. I'll get the ewes back once the lambs are weaned, but I don't get their fleeces this year, or their lambs. I'm barely scraping by as it is."

"And now you got robbed."

Tevor sighed again. "Yeah. And now I got robbed. Thank the Egg forLord Benaroy."

"Indeed." Larstad sniffed and heaved his bags over his shoulder. The saddle was left beneath the shelter of a small shrub. The air smelled damp; of snow mold and wet ovine droppings and evergreen sap. He looked up at the sky. "We'd better get moving. It looks as though it's going to rain again."

Last updated on the April 18th 2006

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Fleece (part 1)