Fleece (part 2)

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 6th April 2006

Characters: Larstad
Description: Tevor shows Larstad around his cothold
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 10, day 23 of Turn 3

"Better that than snow!" Tevor said cheerfully. He gestured for
Larstad to follow him back toward the cot, but instead of returning around to the front he led him around the back. The grey slate flagstones here had weeds growing up between them, too, although they weren't as tall as the front. A washing line swung in the breeze containing only a greyed apron with a scalloped edge that fluttered dismally in the wind. Tevor followed his gaze and had the grace to blush. "My wife's. She's away right now taking care of her sick Grandmama. The old hag lives alone and has joint ail, and thinks that the regular healer is a quack. She keeps buying these awful tonics off some Trader family and Misya went over to keep them from bleedingher dry."

"Very kind of her," Larstad said dryly.

"Very." Tevor kept walking, and just past the woodshed was a medium sized shed, and beyond that a low barn to keep the ovines in during bad weather. Larstad frowned at what he saw: the shed door was bashed in, and the newly exposed wood stood out sharply against the weathered exterior. Senseless destruction and a waste of good materials - it made his skin crawl. "There you have it."

The Smith fixed the cotholder with a steely look. "I can't install a new locking mechanism without a fixed door to put it on. Why haven't you fixed the door?" Laziness made his skin crawl, too."

"Ah I haven't found time," Tevor said, unable to meet his eyes. The Journeyman snorted contemptuously and started toward the shed, his boot heels clicking firmly on the stone beneath his feet. Tevor cleared his throat. "If you, ah, would leave the mechanism, I can install it myself."

"Indeed." Larstad reached out to touch the splintered edge of the
door. The chop marks were centered around the locking mechanism, but only one bright score ran across the face of the lock itself. He glanced into the shed; it was gloomy, dark, and very definitely empty. "This is where you do your work, then?" His voice echoed slightly when he spoke.

"Yeah. I shear them in the pen over there," Tevor said, pointing,
"and store the fleeces in here."

"Does your wife spin?"

The cotholder shook his head. "No. She makes pots sometimes to sell on Gather days, and embroiders ribbons that I trade for a fleece from the weaver down the road. But she hates the smell of wool and won't have it in the cot."

"Funny that she married an ovine herder, then," Larstad said dryly. He ran a hand thoughtfully over the splintered door a second time, then turned to face the cotholder.

"Yeah, well... it was arranged. But I couldn't ask for a better
woman. I just wish I had more for her." The cotholder sighed. "Sorry about the door, Journeyman. If I'd have known I'd have fixed it, but with the fence and it being spring and lambing season and all..."

"Quite all right." Larstad sighed, and just then the skies opened and it began to rain again. "Scorch it all. Do you have any klah? I'd love a mug before I ride back to the Hold."

"Umm... nothing's made. I don't think I even have any klah..."

"Then I'll have tea." Larstad smiled widely as Tevor shrunk into
himself. The rain flattened the cotholder's pale hair down against his skull and bled into the sweat stains that circled his underarms. It would probably make him smell fresher, even if he looked a little like a wet feline. **I _hope_ it makes him smell fresher...** "Just one cup before riding back. Since I came all this way just to give you a _lock_."

"Of course." Tevor sighed, stuck his hands into his pockets, and led Larstad back around to the front of the cot. The skinny canine was gone; no doubt off to find somewhere dry to curl up. Tevor held the door open, and Larstad paused briefly in the threshold to pluck a small tuft of fleece out of the splintered door frame. He held it out to the holder. "I think you dropped this."

"Must have come off my clothing," Tevor said.

Last updated on the May 2nd 2006

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Fleece (part 2)