Seven Days

Writers: Jane, Kaysea
Date Posted: 26th January 2008

Characters: Teene, Geni
Description: Teene and Geni prepare for the last leg of their journey to the Vintner Hall
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 8, day 7 of Turn 4

"I will be so grateful to feel solid ground beneath my feet, again."
Geni smiled across at Teene on the opposite side of the bed. "Solid ground - just think!"

"Why now? When you're finally getting used to it?" Teene had had a few queasy moments on the long voyage around the coast, but once on the seaway through to the great inland sea she might as well have been on land she felt so comfortable. Even Geni had perked up and taken more of an interest in her surroundings.

"I don't think I would ever truly get used to the roll and sway of this ship, ever; give me solid ground beneath my feet any time." She shook her head, though even she had to admit to herself the last sevenday or so, she had quite become used to the rolls and sways of the creaking ship. "Just think Teene, another sevenday and we'll be _home_."

"Not _home_ exactly," Teene pointed out. "Our new home, perhaps. And with Causton and the boys."

"I've missed them so..." Geni said quietly, her eyes misting a little as she looked away. "But yes, hopefully the Hall will begin to feel like home." She finished folding another item of clothing and placed it into the carrisac. "One more leg, and this one will only take a few days.
It'll be nice to get back to a paddleboat. I can handle them." she nodded confidently.

She looked across to where Brylee and Sousie lay asleep on the bunk.
"The girls have become closer since the boys have been gone." she commented absently.

"And more adventurous," commented the young woman on whom fell the burden of curtailing their adventures. "They'll have a lot of stories to tell their brothers. Won't the boys be jealous of _them_ for a change?"

"Probably, though I hate to think what mischief that pair have been getting into, without anyone keeping a fair eye on them. Though I suppose Causton would have found someone to care for them while he is at work."

"Poor someone." Teene sighed. "Don't we have a carriage ride at the end of all this water? That must be the only means of transport we haven't tried so far."

"Just a short one, from the river to the Hall isn't such a long way, from what I saw in the sketch Causton drew me. Didn't I show it to you?" she asked, looking across at Teene.

"No. And that's not what the crew said. They said we have to climb hills in a carriage. Naturally, being seacrafters, they don't approve.
Have you got the sketch there?"

"Yes, it's here somewhere," she nodded, and rummaged around in the small desk near the bedside. "Causton didn't say anything about hills, so they can't be too bad."

"Your husband didn't say anything about sea-sickness, either, but that happened."

"Oh shoot! I never thought of that. But it can't be too bad, surely? If they had been whopping great mountains I feel sure he would have mentioned it." She tried to sound confident, but felt she had missed the mark a little.

"They - the crew - didn't say mountains. Just hills. Hills are smaller. That's the rules." Teene looked at the sketch. "Here. This wiggly road might be it."

"Hmm..." Geni considered the map again, she hadn't done much more than glance at it when Causton had drawn it, more enthralled by his presence than what he had been trying to impart. "Yes, you could be right, but Teene, is there a problem with hills that I don't know about?" she asked.

"Not at all," the younger woman assured her, though the tone was so much amused that it would have been hard to take reassurance from it. "It's the carriage ... and the twists and turns in the road."

"I'd prefer a carriage making twists and turns, even on a bumpy road, to the dip and peak of the swell we've been living with this past sevenday or more."

"Well good. As long as the children feel the same way we'll be fine."
Teene sighed. "Seven days ...."

"Oh Teene, I can't wait!" Geni hugged herself tightly. "It'll be good having space again, too." she nodded, taking in their whole berth in one glance. "The kids will have more space to play - and new friends, and... well, just to have time and room to have a little privacy again.
I didn't realise how much I missed it. Have you?" she asked. She hadn't noticed if Teene had made any new friends on this leg of the journey, and felt a little remiss in her obligations to her friend.

"Oh, yes. Don't remind me! Not until we're there, at least." Teene sighed. "I will have a room of my own, won't I?" She knew she was adaptable and could put up with most things, but as Geni had said, getting some privacy back would be a blessing.

"You will be guaranteed a room of your own. Causton described the Hallmasters residence, it's - spacious to say the least."

"_Spacious_. Ohhh! I think I could live with that."

"I think I could too. It's amazing the difference between a plain Masters residence and a Hallmasters, if what Causton has told me is true. The Lord Holder was generous to the extreme with his apportioning of property to the Hall."

"But the Hall has just moved, hasn't it? From the place that was destroyed in the earthquake they had over here?"

"Yes, it was. And the Lord Holder made some old buildings available to the Hall - one of which will be our new home."

"Seven days," Teene said again. "It'll be nice to be all back together." She had been with the family from when the two eldest children were small, helping out with the children and doing general work for both Geni and her husband. It was a good position, she knew, and she was treated exceptionally well - more like a friend than a servant.

A small cry could be heard from the bassinette that swung on a rope at the end of the bed, as Neva slowly woke for her feed. The babe had grown much in the, almost, two months since her birth. Slowly her eyes opened to show the deep blue of her mothers colouring peering out.

"Can I get you to finish packing while I give Little Miss her feed?"
Geni asked, lifting the child gently from the swinging basket. "I don't want her to wake the others. I just wish she would finish with this growth spurt already."

"Of course I can." Teene rather thought she could pack better than Geni could, but only one of them could give Neva her feed. As always there was no problems between the pair of them about dividing their work.
"You get the little one organised and I'll finish up here."

With a nod, Geni settled herself back on the mound of pillows on the bed, and settled the babe to her feed, whilst Teene busied herself with the remainder of the packing. **Seven days.** It was like a personal litany going round, and around in her mind.

Last updated on the January 27th 2008

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Seven Days