Daring but Foolhardy

Writers: Ainsley, Jane, Kaysea
Date Posted: 30th March 2009

Characters: Lineal, Fog, Jezz, Nico
Description: Jezz attempts a dangerous rescue, resulting in her needing a rescue of her own.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 2, day 8 of Turn 5
Notes: Riverboat Sungazer

Though Jezz thoroughly enjoyed the companionship of her cousins, she was pleased to have some time to herself right now. Particularly as she was missing out on a bit of studying. Not proper lessons which occurred most mornings in the crew dining room, but one of the extra study sessions which was occasionally suggested by one of the adults aboard.. Jezz had begged off to go check on her mother as Barli was feeling poorly, a rare enough occurrence to bring some concern to the girl. However, after being assured her mother was fine and would do well with time alone to rest, Jezz had taken advantage of the freedom from additional lessons to roam the riverboat and observe the new passengers.

She watched a shy little girl of about three turns walk toward the bow with her aunt, clutching a soft toy to her breast. Jezz's keen ears had already gleaned that the sad child had recently lost her parents in a fire. Turning from the pair, deep in thought about the injustices of life, Jezz hadn't taken many steps before she heard a piercing scream. She spun around in time to see the cherished toy go overboard, and the child go into a frenzy. Biting her lip, Jezz ran to the stern of the boat. It was highly unlikely, but she could see if the toy materialized behind the riverboat, though if it did she wasn't certain what could be done.

When she reached her destination the dark-haired girl watched the water behind the boat, and the big paddlewheel turning. Nothing. She felt sorry for the little girl who had already lost so much. When she saw the paddlewheel turn something up, Jezz fell a jolt of excitement. Sure enough, despite the odds against it, the toy had been caught up in the great wheel.. The six-turn-old was ready to rush off to tell someone, but stopped to consider as she watched the toy lodge itself right toward the edge. The adults were not likely to consider a toy worthy of much attention, but Jezz could see how much it had meant to the little girl. If she left to get help, it would probably fall before she could get back and she wasn't even sure she cold convince an adult to come to rescue something as frivolous as a stuffed toy.

If she climbed over the rail there was just enough space for her to stand and she might be able to reach the toy. To do so was strictly forbidden and not just a little bit dangerous. More than once Barli had commented that Jezz had the adventurous streak more suited to a boy and this instance was to be no different. When Jezz thought of the other little girl's tears and sad little face, she looked around and seeing no one in the immediate vicinity decided to attempt the rescue. With great care she climbed over the rail and holding on with one hand reached with the other toward the toy. Unable to reach it, she inched a bit further, her fingers, just brushing it. With this encouragement, she became even more daring reaching even further grasping a hold of the soft toy, only to find that it was stuck.

There were bells that meant all sorts of things, but one sequence that meant only one thing; emergency stop.

The bells were ringing before Lineal pulled his head back out of his office, his shouts from that room clearly audible in the pilothouse above. And when the bells in the pilothouse rang, so they did in the engine room, but by that time Lineal was running down the long - it had never seemed to foolishly long - balcony toward the rails that kept people safe from the endlessly turning paddlewheel.

Unless people climbed between them, which somebody had done. A short somebody; a child.

The momentum in the paddlewheel meant that it was never an instant stop, even though the engines were decoupled immediately. The huge wheel had to wind down but the fact that they were steaming upstream would help.

It might make the difference between injury and death for the child.

For Jezz, he realised as his sprint brought him close enough to identify the girl.

For her part, Jezz was extremely lucky that she lost her footing when she did, causing her to loose her hold on the toy and grab for the railing with her other hand before she could be caught by the large buckets. One foot kicked out dangerously close to the paddlewheel, her shoe flying into the massive mechanism. She instantly drew her legs up, her little knuckles gone white holding on literately for her life.

"Hold on!" It was futile shout and a waste of breath, but Lineal didn't utter the words consciously. He skirted the reed furniture scattered around the end of the balcony near the paddlewheel and then skidded to a stop hard against the railing and caught a handful of Jezz's hair, then a wrist, then he released the girl's hair to take a firm hold of the other wrist.

For a moment his muscles tensed to haul his niece out of harm's way but then his senses caught up with his muscles and he realised the paddlewheel was all but stopped. He wasn't in a good position to lift the girl - though if he'd had to ...

He leaned his elbows against the rail, moving his feet so that he was braced and then looked down at Jezz. "Are you -?"

"I'm okay," the little girl assured her uncle with a shaky voice. "Can you get me up, Uncle Lineal?" she asked, trying very hard not to give way to tears but failing.

"Hold her steady..." Fog reached around his cousin, and tilted further over the rail, Nico had a tight hold on the back of both men's trous, as Fog reached over and grasped the young girls hands in both of his, "Up you come, young Jezz." He clasped his hands tightly on her wrists and pulled her up quickly. He glanced across at Lineal, "You okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine. Is she -?" The girl looked all right but surely they couldn't be that lucky.

Nico lifted her from his cousins arms, "She's fine, nothing a stern telling off wouldn't harm, at any rate." He looked down at Jezz, "What were you thinking, young Jezz?" he asked.

"You look like you could do with a drink." Fog said to Lineal, his arm slipping around the man's shoulders.

"I need a new heart," Lineal said, rubbing his chest in a futile attempt to relax after the terror and urgency that had surged through him. "Jezz? Are you _really_ ... Not hurt anywhere?" It was unbelievable.

"I lost my shoe," she answered in a tiny voice. "And I couldn't get the little girl's toy." Quiet tears slipped from her eyes. Her frightful panic from moments before was far from gone yet still giving way to another fear. She knew she was in trouble, she had broken one of the BIG rules and they had actually _stopped_ the paddlewheel.

"I think we'd better get both of you to the galley." Fog nodded to Nico to lead the way, "You're looking pale and she's starting to shake - shock I expect." he nodded, "I'll go and get the engines started again, and we'll get underway."

Lineal nodded. "What's this about a toy?" he asked, not moving.

"The little girl," Jezz's voice quivered as she spoke, "The one whose parents died. Her toy went over. It caught in the paddlewheel."

For a moment Lineal was rendered speechless then he looked at the stationary paddlewheel. "Do you think it's still there?" he asked faintly, having trouble believing it was him uttering the words.

With a sigh, Nico shrugged, and moved forward. "I'll go and see, _you_ both stay here." he said, and quickly slipped over the side of the boat. Edging his way forward, even stopped, the wheel looked threatening, and he a full sized man. The child had gumption, he'd give her that. "What did the toy- Never mind," kneeling down, he reached out and tugged at a small edge of fabric, "I've got it." He stretched back up, and passed the toy to a waiting Jezz. "You can do the honours." he grinned at her, before pulling himself back up and over the guard rail.

Accepting the toy with a shaky hand, Jezz offered him a tentative smile through her tears. Maybe the grown-ups did understand after all.

Last updated on the March 30th 2009

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Daring but Foolhardy