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 Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 5:51 am
This winter had kept Patia to the town and to her hovel lately, but her bones were aching, and not from the cold. She had had to go out and do something. So, the old lass dug around for her ice fishing kit, shook some of the dust and cob webs from it and began to plan.
Bundled in a good number of layers, the old gypsy looked more like her culture than she had in a while. She had Osa strapped up to carry some of the heavier things, he never seemed to mind, and they transversed the land to the nearest point of the river.
Old eyes squinted at the ice flow, she wasn't sure if the river would be moving fast enough to keep from freezing in such a cold time, but it seemed that though it was still moving, the layer on top had frozen over. Making a satisfied grunt, she looked to Osa.
"Seee, I told you we'd be needin' it, Osa." She said gesturing to the river.
The buck snorted a foggy stream of air and shook his antlers as he moved a tad bit restlessly. Patia looked a tad bit surprised.
"What? You love ice fishing. You chase the slippery things all the time." Her voice sounded slightly chiding. "You aren't afraid of that nonsense in the town, eh? We will be fine. Just fishin'. " She grumbled as she walked toward him to unharness the fishing gear.
Osa laid his ears back flat and nipped at her sleeve. She rolled her eyes and shooed him off. "Fine, fine, go an do your staggy things. I'll catch all the fish myself." She grunted and picked up the folding stool and plopped it near the shore.
Osa looked uneasy, but then trotted off to go check out the area while Patia started to clear away some ice.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:49 am
"Well, I know it's cold, but I'm much colder than you are, Little Brother," Paoma was telling the striped grimalkin sulking beside her. The usually spirited cat was unusually subdued, no doubt thanks to the poor weather and the early hour. There was still mist rising from the ground, and on a warmer day when the Thrithing was not frozen there would have been mist rising out of the river too.
"It's slower going when it's cold," the girl explained as they trudged through the snow. She was bundled up as best she could and had been tempted to squeeze Little Brother into a knitted sweater until he had caught onto her plan and slunk away discreetly. But it was still freezing and the one fur-lined coat she owned was starting to be too small for her. One or two more winters at the most, and she would have to find a replacement for it. But fur coats were expensive, and it took a lot of flowers to buy one.
"These are the last of them anyway," she continued, looking at the two baskets she carried, one hooked at the crook of each elbow. After this batch had been sold, it would be potatoes, yams and frozen vegetables until spring, when new flowers would bud and money could be made selling them again. They had been lucky to even have flowers left this late into the winter season.
Through it all, Little Brother only muttered something in a tongue that only grimalkins could understand and cast her an occasional, grudging sideways glance. But his demeanor changed suddenly and he lifted his head to gaze through the mist with sharp blue eyes that saw much farther than Paoma's did.
"Oh, I see him!" Paoma said eagerly as the silhouette of a buck became visible in the dim light of dawn. "He's beautiful." And magical too, Paoma suspected. Little Brother didn't react so strongly to ordinary deer.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:01 pm
Patia had settled into her spot, and casted her line and waited for something to bite. It was her time to do things old people did, like take in the scenery, and feel the peace of the world. However, things like that could make her rather unsettled, usually the peace was broken with Osa, but he wanted to wander off. She grumbled and huddled closer into herself and watched her line.
Atlest the sun was coming up, maybe it would help keep the hole from freezing back over with her line still in it.... it only happened once... when she fell asleep fishing. She always swore she lost the biggest fish that day, but some days she felt she dreamed it.
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Osa hadn't gotten too far when he had stopped and spotted the small human and the feline. The buck, though older like his chosen now, didn't look much like it, his ears and eyes were still sharp and he could hear the child talking. His ears swiveled around in all directions, trying to pick up other sounds, but it seemed the small thing was alone, well, just about.
He took a moment to shake the cold from his fur and then walked slowly towards them, as if not to startle the child away. He slowly lowered his head and stretched out his neck as he got closer, his golden eyes were warm, expressing his kindness as he drew near.
Osa had noticed children in the town, but they were always near parents or someone. He knew they could be skittish around the deer, especially larger ones. With a soft grunting noise he tried to coax her closer, maybe he could bring her to Patia, surely she would make sure the child found her way home.
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 9:03 am
The girl was delighted to see the buck come her way. Deer were such majestic creatures, so regal and beautiful to behold. She had never seen a buck before, and lifted her head in awe to stare at his antlers.
Little Brother watched with beady eyes as he stood beside Paoma. His nose twitched as he took in the buck's scent, thought nothing about the grimalkin suggested he felt threatened in any way. Magic, after all, had a somewhat settling effect on all creatures, though its effects were more noticeable on Little Brother than on most.
"He wants us to follow him," Paoma told her companion as she reached to stroke the deer's soft fur. Those antlers were intimidating, but the buck didn't look aggressive and Little Brother had yet to object. The striped grimalkin was as accurate a judge of character as anyone could hope to be, and his unusual silence was more reassuring to Paoma than anything else.
"Where do you come from?" She asked the buck, though she wasn't sure he would understand. Talking to animals had become a habit though, and if Little Brother could understand her well enough, she figured the buck would as well.
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 3:01 pm
He left her touch him and she always liked the feel of fingers through his fur, and some decent skritchings. The cat was a curious thing, and he watched him for a second before the girl started talking again.
Osa listened curiously to the child's question and slowly lifted his head and looked back at the river. He made a light bleating sound and snorted off in that direction. The buck tilted his head back to the child and pranced a little in his spot and began to move towards the river before looking back over his shoulder to see if she was following.
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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 5:56 pm
She was giving the buck a skritch on the neck when he bleated and turned toward the river. "There?" The question came unbidden from her lips as she listened to the muted sound of rushing water under the thin covering of ice. The Thrithing meant many things to Paoma; it was a bringer of ill news as much as it was of joy, and it seemed almost fitting that it would have brought this mysterious buck as well.
"Come along, Little Brother," she told the grimalkin as she hefted up the baskets of flowers to trail after the buck. If for no other reason, she would have followed him simply because she found him rather interesting, thogh today she thought something more might come out of it.
The thought that danger might lie at the end of this journey never crossed the girl's mind, and she took to the buck's trail eagerly, winding toward the river in the growing light of day.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 7:21 am
He made sure to walk slow enough for the childs shorter stride to keep up with, and occasionally he glanced backwards at them to make sure they hadn't turned away or gotten lost.... or fell into a hole in the snow. He crested a small rise in the land and spotted his chosen right where he left her. Ose let out a playful bellow and began to prance in spot.
Patia blinked a few times at the sound and glanced over seeing the buck, but not yet the child.
"I knew ya'd be back. Come on, There's plenty of fish to be caught." She said waving him over, but when he didn't come she sighed and rose. Then, stabbing the pole into the ground so no fish would take it into the river, she began to trek up the hill.
"What, got ice stuck to your tongue again? Burrs in your tail?" She asked trying to figure him out.
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 8:09 pm
Back to his old tricks, Little Brother butted his head up against Paoma's leg as they wound their way up the hill. He was quite determined to turn some of the attention back onto himself. But the girl simply waved him off.
"Oh, leave it out," she said when the grimalkin let out a loud yowl in protest. "You don't see one of him every day, you know."
The buck had stopped at the crest of the hill, so Paoma scrambled the last steps to the top and set her baskets down. "Come here, Little Brother, and take a look!" The grimalkin followed with some reluctance, evidently still not ready to forget being slighted. But he settled himself beside the girl and contentedly accepted all the pats she gave as she peered out over the other slope of the hill.
"Oh, look," Paoma said, motioning to the elderly woman climbing up the hill. "That must be his person."
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 4:18 pm
It seemed others had followed him. It only made Patia stop for a brief moment, before starting back up and smiling brightly, which indented all her wrinkles. When she met them, her hands went to Osa's neck, patting him gently.
"Who've ye found, Osa?" She asked nodding to the girl and her grimalkin. "Someone to fish with me?"
Osa arched his neck lightly and brought his head down and nudge at her, his ears laying back gently.
"Oh, found them wanderin'? She doesn't look lost though." She chided and poked at the bucks chest. Osa shook his head and pawed at the ground before snatching her shawl and trotting down to her fishing spot with it, waving it around the whole way down. Patia laughed and then sighed.
"I hope he didn't bother ya much, littl'ne." She said turning back to the child.
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 6:50 pm
"Oh, oh not at all!" Paoma was almost as surprised by the old woman as she was by the fact that the old woman was fishing on a day like this. The girl was anything but accustomed to encounters with the elderly, and she was quite unsure how to act or what to expect. Certainly, this woman seemed much more energetic and capable than Paoma would have expected. "He was a perfect gentleman." If deer could be gentlemanly, that was.
"Oh, but I'm... I'm not lost, ma'am," she added, unconsciously turning to her flower baskets, sitting side by side on the ground beside herself and Little Brother. "I was on my way into the city to sell some of my flowers."
She would have offered to simply go on her way, but her grimalkin had other ideas. The cat had perked up noticeably at the mention of fish, and had craned his head toward the river, searching for fish with beady eyes. He had even gotten to his feet and begun slinking toward the downhill slope when Paoma caught him and grabbed for his thick tail. "Little Brother!"
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:42 pm
Patia chuckled softly when the girl grabbed her feline friend. "Ah, he's probably hungry. Come on, and come sit with me. I'll catch him fish and I'll walk ya to town. How's that sound, littl'ne?" She asked holding out her hand to the child.
Osa was now gazing down into the fishing hole, his head turning to one side then the other before lifting his head and giving out a bellow. He can see some fish. The buck tried to contain himself as he waited the the two girls to come down and bring up some fish.
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:53 pm
Paoma was about to protest and say that Little Brother had just eaten when the grimalkin whisked his tail out of her grasp and bounded down the hill, apparently in complete agreement of Patia's suggestion. He had a decent paw for fishing and likely would have been able to get some for himself, but if there was anything Little Brother liked, it was getting food without having to work for it. Plus, he didn't seem to enjoy getting wet.
"Well, I guess..." the girl said with a sigh as she watched her companion take off after the buck. She hoisted up her baskets of flowers and, after a moment's hesitation, took the elderly woman's hand.
To say that it was an odd feeling would have been an understatement. Paoma hadn't held anyone's hand in years, and she had never had a grandmother to take care of her. After her parents had died, it had been Paoma on her own with Little Brother; they took good enough care of each other, but it still wasn't quite the same.
"Are you from here, ma'am?" She suddenly piped up as they descended from the hill. "I don't think I've seen you before."
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 2:44 pm
As she held the girl's hand, she made sure not to mistep down the slope. Her eyes moving from the ground to what was ahead of them. She chuckled in amusment and glanced to the small child.
"Ah, No. I jus toutside of Old Castle, but even then, I am not from around here." Her eyes twinkled just a bit at the thought of her childhood when she was a gypsy. When they reached her stool she offered it to the girl.
"I come out here just ta' fish. Soemtimes, I go and sell fish in the other town. Only when I feel like bringin' it." She glanced to her pole and saw the tip of it was turned down. She pinched Osa's side.
"Why didn't you say anythin'!" She chirpped as she grabbed the pole out fo the snow and started to drag out a fish. Osa snorted back at her and took the pole from her and began to trot off with it, pulling the fish out quicker and sending it flopping onto the snow ground.
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:52 pm
She picked her way carefully down the hill, knowing it might be slippery at this hour. When they made their way to the bottom without incident, she placed the baskets of flowers down again and followed Patia to the riverside.
"Oldcastle?" Paoma's eyes widened. Before she had begun to venture into Palisade to sell her flowers, she had never been a mile outside of her home. But to think, Oldcastle! That seemed worlds away, if not more. She couldn't even imagine it. "Oh, but that's far!"
The girl would have loved to travel, to see all of Sunderland, or at least to follow the Thrithing all the way north until it emptied into the Iron Sea. She had heard stories about the sea, a vast and endless body of water that seemed to stretch out forever, with swish of waves rolling up onto the shore to serenade all who cared to listen.
But that was an adventure for another lifetime.
She settled onto the stool and watched as Osa reeled the fish in from the river, laughing when she heard Little Brother's surprised meow as the buck trotted off. The grimalkin turned and fixed her with a wide-eyed stare. We should get a deer, he seemed to be saying. Paoma giggled and gave the cat a hug. "We don't have room for a deer"
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:59 am
She smiled like she had a secret or was remembering something fondly and nodded.
"Yes, but I've been making this trip for many years." Patia leaned over and dug in her pack and pulled out an old rag. When the fish came, up she caught it in the rag and pulled out the hook from it's mouth with her bare hands.
"Osa! Basket please." she chirped. Patia glanced to the girl. "It's a trout. If your friend would like to eat it, he better start before it gets frozen."
Osa had dropped the pole and trotted over the the basekt, whisking it up on an antler before depositing it at Patia's feet and opening the top. She dropped the wiggling fish in there and left the top open for Little Brother.
The buck then went and laid down behind the stool, his body wrapping around it some, acting like a space heater around the girl. His golden eyes watched as the old lady pulled the pole back to her, rebaited it and dropped it in the hole.
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