7/19/2006 12:04 AM Logfile from Foundry. The sun setting behind Three Rivers sends a cavalcade of shadows cavorting through the silent streets. The good folk of the town are in for dinner, only the stragglers still coming in from the fields and no one out for the town dance for another hour at least. The smells of fires and food fill the air, and children's voice can be heard from inside the houses, calling out as they clean up after dinner. Coming back from the Steward's house Hannah, two bags of food in hand, finds Chase making her way up the street, both of them coming out of the shadows at almost the same moment. Sister Hannah starts slightly Sister Chase is disheveled, pale as a waning moon and red-eyed bleary; her shoulders are hunched up and her hands balled into fists, her lips pursed tight. She takes an instinctive wide step away from Hannah, and looks up, meeting the other girl's eye, a little wild. Sister Clementine pokes her head out the door. "Hey Sisters! Boy, am I glad to see you! I"m so hungry, I could eat a wagon wheel!" Sister Hannah takes all this in and asks, concerned, "Sister Chase...is everything all..." and then breaks off as Sister Clementine appears Sister Clementine says "Did you all get a chance to visit Brother Snow, or the Brooksbridges? I certainly am sorry I was so sick all of yesterday." Sister Chase drops her eyes down and away from Clementine's direction, turning towards the street and away. She pitches her voice low, so that only Hannah can hear. "She's gonna be needing food. You should tend her. We don't have to go and get that blood on her. Not just yet." Sister Clementine says "Hey, they're having a dance tonight! It's been ages since I've been to a dance!" Sister Hannah glances at Sister Chase and says "yes, we visited the Brooksbridges and Sister Abigail is there with them. I brought some food from the Steward and his wife, shall we go prepare it? Sister Chase says "I'm 'agoin to wash up some first, Sisters. I'll be along soon." Sister Clementine says "Sure!" She waves at Chase and goes to help Hannah with the bags of food." Sister Hannah says "I'm glad you're feeling better." Sister Chase with a sidelong look at Hannah that tells something of the turmoil inside her, she nods once, like Hannah done the right thing, and goes around to the back of the house. Sister Hannah nods back slightly Sister Clementine says "Much better, thanks! So, you have to tell me all about how it went today. How are those poor Brooksbridges? How did the blessing go? Have you found anything out about Mister Strindberg's candlesticks?" Sister Hannah says "Nothing about the candlesticks, no." Sister Clementine looks a bit crestfallen, then immediately perks up. "That's okay," she says. "I'm sure we'll find them soon enough." Sister Hannah says "their daughter was behaving oddly, not letting us in to see the Brooksbridges, and we discovered she was very greedy, so Sister Abigail offered to stay behind to help out and offer the blessing." Sister Clementine says "Oh. Well, I'm sure Sister Abigail will be a great help to them. But, do you think we should be there, you know, just to show that we all of us ought to support our elder folks and orphans and the like, and are willing to help 'em out in times of trial?" Sister Hannah is pulling things out of the bags, spreading them on the counter: fresh vegetables, a casserole, some fresh bread. "Well, the three of us were there before, but it seemed that that was too many so we figured we could best help elsewhere Sister Clementine says "Oh, so we are going to the dance!" Then she looks maybe a little sheepish. "Well, it's too late to call on Brother Snow, anyway." Sister Hannah looks suddenly shy, "Well, I'm not sure about a dance...I've never really gone to one.... Sister Clementine says "I have! Lots! I can braid your hair, if you like." Sister Hannah, a little shocked at this sudden helpfulness, "um, well, okay then, if you'd like.... Sister Clementine says "I wonder if Sister Chase will let me braid hers." She laughs, not at all maliciously." Sister Hannah says "I don't know. You could ask her when she comes in." Sister Hannah hands Sister Clementine a plate of food. "You'll have to forgive me, I ate while at Sister Felkirk's"" Sister Clementine digs in, with relish. As Clem eats the sounds of the town start to liven up outside. Voices raised in laughter, snatches of song, the sounds of people walking with the slow steps of those carrying heavy burdens all start to come up from the street. Mostly the voices are adults, or older children, as the youngsters are all well in bed by this point. The dance is coming, and a good chunk of the town apparently just can't wait. Sister Chase ducks in through the back door, quiet as a church mouse, her face looking ruddy and red and freshly scrubbed, and wearing a clean shirt to boot. She's got a grin that looks like it were cut clean from an ad in an almanac and glued on to her face, like it doesn't belong to her, and she takes her hat off as she reaches the table. Sister Hannah says "would you like something to eat?" Sister Clementine says "Hey, Sister Chase! How's the water? Have you had anything to eat? Do you want to come to the dance with us, tonight?" Sister Clementine actually really looks at Chase and slows down a bit. "Sister, is everything all right with you? Sister Chase starts to shake her head at Hannah's question, but then looks sidelong at Clem. "Water's fine, and plenty... good and cold and clear and clean.... Right clean." She lost the smile somewhere in those words, but she manages to pull up a halfhearted one of her own. "I'm fine sister, though I must have a bit of what was going through you... I've clean lost my appetite." Sister Hannah hands Sister Chase an earthenware mug full of water Sister Clementine says "Oh, I sincerely hope not. Although, at least it passes quickly enough." Sister Chase nods gratefully to Hannah, "Much obliged." and drinks it down slow and even from the top right down to the bottom. Sister Chase says "Don't worry yourself too much about it, Sister, you know how hard I can bounce. I'll be back in the saddle soon, sure as rain." Sister Chase tears a corner off a crust of bread and chews thoughtfully on a tuft, forcing herself to swallow it down. Her eyes roam up over the far wall and out the window, looking off in the distance. Sister Clementine says "Well, I imagine you might want some sleep, then, Sister Chase. Here, let us help you get to bed and comfortable." Sister Chase shakes her head. "Naw, Sister Clementine, I don't right feel much like sleeping, just now. Why don't you let me clean up, and you can have fun at your dance? Sister Clementine says "Oh, well, are you sure? Because I'd feel just awful if we went and left you when you needed tending to." Sister Clementine is obviously concerned, and not just saying that to be polite. Sister Chase swallows hard and looks from Clem to Hannah, seeking help. Sister Hannah turns back to the sink and food, staying right out of it Sister Chase scowls just slightly and looks down at the table. "I'm sure, Sister. Nobody needs to tend me." Sister Hannah purses her lips, recognising that tone. "No, we all need tending at some point. So I'll stay with you, or you can come with us." Sister Clementine looks back and forth between her Sisters, mingled concern and confusion on her face. Sister Chase's brow furrows up as she looks up through wisps of her hair to look at Hannah's back, thinking about how quickly it turned when things went wrong back at the house. "No sister, you go on and show Sister Clementine a good time, ain't going to be many of those on the road, ain't going to be long that she loves them like she does. I'll wait here until Abby comes for me." Sister Hannah nods and says, "well, if that's what you need, we'll let you have some peace and quiet" Sister Clementine pats Chase on the shoulder sympathetically and nods. Sister Chase winces away at the contact, and catches herself too late. She picks up the heel of bread and makes for the door. Sister Chase looks back over her shoulder, her eyes damp and intense. "Enjoy the dance Clem. Meet a boy. Dance 'till dawn. Suck the marrow out of the night." Sister Clementine looks even more confused, but gamely turns to Hannah. "Do you still want me to braid your hair?" she asks, a good portion of her earlier excitement quashed. Sister Hannah says "sure." Sister Chase Pushes out the door and into the desending night. ------------------ Near the center of town, up on a low dirty hill sits the town's chapel and the cultural hall out behind it. The chapel tonight sits still and dark, and a line of torches and lanterns make their way up the winding paths and stone steps towards the barn-like bulk of the cultural hall. It's a vast square building, high raftered and built all from timber floated down the three rivers from a dozen different mountains. Inside it smells of cedar and pine, a layer of woodchips down under the food table to catch the falling and keep them from staining, and of people and of dance. Just about every able bodied member in town over the age of 16 is at the dance, and there is a sense of jubilation near at hand. The Dogs are greeted with warm fervor, hands shaken, introductions made. Boys, scores of them, line up to ask Clementine and Hannah both to dance while the band, all brass, percussion and fiddles, pounds out a stomping good song one after the other. It's only a few hours in that the sense of excitement starts to feel a little strained, that the good spirits of the town start to look a bit too wild eyed, a bit too forced. By that time, Hannah's gotten over her shyness and is having the time of her life. No one has wanted to dance with her before. But then her social senses kick in and she senses the tense undercurrent. Sister Hannah sidles up to Sister Clementine at the drinks table "do you have any idea what's wrong, here?" she mutters. Sister Clementine on the other hand, probably hasn't noticed so much, because she's having such a good time, herself. "Wrong?" Sister Chase is sitting in the dark on the edge of a broken down wagon outside, listening to the music and the stomping and the revelry and wishing there were a place that she fit in all of that. She sees glimpses of Clem and Hannah, skirts sweeping the floors, flushed with excitement and looks long down the dark road towards the Brooksbridges, with a lump that refuses to be swallowed growing in her throat. Sister Hannah nods "Can't you feel it? that sortof...tenseness? If it keeps building, there's going to be trouble for sure. Sister Clementine looks around the dancefloor, intently. "Now that you mention it, I guess it's a bit awkward, isn't it? Didn't the Steward say there's lots of new folks in town? Maybe that's it." Just as Hannah is coming over to Clem, a break is called. Everyone empties off the floor while the band takes a well deserved rest. A boy, who was seeming to want to stay and talk to Clem, departs as Hannah comes over - heading towards the table with the punch. In the mean time the Steward gets up and takes the stage, saying, "And now, to keep your ears entertained while your feet have a break, we'll have a solo by Sister Snow." The woman that comes forward to loud applause is in her mid 30's, pretty without being beautiful, and with the air of someone who has been held at bay for too long and now practically leaps forward. She takes the stage while the Dogs talk, and starts to sing almost before the Steward is down. Sister Hannah watches Sister Snow and also the crowds, looking for discontent When you both look around, there doesn't seem to be a lot of the kind of awkwardness that comes from strangers being crushed together into a hall. Everyone seems to know each other passing well, if not right well. But what does catch the eye is the fact that some of the folks there, dressed in their best, obviously don't have it so very good. There is a woman who is missing the top button of her blouse, so that it doesn't hug in against her neck like it should. There is a man wearing his work shoes to the fancy dance. And so it goes. Between those folks and the other folks there is a tension, a sense of suspicion almost. Sister Hannah's lips tighten as she sees this and raises her eyebrows at Sister Clementine confirming that she's seen it too Sister Clementine exchanges glances with Sister Hannah and confirms that she's noticed it, too. From her chagrined look, it's pretty clear that she's upset at herself for not noticing sooner that some of the folks were having a hard time of it. Meanwhile, on stage Sister Snow beings to sing. Her voice is nothing short of amazing, a beatific soaring of the human spirit given voice and tone. Her song soars upwards and the crowd, rowdy and dancing just a few moment before, falls silent to listen. Every single one of them. And by the look on her face she knows how well she has them. Even Sister Chase, in the field behind the barn pauses her brooding thoughts long enough to listen to that voice, strong and clear as it cuts across the night. She looks up, tilts her head and then closes her eyes, soaking up the sound of the woman's voice. Sister Hannah leans over and whispers in her ear, "Do you think we should ask the Steward about it?" As Sister Snow finishes her aria the crowd applauds loudly. She basks in it for a moment longer than is good, bowing over and over with a flushed high look on her face, to the point that she's still raking it up even as the applause is stopping. While this is going on, boy who'd gone to fetch Clem's punch practically gets it knocked out of his hand by a man who pushes through the crowd, getting himself a glass - empty - before heading out towards the back. Sister Hannah follows that man. Sister Clementine says "I think we should, and maybe also have a word with Sister Snow. She has such a lovely... hey!" She watches Hannah go out the back, and, after a moment follows." Coming out the back of the cultural hall, it takes the Dogs a moment to let their eyes adjust to the dark of the night. Then it's easy enough to see the man, or at least to hear him. He's cursing, sounding angry and maybe a little afraid, as he makes his way down the steep embankment towards the Humble river. Sister Hannah follows him, to see what he does. Sister Clementine follows Sister Hannah, for much the same reason. Sister Chase blinks out of her song-inspired reverie as the grumbling, ranting man heads halfway to her general direction. In the dark, she watches the silhouettes of the Sisters appear, and steps up on the old trunk of a fallen tree to get a good look at where the man is heading. He doesn't go far, just down the steep and crumbling bank, breaking his way by tugging at the thick weeds that line the shoreline to keep from falling. Down there, in the shadow of Chapel Hill, is a little hollow filled thick with reeds, a little hidden place right near the heart of town. And down there, muttering still, the man takes out a flask that gleams bright a silver in the moonlight and pours from it into his empty glass. Sister Hannah says "Excuse me, Brother, but discontents are best relieved by talking them out than by drowning them." Sister Chase watches the glimmer of the glass in the moonlight. She knows well what the man is doing; if she concentrated now, she'd be able to smell the acrid lick of moonshine on the breath of Mayawyaw, the Mountain Folk man who used to trade with her Grandad. She doesn't look too concerned until Hannah intercedes; She also has a good idea about what drunk men are like. She inches quietly down the embankment, just upriver from the man, watching the interaction with a wary eye. At the sound of Hannah's voice the man starts and spins around, nearly falling until he catches at a willow branch. "The hell are you doing out here?" He asks, peering up in the darkness and not yet able to see the Dog's coat. "And what the hell do you know about anything? Get your stupid self back to the dance, little brat." The wind catches Sister Hannah's coat and the man finally recognises her for what she is. "If you please, sir, I know many things, not the least of which is drinking is a sin." She smiles down at the flask still visible in the moonlight. The man jumps at that, the sight of the coat billowing out clearly unnerving him. He looks down at the flask at his feet, and back up at the Dog looming above him and licks his lips. The bluster of a moment before goes right away, replaced with a rather pragmatic realization that it never does to get in a pissing match with the man who lives upstairs. He sets the glass down on the side of the river and says, "Sorry, Sister of the Order Set Apart... I didn't know you were a Dog when I spoke that way. Its just..." He stops and looks out over the water, "It's just that some days the booze is all that keeps me going as I watch the rest of my life get washed away. And then you tell me to just give it up.... It just isn't that easy." Sister Hannah says "It's true it isn't easy, but the first step is deciding to do so. Then you figure out ways to make it work. Then you do it. For example, you could pour out all your drink and then it would be gone, so you couldn't drink it. You could find another, constructive way to sort out the problem, like taking long walks and thinking about it or talking to the Steward. There are many ways you can help yourself, why not choose them?"" He doesn't answer for a long moment, his face pale and reflective in the moonlight. Then, just like that, he kicks his glass over so that it pours out into the mud. "Right. What kind of man just sits here and pouts like a child. I've got to actually do something, right?" He looks up the hill, "The king helps those who help themselves, isn't that right?" Sister Chase looks down the river at the man with an eyebrow cocked up, but she nods after Hannah who got through in that way she never manages. Sister Hannah gives him a hand up the bank "And I'm also here to help, if you'll let me. My names Sister Hannah." She smiles at him and shakes his hand. He takes the hand and shakes, he's got a strong grip, callused hands of a man used to working. "Joseph Snow, or Brother Snow if you prefer." --- END