Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: alden@coos.dartmouth.edu (Laurie F. Alden) Subject: [L&S] Party! (Part 4: Interview) Message-ID: Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1993 14:16:58 GMT The dawn of the festivities was clear and bright. A tall man with upright carriage walked with a diminutive woman along the shore. She asked him of his home, of his wanderings, mostly to hear his pleasant low voice and put him at his ease. He answered in return of small sea ports, immense forests, and a longing for home. They turned past an outcropping of rock, he instinctively held out an arm for her balance. Accepting the assistance, she took the opportunity to turn and study his face. Character lines defined him, silver shot his hair and beard. His bearing was crisp but not stilted, efficient, rather, and full of confidence. He descended the rocks to a small fog-filled cove. Serene followed him, not descending quite all the way. "I appreciate your coming out at this early hour, Captain. I meant no inconvenience, but the friend whom I would have meet you can best be found at this hour." "It is no inconvenience to me, Serene," he said. "For I am always up by this hour. A relic of my early training as it were." She grinned in understanding; more and more she found similarities between her own background and that of the man whom she wished to guard her home. The Captain wanted to ask many more questions. In his quiet contacts after yesterday's lunch time interview, he could find no trace of who this 'friend' might be. Everyone seemed to know Luthor and Serene, but none seemed to be close enough to have any say in his future. It was as if her friend was locked in a fog, hidden from the sight of everyone that might come prying. A hidden friend is a good friend to have. Mists swirled about their ankles and wrapped them in muffled sounds. "Who is this friend? Is his home far?" asked the Captain. "He is never too far away," rejoined Serene, more to herself than to him. "He is Mista's father." The Captain nodded to himself. It was not the sort of question one asked one's potential employer carrying a baby unrelated to the *other* potential employer. He wondered what manner of man had left this woman - herself barely adult - alone in the world with a bairn to feed. He rather anticipated this meeting. He didn't know Serene well at all, but already he began to feel protective toward her and the small bundle slung across her. Mista happily caught ahold of her mother's shimmering hair and chewed on it thoughtfully. The fog filled the cove warmly, obscuring more and more of the surroundings. Old memories came to him unbidden. Of raids against smuggers who thought the fog would protect them from his men. Of sorties that were successful only by the grace and protection of the fog. And further back, as a child, the delights of playing fog-tag and hide-and-go-seek in the fog.The Captain again offered his arm to Serene to guide her, which she accepted. "Is he near here?" asked the captain. He was startled by the change in Serene's voice. Her whisper was soft and husky now, "Yes. He is here." The Captain looked at her sharply, to see where she saw this man - but her eyes were closed. The warm Fog surrounded him, he welcomed it and began to use its cover to plan for routes out of this unknown situation. Swiftly the mists receded. No one stood revealed. The Captain looked quickly at the woman. "He likes you," she said simply. It wasn't an outcrop of rock that made her slightly taller than usual. He looked more closely - she stood fully supported by a portion of mist. The baby held a tendril of Fog in her hand. The Captain was not sure what it was or how he did it, but he knew he had passed the test. Lady Serene, and 'Lady' she truly was, had shown him something his mind could not comprehend, but his instincts told him was good. Perhaps he had found a hidden friend. "Welcome to our household, Captain." Serene confidently handed him the baby. Mista cheerfully reached out and stroked his beard, giggling. Together they ascended to the house. -- lfa@dartmouth.edu |There's a little bit of dog hair Stat Consultant - Dartmouth College |in everything we do. Chief of Design - JourneyGarb |