Chap. 138 The Klah Collectors

Chap. 138  The Klah Collectors

After a few  'betweens' and flying at a reasonable altitude, Billek the healer had given K'ndar permission to fly.

"Now don't be too bold, K'ndar…if your nose begins to bleed, it means you're not ready to fly yet," he'd said, "and I want you to avoid dusty work, if you can. That means no haying, or cutting papergrass, anything that might make you sneeze."

"I learned THAT the hard way, sir, I was dusting my shelves and sneezed," he said.

"Bet you don’t do that for a while," Billek laughed.

K'ndar had then reported for duty at the Weyrleader's office for his assignment, relaying Billek's caveats.

"No haying or dusty work, eh? Bet that breaks your heart, what?" said the dragonrider in charge of allotting work details. "No matter, I have a young blue rider just begging to do more hay baling," he said, winking at K'ndar. It hadn't taken but a moment, it seemed, for gossip about B'rost to cover the entire weyr.

He'd not seen B'rost yet, and he had no idea what his punishment would be, but K'ndar figured hay baling was a punishment all on its own.

The man looked at the slate board with open work assignments.

"Let's see, let's see….ah, here we go. Do you know C'val? Blue Rastabenth?"

"I DO! C'val was my mentor in Weyrling class. He and my wingleader, D'mitran, were my Searchers," K'ndar said, brightening. 

"C'val is working on the team that's harvesting klah bark. Think you could handle that, what with your nose all swole up still?"

K'ndar nodded, despite not knowing a thing about harvesting klah bark. He'd not seen C'val in a very long time.

"Fine. He's already out at Singing Waters Hold, waiting on a body. That body being yours. Stop at the dining hall for a pouch lunch and for Pern's sake, take some water. Masterhealer Billek has been beating me like a spit dog about making sure "everyone stays hydrated" (this last in his best imitation of Billek's Northern accent).

K'ndar laughed. "Don't be too hard on Billek, he's a good healer."

"Aye, I know, lad, you're right. He put my arm to rights several years ago, I have no complaint with him. But he can be like a broody hen at times. Off you go, K'ndar, see you tonight."

K'ndar stopped at the entrance to the dining hall. A sign had been erected earlier that day. It said "No Dogs or Fire Lizards in the Dining Hall".

Huh. Wonder how Lindea was going to deal with that…but her gold lizard, Zeta, seldom actually entered the dining hall itself. He'd have to train Siskin. He'd also have to learn what prompted the sign. Dogs he could understand, but fire lizards? But a hungry fire lizard would probably go for one's meal.

Lindea wasn't there. Drul, one of the hall's drudges, was handing out pouch lunches.

"What's in the lunch?" he asked her, as he took a pouch (wishing it were two, he was always hungry).

"A meat pie, a bubbly pie, some fruit, and cookies," she said, shyly. "I made the bubbly pies," she added.

"Lindea's bubbly pies?"

"Yes, sir, she taught me." 

"Then I know they'll be good. Just wish I could have two," he said.

"Oh, you can, sir, here," handing him a second pouch. "Please bring the pouches back, we can reuse them after cleaning them. And don't forget to take water," she said, by rote. 

Exiting the dining hall entrance, he noticed a large ginger cat sitting directly underneath the sign. The cat-a member of the dining hall staff specifically to keep crawlers and tunnel snakes out-looked extremely smug.

__________________________________________________________________________

"Hello, K'ndar! Long time no see! Wow, I guess he did punch your nose, didn't he!" C'val greeted him. 

K'ndar rolled his eyes. "Guess it's pretty hard to hide, what?"

"Aye, it will take a few days for the swelling to go down. How'd between go?"

"Between was fine. It was altitude that makes it hurt, don't tell Billek or he'll keep me grounded. Thought I'd go crazy doing nothing at the weyr, and it was just one day."

C'val nodded in agreement. "Been there. You're right, if you're not bedridden, being grounded is  pretty boring. C'mon, the team's waiting. Ever harvested klah before?"

"Never. I don't think I've even seen a klah tree. They don't grow on the steppe."

"Well, you're in for a treat. It's a lot cooler in the forest and it's beautiful. The work isn't hard but it's technical. The journeyman forester will brief you before we enter the forest. 

 Essentially, we strip SMALL pieces of bark off trees that she has approved. Small, like about the size of your flattened hand.  Make 'em rectangular,  they're not so apt to roll up then. She's murder on you if you let it roll up or cut it just any old way. She's marked the trees we can cut bark from with a blue chalk mark.  She will give you a bark knife and show you how to cut it. Not too much, not too deep. You don't want to strip the tree completely, you don't want to 'girdle' it,  it will die that way, and a dead klah tree isn't even good for firewood. You just take a small piece from one tree, move on to another. If the tree looks as if it's had bark harvested in the past year or so, don't touch it."

"How will I know?"

"She'll teach you, and I'll monitor you till you get it. It's not hard. And honestly, it's pleasant work. You can hear the birds, see animals, and it's way easier than some of the other harvests. 

All of the trees we'll be cutting are wild, and some are hundreds of years old.  Lord Dorn has had 100 or so hectares planted in klah trees, but it takes ten years for the tree to grow tall enough to be able to harvest quality bark, and his orchard isn't old enough yet. So we'll be bushwhacking.

 The team chief knows where every tree is, it's incredible. No map, it's all in her head. She says she learned it from her grandmother. I've been here all week, and I can tell you, she knows her stuff. I have to warn you, though..she can be a real pain in the arse, but once we get into the forest, once she's assured you're not going to hurt her trees, she stops being so obnoxious. She can teach you a lot if you can handle her attitude," C'val said.

A group of people were waiting on them. 

"Ah, she's got the team altogether," C'val said. 

One walked up to them and stood there with her hands on her hips.

"You are?" she said, in an imperious tone of voice.

"K'ndar," he said.

Kaila looked K'ndar up and down.

"What happened…" she began.

"I got punched in the nose," he finished for her. 

She laughed. "Looks like you're wearing a big red apple!"

"I know," he said. 

"Know how to read a compass?"

"Yessssssssssssss, of course."

"Got one?"

"No, didn't bring one." He didn't say he didn't need one, not only did he have a compass in his head, he also had a fire lizard…and a dragon, both of whom knew where they were all the time.

She rummaged in a sack.

"Here. I want this back at the end of the day. Don't get lost. It's easy in the forest. That way is north," she said, pointing, "and here's a bark knife. Ever cut klah bark before?"

"No," he said, annoyed at her condescension.

"I'll keep a sharp eye on you, then, don't want you buggering up my trees," she said.

"I can train him," C'val said, sensing that K'ndar was getting piqued.

"I don't trust anyone til I've trained 'em myself, C'val," she snapped. 

Behind her, the team smirked, but it was because they'd all gone through the same grilling. 

"Is that your fire lizard?"

Duh, the one sitting on my shoulder?  "Yes."

"He's not to attack the animals or birds. Or anything but tunnel snakes but we don't have 'em here. Bugs, we got. Not snakes."

"May he eat a bug that happens to bite me?" K'ndar said, sarcastically. It went right over her head.

"Of course, what a stupid thing to ask," she said, now looking at a slate in her hand.

"Okay. We are ready to move off. All of you, pick up where you left off yesterday. K'ndar, here's a collection box. When you cut the bark, you have 'bout five minutes before it starts to dry out and roll up. You don't want it to roll up, got it? Just lay it nice and flat in the box, stack it like it was dried hides.  See how this side works?  You put a piece of bark in the box, bark side up, slide the lid down on these dowels in the corners, it's a press. You press down on it to keep the bark from rolling up. You let it roll up, the bark won't dry right, some spots it will be damp and get moldy.  I'll be right on your side when we start cutting. Only cut on trees what's been marked in blue chalk.  If there's a cut mark on it, a fresh one, DON'T YOU DARE cut more bark. Once I think you've got it, you can go with C'val.  When I whistle that means it's lunch time. You come back here to this site, drop your barks in this crate here, when it's full up we put this piece of slate to keep everything flat. Only then do we eat. Go it?"

He looked at her, wondering if he could get away with retorting.

C'val says, take it easy, everyone went through the same noise from her, she does this to all the newbies but once she's satisfied she backs off.

One of the older men behind her caught his eye and winked. It said, "yeah, don't worry, we know you still have your balls."

He nodded. He worked the press lid to show her he could understand something as complicated as a wooden box.  

"Got it. Lead on, MacDuff," he said, knowing instinctively she wouldn't get it.

"My name is KAILA. Don't forget it."

She was twelve years old.