April 22, 2013

Vinca held Letty on her lap and put an arm around Onnie. “Do you have your book?” Mavi always packed a storybook for the children, and they took turns reading to them. It was a tradition he'd started Nesim, and to reinforce Vinca's literacy in printed Dincani. She stumbled over some of it, but the kids were used to it. Onnie pulled it out of this possible sack, handed it to her. “Thank you. Where did Papa finish?”

Onnie leaned against her and mumbled, “H'we Come to Dinc”, pointing at the strip of thin leather that marked Mavi's place in the book.

Vinca opened it. “Ah. 'How the Pachem Fled Bindleshift for Peace, and Found It.'” It was, she thought, one of Onnie's favorite stories, just as it'd been Nesim's favorite. She found the beginning of the story and began moving her finger along, to mark her place and help Onnie know where they were.

'In the old days, the Pachem lived on the world of Bindleshift, among the people there, who were good folk, and bad folk, but where not Pachem.' she began.

She finished the first part of the tale, ending with the Archbishop of the Pachem on Bindleshift deciding that the strictures placed on them and theirs were too much, and they had to leave. Mavi returned with a pair of younger Pastors. “These are Pastors Spendov and Kestle. They've agreed to help us get our things to the palace.”

Vinca settled Letty on her arm and marked her place. She stood, tipping her head to them. “Thank you for the aid.”

Neither was married, their chins bare of beards, their heads bare of covering. She stood aside while the young men picked up the boxes, Letty on her arm, book in hand, Onnie standing close by her, arm around her waist. As they had in previous years, they walked along the front of the cathedral, to where the Archbishop's Gate was, fifteen feet wide, twenty feet tall, stone pillars with heavy iron bound gate, open wide and welcome, a quartet of guards, acted more like guides than any kind of security. There wasn't any need, really, Pachem carried weapons to hunt animals and predators, not each other. That was part of the problem they'd had with the government of Bindleshift. Mandatory military service wouldn't sit well with people who didn't even play fight.

When they reached the gate, Onnie let go and ran ahead, he saw some of his cousins already there in the fore court, and they were playing a game with a ball. Mavi paused in carrying to watch their son and shared a smile with her. He still remembered the child he'd been, and she loved him for it.

She tucked the book under her arm and took the box he was carrying. “Go on, you know you want to.”

“It's beneath my dignity,” he said wistfully, taking back the box. “And Leticia is heavy enough.”

“And you can play later, when your older brothers and nephews forget their dignity.”

The smile he flashed was small and secret and vanished quickly. “You are a scandalous woman, Goodwife Jeremiah.”

Vinca looked at the children, who'd welcomed Onnie into their ranks. “By now, there are at least twenty Goodwife Jeremiahs here.”

He sighed. “My family is prolific.”

“So they are, Pastor, and prone to joining the clergy.” She skipped ahead of the young Pastors to open the front doors to the Archbishop's Palace, so they wouldn't have to wait.