Date: Wed, 28 Jun 1995 20:18:47 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: LOG: Kevlan and Berni's Trip to Estenar, Part 5

[Intro]:
On the night of Kevlan Sharr and Bernadette Marshall's arrival at the
Sharr family farmstead on Estenar, Kevlan's kinfolk greet the pair of
Singers with unreserved cheerfulness and a sizeable homecooked meal.
Also greeting Kevlan and Bernadette is Fanna, the four-year-old
daughter of Kevlan's brother Morten and Morten's wife Varta, who
bears an odd starlight-like sheen to her skin which the astonished
Singers suspect is unnoticeable to unadapted vision. But neither
Kevlan nor Berni has the opportunity to question the little girl
before the adults are called to dinner... nor do they have a chance
during the dinner, as the child, despite her pleas for Uncle Kevlan
to sing for the family, is sent briskly to bed. The adults retire
early as well--for it's the middle of the week, and a farming family
on Estenar gets up early.

With some trepidation, Kevlan learns that the women intend to take
Bernadette into Bremany for the purchase of an appropriate wedding
gown--and with the inevitable question as to whether _Kevlan_ has
anything appropriate to wear, he responds shyly, "Ah, um, Ah-Ah brung
somethin'... " Bernadette gives him an arch and curious look, as does
Fanna, who bounces up and down excitedly at the notion of a secret,
but Kevlan refuses to say more.

Kevlan is strangely quiet, too, as he and Bernadette spend the next
couple of days helping out the family about the farmstead. There is
monitoring of nutrient levels in the soil to be done, daily tending
of the animals--horses, a few cows for milk, some small fleecy
sheep-like creatures which sport coats more silken in consistency
than wool, and, as Fanna very quickly points out, the new
puppies--and occasional random tasks, like the salvage of a hedge of
trees that a recent storm had knocked through. Tammany spends time on
the household computer, working on (as Orynn proudly points out) a
novel she's hoping to sell, while Danyel surprises Bernadette by
demonstrating a knack for making carved perfumed soaps.

"Folks jes' eat these up in town," the dark-haired young man declares
cheerfully, as Bernadette catches him beside the barn, keeping close
tabs on a pot being heated in a structure which might have once done
duty as a forge. The pot's boiling contents pour out a pungent scent
of herbs, and Danyel shows her later how he takes a cooled chunk of
the stuff and sculpts it whatever shapes strike his fancy. He
presents her with one carved into a budding flower, much to her
delight.

The family staunchly protests Kevlan's quiet insistence that he be
allowed to help out around the farm, but Kevlan wins out, and spends
more than a few hours on the more strenuous outdoor tasks around the
farm. Bernadette, wanting to make a good impression on her
sweetheart's kin, volunteers where and when she can, and sometimes
finds herself out of Kevlan's company, but not often enough to miss
the way he occasionally pauses at a task to study the
horizon--particularly to the west, where a line of tree-covered hills
provide an undulating view under the green-tinted blue sky.

Kevlan's quiet mood continues, and on their third day with his
family, Bernadette decides to investigate.....

----------
"Aww, Berni, Ah ain't all that tired....!" Kevlan protests, as his
  diminutive but by no means unforceful sweetheart hauls him into the
  barn and out of the noontime sunlight. Despite his objections, Kevlan
  does look winded; the few days he's spent on the farmstead so far
  have had him more active than he's been in months, and his fair hair
  is dark and damp with sweat. His skin has started to regain something
  of his typical tan, at least on his face and arms and shoulders; clad
  only in a sleeveless, torso-hugging white shirt, denim work jeans and
  boots, he has begun--or perhaps resumed--looking just like the rest
  of his farmsteading family.

Bernadette has also been spending quite some time outdoors. She is clad
  in a loose pastel blue tank-top and a pair of rugged khaki shorts,
  thick white socks top the pair of her well-worn workboots, which she
  is happy she decided to bring with her on this trip. Her own skin has
  taken on a nice, light, healthy tan, and as she stands near Kevlan,
  the big floppy hat one of the aunts stuck on her head earlier while
  she was helping Varta in the garden, hangs by its strings around her
  neck against her back. Her hands and knees are dirty, and moist
  tendrils of her hair stick to her forehead, cheeks and neck, having
  escaped the pony's tail she's bound it in.

"Humor me, then, Kev..." she says as she steers him into the barn,
  "'cause I'm tired." She grins happily up at him as they enter the cool
  shade of the barn and admits ruefully "I haven't worked this hard in
  years...but it's fun."

The barn, though, is cool despite the heat of the day, and a light
  breeze wafts through the open doors. Just inside are stacks of hay,
  and Fanna plays with several of the puppies amongst the fodder. The
  child giggles when the adults come in, and runs up happily to meet
  them, a puppy in hand. "Look!" Fanna declares. "Her name's Mia!"

Bernadette drops her hand from Kevlan's arm and grins at the
  four-year-old. She kneels down on the hay-strewn floor in front of
  Fanna and sits back on her heels, smiling at the puppy. "May I?" she
  asks, as she raises her eyes to Fanna's and holds her hands out
  towards the wriggling pup.

The pup in Fanna's hands is a dappled brown and grey, her fur a
  little longer and softer than most of the rest of the litter, and she
  yaps in confusion as Fanna, with utmost solemnity, carefully places
  her in Berni's hands. "Ah been makin' friends with Mia," Fanna
  reports happily. "An' Mama asked me to he'p watch th' puppies when
  Granpa an' Daddy an' Unca Dannie take th' big dogs out!" Clearly
  proud of being entrusted to such an important task, the little girl
  beams.

Bernadette grins as she holds Mia close to her and pets her soft fur,
  while Mia yaps and howls unhappily. She chuckles and passes the pup
  back to Fanna, remarking, "Well, it looks like you did a good job
  of making friends with her!" as the puppy instantly quiets down
  once she's been returned to Fanna's little hands.

With surprising delicacy, Fanna cradles the tiny creature against her
  and pets her. The puppy blinks its huge dark eyes, gives another yap,
  and curls up in the girl's arms.

In a half-casual, half-stiff manner that suggests he is more relieved
  than he lets on to be able to rest, Kevlan flops down to lean against
  a hay bale--at which point he is promptly attacked by three of the
  puppies, who crawl all over him. Tiny tails wagging, their noses
  sniffing out every inch of the supine Singer, the pups investigate
  him thoroughly, and the boldest squirms up his chest to lick his
  face. "Whoa... hang on theah, l'il guy... " Kevlan sputters a little
  as the bold puppy's lead is followed by its two compatriots;
  fascinated to see what new game their siblings have discovered, the
  other three pups wobble over and onto Kevlan, too.

Fanna and Bernadette giggle as they watch the puppies crawling over
  Kevlan. Bernadette crawls across the floor to sit next to Kevlan,
  still chuckling at the puppies as he tries, with an amused grin, to
  keep the pups away from his face. Idly, she plucks a small brown and
  white puppy off of her pledged, holding it gently in her lap while
  she strokes its fur while it playfully gnaws on her fingers.

Bernadette grins at Fanna. "What's this little guy's name?"

"Dash!" the child responds promptly. "All th' puppies tol' me their
  names."

Kevlan lifts an eyebrow around the pile of baby dogs perched upon
  him, but smiles.

Bernadette's eyebrows have also arched gracefully over her brown eyes
  and she smiles at Fanna as well. "You talk to the puppies, do you?"

Fanna nods solemnly. "They don't know how t' talk too good yet.
  'Cause they're real l'il."

Bernadette looks at Fanna contemplatively for a few minutes and then
  smiles.

Eventually, as all infants are apt to do, the puppies start curling
  up and dropping off to sleep for their mid-day naps. Berni smiles
  at the little brown and white ball of far curled up on her lap and
  grins at Fanna again. "Fanna, honey, if Uncle Kevlan and I promise
  to keep a close watch on the puppies, would you run and get us some
  water?"

The little girl blinks at that, and, still cradling Mia against her,
  she inspects Kevlan gravely. Kevlan, still looking a little flushed
  from the morning's exertions, gives her a crooked grin; seeming to
  acknowledge that her uncle needs some refreshment, she pads over and
  very carefully places her charge right on Kevlan's stomach. The puppy
  yawns, turns once around in an unsteady circle, then settles down
  into a curled-up ball of fur.

Fanna looks uncertainly between the puppies and the adults. Her little
  mind finally reasons that the puppies will be fine with Kevlan and
  Bernadette for just a few moments and nods. She calls out with a grin,
  "Okay!" as she breaks into a run, dashing out of the barn to get
  the Singers something to drink.

Bernadette smiles after the little girl then looks at Kevlan. With a
  little sigh, she leans over and presses her lips to his cheek and
  says "Ahhh...alone at last."

Kevlan giggles a little, still covered in sleeping pups, most of whom
  have curled up around their sister Mia. "Well, 'lone with these'uns,
  at least," he acknowledges, but turns his head to Bernadette and
  nuzzles at her. "But Ah think they need a nap jes' like me.... "

She grins and winks, then sits up straight again, looking at Kevlan
  pensively. After a moment, she says quietly "So, want to tell me
  about starry-skinned folks?"

Kevlan does a bit of a double-take, and his brow furrows;
  automatically, he glances out to make sure Fanna has gone, before he
  looks back at his sweetheart. Pitching his voice equally softly, he
  begins tentatively, "Ah... Ah-Ah ain't sure if Ah'm th' best'un t'
  ask... "

Patiently, Berni smiles and, following Kevlan's glance out the door to
  ensure they are still quite alone, states "Well, I don't see why not..
  considering this is your planet...these are your people... "

Kevlan gets a slightly odd expression in his eyes at that.

"And you're the only one here at the moment who knows what we
  can see." She pitches her voice a little lower and continues quietly,
  "I don't think your brothers and father..nor any of the women...can
  see the difference in Fanna, Kevlan." She gazes at you contemplatively
  again, absently petting the sleeping puppy on her lap. "I can only
  imagine how bright it would be _without_ these filtering lenses in..."

Uncomfortably, Kevlan shifts against the hay, and mumbles, "Ah...
  Ah-Ah think Ah might know what it means--but you gotta unnerstan',
  Berni, Ah-Ah ain't sure Ah _know_ how t' talk about it... "

Bernadette chews on her lower lip thoughtfully for a moment, gazing at
  you. Finally, "Well, could you at least give it a try?" The inquiry is
  posed pleadingly before she adds quickly, "I mean, if I'm supposed to
  be a part of your life and your family, and we're going to come here
  on vacations and such, it might be nice to know about this so i don't
  go tripping over people's luggage in the spaceport...." She blinks and
  slaps at a bug on her arm with a little grimace, scratching at the
  little red lump its bite left behind.

Kevlan gives an awkward smile, and reaches over with one hand to wave
  the bug away from Berni's vicinity. Then he takes her hand in his,
  and is quiet for a few moments before he begins, "If... Fanna's
  starlight means what Ah-Ah think it does... she, uh, she might have
  th' fey blood in 'er." His voice drops slightly, gaining a kind of
  husky reverence.

Bernadette rubs her thumb across Kevlan's knuckles and looks at him
  with an expression of confusion. She blinks and asks "Fey?"

He gravely nods, meeting Berni's gaze earnestly. "Folks tell stories
  sometimes... 'bout folks that're... well, diff'rent. They look up at
  th' stars a lot... go runnin' 'round in th' trees. Or talkin' to
  puppies." With a slight bemused grin, Kevlan touches one of the drowsy
  pups with his other hand; the little thing yawns and burrows against
  its nearest neighbor.

A small, thoughtful frown furrows Bernadette's brow slightly as she
  gazes at the puppies curled up on Kevlan, digesting this tidbit of
  information. She raises her eyes to his face again, finally, and
  says softly, "And you suspect Fanna might be one of these...fey?"

At Kevlan's confirming nod, she nods a bit as well before asking
  simply "Is that good or bad?"

Kevlan gives a tiny laugh; one of the pups lets out a brief confused
  "yip?" before rolling over again and burrowing its nose under its own
  tail. Slowly, as if trying to find the right words for something he
  hadn't quite known he knew, Kevlan answers, "It's... Ah-Ah-Ah dunno,
  honey. See, thing is... any folks c'n talk t' puppies an' trees an'
  stars... but th' fey, they hear 'em talk back."

Bernadette listens carefully and nods.

His blue gaze drifting out of the barn's open door, and out--across the
  farmstead, perhaps as far as the distant line of tree-covered hills on
  the near horizon--Kevlan goes on softly, "It's like... how crystal
  talks back t'a Singer, th' Lady's own voice in th' song... 'cept if
  you got th' fey blood in you... th' song's in ever'thing."

And then, Kevlan abruptly blushes, looking at you sidelong as if in
  embarrassment, and he finishes with a low mutter, "'Least... that's
  how th' stories always seemed t' me... and now... seein' Fanna like
  this, Ah... jes' don't know what t' think."

Bernadette is silent for a few moments during which the Singers'
  sensitive hearing picks up the sound of Fanna's running footsteps. She
  glances towards the door, then back at Kevlan, speaking quickly, but
  softly, a smile on her lips. "Well, if this legend of the fey is true,
  that Fanna has a gift...much like you do, Kevlan." She hesitates a
  moment as the child's small pounding feet draw closer, then continues
  briskly, "The...Lady...chose to give Fanna her special talents, just
  as She chose to give you your voice." She blinkblinks in surprise
  at Kevlan, just as Fanna rounds the door, a covered bucket of water in
  her little hands. Bernadette wears an expression that suggests she
  is surprised such a philosophical statement issued from her lips.

A look of slight startlement crosses Kevlan's face, first as the sound
  of Fanna's approach reaches him, and then as Bernadette speaks. He
  starts to speak himself, stops, starts again, and finally gives up as
  the little girl draws near, waddling a little under the weight of the
  wooden bucket she's proudly carrying.

Fanna eyes the adults briefly, gives the slumbering puppies a better
  look, then smiles as she declares triumphantly "Ah brung you water!"

Bernadette smiles warmly, assuring the little girl, "You certainly did,"
  and reaches over to take the big bucket as Kevlan sits up, carefully
  scooping puppies up in his hands and placing them to sleep among the
  hay.

Kevlan grins lopsidedly. "Honey, that bucket's bigger'n' you. How'd you
  git that in heah?"

"Aunt Tam'ny he'ped!" Fanna replies--and evidently Tammany's aid
  extended to letting the bucket remain only partly filled so that the
  child had a chance at carrying it. As both Singers thirstily drink,
  Fanna inspects the puppies at close range, and Tammany herself appears
  at the door of the barn.

"Ah got a big ol' iced pitcher o' citrade waitin' in th' kitchen, y'all,
  and lunch is ready, too." Flicking a strand of greying hair out of her
  seamed face, Tammany grins at the Singers, and at Kevlan caught poised
  in downing the remaining contents of the bucket. Fanna squeals
  delightedly about getting to drink citrade, and Tammany briskly
  hustles the threesome into the house, where the rest of the family is
  starting to gather for the midday meal before attacking the afternoon
  chores.

As he has been through the visit so far, Kevlan is mostly quiet as his
  kinfolk chatter at one another... but in those moments when Bernadette
  steals a glance at him, something in his face has changed. His eyes
  seem to have gone a lighter blue, his general look contemplative...
  but hopeful.

[End log.]