from the first.
What’s your first class?”
“Riding
practice,” answered Jess.
“Fair enough.
You know where?”
“Low practice
field,” said Jess, after a quick check of the timetable she had
copied out and attached to the wall above her battered table. She
had studied the timetable until she knew it by heart but it was as
well to make sure.
Jen tried
without much success to hide a grin. She remembered well her and
Trnslei’s first class.
“I’m looking
forward to it all so much,” declared an enthusiastic Tana.
“Remind me to
ask you this time tomorrow if you’re still of the same mind,”
laughed Jen, “I hated it all at first as a junior, exited the first
class tip to toe in burgeoning bruises from the tumbles I
took.”
But the
optimistic Tana wasn’t to be put off. Hannah was looking more than
a little nervous and Beth terrified.
“Except for the
journey here, I’ve hardly ever ridden,” she confessed and Hannah
nodded in agreement.
“Neither have I
except for the farm horses back home. How bad is it really?”
“Well, it’s not
trotting round in circles,” answered Jen, “They’re teaching us how
to fight and as Ryzcka Ranolf will tell you, we must be able to
stick on our Lind’s backs like glue. The riding straps help but
Ranolf doesn’t allow you to use them at first. In a fight the
straps can spring loose and the pirates, they try to cut them and
so dislodge the rider.”
“Have you been
in a fight?” asked Tana.
“Not yet,”
admitted Jen, “I’ve just become a Senior Cadet and it’s only
seniors who spend some time on patrol with one of the Ryzcks. I
expect me and Trnslei will be doing our first attachment sometime
soon.”
“How long do
they last?”
“Well, let me
see, a normal patrol period is three months, which doesn’t include
travelling to and back from the sector. I think an attachment lasts
about half that long.”
“Any idea where
you’ll be going?”
Jen shook her
head, “nary a one, some sectors are better than others of course.
I’ve been told that the ones in the mountains, especially in
winter, can be very unpleasant. I don’t think cadets are sent up
there, at least not in Argyll. Takes too long to travel I
suppose.”
“How often,
once we’ve graduated to a Ryzck that is, are we expected to be on
patrol?” asked Tana.
“Fountain of
questions, aren’t you?” teased Jen.
“I like to
know,” replied Tana, refusing to rise.
Jen sighed,
“three months on then two off is normal but you’ll learn all about
it during lessons never fear.” She turned to Hannah, “you’ll be
pleased to know that young Robain seems likely to settle down at
the domta. He’s most disgruntled by the fact that he’s too young to
start his cadetship at once.”
“Do the younger
ones get training?” asked the persistent Tana. She hadn’t realised
that some children younger than fourteen became vadeln-paired with
a Lind.
“How many are
there?” asked Hannah, determined that Tana should not monopolise
the questions, “I promised his parents that I would write and tell
them how he and Balindifya are getting on.”
“At the moment
there are more than twenty of them,” answered Jen. “They’re not
cadets so don’t come under military discipline like we do. They do
general lessons and some basic weapons work but the domta itself is
more like a large family unit than anything else. I should know, me
and Trnslei spent two years there. My Trnslei couldn’t, wouldn’t
wait until I was fourteen.”
“Who looks
after them?” asked Jess.
“An older
couple, man and wife. Jadred’s retired from the Vada, his Lind was
badly mauled some years ago and they can’t serve with a Ryzck any
more. His wife Maria never did pair. Don’t worry about Robain;
Maria has children of her own and a generous heart. They get all
the parenting they need and they can visit their own families twice
in the year, not that all of them do, some Argyllian families
disown
What’s your first class?”
“Riding
practice,” answered Jess.
“Fair enough.
You know where?”
“Low practice
field,” said Jess, after a quick check of the timetable she had
copied out and attached to the wall above her battered table. She
had studied the timetable until she knew it by heart but it was as
well to make sure.
Jen tried
without much success to hide a grin. She remembered well her and
Trnslei’s first class.
“I’m looking
forward to it all so much,” declared an enthusiastic Tana.
“Remind me to
ask you this time tomorrow if you’re still of the same mind,”
laughed Jen, “I hated it all at first as a junior, exited the first
class tip to toe in burgeoning bruises from the tumbles I
took.”
But the
optimistic Tana wasn’t to be put off. Hannah was looking more than
a little nervous and Beth terrified.
“Except for the
journey here, I’ve hardly ever ridden,” she confessed and Hannah
nodded in agreement.
“Neither have I
except for the farm horses back home. How bad is it really?”
“Well, it’s not
trotting round in circles,” answered Jen, “They’re teaching us how
to fight and as Ryzcka Ranolf will tell you, we must be able to
stick on our Lind’s backs like glue. The riding straps help but
Ranolf doesn’t allow you to use them at first. In a fight the
straps can spring loose and the pirates, they try to cut them and
so dislodge the rider.”
“Have you been
in a fight?” asked Tana.
“Not yet,”
admitted Jen, “I’ve just become a Senior Cadet and it’s only
seniors who spend some time on patrol with one of the Ryzcks. I
expect me and Trnslei will be doing our first attachment sometime
soon.”
“How long do
they last?”
“Well, let me
see, a normal patrol period is three months, which doesn’t include
travelling to and back from the sector. I think an attachment lasts
about half that long.”
“Any idea where
you’ll be going?”
Jen shook her
head, “nary a one, some sectors are better than others of course.
I’ve been told that the ones in the mountains, especially in
winter, can be very unpleasant. I don’t think cadets are sent up
there, at least not in Argyll. Takes too long to travel I
suppose.”
“How often,
once we’ve graduated to a Ryzck that is, are we expected to be on
patrol?” asked Tana.
“Fountain of
questions, aren’t you?” teased Jen.
“I like to
know,” replied Tana, refusing to rise.
Jen sighed,
“three months on then two off is normal but you’ll learn all about
it during lessons never fear.” She turned to Hannah, “you’ll be
pleased to know that young Robain seems likely to settle down at
the domta. He’s most disgruntled by the fact that he’s too young to
start his cadetship at once.”
“Do the younger
ones get training?” asked the persistent Tana. She hadn’t realised
that some children younger than fourteen became vadeln-paired with
a Lind.
“How many are
there?” asked Hannah, determined that Tana should not monopolise
the questions, “I promised his parents that I would write and tell
them how he and Balindifya are getting on.”
“At the moment
there are more than twenty of them,” answered Jen. “They’re not
cadets so don’t come under military discipline like we do. They do
general lessons and some basic weapons work but the domta itself is
more like a large family unit than anything else. I should know, me
and Trnslei spent two years there. My Trnslei couldn’t, wouldn’t
wait until I was fourteen.”
“Who looks
after them?” asked Jess.
“An older
couple, man and wife. Jadred’s retired from the Vada, his Lind was
badly mauled some years ago and they can’t serve with a Ryzck any
more. His wife Maria never did pair. Don’t worry about Robain;
Maria has children of her own and a generous heart. They get all
the parenting they need and they can visit their own families twice
in the year, not that all of them do, some Argyllian families
disown
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