Thoughtful Thursday 4

Here we are with the latest installment. This is a little of a character development piece, a chance for y’all to get to know Kiera and Jace as they catch up on life since they last saw each other. If it feels a little bit like you are eavesdropping, I did my job (-:

The Ciaran
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The next morning dawned to the smell of coffee brewing on the campfire. With a stretch that reminded her she was not as young as she used to be, Kiera crawled out from under her blankets, slipped on her boots and shook out her hair. Once standing, she rolled up her bedroll and tied it to the back of the saddle. She glanced over at Jace, who was busy coaxing a few slices of bacon apart, so she took the time to dig out her brush, smooth out her hair and bundle it back into a bun at the nape of her neck. It would be easier to travel with it up.

Finally feeling presentable, even without the make-up so many put stock in, she crossed to the fire. “Good morning.”

“Good morning!” Jace grinned and triumphantly held up the two thick slices of bacon. “I got them apart. They are easier to fry that way.”

Kiera laughed. “I cannot disagree with you. But where did you get bacon?”

“I would love to tell you it was brilliant bartering on my part, but the truth is, I brought it with me. It’s been well cured, so I just carved a bit off a block back at our base camp and brought it along. Gregor is a skilled butcher. He usually gets to keep a bit of everything he slices as his payment. It helps keep us well fed.”

“So you do barter?” Kiera felt a small smile tug at her lips. She had worried Jace had been taking advantage of difficult times and charging more than the services were worth.

“Oh yes, we barter.” Jace chuckled. “I am afraid we have more chickens than we know what to do with. That seems to be the payment of choice, but once in awhile we can trade some hens or at least some eggs for something useful.”

Kiera nodded and sat down next to the fire. She held out her fry pan for the bacon, and then said, “I am afraid I have nothing so grand to add. Karla did send me with good coffee and a pot, but you have that handled. I have some hard tack, and some herbs for flavoring, I even have some dried meat and fruit for the trip, but nothing as grand as fresh bacon.”

Jace turned around after dropping the bacon into her pan and rummaged through his pack again. “Well when we get to camp we will be sure to victual you out with enough to get you by if ever we get separated. It doesn’t happen often, but once in a while we split up. Much like we did this week, when I came looking for you.” He pulled out a loaf of bread, hard on the outside but still soft on the inside. “I had hoped I could find you in a day or two, so I took less travel food and more comfort food. No eggs, of course, they don’t travel well unless they are going straight to market.”

Kiera nodded and turned the bacon, already crackling in the pan. “The bread will be lovely! Shall I toast it in the bacon fat?”

Jace nodded and cut two slices off the loaf. “You have improved your knowledge of cooking, I never would have thought of that.”

“It was one of Triman’s favorites.” She smiled at the memory. “He liked me to scoop the fat over his eggs as well. They looked like they were flipped over since the fat was so hot it cooked them plus it added flavor.”

“You shall have to demonstrate when we get back, you know.” Jace was still studying her, with admiration. “You’ve grown up well.”

Kiera snorted. “After, what twenty years? It is nice that you notice.”

“I mean it. When I left you were still wide-eyed and a child, with a poor hand at cooking, a fair hand at music and impatience enough to try any parent. I was surprised your folks, and mine, didn’t send you off to the grove.” He paused, “Oh, it had been closed.”

“Exactly!” The laugh that bubbled up from Kiera was one she hadn’t thought she could release since her husband had died. “I am sure my parents thought of it. After all, a willful young girl is just what the Lady deserved, in my father’s eyes.” The laugh subsided, “at least they found a patient man to marry me. I wasn’t an embarrassment to the family.”

It was Jace’s turn to snort. “You were never an embarrassment.” He shook his head. “Your parents were always proud of you.”

Kiera felt her throat tighten again. It was good to have another friend who remembered when – when she was a child, when she was a handful, when she was not a widow without children. But talking about all the loss was difficult as well. “I think the bacon is ready.” She changed the subject, fished the bacon out of the pan and dropped the first slice of bread in. “I will have to pay attention so it doesn’t soak up too much, or burn.”

Jace nodded. Realizing he had perhaps gone too far in opening old wounds, he poured two cups of coffee and added two lumps of sugar to one of them. “You still like it sweet?”

Kiera nodded, turned the toast over and laughed without lifting her eyes. “What if I had said no?”

“I’d have drunk the sweet one.” Jace smirked in return. “But thankfully you saved me.” He placed the coffee cup close by her side, but not so close she would knock it over while she toasted the last slice of bread. He deftly flipped one piece of bacon and the finished toast onto his plate, picked up his coffee and moved across the fire from her. “With the wind blowing out of the east, I hope you don’t mind I sit over here. I had enough smoke for the morning.”

“I don’t mind.” The last piece finished, she moved the pan off the fire, stoked the blaze to help with a little of the chill farther from it and leaned back on a nearby rock, coffee in one hand and plate in the other. “Do tell me about your mob?”

Jace laughed. “Not much to tell. It ebbs and flows. We enter a town, a certain sort of work is needed, and someone with a fair hand at it completes the job, is satisfied with the town and settles. The rest of us move on. The mob I left behind had a carpenter, a smith, a butcher, a wrangler, and a farmer who lost his land. I do not know what he’s going to do, but I hope he finds himself a new piece to squat on. At least for now he is handy, helps people when they have a pest infecting their crops, or chooses the best for us at the market, but he’s feeling the loss.”

Eating slowly while she listened, Kiera nodded. For the others, it made sense they would move from place to place in search of a way to ply their trade. But for a farmer to be put off his land, that was heart wrenching. If anyone could convince her of a God or Goddess, it was a farmer speaking of the way the land spoke to him.

Deciding she wasn’t going to say anything, Jace went on. “I hope he finds a nice widow to marry – someone he can help with the land. I would take him to Karla, but it’s too soon for her- and it may be too soon for any of them truthfully. Besides, Karla likes horses – Now, my wrangler on the other hand…”

Kiera laughed out loud. “Don’t even begin to play matchmaker for Karla, if you know what is good for you.” She popped the last bit of toast into her mouth and dusted off her hands. “You could tell me what you think of breakfast.”

Jace looked down. In all his talking he hadn’t had a bite. “Um, can I get back to you?”

Kiera nodded and stood up. “I am going down to the creek for a bit of a wash if you don’t mind. I’ll come back for the dishes if I find a good spot that won’t foul the water supply for people further down.”

“You are so considerate.” Jace nodded as he bit off a bit of his toast with bacon on top of it. “No hurry, I am going to enjoy this!” He closed his eyes as if savoring every bite.

Kiera almost thumped him on the shoulder, but decided her bath was a better idea. She stood up, dusted her hands off again, picked up her dirty pot from the night before and went to check the creek for a good tub.

The creek water was cold so Kiera had the briefest wash of her life. She found a puddle large and clear enough to wash her feet, her hands and her face, but truly not enough to sit in and scrub. Of course, it was so cold she doubted she would have had that scrub even if the puddle had been deep. Once she felt suitably presentable, she filled her pot with water and lugged it back to camp. “I hope you left that fire burning.”

“Do you need me to stoke it up?” Jace glanced up as she came near. “Oh yeah, hot water makes cleaner dishes. Good idea.” He grinned sheepishly.

“You are such a boy.” Kiera chuckled as she put the pot on to boil. Digging through her pack she found a small cake of soap. She used her knife to shave off little bits into the water, and stirred. She was not going to get much lather, but she hoped the soap would coax the food particles off the side of the pot, and if she got the water hot enough it may even help melt the now congealed bacon fat off the pan. She sighed. It would be nice to save that fat for another cooking, but it would turn rancid in the pan before nightfall. During colder weather she may have tried it, but the days were too warm to take the chance.

“You say that like it is a bad thing?” Jace teased. He made himself busy breaking the rest of camp. He packed his belongings, tied up his bedroll, brushed and curried both horses, then bridled and saddled them. “Done?”

“I just finished.” Kiera felt satisfied she’d done the best she could do with her supplies. Both plates and all flatware were clean, the pan was not greasy to the touch, although she wouldn’t mind cooking it dry at her next stop to be sure nothing she could not see clung to the rough metal. A good scrub of the pot before she rid it of the water left only to rinse it all in the creek and she was ready. She trudged back, carrying all the cookware and dropped it in a pile at his feet. “Not sure what to do with all this stuff now.” She brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.

Jace turned and grabbed a length of rope tied to one eyelet on his saddle. “The dishes and flatware will fit easy enough – how about we tie the pan and pot here till we stop again? He showed her how he planned to tie loops in his rope, keeping the pot and pan from clanking together. “One can lay on either side of my saddle easy enough.”

Kiera nodded. “That works.” Seeing he had the matter well in hand, she took the flatware and plates and tucked them into the top of her pack. Securing it in place again behind her, she then slipped her foot in the stirrup and swung into place. “I am ready when you are.”

“That was nicely done.” Jace’s eyes were again admiring.

For just a moment, Kiera felt twelve again, being complimented by her friend’s big brother. Those compliments were hard to come by, and she had always cherished them.

Jace mounted as smoothly and clucked to Kago. Then he paused. “You lead. I think Lian ought to set the pace, she’s still young to be an everyday horse.”

Kiera nodded and chewed her lip. Lian was a treasured gift, but she was young, and Kiera worried she would ruin the little filly. It was kind of Jace to think of them.