{"id":342,"date":"2014-06-22T17:43:44","date_gmt":"2014-06-22T21:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/?p=342"},"modified":"2014-06-22T17:47:02","modified_gmt":"2014-06-22T21:47:02","slug":"rafebreaking-warp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/2014\/06\/rafebreaking-warp\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafe–Breaking Warp"},"content":{"rendered":"

This fits in between Frozen River 02<\/em> and A Mission<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fire crackled with dry wood and pitch. Rafe sucked the marrow from a bone and leaned back on her bed roll. The sky was hazed, but did not feel like snow. If it weren\u2019t cold, she\u2019d think she was looking at fireflies rather than stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think we\u2019ll be home tomorrow?\u201d Wilf asked.<\/p>\n

Rafe nodded. Strange she did not think of it as \u201chome\u201d even after nearly a year of being back. Neither could she bring herself to use Pinesucker\u2019s Hollow as the people out away named it. \u201cNeither fish nor fowl,\u201d she remarked, not really caring if Wilf and Molly thought her crazy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was rabbit,\u201d Molly said, hunched on her own bed roll, building a little tower of sticks. \u201cYou should know. You shot it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking about, belonging. Where is home?<\/em>\u201d Rafe feathered her hair under her palm. \u201cThis time out away from Riverside. It\u2019s made me think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout going back on the road again?\u201d Wilf looked at her. He was fingering a silent tune on his chanter, the pipes packed away in his stuff-sack. The hope of can I come with you<\/em> was clear in his voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been years since I worried about where I belong. To whom I belong. Riverside is no different than any other place I\u2019ve been, where local rules apply. I\u2019m my own home. I belong to who pays me. I\u2019m loyal to who fights at my side. And it occurs to me that I\u2019ve been well satisfied. I\u2019ve walked away alive.\u201d Her voice faded away.<\/p>\n

Rafe lost herself in the familiar sound and smell of the fire. She rubbed her head again with both hands, bone between her teeth. \u201cRoll the screen on top of the fire circle and we\u2019ll get some sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molly got the screen, that would keep sparks from flying, and draped it over the edges of the circle. She exchanged glances with Wilf across the fire and nodded her head in Rafe\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cAuntie,\u201d Wilf said, \u201cWhat is it between you and Mam, if you don\u2019t mind my asking?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rafe lifted the corner of the screen and slipped the bone into the fire. \u201cBetween me and Jenna?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilf nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis going to end up in one of your songs?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilf\u2019s mouth smiled but his eyes looked thoughtful and guilty. He twisted the chanter in his hands. \u201cWould it matter?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe not. I\u2019d pick my story carefully, in any case.\u201d Rafe leaned back on her elbows. \u201cI wasn\u2019t always a soldier, and I didn\u2019t always think before I acted. I don\u2019t know that I always \u2026 What does Jenna say? \u2026 \u2018consider my actions\u2019 now. But, I\u2019m better aware of the potential for payback.\u201d Rafe cocked her head at Wilf. \u201cWill that do for a story?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilf nodded, again.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo. Molly, a while ago, you asked about me and Grammy Heddle. What do you know about that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard she beat you with a lease stick until you nearly died.You must have done something awful, though no one would say what. She\u2019s that patient, even with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I didn\u2019t get beaten to death, but she whaled on me a bit and then finally conked me a good one on the head. What I did was not the thing that is between your Mam and me, Wilf. It is what you might call a signal.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou both know I don\u2019t exactly love Winter Home. It was worse when I was young.\u201d Rafe caught a look from Molly. \u201cNot five-miles-up-a-hill-both-ways, sort of worse. It was the same it is now. A kid is too young to have a job of their own, is still at the mercy of the snap and come here from anyone older who wants to tell them what to do and where to go. Winter Home felt like a trap. It still does.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere I was, maybe five, maybe six. Mam \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Mam, or Grammy?\u201d Wilf broke in.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Mam,\u201d said Rafe. \u201cI never knew her as Grammy \u2014 was pregnant with Jenna, and that was part of the problem. Mam, was terrified and distracted and I took every advantage going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTerrified? But she\u2019d already had you. Did she almost die then? And Uncle Ducky is only a couple years younger than Mam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t so much having a baby that scared her. It was how to deal with the baby once it arrived. Look. See that mug keeping hot on the edge of the fire ring? Keep your eye on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rafe began to sing. No words but aaaahhhhh<\/em>, up and down like she was searching for a note. In less than a minute the cup began to vibrate, edging away from the fire. Just as it tipped to the ground, the sides split and the rim peeled back like a lily opening. The tea flowed through the slits. Wilf and Molly, eyes bugged out and jaw slacked, stared at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShut your mouths. Yes, I did that. I did something like to Grammy Heddle\u2019s warp threads just before she beat me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe knew it was you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knew it was me. I was born screaming and breaking things. Broke the midwife\u2019s specs. Broke my Da\u2019s whiskey glass. Broke cups, dishes, candle sticks, you name it. How do you control a kid that could break things with her voice? Mam did what she could, but she was petrified of having another monster. Da was the only one who could \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, by the time I was, say, six, I broke what I wanted to. I had learned that much, but there was no discipline. It\u2019s a wonder no one poisoned me. Grammy Heddle had asked me to do, I don\u2019t know what. All I can remember is thinking \u2018I\u2019ll make her sorry.\u2019 I broke every third warp on her loom. She\u2019d had enough. I saw her closing in on me and thought I was done for. When she started to beat me, I screamed and broke more stuff.\u201d Rafe shrugged. \u201cYou\u2019ve seen a kid have a tantrum before. I can see now, she had no choice but to thump me on the head and lay me out cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time I came to, Grammy Heddle had taken steps. I would be taught manners and she was in charge. By the time Jenna was born, and was like any other baby, Mam had a favorite child, at last, and an ally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the end of it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy no means. But I did learn limits. I learned I was not the most powerful thing in the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one even whispered about this when you came back last summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody talks about Pauly Gorge, either. But everyone knows. Some things are just swept out the door, and as long as they don\u2019t return it\u2019s as if they\u2019ve never been. Baggage only stays with those that know and need to remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rafe turned to her nephew. \u201cHow delighted was your mam when you started singing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat explains some things,\u201d Wilf said. \u201cBut how did you break the cup? You just did scales, with your voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVibrations. It took a while before I got control. Mostly I had that need beat into me. And I was stubborn. It\u2019s been years since I broke anything without intending to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you use it in battle?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rafe fixed Wilf with a squinty look. She thought she could see the rhymes starting in his head. \u201cFrom time to time,\u201d she said. \u201cThe important thing is that for Jenna and Barton Stubbs, and others, this is baggage they\u2019ll drag back in the door, as a solution to our water problem. And if I decide they\u2019re right, you and Molly will both be going on another little trip with me. But it is right for you to know that I am able to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you even break \u2026\u201d Wilf started.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime to get some shut-eye.\u201d Rafe flipped open her bed roll and covered up. Wilf and Molly would talk and suppose; she would listen, but was happier leaving them to fireside inventions. No need to confirm or deny their speculations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This fits in between Frozen River 02 and A Mission. The fire crackled with dry wood and pitch. Rafe sucked the marrow from a bone and leaned back on her bed roll. The sky was hazed, but did not feel … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[40,31],"tags":[32,51,71],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-rafe","tag-fiction","tag-journey","tag-rafe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Gnw9-5w","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beeberrywoods.com\/FiberEtc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}