[Child of the 7th Age]

Pio's post - Pearl and Hamson Comfrey

Everard Comfrey was up late, much to the annoyance of his son and daughter. His oft heard motto was “Early to bed, and early to rise.” And they could not fathom what was keeping him up so late.

‘Now what’s he doing?’ asked Pearl, as she slipped a pair of leggings on under her skirt. She was not fond of the cold, and was determined to be as warm as possible on this excursion. ‘He’s checking on that injured marten that Farmer Bracken found down by the stream.’ Hamson, standing on a wooden chair he’d dragged beneath the window, dared a longer peek through the crack in the curtains. ‘I think he’s giving him some slivers of fish.’

‘Pearl! Hamson! Are you two still awake in there?!’ The sound of their mother’s voice sent them quietly scurrying beneath the quilts. ‘We’re going to sleep now, Mami!’ said Pearl, hoping Delphinia would not take a notion to check on them. ‘Just tucking Hamson in!’ Hamson giggled nervously at the deceit and Pearl smacked him lightly on the shoulder whispering ‘Hush!’

Sometime later (it seemed like ages in their imaginings) they heard the door to their burrow close, and the familiar sounds of Papi blowing out the lantern and trundling off to bed. Hamson poked Pearl in the side after a goodly amount of time had passed and soft snores issued from their parents’ room.

‘Let’s go,’ whispered Hamson, throwing the covers back from his side of the bed. Picking up his scarf, he wrapped it about his neck, then climbed on the chair at the window and wriggled quietly out. He landed with an ooph! on the hard ground and crouched down quickly listening for any movement from his parents’ window. Hearing none, he motioned to his sister, giving her the ‘all clear!’

They sneaked through the pools of shadows cast by the bright moon until they reach their father’s storage shed. ‘This should do,’ whispered Pearl, carefully taking out three medium sized wicker carriers. Hamson fingered the latches on each, making sure they were in good working order. ‘These’ll do fine,’ he agreed, loading them onto their little pull wagon. ‘Lucky for us, Papi let me clean the tools today. I asked if I could oil the wheels for the carts, too. So we shouldn’t make too much noise.’

The town was sleeping after a hard day’s work. Houses and burrows alike were shuttered and dark. Hamson and Pearl went quietly and quickly to the agreed on meeting place. The large tree by the North end of the Hedge loomed up like a large, dark giant. Standing in a shadow of their own, the two children peered hard into the night toward the tree, looking for any sign of their companions.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 1:16 PM December 15, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]