Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
I give the kitten a kiss and put her back in the box, making sure she's comfortable before I tuck it against my chest. "I can't stay," I tell Alma. "But we're sending a scavenging team out tomorrow for a long-distance run. They're heading west, towards Abilene. It'll take them a few weeks to come back, but we're hopeful for good news. They've got a list of everything the clinic needs."
Alma claps her hands. "Perfection!"
"Oh, and we're planting a big herb garden for the spring," I tell her. "We're going to have to start coming up with more herbal remedies, and I just found a big book on natural medicines. I'm making some notes and then I'll bring it by." I don't tell her that Azar wants to read it first. He wants to read everything. He devours every bit of information he can, because he sees all of it as useful to our situation. If it's written down, Azar will read it and try to learn from it.
I say my goodbyes to Alma, promising to meet for lunch so I can give her all the gossip on how Azar handled the baby news, and then head toward the edge of the compound, towards one of the buildings that's been established as a workshop.
Azar's been working with a few of the men lately, as they try to figure out how to weld a pump mechanism for inside the kitchens to bring in fresh water. He saw a drawing of an old-fashioned hand pump in a book a few days ago and has been obsessed with figuring out how to get one to work. You'd think it'd be an easy thing to figure out, but we've lost so much information and knowledge from what our ancestors had just a hundred years ago that it feels like we're starting from scratch.
But if anyone can figure it out, it'll be Azar.
In the workshop, I see Jurik working with one of the welders. He grins at me, winking, and then blows fire on the metal when the welder gestures. I give him a quick wave, heading for the back of the noisy workshop. There's another man, hammering out metal, and another drakoni helping with another welding project. I skirt through their work tables, doing my best to stay out of the way. Jurik and Rachel have stayed on in the fort for a while longer. Rachel says she has no interest in leaving “just when shit is getting good” and helps manage the lending library we have set up when she's not tending to her daughter. Jurik helps out with a lot of Azar's projects, and I'm pretty sure I saw Azar passing him one of the children's workbooks he'd used to learn how to read. I'm glad they stayed. Rachel is quick to speak her mind, and I appreciate her perspective even if I don't agree with it. Gwen and Vaan returned to Fort Shreveport, and Jenny and Mhal headed off to “homestead” somewhere. I got the impression they didn't want to tell us where, and I didn't ask.
No one's being forced to stay, after all. I want people to live in Fort Dallas that want to be here and want to make it a better place.
I find Azar hunched over a massive set of blueprints spread out on a table. He squints at them, running his finger along the drawings, his lips moving. He looks different than he did when he first arrived. He still prefers his robes, but they're formfitting and dark now, and belted at the waist. His hair is pulled back into a braid similar to my own, and he wears a thick pair of work-boots on his feet. His claws have been trimmed down once more but he's kept the fangs, as if he's decided to somehow embrace his drakoni side instead of hiding it.
I sidle up to the table and lean against it. "Hey stranger."
My husband jerks upright, startled by my approach. "Melina! I didn't hear you coming, love." He moves to my side and pulls my straw hat off, giving my forehead a kiss. "Should I tell everyone to stop working?"
"Of course not." I hop up on the table, sitting directly on the blueprints, box cradled in my arms. "What are we looking at?"
"The city's water systems. If we can't figure out how to pump from a well, I'm wondering if we can figure out how to get things running again." His eyes gleam with excitement. Azar loves a tricky problem to solve. "Did you know water once ran all under these streets? It's amazing. The system was so complex."
"I'm well aware of it," I tell him dryly. "I miss hot showers like there's no tomorrow."
He moves to my side, slipping off one of my shoes and rubbing my foot while he studies the blueprints with fascination. "But you have me instead."