by Murasaki99
“Well, this is it. What do you think?” Carib Devist brought the land speeder to a halt at the top of a forested hill. Partway below the crest of the hill sat a house and a number of outbuildings, surrounded by rolling fields of weedy scrub and scattered second-growth trees. A thicket tall of older trees shielded the back of the house from the fierce easterly winds of early spring. A very-weathered fence surrounded the house and its immediate grounds. Mirith and Kir, along with Carib’s wife Lacy, had driven out from Carib’s home. The children had been left in the care of the droids and Carib’s brother, Sabmin and his wife, Jola. Compared to the port town where they had arrived, the country was uncluttered and quiet, with the only sounds to be heard coming from the local birds.
“Oh my,” Mirith breathed softly, looking at the building with wide eyes. It was quite tall, with a steeply peaked roof. Mirith could count at least three floors from the ground level to the roof peak, although being built of native wood and thatched with reeds, it blended well into the landscape. As they spoke, a flight of small birds burst from the thatch and flew away, twittering.
“Sorry it’s such a mess,” said Lacy, shaking her head sadly. It’s an original settler home that came with our land grant, but nobody has had time to keep it up – it was too big for Carib and his brothers before they married and now none of us has that many children to justify keeping such a large place. Having everyone sharing a house like that wasn’t practical either, what with our farms being so spread out and all.”
“You don’t understand – I love it. It’s like seeing my great-grandparent’s home again on Nez Peron.” Mirith smiled at the Devists. “They made thatched roofing like that on their homeworld. I always thought it was handsome.”
“At least now with you and your family taking this plot, the entire homestead will be under cultivation again. That’ll be nice.” Lacy glanced back at Mirith with a happy grin. “It’ll be good to have another woman around to visit with, too, and more children for our kids to play with.”
“It’s going to need a lot of work.” Carib pointed at the weathered boards of the fence and siding. “The basic structure is sound and the floors are good, I checked it last week before you all arrived, but it’ll need cleanup and repairs. No one has lived there for years.”
“We already swept the place for skitters.” Lacy shuddered. “I know they’re harmless, but I had one run up my sleeve last spring while I was cleaning the attic and ugh!”
“Didn’t see too many in the old place,” Carib chipped in with a conspiratorial smile at his wife. “Probably because the tyrwicks kept them under control.”
“Carib!” Lacy glared at her husband. “You’re not helping my phobias and you’ll scare Mirith.”
“The local vermin?” asked Kir.
“Yep. Skitters have lots of legs.” Carib made a crawly motion with the fingers of one hand. “Not poisonous or harmful, but they like to get into things. The tyrwicks prey on ’em – they’re sort of like snakes, only with vestigial legs. They’re not venomous either, but it can give you a start if they fall out of your closet on you. Unfortunately they love abandoned old houses like this. Once you live there awhile they’ll move on.”
“They can get this big,” Lacy said faintly, holding her hands a meter apart. Mirith raised an eyebrow and thus encouraged, Lacy continued. “Carib’s right, we had one in the pantry, it fell out when I opened it to get some flour.”
Carib chuckled. “I never saw anyone move so fast or jump so high.”
“Carib just said, ‘oh he’s not gonna eat you, Lacy’ and laughed. Big help he was. I swept it outside with the broom. Our droid isn’t much use either, he simply watches them slither by.” She glowered at her husband. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you – be careful when you go through the closets and cupboards.”
“Is there anything that could be venomous or dangerous that we should know about?” Kir asked as he scanned the farmstead carefully.
“Not too much,” said Carib as he sent the speeder down the hill toward the house. “Pakrik Minor didn’t have megafauna before it was terraformed and settled, so any larger animals were imported by people as they came to set up farms and traded with other systems. The Khateri have good teeth, but they are civilized folk and won’t use them on humans.” Carib smiled at Mirith and Kir. “Actually, they're wonderful people. They’ll probably call on you not long after you move in. Be good to them – they’re great with the kids and help with the harvests.” He pulled the speeder to a stop in the fenced-in area in front of the house. “Mind you, just because there haven’t been any big predators around before doesn’t mean there can’t be any – some kriffin’ fool imported a gharzer last year over on the other side of Imshon port, and it got out, of course.”
“Mmm.” Kir nodded and shot Carib a glance. “It got out after eating its owner, right?”
“Yep. My brothers and I were dusting off our blasters just in case, but a farmer ten klicks up the valley found it trying to carry off a nerf and shot it about a day later. Since the beast ate its importer, it saved us the cost of an arrest and trial.”
“What was he thinking, importing a dangerous game animal like a gharzer?” asked Mirith. “Wasn’t it against the local law?”
“Of course it was, but that doesn’t stop a fool.” Carib got out of the speeder and waited for Kir and Mirith to follow. “What would you like to see first? The power cells are round this way, and then there’s the biomass generator setup.” He pointed toward an outbuilding.
Lacy caught Mirith’s arm. “Oh, come inside and see the fireplace!” She tugged Mirith into the house, leaving the men to wander off on their own. Mirith could hear them talking about power machinery and droid harvesters. The first floor of the house smelled sweetly of seasoned wood, with a faint undertone of dust. The floor was worn in places, but the planks were still sturdy underfoot and at the back of the large common room was the thing Lacy had mentioned.
“A fire-place! It’s been years since I’ve seen one.” She glanced at Lacy. “Is it real?”
“Of course it’s real!” Lacy pointed at the blackened hearthstones. “Sabmin checked the flue of the chimney – it’s clear, so once you gather some good wood, you can have a fire. The nights are getting cool now, you’ll love it.” Lacy walked toward a room opening off the common room. “Come on this way, the kitchen is over here, and that way’s the fresher. There’s an old-fashioned bath room in the back with a huge tub!”
As Mirith followed her guide, she glanced again at the stone fireplace and smiled slowly. “Land, hearth, and home, who would have thought it?”
