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could spread out, all over the Hold. In his mind s eye, Red saw that even
more clearly now, as magnificent a dream as he had ever envisioned when he and
Mairi had decided to join the Pern colony.
So, whenever possible, he sent scouts out to find what other
riches--accommodation being the main one the stake could provide.
Sometimes he went himself to check on possible ore sites, for they d need more
coal than the one seam they d found nearby to run the hypocaust system that
Egend had devised for warming the living quarters of caves.
Egend was an ingenious engineer. He d been successful at Fort Weyr in
drilling into the old, still-hot magma chamber that provided delightful
quantities of heat, especially for the hardening of dragon eggs on the sandy
floor of the Hatching Ground. It had taken the dragons weeks of hard work
hauling in the appropriate sands from the beaches near Boll, but the Weyr now
had an approximation of the conditions Kitti Ping had felt the dragons would
require. Not that there hadn t been clutches successfully hatched on
makeshift warm beds, but the sand flooring appealed to the queens. Like the
babies appearing so continuously at Fort, dragon eggs seemed to be continually
in one stage of maturity or another at the Weyr.
Whenever his duties had permitted him, Red had attended the happy occasions of
Hatchings, but Mairi managed to get to them all, and was quite an expert on
what color dragon would emerge from what shell.
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Egend had seen no problem in heating Red s Hold by hypocaust and such hearths
as could safely be extended up to the heights. He had unearthed some solar
paneling among Joel s supplies, which would do for heating water. There was
nothing like a good bath to soothe a body after a hard day s work. And, after
having to put up with other people s dirt and grime for so long, having a
bath, much less clean clothes when one wanted them, was a real luxury in the
new Hold, made possible by the use of the solar panels.
Of Red s fostered youngsters, young Ali Arthied had studied enough engineering
under his father that he could set up and monitor that system with Jonti
Greene s assistance. They were very clever in adapting and contriving
mechanicals, that pair. He planned to send both back to sit their exams with
Fulmar Stone, who had been monitoring their studies.
Educating the young had become a race between the jobs that had to be done to
survive and the studies that had to be done to keep skills from dying out.
Well, maybe, Red thought as he rose the morning they were finally going to
hang the airlock door, when that chore was done, they could stop moving at
such a hectic pace. Success in their first year here was crucial for many
reasons, not the least of which was proving it could be done expeditiously.
Grass was up in three of the seeded paddocks; the first shoots of alfalfa, the
last of his seed allowance, were pushing through the assiduously fertilized
earth. The fruit trees, puny as they were, had been planted in the walled
orchard, which could be covered against Threadfall by translucent plastic
sheets. The vegetable garden, also walled, was coming on with few failures,
and the rows could be quickly covered with plastic shields.
It was a bright, sunny spring morning, too, Red was happy to notice:
auspicious, especially since he had coaxed Paul Benden and a few other special
guests from the Fort to gather for this momentous occasion--the Dooring of. .
.
Scorch it, Red swore under his breath as he jammed his feet into his
steel-capped work boots. He still didn t have the right-sounding name for the
place.
Mairi hadn t been at all in favor of naming the place Keroon, or even Kerry,
which he had thought she d go for.
Oh, it should be something of us, or ours, she d said, her face screwed up
as she tried to express what she mean.
Hanrahan Hold? he d asked, almost facetiously.
Good heavens, no. That smacks of lord of the manor. Then she d given him
one of her sly sideways grins. Though you are, you know. Lord of all this.
. . She d gestured broadly through the deep-set window of their upstairs
bedroom.
The day they had moved their bed from his old office which immediately became
his office again, to the three-room suite that had been carved out of the
cliff face--that had been her day. He was not likely to forget the joy on her
face as she had directed Brian and
Simon just where her heirloom chest--once more glued together since its
dismemberment for the Second Crossing--should be placed.
When she d seen it settled exactly where she wanted it, she d given such a
happy, contented sigh. Then she shooed everyone out so she could polish it to
a soft gleam.
She was so long at that task that Maureen ended up feeding her baby brother.
That s not like Ma, she told her father as she cuddled Ryan in the crook of
her arm.
It is today, Maureen, Red replied, swirling the last of the klah around in
his cup before he drained it. Settling that chest means this place is
definitely your mother s home now.
First thing Ma asked for when we landed here was glue to put the chest
together, Brian told his much younger sister, and winked at his father.
Apart from the stones we stand on, that s the oldest object in this Hold,
Red remarked in a sentimental tone. Cherished for generations in your
mother s family. . .
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And doubtless for generations here, Brian added with an understanding grin.
So, when are we getting the front door installed, Dad?
The invitations have been accepted, his father said, so let s get the
hoists set up.
Now everything was ready--and at last the great door was to be hung! Red had
new trousers hiding the work boots, and a fine new shirt over which Mairi
insisted he wear one of the leather jerkins that had been adopted as useful
work apparel.
At least until that thing is in place. We ve ever so much spare hide, she d
said, but no time to set up Maddie s big looms yet, so spare the cloth and
wear the jerkin.
Today, too, Sean and Sorka, with their newest son would join the celebrations.
A dragon or two might come in useful bringing in guests, though not in a
million years would Red ask that a dragon be employed in any task but the one
it had been bred to do. He knew how bitter Sean had been when all the dragons
could do was carry things from one place to another. Of course, that was
before they had learned to fly between and chew the firestone that made
Thread-charring flame. Sean might be a tad arrogant over his present high
position, but Red would not fault him. He and the other young dragonriders
risked hideous death and many injuries to keep Thread from ravaging this one
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