The exercise:
Write about: tracks in the snow.
Had a big dumping of snow overnight, so I went for a walk in the orchard with the boys this morning. Well, Max got out snowshoes for him and Miles, and I walked. I did enough snowshoeing on Monday with Kat in the mountains that I'm still a bit sore from it.
Anyway. There were lots of quail tracks in the snow.
2 comments:
That sounds like a pleasant family outing! I quite like that you found quail tracks, though perhaps a couple of quail to bring back home for dinner would have been good too :)
I have seen your email re the poem, and I'll take a look at scrivener and see it it's done something weird when exporting the PDF (such as white on white, or some ridiculously tiny font) -- if you, you'll get a fresh, corrected version by tomorrow :)
Happy New Year, since it's coming up fast now, and I hope 2021 proves better than... well, the last four years actually!
Tracks in the snow
Lord Martial Redferne climbed to the top of the ridge. The snow was ankle deep here; not deep enough to justify breaking out snowshoes just yet but deep enough that walking was an effort. Snow clung to his boots where it could, though he shook it off whenever they stopped. Still, his toes were cold enough for him to worry about them. He paused and shaded his eyes and looked out across the snowfield. Sunlight -- the sun was high in the sky and it looked like it would be noon soon -- bounced off the snow and washed the detail out of everything. Shading his eyes helped a little, but less than he would have liked.
"A little to your right, Sir," said Samual, who was walking behind the Lord Martial and appreciating the tracks in the snow that his Lordship was laying down. "The scouts reported seeing tracks heading towards Overhampton."
Lord Martial Redferne grunted an acknowledgement and turned his head slightly. Behind him Samual turned as a Lieutenant came up holding a map. He held it out so that Samual could see it.
"General Moffat said you should show this to the Lord Martial," said the Lieutenant. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice as though the young man couldn't understand why he couldn't show the map to the Lord Martial himself. Samual recognised him and permitted himself a tiny, tiny smile as he realised that he was employing Lord Derby's way of thinking about things. He made very certain he didn't allow his smile to get wider as he realised he knew how Lord Derby would handle this situation as well.
"Geological survey?" asked Samual. The lieutenant stiffened slightly, clearly surprised that Samual could guess.
"Yes," he said. "A waste of time since there is at least two metres of snow over the entire area."
Samual looked down at his feet; ankle deep certainly didn't seem like two metres to him. The lieutenant looked down but failed to understand, and at that moment Samual decided.
"Would you like to show the map to the Lord Martial yourself?" he asked, feeling just a little bit guilty. The lieutenant nodded sharply and pushed past Samual before he could say anything else. Samual stepped back a little, though not out of hearing range, and waited.
"Why are you showing me this?" said Redferne almost immediately. "Why does the General want you to show me this?" came a moment later. "Well what is it showing?" had notes of impatience to it. "I can SEE that. What is the point of this?" carried much more impatience.
Samual was surprised at this point that the Lieutenant persisted, but when Lord Redferne started shouting loud enough for the General to hear he realised that it was time to step in.
"My Lord Martial," he said smoothly, taking the map from the Lieutenant's white, shaking hands, "I believe that the General wishes you to note that the mineral inclusions in this area are such that they would attract the attention of mages."
Greg - yeah, we should really start making an effort to catch and cook some of these quail. They're... abundant.
Ah! Samual! I was not expecting Samual!
And I am delighted by this surprise. I think I even tried to prompt you into a continuation the following day, but you didn't bite. Damn you.
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