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There was her threading frame She thanked Matt in her mind He had knohat the frame meant to her

Dried herbs in a slad to have those and hoped she could remember which was to be used for what Not that the herbs had been of any value to her mother when the terrible sickness cas, an ache in the shoulder, a bite that festered and swelled, the herbs were helpful then And she was happy to have the basket She rerass

So food, probably nibbling while he was at it She would not need those now Thehad been hearty: thick bread and a soup hout, and flavored strongly with herbs she savored but didn't recognize She had eaten it fro a spoon carved from bone, and then wiped her mouth and hands with a folded fine-woven cloth

No ant for Kira Or so lonely

In the little arrange: a thick shaith a fringe at the edge, and a skirt, stained from the dyes her mother used, so that the simple, unadorned fabric see of her ined how she could use her threads to outline the bright streaks of color so that with skill -- and time; it would take time -- she could re-create it into a costume suitable for some celebration

Not that there had ever been anything for her to celebrate But maybe this -- her new quarters, he:r new job, the fact that her life had been spared

Kira tossed restlessly on the bed She felt an object at her neck It too had been in the bundle that Matt brought, and she treasured it s he had saved It was the pendant that her , not visible under her clothing Kira knew of it, had touched and stroked it often as a small tyke still breastfed It was a shiny section of rock, split cleanly down one side but studded with shiny purple on the other and with a hole to allow for the thong A siift from Kira's father, and Katrina had cherished it as a kind of talisman Kira had lifted it from her mother's neck when she was ill in order to wash the fevered body, and had placed it on the shelf near the basket of herbs Mattit now around her own neck, Kira lifted it against her cheek, hoping to recapture a feeling of her mother, perhaps the smell of her: herbs and dyes and dried blossoms But the little rock was inert and odorless, without a hint or memory of life

In contrast, the scrap of cloth froically in her fingers, fluttered where it lay near her head Perhaps the night breeze through the openhad ht and thinking of her htly, as if it had life, in the pale light She sht crossed herits ears, wagging its woeful tail, hoping to be noticed

She reached out and touched the cloth Feeling its warmth in her hand, Kira closed her eyes

A cloud shadowed the moon, and the room darkened Finally, she slept, without drea when Kira woke the little cloth was limp, no more than a wrinkled scrap of pretty fabric in her bed

7

An egg! That was a treat In addition to the boiled egg, her breakfast tray containedin crea she and her reen-tiled room took its place But Kira was nervous about the rooht before and turned the various glea handles Some of the water was hot and startled her ItSomewhere below, a fire had apparently been built So water had been hoisted here, but as she to do with it? There was no need for her to cook, Kira thought this ht Warht

Mystified still, Kira turned her attention this ested that she could wash Matt there There was so forward over the tub's rim, she tried to wash but the procedure ard and unnatural; it was easier in the strea them on the bushes Here in this s No breeze No sun

It was interesting, Kira decided, that they had found a way for water to enter the building, but impractical and unsanitary, and there was no place to bury waste She wiped the cold water from her face and hands with the cloth she found in the tiled room and decided that she would return to the stream each day to attend to her needs properly

She dressed quickly, laced her sandals, pulled the wooden corabbed her stick, and hurried through the e walk But before she had gone very far, a door in the corridor opened A boy she recognized eed and spoke to her

"Kira the Threader," he said "They told me you had come"

"You're the Carver," she said "Jamison told rinned at her He seeood-looking boy with clear skin and bright eyes His hair was thick and reddish-brown A chip in one front tooth shohen he smiled

"This is where I live," he explained He opened the door wider so that she could see inside His rooh on this, the opposite side of the corridor, hiswas to the wide central square She noticed too that his roos were strewn around

"This is e table with his carving tools and scraps of wood "And there's a storage room, for supplies" He pointed

"Yes, mine's the same," Kira told him "My supply room has lots of drawers I haven't started work yet, but there's a table under the s, and the light is good there I think that's where I'll do the threading

"And there -- that door? That's your cooking water and your tub?" Kira asked him "Do you use it? It seems such a bother, when the stream's so nearby"

"The tenders will show you hoorks," he explained