arenât so much.â Stavia made a face, thinking of Myra.
âOh, itâs just I wish you were my own family. I wish you belonged to me.â Beneda flushed, embarrassed at this declaration. âThat sounds silly.â
âNo, it doesnât. It sounds nice. But I donât have to be your sister to belong to you, Beneda. Weâll belong to each other, all right?â She put the book she had been reading down and hugged Beneda back, suddenly full of joyous warmth to replace the vacancy the book had evoked. âI wasnât really grieving, I guess. I just hate those people who made the desolations, thatâs all. They robbed us.â
âWhich is why we must obey the ordinances, so we donât rob our own descendants,â quoted Beneda primly, waiting for Stavia to recover herself. âDo you want to quiz me about the Laplanders?â
âTell me about the Laplanders,â Stavia asked obediently, still wet-eyed, taking hold of Benedaâs hand.
âThey lived way up in the north where it was cold and snowy most of the time. They made clothes out of felt, like we do. Way back they followed these wild deer around, and it was hard to keep the animals together, so they picked the bulls that didnât run off and bred from those. And they milked them, too, the females, I mean, the cows. And they used deer hides to dress in. And the Lady knows what they did for fresh vegetables, because the book doesnât sayâ¦.â
âI wonder if theyâre still there.â
âWhere?â
âIn Lapland. I wonder if they still exist. They might, you know.â
âWell, weâll never know. That was on the other side of the world. But the book says they guaranteed both their own survival and the animalsâ by domesticating them, so maybe they still exist.â
âMaybe one of these days, when the Womenâs Country exploration team goes out, theyâll find a way through! Or maybe theyâll decide to send a ship all the way across the ocean!â
âThey did that hundreds of years ago, Stavia! The ship never came back!â
âMaybe theyâll decide itâs time to try it again. Things could have changed. Anyhow, when the next team goes in ten years, maybe Iâll go along as medical officer.â
âSmall chance.â Beneda made a teasing face.
âNo, big chance. I think Iâm going to Abbyville to the medical academy. Maybe in a couple of years. There could be a chance.â She stopped, her eye caught by movement on the parade ground below them. âSomeoneâs waving at us.â Stavia jumped to her feet, surprised.
Someone was crossing the parade ground toward the stairs which led to the roof of the armory. From the armory roof to the wall top was only about twelve feet, which made the armory roof a favorite spot for the arrangement of assignations. âIs that Chernon?â Staviaasked. She had seen Chernon only in his white ceremonial tunic. This boy wore dull tan sheepskin work clothes.
âStavia?â he called as he came up the stairs. âRemember me?â
âChernon?â
âRight. Is that Beneda with you?â
âAre you my brother?â Beneda leaned across the wall, and Stavia caught her around the waist, afraid she would tip herself over.
âI havenât seen you since you were about six or seven years old.â Chernon smiled up at her from under heavy eyelids, a measuring smile.
âMother told me what happened. Iâm so sorry, Chernon.â
âMe, too. That warrior, the crazy one, the one who was bothering me, well, heâs dead now. He got killed during a bandit sweep. Would you tell Mother? Please. Iâd like to come home this carnival. Or at least visit. Aunt Erica is fine, but Iâd like to see you. And Mother.â His eyes were frankly pleading now, his lips quivering, ever so slightly.
âAnd the girls.â
âAnd the