02.03.2016
Dalence woke up before Brust got home, and she decided to prepare dinner. With potatoes she combined other vegetables and made a casserole. As she waited for that to cook in the fireplace, she made a salad with fruits, nuts, and goat cheese. This cheese had come from the Far Finger, and Dalence was aware how this would be the last that she would ever have from the region.
She sliced a loaf of bread she’d made earlier in the week, and prepared some oil and herbs to dip it in. Her brother returned home about the time she was taking the casserole off the fire, and he had several fish in hand. She coated the prepared fish with herbs and threw them on a cast iron pot. Soon the house smelled of the delightful and rich scent of the food.
“How was your day, Brust?” Dalence asked.
“Once I got the line fixed, not bad. But I caught fewer fish that normal because I was working with a new oarsman. He is new to the trade and young, so I’m sure he’ll improve.”
“The fish you brought home tonight smell wonderful,” Dalence said.
“These three were half the day’s catch! So I hope they’re worth it.”
Both Dalence and Brust served themselves the fish, casserole, bread, and salad. They spread out the wood in the fireplace to cool the fire and opened the windows to do the same for the house. They traded small conversation and jokes as they ate. The casserole paired well with the fish, and the salad was a summer staple in their family.
Once they had finished, they washed their dishes with water that Brust had hauled up earlier that morning, as he always did. They then moved to the porch where they watched the clouds move overhead, and they sucked on a few hard candies Dalence had purchased that morning at the marketplace as they waited to see the Governor.
“And what news of the wolf?” Brust asked, as he played with a loose string on his pants.
“He has started on Mars now. Will probably have it finished in the next day or two. They got another telescope up there, so there is more opportunity for other people to see things in more detail. You would not imagine how that planet looks besides being a point of light in the sky. And the wolf has distinctive tufts of matted fur around his neck, which give him an ominous feel. He’s mostly grey, but has a few dark bands that flow down his body. Tail incredibly bushy. Coat so thick, it looks like he’d be deep in the winter.”
“And you could see all that through a tube? Incredible,” Brust said, and Dalence nodded in agreement.
“And how large are his fangs?” Brust asked.
“You’d never believe their size. Probably the size of the range of the Knuckles now, if he were to come pay us a visit. But on him they are so long they stick out of his snout. That certainly gives him an aggressive quality as well.”