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1. [DL-J] Secrets Revealed (JP)
From: "Katrina Gischer" <kgischer@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 23:39:28 -0700
From: "Katrina Gischer" <kgischer@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-J] Secrets Revealed (JP)
Day 8
Alpha Wingleader's Office
[snip]
"All right, Corwin," said Tara, watching as the big wingleader
hurriedly made himself scarce. Then she walked over and sat at the
edge of Gus' desk and eyed the Alpha Wingleader speculatively.
Gus swallowed hard, wondering just why Tara was staying behind. All
her senses warned her of incoming trouble - but it had already been
quite a morning, so she wasn't sure WHAT to think, or do. "Uh, didja
want somethin', ma'am?"
"Is Corwin's handwriting the real problem?" she asked. "Or is there,
as I'm starting to gather, something more to this?"
[new material]
Gus sagged in her chair. No, she hadn't hit her head - it was just
more damn games. Tara'd heard all right. She just didn't wanna say
so. Well, Corwin had tried to cover up his goof, but this had been
coming since she'd taken the damn job anyway. "Aint Corwin's
handwritin'," she muttered, resignedly. "I've had Junior and Dylan in
here workin', cuz I can't do the job."
Tara looked uncomfortable. "So, you just aren't good at putting
events into words for re****ts, or...?" She made an uncertain gesture
indicating that Gus should continue.
"Can't write 'em down," Gus said, feeling her face heat with the
shame, despite her skill at hiding behind a blank face. "Can't really
read 'em neither."
Tara nodded. "That's what I was afraid you were going to say," she
said. She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry..."
Gus sighed. "That's ok, ma'am," she said quietly. "I kinda figgered
ya'd have t' make someone else Win'leader. Don't blame you. Ya gotta
get someone better." She rose to her feet, ****fting only slightly as
she hastily suppressed the unexpected - and very unwelcome - thought
that there WAS no one better for the job. "I'll pack up my thin's."
"Sit down," Tara said, in a voice that brooked no argument. Gus
stopped where she was, and hastily re-seated herself. "I was about to
say I was sorry for not guessing that you might have that problem. I
of all people should have thought to ask...but I didn't, and I've made
you think you had to go through this whole charade for nothing."
Gus felt her eyes cross slightly as she tried to parse the
Warrenlady's words, but though she knew the meaning of each word, put
together it simply mystified her. Why would Tara "of all people"
think to ask if her newest Wingleader was an idiot? And why would Gus
have had to go through "this charade for nothing"? And why the hell
wasn't she in trouble?! She hastily squashed the irrational bubble of
irritation that once again Tara seemed to offer pity when dammit she
DESERVED to be in trouble.
Forcing herself to sanity - or her closest semblance - Gus took a deep
breath. "Uh... ma'am, can ya 'splain that?"
"I will," Tara agreed. "But first, let me mention that I did realize
that you weren't writing the re****ts yourself...or at least, not all
of them. It was clear when the handwriting changed at one point that
at least two different people were doing them at one time or another.
I didn't comment because that isn't such an unusual thing. Take
Jerram, for instance..."
"Jerram?" Gus asked weakly. "Uh...are ya sayin' he don't write his
stuff, neither?"
"Well, he does here, but at Ismene he didn't always," she said. "He
had a lot more duties there, and while he could write pretty well, he
didn't always want to take the time. So at any given time he'd have
one or two of his students designated as re****t-writers to do his
writing. I doubt he wrote more than a quarter of the re****ts that
passed across my desk or Vignette's. Corwin doesn't do that, but at
least one of the Ismene wingleaders did."
Gus shook her head, trying to shake this image she had of Jerram - and
thereby the mythical "everyone else" - doing just as she did.
"But...how did ya tell the handwritin's? Dyl said she could match
anyone's hand."
"Oh, so that was Dylan?" Tara asked curiously. "I need to make a note
that she's such a good forger. It's always good to know what talents
I may have at my disposal here should I need them, especially in these
times. And who was the other, if not you? Oh, wait...Tyler Grouty,
right?" Before Gus could answer, Tara went on. "Well, Dylan is an
excellent forger, to be sure, the letters and the words do look
identical. But Tyler...or whoever it was...presses just a bit harder
with the quill when he writes. You can feel the letters by running
your fingers on the reverse side of the paper...with Dylan, the
imprints on the reverse are far less pronounced. I guessed that
perhaps you'd hurt a finger or something in the wraith battle, and had
gotten someone to fill in for you tem****arily."
Gus took a deep breath to steady her nerves - and wondered idly how it
was that living here in the warren in this "soft" place where she was
supposedly safe now she had to do that so much more than even living
on the streets - and nodded. "Yeah, Junior owed me so I made
him...but when he broke his hand, Dylan told me what she could do
and....." She faltered. How many times could Tara forgive Gus lying
to her anyway? "Well, I didn't want ya t' know. Ya seemed so...I
dunno, like ya was so happy t' make me Win'leader and ....well, I
didn't ...." She sighed and murmured, her voice barely audible from
the shame of actually saying it out loud. "I aint wanted no one - no
one else," she amended grudgingly, "t' know I can't read nor write."
"Neither did I," Tara said softly, her eyes taking on a faraway look.
Gus blinked several times, not sure she'd heard what she'd just heard.
She tried to speak and found her voice gone, swallowed hard and tried
again. "Neither did ya what?" she croaked.
"Neither did I want Vignette to know that I couldn't write when I got
to Ismene," Tara sighed. "That's why I said that I of all people
should have realized that with your background, writing was something
you might not have ever learned."
"Ma tried t' teach me, I'm just too stupid," Gus muttered absently,
struggling with an idea that just did not fit what she knew - or what
she THOUGHT she knew. It didn't make sense. Ansel could read and
write, she was sure of it. And Tara'd read her re****t - couldn't be
that someone else read it for her. She shook her head again, this
time in total disbelief. "But ya CAN read, ya read m' re****t, ya said
so. Someone woulda said somethin' if ya had someone readin' stuff to
ya," she blurted.
"Well, I can now," Tara said. "But look, I came from that awful
little village full of dull weavers and religious fanatics. Boys were
taught to write because they would be heads of families...there was no
reason for women to know, given that our lifelong jobs were to weave,
cook, clean, and have children. You met my father, did he strike you
as someone progressive enough to want to buck such a system?"
Gus shuddered, her memories of Tara's father were crystal clear - and
while nowhere near her worst memories, they still weren't pleasant. A
little voice in the back of her mind wondered if there were any more
"Silk and Silver" members left to finish out the death sentence Mardan
had promised her. "No, I guess not. But if ya can read now, but ya
aint told Vignette, what happened?"
"I didn't have to tell her, she found out on her own," said Tara. "I
didn't have your street-smarts, you see, so it only took her a couple
of weeks before she figured out what was going on. Or, Varaenna might
have ratted me out to Darath...but regardless, she called me into her
office and slid a piece of paper across to me and asked me to read it.
As I pretended to do so, she talked about what was on it...it was
something to do with a coal shortage caused by a missed delivery...and
asked me if I could think of anything else that needed to be added to
the do***ent. I told her, no, that everything seemed in order. It
was then she informed me that I'd been reading a dinner menu from a
restaurant in the city."
Gus hastily smothered a snigger. "Yeah well, at least Loki'd tell me
what it really was," she said, unable to smother the grin. "But she
got ya learnin' so now ya can read, but it don't help me. So now what
do we do?"
"You mean Loki can read?" Tara asked, her eyes widening. "That would
be a first!"
Gus grimaced. "Yeah well, he aint never done nothin' else like the
rules say, so why start now, right? Elly found out I couldn't read
and was tryin' t' teach me...aint worked really, like I said, but Loki
was sorta watchin' through my mind and HE figgered it out."
Tara nodded. "Well, anyway, Vignette made me sit down and learn how.
It wasn't easy, I can tell you. What would you do if I told you that
you'd need to do likewise?"
Gus sighed gustily. "Ma'am. My ma tried t' teach me, Elly tried t'
teach me. It don't work. All them damn black scribbles STILL look
just 'zactly the same. Always have, always will. Ya think I aint
TRIED when Ma was teachin'? I aint never seen her more disappointed in
me," she growled, then winced at what she'd let slip.
Tara looked thoughtful. "Still, it needs to be tried. I take Jerram
doesn't know...? No, of course he wouldn't. Dylan would work...but
no, that would just lead to more inter-wing problems that we don't
need right now." She nodded, her mind made up. "Tyler, then.
Starting tomorrow, you will spend at least an hour each day with him
tutoring you on how to read and write. In secret, of course. Is that
acceptable?"
Gus stifled another sigh. Elly hadn't believed her until she'd seen it
either. She could trust Junior to tell Tara the truth anyway.
<Have to trust family,> Loki said slyly, enjoying immensely Gus's
immediate choking fit - as well as her mental swearing at him. He
even learned a few new words.
Gus finished choking and offered Tara an apologetic shrug. "Damn
dragon," she muttered. "But yes, ma'am. Uh...it is ok that he keeps
helping me - um...but I guess I better get someone else t' do the
writin', huh?"
"Yes, that's fine," said Tara. "As I said, other wingleaders before
you have done it."
"But," said Tara, holding up a finger before Gus could say anything
else, "I will expect you to put in a maximum effort on this...as long
as it isn't at the expense of your other duties." She sighed. "I have
this feeling that things are going to begin happening, and we need to
be ready." She paused and then looked intently at Gus. "Of course,
all of this will be done in absolute secrecy, right? No need to have
certain people...Swordmasters and the like...getting wind of this,
right?"
Gus grinned suddenly, her face coming alight. She didn't quite
understand why Tara was being so nice - but then Jerram must've pissed
her off sometime, he had that knack. "Yes, MA'AM!"
_____________________________
Submitted by:
John as Fearless Leader...er I mean Tara our beloved Warrenlady
and
KK as Gus, Chief Warren Troublemaker, aka Alpha Wingleader
Summary: After the fight with Corwin, Tara stays to talk to Gus and
discovers the secret that she'd suspected - Gus is illiterate. She
surprises her Wingleader with her understanding - from her own history
- and plans lessons from Tyler, but also agrees to keep the secret
from Jerram.
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