Satisfactory?

Writers: Jane, Vix
Date Posted: 28th December 2007

Characters: Rahona, Vanea
Description: Rahona asks Vanea whether the quilts commissioned from the riverboat women have proved to be satisfactory.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 7, day 12 of Turn 4

Rahona recognised the woman and wouldn't have greeted the Headwoman of the Hold if she had looked busy, but Vanea wasn't hurrying, and didn't look preoccupied so Rahona hurried her pace and caught up with the other woman. "Headwoman?"

Vanea turned at the sound of her name, frowning as she noted the source and tried to place name with face. It came to her suddenly and her expression changed to a smile. "The woman from the riverboat. . . Rahona, isn't it? The new captain's wife?"

"Yes. From the Sungazer. Vaheri, our headwoman, she asked that if I saw you I check if the quilts are - If they're working out the way you'd hoped, with your mother."

"The quilts are wonderful," the Headwoman told her with a smile. "I was able to get the older one away from her by giving her the new smaller one, and she seems satisfied to finger that one instead. The new stitching is strong and she hasn't been able to find any loose threads to worry holes into it."

"I'm glad. Has she been ..." Rahona didn't know exactly what to ask. Her own mother had died in her sleep, probably from a heart seizure, many Turns before giving Rahona nothing but imagination to help her understand the Headwoman's situation. "... keeping well?"

"As well as expected. Her illness is not one that has a cure," explained Vanea. "Having familiar items like the quilt helps her to stay at least a little grounded in the here and now."

"Is her mind - excuse me. I'm being nosy."

Vanea shook her head. "It's alright. Everyone else here knows about her. She's wandered off to the kitchens or to someone else's quarters and raised a fuss often enough that it would be difficult to try to keep her condition a secret. She's suffering from dementia, and most days she's in a different world from everyone else."

"That - It sounds difficult."

"At times it is, but more so for my daughters than for me."

"Why for them?" Rahona asked, thinking that had something similar happened with her own mother than Lihona would have been less affected than she herself would have been.

Vanea smiled sadly. "They've never really known their grandmother. Instead, it's as if they have another sister, one with an older body and yet needing more care. Much of that care has fallen to them."

"Ahh. I suppose we were lucky with Jesten - the old captain. My children got to know him before there were too many signs of his failing health so they will have that to remember."

The Headwoman frowned at her. "I remember meeting Captain Jesten once or twice. He was always mentally alert, wasn't he?"

"Right until the last day, and then it was only the fellis that was confusing him."

"Your children were able to know him as an adult, as the person he had become through living. My children know only a person who has slipped into a sort of half life, not quite herself and yet still here."

"That's sad. And do the quilts really help? We would be happy to do more - if there was something we could do," Rahona said, empathy running ahead of the practical considerations of the women of the riverboat earning marks for their work.

Vanea shook her head. "The repaired one and the lap quilt are enough for her. If she had more, she would want to carry them with her everywhere and then would lose them. As it is, we keep the larger one on her bed and the smaller one goes with her."

Rahona sighed. "I wish we could do more."

"I wish that more could be done for her as well, but she is as she is and nothing can change that."

"Well, if there's anything we can do for _you_ Headwoman, or for your daughters, please let us know."

Vanea blinked at that offer, accustomed to looking out for others and not to having anyone concerned for her. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

"You're welcome. I won't hold you up any longer," Rahona said, "and there's no doubt something I should be doing on the Sungazer."

"And things that I should be doing around the Hold," replied the Headwoman. "But I do thank you for stopping to see me."

"It was my pleasure, Vanea."

Last updated on the December 28th 2007

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Satisfactory?