Naero's War: The Citation Series 2: The High Crusade (31 page)

Naero sighed and shook her head once more in defeat. “Something. I just can’t remember what.”

Mam Kincaid held her close, patted her on the back, and gently stroked her hair. “It’s all right. We’re safe here. Nothing can harm us through the barrier.”

“I got through,” Naero noted.

“Yes, and you were very nearly destroyed. Listen to me, Naero. It’s all right. You’re safe. All of us are safe. You shall live among us as our honored guest. Now, I must ask you: Will you be able to try to adhere to and accept our ways and respect them, while you live here with us?”

Naero smiled and nodded. “I will try. I’ll do my best.”

“Good. I must say, you are a pretty little thing, star girl. Somewhere in the stars, there must be others of your kind, your family and friends, who care for you and are concerned that you are now missing from them.”

Naero grinned and looked away slightly. “I hope so.” Yet deep within, she still felt very worried, for reasons that she still could not bring back to her mind.

The Yoderian women and young girls nearer to Naero’s own age helped her dress in her new clothes. She now had two sets of clothing for daily wear and work, and a newer, very clean set of the same clothing to wear to church on their rest day, where they practiced their religion and read from their holy book.

The simple undergarments and stockings were rather funny to Naero. Mama Kincaid’s daughters seemed to take great pleasure in brushing and combing Naero’s long, black hair and plaiting its shiny tresses into a luxuriant, glistening braid down her back.

Naero quickly learned that women and men washed up each morning and night as needed. Hygiene and cleanliness, as well as modesty, seemed very important to the farm people.

When Naero changed her clothes, many of the women left the room in a hurry, while others turned away while she was briefly naked. Even Mama Kincaid.

Naero did not have any such restrictions in her mind, especially when she was only among other women.

She learned that each of the large dwellings had at least four private washrooms with basins, tubs, pitchers, towels, and washcloths. They used simple, natural soaps and shampoos on their bodies and hair that were barely scented. Everyone in the household was trained and disciplined to keep themselves neat and clean, and to clean up after themselves.

The Kincaids were kind about telling her what to do and how to do things, but they clearly expected her to comply.

In their quest for modesty, humility, and simplicity, as they called it, the Yoderians had very few mirrors in their homes. In fact, they only had small ones in their washrooms for the women to fix their hair in, and the men to shave in, if they chose to do so.

Many of the men who could do so elected to grow full beards, or some kind of beard. No one among them used any kind of perfume or cologne, and the women did not wear any cosmetics. There was no visible jewelry, except for the watches.

The only exception to this rule were the married couples, who wore bands of matching gold or silver on their left wrists.

Naero found the Yoderians modest, humble, plainspoken, unadorned, quiet, and kind.

They were also stubborn, astonishingly hard working–much like ants–and very funny in their own ways. Their sense of humor could be very dry, and so light that if you weren’t paying attention, you just might miss it.

They did not ask people to work.

They expected it, and told others what to do right up front.

Within the home and within the boundaries of the fenced-in yard, the mother or woman of the farmhouse was the boss, and controlled nearly every aspect of Yoderian life.

The father, or the head man of the family stepped in only to make his preferences known, as was his right, and to back up his wife if need be.

If a husband and wife had any serious disagreements that they couldn’t resolve between each other, the couple could take them to the elders of both the men’s circle and the women’s circle to help decide them. If they did so, the solutions made by the elders were considered the final ruling on the matter.

Yet few couples did so any longer, because doing that was seen as a serious loss of face and status among the farm people. People were expected to manage their own homes and relationships, and take responsibility for themselves. On occasion, however, some couples would still quietly seek the assistance of the elders in some private matter.

If the mother was the boss of the home, the father was the master of the barns, and the fields, and the livestock of each farm. And at peak times of need, he could even call-out the women and children of the farmhouse to help in the fields.

He could even, in his turn, call upon assistance from family, friends, and neighbors, especially during the planting and harvesting times, when everyone had to work together for the good of all.

It was expected that neighbors would help neighbors during good times and bad. But times were mostly good.

Barns or farmhouses occasionally collapsed during storms or burned down. Young people got married, and if there weren’t any homes available in the extended family, a new farm would need to be constructed.

Each month there were periods of time organized for some kind of construction somewhere, and the neighbors and families donated their time, labor, and food until the project was completed. Many able hands made some farms appear like magic in the span of several days.

Most people were farmers, and almost everyone farmed or raised livestock to some extent. For their own needs, if nothing else.

But the Yoderians also had need for smiths, carpenters, millers, coopers, hunters, farriers, tanners, weavers, and shoemakers. Any kind of craft that was needed had crafters who made a living doing such work.

There were also doctors, nurses, and trained midwives who made house calls. Each collection of so many farms, even if they did not call themselves a town, had a staffed medical center to deal with accidents and emergencies.

Each county had a hospital, and a county seat where the elders met together.

There were no large cites, except for the capital trade areas near the two planetary starports, which were only used twice each year.

Most trade was local, and went as far as people wished to take it. There was virtually no crime to speak of. The farm people had no prisons.

In the evening or sometimes in the early morning, the farm people would take their favorite horses or ponies out for a ride. It seemed to be one of their only forms or recreation outside.

Courting and courtship among the farm people was a big point of conversation and a part of their lives, as long as it was all kept respectful.

Courtship could begin at any time after the age of nineteen and was required to last for three years. The farm people lived long lives. Life expectancy was way into the nineties, barring accidents. Illness among them was also rare.

Couples who wished to court had to decide at the end of the three years to either marry or separate. Divorce was frowned upon and extremely rare, but not completely impossible.

Married couples were still expected to be reserved and modest in public, but could be as affectionate as they wished in and around their homes. Sex before marriage was rare with so many people constantly watching, but some courting couples often snuck away to spoon or pet, as it was called.

That night, Naero helped Mama Kincaid and her family prepare for the evening meal. It was the sixth day of their week, and they had to finish supper before nightfall.

The next day–the seventh day–was the holy day of rest for the farm people. Other than simple daily tasks and meals, no work was performed on the day of rest. On that day, Yoderians relaxed, rested, went to their churches to worship, and then visited family or friends, or played simple games, rode their mounts, and amused themselves.

They did not dance, even at weddings, and they enjoyed simple music and gatherings where music was played. They liked gentle singing with or without accompaniment. Only about half of their songs were religious in nature.

Mothers and fathers routinely sang to their children in the evenings. Sons and daughters also sang for their families at night for family entertainment.

Mama and Papa Kincaid had been blessed with five healthy children, as they said.

Lukas was the oldest at twenty and was courting a pretty, young neighbor girl of nineteen from across the way. The girl had golden hair like wheat and big brown eyes. Like his stout father, Lukas was of medium height, with the dark hair of his father as well. But the oldest son also had his mother’s green eyes and sharp nose, but his beard was only stubble, compared to his father’s full, black beard, almost thirty millimeters in length.

Next came the oldest daughter, Yisel, eighteen and simply dying to reach courting age in another year. She was curvy and pretty, quick-minded and blue-eyed like her father, but with her mother’s luxuriant brown hair.

Yisel apparently had eyes only for a tall, handsome rancher boy near her same age, who helped his father raise horses and cattle about two miles from the Kincaid farm. They apparently made eyes at each other at church, every rest day.

That was as far as it had gone. They barely spoke to each other once each week.

The middle daughter was Bekah, dark blond with freckles and green eyes. Bekah was skinny at fifteen and very industrious. She never stopped moving. She seemed cheerful and never complained.

Shiah was the younger son at twelve, gangly and polite. But he stared at Naero with his big blue eyes, his mouth hanging open to the point of distraction and embarrassment.

Naero clearly recognized puppy love when she saw it. And Shiah had it bad for her. He was always following her around, trying to help her with something. His sisters giggled and laughed at him slightly, but he didn’t care.

The baby of the Kincaid family was nine-year-old Riith, small and dark-haired with brown eyes and ivory skin, like a china doll. Her long, black hair was still naturally curly like her papa’s and seemed to burst out of her braid at will like some creature trying to escape. She was funny and loud among her relatively quiet family.

Their meal that night was fried chicken, potatoes with chicken gravy, greens of some kind, and biscuits with butter, gravy, or honey. Dessert was some kind of dark berry pie of a local variety.

Naero struggled to learn and remember all of their names. Papa Kincaid was named Francis, and Mama Kincaid’s name was Nelena.

That evening, when the table was set, they all held hands around their table as was their custom, and said thanks to their deity. Naero just smiled and watched. These were good people.

The food was excellent, and everyone had a big appetite, including Naero. They ate happily and quietly together.

Once dinner was finished, the table cleared, the food put away, and the dishes done, the sitting room was too hot from the day, so they all went out on the big porch, watching the beautiful sun set red in the sky. Darkness finally came, and there was a little time yet before they had to wash up for the night and go to sleep.

Even on their rest days, morning would come early in the summer.

The parents took turns reading from their holy book from their religion. Usually they were stories that taught a lesson. They were pleasant enough, but the words and strange names meant little to Naero.

Then Mama Kincaid sang a nice song, and all of her daughters joined in. It wasn’t a sad song, but it still nearly made Naero cry. Something was still troubling her deeply.

The family spoke of their plans for the next day, and then Mama Kincaid sent them all in to wash up and get to bed.

At first, Naero was going to sleep alone in one of the guest rooms in the big farmhouse, the one she had been taken to when she was first brought in, in order to tend her wounds.

“Mama,” Yisel asked. “It’s Naero’s first night in a strange place. Can the star girl sleep in my room tonight?”

“If she doesn’t mind sharing a bed, and you snoring.”

“Oh, Mama. I do not snore.”

“You do snore, sister,” Bekah noted.

“Like a big fat sow,” Riith added.

Some slight laughter followed that.

“I wanted to sleep with the star girl,” Riith complained.

Mama Kincaid smiled at her daughters.

It wasn’t every day that they had one of the star people literally crash in among them.

“Naero is free to choose,” Mama Kincaid said. “She can sleep in Yisel’s room, if she wishes, and both of you, Bekah and Riith, can join them on the floor, if you bring some bedding and quilts in with you.”

All of the girls looked eagerly at Naero, happy and waiting for her to say yes. Riith couldn’t suppress a squeal of delight.

Naero hesitated, and smiled, still somewhat confused and befuddled by all that had happened. “Sure; why not?” she said.

After they all washed up for bed, the four of them sat around on Yisel’s bed, brushing each other’s long hair.

Naero found doing so very relaxing, and it soon made her sleepy.

Bekah brushed Naero’s black hair. “Your tresses are like corn silk in my hands,” she said. “It is so black and shiny–just like Riith’s.”