Story Market Day
- Thread starter ComCamGuy
- Start date
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you.
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Historically in this thread, this is the lull before ....something.
There's been a whole lot of filling in minutia & adding textures but this crew has to start moving to the PNW soonish: not a long jaunt up the coast pre-tsunami but, those days are gone & the human scum has started to congeal on the top of the roiling remains of society.
My Maduros just arrived, got a few lbs of coffee beans & a comfy chair (w/ harness) so I'm fairly ready for some harsh course corrections.
I shouldn't have to say this on TB2K but, all y'all best look to your gear....
G.
There's been a whole lot of filling in minutia & adding textures but this crew has to start moving to the PNW soonish: not a long jaunt up the coast pre-tsunami but, those days are gone & the human scum has started to congeal on the top of the roiling remains of society.
My Maduros just arrived, got a few lbs of coffee beans & a comfy chair (w/ harness) so I'm fairly ready for some harsh course corrections.
I shouldn't have to say this on TB2K but, all y'all best look to your gear....
G.
Our author also has a self imposed deadline to get the first chapter/book published for stocking stuffers. We all aren;t living in the same epoch of time. Our writer isn't the typical straight line story teller. We could suspend part of the current characters to follow a new tangent for awhile assuming we eventually get back to a point in time and space. I'm curious how much CCG has written himself into an apparent corner, only to find it was a blind turn of opportunity?
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Yeah, that work stuff; pays the bills & all but often so annoying. Its why I buy a couple of lotto tickets every time I gas up.
If you know its lurking.....take a few days & craft a solution. It's not like we couldn't use the time to review, look for a VZ58 (MY Christmas present to moi) load some ammo, repair some kit ....y'all know; regular stuff.
Now..... I wanna see Part 5
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
There wasn’t much crowd at the church. The congregation was obviously dwindling in recent years. Veronica and Sabine were the youngest in the crowd other than two ladies who had their grandchildren or great grandchildren with them. The altar and pews were lit by the wall sconces and candelabras. Pressed into service after decades of reliance on electric lights, it added a timeless quality to the proceedings. So did what happened next.
Veronica felt eyes on her from several sectors. She also noticed Sabine looking around at the parishioners. Veronica tried to see what she was looking at. Sabine’s eyes seem to flit from woman to woman, ignoring the few men. Her looks were seeming to take a bit of a frantic vibe from where Veronica sat. Finally she had to ask. When she laid a hand on Sabine’s arm to get her attention, Sabine jumped as if poked with a hatpin, jerking her arm and whirling to face Veronica.
“What’s going on Sabine? This was your idea and now you are looking like you’re expecting them to jump us.” Veronica’s voice was low but filled with concern.
“This was a mistake. If what I think is going on, we will be leaving in a few moments. I just need to see the start to confirm my suspicions.” Sabine’s voice was full of energy. Nervousness? Fear? Rage? Veronica wasn’t sure which, or it might be a mixture of all three. Veronica couldn’t put her finger on when she had felt someone radiating this much of this kind of energy. Africa.
Veronica checked by touch her weapons. Half an hour after the last time, the one in Africa, she was on the run, hiding and scurrying for her life. What in the hell was going on?
“Sabine, make some sense. I’m here for you. We can bail now. If it feels bad, it is bad and we need to leave.” She tried to guide Sabine to stand. Sabine wasn’t moving. Instead she was staring at her feet mumbling something again and again.
“Sabine!” Veronica’s voice was harsh and a little more insistent. “Sabine! Let’s go!” She roughly hauled Sabine to her feet. The two stumbled out the side door they were sitting beside. Once outside in the cool night air, Sabine seemed to recover somewhat. Veronica guided her to lean against the wall for a few moments and collect herself.
“So, you going to tell me what that was all about?” Veronica asked after Sabine seemed to recover somewhat. Before Sabine could answer, they both heard voices in the church. Veronica couldn’t understand what was being said, but it was obvious Sabine could. She shuddered and lurched off the wall.
“That’s what I thought. Usus Antiquior.” As if that explained everything. She started marching towards the parking lot as Veronica struggled to catch up.
“Do you want to tell me what that was all about?” Veronica sounded a bit confused and a little pissed. "What is Usus Antiquior?’”
Sabine continued towards the car as she spoke. “Usus Antiquior, or Tridentine Mass. It’s all in Latin and clung to by some traditionalist elements in the church. It has a nasty habit of being very subjugatory towards women. Did you feel all their eyes on us? Pants not dresses, no veils, we were horrid people!” Rage and sarcasm still dripped from Sabine’s speech.
Veronica was taken aback. “Really? That was the problem?” Veronica exhaled. “I was thinking we might have been about to get into a real life or death brawl. I was looking for gunmen or suicide vests! Snooty ladies! Really? You need to lighten up some. What were they going to do next, criticize your potato salad?” Veronica unlocked the car and opened the door for Sabine.
Once inside the car, Veronica looked at Sabine. “So, where to now?”
“Let’s go over on base. I don’t think either one of us needs to be around people right now. We can go up one of the roads to one of the training areas. I don’t know about you but I need a drink, and if I am drinking, then so are you, then we aren’t driving for a while.”
The little car slid out onto the road and left the church in the rear view mirror.
Veronica felt eyes on her from several sectors. She also noticed Sabine looking around at the parishioners. Veronica tried to see what she was looking at. Sabine’s eyes seem to flit from woman to woman, ignoring the few men. Her looks were seeming to take a bit of a frantic vibe from where Veronica sat. Finally she had to ask. When she laid a hand on Sabine’s arm to get her attention, Sabine jumped as if poked with a hatpin, jerking her arm and whirling to face Veronica.
“What’s going on Sabine? This was your idea and now you are looking like you’re expecting them to jump us.” Veronica’s voice was low but filled with concern.
“This was a mistake. If what I think is going on, we will be leaving in a few moments. I just need to see the start to confirm my suspicions.” Sabine’s voice was full of energy. Nervousness? Fear? Rage? Veronica wasn’t sure which, or it might be a mixture of all three. Veronica couldn’t put her finger on when she had felt someone radiating this much of this kind of energy. Africa.
Veronica checked by touch her weapons. Half an hour after the last time, the one in Africa, she was on the run, hiding and scurrying for her life. What in the hell was going on?
“Sabine, make some sense. I’m here for you. We can bail now. If it feels bad, it is bad and we need to leave.” She tried to guide Sabine to stand. Sabine wasn’t moving. Instead she was staring at her feet mumbling something again and again.
“Sabine!” Veronica’s voice was harsh and a little more insistent. “Sabine! Let’s go!” She roughly hauled Sabine to her feet. The two stumbled out the side door they were sitting beside. Once outside in the cool night air, Sabine seemed to recover somewhat. Veronica guided her to lean against the wall for a few moments and collect herself.
“So, you going to tell me what that was all about?” Veronica asked after Sabine seemed to recover somewhat. Before Sabine could answer, they both heard voices in the church. Veronica couldn’t understand what was being said, but it was obvious Sabine could. She shuddered and lurched off the wall.
“That’s what I thought. Usus Antiquior.” As if that explained everything. She started marching towards the parking lot as Veronica struggled to catch up.
“Do you want to tell me what that was all about?” Veronica sounded a bit confused and a little pissed. "What is Usus Antiquior?’”
Sabine continued towards the car as she spoke. “Usus Antiquior, or Tridentine Mass. It’s all in Latin and clung to by some traditionalist elements in the church. It has a nasty habit of being very subjugatory towards women. Did you feel all their eyes on us? Pants not dresses, no veils, we were horrid people!” Rage and sarcasm still dripped from Sabine’s speech.
Veronica was taken aback. “Really? That was the problem?” Veronica exhaled. “I was thinking we might have been about to get into a real life or death brawl. I was looking for gunmen or suicide vests! Snooty ladies! Really? You need to lighten up some. What were they going to do next, criticize your potato salad?” Veronica unlocked the car and opened the door for Sabine.
Once inside the car, Veronica looked at Sabine. “So, where to now?”
“Let’s go over on base. I don’t think either one of us needs to be around people right now. We can go up one of the roads to one of the training areas. I don’t know about you but I need a drink, and if I am drinking, then so are you, then we aren’t driving for a while.”
The little car slid out onto the road and left the church in the rear view mirror.
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Dawn was breaking at the house when everyone smelled coffee. People coming from upstairs and downstairs were met with the aroma of coffee and fresh baked cinnamon rolls. No one was in the kitchen however.
Henrik grabbed a mug and a roll and went out back. Next to the fire pit, with a good blaze roaring stood Sabine and Veronica.
“When did you two get back?” He asked around a mouth full of cinnamon roll.
About an hour ago.” Was Veronica’s reply. “Is everyone else up as well?”
“Yeah, the coffee and cinnamon rolls woke them up. Why are you guys out here and not inside?”
Sabine’s answer was quiet. “Watching the sunrise.”
Henrik grabbed a mug and a roll and went out back. Next to the fire pit, with a good blaze roaring stood Sabine and Veronica.
“When did you two get back?” He asked around a mouth full of cinnamon roll.
About an hour ago.” Was Veronica’s reply. “Is everyone else up as well?”
“Yeah, the coffee and cinnamon rolls woke them up. Why are you guys out here and not inside?”
Sabine’s answer was quiet. “Watching the sunrise.”
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
The six at the house gathered around the tree, anxious faces and mugs of coffee all around. Presents were handed out to everyone in turn and all watched as faces lit up at the contents.
Henrik started. He passed out the gift he had for Paige first. Paige squealed in delight at the beautiful wood jewelry box complete with inlay. Upon opening it, the whole room went quiet. The exquisite rose gold byzantine style chain inside moved and slithered around in her hands as Paige pulled it out.
“You have to put it on” Andrea exclaimed as she moved forward to help her with it.
It lay against her neck and cascaded down like water. Its color was the perfect complement to her strawberry blond hair and not a few were jealous.
Sabine was next. “I am cheating.” As she handed both Violet and Veronica a small package. Opening them both found a round gold bracelet.
“Good grief! These are heavy.” Violet was the first to comment.
The V’s showed off their gifts to everyone not quite understanding the whole meaning behind them.
Andrea had a package for Henrik next. The big soft bundle was the size of a foot stool. When he unwrapped it, it was still a big pile of some sort of cloth. Standing to get a better look at it, he realized it was a frontiersman style capote or blanket coat. The darn thing had to weigh ten pounds! Henrik was speechless.
“Come on, put the damn thing on! I need to see if I got it right!” Andrea exclaimed.
Henrik slid his arms into the coat. It felt perfect in the length, but the torso was a little too big, even on him. He pulled at the middle. “Anticipating me getting fat?
“Well that is your seventh cinnamon roll but no, it’s bigger so you could wear it over other things including equipment.” Andrea quipped. Andrea was beaming seeing the look on Henrik’s face as he modeled the coat. He looked over at Andrea, a smirk on his face.
“When it’s your turn, your either going to love me or hate me.” He paused before enveloping her in a great bear hug. She almost vanished in his huge arms and sweeping coat.
Sabine took a turn next. She handed Andrea a small box. She opened it finding vibrant red box nestled inside the box was a beautiful watch, just as red as the box. She looked closer. It said ‘Omega, automatic, Geneve’ and had a little anchor on its face as well. A black crocodile band set off the red. She pulled it out and marveled at it before speaking.
“You spent too much! It’s beautiful but you spent way too much!”
Sabine had tears in her eyes now as she took Andrea’s hands in hers.
“I didn’t spend too much. I did it because I can.” She choked up for a moment before continuing. “You know I will never get married again, but I want us to be together as long as you can be happy with me and put up with me.”
Now both of them were crying and the others were cheering until Violet decided enough was enough.
“Kiss her already!”
Once the excitement calmed down, it was back to presents. Sabine was sitting on the floor with Andrea in front of her, wrapped in her arms as they watched the next round of gift opening.
The next to open something was Henrik. Paige slid a large square box in front of him. Acting silly, he tore into the paper like a five-year-old. What he found was a wooden box with a handle on top. It was quite old. He could see the craftsmanship in it. All the joints were dovetailed perfectly. It had to be a hundred years old if it was a day. He kept turning it around and around, a big grin on his face until Paige got impatient.
“Well, go ahead, open the damn thing!”
Henrik was a little embarrassed. He thought the box itself was a wonderful present. Sheepishly he opened the lid. He marveled at its contents. No wonder it was so heavy. It was full to the brim with vintage, antique, restored woodworking tools. Chisels, hammers, wooden screwdrivers, Yankee drill, bit and brace, it just went on and on. Here was a master carpenter’s set from the turn of the century, the 20th century. All the tools were at least eighty to a hundred and fifty years old, all restored to perfect using condition.
He was still staring when Paige spoke again. “I have the saws to go with it in the garage. I wasn’t going to wrap those up, they are too long.” Henrik and Paige’s embrace lasted a long time.
While Henrik was admiring his new tools Sabine noticed the Vs were starting to feel a bit left out. She leaned in whispering something into Andrea ear. Andrea nonchalantly crawled of to the tree as if to get the next gift. She looked and looked returning to Sabine empty handed. Sabine quietly left the room going out as unnoticed as possible returning during the confusion Andrea created picking the next gift.
Andrea told Henrik which one she needed. When he slid it over, she handed it to Paige.
When Paige opened it, she was confused for a moment. She held it up for everyone to see. It was a pretty leather shirt. But it was very plain and unadorned. It had a simple v neck at the collar. What was a bit confusing was how thick the leather was. It was baseball glove or motorcycle jacket thick.
“It’s for you to wear when you are working on stuff! You are always complaining you are ruining your clothes with grease, tears, snags and such. With this, you won’t have to worry about it!” Andrea’s voice was worried sounding. She thought it was obvious, but now she wondered if she made a mistake. Paige’s grin soothed those frayed nerves.
“It’s great! I didn’t think of that! I should have had you make one for me years ago! You are so thoughtful!” Paige was beaming. Now that she knew it was something to protect her and get dirty, she understood.
She looked over her shoulder at Henrik. “She’s going to hate us, isn’t she?” They both grinned as she slid a big box towards Andrea. “Here, this is from the both of us.”
Andrea reluctantly got up from her spot and opened the box. It was too heavy for her to lift easily. When the lid was open, her grin belied the words she used. “You assholes! I could have used this to make your stuff! Where the hell did you get it? Does it work?”
“It’s from when they closed down the Rigger shop. It was all left behind. That sewing machine can sew the thickest straps, and the thinnest nylon. It has all the accessories to keep it running plus a lot of extras are in there. Henrik found it, and I fixed it so it runs right now. Here’s the other part.”
She slid a wooden box with legs and a hoop handle. It was an old school sewing box. “Henrik fixed and refurbished the box as well. This should keep you busy for the next however long.” Both Paige and Henrik received heartfelt hugs.
While Andrea was up, she handed a box to Sabine. When Sabine opened it, she found what looked like a t-shirt, except it was of the softest deerskin she had ever felt.
“I went with the deerskin for you so it would be soft enough you didn’t have to wear anything under it.” Andrea grinned and Sabine blushed a little, a first in a long time she though upon reflection.
Sabine pulled another box from under the tree and handed it to Henrik. She used this moment to pull her sleight of hand replacing the two boxes she retrieved for Violet and Veronica under the tree along with two others.
Henrik opened it. Inside was another watch. This one looked old, though. He looked at it. It looked like a dive watch but an old one. He looked at the steel bezel and read the face, ‘Sea Wolf’. He looked at it, and looked at Sabine and smiled.
“Yes, we can be together as long as you can be happy with me and put up with me.” He said with a great big grin. Before she could object, he had her wrapped up in his huge arms, and might have even gotten a squeak, but it was muffled against his chest. When he let her go, he handed her a long flat box to open.
While Sabine was being smothered by the Great Ginger Yeti, she couldn’t help but think about how happy she was to redistribute her brother’s watch collection to the people she wanted to make happy. She wasn’t a collector and she knew he would rather have them out there being enjoyed.
The flat box kind of puzzled Sabine. She slid the paper off and as she moved the box around, she could feel things shifting and sliding. Opening the box, she was struck by what she saw. A great curved blade, at least a foot and a half long. The cross guard was an elegant ‘S’ shape but the handle was stunning. A curved piece of bone or ivory, caped in steel, it was big enough for her to fit two hands on it, but it was balanced perfectly to be used by one. She notices Henrik was talking now, but her eyes never left the blade.
“It’s the one we saw at the shop a couple months ago. The one someone had painted the blade and handle with spray paint for Halloween or something. I remembered you saying you had always wanted a naval boarding cutlass. This is about the same size but it is more elegant. I figured this might work. It took forever cleaning the paint off. I was seriously surprised to fine the ivory or bone. The blade is unusual as well. If you look close, you can see the grain of the steel and the layers. This is an old Damascus blade. I don’t know how old, but the blade has some sort of bluing since in spite of what I did after the paint was removed, it wouldn’t get any brighter.”
Veronica was watching and spoke next. “Can I see it?” Sabine reluctantly handed it over to Veronica so she could get the other things out of the box. After a few moments examining it, Veronica spoke. “It’s not bluing, it’s staining. My hunting knife is about sixty years old and the steel looks similar. This wasn’t a theatrical piece. It’s seen some use”. She handed it back to Sabine who was staring into the box.
Sabine pulled out a leather scabbard for the blade. In comparison to the old blade, this was fresh new leather; Henrik’s handiwork. Sabine was staring at the scabbard. There were five crosses on the scabbard. Henrik was talking again.
“I added the crosses because I found out that Joan of Arc is the Patron Saint of women in the military. Her sword supposedly had five crosses on the blade. I wasn’t going to try to add or change the blade any, so I added the crosses on the scabbard. I also made a Kydex one. No crosses on that one though.” He looked at Sabine’s face and he couldn’t read the expression. “Do you like it?”
It took a moment for Sabine to find her voice. “It’s wonderful.” She wrapped her arms round him and gave him a big hug.
Sabine reached under the tree for the two boxes for Veronica and Violet. Whether this was planned or not, they chose to believe the boxes were supposed to be there the whole time and not an afterthought.
They were already grateful for the bracelets and never expected additional gifts. The fact the group let them crash at their place, treated them like family and were there for their folks was enough for them. This house was a place of refuge, a place of escape and that was a gift they gave them each time they came to visit. Besides, Paige had already given them so much last trip.
Violet opened hers first. Once again, surprise, a watch. This one had a big half blue, half red bezel around it. The face had too many numbers. Violet realized this one had a 24 hour dial as well. She looked closer at the face. It looked like it had a little owl’s face for a logo with an ‘O’ and ‘W’ for the eyes and under that the words ‘Early Bird’. It was neat, and also heavy. Sabine started talking while Violet looked it over.
“I’ll explain more about why that one later” .as Sabine’s cryptic statement.
Next, it was Veronica’s turn. She unwrapped the box and opened it to find a clearly quite vintage square art deco watch by Longines. It would have looked quite right on the Great Gatsby’s arm roaring through the Hamptons. Everyone was enamored with it. Everyone except, it seemed, Sabine. This time she didn’t narrate her idea behind it.
Instead, she was quiet while everyone else looked at it and Veronica buckled the band around her wrist. Sabine wasn’t here right now. She was remembering her brother buckling it around his own wrist before going down to whatever function of the week was happening at the house. She could never bring herself to wear it. It just didn’t seem right. Better it bring joy to someone else than the sadness she always felt seeing it. She was brought back to the here and now by Veronica in front of her. She gently wrapped her in an embrace, her mouth close to Sabine’s ear.
“It is wonderful! I will cherish it, and the care in giving it to me forever.” Her voice was quiet and sincere. Sabine noticed everyone was playing with their new gifts, or looking at each other’s and not paying attention to the two of them, so no one but Veronica saw her crying.
Veronica knew Sabine needed brought back from whatever blackhole was about to swallow her and quickly. She pushed back from her embrace. “Hey, Violet. Pick the next present.” Reading the tag, Violet handed it to Paige.
Paige opened the small box. Inside she found a weird looking watch. It had two sets of numbers, one inside the other. The outer row were orange and the inner were on a black background. It also felt old. There were too many number she saw. All around the dial were twenty-four numbers, not twelve. The face was marked ‘Glycine Airman SST’. It looked like you could move the outer numbers around too with the second button. She loved it. It was big enough she could see it at a glance.
“It’s wonderful Sabine. Here. I made you a little something.” Paige handed Sabine a box. When Sabine opened it, there was a tiny version of an AR. Not quite the same as Veronica’s but just about as small. She pulled it out. The stock was folded to the side.
“Just remember to pull the stock into place before you fire it. That’s the only way I could get it small enough.” Paige told Sabine. “Later, we will shoot it on the range. It works, but you need to be comfortable with it. I made a couple more but you have the best and the smallest, since it was your present. The red dot on top will keep you on target even if you aren’t right behind it, but you will see when you sight it in.” Paige a hug from Sabine.
The rest of the morning was spent playing with the gifts, and eating breakfast. The rest of the group wasn’t due over until after lunch time.
Henrik started. He passed out the gift he had for Paige first. Paige squealed in delight at the beautiful wood jewelry box complete with inlay. Upon opening it, the whole room went quiet. The exquisite rose gold byzantine style chain inside moved and slithered around in her hands as Paige pulled it out.
“You have to put it on” Andrea exclaimed as she moved forward to help her with it.
It lay against her neck and cascaded down like water. Its color was the perfect complement to her strawberry blond hair and not a few were jealous.
Sabine was next. “I am cheating.” As she handed both Violet and Veronica a small package. Opening them both found a round gold bracelet.
“Good grief! These are heavy.” Violet was the first to comment.
The V’s showed off their gifts to everyone not quite understanding the whole meaning behind them.
Andrea had a package for Henrik next. The big soft bundle was the size of a foot stool. When he unwrapped it, it was still a big pile of some sort of cloth. Standing to get a better look at it, he realized it was a frontiersman style capote or blanket coat. The darn thing had to weigh ten pounds! Henrik was speechless.
“Come on, put the damn thing on! I need to see if I got it right!” Andrea exclaimed.
Henrik slid his arms into the coat. It felt perfect in the length, but the torso was a little too big, even on him. He pulled at the middle. “Anticipating me getting fat?
“Well that is your seventh cinnamon roll but no, it’s bigger so you could wear it over other things including equipment.” Andrea quipped. Andrea was beaming seeing the look on Henrik’s face as he modeled the coat. He looked over at Andrea, a smirk on his face.
“When it’s your turn, your either going to love me or hate me.” He paused before enveloping her in a great bear hug. She almost vanished in his huge arms and sweeping coat.
Sabine took a turn next. She handed Andrea a small box. She opened it finding vibrant red box nestled inside the box was a beautiful watch, just as red as the box. She looked closer. It said ‘Omega, automatic, Geneve’ and had a little anchor on its face as well. A black crocodile band set off the red. She pulled it out and marveled at it before speaking.
“You spent too much! It’s beautiful but you spent way too much!”
Sabine had tears in her eyes now as she took Andrea’s hands in hers.
“I didn’t spend too much. I did it because I can.” She choked up for a moment before continuing. “You know I will never get married again, but I want us to be together as long as you can be happy with me and put up with me.”
Now both of them were crying and the others were cheering until Violet decided enough was enough.
“Kiss her already!”
Once the excitement calmed down, it was back to presents. Sabine was sitting on the floor with Andrea in front of her, wrapped in her arms as they watched the next round of gift opening.
The next to open something was Henrik. Paige slid a large square box in front of him. Acting silly, he tore into the paper like a five-year-old. What he found was a wooden box with a handle on top. It was quite old. He could see the craftsmanship in it. All the joints were dovetailed perfectly. It had to be a hundred years old if it was a day. He kept turning it around and around, a big grin on his face until Paige got impatient.
“Well, go ahead, open the damn thing!”
Henrik was a little embarrassed. He thought the box itself was a wonderful present. Sheepishly he opened the lid. He marveled at its contents. No wonder it was so heavy. It was full to the brim with vintage, antique, restored woodworking tools. Chisels, hammers, wooden screwdrivers, Yankee drill, bit and brace, it just went on and on. Here was a master carpenter’s set from the turn of the century, the 20th century. All the tools were at least eighty to a hundred and fifty years old, all restored to perfect using condition.
He was still staring when Paige spoke again. “I have the saws to go with it in the garage. I wasn’t going to wrap those up, they are too long.” Henrik and Paige’s embrace lasted a long time.
While Henrik was admiring his new tools Sabine noticed the Vs were starting to feel a bit left out. She leaned in whispering something into Andrea ear. Andrea nonchalantly crawled of to the tree as if to get the next gift. She looked and looked returning to Sabine empty handed. Sabine quietly left the room going out as unnoticed as possible returning during the confusion Andrea created picking the next gift.
Andrea told Henrik which one she needed. When he slid it over, she handed it to Paige.
When Paige opened it, she was confused for a moment. She held it up for everyone to see. It was a pretty leather shirt. But it was very plain and unadorned. It had a simple v neck at the collar. What was a bit confusing was how thick the leather was. It was baseball glove or motorcycle jacket thick.
“It’s for you to wear when you are working on stuff! You are always complaining you are ruining your clothes with grease, tears, snags and such. With this, you won’t have to worry about it!” Andrea’s voice was worried sounding. She thought it was obvious, but now she wondered if she made a mistake. Paige’s grin soothed those frayed nerves.
“It’s great! I didn’t think of that! I should have had you make one for me years ago! You are so thoughtful!” Paige was beaming. Now that she knew it was something to protect her and get dirty, she understood.
She looked over her shoulder at Henrik. “She’s going to hate us, isn’t she?” They both grinned as she slid a big box towards Andrea. “Here, this is from the both of us.”
Andrea reluctantly got up from her spot and opened the box. It was too heavy for her to lift easily. When the lid was open, her grin belied the words she used. “You assholes! I could have used this to make your stuff! Where the hell did you get it? Does it work?”
“It’s from when they closed down the Rigger shop. It was all left behind. That sewing machine can sew the thickest straps, and the thinnest nylon. It has all the accessories to keep it running plus a lot of extras are in there. Henrik found it, and I fixed it so it runs right now. Here’s the other part.”
She slid a wooden box with legs and a hoop handle. It was an old school sewing box. “Henrik fixed and refurbished the box as well. This should keep you busy for the next however long.” Both Paige and Henrik received heartfelt hugs.
While Andrea was up, she handed a box to Sabine. When Sabine opened it, she found what looked like a t-shirt, except it was of the softest deerskin she had ever felt.
“I went with the deerskin for you so it would be soft enough you didn’t have to wear anything under it.” Andrea grinned and Sabine blushed a little, a first in a long time she though upon reflection.
Sabine pulled another box from under the tree and handed it to Henrik. She used this moment to pull her sleight of hand replacing the two boxes she retrieved for Violet and Veronica under the tree along with two others.
Henrik opened it. Inside was another watch. This one looked old, though. He looked at it. It looked like a dive watch but an old one. He looked at the steel bezel and read the face, ‘Sea Wolf’. He looked at it, and looked at Sabine and smiled.
“Yes, we can be together as long as you can be happy with me and put up with me.” He said with a great big grin. Before she could object, he had her wrapped up in his huge arms, and might have even gotten a squeak, but it was muffled against his chest. When he let her go, he handed her a long flat box to open.
While Sabine was being smothered by the Great Ginger Yeti, she couldn’t help but think about how happy she was to redistribute her brother’s watch collection to the people she wanted to make happy. She wasn’t a collector and she knew he would rather have them out there being enjoyed.
The flat box kind of puzzled Sabine. She slid the paper off and as she moved the box around, she could feel things shifting and sliding. Opening the box, she was struck by what she saw. A great curved blade, at least a foot and a half long. The cross guard was an elegant ‘S’ shape but the handle was stunning. A curved piece of bone or ivory, caped in steel, it was big enough for her to fit two hands on it, but it was balanced perfectly to be used by one. She notices Henrik was talking now, but her eyes never left the blade.
“It’s the one we saw at the shop a couple months ago. The one someone had painted the blade and handle with spray paint for Halloween or something. I remembered you saying you had always wanted a naval boarding cutlass. This is about the same size but it is more elegant. I figured this might work. It took forever cleaning the paint off. I was seriously surprised to fine the ivory or bone. The blade is unusual as well. If you look close, you can see the grain of the steel and the layers. This is an old Damascus blade. I don’t know how old, but the blade has some sort of bluing since in spite of what I did after the paint was removed, it wouldn’t get any brighter.”
Veronica was watching and spoke next. “Can I see it?” Sabine reluctantly handed it over to Veronica so she could get the other things out of the box. After a few moments examining it, Veronica spoke. “It’s not bluing, it’s staining. My hunting knife is about sixty years old and the steel looks similar. This wasn’t a theatrical piece. It’s seen some use”. She handed it back to Sabine who was staring into the box.
Sabine pulled out a leather scabbard for the blade. In comparison to the old blade, this was fresh new leather; Henrik’s handiwork. Sabine was staring at the scabbard. There were five crosses on the scabbard. Henrik was talking again.
“I added the crosses because I found out that Joan of Arc is the Patron Saint of women in the military. Her sword supposedly had five crosses on the blade. I wasn’t going to try to add or change the blade any, so I added the crosses on the scabbard. I also made a Kydex one. No crosses on that one though.” He looked at Sabine’s face and he couldn’t read the expression. “Do you like it?”
It took a moment for Sabine to find her voice. “It’s wonderful.” She wrapped her arms round him and gave him a big hug.
Sabine reached under the tree for the two boxes for Veronica and Violet. Whether this was planned or not, they chose to believe the boxes were supposed to be there the whole time and not an afterthought.
They were already grateful for the bracelets and never expected additional gifts. The fact the group let them crash at their place, treated them like family and were there for their folks was enough for them. This house was a place of refuge, a place of escape and that was a gift they gave them each time they came to visit. Besides, Paige had already given them so much last trip.
Violet opened hers first. Once again, surprise, a watch. This one had a big half blue, half red bezel around it. The face had too many numbers. Violet realized this one had a 24 hour dial as well. She looked closer at the face. It looked like it had a little owl’s face for a logo with an ‘O’ and ‘W’ for the eyes and under that the words ‘Early Bird’. It was neat, and also heavy. Sabine started talking while Violet looked it over.
“I’ll explain more about why that one later” .as Sabine’s cryptic statement.
Next, it was Veronica’s turn. She unwrapped the box and opened it to find a clearly quite vintage square art deco watch by Longines. It would have looked quite right on the Great Gatsby’s arm roaring through the Hamptons. Everyone was enamored with it. Everyone except, it seemed, Sabine. This time she didn’t narrate her idea behind it.
Instead, she was quiet while everyone else looked at it and Veronica buckled the band around her wrist. Sabine wasn’t here right now. She was remembering her brother buckling it around his own wrist before going down to whatever function of the week was happening at the house. She could never bring herself to wear it. It just didn’t seem right. Better it bring joy to someone else than the sadness she always felt seeing it. She was brought back to the here and now by Veronica in front of her. She gently wrapped her in an embrace, her mouth close to Sabine’s ear.
“It is wonderful! I will cherish it, and the care in giving it to me forever.” Her voice was quiet and sincere. Sabine noticed everyone was playing with their new gifts, or looking at each other’s and not paying attention to the two of them, so no one but Veronica saw her crying.
Veronica knew Sabine needed brought back from whatever blackhole was about to swallow her and quickly. She pushed back from her embrace. “Hey, Violet. Pick the next present.” Reading the tag, Violet handed it to Paige.
Paige opened the small box. Inside she found a weird looking watch. It had two sets of numbers, one inside the other. The outer row were orange and the inner were on a black background. It also felt old. There were too many number she saw. All around the dial were twenty-four numbers, not twelve. The face was marked ‘Glycine Airman SST’. It looked like you could move the outer numbers around too with the second button. She loved it. It was big enough she could see it at a glance.
“It’s wonderful Sabine. Here. I made you a little something.” Paige handed Sabine a box. When Sabine opened it, there was a tiny version of an AR. Not quite the same as Veronica’s but just about as small. She pulled it out. The stock was folded to the side.
“Just remember to pull the stock into place before you fire it. That’s the only way I could get it small enough.” Paige told Sabine. “Later, we will shoot it on the range. It works, but you need to be comfortable with it. I made a couple more but you have the best and the smallest, since it was your present. The red dot on top will keep you on target even if you aren’t right behind it, but you will see when you sight it in.” Paige a hug from Sabine.
The rest of the morning was spent playing with the gifts, and eating breakfast. The rest of the group wasn’t due over until after lunch time.
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My dad was a knife collector, a collector of pocket watches, and also collected and shot black powder. I went to numerous rendezvous with him as a teen, and continued to go after he passed. We used to go pheasant hunting in southern mn with black powder rifles. That was a challenge for me. Lots of fun. I also do woodworking with my grandfather's old hand tools. This chapter brought tears to my eyes, for several reasons. Thank you.
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
You might find a Hudson Bay blanket-based one on eBay.ca; I got a great original Cowichan there a few years ago. Might be worth a shot; originally I was looking for an HBC blanket but remember the search brought up capotes; link clicker that I am, I clicked 'other from this seller' & wound up w/ the sweater.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you very much.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
I know I have slowed posting some, going from every day to about every other day. I hope this hasn't discouraged people. I have been waiting for my in-house editor to clean up some of my garbage before I post it instead of it being a total stream of consciousness thing. I hope people will see the improved quality of my posts due to this.
and since I have been posting watch pictures,
Doug's Sherpa 600 GMT
and since I have been posting watch pictures,
Doug's Sherpa 600 GMT
Hurry! You know we’re addicted. We need our fix.
But with all you have going on, I guess we shall wait patiently.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
After brunch, the rest of the group arrived. There were some new additions to the gathering group as well. Ivar and Sofia arrived with the Jensons, Jonas and his daughter Jennifer in tow. Paige and Henrik had worked frequently over the last few months with Jonas, but his daughter hadn’t met them.
Jennifer looked nervous and apprehensive around the big, loud group of people, most of whom she barely recognized. She stood practically connected to her father’s hip as he moved around the group. Suddenly a very tall blonde woman seemed to practically pounce on her! Even as the woman knelt down, she was as tall as Jennifer was standing up!
“Titus! You little imp! I see your back to work protecting girls. You better do a damn good job or I’ll sew your beak shut!”
Jennifer realized the woman wasn’t talking to her, she was looking at and berating the stuffed platypus she was clutching in a death grip to her chest! Jennifer saw the stern look on her face as she next looked up at her!
“You let me know if he’s slacking off any!” The woman reached forward and ruffled the fur on top of the stuffed platypus’ head like scratching a dog as she looked into Jennifer’s face. A smile broke out, wiping away the stern visage.
“He won’t slack off. He’s good at helping. His name is ‘Titus” I had problems with my ‘T’s and talked funny when I was little. Other kids made fun of me. Mom gave him to me and told me the story about how fierce a platypus can be and how he had ways to protect himself in water and the land. She told me Titus would do that for me. When I was little and whenever I was scared or frightened or worried or lonely, I would squeeze him the ‘Titus’ and I would not be afraid any more. You probably don’t remember me much, but I’m Veronica.”
Jennifer shook her hand timidly remembering her as the bad ass lady.
Veronica held her arms out gently and gave Jennifer a tentative hug. “You’ve been staying with my mom and dad, so they probably told you terrible things about me. Don’t believe them. More importantly, I know where she hid the cookies. Want to help me find them?”
Jennifer looked at her, then looked up at her father, who was watching. He gave her a small nod, telling her it was OK. Veronica took Jennifer off to raid the cookies.
Soon, the other group arrived. With them was another new face. Well not completely new. It took a moment or two to recognize her out of uniform. At first glance, it looked like they had brought another kid, around 14 years old. Most of the group had seen her around base some and with the population so small, she wasn’t a complete stranger. The question was ‘why was she here?’ Veronica was busy and Violet didn’t know her and figured intros were in order so approached her parents arriving with the new girl in tow.
She was about Andrea’s height but smaller framed, much smaller. Her stark blond super short pixie cut hair and very young face made her look so much younger than her 22 years. Her sky blue eyes were the perfect complement to the ever-present grin. She was Tinkerbell and Peter Pan, all rolled into one.
“Mamma, I know I’ve been gone from home a while but long enough for you to have another kid?” Violet joked as she walked up.
Amber was quick to reply. “Don’t blame me on this one! Your dad had been out picking up strays again!”
“Isn’t that how we ended up with Veronica?” Violet shot back, to which Amber replied without missing a beat.
“And Paige, and Rex, and Andrea, and Jonas, and Sabine, and Jennifer, and Tommy, and Henrik, and. I don’t know. I’ve lost track, I know I’m missing about a dozen.” Amber was grinning as she greeted her daughter with a big hug.
Silas had a scolding tone when he responded. “You two need to play nice otherwise you might hurt Elsa’s feelings!” His grin showed how much he was kidding. He would have continued but he stumbled, added by a shove from the girl.
“You need to hush with that old man, otherwise I’ll sing another three hours of that damn song for you!”
Silas cringed in fear. “Oh god! No more! I yield! Three hours on the damn bus was four hours too many! I’ll drop it!”
The girl grinned at him again. “You mean you’ll ‘Let it Go’?” She laughed, as did Violet, Amber and Silas. The others trickled over to see what the laughing was about. Silas started up again when the others were there.
“Some of you know her, some don’t. This is Petra, our sole surviving motorpool mechanic. She went with me on my little foraging trip to get the vehicles running so we could steal, I mean requisition them for our operations here.”
Petra looked a little embarrassed to be the focus of so much attention, especially since everyone here had at least two to six more stripes than she did. Not that it would matter soon anyway. “Hi guys” She waved a little, unsure of what to say or do next. Before the silence became awkward, Amber jumped right in.
“Yeah, don’t let that sweet little innocent 12 year old fool you!” Amber paused when Petra interrupted.
“I’m 22!”
“I’m not buying it! Now where was I? Oh yeah, She is the latest Pirate convert of Silas! She’s like the evil little love child of Paige, Andrea and Veronica! Paige’s mechanical ability, Andrea’s sweet innocent fast talking, and Veronica’s analytical criminal mastermind!”
Andrea, Paige and Veronica all exchanged looks with Andrea speaking first. “I think we have just been insulted!”
The group made their way inside towards the main room, gathering around the tree. Sabine looked around for Andrea. She was going to ask her if she needed another drink, but she had vanished. While she was looking, Henrik started speaking.
“Friends, both new and old, grab a drink, someone make sure that kid over there stays away from the alcohol, she’s too young and it will stunt her growth!” as he pointed to Petra.
She gave him the shake of the finger while all laughed.
“gather around the tree. I think there are still some presents to open under it that have been waiting for your arrival.”
Sabine crouched down to start handing out gifts. Just before she grabbed one, she felt one pressed into her hands from behind. She looked over and saw Andrea there. Sabine noticed she seemed a touch sad. She didn’t know what was wrong and was going to ask when Andrea shook her head, just a little, and pressed the box a little stronger into Sabine’s hands. Sabine took it. Looking at the tag, she announce it for Elsa.
Petra looked a bit surprised and also shook her finger at Silas for another Elsa dig. She opened the gift. Inside was a beautiful doeskin frontier style shirt with laces on the front. It looked about the right size even! Petra was speechless!
Sabine watching knew exactly what had happened. Andrea had made it as a matching shirt for herself to go with the one she made for Sabine. When Silas showed up with Petra, without a second thought, she raced in and wrapped it up for Petra. Sabine wrapped her arm around Andrea, pulling her close so she could whisper in her ear.
“It’s ok, I know that one was yours. You are one of the most thoughtful people I know. Look at the smile on her face. You did that, without thinking about yourself, only how she would feel. You are beautiful inside and out.”
Andrea knew Sabine was right. It did make Petra happy. It would have sucked to be the new guy to the group, away from home at Christmas and have no presents so she knew it was the right thing to do.
“Besides this gives you a good reason to break out the new machine, not that you really need one, to make yourself another one and maybe another one for me.”
Sabine couldn’t help but gently bite Andrea’s earlobe which made Andrea giggle but she could tell Andrea was still a bit bummed.
Andrea knew Sabine was right she did have the new machine, plenty of material and it did make Petra happy. She smiled returning to the joy of someone else and sticking her head in the sand of her own disappointments.
Jennifer looked nervous and apprehensive around the big, loud group of people, most of whom she barely recognized. She stood practically connected to her father’s hip as he moved around the group. Suddenly a very tall blonde woman seemed to practically pounce on her! Even as the woman knelt down, she was as tall as Jennifer was standing up!
“Titus! You little imp! I see your back to work protecting girls. You better do a damn good job or I’ll sew your beak shut!”
Jennifer realized the woman wasn’t talking to her, she was looking at and berating the stuffed platypus she was clutching in a death grip to her chest! Jennifer saw the stern look on her face as she next looked up at her!
“You let me know if he’s slacking off any!” The woman reached forward and ruffled the fur on top of the stuffed platypus’ head like scratching a dog as she looked into Jennifer’s face. A smile broke out, wiping away the stern visage.
“He won’t slack off. He’s good at helping. His name is ‘Titus” I had problems with my ‘T’s and talked funny when I was little. Other kids made fun of me. Mom gave him to me and told me the story about how fierce a platypus can be and how he had ways to protect himself in water and the land. She told me Titus would do that for me. When I was little and whenever I was scared or frightened or worried or lonely, I would squeeze him the ‘Titus’ and I would not be afraid any more. You probably don’t remember me much, but I’m Veronica.”
Jennifer shook her hand timidly remembering her as the bad ass lady.
Veronica held her arms out gently and gave Jennifer a tentative hug. “You’ve been staying with my mom and dad, so they probably told you terrible things about me. Don’t believe them. More importantly, I know where she hid the cookies. Want to help me find them?”
Jennifer looked at her, then looked up at her father, who was watching. He gave her a small nod, telling her it was OK. Veronica took Jennifer off to raid the cookies.
Soon, the other group arrived. With them was another new face. Well not completely new. It took a moment or two to recognize her out of uniform. At first glance, it looked like they had brought another kid, around 14 years old. Most of the group had seen her around base some and with the population so small, she wasn’t a complete stranger. The question was ‘why was she here?’ Veronica was busy and Violet didn’t know her and figured intros were in order so approached her parents arriving with the new girl in tow.
She was about Andrea’s height but smaller framed, much smaller. Her stark blond super short pixie cut hair and very young face made her look so much younger than her 22 years. Her sky blue eyes were the perfect complement to the ever-present grin. She was Tinkerbell and Peter Pan, all rolled into one.
“Mamma, I know I’ve been gone from home a while but long enough for you to have another kid?” Violet joked as she walked up.
Amber was quick to reply. “Don’t blame me on this one! Your dad had been out picking up strays again!”
“Isn’t that how we ended up with Veronica?” Violet shot back, to which Amber replied without missing a beat.
“And Paige, and Rex, and Andrea, and Jonas, and Sabine, and Jennifer, and Tommy, and Henrik, and. I don’t know. I’ve lost track, I know I’m missing about a dozen.” Amber was grinning as she greeted her daughter with a big hug.
Silas had a scolding tone when he responded. “You two need to play nice otherwise you might hurt Elsa’s feelings!” His grin showed how much he was kidding. He would have continued but he stumbled, added by a shove from the girl.
“You need to hush with that old man, otherwise I’ll sing another three hours of that damn song for you!”
Silas cringed in fear. “Oh god! No more! I yield! Three hours on the damn bus was four hours too many! I’ll drop it!”
The girl grinned at him again. “You mean you’ll ‘Let it Go’?” She laughed, as did Violet, Amber and Silas. The others trickled over to see what the laughing was about. Silas started up again when the others were there.
“Some of you know her, some don’t. This is Petra, our sole surviving motorpool mechanic. She went with me on my little foraging trip to get the vehicles running so we could steal, I mean requisition them for our operations here.”
Petra looked a little embarrassed to be the focus of so much attention, especially since everyone here had at least two to six more stripes than she did. Not that it would matter soon anyway. “Hi guys” She waved a little, unsure of what to say or do next. Before the silence became awkward, Amber jumped right in.
“Yeah, don’t let that sweet little innocent 12 year old fool you!” Amber paused when Petra interrupted.
“I’m 22!”
“I’m not buying it! Now where was I? Oh yeah, She is the latest Pirate convert of Silas! She’s like the evil little love child of Paige, Andrea and Veronica! Paige’s mechanical ability, Andrea’s sweet innocent fast talking, and Veronica’s analytical criminal mastermind!”
Andrea, Paige and Veronica all exchanged looks with Andrea speaking first. “I think we have just been insulted!”
The group made their way inside towards the main room, gathering around the tree. Sabine looked around for Andrea. She was going to ask her if she needed another drink, but she had vanished. While she was looking, Henrik started speaking.
“Friends, both new and old, grab a drink, someone make sure that kid over there stays away from the alcohol, she’s too young and it will stunt her growth!” as he pointed to Petra.
She gave him the shake of the finger while all laughed.
“gather around the tree. I think there are still some presents to open under it that have been waiting for your arrival.”
Sabine crouched down to start handing out gifts. Just before she grabbed one, she felt one pressed into her hands from behind. She looked over and saw Andrea there. Sabine noticed she seemed a touch sad. She didn’t know what was wrong and was going to ask when Andrea shook her head, just a little, and pressed the box a little stronger into Sabine’s hands. Sabine took it. Looking at the tag, she announce it for Elsa.
Petra looked a bit surprised and also shook her finger at Silas for another Elsa dig. She opened the gift. Inside was a beautiful doeskin frontier style shirt with laces on the front. It looked about the right size even! Petra was speechless!
Sabine watching knew exactly what had happened. Andrea had made it as a matching shirt for herself to go with the one she made for Sabine. When Silas showed up with Petra, without a second thought, she raced in and wrapped it up for Petra. Sabine wrapped her arm around Andrea, pulling her close so she could whisper in her ear.
“It’s ok, I know that one was yours. You are one of the most thoughtful people I know. Look at the smile on her face. You did that, without thinking about yourself, only how she would feel. You are beautiful inside and out.”
Andrea knew Sabine was right. It did make Petra happy. It would have sucked to be the new guy to the group, away from home at Christmas and have no presents so she knew it was the right thing to do.
“Besides this gives you a good reason to break out the new machine, not that you really need one, to make yourself another one and maybe another one for me.”
Sabine couldn’t help but gently bite Andrea’s earlobe which made Andrea giggle but she could tell Andrea was still a bit bummed.
Andrea knew Sabine was right she did have the new machine, plenty of material and it did make Petra happy. She smiled returning to the joy of someone else and sticking her head in the sand of her own disappointments.
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sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you, 