they returned from the hunt, the sooner she would be able to prepare it.
She and Izzie stood at the gate in the wall surrounding Baralt’s house and waved them off. Njkall had joined them, but even the three large males looked insignificant as they strode out into the vast white plain leading away from town.
“They will be all right, won’t they?” she asked, suddenly having second thoughts about sending him away.
“They’ll be fine,” Izzie said firmly. “Baralt has always returned triumphantly from the hunt, and I’ve learned not to think about what he’s doing.”
“Does that work?”
Izzie gave her a rueful grin. “Only a little bit. But I don’t want to tie him down with my worries.” She smiled at the guard waiting to close the gates and together the two of them returned to the main house.
Joan had decided to begin by making a quick bread, and she started stirring ingredients together as soon as they returned to the kitchen.
“Tell me about this siloza they are hunting.”
Izzie giggled. “It’s something like a very large turkey—if you can imagine a turkey as tall as a human. With foot-long claws.”
She did her best not to worry about Varga being threatened by those claws and forced a smile. “Hmm. In that case, maybe I should make some stuffing.”
“Oh, I love that idea. What do you need?”
“Bread, of course, but I can use some of this. I don’t suppose you have any carrots or celery?” she joked.
“No, but Baralt’s sister uses something similar when she makes soup.” Izzie jumped up. “Why don’t I run into town and see if she has some I can borrow? Or if she can tell me where I can buy some.”
“I thought you told Baralt that you wouldn’t leave.”
“I won’t go by myself. I’ll get Rolisar to go with me—he’s the one at the gate. We’ll just lock it behind us, if that’s all right with you?”
“It’s fine with me. I don’t intend to go anywhere.” The town still made her uncomfortable. Saka had ventured in a few times, accompanied by one of Baralt’s males, but Joan’s memories of the night they arrived had given her a distaste for the port, even though Baralt had succeeded in freeing the unfortunate female. Joan would be happier once they moved to the resort and further away from town.
“We won’t be long.” Izzie gave her a happy smile. “This is going to be just like Thanksgiving.”
“I’m pretty sure that most Thanksgivings don’t include a six-foot turkey,” she said dryly.
Izzie laughed and rushed off.
A few minutes later, Saka entered the kitchen, yawning.
“No one around here seems to appreciate the luxury of sleeping late.”
“The males went hunting, and apparently it’s something you start at the crack of dawn.”
“Why? Because they want to catch their prey while they are still asleep?”
“Maybe so.” Joan laughed. “I’ve been thinking. We have a holiday on earth called Thanksgiving and I thought I would try and recreate some of those dishes. Can you make some pastry? Enough for two—no, better make that three pies?”
“You’re such a slave driver,” Saka teased, then went still. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Of course you didn’t. But maybe it’s a good thing that you can make a joke about it now.”
Saka shook her head and gave her a weak smile as she started to gather her ingredients. “I suppose so.”
Joan wondered how often the memory of their time on Drahana would come back to haunt them. Assuming we can move past it at all, she thought with a sigh as Polly wandered into the kitchen. The other woman still refused to bathe or wear clothes, but her moods seem to have evened out. She didn’t talk much, except to Njkall, but she seemed to like to listen to the others talk and didn’t scurry away as often as she used to.
Polly went and curled in her usual place next to the big stove. George chirped happily and climbed up on her lap. The small lizard hadn’t been impressed by the snow-covered ground of Hothrest and preferred to spend most of her time in the warmth of the kitchen.
Joan smiled at the pair and started chopping some of the small round fruit native to the planet. It wasn’t really fruit—it was actually an edible spore that grew in the caverns beneath Hothrest—but if you ignored the fluorescent pink coloring, it had a vaguely apple like taste, and she thought it would work in a pie.
George chirped again and she looked up to find the lizard eyeing