|
Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Nov 10, 2008 13:46:22 GMT -5
She opened one eye in almost surprise at Nicu's mentioning that she had shared her cabin with someone before, watching the sailor for a moment in confusion before shrugging it off and closing her eyes again. She couldn't believe that Nicu had gone this long without anyone knowing her secret, especially if she'd shared a room before. That must have been terribly hard, having to watch every second to make sure you weren't found out, to make sure there was no hint whatsoever that you could have been female. Nudge would never have been able to do what Nicu had done; though probably almost as strong minded and independant as she was, the little healer simply wouldn't have been able to take it. And she admired Nicu for that.
Nudge supposed that she must have fallen asleep some time in the night while thinking about this, having eventually promised herself that she'd enquire about Nicu's old cabin-mate, mildly curious about what had happened to him. Perhaps he was on another ship now, who knew? But in any case, the next time she opened her eyes there was a dim light filtering under the door of the cabin, where she was faced, having rolled into the middle of the floor during the night from the swaying of the ship, and she could hear faint voices above from the deck. She couldn't imagine that it was much past sunrise, the little healer was an early riser unless she was extremely tired, and although healing Nicu had taken its toll on her, admittedly, she had bounced back rather easily from it.
Stretching out on the floor and emitting a soft squeak as she yawned, she managed to sit up and rub her eyes, the blanket folded up as a pillow still somewhere near to the hammock, where she... wasn't. She smiled blearily as she remembered the happenings of the previous day, energised immediately by the idea that she had finally left Avalas behind to search for more knowledge. She would learn to write! She would get better at healing! She'd find even better spells and skills and help as many people as she could! Well. All in good time, right? The girl eventually set about disentangling herself from the blanket that had partially mummified her during the night, staying quiet just in case Nicu was still asleep.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Nov 11, 2008 10:51:59 GMT -5
Yes, Nicu had shared the cabin with someone, someone that she had actually been friends with. He had been the one to take her out of that make-shift hospital all those years ago when she was just a child and he was the one that had taken it upon himself to look after her. He was a sailor, which explained why she had ended up on the sea, and he had been the one who had told her that she needed to dress as a boy to make sure that she didn't get thrown off the ship, and he had been the one to help her to keep her secret for many years. However, she would rather not discuss him, talking about him would include talking about how he met his end and Nicu really would rather not talk about that. Even the crew knew not to mention his name out of the fear that she would throw them overboard.
The sailor took a little longer to fall to sleep than Nudge, finding it rather strange to be able to hear someone else's breathing in her cabin. She did, finally, manage to drift off to sleep, waking for a few minutes every few hours to peer over her hammock and make sure that Nudge was still there and still alright before laying back down to drift back off to sleep again. Well, she just had to make sure. The healer might decide to go for a stroll around the ship at some point, or wander off in search of something to eat or drink, so Nicu seemed to have decided that she needed to check on her every few hours, just to make sure that nothing bad had happened. It was better to be safe than sorry.
By the time that dawn came Nicu had been up for a while, sat upright in her hammock with her legs dangling over the edge, seeming to be gazing off at nothing, looking to be deep in thought. She didn't notice that pale light had crept under the crack of the door and started to lighten the room, only emerging from her thoughts as she noticed that Nudge was moving. She scowled a little and stretched out, rubbing at her eyes before yawning widely. "Ya' up now?" She questioned as she looked down at the girl, that seeming to be Nicu's version of a good morning.
|
|
|
Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Nov 21, 2008 12:12:45 GMT -5
"Mm?" Nudge looked up, surprised to find that Nicu was awake and looking at her, currently in the middle of escaping from that evil blanket, eventually managing to clamber out of it's clutches and sit up on the boards of the cabin, smiling up at the sailor. "I am up!" she nodded, smiling brightly at her and pushing her red hair out of her face, her gaze momentarily moving to the light under the door, as if to make sure it was light out before it moved back to Nicu. "You're awake even earlier than I am." she observed with a light smile, "Did you sleep okay? I don't snore, do I?" she giggled, finally rising to her feet to stretch mightily, the little healer on her tip-toes as she yawned, seeming to wake up more once she was on her feet.
She took no time at all to fold the blanket that she'd disentangled herself from and place it back in the chest where it belonged, along with the other blanket; Nudge was used to rising, packing everything away and setting off, concentrating on finding breakfast somewhere along the way if she could. "Are we close to land, you think?" she asked curiously, not quite sure how fast ships moved... maybe it could take days just to get to the next port? Who knew. Oh, well, she didn't mind if it took a little longer to get to land; she felt better about staying on the ship now that she'd met someone like Nicu, even if the sailor was a little... hm, well, surly wasn't quite the word for it. She was anti-social, but she'd looked out for Nudge, hadn't she?
"Nicu, what's a good word to describe you?" she asked before she could stop herself, reaching out to pick up her white cloak and throw it about her shoulders. She gave a light laugh after that, shaking her head. "Oh dear, did I say that out loud?" she slapped a hand to her forehead, "I need to remember I'm not on my own so much anymore. You don't have to answer that, sorry." she shook her head, casting her gaze to the door and speaking again, as if to change the subject. "Is everyone already awake?" she tilted her head, "Well... except the people who stayed on the deck at night." she shrugged.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Dec 6, 2008 19:21:02 GMT -5
Nicu was naturally an early riser; ever since coming to the ship she had become used to getting up with the sun and setting to work, and after so long following the same routine your body clock tended to set itself to those times, so you couldn't even sleep in if you wanted to. "Yah, slept fine. Ya sleep as quite as a mouse." She nodded to her, slowly stretching out before sitting uo, swinging her legs around to let them dangle over the edge of the hammock. She rubbed at her eyes as she yawned widely, pushing her hand back through her hair before she looked to Nudge again. "Ya sleep alrigh'? Nah too uncomfortable on t'floor?" She asked, tilting her head to the side a little as she surveyed the girl. Well, she didn't look too cranky this morning, she must have had an alright night's sleep.
The sailor looked a little confused by Nudge's efficiency. She was up and packed up before Nicu was even fully awake. She was just used to shuffling onto deck half asleep and hoping that the sea air woke her up. "Land? Bout half a day away." She nodded to the girl. "We'll be callin' at another port t'day to pick up rest'o the crew and some supplies then settin' out to the open seas." She explained as she rubbed at the scar over her eye. "Stoppin' off at t'other port overnight, n if the weather's good we'll be settin' off again tomo'o mornin'." She finished off, knowing pretty well the route that the captain was planning on taking.
Nicu finally slipped down from the hammock when Nudge had everything packed away, landing on the wooden floor boards with a 'thump' before straightening up, tugging her shirt so that it was straight. "Describe me?" She seemed to be caught totally off guard by that question, blinking dumbly at the healer. "I dunno, I don't often describe me, ya kno'?" She shrugged, as if to say that she didn't have a clue, before moving toward the door. "They should have their lazy arses out of bed by nar." She mumbled to her as she tugged the door open. "If na they don't get no breakfast."
|
|
|
Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Dec 18, 2008 7:54:16 GMT -5
"Oh, that's good. I'm glad I don't snore, so I didn't wake anyone up." she giggled and stretched, already seeming wide awake as she looked across at Nicu, green eyes bright in the dim light. She smiled cheerfully as Nicu asked how she had slept, shaking her head to say the floor wasn't uncomfortable. "It was fine, and I've slept on worse." she assured the sailor, "Once I woke up and found out I'd fallen asleep on some shards of glass. Safe to say I always check beforehand now." she grinned as Nicu climbed down from the hammock, turning to look over her shoulder as if expecting to hear the other sailors wandering around out there. But of course they'd probably be on the deck by now; it seemed they rose even earlier than she did!
"Half a day? That's not long at all!" she chirped happily, "I need to pick up some things from the next town is all; I'm running low on some herbs and stuff, and you never know when you're going to need them, right?" she tilted her head, "You don't have to come with me if you don't want to." It was as though she'd already realised that Nicu was going to look out for her whether she liked it or not, but then she'd also realised that the sailor didn't seem that keen on the land. The sea was her home, Nudge wouldn't drag her away from it just because she needed to get some bits and pieces that she'd gotten a million times on her own. But at the same time she guessed that if Nicu did decide to go with her, she wouldn't have a chance at stopping her.
The little healer had made her way to the door by now, guessing that they'd not be staying in the cabin for much longer, especially if everyone else was already awake. "Hm..." she thought to herself for a second, before giggling and looking over at Nicu. "Complicated. Complicated is a good word to describe you." she nodded eventually, brushing a lock of red hair out of her face, "Shall we go up to the deck? I can't wait to see how far out to sea we are!" Well, it was Nudge's first time on a ship, she was entitled to feel a little excited wasn't she?
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Dec 22, 2008 7:53:51 GMT -5
She smirked at her tale about waking up on broken glass, shaking her head a little. "That's almost as bad as wakin' up 'n' not knowin' where the hell ya' are." She commented with a grin. That had happened to Nicu more than once, generally through the winter when she was forced to stay in harbour. She had drunken herself into oblivion and slept where ever she had fallen, which had often ended up in...interesting situations. She had once fallen to sleep in the back of a cart and woken up half a days walk from where she was staying. You would have thought that things like that would teach her to stop drinking so much, but that was very unlikely. What was she supposed to do with her time if she didn't drink? Sew? Psht, there was more chance of pigs flying.
"Nah, not long. After that we're nah heading back to land for a few weeks though." She warned, pushing her hair back from her face as she headed up to the deck, rolling her shoulders as she went. "Can't let ya go wanderin' 'round the harbour on ya own." She shook her head, rolling her eyes at Nudge. "Ya would get lost...an' then we'd set with without ya, and ya would be stuck if that happened." She pointed out, glancing back over her shoulder to the girl for a moment. Nicu had taken it upon herself to look out for the girl, even if that meant spending an hour or two wandering around a market place with her. Maybe she could steal something interesting while she was there? Maybe she should buy herself a new coat for the winter...hmmmm...
"Complicated?" She asked, seeming to think about that before nodding in agreement."'s as good a word as any." She mumbled. Nicu wasn't deluded about herself, she knew that she was hardwork and difficult, but that was who she was and she didn't expect anyone to bother trying to understand her. "Yah should just about be able to see the land from here...not much though, the rest will be water." She told her as she climbed the stairs to the deck, squinting a little against the light.
|
|
|
Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Feb 4, 2009 6:34:51 GMT -5
"That's alright, I don't mind looking at the water. I've never been this far out to see before in my life!" Nudge giggled at her and tugged open the door to the cabin before stepping outside, surprised by how light it was down in the bowels of the ship considering that all of the sunlight was above them. She turned to wait for Nicu then, considering that she didn't actually know the way back up to the deck. She hadn't particularly been paying attention when Nicu had wandered down here before, considering that at the time she'd been trying to convince the sailor to let her heal her, not to remember which way they had gone. "Don't you ever miss the land...?" she asked curiously, tilting her head, "I mean, even though the sea is your home... don't you ever miss it a little?"
She smiled a little, brushing her hair back from her face. "I suppose you don't really notice it much if you spend a lot of time on the ocean, huh." she shrugged, before drifting off into thought as though thinking about what she'd need to get when they got into the harbour. She smirked at Nicu at her comment about getting lost, folding her arms and pouting. "I would not get lost!" she grinned, "I might get distracted... and then I'd lose track of time and then you'd leave without me, but I don't get lost... much... well, not for a while anyway." she shook her head, turning to look down the corridors, seeming amused by the rocking of the ship as it sliced through the water.
"If we've got time, maybe we can go and listen to a minstel for a while?" she suggested with a smile, sounding as though she might have been talking to herself, "I haven't learned a new song in aaaaaages... oh, perhaps the crew will know a few songs!" she chirped, glancing over at Nicu as if just realising she was still there.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Feb 4, 2009 9:44:04 GMT -5
"If ya' lucky we might even see some dolphins." Nicu commented to her as she said that she didn't mind looking at the water. She had lived on a ship for the biggest part of her life, but sometimes she got sick of being surrounded by nothing but steely grey waters, sometimes it was nice to spot land on the horizon just for the chage of scenery. "Miss the land?" She blinked at Nudge before chuckling and shaking her head, as though that was a stupid question. "No, not ever. S'not even the land. I just don't like the people." She explained with a shrug her shoulders, as though it were really that simple. "Stuff's more compli'ate on land." She added, rubbing at the scar over her eye. Plus, she added mentally, people on land are far more likely to try and hurt you.
Nicu wasn't even paying attention to where she was going as she lead them through the narrow corridors, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, letting her feet lead the way. She knew this ship like the back of her hand, she could walk around with her eyes closed and still not trip over anything, unless someone moved something of course. Her footsteps were heavy as she headed up the rickety steps, squinting as she shoved the door open. Bright, morning sunshine flooded down at them, along with a light, salty breeze and the whisper of the ocean, Nicu muttering foul curses under her breath as she stepped out onto the deck and stretched out, glancing arund to check who was awake.
"Distracted? 's worse than bein' lost." She tutted at her, checking around the deck as she spoke. "'n I bet that ya would be easy to steal too. Anyone could just pick ya up an' shove ya in the back of a cart and ya'll be gone before ya know it." She shook her head. The town that they were heading for wasn't a particularly moral one, and nothing that happened there would surprise her. She had heard stories about grown women going missing, either murdered, kidnapped or merely run away, either one didn't lead to a happy ending. "A song? The crew could teach ya 'undred's...not sure that ya'd wanna hear their songs though." She smirked to the girl and shook her head. No, the crews song may be a little...crude for the girl.
|
|
|
Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Mar 30, 2009 12:46:15 GMT -5
Nudge was Nicu's complete opposite as she followed her through the maze of corridors and woodwork of the ship, smiling as the bright sunshine played over her cheeks and the breeze whispered through her hair. "Dolphins?" she gasped excitedly, enthusiasm sparkling in her eyes, "For real? I've seen some pictures of dolphins, but I've never seen one. They say that they can talk to the water nymphs, and will help a ship in danger and lead wayward people from a shipwreck back towards safety and... oh, hundreds of other things." she sighed, a dreamy sound to her voice; Nudge had always liked the mysteries of the deep and other such things, even if they had a fairytale air about them. What was wrong with dreaming?
"Steal me?" she squeaked, sounding rather bemused by this prospect, "Steal me for what? Well... I guess there's always a reason for a healer to be stolen and such... and they might want to hear some music, but still they'd only need to ask, they wouldn't have to kidnap me." she giggled. No, Nudge was not quite street-smart enough to realise the intentions of any such kidnappers, and the fact that she could be raped or killed or tortured at any future town that they came across completely sailed over her head. She didn't fill her mind with such dark thoughts.
Not to say that she wasn't aware that those things happened, but if you kept looking towards the consequences of what could possibly happen, you tended to stop living.
She smiled faintly to Nicu as she stepped out onto the deck, the wind pleasantly cool up here as the ship cut through the deep water, sunlight bouncing from the surface of the ocean in golden rays. "Complicated's not always a bad thing." she put in softly, "People are interesting." she shrugged. But she wouldn't argue; if Nicu didn't like the land, that was her choice.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 3, 2009 11:29:32 GMT -5
Nicu couldn't help the little smirk that twitched at the edges of her lips as she watched Nudge. Tat kid could get excited about anything, couldn't she? Was there anything that she disliked? "Fer reals." She nodded, rubbing at her scar for a moment as she paused at the top of the stairs that lead up to the deck. At least it was a nice day, that meant that it would be a little easier to get the crew motivated. "They sumtimes swim 'rand by the ship, ya'll have to watch out for them." She told the girl as she started walking again. "Heard stories like that too. 'Bout 'em savin' sailors from sharks an' stuff after wrecks." She added, sounding distracted now. There wasn't too much to do before breakfast, but waking everyone up was the hardest ask.
Some of the sailors hopped to their feet as they spotted her, hurring off to get to work to avoid the rude awakening that those who were sleeping on th deck were bound for. She paused by one man that was passed out in the middle of the deck, rolling her eyes as she nudged him with her foot, not too gently either. "Up, nar, or a hangover will be the last o' ya problems." She told him gruffly as he looked up at her, looking confused as to why she was waking him up at all. Geez, she swore that the crews got stupider and stupider every trip they went on. Where had the captain found this bunchof lay abouts?
Nicu gave Nudge the strangest of looks as she spoke about being stolen to heal, or sing, tilting her head at her before nodding to her slowly. It was better not to argue. She didn't particularly want to be the one to pop the girls bubble, especially when she was trapped on a ship surrounded by men with...questionable morals. "Some people don't like askin'." She put in quietly before looking down at the little healer. "I know what. Ya can mek yaself useful. If ya find anyone sleepin' go and wake 'em up. Just mek sure to run quick if they're in bad moods."
|
|
|
Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Apr 6, 2009 13:27:58 GMT -5
"I will. I'll keep my eyes peeled to see if they swim nearby." she nodded enthusiastically, lingering next to the railing as Nicu went about waking up the more grumpy of the sailors. She was on her tip-toes, hands flat against the wood to lean over ever-so-slightly, eyes scanning the deep, azure waters for the slightest flick of a fin, or the splash of a wave that could possibly be a dolphin. Her crimson locks were blown about her face as she leant into the sea-breeze, and eventually she had to move properly back onto the deck, giggling to herself as she sorted out her hair, which had practically covered her face to make her look somewhat like a monster. Albeit a laughing, flailing and vaguely adorable monster.
She looked up after sorting out her hair to tilt her head up at Nicu, smiling brightly and giving her a nod at the suggestion that she help to wake the rest of the crew. "Alrighty! I'll do my best. And hopefully I won't have to run away at all. But I'll be ready to, just incase." she beamed, skipping off across the deck to try and find any sailors worth waking. Admittedly, she didn't instill the same fear and abrupt leaping to work as Nicu did, but then she wasn't exactly an intimidating figure, was she? And her methods of waking up weren't as rash as the sailor's, either.
She had found a rather soundly sleeping sailor behind a few barrells some time later, leaning down to gently shake him awake and chirping a 'Good morning!' as she did so.
...Needless to see she was darting across the deck the next minute, squeaking and half seeming amused as the hungover sailor grunted and chased her, growling that 'little sea goblins had invaded their ship and were tryin' t'steal all the rum!' Nudge had never met a sea goblin, but she was rather worried if the sailor thought she looked like one.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Jun 1, 2009 16:32:51 GMT -5
Nicu turned away from Nudge for a minute to wake up a particularly akward sailor, and she swore that she only let the girl out of her sight for a minute, maybe even less, but by the time she turned around again the kid was hanging over the edge of the ship. If she fell into the water there was no way she was jumping in there after her. Nope, she could find her own way back up onto deck. She sighed with relief as Nudge stepped back away from the edge of the ship, though she swiftly covered that up with a mumbled curse. Anyone that heard her would think that she was going soft, and she couldn't let anyone going and getting ideas like that. Nicu was a force to be reckoned with, even if she had an adorable little monster like Nudge following her.
She grumbled something to herself in a gruff tone before rolling her eyes at the teenager and turning back to her duties, though this time she made sure to watch her out of the corner of her eye. Maybe watching her would keep her out of trouble, or rather, discourage trouble from going her way.
Not that it really helped, Nudge seemed to have a nack for getting herself into tricky situations. No sooner had Nicu stepped away from Nudge the girl was being chased across the deck by a lumbering, swearing sailor. Nicu scowled and rubbed at her temple, shaking her head slowly. "S'gonna be a long day."
|
|
|
Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jun 12, 2009 14:21:17 GMT -5
It wasn't so much that Nudge had a knack for getting into trouble... trouble just seemed to find her. A lot. And at every possible opportunity. Nudge was just lucky that way, she guessed. She had hidden behind the mast away from the sailor who was still lumbering after her sleepily, white cloak lifting ever-so-slightly from the sea breeze (she hastily snatched it back to her sides in case the hungover brute managed to find her and mash her into fine 'sea-goblin' paste). Eventually the sailor seemed to wake up a little and wander off to his duties, leaving Nudge with the safety to emerge from her hiding place. With a light pout at the fact that she'd just realised all of the crew had been woken up, she wandered back to Nicu, out of breath with rosy cheeks and a bright grin. "All done!" she chirped, tilting her head at Nicu's opinion that it would be a long day.
Nudge didn't seem to find the morning long at all, especially seeing that she was finally on her own adventure and this was the first, real day of it. And Nicu had said it was only half a day to the next port, so she couldn't wait to stretch her legs and explore and buy some supplies and and and... she guessed Nicu would probably stop her from doing anything too exciting though. Like battling vagabonds and rebelling against the society that allowed poverty to run rampant in the cities. Nah, she'd not let her do anything like that.
By the time the first hints of land were beginning to become visible the little healer was helping out the rest of the crew who on the most part, she was happy to note, didn't seem to care about her being there once their hangovers had disappeared and they'd gotten underway with their work... it might also have had something to do with the sailor whose hand had been cut the night before on some glass that Nudge had healed. Maybe sailors liked healers?
Nonetheless, as soon as the first fringes of greenery had appeared she hurriedly deposited the little coil of rope on top of the barrel with the other loops of rope and rigging and the like and bounded over to Nicu (she'd realised that, being the first mate Nicu would have a lot to do and so had left her alone for much of the morning). "Sir! Land!" she cheered excitedly; calling Nicu 'sir' seemed the most logical way to ensure that she didn't accidentally use the wrong pronoun or anything like that.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Jun 12, 2009 16:40:37 GMT -5
Once Nicu had decided that Nudge was going to be reasonably safe for the rest of the day, she took to her own duties. First of all she had to find all of the crew, which was surprisingly difficult. When they had hangovers the certain crew members had a tendancy to crawl into the strangest places to try and hide from her. Unluckily for them, Nicu knew the ship like the back of her hand. She had been on this ship for well over a year, and in that time she had explored every nook and cranny of the ship. She knew every hiding place there was, for items or people.
After that she fell into the everyday tasks of running a ship. Unfurling the masts when the wind started to blow, checking to make sure that their cargo was properly secured (and that none of the crew had been helping themselves to the cargo), fixing tears in the back up mast, winding rope, cleaning the deck, and dozens of other little jobs that she could do with her eyes closed...well...eye closed in her case. Throughout all this she kept an eye on Nudge though, checking up on her from time to time to make sure that she hadn't tripped over the edge of the deck or anything.
She was retying one of the thick, mast ropes when Nudge bounded over to her. Nudge had, however, chosen to approach from her blind side, which meant that Nicu was oblivious to her approach. In fact, she didn't even realise that she was talking to her. She only looked up because she had heard the girl's voice close by and was wondering who she was calling Sir. Needless to say that Nicu's dumbfounded look was priceless when she realised that she was talking to her. Sir? Her? She'd never had anyone address her so polietly in her whole life.
Once her words sank in, Nicu raised her gaze to look in the direction of the land, murmuring something to herself about time before calling orders to the crew, starting a flurry of activity. "Won't be long nar until we're there. Ya sure ya wanna go on land?" She asked, not seeming to be looking forward to this trip at all.
|
|
|
Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jun 18, 2009 15:39:31 GMT -5
Well what else was Nudge supposed to call her? If she called her by name it would be highly likely she'd let slip something by accident and end up calling Nicu a girl and then her secret would be out and Nicu would get in trouble and and and... it didn't bear thinking about. She smiled brightly at the flurry of activity that spotting the land brought, almost skipping back off to join the sailors in their tasks of unfurling the masts and turning to the best position to face the wind when Nicu asked her another question, and she spun on heel to smile up at her happily.
"Mm...? Well, you did say that we would be away from the land for quite a while after today." she figured, as if guessing that the sailor didn't really want to go on land - she had said that she didn't have to, but there was no getting that through to Nicu when she had her mind set on something, was there? "I only have to pick up some bits and bobs; a few herbs just in case there's an illness on board, some fruit to last for the first couple of days in case I get bored or hungry... or both. And maybe a new spell or two. I dunno, it depends on what we find there." she giggled, shrugging. "We won't be there for long, I don't think, maybe a couple of hours at the most. You still don't have to come though, really..." she murmured, turning to look out over the side towards the land again now.
The truth was she did want to spend a little time on the land, to see the new sights, all of the people and the marketplaces and the culture and... oh! everything! But if Nicu didn't want to stay she had no problem with leaving a little early, especially considering that this wasn't her final destination anyway. She smiled and hummed to herself and waited patiently as the little clump of greenery slowly drew closer, seeming more and more excitable as the port came into view. "Not long now!" she grinned.
|
|