“Conch is generally found around sea grass,” Antja said, looking at Rachel. “But the nearest bed is klicks away. I think we need to go bugging.”
“Bugging?” Rachel asked.
“Looking for crayfish,” Elayna said, then added: “Lobster.”
“Oh.”
“Mostly the way that we do that is to swim upstream so we can coast back,” Antja said, swimming towards the inlet’s mouth. “But we’ve been here long enough that most of the upstream stuff has been picked over like the sea plum. The lobster move around; they come in to refill the niches they hide in, but that takes a little time. So, I’d suggest heading east, if you’re up for a hard swim back?
“I think so,” Rachel replied, picking up the string-mesh bag that had a few fruit in it. “What is this made of?” she asked as she followed the two mer-girls out to sea. They were swimming slowly since she was a virtual cripple in the water but it was still a little fast for her and she was glad when they caught the current and it pushed them to the east.
“Mostly seaweed stems,” Antja said. “We make some from the sea plum, too, but if you cut the vine, you don’t get the fruit. Hard choice.”
“And both of them rot quickly,” Elayna complained. “And aren’t very strong to start with. They’re not very good.”
“This is something we can help with,” Rachel said. “I don’t know if cosilk or hemp would be best, but we have both. Not a lot, yet, but more every year as we break more ground.”
“What I’d really like is a bathing suit top,” Antja said, looking at Rachel’s two-piece. “I’m really tired of having my breasts on display all the time. There are times that I don’t like being looked at that way, if you know what I mean. I won’t even comment on the occasional touch.”
“Speak for yourself,” Elayna said happily. “I like the looks. I don’t even mind the touch, if it’s the right hands.”
“That’s because you’re a slut, Elayna,” Antja said, without rancor.
“She’s not a slut,” Rachel challenged. “She’s just… comfortable with showing off her body. But I know what you mean, Antja. Even this thing is too skimpy for me. I never really showed off, much, before the Fall. Except, you know, when I was younger…”
“Putting on as little as your mom would let you get away with and going out in public to flaunt?” Antja said with a grin.
“Oh, I’d shake it,” Rachel laughed. “But then… some of the looks I’d get. They just made me shiver, you know? And I started putting my clothes back on. Since the Fall… with… some of the things that have happened, you never catch me anymore except in long skirts or slacks and a high-buttoned shirt. I don’t want the looks. At all.”
“Well, I don’t mind them, thanks,” Elayna said. “And I’m not a slut. A slut is some girl that sleeps with any guy that crooks a finger. I’m much pickier. Now, Bast, Bast is a slut.”
“Not by your definition,” Rachel said with a laugh. “By your definition, she’s perfect. But she wouldn’t mind being called a slut; she’d probably take it as a compliment. But Bast is very choosy and as far as I can see… sort of serially monogamous. I didn’t realize it at first, but she really is. She’s never even looked at another guy since she started dating Herzer, at least not around Raven’s Mill. And, God knows, Herzer doesn’t worry about hopping from bed to bed. If you’d like a slut, Herzer’s the male definition. But Bast isn’t. Hell, she chose my father when he was not much older than Herzer and they apparently were quite an item for damned near a decade.”
“Really?” Elayna gasped. “Your dad?”
“Oh, yeah,” Rachel said with a wicked grin. “Apparently back then, Dad must have really been something. Heck, he was living with Aunt Sheida before he met my mom and that was either post Bast or concurrent; I’ve never been sure and I’m not about to ask. And then he tossed them both over for Mom. Now that must have been a spectacular breakup.”
“Aunt Sheida?” Antja said, picking up on the name. “Not the council member?”
“Yep, now Queen Sheida of the United Free States. Even back then she was number two or three on the list for a Key, and they don’t hand those out at raffles. But here Dad is bouncing from Bast to Sheida and then finally settling on Mom of all women.”
“So he’s never slept with Bast again?” Elayna said. “That’s hard to believe. She’s so…”
“Sensual,” Rachel finished the sentence. “After Mom left him, taking me along, he apparently had some time with Bast. But… I’m not sure what was going on there. I’d say he needed the company; he was really busted up when Mom left.”
“When was this?” Antja asked.
“When I was about four,” Rachel said, sadly, remembering the arguments vaguely as not happy times. “My dad was a really serious reenactor before the Fall. He lived in a stone house, cooked his own food, or had a nanny servant do it anyway, the whole thing. Like some feudal lord. I mean, it wasn’t crazy living; he had hot and cold running water. But it was from a cistern on the hill and that was filled from a spring. When I say cold I mean cold. Anyway, the way I pieced it together, Mom wasn’t willing to raise me like that and he wasn’t willing to leave. So he clung to his life like a limpet and… Mom made a new one. He came and lived with us for a while but he just couldn’t hack it. Technology really seems to drive him crazy if he’s living with it every day. So by the time I was six or so, he was gone for good. I’d still visit him from time to time, especially for Faire. It was great when I was a kid. Dad was the local ‘Lord’ and I’d get all dressed up and people would fuss over me. But then as I got older, it just got so… old. So I stopped going to visit him.”
“What happened?” Elayna said. “Why’d you go back?”
“Duh, the Fall, dummy,” Antja chuckled, grimly.
“Duh, indeed,” Rachel said with a frown. “Mom and I lived… hell, not that far from Raven’s Mill. No more than a hundred klicks. Do you know how hard it is to walk a hundred klicks, carrying food, in the middle of the storms they had after the Fall?”
“Yuck,” Elayna muttered.
“Yeah. But what more perfect place to go? Before the Fall it was ‘This water is like ice and why do I have to use this old-fashioned flush commode? Why don’t you just transport like any normal person, Daaadddy!’ When I got there and saw a flush commode, and a hot bath being drawn, I cried like a baby. No more squatting in bushes! No more rough flannel and cold river water! Mom…” She stopped and breathed for a moment. “Mom got first crack at the tub. But, anyway, that’s how Mom and Dad got back together. And… after a while they got back to being… friends. For a while there, it was really sickening, like two giggly teenagers. Now they’re just… well, they’re just about the most perfect couple I’ve ever seen. They discuss problems, rarely lose their temper with each other and compliment one another for what they do. And Bast, returning to the subject of the discussion, has been smart enough not to interfere. Why should she? She’s got Herzer!”
“So what about you and Herzer?” Elayna asked. “I heard you were sharing a room on the ship? Care to pass on any tips?”
“He snores,” Rachel said, sweetly. “As for the rest, Herzer’s like my brother. I… we’ve never. We’re not going to be doing that.”
“Why?” Antja asked, reasonably. “I mean, I’ve got Jason and Herzer’s got no tail to speak of, but that doesn’t mean I can’t see the attraction. Hell, you’ve only got to take one look at his bathing suit to see one attraction.”