20th Saun 722
Alongside asking her to make the whistle-wood Horn of Loud Voices, Teq had also asked her something else. He'd asked her to help him organise his workshop. That had made Vega thinking about things, thinking about ways to organise things. Their cart was organised to the extreme - she'd made benches which acted as storage and as side-planters, it was all there. But looking around Sweetsong and thinking about their wagon had made her consider something.
So, she made her way to her cousin, Reese. "Wotcha," she said, and he looked up from what he was doing. "Hello, Eva," he said with a slight smile. "What brings you to speak to me?"
"I want to talk to you about wagons an' cupboards," she said. Reese raised an eyebrow at her and Vega grinned. "It's this cupboard what Teq wants me to make, you know? I were thinkin' Reese, what if we started makin' wagons. Covered ones, brightly coloured or beautifully engraved. Crafted out of wood an' made with people like us in mind. People what don't want to be still." Reese considered it. "You mean land boats?" Vega nodded. "I do. I mean exactly that. With all the space savin' an' clever flickety-flackin' that we know, an' more beside. A small space what has everythin' you need."
Reese was quiet for a moment, obviously considering it. "I like that idea, Eva. I like it a lot. We could use what we already know and make land-boats. I'm sure that those biqaj forced to go ashore for any length of time would prefer them," he sounded about as upbeat as he ever did, Vega thought, which wasn't at all. However, she'd grown up with him and she knew him - he was pleased with the idea. "I'm goin' to start thinkin' about this cabinet for Teq," she said. "Can you an' Shon do a supplies run? I'm thinkin' if you can get us some more wood, we can start lookin' at this wagon idea. I'm goin' to use quite a bit o' wood in this cabinet, so we need to secure a supply."
Nodding his head, Reese considered it. "How much do you want me to buy?"
["Are you havin' a giraffe?" Vega looked at her cousin with an incredulous expression. "I'm talkin' about findin' the trees, cuttin' them an' gatherin' wood in a sustainable way. You an' Shon can do that, aye?" Reese glared at her, momentarily considering whether she'd set him up on purpose, Vega thought, and then he nodded. He didn't admit he'd been wrong, but then he never would. "We'll find the best place, and then come back and let you know." Vega nodded.
"Sounds great thanks," she said and moved to their supply of wood. They had quite a bit left, still, from when she'd built the Beacon in Hopetoun, and it was more than enough to do what she needed to here. Vega had some ideas and, as Reese turned and went to find his brother, Vega started to get the wood and lay it out.
As she did, she spotted Wren and Joy and she waved them over. "Hey, you two. Wanna help?" Vega asked and both children nodded and sat down before Joy asked "What are you doin', Mama?"
"Well, Ipi, I'm makin' a cabinet for Teq - the nice man in the airship, remember him? - I'm makin' a cabinet for him to store all his tools in an' stuff. " Joy looked at her and nodded and Wren asked "What sort of tools does he have?"
"Well, Little Bird, I'm not sure," Vega said. "An' that's one of the challenges. I reckon, is tryin' to make somethin' what's useful but makin' sure it's useful for him." Wren nodded.
"What will you do?" Joy asked that and then thought about it. "It's like toys, isn't it?"
Vega grinned, "You know what, Ipi, that's a real good point. It's jus' like toys." It was true, Vega thought. The children had all sorts of animals, blocks, books, all manner of construction and other sorts of play things. They had to maximise efficiency and so they could use a similar format and approach here. "We'll make a cabinet what's got lots of space for everythin'. Sets of drawers what are not deep, so they can put screwdrivers in them, but they're not rattlin' round, an' vertical bits what open up like a book, so that Teq can hang things." That made sense to Vega, it could maximise space.
"That's a really helpful idea, Joy. Thank you," she said and smiled at her daughter. Joy gave her a brief, rare, smile in return and then Wren spoke up.
"Vega," he said, and she turned to look at him. "Yes, Little Bird?"
"Maybe Joy and I could draw some things, some designs that you put on drawers and cupboards, that will help him have a system for remembering?"
Vega looked at Wren and considered his words. "Like the toy boxes, I mean," he said. Each toy box was decorated with a different scene or carved words from a story - and that allowed them to identify each box. As his words made sense to her, she nodded. "I really like that idea, Little Bird. So, I'm figurin' that I'm goin' to have lots of drawers, lots of cabinets to open, an' stuff like that." Wren considered her words. "What if we made each drawer and door have a different symbol on it?" Vega nodded. "That makes sense to me. You an' Joy get drawin' an' I'll get makin'? Then, once it's done, I can engrave on there, like we did in Hopetoun with the story of Hopetoun on the gate, remember?" Wren nodded. "Good," Vega said. "Because you two will be helpin' me."
The children nodded and moved off to go and do just that. Vega, meanwhile, got to work.
She started out by sketching her ideas. The designing would be the most important thing, in a way Vega knew. It needed to be clear what she was doing and so she did a main schematic with "pop outs" of different things. She had to make sure that it was all going to fit together, after all. The way that Vega was envisoning it was that it would be in two pieces. The cabinet itself would have drawers which were some shallow, some deeper - with varying depths to be able to fit different tools in there. Then, there would be vertical draws, also, which pulled out and in which things could be hung. The sides would open up, pulling out to increase workspace and, above it would be a similar cabinet, but this one would open up - each side opening so that it would double in width. There, too, would be draws and spaces for putting things and a back board with small squares etched on it, so that small nails (which she would provide) would be able to put in there and thus hanging-space for specific tools could be made.
Once that was done, she had a list of things to make, pieces to shape and numbers of each. She was going to use phoenix wood for the handles, she decided, in order to be able to colour each handle differently. That would help in organisation. The back board would be in charwood , she decided, although mostly, she used her stock of Gemini Wood.
And so, she was ready to begin, just as Wren and Joy came back in. They held pieces of parchment in their hands and Wren was carrying some of the phoenix wood. "Let me have a looksie," Vega said and she turned her full attention to the children. She tried never to be half-present in their lives and so she listened to them now and so, she looked at each drawing. What she saw surprised her a little, and her lips lifted in a smile. "You pair are well clever," she said. "These are really nice." They had drawn letters, the pair of them. An A and an apple, like they had in the cards she used to help the smaller ones with their reading. "You pair have a job now," she added. "I'd like you to add the letters to this drawin' here," she handed over the plan diagram. "An' when you've done that, you'll know what letters Teq is gonna use. Then, prepare him a few pieces of parchment with the letters in a list so that he can fill in what's in each drawer if he wants. What's this?" Wren had drawn a sort of rectangle thing and Vega looked at him to explain.
"It's a small window," he said, "outside the drawer, so that you could put a piece of parchment in there and it would have what is in the drawer written on it." Vega nodded her head. "I really like that idea, Wren. We'll do that. That's really smart." Joy nudged Wren just slightly and he looked down at his feet. "What's up?" Vega asked. "I wasn't going to include it," Wren said. "Because I thought it might be stupid. Joy said I should." Vega nodded, thoughtfully. "I'm righ' glad you did. I'm not good with letters an' writin' an' stuff, so I'd have never thought of that. But, what would I have done if it was a stupid idea?" She asked him that honestly, and he thought about it for a moment. "Told me no, told me why not, and never said stupid." Vega nodded. "That's right. I'm glad you know that. Come on now then, you pair. Lets get on."
