[Complete] Never in the history of Pern has a disabled person been Searched, yet that is exactly what happens to Missa. Legs useless since she was small, her fate as a dragonrider and as a capable young woman hang in the balance at this unprecedent...
"Aww, isn't that so sweet?" Mirtha stepped around the corner.
"Don't you have better things to do?" Missa said.
"And miss out on talking to my favorite dragonrider?" she said.
"I'm busy," Missa said. "Go away."
"No, I think I'll stay with you for a while," she said. She put her finger on a wet cup and tipped it over onto the floor. She did it again with another cup.
"Stop it," Missa said, retrieving the cups.
"How do you plan on making me?" Mirtha said. "Are you going to hit me? Tackle me to the ground?"
"No," Missa said, clenching her fists.
"Why not?" Mirtha said.
"Because I don't want to hurt you," Missa said.
Mirtha laughed. It was a harsh, high-pitched laugh. "You hurt me? That's funny."
Missa washed the dropped cups again and tried to ignore Mirtha.
Mirtha reached her hand over to knock another cup over, but this time, Missa reached out and grabbed Mirtha's wrist. She put just enough pressure on the squeeze to get the other girl's attention but not hurt her. It took quite a bit of self-control not to squeeze any tighter. Mirtha's eyes widened and then grew angry. She yanked her hand out of Missa's grip. "Don't think that just because you're a dragonrider, that makes you better than any of us. You're still just a cripple with a runt of a dragon."
"Mirtha!" Wirrela's voice cracked the air like a whip. "I think there's some laundry that needs doing. Go now and you better not come back up until the evening meal."
Mirtha glared at Missa over her shoulder as she left.
"I'm done with the crockery, Wirrela," Missa said, gulping down the tears threatening to fall. "I see that those pots need a good scrubbing. I think I'll do those next."
Wirrela looked like she was going to say something but shut her mouth and just nodded. "Let me know when you're done with the pots and we'll see if there's anything else to be done today."
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Missa sat at a table in the dining area. She fed Dawn little pieces of her meatroll. Kila said down at the table across from her.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi, Kila," Missa said. She hoped the girl was here to be friendly. She'd had her fill of nastiness for the day.
"So, I was thinking about what happened today with the firestone sacks," she said, taking a bite of her dinner. "You have plenty of strength to throw sacks. Probably more than some of us. It's your height that's the problem."
"Ok," Missa said, giving the other girl her full attention.
"I was just thinking that maybe you could do throw from your runnerbeast," she said.
Missa's eyes widened. "Do you think it could work?"
"We could always try it and see what happens. I think J'gol left the firestone sacks in the field. Do you want to give it a try?"
Missa nodded. A small spark of hope lit in her. Nosey wasn't a dragon but he'd stand there placidly enough.
The two girls found the sacks sitting right where J'gol had left them. Nosey gave a pleased wicker as he nosed the fresh green grass.
Kila handed Missa a sack. "Ok, let's see," Kila said. "You don't want to hit Nosey on the head though he seems happy enough eating the grass. Try and swing it to me."
Missa tried dead-swinging it from the side of her runnerbeast but she couldn't get enough swing to throw the bag very far.
"Yeah, that's not going to work," Kila said, rubbing her chin. "Maybe sit sideways?"
"I'd fall off for sure if I did that," Missa said. "Wait, what about backward?"
Missa turned herself so that she was facing Nosey's hind end. She was still able to keep her riding straps on to keep her from falling off. She scooted as close to the back as possible. She reached down and picked up the sack. She placed her other hand on Nosey's rump to brace herself and then with a decent swing threw the sack towards Kila. Kila clapped.
"That worked great!" she said. "Try it again. I'll throw one to you and then you throw it back."
Missa tried again, and again she was able to get a good enough swing to get it at Kila's feet.
"Very good," J'gol said, coming up to the two girls. "Let's do that a few more times."
Missa felt more confident than ever as she swung the sack back and forth to Kila. A small triumph in a day that had been less than stellar.
"I'm impressed Missa and Kila," J'gol said. "Keep this up and you'll be throwing firestone with the best of them during Fall."
Missa's heart leapt. She had hoped he'd say something like that. She'd be even more secure on Apeth with her riding straps and she'd have Apeth's neck ridges to keep her secure. And maybe, just maybe, throwing firestone during Fall would lead to her getting permission to fly Fall.
