#brightwindsbarony

The rocks she runs through her fingers. Squinting at this one or that.... a couple she thinks she knows, but most she does not... a good while spent just looking at each one! This one she is sure of, it’s quartz - common as dirt... but to her, a comfortable old friend. And she shows them to Ladybird. “See...” Describing what she thinks she might find. “but now I can put them in here and it will show me!”

Her tail thumps on the ground, in agreement.

Curiously, she lays them in a row in front of the dog. “Pick one out? I can’t decide...” Touching each one again in turn, too excited to begin.

Her nose bumps an unimpressive greyish-blue lump.

A nod! “Good choice.” She answers seriously, and carefully sets the others aside. Soon the... oh, one can only describe it as a RACKET is coming from her room!

Ladybird whines and hides under Grete's arm.

She turns it off, and gives the Pup an apologetic glance. “I’ll find a place to work. I get it. Some folk like jack hammers, some folk like pickaxes. They both have their places! But this will do the starting work for me, and once I see what their faces look like, I can finish by hand and polish ‘em up in my room all quiet like.”

“Can you find Lady Sparrow for me?”

"Whuff!" Oh, she trots right off! Mission!

And Grete trots after her! SMART dog, this Ladybird.

Ladybird IS smart. She leads upwards.

And somewhere between the Baroness' suite and Grete's room, the witchel spots wings down the hallway

Checking first to make sure that the Baroness isn’t in conference with someone, she approaches. “Lady?”

"Oh, Grete! Just who I was looking for!" A bright smile.

She looks up at her with a shy smile. “I found your present. It scared Miss Ladybird.” Patting the dog’s head. “But -I- really like it. I really, really, do.” Earnest.

"It scared.. oh, oh, I suspect it must have been loud?"

"But.. you like it? I wasn't sure how you might feel about rocks out of their natural state... but they're so pretty when they're polished..."

She crouches to pet the lab. Grete can see the stone turned necklace. "And I think I have thank-yous to make, too."

She nods! “Not everyone can feel what they are on the inside. It helps their inner nature shine through even to the rock blind.” And she blushes a little when she sees her wearing it. “Oh.... do you like it? You don’t HAVE to wear it if you don’t like it. Honest.”

"I like it. It looks like a sunset!"

She watches Sparrow and mimics what she is doing. Oh, ear scratches! Those seem to be a winner.

"Oh yes, Ladybird likes that spot. See?"

LOUD tail thumps!

“It’s petrified palm wood. That’s Texas’s state stone. I thought if you had a little piece of Texas, it might...” She struggles for a moment with the words. “Feel at home here? I mean, you already seem to. At least you don’t seem to DISLIKE us.

...I wondered at first if you were stuck with us because the Baron was gone.... but you’re still here.” A breath. “You even have the Name and the accounts now, and you could go anywhere in the world. But you’re staying. You ARE staying. Right?”

"I am staying."

"It is new, and part of me does miss Earth Runes... but there's a lot to like here. Grey and Caitir. You and Hope. Old and new friends, right?"

She smiles, relaxing a touch. “Right. And if you go flying, you’ll still be connected a bit to the ground.”

"True!" She touches it and smiles. "Smart thing, too. Don't want to get carried off. Did you have a good Yule?"

Nodding! “Probably the best one! I never got rocks for a present before, not rough ones that I can learn about all on my own. Or anything to help me with them. I didn’t even know it was a thing!”

She looks a bit guilty to confide, “Mom and Papa... they always give me gifts. They care, really, they do. But they don’t... they TRY to listen, but they don’t understand.”

A gentle shrug. "Sometimes parents don't understand. They don't see you as your own person - they just see a little extension of themselves. What they like, you must like. What they want, you should too. But people aren't like that."

“Do you think rocks could be art? Not just made out of paint. But can you make art out of rocks? Or....” She thinks. “Maybe jewelry, like you did? Being an artist is in vogue.”

"Jewelry for sure - jewelry is art. I had a friend at school who would polish them and wrap them with wires. And maybe some you could carve, or you could arrange them into sculptures..."

"Oh! Oh, let me find one..."

Her eyes brighten at the idea of carving. “Like into shapes? We went to the museum in Paris once... I only got to see a little, because the plane made me feel so sick... but they had that one of a guy sitting - the thinking man. And I liked how someone looked at the stone and just SAW that inside of there...”

Sparrow digs out her phone and hunts for pictures. "That's how Michaelangelo described sculpture - he saw the form inside, and cut away the rest."

“I thought you had to have an idea first and then just made it go. If there was a shape already there, then the rock might like it if you let it out.” Slowly exploring this train of thought, as she looks at the pictures.

"Well, I'm not great at sculpture but I've had a class. We could get some tools and try it. Now these.. this is an artist named Goldsworthy, and he goes out to arrange things in nature to make sculptures."

“You DID?” Enthralled. “But aren’t you busy? You got all the Barony stuff to do.”

"Well, we might have to schedule a time to make sure we don't get interrupted. But you're part of the barony, so YOU are Barony stuff." A little grin.

A chin wobble - nope, she is STERN and COLLECTED. A firm nod. “Right.”

"And if I declare time with you is official business, then who will complain?" Reassuring.

"Now, you need good strong hands to carve stone." Sparrow extends her delicate ones - sword-callused, but finely boned. "Strong, but careful."

She holds out a hand of her own. “My hands are tough too, just in different spots.”

"Good. Don't let anyone tell you art isn't serious work. It's fun, yes. It's a way to express yourself. But to be really good, you have to work hard."

“Mama wanted me to wear gloves with lotion on them.” A small grin. “But they never got soft like hers.”

"Calluses protect you. They show what you are passionate about. This one, see, is my rapier... but here? Here's from my brush." She points.

“I can work hard!” Nod nod. “it’ what we DO.” A proud tapping on her chest. “Wichtels, that is. Not Steinfelds. I mean, my parents do good work. But they don’t DO any work. There are foundations...” Vague notions. “And fundraisers, and galas.”

"It's a kind of work, too. It can be hard to understand someone very different from you."

“You do, though. Or you try.” A smile. “I’ve been watching. You listen to everyone.”