Getting back into RICIMER mode ... BUT MEANWHILE ...

Let it be a challenge to me.

We left him at age 12 with almost the whole of his very active life ahead of him.

He's got places to go, things to do, people to see.

Protege of Aetius, along with Majorian and Aegidius, Ricimer's Destiny is not going to be an easy one.

In between us abandoning Ricimer in the days of his youth, Our Characters have taken the bit in their collective teeth and skipped ahead to when they journey to America in the year 1600. Two of the AINE Books are written and in print (and on Kindle). Then we skip ahead yet again to meet the lot of them in the 1800s - in America's Wild West. That they bring their own Wild Ways with them is a given since the Young Ones show up (Colum, Saorsa, Marra, and Mamm the Younger). IF you've met them already, you don't need to wonder that the American West might be just about to get a little more wild than it already was.

This is the painting I used for the cover of the 'Go West!' book that has Our Characters moving from western Kansas into eastern Colorado, and then preparing for their next western move - to the Colorado Rockies.

So ... it's going to be a toss-up between RICIMER and these Characters of the American West (along with finishing the rest of the AINE Books) as to which will manage to get done in what order.

Stay tuned.

Draft: Here Come The Young Ones

The family gathered at the stage station leans forward and twists as though choreographed.

Approaching hooves are tattooing a rapid march from down the street of this dusty small western town.

Every window and doorway along the street holds heads that also lean and twist in time with the family.

Someone is coming to town on the stage and they are almost here.

Little red-headed Rua pokes her husband Dothann.

‘What?’

‘How will we know them?’

‘For pete’s sake Rua. We’ll know them.’

‘How? How will they know us?’

‘Think about it, Rua. We know things. So do they. How could we NOT know each other?’

‘We don’t even know what they look like.’

‘Well, we’re about to find out, aren’t we? Here comes the stage.’

The leaners and twisters leave their windows and doorways as the stage passes and follow it down the street. The leaners and twisters from the other end of the eight block street stop leaning and twisting and head toward the stage station.

The ones following the stage get a mite dusty but they don’t care at the moment. Their curiosity is compelling and over-rules their common sense.

The family in front of the stage station stops leaning and twisting and straightens itself into neat rows, blanking faces so that a person could not possibly guess what thoughts might be moving around inside of those heads.

Centered in the back row is big, blond, copper-eyed Danann with his look-alike (but with green eyes) grandson Brann beside him, flanked by the two next largest members of the group – Thann and Kalann both with dark hair and eyes.

Alongside of their husbands are Sass standing next to Thann and Aine next to Kalann.

In front of them are Danann’s little wife Sidhelagh with Brann’s wife Andras, flanked by the couple Caileen and Talorc.

In front of them are Alianora and Drustann with Diann and Corrbed to each side of them.

In front of these four are Rua and Dothann.

In front of everyone is the smallest of the bunch, the elder Mamm.

Off to one side is Merri standing alone, watching the whole street with keen eyes.

The eighteen of them stand in silence, waiting. That they form an imposing triangle might or might not have registered with them. It registers with everyone else. Familiar as the sight has become to the rest of this small town, it is still intimidating when this family gathers itself and makes themselves into their triangle.

That there is something odd about their collective self as well as about them as individuals isn’t generally overly noticeable … but when they show up and stand shoulder to shoulder like this people definitely notice and pay attention.

Something is about to happen and the town turns out full force to find out what it is. This family never gets themselves into this formation for no good reason, as the town has already found out.

Trotting up to the stage station, the horses pulling the stage stop and seem to take one last deep breath before dropping their heads in fatigue.

The horses tethered alongside the stage … well … they immediately give little tugs that disconnect them from their tethers. Two of them go to the doors on either side of the stage and without further ado nimble mouths and teeth open the doors.

Before the occupants of the stage can emerge, the four horses neigh loud enough to wake up anyone who might have been sleeping (although nobody is as everyone is in the street by now) and rear.

They’ve already gotten everyone’s attention without the theatrics, but earn themselves a hearty round of applause. Bowing to their audience, the matching set of four tall perfectly proportioned silver horses regally nod their heads at all and sundry in acknowledgement, restless eyes taking in every detail as they nod in all directions. They are royalty and even though the United States of America doesn’t recognize royalty, these citizens know what they are seeing.

Having allowed the horses their introductory moment, the four young people make their own entrance, stepping from the stage with grace and finesse.

Three girls and a boy stand before the stage station, poised and silent.

For a long long time that silence isn’t broken as each pair of eyes in turn locks gazes with each and all of the eighteen gathered family members, hold them for various lengths of time, and move on to the next.

About the time the townsfolk are starting to yawn, Mamm the Elder’s face produces the most brilliant smile anyone has ever seen, so bright it seems to back the shadows right off the whole street.

Stepping forward, the little lady extends her hands to the four Younglings who have stepped off the stage.

‘Welcome!’

That is all she says, or at least all anyone hears, as the four tall young people have her surrounded and enclosed among them before the word is even out of her mouth.

Dothann pokes Rua as the rest of the family remains silent and still, no expressions on their faces.

‘See Rua? Tell me you don’t know them!’

‘Fine. Of course I know them. Those two red-heads are Marra and Mamm the Younger although I couldn’t tell you which is which. That blonde gal is Soarsa and that dark-haired kid is Colum. They’re obviously kin, look at them with Mamm! You’d think they’d known her for all of the eleven years of their lives.’

The stage driver breaks the spell with an, ‘Ahem!’ and a significant look at Danann and Brann while he points to the boxes and trunks fastened to the top of the stage.

‘Oh. Sorry Brawny. We’ll get those off there and you can get your horses taken care of.’

And so the two big men casually take the trunks and boxes down like they don’t weigh more than three ounces apiece (which the stage driver knows is NOT the case since he himself struggled to get them up there) and set them off to one side close to Merri.

Being as the four Younglings still have Mamm surrounded and are soaking her with tears, Brann and Danann, followed closely by the still-suspicious tall silver horses, walk up to the huddled little group and unceremoniously lift the two tall (but not nearly as tall as Danann and Brann) red-headed girls away from Mamm the Elder and lift them way up over their heads, starting to spin like tops.

The two girls automatically arch their backs and fling out their arms to maintain their balance and let out with a couple of surprisingly musical squawks that sound a lot like quacks.

When the two big blond men cut loose with their deep belly laughs there’s no stopping what happens next.

Those two, when they laugh, make everyone in the vicinity laugh with them. It’s a sort of magical chain reaction and the whole town cracks up laughing while the bulk of the family finally breaks their silent stillness and tromps over to welcome the additions to their family.

Thann, who is as big as Danann and Brann only dark instead of blond, lifts Soarsa over his head so that the new Youngling girls are all three flying in circles quacking to beat the band.

The four tall silver horses are watching the whole spectacle in silence, for perhaps the first time in their lives their attention wholly on what’s going on instead of their eyes constantly roving.

While all this quacking and laughing is going on, Dothann brings a buckboard from beside the stage station. Talorc, Kalann, Drustann, and Corrbed lift and load the heavy trunks and boxes onto it as easily as Danann and Brann had gotten them off the stage, which makes the stage driver pause his laughter for a moment and wonder about his own strength. He’d found those same trunks and boxes almost impossible to manage.

The four tall silver horses nudge dark-haired Colum, who quickly mounts the stallion of the bunch and looks at his new-found family.

‘Which way are we going?’

Danann, Thann, and Brann lead the way, quacking young girls still aloft, down the street a couple of blocks and then down a side street another couple of blocks to Mamm the Elder’s little house.

The buckboard follows them, Colum and the silvers follow the buckboard, and everyone else marches along behind them, waggling their backsides merrily to the delighted entertainment of the townsfolk.

Unseen by any except for the Younglings, a very small figure dressed in brown and green rides atop the collection of trunks and boxes. He is perhaps two feet tall (at the moment) and laughing as merrily as everyone else although only the Younglings can hear his piping laughter. A time or two he stands on the trunks and boxes and dances a jaunty little jig, with waggles and quacks of his own.

Watching him from behind, Colum grins and murmurs, ‘Home, Brownling. We’re going home.’

The dancing Brownie of course hears, turns around, adds a few agile leaps and flips to his dance, and looks to Colum as he at last stands still and clasps his hands over his head in victory.

1)    Mamm the Elder

2)    Danann

3)    Sidhelagh

4)    Alianora

5)    Drustann

6)    Sass

7)    Thann

8)    Caileen

9)    Talorc

10) Aine

11) Kalann

12) Merri

13) Corrbed

14) Diann

15) Dothann

16) Rua

17) Brann

18) Andras

19) Colum

20) Saorsa

21) Mamm the Younger

22) Marra

23) Brownling

24) The Silvers

word count 1591

WHOOOOP! The Young Ones - Here come the next batch of Younglings !!!!

Can't stay away from the horses, can I?  LOL Here's a photo I might want to use as inspiration since I have a feeling in my gut that the mounts of the Young Ones aren't likely to be any more hesitant to assert themselves than their riders. Oh boy. 

Here's a bit of a preview for you, so you'll kind of know what to expect from these 'new' Characters. I've snagged this out of the rough draft working copy of COME HELL AND HIGH WATER.

While our Younglings are heading into their young adult years, these Young Ones are picking up where their older cousins left off, and going them one better.

XXX

"It’s time to check in on the Young Ones of Dunnottar. 

They’re keeping themselves busy with their schooling, with Dedan and Saba coaching them along. Marra and Mamm the Younger are a pair of holy terrors, exponentially worse than even Rua ever was. These Young Ones are unrepentant rapscallions who charm their way out of trouble time and again.

Mounted [on the most rambunctious four horses that the Silver Herds of Dunnottar have ever produced, true throw-backs to Ordha and Rogue, with more than a dash of Oillt's attitude to top it off, I kid you not], they spread the joy of their escapades through the general vicinity.

In Stonehaven they go thundering along the main street scaring little old ladies and providing entertainment for littles and younglings who admire them greatly. Then they come back through from the other direction, sedate little saints come to share serenity and good works. They look around, find people who could use a hand, and pitch in with whatever tasks they can find. Then they do the thundering bit again on their way out of town.

In Northwest they helpfully clear the streams for a mile around and dig a well in the middle of town, pat themselves on the back, and then stock the well with fish when nobody’s looking.

In Forest they yell and scream their way along the paths, horns bellowing, thoroughly disrupting the peace that generally reigns in the quiet of the woods. The first few times they set the forest animals into panics, which in turn sets the Forest Folk into panics. Then everyone gets used to it. They order massive quantities of lumber and the other products produced by Forest, and pay for it in gold and silver and jewels. All of the stuff they ordered and paid for shows up on the doorsteps of the folk who most need it.

Out in the territory of Beyond, on the other side of the forest, they take to making loud appearances in the communities in the middle of the night, clanging and banging, hooting and hollering, then disappearing when lights begin to show in windows. When morning comes the folk of Beyond are surprised to find barns cleaned, haystacks in place that hadn’t been there the day before, cattle gathered, and new supplies for the making of their instruments piled neatly in the town square.

The basket-makers of Southwest get scared out of their wits when they hear moanings and groanings in the night, punctuated by sudden shrieks and wails. It’s darned spooky and the Young Ones take great delight in seeing who can create the most eerie sounds with their voices and their horns. Here too they order an amazing array of basketry, pay for it with the coin of Dunnottar, and show up with a huge wain pulled by all four of their silvers to collect their purchases. Even the wain has been a special order. It is a great big basket shaped like a boat. They drive their boat all over the place dropping off baskets to all and sundry. The wain-boat itself they give to South.

One calm night they sneak down to South and set all of their fishing boats adrift so they aren’t there come morning when the South Folk want to use them. In their own little currachs, out far enough to not be visible from South, they’ve got the boats corralled by dolphins Called for the purpose by the girls. When a hue and cry is raised by South at daylight, the naughty Young Ones ride some of the dolphins back to shore while the others push the boats back AND herd an astonishing catch of fish along with them.

Yes, these Young Ones are busy. They are wild and reckless but so well-loved that they get away with whatever they can think of to do.

Dunnottar herself is not spared.

They go into the smithy when Thann is called away to help somebody with something or other, probably something they rigged up their own selves to get him out of their way. They want to forge a sword that even Thann can’t wield. The fire they get started is so big and so hot that it goes right up the chimney where the wind catches it and sets fire to the thatched roof of the roundhouse. Quickly extinguished, it causes no real harm but the Young Ones have to work their tails off mending the burnt place on the roof.

And they’ve just taken themselves over the line,  yep. They’ve gone too far this time.

They have to face the wrath of Dunnottar, not a pleasant prospect for anyone involved.

Dedan and Saba are in tears over the whole thing. They’re supposed to be the Guardians of Dunnottar and the roundhouse could have gone up in flames. To make it worse, it is their own charges, the Young Ones, who have caused this trouble.

Said Young Ones don’t feel all that bad about the roof of the roundhouse,  truth be told. That's something that is fixable even though with great effort. 

But when they realize how badly they have hurt Dedan and Saba they are for the first time in their lives truly repentant. This has in no way been their intent – yet they have harmed the ones who perhaps love them at least as much as their own parents do, maybe more at times.

The tears of Dedan and Saba do what nothing else has been able to accomplish.

Those tears bring the Young Ones to their knees.

Finally, just as Merri is about to drag them off to the disciplined life of the Fienne, Ullin himself shows up and carts them off to Iona, lock stock and barrel."

XXX

If you've read the short story books, you'll have met this batch briefly.

They are Colum and Saorsa, born kin-twins to Caileen and Aine of Dunnottar (born at the same time, and in close proximity, to full sisters), and Marra and Mamm the Younger, the fire-headed twin daughters of Sass. The two pairs are born within a year on Dunnottar. 

When we meet them in the short story, and again now, they are 12/13 years old.

This is the only group within our story line that doesn't have a shorty among them, although with Dedan and Saba as their teachers, mentors, guides, guardians, and friends they do have a couple of short folk closely associated with them. The four cousins are all long-legged and tall. 

They are the collective 'baby of the family' and maybe a little over-indulged.

Colum is the son of Caileen and Talorc - teachers, diplomats, and leaders of Dunnottar. 

Caileen has long thick hair of brown generously streaked with copper and gold, with the copper eyes of her father Danann of Dunnottar that go back in our lineages to David of Chattan.

Talorc is a powerfully built man of 'normal' height with short dark hair and very dark eyes.

Saorsa (whose name means 'freedom' in Scots Gaelic) is the daughter of Aine and Kalann, half sister to Aine's son Brann.

Aine and Kalann are scholars, warriors, and general cut-ups but very serious about what's important in life.

Aine has light brown curls and blue eyes; Kalann is, like Talorc, a powerfully built man with dark hair and eyes, although their facial features are pretty different.

Marra and Mamm the Younger are the twin daughters of Sass and Thann (who adopted the brother-pair of the Old Ones, Dedan and Saba)

Sass is tall and slender with blonde hair and sea-eyes that change to and from all of the colors of the waters of Earth. She is our Healer.

Thann is what we call 'Danann sized' - which is to say he is six and a half feet tall and well-muscled. Thann is our smith.

Marra and Mamm the Younger would be the spittin' images of the 'original' Warrior Twins Sass and Saille except that their eyes are the deep blue of their great-great-grandfather Alaric instead of bright grass-green.

We don't have physical descriptions (yet) of either Colum or Saorsa, except for their height and long legs. I'm thinking that Colum will carry the dark eyes and dark hair of his father Talorc while Soarsa might be blonde and green-eyed.

At any rate, the Young Ones welcome you to our midst, and we welcome them (most of the time) to our Story Line.