Dinosaur Campfire [suppertime]

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla had helped her siblings and the manse children gather firewood for bonfires in Rainbow Valley more times than she could count, and so she knew she had the proper mix of kindling to larger logs.

There was only one little problem--as the youngest, she'd never been permitted to light the fire, and the sausages she'd brought out with her weren't going to cook themselves.

How irritating.

She said down on a nearby log with a little flounce of her skirts, hoping for one of the older students to come along and help a wee freshman out.

Comments

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

They'd had no shortage of bonfires in the orchard at the King family farm, either, but with Felix, Beverley, Dan, and Peter around to say nothing of Uncle Roger and Uncle Alec, Sara hadn't had any occasion to learn to light them either. Neither did she smoke (how vulgar), or have any reason to carry matches on her person now that she'd become accustomed to the convenience of electric lighting, so while she might be older she would be no help whatsoever.

She did, however, stop and smile when she caught a glimpse of the person sitting at the unlit fire. "Oh, hello, Rilla!"

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Were ye lightin' it wit' yer mind, lass?" George asked as he wandered up. He might claimed to be drawn by the scent of potential food, being as he was fifteen and a boy.

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"Sara!" Rilla cried warmly. "It is so nice to see a friendly face."

She gestured at the unlit fire with a little smile. "I feel as if I light this myself I will glance over my shoulder and see Jem glowering disapprovingly."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"People can do that?" Rilla replied, gaping.

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Around here?" he asked. "Don' know anyone off th'top of me head, but if they said they could, I'd believe 'em."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"Just when I think I have a measure of this place's strangeness," Rilla murmured, shaking her head. "I don't suppose you have matches with you?"

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Don' have matches, but I do have a lighter," George said, taking that as an invitation to mess with the fire. "These are th' best things, y'know? Like a li'l magic bit o' fire all wrapped up in a tube jus' waitin' fer ye to need it."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

She smiled at him. "Very convenient," she agreed, "and a much better solution than eating raw sausages and needing a doctor."

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Unless ye really wanted th'doctor, I s'pose," he decided, using the lighter to catch some of the tinder. "But th'cooked sausages do taste better."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"It is at that, isn't it?" Sara agreed with a merry laugh. "What with moving into the cabins and all, my sense of everything is a bit jumbled right now."

To say nothing of certain less than pleasant cabinmates . . .

"You wouldn't let something like that stop you, honestly?" asked the Story Girl, who had after all been brazen enough to sneak into the house and change the hands on the clock when several hours' waiting had turned out to be unbearable. "I'd offer to do the lighting, but I haven't any matches myself."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"It's mostly that I haven't found matches," Rilla admitted with a little laugh. "My imaginary brother isn't that fearsome. What cabin are you in? There's a boy in this one who is the most frightfully noisy snorer."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"They smell like summer almost as much as freshly roasted fish," Rilla said with a little sigh. "We practically live outdoors at home once the weather allows for it."

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Sounds nice," George said sincerely, sitting back as the fire caught and started to grow. "Where's home then?"

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"Jello Dragon," Sara said, putting a whimsical quirk into that first word. "I'm still not sure exactly what that is, only it sounds whimsical. There are several boys in there, but I haven't noticed any particularly horrible snoring. There is one boy who uses the most awful language, though."

She glanced around the campground and decided, "There's bound to be someone with matches, isn't there? Someone seems to have at least one fire going out here every night so far. One ought to come along eventually."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"Hello," Sara called to the boy; she thought she he looked familiar. "I think we're cabinmates, aren't we?"

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"Well, you're a dragon," Rilla said with a bright smile. "Shouldn't your cabin be the ones in charge of such things? Well, and guarding treasure, of course."

Her eyes went wide. "You'll never guess who used to be a student here!"

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Think so!" he said, giving her a quick grin. "'M George Cooper. Haven't caught yer name yet."

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"Prince Edward Island," Rilla replied. "In Canada. And you?"

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Canada's th'one to th'north, aye?" George checked. "'M from th'Lower City of Corus. In Tortall."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

"Well, not all dragons breathe fire, you know. The ones from the Chinese stories never seem to, anyway." Still, Sara couldn't help but laugh. "Of course, I haven't got the slightest idea where in that range Jello dragons fall, and if we're guarding treasure it certainly isn't gold."

She sensed a story, or at least the makings of one, and dropped gracefully to sit on a log, leaning forward curiously. "You're not going to tell me it's Napoleon Bonaparte, or anyone famous like that, are you?"

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla's forehead furrowed. "Is that near Rumania?"

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"King Arthur!" Rilla whispered. "The snoring boy said he wasn't anything like the stories, though."

[isntabitpretty.livejournal.com]

Sara stood long enough to curtsy quickly. "Sara Stanley," she replied, "and it's a pleasure, George, and there, now we've met, in a much more pleasant manner than meeting Alex Karev."

If only there were someone around who could recognize that the way she said that name strongly resembled the way she mentioned Jerry Cowan; someone who talked like he did was just as bad, if not worse, than someone who would dare to sell children what he claimed was a picture of God.

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"I don' know a Rumania," George apologised. "Tis not in this world as far as I know."

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

George grinned at the curtsy and gave her a goofy bow in return. "Don' mind him, lass. He's not a terrible sort, jus' a bit prickly around th'edges."