Big Damn Project

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Cait sent for Toby to be awakened just after the sunrise. After he had tried to run, Cait thought it best to keep him with her. Toby was delivered to Cait at breakfast in the manor’s dinning hall. She was in the middle of a coffee and a croissant, and Toby was treated to a breakfast of whatever he wanted. He requested a simple plate of eggs, sausage, and toast, with some fresh juice. As others in the house started to rise, Toby watched amazed at how the skilled kitchen staff took on even the most ridiculous orders.

Cait had chosen a table away from most of the action, a comfortable spot where the sun light from the large windows of the dining hall could spill over her morning papers. As the morning meandered on, Toby began to think this was a well-worn decision: Those that wanted to see her made their way over to the table for a quick hello. But most of her family, Toby noticed, stood at the periphery of Cait’s staked-out area, looking her way only to whisper about her.

The dining hall itself was cavernous, stretching wide enough to fit the Rose itself inside, illuminated entirely by the floor to ceiling windows across the outside wall of the room, though Toby noted the three massive chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. And the room was alive with people, even at this hour, mixed with blood relatives and in-laws. The blood Molyneux were easy enough to spot, as nearly all of them were red panda. The in-laws stood beside them, dressed as casually lavish as they could be before the end of breakfast. The bodyguards were easy enough to spot, too. More often than not they stood a head above the rest of the crowd, though they were probably less bored than their clients.

Cait finished her papers — she had been passing them off section by section to Toby as she completed them, though Toby found little success with the Simplified characters — and stood. “Well,” she said to Toby, who watched her from his chair, looking small and out of place, “Care to meet the family?”

Toby’s eyes grew a little wider. “Uhm…” he stammered.

“I know,” Cait said, letting her eyes drift out the windows of the dining hall. “Neither do I. But we must. It is how we behave in the company of the Molyneux.”

“How’s that, sir?” Toby asked, pushing in his chair.

“Thrilled for the privilege, Tobias! Today we shake the hands of the rich and powerful and always interesting. And do try to laugh at their jokes; it makes them feel good.”

Cait started to make the rounds in the room, talking to those who had finished breakfast and were now talking their coffee or tea by the windows. Cait spoke to them with elegance. She seemed to understand a sort of protocol she had to undertake, a way to shake hands or embrace — though Toby didn’t know when to do one or the other — how to start a conversation politely, how to end a conversation and move on. When Toby suddenly found himself the center of attention, he tried to introduce himself, but failed the protocol test. The person he was talking to, either a distant cousin to Cait, or a relative-in-law, would look at him as if he had just spoken moon-language, and now they were shaking hands with an alien. A profoundly uninteresting alien.

After about an hour of this, of talk about money and business and the Trade, Cait managed to slip out of the dining hall. Outside the doors, she took a moment to compose herself, and then started towards the front doors. Toby followed. As he caught up to her, she sighed, long and thoughtful.

“Sorry about that, dear,” she said. “Keeping up appearances, you know? It is expected.”

Toby nodded.

Just as Cait got to the doors, they burst open, a small army of servants pushing ahead of a tall, stoic red panda. Toby found him to be handsome. His presence filled the room. A couple guests in the dining hall paused in their conversation to watch him through the doorway. The man stopped in front of Cait and Toby and tilted his head. “Cait?”

Cait stopped as well. She stood a little straighter, her ears leveling out. “Hello, Chou.”

Chou waved his servants away, and they separated, scattering in unison to the corners of the house. There was a quick hug between Cait and Chou, just long enough to qualify as a technical hug. Nobody would say it was not a hug, Toby thought, but it even made him a little queasy.

“When did you arrive?” He spoke with the same educated citizen of Anchorhead accent that Cait used, though a little more relaxed and self-assured. Cait’s side of the family tended to be adventurers, or important political figures, or somewhere in between. Toby thought back to the library, and remembered Chou’s pictures, pictures of large checks and Chou standing behind a podium. Entrepreneur was batted around in the articles that surrounded Chou’s pictures. General capitalist seemed to be the only good explanation Toby could come up with. Investor wasn’t far behind.

“Early yesterday morning.”

“Always good to be back, isn’t it?”

“Always. Big day today.”

“Big day, but I’m ready for it. The change is exciting.”

“Indeed.”

“How’s business?”

Toby felt this question ripple through Cait. While others talked about the Trade, no one asked Cait directly about her own business, either out of politeness or embarrassment for Cait. That had worn on Cait as it was, but the other side of the issue, the point blank question, was far worse.

“Picking up,” Cait said.

“Oh?” Chou said. “Perhaps you were due for a windfall. Well done.”

Cait made an interested sound in her throat.

Chou turned to Toby, looking down at him. “And who is this? Surely he is not yours.”

“New crew,” Cait said.

“Ah,” Chou said, nodding. “The boy. I have heard all about him. Really, Cait. Do you remember what grandmother always said about these situations?”

“No, but please, do not let me stop you.”

“‘If you save a man from drowning, you’re responsible for life’.”

“Wonderful,” Cait said.

“Responsibility isn’t your strong suit, Cait. I do hope we can find a solution for young… your young friend here before you wander off the route again.”

Cait swallowed the words she had for Chou, clenching her fist furthest from him. “Well, see you tonight, then.”

Chou nodded. “Of course.” He stood aside, letting Cait go on her way.

Cait picked up her pace across the estate as they passed servants unpacking more cars, bags for more Molyneux. She reached the stables and stopped. Toby stopped close behind, and waited for Cait to say something.

“Do you have a large family, Tobias?” Cait asked, looking down at him.

Toby jumped a little, startled that Cait would actually talk to him. “N-no, sir.”

“Hmm…” Cait looked back up at the sky. “Some day you will have to tell me how great it is.”

—-

By the afternoon, the party had moved outside. The servants worked the duration of the morning to set up tables behind the manor, spilling out from a stage, and filling the area out to a small stand of trees. Cait chose one of the tables in the back, again putting herself out of the action. She had changed into a dress, something elegant, that matched her fur perfectly. She looked comfortable and, despite the people around her, somewhat content. Toby took his seat next to her, still feeling small and unnoticed, but considering his encounter with Chou that morning, he wasn’t too upset.

Xiphos and Nina joined Cait early on. Xiphos hung back a couple of steps from Nina, her gaze everywhere but the party. Nina took her seat next to Toby, and when Xiphos was sufficiently distracted, she talked to him. It didn’t seem to matter about what, anything from Colony pop stars, to plays, to the ball game. Cait watched on, Toby noticed, with a look of relief that Toby was starting to loosen up. He pretended not to notice.

Tre made his entrance in the late afternoon, dressed in a nice suit. He sat down at Cait’s table, his ears pressed against his head, looking almost ashamed. Xiphos was the first to start laughing, Cait close behind. This didn’t help at all. Tre turned away from them, head on his fist, eyes narrowed at the patch of trees.

“Oh, Tre, dear, we’re not laughing at you,” Cait said.

“I am,” Xiphos said, before losing her composure to giggles. Nina elbowed her.

“You look brilliant, dear.”

“You did that suit a favour by putting it on,” Nina said.

Tre folded his arms. Cait patted his shoulder, smiling as broad as Toby had ever seen.

Shadows loomed over the table, blocking the sun. Cait turned slowly, the fur on the back of her neck bristling.

“They let any sort of rubbish in here, don’t they?” It was a man, for sure, but it was hard to see him.

“Hmm. Security’s slipping. I’ll let them know.” This was a woman. Both of them shared Cait’s accent.

Cait stood, drawing her shoulders back, looking straight at her confronters. And then she hugged them.

“I was wondering if you were coming at all,” she said. She kissed the man on the cheek, and did the same to the woman. They then all took seats at the table.

Toby recognized them from the library, as Cait’s two youngest siblings. They were remarkable in that they were wholly unremarkable, complete oddities in the Molyneux family. Morgan, Cait’s sister, was a teacher in one of the Confederate States, and Ilonanda, Cait’s brother, was a perpetual Traveler. Both were under 30, young and thin, and they looked like they had better things to do than hang out here.

“Yeah, sorry,” Ilonanda said, flagging down a servant. He took a drink from the servant’s tray and thanked him. “Took a little longer to get here.”

“We weren’t in a hurry,” Morgan said.

“I know the feeling,” Cait said.

“So how’s your life of failure going?” Ilonanda asked Cait.

Cait sighed. “Better, actually. I’ve got a contract. We’ll make the delivery after all of this.”

“Go now,” Morgan said, “You’re not going to miss anything.”

“We’ll fill in the blanks for you,” Ilonanda started. “We all know what Chou’s going to say: ‘Oh, what a fine day it is to be a Molyneux. Observe all ye of our greatness. As I enter my third cycle, I ask Nibiru, in all her wisdom, to make us even more awesome, so that our kids may be awesome too’.”

“We made game cards,” Morgan said. “The prize is we get to leave.”

“Everybody wins!”

Cait laughed with them, so hard she started to tear up. “I missed you two.”

Morgan hugged her sister. “You’re what keeps us sane, coming back here. You’re the only one of them that’s grounded.”

Ilonanda turned to Xiphos. “Are you still wearing that?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Xiphos narrowed her eyes at Ilonanda.

“What’s wrong with it? It looks like you shop at the Navy surplus.”

“I think she does,” Nina said. Xiphos cast a side-long glance at Nina, and looked down at her plate.

“I think it looks okay,” Toby said, trying to raise his voice.

Ilonanda turned to him. “You’re new.”

“Hmm, yes,” Cait said. “I suppose I forgot to make introductions.” Cait introduced Toby properly to her siblings, and proceeded to tell them his story, of how she had found him on the docks, how he had been kidnapped. Toby, embarrassed by the sudden attention, did his best not to make eye contact.

“Interesting,” Ilonanda said. “You always did like your stays, Cait.”

“You’re lucky she found you,” Morgan said. “As far as total failures like us go, I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather but stuck with than Cait.”

“You don’t like traveling with me?” Ilonanda asked, turning to Morgan.

“You fart in your sleep. It shakes my bed,” Morgan said. Xiphos laughed.

Ilonanda pushed Morgan, and returned to his drink. “Where’s Billy?”

“Oh, being social, I suppose. Cait waved her hand at the party. “He was always mum and dad’s favourite.”

Ilonanda snorted.

Listless, Toby asked for permission to get up and wander the area. Cait sent Xiphos with him. Xiphos was annoyed, Toby could tell, not that he wasn’t. He would have rather had Nina around, but she was busy catching up with her aunt and uncle. Toby started up the drive to the manor, Xiphos keeping up behind him, though seemingly not too invested in staying with him.

Toby pushed through the crowd inside the manor, over to the guest wing of the house. He had been given a small but comfortable room, with a decent view from the window, and a connected bathroom he shared with a random house guest. Xiphos waited outside his room for him to finish.

After washing his hands, Toby stopped at the window. From his room, he could see the tops of the towers of Anchorhead proper. He stood and watched the clouds overhead slide past. The mirrored glass buildings of Anchorhead caught the light and sent it back to him. He leaned over the window sill to get a better look, and sighed.

Xiphos was behind him again, watching the same view he did. Toby turned back to her, expecting Xiphos to yell, but she just watched, her arms folded across her chest. She glanced down at him, and then went back to the window.

“Sorry,” Toby said. “I’ve never been outside the country before.”

Xiphos made an interested sound in her throat.

Gripping his fists into tight balls, Toby turned and walked out of the room. Xiphos followed close behind. They headed back down the staircase, back into the main hall before Xiphos stopped. Toby made it out a few steps before he realized he wasn’t being followed.

“You don’t have to stand up for me,” Xiphos said, casting her eyes off to the side. Her ears flattened against her head. “He was joking.”

Toby opened his mouth to speak, but had to organize his words against his surprise. “You didn’t like it, though.”

“I’m not in the mood,” Xiphos said, her voice dropping. “Nothing’s happening until sunset. Let’s not go back to the table.”

They wandered out into the estate, past the great tea fields that occupied most of the open land. The harvest was getting ready to start, and a few of the farmers surveyed the field, pointing to the different areas. They had collected a few of the plants, and they examined the leaves. This far from the party, the estate was quiet, a few servants wandering to and from their jobs. None of them noticed Toby or Xiphos.

On their second approach to the manor, Xiphos stopped Toby. Holding him back, she focused on a woman at the steps of the manor. She was human, on the short side, with olive skin and black hair and maybe — Toby squinted — almond shaped eyes. She wore the dress coat of a COS captain. And standing before her, looking somewhat astonished, were the Travelers. The woman spoke back and forth to the two Travelers, and then, handing Tami a folded up piece of paper and patting Patel on the arm, she turn and strode towards Toby and Xiphos.

Toby and Xiphos were largely ignored as she passed, except the woman ran into Xiphos with her shoulder, knocking Xiphos back. Xiphos stumbled, and turned back to the woman as they passed, trying to look tough, but her tail tucked itself between her legs. As soon as the woman got far enough away, Xiphos made a break for the tables. Toby struggled to keep up.

“Where are we going?” He asked.

“Back to the table.” She kept her eyes ahead, narrowed into concentrated slits.

The table was getting crowded by now. Billy had taken Toby’s seat, and Nina moved over next to her aunt Morgan. Billy held the spotlight, and Cait looked happy to sit back and watch.

“And, the thing is, he’s still holding the rope,” Billy said, miming the mysterious ‘he’, holding his hand out in a fist. “And David says, ‘that’s not really how that works’.”

The table erupted, and Billy sat back, watching his work spread. Xiphos pushed up, across from Cait, planting her hands firmly on the table.

“Xiphos, dear,” Cait said. “Where have you been? Billy’s telling stories about working on the Ambridge.”

“Logan’s here,” Xiphos said.

The smile dropped off of Cait’s muzzle, Billy’s smile following quickly. Toby could have sworn he had heard a growl rumble low in Tre’s throat. Morgan and Ilonanda suddenly found other things to talk about, and made themselves busy on the periphery of the table.

Cait stood, and Billy and Tre followed, Xiphos close behind. Nina started to get up, but Morgan caught her by the arm. “You probably shouldn’t.”

“Who’s Logan?” Nina asked, sitting back down. Toby took a seat at the table with them.

Ilonanda looked over his shoulder at Cait’s crew as they walked away. “A catalyst,” he said.

When Cait found her, Logan had taken her place next to Chou and his entourage. They were telling their own stories. Chou sat back, sipping from a glass of wine and watching, looking content. When Logan saw Cait approach, she stood, adjusting her dress coat. With a smile and open arms, she moved to hug Cait.

Cait threw her fist across Logan’s face, snapping the human’s head back. Logan dropped to the ground, sliding back in the grass.

“Hello, Logan,” Cait said, standing over her.

Chou sighed, standing slowly. “Cait, that was in poor taste.”

Logan struggled to stand up, holding her hand over her eye and stumbling. She spewed angry, vicious words at Cait in Beiish, and Cait answered back, her words fewer and much more pointed.

“And that was in even worse taste,” Chou said, exasperated.

“Consider that payback,” Cait said to Logan.

“Well, now we’re even.” Logan stumbled into her seat, her crew dabbing at her now swelling eye with damp napkins.

“Oh, no, no, no,” Cait said, locking her eyes on to the human. “That’s the first payment.”

Chou stepped in between Cait and Logan. “Cait,” he said. “You’re not welcome here for tonight. We can’t have you assaulting guests of the family.”

“Mm hm,” Cait said. “When the family remembers how to take care of family, then we’ll talk.” She turned and strode back to her table, collected her strays, and left the estate.

[g]

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Tags: anthro, boat, Boat Story, Cait, family, fiction, furry, nina, serial, story, tobias, toby, travelers, tre, web fiction, weblit, xiphos, YA