Page 180 of Phoenix's Fire

"And horses?"

"Yep," he said. "We have a handful in Lorsa. They're hard to keep because they eat a lot of grass and need space when they aren't working. There's a stable for them, and we use them to pull carts so we can carry the heavy things that come off the ships."

"Ships?" I asked.

So he pointed at one of the fabric things. "That's a very big boat that travels up and down the river," he said. "And this entire area? We call it the docks."

And suddenly a lot more made sense. I'd seen pictures of ships with their sails. These were different, but close enough I could see the similarities now that I knew the name. Instead of dozens of sails, they really only had one or two. There were also other kinds with wheels, and some with holes along the sides, but they were smaller.

"Why are there ships?" I asked.

He pointed away from the crowded area, and over to a stretch of water that was much less busy. "We use them to trade," he explained. "Up and down the river are other towns. Even as big as Lorsa is, we can't make everything we need, so we sell the excess we have and buy the things we lack. The ships carry it, meaning fewer trips than if we did it by foot." Then he gestured towards my dog. "Make sure Holly doesn't get distracted. Some of those ships are for fishing. They go out and use nets to catch a lot. She might smell it and run off."

"Holly, heel," I ordered, reminding her to stay with me.

She looked up and wagged her tail, proving she had no interest in leaving even as we moved further from the distant hustle and bustle. As we walked, one of those horse carts came towards us, taking up most of the road and forcing us to the side. I grabbed her collar, but stopped to stare, impressed at how it all worked.

"And we're going right over here," he said, guiding me off the road and onto a narrow foot trail that aimed into the grass.

It wove around some rocks, behind a line of buildings and onto a corner of land that had water around three sides of it. From here, I could see the water split directions, heading towards Lorsa on one side, and towards the forest and hills on the other.

"Over there," Kanik said, pointing away from town, "the river turns into rapids as it goes through the mountains." Then he pointed towards Lorsa. "There's a bay that way. All of this is an offshoot of the main river, which is up that way." And he gestured to the north. "It weaves around a lot."

Then he set the basket down mere feet from the edge of the water. Opening that up, he removed a blanket and spread it on the ground. The basket went on one corner. He put the rods beside it, and then took my bag from me.

"Have a seat on the blanket," he said. "I brought some bread for our hooks, since that will be our best chance to get some fish, and I'll get those ready."

I nodded, easing myself down on the blanket, then gave Holly her toy. "Stay close," I told her. "Guard."

She wagged in response and lay down beside me, cheerily chewing on her toywhile Kanik fumbled with a string attacked to the fishing poles. On that, he attached little round things, then further down, some metal things. At the end, he added a hook. A piece of bread went on that.

"Okay," he said, passing it over. "The water gets deep quickly here," he said. "So all you have to do is push this button, and it allows the string to play out. Then you can sling the hook into the water."

"Can you show me?" I asked.

Kanik chuckled. "Like this."

Step by step, he demonstrated how the device worked, then slung the tip, making the hook and additions fly away from us and plop into the water. Even more impressive, he used the device on the end to wind it back up. Then it was my turn.

There was some laughing as I nearly hit him with the thing. More when Holly wanted to fetch the hook and what Kanik called a bobber. But eventually, I got my line "cast" into the water, so Kanik sat down and prepared his own.

"And now," he told me, "we wait. When that ball is pulled under the water - it won't usually stay there, just bounce under a few times - you can reel it in. Mostly, we wait, talk, and snack on our food."

"So I can set this down?" I asked. "Or do I have to hold it the whole time?"

"Put your foot on it," he suggested. "Bigger fish can drag it into the water."

So I set it down, draped my leg over it, and leaned back, feeling the sun on my face and the cool breeze drifting over my skin. Leaning back, I looked up to see big clouds breaking up the blue of the sky, and in the distance, the noise of the docks made it clear we weren't really alone, but we were still private.

"I like this," I decided. "Lorsa is even more amazing than I realized, and it feels like the more I learn, the happier I am."

Fifty-Six

Ayla

We sat for a while, talking about anything and everything. Some of it was about Meri, and whether I should spend more time with her. On my last visit, she'd told me Lessa wanted her help with sewing, and she'd sounded so happy about it. I just wasn't sure if that was because I was being a bad friend.

Kanik assured me Meri deserved to have her own friends too, just like I did, but while we were talking about it, my bobber dipped down. That led to a scramble of "reeling it in" only to find a fish on the end no bigger than my hand.