Annie was begining to think she'd missed her calling in life.

Bright and early the morning before, she'd gotten up and taken a really good look at the damage she'd done to the door a few days prior. The latch hadn't been damaged, really, but she'd knocked a good sized chunk out of the doorframe. By asking around, she'd met a merchant who was having trouble selling his wares in the festival market (it seemed not everybody was willing to pay a shill for firewood that was somewhat easy to come by); he'd agreed to let Annie be his verbal advertising for a mere 5% of the profits made and a piece of wood big enough for her to fix the door frame. The deal turned out to be a boon for the both of them: he sold all his wood and she went home with a mostly full purse and a nice piece of wood to fix the door.

The next day, she borrowed some of Purgan's tools and got to work.

Carpentry wasn't as hard as she thought it was going to be. In fact, once she had everything measured, all she had left was the cutting and refitting. Annie had done a number of repairs around the Kingsway Post office when she first started working there--Jonas always tol' us it were 'cause we was on a limited budget, but if'n we needed ging fer a story, we had unlimited resources. I'm thinkin' he jus' ne'er wanted t'hire anybody else--and over the years had somehow managed skill with a handsaw. It took her the better part of the day to get everything cut, trimmed and placed, but by mid afternoon she'd finished.

Covered in sweat and sawdust, Annie tested out her work: the latch worked perfectly.

"Hawt dang! We got us a door! Sid, Tom, whaddya think?"

The girls came bounding over from a nearby kint where they had been talking with neighbors.

"Oo, good work, Anini!" Sidzara said.

"'At's benny," Tomeia added, hugging Annie about the shoulders.

"We're proud o' ya, luvy, we knew that'choo could do it."

"Hesta, everyone! Come see what Annie did!" Tomeia called out to the general assembly of Red Crows. She waved one arm to the crew and held the other around Annie's neck, half-choking her as she bounced on her toes.

((SFSR-- Lets get some Red Crow action in here!!))

Annie managed a short bow before being latched upon by Tomeia. "Thankee kindly, lovies, weren't nothin' short o' a mir-ACK!"

Tomeia's arm tightening around Annie's neck was a new experience, albeit an unintentional one.

"Tom--hrgk--d'ye mind not--eck--squeezin' so hard--guh--?"

"Oop, sorry, Anini," Tomeia gave her a final little sqeeze before letting her go.

A small gathering of Red Crows had gathered near the kint, grinning at their new addition. Purgan pushed his way through the group and hopped up to the door, opening and closing the door experimentally from the inside and outside. He looked like he was running the Initiation Exam at Brunnhold, so serious was his expression and calculating his gaze.

The surrounding wicks watched in quiet anticipation as he examined the door.

Finally, Purgan stepped out with his hands behind his back, and with all official airs he had at his disposal, announced, "It's benny enough."

The miniature crowd burst into good-natured cheers, and Purgan looked down out of the corner of his eye at Annie, and she could see the grin twitching at the corners of his mouth.

Annie hadn't expected a crowd to come rushing to see the door; fixing a door wasn't that big a deal back in Vienda. But here...I'mma take this as me right o' passage, she thought.

The onlookers erupted in cheers, and Annie's heart swelled with pride. Finally, doin' somethin' right the first time! She squinted her eyes and cocked her head in Purgan's direction, pointing at his face.

"Is that a grin? I'mma thinkin' that's a grin." She turned, asking others around her. "Do ye see a grin? I'm right sure I see a grin."

"Oh, come off it," Purgan said. He pushed away her pointing finger, but was now openly smiling. He grabbed her sideways and took her down off the kint, "We already had yats, but I feel like we need summat te celebrate yer first contribution to the tribe..."

"Oo! Oo!" Sidzara said, raising her hand and bouncing on her toes. Tomeia seemed to have disappeared.

"Oes? Have y'a suggestion, beata?" Purgan asked theatrically, planting Annie's feet firmly on solid ground.

"Well, Tomi and I got'cha somethin', and we've been savin' it for somethin' at least a little special," Sidzara said to Annie as Tomeia came jogging up from the front of the kint, where they had had it stashed under the bench. It was a round pink and green box tied off with a vibrant purple ribbon.

"We traded three dozen biscuits and a couple quarts'a clam chowder for it," Tomeia giggled.

She held out the box at arm's length to Annie, and the crowd watched in curiosity, wondering what was in the box. At this point both twins were bouncing on their toes in anticipation.

Sidzara gave Purgan a wink.

((Box contains this.))

"Well, dang, if this is the treatment a gal gets from fixin' a door, I oughta break an' fix stuff more often!" Annie laughed as Purgan lifted her off the kint. It felt good to be laughing, and it felt good to feel she fit in. Well, mostly fit in.

It took quite a bit of effort to keep the smile on her face when Annie saw the box. She knew how her twin cousins loved colors, especially the overly bright ones, and all she could think was that the box contained a dress that could potentially scar retinas. It didn't help at all when Tomeia added the price tag.

"Er, haha, um, wow. Thankee kindly, lovies. Let's see, um," Annie muttered as she took the box from Tomeia. She cast her cousins a look of mock suspicion--"There ain't nothin' what's gonna jump out at me in here, is there?"--before untying the bow and lifting the lid enough to peak in. It took half a second to realise what exactly it was before she gasped, pulled the hat out and held it out for everyone to see.

"It's...you got...I have...OH CORKS, YOU GUYS ARE ASTOUNDIN'!" Annie grabbed the twin girls in a huge bear hug. "Boy 'eck, I sure missed me ol' hat, but this 'un...this 'un takes the cake!" She plunked the new fedora down on her head. "I can't see m'self, but I already know it looks fanflippin'tastic. Ya'll are the greates', ye chen? Right on, top hole!"

Annie really had missed her old hat, but she'd already gotten used to the new one.





*(My friend Ricky has that exact hat. Heh.)*

The girls accepted Annie's hug with glee and return bear hugs. With a wave of her hand, Tomeia got other tribe members in on the action, and Annie found herself facing a Hug Train, with wicks every which way hugging her and saying, "Welcome to the Tribe," "I'm so glad you're here," "Welcome back, beata," "Welcome home."

Though many had met Annie over the past few days, there had been no initiation, no group hugs, so to speak. But the simple act of the tribe gathering around in this small celebration was enough for them to call her a Crow.