An Easier Way

Even so, it was much faster.

In the time someone else took to climb down and back up, Avery could send several loads to the ground.

She did not even need to look down every time to check whether the bag was empty. This was already quicker than everyone else's method, and she no longer had to keep climbing with that weight on her back.

During the last few steps of her first descent, she had honestly thought her claws might tear off.

She let her thoughts wander as she gave the lowered bag another casual shake.

This time, when she pulled, it felt much lighter.

She looked down in surprise and caught only the back of someone hurrying away.

Who had been kind enough to help?

Tessa had just brought down her third load of flourpods.

She tipped them from her basket onto the ground, adding to a respectable little mound. Rubbing her shoulders, she smiled in satisfaction.

She was young, with strong claws. A bit of hard work would not hurt her.

Her smile grew as she surveyed her harvest. She nodded to herself, then decided to see how the female next to her was doing. A little proof that she was ahead would give her the energy to collect even more.

She turned.

Flourpods lay scattered all over the ground.

There had to be five or six loads there already.

But when Tessa had last climbed up, the girl had only just finished making her basket. How could she possibly have harvested so much?

As Tessa stared, a basket attached to a vine came into view.

Except it was nothing like the stiff, square-edged baskets they normally carried. This one looked soft and limp.

Yet not a single pod fell out while it was hanging.

When it reached the ground, it seemed to stop being a basket altogether. The sides fell away, and flourpods spilled out and rolled across the earth.

A few remained inside, despite the shaking from above.

Tessa's eyes lit up.

She hurried over and lifted out the last of the pods. Then she looked around for Elowen and ran toward her.

"Healer Elowen! Healer Elowen! That girl from Beastmeet is so clever!"

Her shout made people on the ground and up in the trees turn to look.

Elowen might have been getting older, but there was nothing wrong with her hearing. Tessa's voice was loud enough to make her rub an ear even from that distance.

"What is it now?"

The healer sounded fondly exasperated. Tessa had only recently come of age and already had two male mates. How was she still this excitable?

"The girl from Beastmeet made a floppy basket, and now she doesn't have to come down from the tree!"

Reaching Elowen, she caught her arm and tried to pull her toward Avery.

Elowen paused. That explanation made very little sense.

Still, she allowed herself to be led over to see.

By the time they reached the tree, Avery had decided lowering the bag entirely by hand was still rather tiring. She had looped the vine twice around the tree and guided it over a branch before letting the next load down.

That made the job noticeably easier.

Elowen arrived just in time to see a bag full of intact flourpods descending slowly toward the ground.

Her eyes brightened.

Others had thought of similar things. Someone had tied a vine to an ordinary basket and tried lowering it, but the rigid shape and open top made it tip. The flourpods tumbled out and smashed on the ground.

Once exposed to air, the white flesh soon shrank and yellowed, developing a bitter taste.

People had tried other methods, too. One person picking above, another catching below, for example. But a flourpod falling from that height could kill whoever tried to catch it.

An easier way to harvest would mean less strain for everyone.

It might even let them gather more food before the cold arrived.

The bag emptied again.

Avery looked down to see who her helpful stranger was. The healer stood beside the female who had spoken to her earlier. Both were watching with delighted surprise.

For a moment, she considered climbing down.

Then she decided against it. She had nearly finished this tree. Whatever they wanted could wait until she was done.

Elowen saw the brief hesitation before Avery returned to work, and her approval deepened.

A good child.

Tessa, meanwhile, hurried back to her own tree.

Only half of what they gathered communally belonged to them. The rest went to the clan for distribution. Her household needed food, too.

In summer, people might turn up their noses at flourpods. With winter coming, there would be a long stretch when everyone depended on them.

Avery harvested several more bagfuls. Once she was satisfied that the remaining pods were either too old or hollowed out by insects, she left the long vine in the tree and climbed down with her woven bag and borrowed basket.

Vines were everywhere. She did not know how much this one had worn under the repeated weight. Next time, she could simply cut a fresh length.

Without a load on her back, descending was much easier.

About three feet from the ground, she looked over her shoulder, twisted, and jumped.

She landed lightly.

"Avery, is that a gathering method from Beastmeet? Would you be willing to share it? We can offer meat in exchange."

Watching her agile movements, Elowen grew more pleased still.

She had never borne a female child. Now that she was growing older, she was looking for someone suitable to succeed her as healer.

"Well..."

Avery scratched her head.

She had considered other possibilities, such as weaving a net for people to hold below while someone in the tree dropped the pods into it. But the pods were heavy, and everyone already had work of their own.

Elowen watched her closely.

Ordinarily, this tree alone would have taken someone more than half a day. Climbing up and down was exhausting, and beastfolk needed rest like anyone else.

With Avery's method, she had cleared it in remarkably little time.

The healer had expected each female to manage a tree that day. Seven or eight trees' worth would have been a fine harvest.

Then Avery had arrived.

Thinking of the clan's meager stores, and of the older beastfolk depending on them, Elowen had swallowed her reluctance and asked.

"Of course. But besides meat, I'd like some thick hides and salt."

Avery nodded.

She was willing to share the gathering method. She had no intention of teaching everyone how to weave.

Her predecessor might have been idle, but she had grown up in a city. Her memories made it clear that weaving was a skill that could keep someone alive in this world.

Avery made another seven or eight woven bags.

While she worked, several males built a fire. They took a stone pot and bamboo containers from their baskets and cooked flourpods where they sat.

The sight of water made Avery press her dry lips together.

She had assumed they would find a source nearby. Apparently, they brought their own.

No wonder she had seen no stream along the route. Otherwise, surely they would have followed it.