Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 46: brought to you by Reading Rainbow

In which Neara shows them the wonders of Industrial Age technology with Stone Age materials. She learns about the City of Flames and almost shuts down the amorous Theo. They learn their letters and get hot for teacher. Also the beginning of winter.

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Neara put the finishing touches on the cotton gin and turned to Winston, her eyes squinting in pleasure. "I can't believe it's finally done!"

Orson cocked his eyebrow. "All that wood and effort... for that?"

"Well, I failed a bunch of times, but I think I finally got it!" Neara pointed to the handle. "You turn this and..."

"We know, Neara, we've been to this demonstration a thousand times." Orson shook his head.

"I don't remember the last time; could you explain it again?" Theo asked, his large eyes fixated on her.

"Eh, that's alright, Theo, thanks for the interest. Orson's right; I have given this spiel a lot."

Winston looked at her curiously. "Are we going to test it?"

"Yeah!" Neara cupped her hands and fed a handful of cotton blooms into the slider and slowly cranked the wheel. Seeds and twigs crunched as the sharp wooden teeth and gears ground against the cotton, pushing a soft, fluffy sheet out the other side. "It worked!"

"Of course it did." Winston smiled. "You've worked really hard on this."

"Thanks, Winston!" Neara gently pawed at the cotton and pulled out a chunk to look at in the light. Sun shone through the translucent cloud and added a soft glow to her face. "I can't... I can't believe I did it."

"So, what's the next step?" Orson took a chunk of the cotton and squinted at it. "How do you turn this into leather?"

"It's not called leather, it's cotton. For now, we can stuff the leather with it to make warmer clothes!"

"What's warmer than fur?"

Unfortunately for Theo, this started a lecture on thermodynamics and the different insulating capabilities of the products available in their world. She'd already scouted out several thick reeds she thought might be capable of being turned into paper, although she wanted to automate the pounding and smoothing process before introducing it. Orson slouched in place, eyes fluttering as he fought to stay awake. Theo looked at her through half-open eyes, and Winston listened to her every word, nodding occasionally and asking questions.

"So if we make this cotton into cloth, it will be warmer?"

"Warmer, cooler, just better than leather. Oh!" She held up a large egg-shaped ball. "I also made this rugby ball for you guys to play with! Just because we can't keep slaughtering goats for their bladders... it's not sustainable."

Winston palmed the ball and slapped it between his hands. He examined the tight stitching around the seams, accomplished with a very large rock, and the dyed letters decorating the side. "W-I-N-S-T-O-N. That's my name."

"Yeah. I figured... you know, you'd like it in case someone tried to take it home."

He looked at the ball and nodded. "I like it."

"Um... ok. That's good! You can... take it wherever you want now."

Orson blearily opened his eyes. "Touching. Can I make some lunch now? You're starving."

Neara's stomach had been rumbling, on and off, for the past hour. She flushed and cupped her growing stomach. "Fine, just make sure there's a lot of fish this time."