Rey

viii

It did rain that night.

It started with a few drops, one flicking off of Rey's nose. She rolled over and mumbled.

Then it came harder, faster.

It doesn't rain often on Jakku, but when it does, it's in torrential downpours.

Rey jumped out of bed and ran for her fabric that she'd left by the stove.  She stuffed it inside of a metal barrel and closed the lid.

Jase started putting out buckets under the worst of the holes, and instructed Rey to fill their large water barrels with it.  No use wasting good water.

This water was much cleaner than the well at the center, where luggabeasts often were watered.  So they saved as much as they possibly could.

Rey filled the first barrel, and moved on to the second, dashing around the small tent, catching the buckets before they overfilled.

The thin layer of dust on the floor turned to sticky mud and stuck to everything they had.  At least they had enough water for a washday.

Rain continued to pound on the top of their roof for hours.  Eventually, they filled every large barrel they had.   Then the pot and washbasin were filled to overflowing.  Then the buckets.

Rey and Jase had to throw buckets of water out of the tent so that the buckets wouldn't overflow.  Not that it made much of a difference anyway.

The rain finally let off just before sunset, letting the brilliant reddish light flood the already drying outpost.  Rey and Jase finally ate, and went back to bed.

The next day, they stripped every bit of cloth from anything that was muddy, and rinsed the mud off in the washbasin.  They hung them to dry in the hot sun, where it only took about ten minutes.  They finished all of the washing before noon, ate again, and decided to scavenge a bit before sunset.

No one else was scavenging, since rain days, and the day after, usually called for a brief holiday.  Sometimes scavengers would save up portions just in case of a rainy day.

As they traveled past the outpost, which echoed with laughter coming from the one small cantina, they noticed that some of the tents had washed out.  The owners were walking around, digging their few valuables out of the damp sand.

They worked through the massive engines of the Star Destroyer.  Then they loaded up and went back.

Unkar Plutt had apparently also taken a holiday, since the door on his tiny hut of scavenged parts was closed.

Rey pulled her staff off of the speeder and slid down.  "I'm going to check on Freghad," she informed Jase.

"Alright.  The sun's going to set soon.  Come back before it gets too dark."  The speeder traveled off towards the tent.

Rey ducked into the cloth depot.

She didn't see anyone.  What if Freghad had been washed away?

"Freghad?"

No response.

She walked further into the small tent and called again.

Still no response.

As she rounded the counter, a small orangish figure jumped out, wielding a large staff.  "Back, thief!" it cried.

"Freghad!  It's me!"  Rey blocked the cloth dealer's attack with her staff.

The orange figure paused.  "Rey, my dear girl.  What brings you back so soon?  You came in yesterday!"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," Rey said.

Freghad nodded.  "You didn't have to worry about me.  When you're as old as I am, you don't even fear death anymore."

"Do you need any help?" Rey noticed the cloth draped over every available surface.

"No, no, my dear, I've got all of this handled.  Now, get back to your tent.  There're men wandering around now, and they aren't in the clearest of minds."  Freghad began to push the girl out of the tent.

"Do you have enough food?" Rey asked, planting her feet and refusing to move.

"Yes, yes.  You gave me a dozen portions yesterday.  I don't eat much."

Satisfied, Rey said goodbye and left.

She jogged through the outpost, taking heed of Freghad's warning.

Rey burst into the tent.

"What's wrong?" Jase asked, jumping to his feet.

"Nothing.  It's just dark," Rey said, dropping her staff so it leaned against her now re-made bed.

Jase handed her a plate of food and she dug in hungrily, using her fingers to scoop the food up to her mouth.

She noticed him watching her eat.  "What?"

"Nothing."  Then, he made a hog noise, snorting and pushing his nose up to expose his nostrils.

Rey gasped in fake offense and flung a bit of stew at him.  It hit him just below his eye.

This time, Jase gasped, for real, and lunged for her staff.  He held it above her head.  "For that, I think I will give this to Unkar Plutt.  Perhaps he'll give us eight portions for it."

"No!" Rey protested.

"What do you say?" Jase taunted.

"I'm sorry!" Rey said desperately.

"And--" he prompted.

"Please?"

Jase handed her the staff.  Rey finished eating and washed her dish using some of the water in the small buckets.

She jumped onto her bed so she wouldn't have to put out the light.  "Good night."

Jase reached up and the tent was flung into darkness.  "Good night."

He snorted again, but Rey pretended to be asleep.  She heard the rustle of his blankets as he climbed under the cloth against the cold.  Then, she reached for a pebble on the floor.

She focused on where his breathing was, and flung it in that direction.

"Ow!"

She'd hit him.

Rey knew he'd get her back in the morning, but, for today, she'd won.