video;

[thecourier]

I found a, uh...

[He waves a small leather-bound book with a flaking gilt cross pressed into the cover at the camera.]

This. In the room I'm usin'. Don't know if it's someone's idea of a bad fuckin' joke or what... [The last part is muttered to himself as he flicks the book open to a marked page and sets it down, focusing the video on the passage.]

Reading ain't a strong point of mine. Someone could do me a big favour in tellin' me what the hell this says.

Comments

[a_chipped_cup]

Your world sounds very...[don't say "bleak"] perilous. Were Joshua and Daniel missionaries or were they leaders? They sound like they have a lot of influence on how the tribes live.

Which did you belong to?

[thecourier]

Which do I-- Oh, heh, I'm not a tribal. My mom was, but I don't think it carries down like that.

['Bleak' works, but 'perilous' works too.]

Daniel was a missionary. Joshua.. was complicated. That's another real long story that I don't know all the right details of.

[a_chipped_cup]

Well, tell me about yourself then. The sort of man that can survive in a world like that.

You must be pretty impressive.

[thecourier]

Tell you about.. huh.

[He rubs the back of his head. Dan has never been great at talking about himself. Generally, people don't ask.]

What do you wanna know?

[a_chipped_cup]

Anything. What you like, your family, your childhood. Anything...

I can tell you something about myself in return.

[thecourier]

Huh, a'right. [This is unusual.] Well, I grew up on a caravan. My pa was a trader, travelled all 'round everywhere. I had real itchy feet, though, so soon as I got to eighteen I up and left.

[a_chipped_cup]

You wanted to see the world? [They have that in common. She always wanted the same for herself.] A caravan? I have read stories about them, but what was it like?

As cramped as it seemed?

[thecourier]

Not really. I was young an' stupid and tired of followin' my parents around.

[Emphasis on 'young and stupid'.]

Y'know, I never really noticed it. We had a roof over us - that's more than some folks have.