Father's out on campaign and doesn't know. Mother thinks she's on a school trip. The school thinks she's staying home. In truth, she's in a cave in the mountains. Digging a tunnel with her fists, in the dark. If she can connect the southwest passages to the main burrow, she'll be able to visit much more freely.
Her steady break-scoop-pack movements make a comfortable rhythm, and she allows herself to fall into an almost trance-like state as she works.
Out she goes. Page has already whipped up the songs; it starts teaching them to her as she walks back to the boarding house. She starts looking into more suitable long-term housing, ideally near her forge share.
Most of the other available arrangements assume she's going to be a long-term to permanent resident.
Hmmm. She can stick with the bunkhouse if she can't get a place for a month.
Her room includes: a bed with pillows and sheets (changed weekly), a closet, a desk, a chair, a rug, two meals daily should she choose to make use of them, and inn-patron-only bathing facilities.
Tarinda builds more phonographs, and records music. Eventually she has the suite of six for the collector.
He is pleased to have them! He also has some friends who would be interested in phonographs of their own. Are they too delicate to be shipped?
"I can box 'em up so they'll most likely be okay. Might want to insure the packages."
"For now! They might get cheaper if I figure out how to scale up production, but for now yes."
Yaaaaay.
She's credible as An Inventor, now, and starts looking into prices for key supplies she'll need for her real project.
It takes as long as it takes. She makes more phonographs. She posts prices for recording one's own music on various numbers of cylinders to sell.
Some weeks later, Eliko comes rushing in to her workshop, slightly disheveled and not wearing any shoes.
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