Penny Ansdor (A to Z Challenge)

Penny is a guide who works for the Falaron Company, hoping some day to become a trekmaster. She has been assigned to guide Roi and his three slaves (who to her surprise do not even consider claiming their freedom on Falaron) on a Challenge journey from the Spine Range down the Surprise River to the port at the river mouth. She has broken up with her boyfriend, who resented how her job brought her into close contact with off-planet men. She is speaking from near the beginning of Tourist Trap, after the first day on the trail.

So far, so good. They’re certainly not the spoiled brats I usually get – no problem at all getting them to help with the camp chores. In fact, they seemed to enjoy bringing in snow to melt and wood for the fire, and helping feed the dogs. And for a group that admitted they were new to dog sledding, they did a darned good job of handling. Of course the helpfulness may disappear once the novelty wears off!

And if I didn’t know Roi was free and the other three were slaves, I sure couldn’t tell from the way they behaved. If anything, Roi seems the most willing to put himself out for the others.

At least they’re all in good physical condition, and if the way they took to dog-sledding is any guide, they should be able to handle the things they’re supposed to be experienced with, like the hang gliding and horseback riding. Sailing – well, Timi’s supposed to be good, but he’s the one that bothers me most in terms of attitude. I’ll have to teach them how to handle the rafting and rock climbing, but they seem willing to learn. Not like some of the clients I get.

Of course that’s assuming everything goes all right, and we don’t have any problems. Since it’s a Challenge, I can’t call in help unless it’s a real emergency. Well I hope we don’t have any.

I’m doing my A to Z blogs from my books, both characters and background information. For characters I’ll introduce them quickly, say what point of time they’re talking from since their situations change drastically through the books, and let them talk. The format of background information will vary according to what I’m talking about. Bold type indicates that more information has been or will be available in another A to Z post. All of these blogs will be scheduled to go live just after midnight Alaska time.

P.S. I’ve been so busy keeping up I haven’t bothered to check how may posts I’ve put out. Knew I was approaching 1000, but it turns out this is number 1018!