Before she carved a single outside corner anchor into the limestone terrace or opened her bonded notebook, Kezra Venn sat on the edge of the timber sorting platform. Then she turned back the leaves of her route ledger.
Her fingers traced the line she had inked yesterday afternoon. Circuit 22 (Bare Maintenance Yard, Lower Switchbacks) — Certified Day 72.
She looked at Fellis, who was sharpening his stone-chisel with an oil-stone on his knee-board, then at Yseld, who stood watching the lower scree.
“We have a problem with the route,” Kezra said.
Yseld turned her head, her dark eyebrows furrowed. “A problem? We walked straight from the upkeep yard to this shelter yesterday. We’re standing on the same mountain.”
“We didn’t walk,” Kezra replied. Her voice dropped into the quiet, exacting register she used whenever the rules of her class were at stake. “Think about how we climbed off that middle ledge, Yseld. We were ambushed at the blind bend. Fellis was injured. You free-climbed the frost-chimney, drove two pitons, and dropped a haul line. Then you and Paxa hauled Fellis up the crack, and after that, we rigged a three-point bridle and hauled the pack mule up vertically on a hemp rope.”
