It's time for Mary's second solo. This is the one where voter Ichiro thinks Mary "really comes into her own."

 
Mary Kate hurried to the predetermined meeting with Naomi and Omar. Seeing them both there waiting for her, she waved at them and said, “Whew, I thought I would never get away from Wildfall. He was insisting on coming along until I told him I was working on a surprise for him.”

Naomi was the first to speak. “How is Wildfall doing in his recovery?”

Omar piped up and asked, “When do we get to go adventuring again?”

Mary held up her hands and laughed. “Hold on, you two, first Wildfall is healing fine and, Omar, we will be back to adventuring in a few days.

“The first thing we need to do before we go adventuring is to get Wildfall’s surprise. We have to get to the tailor in Degrassi so I can set up a surprise for Jarlsy.”

Mary continued. “We have to go see my friend, Captain Horatio, because he is at the tailor shop and I hear that he has something for me that he brought back from Slumgolia. Besides that, I have a job for the two of you."

Omar and Naomi looked at each other and then at Mary, both speaking at the same time.. “A job? What kind of job?" "What about the orders from the Captain to protect you?”

“That is why we are going to see the Captain; then I'll tell you all about it,” said Mary.

The three of them walked to the little house where Mary had gone to see the Captain the last time she visited him. It would be nice to see him again and also offer his friend, the tailor, some work to help get his shop established. When they approached the house, Captain Horatio sat on a bench at the door.

Captain Horatio jumped up from his seat and rushed to grab Mary in a bear hug as soon as he saw who was approaching the house. “Mary, lass, it is so good to see you again. What brings you here and what have you been doing?” asked the Captain.

Mary wriggled out of the bear hug, looked around and asked the Captain, “Is your friend, Mr. SewRite still operating his tailor shop here? I have a job for him.”

Captain Horatio looked at Mary and said, “Yes, he is still here and would welcome some work but first, lass, I brought you some gifts from my trip. I hope you can use them. They were given to me as payment for some supplies I delivered and I have no use for them.”

Mary looked at the Captain and said, “You have gifts for me? What can I give you in return? You know I can’t accept gifts without giving you something back.”

Captain Horatio took Mary in the house, to the room he had his belonging in, and handed Mary a pile of tanned white lion skins, a bolt of red blanket-weight cloth and a bolt of material that looked like silk. Mary’s eyes got as big as saucers as she exclaimed, “Oh Jeepers, these are beautiful! I can’t take all this without giving you something. I do have the perfect use for these. Where did you get such beautiful things?”

“When I last saw you, Mary, I was leaving to take supplies to people in Slumgolia, and besides money they paid me in these goods; I put aside some of those for you. Now, to answer your question about what you can give me, how about staying here a while and telling me what you have been up to and how Omar and Naomi have been doing as your guards? What happened to Bob?” Captain replied as he looked from Mary to Omar and Naomi.

“Omar and Naomi have been doing very well following your orders, but I need to send them on a job away from me and they won’t go without your approval,” said Mary. She explained to the Captain about the kidnapping of Suzy’s Little Arena Pets and Bob staying behind to try to find out where the pets had been taken and who was behind the kidnapping.

“I want Naomi and Omar to go find Bob and help him get the pets back to Suzi and make sure the kidnappers are turned over to the authorities for punishment.” said Mary to the Captain. “I am staying in that little village not far from here. Wildfall is there at the Inn recovering from a battle we were in and I will be perfectly safe with him and some of my other friends. Please, I am begging you to tell Omar and Naomi that they can go do this job for me. I can’t leave Wildfall alone to do it myself,” Mary pleaded.

Captain Horatio sat down on the cot and rubbed his chin as he thought about his answer. He looked at Mary and was surprised to see how much she had changed since he last saw her. She had grown into a confident young woman who appeared to be able to handle herself in many different situations. Finally, after what seemed forever to Mary, the Captain smiled, took her hand in his and said, “Mary, lass, if this job means that much to you then I give my approval for them to go, but they must return to you when their work is done.”

Mary threw her arms around the grizzled old captain and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you Captain. I will let them know and get them on their way. Let me take these gifts you gave me to Mr. SewRite and tell him the items I want him to make for me. Then I will come back here to tell you everything I've been doing.”

Mary left the room with her gifts and stopped to talk to Omar and Naomi. “Captain Horatio gave his permission for me to send you on this job. I need you to go find Bob and see what he found out about the kidnapping of Suzy’s Little Arena Pets, help him get the pets returned and the kidnappers turned over to the authorities. Captain Horatio wants you to return to me when you are finished with the job and bring Bob back as well, if he wants to come,” said Mary.

Omar and Naomi looked at Mary with sadness in their eyes. They had grown fond of the girl who had become their friend and adventure partner and hated to leave her. Omar spoke up with a crackle in his voice, “Mary, are you sure you will be okay without us? We’ll do our best to hurry back, but you have to promise not to go traipsing all over the countryside till we return.”

“I promise that I’ll stay right in this area between here and the Inn where Wildfall and I are staying and you two promise to take care of yourselves, get the job done and come back in one piece as soon as you can,” Mary said; she hugged each one and fought to make sure they didn’t see the tears welling in her eyes.

The three friends shared a group hug, then Omar and Naomi turned to find the Captain to discuss their job. Mary watched till they were out of sight and turned to the little shop next door and took her gifts to the tailor.

The shop was a small unassuming wooden building, not much bigger than a ten by twelve room. Inside sat a work table and a very old sewing machine, operated by a hand crank. The room had two windows in the front and a window on one side of the room. Shelves with bolts of fabric and stacks of skins along with sewing supplies lined the back wall. The fourth wall had a small fireplace with a kettle hanging over the small fire. On the walls by the windows hung oil lamps for lighting when the tailor was working after dark. Mr. SewRite, the tailor, sat by the machine, looking over a garment he was making when Mary walked in with her load of skins and fabric.

“Goodness me, young lady, you have quite a load there. How can I help you?” asked Mr. SewRite, as he reached to help Mary set her things on his table. His eyes lit up with recognition as she got closer. ”You are Mary Kate, Captain Horatio’s ward, aren’t you? What can I do for you?”

Mary bristled at being called Captain Horatio’s ward but kept her cool, which for her was about the hardest thing she had done in a long time. “Yes, I am Mary Kate, but the Captain is a family friend that my father asked to look out for me; I'm not his ward.” Mary said, “I have a job for you, if you can do it. I would like you to take these white lion skins and make a pair of long trousers from them; a shirt from the fabric and a jacket from the red blanket material. The clothing is for my friend who is recovering from injuries he got in a battle with bats and the clothing he had was shredded. He's about six feet tall and about two hundred twelve pounds. He likes his clothes to allow for quick movement but don't make them baggy or bulky. I need them as soon as possible, please. Can you make them for me?“

Mr. SewRite smiled at Mary and said, “Luckily, I have a little free time today for the Captain's ward; I shall give this job my full attention and will have the clothes ready for you in two days. In the meantime, you are welcome to stay at our home and visit with us and the Captain. We don’t get much company and would love to hear of your travels. But for now, run along and let me get started on these clothes. Your young man is going to be the best dressed young man around, I can tell you that. This is fine stuff you brought me to work with and it is a pleasure to be of service to you.” With that said, the tailor turned to the task of laying out the goods and preparing the materials for cutting.

Mary turned, walked out the door and back to the Captain where she would regale him with stories of her adventures while she waited for her Wildfall’s gifts to be completed.

A "relaxed piece," the voter said, which he meant as a positive. If you're wondering about the scene where she tells Wildfall she has a surprise for him, well, we get to that in a couple roleplays.

Mary's solos were a big part of her earning the top spot in the mission, by the way. In fact, the voter commented on her work for the entire mission, saying every roleplay she was in was "great" which is a word she also used for Mary's overall quality. She's in one final co-write for this mission and it's an award winner. But Sassy and Icy share the stage next RP.