“I’ve got to go,” Bekka repeated with a defiant look. “I’ll help the healer and learn. Maybe we’ll come up with something that’ll help Serth.”

“Yes,” S’ban agreed. He made a shooing gesture. “Go! Serth and I will be fine.”

“I’ll be back as soon as we’re done,” Bekka promised. She turned then and walked resolutely out of the weyr, pausing only once to turn and say, “I love you, Daddy!”

S’ban looked up from his communion with Serth and found a smile. “I love you, too, Bekka.”

They hadn’t gone three steps outside of S’ban’s quarters when Bekka grabbed Tintoval’s hand and jerked her to a halt. The healer looked down at her in surprise.

“How long?” Bekka demanded.

“How long for what?” Tintoval asked.

“How long for me to become a healer?”

“It can take as little as four Turns and as many as eight,” Tintoval replied. She guessed the girl’s next question, adding, “I went when I had thirteen Turns, and I’ve nineteen now.”

“Would they take me now?”

“Why don’t we see how you handle the others, first?” Fiona suggested calmly. Bekka shot her an angry look, then dropped her eyes, saying, “Sorry, weyrwoman.”

“No, you’re not,” Fiona declared, chuckling. “You’re angry but you don’t want to upset me and ruin your chances.”

Bekka’s lips quivered as she acknowledged the truth in the observation.

“I’d hate for you to set your heart on something only to discover that your stomach betrays you,” Fiona told her. She gestured for her to continue moving. “If you are all right when we’ve seen to all the injured riders and dragons, then I’d say you’ve a good chance.”

“She’s awfully young,” Terin said worriedly, glancing at Fiona. “It hardly seems fair.”

“It’s not fair,” Fiona agreed. She smiled at Terin. “But you did the same when we were in Igen and you weren’t any older.”

“I’m older than I look,” Bekka told Terin stoutly.

“I know exactly how old you are,” Terin told her. “You used to be two Turns and two months older than me, but now I’ve nearly fourteen Turns; I’m a Turn less two months older than you!”

“Oh,” Bekka said, deflated. “I’d forgotten.” A thought crossed her mind. “You don’t suppose I could go back in time like you to the Healer Hall?”

“You didn’t,” Tintoval told her. The young girl gave her a perplexed look. “If you had,” the healer explained, “then you and I would have studied together.”

Bekka made a big “O” with her mouth, her eyes going wide.

“Going between times is confusing,” Fiona told her with a chuckle.

Bekka shook off the problem, instead asking Tintoval, “So if I do all right today, when will I go to the Healer Hall?”