Day 2 - Scene 4

He left the forest at the same place he had entered it, via the path by the stone near the cider-house. Coming down had been a lot easier than going up but it was still quite a walk and he looked forward to sitting down and having a good meal.

He'd spent about half an hour at the top of the hill watching the wind sprites play. He'd laughed and giggled at their antics, even yelled encouragement when they did something that particularly impressed him. At first he'd thought of them like a bunch of playful puppies, but when he threw a stick and yelled fetch they'd completely ignored it. Strange little buggers.

He smiled to himself. This was a story to bring home. Everyone would be so impressed. His first full day in the anetacht had been great so far and with an afternoon by the oaks coming up the future looked bright indeed – not to mention there would soon be food.

Coming out here on vacation had been the best idea ever. He wondered idly what it would cost to get a burrow of his own and live here permanently. He probably wouldn't do it, but it was a nice idea to toy with. He could have his own little orchard and maybe a goat or two. Maybe he'd find a nice local girl and start a family, settle down and grow old. First he'd have lunch though. That he'd definitely do. He could ask Rolf about finding himself a burrow later.

Coming up the road he could see a large crowd had assembled in the space in front of the inn. Adults sat at the tables or stood in groups talking to each other. Children ran around all over the place, yelling and screaming and chasing each other. Two men struggled to get an extra table out through the door of the inn and a waitress with an empty tray waited for them to get out of the way and let her in. Hedgie was nowhere to be seen, but the door to her box in the stable was closed and there were children climbing the tree she'd stood under.

Enar tried to spot someone he recognized. One of the kids in the tree might be Elsie, but he wasn't sure and he wasn't going to go check. He didn't want a bunch of strange kids starring at him and it would be embarrassing if it wasn't her.

“Hello! Enar! Over here! Enar!” Rolf's voice boomed and everyone turned to look at him. Everyone turned to look at him.

He felt his face go red as he tried to make out where in the crowd of staring faces Rolf would be. There were so many people. They were all staring at him.

After half an eternity he finally spotted his host. Rolf stood in plain sight at the edge of the crowd together with his wife and another couple. Waving his hands in the air and yelling at the top of his lungs he made quite a spectacle. With a sigh of relief Enar waved back and hurried over, careful not to look up and risk meeting the gaze of anyone else.

“There you are my friend. How was the walk? Did you make it to the top? Nice view, right?” Rolf slapped him on the back and before Enar could even begin to reply he started introducing the two fylkin that stood with him and Beired.

“This here is Steve and this is his wife Gitta. They're our next door neighbors down the road and they're a bunch of greedy, miserable bastards. If Gitta didn't make the best apple tarts in seven hills I wouldn't have anything to do with them.”

Steve laughed and retorted, “don't you listen to him Enar. My brother's just jealous he didn't get any of my boyish charm or dashing good looks. If Beired didn't set the best table in living memory no one would have anything to do with him.”

Both men laughed the same deep laugh. Steve was a little shorter than Rolf but had the same face and mannerisms. Gitta, in contrast, looked nothing like Beired. She was tall with straight red hair and while it wouldn't be right to call her skinny she wasn't nearly as round as the other woman.

“Rolf,” Beired said, “table.”

“Aye, of course. How rude of me. You must be tired from the walk my friend. Let's go find somewhere to sit down.”

“Yes,” said Enar, “that would be nice.”

Finding a table that could seat all five of them turned out to be easier said than done. In the end they asked a younger couple to move on to another table and after some good-natured grumbling and bickering they were all seated together.

“There we are my friend,” Rolf began. “Restday meal at Hyardum inn. Drinks will be here shortly, just sit back and relax now.”

“Won't the children be eating anything?” Enar asked.

“I'm sure they will. They'll find seats somewhere when the food starts coming out.”

Enar pondered this for a moment. It was yet another thing that was different from the city. In his experience parents constantly kept a watchful eye over their kids, always making sure they were safe and out of harms way. Beired and Rolf didn't even seem to know where their children were.

Rolf laughed and said, “don't look so worried my friend. They're proper anetacht kids. They can take care of themselves.”

“Even the little one?”

“Well, no. Loianna is too little to be on her own, but she's too old to be still so we let her run around as she wants. Eric is keeping an eye on her.”

“I see.” Enar nodded. “I guess that works out here.”

Rolf started to say something but changed his mind and in the end he just nodded too.

Enar leaned back into his chair. Now that he'd sat down he realized how worn he was from the walk. Not exhausted like yesterday evening, but pleasantly tired, like after a good workout. His thoughts wandered off, in no particular direction, the way thoughts do.

They went up the hill again, to where he'd met the wind sprites. They drifted over the landscape and landed by the door to the guest burrow where he'd slept. Rolf would let him stay there for a while until he got his own place.

He had coffee in the break room at the office, telling his friends he'd be leaving. They would beg him to stay but he'd be adamant and strong. Everyone would be sad to see him go but he'd have a wife and kids to come home to and he'd be happy. His mother would be so proud of him.

“Ice or no ice?”

He started awake. The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen stood right by his char, trying to talk to him. She'd just said something but he had no idea what. All he could think of were large blue eyes, curly blonde hair and round little cheeks that smiled like the sun.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Do you want ice with your cider?” she asked smiling.

“Ice?” Enar shook himself awake and tried not stare.

“Frozen water. Used for keeping drinks cold. Rings a bell city boy?” she teased.

“Yes. Yes, sorry.” Enar blushed furiously. “I'd like ice with my cider please.” The he hurried to add, “if it's no bother.”

“No bother at all hot stuff. Coming right up.” She winked at him and disappeared off to another table.

Enar stared after her. With her golden curls bobbing in the wind and her long brown dress swinging back and forth to the movement of her hips she sure was a sight to behold. He wondered if she was single.

“Enar, my friend,” Rolf could barely speak from laughing, “close your mouth. It's like you've never seen a woman before.” He slapped a hand on the table and took a deep breath. “You should have seen your face.”

Enar blushed again. He hadn't even realized his mouth hung open. “I, well, I have,” was all he managed to blurt out, his mind a complete blank.

“Don't worry son,” Steve added, “Jolene's something else. I bet you don't have many women quite like that in the city, do you?”

“We all know what city women are like,” added Gitta.

“Shush now,” replied her husband, “Enar's a fine young lad and he's Rolf's guest. We shouldn't go offending him right away on his first day.”

Gitta glared at him and turned back to her conversation with Beired; something about the orchard. Enar couldn't be quite sure but he thought he caught a glance of amused approval from the other woman. It was only there for a moment and he might have been mistaken. When he looked again her attention was completely focused on her conversation with Gitta.

Enar stretched and leaned back in his chair again. It was definitely about time he met someone and settled down. Moving out into the anetacht probably wasn't a realistic option, but that didn't mean he couldn't meet someone in the city. Maybe Brunolf knew some single ladies. He'd have to ask about that when next they met.

“Well, my friend, you never told me how you found it on top of the hill,” Rolf interrupted his thoughts. “Did you see any wind sprites?”

“Yes.” Enar paused for effect and tried not to look too smug about what he was about to tell. “I most definitely saw wind sprites.” He paused again to make sure he had their attention. ”In fact, they attacked me, three of them. If I hadn't managed to grab hold of that bench up there they'd have thrown me off the cliff.”

Rolf stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “It's good to see you getting into the spirit of things around here. Three of them. Did you hear that Steve? He saw three wind sprites. Three, and they threw him off the cliff. Did they catch you halfway down and bring you back up again too?”

“No, what, why?” Enar sputtered. “They tore me off the seat and they would have pushed me off the cliff too if I hadn't thrown myself back onto the bench. It was really scary.”

Both Steve and Rolf were laughing at him now and that's when Jolene arrived with their drinks. Carrying a large tray on the flat of one hand she placed their mugs on the table with practiced ease.

“Jolene, my dear,” Rolf began, “did you meet Enar here? He's a real catch you know. He just fought off three wind sprites at the top of Lookout Hill. Three of them. Mark my words Jolene. Enar is a good catch for you, strong and handsome. Make sure you keep an eye on him.”

“Rolf, you old rascal, you shouldn't be making fun of your guest like that.” Jolene turned to Enar and set down his drink in front of him. “There you go tiger, freshly iced cider from the best apples in all the hills. Now don't pay no mind to these liars. Old farts always make fun of the new guy but they mean no harm by it.” She smiled, round cheeks and sparkling eyes beaming at him. “Why don't you and I meet up in the field later and you can tell me what really happened.”

“But,” he began, “it really did happen.” He stopped himself as his thoughts caught up. “Yes, that would be nice. I'd be happy to meet up and have a chat later. Maybe somewhere in the shadow of those trees?” He nodded in the direction of the oaks out in the field and gave Jolene what he hoped was his most charming smile.

“Sure thing handsome. A girl loves a good story. I'll see you out there later.” She wiggled her fingers at him in farewell and walked off with her tray of mugs and her swinging hips.

“Enar,” Steve cleared his throat, “mouth.”

Enar turned back to the table, grabbed his drink and while his company once more roared with laughter he hid his reddening face in the mug and drank deep. The cold cider tasted of apples and summers and endless afternoons; sweet, but not too sweet, tart, but not too tart.

He put down the mug on the wooden table and shivered a little. “That's some good stuff right there,” he said, smacking his lips and smiling.

Both Rolf and Steve smiled at him as they too raised their mugs and drank.

“So, Steve, my brother,” Rolf said, “did you hear what Roini had to say about the goats?”

“Yes. I'm not sure I agree, but she does have a point. Something needs to be done.”

“Indeed. We can't leave it as it is for much longer. I'm just not sure what she's thinking with that idea of hers.” Rolf stroked his chin and leaned back in his chair. “Beired, my dear, what's your take on Roini's idea about the goats?”

Beired, for once, had a lot to say on the matter and gave a lengthy explanation which mostly went above Enar's head. When Jolene passed by with an empty tray and flashed him a smile he lost track of the discussion completely and after that he just sat there enjoying his cider - listening without hearing.

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Continued in Day 2 - Scene 4 - Part 2.

Back to Enar's Vacation.