Day 4 - Scene 5

The forest opened up even more and they stepped out into a long narrow meadow sloping down towards a lake. Enar stopped to take in the sight; bees buzzed, butterflies fluttered and little flowers yellow and white waved at the sun high above. At the other end, just on the edge of the lake, stood a little wooden gazebo.

“Wow.” His hand, almost instinctively, went for his pocket before he remembered he wasn't supposed to do that here. Then again, he'd put the phone back in the pocket of his coat anyway.

“Beautiful, isn't it?” said Rolf, having stopped too. “You don't get views like this back in the city, my friend. Don't tell me you do.”

“No... no you don't.” He'd seen plenty of well kept parks, both in Kul Viller and other cities, and they were beautiful too, just not in the same way. Those were parks. This, this was for real.

He shooed the thought away. It wasn't fair. You couldn't compare a park to nature like that, it would be rude to all the gardeners that worked hard to keep them in trim. But, still.

Well, this was the here and now. Might as well enjoy what he had. “That's our destination down there, right?” Smiling, he started forward again.

“Indeed my friend, indeed.”

A few minutes later they arrived at the gazebo; a raised platform with eight pillars around the edges holding up a low, cone-shaped, roof. On the platform, around a large hole covered by a metal grille, stood a few wooden chairs and benches.

“What's with the hole?” Enar put down the toolbox at the edge of the platform and stepped up.

“That's what we're here to fix my friend. I told you about that, didn't I?” Rolf lay down the ladder in the grass.

“No, I mean in the floor.”

“Ah, right. That's a fire pit, in case there's rain and you still want to barbecue.”

“I see. Very convenient.”

Rolf nodded. “Let's check out the other hole then. The one we're here to fix.”

They both looked up at the under side of the roof. The hole went clear through; perfectly circular and soot black around the edges. None of the radial beams going from the edge of the roof to its pointed center had been affected, but two of the crossbeams had been seared straight through.

“What caused that,” asked Enar. “It's perfectly round. I thought maybe someone had stepped on the roof and fallen through.”

“No. The youngsters like to hang out here and get drunk in secret. There's a weaver among them had a bit too much and set a fireball through the roof.”

“Isn't that dangerous?” Enar stared at Rolf with eyes wide.

“What? Drunk kids practicing lethal magic without supervision? Nah, it's fine. Don't you have that in the city?”

“No! Of course not. That's...”

Enar stopped talking as Rolf burst out laughing. He tried to send the man an angry glare, but couldn't really put his heart into it and a smile crept on to his face. He really needed to watch out for that sarcasm.

“Enar my friend, you really need to get out more and see some people. You can't let yourself get caught out like that.” Rolf's grin threatened to split his face in half. He took a deep breath, composed himself and turned serious. “Yes, it's very dangerous. They really should know better. They've been down at the tannery for the past two weeks helping out there now all of them.”

“All? You've got a lot of them?

“Well, two weavers and two channelers. Quite a lot for a village this small. Haven't had any for a long time and then they pop up four at once. At least they're even pairs.” Rolf sighed. “They're good kids really. Wouldn't rat on each other. But, you know, they really should've known better – so they all got sent down.”

“Yeah.” Enar nodded and scratched his chin. “I know what you mean.” Shaving would be very near the top of the list of things to do when he got back home.

“At least no one got hurt. Could have ended badly.”

“Mhm...”

They stood in silence for a while, looking up at the hole, each with their own thoughts. Perfectly round. Beams cut clean off. Even the roof tiles on the top side arched smoothly along the edge of the hole. Could have ended badly indeed.

Rolf broke the silence. “Well, at least it won't happen again this generation.” He sighed. “Shall we get going then?”

“Yes, sure... um... what do we do?”

“First we clear up the hole, take away the old stumps so we can put in new beams where they were.”

“Right.” Enar nodded and looked at the hole. “It's pretty high up.”

“Yep. I climb up the ladder and you make sure to hold it still so I don't fall off and break my neck.”

Enar grinned. “That would be inconvenient.”

“Aye, always such a hassle, broken necks.” Rolf's smile turned somber. “Seriously though – make sure to hold it steady. It's pretty high.”

“Don't worry, I won't let you down.” He kept his face straight for a moment and then they both grinned.

Rolf set up the ladder in the position he wanted it and Enar dragged a bench over to put the toolbox on. That way he'd have it close by in case Rolf needed something. The work itself turned out to be easy enough and it wasn't long until Rolf handed down the last piece of roofing tile for Enar to put on the pile on the floor.

“That's the easy part done then,” said Rolf as he stepped down from the ladder and brushed soot and dust off his hands.

“I guess so. How do we plug the hole?”

“There's spare tiles and beams over there.” Rolf pointed at a spot over by the forest's edge. “Let's go get some.”

Under an old oil skin tarp they found handful of planks and a pile of clay tiles for the roof. Together they carried a long plank back to the gazebo. They laid it out across one of the benches and Enar held it still while Rolf sawed off two lengths to replace the old beams.

After having climbed up and down the ladder a few times to check the fit Rolf finally declared that the new pieces were just the right size.

Enar carried the remaining length of wood back to the pile and pushed it in under the tarp. When he got back he found Rolf rifling through the toolbox looking for nails. The twine that tied them together had come lose and the nails had scattered all over the bottom of the box – underneath everything else.

Eventually, enough nails had been located and it became time to put the new beams in place. Rolf climbed the ladder and did the work. Enar held it still and picked up the nails that Rolf dropped. The sun crested the top of the sky and moved into afternoon-land.

“There, my friend, I think that's as set as it gets. How are you doing down there?”

“Just fine, just fine. This ladder ain't going nowhere,” said Enar, trying to replicate to local dialect.

“Good lad.” Rolf climbed down, brushed the dust off his hands and took a few steps, stretching his legs. “That'll do for now. The girls should be here with lunch soon and we'll do the rest after.”

“Lunch sounds great.” Enar brushed his hands off too. Not that he'd done much actual work, but the ladder wasn't exactly clean – and it was the kind of thing you do when you took a break.

“Ayup.” Rolf nodded and turned to look at the lake. “Want to check the water? Maybe we can go for a swim when we're done, if it's not too cold.”

“Really?” Like Viller would be freezing still, not to mention the river. Then again, a small lake like this probably warmed up faster. “I didn't bring any swim trunks – and no towel.”

“You don't need that my friend. The sun's warm enough, we can lie in the grass and dry up.”

“But what if someone comes?” He couldn't go bathing without his swim trunks.

“Don't worry my friend. It's probably too cold anyway. Lake's deep. Take's half summer to warm up enough for me to go in. I just wanted to go soak my feet a bit. Come on.”

A narrow strip of sand, mixed with twigs from the lake and little pebbles, separated the gazebo from the water. Rolf stood a few steps out, waves lapping at his ankles, and Enar went to join him. The coldness bit into his feet as soon as he stepped in; thousands of tiny needles pressing against his skin. He shivered, breathed in, and took another few steps.

“Cold isn't it?” said Rolf between deep breaths.

“Freezing.”

“Some people. Like it. Cold.”

“Yes.” He wouldn't give up and go back before Rolf did. It was just cold water.

“Crazies.”

“Yes.” He balled up his fists and planted them on his hips. He would stand firm.

“And kids. Kids bathe in anything.”

“Kids... are crazy.” He focused on his breathing; long, slow, breaths. In. Out. In. Out. He could do this.

“Oh, I think I hear them now.” Rolf turned and strode back up on the beach. With a few long steps he left the water.

Victory. Three more breaths. Two. One. Enar turned as well and on clumps of ice he walked back on to dry land, trying to look casual about it.

Halfway up the meadow he could see two girls coming. Linnea carrying a big basket and Elsie some kind of backpack. They waved and he waved back.

“Do us a favor my friend, and don't mention anything about that pipe you had. Linnea doesn't like talking about it.”

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Continued in Day 4 - Scene 6.

Back to Enar's Vacation.