[Envinyatar]

Derufin crouched down, peering into the gaping hole he had made with the crowbar. The sun was creeping past noon, and he calculated quickly how much of the repair could be gotten done by supper. He swiped his forearm across his forehead where the beads of sweat crept out from beneath the already wet bandana. ‘I could do this the easy way,’ he said, examining the extent of the problem, ‘and just put a quick patch across the planks I’ve removed.’ He rubbed the side of his jaw and considered the outcome. Cook would be satisfied and would no longer hound him about this task. The patch, done well, would hold at least through the winter and spring, though eventually it would break down, and he would be up here once again within a year’s time.

‘May as well do it right, now, rather than later’’ he grunted to himself, ripping up another section of the wooden sheeting that covered this section of trusses. ‘The preparatory work’s almost done, and Cook will hold a plate for me if I miss a meal.’ He stood up and picked his way carefully down to the south side eaves. Beren was there, working in the garden.

‘Oy! Beren!’ The man looked up, shading his eyes against the sun, to where Derufin stood waving at him. Derufin cupped his hands round his mouth and asked him to set up the other long ladder. ‘And bring up that stack of wide thin planks there, and the rip saw, if you will.’ Several trips later, the materials and tools needed were stacked nearby for use. Beren said he would be back in a while with a skin of cool water and would ask Cook for some sandwiches to bring up to him.

Derufin measured the lengths needed, and cut them to fit across the trusses, fitting them tightly against one another as he went along. Once done with this, he would seal them where they joined with a resinous compound and then shingle over them the next day when the sealant had dried. Part of the damaged area was over the dormer that extended out from the attic room proper, the ridge of it had started leaking. Once repaired, he would need to put a copper flashing over the ridge seam. ‘Best add that to the list,’ he told himself. Flashing would be needed to cover all the seams where joints occurred.

From the sounds of the hammers and the murmurings of words between the Elf and Man on the north side of the roof, Derufin guessed that the work there was going easily and apace. He was pleased that Uien had found someone with whom she felt free enough to speak, someone with whom she at least felt on an equal footing.

He well understood the unvoiced need for that simple solace of exchanging words and having the layers of meanings that lay beneath them understood in the process . . . and beyond the understanding . . . accepted. It had only been a few months ago his own reserve had been breached by chance. A flood of memories came pouring into his thoughts, and he wondered if Uien felt as raw and unprotected, as defenseless as he had. It was slippery going, as he well remembered, when the ground shook and heaved beneath the feet and the path so well defined and understood became suddenly unfamiliar and at times frightening.

The rise and fall of his hammer in a steady rhythm turned his thoughts to the person with whom she had chosen to risk this reaching out. Falowik. Somewhat of a cipher, he thought. And he wondered if she had chosen wisely. Fitting another board against the last one he had secured to the trusses, he chided himself for the direction of his thoughts. Uien was a friend. Should she need his advice she would seek his counsel. And he would give it.

But in the end, the choices in the matter would be hers alone to make and to live with.

Beren returned, bringing the water and a large napkin holding a hefty lunch made up by Cook. Derufin accepted the water gratefully, and put the bundled food in the shadow of the dormer’s overhanging eaves for later. His thoughts returned to the task at hand, and he left the Elf and Man to sort out the space between them on their own.