[Envinyatar]

From the front porch, Derufin heard Andwise call out to him through the doorless entry. ‘Come help me hang this. I’ve done with it now. And bring one or two of the others. T’will make it easier to get the balance right. Gil and Fallon waved him on as he turned back to the little group finishing up the painting in the new bedroom. ‘We’ll get the last of this done,’ Gil told him. ‘You take Ferrin and Tomlin with you.’ Ferdy called out from the kitchen saying he was putting on the last of the new cupboard doors and asking could they get on without his help. ‘Right, then,’ said Tomlin, laying down his hammer. ‘Come on, Ferrin,’ we’ll get the front door up in no time and be back to the last of the moulding.’

Hopeful words, but not to prove true. Doors can be tricky things to get hung just right. And there was much cursing, and shouting of directions, and planning and leveling before the last screw that held the hinges was set in for the last time. The little group stood looking at the door, swinging it open and shut several times just to satisfy themselves. Derufin was sucking on two of his fingers, the two that Fil had accidentally hit with the mallet when they’d tried knocking the door a little more into balance.

The sound of laughter, and a familiar voice, edged in on the compliments the companions were extending to each other on a job well and finally done. ‘So, this is how many Big and Little Folk it takes to hang a door, is it?’

Derufin turned with a great grin splitting his face. ‘You’re here!’ Zimzi’s father, Abar, laughed as he jumped down from the wagon seat, extending his hand up to his wife.

‘”You’re here?” -- He seemed much smarter when Zimzi brought him to see us, didn’t he brother?’ Sakal clambered down from the back of the wagon, his brother Azar following after. ‘Perhaps we should give him the title Captain Obvious.’ Azar shook his head ‘no’. ‘No way he gets that name, Sakal. Never beat that Elf we met at the havens.’ Zimzi’s family had surrounded Derufin by this time, greeting him with claps on the back, handshakes, and a kiss or two on the cheek (this last, of course, being, Zamin, Zimzi’s mother).