[Noinkling]

Clearing the downed trees

‘Whoa up, Sweet William!’ Benat could hear Derufin talking softly to the horse. ‘There’s a good lad,’ Derufin went on, urging the horse forward now. Thick ropes had been tied about the branches of one of the trees and secured to Sweet William’s great padded collar. The horse put his muscle into it, and pulled the tree into the clearing. It was the last of the three Benat, Denegal, and Derufin needed to get bucked into more manageable logs.

Benat set to work with his log saw, taking the branches from the trunk and heaving them in a pile to be cut later. At the far end of the trunk, where no branches were, Derufin and Denegal set to work with the two-man crosscut saw. Several hours of work and they had a last pile of logs needing to be split with the mauls into logs small enough for the Inn’s stove and the fireplaces.

Mistress Zimzi, with the help of several lads from the Inn, had brought a cask of sweet cider, several buckets of cool water from the well, and a large basket of sweet-cakes to the work site. The three men now sat about the food and drink, pondering the work still to be done.

Benat dipped a ladle into one of the water buckets and took a long drink. Munching thoughtfully on two of the sweet-cakes, he looked over the pile of logs. ‘There’s a couple of hours or so of sunlight left before evening is upon us,’ he said, nodding toward the west. The shadows of the nearby trees had begun to lengthen, their leafy edges reaching further into the clearing. ‘Perhaps we should work on a few of the logs, and leave the rest for tomorrow morning.’ He looked at his two companions. ‘What say you?’

Cullen padded up on silent paws and plumped himself down next to Benat. He had had an interesting foray into the trees, snuffling out the tracks of rabbits, and foxes, and other little creatures that moved secretly on their own little journeys along the Inn’s boundaries. Now he was hungry . . . looking up quite expectantly at the remainder of the sweet-cake Benat held in his hand.