by Allan Joyal
"We'll send Corwar or Piemal when they get here," Heather promised. "Now I need you to promise to be serious and helpful. You have a child to support."
"Two," Cimbra said softly. I glanced at my dark elf lover and could see she had a hand over her belly.
"Cimbra?" I asked.
She nodded shyly. "I'm pretty sure. Are you angry?"
Heather laughed. "I doubt that. Ron is the kind of guy who loves children. I think it’s more he's surprised. I'm not sure why that is. It's not like he doesn't know how babies are made."
"I didn't even know…" I said.
Cimbra smiled. "I wasn't sure it could happen either. But I'm fairly sure."
Esme sighed. "Ron, you realize that all these babies are going to be born in late fall or next winter. It won't be a great time for babies."
"We'll make sure we have enough food to make it through the winter with a surplus," I promised. "I can see that Krysbain found something."
I nodded at Krysbain who walked up carrying a small deer on his back. The man smiled as he carefully set the carcass on the ground. "There is a lot of game nearby. More than I expected."
"Especially when you see the local predator, or at least what's left of it," Lenoir said nodding towards the body of the monster.
Hencktor was kneeling next to the front legs of the monster. As Krysbain gaped and stared, Hencktor stood up and carefully brought his hammer down on the head of the monster. Its mane shifted slightly, but did not prevent the strike. Hencktor looked at the head one last time and then started walking back to the group.
"What was that hit for?" Aine called out.
"Just in case," Hencktor said. "For a moment I thought it might still be breathing."
"We should try to skin it," I mused. "Especially that mane. I'd love to know if Shaylin can get it to protect one of us."
"The mane?" Lydia asked
"The hair of the mane grabbed at weapons and even deflected a magic bolt that Shaylin used. It was a surprising defense," I replied.
Lawus came over and sat down. Mary jumped into his lap and turned to face me. "I think Thom did a good job with the wolf pelts. They are a bit stiff, but they are warm if you lay them over someone. Jesame loves using one as a blanket."
"We'd want this to be a bit less stiff," I said.
"Thom can do it," Lawus said firmly. "He didn't have the time to treat the wolf skins before we dried them out. That meant he couldn't really work to keep the hide pliable. If we set up a proper workspace, he can probably keep the skin soft."
"Downwind," Krysbain said. "Which means we'll probably want it set up outside of the valley."
"Why?" Mary asked.
Lawus sighed. "Tanning leather is a very smelly process. There is a tannery in Saraloncto. I often would go out and collect chamber pots from town so they could have the night soil."
"What?" Aine asked. "Why?"
"It's used in the tanning process," Lawus said. "I'm not sure how, but Thom knows some. The master at the tannery would allow him to help sometimes. He was small enough to crawl under a couple of the fixed frames they used to stretch the hides while they were worked on."
"And now he remembers enough to try," I said with a nod. "Lawus, you'll have to work with him or talk one of the other adults into helping. And we'll have to set something up."
"Why not put it on the other side of the river down by the ford outside the valley," Mary said. "There was enough flat space there to set up a small building and it would have some protection."
I looked at Mary. "I guess you can work on that. Al and Jeff will provide the wood, but I don't want you and Thom out there if no one is working on chopping down trees. I expect you can swim, but it's still risky to be that far from the rest of us."
"What about something in the water?" Lydia asked too cheerfully.
"Is there?" I asked Gertrilla and Haydee as they ran to join the group. Piemal followed them looking a bit exhausted.
Haydee looked back at Piemal. "We won; you get to watch my flock tonight!"
Gertrilla looked at me. "Is there what?"
"Did you see any large animals in the water?" I asked. "I'm wondering how safe it will be to swim in the river."
Gertrilla started laughing. "Did you see the monster lying dead in the plains over there?"
"He should," Cimbra growled. "He was the one who killed it."
"I had help," I protested. "And while I know you love me, in this case it's a fair question from Gertrilla. I expect she's saying that there is nothing large in the rivers. If there was, that monster would have seen it as competition for food."
Gertrilla giggled. "I wouldn't put it that way."
I sniffed theatrically. "I'm so unloved."
Everyone laughed at my antics. The mood relaxed considerably as everyone found a place to sit. I waited while they settled in and then nodded.
"I'd like to start," Lydia said before I could speak. I glared at her, but Victoria was nodding, so I waved my right hand. Heather and Cimbra kissed my checks as Lydia stood up and moved to the center of the group.
My old friend smiled at me before turning to look at everyone else. "I don't know about the rest of you, but today I have to admit that Ron finally surprised me. I followed him mostly because at first there was nothing else we could do. Once we left the Wizard's Academy, I followed him because we had no home. The wizards had destroyed any hope we had of seeing our homes again. Ron refused to accept that as defeat and said we'd make a new home."
Lydia looked at the many new members of our group. "I know you probably are surprised by what I'm saying. We've always seemed so confident that this would work. Ron gave us that confidence. He never gave up. But I had doubts. Today, those doubts are gone. I look over this meadow and can see where we can set up a farm while still allowing the cattle space to graze. I look at that monstrous corpse and am reminded that Ron will do whatever it takes to protect the rest of us. He did that every day while we came here, and now, we can give back to him. I know there will be conflict. We'll get tired and angry, but when those moments come, just look at this valley and think about raising our children here in peace."
There was silence as Lydia finished. She smiled again at me as she returned to the circle and sat down next to Hencktor. The large man had a shocked expression as he put an arm around Lydia.
"Did you know?" Cimbra asked me in a whisper.
"He'll never say even if he did," Heather replied softly. "But we should let him speak."
Everyone was looking over at me. I held my hand up for just a moment. When I was sure I had everyone's full attention I spoke.
"I'd stand, but I hurt my ankle bringing down the monster lying out there in the field. I'm going to be unable to do much for a week or two. Soldrin and Shaylin also got hurt, so no one pretend that I was the only hero," I began
"You did the most," Lenoir said softly.
I glared at her. Several of the others nervously laughed as Lenoir blushed. "Sorry, I'll keep quiet," she murmured.
"Thank you. Now, like Lydia, I'm really happy with what I see of this valley. It's large and appears to be quiet. If that monster ate like we expect, there should be no more predators. Unfortunately, there might not be much game either," I continued.
"I think it recently moved into the area," Krysbain said. "Anything that large would leave visible trails if it followed the same path often, but I haven't seen any sign of that."
I pointed westward toward the mountains. "It could have remained up near the mountains," I said.
"I don't think so," Krysbain said. "And I did find game. I brought in a deer that I killed just a mile north of the valley mouth."
"That was outside the valley. Soldrin was travelling up the valley when he ran into the monster. However, you finding herds of deer will help. We'll have meat even while we fatten our herds. Anyways, for now we have three main needs that I'd like people to concentrate on. First, food for the future. Verval, you have experience farming, and Natalie knows the m
ost about farming methods used where we came from. I expect we can still get a crop or two in if we work fast. I'd suggest using the eastern part of the meadow near the river. We have a plow so that might help. It's not a great plow, but it will work until we can build a better one," I said.
"Can do," Natalie said firmly. "I'd like to get Corwar and Piemal to help as well. Both have some experience farming. I'd ask for Lenoir and Amalya, but I don't want to ask too much."
"I'll help," both ladies replied.
Amalya continued. "I want to see how we might get more. And I'm wondering how you plan on growing the rice."
Natalie sighed. "I want someone to check upriver first. Rice likes lots of water. We might find an area we can flood. The other grains we can plant in the meadow. Oh, those grape clippings you purchased long ago. Eight are still alive. We need to find a place to plant those. I want to see if we have a good location to the west."
I turned to look at Soldrin. He was watching everyone, but had a huge frown on his face. I waved to get his attention. One he was looking at me, I pointed to the west and then used my right hand to mine the movement of legs walking.
Soldrin just stared at me. Victoria groaned. "Ron, I’m not sure he understands. What do you need?"
"I want an idea of how far he got before turning back and to hear if he can describe what he did see. Otherwise we need to send someone else to look, and we have a lot of work to do," I replied.
Soldrin was looking at Victoria and then me. He sighed. "I still can't hear a thing. But I'm guessing you are talking about me. Other than being unable to hear I'm fine."
"Esme, will he get his hearing back?" I asked.
"Probably," Esme said. "Eardrums do repair, but we'll have to keep his ear dry so it doesn't become infected. And I can't figure out how to let him know."
"My brother will hear again?" Ximenia asked.
"It may take more than twenty days, but I believe he'll recover some hearing," Esme said firmly. "I just wish I could help him."
Ximenia hugged Esme. She scrambled away from Borlan and hugged her brother. Soldrin looked confused as Ximenia started pointing to the west and then holding her hands apart.
"You want to hear what I saw and how far I walked?" Soldrin asked. His voice was unnaturally loud.
Ximenia smiled and nodded. Soldrin looked at his sister and then shrugged. "I guess I can try to describe it. The trees you see are not a forest. I walked through them quickly and then could see a wide area on this side of the river. You can't see it from here, but the river had a bend once you get in the trees. The main branch flows from the north side of the valley. I did see a small stream meeting the river. There, I could see another large meadow, but I didn't get a good look. The monster was drinking from the stream and immediately turned to chase me so I ran back here."
"Natalie, that meadow might be where we can set up the rice farm," I said. "But work on the other grains first. We don't have a lot of time."
Natalie nodded. "We're probably going to be planting about thirty to forty days late for the spring crops. I'm going to see what I can adjust so that we get a full growing season. Most grains take at least ninety days to ripen. If we are far enough south we should be fine. But with this many people we'll need at least nine plots in work. That's an area over one hundred feet on a side. If possible, I'd like to plant more than that."
"I'm sure everyone will help when you need it. But we'll need to give Al and Jeff time to cut a lot of trees. We'll want to put a fence between the crops and the herds. We can do that with the smaller trees near the meadow. That will also open up the meadow a bit," I said.
"Let me guess, that's part three and a bit of two," Al said.
"What?" Heather asked.
"Well, I'm guessing shelter is two and any good logs can be used to build a cabin. I'd rather we try for brick though. Anyone know if we can find clay?" Al asked.
"In granite filled mountains?" Lydia asked. "I'd have no clue. Henck, Honey, do you think we might find clay around here? We could try to make clay bricks for a house."
Hencktor looked at the soil. "I'd have to look," he said. "Anything is possible, but we probably won't find it inside the valley. It would be to the east of us somewhere."
"Not right now we won't," I said. "Al is right on the third part. Al, Jeff, I expect you to hate me for this, but I want every tree from here to about sixty feet past the mouth of the valley cut down. Start with a band right at the mouth. Any trunks more than a foot in diameter and ten feet long keep there, we'll use them to build a palisade across the mouth. The rest can be brought to the meadow. We'll use smaller pieces for firewood and the rest to build shelters. We'll probably set up in the trees to the west at first."
Jeff laughed. "I can live with that. It sounds like a solid plan. And I agree with Al on the brick over wood. It will be easier to warm a brick house, and it will be less likely to burn down if we are using open flames for cooking and heating."
"Point," I said. "Now I suggest we set up a feast. Krysbain has brought a nice fresh deer and that monster has legs that remind me of giant chicken legs. Let's celebrate the fact that we found a home.
Chapter 15: Learning to Work
I spent the next three days resting. Dafalia and Oleiana regularly brought water from the river. It was warm, but the feel of water pouring over the ankle did soothe the throbbing pain. Heather and Cimbra traded off sitting with me. They would bring reports from all the projects. It soon became clear that a conflict was brewing between Verval and Natalie. It let it go for one day, but by midday of our second full day in the valley, I was shaking my head as Heather described how Verval was ignoring Natalie completely.
“Bring them over here,” I said. “We need to stop this before it causes bigger problems.”
“They might not listen to me,” Heather said worriedly. “They are really upset with each other right now.”
“They’ll come over,” I said. “They’ll both want me to put them in charge completely. Just go.”
Heather trotted across the field. Kariy looked over at me and shook her head. The young woman had been tending a small fire and keeping a hearty stew warm for everyone. “Are you just a little upset with everyone?” she asked entirely too cheerfully.
“Not really,” I said. “I hoped that Natalie and Verval could get along, but I expected that there would be problems. Natalie doesn’t have a lot of experience at farming which makes Verval not trust her.”
“Here they come,” Kariy said.
I looked up and could see Verval almost running towards me as he marched from the area where we were trying to set up a farm. Natalie was following him at a slower pace. It appeared that the young brunette was arguing with Heather and Mary as they approached.
“She’s telling me to spend hours just preparing the soil!” Verval shouted. “We need to get the seeds in the ground, but she wants to spend another two days just turning the soil!” He stood in front of me with his arms crossed.
Natalie walked up, but said nothing as I sat on the ground and looked at Verval. I noticed that Mary had her hands covering her mouth as she stood behind the two I had placed in charge of planting our crops.
“Are you done?” I asked Verval.
“What?” Verval snapped. “That woman admitted she’s never run a farm, but she tells me that we need to spend days getting the soil ready. It’s a waste of time!”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“What?” Verval said as he took a step away from me.
I sighed. “Verval, hard as it might be for you to believe, Natalie does have a reason behind that. We learned that there are ways to reduce the amount of work you have to do when farming and still get better yields. But to make that knowledge useful more soil preparation is required. The grass currently growing needs to be cut and fully plowed under, and then the soil will need to be made relatively flat so that the seeds can have the greatest opportunity to germinate.”
“But I’ve never had to do that!�
� Verval said.
“Yes, but how many people did you farm for? I’m guessing it was you, Corwar, and that was it,” I replied.
Verval frowned. “But can we really increase our yields that much?” he asked.
“Probably not right away,” Natalie said. “Our plow isn’t as good as I’d like. We need to build a heavier one. Also we don’t have a proper seed drill. This year we’ll have to do that part of the planting by hand, but I think we can make that work. Next winter I hope that Al and Hencktor can help me design and build some better tools for planting.”
“A seed drill?” Verval asked. I could see Mary behind the duo looking confused as well.
“Seeds grow best if they are buried, but you only want them buried to a certain depth. Corn likes being planted deep, but most grains want a minimum of soil covering their seeds. And if you plant in defined rows, it’s easier to keep the weeds out. A seed drill is just a device that makes sure the seeds are planted to the right depth in those defined rows,” Natalie said. “It was a refinement to farming that greatly increased crop yields.”
“I’ve never heard of something like that,” Verval said. He had a hand stroking his chin. “How did anyone come up with that?”
“As I understand, it was a nobleman. He became interested in the output of the farms on the land he controlled. In the end he experimented with various planting methods and discovered this,” I replied.
Natalie looked at me. “How did you know?”
“Too many hours spend waiting for flights or stuck in hotel rooms,” I said. “I ended up reading a lot of books. I can’t remember the man’s name, but I remember that it was a nobleman who introduced the idea to Europe. China already knew about seed drills.”
"How did China know about them?" Mary asked.
"China invented a lot of things long before Europe did, but they didn't use their knowledge to expand empires. Europeans would end up writing about the inventions so we believe that Europe was where all these things were first made. The idea of setting up a mill powered by water is another one that China did first," I said.
