The new students taking their places in the dormitories also had the benefit of making the upper room less crowded and more comfortable. Each adult now had their own bed and enough space to no longer be within touching distance of their neighbour. The close quarters were all the incentive needed to encourage each person to consider their options and make plans for where and how they wanted to live.
Two couples elected to join the house staff and moved into the only available small apartment. Even though they had to share it with the other couple, it still meant far more privacy than they had been recently accustomed to. It only was acceptable however because it was a two bedroom apartment designed really for a couple with children. One of the women joined the cooks whilst the other joined the general cleaning staff. Their husbands did whatever heavier chores were needed, primarily house maintenance and helping tame the wild vegetable plots in the conservatory ready for planting. When the better weather arrived their time would be split with outdoor maintenance too. They were fascinated to hear that the apple tree saplings in the conservatory, now about a foot tall, had been seeds inside their apple only a week before. Having had months of living hand to mouth, they prioritised planting up the prepared beds with hardier crops capable of an early yield and handling a little bit of frost. They appreciated, more than the existing staff, the necessity of becoming self sufficient. They knew it was unwise for the people in the local village to realise that the school had doubled its population overnight. Ordering twice as much food supplies than usual would easily tip suppliers off that more people were now here than should be. The villagers would naturally wonder who had taken up residence and might talk where the wrong ears were listening. Their pursuers would then realise this was where they were hiding.
Jim seemed to be everywhere. He kept moving all around the school keeping an eye on everyone and everything, helping out where necessary. He tasked the draughtsmen to sit down with the potter and come up with detailed plans for the pottery, with living accommodation above and an adjoining kiln. Once that was accomplished he called the wizard classes together. He’d had various gangs extracting clay, quarrying building stone and cutting timber. Now sufficient materials were assembled for the build itself.
Word spread like wildfire that something was to be built after lunch. Jim said nothing, acting casually but enjoyed watching and listening to the excited chatter.
‘So what’s the buzz about?’ Drako asked, aware his name had been mentioned.
‘We’re going to see if we can get your potter up and running this afternoon,’ Jim said.
‘Is that all?’ Drako asked with raised brows. He had planned on heading off to hunt but he’d postpone that. He was far too curious not to watch.
‘Wizard classes get your coats and boots on,’ Jim announced once the meal had finished. He’d risen to his feet and an expectant silence had immediately fallen. ‘Vako, Amelie, can you take your years like before?’ Jim asked and they joined him in gathering up their students.
‘Can we watch?’ Drako asked.
‘Certainly,’ Jim said easily. ‘Who’s got the plans?’ Jim asked the elder class awaiting him. A roll of several sheets of paper was handed over. ‘What are these?’ Jim asked seeing more buildings than he’d expected on accompanying sheets.
‘These are the sawmilling, carpentry and stone masonry workshops,’ Jasper responded. ‘We just finished the plans for them,’ he added unsure whether he should have included them just yet.
‘Well done,’ Jim said instead. ‘Talk me though today’s build first,’ he asked and waited for Jasper’s nod. He rested a hand on Jasper’s shoulder, scanning his mental vision of the finished buildings. Now when he looked at the paper sketches he knew just what Jasper meant. They continued this preparation even as they walked down the drive towards the front gates. The two other classes had waited for them and now fell in behind Jim and his senior class.
Drako walked to one side, watching Jim’s preparations in fascination, trying to avoid being a distraction.
To the right of the gates a large pile of logs, another of stone and one of gravel stood waiting. Someone had marked the area by pushing little pegs in the ground at wide intervals linked by string.
‘Jasper, can you hold the plans handy. Amelie can you merge your class just here,’ Jim asked gesturing to a spot slightly behind and to one side of him where they’d be well out of the way of danger. ‘Everyone, stay well back,’ he ordered, his gaze pinning a pair too close to the building materials, who hastily moved away. He turned to Amelie and smiled at her warmly seeing that she’d merged her team with prompt efficiency. He joined her merge.
‘Ready everyone?’ he asked, mentally sweeping around each member checking their attention and readiness. Without further ado he turned back to the site and gestured slowly. The turf peeled itself off in two foot wide strips which rolled themselves neatly off the site and stacked themselves to one side. Once they were gone he sent his senses over the revealed earth checking for any weaknesses like a spring or subsiding land. Satisfied, he gestured slowly again and began digging through the topsoil to create footings for the walls. Once a trench all around the building’s footprint had been created, he laid the foundation stones. Next, gravel swept over the bare earth inside the footings coating it deeply and evenly. The ground seemed to shimmer and the gravel settled as though it had been tamped down. He released the merge then with his customary thanks to each person.
They stood, breathing heavily, watching him prowl forward to examine what they’d accomplished.
‘Vako, your class over here please,’ Jim said gesturing to where class one had been. He examined the plans again while he waited for Vako to get the meld ready. He felt some members jump as he joined the meld and swept round them. He chided them for their lack of attention and turned immediately into action. This was more complicated, but the kiln was going to be a very important structure. He kept it small, using the pile of stone available at the moment. Soon stone flew through the air shaping itself into neatly squared blocks as it came. The blocks landed and nestled into the pattern dictated.
It took time and effort to do this. The reshaping of the raw materials was an additional process that required much concentration and effort.
‘Amelie, could you join us?’ Jim asked softly and she quickly added her strength. This set of students was comparatively weak and they relied on Jim’s strength as well as his guidance. But only an hour later it was built. Jim dissolved the merge and called the potter forward to check it. Once he was satisfied with the structure, and approved its elegantly domed roof he cast a spell on his own. The whole building shimmered and the joints between the blocks glowed white for a moment then disappeared. Now it looked like a huge smooth white boulder. But at regular intervals around its base were small flared arched openings and at one side an arched entrance.
The potter was stunned at the practicality, but also beauty, of the structure.
‘My class and Amelie’s class together in two rings please,’ Jim instructed. His team assembled quickly, looking forward to taking their turn. Jim linked with them then took control of Amelie’s merge too.
Stone flew through the air once again but now formed a rectangle separate from the kiln. Two neatly squared gaps marked the front and back doors and then openings for windows of the new building. Stones swept round, stacking neatly on top of each other, in a tornado of blurring motion. Logs splintered to become window and door frames, shutters and doors. Suddenly the motion stopped and the lower half of the building emerged solidly out of the dust cloud.
‘Rest for a few minutes,’ Jim advised his teams while he went for a closer look at what they’d achieved so far. He glanced back at them, assessing just how much strength this had taken from them. He opened the new front door and frowned. He glanced back at the stone pile and two flat pieces of stone flew over to create doorsteps and sills, front and back, so he could step in easily. Further stone sailed over to create a flagstone floor.
He then called the potter and Jasper to look and help him decide where the staircase should go, how it should be built and where the ceiling supports should be positioned. With a merge of just Amelie and Jasper the staircase soon built itself up the wall. He then retreated back outside to collect the other students now they were a little recovered, to help him site the heavy floor beams, lay the upper floor and then build the upper floor walls.
He had to sit down for a rest before tackling the roof with Vako’s class. Soon big beams crossed and braced themselves to create a long low roof topped with wooden shingles.
Everyone excitedly went inside to see what they had accomplished. The ground floor workshop was a big open room with wide windows. There were two fireplaces, one at either end of the room allowing for good heating. Upstairs, was just one huge room, again with two fireplaces. The potter could divide up the interior space as he wanted. Certainly at this point no-one knew what he would want by way of specific rooms. The potter could either build it himself, or decide exactly what he wanted and ask for assistance. Jim told him that he didn’t mind either way.
Jim rounded up the weary students and led them back to the school. There was no way they had the strength to contemplate more building today. Besides which more building materials would need to be collected and brought to site.
‘I like your way of building,’ Drako commented, regaining his wits after witnessing this astonishing display of magical ability.
‘Yes, we can achieve a lot by using our combined strength. It’s still very tiring though,’ Jim told him. ‘I know the buildings are just empty shells, but it’s a big job to try and sort internals out too, especially when we don’t yet know exactly what is wanted.’
‘You’ve made Charlie a very happy man as it is,’ Drako said sincerely and with a rather courtly half bow.
‘You’re not jealous are you?’ Jim asked.
‘Of course,’ Drako admitted. ‘The pressure’s on for me to prove myself useful enough to earn a nice private home too. But I think I’ll be last on the list,’ he added ruefully.
‘You’re not seeking that privacy to entice a lady are you?’ Jim asked slyly.
Drako suddenly laughed and pushed Jim sideways a little for his cheek. ‘I’d love to be thinking of that as my reason as you well know. Not all of us are so lucky. I’m quite envious,’ he added for Jim’s ears alone.
Jim pushed him lightly but used the contact to read Drako’s thoughts. Yes Drako liked Amelie but he didn’t covet her. Instead he admired Jim and Amelie’s ability to respect each other and work together as a team. That was what Drako wanted; a strong woman with a mind of her own. Jim glanced around abruptly remembering they were not alone and he should perhaps appear more respectful of Drako and vice versa since they were the leaders here. But in Drako he felt he’d found a friend and one who wasn’t that much older than him either. But he was so serious most of the time, it was fun to tease him and coax a laugh. He noticed Cassy was following along with the rest of her class, but her gaze was totally focussed on Drako’s back. Then she realised Jim had seen her and she looked away. Jim smiled to himself but then they reached the house where people were waiting for him with questions and he forgot about Cassy.
Over the next week the potter turned out the first batch of bricks in his new kiln to great applause. He was almost overrun with helpers. Jim had been quite clear that building anything required the raw materials first, even if magic was going to be used.
Having seen what the wizards had been able to accomplish and the work they were prepared to do for them, Drako’s people swiftly claimed and staked out a plot of land each. Everyone helped out in teams to collect and convert raw materials ready to be used in building. They waited their turn to sit down with Jasper to have plans drawn up. Building a place of work and a home was a very long job to undertake manually, especially in winter when conditions could change so quickly and the materials and ground were icy. The carpentry workshop and sawmill had premises adjacent to each other, again with ample space upstairs for living accommodation. They, along with the potter and his assistants braved the cold of the new unglazed buildings and overlooked the lack of amenities to move in as soon as they were built. Jim had advised them to continue coming up to the school for meals and washing facilities so they could be catered for properly. They were even allowed to borrow the school’s metal beds until they could make their own. Jim had decided he had enough to do building the village houses themselves without struggling with interiors too. Having said that, the baker’s wife had known exactly what layout she wanted upstairs in the house section of the bakery and through Jasper, had included interior walls and doorways as well as fireplaces into the plan submitted. As a result, their house was more “finished” than many others.
The village was starting to take shape. Jim had marked out a wide space down its length to be left clear sufficient for a wagon and team of horses to be able to pass one another and then cobbled the broad street. A square, featuring a small walled pool for water from the spring nearby, marked the village centre. He also made sure the workshops were widely spaced to allow either future expansion or gardens. Most of these people were animus with sensitive hearing. It was beneficial to give them sufficient space so a measure of privacy could be achieved on each plot. Also, some industries were hot, or noisy, or even smelly. They also might appreciate the space to grow hedges between them to dull the impact.
When Drako came to watch what his people had asked to be built, Jim noticed he had a tendency to stand on a small rise adjacent to the central square. Jim waited until Drako was out hunting and marked off the hilltop as claimed. Working alone, he carved a short lane from the central square to the rise then surfaced it with gravel. That accomplished he jogged back to the house. He had a strange urge to begin building alone; a belief that he was strong enough not to need help. He curbed the unexpected and potentially dangerous impulse knowing he’d need his strength for the next building work scheduled to be started that same afternoon. Working alone he might overstretch himself fatally. He would not run that risk, especially now he had Amelie.
Drako and his hunters returned in time for lunch, hanging their kills in the school’s meat house as usual. He went out most days with his best hunters, sometimes bringing back edible fruits or vegetables if they came across them. But he always returned in time for the building projects. They always gave him a great sense of satisfaction that his people were settling in to their new homes so quickly and enthusiastically.
Walking by Jim’s side along the village street, as he often did, he noticed a new side path. His feet immediately turned onto it. He noticed six small plots had been marked out, three filling either side of the upward sloping lane. But at the head of the lane he felt a sharp pang of disappointment to see markers and string in his favourite spot. The small rise had a stand of trees on the left that went down behind the new houses to the perimeter wall. Opposite the lane’s entry, at the far end of the plot, the school could be clearly seen half a mile away. It stood in picturesque splendour surrounded by grassland dotted with mature trees. The tree lined drive to the school was visible to the right. He sighed softly and stepped out of the markers and onto the lane. Who had claimed this area with its wonderful views? What were the smaller buildings to be on the approach to this one? He turned to Jim and suddenly had the distinct impression Jim had been watching him. But Jim was already turning his attention to the plan Jasper held for him. Drako watched the stunning spectacle of yet another building growing before his eyes, but this time he felt rather sad and separate from the process. He noticed that Jim used all three classes to help build as usual but didn’t seem to need Amelie to help in the latter stages as he had with the first build he’d witnessed. Instead Jim dissolved the senior class meld and did a number of major things alone. Jim gave the impression of getting stronger by the day. He glanced round at the end of one solo spell and Drako was sure Jim’s eyes had turned yellow. Next minute he seemed to shak
e himself and his eyes returned to their usual blue.
‘Is this gravel spoken for?’ Jim asked Jasper.
‘No, it’s what’s left over from this and the previous build,’ Jasper replied.
‘Good,’ Jim said and returned to the little lane. He gestured and the work he usually spread over a meld, skimming the turf off a plot, he achieved alone. The first of the hunter’s houses was soon a bare muddy footprint. He took another breath and gravel flowed from the heap to cover the bare earth with deep footings. He returned the excess to the now tiny heap. He gestured again and the footings shimmered, settling and compacting.
‘Ok, now I’m tired,’ Jim admitted and led the way back up to the school.
‘Sir, who are those new plots destined for?’ Jasper asked walking alongside and shuffling his papers. ‘I don’t see any plans for this lane either.’
‘No, you won’t have any. I only started work on this hunters’ lane and plots today. Don’t worry; I’m sure I’ll need your assistance shortly.’
Jasper contemplated what would become a secluded lane leading up to the prominent plot marked out on the hill. Designated for an important person? Then he knew: Drako was one of the few who hadn’t come seeking to lay claim to a plot. A house for the headman then and judging by Jim’s lack of explanation so far with Drako in earshot, it was probably to be a surprise. Now he thought about it, Drako was usually to be found watching from that hill. He’d have to think about drawing up suitable plans when he had a minute.
Amelie: Wizards of White Haven Page 36
