Homesteading on Jord

by Allan Joyal

  "Ready!" everyone chorused back.

  "On, one…two…Three!" I counted out. My initial lift was a strain, but the other's joined in, and we got the trunk moving upward. I put my hands under it as I moved to stand behind the pole and began walking towards the hole.

  When the pole was mostly vertical it slid away from my hands as the gravity dragged the other end into the hole. I limped over to follow it and make sure it did not fall over into the area that Piemal had dug out. The pole quivered for a moment and then stopped.

  "Wow," Heather said. "That wasn't as hard as I expected, but will it stay?"

  "That's what the vine is for. Wrap one around the trunk near the bottom, I'd say about a foot above the ground. Put the other as high as you can reach. Do three or more passes and then make sure the ends are easy to grab. When the next pole is in place, we'll use the vines to tie them together," I said.

  "What about the hole near the wall?" Oleiana asked. She was pointing to the rock wall. It was not perfectly vertical, so there was a spot that a person could reach an arm past the wall.

  "We'll fill that with mud and rocks once we are a bit further along," I replied. "Corwar, get another log. About the same size."

  "Hey!" Oleiana shouted. "I'm the one driving the mule."

  "And you do it very well," I called back cheerfully as I crouched to get a better look at the base of the log. It wiggled a little in the hole, but appeared to have settled into position.

  "Ron, this is going to take forever," Heather said as she started looping the vines around the log. "And do you really think it will work. I would have expected to build sections on the ground and then to raise them up."

  "We don't have any kind of nails or spikes to drive crosspieces through the logs. Without that I'm not sure how we could get a section built up. This will work, although having more people would help," I said.

  "Not much we can do about that right now," Heather said. "And we will probably have to allow Mary to rest soon. At least I heard Esme say that Mary isn't allowed to lift anything heavy."

  I nodded. "She's close to her third trimester isn't she?"

  "We think so," Heather said. "She's certainly showing her pregnancy the most. And except for Esme, Natalie, Kariy, and Joelia, I think all the women are now pregnant."

  "We should perhaps consider something new to do at night," I said. "We definitely ran into the maxim that practice makes pregnant."

  Heather started giggling. "I've never heard that before," she gasped out between guffaws. She caught her breath a moment later and looked over at Cimbra. The dark elf had taken the shovel from Piemal and was expanding the trench we were going to be filling with logs.

  "Ron," Heather said quietly. "Will we be safe here?"

  "If we get the wall in place I believe we'll be safe," I said. "But this won't be quick. I expect we have to place more than six hundred logs to get the wall completed."

  We could hear Corwar shouting something in the distance. I turned to look as the words became clearer. "Let's head west a bit. That way we'll already be lined up so you can lead the mule into position."

  "I know what I'm doing!" Oleiana shouted back. "If we go the way you want, the log will get stuck when we try to turn. We need to get a couple trees cut down to make the route to the wall easier."

  "She does have spirit," I said admiringly. "I was thinking she'd never grow out of being the little orphan girl."

  "But Ron," Heather sang in a childish voice. "I'm an orphan too. Do you really want me to be that independent?"

  I shook my head as Oleiana appeared through the trees. The mule was struggling a bit as he was pulling two logs at the same time. I immediately started limping toward the mule. "We can bring one at a time! Why are you making this mule pull two logs?"

  Oleiana looked back at Corwar. "I was told it would help things progress faster."

  "Well, one at a time from now on. But since they are here pull around and get the mule into position. Cimbra, you might want to get out of the way," I said.

  Oleiana smiled at me before guiding the mule in the circular route that allowed it to bring the logs to our growing trench without disturbing the rope. I had her stop when the poles were still a few feet away from the hole, so the mule could be freed from the harness.

  "Take the mule back to camp and get another one," I said. "We don't want any animal overworked. You'll have time since we have to raise each of these. Heather, are the vines wound on the first pole out of the way?"

  "They should be good," Heather said with a nod, as I walked over to logs and checked what would become the bases. Corwar had selected two that were almost identically sized. One had signs that branches had been cut off about nine feet up the trunk, but both looked solid. I bent down and put my arms around the one closest to the north wall.

  "On three we move this forward so it’s ready to be raised," I said. "One…"

  Everyone scrambled to join me at the log. I counted slowly and gave a long drawn out three as we slid the log forward the two feet to get it over the trench. The pole that was already standing swayed alarmingly as we finished getting the log into position.

  "And now we lift again," Heather said with a groan. "We all know the drill. As soon as Ron is in position; we go on one…"

  Oleiana and Cimbra giggled as I scrambled to join everyone at the other end of the log. Heather paused her count and then sharply called out three as soon as I had my hands on the log.

  The log tried to spin in our hands as we lifted it, but dropped into the trench once we had it vertical. I held it in place against the first log. "Heather, Cimbra, grab the vines we wrapped around the first log and loop it around this log several times. Try to go around both logs a few times. Piemal see if you can pile some extra soil around the first log to help secure it. Don't be afraid to push more dirt into the trench there."

  "What about me?" Corwar asked.

  "We'll take a few minutes and we can raise the other log with the four of us," I said. "Go and start getting another log ready. And if you see Al and Jeff, tell them that it might make sense to cut near here so we don't have to drag logs as far."

  "It will make moving the logs easier too," Oleiana said. "Right now we can't go in a straight line with the logs because there isn't always space between the trees."

  I could see Heather squatting as she furiously worked on the vine at the base of our wall. Cimbra was working the top one trying to keep tension without breaking the vine. "We need to soak these more," Heather said. "They would be more flexible, and when they dried they might tighten up."

  "We have no one to collect vines right now," I said. "At least not right this second. As soon as this log is tied down you can take Piemal and Cimbra and collect some. I'll look for a way to brace this wall without using up more trees."

  "Done," Heather said.

  "I'm finished too," Cimbra said. "Let's get the vines quickly. Ron will probably try to move the last log by himself."

  Heather grabbed Cimbra's hand. I could see her pulling the dark elf woman forward as she dashed into the trees. "Hurry!" Heather called out.

  As soon as they had dashed off, I knelt down to look at the soil surrounding the two logs. The second one had about an inch of open space all around, but for the moment it appeared to be stable. Piemal had done a good job packing dirt around the first pole. I still wanted to brace it, but it looked like it was secure for the moment.

  I could hear movement in the trees, but I was alone by the building wall. I looked at the log on the ground and decided to see if I could move it forward. We needed to get more done which meant using fewer people for each job.

  At first the log mocked my efforts. It was about twelve feet long and at least fifteen inches in diameter. There was a slight taper, but overall the trunk was rather uniform. I had to use a couple of the stubs from the cut off branches to push the log into position.

  I squatted down and got my hands under the pole. I found that I felt like I was trying to perform some kind
of caber toss as I lifted the end from the ground and then started walking my hands down the shaft. The end rose smoothly, and a moment later I could feel gravity claim the pole as the end dropped into the hole.

  This time the two already placed poles only shook for a moment. The new pole was not shifting too much, so I carefully approached and squatted down to check the soil. There were a couple visible cracks in the packed earth around the two logs, but I did not see any signs that the bases were pressing on the walls of the hole. I picked up the shovel that Piemal had carelessly thrown on the ground and started carefully filling in the gap around the poles.

  "I knew it," Heather screamed. "He didn't wait! Ron you could have been hurt."

  "I wasn't," I said quietly. "And we need to keep building. We aren't Roman soldiers who could build miles of road in a week. I think we have some time, but I don’t want to spend a month building this wall."

  "A month?" Cimbra asked.

  "Thirty days," Heather said. "It's a measurement of time we used before we ended up on Jord."

  "We use seasons," Piemal called out. "Depending on which calendar we use, they are eighty-eight to ninety-two days."

  "You have different calendar lengths?" I asked. "Wouldn't that cause problems?"

  "The shorter ones have a midsummer and midwinter festival added. The years are the same number of days," Piemal said.

  I glanced over at Cimbra. The woman shrugged. "I grew up in a place where seasons meant nothing. I had never seen snow until I was sold to the slavers and forced to the surface."

  Heather was kneeling down and weaving a vine around the log I had added to the wall. She worked quickly, using up about forty feet of vine before standing up and glaring at me.

  "I should make you do this," she muttered.

  I was going to reply when Al shouted. "So this is the wall?"

  Everyone turned to look to the south. Al and Jeff were walking casually though the trees. Aine and Konstanzia were with them. The quartet looked at the standing logs.

  "How will we see over this?" Jeff asked. "I mean we can almost see through it, but that won't be that useful."

  "We'll have to build a platform," I replied. "We need to have a section that's a bit longer before we can start working on that, and with so few people, it will be slow going."

  "We can cut trees near here if that will help," Al said. "Especially the ones in the way of the wall. That would probably make assembling it a lot less troublesome."

  I nodded. "It will allow me to make sure Corwar doesn't overburden another mule."

  "I told him that the mule shouldn't pull two logs," Aine said. "Konstanzia said that as well. But Corwar insisted."

  "Thank you for trying to offer him guidance," I said. "I told Oleiana to go to camp and switch out mules."

  "Another reason to work near here," Jeff said. "Stanzi my love, would you be willing to collect the rest of the tools from where we were working. I can get started on chopping over here."

  Konstanzia giggled. She leaned in and whispered something in Jeff's ear. The young man blushed and then smirked. "I'll make sure you get three tonight."

  "Oooh," Aine said cheerfully. "Tell Al about that, he isn't as generous as you are."

  The two women dashed off giggling. I looked at Jeff who just shook his head and then walked over to one of the larger nearby trees. Al watched him go.

  "I don't want to know do I?" he asked me.

  "Actually you probably do, but I get a feeling Jeff isn't going to tell," I said. "Meanwhile we should get back to work. This wall won't build itself."

  Chapter 17: Valley Visitors

  Six days later the wall was barely fifty feet long. A lot of time was being spent sharpening the few axes and saws. We also had a near disaster when a falling tree had shook the ground enough to dislodge part of the wall. Corwar and I were scratched and bruised as we held the section of wall up while the others repaired the damage to the soil. Heather saved us a lot of trouble by finding a few long branches that we could use the brace that section.

  The rest of the camp was slowly developing. Hencktor, Lawus and Gerit had all learned to man the plow, and by the sixth day we had ten acres cultivated. This had been accomplished by starting before the sun rose and continuing until there was no more light. One clear night the moon had allowed Verval to keep everyone working until nearly midnight.

  I called a halt to all work after the sixth day. Everyone was happy to collapse by the campfire and watch the cattle and goats wander the meadow. Over the last few days the corpse of the monster had been dragged away and the herds had moved to graze on the thick grasses on the west end of the meadow, leaving the newly cultivated land alone.

  "We need a fence," Verval said with a sigh. "And we need better irrigation."

  "Mary, I forgot to check. Is the bamboo hollow?" I asked.

  "No," she said as she held up a four foot long piece of bamboo. The bamboo had been cut so that two of the ribs were visible. Mary turned it to show me the end, the bamboo was solid at the point where the rib was.

  "Have you tried cutting it in half?" I asked. "We could use them as channels. It wouldn't be as effective as if we could use the bamboo as a pipe, but it will give us something."

  Mary smiled and jumped to her feet. I held a hand up. "Stop!" Everyone turned to look at me. "Today is a day of rest. You can work on it tomorrow. Perhaps while you monitor the work Thom is doing on the hides."

  Mary sniffed. "That's so smelly."

  "I'm sorry my love. I can watch him if you'd like," Lawus said.

  Mary shook her head and put a hand on her stomach. "You can help in the fields while I can't. Right now I get tired if I'm walking. There is a nice boulder near where Thom works. I sit there and watch Jesame while I patch clothing or weave branches for Dafalia. Your children need to know that I care for them."

  "You won't be the evil stepmother," Victoria asked.

  "Mirror, mirror in my hand, who is it I cannot stand?" Aine said wistfully.

  Everyone from Earth laughed at this. I could hear some bitterness in the laughs coming from Jeff and Mary. Cimbra leaned on my shoulder and whispered. "Why is that funny?"

  "We'll explain later," Heather promised. "Meanwhile, Ron what should we do today?"

  It was my turn to sigh. "We need to just relax for a day. I'd say we should play some games, but we don't have a clear area setup for anything even if we had a proper ball. The only idea I have is to try out swimming in the pond right at the edge of the valley."

  I pointed towards the pond that would link up with the south end of the wall we were building. Earlier in the week, I had wandered by it while heading to look at Thom's small tanning operation. The pool appeared to have been formed when a flood had washed away a bubble of sandstone leaving behind a bowl of granite that the river had happily filled. The pool was at least twenty feet deep on the south side by the rock wall and the water was clear. We had seen a number of fish swimming in the water, but no large predators.

  "I don't know how," Cimbra said worriedly.

  "We can teach," Heather said. "At least I can try. I never took any classes on how to instruct people in swimming."

  "I haven't either," I confessed. "But we can start slow, and the pond does have a wide beach area people can rest on."

  "I like the idea," Lydia called out as she stood up. "Come Henck, let's get in the water. I could use a dip."

  I smiled as Aine and Victoria grabbed Al and Verval and started pulling them toward the pool. Natalie and Esme just jumped up and rushed off, leaving the rest of us to get to our feet.

  Before I took a step, Joelia rushed over and grabbed my right arm. I turned to look at her as she slapped my spear into my hand. "I've been reminded to make sure you have this with you," she said firmly. "You are the best in the group with it."

  I looked over at Kariy. The young woman dropped her head as her face turned red. Chuckling I turned to follow the rest of the group to the pond. Lawus and Gertrilla hurried to walk with me
as we crossed the meadow. "What about the herds?" Gertrilla asked.

  "The monster we fought appears to have driven any predators out of the valley. If you think the cattle will try to enter the forest you can keep someone on duty, but the hounds appear to be happy to watch the cattle. They also appear to like the grass in the meadow and there is plenty for them," I said.

  "What about my daughter?" Lawus said.

  "She can come if she wants. I'd love for her to spend more time with everyone. She seems to always be alone," I said.

  "I think she's a bit afraid of Piemal and Corwar," Lawus said.

  "What about Soldrin?" I asked pointing at the young man who was sullenly walking towards the pool. Esme had cleared him for some work, but had emphatically told him that he couldn't get his hair or ears wet for at least twenty more days while his injuries healed. He had been mostly working as an assistant to Dafalia or Kariy.

  "Haydee barely knows him," Lawus replied. "He doesn't get along with the animals very well, so they rarely got together during our journey."

  I nodded remembering the day that we had to kill a goat that had charged at Soldrin. There was some high-pitched screaming coming from up ahead. I looked up to see that Natalie and Esme had stripped and were racing around the edge of the pool splashing water at each other.

  "It’s not like we have swimsuits for everyone," Heather whispered in my ear when my steps faltered. "And after two months of walking across this bloody planet, we've all seen it all anyway."

  "Bloody?" I asked. "I think you've spent too much time talking to Victoria."

  "She's nice," Heather said as she stepped in front of me. "And you're always so serious when we are marching."

  Heather kissed me on the cheek and then ran ahead. I looked over at Lawus and just shook my head. He smiled. "I'll go get Haydee," he said. "I think she'll enjoy this."

  The man raced off toward the ford. I took one last moment to look at our herd of cattle. They remained near the trees to the west of the meadow contentedly resting in the morning light.