Homesteading on Jord

by Allan Joyal

  I nodded as Jeff just stood and stared at Al. While the two men glared at each other, I moved to the cart and looked at the millstone that was closest to the water. It appeared to be the stone that would sit on the ground while the other revolved. I did see several wooden pegs in the side. It took me a moment to realize what they were for. The center of the millstone did have a small hole, but it was clear this was mainly so that a peg could be used to mount this pole and center the grinding stone.

  "Of course," I said when I figured out the pegs purpose. "We lift it via the pegs. I just hope the wood is in good shape considering it’s been in there for months, and we didn't worry too much about the stones getting wet."

  "What pegs?" Al asked as he walked over to join me. I pointed to the pegs on the side of the stone.

  "Those. I'm guessing we can use those to lift the stone safely. We just need to get the cart down by the water so we have the shortest distance possible," I said.

  "I can move it," Konstanzia said as she walked up. The young woman was with Joelia and they were carrying several flat pieces of bread. "I was going to bring you something to eat."

  I smiled and waved to Jeff and Al. "Feed them first, they have done more here than I have. The raft looks like it will work."

  "Why did you run off, and what was bothering you?" Joelia asked. "All I knew was that you suddenly took off, and then a short time later Lydia and Hencktor raced towards the entrance to the valley."

  "Oleiana and Yveney found a footprint near where they have been collecting the vines we are using. They told me about it, and I went to investigate. I don't like what I found," I replied.

  Joelia frowned. "What did you find?"

  "All I found was a single print in the ground near the vines. But that worries me. The footprint was from a large humanoid. It looks like the creature took some vines and left," I said.

  "If that's all why worry?" Jeff asked.

  "What if it noticed that we were here and brings a larger group to investigate?" Joelia asked. "We haven't exactly been keeping a guard on the valley entrance. That's why Ron wanted to build a wall."

  I nodded. "Exactly why I wanted to build a wall. Once we have it built we'll have a real defense against invasion. This valley can provide all we need."

  "Not sure it can provide all," I said. "It's large, and if we plan ahead, we should be able to work on making sure that we always have trees growing to replace any we cut down. I'm not sure it will provide the metal we need long term though. We'll have to plan on trading with the dwarves."

  "At least they are willing to trade," Joelia said. "What will we do about the print that was found?"

  "I've already talked to Hencktor and Lydia. He's going to try to make sure that the first barn is completed today. Tomorrow, he and I and anyone willing will be working to get the wall built. Verval has already said he'll refuse, and that he wants more shelters built," I said.

  "I want shelter too," Jeff said petulantly. "I'm tired of sleeping in the open. We need some way of keeping the water off at night."

  "I was hoping we'd have more time to find where to put the houses," I said. "But I've agreed that Verval can organize help to work on building. There is the wood still available in the grove after the monster came through, and I'm sure we'll have more trees than we need once we clear cut to open up space in front of the wall. I'm also going to recommend cutting down all the trees east of here. We'll need the open space for farming and having a clear area behind the wall will make it easier to get to it in an emergency."

  "There will never be one," Jeff said. "You are just trying to maintain your position as leader."

  "He's thinking ahead," Joelia said. "Ron, I'll be there to help tomorrow. Actually I can help today. I'm sure you want to get both millstones moved. Do you know how to set them up? I noticed you haven't had anyone working on a capstan."

  "Not yet," I said. "I was hoping we could set up a waterwheel, but that will mean we have to make gears and that won't be quick."

  "Gears?" Joelia asked. "What are those?"

  I looked at Al. He shook his head as we began carefully sliding the millstone to the edge of the cart. "We'll have to show you somehow," I said. "But not today. We don't have time."

  "On three?" Al asked. I had moved to grab two of the pegs in the side of the millstone. Al stood opposite me. I could see that he was also holding onto a pair of pegs.

  I nodded. Al's shoulders tensed. "One, two.." he began.

  On three I lifted up against the pegs. They creaked with the strain, but Al and I were able to raise the millstone above the bed of the cart. We carefully stepped to the side and pulled the millstone from the cart. I could tell that the weight of the stone was wearing on Al, but Joelia and Jeff rushed in to grab pegs and add their strength. Once they had joined we were able to maneuver the few feet to the water's edge.

  "I'll enter the water," I said. "I don't mind getting a bit wet."

  "In that outfit?" Joelia asked.

  "It’s pretty much done for anyways," I admitted. "So I won't mind if it gets wet. We'll probably need someone to swim in the water to help move the raft upstream."

  We had slowly circled so that I was able to enter the water at the front of the raft. The others shifted their holds as I waded around the raft. When I was on the far side they squatted down, lowering the stone onto the raft.

  The raft sank alarmingly. At first I thought it was not going to hold up the stone, but it stopped sinking and was soon floating low in the water. I looked up at Al and the others. "Let's head upriver quickly. We still have another stone to move, and I'm not sure how long this raft will last."

  I waded to the back of the raft and pushed it deeper into the water. The current tried to push it downstream, but I remained behind the raft and forced it to move against the current. Waves splashed over the front of the raft as I struggled to guide it.

  "We didn't set up a way to pull it," Al said mournfully. "Can you push it all the way?"

  "I have to," I said as the raft started to turn in the current. I had to grab the corner and pull it deeper into the water to right the raft and get it moving upstream. I was leaving the beach area and the current was steady as the river's path began to curve.

  Jeff and Al walked on the shore as I continued to press the raft forward. As the river narrowed I found that I was chest deep in the water as I pushed the raft forward. Al noticed and waved to me. "If it gets much deeper you won't be able to use your legs as leverage," he said worriedly.

  "The current is a bit slower," I pointed out. "I can keep moving it as long as I don't run into any large fish that want a snack."

  "Could that happen?" Jeff asked.

  "If this valley was once an artificial lake created by magic, who knows what survived when the dam gave way," I reminded Jeff as I continued to push the raft forward. "Now I need to get the raft to the other side of the river. Let me concentrate. I figure I can do it now when the current is light."

  I reached out and pushed the raft into the current. The raft began to slide downstream, but I started swimming. I grabbed the back of the raft and used a butterfly kick to thrust it to the far side of the river. I ended up drifting about thirty feet downstream before my feet touched the bottom on the other side, and I was able to start moving upstream again.

  The current seemed to be a bit slower on this side of the river. I was able to make steady progress and could soon see where the stream joined with the main river. The water became noticeably colder as I approached the fork.

  "Ron," I heard Al shout. "How do we cross? And where are you headed?"

  "There should be a nice flat piece of granite you can see just up the stream," I shouted back. The intersection proved to have some wild currents, and I had to grab onto the raft as I tried to turn it to head up the tributary.

  "I see it," Jeff said. "But how do we get there. I'm not sure we can walk up the other side. The walls get close to the river in the middle of the bend."

  "Remind me that we n
eed to design some kind of bridge," I said. "Right now the only thing I can come up with is swimming over here."

  "I don't swim," Joelia reminded me. "I won't be able to help."

  I had finally guided the raft into the side stream. The water in the stream was cold. I pushed the raft forward. It got hung up on a rock for a moment, but I was able to push it until it floated next to the granite shelf. The water was thigh deep here, and I had to keep pushing the raft to prevent it from floating away.

  I heard a pair of splashes. I was concentrating on holding the raft steady so did not look back, but a moment later Al and Jeff emerged from the water. Al looked down at the raft and then at the granite shelf I intended to use as the base for the mill. "This is a good spot. It’s already mostly level, and the water would definitely be deep enough to run a waterwheel. But we have to get this stone out and then get the other one. How do we lift it?"

  "Carefully," Jeff said. "I'd say Ron on the outside, and then you and me on the shore. We'll lift it and then mostly slide it ashore. Ron will have to let go once we get it over the land. Think you can move it the last few feet?"

  "How far onto the shore?" Al asked.

  "We can position it later," I said. "Let's just get it far enough ashore that it won't fall back into the water. We'll set up the other one alongside for today since we need to build the mill mechanisms first and won't have any grain to grind for a while."

  "I like the idea," Jeff said. "You said gears? But we might be able to do belts faster. We do have some spare leather."

  "It will stretch over time," Al observed. "Gears if we make them of hard enough wood would last longer. But we have to figure out how to build a wheel first. It's not like we have a way to round a dowel properly or to make boards."

  "Let's lift," Jeff said. He immediately tried to lift the millstone. Al and I both jumped to join in. It was awkward as Jeff and Al had to squat down to reach the stone. I helped raise it above the lip of the granite shelf, and the two men walked away from the stream. The raft blocked me from following, so I released the pegs I was holding and watched as they carried it about five feet before carefully setting it down.

  Both men groaned as they stood back up. Jeff managed to turn to face me. He had a grimace of pain on his face. "I'm not moving another one today," he swore. "I need to rest."

  Al was shaking his head. "I'm not that against it, but I do need a rest. Can we move it later?"

  "I was going to allow Verval to take this raft apart to help build a shelter for the sheep, but I think we can get him to leave it alone for a few days," I said. "Let's get back to the camp and see where we can help for the rest of the day."

  "No rest," Al moaned. "He's a slave driver I tell you."

  Jeff just laughed bitterly as I jumped onto the raft and rode it back down the river to the ford, leaving the two men to swim back to the camp.

  Chapter 21: Power Struggles

  I pulled the raft out of the water and then helped Joelia unhitch the cart so that the mule could return to grazing. She looked at me as I looked to the west to see if Al and Jeff had returned yet. They emerged from the forest dripping wet, and clearly not talking to each other. Al waved and then walked over to me while Jeff made a beeline towards the group working on the barn.

  "That is an unhappy man," Al said as he walked up.

  "Oh?" I asked.

  "He wants more authority, and thinks he'll never get it from you. He also really wants a real bed," Al said.

  "Isn't that what we have?" Joelia asked.

  "You were the daughter of a wealthy man. Didn't you have a nice mattress to sleep on?" Al asked.

  "Al, mattresses are difficult to manufacture. At best, a bed would be a stretched piece of hide with some padding. We haven't seen any sign of cotton existing in this world," I said.

  "Cotton?" Joelia asked.

  "It's a plant that protects its seeds with a fibrous material that can be turned into thread and cloth," I said. "It tends to be very soft and durable when properly handled. But I haven't seen any evidence of it on Jord."

  "What do we have instead?" Al asked.

  "Flax, which can be used to make linen," I said. "But flax doesn't produce as fine a thread as cotton. We could look into making mattresses out of it, but not soon. The other method would be to use down from birds, but we don't have a flock of geese. That was something we didn't try to purchase."

  "We didn't need another animal to herd," Al pointed out. "Maybe we'll get lucky and some will start visiting this winter."

  "Not likely," Joelia said. "But we can watch and see. Meanwhile, I thought I should tell you that there does appear to be a bit of a mutiny going on."

  I sighed. "Let me guess. Now that we are living in the valley, Verval wants to have more influence and power. He probably has Lawus and Borlan following him. It seems like Jeff will go along with them."

  "You knew?" Joelia asked. "They were careful to never talk about it near you. Heck, Verval leaned pretty heavily on Lawus to get him to join in."

  I waved toward Mary. The now very pregnant woman was sitting on the grass and watching Lawus' daughter run around with one of our sheepdogs. "He's worried about Mary. I can't blame him for wanting a roof over her head."

  Al looked surprised. "What about Aine? I mean she's pregnant. She'll need a roof over her head too."

  "We need the wall," I said. "What good is a roof over your head if the creature is hostile and comes to burn our houses down. The wall would allow us to keep them away. Besides, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking of moving upstream to find a home. That way the water will probably stay cleaner. The cows and sheep might foul it over time."

  Al pointed at the pool we had swum in. "I like the pool for swimming."

  "There will almost certainly be more upstream. The bend in the river was deep in the middle, that was why I had to swim across," I pointed out.

  "Fine," Al said. "Take away another excuse. But what should we do for today."

  I pointed to the group that was struggling to raise up a log to the top of the structure they were building. Somehow during the morning they had created two parallel stacks of logs. The top of the stacks were about seven feet above the ground, and the group was now trying to set logs to bridge the ten foot gap between the stacks. "Shall we make ourselves useful?"

  "Ouch," Al said as Gerit slipped and fell to a knee. The other men holding the log swayed for a moment. Gerit jumped to his feet and took hold of the log helping steady it. The group then raised the log up over their heads and started to walk towards the north wall of the valley, carrying the log over the walls they had built.

  "You're right, we should help before someone gets hurt," Al said. He dashed ahead of me. I was about to move when Joelia put a hand on my arm. I turned to look at her and noticed a pained expression on her face.

  "Konstanzia will support Jeff and those that are against building the wall," she said curtly. "I don't know Esme or Natalie well, but you have the support of Lydia and Hencktor as well as your two ladies. Victoria refuses to say anything, but I get a feeling she doesn't want to fight with Verval. All three boys will support Verval. The girls all support you except Dafalia. She's after Piemal's attention."

  I shrugged. "We'll make it work. Right now openly fighting with Verval would only destroy what we are trying to create. Now I should go; if I don't join it only gives him another way to argue that I'm not thinking of everyone."

  I headed over to the group. As I approached they walked the first log until it was near the valley wall. Once it was over the end of the logs they allowed it to settle on top of the walls they had already built.

  Both walls shook alarmingly as the group of men walked out from the structure. Verval noticed me standing there and stomped over. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

  "We weren't going to work on the wall until tomorrow, and moving the second millstone can wait. I figured I'd help here," I said sternly.

  "We have enough people," Verval snapped. He swung
his arm and punched the right wall of the structure. It started to sway alarmingly. I noticed that there was no mortar or mud between the logs to help stabilize them.

  "Does one more really hurt?" I asked.

  "You don't know how to build anything!" Verval roared. "I'll get the houses built! Go off and pretend you are still in charge! You've never lived on a farm."

  I stood there and slowly scanned the crowd. Several of my friends were clearly uncomfortable with Verval's outburst. Gerit shuffled to stand next to Amalya. The former cart maker put his arms around his wife as he stared at the ground. The only person other than Verval who had a challenge in his eyes was Borlan. The young man's hands tightened on the handle of the axe he held as I stood there silently.

  "Well? I told you to leave," Verval snarled.

  "Are you returning the tools I purchased?" I asked calmly. "Are you going to pay for my seed that you sowed in the ground? Do you have time to hunt for food since all the food we have was purchased with money I obtained for the group?"

  "How we obtained it doesn't matter!" Verval shouted. "You have ignored building shelter for everyone since we arrived. We had to lay out in the open while it rained."

  "Not true, we were in the grove and quite dry," I heard Natalie mutter.

  Verval ignored the comment from my friend. "We need shelter. Victoria is pregnant, and I don't want my child sleeping in the open. If you won't organize the building, I'll take the responsibility."

  I glanced past him at the structure. It continued to sway slightly. Lawus was trying to steady the one stack of timbers while the rest of the group continued to watch our standoff.

  "We have time to build shelter," I said. "And I was going to suggest we move upriver to put in our homes, so that this field could be used for livestock only next year."

  "What?" Verval snapped. "The soil here is excellent. Why should we abandon it?"

  "The water would be cleaner upriver," I pointed out. "And the grain mill is going to be built upriver. Why have to haul the grain that direction when we could grow it elsewhere. This is a huge valley if the dwarves are to be believed. I was going to ask Natalie to survey it tomorrow."