Homesteading on Jord

by Allan Joyal

  "And we'll try to do this with each location where the wall bends?" I asked.

  "That's the idea," Cimbra said. "We'll be getting the next one assembled soon. We just have to finish weaving the platform. The reeds aren't ready though. I took them down to the river to soak more."

  "Good," I said. "Well, I should get back to work. This wall is going to take a long time and we have a lot to do."

  Heather and Cimbra kissed me on the cheek as I turned back. I still had the bowl of meat in my hand, so I started to pop pieces in my mouth as I headed back to the clearing and the trees. It was gratifying to see the progress, but we had a long way to go and little time.

  Chapter 26: Being Neighborly

  Fifteen days later we dropped a tree trunk into the river marking the south end of the wall. Verval and Jeff watched as we removed the temporary dam we had used to route the water away from the shore so we could dig the hole.

  "I can't believe you built the wall this fast," Jeff said as we stood on the riverbank and watched the water begin to flow around the end of the wall. "And you even remembered to turn the wall inward to give it a bit more strength. But what about the water getting trapped by that corner?"

  Heather and Lydia started laughing. "Have you looked?" Lydia asked.

  "What?" I heard Jeff cry. He turned away from the wall. I watched as the water began to build up at the based of the wall. I immediately saw that the poles on the short spur heading to the west were spaced to allow water to flow between each pole.

  "We built in gaps so that the water could flow through that section of wall," Lydia said. "We thought of that before you asked the question."

  I was going to say more when a new voice spoke from behind me. "Well, and here my nephew thought all you did was play." The accents on each word sounded off, and I turned carefully.

  There were five dwarves standing just to the west. Two carried a large box. The lead dwarf had an old skull cap that appeared black with tarnish and age and a long white beard. He looked at us and slowly shook his head.

  "Did I come to the wrong place?" he asked, once again accenting the wrong syllables as he spoke. "My nephew said you'd have wool to give us for spikes. I say that wall looks like it could use some support."

  "That's what the spikes are for," I said firmly. I glanced around for Gertrilla and then remembered that she was currently standing watch at the far end of the wall. "Haydee, you helped shearing the sheep. Do you know where the wool is stored?"

  "We put in in the tent!" Haydee called back. "But it’s the wool of eight sheep. Gertrilla talked to Amalya and Konstanzia, they said that they couldn't deal with all the wool quickly. Amalya said we need to make a few looms, but she didn't know how."

  "We need tools," Al called back. "I think I can piece something together, but we need a better way of shaping wood. The saws and axes we have are really only for rough work."

  "Haydee, can you get the wool?" I asked.

  The elderly dwarf turned and rattled off a series of syllables to one of the dwarves following him. He then turned back to look at me. "Where is this tent?"

  I point to the west. "We set it up in the next grove to the west. We plan on eventually cutting down this forest. We need wood, and it will enlarge the pasture."

  "So many trees," Aine said mournfully. "We are despoiling nature."

  "You want to sleep outside in the winter? And to have no wood for cooking?" Lydia asked sharply.

  "What do they argue about?" the lead dwarf asked.

  "They are teasing each other about work we plan to do in the future," I said. "There is still much to do if we are to make this valley a permanent home."

  "That is always the way of it," the dwarf said. "Now I was going to say, if the tent is to the west, Calitsy can just walk there with your child, and we'll meet her there when we leave. Why make anyone walk back here."

  I nodded. "Haydee, one of the dwarves will walk with you to get the wool. Is it ready to transport?"

  "We bundled it as tightly as we could. It's wrapped up with some scrap leather, and we used vines to tie it down," Haydee said. "Why?"

  "One of the dwarves will follow you and pick up the pack at the tent. That way you don't have to hike here with it so they can carry it back past the tent. After that, you can go and check on the sheep," I said.

  "They are fine," Haydee said. "I looked in on them this morning. The herd is getting fat on the nice grasses over there, and I saw one of our rams doing his duty. We'll have babies in the future."

  "Which will be nice as we need larger herds if we are going to use them for food." I said absently. I turned back to the elder dwarf as Haydee skipped off along the bank of the river. "Haydee will go to retrieve the wool, if Calitsy wants to follow her."

  The elder dwarf snapped a finger and one of the empty handed dwarves immediately turned and trotted after Haydee. I noticed that Haydee slowed down enough to allow the dwarf to keep up easily as they passed into the trees that lined the river.

  "Did I hear that you have more wool for us than agreed?" the elder dwarf asked sternly.

  "It was decided that we could not make use of all the wool obtained by this shearing. Rather than waste it, we offer it to you for the use of your clan," I said carefully.

  The old dwarf glared at me. He stroked his long white beard as the two dwarves with the box walked over and placed it on the ground in front of me. "We can't accept charity," the leader of the dwarves said carefully.

  "We didn't offer the wool as charity. Consider it a payment for work you have not done for us yet. If I understand my companions, we need more saws and even a drill or two so that we can build things. I expect we'd even appreciate an anvil so we can do our own repairs and not have to bother your smiths. Spikes like the ones you provided cannot be difficult to make," I said carefully.

  "No, but they are good for helping to train apprentices on when to strike," the old dwarf said. "Yet, what you say does make sense. We'll look into what value we can return for the extra wool. When would you like us to bring some more goods?"

  "We plan on staying in the valley," I said. "As long as we are not forced out, so come on your own schedule."

  The dwarf looked at the wall we just completed. "I'd say it will be hard to force you out. You've built an impressive defense."

  "We need it," I said. "There are orcs out there. Hopefully this will keep them out."

  "Kill their leaders," the dwarf said firmly. "They are cowards and will run once their leaders are dead."

  "Easy to say, but won't their leader just hide behind his tribe to avoid us?" I asked.

  The dwarf's shoulders shook. It looked like an attempt at a shrug, but it was hard to determine with the heavy metal pauldrons the dwarf wore. "They can't stand too far back, or the others will turn on them. You just have to look for your opportunities."

  "And we are low on crossbow bolts," I muttered. "We do thank you. The spikes will help immensely."

  "And we'll provide more in the future. We have not had wool for centuries, and the woman are hoping for more in the future," the dwarf said.

  "We only have a few sheep at the moment, but we do plan on growing the herd. As long as we are here, we should have wool to trade," I replied. I bowed slightly to the elderly dwarf.

  "We welcome the trade, and are hoping you have a surplus of grain in the future," the dwarf said firmly.

  "Probably not this year," Natalie called out. "We only had a limited time to plant and could not plant as many fields as we wanted. Next year we should be more prepared. It depends on how much snow we see."

  "These lands see little snow," the elderly dwarf said firmly. "The major storms drop their snow up in the mountains."

  I could feel several people on our group relax on hearing those words. "We might be able to prepare the fields early," Verval said happily. "That would go a long way to ensuring a good harvest next year."

  The dwarves all started to march off to the west. I looked down at the box they had left behi
nd. It seems disrespectful to rush forward to look at the contents. I turned to look at Hencktor. "Henck, we should get the hammers. Girls, let's start organizing the thinner poles we found. We need to start shoring up the wall and adding more platforms. Didn't we get some spearheads while in Saraloncto?"

  Lydia looked at me. "That's right we did. What happened to those?"

  "They are in with the rest of the tools we aren't using," Heather said. "Probably stored by the tent where we piled all of the casks and boxes we brought."

  "We shouldn't leave the ones with seeds where the rain can get to them," I said worriedly.

  Lydia giggled. "Those are in the tent now. We already thought about that."

  I nodded and then looked at Verval. "Verval, I know you want the shelters completed."

  "So does everybody here," the man growled. "But you've devoted days to getting this wall built. I'm still not convinced the orcs will be returning."

  "I am," I said simply. "But what we have built will keep them out. I will need a few of the girls to man the towers and watch. I'd like to work with Hencktor to shore up the wall and build more platforms for us to stand on and fight from. We won't be able to get the entire wall upgraded, but what we can do hopefully will be enough. However, everyone else can help on the shelters for a few days."

  "That will be just so welcome," Verval said sarcastically. "I can't imagine how much we'll get done without you getting in the way."

  I heard growls from several of the ladies, but raised a hand for quiet. "Verval, we have to live together in this valley. I'm trying to avoid a fight we cannot afford. Let's just get back to work. You have shelters you want to build. I want to improve the wall so that we can keep everyone safe."

  Verval glared at me one more time and then stood proudly. "Fine, everyone, we need to make a roof for each shelter and then we have two more shelters to assemble. Follow me and we can start assembling rafters."

  The man whirled and then marched away from the river. He did not look back as he headed for the meadow and the shelters he had been leading the building on. I watched him go and then looked at everyone else who was standing gazing at me.

  "You heard him," I said. "If you are helping with the shelters head off and see if we can get roofs built. We'll have peace within the valley when he has a comfortable place to live I think."

  "Not hardly," I heard Heather mutter as everyone turned and started to follow in Verval's footsteps. I stood and watched them go before turning to Hencktor. The man nodded as he walked over to the box the dwarves had left.

  "Let's get building," the man said. "I expect the orcs to return soon, and right now the wall is too flimsy to hold up against a determined assault."

  Chapter 27: War Drums

  For the next four days, Hencktor and I worked on adding supports to the wall and building a framework that could hold a fighting platform. Hencktor wanted to start installing the platform immediately, but I pointed out that we had no idea where the orcs would mass, and we only had so much time so it was best if we simply prepared as much as possible.

  We installed a scaffolding framework throughout the structure of the wall. The spikes proved to be a blessing. The dwarven smiths who made them had managed to make each one uniform in length and hardness. They carved through the toughest of wood with ease and sank deep enough to steady even two inch thick branches when we used them as rails for the wall.

  Throughout this time we received regular reports on the progress Verval was achieving. He had managed to come up with a way to use logs to form rudimentary rafters for the shelters, but the lack of boards left him confused as to how he might cover the openings. I suggested that he run bamboo to form a framework and then see if he could make shingles out of some of the wood we were cutting. We had nothing similar to cedar, but he nodded at the suggestion and soon had Soldrin and Piemal sawing tree trunks into even lengths and attempting to flake off shingles from the blanks they created.

  The others helped as much as they could. Dafalia was using some of the branches as fencing for the chickens and the rabbits. She had found a spot where a bowl of granite had filled with dirt. The stone came to the surface in a circle, which she used to define her fencing. The rabbits could not burrow out, but had an area they could explore. Dafalia made sure to feed them every day and kept fresh water available using a clay bowl she found in one of the many packages Kariy was still organizing. The chickens did not require the stone barrier to digging, but Dafalia ended up asking Jeff to help her make a shelter for them so they would lay their eggs where she could find them. We only got a few eggs each day because Dafalia was allowing many to hatch, but everyone loved the addition to our diet.

  Even the cattle were thriving. Two had given birth shortly after the wall was finished. This was a surprise as we were told none of the cows were pregnant when we purchased them. The births were welcome though as we now had fresh milk. Kariy and Joelia began talking about making cheese and bugged everyone to help them make the tools they needed.

  The fact that everyone was working towards making the valley into a home appeared to defuse a lot of the tension. Verval still growled that he should be in charge, but no one paid him much heed. The orc head had scared everyone.

  It was on the fifth day after completing the wall. Hencktor and I had finished installing all the braces we felt the wall needed and were starting to talk about where to install the platforms first when Gertrilla let out a blood-curdling scream. We were just south of the tower she was at and whirled to look at the young girl.

  "Fire to the north-east," she shouted as she pointed into the distance.

  I looked at Hencktor. He shook his head. "We need to see,"

  I nodded and then dashed over to the tower Gertrilla was standing in. The rope the girls used to help climb the wall was dangling. I grabbed it and hoisted myself up to the tower platform. I expected it to shake, but there was only a slight groan as it accepted my weight.

  "Where?" I asked Gertrilla once I was on the platform. I looked in the direction she was pointing and could see a column of smoke rising above the trees. I had no way to gauge the distance, but I estimated that it was only a couple of miles away. Then two more columns started to rise above the trees.

  "What?" Gertrilla asked.

  "Campfires," I said simply. "Or more likely some kind of bonfire."

  I had just finished speaking when we could hear the faint rumble of drums. The rhythm of the drums was slow and steady.

  "What is that?" I heard Hencktor shout. I glanced to the south to see him standing on the next platform. He was using his right hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked to the northeast. "That doesn't look like a wildfire."

  "I think our orc tribe has finally made it down here," I called back. "They must be setting up camp. Good eyes Gertrilla. I better run and get everyone. It sounds like war."

  Hencktor frowned. "We're not ready."

  "We were never going to be as ready as we want," I said as I turned around. I carefully jumped from the platform.

  "What do I do?" Gertrilla asked worriedly.

  "Keep watch. Have your sling ready. If any orcs enter the clearing, try to kill them. But also be safe. Duck behind the wall if they start shooting at you."

  "I'll make sure they pay if they shoot at me," Gertrilla said proudly as she pulled her sling from her belt. She turned back to look over the wall as Hencktor jumped down and started running to the pile of wood we had assembled.

  "I'll move wood so we can assemble things quickly," he said. "Where do I start?"

  "They will probably come from the northeast so build along the north part of the wall. I'll get the others," I said.

  I did not wait for a reply, but turned and started running through the trees. I was only partway through the trees when I saw Yveney and Corwar running toward me.

  "Fires in the distance, too small to be a wildfire," I said quickly. "Probably some kind of camp."

  Corwar looked at me. I could see his eyes widen
. "What do we do?" he asked.

  "Yveney go to the wall and get on the platform next to the one Gertrilla is using. Let's get two people on watch. Corwar I'm headed to talk to Verval. Meanwhile, head to the wall and talk to Hencktor. We need to add more fighting platforms so that the orcs can't just tear down a section of the wall. I'll bring more people shortly," I ordered.

  The two children nodded and then started running to the east. I could hear their footsteps heading away, and I broke into a jog and weaved through the remaining trees.

  When I burst into the meadow I noticed that several people standing near the shelters were looking in my direction. The fact that I was running must have been a signal. The reaction from my friends was immediate. Aine and Lydia took off running toward the tent where they had left the crossbows that morning. Al jumped down and took off running towards me, holding the hammer he had been using.

  Verval watched the exodus and then started running toward me. I came to a halt as Verval and several of the others started to gather.

  "What was the scream?" Verval asked. "I sent Yveney and Corwar to check it out."

  "I met them in the trees," I said. "We have fires to the northeast. Gertrilla spotted smoke."

  "Just fires?" Jeff asked.

  "What could have started a wildfire?" I asked.

  Jeff looked at the clear sky as the others shifted uncomfortably. The rumble of the drums was slowly getting louder and Jeff pointed to the northeast. "I hear thunder."

  "You hear war drums," Krysbain said sharply. "Ron, I've heard Orc drums before. That's a war party. They are getting ready to march on us."

  "The wall isn't ready," I said with a sigh. "We have reinforced it, but other than the towers we built into the wall itself, there is no place to stand and fight. They can just pull the wall down."

  "You think they will?" Verval asked.

  I bit back a sarcastic remark, but Lenoir whirled to glare at Verval. "No, they will bring barrels of grain and offer them to us in trade! Of course they'll try to drag the wall down. That's what orcs do."