Read Online The Fire and the Fog by David Alloggia - Free Book Online Page B

under the midday sun, to help
remove another post.
    ‘Is it hard?’ she asked as she reached the
two boys, who were both leaning on their shovels and breathing
heavily. She pulled off her tunic, leaving on her loose fitting
undershirt. She was going to boil; they all were, but at least
years of work in the sun had made her almost immune to sunburns.
Her skin was tanned, her hands calloused, her nails short and
cracked, and her hair short and unkempt, but she didn’t care. There
was no-one around the farm to think her pretty, so why try when you
were only going to get dirtier the next day?
    ‘Oh, you’re going to love this, E,’ Jayke
said, grinning at her. ‘Grab the crowbar and come help us pry this
post out.’
    It took the three of them a good half hour to
lever, heave, and pull the old wooden post out of the ground, and
then another half hour to widen the hole enough to fit in a new,
freshly cut post, and fill in the soil around it.
    Joahn was sent to them several times, with
water and glasses to keep from dehydrating, but by the time the
three got the last rotten post out, and the last new post in, a
good five and a half hours had past. All three were dirty, tired,
and hungry.
    ‘Right! That’s it. We’re done here for today’
Jayke said, as all three collapsed on the soil around the last
post, panting heavily and wiping the sweat from their brows. ‘You
two head back to the house. I’ll take the tools back to Father, and
let him know we’re done here. Check on Boll, see if he’s finished.’
Jayke, true to his word, stood and began collecting the tools that
lay scattered around the freshly churned dirt. The job was not
done, but it would probably take them another three days to fix the
rest of the fence, and it was getting late.
    With their brother up and moving, Erris and
Johan had no choice but to get up and move as well, even though
their muscles ached and protested vehemently. They went to check on
Boll first, but the only sign that he had been chopping logs were a
number of messily stacked rows of firewood. Someday Boll would do a
good job at one of his chores, and Erris thought she might throw a
party. Content that he was already at the house, even if he hadn’t
worked well, the two slowly ached their way back home.  
     
    ***
     
    ‘I’
    ‘Hate’
    ‘Fences’
    Johan cursed, panting as they approached the
front steps, and Erris could only nod in accord as they climbed to
the door, and walked in.
    Inside, everyone was too exhausted for a
lively meal. A day of double work had taken its toll on the whole
family. Only Erris’ father had a smile on his face.
    ‘It’s ready’ he said, wiping the head from
his upper lip as he drank from a mug of his dark, homemade ale.
Erris couldn’t stand the stuff, ale. She had tried some several
weeks ago, but the bitter taste threw her off. Still, as much as
her father and brothers enjoyed it, it was probably the reason her
father was growing a belly, so she was glad she didn’t like it. She
didn’t want to be fat.
    ‘Day after tomorrow, when we get back from
town, I’ll show it to everyone.’ Her father finished with a
grin.
    Even the announcement that Johans secret
project, the tool that he had been working on for weeks, was done
couldn’t energize the exhausted group, and the family almost as a
whole went to bed early that night. Erris birthday was the next
day, and they would all need rest for the morning chores, and then
the ride to Oortain’s Copse.
    Erris thought fondly of Oortain’s Copse as
she and her sisters readied themselves for bed. Her sisters were
talking in low whispers, excited for the trip, but Erris stayed
silent. The rest of the family liked the Copse for the shops, or
the inn, or whatever else. Erris though, liked the Copse for an
entirely different reason.
    Settling herself into bed, Erris read briefly
from her book on legends before putting out her small bedside lamp,
and this time, rather than sea monsters, she found herself