One… Two… Three…

The next morning was much the same as the last. I rose earlier than I usually would, but I was still full of the same energy. If anything, that energy was greater today than it was previously. It was slight, but it was a noticeable benefit that was already showing. In the looping yesterday I couldn’t discern any loss in potential, but there is always the chance that the actual loss was less than what I was regaining every second of the rotations.

One-o-four… One-o-five… One-o-six…

These thoughts were the background of today’s meditation, and while a mantra might have kept me on task better, I don’t know if I could handle the mind-numbing experience for long. It was getting a lot easier to be able to split my focus between these thoughts and counting, at the very least while I was in the state of meditation. It wasn’t something that I had ever seen myself doing, but it just felt right. I don’t know if that was a possible influence on me from the outside, but it was providing tangible benefits.

Three-forty-eight… Three-forty-nine… Three-fifty…

This time I was able to rouse myself at about the time we usually had breakfast, and once again kneeling down seemed to have no adverse effect. It was even mildly comfortable and relaxed, probably because I had remembered to clean out the area of small debris such as the rock that had dug into my leg yesterday before I began.

I dusted myself off and got back inside when breakfast was about halfway done being cooked, so I helped as best I could. Today was once again potatoes, but this time they were the vessel, left mostly whole before being baked again after some vegetables and meat had been put into them. They were quite good and pretty simple to boot.

As we were eating, Tanner looked over to me and said, “So, the farm is almost finished being set up, and it just really needs me and the boys to finish up. It might be a good idea to go hunting since we have been burning through your meat stores pretty quickly. I was never too good at it, not that I had all that much practice with how it was technically illegal and all.” That last part was said with a wink, which made the kids laugh at least.

Shaking my head a bit, I said, “Not a bad idea, would be good to stretch my legs a bit as well. I can bring Bella with me for a bit of protection.” She had perked right up at the mention of her name, not that she was far away, having been right under my chair hoping to pick up any scraps.

She looked moderately annoyed at the fact that I wasn’t going to give any to her, and gave a single bark of complaint before heading around the table a bit to beg from Alexander, who was almost certain to give in.

I don’t know how much of Bella’s training had been reinforced from Greyson, and how much she had been affected by the glade itself. She had pretty much been here as long as I had, and there were some aspects of the magic that had manifested before others, such as being able to see wisps of magic at times. Maybe whatever effect that she received had to do with her intelligence, or maybe she had just been naturally that smart.

Creeping through the forest, I had by now a few lightly trodden paths. I knew that deer and other game congregated at some of the smaller watering holes, and there were a few nearer to the house that could be checked first. Bella was near-silent padding through the forest next to me, though her head was on a swivel, constantly sniffing. She had managed to score quite a few rabbits, always bringing them back to me after their retrieval. She got to keep the meat and the bigger bones, while I got the pelt and the smaller bones to dispose of so that she wouldn’t choke on them.

Bella darted forward when we were getting close to the first pond, snagging a rabbit from where it had been hidden in the brush. Even that motion was near-silent, though the poor thing did manage to get out a partial scream before her jaws clamped down on it. I hoped that it wouldn’t scare anything away from the pond, but it probably had. Oh well. I tied the feet together and hung them off the side of the belt rope, to keep my own hands free. Bella looked happy as a clam and eager for more.

Unfortunately, by the time we crept the last few dozen yards, the pond had been depopulated of anything that had been there. Going by the most recent tracks, it had only been a deer or two, though I was nowhere near an expert on that. So, on we went. Time marched ever onward, and by the time noon rolled around, we were visiting the fourth watering hole, and had still yet to snag anything big. Bella had brought more than a few rabbits, and they were starting to weigh me down. Around half a dozen now hung from various places on my belt.

Luck or perseverance was on our side this time though. There were half a dozen deer around this pond, and two bucks as luck would have it. They were on opposite sides of it, though, as if they were wary of each other.

The one on my left looked to be a bit larger, a ten-point, while the other was slightly smaller and an eleven-point. I think that the one on the right was a bit older, and since it was a bit smaller, it was probably better to take it out of the pool for now. I did know that deer in the old world had been averaging smaller year after year because hunters had always targeted the biggest buck they could get. While I doubt that I personally could do anything to change the population dynamics of this area, I didn’t want to contribute to a problem if I didn’t have to.

Drawing back the string with an arrow nocked, I steadied my breathing and took aim. Bella was standing ready to shoot off as well, and just after my arrow had flown free, I yelled, “Tackle!”

The arrow flew true, landing just as the deer was reacting to my words, and I think I managed a clear shot to the heart. Bella made sure it wasn’t going anywhere, however, when she bowled into its front legs not but a few seconds later. The other surrounding deer were off, not that I was looking for any more today, with all that I had to carry. The deer didn’t get the chance to rise again, as I punctured the brain through the eye to make sure it didn’t suffer.

I did drag it over to a tree first, to bleed it, though I took it a ways away from the pond, so as not to disturb it too much with the scent of blood. I hung it up from a branch by a rope tied to the back two legs. My arrow had come out intact thankfully, the deer having fallen to the opposite way. After around ten minutes of field dressing, and another half an hour of waiting for most of the blood to drain, I got it down from the tree, and tied the front two legs, and with all four legs now tied, I had the whole thing resting lightly on my back.

After a further near hour, maybe forty-five minutes, I was trudging back into the clearing of home. The walk had certainly been a good bit of exercise, but it was nowhere near as difficult as it would have been just days previous.

Coming home was a relief, even though I had only been gone for a few hours at most. It looked about the same: normal, somewhere I could relax. Somewhere in the woods nearby, I could tell the moment that I had stepped back into my domain. It extended maybe a mile out from the clearing, but that was a rough estimate. I felt like I could wield tremendous power within my domain, but I didn’t actually know how.

I had made it nearly to the cabin by the time Tanner and the boys had noticed me, who rushed over pretty quickly to help. Tanner said, “You could’ve shouted, I can help carry it at least!” He seemed a bit annoyed but mostly astonished that I had carried it the whole way myself.

I shook my head and said, “I got it, it’s actually feeling pretty light. Can you clear out the table by the wall there?” It had been one of my relatively quick builds, but it was useful for the dirty work to happen outside. It was set on the face of the house with no windows, pretty close to where the fireplace came through the wall. The boys worked to clear it of the clutter that tends to just appear on tables, while Tanner helped me get the deer up and over onto it.

Tanner said, “It looks like a pretty good young buck, nice catch.”

Oops. “Young? How can you tell?”

He chuckled a bit and said, “There isn’t really a way to tell out in the field, but you can look at the teeth after to tell about how old it is. They get shorter as they get older. This guy is probably a couple years old, but I am not an expert.”

“Huh. That’s probably a good thing to know. Want to help teach these two how to break it down?” I was grateful for any help, because even though I could do it myself, it would take a lot longer.

He grinned at the request and said, “Sure, let's show these two how it's done!”

Alexander and Lukas looked very excited for what would likely turn out to be a bit gruesome. I undid the rope belt, and sat the half a dozen rabbits down in a pile to one side, and we got to work. We went a bit slower for their benefit, but with the two of us, we managed to break it down in a couple hours. We trimmed some of the meat to be had for dinner tonight, but the rest was going to be left with some fat on it for smoking.

We moved on to the rabbits after, and after Tanner and I had each done two, we let the boys take a crack at it, while we were watching them carefully. Lukas managed it mostly ok, a few more holes poked in the hide, but it was passable. Alexander, on the other hand, was looking a bit green by the time he had the knife in his hands. He stood there for a bit, before putting the knife down.

Lukas looked like he was about to say something, likely mocking knowing children, but his dad clapped him on the head lightly, and when Lukas looked back at him shook his head.

I had reached out to Alexander and said, “It’s ok, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

He looked a bit relieved, and said, “I… Maybe a different one, I don’t think I can on this one.”

I nodded, saying, “That’s a mature thing to say, why don’t we all go wash up, and you can throw some of the already butchered rabbit to Bella.”

For her part, Bella had been sitting off to the side of the whole proceeding, laying with her head on her front paws, intently watching the pile of rabbit. The first time I had broken something down on the table, she had laid under it, and had gotten her coat covered in blood, which was a pain to wash out. She perked up at saying her name, especially with the word rabbit in the same sentence.

Alexander nodded at the idea, taking one of the bigger rabbit legs, and tossing it in the direction of the pond. Bella was off like a shot, and had snatched the meat before it hit the ground. That broke the slight mood that had been hanging over us, and Lukas jumped right back into it. Tanner just shook his head, before turning to me and saying, “Some just take a bit more time before they can work with all the blood and guts. Some never do.”

“I think that he has had it a bit too hard to push on him, but he is still coming into his own.” We shared a moment of watching the two race to the lake, with the race ending in Lukas barely beating out Alexander as they flopped down into the water. Bella had trailed after them a bit slower, before coming to a rest by the water’s edge, rabbit in mouth.

We took to join them not too long after, washing off the blood and gore as best we could. I had missed lunch while I was gone, but it was going to be a big dinner tonight, with lots of fresh meat to eat. We would probably need to build a smoking shed just for it, but we had about enough timber left.

We had to get started on it pretty quick, if it was going to get done today. Previously I had smoked it in the chimney, and just had some already dried food, but with this many people, probably not feasible to tell everyone to wait. We dug a small pit, and had the wood dug into the ground around it. Inside was only as big as a closet, but we could fit a bunch of racks, which we made notches for in the wood. The roof was the hardest part, as we had to decide how to make the smoke flow out, and we eventually settled on a circular hole with a cover so we could adjust the flow rate by moving it. We used the soil we dug out to reinforce the bottom of the shack, and had it set a bit away from everything, just in case it did catch fire.

By the time we were done with it, we did run a bit into dinner time, but we had everything smoking that needed to be. Bella had received pieces of around two of the rabbits, and seemed fine with giving up the rest, for now, so the other 4 were added in as well. We would have to stoke the fire sometime tonight, but that would be a problem for later.

Dinner was a great spread of things, from soft, gummy onions, atop a fresh cut of venison with potatoes, and we broke out some of the reserves of green beans, which had been jarred. They had come from Tanner’s family, and it would be a good idea to pick up some more jars when we went into town next. The whole thing had been cooked to perfection, and we were all very grateful to Mabel and Katherine both. I did feel bad about them doing all the cooking, they had offered, but it would be good to give in return.

After we had cleaned up and settled in for the evening, and as I was writing down the events of the day, Alexander approached me and said, “Thank you…” I was confused for a moment, and raised an eyebrow at that, and he continued, “You made it feel like home, and… and I just wanted to say thank you…”

I just stood up, and gave him a hug, which he gladly accepted. I said, “No matter what happens Alexander, this will always be your home. I know I haven’t talked about it much, but I lost my parents as well.” To other things, but that was for another time. “Two kind people took me in and helped me when I needed it, so they became my family. No one deserves the kind of treatment you were receiving, and I was just doing what I could.”

We stayed that way for a long while, before he eventually broke off, and sat down on a nearby chair. He looked stressed, and he said, “My uncle is an evil man. He wasn’t always that way. He used to always bring gifts and candies, and he was kind. My parents helped him when he needed it, but… I think they had a fight, because I didn’t see him for a few years. My parents never wanted to talk about it. Then, one day, a man broke into our home, and my parents were dead…” He was in tears by now, and I put my hand on his shoulder to let him know I was there.

When we had started talking, Mabel had seen, and led her family to go out for a bit, to give us some space. She had been rather persuasive, with hands pulling the ears of both Lukas and Tanner, but Katherine followed along easily enough.

Alexander cried for a few minutes, before continuing, “I know my uncle had something to do with it, because he… he came for me, told me I would be safe, and that he would look out for me. He lied though! I was going to see him in his study one evening, and he had the door closed, which he never usually did. I could hear them through the door, he was talking to someone, and I just knew they were talking about me because he said, ‘I have him’ and he was asking the other person what he should do with me. They talked about how it had to seem like an accident, or they wouldn’t get anything out of it all.”

Alexander’s pace had been wavering, but he found it in himself to keep going. “I think they heard me when I was running back to my room, because the next morning, my uncle came to me and said that I couldn’t stay anymore. He just kicked me out…” In that moment was probably the most defeated that I had ever seen Alexander, and it lit a spark within my heart. It made me fuming to see him tell it all, and I didn’t have a way to do anything about it. At least for now.

What came next was talking about what I already knew, that he had to live on the streets, and that nowhere would take him. Whatever coin he had managed to get, he couldn’t spend. Eventually, the other children on the streets knew that he had something and took it from him. He had to steal food to get by, and he had been lucky to have not been turned in for it. It all brought my blood to a boiling point, but I kept it down for just a bit longer. Alexander seemed exhausted after telling it all, and I put him to sleep not long after.

I walked outside, as calmly as I was currently capable, and waved the others back in. I think they could see the anger in me, because Tanner and Mabel just nodded, with a sad look in their eyes. Lukas and Katherine both shared a look of concern, but didn’t say anything. Once they were back inside, I let go of holding back the anger and frustration of it all.

I got away from the house, and the potential welled up inside of me, grabbing out at the air and ground in front of me. It responded by lifting into the air, and with a great heave, I threw it. The sound of crashing rocks and soil filled the clearing, and I just collapsed to my knees, spent.

As I looked out at the mess I had created, a wave of shame overtook me. I had gouged a rend in the earth almost fifteen feet long and wide, in a rough circle. I had probably gone three or four feet deep into the earth. Luckily I was a bit away from the crops, otherwise, I would have ruined a good portion of them. The pile of earth had landed maybe fifty feet away, but it was spread out across the ground for a good ways.

I was spent, emotionally and physically. I felt like I had run two marathons back to back, and more besides. I don’t know when he got there, but Tanner appeared beside me. He looked out at what I had done with a look nearing awe, but he composed himself before saying, “Are you alright?” I could tell that he wanted to ask more, but was holding himself back.

It took a while to muster up a response, and I said, “A bit better now.” He nodded at that, and we lapsed into silence for a few more moments.

Tanner took a breath before saying, “At least that gives us a head start on our house, or at least the foundation of it.” He said it in such a serious tone, that I couldn’t help but crack.

I gave a snort at that, which soon turned into laughter. By the smile on his face, I think that was the goal all along. He reached out a hand, which I was glad to take. Coming to my feet, he kept hold of my arm a second longer, before saying, “If you need to talk, we can. Myself and Mabel are always willing.” He took a moment before continuing, “Our God has spoken to us. You are a good man, Davin, but people can’t stand alone. Let us help where we can.”

I took a moment, but I eventually nodded, and only then did he let go of my arm. I took one last look at what I had done before saying, “We should probably go tell everyone that everything is fine.”

He nodded at that, and gave me a clap on the back. We walked the short way home in companionable silence. Just as we were about to walk inside, something caught my eye in the treeline, a dozen pairs of eyes watching, glowing a weak golden light. When I blinked, and looked again, they were gone.

Everyone settled down pretty soon after a reassurance that everything was fine. Alexander had been so exhausted that he hadn’t even woken up. I was soon nestled in my hammock, still feeling the backlash from using so much power. I can’t put an exact number on it, but that had to have been hundreds and hundreds of pounds of soil, grass, and assorted stones. I had thrown it with nothing but a thought and a feeling.

This had if nothing else shown me that I was in desperate need of a teacher. I was up until late thinking, trying to find meaning in my actions.

Meditation was harder today. Significantly. I couldn’t capture the serene nature that I had felt both yesterday and the day before. The lack of sleep and the turbulent emotions had compounded to a wave that crashed into my mind any time I tried to find peace.

Still, I kept at it and was finally able to reach a pale imitation of that state after kneeling there for an hour or more. I could feel my cores sucking in what I was going to call mana greedily. I wasn’t feeling up to pushing my limits, and so I just tried to keep calm. After nearly another hour of absorbing mana, I reached a wall, feeling satiated. It left me feeling better, and much more rested than I had been prior. I suspect that I could subsist off of meditation alone, but it wasn’t something that I was going to try any time soon.

Today we were going to finish digging out the foundation for the other house that I had inadvertently started last night. It was going to come out to around fifty feet long by twenty-five feet wide. Breakfast had been a bit awkward this morning, and Alexander didn’t quite know why. He tried for a bit to carry on a conversation, but he soon lapsed into silence when he only got short responses in turn. Breakfast itself was a simple affair of biscuits and meat, with a jar of strawberry preserves that had been brought out.

Towards the end of breakfast, Tanner said, “Well, that was certainly filling. Always best to start a hard day’s work that way, right Davin?”

I could tell he was trying to dispel the tense air, and I said, “Sure is. We can get started right away, I hope you brought your own shovel!”

That got a small, forced, chuckle out of Tanner, who then said, “Why don’t you three,” waving his hand towards all of the children, “go and check out the local area some more. Can’t have you underfoot while we are working hard.”

Lukas perked up at that and said, “You mean we are allowed in the woods now?!” He looked like he was about to shoot right out the door at that, more than eager to get underway.

Tanner reached out, and held his shoulder saying, “Hold your horses now, you three have to stay in line of sight with each other at all times. And you have to take Bella with you, after you take the horses for a walk. A couple laps around the clearing should do just fine.” Passing out chores before they could get their reward. I gave a small smile at that.

Alexander had looked a bit conflicted, but after sharing a look with both Lukas and Katherine, he steeled himself and nodded along. It was a good thing that he was making friends, and I don’t think he would have wandered that far on his own.

Mabel shook her head a bit at the antics of her husband and the children and said, “From now on you all clear your own plates as well. And don’t give that wolf too much, don’t want her getting fat now.” It seemed that they would be getting a few more chores now that they were settling in, which was understandable.

Alexander, Katherine, and Lukas were all motivated to get moving, cleaning up in record time, and each leading a horse around the clearing at different paces. Katherine didn’t speak up all that much, but she looked the most determined out of them, marching ahead with the horse keeping pace. She had taken her families’ horse, which I still didn’t know the name of, Lukas was next leading around my own horse, while Alexander trailed a bit behind with Promise.

The rest of us stood and watched them go for a bit; they would probably be walking for an hour or so to lap the clearing a few times. Tanner and I then got to work, with both of us taking up the shovel to clear out the foundations. It was hard work, even putting my new endurance to the test. By the time mid-day had rolled around, we were nearing about halfway done, even with the jumpstart we had gotten from flinging out such a wide area.

It was a bit frustrating, knowing that it could be done more efficiently, but not knowing how exactly to tap into that power. As we stopped for a quick lunch of more biscuits and meat, I tried a few things. First, I reached out, and tried to grab onto a patch of dirt with my mind. Reaching out my real hand with the motion, I felt self-conscious when nothing happened. At all. I coughed a bit when Tanner gave a bit of a chuckle.

Next, I tried to will my mana from my core into action, and I was able to accomplish a small speck of dirt to rise. It was also taxing to the extreme. It was closer to the answer, but only in part.

For a third try, I combined the will of the mana with the motion, and this brought about real change. I would say a cubic foot of dirt lifted into the air, and it felt like I was carrying a hundred-pound weight. I quickly moved it over to where we had been dumping the loose earth.

Tanner said, “See, I knew you could do it!” He gave me a hearty slap on the back as well.

I responded with, “So those were just laughs of encouragement?” I shook my head a bit, but I wore a grin that matched his own at my newfound dirt-moving powers. It was only slightly less intensive than doing it by hand, but it was much quicker overall.

Work sped up after figuring out how to move it, and we finished out most of the rest by the end of the day. It went smoother the more times that I did the action and motion, the whole process solidifying in my mind and my cores. I was nearly drained by the time we stopped. The kids had come back at some point, collapsed out by the lake. Bella was seemingly still full of energy splashing around, and splashing anyone who got too close.

After we washed up, and half carried the children back inside, we had a nice dinner of freshly smoked venison, mashed potatoes, and jammy onions and carrots. We would have to make a trip to Lyon soon, as we did need to stock up on whatever essentials we needed, as well as more food. The field had been fully planted, and with enough time, it should provide more than enough food to last through the year.

Katherine was the most outspoken of the three tonight, talking about how they found a dozen new ponds and streams running through the woods, finding deer, squirrels, and rabbits everywhere. They talked about how Bella had chased off some mean-looking creatures, which was cause for mild concern, especially considering I had seen nothing of the sort in the vicinity.

Alexander spoke next, saying how they had found a bunch of wild berries, but that they didn’t eat any because they didn’t know what they were. Lukas chimed in here and there, supporting what they were both saying, but so tired as to not take a turn for himself.

It was a pleasant evening overall, and we all settled in soon enough. After my nightly writing, I stepped out, and I felt the draw of meditation creeping up on me. It was an easy decision to make, especially since I turned around and quietly called for Bella. She could keep watch over me.

Kneeling down in the same spot, I could almost immediately feel a rush start to fill the cores, as I had been near empty. It started with the heart core, and spilled over into the connections rapidly filling the others as well. The cores themselves were all at least slightly bigger than they had been, the magic I had worked today seemingly expanding the cores from use. I would say that the overall size gain was greater than the handful of revolution meditations that I had performed.

There was a faint feeling of new pathways being formed, tracing from my chest and down my arms to my hands. They were incredibly shallow, but I could likely reinforce them. After I had reached full, I set out to do just that. Starting with the basic set, heart, mind, body, and then on the reverse, I split my focus to send a bit racing down the arms. At the touch of the mana, my arms grew leaden, as if I had been working out for hours with every inch I pushed down the pathways.

I didn’t make it anywhere close to the end before that set ended, but I continued in the next, going just a bit further every time. By the time an hour had passed as far as I could tell, I was about halfway done. Exhaustion had set in across my upper body, however. It was excruciating, feeling like I had been lifting weights for hours and hours endlessly. It was enough to knock me out of my meditative state, and I fell backward into a waiting puddle of fluff. Bella licked me in the face once, bringing me into the present.

The feeling was unlike anything I had felt before, but it was rapidly fading. My arms felt sore, and more than a bit numb. I idly pet Bella, giving her a good scratch behind the ears, and under the chin. She was very appreciative of the efforts, and after a good few minutes of it I relented. It was cathartic in a way that meditation wasn’t. I don’t think that I was thinking of anything during those few minutes, a bit of a blissful void of thought.

It was however time to go inside, and get some rest for the next day. Sleep came easy, if anything, and I was drifting off in record time.

The next morning was less tense than the last, and it was an amicable time. I had only done a bit of meditation that morning, to top up mostly, before heading back in. The kids received the same chores as yesterday, though I suspected the list would expand soon. I was fine with Alexander receiving the same work, and I think that he was grateful for the work as well.

We got back into digging out the foundation, with only a bit left that I had up and out of there before noon. Next came digging deeper for the posts, which was similarly quick, but it did take about twenty minutes to get a grip on pulling out a cylindrical length of dirt. The posts went about eight feet deeper, down to what looked to be rock, which should hopefully be more than enough to anchor it all. It does mean that we will need to get posts that are around twenty or so feet tall, but I had done the same roughly with my own house.

I still don’t know exactly how I had done everything that I had done. The memories were all there, but they were more distant than one would expect. They had a veneer over them that was almost unnatural. Probably to be expected with how much Greyson had been working on my mind. I wasn’t okay with that, and I don’t think that I ever would be. It goes further than a loss of direct control, how much of how I am now is because of outside factors like that?

It was about the only thing on my mind over lunch, and the only conclusion that I could come to was that I would never let it happen again. No matter what, I would keep the sanctity of my mind, and work towards keeping that for others. Some would probably think differently, because they had been raised in a culture where gods directly intervened and touched their lives. That wasn’t something that had been part of my life, nor did I think that they were actually gods.

When I had seen Greyson in my domain, I had seen his light. The wisps that had been put off by those who wielded magic down here were nearly nothing compared to the streams that radiated off of him, but it was nearly nothing, and not actually nothing. He was greater magically than anything that I had seen, but it was like comparing a baseline of one to something that was in the thousands, if not more. It was more power than I would likely ever have, but they were on the same line.

It told me that I would have to seize more power to keep myself safe. To keep those that I care about safe. It was near maddening that they could just get away with rampant abuse of power, but until I was strong enough, I couldn’t do a thing about it. So, it was better to focus on the world directly around me.

Tanner could tell that I was in a mood, and didn’t seem all that interested in talking either. After the contemplative lunch, we set off to do some scouting for trees in the woods to the west of the clearing. I didn’t personally plan to take the oldest and largest trees, half because I was personally against that level of resource exploitation, but also because this was an old-growth forest, and taking too many of the giants would disrupt the ecosystem of the entire place.

The level of food extraction hadn’t been unsustainable, but it would likely increase now that there were more mouths to feed. It took around a day with a wagon and two horses, and once the rough road had been cut, it was around the same speed as it had been on the bigger, actually maintained road. That was to say, I had around twelve to eighteen miles of forest in a rough circle from my clearing, in three directions at least. We could probably pull in a hundred or so deer per year, and the area would be fine.

Most of that estimate comes from a vague remembrance of a conservation biology course, and I could be entirely wrong. The trees were easy enough to pick out, we mostly selected trees that were around twenty-ish feet tall, that were near the clearing. Cutting the select trees was the real task, with the both of us working it took about half an hour a tree, which we then had to secure to a pair of the horses, who were rotated out periodically. By the time we had gotten eight or so sizable trees down, with some breaks sprinkled in, it was near dinner, and also sundown.

After getting the horses settled back in, and washing off, the kids were nowhere to be seen. That in itself was mildly concerning, and the fact that they hadn’t been seen since near lunch made it all the worse.

Tanner looked more annoyed than concerned, and said, “Once we find them, they won’t be going back out there for a few days at least. They know that they should be coming back by now.”

Mabel had the more familiar look of concern, saying, “I won’t be too mad at them if something happened, but we need to find them first.”

Tanner was about to say more, before I said, “I think they had been heading west, let me grab my bow, and then we can set off.”

Tanner nodded at that, and Mabel got ready to join us as well. She dug around and pulled out a shortsword, before handing that off to Tanner, and retrieved an unstrung shortbow for herself. That was surprising, but not overly so. It would do well to teach everyone how to defend themselves.

I was ready at about the same time that they were, and we headed out into the growing darkness to find them.