Gift of Gold (The Year of Churning Bloods) (61 page)

              “Breaking and entering is a crime. Hearing a man's life story only to leave and forget about that man is also crime. That’s two unlawful things so far. Surprisingly, I'm generous enough to make your sentence optional. You either work for a month to reclaim what you now desire, or you leave in the morning.”

Umber instantly flared into my view
with his
eyes radiating hot fury. “You
r
companion also has a
satchel of that powder in his own bag
!
What makes you think you need more?

              “I need an answer now
,
” Totara warned sharply. In one moment of clarity I managed to answer both questions simultaneously.

              “We need all the luck we can get.”

Umber's light blinded my surroundings as rage engulfed hi
m
.
In the short time that I knew him, I don’t think I’d ever seen him this mad
. “An entire month Jacob! Wasted!” Umber scoffed! “Do you honestly think you're helping anyone here
?”

              “Excellent
,
” Totara breathed
,
trying to contain his relief.
“
I'll prepare your sleeping arrangements. You should probably attend to your companion. Give him my apologies for the bruise on the head and tell him I
’ve got something
for that.”

I sidled over to Gregor
with
no
enthusiasm
and found myself
unsure how to
wake up my
worst nemesis. I prodded him with my pointer finger before backing away as if he would
explode. I
repeated
this method with much
greater force and was
shocked to see
his
eyes
shoot open. His pupils darted around in neurotic confusion.
I nervously chuckled in the silence that followed and
began
to explain
everything that just happened
.

              “Cut to the chase
S
unshine.
How long do we have here
?”

              “Well, you see...
U
mm... How do I say this
?
”

              “Oh believe me I'm all ears
,
”
he
explained
,
sitting up and looking
intently at me
.

              “
W
e have to work for o
ne month,
” I stated in a tender voice.

Gregor slowly
s
miled, showing far more teeth any normal person woul
d have
. He began to chuckle. It was quite a funny sound and before I knew it, I was giggling as well, trying to ignore just how scared I was. The laughter stopped suddenly
and
I wondered if Gregor was going t
o start shouting
.

              “One month
,
”
he
echoed,
still smiling in that d
isgustingly
broad way
. “That’s one twelfth of our time limit. Did you know that?” As he spoke
h
is voice
became
increasingly higher pitched until it was
just a disturbing squawk
.

I was sensing a mental breakdown on his part, something I did not want to be involved in. I considered running however, my limbs seemed to have rusted in an awkward half sitting half crouching position against the hut wall. The entire world around me went black, as Gregor's eyes met mine.

“ONE MONTH!” bellowed a voice that could fire cannonballs.

My hands flew to my ears, but in a single shocking moment, I realized my fin
gers were now
sharp metal spears
that tried to stab their way into my skull.

As Gregor’s kinetic anti-magic lessened, e
verything within the hut came zooming back into reality.

I tentatively reached up for my ears and was relieved to discover they were still intact
and safe.

Oblivious to Gregor’s feat of kinetic anti-magic,
Totara
continued to shuffle
around
while
looking for some spare blanket
s
. Once he
had assembled a small makeshift bed, Gregor stood up without another word and marched over to claim the spot.
I felt Totara hoist me onto my feet and maneuver me to a cozy location right next to a mantle filled with the warmth of dormant coals.

I couldn't help but wonder as I drifted off to sleep if
I
made the right decision.

             
Chapter
twenty-two

             
Confession of the innocent

             
“Take a time of all you’ve ever done,

             
but do it again now faster.”

“But why?” You say, looking right around confused.

             
“Surely you could do it faster,

             
Now I’m just not amused.”

              “Child, my fingers fray, my mind goes numb

             
I’m not having much fun,

             
but it gives me hope to know that

             
all my work is not yet done.

             
For I’ve a small apprentice,

             
He stands about ‘yay’ high,

             
I teach him all I know each day

             
filling wonder in his eyes.”

363 days remaining

              The pungent smell of bitter tea lifted me off the floor and into a comfortable wooden chair where I wearily accepted a mug of tepid liquid. Leaning in to take a sip, I felt my face become engulfed by the thick mist of boiling water which stunk of pine needles. Totara patted me gruffly on the shoulder and took a seat beside me, stretching slightly. “Rise and shine Jacob, we’ve got a lot to do today.” I blinked at the sound of my own name and cocked my head to one side.

              “Had I told him my name?” I thought to myself, rubbing the remaining sleep out of my eyes. Hallucinations from last nights dreams were too swampy to pick apart from the memories made just yesterday. I looked up to Totara and frowned, noticing that he looked slightly out of place when he stood in direct sunlight. He seemed to take in light like a sponge, leaving me to stare at a man that resembled an upright shadow more than anything else. I was just considering this when
Totara suddenly
stood up
and gestured for both Gregor and I to follow him outside.

              Gregor threw his chair off to one side and glared at me as we simultaneously sidled outside into the crisp morning air.

Once in the forest clearing, Totara eagerly clasped his hands together and nervously bit his lower lip. “I’d like to welcome both of you to your first official lumberjacking lesson,” he said, nodding to us.

Gregor coughed loudly and threw his head to one side in immense disinterest.

I was tempted to hit him, but fortunately for me I managed to contain myself.

Totara lead both Gregor and
I around the swarm of tree stumps while
pointing to
a small
indentation
on each one
. “Both of you might have noticed that each of these stumps ha
s
a small section where the
wood juts upward like a step on a staircase
. We call this a hinge, and it is the hinge that determines precisely how and where the tree falls.
”

Gregor
yawned
and kicked the back of my heel out of boredom.

“
This is going to be a long month
,”
I thought to Umber, who nodded in agreement.
Totara ben
t down to the stump and began to observe it very carefully

“Th
ese hinges are
affected by even the smallest of elements
. Look here at this one.” He said gesturing down to where he knelt. “Had this hinge been just an inch or two to the right, the tree would have smashed into my hut.” Totara clapped his hands together for emphasis before standing upright and pointing at me. “The main thing you need to worry about however is what direction the tree is leaning.”

              As Totara explained these things to me I could see a curious gleam open up in his eyes like the moon cutting through a foggy night sky Something as deceptively simple as cutting down trees had an entire wealth of knowledge behind it which this man seemed to posses an effortless command over. The way in which Totara would let his fingers gloss over the stump of a tree, made me wonder if he was playing an elaborate instrument which only he could hear.

              “
We look at a tree like this and we see that the trunk is perfectly straight. Instinctively, you might think that there was nothing wrong with a tree like this, however you look up and see that the branches are all mostly off to the right hand side.” Totara brought a hand to his head as if he had just said something idiotic. “Now obviously that would mean that we would need to reposition the hinge proportional to this lean--” The lumberjack
had hardly been speaking for an hour, yet my mental capacity seemed to be filled to the brim. I felt
giddy with fear
at the prospect that within a week or two, I would be
falling trees all by myself
.

Gregor on the other hand couldn't look any less interested. It became apparent fairly quickly that
Totara was not one to lecture for hours on end. Soon enough, he had me on my toes, recalling the different species of
trees in the pavilion, their properties, value and even how well they burn. Admittedly I was never one to pick up facts very quickly, and I constantly fumbled with the information Totara was throwing at me.

              “Look, I know you can remember,” the lumberjack insisted forcefully. “What did I tell you about the leaves of this tree?”

              “Umm...” I began uncertainty. “You said something about the leaves of this tree being pointed.”

              “Yes!” Totara exclaimed suddenly. “Yes I did! And that means?”

I scratched the back of my head and broke eye contact as my face flushed red. “I... I don’t...” My lower lip began to quiver.

Noticing the change in my voice, Totara suddenly softened. “Hey, hey, none of that now,” he said, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s difficult but that’s just a part of life.” Still unsatisfied with the look on my face, Totara folded his arms and smiled slightly. “I’ll tell you what, we can go to the fun part early because you two have been really good to me today, how does that sound?”

              “Fun part?” Gregor asked, looking suddenly suspicious.

              “Well I consider it to be fun anyways,” Totara said enthusiastically. “Come on, this way.” Leading us around his hut and past the vast field of snow which reflected the afternoon sun, Totara guided us to a shabby looking side hut which looked so fragile, it made the building beside it look like a palace. The side hut had only three walls, all of which were completely covered in saw blades and other dangerous looking things. The leather tarp which was stretched over the entire structure sagged slightly under the weight of last night's snowfall. Inside were a couple of workbenches, piles of firewood and a large upright object concealed by a thick woolen blanket.