CHAPTER 1
REBUILDING
A dying wind still breezed over the land as a last remnant of the powerful storm. Scenes of destruction played out beneath it. On the edge of the great forest many of the trees were flattened. Tops were snapped off of others and branches were barren of their leaves or needles. In the shelter of the deep forest, stirrings of life showed that the land had not been completely abandoned. Deer bounded through thickets searching for fresh food while a lazy mountain tiger yawned in his tree. Smoke assailed his nostrils and he stretched his striped tawny hide before bounding deeper into the forest.
The smoke was drifting from the far side of the forest, where the devastated remains of Sandytown stood. Rubble lined the packed earth road through town, indicating where houses had once stood. Here and there a single house would stand amongst the destruction, giving mute testament of the sturdiness of its construction. In the center of the village, near the common, was the village inn. A little East of the inn stood a massive bonfire, where debris from the village was being burned. A thick column of smoke filled the sky as it followed the errant breeze in the direction of the storm.
Several village men were clustered around a section of wall that had once been the foundation of a house. Unfortunately, the house was gone and this wall needed to come down. The men had their backs to the wall and were attempting to topple it in one piece. As they strained, the loose dirt caused them to slide away from the wall rather than knock it down. One of the men looked up as a shadow suddenly fell over him. Alan looked down at Tobias Granger's sweaty face as he pushed. The two men gave each other weary grins. Alan took a good look at the wall that was cause of all the trouble. Gently pushing Tobias out of the way, Alan set his shoulder against the wall. Taking a deep breath, he heaved and the wall tumbled down. Tobias started laughing. "Showoff." Alan smiled back "You simply loosened it up for me." He said. Still laughing, the men started trying to move it over to the waiting sled. Alan leaned down and added his strength to their efforts. With much groaning and muttered curses, they got it over to the sled where Tom, one of the younger boys, was waiting with Daisy the draft horse to pull the full sled over to the rock pile. With some effort, they wrestled it onto the sled and Tom clucked Daisy into motion.
As the horse left, Alan's younger sister Sabrina Eagleheart came walking over with a bucket of water. Tobias's face suddenly became flushed and he turned around fast. Alan looked at his best friend with a wide grin on his face, which grew wider when he met his sisters questioning glance. With a cheeky grin, Sabrina took the ladle and gave him some water, which Alan took gratefully. Replacing the ladle into the bucket, she softly walked over to where Tobias was still staring away. "Water here, get 'yer water!" she bellowed. Startled Tobias whipped around and slipped in the dirt. With a startled yelp he fell to the ground amidst the laughs of the assembled group. Smiling she held her hand down to Tobias. Flushed even more, he stammered his thanks. "Tobias," she declared, "You are getting downright ridiculous about this. Every time I come around, you are tripping over something or bumping into a wall. I am starting to get worried about your eyes." At this Tobias grew even more flustered, turning beseeching eyes onto Alan. With a rumble of laughter Alan spoke up, "Sis, you know you aren't supposed to say things like that. Even if his eyes are going bad, that's no reason to point that out and humiliate him." "Thanks a lot!" Tobias snarled. Turning on his heels in anger, Tobias stormed away. Sabrina started to move as if about to go after him, but Alan quickly dropped his hand on her shoulder. Shaking his head, he motioned that she should wait as he started after him.
Alan searched for his friend and found him sulking around the corner of the inn. Taking a few strides in that direction, he saw Tobias raise his head and look at them. With a quick glare, Tobias turned and all but ran into the inn. Alan hurried after him, passing into the spacious common room. He was hailed by shouts from the fireplace where a group of people had paused from work to rest and get a bite to eat. Ignoring them he fastened his eyes on a swinging door that led to the kitchen. Running faster he slammed the door, badly startling the cook who dropped the stew she was holding. Yelping in pain, she started screaming curses at him. Yelling an apology, Alan continued the chase. Spotting the heel of his quarry's boot slipping out the back door, Alan put on a burst of speed and found his friend panting, out of breath. "Why did you run like that?" Alan asked. He was beardy even winded. "Because," Tobias gasped, clutching his side where a stitch had him, "you made Sabrina laugh at me." Alan could see that his jest had hurt his friend, and he frantically cast his mind about, trying to find the words he needed. He was still considering when Sabrina came out the back door. Turning her head she spotted them and quickly made her way over. She made little embarrassed motions with her fingers as she stood there in front of them. "Tobias," she whisked, "I'm sorry that I made fun of you out there. It was cruel and wrong of me and I hope that you will forgive me." Tobias looked at her. Alan saw that his friend had only eyes for his sister. Smiling slightly, he excused himself and beat a hasty retreat.
Exiting the front of the building, Alan spotted his youngest sister, Mary, with a gaggle of her friends near the remnants of Alicia's house. She appeared to be comforting her friend with murmured words of consolation. Alicia's thin shoulders shook as she sobbed her loss. Alan turned away. He was uncomfortable with situations where someone needed consoling, although people told him he was good at it. It was just that he never really knew what the right thing to say was. Spotting the tall shoulders of Storm Walker near the ruined meeting house, he hurried over. As he came up to the house he heard the voice of Mr. Moody, the town Mayor. A rather grim fellow at the best of times, he had been positively dismal since the storm. He had a very sharp mind however, and Alan had never known a better mayor for the village. Mayor Moody laid down the law with an iron hand, and more than one fellow had ended up on Sewer Patrol for a week. Alan slowed to listen to what the mayor was saying. "We need to patch the roof of the meeting house straightaway, so that we can use the space as shelter for the homeless." He was saying. "But Mr. Moody," came the squeaky voice of Alfred Winncock, the town's thatcher, "The meeting house is a big job, at least's a day's work, and most of the folks are shacking up with kin. I can't see why we need to do the meeting house first when there are people's homes to fix up." There was a general rumbling of agreement from the crowd, but Mr. Moody stood firm. "I'll tell you why we need to get the meeting house fixed up." He said, "First, as you have said, it's a big building and can house a lot of us in case of another winter storm like the last one. Two, it is one building and so will be easier to maintain for the village than a lot of smaller houses will, and three, with a little work it can be more sheltered from the wind and so serve as a place of refuge during a storm." Alan nodded as the mayor's words made good sense to him. Why spread the efforts out to repair all the houses for the next storm that could come at any time when you can concentrate all efforts on one building and have it completely ready. Alan could see that heads were nodding at this reasoning and slid through the crowd to stand at Stormy's side.
Stormy glanced down at him when he appeared at her elbow. "I see Moody has got the marching orders for the day" Alan said. Stormy shook her light gray hair and mane. "I guess so, Master." She paused for a moment before continuing, "I don't think I will be much help here, so I will go back to working with the debris teams to clear the wreckage away for rebuilding." Alan nodded his consent and she turned her back on him, switching his side with her light gray tail. He watched her trot back to the young men and women who were still hip deep in debris. Turning around, he turned back to the mayor only to find Mr. Winncock standing behind him. Winncock ran his hair over his bright dome and squinted up at Alan for a moment. "Is there something you needed Mr. Winncock?" Alan asked politely. "If you're not too busy with anything else, I could use some help with the roof." Alfred replied. Alan shrugged his massive shoulders. Truth to tell, he had simply been moving around the village, helping wherever he could lend a hand. It was easy to agree to Winncock's plea. For several hours they patched the roof of the meeting house, which was nearly forty feet long and half as wide. It was made of thick timbers for the floor and logs for the walls. The massive logs had taken very little damage, and fresh mud was placed in the cracks to ensure a good seal throughout.
When the sun had set, Alan stretched his weary muscles. Bidding Mr. Winncock a goodnight, he collected his hammer and started for home. Stopping at the square, he looked around and spotted his sisters talking excitedly to Stormy. They got quiet when he approached, which sent alarm bells ringing through his head. "What are you girls talking about now?" he asked suspiciously. "Nothing." The three said in unison. Alan briefly decided whether or not to push the subject, but decided it wasn't worth it. "Come on. Let's go home." The four turned for home while the sun set behind the town.
They reached the little house on the outskirts of town that was their home. They had been very fortunate for the Storm had not damaged the house much. It had been built near the lee of a hill, which had sheltered it somewhat. Already smoke curled out of the chimney indicating that Mom had already started dinner. Alan, Sabrina and Mary went in through the front door while Storm went in through the bigger back door. Inside the door a fire crackled in the stone hearth, above which their mother was cooking stew in a big pot. They could tell by the smell that the stew was nearly done. Stormy came through the inner door of the shop and went straight to the Time washbasin with the others. Behind the basin, standing in its rusty glory, stood a tall pump. Connected to the village well, it pumped cold water into the house and was used to gather water for the morning sponge baths and the weekly showers. The entire village was very fortunate to have piping throughout for their houses. They even had a sewer system. It was a point of pride for them that even this far out in the wilderness; they still had some vestiges of civilization.
After washing up, they heard the front door opening, heralding the arrival of their father. Paul Eagleheart was as tall as his son, and nearly as broad. A carpenter by trade, his calloused hands bore splinters and dirt from the work that he had been at. With a sigh, he went to the basin to wash up while Kathleen Eagleheart came out of the back room and gave him a big kiss. "I'm glad your home honey." She said in-between kisses. Alan met his sister's eyes and grinned while she rolled hers. Without much ado, the stew was served in wooden bowls. They meal was a welcome respite from the hours of labor that they had done that day.
When supper was finished, Alan and Paul sat down and played a round of chess while Kathleen knitted a scarf that she had been working on. Sabrina and Mary were at her feet chatting about something. Stormy was lying near the hearth and watching the chess game avidly. Alan had his full attention on the board as his father carried out a risky maneuver that placed him in check. Alan countered by moving his knight and taking the queen. "Checkmate!" cried his father as he moved his remaining bishop to the right and there behind was his rook. Alan conceded the game with a smile and yawned. After bidding them all good night, Alan went to his room and got ready to go to bed. Changing his shirt, he used a toothbrush he got from Mr. Goldman and climbed into his goose-down bed. With a grateful sigh he laid his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes. As tired as he was, sleep came almost immediately.