Enar's Vacation - Open Beta

Chapter 3

2516 Words

This is a beta version of Enar's Vacation. Changes can – and probably will – be made as a result of reader feedback. I hope you'll enjoy it and I hope you'll take the time to give me some feedback. It will help me make this story the best it can be.

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Grums did indeed lie ahead and within sight, and both Enar and Brunolf clambered back up to the front of the cart to see better. 

Peaceful and quiet it looked nothing like Enar had imagined a traditional anetacht village would look. Friendly-looking little cottages stood in a neat semi-circle around a big lawn with an old well in the middle. The well even had a little roof built over it, with flowering wines climbing up the supporters. Here and there on the lawn, villagers lay or sat, resting in the afternoon sun.

Behind the first row of buildings, the rest of the village mingled with the forest in a seemingly haphazard fashion; trees growing where they felt like and houses nesting where they were comfortable. From where he sat on the cart, Enar couldn't quite tell how far into the forest the village reached. He had a hunch there might be more houses further in, but he didn't actually see any.

Like Hasse had explained earlier, where there were no hillsides there could be no burrows, and so Grums was a village of above ground houses. Despite this, Enar couldn't help but like the place. It felt homely and comfortable in a warm and welcoming way – even from a distance. He hoped they'd stay a little bit so he could have a look around.

As they drew closer, more details became clear. Many of the larger trees of the village, mainly oak and beech, had decks or balconies nestled in their crowns, with winding little staircases leading up from the ground below – or from the roofs of the houses.

Enar stared. He'd never imagined his people would do something like that, but apparently they did. They'd even carried up chairs and tables into the trees, and on one deck he spotted a happy couple enjoying their afternoon meal together.

He kind of liked that. Not that he'd ever thought about it in the past, but the idea of having a cup of tea in the top of a tree very much appealed to him.

Over on the lawn heads turned to regard them as they approached. Someone got up and walked away, in no particular hurry, in among the houses. Other than that, no one seemed to pay them much attention.

Enar's shoulders slumped. He'd pictured their arrival being met by excited children, yelling and running alongside the cart as they drove into the village. Instead, no one seemed to care, and there weren't even any children in sight. 

He felt a little foolish. 

A horse and cart showing up probably wasn't that big a deal. Hasse looked to have been driving these roads for longer than anyone cared to remember, and there had been at least five carts in Irnrad waiting to pick up tourists. People here were traditional, not primitive – there's a difference. Of course they would have seen a horse and cart coming in before.

The road took them up to the big lawn and along the row of houses that surrounded it. Halfway around the semi-circle the road split into two; one continued east out the other end of the village, and the other cut south between the buildings and on into the forest. 

When they reached the junction, Hasse reined in and stopped the cart. “Hah! There we are. This is Grums ladies and gentlemen. Best harvest festivals in the world. Too bad it's not happening this year. Your loss lads, plan better next time.” The old man roared with laughter and then yelled and pointed at one of the locals lounging on the lawn. “You there, Aaron, isn't it? Where's Ginette? I've got apples for her.”