Enar's Vacation - Open Beta

Chapter 42

2780 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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Finally, soaking wet and shivering with cold, they turned a bend in the road and the cider-house came into view. Dark and silent, it waited for them by the side of the road - its windows shuttered and the rain hammering on its roof.

Water gushed out of a rain pipe into an overflowing barrel at the corner of the house. A huge pool had formed around it, reaching well into the road. Sofie plodded on, without even slowing down, through the puddle and on alongside the house.

Enar looked up from under the tarp. The building - tall, imposing even - towered over them. Earlier, walking past the cider-house had been exciting and even a little bit scary, but now - cold, tired, and hungry, he just didn't care. The stables would be close now. They'd get out of the rain. The wind would stop.

Sure, he'd still have to walk the rest of the way, but he'd worry about that later. He really needed a break.

Beside him, Amanda stayed focused on the road. Neither of them had spoken for a long time. They'd stopped telling each other how they'd be there soon. The words had lost their meaning, turned into grunts and nods and then ceased completely.

She too needed to get out of the rain, warm up and get dry and smile again. He'd help her get settled in the stables, then he'd leave, but first, he'd make sure she was okay. Not that he knew how, but he wouldn't leave until he was sure she was. He'd figure something out.

Just past the building, Amanda pulled on the reins, turning their carriage onto a narrow road, leading up a little slope and around to an open space behind the house. To one side, a wide loading bay dominated the back of the cider-house, and on the other side of the area an old barn cowered among the trees.

The big double doors in the middle of the barn had been left open - probably for a long time - and Amanda steered them straight for the opening; a black square in the fading light of the evening.

A few steps short of the doorway Sofie stopped and refused to move any further, no matter how Amanda clicked her tongue or shook the reins. Grumbling something Enar couldn't quite hear, Amanda jumped off of the cart. She scurried through the door of the barn and disappeared into the darkness.

Enar pulled the tarp closer around himself and peered after her. Wait or follow? His legs ached, stiff with cold, and he shivered where he sat. A moment later, light flared up inside the barn, and he could see Amanda holding up one of those old-fashioned lanterns with a glass cover - same as the one Rolf had back at the burrow.

The light steadied as she lowered the cover, and when she turned to face the doorway Enar could see some of the tension slipping from her shoulders and face. Amanda held up the lantern, clicked her tongue and beckoned for Sofie to come towards her.

Sofie lifted her head, strained against her shackles and slowly, step by step, pulled into the barn. Enar instinctively ducked his head as he passed through the doorway, but he needn't have, the opening left plenty of space for him to enter. As soon as he was in, Amanda held up her hand, and Sofie stopped, letting her head drop again.

Enar released the tarp and let it fall behind him. Most of the cart still remained outside the barn, pelted by the rain, but he no longer needed the cover. He sighed, and let his head fall back. Finally.

Amanda hung the lantern on a hook attached to a chain hanging down from somewhere in the darkness up under the roof. A soft warm glow illuminated the center of the barn. Shadows danced across the back wall as the lantern swung, ever so slightly, in its chain.