The Problem with Dreams

Chapter 3 - New Developments

"Maybe that's why he started keeping it in the box. That looked pretty water tight," Zack commented.

"That maybe," Greg agreed. "I haven't had the chance to look closely at more than the first dozen or so pages."

Zack nodded. "It's just so weird to think about somebody being in here before us. I feel like we discovered it, you know?"

"I do, although discovering this place has a history has also been very interesting to me. Someday I should like to make a study of it," Greg said thoughtfully.

"Ready to go the other way?" Mr. Van Kirk asked as he listened to them talk.

"I think so," Greg told him as they returned to the ledge were the routes from the shaft, the bridge, the cottage and the house all merged.

Next they went down the passage way which led to the cottage. Here the notches in the floor for the electrical conduit had been completed though they were not yet covered by the grate. The recesses for the light fixtures near the ceiling were partially in place, and the vertical notches for the conduit to connect them had also been created. Coils of conduit on large wooden spools lay part way down the tunnel, waiting to be installed.

"It looks like this passage way will be finished soon," Greg remarked.

"It probably will be. This one and the one below have presented us with a few more challenges however."

"What sort of challenges?" Greg asked.

"Because they're natural and not man made, the floor is more irregular, so we've had to fill-in in places with cement and use forms to make the notches. In other places we've had to grind down high spots to make it level. We're getting there though," Mr. Van Kirk assured him.

Greg directed the beam from his flashlight on a patch of cement which looked relatively new.

"Is this ready to walk on?" he asked hesitating when he came to it.

"Yes. It was poured on Tuesday, so it's had three days to cure," Mr. Van Kirk told him.

"It's a lot easier to walk in here now," Zackary remarked as they crossed the first patch.

 "Your work on the floor really has made a difference," Greg agreed.

 They arrived at the cottage much more quickly than they'd been able to the week before, climbed the steps and walked into the great room, eager to look around. The structure now had an open beamed ceiling which made it look from inside at least, like the roof was in place. The fireplace looked finished, as it was now faced with large-sized, water-smoothed river rock and the mantel was in place, making the entire room look closer to being finished than they'd expected it to be.

 Zackary walked across the room to the western wall and was about to stick his head through the window opening to admire the view when he encountered glass.

 "Hey! The windows are in!" he exclaimed.

"So they are," Greg said looking pleased. "There still are no doors though, but it looks like you'll be ready for them soon."

"We should be," Mr. Van Kirk told him. "I got a call from our office that your front door for the cottage is in. The back one is on order still, but we'll probably install the one we have on Monday. We're also still working on the outside. The plastering will happen next week and they only have about half the tiles on the roof so we'll be finishing that too. Do you want to look?"

 "Of course," Greg said as they continued to inspect everything.

Every nook and cranny of the cottage was inspected, inside and out as they admired the relatively primitive looking log structure. The only internal walls were those defining the little bathroom and those were essentially done. Clearly work was still going on, but it was beginning to look like finishing work instead of actual construction.