Chapter 2.
The Woodsman Family.
"Supper is ready!"
Lynwood heard Sofia call as she rang the dinner bell.
"Come and get it while it is still hot."
"Is Father home yet?" He asked as he entered the house.
"Yes, he is. Didn't you see him come in?" Sofia replied as she firmly set a vase with wild flowers in the middle of the round table, as though to prove a point that had been spoken of earlier.
"No, I was at the back of the house and didn't notice."
Sofia shook her head. "Daydreaming again." She said with a suspicious look.
"What's it to you?" Lynwood retorted. "Why do you have to know everything?"
"I don't. I just made a statement, that's all."
"That wasn't a statement, it was a question."
"It was a statement, I know what I said."
"Now listen here Sofia..."
"Children, that's enough!" The deep voice of their father cut short was about to become yet another argument. "The two of you need to learn to get along better."
"Well, she started it," Lynwood mumbled as he plopped down in his seat at the table.
"I did not!" Sofia shook her head. "I never start fights!"
"Oh ho, is that so?"
"Lynwood, Sofia, stop!" Lyndon let out a sigh. "This is starting to get out of hand. I am afraid to leave you both alone for very long in fear that you will fight each other out of this house."
Sofia and Lynwood glared at each other but said nothing more. Lyndon shook his head at them and took his seat at the head of the table.
The woodsman was a rugged man, just two years short of forty. His light brown hair was gathered in a ponytail and tied with a leather string. His beard was neat and the same shade as his hair. Sofia had inherited his almond colored eyes, while Lynwood shared the same chin and nose.
"Sofia, you are becoming a wonderful little cook," Lyndon said as they began to eat.
Sofia grinned and blushed from the compliment.
"What have you been doing today?" Lyndon asked, still directing his attention to Sofia.
"Well," Sofia began, digging deep into her memory and trying to remember what exactly she done and in what particular order. "After breakfast I tidied up in room and watered the flowers. Then I cleaned the hen house and gathered the eggs....or did I first gather the eggs and then clean the hen house....I don't remember. Anyway, after that I helped Lynwood weed the garden, and then I made us some lunch. After lunch I went for a walk in the fields, and then I came home and cooked supper."
"Sounds like you had a busy day." Lyndon gently patted Sofia's hair. "How about you Lynwood, how did your day go?"
"Well enough," Lynwood curtly replied.
"Well enough?" Lyndon repeated, raising an eyebrow and glancing at his son. Lynwood nodded and busied himself with cleaning the edge of his plate with the corner of his napkin. It was his way of saying 'I don't want to talk right now.' Lyndon understood the message and made a mental note to talk to him later when they were alone.
"And how was your day, Papa?" Sofia sweetly asked.
"It was good, very good."
"May I go and work with you in the woods tomorrow?" Lynwood asked, looking up from his plate.
"No son, I need you to stay here."
"But Father," Lynwood scowled. "How will I learn to be a woodsman if you are always leaving me behind? Sofia is not a little girl, she can manage just fine on her own. I want to go..."
"I said no and that means no. End of discussion." Lyndon cut off his son with a firm look. Lynwood grumbled under his breath and turned his attention back to his plate.
"Children, the day after tomorrow I am going to town, would you like to come with me?"
Sofia's eyes brightened. "Will we be able to visit uncle Tristan?"
"That is precisely why we are going. I thought it would be a good idea to call on Tristan and his wife."
"That is a wonderful idea, Papa; I should dearly love to go," Sofia exclaimed with excitement.
Lynwood made a face but didn't say anything.
"It is settled then. Now Lynwood, I think it would be best if you and I cleared the dishes."
The boy nodded his consent, stilly busy with his useless task with the plate and napkin.
"I'll go see if the hens have laid any more eggs since this morning," Sofia merrily said as she grabbed a basket and headed out the door. Lyndon and his son cleared the table in silence for a while till at last Lyndon broke it.
"You are rather quiet this evening, what's happened?"
"Nothing." Lynwood shrugged.
"Your behavior tells me otherwise."
"I'm just tired of having to stay back and look after the house. I'm bored to tears and sometimes I fear I'll go insane. I want to go out into the woods and work with you."
"Lynwood, you know I need you to look after Sofia. She is very young and impulsive and can easily get into trouble. I wish you would stop complaining and understand how important it is for you remain at home."
"There is nothing special about me staying back here. Can't I just go once with you, just once? Maybe we could take Sofia with us, she loves going deep into the forest."
"Absolutely out of the question. No, the two of you will remain here."
"But Father..."
"Not 'buts'. Lynwood, you're not a little boy, stop behaving like one."
Lynwood knew better than to argue, but deep inside he boiled with rage. If he wasn't a little boy, why did his father keep treating him like one?
Once the chores had been completed, the woodsman family sat on the porch, watching the sun as it disappeared behind the mountains.
"I think the view would be a hundred times more beautiful we could see the sunset from atop the Great Mountain," Lynwood stated with a sigh that expressed both wonder and longing.
"Has anyone ever reached the summit of the Great Mountain, Papa?" Sofia turned to her father.
"No dearest, it is far too dangerous. Once you get high up the rocks are slippery and the wind blows strong. Nearer to the peak there are snow drifts and icecaps. It would be suicide to try and climb it. We have not the proper tools to climb such mountains."
"Where can we get the proper tools, Papa?"
"Oh we can't get them child; the mountain is just not the sort for climbing; it doesn't want to be climbed."
"Why not?"
"Because it does not want to be tamed, it wants to remain unknown and unconquered by man."
"Someday I shall reach the very top!" Lynwood exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Someday I shall stand on the peak and watch the sun set behind the horizon. I shall be the first man to have reached the summit of the Great Mountain."
"How will you reach the summit if the mountain cannot be climbed?" Sofia asked in a practical tone.
"I don't know yet, but I will."
"Perhaps you could fly up you know, on a giant bird or something."
"A giant bird?" Lynwood laughed. "Sofia, there are no birds big enough to carry me all the way up there."
"Well, a dragon perhaps."
"Dragons don't exist anymore," Lynwood replied, sitting down once more. "And even if they did, I wouldn't be able fly on one because it would have me for supper. Dragons are carnivores and humans in particular are their favorite meal."
Sofia shrugged, "if you say so. Though I think it would be amazing to ride a dragon."
"Maybe."
"Do you suppose," Sofia continued, "do you suppose, if you reached the top of the mountain, you would be able to get a glimpse of the land beyond the rainbow?"
"Of course you wouldn't be able too," Lynwood scoffed.
"Why not?"
"Because to see the land beyond the rainbow, you have to get to the top of the rainbow and not the mountain"
"Maybe if someone were to climb to the top mountain, he would be higher than the rainbow."
"Oh, Sofia." Lynwood shook his head at the ignorance of his sister. "You wouldn't be."
"What makes you think so?" Sofia challenged, defiance in her little brown eyes.
"I think it's time to go to bed." Lyndon rose from his seat with a disapproving look at his children. "When will the two of you learn to get along?"
Lynwood and Sofia gazed at the ground in shame.
"Come along, we have to get up early tomorrow morning."
Sofia followed her father into the house. Lynwood lingered for a moment, gazing at the Great Mountain. He had been in full seriousness when he said he would reach the summit one day. He didn't know how or when, but one day he would be the first man in history to have conquered the unconquerable mountain.
It was really the only quest that he could realistically dream about. The only frontier left in all of Northurst.