“Absolutely.” Raven took a sip of her coffee. “Though I must admit that I don’t think I’ll be able to make another sandwich, let alone even eat one after this.”
“I know what you mean,” said Janette. She tried to smile. “I’m sorry I should’ve known better than to get you to drive to the fire and refuse to leave.”
“We got through it,” said Raven, smiling at Janette. “And we better get on with these sandwiches.”
“I’ll get the bread lined up,” offered Anne.
“Do we have enough bread?” asked Raven.
“I’ve already been to the supermarket,” said Anne.
Raven felt a little bad that she’d been left sleeping. “You should’ve woken me.”
“It didn’t take long. Come on, we should get these sandwiches made and over to the town hall.”
With the three of them pitching in to help, it didn’t take long for the sandwiches to be made and packed. Raven drove them to the town hall. For the second day, she set about helping to make sure there was food to be eaten, and the urn boiled so people could make a hot drink.
At least the weather today was a bit cooler.
Raven saw an older man sitting by himself, looking sad.
“Want me to get you a cup of tea?” asked Raven.
He shook his head.
“I’m Raven.” She sat down next to him.
“Brumbie.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She remembered Ben saying that he’d lost his home in the fire. It was just him on the farm, his son deciding not to stay and lived overseas in London working in some high-powered job.
“You and me both,” he mumbled.
“Will you rebuild?”
“I’m too old for that. Only one shed survived the fire, and all that’s in there is a rusty old printer and some old farm equipment that’s worth nothing.”
“A printer?” Raven remembered the odd idea of making her own cards yesterday.
“It’s not good, run by hand, rusted to buggery, made in 1903.”
“Why did you have it?”
“Bought it in an auction about thirty years ago. My boy was interested in printing, or so I thought. I had hoped we could restore it together, but he had the city lights in his eyes and left as soon as he could.”
A crazy idea formed in her head. This could be a chance for her to help Brumbie and also add another stream to her graphic design business.Would he be up for the challenge?
“Could you restore it now?”
“I reckon I could, but there’s no point. There’s no one to use it.”
“I could use it.”
She smiled, seeing the surprised look on his face.
“You?”
“I want to print my own cards. Could this printer do the job?”
