But maybe we could play cards one night. Or get drunk together some time. Could Zabrians even get drunk? If alcohol was a thing for them, Warden Hallum would probably be a teetotaler. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Although, now Icouldn’t stop thinking about what a tipsy Warden Hallum would be like. I imagined him looser, gruffer. Less inhibited…
“I believe your pancake is burning.”
“Oh! Holy…Thanks. Lost in thought there for a second!”
I quickly flipped it. It landed much more messily than the previous one, but luckily the bottom was only a crispy brown, not unsalvageable.
“And what thoughts were those?”
“Er…” I decided not to tell him that I’d been daydreaming about what he’d look like all rumpled from a night out partying. “Just thinking ahead to today.”
Now I actually was thinking ahead. I finished up with my pancake and ate it almost as quickly as Warden Hallum had eaten his, though I did at least appreciate that maple syrup a little more than he did. Neither of us needed a second one, so after a quick brush of my teeth – and a layer of lipstick – we were ready to go. I’d unpacked my warmer, less fancy coat last night, as well as gloves, and I put them all on on the porch. Warden Hallum, like yesterday, wore nothing but another one of his perfect uniforms. No mittens, no sleeves, no scarf. He did wear his hat, but it seemed more to do with the sun than the temperature.
He really wasn’t joking about not being bothered by the cold. Fascinating.
This morning was colder than yesterday. Nothing was melting now, and it appeared as though a fresh layer of snow had fallen in the night. Blue sky, dark green trees, and satin-shimmer white made up the scene, warmed in colour if not temperature by the yellow sun.
“Will we take the wagon again?”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” Warden Hallum replied. “It’s more work for the shuldu, and it’s slower. Especially with the snow. Ido have a sled, which we could have used last night, but it was much too small to fit your things.”
“That’s fine. Sled is great. Or I can ride one of the shuldu!”
“Do you have experience with such things?”
“None at all!” I answered. “But I’m always willing to learn. Especially since I’ll be here for a while.”
He appeared to ponder this, then said, “You can learn, certainly. But not today. I will teach you when the ground is less icy. Much of the melt from yesterday has frozen.”
“Fair. So, the sled, then?”
“Either that or the slicer, which has an engine and is the fastest option.”
“If you’re not in a big rush,” I replied, “I think I’d like to try the sled.”
“There is no rush,” he confirmed. Though something told me that Warden Hallum never rushed no matter what – he always did things precisely at the speed he meant to. “Xennet and Dorn will need time to finish their morning chores and make their way on shuldu-back to the saloon.”
“Sled it is!”
He led me from the porch down onto the snow. I barely felt the new layer of it beneath, because he had already shovelled a meticulous path for us – perfectly straight and smooth. He took me to a building on the property that I hadn’t noticed before. It was partially hidden by trees, beyond the little barn where the shuldu were. It was like a large, wood garage, and in it was the wagon from yesterday, a big contraption with a seat that I assumed was the slicer he’d mentioned, and the smallest of them all, a solid wood seat on top of a set of metal skis.
This was probably the most stuff Warden Hallum had gathered in one place, besides maybe his cellar with the food supplies. Unlike his bedroom, this had shelves and tables that actually appeared to be used from time to time. Various tools aswell as things like rope and buckets and barrels were out here, all very neatly arranged of course.
Though the sled was certainly smaller than the slicer or the wagon, it still looked heavy – I’d guess at least 50 kilos. But Warden Hallum didn’t hesitate after approaching it. He squatted down and immediately lifted it sideways onto his right shoulder, striding from the garage with it back to the shuldu area like it weighed nothing at all. Once there, I watched as he readied his two horned animals – one huge and black, the other a little smaller and a pretty russet brown. He was just as efficient with the shuldu as he was with everything else, but there was no coldness in the way he treated them. In fact, he almost seemed to treat them the same way he treated other people. Not overly friendly, but with respect, a deep sense of responsibility, and an obvious set of expectations for their behaviour, not because he was unreasonable, but because he knew exactly what they were capable of.
The result was that the shuldu seemed completely at ease around him, responding instantly to his commands and clearly enjoying the occasional pat they received. It took no time at all to get the sled hitched up to them. Once that was done, he indicated it was time for me to get in, so I did.
It was a very simple design, with a flat wooden seat and another flat wooden board to lean back against. There were no solid sides on it, but rather two slender railings, one on each side, to grip with my gloved hands.
This would be perfect with some blankets and hot cocoa…
Since I had neither of those things at hand currently, I just nodded and said, “Ready!”
At my word, he strode to the larger black shuldu – Bart, he’d called it – and mounted. This was the first time I’d actually seen him astride his shuldu like that. Unsurprisingly, he exhibited a perfect competence in the saddle, his spine straight.
With a flick of the reins and a single command, the shuldu started forward.
“Ah!” I yelped, then laughed as the sled lurched forward and began to slide on the snow. “This is amazing!”
