Chapter 16 : Woodwork Woes and Unexpected Laughter

I greeted the girls, saying, "Hi, good morning." The two girls stopped. I noticed Maria was happy to see me, but I can't say the same about Audrey. Despite that, she responded to the greeting with, "Good morning." Meanwhile, Maria said, "Morning! Did you sleep well?" I replied, "I think I did, yes. I feel comfortable. How about you?" She answered, "Yes, I slept well."

I saw that the two girls were wearing sportswear, so I asked, " what's up ? Are you going for a run? You should keep those bodies in good shape, right?" Audrey didn't like what I said, so she stared at me intensely. Meanwhile, Maria felt embarrassed and lowered her eyes to the ground. It seems she wasn't comfortable discussing her body. However, she said, "Yes, we should keep our bodies in good shape." 

Audrey rolled her eyes and sighed, "You know, people go running to stay healthy first, not to be visually appealing." Oh God, this girl hate me, and I don't know what I did. Maria looked at me again and asked, "What about you? What do you intend to do?"

I replied, "the usual, working with Lorus, woodwork today. Are we still going swimming later? Right?" Maria smiled and said, "Yes, of course. I can't wait to.."

 Audrey interrupted, "Come on, Maria, let's go. The guy has work to do." It seems I have to leave; this girl doesn't like me at all. "Alright, girls, see you later." Maria said, "See you later," while Audrey didn't bother to respond. It seems she's skeptical about me, and it's clear she's trying to keep Maria away from me. But why?

The two girls left, and then Lorus came out of the house. "Oh, Rick, you're here. That's good,". I replied, "I'm done with coffee. Where to now?" He answered, "Not far from here. We have someone cutting wood for us; we just need to pick it up and bring it home." I said, "No tree-cutting today, I see." 

He explained, "The wood was cut a few days ago, but I couldn't carry it alone." I offered, "I'm here to help." As we started moving, Lorus stopped me and said, "Wait, let me think. Maybe we can use your truck for a good purpose." I agreed, "Yes, of course, but there must be a road." He assured, "There's a road, and it's safe. Trust me. I used to pull a cart full of wood myself... the good old days." I didn't want to hear more about what he could do, so I went to get the truck.

I started driving, and the entire way, Lorus didn't utter a word. I chose to remain silent as well. After a while, Lorus said, "We've arrived." I saw a cart similar to a horse-drawn one next to the remnants of a ruined castle. I looked at him and said, "Are you used to pulling this cart to the manor by yourself? Are you kidding me?" He replied, "No, not exactly. A smaller one, of course." I said, "I can't pull that cart even in my best days. It needs a horse to pull it here." 

Lorus approached the cart and said, "Well, anyway, here are the wood logs." It seems Lars wants to change the subject. At first, I found his words peculiar, but then I thought the old man just wants to show off about things that never really happened. But I'll let him have this one.

I approached the cart, saying, "Wow, there's a lot of wood logs here." He responded, "We need to bring more for the coming weeks, but that's everything for now." I asked, "So, are we loading the wood onto the truck, and I'll bring it back home?" He said, "Oh no there's no we .. you'll load the wood onto the truck and bring it back by your self. I'm too old to stand under this sun."

 I started laughing and said, "Just a minute ago, you were bragging about doing everything alone. Now, when it comes to work, you're escaping." He continued walking and said, "I have other things to take care of at home." I laughed and asked, "Like what? Mistress Lara?" Oh God, that slipped out of my mouth, but he coolly replied, "She gives me tasks to do. Now, get back to work and stop joking too much." Lorus left, and I returned to work.

Oh God, there's so much wood, but I must finish all of this within an hour or two at most. I hope there are no wild animals or anything else around. My thoughts about wild animals awaken fear of snakes, wolves, spiders, bears—all the dangerous creatures that live in the forest. And here I am, alone...

I realized I'm scaring myself with these thoughts. Oh, stop thinking about this nonsense and relax a bit, enjoy the good weather outside while continuing with my task. The faster I finish, the sooner I can get out of here. Damn them. If something dangerous comes out, I'll hit it on the head with a log, and there I'll be done.

I started working, and it seems to be finishing faster than I expected. That's good. The wind is soothing, the sun is shining, the scent of nature surrounds me. Not a bad start to a workday. After a while, I heard the sound of something moving in the grass. Then, I started hearing "hiss, hiss, hiss." Oh God, what is this? Maybe a snake approaching me. I'm done. I started panicking, and then I heard someone laughing. When I raised my head, I found...