Chapter 17: Repairs

"How's the roof coming along?" Gran'pa Ken shouted from the ground of the barn.

"It's good!" Imala answered. She then continued to pound the nail into the shingle with a hammer.

Ever since everyone had finished extinguishing the fire in the farmhouse, they had been busily fixing up the excessive damage to the farm and it's property. The Skinwalkers had managed to cause damage to the barn and it's roof. While the barn did suffer from fire damage as well, it was fortunately minor and the flames were easily extinguished. The silo, chicken coop and stables were left untouched.

The farmhouse, on the other hand, was the building that suffered the most extensive damage out of all the buildings on the farmland. The roof had been completely burned away, and the entire house was littered with holes, charred wood, broken and burned furniture, and smashed glass. To sum up the damages, some of the livestock died in the attack, while others ran away. Some of them were found and returned to their pens, though some managed to get away, never to be found again.

Imala couldn't stop thinking about last night's events, either. Those spirits, they knew Gran'pa Ken. Gran'pa Ken surely knew the reason why those monsters attacked the farmhouse. Were they looking for him? 

Don't worry about me! I've fought the Skinwalkers back in the war before. The words replayed in her memory. What was this "war" he mentioned? And who are the Skinwalkers?

"Oh man, they sure did a number on the farmhouse," Avaron noted, positioning a shingle in place. "Thank goodness we're working on the farmhouse first!" She looked at Imala. "Hey Imala! You need some more shingles? I have a few of them here."

"No, I'm good." Imala set her hammer down. "I just can't stop thinking about last night. It was...scary, but it certainly got even stranger, with those spirits and Ken." 

"So what?" Avaron positioned a nail on the shingle. "We made it out okay. That's the important part."

"True. But there's a few things boggling around in my mind," Imala said. "What's this war he mentioned? And those Skinwalker things? What about them? It's almost as if he knew why they attacked the farm."

"Hmph." Avaron pounded the nail with her hammer. "Well, I have a feeling that I'm gonna be pretty sleepy when I get to the tavern today."

Imala grumbled to herself, a bit frustrated that her own sister wasn't even suspicious about last night's events or the circumstances surrounding them. 

"Ignorant, as usual," she growled quietly, picking up her hammer.

******************************************************************************************************Mordecai and Menard were busy fixing the severely burnt farmhouse. It wasn't so easy, but if everyone needed a place to sleep tight, they were going to have to put their backs into it.

The brothers were silent with focusing on their work, with a mixture of the shock of last night.

Mordecai broke the silence. "Did last night seem...off to you?"

Menard looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Gran'pa, the spirits that saved us. It's all just...strange."

"Well..." Menard closed his eyes in deep thought. "Now that you mention it, it was strange..."

"How do they know each other?" Mordeaci wondered. "Gran'pa would never keep secrets from us. What should we do?"

"He obviously isn't going to answer our questions." Menard glanced at Ken, sitting on a rock, observing the sunrise, with his back facing the farmland. His arm was slung in a cast, and his skin was bruised and scars, hidden under bandages and torn clothes. "We should see what he's hiding from us."

"Are you sure?" Mordecai asked. "He wouldn't like us poking around."

"Well, I don't see any other way." Menard picked up a plank of wood and set it against the house. "Now come on, we should finish fixing this wall, or we won't have a home to live in"