The next morning Lukas woke to find his house empty. Mathias had left before Lukas woke and it affected him even though Lukas had suspected as much. Foreseeing that he would wake alone again didn't stop the silence from making Lukas uncomfortably lonely. Mathias wasn't exactly company, but he did prevent Lukas from thinking about the suffocating silence that he had been experiencing since coming to his new home.
Sighing heavily, Lukas climbed out of bed and pulled on his work clothes knowing he couldn't just sit there and mope about how isolated he was. There was work to be done and he started out his day by shooing out the chickens into the yard and sweeping out his house of their droppings. As he worked, Lukas' thoughts drifted to the previous night's revelations. Mathias wasn't crazy. It was till shocking but the more Lukas pondered on the subject the more convinced he was. Mathias wouldn't have the capability of giving Lukas gifts if he were indeed insane. Or at least this was what Lukas believed.
However being deaf wasn't much better than being crazy. Whoever Mathias' mother was, she had clearly gravely sinned while Mathias was still in her belly. Lukas had heard enough sermons on that very subject back at home. His pastor had made it a tradition to preach the topic each time a new girl was caught pregnant out of wedlock. They shunned these women and their bastard offspring. Mathias' situation would not improve with the villagers if they were told the truth. Instead the villagers would know the why in the way Mathias acted.
There had to be something he could do.
Lukas stopped sweeping, frowning at these reoccurring thoughts. Just why was he trying to help Mathias again? He knew his heart was in its own way big, but to constantly think and worry about Mathias was just stupid. Boredom was making him envelope his world in the one entertaining mystery in his life. If Lukas' wife hadn't died, Lukas would have social contact and he wouldn't have invited Mathias into his house or fed him. But now, he had nothing better to do or any other contact. If he somehow helped Mathias during his selfishness then so be it. Desperately Lukas needed to feed his brain and do something other than manual work.
But, then again, what could he do?
Shaking off the thoughts, Lukas ate a slice of bread before stepping out onto the muddy property. The sun was drying the ground so quickly that everything looked like it was steaming. It would be a hot and miserable day to work. But first, Lukas looked around to see if he could spot Mathias. Scanning, he saw the place empty and his footsteps leading to the foothills. Lukas let out a disappointed huff realizing that his source of entertainment was gone. Mathias acted like a timid stray cat and Lukas guessed he would be back by the end of the week.
Disappointed, Lukas put all of his efforts in building a chicken coup. About midday Lukas looked up from his shaky coup hearing horse hooves to see Berwald riding a burly Nordic horse. "Mornin'." Berwald called to Lukas.
Puzzled about the pastor's sudden appearance, Lukas was slow to great and instead asked, "What brings you out here?"
"Like I said yesterday, we should be offerin' our help." Berwald answered as he swung off his horse. "What ya tryin' ta build there?" he inquired making Lukas knit his eyebrows.
"Isn't it obvious?" When Pastor Berwald didn't answer Lukas he continued blandly, "It's supposed to keep the chickens in."
"I see." Berwald replied as he inspected Lukas' failed construction. "I can tell yer from a tavern family."
"And what exactly do you mean by that, Pastor?" Lukas couldn't keep out the rudeness completely out of his voice as he felt offended on something he spent hours trying to build. Berwald didn't react and merely smiled that looked more like a grimace and a disturbing look. The man really shouldn't try to smile, Lukas thought to himself.
After a moment of awkward silence Berwald apologized, "I didn't mean ta be rude. It's just an obvious assumption. It's leanin'."
Lukas didn't answer and merely looked away, pretending he spotted something interesting.
"Don' worry I grew up on a farm of sorts. We'll get this built soundly." Berwald persisted. This caught Lukas' eye and he accepted Berwald's help. "That would be nice." Lukas half muttered.
"Ya, c'mere and watch me tie these knots correctly." The religious man began as he instructed Lukas in what he did wrong. "Yer problem is yer not tying them securely enough causing this ta lean." Slowly he showed Lukas how to do it correctly, looping them in a fancy way that caused the wood to bind securely.
It took several hours of correcting and teaching before they created a four walled structure. By then Lukas was exhausted and wanted to collapse. They took a break and by eating in Lukas' much cooler shack.
"Yesterday you told me Mathias wasn't to be trusted again. Why?" Lukas asked suddenly making Berwald frown at the question.
Slowly, Berwald answered, "It seems to always be about Mathis with ya." He joked but didn't spark so much as a smile with Lukas, "Some things shouldn' be talked about."
"You mean you're not going to tell me?" Lukas asked slightly offended. He felt like he was being treated like an outsider. And maybe he was, but he lived side by side with Mathias and deserved to know more about the deaf person.
"No, at least not today." Berwald revealed. "Truth be told, I did a lot of prayin' and I've decided that keepin' Mathias away from the village is for the best. M'words were not thought through yesterday an' I think keepin' Mathias out here with ya is far better than him bein' hunted by the villagers."
"And, somehow I feel what you don't want to reveal his past because it would make me shoo him away?"
"Correct. It is truly a horrifying and… Only ya need ta know Lukas, is that Mathias means well despite his sometimes unexplainable actions." Berwald struggled to find the right words.
"I understand, perhaps we can speak about something I realized yesterday."
"On what exactly? Is this still on Mathias?" Berwald asked quizzically.
Lukas nodded slightly. "You see last night he slept in my house and I smashed my door as hard as I could with his back to me… Berwald I think Mathias is deaf, not crazy."
Berwald's frown deepened and he said strictly, "Lukas, if ya knew what I did you would know that isn't the case. Don't challenge God. He made Mathias the way he is and to try to make sense of it is the folly of mankind." Lukas opened his mouth to arguing but Berwald held up a hand and silenced him. "We will continue this another day. I need ta return to the village. I hope to see ya on Sunday on time."
"Certainly." Lukas said through gritted teeth. He walked Berwald to the door and watched him leave before returning to his house to relax some more. Lukas felt irritated in what the pastor said and he couldn't help but start thinking about Mathias. What was it that he had done that Berwald wouldn't speak of it? And now suddenly he had Berwald's blessing to interact with Mathias? Something told Lukas that Mathias didn't commit a crime of violence but something much, much worse. And worst of all, Berwald, the one person Lukas had thought would agree with him didn't believe Mathias was deaf. Maybe he had been wrong?
No, he was certain he was correct. The fact that even the local educated priest didn't believe him made Lukas want to try harder and prove them all wrong by shoving it in their faces. Unfortunately Lukas knew he couldn't sit there and loaf around any longer, so he no choice but to get up and began work once more.
After a few days, Lukas started to dig a ditch to his house from a spring. It was brain numbing work and the spring was several meters uphill from the house. But Lukas' hunger for a properly heated bath pushed him to dig. Though a hot bath was his main goal, Lukas knew that it would allow him to plant and irrigate his crops as well. It was during this time that Lukas began to seriously contemplate how to communicate with Mathias. He figured out it would have to be by hand gestures. Lukas could remember Mathias showing simple gestures like pointing to home when he helped Lukas carry his chickens home. But Lukas would have to go beyond pointing to get Mathias to understand him.
So, slowly he created simple signs for things around the house. They were unsophisticated concepts that if repeated, Mathias would catch on. But after almost a week Lukas hadn't spotted Mathias and he began to wonder if Mathias had moved on to a different spot. Which would be strange since Lukas supplied him with free meals. He still left out meals in case Mathias returned suddenly. But each time Lukas went to check on the plate just before bed the plates hadn't been touched. Lukas tried to look on the bright side, he had more time to experiment and remember his hand signs.
When Lukas finally saw Mathias again it was almost as if he appeared out of thin air. Lukas was still working on the ditch when Mathias walked from the rubble making funny sounds at him. His hands were well blistered and Lukas was glad to stop for the day. Stomping on his shovel so it stuck deeply in the ground, Lukas lifted up his dirty shirt to wipe his sweaty face before approaching Mathias and the house. Slowly and trying to not make any sudden movements he approached his door and opened it, keeping his eyes on Mathias in case he startled him. Then he pointed to Mathias then to the doorway and used both of his hands bringing them up to his lips as if he were going to eat. He waited a moment to see if Mathias even remotely understood.
Mathias looked at him dumbly for a moment and Lukas repeated, then his eyes opened wide and he gave Lukas a cheeky grin. Lukas gave him a tight smile before he went inside, followed by Mathias. Indoors Lukas had constructed a crude table that sat in the corner. There were only two seats that weren't in the least comfortable constructed from scraped wood. Slowly, Lukas pointed towards the table and Mathias listened, and sat to watch Lukas happily. Lukas dug into his trunk and took out some cheese and bread for them and from the previous night he had cooked some beats. Though they were cold and tasted bitter they would be perfect for Lukas' experiment.
Placing their food on the table, he laid the forks next to their bowls even though he knew Mathias would only attempt to eat with his hands. Sure enough he was correct and Mathias stuck one filthy hand into the mushy beats before slapping the food in his mouth. Quickly, Lukas pulled his bowl away making Mathias whine and try to grab the bowl. His eyes flashed with hurt and confusion. Lukas did his best to twist his face into a friendly smile.
Nervous, Lukas used his hand and brought it to his chest and said, "Me." There was no reaction in Mathias' face but he continued and motioned back towards Mathias. "You."
"Do you understand?" Lukas asked as he repeated the signs three more times before adding two more signs, "I pick up fork." With that Lukas picked up his fork and placed it near his mouth before placing it on the table. Mathias eyes were following him attentively. "You pick up fork." Lukas waited for a moment, but Mathias didn't do anything yet and just continued to watch Lukas as he tried to figure out what he was doing. "I pick up fork." "You pick up fork." He repeated several times before adding, "I eat with fork. You eat with fork." With that Mathias shyly grasped his fork and motioned with his hand, 'I eat with fork.' before he dipped the utensil into the mush and taking a bite. Lukas nodded yes and Mathias' eyes light up with wonderment.
A loud sound erupted from Mathias mouth that sounded a lot like, "Kuuuu." As he resigned to Lukas, 'You eat with fork.' And Lukas nodded yes. Excitement went through Mathias as he stood abruptly and laughed loudly in a way that made no sense. It made Lukas look at him warily but the deaf man quickly sat once more before grabbing his bowl and looking at him insistently. Lukas blinked slowly and Mathias got his attention by banging his bowl on the table. Lukas cupped his hands and said, "Bowl."
'I eat with bowl.' Mathias stated and Lukas laughed and nodded. He was technically right.
"I have shirt. You have shirt." Lukas tossed more words for Mathias causing the deaf man to let out excited sounds and nod.
Mathias responded by flashing signs in front of Lukas quickly, 'I have shirt. I have bowl. I have fork. I eat with fork.'
Lukas added another concept, "You don't eat with shirt."
Mathias let out another laugh at the outrageous sign. 'I don't eat with shirt, with fork.'
Sorry that this chapter was short. I have finals next week and I will be leaving for Montana on the 6th so I thought I should leave you guys something incase I am not able to update until I return. The chapters will begin to get longer now that Mathias is now on his way to talking. Thank you for all the reviews and faves. Means a lot guys.