Chapter 14
Eight days later, they had their first snow. When it stopped two days after it started, it was four feet deep. Winter had officially begun.
With the deep snow on the ground, everyone's daily activities changed. Since the garden had been cleared out, there was no pressing reason to go outside. The house was built onto one end of the barn, and they had at least ten days worth of firewood stacked next to the grain stall. They would need to dig out a pathway to the outside woodpile, but that could be done a bit at a time.
After the snow stopped, Torvin and Mirria checked all the doors and windows to make sure nothing had leaked through. The animals were all safe and warm in the barn. The chickens had their wire enclosure near the door to the house, and the goats had their pen further down. The horses had several open stalls to choose from. They doubled up in the colder temperatures for added warmth.
Indeira started warping the looms. Everyone spun wool with the drop spindles whenever they were not doing something else. Torvin started whittling small things like spoons and shawl sticks.
After a sevenday, the children were getting very restless. The adults were a bit restless, too, but they hid it better. There had been more snow, and the level had reached bottom of the windows. They used up some energy by digging paths to the woodpile, and around the barn doors, just to keep the ability to open them.
Over dinner, Torvin made a suggestion. "We all need to keep active." he said. "And we should all be able to defend ourselves, and each other."
"That is true," said Indeira, "but how do we do that?"
"There is room in the hayloft." Torvin replied, "We can set up a target to practice archery. And I can teach you how to fight."
The children both seemed excited by the idea. Elli got a very fierce look in her eyes. "Yes!" she said. "I want to learn to fight."
Indeira was dubious about her own ability. "I can barely stand without crutches. I cannot hold a sword. How can I fight?"
Torvin gave her a considering look. "There are ways to fight that that don't involve traditional weapons." he said. "We can work on that."
They all thought the exercise would be a good thing, so in the morning Torvin, Elli, and Rafe went up to the hayloft and started clearing an archery lane. They hung a makeshift target over some straw at the far end, and paced off a starting point.
Mirria pulled out all the bows they kept when they sold the bandits weapons, and checked them over. She made some minor repairs to two of them, and several of the arrows. She could see they would need more arrows. She would have to look for the right wood.
Torvin looked through the firewood, and found several pieces to shape into practice swords and daggers. He set to work doing just that.
The next morning they all went up to the hayloft. Even Indeira managed to get up the steep stairs with some help from Quin. Thorvin had set a bench off center at the firing line, so she sat on that.
Mirria handed her a bow and half a dozen arrows, saying, "You go firrsst."
Indeira put an arrow to the string. It had been over 6 months since she had fired a bow, and never from a seated position. She raised the bow and drew back the string. She had to change the angle a bit. She let fly, and completely missed the target. She set her jaw, and put another arrow to the string. This time she hit the edge. On her third try, she hit the outer ring. That was as close as she got with the other three as well.
"I guess I need the practice." she said ruefully.
"You did well," said Torvin. "You have never shot seated before, yet you adjusted your stance each time you fired. You will get there."
Mirria was by far the best shot of all of them, with Quin a surprising second best. Everyone at least hit the target, though two of Rafe's fell out.
Then Thorvin started them on sword practice. He did nothing but positioning and basic strikes the first time through.
"First thing, you need to learn how to hold it, and how to swing it. Hitting anything, or stopping a strike, comes later." he told them.
The daily routine became one of feeding animals, then archery practice in the morning, writing and numbers for Rafe and Elli, and sword practice in the afternoon, and spinning, weaving, and knitting, along with other handcraft work, in the evening.
Quin told tales from myths and history as they worked in front of the hearth, and sometimes played the harp. He was showing Rafe how to do basic scales one evening, when Indeira turned to him.
"How did you get to be so good at archery?" she asked.
Quin sighed. "Riding and hunting were the only two things I was any good at that my father and brothers respected." he replied. "It also gave me an excuse to get away from the house. So I spent a lot of time at it."
"Your brothers didn't like you?" Rafe asked, looking up at him.
"No. They thought I was too … gentle. They never could understand why I did not wish to go out drinking and fighting with them."
"Were they older than you?" Elli chimed in.
"No, I'm the eldest." He sighed again. "I could never manage to be what my father wanted. He was looking for a "strong son" to marry well and produce grandsons to carry on the family name. I would far rather spend my time reading and learning, and writing."
"Is that why you left?" Indeira asked.
"In part." Quin replied. "Things came to a head when my father decided I must marry his business rival's daughter. Neither she nor I wanted any such arrangement. When we told our respective fathers this, well, it did not go well."