Short story is short. And possibly sucky.
Blackwall woke up that morning feeling a tad inspirational and a tad bored, and as such, he decided it was a good time to carve. He had taken the habit of carving many different shaped toys for the children and giving them to Cole, watching the bright smile on his face as he went about distributing them. He was trying to decide what he'd carve first when he felt a presence joining him in the barn. He didn't even stop chopping wood as he saw with the corner of his eye the spirit-boy sitting on one of the bales of hay, his eyes focused on him.
"You are going to carve." He stated. Blackwall sighed at the obviousness of that, but kept it to himself.
"Yup. That's right." Cole waved his legs, his hands on his hat trying to keep the wind from taking it.
"Blackwall, would you carve another horse?" He started, looking up at the sky. "One of the boys took Thomas's horse from him. He misses it." Blackwall chuckled at his kindness and nodded.
"Sure, Cole. I'll have it ready for you as soon as I can." He finished chopping just in time to see the smile in his face. Cole shifted around as he went to his worktable and grabbed his tools and started working on a block. The boy hummed as he worked, glanced to look at his work from time to time. Blackwall would never acknowledge it, but his presence was soothing and comforting. He glanced and saw Cole smile, grumbling as he realized he had heard that.
An hour later, when he was almost done, Cole stood up from his seat and came closer to him, peeking closely at the almost finished horse.
"Can you give it a horn? I think he'd like that." Blackwall sighed in frustration.
"You should've told me that sooner." Still, he decided he'd give it a try. He carved a hole into the horse's forehead and plucked a tiny piece of wood in it. Wasn't perfect, but could pass off as a unicorn. Cole smiled at it, admiring the tiny horn.
"Thank you, Blackwall. And I like spending time with you too," Cole told him as he delivered the toy to him , causing the soldier to huff in embarrassment. Blackwall watched as he reached a small crying boy and gave him the unicorn, taking a few steps closer so that he could hear them.
"There, Thomas." He patted the boys head softly as he gasped at the unicorn. Cole crouched before him, a compassionate look in his eyes. "Don't let the other boys get to you. You are fine the way you are. There's nothing wrong with liking different things. It only makes you special," He told him in a low tone, almost low enough for Blackwall's ears to miss it. He watched as the boy managed to stop sobbing enough to smile up at him, a hopeful look in his eyes as he thanked him. Blackwall pressed his back against one of the wooden pillars, watching as Cole made his way back to his spot at the tavern.
He spent the rest of the day carving a rabbit.