Lumberjill

One

I’ll Keep you Warm.

Maddie looked out at her family’s woodshed, hearing the steady rhythm of kindling being chopped. The stance and toned arms caught her eye momentarily, but she couldn't make the rest of him out under that winter beanie and puffer vest. She stopped up the stairs at the door behind her cousin Noah, who was kicking his warm winter boots off, putting them lined up outside. She ensured she had an extra pair of socks tonight just in case her cabin wasn’t as warm as she hoped.
Noah found the key in his pocket, slipping it into the wooden door of the log cabin at their family homestead. He flicked the light on, adding a glow to the simple home.
“I’ve already lit this for you, but if you need more wood, Quinn will top you up...” He caught his younger cousin’s gaze on the family portrait above the open fireplace. Their fathers stood proud in the background with their Aunty, who had brought them together at this unexpected reunion.
“You know, I didn'tt even know she had cancer until Dad phoned me to tell me of her passing. I feel so bad. She was an amazing woman. I loved her hair.” Her Aunty Belinda’s auburn locks had such a shine. “As a kid, I remember sitting in her room brushing it. It was so soft.”
Noah quickly stoked the fire, handing her the key.
“Yeah, you definitely were her favourite. There are a few things in the cupboards. Ahh, tea, coffee, biscuits, but we can go into town tomorrow if you want to do a shop.” He took in his cousin’s features. He hadn’t seen since his dad’s heart attack a few years ago. “It’s good to see you, Maddie. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Aww...” Maddie stepped closer, giving him another hug. “You too, Noah.” She followed him to the door as he bent down, turning his boots around, ready to go.
“Amy will probably make us a nice breakfast in the morning. Scrambled eggs and bacon if you want to come to the main house in the morning. She might even do pancakes.”
“Ha.” Maddie smiled. Her cousin’s wife was a chef from the British Isles. They had met a couple of times before; Her culinary skills were outstanding, and she had basically catered her own wedding. “Yeah, sure. Um, what time?”
Noah stamped his thick sock into his boot. “Let’s say about 8.30am?”
“You're on!”
“Alright.” He pulled his jacket back around him as the cold winter air dropped another degree. “We’ll see you in the morning. Give us a yell if you need anything? Or Quinn’s just...” He quickly pointed out in the direction of the dark before the cold hit his cheeks, and he made a quick exit off her decking.
Heading inside, she turned, admiring the big fireplace sending the heat through the log cabin. It was a little older than the new ones their grandfather had added to the property a few years before he passed. This one had memories of her mother sitting in the corner of the two-seater couch. Her feet were tucked up under her blanket, reading a romance novel. Smiling at the memory, she felt along the wall for the light switch, taking her back into the darkness and letting the firelight set the mood for the cold night. Wrapping her jumper around her, Maddie exhaled. She was home.

Noah came around the corner and into the light at the back door of the main house. Quinn was just putting the last of the logs on the pile.
“Hey, thanks for topping up the ole cabin. Maddie’s back for her Belinda’s funeral.”
Quinn looked up, scratching her head before slipping her beanie back on.
“Maddie?”
“Yeah.” Noah smiled, rolling the door key in his hands. “Been a while since she’s been back. You remember her, right?” He teased.
They had all grown up together. Quinn’s dad was like a brother to their dads. Quinn slipped her jacket back over her shoulders, recalling the teenage girl, a couple years older than her, locking her in the barn shed with the angry goat when she was eight. “Yeah, I remember Maddie.” She zipped up her jacket, grabbing her scarf.
“Anyways, I told her if she needed anything, you’re just...”
She watched him point out into the dark just as a shiver ran through him as the wind blew past them. “Sure.” She nodded, grabbing her things as he quickly let himself inside. “Night, Noah,”
“Night.”
Quinn walked through the darkness back towards her dad’s old cabin on the west side of the property. She was lucky the wind tended to come from the Northwest, so she was pretty sheltered from its chill. She didn’t mind the cold, really. She’d just spent the last couple of hours topping up everyone’s wood piles, so she had quite a bit of heat running through her blood for now.
Seeing the fire light flicking in the cabin on the way to hers, she paused momentarily. Madeline Campbell. Yip, she definitely remembered her. She smiled to herself, having a flashback of the then sixteen-year-old teenage girl out in the paddock in her short shorts and singlet, trying to get the attention of her cousin Noah’s guy friends, all about 18-19 years old, pulling their cars apart in the shed. She chuckled, remembering her serious girl crush on her at the time. She was fourteen.
“Yip, I definitely remember you, Maddie.” Laughing at the memory, she continued walking to her cabin. This reunion of sorts was definitely going to be interesting.