Missing

Chapter Twenty-Seven

David returned to his calculations at the dining table, and he was buried in cyphering when Maria came in mid-afternoon and stood rubbing his shoulders. "I still have three exposures left on the film, and I want to develop it tonight. What would you suggest?"

"Three? There are ten on the roll, and we took only three of Opa."

"I took four of the Sonnenhang estate, two from the road one partway up the lane and the fourth from the courtyard looking up at the vineyards."

"Why not do some from the top of the ridge?" He stood from the chair. "I need a break from this. We can go up together."

They sat on the stone seats looking at the view as he answered her questions about his calculations. "I'm getting a better picture of values in this area. Values of houses, of uncultivated land, of vineyards of agricultural estates. I need to ask Jacob the wages for labour, both unskilled and professional."

"Why do you need that?"

"To estimate the cost of restoring the property to a more usual state. To the condition one normally expects."

"Speaking of normal. Opa's? That's the normal size?"

"Soft, yes. It's about the size of most I saw in the showers." He held up his thumb, looked at it and nodded. "I've not seen a hard one except mine until now, so I have no basis for comparison there."

"So even hard, he's smaller than this soft." She extended a hand to his thigh and pressed the bulge there. "I'm really hot for you, David." She looked into his eyes and bit her lower lip. "I want to lick you again."

He swelled in her hand. "Seems that part's in agreement. Let me flip it around before it gets trapped down there." He chuckled as he began unbuttoning his front.

She looked at it once he had sprung it free. "I have trouble with my feelings, with the horror I feel after seeing Opa's. What an incredibly cruel thing the mutilation is. What revulsion I have for the rabbis that continue this horrid, barbaric ritual." Maria watched the action as she stroked it. "What beauty there is in the way this works." She bent down and began licking.

After she had finished, and he had recovered, he laid her back on the sun-warmed stone slab, lifted her skirts and returned the favour. They then lay side-by-side on the slab and watched the clouds for a long while, silent in their thoughts.

"We should take the pictures before the sun gets too low." Maria sat, turned and kissed him, then lingered. "Your lips taste of me. Your beard still carries traces of my aroma. The response it elicits amazes me. Did you see how quickly Opa rose?"

"Your aroma triggers a powerful urge in me. Unstoppable. How amazing nature's design is. How strong the urge is to reproduce. Once the pleasure of the act is experienced, the desire is reinforced. So sad to see such a beautiful design tampered with." He ran his fingers through her hair, then pulled her in for another kiss, before rising with her to shoot the remainder of the film.

Rachel and Bethia watched them as they descended the switchbacks, and when they neared, Rachel said, "We need to head back before the border posts close. Do you want to stay here the night, Maria? We'll come back tomorrow afternoon after the slaughterhouse sale is completed."

Maria looked at David, squeezed his hand and sighed. "I'd love to, but we'd distract each other. I need to write, and David needs to cypher. Also Mama, tomorrow morning we can retrieve our packs from the ridge. Too many things in them to abandon — Herzog's pistol, knife and telescope, our repair kit, the tent, the stove, the clothing."

Rachel nodded. "I'd forgotten about the rucksacks. You're right, too many things to leave behind. We can do that while we're waiting for the lawyers at noon."

David stepped over to stand by Bethia. "I have a fair idea of the value now, but by the time you return tomorrow afternoon, I should have a much more solid one." He hugged her and assisted as she climbed up into the cab. He looked at Rachel. "I'll do the crank." He hugged her and gave her a steadying hand as she climbed in.

He hugged Maria and kissed her. "Let me see if I remember the starting procedure." He leaned into the cab, turned on the fuel, toggled the magneto switch, advanced the spark and adjusted the throttle. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nothing but another kiss and a hand up." After she had settled in behind the wheel, David cranked the spring and pulled out the choke, then seeing Maria's nod, he pulled the lever. The engine rattled to life as he stepped to the cab door, reached in and retarded the spark to smooth its running, then stepped back to the front to push in the choke. "Much easier to start than my father's trucks." He smiled. "Probably also much easier to drive."

After they had waved them off, they went inside. David asked Jacob about wages for skilled and unskilled labour. "The last time I hired was two years ago when we replaced the equipment shed. Good workers were five Francs for a ten-hour day, and skilled carpenters were six Francs fifty. The rate had been steady until the war, but I think skilled tradesman are now well above seven Francs because of the demand, probably seven fifty."

"What about pruners? Rachel says about five hectares need to be restored."

"The immediate gross pruning can be done by common labourers, clearing away the tangle from three years of growth. Rachel, Bethia and I talked about converting the Pendelbogen training to Guyot to improve quality. The second pruning requires more skill, probably seven Francs a day, but I'm getting too technical here."

"How many days would it take to remove the excessive growth and make the vines productive again?"

"Normally it's about a hundred hours per hectare, but the three-year growth will require sawing, not cutting with knife or secateurs, likely take double the time, or more. A second pruning, a more careful one is needed next spring to bring the vines back into production, and there'll be no high-quality crop until next year. There'd be no difference in cost between keeping the present training or converting to Guyot, so it makes sense to change."

They carried on with their discussion in this manner for three-quarters of an hour, as David gained an appreciation of the labour and material costs of bringing the estate back up to working condition and a more comfortably liveable state. He then continued with his calculations until Maddie came in to set the table for dinner.

"You seeing a clear picture yet?" Maddie asked as she looked at the dozens of pages of calculations.

"Much closer now." He looked up and began gathering the pages. "I'm being terribly unsocial. I'll continue with this tomorrow."

"Don't you worry about it, David. You must do all you can to help Bethia become our new neighbour. What a delightful person she is. So full of energy."