Sky Pirates

Chapter 6

The gate creaked opened giving entry to Mildred and the stable boy, Perry. The two stood for a long moment taking in the overgrown garden. When something rustled in the tall grass near the wall, Mildred caught her breath. It wasn't from her own fear, but Perry's; he tensed and stepped closer to Mildred. The young boy's hand grazed Mildred's, but he never took hers into his own; that would be wrong.

"Well, this isn't going to weed itself," said Mildred, more to herself than her young companion.

"No, Miss," said Perry, who didn't move.

Mildred took a step onto the dew covered grass. Her apprehension eased and a calming presence came over her. She closed her eyes and envisioned the garden as she knew it could be. She saw in her mind a handsome woman with ample hips gliding through the large, high-walled garden, clipping flowers and herbs, and placing them in a basket on her arm, all the while the woman hummed a familiar tune. With a bit more focus on her vision, she realized that the woman she was seeing was, of course, the mother she'd never known. Mildred never questioned how she knew this.

"Perry, I can see our future and have decided that we will begin right here. Please start with the grass along the wall. Cut it low. I'll begin here at this first paving stone." Mildred thought for a moment, and added: "If you come across any plant that isn't grass or a weed you know, please stop your progress and come get me."

"Yes, miss," said Perry. He wiped his brow on his sleeve, raised himself on tiptoe to look over the weeds and plants so much taller than him, and reached into the wheelbarrow and took out a small scythe.

***

Cole picked up a small sprocket. Despite its size, the piece was quite heavy. He walked out of the workshop, down the path toward the house, and then he ducked his head and entered the small door at the corner. He stayed to the right, walked through a second door and ascended the narrow, dusty staircase. When he arrived at the top, a breeze revived him and Cole placed the piece of the clock's inner workings on the wooden floor. After taking a moment to catch his breath, the young man ran down the stairs, taking them two and three at a time. This was how his morning progressed, shouldering the large and small gears, cogs, and sprockets back up to their tower room, as his sister had requested.

While he worked he hummed the tune his mother used to coo to him at bedtime. Cole questioned in his mind why he was so unsuccessful despite his best actions. He worked hard at everything, why just see the sweat he was now amassing in his current task. Cole opened another button at his shirt collar in defiance.

He wanted to invent something new, something different from anyone else. He liked getting his hands dirty as he took apart the machines around the house and farm, yet he rarely had any success on his own at putting said equipment back together. Yet, somehow, his sister always seemed to see the problem. She'd study a thing, close her eyes for a moment, and then, most annoying of all, have the perfect solution. She never took credit for that, but allowed Cole to accept the accolades.

A swallow lit from the rafters in the clock room. Cole wiped his brow with his shirt sleeve and then surveyed the many parts scattered across the floor.

"Well, boy," he said to himself with a tone quite similar to his father, "you'll have to get her up here to help you with this."

Cole's stomach growled, announcing his desire for lunch. As he exited to the out-of-doors, he watched his sister, covered in dirt, make her way with Perry up the path. The two of them were comical as they tried to maneuver the overladen wheelbarrow toward the barn. Without any more thought, Cole rushed to their aid, took over the handles, and deftly maneuvered their heavy burden toward the compost heap.

"Take off another favor," he said to his sister.