"Not the bird!"

Meiandra Arvis woke up with a gasp. The floor beneath her shook slightly. It seemed the wagon was moving. Clear sunlight shimmered behind her through the covering into the cargo area. There were glittering dots in the tarpaulin. The sun stood quite flat. It was late morning, it seemed. Already with these thoughts, Meia no longer knew what had caused her to wake up.

The air smelled of wet forest and also a little like coffee. 'Rich, Rich, Rich', was a sound she heard repeatedly. It sounded like a knife on wood and came from the front of the wagon.

While Meia was still lying down and staring at haphazard points of light in the tarpaulin, she noticed a wet spot under her cheek. Reluctantly, she sat up and wiped her mouth. As she did, she felt in her back and shoulders that a fur blanket on wood was far from being a comfortable bed. Numbness and tiredness nevertheless wanted her to sleep for a few hours more. To wake herself up, she therefore took a sip from her bottle. Incidentally, she looked around.

Overnight, she had drunk the bottle half empty, but nothing had changed much in the cargo area. The only thing she noticed was that the cover was open at the back. It wasn't wide open, just a gap, as if someone had been looking in. Meia had been outside once during the night, but she was sure that she had closed it properly. Still, it wasn't very unusual. After all, it wasn't Meia's wagon and it made sense that someone would check on her.

Meia stood up. She dressed quickly. She left the cloak behind. Finally, she went to the front and opened the cover. She saw a horse and a path of wet earth. On the left side was forest. On the right was forest. It seemed as if she hadn't missed anything. However, the trees were much smaller here. At the bridge they had been huge giants, but here it looked like as in an ordinary deciduous forest. The path was also not nearly as muddy and less overgrown. It seemed to be in frequented use.

"Morning." Falko greeted her, along with a quick glance. Nothing more, because he was busy.

"Good morning."

Falko sat wide-legged and bent forward on the bench. The reins lay loosely over his left thigh. He leaned on his left knee with his elbow and held a long piece of wood in his hand. In the other hand, he held a knife and was whittling away at the wood. Meia sat down next to him, but far enough away that it wasn't intrusive.

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"You carve something?" Meia asked curiously.

"Yes, it's a hobby of mine." Falko stopped for a moment. "Would you like some breakfast?" he asked, placing a metal plate in front of her.

The plate had previously been on its other side. There was also a thermos flask of steaming coffee. He had probably made it with the burner from the wagon. So he had probably opened the cover at the back to take the burner. There were sandwiches with jam on the plate. Meia was briefly inclined to refuse, but then she took one. Falko was already continuing to carve. He asked her if she wanted coffee too, but Meia declined that.

Meia watched his work while she ate. Falko carved almost constantly at the same pace, like clockwork. With every stroke of the knife, a splinter flew forward. A real shape could not yet be recognized. So far, the piece of wood was simply elongated with a knob at one end and had a diameter like a young tree.

~The shape looks suspicious...~ The sitting posture and working method don't make it any better either.

"What's it going to be?"

"Oh... Um..." Falko held the piece of wood higher and turned it in front of his face with a questioning look. "A... A rabbit?"

"It doesn't look too much like a rabiit yet?"

"You just don't recognize it yet. It's standing upright and... um..." Falko pointed to a thickening at the bottom. "... this here will be the tuft."

~Never will that be a rabbit!~

"It took me all morning to get it to size. Next come the details..." Falko seemed lost in thought.

While Falko was planning his steps, Violet came out from the left. With just two steps she came hopping up the riser to them.

"It took me all morning to get it to size. Next will be the details..."

Falko seemed lost in thought.

While Falko was planning his work steps, Violet appeared on the left. With just two steps, she came hopping up the climbing aid to them.

"Is the rabbit based on yours?"

"Possibly."

"Shouldn't it be smaller then?"

"It had a growth spurt since you last saw it."

"Fufu-AH!" Violet wanted to laugh, then she realized it herself and forced herself not to. Angrily, she grabbed his piece. "Enough with the carving." she scolded and snatched it out of his hand. Falko instinctively wanted to take it back, but Violet threw it towards the cargo area.

"No! My di-WOOD!" Falko shouted and tried miserably to catch it, but it landed clattering in the wagon.

"Stop playing around. We're almost in Aoka."

Violet jumped from the wagon and disappeared as quickly as she had arrived.

~He wanted to say something else first.~ Meia had heard it clearly. ~Does no one care?~

.../ End Part