CHAPTER 76: Camp Endeavour
By the time Karato, Orilay and the old man arrived with the rest of the entourage, everyone was filled with great expectation and chatted happily amongst themselves and as they cleared the trees into the open…silence. Only the horses seemed ignorant of the vista before them, as if beast of burden didn’t need to worry about a bare, steep-sided hill with a small but tall, square-shaped fort on it. Before them, lay a scene beyond description. Innumerable huge branches lay in starry patterns around stumps that used to home them while all the trunks lay neatly laid out like coffins on the ground a small distance away. Whether it was the vista of the brown fort planted on the hill or the missing trees, so shocked were the people at the odd scene that nobody uttered a word for a while until the carts reached me. Karato stopped the cart next to me, while still goggling at the fort.
“Well Shane, I see you’ve outdone yourself. Not sure why we came along. You could’ve just as easily cleared the forest out on your own you know.”
“Ha, ha, ha. You’re very funny. I’ve done all the work up to now so I’ll leave the rest to you. Please forgive me if I go and rest now.”
I threaded my way towards my new fort. I planned to lay down on its roof for a moment. I wanted to enjoy the view and as a small reward for my work, perhaps I would find a small breeze up there. Everyone watched me pick my way up the hill as Hana followed me there.
If you could get a drone to look down on the scene, the camp looked like a giant boot print on the ground with the fort on the hill acting as the heel and the town its arch and toes. The heel pointed south and the toes, north. Soon, I would dig a moat around the fort and place a draw bridge over it. With help from both the woodcutters and Mr. Papadopoulos, a protective palisade fence could be erected to surround the camp and give it some basic protection.
“Okay everyone. Stop gawking and get moving. We’ve a woodcutter’s camp to build and nobody’s going to do it for us. Orilay’s order broke the folks free from the reverie and they started unpacking. Both parents and observers laughed when children bolted the scene like sheep penned up for far too long. Parents warnings not to venture too far followed the children as they naturally headed towards the fort while clambering over and between the downed boughs. I sat on the parapet and considered the irony; on the one hand I craved the peace and quiet and on the other the experience of watching children simply being children. Hana grabbed a couple of the boisterous kids that joined us there. With squeals of their delight, she turned some of them upside down and shook them until trinkets fell out of their pockets. Folks below heard their laughter and discovered a kinship with the environment, as if the children’s happiness baptised the area.
In little time we set up the most important facility, the kitchen. From then we excused the kitchen staff to start with a brief lunch and then supper. The old man roped me into erecting the blacksmithing marquee and then I naturally helped the others with the amenities and our sleeping quarters. By the time night fell and we ate our last meal for the day, everyone felt tired but satisfied. Mr. Papadopoulos found me sitting around a fire enjoying the other’s company.
“I had a look around the area and to the south found a lot of old stone masonry blocks from some ancient ruins scattered around. If we could cut those stone blocks up and reuse them, I believe we could use them to make a decent paved road through the encampment that would stop muddy ground issues that plague these camps after rains. I recommend we put in some decent drainage while we’re at it.”
Since I created the rock nibblers, he automatically assumed I could cut rock as well. He wasn’t wrong, the transfer storage could cut the stone blocks just like I felled the trees. I liked his idea so much we visited the stone blocks first thing the following morning. As he mentioned, stone blocks lay scattered around, but they seemed to follow a general path through the trees travelling from east to west. Ara thought it might be the old remains of a large wall, possibly related to the fort remains. The light grey granite blocks varied in size, but they were at least a metre long and half as wide and anywhere up to a metre high. From Mr. Papadopoulos’ suggestion, slicing those large stone blocks into hand-deep slabs meant they could be manhandled into position without the need for onerous transport arrangements. When I tried it, the transfer storage worked wonderfully, giving the rock an expertly cut. While everyone focused on setting up the camp, I started cutting up numerous piles of stone slabs, ready for Mr. Papadopoulos’ men to use. After returning at lunchtime, his men surprised us, having already dug out an entire road in the encampment, large enough for two carts to comfortably pass each other. They discovered the location of the river and brought back cartloads of river sand and stone. They first laid a layer of crushed river stone over compacted earth then placed river sand over that. Stone blocks were then positioned on top of that. I couldn’t believe that two men could lift one of those stone slabs and carrying it to the camp . I felt so bad for them that I later shifted all the stone slabs closer to the camp when no one was around. Afterwards, I left them to it and shifted my priority to the woodcutters who now, having sawn off enough branches of the big boughs were looking to cut the larger boughs into thinner planks.
“Orilay, please gather your supervisors and get them to meet me here.”
We arranged previously that one man in ten would be a supervisor of a team of ten men including themselves. That way it was easier to make changes and to teach new things. In little time I taught the supervisors how to assemble the mobile sawmills using the boughs as convenient props. Their mouths hung open at how easy the wood was cut once the sawmill rig was fully assembled.
“With these we could produce planks faster than ever. Why two men could easily match a team of ten with saws. This is so easy we could sleep and do it. Ha, ha, ha.”
Their faces lit up like boys watching their first real life gun. It was then that I realised I needed to seriously introduce health and safety and its consequences to the men. To encourage my point, like those gruesome health and safety videos companies sometimes showed their employees to impress the need for safety, I created a simulated scenario using a goblin arm. Yes, a goblin arm from one of the drowned goblins during the Marsh Iron Quest if I recalled correctly. I threw it at the sawmill mid-operation and watched the men’s faces go from smiles to horror. I believe I made my point.
“Gentlemen. Show me your hands.”
When all leader showed me their hands, I said to them.
“I can see that none of you are missing limbs, hands, or fingers. I assume all those working under you have all their limbs, hands, and fingers. If any of the men in your team lose fingers, hands or limbs while using this equipment, and I discover it could have been avoided, I’ll hold you financially responsible to any of their family back home.”
That sobered them up immediately and I noticed some fear and respect in their eyes. I continued.
“What I’m about to show you now, you will drill into your men until they hate you for it. Any woodcutter that refuses to listen to your instructions to work safely will not be welcome into our team. No man will go home jobless because we failed to train them properly. Now watch and listen.”
I continued to tell them how to use the equipment so that they would never need to lose any appendages. It was a bit of tough love, and I was sure we would have a case before long, but I needed to make that point clear. Chainsaws didn’t take hostages, they either severely wounded or killed people if handled wrong. Within a couple of days, the supervisors trained their men thoroughly while I checked on their progress.
Orilay approached me one day with an expected suggestion.
“Can we create handheld chainsaws? The men feel that cutting down trees with axes could be far more proficiently done with chainsaws.”
He was right, it was a logical conclusion but there was no way I believed they were ready to handle single man chainsaws. I decided it was better to give the men some training wheels first. I took Orilay to the blacksmith marquee and introduced him to the two-man chainsaw, where two woodcutters gripped handles on both ends of the chainsaw. Both men acted as operators and as a safety feature, both needed to pull triggers at the same time for the machine to operate. From there it was once again about showing them how to safely use the equipment.
After the impromptu training session, Hana and I headed back into the camp to find the roadway paving was nearly completed. The paving fitting work was extraordinaire. I had to give it to them, I would never reach that proficiency. From just outside the where the gates would be, the road moved all the way to the fort and even included side roads.
“As you can see Mr. Karosaki, the paving is nearly done.”
“I have to say Mr. Papadopoulos, your work is simply astounding.”
“Aye, it is. Although I must give some credit to your rock nibblers, they make light of tiresome work. When would you like us to return them?”
“Good, I’m glad you find them useful. You’re free to keep them with you while you work for me. Tell me, what are your plans now?”
“Well, we can probably send a few home sick workers back, the rest of us are willing to continue while there’s work.”
I laughed out joyously since it wasn’t often I got a windfall like that. I sounded a bit like Karato, I decided to temper myself a little.
“The problem Mr. Papadopoulos is whether you’ll run out of work!”
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He smiled as his handlebar moustache twitched in glee.
“Then Mr. Karosaki, I’m assuming you’ll allow us to continue with the palisade fence?”
“By all means, speak to Orilay to source your wood.”
He shook my hand and headed off. I smiled to myself at what a good worker I found. Little did I know that a while ago, the king discovered my relationship with Mr. Papadopoulos somehow and had a word with the labour guild to release him and his men to help me. It was through that understanding Mr. Papadopoulos was able to stay as a member of our crew for that long. As far as the labour guild were concerned, Mr. Papadopoulos was now a satellite representing the labour guild.
I followed the road all the way up to the blacksmith marquee and discovered a soot covered Elle in her working overalls tending the forge furnace. Her hair was tied back into an un-elflike ponytail. I forgot that Elle was the old man’s daughter and he trained her up to be a blacksmith. The old man was sorting out a horse that just arrived to have a horseshoe replaced.
“Hey newbie. Isn’t it about time that you do some real work?”
“Ha, ha. Very funny. I’ve got a few hours, how about I lend you guys a hand?”
Grenfell didn’t wait.
“Very well, your timing is great. How about you learn to shoe a horse?”
I doubted my day was going to go that well. Later that evening, after recovering from horse related injuries in my tent, Karato made an unexpected appearance.
“I’m planning to head towards Shimmerstal tomorrow. I’m going to look at the condition of the road at the same time. Is there anything you would like me to do in Shimmerstal for you?”
“Are you going with the first round of lumber?”
The woodcutters worked proficiently with the new mobile mills, and we already had copious amounts of sawn undried timber ready to go. We planned to dispatch a rider every day to make regular deliveries to Shimmerstal. The rider would take a transfer ring with them, full of the lumber we cut up to then. As a result, we selected our horses for their speed, rather than their working ability. Riders heading back from Shimmerstal would at some point intersect previous riders returning from Shimmerstal. The oncoming rider passed news of the condition of the road just travelled and so helped the rider avoid any potential threats. It was possible to complete a two-day trip in one, meaning the riders reached the main Shimmerstal-Obon road intersection on the same day. If the riders pushed hard, they could reach Shimmerstal within that night. I doubted if rider or horse could move for days afterwards while they recuperated.
Naturally, to complete our subterfuge and to keep other merchants off our trail, we intended loading some carts with wood to create a red herring for those nosey merchants. Other wood merchants in Shimmerstal could count as well as we could. Of course, as we rode through Shimmerstal’s gates their informants estimated the amount of timber we carried under our covered loads for themselves. Their summated values would show we were underdelivering which suited them perfectly. If we failed to deliver on a palace supply contract, we forfeited the entire contract. Opposing merchants would then dutifully point out our contract failure to the palace auditors. Those said auditors, who after confirming we delivered as promised on our contract, would inform the confused opposing merchants to mind their own business and not to bother said auditors again unless they wanted to be audited. The silence was deafening.
A thought struck me at the time, perhaps if we diverted the cartloads of wood through the eastern gates, it would throw those nosey merchants off our trail for a short while. We didn’t care if it costed extra time to divert them because those cartloads of wood hardly earned us a copper, whereas those horse riders disguised as couriers, provided all the mullah. By the time everyone figured out the truth, we had our proverbial foot in the door, and it was too late for them to do anything about it.
Karato answered my original question.
“Yes, I’ll go with them this round, but I may only be back in about ten days or so.”
“Please speak to Schneider and ask him if he could arrange for a warehouse where we can deliver the lumber. I’ll settle the rental costs when he sends us an invoice.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure it’s a discrete warehouse as well.”
Karato knew to keep things quiet and didn’t want the rider with the goods to display the use of the storage ring, they would just deliver the lumber then return to the camp after resting a day or two. Karato left the following morning, leaving me with the feeling there was a hole in our team. I tried not to wonder whether I already missed his morning beatings that much? As if reading my melancholy and on cue, the Red Sparrows arrived a little after lunch. Cortez’ flute announced their cart’s approach. We heard his melodious tootling already some distance down the track. Their cart suddenly stopped just in front of me and the main gate. From the shotgun seat Tobias spoke in a nonchalant tone.
“I heard rumours that a certain young blacksmith apprentice organised an expedition, so we thought we go and have a look.”
“And now that you’ve confirmed it?”
“We’ve decided we might hang around for a bit longer and watch the fun.”
“Fun? You make it sound like something exciting might happen.”
“Well…judging by the looks of your camp, if that’s what you call it, I’d wager we probably missed half of it already.”
“We call it Camp Endeavour.”
I quipped. Why did it sound like an American summer camp to me?
“If it’s got a name then it’s not a camp, it’s a village.”
Aliz spoke in her usual dry tone. Corey couldn’t hold herself in anymore.
“This isn’t a camp, it’s a bloody fort. There’s another one of his creations on the hill.”
Everyone looked at the ‘small’ fort I made up on the hill. The Red Sparrows were already familiar with my fort-like creations from our past experiences. They knew how my previous towers saved them. That one on the hill looked slightly different, more like the typical motte and baily forts with overhanging parapets and arrow slots. In the distance Mr. Papadopoulos’ team worked industriously on the moat between the village and the fort hill. Tobias eyed the well paved road leading all the way up to the fort.
“Heck, you’ve already prepared a highway for your city.”
The completed paved road branched out into side roads. I even heard some of the people talking about making permanent residences, but then I didn’t want to add more fuel to the Red Sparrows comments.
“Did you guys just come here to admire our roads, or are you going to do some work?”
“Hey, Shane sounds just like a boss now.”
“Go easy on him guys, he’s still new to the role.”
“What do you mean? You’re going to make him soft.”
And so, the conversation continued between them, talking about me in the third person while I stood there watching them banter on.
“Hey guys. Good to see you again. Welcome, come and relax for a moment. Don’t worry, there’s enough work here to keep you busy for months.”
I invited them into the blacksmith marquee to share some leftover lunch from the kitchen. I even managed to throw a bit of mead for them, something that didn’t normally appear on a limited drink menu for an encampment. A barrel of mead tended to be a heavy item for a cart to carry all the way into the bush, not a problem for my transfer storage. I wisely limited it, as the camp boss only I had permission to release it for drinking.
Afterwards the Red Sparrows decided to do some tracking in the area to get a better understanding of the surrounds, later returning with a large wild boar unfortunate enough to cross paths with them. The camp folk, enthralled with the Red Sparrows find, held a feast late into the night. The Red Sparrows joined us around the evening fire discussing the day’s events. Corey found Hana and caught up with her as to the latest events in their lives following the marsh iron quest.
“Hey Shane! Where’s the hot tub?”
Tobias protested.
“I’m still working on that one. It’s going to take some time until we can channel the water from the river into the camp. It’s something we’re going to have to make soon enough.”
There were cheers of agreement and a lot of laughter and music. Cortez commented.
“Er…what’s with all the men singing and playing drums?”
“The men all made an agreement with Shane here to learn to play an instrument. He wanted all the men to play something before we left the first shift. Drums are the easiest to learn.”
Orilay answered dryly.
“Ha, ha, ha. Shane you bugger. I didn’t take you as someone with a cultural bent. This is the best woodcutter’s camp ever.”