Thinking back to those days…

William remembered that Harvick had a more spicy personality, while his father was still presumed alive, because there was an adult male to keep Grettel in her place. After he was gone, Harvick must have lost that edge to survive under Grettel’s ‘care’. This thought, along with the biting cold, made William shiver.

Sploshing sounds and shrill screams and giggles, broke the silent atmosphere. The event had just begun...

While the sibling pair wandered out on the ice, Harvick stayed behind on the shore. He was afraid to slip and reopen his wounds.

The water was ice cold. Just the few water droplets that hit William, made him freeze all over. He couldn’t imagine the shock the real thing would bring on him… As he backed away unconsciously, Joss was there to ‘support’ him. Saying “Don’t even think about it. We’re jumping in! Or are you a coward?”.

William found that word especially annoying. So he said “Muck!” and let the adults dip him in the water. His whole body was hit with a cold, that froze his flesh like a raging fire!? His nerves and blood vessels screamed. Particularly in his wrists and achilles tendons. When he got up again, he was shivering and quickly sought out his towel. But it wasn’t warm enough and Joss was also cold now…

In the midst of his panic for warmth, his eyes wandered towards a reliable heat source.

He trembled while running over to the lame person, uttering “Hawick! Le me nelp wou!”. The little girl acted as if she wanted to support the uneven boy. But in fact William was just using it as an excuse, to absorb the heat from Harvick.

The boy could only grin and lecture “There is no need to lie, Mirabelle… You can use me for heat if you want”. William could only bless this human while thinking: Ah! What a saint this person is!

Harvick waited till Joss was ready to leave. Then he said “It sure is cold these days. Which is also the reason why I’ll be following you kids home. I have a gift for your parents”.

****

Inside their home, Vanessa and Jaqueline were preparing supper. It was only a minute past 1 p.m. and the women were already busy making the next meal. Harvick greeted the two and tossed his sack unto the table. Vanessa left Jaqueline to take care of the children, while she received the guest.

Vanessa’s hand wandered towards the sack as she asked “Harvick! It’s great to see you healing gradually. But should you really be coming here with such a burden on your back? Aren’t you still supposed to be careful of your wound?”. Harvick opened the sack and began dragging out his gifts to the household, “Well, the doctor said that it won’t get any better than this. So he suggested, that I start training my muscles by walking around. Of course not too far!.. As you can see I have a bulge on my thigh. This apparently indicates that the bones have mended together…”.

Vanessa looked and could barely discern such a ‘bulge’. But when she was allowed to feel it, she could confirm the little hill underneath his flesh.

She smiled rather forced and asked “I see… And what are these pelts and skins for?”. Harvick was about to explain, when the father entered the house.

The leader of this home barged in and headed with determination towards the fireplace. His hands were a blue hue. As they got roasted by the fire, they slowly regained their former colour.

This scene only made Harvick pleased, as this family clearly needed his gifts. He began anew and explained “You see last winter, we got to hunt. And as always the lord will take 10% of the game that we have hunted on his territory… Since both our families were starving, we decided to give away all the furs, skins, feathers, oils and some of the meat, from the prey we caught. Hence none of us had any spare to make something like… Gloves? Or winter attire out of… I think you’ll appreciate this gift… It’s my thanks for your kindness towards me during that time period… Also… If not for your husband, I wouldn’t have been able to bond with such a splendid dinosaur… So please receive these gifts that I’ve brought you”.

The father was listening in and could only feel a hard lump, rise in his throat. He cracked his knuckles and said “Oh, nonono! Harvick keep those pelts! It was after all my duty as your uncle, to help you. No need to repay me! Hahaha”. He laughed to cover up his otherwise pale expression.

Harvick denied this and said “No! I want to give these to you! No take backs… Make some gloves to keep your hands warm and help your family get through this harsh season… Anyway, this isn’t a big deal for me anymore. As the lord’s son, they give you a monthly allowance. This is only half of what I would be allowed to use in a month. So don’t worry about it. Haha!”.

If there was one thing Harvick appreciated about his selfish mother. Then it was that she let him become the lord’s son. It really had its perks...

Next year when he is healthy again, he’ll really have a taste of the rich life!..

Seeing the parents hesitate, Jaqueline who just came in, could only add “Indeed. A lord’s son has it nice. You should accept this offering of good will”. The father coughed and patted Harvick on the head saying “Thanks Harvick. You truly are worthy of such a position… Why don’t you stay for supper? Then afterwards, the kids can support you on your way home”.

This was a splendid idea. Harvick left his gifts to be ravaged by the adults, as he went on, to visit Joss’ bedroom…

****

William could only pout in the corner of the bedroom. He wasn’t allowed to play with Joss’ knife. Said brother shrugged his shoulders and said “What? With your fumble fingers, you would cut your thigh open with this thing. It’s not a toy!”.

William huffed. He felt that retorting was something a ‘wild girl’ would do. So he simply found his former birthday present and asked “Arf wou woing to makey anowher one oh whese?”. Joss looked at the sad lump and awkwardly smirked “Sure… But this time it’ll be better! And BIGGER!”. William giggled.

Being a craftsman wasn’t easy. Any skill had to be learned and a beginner’s work, was indeed not something you would be proud of.

William could only tease Joss and flail his wooden dinosaur around as he exclaimed “Rraw! Hm!?”. William rotated the sculpture around with a puzzled look on his face. Then he asked “Wait, wat ish the face and whawt ish the butt?”. This sentence made Joss beet red in the face. From embarrassment…