. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Os bydd ffermwr yn
llenwi ei ysgubor â grawn,
bydd yn cael llygod.
Os bydd yn ei
gadael yn wag,
bydd yn cael actorion.
Walter Scott
Draconic Date
llenwi ei ysgubor â grawn,
bydd yn cael llygod.
Os bydd yn ei
gadael yn wag,
bydd yn cael actorion.
Walter Scott
Draconic Date
Bedwyr flapped for a moment searching for an air stream that would allow him to glide as he finished his approach towards the Bonde farm where he was helping again on this particular trial. He had been asked to look over the fields from the air to see if there where any breakage in the fence or any other patterns or warning signs he could see from the air. This world was different in many ways, but the lack of wings was one thing that he felt complicated things. He respected these humans and other wingless races, because they used what they had and flourished with it. Though he did note that didn’t stop them from taking advantage of his ability to fly.
He smiled as he flew. While the Hyludin were a combination of land and air creatures, and many people thought Bedwyr himself was a creature of the land that wasn’t all that true. Bedwyr loved to fly, to feel the wind around him, to gaze upon the world below. To behold its beauty in a way land dwellers couldn’t. He was a creature of multiple tastes and likes. Though at the time he wasn’t out for a pleasure flight he was there to check things over.
As Bedwyr flew across the fields things were looking good, until they weren’t good. Bedwyr saw that one of the fences had been broken through and cattle was beginning to cross over into the field beyond. It wasn’t a stampeding crowd of cows but a couple cows could do a lot to crops. Bedwyr banked and flew towards the barn where the others were waiting. He descended as he approached the barn at a angle and pulled his wings in at and dropped/landed in the courtyard of the barn. The two sons of the farmer were both in there collecting supplies. Bedwyr spoke. “The cattle have broken through the one of the fence.” He explained where the fence was. Uria sighed and handed over some fencing supplies.
“We will be there to help carol the cows and get them out of the fields. Can you make a temporary fix to keep the other cows out, but mobile enough so we can get them back into their fields.” The older son said.
Bedwyr nodded his head and took the offered supplies and secured them so that he wouldn’t be raining down supplies while in the air. He crouched and took to the air with his wings spread wide. He flapped back the way he had come towards the broken fence. Pulling himself through air he paid attention to both his flying to making sure that he carried the items in questions securely. He did keep his gaze of the ground ahead of him and after a time saw the broken fence line. He flew by the spot and dropped some of the supplies and glided farther on to land in an open spot. He was still a distances from the straying animals. He moved quickly once he had landed and moved towards the open spot. None of the cattle were trying to leave at this moment but Bedwyr noticed that a couple were already facing towards the escaped cows.
As he stepped into the open spot in the fence to begin running a rope one of the cows seemed to stop its slow steps in that direction and seemed to stair for a moment as if confused by his actions. He could feel that cows gaze upon him as the tied the rope from one pole to another pole.
Glancing at the cow he stopped and picked up the broken pole seeing that it had snapped in half. He wondered what had broken the pole. Maybe a cow, weather, bugs. Either way it was broken, and Bedwyr took the half of the pole still buried and wiggled it. It moved a bit but it wasn’t about to come out of its hole that way any time soon.
He was still fiddling with the buried pole when the farmers arrived. He looked up from where we was crouching by the pole to watch as his friend and his friend’s brother moved towards the cows. Bedwyr stood up and paid close attention towards how the worked to move the heard the creatures. Bedwyr noticed a how both men had a respectful but determined air as the began to move one, and then the other began to move with first. He observed how the did seem to move together. Bedwyr untied the ropes blocking the opening as the cows looked like they were heading in that direction. He pulled the rope back before the cows suddenly bolted towards the opening. He felt them move past and realized that he really wouldn’t have wanted to be in the way of those animals. He didn’t dwell on that and moved to close the opening with the rope again before they could change there mind and come back.
Stepping back he looked at the rope and then back at his friend Han. “That won’t hold them.”
“No but it will deter them while we work on it.” He waved Bedwyr over and said. “Lets see the damage.”
The two walked back to the part of the field the cows had been in. Their was a trail left form the brief visit, but Bedwyr looked at the plants and could see that most of them had been pushed to the side. The bulk of the best actually didn’t do much, it was the hoves, where it stepped on the stock of the plants and snapped them. Being so close to the base of the plants it was clear that they couldn’t be saved. There were a few the where snapped higher up which might still have a chance to grow and produce some crop even if not as much. Bedwyr walked around for a while checking this out with the other young men before joining back up with them.
“It could have been worse.” Bedwyr said and there were nods of agreement from the others.
“Fixing and securing that fence will be the best solution for this.”
Bedwyr nodded and three men went over and looked at the pole. Bedwyr looked skeptically at it. “Even repairing it can the cows still get through?”
“In theory yes, but cows are dumb creatures.” The older Bonde son said.
“I thought you like cows.” Bedwyr said.
“I do.” He said looking surprised. “That doesn’t change me knowing they are dumb. A cow in full charge could get through the fence, but that doesn’t ever occur to them. They also blindly follow each other which is why getting the opening closed was critical, and why once we got one going the both went back. I have also seen them follow each other into danger.” He held out the shovel. “Who wants to shovel?”
Bedwyr took the shovel and began to dig out the post. He dug into the soil working around the pole. It was actually a bit annoying as he kept running into the pole. The three men were quiet as they worked. Bedwyr digging the whole and the two brothers preparing the poles for the new fence post. It took a good break before Bedwyr was able to pull broken pole out of the hole and able to focus on digging the hole deep enough. Bedwyr stepped away from the hole and ran hid hand across his sweeting forehead. Again the worked in silence as the positioned the pole and Bedwyr began to fill the hole dirt that he had just dug. The other two held the pole. Once the hole was filled Bedwyr began to stomp the ground around the pole.
Once he was done he stepped back and stretched out his hands from holding the shovel. Bedwyr them, “How do you keep them from doing this again.”
“Well mostly just check the fence line. If we see a certain area where the cattle keep breaking the fence in the same spot then we will inspect that spot for additional reasons why it keeps happening.” Uria said. He gave Bedwyr and amused look. “Didn’t you deal with cattle where you are from or just not have any.”
Bedwyr expression was thoughtful. “We had cattle, though I would say different from yours though not sure how other then they look different. My family doesn’t do a lot of cattle and they weren’t near where I farmed.”
“Well us small farmers tend to have to keep a bit of everything as we can’t always afford to buy stuff we can raise.” The older farmer wasn’t being preachy just stating a fact. “So if you want to start your own farm here you will need to get to know the animals side of farming as well as the crops.”
“Do you just use your cattle for milk?” Bedwyr asked.
“Milk, but we also tend to raise one we can slaughter for meat. One cow can supply our family for a good long time.”
“Do you keep birds?” He asked. “My people tend to keep birds.”
“Some people keep geese, most of use keep some chickens, but not generally.” Urie looked at the pole. “Well that looks good. Lets see what else we can do for the crop before getting to the next chore.”
Bedwyr looked at the cows once more and frowned. He never had really been interested in the animal part of farming but he couldn’t ignore the advice and figured he better get more familiar with them for when he settled a farm.
He smiled as he flew. While the Hyludin were a combination of land and air creatures, and many people thought Bedwyr himself was a creature of the land that wasn’t all that true. Bedwyr loved to fly, to feel the wind around him, to gaze upon the world below. To behold its beauty in a way land dwellers couldn’t. He was a creature of multiple tastes and likes. Though at the time he wasn’t out for a pleasure flight he was there to check things over.
As Bedwyr flew across the fields things were looking good, until they weren’t good. Bedwyr saw that one of the fences had been broken through and cattle was beginning to cross over into the field beyond. It wasn’t a stampeding crowd of cows but a couple cows could do a lot to crops. Bedwyr banked and flew towards the barn where the others were waiting. He descended as he approached the barn at a angle and pulled his wings in at and dropped/landed in the courtyard of the barn. The two sons of the farmer were both in there collecting supplies. Bedwyr spoke. “The cattle have broken through the one of the fence.” He explained where the fence was. Uria sighed and handed over some fencing supplies.
“We will be there to help carol the cows and get them out of the fields. Can you make a temporary fix to keep the other cows out, but mobile enough so we can get them back into their fields.” The older son said.
Bedwyr nodded his head and took the offered supplies and secured them so that he wouldn’t be raining down supplies while in the air. He crouched and took to the air with his wings spread wide. He flapped back the way he had come towards the broken fence. Pulling himself through air he paid attention to both his flying to making sure that he carried the items in questions securely. He did keep his gaze of the ground ahead of him and after a time saw the broken fence line. He flew by the spot and dropped some of the supplies and glided farther on to land in an open spot. He was still a distances from the straying animals. He moved quickly once he had landed and moved towards the open spot. None of the cattle were trying to leave at this moment but Bedwyr noticed that a couple were already facing towards the escaped cows.
As he stepped into the open spot in the fence to begin running a rope one of the cows seemed to stop its slow steps in that direction and seemed to stair for a moment as if confused by his actions. He could feel that cows gaze upon him as the tied the rope from one pole to another pole.
Glancing at the cow he stopped and picked up the broken pole seeing that it had snapped in half. He wondered what had broken the pole. Maybe a cow, weather, bugs. Either way it was broken, and Bedwyr took the half of the pole still buried and wiggled it. It moved a bit but it wasn’t about to come out of its hole that way any time soon.
He was still fiddling with the buried pole when the farmers arrived. He looked up from where we was crouching by the pole to watch as his friend and his friend’s brother moved towards the cows. Bedwyr stood up and paid close attention towards how the worked to move the heard the creatures. Bedwyr noticed a how both men had a respectful but determined air as the began to move one, and then the other began to move with first. He observed how the did seem to move together. Bedwyr untied the ropes blocking the opening as the cows looked like they were heading in that direction. He pulled the rope back before the cows suddenly bolted towards the opening. He felt them move past and realized that he really wouldn’t have wanted to be in the way of those animals. He didn’t dwell on that and moved to close the opening with the rope again before they could change there mind and come back.
Stepping back he looked at the rope and then back at his friend Han. “That won’t hold them.”
“No but it will deter them while we work on it.” He waved Bedwyr over and said. “Lets see the damage.”
The two walked back to the part of the field the cows had been in. Their was a trail left form the brief visit, but Bedwyr looked at the plants and could see that most of them had been pushed to the side. The bulk of the best actually didn’t do much, it was the hoves, where it stepped on the stock of the plants and snapped them. Being so close to the base of the plants it was clear that they couldn’t be saved. There were a few the where snapped higher up which might still have a chance to grow and produce some crop even if not as much. Bedwyr walked around for a while checking this out with the other young men before joining back up with them.
“It could have been worse.” Bedwyr said and there were nods of agreement from the others.
“Fixing and securing that fence will be the best solution for this.”
Bedwyr nodded and three men went over and looked at the pole. Bedwyr looked skeptically at it. “Even repairing it can the cows still get through?”
“In theory yes, but cows are dumb creatures.” The older Bonde son said.
“I thought you like cows.” Bedwyr said.
“I do.” He said looking surprised. “That doesn’t change me knowing they are dumb. A cow in full charge could get through the fence, but that doesn’t ever occur to them. They also blindly follow each other which is why getting the opening closed was critical, and why once we got one going the both went back. I have also seen them follow each other into danger.” He held out the shovel. “Who wants to shovel?”
Bedwyr took the shovel and began to dig out the post. He dug into the soil working around the pole. It was actually a bit annoying as he kept running into the pole. The three men were quiet as they worked. Bedwyr digging the whole and the two brothers preparing the poles for the new fence post. It took a good break before Bedwyr was able to pull broken pole out of the hole and able to focus on digging the hole deep enough. Bedwyr stepped away from the hole and ran hid hand across his sweeting forehead. Again the worked in silence as the positioned the pole and Bedwyr began to fill the hole dirt that he had just dug. The other two held the pole. Once the hole was filled Bedwyr began to stomp the ground around the pole.
Once he was done he stepped back and stretched out his hands from holding the shovel. Bedwyr them, “How do you keep them from doing this again.”
“Well mostly just check the fence line. If we see a certain area where the cattle keep breaking the fence in the same spot then we will inspect that spot for additional reasons why it keeps happening.” Uria said. He gave Bedwyr and amused look. “Didn’t you deal with cattle where you are from or just not have any.”
Bedwyr expression was thoughtful. “We had cattle, though I would say different from yours though not sure how other then they look different. My family doesn’t do a lot of cattle and they weren’t near where I farmed.”
“Well us small farmers tend to have to keep a bit of everything as we can’t always afford to buy stuff we can raise.” The older farmer wasn’t being preachy just stating a fact. “So if you want to start your own farm here you will need to get to know the animals side of farming as well as the crops.”
“Do you just use your cattle for milk?” Bedwyr asked.
“Milk, but we also tend to raise one we can slaughter for meat. One cow can supply our family for a good long time.”
“Do you keep birds?” He asked. “My people tend to keep birds.”
“Some people keep geese, most of use keep some chickens, but not generally.” Urie looked at the pole. “Well that looks good. Lets see what else we can do for the crop before getting to the next chore.”
Bedwyr looked at the cows once more and frowned. He never had really been interested in the animal part of farming but he couldn’t ignore the advice and figured he better get more familiar with them for when he settled a farm.
