It was now October. Days were shorter and the weather was changing from mild, agreeable breezes and sweet, refreshing showers to oppressive storms – cold winds that blow off the ocean without warning. At first light, Felis was outside in the yard behind their cottage, chopping branches he had hauled from the woods into lengths that would fit into the hearth. They would be stacked in the wood-store until they had dried and lost their sap – acrid smoke in their abode was not at all pleasant.
That’s enough for one day, he decided and went back inside. His father was still sleeping on his bed that Felis had moved closer to the fireside: the old man felt the cold, not being at all well. He woke to the sound of his son raking the embers into flames and placing logs on top.
That’s enough for on
