Probing the ground with the pick, he was relieved to find it not as frozen as he’d feared—the winter so far was snowy but not very cold. He marked a circle around the trunk about the width of the barrel and began to drive the spade down.
He angled the spade inward as he approached the maximum depth the barrel end would hold but encountered a few tough deep roots that resisted his tool.
The snow squeaked as the two korrigans walked up. “Stand aside and let me show you how we deal with this,” Broch said, picking up the ax. Tiernoc tilted the loosened tree to supply tension, and Broch applied two precise cuts with the ax that broke the first root free. They made short work of the remainder, George standing by in admiration at their expertise.
Now that the tree was completely liberated, he
