Chapter 161

I went back to the coffee pot and it had done its job for me. Getting a mug, I sat down at the table. With no one else awake and roaming around I suddenly got the urge to light a cigarette and read the paper. Well there was no paper and I didn't have any cigarettes so I sat there and drank my coffee and tried to slip back into my funk from yesterday.

I couldn't. I felt too good and too alive to let myself worry about what was coming in the future. I don't know if last nights playtime had cured me for good, but I was damned sure well right now. If tonight turned out like other celebration nights I would probably feel pretty good tomorrow morning too. I hoped so and I was looking forward to tonight's shindig.

After a few minutes I heard a rustling which sounded like it was coming from toward Danlo and Georgo's entrance. I turned to check it out and it was Danlo heading toward me.

Apparently he had done some serious relationship maintenance last night also because he looked as happy as a pig in shit and there were no women following him.

"Ready for some coffee, Danlo?"

"I am ready," he said.

I got him a mug and returned to the table to sit next to him. He thanked me and took a sip.

"It is very quiet in here this morning, very quiet," he said.

"All of my mates are still sleeping, but it isn't the only cause. There is no sound at all from outside. It is still snowing heavily and though the wind is blowing briskly it isn't making any noise that I could hear while I was looking out."

"It is good to have some quiet sometimes and it is a good morning to sleep late or to sit and drink coffee. I should go and take a look at the animals soon though, to make sure they are all doing well," he said.

"I'll go with you when you do, but it is going to be a wet cold walk. It is too bad we don't have a tunnel to reach from your quarters to the horse cave."

"It would be nice, but it won't hurt us to get a little cold walking down there and then back. It will make it all the better when our mates warm us back up," he said, and grinned.

"I hadn't thought of it, but since you've mentioned it I think it is an excellent plan. I believe I will make sure I get cold during the trip."

I could see he was about to say something more, but just then we heard someone coming from my bedroom. It was Dalia, Shelalliea, Delia, and Roweea. We curtailed our cold weather scenario discussion and told my mates good morning.

They all came over to give me a kiss and then headed to the kitchen to break the quiet time we'd had. I didn't mind the noises they started making at all though. In fact, a few seconds later my stomach made a noise or two of its own at the prospect of what the pot and pan symphony promised.

Raalto and Racaato showed up then and they had similar looks on their faces. Things must have been good all over last night. Their good moods just seemed to add to ours and soon we were laughing and joking about tonight's coming event. Then a thought hit me.

"Where is the cooking being done? If there is food in the cooking pits outside then it will be under two or three feet of snow before it is time to get it out."

"We have made new cooking pits inside the big celebration cave. There was plenty of room for them and it seems there is a draft to the outside from the cave since the smoke from the fires rose toward the top and then just left. It did not build up in the cave," Raalto said.

"It just shows I haven't been paying enough attention to what is going on."

"Why should you have to worry about how the cooking gets done? Your mates suggested this to us days ago and there were plenty of volunteers to do the digging. We even have much firewood stacked in there for later cooking," Racaato told me.

"I guess you are right and I am glad someone is paying attention to the cooking."

"What about the bruga. It has been here since yesterday and most of the ice has melted. Do you think it has gotten too warm? Since you began giving us this bruga I have come to like having it very cold," Bigglieo, who had just come in, said.

"We can get it as cold as you can stand it Bigglieo. All we have to do is take it outside for a while and it will regain all the ice it has lost."

"I will get some men to help me after we eat breakfast. The bruga won't freeze will it?" he asked.

"No, it won't freeze if we only leave it out a few hours. I don't think it is so cold outside yet. We won't take any chances though and when the water in the barrels is frozen we will bring it in and take it to the celebration cave."

Just as we had worked all the beer details out my mates started bringing plates to the table, helped by the other men's mates who had come in with them. When I looked at my eggs I tried to worry about what we would do when these were gone and Argent wasn't here to give us more. Hell, we would do without and eat something else, that's what we would do and we would live over it.

Deimeta came out when I was about halfway through eating. When she came to me I pushed back from the table enough to make room for her on my lap. I began alternating bites for her and me then and Ameliea brought Deimeta's little coffee mug and another plate of breakfast. I knew I was going to get the lion's share of both plates, but as always I would feed Deimeta all she wanted.

"Is there a lot of snow outside Daddy?" Deimeta asked, between bites.

"There is already much more than last time and it is still snowing hard. I think it will be very deep before long."

"Can we build more snowmen then?" she asked.

"I think it will be too cold for it this time, but if it isn't too bad we can build a few. Danlo and I are going down to check on all the animals after breakfast."

"Oh good, can I go too?" she asked.

"If you dress warmly and if you want to you may go with us. Do you miss Darta already?"

"I always miss her when I'm not with her. After we finish eating I will hurry and put on my new warm clothes," she said.

"There is no need to hurry because Danlo and I must put on ours also. We won't leave without you so take your time to eat and then we will dress and go."

"Thank you, Daddy," she said.

"You are very welcome, Deimeta and thank you for being so sweet."

She giggled then and took another bite and then a sip of coffee. We took our time eating and after we were done we went back to the bedroom to dress. While we were there I wondered again about the noise we must have made last night, but Deimeta didn't mention it and I sure didn't.

We were dressed and ready to go in only a few minutes and when we left the bedroom we saw Danlo had dressed and returned already. We walked to the entrance then and I peered out.

It was still snowing as hard or even harder than earlier this morning. The drifts on the other side of the valley were truly impressive now. I turned to ask Deimeta if she was sure she wanted to go.