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Post by Annabella Scarlett on Apr 19, 2009 19:55:38 GMT
Annabella kicked open the front door to her new home, in the village of Locksley, dropping the crate of materials she was carrying onto the tiny table.
Leaning against the doorframe she watched the villagers going about their daily duties, pondering the best time to start meeting people...
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Roe
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Post by Roe on Apr 19, 2009 20:15:41 GMT
Roe suddenly shook the cobwebs out of his brain. He swore that he had heard a couple of loud noises. However, he had just been asleep, and he could have been dreaming, or more likely, a nightmare. Generally, though, he remembered his nightmares. He assuredly remembered the nightmares he had of the Holy Land ..... the siege of Jerusalem and all of the battles that had preceded it. Oh well, he thought to himself, I might as well get up and finish repairing the fence out front, and the section of the door frame that had rotted out.
He stood up, after picking up some of the tools he had found there, and began to set up some pieces of wood to separate that he was planning to use for the sections of fence he was replacing. Despite the fact that it was only early spring, he found the weather to be too warm to wear his cloak, which left him wearing his loose-fitting shirt. As began to saw the first piece he looked up and saw a young lady leaning against a doorway looking out across the village. "That's strange, I didn't think there was anybody in that little house," he remarked to himself.
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Post by Annabella Scarlett on Apr 19, 2009 20:23:39 GMT
Her eyes danced over the people, waiting to see if anyone would be brave enough to venture over and talk to her.
Several passing men caught her eye, and she smiled flirtatiously at them, perhaps Nottingham would not be quite so bad after all...
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Roe
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Post by Roe on Apr 19, 2009 20:32:51 GMT
When Roe had been in the Crusades he had made it a habit to observe people from a distance so that he could judge what their quality was. Later he would meet them, formally, and asertain, how accurate his first impressions were. He judged quickly that this person was somewhere between her late teens abd the age of 20, and she seemed to be evaluating the various people who were walking by here doorway.
He couldn't be for sure, but the first impression was that he was evaluating their quality. And he chuckled to himself. Once he might have been one of those young men who passed by her doorway. He was sure that he was too old to meet her criteria, he thought to himself. He turned backed to his work, took out one of his large axes, and began splitting another piece of wood that he was going to use in the fencerow.
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Post by Annabella Scarlett on Apr 19, 2009 20:39:28 GMT
The sound of the axe drew her attention, and she turned to find the source of the noise.
Seeing the man hard at work she smiled to herself, contemplating going over to introduce herself...
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Roe
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Post by Roe on Apr 19, 2009 20:56:59 GMT
He extended his frame, once more, fully with axe, finishing the splitting of the hardwood he had been working on. It was the last of the pieces that he would need to complete the fencerow. He still had to work on the frame of the gate, but he figured that that wasn't that vital. He thought that the next item that was of primary importance was to fix the door-frame on the house.
It was going to be important to get the door-frame done, just to give himself some sense of security. He figured that the best way to start out was use the axe to take out the larger chunks of rotten wood, and then he would use the smaller hatchet to do some of the finer removal. Hopefully, he would be able to save some of the frame, and not have to replace the whole thing. It just took 3 full swings of the axe and he was ready to move on to the hatchet-work.
He let the axe fall to the ground, and he bent down to pick up the pieces of rotten wood so that he could throw them out of the way, and he happened to look up. He saw, for some reason, that the young girl was looking in his direction, which he found to be curious. She appeared to be quite young and pretty, but he assumed that her attentions would be set on the younger men in the village. He did not want to be rude, however, so he nodded his head towards her in greeting, although he knew he probably had a questioning look on his face, as he went back to his work.
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Post by Annabella Scarlett on Apr 19, 2009 21:08:57 GMT
She smiled aimicably in return, watching him as he went about his work. Something about him intrigued her, and she could not help but watch him.
Contemplating moving closer, she left the relative safety of her doorway, lingering on the patch of land in front of her small home...
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Roe
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Post by Roe on Apr 19, 2009 21:21:58 GMT
Roe noted that it was a lot easier to watch someone, especially when you thought you weren't being observed, than to being the subject yourself. Using the smaller hatchet took a lot more time, since it was more detailed work, and he rested a bit between each set of swings. He could see her just at the edge of his vision. He thought that his eyes might be playing tricks on him, but she appeared to be moving slowly away from the doorway of her cottage.
He determined that his hatchet was getting a bit too dull for the work he was doing so he cleaned it off and leaned against the doorway, taking a wetstone out of his pocket, in order to sharpen his tool. He happened to look up and saw she was all the way out at the front edge of her property with a slight smile on her face. "You'll find that this kind of work isn't very exciting or interesting, but you're welcome to watch if you want. You don't have to stop at your property line, unless you feel safer," he said, looking up to see what her reaction was.
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Post by Annabella Scarlett on Apr 19, 2009 21:30:30 GMT
"I am happy to watch from here... thank you.."
She smiled once again, brushing her hair from her face.
"Carpentry intrigues me. My father is a carpenter, and his brother... I enjoy watching them.."
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Roe
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Post by Roe on Apr 19, 2009 21:39:24 GMT
"Well, you are welcome to watch. Carpentry is a good and honest form of work. Before he Crusades I was an apprentice to a carpenter, right on tis very spot, in fact," he smiled backed at her. He thought to himself how much better things might have been if he had never left.
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Post by Annabella Scarlett on Apr 19, 2009 21:55:20 GMT
"My uncle had a carpentry business here... I'm not sure whereabouts in the village though.."
She thought for a while, trying to remember the village from the last time she had visited, some ten years ago.
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Roe
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Post by Roe on Apr 19, 2009 22:58:58 GMT
So her uncle had had a carpentry shop here at one time. "Well, from what you just said," as he stood up with his now-sharpened hatchet, "I assume that the last time you were here was a long time ago, and therefore, you have just moved here. If you were a long-time resident you probably know exactly where it was. I, for example, have been gone for about 15 years and most of Locksley is still familiar to me. Am I right?"
Roe finished the work he had to do with hatchet, and had identified the 2 sections he originally thought he was going to replace. He had already cut the pieces he expected use. He now re-measured the pieces, notched them properly, and snapped them into place, and stepped back to analyze his work. "Well, what do think? Is it passable work for a rusty carpenter?," he smiled inquisitively. "I'm Roe, by the way, and who might you be, exactly?"
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Post by Annabella Scarlett on Apr 20, 2009 14:12:48 GMT
"You are right. I have just moved here, in fact, I arrived this morning.."
She looked over his work, still smiling softly
"That is most certainly good work, I would never have guessed you were out of practice... I'm Annabella... but Anna's fine..."
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Roe
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Post by Roe on Apr 20, 2009 14:28:59 GMT
Roe noted that she could turn on the charm. He found her smile to be quite lovely, and he was sure that she was quite aware of the effect that her charms could have. He blushed ever so slightly at the compliment she handed out to him.
"Well I suppose that carpentry may be a skill that you never quite forget. But thanks for the compliment .... an artisan can never here too much of them. Although I'm sure that your uncle will supply you with any carpentry help that you may need, since I'm right next door, I will be happy to help out if you should need it. I have experience with both large structural work as well as the more detailed, finer work, Anna" he smiled back. "In any case, I hope you move has gone off well so far," which was as much a question as a comment.
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Post by Annabella Scarlett on Apr 20, 2009 14:37:40 GMT
Her eyes drifted for a while, looking around at the other villagers.
"My uncle is not around anymore...he died about a year ago.."
Her voice became soft and thoughtful, and she turned back to watch him once again...
"But I will keep your offer in mind. Thank you.."
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