The North Window pt.2

Around lunch time a heavy rain set in, It was next to impossible to see out of the windows without being sprayed. The roof was leaking and each man had adjusted his mat to one of the few dry spots. Benjamin was on duty and Edward sat huddled under his shawl. 

With every hour of rain, Edward sank deeper into regret for his decision to volunteer for watch duty. He had only done it to appease Alice. She always made fun of him for being so timid When the call had first been put out for volunteer watchmen, Alice laughed at his suggestion to join up. She said that he would never be brave enough to do something as heroic as keep watch for the entire village. The next day at the village meeting, Edward signed up. Only, it seemed to make Alice look at him with even more pity. On his most recent return from a week of duty Alice was resentful that he had not been in the house to keep up with the chores.

“You’ve been sat on your backside on the top of the hill while I’ve been running around taking care of everything down here,” said Alice. 

“I thought you wanted me to do something important? You’re always telling me that I’m wasting my life away in the village,” replied Edward.

“ I want you to want to do something important, for god’s sake. I shouldn’t have to tell you to try and have some ambition in life, you’re happy to just waste your time scraping a living in the village. And now here you are taking on an unpaid roll, oh very well done.”

“It’s important! The village is in danger, remember?” said Edward, “You said it would be brave for someone to keep watch. What me and Benjamin are doing needs to be done.”

“Well at least Benjamin’s family are provided for before he goes off trying to be a hero.” The two wives had obviously been talking in their husband’s absence. 

Alice’s words were now reverberating around Edward’s head as he tried to keep warm and dry. The embers of irritation with Benjamin had been stoked by Alice and were now turning into a burning dislike. The rain continued to batter the tower. The winds howled through the valleys and hit the stones with an incredible force, Edward could almost feel the tower swaying. Benjamin stood back from the north window so as to not get sprayed as he looked out. 

“He’s back,” said Benjamin. 

“Who is?” said Edward.

“You’re man with the fidgeting cargo,” said Benjamin. 

“So what? You said it was nothing,” said Edward.

“I’m just saying, he’s here again.”

“Well why don’t you go and see what he’s up to if it’s so interesting?” 

“Why on earth would I go out there?”

“To see what he’s up to and protect the village like a big hero.”

“What are you talking about? Someone got up on the wrong side of his mat this

morning. I just thought you might be interested seen as you were so worried about this feller last time”

“Well everyone seems to agree that I’m overreacting or that it’s ridiculous to warn anyone about him, so who cares about him or what’s under his tarp, I don’t want to talk about him again.”  

The man with the cart did not stop this time, and his load was more still than the last time. He had his hood over his face and walked with his head down into the driving rain. Edward and Benjamin did not speak for the rest of the day.

That night Edward dreamed of returning to the village alone. He made his way back to his house and walked in the front door to find the house in disarray. He called out for Alice. There was no reply. He walked up the stairs and entered their bedroom only to find Alice in bed with Benjamin. Blinded by rage he jumped onto Benjamin, pushing him to the floor. He put his hands around Benjamin’s neck and squeezed with every muscle in his body. He could hear Alice screaming somewhere distant. Edward woke up in a sweat, Benjamin was sitting drinking coffee and grunting. The roof was leaking right above Edward’s head, he got up to make a coffee, move his mat and start his shift.     

The rains poured through Tuesday and into Wednesday. The usual delivery boy did not arrive with supplies. At lunch time, Benjamin sat by the stove making eggs.

  “Don’t you think we should probably save some, seen as they are the last we have?” said Edward.

“Why?” said Benjamin.

“Erm, because we don’t know when we will get any more.”

“The boy will come tomorrow when the rain stops.”

“And how do you know the rain will stop?”

“I can feel the air drying out, and you can see a parting in the clouds up there to the North.”

“How can you feel the air drying out? You literally have your feet in a puddle, we are more likely to drown than for the air to dry out.”

“Look, I’m good with the weather, always have been. It will stop raining and we will get our supplies tomorrow. Do you want eggs or not?” Benjamin held out the plate.

Edward took his eggs silently and sat beside the stove, frowning deeply. Much to Edward’s annoyance, the next morning the rain relented. But still no delivery came from the village. It was Benjamin’s watch shift. Edward sat huddled by the stove, his belly grumbled. Benjamin pretended not to hear.

“I told you we shouldn’t have eaten all the eggs yesterday,” said Edward.

“I didn’t force them down your neck, did I?” said Benjamin.

“No but you cooked them, it would’ve been a waste not to eat them.”

“Oh, just relax, someone will come with a delivery today, trust me, I was right about the rain, wasn’t I?” said Benjamin.

Edward stared at the back of Benjamin’s head as he looked out of the window.

“Besides, coffee is good at killing hunger,” said Benjamin.

Edward thought about throwing his mug at Benjamin, but he just folded his arms over his belly and hunched forward even more. 

“And what if we don’t get a delivery today?” said Edward.

“Well then one of us will just have to go down into the Village. Or we just wait it out, it’s only 2 more days anyway, we will survive.”

That night the air was calm and mild. Benjamin had taken the sunset shift and Edward was on the first night shift. All he could concentrate on was the hunger in his belly. His frown had deepend and he looked at everything through his eyebrows. He had not been able to get any sleep during the sunset shift because of the hunger. Whereas Benjamin had fallen straight to sleep as soon as the pair had swapped. Edward stomped his feet as he rotated around the four windows and exhaled loudly through his nose. Every time he reached the North Window he would scowl at the sleeping Benjamin on the floor. 

As the night wore on, Edward’s mind began to race with reasons why the delivery boy had not arrived. What if the Village had flooded in the heavy rain? Edward’s house was only a few streets away from the river. What if the house had flooded? What if the village had been attacked by some intruders that they hadn’t seen from the tower? What if Alice had been killed? What if Alice had told the delivery boy not to come? What if the delivery boy had stolen the eggs and coffee? Or what if he had been robbed on the way to the tower? What if the people who robbed him were lying in wait for Edward and Benjamin to exit the tower so that they could kill them? Eventually it was time to change shifts. Edward woke Benjamin and then laid down on his own mat. His mind raced for the rest of the night as his stomach churned. 

The sun came up on Friday morning and still no delivery came. 

“Ok, this is ridiculous now, one of us should go to the Village now,” said Edward.

“It’s only one more day, people will think we’ve gone soft,” said Benjamin.

“I’m absolutely starving,” said Edward.

“Oh come off it, it’s not that bad, it’s only been two days, have some coffee.”

Edward drank the coffee, it made his stomach more agitated. It was Benjamin’s shift and Edward sat, fidgeting and shivering next to the stove, he was rubbing his hands over and over, snaking his fingers over one another while gently rocking back and forth. The morning mist on the valley did not shift as the sun rose to midday. Only a faint orb could be seen in the sky through the grey expanse. Edward took over the midday watch, by this time he was grinding his teeth and his eyes were almost closed beneath his furrowed brow. About an hour into his watch, he paused at the North window. He saw the same man approaching the cross roads. With the same horse and cart and the same great lump of cargo. Edward said nothing and watched. On the side of the cart visible to the tower something looked to be hanging out from under the tarp, Edward couldn’t make out what it was. The man stopped in the same place he always did, he rounded his cart, checking on it. When he came around the back and saw something dangling down, he struck it with his whip. There was an audible yell and the protrusion retreated back under the tarp. That’s it, thought Edward, he’s got men under there, he’s been sneaking men into the village for weeks. The man drove his horse and cart on. Edward turned from the window and headed straight down the stairs of the tower towards the door, grabbing the matches from the stove. As he rushed past he woke Benjamin from his snooze.