I can see why the orchardists would be keen to burn old trees, but the trees will either keep until they can be burned, or can maybe even be chopped up for firewood for winter so... it feels like that's an inconvenience for them rather than a problem :) And not burning things is probably a good idea -- what's happening in Ukraine at the moment with wildfires isn't something you'd want to copy.
Fuzzy Timothy bounded through the grass and Collins was sure that the Garmr was deliberately leaping high to attract attention like an enthusiastic terrier. The grass was cut shorter nearer the buildings and was greener, and as Collins looked at it he suddenly realised that it meant it had been cut back recently. Just as the first shout of “What’s that?” floated across the air to them, he tried to take the Inspectral’s arm to get his attention, and his hand passed straight through. It was like finding the other side of your pillow cold when you turn it over in the middle of the night; it was cooling, unexpected, and oddly calming. Until the Inspectral looked at him and his eyes were tiny red suns in his head. “Sorry,” said Collins, feeling his knees weaken and wobble. “I forgot you… I forgot. I just wanted to p-point out the g-grass there. It’s been c-cut. R-recently.” He waited for a response, unable to think of anything but how rude, how utterly rude he’d just been. It was like groping the bride at a wedding. “Indeed,” said the Inspectral. “Please look where you’re going in future, Collins.” “Yes, yes of course. Yes, sir!” Collins felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck. “The grass, Ethel. That’s a bad sign.” “Could mean there’s a lot of them. Only one way to really find out though, Harold. Hmm, did I ever call you Harry?” “Once.” Collins tried to breathe without heaving a sigh of relief. The Inspectral had apparently forgiven him for his mistake but he didn’t want to risk doing anything to remind anyone. He sneaked a look at Adams, who was watching Timothy run past the soldiers – he was grouping them together like sheep in their attempts to catch him – but her lips were twisted in a smirk. He felt himself blush, and stared at the ground, miserably wondering what he’d do wrong next. “Go left. Left!” The voices of the soldiers were starting to sound concerned. “It’s a dog, they’re stupid! Catch it and get rid of it!” “Let’s move,” said Ethel. “Timothy’s got them all occupied now, we won’t get a better moment.” They moved at a quick walk; Ethel led the way and Collins brought up the rear. As they left the long grass and stepped onto the shorter, mown part Timothy ran round the corner of a hangar and two of the ghosts, clearly frustrated, ran into the hangar walls and bounced off as though they were alive. They both went fuzzy for a few seconds, and when they pulled themselves back together they were moving slowly, as though dazed. “Ghost proof?” Ethel didn’t stop walking, but he sounded troubled. “This mown patch is exactly that,” said Adams. “Look, it’s tiny.” It was also irregular; it seemed to consist of three smaller patches that were connected by a single lawn-mower wide strip of mown grass. “They were looking for something,” said the Inspectral. “Set into the ground. Aha, here.”
Timothy is the clear highlight here, even just being in the background of the scene. Some interesting developments as well though. Curious about that ghost proofing.
2 comments:
I can see why the orchardists would be keen to burn old trees, but the trees will either keep until they can be burned, or can maybe even be chopped up for firewood for winter so... it feels like that's an inconvenience for them rather than a problem :) And not burning things is probably a good idea -- what's happening in Ukraine at the moment with wildfires isn't something you'd want to copy.
Fuzzy
Timothy bounded through the grass and Collins was sure that the Garmr was deliberately leaping high to attract attention like an enthusiastic terrier. The grass was cut shorter nearer the buildings and was greener, and as Collins looked at it he suddenly realised that it meant it had been cut back recently. Just as the first shout of “What’s that?” floated across the air to them, he tried to take the Inspectral’s arm to get his attention, and his hand passed straight through.
It was like finding the other side of your pillow cold when you turn it over in the middle of the night; it was cooling, unexpected, and oddly calming. Until the Inspectral looked at him and his eyes were tiny red suns in his head.
“Sorry,” said Collins, feeling his knees weaken and wobble. “I forgot you… I forgot. I just wanted to p-point out the g-grass there. It’s been c-cut. R-recently.” He waited for a response, unable to think of anything but how rude, how utterly rude he’d just been. It was like groping the bride at a wedding.
“Indeed,” said the Inspectral. “Please look where you’re going in future, Collins.”
“Yes, yes of course. Yes, sir!” Collins felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck.
“The grass, Ethel. That’s a bad sign.”
“Could mean there’s a lot of them. Only one way to really find out though, Harold. Hmm, did I ever call you Harry?”
“Once.”
Collins tried to breathe without heaving a sigh of relief. The Inspectral had apparently forgiven him for his mistake but he didn’t want to risk doing anything to remind anyone. He sneaked a look at Adams, who was watching Timothy run past the soldiers – he was grouping them together like sheep in their attempts to catch him – but her lips were twisted in a smirk. He felt himself blush, and stared at the ground, miserably wondering what he’d do wrong next.
“Go left. Left!” The voices of the soldiers were starting to sound concerned. “It’s a dog, they’re stupid! Catch it and get rid of it!”
“Let’s move,” said Ethel. “Timothy’s got them all occupied now, we won’t get a better moment.”
They moved at a quick walk; Ethel led the way and Collins brought up the rear. As they left the long grass and stepped onto the shorter, mown part Timothy ran round the corner of a hangar and two of the ghosts, clearly frustrated, ran into the hangar walls and bounced off as though they were alive. They both went fuzzy for a few seconds, and when they pulled themselves back together they were moving slowly, as though dazed.
“Ghost proof?” Ethel didn’t stop walking, but he sounded troubled.
“This mown patch is exactly that,” said Adams. “Look, it’s tiny.” It was also irregular; it seemed to consist of three smaller patches that were connected by a single lawn-mower wide strip of mown grass.
“They were looking for something,” said the Inspectral. “Set into the ground. Aha, here.”
Greg - yeah, exactly.
Timothy is the clear highlight here, even just being in the background of the scene. Some interesting developments as well though. Curious about that ghost proofing.
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