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On day 1063, thunder held Ash and Wren back from the south-east
On the day before day 1063, mid autumn on their small island, Ash and Wren got ready for a long trip by canoe along the shore. Wren wove a new pack, they gathered logs, and they lay down early so they could leave at first light. Then the morning came in with rain and thunder.
A new pack before dusk
That day had already brought a storm. Ash cooked breakfast under Wren's roof, and Wren lit a fire, cooked and mended a roof while the storm went on. After that they went out for the night's logs, Wren trying to get back before dusk and Ash gathering near Wren's roof.
Once the logs were in, Wren went out again to fill a flask and then gather boughs with Ash. The flask got filled. Wren's old pack was close to falling apart, though, and a long trip lay ahead, so Wren decided on a new pack first.
“While it's light I'll weave a new pack, love. Mine's nearly worn through. Then three more logs and I'm with you.”
Ash said it was a good idea, a fresh pack for the trip round, and sat close by while Wren worked. Wren wove the pack from wood and bark beside the tree, then went on to carry logs back and fetch boughs.
Five logs by the roof
With the pack done, Wren told Ash there was one more log to get before coming to lie down. Ash was already waiting by Wren's roof, with the plan for the morning worked out.
“Come lie down, love. I'm right here by your roof. I've got five logs for the hearth and my lantern, and at first light you push off first in yours.”
Ash had been wondering about this trip for a while. How long would it take to go all the way round the shore by canoe? Could they do it if they set off at first light on a clear day, each paddling their own canoe close to land? And would the hulls hold up the whole way round?
Then came the night. Ash later said they stayed dry under Wren's braced roof and slept on boughs right through to dawn. Wren woke in the rain at dawn after sleeping the whole night beside Ash.
First light and thunder
On day 1063 Wren got up and went to the stream, ready to go. The plan had not changed. They would go south-east, the direction they had explored least.
“Morning, love. I'm filling my flask at the stream, then I push off first in mine. Come up beside me in yours just past the shore, and we'll try the south-east, where we've gone least far.”
Ash heard something else that morning. They had promised each other to turn back at the first cloud, and this was more than a cloud.
“Wait, love, hear that thunder? It's a storm. We said we'd turn back at the first cloud. Let's keep under your roof today, I'll catch us fish, and we go south-east on the first clear morning.”
Waiting it out under one roof
Ash's thoughts were made up. This was a full storm. They had sworn to turn back at the first cloud, and no canoe could set out in a storm anyway. Ash meant to go to Wren, keep Wren off the water and wait the weather out under Wren's roof.
Wren's thoughts went another way. Wren's flask was empty, so filling it came first. After that Wren still meant to push off ahead of Ash in a separate canoe, as they had agreed, so that the two hulls would not end up as one again.
In Ash's own telling of those hours, the trip round the shore had to wait for a clear morning because rain had come at first light. Until then Ash would keep them fed and watered, with five logs always ready. Ash's last act in these hours was to set out after fish and a full flask for a rainy day.
