Ethelmund builds an ark
Ethelmund Ashdown was the happiest man in Lothere that January. Of course he adored his little daughters, but he had so longed for a son… and now that he had one, he couldn’t stop dreaming about how it would be when the baby got older. They would go fishing together and hunting together, and he would teach him how to build a fire and how to ride a horse and how to tie a knot… The fun they would have!
Githa found it a little odd, however, that Ethelmund seemed to have become extraordinarily industrious ever since the new baby came. From dawn to dark – and even after dark if the new baby was sleeping – he would be out in the fields or in the barn. In fact, it seemed he was mostly in the barn. Considering it was January and there was little to do out there besides take care of the animals…
Finally one evening Githa decided she would go out and see for herself what he was up to. The babies were dozing in their cradles and Colburga was occupied with a pile of scrap yarn. She would only be a minute.
She found him in the barn – playing with toys. She had long known he was a little childish, but this was too much. Still – he was adorable. Githa laughed aloud. “What are you doing playing in the barn?”
He looked up and smiled, both proudly and shyly. “It’s a surprise for Sebbald,” he said. “It’s Noah’s ark. I made it.”
“You made all this?” Ethelmund had always liked to make toys for the girls and for the children of their friends, but this was truly magnificent. There were dozens of pairs of animals, all carefully carved and painted, and a wooden ark large enough to hold them all and more, when he found the time to make them.
“I did. Can you help me make clothes for Noah and his wife?”
Githa couldn’t help but laugh. “It will be years before Sebbald can play with this.”
“That’s all right,” he said excitedly. “That will give me time to make all the animals.”
“How many more?”
“All of them. ‘Clean beasts, and beasts that are not clean, and fowls, and everything that creepeth upon the earth.’”
“Then it won’t even be finished in time for your grandchildren!”
“Grandchildren…!” he sighed, his eyes shining as new plans dawned in his mind. “That’s a fine idea!”
Githa left him to his work and went back up to the house, still laughing. He was exasperating, but how could she not love him?
