Danger Recognised: Day 6

Word Count: 36,037

Summary of Events:

Alina got upset with her mother condemning her father and discussed the issue with her grandmother and two of her viceroys, who all concluded that her mother's confidence in her memory had been destroyed by Viceroy Báld. Éoin, his feet sore from dancing in the wrong shoes last night, chatted with one of his sisters before being visited by the governor of Derwynton. Alina, having begun a tour of Aifos, was received at the home of Viceroy Stryng and had something of a scare that turned out to be just two of the viceroy's servants having taken the wrong route. Éoin, his feet too sore to dance at the ball in celebration of his installation as viceroy, watched everyone else enjoying the festivities . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

Mother sat in a chair beside him, wearing a dark purple dress which was overlaid with black lace. It was an elegant outfit, but Éoin knew Mother was wearing it because of the colour of the lace. She'd worn it when her mother had died to signify that she was still mourning, but not so much that she couldn't wear anything other than black.

Éoin was certain it was the first ball where she hadn't danced, and he was certain she had no intentions of dancing. It also happened to be the first ball without Father, who had always danced at least three dances with Mother.

It made him wonder why Mother had been so adamant to host a ball when she was still grieving the loss of her husband. He presumed she was doing it because her highest priority was to get him and Seosamh married off so they would be lonely like she was.

Looking over at Mother, Éoin saw that she looked rather troubled. He wondered if she was thinking of Father.

Regardless, he reached over and squeezed her hand. She turned and looked at him quickly, startled.

"Is this harder for you than you thought it would be?" Éoin asked.

Mother gazed at him for a moment before sighing and nodding, letting the anguish show on her face.

Éoin moved his feet. They felt better, but still rather raw and sore. He looked at the dancers, arrayed in purple and green out of patriotism. The song ended and the couples changed partners or moved to sit out the next dance. He glanced over at Mother again.

Gingerly he rose to his feet, not letting go of her hand, and bowed low in front of her. "May I have this dance?"

"But your feet Éoin," Mother said.

"I think you need it," Éoin whispered.

He saw tears rush along the edge of her eyelids. She rose to her feet and accompanied him to the floor filled with dancers, many of whom were older, being as it was a slow waltz the musicians were playing the introduction for.

The slow, gentle movements of the waltz made things easier on him than dancing a jig would've, but he still had to set his jaw and face against grimacing in pain as he moved across the floor with his mother.

It didn't take long for Mother to lower her head onto his shoulder. When he glanced down he noticed a few tears had escaped her eyes.

As much as the crowd around them was in good and favourable spirits, celebrating the coronation of their Queen and the installation of their Viceroy — as was the purpose of the event — there was a sobriety about the whole thing to Éoin.

Father had enjoyed dancing himself, and it was something special that he and Mother had shared together; as much as Mother wanted to see her sons married, a ball without her husband was apparently more difficult than she'd realised it would be.

Pronunciations:

Stryng: string

Seosamh: sehohsahm

Danger Recognised: Day 5

Word Count: 30,091

Summary of Events:

Alina got confirmation from Viceroy Báld that he would willingly swear blood fealty to her, and informed the other viceroys that she expected them to do the same mostly for ease of explanation before one of them took her aside to discuss his concerns. Back at home, Éoin ended up being caught up in a rather festive atmosphere when he announced that the Regency Laws had been abolished and were to be destroyed by fire.

Excerpt of the Day:

"Your Majesty," Viceroy Iést said quietly. "Her Majesty my sister Elizabeth has shared her concerns with me, concerns I do believe she's shared with you, that there is a threat to see Aifos conquered."

"She has Viceroy," Alina replied.

"I urge you to take care regarding Viceroy Báld," Viceroy Iést said. "He may only be pretending to be obeisant to you, and I fear your life could be endangered by letting him out and forgiving him so easily. You should have him vetted first."

"I know he could be a deceiver," Alina replied. "It is his nature, but I believe that I may be safer with him released. He knows that next time he should cross me as he has he will be back in the dungeons and will not be departing them alive. Unless he's ready to make any moves of overthrowing me, I doubt he will do any sort of foolhardy things such as he has done in these days since my coronation."

"Do not leave yourself unguarded for a moment once he is released Your Majesty," Viceroy Iést said. "You are taking this actions with a great risk I would advise against."

"Would it not be of greater risk to leave him imprisoned?" Alina asked. "For then assuredly his associates would try and break him out of the prison and might even be willing to kill me to accelerate their plan. If I let him out I believe I would be safer."

"Viceroy Báld has already made an attempt on your life," Viceroy Iést replied.

"I cannot say that I believe it as a result of any plan," Alina said. "I was upset at him, and he was become frustrated with me as I've been with him since that time.

"I would not advise you to take such risks as these," Viceroy Iést said.

"But I trust that you would defend me with your life," Alina said. "There are more Viceroys in allegiance to me than not, I do not think I truly have to be frightened of anything Viceroy. If all of you should prove so untrustworthy as to not defend me, then I will show concern."

Viceroy Iést sighed. "We are, the lot of us, rather old. We've, many of us, seen parts of the reigns of three monarchs now."

"Your services to your people and your country are no less honourable," Alina said.

"That is true Your Majesty," Viceroy Iést said.

"And I do believe all of your titles are guaranteed to be inherited by a son," Alina said.

"Also true Your Majesty," Viceroy Iést said.

"Then I see no sense in your fear Viceroy," Alina said. "I have great appreciation for your wisdom and also for your loyalty. I should hope, thus, that my lack of fear is built on a solid foundation of faithful men who have served my father, if not also my grandfather."

Pronunciation:

Iést: eeehst

Danger Recognised: Day 4

Word Count: 27,061

Summary of Events:

Éoin sat through another slightly more peaceable session of parliament . . . except for the part where Queen Alina had Viceroy Báld thrown into the dungeons until he swore blood fealty to her. Alina talked with her grandmother about things, and was unnerved by her grandmother's suspicions that Viceroy Báld was an agent in a conspiracy to conquer Aifos. At Alina's request, Éoin had Alina over for dinner and they talked first of horses and family before Alina told Éoin of her grandmother's suspicions . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"What do you mean the conquest of Aifos?" Éoin asked when his tongue regained its ability to move after the shock.

Queen Alina opened her mouth, but then the butler came in with the dessert, so she held her silence until he'd departed again.

"Grandmother thinks that Father was murdered," Queen Alina said. "His death was very suspicious. She suspects possibly Piontano, but that mostly because of their tendency for conquest. It could even be one of our allies."

"Piontano?" Éoin asked.

"Yes," Queen Alina replied. "Why does that surprise you?"

"Well it doesn't, really," Éoin replied. "It's just that, Viceroy Báld has a Piontanese middle name."

"Really?" Queen Alina asked, looking absolutely astonished.

"And none of his siblings do," Éoin replied. "Just him."

"That is questionable," Queen Alina said. "Grandmother suggested that I should send spies into all our neighbouring nations to see what they can find as to who might be seeking to take Aifos as their own territory."

"I think that would be an idea of good wisdom," Éoin replied. "My father believed that someone deliberately hastened his death as well. That he may've been poisoned before he came home at the end of session, bringing about his passing."

Queen Alina looked horrified. "Viceroy Báld maybe?"

"Father warned me against him," Éoin replied. "And I can't say that his betrothal to your mother sits well with me at all."

"Not at all," Queen Alina agreed.

"And if these plotters have seen your father King Alfred killed, and my father killed, what's to say that they didn't kill Viceroy Ioan Báld in order to get Viceroy Báld into parliament because they knew he would be allied to their cause?" Éoin asked. "Or they had guarantees that he would help them."

"Is it possible?" Queen Alina asked.

"His cause of death is listed as accidental poisoning," Éoin replied. "I think someone could easily do that by choice."

"You mean choose not to cook the fish entirely?" Queen Alina asked.

"Yes," Éoin replied. "Goodness knows some sort of poison could've been slipped in and the undercooked fish used as a ruse to deflect suspicion."

Queen Alina shuddered. "How horrible."

"Indeed," Éoin agreed. "I fear that all is not as peaceful as people think it is now that their queen has been crowned."

Queen Alina nodded quietly.

"But we don't want, really, to trouble the people," Éoin said. "If we can avoid it. We probably don't really want them to know that we're on to their plan."

"No," Queen Alina agreed.

"I would suggest that, regardless of whether you can trust that Viceroy Báld's contrition is a ruse or not, you should accept his oath of blood fealty and let him come back into parliament, just to give us time without trouble to see if we can determine who they are and what their goal is."

Pronunciation:

Piontano: peeyohntahno

Danger Recognised: Day 3

Word Count: 20,049

Summary of Events:

Éoin participated in his first parliamentary session, which commenced with the abolition of all the laws and amendments that had been passed during the Regency and ended with the announcement that Viceroy Báld and Queen Alina's mother were engaged. Enraged, Alina confronted her mother about the engagement only to have Viceroy Báld come in and suggest that Alina was jealous of her mother and wanted Viceroy Báld for herself. Éoin went to the Royal Archives and researched the family of Viceroy Báld, notably his siblings . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

Éoin looked at the full names of the other five Báld children. He recognised all the names used as purely Aifosian. "The pattern doesn't continue either."

"What pattern?" the Archivist asked.

"None of the other Báld children have a Piontanese middle name," Éoin replied.

"Really?" the Archivist asked.

Éoin pointed out the names in each book and the Archivist scanned his spectacles over them to see. Éoin wondered why the Archivist didn't just have a magnifying glass if he wasn't going to put the spectacles on his nose like he was supposed to.

"Hm, you're right," the Archivist said. "That's interesting."

"What happened to the Báld children?" Éoin asked.

"For that we need some table space," the Archivist said.

"Just let me write these down first," Éoin said.

He quickly noted down the full names of Viceroy Báld and his siblings, as well as their birthdays. Once he was done with each one the Archivist returned it to its shelf.

When they'd all been returned the Archivist went to the bank of shelves which contained the Books of Deaths, which contained the records of all who'd died in Aifos just the same as the Books of Births recorded all who'd been born in Aifos.

1298, 1299, 1300, 1301, and 1302 were brought to the table. Éoin shifted his jaw. How interesting that they were sequential years. He noted that down.

The Archivist opened the book for 1298 and pointed to the entry. High Lady Mairi had died of a severe illness. Éoin noted it down.

Then the Archivist flipped pages in the book to the latter part of the same year, where he pointed to the entry indicating the death of Viceroy Ioan at just three years her senior — three years younger than Viceroy Báld, seven younger than Father — accidental poisoning was his cause of death.

"Accidental poisoning?" Éoin asked.

"The fish he ate was discovered to have not been adequately cooked," the Archivist replied. "Fish is very dangerous to eat undercooked.

Éoin nodded, he knew that. Peadar had nearly died from snitching a bit of raw fish once. He'd well learned his lesson that all meat should be thoroughly cooked, and not least of all fish.

The Archivist moved on to the Book of Deaths for 1299 after Éoin had noted down about Viceroy Ioan.

Three days shy a year after his mother's death, Ioan II was recorded as having died in a hunting accident. Near the end of the same year Gwalter had died of unknown illness. In 1300 it was Mairi dying of accidental poisoning, in 1301 it was Arthyr dying from a fall, and in 1302 it was Merereid dying of illness in Deuschbren.

"Why was Merereid in Deuschbren?" Éoin asked.

"High Lady Mairi's sister lived there, as her husband was the Ambassador, and Merereid had been sent to live with them after the death of her parents because then she'd have a proper family," the Archivist replied. "My son is married to one of their daughters."

"Hm," Éoin said. "It is the misfortune-stricken house of Báld. They all died so close together."

Pronunciations:

Piontanese: peeyawntahknees

Mairi: mayree

Ioan: Ehohahn

Peadar: pehahdahr

Gwalter: g'wallter

Arthyr: arhthihr

Merereid: mairaireyed

Deuschbren: doyshbrehn

Danger Recognised: Day 2

Word Count: 13,011

Summary of Events:

Alina was crowned Queen of Aifos and Viceroy of Aniger, which was a somewhat nerve-wracking experience — except for the part where everyone sang the national anthem with enthusiasm. Éoin was installed as Viceroy of Derwent by the newly-crowned Queen Alina. Alina watched the celebratory fireworks before realising she'd been locked out of the palace. Éoin was woken by Alina at the door and helped her get into the palace where one of the other viceroys threatened Alina, which disconcerted Éoin greatly. Safely in bed, Alina thought about the encounter at the door . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

What made him think he was superior even to his Queen? Yes he was easily old enough to be her father, but it was not by age that seniority was established when it came to roles of esteem.

When men were of equal esteemed roles, then age played a factor, but as Queen she was superior to all of her family, even Grandmother. She was the supreme authority in Aifos, she could not be questioned if she did not consider such permissible — unless she was being questioned by the monarchs of allied nations.

And if she was questioned by her own people, she was allowed to ignore it, just as she was allowed to ignore counsel. All were allowed to ignore questions and counsels; whether it was in wisdom for them to do so was an entirely different matter.

It was not lawful, however, for a Viceroy to lock the Queen out of her own palace, to make threat to choke her, or to call her a devil — all of which Viceroy Báld had done this night alone.

He shouldn't have even been allowed to leave Caerwyn until he had properly made right, and if he'd refused he was to be thrown into the dungeons until he did, or until he was convicted of Gross Insult to the Monarch, Attempted Murder of the Monarch, and Gross Mischief Against the Monarch.

Thank goodness she'd convened a brief session for the next week, Viceroy Báld would not escape punishment for what he'd done to her, and she had the witness of Viceroy Magnys and two of the foremost manservants amongst Caerwyn's staff.

She could possibly get in trouble for striking a Viceroy, but as she was not only the Queen, but had been done three wrongs by the same Viceroy she'd struck, she was sure that it wouldn't count against her.

It would all be discussed in parliament tomorrow, she really ought to go to sleep, but she couldn't help herself, she still felt quite angry and upset that Viceroy Báld seemed to think that he could treat her like she was his child or something. He was not her father, and although she remembered little of her father, she was more than certain that he would've seen Viceroy Báld to the noose years ago if he would've known about this.

Being dead, Father could do nothing now, however, and she was left to hope that her other Viceroys would stand up for her in parliament tomorrow — goodness knew her mother wouldn't do anything of the like, being as Viceroy Báld seemed to have her mother on a string.

Alina shuddered at that thought. As much as she loved her mother, the fact that her mother was so besotted and even subservient to Viceroy Báld made her skin crawl. If only there were some way she could end things between the two of them, then surely things would be a lot better around here.

Pronunciations:

Báld: beeall'd

April Novel Essential Information/Day 1

A change to my summer plans led to my decision to write my June novel prior to June, for which purpose I will be starting both my April and May novels earlier than I had originally planned; this decision was made at short notice, thus the combination post.

Novel Title: Danger Recognised

Time Setting: 1325–1326 Age of Peace*

Genre: Fantasy

Minimum Word Goal: 90,000

Timespan: October–February

Locations: Carey Derwent, Derwynton, Aifos; Caerwyn, Aniger, Aifos

Main Characters: Viceroy Éoin Magnys, Queen Alina I Vaelynt

Background Information: 

The Island Kingdom of the United People of Aifos is the smallest nation in Ureonaiea, being made up of only one island. No one is quite sure when people first arrived on the island, or how its people became quite so unique from the others, but they do know that, as all people, the Aifosians were warriors — but not with each other.

When other peoples came to explore or take over the island they fought them off valiantly, proving themselves a rather indomitable people, prompting most nations to eventually give up on efforts to take over the island and let the people be.

Once more people were leaving them alone than attacking the chieftains of the various tribes of Aifos gathered together and held a council to discuss what they could do to improve their defence of the island and agreed that unifying under one single leader would be the best.

A secret ballot chose Chief Æthelfríd of the village Ænígr to be King of Aifos. The installation of a king by Aifos intimidated many other nations, being as a king was greater than a chief — which was about all most of them had — and prompted other nations to form their own monarchies if they thought trying their hand at taking Aifos would be a worthwhile endeavour.

This prompted further fighting to come to Aifos again, but King Æthelfríd I led his people valiantly so that he is now recognised as King Æthelfríd I the Great, and was given the surname Vælynt because of his great leadership.

It is the descendants of King Æthelfríd I Vælynt who have ruled over Aifos, and the other chiefs' descendants have become Viceroys of the twenty Viceregal Territories — while the twenty-first is presided over by the King.

Over time Aifos has become less and less threatened and has, in fact, become allied with some of its former enemies, but Aifos has not been without its trouble, especially recently.

In the late 1200s King Alfred XXI Vaelynt ascended to the throne, soon being married to the Lady Aileen and welcoming a daughter in 1306. In 1309 he went on a diplomatic visit to the neighbouring kingdom of Außtöst where he suddenly fell ill. Doctors could do nothing in either kingdom and within weeks the king was dead, leaving his hardly three-year-old daughter the first Queen of Aifos.

According to law she could not ascend to the throne until nineteen, thus Queen Consort Aileen was named Queen Regent.

Not being politically minded, Queen Aileen made a poor regent, as she was easily manipulated by ill counsel, and passed many laws that the majority of the viceroys have considered poor through her authoritative power.

Now the Queen-Princess Alina — as she has been styled — is set to turn nineteen, and to become the first Queen of Aifos officially, which has led to concerns as to whether the political ineptitude will continue, and even concerns as to what will happen to the Royal House whenever Alina should marry.

The firstborn son of the Viceroy of Derwent, Éoin knows he will someday become viceroy after his father. That day come sooner than he anticipates when his father returns home from the Autumn Session of parliament in poor health. 

Over the next month, as his condition continues to deteriorate, Viceroy Llewellyn instructs his son in what it takes to be a viceroy, as well as relaying to him concerns that have come up within parliament as to just how nefarious some of the Queen Regent's poor counsel is.

Éoin hopes that his father will be able to recover and address the concerns himself as the more experienced parliamentarian, but eventually doctors give the grim prognosis that Viceroy Llewellyn will never leave his bed again, and that death is imminent.

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Word Count: 6,003

Summary of Events:

Éoin is summoned to talk with his father one last time before the family gathers and bids Llewellyn a final farewell. The typical state funeral is held which obligates Éoin to eulogise his father, lead in the burying, and — to his greatest annoyance — receive condolences from people when he would much rather be alone that prompt him to snap at his one aunt. His mother meets with him later to discuss the issue and he tells her what his father had told him in that last visit . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Father thi–" Éoin struggled to say the right word. "Thought someone killed him."

Mother straightened and looked at him with shock.

"The sun does not sit at the horizon of dawn," Éoin said. "The coronation will not be the end of our troubles. Danger remains, somehow."

"Llewellyn told you this?" Mother asked.

"Yes," Éoin replied.

She stared, stunned.

"What irritates me the most is that everyone thinks it's going to get better from here," Éoin said. "Father did not give me that impression at all. I had people tell me that it would be easy. I don't want to go to Aniger. I don't want to be installed."

"Oh," Mother said quietly. "Oh Éoin, oh my son."

Éoin blinked repeatedly, feeling tears coming to his eyes.

"I don't know what counsel to give you," Mother said.

"I don't expect any," Éoin replied. "Father couldn't even give me counsel. He has his suspicions as to who's behind it all, but he doesn't know for sure — he didn't know for sure."

Éoin put his face in his hands. It tortured him to think of Father in the past tense, to think that his existence was finished, and would fade further and further from the present with each passing day.

He heard the soft sound of cloth moving. Mother clasped her hands gently about his neck and pressed her lips to the little bit of his forehead that was exposed at the tips of his fingers.

"I would never have wished this trouble upon you Éoin," Mother said. "Let us trust that all things will come out as they rightly must, and my dear son, oh my dear son, let us pray Aifos survives this intact."

Éoin pulled his face out of his hands and looked at Mother, who had fresh tears running down her cheeks; she raised a hand and cupped it over his cheek before sliding it across and curling it under his chin to raise his head.

"May you have somehow been readied for such a time as this," Mother whispered.

He sagged back against the chair. The darkness of the future as Father had presented it sapped him. Father had possessed more questions than answers, which left him with nothing on which to stand.

Mother looked at him sympathetically, her face gathered with sadness. Éoin forced himself to his feet and wrapped his arms around her gently. She embraced him in return, setting her head on his collarbone and sagging with all the weariness he felt.

He was without his father, a man who was presumably murdered, and he had to find out who had done it, why, and what their ultimate plans were, and he had to make sure that nothing threatened the young Queen-Princess, on whose birthday he would be installed as Viceroy of Derwent, after she herself had been installed Queen of Aifos.

Pronunciations:

Derwent: derwihnt

Derwynton: derwihntihn

Aifos: ayefaws

Caerwyn: kayrhwihn

Aniger/Ænígr: ahkneezhehr

Éoin: ehoheen

Magnys: magnihz

Vaelynt/Vælynt: vaylihnt

Ureonaiea: yourohneighah

Aifosians: ayefawshenz

Æthelfríd: aythehlfreed

Außtöst: 'ousetossed

*does not correlate to the real-world years of 1325–1326 AD.

Unforeseen Events: Day 15

Word Total: 90,001

Year to Date: 300,008

Summary of Events:

Emil called a lawyer friend to ask what it might take for him to become Sheldon's legal guardian; as the lawyer didn't specialise in family law, he didn't have any immediate answers. Sheldon and Emil were working on disassembling the steering when the RCMP officer arrived with a woman from Social Services who was there to take Sheldon home; Sheldon was incredibly upset by this, so Emil sat him down and had a talk with him.

Excerpt of the Day:

"Even though Sheldon was mostly sad, Emil could tell that some of the sadness was manifesting itself in anger. He saw it in the way Sheldon roughly tossed his clothes into his suitcase, in the way he manhandled the suitcase as he closed it, in the way he thudded down the stairs, in the way he roughhoused the hatchback of the SUV open, in the way he tossed the suitcases inside like he was trying to fire them through the windshield at the other end, in the way he slammed the hatchback shut hard enough that the vehicle rocked noticeably.

Miss Fabris stood outside the driver's door, watching Sheldon. As he approached the passenger door she opened her door and got in; Sheldon walked past the door, which led her to startle and bring her head back out.

She opened her mouth to say something, but Emil met her gaze and put his finger to his lips. She closed her mouth and watched silently as Sheldon knelt down in front of Chief, who smiled, seemingly until he saw the tears in Sheldon's eyes.

His ears lowered and moved back, a shrill whine came from his throat. Sheldon nodded before wrapping his arms around Chief and burying his face in the dog's shoulder.

Tears blurred Emil's own vision. Chief had often been sad after the family had been over for a visit and given him all kinds of playtime Emil didn't have the time to give him, but Emil felt like Chief's sadness here and now as a lot greater than it usually was.

After a long time Sheldon finally lifted his head and looked at Chief. Chief offered something of a smile and licked at Sheldon's cheek. Sheldon's smile was wan at best. Chief licked his cheek again.

Sheldon shifted back onto his feet and scratched Chief's head before unfolding himself back to his full height, which left him tall enough to be looking Emil practically straight in the eye.

Emil raised his hands, inviting Sheldon to hug him. Sheldon practically fell into the embrace and sobbed some more.

Biting his lips, Emil lowered his head in close to Sheldon's shoulder. Tears slid down his cheeks as he held Sheldon, his body trembling with heartbreak.

If he would've told himself in June that Sheldon would've been alternately destroyed and enraged at the fact that he was having to go home, he was pretty sure he would've shaken his head and told himself he was crazy.

He couldn't possibly put a finger on any one singular moment in which Sheldon had changed, and he was even less likely to be able to explain exactly why he'd changed, but he knew for a fact that he was glad Sheldon had changed and he was sad that Sheldon had to go home."

The next post will be March 31.

Unforeseen Events: Day 14

Word Count: 84,014

Summary of Events: 

Sheldon and Emil worked on extracting the various electrical components before the town's RCMP officer arrived because Mrs. Walden had erroneously suspected Emil of being involved in a recent robbery in the area — not that the officer believed her, but he did have to do his due diligence. Emil and Sheldon sat down for lunch and discussed their summer so far, with Sheldon expressing a strong distaste to the idea of going home. With the engine back together, sandblasted, and freshened up with a coat of paint, it was mounted into a machine that allowed them to test the engine without needing to be in the car; it had made noise so far, but not successfully turned over . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Grandpa turned the key again and the engine sounded more like it was going to actually go, but then it died.

Sheldon could feel his pulse, as if his heart were pounding on the bones of his ribcage in a desperate effort to escape its confines. He didn't want to spend two days doing this, he wanted the engine to start now!

Grandpa went over to the engine, checking some more things over carefully. Sheldon stepped over to the key, but he didn't touch it, as much as he wanted to just turn the key as hard as he could and get the engine to roar to life.

"Give her a try now," Grandpa said.

"Like, turn the key?" Sheldon asked, astonished.

"What else do you think I'd be asking you to do?" Grandpa asked.

Sheldon's fingers trembled as he reached for the key. Mom and Dad didn't even let him use the remote to autostart the car from the house, forget letting him actually slide into the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition to start the car.

Holding the key between his thumb and the side of his forefinger, Sheldon started to turn it clockwise just like Grandpa had done.

The engine uttered a wheezy throb that increased in intensity and life until suddenly, with a great roar, it turned over.

"Yes!" Sheldon shouted. He put his hands over his mouth as the engine throbbed, he could hardly believe it.

He almost wanted to cry. He couldn't believe it. He'd been able to be a part of getting something that had been completely dead restored back to life.

Sliding his gaze over to Grandpa, Sheldon saw that he actually had tears in his eyes; they'd completed the first step — and goodness knew probably one of the biggest — of bringing the car back to life that meant more to Grandpa than most cars meant to most people, and had that meaning for probably one of the most unexpected reasons.

Sheldon stepped over to Grandpa and gave him a hug. After a few moments Grandpa returned the embrace. Sheldon startled after a moment and released Grandpa. He didn't typically hug people, and the thought that he'd initiated the embrace made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"We did it Grandpa," Sheldon said.

"We most certainly did," Grandpa replied.

Grandpa hugged Sheldon, who let himself be hugged. It probably wasn't the sort of thing that would mean a lot to most people — Sheldon wasn't even sure his friends would get how cool this was — but Sheldon felt like he was the happiest he'd ever been in his life because he'd been able to be a part of bringing something back to life."

Unforeseen Events: Day 13

Word Count: 78,058

Summary of Events:

Emil and Sheldon worked on taking more things out of the car to see if they needed repair or replacement while they waited for the engine parts, and Emil was left with a sinking feeling that fixing the car would take longer than he'd thought. Sheldon learned some rather startling things about his mother as a young woman from Emil and Mr. Graham when Mr. Graham stopped by for lunch on his way home from the car show. 

Excerpt of the Day:

"Gingerly Emil grasped at the base and rotated his hand, they were removing all of the electrical, and, from the looks of things, the electrical was in pretty rough shape; not that Emil was really all that surprised.

In truth, he was pretty sure that the condition of the engine had instilled a false sense of optimism in him that the project would be pretty quick. As much as the engine was in impressively good shape for having been sitting for forty five years, pretty much everything else they'd pulled out so far — aside from the transmission, which was obviously what had necessitated the parking — looked like it had been sitting for forty five years.

He carefully removed the headlight and set it in the tray under the stool he was sitting on, being as his knees were too old for kneeling on hard concrete. He moved the stool over to the other headlight and carefully extracted it in the same fashion.

Holding onto the just-extracted light, Emil grabbed the other one from the tray and stood up. Stepping carefully over the front end of the car, he set them both on the workbench, using pieces of masking tape to indicate which one was left and which one was right.

Emil turned around to get the stool out before he lifted the car again and noticed that Sheldon wasn't there. Sheldon had told him he was going to the bathroom a good — he checked the clock — ten minutes ago. Where was he?

He removed the stool so that he didn't forget and headed toward the house. This last week had been milder, hovering more around the twenty degree mark, and there was a little bit of a breeze coming from the northwest, which was keeping all the silage dust from blowing onto his yard, as the rented field across the road was being turned into feed for dairy cows.

The field which bordered Emil's property to the west was in peas that were almost ready to go for likely the same purpose, and the other field to the north and east was in oats, which would probably stay until September or even October.

"No, I don't," Sheldon said, as if responding to someone as Emil stepped inside.

Emil walked over to the kitchen and found Sheldon with the phone to his ear. Sheldon looked at him and looked almost relieved.

"Um, hey, uh, Grandpa just walked in, do you want to talk to him?" Sheldon asked.

Emil wondered who it was that Sheldon would've answered.

"Yeah I mean Emil, he's my grandpa," Sheldon replied.

He lifted the receiver away from his face and held his hand over the mouthpiece.

"I don't know who she is but she won't stop talking," Sheldon said. "I didn't tell her much about me but she has more than enough to say about everyone else."

"Ah," Emil said. "It's Mrs. Walden, our own local conspiracy theorist.""

Unforeseen Events: Day 12

Word Count: 72,040

Summary of Events:

Sheldon went outside by himself for a bit and ended up being inadvertently locked out of the house by Emil, but not for too long. Emil and Sheldon went to the big car show in Saskatoon and witnessed an accident at the entrance gate when a man tried to cut in front of someone else and got his car smashed. While looking at the cars Sheldon and Emil encountered one of Emil's army friends — who had also been one of his groomsmen — showing his 1933 Dodge truck; they talked for some time before continuing on . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Sheldon followed Grandpa back into the flow of people surveying the trucks.

"He was at your wedding, wasn't he?" Sheldon asked.

"One of the groomsmen, yes," Grandpa replied.

"I thought he looked familiar," Sheldon said.

"Yeah, even if age does change the features a little bit, you can still see the person that was in there," Grandpa said. "Although sometimes having a carbon copy helps."

"Carbon copy?" Sheldon asked.

"I'll have to show you the old photo albums," Grandpa replied. "Then you'll understand."

Sheldon nodded. He wanted to know what a carbon copy even was. He knew the government had carbon taxes, and that carbon dioxide was either what cars put out their exhaust pipes or what people exhaled, and that carbonation made pop fizzy, but none of those things had to do with copying.

He had a feeling he was the carbon copy; he'd noticed — especially in Grandpa's wedding picture — that the two of them looked pretty similar, even now they were practically the same height.

It was funny, though, Sheldon had to admit. Back home everyone had gone on and on about how much he looked like Dad: tall, well filled-out even for fifteen, sultry blue eyes, prominent cheekbones, chiseled jaw, luscious brown hair, but yet according to that picture he looked like Grandpa.

Dad wasn't Grandpa's son. Mom was his daughter. It made Sheldon wonder if Grandpa was somehow related to some Gallaghers closely enough that the same traits could be prominent on both sides of the family and leave him looking like both of them.

Sheldon shook his head and turned his attention back to the trucks. It was incredible to see this many old vehicles close up, all cleaned up and shiny like this, they really looked nice, even if they were ancient.

It got him excited, next year he and Grandpa might be here with the Pontiac, and she would look just as beautiful as these trucks — if not even more beautiful — and he would be able to inform people that he'd helped.

Seeing as it was mostly old guys, or guys that were old enough to be his father, Sheldon was pretty sure that might impress some people, it had certainly seemed to have impressed Mr. Graham that he was involved.

Sheldon wondered if people would be surprised that they brought her back to life after sitting for a good forty five years, or if more of these vehicles had sat that long, rusting away, until someone had decided to restore them to new condition and show people just how beautiful old vehicles could be.

He had to admit, he'd not really seen vehicles this old that often, and he'd always thought of the old cars he'd seen in traffic as outdated, and wondered why the people who drove them didn't get new cars, but even if he still wasn't sold on the idea of cars from the eighties being beautiful, he was totally sold on the idea of vehicles older than that being beautiful."

Unforeseen Events: Day 11

Word Count: 66,103

Summary of Events:

Sheldon and Emil cleaned all the engine parts that could hold liquid and tested them for leaks, deliberately soaking themselves and each other in the process to beat the heat. Later on they went through another photo album, one which contained photos from Emil's wife's funeral, and didn't prompt quite as strong a reaction as the photos of his brother's funeral, which puzzled Sheldon; Emil explained how his brother had been killed, and told Sheldon a little bit more about his brother's family . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""Your brother had kids?" Sheldon asked.

"Five," Emil replied.

"Oh wow," Sheldon said.

"Joseph was twenty two," Emil said quietly. "He was almost a grandpa when he got killed."

"Oh," Sheldon said. "At least he saw one of his kids get married?"

"But not the rest of them," Emil replied, tears blurring his vision.

"No," Sheldon agreed.

"Theresa was ten," Emil whispered.

Sheldon nodded.

The tears that had flooded along the edge of Emil's eyelids breached the precipice and slid through his lashes down his cheeks. Shaky breaths shook him.

"I'm sorry Grandpa," Sheldon said quietly.

Emil put his face in his hands. Still, deep within, that painful ache clawed at him, that pit of loneliness and despair threatened to leap up and swallow him. Surely if he could have at least said goodbye he wouldn't suffer like this.

Just a goodbye, an actual goodbye, like he'd done with Roseanne, where she'd smiled and held his hand before her lids had fallen closed and he'd watched the silent rise and fall of her chest until it'd stopped, the smile remaining etched on her face even as her soul departed the earth.

The shock. He still remembered feeling numb, like he'd died inside but his body had kept on living, Helen's voice ringing hollow, ricocheting off of the empty walls his inside had become when those three words had been uttered.

He'd felt like a shell, and at times like these the feeling came back to him; he felt like a hollow chocolate, except worse, because the chocolate had sat for years and years and was now stale and disgusting.

If not for Roseanne he would still feel like that all the time. She'd resuscitated his insides and kept him alive, and given him the tools he needed to keep on living without her, but still, on occasion, he'd relapse.

"Do you want to talk about something else?" Sheldon asked, sounding almost distressed.

Emil took several deep breaths before dabbing at his eyes with the cuffs of his shirt, he shook his head, not trusting his voice to even utter such a short word as 'no.'

He took several more deep breaths before finally he gave up. His voice was just going to crack whether he liked it or not.

"I don't know why it provokes this response to think about him," Emil whispered, looking Sheldon in the eye. "I know where he is, but still I can't have peace."

"Do you think something would help?" Sheldon asked.

"That's what I'm trying," Emil replied.

"By doing what?" Sheldon asked.

"Fixing the car," Emil replied.

"Haven't you fixed other cars though?" Sheldon asked.

"Yes," Emil replied.

"So then it hasn't worked," Sheldon said.

"Sheldon," Emil said, looking him in the eye. "I didn't expect those cars to give me peace."

"Why not?" Sheldon asked.

"Because they're somebody else's car," Emil replied. "The Pontiac was Charlie's car."

"Uncle Charlie's?" Sheldon asked hesitantly.

"No," Emil replied, somewhat harsher than he meant to. "My brother Charlie.""

Unforeseen Events: Day 10

Word Count: 60,130

Summary of Events:

Sheldon and Emil got to talking about how Sheldon wanted to stay until the car was fixed, with him only fully realising just how things were going to be when he got home — in that his dad wouldn't be around at all, leaving him to be bullied by his sisters and picked on by his mom. Emil, wondering if he shouldn't potentially pursue custody of Sheldon, went to the cemetery to look at his wife's grave, although he came to no resolution on what he should do.

Excerpt of the Day:

"Hearing the crunchy grind of gravel being driven over by a slow-moving vehicle, Sheldon looked over his shoulder to see an old — really old — GMC truck pulling into the yard.

As old as it was — based on the body style — it looked new. All the chrome glistened, as did the glossy burgundy paint on the body. The tires were clean and their white walls were brilliant.

A man who looked really old sat in the passenger seat, and a man who looked as old as the guy they'd gotten the car from was behind the wheel.

The truck pulled up alongside Grandpa's Dodge, which it was definitely smaller than — although by the shape of the hood Sheldon could tell the truck was new enough to have a V engine in it.

Being as its headlights were round and it had a more rounded and even spacey-looking line to it, Sheldon knew it was significantly older than the Dodge; when about it was from, however, he had no clue.

The truck shut off and the driver and passenger got out. For all his age, Sheldon had to admit, he was impressed that the old man only walked with a cane.

"Gene," Sheldon startled at the closeness of Grandpa's voice and realised that he was standing upright beside him.

Stepping forward, Grandpa shook hands heartily with the old man.

"Is Canada Post not good enough for you or what?" Grandpa asked.

"I wanted to see her for myself," the old man — Gene apparently — replied. "The parts delivery was as good an excuse as any."

Grandpa turned and beckoned to Sheldon.

"Gene, this is Sheldon." Grandpa said. "And Sheldon, this is your Great-Uncle Gene Herle."

"Pleasure to meet you," Gene said, holding out a hand.

Sheldon reached his own out to have it heartily grasped by the rather smooth old hand that shook it firmly.

"And this is Annette's cousin Leonard," Grandpa said, indicating the man who'd been driving.

The handshake Sheldon received from Leonard was just as strong as that of his father, and they made Sheldon grateful he only had to shake their hands once.

"Where is she?" Gene asked.

"Right over here," Grandpa replied, leading the way back to the open door.

"I'll be," Gene said quietly, as if the car were sacred. "She's a beaut even in this shape."

"She was well taken care of," Grandpa said. "There's no doubt about that."

"No doubt," Gene agreed. "She'll just need a fresh coat of paint. You wouldn't even have to have her running for the show and she'd win all the prizes."

"Well her upholstery's been taken by the mice," Grandpa said. "But I'll worry about the aesthetics after I've got her going again, of course, that's going to be a challenge.""

Pronunciation:

Herle: hehrl'

Unforeseen Events: Day 9

Word Count: 54,041

Summary of Events:

Sheldon continued to mostly observe as Emil extracted the transmission and started to dismantle it as he had done the engine. Due to the heat of the day a thunderstorm had come that made Sheldon — to Emil's surprise — quite nervous; their sighting of a small funnel cloud didn't help Sheldon's nerves, even though it didn't last long. Emil continued to show Sheldon photo albums, and Sheldon was able to see how his mother had changed from a nice young girl to an angry young woman who had shunned the family. Emil was making breakfast when he got a phone call from his brother-in-law Gene regarding the parts he needed for the engine and they got talking about the car . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""She's going to be a beaut," Gene said. "She going to be ready for the car show next year?"

"I don't know," Emil replied. "It depends on how far we get this summer and if I can get more than the transmission done over winter. She might be ready."

"There aren't many fifty two Pontiacs around, and with the work you do I'm pretty sure she'll get you a best in show if you bring her," Gene said.

"I might have to," Emil said. "If she's ready. I could show her to Helen then too."

"Why to Helen?" Gene asked.

"I would've thought nineteen fifty two Pontiac Star Chief would've rung a bell with you when I called you the other day, considering that you're such a Pontiac aficionado," Emil said.

Gene was silent for a moment. "She's that one? The blue?"

"The same," Emil replied.

"You're kidding," Gene said. "I thought he'd sold her."

"I would've thought the same," Emil replied. "But Rich invited me to the farm to look at a bunch of old vehicles Henry had from over the years, including Dad's Dodge, which actually doesn't look to be in that bad of shape, and there she was."

"Wow," Gene said quietly. "Wow."

Emil nodded, but said nothing.

"You think Helen's going to want her?" Gene asked.

"No," Emil replied. "She know's she's not getting any younger, which is something that doesn't seem to matter to you."

"Hey," Gene said.

"You're two years older than she is," Emil razzed. "You've spent more time than she has."

"I know where it's all going," Gene said. "Len's just as interested in Pontiacs as I am."

"Yeah, and Len's practically my age," Emil said, smiling.

"His boy Joel's interested in them too," Gene said. "Joel wants to buy my Super Chief, but I'm not ready to let her go yet. I want to enjoy her a bit longer."

"Yeah, I don't know who'll get the Star Chief when it gets to that point, but, you know, I have a full decade before I get to that point, so I won't really worry about it too much, I want to get her running first," Emil said.

"You aren't going to give her to Charlie?" Gene asked.

"The kids don't know how much she means to me," Emil replied. "To have found her after all these years, besides, I do want to make sure I clear it with Helen first even though I'm sure she'll have no problem with it. I think Roseanne knew a little bit, but I think, really, only Sheldon knows truly how much she means to me.""

Unforeseen Events: Day 8

Word Count: 48,013

Summary of Events:

Sheldon was helping Emil with the car again and ended up hitting the concrete floor hard when the stubborn piece he was trying to loosen finally gave. At the hospital doctors determined that he'd dislocated his shoulder as well as getting a hairline fracture in his collarbone, but surprisingly no concussion. Emil finished dismantling the engine and ordered the parts that needed to be replaced before showing Sheldon the albums of family photos . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"He stopped at a photo that showed the groom and bride, as well as three groomsmen and three bridesmaids — whose dresses actually looked quite similar to his grandmother's — as well as a little ring bearer and a flower girl.

"Roseanne had her sister Lucy, her cousin Evelyn, and her best friend Josephine stand up with her," his grandfather said. "I had Edgar Graham and Stanley Turnboll, two of my best friends ever, stand up with me, and my brother Charlie."

Sheldon looked at his grandfather. His voice had gotten quiet and almost sort of choked-up sounding when he'd said Charlie.

"His kids, Elizabeth and Timothy, were the flower girl and ring bearer," his grandfather said, still quiet. . . .

 . . . On the back of the page that had been flipped was more casual photos, including one of a little baby Sheldon knew without being told was his mother. It was weird, actually, to see her so tiny and helpless, almost as weird as it was to see baby pictures of himself.

Across, on the other page, were pictures of a funeral with a Canadian flag-draped casket. Sheldon glanced up at his grandfather's face and saw tears silently making their way down his cheeks.

All kinds of soldiers were in the pictures, and Sheldon had a chilling feeling he knew exactly who had died: his grandfather's brother Charlie.

It made sense, considering his youngest uncle was named the same name. It would make sense for him to be named in honour of someone who'd died.

Without a word his grandfather flipped the page, and continued flipping at the leisurely pace he'd been flipping at before until he reached more baby photos.

His grandfather didn't need to tell him these were baby Charlie either, considering all the pictures he'd seen of his mother's growth, he could tell there had been one boy and four girls.

After the pause at the page with Charlie's newborn pictures on it his grandfather continued flipping to the end of the book.

Sheldon felt like he should say something, or do something. He felt bad, like it was his fault his grandfather was so sad about that. How could he have known? He knew nothing of his grandfather's family.

"I'm sorry Sheldon," his grandfather whispered. "It's still hard."

His grandfather got to his feet and put the album back.

"I'll be outside looking at getting the transmission out if you need anything," his grandfather said, heading to the dining room, where he fetched the wagon and towed it toward the door.

Sheldon sat silently on the couch. Why had his grandfather apologised to him? It wasn't like it was really his grandfather's fault that he was sad.

Slowly Sheldon got to his feet and headed for the door. Part of him was burning to know more about this, but part of him didn't dare broach the topic, lest his grandfather get upset at him for probing into it."

Unforeseen Events: Day 7

Word Count: 42,228

Summary of Events:

Sheldon felt sick from eating all that sugar, which got him fussed over by his aunts; one of his aunts postulated that it might be food poisoning instead, which made Sheldon nervous, even though no one else seemed concerned. Emil bid his family farewell before getting started extracting the engine from the car; he was mostly done that task when he saw it was lunchtime, and so went in to eat, as well as  to get Sheldon outside per the challenge. Sheldon heard something in the garage and came to see what Emil was doing, he was soon helping Emil take apart the engine while learning from Emil how engines functioned. 

Excerpt of the Day:

"Tossing the berries gently in the strainer as he rinsed them, Emil thought about the change. It had been somewhat sudden, and he couldn't say that he really understood it.

He shut off the water and tossed the berries until the worst of the dripping was done, he then poured the berries into a bowl and set it by the stove.

In the last three days Sheldon had come out to the garage as soon as he was awake and gotten involved in taking the engine apart. He seemed genuinely fascinated by the whole thing and raptly listened to Emil's every explanation about the different functions of an engine.

Emil poured the sugar, flour, and lemon juice over the berries and set the timer for fifteen minutes before turning his attention to the plastic bag holding a wedge of pie crust dough he'd brought out of the freezer.

He hadn't even seen Sheldon's phone since Sunday, when Sheldon had lain miserable and ill on the couch after all the sugar he'd eaten on Saturday. Sheldon had quite fully immersed himself in learning how an engine worked.

As he pre-flattened the dough on the floured counter with the heels of his hands, Emil wondered if he didn't have a budding mechanic on his hands.

All of his grandsons had helped in the garage at one point or another, and they'd all found his explanations interesting, but there seemed to be something different about Sheldon's rapt attention, it was almost as if Sheldon couldn't get enough of it.

He smiled at the memory of when Patricia had brought Ben and David over for two weeks back when they'd been about Sheldon's age to study science through vehicles as part of their homeschooling curriculum.

It had been fun, and Ben and David had been interested and decently eager, but Sheldon seemed doubly so, even if he didn't ask as many questions as Ben and David had, and even though Patricia — who had always loved science — wasn't there to give all sorts of complex explanations regarding the physics and chemistry behind it all.

That was one thing that none of his children or grandchildren had ever pursued was mechanics. Sure, Charlie and Matthew were in the army, but Charlie was a chaplain and Matthew was a pilot.

Pretty much every son and grandson had studied mechanics in school, but none of them had gone beyond that. Emil wondered if Sheldon would turn out to be the mechanic of the family.

The dough was thin enough that Emil could see where the flour had gathered into clusters and where the countertop was bare of flour. Mom had told him that was when the dough was suitable for putting into the pie plate — as if she'd known someday he'd be an active widower who'd need to bake his own pies."

Unforeseen Events: Day 6

Word Count: 36,072

Summary of Events:

Emil and one of his grandson-in-laws discussed a variety of things largely revolving around Sheldon. Sheldon wasn't enjoying himself at the community picnic until he discovered there was dessert available, so he got himself two plates worth; he ended up sitting with his cousin Matthew, who was disgusted by the ridiculous amount of sugary food, and so presented him with a challenge . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""Starting sunup tomorrow, if you can go without eating more than one cookie, or brownie, or piece of pie, or ice cream — not one of each, one total — a day for the whole rest of the summer, I'll give you two hundred bucks," Matthew said. "And, if you spend at least an hour outside without your phone in front of your face every day starting tomorrow I'll give you an extra three hundred bucks."

Sheldon shifted his jaw. The money was tantalising. Mom didn't even give him half that in allowance, not to mention she didn't buy him anything over fifty bucks unless it was his birthday or Christmas. Dad was more inclined to give him more expensive things, but being as he was in prison now Sheldon was pretty sure that was going to come to a halt; to have that kind of money would give him the ability to get himself what he wanted.

The catch was, in order to get it, he needed to do things he didn't want to do. He didn't want to suffer without sugar like that, and he didn't want to be outside. What was there to do outside without friends and a skate park?

It would only be for the summer. Unfortunately, the summer was two months, which was a long time. He couldn't imagine the idea of suffering for that long.

"Come on, I think you can do it," Matthew said.

Sheldon gathered his lips. He wanted the money, but he didn't want to have to do what Matthew was asking him to do to get it. He was pretty sure his grandfather would hold him to it if he were to agree too.

"You come from a long family lineage of tough guys who've stuck it out through worse stuff," Matthew said. "Surely my challenge isn't too hard for you."

"I don't want to do it," Sheldon replied.

"That's why it's a challenge," Matthew said. "Challenges are often not only difficult, but involve a little bit of undesirability. Like my joining the military. It's a challenge, and I haven't always wanted to do the work required, but I've stuck it out and found that there's been a reward in fighting through the stuff that isn't fun. I think you'll find the same thing through this if you just do it."

Sheldon looked at the two plates of dessert before him. Could he let this be the last sugar he'd eat all summer?

"Come on, you're just about bigger than Thomas and he's got two years on you," Matthew said. "Don't tell me you can't do this."

Setting his jaw, Sheldon glared at Matthew. "You're going to regret this."

Matthew smiled. "Challenge accepted?"

"Challenge accepted," Sheldon replied.

He wasn't going to let anyone think he was a weakling. He was going to earn himself probably the easiest five hundred bucks in his life."

Unforeseen Events: Day 5

Word Count: 30,161

Summary of Events:

Emil was visited by Major's oldest resident, 96-year-old Edwin, and invited him to stay for lunch; Sheldon got into something of an argument with Edwin before storming off angrily and making Emil feel bad. Sheldon was informed by Emil that his maternal aunts, uncles, cousins, and children of cousins were going to be coming over for Canada Day weekend. Emil and Sheldon returned from picking up tires for the car to find the first of the relatives had arrived; two of Emil's grandsons helped him put the tires on the car. Sheldon felt awkward meeting all these relatives for the first time . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"A fire roared in the fire pit behind the house, over which people were roasting hot dogs on sticks while his cousin Brandon grilled burgers on a charcoal barbecue close by.

Back from the crowd, Sheldon sat on the hammock and watched them. All he'd known for extended family — aside from Gramp, Nan, Pop, and Gran — had been his Aunt Lori, Uncle Brian, cousins Tiffany and Travis, with their respective spouses Dylan and Melissa, and Dylan and Tiffany's two kids: Mason and Arianna.

Now he had five aunts and uncles, seventeen cousins, and twelve kids of cousins, and all of them were here save his Uncle Charlie and Aunt Christine, their kids: Anna, Jordan, and Sydney, and his cousin Matthew.

It seemed, from what Sheldon had noticed, that everyone wanted to see his cousin Matthew. Sheldon hadn't a clue why. What was so special about him? Once his cousin who'd texted had gotten back an affirmative reply from Matthew that he was coming there'd seemed to be an increase in excitement, it was like everyone was waiting for Matthew to get there.

Sliding off the hammock, Sheldon headed back toward the house. He wasn't sure he wanted to wade through the crowd for a hot dog or a hamburger, and he knew there were leftovers — and his grandfather thankfully had a microwave.

Sheldon noticed something out the corner of his eye as he got close to the house. He stopped and turned to see a young man also in a military dress uniform.

"Everyone else is back there?" he asked.

Sheldon nodded.

"You look familiar but not," he said, coming around the Dodge. "Who are you?"

"Sheldon Gallagher," Sheldon replied.

"Are you a cousin?" he asked.

"I'm Annette's son," Sheldon replied.

"Well I'm, to be technical, Corporal Matthew Owens, Royal Canadian Air Force," he said, offering a hand.

Sheldon shook it out of force of habit. So this was the iconic Matthew everyone was waiting for.

"Are you staying with Grandpa?" Matthew asked.

Sheldon nodded.

"I guess I get to stay in the basement then," Matthew said.

Sheldon was confused.

"You make me feel under-dressed Matthew," Sheldon turned at the sound of his grandfather's voice.

Matthew smiled and chuckled before wrapping his grandfather in an embrace.

"You're going to demote me to the basement Grandpa?" Matthew asked. "Now that I officially have a rank?"

"I guess so," his grandfather replied. "I'd presume you two made introductions?"

"Just did," Matthew replied.

"You might want to unload now before anyone notices you're here," his grandfather said. "They're all waiting for you."

Matthew chuckled. "Considering the text I got from Jon, I'm not surprised. I think that's a good idea."

Sheldon watched silently as the two of them headed back to Matthew's vehicle. He still didn't see what was so special about Matthew. He was in the RCAF, so what? He'd just been introduced to an uncle who was a military chaplain, what was the difference? They were both in the army."

Unforeseen Events: Day 4

Word Count: 24,032

Summary of Events:

Emil unloaded the car and put it up on blocks before taking measurements from one of the tires and calling the nearest tire shop to order replacements so that he could roll the car into the garage to get to work on repairing it. Sheldon came down for supper and got into a terse discussion about driving that led him to be invited to try and drive Emil's standard-transmission pickup; Sheldon figured it out not too badly, except for the part where he hit the ditch right out of the driveway. After getting the truck out of the ditch and cleaning up supper Emil went outside to feed the bones from their steak dinner to Chief and enjoy a summer evening . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Emil settled down on the hammock and sighed. He'd heard Sheldon slam the door from out in the truck, and he'd heard Sheldon's sobs the entire time he'd washed the day's dishes.

He wished Roseanne were here to explain to him what he'd done wrong. He certainly felt like he'd been good and gentle, something he hadn't always been with his kids — in fact, they all joked that he was too soft on his grandkids, but they all had told him they were okay with that because it wasn't his job to raise his grandkids, it was their jobs.

Was it because Annette had told Sheldon he was horrible and mean? Would this entire summer be spent banging his head against the metaphorical wall of Sheldon because not even his nicest acts would be able to change Sheldon's perceptions?

Or was it because he was actually doing something wrong?

Emil looked at the sky. He never thought he'd find himself asking the question, but he couldn't help himself: why had Roseanne been taken from him so soon? If Roseanne were here she surely would've softened Sheldon up with purely a smile.

Roseanne had always had the quality of being disarming. That was part of why — and how — he'd fallen in love with her. She'd always thought the best of people that she knew could be better, and pitied those who couldn't seem to.

Emil had sometimes quipped that what the world really needed was for her to visit all the hostile leaders, like the presidents of the Soviet Union, and things would've become peaceful a lot sooner. Roseanne had always laughed her sweet laugh and hugged him before remarking that she was sure it would all turn out without her intervention.

She had really softened and disarmed a lot of people over the years. Annette was probably her only failure, unless he counted Henry. She'd offered to help him with Henry, but he'd felt it would be awkward, and so had told her he'd do it. As it turned out, maybe he should've asked her, maybe then Henry would've listened.

He startled when he felt a cold nose against his hand. Sitting up, Emil tossed another bone and watched as Chief caught it in mid-air just as he had the first.

Emil laid back and sighed. He couldn't undo the past. Roseanne was gone, and there was no way for him to get advice from her on how to handle the situation.

It didn't take long before Chief was back for the next bone. Once he'd thrown it, Emil got up and headed back to the house — even though the shade and the soft breeze made it a lovely evening for sitting outside and relaxing, his mind was too unsettled."

Unforeseen Events: Day 3

Word Count: 18,066

Summary of Events:

Sheldon was startled out of his sleep by a car engine and came down to find Emil driving an old hot rod car; Emil gave him toast for breakfast and they got into something of an argument that sent Sheldon to his room upset. Emil took the car for a bit of a drive before calling its owner to let him know his car was fixed, he then made lunch and took Sheldon with him to the family farm where he made an unexpected discovery amongst the cars. Sheldon, not understanding the fascination, watched Emil bemusedly . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""I can't believe it," his grandfather said, his voice the barest of whispers.

Sheldon looked at the other guy. He looked bemused; so it wasn't worth asking him what his grandfather was talking about then.

He watched as his grandfather slowly walked around the car. When he came around to be heading back in their direction Sheldon noticed that tears were streaking his grandfather's cheeks.

"After all these years," his grandfather whispered. "After all these years."

"You wanna work on that one first?" the other guy asked.

His grandfather startled as if he'd forgotten they were there. "Do you want to keep this one?"

"Nah," the other guy replied. "Not really. I never saw it other than here. Don't know whose it was."

"I have to do this," his grandfather said.

"I'll go get the tractor to pull her out then," the other guy said.

"Why would Henry have it?" his grandfather asked as the other guy walked away. "Or had Mom asked to keep it?"

Sheldon didn't get it. It was just a car. What was his grandfather getting all sappy about? It didn't even look that nice, it was just an ancient car that had been sitting and rotting for years.

"I never thought I'd find it," his grandfather said.

It was lost? It sure didn't look lost. Sheldon was confused. He looked over his shoulder at the sound of an engine and watched as the other guy drove an old, cabless tractor that looked little better than a lot of the cars they'd seen.

Sheldon glanced back at his grandfather and watched as his grandfather tugged on the bumper before going around and peeking in the driver's side window. He then assessed the front tire.

"Go around back Sheldon, we'll need to push," his grandfather said.

Sheldon sighed and trudged around as the tractor pulled up. The other guy got off, carrying a couple nylon straps and some chains. His grandfather took them while the other guy manoeuvred the tractor so that its rear end was facing the front of the car.

The nylon straps and chains were fed together and apparently around and under the car before being attached to the tractor. The tractor was edged forward to hold them taut before his grandfather came around behind the car and set his hands on the trunk.

Sheldon followed suit and waited for when his grandfather's muscles strained as the tractor engine revved.

The car seemed stuck, as Sheldon pushed at it, but didn't feel like he was getting anywhere.

Suddenly the car shifted and then started to move. Sheldon stepped forward with the car until suddenly it moved really quickly and left him to face-plant in the grass.

Sheldon immediately scrambled to his feet and watched as the car moved in a hobbling sort of motion across the shorter grass the truck was parked on. All four tires on the car appeared to be flat and solid, as the flatness didn't stay at the bottom."

Unforeseen Events: Day 2

Word Count: 12,011

Summary of Events:

Sheldon was brought some supper by Emil; not all that long after the bus depot was closing, so Sheldon was forced to go with Emil. Emil showed Sheldon to his room before finding that he'd been left a message by the son of his estranged brother, but he decided to wait and return the call in the morning. Sheldon discovered that Emil's house lacked internet, cell phone service, snacks, and TV and wondered how he'd survive the summer. Emil left Sheldon to sleep in and had breakfast, he intended to finish working on his latest project and then maybe show Sheldon around town . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"The phone ringing startled him. He looked to see who was calling.

It was Rich.

He snatched up the receiver. "Good morning."

"Morning, um, did you get my message yesterday?" Rich asked, sounding uncomfortable.

"I did," Emil replied. "It was late when I did, though, so I figured I'd call you back today, but you beat me to it."

"Oh, um, well, I doubt you heard Dad passed," Rich said.

"No, I didn't," Emil said quietly, his shoulder sagging. Considering Henry had been eighty three, he wasn't surprised, but he was sad. "Was it peaceful?"

"Yep," Rich replied. "He's been gone a month already. I thought Mom might give you a call, Aunt Helen maybe, I guess everybody thought somebody else was going to."

Emil nodded. It wasn't the first time, unfortunately.

"Well, anyways, Mom moved into Kindersley close to Paul, so Debbie and I've been going through the yard and cleaning up some of the stuff Dad wouldn't let me get rid of for various reasons," Rich said. "And there's some old vehicles here, so I was wondering if you'd be interested in looking at them. There's a couple I wouldn't mind getting fixed up to keep, and I know one of Mark's girls is partial to Grandpa's old Dodge. I think she's interested in getting it fixed up for her wedding, even though she's not engaged yet. The rest you could just fix up and sell or whatever."

"I'll have to come by and take a look, probably after lunch," Emil said. "I've got a Chevy here that I've almost got back into shape, and I don't actually have a project waiting, so maybe I'll come see about one of those. You going to be around?"

"Yep," Rich replied. "Come by whenever."

"Alright, I will, and I'll bring my trailer just in case I find something worth starting on," Emil said. "I guess we'll see you later."

"See you then," Rich said.

Emil set the receiver down; despite his best efforts, tears spilled from his eyes.

Henry was gone.

Yes, it was no surprise, Henry was ten years his senior, and he wasn't exactly young anymore, but he'd wanted to make things right before Henry left, and Henry had never let him. Now they could never make right.

Emil made his way outside, where Chief was waiting for his breakfast. Sitting down on the step, Emil pulled Chief into his arms and sobbed against the big Lab's black coat.

All-too-clearly his mind replayed the footage: he and Henry, face-to-face, shouting thoughtless, angry, barbed words at each other, fists clenched at their sides.

He'd ended the argument by making a pompous and immature declaration befitting his then-eighteen years before storming off to his pickup truck and speeding off in a cloud of dust and gravel."

Unforeseen Events: Day 1

Word Count: 6,079

Summary of Events:

Sheldon arrived at the airport and was unable to find his way out before his mom's school friend who was to meet him found him; she took him for lunch and got him onto the bus for the next leg of the trip despite his best efforts. Emil got a call from his daughter that Sheldon was on his way and headed out to meet him. Sheldon arrived at the bus depot and found himself without enough money to keep going toward Toronto on the bus, and so was forced to stay; he watched an older man come in and talk with the depot employees and realised the man was there to collect him . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"The man turned to face Sheldon, who looked him over slowly. So this was his grandfather, the apparently brutal military man who'd — to hear Mom say it — ruined her teenage years by trying to keep her from drinking and partying and whatnot like she wanted to.

Considering there were worse fathers out there, like the ones who beat or murdered their children, Sheldon had always wondered if Mom's dad was actually that bad.

Seeing the man, Sheldon couldn't say he believed anything Mom said.

Yes, his grandfather was tall, strong, and fit for a man of over seventy years, but he'd sounded genuinely jovial and friendly to the old man.

His grandfather stepped toward him. His neat, clean-cut appearance suggested he had, indeed, once been a military man, although his haircut looked straight out of a black and white photo from the 1950s, and he looked like age had softened his features somewhat.

"Ready to go Sheldon?" his grandfather asked.

"I'm not going anywhere but Toronto," Sheldon spat.

"There's no beds here to stay for the night Sheldon," his grandfather replied. "Even if you want to get back to Toronto you're going to need to come with me at least until tomorrow morning."

Setting his jaw, Sheldon crossed his arms, daring his grandfather to make him.

His grandfather's eyes, deep blue and all-too-reminiscent of Sheldon's own for his comfort, looked at him with something of a brusque coolness, the sort of detachment he would've expected out of a military man, but yet there was a slight difference.

His grandfather's eyes and expression suggested, on one hand, that he was willing to wait as long as Sheldon might hold out against him, and, on the other hand, that he felt bad, like, that he didn't want to take Sheldon with him, or that he felt bad that Sheldon was unhappy.

It made it mildly uncomfortable for Sheldon to look at him seeing that tinge of sympathy. He wished his grandfather would stop looking at him.

After a while that lasted far longer than Sheldon appreciated, his grandfather sighed and looked past him out the window.

"I can't say you don't have Owens blood in you," his grandfather said, bringing his gaze back to meet Sheldon's. "You're just as bullheaded as the lot of us. If it doesn't incite violence I'll take your stuff to the truck. Come when you're ready."

Sheldon didn't move as his grandfather slung the backpack onto a shoulder and took a suitcase handle in each hand before heading outside. Sheldon didn't look over his shoulder, instead he fixed his gaze on the wall behind the counter. He wasn't leaving here unless he was assured that he was going to be heading to Toronto."