Amirhan, Part 6 - Pull

When we came back from the badger's nest, Enembe was still working with the panels. He raised his head as he heard us coming.

- The problem is partly fixed, he announced. - It was the badger, it had gnawed a power cord and caused a short circuit. I had to switch a fuse and replace the cord, but now the system is working and we get a few hours of solar power before dusk.

- Great work, Enembe, I knew you would save us in no time, I cheered. Bwana looked more cautious.

- Do we have spear power cords?, she asked Enembe.

- No, not really, he answered. - Actually we didn't have any, so I had to take one from the ground drill, which we cannot use now, not during light hours anyway.

- Hm. Ground drill is not critical at the moment, but solar power is, and we should have a spear power cord. I think that Enembe and Ndali, you should go to the village and buy it and some other equipment. We could also fill our food reserves at the same time, so we don't need to go there next week.

- Okeydokey, Bwana, I said. Bwana frowned but didn't say anything. I should try to watch my language. - It will be fun to go for a change. I's good to see new people - I mean, not that I wouldn't want to see you, too.

- Well, we could go immediately, thought Enembe aloud. - We can get pretty far before dusk and reach Ashakati before night. Then we will have a full day to buy whatever is needed and come back tomorrow night.

- Good plan. Check the shopping list before you go, but I recall that it only had some routine stuff. Take the wheelbarrow, said Bwana (I mean Svetlana. I should stop even thinking about that word.)

We quickly packed for one night's trip and set off. Enembe was cycling the wheelbarrow. It was actually a mixture of an electric bike and a cart. It had two wheels in front and a pallet for cargo. It had a saddle and pedals like a bicycle, and a support for one or two people to stand in back. I was walking, because it was harder to move around in snow, and we wanted to make sure that we had enough battery on our way back when we had a heavy load. On a smooth road the vehicle would easily go five times faster than we moved now, but the speed was not critical now. We should reach the village in four or five hours, which was well before midnight. We knew that we could go to Khorixas's place for the night. He was always very friendly to us and a science fan, so he would spend the whole time available asking all kinds of questions about our research.

- I hate this snow, Enembe complained while pedalling. He was sweating. - It makes this really hard work. Why does it not melt already? This must be a record frost in this area. Termperature always goes above freezing point during daytime. What is wrong with the sun?

- O shush, enjoy while you can. We can do all kinds of winter sports now - well could if we had skis or sleds. Or we can build a snowman with Khorixas. He'd love an explanation about what keeps snow attached in snowballs. I bet he hasn't seen snow before this.

Enembe let out a quiet grunt of disagreement, but when I glimpsed him from the corner of my eye, I could see a small smile on his face. The idea of a snowman was amusing to him although he would never admit that.

- I'll take a rope from my backpack and attach it to the front of the wheelbarrel. Then I can pull it and help your pedalling without using the battery, I said. Enembe didn't hide his smile any more.

- Could you do that? Thanks, it would really help this work.

Enembe paused for a while to think. I was sure he was thinking of something to complain, because that's what he does. But he didn't say anything, just attached the rope and started pedalling. I took the other end of the rope and started pulling, and we continued our trek in silcene.

- I bet we'll have wind against us tomorrow on our way back, he finally said. It took so long to come up with such a lame complaint that he must have been in good mood, after all.

The snow slowed us down more than we thought, so it was midnight when we knocked Khorixas's door. First there was nothing, so I knocked again louder. Then I realised that the doorstep was covered with snow, with only our footprints on it. I looked at the front yard, and it had been intact before our arrival. Even the small street in front of his house had pure white snow cover.

What was going on with this village?
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The topic for tomorrow is Star.