Bork had a week in which to do things for his “test”, and although he intended to focus most of that time on his plans and drawings, he decided to start with some work on the wall.  Having heard something moving under the floorboards, the dwarf checked around the perimeter of the house for burrows, or other likely entrances for animals in the foundations of the house.  It had been abandoned and in disrepair for a while, and who knew what sort of vermin had decided to make themselves at home in that interval?  

He saw no signs of burrows, nor did he see any groundhogs galumphing about in the nearby fields. He did notice a spot where the ground had been freshly disturbed at the base of the wall.  Looking more closely, he saw traces of sawdust on the ground.  He shrugged.  Any number of persons or things could have come by here.  There being no obvious hole or other entry, it might be unrelated to what he had heard.  But he would pay attention to that particular spot in the near future.

He paced around the house, tracing what he judged to be the best course for a wall.  The lot was flat enough that he could probably put it wherever he liked.  He would need to stake out the intended course, dig a shallow trench, and put in a gravel bed first.  Fishing out his abacus, the dwarf figured the volume of gravel he would need.  That would need to be ordered from the quarry as soon as possible.  He would ask the goblin to help with that.  Then he needed landscaping stakes, which he would get from Patmor the carpenter, another item in his note for Ms. Drom.  For a third item, he needed tools.  A few shovels and spades and a wheelbarrow would do for now.  He only needed one hatchet and mallet, and he had those.   

Once he had these requests together and handed to the clerk, he would start walking about the town, looking for some of these “boys who are hanging about town” to find out if they were both able-bodied and able-witted enough to do basic work, and whether they would actually do so if asked.  If all went as planned, he could have them well along with digging the trench this time tomorrow.  He would just need to make sure he could pay them.  He also talked to the innkeeper about some sandwiches for them.

Having done all that, Bork would then get the things he would need for work out of the inn and moved into his office, and have an early dinner.  The balance of the evening would be spent sketching ideas in chalk on his office walls…. (to be continued)