Cisco and Tam were at the workshop, setting things up for their new project.
“Do you think we can manage without Shaun and Suki?” Cisco asked, helping Tam tie the heavy cloth to a wooden frame.
“Oh, we’ll do fine, but they’re going to be mad that they missed the fun,” Tam replied.
“We want to stretch the cloth on this frame, just like we would if we were drying an animal skin,” Cisco told him.
“If you want to start milking some Moonglow pods into a bowl, I’ll lash together a rack so we can suspend the whole thing over a bed of hot coals.”
“Do you really think this is going to work?” Tam asked, bringing over a basket of Moonglow pods.
“Well, we need to find a replacement for the thatch covering on our roofs,” Cisco said. “First, I thought of using overlapping animal skins, but that would take too many that we don’t have.”
“So, I thought maybe we can make ‘fake’ animal skins. That’s what we’re doing here. Whether it will work or not, let’s find out.”
With the glowing coals spread evenly and the support rack in place, they proceeded to the next step.
“I’ll hold the frame steady while you paint the cloth with the Moonglow resin,” Tam said, holding the frame up off the ground.
“So, should I paint the top and bottom, or just let it soak through from the top?” Cisco mumbled to himself, holding the bowl of resin and a brush.
“I think having it soak all the way through will be best,” he decided.
It took a little effort to work the resin into the cloth, but it was finally ready to go over the hot coals.
“Grab one end, and we’ll get this set on the rack,” Tam said, carefully positioning the frame over the bed of coals. “How long do you think this is going to take?”
“Good question,” Cisco replied. “We want to heat it up to where it starts to get stiff. I don’t think we want it rock hard, though. I don’t think the cloth could take that kind of heat.”
“So, basically we want it to be a little flexible, just like a dried animal skin,” Tam said.
“Exactly,” Cisco said. “We have some resin left over. Hand me a piece of that cloth. I’ll paint it up, and we can put it on a piece of slate right on top of the coals. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.”
“Okay, you paint while I oil up a piece of slate,” Tam said, looking around for the jar of oil.
With the framed cloth held over the coals and the smaller piece of cloth heating up on the piece of slate, Cisco and Tam sat back to wait and see what would happen.
“You know, this could take a while,” Tam said. “Why don’t I go get us something to munch on while we wait?”
“Good idea, and grab a water skin while you’re at it.”
Some while later, the results were in… one win and one “well, what did you expect.”
“Now this, my friend, is a great fake animal skin,” Tam said, holding up the stiff, resin-coated cloth.
“It does look pretty good,” Cisco agreed, “but it’s no good if it’s going to catch fire.”
“See what happened to the piece we had cooking on the slate,” he said, examining the resin-coated cloth. “The resin coating seems intact, though it’s now rock hard, but the cloth inside is completely charred.”
“So, is that a failure?” Tam asked.
“Not necessarily,” Cisco said. “The cloth charred because the resin coating kept it from getting air. No air, no flame. That might be a good result.”
“Let’s try to simulate what might actually happen. Take the panel that was in the frame and prop it up as if it were on a roof.”
“Okay, I’m a wind-blown ember,” Cisco said, dragging a glowing coal out of the fire and onto the center of the panel. “And the wind is still blowing.” Cisco leaned down and blew on the coal, causing it to give off sparks and bursts of flame.
After a few minutes, he let Tam take his place, keeping the ‘ember’ alive.
Finally, they shook the coal off the panel and examined the damage.
“Well, the panel didn’t catch fire,” Cisco stated. “And just as importantly, the coal didn’t burn through,” he demonstrated, rapping on the blackened spot with a claw. “The spot’s baked hard, but there’s no burn through.”
“Okay, that’s good,” Tam said. “But, suppose the ember lands on the panel where it contacts the wood of the roof structure. Will enough heat transfer through the panel to start that wood on fire?”
“Let’s find out,” Cisco said. “Go find a flat piece of wood.”
With the panel lying on the wood, Cisco dragged another coal onto the panel directly over the wood. This time, Cisco fanned the coal to life using the test piece of resin cloth.
“I was getting lightheaded blowing on the coal before,” he grinned. “This should work just as well.”
After about 10 minutes, they checked the wood.
“You can feel where it got hot,” Tam said, running his hand over the wood, “but there’s no sign of any burning.”
“That’s good,” Cisco said, “but I’m still not satisfied. Set it up again with the wood in a new place, and we’ll leave a coal on it for a couple of hours. Then we’ll see just how good it is.”
Checking back a few hours later, the results were the same. The panel had held up, preventing the coal from burning through, and the wood underneath was undamaged.
“Okay,” Cisco said after examining the panel and the wood, “I think we’ll go with this.”
“So, the panel is about two feet by three feet. Is that the size we want, or should we go bigger?”
“This size was pretty easy to make,” Tam said. “Let’s go ahead and make enough of these to see how they work on an actual roof.”
“Okay,” Cisco said, “we’ll have to set up a system to produce these panels in quantity.”
“Now I wish Shaun and Suki were here,” Tam said. “We could use the help.”
“I think they’re due back in the next day or two,” Cisco said. “We’ll just have to manage until then.”
Juni and Breezy were still working on the cookhouse.
“How did we get roped into this job anyway?” Juni grumbled, still sanding down the walls.
“We were the only ones dumb enough not to have something more important to do,” Breezy replied with a shrug.
“The thing is, I’m not sure we’re doing much good. We’ve hauled out all the ash and debris, and we even got some of the cats to help us replace the top few inches of dirt on the floor, and it still smells like we’re standing in an ash pit.”
“I’d hate to have to tear it all down and start over again,” Juni said, looking around where the cats had shared many good meals. “You mentioned the idea of painting the walls. Do you think that would kill the smell?”
“It would sure look better,” Breezy replied. “But about the smell? I’m not sure. Let’s ask Cisco, he might know something about that.”
“We need a break anyway,” Juni said. “Let’s go find him.”
“Hi, I see you two are still working on the cookhouse,” Cisco greeted them. “Do you think you’ll ever get all that soot out of your fur?”
“We were thinking of just dying our fur black to avoid that whole problem,” Juni grinned. “We do have a question for you, though.”
“The cookhouse still stinks from the fire, and nothing we’ve done seems to help. Would a coating of whitewash kill the smell?”
Considering the idea, Cisco finally said, “Yes, I think it would. I’m trying to remember what Isis said about wanting to whitewash her kitchen. Let’s go talk to her.”
“Why don’t you come with us, Tam. This might turn out to be a supply problem.”
A few minutes later, they were all standing outside Isis’s cabin.
“Did someone forget to tell me there was a meeting scheduled?” Isis grinned. “Or did you break something important?”
“We need to access your vast store of knowledge, O Mighty One,” Cisco said with a laugh, and a bow.
“Yes, my children, how can I help you,” she joked back.
“Breezy and Juni wanted to use whitewash on the cookhouse to kill the smell of the fire,” Cisco explained. “I thought that would work, but I remembered there was something else about using whitewash, so I figured it was best to ask you.”
Isis had to smile. “You were right, it will block the smell, but there are other reasons why it’s a good idea to use it, especially where cooking is involved.”
“The whitewash will help prevent mold and deter bugs and vermin, and the bonus is that it makes everything look clean and bright.”
“Okay,” Breezy said, “we’ll finish sanding the char off the walls, then we’ll slap on some whitewash.
“So, where do we get the whitewash?” Juni asked, rubbing her hands together.
“We make it ourselves,” Isis replied. “Once we get all the ingredients.”
“So, what do we need?” Juni asked. “Some white stuff and some water.”
“Very good, except we need two kinds of white stuff,” Isis said. “Salt and lime.”
“And though we have the salt, it takes a special kind of processed lime. And that we don’t have.”
“Let me guess,” Cisco said. “It’s time for another trip to see our friend Olaf at the Fiery village.