The Pond - Part 25

Time passed and things quieted down again. The heat of summer drove more people to the pond to cool off, but that same heat was causing the pond to shrink in size as the water evaporated faster than it could be replenished.

Izolda did not trust the quiet. Still, the miasma of corruption overshadowing the pond lessened, and the weight of the knowledge something was not right eased.

But the pond was not the only body of water affected by the drought. The water level in the river began to go down as well, until it was at the point where it hampered the working of the sawmill. Nikolai, however, was resourceful. The sawmill was not the only way to split wood.

He and his brother went to the city and returned with wedges to be used to split the logs into timber as they’d done in the old country. While split timber was much stronger than sawn timber, it also tended to be warped or crooked because it followed the grain of the wood instead of cutting across it. So they also brought back the large, two-handed saws to be used in pit-sawing.

The work was harder and the days longer, but no one complained and no one starved as they did in other communities. But then one day a body was discovered in one of the trenches that had been dug for the pit sawing. It was Sasha, Nikolai’s oldest brother. It was believed that he fell into the pit and hit his head on a rock, but no one could explain why there was water in his lungs.

A month later, when the community had barely recovered from Sasha's loss, the body of Nikolai’s foreman was found floating face down in what was left of the river. Obviously, he had tripped and fallen into the water as he was trying to cross. But no one had any idea why he’d felt the need to cross, and why he’d drowned when he was a strong swimmer and the water was not deep. Clearly, he must have hit his head, although there was no mark to show it.

Finally, the rains came and life returned to normal. The pits were filled in and the two-handed saws put away. The pond also returned to it’s normal size, but with the cooler weather few ventured near it.

The seasons changed and a layer of ice covered the pond. An ice skating party was planned as part of the Christmas celebrations. The day was crisp and cold. Laughter rang out over the pond as couples glided over the smooth surface while children darted in and out among them.

Suddenly there was an ominous cracking noise, and the ice in the center of the pond gave way. Screams replaced the laughter. Sixteen people ended up in the frigid water, but only three didn't make it out alive. The boy, Ned, who had narrowly escaped drowning the summer before, and though he’d vowed never to swim in the pond again he’d been talking into skating, and the two friends who’d saved him.