Gedda Foss's Arc

Chapter 3 of 6

She came back at dawn with mortar and wire brushes. Gedda watched from the doorway as she set her tools beside the kiln and rolled up her sleeves. The cracked firebox needed clearing before she could patch it. She reached inside and pulled out the half-finished vase, turning it in her hands. The clay had dried unevenly where the heat had stopped mid-fire. She looked at him. "Should I move this somewhere safe?" Gedda's throat went tight. The vase had been inside the kiln for three weeks. He'd left it there on purpose—half-glazed, half-fired, frozen in the moment his mother had last touched it. If the girl moved it, she'd make space for the kiln to work again. If she moved it, the workshop would start making new things. He stepped forward and took the vase from her hands. It felt heavier than he remembered. He set it on the bench beside his mother's other unfinished pieces and pointed back at the kiln. The girl nodded and knelt down with her brush. She worked quickly, scraping out ash and old mortar. Gedda stood at the bench, staring at the vase. The glaze had cracked where it dried too fast. His mother would have known how to save it. She would have smoothed the cracks and brought it back into the fire at the right temperature. But she wasn't here. The workshop was his now, whether he wanted it or not. He picked up a scraping tool and began smoothing the glaze cracks himself. His hands shook, but he kept going. By midday, the girl had finished patching the firebox. She stood and wiped her hands on her work pants. "It needs to cure overnight. Tomorrow we can fire it." She walked over to the bench and looked at the vase he'd been working on. "That's good repair work," she said. "Your mother teach you that?" Gedda shook his head. He picked up his notebook and wrote: I watched her. The girl read it and smiled. "That counts," she said. She gathered her tools and left. Gedda stayed at the bench, holding the vase. Tomorrow the kiln would work again. Tomorrow he'd have to decide if he could finish what his mother started, or if he'd keep her work frozen forever.