For a moment, Weedy mulled over Wyatt's plan, then mused, "Well, I guess of we're careful and don't just burn up the whole thing?" Maybe by the watering trough, so they could splash it when they needed to. "I guess of there are gems or coins, fire won't do anything to them, right?" Just in case they got overzealous. "And paper will be wet, so that should protect it. We'll just be careful."
Dastardly pirates, Weedy and Wyatt would outwit them somehow!
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Burn the whole thing?
"Nah, we just need to blacken the bottom, should be easy enough, besides if there is gold in there, that won't hurt it none........or jewels either," Wyatt decided not to consider paper money because that was not fitting into his plan. Pirates didn't use paper money anyhow, he figured.
Paper money was invented by George Washington...probably.
Weedy however, made a very good point, "And paper will be wet, so that should protect it. We'll just be careful."
"Oh true!" that solved that problem.
"First we need to build us a nice fire, let's go grab some firewood from the back of the house," the woodpile was for the fireplace and the stove but this was surely a worthy cause. If they got rich, he'd let his Pa have some of his share so they could live in a mansion not this farm cabin.
Off they went, boys on a mission!
"Yeah, sure!" It would take a few arm-loads to gather enough wood to get a decent, small-sized fire going, but at least between the two of them they were able to stack the wood properly over some kindling, mindful to be clear of any brush, or the barn. No sense in running the risk of accidentally igniting something they didn't intend to!
That done, it was time to light it, and Weedy had an idea. "Hey, we should try lighting it the way the Indians do, you know, rubbing sticks together?" He'd heard about that, but Addy just kept the fire in the stove going, and when she did have to relight it, she used flint. But hey, this was a Pirate adventure, and now it could be an Indian one, too!
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Some firewood gathered, Wyatt was sure they had enough and no sense wasting more, the boys now just needed to light it up and they'd have themselves a fine fire to roast their treasure trunk.
"Hey, we should try lighting it the way the Indians do, you know, rubbing sticks together?" Weedy suddenly had an idea.
Wyatt wasn't against it by any means but the stickler was he didn't know how to do that.
"Umm, sure! We could....but by that I mean you could, I've never done it, myself," he freely admitted.
"But if Injuns can do it, how hard can it be?"
Weedy wasn't exactly sure what the process was, but he'd heard Addy talk about it a couple of times, so he thought he had a pretty good idea.
"We need a stick, straight and round, we need to whittle a point on the end of it." He had a new pocket knife if Wyatt didn't! "And we need another piece of wood, kind of flat, oh, and kindling...like pine needles..."
That was all easily enough gathered, and while Wyatt made the end of the stick pointy, he arranged the pine needles under the chunk of wood.
Once they had everything set up, he knelt in the dirt. "So, what Addy said is that you put the end of the stick on the wood, then rub it really fast between your hands." He didn't really know why that should work, maybe Professor Browne could tell him one day...if it even worked!
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Well sure enough, Weedy knew all about how to do this fire making trick, explaining what they would need to have in the way of materials. Seemed doable, Wyatt nodded.
"Alright then, let's try it!" he agreed with a smile.
Soon Weedy had him sharpening a stick to a point, the boy had generously let him use his own knife, a new one too. Boy, Addy gave the boy a lot of nice things - a horse and a knife. Had to wonder what else?
Once they had everything set up, Weedy knelt in the dirt. "So, what Addy said is that you put the end of the stick on the wood, then rub it really fast between your hands."
"Umm, sure, you do it. I'll cheer ya on," Wyatt was all eyes.
"Sure, all right." Weedy shrugged, pleased that Wyatt didn't want to take all the glory for himself, considering this was his house. But then, Weedy was his guest, so it made sense.
Squatting down, he took the stick between his palms, set the point in a low spot on the block and started rubbing...and rubbing...
Well, maybe it needed to be faster? The theory seemed sound, considering how his hands were starting to burn a little, and he had a splinter in his left palm, he was pretty sure, but he reckoned if Indians and pirates didn't complain, he wasn't going to.
Was that smoke? Or maybe just an overactive imagination? "Quick, get some of the pine needles and put them close!"
He doubled his efforts, but really, there didn't seem to be any advance toward fire of any sort.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Wyatt was watching intently but at least at first nothing much was happening. He was almost tempted to remark maybe Weedy was doing it wrong but then he didn't exactly know just how one was supposed to do it. So best keep quiet.
Suddenly Weedy was excited, "Quick, get some of the pine needles and put them close!"
Really, why? But Wyatt grabbed a fat handful and was ready to throw them on top of the flames.
Well...................like............when there were ACTUALLY flames. Sigh....
Or not...
"Ow..!" If anything was getting hot, it was his palms, and he suddenly dropped the stick, holding up his palms, that were reddened and starting to blister. "I don't think that's supposed to happen." It hurt a powerful lot, but he wasn't going to complain.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Wyatt winced as his friend dropped his sticks. This was not working out at all.
"Well, yeah...I think we need to give up on this way of making a fire. You know what, I'm gonna march right inta the house and ask Clara if I can make a torch or something from the fireplace. I'm pretty sure she has the fire goin'," it was time to swallow his pride and get some help from his sister.
"You wait right here and guard our treasure," he rose to his feet, like anyone was actually going to race up and grab the old chest then race off with it.