'The Squire' as she called him, ( the cube shaped rock ), stopped and faced Rhonda. (the round one) "It's too bad really," he said, gritting his teeth "cousin Rocky would have made a great problem-solver stone in the wall"
They had been talking about how Rocky had missed the 'boat' and had never been chosen to be fitted into any walls. The Squire was now wondering what their chances were of getting chosen.
Rhonda saw a shadow come over his flat face.
" Look at you. You're thinking they won't put you in the wall, are'nt you?" she said in her graveliest voice, as she tried to encouraged him. "Listen, you may be old, but you're as hard and strong as you ever were. And you've got a handsomely chiseled face. So don't go all flakey on me now and let's just get a move on." Then she added "If anyone should be worrying it is me. Look at me. My entire makeup is all patchy and uneven. "
" Yes but you have the nice curves, my dear. You have a lovely contour."
" That may be so, but I've heard they sometimes don't like to build with round stones. They think they're too difficult to work with."
" That's a load of rubble." the Squire said, consoling her now.
She moved over and leaned on him gently.
" Do you think they'll put us together? " she asked.
" I don't see why not, we make a great pair " he answered proudly, in his best phony Scottish accent.
" Seriously, sometimes they don't like to put round rocks with squarish ones. They break them up. I've heard the round ones are sent off to the hard laborers who's job it is to smash them up for the heartless wallers."
" Dont worry my dear, if anyone can get around that problem, it's you." the Squire said, sensing her sphere. "Where as me, I'm just as common as they come, square as a brick and about as lovable. When they put too many of us together we make a pretty bland wall. Sad really. Of course that kind of coursing is done all the time. It's completely structural, but oh I do like to see the round ones mixed in with the square ones" He sighed.
They continued slowly down the side of a long fell and after what seemed like eternity they were at the crest of a gentle hill overlooking the valley. Another week or two, with some good erosion, they might get to the bottom.
" Look " she said "We're almost there! "
Below them, they could just see a group of wallers fitting stones into a magnificently long dry stone wall that stretched far up the valley and off into the distance.
'That's so beautiful!' thought the Squire.
" Come on " she said "We haven't got forever.....
To be continued.
