The rain intensifies into a steady downpour as the tide rises rapidly against the dock pilings. Outside, a school of fish moves through the shallows, driven by the changing water.
Kevin inspected the dock and dinghy moorings in the rain, finding lines holding and setting a come-along brace. Jenny monitored her ankle infection and sketched sea beet salt glands while the barometer held steady at 976 hPa.
🌿 Jenny17:29
Jenny — jenny reaches for the mint poultice and carefully unwinds the bandage from her ankle to inspect the edge of the redness.
💭 peek at the thought
If that way rises any faster, the dock will start groaning again. I need to check the bolts before I lose light.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin17:29
Let me see.
crouch beside Jenny's chair, peel back the gauze carefully, check the marked line against the current spread with the penlight
💭 peek at the thought
The rain's hammering the roof now. Jenny's unwinding the bandage slow, like she's defusing something. The red line was at mid-calf this morning. If it's past the knee now, the medevac form gets filled and the flare goes up. No negotiation. I've got the forms in the ditch bag, the flare gun by the door. Just need to see what the ankle tells us.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny17:31
It hasn't passed the mark from way.
Jenny pulls her leg away slightly as he touches it, watching his hands.
💭 peek at the thought
He's looking at it like it's a leak on the engine. Not a person.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin17:31
Good. Hold still.
reapply the mint poultice fresh, rewrap the bandage firm but not tight, set the kitchen timer for four hours
💭 peek at the thought
Hasn't passed the mark. That's something. But "way" — she means the pen line I drew this morning. The infection's still tracking upward, just slower. Antibiotics need more time. Storm's close now, barometer still falling. If the supply boat can't make it in six days, we're on our own longer. Need to reapply the poultice, keep the leg elevated, and watch the line every four hours.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny17:33
Try to rest a bit.
Jenny fetches herion and pencil, beginning to detail the salt glands of the sea beet specimen on the table.
💭 peek at the thought
At least the timer is set. Now I need to finish those sea beet sketches before my focus fails.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin17:33
I'll check the dock. Back in ten.
pull on oilskin, step out onto the porch, walk down to the dock in the driving rain
💭 peek at the thought
She's deflecting — sending me to rest while she draws salt glands. The storm's tightening, her ankle's holding but not healing, and she's choosing botanical illustration. Stubborn. But the rain's steady on the roof, the radio's quiet, and my hands are idle. Idle hands make me think about Tom, about the letter in the radio box, about three years of silence. Rest won't come easy. Might as well check the dock lines again while the tide's high.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny17:35
Watch for the swell.
Jenny continues sketching and listens to the rain on the roof, her ankle throbbing in time.
💭 peek at the thought
The tide is coming in too fast for those pilings. I hope the bolts are holding.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin17:36
Aye.
crouch at the dock edge, feel the pilings for vibration, inspect each doubled line and shim in the mooring ring mortise, check the transom bolts for play with the wrench
💭 peek at the thought
Tide's high and rising fast. The school of fish driven in earlier — now they're probably scattered or pushed up against the pilings. Swell's building with the storm front. Need to see if the doubled lines are holding, if the mooring ring's shifted again. Those cedar shims bought us time, but not forever. If the ring works loose, the dinghy could surge and take out the transom repair. Got to check every bolt, every knot.
nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b
🌿 Jenny17:37
Jenny — jenny stops her pencil, listening to the groan of the wood against the tide.
💭 peek at the thought
The water is black and rising fast. If the dock shifts, the whole project is gone.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin17:37
Kevin — fetch the come-along from the dock box, rig a temporary shore brace from the landward anchor point to the sistered beam, tension it to share the load
💭 peek at the thought
The dock's singing under the load — pilings groaning, lines humming. Mooring ring's tight, shims holding. Transom bolts solid. But the swell's pushing hard against the seaward pilings, and the greenheart sister plank is floating on that scoured void. Every wave lifts it, drops it. The three through-bolts are taking the shear. If one shears, the whole starboard side goes. Come-along's here. Could tension a temporary brace from the shore anchor to the beam, take some load off the sister. Need to decide now before the wind shifts east and the fetch opens up.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b
🌿 Jenny17:39
Be careful out there.
Jenny closes her notebook, watching the rain blur the window.
💭 peek at the thought
He's fighting the whole island with a winch. I hope the anchor holds.
google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it
🔧 Kevin17:39
Lines holding. Brace set.
coil the come-along slack, walk back up the dock toward the cottage, check the dinghy's bow warp and chafe guard at the roller
💭 peek at the thought
She's watching from the window. The rain's a sheet now, visibility maybe twenty metres. Come-along's ratchet bites clean. Shore anchor's a boulder buried deep — won't move. Running the line up to the sistered beam, tensioning slow. The greenheart plank settles, the floating gap closes. Three through-bolts aren't dancing anymore. That's bought us hours, maybe a tide cycle. But the wind's backing east — I can feel it in the spray hitting my face sideways now. The real test comes when the fetch opens and the swell builds. Should check the dinghy's storm anchor warp while I'm out here, make sure it's not chafing on the bow roller.
nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b