the keeper's cottage · day 583 · dawn

The Approaching Front

Heavy rain lashes the west side of the island, sending sprays of salt over the garden wall. Jenny sits on the steps with her ankle propped on a bucket while Kevin checks the barometer by the open doorway.

Kevin verified the Yanmar injector pump timing at idle and load, finding it within spec. Jenny cleaned and sterilized the scalpel, applied a fresh sea beet-mint-honey poultice to her ankle, and began inventorying the recovered crate supplies. The barometer held steady at 1000 hPa as rain continued from the west.

🔧 Kevin02:55

Barometer's holding. Boat's still on for tomorrow if the pressure doesn't drop.

step onto the porch beside her, set a hand on the rail, and look out at the garden wall where the rain hits hardest

💭 peek at the thought

Rain's hitting the porch at a slant. She's out there watching the garden wall take it. Ankle's up but the swelling hasn't gone down like it should. Barometer's steady at 1000 — boat should make it tomorrow if she holds. Need to get the injector timing checked before she arrives, and that letter to Tom still isn't written. One honest line. That's all I said I'd do.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny02:55

The salt is hitting the tomatoes. If the rain doesn't wash it off fast enough, the leaves will scorch.

Lean back against the doorframe and look at the red streaks on my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's looking at the wall, not at me. He thinks the barometer is the only thing that determines if we're okay.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin02:57

Shade cloth took the brunt. Lower leaves are burned but the tops are clean. If the wind holds west, the porch roof blocks the worst of it.

crouch down beside the bucket, pull a clean cloth from my pocket, and wipe salt crust from the skin above the dressing without disturbing the wrap

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching the garden, not her ankle. The shade cloth is holding but salt spray rides the wind different than rain. Tomatoes are showing stress on the lower leaves already. She'd notice. She notices everything that grows.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny02:57

Thank you.

Close my eyes and lean my head back against the wall, letting out a slow breath.

💭 peek at the thought

He's being careful. He's always better with his hands when there's a specific, mechanical task to perform—even if that task is just cleaning my skin.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin02:59

Rest. I'll check the cloth anchors before the tide turns.

rise, pull the porch door shut against the driving rain, and walk to the garden wall to test the shade cloth ties at each oak stake

💭 peek at the thought

She's tired. The infection took more out of her than she'll say. Antibiotics finished yesterday but the heat in the joint hasn't fully left. She's been carrying the garden and the seed tins and the worry about the supply boat while I've been down in the bilge with the Yanmar. The least I can do is watch the tomatoes.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny03:03

Jenny — watch him through the rain, then reach for the sterilized scalpel on the gauze.

💭 peek at the thought

He's retreating into the work again. It's easier to check a knot than to look at me.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin03:03

Put that down, Jen. It's clean. Stays clean.

turn from the garden wall, cross the porch in three strides, and take the scalpel from her fingers before the blade touches skin

💭 peek at the thought

She's reaching for the scalpel. The one I boiled. She shouldn't be touching that — not with the tremor in her hands from the metronidazole, not with the ankle the way it is. I left it on the gauze by the stove after cleaning it. Should've put it away.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny03:05

I know it's clean, Kevin. I'm the one who boiled it.

Pull my hand back and rub my forearm, looking away from him toward the rain.

💭 peek at the thought

God, I hate being handled like a specimen. I know how to sterilize a blade; I've spent half my life in a lab.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin03:05

Then you know why it stays on the gauze.

set the scalpel back on the clean gauze by the stove, fold the gauze over the blade deliberate and slow, and walk back to the porch door to watch the garden wall through the glass

💭 peek at the thought

She boiled it. Of course she did. She knows every tool on this island better than I do — just doesn't always tell me she knows. The tremor's there in her forearm when she pulls back. Metronidazole does that. Or maybe it's just exhaustion. She's looking at the rain instead of me. Doesn't want me seeing something in her face.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny03:07

I'm not a project to be managed.

Reach for the honey and the fresh sea beet leaves to start the new poultice.

💭 peek at the thought

He's treating me like a patient, or a child. I can't even manage my own infection without him playing the overseer.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.