Chapter 403: First Heat

Lenna had marked the first pillar for removal between the first bay and the divided section.

Ren rested his covered palm on the footing. Weight still passed through the pillar’s widened head into the gallery floor. The new supports on either side carried their assigned shares, with the small uphill diversion still in place.

"Most onto the uphill support," he said. "Its receiving connection has more room. The rest onto the near leg beside the passage."

"Read that leg again. The crosspiece changed what it carries."

He followed the pressure through its head and down toward the band. Lenna checked the lower receiving stone before confirming the extra share it could accept. The old downhill route would take nothing additional.

Ren held the section while adjusting the upper connections. The two new supports received the pillar’s share in stages, more through the uphill route. He checked both before telling Lenna the transfer was complete.

She read the receiving connections and compared the contacts with her marks.

"Withdraw your hold."

He eased it out of the upper stone and lifted his hand. They waited, then checked the footing and the pillar again. The new distribution remained without his contribution.

"Unloaded," Lenna said.

Ren put his palm against the widened head. He had shaped it to fit the footing before the growers lifted the bed, leaving the settled stone where it was. The contact no longer carried the weight that had passed through it since that day. He shifted his working lower to take the pillar itself.

Once he had it supported, Lenna separated the upper contact. She divided the pillar into two lengths so they could clear the narrow space between the new supports. Ren lowered the upper length onto the waiting cart, then held the lower one while she cut its base free of the gallery floor. That piece followed the first to the garden’s spoil bay.

The remaining original pillars came out across that window and the next. Before each cut, they transferred its share and checked the structure with Ren’s hold withdrawn. The two later pillars and the rib remained beside the exposed face, with the shoring still around the access.

— • —

Tobin had prepared the replacement sections while the support work continued.

They lay on his bench when Ren arrived for the fitting window: cultivated kilnstone from the garden’s repair stock, each piece dressed for its position. Ren recognized the layered structure along an exposed end. The sections he had taken home had contained it too, beneath their damaged outer faces.

"Seats first," Tobin said.

Ren packed his port hand covers and fitted the inspection gloves and clear face guard. The damaged branch’s feed slide remained closed at its stop; the neighboring branch kept its separate supply. Tobin checked the access before opening the covers beside the empty stretch.

Near the old split, the seat still bore the short crushed strip. The permanent supports had secured the footing beneath it, but that damaged surface had to be prepared before it could receive the lining.

Tobin dressed it back to whole stone and laid a straightedge along the sound seats. Lenna read the bedstone behind the prepared face, then checked it with her rod.

"Sound behind it. You’ve lost a little height."

"I’ve allowed for that." Tobin brought forward the section with the thicker bearing edge. "Hold it steady while I fit it."

Ren supported the piece as Tobin guided it onto the seats. When the keeper asked for a small movement, he followed it without reaching into the cultivated layers. Tobin checked the bearing and eased one edge before asking him to lower it the rest of the way.

They fitted the remaining sections along the stretch. At either end, where new kilnstone met the retained lining, Tobin worked more slowly. He tested the contact with a feeler blade and chalk, adjusted the fit, then tested it again. Lenna examined the supporting bedstone and root margins through the open inspection spaces.

Joss checked the cavity opening and moved a tool bag out of his approach before they continued.

With the sections seated, Tobin returned to the first internal joint. Ren held his hand clear of the stone and followed what he could through Fire. He recognized the release structure within each piece, but could not trace its continuity across the fitted contact.

"They still read separately here."

"The fitting’s done. Now watch the working."

Tobin extended his Fire through both sides of the joint. Ren felt the adjustment reach one section, then continue into the next. When Tobin withdrew his hand, the connection remained. There was no incoming supply yet; Ren was following the cultivated working that would govern its release.

Tobin proceeded along the joints, spending longer where the replacement met the retained lining. Ren could follow the nearest adjustment, but lost its course farther along the branch.

"The connections are made," Tobin said. "We’ll check what they do under supply."

— • —

At the next booked window, the inspection covers were secured and the feed slide was still closed.

Ren changed into Tobin’s gloves and fastened the face guard. The holders stood in their labeled box, with sleeved instruments for the inner point and rear contact. Tobin identified three sets of contacts: near the middle of the replacement, beside the joint at the dressed seat, and at the downhill end where new lining met old.

"Read all three positions before we start. I’ll keep the feed and the release."

Ren took the baseline readings, using fresh tips against each contact for the established count. At the deeper points, he seated each holder against its stop and shielded the tip before withdrawing it. Tobin compared the entries with his own checks before setting the limits for the run.

"One band between face and inner is the call point today. Tell me as soon as you read that difference." He indicated the separate rear-contact entries. "These are the seats. Keep checking them against the limits here."

Ren kept separate columns for the lining pair and the seating contact, with Tobin’s limits beside each. He checked the baseline entries once more before putting the holders back in their slots.

Joss stood at the cavity’s inspection opening. The replacement now closed the breach in the lining. The surface crack remained covered, and the cavity opening was still clear. He checked the current toward the flue and kept the working side of the gallery free of it.

Tobin moved the feed slide to the first trial mark.

Ren felt heat enter from the route behind the lining. Its arrival became clear in the middle section before he could follow it at the downhill end. He watched the middle section’s release working, then took the first readings.

"Middle inner point is up one band. The face hasn’t crossed. Rear contact is still in its starting band."

Tobin kept the feed where it was and reduced the outward release at that position. Ren recorded the other contacts before returning with fresh tips. When he checked again, the middle face had entered the higher band without the inner point rising farther.

At the joint beside the dressed seat, the inner reading rose while the face remained lower. Ren reported the difference. Through Fire, he followed Tobin’s adjustment on the nearer section, but the release beyond the joint changed less readily.

"I can follow your change up to here," he said, indicating the contact. "It’s reaching the other piece, but that side is still releasing more."

Tobin read the joint himself, then checked the temperature entries.

"Keep this feed setting on the page. We’ll compare again before I change the connection."

They waited through another set of readings. The difference persisted at the joint while the middle position stayed within the range Tobin had set. The rear contact remained within its separate limit.

Tobin worked across both sides of the joint. Ren could follow the adjustment farther this time, through the connection into the adjoining layers. The outward release there eased. He waited for Tobin’s signal before reading the contacts again; the face entered the inner point’s band without a further rise behind it.

The keeper withdrew his active contribution at the joint and checked that the connected working maintained the release. He inspected the other positions before moving the slide to the second trial mark.

Ren wrote the new feed setting on a separate line. The middle and the joint beside the dressed seat responded more closely during this stage. Their readings still changed at different times, but the adjusted release held on both sides of the fitted contact when Tobin eased his contribution back.

The downhill junction lagged behind them. Ren checked its inner point, then the face with fresh tips.

"One band apart at the end."

Tobin held the feed steady and took responsibility for those readings while Ren recorded the pair. He compared both sides of the new-to-old contact, adjusted the release through it, and waited before checking again.

Ren watched from the marked position. The internal joint he had reported earlier was still maintaining its setting. Tobin had not needed to return to it when he moved to the end contact.

Lenna read the bedstone beside the dressed seat. Once Tobin had checked the relevant temperatures and cleared the inspection space for opening, she examined the root margin. The layer remained in contact with the stone around it. Tobin reseated the cover before continuing his checks.

At the cavity opening, Joss tested the current and reported no hot discharge from the repaired stretch. His strip lifted toward the gallery. He walked along the cleared wall to check the flue, then returned to the opening while Tobin finished the temperature readings.

The end contact’s face and inner readings drew closer during the next checks. Its rear contact remained within the permitted range. Tobin recorded the results and left the feed at the second trial mark.

"That’s enough for this run. The end needs more watching." He closed the record over his earlier entries. "This branch isn’t back in service."

Ren looked along the replacement. The joint beside the dressed seat had held through the second setting, but the downhill end had needed another adjustment. He entered both observations in his notebook beside the readings.

Tobin brought out his chalk. He outlined a patch around the internal joint beside the dressed seat, within the part he had checked through both stages, and identified the contacts Ren would use to read it.

"Next window, you’ll take the release here. I’ll keep the feed and the rest of the branch. We start with fresh readings."

"The end stays with you?"

"Yes."

Ren followed the chalk boundary with his eyes. He had watched Tobin establish the connection inside it and seen the working continue after the keeper moved on. Next time, he would have to manage the release through that joined section himself.

"And the limit?"

Tobin returned to the feed control, still responsible for the test setting and the working.

"I’ll set it from the readings when we start."