"Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."

~Roald Dahl, The Minpins

“Wait! I'll be right there...” Kurt called, trying to catch up to Blaine.

Kurt had wanted to see how the lumberjacks harvested the trees. Blaine had discouraged him time and again – the harvest was dangerous with falling trees, unpredictable equipment, difficult navigation through the hillsides, and so many more reasons. It wasn't like harvesting trees on flat ground, no – trees fell and sometimes rolled downhill before the chaser could set the choker on the trunk.

“Did you get the corks on okay?” Blaine asked, waiting for Kurt to catch up. He intended to keep his husband close by his side.

“Yeah...wait – corks are the shoes, right?” Kurt asked. He got confused with all the new terms. Corks were spikes attached to boots and used for traction in the field of downed logs. “Not as fashionable as my Aldo Vienello boots...”

Blaine laughed. While Kurt didn't spend endless hours shopping as he'd done before they'd met, he did like nice clothes and wore them when it was appropriate. Blaine had bought him the boots last Christmas.

“But much more useful,” he replied, grinning. Kurt looked cute in his new lumberjack clothes. He'd bought them on his last trip to Philomath in anticipation of spending a day in the forest with Blaine.

Kurt sighed, then turned to Blaine, kissing his cheek.

“I'm ready. Let's get out there so you can tell me how this is done,” Kurt smiled and took Blaine's hand. They walked to the sight, the crew having been there long before the two showed up.

“Hey, Boss,” Blaine was greeted. He waved and said hello to the man. He was still trying to get used to being called the boss since he'd grown up as the young kid in camp and most of the lumberjacks thought of him as a little brother.

“Blaine!” he heard from down the mountain. Cooper and August hurried up to the two men, handing Kurt a long pole with a sharp end.

“That's called a pikaroon – or sometimes a cant hook or a peavy. You use it to move logs and to help you navigate. Now, remember to stay right beside Blaine. This is a dangerous place if you don't know what you're doing,” August told him in a serious tone.

“I'll be fine,” Kurt assured the man. He hated being babied, but in this case he knew it was warranted.

“So, you never clear cut, right?” Kurt asked, having heard – and seen – the horrible things done in some forests where the lumberjacks clear every tree in the forest and leave behind stumps where the trees used to grow. He thought of it as raping the forest and got emotional when they drove past clear cut forest lands. Blaine did, too.

“No, I would never do that here – and Mr. Warner is the same. He loves his forest too much to do that. Mind, there are cases where clear cutting is warranted. On some of the eastern slopes in Oregon they do clear cut. State law mandates that they cannot clear cut more than 120 acres at a time. The reason they clear cut is because most of their timber is Douglas fir and the seedings need sunshine to grow. If they harvest like we do – leaving 70% or more of the trees alone – there wouldn't be enough sunshine coming through the trees for them to grow,” Blaine explained. Kurt loved to hear Blaine when he was passionate about something, and trees were his passion in life. Kurt was so thankful he could be with Blaine, here in the dense Oregon forest.

As Kurt got closer to the logging operation, he could see downed trees all around him.

“The trees have already been cut in this area – see, each one had a pink tag stapled to their bark? I went through this area with August and Coop last week, marking the trees we wanted to harvest,” Blaine explained, pointing out the tags on several trees.

“Because we don't cut every tree, and we leave a lot of the old-growth trees and the smaller, newer ones alone, it makes it harder to remove the trees from the forest,” August told Kurt.

“Oh, so it keeps the forest, just thins it out a bit?” Kurt asked, watching some men with long cables approach a downed tree.

“Yes. We also leave the ones that are even a bit too small. We'll come back in a few years and harvest those, plant new ones. It is sustainable, if you choose to do it the right way,” Blaine said.

“Those are the chasers,” Coop pointed at some men working nearby. “They get the logs out of the forest to the skyline,” Cooper smiled as he told his brother-in-law about the operation.

“What do they do? Can I help them?” Kurt asked, lifting the pickeroon to show his willingness to help.

“It's harder than it looks, sweetheart. How about we watch for a while more before you try,” suggested Blaine, worried Kurt might get hurt in his enthusiasm.

“Okay, what are they doing? Oh! I see!” Kurt crowed as he watched two men move a log. They put long chains around the log, picking it up with some type of a log lifting machine.

“What's that?” Kurt asked.

“A skidder. It used to be called a katy-did. That log is caught between the trees and the skidder can lift it, but it's too narrow between the trees for it to pick it up and take it to the skyline. A chaser will get it on the go-devil – that sled the horse is pulling – and get the log out of the forest,” Cooper said, “Just far enough for the skidder to pick it up and transport it to where the chasers can get it on the skyline.”

Kurt stood a bit closer to Blaine, a little bit worried as he saw all the parts of the team that were moving the logs out of the forest with as little damage to the forest floor as possible. Blaine's arms went around Kurt's waist, pulling his husband back against his chest and giving him a kiss on the neck.

“Are you enjoying this?” Blaine asked, wanting to see if Kurt was having a good time.

“Yeah, it's really interesting. I knew separate parts of the operation, but in all the years I've been here I have never seen it all put together. It's like a dance...” Kurt grinned, watching as a log was loaded on the go-devil and the horse began pulling it out of the woods, maneuvering between obstacles on the sloping ground. Blaine's arms tightened around Kurt as he watched the horse pull the log.

“That is amazing...” Kurt sighed, slipping a little as he balanced on the uneven ground. Blaine was still holding him close and Cooper reached out to steady his brother's husband, too.

“Let's move on; they're going to be moving the logs on the skyline,” Cooper said. He held out a large hand, his muscles bunching as he lifted Kurt over a tangle. Kurt's eyes got wide as he clutched Cooper's biceps to keep his balance.

“Ah, thank you, Coop,” Kurt stuttered, taken by surprise.

“No problem, you were looking a bit unsteady for a minute there. I can't have the daddy of my beautiful niece and nephew get hurt in the logging field!” Cooper laughed. He stopped short as he saw Blaine's sober face glaring at him. He shrugged his shoulders.

“I can keep Kurt perfectly safe, thank you very much,” Blaine said with fire. He hated the way Kurt's eyes roved over Cooper's arms as he was lifted into the air. Blaine frowned and took Kurt's arm, escorting him along – away from Cooper.

They walked down a path a little away from the one used by the heavy machines, Blaine holding Kurt's arm – somewhat unnecessarily. When they got into the woods, Kurt shook his arm loose from Blaine's grip, which had gotten a bit tight.

“Hey now, Babe, what's going on with you?” Kurt asked, concern in his cerulean blue eyes as he looked deep into Blaine's amber ones.

“I just don't appreciate my brother showing off to you,” Blaine complained. He blushed because he felt foolish.

“Babe...Blaine, I am not attracted to straight men, and last I heard, Cooper was straight. Actually, I am not attracted to anyone but my husband! He was just helping me out, he's my brother-in-law for goodness sakes. Are you really jealous of that? Here, you can pick me up and show of your own buff biceps if you want. Then I'll give you a kiss because you turn me on more than any of these men,” Kurt reassured his husband, taking him in his arms and giving him a life-affirming kiss that lasted more than a minute.

When the kiss was over, Blaine pulled back, looking at his shoes.

“Blaine?”

“Kurt – I am just...well, I worry that you might fall in love with any lumberjack with a good body and kind face. It scares me to death. I don't want to lose you,” Blaine whispered.

Kurt immediately pulled him close, kissing his neck and pressing his cheek against Blaine's for a moment.

“Look at me. I want you to see the sincerity in my eyes, Blaine. I fell in love with you. I married you. I adopted our beautiful twins with you. I live with you. I have eyes only for you, my amazing, wonderful, sexy husband, Blaine Devon Hummel-Anderson and I am not looking for another man. I never will. I love you and only you, okay?” Kurt said in a serious tone of voice. He looked straight into Blaine's eyes as he said it, making sure he was both heard and understood.

“Okay, I'm sorry. You know I trust you down to my soul, Kurt. I was just – I don't know - jealous I guess. Cooper has strong, developed arms and he was showing them off to you and I saw red. We have been in some sort of competition since I can remember and he always won,” Blaine explained. He put his head on Kurt's shoulder and Kurt cupped the back of his neck, gently.

“Oh, honey – Cooper didn't win this competition. Yes, he has well-developed arms and I did look at them – he had me up in the air, for goodness sake! But I only looked and appreciated for a moment. You are the man for me – now and always. Forever.”

Blaine smiled. He knew Kurt was his, it was just an old game Cooper was playing and Blaine made a decision not to play. Next time he would just ignore Cooper or any other lumberjack that was flexing their muscles.

“Is that the skyline?” Kurt asked, looking at a cable up in the air, stretching from the machine Blaine had called a yarder. It was over 40 feet tall and pulled the logs down the mountain to the river. It was where the manline and the two haulback lines were controlled.

“Yes. We have a simple one, they can get pretty detailed depending on how many logs can fit and what the condition is of those logs that affect the yarder.

Kurt nodded. He could see men working hard to get the logs attached to lines that picked them up and took them to the river.

“The guys selecting logs to haul are called the chasers. They put a choker, a type of chain with a piece that holds it tight, around the log they want hauled by the yarder and the rigging man directs the order and timing to attach the choker cable to the yarder's haulback line,” Blaine explained.

Kurt watched as men put the choker chains around the logs and the man in the red shirt and orange hat pointed and shouted.

“To get the timbers here, we have several ways of doing it, depending on where the trees were cut,” Blaine said, pointing at the horse pulling the timber to the pile of downed trees. The driver unhooked the tree and pushed it off the go-devil and turned the horse back to the harvesting. He stopped to check the horse over, making sure of his feet and how the harness was fit to his body. The horse shook his mane and stepped lively as they headed back for another timber.

“Another way to get the lumber here is to use a skidder,” Blaine continued. Kurt hung on every word, wanting to know all about Blaine's passion. “It can do several jobs: picking up logs to load a bummer cart, for one. When a tree is cut, the branches are removed and usually a skid cone is placed on the end to keep it from catching on the forest floor if it is dragged. Skid cones can be for a single tree or large ones for a bundle of logs; they can be made of plastic, metal, or a few other materials.

“A long time ago they used a steam donkey to pull logs up to a central place before attaching them to the yarder – that is a winch that pulled the logs up the mountain. We don't use it much anymore, but it is still at the top of this mountain. I'll take you up to see it if you want sometime. I can also show you where they used to have a flume – a V-shaped trough filled with water that transported the logs that went from near the river back to the east of where we are now all the way to where this small river connects to the big river, about 4 miles down the mountain. There isn't much left of it now, just some timbers in places.”

“Is it like the Flume Ride at some amusement parks?” Kurt asked. Blaine shrugged, he had never been to an amusement park.

I want to choke a log---or is it chase a log?” Kurt asked, watching the logs being hoisted onto the yarder to take them down the mountain.

“The men who attach a choker to a log are called chasers, okay?” Blaine said with patience. There were a lot of words to learn in logging, but he had confidence Kurt could learn them in time.

“Okay...can I do it?” Kurt asked again.

“No, honey, not today. I need to teach you more first – how to handle that pickeroon you've been slinging around for one. Kurt, that thing is dangerous. Please take more care. I don't need one of our chasers beheaded during their shift, okay?” he asked gently.

“Okay. Maybe I can practice later?” Kurt offered.

“I think that is an excellent idea, I have no doubt you can master it,” said Blaine, believing it since he'd seen Kurt work out with sai swords.

“How about we walk down to the river and I will show you how the lumberjacks tie the logs and send them down this branch of the river to the next stop, then on down to be sold,” Blaine asked, smiling at Kurt's face. This was probably too much information in one day, but Kurt looked so eager.

“Yeah, I'd love to see that,” Kurt smiled, stepping carefully and reaching out to take Blaine's hand as he got over a downed pine tree.

They walked down to the river, Kurt asking questions and Blaine telling him more about the logging operation. It was complicated, but Kurt felt that he was understanding it as well as he could. His mind began to wander a bit, watching some of the chasers as they hooked the logs onto the yarder lines to be lifted above the forest floor and taken down the mountain.

He was just stepping onto an uneven place on an outcropping of granite when Blaine slipped. He'd been reaching out to take Kurt's arm to ease him over the rough patch, but in doing so he didn't pay attention to his own footing.

“Blaine!” Kurt shouted, just as Blaine rolled onto a place covered with slippery pine needles and slid down the mountainside.

As he grabbed for a handhold in the brush, Blaine slid farther and a chaser who was driving a skidder turned it sharply to avoid running the young man over.

“Blaine!!” Kurt shouted, moving as quickly as possible to get to his husband. He tripped over some brush, but didn't lose his footing as he plunged down the path to Blaine's side.

It all seemed to happen at once, the skidder driver was not able to maintain his machine's balance through the sharp turn on the slanted ground and it made for disaster. The skidder fell, just missing Blaine's head, and made a huge crashing cacophony that brought workers from every place in the surrounding forest.

By the time August and Cooper made their way to the site, Kurt had Blaine's head in his lap. Kurt was crying, watching as two of the chasers got Blaine's boot off and had a splint on his ankle, bandages wrapped around his leg. There was a lot of blood and Blaine lay with his eyes closed, hand over his mouth, trying to keep the extreme nausea at bay.

“Blainers, are you okay?” Cooper asked, skidding to his knees beside his little brother.

“He....he broke his leg...” Kurt managed to say. “He thought I was going to fall, so he was trying to reach me and...?”

Kurt still didn't know how this had happened. One minute he had been walking through the forest with Blaine, the next there were crashing sounds as the skidder fell and then swarms of lumberjacks helping him with Blaine.

August could see that Blaine had all the help he could stand and began assessing the damage to the skidder and how to get it up again before the gasoline spilled and they had a much more dangerous situation on their hands. The accident was bad, but a forest fire on top of it would be catastrophic.

“Frank...get Shorty and Jester over here,” Cooper called out to one of the men. Jester was the big horse that was working the site, pulling logs, and Shorty was his driver. The horse and driver showed up moments later and Cooper and Shorty got Blaine comfortable on the go-devil.

August came up just as they were getting Blaine ready to go.

“I can have the skidder up on it's tires in just a few minutes. The guys have dumped bags of fire-retardant all around, but it looks like there isn't any gas spilled. Do you need any help getting Blaine back to camp?” August asked. He was as close to the Anderson brothers as anyone, more like another brother.

“Sounds like you have everything under control. I'll radio you when we get him settled back at camp. Thanks,” Cooper said, giving his best friend a brotherly slap on the back.

Kurt walked beside the go-devil being hauled by Jester. The horse was steady and walked at a brisk pace back to the camp. They had radioed ahead and by the time they got to the cook-house, Mr. Warner was waiting. He knelt down beside Blaine and put a hand to his shoulder.

“Blaine, we have the 'copter ready. We'll have you down to the hospital in no time. How are you holding up?”

“I'm okay. Just watch out for Kurt...he's gonna need some help,” Blaine said, his head reeling as he tried to think of anything but his stomach. He was seriously nauseated.

“Shannon, can you watch the babies for a while more while I go with Blaine to the hospital?” Kurt asked his friend. She was standing outside the cook house, Jordan in her arms, her husband, Cookie, beside her held Katura.

“Don't you worry a bit, we'll do fine,” she promised, just as Mrs. Warner walked up, a hand to Kurt's shoulder.

“It will be fine, Kurt. I know the babies' schedule and I'll stay in your house with them. Just be there for Blaine and we will take care of Jordan and Katura,” Mrs. Warner kissed Kurt's cheek, then leaned down to drop a kiss to Blaine's, too. She was a quiet woman, having spent the better part of her life in a lumber camp with only men around her. She raised her daughter and helped raise Blaine and Cooper, too, and loved them. She would do her best to help out with the twins until Kurt and Blaine returned.

“Okay, let's get him on the 'copter,” Cooper said, pointing to the helicopter pad where the Warner helicopter was warming up.

“You, Blaine?” the doctor said, smiling at Blaine. “I thought you were the seasoned lumberjack?”

Blaine frowned at the man, not seeing the humor in his situation. He had vomited in Kurt's lap during the 'copter ride to the hospital and his husband was standing beside him, holding his hand, not complaining. If Kurt wasn't complaining, he must be seriously injured.

“Dr. Wallace....can we just get inside and get this taken care of?” Blaine grumped. The wind on the roof of the hospital was cold.

“Sure thing, Blaine. We'll get right inside...” the doctor said. He was the father of Katura and Jordan's pediatrician and his smile was just like his daughter's. Kurt felt reassured as he observed the doctor, not seeing any panic or deep concern.

After X-rays and cleaning up the wound, Blaine was asleep due to the heavy pain killers and sedation. Kurt was nervous but trusted Dr. Wallace. He waited beside the bed in the private room.

“Well, now, Kurt, it seems your husband managed to do quite a bit of damage to his leg. Was he trying for matching scars?” the doctor kidded, thinking of the leg injury Kurt had suffered years ago when he fell down a rocky embankment at the beach.

“How bad is it? Will it keep him from doing his job for a long time?” Kurt asked, knowing that was the first thing Blaine would be asking if he wasn't asleep.

“It is serious, but he'll be able to get back to work in a few months. He broke the fibula, the smaller of the lower leg bones, but not the larger tibia. That is a good thing. The ankle has a tear in one of the ligaments and some muscle damage, but it doesn't look like we need to do surgery. It is going to be sore for a while, but Blaine is a tough kid. He's going to be back to new in eight or ten weeks. We set the fibula, which is why he's still napping, but he'll be coming around soon. We can't put the cast on until tomorrow when we can assess the swelling, but the splint will hold it until then. He'll be overnight in the hospital, but you two can go home to your twins by day after tomorrow at the latest,” the doctor told Kurt.

“Thanks, Doc. I know Blaine is grateful as well,” Kurt said, letting go of Blaine's hand to shake the doctor's.

“Take care, Kurt. He really is going to be fine,” Dr. Wallace smiled and left the room. Kurt went back to take Blaine's hand in his own. Sitting in the chair beside Blaine's bed, he put his head down beside Blaine and rested his forehead on the blanket. He was so tired with worrying. It seemed he was always in the hospital for one reason or another.

Kurt fell asleep and was there for about half an hour when he felt fingers going through his hair. He sighed in contentment before realizing where he was.

“Hey, babe...” Blaine's scratchy voice said as Kurt woke up.

“Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?” Kurt asked.

“Numb, but my leg kind of aches. What did Doc Wallace have to say?”

“You broke your fibula. That is the smaller of the two lower leg bones,” Kurt started.

“Yeah...you broke your tibia, I remember,” Blaine murmured.

“Thank you for reminding me,” Kurt teased, kissing Blaine's hand that he was still holding.

“I was just joking, honey,” Blaine said.

“I know. Anyway, they set the bone and they can put a cast on in the morning when the swelling has gone down. You also tore a tendon or ligament or something in your ankle, but no broken bones there,” Kurt continued. He smiled at Blaine. “He said you should be able to go back to being a lumberjack in eight to ten week's time. In the mean time, we can get back home to Katie and Jordan day after tomorrow,” Kurt said, knowing Blaine would be champing at the bit to get back sooner. He didn't do well cooped up inside a house – even his beloved log house in the forest.

“Okay, babe...” Blaine mumbled as he fell back asleep. Kurt set Blaine's hand back on his chest and got up to go out to the hallway to make a few phone calls. He was very relieved that Blaine was going to be fine, but he had to make some arrangements. He needed to call Cooper and then Mrs. Warner. He wondered if they needed a visiting nurse or someone to come to see Blaine at their house? Or did they need to move down to the house in Philomath for a while?

That might solve a few things....he'd be closer to work and there were quite a few things he needed to iron out with Mr. Church on his drawings of the new project. Being away from Warner Camp would alleviate Blaine's wanting to get back to the forest – and having to look at it outside the window every day.

Kurt was walking down the corridor to the waiting room on this floor when his phone rang. It was a New York number: Finn's cell.

“Hello?” Kurt answered.

“Kurt! It's Finn....I'm in the cardiac unit of the hospital. Kurt....I need you!!”