"Hmm...." said Edouard. "I've got some crating lumber; it's a necessity in my business. I could knock together a box, say a yard square, walls a foot high, mitered corners, quarter-round gussets" - he's plotting it out loud - "would it need to be shellac'ed or painted?"
Without awaiting an answer, he rambles on: "There is a lake less than a mile from here, pretty good-sized one, meadows on two sides. We have a coven of witches in the area, they hang out near the lake. You may have to share their territory, but that's probably not unworkable." He quits flapping his gums a moment, imagining in his mind's-eye Ere's breasts swaying in the moonlight. Of course, he has Lodge tonight, and he's Senior Deacon and has to do the Middle Chamber Lecture on a new Brother. Oh well, no escaping that. Wait, could the Junior Warden fill in? He did it twice last year... no, no, a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do.
He rubs his chin, knowing he'll have to shave before Lodge. "I don't know your finances, but there's a resale shop in town... you'll have to get to know your way around there, but of course not overnight...." Once again, the mental picture of moonbeams dancing across Ere's body intrudes, and is banished - just not immediately....
"Can you ride? You can take the donkey into town to pick up the things you need - there's a trail that goes past Ford's place, you stay on it and it's only a quarter-mile. I'll be busy in the shop for at least an hour or two...."
Edouard thinks: if the donkey's in foal he'll have to begin easing up on her, but that'll be a few months, now. "What about that box? Did the way I described it seem like it'd work?"