One resident of Blackstone is observed as he goes to work in the morning, nearly every morning. But is rarely seen coming home in the evening, before publicly eating. How is this possible? A mystery to most in Blackstone, at least until Julina solves it.

 

Julina of Blackstone
Her Chronicles

by Julia Phillips


002 - Deegrum

The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended.
This story is copyright © 2013 - 2020 Julia Phillips. All rights reserved.

It uses some of the associated characters and situations that arise from the world called ‘Anmar’ created by Penny Lane, whose stories
are also copyright © 2010 - 2020 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

One character used to fascinate me as I grew up. I would watch him trudge every working day from his hut, which was also to the east of town, up the slope and disappear into the Vale mouth, followed faithfully by his grenn and with his sack slung over his shoulder. Slightly stooped, his gait was distinctive — he seemed to spread his legs wider than other people do, and he swung his arms and hands strangely. Try as hard as I could, I hardly ever saw him and his grenn return of an evening.

Here then is Deegrum’s story …

… … …

“Oi don’t rightly know as to what Oi should be saying, Mistress Julina. Oi be me. B’ain’t be nobody other.”

“Maybe you could start with telling me a little about your parents, or maybe even their parents.”

“Oi never did know me grandfolk. Gone by time I c’d talk.”

“Well, what about your parents, then?”

“They were me Da and Ma.”

“Yes, I know that, but my readers might like to know more about them.”

“Like as what, Mistress?”

“Well, for example ….. what did your Da do, Deegrum, to put food on your plates?”

“Ma did most of it. Da cut blasted stuff up and then we ate.”

... ... ...

Deegrum was an only child, his mother having born two others who did not survive long. There was doubt if he would survive any longer than they, but of course he did. His slightly stary eyes were slightly scary to other children of his age but their teasing withered into nothing when he simply took no notice.

His father was the only boy in his family, with three sisters whilst his mother was one of three, with a brother and a sister. That brother had farmed pakh for years in the Bray Valley bowl but had died from a severe chill contracted in winter for which he sought no help. The sister had gone as far as Tranidor and met someone there, preferring to stay in Tranidor rather than return to the boring drudgery of Blackstone — and this was in the relatively richer years.

The father’s sisters also all went down to Tranidor, where it was considered there were more opportunities. Being the only boy, Deegrum’s father followed in his father’s footsteps, just as his father had followed his father. And so on back for untold generations. Which was indeed the path trod by Deegrum.

He started helping his father at the ripe old age of 10, and did more and more as his strength increased. His father taught him everything there was to know about how to do the job.

(Note from Julina: There was, it seemed to me, a big bit missing but that only occurred to me much later. It will be revealed in the narrative.)

In his private life, Deegrum met, wooed and married a local girl, Badelet, who, like most around here, came from a pakh herder’s family. She was known to be not the most intelligent girl around, but she had a gift for animals, and she had such a simple-minded clarity of purity that none could find it in them to scold her. She brought with her some pakh and displayed a good ability to train grennis for herding purposes, so she contributed some coin to the family coffers. Both of them were fairly adept with numbers, but neither could actually write. Deegrum also picked up a fair amount of Badelet’s art in animal handling and training, which was his main job for a year or so, his father still being quite vigorous.

Slowly, he took over from his father until he was the one doing the main job, and his father the minor parts. This was quite important to the town, as you will see. But his father was quite happy to half retire, loving, so it seemed, the sun and the open spaces around. (Eventually, when Deegrum’s mother died, the father went down to Tranidor where he helped one his sisters for a while, finally getting part-time employment as a tallyman in one of the warehouses. He died down there but Deegrum could not go to the pyre, being required in Blackstone at that time with a minor emergency in his job.)

When Badelet confirmed her pregnancy, they were both delighted and Deegrum added a small extension to their hut. This was standard practice in those days; just stamp down hard to flatten the ground, borrow a dranakh or a pair of frayen to walk to and fro towing a heavy flat-bottomed rock; if the area is affected heavily by the rains then knock in some foundation pilings; add a floor area usually of flat stones and/or wooden planks; add on three or four walls, and knock a hole in one or more of them for a door. Add on a roof, taking note of the way the existing roof slopes, and there you have it. A quick accommodation increase.

Deegrum’s world fell apart when Badelet died in childbirth, and their young daughter followed soon afterwards, Lendra and her helper healers being unable to keep the tiny thing alive.

He retreated inside of himself to a place where few could reach him and he relied upon his work to keep himself from brooding. He developed a habit of rocking forwards and backwards when sitting and sometimes smacking himself on the head. The Town Council, or Assembly as they like to be called nowadays, worried for a while, but he remained conscientious, but mostly uncommunicative. Just occasionally he would erupt and shout naughty words, but everyone soon ignored that, just thinking: “Oh, Deegrum’s off again. Should be quite quiet for a fair while now he has rid himself of that.”

You see, it was the Town Assembly who effectively paid for him to do his job. When both he and his father were doing the job, there were many disagreements in Council as to how much each should be paid. Once Deegrum was the only one, then all the coin went to him. But now his wife was gone, they reduced the coin a little.

Now that sounds harsh, but there was a reason — a fairly good reason.

With no woman at home to take care of him, the Town Assembly agreed to fund an evening meal for him, with a reasonable drink allowance, in either of the inns. Of course, once the Claw shut after the disease disaster, that meant in the Bell every evening.

For Deegrum is important to the town. He was now the last in the long, long line of dam men. Their job is to ensure the flow of water both from the dam into the stream, and also from the dam to the Cistern via the water chambers. Making sure no rocks or bushes or stone collapses or whatever block the flow.

As he walks up to the dam, he inspects the dry side of it for obvious damage or leaks, but has never seen one in all his years. Sometimes larger vegetation needs to be removed because that’s what his father told him, muttering something about stubborn roots, but Deegrum knows the stone of the dam would squeeze those roots too much for them to grow.

He starts by inspecting the two pairs of gates that let water out of the dam, one pair into the stream and the other into the first water chamber. He makes sure that the gates are still adjustable and are weed-free. There are two of these gates in each pair so that the water flow can be controlled still if one gate has to be repaired or replaced. He also regularly inspects the inside wall of the dam; on hot days he even enjoys diving in the waters, being careful of course not to be sucked into the openings. If anything needs clearing or cleaning, then he shuts the relevant gate and does the job in safety. The gates are controlled by ropes and pulleys which also need to be inspected and replaced if necessary. The gate slides need to be greased regularly.

Once he has dealt with the watery side of the dam, then he enters the collection chamber through a hidden doorway that is only visible to those who know where it is. Despite many requests, some more impassioned than others, Deegrum never takes anyone down there, claiming it is extremely dangerous. He did, however, describe this chamber very vividly.

There is a rectangular stone-lined basin into which the water flows from the dam, through a square brick tunnel. The flow ensures that this water in the basin is not still so does not grow stinkweed or the like. The outlet of the basin is where the water overlaps a sort of little wall whose top is lower than the other three sides of the basin so that larger heavy objects drop to the bottom of the basin rather than get carried further. From here, the water flows down a series of smaller but similar basins which step down a total of maybe two strides in height. All these basins need to be cleared out regularly. They collect a fair number of heavier rocks and branches (and other things that Deegrum refuses to describe) that are swept in through the dam wall. The solid windowless walls of the chamber provide a cool setting, even on the hottest of days. There are small openings right up by the roof to provide some fresh air, but they are kept small to minimise heating up.

The water leaves this chamber through a relatively narrow tunnel with an arched roof; the whole thing slopes very gently, enough just to keep the water flowing. This tunnel is less than three strides high, maybe around two and a bit. It is nearly a stride wide, with two narrow ledges running down each side, making the foot of the tunnel narrower than the upper level. These ledges are less than halfway up the total height of the tunnel. The water level is adjusted by the gate from the dam so that the depth of water is below the ledges, except in the rains when Deegrum opens the gates a little wider to relieve some of the flow down the outside stream. This means that he does not do a daily inspection in the rainy season, but never less than a weekly one, when he adjusts the gate for a lesser flow on one day and returns the next day to re-open it wider. If the rains are too heavy, then it has been known for the water to overflow the dam and for the Blackstone River to threaten its banks. In dire circumstances, Deegrum opens the door as wide as he dare, bearing always in mind that the rush is so great down the tunnel that damage can be done. Submerging the ledges can also cause problems with slippery stonework and some unevenness as material gets deposited on the normally flat surfaces.

Stooping, Deegrum walks along these ledges, one foot either side of the tunnel; whichever hand is not holding the lamp is stretched out to the roof, to provide some extra stability. He would travel thus all the way to the Cistern at the top of town. There are intermediate chambers about every half a mark along its total length of almost exactly three marks, and also some chimney-like stone towers that go up, sometimes inside the hillside itself. He said that he checks the outside of these towers every two months or so. His father had told him to make sure that there were no bushes choking the tops of them. He uses his grenn down there in the tunnel as an early warning, saying he leaves the animal at one chamber while he works his way down to the next one. Then he calls the grenn to him before setting out towards the next. If the grenn barks a warning, he reckons they have enough time to get to the next chamber and get above water level before any flood could catch them.

In all those years, he said that his lamp failed only once, but he knew his way round the chambers so well that he wasn’t in any trouble. His day consists of removing anything growing in there, the damp atmosphere being good for various things to flourish, although the darkness makes them pale, and checking for any stone decay or whatever.

Working thus, in the dark, dank and lonely tunnel is why he is rarely seen returning from the Vale of an evening.

Sometimes there might be more than usual work to be done at one or more spots and he doesn’t make it as far as the Cistern. He then exits from the depths through one of the individual chambers. Sometimes the problem may be such that he could not manage it alone, so he would then have to call in the help of either the mason or the joiner, or both. It was one of those occasions that kept him in Blackstone rather than go down to Tranidor to take leave of his father. He knew his father would approve.

Deeper questioning revealed that he did not actually understand WHY he was doing what he did, just HOW to do what he did.

( Note from Julina: Which was the bit I felt was missing)

His greatest fear is that there will be no-one to continue his work, and that the town would then starve of water. He feels himself a huge failure for not providing a son to continue. And he can never forgive himself for not being with Badelet when she needed him.

Few speak with him in the evening as most prefer light conversations to unwind from their hard days, and so he retreats further and further into himself, usually rocking on his seat in the corner. Always courteous, he talks to those who want to, but he never tells a joke, nor laughs when another does. He is always grateful for his meal and his usual two ales and is never a messy eater. But it is very difficult to get close to him. And most of his words are thickly interlaced with words less polite. Apparently he frequently bellows out every bad word he can think of when he is down below - there in his private world, where there is no-one dear to him who can be taken away - and this habit sometimes erupts when he is among company.

… … …

I think that Deegrum was the least affected of all of us in Blackstone when Trogan came, although at first there was some stupid teasing and taunting from Trogan’s men. They soon learnt that everyone around would not stand for that, whatever the consequences. Deegrum of course missed the Baroness’ entrance as he was effectively underground at the time. When I told him of the changes one morning, he just shrugged, shouldered his heavy sack, whistled for his grenn, and trudged back up to the dam.