The World changes more rapidly than anyone on it ever imagined it could
The Royal Party settle in
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.
“Well, Your Honour, that's not exactly what happened.”
My mind was racing to find some excuse not to get the Einnlanders into trouble.
When I had collided with him, here in the eastern extension of what we now call 'The Axis', Jerk had grabbed me into a tight embrace and swiftly put his hand on the hilt of his sword. It was only a few heartbeats later that I realised he was in fact protecting me from his colleagues, but he was almost shouting at them in his own tongue, and they were shouting back, so my heartbeat was rapid and my fear high.
Now, several moments later, there were far more people involved. I knew them all but recognised that the Captain was the one I had to convince most. I knew him to be an extremely capable reader of people and could only hope that the dim light from the lanterns a couple of the others were holding was insufficient to allow him to read my face accurately.
“So what, exactly, did happen then, Mistress?”
“You see, normally I leave work here much later of an evening and am mostly the only one afoot at that time. So, when I finally managed at last to get an early night, I did not consider other footgoers. I am just so used to stepping out into this lane and walking home that I did not even look. I just closed the door behind me and stepped out. Which is why I might have squealed a little when I bounced off this man.”
We in Town all knew by then that the Captain did not approve of the Einnlanders very much, although I would never suggest he would ever go out of his way to find something to charge them with. But we knew he would never be averse to listening carefully when they were involved. Some incident down in the Palace at the time of the Wedding celebrations had soured his view of these men.
However, when he spoke again, 'twas surprising that he laughed a little then: “Were I to employ the same distortion, but in the opposite way, then I would suggest your scream might have woken the signallers atop the Strettalm!”
“I'm sure I was not THAT loud, Your Honour.”
A giggle came from Em then: “A little squeal it was not, Julina. 'Tis why we all came.”
I looked again at the group all around me. Em and Kelly were the only other women present. The Captain had arrived just after Fedren and Suril. He, the Captain that is, was in the company of Bezan and, to my surprise, Ponstib and Subrish.
Oh poo! Subrish is also a Captain. This is getting tricky what with two Princes, two Counts and now two Captains.
I dragged my thoughts back to where they should be. 'Twas the latter who had ordered the Einnlanders to stand in a file off to one side, his commands made in their own tongue to avoid any possible confusion.
I hurried on with my interpretation of events, hoping that the four furry men would understand that I was finding an explanation that would not result in any charges against them: “So when I squealed … er screamed, that is … out of surprise … these brave men all leapt to my defence, thinking I was being attacked. Those two there immediately drew their weapons to form an advance guard, and these two held me close lest anyone or thing out there got through the others. There was some confusion at first as they searched the darkness for the dangers. They spoke in their own speech, so I knew not what they were saying, nor who was ordering whom, but Jerk here seemed to me to take charge. Eventually 'twas all resolved, quite rapidly when Masters Fedren and Suril came arunning with a lantern, and Mistresses Michet and Kellonika came out the house with a lantern themselves.”
“I see,” said the Captain. “That's the way of it, is it? Very well! So I find I must say 'well done' to you men!”
I breathed a silent sigh of relief for I now knew he realised that some praise would be due, if my tale was to be believed. And yet I could tell there was a little doubt still in his mind. “But Mistress, this would not have arisen had you not been walking the streets at night alone, if I ma ...”
I interrupted him firmly: “Captain, with all the very greatest of respect, that has to be utter nonsense. If I had another female to see me home, then she herself would have to walk home to HER house alone, unless we started with three. Then those two must needs part. And so it goes on until we end up with two women who share accommodation somehow.” He started to speak again, but again I firmly carried on. “And from day to day, I never know when I will have finished my tasks; I cannot ask anyone to just sit in a corner for bell after bell on the off chance that I might want to go somewhere.
“It could be said that habits in this town should be changed along with so much else that is changing. Why should it be that women are not allowed to walk about alone?”
The Captain then surprised me by not replying to me directly, instead swinging round on Kelly: “Mistress Kellonika, I understand that you have recently taken over some of Mistress Julina's duties in the Salon, so much so that you are now the last to leave and you travel home alone, also late at night?”
“Indeed so, Your Honour.”
“And do you not have the same problems that Mistress Julina here has?”
“Not really, Your Honour. For my way home is simply up Main Street, and for a shorter distance than that of Mistress Julina. And nowadays, there is a certain amount of light on Main Street, with those Sethan lamps, so I have a better vision about me.”
“Hmm. I deem we have finally found a positive for the presence of those street lights. They provide a certain degree more safety for our womenfolk in the Bells of darkness. Bezan, that's something we should consider at the next Assembly Meet I deem.”
“Very well, Your Honour,” said Bezan. “And now the end is near. With the greatest of respect to you all, I find myself in need of a bed too. Our discussions with regards to designing the barracks with Quadrant Ponstib and Captain Subrish, as well as Bailiss Michet, are at an end, and I look forward to the follow up in a pair of days time. But for now, I shall go and dream. Good night, all.”
He sketched a small salute and turned on his heel as we all murmured our own wishes to him. I was impressed that all these men, and Em of course, had been discussing town affairs until so late at night. I had thought that we in the Salon were the only late workers. And then I remembered that, tonight, I was early going home, quite a lot earlier than my norm. But still, it was somehow reassuring to know that our planners were prepared to put in late time.
When Subrish stated that he and the Einnlanders would escort me home, then the Captain and Quadrant Ponstib withdrew as well, but only after asking me with their eyes if I was happy with that.
Kelly objected: “There are now five men around you 'Lina, all out-of-towners. Is this wise?”
“Subrish here is Epp's brother. His reputation is on the line here, as well as Epp's. I doubt not that everything shall pass as it ought. These soldiers are not drunk, well not obviously so, so I doubt not they shall also be in control of themselves.”
Em and Kelly looked at each other. It was their turn for eye-speak, even in that dim light, and Em said: “We shall accompany you, then we two can return here. You need not go with the men.”
“In that case,” said Subrish, “I shall accompany the three of you alone and send these four off up to the Community Hall. I need a quick word with Julina here anyway.”
Putting his intentions into words, he then turned to the Einnlanders and gave them some orders. They responded, he spoke again, they agreed. Before they departed though, Jerk turned to me and said: “We thank you for words. We not in trouble because. You good lady.”
“Aye!” said each of the other three before they turned and went away.
We four waited just a breath or three, then started out, at first following them.
When they got to the junction of The Axis with East Street, they chose to turn left and go up its slope, presumably before soon turning right and climbing up the gentle slope of Middle Cross Lane, thus to gain the Dam Road and thence to the Community Hall. They were arguing amongst themselves before they even got as far as East Street.
When we got to East Street, we turned the other way.
Subrish started the conversation proper, interrupting our chatter to do so: “Julina, you were lucky those men were relatively sober. I have no doubt that your story covers the facts, but I got a flavour of parts of it being invented. But I can tell you, you have four faithful fans now. They realised the trouble they would have got in had anything … nasty … happened.”
“How know you that, Captain?” asked Kelly.
“Mistress Kellonika, I fought with two of them, that Jerk and Maarku. I speak a little of their language.”
“You fought with them? And yet you speak with them? And can order them about?” She was so intent upon her amazed questioning of Subrish that she failed to see Em's nod of agreement, supporting Subrish's statement.
“'Twould have been better had I said that I fought alongside them, Mistress. That sort of 'with'. Down at Boldan's Rock in the last Yodan War.”
“Ah! I see! I thought you meant at first that they had been your opponents!” she replied, with a relieved sort of giggle.
He turned back to me. “Now Julina, what REALLY happened?”
“'Twas as I said, Subrish. I am so unaccustomed to seeing anyone outside when I use that side door, it was all a big surprise.”
“Come now, Julina. So loud a scream would not have been uttered if you were not frightened. And I know that Captain Bleskin picked up on that too.”
“Very well, then. I collided quite heavily into Jerk's chest. The beard and the fur told me immediately that he was an Einnlander, and then there were other voices and I realised that there were at least three of them. And you have told me more than once to avoid Einnlanders when they are drunk. I was scared for a breath or two.”
“Ah! That's a little more like it. I shall not press you further. But you must take more care in the future.”
“So why are there so many Einnlanders with the Royal Party?” asked Kelly.
“Ah! That is a logical question, but a complicated answer. For now, I shall give you the short answer. Prince Torulf of Einnland was attached to the party for him to learn more of Palarand in particular, and he needed, of course, his own personal bodyguard, so two Einnlanders were chosen somehow from his guard. But Prince Keren, or perchance 'twas his father, did not want to have two untrained, mayhap untamed, Einnlanders alone. Meanwhile Princess Eriana is planning an upriver mission with her ship, the Visund, for which she requires as many of her crew as possible, so it was decided that just two of those who went to Boldan's Rock would join the Princes, to balance the other two, and to gently train them in the Palarandi way of doing things. Two experienced warriors and two inexperienced newcomers. Balance you see. Balance.”
Then Em joined in: “But there are surely, Captain Subrish, more Einnlanders than those four?”
“Ah, yes! Very well then, I shall go a little deeper. Princess Eriana arrived in the Great Valley, well in Plif to start with, aboard the Visund and eventually left what they call a 'basic' crew behind with the ship, to guard it and repair it and so on. The great majority of the crew then were taken to an estate outside Palarand City, something like the Kalland or Kallend, or maybe 'twas Kelland, no matter, Estate where the first Palarandi university is being built. There...”
“University?” I squeaked, sensing that here was something I should learn about.
“Not now, please Julina! I will explain some other time.
“Anyway ... back to the Einnlanders ... There at that Estate the entire crew were trained in Palarandi soldiering and with Her Highness' unarmed combat techniques and with Valley weapons and all that. Finally, the team, the 'Einnland Regiment', was selected from amongst them. However, a hand or more were NOT selected. One of them, Vidrik, had damaged an ankle in the crashlanding in Plif; it had not healed properly, so he was unable to train as hard as the others and consequently has less stamina. He is a ferocious fighter, but would have held the others back. He requested, which request was granted, to join Her Highness' personal guard. He has specialised in close defence with Her Highness. He was the smaller one this e'en.”
“Ah! And with Her Highness despatched on this other special mission, he couldn't go with her so he was sort of left with the group?” asked Kelly.
“Exactly!”
We had by then reached my home, and we dropped our voices lest we wake the children. I was about to say good-night along with my thanks, when Kelly piped up once more: “And there was that taller one, thin and lanky?”
Subrish sighed. “Yes, Sigsten is his name. He is the final one on this particular trip. He also came on the ship with Princess Eriana and did all the training and so on.”
Something in his voice told me he didn't want to elaborate further, which naturally piqued my curiosity. So much so, that I had to ask: “And he is here because …?”
He sighed again, more heavily this time. “My short answer has already gone way beyond that which I intended. And I really shall not say any more, and I really mean that – not another word, other than to say that Sigsten is here as a trained soldier in reserve but principally as Senidet's assistant. Now I bid you good-night, Julina. Ladies, shall you accompany me back to your Salon?”
“You can't leave now, Subrish!” I stopped abruptly since I realised I was getting dangerously loud, so I forced my voice to be a little quieter. “Senidet? Assistant? In what? Why does she need one? How did an Einnlander become involved? Oh, there are a million questions you have now opened up.”
He just laughed and turned on his heel, ushering the other two to go with him. They laughed too.
I reacted as, I only later realised, they expected.
I stamped my foot.
All that did was to raise more giggles from Em and Kelly. I glowered at them as they each took one of Subrish's arms and leaned into him. I knew they would wheedle the story out of him, and leave me wondering all night.
Grrr.
… … …
That next morning, Kords joined in with Swayga and I as we raised our eyebrows at Kissa flirting with Surtree, and at him flirting back!
Kords shot off to her room almost before we had finished whilst I waited to the very end and then went to gather together my things and change into my riding clothes. Kords banged out of the house before I was even halfway changed.
Surtree and I were not that far behind since we left soon after I represented myself.
I was mentally hugging myself with glee, for this morning Surtree was going to be surprised. This morning Parry had arranged for Surtree's first riding lesson to happen while I was out with some of my women friends. I had estimated that we should be about two bells, maximum three, and Parry had said that was a perfect timing. Surtree was going to have to learn about feeding the animals and caring for them, as well as simply riding them. Also caring for the saddles and so on. I had told Parry that, when the inevitable whine and moan came, he was simply to remind Surtree that he was being paid to do this but others had to pay for the privilege.
So it was with a certain lightness of step that we made our way towards the courtyard of the Claw. In the Claw's paddock, which, you will remember, bordered our house, I saw a young frayen foal frolicking with an adult beast. I assumed that this would be Tixi, its mother, but there was something wrong with that picture somehow. I worried all the way to the courtyard, wondering why that adult animal did not somehow look like Tixi. Could it even be another foal? But you must remember I was concentrating more on the surprise for Surtree, so all this was happening way back in the deepest recesses of my brain.
As we approached, my brow furrowed for it seemed to me there was a lot more chatter and bustle than normal. I could not ever remember such a commotion, and we were still a cast away. And it got louder as we approached. We turned into the courtyard and we stood stock still.
I deem if I had been any more surprised, then I would have been sucking up the mud from by my boots, so low had my jaw dropped.
Sookie was waiting for me, along with Pomma, Kelly, Molly, Kords and Em. They had even saddled Trumpa for me.
All were dressed and ready to ride.
As were each and every one of the eight women who had arrived yesterday.
The Countess was there and her maid, Tandra, along with the two female guards, Gowdet and Tanita. Then there was Senidet and her maid, which made me laugh for her name was also Molleena, so she soon got named Maid Molly.
Lanilla was there too, along with the two Einnlander maids, Geska and Odgarda, and finally there was the senior maid, who was also the Commander's wife, Mistress Jenet.
Fifteen women were going to go ariding!
Just then, very near me but out of my sight since they were round the edge of the wall from where Surtree and I were, I overheard two men talking.
“Maker!” whined the first voice. “Commander, are you SURE you want me, Stott, Briswin and Tedenis to go along with them? Their chatter will drive us mad! We'll be ill for days afterwards! Unfit for duty. Tortured, I tell you, tortured!”
“Now, now, Tord! You know the Countess needs a guard about her, and I need a reliable man in charge. That's you by the way, in case you didn't recognise the description – as many might not.
“And this way, my soldiers begin to add to their knowledge of the area hereabouts. The two Princes and the Counts have a day here in Town discussing with most of the Assembly members what has been done, and what is about to be done, so they will be essentially static. I will detail a hand or so of soldiers to wander around the town boundaries so that they can get a feel for the place too. I confess, though, that I had not expected quite so many females when I assigned you to this duty. But cheer up man, at least they can all speak the Valley tongue.”
“Exactly. It's that speaking that worries me,” retorted Tord, morosely. Which drew a small laugh from his Commander.
I judged it time to step forward. “Don't worry, er … Quadrant??? … Tord. We shall keep you entertained the entire journey.”
Both men had the grace to look embarrassed when they realised I had heard their exchange.
The Commander was first to fill the quick silence: “Mistress Julina, we meet again! And on a much finer day, at last. It is a pleasure to see you here.”
“Commander, 'tis my pleasure, surely. I confess that I am surprised, shocked even, to see so many females here. I had anticipated maybe a hand of us only.”
“The ladies of our caravan have become impatient with being cooped up for so long inside the carriages, and their mounts also needed exercise. Now, I understand from Soo ... Mistress Sukhana, that you are the one to determine the route today. Would you be so kind as to give me an idea, that I might be able to react quicker to any emergency?”
I gasped in further surprise. Me? Deciding for us all where we shall go? I supposed someone had to do it.
But actually, I already knew what I wanted to do, so I was able to reply without all that much hesitation.
“Commander, we shall be at all times within eyeshot, or maybe better said, telescope shot. We shall ascend Main Street, pass the mines and Miners' Villages then follow the Loop Road all the way round to the Artisans' Area, on to the Stone Sea Road junction and then all the way down to the two new bridges, rejoining the Forest Road at the Bunkhouse. From there we shall cross to the Fish Farm, to pick up some containers of fish for my restaurant and then come back here. I deem we shall be a little under three bells, for I have work to do and can afford very little more time myself.”
“A most excellent report, I am exceeding grateful.” He grinned engagingly. “You have the makings of a good soldier!”
“Alas, sir, you flatter me. I regret I am far too busy these days to take off any time for your training regimes …”
I broke off as a sudden thought hit me. I thought it through rapidly. Then another thought hit me.
“Commander, may I introduce Surtree? This lad is employed by me, well by my companies actually, and would require a certain amount of training. Today, I am about to surprise him for he is about to have his first frayen lesson, care and control and all that ...” We both grinned at the sudden delight writ large upon the lad's face. “... Mayhap he could also learn some of the basics of soldiering, somehow? I know not if this is a practical suggestion. And I myself would like to learn at least some of these unarmed combat moves that Captain Subrish and others have been telling me about. Is there some way we could acquire some rudimentary skill in this area whilst your party is in Town?”
The Commander's face took on a calculating look. “Mistress Julina, that is quite possibly a splendid suggestion. 'Twould keep some of my command busy and stop them being too bored. I shall come back to you about that. Thank you for the idea.”
Just then, the Countess' voice cut through the hub-hub: “Commander, shall you delay her much longer? We are all impatient to get going!”
“My apologies, Milady,” he called back in the most carrying of tones. “She shall come immediately.” He turned to Tord. “Mount up your boys, you're getting a day with the girls, you lucky man.”
Tord groaned.
… … ...
A hand or so of moments later, the entire column wound its way out of the Claw's courtyard. Four of us had pairs of empty fish transporting 'buckets' draped across our beasts, which provided the grounds for our first conversation.
Mind you, the shock on some of the citizens' faces as such a huge group of women rode through their midst afforded many more topics as our ride went on that day. It was a fertile field for us to chat and moan about.
I felt a little sorry for Em on that ride. She naturally wanted to be with the Countess, Mistress Jenet, Pomma and Sookie, but at the same time wanted to be with us younger ones, who piled question upon question on Senidet and on Lanilla.
Sookie too was torn, her stepdaughter was here after all, but she also wanted to ask questions of her friend, the Countess Merizel, and of Mistress Jenet too.
There were three distinct groups as we started out, well four actually, if you count the guards who were spread out all around us. There were the maids, who seemed to bunch together naturally, then there were we youngsters, and then the more mature women.
Senidet though waved us off, saying that she wanted to enjoy the ride that day, and would rather not talk about business. She had said sufficient, she thought, yesterday. All she would say was that she needed to discuss some things with Kelly's parents. She made us promise not to press her further until she herself said we could do so, which wouldn't be for some days.
Reluctantly, we allowed her her peace and pestered Lanilla instead. We extracted the information that she had her eye on a young man, who was originally from Yod and was one of the animal men in the Royal Party. We Blackstone girls were all impressed that she was being trained as Milady Merizel's assistant. But she remained tight-lipped about most of her duties, much to the obvious approval of the Countess.
However, in the end, the entire bunch of us came together as a group over a very silly subject.
Duplicated names.
I have mentioned we had with us two Molleenas; the one, my friend, from Blackstone and the other from Palarand, now the maid for Senidet. It was now that the latter was quickly referred to as 'Maid Molly'; and my and Kelly's and Kords' friend became known as 'Our Molly'.
Once the subject had been broached, I was reminded of the event that happened when the Princess, then Baroness, was leaving town last time, so I said loudly that all could hear: “Last year, in the chaos of the Grand Departure, someone yelled out 'Torin!' and two men next to each other swung round and answered at the same time. One was the town carpenter, Master Torin, and the other was one of the guards. It was so funny that the two of them were standing literally shoulder-to-shoulder and knew not of the connection between themselves. They laughed, acknowledged each other and then the guard went over to get his orders.”
“Aye,” said Gowdet, “but, to add to that, there be two Torins in the Palace Guard, one in the 2nd and one in the 4th Quadrant. The 2nd one came up here as one of the Prince's guards last year, so that would have been him.”
“And forget not the two Tilmars,” added Tanita, “2nd and 3rd Quadrants.”
“Oh, aye! Them too.”
“This very strange. Must be 'T',” said Odgarda. “On ship we come with Tors – four of them.” She turned to the soldier's leader. “How many Tords there are? And Teds?” she finished, switching her gaze on the blushing Tedenis.
We all laughed, the guards, the maids, we locals and the Countess as well.
And suddenly we were a much more together bunch, even Tord and his men seemed to relax.
We locals pointed out the changes to the others who had been here before and I was pleased that I was able to explain some of the decisions behind various locations and developments. Those that had not been here before were even more engaged with our tales. I was pleased to discover that I even knew more information about a couple of things than Em did, and she's on the Assembly!
“... because they that are working there get flooded by questions from those who pass by. They say that the curtaining allows them to work more productively, by some two or so bells, each day! Currently they are finding out how to make sets of rails cross over each other. It is not possible for a destination to be served by a dedicated set of tracks, so at some point ...”
Even as I was talking, I was aware of Senidet going into a heavily thinking state. Everyone else seemed to find my explanation fascinating, even the guards.
Then we got to the first place of real interest to me. The spot Paivi and Surtree had selected for our lunch cooking.
I was shocked, I can tell you. Yes, I was yet again shocked that morning.
There was an army of workers there it seemed.
No fewer than three of the levelling teams were there, making a start on the new road that would skirt the north and west sides of this part of the Artisans' Area, going on to join the Stone Sea road and thus cut off two marks or so of travel.
The Loop Road itself was partially blocked just there, leaving room for only a single wagon to pass while workers dug a trench across the rest of the already surfaced railroad and wagon road tracks. Upon enquiry, they explained they were burying a new storm drain just there, now that the new road would require run-offs for the rain. They would then close up the road surface above the trench, then block off the piece that was open at the moment and continue the trench from where the old one had stopped until it reached the storm drain to the east of Loop Road. That way, traffic could still flow even as they were working on the road.
There was also a band of constructors. They had erected a single wall, nine or ten strides long, anchored to the rock at one end and to the ancient and solitary tree at the other. Gaps had been left in it for windows and a central door. Also they had attached a wooden piece, along at the ceiling height, to the rock and another parallel to that which hung between the tree and a lonely looking solid wooden column, the furthest out from the rock of a line of three such columns. Even as we watched, a dranakh with a load lengthener apparatus began raising the first of the easily recognisable roof pieces to be attached at the rock end.
It was easy to see that they would erect three roof pieces before a further stout wooden column was met to support the weight. This, as I have previously said, was already in position, one of the line of them, and its foot was deep into the ground, packed around with compressed stones for stability. On its head, the column wore a metal cap from which hung four things that looked like special cups in which to hang wooden beams. Each of the four were as far apart from the next as from the previous one as they went round the column. A support beam had been laid in one cup so that it reached from there to the rock. Another cup allowed another support beam to sit in it, crossing its way over to the wall. I saw then that soon a further support beam would be placed in the third cup and stretch down to the next wooden column with its own metal crown. The system was so fascinatingly clever. The fourth cup was empty, but maybe they would be using it if the roof was to be expanded in that direction.
There were of course similar arrangements at the other ends of the support beams, but, for example, the cup hanging on the piece of wood on the rock had no companions.
They also had temporary columns (of course) to use as they moved the individual roof pieces into place, but these had no attached edge support, obviously; they were there simply to nudge the roof pieces into their proper places. With the layout as seen, it was plain to me that the roof would consist of nine roof pieces in all.
You may think I was shocked because of the speed of development of what they had done.
Well yes, that WAS surprising - but not exactly shocking.
The real shock was because there was a wagon standing there that had not one but two ovens awaiting unloading! Why, we could start operations as soon as they were placed on the ground!
We all reined in and watched as the first roof piece was raised, nudged and finally placed into position, and then secured along three sides - the rock edge, atop the wall and atop the support beam. It was tempting to watch them erect the second piece to butt up against that first piece, but Tord wisely warned us about time wasting, so we reluctantly moved on.
“... so the workers over here will have an easy access to some food for their mid-day meal. We expect to serve easily handled items like pies and so on, but mostly these new peet-zer things.”
“You have the peet-zers up here already?” asked the Countess.
“Oh yes, Milady!” said Sookie. “That young Maralin of Joth demonstrated them to me when I was down there for the weddings. Even the Captain, Captain Bleskin that is, was there. When I got back, I showed them to various people, Julina here included. She has had one of her cooks experiment with them and I confess that young Paivi's peet-zers are so much better than any I can make.”
“One of Julina's cooks? I thought she was a teacher?”
“Yes, Milady. And a lot more. It's like this ...”
… … …
We passed the junction that led up to the Stone Sea, and I had a little smile to myself. The work where we would be serving the peet-zers was bustling and in full flow. The area marked out for the Stoop was still exactly that. Marked out. No start at all had been made. I once more thought that maybe the way to attract these, or perhaps any, men was through their bellies.
We passed on, soon reaching the point where the railroad bed split off from Loop Road. Again Senidet nodded her head wisely as I explained about the wagon bridge being tested to be strong enough for wagons, but doubtful to be strong enough for railroad equipment, if what we had been told was true. We did not linger there though, for the wind was blowing from the direction of the Vale and Town, thus drifting over the waste handling areas that were straddling the river. Our noses preferred that we hastened on. But even as we did so, the Countess remarked: “But 'tis already a vast improvement on last year!”
Tord made us break into smaller groups to cross the bridge and encouraged us to make our beasts have different stride patterns, lest we set up harmful vibrations that might wobble or damage the bridge itself.
It was on the stretch from the bridge down to the Bunkhouse and the junction with the Forest Road (as more and more people were nowadays calling it) that I innocently asked Sookie a question, the answer to which visibly shocked the Countess and even Mistress Jenet.
“So Sookie, and just how is Tixi enjoying her exercise after being unable to be ridden for a while? I deem by her gait and her eyes that she is thoroughly enjoying it. But I do sense also some concern.”
“You are right, 'Lina. She is very happy, but I believe she is also a little worried about her foal.”
“She foaled, Sookie?” asked the Countess.
“Aye, Milady, that she did. A young buck. Very recently.”
“Have you selected a name?” asked the Commander's wife.
“Not yet, Jenet. I find I must ponder a while.”
Tord entered the conversation at that point. “A buck foal you say? And recent? Normally, mother frayen stick close to their buck foals, some for many weeks.”
“That reminds me, Sookie,” I said. “I thought I saw a foal in your paddock being closely accompanied by another adult. I thought 'twas Tixi at first, because it seemed to be an anxious parent, but somehow something told me 'twas another beast. Who was that then? Another foal and its mother, perchance?”
“Ah! Now here's an interesting tale!
“Parry tells me that one of the bucks that arrived with the Royal Party was ushered into the stables. He looked around and sniffed, ears alert and seemed to relax slightly. Then he went straight to Tixi and then, after they whiffled to each other for a bit, searched around for the foal. Since then, that buck has been as close as is possible to the foal. We deem that 'tis the father frayen, come back once more to Blackstone. He seemed to remember the stables there and also there was some bond with Tixi.”
“Which is it, then?”
Sookie smiled in a strange way before answering: “Snep!”
… … ...
Tord and his guards did not like the Fish Farm. All those reeds could hide any number of attackers he stated. But we females enjoyed it. The setting, the tranquillity and the coolness, for the sun was by now working up a bit of a punch.
Pomma told the others something which I deem made them all a little wistful, it certainly made me so: “'Tis wonderful to come here sometimes and just sit, dangling bare feet in the water, cooling down and enjoying the peace and quiet.” She blushed slightly. “My man and I come here regularly, just to be alone together for a while.”
Having availed ourselves of the facilities in the Bunkhouse – where Goodman Junker and Mistress Palma were surprised by the number of women requiring the toilet – we had passed on to the fish farm. Junker was busy in the Bunkhouse so he simply told me from which underwater cage to take my supplies. In those days suppliers and customers could still trust each other to the extent that customers were allowed to take what was wanted and to pay for it promptly and accurately. No need for checks.
We filled the eight fish buckets, not too many fish to a bucket lest they flop out on the journey. From there, we aimed straight across the land for the bridge into Town, skirting of course the planted patches. The four pairs of fish buckets now dangled tautly down the flanks of those of us bearing them, Kelly, Kords, Em and myself.
I deem our beasts enjoyed having a softer surface beneath their feet. We upped the speed a little, but carefully for we had some inexperienced riders amongst us. All too soon, we were back in the Claw's courtyard, all of us thoroughly exhilarated. Many a good friendship was forged that morn.
All thanked me for a most interesting and educational route to have taken. I was surprised by that somehow; all I had done was to follow my desires and drag the others along, but they seemed to think I had planned it somehow for all the things that could be pointed out as we went.
It had been a fine morning with only one dark cloud that had threatened to bring dismay. That was when we from the town wanted to know why Her Highness was not present. This question produced immediate frowns from all of those belonging to the Royal Party – and I really mean from all - the maids included and the guards.
The maids, they all looked to Mistress Jenet to answer for them, whereas the guards all looked to Tord to deal with it.
Both of these two, however, looked to the Countess, who thought long and hard before answering: “We had made it to close by Teldor when Her Highness was called away. Some knew in advance that this was to happen, Prince Keren of course, but many of us were taken by surprise. As was explained afterwards, the mission Her Highness is on will take a certain while, and must start very soon, lest she has no time to return before the rains. So she will either be back before then, or will have to wait until later in the year before she can return. Naturally, all hope it shall be the earlier version. Thus was it so important that she had to leave almost before she and her husband had had a vayterkan, as they call it.
“She is being looked after by a highly competent team where she is, which is why her retainers were not required and therefore remained with us. They would have had difficulties with some of the training required for the ultimate destination anyway, so were not given any. The Prince is of course sad and upset, but he knows that sometimes Royal demands outweigh personal wishes. He is certainly not as carefree as he was.”
She raised a grin then, which was at first a little surprising: “Nor was Snep too happy either, he has been morose as well, but maybe his fatherhood will give him a …” she giggled slightly “... 'buck' up.”
I think all of us realised that this subject was not to be dwelt upon, and so we were grateful to her Ladyship for making the little joke at the end. I deem had she not, then we would have been cast into sadness ourselves.
It didn't stop all sorts of questions ringing in my head, of course.
(Older Julina says: I never thereafter in all my life took place in a ride with quite so many females. I doubt that even now this 'record' has been surpassed anywhere in the Great Valley at least!)
… … …
I did not realise it at the time, but that day set the usual pattern for my next few days and weeks. I would ride most mornings, spend the rest of the mornings checking up on the various building projects, or hiring more drivers, buying more animals, or whatever the Wagons or the Accommodations required of me, I might teach an occasional lesson, but would work most afternoons and evenings in the Salon.
And yet each day managed to contrive to be different.
As a result of that, please allow me to just mention a few events, those which require of me to give little more background information. Events that happened as the days rolled by:
--- Later that same evening:
We named the hut in a way after young Surtree. And also in the way it was set up. We decided to call it 'The Tree Refreshments'; forever after 'twas known simply as the 'Tree'.
Whilst on the subject, we opened there for business just three days after 'The Ride'. Paivi did a roaring trade with her peet-zers. She and one of the other girls would take a bac over to the 'Tree' every day to arrive at half a bell before noon. Mutab liked the regularity of doing this, and the workers over in the Artisans' Area made it fun by lining up and clapping the little cart as it arrived. After a little while of experimentation, they had even arranged that one of them, we never really knew who it was, would light the ovens such that they were hot by the time the little party arrived.
It took the two girls and Mutab, for he soon learnt to join in, very little time to set up the place. The trio would arrive, then immediately set out a trestle which they then loaded with all their prepared ingredients, after which Mutab would set out a few tables and benches for the customers to sit on, in the shade of the awning he had unfurled, which was kept rolled up against the edge of the more solid roof when no longer required. Most customers would sit at these tables, some though would bring their own slates to use as plates and would wander away with their food as soon as they got it, unless 'twas raining, of course.
Upon rereading this, I have noticed that I might have given a slightly imperfect impression of how it went. Paivi was by far the most frequent to do the trek over there, however she could not neglect her ongoing education over here, so sometimes Kelly, Venket, Frowka or even Kords would take her place for the lunchtime duties over at the 'Tree'. I myself did so on more than one occasion. Paivi though did well over a half of the lunchtimes over there in the first few weeks and indeed months.
--- Whilst on the subject of three days later:
We had the Royal Party in the Salon that night as guests.
Paivi was most cross with us for not letting anyone know in advance. She had just had her first lunchtime over the other side and would have wanted a chance to tidy herself up anyway for our customers that night. Freshness of experiences meant that she was later than anticipated to return. She had sensibly brought a spare dress to the Salon that morning but she still moaned that she would have wanted to do more than just change her dress. She said she would have made a special effort had she known the make-up of our guest list.
Which was exactly another reason why I made sure the others weren't told.
My major reason had been that the team wouldn't succumb to nerves, that they would continue with their normal high standards which by then had become routine. As it was, it got a little wobbly when Venket and Kords, our designated front of house personnel that evening, rushed back in to the kitchens to tell everyone who was in the dining room. I had to lend my weight to Kelly's telling them that it should matter not one bit, that they should just continue as they always did. I like to think we managed to get through their natural nervousness and settled them down. Certainly, the usual hecticity was sufficient for them to have to concentrate on their tasks. The whole evening, I had to refuse to allow just two plates of the food to be served.
At the end, a breathless Venket rushed in and told me that I was wanted in the Dining Room. I did a quick hand-brush of my hair, removed my apron even as Kelly was doing the same, at my gestured insistence.
We entered the room, and curtsied even as we were astonished that everyone there rose to their feet and applauded us.
The Prince himself addressed me: “Mistress Julina, I can safely say that that was the best meal I have eaten for many a long day. Your applause is well deserved, I, nay, WE ALL, deem.”
I blushed by way of reply, and felt for a heartbeat tongue-tied, but then my words came back to me: “Your Highness, I am just one of a team here, and in fact, am no longer in day to day charge as my other businesses take a lot of my time. Mistress Kellonika here is now the one who directs this establishment.”
“Your Highness,” said Kelly at this point, “the original idea came from our Bailiss, Mistress Michet there, whose house this is. She got the idea after eating with Julina and her family a few times. Julina has been responsible entirely for setting this up as a business and for employing those who work here. Indeed nearly all the recipes we use are hers. I merely feed off HER ideas.”
“But without her and the rest of the team, I would be unable to do this,” I hastily added. Then I corrected myself: “WE would not be able to do any of this. We are such a team that we all share in everything, for we all take turns in front and out the back. We share everything, from any small coin that our diners are kind enough to leave, that by the way goes to the kitchen staff as well as those who are designated to be on duty here in the dining room, to any leftovers from the kitchens.” I laughed allowing a little bitter note into it. “We also share the washing up afterwards! So really, the entire team should be the ones to be congratulated.”
“Then Mistress Julina, would you be so kind as to fetch them all in here?”
They were all equally embarrassed to be applauded when they came in. I had a pang of sorrow for Gyth who wasn't here, but all the others were, even little Kissa.
I saw the Prince bend and whisper something to Count Terinar who in turn whispered something to his wife. The Countess gave an almost imperceptible nod and then beckoned Tandra to her. She whispered something to her maid who herself nodded before stepping back.
And so it was that our commendation from the Royal Household came about. It is a signed proclamation that hangs to this day in pride of place on the wall. This certificate came about because of that evening. As well as something else I shall tell you about later.
In all, we fed the Prince four times whilst he was here, the Count and Countess on seven occasions. All the others returned at least once.
And they were always generous with their coin of appreciation. I discovered later that was what the whispered message to Tandra had been.
--- That evening was the sixth of 'The Visit'. Before we get too far ahead, I must report on an event that happened on their fourth evening here.
The playact organised by Berdon and Bettayla, and much of which was written by Our Molly.
I was not there of course, for that was a busy Salon night. However, I have pieced together the following report, again with the generous help of the Countess, of Mistress Jenet and of others who attended, and of some who even performed.
For a start, it nearly didn't. Start that is.
The clever design of the moveable walls, and the special seating for the watchers drew many admiring remarks from the Visitors.
Who of course had to have demonstrations of how they worked and so on.
Which eventually brought Berdon almost to explode.
“Your Highnesses, My Lords, Milady, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I most respectfully point out that you have all day to examine these wonders, but these players and myself have only tonight to entertain you. I beg of you, most humbly, to please take your allocated seats as soon as you may, that we can finally start!”
This is, of course, not the very best way to set the tone of the evening, so Berdon made a snap judgement to bring forward the scene of the teachers with the naughty pupils to the fore.
It was an inspired move, for he could then adopt the same tone that he had just used as if 'twere part of the character he was portraying.
There were several 'Ah's of apparent understanding as the whole thing got under way.
The scenes flowed from one into another and the watchers were one moment laughing uproariously, the next plunged into despair, the next suffering the pangs of love and so on.
Behind the scenes, Our Molly was hastily writing linking material since the original, and practiced, sequence had been put out of order. However, none in the audience were aware of any of this, they simply enjoyed the spectacle.
I am told that there were lines or scenes which made gentle fun of all the notables, including a little, necessarily gentle one, that poked a little fun at the extra Prince – someone they only knew was in the Party when they actually arrived. Our Molly, Berdon and Bettayla did a fantastic job. Em told me that I would have enjoyed the little bit which made fun of me! She giggled at her own depiction.
The final scene was by all accounts hilarious and the entire audience were rocking with laughter as they closed the show – even Prince Keren was moved to laugh loud and long despite his natural underlying grief. The applause was heartfelt and given from the standing position once the final words had been uttered. Countess Merizel told me later that this was wherefrom the Prince had had the idea to applaud our team in the Salon when they came to dine those two nights afterwards.
… … …
There are many, many more incidents to relate but for now my hand grows weary. They shall have to come in a future tale or two.
What discoveries and changes did Senidet bring and implement?
How were the buildings coming along?
Why did we have a double pyre?
What big surprise did I get one week later?
What other big surprise did I get just over a week later?
What big surprises did I get two weeks later?
Why did a lonely wagon arrive, escorted by four Palace guards?
What were the 'Hunter Games'?
All this and more shall be revealed, and soon.
Ch ch ch ch changes
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.
When I think back to those days, I realise that the Royal Visitors had settled in quite quickly really. Our routines had indeed been rocked a little but to no great extent; no great differences occurred in actual fact. 'Twas just that the Town was suddenly fuller and there were more people around I had to curtsey to.
However, the incidence of noteworthy events for me to report upon went up, as you might well imagine.
I find it, in retrospect, impossible to provide a day by day account, simply because, for many of the things that happened, there was one contributory event here, another there, a third maybe then and so on, before the combination came together and the final notable happening occurred. Therefore I shall simply tie all the bits and pieces together of each strand and present each happening at either its conclusion, or at a natural break point.
Which means that I shall have to skip forwards or backwards from time to time.
This also means, of course, that these following tales cannot be said to be in strict sequence of time; hence the term 'Anthology' is good, but the term 'Chronicles' is inaccurate!
Having said that, I am forced, for accuracy's sake, to point out that there IS a sort of timeline to them though, so maybe it isn't all too bad. Generally, I deem, I have managed to keep the ends of these events in chronological order.
That said, I shall start now with the earliest event possible – things which happened about a thousand or two years ago!
As Bezan once said to me: “Blackstone was important enough to the Chivans for them to build a road to it. The experts have told me that originally they got as far as roughly where the Forest Roadhouse now is. Just down the valley from there, they had established a fort by some falls and, in all probability, they came to the conclusion that that was the end of the road. You may recall that we met a young journeyman, Skanik, there when we came back upvalley recently. He had established something the Princess had declared she wanted and he had named it 'The Retreat'.
“But to get back to the subject of the Chivans - they had then discovered a route up the rock face, climbing diagonally across it from our modern Roadhouse area to the foot of what we nowadays call Strettalm. They even chipped out wider bits where necessary from the very rockface itself to make a viable passage up and across.
“And from Strettalm, they pressed on up the valley to the very head of it. They discovered the coal deposits there and spent a large amount of time, energy and men in building a road all that way so that the coal could be extracted easily and transported down to their centres of industry.
“They opened no less than two stone quarries to provide the road with a solid and even surface. They also built a dam to provide water for living and washing their waste away. Again the experts tell me, and I have no way of explaining their reasonings, that there was quite a large military community up here at one time, a hundred or more men with extras to that number being wives and other hangers-on. There is apparently also some evidence of local citizens and their community, who appear to have been cave-dwellers, but those experts admit this is more guesswork than provable fact.”
So all this information from Bezan just highlights the importance of what is now called the Forest Road. The road, the only major link with any other civilisation, emerged from the trees and ran straight to a flattened area next to and in front of the huge solid stone building the Chivans erected as a sort of water reservoir. The building we call the Cistern. That flattened area for years we called the 'Camping Place' but 'tis now called the 'Market Place'.
The Road of course is the dominant feature, the one thing that has the most importance. We consider it has two parts. One the very long road that goes from the bridge across the Blackstone River all the way down to the Chaarn Junction. The other just the very short bit that can be thought of as being within the Town.
This short bit has ever since its first existence dictated the layout of the town. It must be remembered that the road from the Bridge does not run directly uphill, but rather runs diagonally across the natural slope, but still ascending. This means that there is an uphill and a downhill 'END' of the road and also an uphill and downhill 'SIDE' of the road.
As a result of that, the town was laid out in a rather sensible way. Just considering it from the lower flat area and the bridge over the Blackstone to the upper flat area and the Cistern, then the governor's house has always been seated halfway up the street on the uphill side; this is nowadays the house in which the Steward currently resides. The more important members of the citizenry naturally became the closer neighbours. Sort of like the centre of a giant bowman's target, influence and importance waning as you travelled away from the centre.
Other things have happened, many other things, between the times of the Chivans and now; and many of those events over the years managed to change emphases whilst other importances or considerations also changed.
Now that we have arrived in my narrative at modern times, then I find I must needs paint an accurate picture of it all. The centre of town was such that the Steward's house was flanked by the Watch House on the uphill side and the Valley Messenger Service on the downhill side. Downhill from the VMS office sits the Claw.
Opposite the VMS office sits the Bell Inn, uphill of which is the VMS supervisor's house, which itself sits opposite both the Steward's and the Watch House. This house is one of the two domestic buildings on the downhill side of Main Street, all the others being more industrial – working the way up the downhill side then at that time we had the Tanner, the Baker, the Seed Merchant, then the Bell Inn which I count as being the other domestic building. Continuing uphill, the Bell Inn is followed of course by the VMS Agent's home, then the Paint Shop, the Carpenter, the Musician, the Smith, the Wheelwright, the Saddler, and, at the very top naturally, the Bellringer.
You may be wondering why I have bothered to go to this level of detail. It is not simply because I wish it to be recorded for posterity.
It is also to use as a base for understanding some of the changes that happened quite rapidly now. Not much domesticity on the downhill side of the road, much more on the uphill side.
The major point though was that nearly every one of those businesses, previously all clustered together so 'twas never far to go from one to the other for your buying sessions, had by now moved over to the Artisans' Area.
And this had had more than just one major effect.
The traffic on Main Street had been reduced dramatically, and the workshop areas were being demolished making more open space, particularly on the downhill side of the road, behind the residential parts of the holdings. Space that was being sold off for more residencies. Building plots were appearing now between Main Street and West Street, which had still to be properly finished. And don't forget that there were plenty of building plots on the uphill side of Main Street too, mostly between East Street and the Dam Road.
But until those houses were built and occupied, the 'balance' of the town had shifted. The Miners' Villages, up there along Loop Road, had meant that the population-weighted centre of the town had shifted from the Steward's house to somewhere beyond the Market Place.
Going back once more, albeit briefly, into the history of our town, we had, before I was born, a boom period in which the quality of Blackstone pakh wool was much sought after. Many locals made significant amounts of coin, but the dread disease that struck meant that period of prosperity was actually quite short-lived.
Most of the pakh-farmers soon departed, since our town is very much stuck away in a corner of our land. A few however felt they had made enough coin to eke out the rest of their lives and they stayed, too tired perhaps for the upheaval of moving downvalley.
One of those was named Wagras. Wagras was actually the last surviving one. He and his wife lived in the final house at the uphill end of Main Street, on the uphill side which was of course across the road from Zytan's family, the Bellringers - Kelly's family.
Wagras and wife were rarely seen and it appeared they needed each other to keep upright whenever they did emerge into the daylight. They seemed to have grown old, feeble and infirm almost arm-in-arm. Their house was steadily getting more and more decrepit and I knew that the Steward had sent Bezan to visit them often, offering whatever assistance they might accept. But they refused to accept any help, preferring to live together in splendid isolation. There was one exception to this. They allowed their house to be painted on the outside to look less like an eye-sore.
And now, at long last, we reach the night of the day after the Royal Party came to the Salon for the first time. 'Twas the 26th Pertelin, my notes tell me.
Our guests had all gone and we had tidied away all the dirty dishes and pots and so on. The girls had all left for their beds while Kelly and I had discussed what needed to be done in the morning, making suggestions for the new girls' and also the NN girls' further training. We both agreed that Frowka seemed to be the best sauce maker amongst them, so we would get her to teach the others in the morning.
The fires were properly banked down, the cupboards and doors closed and the house shut up behind us. Kelly and I walked up Main Street, still talking quietly about various work related things. We had almost reached Kelly's home when we got an unwelcome surprise.
“Is that smoke I smell, 'Lina?”
I stopped, which is something we humans do that is faintly ridiculous. As if my lack of movement would improve my sense of smell! However, stop I did and then sniffed deeply.
“I believe you may be right!”
At first we just smelled it, looking all around us to try to see where it was coming from. To see as soon as we may if this was the bad news beginning of a major event.
But at first we could not detect the source. The wind was blowing, unusually, from the south-west, so at first we scanned Trokos' and Waldan's houses, since they were downwind of us. We could detect no sign of it there though even as the smoke seemed to grow a bit thicker and the smell grew ever stronger.
We decided to sound the alarm before we even knew where the danger was. We could not risk a disaster. Even as we started screaming the warning, Kelly tapped me on my forearm and pointed across the road to Wagras' house.
Obviously, something must have somehow gone wrong inside the house, perhaps the ripe old age of Wagras' wife was a factor, but it is something that every householder knows to do before retiring to bed - check and double-check that the fires were banked properly or doused. But there were suddenly plainly apparent billows of smoke pouring from their home. Coming from the back of their home, where the kitchens were.
The smoke turned quickly into flames even as the community began to react. It was so late that there were none of the miners around in their hall, just the live-in staff. There were no longer any campers living on the Camping Place. The miners were all a fair distance away up the Loop Road, settled into all their small but new homes. The firefighting was going to be down to us town residents. Kelly's family had heard our shouts of 'Fire' so they were ringing the bells in the Alarm Sequence which added to the cacophony. Two men were trying to get into the house, they were calling out the names loudly, but neither they nor we could hear any replies.
Every home always keeps at least two buckets of water to hand in case of fire, for that would be the disaster of all disasters for the town, built as it was with mostly wooden buildings. With the direction of the wind that evening, the other buildings being threatened were the Shuttle Shed and, further away, the Auction Hut and the under-construction 'Frolicsome Frayen Inn'. The Barracks construction was yet to get underway. And my 'Market Place Mansion' had just a couple of wall units in place, forming the only right-angled corner.
“'Tis easily rebuilt, 'Lina, should the fire catch that far. It's not as if the building is complete and full of treasures. 'Tis unlikely that the fire would spread unless the wind changes suddenly.”
Nevertheless, some residents took their buckets to the Shuttle Shed just in case.
We all - Kelly, I and the closest neighbours - immediately began a bucket chain. Others had soon come pouring up the hill to help.
I really didn't feel like doing all this as 'twas the first day of my Call, but we all knew we had to work together for the sake of the town.
It was frightening how swiftly the blaze spread, how swiftly the old place was being consumed. Despite our back-breaking and arm-stretching work, we were too few, reacting too late. There was no hope for either poor Wagras nor his wife. The whole thing really hit me hard and I was sobbing nearly the whole time I was lugging buckets. I spent that night at Kelly's home, and Malet, poor Malet, took the brunt of my mood.
I do not wish to diminish the sadness of this story, this unintended double pyre, but I feel I must needs mention some of the aftermath of this for, much later and speaking Town-wise, this house fire had a quite basic after-effect.
The destroyed house stank for days, a nasal reminder of the fortunately isolated outbreak. It's an unpleasant smell, one that clings and lingers. For days the pulling beasts on all the wagons showed their discomfort as they went past.
It was eventually cleared away and replaced by a two-floor building; one that had an office on the ground floor, with a floor of rentable rooms above. The whole had no kitchens, neither had it bathrooms. The Miners' Hall kitchen and showers were just a few casts away, and the Frolicsome Frayen, directly across the Market Place, would be in business very shortly after these alterations had been made. This was designed to be cheap accommodation purely for temporary use whilst more permanent accommodation was found. The whole was taken over by Master Selden to be used as the VMS centre – it was a very sensible move to be nearer the centre of the town now the expansion had changed the 'balance' of it all, and now the VMS had taken over direct responsibility for semaphores and semaphoring.
The old VMS office was taken over by three of us, well by our companies if you like – Mousa, Sookie and I – as a central foodstuff store and a large food preparation area. This streamlined each of our kitchens and actually enabled us all to be more effective and proficient. And meant we had more cool areas to keep food fresh for longer. But more of that later.
… … ...
Personally, that tragic fire was the culmination of quite a difficult day actually, made lighter only by the delight and congratulations of our diners.
We had the usual start to the day with the usual flirting betwixt the youngsters during the Tai Chi. Then I went out for a ride, but my Call, which came on earlier than I expected, made me give that up and leave the others before we had even reached the Market Place. They were riding off to the Dam, which again had been my suggestion, intended to be in contrast to the other side of the Valley where we had ridden before.
Once I had got myself as comfortable as I could, I decided that I needed to deal with something I had been putting off. I sent Surtree to find Mistress Lendra and find somewhere for us to have a chat. When he returned, saying that she could come to Em's house in half a bell, I quickly went upstairs.
“Excuse me Master Berdon and Mistress Bettayla.”
Their eyebrows rose at my formal address, so they knew this was serious.
“Mistress Julina?”
“I am not riding today and shall try to use this opportunity to have 'The Chat' with Venket. But first I require as much information as I can gather. And I need to do that away from any chance that Venket might overhear. Would the two of you be prepared to give me some of your time in a half a bell, when Mistress Lendra shall arrive too? And would it be possible to have such discussions here, in your rooms, that we might not be overheard? I deem we must do it today, for her father shall be tried this very afternoon and the whole story might well become public knowledge as a result.”
“Of course you may, and we shall be delighted to offer what experience we have. We agree that it should be done today, this morn if possible and approve of your reasoning. That poor girl has lived in fear for far too long. I would that the man is indeed sentenced to many years hard labour. Mayhap Kassama should also attend this discussion?”
“I thank you both and shall return to the kitchens now to assign tasks for the girls, and to await Mistress Lendra. I shall ask Kassama too.”
As I descended the stairs, I was a little surprised to hear many voices. The other girls were arriving a little earlier than normal, as apparently they wanted to spend a bell or so at their lessons, in order to advance as quickly as possible. But on that day Em and Kelly were off riding, and I would have been too, so they themselves had selected Kords and Venket to show them things. This timing was the one that was most convenient for them all.
I sent Surtree to help, and also to receive some of the gentle training in the kitchens with them. But I had to do some little organising first. Kassama was going to be involved with us upstairs for a little while, so that left Kords of all people in charge.
To make things a little easier for her, I decided to reduce the number of people for a little while so I sent Venket, Dravna and Surtree off down to the Claw, taking something down there for Sookie and arranging a delivery of wine and beer from her to us. I also left instructions, in both senses of the word, for making a batch of each of several sauces.
In the short meeting upstairs that followed Lendra's arrival, I learnt much from the others about the 'condition' that Venket was suffering under. Much more than the superficial chat we had had down in Tranidor just before the New Year started; the time Epp put forward her pendulum theory. (About a page before the end of #36) But the others thought that perchance Epp had indeed stumbled upon the answer, once I had repeated her suggestion.
At one point in the discussions, I remembered something. Suril had said that Venket's father had basically told everyone concerned there in the Watch Complex about Venket's duality, so I wanted to get Suril or Fedren involved in our talks at the moment. But I had no-one I could send. I determined that I would report the findings to Fedren or Suril later.
I was a little frustrated at first because the discussions were all about what the effects of the secret getting out would be. After a while I had to break in forcefully: “I care not about the reputation of the Salon in this instance, I am at this moment concerned about the PERSON involved. What do we have to do for Venket? How do we ease what is obviously a burden to her? How do we care for HER? And, by extension, for her mother?”
It brought everyone up short, and they all had the grace to look a little repentant. Mistress Lendra was deep in thought about some information that Bettayla had supplied when Kassama spoke for them: “Aye, 'Lina, 'tis so. The lass needs support before anything else. I deem she needs to be told that we know, but make it clear that we have no problem with her behaviour.”
The others all agreed so we then discussed ways and means of bringing the subject up. Unfortunately, they all determined that I should be the one to deal with it.
Thus it was that I called Venket into a private meeting when she got back. Alright, I may have dropped a few hints that I wanted to discuss the training of the NN girls, just so that she wasn't stressing herself out before we started.
“Dear Venket, let me start by saying that you have consistently impressed Kelly and I with your attitude, your questions and your willingness. And I tell you freely that we want to continue in the same way. You are an asset to us just the way you are and we want to do nothing to change you in any way.”
When I saw the sheer delight on her face at my praise, I almost felt guilty about what I was about to say. I knew that that delight would be wiped away all too soon.
Like now.
I swallowed and licked my suddenly dry lips.
I still didn't know how to gently break into the subject. It was fraught with potential problems. She might feel let down by Berdon and Bettayla if she believed that either of them had told me and thus betrayed a trust. She might be upset about how many people knew. But she had to know all that too. It was just the first words I was struggling with. Just the way to get into it, so as to speak.
“Now Venket, what do you think of Paivi? About her excellence with peet-zers for example?” Even I was surprised at that question as it was uttered by lips that seemed to have a mind of their own.
“She's very good, isn't she? And I deem her Brifil is somehow better than mine. Which I understand not, because I'm sure I do exactly the same as her.” She said this last with a little twisted grin.
“And Frowka? What about her abilities or specialities?” This time, my brain was beginning to catch up with my lips, and I relaxed slightly now I knew in which direction we were going to go.
Without hesitation, she answered: “Sauces! She's VERY good at sauces.” Then she thought. “But why do you question me about those other two?”
“Bear with me for just a moment longer, if you would. Tell me what you have observed about them since all three of you started. About their attitudes, that sort of thing. I already know their hair and eye colours,” I added with a grin.
She too relaxed slightly before gushing: “We have all three gained in confidence most, I would say. Those two they stand straighter, they are no longer so hesitant and retiring ...” I breathed a deep relieved sigh for I no longer had to go searching for my way in “... no longer the naïve girls that started here not so long ago.”
“And now tell me about yourself. What is your speciality?”
“Oh! I deem my Foti is probably my best dish. I dare say that we seem to get just a few more compliments on the nights that has been served, but I have no other way of telling.”
I beamed at her. “Indeed, your Foti is excellent. And many of your suggestions are also excellent. But I deem also that that is not your strength. I have observed you with the new trio of girls and I may say … no, first tell me what is your impression of the way that you personally, and also all three of you have been trained. What can we do better? What was not so good? What did you find good? We ourselves need to be rated, have suggestions for improvement and so on.”
I could see her think about this topic with a little surprise. But as we all discussed each other's performances each night, then I guess she thought this was just the same but on a sort of larger scale.
“I liked, like, the way you all taught us early on to handle sharp knives that we would not be afraid of them. And the way you in particular explained the whole idea behind what we were about to do, that it was CUSTOMER based, not SELF based. And that you gave us responsibilities as soon as you thought we could handle them. I like the way we have to do some evenings on Dining Room duty, to actually see the customers eye to eye as it were. I don't really think that there is anything you can improve upon. I deem we have learnt so much so rapidly because you and Kelly, Kassama, Kords and even Mistress Michet have spent time and effort with us, and encouraged us and shown us, and gently corrected us and so on. I deem that ...”
She broke of when I raised a hand, smiling as I did so. “Now, Venket, what about the working environment?”
I saw by her frown that she didn't understand my question, so I hastily rephrased it: “The 'atmosphere' you have at work. The friends you have made. The layout of the kitchens. Is there anything you would change there?”
“Oh no! Sometimes when it gets hectic, like when the Royal Party was in last night and we had to serve all the meals at once, rather than spread out as we can on a normal night, then we needed more work surfaces, but that dish wheeler thing is useful to take finished plates out of the way, and we just about managed.”
“What about your colleagues? Do you like working with them?”
There was no mistaking her enthusiasm as her face lit up while answering: “Oh yes! They are all individually nice and we all make such a wonderful team, ...” Phew! Another word I was wanting to hear. “... something I have never had before, a comradely respect and strong friendship. Yes, we are girls and will sometimes disagree about something, but our respect and togetherness bring us through.”
I swallowed once again. Here we go. “And you yourself, it seems to me, are no longer the little murid that first arrived. You stand straighter yourself, you have much more confidence. You have grown up, rapidly I deem.”
She nodded.
“There was that silly incident when my stupid father tried to play a joke on me ...” she blushed. “... and we were all very worried. But you have shown me that you yourself are an excellent teacher with your attitude with the three newest ones. And I shall want to use that ability more and more as time goes by.
“There is one little thing though that I need to clear up. You admit you have developed, grown up, grown in confidence and that the team attitude we have here is excellent. That here has, in short, been good for you.”
Again she nodded.
“So I need to mention that the team environment, you remember that word I deem, the team environment depends upon open honesty between us all. I want you to know from this very heartbeat that I have been guarding your secret now for some little while. Now don't worry,” I hastily said as her face paled and her knees turned wobbly, “I am happy with the way you present yourself and indeed the way you improve daily.”
Now was the time to use motherly tones, to make her keep a hold on herself. “So stand straight, VenkET, be proud of who you are and continue to improve as you have. Concentrate on that, young lady, and be proud of your achievements. We are not going to throw you out or anything. We all approve of the Venket we have come to know. We ALL want to continue to work with that Venket we have come to know and indeed love as our little sister.”
She was trembling but I was secretly proud of her that she remained standing, looking at me with huge eyes brimming with unshed tears.
“Now before you say or do anything, I need to tell you how I knew. And the list of those who do. It all happened like this – when you showed you were terrified of men in particular, I sent Suril to find out why. The shortened version of what happened after that is that your bullying father has been arrested, your mother has had what medical treatment she can to help alleviate her problems, and you have developed into the girl you should be. Your father in fact shall be tried this afternoon, so I must tell you that your secret may not be a secret after today. He blames you for making him a bully, which is plainly ridiculous and will be shown to be. He also says that your determination to be a female has to be knocked out of you. He said all this to Suril from the very first. I shall NEVER let that pathetic excuse of a man come near you again, for the rest of your life.”
“He … he … he ... always called me 'freak'. How can you, you and all the rest of the team, love, as you said you did, a freak?”
“But you are NOT a freak, are you? Didn't Berdon and Bettayla also tell you that?” She gasped as she realised I knew that she had confided in those two. “So you need to know who knows your not-so-secret at this heartbeat. Suril and Haka, for he asked his wife for help in finding what YOU need, Master Fedren, perhaps Mistress Yanda for I know not what husband and wife speak of, Berdon, Bettayla, for you told those two yourself, Mistress Lendra of course has been involved with your mother, Mistress Michet, Kassama, Kelly and myself. I think that's all. And we all are determined to do what we can for YOU. I have spoken with each of these people, although some on that list know not all the others on it!”
“So many!?”
“Yes. And we have known for a long time. And yet none of us have changed our attitude to you. You are liked, loved, wanted and employed as you ARE, young lady. Not as anything else. As the wonderful person called Venket.”
It was then she collapsed into my arms, sobbing.
I comforted her even as my heart quailed at the next steps that would have to be taken with her. I wished this had been on any other day than the first of my Call.
Thank the Maker I did not know then what I would encounter later - I do not mean the busy evening in the Salon, but rather the Wagras fire and pyre.
… … ...
One connected event that occurred was on the next day. It was, I should warn you, one of the more distressing events that I had ever witnessed.
It was just after breakfast and after the Tai Chi (more Surtree and Kissa flirting). Surtree and I were walking up from the Claw with a pale and obviously underslept Venket. “Stand up, girl, as you walk. You are a woman, so look like it. Don't slouch like a boy. Remember to always carry yourself properly. Head high.”
We were almost up to the Steward's house and my gait, nay our gait, faltered slightly, as the door of that house opened, letting Princes Keren and Torulf out with the Steward and of course all the various on duty guards with Commander Feteran. They didn't go far though. They just passed uphill far enough to observe the Watch Complex, where I saw Kulyer with our wagon waiting. The door to the cells opened and Venket gasped. Fedren, Uncle Brydas, Suril and another man were dragging out a big man, strong and powerfully built. It was Venket's father. The prisoner was not making it easy.
The previous afternoon, the Steward and Prince Keren had jointly passed sentence upon him. Due to his lack of contrition and his continual aggression, he had been sentenced to seven years on a Galley ship, and was to be transported to Dekarran to meet the ship sent from Viridor.
The plan was that they would leave early today, overnight at Bezlet, get to Brayview for noon of the next day where a wagon from Haligo would take the prisoner on down to Dekarran. Despite the serious nature of the reasons for the trip, I still found it amazing how all this could be organised with the Semaphore.
Commander Feteran had detailed four of the guards that came up here with the Royal Party to escort the prisoner all the way. The Royal Party had arrived with 40 guards in all, plus Prince Torulf's two, so the Commander had selected the four for this trip, deciding that they were to be drawn from the eight guards attached to the column at Dekarran. That way the four need not return; the Commander deemed that four less would not be dangerous, they could still deal with anything that the road might throw at the Party.
Amidst much clamour, the prisoner was being loaded onto the wagon where Uncle was preparing to chain him into the belly.
What happened next was far too quick that it took me some time and frequent closed-eye rememberings to piece it all together. Rememberings that still make me shudder, even to this day.
Commander Feteran was conducting a weapons inspection of the four Dekarran guards going downvalley. The Princes were talking animatedly with the Steward.
The prisoner looked up and saw Venket on the road behind the Princes and all the rest of them. I happened to be looking directly at him, and I saw a blaze of frightening fire in those eyes. He waited a bare heartbeat, until Uncle was just transferring from one foot to the other to climb into the wagon, then he wrenched the chain holding him to Uncle, who fell backwards from the step and struck his head on the paving stones. With a massive spasm of his shoulders and arms he then sent both Fedren and Suril flying. A single punch to the fourth man meant that he was now free.
In a fire-laden voice, he yelled: “You! You're the reason I am so assailed. Strutting round Town with your nose up in the air. You are nothing but an arrogant little bastard! I shall kill you!”
With that he charged. Straight for us.
Venket froze in fear, her fingers painfully digging into my forearm. Surtree skipped rapidly out of the way and I was remembering my foolish promise of the day before when I told Venket I would never let the man near her again in her life.
“Hold!” came the shouts from many throats, amidst the unmistakeable sounds of swords being drawn. I was petrified and yet a corner of my mind was amazed that the unarmed Prince Keren thrust Prince Torulf behind him and dropped into a sort of watchful crouch, displaying not the slightest note of fear, his hands raised slightly in front of him.
Just behind him, and to the right as I observed, one of the Dekarran guards brought up the crossbow he had been showing the Commander. He swiftly loaded a bolt into it. When the attacker didn't heed the warnings and continued his attack, which I suddenly realised they all deemed the man was making upon the Prince, the Dekarran guard loosed his bolt.
Thwang!
And the prisoner dropped like a stone, the bolt protruding from where one of his eyes had been. I heard the horrified guard say: “But I was aiming for his chest!”
I went to bundle Venket away, not wanting her to see her dead father, but she wrenched herself from me, ran past the others who saw only a young girl and therefore no threat. She stood over the body. Which she looked at dispassionately. And then spat upon.
'Twas then that Prince Keren proved himself to be fit for kingship, at least in my eyes.
He knew, of course, the entire story but had never before met Venket, just seen her as a face in the Salon the night before. He realised in an instant that the irate man had focussed just on his own offspring and did not even see the Princes in between them. Prince Keren also realised that there could be some long term guilt associated in Venket's mind with the death of her own father.
He reached her and gently laid his hand on her shoulder. “Well, young lady, it seems you know this would-be assassin too. I must commend my guards for protecting me from the madman who was angry with me for sentencing him. And he insulted me to boot. 'Twas almost too good for him to meet his end this way, now go you back to Mistress Julina and let my men clear this all away. How he ever thought he could get past my guards, I shall never understand. I thank you for your spirit in demonstrating your distaste for the man who would have attacked me.”
Venket then consented to me leading her away. Over her head the Prince and I exchanged a glance, letting each other know that we both realised the truth of the matter. And that Venket should thereafter always be unsure whether her father was attacking her or the Prince.
… … …
That last event occurred, as I mentioned, as we were making our way back to the Salon from the Claw. We had been talking in amazed tones of the latest invention that Senidet had been demonstrating. Apparently she had been talking with a young Tenant or something from Joth, who had travelled far, from the same place Her Highness came; you may remember I reported that Sookie had heard them speaking their own language together, something I seem to remember she called 'Ingish' or similar. He was the one that had showed them how to make peet-zers.
Anyway, Senidet had listened to his description and had made a drawing of what he described. He confirmed that she had it right. So she brought that drawing up here and had persuaded her father to make one. While her father was off helping with the prisoner transfer, she had taken it herself to the Claw and had shown it to people there, who had all tried it and had all exclaimed; “What a simple idea! Why didn't we think of that?”
“It is on an open Exclusivity Licence,” she reported, “and my Father has several now ready for purchase, for he too was impressed when he saw the first one. More shall be made as the days and weeks pass. Many, many more.”
She had been clever in her demonstration by using it first for dry things and only at the end for wetter things. She finished her demonstration by saying: “For some very strange reason, my father has made a present of this first ever one to the Claw.”
We all laughed as Sookie blushed.
“And I am not sure he would want it back now that it is filled with all that animal waste!”
Again we all burst out laughing.
Thus it was that we left the Claw discussing this new sort of tool called a 'wheel-bro'.
Older Julina says: It was only a long while later, after I had been downvalley to learn English so that I could teach it, to spread it more widely, that I learnt this was actually a 'Wheel-barrow'!
… … …
So now I have mentioned Senidet, I suppose 'twould make sense to go back a few days, back to when she visited Kelly's parents. This was also the day of the night when the Royal Party were fed in the Salon.
Now it is important to bear in mind that what Senidet said to Zytan and Malet was entirely between them and no-one else; neither Kelly nor I were present. And on top of that, this is how Kelly explained it to me, after her parents had tried to explain it to her.
So all this should properly be sprinkled liberally with 'apparently's and 'it seems's and so on, but I will endeavour to leave all those out.
Down in Palarand City, in the Palace, they now have TWO time-keeping systems. One is of course the tried and tested Palarandi system using Bells that we all know, whilst the other is the one that Her Highness told them about that they use where she comes from.
I confess here and now my thoughts on that day: that the one Her Highness' homefolk use is not as logical as the Palarandi one, but has the advantage of being simple. Despite Her Highness bringing with her many wonders from there, this seems strangely illogical to me. I mean a day starts at dawn, it is a simple fact. We all know where we stand. Dawn is dawn is dawn is dawn. Before dawn, it is dark. And dark is not day.
Our bells count the number of time periods after the Dawn. And we have twenty such time periods between each Dawn, the same number of fingers and toes we have. So we have the ability to count the time periods simply. And we announce with bells the time periods as they are completed. Mayhap our announcements are more complicated than they need be, but that is a simple measure brought in to minimise the disturbances when most citizens are asleep, and we soon learn their meanings.
Her Highness' method is weird. Their day starts in the middle of the night! And they split their day up into twenty four things called, apparently, an hour. How on Anmar is the number twenty four either sensible or logical? And each of those hours are split up into sixty – sixty seems a VERY weird number to me – parts they call minutes. And then those minutes are each further split into sixty – that strange number again! - parts called seconds.
This last threw me completely into confusion and Kelly and I picked and picked at it. It finally made a sort of sense when I pointed out that to get to those smallest time pieces was the SECOND time an hour had been divided by sixty. After that, we could more easily accept the name.
But really, why choose numbers such as twenty four and sixty? That seemed really silly to us, why not use tens and twenties?
And for Kelly, the biggest shock of all was that Senidet claimed they did not need weights any more to drive the Town Clock. At this point, our minds closed down. This was all plainly ridiculous and we began to doubt Senidet's sanity. And yet she had left Zytan and Malet with the promise that she could prove what she said.
In the days afterwards, I asked various people from Palarand and they all confirmed Senidet's strange tale, so much so that I began to doubt my own sanity. The Countess, the Commander, the guards, all confirmed it – and left me more and more puzzled as the days slipped by.
I finally understood fully after another event occurred a few weeks later. One of those surprises I once mentioned. But more of that later.
… … ...
Now 'tis time for me to mention some things of a little more personal nature. The day after the shocking killing of Venket's father, the 28th of the month, was a day the Salon was closed. It was also the third day of my Call.
“Venket, my dear. Are you SURE you want to work today?”
“Most certainly, 'Lina. I feel more energised than I have for a long while, now this great burden has been removed. I am not sorry at all for his death, it is a boon for this world. Neither my mother nor I shall bother to attend the pyre later this morn. She too is delighted that her torment is at an end. She and I both wish though that he had suffered more.”
Her words were in one way belied by the tears that slipped down her cheeks every so often, tears she mostly kept at bay by sniffing often.
But she also smiled often, particularly after she had called everyone together, and we were all there early that morning, every single one of us including Kissa and Surtree, and she had bravely told them that she wasn't a real girl in her body but was in her mind.
I cannot say who was the most surprised.
It may even have been me. But Venket's surprise was indeed hard to beat.
Surprise at what? Why, 'twas when Kissa said dismissively: “Duh! We all know that already!” And all the others nodded and carried on as normal.
Soon after, Surtree went off to his next frayen lesson, so then there were just girls there, and the conversation got a little more intimate, more women's talk. I think they were all trying to show Venket that they counted her as one of 'us' – and it worked. After some initial surprise, Venket was pink with delight even as she learnt a lot about female bodies and female problems.
Perhaps it was inevitable when, maybe a half a bell later, the door opened and Lendra came in.
“Julina, I deem I must talk with Venket here, can you spare her for a bell? I must ask her various matters regarding her parents and how best we might help her mother. And also how best we should proceed with herself.”
I looked at Venket and she looked back, the previous delight wiped from her face completely. She thought for just a little while before replying: “Aye. 'Tis best to get it over with. Would it be all right if Mistress Julina were also to be present, I feel she is a big sister to me?”
Lendra and I eye-spoke and confirmed.
“Julina, why don't the three of you use the front family room? You should be undisturbed there.”
“Thank you, Kassama. That is a good suggestion.” I stood up as I was saying that. “Come ladies, let us retire to the parlour.”
Which raised a smile, the last one for a good while.
When we got settled, I signed for Lendra to begin.
“Now Venket, what I have to say must be said. You need to react to it factually, dispassionately even though your mind will want to do so emotionally. I had hoped that Darna would be here to hear ...” She broke off as my face must have shown its puzzlement. “You knew not Venket's mother's name was Darna?”
I just shook my head, but was inwardly shocked that I didn't even know that basic piece of information about our trainee, advanced trainee might be a better description. I was tempted to blurt out some feeble excuse but stopped myself in time. If I even slightly suggested that I was not being honest then all the talk about trust in the team and all that would be severely, possibly even fatally, undermined.
“To continue, Darna is in too much pain to move today and so I felt we must deal with this as soon as we might. I have spoken in depth to Berdon along with his wife, but confess that his wife, Bettayla, has been exceedingly helpful, knowing some things that Berdon did not.
“You have chosen, dear Venket, a very difficult path. I can see by your years that for whatever reason you have not developed as other, and I must say this for now, and just this once, as other boys have. So there is in your body already some substance that is stopping you doing so. Had there not been, then I would have expected you to have already begun developing to the size of your father. It is still possible that you might yet do so. Then your chosen life-style would be difficult to accommodate. ...”
“Oh Maker! No. Please don't let me be like him! I don't want to turn into an aggressive, oversexed bully. Please say it isn't true!” The tears started then, and I held her and comforted her.
“Venket, dear, dear Venket. It is not in your character to be so. Even if the worst was to happen, and your body developed so, your mind will still stay the same kind, considerate and loving you.” Over her shoulder, I could see Lendra nodding encouragingly to me.
I continued: “You must hush now, and not assume the worst. But you must listen to all the possibilities of what can be done. Some of them are unpleasant, but for you to make a decision you must know all of them. We all here in the Salon shall support your decision, but no-one else can make that decision for you. Listen now to Mistress Lendra, and discuss it with your mother. Come to a decision when you can. But don't leave it too long lest your body decides for you. That is why we are here today, to make sure you understand your options.”
Lendra took over again then. “There have been some unfortunate soldiers who have been wounded 'down there' so we do know something about what happens if it or they are removed. And then Bettayla confirmed some stories we know about herbal concoctions that have various effects. Then ...”
And so the session went, spelling out to Venket exactly what might happen, and what could happen. And we made sure that she understood what Lendra had told her. Lendra had tried to show both the advantages and disadvantages of the several approaches that COULD be done. Including doing nothing.
At the end of it, Venket was truly grateful. The tears and emotional reactions she had earlier shown had by then dried up. I sent her off to go and find her mother, to at least have the all-important opening discussion.
Lendra was about to leave when I asked her what I thought was a fairly casual question: “Today is the 3rd day of my Call, but I am a little worried. This time I have a new sort of pain down there, which came on when I was lugging all those buckets at poor Wagras' fire. Should I get you or someone to check it out, and if so, when would be best?”
“Well, if you were a married woman and wanting children then I would say leave it until the Call has ended, if it does, at the normal time, and then get checked out before your fruitable week. But as you ...”
“Fruitable week?”
“Yes, of course. Did your mother not tel … Oh, of course, your Mama left us early, did she not? Do you really not know about fruitable weeks?”
“No I don't. And Kords probably not, for I passed onto her everything I knew. And she passed HER knowledge on to Kissa.”
“Very well, I shall tell you. You know that a woman gets pregnant from when a man unloads his seed into her? Well that woman can ONLY get pregnant if that seed enters her during her fruitable week.”
“Oh! No, I really didn't know that! So how do I know when my fruitable week is?”
“Are you already … active?”
“No, no. I am still a virgin!”
“Let me see! You are on your 3rd day now, right? And it is today the 28th. So that means ….” She counted on her fingers. Stopped. Looked at me. Started counting again. Stopped again. Then she simply said: “Double checking!”
There was a longish pause as she went through it all once more.
Then, and only then, she said: “I make it that the first day would be the 8th, and the last the 13th; so I would tell you that your fruitable week would begin on the 7th of a month and end on the 14th. With the 12th and 13th being the most likely days.”
I sat back and thought. “Impossible to get pregnant outside that week? Is that what you said?”
Lendra's head shot up. “Do I get the impression that you think you are going to lose your virginity soon?”
It is indeed possible that I may have blushed.
Julina gets the first two surprises she mentioned, amongst a series of little 'parties'.
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.
“Milady! This is a most welcome surprise! Children, bow or curtsey to the Countess, please. And to Master Horbelan.”
I had mentioned that I had a few surprises a week or so afterwards, and this was the first of them.
I supervised the kids even as my eyes were asking the Countess a myriad of questions. In reply, her eyes told me that 'twould be fun, so I relaxed slightly. Master Horbelan had brought with him a small version of a dajan, which we called a 'biddle'. This was designed for younger ones to use while their hands were still growing, they being really a little too small for an adult's instrument, but Master H managed with just a little difficulty. The tunes were naturally kept simple for the young ones to enjoy.
Oh, and the plucking of the strings was with a thing they called a 'bow' rather than with fingers.
Milady's maid, Tandra, stood to one side as well, after laying down a carry bag on an empty surface.
“Now children, I am here today because of what happened a week ago. When I came in then, you said you enjoyed being here because you had fun whilst learning and enjoyed dancing. So Master Horbelan and I are here today to teach you a new, fun dance. We have named the dance 'Hey Diddle Diddle' and I shall explain how we do it as soon as Mistress Julina and we three other adults have cleared a little space; we shall do so by moving these three tables over there to join those other tables there. And we shall need one of those tall stools over there as the central point round which to dance. Now one of you, you, the boy there in the green shirt, come and take Master Horbelan's biddle and hold it carefully whilst we move the furniture around.”
We four adults quickly rearranged the furniture as Countess Merizel instructed and the children gathered round the now-central stool with a light of anticipation in their eyes. When all was ready, she asked most formally for my permission to take over her class, and I granted her such permission equally formally – a good lesson there for the children already!
But the first words were in fact spoken by Master Horbelan: “And, young sir, if I might have my instrument back? I thank you most sincerely for protecting it so well.” The lad handed the instrument back to the Musicmaster who tucked a corner under his chin, and ran the strings of the bow across the strings of the biddle; just testing of course.
“Now then, I have counted ...”said the Countess brightly “... that we have an even number. So we can make an exact numbers of pairs. Choose a 'partner' and, with the shorter one of the pair on the side nearest the stool in the middle, all of you make a circle round it. That's good. Now I want you two pairs to turn round so that everyone is facing the same way round the circle – there you go!
“What we will do is dance together round the stool in a circle during the repetition part of our song. Then I shall call out one of you by singing a description like 'the girl with a red hat' and there shall be added instructions in the sing. You will need to pay attention to my words and use your minds quickly because we want to do things in the timing suggested by the music. You will soon get the hang of it. So are we ready?”
“Yes, Milady!” they all dutifully replied – in unison.
“We be at hand, children, with bow and biddle;
We shall play a new dance called hey-diddle-diddle.
Our silver laughter shall reach to the moon
And shine there like a freshly cleaned spoon.”
They all giggled at her words and then she added: “Those are the words I shall sing in each gap between instructions. This is why we call that the 'repetition'. And I shall sing them twice, so we all have time to regain our places. Then I shall sing something like this, but with the music.”
She signalled to Master Horbelan, who put the biddle under his chin and started stroking the strings with the bow.
♯ ♬ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♩ ♫ ♪ ♪ ♬
“Hey diddle diddle
There's a GIRL in the middle.
The one with the dress of yellow.
One two three
She slaps her knee
And then returns to her fellow.”
A hand signal stopped the playing and she turned back to the children.
“So when I sing there's a girl, or a boy, in the middle, the child I point to shall come to the stool and there do the actions that I sing. In this case, the girl would slap her knee and then skip back to her partner in the outer ring. Do you all understand?”
They all chorused: “Yes, Milady!”
“And try to put one foot down on the floor at the right beat of the music. You'll soon get the hang of it, but don't worry too much if you make a mistake at first. Everyone does when they learn something new. So let us begin.”
She nodded to Master Horbelan.
♯ ♬ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♩ ♫ ♪ ♪ ♬
“We be at hand, children, with bow and biddle;
We shall play a new dance called hey-diddle-diddle.
Our silver laughter shall reach to the moon
And shine there like a freshly cleaned spoon.”
She waved her hands urgently to get the circle dancing around the stool. They soon picked up her message!
“We be at hand, children, with bow and biddle;
We shall play a new dance called hey-diddle-diddle.
Our silver laughter shall reach to the moon
And shine there like a freshly cleaned spoon.
“Hey diddle diddle
There's a BOY in the middle.
The one with the cap of red.
Four five six
He points to the sticks
Over there and made of bread.
“We be at hand, children, with bow and biddle;
We shall play a new dance called hey-diddle-diddle.
Our silver laughter shall reach to the moon
And shine there like a freshly cleaned spoon.
...”
… … …
I was exhausted at the end of the lesson but the children were all laughing and singing, delight writ large upon their little faces. They absolutely loved it and all adored the Countess unashamedly. Tandra too had visibly enjoyed it and Master Horbelan was beaming with pride and delight.
All too quickly everyone left, but not before I discovered that each and every one of the children could now count up to twelve, even if some of them had to sing to do so!
I was glad that my Call was over as the strenuous exercise we had had would have been most uncomfortable otherwise.
This had been the first of what we later called the 'Lesson Parties' and Milady performed so wonderfully on the same morning each week from then on until they departed, so she did five in all.
After that first lesson party, and after returning the Salon to its normal arrangement of furniture, I popped into the kitchens to say that I was going to go home to have a quick shower and to change my clothing. Paivi and Venket were just about to leave to go over to the 'Tree' and I smiled as I heard them humming the catchy little 'Hey Diddle Diddle' tune.
It was as I was descending East Street on my way home that the next surprise came. All the wagons descending East Street, not that there were many at that time of day, had been halted behind the Claw, leaving an empty road from there down to behind Blandel's, the Stonemason's, where the southernmost and most wiggly-waggly connecting road down from the Dam Road joined to East Street, before that in turn joined to the Forest Road.
Further down East Street, I could see a single wagon going against the normal direction of East Street, that is going uphill, and turning into the connecting road, which was called for some reason 'The Cut'. This wagon had two drivers, was surrounded at each corner by four mounted soldiers, soldiers who were visibly weary, and the drivers too looked strained, even from the distance I was away. I scampered across the Claw's Paddock to the south-east corner to get as close as I could.
Looking uphill, I could see that there were two other groups of soldiers holding up traffic on the Dam Road, one group by the Community Hall, another a hand of casts towards the Dam from the junction with the Cut. It became obvious to me that this wagon was being given a clear area all around it of about a hundred or so strides. I saw the two Princes observing from the topmost balcony of the Community Hall.
And then I noticed that Jafferkin Park had been marked off to surround the Community Hall and just by its freshly marked southernmost edge, a new track had been laid using the Michen Method leading to an isolated new hut built half way from the road to the aqueduct.
I watched as the single wagon laboriously climbed up The Cut and reached the Dam Road, where it headed originally towards the Community Hall, but only for a relatively brief distance. Indeed, as I suspected, it turned into this new lane and headed for the new hut.
Now this hut was strange as it had walls, but incomplete walls, and the roof was perched on poles such that there was a clear gap between the top of the walls and the underside of the roof.
I realised suddenly that I had spent far too much time gawping and ran swiftly home to have my shower and change of attire, all the while wondering what that activity I had observed actually meant. I was sure that the four newly arrived, and yet strained, mounted soldiers were wearing Palace colours.
As I showered, I spent much time thinking up schemes for finding out more.
The shower was most welcome, and the fresh clothing.
But I still had a burning desire to solve the mystery of the lonely wagon, and the lonely hut. I plotted and planned, even as I was returning to the Salon for my day's work there.
And had to laugh when I entered.
“... never go near it! Ah! Julina, just in time. I have come in to warn you all about a newly-arrived wagon,” said Em. “This wagon needs to be parked away from anywhere, and a sort of hut has been built for it four casts or so away from the Community Hall, between that and the Dam Road where it heads into the narrowed mouth of the Vale. If anyone gets near to it with a lamp or flame, then a disaster shall occur; a disaster of such magnitude that no-one here can possibly imagine. The Steward is calling everyone, and I really mean everyone, to a demonstration tomorrow morn up at where the new barracks are to be. No-one shall be working at the half after the third bell.”
“What on Anmar could a single wagon do to cause such a disaster?”
“I must leave it to the demonstration tomorrow, for I too was astounded when I first observed this effect down in Palarand City – this demonstration shall be slightly different to that which I saw, but nevertheless shall be impressive. The Steward and the Commander however are adamant that everyone must see so they understand why the load shall be under permanent guard.
“In the meantime, we must all make sure that no adventurous little boys go near that wagon. That message must get out rapidly. The wagon as I said is guarded by soldiers at all times and anyone caught trying to sneak up on it will be treated as a traitor!
“Yes, the matter is deemed to be that serious!
“On another side, the Commander has sent the four guards that arrived with it and the two drivers here for a meal tonight to thank them for their arduous duty in bringing the wagon here all the way from Palarand City itself. Why that wagon had its own ferry boat across the Sirrel and no other wagon has been allowed close to it in all its journey! The poor drivers and soldiers have had to exist on cold rations for the week or so it has taken them to get here, for there MUST be no chance of any flame or ember getting anywhere near it.”
We all gasped at the message Em was so intensely conveying.
I turned to my lad. “Surtree, hand over whatever it is you are doing to Kords and then I want you to find as many urchins as you can and tell them to spread the news. We need to make sure that no-one approaches that mystery wagon. I'm sure that the Steward shall have a demonstration that shall convince us, but until then, we must be our most careful.”
I turned to all the others who were staring at Em open-mouthed.
“Right you lot. If any of you have younger brothers, then go now and warn them. Come along! Wake up! Get moving. You heard Mistress Michet – the word must be spread as rapidly as possible. Hurry away – and hurry back.
“Kords, you deal with 'Kin and Kord, I will continue here. I'll take over Surtree's tasks. Maker! Are you all deaf? Go!”
It was only then that I realised not many of them had younger brothers! We all laughed, but inwardly I felt really stupid. It was suddenly very hot here in the kitchen, for I felt my cheeks burning.
… … …
You would be right in thinking that my mind was a bit scattered that day – I had something heavy on it, my mind that is, and hadn't yet found a solution to it. It was an ever growing worry in there, even if I tried hard to suppress it. Or to think of other things, or busy myself.
It just wouldn't go away.
… … …
I went out shortly afterwards since I wanted to check how the Hawbrier bushes were doing, because very soon it would be nice to have some fresh and tangy fruit to serve and I knew 'twas coming up to time for the Hawbriers to start pushing out their lovely sweet and tangy blue and purply produce.
As it happened, my little excursion proved to be valuable in not just one way, but several.
Surtree had just scampered back from his previous mission so I decided he could accompany me. After a quick visit for each of us to use the facilities, we stepped out onto Main Street. We were both taken aback a little by no less than four working places where Main Street had been dug up. Each work site was about a cast down the slope from the one above it. Having seen the works over by the Tree and in the Artisans' Area we both immediately recognised that enough room had been left for wagons to pass on one side of the street, the uphill side, while work was being done under ground level on the other side.
By each work site, there was a little pile of what looked like concrete pipes, smaller around than my forearm, and painted a bright colour at each end – there was a red, a green, a blue, a yellow, a white and also a dull brown and a dull black one. And another with unpainted ends that was considerably larger in diameter.
Surtree and I immediately wandered up to the site nearest us and peered down at the men working there.
“Good morrow! Might I enquire what's happening here,” I asked politely.
The leading man was glad of an excuse for a little break; I could tell by the way he leaned on his shovel handle as he straightened up with a grunt of relief.
“Well, Mistress, like. It's sorta complicated. We are making these tubey thingies so that stuff can cross the road but not be damaged by wagons. The big tube here will reach just beyond the half-way point, like, and stick out nearly a stride at the side here. The littler tubes will be pushed through the big tube. Then we'll close up the road this side and open it up on t'other. The same will happen then over there, but we will attach that side's green tube, to this side's one, and the red and so on, sealing them together. Then we will hammer the big tube into its final place and seal that. And then put the road back so it can be used.”
“Thank you for that explanation. It was most clear. Except for one thing. Why?”
“Ah! Young Mistress Senidet - she's a Guildswoman would you believe? - says it's to do with sumpfing called 'Lectrix'. Some fancy idea what she brought up from the capital itself. When she has done her bit 'ere like, then the ends of these tubes are going to be concreted in and made weather proof. Probably have more of these tube thingies connecting up the ends of the under-road ones, up and down under the footwalk boards. All has to be sealed tight like 'cos Lectrix don't like water or sumpfing like that. Oh yes, and each tube, little ones and big 'un is to have a length or two of twine through it, so that in the future whatever's needed can be simple pulled through from one side to the other.”
My major surprise, though, had been that it seemed to me that Senidet was the one in charge, not only of the project, but also of the workers. She waved to us from where she was a few casts upslope and would have come down to talk to us had not one of the workers called to her to ask her something. She shrugged and hunched her shoulders at us, so we waved again and passed on.
I made a mental note to tackle Senidet later for more information so I only bid the man a farewell after a few more quick questions, like how long it would take and so on. Surtree too asked a few relevant questions and we both got a sort of grudging respect from all the men working there.
Surtree and I thanked the foreman once again and set off once more towards the Hawbriers. I wanted Surtree to have just a few moments learning something new for we would surely just take the two hands or so of moments to get to the bushes. I would point out this and that, check the bud growth, and then we would get back to the Salon. Half a bell at the outside, surely?
Now, where we were going obviously wasn't the only patch of Hawbriers in Town but these were the best, more luscious and fatter I deem than most of the others to be found about. They grew just on the west meadow side of the water margins around the various places where the Bray bubbled out from the hillside. Some were scattered in isolated locations, but there was a particular large group of bushes at a particular spot that produced the finest fruit.
And there was a particular consideration, a particular convention if you like, that all who picked from the centre of this group of bushes followed. This was what I wanted Surtree to know about and why I had dragged him along with me. There wouldn't be anything to actually pick just yet, so access to the centre would be a little easier and he could learn the basics a little easier.
But before I get onto that, I need to mention another long-term resident of Blackstone.
His name is Vastan. I must first put up my hand and confess something. We girls, when younger of course, use to laugh about him behind his back – often, and not quite so quietly. He is about a hand and a half more of years than I, and 'twas only about three or so years ago that I first ever really spoke with him; a conversation that still haunts me for I discovered just then his rather sad story, and felt so guilty about our earlier lack of tolerance.
Vastan is a highly intelligent man, in fact he is so intelligent that he found at that time most of his mundane life to be extremely boring. He would find things to do that make his tasks more difficult, just to inject some more 'interest' into doing them. The patterns he makes when asked to cut the grasses in a meadow or paddock are a wonder to behold and he does that all in his head as he works. It involves flattening the grasses in a particular way that the surface takes on slightly different hues, thus creating giant pictures to an eye many strides away.
From a young child he always wanted to be a soldier, and he had never wavered in that desire.
But the soldiery would not have him.
From birth, his eyes have been defective. He can only see things close to him.
Which makes his meadow pictures all the more remarkable. For he himself cannot see the final effects.
Yes, he can see Kalikan in the sky on a night when it shines brightly, but he has only been told about the other two moons, he has never been able to see them. And his view of Kalikan is just as a brightish blob in contrast to its surroundings. He can 'see' indistinct blobs as people or beasts farther away than a hand of strides, and buildings are large enough to form more blobs to him but details only come into his mind when they are within that hand of strides perimeter.
We, as girls, did not know this of course, and thought it funny to laugh at him groping his way about town. Some of the boys were crueller, and tried to arrange things so that he would stumble on or over obstacles they placed in his path.
I was however very glad to see him during the day when Surtree and I went to inspect the Hawbriers as you shall see for yourselves. As it happened, I was to learn more of his character far sooner than I had ever expected.
But it all started when we two heard a commotion ahead of us as we made our way through and past some jumbled rocks, bushes and other vegetation, following a well-trodden winding path.
“No, no. You cannot dig them up! I shall not let you.”
I gasped in surprise as I heard Vastan's panicked voice. Surtree and I looked at each other and scurried forward to get a better view and better understanding.
There, on the far side of the first Briers, we saw a group of workers taunting and teasing poor Vastan, having learnt quickly, or maybe already knowing, of his disabilities. They were all bearing shovels, and picks and the like. Upslope, a wagon, carefully drawn up on the solid ground rather than the watery, boggy ground near the tiny stream, was laden with more of the concrete pipes we had recently seen over at Main Street – the larger ones.
“What's going on here?” I shouted as I dashed forward. Standing in front of the clump of some hand of hands of briers stood Vastan, one arm stretched wide. He was faced by a group of four labourers, two of whom seemed a little uncomfortable though. It seemed he was protecting the briers from the group of men.
“Mistress Julina! Thank the Maker! They might listen more to you. And whoever is come along with you.”
It seemed to me that Vastan's lack of abilities with his eyes had made his other senses somehow more acute for I was frequently taken by surprise at his ability to identify someone by their voice or even by their footfall.
But I was extremely angry at the sight of blood trickling down the back of Vastan's head, from under his right hand as he held it over the wound. Obviously, he had suffered from some form of attack and the anger made me change in some surprising way.
Maybe it heightened MY senses, for the air seemed clearer somehow, the light more sharp and defined, I swear I could hear each of the men breathing as well as the munch as the dranakh attached to the wagon tore up some of the forage from the ground. Something about the dranakh flickered in yet another corner of my mind.
I can still to this day see so clearly in my mind the colour of the men's teeth and tunic shirts. I seemed to smell the rank underarm and stale body sweat on them at the same time as the individual aromas from the several flowers and plants growing thereabouts. That mixture stills resonates in my memory even now.
The shock of having this heightened awareness, just moments after thinking of Vastan's, almost knocked me down in surprise and I actually felt it all waver and begin to fade, but the slow drip of blood oozing from the poor man's wound rekindled my ire, and the feelings flooded back again.
As if from a distance, I heard my own voice say: “Why did you attack this man? What is the task you have been given? Who gave you your orders?”
Even as I was saying this, I was aware that the wagon driver was returning from behind a bush, his hands readjusting his clothing at crutch level. My brain took in his features and then, seemingly without movement, I was studying the dranakh.
“Why should that be relevant to a mere girl? Who are you to order me about?” one man said surlily.
I was grateful for the surly response, because now I knew who was the chargehand of this gang of labourers.
I turned directly to him and lied, but only lied really by implication, with a false smile pasted into my cheeks: “It seems to me that Goodman Vastan here is protecting my Hawbrier bushes. I wish merely to establish just what ...”
“I don't need to tell you nuffink,” came the equally surly response.
I redirected my attention once more, this time putting a little steel into my voice: “Goodman Rabeez, would you and dear Hedda please return your load to where you found it. Blackstone Wagons has decided to refuse this commission. Please inform Goodman Kulyer that I shall arrange some sort of compensation.”
“Aye, aye, Mistress!”
“Hold hard, driver. You have a contract with us, you can't just leave.”
“Indeed I can, Goodman Wexen– I have just had a direct order from the owner of my company. One that you heard as right as everyone else.”
“The owner …? That slip of a girl? You're surely joking?”
“Indeed not. This is Mistress ...” he emphasised the 'Mistress' “... Julina, who is of some relevance and importance in this town. I would advise you, and you should take this as the best advice you shall have this day, to answer her questions and swiftly. Oh, and answer them politely would be my next piece of advice!”
“It is no business of hers what we do. My boss gave me my orders and hers is not to question them. I shall do my job as told me and that's an end to it.”
I raised my voice again and employed the sweetest and most reasonable tones I could muster: “Goodman Rabeez, you have your new orders. Please obey them now. This man is obviously not for turning from his misguided course. Surtree, would you please run and fetch Master Rindal, or Master Bezan. If neither are available, then please inform the Steward that he might delegate someone to come here. As quick as you may, thank you. I deem Mistresses Sukhana and Mousa will also be interested and will want to come or send someone. Mistress Michet would also be an advantage. Inform them all that this man Wexen wishes to dig up our best Hawbrier bushes.”
I turned back to the man and looked him slowly up and down, before speaking equally slowly to him once more: “Using what knowledge I have from Master Bezan and the Steward, I deem that your task is to lay a further concrete pipe from up there, where the housing is expanding, down to the stink pools ...” his eyes widened in surprise and I knew my guess had hit home “... due to the ever-increasing need to remove waste from the housing areas. You would be better advised to use the east bank of this stream rather than the west one. And that way, our venerable and almost venerated Hawbriers shall remain undisturbed.”
“I has me orders, and we shall do them. Come lads, let's rip those damned bushes out.”
Steel inserted itself into my tone: “If one leaf on that bush, one branch, one thorn, one root is harmed, I shall make sure that you never work in this town again. Do I make myself clear?”
“Pah! Lads, she's just bluffing. Let's get on with it.”
“I don't think she is, Wexen. That driver was quick to obey her. And I don't hold with hitting women, like. The simpleton there was a different matter, he must be used to being struck – but I don't hit no woman, never.”
“Come, there are four of us. She will soon be moved.”
“Three, Wexen! And I shall join them to resist you. I told you not to beat the poor man there, and I shall now defend him physically rather than just verbally. And them bushes too.”
Wexen swung round and stared at the one of the men, the one who had just spoken up; one I vaguely recognised from somewhere. He was the man who had looked the most uncomfortable throughout all this.
“Why? You heard our orders. And I'm in charge and gave you orders to do something. So do it. Like now!”
“This is indeed Mistress Julina. She also teaches people to read and write. She taught me in one of my many and indeed still ongoing lessons and she teaches my nipper, who loves her almost more than his mum. She had the Countess herself join their lesson last week. She makes all their lessons such fun.
“She is friends, make note Wexen, with the Countess and she has the ear of the Prince and the Steward. You have tried to bully the wrong person this time. She surely will fulfil her threat to have you thrown out of town. I bain't be touching neither her nor her bushes. And I will defend them against you and anyone else what tries to touch her or them. Or that man there. If Mistress Julina says them bushes are important, then they are indeed important.”
Another man piped up: “I ain't goin' agin 'im. Nor 'er.”
And so we had a tense, but now much calmer situation.
The two men who had gone against Wexen started digging a trench where I had suggested. Wexen and his one remaining companion stood sullenly where they were. Vastan and I stood defiantly before the bushes.
We stayed like that for what seemed a bell or more, but must actually have been somewhat less. Wexen continued to bluster, but Vastan and I, albeit keeping a wary eye upon him, ignored him and his companion. Eventually he subsided into silence, as did everybody there gathered. Except for the scrape of the shovel and the thwack of the pick.
“So what happens here?” a male voice finally called out. A sigh enabled me to release some of the tension in my body.
I had for a little while observed the man approaching on frayen back, closely followed by Surtree who was also mounted (with a nervous but determined look upon his face). But it was only as the pair neared that I realised that the beast was none other than my Trumpa. What a sensible lad that Surtree was!
“Master Rindal, good morrow,” I began.
“Mistress Julina, a good morrow to you in return.” His eyes were scanning the scene though, even as he uttered the pleasantries.
“May I present here on my left Goodman Vastan, an honest and hardworking fellow who suffers from poor eyesight, but NOT from a poor brain. Over there is Goodman Wexen, a chargehand leading these labourers who have been commissioned to dig a deep trench in which to lay a pipe designed to carry waste down from the expanding living accommodation to the stink pits downslope. Two of his team have taken up my suggestion of digging such trench on the east bank of the rivulet here, but Chargehand Wexen has decided to dig it down the west bank, and refuses to give up his idea about the best side. I did point out that ultimately the east bank would be less work for him, but he refuses to budge.”
“Thank you. However, I assume that is not the real problem, for else you would not have summoned me so particularly. I deem it is something to do with these briers?”
“Indeed, Master. The problem here is this large clump of bushes. For years immemorial, they have provided our community with the very best of fruits from all the Hawbriers this side of the forest edge. But the Chargehand has decided that he shall rip them up to lay his wretched trench and pipework. I refuse to allow a valuable food source to be lost to us all when there are viable alternatives that exist, alternatives that do not threaten the bushes. I came here to make a brief inspection that I might have an idea of when the fruit might be ready, and incidentally I deem that we have another three or four weeks. When I arrived, I found that these four men, but these two in particular, had bullied and indeed struck poor Vastan here. Despite my need to be elsewhere, I deemed it necessary to remain and send my lad Surtree for help. Until my arrival Vastan had valiantly defended the bushes alone.”
“Now I understand. Thank you.” He turned his gaze. “You, Wexen wasn't it? Is what the Mistress has just explained true?”
I gasped in shock!
Never had my word been doubted before. I was about to explode angrily when Vastan gripped my arm most forcibly and shook his head at me, hissing in my ear: “Let Wexen be shown to be a liar, if he does lie that is. His is the dilemna now, not yours. Keep calm and carry on!”
I forced myself to look at Wexen and saw that indeed Vastan was right. The urge to lie to justify himself was warring with the unknown consequences of being caught in a lie; all this was clearly written upon his very open face.
Which fact was immediately obvious to Master Rindal too, for he said with perfect timing: “The truth now man, you will certainly regret any lie.”
A heartbeat or two passed, but then, finally, Wexen's shoulders slumped, and he confirmed what I said.
“Now,” continued Master Rindal, “who told you to drive your works down the west bank?”
“No-one,” he replied, sullenly. “The ground is just easier for us, as any fool can see.”
Rindal's face frowned at the implications of that remark. I admired the way in which he didn't react angrily, instead brushing aside what could have been construed as rude criticism of either him or me or both: “Ah! And you have based your observations upon what exactly? Surely you have scouted further downstream first? Before making such an important decision? I deem you did not do so! For had you indeed done so, you would have found that the Mistress' suggestion is indeed far better for you at the lower end of where the pipe must run. Let this be a lesson to you, examine the whole task first before deciding to make a start!”
“With respect, Master. I don't know who you are, and I was told to start here. By my supervisor.”
“But you have already admitted that the start point was not specified as to which side of the stream. So your continued determination to do so on the west side is founded merely upon your desire not to be shown to have chosen unwisely, rather than founded upon facts. Many men who have been stopped from doing something calamitous have actually thanked the person, but you for some reason resent the fact that information has arisen to suggest an alternative. An attitude that now needs to be reported to your supervisors.”
He gestured meaningfully to the other two men but kept his gaze upon Wexen: “Make a start there, where your two men have started scratching already. If your supervisor has any objections, then direct him to myself or Master Bezan, for I shall report all this to him as well. My name is Rindal, and 'tis my task to ensure that the ever-increasing population of this town is adequately fed. I cannot allow you to just rip away anything that can provide us all with a balanced diet. These bushes and briers are a valuable food source that must be preserved.”
He stopped there and was about to turn to me once more, when another thought hit him. He turned back to Wexen: “I assume you DO know who Master Bezan is?”
“Actually, Master, I have never seen him. I do know OF him, of course.”
“What about Master Simman?”
“Oh I know HIM, Master. I worked under him on the Community Hall.”
Rindal laughed. “Then I shall inform him too. By the way, were you aware that Mistress Julina here designed much of the Community Hall? She and her close friend Mistress Gythy? Indeed, those two are in a group that holds an Exclusivity Licence on some of the parts. You would do well to heed her voice and her suggestions in future. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Master!” came the reply, a complicated mixture of wonderment and resentment that none of us had heard before. We fought back smiles.
“Right, then – you carry on, on THIS side. And if you come across any other bushes, make sure they are checked out before you rip them up, is that clear? Don't dig within a stride of it, lest you damage the roots.”
“Aye, sir!” was the begrudging reply.
“Now, Mistress Julina and Goodman Vastan, let me examine closely these bushes of yours.”
The three of us went over to the first of the bushes, the upslope one. Vastan, Surtree and I remained silent as the man entered eagerly into his realm of expert knowledge.
A hand of moments passed.
“This is indeed a fine specimen of a Hawbrier. At first, the leaves looked a little strange to me, they are ever so slightly more rounded than I had expected. But I deem you are right. You shall have fruit within the month. There is a vitality about this bush though that I find difficult to explain. Only last week, I was inspecting the growth around your Fish Farm, and there were some hawbriers there. These are ever so slightly different somehow. 'Tis slightly puzzling. Mayhap 'tis the increased altitude, but I would not have deemed 'tis so very different. A cast or so, I would have thought.”
“I know the bushes you mean. The fruit there is good, but not as good as these. These are known to all us long-time residents as the very best of bests. Why their fruit tends towards the purple rather than the blue of those downva...”
I broke off as Rindal gave a little cry. A sort of shocked gasp, it was.
“Purple-hued, you say?” His voice contained a sudden urgency.
Vastan and I looked at each other and nodded. Vastan indicated that I should answer.
“Indeed so Master, less so on the outer bushes, but more and more so as you get nearer the centre of this clump. There is one in there that is so dark a purple that anyone would believe 'twas made from the midnight sky itself.”
“Maker!” he barely breathed. “You don't have just Hawbriers here! You have a Haw King! No wonder the leaves are slightly different. Show me! I have heard of such a thing, but never seen one. There are none reported in any of the countries in the Great Valley this side of Yod. Oh by all that I have ever held dear, I have made a major discovery, with your help, the two of you! I am a Questor of the Natural Sciences, but this must be my greatest ever find.”
He raised his voice loudly. “This is now a protected species site. It is to be enjoyed that that oaf wasn't allowed to rip this all up. This is the only sighting of an extremely rare plant in the whole of Palarand, indeed in the whole of the Great Valley. I shall have to get Simman to wall this area off, make a proper growing garden for this. And an inspection area for the Questors from far and wide to be able to come and see.”
He turned back to us.
“Show me! Show me the central one. I deem that its roots have encountered the roots of the others and thus conveyed a purpleness to the surrounding bushes as well as a slight leaf modification. It shall probably be more of an effect the closer we go. But be careful not to damage too much as we head towards the centre ...”
I led the way, for I was the one amongst us who had most often visited the site, to pick the fruit each year. Unbidden, unwritten, untold, all we berry and fruit hunters had managed to ensure that we didn't strip the bush in the middle. We had always left some growing buds for others to find. And for the bush to keep for itself.
Once he had seen it, I sent Surtree back to Trumpa that he might ride back to the Salon and tell them I was delayed (as if they hadn't worked that out already) and would be another bell or two. I gave him some other instructions too and finally told him to pitch in to help where he could in the Kitchens, not to come back here.
Vastan and I then had a fascinating bell of instruction from someone who demonstrated easily he was indeed a Master in his field. By and by, we retreated carefully to the outside of the clump; by then we were chatting with each other freely.
“Vastan, how come you were here at the right time?” asked our Teacher, for he had indeed taught us much that day.
His face flushed slightly as he considered his reply, but in the end he decided to be fully open. “You may not be aware that most people think of me as a simpleton, just because I do not see well. I do not believe that I am so much of a simpleton as they deem. ...”
“Indeed not, Vastan, for the questions you have asked of me today show a lively and intelligent mind! A mind that needs be put to work for it is surely being wasted dreadfully at present.”
I nodded my agreement with the older man's words, even as I waved my hand to get Vastan back to explaining. His embarrassment made him stutter slightly as he continued: “N... N... Nev... Nevertheless, I have no real friends. Every so often, it all catches up with me, and, on the nights when Kalikan is at its brightest, I take a bottle of wine and go to drink it amongst the flowers and the bushes of the water margin.
“We are always three, counting myself, my shadow and my oh so distant friend, the shimmering moon. Luckily that moon knows nothing of drinking, and, as for my shadow, why, he is never thirsty! We have a most agreeable party, the three of us; when I sing, the moon listens to me in silence. When I dance, my shadow dances along with me too.
“Now you will know that after all festivities, parties and gatherings, the guests must depart. This sadness I never know because when I go home, then the moon goes with me and also my shadow follows me.
“So I had a little party here last night, and I dropped my neckscarf. I returned today to find it and had only just done so when those men came along.”
I was crying by the time he was finished, but was sniffing back the tears. I half suspected that Rindal was also emotionally upset. His voice was a bit wavery as he asked: “Goodman Vastan, what exactly do you do?”
“A little of this and a little of that, Master. I usually keep the grasses down in the summer, and deliver coal to houses in the winter. Other menial tasks here and there. I make enough to feed myself most days.”
“And enough for your occasional bottles of wine, I deem,” said the Questor with a glint in his eye and a smile on his lips.
“Vastan, I will leave instructions that you may have a bottle of wine from the Salon, but just the one each month! As a reward for your bravery today!”
By that time, we had got back to where the working gang were digging. They were within earshot. Wexen was quick to lean on his implement as he said, a little sourly: “You have influence at the Salon, too?”
Rindal and Vastan both glared at him, Rindal coughing meaningfully. Wexen looked puzzled for a moment. Maybe one of my two companions mouthed the word, but if so I saw it not.
“Er ... Mistress!” Wexen added hastily and with some distaste.
“You could say that, Goodman.”
“I've heard that 'tis good there. My missus keeps nagging me that we should save our coin and have a special evening there.”
“Well don't bother to try to get in when I'm on duty. I shall refuse you entrance. Your behaviour today has been unacceptable. Maybe you should try to explain that to your wife!”
Vastan and Rindal both burst out in laughter while Wexen stood with his mouth hanging open.
By that time, I was in need of some relief, and would have done nearly anything for a mug of pel. I thought rapidly, and realised that the nearest spot to us would be Waxerwet's home.
Bing!
Another thought had shot through my head. You may remember I had this ongoing problem in the back of my head, a heavy problem, one that wouldn't go away? Well that other thought had just jogged a glorious solution to that problem.
I was singing as I skipped downslope to Gyth's and her mother's house, encouraging the other two to come with me.
When we got there, I ran to the outhouse after ushering the two men into the family room. When I got back, I found they had obeyed my 'suggestion' and had thrown open the windows to air the place, one had set a fire in the small oven, and so we sat down to chat as things got ready. I soon leapt up though as I did some of the housework even as we were talking. Soon there was a pot of pel on the table.
I explained that Gyth and her mother were far downvalley on a project for me, and that I had been charged with keeping the place tidy for their return.
All the while I was humming and singing to myself and bouncing around with excitement. When asked why, I simply replied: “I have just found a solution to a problem that had been weighing me down.” I dare say I may have blushed slightly as I said it and the men changed the subject somewhat abruptly.
In the next bell of interesting and sometimes deep chatting, I do believe that both men became impressed with my own intellect, but 'twas certainly that of Vastan that came to the fore. So much so that Rindal offered him there and then an apprenticeship, and he accepted, tears running down his face. At last, he was recognised as being someone of worth. In that respect he reminded me somewhat of poor Venket.
Then, after a few more twists in the conversation, Vastan asked me about the Exclusivity Licence, which I answered to both their surprises as I listed all the ones that I had. Then the discussion broadened into how exactly they work.
At the end of which, Vastan summed it all up quite well: “The basic idea is registered centrally as being yours. Anyone who makes the item you thought of then has to pay you a sum for each item they sell. Say one twentieth of the selling price. This usually lasts for two or four years, for by that time others will have learnt how to make it themselves, maybe in a neighbouring country. Take forks for example, Her Highness has the Exclusivity Licence on those. Every single fork manufactured and sold ends with her receiving some coin. Which is one reason she is so rich a Princess now. Some things, however, have a permanently running Exclusivity Licence. And some of THOSE are open ones.”
This had been fascinating to him in our discussions. Even Master Rindal learnt something then.
“They are where your name is on the Exclusivity Licence but you have declared that anyone can make them as and when they want. You will receive no coin from them, but you prevent anyone else claiming it for their own. That way, no-one can cheat you of any dues you might be otherwise owed.”
“I doubt I could have put it any better! An excellent summation, Vastan.”
Soon after that, the men departed. I sent them off towards Master Jepp, to get the legal side of things tied up for Vastan's future employment. I finished my maintenance duties around the house, and then did a little extra work for myself. Work that was allied with that problem solved thing.
… … …
“Good evening, Ted!”
“Julina! Excuse me! What can I do for you, Mistress?”
“I was wondering if you happened to know where I might find that Djork fellow, the Einnlander? I must give him something this evening.”
“He has just finished his duty and will be eating in the mess hall. Tomorrow we have a huge exercise they are bynaming the 'Hunter Games' so we are all charged with getting a good night.”
“The Hunter Games?”
“Yes, Mistress Michet's hunters, and some of the recruits, are going to try to attack a strong squad of our experienced guards up in the folds of the Vale. They have the local knowledge, the guards have the experience. It should be a good match of abilities. The exercise is scheduled for three days, and we will nearly all be away from the town during that time.”
“So he only has tonight free, really?”
“Indeed so!”
“I had better send an urchin to find him then, as I deem this needs to be done as soon as possible.”
“May the message wait a half bell?”
“I suppose so.”
“Then I shall take your message for you. I have to go up there when my duty finishes to deliver another message, so 'twould be no bother. What shall I tell him?”
“Could he meet me at the back door to the Salon at the second night Bell please? I have something to give him.”
“That's simple enough. Salon back door. Second bell. I shall be returning for the evening with Senidet, so if he is unable to attend, I shall bring a message accordingly.”
“You're a married man, Ted. So I can give you a 'thank you' kiss on the cheek.”
I did so and he blushed.
I was still in my good, bubbly mood, humming and singing when not kissing married soldiers, so I laughed gaily at Ted's slight blush, and teased him by saying: “Don't forget to tell your wife!”
I went back to the Salon and Kelly's eyes asked me if the mission was accomplished. Mine replied in the affirmative.
Earlier, she had soon realised what I was planning, and she approved when I told her all the details privately. So much so, that she told me to leave earlier than normal that night.
… … …
“Whose house is this?”
“My friend Gythy's, and her mother. They are downvalley at the moment so I have approved access. I was at my wit's end to find somewhere suitable. My own house would be too disrespectful. A hired room was not the right thing. Then I suddenly realised the opportunity this afternoon. And you're off up the Vale for a few days. So it had to be tonight.”
“And what, precisely, has to happen tonight?”
“I want you to make me a real woman, and this is not my Fruitable Week.”
Julina finds life a little different after The Demonstration
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.
I was trying to hold back my sobs as we all dispersed. I don't think that any of us will ever forget that devastating demonstration of why that wagon's load had to be treated with care and caution.
To my eyes, it all happened in a dreadful sort of slow motion.
We had seen the demonstration of the trail of what the Steward had named 'gun powder' and how it burnt fizzily as it snaked across the grass.
Then our Steward grabbed our attention with his words: “But that is innocent, with a thin line laid on the ground and out in the open. What is important is that you see and understand that this powder is burning rapidly and igniting the next grains as it goes along. Observe closely and you will see that the burnt track is wider than the original laid line. This is because, as well as burning, or actually rather better said, WHILST burning, the powder expands. Out here on the open ground that matters very little. But what happens if the powder is contained in some rigid container? Like in the barrels in which it was delivered? How can the powder expand if it has nowhere to go?
“The answer is that 'twill create an explosion – and 'twill explode with great force, sending injury, death and destruction to all that surround it. So please make sure now that you have yourselves and your children under control. Someone could be killed in the following demonstrations. Approach no nearer than you already are.
“This explosive property of the 'gun powder' is why the special hut in which it is stored has a great gap above the walls and under the roof . 'Tis also why the roof there has enormous overhangs. The gap is there to allow much of the explosive force to escape should something untoward occur and thus hopefully reduce surrounding damage, by not totally enclosing the blast. The extra overhangs? This so-called gun powder will only do its job if it is dry and so must be stored under cover. The overhangs should keep any rain out. But if there were an accident, then we need to make appropriate allowances to reduce the damage.
“Now here you will see Quadrant Ponstib filling a small and simple child's mug with the powder.”
He cleverly released some of the tension in the atmosphere by thanking the child whose mug it was before continuing his commentary in those wonderful carrying tones he employed for public announcements spread over a large area.
“Now he forces a tight stopper into the mouth of the mug. Thank you, Quadrant. The more observant amongst you will have noticed that the stopper has a small hole in it. Now the Quadrant pours a small pile of powder there on the ground. He now inverts the mug with his thumb closing the opening and shakes it so that some powder fills that hole in the stopper, and finally he places the inverted mug on the pile of powder on the ground. Now he lays a thin line of powder for a hand of strides across the ground. Good. Now he hands the barrel of powder to Guardsman Geral who carefully removes it from any danger here.
“Guardsman Jisty now brings a lit spill from the other side, taking care not to ignite anything else as he progresses. He now applies it to the powder trail, and he and the Quadrant sprint back towards us as the powder trail fizzes. This is why we made it so long, to give them time to get out of harm's way.”
The running men were almost comical and many of us began to grin; but those grins were swiftly wiped from our faces when the end result occurred.
We all watched, grinning you will remember, as the smoke trail approached the mug. The larger pile flared and the mug toppled over. There was a silence for a few heartbeats, long enough for me to suspect that the toppling of the mug had spoiled the demonstration. Some watchers even began to laugh.
Then there was a loud cracky sort of bang, and the mug disintegrated. The grasses round about were flattened and some were burning as much as a hand of strides away. We were all shocked at the vehemence of the explosion.
The avians, plentiful and seemingly less timid at this time of year, were as always scratching and pecking for their food in these weeks of plenty. All of them arose as one with great squawks and dashed away from the spreading dark cloud.
The entire crowd watching were struck into silence. There were no more laughs nor any grins.
Obviously, 'twas not possible for every single inhabitant to be present, but I would wager that only a few hands of them were elsewhere. Every single one of us were shocked into silence.
The Captain then got our attention once more. “You all know how fragile a child's mug is. But what happens if the container into which the powder has been packed is of a far more robust nature? Let us proceed to our final demonstration.
“Now look over there. There are four concentric rings of wooden cut-outs shaped and sized like men. Each is a thumb thick, a thumb thick of solid wood. In fact, they are all made from the same wood that is used for most of the walls of the houses around here. So you all know how hard and solid they must be.
“Guardsman D'Kenik here has something we call a 'grenade' in his hand. This is a ceramic container also filled, packed, with gun powder – the capacity is roughly thrice that of the little mug we just destroyed, and the powder has been tamped much more than as was in the mere mug. The string that is hanging from the ceramic ball, is what is known as a fuse. It is a cord that has been soaked in a flammable solution. We know quite precisely how quickly it burns and can thus delay any explosion by a precise amount of time simply by cutting off a certain length of the fuse.
“D'Kenik will now light the fuse and toss the grenade into the centre of the circles of the cut-outs.”
We watched as the guard did just that.
It was at this point in time that things started to go wrong.
A grenn, probably thinking this was some sort of game, leapt forward from the edge of the crowd and bounded towards the thrown ceramic ball, barking joyously.
“Stop that grenn!”
“Hold! Stop that child!”
A child had run out from the crowd, cajoling the grenn to him: “Drumpf! Drumpf! Here, boy, here!”
A soldier ran after the boy.
The grenn reached the grenade just as the boy reached the outer circle of cutouts – and just as the soldier grabbed the boy. Wrapping the boy in his great chest, the soldier twisted round and presented his back towards the grenade just as it exploded.
Blood and bits of bones flew through the air. The first circle of cutouts disappeared entirely, the second circle were severely and shockingly mangled, the third circle remained standing but were deeply scarred. The outer circle of cut-out figures was gashed badly, each and every one of them.
The boy was safe and unharmed – maybe deafened slightly by the loud explosion.
The people were all stunned into silence at the very violence and sudden death dealt by a device barely bigger than a man's fist. Certainly, the demonstration of the dangers of this dreadful 'gun powder' had brought its message firmly home to all and sundry.
The soldier though was a different matter.
The upper part of his left leg was grotesquely deformed. Sticking in one side, and poking out of the other side was what was discernible as being one of the grenn's legs. Blood was pooling on the ground beneath the man, where he had collapsed. Lendra and Twaite rushed to treat him from where they had been standing a few casts away.
The man was groaning in pain and shock.
The very man I had cuddled up to a few scant bells before. The man who I had offered my virginity to. The man who had warmed, sheltered and held me while we were in a sort of afterglow. The man who had reluctantly parted from me in the crepuscular light of that morning.
My Jerk.
… … …
I had known that our attraction was mutual from various little attentions he had given me since we first met. His duties and mine were not very compatible though, and it had been difficult to meet very often. But that night when I had stumbled into his arms as I left the Salon had confirmed to me that the time was right for me to discover the next step in my womanhood.
Once I learnt more from Lendra about fruitable weeks and so on, then the when part of the problem had been solved. The who part I had solved (quite easily), or at least my internal roilings had. All that was left was the where part. So my big problem had been to find a suitable place. His barrack room was quite clearly out of the question. I wouldn't want to embarrass Em by asking her for a room, and booking any other room in Town would immediately set tongues a'wagging. My own home, even though I had my own separate entrance, would not be a good idea with younger siblings likely to hear everything, not to mention my father and stepmother.
I cursed myself for not thinking of Gyth's place, well Waxerwet's really, so much earlier.
After the discussions yesterday with Vastan and Rindal, and once they had departed, I had made up the bed with fresh bedclothes, positioned several extra candles, and set the place up for one of the most profound nights of my life.
The timings were right. I just had to make it happen.
And happen it did.
We shall gloss over the first time; some blood, some pain, many fumbles, some mess and over very quickly.
The second time was infinitely better.
I will swear, though, that Kalikan reversed direction, Anmar swung around on its axis (twice!) and eighteen earthquakes all happened with the third time.
We also talked together, needless to say. We both decided that we needed to be discreet lest our duties and availabilities were compromised.
And until we had decided how we might continue.
There were many factors to be considered.
But we rejoiced in one another and settled for that intimacy as a first step towards something else, something wondrous that would grow. In our innocence, we were confident that we could work something out.
… … …
From the moment I got up, I had this silly grin on my face and seemed to be twice as tall as normal. Clearing up after us was the lightest housework I had ever had, and I found I couldn't stop humming to myself.
Dsherk, or Djork, or Dschjerg or however it is properly written had left early that he might start his duties as required at dawn. We were both aware that the so-called 'Hunter Games' were due to start soon, whether that would be today or tomorrow, neither of us was certain.
I, in my selfishness, reset Waxerwet and Gythy's house ready for the two of us to enjoy again during the coming night. I skipped and hummed my way home, going to Master Mayler's to get a few little baked surprises for my family on my way. I got there at such a time that, as I suspected, only Swayga was up, so I lent her a hand. Yes, I was still grinning and humming. She looked at me, and I at her. We both knew the other knew.
“Have you considered your fruitable week?”
“Aye! 'Tis from the 7th.”
“You do know that a man's seed can live inside you for up to half a week don't you?”
My eyes widened. “No! I didn't know that. In fact, I only recently learnt of the fruitable week - from Lendra, may she be praised. She calculated that 'twould start on the 8th and said I should consider it starts on the 7th. But she didn't mention that little extra piece of information. So to be avoided after the 4th then?”
“I would say the 3rd. Until the 15th!”
“Thank you,” I said gratefully, but now regretting that I had never really allowed Swayga to be a mother to me. I sort of wondered if there was anything else she might have been able to educate me with.
Then another thought occurred to me, so I said earnestly to her: “Kords and Kissa should maybe be told this too, as Kords only knows what I knew, and she passed it on to her younger sister. I haven't really had a chance to bring her up to date with my new knowledge, let alone what you just told me. Should I? Or will you?”
“I have more opportunity, I suppose.” I detected both a reluctance and a delight, which suddenly told me that Swayga too was nervous about some of the aspects of parenthood.
“Thank you,” I said. I knew for certain that I didn't really want to take up this subject with Kords right then. She would bombard me with questions on the other aspect of the subject. And tease me. And probably gossip.
Swayga's face took on a more serious look, and yet at the same time an almost embarrassed one: “Where?”
“Gyth's.”
Her relief at my answer was almost palpable. She grinned once more as she said: “Go and wash yourself thoroughly. There should be enough warm water now. I shall wake you a half bell before we must leave for the demonstration. I shall keep the others away from you. I suppose you worked late?” she finished with a wink.
I grinned back. “Indeed I did! But 'twould have to have been on matters other than the Salon!”
“Of course!”
… … …
I had not believed that I would sleep, so elated was I, but I was so deep down in that dark, velvety smooth pit of total rest when Kords shook me awake. Another swift wash, a little Tai Chi – not all the forms that day – a light breakfast, a quick change of dress and a more prolonged hair brush than usual.
We went up to what was now already known to the Town as the Barracks. We went in a bunch, chattering away to each other. Very much as a family. I could see Kords eyeing me sideways, wondering why I was so skippy and smiley and hummy that morning.
I noticed my Jerk almost immediately, and he noticed me at nearly the same time. I indicated to him with my eyes where we would be standing and he had managed to swap positions with two of his colleagues in order or be nearer us. I beamed with delight as I saw him trying to swap places with another but then the Captain called for all our attention and the fateful event started.
… … …
“Stand away – now, Julina!” Twaite's commanding voice penetrated my tears. She gently prised my hand away from where it was trying to crush Jerk's.
He looked at me and nodded, smiling reassuringly. But his eyes showed me, us, all who were gathered around him, that he was in shock. And then the pain seemed to hit him and he winced, squeezing his eyes shut.
I had been one of the first to get there and he smiled at me as I knelt on the ground beside him. All the Einnlander soldiers were rapidly there, and Captain Subrish, His Honour, Commander Feteran and several of the other soldiers came swiftly as well, arriving at the double. There were so many gathered around that the two healers, Lendra and Twaite, had to force their way through to begin their ministrations.
Swayga came and helped me to my feet. Papa was with the rest of my siblings, leading them gently away. All of them had their heads twisted round as they walked off in the other direction. 'Twas only later that I discovered how shocked they had been. I also saw Kords looking at me with a stunned awareness. I knew at that very heartbeat that she now knew. Kissa was also looking at me wonderingly, but without the awareness that Kords showed.
As I rose to my feet, my unsteady legs threatening to spill me to the ground once more, the Steward thrust a small body into my arms, saying: “Find the parents of this lad, would you please Julina? We'll take over here. ... Mistresses, what sort of recovery room shall you require for this man? Can he be treated in the soldiers' common room? Or do you require some other arrangement?”
“Very well, Captain,” I replied automatically. It was only later that I realised he gave me something to do to help me concentrate upon other things.
Jerk's and my relationship was immediately apparent to all, but the events allowed me no embarrassment.
I was so very tempted to shake the stupid boy that had caused all this, and to shout at him loudly, but then I caught sight of his whitened face, saw the shock in his eyes and felt his shivering, quivering body. I found I could not add to his misery, even though a part of me was internally screaming my anguish.
Swayga and I backed away from the busy group on the ground and turned to walk back to where the spectators had been. The mother of the child was quite easy to spot. She was wailing and crying, held around the shoulders by a strongly-built, stocky man just a little taller than Swayga.
As we neared, the man shook her to get her attention, said something in her ear and pointed to us. She looked over, screamed and ran towards us, yelling “Bedo! Bedo!” over and over again.
When she got to us, she just ripped the boy from my arms and smothered him with hugs and kisses.
I looked down at my now empty arms.
The sight of the blood seeping from the marks made by her nails tipped me over the limit of my control: “You stupid, stupid woman! Which bit of the Steward's warning did you fail to understand? This is dangerous, he said. Let no-one approach closer, he said. People could die, he said. But oh no, you don't find it necessary to control your child. A soldier, highly trained, now lies dying upon the ground because you are too stupid to keep your equally stupid brat under control. Stupid, irresponsible and arrogant. If I had my way ...”
I didn't say any more.
I couldn't.
I was unconscious. I never saw the blow the stupid woman's husband dealt me.
… … ...
“Two months hard labour! Report to Master Simman there as soon as you are herefrom dismissed.”
Rather than looking at Simman, all three turned and looked directly at me, anger and indeed some hate conspicuous in their stares. Only young Bedo looked in any way repentant, and even then 'twas but fleeting.
“And we do not accept that you had any justification for striking a woman, however stressed you might have been at the time. She too was stressed, her man having been struck down protecting YOUR child, a child that should not have been in such a dire situation in the first place. Your nails raked her arm and drew blood.
“Yes, we understand the child was attached fondly to the grenn, yes we understand the grenn pulled away. But that was simply because the child was too weak to control him properly; you, as parents, should have known that, should have taken adequate precautions. Mistress Julina was perfectly right in what she said. But remember also that she too was stressed at that moment. You are asking for leniency because YOU were stressed and yet you make no allowance for HER stress. We abhor double standards such as you have just clearly demonstrated. Just as much as we abhor your ignoring direct and unambiguous orders that the entire rest of the town managed to obey. 'Keep everyone clear and children under control.' Not very difficult to comprehend, surely?
“The direct result of your actions, perchance better said your INactions, is that a grenn died most horribly, many in the Town being unable to get the dreadful vision of that out of their heads even now, six days later. On top of that, a highly trained soldier, personally acknowledged by our King no less as a hero of Palarand, has suffered a grievous wound to his leg. And two women have been injured after a violent physical attack. One woman had a blooded arm and was struck unconscious. The other has had her arm broken. Both women being the primary care givers to their family. So you have managed to deny their family members their own care and comfort as well.”
At that point, the Prince, our Prince that is, spoke up: “Your Honour, if I may?”
The Steward inclined his head, ceding the centre of attention to Prince Keren: “Your Highness.”
“Thank you,” the Prince acknowledged the Captain as he rose to his feet, “I would first say that I deem you to be excellent at governing my wife's lands for her. As stated earlier, I am here in an observatory capacity, but I deem that myself and Prince Torulf here, have seen the wisdom, authoritativeness and fairness with which you have conducted this court in her name; this throughout our visit, not just today, even though today has produced perchance the most serious case so far.”
He swung round and fixed the male prisoner with a steely gaze, keeping his eyes firmly upon him even as he spoke: “As regards this last case of the day, this most serious case, then I say to the prisoner that he is a lucky man. There is NEVER any excuse to strike a woman, unless of course she is attacking you, and we have today in Palarand a society based upon the tenet that men shall PROTECT women. I myself would have been tempted to sentence you to half a year's hard labour. I doubt that my wife would have been able to restrain herself to much less, but I must stress that that is my impression of how she might have reacted had she been here. The Steward's consideration of your family and the circumstances they would find themselves in with a lack of any income for a half year is indeed a tempering caution to us all.
“I saw your glances of anger towards the women you victimised and shall add a note to the report of this session of my wife's court, for as we all are aware, or should be, it is convened in her name after all.”
His voice took on a most chilling tone, and an authority that none could deny. “If any retaliation is visited upon Mistress Julina, or Mistress Swayga as a result of this, I shall do my utmost to see that you hang, even should I be at the other end of the country. It behoves us men to act with dignity, control and care, all three of which you signally failed to do. So-called stress is not and never should be an excuse to lose your expected abilities. We should pride ourselves upon rising above such moments. We require the menfolk of our land to exercise such control, all day and every day. Let others be warned that such argumentation shall find only short shrift in the future. I repeat it that all may hear the words clearly and unambiguously - stress is not now, nor ever shall be, an excuse for ill behaviour. That is all.”
His eyes locked upon those of the prisoner even as he seated himself once more.
Everyone in that courtroom was left with no doubt whatsoever that this man was destined to be our King and would be a fair but firm one. Even the other Prince, that Torulf one, was looking at our Prince in awe and no little wonder. And maybe I detected a deal of respect too, but I must surely be mistaken.
… … ...
I would rather skip over my reactions and doings during the intervening days. I was tearful, sobbing most of the time, fretful, grumpy, surly, distracted and barely polite to anyone. I'm sure I must have been a trial to the healers as they worked on Dshorg, and, in retrospect, my continual wailing in his ear whenever I had an opportunity to visit him, was probably unhelpful for his recovery.
The healers had sliced open the back of his leg, a cut in length of slightly more than a handswidth. They had done this so that the grenn leg bone could be simply lifted out rather than be dragged out and thus possibly cause more damage had there been unseen barbs buried in his muscle mass. They had then kept herbs compressed into the wound, and they made it bleed every day, a little less then again a little less as time passed. This was because they knew not how grenn blood would mix and react with human blood, so they made the wound bleed in order to help wash away any 'foreign objects and fluids' as they put it.
Once the visually disturbing grenn bone had been removed, the wound could then be treated as they would any sword stroke wound to the back of the upper thigh, even if it was much more ragged than that at the bottom of damage (well he was lying on his front!). They assured me that he would regain the use of his leg and 'twould be a strong as ever in the fullness of time, once the healing had been done and he had properly exercised.
He was being housed in one of Em's upper rooms, so I found it easy to access him, to pester him with my lachrymosity. It was only much later that I discovered that Lendra, Twaite, Em, Dshorg himself, Papa and Swayga, the two Princes and His Honour, along with the Count and Countess all banded together and cooked up a scheme to get me out of the way, in an attempt to bring me back to myself. Commander Feteran was also involved to a certain extent as were Bezan, Sookie and several others. I suspect the idea came from Senidet originally, but more of that later.
… … …
In an ultimately futile attempt to distract myself, I once tried to talk with Senidet about her next scheme, her next implementation of some of the Princess' ideas. This was all to do with thick metal wires and replacing ropes with them. Some ropes, not necessarily all ropes. My usual sharpness of mind had deserted me, making me feel even more at a loss. And making me feel even less useful. Unworthy somehow.
I was barely coherent, I suspect, but nevertheless somehow that fact that Waxerwet's home was currently unoccupied emerged as we talked. This fact was seized upon eagerly by herself. This was so surprising that, apparently, I returned briefly to my more usual self. But I still couldn't quite see the connection between wires and Waxerwet's and Gyth's house. As it transpired, there was no such connection at all, just that it provided fertile ground for Senidet's next idea, next topic, which was formed right there and then as well.
Which is where, I deem, the scheme to remove me temporarily was also grounded.
To cut a longish story short, and as an example of how my depression had affected me, I ended up giving her the responsibility and authority to maintain Waxerwet's house for them, rather than myself, until such time as I felt capable of doing the job properly once more. I just could not handle the associated memories and all that for the moment.
However, I remember clearly being surprised at the alacrity with which she scooted away, looking for Bezan once our initial discussions were over.
That had been the day after the explosions. On the day following THAT day, I was again brought a bit out of my funk when I saw her working at one end of one of the now buried tubes that passed under the road. She had a seemingly complex arrangement of material around her as she sat on the footwalk next to two co-workers.
She explained to me that 'electrics' (which she spelt out for me so that's where I learnt that!) consists of what she called a pair of wires, one to take whatever out and another to bring it back. She called this an 'out and back pair'.
She drew a swift diagram in the dust. There was something she started with which she called a battery; she drew a square box in the dirt. She then drew a line from the battery to another box she drew, which was sort of half a circle and which she ended up calling a clock of all things. Then she drew another line this time from the clock box back to the battery box.
“The electrics is stored in the battery. This line here represents a special, thin, metal wire, that takes, carries, the electrics to the clock, which will then do its business there. I will not try to explain how that works right now. But so far, nothing will happen, because the electrics needs to get back to the battery in order to work. It needs a completed return as well. Her Highness calls this a circuit, even if 'tis not a round. See here, the electrics travels along this 'out' line, does its job at the clock, then travels along this 'back' line. An out and back pair, you see.
“But there is a problem. See here. What happens if the out line touches the back line? That way the electrics just flows round this shortened way, and the clock doesn't get it. So we must make sure that the out and the back lines do not touch. That they do not create what she called a short circuit. So we have to ...”
She then used a word which was new to me. I THOUGHT that it seemed she said a word that had an 'n' in it, but I thought about it long afterwards and now believe she just said 'isolate' which I knew was based on the Chivan word for an island, meaning not touching anything else. Master Jepp had told me that early in my teaching days; he used it as an example of the power of understanding the ancients and how that can help us understand some of our words. It was then when he taught me what an anagram was and other things like that, thinking that it would be valuable for a teacher to know such matters.
“... isolate the wires. We did some experiments down in Palarand and discovered that wax is quite a good thing to use, and also that wood doesn't easily let the electrics go through. So what we are doing here now is to coat these thin wires with wax, and then lay them along these shaped pieces of wood, in the shallow grooves channelled into them. Eventually, the wax will dry out and probably crack, which is why we are doing the wooden isolation too. We won't actually do that right now as there is another consideration we need to take note of, but I am just describing the process to you. Then we put a capping piece of wood on top and then turn it over. On the other side of the wood is another channel down which we run the other wire after waxing it. Then it too has a wooden cap placed along its length. Now we have three pieces of wood with the separated wires running each in the 'gap' between the wood pieces, on each side of the central piece. Once we have all three pieces of wood properly aligned, we use either thin wire or twine to tie the three together, tightly so the wires inside cannot drop out or anything.”
She held up the final piece of wood she had constructed which was about the length of her arm. There was a wooden lug sticking out one end, and a hole set into at the other end, both of which she showed me. She hadn't actually tied the components all together as she had described, but 'twas easy to see what she meant, even in my unenthusiastic condition that was prevailing over me. I have to say that her explanations did go some way towards easing, albeit temporarily, my poor mood.
“These are made this length because that is a workable length to enable us to bend or twist the entire length into one of the underground little pipes. Now we locate one these lugs into the hole at the end of the PREVIOUS one, and gently press the length down and into the underroad piping. Slowly we build up sufficient lengths of these so that the original end appears out of the pipe way over there. Two or three of these three-piece woods fit inside a single one of those little pipes, or we could pass more wires through simply by increasing the number of channelled pieces of wood, making a five or a six or a seven and so on piece combined wooden thing.”
I was about to ask her more, but just then I was called back to the Salon by Surtree who told me I was needed there in the kitchens.
… … …
The next day was frankly dreadful, so much so that on the yet following day, I tried to distract myself and ended up riding alone all the way up to the Stone Sea. I had hoped that by finally achieving a long held ambition, that of actually seeing the Stone Sea, that maybe I would be kicked back into normality. But that didn't work like that. I rode up there, passing the railroad experimental works. I turned across country at the Tree, passed along the works they were doing there and soon joined the road that led upwards. Trumpa helped me avoid the few wagons that were using the Michen Method path, and we were able to progress across the bare ground once the prepared road petered out.
I had to do a lot of riding across the bare ground up there, since the workers were not prepared to be civil to a single woman and I had to keep a good distance from them in order to have my freedom. But their unwanted attentions just served to remind me of my wanted ones.
I doubt I saw most of the available sights, so much did I find myself crying again. And those that I did see, I seemed incapable of processing.
… … …
So yes, hereby I confess I was not so very observant as normal, nor so very enthusiastic in all of the days of the week following 'The Demonstration'. I suppose it was obvious to all, but I felt so very much alone. I was convinced my heart had broken and when Dshorg told me off on one of my visits for being 'too clingy', I just rushed away, sobbing uncontrollably at first.
The guardsmen, the Princes and the rest, the Steward included, and Em and half the Assembly members were all up in the Vale for their big game of playing at being soldiers, so I only had Swayga, Sookie and Pomma as adults to whom I could really pour my heart out. And Swayga had had her arm broken by that idiot, so she couldn't really hug me. Sookie was mostly busy managing her domain and Pomma was needed at home for most of the time. I found myself missing Epp.
My girlfriends were all sympathetic but knew not really how to console me, for they had never before seen me like this. And I wanted to keep away from them quite a lot, as I couldn't have handled their more intimate questions just then.
I did one of the peet-zer sessions over at 'The Tree' to see if it would shake me out of it, but it just made it worse somehow. I was alright gathering the necessaries and going over there to set it all up, but having all those young men around me just made we want to burst out in tears – and many of them were STILL talking about gun powder and The Demonstration.
So I sat in miserable silence for most of that time, those six long days. Even the musical lesson failed to cheer me up much. Most of the those who had been up the Vale had by then returned, so there were more people around but still I felt somehow excluded. I felt like a stranger in my own home environment.
… … ...
Just after that mentioned musical lesson ended, there came the trial of the man who had hurt Swayga and I, and which I reported above. Both of us were required to attend, of course. I don't know about Swayga, but I felt nothing as the sentence was handed down. No relief, no elation, no sadness, nothing. As though my emotions had been cut out of my body.
Then I was asked to stay behind by the Prince no less. The Steward also smiled at me encouragingly as did the Count and Countess. My depression was beaten temporarily into the background by my nervousness, for everyone who was anyone was there – and they were all looking at me.
“Mistress Julina, we are aware that you have been knocked from your normality by that man's blow to your head, but we find ourselves at something of a loss at the moment. I would personally be most grateful if I could enlist your services for a direct favour for myself and most particularly for my wife. ...”
The Prince looked at me with a very engaging smile as I wondered what on Anmar I might have that would be of assistance to the Princess and himself. I looked round at the sea of faces, some of whom I knew well. Em and the Steward were particularly encouraging; oh and Sookie over there too.
“Y … Your … Your Highness! I will naturally do all that I can for you and the Princess, but I have few skills and I know not if I am in any way suited to whatever task you might have in mind for me. Pray give me more information.”
He smiled again at me. “Your modesty becomes you, Mistress. Before I go further, I wish to make it absolutely clear that this is merely a request to you. If you choose not to perform the little task I have in mind then there shall be no recriminations whatsoever. This would be something that you and a colleague or two would do solely if you so desire. 'Twould be perfectly understandable should you refuse. No pressure shall be applied to you whatsoever. The task requires your culinary and your organisational skills for four days, five nights. Those in this town have advised me that you are more than admirably suited to the task, and my experiences in your Salon confirm to me that their advice is sound.
“I repeat – no pressure is laid upon you to accept. You should know that you are the first to be asked as you are perceived to be the most able to do it.”
“Very well, Your Highness, I understand the terms. But I do NOT understand the task.”
His laugh was genuine and effective.
And affective, I suppose you could say. It certainly affected me, cutting deeply into my depression without actually banishing it.
“I do so like people who not fawn over me because of my rank. It is refreshing. You are right to say as you did. Allow me to answer you by commencing with a relatively recent history lesson. This is not the first time I have been to this place. When my wife, not that she was my wife at the time of course, and I travelled here last year, for reasons best forgot, Merry … excuse me, Countess Merizel there, Mistress Sukhana, Mistress Jenet, Commander Feteran and we had reason to overnight in the Forest below Strettalm. The Forest Roadhouse did not exist then, but Wagonmaster Jaxen found us some overnight shelter in and near an old abandoned Chivan fort.”
“I had heard that, Your Highness. And I deem Her Highness has commanded that it is now to be something called The Retreat.”
He was, just for a heartbeat, taken aback by my knowledge. “Indeed that is so, Mistress. She declared then that she wished the area to be maintained as closely as possible to its original unspoilt state. So we had built a perimeter fence around a section of the river bank there ...”
“Some two marks of river bank extending roughly half a mark inland towards the road, I understand. And further, that the accommodation so provided can be rented to enable such renters to relax and get away from their busy lives.”
“Mistress,” he said with a slight tone of wonder, “you are remarkably well informed. The enclosure is reportedly finished now, however, it has not been accepted just yet. Not signed off, if you prefer. This is because it has yet to be actually lived in, yet to be used, yet to be TESTED I suppose. The construction work has been approved by several Masters, since this was part of the work a young man ...”
“Skanik!”
Again his eyebrows rose: “... did towards his Mastership! Indeed, you are VERY well informed. As I … why are you blushing so and looking so worried?”
“Forgive me, Your Highness, I did not mean to interrupt you so. I regret I have a tendency to let my tongue run sometimes. Mayhap I would not have been struck unconscious had I a better curb on my tongue!”
I think we were all amazed when His Highness let out a loud roar of laughter. The Countess told me later that that was the first time he had let himself go so freely since Princess Garia had left for her other mission.
“Mistress Julina, you are indeed as was reported! So let me play a little game with you now. What do you imagine to be the task which I, we, have in mind for you?”
It took me a little while to answer, not because I had to think about the answer, that was obvious, but because I had to get over my wonder that a certain amount of sharpness of mind had returned – without my noticing it.
“Why Your Highness, I deem you wish me to go down there and set up the kitchens – nay, hold! You have some specific guests in mind, someone to actually live there for a few days, and you wish me to go down there and do the catering for them, returning to make my recommendations as to how the catering should be handled in the future!”
The Prince looked at the others gathered around, respect dawning in his face: “Indeed you all spoke truly! Next I expect the Mistress will be able to tell me who the guests shall be!”
“Oh, Your Highness, that is obvious. That is clear to me already. Ah! Maybe one complication – let me think ...” I looked around the room and all eyes were again upon me, but I felt a savage glee building up inside of me, a glee that was brought on by a sudden need to show off a bit, “... no, that is why he is here too! Of course.” I turned to the Prince. “May I now tell you who I think shall be the guests there?”
“Mistress Julina, I am absolutely fascinated to hear!”
“The guests shall be, I deem, two couples – The Count and Countess, and the Commander and his wife.”
A few gasps were made from some of our audience.
“And your thinking?”
“You mentioned, Your Highness, that the Retreat is to be tested. You have asked me to test the catering facilities, but that meant someone would have to test the actual living arrangements there. They too would have to report back to you the success or otherwise of the project. I deem that the best benefits would be for couples to have time on their own, much of the fundamental idea, as I understand it, is for rest and recuperation.
“I therefore considered who might require that. I hesitate to mention it, but you HAVE said not to fawn, rather to speak straight. I deem you are not yet ready yourself for such seclusion; you still, like me, require some activity. So I ruled out yourself. Your fellow Prince is not here right now, I saw him leave with his Einnlander ...” a little catch in my throat came just then “... guards.
“I went, in my mind, through the rest of your party, for these guest testers would have to be someone you trust. Someone you know well, and someone who also understands the Princess and what she might be trying to achieve with this enclave. Who better than her former maid and companion and her former companion and secretary, both of whom, I should imagine, at the moment have reduced responsibilities due to her current absence? ...”
A gasp of surprise and derision came from the Countess at that: “Would that it were so!”
“... It also occurred to me, that both these couples, like my friends the Anagrams, are but recently married and have had no real time alone. I suspected you might be trying to give them that little piece of seclusion if only for a few days.”
There was a sudden silence around the room, all faces looking shocked to a variety of degrees. The Prince actually bowed to me before demonstrably clapping his hands, a gesture that everyone else joined in with. I found I had not completely lost my ability to blush.
“And, Mistress Julina, you had a thought in the middle there. You spoke aloud about it being why 'he' was there, some complication you said?”
“Your Highness, you are the leader of this party of visitors and actually the leader of this town right now. You would not abandon your responsibilities. If the Count and Countess are indeed to be sent - nay 'twould be better to say if they were offered the opportunity to go - down there, then they would need guards; they shall not go alone. So I deemed that say a hand or so of guards would have to accompany the guests. They would need a leader, but then I realised that the Commander himself would be there.”
“Excellent thinking, Mistress. Most excellent indeed. I have just one more question for you regarding your recent statements.”
“Your Highness?”
“Who are the Anagrams? I know full well what an anagram is, but have never heard it applied to humans before.”
“Your Highness, there is a guardsman from Blackstone who recently wed a girl from Blackstone, but did the deed down there in Palarand City. Senidet is an old friend of mine, and her husband I also knew as he grew up here.”
“But your byname for them?”
“His name is Tedenis, Your Highness. It is an anagram of her name Senidet.”
He roared so much with laughter that I thought he would soon start choking.
After he had calmed down, he then turned a little more formal: “Mistress Julina, are you prepared to consider my offer and request for assistance?”
“I am indeed prepared to consider it, Your Highness.”
“And your answer is?”
“I shall NOT do it, Your Highness – not that is until you tell me when!”
He grinned widely at that. “I had thought, considering all that we have yet to achieve here, that we would best fit it all in as soon as we may. I would suggest the Party departs on the morrow after luncheon and stays down there for four full days. I deem we can spare the Count and the Commander for no longer than that. To be honest, the Commander should really be here for the evaluation of what was known as the 'Hunter Games' but we require him for much more in the next few ...”
He broke off as a knock at the door was followed by the entry of one of the semaphore operators. “Begging your pardons, Your Highness, Milords, Your Honour, Miladies. We have just had a semaphore message marked 'Most Urgent' addressed to His Highness, Prince Keren.”
“Thank you, young man. Give it here.”
He held his hand out for it, and ripped the message open almost before the operator had let go of it. After reading it through, he smiled and handed it to the Captain, who in turn read it, smiled and handed it on to his son, the Commander.
“It seems,” said the Prince, “that we have a new member of the Palarandi forces up here. The Forguland High Command have sent permission for Acting-Captain Subrish to join our forces, following his request for a transfer sent to them not so long ago, when we were in Tranidor I seem to remember. We must go and congratulate him, and hammer out the details of the transfer. I believe we are finished here now?”
“With respect, Your Highness, I would need to know the numbers for whom I shall be catering. Guests and guards and anyone else. Maybe drivers? Animal men? Gardeners? Chambermaids? Porters? Will the guests have visitors? Much is yet to be decided. I will need to know these numbers that I might ensure we have sufficient staff.”
The Prince looked round the room and said: “I commend you all. This is indeed the right woman for the task. Your recommendations could not be bettered.” He turned to me. “Mistress Julina, may I come back to you in the morning, that I might have a chance to discuss all this with those involved. I am aware that is short notice, but to ease your planning, I will pay for there to be at least three of you. If more are required, then we will confirm that in the morning.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
As we departed, I noticed from the corner of my eye a strange event. Lendra, Sookie, Em and the Countess all seemed to be congratulating each other.
But I dwelt not upon that for my brain was abuzz with candidates I could take with me, some I would take as trainees, some as experienced workers. Maybe I could also use this as an opportunity to test some applicants; I could pay the costs of those that were surplus to the Prince's requirements.
This could be a great opportunity for me to evaluate some of those who had applied for various Meglina positions.
Hmmm, let me see ...
The Retreat gets underway in a hurry
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.
“What did you say?” Senidet's face was strangely contorted as she thrust it close to mine. Her extreme agitation making it certain that I could not ignore her and continue with my task of setting out the ingredients I needed for my cooking tasks.
I picked up a scrap of cloth and wiped my face free of her little splashes of spittle. I gazed levelly at her, one eyebrow raised in interrogation.
“When exactly are you talking about, Senidet?” I asked as I used one hand to gesture to Venket to close the door which was standing open after Senidet's abrupt and crashing entrance. An entrance that occurred less than a moment after she had left.
“Just now! Talking about weighing machines. And what happens to the pans.” Her face screwed up again. She spoke so quickly, she scarce paused for breath. “Do you have paper and a reedlet in here? I shall need one.”
“Calm down, m'dear. Don't carry on so. Yes, I have a reedlet or two and a pad or two for making notes of what has to change here. Can you keep your thoughts together while I go and get them? Would you like me to scribe your ideas or would you rather do it yourself?”
“Oh, if you could scribe, that would be wonderful. I need to keep moving about. I will just say key words at first, then I shall probably expand each one later. But I need to get the keywords down quickly, as each idea shoots into my head.”
Venket had by then anticipated and was fetching the implements even as we spoke.
There was a silence for a little moment, maybe two, as I cleaned off my hands and cleared a space upon which I could write. Even though she was watching me settle in, she started speaking almost before I was ready.
“Dam. That's a new Dam. Hissi – that's h-i-s-s-i – for the lookout. Metal wire. Balances. Adjustments. ...”
And so it went on for many more words that I dutifully scrawled on the piece of paper.
Her flow of ideas eventually dried up and she almost snatched the piece of paper from me, before turning smartly on her heel and marching back towards the door. She stopped suddenly, turned back , strode across to me once more and kissed my cheek, saying: “You have, I deem, done Palarand an immense service today.” With that she swept out again.
Venket and I looked at each other and shrugged. We went back to our preparations for the evening meal.
This was the first full day of 'testing' the Retreat.
I had been busy in the extreme the day before, and even more so on the afternoon before that.
After discussions with Kelly, I was able to take Venket downvalley with me, we both judging that the Salon could survive the six or so days without either her or me. I had chosen her specifically, not just for her kitchen skills, but also because I could also take her mother, Darna, to act as housekeeper for our time down there. I strongly suspected, which was borne out by the actual events, that setting up the operation and doing the same in the kitchens as well as supervising there would mean that I would not have time to do the housekeeper duties as well. At least, not do them to the standards I would insist upon.
There were to be quite a few people down there. In all, at the Retreat, which was to be a supposedly quiet place, we were a total of some twenty, sometimes even twenty two, people!
There were the three couples 'enjoying' their delayed Vayterkans – The Count and Countess, the Commander and Jenet and finally Tedenis and Senidet, the Prince having added these last two at the last moment. There were six guards other than Ted, two of them the pair of female guards, Gowdet and Tanita. The four male guards were Brijay, Jorden, Mon and Teol.
Then there were the two maids, Tandra, maid to Countess Merizel, and Maid Molly, Senidet's.
Those were the six 'guests' and their necessary associates, making 14 people in all.
As 'staff'', as mentioned previously, I had, under me, Venket in the kitchen, and Darna as Housekeeper. I also had thirteen-year-old Dilla here, having sent Nutel down to fetch her from Bezlet, with Venket and Darna of course. Nutel and Surtree rounded off the 'team'.
As regards little Dilla, then I had remembered Pachet telling me of the willingness to learn stated by the daughters of her friend and associate in Bezlet, and I therefore sent the wagon off as soon as we had taken stock of the supplies and equipment in the Retreat – this took us no time at all as there was absolutely nothing other than an adequate supply of burnables, but then we hastily unloaded the wagon that it could get to Bezlet as fast as possible. Skanik, Ponstib, Surtree and I worked up quite a sweat I can tell you.
Oh dear, I seem to be reaching a little ahead of myself, so let me skip backwards quickly from here to just after the Prince had given me this assignment, just after I had dashed to Kelly and discussed matters with her.
My mental facilities had been restored by the shock of the Prince himself singling me out, and all that had gone on with his explanation, so I knew I had to rush around that afternoon preparing. I had mentally counted four guests, six guards, two maids and four staff, making 16 plus a driver or two making eighteen, so I decided to allow for twenty, and add even more plates and things to allow for breakages. Had I known then that there would be two more guests and so on, then I would have allowed for a full two dozen. As it happened we just squeezed through.
I also had to assume the worst, that there would be no equipment down there (and so indeed it proved), so we would have to transport it all ourselves. I immediately sent Surtree to Kulyer, to tell him I would need a wagon and driver for nearly a week from dawn the following day, to be in the courtyard at Em's for then.
And then I began my list:
Faggots
Coke cigars
Coal
A small steam engine, if possible, lest we needed to pump water from the river
Pots
Pans
Knives
Skewers
Spoons and Ladles
Forks if possible
Plates
Bowls
Mugs
Goblets
Herbs
Flour
Foodstuffs
Bedding
…
…
It went on and on and on, it seemed.
In fact, so long was my final list that I began to think I would require two wagons to carry it all!
I spent that afternoon begging, borrowing and stealing (some from my own home!) as many of the various items I had identified as I could.
I also persuaded Pomma to be my companion on the ride down. She and another woman who could be her own companion for the ride back on the next day; Pomma would find someone. She would not be able to take the time to stay with us at The Retreat, which was lucky for me I guess, as I had no idea how many beds were going to be available.
I just hoped that there was an adequate supply of mattresses down there, otherwise I would have to try to get Uncle Steef at the Roadhouse to scrounge some up for us. My mind was racing – in such stark contrast to the funk I had been in the previous week or so.
It was welcome.
This is not to say that the funk was permanently banished – I still had occasional flashes and weeping sessions. And I still heard that awful bang and still saw that bone protruding from Jerk's leg. But I had a project now which mostly held the funk at bay.
One of the things I had done whilst totally in my funk was to give Bezan the letter from Bandarabbas, and that had proved to be a sensible move, for the Zeer operation had indeed been described in full and the uses of the various sands had been explained. They proved rapidly to be extremely efficient and we now knew that we could keep things in them for up to at least four days with no loss of quality, so the Salon had built up a goodly supply of sauces. Kelly was therefore happily (well actually NOT happily exactly, more resignedly) prepared to allow Venket to disappear for nearly a week.
I found it was a little more than just annoying that afternoon as I went round all my contacts asking for favours. I was trying to borrow as much stuff as I could. At first there was a hesitancy, but I quickly learnt that by dropping the Prince's name early on, things got noticeably easier. They wouldn't do it readily for me, whom they knew, but yet they would do it for someone they didn't know, who just happened to be a Prince (and who happened to sort of own the town).
It was I supposed quite understandable in its way – but 'twas still that little bit annoying.
Anyway, I managed to do what I could and was thankful that Venket and her mother agreed to join me. Surtree was pleased that he would be spending more time away from routine. But I wondered how long that would actually last, what with that which I foresaw as being enforced idleness in a remote location.
I also sent some semaphores, two of which were in relation to this latest task; and one of those two was to Brayview, asking for one of my company men there to either ride or drive themselves to Bezlet and ask Pachet for a 'volunteer' to come to the Retreat, a wagon would be sent to pick her (or maybe him) up from the inn there in the early afternoon. If no-one was available to take the message from Brayview personally, then the second best option was to send that message with a passing wagon that was going there, or at least going past there.
The second semaphore I sent was to the Roadhouse, alerting them to my foreseen requirements and for them to keep a few loaves to one side for us to pick up as we passed in the morning. Also for them to reserve a few of the slaughtered meat animals they might have, so that I at least had something solid to cook for the lot of us when we reached there. And also to let them know I was probably going to be shopping for supplies from them for those five days or so. Their response was most enthusiastic which pleased me. I shoved down the thought that mayhap Uncle Steef was pulling strings, and warmed myself with the thought they were happy to do business with me for myself and my virtues. This was no time for giving in to negativity (actually, no time is, in my opinion).
I laughed at myself then. For I knew that I would use the Steef connection as soon as it granted me some advantage!
I had been rushing around so much that afternoon, and the Salon evening was also quite busy, that I can scarce remember undressing for bed, certainly I cannot remember crawling between the sheets. I suppose 'twas lucky that I remembered to leave a note asking Swayga to rouse me, which she did with scarce enough time to even brush my hair before I had to dash off.
And so it was that I was at Em's courtyard just as an equally reluctant dawn dragged itself into the following morning. There I met with Surtree, two frayen, a wagon, a dranakh, a driver and two shivering females.
It took us maybe half a bell to load the wagon such that 'twas balanced to Nutel's satisfaction - and well before then any shivering had stopped. Surtree and I waved them off. I reminded them to make a quick call into the Roadhouse to pick up any supplies they may have put aside for us, but that by then, Surtree and I should have caught them up. Nutel knew that he was under a certain time pressure as he would probably have to get to the Retreat and then go to Bezlet and back from there. The advantage we had with that schedule was that it was all downhill to get to the Retreat.
Once the wagon had departed, Surtree and I went to report to the Prince (I confess to being surprised that he was awake and functioning so early) and to get any last moment commands. It was then that I was informed about the Anagrams joining the party too. We thrashed out a rough timetable for the day, culminating with the guests, along with their guards and maids, arriving for a later than normal evening meal. Skanik was with us when we made these plans and I was relieved to know that there were no less than three dozen mattresses in one of the protected storage spaces down there. I was not so relieved to know that there was virtually nothing else at all.
I returned home for a proper wash and a decent breakfast, and to pack a few more things I suddenly deemed necessary to help weigh poor Trumpa down.
And so it was almost in the mid-morning that Bezan, Skanik, Surtree and I eventually mounted our frayen and began the long chase after Nutel and his load. Joining us, for decency's sake, were also Pomma and Em - these social requirements dictated that I could not travel with three men and be unaccompanied; the two women would either spend the night at the Roadhouse, or return to Blackstone if we caught up with the wagon early enough, since there were two women on that wagon, Venket and Darna. All this ridiculous messing about for nothing, as far as I was concerned. As soon as we reached the Retreat, then I would be alone there with Surtree, so why couldn't I just ride down there as a single woman?
We left at the same time as did the pair of supply wagons organised by the Prince for the guests' belongings, all the people themselves choosing to ride frayen down. Their party would leave after us and linger a little during their descent. It had been agreed that the drivers of these supply wagons would also actually be accommodated at the Roadhouse, to ease the strain on the catering facilities (that is Venket and I) at the Retreat.
There were more than just the three men though. Captain Subrish and Quadrant Ponstib were going to use the trip downvalley as a training exercise for some of their men, they would escort the Countess' wagons down and spend the nights 'camping' in the forests down there, also conducting some 'exercises' that were obviously going to be kept secret.
They had the beginnings of a significant force now, some forty men in all and with the three that had accompanied the Captain and I down to Brayview, when I was on my way onwards to Tranidor, being the File Leaders.
You may recall His Honour's distaste of the word 'Militia'; this meant that the current name of this force was the 'Country Guards' but everyone knew that this too was an uncomfortable nomenclature. 'Twas only a while later that they all eventually settled upon 'Rangers' as the name. I will try to remember to change my nomenclature as appropriate, but please forgive me if I forget.
So it was that Subrish and his Quadrant had elected to come with our little party, claiming he needed to get a feel for the land so that he could set appropriate tasks. I was suspicious as to his actual motives, for how could an advantage of mere bells enable him to do all that he should?
So with excitement and just a little dread, I eventually left Town on my latest 'mission'.
… … …
“You WHAT?”
“Relax, dear Julina. It is triple wrapped and the original seal has been carefully inspected.”
“But … but … but ...”
“'Tis indeed perfectly safe!” said Bezan, adding his words to those of Subrish.
All my fears and dread and the funk I had been in and all the rest of my depression hit me hard.
All of a sudden.
Subrish had just told us that he had two barrels of the gun powder straddled across his beast's withers (a word that I had also just learnt in his statement – I had always called that part of the animal the 'neck') just hanging there and swaying in the breeze.
I had to stop, slip off Trumpa, run into the bushes and vomit. I was sweating, shaking, crying – and suddenly needed to empty my bladder and bowels too.
Pomma and Em held themselves back a little as I laboured, strained and voided myself. The men stayed at a distance, but I could still hear that they were talking to each other. Some were anyway, I wasn't sure I could detect four differing voices of the grown men, but frankly my concerns lay elsewhere.
I regret to report that I held up our onward travel by nigh-on half a bell.
'Twas Em who managed to get me going again when she said words to the effect: “Julina, sweetie, you have travelled in close proximity to your hated gunpowder for bells this morning already, and you were perfectly fine with that. It was only when you were told what was draped across his withers that you suddenly had problems. They, and I, have closely inspected the packages and I assure you that they are perfectly safe, that nothing can allow any form of spark or fire to get anywhere near the gunpowder itself. Just concentrate upon your tasks for this day and try to forget what you know. You were happy without such knowledge. All that has changed is your awareness. So it is in YOUR head that we now have this problem.
“Pomma and I would like to return to Blackstone today if we can, and you are keeping us away from our homes. Now buck up, swallow your irrational fears, and let's get on with it. Anyway, the gunpowder is with us only because they are going to test its suitability to help with mining the stone at the quarry, so Subrish was going to turn off our path, as was Bezan, very shortly to take the track to the quarry. I have sent them on ahead of us now and you need not have any fears, for they must be a mark or so away by now.”
I almost hated her then because she was right. I adjusted myself and my clothing and we set out once more, this time at an increased pace, one which the animals seemed to enjoy as well.
I must smile now when I remember that our pace meant that we all but caught up with Subrish and Bezan, and thus the gunpowder, before they turned aside.
And we caught up with our wagon as it was leaving the Roadhouse. We later learnt that they had observed us descending the track across the rock face and pulled out as we neared. Our party split up at that juncture. Pomma and Em popping into the Roadhouse for a comfort break before deciding whether or not to return to Blackstone (which is what they did, arriving just after dark!) Ponstib graciously agreed to accompany Surtree into the Roadhouse and then down to the Retreat, so Surtree could reassure them there that I was here and about and would want to come on the morrow to finalise the business trading. This informal arrangement was eased, perhaps, by my having Uncle Steef as my contact there.
I had to accompany the wagon of course, hampered as I was by the need to have a chaperone. And Skanik stayed with us to show us the way.
“See there. The two white-painted rocks to the left of the road! Across the road from them, you can see a pair of trees with the lower limbs trimmed on the sides that face each other. Drive between those trees and you shall see, after two casts, a track angling off to the left slightly. The track is made in the Michen mode.”
Nutel pulled the wagon off the road and between the trees. As Skanik had said, two casts further along the track became apparent.
“Master Skanik,” asked Nutel, “I were 'specting a rough ride there, from road to track, but 'tis solid and smooth. How comes that about?”
“We wish to not draw too much attention to a property that is effectively more empty than occupied. So we dug up the soil here and laid a solid bed of stone. We replaced some of the soil atop the bed, and planted some grasses there, thus creating a solid road which looks like untouched earth. When this venue gets busier, then ruts shall show the presence of traffic, so we have something that is easy to maintain the appearance of innocence, something we can rake over the tracks on, with nothing too much to draw the attention of most passers-by. Of course, by that time most shall know about it anyway, but for now we wish to keep it … quiet. It shall be different if we ever have some permanent residents there.”
Thus it was that we arrived at what was to be my home for the better part of the next week.
Ponstib and Surtree arrived soon after us, being able to travel so much faster than a wagon, and we all unloaded the wagon onto the ground outside the building. Nutel then mounted the box once more, Darna and Venket scrambling up onto the bench in the belly. They left then to go to Bezlet and to pick up whoever was waiting there. I hoped 'twould be someone we could train, but was prepared to accept anyone that could listen, take orders and work hard, male or female. As it happened, we were joined by a young female, Dilla.
But in the meantime, Skanik showed us round the collection of buildings, explaining the original Chivan design and what he had done to make the place habitable but along the guidelines of our Princess' wishes. I think we were all impressed and the vision that the Princess had had began to sink into our understanding.
As soon as Nutel had returned with the women, we began the organised chaos. I started it when I called everyone to me, Skanik and Ponstib included.
“And so our little adventure starts. Our guests shall be here in mere bells and we must get everything underway. There is much to do and I have no shame in pleading for assistance from everyone here present.
“Quadrant Ponstib, have you time to stay and help or must you be away? I deem that Mistress Darna here can make use of your muscles as well as your intelligence, as she allocates rooms to our guests and the guards and maids and so on. She may require advice from you specifically about the guards. Master Skanik must take her now and introduce her to this complicated set of buildings that she may understand what we have here. I must take Venket and Dilla immediately to the kitchens and get started there. Venket and Dilla, we will show you around at some other time, but we are under pressure right now.
“Surtree, once you have helped us take the supplies to the kitchens, then allow Darna to use you as she sees fit. By that time she should have learnt where everything is. If you have any spare moments, then find us in the kitchens in case WE have need of you.
“Darna, your first task is to learn where everything is, rooms, storage, everything - and then get started on warming the rooms should they be cold, and arranging for mattresses and bedding and the like, starting with the guests of course. If you do not have time to set ourselves up, then that is our bad luck. The guests MUST and DO come first in everything.
“Skanik, please show Mistress Darna as much as you can, as quickly as you can. I am hoping that you and Quadrant Ponstib can help Nutel here carry the awkward stuff that we women will find difficult. But I also know you have to return to the Roadhouse to guide the guests and their guards here. Please help as much as you can until you must away.”
Skanik replied swiftly: “Mistress Julina, Mistress Darna, I anticipated much of this, and you shall find supplies of burnables already in the kitchens and in the main rooms. I understand the need to show Mistress Darna everywhere first and will do so, but will say that there is a fairly obvious differentiation of staff rooms and guest rooms. I confess I had not considered the requirements for guards and their accommodation. Perchance Quadrant, you shall accompany us and then make your recommendations?
“But before I, we, go, I must issue one word of warning. By specific design, there is a bathing area for the women up amongst the waterfalls of the river. That water is cold. The force of the falls is fierce. Let no woman go bathing alone, make sure there is always someone available to sound the alarm should anything untoward occur. Her Highness specifically requested that this place be kept as near to nature as is possible, so there are no hot water facilities for bathing. There are no water pipes built in to transport any hot water. There is a small bathing tub that COULD be made ready for a warm bath, but that requires filling with hot water from the kitchens and carrying buckets and buckets and buckets, therefore should be used only in emergencies.
“Now, Quadrant, Mistress, let us be on our hurried way.”
I took Surtree, Venket and Dilla out to the wagon where Nutel was making himself useful by separating items into several piles, one of which I recognised as being destined for the kitchens. We loaded ourselves up with a first armful and/or handfuls and I led the way to where we would be working for most of our time down here. The ovens were already alight, I had done that while Nutel was away to Bezlet, and so we unloaded our arms onto one of the many excellent working surfaces that Skanik had supplied. I made a mental note to thank him for the inspiration. It took a few trips but soon all that was there was brought in.
Then came the sorting and storing, crockery here, cutlery there, bowls over there and so on.
Then we started cooking. I was proud that I had foreseen nearly everything. There were a small number of small things had slipped from my forethoughts, and one slightly larger.
It was this slightly larger thing that was to have such a dramatic effect.
… … …
“Welcome, Milord, Milady, Commander, Master, Mistresses. My name is Darna and I shall be your housekeeper during your stay here at the Retreat. If you have any questions, or require any help at all, then don't hesitate to ask. This lad is Surtree, he is our general help and I then present Nutel who is our wagoneer and animal man. He too is available for helping when his other duties permit. Mistress Julina I deem you all know. She is basically in charge of us all, but will have little time to spare from her speciality which is in the kitchens. Finally we have Mistress Julina's helpers there, my daughter Venket and young Dilla who is from the village of Bezlet which lies a few marks downvalley. She is here to both help and learn.”
Count Terinar bowed his head slightly, saying: “We are delighted to meet you Mistress Darna, and the rest of you. And thank you for your most friendly of welcomes. How do you suggest we proceed?”
“I deem you should all gather in the sitting room, Milord, ...”
I quickly and quietly said to the girls: “Pel and pastries! In the sitting room, please. And make enough for twenty, but serve for eight there! The guards will soon be round at the kitchen door for a mug or two, if I know anything about soldiers! And we ourselves could do with some fresh.”
“... where we may serve you some pel and pastries. From there, I deem 'twould be most sensible if I showed each individual couple to their room, thus avoiding a great group following me along the corridors. 'Twill also give the Commander a little time to dispose of his men for the moment. And Nutel, Surtree and your two drivers may unload the wagons and carry the items to where they are going.”
“A most excellent suggestion, Mistress.”
… … …
“I deem you have done an excellent job, Mistress Darna. Mayhap I would have had the maidservants share a room, but I'm sure both Molleena and Tandra shall enjoy having such a large room each.”
“I thank you for your praise, Mistress Jenet. If I may say so, I was surprised that you yourself have no maid. Had that been the case, then yes, Tandra and Molleena would have shared and yours would have had the other room.”
There was a brief silence as the Commander, the Count and their wives all looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
The Countess spoke: “Why 'tis true, Jenet! You too should have a maid. Why had that never occurred to us?”
The mistress in question blushed gently: “A maid having a maid? Whoever heard of such a thing?”
“You are a maid no longer, dearest! You are a freewoman who happens to be in charge of all the Princess' staff. Mistress Darna is right, you know,” the Commander said gently to his wife as he took her hand tenderly.
“We shall find you one when we return to Blackstone,” declared the Countess before turning to me. “Julina, that meal was far beyond anything we expected this eve. How on Anmar did you manage to produce such a fine dinner so soon after arriving here?”
And so we sat and chatted, the six guests, Darna and I. The two maids were in the background. At first, the Anagrams had continued to look uncomfortable and added little to the conversation with those they obviously considered were too far above them in rank. And Darna and I were also a little overawed to have been included. It made for a somewhat stilted conversation.
The Count eventually declared: “Look, all of us. We are here for four full days after this, five nights in all, and we shall all be in each others' pockets. Either we maintain a stiff and formal attitude, which won't help all of us to achieve the desired objective of actually taking a few days and relaxing, or we start with the relaxing now. I therefore suggest that we drop titles and so on for whilst we are here?”
There was almost a moment of further silence as each considered the matter. It started with a few shocked looks on some faces, but these cleared slowly. There came a few nods.
“I am Terinar. But this week please name me simply Terry.”
“And I am Merry, short for Merizel.”
“My name is Feteran.”
“Jenet.”
The four looked at the young couple, who answered with faint blushes, at the same time: “Tedenis”, “Senidet”.
Then they all looked at us.
“Julina.”
and finally, reluctantly, “Darna.”
Thus was established our relationship almost from the outset.
… … …
“Senidet? Have you a few moments spare for me? I have a small problem in the kitchen.”
“Ted? You were going with Terry and Feteran to walk the boundary of this Estate, as we termed it last night. I assume that that is still happening? And is still considered a 'men only' thing? I deem I might help Julina and then work on my diagrams and so on in your absence?”
“Indeed, my dear. We shall leave in half a bell.”
“Then I shall take my leave of you now and go with Julina.” They kissed and parted.
We entered the kitchen where Venket and Dilla were busy making the rich soup I had promised us all for our lunch. I had some bread in the oven and we had been laying out the start of our preparations for the dinner that night. Nutel and Surtree had gone off, Nutel riding Trumpa for the first time, to the Roadhouse for some extra supplies and to place an order for what we would need for the rest of our stay.
“Good morning, girls,” said Senidet as we went into the warm kitchen.
“Good morning, Mistress,” they chorused back.
Senidet turned to me.
“Right then. This is my problem. I forgot to add a set of kitchen scales to my list of equipment to bring down. The men have already gone off to the Roadhouse, so I can't get them to ask there if there is a spare. I made a crude thing here, with two leathern pouches at either end of a length of twine dangling over a sort of beam, but it is too cumbersome and I fear it might break. And the twine gets in the way of easily loading the pouches. Are you able to think of something a little more robust and generally better?”
“Hmmm. I see what you mean. Though 'twill be difficult without tools and materials. I shall have to scrounge about to see what I might use. How sturdy does it have to be? What sort of weights are we talking about? I like the idea of dangling over a beam … hmmm, now that is interesting, I had always considered scales to balance on a point. I had never considered dangling. But actually, now I think on't, 'tis the same principle as up at the Dam, one wagon descends and pulls another up as it does so. Now that could be imp...”
She broke off as Darna came in.
“Julina, may I borrow Dilla for half a bell? She and I and the maids can then swiftly make the beds and tidy up upstairs. Now that everyone is back from that rather cool um …. invigorating bath and are dressed, we have a short while in which to do the rooms.”
I checked by looking over to Venket and Dilla. With eye-speak they agreed and nodded to me. I turned to Darna: “Certainly. But I need her back as we have much to do here, and she is learning. So don't go keeping her for the whole morning!”
Darna laughed, waited whilst Dilla washed her hands and dried them, then the pair scurried off.
I turned back to Senidet whose brain was racing I could tell.
“We would need a matching pair of pans ...” she started “... and then sort out ...”
“Well no, actually. We just need one pan for the goods. The other side of the balance can be anything. I have sent Nutel and Surtree to the roadhouse with several leather pouches that they are going to fill with pebbles and get weighed. Then I have those known weights for the comparisons. Those leather pouches can be added to one end of the twine with hooks. It doesn't actually matter how heavy the carrying things are on either side as long as they balance each other. Then it just requires a small weight, small force if you like, to make one side dip or the other. So I can dangle something, anything on one side and have a pan or bucket or whatever the other side. As long as they balance. Then I add the leather pouch weights to one side and the goods I require, flour say, onto the carrier the other side. The two carriers on each side do not HAVE to be identical in looks, just in weight.”
“Let me go and have a look around to see what I might be able to use.”
“Thank you,” I said.
… … …
“What did you say?” Senidet's face was strangely contorted as she thrust it close to mine. Her extreme agitation making it certain that I could not ignore her and continue with my task of setting out the ingredients I needed for my cooking tasks.
I picked up a scrap of cloth and wiped my face free of her little splashes of spittle. I gazed levelly at her, one eyebrow raised in interrogation.
“When exactly are you talking about, Senidet?” I asked as I used one hand to gesture to Venket to close the door which was standing open after Senidet's abrupt and crashing entrance. An entrance that occurred less than a moment after she had left.
“Just now! Talking about weighing machines. And what happens to the pans.” Her face screwed up again. She spoke so quickly, she scarce paused for breath. “Do you have paper and a reedlet in here? I shall need one.”
“Calm down, m'dear. Don't carry on so. Yes, I have a reedlet or two and a pad or two for making notes of what has to change here. Can you keep your thoughts together while I go and get them? Would you like me to scribe your ideas or would you rather do it yourself?”
“Oh, if you could scribe, that would be wonderful. I need to keep moving about. I will just say key words at first, then I shall probably expand each one later. But I need to get the keywords down quickly, as each idea shoots into my head.”
Venket had by then anticipated and was fetching the implements as we spoke.
There was a silence for a little moment, maybe two, as I cleaned off my hands and cleared a space upon which I could write. Even though she was watching me settle in, she started speaking almost before I was ready.
“Dam. That's a new Dam. Hissi – that's h-i-s-s-i – for the lookout. Metal wire. Balances. Adjustments. ...”
And so it went on for many more words that I dutifully scrawled on the piece of paper.
Her flow of ideas eventually dried up and she almost snatched the piece of paper from me, before turning smartly on her heel and marching back towards the door. She stopped suddenly, turned back , strode across to me once more and kissed my cheek, saying: “You have, I deem, done Palarand an immense service today.” With that she swept out again.
Venket and I looked at each other and shrugged. We went back to our preparations for the evening meal.
… … …
And so the days passed.
Venket and I went once to the Roadhouse so I could make the arrangements properly in person. Venket accompanied me of course as I, annoyingly, could not go alone. I discussed many things, many aspects of the use of the Retreat with the managers at the Roadhouse and we came to what I considered to be several good deals.
The six guests learnt how to relax. Each evening we would gather together and discuss things that should be done to improve the Retreat, and then discuss our days, our lives, our hopes. I learnt much in those evenings, not the least of which was to develop a taste for a glass of good wine.
I learnt more of the Princess and her life. Some of her adventures since coming to Palarand.
I learned more of this new country to be formed called Ptuvilend, over which Terry was to rule on behalf of Palarand and alongside someone from Vardenale.
I learned more of the development of the 'Country Guards' (that is what they were being called then, you may recall).
I learned more of growing up in the Palace and of growing up in a small, relatively remote, barony.
They learned of life in a small community, high in the mountains, at the end of a road.
I had managed to give Senidet another idea to go and experiment with, and this was entirely by accident. I had some necklaces of wooden beads, and I was restringing them one afternoon when it occurred to me that maybe this could be a useful technique for her electrics isolation. I noticed that the fat beads prevented one strand from touching the other. Certainly, if she used beads, then feeding them into those pipes that went underground would be much easier than the cumbersomely long stick-things that she had used when I first had a demonstration from her.
Darna learnt much from Jenet with regard to arranging things for guests and so on.
Dilla, Venket and I were thanked by the guards for the quality of the meals they had been served, for which I was again thanked by the others in an evening session, by Feteran specifically on behalf of his men and women.
However, I must report that our informality was stopped during the last night for we had then two visitors, two extra guests who came to dinner and stayed the night. Fortunately, we had had advanced warning of this so it was no great hardship for us all.
These two were Skanik and Bezan and we gained much more knowledge that night, mostly from Master B.
“Mistress Julina, I must first bring up a subject about which I know you have no love. Gunpowder!”
Despite a grimace, I still managed to stick out my tongue at him, which in turn raised smiles all about. Yes, I realised at that moment, I had become more sensible about it. It was just the shock of having it so near and not knowing what it was that had set me off. Generally, I had come out of my funk as I had worked through the week, a result I now realised that everyone involved, from the Prince down, had been pushing me to achieve.
“So we have experimented with using the gunpowder to help with mining stone at the Strettalm quarry. There were mixed results really. Our first ...”
“May I interrupt, Master Bezan?” enquired Terry.
“Indeed, Milord.”
“I have heard of this other stone quarry, but am uncertain as to its exact location.”
“Milord, you will remember, when travelling upvalley, the diagonal climb across what we call the Rock Face? From the Forest Roadhouse at the bottom, going up diagonally across it, effectively from bottom left up to top right?”
“Aye, I deem I can just about recall that!”
Bezan suddenly rummaged through his carry bag, saying: “Hold!”
He then produced a painting he had done of the rock face.
I was intrigued as this was done from a different angle to the view with which I was familiar. In fact all of us was puzzling over it a little, so Bezan helped us out by marking on it roughly where the road ran.
He used a red coloured reedlet-type thing which also intrigued me. I knew not that writing implements could come in colour. I started thinking of the use I could make of them in my lessons and …
“To the right is the mountain we call Strettalm. The road heaves itself up to the shoulder of the rock face just as it meets the flank of Strettalm. The road abruptly turns to the left there and runs straight as an arrow all the way to the Cistern at the top of Blackstone Town.”
“Well, that Strettalm we consider to be perched atop a column of rock that also plunges down to the main valley floor. A stream that comes down the mountain flows across a flattish plateau atop that rock column which is why we think of Strettalm as being up there, but really that rock column is also a part of it. We call the flattish area up there the foot of Strettalm, which really is wrong. But the stream emerges at that wrongly-called foot, diagonally across the mountain from where the road reaches it. It winds a little before it plunges over the other lip a little further down.”
We all looked intelligent but I'm sure I was not the only one whose eyes were glazing over.
“So when I call things as being at the foot of Strettalm, I am talking of the level that is also the top of the rock face. I am quite deliberately not talking about the level down at the Valley Floor, the level at which the Roadhouse has been built.”
Ah! Now, I understand. And I could see some of those others also understood.
“So, at the foot of Strettalm, we have the road on one side of the mountain, and the stream on the opposite side of it. Road on the west, stream on the east. The quarry is up against the valley wall to the north-east of Strettalm. Actually, I have a painting of that too. It's in here somewhere.”
He rummaged again in his carry bag, whistling softly to himself until suddenly he clicked his tongue and pulled out another sheet, which he placed on the table with a flourish.
Yes, I thought, that is a stone quarry – but it is … messier somehow than I expected.
“Thank you Master Bezan. A great help to aid my comprehension.”
“Milord!”
There was a pause as he gathered his thoughts once more.
“Ah yes! The mixed success of using the gunpowder. The first attempt was spectacular. We produced a great pile of rubble. Several of the partially prepared slabs were destroyed and the channelling gone, much to the consternation of the workers who had spent time doing those tasks. Now they would have to start again. They would have to go all the way back to scratching the outline markings once more.
“The second attempt was a failure because we used too little gunpowder, or bored the hole for it too deep, or too far back from the face, or whatever.
“The third actually worked as we had hoped, but we found that the explosion weakened the edges of the slab too much and thus it had to be rejected, but could be used to make smaller slabs.
“We have proved however that this would be ideal for mining coal, and we next intend to try using it to blast clear a few restrictive passages; so we will widen the side canyon just above the Fish Farm and try to make a road up into the Vale from there which will relieve some of the traffic using the dam area.
“If that is successful, then I expect we could use it to make a way down from the Vale and into Ptuvilend itself, which would put Ptuvilend in far closer touch with Blackstone. But we need to determine if that is going to be a requirement.”
It was only then that I began to understand the benefits of this gunpowder stuff.
There were many other subjects covered during that talking session before bed and some of them shall appear in later ones of my reporting threads, but this one is really about the Retreat, the testing of which was at that time nearly over.
In the morning, our guests' transports arrived to pick up the baggages and so on, and I sent some of 'our' stuff back to the Roadhouse with those wagons. During the time there, I had arranged with the Roadhouse to have a permanent use of a storage cupboard and used bedding and household items would be sent to the Roadhouse for washing, drying and pressing before being stored in that cupboard which was dedicated to us. Someone at the Roadhouse would check regularly that all was in order in there. I had negotiated a price that was very fair, and I was sure that the Prince would agree with me.
Dilla's journey back to Bezlet was unexpectedly easily arranged. When the wagon pulled out onto the main road, there was another heading downvalley with some of the women from the Roadhouse going down to gawp at the developments there. So Dilla simply hopped up amongst them and joined them, her delightedly received coin buried deep in her carry bag. There were a few tears as she and Venket hugged, and some sniffles as she said goodbye to Darna and myself.
This meant that Nutel could leave in convoy with the guests wagons, carrying Darna and Venket of course, and all the rest of us could ride back in a large group.
We left Bezan and Skanik behind to secure everything and set out for home once more.
It was a most enjoyable ride, and we all must have looked extremely funny as we peered down the track to the Stone Quarry by Strettalm, down which there was nothing to see but trees, rocks and wagon ruts.
I confess I was glad to be back home, back to my comfortable room – and a warm bath!
… … …
To properly finish this thread, I should really report on the debriefing we had with the Prince. It took place in the Salon on the following day, after he had been delighted to observe the last of the lesson with the children and Countess Merizel and Master Horbelan.
Everyone came, including Darna and Venket, and we discussed the whole thing inside out and upside down. There were several suggestions for improvements and how to arrange things better next time. My renting of a storage cupboard at the Roadhouse was met with approval. Darna was complimented as was Venket and myself. And Dilla, even though she was many marks distant.
I think the thing that came out of it most was that there could only be either an informal atmosphere or a formal one. There could be no middle ground there. And it was pointed out that visitors should choose to mix with the staff or not. When they chose not, then there had to be a housekeeper or a butler as the interface between the two parties.
The arrangements we had come to with regard to the guards were thoroughly approved of, but with the note added that it was not expected that too many visitors would bring guards with them!
I felt I should openly praise Skanik for his work and did so, which made him pinken when he was applauded by all.
“And I must say I was surprised and delighted with the kitchen arrangements,” I continued. “Having so large an array of work surface was surely a stroke of genius.”
He burst out in loud laughter.
We all looked at him somewhat quizzically.
“Julina. That idea was your own. I took it from the designs YOU made for your Consociation!”
'Twas my turn to feel my cheeks redden again.
Thus we all agreed that the Retreat was a good idea and, as of now, a bookable venue, such bookings being handled by myself – as if I didn't have enough to do already. But we all knew that 'twould take time for the news of it to spread, and even longer to find persons wanting to use such facilities.
Once the meeting broke up, I wanted to go and have a look round town to see what had changed in the near-week I had been away, so I stepped out onto Main Street and headed uphill.
I met, almost immediately, yet another surprise.
A double surprise leads onto even more surprises as Julina's day progresses. An unexpected encounter ends up with again surprising results.
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.
I carefully wiped my eyes on the cloth Waxerwet held out to me. I was sort of surprised that I still had so many tears left to cry. I think it was because I at last had an audience that would more fully understand me and with whom I could sort of relax.
But it was time now to be more positive, to thrust this lachrymose episode behind me.
Then it became something of a struggle to wriggle my way out of the seeming forest of arms all hugging me. It was against Epp's shoulder than I finally laid my head, with one hand held by dear Gyth.
We were in the front family room of Em's house, five of us women, four all showing their concern in their faces as I had my final big cry over Jerk and his injury and the loss of my plans for the two of us.
I had walked out of the front door accompanied by Em and Surtree and we had turned uphill to go to inspect the Market Place developments that had taken place whilst I was downvalley. We had walked a hand of strides, certainly not as many as two hands, when I heard a hail from behind me.
“Julina! Julina! Hold!”
I whirled round to see Epp, Waxerwet and Gyth walking up the walkway on the other side of Main Street. I was surprised to see them as I had expected to receive a semaphore to tell me they were due.
But then I thought of the sheaf of papers that were awaiting me in my room at home and which I had deliberately decided to put off reading, giving myself one day of 'relief', a day that I had already known would be partially consumed by the debriefing about The Retreat following on from the children's lesson of the morning; which was once again a delight with the Countess and Master Horbelan in attendance.
And I was pleased to see them, Epp in particular. So I dashed across to them.
And burst into tears.
Em had ushered us into the family room, waved Surtree away to help in the kitchens (and to arrange for some pel) and had helped explain to the other three what had passed whilst they were away. This was necessary as my own explanations were more than a little disjointed, and many were most awkwardly garbled.
Looking back, I realise now that this was a good cry, indeed so much so that I shall label it as a Good Cry, with the capital letters, for it flushed the last lingering traces of my funk away and thereafter I was nearly fully over those events. (Older Julina says: Even now, I sometimes feel a twinge. I deem every girl shall always remember her first love!)
Once my selfishness had been dispensed with, we chatted in broad terms about Gyth's mission, about Waxerwet's impressions and about Epp's thoughts of the things I had done for our partnership, like Bezlet's developments and so on. I determined that we would then go and inspect the Market Place and get someone to take us over to the Artisans' Area where we …
“Nay, nay, Julina. We are but recently arrived after much travel. We have yet even to return to our house for we came straight up from the Claw. I deem we can do such an inspection on the morrow,” interrupted a laughing Epp.
“Very well, then!” I laughed in reply. “Tell me how you ...”
“And again I say 'Nay', young Mistress, although I must needs tell you I do have a little more to report; this time with regard to Blackstone Wagons rather than regarding Meglina!”
I looked over at her in some surprise, for she had always been clear and firm that the wagon side was not her concern. She smiled at the confusion written so openly upon my face.
“I bear news. Let me stress now that I have my own opinion but that shall remain my own; for the most part I make no policies regarding my man's business, just as he keeps out of mine.” She thought a bit. “Generally!” she added to some laughter.
“I must say that sending Mistress Gythy here downvalley was a decision of some genius. She is frankly too good to remain here in Blackstone. She has much talent and showed it with the designs and suggestions for our places in Tranidor. She has also done the same at Brayview much to everyone there's delight. Why she has effectively designed the entire kernel of the town that is rapidly expanding down there! Additionally, I must report that all down there send their regards to you; Administrator Kolston particularly along with Mistress Basset of course, Master Quizzen and even Mistress Brogla.”
“What? None from Master Pyor?” I said lightly.
But suddenly I felt a problem, a cooling in the air, since Epp, Gyth and Waxerwet all glanced at each other.
Before I could chase up on that very unexpected reaction, however, there was a gentle knocking on the door. It opened to reveal Senidet, with Maid Molly of course.
“There you are Julina! I was look... Oh! What's the matter? Are you alright? You have been crying I deem. I thought you had thrust ...”
She looked round the room more closely then. “Why Gythy, oh and Mistresses Waxerwet and Megrozen! Good morrow to you all!”
She nodded at Em, who nodded back, so I knew they had met already that day.
“I'll be fine Senidet, just fine. Mistresses Megrozen and Waxerwet have been downvalley for a while with Gyth and they have just got back. I was just filling them in about Jerk, Explosions, Gun-powder and the like.”
“Ah!” she said knowingly. “Talking of filling people in, I was looking for you to advise that your presence would be preferable for the Assembly Meet here on the morrow, in the early afternoon.”
“Oh?”
“Indeed! I am to present some of my ideas and, as they are based upon your ideas and uses, I need you there to bear me out maybe on a few points.”
“I shall do that for you, then!” I said, smiling warmly at her.
Senidet then surprised us all – well maybe not Maid Molly – when she turned to Waxerwet and said: “As you are returned, then I best give you something Mistress.”
She turned to her maid and said: “The key, if you please, Molleena.”
After receiving it from the carrybag Maid Molly was holding, she turned to Waxerwet once more, formally handing it over. “Mistress Waxerwet, this is the only key to an extra room we have built onto your house whilst you were away. Master Brydas has the details should this ever get lost. You asked Julina to look after your place in your absence, and she herself has been absent so she asked me to take over her duties ...”
I nearly gasped at the distortion of events but suddenly and swiftly realised that this would save me a lot of explanations so I snapped my gaping mouth shut very rapidly.
“... and consequently I went a little farther than I had at first intended. You see, Her Highness had suggested something, and it suddenly occurred to me that here was an opportunity to try out her idea with absolutely no disturbance to anyone. So we built this additional room to your unoccupied-at-the-time house and have achieved a great success. Indeed, so comfortable is it now, that more and more people are wanting to try it; in the end we had to build a lock into the door!”
She laughed gaily at the looks of total incomprehension on our faces, as she hurried on: “You are just discovering that you are currently the only people, certainly in Blackstone, but I suspect also in all Palarand, to have a toilet upon which you can perch and rest your weight whilst you void your body of wastes – and then clean up afterwards with simple efficiency. I know that this project is planned to be implemented in the Palace during the rainy season when outside work is nigh impossible, but Master Bezan and my father, together with Master Blandel, have produced a few of these 'sit-you-ons' as we have named them. Yours was, is, the first to be actually used and the experience has given us valuable lessons in the design and use of such things. I have sent mails and semaphores down to the Palace with a summary of our design.”
“Maker!” breathed both Gyth and her mother at the same time as I.
“We are very happy with the results for not only is it much more comfortable for the person, it shall also comfort the entire community, for these new version toilets shall save an immense amount of water.”
“Save water? But how?”
“Rather than having a constant stream running, one which washes the waste pipes constantly, even when no waste exists, then these just release sufficient water to deal with the one … 'load', I suppose would be an appropriate word … each time. You may seat yourself on a bench at normal seating height and empty yourself into a specially designed bowl. When finished, a swirl with a bucket of water washes the wastes down a cunningly designed tube, or pipe if you prefer, into the waste channel you have been using up to now. Mayhap a second bucket would be required.”
We sat and thought about that for a little, until I broke the silence: “But surely the stink would come up ...”
“Ah! That's what is so clever about Her Highness' design, what is so cunning about the pipe. She told us to incorporate something she called an 'S'-bend. Let me show you in a swift diagram.”
She held out her hand towards MM, who swiftly fished out a pad of papers and a reedlet for her mistress. A rapid diagram was sufficient to bring us all to an understanding, with her running commentary as she drew.
“We can then just run a flushing flood down through the waste pipes say for five moments each bell, thus saving the greatest part of a bell's amount of water.”
We all clapped in genuine appreciation of simple, yet far-reaching, wonderful idea.
And then came the start of my next surprises as Waxerwet and Epp drew the conversation back to what we had been saying before Senidet joined us.
… … ...
“Maker! I deem I would never have guessed.”
His eyes twinkled back at me. “Shemel has approved. Flemak has agreed and Father can help him along. If there is anything too complex for Flemak, then they can call me down, or send to Master Rader who has also agreed. All that is required now is your approval, and then we shall set up another company to do it; yourself, Shemel and I being equal partners. You two provide the finance to get us going, I provide the expertise.”
I was somewhat aflounder, I must confess. I was frankly a little shocked by these developments.
When I had flippantly mentioned Pyor's name and the three women looked at each other, I had an inkling that something was happening. But then the Senidet interruption sort of deflected the moment. Once Senidet had finished her message (or polite demand as I mentally thought of it) 'twas Epp who had broached the subject once more, but Gyth had already indicated to Maid Molly, knowing that Surtree would have to be called in, to go and fetch him from the kitchens.
For Epp had said: “Master Pyor is in the 'Claw' awaiting your summons even as we speak.”
Maid Molly returned with Surtree, who was promptly despatched to the Claw to bring Pyor up here to this room. None of the women were going to leave for they too were full of interest as to what was about to transpire, and none of them tried to hide it.
You will remember I said (long ago now I deem) I had two more surprises a week or so after the previous ones?
Well those two were both connected to Pyor; first there was his physical presence and second there was a present he had brought with him.
That present, carried so carefully by Pyor was certainly a huge surprise, but was not the biggest of the two, so let me deal with the present first.
Tapio and Bormio had together produced a tall, flat, silvered glass mirror, similar to the one that had been sent to Her Highness last year. This one was a little less tall and a little less wide than the original, but 'twas impressive indeed that the two men down in Tranidor had managed to do this task. I was told that they had actually made two at first, Epp being presented with the other.
And we were also told that Epp and I would be paid one twentieth of the price of each one sold in the future, one fortieth to each of us. Of course, that was just the ones that were made in Tranidor. Master Pocular here in Town was close himself to being able to produce them, I was told by Senidet. (I shrugged that off as just being information, but Master Pocular later made the same arrangement with me so I received one twentieth of the sales price of each one he and his works subsequently produced; they were not priority items though at that time, windows were what with all the construction going on.)
As regards the other matter, and by that I mean Pyor's presence, then, after he explained, I turned to Surtree and said: “Could you please run to find Master Jepp and tell him I need to draw up some more company papers? When can we come to him – and where I suppose – for all the signing and witnessing and so on?”
He grinned, sketched a vague sort of salute in the air, and scampered off.
I turned back to my surprising visitor. “Are you so very certain then?”
“Indeed, Julina. It could not be otherwise. I was grasped by this project when I was up here with you, grasped so deeply and firmly that it seems like I have a harness to which a rein is attached and I am being dragged inexorably here to do it. I am convinced that Blackstone Wagons shall require to be in at the beginning of creating – that is designing and making – wagons for this railroad to come. I shall require some workshop and some cooperation with the Smith, but this shall indeed be a great enterprise that shall change the face of Palarand forever. And I want in on it.”
“Very well, then I shall do what I can to accommodate your wishes. As long as you are certain that young Flemak will be able to replace you adequately down in Brayview, Pyor!”
“I am confident that that shall be the case.”
“In that case,” I said with the smallest of sighs, “welcome to your new home town. Talking of accommodation, you must specify your requirements and I shall get my contacts to find you somewhere. Obviously, for now, 'twill be merely temporary, but in the fullness of time you must needs be determined in your decision. We can find a building plot easily at the moment here in Town, but should you require a closeness to your workshop, then that might even have to be over at the Artisans' Area. After all, in Brayview, everything was so much closer, the question didn't arise.”
Thus can you readily imagine that this was the second, and greater, surprise to me. The fact that Pyor had determined to remove to Blackstone, had given up such a golden opportunity as being the wheelwright down in Brayview.
And now he was here, and we were about to set up a new company for him.
Thus was it that BW Rail came into being.
… … …
It was only now that I was finally able to get out and up to the Market Place to observe the changes that had occurred while I was away. Em and Surtree were with me, Waxerwet and Gyth having gone off to inspect their new 'room'.
Epp had gone off to arrange the first of the many things she needed to arrange, and then to do some follow-up interviews for staff for our establishments. Urchins had been sent round to the ones that I had short-listed once Surtree had obtained permission for us to use the Miners' Hall (I handed Epp my lists and notes) and she would see them, speak with them, up there in a bell or so. We deliberately arranged it so that I was not there with her, so she could have her own thoughts.
Senidet had gone off to wherever she went off to, with Maid Molly trailing along. She muttered something about wires and slaves and getting to the Salon, but I didn't really understand what she was saying, deeming it in my mind to be not something that was of great concern to me.
Pyor had left to go and register with the men who were doing the rail tests after Epp told him he could overnight temporarily here at hers. I told him I would buy him a dinner in the Salon that evening – but made it clear that this was not going to happen EVERY evening.
Once we three had set out upon our brief tour of inspection, then one of the first things I discovered early on was that it had rained on two of the days I had been down at the Retreat; not a downpour but that thin sort of persistent drizzle that is really annoying. When it wasn't drizzling on those days, then the clouds clung to the Town. The sun had only reappeared on the day before we returned. That weather had delayed some of the works a little, so there were general grumbles from most I met about delays and freshly changed priorities and so on. I sort of mentally kicked myself as I only noticed the increased lushness of the vegetation around after the rainy days had been mentioned; I felt I should have picked up on that clue a lot earlier.
(A rough map of the Town, from the Claw up to the Cistern, may be of help to some readers at this point. It is the tenth one of those which can be found at https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/45006/map-repository-...)
I had a great interest of course in two of the buildings round the Market Place in particular and, by extension, in the development and looks of the Market Place as a whole. As we passed the shoemaker's, Wainer's, the first thing that was noticeable was the clear space where Wagras' house had been. That site was completely flat and no sign was visible of the old foundations or anything. Indeed, there were a few piles of what I now recognised as being the pre-fabricated house parts lying off to one side so we knew construction of something was going to start soon.
This strangely clear site (to my eyes at least) opened up a wide-angled view of the Market Place as we approached up Main Street.
The Shuttle Shed was the first feature we saw and then the Auction Shed, or Hut as some referred to it as, came into clear view. The flank of the Cistern on this side, some already hidden by the Shuttle Shed, was mostly obscured now by the wooden walls of the Frolicsome Frayen, the ground floor of which appeared from this distance to be completed, and the upper floor of which was well underway – they were building it from left to right as we looked at it, from west to east if you prefer, doing the women's side first that meant.
As we drew nearer to the Market Place, we could see off to the right and saw that most of the walls for my Market Place Mansion were now in place, but only on the lower level. Obviously we could not see the entirety of the walls, which is why I here used the word 'most'. The arcs of the steps down into Julina Park (that's still a little thrill for me to think that) seemed to be completed and the Park itself must have been completed, for there were no workers there. The ground was mostly brown though, where those workers had been trampling and using Senidet's new wheel-bros. But it already gave a most pleasant feel, with gently winding paths, seating benches, a small pond with a spraying thing in the middle of it, which I was later told was called a fountain. Bushes and young trees were planted in sensible and attractive positions and there were a few mature trees too; although they were yet young, I could already see that it would be most pleasant in the future.
I could see four young mothers already taking their tiny ones around it, pointing out this and that as they slowly progressed. One of the mothers had an active, slightly older child as well, which was giving her a few problems as she had to keep chasing after what must have been a young boy for it was always trying to climb things and jump into things and so on. Even as I watched, another mother came along, this one with a babe in arms but also with two others as equally lively as the one I had been recently watching. The three active ones joined together and were rushing round almost immediately, having good fun in their childish ways.
I smiled fondly as I remembered those days with my young brothers, and saw visions in my head of the scrapes they got into, and the scrapes they got on their knees and just about all other protuberances.
I was dragged back to the present by my companions and we scooted across to the Frolicsome Frayen to inspect the insides. You will remember that the inn was to be split, with the men's quarters on one end, the eastern one, and the women's at the other, the middle being occupied by a 'neutral' area open to all.
“Of course!” said Em, as she looked in the doorway of the men's end. “There will be staircases in each of the three sections, won't there?”
“Indeed!”
“And bathrooms! Well...” she hastily added, “... I suppose that there needs be no 'joint' bathing facilities, the couples can split apart for their ablutions.”
Immediately behind us was the Auction Hut, so it was natural for us to keep our backs to it and to move on to our right and inspect the barracks. There was a deep trench between the Inn and the barracks which I put down to drains, water pipes and the like.
“Em, why have they built a stone wall, albeit a low one, along the edging there, when the building is but a stride behind it? Surely the building's wall could have been the edge and the passage way here that much wider?”
Now I am certain that Surtree didn't pick up on it, but I knew Em very well by that time and I could see some thoughts flit across her face before she answered me. And she answered me in a carefully measured tone that told me there was a lot more behind the seemingly innocent answer.
“One of the favourite activities of the soldiery is to march up and down whilst being 'on guard'. If the building's wall was the boundary, then the guards would have to contend with passing traffic as well as concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other...”
I laughed out loud and Surtree did too, breathing: “I deem I can begin to understand that remark!”
This prompted Em to change the subject slightly, an opportunity I suspected she grabbed thankfully.
“So how are your lessons coming along, Surtree? I deem you require no more regarding riding, but you are joining in with the group of lads to whom the soldiers are giving some basic training, are you not?”
“Indeed so, Mistress. I find most of it excellent, but as you say, the basic work like marching in step and so on gets very boring very quickly. None of us enjoy that, and I confess we fail to understand why we have to do it.”
“You are right, but only because you have a lack of complete understanding as to the reasons.” She took a deep breath. “In a battle, if a force gets split, then the smaller units, maybe even individuals, can be more easily dealt with by the enemy. In other words, killed or wounded. The purpose of all that marching up and down is to instil into the recruits a basic sense of a larger group, all helping out each other. That marching up and down may one day save your life by becoming so ingrained it allows you to concentrate on other things, such as saving your own and your near companions lives, while the moves you are doing come so naturally that you don't even think on them!”
She paused for a little while during which her face took on a more grim look. She shook herself a little and continued: “But with these modern weapons mayhap our learned, tried and trusted tactics will have to change.”
By this time we had progressed to the corner of the barracks on the north-east side of where the Dam Road joined the Market Place. This was again curious to me, for a line of sight-blocking curtains had been mounted on poles. I could not see what works were going on behind it.
“What passes here, Em? The road is now wide enough for only one wagon here, and the works are hidden from sight?”
Again there was that slight tenseness in her answer: “Just like down at the rail testing works, the curtains keep back all the people who would interrupt with enquiries.”
Her eyes were darting about as she said that and then they focussed on something behind me, a little flash of surprise appearing in them, followed by a genuine smile. I thought I also detected a hint of relief as she delightedly exclaimed: “Oh Maker! Look you there! The corner stanchion on your house! See how wonderfully it has been carved?”
After checking for traffic, we all three scampered over there to inspect it and 'twas indeed wonderfully well done. I realised after a little study that the lines and carvings depicted many of our animals, avians and plants, all of the intertwined pictures being of things that can be found in a kitchen.
This brilliantly carved post was the north-east corner of the mansion, a corner that was almost not one. For the mansion you might recall was far from square. The north-west corner was where East Street and the Market Place combined, with a footpath running along the wall of the building, between that and the road. That north-west corner was the only normal square corner of the whole thing. The north-east corner was more of a kink really, for the Dam Road came in at an angle there to reach the Market Place.
Between these two northside corners was the shortest wall of the entire thing, and this wall was pierced centrally by a large and imposing double door, arched at the top. I gasped as I caught sight of more carvings above the arch of the door frame, which was framed in a way by two large windows either side and a longer but less high one above.
But we didn't go that way, we went the other way, heading from the north-east corner down to the south-east corner along the longest wall of the building, walking along the Dam Road itself.
“Excuse me, Julina. Why are the windows on this side so much higher on the ground floor along this wall?”
“A very astute observation, Surtree.”
The lower edges of the windows along there had started, back at the north-east corner, a thumb above the top of my head but that 'gap' was rising as we walked along the edge of the road. By the time we got to the south-east corner, there was well over a foot of difference, mayhap even two, such was the slope.
“The reason is quite simple though. Look all along the wall paying particular attention to the areas at heights up to our waists.” I pointed back the way we had come, and then at the stride or two we still had to go. “See all the little and not so little marks, the dents and gashes?”
“Aye?”
“They were caused by things like stones thrown up by wagon wheels, by wagon wheel hubs scraping along as the driver got a little too close, even by falling parts of the loads, and by many, many other similar things. This wall is still new, not yet a month old even but look at the damages it has suffered already. If there were any glass there, that glass would be long broken!”
“Of course! I should have thought of that myself!”
I grinned as I teased him in reply: “Indeed, young man, I find I cannot argue with you.”
Em burst out in laughter as he stuck his tongue out at me.
We reached then the south-east corner, the sharpest angled one of them all. From here, the southern wall curved round to the south-west corner. A two stride wide wooden platform went all the way round, following faithfully the curve of the wall. Several doors led from the interior onto the platform with a more complicated arrangement in that sharp corner. There were a pair of steps that allowed people to get down from this platform to the grassed areas of the Park. These steps were naturally level, so the shape of the ground meant that the steps were at different heights above the grass as they curved around. Indeed, on a couple of occasions, the lower one disappeared entirely into the soil.
“What is the story behind that arrangement of doors and windows near the corner?” asked Em. I could see that Surtree also wanted to ask the same question.
“Ah! That shall be a small shop for refreshments. On a nice hot day like today, we shall sell small pastries, and pel and the like. We deem that families shall come here to rest and relax, maybe enjoy the open air but in the shades of the trees that have been planted. We shall have a few tables out here on the platform and a couple inside too. There shall be toilet facilities for women and children inside too – the men can use the Frolicsome Frayen – so we have therefore a serving window and an access door over there.”
“What a clever idea!”
“Thank you, Em! But it's really not so clever after all when you recall that the initial description called for some refreshment place. This just seemed the obvious way to do it, particularly as that is going to be the most shaded corner of an afternoon.”
We passed on then along the curving platform, towards the south-west corner of 'my' plot of land. Surtree was at that time very mature in so many ways, but he showed his stubbornly remaining childishness by using the lower step so he could walk on and off it as the ground's undulations dictated. I realised that I too had still some childishness in me for I wanted to join him; the only reason I didn't was because I didn't feel I could be so undignified in Em's presence.
We reached the south-west corner and turned to survey the mansion and the park once more. The three boisterous children were screaming and laughing, playing some complicated game unintelligible to mere adults like us, when one scrambled up one of the freshly planted young trees. A branch broke, the child fell, there were screams and tears of shock and the mothers hastily bundled up their charges and walked off rapidly away from us.
By this time, it was slowly beginning to fade into late afternoon, so I knew I would need to get back to the Salon before long. We turned that final corner of the Mansion to walk back to the north-west corner and the Market Place when we saw a young girl, around Surtree's age, coming towards us.
Now this pathway was wide enough for two people to pass, designed deliberately so because this was intended to be the access to Julina Park for all those coming there from the Market Place and beyond. The pathway was as narrow as could be made, but which would still allow two people to pass.
I studied the girl coming in the opposite direction to ourselves. There was something about her that drew all our attentions. As the gap between us closed, I noticed clearly the first obvious problem she had. Her right arm was strangely withered and shaped. The way her body movements occurred told us immediately that this disability was a long-term one, not something that had happened recently.
But the second obvious problem she had was that she had not seen us coming towards her. No-one could have, not with those amount of tears and soul-wracking sobs.
Em and I started towards her to try to comfort her and find out if there was some way we could help her, but we stopped suddenly when Surtree called out: “Davabet? Is that you? What on Anmar is the matter?”
She gasped, cuffed away some of the tears and then ran to Surtree, grabbing him and letting her tears flow as she almost squeezed him to death. We, Em and I, could do nothing for a good while, but then we managed to get the girl, still clinging to poor Surtree, over to one of the benches in the Park.
To cut a long story short, Davabet, an only child, had been born with the withered arm and had suffered much teasing and bullying as a result throughout her entire life. She suspected that her long suffering parents had made the long trek up to Blackstone in the hopes of leaving some of the bad memories behind. A fresh start, they had said. They now lived in the little house next to Surtree's family and the two youngsters had struck up a still tentative friendship.
News had flashed around town that Epp was going to do more interviews and a lot of people had turned up hoping for a chance. Davabet was one of them. Whilst she was waiting patiently, she had been roughly shoved out of the way and told that a cripple like her stood no chance. When she tried to assert her rights, a small bunch of women had punched her and thrown her out of the queue. Then she was beaten with a broom wielded by some woman who had been branded.
My temper flared at that, for I was certain that the branded woman would be Konna, I knew of no other in our town.
“Surtree, tell your friend what the line for interviews was for!”
“Davabet, there is a company called Meglina Accommodation. They are developing several inns and restaurants and cafes. All these establishments have to be staffed soon, so they are looking for reliable workers.”
“I'm sure I could have fitted in somewhere,” sobbed the girl.
“Davabet! If I might have your attention for a little while?”
She scrubbed her face on her sleeve as she turned to look at me.
“Do you know why Meglina got that name?”
“No Mistress, I have no inkling.”
I liked that word 'inkling'. It showed she was educated quite well.
“Did you hear the name of the woman who was conducting the interviews this afternoon?”
“Yes, Mistress. 'Twas Mistress Megrozen.”
“Did you also know that she is in partnership with another woman?”
“I had heard that, or something similar. A younger woman who is quite inexperienced I heard while waiting in the line.”
“I see. Did you get this other woman's name?” I saw Em and Surtree grin then, as they realised where I was going with this train of conversation.
“No Mistress, only that she had done some interviews before, but they hadn't been that good.” I fear I may have flinched slightly there, but the girl was being introspective then and will not have seen that. Slowly, she added something that increased my already increasing respect for her: “Although I deem, now I reflect on't, that they probably said that because they had been rejected by the younger woman beforehand.”
“Her name is Julina. Megrozen and Julina. If you take ...”
“Oh, I see. They made Meglina from their own names!”
Her quickness of mind had impressed me. My own mind started racing as a sudden idea burst in upon it. One that would definitely be of advantage to her and to me. If she was up to it, that would be a wonderful solution to several problems.
“Davabet, can you read and write?”
“Why yes, Mistress. I have learnt my letters, and the new Garian numbers, since we have been here.” Her tone went back to being bitter as she added: “And I have diligently practiced. After all, I have nothing else to do all day, and no-one here will hire a cripple.”
“Davabet, look around you here. What do you see? What do you make of that Mansion over there, its shape? What of this park we are in? Those roads on either side, are they important? Across that road over there, what is that house there? Describe it all to me as if I was a stranger to Town, and it was important to make me understand what is to be seen here.”
She looked at me funnily at first, but – with a little nod from Surtree after a poke from him – she began. I was pleasantly surprised with how she did and my eye-speak with Em, who caught on early, meant that she was fed little clues so her description got more accurate as she went along. She demonstrated an admirable ability to be flexible in her approach, to take in and use information, and to have moments of realisation as various things connected in her brain. She correctly identified the Shoemaker's house and even the three that were visually behind it, the Wheelwright's, the Saddler's and the Bellringers'. So I knew she was observant and locally knowledgable.
“Davabet, thank you. That was an excellent report, and I noticed that you took on board the information Bailiss Michet provided and used it. I could see flashes of understanding cross your face even as you were speaking. I should now ...”
“Excuse me for interrupting Mistress, but did you say 'Bailiss'?”
“I did. This lady is on the town's Assembly and is responsible for presenting the Assembly's point of view to the citizens, and the citizens' point of view to the Assembly. Amongst other things. But that is what the title Bailiss means.”
Davabet leapt to her feet, shock written upon her face. She dropped a curtsey to Em, “Forgive me er... Bailiss, I meant no disrespect.”
“And none was taken, I can assure you. Now allow Mistress Julina here to ...”
“Mistress Julina? Why, that's the name of the partner to Mistress Megrozen. YOU are the other half of the 'Meglina'?”
“Guilty as charged,” I laughed in reply. I waggled a finger in irritation as she tried to curtsey to me. “Tell me Davabet, do you like frayen? Oh, and when do you achieve your majority?”
“Frayen??? Um … yes, I like frayen. I have often seen some of the ladies ride and would wish that I could myself, but I fear it shall be many a year before I could even think of affording one for myself. And that's even if I get a job, which seems doubtful and more so every day.” She forced herself to stop slipping into her depressed mode again, an effort that was obvious to all of us watching her. “As for my age, then I have a year until my majority.”
That last was a bit of a blow to the plan I was creating but all the rest seemed to fit in. I frowningly thought it all through once and then twice. Another thought intruded just then and I grinned in triumph, for I had just realised that Kords was not that much different in age to her. So that would be my argument should anyone object.
“Right, that decides it.” I said aloud. The others looked at me with questions writ large in their faces.
I turned to the young girl who was now seated once more on the bench. Adopting my most formal tones, I said: “Mistress Davabet would you like me to hire you as my personal companion? It would mean you have to learn to ride a frayen, and would mean that you have to be with me all day every day, just about. In effect, you would do much that young Surtree here does, but, since you are female, then it saves me having to keep looking around for another female to accompany me whenever I need to go places. It will be hard work and you will need to learn much, and quickly.”
Em couldn't help herself and broke out in admiring clapping as my scheme was revealed. Surtree was also enthusiastic once he grasped what I was saying, but that is not to say he was slow on the uptake. I deem he had not really the feel for the problem. Em had, having been press-ganged into service on a few occasions already.
As for Davabet, well she was crying again, but this time it seemed with delight, judging from the broad smile which lit up her face. And which also suddenly revealed her natural prettiness.
“I shall purchase what you need and shall pay you an opening basic salary of one fenik a day that you are with me. Other extra payments will be made as and when the occasions arise. You may reside with your parents as you do now, but be aware that we shall from time to time have to travel downvalley and overnight there, mayhap for several nights. If that happens, then I shall be responsible for providing your accommodation for the duration of that trip. So, what say you?”
“Oh yes please. Yes. Yes. Yes. Oh, this is wonderful. I never expected this could happen. Oh yes please, please, please.”
“I take it then that you are in agreement?”
Em laughed at that and so did Surtree. Davabet grinned, which I found to be another plus point for her.
“We shall thrash out the exact details of everything, how you can resign, or how I can sack you if it doesn't work out, and so on, in the morning, if Master Jepp is available. But until then, you are hired informally. Nay, let us say we shall have a week to get to know one another, and to decide if this can work. Does that suit?”
She nodded, unable to speak more.
“Right then. Surtree, it is time for you to start making arrangements. Please take Davabet here down to the Claw and ask Perry to get a frayen for her, just like I got one for you. Arrange for Davabet to have riding lessons, then take her up to Waldan's, be sure to send my love to Pomma, but get Davabet measured for a saddle, to be delivered as soon as it may be ready. Explain to them what Davabet is going to do, particularly to Pomma, so she knows that my impositions upon her shall be reduced in the near future. Then bring her to the Salon that she might meet the others. Remind me to open a ledger for her with Master Schild on the morrow. Oh, and make a list of anything else you think she shall need for us to discuss in the morning. Clear?”
He sketched his usual cheeky salute, accompanied by his usual cheeky grin as he verbally confirmed my instructions. Then he dragged the somewhat dazed Davabet off down the side of East Street, heading for the Claw.
I called after the pair of them: “And make sure you tell her all about my bad side too! And the disadvantages she shall encounter.”
He waved a hand in acknowledgement but did not turn round, nor did he break the animated chat he was having with her.
“Right then, Mistress Bailiss. I deem we need to pay a visit to a certain waiting line.”
“I hope that that Konna woman is still there, for I shall make sure her evil deeds do not go unpunished.”
… … …
But we were indeed too late to find Konna. We did find a small and fairly rowdy group that were creating an uncomfortable atmosphere as they complained about nigh on everything. I drew closer and nodded to myself. I knew the one who appeared to be the ringleader. It was that Battona.
We looked for Konna fairly thoroughly and eventually found out that she had been assigned a different task and had had to go away.
By then, we both had other tasks ourselves and I made my way down to the Salon.
It was a day that Kissa had been employed and when I got there, I could immediately see that something was wrong. She was banging pots about most unnecessarily and generally grumping about all over the place. I threw a querying glance at Kords who shrugged a shoulder back at me – she didn't know either what was wrong.
This went on for a little while but then I had reached my limit of patience.
“Fine! Enough! Everyone! Stop whatever it is you are doing, unless something will burn. I cannot work like this. Kissa! Whatever is wrong with you? Either tell us, or go home. Your crashing and banging is getting on everyone else's nerves. Either it stops right now and you continue by behaving properly, or it stops right now because you are no longer here. Make your choice. This instant!”
She looked at me, looked at Kelly, looked at all the rest of us. She realised that what I had said was correct; we were all fed up with her attitude today. Her mouth dropped open, she swallowed twice. Then she burst into tears and ran out of the door. I was torn as to whether or not to chase after her and try to settle her down with some cuddles and the like. In the end, I did nothing though. 'Twas, I deemed, time for her to start taking responsibility for her actions.
It took a little while for the team to settle back down into our usual efficiencies, but before long the curious incident was forgotten as a busy night swept us all along with it. It was one of those rare nights when everything came together nearly perfectly and our Coin Pot received a quite hefty influx. After everyone else had left, Kelly, Kords, Em and I sat down for a well-earned rest and we discussed the strange events. None of us could find any explanation for Kissa's behaviour.
We chatted on for quite a while as we discussed in particular the Salon and its continued excellence. We also discussed the Tree and the Stoop, about which I said that I had no idea when construction would start, and the Frolicsome Frayen, how we could combine the foods served there and so on.
“And today, I have personally hired a new helper. She is a young girl a year short of her majority, called Davabet. She is unfortunate in that she has a withered arm from birth ...” I noticed Em nodding in confirmation as my tale progressed “... and has had therefore many rejections. We bumped into her quite by chance today, Em, Surtree and I and I daresay we would not have interacted with her had she not been crying so hard and had not Surtree recognised her as one of his neighbours.
“In the end, I interviewed her quite thoroughly I feel, with the help of Em here. She impressed me and I now have a companion who shall learn all that I do and it will mean I shall not require great searchings to find a female to accompany me on some of my visits. She is on a week's trial to start with, so in the morning I shall have Master Jepp draw up some contractual papers so that she will be with me at least until the end of the year. Whenever I am here in the Salon, she can be an extra body, albeit with only one effective hand, so we must consider a training scheme for her too. Of course, if it transpires that she is unable to ride a frayen, then I shall have to find alternative employment for her. Please help her all you can, she has had it tough in her life so far. I will introduce her to you all come morning.
“And now, it being considerably later than normal, I hear my pillow a'calling most loudly.”
I was the last to speak before we headed off to our various beds, Kords and I leaving together for we were both going to the same place.
Thus it was that Kords and I walked home, again thrashing over the details of Kissa's behaviour. Which remained a mystery even after we got there, for Swayga had also no explanation for it, despite having seen the effects herself. We had only just caught Swayga for she was running a little later that evening. I suspected that she was waiting up for us, or at least for Kords, but she wouldn't admit that, if she was.
My eyes and head and back and feet decided that the Kissa thing was a subject best left for the morning.
Family matters precede Davabet's formal employment and an Assembly Meeting tells us much more of what is going on.
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.
Despite a later than usual time of going to bed, I still felt good when I woke up naturally at my usual hour – in other words I woke after Swayga did but before the rest.
“Oh, how I wish I could go back to those days” she sighed wistfully. “I used to just leap up and get on with things. Now don't get me wrong, I love your father, but sometimes this family running seems endless with no relief in sight. I know not how you managed it all. I am quite in awe of you, you know, young lady!”
Swayga was marvelling at the 'resilience of youth' as she put it, and told me she could only survive her now daily routine because of her regular nap in the afternoons, which nowadays lasted for up to two bells!
In the half a bell that we had together that day, a half bell of warm companionship, we discussed the family in a way that had really been far too long since we last did it.
“... and your father says he has never been so busy. He oversees no fewer than thirty people nowadays and feels he might need even more. I like it though because it means he is more often here than he was, now he can have others to do the manual work he used to do himself.”
“That's good, I suppose. But like me, he will on occasion need to travel down to his other offices, I deem, which surely means his absences are for longer than before?”
“Not necessarily! If he plans his visits in advance, it seems to be that he is away less often and for shorter times, actually. He just requires to pass on information about plans and priorities and develop strategies for dealing with them.”
“Yes, I can see that. But he shall surely have to spend some time with his foremen or whoever, if only to remind them who is the boss!”
“Quite so. But this leading of others is bringing out a side of him that neither he nor I suspected was there. He is a natural leader and has garnered much respect from his workers as well as his fellows in Town. I see now more clearly where you get your abilities from!”
“Talking of travelling, you know that I have had problems going about on my own because, for some strange reason we women have to be always accompanied...” She nodded and rolled her eyes at what was really an absurdity. “... well I deem I have solved that problem. Apparently it is acceptable for Kords and I to go about together so I have found a young girl of around Kords' age to be my constant companion. She is on a week's trial at first and if she can't do all the things I need, then I will do my utmost to find her something else to do. She is handicapped by a withered arm, so be prepared when you meet her. She has suffered so much hardship from others because of it – throughout her entire life. I would that my family rise above others and welcome her, whether or not her job works out.”
“I understand. But you know I and your father will both be wanting to test her appropriateness for you.”
“I suppose I could expect nothing else!” I said with a sigh. “Her name, by the way, is Davabet.”
“And she is Kordulet's age?”
“Thereabouts.”
“Talking of Kordulet, she seems to be growing more mature and responsible the longer she works at your Salon.”
“Yes, Kords is a great asset there. I just worry that she does not have enough time to herself.”
Swayga laughed: “Oh I am glad she doesn't have more! We already have no fewer than three boys who regularly call here for her!”
“Maker! Three? What a little temptress she is! Thanks for that information, I need some material with which to tease her; she has enough about me – and she uses it regularly.”
“Beware how you tease her, she is at that vulnerable age right now, but moving rapidly into maturity as I said.
“As for Kordulissa, then I deem she is entering the rebellious stage. The working at the Salon and at the various seamstresses hasn't had the maturing effect that has worked on her older sisters. She is prone nowadays to temper tantrums and to over-exaggerating the importances of what we would see as little slights. 'Tis probably one of those instances that she is suffering at the moment.”
“Who's that?” came the sleepy mumble from a very tousled Kords as she progressed through towards the facilities.
“Good morrow to you too young lady!”
“Mmmgggrrr.” she replied as she disappeared from our view, bare feet barely lifting off the floorboards so there was a shuffling sound more than a treading sound.
Swayga and I smiled at each other.
“I hope that Jululet doesn't suffer too badly when she enters that stage, but 'tis difficult for her right now. She is still a child however much she wants to be grown up like her sisters. I have to be careful not to use some of Kordulissa's excesses as good examples of bad behaviour. She feels a little lost and alone at the moment so I tend to cuddle her more than the others.
“Kordulkin has changed greatly since he started urchining. He now has some little coin for himself and has, I deem, correctly associated money as a reward for hard work. He seems a little less arrogant and 'I'm the heir' about things nowadays. But he too is still a child in many ways. He still wants cuddles but rejects them for being too 'soppy'.
“Which brings us onto Korden. Such a delight, but mischievous to an extreme! It is a joy to watch him grow up. I hope that I do not allow him too much leeway though. But as Jululet and he are now mainly my only companions through the day, I suppose I see the most of them, and understand them more than I do you others.”
“Oh Swayga, I am so torn. I wish in many ways we could go back to the simpler life we had scarce more than a year ago, when I would see each of my brothers and sisters growing up into their own individualities. But nowadays I am handsomely rewarded for doing several jobs. I am increasingly conscious that I have people working for me, people who need that work, some have even built their lives around that work. I daren't for one heartbeat relax lest I make a mistake and those others get thrown out of work as a result. I think sometimes 'tis the fear of causing them troubles that drives me along when I get tired.”
“Julina! You are only scarce out of your own childhood, you should not, MUST not, overextend yourself. If you collapse, then everyone who works for you will suffer. You need to invest in some 'you' time every now and then. You cannot be everything to everybody you know.”
For some reason, on that day, her message, oft-repeated now, struck home far more forcibly than it had before, and it gave me another thread to churn away in the back of my head.
By and by, we were all seated round the table as a family. One of those rare occasions when we were all eight together at the same time. And all of us noted how on edge Kissa was.
At one point, I decided to change the subject by mentioning Davabet and how that would affect my life from now on. That seemed to work as it brought out the inherent kind and nurturing nature in Kissa. When I told them about her arm and the treatment she had received because of it, Kissa was the first to express sympathy and sorrow. I relaxed, thinking that perhaps she would now get over whatever had been her problem.
Then we heard some laughing and giggling. The door opened and in walked Surtree who said: “Good morrow everyone. May I introduce Davabet? She is to be ...”
“I hate you, 'Lina. You have ruined my life. I shall hate you forever.”
Kissa ran off to her room amidst clouds of wails.
“Ah!” said Surtree. “Are you having a bit of a domestic dispute? Perchance I should apologise and we should come back later. I just thought I would introduce Davabet to the Tai Chi here amongst friends.”
There was a silence for a long tense moment. Papa cleared his throat as Swyaga started bustling about, trying to make the stranger welcome. The children all looked at each other and I was thrust into my thoughts once more. What on Anmar was going on? Davabet looked as if she would burst into tears again and I deemed she might turn and bolt at any heartbeat.
Then Kords asked what seemed to be a strange question. “Surtree, did you see Kissa yesterday afternoon, maybe from afar?”
“Why yes, I waved to her. I know she saw me but she just tossed her head and carried on.”
“Were you perhaps escorting Davabet somewhere at the time?”
“Well – yes. We were on the way to the Claw having just left 'Lina and Em.”
“Ahah!” exclaimed Kords knowingly. “Now we know!”
The rest of us all looked at her in total and complete befuddlement.
“Kissa has developed a regard for you, Surtree.” She turned to us all. “Haven't you seen the way they both flirt together when we gather for the Tai Chi? Not only that, I deem he has also developed a regard for her, and she thinks she has detected that.” She addressed the poor embarrassed young lad once more. “She saw you with another girl yesterday, probably laughing and joking. She is having a huge fit of jealousy!”
… … …
“Well, to be honest 'Lina, I'm embarrassed, and pleased, and annoyed and proud all at the same time. And I feel kind of warm inside to know that she thinks so of me. I only hope she doesn't feel humiliated by being dragged out by her father to apologise to Davabet and then to me. Oh that would be dreadful if she thought less of me because of that.” His face fell, and took on a worried look. “Oh, how can I reassure ...”
“You youngsters!” I laughed. “You all make such a big fuss about such tiny little things. Don't think so much!”
He went red again, and stopped talking so much.
After a moment's more thought (which was slightly ironic I deemed) I continued: “Do not think that Swayga and Papa are not telling Kissa the same thing even as we speak. They will be telling her to try to ascertain the facts before jumping to wild and inaccurate conclusions. I see now, though, that maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the disruption of work at the Salon that this all caused, for I know that Papa will really come down hard on her for that. He does not accept that tantrums should affect people's businesses.”
Another thought hit me then, and I began again, a little slowly: “On the other hand, maybe there is a good side to this. Surtree knows me well enough by now, so perhaps 'tis best that you too have seen this at the very beginning of your employment, Davabet. I try not to hide factors from him, and shall attempt so to do with you as well. That way you shall understand me better and we will be a more efficient team. And I expect equal honesty from you. You have seen that Surtree does that, Davabet, so you should learn to do so too – when we are alone, of course.
“So Surtree, when you have recovered your colour ...” which I meanly said deliberately for I knew 'twould make him blush again, “... can you please run and find Master Jepp and ask him when and where we can all meet to deal with the wretched paperwork and all the 'Heard and Witnessed' stuff. Davabet and I will make ourselves available at the shortest notice, but I suspect he will require at least one of Davabet's parents since she is still a minor – just like we had to do with you.”
I turned to Davabet: “And what do you feel about it all young lady? The Kissa business, that is. I hope it hasn't frightened you off?” I added with a grin.
“Well, I was embarrassed myself and thought immediately that I should run away – you see, my immediate reaction was that I was causing trouble again. Just like I have been told all my life, it seems. But your grip on my arm prevented me from doing so. After that, I learnt as you said to calm down and examine it from all aspects and I realised that you were right, I was in no way to blame.
“And Surtree, if I might say so, I was pleased that someone considered me to be someone's girlfriend. But rest assured, I see you as a brother. And Kissa is developing into a very comely girl. You are a lucky young man.”
I had thought that my blushes were quite fierce, but the usual cheeky Surtree had been reduced to a speechless glowing (but still walking) pile of red hot coals.
… … …
“Heard and witnessed!”
I sighed in relief. That was the last time that phrase would need be uttered in this manner - with regard to this matter, of course. Thank the Maker!
“So then, if you two would sign just here?” said Jepp to Davabet's parents, educated but still somewhat simple folk who were a bit overawed to be sitting in the Salon, and a bit surprised that their daughter had found employment I daresay. He was Dilligas and she Talbet. Such was their (surely misplaced) awe of this place, I made a mental note to give them a meal here one night, maybe treat it is a part of Davabet's remuneration.
“And again here. And finally here. Thank you. That is all done then. Young Mistress Davabet will be employed on a week's trial by Mistress Julina, and, assuming that the trial is successful, will be employed at the agreed rate until the end of the year. On each New Year's Day, then the contract will be re-assessed from both sides and a new one drawn up should it be necessary. Is everyone happy they understand it all?”
We all murmured our agreement and her parents stood up to go. However, their awe was increased when the door opened and the Steward came in along with Alderman Mesulkin. The Steward's quick and intelligent gaze flickered round the six of us gathered there, and then focussed upon me.
“Your Honour, I should like to present my newly indentured, if that is the correct word, companion, Davabet. Davabet, the Steward of our lands, Captain Bleskin.”
She blushed and curtsied to him, receiving a warm “Delighted” in return. My respect for him had grown even more when he reacted not in the slightest to Davabet's arm. His querying gaze returned to me.
“I have decided to find someone to be by my side almost permanently so I don't have all this fuss and palaver of requiring another woman to accompany me to places. She is NOT to be considered a maid, but an intelligent companion not afraid to give her opinion. And I present also her parents here who have come to sign the employment contract since Davabet is still a minor. Goodman Dilligas and Mistress Talbet- His Honour.”
“Good day to you all, Master, Mistresses, Goodman.” He nodded around the half-circle we formed before addressing me. “I deem this to be another brilliant idea of yours, Mistress Julina. You continue to amaze me.” His tone became a shade sterner. “I shall be relying upon your selection abilities that this companion is fit for attending Assembly meetings such as you have been requested to attend today?”
He looked closely at each of myself, Jepp and Em; he received an affirmative nod from each.
“Very well. Now, it has been my pleasure to meet you,” he said addressing the parents directly “... however, we are regretfully very busy right now, so I regret I must start our acquaintance by asking you to leave! Your daughter is about to attend our Assembly Meeting and we must needs set this room up ready for it.”
“Of... of... course, Your Honour, Captain ...” they stammered. I got Davabet to usher them out before showing her what we had to do to the tables and chairs, half of which was already done by the time she got back from the front door!
… … …
“ … also joined the community. So now there exists in Brayview a Wheelwright, a Smith, a Baker and a Joiner. No doubt others shall be added as the Community grows even further.”
“Indeed, and I look forward to seeing the changes the day after tomorrow, for both I and Alderman Mesulkin have duties down there then.”
His Honour turned his face towards the two Princes and the two Counts, sitting all four together at the back of the room. “Your Highnesses, Milords, you are of course welcome to accompany me should you wish, but might I advise against it on this occasion, since that would drag many more guards along with us, a fact which may not only strain the accommodation down there but which also shall definitely strain the cooperation between the Country Guards and the Blackstone and Palace Guards that I know the Commander and Captain Subrish have arranged for the next few days.”
Prince Keren thought for a few heartbeats then replied: “Captain Bleskin, I deem you are correct, and yet I find myself curious about your schedule and your activities whilst down there. I would fain accompany you at least once whilst we are here. Entirely in an observatory capacity, you will understand. I am also certain that Count Terinar would like to attend as such as well. 'Twill enable him to be a more aware Governor after all.”
What a tactful way of saying that the young Count required some training! I fear I would have just blurted it out, but the Prince managed to do it much more diplomatically.
“That shall be no problem, I deem. We shall be able to give them ample notice in that case.
“Just to let you know, Your Highness, the Alderman, should he be required, usually rides down there on a wagon with the books and papers that we might need, whilst I – and sometimes Representative Jepp there – ride down on frayen with two or three guards. We time it so that we all arrive there for the evening meal. I usually conduct some meetings after that meal and before retiring, but confess that I wish I didn't have to.
“The following morning, the Alderman and I conduct the marriages first, if any, so that he might start his return journey in good time. He usually travels either on or alongside the Shuttle, which as we all know leaves at noon. I then, with the Representative if he is present, sit and judge the various problems and misdemeanours that require a legal opinion. I, we, then depart Brayview soon after noon or at the latest in the early afternoon and ride to Bezlet to inspect the developments there. Overnighting there or at the Roadhouse, we get back here to Town later the next day.”
It was only after the Assembly Meeting that I learnt that Master Jepp had been given the title 'Representative' to declare to all that he was the Steward's second in command.
His Honour turned back to Bezan: “I'm sorry, Master Bezan. We seem to have digressed slightly. You were reporting on the changes in Brayview?”
“Yes, Your Honour,” he said, with a hand wave to show he was not bothered. “I should actually take this opportunity to thank Mistress Julina there for sending her friend and employee downvalley, Mistress Gythy, for 'twas her suggestions as to many of the positionings and connections between the buildings in Brayview. She also suggested a wide Camping Place just outside the little cleft where the main buildings now sit, using your party as an example of a large group who might need overnight accommodation. She made similar suggestions as to buildings down in Bezlet as well, suggestions that are an improvement on those we had thought of ourselves.
“But to continue my descriptions at Brayview …
“The lane to Tamitil has now been completed, the tree-felling phase of it that is – that track is sufficiently wide for wagons to pass each other, but 'twould be a tight squeeze in places. However, it is not really practicable for wagons at the moment. Frayen riders are grateful though, since their journeyings have been so considerably shortened. The bed of this lane will now be smoothed and then a proper surface laid, as usual starting with the Michen Method. It is to be hoped that a usable wagon way shall be in place by the end of next month. Getting surfacing stone of the necessary quality will be the major delaying factor, although the Strettalm quarry continues to grow in output.
“I must mention that the flour mill arrangements you made are proving successful and ever more produce from there too is becoming available. I am given to understand that we are now in the happy position of starting to stockpile supplies up here in Town.
“Moving on now to Bezlet, but with the warning that soon I shall be referring once more to Brayview, then I can happily report that the building of houses there is increasing. Again Mistresses Julina and Gythy have provided good impetus in that location, and a workable and functioning Inn shall be opened in just a few days now. 'Tis to be called 'The Clay Pot', after the lately acquired knowledge of cooling things using pots made of clay. Available accommodation there though is quite limited compared to the Forest Roadhouse and Brayview.
“Talking of which, Bezlet is now starting to take some business away from the Forest Roadhouse, which is fully understandable. The Forest Roadhouse shall not suffer though, there is more than enough business for the two, and there shall be for the foreseeable future.
“It should be noted in passing, if I might be allowed the small joke, that the downvalley wagons that use Bezlet as their overnight stop, no longer call in at Brayview either, they are passing it by, but we deem that Brayview also shall not suffer, particularly since it is growing in importance as the second town of Blackstone County.
“Located as it is on the Chaarn Road, it shall certainly for a long while be an important point of contact for the developing area of Ptuvilend, for which the two Counts here at the back of the room are responsible. Some of Ptuvilend shall be under the aegis of Palarand and some under that of Vardenale. It is expected that Ptuvilend will extend at least to, and maybe even beyond, the final old Chivan fort up there. I must point out at this juncture that there is no direct built and maintained road across the peaks and valleys from Vardenale. So, certainly in the short term, the Chaarn Road shall be the major arterial route used to access that new land.
“As regards facilities in the smaller community of Bezlet, then I can report that a small and still somewhat crude Smithy has been established by one of Master Brydas' journeymen, and Masters Torin and Haldik have both despatched Journeymen to a shared workshop down there where they are kept more than busy with all the woodworking required.
“There are now two distinct areas of Bezlet; there is the village that hovers close to the Blackstone to Brayview road, and there is also the waterfront part, almost a separate village really, that is growing up around the dock area and the various construction projects down there, including the removal of the 'nose' from Kord Peak. I call this area the riverside end.
“On that riverside end of Bezlet much has happened recently. As mentioned, the removal of rock from Kord Peak continues, now perhaps a little quicker since a good footing has been established across the nearer stream's canyon. Nevertheless, it is still unlikely to be finished much before the end of next year, and to have a usable roadbed there will take longer still. Perchance the judicious use of some of your gunpowder, Your Honour, might hasten the works slightly. We would require the utmost care of course not to block either of the streams which flow on each side of the peak, and not to damage any of the other projects still on-going around that place, so I doubt that the free use of gunpowder will be advantageous.
“Following on from another of Julina's ideas, we have made a start at constructing a river crossing there. We have no fewer than three draw rope ferries already set up, and workers have crossed to start tree felling on the far bank. We hope to have some crop land over there planted before the rains. We have already three farmers who have expressed a wish of trying to tame the land over there on the West Bank, and one is scheduled to cross over there today with his family. We have shipped over there some of the pre-built house modules for them, but will have to leave them to select their preferred spot. We have stressed that they must eventually gain approval for their claims over there, they cannot expect to be given autonomous use of the entire river bank!
“We are definitely going to build a bridge across the river at the riverside end of Bezlet – maybe even as many as three bridges!
“One shall be for the future railroad, to enable it to connect easily to the West Bank and on to Tranidor, one shall be for the wagons we must be using as we await the railroad– maybe these two shall be a shared bridge between the two methods of transport and thus count just as one – and one shall be a footbridge.
“The routes these bridges shall take are effectively already dictated since we shall achieve it all by hopping between large, solid, ancient rocks stuck in the river course and that we have reinforced with the stone taken from the Kord Peak excavations. Working platforms have been established atop each of the four large rocks we shall be using, and a swaybridge is already finished connecting Bezletside to the first rock. I have hopes that the second shall be completed within the week.
“We await with interest to see the damage that the rainy season shall bring. We fervently hope that none shall occur, of course, but there is an argument that says we should delay building the sturdier bridges until we see that the foundations for it shall not be undermined.
“Barge traffic could be accommodated already, but there is none happening, nor is there likely to be anything for quite a while, since the tow paths do not exist as yet. Now we are working on the West Bank, there may be a chance for creating one over there, but as yet the details are unknown. Bargemaster Steef assures me though that one particular barge is under construction down in Haligo that, if the trials prove good, would not require tow paths at all – eventually! Of course, tow path pulling would still be available to it, but 'tis designed to be used without. We estimate there shall be a year from now before this amazing vessel shall be in proper service, so our draw rope ferry fleet can be expanded at least until then, since they shall not interfere with any other river traffic.”
He paused and mentally ticked off items from a list he carried in his head.
“Methinks, Your Honour, that is all from Brayview and Bezlet.”
“Thank you, Master Bezan. Representative Jepp, what is next on the agenda?”
“Finances, Your Honour.”
“Ah yes. If you would?”
My ears pricked up at the tone His Honour had used. This sounded to me like there might be something interesting about to occur.
Jepp cleared his throat whilst he shuffled a few papers in front of him, glancing through them, swift reading some, discarding some, eventually extracting two which he placed precisely in front of himself, their sides lined up exactly.
Only then did he stand, clear his throat once more and begin.
“Your Highnesses, Milords, Your Honour, Mistresses and Masters, valued guests, today is the 14th of Keruvil in the year 1175 since the Great Flood. I have this morning received from Master Schild the figures for the completed month of Pertulin this year – last month in other words. I am glad to be able to announce that the trend we have observed in recent months has continued. Receipts from the sales of our goods, being principally of course coal, but with a now noticeable rise in the sales of the stone products as the Stone Sea quarrying is ever waxing, have increased - and have this time increased more rapidly than our costs. Should this trend continue, I deem that we shall have a balance between income and expenditure by the end of this year. However, we must all remember that there is the rainy season to come in the not-too-distant future, so our income levels are likely to drop then.
“It is to be emphasised that Her Highness, our Liege Lady, has generously contributed to our accounts and that she has declared her wish to receive no income for herself from the levying of taxes. For which, we have expressed our gratitude and I formally mention it again here in the presence of her husband, Prince Keren of Palarand.”
He paused as all around the table uttered appropriate words and clapped. The Prince bowed his head in acknowledgement.
“However! Her Highness may not be levying taxes FOR HERSELF, but I deem we must consider the fact that the citizens of her lands should perchance be taxed in order to raise some income to pay for the community services such as the Country Guards and their barracks and so on, maintenance and funding of such things as roads, railroads, barges, bridges and the like. These surely cannot be forever more down to Her Highness' expense.
“Already the population of our Town has more than quadrupled from the level 'twas at when she first arrived here and I for one deem it unfair to expect that Her Highness should continue to pay for the construction of everyone's homes and all the rest. We shall have even more citizens arriving in the near future; should Her Highness pay also for them?
“At the time of her visit here last year, a census was taken so we know exactly who was here then; she made promises to those people. We can determine who has arrived since, and are therefore outside the scope of those promises.
“We must needs, I deem, consider this matter carefully and come to some conclusion at our next monthly meeting. Taxes are never a popular thing with the populace but I remain confident that all shall still be pleased since they shall be paying so much less than anywhere else they might go. We can always make refunds should we find we are over-endowed with coin. By levying a purely local tax, then our tax demands would be far lighter than anywhere else in the entirety of Palarand.
“So I shall mark this down as a discussion point for the next main monthly meeting. Please come prepared for it.”
At the rather abrupt silence, he turned just a shade redder in the face, but he sat back down, sitting on his seat with a stiff back, showing no repentance for his words. He simply showed that he was waiting for His Honour to take back control of the meeting.
I had glanced at His Honour and saw a few things happen which made some things clear to me.
One – I saw that he already knew that this statement was going to be made.
Two – Both he and the Prince nodded to each other so I was sure that those two at least had had some basic discussions on the subject.
And, three – He looked all round the table swiftly and smiled at something, fleetingly, but I know I saw it cross his features. My mind started furiously thinking of a way to find out what THAT was all about.
I did not have to wait long, though.
“It pleases me enormously that there has been no sign of shock, or horror, or resentment on any of your faces. Indeed, I remarked some nods of approval. As the Representative said, please come to the next main meeting, the monthly one, not any that might be called at short notice, with your ideas about taxation already formulated.
“Now, does anyone else have anything to say about the 'past and present'? Please speak now before we move onto what shall happen in the future in the various areas of our responsibilities.”
There was a silence which was broken by Mistress Lendra, somewhat hesitantly.
“If it pleases this Assembly, I have an observation to make regarding we healers. Actually, more than one. It is becoming clear that we are too few. And it is becoming clear that the Town is becoming too large. Yesterday, I personally was called to the Dam area in the morning and the Artisans' Area in the afternoon with four other requirements all over the closer Town. Of those six, only one was of any urgency. And then there were follow up visits to other cases. I had also scheduled some training time with one apprentice I have but that had to be cancelled. I have discussed this with the other healers who also have the same problems. We know not how to ease this situation. But it is becoming more and more urgent. Soon someone will need us and we shall not be readily available.”
The Steward replied: “We have sent downvalley a list of requirements for people we need here, and healers were near the top of that list. I have no better news however to give you. This is something we need to treat with a certain amount of urgency, I deem. Does anyone have any suggestions?”
All thought about it and I felt the stirrings of an idea. When no-one had said anything for several moments, I raised a hand a little diffidently.
“Mistress Julina?” said the Captain in acknowledgement.
“Now I am not saying that my situation is the same as those of our poor overstretched healers, but I have been thinking about ways to make my own life simpler, for I too am stretched in many directions. Once the Market Place Mansion is finished, I deem I can have a sort of office there for the mornings, and people who need to see me can come to me there. Most of my afternoons shall still probably be in the Salon. But would it not be possible for a healer to have a like arrangement? An office somewhere where minor ailments can be treated and where an apprentice could learn. And maybe that more or less permanently positioned apprentice could direct urgent cases to wherever the healer might be if they have been called away? I haven't thought this through of course as the whole thing has only just been raised, but maybe there is something along these lines that could work?”
The Steward shook his head and said: “I do NOT understand why we have not made use of women's talents for all these many years. Here is yet another instance of clear and simple thinking that would be of benefit. Mistress Lendra, what think you?”
“I deem that there is indeed a kernel of excellence in that suggestion. But how long would it be before something suitable could be built? And how would we decide where to put it?”
“Errm, Mistress Lendra,” I answered. “If you don't mind a little noise, I deem that the lower floor of the Frolicsome Frayen is basically finished with but little left to do. We cannot open it as an inn until the upper floor is completed, thus you could have part of that lower floor while your own place is being built. It would involve a certain amount of moving items currently stored there, but I dare say something could be managed relatively swiftly.”
Master B then said: “That would be an excellent suggestion. I can however report that soon the space there is scheduled to be used as storage for all the items of furniture that shall be required. Mayhap we could find somewhere else entirely for the furniture storage, but 'twould delay slightly the opening of the Frolicsome Frayen. Mistress Lendra?”
“That is almost a dream come true. I can scarce credit it. Thank you Julina. Let us all think of solutions, either for a 'Healers' Home' or for temporary furniture storage.”
“Make it so!” said the Steward. Several compliments were called my way, which managed to achieve a warming blush to my cheeks. I noticed Davabet looking at me with a certain amount of hero-worship. I would need to stamp that out as soon as I might. Her face changed as a thought hit her. She began to think furiously.
The Steward then called for anyone else with any other subjects that would fall under the heading of the 'past and present' category.
A moment or two of silence was broken by the Steward once more. “Very well. Now, Master Bezan has requested the presence of a guest or two today, to explain some new knowledge, or new ways of applying knowledge that has recently come to light. Master Bezan?”
“Your Highnesses, Milords, Your Honour, valued colleagues and guests. Indeed, some few things have come up recently which I deem shall change our thinking – again!
“We heard the reports of the Retreat a little while ago, so what I would like to address first is something, or, better said, some things, that came about because of events down there. To start with, I shall ask Mistress Senidet to speak.”
He gestured to her, then stood and exited the room, obviously intent on some task.
“Your Highnesses, Milords, Your Honour, Masters and Mistresses of the Assembly and valued guests. I wish to change your thinking about a few things, some gentle changes and a few more radical. But first, I shall explain how it came about.
“Down at the Retreat when we were there to test the facilities, Mistress Julina here was in charge, but stayed mostly in the kitchens. She did, I must emphasise, a superb job and she foresaw much that would happen and catered for nearly all eventualities by thinking things through in advance.
“However, in all the lists she drew up of expected requirements, she forgot a piece of kitchen equipment. Which was fortunate, since 'twas the lack of that which produced the thoughts behind most of what I am about to tell you.
“Between us, we came up with a design for something usable made from odd materials that we found down there. Master Bezan has actually gone out to fetch the device we devised that I might make some demonstrations to you. But I can tell you now that the fundamental idea I had had all my life of simple scales was quite thrown out.
“Whilst he is fetching the equipment, I must now mention two important characters who reside downvalley in the Palace. As I am sure you are all aware, Her Highness allocated certain responsibilities to certain people in the event she was called away for other duties. We all thought this was a remote possibility, but the actuality occurred.
“Your Highness, Prince Keren, please forgive me for pointing out that, in one way, it could be said that actually you are NOT in charge of Blackstone Lands. But as Her Highness was called away AFTER this journey was underway, then there is naturally some confusion as to currently actual roles. As we are all aware, Her Highness laid out what was to happen in the event of her being unavailable. Captain Bleskin here and you,” she gestured widely with one hand, “the Assembly, would continue to run the Blackstone lands, whilst Blackstone House, Blackstone Hotel and the development of Her Highness' ideas are under the 'rule' if you like of Mistress, nay Guildswoman or soon to be, I am sure, Guildmistress, Milsy and the governorship of Milord there, Count Terinar.
“Milsy – excuse me, I should say Guildswoman Milsy - invented the special clocks I have installed in the Bellringers' and in His Honour's house – and which I shall soon install in this very room – amongst other things. She and her husband, Guildmaster Tarvan, are the world's leading experts on electrics and I have learned much from them. They both have a heavy influence upon the things that I recently realised. Indee ...”
She broke off as Master B came in with our makeshift scales and placed it, them, on a table. There were murmurs of surprise as others saw the odd design for the first time. I looked closely, for I recognised that Senidet had 'improved' it by using better materials and things that only became available upon our return.
“Yes! Isn't it strange? I too, before this, had only ever seen scales where each side were two identical pans or whatever. And most of them balance over a pivot, or a sharp-edged metal bar. Mistress Julina here told me we could achieve the same result by dangling the pans on a cord over a beam. She then kicked my thought processes into action by explaining something obvious, but to which I had never given a thought – the two sides of the balance do NOT need to be identical items, just of identical weight!”
There were several murmurs as others round the table tried to grasp that concept.
“So that is what we have here. A pan, open, currently empty, nestling in a cradle so that items can be added to the pan with less difficulty. The cradle is dangling from this cord which rises to a beam on which we have a wheel. The cord passes over the wheel, which you can see is indented so the cord does not slip off, and the cord then descends to this hook here. Known weights can then be hung from the hook, and the objective is achieved. These leather pouches are weights we made up.
“But there is a problem here. The hook does not weigh the same as the pan in the cradle. How do we get around that? Quite easily actually. This pouch here, I have marked it but its size gives it away really, weighs the same as the pan and cradle.” She hung the pouch on the hook and the two sides then balanced.
There were a few gasps from the audience and a few murmurs of “How simple” and “Of course” and so on.
“But then Julina, your pardon, Mistress Julina, said something which only registered with me a few heartbeats later. And it is so basic, so fundamental, that my thinking immediately went along new and fresh channels, as will yours when you understand the principles.”
She paused and the audience all leant forward slightly in anticipation.
“Once balanced, it takes only a fingertip to raise or lower the item being weighed.”
She broke off again and looked expectantly round the table. At faces that were as blank as mine. Except, naturally, for Master B.
“It hit me then, like a bolt of lightning. Even our relatively small steam engines could THEORETICALLY lift a laden wagon!”
The shouts of 'Maker!' from the Guildmasters around the table were almost deafening. Senidet's call to them to quieten fell on deaf ears as the concept stirred up those men into excited discussions of the possibilities. It took the Steward's parade ground tones to re-establish some sort of order.
“Thank you, Your Honour!” She waited a moment or so more until everyone had finally settled down once again. “You must remember that I said theoretically. There are some practical difficulties. But they can be solved – over time – although I do see a quite major complication.
“Let me say for now that using ropes will be inadequate, for they stretch and so on. Guildmaster Tarvan, apart from his electrical duties, has also some responsibilities in the area of wire production. Not just electrical wire, but all the way up to thick things that have been named 'cables' and are made of twisted strands of steel. These can be used for not only rope-like pullings, hangings and danglings, but also as supports for walls and even for support of things like bridge posts and so on.”
Again, she paused.
“Or equipment to lift and lower laden wagons!”
She paused again just then, before going on to say: “But steel cables weigh a lot. How can we transport long enough lengths of cables with the wagons we have available right now? We would have to transport shorter bits and find some way to join those bits together to make a cable long enough. And that needs to be a neat join lest it is too fat to pass over the wheels we would employ, or too fat for any other cable … guides.
“Also, if we are to dangle all this from a beam, that beam must be sturdy enough for the strains. Remember it shall require to support twice the weight of a laden wagon, should we be weighing laden wagons! This will take time to develop, but I tell you now, it is POSSIBLE.
“When I visited one of the steelworks with Guildmaster Tarvan and Guildswoman Milsy, I saw the workers there using a steam engine to lift loads up to the heights they wanted. Those loads were not balanced so there was a finite limit as to the weight that could be carried. I asked one of the men there what they called that apparatus and he said 'Hissi' that is h,i,s,s,i. Afterwards I realised that I wasn't sure if he meant just the cage-like thing the load was in, or whether he meant the entirety, so I now refer to the entirety as a hissi.
“What this means, Your Honour, amongst many other things, is the earlier-arriving possibility of something that Her Highness wanted to make for you and Captain Merek. I heard her and Milsy talking one day and apparently there is a place called 'The Lookout' which takes a lot of getting to. Her Highness wanted to have a hissi that would speed up that process, and now ...”
She broke off as the Captain raised a hand, a question writ large upon her face.
“Ah! A heartbeat, please. I must needs remember something. Her Highness called it that not – let me see, 'twas a long while ago, in her early days even. She estimated 'twould take ten or twenty years if I recall properly. Now what did she name it?” He looked over at Prince Keren as if for help.
We all kept quiet whilst they thought.
Then His Honour said: “Levitator, was it? Something like that anyway.”
“Yes, I believe you have it Captain; if not exactly that, 'twas something very close to it. And I seem to recall she estimated ten to fifteen years.”
The Captain nodded in agreement. He continued: “But Mistress Senidet, to have that – which indeed would be a great boon – the steel cable would have to be so long, I deem we should not be able to support it let alone transport it.”
“Ah but, Your Honour, there is another solution. Again 'twas Julina who pointed out the way. For she made several weighings of smaller sizes to achieve the total she required. I realised then that the journey up the cliff there does not HAVE to be done all in one go. There could be several stages. Say lift the man to a ledge a quarter of the way up. Then the next stage gets up to the halfway mark, leaving from a few strides further along the first stage's ledge.”
“Ah!” breathed His Honour in appreciation, “and so on. Probably easier in construction too. Well done Mistresses Senidet and Julina. Well done indeed.”
“There is more, Your Honour. By not having to have a wagon being balanced by another wagon, we could ease the bottleneck at the dam. A small-in-size balancing weight would allow space perchance for a second pulley there. And we could also perchance build a new dam far more easily, being able to manipulate larger and heavier stones for example. And a new dam is to be recommended, but I must needs leave that for Master Bezan to explain.
“Taking now a slightly different tack for a little while, by using Her Highness' new numberings we have found out why the Chivans constructed their dam at a relatively wider part of the Vale. There is a far narrower part nearer Town, which would have been ideal, but our calculations show that the surface level there would have been just a stride or so too low to bring water to the Cistern. But that is no longer a requirement. With steam-engine driven pumps we can handle the water demands. And,” she added with a glint in her eyes, “as soon as all these foreigners have left the Community Hall, the water demands shall be so much less.”
Everyone laughed at that and Master Bezan pointed out that she herself was now one of those foreigners.
“And when we have a new dam, we can make the roads there so much better, more efficient. But I deem that priorities will be difficult to allocate. A problem which I know has been here forever!
“So I can safely say that a new dam is now a much closer possibility than it was last week. And the hissi at the Lookout. Or the 'Levitator'. Or whatever it is to be called.”
“Thank you, Mistress Senidet.” Master Bezan said as he took back the control of the meeting and swung round to address them, us, all.
“As she has so adequately demonstrated we have new options in the way that we think. And, as always, it means juggling priorities. We have much building going on and our carpenters and joiners are at full stretch. We require as much wood as we can fell, which is why I have directed that the planned railroad route be cleared as a priority, for there we shall not be replanting as Her Highness sensibly directed. This route you will remember follows closely the foot of the valley wall on the east from where the Forest begins up here, all the way down to Bezlet.
“With the arrival of gunpowder we are now much more able to cut a shallow incline from behind what we call the foot of Strettalm down to the main valley floor. By digging out a trench on the upper levels, the removed rock can be laid down below to create an inclined plane from the bottom of the excavated bit down to the valley floor proper. A bit like cutting out a sloping wedge of cake and then inverting it so we get one continuous plane.
“I would remind us all that we are now but weeks away from the rainy season and I would recommend that we now concentrate on matters that needs be finished before the rains or needs be protected from those rains. So we should for instance finish the buildings as far as we might so they are sealed from the precipitation. This means that no new builds should be commenced, except maybe the building to replace poor Wagras'. And we have to be careful that anything we do now shall not be washed away – for instance the inclined plane below Strettalm!
“Here in Town, all this means The Frolicsome Frayen, the Market Place Mansion and several of the planned buildings in the barracks area; not all of the buildings there will be able to be completed, so I deem we should not break ground for any more, but finish what we have. There are also several homes that could and should be completed in the areas between the Dam Road and East Street, and a couple between East Street and Main Street. I state now, plainly and openly, that I include the finishing of my own home in the list of priorities, but I shall make sure that that resides at the bottom of such a list.
“Over in the Artisans' Area, we shall NOT have time to complete fully the new road that runs along the north side of the west side, that runs from the 'Tree Refreshments' to the Stone Sea road. I deem we shall just about manage to have it all levelled, and at least the central stonework of a Michen Method road laid.
“We have made a start also on the Inn which is to be over there, the 'Stoop' as Mistress Julina has named it. We shall be able to definitely finish the ground floor of the main building, and the stabling and outrooms including the kitchens and bath houses. We shall try to add the upper floor to the Inn, but reserve the right to cancel that if other works shall cause delay. The lower floor shall at least be covered before the rains, with windows installed ...”
That was the greater part of what Master B had to say and the Assembly accepted his reports with both thanks and enthusiasm.
Others spoke on varying other matters, Em was particularly interesting to me as she reported what the citizens were reporting to her. Eventually, the meeting was winding down.
The Captain was just shuffling some notes and I knew he was about to introduce a new topic.
Davabet leaned forward to me at that point and whispered something in my ear which made me hastily raise my hand for attention.
“Mistress Julina?”
“If it pleases you Your Highness, Milords, Your Honour and worthy Assembly members, my companion here has just whispered to me a suggestion for a solution to a problem from earlier. She has recently been able to wander the Town and had learnt, seen, observed much. Davabet would like to make a suggestion regarding the siting of the Healers' House.”
All attention was turned upon Davabet, who blushed and blanched at the same time, not something I had hitherto believed to be possible.
Tremblingly she said: “Oh no. I couldn't! I'm not worthy of this attention.”
“Oh come, Mistress Davabet.” said His Honour encouragingly. “If you have something that Mistress Julina deems worthy of saying, please do. We shall not laugh at you, nor tear you limb from limb. We welcome suggestions. Please tell us.”
I held her hand tight as she trembled, on the verge of tears. I nodded at her and we could all see her screw up her courage.
“Errrrmm … there is a … there exists … a … a ... passageway ...”
She faltered back down to silence once more, her handing gripping mine so tightly I was sure I would never get any blood back into it.
“Go on,” I said in my best soothing motherly voice. “You can do this! Just pretend you're telling me or Surtree or your parents over the family table.”
Lendra came across to her and hugged her whilst asking: “Where, child? Where have you spotted?”
“'Tis 'twixt the Miners' Hall and their Kitchens and Showers. I imagine that a roof could easily be placed over that and ...”
Davabet started crying and sat down with a thump.
Even Lendra and I started crying when the entire company rose and applauded my new-found companion.
Davabet's first ride in the country culminates in surprising conversations
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.
“Maker! This is completely and utterly ridiculous! Here we are being all formal amongst ourselves when the only 'stranger' with us is an under-age girl! I am fed up with this Mistress this and Mistress that.” She pouted in a way that I was sure many men would find attractive, but I knew her well enough that this was no flirtatious mannerism, just frustration tinged with a dash of amusement. “Davabet, you had better call me Sookie. But if you find you really insist that you need to keep the Mistress, then I warn you that we shall amongst ourselves drop all that nonsense.” She waved her hand as she spoke to include the other adults.
“And I am Pomma, and will be so to my friends. I too cannot stand calling Sookie 'Mistress Sukhana' when we have been friends for a long while now!”
“And I am Michet, but Em will do. Feel free to carry on calling me Bailiss or Mistress but amongst the four of us, I too find all the Mistressing laborious and boring. Please release me, release us, from the necessity of calling our friends with their titles every time you are around.”
Davabet coloured slightly and, at first hesitantly, said: “Er … Bailiss ... Mistresses ... I find I cannot use your given names, nor your bynames. Certainly not so soon; I deem I shall not feel in the slightest comfortable doing so - not at least until I achieve my majority, and maybe not even then! But I do so heartily agree that you should not have to be so formal amongst each other just because I, a stranger, am present. That social custom seems to me to be extremely silly.” She looked a little scared that she had been so forthright with so many of her 'elders and betters'.
“Well that's a start at least. You do your parents proud, young lady! They have brought you up very correctly.” Sookie had a twinkle in her eye though as she continued: “I'll wager however that you don't make it to your majority before your correctness slips!”
She looked slyly round at the other two and winked – and they winked back. I knew right then that they would add pressure to Davabet to make her adopt a more informal attitude before the year was out!
I didn't count, of course, for I had already insisted – pulling the 'I am the boss' attitude – that she was to do the same as Surtree and was to call me Julina or even the simpler 'Lina.
Sookie continued: “Young Parry, Goodman Parrier to you of course, tells me that riding-wise you have some natural ability accompanied by a lot of guts and determination. So how are you enjoying your first frayen ride out into the country rather than around my paddock? I doubt I have heard of anyone making such a foray after a mere four days! And, I deem, that is on a borrowed saddle?”
“No Sookie, NOT a borrowed saddle, as it happens!” Pomma jumped in. “I sort of persuaded Waldan to lend a priority to making hers. I suggested strongly that he might prefer it if I stayed at home a bit more often rather than get dragged off by Julina every time she needed to go somewhere.” She giggled and blushed slightly. “We were in bed at the time and he seemed to enjoy my message.”
We all laughed, even Davabet, who was torn between finding it funny and being shocked. We were only women in this little group, so our chats became a little different than those would be with a more mixed company. Davabet told me much later that she was tickled pink to be involved in such intimacy and yet wistful, since she felt she was unlikely to ever have such a relationship herself.
“Well I congratulate you,” said Sookie to Pomma and then directed her questions once more to Davabet. “Four days is very quick, I deem that tonight you will feel the muscles. Don't worry too much, after a couple of days more, the muscle strain will have worn off. Tell me truly now, how are you finding it? The riding? Should we need to take extra precautions or anything?”
“Mistress Sukhana, it has long been one of my dearest wishes to be able to ride a frayen and I never thought 'twould ever be possible. But, if I might be serious for a moment here - be open as Mistress Julina has drummed into me that I must be under such circumstances - then I must needs say something that might be a trifle awkward.”
She paused embarrassedly, but then, with a deep breath, took the plunge and launched into what she had to say: “Please understand from the outset that I do appreciate the care and concern you have for me. But that very exaggerated care is, I regret to say, something I find a little offensive. I must work on that I suspect, but I truly need to say this now.
“You all are treating me gently and so on, unlike the way you treat others - Surtree for example - and all that is achieving is a certain highlighting of my deformity. I would plead with you all to just stop being more protective of me than you are of others. Now, I concede that I might be being overly sensitive, but I would remind you I have had a lifetime of scorn, ridicule and derision. Anyone who treats me differently just seems to be pointing out the fact that I AM different.”
She used the back of her hand to cuff away an incipient tear or two. She smiled a little tremulously just then.
Em said slowly and reassuringly: “I too have an awkward arm, for I was injured in the fight in the Vale alongside Her Highness' forces, so I appreciate very much what you are saying. I too found pity and sympathy difficult to accept. Do not be too harsh upon us, for we mean well. I assure you that before long, none of us shall even notice it, once we get more accustomed to you and your presence.”
Davvy's face registered a certain disbelief at that, but also gratitude for Em's words. She took a breath again and stated: “Phew! I have got that of my chest at last and will now answer your questions as best I might.”
We had all been struck into a contemplative silence by her and Em's words, so it was somehow shocking when she continued along another thread's direction.
“Riding is WONDERFUL.
“I am aware of how privileged I am. I look forward to shocking my parents some day soon with my prowess. Even today, I have seen more of the lands around where we live than they have probably seen in years. I hope this awe I feel never fades. I would never have believed all that has happened to me in the last four days. I have learnt to ride, I have met so many kind people, I have discovered I seem to have a talent for numbering, I have learnt some kitchen skills, some business skills, some planning skills. And I know there is much much much much much much more to come.
“I attended that Assembly Meeting as a frightened, naïve and untrained young girl – I deem, a mere four days later, that I am so much more adult now than I was then. And there is, I am aware, so much more to go. I fear the end of my week's trial, I would not want Mistress Julina – yes, I must be formal here – to end our association.”
I laughed: “I think that you passed everything on your first day with your brilliant suggestion as to placing the temporary Healers' House. That applause you got was well-deserved and never again think that they were just being kind. Nor pandering to your arm.”
“What is this?” asked Pomma, with a hint of shock in her voice, as well as a lot of inquisitiveness.
'Twas Em who replied. “At the last big Assembly meeting, Julina made a suggestion which was adopted as so many of hers are. The problem was finding somewhere for it to be placed temporarily whilst a dedicated building was to be built. Davabet made a brilliant suggestion as to the location of this temporary structure which was so simple, so cost effective and so appropriate that the entire Assembly and the Princes and Counts stood and applauded her. An element of that applause was also because she had also shown great courage in actually addressing the Assembly Meeting on her very first day of employment, even whilst being the youngest person there.”
She went on to explain the problem, my solution and then where Davabet had suggested.
Pomma and Sookie then also applauded her, Sookie saying: “You are a lot stronger than you yourself believe, young lady!”
Em then went on to explain further that Master Bezan had followed up by telling the meeting that they had always intended to lay a wooden walkway in that passageway, so that walkway, once done, could be the basis for a temporary floor; two walls would not be needed since they could utilise the outer walls of the two neighbouring buildings, and a simple back wall could be easily removed once a permanent home was completed. The front wall would have a door naturally and both front and back walls would be as well pierced by windows as to allow as much light to penetrate as they could get away with. Of course, some activities in there would be best if they remained private, so the windows would have to have adequate curtaining. And the two windows, one from each of the other buildings, that would otherwise intrude upon the privacy would needs be curtained off as well.
“Ah!” said Pomma. “That's why those tarpaulins were thrown across that gap. And a small host of busy workers. I saw them earlier when I went to fetch our household bucket of coal. The tarpaulins I assume would be to keep the worksite dry while the building goes on.”
“Shall those tarpaulins be a temporary roof, or shall there be a more solid wooden and shingle one?” asked Sookie.
“Even in the rainy season, we are at a sufficiently high altitude that we don't get that much rain, certainly when compared to downvalley. How they can tell I have no idea, but 'tis said that we get half the amount of rain that Tranidor does. So we are hoping the tarpaulins shall be sufficient. Winds might be a problem though.”
“Is the location of the permanent home known?”
“Indeed it is, Sookie. A swift discussion concluded that the Wagras site, which has already been cleared ready for a new building to be erected there, shall have its new construction expanded slightly. It shall be shaped such that one wing shall be parallel to Main Street and one parallel to the south side of the Market Place, reaching along almost to the level of the Shuttle Shed. That Market Place side, the Market Place wing if you like, shall consist of a large office for the Valley Messenger Service, particularly as they have now been given the semaphore services too. Above that shall be four or five rentable bedrooms, bedrooms only. It is thought that those that stay there shall be accommodated only temporarily whilst other accommodation is found for them. They can eat and bathe and so on either in the Miners' Hall or in the Frolicsome Frayen.
“The Main Street wing of that new building was originally going to be a short, stubby wing for storage of the Messenger Service records and the like, but after 'twas decided to supply a Healers' House, that wing has now been designed to extend a little further to the south, the storage room shall be a little shorter than first designed, but can now spread to the new upper level there. The southern end shall be allocated to the Healers, with an upstairs component too.”
“Maker! That seems … sudden somehow. And why does Master Selden wish to move his Messenger stuff?”
“With the semaphore now part of his remit, and with the many citizens now spreading out along the Loop Road in the Miners' Villages, that would be more central for him. And being central shall be an advantage for the healers too.”
“Makes sense,” added Pomma, sounding wise after a heartbeat or two of thought.
Sookie said: “Ah! That's why Brydas has been busy with some new and sturdy locks recently!” Then she had another thought. “What shall happen to the old Messenger building?”
“That we don't know yet. Mayhap someone would find a use for it and ask for it. We have a few weeks before we are half-way through the year, and the town's inhabitants are expected to keep increasing at least until just before the rains.”
I started thinking for some reason, probably because she mentioned the half-way point of the year, of the upcoming town festival to be held on the Longest Day. The Assembly had sensibly declared that there were so few farmers up here nowadays, there was little point in having a Harvest Festival as was more traditional, particularly elsewhere! His Honour then suggested that we have instead a day-long festival on the Longest Day which was voted in unanimously by the Assembly. I deem the townsfolk greeted the announcement with approval.
An idea stirred in my head just then, so I blurted out one of my usually half-baked suggestions: “Sookie! Now there shall be that major celebration upon the Longest Day, we caterers are going to have to provide for the entire population. Mayhap WE should request that building and use it as a sort of preparation kitchen for us all? There would be good space for the many zeers we shall need, and space for all the vegetables and fruit to be prepared. 'Tis silly that all our many kitchens, we should include Yanda of course and the Miners', shall all do the same thing separately when we can do it jointly.”
“That sounds as if it bears considering, 'Lina. But now you have mentioned them, tell me some more about these zeers, about any new uses you might have found. You use them far more than we do in the Claw. I understood the basics when you explained before, but has your actual usage brought about any new knowledge or even improvements?”
I explained in a little more detail to be sure Davvy and Pomma would understand more readily: “As you know, they are clay pots, one inside another with sand filling the gap between them. Davvy, we have discovered that food, when kept cool, lasts much longer than if not cooled. This you shall appreciate enables us to prepare dishes a day or so in advance, which eases our burdens on the night of serving.”
She nodded as she took that information in, I could see her intelligent mind working at it. Pomma uttered a quiet “Ah!”
Meanwhile Sookie had obviously been thinking a little more about the 'old' VMS building and my new-born idea: “As regards using a sort of communal kitchen, 'Lina, you may be onto something there. 'Twould make it easier for deliveries too, probably. At this time of year, that brick-built building is a lot cooler than all the wooden buildings we use. We should talk with Mousa and the others when we get back, oh, and I suppose also to whoever His Honour has nominated to be the co-ordinator of the Longest Day event.
“I gather you never had much of a Harvest Festival day up here anyway. I wonder what it shall look like with the entire town's citizenry gathered ...”
I needed to interject then: “Right, ladies. We are nearly to the Fish Farm, let us drop this subject for now and return to it later. Davabet needs to learn about this.” I turned to her. “Davvy, this is our Fish Farm and the entrance we need is over here ...”
… … …
BOOM!
Our frayen all jerked nervously and for a heartbeat I thought that our new girl was going to fall, but she and her animal rapidly reached an accommodation so nothing untoward happened.
We all looked up at the valley wall above the lake we were just riding away from. We saw a cloud of dirty smoke way up there, and some other dusty clouds from further down the narrow canyon. They were using that gun-powder stuff to widen the canyon to provide an alternative route into the Vale. I assumed the dusty clouds were where the blasted-out rocks were tumbling down.
“I hope they don't disturb the fish lake,” said Pomma, “or block off its water, or something.” She beat me to saying it, for that was a concern to me too.
“I am sure they have thought of that,” replied Em reassuringly. But I would wager she will go to Master Bezan at the first opportunity and mention it. I was becoming an expert on reading her face and tones.
“At least,” I said, “we know there won't be another of those noises for a while. They will have to work at clearing what they just blasted and then ...”
BOOM!
Another little jiggling moment atop the animals.
I turned round and yelled up at the mountainside: “Thanks for making a liar out of me! Grrrr!”
Davvy started giggling first but soon we were all at it. I swear the frayen joined in too, in a frayenish way.
“Right then Davabet. Tell us your impressions of your first days. And don't spare Julina any blushes. We all enjoy it when we make her blush!”
I kept my tongue still as she went through each of the previous four days. The others seemed to think we had done so much, but it all seemed normal to me. And my new companion also seemed to take it all in her stride.
Then I was asked to speak. “To return to the subject, tell us more about these clay pots for keeping food cool, you must favour them if you have named one of your Inns after them!” said Sookie as we drew near the bridge at the bottom of Main Street. “Where shall I get some? Are they being produced in numbers?”
“Davvy, you will recall that we have found that we can prepare food and, depending upon what it is, keep it stored for up to four days and still be edible. It seems the cooler the better, the longer. Senidet tells me that they are working on another device, some machine or other that has one of those lectric motors she keeps going on about and which will do a similar job, but with much larger capacity. But these are still some years away from becoming available. As for production of zeers round here, I know not of any. These all were shipped upvalley.”
“Talking of Senidet, did I see her working in your Salon yesterday?” Sookie enquired, changing the subject herself.
“Indeed you did. She has installed a funny thing on the wall she calls a clock, but 'tis nothing like any clock I have seen up at Kelly's. It has no fewer than five of those wires she uses for her lectrics. And ...” I said, raising a hand to forestall the obvious question “... no, I have no idea for what those five wires are used. She says there is a similar clock installed also in the Steward's house.
“If I was honest, I would be forced to admit to being reluctantly impressed; I say reluctant for I find it all just a little bit … new … for my personal comfort. Which is strange, since nearly all of what I consider my home town is now new, and I am far more accepting of that!
“But back to this clock thing. There are two things she calls dials on it, the one on the left I am beginning to understand now. It is astonishingly accurate with the bells and I am beginning to learn to not listen for the bells themselves, I can just read what time it is by looking at the wall. There is a number which says which bell period we are in, and a mark to show how far through that bell period we are; a little indicator shows whether they are day bells or night bells which I find a little too much - after all, you only have to look outside to see whether 'tis dark or not.
“Kelly tells me her family listened to what Senidet had to say and totally disbelieved her. Senidet persuaded them to try it for a week, and in that time they were converted to this method of keeping time. They tested it at every bell ring for an entire week and could find no fault. Kelly privately told me that they suspect this lectric clock thingy is more accurate than their one. And that's the one we have been using in this town for years and years and years.
“I am, as I said, impressed. Our dial changed the bell number every time exactly as the bells were rung, and the quarter bells were accurately sounded.”
“You mentioned there were two dial whatsits on the wall though. What of the second?”
“Oh that! I just don't quite understand it. I feel I will do so at any heartbeat but 'tis too strange for me as yet. Her Highness' homeland uses a different system for timekeeping. They start their day at midnight!”
As expected, I got a few gasps of reaction to that statement.
“Their system counts the time after midnight, having divided up the day into twenty-four things they call hours. So twelve hours from midnight to noon, every day. And twelve again from noon to midnight. They call all the hours between midnight and noon 'the morning hours' even when it's not morning, when it's still dark! And those hours are divided up into sixty things called minutes. This dial on the right shows both the hours and the minutes, or it will do once I am used to it. But 'tis too much of a strain to try to use it during my days just now, I am far too busy with other tasks to try to concentrate on something that is relatively irrelevant.
“But I must say, their system is exactly right when it comes to our noon and midnight. And it does seem to be easier to count up to twelve and not worry about dawn being at a different time the next day.
“I confess it is something I've known about for a while now, and I have the feeling I have need of just one tiny little fact and the whole thing will fall into place.
“But that tiny little fact is most annoyingly elusive, I can tell you!
“Ah! We're here at the Claw. Davvy, how are you feeling? Could you ride for another half bell? We are back a little earlier than we intended, we could ride up to the Market Place, have a look at the work going on at your suggestion, show Sookie the Mansion and then come back down East Street. How about that?”
“I should like that, as long as it doesn't cause problems?”
“Come then ladies, let's away to the Market Place.”
We went up Main Street and gawped at the Messenger buildings, both old and new, not that there was much to see of the new one, just small marking stakes jutting out of the soil. We noticed a crowd gathering round the Auction Hut so we quickly went the other way to inspect the passageway Davvy had suggested, there being far fewer people around than normal. I deem we were all taken somewhat aback to see that the wooden flooring was almost already complete. Even as we gawped, a wagon arrived, laden with wall units. We caught a few disgruntled glances so we decided 'twas time to keep out of the workers' way.
We skirted round the Shuttle Shed and approached my Mansion, but could not get very near to it. Our way was blocked - no, that's wrong, it wasn't blocked exactly, we could still make progress, but carefully as there was a great throng there, all intent on watching something. We, being mounted, had a better view and could see that some mats had been laid on the ground by the Auction Hut, between there and the low wall before the barracks. On those mats several of the soldiers appeared to be tumbling about like acrobats, but slightly differently.
Wait a heartbeat! Surely that was Surtree, one of them, wasn't it?
Just then, a whistle blew and the men – and boys – all stood up. Some stood to attention off to one side whilst ten or a dozen – no 'twas indeed ten – lined up on the mat into pairs facing each other a stride apart, Surtree was paired with a man nearly twice his size, it seemed to me, the two of them being closest to us. There came a further whistle blow after which they all bowed to their partner, in a very graceful but obviously formal way.
And then it happened. Shocking us all into gasps with its suddenness.
I watched in fascinated terror as the large man rushed at Surtree. I was convinced that the poor lad would be splattered to the ground, but he stood there calmly watching the oncomer, someone who was so comparatively large. The man's arm darted forward... and suddenly the attacker was flying through the air and landing on his back! The entire crowd gasped. Then gasped again at another pair of fighters doing similar things. All in all, the hand of pairs of fighters were in constant motion, so gasps seemed to come every few heartbeats. I looked at the crowd and saw they were mostly women, the men I assumed being at their workplaces.
Pomma too had noticed that for I heard her ask herself: “Are there any men here?”
The Surtree pair stopped their sparring, stood together and bowed, first to each other and then to the crowd. They turned sharply and marched off the mats. Another pair then came from the side to take their place. They too bowed to each other and then they too tried to beat each other to death! This went on for a little while, other pairs going off and coming on, all of them bowing then beating. I recognised Jerk's landsmen amongst them, which made me realise I must go and see Jerk, to smooth things over, to get back to a normal respectful relationship unhampered by passion.
Suddenly a great gasp went up and a silence fell temporarily. My attention shot back to the mats. It took me a little while to work out why, but then I realised that one of the newcomers was His Highness, our Prince Keren himself. And surely… yes, that was the other Prince, that Torulf one. The other pairs had all vacated the mats and this pair of Princes proceeded to wrestle each other, each throwing his opponent through the air on several occasions. It was fast and furious and used up nearly all the mat space.
We watched fascinated as they went through their routines. Each time one of them landed after being thrown, whether 'twas on their back or on their sides or front, they simply fluidly rolled and sprang back to their feet, bouncing up and down, hands half raised, ready for the next grapple. I must say, watching particularly Prince Keren being thrown about aroused in we watchers a strange mix of emotions, anger that someone would dare to attack our future King and yet enjoying one of the 'nobs' being treated roughly. The skill these two showed was apparent to us all.
After a dozen or so throws each, some in combination, the Princes bowed to each other and then Torulf marched off the mat, to be replaced by four men, all very large. They bowed to each other and to Prince Keren.
And then all four attacked the Prince at once!
No-one gave the Prince a chance but in an eyeblink or two, he threw all four of them and stood proudly, clearly the victor.
The entire show had lasted I would guess a quarter of a bell and it had finished with the Prince against these four others. The crowd gave a huge cheer and began to disperse.
Then an event occurred that I only then realised that I had been secretly hoping for; although I must say that I was unprepared for the consequences.
“Davabet? Is that you?”
Her head shot round towards the voice. She smiled proudly. “Indeed, Mother, 'tis I.”
“Oh my darling girl!” said the woman - before bursting into copious tears.
… … ...
“I suppose I understand your words, Mistress Talbet, but must say that I find the concept a little bizarre. Just as you seem to find my concept a little bizarre.”
We were standing in the west wing of the ground floor of the Frolicsome Frayen, a name that many already simplified to simply 'The Frayen'. Sookie had left with Pomma and they had both kindly taken the animals down to the Claw with them, Sookie promising us that just this once she would arrange for their desaddling and grooming, and would not be forgetting the tit-bit giving.
Thus allowing Davvy, her mother, Em and I to have a chat. As we were approaching the Frayen, we met Epp as well and she would not be unwelcome in the discussions that I knew were about to take place, so I took her arm and dragged her with us, after of course ensuring she had the requisite time so to do.
After all the introductions, I started matters off by saying: “Mistress Talbet, it is an honour to meet the person that has brought up Davabet so well. She was a wonderful accident to meet, and – even though we have only worked together for a few days – I look forward to many more days and weeks, months or years even. I deem we have compatible personalities and outlooks.”
“But Mistress Julina, I am worried about her.” She held a hand up to stop my immediate response. “Let me say outright, from the very start, that I am overjoyed that she has at last found a job and not only that, one with such an apparently reputable employer. Yes, I have made some enquiries! I am impressed with your involvement in this Accommodation business and I understand that expensive dining room that is known as the Salon also employs you ...”
I was about to correct her there when Epp grabbed my arm and shook her head in gentle warning.
“... I and her father had begun to doubt that anyone would be able to see her good qualities beyond her affliction, so I was already more than a little tearful that someone finally had done just that. I am aware of my child's hopes and dreams, so 'twas even more emotional for me to see her astride a frayen, knowing that she has wanted to do that, at least since we have seen your group of women most mornings, if not longer; I for one could never see any possibility of her fulfilling that dream, even if she DID manage to gain employment. Although I too would ride 'twere it possible, I have never considered that as a possibility, it being far beyond our financial circumstances.
“It is of course now suddenly very different for me. For all her life, I have had Davabet with me throughout the day. So this is all such a shock I have had to cope with. Nevertheless, I am worried for and about her. Surely you work her, and by extension yourself, far too hard. There are but twenty bells of a day and seven of them should purely be for rest. Davabet has scarce had six bells at home each day since she started with you. Are we to expect this to continue?”
I actually laughed then. “I can understand that you are a mother and I understand too the naturally motherly instincts you must have. The fact is ...”
“You?! How on Anmar can you know what a mother feels? You are far too young.”
“Well, the thing ...”
“Hold, Mistress Julina! Allow me to answer for you.”
Mistress Talbet turned to face Epp, an eyebrow raised in question.
After Epp gave her a far too flattering account of my life which raised gasps and shocked exclamations from both of the relative strangers (there were details in there that Davabet did not know as well), Mistress Talbet turned back to me with a certain sympathy in her eyes: “I apologise, Mistress Julina – you DO know something of being a mother. However, I still deem that you are working yourself and Davabet too hard. And until just now, I was unaware that you were there at the outset of the Salon, I had heard that 'twas the woman whose house 'tis in, and she tried several people, one of whom stole from her. I assume your task has been to put her ideas into place, but confess I fail to understand why she has not done this herself.”
Both Em and I couldn't stop our lips twitching into a little smile, but Talbet's attention had been diverted to her daughter so she missed our facial antics.
“Mother! That is unfair. For me to do properly the job for which I have been hired, then there is much to learn. Particularly in these early days. 'Twill not always be so. Mistress Julina, I have been told, gives herself at least one free day every week. And the Salon is closed one day a week too – in fact 'tis actually the day today. We must needs go there soon to help with the restocking and so on.”
“So this is no free day for her, even though the Salon is closed this evening?”
It was time, I deemed, for me to take back some control. “Mistress Talbet, at the moment Davabet is having intensive training in frayen riding. This is because my REST is also gained by having morning rides around the nearby countryside with a group of friends; you have already mentioned that you have seen us quite often. There is much for us to see on those rides, for example much to compare with last week, last month and so on. Once Davabet is accustomed to riding for longer periods of time, then she shall be invited to come along with us – it shall not be a part of her work. I deem that soon, once she has gained the basic training required in the many subjects in which I require of her to develop some skill, then her working day shall probably be from noon to midnight, something like that – surely that is not too much?”
“Hmmph! We have always maintained that a healthy life was seven bells of sleep, seven of work and the rest for family activities.”
“A very noble aim towards which to strive! I however am young and not yet settled. I wish to create what I can now while this great opportunity exists. I said many months ago that there is here an enormous scope and much opportunity for those prepared to work hard. So I deem a little hard work now will set me up for the rest of my life. Maybe, when I have found my man and I settle down to raise a family, I shall have put aside enough coin for us to live on comfortably.”
“But surely a woman, being the only one capable of doing so, should have the job of breeding as her primary function?”
“I suppose I understand your words, Mistress Talbet, but must say that I find the concept a little bizarre. Just as you seem to find my concept a little bizarre.”
In an attempt to change the subject, for 'tis possible that Em detected a slight tautness in my voice, she then asked Mistress Talbet about herself.
“Ah! Well 'tis only fair, I deem, to reply likewise, having heard the young mistress' story.
“I began in Teldor itself. Regretfully, the names of neither my father nor my mother are known. I was brought up by a family who gave me sufficient loving for me to still miss them. They were merchants, quite well off, and she had nearly lost her life when she gave birth to a young girl named Lisabet. Lisabet did not long survive, and I was found in a crib by the roadside a week later. They named me Talbet, the 'bet' part of the name meaning something to her. I continued the tradition, as you can readily appreciate,” she added with a little smile and a nod towards Davvy.
“I helped my father a little with his books for I had pestered him to learn to write. I confess I find numbering difficult with the old numbers, but Davabet tells me there are new numbers, and they make it all a lot easier. I shall endeavour to learn them as soon as I might. I appear to have many more bells for myself now my daughter deserts me for the most part of the day!
“Sadly, my father went to his pyre when I was still a minor. Mother went into his office to bring him some pel and he was just sitting there in his chair, totally white and cooling. Somehow everything just suddenly stopped. Mother was not capable, perhaps confident would be better said, of keeping his work going. So the business was sold to another, leaving Mother enough money to never have to work again.
“But she couldn't do that. So she opened a guest house, just to have company of an evening I suspect. We certainly worked hard in that period, but 'tis where I learnt that there must be time for family and not constant work.
“However, 'twas also there where I met my man. By that time I had achieved my majority and Dilligas was a regular boarder with us whenever his barge was in port. We wed, but I basically stayed at home while he was away. This went on for a year or two. Eventually, Mother grew tired of the constant demands of a guest house and chose a quieter lifestyle. I had remained with her throughout, since my man was away a lot. She helped me through my pregnancy and the awkward delivery. Dear Davabet has been a joy to me but, simply because of her arm, she suffered terribly from other children her own age, and from some adults too.
“Dilligas was persuaded to invest his time and most of my and my mother's money in a new barging company, but that business just never quite got going, and the company that had started with such high enthusiasm and such great hopes soon folded. 'Tis a mystery to us to this day why the collapse came so suddenly.
“The bullying of Davabet got more and more, Dilligas needed work and there was now none on the river, so he became a labourer. My mother went to her pyre soon after. We sold the house and Dilligas had the luxury for a while of taking more care to find a suitable position of employment. But somehow the right job never materialised. Since then, we have moved three or four times, hoping that something better would come up to ease our poor daughter's burden.
“And so we finally arrived here, for we heard that there were many jobs going up here, and the conditions were good, taxes non-existent. Dilligas is now on the road-building team, but I know he still really wants to work on water. He has sacrificed himself for us, his family. His coin is adequate, but barely more than that. We were so pleased that Davabet found a job at last, not just for her and her peace of mind, but also for some easement of our finances.
“But we are both uneasy that she has been so completely taken away from us. We have gone from full to empty overnight!”
I caught sight of Em and Epp. Both signalled with their eyes that they wanted to talk. My heart dropped for I guessed that they wanted me to unload myself of Davabet. And that would be hard for me, but so much more difficult for the poor girl. More eye-speak meant that Epp and I withdrew for a few moments, leaving Em talking to the other two.
Standing in the next but one room, Epp and I started talking about the mother rather than Davvy, much to my relief.
“She has experience of guest housing! And has already mentioned empty days. I deem there is a resource we could use! Have you already ideas about the staffings we shall require?”
My mind raced, for I had not been expecting this change of subject.
“Speaking only of Meglina,” I started, “then I was wanting your confirmations of my initial findings and awaited your suggestions too. We have the Frayen to staff, and the Stoop over at the Artisans' Area.”
“Indeed. I deemed there to be a few suitable people about whom I was going to talk to you on the morrow. But hold a heartbeat or two. I detect another thread there in your words, you said 'speaking of Meglina'. Do you have other requirements too? That are similar to what we need for Meglina?”
“That I have, Epp. My Consociation will require staff too. I deem that we shall require a housekeeper for the students and then someone to deal with the little shop/cafe, toilets, general cleaning and so on. Maybe she or he shall be in overall charge of the entire building, with the student housekeeper under, but running a separate … division if you like.
“I worked recently with Venket and her mother Darna, down at the Retreat – which may also soon develop into something Meglina should concern itself with – and Venket is a gifted teacher. She must needs continue learning at the Salon, but she has a way with students that neither of us could better. I see her teaching the Consociation students the basics, and her mother being the mother figure to the students, dealing with them, arrivals, overnighting, breakfasting, departures – she did that well down at the Retreat.”
“Why would you not have Darna do all you require in that building?”
“She is lightly, but still painfully, crippled by the treatment she received at her man's hands.” I felt and heard my voice rising, so I clamped down hard on my emotions. “She was at the limit of her abilities down there, physically, and to ask her to do all that is required in my Mansion would be too much. But I deem her also to be too valuable not to offer a position to. So I was hoping that she will accept when I offer her the job at the Consociation whilst at the same time sort of holding her in reserve for Meglina – somewhere! Maybe a sort of mother to the girls who shall come for weddings, I was thinking, for those women tend to get more and more scatterbrained the closer it gets to their wedding day!”
Epp snorted at that and then quickly returned to the matter at hand: “My insides say that this Talbet is someone we need. But where and what leaves me still uncertain.”
“I concur, dear Epp. I feel we MUST harness her abilities, just as I do those of Darna.”
“She has no idea that we have just interviewed her for employment, has she?” Epp remarked and we grinned at each other.
We went back in and heard Em talking animatedly about the future of Blackstone County: “… so we will have so much more traffic, and this railroad I mentioned, why 'tis announced that HERE will be where an important part of it is developed - in all of Palarand, Blackstone has been chosen. The Palace declared that we are remote enough to cause least inconvenience and therefore we shall be at the forefront of that task. Even more workers shall soon be sweeping in to what shall be in effect a proving ground.
“Down in Bezlet itself shall also be a proving ground, but this time for ...”
I gasped, grabbed Epp's hand and dragged her out again, leaving Em in full flow.
“Epp! Epp! - Bezlet! We have the Clay Pot there, and that is in the village by the road. In Riverside Bezlet we were thinking of a cafe and a bunkhouse for the bargers. Bargers, Epp! Talbet's man wants to be involved with the river. We could make her our general manager for Bezlet, then, have her man help Bargemaster Steef. Pachet can run her Inn and restaurant without worrying about setting up all the rest down there – I know she, Pachet that is, feels almost overwhelmed as it is as she is nervous about turning her food place into an inn, a small roadhouse as she puts it. Let us make this Talbet our representative voice down there, maybe even hand over the Retreat stuff eventually.”
Epp's enthusiasm matched my own. “Done! If we can swing it all. Excellent ideas, 'Lina. ”
“And don't forget that Steef is my Uncle!”
“You minx! But well thought again.”
We returned just as Em finished saying something and Talbet grunted in agreement. They both looked at us almost as if in relief, but with interest too. Davabet had the look of a dooclor in confusion, and her glance of relief at me was almost palpable. I guessed that the conversation there had begun to get a little strained.
“I apologise for dragging Mistress Megrozen away, but I needed to give her some information about our company, Meglina Accommodation. I deemed that Bailiss Michet here could provide the two of you with some information about the future of Blackstone and its advantages, information which I and Mistress Megrozen have heard several times before - but information which would enable you to see that Davabet's involvement shall be at the forefront of much that is developing here. As you yourself said, Mistress Talbet, I have many interests and little time to look after them all, so I must grab such opportunities as and when they present themselves. I meant you no disrespect.”
She looked confused for a moment and then I realised she was torn as to which way she should continue the conversation. As I suspected, the social niceties proved to be the stronger.
“Did you say Bailiss? I have not heard that term before!”
“Mother, the Bailiss is a member of the Town's Assembly. Part of her duties are to be the Assembly's voice to the citizens and the citizens' voice to the Assembly.”
“Maker! Forgive me Bailiss, I was unaware.” She bobbed a quite deep curtsey to Em, who waved her action aside.
I struck while the iron was hot so as to speak. “Mistress Talbet, I have been wanting to speak with you for a few days now, and that was to invite yourself and your man, Goodman Dilligas I deem, to a dinner at the Salon soon. I wished to show you some reward for producing and bringing up such a lively and intelligent girl as Davabet.”
“Maker! I couldn't go there, Mistress Julina – 'tis far too grand for such as us.”
“But I insist! And I must say that we are not so very grand in there, I can readily assure you.” I could sense her hope that maybe she and her man could actually dine there was growing the more I pushed the matter.
“But I have nothing fine to wear, and would not wish to show Davabet up!”
Aha! That answer told me that she was now actually considering it. I just needed to make perchance one tiny little push more ...
“Oh Mistress. There is no cause for alarm, we have all sorts who dine there. Many, 'tis true, make a special effort with regards to their attire, but we also have workers in there sometimes and soldiers, these people all being in their working clothes.”
I flashed a glance at Em who, with reasonable and yet soothing tones, was quick to confirm what I had just said and who added: “Attired as you are now, Mistress, why that too would be perfectly acceptable.” She laughed. “After all is said and done, 'tis located in my house, so I may invite who I might and tell them what I might regarding their looks and clothes!”
“YOUR house. Oh Bailiss, I didn't know! So 'tis you who are the head of it all. Forgive my ignorance, please.”
Again Em just waved her hand to brush the subject aside. We both knew from experience that it was all too complicated and would waste too much time to explain properly.
I continued then: “May I book you a table for say six days time? We shall make it the later sitting that you are not rushed to finish your meal, and that shall be an evening before we are closed for the day so you ...”
Epp interrupted me: “Julina my dear, I deem that that evening would not be suitable! For that is to be our arranged 'Korond evening' you may recall. The late sitting on that evening is already fully booked.”
I slapped myself on my head. “You see Davvy how much I need someone to help me keep track of all these events?” I turned to her mother. “The evening prior to that then; would you please let Davabet know if your man is available that evening so she may tell me when we meet on the morrow? That way you may discuss it with your man later today and I shall be able to make the arrangements tomorrow, thus making sure the booking is not so late that there shall be no table for you. I warn you, I shall keep inviting you until you accept, so it might as well be sooner rather than later!”
“She means it, Mother! I know her well enough by now.”
“Indeed, Mistress Talbet. Both Mistress Megrozen and I can confirm that fact, and I will add my own persuasional skills to the mixture as well.” Dear Em added more of her support.
“If you say so, Bailiss, then I must concede. I shall suggest it, suggest strongly, to Dilligas this e'en and let Davabet know before she comes to you in the morning.”
“Thank you, Mistress Talbet.”
… … …
“Mother, I know, would also dearly like to ride a frayen, but she has so far treated her familial responsibilities as a priority. And I know too she would appreciate the Tai Chi.”
“Then 'tis no less than your duty to bring her to both these activities.” She looked rapidly at me to see if I was in jest, but realised swiftly that I was not. “And, as I get a special price, then tell your mother I shall pay for her riding lessons. She shall have to have a public beast, though,” I warned. “But I was asking about your father's experiences, especially on the barges.”
“Ah yes! But I regret I can tell you little more than that which we have already said. I was … er … being bullied rather heavily at the time, so my concentration was more upon myself!”
“Very well. If my memory serves, Bargemaster Steef was involved in that company that failed as well. Mayhap the two already know each other. You may tell your father that I have reason to believe that much pressure was applied by Count Trosanar to prevent barge traffic passing Tranidor without paying some form of tax. He desired then to control all commerce in the Palar valley. He has since been persuaded to look upon things in a different light. Our Princess it seems re-educated him, along with Duke Gilbanar.”
“Ah! You know so much, I find it nearly unnerving!”
“But,” said Surtree, “you find it fascinating too, don't you Davvy?”
We three were on a bac heading for the curtained off area at the head of the valley. I wanted to see what Pyor was up to, how he was fitting in and I deemed I had just enough time to make the small journey, spend a half bell with him, and then get back to the Salon.
Yes, alright, I was being nosy, extremely nosy!
I justified it to myself since Surtree in particular had oft expressed a desire to see behind those screens, a desire that was quite deeply rooted inside me as well. I did have, however, plenty of handy excuses as to why we required access behind there. I sort of looked forward to trying some of them out.
Davvy and I had made our farewells to the others and I had then taken her around The Frayen pointing out this and that, and trying not to interfere with what became a constant and increasing stream of deliveries – beds, mattresses, nightstands, lanterns, tables, chairs, kitchen ranges, pipework and so on and so forth. There was so much I immediately understood why Bezan had said nay to my suggestion of using this as the temporary Healers' Home. We had to practically dance out of the way of the sweating men. Every time we seemed to find a peaceful corner, another party of workmen laid claim to it, grunting as they deposited their loads just where we had recently been.
The two of us had emerged from The Frayen (shortly before we were bodily thrown out, I suspect) and stood there blinking in the bright light of day. A grinning Surtree came bounding along after his strenuous morning with the soldiery.
“Apprentice Surtree reporting for duty, Mistress.” He smiled widely and snapped off a passable chest-thump salute. All of which made Davvy giggle and me struggle to keep a straight face.
Davvy made it plain that she expected me to speak first, so I did: “That was most impressive, young man. I deem you have spent your time well with the soldiers if that demonstration was anything to judge by.”
Davvy then jumped in without a pause, so eager was she to say her piece: “Yes, Surtree, we very much enjoyed it all and were impressed by those examples you all showed us. The way the Prince dealt with those four almost together was something I shall not forget for a long while!”
“Ah! I am not that advanced yet, what I did was fairly basic stuff. His Highness is so far ahead of all the rest of us, even the trained guards. And his opponents in that last exercise were thrown yes, legitimately, but were under instructions to just roll back to their feet and not attack again. I doubt not that the Prince would have continued to throw them, but it would all have become tiring and somewhat repetitive. They judged that 'twould be a good finale for any audience we had.”
“That it was!” I said enthusiastically.
Davvy also added in her praises.
I then got us all back on track by saying: “But now we must needs return to practical day-to-day matters. Have you eaten?”
“Aye, they gave us some pastries, honeycakes and cold cuts. And a mug of pel.”
“Excellent! I know what an appetite you have, so we have an all-too-short spell before your hunger takes over again. I have to be at the Salon soonish but deem we have time to make a quick call first. We will make some peet-zers when we get down there in about a bell. So let us get our working day underway with a quick investigation of something I know you are curious about, Surtree. We shall find a bac and go and see what's behind the green door.”
Julina learns much and teaches some, in a matter of mere Bells.
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.
“And just what are you laughing at, Mistress Julina?” the Countess demanded in fierce and accusatory tones.
“You, Milady.”
“And is it your wont to mock the afflicted?”
“Not at all, Milady,” I replied, just barely managing to suppress further giggles.
“Well I find it most disrespectful.”
“As you say, Milady!”
Which was then followed by a sort of “Sssppplllllltttt” that I didn't quite manage to suppress entirely.
We were in the front family room at Em's. Our group consisted of Milady Merizel, the three maids, Davvy and I along with the healer, Mistress Twaite who had come with her assistant, Kanasta.
Mistress Twaite looked shocked and frowned somewhat disgustedly at me. Kanasta was bewildered, judging by her face. Davvy had gasped, and started to look worriedly at me, but experience brought about by her slowly getting to know me suggested that maybe I had something up my sleeve, so as to speak. The Einnlander maids remained neutral, there being no expression across their faces at all.
Everyone in other words doubted me - except for Tandra, who, like her mistress, had eyes that were sparkling with mirth, a look that all the others had not managed to detect.
The Countess tried to frown and glare at me all at the same time. I clamped my mouth shut, but a bubble of giggles made my lips quiver and produce a sound more often associated with animals' rear ends.
That was the final thing that broke through Countess Merizel's demeanour, and she laughed out loud – at last.
“Maker! 'Lina, I can no longer pretend to be annoyed. But I would fain understand what made you giggle so, when my wrist is now sorely damaged, liberally belotioned and so fastly bandaged. Maker! I can scarce bend it.”
When Davvy, Surtree and I were returning from the railroad workers place to the Salon, we saw the Countess and her maids inspecting the area that was to be rebuilt into the new VMS building. I told the bac driver to stop, we would dismount here and I called across to the party of women. In whirling round, the Countess somehow tripped over a stone or one of the marking sticks there. She fell, using her right hand to break her fall. In doing so, she hurt her wrist, for she immediately cried out and grasped it with her other hand. The tears were trembling on her lids as she sat there and the maids all fussed around her.
“Surtree, take the bac and find a healer. Quickly now! Davvy, go and prepare the family room at Em's for the Countess to be able to recline on the couch there. 'Tis the nearest room we can all fit into and have the healer work her wonders too.”
As my assistants were flying about their new tasks, I went over to the injured woman and persuaded her to show me the injury. It was already quite swollen and tender to touch, but I made her try to move her hand around – a task she managed, but with much grimacing.
“I deem you have but sprained that wrist, Merry – Milady, I mean. My brothers have done that often enough in their childhood. Come, let us away down the street to the Salon. There is a day bed in the family room there, upon which you may recline. 'Tis but five houses distant.”
I let Odgarda and Geska support her as we made our way slowly down the sidewalk of Main Street; more people clustered around her would just have engendered uncomfortable crowding, bumping and much other chaos. Quite quickly, surprisingly, Surtree and the bac returned. I dismissed the bac driver to other duties, knowing that he knew that he'd be paid by the company and get his coin from Kulyer. He respectfully saluted me as he pulled away. I worried about that, for he obviously recognised me but I could not reciprocate. Blackstone Wagons now employed more than two dozen drivers, counting them both up here and downvalley.
Just as I was about to ask, Surtree beat me to it: “We found Mistress Twaite just up by the Town Coal Quarry. She and her assistant shall be here ...” He broke off and gestured up Main Street. At that heartbeat we were just one house away from Em's so I could see these two familiar women approaching quickly, but in an unfamiliar fashion.
“Surtree, run over to the barracks to inform them that the Countess is in Em's, that she has been injured, but just a suspected sprained wrist. You had better make it clear 'twas an accident, and not some enemy attack. Then you had better see what you can do to help around the Salon.”
He gave me his funny little salute and scampered off. I turned my attention back to the approaching women, or at least some my attention. I required to make sure I did not fall off the boardwalk of course and I would soon also have to open the street door.
What was unfamiliar about the two oncoming women, though, was that they were both mounted on frayen! Given Mistress Lendra's complaints of the other day, this was a sensible move on the healers' parts, I wondered if they had all now learnt to ride. My thoughts flashed back to that Assembly Meeting.
Which is when I got the fit of the giggles.
And they carried on erupting all through Mistress Twaite's examination of the patient and the production of the lotion and the bandaging. And which led onto the Countess' mock anger.
“So then, wretched girl, out with it. What is quite so amusing?”
“I just thought of the last Assembly Meeting, and the complaints levelled by the Healers of this town. As a result of those, there is to be a Healers' House, a central office, if you like, for them. We should have just left you where you were, Milady. For all you had to do was wait a few weeks, and you would have been sitting upon the floor of the Healers' office.”
She laughed outright at that, and then everyone else at least smiled – even the Einnlander girls.
“And then I imagined us bringing you your meals there. And tucking you in at night ...”
Eight women laughing aloud was bound, I suppose, to bring someone else along to see what the fuss was about. And then we had to explain it all again to Kelly and Kassama.
By and by, the conversation moved on.
First we learnt why her Ladyship was walking around town on her own (the guards were all at a muster at the new barracks, the principals were there too, and the Countess wanted to have a small walk while it was relatively quiet in Town).
Then we learnt that indeed the Healers had all availed themselves of the riding lessons we had set up down at the Claw all those weeks or months ago; the demands the Healers were now receiving meant that indeed they had to be more mobile than earlier.
It soon became time for me to explain why we were travelling on a bac, rather than on frayen.
“... so Sookie took the animals down to the Claw. I had some conversations that were necessary about future staffing and also to reassure Davabet's mother who was of the impression that I, and now Davvy, work too hard.
“Knowing my schedule, which nowadays I must own seems to be some part of a wonder, I deemed we had just time to go along and see what those railroad people were doing behind their curtains, curtains they had erected to reduce the number of interruptions they got from passers-by. I had several good reasons for being there and I chose the explanation that I had heard there would be an influx of workers in their area soon and did they think they might need some sort of lunchtime catering? I will readily confess amongst us here that that wasn't really the truth, or at least not the whole truth, for I was simply curious to find out what they did in there all day – and I knew that young Surtree was consumed with inquisitiveness as well. “
They all laughed out loud at that.
“Well, we popped into that area, where they are doing some testing, ...”
“Hold just a second! Ah! The green curtains up near the head of the valley?”
“'Second', Milady?” asked Mistress Twaite hurriedly, lest my reply should drag the conversation away from this new topic.
“Forgive me. I meant heartbeat. Down in the Palace we have these new clocks which show the time in both bells and in Earth measurements.”
I felt the need to swiftly tell them all that: “We also have one now in the Salon just across the corridor from here, and the Steward has one too. But I confess I had forgotten about 'seconds'. I have been having difficulties enough understanding the hours and minutes.”
“You have one here? How … oh, Senidet, I presume?”
“As you say Milady. With her assistant Sigsten.”
“Excuse me, Milady,” interrupted Mistress Twaite, “and you too Mistress Julina. Earth measurements? I fear I am floundering.”
“Ah, Mistress Twaite,” began the Countess, “you are aware that Her Highness does not come from …” she looked around at us and narrowed her eyes slightly as she thought furiously “... anywhere in Alaesia, but from somewhere else entirely, from an area called Kansas which is located on … er, in ... a place we now call Earth.”
Everyone seemed to nod affirmatively, so she continued: “Anyway, they measure the time differently there. Very differently. Most of our Questors, who by the way, since the beginning of the year, have now been called 'Scientists' or 'Professors', whenever anyone remembers to do so that is, and also many Guildmasters, or 'Engineers', actually now recommend that we adopt that time system here as it allows for more accuracy, which is very important to nearly all of them.”
Mistress Twaite turned to me: “And you know of this, Mistress Julina?”
“Not the full details, Mistress. I am but … Hold! May I suggest we go into the Salon itself and look at the clock? 'Twill make explanations easier with the very thing there in front of us.”
“Of course! What a sensible idea, Mistress Julina,” said Milady.
So we all trooped into the Salon, where Frowka and Venket were setting up the tables and the sideboards and so on.
“Don't worry girls, we will move out of here in just a moment or two. I simply wish to show them the clock dials.”
“You maids can go back to that other room, as you have all seen these already! Then we shall be fewer here in these girls' way!”
“If it please you, Milady, may we stay? For I, we, am un-so-sure of this subject, and Mistress Julina does gives very clear lessons.”
I blushed at that, but still made sure my eyes thanked the Einnlander girl.
“Very well,” said the Countess, “I find I must agree with you, Odgarda, regarding 'Lina's lessons. Mistress Julina, would you carry on?”
“If it pleases you, Milady.” I positioned myself below the clock, my heart thumping, for I knew I did not understand the subject properly; so I chose the Bells dial to start with. “This side of the display,” I said whilst pointing up at it, “this 'dial' as they name it, shows the current time in Bells. This little picture is of the sun, which tells us that we are in the day Bells period. The picture changes to a moon for the other period of the day, the night Bells that start at the Dusk announcement. This number … oh! I assume you can all read Palarandi numbers?”
I glanced around and all indicated that they could. I saw Frowka and Venket listening attentively too, and I suddenly realised that I had not explained this to all the girls either. I mentally slapped my wrist.
“This number tells us then which was the last Bell announcement we heard. And this little numbered thingy down the bottom tells us what quarter of the Bell we are in; see here, the pointer shows us 'tis betwixt the second and the third quarters. So we are coming up to the quarter before the seventh.” I paused then, before putting on a complaining voice. “No wonder my tummy is rumbling!”
As hoped, the others all laughed and I felt the mood lighten somewhat. But I also gulped a little, for I now had to explain that other dial, the one I was convinced I didn't understand, and I couldn't put it off any longer.
Nevertheless, my brain suggested a way I could gain a few more heartbeats.
“Now - do you all also know the Garian numbers Her Highness introduced to Palarand?”
Alas, I got no respite for they all indicated that they did, even the maids.
“So I must now tell you that, in the so-called Earth system, their day is divided into twenty four periods called 'hours', and all these hours are of equal lengths, twelve of them between midnight and noon, both of which match exactly to our midnight and noon. This first period of twelve hours, half of twenty four, of course, they call collectively the 'morning hours' (even the ones that occur in the dark!) and then there are the other twelve between noon and midnight. I deliberately chose to call the morning hours the first period, for their day starts actually at midnight; unlike our periods which start at dawn or dusk and which further means that the last Bell of one of our periods is sometimes not exactly the same length as the other Bells that there have been since that period started.”
I broke off to take a breath, aware that I was waffling slightly as my brain raced. And furthermore to attempt to give the lead of the conversation back to Countess Merizel, hopefully; but she waved a hand and nodded at me encouragingly to continue, so I couldn't escape my fate that way.
As I may have mentioned before, one sure way to learn about something is to try to explain it, or teach it, to someone else. I felt a big 'Ding!' in my head and abruptly I understood those 'Earth' times that I had up to now been struggling with. So, suddenly, I could continue my explanation with a lot more confidence in my voice. And with a big smile.
“So you will readily understand that each of these hours is shorter than one of our Bells, as there are more of them in a day. But, for that accuracy that Her Ladyship mentioned, these hours have to be divided into even shorter time periods. So the people from Earth chose the number sixty to do the division of the hour. I know not why they chose that number, I must confess ...” I flung a glance at the Countess but again she waved me on, “... but nevertheless that is what they do. So their hour is divided first by sixty to produce what they call 'minutes' and then these are divided for a second time by sixty, to produce what they call 'seconds'.”
“Ah!” breathed Her Ladyship, “that must be why they are called 'seconds'. Because of dividing for a second time. I had never thought of that, I had just accepted Her Highness' terminology! Fascinating – and annoying that I had not worked that out for myself. So, Mistress Twaite, a second is very close to what we call a 'heartbeat' and a 'minute' is very close to what we call a 'moment'. Mistress Julina, I'm sorry! I interrupted your lesson.”
With an acknowledging nod, I continued: “Now observe this other dial, the non-Bell dial, the Earth dial I suppose would be a good name for it. First you need to understand that the start position for these long things that point towards the numbers round the outside is straight up. The big indicator which is almost as long as the dial is wide from its centre, well that big indicator jerks forward like it does at the end of each second. You can see that indeed the jerks come just about each heartbeat. Now, one half of sixty is thirty, and one third is twenty and one quarter is fifteen ...” I had another 'Ding!' moment then. Maybe I DID understand why they chose the number sixty after all! “... so you can see that the seconds pointing thingy has just passed the twenty second mark and is approaching half way round the circle. You can also see that there are a hand of … divisions … between each of the twelve numbers that surround the dial. Twelve times five is sixty.”
“If I might briefly interrupt, Mistress Julina?”
“Of course, Milady.”
“When we wish to indicate something at some distance from us, then we use our fingers to point to the object. Like those bread sticks over there.”
Of course, we all followed her pointing finger and looked at the innocent and unmoving sticks of bread. Frowka frowned as she looked for something wrong with them.
“And we then move our hand to point to something else, like the bottles of that rather nice wine at the other end of the sideboard.”
We all murmured our agreements, all of us a little confusedly.
“Well I use my fingers to point, the fingers on my hand. The clock uses these pointer thingies to indicate the relevant number on the outside of the circle by pointing at the numbers. They move, these things, and so they have therefore been termed 'hands'. We have the 'second hand', look it is just about to get to the top, to the end of a minute, and the 'minute hand' is the middle-sized one, whilst the 'hour hand', the short but stubbier one, is the one that travels slowest around the dial.”
After murmurs of understanding from her audience she gestured for me to continue.
“Thank you Milady. I knew that not. Today is therefore not wasted, for I have learnt something. And now back to my explanation.
“So we can see the Earth time just by looking at the clock. The hour hand was pointing straight upwards at noon, but is now just between the first and the second mark on the outside of the dial. So we know immediately that it is between one and two hours later than noon. The minute hand, the middle one, is pointing down and a little bit to the left. So we know that it is just after the half hour, because the minute hand does one circle of the dial every hour. And the second hand does one circle of the dial every minute.
“And there we have it, the second hand goes round the quickest, the minute hand is the next quickest (but not quick enough for us to actually detect any movement) and the short, stubby hour hand is the slowest. I find it a pleasing simplicity of showing us the time. A quick reminder for you – the second hand goes round once every minute, the minute hand goes round once every hour and the hour hand goes round once every half-day. I hope that is now clear?”
“Indeed! Well presented Julina! Very clear, concise and eminently understandable.” Everyone there nodded their agreement with the Countess' words.
“Thank you, Milady.” (Wretched blushing!)
“So,” the Countess continued, “in Earth terms, we call this time one thirty two and seventeen seconds. Eighteen seconds. Nineteen seconds. Note that we don't bother saying the words for 'hours' or 'minutes' because everybody understands that is what we describe.”
“That has confused me, Milady,” said Mistress Twaite.
“We know from the hour hand, being between the one and two, that 'tis after the first hour has ended and before the second hour has ended, so the stated time starts with a one – meaning one completed hour. If the hand was pointing say here, then that would be after eight hours had been completed.”
She paused until everyone had nodded at her. “The minute hand is between the six and the seven down there, slightly nearer the six. So we know 'tis after the thirty minute mark – remember, sixty minutes in an hour so just thirty in half of that – and the second hand is now overtaking the minute hand. So it is now, one thirty two and thirty seven seconds.”
Everyone puzzled at that for a little while and then came the 'Ding!' heartbeat, starting with Mistress Twaite and soon reaching everyone.
“Come along you all. We must keep out of the way of these poor girls who have to work.” The Countess called for all of us to return to the family room, but I stopped them there.
“Hold for just a SECOND or two, if you would.” They all smiled at my usage. “Shall we have some pel? And who is hungry, should we perchance have some pastries, pies, honeycakes?”
“Would we be able to sample one of those peet-zer things?” enquired the Countess. I was astonished at the fervent nods that agreed with her.
“Indeed we could!” I turned to Frowka, one eyebrow raised. She nodded and raised her own eyebrow queryingly. I mouthed 'Cheese' at her and then added 'Two large'. She bobbed a quick curtsey in acknowledgement and we went back to the family room even as the two girls scurried off to the kitchens.
Once we were all settled, the Countess said: “I deem I recall correctly when I say you were about to tell us some more about the railroad works at the head of the valley. Hidden behind their green curtain there. That is where you went?”
“So is it, Milady. Anyway, we made our way towards there, and met Senidet and her maid returning from inspecting the underground lake. When I mentioned where we were going, she expressed a desire to accompany us. And so, eventually, we got there ...”
… … ...
“Well met, Goodman Hobil. I am here to discuss some things with your team leader and with Master Pyor. I promise I shall not disturb the work too much.”
Hobil returned my grin as he said: “Welcome Mistress Julina. As it happens, Master Pyor is even now discussing things with er ... Master Ryteet. I shall take you to them, but must warn you all to watch where you step. There is much loose wood lying around.”
I made the introductions of those who did not know all present and we set off across the work site, led by Hobil, with myself next to him.
He lowered his voice such that only I could hear. “I must tell you that the 'Master' is currently a courtesy title for Journeyman Ryteet, but he does a good job and I daresay he shall become a full and proper Master sooner rather than later.” I grunted a reply so he knew I had heard.
His voice rose once more: “If you would step this way, I shall guide you. When we get to the sample rails on the ground, please take care not to kick them or anything. They are mostly firmly secured, but some are just currently being positioned with an absolute precision so they are yet to be attached in the same fashion as all the others.”
Surtree scampered up on my other side. He said, in shocked tones in an aside to me, intending it for private consumption: “Look at all the wood they have here. They could build the whole town all over again, I deem!”
Hobil heard however – and fortunately he simply laughed: “Quite right, young Master. If not three times over.”
Surtree's face split into a wide grin as his boyish exaggerations were flung back at him. There was an instant respect from the lad to the man.
“Most of the wood you see here is split though, or crushed, or torn.”
We all looked at him in surprise.
He shrugged and simply said: “We break a lot here.”
I think all our mouths dropped open.
He laughed uproariously then. “In all truth, I must say that actually, because of some of the things we do, we have had a great number of broken and crushed bits of wood. We tried to find somewhere to get rid of this no-longer usable wood but 'twas most difficult. Then Master Torin, and later Master Haldik, made a highly sensible suggestion. We have soon the newly 'invented' Longest Day town feast. Master Torin had the idea to have a huge bonfire round which we can all dance and so on, a sort of 'good news' pyre if you like, rather than a sad occasion. And for that we shall require to burn wood. Which is better for that occasion? Freshly cut wood that could be used for building or wagon construction, or discarded, broken, crushed, split rejects? So this has now become the Town's waste wood depository.”
We all understood suddenly why there was quite so much wood around.
He led us across to 'Master' Ryteet who was indeed speaking with Pyor. Deeply and seriously.
Pyor had his back to us so whirled round in surprise when his opposite number broke off in the middle of a sentence, with widening eyes and a frown. He muttered something, inaudible to us, which made Pyor do his sudden about face. Then Pyor's face took on an even more surprised expression when he recognised us.
Pyor led the introductions of course, being the one who knew everyone. And, as we were the 'intruders' so as to speak, 'twas I who had to explain our presence as the first subject. Pyor's eyes were laughing at me as I used the excuse about possible future catering. He knew we were just being nosy.
“Mistress Julina, that is indeed a splendid thought, and I fully understand why you wish to have as much advanced notice as possible. We believe there shall be between a dozen and four hands of extra railroad workers arriving in the next week, so mayhap we will indeed require some catering facility here. Up to now, we have been repairing to the Miners' Hall which is not used so much of a lunch period, most workers being considerably farther away than ourselves or the dwelling builders ...”
I flashed a triumphant glare at Pyor, who just winked and twinkled back at me, showing he wasn't fooled for a heartbeat.
“... We are unaware of just how many shall arrive at this moment, but Master Bezan shall be able to inform us soon, just as soon as he receives the appropriate semaphore.”
“Does Master Bezan then also know about the railroad details?” I asked in some surprise.
“Indeed so, Mistress. Her Highness caused him to be sent a full and detailed description of all parts of this enterprise apparently as long ago as the turn of the year. 'Tis from him that we up here have our knowledge.”
“Maker! Do you tell me? That is near to a half-year!” Inside I was cursing myself for not asking him about this in all those intervening months and weeks.
“As you say, Mistress. But the works could not begin immediately, neither here nor down near Teldor. The last of the winter had to pass, and then various tests had first to be made. I am told that Master Pyor's idea for the sliding points works well, the design of which we both semaphored down AND sent a detailed letter with diagrams via the VMS.
“Let me be clear here, in the Exclusivity Licence, the name given was 'points' – presumably because Master Pyor here said that they point to the destination that the railroad train is to take. But some people prefer the term 'switch' or 'switches', since they switch the set of rails upon which the train is travelling. I personally have got used to hearing 'points' so this seems to be the word that springs most readily to my mind.
“Whatever 'tis to be called, this is something that has actually helped a lot with the works downvalley. Her Highness had specified a different way to split the paths of the rails, but everyone has found it, so far, to be beyond their skills. 'Tis one of the things we must test up here, in wood first, before the steel version can be made. The Pyor Points can be far more easily constructed in the metals, and they have been used extensively now.”
“Master Ryteet, you should be aware that Mistress Julina was present when I designed those simplified railroad 'points' as they have now been called up here. 'Twas she who made me take out the Exclusivity Licence.”
Surtree and Hobil both nodded their confirmations. Ryteet for some reason looked a little shocked.
“So Blackstone is not the only test centre for the railroad?” I continued.
“Indeed not, Mistress.” He slightly stammered his reply. “Much of what they now term 'industry' is being constructed and/or expanded down near Teldor. Most of it being on the west bank of the Palar 'twixt Teldor and Haligo. I was told only yestere'en that they have now successfully constructed a sturdy enough bridge across the Telar some three marks upstream of Teldor and can thus start laying railroad route and track between there and Dekarran, just as they have already started doing in the direction of Haligo.
“The three marks upstream was necessary in order to access a narrower stretch of the Telar, with high enough banks to allow the barges to still move on the water, so actually, once this railroad gets started, then traffic shall leave Teldor, travel for six marks and appear just across the river from Teldor once more! Now six marks is quite a long way for dranakh and not quite so long for frayen, but to this railroad traffic, 'twill be a half bell only, mayhap even less, if Her Highness' descriptions are accurate.”
“Kallisthena!” I said, really quite loudly. (By the way, I have come to the conclusion that that word I learnt was somehow more 'feminine' than the others.)
Pyor laughed out loud, while Master Ryteet looked again shocked at first, before grinning in a very attractive way.
“So what means all that for the development of the railroad as a whole?” I managed to ask him to bring him back on track, so as to speak.
“The rails on their beds shall be built from each end, rather than just from one end. From Teldor the rails extend both north and south, Haligo as well. And I daresay from Dekarran they shall also spread in both directions. We up here can only go in the one direction of course.
“We also have a problem up here in that the agreed lengths of steel rails are immensely difficult to transport, that rock face by the Forest Roadhouse and up to the Strettalm being the most awkward part. But the length of the rails upon which they have agreed are so much longer than a wagon that some alternative way of doing it must be found. Down near Teldor is where most of these rails are now being produced, so there they have far fewer difficulties, with the gentle slopes of the river bank being all they have to cope with. There they have now determined how best to attach the rails to the supports under them and so on. But here alas, we have none of the actual steel rails. We use wooden ones for our testing, and sometimes the weight of the load we test with has crushed the wood, or split it. Master Brydas has managed to provide some metal plates to help us reinforce crucial bits and he is struggling to produce reliable usable rails for us.”
I felt an idea start a'bubbling in my head.
Pyor took over from Master Ryteet at that moment, for Ryteet was struck silent by me, a female, asking such technical questions, and using wagoneers' expletives whilst doing so: “And as we have wagons, railroad wagons and barges all involved in transporting stuff, it occurred to me that maybe we should have a standard size of load. So a wagon would become simply a base for carrying around one unit of load, mayhap some wagons would also have seating available, but my vision is that all bellies shall be the same. Then a railroad wagon would have two or three standard sizes as its load capacity, and a barge say eight or so.
“The authorities down in Palarand have agreed and we have now established the exact dimension of one of these 'containers' as they now deem them. With load lengtheners and dranakh we have managed to lift a new standard unit up from one wagon, then draw another wagon up under the suspended load and lowered that load onto the fresh wagon. So it shall be almost child's play to do that with the use of steam engines, which get ever more powerful as more and more steel sheet is being produced.
“I am proud to say that my suggestion has been accepted, and that all wagons in Palarand shall be converted to accept the standard container. That conversion to Blackstone wagons shall be easy for I have selected a size that means most will already be able to accept the containers once simple guiding pins have been affixed.”
“There are many associated threads in those statements to be considered. So please don't think that I have selected just one and will not ask the others later!”
Pyor nodded while Ryteet still looked thunderstruck. Hobil grinned in appreciation as he accepted the evidence of his eyes and ears a lot more readily than his boss. Mind you, Hobil had met me before, so I deem that might well have helped. I inwardly grinned at what would happen with Ryteet when Senidet opened up; she was just observing, thinking and analysing at the moment.
“Her Highness specified a way for the rails to split, and yet you say Pyor's idea is the one that has been accepted?”
Ryteet shook himself and began again: “Indeed. Insofar as that goes. The reason is simple. Indeed simplicity is the watchword here since the splitting methods are very simple too – in theory. Her Highness' design requires some shaping of parts of the steel required. As we have yet to test it properly, we have yet to determine the exact lengths of steel required, thus we have no defined requirement for the shaping.
“One integral part of the design is something Her Highness declared was named a 'frog', I know not why she named it so, 'tis the first time I ever heard that word, but this is a triangular lump of steel. When we have attempted to test this with wooden samples, then our wooden 'frogs' have soon been crushed. Having the sharp point of the triangle is important for this design. So we are somewhat restricted at the moment. At least, with the Pyor Points, we have the ability to split rails and test curves and the like.”
“Hmmm. That seems quite logical, I suppose.”
Pyor responded, with only a little hint of sarcasm: “Why, thank you, Mistress!”
“So what about this problem you had with the gap in the rails, and wheels dropping into it?”
Another raise of the eyebrows from Ryteet as he yet again decided he needed to re-evaluate me. “Well Mistress, our wheels are made of two parts ...”
“Indeed, Master Ryteet. The wheel and the lap.”
“Maker! How know you that?”
I just gestured to Hobil who made a mock bow.
“Very well, I shall get a little more technical then. The width of the lap we very rapidly realised was a factor in our problem, and Master Pyor here confirmed that when he arrived to join us. The thicker the downhanging part, the lap, then the wider needs be the gap in the rail to be crossed.
“But the lap must be present and must be sturdy for at some point the entire weight of the wagon shall be brought to bear upon it. So we needed to come to a compromise 'twixt sturdiness and thinness.
“The wider the gap, then the more likelihood of the wheel dropping into it. So we need to minimise the gap, or find some other method of controlling this weakness in the system.”
“Excuse me Master Ryteet?”
His eyes went to Senidet, a person he appeared to have forgotten was present. “Mistress … Sendit?”
“Senidet. Surely then you just make the circumference …” Ryteet's eyebrows shot up at her use of that word, “... of the wheel larger, for then the outside portion of the wheel covers more length of rail?”
“Indeed, Mistress Senidet. Indeed. But ...”
He looked so shocked at that point that I jumped in again: “Ah! But Senidet dear, I deem the railroad wagons' bellies shall be wider than the spread of the wheels, which means such wheels will therefore be running UNDER the belly and so those wheels cannot be so very large.”
“Ah! Thank you, Julina. I was unaware of that part of the design.” She fell back to thinking.
Meanwhile Ryteets' eyes were out on stalks as he looked from me to her and back again. Often.
Pyor smothered a grin and took up the conversation again: “So you see we have many factors here to consider and try to test as best we might. We really need some of the steel rails, but only the Maker knows how to get them up here.”
“How many of these rails can be carried on a wagon and still be hauled?” asked my friend, a very calculating look on her face as well as in her tone.
“Well we need two wagons actually, Mistress Senidet, which adds to the complications and to the weight to be hauled. But on a normal road, with a normal slope then we could get over a hand underway, but not as many as two hands of them. But there are two other factors that are denying us as well. The steep slope up the rock face from the Forest Roadhouse, and the sharp turn at the top of that slope. We would needs reduce the load to maybe just a pair, which is wickedly wasteful for the transport of such a load all the way from Teldor. And then these rails are so long that, when the first wagon makes that turn, the second wagon is still sufficiently far behind it that the rails themselves would bang into the rock wall on the inside of the bend at the top.”
“How heavy are the rails? And how long are they?”
“Why they require maybe a hand of men for lifting just the one. And they are as long as about four wagons.”
“Then I may have a solution for you!”
“Maker, Mistress! Do you tell us?” The three railroad men were all staring at Senidet now, an excited interest in their eyes and faces.
“When we came up here, I saw some foresters dragging a felled tree. That giant tree was longer than your rails. They had one end of the trimmed trunk sticking up into the air above the driver's head, with the trunk itself resting on the tailgate of the wagon, firmly attached there; meanwhile, the other end of the trunk was riding on a little but sturdy metal trolley, a metal frame sitting atop a small axle. You could use one of those, or something at least similar. That would reduce the weight to be hauled from two wagons to a wagon and a trailer trolley. And would reduce the trailing length somewhat too.”
“Maker! Of course! That would work.”
The joy in the men's faces was short-lived though, as Ryteet realised something.
“But Mistress Senidet there remains the steep slope and the too-sharp turn.”
“Then I would suggest that you use your normal transport method all the way up to the foot of the rock face, and then take a smaller number of rails, maybe even single ones, up the rock face trail and stack them at the top. A hand or more of men could surely remove a single rail from the load and manhandle it round the turn? Then the normal transport method could once again be used to get from the Strettalm to here? You need reduce your loads only for that one stretch of road, not for the whole journey! You can even leave a stack of them at either end of the rock face stretch, for it is not as if anyone shall steal something that requires a hand of men to lift!”
DING! My bubbling idea sprang out into my consciousness, but I kept quiet for a moment as the men were all busy congratulating Senidet.
Before I could open my mouth, though, Senidet asked another question: “I see over there a pair of wheels fixed to a joint axle. Is that the size of the wheels that shall be used?”
“Indeed Mistress. The distance between the two wheels, or, more accurately, between the insides of the two rails, is set to be exactly one and a half strides. The wheels and axle assembly is fixed such that bearings support the axle and those bearings shall be fixed to the above structure, something for which we have yet to find an appropriate name. For now we refer to them as being 'tables'; they shall be fixed above the axle; the frame of said table being then attached to the wagon base.”
“I see,” said Senidet, “so there shall be one of these towards each end of each railroad wagon?”
“That is the idea, Mistress.”
“Let us say the wagon is less than a cast long then, fifteen or sixteen strides in other words. How far in from each end do you expect the axles to be set?”
By this time, the men had lost their awe of discussing such matters with a woman. I genuinely felt that they had been so taken up by the argumentations that they had forgotten the gender of those with whom they were discussing such matters.
“We thought that maybe four strides would be a sensible maximum. That would leave eight or so strides in the middle and four at each end.”
“What about having extra axles. Is that an option?”
“Not really, since we feel that that would make negotiating curves really difficult.”
“Talking of curves, why have you decided upon a fixed axle/wheel arrangement? On any curve, the outer side wheel would have to travel farther than the inner side wheel. How is this possible with a fixed axle? It would surely work only if the table to which the axle was attached was able to swivel? Or the outside of the curve, the rail on that side, would be under great pressure. Or maybe the inner wheel, upon which there is less pressure would actually have to zoom over its surface to compensate. I'm sorry. These things have only just occurred to me and I am really just thinking aloud.”
“Mistress, you amaze us. It took us far longer to see all that you have just seen in a matter of moments!”
“Well Master Ryteet, that is really what my job entails. I must see as complete a picture as possible as swiftly as possible. I am somewhat in demand for making technical drawings of others' ideas, or of translating such drawings into more plain speak ...”
“You, Mistress? How came this about?”
“If you will excuse me, Master Ryteet.” I stepped firmly into this conversation at this point. “I should draw your attention to this lady's chest area! For that is indeed a Guild brooch she is wearing. Guildswoman Senidet is the daughter of our Smith here in Blackstone and she travelled down with Her Highness when the Royal Party departed from here late last year. She has continued her education downvalley and has returned to us not only to see her father, but also to install some needed equipment along with her assistants. She has ...”
I stopped at the hand signal from the blushing Senidet. Ryteet's jaw had dropped open and again he was struck dumb.
I hastily continued with a small change of thread: “Now I too have a question for you all. Well several actually. I understand the problem with the long and heavy rails being delivered up here. And I understand that the lack of them is holding back a certain amount of development. But, as I understand it, you are up here to test some things out for the entire Palarand railroad system. And others are probably waiting upon your reports of your results. Do you require always full length rails for your tests? Could not some be of a shorter length – say a half, or a third or even a quarter? Then these could be used for some tests and if you really require a full length then they could be combined somehow to create one full length when you needed it? So you could actually have shorter lengths conveyed up here? Most of the wooden rails I see around me here are considerably shorter than a cast.”
Even Pyor was looking thunderstruck as well as the other two men. Senidet looked at me and then slapped herself before saying only just audibly: “You can be such a ked sometimes, Senidet!”
“Aye!” said Ryteet. “And so can we. Keds the lot of us. Such a simple solution had just never occurred, we were all taken up with fulfilling Her Highness' specifications exactly. Yes, eventually, when the railroad is built, then we shall require full length ones, but until then there is much we could do with shorter lengths. Thank you Mistress Julina! Are you too a Guildswoman?”
I laughed at that: “No Master Ryteet, I am merely a girl who cooks!”
“Now, Julina, that is unfair. You ...”
“Stop right there, if you would! I have no more time now, I must away to my kitchens. Come with me please, those who would travel with me. Senidet, you and Maid Molly may stay of course, but Davvy, Surtree and I are now late. We must depart.”
… … …
“... and that was why we were on that bac. And I caused you to stumble, Milady.”
She laughed and said: “You see, you really ARE to blame, you wretched child!”
We all smiled at that just as the door opened and Frowka poked her head around it. “Are you all finished with the peet-zers? And would anyone care for some more pel? Oh! Excuse me, Milady, I meant no disrespect when I failed to mention your title.”
The Countess waved an uncaring hand before she answered her: “More pel? Of course more pel. 'Tis impossible for there to be such a thing as too much pel. But the food was actually delicious in its simple way, although these two ...” she indicated the two Einnlander maids, “... did not find it to their tastes, the rest of us did. We thank you most heartily. The girls here will clear away, if you would be so kind as to show them where they should bring it. Perhaps we should all have a 'natural break' and then when we come back, I can tell you some more information about the railroad and also tell you where that strange word 'frog' comes from; you will scarce believe it, I deem.”
“I fear we must depart,” said Mistress Twaite of herself and Kanasta, “even though I deem I would dearly like to learn more.” Kanasta nodded her agreement. “There are several patients we must visit to check up upon. Milady, Mistress Julina, we thank you for a most informative and entertaining lunch pause, an extended lunch pause I deem. And also for the introduction to these peet-zer thingies.”
So there was a large kerfuffle as those two took their leave and we others went to take our relief.
Afterwards, when we regathered, it was more intimate somehow, even though two people had left the quite small room we were in, making the space seem larger.
The Countess settled in and we all attended for her to start with her explanations. She pondered for nearly a whole … minute, during which we all seemed to almost hold our breaths.
“Her Highness, as you are aware, comes from somewhere else entirely and in that place, for thousands of years, the preferred method of transport was something they called a horse. These horses are of differing sizes and different strengths, much as we humans are. Some of the most powerful were used for tilling, ploughing and so on, for drawing barges, wagons and coaches and for operating hoists and the like, much actually as we use our dranakh. And yet horses are also used for riding, as we use our frayen. Even the smaller horses are larger than frayen, though.
“And their feet are also very different. Look now at the ends of your fingers, your nails pointing to your eyes, like this.” She demonstrated. “You see that any one nail covers maybe a quarter of the distance all round a finger, maximally a third. However, on a horse, the nail goes almost all the way round, three quarters or more of the way. And that nail is very thick. In fact, horses' toenails are very important, for they bear the weight of the animal. By having quite long nails, the pads of their feet are protected from damage from the ground. The thickness and the sheer quantity of the nails mean they grow very slowly and they need trimming only every month, approximately.
“And now we get to the main point of my explanations. The pads of their feet, when looked at from below. These pads are just about circular, with an almost flat surface inside the nails. But in the gap between either end of the nail is a fold of more sensitive flesh which tapers towards the centre of the circle. This forms an elongated triangle. I hope you can all visualise this?”
Her description was so clear that I had no difficulty whatsoever picturing this part of the strange animal.
“Those triangular pieces of flesh are called frogs.
“The frogs are then elongated triangles – which is exactly the shape required to be made in steel for a part of Her Highness' design for the rail splitting, the points or switches as they are to be called on the railroad.
“I confess that this explanation may be a little rusty for 'tis almost a half-year since I sent all this stuff from the Palace up here to Master Bezan, but I deem I have the main topics here duly, and reasonably accurately, reported.”
I thanked her for her explanation, on behalf of the three of us. I had thought that now we would part, but she had more information to give us.
“Then there is the route of the railroad. This is almost as complicated as the design of the 'points' and so on, fraught as it is with all sorts of physical, geographical as well as political implications. Simple? Hah!” she snorted with a sort of frustration and a sort of indignation as well as a sort of amusement.
“Dekarran is Palarand's second city and sits on the west bank of the Palar; most of the new factories and so on are also on the west bank of the Palar, between Teldor and Haligo. So it makes sense to have a railroad line there. But Tranidor, the largest city in terms of area in Palarand at this moment in time sits on the east bank of the Palar. And downstream from Tranidor, there is one major river that pierces the west bank, the Sufen. 'Tis below the mouth of the Sufen that Palarand's principal steel works is planned, and indeed is being constructed as we speak. All the other steel works are far smaller enterprises.
“But that is not the only problem with Tranidor. For it sits on the WEST bank of the Bray. If any railroad was to actually be in Tranidor town itself, then there would needs be at least one more major bridge to be built. So the current thinking is as follows: The east bank of the Bray and Palar is unencumbered by tributary rivers, and thus makes building the solid railroad track far easier all the way down to Haligo. There are places at Haligo where the two cliff tops are quite close together and a bridge can be easily constructed to span the gap and still be high above other buildings. So that has been chosen as the 'crossover' point. Such a bridge COULD be used for traffic in both directions of course. But this high-level crossing is above the level of the planned west bank route. Eventually and somehow, the two tracks must come together.
“But nowadays we must add in another factor. The jointly-ruled region dubbed 'Ptuvilend'. This, as you are aware, is to be controlled by a sharing of administration 'twixt Palarand and Vardenale. There are no over-mountain routes to Ptuvilend from Brankane and so their best and easiest route is along their coast of the Sirrel estuary to the mouth of the Palar and then all the way up the east bank.
“The almost certain decision now is that Tranidor shall have two railroad connections, but that the main part of that town shall have no direct railroad routes through it, the castle part of the town that is. West and South Tranidor will be the hosts to the railroad 'line' (as Her Highness referred to them) that runs down the west bank of the Palar; possibly eventually arriving all the way from Tel Botro!
“There, in South Tranidor, to liken this railroad to a tree, the trunk of which is formed by the main lines down each side of the Palar, then a branch line that serves the Sufen valley can easily join in with this previously mentioned west bank line. A branch line in this context means a line that serves the Sufen Valley which branches off the main line, the trunk line if you prefer. Trains using that branch line would leave or join the trunk line in order to get to other destinations.
“Meanwhile, Blackstone shall provide a line down the east bank of the Bray and then the Palar valleys, which shall split at Haligo to cross the Palar there. The line will however also continue to the mouth of the Palar and sweep along the coast to first Viridor, the port, and then on from there to the capital at Brankane. As far as Tranidor is concerned, for them to use that line, then the connection shall be on the east bank, near the current Tranidor East semaphore tower. 'Twill be less than a mark for the citizens and transporters to get to it, and much coin shall be saved by keeping the railroad lines where fewer bridges have to be built. That same trunk line will continue north into Ptuvilend, making the Blackstone line become a branch line. This trunk line may, who knows, eventually reach as far as Chaarn.”
She paused then, just at the right moment for me to take all that in and chew it over a little in my head. When she remained silent, however, I determined to ask another question: “I thank you, Milady, and would ...”
“Come, 'Lina. We are effectively alone. Merry will do under these circumstances. 'Twas good enough down in the Retreat, 'tis good enough for now.”
“Thank you again.” I replied, as I shot warning glances to Davvy. “Merry, is there more you can tell me about this Ptuvilend? I am aware that the Vardenalers that came up here with all of you in the first instance have scarce slept here in all that time.”
“I can indeed give SOME information, but not everything – and that is not because of secrecy or anything. I know far less than the whole story myself. We shall all be departing here next week and I shall have my husband back again once we reach that Brayview place. For Terry is gone off with those from Vardenale once more, to look at Ptuvilend in some greater detail than the first scan they took soon after arriving here. They even looked down on it from the top of the Blackstone Vale during those 'Hunter Games'. It seems there is a wildlife track the other side ...”
Supervisors old and new, official and unofficial
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.
Merry had told Davvy and I quite a lot of information about the Royal Party, some of which she emphasised we were not to bandy about to the general public, for security reasons. She reminded us pointedly what had happened when Her Highness left here last time. But she was content to describe some of their activities and some of the events that had occurred.
What initially surprised us both was that, actually, the Royal Party was already markedly reduced.
Just after the last Assembly meeting, the one at which Davvy had made her suggestion, Count Terinar (Terry she named him of course, as ’twas just between the three of us) and four guardsmen had departed along with the Count Haldren from Vardenale and his two mining experts, Boroladin and Tikaram. Those eight men had travelled down to Brayview in company with Yarling and two of his aides. From there, they all headed up the Chaarn road to explore Ptuvilend in more depth of detail. With a basis of eleven men in the party then, of course, a wagon was required to accompany them, with a driver and two wagon company guards. So all this meant that fourteen men had departed Blackstone virtually unnoticed! I was pleased to note that Blackstone Wagons had secured that contract.
Furthermore, there was something which I myself found even more surprising than the foregoing, which was that Prince Torulf, with all the remaining mobile Einnlander guards plus two others, would leave on the morrow morning, also headed to Ptuvilend; but they were going to forge a path down from the crest at the end of Blackstone Vale. Being used to mountainous regions, the Prince had declared that he and his men could easily broaden and otherwise develop the wildlife track (the one that had been seen from the top) into a passage that could be used safely by frayen riders, thus enabling a shortcut, admittedly somewhat restricted, from Ptuvilend to Blackstone; a shortcut which should save about a day’s travel when compared with going via Brayview.
On top of all that, Captain Subrish and two of his men would accompany this small party to not only give assistance, but also better to learn the lie of the land.
And going along with them would also be a Journeyman Joiner and two assistants, as those earlier observations from above had suggested strongly that there was a suitable ledge upon which to construct a mountain hut – this would provide some crude shelter to travellers along the route, intended for use only in emergencies; it would be stocked with firewood and long-lasting dried foodstuffs just like any other mountain hut. The very infrequent travellers were expected to replenish any stocks they used, if ’twere at all possible. Naturally, such huts were unoccupied more or less on a permanent basis. Someone would be allocated the task of periodically checking the hut for its stocks and its maintenance. I briefly wondered if that track would also come under the heading of ‘roads’ that Papa and his department would eventually be responsible for. Now that was interesting. I knew of several other huts dotted around, of which I had heard tales during my life…
I dragged my thoughts back to the more immediate subject matter of our conversation after a subtle dig in the ribs from Davvy.
Both these reduced parties, the Count Terinar one and the Prince Torulf one, were to meet with the main Royal Party at Brayview in a twelvenight’s time.
The third topic which was surprising in its way was that ‘my’ Djerk (although that word ‘my’ was by then increasingly inaccurate), even though he was not considered fully mobile at this moment in time, was to be sent down to Brayview a few days into the future, spending a night at the Forest Roadhouse on the way, and inspecting Bezlet if time and weather permitted. This was so that he could then organise and co-ordinate the accommodation for all those three diverse parties to come together at Brayview before moving on downvalley in the one large group.
A tiny place like Brayview would be strained by such a large party descending upon them, as had been seen on their way up to us. Particularly with such little notice as they had had. It was deemed sensible to be a little more organised this time around, and with Djerk ‘available’ so as to speak, they all felt this was a rather neat solution.
Djerk would have about a week in all to get everything arranged, a week in which, of course, he would continue to recuperate, with the aim of being back to full strength before they all left Brayview. He was walking already, but his muscles needed to be strengthened to get back to his full capacity. Two or three wagons with drivers and wagon guards (as opposed to military guards) would travel down with him, being laden with some of the Royal Party’s belongings that would no longer be required up here for their last week or so; things like Count Terinar’s belongings, Prince Torulf’s as well and our Prince’s more formal attire, the gear and accoutrements of the guards who had been detailed to go on the ‘side trips’ and so on. With those wagons, there was an added advantage in that he, Djerk, would not need to be reliant upon the Shuttle.
We were sworn to secrecy about all these movements of men, wagons and animals, lest potential enemies somehow got to hear about them all. These arrangements were exactly what the big, current guards’ meeting was about over at the Barracks, and why Merry was walking around Town with no guards. Merry told Davvy and I not to mention anything to any of the guards at any time, for she realised she should not have told us at all, and ’twould be awkward for her if it got out. Her warning was just in time, for the two female guards came to find her not five moments – hold, not five minutes - later.
We chatted on for a further quarter bell during which time I explained about my Consociation of Cooks, which the Countess (with the guards there, we were back to being formal in our address) enthused about to a far greater extent than I thought it actually warranted. “Indeed, Mistress Julina, ’twould be a boon to travellers all over, for some roadside fare is pretty dire, I can tell you! If only some basic knowledge could be imparted to all the roadhouses, standards would soon improve.”
Even the guards were nodding in agreement with the Countess’ remarks. And the maids.
Our casually conversational meeting was eventually broken up by Kelly who required my help in the kitchens, so we parted; the Countess, her maids and the guards leaving by the back passage after checking the clock in the dining room. It was noticeable that they were all familiar with it. It still seemed so new to me, to us, however.
… … …
“And what is that thing there on the wall over to the side of you?”
“Father, ’tis a clock, a new sort of clock and it shows us the time rather than us having to hear the bells and keep track in our heads.”
Even though this was what seemed to be the millionth time that question had been asked this week, I was especially pleased to hear it at this particular juncture. Davvy would explain to her family, and also to the other diners, which would help her get used to public attention. I was doubly pleased as it happened, for it had come so early in the sitting, so service would be less interrupted.
I was not surprised by the events that immediately followed. As I hinted just now, and as had by now become usual, many other diners at neighbouring tables all paused and, those that needed to, turned to hear the explanation. I believe that actually that time only a pair of diners did not turn round and look at Davvy as I urged her to stand and explain to everyone. Her red face reminded me of myself not so long ago, before I somehow had become accustomed to being the centre of attention. When did THAT happen?
Included in her audience were also the diners seated at the table closest to the one occupied by Davvy and her parents; this was important to me as the diners at that closely neighbouring table were all from my family.
Yes, I had done some arranging that some have suggested might be able to be considered sneaky.
I had organised it so that Uncle Steef was seated with his back to Dilligas, Davvy’s father. Davvy was also dining in the Salon this evening rather than working, so they had a table for three as did my ‘lot’ - Papa, Swayga and Steef. Both the ‘three-er’ tables were up against a wall, so we weren’t wasting places since each of the little tables had only three open sides, so as to speak.
Uncle Steef used the question to turn round and look at Davvy as though he were really interested in the answer, but in all actuality, Senidet and Sigsten had already been down to the Roadhouse and installed one of these new clock things down there.
(They were busy now installing them at various other places up here in Town. I shall return to this subject a little later, though, since I must for now describe events in the Salon on that evening, an evening some four or so after the day the Countess had her little fall and had sprained her wrist. It was the night after I had taken my farewell of Djerk.
We spoke together up there in his room. We both understood finally what had happened to us and why each had reacted as they had. I kissed him one more time, his beard tickling me as I did so. His lips were as gentle as mine, and after that final contact, we both gently stroked the other’s cheek. I turned on my heel, raised a hand in farewell and left his room to go back down to the kitchens. Kassama was just passing as I came out, her arms full of bedding from one of the other rooms. She smiled at me and I smiled back. My eyes may have been just a little bit brighter with water than normal, and my smile may have been just that little bit wobblier, but otherwise my departure from Djerk was relatively painless. I suppose that I should tell you at this point that from that moment on, I never ever saw him again.)
But back to the events in the Salon.
I had discussed these in advance with Uncle Steef and also, to a certain extent, with Davvy. I didn’t want her to be too flustered and overact the surprise I required from her and her family. She was still quite self-conscious, but some advanced notification had been required. Fortunately, since nearly every diner had turned to look at her, her blushes and stammers and so on were put down to a nervousness of talking publicly to so many people, for which task she had risen to her feet and positioned herself below the clock.
“We call these two displays ‘dials’. This dial here shows us the time of day, or, as in this instance, night, in terms of our Bells. See here,” she pointed with her good arm, “this number tells us which was the last bell announcement, whilst this number here shows us the quarters as they come along. This final indicator shows a sun when it is daytime and a moon for when ’tis night, although most of us know how to look out of the window to glean THAT information.”
She flushed, but with pleasure, when all the diners laughed along with her. This reaction gave her more confidence which was noticeable to us all, particularly manifesting itself in both her voice and her bearing as she continued, after a brief pause, with a sparkling grin on her lips and a teasing note: “Now we all know that many things have changed since Her Highness came to Palarand ...”
Again, there was some good-hearted laughter and many smiles.
“… but some of the more important changes have been down in Palarand City amongst the Questors, as we used to call them. It appears that they require suddenly far more accuracy when it comes to times and timings. Our King has decided that we shall measure our time in a different way, in the same way as they do in Her Highness’ home lands.
“In both systems, the word ‘day’ is used to indicate a complete cycle of bells as well as the times when the sun is up. However, there exist two very large differences with their method when compared to our method. First of all, their larger unit of time within a day is called an ‘hour’ and their day is split up into twenty-four of them. So each hour is shorter than each of our bells, since there are more of them to fit into the one day. The second very important difference is that their day starts at midnight! Now that may seem at first...”
She raised her voice slightly to continue over the inevitable gasps of surprise from those to whom this was all new, but her explanation of it all was precise, detailed and readily graspable by all there. The whole thing took at most ten thingies, what’s-its, not moments, ah yes, minutes. She sat down once more to great applause and received effulgent praise and thanks from everyone; her cheeks were burning but her eyes were dancing with pride, a pride matched by her parents, whose faces were also tinged with a touch of awe. They could not believe the change in their daughter. Nor the extent of her new-found knowledge.
With perfect timing, Steef tapped Dilligas on the shoulder. “How proud you must be of your talented daugh...” He broke off as Dilligas swung round to face him. “Hold! I know your face! From downvalley, I deem.”
Uncle fell silent again, his face making it obvious to all in the room that he was wracking his brains for the elusive memory. I confess that he acted as well as anyone in Berdon’s troupe. Even I was almost convinced, and I knew I had told him all the details he needed to know already!
Our unspoken objectives were met when Dilligas said: “Indeed, Master! ’Twas, I believe, something to do with barging.” He in his turn thought for a little while and then apparently just managed to beat Uncle to the moment: “Hold! Are you not Master Stiff?”
“Steef, if it pleases. And yes, it also comes back to me now. From the barging company we tried to start. D something. Diffident or Diligent, but yet neither???” He finished with a tone of enquiry.
“Dilligas, Master Steef. Yes, that were a sad business, were it not? I never did discover why all those bright hopes just crumbled.”
“’Twas the Count down in Tranidor that caused it!
“Milord, the Count Trosanar, took it upon himself to decide that he would require tribute from all traffic, including riverborne, that passed his town. When we bargers raised objections to this, he applied pressure to all of his neighbours to deny the building and use of wharves and warehouses, by threatening increased levies against their citizens if they wished to sell their goods in Tranidor and its markets. It all became far too expensive, in both time and coin, much of which was lost to the many of us who were funding the barging company. I must delightedly report now though that our Princess has since made him see the error of his ways, and we are once again developing a barging connection. We… Hold! I have just had a thought. What make you of yourself now? What brings you here to Blackstone?”
“Work, and the low taxes here! I would fain be waterborne again, but alas my family takes priority for I must feed them. My wife here, Talbet, has put up with much from me and I owe it to her to ensure she is as comfortable as I can make her, with what I can provide – for ’tis a man’s responsibility to provide for his family. And my daughter Davabet here is but recently employed...”
He broke off as Steef jumped in: “By my niece Julina, over there.”
“Your niece!?” exclaimed both Davvy’s parents at the same time.
“Indeed, my sister here, Mistress Swayga, is married now with Julina’s father. May I present them, if you please? This is Master Kordulen. And this Mistress Swayga. This is Master Dilligas and his wife, Mistress Talbet. You all already know young Davabet, of course.”
I tried to keep my face on the other diners for I had seen Talbet whip her head towards me suddenly, but I could NOT manage to not look at her swiftly.
Our eyes met.
I knew at that instant that she knew I had done some arranging of this meeting. I blushed and was grateful for a need to attend upon one of the tables.
… … …
The girls and I were clearing up, Davvy insisting upon helping, since she wanted to leave her father and Steef to thrash out some details about barging and the possibility of work there. Those two men and Mistress Talbet were the only ones still in the Dining Room. I had slyly managed to set an extra half-jug of wine on their table – to help the conversation you will understand. And to further my so-far undisclosed plans.
Steef and I had worked out beforehand a particular hand gesture he was to make when they needed my attendance upon their discussions. I was determined to include Davvy as well, for she was closely involved on several levels. She also knew, and approved of, the basis to that which I wanted to achieve that evening – night, really by then. So I made sure that my duties kept me mostly in the dining room, and I kept chatting with Davvy so she remained close by.
The hand gesture duly came, so, when requested by Uncle, I took Davvy by the elbow and sat her down with her parents so that the five of us could talk quietly but also in earnest. The only ones amongst the hand of us that did NOT know what I was about to propose was Dilligas and Talbet herself. The rest of the girls all found something that needed doing in the kitchens.
Uncle Steef started it off: “Julina! Could you perhaps join us? I have just offered Master Dilligas here a job with the barging company I have been commissioned to form by the Steward and, by extension, Her Highness. And in which you, amongst others, have seen fit to invest some of your own coin. I shall commence by announcing that earlier today, a trio of us (consisting of the Steward, Representative Jepp and I), formally created a company to be named the ‘Bray and Palar Navigation Company’ and it is to be based downvalley in Bezlet.
“But for an efficient barging operation there are other facilities that we shall need which we shall either build or rent, or maybe even join in with if they are already established, up and down the river between Bezlet and Haligo, so I must also concentrate upon those areas, particularly now in the relatively short time before the rains.
“You should be made aware that I have offered Master Dilligas here the position of Supervisor of all that shall happen, both on the land and on the water, in Bezlet in particular but also in the entirety of Blackstone lands; Supervisor that is of anything that involves Bray and Palar Navigation. I deem it obvious from the delight on his face that he would love to accept that position, however he wishes to be sure that yet another move for his family would be the right thing to do. As you are his daughter’s employer…” I admired the way he phrased that, hiding my true intent as it did, “… I was wondering if you had anything to help assuage some of his and his wife’s fears?”
I faced the two anxious parents. “I am able to say here and now that I am more than delighted with Davvy, with her progress and with how she has matured and grown even in this short time. I deem her blushing at praise seems to be lessening as she becomes accustomed to it! And she garners much praise almost every day!”
We all smiled at her bright red face as I said that.
“I further deem you can both see her ever-increasing maturity and confidence. I have need of her, I state frankly, and I firmly believe that she has need of me. Only a catastrophe would render asunder our association and should such a catastrophe occur, then from what I know of your family habits you would up sticks again and try to start anew. The difference in the circumstances that have now arisen, is that you would see less of your daughter than you are used to. And Mistress Talbet, you have already mentioned this to me in a prior private conversation.
“If you are uncertain as to how to proceed - for I deem that if Master Dilligas were to accept this position then you would move downvalley to Bezlet, in which case you should do that swiftly as the rains are not so far away - then I would say that ’tis time for your little bird to leave her nest and fly. She cannot be with you for all her life, she too must experience ‘Real Life’ such as it is. I am fully aware that all this makes it seem as though everything is happening so swiftly that you feel less in control and that it involves great and wrenching changes.
“And indeed you would be right.
“Everything is hurtling along at an ever franticer pace. But we must go along with them, these hectic events, if we are all to take advantage of these unique times. Change is in the environment; in the earth beneath our feet, in the very air we breathe. A friend of mine writes many of the words that are used by the acting troupe here in Town, and she said something that struck deeply home to me recently.
“’Twas something like:
"Never wait nor hesitate
Get in there before it's too late
For we may never get another chance.
To everyone, youth’s just a mask,
And ‘tis one that just doesn't last,
So live it now, live it long and live it fast."
“And I deem we shall never again have such a wide-sweeping opportunity as that which pertains amongst us in these days. We have the chance, NOW, to lay the foundations for our society for the next generations.
“Now Mistress Megrozen and I, in our capacities as the owners of Meglina Accommodation, have at least two establishments already planned if not actual down in Bezlet and we wish to expand even further there, since we know what is to come. Meglina require a supervisor for Bezlet, just as Bray and Palar Navigation do. Mistress Pachet runs what has become effectively an Inn down there, named ‘The Clay Pot’, but she has indicated to Mistress Megrozen, myself and …”
I looked directly at Uncle Steef at this point, who actually blushed himself when he suddenly realised I understood where his attentions, and even possibly his intentions, lay.
“… Bargemaster Steef that she is at the limit of her capabilities and is finding the expansion is straining her too much. That is simply the current expansion, let alone all that is already planned. And is taking into account nothing of what is yet to be planned.”
I paused again, and made sure I looked into every pair of eyes around our little table, before fixing Talbet with my gaze once more.
“Mistress Talbet, I am authorised to offer you such a position. As the Bezlet Supervisor for Meglina Accommodation.”
She gasped in shock, but I swear I did see a flash of hope in her eyes, which then clouded with sadness. I could read her mind perfectly at that … second.
I swiftly continued, trying to get her to see the positives rather than dwell upon the negatives: “What this would mean is that the two of you could start afresh down in Bezlet, both doing tasks for which you are eminently suited. I am aware that it seems almost as if ’tis but a story, and one that happens to other people at that! Forget not that you would both be doing work you enjoy doing as opposed to just plodding slowly on doing things that do not excite you.
“Bear in mind also that your family would thus more than double their current earnings and you will be able to afford to live much more in the style you both deserve. Meglina will cause a Supervisor’s House to be built down there for you to live in, in fact there is already started one we consider would be perfect, but I had notice today that a room can be reserved for you in the Clay Pot for as long as you require it.
“It will cost you a larger separation from your only child, but contact will still be maintained, I hereby swear an oath to that effect. It seems to me the benefits outweigh by far the disadvantages. But it WILL be hard work. And,” I added slyly, “you would needs learn to ride a frayen. Meglina would buy you both beast and saddle.”
Talbet fixed me by the eye. “Was this entire evening a set-up, Mistress Julina?” she questioned sternly, almost angrily.
I was aware of the men drawing back slightly at her tone, and of Davvy starting to worry, but I maintained the eye contact. “Indeed not, Mistress Talbet. The decision to invite you for dinner was made a long time ago and our chance meeting after the unarmed combat demonstration just made it all come together. The invitation was issued then, you will recall – and you will also recall I had difficulty in persuading you to accept it. Your invitation here was simply, as I have already stated, a thank-you for producing Davvy and allowing her into my life.
“When Mistress Megrozen and I chatted with you, then your history from your own lips, which we did not know beforehand you should remember, qualified you immediately in our eyes for the vacant Supervisor’s position in Bezlet. But our difficulty would be to try to persuade you to accept such a position with all its inherent upheavals.
“And then Uncle Steef here, Bargemaster Steef to give him his official title, came to visit his sister and the finished idea simply sprang into my head; an event which, as I am sure Davvy has told you, happens quite frequently with me. Bezlet, barging, supervisors. It all seemed to just be there in my head, suddenly. And all neatly tied together somehow.
“So the only manipulation I did was to seat you two families next to each other, hoping that something would happen to get the two men talking.
“And it did happen, didn’t it? So I deem this evening should be seen as a celebration of serendipity. You had a decent meal… er, you DID enjoy it, I trust?”
“Indeed Mistress, that we did. The reputation is well deserved,” she answered swiftly, but still quite stiffly.
“That it were. That it were,” added Dilligas in confirmation, reaching over and patting his wife’s hand as he did so. I was unsure if his nodding at the same time was agreement about the quality of the food, or encouragement for her to accept the new position with Meglina and all that that entailed. Mayhap ’twas both.
Steef threw in his encouragement too: “So, you had a decent meal and you both now have solid and reliable job offers. Surely one of the better evenings of your lives?”
Talbet looked at us all, each of the four in turn. She could see the sincerity in all our gazes. Her own expression softened as she accepted my explanation and Steef’s encouragement. She reacted as I used to do so often.
She burst into tears.
… … …
“Mistress Julina!”
I whirled round and recognised her chubby and diminutive form immediately. “Mistress Brogla! What a delight to see you again. You are here of course for the Grand Gown evening.”
“As you say, Mistress. Mistress Michet directed me up here to find you, for I am sleeping in her house – your Salon house – last and this night. I arrived on the shuttle last e’en, and we went to the Ptuvil’s Claw for a supper and a planning session to arrange the timings for tonight. You were not, it appeared, to be disturbed last night, so I wanted to look you up first thing this morn.”
“I see. And indeed I am honoured. But first, please allow me to introduce Mistress Davabet. She is my almost constant companion nowadays and is a firm and delightful friend, as well as a great boon. For with her with me, I need not find and persuade other friends with other tasks to accompany me everywhere. Davvy, may I present Mistress Brogla, the lady who rules the kitchens down in Brayview?”
“Mistress Brogla.”
“Mistress Davvybett. Charmed, I’m sure.”
Davvy and I smiled gently at the subtle mispronunciation of her name and the somewhat dated expression but neither of us said anything to correct her.
“Davvy and I are as two snow flakes, so close have we become, and, I dare say, so alike have we become. Therefore, may I suggest we drop all the tiresome ‘Mistressing’, for we are all alone at this heartbeat and ’tis tedious in the extreme. I have been meaning to say that to Mis… er... Brogla for quite some while now.”
“Maker! I deem I have not deserved such an honour. ’Tis most welcome I find… Julina,” replied Brogla to my make-friends overtures, her face pinking slightly with obvious pleasure.
“So shall it be, then. We two are Julina and Davabet, but we also answer to ’Lina and Davvy!”
I turned once more to my companion as I felt she may not have gathered the full meaning of the upcoming ‘celebration’. “Davvy, just in case you are unaware of the significance of this evening’s celebration, then I shall remind you that a party of a dozen travelled from Blackstone lands down to the capital for Their Highnesses’ wedding. Two hands left from here, and Mistress Brogla and another man, who came from the village of Tamitil, joined with them at Brayview.
“Her Highness, as a present, arranged for the six women in that party to have gowns made by one of the foremost dressmakers of Palarand, a Master Korond and his staff. Tonight, all six women shall wear those gowns once more, for to leave them packed away, never again to see the lights, would be folly of an enormous measure. And the entire mass of womenfolk of our town are intrigued to see them being worn. Desperate to see them worn would perchance be a more accurate statement.”
“Oh! Is that why...”
I hurriedly hushed her and flashed her an annoyed look. Brogla looked steadily at me, then at her and then back to me, a knowing grin on her lips. But she had the sense and maturity not to take the subject any further. Davvy blushed and nodded acceptance of my admonishment.
I aided that acceptance by swiftly talking once more: “Only the seamstresses up here have actually seen the gowns so far, and some have taken inspiration and created some Blackstone versions of high fashion for the invited Townswomen to wear tonight. So those in charge have arranged for a quick display to the Town before all those shall be dining with us in the Salon; the entire dining party shall parade the short distance from the Claw up Main Street to us. This shall be for the later sitting and ’tis a closed event, attended by the women and the Prince of course, and the Countess who shall be the Prince’s companion this e’en. The Steward shall also be there, along with various of the senior Assembly members and their partners. The Dining Room shall be filled to capacity and we shall all be rushed off our feet, I have no doubt.
“But hush, Davvy, don’t let Brogla here know anything of the special dishes we have prepared and will serve them. Let her be surprised by it all along with the rest.”
Davvy nodded again even as Brogla spoke up once more: “Ah! I had not thought of that, Julina. I was wanting to see your kitchens before I have to go and get ready – for it does take a fair while for anyone to make ME look presentable – but I suppose that there might be surprises in there that would be exposed if I came in!”
“Davvy, run and tell the kitchens that Brogla and I shall make an inspection in ten minutes, would you?”
She grinned to show the full message was understood and trotted off down the hill whilst Brogla and I followed more slowly.
“Ten whats, did you say? I seem to remember something about them from when we were down to the Palace, but I confess I paid too little attention. I was suffering from an attack of awe on each and every one of those days.”
“Ah! Come with me, then, to our Dining Room first. There I shall show you, for ’tis easier so to do than try to paint a word picture. We have a new clock-type thing up here nowadays...”
… … …
“Seekomris! So many! I am astounded that you have prepared so many so quickly. But why are some halved and some ‘attacked’ in a different way?”
’Twas Venket who replied: “Mistress Brogla, it all depends upon what they are to be used for. If we are to use them as little boat-type things, filled as they will be with various fillings, then we split them in half down through the stalk, and then cut out the seed balls that live in the centre. But if they are to be used in thin strips, then all we do is slice off the bottom, for that way we can afterwards slice down towards the stalk, and just inside the ribs here, and then we don’t have to do the fiddly bit of cutting out the stalk and the seed ball.”
“How simple! And yet so easy, I am annoyed I thought not of that for myself.”
Mistress Brogla was, I deem, impressed by much of what we did in the kitchens. I could see her filing information in her mind. Cutting techniques that would make life quicker and simpler for her when she got back to her kitchens. Ways of keeping food both warm and cool. Timings that would help a smoother flow. Half-cooking as preparation, thus reducing times required later. Many options for her to implement when she returned.
But the traffic of information was not limited to just one way. She herself introduced certain ideas that we in these kitchens could adopt and/or adapt. One in particular attracted my interest and I knew that I would need to experiment with the base of that idea. If it worked out as I suspected, then that would add another level to the refinement of things that we could serve in the future.
Brogla was with us in the kitchens for just under a bell, probably an hour all told, before Em popped in to fetch her for the declared purpose of showing her more of the Town as time was becoming limited before they both had to gather at the Claw for the great ‘get ready’ session. As soon as they were out of the door, the ‘secret’ or the ‘surprise’ dishes were whipped out again and we carried on working on those for half a bell before I told everyone to finish off what they were doing and give me their attention.
When I had it, I bent down with Surtree and we removed a new piece of equipment from a cupboard under the work surface. It was covered with a cloth and no-one else in the kitchens had ever seen it. We grunted as we brought it out, for it was most heavy and unwieldy.
I had been idly wondering about this possibility for some while and had fallen to musing about it once with Senidet. She had then drawn up a design and she, Brydas, Sethan and I had fiddled with it for a few weeks now. I wanted to try it out today and if possible use it for one of the dishes to be served later and so I chose that moment to reveal it. All the other three, and Surtree, had been sworn to secrecy so it was hardly surprising when all the others in the kitchens gathered round; flocked round would be better for they were all a’twittering like avians.
“I shall need that new metal table that appeared last week, and I shall need it over here, next to the main oven range. Please carefully clear it off, make passageway for it to move, and two or three of you then drag it over there, while I explain more about it and this new… device.
“You will all remember how I wanted to apply heat to the upper surface of a split seekom we had stuffed with cheese and vegetables a few weeks ago, but we had no easy means of doing it? The only way we could get close to it was to have special metal discs made, placed on the top and then we had to flip the food over, which nearly worked but was more than a little messy until it all got hot enough to sort of seal itself.”
There were nods all round, and not a few smiles as we remembered some of the messes that came about.
“So I started wondering how we could direct heat onto food from above without having nasty soot and cinders fall as well. I have tried waving a hot spill above the food and all sorts of things like that. That took far too long and was extremely inefficient. Mistress Senidet then got involved and we talked about it, which meant that soon afterwards Master Brydas was also involved. Before long, Sethan and Surtree came into the group too. Many ideas were tried but in the end we came back to this, the simplest one.
“So we have here a stone-built tower, open on one of its four sides. ’Tis of stone so that most of the heat shall remain inside it. The stone is, of course, made of oven brick. But because it is stone, it is heavy, so we have had to find a balance between weight and size. For that reason we have two of these… tools here, but for now, for testing purposes, I have brought just the one out.
“Gather round and look carefully at it, peer inside it, see how ’tis made. But be reasonably swift for we still have much to do for the meals this e’en.
“At the top, you will notice, inside ’tis lined with shiny metal for we found that shiny metal loses less heat than dull metal, and seems to reflect that heat much like a glass does the light in a lantern. Thus also the outside top of the tower shall heat up less rapidly. We have here a slot which is where the heat supply shall be pushed in. Beneath that slot are various other slots as you can see, the middle one of which is occupied by a metal grille. This is so that the thing can cope with differently sized foods, varying from thin to thick. We just slide the metal grille into the appropriate slot so that the top of the food is close to the heat source.
“But what is that heat source? Why ’tis simply a metal plate that we heat up in the fires of our ranges. When required, we remove the plate of metal from the firebox with special handles and slide it in here, in this uppermost slot. ’Twill retain its heat for many moments, by which time the food should be cooked. If ’tis not, then we just replace the now cooler metal plate with another taken from the fires.
“I deem I need not point out all the possibilities for personal danger from these new tools, so we must all of us be extremely aware when using them. Think of your, and others, safety and health.”
I gazed sternly round at them all and only let go of their eyes once they had nodded to acknowledge what I had just said.
“And now let’s test it!”
I do believe that they were all as intrigued as I. Surtree showed them how to fit the special handle into the two holes in the metal heat source plate, and then he slid it and a partner one into the fire to warm up, releasing the handle each time with a surprisingly deft twist of his wrists. It seemed to me the lad had been practising that movement!
I took one of the blue seekomris from the pile near me and split it lengthways down through the stalk. I then cut out the seed ball from just under where the stalk penetrated the skin. The two halves then wobbled on the work surface – not surprising since the seekom is just a globe when it grows – and so I sliced off a thin slither from the undersides of the two half-globes. They then settled far more stably. With just a little milk, some bread crumbs, some other vegetables and some crumbled cheese, I swiftly made up two balls of somewhat squidgy ingredients and pressed them down into each of the two seekom halves, finally scraping any excess off so that nothing protruded above the thick skin edges. I removed the food-carrying grille from our brick tower and placed the two halves upon it, ready to get going as soon as Surtree declared the heat source to be ready and he had slid it into place.
It seemed to take years before Surtree allowed anyone to look into the firebox.
“Why ’tis glowing red, I deem,” called Paivi as she took the first allowed look.
Surtree quickly picked up the special handle and said: “Now keep a long way clear. This is so hot it could set you on fire should it touch you!”
The girls all scattered backwards and watched with bated breaths as Surtree bent down, inserted his handle’s rods into the designed holes and extracted one of the plates from the fires. Paivi slammed the range door shut as soon as he had passed out of the way.
Surtree carried the metal plate (and I deemed she was right, ’twas indeed glowing a faint red with heat) up to the brick tower and slid it into the uppermost slot just where it was designed to do so. We all squealed a little as a dust ball burst into flame along one edge, but Surtree remained steady and thrust the piece home.
I held my hand inside the brick tunnel/tower thingy at the lowest level and raised it up towards the heat, but could only last a few heartbeats before the temperature became too unbearable. “Now I am going to slide these half-seekomris into this lowest slot here, to maximise the distance of the food from the heat source, just to see what happens…
“Hmmm, I deem that is too low a temperature. Let us raise the grille one slot...”
And so we found out that, for that dish, the slot two below the highest was the best. The food cooked entirely as I had hoped. We all were impressed and we tried a piece of the results and gave our opinions. But we did get one suggestion, from Kelly, that made all the difference and which made that dish the great success it became.
“I find the whole thing extremely tasty. Well done, ‘Lina. A good recipe you have invented there. I do have a little question in my head though. I find that the seekom itself, although delicious as I said, is just a little hard, a little tough. Could we try just briefly cooking the empty half-globe first, maybe smeared with a little oil, just to soften it and only then stuff it with the mixture and finally cooking THAT?”
Thus it was that the ‘Top Heater’ proved its worth on its very first day. We soon developed many more dishes for cooking in those, and we had five of them in all in the kitchens at the end. That first time, we could only use one for doing eight portions, so the second one was quickly brought into action. With thirty-odd diners in that second sitting we only just managed to handle it all.
Which was, in its way, much of the theme for that evening.
… … …
We, of course, were far too busy to attend the triumphant parade up Main Street from the Claw to us. The kitchens were completely full, every single one of us being there so we had hands aplenty, just not that much space.
But I too had another surprise for the diners in that second sitting that night. For we had all had made a sort of uniform for those of us who worked there, including Kassama. Haka was the talented one who had put them all together for us, and I had the usual battle with her to accept sufficient coin for her work. She still felt that she owed me so much for turning her family’s fortunes about. All the girls loved their new working dresses, Venket perhaps being the most delighted, for I had tried to make sure that they were elegantly feminine as well as sturdy working dresses. Surtree also had a matching tunic so that all the staff looked professionally similar.
The major problem we had first of all that evening was encouraging the first sitting diners to leave. They all wanted to be as close as possible to the ‘entertainment’ and so we almost had a stand-off with nowhere for the paraders to come in to. I partially solved it by allowing some of them to stand in the front family room, and had the rest of them form an ‘honour guard’ that clapped the newcomers in. We behind the scenes were under great strain at that moment, clearing away dirty dishes and tablecloths and setting out fresh places after bunching the tables together into the required configuration. And also changing into our new ‘uniforms’ for they only came out then. If only those first sitting diners had left at a more normal time and in a more normal fashion. But with three new new girls, three new girls, we three ‘old’ girls, and then Kords, Kissa, Kassama, Surtree and even Davvy, none of the diners were any the wiser about just how close run it had all been.
Now it could be considered to be unbecoming on my part to report that that evening was an unmitigated success, but I shall do so anyway. That was one of the most successful evenings we had ever had in the Salon during those early days.
We received many compliments and Em reported that all the diners were entertained and enthralled not only by the food but also by the assembled company, with many diverting discussions and conversations. Berdon and Bettayla were amongst their numbers, and they provided some light relief as well, but this was no rehearsed and practised set of routines.
We had for once a sitting in which absolutely no emergency, whether minor or otherwise, arose in the kitchens and all diners expressed their pleasure at the five-course dinner we gave them.
Mistress Jenet, the Commander’s wife, discreetly called for me early in the proceedings and met me just outside the dining room door. We arranged for a small table to be set up in the front family room so that the maids and guards could be fed two at a time as the evening progressed. The grins of appreciation on the guards faces were well worth all the effort we had invested. The maids, too, congratulated us afterwards, even the Einnlander ones!
Once again, at the end of the evening, the company of diners called us all in to applaud us. I ushered everyone else in first and stood at the back, so I can’t say how many blushes were thrown out by my companions. But at one point, I noticed the Prince and the Countess speak softly to each other and then they both turned and looked directly at me. The look in their faces, the Prince’s particularly, gave me great cause to wonder. The look was a calculating look somehow, yet one of approval as well. Of course, I eventually understood what had just passed but ’twas only much later that I finally managed to piece together everything.
Despite that nagging thought in the back of my head, I must confess that I was moved beyond normal by the way things had gone, and we were all basking afterwards in that warm feeling of a job well done, Em having joined us once she had escorted a slightly tipsy Brogla up to her room. Having broken the back of the clearing up, just a few last dishes and the preparations for the room for the morning, and the banking of the fires, we had all gathered in the Dining Room; sixteen tired but proud hard workers as we gently wound down after a highly successful evening. Em had approved the opening of a bottle or two of wine and we all had some, watered down to different strengths depending upon ages and/or maturity – Em and I being the judges!
We talked about various things as we enjoyed, nay savoured, both the wine as well as the togetherness.
“Those Top Heaters are an excellent idea Julina. I trust you have the Exclusivity Licence on them?”
“Indeed I have, but already I wish to change the design. They are unwieldy, restrict space in our kitchen, add to the temperature in there and take a long while to cool sufficiently to be stored away again. I deem we should have a shelter just outside the kitchen door where they might be used still in a handy way, and yet reduce the disadvantages.”
“That is a good idea!” replied Em. “I have been thinking for a little while that we should actually make the kitchen bigger. We certainly have the coin now for an expansion. It’s just the inconvenience. ’Twould mean closing the Salon for a while, of course.”
“Unless we use the old VMS building for much of our preparation work as I suggested a while ago?”
And so we chatted on. Amongst the many subjects spoken, one thing that Kelly said managed to surprise us all.
And gave me furiously to think.
We were talking about the ‘modern’ changes, the clock in particular, when she suggested that her family and their traditions were now in danger. In the same breath, it seemed, she also touched on some of the cooking arrangements. All of which made me sit up a lot straighter, I must confess, my senses twitching in some indefinable way.
“… With these new clocks, which I must say are very good, then my family seem to be slowly turning into electrics experts rather than the long-established Bellringers, well-respected members of the Timekeepers’ Guild. We now know how to charge one of these battery thingies, and how to replace it in what Senidet calls ‘the circuit’. And now we have to do it for the Steward’s clock too and for this one as well. And no doubt for the others that Senidet is installing around Town. For there shall be no-one else with such knowledge once the Royal Party depart. In my nightmares, I see a time when electrics takes over, no person being there to ring the bells even.
“But on the other hand, I must say I prefer the Princess’ way of counting time. Why just today, oh yesterday now I see, we needed to know how long those seekomris required cooking under the Top Heater thingy. With the new time system we can make a note of how long things take, instead of keeping squeezing, or prodding or slicing things to test for doneness. Just by measuring the time we can know that something is cooked. This dish takes so and so many minutes each time – things like that...”
Soon we were all discussing that development with exclamations of wonder and delight. The twists and turns of normal conversation all came together then and we were all quite animated but we stayed on topic; which was quite unusual for us, I can tell you. Some good ideas were thrown out then, and Em wondered if we could even change the way we do things, where currently diners ordered their meals a few days in advance, to being able to give them a list of options even as they were seated.
We threw that idea backwards and forwards for a good few minutes before we decided to reject it. We would not want to be in a position where we would have to tell diners that their meal option was no longer available as we had sold too many portions of it already. With the current system of them ordering in advance, we could be sure to cater to their desires.
Not long afterwards, Papa and Swayga together knocked and entered, claiming that it was way too late for Kissa to still be up, and they felt that both Kords and I were pushing our limits.
Kissa immediately got all huffy and whined bad-temperedly: “Ah! Mother! Papa! Did you have to? We were having such a good gathering here...”
It was at that point that it really hit me. I realised finally that I really and truly was no longer responsible for my sisters and brothers, that I was indeed my own woman now. And that they no longer needed me in that way.
Which revelation was just in time, for that was the last evening I ever had in that phase of my life. Events on the morrow were going to rock my entire world.
Prince Keren surprises Julina and leaves her speechless – for a little while
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.
The sky was blue. A bright, light blue, the night’s darker shades having long since been banished. A few puffy clouds were drifting along the hidden airways way up high overhead, their movement accentuated by the stationary peaks. Occasional avians would flit across patches of sky, their calls sweet, carried on the now-not-so-early morning breeze. The sun had reached down only as far as the Stone Sea diggings, up where the Larsenar hut had been. And yet there was already a lovely summery feeling in the air, in our surroundings. Some intangible thing that granted an ease, almost a glee, to us. Well, all I can say is that whatever it was, our spirits were lightened.
’Twas a warm morning after a warmish night. The entire family were out in our courtyard Tai Chiing along with the regular guests Surtree and Davvy. The banter had been free and easy all along this session and the feeling of togetherness had never been quite so strong, I felt certain.
That gorgeously peaceful start was just so good for everyone and we all felt the benefits of our gentle environment; our gentle, beautiful and strangely uplifting environment as we each limbered up for the day.
Of course, it had to come to an end sometime and it did, but gently in its way, no crash, bang, shocking disturbance. All too soon, in retrospect, there came a distant interruption to our near-perfect start.
We were all outside so none of us missed a sudden emergence consisting of many mounted men, and at least two women, from behind the Community Hall. We watched, still continuing our Tai Chi forms, as the great group made their way quite speedily down South Cross Lane and crossed East Street, upon which the early morning traffic had been halted by two soldiers, allowing this large collection of riders to pass unhindered. Once they had all ridden between the Steward’s house and the Watch compound, we naturally lost sight of them, the buildings obscuring any further glimpses from us. A few mental eyebrows were raised as we continued the Tai Chi, where we were now entering the last forms phase. The impression we all had was that that group had seemed to be laden with purposefulness.
Even as we finished our energising exercises and Swayga was chivvying the younger ones back into the house for their chores, Papa and I, flanked by Davvy and Surtree, saw a much smaller group, this one of a mere three mounted men, come out of South Cross Lane once more, travelling a little slower this time. Even at this distant remove, we could see they were guards from their posture, we had no need for the confirmation given by their uniforms. They reached East Street and turned right to descend it as all traffic does on that stretch. Nothing out of the ordinary so far. We four were about to turn away ourselves to go back into the house when we saw the guards turn off East Street again and into our approach lane, a lane that leads only to us, the one that runs alongside the Orchard, as we termed our fruit and vegetable ‘patch’ we shared with the Claw. We all stood outside, awaiting their arrival.
“Good morrow, Master Kordulen, Mistress Julina, Mistress Davobert, Surtree” said their spokesman formally. We all smiled faintly at his mispronunciations. I had recognised him as being Mon, one of the guards that had been down at the Retreat with us all.
“Good morrow Guardsmen all. To what do we owe the honour?” Naturally, Papa took the lead.
Mon drew himself up fully, and in the best ‘official’ voice he could muster, he formally stated: “Master Kordulen, we are here to escort Mistress Julina to His Honour’s house, that she might attend a meeting with His Honour and His Highness, Prince Keren, amongst others.”
His tones were most serious. So much so that we began to worry.
“Surely she is not being arrested?” said Papa anxiously.
“Not as far as I know, Master. Bailiss Michet shall also be attending and a similar group to ourselves has been despatched to escort Mistress Kellonika to the same meeting. The Prince did say that Mistress Davobert could also attend, but ’twas not necessary. But I know not the full reason behind the summons. Certainly we have not been instructed to take her into custody.”
“I deem, Papa, that this must be Salon business as ’tis the three leaders of that enterprise that seem to have been summoned.” I turned back to the guard. “Mon, I shall be a short while preparing myself. Why don’t you three men tie your beasts to that hitching rail there, and come into the house for some pel. I doubt not that we might find a few little bakeries as well, for I learnt about your soldierly likes when we were downvalley at the Retreat.”
I have rarely seem men move so fast. Just at the promise of a few things to nibble upon. It made me wonder at the standard of the cooking in their accommodation. Maybe I should do some investig… I dragged my thoughts, and actions, back to the need for speed as I went to change into more appropriate daywear.
I was using Davvy to help as there was clearly a degree of urgency about this, but – and I do not mean this nastily – with just one good hand, she was almost more of a hindrance. Kords, bless her, soon gathered that some haste was needed and she came to help too. Davvy was relieved to be able to pick things up as they were required and hand them to someone else who could use them more proficiently. But then Davvy’s presence was made worthwhile when she asked: “Do you know, ’Lina, if you shall be riding anywhere? For then they would surely want you to be wearing riding clothes!”
“Oh Davvy, be a dear and go ask them, would you please? That was an excellent thought of yours.”
Kords and I got the riding stuff out ready, just in case. In the end, as the soldiers were uncertain, we decided I should wear it after all. Such a little thing, that – scarce noticed in the rush and hecticity of my scrambling preparations. And yes, it was a day, of course, when my hair decided to be awkward. I think that returning to the grinning soldiery, as they tucked into third helpings of honey cakes, in just over a quarter of a bell was almost a miracle really.
In my haste, my tights were not quite sitting properly round my right foot and, whilst not in pain, I spent most of our walk towards the Steward’s house fiddling, fidgeting and looking down. Kords and Davvy were with me, in a sense, they were a stride or so behind me, discussing things for an event that I realised with a shock I had totally forgotten about. Today was the inaugural day for the Market, the first day when the entire Market Place would be blocked off for the morning, traffic being routed to East Street by the upper end of Main Street and then left into North Cross Lane. Now I did actually know about this event and its details because Blackstone Wagons were fully booked bringing men and supplies across from the Artisan’s Area. But it just hadn’t registered with me somehow that today was the day.
The three military men had not remounted and were walking with me, one in front and the others either side. As we passed the track that led from the Claw to the paddock, I saw Perry emerge from the Inn, leading a trio of frayen, obviously about to exercise them. They all looked a little glum somehow, so I called out to Perry, intending to cheer him up.
“Oh, good morrow Julina,” he said as his quick eyes scanned our little party. “Have you been arrested or something? That would be appropriate for this sad day!”
“Sad day?”
“Indeed. Even though we expected it, Nelke died in the night, in the stalls. I deem ’tis a world record for a frayen’s age, but still we are all sad. Beasts and humans alike.”
“As you say, Parry,” I managed to reply as the unexpected tears sprang to my eyes and to my throat. I raised a dispirited hand and fell into thinking about Nelke and then onto Epp, of course. Even the two girls behind were affected by my mood and we passed on in silence, more trudging than walking.
Thus it was a subdued group who skirted along the north side of the Claw, reached Main Street and turned right to pass the old VMS building. At the front entrance to the Steward’s house, Kords and Davvy continued on towards the Salon, whilst I was ushered into the Steward’s house by the three soldiers. I stumbled slightly on the top step and Mon’s hand shot out to steady me, for which I was grateful but too flustered for the moment to convey that. It was a firm grip he had on my elbow, which he maintained for some little while, just in case. So firm, that later I would be able to see the bruises he left. Mind you, I know I do bruise most easily.
I was ushered into a large room, obviously set up specially for this occasion, whatever that might be. There was a table to one side with various documents on it, positioned under another of the new-fangled clock things. Seated on the far side of that table were His Highness in the middle, Milady Countess Merizel to his left, His Honour to his right and Commander Feteran one place further right. The Commander’s wife, Mistress Jenet, was also seated – she was at the far end. Representative Jepp occupied the other end of the table, with his parchments, papers, reeds and reedlets spread out neatly and in a precisely ordered manner before him.
There was a sort of semi-circle made by three rows of chairs, all facing the table. The three chairs in the middle of the front row were empty when I walked in, although many of the other chairs were occupied by Assembly members and their wives or husbands, and other prominent citizens.
The Prince looked up at me almost immediately and smiled a wide smile of welcome. “You seem both sad and apprehensive, Mistress Julina. Good morrow to you, and I, we, thank you for attending this meeting at such short notice. You have nothing to fear here, I assure you.”
“Good morrow, Your Highness,” I replied, dropping a curtsey. “Uncertain as to the occasion, I am uncertain as to whether or not to thank you for the honour.”
He smiled at my reply, and asked: “You seem sad though?”
“Your Highness, on the way here, I learned of the death of a frayen. Stablemaster Parrier assures me that Nelke had reached a world record age for a frayen, but last night was the last. Nelke was older than I and has been here for at least twenty years now.”
“Maker! That is indeed a veritable age for such a beast. To whom ...”
He broke off as a bewildered-looking Kelly was ushered in. Smoothly he welcomed her: “Mistress Kellonika, thank you for attending this meeting at such short notice. Perchance yourself and Mistress Julina should occupy two of those three chairs set in the middle of the front row there. The third is for Bailiss Michet, whenever she arrives.”
“When she has put Quadrant Ponstib down, I deem,” rumbled the Commander with a laugh in his voice; a laugh that was matched by several in the room, including the guards stationed by the door.
I gasped slightly, for I had had my suspicions, but the Commander, seemingly, had just confirmed them. Kelly and I were both wondering what this was all about but the conversations flowed freely for the next five moments or, as we were rapidly learning, minutes or so. We gained no clue from any of it. Certainly the atmosphere here in this room was very calm and relaxed and my churning stomach and indeed my sadness about Nelke were calming down in response.
Before I gasped once again, more loudly this time.
For in had walked my entire family, all well-scrubbed and dressed up in their nicest clothes. My eyes shot to Kelly as most of her family entered too. I realised that at least one of hers would have had to stay behind to toll the bells. Kelly’s eyes met mine and we both shrugged in bewilderment, questions flashing between us in eye-speak of course. But we both tensed up again.
Soon after that, Em entered. But she stayed for a while by the door; I believe I saw her look a question to the assembled dignitaries whilst shrugging her shoulders. I could not look in two directions of course, and Kelly later told me that the Prince frowned, glanced at the Steward and the two of them indicated to Em to close the door and come forward. I saw her nod to the ‘top table’ in acknowledgement. She reached behind her, closed the door and straightened her back into a very guard-like stance. She marched, there was no other word to describe her gait, over to us at the front there, smiled at the two of us and spread her skirts out as she sat down, somehow managing to show she was sitting at ‘attend’.
The Prince stood up and an instant silence fell.
“Thank you everyone for attending this event, which despite current appearances, is more of an informal affair than you might all be expecting. I will be as brief as I can but, essentially speaking, we are all here today to observe me signing a number of documents, which will be accompanied by two others also signing each, witnessing therewith the authenticity of my signature. For the first one, those two shall be His Honour, Captain Bleskin, Steward of these lands and his son, Commander Feteran, in charge of Her Highness’ Guards.
“Let me commence with a short history, to keep all here aware of the background required. And also explain that our pleasant sojourn in these remoter parts of my father’s kingdom is soon to come to an end. We must depart in the next few days in order to avoid the rains on our long return journey to the Palace. Yes, we know the rains are more than a month away but we shall be unable to make a simple and direct return. We have people and places to visit and works to inspect as we go and I must needs attend to some other business in Palarand before the rains. I, we, must therefore make generous allowances for delays. We have set our departure to be in four days’ time. Indeed, several of our party are already no longer here. It is therefore incumbent upon myself to perform such formal duties as I am deemed to have within the next half-week. Today is the first of those occasions. And it will be a series of most pleasant duties, I can assure you.
“You will all be aware that the Princess and I departed here last autumn after an initial ‘fact finding’ tour, and we can all appreciate that much has happened since we left back then. Much has happened and much has changed. And we must all bear in mind that much more will happen and much more will change.
“Now, it has long been a tradition in my family for us to recognise excellence when we see it, and to reward it in some way. Indeed, there are few duties we have that afford us much more pleasure.
“And here in Blackstone is a shining example of such excellence. You will all understand from the three central characters seated just there in front of me that I am referring to the ‘Salon’, an enterprise built up from nothing by Mistress Julina who seized upon an idea by the then Mistress Michet and expanded it greatly. But Mistress Julina could not do this single-handedly and her most loyal assistant Mistress Kellonika has been included in the triumphant triumvirate, for ’tis she who now handles the day-to-day running of the said establishment.
“Accordingly, I have had drawn up as a certificate this parchment roll embossed with the Royal Coat of Arms and with the inscription: ‘In recognition of excellence, this Royal Seal of Approval is awarded to Mistresses Julina, Kellonika and Michet for their work in establishing the restaurant known as ‘The Salon’ situated in the town of Blackstone.’
“I shall now sign it in my capacity of the Heir to the Throne … so ... and I hereto attach my seal … so. Dated this day, the 25th of Keruvil, in the year 1175 since the Great Flood.”
With a flourish, he wrote on the parchment in front of him even as he said that. He followed this by pressing his signet ring into the prepared wax, which had been molten and added to the parchment for him by Representative Jepp.
“I call upon Captain Bleskin to attach his own signature in witness of mine.”
His Honour stood and did so.
“I call upon Commander Feteran to attach his signature in witness of mine.”
The Commander did likewise.
“I call upon Mistress Julina to come forth, with her two companions, to receive this scroll.”
As I walked forward in more than somewhat of a daze, my colleagues were on each side of me, but they stayed for some reason just a little behind me. We curtsied formally to His Highness who bowed in response and then I stretched out my hand. I received the scroll from the smiling Prince, who whispered to me as I took it: “I would suggest that you turn around, unroll the scroll and display it to all in the room.”
The whisper wasn’t really necessary, in fact ’twas almost too faint to hear, such was the outburst of applause that broke out when the precious scroll was placed into my hand. I did as the Prince had suggested and was surprised at the cheers that rang out - even though they were principally, I deemed, from our respective families.
The cheers and calls were subsiding when a further interruption occurred; one of which I was amongst the first to be aware since I was facing the right way, so as to speak.
I saw the door open quite forcefully. Which I suppose was only to be expected as ’twas Uncle Brydas who had done the opening. I wasn’t that surprised to see that he was accompanied by Senidet (with Maid Molleena of course) but I was torn as to which was the greater by two other things at which to be surprised.
One was that there was a third principal person with them; the surprise being that that person was Master Pyor.
The other surprise was what Senidet was wearing, Molleena being in a somehow lesser version. Whatever it was that they were wearing, ’twas certainly nothing like any of us Blackstonians had ever seen before. And that caused many a gasp from most of the females present who swung round in ever-increasing numbers as we all looked in amazement at the two women.
Their attire was of leather. A suit of leather it soon became apparent. I shall not fill these pages with a more detailed description for that will merely detract from the momentous events that were to follow. I will report simply that Senidet later told me ’twas termed an ‘Inventor’s Suit’. (It took some time, months and more, for me to appreciate the full value of such clothing.)
However, at that time and that place, I deem we women were all a little shocked, almost scandalised I would go so far as to say.
Uncle’s voice cut through the low hubbub: “My apologies for our tardiness Your Highness, Your Honour, and all others here present. But I am glad to announce, we have done it! We have made a workably robust ‘frog’! But we wanted not to interrupt the ceremonies, so we shall subside into the background.”
Everyone laughed at that. Two women in highly unusual garb, a small mountain of a man and a relative stranger were never likely to be able to fade from sight in a room, however big or however crowded.
Particularly when only a few present had actually managed to understand his words.
But the Prince had understood and smiled broadly as he congratulated them: “Good news indeed, very good news. Well done.
“But now we shall continue from where we were. For the late-comers ...” he smiled engagingly and most present chuckled or giggled slightly “… we have presented Mistress Julina and her team with her certificate of excellence as the first order of our business today.”
As an aside, he turned to face us once more. “You ladies will please come with Mistress Jenet into the neighbouring room once we are finished in here, but for now I have some other presentations to make and then we will allow you to be mobbed by your supporters. Mistress Julina, if I might suggest you place your scroll on the table here, for too much handling can be detrimental to parchment. Oils from the skin can accumulate and so on. It should be safe here amongst us.”
There were more chuckles and giggles from around as the audience considered anyone who might be bold, and stupid, enough to steal from the Prince.
His eyes twinkled kindly and I found myself blushing. I had actually been having a little difficulty with the thing, for its natural tendency to roll itself up of its own accord had been keeping my hands busy. I was constantly trying to stop it from doing so. I placed it on their table and then had to lurch forward as it tried to roll off. Master Jepp took it from my nervous hands and simply placed a weight on one corner which held it in place.
I jerked, jolted out of everything else as the start of an idea hit me. I needed to think about it, and ask some questions. Uncle Brydas or Senidet would be a good start. Then maybe Master ...
“Er... Mistress Julina?” asked the Prince.
“I apologise Your Highness,” I gabbled as I scurried back to my chair, now mentally returned embarrassingly to the room we were in and to the present.
With flaming cheeks.
Of course.
The Prince spoke up again: “And with the award of excellence made to an establishment, I now have the pleasant duty of making mention of several individuals who have made great contributions to this rapid development of Blackstone. Let their names be scribed in the annals of this community, where such mentions shall be formally acknowledged by my signature.
“First and foremost of course must be His Honour, Captain Bleskin, who has managed to control the so very many aspects of not only the Town but also the surrounding lands, for this Barony was greatly expanded soon after its formation, not something that had been envisaged when His Honour was first offered the post. But he has comfortably accommodated such expansion and put into place effective means to govern it. We are most impressed and most grateful.
“Next to be mentioned must be Master Bezan, who has managed all the variety of threads and demands and priorities with aplomb. Not without difficulties I need hardly say, but he has won through. His contributions cannot be overestimated, and my wife, myself and His Honour are so grateful for his shouldering of burdens that would otherwise have added to our workloads.
“Then there is Master Yarling, for his vision and expertise in mining upon which the fortunes of this Barony rest. His insistence upon searching for an alternative water supply...”
The Prince’s voice continued listing Yarling’s attributes and then continued on to several other notables and their achievements but frankly my brain was far away since it had, unbidden, started worrying at that germ of an idea I had just had.
But then I jerked back to attention again.
“… started with her and will now also conclude my list with Mistress Julina, for she has advanced matters in several ways; with several good ideas, or good introductions, or good actions and so on. A myriad of smaller things that have agglomerated into a large whole – that is a large totality, not a big hole in the ground.”
Again laughter rang out. His Highness waited until it had just started to fade before he spoke once more: “Let all these names be recorded formally, and I shall countersign them when the final records are completed.
“And now let all here gathered applaud those I have mentioned.”
There was a noise of clapping and cheering and even foot stomping. My mind was reeling, however, and I found I could not savour the moment. A great surge of people came up to us then and I swear my head was turning complete circles as I was greeted from every direction at once.
A familiar face that I was very glad to see appeared fairly soon into the chaos.
“Senidet! Thank the Maker! I have had an idea and need to discuss it with you to see if ’tis practicable. When might we talk on’t? Oh! And I deem I find your attire to be quite wonderful now I have started to become accustomed to it. I daresay the seamstresses shall be busy soon. But ’twas quite a shock to see it the first time!”
“This is not the first time I have encountered quite such a reaction, I can tell you. But you are amongst the swiftest to approve. We working women down in the capital are all wearing them nowadays so others are becoming used to seeing us here and there in them. But I was sensitive to the thoughts and feelings up here, so I have taken care not to appear in public too often in it. It has been a little annoying to keep changing into and out of it, I freely admit. And on top of that, despite our height up here, in summer it shows itself to be uncomfortably warm. Maker only knows what discomfort shall be achieved when the temperatures reach their warmest.
“’Tis not a fashion item though,” warned Senidet. “’Tis a working garb, designed for protection from the less safe places of work, where say hot metal might splash, or hot glass, or noxious substances like battery acids and the like. I have lent this to Haka for her to study, which is why I was without it for nigh on a week. I deem Haka shall become the expert soon. But there are only a few females involved in the ‘dirty’ businesses at the moment so these clothes are still of a novelty almost everywhere. Why they should be quite so novel, I fail to understand; the men after all have their leather aprons and few people find THEM shocking.
“Which reminds me, I have further told Haka about another new garment from downvalley, called an ‘overall’ which men may also wear over their normal clothes to protect them. A very practical garment is the overall; men can just step into it without a need to retire and change clothing. Hence its name.”
I scarce heard most of the last of what she had just uttered for one phrase she had said had grabbed my attention: “Hot glass, do you tell me? Have you been to a glassworks then?”
“Indeed I have, quite often as it happens.”
“Oh good! That would help with my idea. The thing is, what I really mean …”
… … …
“Your Highness! ’Tis surely far too much!”
Em, Kelly and I were in a side room with the Prince, the Countess and the Commander’s wife, and the associated maids of course.
“Not at all,” he said firmly. “’Tis a just reward for such excellence and ...” a shadow crossed his face just then “… my wife would insist upon it. You should send word of any breakages or pilfering, of course, but I deem the Royal Seal upon each shipment should be a fair guarantee that such losses shall be minimised.”
We three ‘Saloners’ looked at each other in amazement. For the Prince had just offered us a relatively large jump in our income. We were all already receiving enough coin to live upon in some relative comfort, considering the finances of most up here in Town, but this would probably tip the scales into the next level, enabling us all to start some serious savings.
(I grinned wryly at that, for my own income was derived from far more than the Salon alone and I had been not only saving but also investing for some time now. Of course, that income would not last forever, some of the Exclusivity Licences would expire, so I hoped that Master Schild, and Master Moshan’s organisation, had advised me well with regard to investments. I myself had invested in my companies, of course, and had bought several houses or building plots around Town, so my reserves were not so very plentiful.)
But back to the Prince and the private meeting we were having.
He had just promised us delivery of a dozen bottles of wine during each month not affected by the rains. But no ordinary wine, this. An exclusive wine produced solely for the Royal Family and so far served only in Dekarran Castle or in the Palace itself. The wine was cultivated from a private Royal vineyard near Teldor, so it was not as if it would have to travel all the way from Palarand City itself.
“… but I beg that you not cheapen it!” he had said with a twinkle. “Surely you must sell it for more than any of your other wines! Maybe offer a bottle as a special prize for some competition or other. Something along those lines. I deem you shall be far more adept at thinking of suitable things than a mere Prince! Despite each bottle having the Royal colours on it.”
He went on to explain that there was soon to be a new service connecting the Palar towns, something he called a ‘stage coach’, which would likely have spare luggage capacity and would enable speedier communications and deliveries of things that could not be left to the semaphore. These stage coaches were to be specially built wagons for passengers, wagons which had been in the design, building and testing phases ever since he and the Princess, again the shadowed look crossed his features, had been up here last time. They would be employed as well as the Shuttles, not instead of – and would have faster journey times, for their stops would not be quite so leisurely.
At the end of it all, Em and Kelly sort of pushed me forward to be the spokeswoman who formally thanked the Prince for his generosity and to give the solemn undertaking not to belittle the gifts he was bestowing upon us.
And then came yet another twist to an already twisted morning.
“Mistress Kellonika. There is another matter upon which I wish to have discussions with Mistress Julina, but which concerns you not at all. Might I ask you to go to the other room and from there to send in His Honour and the Commander, along with Sheriff Fedren? Oh, and Quadrant Ponstib should have concluded his allocated duties elsewhere and should have appeared by now, so he too? Countess Merizel will accompany you and keep you entertained whilst we discuss our business in here. Mistress Jenet and the Bailiss can both stay, and not just for the proprieties, since they too understand most of that which I shall soon reveal.”
This request was made so charmingly that Kelly automatically dropped into a deep curtsey before almost rushing to be useful to the Prince. The Countess and I shared a knowing smile even as the two women left this room.
My brain started whirring again. The Prince, the Steward, the Commander, the Quadrant, the Bailiss and the Commander’s wife. ’Twas almost certainly some military matter but what did that have to do with me? And the Sheriff was included as well!
I shrugged my shoulders for ’twould be fruitless for me to try to work it out, I would have to contain myself with patience. Never a strong point!
So I thought about my idea for a little while, recalling the delight with which Senidet had received it, breathing a soft “Of course!” as she swiftly took it on board, so as to speak. She had promised to go and make the necessary enquiries upon my behalf even as I was in the back room with the Prince and the others. How was she getting on, I wondered? Master Po…
“Thank you all for attending,” began the Prince, whilst I noticed with a start that the others had all come in and the door had been closed, “… and I accept the reservations from several of you about revealing military secrets to non-military personnel. However, Mistress Julina has been given the most glowing of recommendations by the Countess, by the Bailiss and by His Honour too so I feel that in her case we can be sure she shall remain tight-lipped about this all. The Steward informs me that she has already been present at some military planning meetings, so I deem this not to be so great a step further along that path. And Sheriff Fedren should also be aware, just in case, as we have all previously agreed.
“What I have to say, Mistress Julina, is of concern to you since you are the owner of the property that would be affected most. And I have been made aware that you were also involved to a certain extent in the design of the Community Hall and the accommodation floors on the upper levels.
“But first I must extract from you a solemn oath that whatever you now learn shall remain with you and never be revealed to anyone else without our express permission. Do you so swear?”
“I do so swear, your Highness!” I replied with scarce a thought. If these luminaries were prepared to trust me with secrets, then who was I to gainsay them?
“Heard and witnessed” was murmured by each person present in turn, going round the room from left to right until it came back to His Honour. I suddenly felt more serious, and slightly more worried, as to just what was about to occur.
Then the same extraction of a promise was repeated with Sheriff Fedren.
Only then did the Prince launch into the subject proper.
“I shall start by adding to your knowledge of those accommodation levels in the Community Hall.” He glanced around at the others so I did too. There were a few frowns but no major objections. “We hope that you did NOT notice, upon your infrequent visits to those floors, that we have some emergency exits built into the walls there. If we are ever attacked there (Maker forbid!), then any attackers would have to come up by way of the stairs, for that is the only access. They would then first encounter the guards from the guardroom on the lower level, then fight their way up another staircase and fight with those of us stationed up at the top. If things were getting tight all the way up there, then we have cunningly designed a few panels in the walls through which we could make a rapid and fairly easy descent to the ground outside after scrambling across the lower rooves.
“The same would apply should there be a dangerous break-out of fire for example on a lower level. Or some other emergency.
“But that principle has been applied also elsewhere.
“The same sort of surprise elements have been incorporated into the building of the barracks; you may remember some of the extensive work going on behind cloaking screens recently. The idea there is that any attackers would have to approach through the restrictions imposed by the Market Place and they would naturally concentrate upon the gates to the barrack complex. They should get surprised if a defensive force were to suddenly appear from, or through, a previously-imagined solid wall.”
He paused, nodding; we all found ourselves nodding back and murmuring in agreement.
“Or if a defensive force should attack them from the rear.”
Again a pause. This time to allow those of us not in the know to assimilate our slight surprise at that statement.
He turned directly to me: “And this is where YOU come in, Mistress Julina.
“We would like to use the ground floor of your Market Place Mansion as a hidden sally port from the barracks, by digging a tunnel or two under the road just there. We would continue that tunnel along to the Shuttle Shed as well. We cannot do this first part without your permission, of course. Hence the requirement for this meeting.
“The work can be hidden from public knowledge by simply announcing that we wish to extend the clock wires from a central point and that the works are to carry those wires to where we require them. Indeed we have determined that there shall be a ‘battery room’ in a cellar under the new house being built for the Valley Messenger Service. So wire tunnels shall emanate from there. It’s just that some of those tunnels shall be a deal larger than anyone else would expect.
“We got the idea from the Yodans, believe it or not. They had a network of tunnels under Palarand City from their Residency. Thus we have also included the Sheriff for he needs to know the possibilities for miscreants to escape justice, or maybe even for some of his deputies to be able to appear unexpectedly. But we would prefer the works to be kept as secret as possible, so would rather that any deputies remain in the dark, so to speak, at least for the first instances.
“So now we have made our proposals, we await your reply. Do you feel able to reply now, or should we grant you more time to consider the matter?”
I was aware of all the eyes looking at me and yet I strangely felt under no pressure. Somehow my mind was crystal clear. The answer to me was almost blindingly obvious.
“Your Highness, Your Honour, Commander, Quadrant, Bailiss. I am cognisant of the immense honour you have just done me in revealing military secrets and I confirm that I consider myself to be duly and humbly complimented.
“When formulating my reply, I confess I am able to recall other words I have had with several of those here gathered over the recent weeks and months. Some of the military matters discussed by His Honour and the Bailiss for example, when I was needed to take notes, made me feel somewhat queasy, but afforded me some small insight into the ways you military must think and plan. The gist of all that I have gathered under this heading is that we are up here at the end of a road which goes nowhere else. The chances, I have been repeatedly told, of a hostile force making it all the way up here are slim to none, so I confess I fail to see the actual necessity.
“However, it does make a certain sense in a remote chance sort of way, so I require no more thought. Her Highness, who is my liege, has in effect required of me a small sacrifice, one I feel both honoured to have been asked and honoured to grant. Please feel free to proceed.”
I think everyone was amazed at the ease with which their objectives were met. They looked a little taken aback, somehow. I got the distinct impression they had anticipated some long, drawn-out process with argumentations prepared in advance to persuade me.
And now those argumentations were completely unrequired.
There was a short, but definite, pause, during which I tried hard to suppress a smile or two. Both His Honour and His Highness are highly observant men and I have no doubt they detected the twitching of my lips. I shot a glance at Em whose face told me she too knew me very well.
“We thank you once again for your service to your community, Mistress Julina. Our faith in you appears to have been well-founded. The works shall commence in the morning. I should tell you that the tunnels under the mouth of East Street already reach more than half way across the road!”
He looked around at the others before announcing in a tone that was somehow more formal: “So the objectives have been achieved, ladies and gentlemen. The military requirements have been met.”
He turned to the others during this short sentence and they nodded back to him. Then he turned once more to me.
“And now that we have reached an agreement on this matter, I can bring up a further matter, one that shall require much deeper discussions. That is your intended use of the Market Place Mansion and your proposed Consociation of Cooks. I deem we should make an appointment to discuss this separately, it not being a requirement for the military minds presently around.”
Thus it was that I had another appointment with His Highness, this time to be also with the Countess but without the Commander, the Quadrant and the Sheriff. ’Twas to be on the morrow. And we would discuss his topics as we took a ride around the district, quite possibly his last such ride. He asked me to show him the fish farm as he had yet to actually see it. I agreed to do so.
… … …
“But where has it gone?”
I looked around the now nearly empty room but could not see it anywhere obviously.
“I know not, Mistress Julina. ’Twas there when you went into the back room with His Highness and the others. I know that, because I carefully moved it so I could get at some of my other papers.”
“Thank you, Representative. But that makes the mystery deeper in some way.”
I thought hard about earlier events, happenings that had seemed so trivial at the time. I started verbalising my thoughts, slowly and hesitantly. “I struggled with it, put it down on your table. I talked to so many people. There were Papa and Swayga, my siblings, Epp, some of the girls from the Salon, several townsfolk. Let me see now, who was the last before I left this room? Let me think. Think. Think. Hmmmm. I venture to say that I had just been talking about it with Sen…” A sudden flash of realisation zapped across my mind. “Ahah! I deem I now know where our certificate of excellence is gone. I expect Senidet to have taken it to measure its dimensions for a new idea I have had.”
“A new idea? Should we know about this? Ah! That was the distraction you had earlier before the Prince called you back from your thoughts?” His eager inquisitiveness almost made me blurt out what my idea was, but I just managed to control my tongue.
(I know, I know. A nigh-miracle, some of you would say!)
“Indeed so, Representative. But I would fain retain the secret for a while, for it may prove impossible to do, and would then render any explanation moot.”
“Very well, Mistress,” he replied with a most disappointed look upon his face. I clamped my lips firmly together as I turned away from him, for again the temptation to explain had been suddenly quite urgent, a fact that sort of shocked me somehow. My mind started worrying at that little fact. I left him to his scribing of Barony records and went towards the door, intent upon my next objective. I called Davvy and Surtree to my side.
I wanted to go and inspect the Market Place, for you shall recall this was the first day it was formally opened as such – it had all been a little hurried perchance, but now we knew officially that the Royal Party were to disappear again before the next one, ’twas understandable that ’twould happen today. I briefly wondered with my new military knowledge if they actually wanted to see the Market in action to gain more of an understanding of how ’twould all work on a crowded day. I later found out that I was not far off the mark with that supposition.
I exited the building, went some hand or so of strides and suddenly found myself confronted by a bitter and angry Konna who hissed at me: “So you were not arrested then? Shame. I had my hopes that you would get your just desserts. They told me that you were dragged by guards from your home to the Steward’s house, that you kept your eyes down, you were crying, even your friends wouldn’t walk with you and that the guards had to drag you in there.” She nodded to the Steward’s house.
The total misinterpretation of events that occurred on my way here produced immediately a strong and almost violent reaction on my part; one that surprised even myself.
I burst into laughter – loud, uproarious and almost uncontrollable laughter. I just brushed past her, still laughing. I said not a word. Davvy and Surtree stayed behind me slightly, each shaking their heads at the folly of the woman, which probably added to the flames I had ignited.
Looking back on the incident from a long while into the future, I can but say that this was not the wisest thing I have ever done in my life.
I had scarce taken a further hand of paces when I heard a hissed and venomous: “Why you hoity-toity little pile of pakh-droppings! I’ll teach you!” There was so much anger and hatred expressed in just those few words, it was almost a physical presence. Malevolence pure.
I suppose that I should not have turned around because that way my nose would not have connected with the stone she flung at me, but had I not done so then the back of my head might have been the meeting point which could have been far worse than ‘just’ a broken nose and copious bleeding all over my riding clothes.
To say I was shocked would be putting it mildly. I confess my thoughts were all concentrated upon myself so that I was largely unaware of events going on around me.
I became aware that I was sitting down on the ground and that dear Davvy had appeared from somewhere and was pressing a cloth against my nose, being ever so gentle whilst doing so. Almost too gentle, for the bleeding was still dripping onto my clothes. I scrabbled for my carry bag, to extract my own cloth, but she shushed me.
About three thousand (or was it three million?) people were all talking at once – most of them to or at me it seemed. Somewhere behind me I heard some shouting followed by a squeal, but my awareness was directed upon another figure who squatted down in front of me, gently taking over from Davvy.
“Now Julina, can you concentrate upon me?… No, don't try to nod your head you silly girl… I’m going to take the cloth away from your nose now as I inspect it. Your nose that is, not the cloth! And don't worry about your garb, a few more drops won't make that much difference now.”
Twaite peered closely firstly into my eyes before, with a little grunt of satisfaction at what she had seen there, she shifted her penetrative attention downwards to concentrate on my throbbing nose. “Ah! Yes, I see. A clean break it appears. Now I just need to run my fingers down each side to estimate the damage. I shall endeavour not to hurt you too much but there may just be a sudden short and sharp pain or two. It shall not last, though, I promise.”
She raised her hand up towards my nose, fingers and thumb spread. Starting at the top, she brought her thumb gently into contact with one side of it, her forefinger closing equally as gently on the other. They moved downwards, almost caressing the sk…
“Ow!" I squealed in shock, pain and outrage. "You said it wouldn't hurt so much!” Tears added their moisture to the mess dripping off my face and into my lap. “That was mean, Mistress Twaite. Evil even.”
“Well it doesn't hurt any more, does it? At least not so much.”
I suddenly realised that I was now once again breathing through my nose – to a certain extent. And that a lot of the throbbing had gone away.
She continued: “I have just clicked it back into place and no-one will ever be able to tell it was once a broken bone. You will have a small scar on one side, but 'tis all the evidence that shall remain. You were fortunate the rock hit you at an angle. Straight on and there would have been deep cuts in your cheek and possibly a nose driven completely sideways. A little higher, and you might have been blinded. A little lower and you might have lost some teeth along with damage to cheek and lips.”
She stood up then, looking down at me. “There may be a little more blood loss, but that should be all. A headache is almost certain and try hard not to do too much jiggling for a day or so. Keep your head as still as possible for the rest of this day and you should be back to normal on the morrow. No running or other exertions though, your blood vessels are even now attempting to heal themselves, so keep your blood pressure as low as possible.
“Now I have to go and mend the stupid pakh-brained woman who did this. It seems that she was assaulted by a throng of your defenders. It's such a shame that I don't know exactly where she has been deposited, is it not? She'll just have to put up with her pains that little while longer whilst I search for her.”
I surprisingly found myself almost giggling as she wandered off, making a big show of scanning either side of her – but in exactly the wrong direction as she went further and further away from Konna.
I was escorted by Davvy back into the building from which I had so recently emerged, learning from her chatter that Kords had dashed off to home to fetch a change of clothing for me. As soon as I was inside the door, I was enveloped by a soft and sturdy covering. Em had conjured up a voluminous mantle from somewhere that allowed me to remove my damaged clothing so that they could be plunged as soon as possible into cold water in an attempt to remove the blood stains before they dried into the cloth.
The Prince, quite naturally, demanded to know the details of attack and was quite shocked when the history of my dealings with Konna were revealed. A strange glint came into his eye and it was only later that I learned he had decided there and then that he would pay off Konna’s debts up here and then have her pay HIM back. Eventually, Konna was transported as a prisoner down to the capital and made to work down there.
But that wasn’t quite the end of my involvement with her. There was one other episode that came up a little way into the future.
Which is where it shall remain for now.
… … …
Some of you will have already noticed that, on the odd occasion, patience is not a strong point with me and just sitting around, near-naked under an enveloping mantle when I had so much more to do was never really going to be such a good idea. I believe I might have initially hurt Kords' feelings when I snatched my clothes from her hand and snapped at her verbally. The look that flitted across her face was sufficient of a warning though, as I struggled with getting more properly dressed whilst Em held the mantle to protect me from being observed wriggling during the time I was under everyone's gaze.
“Dear Kords, I'm so sorry to have been a tad testy with you but I was just feeling a little sorry for myself and took it out on you. I apologise unreservedly. I mean, look at you, you are still panting from your running. I feel really ashamed of myself right now.”
Now that speech looks fine as it is written down. It's just that it didn't actually come out like that. 'Just' sounded more like 'jud', 'myself' came out like 'myselb' and so on.
“I confess I was a trifle hurt, but I DO understand, so there's an end to it.”
“Thank you so very much, beloved sister of mine. … There, ready now. Let's away to see the market in action.”
Again my mispronunciations sounded strange.
And were those swiftly disguised grins I saw flitting across my companions' faces?
“Not so fast, young lady! Are you SURE you'll be alright? That was a nasty blow you took. Surely, you should rest?”
“Oh Em! Twaite fixed it up. Admittedly, my nose feels like a giant hawberry and I have a bit of a headache but her potion is working just fine in containing it – the headache that is – and I really need to go and see the market. Otherwise I must needs wait a further week. Maybe my looks today are a little embarrassing but I find that surprisingly I don't really care about that. I have been sat here all morning doing nothing. Well except for receiving accolades and inventing something that Senidet has gone off to investigate. I doubt I should yet attend the dining room, for 'tis still far too early for evening meal table settings and the lessons have been cancelled so that they can attend the market. I cannot just sit here a moment longer with so much that there is waiting to be done.”
There was no denying it – the others were indeed all grinning at the sounds I was producing. 'Ub' rather than 'up', 'liddle' instead of 'little' being just two examples. 'Udderwise'. 'Sedidet'. ‘Seddigs’.
And many more.
'Bordig' instead of 'morning'. 'Dining room' came out like 'die dee groob'.
'Wading to be dud' was how those last four words sounded.
Wretches! Laughing at a sufferer!
I tried to be irritated at them but found myself grinning at me as well.
“Very well,” said Em, reluctance dripping from her utterances. “Kords and I must away to the Salon for we have a delivery due and the others shall not yet be there, I expect. There is no duty across at the Tree today, for everyone will surely be here in Town. The pies and peet-zers are being prepared in the other kitchen today, to make more efficient use of transporting foodstuffs to the Market.”
She turned her gaze onto my companions. “Davvy, you are to look after her most closely, do you hear? And Surtree, you are to scamper to a healer if anything happens, if she gets light-headed or something. Or come and find me as swiftly as you may. Is that clear?” She was most fierce just then, and the two nodded fearfully back to her before promising aloud, at her insistence.
I thought it was all a bit of a fuss and totally unnecessary. My sit-down and forced inactivity for maybe twenty whole minutes must surely be enough? I felt fine really. Maybe the world seemed somehow to be bathed in a slightly more brittle light than usual, and it felt ever so slightly … off in a funny way, but I wasn't going to waste any more time, it was a precious commodity to me and 'twas slipping away inexorably.
I said my thanks and farewells to all there and stomped off towards the door and the steps down to Main Street.
It was at this point that I realised stomping was not a good idea. The vibrations it set up were most unpleasant to my poor damaged face. I rapidly modified my gait.
So it was at a slower pace than usual that we progressed up Main Street towards the unusual hubbub that we could hear even at that distance.
That is not, however, to say that we didn't talk as we went. I had wondered aloud what on Anmar the Prince wanted to discuss with me on the morrow.
“Didn't he say 'twas something to do with your Market Place Mansion?”
I had to think swiftly then, for some of this was discussed in that military meeting and I had sworn not to reveal anything about that.
“I'm not certain about that, Surtree. We have already done some private business about that. Surely he would have completed all the business on that topic at one go?”
“I suppose so. But what was the private business, then?”
Despite my ravaged face, it appeared that I could still manage to put a twinkle into my eyes since he just stuck out his tongue at me and grinned when I simply replied: “Private!”
But dropping that subject was not quite so easy and I needed to conjure up all my scattered wits to keep ahead of my two inquisitors, which began to be a bit tricky until I remembered with relief one little suggestion that had come up: “Right then, you two. I hadn't wanted to tell you anything just yet, since there are still many, many tests to be done, but there is a possibility – please note that word, 'possibility'; it was NOT ‘probability' – that a small service tunnel to carry clock wires from a new battery room to the barracks MIGHT, repeat MIGHT, pass under the Mansion and they wanted my permission to allow some men, sometime in the future, to investigate if that was feasible.
“They didn't want to announce this widely at this time in case the rains delay the start of the work, but the Mansion will be finished, albeit crudely, before the rains so they wanted to let me know that some work could be done then, away from the elements. It would mean tearing up some of the flooring which has only just been put down, but if the building was in use then the works might need to be curtained off for safety's sake.”
I saw both their brows relax as they processed that information and thought I had managed to confuffle the facts enough to get away from it.
But no! Brows furrowed once more.
“But why was it only the military and the Sheriff involved?”
I forced myself to laugh gaily. “Oh that's simple!” I declared, even though I knew it was far from being so. “How to explain? Er...” My mind was racing. “If the building is open for use, after all it is my loss if I have a building I cannot use, then we will need some … some … help, yes that's it, help … to prevent either accidents with people falling into the hole or disturbing the work by asking questions, or dropping things in or whatever. So they first asked the Sheriff if he could provide cover during the days, and if not, could the Militia or Rangers or whatever they are going to be called, provide enough men to handle the task. If that was also not possible, then should the Prince assign some of his soldiers to it? So that they would have to travel back to the Palace independently.”
To my great relief, my inventions, based around partial truths, were sound enough for my two companions to accept and the subject was dropped, helped no doubt by the fact that we were by now passing the Shuttle Shed and staring in wonder at the hordes in front of us. Throngs of people milling about, many stalls of wares, the like of which had never before been seen up here. The clamour, the bustle, the jostling, all were quite daunting. At first glance it seemed most chaotic, but careful observation revealed the orderly rows and patterns of the stalls and the passageways between them.
Housewives were calling gleefully to each other about this or that discovery. Stallholders were calling out their selling patter, hoping to attract the shoppers' attention. Most people were smiling, enjoying this new amenity that showed clearly we were developing into a sizeable Town now.
But, as with everything, not all were alike minded. Some were not smiling, as we discovered when we worked our way round the fringes towards my mansion; we saw something that made me frown in irritation. And nearby that was a group of men, well two groups actually. There was an obvious 'leader' of one group, surrounded by a hand or so of others, some of whom I recognised. This group was being berated by several others who formed a loose, unorganised group and who were protesting to the first group, or to the leader at least.
As we drew closer, I was struck by a simple fact that became obvious from body speak and actual words. The leader man was clearly he who had been placed in charge of the Market, a quite responsible job. Allocation of stall space, getting access for goods deliveries to the inner stalls, probably collecting the stall fees and so on. It became rapidly apparent that some of his decisions had not proven to be universally popular for a number of reasons.
What was shocking was that this man, now revealed to be a key member of the group who 'ran' the Market and would therefore have influence in the Assembly of the Town, was a complete and utter stranger to me. This was a shock to me as it became another, this one less pleasant, indicator of the rapid expansion that had and still was taking place. A minor official had been appointed, and I knew nothing about it!
We stood and listened as a few men aired their grievances and then went off. That left fewer in confontation, but the proceedings were taken over by one loud and angry man who berated him, demanding assurances that he would be able to have the same stall position every week. This man was getting increasingly angry as the Market Manager refused to grant him that, a request which would seem to be at the very least perfectly reasonable. Until my more detailed observations told me something else, and my sympathies immediately swung to the Market Manager, whose name it appeared was Filagor. He was requiring that the stallholder, yet to be named in my hearing, was to remove his stall immediately from where it was, which was not an approved stall 'spot'.
“In that case, Manager Filagor, you have no power over my positioning,” yelled the man triumphantly, waving his strangely small hands in the air as he tried apparently to shoo the other man away. “I was first here this morn, and I have staked my claim to this spot, which is the best here as it is under this wide porch roof. 'Tis not my fault the others are so slow on the uptake. Now mark my claim, add this spot to your allocations and make sure I have it each week.” His somewhat chubby cheeks glowed as he angrily set out his demands, one forearm sweeping his hair across his head as if to emphasise his point.
Surtree, who had wriggled his way through the crowds quicker than Davvy and I were able to do, reappeared suddenly by my side and hissed cryptically into my ear: “Keep that stall holder here for as long as it takes me fetch the Sheriff or a deputy.”
Before I could even reply, he had wiggled his way away once more. I quietly passed on his message to Davvy too. She looked as puzzled as I was but nodded her acceptance. I rapidly assessed my options and formed a vague plan.
So it was time for me to join in this argument.
“Excuse me, gentlemen. I believe that I might be able to assist in the resolution of this matter.”
They both looked at me, Filagor with marginally more interest than the other who took one look at my face and another at Davvy's arm before dismissing us with the words: “Oh it's the cripple twins. Run away and play elsewhere little girls. This is adult's business.”
“Indeed, young lady, ladies, I fail to see how you could resolve this business,” added Filagor far more kindly, but nevertheless equally dismissively.
“Well you see gentlemen, I am of some renown in this town and I can tell you that that stall there,” I pointed at the stall under the porch, “is in fact illegally placed. I see the marking sticks that had been placed to ensure a continuous walkway down that side of the road have been uprooted and tossed aside. I happen to know that there was a very definite policy of ensuring freedom of movement there. It was a major point at the planning stages of allowing the Market in the first place.”
“Oh pish, girl. They are just suggestions not definite fixtures. If it rains on a market day, anyone pitching their stall here would be out in the wet. I have merely ensured that myself and my customers shall remain dry. The walkway simply detours around my stall, see? Believe me, no-one will notice. And how would a scrap of a mere girl like YOU know what went on in the planning sessions anyway? Be off with you!”
In the interests of delay, I didn’t shoot his arguments down immediately. I branched off onto an apparently different track: “My name, sir, is Julina and I would have you know that I have long reached my majority. You shall address me in the future as Mistress Julina. And your name, sir?”
He turned to me fully now, his little 'o'-shaped mouth working as he ticked off several points to me with a strange gesture whereby his thumb touched first his index finger and then his middle finger as he moved onto the next of his points, and then back again to the previous finger as another point was reached. “You do not need to know my name, impudent pest. This is none of your business, believe me. You have jumped into someone else's conversation with no permission. You have no way of knowing all the facts here. You had better just move on before I grab you and teach you a lesson. A lesson you will not enjoy, trust me on that.”
I turned to the Manager. “Master Filagor, I promised I would help you resolve this and resolve it I shall. Mayhap you can inform me of this mean-spirited man's name?” Delay, delay, delay.
“Goodman Filagor, if it pleases. Mistress er … Julina, is that right?” I nodded. “Mistress Julina, I confess I fail to understand quite how you might help, but Goodman Gobitoo here ...”
He broke off as I laughed. Which actually was not difficult at all. I needed not to force it.
“Goodman?” I all but screeched as I loaded my voice with derision. “Goodman? You apply the term 'good' to this great orange buffoon? Well that is the largest misnomer I have heard for a long while. I ...” I skipped aside as Gobitoo clumsily swung at me, which instantly made all the onlookers gasp. The basic training I had been having in the Princess' so-called 'martial arts' meant that I could have floored him, but I didn't want a long-drawn fight. And anyway my nose might not have liked the exertions: even the skipping just then had proven to be uncomfortable. So I contented myself with simply skipping again further out of reach, doing so at a time of my choosing and thus under more control.
“You would hit a woman would you? An injured one at that? That shall be your last mistake here, Gobitoo,” I looked at him equally as scathingly as he had at me. I could say that relatively safely since two members of the crowd had by now grabbed his arms and were holding him. He berated them, swearing all sorts of dire revenge that would be visited upon them and their families. A not very wise thing to have done as more citizens solidified their stance against him. Threats to families were not easily accepted by our society up here.
I sneered at him, my temper by now fully engaged. Delay, delay, delay my brain was shouting to me through the red rage.
I swung away with disdain and addressed Filagor once more: “Anyway, as I have been trying to tell the both of you, a resolution to the matter is easily at hand. You will notice that the stall is positioned such that it blocks access to those double doors which in turn provide access to that building there. Unless the owner of that building has given this buffoon permission to place a stall there, then 'twill simply be removed. You see, resolution is indeed at hand.”
I was about to explain further when I was, a little rudely I deemed, interrupted again by Filagor: “But Goodman Gobitoo claims that he has the owner's permission. This was the very point I made to him at the beginning!”
“Well, it so happens that I can assure you that the owner of that building has done no such thing. I know for a fact that no such permission has been granted, and furthermore no such permission will ever be granted, particularly not to him.”
A voice called out from the crowd: “'Tis fine, Mistress Julina. We have the man now. He won't be attacking you again.”
I looked up and had a great surge of relief as there were now faces in the immediate crowd I recognised, and who recognised me, even with my damaged face. Mayhap the Town hadn't grown too big after all. I saw four men were holding Gobitoo now, easily resisting his red-faced almost violent attempts to wrench himself free.
“I thank you, Goodmen. Mayhap some of you might persuade this ked to start to pay attention to what is about to happen.” I had noticed Surtree and Suril approaching quickly, and I relaxed slightly, knowing that this could be finished now; I had been drawing it out to give Surtree his requested time. A number in the crowd were also in the know, for it was no great secret.
The message must have got through to the pakh-head's brain for he ceased some of his tantrums so he could hear better. Both he and Filagor audibly gasped when Suril came up to me and saluted. “Mistress Julina, how may we be of assistance?” We could all read the thoughts in their heads. Why would this deputy salute a mere girl?
They gasped again as I formally addressed him: “Deputy Suril. Thank you for coming so promptly.” How would a mere girl be so familiar with a Deputy?
I pointed to Gobitoo, saying clearly and as distinctly as my damaged nose would permit: “That man is called Gobitoo. He has parked his market stall in an unapproved position that blocks both the intended walkway there and the main access doors to that building. Can you please arrange for it to be removed as soon as is practicable?”
“Of course, Mistress Julina. It wouldn't do to be blocking that door just now as there are urgent construction works going on in there at the moment.” His eyes showed me that he was fully aware of the complete situation, and aware that neither of the men knew the full truth just yet. “I shall get some...”
“Hold!” came a forceful shout from nearby.
Suril turned. “Master Surtree? There are more urgent matters?”
“Indeed, Deputy Suril. Gobitoo's stall is set out with wares for sale. Now it just so happens that I have good reason to believe that amongst those wares lies an article, mayhap several articles, that could well be stolen!”
Everyone gasped at that and a silence fell in the immediate vicinity. A silence which seemed to spread outwards from us, causing more and more people's attention to be diverted our way. Gobitoo’s face grew even redder, appearing to me to be at an almost dangerous level.
I myself had gasped as I had not grasped the full significance of Surtree's earlier discovery.
Surtree waved me over to the stall, saying nothing; everyone could tell by his actions that he expected me to identify an item or two. My brain started up feverishly again. What could have attracted his attention so quickly?
I walked over there, the people easing out of my way as I went. My eyes started rapidly scanning the stall as I neared it. It took me a little while but then, finally, and with a little shock, I saw it. After that it seemed to beckon me, it was as if all other wares disappeared from my view. It held my attention even as my hand reached out and picked it up. I turned it round, examined it minutely, ran my finger tips along its shape and surfaces. I felt and saw the secret marks, which confirmed its identity.
The one missing Salon fork, stolen by Konna, had just been found.
I turned to thank Surtree for his astute observations but Suril's voice rang out once more, hastily, before I could say anything.
“Gobitoo! That fork that Mistress Julina just picked up from amongst your wares, the one just picked out by herself with no prompting, as observed by so many witnesses. Is that an item you have for sale?”
He was aware that there was some significance here, but was unaware exactly what. He nodded.
“In words, man, in words!”
“Indeed! That fork is one of several I have for sale. And ’tis the most expensive, the manufacture being particularly detailed. You will observe there are other forks though also on the cloth there.” Even then, he could not keep the disdain from his voice, implying that Suril was stupid or something.
“Goodman Gobitoo, you are under arrest for receiving and selling stolen goods.”
He just laughed at Suril. “No, no. That is not stolen! I purchased it fair and square. I even have a receipt here in my pocket to prove it.”
“That article was stolen a while ago now. It has distinct identifying marks and actually belongs to Bailiss Michet. We have been looking for it for many a week now. The secret identifying marks are known only to a hand of people. Mistress Julina there is one. The Bailiss will no doubt confirm her identification of it. So you will come with me now to the cells at the Watch House. You shall be held there until a trial can be arranged. And the person from whom you bought it shall also be arrested, for ‘tis illegal to offer stolen goods for sale, however far down the chain you go. I assume that person’s name to be on your claimed receipt.”
Gobitoo once again tried to struggle against the hands holding him, but his shoulders soon slumped. “What about my other goods? I can't just leave them there, they shall be stolen themselves.”
“Perhaps you could ask the owner of the building with the doors you have blocked if those wares can be carried into the relative safety of that building?”
“Who is he? I must do that before you take me away.”
Filagor couldn't resist: “But you must know him already. You told me you had permission from the owner. Others here heard that, you cannot deny it now. Unless, of course, you have been less than honest with me.”
Then it was his turn to stand there, mouth agape when Suril said: “Mistress Julina, as the stall is parked on your property, the items shall probably become yours, once any stolen goods have been identified and removed. As Gobitoo here is, I assume, not in a position to provide an inventory, then I shall have to ask you to provide one at your leisure.”
Gobitoo, for the first time, was struck dumb. And everyone was laughing at him. Something I knew instinctively he felt he could not allow, but it had actually happened.
His face was flushed as Suril led him away, arms bound and feet hobbled. I deem most will have thought this was from embarrassment but there was something deeper there I sensed. I knew that he was the type to never forget an insult or humiliation.
(Suril later confirmed to me that Gobitoo was already, even then, plotting revenge against Suril himself, Filagor, me, Surtree, Davvy and any and all of the witnesses to his humiliation. Suril warned me that Gobitoo was the sort to claim that things had gone missing which were not actually there in the first place, so we had to arrange for a witness to confirm the inventory take. As it happened, the later trial awarded the contents of his stall to be split between the Market Organisation and myself. I returned most of my portion to Gobitoo once he was released, but he didn’t seem very grateful. I was to learn much, much later just how vindictive he was, but fortunately he was arrested once again before he could do too much damage.)
I finally looked back at the Market Manager. Filagor, as mentioned, had allowed his mouth to drop open as he stared at me in total shock. In all the seconds that had passed since he learned the truth, his stance had not altered one whit. Davvy reached out her hand and gently closed his mouth.
“Yes, Goodman Filagor. That building does indeed belong to Mistress Julina.”
I went over to my main doors and flung them open before turning to the by-now thoroughly entertained throng outside: “Now we wouldn’t want Gobitoo’s property to get all wet if any light rains were to come, would we? Or maybe the strong sun might cause something to fade. Do I have some volunteers to help me carry it up the steps and indoors?”
Within an eye-blink, perchance as much as two, it was done.
… … …
But now we were inside, I decided to look around at exactly what was left to do. I knew there was some haste involved to get certain buildings watertight before the rains came, and that this building was on the … priority list, I suppose one would call it; but I knew not exactly what that might involve in terms of construction. We were aware that the rains weren’t due for a month and a half or so, but a priority list had to begin somewhere. No new builds were being started and all existing works under construction were scheduled to be at least watertight before the weather hit us. That way work on the inside could continue away from the elements.
As the Gobitoo stall was being carried in, I noticed that there was still some work being done on the outer walls and windows of this, the ground floor, over in the south-east corner. They had maybe three strides of each wall to finish, and even as I watched, a pre-made wall section was being manhandled into place on the Dam Road side; ’twas the final wall piece, I could easily see.
All the flooring was down, it appeared, and above us more than half the flooring of the upper storey was in place; again, it was apparent the construction up above was also working its way over towards the south-east corner. There were great piles of materials and tools dotted around the floor area, and I saw at least two of Senidet’s wheel-bros, one parked but full, while the other was being used by a man to convey something towards the hoist set up to lift things up to the floor above.
I waited until my recent helpers from the market crowd had left once more, then, when Davvy and Surtree had heaved the double doors shut, the three of us went across to the single crude stair that led upwards. When the building was finished, there would be two more ornate staircases, one each side, but, for the moment, the construction crew had just erected a temporary one halfway down the west side, in the position that the more grandly designed one would eventually occupy.
I had been thinking for some time just how I was going to use this building and so I had a fairly solid set of designs in my head. Obviously, Gyth would be involved when it got nearer the time, when the detail was required, but the principle was firmly established in my mind. I would have my personal space basically running the entire length of the upper west side storey, roughly taking around half the area of that upper floor, dividing it down the middle almost (which arrangement would thus provide me with a little more than half, since the southern wall curved round to meet the angled Dam Road one).
At the north end, the sunny side, windows would overlook the Market Place from above the double doors and a small eastward extension would take in the beginning of the angled wall that overlooked Dam Road. My west side length would overlook the upper end of East Street, separated from it by the walkway provided for people to access Julina Park from the Market Place. At the southern end of this division, I would have windows entirely overlooking Julina Park. I hadn’t quite decided upon how to lay out the rooms, but as there would be the Consociation sharing the building, I wouldn’t require a kitchen up there in my private quarters. A bedchamber, a bath chamber, a toilet facility, a sitting room, an office, maybe a guest room. Possibly even a dining room for private meals.
We got to the stairs and started scrambling awkwardly up, barely remaining upright. I was indeed tempted to use my hands as well as just my feet when there came a bellowed: “Hold! You there. You two women and the young man. Where do you think you are going?”
I spun round and slipped on the tread I was on. My foot, as a result, slammed down onto the lower step, jarring my nose considerably, which produced a few unwanted tears. I very nearly fell, but Surtree’s steadying hand saved me.
This was necessary for a red mist was descending across my vision as my temper threatened to boil over. This was MY house, Konna and Gobitoo had quite ruined my morning, my nose hurt. I was surprised in one way at how easily my ire was kindled, until I remembered that my Call was due the next day.
“And who wants to know?” I asked in my sweetest and most smiling way. A smile that my companions immediately saw never reached my eyes.
“No, ‘Lina!”
“Steady, Julina.”
Each of my companions knew me well enough by then to know that I was at the closest point to losing my temper as it was possible to get without actually losing it. Each reached out a hand to restrain me, and to try to calm me.
I shrugged them off and looked directly at the man who had called out. I do believe my gaze may have been quite forceful since the man visibly winced as I locked onto his eyes.
I could see his mind working on the facts that he had, and I think Davvy’s use of my full name was what tipped the balance in my favour.
He started to stammer: “Excuse me Mistress Julina, I recognised you not. Er… from behind that is.”
Nevertheless, my eyes flashed at him: “And how many women in our Town have this colour of hairs, and would walk into this building as if they owned it? And bring in market barrows full of wares?” My anger made me speak slightly awkwardly, but the man had the grace to blush.
“I’m sorry, Mistress. I have had to turn so many people out today, I was not quite so observant. I wanted to come running when I heard the commotion but had to help carry one of the pre-made modules into place at the far corner. I just dashed back as soon as I could.”
“Hmmm” I said, somewhat ungraciously, about which I was embarrassed when I finally thought about it all (the next day). I could have been nicer. A lot nicer. After all, the man was just in reality protecting my interests. But, as mentioned, my Call was due the following day and I was already on edge after the nose incident, and then that awful Gobitoo, so I sort of forgive myself.
However, I said nothing further, I just turned and went further up the stairs, the other two close behind me. Even before we attained the level of that first storey up, we were assailed by the noise, the scents and the sights of the chaos that was up there. And the dust. The clouds and clouds of dust.
If the ground floor had been littered with piles of materials, then this one was covered with them. I doubt ’twas possible to see the actual floor anywhere! There were all sorts of workers up here too. There was even a tool sharpener with a treadle-grinder sitting there, a seemingly great pile of tools around him as he pedalled away, offering the blades and edges of the metal to his flying grind wheel. None of the three of us wanted to climb the final two or three steps to join in the bedlam of activity! We turned and made a dignified retreat.
I suddenly realised that I was supposed to go riding with the Prince on the morrow but my Call would put a stop to that. I must somehow get a message to him. Now what wou…
… … …
When I opened my eyes, my face ached, my chest ached and I recognised the other aches from lower down still. Hold! Were my knees aching too?
I looked around at the familiar walls of my bedroom in some puzzlement.
Swayga was gently, but nevertheless insistently, shaking my shoulder, urging me to awaken.
Groggily, I turned to her and tried to force myself to concentrate on her words.
“… in a bell’s time. You must nee...”
I felt myself start to drift away again.
“JULINA!”
I jerked awake and looked the other way. There was a grinning but yet severe look on Epp’s face. I felt my poor brain creaking into life. What was Epp doing in my bedroom? Why …
All of a sudden, my senses flew back into their respective places and I started up in bed, only to lie back once more with a groan as all my aches decided ’twas time to start up in earnest. Each vied with the other for the most attention.
I raised a feeble hand, or feebly raised a hand I suppose would be more accurate.
“Now gently please! How am I in bed? Why do I ache do? Why is Epp here in my bedroom? Why are you waking me?” My voice gained strength and purpose as the long list of questions flew out of my mouth. “I last remember coming down some temporary stairs in my Market Place Mansion.”
“That was near a day ago, ’Lina,” chipped in Davvy’s voice from the back somewhere. “You slipped on one of the steps and fell forwards onto the floor. Mistress Twaite has seen over you and declared that you should rest today and tomorrow, particularly as your Call started. You were transported here on a bac and the driver carried you in here. He refused any payment, I must tell you!
“However, all this is very poor timing on your part. Very, very poor timing indeed. The Prince no less has had to reset his entire schedule to fit in a visit to you to ask you a most important question that affects all of Palarand! At least, that’s what Countess Merizel told us. She and the Prince shall arrive here in a bell’s time to discuss that matter in private. They were most insistent, the Prince even saying he would enter your bedchamber if it’s easier for you. A Prince! In your bedchamber! Well, I never!”
The idea intrigued me and I felt my mouth trying to twitch into a grin. Many of the folk tales told and retold amongst the mostly young girls were of handsome Princes galloping along to rescue the languishing maiden from her dread existence. These girls all dreamed of a Prince in their bedchambers!
“You must bathe and change immediately, young lady,” came Swayga’s tones, “that you are ready for the Royal visit. I must make sure the children have everything clean and tidy. Now show a leg outside of your bed covers, that I know you are aware enough of what we are saying! Your bath is drawn already. Come along now.”
I did as bid and she harrumphed before bustling out.
Epp gave me the final instructions of these madly chaotic moments: “Twaite left some potions for you to take. Here they are. The green one now, and the other two after your bath and breakfast. You must needs hurry, child. Come, lean on my arm.”
Somehow, it felt a little cheering to be mothered by dear Epp and so I staggered along to do all their bidding. The warm water of the secondly-filled tub was just SO welcoming. Why, I nearly went to sleep again, but these mean women wouldn’t let me.
… … ...
Potion, baths, breakfast and potions later, I felt remarkably well as we sat at the dining table awaiting the ‘urgent’ visitation. I was wondering - with my full capacity by then - just what the Prince required of me, and I knew the others were all wondering so too.
We had not long to wait. Just a little while that was almost long enough to start doubting the degree of urgency that had been declared.
The group of notables and guards were easy to hear from a distance and they drew up in a great throng in our little courtyard outside the front door. Commander Feteran dismounted first with four guards, the others all remaining mounted. The Commander came to our door and knocked upon it. Swayga, who had already moved to the door, opened it to him and bade him a good morning.
“Mistress, before I can allow the Prince and the Countess to enter, I regret that I and my guards must first inspect the premises, lest there are any nasty surprises ready to be sprung. May we enter and search?”
“By all means, Commander.” Her calm assurance and easy permission were strong indicators to the Commander that nothing would be amiss.
“Good morrow, ladies all,” said the Commander as he spied us sitting there, “and young Masters. We shall be but a moment.” He turned and directed the safety inspection with skill and tact.
The five men carefully but swiftly conducted their search. The Commander was just about to be satisfied when the guard who had slipped into my chamber called out: “Commander!”
In a trice, the Commander was there with sword drawn and all the others also drew their swords. The action was noted by those outside as the front door remained wide open and soon swords bristled in every direction you could look.
“Stand easy! We simply found another door to the house but the house is clear. You may enter, Sire, Milady!”
And so it was that our house was filled to bursting and guards were posted inside and out.
Then came the first surprise.
“Good morrow, Mistress Swayga, Mistress Julina, and all you other Mistresses and young Masters. I first of all must humbly and fully apologise for demanding so much of your time and privacy this morn. The reasons though are readily understood I deem. I regret I am much pressed for time, for I have a myriad of tasks to be completed in just a day or so. You are all aware no doubt that I wish to discuss something urgently with Mistress Julina here and I am therefore going to have to be extremely rude and impolite to the rest of you, by asking all of you to leave the Countess and I here alone with her. I am cognisant of the fact that this is your house, but would beg you to allow me to evict you from it for a little while, certainly no more than a bell, probably a deal shorter. I promise not to steal the family silver nor to ransack your home.”
He smiled most charmingly and there really was nothing else for anyone to do other than to obey his wishes. There were many frowns and wonderment written large on the faces, but nevertheless they all trooped out the front door, deciding loudly that they would repair to the Claw for some pel and cakes. The Prince called after them: “Tell Sookie, excuse me, Mistress Sukhana, ’tis on my account. I shall be responsible for your reckoning.”
They all stopped then, turned around to face him, dropped curtsies and the like and chorused: “We are grateful, Your Highness!” or words to that effect. He waved his hand in a manner I can only describe as regal, after which the gaggle of people headed once more towards the Claw, all of them talking excitedly, nineteen to the dozen.
We who were remaining then sat down at the dining table, two guards stood alertly just inside the front door, the Commander by the door to my room. The Countess gave a little cough as she took out from her carry bag a pad of paper and some reedlets.
“Shall I make some pe...”
Suddenly, the Commander gave a funny click-click noise with his teeth and tongue. Instantly, the Prince leapt up and drew his sword once more, silently joining the Commander by the door to my chamber. They listened intently, looked at each other, mouthing the numbers as they counted whilst the Countess and I held our breaths.
They reached some predetermined number and then thrust open the door with some force, which resulted in a crashing noise and a high-pitched scream.
“Hold, Fet! ’Tis but a child. You grab him while I check out the rest of the room.”
Soon, they returned to the table with a downcast Korden looking suitably chastened – a young brother upon whom I was focussing my entire attention.
“Kord! What on Anmar do you think you were doing?”
With tears trembling upon his lids, he stammered: “I wanted to … to … know the big sec… sec… secret, so I sneaked into your clothes cupboard and I … I … ju… just let myself out to listen at the d… door.”
“You could have been killed, you stupid boy! His Highness asked for privacy and you were heard creeping about. They might have run you through, thinking you were an assassin or something. Do you EVER think anything through before you take action? I will deal with you later, you can be sure. Now go on. Scamper off to the Claw. Ask those guards to let you out the front door. Swayga will be wondering where you are too. Probably panicking by now, if I know her. You really are the most wretched of wretched little brats. Now go!”
I turned to the Prince: “Your Highness! I must apologise for my stupid little brother ...” I made sure that Kord heard my words before the door shut behind him. He knew the unwritten ‘law’ in our family – don’t embarrass any other, nor make anyone have to apologise.
My flash of anger left me rapidly, leaving me feeling a little deflated somehow. But then a random thought crossed my mind.
I turned my full attention to the Prince, successfully, I deemed, suppressing the giggles at the thought that yes, I did once have the Prince in my bedchamber. Admittedly I wasn’t in there at the same time, but never mind. You can’t have everything as the saying goes.
Now came the next surprise.
“Mistress Julina! What is this that I espied upon your dressing table?”
I looked at what he was holding and gasped aloud. I had never seen it myself before, but I knew immediately what it was and that Senidet had been far more successful than I had ever imagined her to be able to be so swiftly.
“Your H-Highness ...” I stammered slightly, “When you presented me with that parchment roll yesterday, I found it awkward to hold, to keep from rolling up and so on. I thank you for your suggestions then, by the way. I saw Representative Jepp place weights upon the corners which then suddenly triggered one of my ideas that I get every so often. Suppose we just held it down with a sheet of glass. Not only would it not roll up, but it would remain visible. And the glass would help protect it too.
“It all seemed to click in my head somehow, and then I realised that with a suitable backing we could hang it on a wall, still protected by that thin glass. So I spoke swiftly with Guildswoman Senidet about it, she thankfully understood immediately what I hoped to achieve and she took the parchment roll itself off to see if Master Pocular and the others required could collude together and bring my idea to fruition. I never imagined that they would be able to make one so swiftly. They must have been able to, for there it is.” I was aware that I was waffling a little.
“This is so simple an idea and yet so excellent. I see that there is a note attached to it which tells us that an Exclusivity Licence has been applied for in your name. We have many a painting or scroll adorning our walls in the Palace, but never before has anyone had the idea of using this new fangled see-through flat glass to protect the original. We have a great problem keeping the things dust-free without damaging the surfaces. A brilliant idea I deem. I congratulate you.”
Yeah! Yeah! Alright! So I blushed. You already knew that didn’t you?
“And now, most importantly, to the subject at hand. Why I have come here and exerted some pressure to achieve this meeting. You gave me your solemn undertaking yesterday not to reveal another matter and I must once again ask you for such an undertaking regarding this forthcoming meeting before we commence. Are you prepared so to do?”
“Indeed I am, Your Highness. I shall keep the contents of this intriguing meeting to myself until such time as I have permission to reveal any of it.”
“Heard and witnessed!” From the Commander.
“Heard and witnessed!” From the Countess.
“Right. The whole thing is in one way very simple. I shall commence by iterating the reasons that have led me to this stage.”
He held up a finger each time he made a point in the following explanations.
“First, Countess Merizel tells me you are an excellent teacher.
“Secondly, I know you are an excellent cook.
“Thirdly, there is a man in far-off Joth named Maralin, also a gifted cook. ’Twas from him that we learnt all about those peet-zer thingies your staff provide so well.
“Fourthly, Her Highness, my wife, has gone on a mission to retrieve some artifacts that are vital to the development of our country, of our continent even, probably of our entire planet. There is ...” that shadow crossed his face once again, “... a remote chance that she shall not return, but I refuse, nay WE refuse to believe that that shall happen. Now if she does return, then she may well be carrying with her some artifacts, for that is the objective of the mission. Mayhap she might return empty-handed, but my father and I must prepare as if she will have been successful. You should be aware that these artifacts that we hope she shall return with, shall almost all be in her own tongue. My personal hope is that she manages to settle back into our ways if she returns, nay, WHEN she returns. She struggled so much the first time ...”
He shook his head as though to dispel all the negative thoughts, smiled somewhat brittlely and clearly showed in his face his thoughts as he mentally regrouped. My heart went out to him. My hand started to reach for him, but I remembered in time just who he was and I snatched it back into my lap. What a burden it must be not to know if your love will ever come back!
“Fifthly, and we must progress as mentioned on the assumption that Her mission is a complete success, it would be impossible for the information contained in these many artifacts to be disseminated by Her Highness alone, we therefore require others familiar with Her tongue to be in a position to teach yet others that language. Those others being then responsible for using and spreading the knowledge that she brings back with her.
“Sixthly, your Consociation of Cooks, a sort of modern Guild, it could be said, is a splendid idea and would be of benefit to all Palarand. ’Tis an idea not to be missed out on, all for itself, not involved with whatever the results of Her Highness’ mission. It should be available to all, so probably nearer the centre rather than stuck all the way up here. It shall probably be at least five years from now before the railroads work sufficiently efficiently to start moving people about over large distances.
“Seventhly, the man Maralin I mentioned earlier, he is also fluent in Her Highness’ tongue, for he too comes from her homeland.”
I could retain my gasps no longer. I had striven to be silent, but I could not. I clasped a hand over my mouth. My staring eyes must have looked comical over my hand and my poor nose. Weird noises erupted from behind the hastily erected barrier.
“Putting all these reasons together, and adding in several others, I would like to propose that you repair downvalley to, say, Dekarran, and set up your Consociation there or thereabouts. Mayhap even in Brikant as I deem the Great Valley itself shall become important. Maralin would find it far, far easier to get there from Joth and he could help you set the enterprise up whilst at the same time teach you their language, which incidentally is termed ‘English’. You could then teach the cooks AND learn English that you might teach others, so that they in turn can translate the contents of the artifacts Her Highness shall bring back. The Consociation would be established nearer the centre of our land, thus making it more readily accessible from all corners of Palarand. In every aspect, this proposal is a good thing. Good for the country, good for the cooks, good for those who must learn the secrets of the artifacts.
“Except for one thing.
“Yourself.” He paused then, looking me steadily in my eyes. He held that look as he continued. “The work will be long and hard, and ’twould take you many a mark from your home and your loved ones. It would create a HUGE upheaval in your life, and in the business affairs you have so very cleverly established here in Blackstone. And, I am led to believe, in Tranidor too.
“I firmly believe that ’tis essential for our country. The education of cooks is an added bonus to the education of key people into the English language.
“I also firmly believe that YOU are one who could pull all this off. Indeed, I would say that you are THE one who could pull this off. I am certain that without you, ’twill all be much more difficult and complicated.”
He stopped, took a deep breath and then smiled gently but convincingly at me. “Mistress Julina, I need you, your country needs you, all our futures need you.
“Will you do it?”
Julina wavers back and forth as a certain amount of untidiness precedes the departure of the Royal Party
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.
Silence.
Complete and utter silence.
Even the house was silent – no creaks, bangs, drips, whistling draughts, door hinge squeaks. Nothing.
Not a rattle of a button nor of a clasp nor a toggle. Nor of a sword nor any other weapon.
Not a whisper of a breath.
Every person was also silent; not a word.
- The guards and the Commander, because it was not their place to comment.
- The Countess, because she was waiting, reedlet paused, for an answer that she could record accurately.
- The Prince, because he had just posed the question and was waiting in eager anticipation.
- I, simply because the shock was enormous.
A shock that had, it seemed, frozen me completely, body AND brain.
I found, when some little feeling returned, I was yet holding my breath – and by now that was becoming painful.
The Prince looked at me for the longest time. His smile wavered as enthusiasm, eagerness and hope slowly drained from his face.
Time, however, still ticked inexorably away.
No movement, from anyone or thing.
A steadily rising tension.
Finally, finally, there came a sound.
’Twas the sound of my breath blowing out between pursed lips.
Another hour or two passed. (Subjectively speaking, that is. It was probably about a full minute in all actuality, which is nevertheless an extremely long period of time, given those circumstances.).
“Kallisthena!” I whispered, breaking the silence. But again the noise was only just audible, the whisper was pitched so low.
Before I went all introspective again, my brain racing, racing, racing.
The eerie quiet descended once more. The Prince’s eyes were showing that an increasing confusion was whirling inside him. The Countess looked a little confused somehow. The Commander was frowning.
Now as I describe this scene in all its excruciating detail, it must be borne in mind that His Highness had caught me at my lowest possible moment. Remember, I had been viciously attacked in the street, my nose had been broken during the incident, I had had a run in with a menacingly stupid man outside the doors to my own Mansion and, to top it all off, I had just started my Call; all that within the early part of the morning and then I had lost consciousness somehow and been carried back to my bed - ’twas not even yet a normal food time on the day AFTER all this. And I realised that I was hungry. Very hungry.
So it is, I deem, understandable that they were mostly negative thoughts that were zooming around in my head. Which naturally kept me somewhat tongue-tied.
Consequently, let me continue this report quickly with the POSITIVES that came out of this.
I was proud, honoured, humbled and above all excited at the thought of travelling downvalley.
And now for the not-so-positives:
I was worried, frightened, indeed scared to my very roots at the thought of travelling downvalley.
And then of there starting up something that I didn’t actually know, in a place that I didn’t actually know, with people I didn’t actually know.
And so on.
And so forth.
Oh my poor fizzing, aching brain; thoughts were attacking my consciousness from right, left and centre.
And then, suddenly, I had another thought.
A big thought.
A really big thought.
No, an enormous thought.
A drive-all-other-thoughts-away thought.
A thought that was so massive that it froze my brain, my lungs, my body once more into a state that was rapidly becoming all too familiar.
But even deeper than before. Indeed, all other processes seemed to have shut down there and then.
Again a silence, but one that was radiating a deep anger on my part. I was aware of the others sort of backing away somehow.
The silence was broken once more.
By me once more.
The tears rolled down my cheeks in torrents. (Which the Countess told me later was the most frightening thing, for there was, at first, no sign of breathing, no gasps, nothing. Just a sudden flood of tears. Copious quantities of tears.)
And then came the noise of them spattering upon the table top, not the silence-shatterer I would ever have envisaged.
This situation could not last, of course. Probably just a quarter of a minute.
I wailed.
At the top of my lungs.
And I looked at the wincing Prince with daggers in my eyes, vaguely aware that everyone else was wincing from the noise too, and that the outside guard had even stuck his head in swiftly to find out what was happening.
… … …
“Forgive me,” said the now less green looking Countess. Tandra was rubbing the Countess’ back with one hand whilst holding her hair out of the way with the other. I handed the Countess a constant stream of damp cloths, at least that’s the way it seemed to me. And held a mug of water for her. And still my brain wouldn’t shut down the other thoughts, even though I was performing my ‘emergency’ tasks at the time.
The mind is a very funny thing. Even though I was so bitterly upset with the Prince, and therefore by extension with the Countess, I couldn’t just switch off my instincts. I was the hostess to these visitors and that fact also added to my stresses and strains, for it behoves a host and/or hostess to be welcoming.
And yet, here was the Countess in her own form of discomfort; a discomfort that seemed to me to be quite extreme. It seems amazing to me now that part of my mind was inspecting the toilet room and pleased that it was clean and tidy. Except maybe for that ‘racked-knee’ in the far corner busily spinning its gossamer trap; though what it imagined it would catch inside this room as opposed to the comparative veritable riches of food elsewhere, I had not the faintest idea. It suddenly occurred to me that actually I could ask the Countess a question that had been vaguely bothering me for what seemed like years. What was the correct way to write that name? Was it really ‘racked-knee’?
But then I remembered that I was annoyed and upset with her as well as with that Prince outside.
The Countess heaved again. Despite my anger, I began to feel sorry for her.
“Is this normal?” I somewhat stupidly asked the back of her head, for she was on her knees in front of our toilet.
I was shocked when she replied: “Yes! Apparently so.”
I found myself looking across to Tandra, a question in my eyes.
“Pregnant!” was the short, surprising and somehow sobering reply.
I confess such an answer came as a mild shock. A sort of double shock if you like. The first shock was that the Countess was pregnant! And the second was more of a question: how could the world just carry on so normally after dealing me such a huge blow, after placing me in such an impossible situation?
I re-examined in my head just how we had now managed to get to where we were.
Almost as soon as the Great Wail had left my mouth, the Countess had stood up abruptly, her face tinged a peculiar shade of green.
Tandra it was who said pressingly: “Julina! Toilet or bathroom. Urgent. NOW!”
I found that my deeply ingrained habits forced me to act immediately. I broke eye contact with the Prince and rushed to show the women the way to our facilities.
As we almost ran from the room, I heard the Prince say: “What on Anmar …? Fet, what did I do? Did you see that look she gave me? And as for ...”
But, by then, we were gone into the small room, and the Countess sank to her knees, throwing up her breakfast. Any further statement from the Prince and also any answer the Guard Commander might have given was lost to my ears, bouncing about in the air somewhere behind us.
The vomiting attack was over quite soon actually, and the Countess, supervised by Tandra but with my help too, was returned once more to a degree of acceptableness.
’Twas she, the Countess, who yanked the subject back to the Prince and his ‘request’.
“Why on Anmar did you react so? I was sure you would jump at the chance to see more of Palarand. But what happened was that it looked rather that you would jump at the Prince and scratch his eyes out.”
Even though things were now at some remove, the tears jumped to my eyes once more. “How dare he? Huh?How could he even think to put me in that position? I cannot answer the Prince at this moment, I am too angry. ’Tis most unfair. He first made me oathbound not to discuss any of this with anyone else. He wants me to have to make this decision entirely alone without being abl...”
“Now hold right there, Mistress! That was NOT the oath you took.” Her voice was actually quite fierce. Its probably deliberate harshness had the desired effect.
I felt the blood drain from my face. What mistake had I made? Had I got it really so wrong? Was my anger based on my false interpretation of events?
“But … but … but he made me so swear. And you heard and witnessed. I am forbidden to discuss this with anyone outside that room.” My thumb jerked over my shoulder as I spoke.
“No, no he didn’t.”
“But excuse m...”
“Will you listen to me for a second, please? I must say now that I did wonder at the time. There was something about you that suggested you had not comprehended exactly what was being asked of you! You seemed to be already off somewhere else in your head, and were not paying full attention.” I was startled by Tandra’s almost enthusiastic nodding in agreement.
“But … but … but … to what then DID I swear?”
“To keep the secrets of Her Highness’ mission and the hoped-for return with the artifacts. That is all.” She took a breath.
“Oh!” But then I frowned once more. “But then what w...”
But the Countess had not paused to let me speak, merely to collect her own thoughts. She rode over my utterances without hesitation.
“What sort of monster do you think the Prince is? He would never make you answer without being able to discuss it with others. He just about said so, actually. He mentioned your friends and your family and your business associates. He just suggested that you travel downvalley to open the Consociation down there, a subject that gives cause to your journey, an OPEN subject for discussion with all and sundry - and almost incidentally, whilst you were there, you could have this almost secret mission on the side as it were, about which you must remain silent. I deem you have misinterpreted his words and, in the process, you have severely misjudged him.”
I had a sudden twinge down below, which was reflected in my face and in one hand that I instinctively pressed to my abdomen. I could see a sudden further understanding dawning in both the other women’s eyes. My condition was established with eye-speak. They were suddenly somehow far more accepting of my earlier reactions and outbursts now. And I knew they understood my shortness of temper was being exacerbated.
We chatted swiftly on, covering some important ground. I previously reported what I thought I had heard, but now it seemed as if I had not fully comprehended it all.
I was oathbound to keep quiet about another subject before we left the sanctuary of the facilities. No-one was yet to know about the reasons for the Countess’ sickness. (Which situation, I confess, afforded me some great deal of surprise!)
So it was that we three returned to the dining table, situated in a room in which there was a Prince who was striding about most agitatedly. He was about to say something when I held up a hand to stop him. (A peremptory action that gave me the acutest embarrassment when I considered it shortly afterwards. I had actually interrupted the Crown Prince and ordered him about as if he were just a man of my acquaintance! This is the first time I have ever mentioned it, and I trust ’twill be the last.) He was gracious enough though to allow me to say my piece.
“It seems, Your Highness, that I must apologise to you. I misinterpreted some of what you said and was falsely believing that you wished me to make this decision in isolation, being oathbound not to talk about ANY of it with anyone. Not able to talk with my friends, my relatives, my business associates about any of the reasons for a removal downvalley – THAT, I deemed, to be a most cruel request. The Countess has however corrected my errant thoughts, and I find I must needs apologise for the fact that I ever thought you could be so heartless.”
At any other time, I might have giggled at the sheer delighted relief that shot swiftly across his face, although he did manage to hide it quite well. The older he got, I felt, the more he would be able to control his features from such revealing displays, but we mothers, part-time or no, could still read faces uncannily well.
But his still-boyish traits made me more than ever ashamed of myself that I had so maligned him. Then he sort of made it worse in one way, for he took the blame to himself: “You must forgive ME, Mistress Julina, for not making it as clear as it should have been. I understand now the depths of your distress.” He glanced over at the Commander and they both gave the other a sort of nod of realisation and raised their eyebrows.
It took some hand of moments further for all the lingering doubts on all sides to clear away, helped I deem by my making us all, including the guards inside and out, a big pot of pel. And finding a few pastries, declined by the Countess which I noticed from the corner of my eye made the Prince raise his eyebrows once again to the Commander. I half wondered just how long the Countess thought that she could get away with no-one knowing, but my attention was demanded by the more serious discussions which must needs get under way.
By the time we had finished our now mostly mistrust-free discussions, taken fully and frankly, we were all far more relaxed and I agreed to send word to the Countess as to when, if at all, I felt I could make the trip to start a new life downvalley. There was going to be no possibility at all for me to be joining their party for the trip down, I would require far more time than that; even though I learnt that Epp would travel down to Tranidor with them, tempting me with a familiar companionship for the first part of a long journey.
I knew without being told that the Countess would be bending Epp’s ear on this subject as they went along. I promised to come to a decision before the rains set in and I would then inform the Countess. The Countess would then relay my decision to the Prince, as there was, and could be, no conception that the Prince could (nor indeed should) just wait around until I made up my mind. His duties may well take him hither and thither, the Countess being more likely to remain comparatively static.
(But I find I must report that, on the next few occasions, there was a slight shadow, just a little awkwardness, in any of the then infrequent dealings I had with the man who had made that breath-taking suggestion, our Crown Prince Keren.)
But to get back to that momentous meeting, once those initial doubts and misunderstandings on my part had been swept away then I could be far more relaxed and matter of fact about his request; I actually came quite swiftly to admire the way he had thought to combine two objectives at the same time, with an almost perfect excuse to just have to talk about one of them. He had certainly thought it all through very well, it was only my lack of both trust and attention that had caused the problem. I felt ashamed once again.
The small Royal Party rose from the table and took their leave. I realised that my family would see them go and would rush back to confront me, wanting answers to the myriad questions they would have. My heart sank at the thought and I very nearly dashed to get dressed more sensibly for the outdoors but realised I would not have time before my inquisitors returned.
I resigned myself to my fate.
… … ...
So my mind started thinking about it. Properly thinking about it, far more practically and far less emotionally. But first I must needs conjure up a believable sort of tale that would reveal the minimum I wanted to at the moment.
At the same time, my mind was turning to ways and means of achieving that task, looking for positives.
But that same mind was already even then throwing up a negative thought after each and every positive one that occurred.
I can tell you frankly, and still with some memories of the distaste, that ’twas was from that moment on that I began to have the almost constant back-brain indecision that was to infect me for the next days and weeks and months. And which affected each and every one of my relationships with others.
Do I? Don’t I?
… … …
“… explained that the proposed Consociation was seen to be of great assistance to the development of the entire land, and would I therefore consider opening it far nearer the centre of the land, so that all could benefit from it without having to travel quite so far?”
“But that would mean you moving away!”
“Precisely!”
Already I was gritting my teeth and struggling to answer that last ‘question’ politely. Less than a day had passed since the meeting with the Prince and the Countess, and I must have had to answer that statement/question, or at least react to a close variation of it, a minimum of a million times or more.
Very well, that might be a slight exaggeration I used there.
But whatever, I was nowhere nearer a decision. If anything, even further away.
Do I? Don’t I?
… … …
The most difficult session I had had in that time was the children’s lesson in the Salon the following morning. This was also the last lesson at which Countess Merizel would appear during her stay up here. The children were all sad, and my introspective and distracted mood, accompanied with the ‘natural’ downs that come with Those Days, meant that I was failing in my attempts to lighten the mood there. Her need to rush to the facilities twice in the lesson also served to make the occasion less happy than normal. Only Master Horbelan seemed unaffected.
This had followed on after another ‘Inquisition’ session with my family, who, as I foresaw, had all bombarded me with questions as soon as they had returned after the departure of our visitors the day before. They kept it up until I ‘had a headache’ and retired to the peace and quiet of my room, which afforded me at last complete privacy.
I did not emerge until the younger ones were abed, and then I had to say firmly to all the older ones that: “… now is not the time for any further discussions.” I was really very snappy about it, and the rest of the evening wasn’t exactly relaxing. For any of us.
Which didn’t stop me thinking about it of course, and it was impossible to keep separate the remarks they had made, a very few points of which had been validly relevant, but nevertheless repetitive.
They had had both negative and positive thoughts about it all; but not ONE of those thoughts of theirs was in any way original, for these very same concerns and excitements had already shot through my brain.
More than once.
Indeed more than a hand of times.
And yet they still found it necessary to rehash those very same arguments for and against on the next morning, after a night in which I tossed and turned trying to find at least some beginning of a solution, or even a very tiny solution to just one of the millions of not-necessarily-tiny problems I had come up with.
I had spent some of this time formulating a list of people I would need to talk to. I just hoped I would remember that complete list after waking. If I slept, that is. But even that little stream of sensible consciousness was soon once again swallowed up by the enormity of it all, and the thousands and thousands of questions, affects and results that I could readily see would come up.
They, my family that is, went on and on - even whilst we were Tai Chiing, which amounted (to me at least) to being against the point of it all – I now had to query my family’s understanding of the ‘process’. I managed to last a little while before I made my short-tempered escape, leaving half the Tai Chi unfinished. I ignored the raised eyebrows and the inevitable questions which they even started shouting after me as I got further and further away.
I needed help, not statements of the obvious. Why couldn’t they see that?
Davvy and Surtree started to gallumph after me, but I just shook a hand in their direction and turned my face away.
I stomped (yes, my nose could by then just about handle proper stomping) up to the Salon where I once again ‘enjoyed’ my own company, with the wretched question lurking forever in the neighbourhood. This lasted for an hour or so before the children, and, just a little later, the Countess arrived with Master Horbelan.
Both the Countess and Tandra were concerned about my obvious state of exhaustion, and we had to tell the children something about what had happened.
“Does that mean you will move away too, ’Lina?”
I sent out a huge (but silent) “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!” which I saw Tandra notice, and a look of some understanding raced across her face. Which was surprisingly reflected in the surge of not exactly happiness that shot through me. As I said, not exactly joy but the relief that I now knew SOMEONE had an inkling of my frustrations.
At least I was further pleased that some part of my mind starting wondering about Tandra now instead of staying on what I already by then recognised was rapidly becoming an unhealthy fixation.
I rearranged my face into a semblance of a smile for the children: “Only if I accept!”
But still...
Do I? Don’t I?
… … …
And then, once the lesson was over and the farewells, with some tears on both sides, were made, we three women passed into the Salon's kitchens, accompanied by the inevitable guards – the Countess suddenly deciding she needed something to nibble on. “Or bring up later,” said Tandra in an aside to me, which the Countess heard. She grinned at her maid and said simply: “Just you wait!”
What? Was Tandra pregnant too? How...? Who...? I dragged my scattered wits back to the present.
Surtree and Davvy had found out my big news yesterday – of course – and had, I hoped, prepared the way somewhat with the workers there in the Salon kitchens. Thankfully, it transpired that they had, but only to a certain extent.
Even so, I was surprised when I walked in. For only two were missing, the ones who had gone across to the Tree. Even Em and Kassama were there waiting to pounce on me it felt. My heart sank as all conversation, indeed all activity in there, ceased.
“Does this mean you are leaving Blackstone, 'Lina?”
Now it was my turn to be shocked as a blood curdling wail emanated from Tandra of all people. It killed the one rising in my own throat stone dead. (I only realised afterwards that the Countess had given her permission! I further think the word of that eruption got around fairly swiftly for the dumb question appeared to me to arise far less frequently afterwards.)
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrggggggghhhhhhh! If I hear that stupid question one more time I shall start tearing people limb from limb!”
Everyone turned to look at Tandra, many with mouths agape.
“If she accepts, which is still open to question, then what on Anmar do you expect to happen? That she shall shout her lessons from here, and see the good and bad things that people are doing without straying from Blackstone? Maker, people! She has a HUGE decision to make and needs help, constructive help, for her to come to that decision. Not stupid, unthinking remarks that serve merely to antagonise and not construct. Engage your brains ...”
“Thank you, Tandra! That will do! I will be speaking with you later.” Her Mistress' harsh voice grated across the room.
Tandra ground to a stifled and abrupt halt and managed even to blush a little as her mistress forced a stop to the maid's angry tirade. However, I knew them well enough to just pick up a few tell-tales that told me this was all pre-arranged. That in itself was another shock. When had they had the time?
I took a few heartbeats to admire how it was done and what had been achieved:
I had not said anything, so I had not ruffled anyone's sensibilities
Exactly the same could be said for Her Ladyship
A powerful message had been sent and word would get around rapidly. Which would make my life considerably easier, I anticipated.
I was extremely grateful, I can tell you. But nevertheless, I was no further advanced in finding a way out of my quandary.
And so it was that we fed the Countess, and Tandra, whose hand I gave an extra squeeze to, and the guards before seeing them all off through the back door and out into the courtyard.
After a quick amazed chat yet again about the feeding habits of the military then the inevitable started.
Refreshingly, this time it became very rapidly constructive. In fact, ’twas the first such conversation I had had since the Prince had sprung his … his … trap?
I shocked myself with my mental verbalisation of a fear I had not even appreciated I had.
Amongst many other subjects, we looked at the staffing I might require down there if I did go, and whom I could take with me. Which meant that we discussed the staff of not only the Salon but some of the other establishments. I repeat, we had to determine first who MIGHT be travelling with me – and remembered that not all of those would be here in this room right now. We discussed just how to work it all out, and agreed to start with a long and comprehensive list from which names could be removed as circumstances dictated. (By the way, I deem I did in fact remember all my thoughts on this subject from my toss-strewn bed session of the previous night.)
So we all knew no conclusions would be reached right now. But we all established some … determinates, if you like, as to the range of the discussions which would inevitably ensue.
It was a useful session, one which didn't actually interrupt our tasks too much, which mainly consisted of setting things out to work with through the afternoon.
As it happens, this was a task for which we were well over-staffed just then, so I decided to go and set up some meetings with Master Simman to discuss the Market Place Mansion. For ’twas he who had now been placed in charge of the rough finishing of that building, a sensible appointment since he was in charge of the development of all the parks in Town. And the Market Place Mansion was a very fundamental contributor to the entirety of Julina Park, forming as it did (and still does) the northern boundary.
But nevertheless, 'twas still there. That wretched question which had taken a life upon itself, I felt.
Do I?
Don't I?
… … …
Now I cannot leave the description of that day without mentioning that other event that occurred; as you shall see, it turned out not to be quite so simple as I had imagined. I shall dwell upon it in some detail, for there were many repercussions, both shortly after and some indeed years after.
Davvy, Surtree and I walked up there quite early on, as I mentioned just now, to get it done before the more desperate rush of preparations began for the evening meals. We were going to be full in the Salon that night, both sittings, and I knew things would get very hectic later on. We briefly discussed that and were about to return to my quandary, when I jerked to a halt, as did the other two, our eyes widening.
For we were all three fundamentally shocked when we reached the Market Place itself.
A full day had passed since the first market session had ended. The streets and footways there were, frankly, a disgusting mess. Where previously (i.e. all my life) there had been cleanliness and tidiness, now there were discarded things littering almost the entire area. Apart from the unpleasantness just for the flavour it gave our Town, I didn’t want my building to be presented in such dismal surroundings, I can tell you.
And it really reflected badly upon the Town itself, we all thought disappointedly. What on Anmar would any visitor make of that mess?
Discarded boxes, some still usable, were unorderedly scattered all around on the ground. Unsold goods had just been dropped and the unsuccessful vendors had wandered away, obviously no thought given to tidying up behind themselves. A closer inspection of these wares led me to believe they were simply shoddy goods that had probably been used to swell the display, rather than being present in expectation of being exchanged! The ground’s surface was quite churned up and it made me wonder just what would happen on damper days. Some parts of the ground were stone-covered of course, but other parts were not. At one place, a deeper dent had been made that would need more complex filling to make the ground even again.
I sighed as my brain was flashing me messages of what would be required to be done.
“Surtree, can you please fetch … hmmm, let me see ... the Steward, preferably, but he will be busy I expect with the Prince and the impending departure of the Royal Party. Failing that, then Representative Jepp, or even, I suppose, the Bailiss. If all else fails, then the Sheriff. We must have someone with authority see this. I would suggest that that Market Manager be called too, Filagro, Filagor or whatever his name is. Here’s some coin for the urchins. Then find Kulyer, Mutab or Sookie, and try to get a free wagon, driver and a labourer or two. Tell them it's dirty work for mayhap two bells. I shall stay here, after popping into the Mansion to tell Simman where I am.”
Another huge sigh escaped my lips: “Now I shall have to make a decision as to where to dump all this rubbish.”
I turned to Davvy and grimaced. She was thinking about it, I could see, and her eyes widened not so long later as the full implications crossed her active brain. I was secretly proud of her for catching on quite so quickly.
But then a shadow crossed her face: “Oh 'Lina. How come you are so quick to identify and recognise all these needs and yet I myself have to strain just to see in a whole minute what you see in a mere second?”
“A little longer, surely, than a mere second ...”
We both then gasped as eye-speak made us realise that the use of the new time units had somehow become almost second nature to us. It made us laugh out loud, despite the relative seriousness of the situation.
“Davvy, dear, it will simply come with practice, I assure you. When you have brought up a few children, you will learn to anticipate such things, not just think about them afterwards.”
“So this rubbish that's left, can we come up with some solutions, however temporary?”
“Well I look and see a certain amount of broken and discarded wood. We already know what we can do with all that. To the woodpile at the railroad works.”
“Of course! And maybe one of those still usable boxes could be filled with the discarded food that shall rot. Then that could be taken up to the feltris’ spot for the wild animals to use as some fodder?”
“What a good idea! And some of these metal bits I deem Uncle Brydas might be able to re-use, not that I am in any way an expert in such matters. So another box for metals.”
“What else is there here then? I see some leather, some cloth even. And over there … do bones count as going on the fodder pile?”
“Come Davvy, sweet, let us see if Master Simman has time for us, even though it shall have to be out here lest the others I have sent for begin to arrive. At least we have a warm and pleasantly sunny day for remaining outside.”
“Very well, 'Lina,” she agreed as we threaded our way through the steady but not yet busy traffic to my double front doors. “You know,” she continued, “I am surprised at the number of still usable boxes we can see. Are the merchants here so rich already that they can afford to just lightly throw away items that could, and probably should, have been retained?”
“I confess to being more than somewhat surprised at that myself, Davvy.”
I flung open my doors; poor Davvy of course had only one arm, so door flinging was really beyond her.
And I swore loudly: “BALTH!” as I found my easy passage partially blocked by that wretched market stall of Gobitoo’s.
Davvy didn’t help at that moment. All she did was giggle, stupid child!
But then she rapidly got serious.
For Simman was there, with the works-appointed doorman I had met the other day. Present were also Filagor, Suril … and Gobitoo. Plus two other rougher men. And two men with pads and reedlets.
The wretched Gobitoo was, to my absolute unsurprise, protesting loudly and seemingly trying to fight all the other four, with some tentative assistance from the two men who I saw rapidly were with him, but seemed to be less enthusiastic about it all.
“And just WHAT is going on here?” I exclaimed in my most censorious of tones.
All except Gobitoo stopped what they were doing. He just grabbed a handful of wares from the stall wagon and tried to stuff them into a carry bag. This caused Suril to shout: “Hold, man. You have been told this visit is simply to record the inventory here. You are here merely to confirm what is recorded. Put it back this instant!”
Gobitoo just sneered at him and reached for another handful or two. “Don’t be so stupid man. Now I am here, I shall take what is rightfully mine. And you can get those stupid crippled women out of here,” he snarled, waving a hand in our general direction, “this has nothing to do with them.”
A mistake. A HUGE mistake.
On several interpretations.
And I was not the only incensed one.
For within three heartbeats, he was writhing on the floor clutching his knee and adding considerably to the noise. Suril had simply temporarily crippled him by assaulting his left knee. His weight could not be borne by that damaged joint for a little while.
But by then, my temper had risen almost to breaking point. I forced myself to not explode with fury. It took several swallowings and not a few self-pinchings.
And then I found that a cold rage had settled upon me, which made itself eminent by ever-expanding circles of an utterly icy calm that made even Davvy quail. I knew not what was driving out these waves of determined anger, but when whatever it was reached them, they each and every one visibly felt something. I saw Master Simman’s face take on a nervous look as he stared at me in something more than just surprise. Filagor actually backed away a pace or two. The two recorders looked as if they might soil their hose at any moment. And the two rougher men actually paled.
I could but shake my head at his, Gobitoo’s, utter stupidity. He seemed to think that the normal standards of behaviour did not apply to him. Everyone and everything were there for his use and his use only. He paused but briefly as my anger force reached him but he just seemed to shrug himself and the effects off. He returned to considering his own concerns.
I realised immediately that he overduly needed a lesson. Furthermore though, I also realised that I was not certain he was intelligent enough to understand it. Maybe, intelligence was not the correct requirement. Maybe he just lacked any degree of social consciousness. Nevertheless, I was by now determined to try to make him see, if not reason, then the error of his ways.
I would make every effort I could to ensure ’twould be a lesson he would never ever forget.
I pointed at him and openly sneered. “Please remove that … person from my house. Immediately. I will not have him in here ever again. And you two?” I swung round on the other men, the two rougher-looking ones. “Why are you in here? Did I invite you in? Or any of my representatives?”
“Er… Not exactly, Mistress. Goodman Gobitoo here asked us for assistance in removing his wares from the stall here.”
“Not QUITE right, Mistress,” interrupted the second one, glancing at his companion, and then back to me, repeating this eye shift over and over again, obviously fearful of my wrath should I discover he was lying. “He asked us for help to wheel away the market stall barrow thingy. He was going to pay us some coin once we had done it.”
I had enhanced my rage by employing full ‘angry mother’ status. Experience told me that I had just a few more seconds before my hold over them all dissipated. Now ’twas the right time to get them once more on the defensive.
“I see. So he did not inform you that the barrow has been confiscated because of his false positioning of it, nor that it had been carried in here for its protection, protection of both the barrow AND the wares? That it is here in fact as a protection for HIMSELF?”
They shook their heads and all turned to look at Gobitoo. Was that a spark of realisation that maybe he had missed something in his calculations?
I hurried on: “That in fact he is awaiting a court trial and that ’tis possible the barrow may be declared to be forfeit? Which by the way further means that if you move it, or take it away, or any of the wares displayed upon it, then you yourselves could be arrested?”
“No Mistress, that he did NOT. Can this be true?” But they were both glaring at the miscreant as this was uttered.
We all swung round as a new voice said: “Indeed it is so.”
“Sheriff, good day to you. Thank you for coming so promptly.”
“Mistress Julina, good day to you too. Mistress Davabet, Master Simman, Goodmen all. What is going on here?”
Gobitoo, ever the stupid one, complained in a very whiny way: “That ridiculous, squeaky, little, pakh-brained girl,” he snarled whilst pointing at me, “is repeatedly interfering in a private matter, whoever you are. I want her out of this place while we finish this transaction.”
Fedren just stared him in the eyes until even he realised that he had just made another mistake.
But he didn’t know exactly what that mistake was. So his uncertainty just made his blustering ramp up a notch. But he could not express it, not while Fedren held his stare. We could all see his temper rise. Never a show of remorse, just of recalculation and ill-tempered little bratty behaviour.
He looked down for a brief glance, at which point Fedren spoke: “Your name is I believe, Gobitoo? A nod will suffice for now.” He waited, as did we all, until a very grudging nod was given.
“I am Fedren. I am the man responsible for law and order in this Town. My title is Sheriff. Your case has been reported to me so I already have the bare bones of it. And I know you have already been informed that you stand currently inside a private property. A private property belonging to Mistress Julina here, whom you have just severely insulted inside her own four walls.”
“Oh pish, man. Everyone knows that women don’t own property. I checked a while ago and this property was purchased by a partnership of Masters Kordulen and Pocular. Do YOU yourself know these men? They are of great importance up he...”
“Gobitoo, you really don’t work very well at all, do you? You have just confirmed to us all here gathered that you do not even follow your own thoughts to their very end. Allow me to point out some more facts. Master Kordulen and Master Pocular did indeed purchase this building plot, you were right as far as that goes. However, they subsequently gave it on as a reward to Mistress Julina here - for she has had ideas that have made those two Masters quite wealthy already. Let me further add that Master Kordulen, as simple questioning would readily have established, is the father of Mistress Julina.”
That struck home. We could all see him start to rethink something or things.
“As I said, simple further research would have revealed that, but you failed to go far enough, didn’t you? The handover to Mistress Julina was duly made and witnessed by all the highest citizens up here, at one of our Assembly Meetings. Yes, I too am a member of the Assembly of this town.
“I can absolutely confirm that this building does indeed belong to Mistress Julina. She has more right to be in here than you do. It is her private property. Legally deeded and witnessed. And all this is known as fact by a minimum of half the citizens who live here.
“Furthermore, you would do well to remember that this entire region, which spreads down to beyond Brayview, is owned by our Princess, the woman who will one day be your Queen. So much for your ridiculous statement that women don’t own property.”
We could all still tell that Gobitoo decided to ignore those inconvenient truths, almost as if they were not worth considering. He simply refused to acknowledge them in any way, shape or form.
There was a small break, a small pause in proceedings. Gobitoo then started complaining about undue force, and unwarranted attacks, and groundless arrests and so on and so on and so on and so on ...
For some reason, everyone looked at me. I had effectively only just arrived, had walked into the middle of an altercation, and yet all those strong brave men decided that I was to be the one to explain. I shook my head at the sheer stupidity of it all.
And then explained from the very beginning to Master Fedren. In detail. Some of which Gobitoo tried to protest. I made sure that all there heard the full and complete story and made sure Gobitoo’s arrogance and intransigence was made aware to all.
“Thank you Mistress Julina. I see from many nods that there is agreement with your details, the only negative being from the prisoner Gobitoo.” He somehow subtly emphasised the word ‘prisoner’.
His eyes swept round us all before fixing on the strange pair of men.
“So you two men are what you will now call yourselves ‘innocent bystanders’ - is that it? Light labour, hired to do an inoffensive job, the background to which being something of which you had no prior knowledge and no direct concern?”
There was no initial response so his voice hardened: “You do now know that I am the man responsible for law and order in this Town? Ah, thank for your nods. Right, be off with you. My Deputy Suril there and I have a good memory for faces. You will be in grave difficulties if we have to interact with you two anytime in the near future. Understood? Good! Now go… Now.” They scuttled out, nodding their heads and touching their forelocks and the like. And casting further looks of dislike at Gobitoo.
“You two! You are the recorders of the inventory from that market barrow? Good. Please continue your work under the supervision of Goodman Filagor and Master Simman, who shall represent Mistress Julina here. For as it happens, SHE has called me here for some other business, as yet to be explained.
“Now you, Gobitoo. You are our prisoner, arrested yesterday for flagrant breaches of our regulations. You were invited here today just to see that all was being conducted fairly. But you have decided that such considerations do not apply to you. Where on Anmar did you think you were going to after leaving here? You must know you were to be returned to the cells. And yet you tried to take the wares from here in a carry bag, a carry bag that would simply have been removed from your grasp.”
He too shook his head at the stupidity of it all.
“Mistress Julina. Am I to understand that you have made a declaration concerning this person? That he is not welcome in your house?”
My towering rage must have been evident in every syllable I uttered.
“Indeed so, Sheriff. From this instant and forever more, he is banned from these premises, even if he merely wants to purchase some refreshment when he is enjoying the facilities of the Park out the back. Nevermore to have one foot inside this building. I am tempted to include those other two you sent off just now. I will not have uninvited people in here, certainly not without supervision. I find I even object partially to Filagor being here, although I deem I now understand his presence. Why was I not informed that this event was taking place, that I too could have been involved?”
Fedren looked across at Suril, who replied: “Gobitoo was making such a fuss about his items being stolen that I deemed ’twould be most efficacious were the whole thing dealt with as soon as we might. I sent to Representative Jepp for two recorders, and sent to Filagor and Juli… Mistress Julina via urchins. I can only assume that the urchins are still searching for you, Mistress!”
That was entirely plausible, so I attempted to reply a little less angrily.
“I confess I have had reasons to try to remain somewhat alone this day so far, and this fuss has just made me even more angry than I already was.”
That anger rose visibly again. “I want this Gobitoo out of here now, and never ever let him in here again. Have you heard that, Gobitoo? You are not welcome in here at any time. Nor on the doorsteps. Nor under my eaves. In fact, upon further reflection, nor within any of my buildings – and yes I do own several more. Up here. And downvalley. Even if there is someone in here or there that you wish to speak with or do business with, you shall never be allowed inside any of them. That business of yours will from now on forever be conducted outside, whatever the weather. At pain of instant arrest. I cannot believe that even someone as stupid as you cannot comprehend what I have just said. Have you understood it?”
He just looked at me, not deigning to answer.
I looked around at the people gathered there who were all still quite surprised by my vehemence; all except the one man at whom it was all directed. The icy rage had long since dissipated, but the violent core was still in evidence.
After a couple of heartbeats, I raised an eyebrow, obviously inviting some action to take place.
’Twas Davvy, of course, who caught on first: “Heard and witnessed.”
Foreheads unfrowned and even a smile or two flitted across a face or two. A positive chorus of “Heard and witnessed” echoed around the room, even nearly drowning out Gobitoo’s persistent complaints and protests. He still insisted I had no rights whatsoever as to his movements. It just did not seem to occur to him that I really did own this building.
However, his protests used words that showed clearly he had just heard what had been uttered.
Master Fedren took over again: “You have been duly informed of the ban placed upon you by the acknowledged and legal owner of this property. There are many witnesses here to that fact. You shall never be able to say you have not been told. I, as Sheriff of this Town, are hereby informing you on an official basis, with the backing of the entire Assembly, that you shall be arrested if you encroach upon any of Mistress Julina’s properties or businesses.”
“Heard and witnessed,” I added in my coldest tones. The others around also repeated the formal words. I was a little surprised at the feeling evidenced behind some of those short and simple utterances. I was not the only one who detested the man, it appeared.
Master Simman let out a complex yet short series of curt and penetrating whistles. Two burly construction workers appeared quite rapidly, responding to what had now become apparent to be a summons. They looked at us curiously before silently asking him for their instructions. Simman indicated me with a hand and nodded to them to take my orders. My anger was still insufficiently controlled that it made my voice quiver; slightly, but nevertheless noticeably.
“Take this pile of refuse outside and dump him on the road please, away from anything that could be construed as being in or of this building. I don’t care how roughly you handle him. I would rather not have any blood on my property, and mayhap you should try to avoid letting him get squashed by any passing traffic. But I have to confess that that would not bother me in the slightest, were it to happen. The Sheriff and the Deputy will then escort him back to the cells from there. Sadly, at this moment, one more pile of disposable rubbish outside won’t make that much difference.”
They were just about to drag the still-moaning and self-justifying man out, when another thought occurred to me.
“Hold! All this fuss has quite discombobulated me. I called for the Sheriff and Goodman Filagor to observe the disgusting state the Market Place has been left in after yesterday’s otherwise extremely successful market opening. The inventory taking will have to be put on hold whilst we all go outside to inspect, and the removal of Gobitoo to the cells shall have to wait until these persons in authority have witnessed the lamentable state of affairs out there. Master Simman, can your two men please remain outside with what they are about to dump? Just until the Sheriff and the Deputy are free to carry on? Shall we say a quarter bell, maybe? Also, you two recorders should step back from the barrow and wait until Goodman Filagor and I return, then it can all be done, properly witnessed and accounted for and so on. That pathetic Gobitoo will have no ground for complaint nor accusations of improper behaviour.”
And so I paraded back outside, back stiff and neck unbending. I was trailed by a column of others, including one struggling and wriggling. And still complaining.
I almost burst out into laughter when I realised something.
For a whole while now, I had NOT been asking myself the wretched question: Do I? Don’t I?
… … …
“… correct, Mistress. This cannot be allowed.”
We all looked at Filagor. To us this was obviously a part of any Market Manager’s job. He realised that too – after a little while thinking about it.
He flushed and he too started to bluster, but he wasn’t as good at it as Gobitoo: “It wasn’t specified when they made the job description for the task I accepted...”
We all tutted and otherwise expressed our dis … dis … dis … disapproval, disappointment as well as disbelief.
“But I shall make it my responsibility in the future,” he hastily added.
We looked at him again, this time with a degree of reserved approval, from which he visibly gained a little more self-confidence. Mayhap that was the problem? He was too nervous, too uncertain, to assert himself?
I continued: “I have sent for some workers to clear all this away. Davvy and I thought that foodstuff should be gathered into one of those usable boxes and taken up to the Feltris’ Feeding place … oh, that’s a point! Where is that feeding point nowadays; it used to be down on the slope below what is now the Community Hall? Hmmmm.”
“Well, actually I think they are still debating...”
“I’m sorry to override you, Sheriff, but that wasn’t really a question. Just a mental note to myself to find out a fact. Let me carry on, for we needs be swift. My time has suddenly become very limited today.
“I have thought that the wooden bits to be scrapped probably should be delivered to the wood pile for the end of next month’s Longest Day celebrations. Metal bits could be gathered into another of the boxes for transport across to the Smithy, and I don’t really have any idea about any of the rest.”
“But who shall pay for this? As far as I know there are no rules or regulations covering this?” almost-whined Filagor, his self-confidence beginning to ebb once more.
“Oh pish man. I shall cover the costs of today’s work. But I fail to see why I should have to carry this financial burden forever. We shall just have to set some regulations.”
“But how?”
I shrugged. Surely it was obvious? “Basically, there are two main methods – rewards or punishments. Fining people who leave a mess would be one way, but possibly difficult to prove and/or collect.
“Or, say, charge every stallholder a fee – call it a market fee – just for being able to have a stall. Explain it covers costs of repairs and clean-up and so on. Simply return their coin, or part of it, when all the costs have been deducted. The other stallholders will surely then place pressure on the messier ones and it will probably end up being a self-controlled system.”
“Sensible ideas, Mistress,” was the general consensus it seemed to me. But the whole thing seemed also to me to be ridiculously clear and straightforward. Why couldn’t these people see that? And at least I wouldn’t have to be involved in the actioning of it. And why had this incompetent Filagor been appointed in the first place? Although, to be fair, it was obvious he was trying to learn and to apply the lessons as they came along. Maybe I was being just a little harsh.
“And I deem we must have this entire place paved!” I added, which again raised a flutter of anxiety in my flock of listeners. All except Simman, who looked at me with laughter in his eyes as he made a rolling gesture with his arm, encouraging me to keep up the pressure.
At that point, I nearly said something which might have given a clue to the military secrets with which I had been entrusted. I only just managed to stop myself saying it, and that sobered me a lot. I was oathbound in several ways, you will remember. I must not let my loss of temper make my tongue slip. And maybe Filagor was not one of those ‘in the know’. Maybe that’s why they had appointed someone with obviously limited abilities – so far?
I led the way across to the large dent in the ground I had noticed earlier. “Look over here, at this great crater that has been dug into the surface. It looks to me as though a barrow was lifted too high, and its corner, or mayhap a handle, has been forced deep into the earth here, and a great deal of soil has been shifted. That will not be a simple fill and tamp repair.”
I knew the others had forgotten my father’s career, and I had naturally picked up some of the terms he used. They just looked amazed that I knew the correct words! (Davvy, the impossible wretch, began giggling behind her hand!)
“Master Simman, who do you imagine would be the best person to approach to get this Market Place repaired and protected from future damage?”
Simman puffed his cheeks out. “We are working hard to get this Mansion finished, in terms of weather tightness for we shall have much work to do returning the Community Hall to its better configuration. We also have the unfinished buildings around here and down by what will be Jepp Park. And then there are buildings over at the Artisan’s Area, and an extension to the Bunkhouse. All have to be done before the rains. We are hard pressed as it is. This is why we must needs get the Market Place Mansion ticked off our list, that the workers can be assigned to other buildings. Better said, we need to get this Mansion done now, then all hands can work on the Community Hall, then they can split off to different projects. I deem Master Bezan will need to decide about fitting in this extra work.”
The Sheriff nodded his thanks. And we could all see Filagor make a mental note to approach Master Bezan.
I deem it took mayhap a further quarter of an hour for everything to be planned out and arranged, Filagor being told in no uncertain terms by Master Fedren, in the name of the Assembly, that it was his responsibility to see these measures were acted upon – with the unsaid implication that an unsatisfactory report would be made to the Assembly; such implication being left unsaid, as I reported, but nevertheless ’twas dangling there in the air for all to ‘see’.
Only then was Gobitoo escorted, without the carry bag, back to the cells, walking briskly all the way – and running his mouth all the way. The Sheriff and Suril just ignored him as they hustled him along. It seemed to bother him somewhat that they were ignoring him and I wondered if that was related to the grounds where he had developed his taste for ignoring other people and facts.
I explained to Surtree what orders to give to the clean-up crew when they arrived, made doubly sure that Filagor understood that this was a one-off as far as I was concerned and then I went into the Mansion so that at last the inventory on the barrow could be properly recorded.
It took another half an hour for that task to be done. The two recorders had their independent lists duly signed and witnessed by both Filagor and I as representing the ‘wronged’ parties and, under protest, by Master Simman on behalf of Gobitoo.
An hour or more later than I had planned, I eventually got to speak with Simman. We discussed in detail the to-be-changed internal layout of my Mansion. He was somewhat surprised at some of my specifications and he was then further surprised when I explained the Prince's request to him. But at least he understood then most of what I said and why I had said it. And most of why I wanted the alterations to be done eventually, but there was no rush to get them done right now.
Some of those were definitely going to be major alterations, mind you. A new staircase. An entrance hall that spread up to the very roof with a balcony all around at the first floor level. And a realisation that we would needs have some form of light accessed from above, as the internal walls would make the ground floor in particular very dark. But we agreed that the building-in of a glass window up above would have to wait until after the rains. Trying to do that now would delay the workings on too many other buildings. The good thing about that though was we would have time to consider the problem and to come up with some informed and sensible designs to achieve the stated requirements.
At least, so we hoped!
I left Simman frowning as he made notes of the new requirements. As for myself, I almost skipped away with more of a happy disposition than I had had for some long while. And I also extracted a promise from Simman that he would add to the security of the building, access to be restricted to only essential people. I gave him a list of those people I would trust to be allowed in.
That good mood was but of short duration. It didn't last long as we three made our way back to the Salon.
THE question seemed to have been hiding somewhere and now it rushed out at me with some force, ambushing me and all the rest of my thoughts. It seemed to me to be more forceful that it had been before. Mayhap it was jealous that I had not been giving it some more attention?
So, Julina. do you? Don't you?
… … …
I was preparing the fish courses for the first sitting, when I remembered how Swayga had shown me how to do it. I flashed a picture in my head of me teaching others the same thing.
Sigh.
Do I? Don't I?
… … ...
And so my days passed ever so slowly, it seemed to me. All was buried under the weight of that dreadful ‘Do I? Don’t I?’ question.
Mundane, routine stuff happened, interspersed with flashes of positives and negatives. I turned inward upon myself, even when I had the necessary discussions with friends and relatives, not forgetting with those aforementioned business associates. I daresay I was quite boring and almost depressing to those forced to be around me. Most people were kind enough to keep their distaste from showing, although a couple of them did demonstrate a lesser level of patience occasionally.
The days drifted mostly meaninglessly from one into another, my brain forever tossing The Question back and forth, back and forth.
Of course, there were some events that were out of the ordinary. But just because they were out of the ordinary did not mean they were not expected; however, neither did that mean that they were necessarily met by me with any greater degree of enthusiasm:
- The farewell speech from the Prince, given from the first floor balcony of the Community Hall, in which he thanked us, congratulated us and encouraged us. And dropped various hints that seemed directed at me and my decisions. It was noticeable that, even though the speech itself was less stirring than those made on the first visit, it still managed to enthuse many of us, and there were more than just a few tears adripping when he finished. Not least because he could not guarantee that he himself would return for the autumn visit to Blackstone; he mentioned there was a possibility of another young woman being sent as his representative, someone called Milsy if I heard aright. I knew I had heard the name before, but couldn’t, at that very moment, place it. This news was strangely but only slightly disquieting somehow. The weather was actually quite beautiful as he made that speech, which helped with the positivity. We onlookers were all in summer gowns or lighter attire so the references to the upcoming rains seemed almost inappropriate.
- The big departure was early in the following morning, but still most of the Town turned up to watch them go. I suppose I should have been gratified by the number acknowledging nods I received from so many of the party, guards, commoners and nobles alike, but summoning the enthusiasm just to respond properly was almost more than I could bring myself to do.
Almost.
I gripped Epp’s hand quite forcibly as the caravan lumbered off down to the bridge and over it, heading for the Forest’s edge. It was a moving sight, and I suddenly felt a strong longing to dash to the Claw, find my trusty frayen and join in with them. The feeling quite astonished me, coming as it was to someone who was completely unaware that such an event might occur.
Epp had changed her mind and determined to stay on a few more days, even though she ‘knew’ she had been away too long already. She needed to talk with me about our company and our sites and so on, as well as about my quandary. We made arrangements to travel together down to Bezlet, to see the developments down there. With both principals of our company present, certain decisions could be thus implemented more efficiently and rapidly.
We watched the convoy make its way down past the Fish Farm, almost to the Bunkhouse. I swear I saw the Countess’ arm wave.
Epp looked at me. I was aware of her so doing, but still kept my eyes on the receding wagons, frayens, people. We must have been watching for nigh on an hour!
When she asked her question, it seemed to break me out of a thrall. I looked around and there were no other people about.
Well except for the workers already making their way inside the Community Hall to begin the alterations in there.
She had a sad grin on her face, but yet her eyes were both sad and joyful.
“Julina?”
“Yes, Epp?”
“I have a question ...”
Julina continues to go round and round in several ways
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.
“Just one question?” I cheekily asked Epp in reply, my eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Oh that’s better! That’s more like the Julina of old. You have been a little … down, recently. The way you sent Surtree and Davvy away was almost brusque. It surprised me, I must say.”
“I am aware of it,” I replied, sobering up instantly. “And I regretted my actions almost as soon as I had done them, but ’twas too late by then to apologise for they had already departed. I intend to do so as soon as I catch up with them once again.”
“Maker! It doesn’t take much to set you back, does it?”
I puzzled at that remark for just a little while before I realised that her statement had simply killed the mischievous spark in my eyes.
“I’m sorry! I just have this huge decision to make and I really don’t know what to do. You, of all people, know this full well. I struggle constantly with balancing the sides of the question. To and fro, I go – to and fro, to and fro!”
“As it happens, I think you DO know what to do, but you remain unsure as to whether ’tis wise or not.”
I looked at her sharply.
“So,” she continued, “my question. Also not a simple one, I fully understand. Here it is. What makes you want to stay up here in Blackstone, or at least in ‘Blackstone County’ as I understand they refer to all Her Highness’ lands nowadays, just to differentiate ’twixt town and country? The wider world downvalley beckons with an excellent opportunity.”
Actually an even more excellent opportunity than you already know, dear Epp! Assisting at the highest levels is a possibility I cannot speak about.
“Do you fondly imagine that I don’t know all that? I have tossed and turned it over so often now. I deem I can reduce my answer to a few words: Family, friends, businesses, familiarity, security, accustomedness. I suppose, in one way, I can also add investments to that list.”
“But you were SO tempted, were you not, to just run after them? I could tell. It took a great effort of will to keep yourself rooted to that spot for so long.”
“Oh Epp! They have ideas! Huge ideas. They have plans! Huge plans. They do such different things! They SEE such different things! In comparison, we are so limited here. Yes, the town is growing. Yes, we now have players for entertainment. And sports. Yes, we are educating people. Yes, there is much more to do now than there used to be. But all that is still so much less than I can see through the door that has been opened just a crack.
“I spent a while with Senidet but now I want, maybe even need, to speak with her in more depth about the changes she has experienced and things that happen downvalley and so on. At the time she was here, it never even crossed my mind that I might, just possibly might, one day be like her and get all the way down to the capital. What a wasted opportunity I have had – to gain intimate information from someone I have known for a lot of my life.
“I need information. I need to know so much more before I could feel secure in making my decision.”
“I see,” she said, thoughtfully. Then she brightened her tone. “But for now, we should get back to the town and continue with our tasks for today. And you have two apologies to make.”
I suddenly felt bad for having kept her away from her plans for the morning and I started to stutter an apology to that effect. She surprised me by grabbing me to her and hugging me fiercely.
“You are very special to me, you know, young Julina.”
We linked arms and headed along the Dam Road towards the Market Place once more, chatting about everyday things as we went. I realised that Epp was deliberately giving my all-consuming question a wide berth, trying to make sure I kept it all the way to the back of my head.
… … …
“… manage to get in all the supporting columns around the area to be cut out. And we should be able to get a narrow temporary staircase over there where you indicated, completed before the rains that is. However, no matter whatever happens, by the end of this day, the building will be watertight.”
“Thank you, Master Simman, well done.”
Epp and I had walked back to the Market Place whereupon I had squealed in consternation. For the double doors to my mansion were propped wide open and some men were just finishing building a wooden ramp from inside down to the surface of the road. I thought immediately that someone was stealing something, or Gobitoo’s wagon was being stolen or something like that, so Epp and I rushed over to see what was happening.
As it transpired, nothing of the sort was taking place. But a lot of equipment was being removed. The doorman tipped his hat to Epp and I as we rushed in and a grinning Master Simman came over to us, obviously very pleased with himself.
“Mistress Julina, Mistress Megrozen, what a pleasant surprise. We have, I deem, about a quarter of a bell before this door area shall be thronged with busy workers, so you have timed your visit perfectly.”
I looked around and could see the Gobitoo market stall/wagon pushed over to one side, against the west wall. All around the rest of the ground floor were dotted sturdy handcarts, most partially laden with ropes and blocks and toolboxes and the like. I cocked an enquiring eyebrow at Simman.
“Well we have just two or three panels left to insert upstairs at the south-east corner, so most of the workers can be freed, since we agreed that there is no rush to complete the interior. So they shall go down to the Community Hall and start already with the changes to bring it back as to how ’twas designed. We do have some spare wooden beams left over, ordered on the assumption that there would be many more rooms to be created. With those, I estimate, we should manage to get in all the supporting columns around the area to be cut out. And we should be able to get a narrow temporary staircase over there where you indicated. However, no matter whatever happens, by the end of this day, the building will be watertight.”
“Thank you, Master Simman, well done.”
We chatted on about what would be done and he mentioned something else which fascinated me.
“We had a meeting, we project managers, last evening with the Steward. The Prince was also present, but as an observer mostly. Anyway, your man Pyor was also present, with the other rail man, Master Ryteet, and between them, Pyor, Ryteet and the Prince, they told us some things that had not been plain to us all beforehand.
“The curves on the railroad, and ’tis obvious there MUST be some curves, cannot be tight ones. They have to be far more gentle than the curves in the road. So they had stockpiled a series of curved wooden … beams if you like, but they are TOO curved for their purpose on the railroad. However, they are in fact almost perfectly curved for OUR purposes. So they are to be sent over this morning. They shall be positioned on columns to support round the edge of the wide ‘light well’ you want, just as soon as we have finally defined exactly where.”
I surprised both he and Epp by saying: “Shall we do that now then?”
“Er… sure. Fine. Have we the time?”
“’Twill be less than five minutes, I deem! I have definitely decided on how to arrange it all whilst still keeping all the options open.”
“’Minutes’, did you say? What are ‘minutes’?”
“Oh! Errrm… lengths of time … think of them as moments, near enough.” I replied as I walked over to one of the least occupied handcarts, taking out some paper and a reedlet as I went. I spread the paper on the handcart, using it as a table.
It didn’t take me long to align my thoughts, as they were so deeply etched into my head. “Now this building has a unique shape. This is the west wall here, quite long as you can see. This is the north wall, only really just long enough to fit in the admittedly very wide double doors and the door posts and so on. Just a little bare wall either side.” I sketched them in rapidly, a neat square junction of walls at the north-west corner, with the north being at the top of my diagram. I repeated the drawing, without the doors of course, to show the upper floor layout separately. They both nodded their understanding.
“Now I shall move to the south wall, which is mostly windows and doors, allowing a great deal of light in. But ’tis a curved wall, like so...
“Before we move onto the final wall, I want to point out that this south wall is almost, but not quite, flat here where it joins to the west wall, the curve only really coming into play at about this point here.”
I jabbed the point of my reedlet at the appropriate point on my diagram then looked up at each of them, an eyebrow raised, silently asking them to agree with my statement. They both nodded.
“Now observe that point and how far ’tis from the west wall. I think you’ll both agree that it is almost identical a length as that of the entire north wall?”
Again, they both nodded.
“So we can call that a sort of rectangle really, if we draw a light line down from the edge of the north wall to the point on the south wall.” I sensed them nodding this time, as I was busy drawing such a light line on the diagram for both the ground floor and the upper one. “Now, with one exception, everything in that rectangle, on both the top and bottom floors, is going to be a part of my private quarters. The exception being that we must have an entrance hallway inside the double doors here on the ground floor.”
They both gasped, (But they later explained that the gasps were produced by the simplicity of it all, rather than the size or anything else.)
“Before we go into the full details of how my private quarters shall be laid out, please allow me to first address the ground floor layout along the east wall. I shall do that by mentioning the park and the south wall first. Now we all know that there are just a few steps up from the ground level in the park to the ground floor level of the building. In fine weather, those long, long steps will no doubt serve also as seating for the younger and more agile amongst us, but we shall also require seating for others less sprightly.
“I have agreed that there shall be a smallish shop where park visitors can purchase light refreshments, so that shall be situated here in the extreme south-east corner. It makes sense therefore that there shall be a fully-equipped kitchen next to the shop, that the pastries and pies and so forth, maybe even peetzers, can be taken most easily into the shop for sale.
“So this big area here ...” I jabbed my reedlet again onto the paper, “… shall be tables and seats for those not wishing to sit outside for whatever reason.
“As we all know, women have a disadvantage over men when it comes to requiring toilet facilities, so we shall have a women-only toilet facility next to that kitchen, to make the running of pipes most simple. So there shall be three rooms, if you will, along the east wall from the south-east corner.”
I sketched a large ‘rectangle’ (remember the south wall is actually curved!) using the east wall as one side of it, then I drew two straight lines to break the rectangle into three separate entities, the northernmost one being smaller than the others, the middle one being the largest, the kitchen.
“I shall come back to that kitchen in a few moments, but now I want to go up to the first floor above ground level. I shall now start dealing with my private quarters. Here, above the double doors and the hallway below, I shall have my office. From there I shall be able to observe the Market Place, the Shuttle Shed, the Frolicsome Frayen and so on. The west wall windows will also give me a glimpse of the town down from the Market Place. Access to this office shall be from the floor formed around the head of the main staircase, which shall have to be here. I’ll try to remember to come back to that. And there shall be a small door from the office, probably over here against the west wall, allowing me to access my private quarters from there. Or for me to reach the office from my private quarters.
“Now, how shall I want my quarters laid out? That too is simple! This shall be my bedchamber, with a closet to hang my clothes in and for me to prepare myself. And this here, against the southern wall, shall be my sitting room with its peaceful views across the Park and the lower end of Main Street. However, I shall require a private staircase to go down to the ground floor level, so we shall place that here, against my private inner wall, and have a small corridor joining the bedchamber, the staircase and the sitting room.
“This shall then take us down ...” Here I switched the reedlet to the diagram of the other floor. “… to my private bathroom and toilet facilities, a kitchenette – I don’t need a full kitchen when there is already one close by but across on the other side of the building – and a private dining room. This entire area shall be walled off from the rest of the building, as shall be the upper level, but down here the walls shall be pierced by a door here alongside the west wall leading from the hallway into my bathroom, and by a door down here allowing me access to my dining room from the room across which is the kitchen up against the east wall. Again, upstairs, the entirety shall be walled off from the rest of the building, the walls being pierced by merely two doors – one into my office and one into my sitting room, which shall be above my dining room.
“So what else shall be upstairs, outside of my private area? Well that rather depends on whether or not the Consociation shall be up here, or downvalley. If the Consociation is up here, then we shall require at least two extra cooking stations, tables and chairs and all the rest that shall be required in a schoolroom. There should also be a staircase to give access to the more fully equipped kitchen downstairs. The area of this schoolroom will need to be kept from being accessed by just anyone, so there should be a door. If we are to have this ‘well’ as you called it to allow extra light down to the ground floor hallway, then the balcony that surrounds it would act as a natural barrier. So the access door could be here, just along the east wall from the staircase down to the kitchen.
“Ta da! We have now, at last, defined where the balcony should be.”
I quickly drew in a rough circle on the plan of the upper floor, and straightened up, proud of myself; particularly when I saw the shocked amazement on both their faces.
“Maker!” breathed Epp. “You make it so simple, and yet so obvious … so logical.”
“I concur,” said Simman. “But what if you do not have your cooking school here?”
“Then, if the Consociation is NOT up here, then this space could maybe converted to offices for rent, or temporary sleeping quarters, or some other income-generating ideas. This alternative use is exactly why the staircase up from the downstairs kitchen is against the wall and not inside like the one in my private area. This area I shall call, for the present instance, the public area. You may do as you like effectively there, always remembering please, indeed always making sure, that my private accommodation is not accessed by anyone else.”
“May I keep these sketches you have made?”
“Of course, Simman. You are the one most involved after all.”
“I shall have them drawn up more accurately and send you a copy of the ones we shall use.”
“That would be most kind, I thank you.”
I felt that this was a triumph in its small way. Both my colleagues had heartily approved of what I had thought and produced.
(I received that working copy of my scribbles a little later in the day, when an urchin brought it to me as I worked in the Salon.)
Here is a copy of that copy; the original drawing I have redrawn since that original was, by the time I put these chronicles together, more than a little frail.
But even though I had had that minor triumph, I was still less confident than I appeared. For that same old, mean old, nagging old question was still ever present.
Shall the Consociation be up or down the valley?
… … …
“… so I am very sorry to have been so brusque. I did not mean to hurt you.”
“Julina, we do actually understand. You are under great pressure at the moment and it causes you great stress.” Davvy was the spokeswoman for the two of them, Surtree just nodding his agreement, half-hidden behind her left shoulder.
I felt tears spring to my eyes and I cuffed them away with the back of my hand. I got all gruff as I said: “We have work to do!” I pretended not to see their sidelong glances at each other, accompanied by grins.
But I only worked a few minutes after that, maybe a quarter of an hour, because I needed to speak with Gyth as soon as the urchin arrived with the copy of the drawing. When I had explained what it was, everyone crowded round to see it and I had to chivvy them back to work. I did wonder to myself though if I left it a little longer just so they could congratulate me on my vision. I didn’t do that consciously of course, but I did wonder about it later, and felt a bit guilty.
“This is excellent, Julina – as far as it goes that is. I like particularly the allowance for light from above coming down to the ground floor level. A clever thought that. However my dear, this arrangement of rooms I deem inadequate. Yes, it might be fine for yourself, but you are far from being a ‘loner’ person. You will have visitors sometimes and the local hostelries, handy though they might be, are a little inhospitable to invited guests.
“I deem also, that, just like Senidet, you yourself will, sooner or later, be employing a maidservant. You will need to provide somewhere for her to sleep – unless you are a lot crueller than any of us believe. Maybe your guest or guests will bring with them a maidservant. So we – you – need a few more rooms.
“Now you are using a lot of space with this corridor here ...” it was her turn to be jabbing the diagram with a reedlet, “… and I don’t deem it necessary. To get from your bedchamber to your sitting room shall be a mere few paces, so if we change the dressing room like so … “ a few quick strokes, “… then we can make the bedchamber a more regular shape, so, and shorten this corridor you have drawn in.”
We discussed it rapidly but I realised very quickly that dear Gyth was right. Then she added in something else that neither Simman nor I (nor Epp) had noticed.
Where I had drawn the rough circle for the light well, I had not superimposed that over the ground floor. And when she did that, it became immediately obvious that the light well would be blocked by the area I had marked down for the toilet and also by part of the kitchen.
Gyth and I then bandied about something that seemed like a million possibilities as to how to include all the new requirements. We tried to change the rooms around; for example, should we add a servant’s room downstairs rather than upstairs? What about the guest room, up or down, left or right? We felt we had a need to define ALL the rooms, upstairs and down, before we could then address the ‘light well problem’.
Finally, we came to a conclusion. We added on, to the first floor up, a guest room and servants quarters which roughly doubled the width of my private area at the south end. We made the extra width at the south wall into the guest bedchamber, to give them a pleasing view, and then we added servants quarters above that on the diagram, to the north, so that my area bulged out at the head of the staircase there and ran down to the south wall, a sort of narrower bit where the servants were to be, and then a wider bit for the guests - which also had the advantage of their being positioned at some remove from my end, to afford us both more privacy. Both Gyth and myself were firm in our belief that the sitting room should stay where it was, the double aspect being an important feature of it, in our eyes. Giggle: and for our eyes!
Instead of a full circle for the light well, we settled finally upon a sort of elongated quarter circle, using the walls of the added rooms for the straight edges.
Here is what we ended up with, again I have had to redraw it with more modern techniques; I did find the original when I was putting together these tales - however, it was torn and tattered, stained and faded. I deem only I could have reproduced it, for it was to all others illegible.
Of course, we needed to send it up to Simman as soon as possible, so Surtree was sent a’running. He returned about twenty minutes later, grinning. “Don’t women ever make up their minds?” he reported as being a quote from Simman.
“But,” said Surtree as he continued, “Master Simman did agree that ’twas an improvement. Even if you have squeezed out almost double the area on the upstairs level by the windows overlooking the Park. He reckons, by the way, that the curved beams he got from the railroaders will more than cover the new edge to be balconied - as well as the bit up at the roof level when they eventually open up there for the windows to be positioned. He might straighten one or two of the edges, just a little he says. This would make the upper level floor laying considerably easier.”
By this time, Gyth and I had returned to the hecticity of the kitchens, so all of my friends and colleagues heard this exchange. And insisted upon seeing the new layout, and then they required explanations of the changes and so it went on.
Eventually, I sighed theatrically: “Are we ever going to be able to provide food for our diners this night?”
They just laughed at me, my employees! Simply no respect, none whatsoever! A sudden twinge told me how sad I would be if I ever left them.
My introspective mood shot back into me. And a tear or two gathered in the corners of my eyes. Would The Question never give me rest, just for a few bells?
… … ...
“… and then the Countess said that the Royal Party were trying to be back in Palarand City itself in time for the Harvest Festival, which is on the …?” I half turned and looked questioningly at Davvy, who was riding just backward of the level of me and Sookie.
“The Harvest Festival is on the 7th of Choth this year, exactly one week after the longest day.”
“Thank you.” I turned back to Sookie. “See Sookie why I need Davvy to help me with all the little details? Anyway, she – the Countess that is – said she was very little looking forward to travelling the length of the Palar valley in what is nearly the hottest time of the year. The Royal Party apparently have a deadline to be in Dekarran by the 4th of Choth at the latest, giving them then only two days to cross the Sirrel and make it to the City for the Festival.”
“Maker! What are they doing on the way down? We are not even into Lemilat yet! And the longest day is the last day of Lemilat. That’s exactly a month away from today! Are they all walking there or something?”
“No Sookie ... er… Mistress Sukhana … excuse me. I believe from informa… Why are you grinning like that?”
“Pomma! You owe me a loaf of bread.” Sookie pulled up slightly so that Pomma could come up next to her. I saw then what Davvy had already seen; Sookie had a sort of triumphant grin on her face. And Pomma was knowingly grinning back at her.
“What?” said Davvy and I at the same time. Kelly and Kords were just a few seconds later, hardly surprising since they were bringing up the rear. But not too far back that they could not hear the chatter from us ahead of them.
In response, Sookie fixed Davvy with her eyes. She then asked what seemed to be a very strange question: “How long have you been with Julina now, Davabet?”
Davvy wasn’t the only one to be taken aback - but then she sort of jerked as she ‘switched on’ to the question. I could actually SEE her brain engage.
She worked her lips as she started counting on her fingers.
We all kept quiet while she calculated.
Twice.
I found myself also calculating it. I agreed with her when she said: “Eighteen days, Mistress.”
“And you came on a ride with us on the 4th day, did you not? We all marvelled at your abilities after such a short time, I recall.”
“That is so!”
“So that ride was two weeks ago – fourteen days – I deem.”
We all went silent, even Davvy. The obvious question hung heavily in the air. We all, except Pomma, stared at Sookie.
“And on that ride, I made a wager that you would not keep addressing us all with our formal titles for as long as you said you would - ‘at least until the end of the year’ were your words. You just called me Sookie. A mere two weeks after you said you wouldn’t be able to do so.”
We all laughed at Davvy’s bright red face as she sat astride her beast with her eyes firmly closed.
I suddenly, though, had a fear that she would dash off - after all, most of her life had been a series of people laughing at her and then of her fleeing from such behaviour.
I reached out a hand which she gripped ferociously hard even as her back straightened and she breathed deeply.
Not too long after that, she sort of sighed, but ’twas so faint, I wasn’t even sure that I had actually heard it.
The laughter began to peter out, some of the others beginning to look a little worried too. And looking a little guilty.
Then Davvy’s eyes opened again and I could see in them a spark of mischief. Relief flooded through me, far quicker than the blood supply to my hand, which she had now, thankfully, released!
Adopting exactly the right tone, the one used by maids when they doubted their mistress’ instructions were actually very wise, she intoned: “As you say, Mistress.”
There was a small profound silence before we all burst into laughter.
Which gaiety lasted for about 15 seconds, until Sookie asked: “So are you going to do it then, ’Lina?”
And I was swung back into my funk. Do I? Or don’t I?
… … …
“… almost more than we can cope with.”
“Mistress Palma! I had no idea that the bunkhouse was so popular,” exclaimed Sookie. “I knew, of course, that we have many more wagons in Town than reside at mine, but quite so many, I declare I am astounded.”
As indeed were we all. I had a possible solution, though, one that I kept still in my mind as I needed to think it through more - as well as talk with others about it. Nevertheless, I knew immediately I could help slightly in the short term.
“Mistress, I deem that at the moment, we have just one wender that works in the dark hours, bringing back drivers from Town to here at the midnight hour?”
“Hour?”
“Sorry! I meant bell. Hour is simply another measure of time that you will not yet have learnt about. Along with minute and second. And I have no real time to explain it all right now!”
“I see,” she said doubtfully. “Yes, Mistress Julina, that is correct. It is a great boon to us, that wender. And with the lanterns placed at each corner of the bridge, and with a Beam lantern, the late-night driver reports almost no difficulties. We hang a lantern on either side of the road here, so the driver can see when he gets off line. And ‘tis easy for him or his colleague to get down here at dusk, to pick up the wagoneers for their carousing in the Town of an evening. But in a way, that is all a problem, because it means we have so many more overnighters.”
“But you nevertheless have sufficient coin nowadays to have commissioned an extension to the premises here? I know that Master Simman has the waterproofing of that new partly-built building over there on his priority list of tasks to be completed before the rains.”
“Indeed that is so, Mistress Julina. But our bunks are overflowing of a night, so as to speak. We have mattresses now on the floor here in the so-called dining room. There are lines of men waiting to use the latrines at the most ‘popular’ times. We are beginning to have to turn business away.
“And, as I said, we do not have the capacity to produce sufficient bread for all those hungry wagoneers before they go off with the dawn, let alone the meats, cheeses and confections. We are too few, my man and I, even with some help from the youngsters, to provide what I deem to be an adequate service. We are getting an increasing amount of grumbles about it, and I confess our nerves are shredding somewhat.”
“Very well, then. I have a temporary and short-term solution for the bread particularly, and maybe some of the foodstuffs. I may even have a longer term solution for most of what ails here - but, for that, I need discussions with other people. Let me state now that when we ...” I waved my hand to include the others. “... get back to Town, I will put in place a scheme whereby the wender that descends with the wagoneers at midnight, brings you also some loaves. Maybe some other foodstuffs too. As for the longer-term solution, then I shall return in a day or so, when I have had a chance to discuss with others my so far only half-thought of idea. We, you and I that is, can then discuss my scheme along with how we shall arrange payment for the supplied provisions.”
I turned to look at Kelly and spoke with my eyes, even as I said to Davvy: “I must needs remember all that, don’t let me forget, please.”
Kelly took my meaning, thought briefly and then nodded her agreement. Davvy nodded too, as she scribbled with her reedlet on a pad of paper she had extracted from her bag and trapped under her right thigh.
So the Salon would now be baking a few loaves ready for a midnight delivery down here. As for the rest, I needed to speak to Epp, Em, and Master Schild, amongst others.
“Thank you Mistress Julina. I confess I already feel a little easier.”
But I didn’t.
Here was another tie to my home town. Should I sunder that as well?
… … ...
“Is that three? I really believe it is three!”
I was pulled out of my introspection by the wondering tone in Pomma’s voice. Today, we were riding the normal circuit the other way round. We had left the Claw, followed the road down to the Bunkhouse and then turned sharp right up Loop Road towards the bridges and on towards the Artisan’s Area.
I looked around to see what Pomma was on about when Sookie said: “Indeed it is. ’Pon my word, I don’t believe I have ever seen that before. Two certainly, four once or twice. But three, now that’s a new one!”
“Hmmm?” I murmured as I tried to catch up on this conversation.
“Ahead of us, on the road, ‘Lina,” explained Davvy. “There is one of your wagons there, but with the Tranidor colours. And it is being pulled by three dranakh.”
“Ah! Yes. Now I’m with you all.”
“About time,” said Sookie pointedly. This of course got the desired result of me blushing deeply, much to the amusement of all the others.
I suppose it was natural that we all threw various theories around as we sped up slightly to overtake the strangely-drawn wagon ahead of us. None of those theories proved to be right. But the sight of one leading dranakh followed by two side-to-side was so very unusual that we could not stop chattering about it.
Then came the arguments about how we were going to be able to satisfy our curiosity. Finally ...
“Your wagon, ’Lina, you ask!”
I bowed, metaphorically, to the inevitable; I would have to be the spokeswoman when we got closer.
We came up on the vehicle, still labouring up the slight slope despite the increased pulling power. I drew slightly ahead of my colleagues and called out: “Good morrow, driver! Whither bound?”
His head jerked round for he had not looked behind himself yet. I suspect he was unpleasantly surprised by the interruption to his musings. His eyes widened even further as he saw six females all a’riding.
“Mistresses!” he stammered. “Good morrow!” He faded back into silence again, his eyes darting everywhere it seemed. Not the least to our chest areas!
“You must have a heavy load here, for three dranakh to be required?”
He dragged his eyes up to my face. “Aye. ’Tis something for something called the railroad. I have been eight days hauling this up here now. It were a real effort just to struggle up that blasted steep bit. We had to unload half my lot and do it in two goes. And of course, the Prince, what was up ’ere I gather, chose that exact time to try to descend the slope with his huge caravan. Handsome fella, ain’t he? I dare say he were a bit put out at ’aving to wait fer the likes of me, but he were kind enough to wish us well. He were most polite, I have ter say. My, but there were a lot of them in that caravan.”
“Ahah! So you are to find Master Ryteet or Master Pyor, I deem?” I said dragging the conversation back to roughly where I wanted it.
He looked a little surprised at that. “Aye, Mistress, that be right. One or t’other, I been told.” His eyes dropped once more to my chest. “An’ someone called Mistress Julina what owns half the company I works fer.”
I signalled quickly with my hand for my companions to remain quiet. I didn’t want to get into a Blackstone Wagons discussion sitting here in the middle of the road, even if the weather was most pleasant and certainly not in any way off-putting. And not with him staring at my chest mostly, but darting glances at the others’.
“I expect you shall find one or both of the men you seek behind the green curtains right at the head of the valley. Just follow this road for a mark or three.”
Eyes up again! “Thank ’ee. That’s what they told me too, down at the Bunkhouse I slept in last night. Better than the forest for a bed like so many nights what I’ve ’ad on this trip.”
I think we were all surprised at that, for he truly did not make many marks progress in a day, it would appear.
“So, if you are going to the railroaders, what have you there in your wagon’s belly and so thoroughly covered?”
Eyes down! I felt an urge to cross my arms in front of me. “Apparently, them lot up here are ’sperimenting with how to do something tricky with the rails what are fer this railroad thingy. They been desperate for some real rails and some bright spark decided that ’twould be better to have samples shorter than what they will be in reality. And after seeing the difficulties they was ’aving with them normal length rails down at the steep bit on the road up here, the bit where I met our Prince, then I s’pose I can understand that.”
“So what, exactly, have you aboard today?”
Eyes up! “Ah, Mistress. I have eight quarter curves and eight quarter straights. I ’spect I’ll be bringing more next week too. Time to get back ’ome will be so much easier. Prolly just three days ’cos I expec’ I’ll be empty. Then a couple days of rest, much needed I’m sure.” Eyes down again. “And then do such a slow trip all over again.”
“Thank you for the information. We will pass on our way now and probably see you a little later.”
He looked a bit puzzled at that, but waved back as we all cheerily waved to him. I think, though, he was back into his musings before we were even out of earshot. His eyes hadn’t raised again, mind you. Maybe his musings were something we women didn’t want to consider too closely.
I was looking forward to his surprise when he discovered who his boss was. The others all giggled at the way I had kept him off the subject of meeting that person.
“You don’t seem too surprised at what he is carrying. I confess to being somewhat surprised myself. What good would rails be that are only a quarter the size of real ones?”
“Ah, Kords! Let me explain ...” I paused briefly to gather my thoughts.
And then I tried to tell to the others what I knew about the railroad workings. I started, but I was almost immediately interrupted - interrupted before I had even completed my first sentence.
“Why do you look quite so pleased, young Mistress?” asked Sookie.
“Ah! That driver mentioned some ‘bright spark’ you may recall? Someone who had an idea to send stuff like that up here.”
“Indeed.”
“Well that ‘bright spark’ was me!” Davvy nodded her head in agreement as she cast her mind back to that day. “’Twas my idea that they ship shortened rails up here.”
“How come that then?”
“If you have just a little more patience, I will be able to explain. But these constant interruptions ...” I rolled my eyes and tutted loudly as I flung my hair back. And stuck my chest out.
Again, we all laughed.
And I launched at last into my fuller explanation.
… … …
“And you might yet move away from all this?” asked Pomma. “Your voice is so full of excitement when you speak of all that is happening up here. Would you really be able to settle for a life downvalley? Not able to be a part of all this?”
And boom! My mood suddenly took another dive.
I could not blame them in the slightest, for they needed to know. And I was oathbound not to reveal all that might happen to me down there. But Pomma was very right. I was involved in so much up here, it would, I deemed, be an almost impossible task to willingly just walk away – or ride, I also silently thought to myself. There were just so many unknowns.
We were by that time sitting under the shade of the awning at the Tree, under strict instructions from Paivi not to interfere as she and Frowka bustled about, setting up for the anticipated lunch-time rush. We had decided to stop for a quick drink of water, and also for a short delay so I could complete my descriptions of the railroad developments – as I understood them anyway. That recent business with Countess Merizel had shaken me to my core, for it proved that I sometimes did not understand all that had been said to me. Up to then, I had been so certain of myself, but now I found I was tempted to question everything.
Until, that is, The Question reawoke in my head. And pushed all other questions aside.
I sighed.
“What is the matter, ’Lina?”
“Do I? Don’t I?”
… … …
“The Prince has departed. This is the second day since. Is there, or are there, anything or things that any of us miss now they are gone?”
That was an interesting question; one that caught me up, so to speak. I nodded my thanks to Pomma, who smiled back at me. We both appreciated that I had now something else to think about.
And then I had to think quite hard because there was something that had been nagging me on this very subject.
And then it hit me.
No-one else was quite ready to speak, so I decided to start.
“There is something,” I began somewhat hesitantly. “I was tempted to use my limited knowledge of the subject with that wretched Gobitoo, but then decided not to as I was not advanced enough to know how to finish it off properly. At first, I had thought it some sort of gimmicky thing for us females, something to just play at, so I took it not so very seriously.”
I ignored the puzzled looks on their faces, as I knew that I was going to make it all clear in the very next sentence.
“But now I find I am disappointed not to have further opportunities to learn more of that martial arts hand-to-hand combat stuff. With the female guards now gone, there is no-one to teach us more. Unless any of the ‘Rangers’ as I believe they have now been dubbed, are capable of doing it.”
“That’s a good one, Julina. I find that now you have mentioned it, I must thoroughly concur,” said Pomma to nods all around. Even from those who had not even attended as much – or as little, really - as I had.
And then the others opened up with their own thoughts. Some of which I found very interesting, and all of which I found very telling about each person’s persona.
I think the general feeling that was common to us all, particularly those who lived through the Trogan era, was that we felt somehow less … secure, that was it, secure ... now the Royals had gone. Less reassured. Now that all the soldiery had departed, we were no longer certain that we were fully safe.
Thoughts of those who had tried to cheat their way to the ownership of what is now Julina Park, thoughts of the sort of creatures like Gobitoo and Konna, those sort of thoughts whizzed through my head and I found myself wondering if Fedren, Suril and the three others they had in their troop were going to be an adequate civilian form of protection.
Some of that feeling regarding the military however was alleviated when Sookie informed us that there had been a quite steady influx of lads who had volunteered for the local guard unit. (I confess I had to go and check afterwards with both Em and Surtree, who both confirmed her story by the way) but we were all surprised when Sookie told us that there were now 23 recruits being trained up at the barracks. No wonder then that the buildings there were high on the priority list!
Sookie also mentioned that Fedren had three extra recruits too, making eight in all, not to mention the informal relationships with other such ‘bands’ down in Bezlet and Brayview.
All this was surprisingly warming news, at least to myself.
… … …
There is little else to report from the rest of that ride as we passed across the head of the valley, briefly poked our heads round the green curtains to warn them of the impending delivery of shorter rails, watched briefly the hecticity of loading coal wagons (from a distance, we wanted not to have too dirty clothing!) and marvelled at the now-completed temporary shelter for the healers, a task that was surprising to us all when regarding the speed of completion.
The foundations for the new building were in full swing – they actually looked completed to me, particularly as there was a workman painting lines where the walls were going to be along the west side, Main Street side.
As arranged earlier, Surtree was waiting on the corner, idly watching the girls passing by I noticed, but not with any obvious intent. I was fairly sure that he and Kissa were a quite solid ‘item’ – but I was also aware of how fickle young people’s feelings could be.
I sent him off to do a few errands, arranging meetings for later or on the morrow and so on, some of which intrigued my colleagues.
“You want to meet Master Schild? Do you have some scheme or schemes in mind?”
I found some of my old twinkle returned as I replied: “When have you ever known me not to have some scheme in mind, Kords?”
“True,” she intoned sadly. “Very true.”
As expected, we all laughed again.
… … …
And so it was that I returned to the Salon with Kelly and Kords after seeing to the animals and giving them treats and so on. We took our leave of Sookie and walked up Main Street, saying goodbye to Pomma when we reached Em’s. With little or indeed no hesitation, we launched ourselves into the work waiting for us in the kitchens.
Kelly and I remembered to make some dough for baking a few loaves later. And we explained the need to do this each night from now on. I only just remembered to send Surtree with a message to the driver of tonight’s return wender, that he should come and pick it up on his way past.
I was called away some bell or so later, when Master Schild kindly dropped in. I hadn’t been expecting him to be quite so prompt, I must confess. Nor so well prepared. He brought with him all my details and shocked me once again with how much coin I apparently had in my ledger. The Wender payments were steadily mounting up. And this was not being done slowly.
About five or more moments into our discussion, there was a quiet knock on the door followed by Surtree’s head poking round the edge of it as it swung a little way open.
“If it pleases, Mistress Julina, Mistress Megrozen is with me. She wanted to see you. Shall I leave her for a while in th...”
“No, no. This would in fact be a very good time for her to come in here.”
I couldn’t help but grin at the enquiring and surprised way that Master Schild raised a single eyebrow. Surtree’s head disappeared and the door clicked shut behind him.
Again, there came a knock on the door. Less timid this one than Surtree’s had been. “Julina? Am I to join you? Did young Surtree get that right?”
“Indeed, Mistress Megrozen, I have need of you in here as it happens. You know Master Schild, of course?”
“Just so! My pleasure, Master.”
“Justly reciprocated, Mistress.”
They both then turned expectantly to me.
“Master Schild informs me that we are now beginning to gain some little coin from Meglina in Tranidor and our ledgers are swelling slowly.”
They both nodded.
“I want to change that! I want to spend some more money on Meglina.”
I laughed at the swift passages of minor shock that raced across their faces.
“Now, just downvalley, the Bunkhouse is running into difficulties. The family that run it, Master Junker and Mistress Palma, run also the Fish Farm. They are being overwhelmed by the demand at the moment for beds in the bunkhouse, and they are conscious that they are not dealing properly with all aspects of their work, including the fish. Now ’tis not so cold of a night at this time of year, so what I propose is as follows ...”
… … …
After the business discussions about the Bunkhouse, Epp and I then went over each of the establishments we had and what our plans were for them, short and long term.
Epp wanted strongly to return to Tranidor, feeling as she did that she had been away from there for far too long. I agreed to travel down with her as far as Bezlet, just to see what was happening there, and to help with some other tasks. With both principals present, certain decisions, should they prove necessary, could be made swiftly and communicated to all involved far more easily. And Shemel could come up to Bezlet and travel with her, saving him having to come all the way up here.
Also Davvy’s parents, Talbet and Dilligas, had now packed all their things and were ready to move down there, so we could have discussions on the way. Not bad for a mere eight or so days after their first job offer.
And we could make the introductions of the newcomers to those already there. There were so many advantages with this plan!
So we decided that we would all go to Bezlet on the morrow, do what we could there, then Davvy and I would return up here, while Epp went on with her husband to Tranidor.
… … ...
The work in the Salon that night was hectic, but yet routine. And the Coin Pot was added to most generously by our customers. Kelly and I used the time when we were waiting for the last clients to go to bake the bread for the Bunkhouse. The smell got to the customer’s noses, and they wanted to stay for a little longer, hoping to cadge some of the fresh and warm bread.
“No, Masters, I regret we require this bread for another purpose.”
They turned away with disappointment writ large across their faces.
I ran over the day in my mind – a ride, work in the Salon, some business decisions. Nothing too strenuous, if you think about it.
But still I went to my bed tired.
The Question was wearing me down.
Do I? Don’t… zzzzzzzzzzzzz
A day trip to Bezlet and back should surely be doable for a frayen rider?
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.
I do believe that without the very early morning Tai Chi I performed, I would have found difficulties getting through this day. I had planned it all well in advance. ’Twas not that it went very much along the ways I had planned.
I had arranged some very early morning meetings (using the urchins directed by Surtree yesterday) and Epp and I also decided to go down to Bezlet, to bring some order to what was and would be going on down there. Davvy’s parents were prompt (and still noticeably enthusiastic) when they arrived as arranged at the Claw just after dawn. I explained then that Epp and I now had a matter to deal with ‘up here’, a matter that had cropped up after we had laid the plans to travel together beforehand. Before we could descend ourselves, we needed to stop at the ‘Bunkhouse’ but we would ride down soon after and would not require any place on one of the two wagons that we had arranged, one of which was to be filled by Davvy’s parents. Their frayen could happily be led downvalley tied to the wagon’s tailgate.
Davvy herself was torn, for she wanted to be with her parents when they arrived at their new place of home and work, and yet she felt duty-bound to stay with me to continue with that for which she was paid. In the end, I sent her off with her parents, but had her take a pair from the string of pack frayen that I had purchased from Sookie, for use mostly by my wagon company. (It still felt strange to both Sookie and I that no actual coin had exchanged hands, we just had Master Schild’s assurances that the appropriate ledgers would be minussed and plussed.) Anyhow, Epp and I added some stuff to the loads on their backs, stuff we deemed we would not require until we got to Bezlet later that afternoon, possibly even as late as that evening.
Epp would meet Shemel in Bezlet and I could still return to Blackstone, for Davvy would travel with me for that passage so all females were accompanied by either another or by her man.
We waved the family, the drivers, the wagons and the four hired wagon loaders who acted also as guards good-bye and then went into the Claw, where a busy breakfast room greeted us.
And the first of my hastily arranged meetings.
“Good morrow, Mistress Backet. You are alone?”
“Mistress Julina, Mistress Megrozen, Mistress Kellonika.”
We all looked at each other, we three, for Backet was quite short with us. I raised an eyebrow queryingly.
“’Tis too long, Mistresses, since that first interview we had. I have found employment elsewhere, as has my man. I have come today merely out of respect for the fact that you DID say there would a time to wait afore any of your vacancies would be filled. However, we are now settled and have no requirement from you!”
“I see, then I thank you for coming. I believe though that you had two children, if I recall?”
“’Tis so. Our son has upped and joined them ‘Ranger’ people now, so we have far less expenses with him.”
“And your daughter? I regret her name escapes me after these many weeks.”
“Frena? She might still be interested, I grant you.”
I looked at Kelly and eye-spoke with her. We both agreed.
“Would your Frena be interested in a learner’s position with the team who run the Salon?”
Suddenly, Backet’s eyes lost their hardness and came alive to such an extent that I realised her brusqueness had been because she had desperately needed employment far earlier than we could offer, and she was using that to mask her disappointment.
“She speaks of little else, actually Mistresses. She is friends with one the girls there, Brenna, who started the day the Prince arrived. Do you have some influence there too, Mistress Julina?”
“Very well. This is Mistress Kellonika, whom you know as a person, but mayhap not as the person who is in charge nowadays of most of the day-to-day running at the Salon. You should be made aware, Mistress Backet, that yes I do have some influence there. ’Tis MY establishment. I built it up, with help from friends such as Mistress Kellonika.”
Her mouth dropped open for a longish pause before she regained control of it and spoke: “Maker! I thought, I mean, the whole town thinks that ’tis Bailiss Michet’s. How can this be?”
“The house does indeed belong to the Bailiss, and she had the first idea but asked me to start the catering side for her. So all the rest was organised and done by me and my friends.”
“Well I never knew THAT!”
“There we go! Now Mistress Backet, an extra position has come along in our organisation, and I thought that you might fulfil that, along with your family; however, as you have found employment elsewhere, then I fully understand your circumstances. I thank you for coming this morning and am sorry we were unable to help you. However ...” again I glanced at Kelly and eye-spoke with her, “… if Frena wants to turn up at the Salon kitchen door on the morrow, at the ...” another glance to Kelly, “… third bell of the morning, then we will see if she has any aptitude for being trained therein.”
“Oh Mistress, she shall be thrilled when I tell her! Thank ’ee, thank ’ee indeed. I’m sure you shall have no regrets. She is a willing lass, and bright with it.”
“Remember ’tis Mistress Kellonika she has to impress in the first instance. She it is who shall decide if Frena stays or not.”
Bracket’s eyes switched to Kelly, who smiled encouragingly at her. “Thank ’ee then, Mistress Kellonika.”
Kelly’s answer was said with warmth, but was nevertheless a strong warning to the woman: “I hope she can cope with the hard work we shall thrust upon her. It shall be no game.”
Soon after, Backet took her leave and we had some moments, minutes even, to hastily snatch a breakfast before the next appointment arrived.
… … ...
“Good morrow, Mistress Ruet. And this is your man? And your two daughters?”
“Indeed,” she replied, looking nervously from me to Epp and back again. “May I introduce them to your Mistresses?” We hid our smiles at her awkwardness with titles.
Epp and I both nodded while Kelly sat back, keenly observant, but at the same time succeeding in remaining almost unnoticed.
Ruet started the conversation, nervously using her hand as she reached each person’s name: “This is Kallum, my man and father of Serena, my eldest, and of Balma, her sister here. Our son, Bertal, has joined the ‘Rangers’ as they are now called, so we three females are the sum of the burden Kallum here must bear.”
Her eyes twinkled despite her nervousness. We all three smiled back at the gentle joke. We could sense a lessening in her anxiety when we did that.
I did have one slight concern, though. Her man’s slight limp, which was plain as the group approached our table, caused me some problems in that which I was planning. I would have to find out about that.
She focussed her gaze upon Epp, who swiftly halted her before she had even spoken: “Nay I say, Mistress Ruet! ’Tis Julina here who is in charge of these conversations today. I am here merely to answer any questions you might have to confirm what Julina says, and Mistress Kellonika here is present to bear witness should it become necessary.”
The four pairs of eyes of my ‘guests’ along with all those of my companions swung round on me in anticipation.
“I recognise the girls from some of the lessons we have given. Have you, Mistress Ruet and Goodman Kallum also taken up Her Highness’ offer of an education, starting with reading and writing?”
They all looked at me worriedly. The girls nodded their agreement to indicate the positive reply whilst Ruet and Kallum looked troubled as they indicated the negative reply with some head shaking.
“Well it is not an absolute requirement, I just see that it shall be helpful to you. Maybe the girls could begin teaching you, if you feel deeply enough about it to start. But there are lessons available here and I really suggest most strongly that you consider it, and soon.
“Now, to the matter in hand. Some six or seven weeks past, you will remember that we had some interviews for positions in our company. So as to be totally clear, I shall reiterate that Mistress Megrozen here and I run an accommodation company called Meglina. Many of the buildings we own are being worked on at the moment and you will also recall that I said I would call some of the worthy applicants back when we knew more about the opening schedule of those buildings.”
She nodded, as did her man. The daughters kept quiet, though, so I suspected she hadn’t reported everything to her entire family.
“Now please correct me if I am wrong, but ’twas you, was it not, who suggested that she would be happier somewhat away from the increasing bustle up here in town, and yet not too far so as to allow your offspring access to the increasing activities that are going on?”
The daughters heads swivelled as one as they looked surprisedly at their mother. I knew from that that my surmise had been correct. And from the faint increase of colour in Ruet’s cheeks.
“Indeed, Mistress, that was, and remains so.”
The daughters just could not remain quiet. “You considered US even when you needed to earn some coin?”
“Once a mother, children, always a mother. I will always seek to protect you from danger, even when you are rude and surly to me and your father. I laugh at your occasional ways, for I know you shall remember them when you have children of your own. I shall then make sure that I remind you at each and every given opportunity! Now hush! Allow these good Mistresses to tell us what they wish, let us not take over this meeting with family matters.”
They shut their mouths rapidly, looked at each other with a certain amount of surprise and I could see they were rapidly reassessing their perceptions of their mother. I hid a grin as once again I found all four looking at me.
For some reason, it suddenly hit me to take a different approach to that which I had been planning, which had been to start out gently with all the little sweeteners I could think of. “What know you – any of you – of the ‘Bunkhouse’, as it is termed?”
The women in the family all looked blank, but Goodman Kallum reacted noticeably. I cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Mistress, should we be talking of this here?” He had hunched his shoulders, dropped his voice and leant forward as he said that, while his eyes also darted around. “Surely the operators of the Bunkhouse are in direct competition with those whom operate here?”
“Ah! Goodman Kallum, your answer tells me much about you. Before I answer you, may I enquire of you another thing? What do you do?”
“’Tis what I did in the past, Mistress, that is more to the point. I was once a wagon loader/guard, but was laid off after an accident damaged my right knee. The Healers say that now all I require is gradually increasing workloads to bring the leg back to strength, but the wagon companies are fearful to hire me until I can prove ’tis permanently better. How I can get the required workload without a job defeats my imagination at the moment.”
“Thank you,” I said, knowing full well that I could actually find him a job with Blackstone Wagons if it came down to it, “and now I shall answer your question. There appears to be a popular misconception running around that I will now attempt to clear up. THIS establishment, the Ptuvil’s Claw, is a public inn, open to all for food and drink, in exactly the same way as is the Bell across the road – however, the dormitories here are reserved first and foremost for employees of Master Tanon, others may stay the night if there is space. This is also the regional office for Master Tanon’s affairs.
“To explain the other, the Bunkhouse, I must first refer to a valuable food source – the Blackstone Fish Farm. When this was established, the farmhouse was left vacant by the farmers who departed downvalley, not believing that Blackstone would become quite so rich. We needed someone to supervise the Fish Farm and approached some local neighbours. They agreed to watch over the Fish Farm and took over the farmhouse, stating that ’twas more comfortable than their own house. Thus THEIR farmhouse was left empty.
“Then someone ...” (I deliberately didn’t mention any names at this point) “… had the bright idea of using it as a bunkhouse for those wagoneers who were prepared to leave early in order to get a little further down the road before day’s end. This actually saves many of them almost a day’s travel, as it happens.”
“How so, Mistress? A full day, that seems excessive to me, for the Bunkhouse is a mere three or four marks from here.”
“Actually, it is almost exactly three marks from here, if we really want to try to be exact. A little more from the Market Place, of course, and these fine margins make a big difference.”
I paused and looked around at those listening – all seemed to be alert to my words. Goodman Kallum though seemed to have already grasped what I was about to say.
“But what was happening was that most wagons were leaving from what is now the Market Place. Even though ’tis downhill all the way until just a few marks before the Chaarn Fork, wagons could not quite achieve Brayview in one day’s journey, so they would stop at the Forest Roadhouse, which was rebuilt last year at the Princess’ orders, in the traditional spot it had always been. But the Forest Roadhouse is again JUST too distant from Tranidor for a comfortable day’s journey. So most wagons – not all, though, by any means – would stop first at the Forest Roadhouse, then at Brayview and then get to Tranidor on their third day.
“By starting from the Bunkhouse, certain of the faster wagons could just make it to Brayview in one go – especially on the longer days like we have now. So you see, a whole day saved!”
“I had not considered that, Mistress,” said Ruet as her daughters nodded their heads too.
Even Epp and Kelly were a little surprised at my explanation. No, not surprised. Made to think, would probably be more accurate.
“And now, we have a burgeoning village at Bezlet, where there was nothing a year or so ago. Many wagons now can depart from Blackstone and make Bezlet as a normal day’s run. From Bezlet, Tranidor is just about in range. Which is why Meglina have been buying and developing establishments in Bezlet. Amongst some other considerations as well.
“Anyway, the upshot of all this is that, for the next few years, I see an increasing trade developing at the Bunkhouse. After all, ’tis not just the wagon drivers that must needs sleep there, more and more often the guards and loaders require a mattress too. The sleeping arrangements must be expanded very soon, which in turn will mean an increased number of breakfasts.
“Now Master Junker and Mistress Palma who currently run the Bunkhouse AND the Fish Farm, have told me they can’t cope with both. So Meglina have offered to buy the Bunkhouse from them ...” (this was not actually true at that point in time – Epp and I were about to go down there and do exactly that!) “… and Goodman Junker and his family shall give us their answer as soon as they may.
“So I would be looking for someone to run the Bunkhouse for Meglina. And I thought of YOU, Mistress Ruet …” (letting her have the impression she had been number one on my list) “… and your family. It seemed to me that it fulfils all your wishes. Regular paid employment for both yourself and your man, and also for your daughters – yes, they would be paid too – away from the immediate bustle of the Town and yet near enough for Serena and Balma to still avail themselves (duties permitting) of the ‘attractions’ of our Town.”
“And what do you deem our duties shall be?” she asked me, all the while eye-speaking with her family; we could all see from the sparkle that she really wanted to grab this chance.
“As I understand it, the wagoneers tend to drive down there in the late afternoon, then take the wender back into town to spend the evening here, then they take a special night-running wender back to the Bunkhouse to sleep. They then rouse themselves, have a light breakfast, and depart.
“Your duties, and I mean this collectively, would be to make sure that they have clean beds to sleep on, that they have adequate washing supplies, and that they have an adequate breakfast, clean latrines and so on. Goodman Kallum here could tell you of what that breakfast should consist. You will have to find your own rhythms as you go along but I should imagine that he would be responsible for the things that require a certain amount of strength, and for general orderliness and quelling rows and the like, leaving you three women being responsible for providing the food, clean bedding, cleaning and so on and so forth.
“Once you are settled, I daresay you might be able to offer a simple supper to those who do not really wish to return to Town. Maybe serve a jug or two of ale. But all that would have to be entirely up to you – I deem there could be another little market opportunity there for you to exploit, but I must confess I have no idea what actually happens down at the Bunkhouse of an evening.”
I decided that I had spoken enough now and awaited their response by sitting back and raising an eyebrow, inviting a reply. I was sure the parents would be all for it, and probably the elder girl, Serena. I suspected that young Balma would be the least enthusiastic. Kelly, Epp and I were all certain that ’twould be Mistress Ruet who decided, or at least spoke. I had a little private bet with myself, though, that she would be cautious.
We were right! And I was right!
“Mistresses, we deem we would like to take this opportunity given how much we now know. However, I should like to know when, and also see the state of the Bunkhouse and so on before saying a definite yes or no.”
“Very well and very wise, Mistress. I commend your caution. Let us say now that this job offer shall not be extended to anyone else until such time as you decline. However, on behalf of Meglina, I must point out that we need to fill this post as soon as we may, and therefore must demand in response that you do not dally with your deliberations. Now Mistress Megrozen and I are riding down to the Bunkhouse very shortly and we could actually meet you there if you like?”
“But how shall we get there and back?”
“I shall arrange a wagon as a sort of private bac. Shall you wish to go down now? Shall it be just you parents, or shall the girls accompany you too?”
They looked taken aback at my lack of dallying and were a little flustered by it. I was surprised, almost shocked actually, when it was young Balma who said: “Let’s do it, Ma and Pa. Let us go down there now.” The slow head nods from the others made their decision plain.
I called the serving girl over: “Marnie, could you please be a dear and send a message to either Mutab or Kulyer, saying I need transport for four people down to the Bunkhouse, bringing them back after a probably short while there?”
“Certainly, Mistress Julina. And Mistress Sukhana would like a word when you have a moment.”
“Thank you.”
I turned back to the family who were sitting there with mouths agape. They seemed not to be able to believe that I could issue such orders as though it was a commonplace thing; which in fact it was for me. Once again I mentally cursed my seeming youthful age.
“Now, I must point out that this entire enterprise hangs on the existing family deciding to sell and just concentrating on the Fish Farm. Only then can we set any fixed dates and the like. So ’twill be at least a week or more before you can start. Meglina shall also closely inspect the property and set in train any required improvements.” I held up a hand though to still any immediate retort. “If you accept our offer, then I shall tell you now that Meglina will expect you to do something or things during the waiting period. Meglina will pay for you all to have riding lessons, as we would expect you all to be able to use frayen when you take up this employment. And I would expect you all to improve your reading, writing and numbering skills. I could, if necessary, arrange a private tutor for that.”
My, you should have seen the range of emotions on their faces. Balma had a fierce delight and even uttered a strongly gusted “Yes!” Serena was more restrained, but we could tell she was really quite pleased. Kallum nodded wisely. But Ruet! Well, frankly, poor Ruet looked terrified.
“If you accept the offer, then Meglina shall pay for your frayen lessons, and one set of riding wear for each of you. The other expenses we will discuss as and when they arise.”
“Mama, accept, accept, accept!” blurted Balma. Serena nodded frantically in urgent agreement.
Everyone else had a good laugh then. But Ruet still looked terrified, which I found out later was because she was nervous around larger animals.
“We shall discuss it as we go to observe and inspect. I shall let you know when we all meet down there, if that is acceptable, Mistresses? Now, may we await the bac here? Or should we move out of the way?”
“I do have two more people to see for other positions, so mayhap you could find a table at which to attend your driver - somewhere over there, perchance?” I waved my hand to the far side of the room.
The four of them took their leave of us and went over to where I had pointed. It would be a trifle awkward when they saw the two other candidates I had summoned, but frankly I wasn’t able to think sufficiently quickly to avoid the problem. I cursed myself because I really should have foreseen this possibility.
But, as it happened, it never arose. Rabeez appeared and asked about his task. I directed him to the Kallum family and they went out the back door to the courtyard just as my next candidate came in the front door.
“Good morning, Mistress ...”
… … …
“That was well handled, ’Lina, So we now have definitely someone with a family to run The Stoop when ’tis completed, and we have another family that might do the Bunkhouse if the Kallum family turn it down. But I doubt they will, I’m sure they see all the advantages of taking on that task.”
“Indeed Epp, we have nowhere else in our expanding list of buildings that would grant the parents some quiet and still be close enough to Town to be of attraction to the daughters. But all that business has set us back a good bell now, and we still haven’t actually proposed to Junker that we should buy their house and let them retire from the hospitality business. Let us hope we overhaul the bac before Kallum and company surprise them too much!”
We urged our frayen on ever faster. I had gone this fast before, but Epp hadn’t and was getting increasingly nervous. But ’twas all worth it, for we shot past the bac before it had got much more than halfway, maybe two thirds at the very maximum. Serena and Balma later told us that they had been thrilled to see us catch them up so quickly and just pass them with but a wave and a called greeting.
We pulled up at the Bunkhouse and were met by Palma, her man having just gone off to the Fish Farm for some tending of the crops they had planted there, in the area bisected by the stream that flowed out of the lake.
“Kallisthena!” I exclaimed, showing my frustration.
“What is this all about, Mistresses?”
“Mistress Palma, I thought about the problems you described to me and believe I have a workable solution. However, I deem that your man should be here to help with the decision.”
“Mayhap, mayhap not. Come inside and have some pel while we women discuss it sensibly.”
“Well, if your man is not here, then someone will have to go and fetch him, I deem. Mistress Megrozen and I are already overdue to be on our way to Bezlet and I cannot just ride off alone to fetch Junker back, so Mistress Megrozen would needs accompany me, and then we have some other visitors about to arrive, and all this because we women are deemed to require accompaniment at all times. Gaaaaaaah!” I was also grumpy because I had neither Surtree nor Davvy to send off somewhere or otherwise help. It was then that it really struck home just how much those two had been helping me.
I caught Palma and Epp share an amused but agreeing nod and grin. They followed me as I stomped inside the Bunkhouse having tied Trumpa to the hitching post and having slipped her a nibbly treat. I stomped back out again to give the frayen some water in a bucket I had found, then stomped back in again.
“Feeling better, dear?” said Palma, grinning as she swept a place clear for us on one of her tabletops.
“Hhhmpppfff!” I wisely and meaningfully retorted, as I rolled my eyes and grimaced.
“Now tell me your plan,” she said as she waved us to be seated. We sank down onto her proffered chairs and made ourselves at home. I looked around and realised that this was the room in which they served the breakfasts. It was neat and tidy and mostly clean, but the dark shade of blue in the wall coverings, mostly painted walls it seemed, made it just too dark for my taste. ’Twas four or even five shades too dark, I deemed.
Eventually I felt comfortable enough to begin: “Swiftly speaking, our company ...” I gestured to Epp “… will buy this house from you at a proper price. You and your family can then go over to the Fish Farm and grow crops there as well as fish. That will also be near the new easier-access track they are building to go up to the Vale, so in a year or so, there shall be some more passing traffic. Once you are gone, another family can move in here and operate just this as employees of our company.”
I just laid it out flatly and quickly to her, not trying at first to sweeten the description or anything. That sweetening stuff I was about to launch into when I was interrupted.
“Done!”
“That is it in a … Your pardon? Did you say you would do so?”
“That I did. This was exactly the idea that we came up with when discussing all this, saying I wish we could find someone who would do just that.”
“Errrr, right then!” I said, feebly. “We shall have to discuss a fair price, of course. For that I would take the advice of Master Schild. And we would also have to agree the timing. Oh, and we have some visitors about to arrive who are a family who would be interested in running this Bunkhouse as part of our company, Meglina Accommodations.”
“What other establishments do you run, then?”
Epp took over from me at this point. “We have a large place in Tranidor that is already beginning to show some small profits, and we have places in Bezlet, in Town here and also over in the Artisan’s Area, but these latter are not yet completed. They will be soon, specifically the Frolicsome Frayen between the Market Square and the Cistern.”
“That place is yours?”
“Oh yes. ’Twill open in a week or two, once we have found a reliable set of managers. We have our eye on a few people, but must definitely attend the completion of the building to see if the soon-to-be workers there will require accommodations as well, or if they can work from home. Ahah! I hear voices and wheels, I deem the visiting family have arrived.”
… … …
“This is plainly stupid, ’Lina,” complained a puffing Epp. “I deem we can no longer hope to catch the others up and reach Bezlet this eve. And we are even now riding fast BACK up to Town. So we have no advantage granted by our start position. Let us just slow down and be just a little calmer, eh?”
I ignored her for a little while, but what she said actually made a certain degree of sense and that sense slowly worked its way deep into my brain, causing me to at last relinquish the frantic pace I had been going at – not just riding the frayen, but also getting my tasks done. I sighed deeply.
“You are correct, dear Epp. I’m sorry. But ...” I sighed again, “… now we have an extra task when we get to Town. We must send a semaphore, which should reach the Roadhouse before the others get there if we are quick enough. Which is why I was rushing. We shall tell them we shall arrive in Bezlet before lunch tomorrow then?”
“You are a hard taskmistress, young lady! Another early start then.” It was now her turn to sigh heavily. Then she brightened up. “But we could overnight tonight at the Bunkhouse and then gain more knowledge of the operation there.”
“I suppose that might be a good idea. But I’m sure the mattresses shall be lumpier than our own.”
“All the more knowledge gained then.”
My turn to sigh, again. “I find I cannot argue successfully against you.”
“So then, what shall we first do? What are our priorities when we get to Town?”
I thought for just a little before answering her: “Find Simman first. We need to persuade him to allocate some men, or to direct us to another supervisor who can allocate us some men. Then get them to go down to the Bunkhouse and dig two more latrine pits, fill in the existing one. Then we get a load of palliasses and tents down there. I know where they are stored in the Miners’ Hall, so we should be able to get some quickly. The evening wender that descends to there is usually empty on its downhill trip, so there is load capacity there as well. Then we need Simman again to go down there and define which pre-built wooden ‘blocks’ are required for walls and rooves. I have an idea to speed up the building of a temporary shelter. Maybe floors as well, but as a temporary measure we just need to keep out the wind and, rarely, rain rather than ensure a flat flooring. We also need Simman to give us as accurate a set of completion dates as is possible.
“On the business side, we must find Master Schild and determine the proper price we should pay for the Bunkhouse and make arrangements that the Junker family then get that amount. And we must needs set up a ledger for that part of our enterprises. We need to get Representative Jepp along if possible and do a big contract signing session with the Kallum family, who have now agreed to do the Bunkhouse controlling, the sale of the Bunkhouse to ourselves, and the contract for the ones who are going to run the Stoop.
“And at some point we require pel for ourselves, a ‘natural break’ or two and later some food and then get back down to the Bunkhouse to overnight there. How on Anmar did I ever believe we could do all this and still get to Bezlet?”
… … ...
“… settled in?”
“Indeed Mistress Julina, Mistress Megrozen. We expected something much cruder, I must confess. But I deem the position of this small house is perfect for what will be our needs. Already we have several questions for yourselves that our Davabet was not able to answer.”
“I’m sorry we were unable to come down to here yesterday as we planned, but I’m sure Davvy managed the introductions smoothly?”
“I doubt that this is actually our child. The real Davabet must be in hiding somewhere, and this is but a super efficient copy.”
The laughter was indeed this time at Davvy, but of such a loving nature that even super-sensitive she could not take offence. She actually preened.
I then turned to our temporary hostess: “Mistress Pachet, have you any concerns? Other than the fact that the Bargemaster isn’t here?”
We all laughed at her blushes. And noted she did not deny my assertion. In fact, she replied: “Yet! I expect him for lunch.”
She gathered her thoughts then, fighting to stop a grin emerging, it seemed to me. “Mistresses, you cannot imagine how wonderful this is. I have been sleeping badly because, with steadily increasing numbers of guests, I cannot properly manage the expansion of this house, let alone the expansion of your interests in this village. Now you have appointed these two people, whom I deem are most likeable, then I know that I can do my tasks here far more readily. And the extra building work here is almost fully completed. I expect to start using the new kitchens in about a week’s time. Thank you for providing the funds to get it all completed so swiftly.
“And you will remember young Dilla? She has been such a support, and taken on far more than I ever expected her to be able to handle. You trained her well up the road there in The Retreat. I deem we can now manage this house and allow Mistress Talbet to look after your other interests here as well as provide some decision-making for me.
“The number of wagoneers overnighting here in the village has more than doubled in the last few weeks. I am struggling to bake sufficient bread for them all, let alone handle the evening meals and the breakfasts. And wagoneers are hardly the most tidy of overnighters. The cleaning up after them takes away a lot of the time I imagined I would have. Dilla is a wonderful helper and her sisters have proven to be valuable too. We shall be able to cope now I have fewer responsibilities.”
Davvy then contributed to our conversation: “I can confirm what Mistress Pachet has said regarding the numbers here. As for her statements about competency, I regret I am neither able to confirm nor deny. I must therefore seize this opportunity to change the subject. And I need to ask, ’Lina, if there was aught that happened yesterday I need to know?”
“So much really, Davvy – and yet we, Epp and I here, excuse me, Mistress Megrozen and I ...”
“Nay! Epp shall be fine I deem.”
After a chorus of thanks from the others I continued: “… Epp and I can scarce credit what happened ...”
“Actually,” interrupted Epp, “we spent the whole day riding back and forth and forth and back between the Bunkhouse and the Town. My bottom only just about managed to last until we got to the Bunkhouse to overnight there, arriving just after dark would you believe?”
“Was it comfortable though, enough to recover from your frayen-back excursions?”
“Hah!” exclaimed Epp, bitterly, “comfort is a word nigh-on completely lost in that place.” Shemel looked at her in pity and hugged her tightly; she nestled contentedly into the crook of his arm.
I tried, really I did, but I couldn’t help it. I started giggling. Everyone else looked at us askance.
The comparative silence was broken by Davvy: “In what way? Does Meglina have to do something, some great change, perchance? Maybe ...”
I held up a hand to stop her concerned flow: “Please remember all of you that Epp and I were probably the first and only women to have overnighted there ever. Our bedding, not of the highest degree of comfort, was curtained off from the men to afford us some privacy.”
She paused: “But ’twas visual privacy alone. I do not know what it is about men, but I doubt there were more than two heartbeats the entire night that were not filled with some sort of noise. Men seem to either belch or snore from their mouths and throats – and the noises that issued from their other ends rivalled an entire pack of pakh suffering from intestinal problems. When one fell blissfully silent, another started up almost immediately.”
The other women commenced giggling too as their brains started to picture our torment. We were beginning to descend into a dangerously uncontrollable giggle fit.
Shemel it was who sensibly returned us to the more serious matters: “But I fail to understand quite why so much riding was involved?”
Epp and I looked at each other. I shrugged and presented a hand towards her, obviously to let her explain; which she did very well, fully and succinctly. I scarce needed to correct her at all. The following is my rendition of her report, told to you from my point of view:-
I had expected to spend maybe a bell down at the Bunkhouse, trying to persuade them to sell the operation to Meglina. I confess that I was taken considerably aback when that objective was so easily met.
But both Epp and I were also taken aback by the dilapidated nature of the building and of what was on offer to the wagoneers. Now neither of us are experts in the matter of latrines, but even we recognised that this one was overused both in age and in quantity. And in stink.
The sleeping area was best described as crude. Only the eating area was in any way acceptable – cleaned and tidy. And their private quarters were obviously well cared for. It was clear that they were just overwhelmed by the increasing traffic and the demands that they were meeting with less than optimal efficiency.
A large black scar marred the ground a few hands of strides distant downwind. We were told that was where they burned the straw mattresses each week. The making of new ones, and the general surface cleaning of the site was taking up nearly all Junker’s time, time that he was supposed to share with tending both the fish in the fish lake and the crops planted thereabouts. And it wasn’t as if the two sites were tightly close together, so he must travel to get from one to the other – on a frayen that was so clearly past it that it was a wonder either of them got from one place to the other.
It was plain to us both that the Bunkhouse required ‘modification’ and swiftly. Very swiftly.
So we rode back to Town, to try to persuade Master Simman to give up some of his valuable time to come with us to observe the pending disaster. It took a full bell before he could leave with us, during which time we sent our semaphore message about our delayed departure. I then went and selected another of our rapidly dwindling stock of frayen housed in the Claw and its paddock. This I would give to Junker in the hope that it would help. I turned to Davvy to ask her to remind me to get some more when I remembered with a shock that Davvy was now quite a long way downvalley. It was funny how swiftly I had become used to her presence.
Back to the Bunkhouse, then, then.
From which we left some quarter of a bell after arriving – this time with an urgency that Simman had insisted upon.
We got once more to Town, whereupon Simman called urgently for Master Bezan to try to explain the situation. Master Bezan was with the Steward when we found them. His Honour then decided that he too required a ride that day, so we departed a half bell later for a return to the Bunkhouse. In company with some of the Rangers, Em (who could come because we were also there – still the same stupidity about women alone), Bezan, Simman and, thankfully as it later turned out, Master Jepp too. Simman had also despatched a wagon of labourers with shovels and rakes and other implements of destruction and construction.
Upon returning to the Bunkhouse, the Steward immediately ordered that all the men there, including himself, were to start to dig another latrine pit having stated that the existing one was beyond dangerous and would have to be filled in “immediately if not before”. He explained to a disbelieving Junker and family of the dangers of disease from the state of things at the present. Kallum and his family had just been about to leave, having had it seemed very productive discussions whilst we were away, but they now stayed and observed the positive way in which we had managed to arrange the short-term improvements. I deemed they were most impressed.
Of course, Junker had only limited quantities of tools available for the job, so it ended with the men taking turn and turn about. Until the arrival of the wagonload of labourers.
“I shall needs now inspect your other house and surrounds, Goodman Junker. We cannot have a valuable food resource tainted by quite such neglect as has been seen here today. I find Mistresses Julina and Megrozen’s suggestion that their company take over from you here both a sensible and a valuable one.”
“Your Honour, ‘tis only the amount of work here that has caused the problems. When we agreed to do this all those months ago, there were but a handful, maximum two hands, of wagoneers who stayed. Now we have more than doubled, if not tripled, that. All of which eats up my available time. And so we have been making do rather than having any time for changes, improvements and the like. I haven’t been able to get to Town myself for over a month. I see now that I should have sent for assistance.”
“Indeed, Goodman. That you should have done.” The Steward was really quite curt with him.
We then signed various contracts produced by Master Jepp - we being Epp and I, along with Junker and Palma, as well as the incoming family of Kallum and Ruet. It was agreed that the Kallums would take over in one week’s time, for they needed time to sort their affairs out in Town and so on. Once again I found myself gritting my teeth at all the “Heard and Witnessed” statements. Junker promised he would look after the frayen, for which animal he was tearfully grateful – Palma said the cost of the animal should be a part of the price we paid for their house. I just waved that suggestion away; I didn’t want to gain a reputation for being overly careful with my coin.
The Steward promised that two Rangers would be despatched down to the Bunkhouse to help maintain matters each day in that week and that two of those with us would stay right now to do what they could, returning with the evening wender.
I mentioned how the ‘Tree’ had been built, which was what had been my original thought when I considered the expansion of the Bunkhouse, and the others agreed that that would be a good and sensible way to improve this site, particularly due to the summery weather. Bezan approved Simman’s request to divert the materials from other building ‘priorities’.
Then Epp and I had to ride back to the Fish Farm with the Steward and his entourage for his inspection there. This was a far better kept place than the Bunkhouse had deteriorated into.
Then another ride was necessary, this time into Town yet again to arrange with Master Schild and others that all the ledgers would be appropriately added to and minussed from.
Even though we had detoured to the Fish Farm, we then awaited the return of the Kallums on their relatively slow bac so we could arrange what we could for them in the meanwhile, knowing that coin was scarce for them at the moment.
By the time that we, that is Epp and I, had got everything arranged, then had eaten and had bathed some more of the day away, the dusk was almost ready to begin gathering. A few more chats here and there, a few more explanations to various people about why we were still here, a final toilet visit (neither of us fancied using the facilities down at the Bunkhouse too well – although, when we got there there was brand new latrine dug and we could be the first to utilise it) and a quick visit to Mousa to get some of her carry-outs, we were once again ready to set out on our downvalley journeyings.
Until another thought hit me. We had sent some of our night things down to Bezlet with Davvy on one of the pack frayen! So we had a mad scramble around finding replacements for those.
So it was that we finally managed to mount again and we headed down to the Bunkhouse so we could gain a head start on the morrow. We greeted the dismissed Rangers and the town-bound wenders, for there were two of them such were the numbers of bodies to be conveyed, as we neared our destination. This you will remember was an early night for me, and we ate our half-warm dinner before retiring. We actually managed to sleep quite well – and deeply – before the midnight wenders noisily returned full of wagoneers in varying states of sobriety.
However, as already mentioned, after that we slept but little.
… … …
Epp had relayed all this with an understated dry wit and with appropriate emphases and so on. Our, her, audience were all wreathed in smiles and laughter by the time she had finished.
“Not that I am in any way a frequent traveller through the forest above here, nevertheless I have passed through it a good thirty or more times in my life. We saw a sight that I had never seen before in any of those passages, and we saw it not once but twice!”
I nodded in agreement with Epp’s statement as the rest of the people looked at her.
“I have seen wagons pulled fast, at medium pace and slowly. But I had never until this morning seen a wagon stationary on the edge of the road, with no sign of the driver, apparently abandoned. And we saw two of them, marks apart. I daresay the drivers were busy regretting their overindulgences last night, for surely they needed to relieve themselves in the privacy of the trees.”
They all shook their heads as she closed out her tale.
Matters were broken up slightly by the arrival of Uncle Steef and all of us women observed Pachet’s body language change when he came. We smiled knowingly.
Greetings, introductions, quick trips to the facilities, saddling frayen, these were our next tasks.
And then we had our tour round Bezlet, both the road and the river ‘ends’.
Pachet stayed behind to clear up the Inn and set it up ready for the next influx of people; she and her two helpers. I had been pleased to renew my acquaintance with Dilla, who had apparently become by then a regular employee of ours, she and her elder sisters, one of whom was the other helper that day, and who was introduced to us as Netha.
“Mistress Pachet has filled me in on what you both had originally planned,” started Talbet, as we rode through the trees to the riverside. “I have had a look around and confess that this chance to develop a township almost from new is something that excites me. We agree that we should have an eatery and a bunkhouse at the wharfside, maybe we would suggest also that there be a storage barn there too, operated by yourselves?”
Shemel and Epp looked at each other, spoke silently and then turned to look at me.
“Wagons?” I simply inquired. They both nodded.
“So be it!”
Epp then turned back to Talbet and said: “Storage facility or facilities shall be built then, but not for Meglina. Instead they shall be under the heading of Blackstone Wagons. The owners of that company both give you permission to act upon their behalves.”
Talbet looked a little confused.
I laughed: “That is the company that I have a half share in along with Mistress Megrozen’s man there. I have a half share with her in Meglina, and a half share with him in the Blackstone Wagons.”
Talbet and Dilligas looked at the three of us in turn and shook their heads as they grinned.
“And I also have interest in a company that works with the railroad, Blackstone Rail. We finance that, and Master Pyor runs it. No doubt he shall be here at some time. There shall be a railroad running through here, alongside the wharf there. And round the nose of Kord’s Peak over there. So I have no doubt that actually I have even more interest here than you at first imagined.”
I was glad I was still capable of surprising people.
Then Dilligas asked a simple question, which caused me a lot of doubt and decision. Almost as much as the one the Prince had asked me.
“Shall the storage here then be under the ‘Wagons’ or under the ‘Rail’? Or shall you require storage for each? Or shall it be shared ’twixt the two?”
I stopped then, and found no ready answer.
Epp mischievously added: “And mayhap a storage facility for Meglina too?”
“Aaaaaaagh!” I loudly exclaimed. “Can we start by saying there shall definitely be one and then ...”
My further remarks were interrupted by a distant, but determinedly heartfelt, cry of: “DaVIKto!”
Our heads whipped around. We all looked over the water to one of the farther rocks in the chain upon which the series of bridges were being built.
A few moments of observation, accompanied by hearing some jeering laughter at the “Stupid ked!”, told us that a worker had rowed across to the rock in a small boat but had failed to secure it properly, leaving himself stranded on the rock and the boat freely speeding away downvalley on the current. And leaving himself open to the jeers of his co-workers.
And then something even more remarkable occurred.
The speeding boat suddenly stopped.
Seriously. I joke you not.
It just stopped in mid-stream. Impossibly in the middle of a teeming river current.
I caught sight of the tie-up rope over the front of the boat and it took just a little while before I realised it was taut.
I drew the others’ attention to it: “Aha! The boat’s rope has got caught on some… Maker!” I exclaimed loudly a heartbeat before the others did too.
A dranakh’s head appeared above the water level with a great snorting and spraying. The dangling rope was trapped in its mouth and it began to move upstream, towing the boat behind it. We watched amazed, and in total silence, even the jeering workmates were shocked into stillness, as the animal made its way to the stranded man. Almost as soon as the man had grasped the rope, the dranakh seemed to look at him for a heartbeat or so and then simply ducked once more beneath the water, never to be identified again.
Davvy released the tension we all found ourselves under, when she said: “Now THAT’S not something you see every day!”
As you can well imagine, that was a major topic of conversation for the next few moments, any town and company planning being relegated from our thoughts. But we did eventually manage to return to the subject for which Epp and I had paid a visit to this township.
We looked around again at the riverside end before making our way across to the road end. We pointed out this, that and the next thing, made a few suggestions and then returned to the Clay Pot to sample one of Pachet’s midday meals.
And to finalise our plans for the village.
We sat around a number of tables that had been pushed together to make one big surface. I looked around more closely this time at the room, which compared very favourably to the one upvalley at the Bunkhouse. This room too was painted blue, but this was a light blue that added cheer to the atmosphere herein. I was pleased that our house – yes, Meglina had paid for it, you will recall – was being so well cared for, even in the middle of expansion building works.
“Right then, so there shall be another bunkhouse-type place nearer the road, keeping this Inn for the more … discerning … customers?”
“Indeed Talbet, that is how I see it and I deem Epp does as well.” Her nod confirmed my words.
“And we, Meglina, shall run both places? Shall you expect Pachet here to staff the Bunkhouse arrangement as well?”
“No, I deem she is happiest with just this place to manage.” I looked over at Pachet who in turn nodded her agreement with me. “However, I recommend you take her advice as to the available workers around here.”
“We seem to be getting some more volunteers appearing nowadays,” added in Pachet. “Mayhap its because of the monthly visit of the playactors, and the visit of the Steward every second week, and the increased requirements for labourers. We are becoming a known location nowadays, rather than an obscure hamlet. Whatever the reasons, they really turn up to make some coin, when it all boils down to it.”
“Indeed. Now the house that Talbet and Dilligas here shall use as their residence ...”
“Yes, Julina?” asked both Pachet and Talbet at the same time.
“We originally had earmarked that building as a stop-over house for Epp and I to use when we travel ...”
“Oh, then we shall not move in ...” the two of them chorussed.
“Dilligas, Talbet, don’t be so silly! Epp and I discussed this on the way down, and we don’t travel THAT often. No, you keep it for yourselves, you are now permanent residents here. We do not NEED such a house - but perhaps you could identify an easily accessible spot, not too far away, but nevertheless quiet – and don’t forget that this railroad shall not be a silent thing! - for Epp and I to use as we go one way or the other, with rooms also for companions and fellow-travellers, like Davvy and so. We would want this to remain private, NOT as a rentable something that Meglina might offer out. But we wouldn’t want it to be too far away from the road, making it a chore to get to and from.”
“Very well. That makes sense, I suppose. We shall do that. How shall we stake any claims to building plots and suchlike?”
“Speak with the Steward when he comes down here. I will have already told him about our plans, for I expect to see him tomorrow when we return to Blackstone. So we shall have the permissions I expect very shortly ...”
Our discussions then turned to the developments to be implemented at the riverside end of the village.
A full bell or more later, Davvy and I took our farewells of them all to travel with Bargemaster Steef to the Forest Roadhouse. We had done so much that ’twas almost too late to set out for Blackstone, and I also still needed to speak with Uncle Steef on a variety of things that had occurred to me. So we would be out for yet another night.
We popped into the Retreat as we were just passing by, and I showed the others this and that. I was pleased to see that there were no signs of disturbances; however, I also noted that someone was needed to tidy the edges of the gardens before it got too far out of hand.
We regained the main road and headed once more towards the Roadhouse.
“Uncle? Do you know much about this railway, railroad, rail whatever? I have been thinking ...”
Julina’s life begins to settle down after a hectic phase
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 © 2018 - 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.
“That was all very interesting,” said Davvy as we rode up stretch of the road that led as straight as an arrow to home. We had started late and we were not travelling over-speedily since I reckoned that, having originally planned for a simple day trip and instead having had two overnights, then it was pointless rushing to get back to where others would have already laid plans to cover our absences. We were also grateful for the coolness of the trees and woodland all around us. The descending wagons we had passed had all told us that today was going to be a hot one.
Once they got over their shock at seeing two unescorted females a’riding.
“To which part of our activities are you referring?”
“Weeeelllllll ...” she said slowly. “I suppose last evening ... as well as all that we have seen and done so far this morning, now I think on it more deeply.”
“Go on.”
“Your discussions with the Bargemaster early last evening, and then with him and Master Bezan when he came across to join us later, about the railroad - as he and Master Bezan decided to call it – were most … instructive. I had not realised, well that is not fully pictured in my head, just how it was going to be. It all made perfect sense after you all explained it to me, but ’twas the getting there where I feel I let you down.”
“Oh Davvy, don’t be such a ked. You were wonderful. Your questions made us all realise that we need to simplify matters a lot when explaining to other untrained persons. What was important is that most of the people would not even have understood it all at the end, but you did. You are a highly intelligent woman, young lady. There really is no need to keep doubting yourself.”
“Well, frankly, if you had not used the knives and forks in a string, one behind the other, I doubt I would have managed to grasp it all. And that, incidentally, also helped me understand the rail problem and why there are now piles of rails at the bottom and at the top of the traverse behind us.
“And then when Master Bezan used HIS string of knives and forks, only then did I understand the requirement for two parallel tracks. And I understood that ’twould be expensive to lay two parallel tracks down ALL the way, so we would need passing places, just like on narrow roadways for wagons - which in turn made me suddenly appreciate the need for those point things of Pyor’s and the Princess’ differing specifications. And that made me aware of the wharfside suggestions too.”
She paused for breath, so I then spoke: “I too learnt a lot, not the least of which was that the rails shall be held apart at a constant distance by attaching them to tree trunks split in half and placed every half stride along the length of the way. Every half stride! That is an ENORMOUS amount of halved tree trunks. Alright, a felled tree can be cut into say four of the lengths required, and then those halved, giving eight supports. But that shall be an entire tree to have just four strides of track! And I also found it fascinating that where the rails shall cross a road, then the road surface shall be levelled off to the same height as the top of the rails, rather than digging channels for them and burying the rails down.”
“Yes, except for at places like the wharf. That was a good idea of yours, ’Lina, to suggest that the wharf area down in Bezlet shall require several parallel tracks so that the way can be kept free for through trains and not be blocked by any unloading activity.”
“That seemed just obvious to me as soon as Master B suggested that there would be cargo trains and passenger trains separately.”
“And I saw their reactions to your other suggestion of making the roadway and track crossing during the rainy season when wagon traffic becomes not a factor. Under a tent roof no less. That was a great idea. They were most impressed since there shall be a bunkhouse nearby to each of the two crossings to be built. Workers can dash back there to dry out.”
I tried not to preen at her praise as I said: “What amazed me most of all though, was the amount of broken rocks we shall require for the track laying!”
“Indeed, but there shall be much of that, as Master Bezan said, as discards from the mining. When he explained that the tree halves, with the rails nailed to them from above, shall have to sit on a quite deep pile of broken rock so that any normal rainfall may drain away, I was again suddenly hit by the sense of it all.”
“And what I found also staggering and difficult to grasp was the sheer volume of all the requirements this railroad shall have; I cannot imagine how the benefits of all this shall even begin to cover the costs.”
“Indeed, ’Lina, ’tis the ‘sheer volume’, as you term it, of it all that makes my poor mind reel. Even the numbers that the Bargemaster spoke about when detailing the barging possibilities.”
“Ah, yes. That earlier discussion was also very interesting and informative, I found. And the fact that there is a chance for the barging operation to start in a limited fashion in the autumn, before the winter grips. I had not appreciated the absolute importance of a tow path, though. It did make a sort of sense at the end, once all the factors had been explained.”
“Wasn’t it strange the differences ’twixt the barge designs above and below Haligo?”
“Oh, yes! Now that was amazing at first, but once again it seemed sensible when Uncle Steef explained that below Haligo, barges could in fact reach to the open sea and/or travel up that main river – the Sirrel. Whereas above Haligo, they had only the Palar and the side valleys upon which they could navigate. I knew, of course, from stories that Haligo was somewhat of a restriction to the river and its valley, but I had not appreciated just how much so until he described it to us.”
“I still find it difficult to picture in my mi...”
“Mistress Julina, Mistress Davabet!”
Our heads whirled round at hearing our names called. Instinctively we reined in once we had identified that this was no threat.
Coming up behind us was a hand of mounted men, with some load-carrying frayen as well, one of them bearing a strangely-wrapped load that was somehow forbidding, or ominous, or something; worrying at a visceral level somehow.
“Captain Subrish! This is a surprise. I thought you were still on the Ptuvilend side of the ridge that separates the Vale from the Chaarn Road.” My eyes flicked from him to the other men, but always returning to that remarkable load. I took notice of the fact that all the men seemed tired as well as grim.
“No Mistress,” he said, in a quite sombre tone. “We needed to return hastily.”
I gasped as all the little clues coalesced in my head. “You have a … body with you?”
“Aye, Mistress, that we have. We are in some haste now, for the pyre is set for this afternoon, according to the semaphores we have sent and received. I regret that this poor man fell to his death some days ago now, and we must be swift. Shall I detail some of these men to escort you both?”
Rapid eye-speak with Davvy allowed me to answer: “Nay, Captain. We shall accompany you – if you can all keep up with us, that is.”
This raised smiles amongst the men, but smiles that were erased quite quickly as the sadness of their current mission returned home to them. And their tiredness. And I daresay their general unwashedness, which had become … noticeable.
We set off once more, at a pace a good deal brisker than that which Davvy and I had so far employed.
“Captain,” I began. “How knew you that we were us from so far behind?” I ran that sentence once more through my head for it felt awkward just as soon as I had uttered it. Nope - ’twas fine, I deemed.
“Mistresses, we have paused briefly at Brayview first for some better sustenance than sleeping rough in the woods had so far allowed us. We had some sleep and some solid food there. There we split up, the Prince Torulf and his men joining the Prince Keren and his caravan, for they had spent some time investigating around there – awaiting also the arrival of course of us with the Einnlander group and also the Vardenale group who had been investigating Ptuvilend with Count Terinar and company. We parted as soon as we might, Prince Keren though insisted we take a few bells for resting our animals as we went. He recognised their fatigue as well as ours. I confirm that he was quite right. Had we just continued to press along quite so hard, I doubt we would have managed to reach even to here.
“We took his further advice and took on board some small refreshments at Bezlet and also at the Forest Roadhouse, where there was much amazed talk of the two females travelling alone somewhere ahead of us. Your identities were told us there. Downwards travelling wagons also confirmed your whereabouts. I was taken aback somewhat when I discovered that many of those drivers were able to say precisely who you were. How come you know quite so many of them?”
I laughed before I fully realised that that reaction might not have been quite so well received, given their poor bundle on that one pack animal. I therefore stammered a little as I replied: “Welll … er … sev … that is, a lot of them have been in my writing, reading and numbering classes, as well as the fact that a not insignificant number of them are actually my employees.”
“Employees?”
“Yes, Captain. Of Blackstone Wagons – I have a half share in that company.”
“Of course. Those factors had temporarily escaped by mind.”
The big question was hanging in the air around us, but neither Davvy nor I had the courage to formulate it. Just as the silence began to think about getting awkward, Subrish sighed loudly.
“Allow me to explain how our mission went.”
We nodded.
“Way up there, at the very edge of the Blackstone Vale, the ridgeway is attained relatively shallowly from the Vale side, but looking over it, the ground drops precipitately on the other side. ’Twould have taken us a lifetime or two to investigate that ridgeway as thoroughly as I had been determined to do from the outset. But the Einnlanders were magnificent. They, it appears, are far more used to mountainous country than anyone else I have ever met. Ropes, animals and teamwork were all employed together, one man was lowered over the edge, the others and their frayen all took the strain as the dangler started to thrust against the cliff face there. This enabled him to gain some half a cast almost of extra viewpoint and he looked both ways along the face. Under the guidance of the dangler (they each took a turn although I had to refuse the Prince permission to take his for I had been tasked with his safety amongst other things) we advanced fifty or so strides along the ridge at a time.
“By and by, an outcrop was found upon which the dangler could stand. He there discovered a fault on the far side of it. They were all talking away in their tongue of course, so no-one else other than I could understand – even then, I doubt I actually grasped more than a third of it. But nevertheless the dangler was drawn up once more, we as a party were spread out away from the ridge itself, whilst the two strongest of the men started banging heavy hammers against some of the rock on our side, working in unison, one after the other, so that a blow came just about every half heartbeat. After some quarter of a bell of this, as they were just tiring, suddenly a crack in the rock appeared. ‘’Twas but a short while after that that, with a roar, a good six, maybe seven, strides of the ridge itself fell away into Ptuvilend.
“This enabled the Einnlanders all to then stand on the outcropping and yet more pairs of eyes could minutely examine the steep rockface. Eventually, they determined a spot some half a mark from us for us to move to. By then, ’twas nearing nightfall, so we moved to their new spot and built a campfire and so on. Although cool, the night was not too chilly, and the next day we employed more eyes using the lessons the Einnlanders had conveyed as we sat around the fire the evening before.
“This keen-eyed young man ...” Subrish’s hand indicated one of the Rangers with him, “… then spotted a distinct animal track further along the face, some cast in height below us. A pair of us walked along the Valeside of the ridgeway and marked the spot before returning to the camping area.
“We then learnt another lesson.
“For we did nothing until I estimated it to be around the noon mark.
“Then the wisdom of the Einnlanders became clear. By that time, the sun had moved sufficiently to such an angle that it created lines of shadows. And that revealed a difficult, but not impossible, way for us to descend to not far from the head of the animal track. All the while, those Einnlanders were wondering why the animal track stopped where it did. We later discovered that there was a small cave up there. The animal droppings were not fresh, though, so we were reasonably certain that the cave had been deserted for some while.
“Our way, down which we picked our travel most carefully, joined the animal track about two strides in height below that cave mouth. The frayen were the most nervous of us all during that descent, to such an extent that we humans had to port the greater part of the loads to let the beasts be comparatively unburdened. Where our descent joined the animal track, there was a wider length so we managed to get the nervous animals down to that point, before reloading them. They could descend the steep track we took – more a scratch than a track really – only with encouragement and singly, so it took all afternoon for our entire party to gain that comparative safety.”
He shook his head as he recalled it all. After a moment or two during which they were all silent, he gestured for the keen-eyed lad to come forward and join us. “Maybe, Klum, you should do some of the describing. It shall be good practice for you to learn how to make reports. That is something that you shall be doing a lot of in your upcoming career.”
The young lad, well young in comparison with the more grizzled Captain, got a little red-faced but nevertheless took up the tale.
“Again, the Einnlanders showed us their wisdom. They refused to do any but the most basic of maintenance upon the path we were taking. When asked why, they had a simple reply. ’And if this track does NOT bring us safely to the valley floor?’ As it happened, they were constantly studying the ground to either side and beneath us, straining to see where we would be taken.
“At one point, they surprised us by insisting we set out upon an uphill, untracked stretch where the slope was still steep, but not nearly as vertical as it had been mostly so far. They marked either end of this piece of our way that it might be more easily found again.
“All except those Einnlanders were surprised when, after maybe a hundred strides, we came across a wider, more well-worn track that led far more comfortably downhill. There was an almost circular patch there, about twice the size of any mountain hut, and a generous stream that had carved a deep gully across the track. This deep gully was easily stepped over so was no hindrance.
“They visibly relaxed when we got there and the Prince told us that this was a good spot for the building of the emergency hut that had been planned to be somewhere on this hillside. He further explained that with a so well frequented track as this one was, there would be no major obstacles now, obstacles that we would have to work too hard to conquer at least. And they were proved to be absolutely correct when we eventually completed our journey to the Chaarn Road. We chose that spot as our work camp, to be the depot for our tools and loads and also for our sleeping.
“But the Prince then explained that we had three more overnights in the wild before we would do that final part of our descent. Now we had to go back up the tracks we had used and do what we could to widen and tidy up the awkward patches we had encountered. There would be nothing we could do for the dangerous part with which we had started down, that would need to be worked upon by engineers from above. So for the next days we were working hard from dawn to dusk, and I dare say we have provided, until the weather interferes, a workable track.
“But ’twas on that third day that our ...” he gestured to the wrapped body “… disaster struck, in the midst of a natural wonder that I doubt many have been gifted to see.
“We were first notified that something was up by an increased nervousness emanating from the frayen. It took me a long time to see the reason for this, for ’twas, as far as I knew, not the normal season for them. But eventually, I turned my gaze skywards. I scanned the skies for quite a bit before I saw the grakh up high, flying from a direction just a little east of south. I had neither expected that direction, nor had I expected that height.
“But then I gasped. I wa...”
“Gasped? He almost shouted out sufficiently loudly to burst our ears, as he directed our attentions to the view above us,” interrupted Captain Subrish.
Kulm looked a little embarrassed at that, but shrugged and continued: “I had seen ANOTHER grakh, this one coming from just north of east. And it was obviously adjusting its course to intersect that of the other one’s. We wondered what this meant and I continued to scan the skies for any more but failed to spot any before one of my colleagues gasped. I looked to him and saw he was pointing to the two we knew about.
“Suddenly, high up above us, a battle had been joined.
“And what a fierce battle it was. All of us stood and watched, mouths agape, as the two of them fought it out, even the Einnlanders claimed they had never seen such. The frayen were disturbed but were still in control of themselves, just. I deem that was because this battle of the skies was so far above us and also a fair distance away from us, as far as I could tell. The two ferocious combatants were gradually losing height but we didn’t actually notice that until the battle was decided.
“Which event occurred suddenly. One heartbeat they were wheeling and clawing; at the next, it was all over. One’s wing had collapsed and the beast spiralled down to crash into the hills across the valley. The victor flew unsteadily upwards again and also back in the direction from which he (or she, I suppose) had appeared.”
“Maker! That must have been an experience! I cannot recall anyone ever mentioning seeing grakh fight, let alone seeing them do so in mid-air!”
“Hold, Mistress. There is more!” His voice had turned … strained.
There was a general murmur of agreement from the other four men. One that was fraught with feeling somehow.
Klum took a deep breath, as if to steady his nerves, before continuing grimly: “As we looked over to see if we could see where the loser had come to ground, there was another beast that flashed down and grabbed the wriggling grakh in its jaws. Not that we could see that the beast was wriggling at that heartbeat.”
Again a pause, again a deep, calming breath that did little to ameliorate the dread in his tone: “None of us had before seen a live ptuvil!”
Aaaah! Now I understood the gritted teeth and the attempts to calm himself. Davvy and I just had to squeal a little, certainly the noises we produced were more than a gasp.
Klum’s voice had now changed to a tone of wonderment and almost embarrassment it seemed. I realised then and there that this event had shaken him to the very core of his being: “And we could do nothing but stare at it. We were all frozen into immobility. Frayen and men, Einnlanders too. Some sense of dread entered us and we could not move, such was the thrall in which we were held.”
“Kallisthena! And the beast didn’t attack you all?”
“Not at all, Mistress, it took off again almost immediately, its victim still a’struggling in its jaws and claws. That’s how we knew it must have still been breathing even after crashing to the ground. I daresay we were spared because the ptuvil probably had no thought other than to get away and enjoy its feast.
“However, our attention was suddenly directed elsewhere. The frayen had awoken from their immobility a heartbeat or two before us. They panicked and scattered. This indeed may have been the event that broke our own immobility.
“’Twas pure misfortune that one of them knocked poor Blutel flying. He descended to the valley floor without the benefit of feet nor of footpath.
“It took us a full half day to get down there and reclaim the poor man’s body. And once we had wrapped it, a most unpleasant task that, we set out immediately, as fast as we could, to return to Blackstone along the proper roads. As mentioned before, the Einnlanders split off from us at Brayview and we rushed up here.”
“Maker! I understand much now. You poor men, having now to live with that burden. Do not worry about us. We are accustomed to travelling even faster than this.” So saying, I urged the ever willing Trumpa to increase her pace. Davvy grinned at me and we put on a spurt, pulling away from the surprised men.
But then we both remembered, at the identical moment, the alarming load they were carrying behind us. We realised that we should allow the men to set the pace.
… … …
“And once again we are indebted to Mistress Julina and one or more of her colleagues, in this instance Mistress Megrozen. The Bunkhouse down at the Loop Road junction had fallen into a poor state about which we knew nothing. But the two of them, with their company Meglina Accommodations, have taken it over. With the help of the Rangers, in the week that has passed since Mistress Julina got involved, the place has changed beyond all recognition. For the better, I must report. This evening, new operators shall be in charge there, Goodman Kallum and Mistress Ruet, who shall run the place as part of the Meglina operation. It would ...”
I allowed my thoughts to drift as the Steward gave his introductory report to the Assembly. He was basically setting forth the agenda for the meeting. I had been invited so as to inform them all of what we had done at the Bunkhouse and what we were also doing down in Bezlet, but I would only be asked to speak much later.
I looked around the room. It was light and large, perhaps not quite as big as the Salon had been, consequently space seemed a little tighter. Particularly with the four of us invited guests present at this meeting, Master Schild, Davvy and myself, and Captain Subrish. The views would have been magnificent had it not been for the clouds outside the windows, clouds which were being pushed by quite a strong breeze, so that every now and then a vista opened up in the gaps between them. Clouds which were also dropping a welcome light rain on the Town; welcome since the past week had been very dry. Clouds which were exactly at the level of the windows to this room.
Simman and his crew had done a good job in here, I deemed. The temporary internal walls had been removed and there was no trace now that they had ever been here. I was doubly pleased with the removal of the internal walls, since Simman told me they would be employed to provide the internal walls that would form my own office in the Market Place Mansion. They were busy doing that there even as my idle thoughts were taking place here.
The Community Hall was now set up in the fashion in which it had been originally designed, before we had extra Princes and the like to accommodate. The removal of Assembly and school stuff from the Salon had gone smoothly, and far quicker than had been envisaged by any of us. As a result of which, Em, Kelly and I had a scheduled meeting this afternoon to which I had also asked Gyth – mayhap the dining room there could be redesigned, a few more tables fitted in, perchance a larger serving sideboard; the possibilities were almost endless. But did we really want to fit in extra diners? Would that destroy some of the ‘specialness’ of what we had achieved?
I briefly tuned back into what was being said by the Steward in his now long introduction to this Assembly Meeting - “… a live ptuvil no less, ...” there were gasps around the table “... but we deem that this was happenstance and that the area is reasonably safe for colonisation ...” - and then dragged my thoughts back to the changes in Town that had taken place whilst Davvy and I were away, and since our return. I started of course with the buildings that mattered to me.
The Stoop was declared to be watertight, and the upper floor would be added after the rains. The family that were to run it had agreed to provide a small catering operation in the building from now until the rains started in earnest and I had agreed to leave the overnighting part of the inn until after the rains had ceased. I had been over there myself and tested the kitchens and bath houses so I could say with certainty that the operation could go ahead. The construction of the beds and so on would be a valuable order for those responsible to produce while the weather was inclement.
Kelly and I agreed that Paivi and one other would be allocated to the kitchens there, to help bring their offerings in line with what I would expect from a Meglina ‘house’. Paivi could then stay a week or so there, and be handier to the ‘Tree’ for the regular lunchtime service there, meeting up with whoever was sent from the Salon to assist her. I further realised that there would be a lot of coming and going to be done to get it all up and running so I had allocated a bac and a wagon both, with drivers of course, to be on hand as much as possible, the drivers to also overnight there.
Meanwhile, and amidst far more fuss than I had foreseen (fuss that I had simply not wanted) there had been an opening ceremony the previous evening to welcome the Frolicsome Frayen into the list of commercial concerns now operating in Blackstone.
The Steward, Alderman Mesulkin, Representative Jepp and Bailiss Michet represented the Assembly, Master Graber represented both the Assembly and the Miners, Davvy and I represented the owners (Meglina) and Goodman Feff, his wife Salet, Mistress Sorset and Mistress Darna represented the Inn itself.
Feff and Salet I had now appointed as the general managers, Darna (that’s Venket’s mother, you may recall) was appointed the Chief Housekeeper and Sorset was in charge of the kitchens. The elder of Feff and Salet’s children, Rai, was there with his team of servers in the public rooms. Sookie nearly had a fit when I started to order yet more of her ales and wines, having already swallowed somewhat when I placed the orders for the Stoop. (Older Julina: which I deem was the beginning of the process that led to the now nationally celebrated Blackstone Brewery).
I mentioned above that I hadn’t wanted all the fuss and palaver, but I was merely the owner; I had to allow the managers who worked for me to do so in their own style – and then I had to foot the bill for it.
So the managers had decided to make it a semi-formal occasion, with just a couple of speeches to whoever had decided to take advantage of their announced ‘Open Door’ evening. The Alderman spoke for the Town, and Goodman Feff for the Inn. Both short speeches were well received, it appeared.
Printed handbills had been sent to all the principal artisans and tradesmen, and to the Miners’ Hall, so that they could spread the word amongst their workers and customers. Others had been hung on door posts and fence posts and a stack had been left for yet others to pick up on Market Day. Of course, there was still a preponderance of people around who were either unable or unconfident enough not to be able to read those handouts, so when we were almost crowded out by people who claimed to be interested in seeing round the building (as opposed to just sampling the free nibbles and beer and wine, you will understand) and finding out what this new establishment was like, it was highly ironic, I felt, that the owner and bill-payer was the one who had to jump in and lend a hand with the washing of oh so many small dishes, knives and drinking vessels; none of us involved having anticipated the size of the crush.
Thus it was that I missed the speechifications as well as, thankfully, the smallish fuss that arose when someone was refused entry, but was recognised by Suril who was on duty just outside. They protested, of course, and loudly at that, but Suril explained the facts of the matter to him. He eventually departed, muttering revengeful intentions. Gobitoo, who else?
The Market Place Mansion had been sealed to the weather, and internally the relevant floors and walls had been marked up as to where internal walls and doors and so on were to go. And, as mentioned, they were even then busily building my Office.
The Bunkhouse, with the extra muscle provided by the two daily Rangers, had been transformed into a place that was almost welcoming. This was in one way a regret, for it simply meant we were gaining there ever more customers. My suggestion of an open-sided, partially sheltered ‘camping’ site had become a big hit.
And then there were some improvements being made to the ‘Tree’. Over there …
“… now mayhap Mistress Julina can explain?”
Davvy leant across to me as though she wanted to remind me of something to say: “Bezlet report,” she whispered.
I added to the illusion, hoping that my face did not give me away, by loudly whispering back: “Thank you. Yes. I might have forgotten that.”
I faced the men and women seated around the large table with my back straight and looked each in the eye, as I greeted the meeting: “Your Honour, Masters, Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to start by explaining some numbers to you. And then I will mention first the Bunkhouse just a few marks down the road from here. Yes, these numbers and that location all affect Bezlet in various ways.
“Allow me to explain.
“Now I have heard it mentioned that the Bunkhouse shall drive the Forest Roadhouse into ruin. This is a complete and utter nonsense - for many reasons, only some of which are now following.
“The wagons that use the Bunkhouse up here, and again I say I refer to the one some three marks south of Blackstone Town as opposed to any other bunkhouse there may be, are simply the ones that have been laden late in the day; not EVERY wagon stays at the Bunkhouse. I would say that the number is about one tenth of the total number of wagon departures in a day. We know from traffic studies that the busiest time for departures starts a bell or so before noon, and it builds up rapidly until about two bells after the noon one, before dropping off quite sharply. Departures in that … that … that SPREAD of time can all reach the Forest Roadhouse for their next stop before night falls.
“Later departing wagons either have to camp in the Forest, wait until morning or use the Bunkhouse facilities. It is all merely a question of timings. Those that DO use the Bunkhouse, then we must remember that by leaving early of a morning they can manage to pass the Forest Roadhouse, the faster amongst them just about getting as far as Brayview now we have the longer days. But by far the greater number of those find it comfortable to travel down to Bezlet before stopping for a night. From Bezlet then, they can JUST reach Tranidor on the following day. On the shorter days, you need to understand that Blackstone Town to Bezlet is just too far for many of them.
“So please keep those timings in your mind when I tell you I have commissioned my people in Bezlet to build a further bunkhouse there. The difference between the two is simply that Blackstone Town can offer a deal more what is called ‘civilisation’ - restaurants, inns, taverns, playactors, music and so on. Bezlet on the other hand is a rapidly growing, but yet still very small, location - with limited facilities. The nearest more bustling place to Bezlet is either back to the Forest Roadhouse or up to the Chaarn Road junction and then down to Brayview. and it is an awkward journey from Bezlet to gain the improved facilities at Brayview, a trip which many drivers wouldn’t do – go up to Brayview, go back to Bezlet to sleep and then go back past Brayview with their wagon again the next day.
“Hence I determined a need for another bunkhouse near the road at Bezlet.
“Now of course I am required to ask permission to do all this building and to have my building plots and so on - and I therefore officially now make that request. But before you all decide on that, there are other similar requests I wish to make ...”
And so it was that I detailed our plans for Bezlet, both road end and river end, and the reasons behind those plans. I had already done this to the Steward and Master Bezan on the day after I returned, so they were already aware and had given me permission to let Bezlet know they could go ahead; both men trusted me not to design impractical plots and buildings. However, I needed to present the scheme officially to the Assembly as a whole.
I must report at this juncture that I noticed that several others of the Assembly were a little surprised when I exposed the full changes that running a railroad through there would involve. I deem that they too had not thought about it all the way through – as yet. My little lecture had now forced them to do so.
For the Assembly Meeting suddenly turned into a quite heated debate, which the Steward allowed to go on until some moment when it was getting louder and louder and needed to be calmed down.
To cut a longer story shorter, Meglina was granted the permissions I had sought. And I earned another round of thanks when I made my suggestion about using the rains and a large tent-type affair to already build the rail and road crossings whilst wagon traffic was at its lowest volume. The estimates then were that we had these rains which were due soon, or the rains of the next couple of years, in which to do the work. Railroads were still reckoned to be around a hand of years away.
I stood up to leave but the Steward indicated that I should stay, which intrigued me enough to concentrate upon the rest of the meeting rather than go off somewhere in my head.
(Older Julina: I can promise you that that Assembly really worked hard at making the lives of the citizens the best it could be. In those days, the members were honourable men and women to whom a huge debt must be owed that the town of Blackstone developed so well. I shall refrain from commenting on the more modern habit of like Assemblies being political appointments.)
The reason I was, we were, asked to remain seated came along when Mistress Lendra was asked to report on developments in the world of healing.
“A brilliant idea from Julina there was taken up and passed into actuality after an equally brilliant idea from Davabet there. The difference that having a central location for all us healers has made, beggars belief. The whole town should be made aware of huge contribution those two have made. ...”
She went on to describe how much better it was for training, for sorting urgent cases from those not so urgent, from storing various articles of their trade and so on and so forth. I blush to mention how much her enthusiasm affected the others.
After she was finished, I felt it necessary once more to rise and once more the Steward indicated the contrary.
Curiouser and curiouser.
The Assembly members worked their way round the table giving their reports and then Master Schild was asked to make a report. I know Davvy was completely shocked by the size of the numbers that he used, as was I. I will go further and say I THINK some of the members were also (Mistress Lendra for one, I am sure).
One fact he mentioned was of particularly stunning simplicity. The entire requests for payments for the last four weeks, for materials, for labour, for carriage, for construction, for everything was double the total income gleaned from all the coal extraction since it started!
Many of the jaws around the table dropped at that.
Then he threw in another simple fact: “The total income from coal – JUST coal – for the last four weeks has shown a surplus over the costs of producing and transporting it. Not by very much, admittedly, but nevertheless ’twas a surplus.”
“And how much EXACTLY was that surplus?” asked the Steward.
“Let me see. I have it on a sheet of paper here. Somewhere. Must be in this pile. Ah, yes! Here it is. The coal production surplus for the last four weeks amounted to 7 Crowns, 7 Sollies, 13 Feniks and 1 Soo.”
We all had to laugh, for he had just now mentioned that the total costs for the last four weeks had been over three THOUSAND crowns.
I have already mentioned that Master Schild was a most staid citizen, rarely given to smiling let alone joking. So I was totally unsure if what he said as a follow up was actually meant to make us laugh more: “I must point out as a reminder that the coal income for the last four weeks is nearly one thousand Crowns more than that for the previous four weeks.”
Once everyone had spoken, relating their tales, then the Steward stood once more.
“Thank you all for your very frank and enlightening reports. We are all now once again informed of the latest states in nearly all branches of our Administration.
“I say nearly all because there are just a few more topics to discuss which I have to report to you. As it happens, both my first of these shall refer to Mistress Julina there.”
Any incipient inattention was banished from my mind immediately.
“As you all know, the Mansion on the Market Place belongs to her and shall only be fully completed after the rains, Master Simman’s crews having a long list of tasks to complete before we are beset by the weather. Now Mistress Julina earlier made the splendid suggestion of doing certain tasks under a protective cover during that period, and it struck me that the large space in her Mansion may be ideal for building up stocks of various things.
“With your permission, fellow Assembly members, I propose to have some official Town discussions with her about how to best use that space. Mayhap we should be using it to build more construction modules - internal walls, things like that. Or window frames. Or doors. Mayhap ’twould be best to be used as a store for water tanks and/or ranges. The possibilities are endless but a decision should be made NOW so that the usage eventually decided upon can be as fully stocked in advance as possible. If walls are to be made, then raw wood and the like shall needs be placed inside. And so on.”
He looked steadily at me as he said this and I actually found myself concurring with his conclusions. But I had the feeling there was something more he was saying, something that was meant for my ears only.
“When he was here, the Prince Keren and I had many a wide-ranging discussion about the ...”
I bit back a gasp and lowered my head so that none could then see the dawned understanding on my face. The military underground tunnels connecting to the Rangers’ barracks! Of course. A perfect time to get them completed.
“… developments up here and those in other parts of Palarand. Mistress Julina had a while ago now the equally splendid idea of improving cooking standards and proposed starting something she called the ‘Consociation of Caterers’, this was to be housed in her Market Place Mansion. But I must inform you all that His Highness has invited her to open that establishment downvalley, to be nearer the centre of our land.”
There were a few gasps at that. I was surprised at THAT – I thought everyone knew about the decision that was still weighing heavily on my mind.
“You will readily understand that Mistress Julina sees the fors and the againsts of doing that. I deem the reaching of her decision is causing her a deal of anxiety. However, should she eventually decide to do so, then her Mansion here shall be unused for the purposes originally envisaged. So I need to have discussions about THAT as well with her.”
“So do you, the Assembly of Blackstone County, give me permission to approach her on these matters, and any others that might occur to me in the meantime?”
I found myself almost voting ‘Aye’ as well, but held myself back just in time, since I had suddenly remembered that I had not the right to vote here.
“Thank you, fellow members. On now to another topic which arose in discussions with His Highness, Prince Keren. Decisions that for him also weigh heavily. Our Princess has gone away, as you all by now know. There is a strong possibility that she will not return ...”
At that, consternation broke out and it took a little while for calm to be restored. I realised that I too had blithely assumed that she had simply done the equivalent of going for a stroll in the woods and was virtually guaranteed to return.
When he could, His Honour continued: “I mention this because there is a direct tie-in with another subject upon which you have all, I sincerely hope, done your homework. The subject raised by Representative Jepp at our last formal meeting. Prince Keren has privately assured me that the Princess’ funds shall still be able to cover our costs up here but, if she has indeed gone, then alternative methods of raising the required coin shall most probably prove to be necessary. You were asked to have your thoughts upon levying some taxes in Blackstone County, so I will now proceed round the table, starting here at my left with Master Sinidar.”
I was fascinated by the thought-processes that were revealed as the discussions went around. Should only house-owners be taxed? Should everyone have to contribute to the overall safety by paying for the Rangers and Master Fedren’s officers of the peace? Should there be different rates for Brayview residents / Tamitil / Bezlet? And so it went.
The Steward then drew it to a close with his summing up: “Very well then. We should give consideration to levying a light amount as from the cessation of the rains, thus making it easier to impose heavier amounts in the New Year, rather than ‘hit’ our residents all at once. These heavier amounts would only be necessary should the Princess fail to return. As the Prince sorrowfully said: ‘My father has determined that should the Princess not return by the end of the year, then he – and I – must consider other ways of securing the succession to the Throne.’
“We shall then likewise consider what we should do when, if, the Princess fails to show up again. So we are all agreed in principle that we shall have to impose some form of taxation, the questions we need to answer now are how much and when. And which parts of our costs are to be covered by such impositions – Rangers? Fedren’s Department? Railroad development? Anything else? Please prepare your answers, better said, your opinions, for our next monthly meeting.”
… … …
“So that’s decided then? An extra table over there, and extend that sideboard slightly to accommodate more bottles of wine, particularly now that we shall be receiving that special wine from His Highness. Otherwise we calmly just spread out a little and carry on as usual?”
“Aye, that shall we do!” said Em in a semi-official tone. “Thank you Gythy for pointing out all the options we would have so eloquently.”
… … …
“Thank you Master Schild for making that all clear. May I ask you please to retain all those copies of my transactions until such time as my office is finally equipped properly. I shall then gladly relieve you of what seems to be a large stack.”
“Indeed it is Mistress Julina, and growing by the day it seems to ME.”
I laughed and almost, but not quite, got a smile in response.
“Now Master Schild, I have had another thought. This is what I want to do and would value your opinion. But first, some background to it all. I was talking to Bargemaster Steef, who you might recall is my Uncle, and he made me think on many things. One of the ideas that occurred to me then, I have never told anyone else, not even young Davvy here. I deemed I needed your opinion first. So here is my plan ...”
… … ...
“Mistress Davabet, Mistress Paivi, Mistress Kellonika, may I present Mistress Kalket. Mistress Kalket, these are the ones with whom you shall be most closely involved, I deem. From my left we have Mistress Kellonika, who is in charge of the Salon ...” Kalket’s eyes widened at that but she did nothing else to interrupt me. “… Mistress Davabet who is my personal assistant and to whom you may tell anything should I not be available, and this is Mistress Paivi, who is a valued member of the Salon team and who also runs the lunch times just up the road from you at the ‘Tree’. She has been training in the Salon kitchens for quite a while now and this is her first assignment ‘outside’ so to speak.”
I looked sharply at Kalket, my hard stare making it clear that I would not tolerate her ignoring Paivi’s instructions just because she seemed to be so much younger.
“She shall stay there in the Stoop with you for a week to help you understand the sort of dishes I expect you to have available. I deem you will be surprised at some of the tips and tricks she can impart. Feel free to do likewise, we can all learn more, myself included. I shall look forward to Paivi teaching me them later.
“When the Stoop opens properly in three months or so, when the rains cease, then I expect you to have learnt as much as you can by then. I would also appreciate any other dishes or improvements to those mentioned ones that you might have. Yes, there is a lot to learn at first, but rest assured you shall always have a voice and it shall be heard. As I told you at our recent interview down in the Claw, Meglina expects to provide a level of food and service at least one stride ahead of anyone else. To that end, there is indeed much for you to learn. Some of which lessons Paivi shall provide. Don’t let me down.”
She took my warning as it was meant, fully understanding exactly my point.
“Now, Mistress, please be so good as to introduce yourself to my three companions.”
“Thank you, Mistress Julina! I confess I am a trifle surprised at the efficiency and authority you have just demonstrated. I was still, just a tad, leaning upon the expectation that you yourself were just a junior partner with Mistress Megrozen in this enterprise, but you have made it abundantly clear now that that is not the case. I therefore expect the same degree of professionalism from all those involved, however young they might appear to be.”
Kelly smiled at that: “First test passed, Mistress!”
Kalket stopped to take full cognisance of that remark, then her eyes flicked to each of us. We could all see her yet again readjust her thinking.
“Very well then, Mistresses, so shall it be.”
“Tell us about your family, Mistress,” interjected Paivi gently.
“I am married with a caring man named Durgel who has striven to provide for us for many years now, at some cost to his health. He frankly cannot wait to escape the dust and fumes of the mines and was quite fretting when we heard nothing from Mistress Julina for those many weeks. Our eldest son, Dekel, has just joined the Rangers ...”
She broke off when I groaned aloud. I had to laugh then and explained: “I think every family I have appointed recently have had a son who has joined the Rangers. Is there something I have missed, some secret connection between Meglina and the military? Maybe that should be a future interview question: ‘Will your son soon join the Rangers? If not, the job’s not yours!’. THAT would make some eyebrows raise, I deem!”
Everyone had a laugh at that and then Kalket continued: “My daughter, Lexi, the middle child, is also looking forward to learning much. She is a bit of a shy young thing and feels that she would enjoy some distance from the Town, now that she is at last … expanding, shall we say. I fear there has been just too much teasing from some of the youths of our Town. My youngest, my second son, Koppert, is talented it appears in animal husbandry and has been apprenticed to Goodman Parrier over at the Claw for some months. He is looking forward to the animal handling over at the Stoop.”
I must have looked shocked for she cocked an eyebrow at me enquiringly.
“Maker! I must have met him several times then, but have never had an introduction. Parry, Goodman Parrier, is indeed a friend of mine and I keep my riding and pack frayen at the Claw!”
“Do you tell me, Mistress?”
… … …
And so it was that the three families took over the three establishments Meglina possessed hereabouts. We would see what would happen when each of those businesses swung into a normal, full, busy load.
For the next few weeks, I spent my time in the mornings usually riding to one or more of the places we had just staffed, meeting various people in my Office, which I came to love even if the entire building was very echoey. And I spent most of my time in the afternoons in the Salon. I had my occasional lessons, both in the Community Hall, and the foody ones in the Salon with the new intake of young girls.
Twice I went down to Bezlet, and even went to Tranidor once. These were simple business trips and nothing of great import occurred whilst on them.
Except for the one where I told Epp about my scheme – the one I had suggested to Master Schild. Epp however felt we were in danger of over-extending ourselves and declined to let Meglina get involved.
So now I had two questions constantly hammering at me.
Both were the same question.
My ‘secret’ scheme: Do I? Don’t I?
The Consociation: Do I? Don’t I?
Julina makes a decision in order to help her make a decision
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 © 2018 - 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.
“SENIDET??? Again???”
“What do you mean ‘again’?”
“Hah! It seems to me that every day now, every hour or bell almost, something or someone reminds me of Senidet, or her name is mentioned, or something else happens that brings her to the front of my mind.”
I didn’t know quite why it was happening, but it was. It had been building up it seemed to me over the past week or so.
I was in the Office that morning, the one in my Market Place Mansion, with Davvy and a sweaty Surtree who had just finished his morning session with the Rangers. Sookie was due any moment to discuss my ever-increasing orders with her for beers and wines. And Pyor had asked to see me that morning as well.
There came a knock at the door. I called to whoever it was to come in. When it opened, I was surprised to see Uncle Steef enter.
“Those men of yours at the main door are frighteningly efficient, I have to say.”
I laughed at him, but just a little bitterly: “That idiot Gobitoo has now thrice attempted to come in. He just seems to disregard the ban I and the Town have placed upon him. He tries the other places too – The Frayen over there ...” (I jerked a hand in its direction and all heads turned to look at it through the window) “… the Salon as well and the Tree and the Stoop - even as far down as the Bunkhouse. I know not when he has time to do any gainful work, he must live his life in a saddle for I have now banned him from bacs and any of Blackstone Wagons.”
“Hmmm – he will prove troublesome, I declare. I have met, fortunately only rarely, his sort before. They do not believe normal rules apply to them, they never forget a slight, and they always try to find ways around any situation that they feel offends them. He won’t rest until he has found some way to consider himself superior to you.”
“He shall have a busy life then I deem. He has declared himself against several other people too, Sheriff Fedren, Deputy Suril and Goodman Filagor amongst them. And I had heard that he was also against the Steward and the Assembly for their backing up of my bans and the Sheriff’s enforcement of them.”
“And now you have told me that, I warn you most sincerely that he is even more dangerous. Expect hints to be spread around about some negatives in your character, that’s how those types start. Then he shall start to try to organise some sort of opposition. A few protests against you, perhaps suggesting you have too much influence. He might then open another restaurant and try to undercut you there, or open some hostelry and spread rumours of inefficiencies in yours. It won’t matter to him about actually sticking to the truth and facts.”
“And how do we combat that sort of aggression?”
“You must hope that your qualities speak for themselves. And that therefore these unfounded rumours are proven wrong. Or catch him red-handed as he commits some other act that would discredit him. If the entire Town witnessed his wrongdoing, and laughed at him or destroyed his precious ‘reputation’, he would almost certainly require to remove himself from Town. To start his nonsense again somewhere else entirely and against someone else entirely.”
There came another knock on the door which this time heralded the entrance of Pyor. The introductions were swiftly concluded, all agreed to drop titles and the conversational subject changed to what the men wanted.
There was the to-be-expected spoken dance between the two, and eventually Steef was elected to go first: “Julina, I find I have to visit just north of Haligo to see something about the barges we have ordered. I was hoping that I could hire one of your pack frayen for the trip. I would ride a beast rather than a wagon, for I am required up here as well, and wish to reduce the time of my absence. And not only that, the rains usually start two to three weeks after the Longest Day, I would desire to be back here before then.”
Pyor laughed and jumped in then: “’Tis strange, ’Lina. That is EXACTLY why I am here. I too have to visit just north of Haligo. And I too require a pack animal, for I too desire haste. Don’t tell me Steef, you wish to depart on the morning after the Longest Day? On the 1st?”
“Indeed so, Pyor. Indeed so,” he replied laughing. “Shall we then descend together? ’Twould be more companionable. I was intending to make Tranidor my first overnight, could you manage that distance from up here? I would be starting from the Roadhouse of course.”
“Such a schedule would be tight, but doable I would expect. Perhaps you should await me with say some cheese ’twixt two thin hunks of bread, that I might eat as we progress along the road and not drop sloppy food all over me and my beast.”
“Now that’s a good idea,” I jumped in suddenly, loudly and very enthusiastically. “May I steal that idea and develop it in my catering interests? I deem that might start an entirely new trend.” The more I thought about it, the more keen I became.
Which I deem Pyor picked up on: “With the greatest of pleasure. ’Tis but an idea that I just had, I know not whence it came. Feel free to grab it.” He laughed. “Feel free to take out an Exclusivity Licence if you wish, for all I care. I can do nothing with it.”
“Heard and witnessed!” said Davvy, to a burst of merriment from all around. Davvy was very enthusiastic too, which, she then explained to us all, was because she realised immediately that it would make her task of eating with only one good arm a lot easier.
I thought more deeply about it, saying slowly: “We can slice meats and vegetables, why on Anmar shouldn’t we slice loaves of bread? Make them all the same thickness, just enough to stop the grease and sauces from coating the eater’s fingers. Oh! But it’s bad enough keeping loaves fresh for a long time, a thin slice would harden almost immediately ...” My voice petered off as I started thinking ever more deeply about it. But if the bread was cut only immediately before making the … the … bread pie-let, I suppose that is a good enough name for now, then it wouldn’t have time to harden? And if the loaf was stored cut face downwards, then that would delay ...
I was brought back to the room and my ‘guests’ when there came a further knock on the door. This time, Sookie came in along with Brydas. I realised with a shock that I had then run out of chairs. Should anyone else arrive, they would have to sit on the floor or the desk or the storage units along the walls!
“Good morrow, you two. Have we all been introduced? This is ...”
“Oh let’s stop with all that nonsense,” rumbled Brydas’ deep voice. “We have all met before and have all worked together in some or other fashion. I am Brydas.”
“And I am Sukhana, but most call me Sookie – if they’re being polite!” She grinned engagingly as she said that. And then she gave Davvy directly an extra grin, which only the three of us understood.
Davvy blushed as I said: “Now, now, Sookie – behave!”
We three all waved away the demands for an explanation, knowing that ’twould take longer to give the necessary background to the story than it would to tell the story itself.
We did, however, (that’s another grouping of ‘we’ by the way) take a little time to bring Sookie and Brydas up to date with what we had been discussing earlier, with the emphasis upon the travelling rather than going too much into the bread pielets.
Brydas broke in to the explanations by saying: “Hah! I deem you could leave in a week’s time and still overtake the Princes and their large party!”
“How so?” asked Pyor.
“The last of them left Blackstone thirty days ago, thirty, I tell you! Their first day’s travel, with side trips for the mounted ones off to see the coke plant, and the stone quarry, and the works behind Strettalm, took them as far as the Forest Roadhouse. Then the next day, they only just made Brayview for the night, a close inspection of Bezlet all the way down to the river end and the works at Kord’s Peak having been declared to be required.
“And the last semaphore we had from Senidet ...” (Davvy and Surtree both dug me in the ribs, the ingrates) “… told us they were only just about to leave Haligo to get to Teldor. Apparently, there has been incredibly much to inspect, enquire upon, view and talk about with various nobles on their dreadfully slow passage downvalley.
“They were in Brayview for nearly a week, inspecting Bezlet, Brayview and Tamitil, …” (I tried hard to control my start at that news) “… and a day trip back into Ptuvilend. They passed on, at last, to Tranidor. Only reaching there some twelve or so days after leaving here.”
All of us gasped with shock at that. I knew that a small party of us had previously managed to ride that distance in a single day!
“They then stayed in Tranidor for no less than four nights and decided to follow the west bank of the Palar all the way down to Haligo. There is such development on that side, that they scarce made 10 marks in a day! Then, when they camped roughly opposite Holville, Prince Keren decided that they must needs take a ferry across to there and inspect the efforts made to clean up the town and the surrounding area. With most of their equipment on the far bank, the three nights they stayed there without moving on were a logistical nightmare. A ferry crossing each morning and each evening.”
“Senidet ...” (I glared to either side of me which succeeded in averting another elbow attack from the two youngsters) “… also said that the Countess Merizel was not travelling easily. Count Terinar and the others were worried about her. Prince Keren is considering splitting up his party, maybe sending Prince Torulf and his Einnlanders forward to the Palace, whilst the rest of them continue to go so slowly.”
He paused for breath as if inviting comment, but the rest of us were still sitting there gawping at his news.
“And then they had no less than three nights in Haligo. Apparently the count has founded a new castle and the old one is being partially demolished to make way for one of those railroad track laying whatsits.”
“I am uncertain of any distances beyond Tranidor, Uncle,” I said. “Can you make it more real for me please, somehow.”
“Let me think a while on’t. I deem that ...”
Sookie broke in then and, grasping Brydas’ hand whilst giving him an apologetic side look, said: “From Haligo to Dekarran is just about as far as it is from here to Tranidor, but there are ferries to be used around Teldor, which is very roughly halfway along that stretch of the journey, so ‘tis perchance unrealistic to expect to do it in one day. Haligo is in a way a sensible sort of stopping point between Tranidor and Teldor. It lies downvalley from Tranidor about as far as Brayview is from here. If a frayen rider was really determined, then they could leave here and get to Tranidor for the first night, then get to between Haligo and Teldor for the second night, and make Dekarran for the third night – but that would be a hard, hard, hard ride.
“Much better would be to get to Brayview, then to Toomer’s Gulley, then to Teldor before having an easy access to Dekarran on the fourth day. Of course, weather and time of the year - more accurately, length of the days - also affect these sorts of timings.”
“I thank you most sincerely, dear Sookie. Now I have a clearer idea in my head. So the Royal Party have taken nigh-on thirty days to do what COULD be done in a mere three. Maker, but that really is slow.”
Pyor interjected then: “But I happen to know full well that His Highness has been keen to use some diplomacy to ease the building of the railroad way, or ways, actually, as there shall be a way down each bank of the river. I deem he has spent his time wisely, if this makes the building of the ‘steel road’, as we at the head of the valley now call it, more easy and efficient.”
“Ah! I had not thought of that. That makes it slightly more comprehensible, I suppose.” Everyone in the room nodded wisely at that, even the two younger ones.
In an attempt to change the emphasis of our talking, Sookie politely enquired of the men: “So when shall you actually leave, Masters?”
“We have determined to get on our way early in the morning of the day after the Longest Day celebrations ...”
Pyor was interrupted by Steef: “Maker! I had forgotten about the celebrations to be had up here, we shall not make such a spectacle down at the Roadhouse. I shall stay up here then, enjoy the day and we can leave together at first light. Will that do for you?”
“Indeed! So shall we do it. I look forward to the companionship and thank you for the consideration.”
“Likewise.”
The men reached over to clasp hands to ‘seal the deal’ and turned to me – well, they were in my office so I was technically their hostess – to take their leaves.
Just as Sookie started up again: “Now Julina, I must talk to you about your orders of beers for all your vast empire of guesthouses and restaurants.”
I suppose the important word there must have been ‘beer’ for the two men sat down again, looking interested. Even Sookie grinned at that as she flashed me glance whilst raising her eyebrows and rolling her eyes. Brydas’ deep rumbling laugh made us all smile.
“A serious subject, then!” I said, which made Surtree and Davvy snigger behind raised hands.
“As it happens, yes!” replied Sookie. “We only have a limited capacity for production and this has been strained recently. I shall have to somehow find coin to expand it. And we can see that the waters in the Bray stream are not quite so clear as those in the Blackstone stream coming from the dam, so we nowadays have to employ wagons to bring us casks of the fresher water from somewhere above the bridge. Which means that we have increased costs.
“What started as almost a hobby has now become a serious and expanding business. And the population here is continuing to grow, every day there are men and families arriving hoping to find work. We have plenty of work of course, that is not the problem, but the accommodation is getting strained and the people – well, the men really – are also getting thirstier by the moment, particularly as the days warm up. I myself ran out of ale last evening, which wasn’t particularly popular. Fortunately, ’twas nigh-on time to close, so ’twas a very short time we went beerless. The next batches were ready this morn, so there shall be some available for this evening, and we had some for the small beers we served at breakfast and will require at lunch.”
“Shall you have enough for the Longest Day celebrations – they are only three days away after all?” There was a collective in-drawing of breath from the men, Brydas included, as I asked that.
“That is very much debatable,” replied Sookie – to audible groans from the three. “I had catered for the expected demand, and even had arranged for a hand of casks in reserve. Now I have a mere two for use ‘in case’. I had anticipated, and indeed produced a brewing schedule for all that I then knew about, but now I have sent two barrels across to the Stoop, two up to the Frayen over there, and one to your Salon. That has taken three out of my planned reserves. And you sent a message that perchance there should be one here for the people enjoying the Park to be able to access during the days.”
“This is true! The back of this building is now opened every day from noon for two bells, and we are already providing much drinking water to those that request it. Davvy, Surtree and I spend most of that time washing up the drinking vessels. We also get many requests for pies and so on, which we cannot fulfil since the kitchens are not yet completed. That’s one of the several reasons I was so interested in Pyor’s idea of the bread pielets – I really must find a better name for them – for then we could swiftly prepare those and provide some light food, as was always envisaged.”
“My! You always see things about four paces before anyone else, ’Lina. How do you do it?”
All the others, I noticed with some surprise, started nodding as Sookie made that unexpected pronouncement.
“Kallisthena, Sookie. I just wish that was true. All I’m doing is finding solutions to the problems I have, or which crop up as the day progresses.”
Davvy snorted at that: “You’re not doing too well at finding solutions to your big problems, though!”
“And what are those?” demanded Sookie, to the utter fascination of the three men.
“She has been asked to open her Consociation downvalley which would mean her leaving Blackstone. Sure, she could return sometimes, for very short visits, but essentially, whilst the thing is being built up, she would be downvalley, probably in Dekarran. She doesn’t know whether or not to accept the Prince’s … invitation to do that. And that is her greatest problem, a problem she is patently NOT solving.”
“You said she had more than one ‘Great Problem’, though?”
“Ah! The other she has not revealed. She is apparently waiting to talk with Master Bezan before she reveals any details...” She pouted, quite prettily actually. “She hasn’t even told ME.”
Sookie smiled at that, Davvy’s slightly annoyed jealousy being plainly apparent. At least it was to us, that was. As usual, the men just smiled politely, probably missing the full details of the exchange.
“This is all getting away from the beer shortage,” I said firmly. “How are we going to deal with that?”
And so the discussions went back to the short-term possibilities and the long-term ones.
The short term solutions really just boiled down to ‘making do’. I agreed that, should there become a shortage, we would first react by not making beer available in the Park garden shop, the next emergency measure being drawing back a cask from the Stoop, then, if really, really necessary, taking one of the Frayen’s casks. We chose the one from the Frayen since the Bunkhouse was so distant. Sure, the Stoop was actually farther away, but the Bunkhouse was certain to be crowded that night after a complete day of no work.
As for the long-term, then the solution we found was for me to have another half-share in a company. I would provide the coin for building a brewery, Sookie would staff and run it. We would share the profits. We agreed to get it all signed and sealed and ‘heard and witnessed’ and all the rest on the morrow, when we could get Representative Jepp to draw up all the documents. We decided that we should harken to our princess and her words, her encouragements to ‘think big’, so we anticipated demand for the drinks to come from the Roadhouse, maybe even Bezlet, as well as the Town up here.
Taking all matters into account, well all of which we could think, and the two ‘extra’ men were of great assistance there, we decided that we should create the Blackstone Brewery astride the first large side-stream just down in the trees, to the east of the road. There was little likelihood of housing being built there, so therefore far less likelihood of any water contamination, trees were to be removed nearby for the railroad way, and when the railroad was working, then it could be used for distributing the casks to their hopefully many destinations. ’Twould also be cooler there, in amongst the trees rather than in an outhouse behind the Claw.
Sookie and Brydas seemed a little taken aback by the scale of my thinking, but had to agree that it fell into line with the Princess’ oft-worded directives. We despatched Surtree to see if he could find out when Master Bezan would be next in town, for he would have the final say as to the location, and as to the priorities to be applied to the new building, yet another that would needs be thrown up in this never-ending town and county expansion.
As we waited for the lad to return, the subject of my potential move was brought up. None of the four adults had left, they all seemed determined to assist me to come to some end to my indecision. We discussed things forwards and backwards, my frustrations growing with every passing heartbeat. Nothing new came out and I told them, through gritted teeth, that I had been over all this just a few million times in my head.
“So really your problem,” said Sookie slowly, “is that you feel you require more information before being able to commit yourself one way or the other?”
“That is the conclusion to which I have come,” I agreed.
“Very well then. So what extra do you need to know? Mayhap my experiences could be useful?”
I felt something break inside me at that moment and I had to fight back a sudden surge of tears – Sookie and Davvy both realised that and came and hugged me.
“I must (*sniff*) try to put aside the emotional (*sniff*) questions that are worrying me (*sniff*). Things like: ‘What shall the people I live and work with be like?’ ‘Where shall I be based?’ ‘Who will ...’”
“Hold there a moment, young lady! Did you say ‘Where shall you be based’?”
“Indeed, Sookie. The Prince suggested that Dekarran would be a better location for ease of access from all of Palarand, but went on to suggest that mayhap Brikant would be even better for he even suggested that others in the Great Valley might attend!”
“Oh Maker! No wonder you are confused and torn. That is indeed a big unknown to be carrying around.”
Such was her tone, such was her compassion, that what little self-control I had retained up to that moment was swept away. Once the dam inside me had broken, I found myself pouring out all my hopes and fears and concerns and misgivings.
Tearfully.
Amidst much wailing.
I let it all go and thereby raised a lot of eyebrows during my outpourings, sometimes all together, sometimes individually.
My tears wracked my body as weeks and months of accumulated tension was released.
I found myself feeling as if all my internal cords had been cut.
I found myself apologising over and over again, but Davvy and Sookie reassured me and the men, as one part of my brain noticed, seemed uncomfortable witnessing such a huge emotional storm. But, to give them their due, they stayed and muttered encouraging words from time to time.
I suppose my melt-down lasted mayhap a half bell and then ’twas over – but not suddenly as that previous phrase might imply. I apologised again to them all, but this time with some metal in my voice. I could FEEL myself recovering. There were people relying on me and I simply could NOT let them all down.
I was brought back to some further degree of sense when Surtree returned. We were all somehow amazed that Master Bezan was actually with him. A fact that helped me dry my tears and stiffen my resolve. He took one look at me, glanced round the whole room, eye-contacting the others to acknowledge them and then switched his attention back to me. His gaze held mine to such an extent that I was conscious of the fact that I could not look away.
“So, young Mistress, you have broken that iron determination and self-control at last. We on the Assembly have long been expecting it. You may not believe me right now when I say that this is a good thing ...” (I could feel Sookie nodding in agreement and heard Brydas mutter an ‘Aye!’) “… but I daresay that come tomorrow you will begin to realise that. You need a break, Mistress, you need to just back off somewhat from all that you currently do and let something new take over your life for a bit. Throw away the old concerns and find something totally different to occupy yourself with. I have seen this happen so often in my life so far, and it has happened to me as well – at least twice! You SHALL emerge stronger from this.”
His kindly tones, his warm words, along with the unlimited encouragement from all the others in the room kick-started that healing process.
Maker! I felt lighter somehow, and could also feel myself starting once again to get my thoughts and actions going.
It must have been visible to the others for Davvy said, to a great burst of laughter from all: “Oh oh! She’s starting up again! Shall we have no rest?”
I found my own lips stretching as I smiled at that.
And so we discussed the location of the new Brewery, an idea that Master B found to be sensible, and then I took him outside for a private chat.
We left the office and walked across the floor to look out of the south-facing windows above the Park. He laughed at my idea, thought about it briefly and concurred with my conclusions. Then he said: “Would you mind so much if I became your neighbour? This would be excellent for development in a few years’ time and I thank you for giving me the idea.”
“Are you serious, Master? That would also be a great boon, more security down there, if you see what I mean?”
“And I will get it marked out and noted in the records and all that.”
“Excellent! I shall tell Master Schild then to transfer the necessary coin – once the Assembly have decided what that amount shall be, of course! And allow you to choose the best spot.”
“Very well! So be it.”
As we returned along the otherwise deserted upper floor of my Mansion, I pointed out to him where the markings showed the expected design for my private quarters and explained about the rounded piece that would be cut out of the roof to allow light down, and where the floor here would be cut away.
“Hmmmm!” he said, obviously deep in thought. “Again you give me furiously to think, Mistress. To think furiously, that is. Again, I am in your debt. Shall it upset you if I use that basic idea in other designs in other houses?”
“Not in the slightest! ’Tis yours to play with as you see fit. Just don’t let neighbouring buildings to here overcrowd my part of Town!”
By then, we had returned to my Office and I couldn’t keep the smile from my face.
I decided there and then to let those gathered there into my ‘secret’ plan – the one that I had been dithering about: “My burden has been further lightened somewhat by Master Bezan, here, as I have now come to a decision to go ahead with what Mistress Davabet there knows as my ‘secret’ idea.” The formality in my use of terms of address, made them all sit up and take notice.
Davvy’s face split into a delighted grin as she hopped up and down in excitement – even though she had no clue as to what it might be.
“I shall purchase a strip of land, about the same size as that down at the Retreat, but further down the river bank, ’twixt Kord’s Peak and Tamitil. This shall be my own private ‘Retreat’ somewhere to go to let off steam as I have learnt this morning I must do. Once the nose of Kord’s Peak has been cleared ...”
“If I might be so rude as to interrupt, Mistress Julina?” stated Master B.
I looked over at him and nodded, the obvious question drawn equally obviously on my face.
“The nose of Kord’s Peak has in fact been successfully removed, yesterday. There is now just room for walkers and for frayen to squeeze between the rock and the river. Work is continuing, of course, but the way has been made open and the footing, as far as is possible, has been made even.
“A tow path for the barges to come must now be cleared as a matter of urgency, all the way down to Tamitil, below which I am told there exists such a path already. As regards the stretch where your land shall be, Mistress, a track that follows the river winds along there and it should not be too difficult a job to clear it sufficiently for the towing. We are cutting a more direct route to Tamitil from Kord’s Peak through the trees since the river has bends on that stretch; in fact, it nigh-on doubles the distance – however, there are foresters’ tracks down there, a bit of a maze of them actually, although there IS a route through them.”
“Thank you, Master Bezan. That is indeed interesting news. I deem I have something new to go and investigate. Overnight in Bezlet, investigate the river bank and those foresters’ tracks, back to Bezlet for a further overnight and then back here.”
“Julina! You are back at it again. Listen to yourself, already arranging tasks to be done. Slow down, girl!”
I looked across at Brydas and saw him wagging a paternal finger at me. “Oh Uncle, I cannot but say I feel so much lighter. That decision has been taken, it weighs no longer around my neck. I feel energised.”
“Maker! What have we allowed to be unleashed?”
And so our discussions continued, everyone being generous with their time just to help little me! A very humbling morning, I deem!
We did discover why the Senidet thing had arisen in my mind. ’Twas simply because my subconscious was telling me I should discuss with her about the difficulties of moving from Palarand downvalley and starting there anew. Of course, she had her Tedenis, but she had managed it successfully.
I felt an idea start to grow in the back of my head, one of those unformed ones that couldn’t yet be described. I knew from experience that I should not push it just then.
We shortly afterwards broke up our meeting and my guests all left with my sincere thanks ringing in their ears.
I did, though, immediately find something else to worry about! Would I be embarrassed next time I saw any of them?
… … …
“Venket! Can you finish this sauce for me, I deem you are the one most able to relinquish your current task?” I squeaked as a sudden enthusiasm for something else entirely struck me.
“Of course, Julina. What have you done so far?”
I told her what steps I had already achieved, all the while flapping an urgent hand at Davvy. She took one look at the excitement in my eyes and just rolled hers back at me. As soon as we could, we moved across into the family room at the front of Em’s house. There, my idea, the one that had tickled me that morning, came bursting out of me and into dear Davvy’s ears.
“Davvy! Remember when we spoke with the Countess? Didn’t she say that the Royal Party would leave Dekarran in a week’s time in order to get to Palarand City in time for the Harvest Festival? Today is the 28th of Lemilat, didn’t she say that they would depart from Dekarran on the 4th or 5th of Choth?”
“I deem that she said they would leave Dekarran on the 5th, as the Harvest Festival is on the 7th. They would overnight part way on the 5th and complete the journey on the 6th, arriving the day before the festivities.”
“Do you realise what that means?”
“Not yet, ’Lina, but I’m sure you are about to tell me.” She grinned cheekily as she said that.
“We have unavoidable duties during the upcoming celebrations but we could leave with Pyor and Steef, early in the morn of the 1st. That night in Tranidor. The next night beyond Haligo. And get to Dekarran on the 3rd, if we travel a full day each day, and swiftly, like when we went that time to Tranidor in one go. Sookie said it could be done. I could then ask of Senidet all that I would need to know, I could answer the Prince in person and then we would have time to return more leisurely before the rains. Once we get to Tranidor, even if there the rains have started, we usually have a few days before the rains start up here. And actually, once we get on the east bank of the Palar, we could make our way home, even if the rains are early this year. There are no ferries required, no river crossings, so we could do it – but ’twould be most uncomfortable, I deem.”
Her face lit up. “Oh yes!” She breathed. “I would dearly love to see more of our land, and you are right, we should have time to spare. Oh ’Lina, let’s do it!”
“I deem you are as enthusiastic as Gy… Hold! We could also ask Gyth, and maybe her mother too, as Waxerwet is now one of our keenest riders. She would also provide some respectability to a party of young women. Let me call Gyth in now.”
And so I made the decision as to try to catch Senidet and ask her my burning questions, in an attempt to make the answer to the Big Question. This I felt was a further lightening of the stressful ‘load’ I was carrying.
… … …
“I’m sorry, Julina but I must try to forbid you from so doing.”
“But Papa, why not? We shall be four, we shall be gone only a week or eight days, we shall have our frayen. And pack frayen. We can all ride. What is the problem?”
“The problem, my dear, lies not with you, but with others. The roads of our land are generally peaceful, but all the same there are sufficient bands of robbers to be cause for concern. Why do you imagine the wagons usually employ guards? ’Tis true the coal ones don’t have cargoes that are of any much use to robbers, but others do. Mayhap these robbers are not as cruel as Hasad, or Trogan as he called himself up here, but nevertheless they exist.
“If you do not believe me, then ask the Bailiss. She was injured the first time by a band of highwaymen. I have always been concerned at your travelling almost alone, but for some reason I have built in my mind a limit to your excursions of Tranidor. From here to Tranidor, I deem the roads to be relatively danger-free. Beyond Tranidor, I have not such faith.”
I felt my heart sinking, for I knew in all actuality, he was right. I glanced at Davvy, and she was almost in tears.
We were startled by a knock at the door, and surprised that the one who came in was Captain Subrish.
“Captain?” I asked.
“Ah! Excuse me Julina, I was told that Representative Jepp was here. I went originally to the Claw for that was where I was directed, but missed him by a moment or two. He and Mistress Sukhana must have taken a differing route to get here.”
“I understand! Yes, I am indeed awaiting them at the moment. Sookie and I reached an agreement yesterday, and today is the time to formalise it all, with contracts drawn up and so on and so forth.”
A small sniff came from just behind me, just loud enough to direct Subrish’s attention to my companion. “Mistress Davabet, are you alright? You appear to be distressed?”
She just twisted her head in the universal sign of denial, and waved her hand in front of her face. I actually doubted that she could have spoken just then. Subrish looked to me for an explanation. I held up a hand to Papa to stop him from stepping in, such behaviour being, I knew, deeply ingrained into his character. He had the grace to let me deal with the question.
“We had planned a mad dash down to Dekarran, so that I might make some more enquiries of members of that caravan in order for me to fulfil my promise to the Prince of giving him an answer before the rains. Davvy, along with Gythy and her mother, were all most enthusiastic to see more of our land and we four intended to depart on the morning of the 1st, the day after the celebrations here. Countess Merizel told me that the Royal Party planned to leave Dekarran on the 5th to cross the Sirrel, so we deemed we could make the journey, intercept the Royal Party, ask my questions, make my decision and then get back here before the weather intervened.”
“I see! That is a somewhat ambitious schedule, I deem – but again doable if sufficiently determined. ’Tis after all downhill all the way, so it could be possible in that direction, but certainly not coming up to here. But the beasts shall be sorely tried, I warn you. What is the actual problem, then?”
“We would travel as far as Haligo in the company of Masters Steef and Pyor, but after that we would be alone. Papa here suggests that would be too dangerous for four unescorted females to progress unescorted.”
“And you know, deep down, that your father is right, do you not?”
“Sadly, Captain, I do.”
At that point, there was another knock at the door, and Jepp and Sookie came in, the former laden with paper, reeds, parchment, wax, seals and goodness knows what else. It appeared that they had detoured to the office in the Community Hall to fetch such stuff, which is why Subrish had managed to get here before them.
Once the introductions had all been made, I allowed Subrish to deal with his business with Jepp first, correctly determining that he would be swift and probably had more important things to do than sit around listening to a boring session in which a company was to be set up.
“Representative, I have need of some access to the Assembly records, searching for some things that must have happened before I arrived. I was hoping that I might prevail upon you to allow me to peruse them – and was hoping now to be able to make a firm appointment so to do.”
“Is there a degree of urgency, Captain, or can it wait until after the Longest Day street party?”
“I deem that it can even wait a week - or even two, come to that.”
“Very well then,” said Jepp as he wrote himself a reminder. “I shall let you know when shall be best. Do you wish to find any particular subject, that I might be able to cut shorter your searches?”
“Perchance we should discuss that a little more privately, Representative. I would hate to divulge anything that might be considered secret, or not for general knowledge, due to my ignorance of historical events.”
Jepp caught the Captain’s meaning immediately. “I shall attend you then, over in the Barracks, in, let us say, three-quarters of a bell?”
“That would be most considerate. I thank you.” So saying, Subrish bowed to us all, said his farewells and departed.
And we all got down to the forwards and backwards of the terms of the contract and the signatures, and the ‘heard and witnessed’s and all of that stuff. Papa was the ‘independent’ witness, along with Davvy. Finally, it was done. I had yet another half share in a company that was starting out.
And then came another knock on the door. I was surprised to see Subrish accompany Surtree back from his training session. Surtree used his hands to indicate that the Captain should be the first to speak.
“Master Kordulen, Mistresses Julina and Davabet, I deem I have a solution for your problem. The Representative here can confirm that we have need to send some documents, messages and the like down to His Grace at Dekarran, and to receive some replies to our queries. I can therefore allocate you a guard of four men. That should be sufficient to allay your father’s fears and to achieve our desires too. I have spoken with the men involved and they are all prepared to ride that distance as swiftly as the party can manage. I shall send the file leader to you here on the morrow, if that shall be alright with you.”
Davvy I knew had to hold herself back from running over and hugging him. I felt some grateful tears spring to my lids, which I cuffed away with the back of my hand. Papa looked relieved and yet unenthusiastic. Surtree had a look on his face that I could not interpret. Representative Jepp just smiled indulgently.
Thus it was that our journey – I always referred to it ever after, but only in my head you will understand, as the ‘Downvalley Dash’ – was finally settled.
And then I had a whole bunch of semaphores to send, and needed to get hold of Haka as Davvy would require a ‘for best’ dress if we were going to look presentable, after a hard journey, to the Royal Party. I felt bad about asking Haka to do it, but I could think of no other solution in the limited time we had. She was still adamant that I should not hesitate to ask her such things, continuing to maintain that she was evermore in my debt. I tried my hardest to remember not to ask her such things in the future.
The semaphores were sent, and indeed one was answered – yes, we would be welcome at Epp’s, the two men as well, but the guards would need to sleep over at the ‘Iron Spear’ in West Tranidor, rooms being limited in Tranidor that night – we had hardly given them much notice after all. Epp would think of other places we should stay on our journeyings.
… … …
The next morning, File Leader Mompik stood the other side of my desk, refusing all my blandishments to take a seat. This I deemed was due to the need to be ‘military’ in front of his immediate superior, Quadrant Ponstib, and in front of the Ranger they had brought with them - a fresh-faced young man called Vakter. I say young even though he was older than I, it was just that he was younger than the file leader.
“And we shall be in a great hurry, for we need to overtake the Royal Party before they cross the Sirrel. Despite the fact that four of our party are women, and that means we shall require more frequent ‘natural breaks’ than you men, we shall descend as fast as is humanly and frayenly possible. Now you two, and your two colleagues ...”
“They shall be called Kabarad and Rakshak.”
I frowned at Mompik’s interruption and his lack of title used to address me, which Quadrant Ponstib picked up on, as did Em.
“… if you so say. But to get back to what I was saying, you two are to be ...”
“Are you leaving out the other two then?” Mompik again interrupted. This time, Davvy, Ponstib, Em, Surtree and I all frowned openly. I looked over my shoulder to where Gyth and her mother were sitting. They too were disturbed, I could tell.
I tried again: “As I was trying to say, you two are very much ...”
“Just us two, then! That is the clarification I required.”
“Mompik! Attend!” came a very commanding order from the now-standing Ponstib.
“Sir!”
“You are bordering on being replaced for this mission. You shall address the woman opposite you as Mistress Julina and shall remember that this mission is hers and ’tis she who shall be making the decisions. Is that clear?”
Mompik had paled as the facts of the matter were made abundantly plain to him. “Yes, sir! So shall I sir!”
“Then apologise man, be quick about it, and don’t let it happen again!”
“Yes, sir! No, sir!”
Mompik turned to me: “I apologise for appearing impolite, Mistress. I was overly concerned about the men I shall be commanding. And I had not fully appreciated the … conditions of this mission. I had assumed that you civilians were just attaching yourselves to our group, taking advantage of our Ranger-required trip to Dekarran.”
“I deem, Mompik, that actually the boot is, as it were, upon the other foot. You four have been assigned to protect us in our mission, and the delivery of documents has been added to your burden to take advantage of THAT situation. Your apology is accepted. Let me hasten to add that we shall all obey your orders in the event of an emergency, but that OUR mission is the reason for the trip happening at all. You should know that ’tis I who is paying the costs of this all, so I am in effect hiring you and your men. We have to travel swiftly, as mentioned, so there shall just be us on frayen, with some pack beasts too – no wagons. There shall be four females, three males, and each shall trail a pack frayen. I trust this information is sufficient for you to lay your plans accordingly?”
“Thank you, Mistress. I shall not make the same mistake again.”
“That you won’t!” growled Ponstib. “I want a word with you when we are finished here.”
… … …
For a week or two now, we had been using the old VMS building as a sort of preparation kitchen for all those who catered in Town. This was something that had proven to be an excellent idea, for we had a generally much cooler building (the summer weather was becoming increasingly hot by then) and we had in there space for many more of the zeers. We also found working with so many others to be mostly much freer somehow, more laughs. Yes there were some conflicts and some who could not work with others, but these people were easily separated, so large was our working space. Deliverers professed themselves also pleased as they had mostly just one drop-off point. Mousa had decided that she would use that building as her kitchen, now that the Community Hall was mostly empty and this building was more centrally located.
I confess we in the Salon team picked up some useful tips and tricks from the others but must say, I dare hope not too immodestly, that they picked up far more from us. Which gave me useful insights that I could use in the Consociation teaching sessions, if, when and wherever that ended up being.
I need to first go back a little in time though.
At my last detailed session with Master Schild I had learnt that I was getting even more coin, this time a great increase from Papa and Pocular, for the nationwide sales of hand mirrors and Beam Lanterns had shot up. Master Schild urged me to invest my steadily growing riches in property for he was certain that prices of houses and land plots would never be so cheap as they were at the moment. (He also urged me to do something else sensible that I shall come back to a little later.) Which is why I had been spending quite so much recently – the Brewery, the riverside plot near Tamitil, and … the old VMS building.
Yes, that building now belonged to me.
But only His Honour, Representative Jepp, Masters Bezan and Schild, Davvy and I knew.
Mousa was to be told as well, since she would have to pay me a small rent, and that way she would tell Epp, for, you shall remember, her catering company was partly owned by Epp, being as how it was a copy of Epp’s successful operation down in Tranidor. These were several of the reasons I charged such a low rent!
So on the Day of Celebrations, the longest day of our year, I found myself presiding over a huge number of cooks in the Communal Kitchen as we had now termed it. I arranged a roster such that the others could have a bell at a time off, allowing them to depart in threes, others covering their tasks during their absences. That way, all of us got to enjoy some of the festivities as the day progressed. I made sure that Davvy had a lot of time off, for she was of limited use to us in the actual preparations. In effect, she took over Surtree’s role for I had given the lad a day off (with pay) so that he could enjoy the day with his family.
Quite early on, there was a hand of visitors who provided me with a great and welcome surprise: “Legbato! Are you here for our celebrations? When did you get in? How long are you here for?”
He smiled as he said: “We arrived last night and have some tumbling tasks today to keep your crowds amused. We shall do a short play as a sort of warm-up for Berdon and Bettayla’s troupe later. The weather is set fair for a warm and clear evening, so it shall be up there on what used to be the Parade Ground, next to where the huge bonfire has been built.”
I finished hugging him as he explained his presence and stood back to study him. He was doing the same to myself. I could indulge in some hugging here, for I was in a roomful of women so the proprieties were maintained.
“You seem less careworn than the last time you were here, Legbato?”
“Indeed so, and much of that is due to YOUR influence for you have managed to make us a SMALL travelling troupe in LARGE demand in the villages and roadhouses from here to Tranidor. We actually have some coin saved nowadays!
“But you yourself have changed greatly, Mistress. You have become an adult and a woman within that short and swift passage of time. You have an air of authority and one of purposefulness. And yet still retain your innate grace and poise. An even more wonderful combination than before. But I deem you also look tired. Are you pressing yourself too much?”
Now I remind you that he said all this in full earshot of all the other women busying themselves in this large room, so ’twas no surprise I blushed to my roots. We talked on for a little longer, however I was in one way pleased when he said he had to dash off. I was by then getting upset at all my blushings.
But I confess ’twas a delight to see him and his colleagues again - and to know that he had made a special effort to track me down gave me a warm and fond feeling deep inside. His companions were all also most sincere and fulsome in their thanks to me for, as they said, ‘kick-starting’ again their careers.
Once the door had closed behind them, I got back to slicing and dicing and stirring and ladling and stoking fires and all the rest. Slicing bread and making with the slices many of those little pie-like things I had now determined to call ‘Brets’. There was little time to be wasted after all.
I was the one who spent most time throughout that day in those kitchens and I observed that there were distinct waves of demand for our basics. But fear not, I had not forgotten myself, and I too managed to get out a couple of times to see for myself the joy with which the day was celebrated by all.
The afternoon was fading, but not yet into the latter part of the evening. ’Twas well before the true darkness set in when we opened the Salon; on that day ’twas done especially a little earlier than usual for we had THREE seatings scheduled for that night. We had carefully timed them to straddle the play acting and the singing, the main display of which was coming once again from the Miners’ Chorus. I confess we were almost rushed off our feet.
But ’twas only almost.
This meant that we had a few moments of crisis as we all rushed to get everything done, then cleared up again ready for the next session. A pattern of behaviours that repeated itself each time. I was immensely grateful that night for our policy of asking that people ordered their food in advance, and for the fact that I and the others had worked so assiduously throughout the day. The Appreciation Pot received a noticeable amount above the norm that night.
Everyone, and I mean everyone except young Venket who had volunteered since we had to have someone guarding the fires alight in the kitchen and to keep stirring the sauces and the like, went up to the former Parade Ground to hear His Honour’s speech, which was once again encouraging and energising and full of hope for the future. We workers in the Salon then had to scamper back down to deal with the final seating that night, which took place as most of the Town sang, swayed and danced around the huge bonfire they lit after Captain Bleskin’s stirring words. That would not last too long we knew, for the foreseen shortage of beer was about to make itself felt. A bac had been sent, with Mistress Kalket, to ‘liberate’ the earmarked barrel from the Stoop.
Amongst the diners in the last session that night were some people I had invited for a free meal, three couples in fact: Swayga was with Papa of course, then there was Pomma with Waldan. Em was escorted by, no surprise there, Quadrant Ponstib. They were all seated at one table and were to be the last to leave because of that something that Master Schild had said, the subject I promised earlier to return to. Sookie and Brydas too had been at another table, enjoying an evening alone as it were. I realised that they could be valuable witnesses to what was about to occur so I asked them to tarry a little longer.
As soon as the dining room was deserted of all but this required group of eight, I announced: “Thank you all for staying here when there is so much more happening outside. It is indeed much appreciated. I shall be swift in my delivery this e’en.
“A few weeks ago now, Master Schild strongly urged me to do something for the times when I might be somehow incapacitated, for whatever reasons. I have semaphored Epp and Shemel and they agreed with what I am about to do so ’tis time for me to arrange it all. I have learnt that I could be struck down with illness, or injury, and that would leave a large problem.
“I deem you all know that I am to travel down to Dekarran, departing very early on the morrow, so I have to beg of you all to recall that I have little time now for any prolonged discussions, if I am to get any sleep this night.
“I should be back in less than two weeks so I doubt that these emergency measures I am about to enact will be required. To cut it as short as is possible, I wish to appoint a triumvirate of Mistresses Swayga, Pomma and Michet to act in my place should I be prevented somehow from taking up all my duties. I am deliberately making this announcement in front of the partners of the three and also with Mistress Sukhana and Master Brydas as witnesses.
“I have interests in Meglina Accommodations, Blackstone Wagons, Blackstone Rail, and – newly – Blackstone Brewery as well as here in the Salon. I have invested heavily in several other businesses too. I deem that with all your expertises and sense, you will be able to keep those enterprises functioning – hiring and firing as it becomes necessary, recognising extra business opportunities and so on. I have signed documents to the effect that you three shall, together, be able to draw upon my funds and so on, fully capable of acting in my name. These documents have yet to be lodged with Master Schild, because I do not yet have your agreement to this cooperation. Can I in fact count upon having such an agreement?”
Discussions immediately started and, at one point not too far in, I had to get firm: “This is about three of you agreeing to my proposal, NOT about why or what could happen to delay me from returning from Dekarran. ’Tis but a simple request. After all is agreed, THEN we can discuss hypothetical reasons as to why it might have to be invoked.”
They all realised the truth of my statement and ’twas but a minute later that we had done all the ‘heard and witnessed’ stuff and an agreement was signed. This was handed to Uncle Brydas for safekeeping and for registering with Master Schild and with the Assembly as soon as he could.
Then they started up again about the reasons that might incapacitate me. I knew I had to let them have this discussion, for they needed to sort it all out in their own heads. In mine, ’twas already patently clear.
Finally, all was done and I could escape, leaving the others to do all the tidying up. Papa, Swayga and I walked home, did the usual night-time preparations and headed for our rooms.
And so, at long, long last my weary body could go and climb into bed. I tried to ignore quite how soon I would have to reawaken.
… … …
Papa, Swayga, Kords and Kissa Tai Chied with me, Davvy and Surtree in the last of the dark. It made it clear to me how concerned my family was with my long journey, a concern that made me once again somewhat uncertain, but I could not afford to let a hint of that escape. But we disturbed the silence not; just the small grunts, whistles and gasps that were a natural product of our bodies as we twisted and turned, stretched and contracted our way through the forms.
I noticed two things that morning:
– one, that somehow we had split into two groups, which was very unusual for us nowadays; my blood family were all together, while Davvy and Surtree were off to one side, Surtree though remained close to Kissa, which I confess was by now very usual
– second, that Davvy and Surtree seemed to be more noisy than the rest of us, not something I had at all previously noticed. And not that it actually mattered at all.
There was one other noticeable difference that morning – in the recent weeks, led by Surtree, four of us - Kords, Kissa, Davvy and I - had been gently practicing the unarmed combat moves for a half bell or so after the Tai Chi. Today, we did not do that, not simply because ’twas still dark, but because Davvy, Surtree and I were due to leave within a quarter bell. Parry had been good enough to send across to us three of the pack frayen we would be taking and they had been loaded before we started the Tai Chi. We were travelling light this time, very, very light. Only just enough to get us through a week, after which we shall have to do a deal of washing!
The young lad who had delivered the animals to us told us that the same arrangement had been made for Gyth and her mother. Which made me wonder with a small part of my brain at the amount of assistance we were getting from others.
Finally, we were finished and I saw Davvy’s eyes fill as both Swayga, and then Papa, gave her a most affectionate hug, something they hadn’t really done before. Surtree swelled with pride as Papa gave him a most manly hand-grasp and gruffly said: “Look after my girls, lad, for Davvy is surely a part of this family now.”
“I will, Master, that I will.”
So it was that we collected the animals and walked to the back entrance of the Claw. Just as we got there, the four Rangers appeared so we knew at least we would not have to wait for them! They were carrying sacks with their belongings in them.The seven of us turned into the courtyard and I was relieved to see the other four travellers there, all with their pack beasts packed. We twittered and mumbled our far-too-early-in-the-morning greetings. We four women disappeared for a last pre-emptive natural break, and then we were ready.
The men in our party were mounted already, each with a pack animal behind them. The belongings of the soldiers had been split across our beasts of burden so that the soldiers were unfettered if it came to a time they needed to fight. I helped Davvy up onto her mount whilst Gyth and Waxerwet scrambled up themselves. Their baggage animals were then attached to their saddles and Parry held the leading rein of mine.
So far, there was nothing at all too unusual in anything anyone did. The sky was noticeably lightening off to the east, but ’twas still basically dark. Perchance that was the only unnormality. ’Twas after all the very shortest night of the year.
As I said, ’twas nothing unusual as I swung my leg over Trumpa’s back. A simple bodily movement that passed by everyone’s notice in total normalcy.
And yet one that changed the whole world.