Julina provides reports of life in Blackstone. This is her introduction to herself.

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Disclaimer:

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.

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Blackstone is a small, decaying, high mountain community at the very end of one of the many mostly straight Chivan roads that abound in our country of Palarand. Our nearest ‘real’ town is called Tranidor, some 2 or so days’ journey southwards. The Blackstone River, more of a stream really, dribbles its way westwards out of Blackstone Vale and joins the freshly-born river (also a stream) named the Bray. The waters, joined here and there by other streams from the not-so-frequent canyons that populate the valley walls, then scurry and gurgle their way southwards through the Bray Valley to join the larger Palar River at Tranidor. This river then rushes ever down the Palar Valley, eventually to join a river called, I am told, the Sirrel at a town called Dekarran, which is the capital of our province, North Palarand.

My knowledge of such distant parts is simply by hearsay, having been only twice to Tranidor in my life, both times for a single overnight, both times as a babe in arms. I know of course, from conversations, of the towns down the valley as far as Dekarran; and that there is a wondrous city at the centre of Palarand where everyone is rich and have carefree lives, richer even than any of our Town Councillors!

My name is Julina.

I am a resident of Blackstone, one of a group that can be numbered on two or three hands who are still referred to as ‘children’ despite the counting of our years. I am the eldest of our family, apart from, of course, my Papa. My Mama left us not long after she explained the soon-to-be-expected changes in my body to me. I wonder if she knew somehow that her end was near, she having been trampled by a panicked frayen in the high pasture. A group of dranakh had seen off the threat from a cruising grakh, but not before Mama had been struck by a fleeing frayen, blind in its panic, which then trod on her. I now run the household for us all — Papa, me and my 5 younger siblings - yes I have a full hand of brothers and sisters; as a family, we were blessed with a much lower than normal rate of young children deaths. Mama had taught me some letters (we practiced with chalk sticks on one of the walls of our hut) and had taught me also some of the ‘delights’ ahead for me as a woman in a high mountain township community.

Men have it all so much easier, that’s for certain. A neighbour, who I had many talks with, also had (still has, actually) strong views that we women could be so much different if we could only get a chance.

Chances, however, were things that seemed very few and far between to us as we grew.

Even fewer and with bigger distances between them, when those animals led by Trogan turned up.

A close community like ours has many currents in it, but we all accept that life is hard and we do what we can. Some are open about what they do, whilst some (the Cobbler for example) are slimy and underhand — how they ever had such a nice person as Jasinet, I shall never know.

But Trogan and his thugs made life so much harder and more depressing. Papa’s normal routines were completely disarranged and I had to stay out of sight as much as possible and keep the kids out of trouble. We were trying to hide in plain sight, as it were, and every day that went by, it was more and more difficult.

Papa was then the designated man of the town for inspecting the roadside borders and ditches, and also for reporting which roadmarks need some maintenance. Sometimes, he did the work himself, but normally he would return and arrange a working party. His responsibility was supposed to be as far down the road as the junction with the Chaarn road, a full day’s journey, but Trogan refused to let him leave town on some excuse or another. An excuse that changed every week, it seemed. And the tax demands were crippling everyone, a burden particularly on those whose business was so restricted.

And then came the Lady Garia, our new Baroness, along with Prince Keren, son of our King, no less!

That was quite the entrance!

Mercy me! Now we females KNOW that we can do so much more.

And she brought with her her own scribe! And the scribe herself was a Lady! Lady Merizel. She had had delivered to herself a fantastical new thing they call paper, which is like parchment but so much lighter and easier to use. We discovered that it takes charcoal markers very well. I say we, you have noted. Yes, the Lady Merizel helped me so much; she was (and I fervently hope, still is!) so very, very kind. She even left behind some of her precious paper for those who wish to improve their skills. Master Jepp, the town’s Scribe is going to set up some school here for everyone, not just silly boys.

I have already told Mylady Merizel and Master Jepp that I wish to record my impressions of life around here. They are so supportive — even to the extent of already giving me some of the precious paper. So I am about to embark on a series of word-sketches to help others understand our life here a little better. Something I hope that my children will be able to pass onto their children, and they onto theirs and so on. This will reduce the otherwise inevitable exaggerations and distortions, ensuring a more accurate story is conveyed to future generations.

... ... ...

So that was what I wrote back then. Now I am many years older and have rediscovered my naive scribblings from back then. But I am pleased, as they have indeed fulfilled the ideals with which I started.

This was my dearest wish as I started out on what was to become an astounding and long journey, a life of which I was then totally unaware.

Blackstone has changed out of all recognition nowadays, and when I revisit, I am constantly amazed at not only the developments but also the astounding foresight shown by our Baroness, and the Palarandi royal family. And the ingenious ways in which problems were resolved.

So I have become determined to share those early scribblings with a wider audience.

And I will start with that close neighbour and friend mentioned above; even though she was then more than double my age when I first set this to paper, I was proud to call her ‘friend’.

I trust you will deal with me kindly - I was young and largely untutored when I started ...

Yours in hope,

Julina (of Blackstone)

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A long-term Blackstone resident relates her tale

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Disclaimer:

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 advice I received from a neighbour about growing up, and getting married, was somewhat startling as you will soon read. I have spent bells talking with her, as she seems so different. I often wondered that maybe that’s because she came to us from somewhere near Teldor.

The following is her story in, as far as is possible for a young and untrained girl like myself, her own words - some of which, I should warn you, are rarely used or are local dialect words; like, for instance, kiffen which has the plural form kiffenis. This is a funny little biting thing, smaller than a fikt, and very difficult to see, which leaps prodigious distances considering its size. Where I feel that some word may not be obvious, I have provided a more widely used alternative in the hope of being able to clarify.

So, with no further ado, here is her story … … ...

Some men are like kiffenis. They leap all over you, jab you enthusiastically a few times, then crawl off, leaving you irritable, itchy and swelling in all directions.

I’ve swelled regularly since my marriage to Willen and have four youngsters to show for it. There should have been a hand of them, but something went wrong with the middle pregnancy, quite early on. I didn’t suffer much but it could not have happened at a worse moment. Willen had arranged for his cronies, all of whom think they are the best crossbowmen in all of Anmar entirely, to come and eat their dinner at our house. Being so considerate, he only informed me the evening before and got all snotty when I reminded him that he was the food provider here. When he eventually remembered his responsibilities, the vikhan, which needs a good few bells to prepare and cook, arrived allowing me less than a bell spare. I asked him why the animal smelled so strongly of the ale-house and he got all huffy and stormed off. What with honey cakes, and pastries to make, and the vikhan to get ready for the table, I was very busy indeed, and still controlling a seven year-old daughter and a three year-old son. The food was finally ready, pel prepared and the children sent to the bedroom when the gang of four and their doughty leader began to arrive. He came last and ushered his merry men in before he himself deigned to enter. He eventually came in (strangely, he too was smelling of ale) and I picked up the heavy and hot platter of meat and juices. What I didn’t know was that the moron-in-chief had decided to drop his crossbow on the floor rather than use the small furniture we had for that purpose. He then compounded his folly by discarding his cloak over the top of it.

It really doesn’t take much to make men queasy, at least as far as the female side of things is concerned, and the facts of life. The farmers around here will spend bells mucking around in dung or peering knowingly up the backsides of constipated animals, but as soon as a baby spits up a mouthful of milk, they clear off, looking offended. Willen had this down to a fine art, and usually managed to slope off somewhere just as soon as the young ones were too much in evidence. This time, after I tripped over the wretched obstacle, dropped the platter and screamed just a little (well a lot, actually), my body decided to rid itself of an encumbrance. And my second son’s evacuation of my body was only marginally faster than the evacuation of the four grown men from our hut, closely followed by their intrepid leader.

Yes, it was left to me to tidy everything – or at least to arrange everything, and only do some of the tidying up. I screamed for Briselda to come to me, and then I explained to the terrified seven year-old to run next door to get Grizanthet. I say next door, but our hut was nearly a mark from the town then, on the other side of the Bray and old Griz was a little nearer to town than she was to us, just below the house of the scribe, whose wife was off visiting relatives living a bit downstream of Haligo. So I knew that Brizzy would take a while to do her bit, particularly as it involved crossing the stream; meaning that I had to crawl through the ruins of our dinner to get some cloths. Looking back on that evening, I’m glad that Termerik didn’t realise that he was totally unsupervised at the age of three. Now THAT would have been a disaster, the scrapes that one used to get into.

It was two or so evenings later that I finally fully realised time spent with me was at a minimum, and Willen doled out so little affection that it was indistinguishable. He had become so uppish, distant and calculating that I realised he even screwed according to some private timetable, the calculation of which was impossible for me, a ‘mere’ female. And as regards the event itself, everything was so brief and to the point that not even the smallest sanddropper could take a measurement of the time that passed.

A year later, I did still manage to give birth to a second son, and three years later to a second daughter, but after that I lived in fear of getting pregnant again. I certainly could not have managed. But I knew I did still like the act, or whatever I could remember of it.

The last time, I said to him: “I hadn’t realised that it was a race”. He didn’t reply, just rolled over, taking most of the coverings with him and started snoring about 30 breaths later. Willen did not have much of a sense of humour.

Gramobona, however, does have a sense of humour. She lived very near Griz at that time, but she was of such a weight, that I doubt a ptuvil could have carried her aloft. Quite how she got her nickname, I have never discovered – maybe a joke from way back, but she was referred to by all as Gramma Bone. Certainly there is, with the exception of her nose, not a bone visible in her form. And she has never had children, so I couldn’t work out why she might be a grandmother. But her wry observations and often unbridled comments were a breath of fresh air. She was just about the only one to openly mock when Trogan imposed his restrictive regime, but she has always had a most acerbic wit. It took some getting used to when I was beset by everyone upon my arrival in the village as Willen’s wife, but I think really it was a major factor in my survival as a person.

For the circumstances, under which I now found myself, all combined to dehumanise a person.

I had been born in a house on the outskirts of Teldor, my father working for a wagon company. He had brought back my mother from a trip down south, all the way to Forguland. She was an orphaned niece of the assistant to the Master of the Ducal Household there, and as a result had learnt her letters and numbers. She and her Uncle were pleased when her hand was sought after by a dynamic Wagon Master, since she was a bit of a drain upon the resources of her family and relationships were occasionally strained. He bought her back to Teldor, settled her in, and even arranged for her to meet new people to make her life more pleasant, having been uprooted so rudely. He then set out to win her heart thoroughly and succeeded before the six month time limit given by her family was reached, and either the chaperone and she must return, or the chaperone could be dismissed. I was born some seven months after the official wedding in Teldor.

Mama set up a small home and spent a great deal of effort making it somewhere that Father would be pleased to return to whether after a long trip or just a day in the warehouse. Our family was one of affection and our home one of mostly laughter. We would play games together, either using dice or cards, which was a good way to absorb information about counting and numbers. I had started to learn my letters from Mama and to help with the women’s work, when my young brother was born. This led a few months later to Mama giving me ‘The Talk’, most of which I found quite distasteful. I was a late developer, just about the last of my age group, so it was a full two years later that the entire messy business started and I discovered in fact rather than theory that Kalikan had a far deeper meaning than just a bright light in the sky.

I was taking a walk one day, with two, or maybe three, girlfriends; just a few light commissions I remember, when a group of young men came in the opposite direction. The taller one, the one with those most noticeable eyes, caused very strange roilings in my tummy. Now I am so much older and have observed such situations from a bystander’s point of view, I am aware that the sudden giggling fit that descended upon us girls did not actually divert the boys’ attention, it served merely to make them focus upon us. We thought we were being so cool and aloof as we pretended to ignore them. After we had passed, none of us, neither boys nor girls, could resist a backward glance.

It will come, of course, as a complete surprise to you that we were examining wares at the market when we accidentally bumped into the same group of boys.

At the end of that afternoon, as we rushed, giggling inanely, to get home before we got into trouble, we were all marvelling at how wonderful these boys were. We had seemed to pair off so naturally and we soon knew their names, as they learnt ours. Jigan was the most wonderful-sounding name ever invented. They came from up-valley and had promised to return for the Harvest Festival.

Oh my dear, it would make you blush to know how my dreams developed over those intervening months. HE was the most handsome and brave noble who was going to arrive in a carriage and whisk me off to his castle. His broad, manly chest would be a protection for me as much as his strong, long arms. His feet were quite large too, and that brought a blush to my cheeks as I recalled what elder girls had told us about the correlation of that part of a boy’s anatomy to another part situated somewhat higher!

Harvest Festival rolled around, and none of us girls would admit to being excited about it, and yet none of us had ever taken so much time and care about our appearance. Naturally, we could not appear at all eager, you understand, and yet we were there at the rendezvous a good twenty moments earlier than arranged and spotted the boys doing the same thing, but on another street corner. Well, MOST of the boys were there. Jigan was conspicuous by his absence. The girls, naturally, insisted that my ugliness had driven him away and I was quivering over breaking down and crying publicly.

At that moment, the boys caught sight of us and came over hurriedly in a grinny, sheepish, and yet swaggery way. For some reason, they found it necessary to punch each other’s arms and gabble to each other as they approached; and then they reached us and became immediately tongue-tied. It was Seetha who broke the ice by asking Kayern where Jigan was.

“Oh, he’s gone to Dekarran. His father’s brother’s wife’s cousin got him a job working in the castle there. He won’t be home for a long while yet.”

At that, the boys all turned and waved another boy over, who had been standing scowling back on ‘their’ street corner. I was too distracted to take much notice but – to cut a VERY long story short – Willen became my husband some three years later.

Although girls come a distant second to boys in the ‘Monumentally Stupid’ races, they do still take part. And yes, it WAS monumentally stupid of me to marry Willen. I can find all sorts of excuses as to why it was right at the time, but – deep down and fundamentally – it was wrong.

In the intervening years, we had moved upstream to Haligo, due to a minor promotion for Father. His greater responsibilities meant that he was more at home rather than travelling, and thus spent more time with his wife and children. We all found Haligo strange at first, it being a town which had some nicer parts but was overall, to me, anxiety-inducing, living always in such a cramped space between what seemed to be towering cliff walls. One advantage of this (or so my thinking went at that time) was that it was nearer to Willen’s part of the world, which was Tranidor, or so he said. Father also felt hemmed-in and found another, more pleasant, house some two or three marks north of Haligo. Even nearer Tranidor!

Mama was certainly put out by two major moves in a year, and retrospectively I now recognise the increasing fatigue that had set in. We all put it down to the stress of the arrangements she made and the things she needed to control to make Father’s transfer a smooth operation. And then to have to do it all again when we moved further away from those brooding cliffs! But that new house was definitely so much better despite being an awkward distance from the amenities. Mama’s mood lightened noticeably and we all realised how few smiles we had enjoyed recently.

She and I, known well of course by the wagoneers, would travel to Tranidor on the frequent wagons passing up and down that route. We went every eight weeks or so out of the rains, our favourite roadhouse being the one at Toomer’s Gulley, although the four or more marks it took to pass Holville and all its effects were always a grave trial. A colleague of Father’s had been promoted which involved a transfer to Tranidor, and the two wives were great friends, so Mama and I had somewhere to stay for our week-long sojourns there. It was a pleasant break for us to escape the humdrum of everyday and to see other parts of this bustling valley. I had sent notes to Willen using the messenger service to let him know when we were going to take a trip, and, with only one exception, he managed to meet us. Mama was not certain about him, but now I look back on it, was pleased that I had a reason not to hang about with the youngsters in Haligo.

It was on one of these trips that Mama suddenly announced she had to sit down.

She started coughing. This was a different cough than any I had heard before, even those awful ones brought on by passing Holville.

And suddenly there was blood on her lips.

She faded fast after that. I sent a message with one of the wagons and Father and Subrish, my brother, appeared three days later; just in time to see her, speak with her and hold her as she slipped away from us.

And that’s when I made a very, very silly decision.

Father explained that there had been an opportunity for betterment that he had turned down as it involved yet another move and he didn’t want to wear out Mama with all that again. Going all the way to Brikant would have been too much for her, he felt, even if it meant she would be that much nearer her relatives. But now, it might make sense to change, to help get over the shock. He was sure that he could find Subrish work but it was I that might make things awkward.

“No problem, Father. It is near time I left for my own life now anyways, I shall simply marry Willen.”

… … …

And so it transpired two months later. We went back down after the pyre, I having sent Willen a note, and we packed up our sad little house. Father and Subrish sent all the belongings to a warehouse in Haligo and then we returned to Tranidor. If Willen had rejected me, then maybe there would have been a whole different outcome as I was sure that I could not stand just being a domestic drudge for the men of my family. I was at that precise moment in my existence when I wanted and needed a life for myself.

He didn’t reject me, and we were married from Mama’s friend’s house.

Father had arranged a small house for us near the Bray bridge, and we spent the first week or so of our married life there. Much fumbling and many false starts later, we had discovered what worked for us, and our love-making sessions made me certain I was deeply in love with my man. We didn’t eat too much during those days I know – but Mama’s friend visited every afternoon, Willen left to do whatever it was that Willen did, and I was taught the rudiments of cooking and housekeeping. Father and Subrish came round to eat the first dinner I had ever prepared on my own and then we had a tearful (on my part) farewell. None of us knew that we would never meet all three together again.

Willem had been almost smiley for a few days, but as it grew near time to vacate our little nest, he became more and more remote. I had heard that the common folk say that a marriage is like a full passing of Kalikan, from new moon to the next. It starts out early, growing sweet like honey (or that knobbly orange root we dig up called vayter) then reaches its peak and wanes. Like many jokes that have their base in reality, that first happy period is therefore called the vayterkan, ‘the sweet month’ - supposedly, that cycle is then repeated.

It seemed to me that my vayterkan should have been named after Annis rather than Kalikan; vayternis. Scarcely a week had passed and it was already waning.

And it never reappeared.

I knew of course that Willen was a skilled huntsman and that that was how he earned a living, but I knew very little about his family or his home. I assumed that he lived a mark or two above Tranidor, just as we had lived a mark or two above Haligo. This was merely one of the first assumptions that I had made that was to be shattered early on.

Our day of departure wasn’t too bad and nearly went as I had planned. I packed my meagre belongings in some cheap boxes, I handed over the remnants of our foodstuffs to Mama’s friend, took a tearful farewell from her, and waited for Willen to return, which he eventually did, riding a young but nevertheless worn-looking frayen and accompanied by a nearly fully laden dranakh-drawn wagon, which my experienced eye told me was one of the slightly smaller types, usually used for carrying goods from the wharves at Haligo to the warehouses for redistribution from there. The wagoneer’s chair was a single seat perched almost as an afterthought on the front of the load-carrying ‘belly’, as wagoneers call the deepish well where the goods are stacked. Even though they were so few, my boxes nearly filled the remaining space. Willen made me repack it whilst the unsmiling and, as it proved, mostly uncommunicative wagoneer just looked on.

“Why does there have to be this empty space here, Willen? And why is it so comparatively large?”

“You have to get that big arse of yours in there. Unless you fancy walking?”

“How far is it? I can walk two or three marks,” I managed to respond through my shock.

“It’s a good few paces more than that!” was the reply which produced something between a snort and a harrumph from Jafferkin, not that I knew his name at that stage of the proceedings. It took me a long while to eventually find out his name, and then it was only because I overheard Willen using it. I think it was only because I knew to let his dranakh take my arm in her mouth, that I received a very begrudged form of respect. In fact, I knew the dranakh’s name (Jeen) quite a while before I knew her driver’s.

Willen clambered aboard Nelke and Jafferkin urged Jeen into motion. A few moments of tangled streets and alleys and we were suddenly at the Bray bridge. Jafferkin grunted at the guards who waved us by, we crossed and then turned left, heading north. From my position at the trailing edge of the wagon, my view was of the road we had already travelled along. Any view ahead was most awkward in the extreme. But at least I could jump down and walk occasionally, just to relieve the numbness in my bum.

Poor Jeen was no longer in the first flush of youth, but she was not exactly old yet; she seemed to me to preserve her strength and stamina whenever she could. Some of the not-so-many other wagons cursed us for slowing them down. I didn’t see the problem, the road wasn’t that busy and it only took some little time to pass us, I doubt ever more than a hand of moments. On only one occasion did a wagon descending towards us have to stop and pull over until we two side-to-side wagons had passed.

I called for a break as we approached one roadhouse and caught the look each man gave the other. Willen then increased pace and disappeared into the forest whilst Jeen hauled us the couple of hundred strides to the comparatively small roadhouse. I was glad to use the facilities and came out to see Jafferkin talking to one of the staff. It was quite surprising to actually see him converse. I was offered, and accepted, some pel before Jafferkin came and hoiked his thumb in my direction, to indicate it was time to continue. I offered to pay, but the girl told me it was covered.

And so we journeyed on, Willen occasionally dropping back to converse desultorily, but then slipping away into the forest as we approached a resthouse. I tried to ask him what was happening, but was given an early version of what I would later dub ‘The Glare’.

My buoyant mood of earlier was slipping away with every pace we took.

I soon learnt not to ask how much further we would be going. For the first time in my life, we carried on after the sun had left the world, sinking not so slowly behind the mountain ridge off to the west. The evening stayed bright though but even that had darkened into night, it must have been nigh on another full bell, by the time we eventually pulled into a roadhouse. Willen had not slipped away this time, but stayed with us.

We entered, had an adequate meal and then I was surprised to be ushered up to the women’s quarters by one of the serving girls, leaving Willen and Jafferkin with tankards of ale in front of them. The girl helped me prepare for bed, explaining that we had arrived much later than we had been expected, and that she would come and fetch me in the morning, but she was far too busy to chat right now. I couldn’t go back down to the common room in my nightdress, so I was stuck.

And that was it.

No night spent with my husband, for the first time since we married. No goodnight kiss, no cuddle, no feeling of strong arms surrounding and protecting me. No knowledge of where I was, nor of where I was going, nor of what secret my husband had that he must avoid busy places on the road.

I was far too busy crying to sleep much that night.

And so it continued for the rest of the journey. Another overnight, and another more than half day’s journey through the seemingly interminable forest, breaking out of that into a dull and dreary overcast day. We continued for some marks (which felt like about a hundred) until the tiniest town I had ever imagined surrounded me. I stood up and looked around me, my gaze sweeping through a complete circle.

How to describe it?

I suppose that the best way is to base it on the rushing river we had been following at varying distances since we left Tranidor. This river, called the Bray, had grown steadily more stream-like and less rushing the further north we travelled, and it was here that was the birthplace of it, where its valley head was a bit like a bowl. The general direction of travel of the stream was from north to south, so obviously there was a slope, not too steep, from north to south, although the valley walls were much steeper, cut here and there by canyons, mostly very narrow.

The town/village we had reached was to the east of the watercourse, and above it. The northern end of the town/village was almost, but not quite, butting up against the steeper slope there. That northern end was the highest point of the town itself with a strange-looking squat windowless building.

But there was another slope too, this one dropping from east to west. To the right as we had approached, in other words to the east, a wider than usual canyon entrance appeared, from which another stream emerged to join the Bray near a stone bridge, situated at the foot of the town. There was some higher ground than the buildings off to the east where the canyon mouth was, but that was well off to the left of the bridge, as I now looked at it, which had carried the straight road across the side stream. The road had entered between the strangely clustered buildings, had carried on towards the strange building at the top … and simply stopped there, at a flattish widish roundish area upon which there were two wagons parked; which we joined.

Jafferkin had set the brakes on the wagon and had unhitched Jeen, who turned her head to look at me, bleated and then wandered slowly off across the slope to the south-east towards the canyon from which that other stream emerged.

“Are you going to stand there and gawp all day, woman? Start unloading all that stuff of yours.”

Such was my welcome to Blackstone from my husband.

I won’t bore you with all the trivia but basically for the next ten years at least, everything was my fault. The weather, the late growth of the crops, the early growth of the crops, the demand for the animals he hunted, whether high or low, the lack or plenitude of the dust in our hut, the speed with which things were cleaned, the sudden disappearance of his favourite shirt (which I had put away in the shirt drawer) and so it went on. On several occasions I was to blame for the late start of the rains, or the early start of them, take your pick. As for the mornings after a ‘session’ in the Bell Inn, his headache and queasiness were my fault too.

And then there was my mother-in-law.

I fully understood the dread Willen must have felt at having to return to be near her. No person has actually survived a close encounter with a ptuvil, but folks say that it can breathe fire. Hah, that’s nothing compared to her. Jeberset was a one-woman army with a look that could freeze you and a tongue that could flay you. And I was a foreigner! I had not been introduced before her son had dared to do something by himself. A crime so heinous that I could and would never ever receive her forgiveness.

My housekeeping skills were below the standard that she expected, as was made plain on the many unannounced inspection visits she made to our hut. She made no motion to help with things that were strange to me, like using rocks to make fires, but was very quick and very loud to criticise when I got it ‘wrong’.

I will never forget her and her cronies gathered round like feltris, all dressed in black, and looking as though they were going to devour me with their disfavour. Pursed mouths, beady little eyes and pronounced noses like beaks are the abiding memories I have of them. They were so much like those avians that descend in groups and tear apart freshly-dead animals that I could not fail to liken each of them to a feltren.

The single women of my age hated me because I had snared one of the few available men, and the younger ones were all warned off the foreigner by their mothers’ heaving bosoms above crossed arms and below heavy frowns. That didn’t stop the bolder ones of course, but even meeting with them was a strain because they were always checking over their shoulders to see if any mother or aunt or a friend of either of those was around. However, when some knew that I had my letters, then they pleaded with me to help them learn and we would pass a few snatched bells in my role as part-time teacher.

The older women disapproved of my education and apparently my ‘upper class’ accent annoyed them. And when I started to keep and train eppris, why then I was beyond the pale – doing a man’s job – how absolutely dreadful! It didn’t stop them buying the honey of course, but that’s neither here nor there.

From none of these groups did I ever receive one word of welcome, nor one of encouragement.

The town itself managed a living from an adequate influx of visitors due to the trade based upon the wool products we derived from the abundant pakh herds that lived here. There were other industries that were around, but the town’s fortunes rested squarely on the established esteem of our pakh-wool products, reputed to be the best in all Palarand. Of course, my husband and his family owned no pakh, a fact I recognised early on that meant we were in effect hangers-on, so where they derived their airs and graces from, not even the Maker could know.

Strangely, in retrospect, it was getting pregnant that was my saving. I had contemplated leaving on many occasions, but had never mustered the courage and then it was too late. It was impossible to countenance a single, pregnant woman finding her way back down the valley to a larger town and being able to fend for herself. This was nearly two years after I reached Blackstone. I was all cried out by then, and a dull resignation had set in, when I bumped, literally, into Griz.

It was late at night, a dark cloud-covered night. Willen was off into the remote valleys with a group of his cronies – later to become ‘The Group’. They had a contract for providing meat for the two Inns here in town and for the roadhouse down the valley, in the forest. I had discovered that that was what he was doing on our journey here – hunting some poor game animal to give to the roadhouse to earn some coin or to pay in exchange for our meals and board. Jafferkin and I had become closer over the intervening period and Jeen always seemed to speak to me when they came into town. In fact, there was one remarkable occasion that I shall tell you about later, but I will follow this thread for now.

I was making my way to our privy, dug like anyone else’s just next to the dungheap, when I collided with a soft warm body and we both tumbled down, not accompanied by silence. Once our mutual shrieks had died down, we discovered who each was and then I was shocked to hear her laugh. No-one here had ever laughed in my presence except the children when I was teaching them.

“I’m sorry!” she said through her laughs. “I had our pakh grenn on a line, but it slipped from my fingers. I just wanted to catch that wretched grenn now he is finally trained to help us round up our pakh, and has become worth something to us other than to bark when visitors appear at our door. We wanted an early start so I wanted him nearby. I was chasing after him when I bumped into you. And I can feel that you are in the same state as I. Here we are, two pregnant women, entangled in the middle of the night, and sitting on the outer edge of a dungpile.”

I was intelligent enough to burst into tears. Which event was interesting as one part of my brain seemed to act as an observer and muttered to itself: ‘I thought you were all cried out?’

We repaired into my hut, after I had done my business, with her arm around me and to which I clung like a drowning sailor. I discovered her name was Grizanthet, that she was married to Boxklee, that they had many pakh, that she had recently moved into a smallholding just down from the Scribe’s house on the other side of the stream to me, and that she had been warned about me. Apparently, I was the wicked wife of the Huntsmen’s leader who made him miserable, had disrupted the whole town, turned nosy children into amphibians and had the effrontery to pretend I was an Eppriman – as a result of which, I was apparently referred to as ‘The Epp’. I was far too big for my footwear and considered myself so far above the rest of the town that I refused to speak with any of them.

I burst into tears – again.

As the night progressed, I related my story to her and she hers to me. We both had a few good, healing cries. My dark cloud lifted and I felt strength course through me as we bonded. She found it easier to address me as ‘Epp’ and that’s how I came to like that misnomer. She became ‘Griz’.

Maker! I had a friend.

… … …

Yes, we had our differences – after one row we didn’t speak for nearly four whole days – but from that day onward I started healing. I plucked up enough courage to visit some nearer neighbours and met Gramobona.

She hastened the healing process. Some of her expressions were not repeatable in polite society, but had me roaring my head off. Her enormous girth and stature meant that she did little exercise but the cloth she wove from her pakh wool was of such demand that people fetched her daily requisites to her! In later days, she spent many a bell teaching me to weave, particularly in those days whilst I was nursing little Briselda. I dare say that my cloth was very acceptable indeed.

Gramobona (called by us GB) for weaving and sewing, Griz for cooking and part-time motherhood (she looked after younger ones for mothers that had to work in the fields), myself for letters and honey-making and later egg production eventually made a quite formidably competent circle.

And we were collecting some coin!

Every little soo and fenik I got for the sweet nectar produced by my increasing colony of eppris was carefully stored away in a jar. Which became two jars, once Willen had stumbled over the first one and had taken the contents as his. So I would leave one jar out with about a third of my takings, and I buried the other outside, near the dung heap. Nowadays there are several jars there.

(Note from Julina - in case that it has changed in the intervening years, or is too complicated for outlanders to comprehend, our money system is as follows:
The smallest coin we have is a Soo which is about enough for an ale or a snack, or a jar of her honey or a hand of her eggs
Then comes the Fenik, equal to 4 Soos. A standard meal is about 1 Fenik
20 of these make a Solly, or Sollie
A Crown is 10 Sollies
I should point out that not every transaction involved coin changing hands, a simple exchange of goods for services or other goods being almost the norm! My latest bedcover cost me four letters and two notices that I wrote. But enough from me, back to her and to her first pregnancy ...)

I could feel inside me that the young growing thing came more alive as well, became somehow happier too, if that is at all possible. GB and Griz were both there to help me when Brizzy was born, the husbands making sure that they had business as far away as possible. I was there for Griz, but hers was stillborn, there was a lot of blood and she never managed a pregnancy after that. I nursed her for some weeks and on more than one occasion I was convinced that she was about to leave us. Griz alone was with me when Termerik was born, but GB was there in spirit, a heavy chill confining her to bed at the time.

I had not explained this much detail in my infrequent letters to my father, I was ashamed to tell him of the huge mistake I had made and wanted him to continue in the belief that my life was fine. He had his own life to regenerate and I wouldn’t have him start worrying about me, so my notes were always positive without divulging too many facts. From his replies, I learnt that Subrish had travelled on and found work with relatives in Forguland. Father had been a little ill after an accident when a wagon wheel broke and the wagon hit his leg, but as his work was mostly in the offices in Brikant, he was coping fine; his housekeeper being a ‘jewel’ apparently.

Willen spent a little more time with Termerik now that I had (“at last”) provided him with a son and heir. But I objected to many of his frequent mishandlings. As an example, I objected to him trying to teach a five year-old how to use a crossbow to kill things.

Willen had set up a row of malmris on a low wall some strides behind our property and was letting the young one try to shoot them. The bolts of course were flying everywhere, unless Willen was doing the releasing, and one hit poor Nelke on the flank, but with most of its force spent. I almost laughed at the baleful glance he cast Willen’s way.

However, this was no laughing matter as I had earmarked those malmris for us to have after our supper, so I shouted at Willen which made him glare at me, but I was immune by now. He grumbled a bit, muttering into his beard and then just stomped off.

I was very keen on getting the children to eat some fresh stuff, having been brought up on the saying: ‘A malm a day keeps the Healer away’. About half the malmris were still edible, so I took them, peeled them, decored them and then boiled the slices I ended with in a mixture of some water and grated vayter.

This was the children’s favourite way of eating them. The sweet taste of the vayter balanced the acidity of the malm but that wasn’t the attraction for the kids. The vibrant blue of the malm and the bright orange of the vayter was what attracted their eyes.

Mind you, I silently cursed Willen for the next few weeks as every time Term saw a malm, he whipped out an invisible crossbow and slaughtered it – with sound effects.

I prevailed upon Willen to do some of the work around the house on the odd occasion, and once I managed to catch him at just the right time, and got him to build a small hutlet over the hole we used as our privy. He got a wagonload of grief over that from Jeberset and her cackling flock of feltris based on the unnecessary expense (which actually cost nothing other than a few jars of honey and a handful of eggs to the carpenter for the shaped wood) that he didn’t speak to me for nearly two weeks. Which he (and they) would never understand was a wonderful two week vacation for me, not having to suffer his marital demands, nor his unhelp around the domicile.

I noticed a few weeks later though, that nearly every hut and smallholder now had a wooden box in which to go and spend their most private (and smelly) moments. I grinned inwardly to think that I had been responsible for civilisation at last reaching this bywater of a town.

Once it took two full weeks of the rains to get him to fix the hole in the roof (in the corner nearest the door). In the end, I parked his second-best bow there and covered it with his mantle so that both got soaked. The hole was fixed three bells later.

On the whole, I would say that he was so lazy that, if there was a reward for laziness, he would have sent me to pick it up for him.

I did manage to get him to construct a small footstep in front of the door (to relieve me of some of the cleaning required when people enter with muddy boots) and also a second and third room so he and I could have a bedroom with some privacy and we could have one for the boys and one for the girls. But he then got all uppity about how much wood we were having from the carpenter, and he decided that I must be having an affair with him.

In fact, the carpenter was very pleased that my privy idea had so inflated his income that he said I could have any wood in the future for free, and his wife became quite friendly too. A single glance at how well the carpenter and his wife got on would suffice to know that the idea of him having an affair was plainly ridiculous, but Willen, his mother and the feltris-flock latched onto that idea in the same way their avian counterparts latch onto a fresh cadaver. This actually had an unexpected knock-on effect, in that the trouble they caused the carpenter and his wife was objected to by many in the community, and J and the FFs started to lose a lot of credibility and therefore their ability to affect events.

This too was blamed on me, and it was an occasion when I accepted the blame with both alacrity and glee.

Mother-in-law started to become more and more bitter from then on (a fact I would have believed to be impossible) and it wasn’t long before all that acrid poison inside her ate away at her innards. She had three days of severe pain, pain that even I was sorry to see her undergo, before she gave up the struggle.

This was, of course, also my fault.

Over the next few months, Griz and Boxklee helped me with another of my ‘mad ideas’. They did not understand what I was trying to achieve in building a wooden walkway from my footstep by the door until one day Griz was visiting and needed the privy. It was during the rains and she suddenly learnt that not only was it nice to have a roof over your head whilst dealing with your waste, it was nice not to have to wade through sticky mud to get there and back. Yes, more work and coin for the carpenter and a lot of unspoken credit for me in his establishment, which came in very useful a few years later, as we shall see.

Almost two years after Jeberset left this world - a passing that was totally unmourned by any of her four grandchildren, with whom she had never once shared any affection - I was startled to see Nelke return alone. Nelke you will recall was Willen’s frayen. The Group were off on their annual two week ‘game’ avian drive, a project that I must admit was of use to the community. The idea was to make sure that there were stocks of avians for the rest of the year to be hunted so that the community could eat a good variety of food.

I had (and still have) never visited the upper end of Blackstone Vale, but the descriptions I have had of it are quite interesting. The Blackstone ‘River’ flows basically from east to west, out of the Vale and into the Bray, so of course there is a slope up there that tips the water our way. Apparently there is a ridge into a neighbouring vale in which the waters run the other way, to the east! And over the far side of that is another vale and so on. It was in this area that 'The Group' was operating.

It took nearly two weeks to find him.

When they explained to me what must have happened, I remembered the angry looks that he sent my way whenever (and it was frequently) that I predicted dire results from his lack of thinking things through. Apparently, he had decided to investigate a hole in a tree trunk that was too high to reach from the ground. So he parked Nelke below the hole, climbed onto the beast's back and reached into the hole to such an extent that his elbow was inside the tree trunk. Nelke chose that moment to wander away leaving poor Willen suspended from his arm, with no way to retrieve that limb from the hole.

Yes, I did say ‘poor Willen’. I had loved him once, and to starve to death that way, unable to move, trapped fast, with no-one nearby must be a horrible way to go.

At that time, my children were, in descending order, 15, 11, 7 and 4. Briselda’s sister, Surekha, had been born at just the right time for me to explain the facts of life to her, Brizzy that is, so I was nursing the baby as I gave Brizzy ‘The Talk’. Country girls have seen much more of the cycle of life than I had when I was her age, and I am fairly sure she didn’t find what I had to say as distasteful as I had when I was on the receiving end.

Daily life continued and I was now reckoned to be someone of worth in the town, providing as I did nearly all the honey and half of the eggs consumed on a daily basis. Brizzy was turning a few boys’ heads by now and I made myself a promise that she would see more than just Blackstone before she settled down to her own life. Term was about to have his voice drop, and Mohini was starting to get serious and to build some muscles from the deliveries he made around town. He was at that lovable age of eight, still a child but wanting to be ‘old’ like his brother. Surekha was five by now and getting into everything, still needing half an eye on her to whisk her away from scrapes.

You can imagine the scenes when I told the four of them that I had organised a two week break for us all to go to Tranidor; the children were all beside themselves with excitement. Certain elders of the female persuasion were shocked and declared that we were flaunting my widowhood too soon after my husband’s death, but hardly anyone bothered to listen to them anymore.

I had arrived in Blackstone just before my 18th birthday. This trip was the first time I left the place, some 18 ½ years after I arrived.

… … …

There was one fairly strong reason to leave as early afterwards as we did. I needed, of course, to hire a wagon, to take the five of us and all our boxes. So who did I think deserved the coin most?

Yes, Jafferkin.

I mentioned earlier that we had become closer in the intervening years. He was one of the handful of regulars that came all this way, bringing ordered supplies and taking finished pakh wool articles. Although he said very little, he always had a little trinket for me and I had a jar of fresh honey for him.

As had become our custom, I trudged across to the wagon place at the top of town to see him arrive and again to see him off, various different babies on my hip as the years passed. Also as usual, Jeen appeared about half a bell before departure and backed into the traces and harness. It became something of a ritual, both of us appearing at the same time, and it delighted Jafferkin as his head would swivel to and fro to see which would reach him first. Somehow Jeen always contrived to make it an exact match.

And then something really unusual occurred on one of his trips. He arrived, I greeted him, he released Jeen and she wandered away, perfectly normal behaviour. Two days later, it was time for him to depart again.

Jeen appeared at the same time as I, but this time she was not alone. Trailing in her wake was a younger dranakh. Now, I am not able to speak dranakh and I do not understand animals generally, but Jeen somehow made it clear that both Jafferkin and I should allow the new dranakh to accept our arms in his (yes, it was a young male) mouth. We looked at each other with wonder and then performed the ritual. But still Jeen wanted something and we were at a loss to understand what, until a thought seemed to flash across my mind.

“Jaffy, she wants us to name him!”

“You, Mistress,” grunted Jafferkin as his eyes widened in surprised comprehension.

I knew it had to be a ‘J’ to go with the two of them, so I thought swiftly.

“Jonile?” but Jeen indicated a negative.

“Jordile?” This was again met with a no but one that verged on a maybe but only if there was nothing better.

I tried again and again.

And then something else just sprang into my mind.

“Josten!”

No question about it this time and Jeen somehow indicated that she was satisfied. She bleated with the youngster who watched intently as she backed into the harness, then they squeaked a bit and Josten wandered off towards where I knew the dam was.

Jafferkin and I looked at each other in amazement and awe. It was exactly the right moment to have a little hug, of which Jeen indicated her approval. This was the first and last ever physical contact I had with Jafferkin. And then J and J departed.

Maybe it will come as no surprise when I relate that next time Jafferkin was in town and it was time to go, both Josten and Jeen appeared. This time however, it was Josten who backed in and Jeen who remained to one side; she bleated a bit before looking at me meaningfully – and then wandered off damwards. Whatever the meaning she was trying to convey was, I felt I had no idea. Then.

I suspect I worked it out over time because, for the next few years, whenever I needed to move something large and/or heavy, then Jeen appeared to assist. She also never failed to come to see J and J whenever it was time for them to go.

Until one day she didn’t.

It was a strangely moving moment that even Josten seemed to join in. But of course, that’s the final part of the cycle of life, and we had all known that someday it would happen. I dried my tears as I watched the pair head off downhill, Jafferkin apparently had a small insect in his eye which needed clearing out.

But I have wandered away from my thread somehow - so back to our down-valley expedition.

I had hired Jafferkin and Josten to take us down there and bring us back, but that meant, of course, we had to depart when he was in town, having brought up a load on one of his regular trips; he would not make a special trip up empty just to collect us. It was either go this time or wait for maybe three or even four weeks. It didn’t require much brainwork to decide.

Of course, the old feltris didn’t let facts get in the way of their opinions, even when I got so frustrated that I dressed one down publicly and the people round about applauded me and laughed at her.

When that occurred, I found that I was amazed at myself. What on Anmar had got into me?

… … …

I have a theory born of experience, and that is that if you want to understand a subject, then teach it and answer the questions that you get.

On that journey, we kept ourselves occupied by my supervising Brizzy teaching the rest their letters and numbers. She found a good way to help with the numbers, by using the markstones we passed. We did this for three bells on each day, and we played name the plant/bush/tree, and who was the first to spot an avian/animal/insect, even a falling leaf. I let Term run alongside us for a while so he could stretch his legs without delaying us, and being a male, he ran faster than us and would wait two hundred strides ahead for us to catch up, complaining about how slow we were.

We spent the first night at the roadhouse in the forest which was a real adventure for the young ones, as they looked round in awe at sights they had never seen before. Although a large proportion of the workers there were from our town, most of the ten or so others were complete strangers. The young ones couldn’t stop staring, but fortunately the staff and travellers took it well. We could have gone on a little further that first day, but that would have meant camping and just being among ourselves. I judged it better to break them in gently when it came to dealing with strangers.

Term was full of energy in the morning and impatient to get back on the road. We loaded up and headed out, Term running ahead calling to us to chase him. I had to shout to keep him close. We went on for a mark or two like that whilst the younger ones did their numbers and letters and looked at the by-now boring expanse of trees.

Jafferkin then contributed a very valuable lesson indeed, one that took a fair while to conclude.

“Young goodman. You keep walking the whole day when Josten does, and I will buy you a frayen for yourself.” I think even he surprised himself with his verbosity.

“But you stay near us, Term. I don’t want you attacked by any wild animals, or getting lost in the forest.”

The 12 year-old screwed his face up in determination and I could see that he thought he was so going to do this. But both Jafferkin and I knew the effort it took to walk for bell after bell with little rest and he would have to drink when Josten did and rest then too. He ran ahead and pretended to yawn as we drew near him again which worked for a while but then we could see him tire as the bells passed and eventually he was struggling to keep up.

My heart went out to him, but sense knew that this was an important learning moment.

I whispered to Brizzy that she would have to be supportive later as he was going to be so upset and probably in tears, which was to be a valuable lesson for her too.

By this time we had joined the trade route from Chaarn and the traffic was a little heavier, not that it could be called busy, though. The children were still amazed at the different views and landscape. Roadhouses were a little more frequent as were spots to make rest stops. It was also less forested and views across the valley revealed high pasture and the odd mining outlet. An occasional canyon contributed its stream to the river which was now roaring , now quieter and twisty. Farms small and large had appeared and I swear Surekha’s head swivelled round three complete turns as she tried to take it all in.

We had a rest or two, we females needed to stop more often than the menfolk. And my heart again went out to my tough little man, my breast swelling with pride. Jaffy showed his respect too, but we both knew this painful lesson was important.

And then we continued.

Soon, all too soon, brave Term started dropping behind. He gritted his teeth and struggled on, but we all knew he would not make it – including Term. The poor little man eventually held out his arms for me to take him up into the cart belly and snuggled into my arms sobbing. I comforted him for a good while before he suddenly decided to be annoyed with me and flounced over to near his older sister.

At this point, incredibly, Jafferkin started speaking: “Young goodman, I have known you all your life. You are tough, stubborn and strong. Listen hard now. This has been a lesson for you. At the start you were so much quicker than us, but at the end we had to pick you up. Your mother has been an example to you all your life. Slow and steady gets there reliably and leaves you strength to use at the end. Fast and furious uses up your energy and buys you only temporary advantage. Growing up, you will remember this day. Slow and steady. Learn.”

I think we were all shocked. Those were more words in that one speech than I had heard from him in all of our times together. The children certainly had never heard him speak so long and so much, and so they were amazed as well.

Term realised the heaviness of the moment and I was proud to see him actually think about it and not react petulantly.

He nodded and dropped down into a corner, soon falling asleep. Brizzy whispered to me that she was impressed at how very hard he had tried, and I told her to tell him that personally at some point.

Surekha was getting fractious as the sun began to set behind us and even Brizzy and Mohini were starting to get fidgety.

I saw the distant rooves before any of them and I estimated another bell and a bit before we got to settle in for the night. I made Brizzy wake Termerik so he would see the approach. The children grew quieter and quieter as the size of the town became apparent. Even I was awe-struck, my mountain sojourn having affected me far more than I realised.

We turned into the bridge approach, Jafferkin paid the toll to the guards and we were through, crossing above the river into the town.

The children were absolutely silent now, indeed were looking a bit scared. We weaved through a few streets, passed strange places, were assailed by strange and exotic smells, caught glimpses of strange sights, and heard voices from everywhere about us. Not just voices talking. Some shouting, some singing, some encouraging others to buy their wares. Some laughter, some curses, some oaths, some losses of temper, some screams and tears and shouted rows. Some children laughing, shouting and playing. Some whining and crying. Rattles of wagon wheels passing over stone roadbeds. Screeches of badly worn axle-bearings, slams of doors. Barks and whines of domestic grennis. Distant ringing of hammers, the dull roar of the river, squawks of the water avians. Crackling of domestic fires and chops from the axes breaking down the wood to be consumed. Animal farts, bellows and bleats. Sweeps swishing the droppings clear. Was that a faint sense of music from over there?

And everywhere we looked, more people than in the whole of Blackstone.

But the noise was the most upsetting thing to us. How could anyone live all day in this tumult? We felt physically assaulted. We all held our hands over our ears as a forlorn form of protection.

Jafferkin twisted and turned his way around streets with which he was obviously familiar. I found myself wishing that there was somewhere I could go to order food for us all to be delivered to wherever we were going, to save me some time setting up our temporary home. After crossing the now mostly empty market square, we turned a few more corners and I saw through the alleys running besides the buildings that we must be close to where the Bray joins the Palar. There was one house there, lights lit and looking far more expensive than anything I could have budgeted for.

We drew up in front of it and two burly-seeming men came out the door, acknowledged Jafferkin and then started unloading our boxes. Another, older this time, man ushered me and the kids into a lower floor room.

All four children were trying to hold a hand of mine but that was never going to be possible; we all got temporarily stuck in the doorway. I ushered Brizzy through first and tried to disentangle the rest of the tribe when a voice spoke up.

“Ah, you must be Briselda. Come and give your grandfather a kiss.”

… … …

I squealed.

I know I squealed.

And of course cried.

We managed to disentangle ourselves and enter the room, and I saw my father for the first time in ages.

It would be difficult to know just which of us was more shocked.

I can only imagine what he saw – certainly not a blushing young recently-deflowered wife with smooth skin and eyes full of life and expectancy, which was the me he had last seen. A tatty dress, unkempt hair, work-worn hands and a care- and weather-beaten face is what he got.

As for me, I saw an old man in place of the still lively younger version I had been carrying in my mind’s eye. It will take me far, far longer to describe what I saw than it took for my brain to process all the information.

I saw that this man was a liar most of all.

He had no right leg anymore. His letters had told me it was a minor injury, but this was far more than that. His face was creased with pain and sorrow lines, he must have weighed a half now of what he weighed when we last parted, and he had to squint slightly to see.

But his eyes still held that special look for his daughter that had always made me feel so melty. I wanted to run to him and let him fold me once more in his arms, but my children could not be abandoned so easily. So I had to be the mother first before I could be the daughter.

“Gather round me children,” I said, holding my arms out to let them shelter under my wings. “This is my father. I haven’t seen him for nearly 19 years. I would guess he has tried to surprise us, and he has succeeded. Go to him now and introduce yourselves. I will wait until you are done. But then,” I said glaring at the grinning old man, “I will need an explanation. And it is already bedtime for Surekha, and soon will be for Mohini, and we have to unpack, I have to cook you something, we all need a bath …”

“The bath is waiting, food is waiting, the beds are made, and the bags are being unpacked as we speak,” interrupted Father. “I learnt from Jafferkin of when you would be arriving, and I arranged all this as a surprise for you all. Now children, your mother and I have a lot to talk about, but we can do that later. I doubt not that we shall be up a long time this night. So why don’t you females all go upstairs to your rooms, then go down to the bathhouse while I speak with your brothers? After you’re all done down there, then the boys can bathe, and we can eat. I must tell you that I am already starving as you are a whole bell later than we expected and have waited for you. So perchance you might hurry just a little bit, just this once?

“Oh … There are some staff here to help you. The housekeeper is called Shemekia, she has been with me now for over ten years, and the two maids are named Jogantha and Karmanya. Kermel is Shemekia’s husband and he is my manservant. There are two other servants, a man and a woman, who have been hired for the time you are here, so you can all live a life of ease. These are in addition to the small team who look after this place when there is no-one here. Now let me kiss my daughter welcome, and then greet you all before you rush about getting yourselves ready for our much-delayed dinner.”

I was crying as I let my father hug me from where he sat, and I hugged him back just as ferociously. Then we girls let Karmanya show us upstairs where we met Shemekia.

Upstairs! How very strange that was to us.

“Welcome, Mistress, to your Tranidor residence,” Shemekia said as she greeted me warmly. She turned and spoke softly to Karmanya who curtseyed briefly and then skipped back downstairs again. Shemekia turned back to us again and continued. “I have allocated each of you a room since we have six rooms on this level. My husband and I sleep in a room in the attic, and the girls share another up there. The Master has his suite downstairs, since he finds it more than a little awkward coping with stairs. The manservant for these days also sleeps in a room downstairs. Mistress, you are in charge of this house now, so should you find the allocations not to your liking, then we will move you round. We have put the boys to the slightly noisier side, and the girls have some views of the river. Now you are the eldest, so you must be Briselda. This is your room …”

Brizzy’s eyes opened in wonder at the size of the bed she was offered; it was the size of the room the girls shared at home. She turned to me as if for confirmation. I just nodded at her and ushered her into the room. Even I was taken aback.

“… And this room next door is for you young lady – I understand your name is Surekha …” she said as she opened a neighbouring door and stood back. The room was slightly smaller than the first, but still seemed huge to Surekha, who was reluctant to go in for some reason.

“… And this door here is a toilet for use by the females only. The door opposite is that for the menfolk. And the other side of this toilet is your room, Mistress …”

I gasped as the door swung open under the gentle pressure from her hand.

There on a shelf, were two of my childhood toys. The bed was enormous, the sheets glistening and the room was spotless. I could see a balcony overlooking the river through a set of double doors, and I saw also the open door to a private toilet that backed up against the wall of the toilet outside.

In each of the rooms were our boxes, appropriately delivered and positioned. And unpacked. I was suddenly ashamed at the comparative shoddiness of our clothing and knew that I would have to tell Father of my sweetening of the truth. A small cloud tried to form in my mind, but I refused to give it house room.

“Right children, into your rooms and I shall come and help you get ready for our bath. Just let me get my own dress off first and I shall come to you - Surekha first. Then …”

“Mistress, if I might?” interrupted Shemekia. “That is our job. Karmanya and Jogantha can help the girls, and I shall help you.”

“Oh!” said Brizzy and I at the same time. Surekha looked even more worried, somehow.

“Er, Mistress Shemekia?” said Brizzy.

“Yes, Mistress Briselda?” (Her eyes widened at being called ‘Mistress’ for the first time in her life.)

“I believe that my sister may not be comfortable with this arrangement. You see she has never had a bed of her own before, let alone a room of her own. I fear she may be frightened of being alone.”

I mentally chastised myself for being so seduced by material things that I had not figured out what was wrong with my youngest, but at the same time I was proud of Brizzy for acting so maturely. In fact, the way she had supported Term and encouraged him, and consoled him and let him know how proud of him she was in his self-appointed task on the journey down, just made me realise how she seemed to have matured just in the days since we left Blackstone. This was truly a wise move to make this trip.

I sat with Surekha as Jogantha put some of her fears to rest, and then I left Surekha and Jogantha with Briselda and Karmanya, whilst Shemekia and I went to make me ready for the bath for which I had been yearning for some bells now. When we went back to Briselda’s room, the four of them were giggling away together, and my two were bath-ready.

We all trooped down the stairs and turned sharp right at the bottom, followed a narrow passage to a door and went into the bathhouse.

Oh what bliss!

Scents that I had forgotten about, and that the children had never smelled; I could have spent bells and bells in there, and I sensed Brizzy at least felt the same. But we were also hungry, so I made us cut the experience short and we were back upstairs scarcely more than a quarter of a bell later. The boys had been informed that the bathhouse was no longer occupied, so they clattered in there. We girls got dressed as quickly as we could, but were still later to table than the boys.

We had a nice meal, Mohini and especially Surekha though were suspicious of various new things sitting there on their plates. Surekha ate enough to satisfy my maternal concerns, and within five moments was nodding off at the table. Jogantha offered to carry her upstairs, but I knew that I should do this, to make her more secure in this very strange and new world. I quietly explained this to Father who nodded, and so I left the table with my meal only half eaten, and carried my little one up to her bed. She woke, of course, at the touch of the cool clean sheets and so I lay down to hold her as she drifted back off.

… … …

I awoke in the morning to the sounds of a household stirring itself, a sound that I had not heard for some years. I almost leapt up to get on with my chores, but suddenly remembered our circumstances. I was embarrassed that I had not properly greeted Father. I worried whether the rest of my family were alright. I felt dreadfully guilty not to have done a thing to prepare for the new day. Little Surekha was cuddling my leg and was still ‘connected to the moon’, as I could tell by her tiny twitches and a gentle smile. I wondered for the umpteenth time about the dream a child of mine was having.

I lay there for while wondering how to get up to see to my needs without waking my little sleeping beauty.

Eventually, not so very long afterwards, the door creaked open a notch, and the gap quietly widened. Jogantha poked her head round the door and I smiled and nodded at her to come in, my finger to my lips as I glanced repeatedly at the little one. She nodded back understandingly and then surprised me as she gently and yet insistently worked a finger then two, then her whole hand between the clutching hands on my leg. She waited then a full two moments before mouthing at me to gently move my leg away. I understood the plan and managed to disentangle myself without waking my youngest.

Once I was standing and twitched my creased dress into place, Jogantha mouthed that I should go to my room. I smiled my gratitude at her and made my way to my untouched bed, in my unused room, where Shemekia was already waiting.

“Mistress, good morning! Your father insisted we leave you. Would you like a bath first and then we shall go and see him? He is most eager to talk with you, and all the children are sleeping sound, so now might be a good time?”

“Good morn, Mistress Shemekia, I think …”

“Just Shemekia to you, Mistress, if it pleases you.”

“Very well, then, Shemekia. Let me think ...”

I rapidly scanned through my head all relevancies of which I could perceive.

“I think I will bathe with Briselda and Surekha again this time, to help them settle in, so I will take off this rumpled dress and get prepared for the bath, then visit my Father in my housecoat. When the girls awaken, then we three can dive into the bathhouse without too much delay.”

“Very sensible, Mistress.”

And so it was that Father and I had our long-overdue chat.

There were tears on both sides, and self-appointed blame, and shock and horror at some passages, and wonder as well. There was also laughter and more than a few happy memories. He called me the name that I had had in the family, Gro, and it warmed my soul. Soon everyone in the household addressed me thus, and it once again promoted a loving and fond family feeling for all.

I learned Father’s tale and found that, when he had become the Senior Supervisor for his company, he was much relied upon for bargaining in contract work. The owner of his company had eventually got to the age when he wished to retire, having spent every moment of every day building up the business. This man had never married and had no children, so had continued working far longer than was normal. He had asked Father to act for him, and Father had subsequently helped negotiate a deal with another company run by someone called Tanon. The company was efficiently absorbed into Master Tanon’s.

Less than a year later, the company founder was dead and to Father’s surprise had left his house in Tranidor to him, along with sufficient coin to retain the staff for at least three years. Father had therefore travelled to inspect his bequest and had found the house to be superb. Father explained that travelling was nowadays extremely disagreeable for him, as his injuries meant that he could not sit or ride with any degree of comfort at all. Nevertheless, he had been determined to come up to Blackstone to visit his family - but just as he was about to leave, a messenger arrived with an urgent need for his presence in Brikant. He had kept the Tranidor staff on in deference to his benefactor’s wishes and had returned with Shemekia and Kermel to Brikant, intending to send for me to sort out the Tranidor house for him in his absence.

One thing led to another, and that message requesting assistance was never sent.

In the meantime, he had discovered that Jafferkin was an unaffiliated haulier contracted on an individual basis to his company, and now, of course, to Tanon’s company. His investigations revealed that Jafferkin lived in Tranidor, and rarely did any run other than that to and from Blackstone, so he had arranged a few errands for Jafferkin which took him south. Father revealed that he had gleaned something from Jafferkin about our circumstances, but not very much – enough to suspect that all was not as well as I had been painting it. So when I made the initial plans with Jafferkin about our two-week break, Jafferkin sent a message to Father letting him know what was afoot. Father had arrived the day before us, and was still suffering from the journey, but his appearance steadily improved during the days we were there.

And what days we had when we were there!

They included Briselda’s sixteenth birthday, and its amazing celebration. It was a shock to me that she was now considered an adult and I kept wanting to treat her as the child she was so recently. Father had spent far too much on dresses and clothing for us all, but for we girls especially, and we had our hair cared for by someone else for the first time. We grew accustomed to the continual din that had so assailed us upon our arrival, and we saw many sights that were new to the children.

It was not all carefree fun though.

Some major decisions had to be made. Father would have to return to Brikant, but with the feeling that he would probably retire in three or four years’ time and return permanently then. I myself found that I was not prepared to just walk out on those friends and projects I had in Blackstone.

But this house had already become my rock – my refuge – my fundament. My safeground I could escape to if things got bad. And that just made my attitude different. Knowing I had a bolt-hole if required.

But the most fundamental decision was something for which I just was not prepared. I think I had a blind-spot. My mind was refusing to let me see reality for once.

Briselda.

What to do with her? I made sure she understood that there was always a place for her under my roof, but that I could no longer be responsible for her decisions. She had that burden now. So we had many late evenings, Father, Brizzy and myself – sometimes Kermel and Shemekia also contributed, for they too had some sound ideas and suggestions.

I’m sorry, I got that wrong. I was no longer entitled to call her Brizzy. Briselda, I must remember, was now an adult.

In the end, we had a family sit down on the eve of our departure, all six of us together. Surekha was upset, Mohini was indifferent and Term was over-accepting to mask his disappointment when we all agreed that Briselda would travel with Father to Brikant in order to expand her horizons.

I emphasised to her that she had a job now. And that was to examine as many options as possible for her future, and not to just accept whatever came along. I didn’t want her to waste this opportunity. The agreement was made, Shemekia promised to look after her and we family members all had bright smiles – all of them brittle for many varying reasons, except perhaps for those of my father. I made her promise to write regularly and then had to use the facilities where I had a private crying session.

After the younger ones were abed, I took Father, Briselda, Shemekia and Kermel to one side to discuss another idea I had had.

My idea as we entered Tranidor nearly two weeks ago just wouldn’t go away, and I discussed it with the others. They also saw possibilities and we expanded the idea. Briselda was tickled pink to be included in these so grown-up discussions. We all threw ideas about, ripped some to shreds, embellished others.

Which is how we created the first ‘carry away’ cooked food service in Tranidor, where we would keep a constant stock of food cooking and customers could come and fetch food ready at a moment’s notice. This was particularly attractive to the relatively late arrivals who, like myself, had no desire to fire up a kitchen, prepare a meal and do the clean up before being able to think about sleeping. We charged a reasonable amount, and extra if the customer wanted to take the food vessel with them. Eventually the business expanded into accepting orders for meals to be pre-made for a specific collection time.

But at first it was slow going, helped a little when we paid for some urchins to stand on the Bray bridge and tell incoming wagons of our services, and then word spread, then the business took off to such an extent that we had no less than four imitators two years later.

But back once again to my earlier thread.

And so we returned to Blackstone with Jafferkin and Josten, one family member less, but two frayen extra, with saddles. Father had purchased one for Term’s use and the other for the family, so that we could get around a little easier. Term didn’t ride his frayen on that trip. (Which would actually have been sensible to get some practice away from prying eyes, but I missed that point somehow!)

Term surprised me on that journey, as he stepped into the vacated ‘oldest’ shoes, and he took over the numbers and letters lessons, doing a very creditable job.

He still did some running/walking beside the wagon and was delighted when Jafferkin told him to drive the wagon after one rest stop. Josten looked round to see what was happening and somehow exuded approval. I think the fact that Jafferkin promptly lay flat out in the belly and started snoring was an extra honour for Term.

I knew I had to bite my tongue from telling him what to do and just kept a wary eye on what was happening, hoping to be able to react quickly enough if anything untoward should occur. I was a nervous wreck inside but just couldn’t afford to let it show. But this distracted me from the unease I felt at having to explain why Briselda had departed without a farewell to her friends and peers, and having to deal with the feltris again.

I also enjoyed wearing the better clothes that I now had, but I also knew that many would think that I thought myself superior in some way. I had not transported all my new clothes, there being nowhere to wear them up the mountain, so a few were left in ‘my’ room in the Tranidor house, which was named the 'South Point Mansion'.

… … …

These village undercurrents did not last long however. A disaster, there is no other word, descended upon us.

It started with a general feeling of unease as a few pakh demonstrated some strange symptoms.

Apparently the animals showed an increased body temperature and a feverish demeanour, which went away after a few days. A further few days and the poor animals had blisters, sometimes in their mouths but more often in their feet.

Much, much later we discovered the reasons for all this. One pakh farmer had apparently accepted an animal from his brother’s farm up the Sufen valley in the belief that breeding from this animal would improve the stock of the herds round Blackstone. It seems that this animal was put out to pasture on the west bank of the Bray, and a few weeks later, it and animals with which it came into contact started these strange symptoms. Within months, nearly all the animals in the Bray Valley head had become ill, with by far the greater proportion of them dying but some surviving.

This meant we had no pakh wool, and therefore the need for buyers to come to Blackstone was removed. So we had no income; so the town went into a rapid decline.

Worst hit probably were the people who ran the larger inn of the two in town, the Ptuvil’s Claw. They had expanded the premises, added extra windows and facilities and even bought a herd of pakh. Their outlay had been enormous by town standards, but they were just starting to make a profit after two years of paying off their bills. Business dried up and their pakh herd had been decimated. They debated staying on in the hopes that matters would improve, but decided to cut their losses and try again elsewhere in a less fragile environment. So they announced they would abandon the building, boarded up its doors and windows and simply departed down the valley without a backward glance. No-one knows where they ended up.

I think that about half the residents left Blackstone sooner or later during that period, including such previous luminaries as the Guildmaster of the Weavers'. I can estimate fairly accurately since the demand for my products dropped off dramatically. Griz managed to keep going on the back of her side activities, their pakh being now a negligible contribution. The only pakh herders who came out relatively unscathed were those who lived up Blackstone Vale, whom we saw but rarely, and those very few who kept their flocks up as high as the Stone Sea. And GB was the heroine who kept weaving the vastly reduced wool amounts to the best quality, thus making some woven products available to get some income flowing. It was obvious to everyone that her products were required and so she kept busy. But times were hard for most.

It was only afterwards that I realised that the problem had disappeared with the rains, which were particularly heavy that year. After them, we didn’t see the illness again, but we had less than one twentieth or even one thirtieth of the number of animals we used to have, and the wool quality was noticeably inferior – it has gently improved over the years since, getting only now somewhere near the quality it once was.

I had initiated a scheme whereby I would go down to Tranidor every fourth or fifth week, being away for a total of nine days each time, two days to get there and two days to get back left five days there. I took with me usually six people, but sometimes as many as ten, particularly the boys and girls who were just either side of puberty. I took some adults as well, those who wished to see something other than just the Blackstone area. All of them reacted the same as we had when the noise and hubbub hit their ears and all soon adjusted to it. Some few decided to stay down there rather than return, which once or twice caused me problems with their families up in Blackstone.

Father had used his contacts to arrange some training for Term once he reached 14, and Mohini was by then 10, so I would occasionally let Mohini stay down in Tranidor for a month or two. He showed an aptitude for learning and developed a very active and enquiring mind. So much so, that I was negotiating for an apprenticeship for him to start in a couple of years. Certainly by now, he was bored with Blackstone and much preferred Tranidor. The catering business down there was making a small profit, the costs having been covered quite some time ago. Mohini was soon to be very helpful in this enterprise and thought up some new ways of spreading the word about the services.

Tranidor was the point through which most of Northern Palarand’s mined products passed, or so it seemed to us, and there was a constant demand for services in the bustling town, although many were disgruntled with Lord Trosanar. I did not know the details but I can only report what the word was ‘on the street’, so as to say. Lord T seemed determined to antagonise the miners particularly. Any wagon that crossed into Tranidor had to pay for the privilege, and the roads down the Sufen and Palar Valleys led only into the town. The only exit for all these wagons was across the Bray bridge.

My Lord Trosanar was happy to extract coin, but the word I heard was that not many saw what he spent it on.

And so life in Blackstone stuttered on in its decimated way. Yes, I stayed up in Blackstone mostly, as I felt that that environment was better for Surekha at the moment. Then one day a peculiar group of men arrived. One was obviously in charge, but the others with him were … odd. They looked like thugs, certainly not staff members.

We discovered that the leader was a newly-appointed Tax Assessor called Trogan. Not having much coin around in a practically derelict town, I thought it strange, but then nobles and their ways are very strange.

I was more concerned in making a life for my children and developing my options over on the west side of the Bray and paid little heed, if any at all, to the comings and goings in town. Griz and Boxklee were nearer the town, of course, and she reported to me that they were quite aggressive in their demands, having upset quite a few already. I just shrugged it off, and thought little more about it.

Four or five weeks later, it seemed they had visited everyone on the east side of the river, including up into Blackstone Vale, and were starting now on my side, beginning at the head of the valley. Griz and Boxklee lived on the east side of the river and had explained to me what they had experienced. They actually had very little of value to point to and were still charged a whole Crown. They didn’t understand how that was assessed, and tried to protest, but said they were literally scared off from doing so.

Once the Tax Assessor came round, surveyed what I had and demanded also a Crown from me, I understood why others were annoyed. I had seen him coming and made sure that I was in my oldest dress, my hair was unkempt and the children in stained clothes. I smeared a little dirt on my face and strew this and that around making the place untidy.

I also knew enough to not let on about my savings and my business interests downvalley, and came up with what seemed to be a good plan.

I explained that I would have to travel to Tranidor to get so much coin from relatives there and would be back as soon as I had managed to borrow it. The Tax Assessor looked again, saw that I had things that needed maintenance and would probably be back, so he demanded a Solly now and a Crown when I returned. I could tell he was only interested in extracting as much as he could and that was as far as he could see.

I never knew what it was that decided him to allow us to go, for he was mostly confining people to town. Maybe because I was a widow, I was apparently poor, I had some eppris that needed tending – who knows? The fact remained that I was given permission when others hadn't been. Looking back, I should have just not returned, but, living as I did away from the main centre of Town, I was unaware of the full extent of his depredations. I think he too was learning how to handle the situation he had caused. And maybe, by then, he had not so much blood on his hands as later, when he imposed an iron discipline.

It only took a week altogether to get it all arranged, to get the necessary eppriman stuff done and to close up the home. A wagon pulled into town and the wagoner was a little happier about the exorbitant ‘Bridge Toll’ when I offered to pay it for him in exchange for transport to Tranidor, his overnight expenses on the way also to be picked up by myself. Even then, 'twas a difficult departure, some of his men arguing that we should not be allowed to go. I believe that the final permission was granted simply because he was annoyed with one of his men and just decided to do the opposite of what that individual wanted.

And so we all went down to Tranidor: ‘we all’ being myself, Mohini, Surekha, Griz and Boxklee.

We had a slightly longer stay than normal, a month away being the most I dared to leave the epphomes (or epprihouses to give them their proper Palarandi name) unattended. We were preparing to depart upon the return journey when Surekha came down with one of those childhood illnesses that lay them so low. We were in a quandary as I needed to tend my epphomes and no-one else had the skills. In the end, Griz and Boxklee volunteered to stay with the little one while Mohini and I travelled back north. But Mohini wasn’t having any of that, so in the end I had to travel alone. That was actually better for me as I could rush about doing my and Griz’s chores without having to worry about a child. I was concerned that I might not make it before the rains started.

I found a wagoneer that had a half-load ready for delivery to Blackstone, and I paid him to go without waiting for a full load, fully intending to do my business and then return with him after maybe just a day’s turnround time. He was reluctant to be alone with an unescorted woman but I managed to persuade him it would be fine. I shall regret that sequence of events for all the rest of my life.

His name was Grout. His dranakh studied me and I saw that she was a she. I let her take my arm in her mouth and was told that her name was Taneesa. It seemed she was willing and also seemed to enjoy having a lighter load. She waggled her ears in what I interpreted as delight and I found the gesture charming, particularly as she had a black tip on one ear and a brown one on the other.

We had just passed the Chaarn junction, when Jafferkin came down with Josten. For the first time ever, his wagon’s belly was empty. Josten and Taneesa sniffled, snorted and bleated to each other as we humans were talking.

“Mistress! Strange folk in town up yonder. Man says he’s tax assessor. Them with him bain’t be no officials or I’m a dranakh. Ordered out and to not come back, I was. Me!” he was so outraged that he had nearly lapsed into whole sentences. This really raised my hackles. Both dranakh turned their heads to look at me.

I thought quickly. “Right, Jaffy. You go to the house and tell everyone I might be delayed a bit. I’ll try to find out what’s going on. This sounds very weird. Why did they send a Tax Assessor to Blackstone? We are nowhere near as rich as we were, and even then we were poor. And why send you away? I have a strange feeling about this!”

The dranakhs snickered at each other and we went our separate ways.

We progressed fairly rapidly through the forest and camped in the old roadhouse that had somehow burned. The smell still lingered, so an uncomfortable night passed. We were glad to make an early start and reached the town eventually, parking in the ‘camping place’ at the top of the street. What was strange was that no-one was around and about on the street as we passed through.

There were five men around us as we climbed down; all but the better dressed one carrying a cocked crossbow. The better dressed one was of course Trogan, the recently appointed Tax Assessor. It was immediately obvious that he didn’t recognise me, nor did any of his men. My clothes were so much different to the near-rags I had worn as we departed – and I was alone too, unencumbered by children. Grout of course had never been here before, so to them there was nothing to connect with the honey-maker who had departed a month ago.

Trogan demanded a Solly from Grout for the ‘Bridge Toll’. We were both shocked and he started to protest when the crossbows came up and pointed at him. He protested once again but Trogan stepped forward and cuffed his ear.

“For your insolence, I shall confiscate the contents of your wagon. We shall unload it now, then you get out. No-one will be leaving the town until the back taxes have been collected, so there is nothing here for you and I don’t want to have to feed another two useless mouths.” He turned to his henchmen and rapped out some orders. “Brakkis, shoot him if he moves a muscle. The rest of you, I want everything off that wagon and on the ground within a quarter of a bell. Everything!”

I stood and watched amazed as the goods were simply tumbled to the ground. I snatched my small box and nearly got shot for it. So I started to use a woman’s weapons – and burst into tears, thinking quickly all the time. No-one who lived near this end of the town was my size and my dress was still a Tranidor one which made me instantly recognisable. I would have to plead to use a toilet and then get some information from whoever lived round about. One of the boxes was quite heavy and gouged the hanging tailboard of the wagon quite severely before tumbling awkwardly to the ground where it burst open and containers of paint were sent over a wide area.

“I know women, and you probably need to use a toilet. There,” he pointed, “use that hut there. And then you and your husband can leave again. I want you out of here before the next bell rings.”

“This is unsupportable! How dare you behave this way? My husband and I have lived in this town for twenty years! We shall not be ordered about in this uncouth manner.”

The wagoneer looked shocked, but had the sense to go along with whatever it was I was planning.

“Now get your men to reload the wagon, and we shall move it to where it belongs.”

“Listen lady, I have already told you that the belongings are forfeit. Failure to pay a legitimate charge will result in a punishment. Count yourself lucky that you are unharmed. You!” he said, swinging round to Grout. “Where do you usually keep this wagon?”

“Er … er … er … it’s not actually our wagon, Your Honour. We have borrowed it from a friend who lives down by the forest.”

“Right then, you had better return it then, hadn’t you? I don’t want it cluttering up this space any longer. You, woman! Get away off home.”

“But I need my things. I can’t carry them all the way over there, the other side of the river. My husband must help me. Look, it’s way over there close to that hut where the epprihouses are!”

I saw Grout relax in relief. He now knew where he would have to pretend to live.

“How stupid can women get, lads? She has no ‘things’. She’s been told twice already, but she still doesn’t get it. Just get out of my sight woman! And you, leave your wife to fend for herself for once and return this wagon to your friend. You two still owe me the Solly, so you had better start working hard to earn it. The sooner you can get on with it, the better.”

He used sign language and head gestures to indicate to his men that some of them should follow my ‘husband’. I turned, clutching my box to my chest, and set out on the remaining mark of my journey home. I used the time doing that to think hard and deeply.

Something here was fundamentally wrong. Surely no legitimate Tax Assessor would act so. He must have gone rogue, I decided. I would discuss it with the Council first thing in the morning. I had no way to find out just how bad things had got in my absence.

… … …

I walked across to the town at around midday, having checked everything I needed to of mine, but hastily. I would have to sort out some chores that Griz needed to be done in the afternoon, but really the Tax Assessor business had to be the priority.

I went first to the Messenger Office though, to send a letter down to Griz at the house in Tranidor. I was surprised to find no-one there. When I turned round outside the Office, I was shocked to see one of the unkempt men casually stroll out of the Steward’s House.

I caught sight of Master Brydas further up the road, so I decided to go straight to him.

And from him discovered what I thought of as the full extent of the horror that had descended upon us. As we were talking, the man called Brakkis drove by on a freshly-painted wagon. Something caught my eye, and I froze in mid-sentence. I actually felt myself turn pale as the blood dropped from my face. I quickly turned my head to hide that reaction from Brakkis.

“Mistress? What is it?” said Brydas with some urgency.

I invented a coughing fit and leaned quite heavily on Master Brydas’ arm, my fingers threatening to squeeze the flesh from him. He caught my warning glance and indicated his understanding as I apparently calmed down slightly. I was watching out the corner of my eye as Brakkis carried on without apparent suspicion.

As soon as he was out of earshot, I whispered urgently that we had to go indoors for some privacy. He led me to his parlour.

“Master Brydas! Did you see that wagon?”

“Aye, Mistress?”

“The tailboard was hanging down.”

“Yes mistress, but that is not unusual. Why such a reaction?”

“It was heavily scratched. And the dranakh was what attracted my attention. She has two different colours on the tips of her ears. And so I looked closely at the rig, and I’m sure there is a smear of blood on the chair, poorly cleaned up.”

I continued to explain our arrival yesterday, and we both realised that the poor wagoner Grout had probably been killed. This added an extra level to the horror as we realised just how ruthless these thugs might well be.

And how careful we would have to be.

We had maybe an advantage in that they thought the wagoneer was my husband and so would have to be careful around me, but we had to play that card very cagily. The thugs had parked the wagon and attempted to move Taneesa by force. She set up a heart-stopping thrumming that I could see scared the men badly – it certainly did me. I was hoping that Taneesa would escape the men and find refuge out there above the dam. I was so relieved when she ambled off in that direction.

… … …

Two days later, Brakkis come to my home.

He just swaggered in, without an invitation and sat down in my chair, from where he inspected my meagre belongings with a predatory glint.

“Fetch me some pel, woman.”

“Get out of our house!” I remembered just in time to change the word ‘my’ to ‘our’.

He laughed, but there was no humour in his voice. “I was waiting for the pel. I know you understood my order. Get on with it.”

“My husband will be back soon, and I’ll get him to throw you out.”

“No he won’t. We found a chore for him, and we sent him down to Dekarran. He won’t be back for at least two weeks.”

It wasn’t difficult to let my shock show and I felt a definite chill settle into the room. My heart started hammering in my chest.

“I have no intention whatsoever of giving you any house room at all. I will report you to your boss, and you will lose your job. This is an unwarranted intrusion and I will make sure you regret this.”

He laughed again. “I do like a woman with some fire. I’ll soon bring you round and you’ll learn to appreciate a real man for a change. Now get busy. It’s thirsty work this tax collecting.”

“Just get out. You are not welcome here. And don’t bother coming back.”

He stood slowly, and neared me. I drew back my hand to slap him and let fly.

He was incredibly quick.

As my hand came forward, he grabbed it and twisted my arm so it went behind my back. He pulled me to him so my breasts were crushed painfully against his shirt, a shirt that my nose told me had been worn for a week or more already. His other hand grabbed my second wrist and dragged that arm behind my back too. His stinking breath was in my nostrils as he lowered his lips to mine and pressed them hard together. I can’t describe it as a kiss. My lips were crushed against my teeth, and I felt the upper one split and blood started to run.

Holding both my wrists in one hand, still behind my back, he used the other to grope my breasts. I suspect he would have made a good baker, the way he kneaded my poor flesh. I was struggling all the time of course and screaming at him in shock, fear and anger.

He wriggled sideways slightly and resumed the attack on my chest from above, burrowing down inside my bodice. This actually was to my advantage as, by arching my back more, the bodice half-trapped his hand in place. I managed at the same time to dig a nail into the soft flesh at the base of his thumb of his other hand and that let me get a hand free as he yelled in pain. With that hand, I grabbed the front of his trousers and squeezed hard. His hands both whipped down towards his crutch so I did the best I could to use my now-free other hand to gouge out an eye. I missed, much to my dismay, but one of his hands came up in self-defence.

I could have sworn that the room got darker at that moment.

I was by now desperate as he was so much heavier than I, and I swung round, still maintaining my iron grip on his bits which made him stumble somewhat. Both his hands shot outwards as he instinctively tried to keep his balance. This gave me a few more breaths to torture his testicles and I struggled to make my longer nails do some damage.

Suddenly a fist shape appeared in the corner of my eye and a terrific blow rocked my head and blurred my vision. I felt myself falling as a foot crashed into my thigh. I feared the worst when I landed awkwardly on my back, leaving me struggling for breath.

His snarling face was inches from my own as I felt his knee force its way between my legs, my skirts having been flipped waistwards. My hands were scrabbling for something, anything to use as a weapon.

“You little ptuvil! I’m going to teach you a lesson for that! After I’ve done you, I’m going to …”

There was a dullish metallic sound and suddenly his entire weight was crushing me. A hand rolled him half sideways and I struggled out, breathing so fast I thought I would faint.

“This is an awkward situation,” said my saviour. “Will it be less trouble if we kill him, or if we let him survive? I vote for the first as he might otherwise go off and prey upon easier victims. Either way, I’m afraid you will need a new grease pan to cook with.”

“Oh GB, thank you. I feared I was lost, then. We should complain to Master Trogan. Let him deal with it.”

“Come my dear, you’re not that naïve. Trogan is no more a Master nor a Tax Assessor than you are a zinakh. These are opportunistic bandits, nothing more.”

“But I hear he has papers proving what he is.”

“Oh pssh. No official appointed by Lord Gilbanar would act like this, arriving with that many thugs in tow is a clear secretbreaker.”

“But the Council ...”

“ … Are a bunch of sawdust! Trogan was plausible for a short while, and now he has control over them all by a variety of means. His men have been importuning poor women since three days after they arrived. The people of this town just want to turn a blind eye.”

“Sometimes I get so annoyed that we are ‘mere women’. There must be something we can do.”

“Well, be careful. He knows you were involved. He didn’t see me at all, although I did block most of the light when I came in,” she giggled which made for wondrous ripples over her entire body. “And I do know men well enough that he’ll never admit to being beaten by a woman. So he mustn’t know anyone else was involved.”

“I have to discourage him somehow from returning. We can’t just kill him, it’s broad daylight and someone would be bound to see, even if I could bring myself to do it. Oh … wait a heartbeat, I have an idea …”

I thought it through rapidly and an evil giggle emerged. “I think, dear GB, that it is time to engage the assistance of my dear eppris. You know how they have fiery bites that swell and itch? Well if I was to go and fetch a hand or two, and we were to introduce them into his trousers …”

Gramobona wobbled all over again as she laughed.

But all of a sudden, she went quiet and a strange expression crossed her features.

“GB, what’s the matter?”

“Well,” she said more diffidently than I had ever seen or heard her speak before. “I … er… the thing is … Oh Maker!”

“C’mon GB. This is me. We have no secrets. What on Anmar is the matter?”

She hesitated a bit longer, the gushed out: “I have never seen a man’s you-know-what. Can I be the one to do it? Please?”

I knew immediately that I dared not laugh and managed to quell a noisy outbreak, but I could barely concentrate as I went and collected 8 or 10 of my loyal little workers.

“Where would be best? … Oooh, it’s all very ugly isn’t it? … This shrivelled little thing can do … er … you-know? Really?… Hmmm – quite soft skin mind you … Poo, what a stink! … Right, that should do it, let’s pull those breeches up quickly … Well, if you ask, me – here help with this button - I don’t know what the fuss is all about. Doesn’t look like I’ve missed out on anything … Thank you for letting me.”

We dragged him out of the house and onto my little wheeled dray I use for small loads. The walkway to the ‘outhouse’ as we had dubbed it made it easy to get the supine form to the dungheap where we left him spread-eagled on top of the most recent additions. Being the considerate people that we were, we rested his head on the damaged cooking utensil, totally ‘forgetting’ that the metal might get ever so hot in the sun …

GB waddled off back to her home before Brakkis came round again, and I sat there in the shade, keeping half an eye on the approach from town, feverishly trying to plan some way that I could help to relieve the town’s agony. A bell passed, and then two of the thugs came directly from town towards me, which told me that they knew where Brakkis had gone.

I had plenty of time to get myself into a state.

“Oh thank you for coming!” I practically sobbed. “Your fellow has been taken ill. I did my best to get him to safety, but I’m only a feeble woman. I didn’t dare leave him in case he was bitten again. Some people become ill when they’re bitten by an epp and some have even died from it, after swelling enormously. You had better fetch a healer. Oh Maker! The poor man. I don’t know what to do! Oh I’m so grateful for your help ... ” I gushed on practically tripping over my own tongue as the words vomited forth.

And I got away with it.

I suppose it helped that the rains came then, although I was worried about my children not being with me.

I pushed my luck over the next few occasions by commenting on the quality of the honey whenever Brakkis was near, and his heavy scowl was a secret reward for myself. They did however, manage to find out that Grout hadn’t been my husband – and, without confessing anything, made me understand that they had killed him. They tried to make me feel bad about that, saying it was my fault they had had to do it. However, you will remember, I had played the blame game for a lot longer than they could ever imagine.

I was worried about my family, and Griz and Boxklee down in Tranidor. I was worried about all the things we epprikeepers had to worry about. I was worried about the town and Trogan’s harsh regime. I was worried what might happen if another of them tried to force themselves upon me. (But either Brakkis warned them off, or, more likely, they were getting too busy most of the time.)

It wasn’t until the trial that we finally understood the depths they had gone to - but it was a worrying time for us all.

Almost as soon as the rains had ended their severity, a wagon appeared. Yes, there had been several other wagons arrive and all were sent away empty. I was expecting daily some response from the letters and notes I had sent but, so far, nothing happened.

This wagon was different however.

It was carrying Griz, Boxklee and my Surekha, whom I had missed dreadfully. I was again with Master Brydas trying to find some way out of our predicament, when I saw my little one’s face. I could not help myself, I ran up to the wagon park and met them there. I’m not at all sure which of us was the more emotional, but it WAS a lovely feeling to see my little one again and her tight grip assured me that she was pleased to see me as well.

By this time, the Trogan mob had established a routine for dealing with incoming wagons having learnt from some earlier mistakes. At first, the driver objected to Trogan’s exorbitant demand for the ‘Bridge Toll’, but I managed to get Boxklee’s eyes and persuaded him to pay it.

Trogan had not seen my eye-message and therefore was surprised; but there was now no reason to confiscate the contents of the wagon. The driver was ordered to help carry the personal boxes to our respective homes and I learnt that his name was Shemel.

I managed a short and quiet conversation with him to give him a warning, but he just didn’t believe that what we said was happening was in fact the truth. I tried really hard to convince him and mentioned the events of the wagoneer who had brought me up here those long weeks ago. It was mentioning the dranakh’s ears that tipped the balance my way.

“Maker! We didn’t know what happened to him. Old Grout just disappeared as far as we were concerned. But Taneesa has that colouring well enough. I’ll be very careful and get some help.”

Everything went along as expected and I breathed a sigh of relief that soon someone would know of our predicament.

I was on my way to the Smith’s when I saw some consternation amongst Trogan’s men. The thug named Pexen came running up to Trogan. By this time, Shemel was across the bridge and oblivious to events behind him. I heard Pexen explain to Trogan that Shemel had recognised him.

“Oh Maker! Right then, you guys know what has to be done.” He savagely issued some more orders but they were still said too quietly for me to hear. He swivelled back to us. “Get home you lot, go on. Get! Now!” he snarled.

We got.

It took me all evening to convince Griz and Boxklee of the facts and they were immediately worried. I discovered that they had never received any of my written messages. We debated moving all together for some safety, but I decided against that. I already had a high profile, I didn’t want to drag them into notice. It took a long while to bring them up to date, but I was buoyant knowing that we had a chance of getting a message out to bring help. And then I remembered the final scenes and my hopes plummeted again.

… … …

Griz and I held each other’s arms tightly when we saw Bildo driving a wagon up the street to the ‘camping place’. Griz nodded confirmation as to it being the one in which they had arrived.

This was the third morning after.

Poor Shemel.

I felt so sad, angry and determined all at the same time. I was also amazed; amazed to see Taneesa wander up to the wagon park where she started bleating. As soon as Shemel’s dranakh was unharnessed, he shouldered Bildo out of the way and the two went off, moving smartly towards the dam. I was pleased for the small victory, but was amazed that Taneesa had turned up just when she was wanted.

The next days passed and I could tell there was something happening. There was something in the air.

As women, we were always ignored and so we gathered together and discussed what could be done. But the advantage we had of being below consideration was our greatest drawback as well. Because we were totally ineffective. But there was a feeling of togetherness that I had never felt before.

Five nights after the ill-fated departure, my life changed.

I was woken by Surekha tugging on my arm. I was very dozy as I struggled awake. “Mama”, she hissed urgently, “there’s a dranakh trying to get in my window.”

Oh it’s been a long while since she had strange and worrying dreams. I was about to hug her to soothe her when I heard a definite dranakh bleat from outside. I threw on a housecoat, told Surekha to stay in my bed, and I crept outside. Not one but two dranakh were there, one carrying some bundle. Somehow I knew the one unencumbered was Taneesa. She tugged me gently to the other one who immediately fell to his knees and then lowered the other legs in turn until the spine was just above and next to the raised wooden walkway. I realised I was supposed to take the burden from his back.

I got my wheeled dray as the load looked quite large and moved the dray as close as possible. In the light of the stars I then started to tackle the lump.

I squealed and jumped back.

It was a human.

It flashed across my brain that the other dranakh was the one that had just arrived with ... Shemel! This must be Shemel! I tried to lift him, but couldn’t but then the dranakh sort of shrugged and he rolled off neatly onto my dray, overflowing it at each end. I rushed indoors and told Surekha to run to Griz to get help. This scenario was suddenly familiar but sufficiently different to make it seem surreal.

And then something amazing happened. When I came outside with Surekha, Taneesa offered her a ride!

I hesitated for fear that Surekha might be injured but a wave of reassurance seemed to emanate from the animal, and Surekha scrambled up, thinking this was a super adventure.

I returned to the dray, and, keeping his ends out of the way, I wheeled him gently towards the hut.

Far sooner than I could ever have hoped, I heard the dranakh returning. How Surekha had persuaded Griz to mount I have no idea, not even to this day. But she was here, and the three of us got Shemel into my bed, and with sufficient light from the oil lamps for us to see what was happening.

As soon as I saw the crossbow bolt protruding from his calf, I sent Surekha to boil some water, an old pakh farmers trick for treating bleeding injuries that seems to have better results on the animals recoveries. While she was away, Griz and I cut off the bolt at the fletched end and then pulled on the sharpened end to try to get it free. In this fashion, we tugged the bolt out of the hole. We were amazed at how much strength it required. Shemel groaned and yelped, which was a good sign, but did not regain consciousness, which wasn’t.

We washed the area with cloths as hot as we could hold and again he groaned. We did what we could and made him as comfortable as possible, knowing we would need a Healer to help. There was one in our little new-born opposition group, so we could just hope that she would keep this a secret.

Just before dawn, Griz left to go home and I tucked Surekha into her bed. I pottered around for a bit, and then felt sleepy. I stretched out on top of the sheets on my bed and promptly fell asleep.

Griz made enough noise approaching that I knew someone was with her. Someone who we shouldn’t have snooping around. I, groggily at first but improving rapidly, woke up. I knew there was some urgency required, but it seemed to me that I had been cuddling Shemel, or he me, or something. I just didn’t have time to think about it right then. I bundled up the bedclothes and thus made sure that Shemel was not easily seen.

I slipped on a dress and went outside.

There were two of them with her. I summoned up my courage and plastered on a smile.

“Mistress! We have a problem. There was a bit of a fuss last night, and we need to come to see you. You are apparently responsible.” How my smile didn’t waver, I have no idea.

“We have no honey where we live. So we need four jars of honey, immediately. And four every week. Master Trogan says this will reduce your tax debt by one Solly.” I almost laughed out loud, but handed over eight jars there and then, and ushered them away. Once they were out of earshot, I let out a huge sigh of relief. I asked Griz to go and fetch the healer, saying to anyone that Surekha needed some help. I prepared Shemel for the investigation as far as I dared.

The news was a mixture of good and bad.

His wound was infected, but not as much as other similar wounds she had treated. The upper leg was broken, but was what she called a simple fracture and would heal itself as long as it was kept still. Griz suggested tying two short planks either side of the leg and we all thought this was a good idea. It did make the leg very thick though. There was a blow to the head about which the healer was most concerned. And a lack of food and water for the past three days would not provide healing strength. However, if he woke today or tomorrow, then there was hope, otherwise it would be difficult. She said she would come every day to check.

I could go into details of each day, but that wouldn’t be interesting to your readers, so I will simply say that he awoke on the second day, I fed him some gruel and he started to improve. The healer was insistent that he walk as soon as the bone had mended and we discussed various ways we could achieve this when the time came.

There was also another factor.

Shemel explained what had happened to him and we understood the extent of our difficulties.

He had been unaware of the consternation behind him, but had already been on his guard as soon as he saw and recognised Pexen. He urged Deel, the dranakh, to a faster pace without being obvious and he made it to the forest before any pursuit was too near. Once there, he got Deel into a gallop, went about two marks and then jumped off the careering wagon onto a soft grass verge. He ran into the trees and hid as the chasing frayen went past, then he picked his way down to the water, hoping to be able to scramble along the banks. The river was still in spate this soon after the rains.

With the river to guide him, he knew he would eventually get out of the Blackstone area. He estimated he had covered about ten marks from town, had only 20 or 25 more to go. He made he reckons a further five or six before night fell. He was then close to both road and river, so he clambered up to the road and strode out, safe under the cover of darkness. He managed a further six marks before the need for sleep overtook him.

He slept in the woods, hidden from the road, hoping that he wouldn’t snore. He awoke four bells later, by his estimate. Making his way once more to the river, he caught a fish and ate it raw, slaking his thirst with the river water. Then he followed the roaring stream during the day. Again he reckoned on five or six marks of progress.

Once the sun was setting, he made his way back towards the road intending to repeat the previous night’s method. It was pure chance that he saw and heard his pursuers before they saw him. He retreated into the forest very slowly, eyes skinned on the road. He literally tripped over Fret who was using a hollow in the roots of a tree as a privy. Fret gave voice to alert the others, and Shemel took off rapidly downhill using the slope to give him some initial speed. He was nearly clear of them when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He weaved in and out of some more trees, his leg on fire. Eventually it was too much to bear and he stumbled with a loud yell, careering off a large boulder on the river bank. The uneven ground caused him to topple into a hidden hollow behind a bush as the boulder teetered before ending in the river with a loud splash.

His pursuers gathered on the river bank and just made out, in the fading light, the bright red splash of blood on the partly-submerged boulder. Thirty strides further on, the river disappeared into a melee of tangled water and rapids. The pursuers decided that he had gone into the water and perished there. They had not seen the boulder topple in, so assumed the blood was from the body toppling onto the rock.

They left.

Falling into the hollow, Shemel had hit his head and he said the next bells were like a dream as he swam in and out of consciousness. He was aware of the sun coming up and setting again and in the meantime he had struggled up to near the road and then collapsed. Two dranakh appeared in the twilight and he remembered scrabbling up onto the back of the one he was sure was Deel, whilst the other occasionally nudged him on the bottom to help.

And that was it. He remembered no more until he woke in my bed.

Our hopes of alerting people outside the valley here had evaporated, and we were harbouring a man earmarked for death if he was discovered. That man had to exercise soon as well, so there was only one solution as far as we could see.

I donated maybe a third of a stride of hair from my tresses; they now reached the small of my back rather than my wide posterior. Griz and GB sewed the slashed off pieces into a headcloth. GB altered one of her dresses, and Shemel became a woman for the next few weeks, my crippled cousin from Tranidor who had arrived in the night on a borrowed frayen that had been released to find its way home. Her husband had died and she had underestimated the time it would take to reach me, so she made the final three bells of travel in the dark, scared witless of all the forest noises at night.

But actually no-one ever asked and that story was never required.

Shemel and I talked every evening – sometimes I would give pointers in feminine gestures and so on, but mostly about our lives and back stories.

… … …

And then our Baroness arrived, and our town was shaken out of its daze.

I attended the trial full of a fierce determination to see those thugs receive justice, but when those other girls described what they had suffered, I could bear no more, and rushed home in tears. Shemel held me as I sobbed.

“Oh, if only I hadn’t done that to Brakkis, then maybe those other girls would not have suffered so much cruelty.”

“Hush now, my love. Er … I mean cousin …” His voice trailed off and he looked guilty.

Then I realised that the growing warmth of my feelings for him was reciprocated.

I knew it was up to me, so the next night, I arranged for Griz to have some need for Surekha to stay the night there.

… … …

Oh I never knew that it could be like that!

And I knew that Shemel felt the same.

In the afterglow, he asked me a question: “What, my love, is your name? I have only ever heard you referred to as ‘Mistress’, ‘Epp’, ‘Gro’ , ‘cousin’ or, most often, as simply ‘woman’.”

I whispered it to him and for the first time ever he called me by my name.

The first time it was ever uttered aloud in Blackstone.

And it was said with such warmth that even today I get a thrill when he calls me, in that special way of his, by my full name – Megrozen.

---

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

---

Disclaimer:

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

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

---

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

But there they were the next day, trudging upslope again.

Papa told me that he was to be found most evenings in the Bell Inn, but not because he was a drunkard. And he was often seen late in the day walking down the main street to the Bell. I was so intrigued by this, that I became determined to discover what I could about him.

I was about 13 when I first summoned the courage to approach him and talk with him. A goodly few months later, maybe as much as a year, we had become friends enough for him to visit our home rather than the Bell on some evenings.

His name is Deegrum.

Here is his story, mostly in his words — except for the plentiful naughty ones, which I refuse to write, sometimes changing them to something like ‘blasted’.

The first few sentences will give you a flavour of our chats and also a flavour of his speech, but after that, I tidied it up a little - to save me some trouble writing it, and to save my readers some trouble reading it.

Sometimes it was extremely difficult to extract information, his answers frequently raising other questions that went unanswered; so I did get some of these answers from other people like Mostar, a journeyman with Master Blandel the mason, and Skanik, similarly a journeyman with the joiner/carpenter, Master Haldik. It was my first time actually hunting down information, and it gave me a taste ‘for the chase’ as I came to think of it.

I then decided to weave all the information I got from both him and the others into one telling.

Here then is Deegrum’s story …

… … …

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

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

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

“Well, what about your parents, then?”

“They were me Da and Ma.”

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

“Like as what, Mistress?”

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

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

... ... ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

… … …

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

We have noticed a slight lightening in his general mood since he started to join our family for the occasional meal. He now has a lot of time for the children of the town, even if I think I detect a brightening of moisture in his eyes as he makes more time to play with them, and he rarely uses bad words in their hearing. The children all seem to love him when they are toddlers but somehow drift away from him as they get older. He is fiercely protective of the littler ones, so maybe that is what they sense, or maybe they feel at one with his very child-like nature, adult words aside.

I know I shall miss him when he eventually goes, but for now he continues in what is really his own very private world. I think he likes the hugs he gets from each of us when he leaves our home. I secretly hope that the improvements will continue, and feel rewarded when someone notices.

Poor Deegrum, I just wish I could do more.

---

Just how did Master Michen become so knowledgeable about Blackstone and its surroundings? And what does he actually do?

---

Disclaimer:

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 the Baroness and the Prince came down from the Vale with the shocking news of the attack, I don’t think my family realised the changes that were in store for us all. Yes, we, like many others, had heard the pronouncements and seen the demonstrations and we girls had looked into that amazing looking-glass - but we hadn’t really grasped the facts. There was an urgency about how Mylady conducted herself and it took me (and most of the others) a good few days to realise something that she herself had immediately appreciated — her days in Blackstone were numbered from that moment on. Somehow her intensity and her urgency conveyed themselves to others, and it spread.

One afternoon I was at home doing the chores and training my younger sister Kordulet, the next in age to me, to do various of them. Kords (as we called her) was named after my father, whereas I was named for my mother, Julissa. Being two years younger than I, and not having had to care for the seven of us for the past years, Kords needed to learn a lot, particularly as I was soon to be an adult and may not be there for them all should I find a sweetheart or something else happened — although neither event seemed likely to me at that time. Anyway, that afternoon we had no less than 3 events that ended up of significance to the Town. All three were so innocuous, it still amazes me to this day that there was no more fuss, no fanfare.

The first was the visit of a pair of sisters called Venna and Kalisel, who lived up in the Vale itself. Recently their parents had been making more contact with townsfolk and they were staying for a few overnights to learn the town, its people and to pick up what knowledge they could, as well as to visit their sick grandfather Hamenar who had a room in the Bell so he could be handled by the healers.

Someone (I suspect strongly that it was probably Senidet) had told them that I could help them learn their numbers and letters. I replied to them that I would be glad to, but had (then) limited time to do it in as I had a family to run. I suggested they also asked my first guide, Epp as we all called her, and suggested that both she and I could help until Master Jepp and Mylady Merizel set up the school that was being talked about. I gave them directions to Epp’s home and made sure that they understood those directions. I couldn’t forget that they were effectively strangers in our midst. They mentioned a further cousin of theirs called Renys who would also be interested. There were some boys in their family apparently, but they were younger.

It was only later that I discovered they had an elder brother too.

I discovered this when I met the Vale farmer families as a complete group. They were camping up at the campingplace, next to the Cistern, using the wagon left there by Trogan’s men as a shelter in the event of rain. As you will see, the campingplace was also where the younger adults, and soon-to-be adults, would meet to chatter, flirt and inspect each other.

We made general conversation as you do when you meet strangers, but I seemed to be engaged in a longer conversation than might be normal with Denesar, the older brother. He was counted an adult, but was still at that awkward-around-girls stage. I tried to put him at ease by asking him to describe life up there, not being able to imagine living so relatively alone; but the only things he saw from day to day were pakh, dranakh, dungheaps and chores. They rarely saw any strangers, with the possible exception of a woman who rode a frayen and seemed to be interested in insects that flew. She came fairly often, not regularly, but, without coming too near, had made it plain that she would rather be alone; and so they simply waved when they saw her, and they received a wave back. They were sort of looking out for her now they were in town, as she had not been seen since before Trogan came. I wondered who it might be as frayen-riding females were extremely rare, but Denesar could offer no description that could help me.

At that moment, my friends joined me and other subjects took over. It was obvious even to Denesar that all the girls around my age were sizing him up, wondering where this fit and muscular 16 year-old had been hiding. I was aware that I suddenly felt as if I was in a competition to win his favours. This came as quite a shock to me, I can tell you.

These friends had been the second of the three visits I mentioned earlier. I say friends, but there were only three, making, of course, a group of four of us, that I counted as actual friends and just one of those four was a reliable repository of my innermost feelings. So I suppose I should say friends and acquaintances. We had arranged to meet again two bells later, to give us a bell or so together before the evening meal. I had decided there and then that Kords would do that meal for the family for the first time on her own. I would supervise her until it was time to leave to meet the others. Papa would not be there that night, as he had resumed his duties until told otherwise by the Assembly. He told me he would stay one night at the new roadhouse, then ride quickly down to the Chaarn junction and work his way back to the roadhouse, where he would stop a further night. He would return to us on the third day after reporting his findings to the Assembly.

So the third visitor was to be disappointed.

A man I immediately recognised appeared at our door, holding the harness of a frayen. He was drawn, his face lined and he was observably weary. His arm was held across his chest by a complicated arrangement of bandages. I doubted that he could sleep peacefully with such an elaborate weave of fabric which created what were effectively bonds.

“Mistress Julina, good afternoon. Would Master Kordulen be at home?”

“Master Michen, welcome! I regret that Father is away until at least tomorrow. Perchance I may help?”

He hesitated for a moment, sufficiently long for me to realise that he really wanted a ‘man’ chat with Papa. My mind went rapidly and I realised, or at least thought I realised, what the problem might be.

“Master, why don’t you and your father eat with us this evening — we would be pleased of some company and I suspect your poor arm might be troublesome enough to make cooking awkward?”

“Well …,” he started, unable to hide the flash of relief that scampered across his face, “that wasn’t what I …”

“Oh do be so kind as to do so! We would love to hear the stories of your travels,” I gushed. “And without Father here to protect us, we would be a little less scared!” I tried to look worried and put my hands behind my back as I did a girlish sort of wiggle and peered up at him with widened eyes. I could see him draw himself up a little straighter.

“In that case, we would be delighted to be of assistance. May I leave my beast here whilst I go to inform Father?”

“Of course, you may. Put Dralla in the paddock with our other two — or would you like me to do it?”

“No, no, young mistress. I shall do it. Then I’ll go home and help Father get ready for visiting. Thank you so much.”

He led Dralla round the back as I went in to give Kords the bad news that we had two more mouths to feed in a few bells time. She was already unhappy that I had made her responsible for the entire meal for us six and she was getting grumpier by the minute. When I told her that she could start bossing around her sister Kordulissa, she brightened up a bit. I went and fetched the 11 year-old and then told Kords that we two were there to do what she commanded. Kissa pulled a face, but they knew better than to defy me and so we worked together as a team, with me just gently suggesting slight changes. This afternoon actually proved to be a huge bonus for me, because I made sure that Kords got praise (she actually swelled with pride) and Kissa herself was not only praised, but learnt quite a lot about how to plan a cooking schedule and how to cook some vegetables. And I got to sit down a lot, for which my feet were really grateful. Kords actually started volunteering for things after that day, and the two of them somehow became closer than they had been.

Before I go much further with this tale, I should perhaps point out that choosing one’s parents is not a very common option — and it is parents who choose the name by which the world will know you. Kords and I were fairly happy with the names that our parents had chosen for us, but the others cringed a little at the strange notions Papa and Mama had had.

To make it clear to you, this is the list of our family:
Papa is Kordulen and Mama was Julissa. They had a child every other year for a ten-year period.
I was first and am Julina, obviously named for Mama. At the time of writing, I am 15.
Next was Kordulet, obviously named for Papa, but with the female name ending. 13.
Next was Kordulissa, a combination of our parents’ names. 11.
Then came Jululet, another obvious combination. 9.
At last they had a son, who of course had to be named after Papa — Kordulkin. He is 7 at this moment. We girls get quite exasperated with him sometimes, as he is so totally aware that he is the eldest son, and therefore would one day be the head of the family and would then boss us around to his heart’s content. He seems to keep a mental note of when we tell him off, or order him about. Generally his demeanour is serious, but when he lets his guard down and becomes a carefree brother, he is a joy to be with.
And finally another son, our little brat, Korden. 5 years old and as cheeky as anyone. He is a funny little chap, always getting into scrapes and a real handful to look after, but such a laughter-bringer. The world is there to entertain him and with me being ten years older than him, and in charge of the daily chores around the home, I was more his mother than his sister and therefore to be involved in all his little adventures.

Anyway, to get back to the tale, I made sure we had everything needed and that everything was properly underway. I involved the other three children and got them to set the table ready for eight of us. I reminded them that Master Michen’s father was one of the oldest people in the Town and would need the most comfortable chair and be near the ‘facilities’ and so on.

Then I dropped my surprise on Kords when I told her I was going out for a bell or so. She immediately began to panic (as I knew she would) and I just calmed her by reminding her of what still had to be done was actually all underway already. She was somewhat relieved but still worried as I waved good-bye but I knew that the experience would be good for her. I was actually delighted that I could at last have just a bell to myself and as I wandered towards the campingplace, which was the meeting point for the youth of the town, I contemplated letting Kords give Julu ‘The Talk’ next year, I having already done that for both Kords and Kissa.

The time I had with the girls of my age that late afternoon, chatting and giggling while making sure no-one escaped our gaze and gently flirting with some of the boys and younger men, was like a healing cure to me - albeit far too short. What transpired at that meeting will have to wait for another tale; it will be worth waiting for, I’m certain. But I made my way back up the slope to the east to our home with a much lighter heart. So much so that a tiny part of my brain tried to say that something MUST have gone wrong in my absence.

It hadn’t, thankfully, and I reached home from one direction as our guests reached it from the other, the father leaning quite heavily upon the son’s good arm. I ushered them in first and as I followed, my eyebrows shot up. The kids had actually made it tidier (a little) than it had been, and Kissa was smiling as she ushered the men to the table where steaming mugs of pel were waiting. I was so proud of them that they had thought ahead, my approval shone from my smile and my nods; and their body language reflected my approval. This was without doubt a pivotal moment in our family, one which allowed me the extra time to start these reports. From then on, I delegated at least one main meal a week to Kords and made sure I heaped enough praise upon her that Kissa was encouraged to try to get in on the act. It was not long at all before I had three evenings a week ‘free’, half the cleaning was being done by someone else and the easier items were being washed by someone else.

I knew that all my lot knew who Master Michen was, but the frail old man with him was a stranger to the younger ones. As a result, I started the round of introductions:

“May I present my youngest brother, Korden. He is 5 years old. Next to him is my other brother, Kordulkin who is 7. My youngest sister is Jululet who is 9. Proudly waiting to serve you your pel is 11 year-old Kordulissa, and finally I present Mistress Kordulet, our cook this evening. She has done everything for the meal tonight, except the bits she delegated to Kordulissa. So don’t be thanking me, thank Kords and Kissa when you depart.”

I turned away from our guests and looked at the young ones, ignoring the red faces and glares from the two cooks. I knew that Kords was actually very proud to be addressed as ‘Mistress’ for the first time, even if it was just here in our home, but she was also embarrassed to be the centre of attention.

“Family, please welcome Master Michen, whom you well know and this is his father, Master Morden.”

The boys bowed quite properly and the girls curtsied. They all giggled in semi-embarrassment as the men politely returned the bows.

“Now Mistress Kordulissa, I believe you are in charge of the table this e’en, so where would you like us all to be seated?” (Kissa was delighted to be a ‘Mistress’ as well!)

Blushing again, but also with a nervous pride, Kissa indicated our places to us. Korden started to moan that he wasn’t in his favourite place, but a frown and a deep “Grr” from me soon shut him up. Master Michen grinned at me as we shared a smile at that. It was a strange moment because some trick of the flickering light as I looked at him made me suddenly get a fleeting but nevertheless strong glimpse of what his mother must have looked like. I blinked and the image was gone. It all happened so swiftly, I began to doubt my senses just for a heartbeat.

Both men were quick enough on the uptake to praise Kords mostly, but also Kissa; the slightly awkward start to the evening soon passed away into a more relaxed manner. We exchanged stories of our earlier years and the basic family information, but it was Master Michen who talked the most, keeping us enthralled with his tales. We slightly older ones recognised some exaggerations but the younger ones were at sometimes round-eyed in wonder, like in his fanciful tale of the hunt for a blue and green ptuvil in the ‘jungles of central Alaesia’. In the end, the younger ones were vying for the honour of cutting up his food for him, his bandaged arm making it impossible for him to do it himself.

I have attempted to remove such exaggerations and obvious tales-for-effect, and have also attempted to place most of what he said into order of years; any failings must be considered to be my failure of comprehension. The following is a compilation of what happened that evening and from other conversations I had with him over time, both before and since.

Master Morden originated in a village up-river from Tranidor in the Palar valley. This village (whose name I confess I forget) was mostly famous for the roadhouse which was one of the most popular on the entire thousand-mark Tranidor to Tel Botro trade route. It was close, apparently, to where the Palar cut through something called the ‘Stone Sea’, but that seemed impossible to me, how can a sea be made of stone? Everyone knows they are made of water. (I have, however, heard that name on more than just the one occasion, so I keep an open mind about it.) For those villagers, just like for us, the main town is Tranidor. Unlike for us, however, their main road goes straight through Tranidor, with no possibility to avoid the town — not that I could then imagine anyone wanting to avoid it.

Master Morden himself travelled widely with the wagons, having started out as a guard/labourer but had progressed to Wagontrain Master. His wife, Maldenet, came originally from Blackstone, a niece of the Bellringers, but, like many, she preferred the bustle of Tranidor to the simplicity of her home village. And it was there that she and Master Morden settled down, and where Master Michen was born. After the very difficult birth, which had some follow-up complications, she subsequently never became pregnant again. She had been convinced during her pregnancy that she was carrying a girlchild, but she was shocked when the midwife peered through squinting eyes and announced a boy. Much like our parents, they chose a name for their son that (apparently) reflected both of the parents, in that it started with an ‘M’.

Once he had retired, Master Morden and Maldenet decided to settle away from all that bustle, preferring at that stage of their lives to head for the very peace and tranquillity that she had avoided when so much younger. So they came to Blackstone, found an abandoned home that needed renovating, got permission to take the property over and settled down for their waning years, contributing to the township by helping out others when they were ill, or looking after crops when the ones responsible needed to travel to Tranidor or beyond, and so on. Master Morden had amassed a not inconsiderable fortune whilst working so hard, and yet they dressed simply and lived frugally.

Master Morden explained one bitter-sweet moment to us all that affected me personally very deeply. I paid him a lot more attention in the weeks and (few) years following, after I found out that I had been born at the exact moment Maldenet’s pyre had been lit. Apparently, he could never look at me without remembering that moment, so I made certain that I fulfilled the countryfolk’s lore that a baby is born to replace someone whose body had worn out. I had discovered that evening that Master Morden felt that maybe I was a young Meldenet come back to this world, albeit accepting it all as highly improbable if not impossible. Thus we became very close as he settled into acceptance of his fast declining months. Not that I would ever really forgive him for a major mistake he made. More of this will appear later.

Once the platters had been cleared away to leave room for elbows on the table, Master Morden claimed to be “very decently filled. Best meal for weeks!” We all knew this might actually be true, because he was by now so old that I for one was sure he would forget something important, like all old people do. I actually had quite frequently wondered if his memory was so frail, he might burn his house down by forgetting something in the oven or on the range. He had eaten maybe one quarter of a normal portion, probably less than Korden. But his cheeks had a little more colour than I had seen for weeks and he started to nod off in his chair, gently burping.

I made us all some pel and offered the men the rest of a bottle of our home-made wine. Master Morden replied to my enquiry with a gentle snore and our second guest politely declined.

Master Michen started the after-meal tale-telling with a question for me.

“Please my dear, may I call you Julina? And you call me Michen?”

I nodded my assent and he began with a quick early history of his life. He had learned his letters and numbers at his parents’ insistence. He specially emphasised that his parents had been right, and he aimed his somewhat pointed remarks at the two boys to encourage them to learn. He then continued by saying that he started out much as his father had — hired himself out as a wagon guardsman/labourer. They certainly valued him as a guard, as he was quickly observant and intelligent enough to act on his observations. And his sword wielding was quite impressive. But it was another story when it came to the labouring since it was almost too much for his lack of muscle power; his muscles had never developed as other boys’ had, for some strange reason. But his service was valuable enough as a guard for him to be retained.

On one such trip, he arrived for the first time here - the village of his mother’s birth. While here, he met one of the local girls and they seemed to ‘click’, but something made him hold back. In reflection, he said, it seemed she was too desperate to have a man that would not only be exotic to show off to her friends, but who would whisk her away from what she saw as a dead-end town. She seemed almost manic in her desperation that he felt a withdrawal growing in himself. There was also something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but although they ‘clicked’ mentally, that was as far as it went. He was comfortable in her company and that of her friends and acquaintances, in fact almost enjoyed it more than the camaraderie of the barracks, but, but, but … the definition of his discomfort eluded him. Something wasn’t quite right. (That is how he then described it anyway; more information will come to light in later chapters, though.)

Later, when I settled into documenting our town, I questioned him again about this encounter and at first he wouldn’t even mention the girl’s name. I giggled when he came scurrying over one evening after the meal and just said simply: “Jeberset”. We both knew that he had finally decided to break his silence about the name, but had waited for the woman and her son to leave this world.

His duties with the wagontrains had brought him into contact with not a few trained armsmen and he felt a need to be more manly somehow and to learn more of weapons and the like; thus he then decided to offer himself out as a recruit.

On the principle that if you want something, you go straight to the top, he travelled all the way down to Dekarran and enrolled at the castle there. Slightly older than the other recruits, and yet more slender in build, he threw himself headlong into manly pursuits and was considered one of the better in his intake. With the exception of a longbow, which he simply could not pull, he was in the top five in use with the sword, the lance and the crossbow; although he explained that the lance was really too rapidly tiring for his arms to hold for long.

( A note from ‘older Julina’ is required at this stage! --- Some of the following passages and references were totally unclear to me at that time, but I leave them unaltered as it does well to indicate my then naivety! I now understand so much better just what was being referred to, having seen much in my wide travels!)

He and a fellow recruit became very close friends; so inseparable were they that many jokes were made, and much teasing. Apparently they created a familiar name for him, to tease him with — Michet. It seemed very strange to me that this name had an ending that usually applied to girls and Michen said that he was annoyed at first. But he said he soon realised that a byname only sticks if a fuss is made about it, so he just grinned and carried on. One Harvest Festival, he played the joke back on his colleagues and dressed as a woman for the evening’s party. This was so popular apparently that he had to do it every barracks party. His father had woken some few minutes earlier and now cast him a strange glance when he explained this at our evening meal ‘party’. Kords tilted her head slightly to one side and narrowed her eyes as if trying to see what he looked like as a girl, and I had another of those tricks of the light things and again saw his mother in him. But his seemingly endless fund of tales soon distracted our thoughts away from dwelling on it.

In the course of their duties, the armsmen were dispatched to various outflung parts of Palarand, not just North Palarand. Places like the border posts with Brugan and Vardenale. And various duties up all the valleys (this is where I first learned of the Telar River and the Telar Minor which apparently join the Palar at Teldor), to Palarand City itself where he met the King and to the farthest outpost along the Chaarn road. There was also apparently a rotation in place which selected guards from various Palarandi centres to provide escort duties to ambassadors in foreign countries. He once travelled as far as Joth as a result of this policy.

He then made fantastical claims about a guardpost suspended in the sky, high above Dekarran and its castle, and that from there a sharp-eyed man on a clear day could make out Joth. This was enough to tip my balance into distrust of this part of his story, which decision was confirmed by his next assertion that the guards on this hut-in-the-sky always had to keep a lookout down below while being themselves guarded by a special guard squad keeping a lookout up above as well; he said with a straight face that often guards had been attacked there by grakh, since they were so high. The two boys listened wide-eyed and Julu was dragged along as well, but we three older ones knew he was exaggerating just to make a thrilling story of it. I was quite amazed at the imagination of the man, to come up with such a fantastical notion. And I was also amazed at the ease with which he connected to the children. So much so that I decided to allow them to stay up a little later than usual, even though I knew that tomorrow would be hard with the kids being grumpy through less sleep than normal. I doubted actually that I could have got them to go to bed without a major pitched battle, and I chose to avoid that this once.

One day, Michen then related, not so long before I was born, the detail to which he was attached was guarding both a wagon with a valuable load and also the son of the then Duke. The value of the load was sufficient to tempt some brigands to make a try for it and in the battle that followed, Michen was struck in the upper arm by a sword thrust that would otherwise have ended in the Duke’s son. He smiled when he said that, ruefully amused at the fact that it was the same as his currently injured arm. He was acclaimed a hero, and honoured by the Duke himself and by his fellows. What was the most unpleasant part of the encounter, however, was the fact that two of his colleagues died from wounds sustained in this skirmish. One of them was his best friend. This loss affected him deeply and he became withdrawn, angrily brushing away tears when they would threaten for no apparent reason.

He was still under the care of the healers when he heard about the passing of his mother, and he decided then and there to take up the offer from the Duke of an honourable retirement, with two crowns a year pension for as long as he lived, a sum which would probably allow him to buy a basic meal on each of the 391 days in a year. As a further part of his compensation, he was given the choice of a frayen to have. He chose a doe named Dralla, intending to supplement his income by breeding pack animals.

And so he came to Blackstone, pale, thin and wounded both physically and mentally — a Blackstone where his father now lived alone and a Blackstone where of course, Jeberset found another target to belittle, mistaking his withdrawnness for weakness and not actually connecting this injured, slight man with the young wagon man she had met those several years ago. Michen decided, wisely in my view, not to remind her of their earlier encounter. He laughed when I told him about what Epp had to say about her. (Much later still, he told me his ‘professional opinion’ of the crossbow skills possessed by Willen’s band of boozers. It was not flattering, to say the least.)

He assisted his father round the house but spent a lot of time alone up in the high mountain pastures and canyons. He wanted little to do with most people, although he was always polite to them, but preferred being alone, studying those things that had captured his interest. For he had marvelled whilst in his sickbed down in Dekarran at the habits and erratic flights of a tiny flying insect, brilliantly coloured, called a riddin. He knew not why (and still knows not why) it became important to him to study these riddris, but it became his abiding passion.

He now knows that they grow from an enormously tiny egg and turn into little leaf-eating tubes, mostly yellow in colour, some blue, with dozens of little legs. They start out maybe the size of a woman’s little fingernail, but when they have eaten enough to grow to the size of the top joint of a woman’s little finger, then they dig themselves tiny burrows, usually under a rocky overhang, and seem to sleep as the little legs disappear back into the body and the body turns a reddy-brown as it hardens until it looks like a sort of nut. When some time has passed, the nutty case cracks, and the most beautiful flying insect emerges, with glistening sparkly wings. Each has a different colour-scheme, some greens, some reds, some oranges, some yellows, some blues, some whites — none ever exactly the same. He made me want to see one his clouds of fluttering freshly-born flyers, flitting freely here and there, settling now on this plant or flower, now on that one. After maybe a week or so, then these go and lay a fresh tiny egg before their colours, and their lives fade away.

With enough coin to buy a meal just about when he wanted to, and with access to his father’s funds, he did not have to work for a living. He imagined he would take a year or two studying riddris and then do something more ‘normal’, but the more he learned about the subject, the more fascinated he became. And the longer he spent entirely alone, travelling the higher parts of these mountains and valleys. He would never stay away for more than a week at a time, normally just two or three nights, as he wanted to be there for his father.

He had on several occasions observed the so-called huntsmen without being seen himself, and he had no wish to strike up any acquaintance with any of them. With Willen’s passing (it was Michen who had found him, actually), the Willen band had degenerated into chaos. Two of them left after a bitter row, claiming that each had been promised the leadership. One drowned in the river in the rains, having been slightly the worse for wear after a session in the Bell and had slipped on the muddy bank on his way home. The other two lost interest when Trogan confiscated their weapons. (Later, it was Michen who picked up the contract for supplying fresh game meat to the Bell and the roadhouse, and he organised a far more efficient group to do the hunting, and the seasonal game drives.)

But during the Trogan-era, he found himself getting more and more tense for a host of reasons.

Trogan and his mob had burst in one day unannounced and looked everywhere for riches. Fortunately, the two men had hidden the greater part elsewhere, but Trogan still found just over two Crowns-worth of coin, which was confiscated ‘pending a proper assessment’. Everyone at that time, of course, still believed Trogan to be legitimate but it wasn’t long until Michen had his suspicions. Once he had voiced these suspicions, then Trogan was all for locking him up, but realised that that wouldn’t be necessary. All Trogan had to do was threaten Master Morden, and any danger that might stem from Michen was instantly neutralised.

Michen made it seem that his disability that gave him his discharge was far worse than it was, but Trogan took no chances. He forced Michen to accompany him on each house call, to name the people before they went in, and Trogan took pains to make it seem that Michen was directing him. This caused Michen some great difficulties with the townsfolk at first, until the town’s ‘unofficial’ communications told the actual story. Michen also knew that the package containing his two Crowns always arrived just before the rains, but he never saw this year’s delivery.

Once the Baroness arrived, then Michen had the opportunity of showing other, more charitable personages around the town and surrounds. Privately, he had told me never to tell anyone about the missing two Crowns, as he didn’t actually need them, and the ‘poor fund’ would be better off with them still counted as ‘unknown contributions’. Assuming Trogan hadn’t already shipped the coins out of town.

But back to our evening with our guests.

To fill a slight lull in the conversation, I mentioned that I had met the farmer families from up in the Vale that afternoon. For a few minutes, I became the centre of the conversation as I related my impressions. I caught a glance from Michen when I mentioned Denesar and Kords seemed to sharpen her attention a little, but I could not understand why either should react so. To try to divert attention back to Michen, I mentioned that the older son (see, I carefully didn’t mention his name this time — but I still got those glances) had told me of a frayen-riding woman who was interested in insects, apparently. I asked if Michen had ever seen her up in the hills when he was there, but he denied ever doing so with a strange hint of tautness in his voice. When I queried it, he pointed with his other hand to his bandages and claimed that he had had a twinge.

Shortly thereafter, the two men praised the cooks enormously, thanked them first of all, then thanked the others for making the evening so enjoyable and finally thanked me for the invitation. They claimed tiredness, old age and injuries as their reason to have to depart. But we were all told that their home was open to us at any time while they still lived there.

It was a very valuable evening for a whole number of reasons. Not just because the family I had been mothering for a number of years now had begun to stand on their own feet, not just because we had become more familiar with another family who required help, but also because the seeds were planted enabling me to have a little more time to myself.

Which led ultimately to these chronicles.

We six ‘children’ spent bells the next day going over what had been talked about and I was gratified when Papa got home and he approved of my actions. We had the two men over for a meal at least once a week after that.

But for me one of the highlights of the aftermath of that first evening was little Korden.

When Papa got home, then little Kord jumped into his arms and insisted on being the first to tell Papa all about it. Kords, Kissa, Julu and I all grinned widely as Korden explained that “Master Machet had been carried from a nest above the castle at Derrakan to the jungle by a ptuvil so they could hunt a blue and red grakh …”

When ’Kin then tried to correct Kord’s story, the result got so convoluted that we four girls all had to burst out laughing. I indicated with my eyes to Papa that I would straighten it all out for him, once the younger ones were asleep and dreaming, or, as we call it in our family, ‘connected to the moon’.

As mentioned earlier, once life after Trogan had settled down again, and before any large influx of miners could take place, it was Michen who got the contract for game meat from the Bell and the new roadhouse. From that moment on, we found a pair of brifil hanging on our back door-step’s eaves once a week, sometimes even a ganifil. But with his father failing more and more rapidly, and with the extra demands on his time with the hunting, his ‘riddris rides’ as he called them became more and more seldom.

Our freedom of the men’s house was extremely brief, however. They decided, after experiencing our hospitality, that running a house like theirs was too complex for them with their physical problems, and they needed to be nearer others who could help them rather than be stuck out in the comparative lonely parts of town. My invitation had made them see that they needed both help and more company and so an opportunity arose for them to move to a house on the Main Street, which they took some three weeks later. Shortly afterwards, their old house plot was selected for the new ‘Community Hall’ as it was the easiest place to build, the ground already being level and occupied only by a deserted house that no-one wanted any more. That house was knocked down entirely to make way for the ‘Community Hall’.

As was our house — to make way for the access roads to the new hall.

This was actually good for us, as we ended slightly nearer the town, with a larger house, and with specially designed rooms rather than rooms that had been added haphazardly as the family grew. We had a new layout, a new set of beds, and a new table and chairs. We also had a new kitchen, laundry and bath-house block, and a separate stable block. This was wonderful for me, housework becoming so much easier.

So of the three great events that affected the town that afternoon, you could argue that it was my invitation to Master Michen that gave rise to the positioning of the new hall.

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Julina tells us more about some Blackstone traditions, introduces another family to us and clears up something that concerns all Palarand and maybe even all Alaesia! (A little warning — this gets quite technical!)

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Disclaimer:

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.

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Zytan belongs to another of our long-serving families here in Blackstone. Like Deegrum, he is doing the job that his father did and his grandfather, and going back many generations. He is currently teaching his son Payner to do it; giving him all the information required as the leader, for their job requires a team. It is quite an efficient method of teaching, as Payner gets to physically do the necessary things that demonstrate what he has just been told about.

Payner is just a little younger than I, and, now that I have a little more time available thanks to my siblings doing some of the chores I used to have to do, I decided to go and ask him about what he and his family actually do. This was a quite inspired decision for both of us as it transpired, but neither of us appreciated it at first. Payner was finding it awkward to actually talk to a girl (what a shock that was to him!) and his family (more particularly, his father) were still deep in the mindset that education and technicalities were beyond womenfolk. I, on the other hand, had no experience of 12 or 13 year-old boys and found it difficult at first to establish some mutual starting point.

My advantage though was my friendship with his elder sister, a girl I had grown up with all my life, she having been born a mere three and a half weeks after me. Kellonika was one of my closer friends and had often come over to help me when I was feeling inundated with responsibilities at so young an age. When we were younger, we four specially close friends had a sort of code system to enable us to communicate. Each home had a big pole sticking up with a cross pole at the top. To either side of the cross pole, we attached a string that ran through a hook. On one string we had a big white circle of wood while on the other we had a big white triangle of wood. We hoisted each wooden shape into one of three possible positions — up, middle or down. In this way we could send up to nine different messages. If the shapes were both at the top position, then that person needed help as soon as possible. If none of the shapes were raised then that person was fine, which was the tenth message of course.

Many of the elders of the village thought it all very childish, but I can tell you we got away with a lot of mischief using those signals! And when Mama died, I was able to summon my friends when I was feeling overwhelmed. And the others could also call for help, of course. It was only later that I realised we could have doubled our number of messages by simply swapping round the shapes — one set of nine messages if the circle was on the left, and another set of nine if the triangle was on the left. And of course we could have had extra shapes to increase the number of messages, and other colours but then the system would not have been so easy to use.

We had been through much together in our short lives but Kellonika and my other two closest friends were extremely tightly bound. Young children fall sick very easily and sometimes their illnesses are fatal. There are some illnesses that make the child in question break out in strange spots all over their body and for them to sweat a lot and feel as if they were on fire. There seem to be quite a few of these ‘spotty’ types, I can think of at least three varieties just like that. Another is when the child’s face swells beneath the ears, making their neck or jaw look enormous. It has become obvious that once the child recovers from these horrors, then they never get the same thing again — it’s as if their bodies take in the illness and store it in some remote corner. Then, when it comes along again, the body says: “Wait a minute! Let me check my store cupboard. Ahah! Thought so, I have that one already so you can just move on, thank you!”

We have had a ‘make or break’ policy in Blackstone for many years. As soon as one child gets ill with one of these, then mothers with children of the same age would bring their child along and all the children would be shut up together, tended by those known to have already had that particular illness. Over the years, certain herbal concoctions have proved to be effective in battling on behalf of the poor child and it is now rare for death to come. But we four all survived a strong bout and watched in horror as the poor other two got weaker and weaker. Their pitiful cries will remain with us all our lives, as well as the grief of their parents. I have heard tales from the older women that not so long ago only one child in three survived from birth to adulthood, but nowadays, with the valuable knowledge gained by the healers, that ratio has been reversed. I suppose we survivors should also be thanked as our experiences have added to the fund of knowledge.

So I had explained to Kelly what I wanted to do and we set up something that would help me get the information I wanted, and would help Payner overcome his amazing shyness. I was also to use the stuff I had written in the gentle lessons I was giving Kelly in reading and writing. Her task was to be to read what I had written, which would be about a subject she was familiar with, and then she could improve her reading and at the same time correct some things I may have misunderstood. All these ends were achieved, although I did have a few unforeseen complications.

To get it all started, I tackled Payner and Kelly and from them I got the basics. However, it soon became apparent that I would need to get more information from the ‘boss man’, Zytan. And that was going to be difficult, I knew. He was one of those convinced that education was wasted on females, and that they were best kept out of the way.

To start to explain all of this, I need first to give you their family background.

Kronkin was the first head of their family that I remember. He left our world when I was around eight, leaving behind Dowa to look after their ‘children’, Zytan and Nuortan — one of the few families with no daughters, and both sons were by then in their twenties. Zytan had imported a daughter by bringing Malet up to the head of the Bray Valley and they all settled down in the rambling home. Nuortan, being the younger, was moved into the annexe so Kronkin and Dowa could move into his room, leaving the main family rooms for Zytan and Malet. They lost little time in adding to the heads under the roof, with Kellonika popping out under two years later. A year later, a stillbirth brought a few clouds to their existence but they took great care the following pregnancy and Payner popped out with a very healthy pair of lungs.

The period just after Kronkin went was very awkward for them with just the two men and their wives to do all their duties and the occasional week-long trips Zytan took down to Tranidor strained their abilities to the limits. They got help from several of the townsfolk, including my father and mother, which was the root of my fascination with discovering what it is the bellringers do. My final comment on their family background is that Malet was the daughter of a bellringer family in a village just out of earshot of the Tranidor bells - up the Sufen valley. She is one of six children; with living grandparents and parents, that family had more than enough members and she suspected they were relieved when she went north.

We all hear the bells, we all know what they mean, but what fascinated me was just how they knew when to ring what message. And how they got the timing right. And what was involved in being awake in the night just to ring bells. And what pressures did that create for the family. And all the other things that such activities must affect in their lives which must be so different to a more ‘normal’ existence.

The very first thing I learnt was that, to the Bellringers, it was important to differentiate between the actual metal object called a bell and the period of time we residents referred to as a bell. To the bellringers, the objects were the tools of their trade and they used them to indicate to the rest of us the passage of time. The bellringers called this length of time a ‘Bell Period’, reserving the simple word ‘bell’ wherever possible for that instrument they had to both use and maintain.

The second thing I learnt was that the Bellringers use some terms that may not be immediately apparent to others — they talk of making a sound with a bell as being a ‘strike’, they talk of an occasion when they have to make a bell strike, or a series of bell strikes, as being an ‘announcement’ and so on. I hope to remember to explain each other one as it comes up!

The third thing I gathered from Kelly, confirmed early on by Payner, was that the all-important time was dawn. Each day has a dawn and the entire cycle of bellringing starts at the dawn and goes on until the following dawn.

Such a simple statement, that!

But when we got together to discuss all this, I immediately ran into difficulty. My whole information gathering exercise was nearly brought to an end at that moment, when I asked my next question:

“Who decides then when the dawn is?”

Oh Maker! This caused great consternation.

At first, Payner’s attitude was that dawn is dawn is dawn. Everyone knows when dawn is!

But as I actually asked for the details (what defines dawn? — is it at the same time of a cycle here in Blackstone as it is in Tranidor? In Holville? In Haligo? — are mountain communities different from those downvalley? — etc. etc. etc. etc.) then an entirely new vista opened up for all three of us.

It’s not as simple as just waiting for a sliver of sunshine to appear. We are a high-mountain community. The sky can be bright and blue before we get an actual ray appearing, as some peak or other blocks the direct sunshine. And in the rains, then we may not get a ray for days and weeks. Or maybe we just get some sun in, say, the afternoon. It was while arguing over this point that Payner lost his shyness and started to state his knowledge and his viewpoint forcefully. Kelly and I noticed immediately but we didn’t say anything just then. It was also apparent that he was actually thinking about this for the first time. His education in his job had so far been limited to doing what had to be done when it had to be done. Now I was asking him to think about it all at a deeper and more fundamental level - more why rather than what.

(‘Older’ Julina says: But I also learnt a great lesson then. I learnt that some things sometimes need to be put aside for the moment; make a mental note to find out the details later on, and get on with the main theme. So I did just that then, leaving the big question about dawn until later. This lesson learnt from that moment was also to stand me in great stead later on in life.)

Payner suddenly stopped in mid-stream and started blushing when he realised that he had been quite forceful. He was immediately all gawky youth again and embarrassed, so Kelly and I both kissed him on the cheek. I hadn’t imagined that he could turn redder, but he did. It took me a good few minutes, and some hard-talking (which I was used to doing, being as how I was effectively a mother at home) but I did manage to make him understand that it was a Good Thing to state his opinions and that girls would respect him far more for it. But from that moment on, he was much easier to talk to and with. And he also realised that girls (yes, even his sister!) had perfectly functioning minds and could grasp concepts in ways that his father could never imagine them being able to do. I like to think that Payner started growing up that day, and was far more ready to adapt to the changes that our Baroness eventually brought to all Palarand.

(‘Older’ Julina says: One problem that came out of that was that Payner developed a crush on me then, which took maybe three years to go away. It was sometimes awkward to see the hurt look in his eyes when I had to deny him something or other.)

But to get back to the bells - there are two of them, each with a different tone.

You will remember that the dawn is so important. Well actually, the dawn and the following dawn — that all-important bellringer’s ‘cycle’. Well, in each cycle, there are four double bell strikes performed on the deeper-toned bell. These double deeper bell strikes are done at dawn, noon, dusk and midnight — they are sometimes referred to as the Major Moments of the cycle. They need no further adornment as everyone will know whether it is a dawn bell or a noon bell, for example. It is certainly difficult to confuse the noon Moment with the midnight Moment! If a striking sequence begins with a deep bell strike, then the listener knows immediately that this is a Bell Period announcement. Strike sequences that do not start with the deep bell indicate the quarters — struck once for one quarter, twice for two quarters and thrice for three quarters.

The whole cycle starts at the dawn announcement, which is the only one of the four that is always and definitely at the same time as the start of a Bell Period. The other three are most likely to occur between Bell Period announcements. However, the dusk announcement resets the starting of the counting of a bell.

The length of a cycle doesn’t actually change much from day to day, but, at the extremes of the year, the dawn could be as much as 2 Bell Periods nearer or farther away from the noon bell. But every cycle is split into 20 nearly equal Bell Periods, each individual Bell Period being identified by a series of rings to tell everyone where they are in the cycle. The final bell period before either dawn or dusk is usually shorter than a full one!

Which actually causes a problem, what with the dawn being the base for this system.

Dawn itself, you will remember, is announced by striking the deeper bell twice.

Each subsequent Bell Period’s announcement is started by a single strike on this deeper bell. This is a fundamentally important point to understand; whenever you hear a single strike on the deeper bell, it is signifying the start of a Bell Period. This starting strike on the deeper bell is then usually followed by one or more strikes on the higher-toned bell to complete the announcement, the higher-toned strikes telling the listener exactly where this Bell Period fits in the current cycle — the only exceptions being for the first announcement after counting begins; no further identification is required since listeners will have detected that it was not a double strike.

The original idea was then to simply use the higher-toned bell to number the Bell Periods throughout the cycle. The second Bell Period after dawn would then be started of course by a single deeper bell strike followed by a single strike on the higher bell. The Bell Period following that was to be started by the deeper bell, followed by the higher bell being struck twice, and so on. This would be therefore a very simple system, on the face of it.

However! What a dreadful din there would be for the last bell before dawn! Imagine!

A deep bell followed by eighteen high bells! How dreadful! That’s 19 bell strikes. And all at the moment when the sky always seems darkest of all, and everyone wants to snuggle closer in their bedclothes before starting their day.

To help relieve this problem, it was decided to make it so the counting of the Bell Periods is reset after the dusk announcement, thus making it theoretically two half cycles, each counting 10 Bell Periods. Of course it is not going to be exactly ten in each ‘half’ as the seasons mean the summer days are longer and the winter ones shorter.

The Dusk Announcement is sounded wherever it falls between two Bell Period announcements. Let us say that the Dusk Moment occurs between the ninth and the tenth Bell Periods after dawn — in that case the ninth would be announced as normal, followed maybe by a quarter bell or bells, then would come the Dusk Announcement. At that heartbeat, the counting of bells is reset, and the next strike shall always be the first quarter bell, and so on through the quarters until the first Bell announcement is made just like the announcement of the first Bell Period after the Dawn Announcement. It should be reinforced that this means the final Bell Period before the Dusk Announcement is almost always shorter than an actual Bell! If the Dusk Announcement, however, is to fall within a moment either way of a Bell Announcement, then that Bell Period is adjusted to finish at the Dusk Announcement.

But this proved still to be not quite enough.

Payner at this point added freewillingly some of his own knowledge to make it slightly more specific: that on the shortest day of the year, when the Town is more often than not covered in snow, he knows there are 12 Bell Periods between dusk and dawn and there are 8 between dawn and dusk.
(Of course, this is reversed on the longest day of the year.)
So, since the shortest day of the year has 12 Bell Periods between dusk and dawn, that last hour would be signalled with a deep bell strike followed by 11 high bell strikes, which would be 12 bell strikes in all!

As I pondered, both aloud and within my head, what this all meant, I could see that Payner was working hard at it too, encouraged to use his intellect by my example.

Time passed as my brain hunted feverishly through the information I had until, suddenly, it just all seemed to pop into my head. I had actually worked out for myself why we use the system we do and I smiled in delight. At this point, I could see a sudden awareness in Payner’s eyes and a beaming smile on his mouth - and for the very first time in my life, I experienced that glorious moment of satisfaction that comes from managing to encourage another person to fully realise and understand something.

Because he too now understood the reason why there was a further complication in our bell ringing. Up to that moment, he just knew that that was what they did, but had not understood why.

And just then, a little after us, Kelly ‘got’ it too.

We were all delighted at that moment, one of those rare instant bonding moments that would stay with us forever.

So what is this further complication?

What we do is we break the Bell Periods up into groups of four. The entire cycle is 20 Bell Periods long, which is five lots of four and also the longest counting period occurs at either the longest or the shortest day, with 12 Bell Periods to be accounted for — this is three lots of four. So the final method used for announcing the time uses three things in all: the deep bell, the high bell and also a pause.

And they all work together to make the Bell Period announcements follow a pattern best described as:
- A deep bell first to start a Bell Period announcement,
- followed by a number of high bells to announce which group of ‘four Bell Periods’ was relevant (this number may be zero!),
- followed by a pause,
- followed finally by the counting of the Bell Period within that group of four (this number may also be zero).
In the event (very rare) that a Bell Period starts exactly at the same moment as a Major Moment, then the Major Moment alone is sounded.

So the sequence of bell strikes for that final Bell Period before dawn on the shortest day goes as follows: Deep, high, high, pause, high, high, high — which I write as: Dhhphhh.

Thus the bell strikes are reduced to a total of six, which is a vast improvement over the 19 originally suggested.

At last we had discovered for ourselves the reasons for the bell strike system that everyone uses!

Then Payner mentioned two more refinements:
a) In the night, the bells are slightly muffled so as to be less disturbing to local residents.
b) All the quarter bells are not rung during the two Bell Periods starting two Bell Periods after the midnight bell, just the middle ones signifying the half, that is two quarters.

I had not even realised this last slight change to the normal practice. On the very few occasions I had been up at those dismal hours, I assumed that I had just skipped the quarter bells in my head.

(If you are still a little confused, dear reader, then I will tell you some examples of a complete dawn to dawn sequence of bells can be found in the 'Times and Bells' section of the Anmarian Appendices).

Payner explained, with interjected confirmations from time to time from Kelly, that the ringing duties were split between the adults in the main, there being four of them — Dowa, Zytan, Nuortan and Malet. But the women did a lot less than the men, having also housekeeping duties to perform. Zytan was the leader and it was he who prepared everything for the others. Nuortan was his assistant, ready to take over if Zytan got ill or something. Sometimes Kelly would be asked to do it, but as she was a woman, she was given only very simple tasks, whereas Payner was involved more and more as he grew and learnt.

The bells were hung in a tower which formed a triangular corner of their home. They had in fact been the inspiration for our coded message devices, as they were operated by pulling on a rope which dragged the hammer in such a way as to crash onto the bell’s rim. The hammers were balanced so that releasing the striking rope meant the hammers returned immediately to their ready positions. A further rope allowed the muffling devices to be set on the bell or to be removed as required.

All these ropes were in a chamber at the foot of the bell tower, which was also called the operating room. The bellringers responsibilities were taken very seriously and most, if not all, the timepieces that were around the room were duplicated. There were two tables of sanddroppers, one on each side of the room. This was to ensure that the bells could still be rung on time if one of the sanddroppers developed a crack, or some other disaster occurred. Payner explained that the largest part of the job was actually to constantly compare the duplicated sanddroppers with each other, and with the clock.

This clock had to be reset with its weights every seventh day. They had devised a clever system whereby they stopped the clock at a specific moment immediately after a Bell Period announcement. At that exact same time, they started a sanddropper that measured exactly one Bell Period. They then had an entire Bell Period to reset the clock weights to the top limit of their travel, to do any maintenance to the clock itself and then to reset the clock to one Bell Period later. They restarted the clock as soon as the sanddropper indicated a full bell had passed. Sometimes, clock repairs might take a little longer than just one Bell Period, so they just used the sanddroppers to measure the time while the clock was not functioning. In this way, it had become a matter of pride, the main clock was rarely more than a few moments ‘out’ when it came to one of the two times a year that it could be reliably recalibrated.

A further ‘safety’ measure that Zytan’s ancestors had built into the system was to have two sets of bells. They switched to using the other set on the first day of each month, thus ensuring that one set was not too worn too soon.

This was all I could gather from Payner and Kelly, but I still had many questions that nagged at me.

I set about engineering some way I could persuade Zytan to explain the host of other questions I had. I also wanted to ask Dowa and Malet about household arrangements in this complicated existence. I spent a long while alone trying to come up with a scheme, and then ran several possibilities past Kelly who rejected them all, sometimes laughing at their complexities. But she herself could not come up with anything that might work.

I was getting increasingly desperate when, one day, the whole thing was solved so simply I just had to laugh.

Papa said to me and the rest of the our family that he was going to insist that I had two whole days and nights to myself; that I was tired, pale and stressed and that they should all give me a period in which I could do nothing. This was to occur a minimum of every other month, and he would be displeased if my siblings did not respect my private time.

(‘Older ‘ Julina says: It was only many years later that he admitted that he had hoped I would be able to use those times to meet a young man without having to worry about the rest of my family. His hope being that then the young man would start to woo me and I would be able to begin a life for myself. We neither of us could then have imagined just how my life was to develop!)

With no chores for a day or two, it was easy to get Kellonika to ask her mother to invite me to join them for an evening meal. Malet obliged with surprising ease and I sat down with them that very afternoon. I think Malet, and maybe Dowa, were pleased to have a different face and different experiences to compare with their own. We had an animated conversation as we compared recipes, housewife tips, sewing techniques and cleaning tools and concoctions. I found out what difficulties having to be constantly prepared for the next bellringing caused in running a household and I found that the women were keen to have as many people as possible to be trained in the basics of bellringing, ‘for emergencies’.

Zytan, however, apparently guarded his work environment as something only really suitable for men (intelligent men at that) and resisted training anyone else, saying that he was not going to need anyone else. I have noticed before with other families that the women try to prepare for the worst, whilst the men tend to assume that nothing untoward will ever happen. All in all, it was wonderful for me to be able to call on my experience of running a household and to be able to discuss things knowledgeably and to contribute validly to many of our conversational topics. Maybe I asked too many questions as I tried to build a mental picture of a bellringer’s life, but Malet, I am fairly sure, knew my curiosity was burning me up, so at one moment she suddenly announced:

“Julina, it is but a hand of moments before the next Bell Period starts, which will be the last before dusk. Come with me to the operating room so you can see what we do.”

I needed no further encouragement and leapt to my feet. I failed to notice the triumphant smirk that crossed Malet’s and Dowa’s faces, but Kelly had seen it and was suddenly on her guard — all this unbeknownst to me.

(‘Older’ Julina says: It was only a long while afterwards that I realised they were hoping that their second son might become interested in me! They didn’t know that that was never going to be an option.)

We entered the chamber at the foot of the bell tower and received a scowl from Zytan. Nuortan just glanced up before going back to watch a sanddropper closely. I was about to speak when Malet indicated that I should not just yet. Both men watched carefully, not saying a word and then suddenly Nuortan moved over to the little empty table close to the where the ropes dangled. He was carefully carrying a sanddropper that I could see was close to emptying. He placed the sanddropper on the table and then went and fetched another from the table on Zytan’s side. This was just as close to emptying as the other. Nuortan carried this carefully and placed it next to the other one on the little table.

“Two one,” said Zytan.

“Confirm two one,” replied Nuortan.

“Cross-checked with the clock. Confirmed. … Four, three, two, one …”

BONG. Bing. Bing.

The sound of the deep bell was so much louder contained as it was in this chamber and the sounds of the two following strikes on the higher bell were partially lost in the reverberations of that first strike. I was aware that Nuortan this time was counting down from three, and then a single higher bell strike echoed down the tower.

As Nuorton pulled the rope to ring the final bell, Zytan turned over the two sanddroppers on the little table. Then he carried one carefully over to the table at the side of the room, by which time Nuortan had picked up the other one and carried it back to the side table it came from. Both men crossed to a cupboard on the north wall, next to where the steps that were used to access the top of the tower were attached. They both consulted a parchment containing a list which was pinned to the cupboard door. Each in turn ran his finger across a particular line, and another finger down a particular column. Then they turned to face each other. Zytan started by saying: “Dusk — two and one fifth” and this was repeated by Nuortan.

Nuortan opened the cupboard and took out two sanddroppers, handing one to Zytan saying “One fifth.”

“Confirm one fifth.”

Both men then laid these sanddroppers on their sides, one on each table.

I was determined to keep quiet until given permission to speak and the subsequent silence began to stretch somewhat awkwardly.

“So Julina,” started Malet, “the first you heard was one man saying ‘two one’ and the other man confirming it. That was the number of rings to be used to mark the Bell Period. Obviously there was a deep bell to start with, then this was followed by two strikes on the high bell, a pause and then one strike on the high bell. Hence the ‘two one’. The men confirm what is to happen before it happens just as a safety measure. It helps the accuracy. It was of course the signal for the 10th Bell.

“Then both men confirmed that the next deep bell ringing would be the dusk announcement. And that the interval before the dusk announcement would be two quarters and one fifth, as given by the list pinned to the cupboard door. Nuortan retrieved the sanddroppers that run for one fifth of a Bell Period. Both men confirmed that they had the correct sanddropper and they will be set to start after the second quarter bell is sounded. They are on their sides at the moment to indicate they will be required shortly — they will be turned empty end upwards after the first quarter bell so everything is ready for immediate use after the second quarter bell.

“If you observe each of the side tables there are four sanddroppers on each. The sandroppers at the back, the ones just replaced, are the ones that count the Bell Periods from each beginning. There are three in a row at the front of the table — reading from left to right they measure the quarter bells, one to three. All four run for exactly one Bell Period which is why their upper contents look so regular as you scan across.”

“Must you always have two people here at a time to ring the changes?”

“No — it is workable with just one. That is in fact why we have the little table in the middle that is kept mostly clear. A single operator can bring the two relevant sanddroppers to the table so they can be dealt with as soon as the message has been sent on the bells. Here in Blackstone, Zytan’s family are extremely conscientious. Some remote bellringers do not bother with the constant checking and double checking. They may even rely on just one set of timepieces. But here it is done properly and that is to be commended.”

I could see Zytan and Nuortan draw themselves up with pride as Malet had brought forth that explanation.

“It must have been so very difficult for you to manage in the days after Kronkin’s death even with Malet’s arrival — she must have been busy with the children?” I said as I turned to include Zytan and his brother.

“We developed a system that worked although at times we did wonder if we would ever find a way out of the difficulties,” said Zytan as he cast a fond glance towards Malet, who returned it with equal fondness. It was a little human moment that endeared them further to me. “Your father particularly was of immense help.”

“May I ask a question or two?” I started, looking deliberately at Zytan, who nodded but began to look a little wary.

I paused before beginning, as though I was collecting my thoughts. “If I have understood this system correctly, then the only purpose of having a signal at dusk is to indicate that the Bell Period countings will now restart? And this announcement is nearly always at a time less than a full bell period after the last? ”

I was inwardly worried about getting my opening question wrong. I didn’t want to appear as a pushy female with a level of knowledge that would worry him, but at the same time I wanted to let him know that I wasn’t just an empty-headed piece of ignorant and ignorable womanhood. There was a quick flash of surprise in his eyes but he answered me after considering his response. Albeit in a slightly condescending tone.

“I am pleased that you know enough to use the term ‘Bell Period’ correctly. I congratulate you. As for your question then I must say that the same system is employed in every community in all Palarand, and indeed in many if not all neighbouring lands of the Great Valley.” He paused, searching my face for some signal that maybe this was all beyond my capabilities. “Not all such communities are blessed with the clear air and skies that we have so frequently here. Nearly everyone here works outside or close to a window or door, so they are aware of the light fading, but in some of the towns, some of the populace work indoors, or maybe have further to go to get home after their work. They need to know when darkness is about to fall.”

I debated about asking some of the questions this explanation opened up, or whether to pose my big question, but decided to leave that for later. I would work my way up to that.

“I see. Thank you. You make that fairly clear now. I do have another question or two, if it pleases you?”

“I have to ring the quarter soon, but that is a simple procedure, so please carry on.”

Again I paused, trying to convey seriousness rather than stupidity. “I have noticed that you confirm the timings against the clock. How do you know that the clock is accurate?” I knew this information would be required whenever I did get round to my big question.

“That is something that we can be relatively sure about. You will have observed that we have this system of sanddroppers and that we check each against each other, so we are very confident that they are accurate; and every time one of the sanddroppers comes to its end, we know exactly when it started compared to the clock so we can check the clock when it finishes. We are never more than a few moments apart. Then there is a special day that occurs twice a year when we can check the settings of the clock, but that is complicated and I fear you would not understand.”

“Now then, Zytan. I wouldn’t be so sure. Julina is a knowledgable woman who has successfully run a family for some years now. She is aware of the seasons and sun phases as much as you and I,” interrupted Malet. “And don’t try to bamboozle her with long words and sentences as you sometimes try with me!”

Zytan looked both annoyed and important at the same time as he took a breath to begin his reply. But before he could answer, Nuortan said “Quarter.”

Malet grabbed my arm and took me across to the bell rope for the higher-toned bell, announcing to the room that “Julina shall ring it.”

I was suddenly nervous of pulling the rope too hard or too softly, or missing the moment but Malet and Kelly and Payner all smiled encouragingly. The men carefully brought the left-hand sanddroppers from the front rows on the side tables to the little table just by me, and we all watched them closely. My tummy muscles tensed as the countdown started and I managed to pull the rope as they got to one, meaning the bell rang on the unspoken zero. The two men flipped over the sanddroppers to start them again, and carefully carried them over to where they usually sat. When they got there, they stood the side-lying sanddroppers with empty ends up, thus ensuring that they would be ready when required.

“That was very good, dear,” said Malet. “Perhaps a heartbeat too soon, but no-one outside will have noticed.”

I couldn’t hide my delight and everyone in the room grinned back. Nuortan signalled to Zytan that he had checked the sanddropper/clock correlation successfully, and I suddenly understood that the system of checks took place every quarter. And there were three instruments involved at each check.

But the accuracy of the clock still fascinated me.

“So you fascinated me earlier, Master Zytan, with your explanation involving two special days a year and something to do with the sun. If it helps you, I can say that I understand the sun travels through the sky throughout the year, sometimes it is nearer us here in the south, sometimes it goes further away from us to the north. But I cannot work out what that has to do with your clock.”

The men finished double-checking that everything was ready for the next bell ringing and then Nuortan stood back to let Zytan have the centre.

“As you so rightly said, Mistress Julina, the sun goes north for the winter, presumably to hide from the cold. While it is away, we experience our shortest day of the year, a day when I can tell you we have just under eight Bell Periods of light and just over 12 Bell Periods of darkness. It is on this day that we Palarandis say the year starts. When the sun returns for our warmer months then we experience our longest day of the year, and the strange thing is that the times of light and dark are reversed almost exactly. Just over 12 Bell Periods of light and just under eight of dark.”

I tried hard not to show any annoyance, but what he had just said was known by even the rudest pakh farmer and had not advanced my knowledge one jot.

“As we go along the year, then the days get slowly longer and the nights slowly shorter. Half way between the shortest and the longest day, around when some early plants are sprouting and the last heavy snow is thinning, then the day and the night are of equal length. This occurs once as the days increase in length, and then again between the longest day and the shortest day as the days decrease. It is on these two days in the entire year that we can measure the moment the sun achieves its highest point in the sky, and that moment is the definition of noon in the whole of Palarand. It is a matter of pride to our family that our clock has never been more than a hand of moments off at that exact measure.”

I realised that I had been unfairly critical of Zytan earlier, because he would have no way to know what I knew and his explanation was necessary in the build-up to providing me with a fact that I had not known before. I nearly apologised to him, but realised in time that that would involve more explanations than it was worth making.

It also gave me a natural opening to get in my big question so I decided to do that right there and then.

“Well I must say that’s very interesting. But it makes me confused about something. I understand now that the clock is checked twice a year, assuming that there is no cloud about …” I saw him open his mouth to respond to that, so I hurried on. “But that only sets the noon, and I suppose therefore the midnight point is also set as it must be by definition ten Bell Periods later. But the day starts with the dawn, which is at varying times away from these fixed points as the year progresses. How is the dawn set? Who decides that? Is it the same throughout all the land?”

I stood back, waiting for some information to help us continue our earlier debate. I could see in my mind’s eye Zytan being reluctantly impressed as I queried the facts, and I saw everyone in the room being impressed as I drove the discussion onwards.

And then I was shocked.

Zytan just laughed.

“Oh that’s easy! You saw us look up the dusk moment on that chart pinned to the cupboard door. We read from that that the dusk mark tonight is one fifth of a Bell Period after the second quarter bell is rung in this current Bell Period. Well the same sheet has the dawn moments listed as well, when they need to be changed. Dawn moments, if listed at all, are always listed as a certain time after the start of the last Bell Period, and dusk moments are always listed as a certain time after the start of a specified Bell Period. It’s very simple.

Also, you should know that one dawn is almost the same as the dawn of the next day, mostly just a few heartbeats difference — for this reason, the twentieth Bell Period of any full cycle might not be exactly the same length, to the heartbeat, as most of the other full Bell Periods; we cannot count the pre-dusk bell period here, of course, for that is almost always shorter. The biggest differences in that last Bell Period before dawn come in the cycles close to those times when the days are the same length as the nights. The largest difference in a whole year of a dawn from one cycle to the next is under two moments. Some weeks, we don’t change the dawn announcement at all.”

I felt so silly, building great events in my mind that were just no more than pakh wind. But this was yet another valuable lesson to me, one that I was sure would be used often in the future.

“But where does that sheet come from? And does every community have the same sheet?”

“Oh yes. It is sent out in the name of the Royal Astronomer, who is part of the Society of Questors of Palarand. Apparently astronomers all over Alaesia gather their information and they all decide when we will have the extra days in the calendar, when adjustments are required and when are the dawn and dusk times to be used. The information is usually sent out every five or so years, with any necessary amendments being sent as and when required. In this way, all Alaesia can be kept on the same time.”

With that explanation, the whole process settled easily into my mind and I knew I had now gleaned all the information I had wanted from him. And far more easily done than I had anticipated. I almost laughed at the thought of all my unfounded fears and schemes to try to prise out the information.

They allowed me to ring the next quarter bell (two strikes of the higher-toned bell) and to watch as they rang in the Dusk announcement, about two hands of moments later.

I went over to the list pinned on the cupboard doors and studied it as we waited for the next ringing, which would be the first quarter of the Bell Period — the first one after the Dusk announcement, of course.

Finally, I left the chamber after ringing in that first quarter bell. It had been a very interesting day indeed and I left their home with a promise to come and help in the early hours of one night. I was interested to see how they managed to keep a regular ringing service throughout the night. As it happened, I never did manage to make that promise come true.

All in all, I felt I had gained a lot from this exercise. I had met a nice family as a family and I had more respect for what goes on behind the scenes of us all being kept informed of the time. I had made a good impression on Dowa and Malet, Zytan seemed to accept more and more that women can actually think and argue logically, Kelly and I were just as close as ever, and I had learned some valuable lessons. Yes Payner was going to prove to be a bit of a problem, but nothing I couldn’t handle.

I also found that with this knowledge, I could construct some fresh and interesting lessons for the little ones that were at the same time informative and a basis for further development. As a result I drew up some sample bellringing cycles, and I have had to copy these out quite often as they seem to fascinate those who want to learn numbers and letters.

---

Julina gets more closely involved with the town in a surprising fashion.

---

Disclaimer:

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

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

---

One very memorable day, there had been a great excitement throughout the place as a huge wagon train laboured its way into town.

This was the largest wagon train ever seen in Blackstone. And yet, when I look back on that day, it was really only to be expected. Our Baroness had introduced many wonders to the town (more of these later!) and had then been attacked as she was out riding on her own lands; from that moment on, everyone was just waiting for some reaction from downvalley, without really realising it. Our first thoughts, all of us who saw it as it approached, was that it seemed highly probable that this might be at least a part of that reaction.

But this wagon train was far larger than anyone could ever remember seeing, over and above any seen back in the good pakh-wool years. It was far too big to be overlooked, even without the billowing clouds of dust. I felt quite sorry for those in the rear, and when it neared us I could see they nearly all had mouths and noses covered with scarves.

In the great throng, there were some three hands or so of soldiers dressed in colours I had never seen before, and there were also near to three hands of wagons, with associated drivers, guards and labourers. There were also some mounted men not in uniform. Of course, these numbers only became obvious after that large caravan had reached us — as yet it was too far away to be certain of who and what this was all about. It did make a very impressive sight as it ground relatively slowly towards the bridge, but the warning bugle of the town guards had, a while before, made us all bustle to get out of sight — the precautions formulated after the Trogan disaster and the later attack up in the Blackstone Vale. It afforded us more than a quarter of a bell, probably nearer half a bell, as the huge wagon train lumbered up the slope towards town. Strangers nowadays were treated with extreme caution, especially strangers in such large numbers.

By and by, the head of the procession came up the Main Street. The Baroness and the Prince, amongst others, appeared from the Claw’s courtyard and stood waiting in the middle of the street, as the huge mass of men, dranakh, frayen and wagons made their way up the slope, before coming mostly to a halt in front of the small party. Then it could be seen that some of the wagons were empty, obviously destined to join the ever-increasing flow of those taking our mined coal southwards as soon as they could, but two or maybe three of the empty ones pulled into the courtyard of the Claw. It was difficult to be sure, as the warning bugle calls had made most of those of us not necessary for defence scurry into relatively safer places wherefrom direct observation was not easy.

It soon became apparent that the soldiers were part of the wagon train for a specific reason; it was not long before the news ran around town that this train brought with it a command from the King no less for the Baroness and the Prince to return to the Palace. The troops had been sent by Lord Trosanar to escort the nobles down to Trosanar’s keep in Tranidor. Though why it was felt that the nineteen men already in town were insufficient, I could not work out for sure — probably the news of the attack had been garbled somehow and those downvalley were over-reacting.

What it meant though was that the Baroness and the Prince now had only one or two days, three at the very most, to settle everything they wanted to. This meant that many organised and hoped-for events such as my planned quick meeting with Mylady Merizel were understandably cancelled. I did manage to inform Master Jepp that I now had two hands of students that were keen to learn, and all of them were girls. He was taken considerably aback by THAT news, and paled slightly more when I added that I hadn’t even started to sound out the opinions of the boys yet.

We had heard that a new Steward had been appointed at an informal ceremony in the common room of the Ptuvil’s Claw. It was that nice man who had been here a while now, the one who also had a military bearing, and had arrived in a very unusual conveyance, part carriage and part wagon. It had come to light that he was not only the father of the Baroness' guard commander, but also a good friend of the old Steward, Mesulkin, who sadly was now too ill to continue. Our new Steward had been something important in the Royal Palace guard apparently, and quite famous as a result, although I had until then never heard of a Bleskin.

As a result of all this, we all felt somewhat reassured, particularly as there was an obvious affection between himself and the Baroness. (For a little while, the rumour was that she was his daughter — but as that directly contradicted with much that had elsewise been said about her, it was discounted fairly easily.) But to know that the Baroness held him in such regard, AND that he was a friend of the past Steward, AND that he was distantly related to Master Brydas was a great relief to us all, as it was far less likely he would be an arrogant, overbearing, greedy, grasping, inconsiderate, scheming, murderous, money-grabbing yoke about all our necks as had been the recent experience with Trogan and his pack.

The all-clear had been sounded, so folk resumed their normal activities. I was close enough to hear some of what was said between those who were obviously the principals, and saw the guard captain (referred to as a Quadrant for some reason) make a fool of himself as he addressed the wrong person as the Baroness. Surely anyone with half a brain would recognise the distinctive haircut Mylady bore?

I was just walking up Main Street past the Watch Office having been joined by Kords who had completed her commissions. We were discussing what I would be cooking for the family that evening, and how much of it we could use for the rest of the week, and that depended in a way on Father’s schedule, and …

“Well met, Mistresses Julina and Kordulet!” said Mistress Patilla as she swung her head from me to Kords in turn. She was in the company of two others, so we had been accosted by the trio of Mistresses Epp, Patilla and Hasinet.

“Well met Mistresses! What can we do for you?” I replied on our behalf

“We understand that you, Kordulet, are becoming a cook of some note nowadays?”

Kords blushed and shyly nodded her head, looking at me for approval.

“And Master Kordulen is down at the roadhouse with a work party clearing some of the road ditches, so will not be home this night?”

I started to get a little upset since I wasn’t sure I wanted our business bandied about in the middle of the High Street. But Epp, whom I trusted, gave me a little nod of encouragement and I decided to let this continue for a little while, to see where it was leading.

Kords looked at me and I nodded that she could answer. She stuttered out her reply: “That is correct, Mistress!”

“Do you think that you could do us a favour, if it pleases you?”

“Probably, Mistress,” she answered both warily and hesitantly, but without checking with me this time.

I was proud of that reply she had given, and had to grin. No outright acceptance without more information. The other women all acknowledged the wise caution.

“Well we have a little emergency that has suddenly arisen for which we require the help of Mistress Julina. Do you think that you could let her come to us in say a bell’s time? We don’t suppose we will keep her for more than a bell, at the most two. Could you manage to get the household things started while we take her away just for a short while?”

“Oh yes, Mistress. I know how to do everything now!” she positively beamed with both pride at her achievements and relief at the request seeming to be fairly simple. I suppressed a snort as I bit back a retort. I was fully aware that she had barely scratched the surface of the fund of knowledge required for running a home.

“Shemel is travelling, so we could all meet at the Epphomes, say a quarter after the next full bell?”

“As you say, Mistresses!”

We parted and I watched them scurry off to another house. There was an urgency emanating from them, which was, of course, highly intriguing. I walked home with Kords, fully occupied in my head. Half of my mind was occupied with what I had to do to get Kords up to a sufficient state to be able to do the meal, half my mind was occupied with speculating about whatever those women might want with me.

And, as everyone knows, a housewife needs more than just a whole mind, so another half of my mind was running swiftly over the list of chores to be done and which of them could be set back a while and a further half of my mind was panicking about what to wear. The rest of my mind was occupied in chatting to Kords, and making sure the other children would be controlled while I was off, and calculating how long it would take me to get from home over to Epp’s home now that the campingplace was nearly always occupied with a number of wagons and miners’ sleeping arrangements — which reminded me that we younger ones would have to find another place to gather, the campingplace being so busy nowadays, and some of the glances we girls were getting from some of the rougher miners were very uncomfortable and disturbing.

As you can readily appreciate, that walk home was something of a blur for me as I look back at it from a distance.

--- --- ---

I tried very hard not to keep smoothing my skirts as I joined the women over at Epp’s. I didn’t want to seem nervous, but I confess I was — very nervous. My poor kerchief was practically twisted to bits.

I was, of course, one of the earlier arrivals and was welcomed most sweetly by Epp, a long-time friend despite being twice my age and more. I’m sure my jaw dropped further and further open as woman after woman arrived until we were three hands or so in total. All were the most respected of women, and I asked myself for the umpteenth time just what I was doing there. Eventually, the door was shut after another arrival and this signalled a stilling of the tongues — a feat I had never seen before, so many women and none talking! All faces turned towards Epp once she had raised her hands briefly to indicate that she was ready to start whatever this was.

“Well met, all. There are apologies from Lendra and Gramobona, but otherwise we are all here. As is also Mistress Julina, I’m sure you will all have noted. She is now just a month or so shy of being an adult and we thought to bring her into our ‘circle’ just a little earlier than her adulthood as the circumstances seem to demand a certain hurriedness. As is indicated by the short notice and unseemly haste in arranging this afternoon’s get-together.

“So first let me quickly encapsulate what we know about Julina, to remind ourselves of her attributes. She has bravely, with dignity and uncomplainingly taken over the duties so sadly left behind by Julissa and has brought up her family in an exemplary fashion. She also has her basic letters and numbers and has a wise head on those young shoulders. I was proud to suggest that she would make a valuable member of our little group, and I was gratified to have received a unanimous endorsement, for which I thank you ladies.

“And, Julina, you must know that you are both a very welcome and a very valuable addition to our gatherings. We all of us understand that of course you have no idea what this is all about. I would normally take the time to explain some things and give some forewarnings. But today we are in haste. I know you as both a friend and also as a student, so I strongly suggest you do as you normally do — sit back, keep your ears and mind open, and contribute something when you feel you can. Do not be afraid of making suggestions, no-one here will laugh at you and any natural embarrassment of thinking you have made a mistake if your suggestion is not adopted will soon be a thing of the past. We search for all suggestions, and NONE is stupid. There may be reasons that the suggestion cannot be adopted that are beyond the suggester’s experience, and we will, whenever possible, explain fully.

“We are gathered here today to formulate a policy for the advancement of Blackstone itself. The haste comes because we have learnt that the Baroness and her entourage will be required to depart very soon, so we must determine if there is anything that we must have from her before then.

“So let’s start with the new Steward. What think we of him? …”

And so were my eyes opened to some real politics here in our town. These women were convinced (and with a certain amount of justification) that just leaving things to the men would mean that certain needs would be overlooked. I learnt rapidly that afternoon to expand my vision from the narrowness of home life and to apply it to a far wider sphere than I had ever imagined. Things became obvious to me that were previously just taken for granted. I was shocked to have a confirmation that there could be as many as a hand of thousands of new bodies soon to come.

And what would need to be here for them when they came?

There was a list a mark long.

Requirements ranged from bathing through housekeeping and down to laundry, passing through cooking and cleaning.

Clothing repairs as well as clothes freshly made for sale.

Bedding.

And so it went on.

Discussions were held about the best way to gain coin from these activities and how to minimise the influence of outsiders coming to steal our market from us, the original town dwellers.

And all these were the things supplied normally by women.

Other things were mentioned that were also normally supplied by women.

The group discussed very practically when (note ‘when’, not ‘whether’) a whorehouse would be required. It made sense that having such an establishment would probably reduce the number of rapes and drunken sexual advances for the townswomen and girls. I thought again of the disquiet we younger women were feeling nowadays up by our gathering place. These women even came to a conclusion about where they felt the whorehouse would be best positioned, bearing in mind always that the final decision on where to have the major workings had yet to be made.

Then there were other things not necessarily restricted to those normally associated just with women.

Candles, which also meant candlesticks.

Mining tools.

Cutlery and crockery.

Cooking utensils.

Food production and storage.

Furniture.

House building.

Animal grazing and stabling.

And a whole host more.

Were the current resources of the Town sufficient for foreseen needs? If not, had the men sent off for extra Guildsmen? Talking of which, was there any news of a new shoemaker?

There was one particular suggestion that made me prick up my ears and which ended up giving me much food for thought.

Apparently, at the height of the wool trade, there had been the two inns operating, but the common rooms got noisy and crowded, so an enterprising neighbour had opened a drinking salon in his home, where only the best behaviour was tolerated and no drunkenness allowed. Entrance was by invitation only, and if you were too disorderly, such an invitation was withheld. Food could be ordered but only a full day or more in advance. The couple that had run it were now too old to resurrect it, and were considering leaving town anyway.

These women decided that it would be the perfect thing for Master Michen to do as his father would not last much longer and Master Michen would need a job of work to avoid dwelling on his loss. His injured arm made it awkward for him to go off into the mountains alone. (When this was said, I caught a couple of the women present give each other significant glances, but had no time to enquire further on that score.) Michen and his father would also benefit from a move away from the outskirts to a town house, probably the one that had previously been the more exclusive drinking salon. Then their dilapidated house out near my family could be used as the site for this new Community Hall about which we had heard recently, which would ease the building as most of the land had already been flattened. (My eyes widened as this was all planned with absolutely no reference to all the people involved, although it was all perfectly logical and sensible. I confess I was further shocked when it all came to pass within a matter of days.)

I was however able to contribute to this conversation after my knowledge of Michen’s background, gained from that evening meal and subsequent chats. I had had the feeling that there was something else he wanted to tell me, but for some reason would only hold back on imparting this news. When I mentioned his past activities (again I caught a meaningful glance between those two women) then they all agreed that he should be the organiser of the huntsmen, even if he himself was not currently able to wield a weapon, and was unlikely to regain that ability. The conversation then passed on to who were the most reliable that could be the nucleus of Michen’s new team and a list was drawn up to be passed to him from one of the husbands. And this too came to pass within a week, even though I was absolutely convinced that Michen hadn’t even thought about it before. Somehow he was persuaded to do all this and the huntsmen were too. I felt a little guilty at first that my remarks had thrust these responsibilities upon him, but later on I could see that he actually thrived upon it, and there was a spring in his step as he walked amongst us, smiling despite the pain from his wounds.

Then the discussions changed, in a seemingly natural flow, to alternative establishments. Certainly not a subject I had ever considered up to that moment.

Where would a visiting dignitary be able to go for a quiet, well-cooked meal? As matters currently stood, there would only be the Bell, and that is anything but quiet, particularly with more and more miners and wagoneers appearing, daily it sometimes seemed. It was assumed naturally that the Ptuvil’s Claw would no longer be available in its old capacity, but maybe plans could be changed once we knew what was envisaged for it. So it was decided that another establishment would be required and a number of existing properties were suggested. The whole attitude was vaguely disquieting to me as it was as if the current occupiers had no choice in the matter. But it was still and again all perfectly logical, perfectly sensible and would bring benefits to existing citizens, so I could not really voice my vague apprehensions.

The things these people then went on and thought about, and even listed, covered every aspect of a modern life. And all of it achieved in a period of less than two bells — I had never seen such a thing, so many women, and barely an argument, barely a raised voice, barely a sharp remark.

Some of these topics they knew were on the list being used by the Baroness, and therefore also being used by the Steward and that Bezan fellow who was responsible for the town planning so that the increase in residents could be handled efficiently. We had some knowledge of these matters, having gained information from the serving girls as to some of the conversations round tables. Almost as an aside, we all agreed that this Bezan would make a good addition to the Town Council — sorry, I mean ‘Assembly’ (I keep calling it by its old name!). (‘Older’ Julina observes: See how it all started out as ‘they’ but is now ‘we’. How quickly my younger self adapted and was absorbed!)

I made several contributions from the younger ones’ points of view and was gratified that some of them were accepted, particularly the need for a safer place for us all to gather. They all nodded thoughtfully as I described the feelings we girls were now getting. I was actually quite surprised at just how much they all knew about us all, which was both a worry and yet at the same time a relief. It was agreed that the new Community Hall would be the best place in the future, but that maybe, in the meantime, we should gather down by the bridge — at the level area there where we normally had the pyres, and where Trogan and company had met their ends. I acknowledged the sense of this, but it would seem so very strange to us, because in the past we could all, mostly, just skip downhill to get home — now we would have an uphill journey which would make it seem more like work than fun.

A list of topics to be clarified if possible was drawn up, and the married ones amongst us were allocated various of those topics to be brought up by their husbands with the Baronial staff, if at all possible — otherwise later with the Steward and the Town Assembly.

The meeting drew to a close when Epp, as hostess and therefore being in charge this time, asked if anyone had any recommendations for additional members to their group. Everyone thought that Mistress Yanda’s suggestion of Mistress Sukhana at the Claw would very probably be a good addition, but as the future of the Claw was uncertain, as Mistress Sukhana was a very fresh newcomer and as it was likely that she and Master Brydas might have other more intimate things on their minds for a while, it was decided to wait until approaching her. It was also a possibility that she would depart with the Baroness, having come up to the town with her, but all there gathered felt this to be a theoretical possibility rather than a probability.

I was turning over a lot of things in my mind as I trudged homewards; homewards to a home that suddenly seemed so narrow and tiny compared with some of the topics recently discussed.

I definitely grew up that afternoon by leaps and bounds. I was sure that there would be little left for me to learn in the rest of my life. (‘Older’ Julia says: Oh the innocence of youth!)

Of course, as it transpired, not everything went as we women had planned, but a large proportion DID pan out the way the discussions had gone. It was recognised that a lot of this had to do with the fact that a woman was the one who had the ultimate control, and she, our Baroness, had indeed laid some good foundations. We later learnt that in fact Mylady had strongly suggested to the Coun… — er, Assembly - that they bring some feminine presence into their little club. I’m sure this came as a large shock to those with established views, but I have to be fair and report that at least they actually considered it, rather than just blustered and blathered prior to rejecting it out of hand.

Trogan’s period of degradations had wreaked havoc in our town and in many lives — some unfortunates having even passed away as a direct result and also some indirectly. There is a commonfolk saying that “Each cloud, however dark underneath, is in the sun above” and it seemed to me to be an appropriate saying at this time, since some good did indeed come from that awful period.

That sad episode, accompanied as it was by the arrival of the Baroness and the Prince, made us examine closely the workings of our town; how it was run, and how it should be run. We all consequently could now have confidence in the future, all the while considering all that the Baroness had suggested; the suggestions about mine location planning, the suggestions about workings disposal and the suggested ways of dealing with the predicted unprecedented expansion, all meant that we were surely to become one of the foremost organised towns in the entirety of our land. (‘Older’ Julina says: Yes we were, as it transpired. Obviously, we didn’t manage it without some mistakes, and other communities benefitted from our experiences, but, even today, we still lead the way and have become accustomed to regular visits from other communities’ town planning committees.)

Before Trogan, we had an Assembly of ten men, of whom six were able to continue, although poor Blandel was still severely weakened. Even poorer Mesulkin, our hitherto Steward, was driven beyond his endurance by his incarceration at Trogan’s hands and could no longer contribute his acknowledged skills — he is a charming man who has always carried the interests of the Town in his foremost thoughts. He indeed had garnered much respect from all the residents. The other three who had served upon the Assembly were no longer with us — Polbinar and the Watch Master had died due to Trogan’s actions, and the Shoemaker had treasoned himself with the attack on the Prince and Mylady in which he himself died. The other six who were able to continue were: Blandel, Brydas, Fedren, Jepp, Sinidar and Torin.

After that first women’s ‘circle’ meeting I had attended, then, the very next morning, Mylady had a meeting with what had now become the new Assembly:
- Bezan, a mason but with Town Planning responsibilities;
- Blandel, mason;
- Bleskin, Steward;
- Brydas, smith;
- Fedren, keeper of the Bell Inn and also this new Watch Officer, now called a ‘Sheriff’;
- Jepp, scribe;
- Selden, agent for the Messenger Service;
- Sinidar, tanner;
- Torin, carpenter;
- Yarling, miners' chief, with planning responsibilities.

This was a very clever mix of experience of Town matters, and the visionaries required for the expected expansion; long-term residents being mixed with the newcomers charged with developing the town in an orderly fashion.

At the end of this meeting, Mylady distributed the amazing things that had been delivered to her.

Brydas received the steam engine, whilst Jepp received the strange writing machine and nearly all the paper. Fedren had been elected to be the ‘Sheriff’ so he got the large telesskopp. But what was of most interest to us all of the female persuasion was the destination of that marvellous flat glass mirror. There had been many arguments and quite some barging when it was hung in the common room of the Ptuvil’s Claw, and we were all agog to know where it was going to go to, if it was to be moved at all.

Mylady had solved the problem of what to do with the Claw and with Mistress Sukhana in quite a clever way. Mistress Sukhana was granted a contract to lease the building from Mylady so she could remain in charge of it, and then Mylady had negotiated a deal with Master Tenson (or some name like that) who ran the wagon company so that the wagon company paid Mistress Sukhana to use the Claw as offices, storage and accommodation for the men, and, presumably, the occasional woman. But that meant that the Claw would no longer be a public Inn and the Common Room would not just be open as it was now — meaning the marvellous mirror would be shut away. But Mylady had even thought of that and had donated it to Yanda, via Fedren, to hang in her Common Room over at the Bell Inn. We all breathed a sigh of relief, although some were displeased to have to enter an uncouth drinking room. I grinned inwardly at that, as their long-held firm convictions that Inns were no less than dens of iniquity faded rapidly given a chance to see themselves as they presented to others. I was able to show some of my knowledge, when I reported that the secret of making flat glass had been given to the ancient town glassmaker who was overdue for retirement (and who had no apprentice to continue his craft). He would require a little assistance from the smith — but we all felt relieved to know that, sooner or later, there would be the possibility of locally produced flat glass mirrors.

So, concerning the new Assembly, all four newcomers were unmarried, whereas when we consider the members that had served on the past Assembly as well, then indeed all of these had been married; but nowadays only half of them still were, death having visited in various ways. Two of the remaining three wives were, however, in our women’s group; Yanda was married to Fedren, and Shantoona to Jepp. (‘Older’ Julina says: In the weeks and months to come, much of what was discussed in the Assembly was known to the women’s ‘circle’ (as Epp had called it) almost before the sun rose the next day.)

But there were some more formal things to be done before all that happened; principally the seamstresses had worked hard and went that afternoon to give some presents to the departing women. Myladies Garia and Merizel, of course, along with the three maids, Jenet, Jasinet and Lanilla. And finally, my friend Senidet. I was told that the Baroness was near overcome with emotion at the surprise she received, and the others were all genuinely grateful for the gifts, and, perhaps, the thoughts behind them.

We didn’t see much of the Baronial party after that, obviously they required time to pack their considerable quantity of belongings, and then be sure that everything that could be done before departure was performed. I had family duties of course, as had many others, so the afternoon faded into the evening, and from there into the night.

And so it came to pass that we all returned the next day to witness the grand departure. I suppose that we added to the chaos, since the street was barely large enough for the huge knot of people and things about to depart without having to try to accommodate a large group of onlookers.

There was one incident that made me smile as the mass of humans, frayen, dranakh and wagons blocked the town. Someone yelled out “Torin!” and two men next to each other swung round and answered. One was the town carpenter, Master Torin, and the other was one of the guards. They both laughed at that, and the guardsmen went off to do whatever his command had been. I knew that it is possible for people of the same name to come together (in fact another of Mylady’s arriving party had had the same name as one of Trogan’s thugs, if memory serves) but I had never seen two with the same name actually standing next to each other and not know what they had in common. The expressions on their faces are a treasured memory of what was actually quite a sad time.

Yes, there were quite a few tears as we townsfolk waved off the caravan of wagons that fateful morning. It seemed to me that everyone who lived within a pair of marks had found some excuse to be in town, and the sight of twelve wagons, with thirty or so mounted soldiers and some mounted tradesmen, wending its way down to and across the bridge was one that would remain long ingrained in all our minds.

The wagon train however, left behind it an almost tangible air of hope, expectation and even excitement. There were many opportunities about to appear to make most, if not all, of us considerably better off than we had been. It was up to us, each family and each individual to work together to ensure that it would happen. Some we knew wouldn’t, but we mostly already knew who they would be. All were aware that it would not be easy.

The future seemed so bright to those of us prepared to put that work in.

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Julina makes more discoveries - some shocking in the extreme - as the town learns to live again without their Baroness, but prepare for some of her improvements.

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Disclaimer:

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.

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When I started these tales, I envisaged just writing one after the other, giving glimpses in various dusty corners of my early life, and yet not getting complicated. But alas, it has not so transpired. It seems that in order to make sense of certain passages, I have to explain more and more. Earlier, I had mentioned an afternoon in which three events occurred which were of significance to the town in various ways. I had intended to just write about each of the three in turn, having started with the story of the evening we got to know Master Michen so much better. But when I started the other two stories I realised that I would have to keep breaking into the tale to explain background events and people. And so I went off to mention some of that very background before returning to those three tales. But already I see more divergences in the near future, so I have as a result had to decide that these tales will need to be intertwined with others.

For now, we have first to return in time to that momentous afternoon. I had had a visit from two sisters who lived up in the Vale and who wanted to learn some number and letter basics which started me investigating others who might like some schooling. Then I had had a visit from some friends who had persuaded me to take some time off, just a bell or so, to go with all of them to the afternoon ‘parade’ up at the campingplace where all the pre-adults and just-turned-adults of the town walk round in large circles pretending not to be sizing up all the others. There were always laughs and giggles and even some flirting, which we all enjoyed — or mostly all.

I had realised with a shock that it had been well over half a year since I had joined in the fun, so I decided there and then to go, since my next younger sister was now capable of providing an evening meal for our family. So it came to pass that I went to the camping place that afternoon, an afternoon in the period that started just after the attack on the Baroness up the Vale, and before the enormous wagon train pulled in with orders from the King for the Baroness and the Prince to return to the Palace. I had checked that Kords, my sister, had everything in hand and then told her I was leaving for a bell or so but would return for the supper. I knew she would be panicked by that announcement, but I was able to reassure her fairly easily. So for the very first time in months, I could have a bell or two to myself, with no worries about caring for my family (a housewife never actually ceases to worry, but I just pushed that to the back of my mind). And so I went just before the appointed time …

I reached the campingplace and was immediately further shocked. Normally we would have nearly all of it to ourselves, but this day there was over a half of it occupied; with many of the miners using it for their tent homes, and with more wagons than I had seen before, there were people and things dotted about all over the place.

There was of course the abandoned wagon left behind by Trogan’s mob — they had stolen it from someone they likely murdered, a poor innocent wagoneer named Grout. But they had no dranakh to haul it, after she had wandered off and never returned to them. I made a mental note to tell Epp, as she and Shemel, now very much an ‘item’, had one wagon and effectively two dranakh — maybe they could do something with it.

And there was an entire family camped around it; I suddenly recognised the two young girls who had come to visit earlier - Venna and Kalisel - and they recognised me at the same time. I think they were relieved to see someone who was not a total and complete stranger, as they came bounding over to me. I confess my heart sank, as I wanted to be able to have a carefree flirt or two and a giggle with chums, but I plastered a smile onto my face and allowed them to drag me to meet their family. They were quite charming, especially the mother, Rathina. She chatted with me for a while, introducing her husband and his somehow brother but I confess I was a little confused with the family links. There was a grandmother and a grandfather, but they weren’t married to each other, and some cousins and so on. I was trying to work out how to escape politely when Rathina tugged me aside, shooing the others away. Looking back, I was amazed just how quickly I found myself telling her of my life. I think she had that knack that only a few people have - she was a good listener. She was surprised that someone as young as I was in effect a mother, and I could feel the reappraisal happening as I added a few facts and stories.

A light seemed to dawn in her head and she suddenly grinned and said: “You have a break now from your chores, right?”

I nodded in agreement.

“And this is the first one for some time I suspect?”

Again a nod from me.

“Alright, I shall keep the younger and older family members away from you.” A wistful look crossed her face as she continued: “I did so love the passage, as we termed it, when I was your age!”

I was surprised at her insight and very grateful. I was about to throw my arms around her in appreciation when her elder son came up to ask her something. She saw my gratitude though in my eyes and smiled widely as she eased herself away from us.

And so I started chatting with Denesar. He was counted an adult, but was still at that awkward-around-girls stage. I tried to put him at ease by asking him to describe life up there, not being able to imagine living so relatively alone; but the only things he saw from day to day were pakh, dranakh, frayen, dungheaps and chores. They rarely saw any strangers, with the possible exception of a woman who rode a frayen and seemed to be interested in insects that flew, as I reported in an earlier tale.

(‘Older’ Julina says: I have taken the liberty of numbering the tales. She is referring to number 03.)

I found myself talking far longer than is usual with a stranger and didn’t really notice the time slipping by. My eyes were of course also busy, darting round here and there. At one moment, I caught sight of Rathina watching us, just as a sort of appraising questioning critical look flitted across her face. I didn’t really know what that meant – then.

I next caught sight of my friends and acquaintances; they were arriving in two or three small bunches, so I excused myself from Denesar, and went over to join them.

Only to be teased by them all as they kept eyeing Denesar, who seemed to be eyeing us. I blushed of course and vehemently denied anything was happening with him. But he was a lovely man to look at, and I secretly enjoyed all the innuendo. My own personality would wither and die though if I was to be taken up into the Vale to live out my life far away from other people, so I knew that nothing would ever come of it, but it wa … oh Maker!

It was at that moment that I recognised Rathina’s look and blushed again as I realised she was eyeing me up as a potential partner for her son! Of course, my blushes were only fodder to the teasing, but we enjoyed the giggles. I soon turned the tables though and diverted attention from myself to one of the others in my close group of four — myself, Molleena, Kellonika and Gythy (to give them all their proper names) all bound forever together by our experiences when we were much younger.

I watched as Molleena shook her wrists for the umpteenth time to get her bracelet to slither down to her wrist. She had only half a moment before raised her forearm and shaken the thing so it went nearer her elbow. She tossed her hair far more frequently than the rest of us did, and she arched her back more than we. Her eyes were the most expressive of us all, and she was attracting the attention of the boys — and she knew it. We could all see her step it up to a new level — a level that was almost shocking. Furthermore, we knew that she knew exactly what she was doing. The boys had their tongues hanging out and started to crowd us — it was like eppris to a honeypot.

“Hey sweetheart. Whatcha bovvering wiv these lads for? Two pumps and a squirt and it’s all over. Come wiv me, an’ I’ll show you what a real man can do. You’ll be singin’ in ecstasy right enuff.”

A rough, very large stranger had barged his way through the youngsters and stood addressing Molleena, ignoring all the rest of us completely. My eyes darted round as I could hear and feel the implicit violence in the air. I caught Rathina’s eyes, who seemed to take in what was happening at a mere glance. She quickly said something to her husband, Brethen. He and Brandar started towards us with intent in their eyes and some haste in their steps.

I thought quickly.

“If it pleases you, sir, we children are just having fun.” I hoped that the implied message that we were too young would get through.

His gaze switched to me: “There ain’t no way a CHILD could do those moves, so you jus’ shut your gob little one and let us adults sort this out ’twixt us.”

His creepy eyes turned back to Molleena. My heart lurched. I could see she knew exactly what she was doing and it, seemed, what she was hoping for. She wet her lips with her tongue, thrust her bosom out even further, and started twirling some of her hair around a finger. She bit her lower lip which seemed to make it swell slightly and go a shade redder. My anxiety levels shot skywards.

“Well,” she started. “A REAL man would at the very least introduce himself to start with,” she replied, an enigmatic smile on her lips. The rest of us were shocked at all sorts of levels — not least because there had been no immediate outright rejection.

“Er ... excuse me?” I said desperately, trying to use up some time for the approaching men to get near to us.

“I already told you, noisy little girl. Shut up.”

“But I really think there is something you need to know.”

“Her body told me everyfink wot I wanted to hear.”

“Yes, sir, but …” I put some desperation into my voice, which seemed to work as he switched his attention back to me.

“But wot?”

“Well, er, the thing is …”

“Last chance. Wot?”

“Her father is about thirty strides away with his brother and approaching rapidly.” I gambled on him not knowing that the men nearing us were nothing to do with Molleena, and it paid off. The man looked startled and glanced quickly at the oncoming men before taking off in the other direction, trying to look innocently nonchalant. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Which turned to anger fairly quickly after the adults turned round and went back.

“Molleena, what on Anmar were you doing? Don’t you know how dangerous that was? Not just for you, but for us as well. What if there had been more of them. We are supposed to be your friends, and yet you endangered us as well.”

She had the grace to look abashed, as she said: “Oh — I didn’t think. I didn’t want to involve you. I just couldn’t help it.” Her voice was on the point of breaking, so I grabbed her and the other two and we four went off to be a bit more private. The others knew we were a tight-knit group and left us alone, knowing that they would eventually find out what we talked about.

Except it didn’t quite work out that way.

Molleena gave a little sob, burst into tears and rushed off homewards. I started after her, but she suddenly stopped, whirled round and said: “Not now, ’Lina, not now. Soon, I promise.”

She is the one person in Blackstone to whom I can confide all my innermost feelings and my bond to her is somehow a degree stronger than it is to Gyth and Kelly. This was therefore a relief, as I knew she would never break any promise made to me. She was an only child and her parents were so proud of her, their faces shone whenever they talked about her.

We three returned to the others and just shrugged it all off, saying she wasn’t feeling well. It took maybe a quarter of a bell before the carefree attitude returned, and then my time was all laughs and giggles — even some flirting, but at a considerably lesser level.

As I made my way back across the slope to our home, I was practically skipping. In fact, I deliberately chose to go downhill for a bit, down the track parallel to the Main Street that leads to the back of the Claw, just so I could let gravity enhance my mood. I hadn’t realised just how much I had been deprived of some simple fun — it was like a healing cure to me, albeit far too short.

It was two days before Molly and I managed to have some private time and it proved to be awkward for us both at first. But it then developed in a most surprising, and at least for me, educative way.

Molly had for some time now been doing certain activities about which I knew absolutely nothing. I had thought we were closer than that and I felt quite hurt at first, but she replied that I had been so tied up with my family and some domestic emergencies, that she hadn’t wanted to add to my burden. And there had been the inbuilt awkwardnesses that Trogan’s arrival had brought in accompaniment. Which was a valid point actually. I did point out, however, that there had been plenty of opportunities later. We agreed that circumstances had cropped up, but we were glad to be back to our tight harmony again. But I could detect a change in her. There was a certain distance — no, not distance, more a vagueness — as if part of her mind was disconnected, or maybe hidden away, locked from the rest of us.

We were in her huts, her parents out tending the plants and the few pakh they had. She was sobbing as she described her battle with herself, a battle that I had no idea until then existed. She described it as a compulsion over which she had no control. I told her that I could not understand what the attraction could be.

She tried to explain it to me, but what she was describing was so far away from anything in my experience that it was obvious another method would be required just to get me to come close to understanding.

She then decided to attempt to show me and I reluctantly agreed to let her try.

This was not a scenario I had ever envisaged and it took a strong effort of will to participate. Eventually, however, the lesson started.

I allowed her to match her actions to her words as she loosened my bodice and started gently to massage my breast, gently pinching the nipple as it swelled. She then switched attention to the other one.

I had of course investigated my own body, I am not ashamed to admit — but this was the first time anyone else had laid fingers on my flesh, and I was forced to concede that it was somehow a whole lot better.

As I sank back and closed my eyes, I started by telling myself that I needed to understand Molly’s reactions, needed to understand her explanations. I forced myself not to be tense, which of course only made me tense. So I then forced myself to try my hardest to relax.

By and by, I relaxed, knowing that she would never damage me, and that I had a bell or so before I had to be anywhere.

And, I have to confess, I was really rather curious.

I treated her hands as gift-bringing friends, and I became an active participant as I learnt to be passive, if that makes sense. It was a strange release for me, to give myself over just to pleasure and it was something that from that moment on I rapidly came to enjoy; her whispered words in my ears, her nibbles on my nipples, and on my ears and on my neck. All were stirring feelings in me only previously hinted at in my lonely, necessary quiet, fumblings with myself.

Soon I was imagining however that it was someone else entirely.

The sensations were incredible and I rapidly starting enjoying it myself. When she laid her lips on mine, the timing was perfect and a shiver of shock shot through me. My lips parted of their own accord, and the blood started to pound in my body. It wasn’t long before I felt damp down there and my legs attempted to open all by themselves. My breathing was just a series of short gasps and I felt my back arch. I felt her other hand gather up my skirts and I raised myself to allow them to be bunched around my waist.

It seemed like ages later, as her assault on my lips and my breasts continued, that her finger swooped onto exactly the right spot and my body jerked. I was no longer just merely damp as my legs tried to open even wider and I felt my intimate parts thrust forward to get more, more — I must have more. Her finger knew exactly what to do, and I felt like a huge wave was building in me. I know I moaned aloud as my hands reached for her breasts to return the favour. She hissed in delight as I found a stiff nipple and I rolled it between my fingers. She clasped my thigh between her legs and started rubbing her mound against my flexing muscles.

Molly suddenly stood up, away from me. I moaned in what I discovered was extreme frustration.

“Now you know, ’Lina. That is how I feel just being near a man. Any man.”

My scattered wits tried hard to reassemble themselves. It took some time as I zig-zagged between frustration, shock, anger, amazement and wonder. And compassion.

It would be remiss of me to simply write down everything that she then told me, but I have had her permission to post the following overview — much will have to be left to your imagination!

Based upon promises made, Molly allowed herself to be seduced by Perril, the son of the then shoemaker, Jasinet’s brother. She believed his promises and actually freely gave away her virginity to him. She discovered that she adored the physical act. Coming from a very strict family, in which her father and uncles are all convinced that womenfolk are beneath them, she discovered that with sex, she had, for the first time in her life, a ‘voice’. Men actually listened to her. She was paid attention to. It was a heady discovery.

She was no longer a sub-species.

And she found she loved her body’s responses to the stimulation.

Somehow, Perril wormed his way into her mind, and she just could not say no.

She remembers listening to his voice one day after they had made love, as they were just talking about this and that. The subject got onto grakh somehow and he stood up and got something from a shelf to use to illustrate what he was saying. He stood over her as he showed her the way a grakh flew. He used a shiny metal cylinder in his hands as she looked upwards to him standing over her. He waved the shiny cylinder back and forth and she concentrated on it. His words somehow became soothing and at the same time compulsive.

That’s all she remembers of that particular encounter, she says she must have fallen asleep just after that. She thought that Perril would be angry with her, but when she woke, he had a wide smile on his face — wider than she had ever seen before. She interpreted that as a declaration of his love for her, and she said that at that very moment she fell deeply in love with him. She would do anything for him.

By this time, I had mastered my body’s reactions and was once more back in control. I understood her a lot more now, but still failed to comprehend why she was unable to control herself as I had been able to do.

But from that day on, she has been literally addicted to having sexual intimacy. And that somehow Perril became more like the men of her family, treating her as a mere chattel. She gave herself to him more frequently to try to rekindle that delicious smile she had seen, but that seemed to merely make him despise her somehow. She became desperate to please him. It was difficult of course, knowing that very little that went on was missed by someone in the village.

One day, he brought round another girl and told Molly and the other girl to make out together. They both found themselves obeying.

Another day, however, the relationship with Perril finally and drastically changed. Perril threatened to tell her parents about her unless she did what he told her to.

Which meant that soon it involved her making love with other men and watching afterwards as they paid coin to Perril. He showed his contempt for her more and more every time. This wasn’t frequent as the town gossips would have seized upon it, but Perril was surprisingly inventive when it came to explaining things away.

Occasionally, Perril would turn up with the other girl and watch as the two of them performed for him. These times were passed off as just friends visiting. Molly learnt that this other girl had fallen for the same promises and was also strangely compelled. Molly’s home was the preferred place, as she was the only one frequently alone during the afternoons, and there was only one more hut in direct view, the occupant being away every day.

She was sure that the other girl had not simply drowned in the river as everyone thought, but had taken her own life. Molly said she felt that way quite often, and yet could not bring herself to do it.

I was horrified. This was my best of best friends and I had not been there for her. She assured me that she did not blame me, she knew how hard I was working for my family, but she admitted to feeling cut off from anyone who cared. By this time, Trogan had arrived and there was very little light-hearted visiting going on anywhere anyhow.

She revealed with a very teary voice that Perril had even tried negotiating with Trogan’s men; in exchange for easy times for his family, then they could have sex with Molly whenever her parents were out. They, however, found themselves more attracted to game they had to chase and hunt, or beat into submission or take by force — not someone who was just compliant. Perril of course did all this behind his parents back, they being convinced that it was their reasonableness and sense that made their dealings with Trogan relatively peaceful compared to some. Molly could never understand why Trogan didn’t tell his parents about Perril but for some reason he didn’t, for which she was grateful — it would have been round the village in a flash.

Molly found something prevented her telling her family what was going on, and the more often she did things, the deeper her addiction and the more of a hurdle it was to confess. She broke down again at that point, saying that she wished she had come to me in the first instance, as she could tell me with no qualms.

Molly sees this time she was describing as the lowest of low points, because she just became a thing once again, an implement to be used. And Perril knew this, keeping her dangling like some puppet on strings — an entertainment he had seen on one of his Tranidor visits.

But she was still addicted to the act itself, and Perril seemed to be in her mind urging her on.

Trogan’s reign came to its violent end, and suddenly there were more people out and about. Perril’s opportunities became scarcer and this made him angry — blaming the Baroness somehow for turning his little world upside down.

Even now, she knows that Perril is dead, she knows that he can affect her no more, but still he is in her head, telling her she needs to experience those feelings again and again and again.

She knows she shouldn’t be like this, but she accepts that she is. She needs to have sex. As simple as that. Now Perril was gone, there had been no demands upon her, but she still sometimes heard Perril’s voice in her head demanding that she service some man. Sometimes, like the other night, she just had to have someone, preferably a man, but a woman would do to “take the edge off”, as she put it.

I felt really, really sorry for her, not simply because of what she had been through in the past year but also because she was being torn; her addiction was simply forcing her to do it. I did manage to extract a promise from her that she would hold back on her seduction routines when we others were around. I also got a promise that she would come to me if she encountered any difficulties. It was simply the best I could hope for.

I knew that I mustn’t hurry off, that would imply that I wanted to distance myself from her in her times of trouble. But in actuality, I wanted to distance myself from her. I had another burning question in my mind that I needed to examine in private. I managed to calm her down and she told me she felt so much better knowing that someone else knew her depths of despair. Her face lost some of the haunted look she had been bearing recently.

As I wandered away, my mind reeling from all that had happened and that I had learnt, that burning question remained in my head, nudging, nudging, nudging at my conscience. I tried to lock it away, but it refused to be shoved aside.

Why had I wished that it was Kellonika doing those things to my body?

My confusion only grew through the next few days, but I managed to control myself. Was I wanting it to have been Kelly because it was Kelly, or was it because, if it had to be a woman, then I wanted it to be Kelly rather than Molly? I knew I was still interested in men, though. I often found myself eyeing up someone. So why was I even contemplating a woman in any pairing? Was I some sort of freak?

I had plenty of distractions to aid the process of regaining normalcy, mind you. Outside of the daily distraction of running a family, we had the arrival of the giant caravan of wagons, the subsequent meeting with the women’s group, my sounding out other girls about some form of schooling, the departure of the Prince and Baroness and all their retinue and associates, and then the move of Master Michen and his father into the centre of town — a move my family all assisted.

There was the formal announcement of the appointment of Fedren to be the Sheriff, as the Watch Officer was now to be called and the formal presentation of Bleskin as the Steward. I was also involved when Bezan started to make plans for the positioning of this new Community Hall. Master Bezan had come round to discuss things with Father, as it was indeed as the women had envisaged; the Hall was most likely to be built on the site of Master Michen’s old house, now abandoned. In order to accommodate that, we and two other families would need to be moved as well. I was consulted on the layout of a new house that would be built for us, another new job that was of immense interest to me. And allowed me to do something other than that wretched self-analysis.

We had another women’s meeting and several things were agreed there, which will become apparent in some future tales.

But there was an event of major impact on my life that happened shortly thereafter. I met the woman named Swayga for the first time. I had no foreknowledge though that this would be significant, as you will see.

Father had been released from the constraints imposed by Trogan and had immediately done a quick study of his domain. You may remember that he was responsible for the roadside ditches and markers and so on, all the way from Blackstone down to the Chaarn junction. Having first examined the damages that had occurred all along the full length, he explained to me once that the most efficient way of effecting the required maintenance was to get the far end done first as the work nearer home was easier to perform and the workers could simply go out from Blackstone and return. This made sense to me, and apparently to the others involved.

This was one of the reasons that Father had spent so much time recently down at the roadhouse. When he came back home, he told us all about the amazing new design that had been suggested by the Baroness, and the good work done by Master Bezan to get it through in such a swift time and so efficiently. Most of the staff that work there had been recruited from Blackstone — this was really helpful for not a few families — but there were others that had come up from Tranidor as well. These included a brother and sister pair. His name is Steef and she is Swayga.

Master Bezan told the Staff Captain (I forget the word he used, never having heard it before, but my query elicited that there was a man in charge of the staff that worked at the roadhouse, so I call him the Staff Captain) that the Baroness had strongly suggested that all the staff there do something called ‘rotation’. This means that they are not permanently in their one little room, which might be shared with others, but that every so often, they go and work for one of the suppliers of food, or coal or animal fodder or something. Just to have a change of scenery occasionally. Say maybe every fourth week, go and spend a week doing something other than what they normally did.

So Father brought Steef and Swayga up with him, so they could learn more from Master Michen about the hunting, and from some of the farmers. We had by this time our hands full as Master Bezan was getting our new home planned, the old one obstructing a needed access route to the chosen site for the Community Hall. I was, as mentioned elsewhere, involved with the design of the layout of the new house and had spent some time with father and Master Bezan.

Our last major meeting together of that period was when Master Bezan came to share our food one evening. This ended up dropping quite a large surprise to me. The younger ones had been bundled off to bed and there was just the three of us sitting round the table.

“So Master Kordulen, I believe that we have an agreement with regard to the home for your family? Mistress Julina here has some very sensible suggestions and I am satisfied that she understands all that is involved. I must congratulate you both on an exceptionally well-brought-up family. And I have no remaining qualms about asking you to contribute your knowledge to another project that is of urgency.” He turned to me before continuing. “Mistress Julina, I would like to ask your father to spend some days, maybe as long as a week exploring for me down around the Chaarn Junction. This will mean quite a few more nights away from you. Do I have your permission to ask it of him?”

I swallowed hard before replying but realised that actually it wouldn’t be that bad, and this sounded like some sort of promotion or change of direction for Father, whose eyes were telling me he wanted to do it.

“Thank you Master Bezan for the consideration, and I’m sure I can cope. But it would be nice to know when and maybe some more details.”

“It is all actually quite simple to explain, perchance not so simple to action. As you are both aware, we foresee greatly increased traffic as more and more coal is transported down the valley. There is however a problem on the road. The uphill climb to join the Chaarn trade route, means that we cannot fully load the wagons, thus requiring more wagons and animals and also more time. Before this incline, the route is all downhill. After the road joins the Chaarn road, it is also all downhill.”

I inadvertently interrupted his speech with a deep sigh. I was immediately embarrassed.

“Why the sigh, Mistress?”

“Oh I do apologise. It’s just that I have never travelled down that road as anything other than a babe in arms, and yet I feel I know every stride from Father’s reports and from tales from others.”

“I am amazed! Surely, Master Kordulen, you have taken your family at least to Tranidor?”

“Regretfully no, Master Bezan. I have always wanted to, but when Julissa left us and poor Julina took over so well, I have not had the courage to ask her to do something that would add so to her burden.”

“And I have had no wish to disrupt Father, who works so hard for us.”

“Oh Maker! I really feel that you should see more of the valley than just this little town! I will see what I can do to arrange for somewhere for you to stay.”

“Oh Master, there’s no need for that. Mistress Epp — oh sorry, I should say Mistress Megrozen — has a house in Tranidor and she does a regular run with townsfolk. She also has a business down there that apparently produces enough for the upkeep of the house. I shall simply ask her — she is a friend and I’m sure she could fit us in sometime in the future. I wanted to wait until little Korden was a bit older — it would be easier for me then.”

“Really? That IS interesting. I have met Mistress Epp briefly. I was unaware she had a residence down there, let alone a business — why on Anmar does she stay here? I must discuss …

“Oh … forget that for now! I’ll finish first with my project description. The problem is that uphill stretch on the route. I would like to find an alternative route along which to build a new road which would cut out that incline. I have a team looking for possibilities on the other side of the river, but I thought to ask you, being the most knowledgeable in the Town, to check out the possibilities on this side of the river. The far side would involve at least one bridge across the Bray, which would add to the expense.

“The route must eventually be wide enough for say three wagons, but in the first instance we could make it so traffic going down valley only can use the new road, the old road can service the up valley traffic for the time being. Therefore, we could start with a way large enough for just one wagon and sideriders. What is very important is that there must be no sharp bends, but, having said that, it does not have to be straight. Any bends would have to be sweeping ones, that if they described a circle would be not less than an eighth, or maybe a tenth of a mark across, gentler curves being preferred.”

Father hissed a little as he acknowledged the description.

“It would be a good idea not to cut out access to existing roadhouses after the junction, but if the route chosen means that that happens, then so be it. This new route must be consistently downhill, preferably with a constant angle of descent — if that is just not possible, and I strongly suspect that it will not prove to be possible, then at the very most it can be flat in parts. No uphill stretch though, that is also of the utmost importance. If necessary we can cut out pieces of ground, and maybe use that waste to support any stretches that might need building up for whatever reason. I imagine that the total length of the piece would be about a hand of marks from where it diverges from the existing road to where it rejoins it. Maybe six or as much as seven.

“It would be nice to have some idea of possibilities before the winter sets in, as we could then start construction early in the spring of next year. I will add that eventually we expect to construct a new, wide, gently sloped, gently winding roadbed all the way from here down valley, probably as far as Haligo.”

“Maker!” breathed Father in astonishment, “there is more to this than just a road, I’ll wager.”

“You may well be right, Master. But I need not explain that just yet. Not because it’s a secret, but simply because it is very complicated and not even certain that that would be the chosen solution. But the immediate problem we have is that incline upwards on the route between here and Tranidor. Do you feel capable of doing some investigation?”

“Aye, Master Bezan. Actually I happen to know there is a network of foresters’ tracks down there. I have always wanted to explore them. Julina dear, when may I start? Let’s say I will be gone a week.”

“If you could do some of the repairs tomorrow and the day after, then I think we’ll be good after that.”

“If the repairs are not major, then why bother? We will not be here for very much longer?”

“Oh, I was forgetting for a moment. Then you just need to check the things we’ll need to have working properly for the winter. We would like to have a family dinner, just all of us, before you go off again.”

“Alright. Tomorrow evening we have Steef and Swayga coming for a meal, so then we will have a family meal the following evening. I will leave in the morning after that, with your permission, Master?”

“Certainly. That’s faster than I expected. Come and find me at the roadhouse and I will arrange for your accommodation and victuals there. And now, Mistress Julina I must thank you for a most pleasant evening, and thank you Master Kordulen for introducing me to such a wonderful family. And your home-made wine is very palatable. My thanks, and my wishes for a good night.”

So started Father’s newest project and we met Swayga and her brother Steef as a family the following evening, as will be described in the next instalment.

Wow, more amazing changes starting with so little fanfare.

---

Julina’s day does not start well, but then she learns a lot more about the developments in town, and she makes a new friend.

---

Disclaimer:

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 next day started badly.

A strategic button had come off the dress I wanted to wear and I had to re-use the dress I had had on the previous day. I would have mended the offending button, but knew that today of all days, I had a lot to get through and didn’t want to hunt out the sewing kit, and clear the table to spread out the garment and so on - particularly as we needed the table now for breakfast. I only had four dresses, one was being washed, and one I kept for ‘best’. So I laid out yesterday’s garments, slipping a coat over my nightgown.

Then I went to get the others up, Kords was grumpily already up (in her nightclothes) rekindling the fires and boiling some water. Kissa grumped as well as she tried (vainly!) to steal another moment of sleep and Julu needed a good shake.

As for the boys! I think they could sleep through a thunderstorm raging inside their room. I spent my usual hand of moments in the usual struggle to get any sense out of just one of them. Once I reached that stage, I could leave that one to stir the other.

So I went to the bathing room and splashed my face and body. I knew winter was coming on rapidly as that water was so cold! Shivering, I ran back to my room to get dressed. The first thing that was good was that dearest Kords had hung my underthings on a rail in front of the now brightly crackling fire in the grate - it is lovely to slip into warmed undergarments on a chilly morning. I intended to have a proper bath and to wash my cascading tresses later.

And so I was finally dressed as the house stirred. They all knew to let me go and use the facilities first, as I had the most to do to prepare for them to break their fasts.

I started getting the stuff ready, when I heard a commotion out in the pasture, and rushed out to see what was going on. The neighbour’s grenn had once again got into the pakh pen and I had to chase it out - for the hundredth time this month it seemed.

I went back in and picked up the kitchen knife, ready to chop up …

“’Lina?”

“Yes, Papa?” I replied as I put down my knife and went to his door.

“Would you have time to press a tunic for me, I seem to have used up all the pressed ones already?”

“Have you checked in the second drawer? I put a pile in there only the day before yesterday,” I called through the woodwork.

“Ah. Didn’t think of looking there. Ah yes, thank you.”

I went back to the kitchen and picked up my knife again, shaking my head as I always put his pressed tunics in the second drawer.

“Juleeeeeeeeeeena?” I heard Julu’s less than dulcet tones call me.

I slammed the knife down again and went this time to her room.

“What?”

“I can’t get Kissa to wake up. I need her to help me dress.”

“Have you washed yet?”

“No.”

“Then you don’t need to get dressed yet. Kords has just left the bathroom, so hurry in there now before Papa or the boys steal in.”

“Ok, ’Lina.”

“And Kissa, I know you’re awake. I want you up and out of bed before Julu gets back. If you’re sensible, you will jump in there as she comes out, otherwise the place will be a right mess once the boys and Papa have trashed it as usual.”

I returned to the kitchen and sighed. At last I could get on with the chopping. I picked up the knife.

Then I heard: “’Lina! ’Leeeeeeeeeena! I can’t find my other shoe.”

I had been asleep in a different room for the entire night, so why little Korden should imagine I would have the faintest of clues as to the whereabouts of his footwear was totally baffling to me. And I knew he had yet to wash himself. Anyway, why couldn’t he ask his brother to help search? With a muttered “Grrrr!” I stopped what I had yet to start doing, stuck the knife point downwards into the chopping board with enough force to leave it quivering and went to the boy’s room, as I knew I would get no peace until Kord at least saw me.

I swung open the door and marched in, only to be greeted by a naked ’Kin who chose to shout at me for entering without knocking rather than hide the nakedness about which he was complaining. I ignored him until he made it clear he wasn’t going to stop.

“Enough, ’Kin! I have washed your arse and your ‘wiggly-waggly’ often enough in your life and you didn’t complain then. You heard Kord call for me, so anyone with a bit of sense would know I would have to come along. So just stop showing off and get dressed. And then, YOU help your brother find his shoe. Because I am not going to do it, now you have been so rude to me. As for you Korden,” he winced as I used his full name, “I have told you at least a hundred times not to just kick off your clothes, but to hang them up properly before going to bed. If you had indeed done as I bid, then you would know exactly where to find your stuff. I am no longer prepared to just pick up after you messy boys. If you have lost something, then YOU will have to find it - this is last time I am ever going to come running - do I make myself clear? You have no need for your shoe until you have washed and dressed and I am in the middle of preparing your breakfast. Have some more consideration, both of you!”

The door made such a satisfying din as I slammed it behind me on my way out. I think the stomps I made as I went back to the kitchen area could probably have been heard down in Tranidor. I heard little Kord start to yell at ’Kin: “You great idiot! Now look what you’ve done. You’ve made ’Lina mad and now she won’t help us in the future. You’re such a … ow! Lemmego. ’Lina! ’Leeeeeena - help, he’s hurting me. Ow! You bully. Gerroff!”

I nearly went back and have a REAL go at them, but I took a deep breath. I looked at Kords who had by now come to the kitchen to help. She saw the mood I was in. I just shook my head, and stomped out of the home and up the slope towards the entrance to Blackstone Vale. After maybe two hundred strides, well they were more stomps than strides really, I sat down on a boulder and looked out over our town and the Bray Valley, the sun just beginning to shine onto the far side. I burst into tears.

I have no idea of exactly how long I sat there, but the peace and tranquillity worked their healing magic and I started to contemplate many things, beginning with the fact that I now understood why Mama had sometimes needed time to herself. I remembered how I had felt when she just went off and felt a certain savage satisfaction that the others might get to feel the same for a little while. I was shaken out of my reverie by Deegrum and his grenn. He came up to me, laid a gentle hand on my shoulder and then passed on to his work, with not a word spoken - and yet so much communicated. The grenn sniffed my hand, allowed himself to be patted and then trotted off after his master.

I stood up, shook my dress into place and went back home - there was a dinner for nine of us to arrange for that evening, the house needed a quick clean, and the lessons for the children needed to be arranged. Papa would need to be shown what I required before he went off exploring for Master Bezan, as had been agreed last evening, and Kords needed to learn about …

When I got back home, they were all as ‘good as jewels’ as we say up here in Blackstone. The little glances they made to their father before doing anything told me that he had had some strong words. I just pretended that nothing had happened, and started bustling about, bossing them when it needed to be done.

I took Kords aside once the others had been organised and we went through the list of requirements for the dinner that night. We were a little behind schedule by then, so I got Kords to check the meat and vegetable supplies and I rushed round the store cupboards confirming what we had in them. Between us, we came up with a menu and made the suggestion to Papa, who approved of it. He gave me a strange, sad little smile and stroked my arm. I could have sworn he was about to pull me into a hug, but I squirmed away, telling him we were running a little behind time. He had twice, at least, said he wanted this dinner to be as perfect as possible; which I thought was a strange thing to say - after all, what was so special about this one as opposed, say, to last evening’s meal with Master Bezan? But my head was full of shopping lists and timetables and so on that I didn’t dwell on it, and thus I didn’t take up that thread.

We had a ganifil to be cooked, and I sent Papa to get a rack of pakh ribs - I was also planning some of the meals for the evenings that Papa was to be away, seeing if I could do some preparation for them at the same time as today’s meal. I asked Kords if she wanted to do the shopping, but she chose to let me go - probably to be sure that I got some extra time to myself. I smiled gently at her and gave her a peck on her cheek. I made a mental note to give her more time to herself in the future.

So I went into town to get the needed supplies, going there via the campingplace as it involved less slopes. I just happened to get there at the time of a relatively large kerfuffle with Denesar and his family. Master Brydas, the smith, was requisitioning the wagon that had been abandoned there by the Trogan mob and under which Denesar and his family had been camping. I felt a pang of annoyance as I had made a mental note to myself to mention it to Mistress Epp and Shemel, but had not yet done so. He needed it apparently for some experiments and had promised the men and boys of the family some small coin for their assistance. I therefore only had a few heartbeats of time to talk with Denesar, but managed a good conversation with Rathina once the menfolk had trooped off with Brydas and the wagon.

She decided to accompany me as I did my shopping and we swapped recipes and cooking methods as we sauntered around town. We nearly got run down by wagons a few times and thus we progressed by using the covered walkways, stepping into the street to allow others to pass when it was possible.

As we went, we literally bumped into Fedren, our ‘Sheriff’ - that was still a strange word to us in those days. He was just coming out of Blandel’s house and we learnt that the Master Mason was still very depressed after his treatment in Trogan’s jail. Master Fedren told us that he was starting to investigate the backgrounds of the Trogan mob and also of those that had attacked Mylady up in the Vale.

“But I don’t want to discuss that right now, I want to discuss the little incident with Molleena and the wagoneer.”

My heart sank. But I immediately realised that it was sensible, as both Rathina and I had been there.

“I must strongly recommend, Mistress Julina, that you younger ones repair down to the bridge for your gatherings, rather than use your traditional place. I know this will be a big change for you all, but I need to preserve the peace in this town, and there are ever increasing numbers of strangers coming in. Molleena’s attitude is going to inflame some passions sooner or later - sooner I feel. May I ask you as a responsible member of the group to get you all to relocate?”

I breathed a sigh of relief as it was far better than I had expected - I still had time to do something about it all. Not that I got much spare time nowadays with my housewifely duties. I had expected that I would have to lock up Molly or something, or become responsible for giving her a good talking to. It was obvious that the … Sheriff, didn’t want to involve her parents - yet!

“I can’t do that tonight, Mast ... er Sheriff. Hmmmm - what a strange title that seems! I have a dinner to cook for the family and some guests, but I should have some time after that. Master Bezan has asked Father to do a little task for him down to the Chaarn junction, so I should be able to get out tomorrow or the day after.”

“I can’t ask more than that, and thank you. Mistress Rathina, how fares it with your family?”

“Oh, thank you er … ‘Sheriff’. You’re right Julina, a very strange word to say! Most are returning up the Vale in the morning, at least that was the plan. Master Brydas has however offered the menfolk a little coin in return for assistance with some experiments which somehow involve a wagon, which has to be loaded and unloaded and have its position changed and all sorts. It all sounded most strange to me, not to say complicated.”

The Sheriff laughed. “Oh he’s just rushing through some work that Master Bezan and I particularly would like to implement as soon as possible. The Town Assembly has approved it all. Mylady suggested some construction methods using something she called ‘tresses’ - no they’re hair aren’t they? - er ... ‘trasses’ - no! ‘Trusses’ that was it. ‘Trusses’.

“It’s a way of building bridges and rooves would you believe. The campingplace is getting far too crowded as we all know and the wagon traffic in town is also reaching uncomfortable levels. What we would like to do is expand and extend the road out the other side of the campingplace, and then have it descend in a great curve round the head of the Bray Vale, eventually joining back up with the existing Chivan road some two or three marks south of town. This will naturally require a bridge to be built across the Bray farther down, so Master Brydas has built up two low stone walls across which he can balance these new ‘tress’ constructions of metal. He then places boards above to form a roadway, and he pushes a wagon onto the temporary structure to see what happens. If it supports the wagon, then he rolls it off again, loads it as heavily as he can, and then has to push the wagon back onto the structure.

“Once he has satisfied himself that it works on a bridge with end supports a mere handswidth high, then they will take it all down valley and run a proper set of tests there, on a proper bridge with proper supports that is, with dranakh and laden wagons. Make sure that the construction can cope with all the stresses required. There is a bit more to it than that, but you’ll have to get the other details from him. Once we know that we have a stable and strong bridge then the roadbed can be constructed. Also, it appears that this structure, if successful, can be used for the roofing at the new Community Hall, which is our priority construction - and possibly elsewhere, like any new public bathhouse and so on. It combines lightness of construction with strength and could make vast changes to how we build things in the future. But I'm not an engineer. You'll have to ask them.

“Master Bezan reckons there might be as much as a hand, or even more, of marks of extra road to be built. We want the tests done as soon as we can, because the construction will probably be delayed by the winter. If it becomes necessary to amend the design, then the tests can be done on the pretend bridge at the smith’s to minimise the delays in starting in the Spring. The approach roads to the selected site for the new bridge are already being made, so the new bridge roadway can be relatively simply dropped onto the supports.

“That will relieve the traffic load in the town itself; and they are clearing the area up by the second coal quarry to create a living place for the miners, which will help with the congestion at the campingplace. Both of these will make my peacekeeping efforts a lot easier! Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I must go and do my chores. Well met Mistress Rathina, Mistress Julina.”

“Well met, Sherif,f” we trilled in unison, the title becoming easier now to say. We watched him stroll down to the Bell Inn and turn into the door.

“Well I must say that the ideas of Mylady are very practical. Who else would have had such simple yet effective thoughts and designs?”

“I agree, Mistress Rathina. Everything that Mylady has introduced is of such benefit to us all. And I am pleasantly surprised that this Assembly is thinking ahead and planning so well. Very strange for a body devoid of any female influence!”

“Come now, Julina. Please. Drop the mistress bit. Please just call me Rathina. And I fully agree with you about both Mylady and the Assembly - particularly the now lack of a woman in charge. Mind you, this new Steward impresses me more and more every time I encounter something he has done.”

“Very well. And thank you for the honour. And Master Bleskin - excuse me - Captain Bleskin has also impressed me, and most of the ladies of the town - that I can state with certainty.”

And so I gained a new friend, although I was still aware that she wanted me as a partner for her son!

I finished my supply shopping and was startled to hear the bells announce the time, so I scurried back by the Claw and up the slope to home to find Kords had really done well with the preparations and Papa was helping the boys with their lessons. Kissa and Julu had been given permission to play about while feeding the animals in our small pasture and suddenly home was a pleasant place to be. I went round and gave each one a kiss, as I wondered in my mind how long the rural tranquillity we had here in town would last.

At home, the tranquillity lasted a short while only.

Papa started querying what we had done, what was to be done, and even why we were doing certain things. It was delaying us as we tried at first to be civil in our replies but it was getting on both my and Kords’ nerves.

As you will find out in the next tale.

---

Julina certainly did not expect THIS!

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

“Disposing of the body secretly would be the major problem.”

Kords signified her agreement by adding: “And it’s not as if either one of us could do it alone.”

“The more people involved, the less likely we would be unobserved.”

“True. I think that we would have to involve the other four as well. That way, anyone seeing us would assume it was a family affair — which would actually be the right assumption to make, but not that they would know that, hopefully!”

“What on Anmar are you two waffling about?”

“We are discussing the best way of disposing of your body, Father. There are so many ways of killing you, that that will not prove to be a problem. It’s getting away with it that creates certain difficulties for us.

“You are driving the two of us mad. You keep asking the same questions over and over and you are faffing around, getting in the way and disturbing our routines. We have done this all often enough, as you well know. We don’t require any hindrances from you — however thinly disguised as ‘help’. Anyone would think you had invited the Queen herself to dinner, the way you’re hopping around and panicking. You have trusted us with this on numerous previous occasions, why are you hovering about and getting in the way this time? Now go outside and feed the animals or do something else useful. Better still, go to the Bell and have a calming ale or two. Just GET OUT OF OUR WAY! You have delayed us enough! Go on, get out!”

The succession of expressions that followed each other rapidly as they shot across his face would, at any other time, have made me laugh out loud, but I was too angry to let myself be amused. Kords smothered a snorted giggle, and bent her head down over the chopping board, her long locks hiding any further expressions. I just hoped they weren’t hiding the sharp knife and the vegetables as well, and that we wouldn’t have some chopped fingers added to the ingredients. A few twitches of her shoulders told me that she was laughing quietly under her protective layer.

With an angry look finally settling upon his features, Papa took a breath to say something which was obviously going to be fatuous, so I beat him to it.

“Go, I said. Now.” I managed the whole thing: fists on hips, a foot stamp and my best glare which should have set the wooden wall on fire.

“But …”

I dropped my voice down to ‘have-to-listen-carefully-just-to-hear’ levels, and simply said, with, of course, as sneering a tone as I could muster: “One, two …”

Papa had not the faintest idea of the number at which my counting would reach the critical point, so he glared back for a short while, and then swung round on his heels, and went to shout at the younger ones.

“And don’t upset the younger ones, if you want to have a pleasant meal!” I yelled at his retreating back, before he could open his mouth again. I saw his shoulders slump as he did an abrupt right turn and went out of the door, shaking his head as he went.

“At last! Maybe we can now do the job properly,” I grumped, grabbing up my own chopping knife.

Kords and I looked at each other in total agreement and returned to the chores we had been doing, before, a good full moment later, we both burst out in laughter; it was as if we were connected to the identical thought.

“I’ve never ever seen him like that. What on Anmar do you imagine has got into him? We have prepared evening meals for many guests, more often in recent weeks as it happens, but today it seems he has to double and triple check everything. I just don’t understand men. Why today is he being particularly so awkward? Hummph. And that reminds me …” I turned towards the open door and yelled across to the other building: “Hey boys! Don’t forget you’re setting that table and cleaning the dining area!”

I heard a faint disgruntled grunting which I took to mean that Papa had probably already told them twenty times and they didn’t need me to repeat it, but I just wanted to be sure that they knew that I knew and so on. They were now in no position to deny that they had been told.

And so we six children (the other two girls had their assigned tasks as well) got into what were by now our normal routines and prepared the meal for our two unknown guests to enjoy with us. It was by now a well-established method which was actually only running about a quarter of a bell late - all due to Papa’s interference.

Then a small problem arose. We were shorter of a certain something in the cupboard than I had assumed. I had to find the time to slip out to get some supplies - the easiest solution I could come up with was to skip across to Kelly’s house to get that certain something. The bag, when I had looked at it earlier, had seemed to be full sitting there on its shelf, but when Kissa went to it, it was nearly empty. My heart sank, but I knew I had to be honest with the others and accept the blame where it truly belonged - on my shoulders, thus letting them know that it is fine to admit mistakes. I immediately explained to the kids that I should have checked properly - as I hadn’t, it was my fault, and, furthermore, as my legs were longer, then I would hasten to go out and get some more, that being the quickest solution I could think of.

“She probably wants to go and see that Denesar again,” said Kissa slyly, in an aside pitched just loud enough for me to hear. I caught sight of Kords’ answering grin. I, of course, blushed and bit back an angry denial, but neither of them could deny that the ‘emergency’ was genuine enough, and I dashed off on my rescue mission after telling Kissa what she should do to progress my chores that would otherwise be set back, and thus minimise the disturbances.

Where we lived then was at about the same height as the campingplace. I could get there in one of two or three ways - I could go down the slope, to the rear of the Ptuvil’s Claw, and either go up the back lane to the camping place from there, or go past the side of the Claw to join the Main Street and then go up to the top of the street that way, or, as I chose to do this time, I could use a bare, faint track that followed the contour round the slopes.

When I got to the campingplace, it seemed to me there were even more people milling about than there had been a scant two days previously. As I was crossing towards the Bellringer’s house, I glanced to my right and tried to inspect some works further along the ‘coal track’, past where we townsfolk got our coal - I had been told a little about them earlier that morning, by the new Sheriff no less. I was squinting as I hurried along, trying to see what was happening up there, when I nearly bumped into a laden wagon heading down to the Main Street.

It had a curious load on it - there was a hand of strange metal things, a pair and a set of three. The difference between the groupings was the overall length of the things, the three being shorter than the pair. There was also a huge pile of stone and rock in the belly of the wagon.

The metal things, when looked at from one end or the other, were all the same - around a half or two-thirds of a stride square, I would estimate, but with a lot of emptiness in that square. The Sheriff had told me the name, but all I could remember now was that it was something to do with hair - or was it something that wasn’t something to do with hair - whatever he had said. I would need to ask him again, or maybe ask Master Brydas, who, after all, was making the things.

The squares were made of metal rods joining up the corners, with 2 diagonals as well. More rods of the same size joined these end squares along the full length of the thing to the squares that formed the other end of the piece. In between the two extremes were also other squares regularly spaced along the length. I suppose it would be best to describe each piece as a sort of squared-off cylinder, but without solid ‘walls’, since all along the length of each of these pieces, the rods were joined to other rods in the same piece by diagonals. These diagonals were running at strange-to-me angles, making a series of triangles. But they leant one way in one half, and the other way in the other half. I could see a regular pattern, but it was unlike anything else I had ever seen.

Each piece of the threesome was maybe a total of three strides long, possibly four, whilst the other pair were each more than twice that. They overhung the end of the wagon (by a considerable margin - the longer two were more than twice the length of the wagon) as it lumbered down the hill, squeezing past a string of wagons coming up, which had pulled slightly to the other side of the road to allow space for four people on foot. The Main Street nowadays was getting so busy, it was almost verging on dangerous.

I was really intrigued by all this and nearly forgot my urgent mission. I got to Kelly’s house and rapped on the door. Malet was not too long in answering it and smiled at me, obviously genuinely pleased to see me. I explained my predicament, apologised for not being able to stay too long and was grateful when she said that of course she would help; so I followed her to the kitchen and took what I needed, thanking her profusely. She invited me to return at some time when I was not quite so pressed, and I promised to do so. I don’t suppose I was in the house for as much as a hand of moments before I took off once more for home.

My route home this time was a little nearer the Cistern side of the campingplace just so I could attempt to get a better look up towards the head of Bray Vale and the coal quarries. It looked to me that they were clearing a level area, or a stepped series of level areas, up near where they were extracting the coal from the seam used for sending downvalley. The Baroness had guaranteed that OUR seam would not be touched, so that the townsfolk would always have a supply for all the foreseeable future. Judging from what the Sheriff had said earlier, this was to be the main living area for the miners, which made a lot of sense as they might as well live close to their work. Although the camping place was surrounded by a ring - spaced well apart, of course - of latrines, so would be the preferred option for the moment.

I further noticed that there seemed to be the startings of another new building, opposite the Cistern, across the track that went northwards to the coal quarries. I wondered at first what that could be, and replayed the Sheriff’s words in my head. Hmmm - maybe this would be the public bathhouse? It made a sort of sense, keeping it near the water supply and near to the accommodation areas.

I had to thread my way across the ground towards that faint track that followed the contours round to our home, and I really didn’t intend to see Denesar - it just sort of happened. I limited myself to just a few moments chatting, really not much more than a hand of moments, well, maybe two hands, and then scurried home. I don’t suppose I had been away for as much as three quarters of a bell.

I arrived flushed from my exertions, and was immediately teased by Kissa. When Kords started to join in too, I got all bossy and gave them tasks to do just to shut them up. Cheeky little brats.

We were soon back on schedule though, in fact we gained a couple of moments, so I had to praise them, for which they were grateful. Kissa had done my chores and then helped Kords with hers, thus gaining a little time overall. It wasn’t easy, in fact it was quite awkward having so many of us at the same time in what was really a rather restricted space; but as it transpired, with the three of us doing it, we got along famously. Kissa enjoyed being a more important member for a change, and her originally unplanned involvement made me think that we three could work together in the future, particularly when we got into that new house. I even got little Julu to go and double-check everything else, and made sure that the two boys were doing the lettering exercises I had set them. I had made it a bit nicer for them by letting them use some of my precious paper. They were good boys and they knew that the sooner they got it done, the more time they would have to play, before being on their best behaviour for the guests to come later on. They knew, however, that they would be deeply in trouble if their playing messed up any of the arrangements for the evening.

Papa returned from wherever he had been skulking (the ale on his breath was a significant clue) about half a bell before the guests were due and he came into the kitchen with little Julu trailing nervously behind him. Father immediately began to worry that the dinner would be late and what a bad impression that would create and why hadn’t he stayed to make sure that …

“Father! Enough! If you had stayed we would be at least a further half a bell late, so instead of delaying us again, why don’t you just ask if there is anything YOU can do to help us catch up a bit? Hmmm?”

He had the grace to look sheepish, and suddenly thoughtful.

“I’m sorry, ’Lina. I just want this to be perfect. I’ll try to help. What can I do?”

“Prepare the wine and other drinks for the table. Check the settings. Make sure the girls have indeed tidied the rooms sufficiently. And if you find anything, either fix it yourself or come and tell ME. Do NOT shout at the children. Kords - watch that sauce doesn’t burn! Papa, make sure that your guests have somewhere comfortable to come into. Are there sufficient nibbles? A good selection of welcoming drinks? And everything you can think of that YOU would like to see if you had been invited to some other home. If you do all that, I won’t have to, which will save me at least five moments. Kords - the ganifil needs a final baste and then move the pakh ribs into the cooler oven. Papa, why are you still here? Kissa, please check the steaming vegetables - don’t forget the puff of steam when you open the lid. Julu, we are nine at table tonight, so please lay out the plates on the sideboard, ready - and tell the boys to light the candles as soon as the guests arrive at the door.”

… … ...

Being not quite finished in the kitchen, it was impossible for us to present ourselves as a complete family when our guests arrived. I asked Papa to excuse Kords and I, and quickly checked the children were presentable. I sent them all to the door as Kords and I rushed to get it all finished. We quickly performed the last operations and set out the nine plates - two heaped portions for the men, and then descending sizes for the women and children, although I had noticed that ’Kin was eating a bit more nowadays, I suspected a growth spurt was just round the corner!

I removed my apron, hurriedly scraped back some errant hairs (after checking my hands were clean enough) and went through to tell everyone to sit at table. Meanwhile Kords herself had removed her apron, tidied herself and picked up the first three plates.

And so it was that we all sat down to eat only a few moments later than the scheduled time. Master Steef was a little stiff at first, as though he was holding himself back in some way. Mistress Swayga was very pleasant once she lost a strange initial nervousness. I did feel for a while that she was trying a bit too hard, particularly with the younger ones, but she was really quite knowledgeable about running a household and I found myself able to give her a hint or two and a tip or two, and soon we were having a good chat and giggling together. All in all, it was quite a good evening meal, and I was pleased the younger ones seemed to take to Mistress Swayga quite well. I could relax a little, safe in the knowledge that I wouldn’t have to keep more than half my attention over there.

When the meal was over, I assigned various littler heads to various tidying up tasks, and was shocked when Mistress Swayga got up to help as well.

“No, no, Mistress. You are our guest. You don’t have to work.”

“Oh I couldn’t sit there and not do something - besides which, the men probably need a few moments alone so they can do whatever it is men do after such a fine meal. We should give them time to clear the air as it were. I am impressed that you managed to do this all, and so well, Julina! When I was your age, I could never …”

She chatted on as we carried stuff from table to kitchen and she allowed herself to be one of those I bossed about. Before we knew it, the table had been cleared and the dishes cleaned. Papa asked for another bottle of our home made wine and then surprised me by asking for a glass for each of us, adults and children alike - Kord’s was of course heavily watered, ’Kin’s and Julu’s less so. Papa then shocked me as he insisted we all of us returned to table, the little ones didn’t have to get ready for bed as they usually did. They were, of course, delighted to be able to stay up a little longer.

When we all got back to gather round - the regathering took a little longer due to all the natural breaks required - Father asked us to be sure we had something in our glasses.

“I welcome both Master Steef and Mistress Swayga this evening and thank them for their most pleasant company. I also thank you younger ones for all you have done to make this a pleasant experience. There are two heroines also to be thanked. Dear Kords of course who has been growing up so fast and has been a great help to her older sister. You have no idea how much I appreciate the way you have lightened your sister’s load, particularly recently. So I ask you all to drink a salutation to Kordulet. She has been immense in recent weeks and it has been wonderful to see. Kordulet my dear, here’s to you with deep, deep, deep appreciation. Everyone - I give you our lovely Kords.”

We all raised our glasses and sipped as Kords sat there blushing heavily. I leant across and kissed her, whispering a heartfelt “thank you” into her ear. This was the cue for the other kids to mob her and kiss her too. I could tell from Father’s attitude that he was building up to something, and I had a darkening suspicion that there would be a lot more coming, with me as the subject. A thought flashed across my mind that he could have waited for all this sentimental rubbish until the dinner the following night, and not have put me through this all in front of strangers.

And then began the most embarrassing few moments of my life.

Concluding with the biggest surprise of my life.

Sure enough, Papa then switched his attention my way, and I just wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. I was however slightly shocked to see a hint of a tear in his eye as he started. I soon averted my eyes though and had to concentrate on the patterns in the grain of the wood which formed the table top. It was a necessary prop to have to concentrate so fiercely.

He went on far too long about how I had taken over at a young age, how I had effectively been forced to be a housewife at that very early age, how I had given up this, that and the next thing. How our family was considered one of the best in the community, how this was down to me and my sense and … blah blah blah blah blah. How I had given up my childhood for the benefit of our family, how I had never complained … blah blah blah blah blah.

When he was winding up his remarks, I was being mobbed by the others, and I confess I was crying. Even Papa was emotionally-choked and I saw Swayga dabbing at her eyes, which distracted me briefly, why would SHE be so affected?

“… And so we rapidly approach the final birthday of her so-called childhood. I’m sure that you will all be happy to know that I have arranged as a present for her to travel down to Tranidor with Mistress Epp, and to stay there to see the sights and to learn about others outside this mountain community. You should also consider it as I’m sending her out to make it easier for YOU all when you get to go downvalley. Dearest, dearest Julina - you have been the glue that has kept this family together just at the time you should have been enjoying the only carefree days of your youth. So I have come to some decisions.”

He paused somehow significantly.

“Please, all of you hear me out before you comment. As of this very moment, I absolve Julina from any duties around the house and family. Shh. Please. There is a lot more to come. Do not be so worried. Julina has three weeks before she becomes an adult and I want her to have that time AS A CHILD, with as few adult decisions to make as possible - the only three teenage childhood weeks she will ever have.

“I know her well and I know it will not be easy to just stop, so I am sure she will be happy to help, but I want her to know that SHE DOES NOT HAVE TO. And it does not mean that the rest of you will have to work more. I have a solution for that which I shall present shortly. But for now, I want you all to be aware that I recognise the HUGE debt that we all as a family owe her. Dearest ’Lina, we are all so grateful for what you have done these past years. All of you, let us raise our glasses in salutation. To the most amazing and influential person in all our lives - I give you Julina.”

There was a complete hubbub then and even little Korden seemed to grasp the significance of the occasion. There were so many tears shed that I was worried we would start our own tributary to the Blackstone River.

I saw Papa and Mistress Swyaga talking together very earnestly, but frankly my emotions overcame me and I was totally lost in the moment.

Eventually some semblance of order was regained as Papa broke off from the crushing hug with which by then he had enveloped me. He went back to his position at the head of the table and rapped on the wood for attention. It took a while for all the over-emotion to die down, but later rather than immediately, we all paid him the attention he required.

“I promised you all a solution to the fact that our main provider, and surrogate mother to you all, would not have to work so much. Well the solution is Mistress Swayga. She will be moving in with us and will take over the running of the household.”

Suddenly there was a total silence round the table.

He continued: “I have discussed it with her fully and she has agreed. This is why we had the dinner as we did tonight, for she wanted to be sure she found you all acceptable and that you all found her acceptable. I personally had no doubts, and I’m glad to say that you all didn’t disappoint me. So before we go any further let me tell you some of her background …”

Papa then told us all a potted history of her life up to then, which naturally involved parts of her brother’s life as well. I will not go into full details here and now, I’m sure that many will come out in other tales. Essentially they are orphans (they are adults, yes, but without any parents) their parents having been killed at sea in a sudden storm. All the family items of real value went down with the deep-sea fishing boat that had provided them their livelihood.

They were born in Vardenale, in a suburb of Viridor, the great port city. I was able to relate to the awfulness of the fact that their parents died when they were twelve or thirteen, but it must have been even more awful to lose both at the same time - at least we had always had one. They were sent to stay with an Uncle and Aunt in Dekarran and chose to join the river traffic way of life, plying mostly between Dekarran and Teldor, with some trips as far as Haligo, where the falls and narrow gorge limited the upstream use of shipping.

Steef met and married a Teldor girl and set up home there. They tried for children but she just would not ‘take’. One day, he came back from a week’s trip to find a home from which anything that vaguely belonged to her had disappeared, along with much that he felt he could claim was his. He still does not know, to this day, what became of her nor why that happened.

But his sister wanted at that time to get away from a too clingy suitor and so she moved upriver to Teldor too, and the two of them made Steef’s house their home. She gained work with the wagon company and she herself was frequently away for long trips, accompanying wagoneers and tending to the sewing, cooking and other womanly pursuits often required by the travellers. She swiftly learnt how to deal with a large group of men in all their various moods.

She discovered from her duties and contacts with others in their world that there was a limited amount of river traffic upstream from Haligo, between Tranidor and Haligo, and that there would be a suitable opening for Steef in a freshly-founded river barge company. Steef’s talents meant he was quickly snapped up by this venture and soon he was a driving force behind its expansion. They moved again to Tranidor and had just settled in when unexpected financial problems beset the bargers, and the company had to close just as they were planning a new upstream warehouse on the east bank of the Palar, almost at the confluence with the Bray. Steef felt that there were some heavy politics behind the problems, and had an unconfirmed opinion that someone on high had determined that this would not be a good thing. They survived where they were for half a year, but they were now in danger of using up all their savings with Steef out of employment for the first time ever in his life.

They heard of a catering company in Tranidor that was doing well by providing ready-cooked food on demand, so they went to find out if they had any suitable work for Steef. They did not, as it happened, but he learnt from a Mistress Megrozen (who was apparently quite important in that enterprise - I smiled when they said that) that a new roadhouse had opened up on the Blackstone route and that there might be an opportunity there. Steef travelled up with Mistress Megrozen, who was travelling on to the town called Blackstone, and yes indeed he found a position for himself and his organisational talents (not to miss mentioning his fishing talents as well). Once he had started, it became apparent to Steef that his sister would also be a valuable asset to this tiny community buried deep in the forest, so she soon resigned from the wagon company and took up employment there as well.

Papa, you might recall, had, swiftly after Trogan’s unlamented departure, resumed his roadcare duties, concentrating originally on the farthest end of his area - the Chaarn fork. He consequently spent a lot of time at that roadhouse.

“And so children, that is where I met Mistress Swayga, and I determined that she would be very suitable to give poor ’Lina a much needed break. I knew that it would be difficult to prise her away - after all she had only been there a matter of weeks. But I relied on the strengths of my family to finally tip the balance.

“We, Mistress Swayga and I, have chatted muchly, and I am certain that Mistress Swayga is an honourable and reliable person. I have observed her whilst working and I have also had good reports from Mistress Epp, or Mistress Megrozen I should say, and also from Mistress Sukhana over to the Claw. Master Jaxen has also heard of her professionalism and told me that she was greatly missed by the wagon company.

“She has a heart for others, is knowledgeable in many, many subjects, and is not too proud to take instruction. She is capable, more than capable as a cook, and yet has told me that she wants to learn more - in particular how ‘Lina and Kords …”

Papa was looking at me at that moment, so I frowned and nodded towards Kissa.

“ … and not to forget the very valuable contribution from Kissa, did the recipes for tonight. She has promised me that she is fully prepared to listen and learn from Julina in particular, in order to make the best job of running this household. There is no way, she assures me, that she would just walk in here and dictate to you all. She is fully prepared to learn about you all and the household, and asks only that you all should give her a chance to learn what she needs. And that frank and open discussions will be held to resolve any of the inevitable awkwardnesses that will occur.

“Taking all this into account, plus many other factors which include the fact that I have come to love her, I have the honour to announce that Mistress Swayga has agreed to become my wife.”

---

Julina gets the feeling that events are carrying her away.

---

Disclaimer:

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 woke up as usual and dragged my feet onto the cool floor. There was sufficient of a chill in the nights now to make it time to fetch out the crude slippers we used during the darker days of the year. I put them in the back of the cupboard once the mornings got warm enough each Spring. My sluggish brain tried to make a mental note to do that later.

I grabbed a coat to huddle into and gave Kords a shake as I passed her bed on my way to the bathhouse. She would get up to poke the various fires into life that I had made sure were properly banked before we all went to bed.

I was in full automatic mode as I slobbed my way along. I opened the door and crossed the short distance to the bathhouse, which was attached to the kitchen area. I shuffled over to the door and swung it open - and was suddenly fully awake! I expect the rest of the house was too as I gave out an involuntary scream.

The bath facilities were fully lit, fully warm and some real hot water was there, ready for use. As were Swayga and Father, the latter of which said: “Surprise ’Lina, we have got everything ready for you to have at least a hot bath for yourself in the morning. I can’t think when the last time was you had a comfortable start to the day. I shall leave you two women alone for now, and I will go and get started in the kitchen.”

He went to the door now behind me, opened it and turned with a soppy smile on his face.

“I knew you could not break your habits just like that — not at first. So enjoy yourself for once and …”

“Oh be off with you man! You’re letting the heat out with that door open,” interrupted Swayga.

Papa grinned and bowed, before swinging the door closed behind his retreating back.

“So how long has it been?”

“Just over four years now. Kord was just a nipper, the poor lad, when Mama went. The first few days were awful as Papa was so devastated. One of us had to start getting things organised, and I was the eldest so I pitched in and got a routine going for us all, which seemed to help everyone.”

I trailed off as Swayga gently removed my coat and indicated I should remove my nightdress and get into the warm water in the bath. I realised that they must have been up for at least a bell already to get this organised. I was sort of surprised that I had slept through it all. I lowered my naked self gently into the — yes! Scented — water. I had a pang as I realised that I had never done this since I became the housewife. I watched as Swayga disrobed and climbed in too. It felt strange to bathe with a stranger but she was nearly my mother now… I felt a tear start but clamped down on my emotions by thinking of other things — usually I would plan the day at this moment, starting with what I had to do for breakfasts.

Suddenly, I was nervous about Papa doing things in my kitchen and I tensed up, sitting upright, but Swayga held me gently and hushed me as she indicated that she would wash my hair for me.

“No. I can’t wash my hair this early. I have too much to do and I can’t trail around with wet hair. It takes a good two bells to dry, there is so much of it.”

“Hush, little miss. That’s MY responsibility now. You can just watch from the sides and point me in the right directions. So you can wash your hair with no qualms. And if you stay in the kitchen warmth, it will dry a lot quicker. My goodness, it IS long isn’t it. You know you have the sort of face that would suit the Baroness’ hairstyle, have you thought of cutting your hair shorter? And who cuts the others’ hair? You, I would guess? Not that it’s wrong in any way, just that my impression of you is that you would save coin wherever you could. Was that a nod?”

I nodded again more deliberately, but it was awkward as her hands were massaging my scalp and neck. Then they moved to my shoulders and started kneading. Oh, it was heaven! I was so tense without realising it. I had not had this treatment since Mama … Suddenly, I couldn’t hold back any longer and I just sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.

… … ...

It was nearly to the noon bell when Papa mounted Judd. Our doe frayen, Trumpa, was due a rest as she had been with Papa on his travels for the past few weeks; she looked on with what I can only describe as a puzzled expression on her face. All of us humans were quite amazed too, as Papa now had one of the new-fangled saddles and he consequently sat higher and straighter - far more authoritative. Judd simply exuded an air of smug delight mixed with a tinge of appreciation.

Swayga, Kords and I were red-eyed as we waved Papa off for his week or so away - but that may have been from the big sob-session we had this morning. Kords had rushed into the bathhouse to find out what was wrong, and we all three got wet together, from tears and from warm water. Something had shifted inside me - I felt afterwards as if I had finally said a proper goodbye to my mother - and we all three formed a bond there and then. I was still incapable of entirely trusting Swayga, she was still a stranger really, but the three of us did bond in some indefinable way.

We selfishly occupied the bathhouse for a good half-bell as the other two encouraged me to share my feelings and insights of the younger ones, of the house, of the family, of chores, of everything that had become my housewife life, thus rooting me back into reality but with the knowledge that my knowledge could be shared - this last was an unlooked for and unexpected benefit. Kords was quite amazed as I listed a host of little things, like Kord needing to always have his stuffed cuddling pakh within a stride or two. She hadn’t ever noticed that, but realised that I was right. She got embarrassed when I mentioned some of her little quirks but was forced to confess that I was right in these areas too.

It was very strange indeed to take an observer’s role during the morning as the chores were done. I sometimes suggested other ways of doing things, most of which Swayga appreciated and adopted - there were a couple of things where she demonstrated her way was slightly more efficient and I had to mentally kick myself for not thinking of them. Kords explained that she was happy to assist Swayga in everything for at least up to my coming of age, according to Papa’s wishes for me to be as carefree as possible. Looking back, it wasn’t until after Papa had returned from his exploration trip that I actually relaxed into my new role - the younger ones were very confused to start with, and were thus extra clingy with me, but theirs was just a childish mistrust of change. I had to intercede on Swayga’s behalf on only a few occasions, and just once did I have to gather them all together and lay down the law. Whilst still maintaining a natural suspicion. I was more and more won over by the woman, and felt more secure in my father’s taste and sense. I, perhaps reluctantly, began to suspect that he had chosen wisely.

… … ...

And so it came to pass that I had my first totally free afternoon since my mother had died.

Swayga made her first executive decision and stated that she was going to insist on a bell’s period of peace and quiet, preferably of sleep, after our noon meal every day, starting from the moment that everything had been cleaned and put away. I remembered that Mama had often insisted on a rest period, and I was most forceful in telling the kids that Swayga was right, and that they had to try their hardest to keep quiet during that period. It was a clever move on Swyaga’s part, knowing that it would be unpopular, but at the same time sensible. It was a good way to get them used to her authority.

I had long since learnt to impose harsher terms than I wanted, so that when I relaxed the terms, it seemed they had a small victory and we all ended up being happier about it. Swayga adopted the same tactics by originally demanding a bell and a half, and settling on the bell she wanted all along.

Thus it was that I found myself alone, with no tasks and no chores to perform, wandering round our tiny town, intent on being able to go peering at the changes under way. I had also intended to tell Molly, Kelly and Gyth my momentous news first, but that was not to be.

I chose, this time, the route down the hill to the Claw, prior to walking up to Kelly’s to break the news there. But, on the north corner of the Claw where the lane joined Main Street, was a group of three who hailed me as I neared.

“Well met, Mistress Julina,” called Mistress Yanda, as a way of introducing me into their conversation.

“Well met, Mistresses Yanda and Sukhana, Master Michen.” I replied with a nod - somewhat formally I was aware, however Mistress Sukhana was a relative stranger to me.

“Are you come here for your chores, Julina, or have you time to add your fine wisdom to our deliberations?” asked Michen.

“Oh no, not really, Michen,” I saw the others eyebrows rise as I addressed him so familiarly, “I have no chores today. Indeed very few in the near future! I will always have time for you as you know well, but I have great news - my circumstances are set quite on their head. Suddenly. As of last night …”

I proceeded to explain the changes at home which explanations were greeted with many gasps and sighs and other expressions of awe. Then I was shocked to hear Mistress Sukhana laugh in her very attractive way.

“This town! It just gets to me! We were just discussing a problem for you, Master Michen, when the solution just walked straight up to us. There is something in the air or in the water up here, I swear it, or Mylady Garia sprinkled some otherwise unknown dust around that concentrates the minds.”

Michen’s face changed as the realisation of what Mistress Sukhana had said dawned on him, and Mistress Yanda laughed and nodded her head in agreement, as she breathed: “Of course! Such a perfect solution too!”

My face must have shown my confusion and so they all tried to explain at the same time, until Michen claimed priority: “My house, my topic!”

The others calmed down and let him take the lead.

“Julina, my dear. I have decided to change my life a little. This arm no longer supports my past life too well. I have come up with an idea that may be of benefit to the town and was just asking these two ladies for their opinions. I can see with the increasing population that there will come a requirement for increased eating and drinking establishments. The house into which my father and I have moved, with your family’s much valued assistance my dear, was used in the pakh-wool high days, as a private drinking … er … club, if you will, with access by invitation only. Food was also offered but only if ordered the day before, and thus I have decided to resurrect this usage. But I cannot cope with the cooking as well. These two ladies have no objection to the scheme as I could not proceed without their approval, intending as I am to take some of their business, after all …”

Mistress Yanda and I looked at each other and raised an eyebrow as we gave each other a little grin, which I was sure was missed by the other two.

“… and so we were just discussing how to go forward, when you came along. YOU could be my caterer! I know first-hand of your skills. And it would be a wonderful way for you to earn some coin. Please say you will!” he finished by pleading.

I decided to tease him a little: “But Michen, you must remember that I am not an adult …”

His face fell. I let the pause build some more before continuing, “… for another three weeks!”

We all burst out laughing which attracted the attention of some others who were around, but they nodded to us and allowed us some privacy as we did not indicate that they should join us.

“I would be delighted to work for you, dear Michen. Thank you for your trust. But there is a lot more to talk about before it is final. I wish to learn more of my letters and numbers and there is a trip down to Tranidor to make - I have to arrange all these things. And Master Jepp has been pressuring me to help somehow in setting up the school Mylady, our Baroness, wants to start.”

“Oh it would take me some weeks to get everything set up for the food side, so there is no rush. I need to make sure we have cooking pots and tableware and drinking vessels and so on and so forth. It takes just under a week for orders to reach us, if I have to send down to Tranidor. However, I will go and tell Father that we can start our little scheme. I’m sure that our potential clients will be understanding that we need to get opinions from them before setting up the catering side, so we can use that for our advantage. Yes, I shall get things started immediately. Oh how delightful! Ladies, I shall take my leave.”

He was grinning widely as he bowed to us, before swinging round and almost skipping up the hill towards his home.

I turned to the other two and was at first disconcerted by a very calculating look on Mistress Sukhana’s face.

I glanced at Mistress Yanda and she indicated that she didn’t know any more than I, why the other lady should look quite like that.

Mistress Sukhana’s face changed into a sort of grin as she said slowly: “There’s a women’s circle in this town isn’t there? And you’re both in it! You both glanced at each other as Master Michen outlined his plan and neither of you were surprised. I bet this idea of his isn’t actually one of his, is it? You women thought this out a while ago, I’d wager. Ah, I see from your expressions that I am right. Now then, you don’t have to worry about me being not in this group of yours - after all, I have only just arrived and wouldn’t even think I should be included … yet!” she finished meaningfully.

Mistress Yanda and I both confirmed her interpretation, and she grinned knowingly. She was about to go, when I called her back. I had wanted to talk with her for some time, and Mistress Yanda’s presence would also be a potential benefit, as she could add an objective view.

“So Mistress Sukhana, as you are aware, Master Michen’s old house up there above the town has been chosen as the site for this new Community Hall. In order to build it, they need an access road, but the best route for that means that our present house will have to be removed. Master Bezan and I have been over the plans and we have decided upon the layout of our buildings. But we would not have anywhere to let our animals wander - we have two frayen, a buck and a doe, Judd and Trumpa are their names, and we also look after Dralla, Michen’s doe. I was going to ask you Mistress Sukhana if we could use your large paddock across the back lane behind the Claw? Our new house would be backing onto the fence after all.”

She thought for a moment or two, her face reflecting the facts as various thoughts whizzed through her head. I was beginning to get nervous that I had done something wrong but then a grin spread again across her features.

“Oh I’m sure we can do better than that. Why don’t you stable your frayen in the Claw’s stabling and then just deal with them as you normally would from there? I’ll keep an accounting of anything that you use, and you can have that at its cost price. It would be so much cheaper for you that way, and I would have someone to go riding with if I can persuade you up on your animals' back or backs.”

I think my enthusiastic nodding told her clearly what I thought about being able to ride.

“Would that be acceptable? That way you can have an extra room or two for your new house, now your family has expanded.” She trailed off briefly as another train of thought went through her head.

“Oh! And maybe I could let you have a hand of strides width all the way along the north side of the paddock, then we could use that land for the two of us to grow vegetables. That would provide your family with some supplies, and my wagoneers' kitchen as well. Yes, that sounds like a good arrangement for us both. And you will have easy supplies for your catering work at Michen’s. The advantages multiply by the heartbeat. Oh do say you will!”

I was shocked that I hadn’t thought about the new house and fitting Swayga into it just yet, I had just assumed she would move into father’s room. But I did see the advantages very quickly, and I shook Mistress Sukhana’s hand on the deal, and thanked her formally.

“Oh, my dear, I’m not so stuffy. Just call me Sookie like everyone else does. And I’ll call you Julina. Is that acceptable?”

Mistress Yanda also said something similar, and suddenly there were two more friends on my list. And my brain was racing feverishly as I could see a start to increasing the family’s coin.

Just then, I saw someone ride a frayen up towards the Bell. It was someone I needed to talk to now.

“Oh look. There’s Master Bezan. I must go and tell him of the changes. Excuse me, Yanda and Sookie. I will run to catch him before he disappears again.”

They waved me off and I scurried to where I had seen Master Bezan turn into the Bell’s courtyard. I did indeed manage to catch up with him, and I hovered as he was finishing a conversation with someone else.

“… and I really need to understand the water system in this town in great detail. Otherwise there will be even more delays. I know we are in a warm climate area, but winters can still be cold enough to be disruptive, I have heard. We have so much basic work to be done. I think that you should move the building team up here tomorrow. The roadhouse is well enough appointed now, and the mining won’t start in real earnest until the Spring, so I think we need to get on as much as we can while the weather permits.

“We have some of those joined corner walls just waiting there until the expansion starts again. We can use those to save some time up here. I would very much like to get the groundwork close to being finished, if not actually finished, before the year ends. It will be camping for your men again, I’m afraid, at least until we get the miners’ quarters squared away but, you must own, 'twill be luxury camping conditions compared to many other sites.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get that in hand. Expect us the morning after the next. And we’ll bring the unused pre-built modules as well. We’ll have notice aplenty of any requirement for the roadhouse expansion.”

“Good man!”

He turned to me, having acknowledged my presence earlier with a little hand gesture.

“Mistress Julina. Well met. Are you waiting for me?”

“Well met, Master Bezan. I was indeed hoping for two or three hands of moments of your time. I wish to report some potential changes to our house plan, nothing drastic, but just wanted you to be aware.”

“Oh very well,” he said with what seemed to be a grudging tone. “Oh - that didn’t come out right. I’m sorry, I’m quite tired - and I have a lot on my mind. I didn’t mean to be curt. Why don’t you take a seat in the common room and order some pel; I’ll just go up to my room, make myself comfortable, change out of these work clothes and come down to you - say half a bell?”

“As it pleases you, Master Bezan.”

I went into the common room, but nervously, very aware I was an unescorted female - but yes, I may just have passed by the flat looking-glass on the way and perhaps spent just a very short while in front of it. I found a secluded corner in which to sit and sip my pel whilst waiting. I caught some quizzical looks from other patrons but they stopped when Mistress Yanda came in from outside, saw me sitting there and came across to sit with me, chatting away merrily before leaving when Master Bezan arrived. In such an open room, it was not too bad to be 'alone' with a male, for there were several other females around.

“So, Mistress Julina, again I apologise for the somewhat peremptory nature of my earlier remarks and attitude. I am much refreshed now and dare say that one of Mistress Yanda’s ales will put the final polish to my recuperation.”

He waved at Yanda and made some elaborate mime which she seemed to understand for she smiled and nodded in return. Sure enough, barely two moments had passed when one of the girls brought a foaming tankard over to our table.

I commenced my report to him with the news of the fact that I was no longer the mistress of my own home, to which he expressed his sorrow and shock before I had fully finished the explanations - but I convinced him that it was in fact a good thing. I then explained how that would change the requirements of the layout and then continued to add the information about the stabling of our beasts and the vegetable planting. He graciously acknowledged that the information was valuable and that perhaps a slightly better layout could be achieved. He also thought that maybe Papa and Swayga would need a private sitting room sometimes and I realised that that would be a splendid gift to them for their spousal present. He also added that he had been speaking with a relatively new arrival named Rindal, who was anxious to plant some fruit trees. Here was a golden opportunity to start some of HIS experiments. Yes, all around this seemed to be a good idea.

He then continued with a slightly surprising statement that got my immediate attention.

“It is most frustrating though that I suspect the works may be delayed significantly from our plans. It may not now be until Spring when we can complete the new place for you. I have discovered that I lack some vital information. The lack of which is likely to delay all the building projects. I just don’t know how to solve it at the moment, and it’s getting really most frustrating.”

“What is the problem, then, Master?”

“Oh, I don’t suppose that you will understand, my dear. It’s a matter of the water supply.”

“Oh, you mean directing the water to the houses from the Cistern?”

His attention sharpened as he looked at me in some surprise. “Do YOU know something about it? I need to understand how the water gets around, all the way from the dam. I understand the basics but not the details. The designs of our expansions are very dependent upon these details. What do you know, may I ask?”

“Well actually I know how the water gets to the Cistern and how that flow is regulated!”

“You do? How on Anmar can that be so?”

“Ah! I have some contacts here in our small community that maybe you do not. Tell me, does the name Deegrum mean anything to you?”

“That name seems familiar. For some reason I also associate it with that of your father. And a few others. Now why should that be? It must be Assembly business. Assembly. Assembly. Hmmmm … Why in the Assembly? What would … Aaah! We pay these men from town funds. So why do we pay this Deegrum?”

“His family have passed down the responsibility from son to son for generations - the responsibility for dam and aqueduct maintenance. And he is the last of his line.”

“Oh Maker! Why didn’t I know? Where is this man? How can I speak with him? Oh, thank you Mistress, this might be the break I needed!”

“Well I must caution you. Maybe Deegrum won’t talk with you!”

“What? Why?”

And so I repeated what I have relayed to you in an earlier tale.

(‘Older’ Julina says: She is referring to number 02 in this set of tales.)

And Master Bezan was sensitive enough to take all this information into his cognisance.

“Would you consider being with me, Julina when I meet him? It is vital that I get the information. We may have to split the aqueduct to have a separate feed for the upper houses we are going to need. It makes no sense to bring water down only to pump it up again. And then maybe … Oh, sorry. I hope this isn’t too technical for you?”

“Oh no Master. Your explanations are so clearly made and you have kept things simple enough for even me to understand. I do have a question though, if I might?”

He shook his head as he replied: “Women and this town have redefined my attitudes, I must confess. So I look forward to your question with interest … and a little trepidation!”

“Well … allow me to set a little background first. As I understand it, the water comes from the dam, which collects it, and it is then directed to the Cistern?”

He nodded so I continued, “… and the water is delivered from there to the houses?”

Again a nod.

“I have made the assumption that there would have to be a similar, second Cistern that would be needed to feed any houses that are built on a higher level than the existing town?”

A further nod, slower this time as I could see his mind engage a more technical gear, allowed me to ask my big question. “Well, it has always worried me that the existing Cistern is a building that has no human function. I have always wondered why the tank area couldn’t be beneath something useful. Couldn’t we make the basement of the new Community Hall the second Cistern?”

He looked at me shocked, and swayed back in his seat. He opened his mouth to speak, but then just shut it again. He tried to speak two or three times before he eventually managed it.

“Maker!” he breathed. “Mylady was right! Maybe we really should have a woman or two on the Assembly. I doubt if any one of us old men would have found such a simple idea. We would have looked for complicated solutions.”

He shook his head once more as he continued: “The whole town should probably thank you for this Mistress - I certainly thank you upon their behalf. Now, if I understand your circumstances properly, you have no duties at your home. So I would like to invite you for a meal here this evening at the town’s expense and ask for your help to speak with Deegrum. Would that be acceptable?”

“Er … My goodness! … I have never not been at home for a meal. Um … I guess it would be alright. At what hour should I attend? Oh no! What should I wear? I don’t really have any fine dress for evening wear. Oh, maybe I should refuse.”

The Master laughed and with a wave, summoned Mistress Yanda over. He rapidly explained the situation and she also laughed.

“Be here at the seventh bell, Julina, and I shall help you. Don’t be late as Deegrum usually gets here at the eighth bell to eat. I will be less busy that early. We usually get most busy at dusk, which is just after the ninth bell at this time of year.”

“As it pleases you both,” I replied faintly, wondering what it was I had got myself into. Mistress Yanda then added that she would send one of her ‘urchins’ as she called her young runners to my home to tell them I would not be there for the meal that evening. Why did I feel that the whole world was running away from me and that I had no more control over anything?

“Right then, that’s all decided. I must be off to speak with Master Brydas about how those truss experiments have been going. I shall see you later Mistress Julina. And you Mistress Yanda,” said Master Bezan as he rose and gave us a little bow before striding out purposefully.

I suddenly felt as out of breath as if I had run all the way home and back.

“Julina,” said Yanda, “a lot has just occurred, so I suggest you pop up the road to tell Master Michen. A fair amount of the changes wrought in the past bell directly affect him after all. And you don’t need to feel uncomfortable in the common room of an inn. When you return at the seventh bell, come round via the courtyard and send someone to tell me you have arrived. Just stand up for a moment though, and stand with your back to mine that I might compare our sizes.”

I did all that and was waved off when I enquired about paying for the pel. I made my way across the common room, waiting for a few heartbeats as a young woman from across the Bray turned and twisted in front of the looking glass, before I could have my turn to do so.

By and by, I found myself knocking on Michen’s door.

His housekeeper let me in and ushered me to a sitting room, in which Master Morden was gently snoring. I was shocked at how frail he seemed to be. It was only recently that they had come to dinner, and yet there was a noticeable difference in his skin pallor. He was breathing regularly though and it did not seem laboured to me.

I suppose I sat for a hand of moments, keeping silent, when I heard a quiet throat-clearing from the door. I looked up and saw Michen beckoning me and signing that I should keep silent as I followed him. He led me to a room of surprising understated charm, and somehow larger than it at first seemed.

“This would be our room for the invited guests for that scheme of mine I was telling you about earlier.”

I suppressed a grin about him thinking it was his idea as I looked around at the very nice room. I could see the attraction of this venue as opposed to the common room at the Bell. I asked him about the storage and serving facilities for drinks, and asked him to show me the kitchens - all the while keeping him updated about the arrangements that had been made since we met in the street a little over a bell ago.

“Oh Maker,” he surprisingly interjected, “I believe that Mistress Sukhana is right. Things that look like problems suddenly seem to solve themselves just with a shift in mental attitude. It MUST be something in the water or the air. Now, let me explain; I have damaged my arm again in all this moving and regenerating this house - oh no, it’s not so serious, it has just set me back some weeks in the recovery process - which has presented me with a problem as Dralla needs exercising. YOU could ride her and make some excursions with Mistress Sukhana. I will come up to the saddlers with you after we are finished here, and get him to change my new saddle to fit you, and leave making mine for a few weeks - I assume you know Master Waldan?”

I nodded - and nodded even more vehemently when he asked me if I would like to be able to ride.

I was more and more convinced that this day was spinning faster and faster out of control - more and more vistas were opening up for me and it was still early in the afternoon!

I finally needed to ask him to show me the toilet facilities, as that pel had worked its way through quite rapidly. He ushered me to that area and I was pleasantly surprised to see, for the first time in my life, that these facilities were segregated between men and women. This gave me yet another idea for a change to the designs of our new house, there being five women in the household now, and just three men.

After I had finished, I was just ‘tidying up’ when another thought sprang into my mind. There was a small water pipe sticking out of the wall with a strange-looking (to me) spigot at the end. Michen had assumed I would know what it was and had casually told me to make sure it was twisted shut when I finished, which was sufficient of a clue for me to be able to use it. I squealed a bit as I twisted it open and the water pressure shot a stream out with far more force than I expected. I filled the bucket provided and swilled down the hole area I had used, when I suddenly thought of a slight improvement to the system in that we could have a bucket with a bung in it, affixed to the wall below the spigot so that users could wash their hands in water, then use the bung in that bucket to fill the sluicing bucket. There would need to be a drying cloth available of course. My mind was occupied with refining my initial thought.

I turned to the door and went to open it, but it only opened a little way before there was the scraping of a sharp pebble on the tiled floor and the door jammed. I was just not strong enough to shift it either way and had to call for help. Michen came along fairly quickly and between us we managed to clear the blockage and get the door open. There was quite a scar in the tile underneath and Michen knelt down to investigate it. I twitched my skirts out of the way and stepped delicately past the kneeling figure as he fumbled with his one good arm. I offered to do it for him and knelt down myself, using both hands as I ran my fingertips on both the floor and the door bottom. I needed the door to be opened a bit more so asked Michen to move.

Michen went to stand up.

There was a loud ripping sound and his tunic was torn all along a seam - I had been kneeling on the hem without knowing it. I was naturally upset my clumsiness had damaged his clothing and was going to apologise profusely.

I let out a gasp of surprise as Michen frantically tried to hold the edges together.

It was too late. I had seen his secret.

And I had seen that he had seen that I had seen.

It was a secret no longer and I was unable to pretend not to have noticed, which was what had been my first reaction.

Michen had gone as white as a fresh snowfall and I have never seen anyone look so scared in all my life.

---

Julina gets to meet two new personalities, amongst others, as her crowded and hectic day continues

---

Disclaimer:

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 couldn’t help myself. I grabbed him and cuddled him, rocking him in my arms. The poor dear was absolutely terrified for some reason. A man and a woman, alone, cuddling in an open corridor! Scandalous! But I cared not ...

There was some resistance at first, but that suddenly crumbled and I held in my arms and my lap the now-sobbing figure whose entire muscular structure seemed to have collapsed. I realised with a start that this was a similar state to that in which I found myself only this morning.

My knees were protesting by the time the sobs were subsiding. The housekeeper had come along and had taken in the situation at a glance. She looked me straight in the eyes and seemed to nod approvingly. If it hadn’t been so inappropriate, I could have sworn that she mouthed: “Thank the Maker for that”. But my concentration was now upon my 'patient', so I didn't dwell on that strange expression.

I kept murmuring little words of support and encouragement and by and by the emotional melt-down calmed into some sort of manageable state. My experiences with my younger siblings, particularly young Kord, proved to be of great assistance to me in this instance.

When he was once more in reasonable charge of himself, he looked up at me and smiled gratefully. I smiled back and took his hand. It was a nice, calm and friendly moment. One of simple friendship.

Which changed all too rapidly into a highly embarrassed attitude.

He straightened himself and called the housekeeper back, to observe the proprieties of a man and a chaperoned woman.

It is very difficult for me to put down as a record, for what is effectively public consumption, details of another person’s private life. So there will be left some gaps here. Even as I write these words, I know that you will be clamouring for details, but I feel strongly that this is not the time to reveal all. Maybe, later in my life, the time will be appropriate, but not right now. In particular when the subject is something about which I have actually no knowledge - it being far beyond any experience of mine so far in my short life. I will therefore limit myself to my observations and keep some things private - begging your understanding and indulgence.

When the tunic had ripped, it enabled me to see underneath it. The breasts I saw were smaller than mine; but were definitely breasts, I could see the valley between them. And they were enclosed in a bodice. As you may readily imagine, this was not what I expected to see on a male, particularly one so well respected in our community, and one who had been a guest in my house on regular occasions.

When we could talk sensibly, we were both aware that we had limited time, due to pre-arranged appointments, he (or she) with the saddler and I still had to break my news to my close friends and then get back to the Bell Inn for my appointment there with Mistress Yanda.

I could go on for hours and hours about what was said, why certain things were done and the various shocks, sighs and hugs that punctuated this period of eye-opening revelations. I will spare you the tedium, however, and just mention the salient points here and now. To save possible confusions, I will refer to the other person involved as M - this will help with the pronouns!

You may recall the following facts that I mentioned in an earlier tale: Master Morden, M’s father, travelled widely with the wagons, having started out as a guard/labourer but had progressed to Wagontrain Master. His wife, Maldenet, came originally from Blackstone, a niece of the Bellringers, but, like many, she preferred the bustle of Tranidor to the simplicity of her home village. And it was there that she and Master Morden settled down, and where Master Michen was born. After the very difficult birth, which had some follow-up complications, she subsequently never became pregnant again. She had been convinced during her pregnancy that she was carrying a girlchild, but she was shocked when the midwife peered through squinting eyes and announced a boy.

Master Morden was so delighted that he rushed around to everyone announcing his son. He has since admitted himself that maybe he got a little carried away, and every hour that passed seemed to add some glorious future to come with this honoured boychild. He was going to be a hero, at least two strides tall, mighty muscles, would eventually outshine even the King himself … and so on and so forth.

I myself have noticed that there exists an instinct in young children to select their playthings according to their nature. Having said that, I need also to say that I have learned quite early on in my life that there are very few things in any walk of life that are cut and dried as being either one thing or the other. Yes, everything in the plant world that grows goes through a green phase before adopting their final colours, but that green phase has different shades. A malm ends up being brilliant blue, a vayter (mmmmm - lovely sweet vayter - I don’t know a girl who doesn’t love vayter!) is bright orange. A staple vegetable is the koonkle which is green above the ground, but the crunchy root is such a bright red - it is an amusing contrast when you see the Doocloris munching away on them, their big floppy ears and bucked teeth making short work of the koonklin. Indeed, we all know the glories of the colours when the leaves begin to drop off the trees, and I, as an effective mother, also noticed the variations in my siblings as they grew. It is not possible to say that ALL boychildren ALWAYS prefer hard, utensil-like playthings, whereas ALL girlchildren prefer more animalistic playthings and things they can hug and act at nurturing.

And so the dreadful, life-long torture for M began. The father had declared to the world that they had a son, and was bitterly disappointed when it became clear from a very early age that the father’s dreams, however unrealistic, would never be fulfilled. M showed a marked preference for playthings and pursuits when young which were more on the female side of the balance rather than the male. Maldenet refused to let the anger of Master Morden be transferred to the child and they all accepted a compromise wherein M took an oath that s/he would never let outsiders know that the father’s pronouncements were unfounded.

Personally, I find extracting a solemn oath from a six year-old is probably cruel behaviour, but there was nothing I could do in any way now. And an oath is something that is very important in our society. M has spent an entire life trying to show the world that masculinity demanded by an over-enthusiastic father at the time of the birth. My fondness for Master Morden waned from the moment I appreciated the unnatural strains that he had imposed upon his offspring.

At this point, the housekeeper demanded to be heard.

She explained that she had known almost from the start that M was more female than male and that there were two women in the town who were sworn to secrecy, but also knew the truth. They had made dresses for Michet and underthings to make the swell of her breasts less obvious under the male tunics. (I had a flash of insight when I remembered the two women who had exchanged glances at that first women’s meeting I went to.) But Michet had never before had anyone with whom to share the load of her situation, and the housekeeper was pleased beyond anything that now Michet had someone she could relate to, share with and basically be herself.

I now understood the reactions of the housekeeper from earlier.

I hugged Michet close, and promised that I would never betray her, but that we would talk much and frequently in the times to come. The housekeeper herself was shedding a few tears as we both saw the lightening of Michet’s load in the way her shoulders were now carried. It was, of course, still early days but the foundations of a deep friendship were built there, kneeling together in that draughty hallway.

But now we were pressed for time so I encouraged Michet to turn back into Michen, to once again don the male persona to which both she, and he, was so accustomed. I promised most faithfully that I would visit her first thing in the morning to get everything of our new relationship more defined, and that I would never abandon her. She searched my face minutely for any sign of guile but found nothing. She smiled more brightly than I had ever seen this body do and I watched, mostly in awe, as she took a deep breath and returned bit by bit to Master Michen. The transformation was fascinating and my thoughts were all ajumble until she, no he, stood once again and said that he had to go and change. I forced all these thoughts into the back of my head, knowing that I would be pulling them all back to the front once I got home and had no appointments.

I believe the thing about which M was most grateful, was that I had accepted both her and him. I could both feel and see how important that was.

We heard a querulous voice come from the other sitting room, and we all three gathered ourselves together before old Morden could shuffle his way out to where we were. We exchanged meaningful glances and the two of us hastily twitched our clothes back into some semblance of normality. M excused herself, no himself by now, to go and change into a non-ruined tunic as Morden found the two of us women chatting in low tones outside. We pretended we were trying not to wake him, which is why we were whispering.

M came back to us after a bit and outwardly only Michen was visible, but her eyes told me that, inside, Michet was so grateful that I would keep her secret.

Thus it was with a much firmer friendship that the two of us put on our normal faces, the ones we always use for public consumption, and left HIS house to face the world outside - which was mocking us, in a way, since it looked exactly the same as it had before all our drama started less than a bell ago - surely the momentous changes of our time inside must be reflected in the outside?

We acknowledged some greetings from others as we took the few steps up to the Saddler’s door and waved to Master Brydas as we passed his forge. I’m sure there were more outbuildings behind his street-front house than there had been a week or so ago. There were definitely more men busy round there than I had ever seen before. I saw that he, along with his seeming army of workers, was making more of those truss things, but this time with a triangular cross-section rather than the squares I saw before. I also got a glimpse of his low bridge walls where he was testing the equipment with the use of the wagon ‘acquired’ from the campingplace.

We reached Master Waldan’s place - it was only two houses farther up the street from the forge - and went directly round the back of the house to the workshops. He was there as we expected, working at one station on one of those new-style saddles, which he had obviously just started. Next to him, at another workstation was a stranger working on a pair of shoes. He was still quite young, and did not look all that careworn as so many of my fellow citizens of this town did.

“Well met, Mistress Julina, Master Michen,” Master Waldan greeted us jovially. “I am just this moment starting upon your new saddle, Master. You have arrived at the best possible moment. But first, allow me to introduce to you our latest shoemaker. This is Master Wainer, very recently arrived with old Jefferkin and appointed by the Guildhall in Tranidor. Master Wainer, this is Master Michen, a resident of some standing here in town, being a retired decorated guardsman of the Duke and the organiser of the huntsmen that supply the Bell Inn and the roadhouse downvalley with fresh flesh taken from the wild. They also have some contracts with private individuals such as myself.”

The two men acknowledged each other, as Master Waldan continued: “… and this is Mistress Julina, eldest daughter of our road inspector. She has impressed everyone in the town with the way she has coped with a large family after the tragedy that took her mother from us some four or five years ago.”

It came as a little shock to me that the new man had in effect dismissed me simply because I was a woman. I had been dealing with men on a far more equal basis for some weeks now, particularly with the dealings about our new house, and it was surprisingly hurtful when I was brought back to reality by his casual nod in my direction before again turning his attention to the other men. I was amazed how quickly I had adjusted to getting some attention and consideration from men and had almost forgotten the prevailing attitude throughout our land. He had just reverted to the standard behaviour that was all too prevalent.

It occurred to me that mayhap my arrival together with M and without any chaperone MAY have made him think we were a couple, but I still found it irritating.

I bit back any sign of annoyance though, as we would need to be on good terms with the town’s shoemaker. I did however enjoy the look on his face when Michen explained to Master Waldan that the saddle would be for me and not for him, and that his own saddle could wait a few weeks.

“The women here ride frayen?” his tone indicating that he both queried and at the same time exclaimed.

He continued a little more thoughtfully: “It would not, however, be the first I had seen. I saw a rather large party of travellers going downvalley when I came up - and amongst them there were some women riding; I was shocked, I can tell you. Not just by the different saddles, both in shape and in position on the beasts, which immediately placed them as being foreign, but also by the fact of females riding. But the party itself was almost as intriguing - it seemed more like an army, and I swear one of the young men was wearing a princely uniform. There were some colours that I didn’t recognise and a lance pennant that described an encounter with a Ptuvil of all things. For these reasons I supposed the women to be from foreign parts, and were being escorted ceremoniously; another factor that convinced me of that conclusion was that we were on the Chaarn road at the time. One of the young women had a most distinctive hair style, but she was still very young as were two or three of the others. I was surprised that they allowed a young servant such as her to ride.”

We all grinned at that, but each was waiting for another to explain. Eventually the silence was broken.

“Oh yes,” began Master Waldan, “the women ride here. Not many, and not often, but I strongly suspect that it will be more frequently observed in the new year.”

He paused as if to decide how to say what he next wanted to say. However, it was Michen who continued.

“These lands belong to the Baroness Garia and she is but recently departed, so that would have been HER party you saw. And she would have been one of the riders. For it is our Baroness that carries that distinctive hairstyle.”

Master Wainer coughed and spluttered when Michen said that, and made an attempt to mollify any possible offence he may have given us. I reluctantly gave him full marks for speed of thought and awareness of possibilities and consequences. He had no idea of our loyalties and came up with a diplomatic approach.

“So large a party - and princely escorts! Surely you jest?” I noticed that his smile was really quite attractive, and … and then I got a hold of myself once more as Master Waldan took up the conversation.

“Not at all, Master Wainer. Master Michen has severely understated the case in all truth. The Prince Keren, for indeed ’twas he, and our Baroness are all but engaged to be wed. It is plain to anyone that they are made for each other, and have eyes only for each other; but they themselves are doubt-ridden for some unbelievable reason.

“There is much you should learn about our Baroness if you are to stay here and be accepted by the people. She has truly won all of them over - well nearly all of them. You will find the tales at first to be difficult to credit, but I expect most will be actual fact. She has already declared that she herself will take not a single soo in tax from us. The Town Assembly will most probably need coin to pay for the necessary amenities and facilities, but she has eschewed any income for herself from us.

“We may seem a dead-end town right now, and yes I have noticed your inner disappointment to be sent here, but within a year I wager you will be demanding a second and maybe even a third shoemaker to come up here. I have been severely strained to handle the repairs to shoes as well as my own large order book - for these new saddles particularly, which have been introduced to our lands by our Baroness, no less - so I am glad to be able to hand those repairs to footwear over to you.”

Master Wainer looked thoughtful - it would have been obvious, even to a blind man, that he needed to readjust his mind-set quite rapidly.

Master Waldan continued: “You need to find your own feet, if you will forgive my little joke, here in our community, and naturally I will help with introductions and so on. However, I am aware that I could easily over-influence you so I urge you to get a balanced view. I believe that only in this way will you be able to be confident of what I say. I recommend you ask around this evening and in the next few days to get a good feel for the town and the people’s attitudes. I dare say you will be quite shocked from what you hear.” He paused here before continuing in a very serious way as he adopted a deeper tone and a more measured delivery: “And a word of warning: underestimate the women of this town at your peril!”

I was quite impressed by the fact that Master Waldan made such a statement as that last one, and I decided to strike when I deemed it appropriate - like now! I joined in the conversation: “Where are you staying, Master Wainer, and did you bring your family with you?”

He looked at me, surprised that a woman would initiate a conversation, but then Master Waldan’s last words registered, and with a great gulp he turned to me and actually conversed. I saw the suppressed grins on Michen’s and Master Waldan’s faces.

“I have travelled alone, Mistress … Julina, was it? I am unwed. I have only recently been honoured with my Master title and have always said that I would establish my practice before establishing a family. I confess that I was somewhat unimpressed with my appointment by the Guild to what I have heard is a simple, backward, high-mountain community at the very end of the road. And I have been here for only a few bells. I am currently being looked after kindly by Master Waldan, whose name was given me as a first contact, but I understand that the shoemaker’s house and workshop is provided by the town. I am to meet a Mistress Sandara later to arrange some sort of access to the premises and inspection of the facilities. I must be there at the seventh bell, so I thought I would do a little work to use up the time until then.”

“Well then, welcome to Blackstone, Master Wainer. I shall refrain from confusing you with too much information so early in your stay, but feel free at any time to ask me if you have any queries. If I do not know the answer, I’m fairly sure I know who to send you to to get that answer.”

He was taken aback a bit, but the other two all backed up my claims and I knew he would consider it in the future.

There was hope for him.

And he was really quite slim and fit. I found myself wanting to inspect his backside, and felt a little blush rush to my cheeks.

“Just why was there a vacancy way up here for a shoemaker anyway?” he asked.

“Well … let’s say there was bit of a disaster that created the opening. A very awkward predicament that arose. I’m not sure how much more I should say.”

“Please don’t stop there, Master Michen. What disaster could hit a simple shoemaker in this community? I certainly can’t conceive of anything on Anmar that could cause such a predicament.”

“Ah, Master Wainer - the full story will take a bell or more, maybe we could meet later in the Bell Inn for an ale or two? It always helps to talk with a moist throat, after all. But the short answer to your natural question is … attempted murder and treason!”

I watched as the newcomer’s jaw dropped and he struggled for words. He stood up in astonishment and turned complete circles as he struggled for a suitable reply. No-one could have expected THAT reply, I knew. But this gave me an opportunity to examine, discreetly of course, his backside, which I did not find wanting, despite his tunic being a trifle long and therefore covering a fair proportion of it.

Master Waldan and I however were then required to retire to another room while he called for his wife to come out to us, so he could gain the measures of MY backside to be sure the saddle would fit. Mistress Pomma came out very promptly, almost as if she had been waiting for a summons and the way she kept glancing over to where the new man was, even though he was out of sight, convinced me that her curiosity was at peak levels. She was polite and charming as usual despite being more than a little distracted, but her attention sharpened when it was explained to her what was required of her.

“So YOU are going to ride? Oh how I wish I could!”

“Well tell me how to take the right measurements and I’ll measure you now, so your man can make you a saddle too. Mistress Sukhana down to the Claw is desperate for riding partners and there are not too many riders left in town now the Baroness has taken them all with her!” I caught the hope in her eyes, and a flicker of annoyance on the face of Master Waldan.

“That will mean we need another frayen from somewhere, and the expense of keeping it and feeding it and so on and so forth. And you will need riding lessons. And all the associated stuff. And I suppose new clothing. Maker, when will it ever end?”

“But there would be advantages too, Waldan. I can do so much more for you, being able to carry heavier loads and so on …”

“This is neither the time nor place to discuss this, woman. I will let Julina measure you as it is convenient, but be very aware that this does NOT mean I approve of taking this any further - clear?”

She nodded her acceptance but the look of hope and determination on her face told me that this would indeed be taken further - and soon!

“… and,” he continued, “I am aware that your curiosity is driving you wild about the newcomer so I have invited him to stay with us until he can move into the shoemaker’s house. This may be as long as two weeks, so you will have plenty of time to satisfy that curiosity. That being so, I suggest that you scurry back into the house to get everything ready as soon as Julina has done her task, after you have done yours.”

She curtseyed to her husband in an obedient way, but which somehow contained to my eyes an element of mocking him too. She then quickly told me what to do even as we retired behind a screen, where, amid much giggling, we took all the numbers of what was required. It was over in another two or three moments. She did literally scurry back, demonstratively, into the house as Master Waldan and I returned to the workstation where the two men were chatting still. We both noticed however that the newcomer had retaken his seat and had not stopped working as he contributed to the conversation with nods and little grunts, some of them of exclamation, some of inquisition, some of just general agreement and some of encouragement. His attitude was more and more impressive to us.

“…. and yes, Mistress Sandara really did seem to think she was so much better than others here! You may find her more than a trifle biased in her views, but she and her husband were not much liked by the townsfolk. Being the only shoemaker here, and the son of an old established family, he was even so only just tolerated. Their son was a very unpleasant person too, giving off a very disturbing air. The only good one of the family was the daughter and she has now gone off to be of service to our Baroness.

“The shoemaker did not like to lose control of the young girl and when his general behaviour came to light, particularly that during the Trogan era - oh I must tell you about that later - and also Mistress Sandara’s unacceptable behaviour to her own daughter, then they were justly punished by the Baroness. Of course, they did not accept that they had done anything wrong at all, and thus they turned against the new Baroness and her colleagues.

“That was a bad business - a bad business indeed; I will give you all the details of that as well later. But she came down to the ground with a bump when she found herself no longer in a position of influence. All her previous airs and graces came back to haunt her once the reality of the situation hit her. She receives very little assistance from others, most of whom will not even start a conversation with her. I hear she has sent to relatives … Ah, here are the others back from whatever they have been doing. I will talk with you later but for now I have another appointment, and must escort Mistress Julina to her next destination.”

“Waldan, he jests, surely? All these narratives of very unusual events, they are surely just a tale-teller’s devices?”

“Not at all, but it seems he must leave us right now. I shall tell you some of the tales but you will require some patience as there is much background to be covered. Farewell Master, Mistress.”

Master Wainer also bid us farewell, it seemingly being easier already to talk with a woman. I curtsied to the men, Michen bowed and we started away as Master Waldan turned back to his work and restarted his conversation.

“It all starts with a wagon train coming over the Palumaks from Moxgo, under a year ago. Well, …”

... ... ...

Michen was good to his word and escorted me to the neighbouring house where Malet opened the door for me with an unhidden delight, saying she recognised the way I knocked on the door. I suppose bellringers are more sensitive than most to tones and rhythms. I turned to thank Michen, but in reality I wanted to hug Michet. This was not something I could do here on the threshold, observed by all on the campingplace. I could see that Michet was peering out and wanted to as well, but the same factors held her back. Only Michen was to be observable by others. I got then an even greater feeling for her inner battles and her despairs of the past just from this fleeting event.

I turned away and entered Malet’s home, making my way without being told to the sitting room. I heard her close the door behind us and she followed me, we reaching the room just as Kelly came in from the other direction. I could see they were curious as to why I was there at that particular time of day, it being just when I would normally be so busy.

I raised a hand to indicate that they should just be quiet whilst I gathered my thoughts - I needed to decide just how much information to impart, particularly with regard to the Michen/Michet thing. My silence made them even more intrigued, I could see.

I decided that it would be best if I started at the earliest relevant moment and just continued from there. I knew they were catching my excitement and they were both rapidly losing their patience as I pondered a little longer. I dropped my hand to indicate that I was ready, took a deep breath, and started.

“I’m sorry to be so sensational but there is so very much I must tell you - I think it’s best if you are both here to avoid later questions and misunderstandings.

“It all started just yesterday, after I left here …”

---

Julina goes out on her first ever dinner away from home and family

---

Disclaimer:

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 had eventually managed to make my way to the Bellringers' house after an amazing day that had just got weirder and weirder — I was in their front room with both my friend Kelly, short for Kellonika, and her mother, Malet, and had been debating with myself just how to tell them everything and yet still convey that my time was so short. I stood there for a moment or two with my hand raised, to prevent any interruptions as I pondered my way forward. I decided upon a method to use, lowered my hand and started …

So I tried to encapsulate all the events of the past few hours, starting with the shocking news that Father was going to get married again and that I was to have a three-week break from all duties. We all acknowledged that it would be impossible to just break and do nothing, but they were delighted for me to at last have some sort of a break, even if they both felt that Father could have been a little more tactful about breaking the news! My vague idea of overseeing things first off in the mornings was met with their approval and I could see Kelly already making plans to fill up my ‘spare’ times.

I then proceeded to tell them about the street corner meeting and the job offer from Miche...n and passed off the time I spent in his house as discussions about the future - which was very close to the truth, but just added a diversionary angle on to it. I also had to give them my impressions of the new shoemaker, Master Wainer. But they were most excited about my dinner date with Master Bezan.

And then we got down to the most important item as far as they were concerned - what was I going to wear to my first ever evening meal away from the family? I tried to explain that it was simply an event at which I was to introduce two people, but they completely and glibly ignored my protests and went into full “find ’Lina a look” mode. And knowing that time was short only seemed to push them into a greater frenzy.

They also flatly declared that Kelly just HAD to accompany me — no self-respecting woman would be alone, particularly not in such an establishment. I was about to protest when I realised that they were right about that, and it was something I really should have thought about myself.

It then occurred to me that Kelly already knew quite a bit about the subject to be discussed — I having both told her after I got to know Deegrum better, and I had also shown her in writing, as part of her training in letters.

More and more, it seemed that my life was being taken out of my hands - it was as if these two women just talked to each other in some sort of foreign language and I was some walking, talking dress-up dummy with no brain of her own. But I did have to admit that my past had given me no clue at all as to what to do. I lost count of the times I had to undress and dress again - some were too big (Kelly’s), some were too small (Malet’s) but some fitted reasonably well - either big ones of Malet’s or small of Kelly’s. They ignored my reminders that Mistress Yanda would also be doing something.

I am aware that this all seems very hurried. There is a reason for that. It was!

These two were determined to do something or things to me that no-one in the town had ever seen before, and they told me bluntly that they just didn’t have time to explain or answer questions, that they just had to get on with it. So I, somewhat less than gracefully, decided that my life would be easier if I just let them do precisely that.

To cut a longish story somewhat short, I departed their house too late to go and visit my other friends. Kelly was with me and we were carrying a large sack each — mine with no less than three dresses in it. They decided that Mistress Yanda should have the final say, she being far more aware of her clientele and what would be acceptable. We half ran, half strode down the hill to the Bell, I did not even have time to do my planned inspections at that end of town to see the changes going on there.

Remembering her instructions, we went through the coach/wagon entrance into the courtyard and knocked on the door of what was obviously the kitchens. I had to knock three or four times before someone came, and I told her that Mistress Yanda had told me to come here at the seventh bell. It was already some five moments after that.

As it happened, Mistress Yanda was pleased that Kelly had accompanied me, it made her own arrangements a lot easier. She too had considered the need for me to have someone else there alongside, and she was still trying hard to come up with a solution. That was one task she could now forget.

She led us up to an unused room on the women's corridor, and I was surprised at the amount of stuff she had already placed in there on the plain table in front of a polished metal mirror and on the mattress of the unprepared bed. There were two chairs in the room and she told one of the girls with us to scurry off and find another. A portable clothes rack had some other dresses hanging on it.

She first got me to lay out 'my' three dresses on the bed, and then got Kelly to do the same with her two.

It all started with a seemingly innocent question, after which a whirlwind descended and neither Kelly nor I drew a relaxed breath until we were finally seated at Deegrum's table, our backs to the throng which had gone suspiciously quiet as we descended and were escorted the length of the room.

Mistress Yanda (I was 'Mistressing' her because Kelly was there but she soon stopped me and Kelly doing that, so she became Yanda to us both) started us off by asking: “Now, are you a team? Do you both want to look alike, or do you want to be obviously different from each other?”

… ... ...

My heart was beating rapidly as we descended the stairs to the common room. Yanda had found a dress for me, the colour of which made me certain I would wear it. To my eyes it was wonderful, and Kelly agreed that it was a perfect colour for me to wear. My problem was that it was considerably shorter than I was used to, coming to just above my knees, and it seemed that there were dranatilis of bare skin on show. My neck was bare for the first time ever in public, and the frills on the upper hem of the dress, between the sturdy shoulder supports which left most of my upper arms exposed, were nearly horizontal across my chest, exposing for the first time a distinct valley between my breasts.

At least Yanda had a similar dress that suited Kelly well, so we were both very self-conscious. Up to that moment, every single dress I had ever worn went from my neck to my calves with sleeves to my wrists. I felt almost naked, but Yanda, Epp and Mistress Patilla all swore oaths to us that we were perfectly decent.

Yanda had indeed been busy and had arranged for the other women to be there and they obviously enjoyed the chance to get two young girls ready for their first public occasion. There were very few alterations to the two dresses to be done, and none permanent, just a tightening of a few seams here and there. Our heads were attacked with combs and brushes, with pins and strange tubular things which miraculously produced curls and waves where there had been none before.

I looked at the finished Kelly and was amazed; the amazement that must have been in my face was reflected in hers as she took in my new appearance.

The door opened and a serving girl popped her head round, saying “Deegrum has arrived, Mistress!”

There was a final flurry of our helpers and then we were being ushered out and down the stairs. During the past bell, the generalities of how to bring about the necessary meetings had been discussed and several approaches had been agreed upon — all requiring me to react to whatever happens. I was so nervous about the whole thing, I was certain my poor knees would collapse under me. But nevertheless we managed to make our entrance without mishap.

The common room was just a little more than half full as we came in, so it wasn't TOO noisy; it was noisy enough, however, to detect a distinct quieting as the occupants caught sight of us. I'm not sure if Kelly's hand was squishing mine harder than mine was squishing hers.

Knowing Deegrum better than most, I knew we had to treat him gently as it would be a shock for him to see us here. For our first tactic, it had been decided that we would look for a table for ourselves and 'catch sight' of Deegrum as we looked around. Then I would somehow get us to sit with him, and then Master Bezan would turn up to talk with us …

But that plan didn't work out at all.

We walked in and looked around — being young girls of course we would prefer to have a table in a corner, difficult to be approached. Yanda pointed towards the far end where there was a suitable unoccupied one near Deegrum's table but in the opposite corner. It was totally natural that we should make tracks for that table. We got about half-way there when there was a loud yelp and a whine or two, followed by the scrabbling of claws on the wooden floor. A brown shape shot towards us almost as fast as a bolt from a crossbow.

I knew immediately that Jeefer would leap up at me and cursed myself for forgetting that Deegrum would have his grenn with him. I also knew where the first place would be for him to stick his snout and this short skirt would give him far more access to my nether regions than my normal calf-length one would. I hastily knelt down to try to avoid that embarrassment.

The streak got to within two strides before screeching to a halt following a bellowed, forceful command from his master. I was shocked at such obedience, and yet I knew that pakh-grennis need to be so well trained. I was annoyed with myself for forgetting Deegrum's early history as my brain caught up with what had happened.

“Julina! Blast me, you are blasted beautiful. What the blast are you doing in here? And is that Kellonika with you? My, you must be the two most blasted beautiful girls in the village. I would never have blasted expected you here in this blasted place.. And looking as blasted good as the two of you do.”

“Deegrum! Please — your language!” I gently remonstrated as Kelly and I blushed.

I have already reported that Deegrum was a gentle and kind man, very child-like, a little simple, but given to outbreaks of strong language. He had also become a friend of our family, eating as he does a meal with us once or twice a week, normally. He was a gentleman in every other way and this prompted him to invite us to join him at his table. Which was of course our plan all along.

“Oh no, dear Deegrum. We couldn't do that,” I exclaimed. “We are here tonight to meet with Master Bezan. Er … well … er … there are things we need to discuss about the new building — as you know, the new Community Hall is going to be built where Master Michen and his father lived, and our home has to be knocked down to make way for an access road to the construction site.” I finished in a gush; the story, which was truth in itself, just springing straight to my tongue.

Kelly and I nearly laughed with relief when Deegrum replied: “Oh really? I realise that I must talk with him too. Perhaps, if you wouldn't mind, we could combine both projects? I shall invite him to table as well. Would you have any objection?”

I shook my head to show agreement while Kelly and Yanda looked on in amazement as our total objectives were so easily achieved, and that Deegrum spoke in whole sentences with me. His abruptness returned as he turned to Yanda: “Mistress Yanda. Master Bezan. The Girls. All at my table?”

“As you so wish, Master Deegrum!” she replied, bobbing a minor curtsey before turning and commanding one of her serving girls to organise it. She walked away, shaking her head — I could feel her astonishment that all our complicated plans of beforehand had come to nothing, being completely unnecessary!

And so my first ever meal outside of my home, apart from the two trips down to Tranidor when I was very young, began as we settled down at the table. Deegrum sat us with our backs to the room to avoid us having to put up with all the stares, which I for one thought was very considerate. Looking back now, I am not sure it was ever discussed with Kelly, but I'm certain she felt the same. I spent the initial minutes making D and K more comfortable with each other, helped by Jeefer who added his approval of my friend. This was a major factor I realised later, as you shall see.

We were served some pel and we girls sipped that as I spoke mostly — just repeating what was known about the Community Hall, as I had found that it helps in discussions with Deegrum to bring things up first so they are fresh in his concentration. This introduction was useful as Kelly got some useful insights into how to deal with and how to understand Deegrum. We were talking about the reason for having a Community Hall, well I was anyway, when I was interrupted by Deegrum in his usual abrupt way.

“How many dranatilis will it cover?”

Kelly then chipped in with: “What exactly are dranatilis?”

“Measure of area. 100 strides long. 100 strides wide. Equal one dranatil.”

“What a strange name!” said Kelly.

“It's area isn't it? Pakh is also a strange name. It's an animal, isn't it? All things need names. No name, not known.”

We were both a little surprised by Deegrum's forcefulness as he made that statement, but it gave me an opportunity to show off a little: “Ah! Actually I know this! Papa told me when I was very young and I didn't really understand it then, but it dawned on me one day last year as I watched one of the crop farmers.”

The others turned to me with interest as I continued. “You know that a crop farmer must prepare the ground before planting his seeds?”

They nodded.

“Well that operation is called 'tillage' not to be confused with 'tilling'. Plowing is a form of tillage, which turns over the soil as a sharp plow is dragged through it — this leaves large furrows and big clods of earth behind, sometimes hard lumps. Tilling is a way of breaking up the soil so that it is easier to work, but the operation is not so deep as plowing. Tilling involves circular tools that use gears to operate as they rotate. Long, long, long ago, it was reckoned that a farmer could till a strip 100 strides long and 100 strides wide with a single tillage equipment drawn by a single dranakh in a single day. So it was how much ground could be prepared in a day with a dranakh. A Dranakh Tillage day ... Dranakh … Tillage … became dranatil. Farmers talk of their farms being of so and so many dranatilis.”

“Quite right, Mistress Julina.”

The deep voice of Master Bezan interrupted our conversation. Deegrum stood up quickly and Jeefer looked on a little warily, but then started sniffing Master Bezan's legs as he continued: “Well met, Mistresses and Master Deegrum. I am told you have kindly invited me to join you at table this eve, for which I thank you most cordially.”

He turned towards Kelly and addressed her specifically: “Master Deegrum was easy to identify, but I regret I have not the pleasure of having been introduced to YOU, Mistress...???”

Kelly actually blushed as she replied ”Kellonika, Master Bezan. Daughter of the Bellringers.”

“Ah! Your family are very valued in the community. It is my honour to meet you.” He turned to me as he went on. “Once again, Mistress Julina, your knowledge amazes me ... Ah, yes, my dear, I'll have a tankard of the excellent ale your Mistress serves.. Does anyone else require anything of her?”

When we all indicated a negative, the girl scurried off and then he turned back to me and included Deegrum in the conversation by enquiring: “So just why was Mistress Julina defining a dranatil?”

“New hall size.”

Master Bezan was initially taken aback by Deegrum's abruptness, but I admired the way he absorbed the surprise and continued smoothly: “Ah! Well we don't know exactly where we are going to build it and in what shape at the moment, but we have to decide that all very soon. So we don't know the size it will be.”

Master Bezan was sufficiently well prepared to know that he shouldn't crowd Deegrum in any way, neither physically nor mentally.

“Hmm. Jeefer Grenn likes you, you alright.” I realised at that moment that Deegrum set great stock by the reaction of Jeefer to strangers.

“Shall we sit, Master Deegrum?”

“Master Bezan.”

The men noisily scraped their chairs across the floor as they both sat down. Before we could get back to talking, another serving girl came up to take our order, telling us of the three choices there were for our first dishes and for the three for the main dishes. We four ordered, no two of us having the same combination. She went off towards the kitchens as the first girl returned with the tankard for Master Bezan. He took a deep draught, smiled broadly and cleverly settled himself backwards in his seat, allowing us to drive the conversation, by not enforcing his natural authority.

A small silence engulfed us which was filled by Kelly, far too loudly for my taste, telling the others about my father's news and my suddenly changed circumstances. I would rather that she had not announced my business to the whole establishment! I steered the conversation round to the new Community Hall and Deegrum surprised us all, particularly Master Bezan when he opened up with the very subject we had considered before.

“New building. Higher than town. Water supply problem. Pump or new feed?”

“Master Deegrum! That is indeed one of my many current questions which I am unable to answer. I would need to know, in detail, just how the current system works. Would it be possible for me to accompany you as you perform your duties on the morrow?”

“No.”

Even I, used as I was to Deegrum's ways, was shocked by the flat denial. All our faces reflected the surprise and Deegrum picked up on that, being suddenly embarrassed about it. This made him retreat more into himself so I knew enough to grasp Master Bezan's thigh under the table and to warn Kelly on my right. I was trying to get them to leave it to me.

I laughed as I started: “Oh Deegrum, I can always rely on you for a good laugh. But my companions here don't know you as well as I do, so they are a little confused right now. Will you explain to me why that would not be possible?”

He took a breath, a deep calming one and addressed me: “Him too big. Mostar.” He was still a little confused but hadn't retreated from us, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Mostar?” interjected Master Bezan.

“Yes, Master Bezan. He is the journeyman to Master Blandel, the mason. In fact, some say that he should be elevated as poor Blandel still suffers a depression after being in Trogan's jail. Mostar is not the tallest person in town — but I confess that I do not understand why that might be a factor.”

“Thank you, Mistress Julina. I suspect that the tunnel for the water is not so tall and thus the lack of height is an advantage for those who wish to traverse the tunnels, is that not so Master Deegrum?”

“Aye, Master Bezan. Exactly.”

“But dear Deegrum, didn't you once tell me of the great chamber at the beginning of the tunnel — and of various other chambers along the length? Surely Master Bezan could be allowed in there? And you have told me that you need to find someone to train to carry on after you retire. Maybe Master Bezan has some contacts from which that person could come? It seems to me to be most sensible that you show all you can to another so the right person can be found to try to follow in your exemplary footsteps.”

“Mayhap you're right Mistress. Master Bezan, where stay?”

“Well, I have been based down at the roadhouse for the most part, but I shall be settling now into the town here. There is so much to do here in a short space of time. I believe Mistress Sukhana across the road to the Claw may have a small corner for me. However, tonight I have a room here in the Bell, and shall be here for the rest of this week.”

“Tomorrow. Breakfast here. Us two then go to dam?”

“Agreed, Master Deegrum. Can we manage with just the two of us? Or should ...”

“Two.”

“Very well. Ah! Here comes our food. I am starving.”

The girl, I recognised her coming from a family down near the forest but I knew not her name, brought us our first dishes and conversation was interrupted by various slurps and chews and lip smacks. Master Bezan produced one of those fork things and we all sat fascinated as he used it. Such a simple thing and yet so much better. I think we all wanted to get hold of one as soon as possible.

The conversation around the table went much as could be expected, mostly dominated by Master Bezan as he explained much of the immediately forthcoming changes. I asked him about how long the building of our new house might be, and he launched into a description of how the new roadhouse had been built, and that there were certain 'modules' he called them, that could be used — built elsewhere and finally brought together at the site.

“New roadhouse! Same place as the old?”

“It most certainly is, Master Deegrum. You have been there often enough to remember it?”

“Four times there. Three on trips with Father to Tranidor. Makes six I suppose. Stopped down and up.”

“And the fourth, or perchance the seventh?" asked Master Bezan casually between forkfuls.

“Time was, every boy been there. Sheer cliff at first bend in road.” He lapsed back into silence as he went back in time in his thoughts.

I could see that the others were as confused as I. But I could not help out in this instance. I knew what he was talking about as far as the road was concerned, having heard the description from Papa on far too many occasions, and I knew that Master B would know too that the straight road went downhill from our town, through the forest until its way was blocked by a sheer cliff as some sort of rock-change line cut across the valley. The road got steeper there so it swung to the right and descended diagonally across the line, and at a far steeper incline than otherwise, to where the roadhouse was situated, some two or so marks farther on. The roadhouse was near a small lake in the river and was built where good advantage could be made of the waters. The road there turned left again and carried on straight once more for many marks down the hill, but nearly every traveller stopped at the roadhouse so the bend there was hardly noticed.

“My fire were the biggest!” Deegrum then lapsed back into his thoughts.

I shrugged to the others as we looked quizzically at each other. A silence descended that had just about reached the uncomfortable stage, when we were interrupted by Master Fedren joining us. We all acknowledged him and complimented him on the food his inn served. I started to explain to the Sheriff about the riddle Deegrum had set us, when Deegrum interrupted me by saying: “His were second biggest!”

“Maker! I had forgotten that! It all stopped when some lad slipped to his death and the women put their collective feet down!”

“Come, Sheriff! We are none the wiser!”

“Ah Master Bezan, Ladies. It seems a little silly now, but it had become a tradition in the town for all the boys in their last year before adulthood to do something — I have heard someone somewhere describe it as a 'Rite of Passage'. It showed the world, you see, that you were a man. Those sheer cliffs at the turn in the road are simply the front of a small peak, called Strettalm. Round the back of the rock formation, there is a narrow crevice which is difficult, but not impossible, to climb — made more difficult if you carried a load. The crevice wiggles and waggles its way upwards for some thirty or forty strides in height until it reaches a ledge about ten strides long and four wide. From one end of that ledge there is a steep natural pathway, almost even underfoot, that winds ever upwards. A final scramble past an awkward overhang brings you out onto a gently sloping meadow with a few scattered bushes.”

He too lapsed into his memories for a short while before continuing: “A lad had from dawn on one day to dusk the next day, to leave town, get down to the Strettalm, build a fire on the top, light it, and then return to town. The departure and arrival point was the bridge across the Blackstone. You see, the top of the Strettalm is a fair way above the tree line, and a fire lit there on a clear night can be seen from here in Town. There was a special fire-pit cleared up there so the meadow wasn't burnt away — but no animals have ever grazed that meadow, the bottom of the climb preventing them from accessing it. There are avians aplenty up there and they create such a noise when they are disturbed. A boy had to carry all the firewood up there as well as the fire-making tools. Many fathers secretly helped their sons by leaving burnable wood close to the entrance of the crevice at the bottom, so the sons would not have to forage too far to find the material.”

Kellonika then surprised us all by adding something that I had never known — I had seen it a few times, but had never asked about it.

“Oh! That sounds like us! A few times a year we would build a huge fire on top of the Cistern as everyone now calls it. Some five strides ahead of the fire, we mounted a huge curtain. We would have to lower the curtain five times, with an even space between them and the fifth time EXACTLY as the midnight bell was announced. Father told us a funny story that it was so the roadhouse could calibrate their sanddroppers and thus the travellers and staff at the roadhouse could keep their bells accurate. We all laughed at him for making up such a silly tale. I had forgotten we did that thing with the fire — so much has happened that it has been pushed entirely from my mind. We haven't done it since Trogan arrived, and there was a natural gap of a few months before that when it wasn't necessary.”

Masters Bezan and Fedren looked at each other, as though they had been hit by a thunderbolt.

“Semaphore! Signal lamps! Night messages as well!” They both looked excited.

“Can the peak of Strettalm be seen from the roadhouse?”

“Aye, Master Bezan. I don't think tree growth would have blocked the view. Shame there's none of the staff from the old roadhouse left around.”

“So we could now send messages from here to the roadhouse and get almost instant replies?”

“Absolutely!”

“And if we find another peak further down, maybe 2 or three more, we could communicate with Tranidor!”

“We could use the short distance, relatively, to the roadhouse to test out the system and maybe find improvements. Mylady did tell us to come up with some code that could be used to shorten messages. All right, I think we'll need to tell the Assembly. And have you sorted your water problems?”

“Tomorrow, Master Deegrum will show me as much as I can see — apparently I am too tall to do the details of the tunnels!”

“I had not considered that. Is there anyone that could do that?”

“Master Deegrum suggests a certain Mostar, works for poor Blandel.”

The Sheriff laughed quickly: “Aye, young Mostar would be an ideal candidate! Now Ladies, I offer to escort you up the street to your home, Kellonika. Please ask for me when you are ready to leave. We still have half a bell or more before it starts to get a little rowdy in here, and young Master Deegrum usually leaves about now, so I thought I would mention it. Dressed as you both are, I feel that I cannot allow you to wander unescorted!”

Kelly and I thanked him before asking Master Bezan to quickly tell us of all the changes that were going on. Apparently, the bridge support tests had been excellent and so the building of the loop road could definitely be commissioned. Tomorrow morning, the paddock fence behind the Ptuvil's Claw would be moved five strides inwards and the entire length would be flattened, so some of the vegetables and trees could be planted before the first chills and the new house could be marked out.

We then learnt that further up the valley, Master Yarling, the man in charge of the mining, was going to open up the seam which was currently being mined in two places in a third location, more towards the head of the valley, where the outside indicators showed that the seam, by now quite a lot thinner, kinked at a small angle and there went slightly downwards as it disappeared into the rocks of the valley head. At that place, the seam was some twenty strides or so above the track, so the entrance would itself need a special track up to it. He had a theory about that seam and what happened to it as it went northwards.

And so it was that some ten or so moments later, Kelly and I were escorted up to the room in which we had changed earlier to pick up all our stuff. We had thanked Master Bezan and Master Deegrum for a thoroughly entertaining evening and we had been brought to blushes when the men complimented us again and again. Master Bezan was particularly thankful to me for what he described as the most profitable evening he had had since Mylady had departed.

When we reached the room upstairs prior to leaving, Yanda insisted we keep the dresses she had given us, and urged us to wear them at least to Kelly's home so that Malet could see us as we were arrayed. Suddenly, we were both nervous again of presenting ourselves outside, but Yanda persuaded us to do so. Thus it was that we were escorted by the Sheriff up the main street, Yanda's advice to ignore any stares being taken to heart. We stood tall and stared straight ahead as we made our way up the slope.

Malet was quite shocked to start with, but rapidly came round to approve of what Yanda had done. She turned a little sad and wistful as she wished to be our age once more. She wanted to call in the men to show them, but I was by that time exhausted and just wanted to change and get home. I had only left the house this morning but it really seemed a life-time ago. I knew also that I would have to repeat my story again when I got home. And I STILL hadn't had the time to talk to Gyth and Molly.

And so it came to pass. The younger ones were already abed, but the older two and my soon-to-be stepmother were still up and I received a lot of oohs and aahs as I related my very full day, still keeping Michet's appearance to myself.

I had to show them the dress I had worn to the Bell, and then fielded all sorts of questions. I was literally falling asleep on my feet before they let me stagger off to my bed. I had anticipated lying awake for ever as I thought about the Michen/Michet thing but that did not transpire. I do not remember actually getting into bed, and the next conscious thought was when I woke in the morning and got up immediately to get the house prepared. I was in the bathhouse before I actually remembered that I didn't have to do this for a while.

---

Julina's second day of 'freedom' gets far busier and grittier than expected

---

Disclaimer:

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 met Swayga as I turned round — as it was no longer my responsibility to do all the wake-up chores, it was inappropriate for me to take priority. But she was kindness itself and said that I should do my immediately necessary relief and by then there should be some hot water for us to share, Kords being in charge of that. So I relieved the immediate pressure and then helped unbank and rekindle the fires that were so very necessary as the morning chills were becoming almost insistent. With three of us doing it, the house was soon cheering up, and we three could share some hot water as we made our ablutions.

It astonishingly quickly became a pleasant way to start the day; I know Kords enjoyed it more and I believe Swayga did too — she also found it very useful as I spoke out of all the factors that would go through my head as the day was planned out. Kords learnt a lot from these conversations, and Swayga continued to praise the ways I had done things, with a very few helpful hints of how some things could have been done better.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. After all, this tale is commencing on only the second morning of my changed circumstances. We had a little laugh together as we all agreed that Papa would probably be up already and saddling Judd up in preparation for his departure from the roadhouse.

I have spent some time in describing these early moments of the day in quite a lot of detail simply so I don't have to repeat so much information in future accounts.

It was from this second morning that our future routine was forged and with very little variation continued for a considerable time. So with no further ado, I shall continue with the developments from there — getting breakfast for the whole family after rousing the reluctant ones, getting things tidied away, and initiating a suggestion of Swayga's that we all promptly spent a bell (minimum) whereby I taught the rest some letters.

At one point I had glanced out the window and seen a trio making their way up towards the dam, two humans and a grenn. I waved but neither human noticed, engrossed as they were in their conversations. I will swear, however, that Jeefer gave a little yip of acknowledgement, not that I would have been able to hear it from so far away, of course.

By and by, it was time for me to leave to do that which I wanted ... it was still then an incredible luxury to me … and I left the house with a light step, promising to be back for the evening meal at half a bell after the seventh.

Remembering one of the conversations from yesterday, I caught Trumpa and Dralla in our small paddock, loaded them with as much equipment as I could imagine they would require and finally led them down the track to the back of the Claw. I was quite surprised to see a hand of workers were already moving the boundary fence under Sookie's supervision. She waved to me as I approached, indicating that I should go straight to her. She took Trumpa's reins as we greeted each other and she led me into the Claw's courtyard which was already bustling with activity. She called to a boy, barely older than myself, whom I had known all my life but with whom I had had no regular contact — he was known to be one of the best with animals, so I should not have been so surprised to see him here.

“Parrier, take these two frayen and keep them with or near to Tixi, if you would be so kind. This is Mistress Julina, but I suspect you already know her, don't you?”

“Aye, Mistress. Indeed Julina and I have been here all our lives.” He turned to me as he continued: “Good morrow, 'Lina. Whose beasts are these?”

“Good morrow, Parry. I did not know you were employed here. It is relief to know that they will be in such capable hands. This one is Dralla and belongs to Mister Michen, but I have his permission to ride her sometimes.” I watched as his eyebrows rose, but he made no remark. “The other is Trumpa, my papa's spare riding frayen. Mistress Sukhana has agreed to stable these two does, and Papa's buck, Judd, here in exchange for some considerations we have agreed upon. Judd and Papa will be back in a week, but I thought I would bring these two down now, so they can get used to the changes sooner.”

“An excellent idea 'Lina. They will enjoy it here. I know it sounds ridiculous, but this environment seems to be a much happier place for frayen than any other I have known. Even complete strangers that arrive seem happier after spending just one night here. It is something to do with the way Mistress Sukhana has trained them, I'm sure.”

“Oh tush! Don't give me the credit, it was our Baroness herself that started it all, I have merely continued her instructions with Tixi, and I think somehow Tixi has developed a way with the other beasts, some of whom have been here before so they know the environment that obtains."

“Mistress, you understate your own influence,” he said, blushing slightly.

Sookie and I exchanged glances and our eyes spoke in woman-code — we both recognised some youthful infatuation here. I felt a little sorry for Parrier then, but reflected that maybe it was all part of life — he would grow out of it, as indeed I wished Payner, Kelly's brother, would do with his crush on me.

“You used a strange word there, Parry,” I said queryingly.

He was about to reply when Sookie, in her busy mode, spoke to me: “I see you brought down all sorts of equipment with you, Julina. Parrier, make use of what you can and then give anything that we do not require away to someone who could use them, or maybe turn them into something useful. We don't need to sell them as Master Tanon has said that he will be responsible for equipment here, and after that awful business with Trogan, there will be people grateful for a little help. Just make sure you don't create a band of favourites over time. That will lead to trouble. Be seen to be even-handed.” She paused for thought. “Thinking about it all a little more, I think you should make one part of the stables obviously for the resident beasts, mine, Julina's and anyone else I might invite — say space enough for eight or ten beasts, then the transient ones that come and go can be in an obviously different area. No wait, there will be some semi-permanent residents in the Claw like Master Bezan, so make the resident beast area large enough for say a dozen.”

“As you say, Mistress.”

“Come Julina, let me show you what's happening with that fence and your new house area.”

I waved goodbye to Parrier, who had his hands full so simply nodded in return.

As we went, I asked Sookie what Perry had said a few moments before. When she looked blank, I tried to help her: “Envy moment, or something similar. You said to Parry something about Tixi, then it was that some frayen had been here before and knew what the envy moment was that you had obtained? Something like that.”

She stopped as she thought, and looked a little lost — I could see her brain trying to work it out. Her shoulders dropped and I knew she was about to apologise that she couldn't remember when a sudden flash shot across her face meant that she had indeed remembered. With a laugh, she repeated what had been said: “The environment that obtains. Yes. Well environment means the surroundings and so on and obtains means what is going on right now. I suppose you could say that we live here in a mountainous environment — that would be describing our surroundings in such a way that the listener would understand that the air is a little thinner, that we are far from a city, oh and everything like that, that is where we exist and ... and … and ... and … all that is implied by the weather patterns and the rivers and the plants. Good environment is something to rejoice in.”

I was still struggling a little and it showed, so she thought for a little while and said: “When that Trogan was here, were you all frightened?”

“That we were. It was unnatural.”

“So you could say that under Trogan there was an environment of fear.”

Ah! Suddenly I could put together what she meant. I thanked her for a new word and asked her to spell it for me. She looked a little sad as she explained that her writing wasn't very good and that she was looking forward to having some lessons. I was shocked at first, but then I realised that that was something that should be considered, adults being taught too. I made a mental note to ask Epp about this and about the new word - she taught it to me the next day I saw her.

So the two of us turned and went once again to the paddock at the back. Sookie showed me where the house was going to be positioned and then the garden/vegetable patch/orchard would be placed; obviously this was at the western end, to be nearer the Claw, and the house would be at the eastern end. The plot itself ran the entire northern length of the paddock, which I estimated to be around fifty strides long — a dead straight line marked by the newly positioned fence poles. Sookie explained that then the house would cast a shadow into the paddock, providing a little patch of shade that might be useful for the animals on the hotter days. She also said that there would be some clumps of trees planted throughout the paddock for the same purposes.

The house plot was marked out already, the upslope end, the east end, being very wide, maybe as much as forty strides, also known as two casts, forming a rough square before the western end narrowed to an angled shape, about 25 strides in the east and about 15 in the west, the Claw end. The paddock remained rectangular, now around fifty strides by forty, or two and a half casts by two.

As we stood there, a fresh team of men and animals appeared. There were three dranakh, one pulling a laden wagon that had a large rock, obviously very heavy, and two long metal plates sticking out forwards as they angled up in the air. The tailgate was lowered and the two long metal things were slid out, I would call them planks if they were wooden. These were then blocked with stout timbers under the middle, obviously to prevent them bending. Blocks were also placed under the end of the wagon which I could see would prevent the wagon tipping up at the front. The large heavy rock was wrapped in a leather harness, and there were two stout ropes attached that lead forward, either side of the wagon's dranakh who was still in the harnesses. The two ropes were attached to the ends of a long wooden pole, lying on the ground a good ten strides in front of the harnessed dranakh's snout. A single rope lead even further forward from the centre of that pole, which was then attached to another of the dranakhs.

Finally, two ropes lead backwards from the rock and were harnessed to the third dranakh. When all was checked and confirmed, the dranakh behind the wagon strained forward upon command and dragged the rock out of the bed of the wagon and onto the top of the metal runners, the dranakh at the front slowly easing backwards. I suddenly realised that this was the brake dranakh, there to prevent the rock just slipping and sliding down onto the ground in an uncontrolled fashion. It was obvious that the animals understood what was required of them, and I could see now how the stone would be reloaded into the wagon; the two dranakhs hauling it forward up the slope of the metal 'planks'.

Once the stone reached the ground, I could see that it had been shaped slightly on the bottom, presumably to slide easier over bobbles in the ground — for this was the tool to be used for flattening the ground. But first the three dranakh were harnessed to plows and the entire plot was plowed as deeply as possible to break up the surface.

I didn't stay to watch all this of course, as I had many calls to make, but I caught glimpses of a lot of it from the windows at the back of Michet's house, when I first called upon him … er … her. I took my leave of Sookie, as she also couldn't spend all day watching work when there was so much of it for her to do elsewhere. I promised to return in the late afternoon to inspect the day's efforts.

As mentioned above, my first place to call into was just up the street to the house where Master Morden and his 'child' lived. I had promised that 'child' that I would make a visit first thing, to establish how we progressed from the state of discovery that had occurred the day before. Master Michen was in fact a woman, but had been masquerading as a man all her life — after making a promise when very young to her father that she would tell no-one — her father, Master Morden, having told the world that the new-born was a boy. I had been growing quite fond of Master Morden after the two of them had dined with us quite often, but once I discovered Michet's secret, I was really quite annoyed with the old man, putting his pride before his child's comfort and lifestyle. He was now very old and all knew he would not last much longer — Michet herself being past any childbearing age, so was hardly able to be described as a child.

The old man in question was in his tall armchair in the front room, positioned so he could see the main street and all the activity out there — at least, that would have happened if he stayed awake. His snores told me all I needed to know as the housekeeper ushered me past that smallish front room to the room that will become the 'Salon', a resurrection of the old name. Michet was waiting there, not able to hide the nervousness that she had. I later discovered she was worried I might have changed my mind and that I had just reassured her yesterday in order to be able to escape. She was so relieved when I turned up as promised.

She turned to the housekeeper and said: “Kassama, could we have some pel in here do you think? I feel we will be here for a good while.”

“Wait a moment! Yes, some pel would be nice — however, I have to get to my friends as soon as I can, as I haven't even told them my news yet, and it would be impolite to keep them waiting any longer. They will already be upset I didn't tell them yesterday.”

“Oh! Yes! That was mean-spirited of me to think I could keep you to myself.”

The disappointment was written clear on her face but I reassured her that I would stay a bell at least, and that eased her unhappiness somewhat. So we chatted and established a firm friendship, very much on a different footing than that which had gone before. We covered many subjects, and spoke more about the potential job she had for me. A thought occurred to me when we agreed that it would be an evening enterprise only.

I developed this idea by thinking aloud: “So this room would only need at most half a bell to clean up each morning. And it would take less than that to set up for the evenings. You say that you can seat four hands of diners at six different tables with space at the bar end for a hand or maybe six more of clients sitting before the serving counter. I have an idea …”

“Oh yes? What might that be?”

“Well it depends upon the timings … hmmmm … when do you think you might start?”

“Well Kassama and I have inspected the required plates and knives and spoons and pots and pans and so on and frankly they are not in good condition. I will need to send to Tranidor to get a matching set; I have determined that we would need at least four times the actual seatings of everything — to allow for several courses and for some to be being washed and so on. Then there would be a need for three dozen serving bowls and sauce bowls and so on and so forth. I should imagine that the supplier would require a good two or even more weeks to assemble the order in totality, so maybe I should have it shipped in two or even more batches. I would need to hire the reliable people to serve and to help in the kitchens. Kassama will have more and more of her time looking after Father. I think we are a hand or more of weeks away from serving meals. But we have drinking vessels aplenty and I think we could start serving drinks from as early as tomorrow, if only I had the staff … and the drinks!”

“Oh Maker! I can find the staff for you easily. But that was not what I had in mind. I happen to know that Master Jepp is wanting to find a reliable room for the start of some schooling for children. We could make THIS the schoolroom until the Community Hall is ready. For at least the next few weeks it wouldn't need to fit in around dining, but after that we could use it as a schoolroom for say the three bells from the noon bell. I'm sure that way, you could get some help for the setting up of your what did you call it? - the 'Salon'? - from the Assembly, if only a little financial help.” I was bubbling with enthusiasm when suddenly another thought cast a squashing blanket over it all. “Oh! I was forgetting — maybe the sudden descending of so many people would be disturbing to your father? Oh, I'm so sorry, I spoke without thinking!”

“Dearest Julina, it's what is so attractive about you, your enthusiasm and your clarity of thought. Please don't feel you have to apologise. Have you any other thoughts whirling in that head of yours?”

“Well there's forks. By the time you get the dining up and running, I think most of your local clients will already have a fork, but some of the temporary clients might not. When they find out how useful they are, they might well want to buy one or more for themselves (maybe some less scrupulous might even try to slip one away without you noticing). That all needs thinking about. Things like; do you have a stock here to sell, I think you could charge a little more than across the road at the forge, or do you have a system in place that will strictly control the number of them? And so on. Then there are other subjects like the ales and wines; do you brew your own, or do you make an arrangement with Mistress Yanda and maybe even Mistress Sukhana?”

She laughed. “Excellent thoughts! We have actually made arrangements with Mistress Sukhana as regards our drinks stocks, at least in the first instance. Kassama has a friend who will start brewing for us once we have the fresh equipment set up — and Mistress Sukhana has passed on some information she got from, would you believe, one of Mylady's guards about the addition of some herbs or some such. I do know that the wagoneers all are happy with the brew she serves in the Claw. But the forks thing. I hadn't considered that. We are expecting a first delivery of two hands of forks from Brydas' young man, Garbel. He has been busy all day every day trying to keep up with demand — he does just forks! We have decided upon a design on the handle which will be unique to us, although anyone actually stealing one could easily just take it downvalley and exchange it with someone else. Downvalley, they will never know what that design on the handle means. But your suggestion that maybe we have some to sell, now that is very much worthy of consideration. Maybe we'll have a second design for those. Yes, that might be good. Thank you. And a strict control, telling the girls to check they have the fork when they clear the dishes away. That's probably the best.”

And so our first real meeting went on, discussing the future mostly but also discussing people in town, and the developments, and who was doing what and I was shocked when we heard Kassama's overloud voice talking with Master Morden. So as not to upset him that someone now knew Michet's secret, we sprang up and apart, thus pretending to discuss the tiny details of how the enterprise might be run. I mentioned I was shocked; that was because I heard the bells and realised that just so much time had elapsed. Michen, for the switch had taken place as soon as we knew that his father was approaching, was also surprised — but grateful to have had so much time, I'm sure.

Master Morden came into the 'salon' then, and Michen immediately brought up the idea of using the room temporarily for a school room. Kassama was taken aback, but nodded her agreement as she thought about it.

“Aye, son, it would be good to have a real lot of young boys about the place for once. It'll bring some life into the old place. Go with it. A good idea of yours.”

Miche ... n, I and Kassama all looked at each other but we chose not to argue with anything. We would let the truth come out in its own way.

And so it came time for me to depart, determined to go and find the other two of my friends and tell them all my news. The trouble with that was I would have to go in two different directions to achieve it, so I decided to go once more to Kelly's, ask her to go to Gyth and bring her to Kelly's home while I went that little bit further to call on Master Jepp, and then go down to Molly's, gathering her in. We could all discuss everything then in Kelly's sitting room.

I walked up to the bellringers' home and put the first part of my plan in motion — Kellonika was happy to go and get Gythy and I went across to the Scribe's home, where the door was opened by Mistress Shantoona. This is where the first part of my plan went wrong. I was told that Master Jepp was attending an Assembly meeting, this time held in the room down to the Claw.

Now I was in a quandary — did I go across the stream, the quickest way to Molleena's, or did I go quickly to the Claw to give the Assembly the news that a temporary schoolroom had been found? I decided to try to get the information to the Assembly whilst they were all together. As I went across there, I wondered how Master Bezan was going to be present — wasn't he up with Deegrum at the dam?

I got there and entered the courtyard, wondering which way to go to find the place they were meeting. Just then I caught sight of Parrier and I skipped over to him to ask. This was a mistake on several levels. To start with, there was a chorus from the other lads working there who were very quick to jump on the excuse to tease, which embarrassed Parrier and made him a little angry. So when the opportunity came to try to belittle me, he grabbed it with both hands.

“Who do you think you are? You are just a girl — you can't go barging in to the Assembly meeting. You think you are so high and mighty, huh? Just because you are going to try to ride a frayen?”

“Parry, what are you on about? You are being very unfair. All I'm asking you is where the meeting is. You seem to think I have done something wrong. I was pleased to see a friendly face and asked a simple question. What have I ever done to you? If you must know, I have been asked by the Assembly to do a little something for them, and I just wanted to report back to them. They need the information to make a decision. So do I have to ask you again, or shall I find someone more polite?”

The other lads earned a severe glare from me as they started to laugh again.

“And you lot should have more respect too. It is none of your business to make fun of Parrier about his girlfriend. Not that I AM his girlfriend, but people like you can make it easy or hard for a colleague. I would have thought you would be better off learning from him and his skills, rather than making him angry with you. I am ashamed for you.”

It was such an advantage to have been a mother, even if I was still a virgin! The lads all looked a little abashed and returned to their tasks. Parry told me what I wanted to know, at last, and I made my way over there. Inside mind you, I was extremely nervous, wondering how I could break into their meeting. Various schemes rushed through my mind, each more outlandish than the last. I summoned up the courage to make an entrance and took a deep breath …......

“Julina! What are you doing here?”

“Master Bezan! Oh thank the Maker! I wanted to tell Master Jepp than I had found somewhere to have a temporary schoolroom. The 'Salon' as s... as er ... he calls it which will be Master Michen's evening drinking 'club'. I have his and his father's permission. I thought that maybe the Assembly should know.”

“Excellent news. I will pass it on for you. Have you any idea who might do some of the teaching?”

“Well, I have experience of teaching absolute beginners their letters, and Mistress Epp was my teacher, along with my mother. So there we have two of us already. But I need to learn too, particularly to number. I can do the basic lettering, but have little idea of numbering. And I need much more time to learn proper spelling and so forth.”

“That would be a start then. Someone like you could get all the students up to the same basic standard before a proper teacher, if you will permit me to say that, takes over. I'll make the suggestions for you. Now, if you will forgive me, I am a few moments late. Your Deegrum showed me a lot. I don't wish to delay my colleagues any longer than necessary.”

“Of course! I'm glad I didn't have to go in there myself. I was a bit scared of doing so.”

We both laughed about it, and I am not sure if he actually realised that I was being very serious. Nevertheless, I had got my message to the Assembly and it was now up to them. I set out, at long last, with just one objective — find Molly and finally, after nearly two days, give her my news.

… … …

I departed once again from the Claw, crossed the Main Street diagonally to the Bell and took the passage next to it. Skirting the paddock behind the Bell, I crossed the uneven ground as I headed diagonally across the slope down towards the stream. I waved to Mistress GB as I went past her house, seeing her look up from her loom as I went by. She waved back, and I passed on towards Molly's house.

Only to find no-one there.

Grrr. I had walked around a mark already to no result.

I trudged my way back to Kelly's to be met with a chorus of voices — including Molly's — asking where I had been and had I got lost and so on and so forth. I felt my temper rising and nearly stormed out, but then I realised with a shock that my call was due on the morrow so I just screeched “Shut up for a moment you lot.”

“Oh! I forgot.” said Molly. “It's tomorrow isn't it? Back off girls.”

“Thank you, Molly.”

Kelly and Gyth both slapped their foreheads and flashed me an apologetic smile. This meant that we also had a reminder that Kelly would be in 4 days time and Gyth the day after that. Always a stormy nearly 2 weeks in our coterie. Molly was right in the middle of what would be otherwise our quietest period, so you could say we were cursed to only have a few 'normal' days all together.

But at long, long last, I managed to talk to all my closest friends about my changed circumstances and about a need to plan for all our futures — we all becoming adults within the next two months.

Molly's compulsions were not at a strong level that day, so we had a good chat and came to some plans. Providing, of course, we received parental approval, we decided that we would be the team that staffed Michen's. Molly has always wanted to learn some more about cooking, and felt that she would be best kept away from most of the men by helping me in the kitchen — the other two would be the servers in the salon. We would, of course, require the permission of the owners, but I was sure that was effectively a formality.

Then we discussed the school, and all of them were so enthusiastic, and claimed that they knew many others who were keen to get some education. It seemed that half the valley were waiting impatiently for it to start, some adults too — but the keenest appeared to be the females. It was as if there was something in the air — some deep desire for something to look forward to for the girl population. I hadn't thought of it like that before, but the earlier meeting with Parrier suddenly sprang to mind and I related it to the others, who now included Mistress Malet as well. And we all suddenly understood how very important some education would be, that it was not just a childish game, and we had a taste of the battle ahead to get some cognisance of female abilities. I was suddenly dizzy with the possibilities and the enormous responsibilities that would come. I suddenly felt inadequate for the task.

My fears must have shown themselves on my face as suddenly Malet gave me a huge hug and the others piled in too, which was strengthening and very welcome.

“It's not the right day to be fretting about this. Come back in a week, and we'll help reaffirm what a good thing you are doing. And we can comfort Kellonika and Gythy at the same time.”

I think the fact that Mistress Malet knew about our cycles was the most surprising thing of all that came out of that brief interlude!

I was then surprised as Molly slowly thought aloud: “There's something about the schooling … I have something in mind … something to arrange … for someone else … now who asked about schooling? … There were the usual crowd … we were up by … AAAAH! … the children from Blackstone Vale … they want schooling too … they would have to come down and stay somewhere … they couldn't travel all this way and back every day … I'm sure we could find them somewhere to stay … but they couldn't stay here in Town forever, their families would probably need them up in the Vale!”

And so we discussed things like separate classes based on abilities, and somehow coping with faster and slower learners which led onto the consideration of extra help outside the school. After it was all over, Malet took me to one side and whispered that all this would have to be reported to the Women's Circle too, so she would try to call a meeting soon. She suggested that maybe the Vale children could accompany me on my yet-to-be-arranged trip to Tranidor, and pick up the basic knowledge that way — this made me think even harder. Oh Maker! I began to wish I could return to the simple life of a housewife, and said so, much to Malet's amusement.

“Once the felk is out of the bag, there's no getting it back in!”

I had to ask her to explain that as I had heard of felkis, but didn't really know what they were.

“We don't have any up here in Blackstone — I'm told that there are none north of Haligo. They are a smallish animal, maybe the size of a dooclor, a little smaller, but nothing like one. Many feel they are particularly ugly and their hard skin is very lumpy. A felk however has a very smooth way of moving — like something creeping up on something else. It is very quick and uses the front pair of its three pairs of legs almost like we use our arms. It likes to play with its prey, and it eats baby avians, muridis and smaller labris. It seems that it doesn't like the higher altitudes, so it is found downvalley rather than up here. In fact, I heard that down near Haligo, they can be found close to the river, but never up on the road which is only some dozen of strides higher! Felkis can be easily caught the first time as they are so trusting, but they hate being cooped up. The preferred way of carrying them was in a sack, but it was never for long, as the sharp claws would shred the sacks quite rapidly. And an angry felk is something to be avoided. They would fight to the death to prevent being put into a sack for a second time. This gave rise to the expression 'Once the felk is out of the bag, there’s no getting it back in!' ”

We all thanked her for the information, never having imagined anything quite like that could be true. I saw Gyth thinking very hard after that, and indeed Kelly tapped me on the shoulder and nodded in her direction, the question loud in her eyes. I shrugged back to show I had no idea.

We talked on about the changes that we knew and that we suspected were coming to our town, and how to make the best of them. Kelly remembered our earlier decision about being the staff for Master Michen and asked her mother for permission which was only granted when she knew that I would be involved, which was a compliment to me but also a burden — it was as if her mother didn't trust Kelly unless I was there. So I knew enough to bring that point up there and then so it didn't fester like an untreated wound. I think the other girls suddenly started growing up properly just then when they realised that their mostly carefree existence up to now had not given them much training for the responsibilities of adulthood and parenthood. They were all very quiet and thoughtful.

So we summarised our discussion of earlier to Malet, who also added her snippets of information about the current changes taking place. Which led us to all go out and walk down the newly widened track leading to the coal quarries.

Back before our Baroness arrived, the road that led to our town went up to the top of the town and ended in the flattened camping area that spread out to either side from the head of the road. The area was where we usually all met for the rare town events, and was 'crowned' if you like by the Cistern which was the only building to the north of it. A small track led off to the left, the west, of the Cistern to the untidy place where we all scraped out the coal we used for fuel. It went winding on up to and round the head of the Bray valley, starting back down the far side of the valley, and meeting the track that led up to the high pastures and reportedly to that place with the funny name — the Stone Sea.

Mylady had declared that our quarry would be forever reserved for the townsfolk and therefore the main quarry had been opened farther along, before the coal seam rose too far above the track to be uncomfortable to work. We went down there and were amazed at the changes that had taken place.

For a start, it was no longer a track worn by the townsfolk's feet — it was a proper road. Wide enough for three wagons side-by-side and lined on the hill side with a proper wooden sidewalk. At our quarry, it had all been tidied up and there were at least a dozen metal bins there, all full of coal and mined already to be easy for us to collect — no more hammers and rods required for us. We just needed to walk up there with our buckets or drays, and use a shovel to fill our requirements. A miner standing there explained that they took it in turns each morning to ensure that the bins were filled — it rarely took more than half a bell to ensure our supply was ready to just carry away. We learned from him that it was the Steward's idea and I could see the military training behind the idea — but it was still a very good and considerate idea.

We walked on to the busy second quarry. In all truth, it was more than a quarry, we could see a clear tunnel leading into darkness, heavily supported on the sides and the roof. In the sort of entrance chamber into which we had gently walked, there was a huge pile of planks and another of wedges. This was obviously their supply of further support planks that would be used as they tunnelled ever onwards.

Down one side of the tunnel was a set of parallel wooden strips, maybe two feet apart, held rigid by wooden planks that went along the floor under the strips — these strips were perhaps 2 thumbs wide, and 4 high. Where they ended there was a big block, and a lot of coal dust and pieces of coal lying around. I was very intrigued by them, my brain straining to work out what they were for. We five were pushed to one side, politely but firmly, as a dray was brought up, pulled by a frayen, which was quickly unharnessed and the dray was pushed backwards until it got to the end of the wooden thingies. I asked the workers what the wooden things were.

“We call them 'rails', Mistress. The coal is quarried deep in the tunnel and loaded into a sort of dray wagon. This is a container on wheels which run on the rails, it is a lot easier to wheel on rails than across the uneven ground. When it gets to these blocks at the end, the container body can be swung up and the contents tipped into these drays — two of the rail wagons fill one dray here. We then take them out to that platform at the side of the road and tip the dray contents into a wagon parked on the roadway below. Four or five drays fill a wagon. One of the rail wagons arrives here every ten moments or so.”

I turned to the others and said: “Shall we?” and was almost deafened by the agreement. One of the workers suggested we stood over to the other side, leaving plenty of room for them to do their job. He did warn us that there would be some coal dust flying around.

There was suddenly a ringing — I looked up into the corner and there espied a handbell suspended from the roof by a nail through its handle, down near where the handle joined the bell itself. There was a thin rope attached to the end of the handle — someone up the tunnel was pulling the rope to sound the bell.

“Ah, mistresses! A rail wagon is on its way. That's what the bell means. I pull this rope here to let them up the tunnel know that someone is here waiting for it.” He matched his actions to his words.

Soon, we all heard a dull rumbling and some funny clicks, increasing in noise. Something was approaching, that was definitely certain.

With surprising suddenness, a vehicle appeared, a small version of a wagon, but running on six wheels. A big heap of black coal was in its belly as it crashed into the blocks at the end with some violence, a violence that was quite frightening, if truth be told.

The workers rushed quickly forward and simply unclipped a fastening on either side at the back of the little wagon. Then, one on either side, they simply grabbed the belly of the wagon, and with huge grunts of effort, they raised it. The back edge lifted up, since the belly was hinged at the front. The coal poured noisily into the empty dray, and in only a few short heartbeats, the load was transferred.

The worker that had explained things to us a little earlier was revealed as a big liar.

The cloud of coal dust was HUGE — it wasn't, by any description, just 'a bit'. We all rushed out into the open air, coughing and banging our clothes. The workers laughed uproariously. I marked them down for a slow and lingering death. But I had a thought trying to form itself — something to do with what we had seen in the mine. Obviously this distraction took away the power from my glare, otherwise those men would have been melting into little heaps of fat.

Malet, however, suddenly started to laugh. Between giggles, she got out enough of an explanantion: “We can't … hehehe … get any dirtier … hehehe … so let's … hehehe … go and investigate … hehehe … everything!”

We realised that she was right, so with a cloud of giggles from us all, we left and crossed over the road to see the next 'tipping' station. There was a narrow parallel track about two or three strides lower with quite a steep approach to the tipping point - the departure route was level up to where it joined the main track maybe fifty strides away. Obviously the empty wagons could negotiate the steep approach and the laden ones had no slope to negotiate.

We walked on, towards the head of the valley. The track here too had disappeared under a new roadway, but this roadway was only as wide as one wagon and there was no sidewalk. Looking ahead there was a large circle where we watched a wagon turn round and start back towards us. There were several other wagons there, waiting patiently for something. They appeared to be laden with rocks and earth. There were two hands or even a dozen of men mostly standing around doing nothing next to an untidy pile of implements, so we assumed they were waiting for someone or something.

Letting our gazes wander further, we could see the preparation for the extension of the road as it looped round the head of the valley and started properly downhill on the other side of the stream. We could see two smallholdings close by the route, and there were people busy in both. Following down the valley we could see a cluster of workers and wagons very near the stream if not actually in it. They were a good two or three (or so) marks distant, so we couldn't see exactly what they were doing, but there were various signs, in the form of areas that had been flattened or filled, all the way down to them that indicated this would be the new bridge and the Loop Road would be built on the far side until it recrossed the stream there.

We walked as far as the circle mentioned before and wondered why they had done it just there. Looking around, Molly drew our attention to some very recent workings that climbed up from the roadway to the coal seam that was high above us by now. It was Gyth who pointed out that the coal seam was at its highest point up there, climbing up to this point from the Town side; a kink in the visible seam took it slightly downhill from there as it headed into the hillside . The seam itself had been gradually but noticeably thinning as it went so, at the highest point, it was a little less than half the height it was at the first two quarries. Kelly reminded me of what Master Bezan had told us last evening, that Master Yarling had a theory he wanted to test, and that involved going into the seam at that point there. It was good to put an actual viewing on top of the report we had had and we all felt better for it.

We headed back towards Town, Gyth stating that she wanted to inspect the area across from the main mine in a bit more detail, if we were saying that that is going to be the main living area for the miners. How were they going to eat, bathe, sleep etc. etc. etc? That thought made me curious too. But I was still aware of the question trying to get out, so I started to concentrate on that. When we got back there, I checked that it was alright for me to go back into the entrance part, in an attempt to jolt the thought loose.

Jolt! That was it! Why didn't the jolt of the little wagon hitting the blocks at the end make it jump off the, what did they call them, oh yes, 'rails'? I could understand that the weight kept the wagon down, but what was preventing the wagon from simply slipping sideways off the rails? So I asked the workers there who looked at me strangely that a mere girl should ask such a question. But they did answer (so perhaps it was lucky they hadn't been melted by my glare earlier).

“The wheels are on things called axles” (as if I didn't know that already) “and are spaced exactly as far apart as the wooden rails are.” (Again, a big unsurprise) “When looked at from the outside, the wheels are round” (!!!!!, a red mist started to rise in my mind, which was noticed by Malet and Kelly) “about a man's hand-width across from one side of the circle to the other. But when looked at from the INSIDE, then they are bigger across by about a thumb on each side. This larger circle then runs down the insides of the wooden rails and prevents sideways movement.”

I gritted my teeth and breathed deep to suppress my anger, which I could acknowledge to myself was a little inappropriate, which sort of made me angrier in a way. “I see, I think. Thank you. How does the wagon get back up the slope into the tunnel?”

“Oh that's easy! There is a rope attached to the back. I ring the handbell at their end once more and they pull it back up.”

“So there is only the one wagon?”

“Well actually, there are two. There is a complicated arrangement of the rails” (implying that a mere girl wouldn't be able to understand this — my temper began to flare again) “up in the tunnel so they can feed one or the other of the wagons onto the rails that lead to here. The rails themselves actually go all the way to where they are digging the coal out.”

Kelly and Malet snorted in derision. “So there is a way for the wagons to pass each other — a way the rails can be arranged?”

“Of course. I just said so, didn't I?”

“And you have to haul the empty wagon back up? By hand?”

“Aye, Mistresses,” said the man a little hesitantly.

“Trust a man not to think of a simpler and more efficient way.” And with that they turned and stomped off, leaving Molly, Gyth and I behind. I didn't dare look confused because that would have told the men that we hadn't a clue what Kelly and Malet meant. Just then the bell rang, and the other two scurried out with little screams but I stayed there and waited for the wagon to arrive.

The same rumbling with clicks. The same big violent crash.

The men went to do their thing when I begged them to wait just a few heartbeats. They obliged me and I dashed forward to inspect the wheels and saw what they meant. But the change from the two different sizes of circles was abrupt, not gradual as I had imagined. I thanked them and ran out before I got another covering of black dust. They did their best to cover me again, mind you. Their faces were burned into my memory and revenge WILL be sweet.

Across the road, the others were gathered and looking at things and pointing at things and so on, so I went across to them to join in with their discussions. I saw the areas that had been flattened, ready for the miners' accommodations to be set up. There were three levels prepared, each a half circle. The levels were joined to each other by two wide ramps that cut the half circles into three equal areas. These ramps were just wide enough for a wagon. The upper level was at the height of the loading track we had seen before and was about thirty strides from one side to the other. The next level was two strides lower, I could judge that fairly accurately by seeing the height of one of the wagons being used down there compared to the upper surface. This level was about a cast wide as its circle was that much greater than the one above. The third level I guessed to be much the same, two strides lower and a cast or so wider.

There was a final level that was NOT a half circle — instead a number of simple circles all of their own. I numbered a hand of these. Again they were two strides or so lower, and evenly spaced around the edge of the lowest half circle. To each of these, there were strange channels cut all the way down the slope from the level where we were standing, where they all originated from one point. I was very intrigued as to what these could be.

A wagon laden with cut stone appeared from the town, and we had to move as there was another travelling in the opposite direction. On the stone-filled wagon, next to the driver, was a young man I recognised as Mostar, and there were three more young lads I recognised sitting in the wagon's belly, their feet dangling over the hanging tailgate. It seemed that most of the lads of the town had found employment of some sort with this amount of construction going on. I knew that Master Brydas had employed several, and also Masters Blandel, Haldik, Rostan, Torin and Waldan.

This wagon was followed quite closely by another, again with a trio of lads and young adults, which was obviously on its way to build a further extension to the Loop Road. Ah, that was what those workers and wagons were waiting for! A burly man was riding a frayen after them — still using an old saddle I could see. The way he was, the attitude he gave off, told us that he was obviously the foreman of this work. Suddenly, I recognised him as having been one of the men being bossy and involved in the works down to the Claw. I turned and then nudged all the others into looking down the road to the turning circle, where previous idleness was replaced by a busy-looking bustle of sorting out the implements. We smiled knowingly at each other.

Continuing our somewhat leisurely, but very inquisitive, way back towards Town, we passed the Town's quarry — again remarking on how thoughtful the Steward had been - and were nearly back to the campingplace. On our right, across the roadway from the Cistern and across the west arm of the campingplace from Kelly's and Malet's home, were two flattened areas, not one as I had assumed from my previous brief glimpses. The two areas were very close together, so I felt I could be forgiven for my wrong assumption. The same channels as we had seen at the miners' area were dug into the heart of these plots. Where the channel stopped abruptly at the roadway, we could see a stone-lined tunnel that led under the surface in the direction of the Cistern.

We pondered about the usage to be made of these cleared areas and the significance of the stone tunnel, when an overheard, or maybe it had been discussed, remark popped the answer into my head.

“Ah! These must be the places allocated to the new public bath-house and the planned kitchen/restaurant building. It makes sense to have them near the source of the water. Which is what that stone tunnel will be — it will direct water to the houses here. And that must be what they are doing down to the miners' area. Those channels we saw, will be water supply channels. Stone-lined, as we saw on that approaching wagon, when we were down there.”

“Of course! Well reasoned, 'Lina. I think I shall have to accompany you more often, I learn so much!” said Malet kindly, but I was surprised by the depth of feeling that came from the others as they agreed with Malet, who continued: “Well, talking of baths, I suggest we pop back to my house, get some water on and then have a joint bath to rid ourselves of this wretched dust. We could find an urchin to run round to each one's homes to fetch a fresh dress for you three. I'll pay for him to do it. My education today has been worth it. And I will find some small pastries or something for us to eat while we take some pel. Come girls, I think it's time to shake off the dirt.”

We all cheered at that news and headed off across the campingplace towards their front door. We were halfway across, when someone came up to me and interrupted our progress.

“Well met, Mistress Julina.”

“Well met, Master Wainer. Ladies, this is our new shoemaker who is temporarily staying with Master Waldan and his wife, Pomma. Master Wainer, may I present Mistress Malet, wife of Master Zytan, and their daughter, Kellonika. They are the bellringers of our town. Then we have Mistresses Molleena and Gythy, who are not related, they are from two different families, but, just like Kellonika and I, they will achieve their majority in the next few weeks.”

“Mistress Malet, Mistresses Kellonika, Molleena and Gythy. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance. Er … if I may be so bold, you all seem to be a little … er, dusty, if I might put it like that?”

Malet laughed as she replied for us: “Master Wainer, we made a visit to the coal mine to see more exactly what it was all these miners are doing. We were fooled into standing around until a cloud of coal dust hit us. It afforded the men some fun, and has done us no damage, although I know not what damage may yet be done to our clothing. We are on our way now to repair some of that damage.”

“Then Mistresses all, I shall not stand between you and your cleansing!” He bowed to us as we twittered meaningless noises in reply.

Malet had an interested look on her face as her eyes followed him walking away. “Hmm, that one has a twinkle in his eye. He might bear watching.” Kelly and I rolled our eyes at each other and we all continued our giggling way.

---

Things start to fall into place as Julina gets more appointments, but things are happening at a far greater speed than anticipated

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

Some two bells later, we were freshened both inside and out and it was time for us to venture forth once more. We had decided to go down to the works where my new house was to be, but calling on various destinations as we made our way down the Main Street.

I had one in mind particularly; I wanted to call in to Michen's, ostensibly to see the room, but I was hoping that I could run the girls past Kassama's experienced eye. I knew that she would need to approve of the staff, even if she had little to do with them, otherwise working life could be most unpleasant if there were any nasty undercurrents.

So the six of us, despite Kelly's best efforts to dissuade Payner and her mother, went out and about once more. Payner wanted to join in after he heard all the tales from what had happened to us earlier. Malet, I think, would have bowed out gracefully, knowing that we four girls wanted to have some girly time, but she felt that with Payner there as well, she could be shown to be our chaperone and she could also — perhaps — continue to learn something. She was also very intrigued by the private salon I had tried to describe. It had been agreed with the two bellringing brothers that they could manage the bells until the evening meal, so there was (sadly) no reason to deny Payner a place in our little party. It was a less giggly group that set out on our afternoon trip. It struck me forcibly just how the group dynamic could change just because there was a boy with us.

We must have chosen the most awkward moment of the day, as there were wagons going in both directions, squeezing past each other with very little clearance. It would take us an age to be able to gain the sidewalk on the far side of the road, so we decided to use the one on our side and cross when the traffic was less. We made it down only a few buildings, to the Forge to be accurate, before we found our first interruption.

A large group of men were standing in the entrance to Master Brydas' workshops, just by the low walls made for testing the trusses. Captain Bleskin himself, Mylady's Steward in our town, was standing with his back to us as the others faced him; he was speaking as he waved a piece of paper in front of himself.

“… and we have our very first volunteer Guildsman arriving shortly. He has been trained by Master Hurdin himself in the arts of glassmaking, particularly the new developments suggested by Mylady. He feels that there will be much demand here as the town grows and has applied for permission to set up here. His name is Pocular. Therefore, I suggest we direct him in the first instance here, Master Brydas — if it pleases you. I understand there to be some degree of integration required in this new method …” he broke off as several of the men's heads were looking at us.

It was Master Bezan who spoke out: “Mistress Julina! Well met! We were on our way to find you.”

“Masters! My goodness, there are so many of you! Well met Masters Brydas, Jepp, Bezan, Yarling, Waldan. Your honour, Master Steward.” I said as he turned and we all dropped a curtsey. “If I might name my companions — Mistress Malet …” I completed the tedious formalities, when I knew that more than half of them knew who we all were — but while there was a possibility that one of them or one of us did not know everyone, then the entire list had to be gone through. “May I enquire as to why you may have been searching for me?”

“The Assembly would like to thank you for your assistance and have agreed to go ahead with the schoolroom you suggested. We would like yourself and Mistress Epp to attend there tomorrow at the sixth bell in the day if that's convenient? Master Michen and Mistress Epp have agreed and we just wanted your confirmation. We also wanted to thank you for the introduction of Master Bezan and Master Deegrum. We now have sufficient information to make solid plans.”

“Thank you, Master Jepp.”

Another voice took up the conversation: “I am given to understand that you have made some other suggestions and been generally very helpful. I thank you on behalf her Ladyship. With such helpful and intelligent ideas, I am certain that Blackstone will be such a successful town, and a place that people will want to come to to live.”

“Master Steward, er ... Your Honour, I am quite ordinary. I do not know how to react to such lavish praise.”

“Your humility is a credit to yourself and your parents. Thank you once more.”

I tried to hide behind the others, I was blushing so hard. But Master Waldan wouldn't let me escape quite so easily: “Mistress Julina, your saddle is finished, just the final polish to do. Will you come by for it, or should I deliver it to your home?”

“Er, Master Waldan, we have come to an arrangement with Mistress Sukhana at the Claw and our beasts are now stabled there. Perhaps the saddle could be delivered there? Please? There is a lad working there called Parrier. He would know what to do with it.”

“So shall it happen, Mistress.”

After the seemingly endless list of mutual partings, we eventually managed to escape — or so it seemed at that instant. We were just moving away when Malet suddenly snapped her fingers as she remembered something and whirled round once more, getting her words in just as the Steward was taking breath to continue his words.

“Master Yarling? Have you perchance a moment or two for me?”

Everyone in both parties turned round to listen to this conversation.

“Mistress Malet?”

“I believe that you are in charge of the mining operations?”

“That is correct, Mistress.”

“Well, this morning …” she went on to explain about our visit to the main mine, before asking her question at the end. “So your man there told me that it is possible for the wagons on rails to be switched onto other rails. Is this so?”

“It most certainly is. The curves required have to be gentle, but nevertheless, it IS possible.”

“As you are aware, Master, we are of the bellringer family here and we maintain the timepieces — not just sanddroppers but also the main clock. Well the clock works by weight — the weight pulling downwards makes the counterweights go upwards, and makes all sorts of things turn — so why don't you use a two-wagon system so that the filled wagon descends, and as it is descending, it pulls the empty wagon upwards? You would just need some bit in the middle where the two wagons can pass each other. Or you could have two parallel tracks. With the exact length of rope, the empty wagon will always appear at the loading place exactly as the full wagon appears at the unloading place.”

There was a dead silence for a good half a moment until Master Bezan burst out laughing, saying: “This place is just something else. Mylady MUST have sprinkled some strange dust around. What a simple and yet very effective idea.”

I think everyone there understood the idea that Malet had proposed, and we all realised at the same time that output could be almost doubled so simply.

Finally, we managed to part; the men all turned back to listen to the rest of what the Steward had to say, as we went on.

Our party then took the earliest opportunity to cross the road to the other sidewalk before turning down to go to Michen's. When we got there, I checked through the window and, sure enough, Master Morden was there, mouth open and head hanging. I pointed him out to the others and they all understood the need to be quiet, which left me with the difficult choice of how hard to rap on the front door.

I tried my best, and must have been successful — the old man had stirred but not wakened. I saw Kassama poke her head round the window frame to see who was there. I think she was quite shocked at the size of our party, but she acknowledged us and signed that I was to take everyone straight to the Salon quietly when she opened the door. I, probably unnecessarily, conveyed that message to the others, and they all showed their understanding. Kassama had by then opened the door and we all tip-toed along the passage to the Salon.

I heard Kassama talking with our future boss (I hoped) in an upstairs room and there was just one moment when her voice got sufficiently loud for us to hear: “... to see Master Michen ...” and what seemed to be a reply with a tinge of disappointment. I understood the implied message and that it would be a little while before the masculine version appeared.

I let the others look round the Salon first, not wanting to spoil their first impressions by imposing my thoughts. I did notice that there was an obvious difference between the way we women looked at it as opposed to Payner, who was the first to break the silence, but in a voice little more than a whisper, which made me smile.

“Yes, this is a nice room to spend an evening. Not the hustle and bustle and hubbub of a public room — er, or so I have heard,” he finished quickly, stealing a look at his mother from the corner of his eye. “I have heard that our new Sheriff has had to step in twice on both of the last two nights.”

Malet shot him a glance, and I knew that the two of them were going to have a serious chat when they got back home in private. Then she continued, also in a lower voice than normal: “This is a peaceful room — I can understand the attraction. I would change a few things, some of the furniture in other places and …” She trailed off as she started to imagine what she would do.

Another, unexpected, voice piped up: “That cupboard has to go — the sideboard should be over there. I assume that that door in the corner is the service entrance? The walls need a freshening of colour, just a little paler than this. Pick out the shelves in a little darker hue.

“The door opens into the room, which removes a certain amount of space. A curtain or a sliding door would be better, at least make the door open outwards. But draughts might be a problem for diners.

“I assume that the clients would come in the way we did, so there will need to be a doorman at the street door. The clients would need to have coat hooks in the corridor or have a derobing room. I think I need to see the serving side as well, as that affects what storage area would be required in here.”

We all looked at Gyth in a certain amount of astonishment. We never knew that she had such an eye for detail — and we certainly never knew that she could be so assertive. Just then, the main door opened and Kassama entered with Master Michen. Michet was still there as she peered out and smiled at me, but the others would never have picked up on that.

I performed the introductions yet again and everyone did their bit before I explained why we had come — well, with the exception of why Payner was with us. I think he was vaguely embarrassed at having no reason to be there other than inquisitiveness. Kassama and Master Michen picked up very quickly on the crush that Payner had for me, and on the fact that he was a bit of a hindrance to our party. The two of them, however, came up with a scheme that afforded us some temporary relief.

“Kassama, I must show our visitors the facilities here and you have to look after Father — and yet, I am supposed to cross to the Forge to pick up our promised forks — I assume they are now ready.” He caught both Kassama's and my eyes, and subtly indicated Payner as well.

Kassama caught on first and said: ”I regret Master that I can not leave your father for that length of time. I could I suppose hope to attract an urchin …”

These were all the clues I needed to be able to say: “Oh Payner? Could you run across to the Forge for us? That way we can be shown around, and Master Michen has one less chore to think about. I would be so grateful.”

The poor lad had no choice really, and he received detailed instructions from Master Michen about who to ask for, what to check and so on and so forth. He was torn between pleasing us and gaining credit that way, and missing out on something that might be interesting. His puppy eyes looked at me as he left us. I made sure that I kept a neutral outlook.

I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when he went.

Kassama left us all together but her eyes told me she wanted to chat with me alone at some point. I nodded agreement. Then Master Michen showed us, well showed the others, the rooms and kitchens and so on. I told them what I had thought about the water usage in the toilets and even got a round of applause from the others and promises that they would do something similar in their homes. The women all approved of the separation between the genders there, and I could see a calculating look again on the face of Malet.

Kelly and Molly expressed their desire to come and work here and I saw that Master Michen was prepared to accept them, but was sensible enough not to say so immediately. He was positive in his encouragement and promised an answer in a day or two. He turned to Gythy with a question in his face.

“Master Michen, I too would be delighted to earn some coin here, but I have some suggestions to make if I might be so bold. I hasten to say that I am not saying that these MUST be done before I come to work, but I offer them as suggestions.”

“I have learned much from Julina here, so I will never ignore sensible suggestions. I promise to hear them, and will use my judgement as to whether or not to implement them. So perhaps you could give me your ideas and suggestions and we can all discuss them?”

Gyth then proceeded to repeat what she had said before and added some extra details and suggestions for the kitchens and the toilets. Malet also made some suggestions which seemed to be sensible. We were all amazed at Gyth's design ideas, and the speed with which she had formed those ideas. She also incorporated some to help the transitions required for the proposed double use of the main room. It was evident that Master Michen was impressed and also wanted to discuss them in more detail, unhampered by the informality of this occasion. They asked if I could also be present at a future meeting so I suggested we did it after the schoolroom chats scheduled for the sixth bell on the morrow. They both agreed.

Payner chose that moment to return clutching the precious bundle in one hand. We all gathered round and he basked in the attention he was getting — but he was aware enough that he should ask Master Michen for permission to show us the items. Permission was granted and we all oohed and aahed over actually holding a fork! We inspected them minutely, appreciating the work and the weight and the balance and everything else.

We finally departed again after Malet had made it clear that Master Michen and Kassama would be held responsible for the well-being of any of the staff. This adamant statement was accepted entirely by both of them, Kassama having returned as she heard the start of our leavetaking.

Thus it was that we, again as a group, walked a few paces down towards the Claw, our objectives being to see the progress on the building plot.

The short trip was interrupted in a few ways, of course.

We passed the Watch Office and acknowledged the Sheriff as he came up the slope and turned in towards the building's entrance.

The next building was (and still is at the time of writing, at least) the Steward's House, and we were all delighted to see Captain Bleskin emerge with the old Steward, Master Mesulkin, leaning heavily on his arm; none of us had seen Master Mesulkin since he was helped from Trogan's prison when Mylady arrived. This involved another round of introductions which I managed to perform, but with an increasing irritation. Malet rested her hand gently on my forearm and that helped. I knew it was because of the impending call, but that just doesn't help in those circumstances. Again Master Mesulkin had some embarrassingly nice things to say, having learned of events from Captain Bleskin, of course.

Next building; Valley Messenger Service. Again we went through the irritating introductions as we met the Agent, Master Selden talking with Master Wainer in front of the door. Malet by now realised that I was getting unreasonably incensed.

But the lack of progress, and the insistent puppy eyes of Payner, and the continual chat from five different directions were getting on my nerves.

Finally --- FINALLY --- we turned down the passage on the north side of the Claw and headed for the paddock at the back. I was talking about something to Gyth who was just behind my left shoulder when my glance looked forward to the site. I gasped and stopped so abruptly that the others behind me all collided.

What a transformation in less than a day!

The paddock fence was replaced and rebuilt. I had expected that. It was the rest that was amazing. The building plot had been entirely cleared, plowed and flattened. There was even a team of workers being instructed by a fussy-looking little man as they planted things at the west end; some companions, noticeably being instructed at great volume by the same man, were planting some baby trees in clumps in a hand of fenced off areas in the middle of the paddock.

However, to make you understand what else had happened, I need first to describe a bit of the design. The house was to be based upon an open courtyard; the bathhouse, kitchen, store rooms and toilets to form two sides (east and south) of the far end of the plot whilst the north side was to be open, letting the sun in. The store rooms had been positioned in the south-east corner which would be the coolest. The west side of the small courtyard was to be the start of the house, being split into two rooms, a small private sitting room for Father and Swayga, and the dining room, designed to be closest to the kitchen. Deliveries would be made to the courtyard, of course, so a track sturdy enough for a wagon and a place for that wagon to turn round would be required. By keeping the bathhouse and the toilets and the kitchen together, then water could be delivered to just that end rather than requiring a more complicated arrangement.

A few moments looking at the site, it became clear just how it was being worked. There was a team who prepared the ground and the foundation stones, then another team who built the base, and finally a team who erected the walls.

For the wall all along the east end was already up, with a gap where there would be a door to the outside! There was also the start of the two walls at either end of it, obviously to provide a little stability, a diagonal brace running across the angle for extra support (these were obviously temporary as they were at exactly the wrong height to be able to use the room).

The courtyard surface was all done along with the track and the turning place. The base of the house and the floor was down already in the kitchens, bathrooms, store room and toilet areas. Just the base was down under the dining room and the parents' sitting room.

Solid stone pillars were being driven into the ground under what would be the rest of the house and a pile of thick planks, obviously to be the thick base boards, was waiting to be fixed. Next to it was a pile of finished floorboards and next to that was a pile of flat wooden sheets, made of planks overlapping, and some with holes in them. Finally, there was a stack of what I recognised with a shock were corner pieces, already built, two wall elements already joined at the corner.

No wonder the erection was going so quickly.

A word sprang into my mind, a word I associated with Master Bezan for some reason. These were what they called 'modules', if memory served.

As we watched, a group of men came to the pile of wooden sheets and lifted them up one by one, checking each as they did so. They found the one they wanted and they carried it over to the kitchen area. They measured from the end wall, consulted a diagram, measured once again and simply marked the floor. Then they raised the wooden sheet onto its edge, slid it into whatever was the right place and started to attach it to the outside wall. We realised with a shock that this was an internal wall with a doorway already formed in it. It was going to be the wall between the kitchen and the storage rooms. I began to wonder if these wall pieces had been built according to a detailed plan, or whether the plan had been drawn up depending upon available wall pieces!

I must congratulate the workers there. I think that is the first (and only time) that our group uttered not one sound for what must have been almost half a bell. We were all standing there with our mouths open.

Payner was fascinated by the way the foundation pillars of stone were driven into the ground. (A frame had been erected above the stone with a pulley at the top. A great weight was dragged up to the top of the frame by a rope over the pulley and harnessed to a dranakh. The weight was released and fell, guided by the frame, onto the stone which was then driven into the ground. That was a noisy operation, I can tell you.)

The others were fascinated by the ease of building the walls, and by the planting that was going on, and by the demonstrable teamwork shown by the differently-tasked groups. I began to understand now what Papa had said about the building of the new roadhouse, and how, once the basics were completed, the buildings could be erected with speed. And how relatively easily any extensions could be built when the demand arose.

“It is impressive, isn't it?”

I whirled round and with a squeal I just gave Sookie a hug before I remembered the others and once again started the introductions. This time, it wasn't a chore. Suddenly, I could actually see our future home — it was no longer just a plan, it was actually coming alive before my eyes. Her interruption of us released the pent-up need to talk, and suddenly we were all talking at once and exclaiming and marvelling. I saw Payner shake his head in wonder at the female collective ability to conduct a hand of conversations all at the same time.

Just then a hail from behind made us whirl round, and an approaching wagon pushed past us as we scattered out of its way. It was laden with more wooden parts. We watched as it lumbered forward and continued past the courtyard. It was then reversed from there tail first into the courtyard. Two of the foundation stone driving team came across and helped the wagoneers unload the wagon, before returning to their task of positioning the next stone.

By this time, the newness of it all was wearing off, and we were talking more generally, telling Mistress Sukhana about what we had seen during that day, and about Master Michen's Salon and schoolroom, and what we had seen up at the mine … and then I remembered to tell her that my saddle would be delivered tomorrow.

“Oh, that's wondrous news. We can start your riding lessons and …” she broke off as I shook my head.

“I regret Mistress, that I shall be unable to partake of riding for four or five days — I suspect it is inadvisable whilst with the 'call'.”

“Ah! Yes, there are better things to be doing. But you can come down and get … er ... Dralla was it? … used to both you and the saddle. In fact, that might be a good way to start.”

“That sounds good, then I shall come … oh how long should I expect to be occupied for? I have to be at Master Michen's at the sixth bell. So when would we …???”

“Why don't you arrive at the noon bell, or maybe even at the fourth bell? You could have a little meal with me here and I can start to teach you a little of what you will need to know. And we have good facilities here that you will appreciate in your condition.” She looked round at the others. “Will any more of you come too? Just so I know how many of you to cater for.”

There was universal agreement from them all, but Malet put her foot down and said that she and Payner would not be there. When Payner started to argue, she employed the 'mother glare' that stopped his protests very quickly.

And so it was arranged.

Sookie took us all into the stables and showed us the arrangements that had been made there, and to be sure I knew where to find the beasts. She advised me that in future, whenever I was to visit the beasts, which she recommended be every day if possible, I should carry with me cubes of things such as vayter, koonkle and/or malm to feed to them as gifts or as rewards for doing something good.

She showed us as well as told us, and Tixi nuzzled her fondly, looking for the treats. Sookie slipped me two cubes, one for each of the does I had brought down earlier. I was nervous that the animals might eat my fingers, but Sookie's example persuaded me to try — Dralla and Trumpa chomped eagerly and thankfully on my little offerings.

Thus it was that my day's excursions came to an effective end and we all split up to go our own ways back to our homes. I was actually looking forward to a gentle evening and to getting off my feet for a little.

Hah!

No chance of that. I got back home earlier than I had promised. Just in time to have to bandage and comfort little Kord. He and 'Kin had been playing some complicated boy's game — a two-person version of staffglobe. Needless to say, when a hard round object is hit by a sturdy staff, then an accident is waiting to happen. The globe came straight from the staff onto poor little Kord's knee. The cut wasn't too bad, but the pain and the shock got the better of his nerves and there were floods of tears. Swayga was a relative stranger still in those days, so it was to me that our poor injured warrior turned. It took me several moments to calm him down.

Swayga and Kords were busy with the evening meal, and Kissa was enjoying herself bossing the others around to get the table laid. It was quite nice to be so welcomed back but I could have done without the chaos; apart from Kords, they all flocked round me, everyone but Kord talking at top speed and top volume. I looked at Swayga and we eyed to each other that it would calm down after a further hand of moments.

And so it proved.

Kord's sobs died down (I was thankful because he was heavy nowadays) and the others found their attention had switched to something far more important. So at last I could sit in the kitchens and watch as Kords and Swayga rushed around. I offered to help but they both shouted at me that it was not allowed, so I settled back in my corner, well out of the way.

Suddenly, there was a flash outside. We all looked up, so I hadn't imagined it. The view out of the window that side showed a clear evening sky. I went out of the door to the back and looked around. The sun had dropped behind the ridge on the west but the upper peaks to the east were still reflecting its light. I estimated that there should be maybe another bell of light before dusk settled firmly down upon us.

I turned to the south and saw the small local storm brewing up on the flanks of the valley below the dam, and stretching down to the forest. We often got storms there, particularly in the Spring and Autumn. Papa says its something to do with warm and cold airs mixing, but I don't quite understand it. All I knew is that we would have some rattles of thunder and some gusts of high-speed wind that would …

“Oh! Is there any washing hanging out?”

“Oh poo! Yes!”

“I'll go get it.”

I guessed I had time to gather it before the storm spread. I knew that any storm would likely be all over in less than a quarter of a bell, but they can be heavy — the view I had had showed some very dark clouds which were somehow more intense this evening. There was a heavy feeling in the air.

Even though I knew it was coming, I still squealed a little as the next flash of lightning was accompanied by a loud crackling and a BOOM. I spotted the washing hanging up on the line and dashed to get it, stealing another glance at the clouds.

Wow!

I had never seen a storm develop quite so quickly. I looked down the slope and could see figures there scurrying to get to shelter, one suddenly disappeared as the wall of rain engulfed them. This was developing into one of the more vicious ones I had seen.

I checked over towards town and saw many scurrying there as well. I felt sorry for the miners who were camping — I hope their tents were secured properly.

I bundled the washing into the basket Kords had placed just inside the door. I turned once more to go and get the final load. The rain wall had already got more than half way to us. This was going to be tight.

“The animals!” cried Kords as she dashed out after me.

“No need! I've dealt with them.”

She looked at me strangely but trusted my waving hands enough to go back in. I realised that she didn't know about the fact I had already taken them down to the Claw. I checked the rain wall again — Maker! It was galloping up the hill as the clouds above spread out and brought an early dusk to the Town.

Flash! BOOM!

Maker! That one was close.

I gathered the final bundle to my breast and scampered back to the door, slamming it behind me just in time. The drumming of the rain showing just how close it had been.

Then I heard little Kord yell, saying he couldn't close the window. Kords and I didn't hesitate, we just ran and checked them all. There was already a puddle on the floor under the one Kord couldn't manage.

I felt that he was old enough now to start thinking, rather than just react, and I was irritated with him for not working out earlier that the window needed closing. So I told him off, which he looked amazed at — and burst into tears again.

Oh Maker! I felt my temper rising rapidly, but Kords ushered me away as Swayga came in to comfort him. I just went to my bed and burst into tears.

A quarter of a bell later, the storm outside had just disappeared and I felt more in control of my emotions. I wondered fleetingly if there was a connection there somewhere, but I felt quite drained so I didn't dwell on it.

Swayga and Kords served us all our dinner, both a little upset that it wasn't perfect, the last moments of preparation being interrupted by the confusion. Kord told me he hated me as I was so mean, but as that would be around the thousandth time he had said that in his short life, it didn't really affect me. A fine contrast to the welcome I had had so short a time before.

And so the conversations round the table continued. Many voicing concerns and viewpoints about a host of subjects.

“Now I must get a little boring for the moment,” said Swayga. “I need some advice from you Julina. It seems that certain items are low on stocks. Maybe you have a general storage place I don't know about?”

“I don't think so! I don't have any other storage areas than those I have already shown you. What made you ask? Anything in particular?”

“Well, we are low on most vegetables and fruits and some other staples, but I have felt the chill of the mornings and wanted to be sure we had plenty of coal. It seems to me that we need to refill our coal bins out the back quite soon.”

“Oh! That's easy to deal with.”

And so it came to my relating the excellent changes that our new Steward had made with regard to our coal quarry.

It suddenly occurred to me that Swayga wasn't brought up with coal, coal handling and coal storage in particular. We life-long residents were aware of the dangers of a mixture of coal dust and air in an enclosed space, just as millers are aware of the dangers of flour dust in the air in an enclosed space. We all had had drummed into us that the resultant explosions can be very violent and many had lost their lives as a result.

Swayga was very attentive during this and looked thoughtful as I explained that, strangely, an emptyish coal bunker was more dangerous than a full one.

“I'll take the dray tomorrow with Trumpa and refill our home bins.”

“I'll accompany you, to learn how to do it all.”

Swayga's answer heralded a chorus of demands from the others to come along as well. I felt my irritation rising again.

“Where is Trumpa?” asked Kords in an attempt to distract attention by asking where the animals had been taken.

This led on to my describing what I had done with them. And that Mistress Sukhana had said I should have fruit and vegetable cubes always to hand (the younger ones wanted to leave the table there and then to go and cut up stuff!).

Then I mentioned that my saddle was ready and would be delivered to the Claw tomorrow, but that sadly I wouldn't be able to use it yet. I wasn't the only one to be both amused and annoyed at the knowing look that passed between the boys as it was explained why I wouldn't be using the saddle on the morrow.

I seemed to be the only real talker for the rest of the meal as I was bombarded with questions about what I had seen and experienced that day.

Of course, they all wanted to come and see the Salon, and the town's quarry and the Loop Road and the Miners' Village (Kords' name for it) and the new house and the stables, and the younger ones wanted to see all that before they went to bed, so we had another session of tears from Kord when Swayga and I told them that they would have to wait until after the lettering lesson in the morning.

This was another of the less popular statements and my patience again started wearing thin.

I decided I need to calm down and decided to walk down to the Claw to see how far they had got with our new house in that final bell when they could work. I slipped out without telling anyone and went down the slope. Everything was slick after the heavy rain so I was careful of my footing as I went.

Once again, I stopped abruptly as the plot came into sight. The little storm had obviously wreaked havoc. None of the walls were still standing, and the neat piles of wooden objects had been scattered widely around. Several men were tidying the chaos, but their body attitudes showed they were depressed about it too. It was just too much for me right then, and I turned back to trudge up the slope to home, tears coursing down my cheeks.

So far, my so-called freedom hadn't been the best days of my life, and the uncertainties of all the upcoming changes, and the responsibilities that seemed to be heading my way, plus the suddenly much fuller days with meetings at every turn and secrets to keep and guilt about not staying on as the mother-figure — sometimes it seemed to me I was glad to run away from what I had been doing for the past few years, and that increased my guilty feelings. My vision was blurred as I slipped and stumbled my way back to the warmth of home.

Swayga's arms went round me and she whispered that it was just the 'day before' effect, and to not think too deeply. I knew that she was right, but it didn't help. I turned back to my regular routine to get through this, by starting the clearing up of the supper things, just to slip into a non-thinking habit. As soon as it was all done and put away, I avoided any conversations by taking to my bed. I would have been surprised at the speed with which I fell asleep — but I wasn't awake to be able to be surprised.

---

Foundations are laid in many respects

---

Disclaimer:

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 third day of my so-called 'freedom' dawned. This time I remembered that I was no longer responsible for everything, but long habit would not allow me to just lie abed. And the events of yesterday made me get up and stoke the fires, thus helping Kords who was tasked with producing some hot water as well. Soon we all three were once again starting the day proper with a joint soak.

Breakfast followed and then the lettering lesson; this time I used the lesson as a practice for future ones. I wanted to get some help, some feedback, from my family to make it easier and better for the students to come. I began by asking each of them exactly which bits they had found most difficult. The answers I got actually surprised me in that it rapidly became apparent that there was a definite split between the feminine and the masculine.

Although not everyone found the same difficulties, it was a general fact that the females found the finer points of actually using, actually manipulating, the chalk or the reed (or the rare stick of charcoal) much easier than the males, but the males found remembering the groupings of letters, for example, to be so much easier than the girls.

I myself remember Mama drumming into me that group of letters, at least one of which appears in every word, and that it was hard work. Eventually, I found that it worked if I thought of those letters as the children and my close friends. Then it was easy to remember the group as a whole.

The boys seemed to just get it without problem.

This gave me something for my mind to churn over before the lessons in the schoolroom would start.

(Older Julina says: “I didn't know at that time that there was a name for this group of letters — they are called 'vowels' as Magser, the teacher who came up from Tranidor later, told us in classes.”)

“Alright then,” I said, “now that you DO have the groupings straight in your heads, how was it that you managed to fix the groups? What event, or what thought, or what mental key made the difference? If I have to teach absolute beginners, how can I make it easier for them?” I tried to encourage them to think really hard about this. “If we can find a good way to get this over to those new students I am going to have, our family could become the most influential one in all Palarand!”

That seemed to do the trick and make them determined to help. They all sat back and thought, even the boys who showed an extra dose of maturity that I had not envisaged.

Kissa replied first: “For me, it was assigning colours to the letters in that group. I matched a colour to each letter in my head; white, red, green, blue, yellow, orange, purple and black. For the other letters, I just remember the sounds of them, although some I also associate colours with. Actually, thinking about it, I associate colours with nearly everything. How strange.”

Kords said: “I see those letters as vegetables. We don't have a meal without vegetables, just like we don't have a word without one of the letters from the small group. I sort of build my words by thinking of cooking. And, of course, by saying the word to myself in my head to choose what other letter goes where.”

The boys just remembered them, as a group — all eight of them.

I left home shortly after the lesson had come to an end. What I had learnt from the kids gave me much to think about for my future lesson plans. I needed to fit in a visit to Epp to discuss it — I could organise that visit this afternoon when I saw her in the new schoolroom.

But first, I went down to the Claw, the pouch hanging from my waist-tie filled with vegetable and fruit cubes for the frayen.

My way, of course, took me past the building plot and I could see that they had rebuilt to the state from yesterday before the storm and had restacked the piles of wooden things. There was more of the base down, and the stones had all been driven into the ground, which made the floor layout far easier to discern.

My arrival in the Claw's courtyard coincided with Mistress Pomma bringing a saddle with her. My inner feelings wanted me to shout to all Anmar: “MY SADDLE” but I suppressed the urge. Just seeing it there in her arms, actually physically there, made me suddenly very excited, even though I could feel that tightening downward pain beginning 'down there'.

Parrier came out and greeted us, a little more respectfully than he had the last time I was there. I wondered if he had learned a lesson or was just reacting to another woman's presence.

I introduced them and, after a brief chat, Parry turned round and led us into the stable area. We waited while he went to a cluster of stalls and briefly disappeared from our view, only to re-emerge shortly afterwards with Dralla on a leading rein trailing behind him. Mistress Pomma was then able to demonstrate the correct positioning of the saddle on the animal itself. It was essentially very simple and she made sure to point out which way round the thing had to be.

If frayen could talk, Dralla would have said: “Hey this is different, but comfortable.” Her face conveyed that message, along with appreciation for the titbit I slipped her from my pouch.

Mistress Pomma pointed out that there are dangers if the saddle is secured too loosely, it could slip and jettison the rider. The strapping has to be tight enough to prevent that, but not TOO tight for the beast's comfort.

We all laughed when Trumpa made a jealous snickering sound, so she was let out and Parry first, then I, positioned the new saddle on her back. It was a little awkward for me due to my lack of height and having less strength in my arms. I was also being careful due to the impending Call; I didn't want any undue strain. It took a little bit of effort at first, but once I had a feel for the balance, it all clicked. Trumpa also was grateful for the munchie I slipped her.

“Julina! Your saddle has arrived already. I was not expecting either you or your saddle quite so early!”

“Oh, Mistress Sukhana! Well met. May I introduce Mistress Pomma, wife of Master Waldan, our saddler. She too is interested in riding.”

“Good morrow, Mistress Pomma — oh that IS good news, whilst I try to ride just a little every day, and I know that my Tixi likes it, 'twould be wonderful to have some company.”

“Good morrow, Mistress Sukhana — Mistress Julina is right, but only in as far as she goes. Alas, I have no beast — and my husband is reluctant to get me one. He HAS taken my measurements, but I doubt that a saddle for me is even in his order book.”

“There are two things Mylady has taught me in the short time we were together. The first in regard to riding is this: It helps to establish a sort of friendship with your animal as the two of you become a team and wonderful things can be achieved - HOWEVER, being able to ride means merely that you CAN manage on ANY beast. Finding a beast for you is easy, why Mistress Julina here effectively has two, and they both need regular exercise.”

I was about to protest, but realised that she was right — when Papa had any extended trips, the other beast left behind became miserable and difficult.

“The second thing I learnt from Mylady, is that there is ALWAYS a solution, and more often than not it is readily to hand. We just have to think it through. When Mylady first taught me, on the very first occasion, I did not have my own saddle and I used another’s. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, just less comfortable than my own — but in those days I could not, of course, make the comparison as my saddle had yet to arrive. I confess that that first feeling of being mounted was very wonderful — so wonderful that I shall never ever forget that moment.”

Mistress Pomma looked nervous, but excited at the same time. She was about to say something when Sookie snapped her fingers as a further thought occurred to her.

“Oh I am so stupid sometimes! I should have thought this through so much more. Do either of you have a riding skirt and the under-breeches? If not, then go to the seamstresses as soon as you may. I believe that Mistress Patilla has been experimenting with those skirts and breeches. Oh!”

That exclamation at the end was of some considerable force, so our attention sharpened more, if that was even possible. We waited as she gathered her thoughts.

“Have you heard of a bra? Or bras?” Our blank looks gave her her answer so she continued: “I suspected as much. A bra is another thing that Mylady Garia has introduced to Palarand. It is an item of underwear for women. So I think you, Parrier, might not wish to stay for this part of the conversation?”

His face showed curiosity and relief all at the same time, and he acknowledged Sookie as he turned about, carrying my saddle with him.

Sookie waited until she had led us out into the courtyard again and we were far enough away from anyone else before continuing in a lower voice: “A bra is a garment that conveys more comfort and control to a woman when it comes to her breasts. Mylady Merizel informed me that, within weeks of being introduced, every woman — and I DO mean EVERY woman, nobles and servants all — in the Palace was wearing one. With typical foresight, Mylady had sent to her here a complete set of bra patterns for the seamstresses. Apparently every woman fits into one of about a dozen different shapes, so you just need to be measured and they can make bras for you. I have been wearing one for some time now. I should advise you that a woman should have at the very least five of the things, and another two slightly larger for when the Call arrives.”

She giggled as she continued: “I happen to know that Master Brydas has been producing the required buckles in ever-increasing quantities. I can promise you that, particularly when it comes to riding and having your breasts bounce up and down, a bra is infinitely more comfortable than a bodice. Mistress Hasinet has become the expert in bra making, I am told. I really do thoroughly recommend that you get your bras as soon as you can!”

“This sounds most interesting, thank you Soo, er... Mistress Sukhana! There is a lot here to consider. Not just items of attire but also exercising the beasts. I personally would have no objection to Mistress Pomma using Trumpa for riding, or maybe Judd when Papa is using Trumpa. But, Papa MUST have a fit and ridable frayen to do his job, so I am torn between caution and permission. I suppose that using one just for gentle lessons would be alright, if that is possible? But if anything bad happens, then that would be a disaster. On the other hand, the beast DOES need some exercise. Oh Maker! I don't know what to advise.”

“Well we can do nothing about actually riding until you are fully equipped with both attire and saddles. But I can give you a start in looking after frayen and establishing the required relationship. I'm pleased to see you have brought the titbits with you. Give some to Mistress Pomma so she can get used to feeding them to a beast.”

And so our first lesson started, not actually riding, but getting to know a better approach to the beasts, and using gentle but firm voice commands - but my body eventually cut it short. I didn't need to say anything to Sookie, she just took me to the bathhouse after we took our leave from Mistress Pomma, making a further appointment for the same time the next day.

… … …

Thus began my first ever 'relaxed' Call. After that first clean-up, I half-hurried to Mistress Patilla first, then on to Mistress Hasinet; in both homes, I found more information about the various garments. Both seamstresses measured me (in differing ways, of course) and Mistress Hasinet confirmed to me that this 'bra' thing was indeed a comfortable improvement. She was kind enough to show me her own — the one she was wearing right now, and she actually showed me the advantages.

Which made me wonder how I could manage to get Michet measured, as I would like to give her one as a present. It rapidly became obvious that I would have to do this myself and so I got Mistress Hasinet to teach me how to measure women.

I struck a deal with her, that she would make one for me free, AND one for my friend, if I would measure four hands of women, and write down the measurements. This would free her to a certain extent. I would go to her each morning immediately after I had finished my lettering lesson with my siblings. She warned me that I should try to measure the women NOT during their Call time, as breasts swell then.

“Oh! I am on my Call right now! Does that make such a difference?”

“Oh yes! A normal everyday bra will be just too small at that time, causing some discomfort. Alright then, I'll have to guess the reduction needed, but my experience so far tells me that I can get that quite accurate nowadays — and you are still maturing, so maybe it will not be too much of a reduction — too loose immediately, but in a few weeks' time, then perfect. I can tell you that every seamstress and the healers are all wearing them. And Mistress Epp and a few others of our 'circle'. I get more orders each day as the word goes round. I might have to have a temporary assistant to deal with the demand. I say temporary simply because sooner or later, every woman in town will have their supply and it will only be the growing girls who require quite so much work then.”

“But Mistress, if the town grows as much as some are predicting, then there may be ten times as many women living here!”

“Maker! THAT many? Oh my goodness. I shall have to train more than one assistant. Oh! I don't suppose that you …?”

I laughed as I replied: “Thank you, Mistress, for the honour, but I have already the promise of some employment and my life, despite being theoretically more free now, is actually far more hectic than it has ever been.”

This was how it came about that I explained far more to her about my home life, and the dining 'Salon' and indeed much more about the town developments with which I had been directly or indirectly involved. It was a pleasant interlude as I chatted while she worked. I suppose that maybe half a bell passed thus.

I returned to the Claw in time for my original appointment and found Sookie involved in a staff dispute. She mouthed to me to return in a further half bell, so I nodded and decided to pop into Michet's, just to have a few moments with her and Kassama before the appointment in the afternoon. There were a few things I wanted to clear up.

… … …

“So please tell me the EXACT wording of the oath you took to your father those many years ago.”

“Why does it have to be so exact? I promised not to let others know. It's quite simple.”

“Ah! But did you promise simply not to tell others — or was it that you promised never to reveal the secret? Because, if the latter, then a simple accident that occurred with us, means that your oath is already broken — through no fault whatsoever upon your part.”

“Oh! … Maker! ... This is complicated isn't it? But I can remember the words exactly. I was to 'never tell anyone'.”

“So there we have it. In theory, those of us who know can spread the word …” Her face dissolved into acute alarm, so I hastened on : “Not that we would, of course. But you are going to meet several people in the Salon planning stages, so some will need to know — like any future staff. They might be upset that you had been lying to them. You need to think about this carefully. And if we are going to discuss design ideas for the Salon and its decoration, then Gythy needs to know in advance; as, if she knows that everyone is of the 'weaker' gender, then she won't assume that there will always be a 'stronger' man around and so on, which may affect the storage of the heavier items. If I, but only with your permission, of course, were to tell her, then the oath business doesn't come into it. I am prepared to swear any oath that you may require me to do, but I strongly urge you to give me permission.”

She turned and looked a query at Kassama, who pursed her lips. She thought it through and then nodded her acceptance, adding “But, only Gythy at the moment.”

We all agreed on that and I passed on to talking about the other girls.

They both had a small problem with remembering that Gythy was her full name and Gyth was my familiar term — when both the others had the 'y' ending as the familiar.

Kassama said she liked Kelly, but was unsure about Molly, and Michet confirmed these first impressions as being her own as well.

“I am honour-bound not to reveal the entire story, but poor Molly fell under the influence of Perril, the old shoemaker's son who was killed by the ptuvil. Since then she has had many headaches and strong compulsions that she doesn't like, but feels she has to do. My idea was to keep her with me in the kitchens, and away from most of the clients. I feel sure it could work that way.”

“Sounds to me like she's been hypnotised,” said Michet matter-of-factly.

“Hap no tied? What on Anmar is that?” I burst out. Kassama also showed she had no idea.

“Ah! Hmmmm. The word is actually hypnotised',” she spelt it out for us, “and it is a sort of trick, usually performed by travelling players. They find someone, speak a load of mumbo-jumbo, make the victim use their eyes to follow a moving object as it swings to and fro, and then the victim goes into a sort of sleep — but they are awake, just not aware of what's going on around them then. Their mind is open to suggestions which the hypnotiser then makes. These suggestions are planted into this open mind of the victim, I repeat, without them being aware of it. They usually make the victim do something silly like bleat like a pakh, or bark like a grenn, or flap arms as though they were an avians wings — but these actions are only performed when a certain key word or deed happens. The victim can't help themselves and, as soon as the operative command is issued, does the programmed action. The person who does the hypnotising includes a stop sequence, maybe a double-click of the fingers, or three words spoken in a specific order, or something like that. Once the stop sequence has been said or done, the victim snaps back to being a perfectly normal person again.”

I breathed deeply as I realised that this was almost certainly what had occurred with Molly. But how the evil Perril had learned how to do this was a mystery — until I remembered that he went quite often down to Tranidor. Perhaps a travelling show had taught him, probably been paid to teach him. I felt myself get angrier and angrier as I thought about what that nasty piece of work had done, and …

Kassama laid her hand on my arm: “Call?”

I nodded.

“Deep breaths. You were getting exceedingly angry. Sit here for a moment and put your head back.”

I did as she bid, and she massaged my head, paying attention to my temples and the small of my neck particularly. It was wonderful, and by and by, I was once more a rational person.

I had a quarter of a bell plus a few moments more before I was to return to the Claw, and so I told them about bras. I whispered to Kassama that I needed to get Michet's measurements and she nodded her agreement. Our quick minds came up with a scheme as we decided to give Michet a little more education in women and their shapes. So I stripped to my waist, showing her the height of my waist in relation to my hips and breasts. We explained that a woman's waist height can vary over body types, and got her to study how my breasts hung and so on and so forth. I also showed her on my body how to measure for a bra, pointing out that different women have different shapes of breasts; not that I explained that this was how to measure for a bra — I made it seem I just wanted to use the numbers for a comparison. We then managed to get Michet to strip to the waist as I used her to 'demonstrate' how she was different to me. I don't think that Michet suspected for a moment that this was also a prelude to her present to come.

In the end, I measured Kassama too, amongst some reluctance — she declared that she could never imagine herself wearing one, she was so used to a bodice that anything else would seem 'wrong'. But I coaxed her with the cover story that we were showing Michet the differences that women have between them. I made a note of everything on my little slate, telling myself to transfer them to paper as soon as I could. I knew Sookie had some sheets, so I hoped to borrow one when I got there. I committed the figures to memory as well, just in case. By then, I was again slightly overdue at the Claw so I promised to return as agreed at the sixth bell.

… … …

I went back to the Claw for the third time this morning, and walked into the courtyard to be greeted by a chorus of teasing, sarcastic applause. Maker! I had forgotten all the others were coming along too.

Sookie was kind enough to support me, by saying I had arrived early but she had told me to come back in half a bell, so the others sort of accepted it — it didn't stop their teasing mind you. They were actually quite considerate of my condition, and weren't as mean as they could have been. (Let's just say that THAT was dealt with as and when throughout the days that followed and mention it no more. I find it distasteful but have had to make mention of it, as certain events were shaped by it.)

Sookie looked particularly charming in her riding skirt — the briefly-onlooking Master Brydas showed his enjoyment of the sight. They waved to each other as he took his leave, and we all knew that there would be a promise solemnization ceremony there eventually. It just showed in both their bodies, and the looks they gave each other.

It was a fun-filled break actually, Sookie put us all at ease and we had some good food. It was in the midst of all this that she also taught us a very valuable lesson …

“So, you are all probably going to earn some coin up to Master Michen's? I don't want to be an interfering old woman, but I do have some advice for you, if you would allow me to tell you?”

We all nodded our assent, as by then Sookie had gained our trust and respect.

“You must all remember that you have this opportunity only so long as the establishment works. And it will work only as long as the clients are prepared to come there. Which means it will be up to YOU all to set the tone of the place.

“If you make it an enjoyable place to come back to, then the business will prosper. If you are rude, or noisy, or offhand, or mean to your clients then they will not return — it is as simple as that. Yes, Master Michen will set the overall tone, but YOU will be the ones cooking for and serving the clients. There will be times when a client is mean or nasty to you, but it is then Master Michen's job to protect you. If you are mean or nasty back, then the OTHER clients will also see that.

“Just remember that you are the ones that create the atmosphere — be nice, polite and friendly, but not TOO friendly. There will come a time when someone has had a little too much to drink and if you have been too flirty, say, with them, they might think that they will end up spending at least a night with you. As soon as you do that, then the whole restaurant will be regarded as being a whorehouse, and all your friends will be regarded as working in one.”

She paused to let that sink in. We were suddenly all very serious as we pondered her words.

“The secret of this as an evening venue will be a reputation of a safe, quiet, polite place that is a cut above anywhere else in town. You will all have to strive mightily to bear that in mind.” Again, she paused.

“So let me ask you something — what do you think is the reason that anyone would come there for an evening?”

“To get away from the normal hubbub in the Bell!”

“To have a dignified place to entertain visitors or discuss business.”

“To impress a friend.”

“Yes, to all those. But there are many more reasons. Some people, maybe a widower here, might not want to eat at home alone, might just enjoy the company of other folk, without necessarily having to actually react with them. Some others will undoubtedly use it as a way of showing off. Some will say: 'Oh, I am a member at Michen's' in an attempt to try to make someone else feel small. And there will even be some who come along just to find fault. There are many, many more reasons. So how do you think you might behave, knowing that there are all these different points of view?”

We all sat there thinking hard, suddenly nervous about the responsibilities that we would have. This was no game, we all fully realised.

“The answer is very simple — you don't need to think very hard about it. “ She paused for a brief while.

“Just ask yourself a question: 'What would I expect if I went there for an evening?' ...” Again, she paused for effect.

“That's it. That is the key to it. Just by thinking that, and always thinking that, means that you will try to provide the clients with exactly what you would expect for yourself.

“Always judge yourself against this standard, and everything will fall into place. If you object to seeing someone chewing while talking, just as a simple example, then make sure that you don't do that yourself. Maintain always a degree of womanly aloofness without being snootily snobby like some I could mention in this town. If a client tells you a joke, then smile at the very least — even if you have heard it twenty times already. But feel free to laugh out loud if you find the story funny. It is all about basic manners and not being false.”

It was so obvious, we all laughed in relief, but were told quite strictly that it was no laughing matter. Again, the responsibility was brought home to us.

After this though, Sookie skilfully brought us back to a more carefree mood and we once again relaxed into a rare moment of sisterhood that we hadn't enjoyed for a long, long while — and, never before whilst eating out together, effectively as adults.

After we had finished eating, and just before we were to go out to the stables, I mentioned the riding attire, and mentioned also the measuring for bras.

Oh boy!

“You had better take them all up to the women's area and measure them then, Julina. They may not yet be convinced, but I KNOW they will end up having them, so they can count to your twenty.”

“Would you perhaps have some paper for me, Mistress? It is so much easier to record that way than on my slate?”

“That's very sensible, my dear. A good thought. I have some here in the next room, I shall fetch it.”

We had been eating in an office room next to her quarters, the one that apparently Mylady had used as HER office. So it was a matter of heartbeats before she returned with some paper and a shaped stick made of a mixture of charcoal and wax, as she explained to us all. The end of these sticks could be shaped with a knife to make a sharply defined mark. The wax came from a country called Plif which was down by the mouth of the Sirrel river we had all heard about, but none of us had ever seen — except maybe Sookie herself. She explained that it was best to wind a small piece of cloth around these sticks to prevent a mess on the fingers holding them. Her final comment about them was that they came from a long way away and were not easy to replace, so I should treat this one as a precious item. She called it a 'reedlet' which made a little sense, it being obviously related to the reed we used with ink to write on parchment, and now paper, documents.

She then showed us upstairs to an empty dormitory, women visitors being extremely few and far between in those early days. I showed the girls what to do, and Sookie herself (she was still 'Mistress' to the others, of course) stripped off her upper clothing (with help from a servant of hers) and demonstrated the advantages. She did remind us that we were all still growing and that we would likely have to get some larger ones as we matured.

She then surprised me by getting me to measure the servant that had accompanied us as well, while she ran downstairs and rounded up anyone who could be spared from their duties and who had not yet worn a bra. By the end of that session, I had measured and documented the sizes for Michet, Kassama, Molly, Kelly and Gyth and seven others, making a round dozen — only eight left to go for me to reach my target. There was Swayga this evening and probably Kords — which made only another hand or so of them to find. And I knew also that Kelly had promised to tell her mother, so there was another one …

It also made me have a further thought, that it would actually be easier for everyone if a large group of women turned up all at once, and then the measurer could do HER job all at once. I made a mental note to pop down to Mistress Hasinet with that suggestion.

That done, Sookie took us all down to the stables and demonstrated as she told us about establishing a relationship with the beast, and how to talk softly with them, some of which she had already covered with Mistress Pomma and I earlier. The frayen were not reluctant to come and get some titbits again - I still had some with me, and Dralla and Trumpa both enjoyed them as my three friends took turns to let them nibble out of their hands.

Using my saddle, we demonstrated to the others how to place it on the beast, in this instance Master Michen's.

Suddenly, Sookie swung herself up on Dralla and adjusted her skirts as she settled into the saddle. We all gasped, not just with the suddenness of the event, but also with admiration at the fluidity of the movement.

Speaking softly, Sookie got Dralla to move at a walk in a circle around us. Dralla's face also showed a pleased sort of wonder as she got used to the new saddle and its positioning. She gave off an air of satisfaction.

After two complete circuits, Sookie then demonstrated how to climb down; well 'climb down' isn't the correct description — that sounds ungainly — it was more of an elegant, fluid dismount. I couldn't wait to be able to do that; I further noticed that the others were all looking wistful and had been enthused with a desire to ride. One little voice in my head did sound a little warning though as I wondered if this would cause any problems in the near future.

We all thanked Sookie for a most enjoyable and unforgettable way to spend nearly a bell and a half. Kelly gasped, and said she had to rush back home to help ring the bells and Molly said she had promised to meet her mother up at the campingplace, so we split up. I was grateful for this, as I just about had time to pop down quickly to Mistress Hasinet's to tell her my thoughts about having an announced measuring appointment (about which she gave her approval) and I could take Gyth with me, and somehow find a way to tell her Michet's secret.

… … …

“When may we think about meals being served here, Master Michen?”

“Well, your Honour — excuse me, I don't really know how to address a Steward …”

“I think that simply 'Captain' should suffice. I have been accustomed to that for the past many years, and it is a lot easier to my ears. I have to keep reminding myself just who the Steward is, when people call to him.” His easy laugh put us all at ease, and the atmosphere noticeably relaxed.

“Well then, Captain. In theory, we could start this evening …” I gasped with shock but Master Michen held up a hand “... as we have something of everything required, including the staff. But I would remind you that the idea is that potential diners inform us in advance so that we have a day or more's notice of requirements. We wish to promote more of a club feeling, rather than that of a public dining hall. Furthermore, we have yet to receive all the forks we have ordered, and we have no complete set of dinner plates and matching cutlery. Some of the kitchenware is ageing and so on. I would much rather get all that in place than open with lower standards.”

“I fully understand, Master. And indeed approve of the sentiment. However, I have a suggestion, ...” we all focussed our attention as he paused for a few heartbeats.

“Captain?”

“We are all of us agreed that this should be the temporary schoolroom and that we should start the absolute beginners as soon as is practical — allowing the excellent Mistress Julina to bring them up to a level of knowledge for Mistress Megrozen to build upon?”

We all nodded our agreement, that having been decided barely ten moments ago.

“Well, it seems to me that that would be part of the activities that will take place in this new Community Hall, as would many other activities — including Assembly meetings. With storage space devoted to the school materials, I am sure space could be found here to store some of the Assembly requirements, we seem to carry such a lot of stuff around and we have no fixed place at the moment — sometimes in the Claw, sometimes in the Bell, sometimes even in my house.

“So my suggestion is that we have our next Assembly meeting here in this room on the same day as this next week. We will rent the room from you for its use and we will be able to discuss our matters over a pleasant meal, which we will leave up to you to choose. There will be no need for matching sets of crockery and cutlery, and you could treat this as a trial run, a way to iron out any wrinkles that might not have been seen in advance. Your staff, and yourself, would appreciate a trial run before opening to the public, I'm sure, and we would be glad to be of assistance in the setting up of a valued and much-anticipated resource. What think you? Indeed, what does anyone think about this suggestion? Let's have a general discussion.”

There was silence for a good two moments as we all applied our minds to it. That is not to say that there was no communication going on. Kassama, I and Master Michen all looked questions at each other and then eyed agreement that it could indeed be done. I have to say that I agreed with the Steward's reasoning and a trial run would be invaluable.

Not all the Assembly were present, but more than half were, along with Master Michen, Kassama, myself, Gythy, Mistress Epp, Mistress Lendra and Mistress Sukhana, so the room was quite crowded and there were 13 voices that could be considered. Mistress Lendra had been included to be sure that the arrangements were adequate for public use and Mistress Sukhana had come up with us to see about suggesting ways of storing the drinks she would be providing.

What could have been chaos was actually resolved very easily with almost unanimous agreement. The Captain and Masters Jepp, Yarling and Bezan made their way out, ushering Mistress Lendra (who had also been visiting Master Morden) and Mistress Epp before them. Master Brydas slipped his arm round Mistress Sukhana and she leant up against him as they followed the large group down the corridor. Master Michen requested a quick word with Master Blandel. Gythy and I waited behind Master Blandel until the men had finished, while Kassama went off to check on Master Morden.

“It occurs to me, Master Blandel, that both uses — a schoolroom and a dining room, might benefit from one or two large flat slates mounted on the walls, and ...”

“Oh don't ask me, Master Michen. I'm useless. Ask at the masonry, young Mostar will put you right, if he isn't gallivanting about on all sorts of complicated tasks that he seems to be into nowadays.”

“Master Blandel! I am shocked! This doesn't sound like the man who developed those clever ideas scarce a year ago! What is the matter? You seem down in spirits somehow.”

“So would you be, Michen, so would you be.”

Michen looked confused but I signalled to him with my hands from my position behind Master Blandels' back and mouthed “Trogan's jail” to him; his face lit with understanding. Then changed as he looked worried and floundered around a bit, trying to find some way to ease the awkward situation.

I was sure that everyone on the Counc … er ... Assembly would have tried to jolly him out of it many times already, obviously unsuccessfully. So I took Gyth by the hand and ushered her out, to leave the two 'men' to talk together. But I flashed a message to M to argue with him, and I would return in three moments to help. M was glad I had a plan and nodded acceptance.

I rapidly explained to Gyth what I was about to try and she nodded her understanding and acceptance of the plan. She told me she would run down and across to the Bell to see if Kasinna was available. The front door banged quite noisily as she dashed out.

I waited outside the door to the salon for a little but then judged it was time to intervene, so I barged in and started being the strict mother that I had had so much practice at.

“Now then, what's this nonsense I heard before? How DARE you say that you are useless? You are one of my favourite people and went up in my estimation when that BANDIT,” I pretended to spit on the floor for emphasis, “was so evil to those he locked up.”

I don't think that Master Blandel had been spoken to like that since he was an apprentice, and both he and M were taken aback by my forthright approach. I knew that I had to keep on once I had started on this course, so I didn't let up.

“From what my dear friends Kasinna and Senidet have told me, we all owe you an ENORMOUS debt. If it hadn't been for you, they wouldn't be here today. YOU and you ALONE are responsible for giving them the necessary strength to get through their horrors. So what's all this wallowing in self-pity all about? You went light on whatever food they gave you so you could slip a little extra to them. You told them stories to take their minds off their horrors for just a little while. And now you're sorry?

“You survived, yes, but that's something to be glad about! And now, right now, right this very moment, the Town has so much need of you and your skills, but you're just going to give up? Where's your fight gone? Where's your reason to get up every day? I am very disappointed in you. What was the point of your heroic behaviour, if you just make everyone depressed? Snap out of it man.”

He looked shocked at how harshly I was talking and then his face crumpled and he started crying — deep racking sobs that made me want to mother him, but I knew that would be counter-productive at this moment. I needed him angry and to have some pride rekindled. But a little voice in the back of my head recognised that this was probably the first time he had let go of his grief.

The extent of his despair became more apparent as he blurted out: “I gave up. Me of all people! Shocking. I never believed I would. Always believed I was strong. But I just caved in. I couldn't handle it like the other men.” He dragged in a ragged breath.

“Oh, I'm not a fit person to be seen with,” he wailed.

“Well, that's true, at least.”

That shocked him into looking sharply at me — the best bit of a reaction so far. M was looking as though he/she had been hit over the head with a club.

“All this self-pity and whining makes you uncomfortable to be with.”

Was that a spark of anger I saw?

“But that's only weeks compared to all the good things you have done here in Town over the years. Are you to throw all that achievement away?

“I just don't understand men! A little setback and the whole world comes to an end. Mostar is going to be very busy soon with all the new stone-lined drains and water-supplies, but is also required to do some work in our existing aqueduct and Cistern. He can't do everything and your selfish self-pity is holding back all the wonderful developments that others want to make to our Town, so we ALL can have an improved life. Start living again — for all of us. Be the leader you were this time last year. Stop wallowing in your misery and bring your skills back to us.”

I sniffed in a dismissive manner as I spun on my heel and went out, slamming the door behind me.

Once outside, I nearly burst out crying myself. I was breathing heavily, and scared that I might have got it wrong. I sank to the floor, back against the wall — hoping that I had indeed done the right thing, but half-convinced I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.

---

More twists and turns as Julina again encounters developments

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

Kassama found me outside the door, sitting down and cuddling my knees as I shook.

She had been drawn by the raised voices from inside the salon, but her curiosity was put on hold when she saw me there. She squatted down beside me and tried to comfort me, obviously fearing that something dreadful had occurred.

I tried my hardest to be coherent as I explained quietly to her what I had done. Her face, however, as the story unfolded was the most comfort to me — she had started by looking shocked and got even more so as I explained what had happened, but her eyes! Oh Maker! Her eyes were laughing and sparkling and her chest was containing her bursts of laughter.

I couldn't help it — I started to giggle too and suddenly felt a whole lot better, my doubts of before changing into an amused acceptance of 'what's happened has happened'. What was it that someone said the other day? Oh yes: “Once the felk is out of the bag ...” Now who told me that? It was a woman. I was with someone … Kelly I want to say. Ah yes, Malet, Kelly's mother.

I stood up, a little carefully, and tried to decide my next approach. Poor M was in there receiving a lot of abuse which should properly be my reward for my actions. But Kassama told me to stay to one side of the door so I was out of sight when she went in.

“Just WHAT is this all about? You gentlemen should be ashamed of yourselves. Master Michen, you know what the problems will be if you wake your father at this time of day. And you sir, you are a stranger here so a certain allowance can be made, but Master … Blandel, was it? … I have rarely heard a visitor raise their voice so much when being invited to assist a project which is of importance to so many here. Would you please help me understand this unseemly behaviour?”

“Master Michen here allowed me to be insulted by a young woman who seems to be far too big for her boots. She was rude in the extreme to me and I was protesting this behaviour to Master Michen — after all it is his house.”

“I see. And this young woman, what did she say that was so rude?”

“She told me I was useless.”

“And was she right?”

“Of course not! How could anyone …”

“So you were decisive and making great contributions before she spoke to you thus?”

“Well, no, not exactly. It was just …”

“So the young lady in question was in fact right - in a way. And her actions have in fact brought you out of the funk you have been in for many weeks now?”

“Well, yes, I suppose so, but …”

“But what? How many other people have tried to get you out of your depression? Have they managed? But this one girl has managed it in about ten moments. I call that a success.”

“Was I really so bad?”

“Yes!” they both said in chorus.

“Oh!” he said dejectedly.

Before he could get depressed again, I swung round the door and plastered my best smile on my face: “Now, now. You don't want me to start on you again do you? No getting back to being depressed. I took a gamble, and it paid off. You are on the way back from that place you found yourself in. I had to do SOMETHING. I apologise if I was rude, but I'm fairly sure I spoke nothing other than the facts. Please let me have a chance to get to know you better after this day's events have been slept upon. And you shall thus have a chance to get to know ME better.”

With timing that could not have been bettered, the door opened again and Kasinna came flying in with Gyth close behind. Kasinna took a close look at Master Blandel, squealed and launched herself at him, hugging him: “Oh your eyes! You're back! Oh Maker, you're back! I can thank you properly for what you did in that dreadful place. And I know my parents want to thank you too.”

She released him and swung round on me: “Oh Julina, how can we ever thank you? We were so afraid that the Master wouldn't find his way back, but you have done it somehow. We were all trying.”

If the hug she gave me was anything like the one she had given Master Blandel, then I know he felt so squashed that it would take a week to recover. I looked at him, and he looked at me … and we grinned at each other.

Phew!

Another figure joined us in the room.

“What's going on?” said a shaky-voiced Master Morden.

“Well …”

… … …

I was smiling to myself as I led Trumpa up the slope towards home. That had been my fourth visit to the Claw today, and there would definitely be a least one more when I took our doe back to her new home. She seemed to have changed her personality slightly since I had delivered her into the stables there; I fancied I could detect a new springiness in her gait.

The sun had just gone behind the western peaks, but it was still light and would be for at least another bell. I found myself checking down the valley, at the eastern flank particularly, but there was no sign of any other impending storm — as yet.

“I thought you had forgotten us,” said Swayga smilingly as I walked in the kitchen door.

“Oh no, I wouldn't do that, but today has been really rather hectic. We have to fetch the coal now, while there is still light to do it. Do you still wish to come?”

“Absolutely! Kissa, Kords and I have been waiting for you. The others have all been given tasks to keep them busy, and we saw you coming up the slope. Kords has shown me the dray and how to prepare it, so we are all ready to just go.”

“Have you all coats — it will cool rapidly now the sun is dropping?”

Kissa scurried off to get hers as I thanked Kords for preparing the dray. We have one that is on wheels of course, but, for the odd severe winter day or two, we take the wheels off and use it as a sled for sliding across the snow. We get snow usually on only a few days but sometimes it stubbornly stays and makes the use of wheels impossible.

Papa had invented this sliding thing that was practical to get over the frozen ruts which appeared. At first it had seemed a bit excessive, considering we get snow so rarely, but it had proved his usefulness on more than one hard winter's day; so much so, that some others had copied the design. It also worked well when we had the occasional very wet terrain in the rains. Kords had made sure the wheels were properly attached, and that the coal bin we used for transporting was attached and secured.

How lovely it is to have someone properly trained sometimes.

We walked in a group across the slope towards the campingplace, as I explained the events with Master Blandel - to many different reactions.

Kissa laughed out loud, Kords laughed nervously and was both shocked and amused, and Swayga was shocked, worried, slightly amused and very thoughtful.

We all four discussed the situation and, thankfully, they all agreed that the results had been worth the risk.

Swayga came up with another of her downvalley expressions which took a little while to work out, but was appropriate once I understood the sentiments behind it: “Lose your dreams and you may lose your mind.”

By this time, we had made our way to the town's quarry and Kords exclaimed in surprise at the neatness of the new way of organising things there. It was just so easy now, and Kords later explained that she was worried about the time it would take us — even though she had heard my description, she was still thinking of the old way we did it. That would have taken us a full bell — we would have had to hack out our own nuggets and shovel them up and so on. Now, we just opened an already laden bin, used the shovel that was stored there, and loaded our own bin. Why, this has taken me as long to write as it took us to do the job.

We were on our way back, with Kords keeping on and on about how easy it was now to fetch coal, and how we used to have to … etc. etc. etc.

“Kords, my dear. We have the picture very clearly in our minds. Julina had not exaggerated and we have experienced it. I think your remarks are more than a little redundant now. Shall you find another topic?”

Kords was just apologising when we reached the campingplace and met a small group of men having a discussion. There were some women, some holding children, staying a respectful distance away, but still able to hear all that was said.

One of the men raised his head and saw me.

“Mistress Julina. May I request your presence? I believe you may have something to add to this conversation.”

“Why, yes, Captain. I would of course be happy to oblige.”

I knew that it would be a waste of time to bring the others with me, the introductions of everyone with everyone else would take until the new year, if not the one following after that! I apologised to my family for leaving them there while I went to be of help; they did follow me a little of the way so they could hear too.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce Mistress Julina to you all. Some of you may know her as a life-long resident here, but some may not. She has been involved in various ways in some of the things that we have been discussing — the improvement, modernisation and expansion of our town. She can give you a resident's point of view, and can confirm much of which I have said.

“Mistress Julina, these families are mostly from some of the smallholdings at the head of the Bray. Some of their homes will be moved to make way for the Loop Road. Mylady Garia, our Baroness, promised that any resident could relocate at her expense. These good people are considering taking up her offer and removing downvalley. They have asked me, as Steward, to explain the benefits of remaining so they can make an informed decision as whether or not they should stay.

“I have explained that pakh farmers will still be needed. The increased population will still need the wool and meat we get from pakh. But maybe they should also consider taking up some other employment, with the opportunities that have arisen with most of our Guildsmen requiring additional helpers, and the labouring opportunities with road and building construction.”

I had a fleeting heartbeat to admire the way that our Steward had conveyed so much information to me so distinctly and yet so swiftly. An excellent economy of speech; something that Papa had been drumming into me for what seemed forever. I could hear his favourite saying, 'Speak clearly, speak well and speak to the point. But above all, ensure you have an economy of speech'... But by then, it was almost beyond time for me to open my mouth.

“Your Honour, Gentlemen.” I nodded to the Steward and to the gathered men as a whole. “It is my honour to be able to help. I would also include all you Ladies standing around.” I paused at this stage and tried to look each in the eye. This gave me a few more heartbeats to arrange my thoughts.

“I have been, through the power of co-incidences, unintentionally involved in several of the plans that are in place for the development of our once-sleepy town. What his Honour has said is all true — there are opportunities galore here, for anyone prepared to work hard.

“I have some knowledge of the trials and difficulties that families such as yours have suffered under for so long. And yes, a lot of your grazing ground is going to disappear, a lot of the open space to which you have been used is also going to disappear. However, an increasing population means that more and more pakh will be required.

“I suspect that pakh-farming will only be possible with larger herds and fewer herdsmen. There will be little scope anymore for eking out an existence with a bare hand or two of pakh.

“The valley head as it is now is going to virtually disappear which means that more pakh will have to occupy less space. That future is undecided, but, clearly, pakh will be remain a necessity. Maybe the Blackstone Vale will become the preferred area for pakh-herding, maybe more so on the uplands towards the Stone Sea. Yes, there are some already in these areas, but they will almost certainly have to become more crowded. Who knows? Maybe both? Maybe other areas? I personally am unfamiliar with the geography up higher, nor am I an expert when it comes to pakh-herding ...

“But I DO know the town.

“Here in town is possibly the biggest chance of your lives, and the lives of your families — there will be much coin to be made here, and the Guildsmen DO need all the hands they can get, as do the road makers and the house builders — Master Brydas at the smithy has an ever increasing amount of work in many areas, ranging from buckles for clothing all the way up to metal bridge supports — the carpenter, the joiner, the stoneworkers, the saddler, the shoemaker, the wheelwright, the tanner, the baker, anyone and any trade and anything you can think of. Even the seamstresses will need help as the town expands.

“There will be a new inn built, just there,” I pointed to my right at the plot, “and a new public bath-house next to it. They will need staff. As will the new Community Hall, and its associated kitchens, over there, which are to be built where my current home is. Yes, we are also having to move as our house will have to be demolished. But we will be staying in town!

“There are new plantings, not only of new plant sorts, but also more traditional plants, berry bushes and fruit trees, so gardeners and orchard men — and women — will be needed too.

“And I have heard that there is a Guildsman who believes so much in the future of Blackstone that he has CHOSEN to come and settle here and who will be arriving shortly. He will set up a glassworks. Some of you may be able to become HIS apprentices and handworkers.

“The stonemason is already in too great demand; he requires helpers at all levels. It is not too late to learn another trade! And one that will always be in demand, a skill that you can rely upon.

“Which brings me onto a final point that you should all consider. Learning. Mylady has declared that EVERYONE should have the possibility to learn their letters and their numbers. There will be a schedule of schooling set up very shortly, open to any and every one of you. Man or woman, adult or child.

“You MUST see it is sensible to stay. The learning programme will not be available anywhere else in all Palarand for some considerable time, so if you leave, you will miss out on this golden opportunity. If not for yourselves, then do it for your children!”

There was a silence as I finished. I began to worry that I had done something wrong, but our Steward started by clapping, and to my embarrassment everyone else around did too.

“Mistress Julina, if I ever harboured any doubts about your abilities then they are without hesitation dispelled forever. Again, Mylady thanks you.”

This praise was met with my usual blush and I muttered something in reply before gathering my family around me and scuttling off, protected from others' gazes by the flanks of Trumpa. I felt Swayga's eyes on me and looked up at her, seeing a startling look of calculation on her face, and could that be a hint of reappraisal?

I needed to change the subject quickly, before my embarrassment overwhelmed me, and was grateful when it was done for me.

A lightly loaded wagon pulled into the campingplace to be met by three miners. There were two women riding on the added bench behind the driver, and a number of cases and packs in the bed. I realised with a start that the evening shuttle had just arrived so that meant it was either quite early in arrival or the evening was getting late. The two women scrambled down hurriedly and were drawn into embraces by two of the waiting men, as the third greeted them jovially. He was the one to empty the bed of the wagon. The driver unharnessed the dranakh, who wandered off towards the dam and the Vale. We heard the men tell their women that they had rooms for now in a private house, but that would be temporary. That was the last I heard of that conversation, as, shortly afterwards, we had passed out of earshot.

For the rest of the way back home, I told my women companions about bras, which intrigued them all. They agreed to let me measure them (except for Kissa who wasn't big enough yet) which was good - with Malet a near certainty, I only needed to find another hand of women to fulfil my side of the bargain I had struck with Mistress Hasinet.

We got home, stored our load of coal and put the dray away. It was of course time for my fifth visit to the Claw today.

I led Trumpa down the slope in the swiftly gathering gloom. It was either a desire to get inside before dark, or an excitement of returning to her new home, but Trumpa had an eagerness I hadn't seen, or, rather, sensed, before.

We passed the building plot and I saw that all the base was down and a good half of it floored. A few more walls had been put up and there was a stack of obviously roof supports ready to be lifted into place. I noticed that there was a strange construction made of crude bricks outside of the back wall on the south side. At first, I thought it must be some more solid support in case another storm came along, but it was too low and insubstantial for that. I couldn't figure it out, so I knew that I would have to find someone the next day and ask.

Sigh.

Another task to remember to do.

I led Trumpa to her stall and set her up for the night, slipping her a munchie or two. And Dralla of course wanted some attention, so she got that, and her munchies too. Tixi looked at me somewhat carefully, and I could sense her trying to decide if she would 'ask' for a titbit or if she would continue to be wary of me. I went to her and gently offered her a morsel. She hesitated long enough for me to think I should just forget it when she eventually took it — a piece of malm I could see by its colour. She gently took it from my hand, but then scooted back, almost as if she was afraid of being hit. It made me wonder about her treatment in earlier times. Parry and Sookie would never treat her harshly, I was sure. I remembered that she had come to Sookie from Trogan's posessions, so maybe she was still nervous of strangers — I could readily believe those bandits had taken none of the care with the beasts that I and Mistress Pomma were learning about from Sookie.

I checked I had shut everything up and put the harness away properly: I felt a little silly when I said goodnight to the animals. I could swear, though, they each snickered a reply.

Leaving the Claw after saying goodbye to the few workers who were in the courtyard, I went once more up the main street, this time calling swiftly on Malet, who allowed me immediately to measure her for her bra. Another one to add to my count.

With nothing more to do that day, I set out finally towards home, intent on following the track across the slope. I crossed the campingplace once more and headed towards that track. On my way, I saw one of the families that had been talking earlier with the Steward - they saw me at the same time. They waved me over, obviously wanting some more information.

“Mistress Julina. My name is Suril and this is my wife Haka, carrying our toddler Haris.”

“Well met, Goodman Suril, Mistress Haka. Young Haris,” I finished by smiling and gurgling at the little boy in his mother's arms, tickling his cheeks as I grinned at him.

“Er … Mistress. Were you serious about the education and the opportunities? It seems too good to be true.”

“Oh, it was absolutely true — this whole town will explode in the new year. There will be so much going on, I expect they will be bringing even more people in.”

“But we need help now, we are destitute. Trogan took most of our pakh, and we have been struggling ever since. Haka has some relatives down near Haligo, who say they think there might be better chances down there. They say this is just a backwater town that will never amount to anything. And Mylady will pay for us to set up down there. That we know. What should we do? Please guide us!” Haka was fighting back tears as her husband pleaded with me.

Oh Maker! They really were desperate.

“Calm down. We can find a way. I know we can … Please … Give me some more information. Do you still have a house or hut to use as shelter?”

“Well yes, I suppose we do. But they want to knock it down for the new road and then what shall we do?”

“But they will build you a new home. EVERYONE who has to move because of that will be given a new home — so don't worry about it. Did no-one tell you that?”

“No Mistress, a man appeared one day and said our hut was to be knocked down to make way for the road. He said next week.”

“But it still stands, right now?”

“Oh yes.”

“So that is a start, at least you can be protected tonight. Do you have food?”

They both looked uncomfortable at that, and I guessed from their faces that they had probably not eaten a decent meal for some time.

“Is this all of you? Do you have any other children?” They indicated that there was just the three of them.

I went with my instincts and made an instant decision. I would take them home with me and feed and bathe them. If necessary, I would do without my own meal. If Master Blandel could do without when locked up, to help others, then I felt I just had to do something similar. Thinking a little more about it, tonight was an evening when we at home started with a fresh piece of meat, tomorrow was to be left-over day, so actually there should be enough. I was a trifle concerned with how Swayga and Kords would receive the news, but I knew they would be polite enough not to embarrass my sudden guests.

“Right then, just this once, I will take a risk. I hope you don't let me down. And I can't do this for everyone every night. Come with me to my home and we will feed and bathe you. Then we can talk properly. Standing here in the open, with anyone able to hear your business is not right. And I can have more ideas if I am a little more comfortable.”

“Oh Mistress! We din't mean to …”

“Yes, yes, yes. Your protests do you honour, but are unnecessary. But we must leave now. The meal is just about ready.” Still they hesitated. “Decide.” Pause. “Now.”

Suril would have gone on protesting but Haka recognised a moment to be grasped and just loudly accepted. So we started off with me leading the way, and making small chat. There was quite a crowd around and our way was not a straight line. At one point, we had to make a relatively large detour to get round a cluster of miners' tents. As we were doing that, there was a high-pitched scream and shouting. I recognised one of the voices immediately.

Molly.

I started running towards the disturbance as I saw Molly in the grip of a large man, and Molly's mother banging her fists ineffectively on his back. Another man tried to stop him dragging Molly any further away, but he just swung his fist in an arc and connected with the would-be rescuer's chin, who went straight down and stayed down, unmoving.

Suddenly, Suril dashed past me and faced up to the man, showing no fear whatsoever. He held up a commanding hand and said: “Sir. Hold! This is no way to treat a woman. Let her free.”

“You ain't stoppin' me, whoever you might be. I seed her for weeks now, and now it's my time. I'll wait no more.”

“But it is every man's duty to protect women, not to drag them off protesting.”

“Nuff's nuff. I ain't waitin' no more. She's gonna learn what a real man is all about. This whore's bin showin' herself long enough.”

“I can't allow you to do this. You have already laid one man low, but I will stop you.”

There was no tremor, no doubt in Suril's voice as he made this statement, but the man was too inflamed to listen to the clear warning that should have penetrated his thick skull. I stood back in fear for Suril, but somehow reassured by his steely stance. Haka's hand was squeezing my forearm most painfully, but I could not look away.

Not that that made any difference, it all happened so fast.

Molly struggled in the man's grasp and scratched his cheek. His fist came up to punch her back, and Suril moved. Three heartbeats later, the man was on the ground, clutching his knee and rolling about. Suril had moved with lightning speed and kicked his knee from under him. He went down hard, and Molly's mother stepped in and kicked him as hard as she could where it would hurt most. Every man around drew in their breath sharply. Molly and her mother grinned ferociously and scampered away before the man might have a chance to get up. I am certain they didn't even know I was anywhere near.

Suril bent and whispered in the man's ear and the man on the ground at last looked fearful.

Haka let go of my poor mangled forearm and ran to Suril as soon as he stepped away. He put his arm around her, smiled gently at her and whispered something to her. This time, the reaction to the whispering was in stark contrast, as she smiled and kissed him. The little three-headed family were lost in a moving moment; for maybe thirty heartbeats, the world around them did not exist and their goodness shone all around, it seemed to me. I was relieved that my instincts seemed to have been right.

We continued our walk in a lighter mood, it seemed to me — and I gathered from our chatting that Suril was not one to walk by when he sees injustice. I also learnt that pakh hate their bellies or legs being touched and can react quite violently. Avoiding these reactions had taught him to be so fast in his reactions and movements, along with a spell of fighting criminals who wanted to steal his or neighbour's animals, back when he was barely an adult. I actually remembered the fuss about that gang of outsiders when I was a little girl, and Mama was still with us. Blackstone pakh were a prized possession back in those days, and a band of rustlers had come upvalley to steal some to resell to pakhherders in other valleys.

We got back home, and I swallowed hard before opening the door, about to attempt to tell Swayga calmly and firmly and politely that we had two more mouths to feed, and a baby. I entered and opened my mouth to speak, when I saw Master Bezan standing there.

Swayga quickly said: “I hope you don't mind, 'Lina, but I have invited Master Bezan to eat with us tonight.”

I giggled as I replied: “Well I too have invited someone to dinner. This is Goodman Suril and his family. Will we have enough?”

All four invited guests immediately tried to withdraw but I suddenly realised there could be a huge advantage to this situation, so I insisted that they 'stop this nonsense' and just accept. I flashed a message to Swayga and Kords that this was important and they nodded, indicating that we would — just — have enough. I also flashed a message to Master B, who took a little time to 'get' it.

I made all the introductions and caused a few raised eyebrows when I deliberately introduced Master B as a 'friend', particularly of our father, with enough emphasis that all in the know understood that I had a plan which required Master B to be presented with a lower profile than he should have had.

Kissa and Julu were fascinated by the little one, of course, and Haka soon sat with them, all making a fuss of little Haris. I declared that I needed to have a bath before eating, knowing that Kords and Swayga would have filled it for me whilst I was out. I suggested that maybe Haka accompanied me, either bringing the little one or not. Suril offered to hold the baby and so we two rushed to use the facilities.

Where I learned that she was pregnant again, and she learnt that I was dealing with my Call. I think this period of a quarter of a bell formed the basis of our subsequent friendship. That and the fact that I 'accidentally' dropped her dress into the water, which meant that it would have to be washed. As I handled it, I became aware that it was much better made than I had expected. I told her to wait there as I dashed down to my room and got her a dress to wear whilst hers was being laundered. I selected two of the available three — nothing special, just warm and covering, after all it was only for an evening.

And so it was that eventually the 10 of us, and a baby, sat down to a meal, Haka, Kissa and I having done some of the never-reducing pile of laundry that should, by rights, give me nightmares.

I won't describe everything that happened, I doubt I could remember all the exacting details, but Suril and family were amazed by Master B's fork and Master B was amazed by getting the honest and unedited feedback from some residents about the town and the developments — there were things he learnt that he had never considered; this had been my plan all along, I wanted him to get an open reaction, not one clouded by awareness of his function.

When we eventually let on who he was, we were all by then friendly enough with each other that it didn't really matter, although Suril and Haka were a little embarrassed to start with.

They were also mildly surprised to learn that I would be the teacher of the basics for lettering, but the major event as far as they were concerned, and for which they were amazed and grateful, was to get a far wider overview of the developments that were to come, and an understanding that all I had earlier mentioned was definitely going to happen.

We were just discussing the Loop Road, when there was a scratching at our door. Master Fedren had appeared to talk to me.

I introduced the Sheriff to all there, of course. It seemed an age before the tedious formalities were at last over. He didn't insist that we had a private session, so I knew that it wasn't THAT bad; in return, I insisted that he join us and spoke openly about his business. I suspected I knew, of course, what he was about to say and I was proved right (to myself) when he started the more serious business by mentioning Molleena's name.

Again I sent messages with my eyes, and Haka didn't need much persuading to keep Suril quiet for a while.

“ … so the situation was defused, very ably I am told.”

The Sheriff's account was very close to being what had happened, which in my experience is a rarity as people tend to view the same event with different eyes, but I didn't yet interrupt.

“But Julina, I must have you speak more forcibly with Molleena. That man is obsessed with her and it can only get worse. She must try to keep away from him. I cannot be everywhere and protect her from everything.

“Do you realise that the town has almost doubled in size, when talking about numbers, since Mylady came and dealt with Trogan? Already my job is almost too much. I seem to be dealing with quarrels and squabbles nearly every evening, and every time I try to start investigating the problems we have had, then something else comes along.

“I came here tonight not only to ask you to warn Molleena again, but to ask you if you know the man who stepped in this evening. You were reported as being near him. He sounds like he might be just the man I need to help me. Any ideas?”

Again I flashed looks to the others to leave this to me. Master B was smiling wryly and shaking his head again as he agreed to keep silent. Suril had been about to own up, but Haka and I managed to stop him.

“Sheriff, what calibre of man are you looking for? How do you imagine this man would have to be, this so-called 'helper' to you? What would be his physical characteristics and what his mental ones? And what tasks would he be expected to do?”

The Sheriff then gave a job description and suggested what qualities his ideal candidate would have. Haka sat up straighter as Master Fedren described her man almost exactly, and her eyes were flashing whole messages to Suril, which he understood.

“Sheriff?”

“Yes, Julina?”

“What would be the working conditions for this person? Would it be a paid position? And …. oh you yourself can understand and formulate all the associated questions, all things like that?”

“I would need a man as a permanent assistant as from now. He would require a certain amount of training. Mylady left instructions that these 'deputies', as she called them, should be paid with coin from the town funds. The watchhouse does have a small space at the rear that could be made a small apartment, but I wouldn't want to inflict that on anyone. There is ground space behind, and access to the water would be easy. I would suggest to the Assembly that the man would have town assistance to build a small residence away from the jail itself. If he has a family, then presumably he has his own place already.”

“Well, Sheriff — I have a surprise for you.” I grinned at him as his eyebrows went up. “Goodman Suril here is the perfect candidate for you — for 'twas he who was the stranger up in the campingplace! And his hut is being demolished for the Loop Road, so the town will have to build him a new place anyway. It seems that a problem or two might no longer exist. You two should arrange a formal interview!”

THAT took a while for the silence to dispel. The faces around the table were wonderful to behold. Master B was still gently shaking his head, for some reason. Master Fedren was both annoyed and amused that I had got him to describe his requirements to a potential candidate. All sorts of other emotions were on display; the most poignant of all being the hope in Haka's face. Which clouded over as she thought of something.

“Oh would it be so terribly dangerous, Sheriff? Shall I worry myself sick?”

“I don't see it as dangerous, Mistress. There may well be the odd incident like this evening, but it would be mostly just being a 'presence', which is usually enough to defuse most situations.”

She sank back again, cuddling the little one with the hope blooming once more on her face. Suril got the message and quickly said: “When may I come to see you, Sheriff?”

“Tomorrow, if it pleases you, Goodman. Come to the Watchhouse at the sixth Bell. Is that a good time for you?”

“Perfect, Sheriff. I shall be there.”

So it was arranged, and the Sheriff stood up to leave. He went to the door, and stopped, sniffing the air. He asked for silence for a moment and listened intently.

“There's another squall coming up the valley — if I rush I can make it back to town before the rain hits, but you should close your windows. It will be here in under a quarter of a bell. Good-night, and thank you for your help. You coming, Bezan?”

“Not just yet, Sheriff. I still have some business with Julina.”

“Good night, then, all.” With that he was gone.

We rushed around, shutting windows and all of that. The baby had woken some time before and needed changing as well as feeding (in one end and out the other!) so I showed Haka to the room I shared with Kords, and left her there while I went back to talk with Master B.

Swayga was ushering the younger ones off to bed, while Kissa went to 'help' feed the baby.

Suril looked a little nervous, but Kords recognised he wanted something and her easy smile got it out of him. He wanted to have a bath, but didn't want to have to ask for the water to be heated.

“Is that all? I will go and get some hot water on, and in, at most, half a bell you can wash yourself.”

He was so grateful and tried too hard to thank her, but she just waved him into silence as she went out.

So Master B., Suril and I sat down and talked.

Well Suril mostly listened.

“I wanted to thank you for breathing some life back into Master Blandel. We were all at our wits' end how to get him out of his depression. Captain Bleskin did try to give him something to do, claiming that Mylady had used that tactic on himself, but that didn't do the job. So how did you manage it?”

“I don't know really. I suppose you could say I sensed a little lost boy inside the man, and so I turned into a strict mother-figure and scolded him as a mother would. Something clicked, I suppose. He seemed better when we parted. Oh! He hasn't slipped back has he?”

“No, no. Far from it. He is now trying too hard to make up for his previous lack of drive. He is getting almost too frantic as he tries to apologise for his recent behaviour and to demonstrate his return to decisiveness.”

“Oh don't worry about it. He'll calm down after a good night's sleep. All boys do.”

Then I blushed, as I remembered I was talking to two adult men about another adult man.

They laughed as Swayga came back in and agreed with me. She didn't sit down but instead offered pel — which was accepted by us all.

Just then a sudden roar told us that the rainstorm had arrived, and we all had to raise our voices slightly. Suril told us that the roof on his hut wasn't watertight and these storms caused a lot of fuss and bother. So we lead on from that into house designs. Suril liked some of the ideas we mentioned as we talked about our new home and I mentioned how impressed I was with the speed of building. This then led onto the subject of getting certain supplies. Which led on to the latest shuttle wagon timetable. Obviously a person didn't NEED to use the shuttles, but they were mostly convenient and at the same time so much cheaper than hiring a wagon and wagoneer privately.

Master B heard our questions at first, but soon found that it would be better if he explained the complete background to us: “Master Jaxen and Master Tanon, who have both left with Mylady, had set up a regular shuttle from Blackstone to Tranidor, which worked quite well. It was certainly a novelty and made supplying the town a little easier than it had been. But, of course, the practice showed up a few problems. The original system wasn't quite good enough for a number of reasons, and improvements were sought.

“Another of Mylady's suggestions have resulted in a slight change to the design of some wagons and these have been put on the shuttle run. There are seven of them in all. Six in service at any one time. The wagons chosen were the rarely used old-fashioned ones with a single seat for the driver. Some drivers actually still prefer them, as the seat sort of wraps itself around the driver which they find more comfortable than sliding around on a bench. Anyway, these wagons were not being used much, and the more modern wagons were too much required to take away from the ever-increasing goods traffic.

“Thus a sensible use of existing equipment was found. So they still had a normal driver's seat at the front, but just behind that a padded bench has now been attached across the width of the wagon, allowing four slim (or three larger-hipped) passengers to sit. These wagons were constructed, or re-constructed if you like, down to Tranidor and were fed into the shuttle schedule from there, carrying people as well as goods.

“The idea had been to have a regular service between the two towns, for people as well as goods. In the early days there had been few people and many more goods, but now noticeably more people are using the route as our town expands, albeit quite slowly. So the simple goods wagon has been changed by adding one or two rows of seats for passengers, as mentioned. The second row is because they have also replaced the driver's single seat with a wagon-wide bench. There are also an increased number of people travelling from Blackstone to the Forest Roadhouse and back. The wagon company's original schedule became unwieldy as all these demands were put together.

“The problem is the distance between the towns. It is close to 70 marks by the time the river crossing at Tranidor is taken into account. Normally that distance would take between one and a half and two days of travel.

“But the Forest Roadhouse was built at the foot of an incline across a rocky face, and this is about 22 marks distant from the town, maybe just a little bit more if you really want to be exact. This is approaching or on the limit of a day's journey to get there and back. This further means that from the Forest Roadhouse to Tranidor centre is just over 46 marks, which is more than a normal comfortable day's journey. Passengers do not like to go that far, it just tips the balance into discomfort.

“So a further overnight was built in to get round this problem, making the journey go into a third day of travel.

“Now, this is where the wagoneers have made an inspired decision.

“They found a second roadhouse roughly half-way between the Forest Roadhouse and Tranidor. It is called Brayview. They have added a new building there to provide for the increased business.

“So the journey is split up into three stages, with distances for each of these stages (going downvalley) of about 22, 22, and 24 marks. That works out as a half day's travel for each stage of the journey.

“Then they made a final excellent decision.

“Each journey is advertised as leaving each place of call at the noon bell. Exactly. So each journey ends, at this time of year, just about at dusk. Everyone can remember that simple rule.

“Yes, it turns a day and a half's journey into a two and a half day one, but everyone involved knows the timetable, it is so very easily summoned to mind. A wagon departs from each end on each day of the week, except for one.

“And a final benefit from all this is that then the wagoneers have the mornings at each stopping point to check over their wagons and beasts, doing any necessary maintenance tasks. The built-in day's rest for each wagon means that so far, we have had no delays, any repairs being made when the wagon has its rest day.

“At the moment, it is not fully paying for itself, but it is not far off — the goods traffic is sufficiently high, and the Valley Messenger Service contribute by sending the non-urgent letters and packages with these wagons. The town is paying for the short fall in revenue, although Master Tanon is charging us only the costs. In the new year, with the increase in traffic and people, then we expect to make a small profit.”

Master B stopped his explanation and reached for his wine glass, but it was empty. I passed him the water jug, which he took gratefully.

“Master Bezan, thank you for explaining all that. It has been a lucky day for us, and I have learnt so much more tonight than I have in the last ten years at least. And we might have already found a new way of life. I am overwhelmed. I fully understand the Steward's and Mistress Julina's certainty about the future here.”

“Get used to it, Goodman. This town, and Mylady, and now, I must also add, Mistress Julina make a habit of finding solutions in unexpected ways. There is something in the air, or the water, or the soil, or the wind, or maybe in the starlight. It never ceases to amaze me.”

Our reflections on that statement were interrupted by Swayga coming in with the pel, which was a welcome spot of refreshment. Shortly thereafter Kords entered, announcing to Suril that the bathhouse was ready for him. The rain chose a moment later to stop drumming on the roof.

It wasn't long before Master Bezan took his leave and I put some more water on — I would need the bathhouse once Suril came out of it.

He was so delighted that he could have a proper, real bath that his face glowed not only from the scrubbing, but also from the enjoyment. It seemed as if he had scrubbed away some cares as well as some dirt. He went to see how Haka was doing, she not having returned from the bedroom.

It was at this point that we discovered a small problem.

Haka and Haris — and also our Kissa — were all asleep on my bed. Swayga lifted Kissa up and carried her to her own bed. Kords, Swayga and I then decided that Suril should have Kords' bed, letting the guests have a family night in our room. Kords could sleep with Swayga for one night, I being a bit too large for her bed as well as her. That left me effectively bedless, but I could sneak in with Julu as I used to do when she had nightmares, because she was the littlest.

Suril was shocked with the arrangements and wanted to wake his wife and child and go home. Another rain squall added its weight to our arguments that he should just accept our hospitality for the one night. He reluctantly allowed himself to be persuaded.

We tidied the house up. Suril was very effective and helpful, and it was all done extra quickly. He and I finished by banking the fires in the various rooms, and soon we were all asleep. We had a very good night actually, the baby only woke twice and wasn't particularly noisy either time.

The next day, however, would prove to contain even more surprises.

---

Developments at home while Julina is out finding some more solutions to problems that crop up

---

Disclaimer:

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 suppose it was somehow appropriate that there were four of us in the bathhouse at the start of my fourth day of 'freedom'. Haka was amazed and delighted at the intimacy of our close family, and evidently enjoyed being a part of it, albeit just for that one overnight. There was a strong hint that her own family life had been somehow stressful, but we none of us wanted to pry.

We women had a good chat about domestic issues mostly, and we all winced as Haka described the conditions in which the three of them lived. I was glad I had offered a refuge, even if it was just for one night.

We were also amazed at the small amount of foodstuffs that the three of them had to survive on. Their garden produce only went so far after all.

They had little coin or barter goods available for everyday requisites like washing soap and so on.

Kords went quiet as she realised just how easy her own life was in comparison, and I was certainly quite humbled myself. Swayga looked thoughtful.

We changed the subject to other topics where unfortunate comparisons could be avoided. It was thus that we managed to avoid great awkwardnesses and comparisons between ways of life.

At one point, I felt I had to half apologise to Haka for only being able to offer her a choice of two dresses the night before and I hoped that she hadn't been too uncomfortable in the one she selected. I felt that by bringing this up, she could also realise that we didn't live a life of luxury, and I think it worked to a certain extent.

Her dress had dried overnight in the comparative warmth of the kitchen since the large metal range in there retained its heat for many bells. She would be able to wear her own today, after one of us had pressed it. She was a little embarrassed that it was now a lighter tone in colour, but we all understood her difficulties, and why their family's clothes weren't the cleanest we had ever seen.

I explained that I still hadn't found the time to fix the button problem on my only other dress, and I had only four in total, until I was given the one I wore to dinner in the Bell the other night. I had to wear one myself, of course, which left only two to offer her. My dresses were a little tight for her across her chest, but this tightness across the chest of course enabled me to get talking about bras, and measuring her … four to go!

This measuring led us onto a silly game of comparisons; breast, height, waist, neck, arm and leg lengths and shoulder widths. We even giggled over ankle and knee sizes, but that was awkward as Haka had a crooked, scarred and misshapen lower calf, shin and ankle. Again none of us would ask her for an explanation until such time as she herself broached the subject.

We had to cut the silliness short, as we knew that the others would want the facilities for themselves, and little Haris would probably be missing Haka already, even though he was used to being with Suril sometimes.

Breakfast was followed by the lettering lesson, which Suril and his wife were amazed at. I think it enthused them even more, if that were possible. They were both determined to take the offered opportunity to learn.

He accompanied me on my now-daily trip down to the animals and here was again something which he was amazed at; the different attitude the beasts now showed was plain to see for anyone with eyes. After the nibble feeding, I mentioned that I had a few doors to go and call upon and perhaps he might not want to wait around for me, but he said he would escort me for a little while.

I decided to pop first into Mistress Hasinet's to tell her of my relative success, and had to laugh when she told me she had thought more about my suggestion the day before, and she had actually arranged for a large bunch of women to arrive on the morrow, at this time. She told me that she would make me a full set of seven bras, plus two for the Call days if I would measure them all for her, and write down their sizes, associated with their names of course. After agreeing the deal, I went back outside and found Suril talking to two men, neither of whom I recognised; he briefly interrupted his discussions to come and thank me formally, before we finally parted for our own various self-appointed tasks.

I had a little while before my appointment with Mistress Pomma and Sookie, for a further demonstration of frayen-keeping, so I went to the building plot just to observe. Whilst there, I saw again the strange stone thingie behind the south wall, near the storage rooms area. I went to ask some of the men there about it, but they couldn't help me, referring me to Master Bezan. Apparently it had been Master B who had specified it. The work was continuing as quickly as before, and the east end was already covered with a roof, which the men were pleased with, as it apparently added to the stability of the entire thing. They told me that the full team of housebuilders had finally arrived yesterday, some even on the shuttle, with more pre-built sections filling up their allocation of wagons. The workers on the first day had actually already been here in town, scouting out future work areas that were already allocated by the Assembly.

The man in charge pointed out some important things on the slope above, albeit using a stark dialect. I could see, with his help, where the water channel was going to be — some of the route was already being dug out, leaving an ugly scar on the landscape. I hadn't been at home much in the past few days, during the daylight hours that is, so I hadn't really seen the works that were in fact quite close to it. The water route looked very strange to me, going not directly to where I would have thought it should.

This was a little clarified by his next remark: “So Mistress, you sees route of water from existing channel atop slope. 'Twill sweep down to new cistern up there, where all markers be in big clump. From there, two channels'll descend, one for fresh, one for waste. These channels'll be split as required for all houses on t' slope. It seems that yours is last on downslope, so your two'll join after passing you and then join t' waste run under Main Street.”

I think I understood all he said, but confess that I was floundering in the details; I would have to try to remember all that when Master B came to dinner next. But it was time for me to go to the courtyard where I once again met Sookie and Mistress Pomma, and we had another fascinating three quarters of a bell.

When I emerged once more, I decided to head over to Epp's for a chat to tie down various details of things we had in store for us. I looked around as I left the stable block, and spotted Suril climbing the slope towards my home, carrying awkwardly a strangely shaped and bulky parcel. I briefly wondered how he was going to manage it, and help his wife and child back to their dwelling, but other thoughts intruded and drove that one away from my brain.

I was welcomed warmly by the three ladies there — Epp, Gramobona and Grizanthet — who kindly invited me to share an early snack lunch with them, which was gratefully received — also the facilities had by then become necessary. I had two more ladies to measure when the topic came up, and paled when I heard that they were pleased now since they didn't have to attend the big session on the morrow — they estimated some thirty or so women were going to turn up. It seemed I was going to be earning my rewards.

Gramma Bone told us that she was now getting too old to operate the loom as well as she had used to, her fingers were giving her trouble as were her knees which were protesting at last after moving her huge bulk around for so long. Her place was going to be assigned to the new glassmaker with the strange name as it was downslope from the smithy, but was quite near the water and also supplies could be easily transported there — particularly once the new road was open and the Miners' Village finished. GB's place would need a little expansion, but was otherwise very close to Master Pocular's specifications that he had sent in advance.

“But what of yourself, Mistress Gramobona? What will you do?”

“I shall have an outhouse here and share the kitchen with Mistress Epp. My loom will come with me so I can continue some of that work — but I am now well-trained as an Eppriman and will relieve dear Epp of some of that responsibility. Mistress Epp explains that she shall be a lot busier in the new year with teaching the students to number and letter. She will also probably have to reduce her trips to Tranidor for a year or so because of that task.”

“Talking of which, Julina, when would be best for our trip to Tranidor? Your father wanted it completed before your birthday if that's possible, but failing that, shortly after it. You should consider that we will be away for just under two weeks in all.”

“I think that it would be best just after it, actually, Epp. I have so much to do suddenly, and I wouldn't want to rush things right now. We need to decide on the standards to be achieved by my beginners before they are let onto you — and I will need some advanced training too. I am aware that some of my spelling needs improvement — or, to put it another way, I need to become more confident. I should also say that there are several adults who want to attend as well as a good few youngsters. We maybe need to have separate lessons. What think you? And then, as soon as this Call is over, I shall be learning to ride a frayen! My saddle is already delivered, and the riding attire is on order. Some preparation has been made in gaining an understanding with the animals …”

“Animals! Maker! Are you so rich then that you have more than one?”

“Ah! Well it happened this way …”

… … …

I left Epp's house just before the noon bell, and went up towards the campingplace with, for what seemed the first time in ages, no fixed plan and no fixed appointments.

I decided for some random reason to go up near the smithy. As I passed it, between there and the Musical Instrument maker's, I could see that there were a hand or more of newly erected sheds dotted around the smithy and several new faces scurrying about. I recognised one in particular, the man Sethan who had been duped by Trogan and had received a lesser punishment in Mylady's court. Master Brydas and he were standing over the steam engine thingy that I had heard described, and it seemed to me that it was Sethan teaching Master Brydas something!

They laughed together, and Master Brydas clapped him on the shoulder as he turned away and went to supervise a face I didn't recognise who was operating a strange machine. The man pulled down on a long lever, and a funny plate with tooth-like things sticking out the bottom descended towards a shiny strip of metal, upon which it seemed to settle for a heartbeat. The man lent his weight to the downward pressure and there was a sudden drop of maybe an eighth of a thumb — almost undetectable to the eye — and then the man raised the lever again. The metal strip was now attached to the plate that had descended.

The man took a small pan and a brush and swept hundreds of shiny little things into the pan, brushing carefully over the exposed surface where the shiny sheet had been. When satisfied that the surface was clean, he lowered the upper plate once more to just above the lower plate, then took a hammer and smashed the shiny strip off its perch. He lifted the strip up and I could see a myriad of tiny holes had been punched into it. He just tossed this holed piece of metal into a bin to one side and then took the pan with the punchings over to a tall container, into which he carefully poured them. This container was a strange shade of green with several dents and scratches on the sides.

The noon bell sounded and shook me out of my confused thoughts, wondering what I had just observed. I went across and spent maybe five moments talking with Sethan from which I gathered that he had become a coke and steel expert for Master Brydas, and what I had thought was the steam engine was in fact something called a 'coke oven'. His pride in his achievements showed in an altered bearing and a more determined face. Gone was the haunted loser's look of before. I realised that suddenly he had found a purpose in life. It was a heartening moment to me, to see a human almost come alive in front of our eyes.

My brain was mulling this over as I took my leave of him. I gained the Main Street and headed upslope to see what Kelly might be doing, and if she could 'come out to play'. I could see a small gathering in the middle of the roadway up where the Saddler's was on one side and the Shoemaker's on the other. There were four people involved, two men and two women. Masters Wainer and Waldan and Mistresses Pomma and Sandara. As I neared, I could hear them as well. The discussions were, shall we say, quite shrill, particularly from Mistress Sandara, who was seemingly being beset by the other three.

“Mistress Sandara! You have no need to repeat yourself. Yes, we are aware that you have purchased your passage on the shuttle. Yes, we are aware you sold your two frayen to Master Wainer, here. Yes, we are aware that you expected to leave on today's shuttle. Yes, we are aware that all your bags and boxes are ready for transportation. But you must accept that the shuttle leaves everyday at precisely noon. It was your responsibility to be there on time. Just because you have a warrant does NOT mean that the transport will wait for you. The warrant is good for ANY trip.”

“Not only did it not wait for me, but tomorrow is the rest day. I shall have to stay in this wretched town for another two days. I shall miss my connections downvalley. Relatives are expecting me in Tranidor for onward travel. And I have handed over the house now to Wainer here.”

I could see Master Wainer getting annoyed at the lack of his title and he responded sharply: “All the more reason that you should have made an extra effort to be punctual, Mistress.”

“I'll have to move back into my house and unpack my boxes. Then repack them in two mornings time.”

“That you will NOT be doing, Mistress. It has been officially handed over to myself, which transaction has been duly noted in person in front of the two of us by both the Steward and the Scribe. The documents have been signed. So let's be absolutely clear - it now MY house, not yours.

“I have assisted you this morning purely as a neighbourly act but your attitude is anything but friendly or grateful. You will recall that I gave you reminders at every bell this morning and STILL you failed to turn up on time. Mistress Sandara, you have two choices … hire a private wagoneer and leave as you can, or pay for a room somewhere else for two nights.”

“Well I never! What an ingrate. When my husband was a respected member of this community, such a thing …”

“Was that before or after he committed treason?” continued an exasperated Master Wainer.

“How dare you? It wasn't treason! He was killed by a ptuvil as he tried to defend our Baroness …”

“Enough, you stupid woman!” interjected Mistress Pomma, before continuing with an extremely irritated tone of voice. “Mistress, you KNOW that to be untrue. What you say downvalley is of little concern to us here in Blackstone. But we up here in OUR town, we all know the facts. You have been unpleasant in the extreme ever since you realised that your influence had withered. My husband and Master Wainer here have often discussed your obstructiveness to the take-over. So let's have no more airs and graces, Sandara,” she hissed the name with obvious distaste. “You were barely tolerated all these years and when you beat your own daughter just to try to gain influence with those in charge, then your reputation was finally come to an end. I doubt you'll find anyone prepared to put you up, particularly when I make sure that everyone knows of your arrogance this morning in expecting the timetable to be adjusted to YOUR private needs. You had a chance to leave with dignity, but you even got that wrong.”

“I'll have you know that the Steward is a close personal friend. I shall make sure that you regret this, all of you! Hah, I would gladly pay the rest of the pitifully small fortune that I have been left with just to get out of this town as soon as I possibly could. All of you can't see further than your noses, this place and all its inhabitants will never amount to anything. And that stupid child who thinks she is in charge here. What a dreamer! And to think of all my family did for this village — for that is all it is, not worthy of the name town. Why, I can remem …”

“I think the awful events of losing your family have turned your mind. I can find no other sensible conclusion. You are lying to yourself as much as you are lying to us. Why do you continue to deny the truth?”

I didn't hear any more of this conversation as I had had an idea and I turned and walked as swiftly as I could down to the Claw.

I was lucky when I got there. I knew that I needed to act fast and would need Sookie's help — I just hoped that I could find her promptly. As it happened, I found Sookie very easily, by literally bumping into her as I rushed round the corner into the yard. We greeted each other fondly.

“Sookie — we have a situation that needs a rapid solution. And you told Mistress Pomma and I earlier of two wagons and wagoneers having to hang around for two days with nothing to do. Well, I have a job for one of them, just to run down to the Forest Roadhouse for tonight. That's all they have to do, with Mistress Sandara and her belongings …”

I explained the problem at the top end of the street and the conversation I had overheard.

“But why just to the Roadhouse? And why must it be now?”

“Mistress Sandara has already paid for her trip on the shuttle down to Tranidor, so that means she has in effect a paid for a room in the roadhouse. The shuttle won't leave the roadhouse until noon tomorrow, so if someone takes her down NOW, then she has accommodation for the night AND she will catch up with her originally planned shuttle so her relatives won't be kept waiting. It is her cheaper option, rather than have to pay for two more nights here. So the wagoneer gains a small commission, and could perhaps even find another for an early departure from the roadhouse to come back up here, and Mistress Sandara has her cheaper option and catches up with where she should be. Plus the benefits for others here in the town, as I'm sure many would be pleased to see the back of her!”

“Oh I for one shall be glad to see the back of that snooty woman! She has made a lot of people miserable, myself included — all founded on a false sense of superiority. This is a good plan, 'Lina. Well thought. Mind you, I shall make sure to tell the wagoneer to get his coin from her before loading her up.” She turned round and yelled across the courtyard. “Looz — get your wagon ready as soon as you can. I have a commission for you.”

I saw a man jerk up from a snoozing position and wave to her before heading towards a wagon shape under a cover in the corner by the bathhouse.

“Now you go back up the slope, 'Lina and get Mistress Sandara readied.”

… … …

“... so Mistress Sandara, as a favour to you with thanks for every one of the pairs of shoes I have ever had in my life, I have asked a special favour from a friend of mine with the wagoneers. There is one who has to wait at least another day for his load to be ready. He is prepared to run you down to the Forest Roadhouse as long as you leave as soon as possible. If it is left much longer, then you may not get to the Roadhouse until after dusk, maybe even in the dark. I'm sure he won't charge you much, and it would be a lot less than two more days of overnighting and eating. The man has to be back here before noon tomorrow, so he HAS to leave right now.”

“Thank you child,” she said to me with that awful insincere smile that had always made me want to smack her. She turned to the others and continued, “you see there ARE some here who appreciate our efforts, unlike you three. Although I object to having to pay twice for this first leg of the journey, then I shall do so. Anything to be shot of this dismal hole.” She turned to Master Wainer. “You, come and pick up my belongings and stack them on the sidewalk there.”

“I shall do no such thing, not even to make sure that you go as soon as possible. I am NOT your servant, nor are the servants in the house any longer yours to command. Begone and learn some manners and humility.” So saying, Master Wainer turned on his heel and went up to his new home and workshop. It was obvious that the man was EXTREMELY angry, so the way he closed the door gently and quietly behind him was all the more telling. I made a mental note of that powerful effect.

Master Waldan and Mistress Pomma looked at me strangely, the latter with confusion, before returning across the road to their own place. I sighed. I knew I would have a few awkwardnesses with Mistress Pomma now, after seeming to be so friendly to Mistress Sandara, but it wasn't going to be of much importance if the woman was gone within the next half bell. It was just another little incident that I now had to explain and smooth over. Does it ever end?

Mistress Sandara tried to make me do some of her work for her, but I was able to truthfully claim that I had my Call and it would be better not to do so. She sniffed in some disdain but accepted that the driver should do it. Her pile of belongings was large enough for me to have already queried to myself just how many wagons might be needed, and I hoped that there would be place enough in the shuttle when it left the Roadhouse — but that wasn't going to be my problem. I did manage, by a mixture of coaxing and flattery, to get her to bring the lighter objects nearer the roadside. It was an awkward quarter of a bell as we waited for the wagon to arrive, but eventually it did, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Sookie had been thinking and had sent up some extra men to help move and load the belongings. The wagon come abreast of us and the two extra men jumped off it while the wagon kept going.

“Where are you going? The baggage is all here.”

“Turn round, Mistress. Then we leave straight downhill. Easier uphill with a lighter wagon.”

“Well hurry up then, man.”

I wondered if the woman would EVER learn.

I stayed just long enough to make sure that the connection was made before telling the extra men that I had to leave, letting them know without saying so that I had the Call. They sort of cringed a little and waved me away. Sometimes, having a Call can be a blessing.

I went across to the Saddler's, not wanting to let the slight ill-feeling linger. I was lucky that they were both still in the house and the Master hadn't returned to his work. It didn't take me long to explain that my apparent praise of Mistress Sandara and my thanks at the end were not that important to me, and served enough to get her to go without much more fuss. After due reflection, they actually thanked me for saving an awkward situation. I was about to leave, when there was a knocking at the door, and Master Wainer was let in, carrying a smallish sack.

“Thank you, Mistress Julina. That was neatly done. I'm sure she would not have departed had you not managed to make her see sense with a little flattery. It was masterfully arranged. Or maybe I should say, mistressfully arranged. She is just this moment on her way and probably passing out of the town at this heartbeat. Now, at last, I feel I can start making my life here.”

His face got a little more serious as he took a breath. He turned to the other two.

“Master Waldan, Mistress Pomma. You have been very kind to me since I arrived just a few days ago. You have made my entry here considerably easier and I shall be forever grateful. As a token of my appreciation, I should like to present to you one of the pair of frayen I have purchased from the recently-departed Mistress Sandara. I have reason to believe ...” here his eyes twinkled heavily “ … that this may solve an odd problem that might be ready to rear its head. And, to further advance this possibility, I have here in this sack, a piece of leather cut to the dimension required by Mistress Pomma for her new-style saddle. There is a little more work required to complete it, so I hope, Master Waldan, that you will find it within you to complete your lady's saddle at a very early opportunity.”

I doubt that there had ever been a present in the history of all Anmar that has produced such delight on one person's face. I happened to look at Master Waldan and saw there a further lovely surprise. His eyes twinkled and there was a little grin on his face, but then he continued as the grumpy old man not wanting his wife to do things. I knew, from that one unguarded moment, that he was not so sour about the whole thing as he pretended to be. I lowered my eyes in case I gave the game away.

It was a moment of pure pleasure that I will remember long into my old age. So I found a quick excuse and slipped away, not wishing to intrude on such private moments.

I went up to Malet's, hoping to find Kelly and was pleasantly surprised to find Gyth there too. We settled down into a bell or so's gossip, chat and news exchanges. We all remarked upon the fact that this session was somehow more adult than any we had had before.

They were fascinated with my story about the Suril family and wondered how I could take such a risk. I reminded them that my original invitation had been for just a meal and a bath, the overnight stay had been purely accidental. We tossed the subject around between us and I think we were intrigued about that parcel I had seen Suril carrying so awkwardly. Difficult though it was, we all had to contain our impatience until the answer was revealed to us!

Kelly and I then took the opportunity to get Gyth to open up to us about her until-recently-hidden talents and also about her recent thoughtfulness. She was hesitant at first, and it took quite some coaxing from us, but then her defences crumbled and it all poured out like the river in the rains.

“I can't stay here in this town much longer. I don't want to leave you three friends but I know with an absolute certainty that I have to see more of our land. I have to see the Sirrel, I have to see Palarand City. I have to see other lands like Vardenale and Plif. All these names that I have heard from visitors. Moxgo. Joth. Brikant. All the rest. I want to see a felk. I want to see the King himself. And the Queen. Closer to here, I want to see the Stone Sea and the Vale. I have never even seen the roadhouse in the forest. I want to take the Chaarn road all the way to Chaarn, and the Tel Botro road all the way to Tel Botro. I haven't even seen Tranidor — yet! Then there's Haligo and Teldor and Dekarran.

“But I can't leave my mother all alone — as you know, there has been just the two of us for nearly a year now, after Father disappeared in the Trogan times. I shall stay, HAVE to stay, until Mama has her pyre. And it is all tearing me apart. This work at Master Michen's will provide me with some little coin that I can save, and I shall try to find another job for during the day, so that will help Mama, who only gets very little for helping out the tanner; just enough to keep us in food.”

Kelly and I were amazed at the depth of feelings that she had just displayed — dear, sweet, gentle, quiet Gythy. At last we understood some of her recent behaviour, but we were both aghast that there was nothing we could do right at the moment to ease her pain. A group hug and a few tears followed Gyth's impassioned outburst — and then I had an idea. I would need to talk to Epp first, before mentioning anything to either of them. Oh! Thinking it through showed me that there was a potentially large problem with my idea.

Right, then — Epp talk first, then a talk with both these girls. I will need their help with that problem I just saw.

I took my leave shortly afterwards and retraced my route back to Epp's, finding her both in and alone.

… … …

“So when we go down to Tranidor, how many can we take? I was thinking that maybe I could use the travelling time to do some lettering lessons, and you could also give me some advanced ones maybe, or some numbering lessons? But of course, you have to decide, I cannot assume any authority just because it's my birthday present.”

“Well theoretically we could take up to two hands in total, not including me, but that tends to get quite hectic, controlling everyone when we're down there. Mind you, with you along, then the controlling could be shared. With fewer little ones, then also less controlling.

“I'm glad we are talking about this now, I was going to ask you something before we went, but I can take this opportunity to do it. GB has been a great friend to me, and when she moves down to effectively share this rambling place, she will be a virtual partner in my business here, giving me far more freedom not only for the teaching, but also to pursue other developments. I would very much like to take her downvalley for the first time in her life, and doing that with you might be the best present to her, as she has never had any children and might be overwhelmed if all the others were so young. But I don't want to imply that you would have to be with her all the time or anything like that. A younger outlook might well be a tonic for her.”

“Oh that might be excellent! Someone else I have wanted to get to know for quite a while now.”

“So who might you consider taking?”

“Well, I think that my next sister, Kords, would LOVE to be invited to join me ...”

“What a generous thought! Some who go want a clean break from everything up here. I would insist, however, that you and she do NOT share a bedroom. You really must have SOME change!”

“And then I was thinking about the children who live up in the Vale. They want to learn some letters, but wouldn't be able to make it each day down to the schoolroom, so I thought that …”

“A very good idea, my dear — BUT I would advise against that.”

“Why is that?”

She sighed a bit before continuing: “All of you, every single one of you, are going to be shocked by the differences between Blackstone and Tranidor. It WILL happen. It always does. To expose those children to such a large town when they are not even really familiar with Blackstone will be just too great a difference. I fear it will be too much for them.”

“I shall have to bow to your greater knowledge, there. This was not a consideration that had occurred to me.”

“Do you have any others in mind?”

“Well, actually, I would like your advice. I have three very good friends, we are a sort of special group …”

“Kellonika, Molleena and Gythy.”

“Yes. But I have a problem with that. I definitely want to invite Gythy, as she is DESPERATE to see something more of our land. She is practically tearing her hair out at the repetitive life she leads, and every story she hears from others just makes it worse. I would like to invite Kelly too. But …”

“But you are worried about controlling Molleena if she accompanies us?”

“How did you …? Well, yes, exactly. But Mich … er … Master Michen is fairly sure that she has been hib-noticed, or whatever that word was I asked you about. Maybe if there was one of those travelling show thingies down there, we could get her cured ...”

Epp hissed in a sharp breath as she half-whispered: “Of course! Probably that Perril. And he didn't release her. Poor child. She must have help as soon as possible.”

I continued, relieved that someone else knew the problem and I hadn't divulged anything that would betray my oath to Molly: “But the danger of her going and getting into trouble would mean total and constant supervision, which would put constraints on other's activities. So I am torn. I feel I can't invite the other two without her, but I want them all there with me, to share the experience. I just don't know how to get round this problem.”

“Yes, I understand. I will need to think on this. Leave it with me. I will let you know sometime next week.”

“I had thought to include some other children to get some lessons in. But maybe this would be a good time to have a more mature group and teach some of the adults. Would you also think about that?”

“That is a very mature, and indeed sensible approach. I commend you. Let's discuss this further in four or five days. In the meantime, speak with Kellonika's and Gythy's mothers. If they don't give give their permissions, then there is a partial solution to your problem.”

“Thank you! I knew you would have a sensible approach. It quite relieves me. Now, I have some further news for you. Yesterday I met this family, smallholders from just upvalley from here, where the new Loop Road is going to be. Suril and Haka …”

… … …

By the time I left Epp's again, it was already after the sixth Bell, so I knew that Suril would be in with the Sheriff. I was wishing him luck in my head as I walked into the courtyard at the Claw, prior to slipping Dralla and Trumpa some nibbles.

But they weren't there.

I was confused and looked round for Parry or Sookie, but neither were visible. Eventually, a yardman told me they were in the paddock so I went out there to find them.

Sookie was riding Tixi round, and trailing Dralla on a rein. They were going much faster than a simple walk. In another corner, Parry was leading Trumpa around on a very long rein. Both the humans were making slight noises and saying gentle words as they persuaded the beasts to change directions or change speed of gait. They were obviously training the animals with kindness and affection, and the animals seemed to be enjoying it. Trumpa caught sight of me and tugged gently at Sookie. At first, Sookie was surprised but then she too saw me and they all came over to me by the fence. I had a nibble ready for Trumpa and held it for her to take from me by sticking her head through the bars of the fence. Tixi looked round at Sookie who laughed and said “Yes, little miss greedy.”

So I held out one cube for her too. She took it with less obvious caution than that which she had shown before. Of course Dralla had seen all this and wanted to come across. Parry made her wait for a bit, but then allowed her to do so.

We chatted for maybe a quarter of a bell until I indicated that I needed to get home to use the facilities. I thanked them both for working the animals, and they assured me it was not a chore. I know that Dralla and Trumpa whiffled a good-bye as I left, and I think that Tixi did too, but we three humans were talking our goodbyes at the same heartbeat.

I got back to the house in good time, having glanced at the building plot. I had felt something shift slightly 'down there' so I didn't stop — I just noticed that there were many more workers today than there had been before, and the roof was being finished on that east side of the courtyard. All the base was down, and I could see that the floor would be finished before the day was out. The entire wall at the south side of the courtyard — the north side of the passage joining the house to the kitchens and bathrooms — was missing and there seemed to be no urgency to fill that gap. Hmm, something else to try to reason out. I scurried on.

As I approached the house, I waved to Swayga and gestured that I would need the bath-house. She acknowledged me with a wave and went back inside, presumably to put some water on. As I entered the house, I nearly stopped in amazement but urgently needed to get to the bathroom. The dining table was strewn with fabric, needles, thread, slicers, shaped pieces of cloth, a jar of buttons and just about everything anyone could imagine would be connected to sewing. Kords, Julu and Kissa were gathered attentively round Haka who was patiently showing them something or other. Their faces were rapt and they all were clearly enjoying themselves. The baby was in a makeshift crib and was sleeping soundly.

I wondered about this all as I went into the bathroom and saw a half-filled bath with warm water in it. Oh my. Swayga was wonderful. I eased into the water and cleaned up the initial mess. I had just drained the dirtied water when Swayga, Haka and Kords all came in, each carrying a large pot of boiling water. I replaced the bung in the tub, and fetched a bucket of cold water from the water tank in the corner. All four buckets barely covered the floor of the bath, it seemed, so I fetched two more buckets of cold, and the others all did as well. Then Swayga and Haka left with two pots of water to be heated and returned with two more pots of boiling water. Meanwhile Kords had filled another pot and taken that out to put on the range. Fourteen pots of water had made the bath level high enough for washing, so I thanked them all as they left carrying more buckets to be heated up. I slid once more under the water, which was barely warm but much better than cold!

Kords came back and washed my back for me. I felt so much better.

“Now, what on Anmar is going on on the dining table?”

“Ah! You came back earlier than we expected, 'Lina. We had hoped to have it all finished before you returned.” She paused long enough for me to half-irritatedly demand more information.

“Well, it seems that Haka's Mama was a noted seamstress and that she taught Haka well. Now Haka married for love and devoted herself to her man's work. She did not part from her mother on the best of terms. They could not afford to buy all the equipment for her to sew professionally, so she hasn't done anything other than home-made stuff for ages. When her mother went to her pyre, there was no equipment left, the mother having sold it to purchase food and so on.

“Haka decided that she wanted to thank you particularly, but all of us for being so kind last night. She has mended all the stuff that needed mending, and has fixed the button on that dress of yours. She took the dress she borrowed yesterday and took it apart. From those bits, and the measurements she took in the bathroom this morning, she cut out the required pieces from a bundle of cloth that Suril carried in from somewhere.

“ 'Lina, she sewed your dress back together again and has made you two more what she called work dresses AND a dress for best, you lucky thing! She has taught all of us how to measure and cut out cloth, and Kissa has proved to be very talented at all this. Haka has promised to teach her to be good at it. Then Kissa can teach us.

“She is also going to make Swayga a dress for best, but explained that the rest of us are still growing so it wouldn't be quite right to do any for us at the moment. She has promised to do that for us when we grow.

“It is quite amazing what she has done. Now I have to go back and sew up the skirts of your new work dresses. Your best dress needs her skills for really neat sewing. She explained that the work dresses could be quite rough and ready really, which is how she described MY sewing. I seem to be all thumbs I confess, but at least I can do a straight seam now, and tack up hems for her to finish. Kissa is MUCH better than me.”

“Better than I,” I automatically corrected.

“Better than I,” sighed Kords. “And then I need to get the food ready.” She left me alone.

I was astounded — here we were barely at the seventh bell and this woman had managed all that — in one day, while looking after her child and teaching my sisters. I was also amused that I had been caught out by the very trick that I had played to get Michet's measurements. I was anxious to go and see my 'dress for best' as Kords had described it.

Before I could dress myself though, there was a commotion from outside, which at first disturbed me, but then I detected Suril's voice and knew he had returned. From the cheers and laughter, I knew what his news was and I couldn't help but grin. I pulled on my dress, then rushed out and was grabbed into the huge mass of bodies all hugging one another while clapping Suril on the back. The baby woke up and insisted on joining in, or so it seemed. Haka had tears of joy and we learnt that Suril would be paid more in one month than they had earned in all of the last year.

And that was before Trogan robbed them.

The madness calmed down after a little while, and I sent Kords back to the sewing lessons while I happily got started on the meal. Swayga came across to me and asked if I was happy to be doing that, as Haka had shown her some stuff and she wanted to practice it, and get some help. I grinned and said to her to go and learn, I was quite happy — and I assumed that Suril and Haka were to eat too?

So it was that last night repeated itself, with the exception of visits from Master Bezan and Fedren. The family stayed another night again after we had admired the new dresses she had made me, and she continued her lessons after dinner was cleared away. Julu was sent to bed of course but we let Kissa stay up for once. I decided that learning fancy sewing skills was not something I wanted to add to my abilities just at the moment. I could sew reasonably — enough for running repairs to things round the house, and I could make a rough housedress if I was pushed.

As a result of this, Suril and I sat and chatted, starting with more details about the new house design. Apparently, Master Fedren had got permission for a new house to be built for them on the land behind the Watchhouse, and he wanted to talk to me about the details. It would be bigger than anything they had previously had, where all three of them were living in just the one room, and would have a separate kitchen and an outdoor privy. I made some suggestions that he should think about and for which he was very grateful.

And then it was time to retire. With all of us doing something to get the chores done, it took no time at all.

I found it vaguely amusing that I had done less today than I had yesterday, and yet felt tireder.

Very soon, we were all 'connected to the moon', a family expression that Suril and Haka enjoyed, finding it somehow better than just saying 'asleep'.

Quite which moon was involved has always been a mystery to me. I can't believe that it would be Kallikan — which woman would want to have THAT connection as she slept. I have long harboured a suspicion that Tiede is probably the best candidate as it goes round the 'wrong' way and is very fast, which can be likened to the way dreams come and go.

No further thoughts were possible as I slipped into my dreams.

---

Things begin to settle in more comfortably

---

Disclaimer:

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 so another night passed, followed by another early morning wake-up. Once again it was extremely pleasant to have help to unbank and rekindle the fires, and to have a group of us together heating the water for the bath. Somehow, this made the following group bath such a better experience.

We were all beginning to enjoy this way of starting the day very much, none more so than Haka.

The following breakfast was no exception, there we also had fun; we older ones had all teamed together so it was prepared so much quicker. Haka particularly seemed to blossom in the close family environment (wow – the first time I can use that long word properly – I pat myself on the back!) and she took much delight in joining in with our activities. She was actually of great help in rousing the boys, who seemed to feel it necessary to be on their best behaviour with her; which was, in a way, most annoying.

Kissa and Julu were fascinated with all things Haris. They almost came to blows when there was something they could do to help Haka. Breast-feeding was particularly fascinating to watch for them (and I think for Kords) and I could swear I was able to see some improvement in the young lad, no doubt the result of better milk from his mother, now that she was eating more properly. Unfortunately, this rivalry came too often close to hindrance rather than help, and Swayga and I had to calm the two younger girls down on more than one occasion.

As was now the norm, this breakfast was followed by another lettering lesson; this morning's one was wonderful to watch as the kids all chipped in and helped Suril and Haka to make a start. Sometimes the clamour as they all tried to explain the same thing at the same time needed to be quenched, but on the whole the two adult pupils were very receptive and dealt with it all with a high good humour, making the lesson fun for everyone involved.

I noticed in passing that my previous observations were borne out when I saw that Haka could manipulate her writing implement easier than Suril, but Suril could remember facts and lists easier than Haka.

Neither Haka nor Suril were absolute beginners, being able to recognise certain symbols and words but only as things, not actually as individual letters. For example, they recognised the group of letters that made up the words 'bushel' and 'basket', for these words occurred regularly in the documented transactions they had had as pakh-farmers. But they were unable to identify the individual letters until we showed them how to break words down. Haka and Suril certainly had never tried to reproduce the letters they saw themselves. So this was a valuable exercise for them; and for me when considering the approach to be made when teaching adults.

They were so much better at recognising the number symbols, mind you – the old ones, that is. The new Garian numbers were completely foreign to them. I could nowadays write the new symbols but needed help to use them; I had heard that they were so much simpler to use that they provided immense benefits, particularly in time. I idly wondered who would be able to show me.

In our chats about the upcoming lessons, Epp and I had decided that it would be better to split the adults from the children, as there would be too much distraction – in either direction! And this combined lesson bore that out. Mind you, I was aware that this diversity in abilities in a lesson group would hardly likely be repeated – this was just a special circumstance.

I needed information from Haka and Suril in order to understand the adult mentality when it came to learning, and applying existing knowledge. As a result of this, I explained to them that I needed their help in designing my lessons. This made them puff up with pride, and give freely of themselves when answering my questions. I therefore questioned them very carefully indeed.

“Tell me what thoughts went through your head at each stage of this process. Were you nervous? If so, why? What helped disperse the fear? What moment was valuable as something clicked? What do you think I should do for others in your situation? Please help me, and thus help future students.”

These precious details have no need of explanation here, but they were certainly very valuable to me when it came to designing my lesson plans. As it happens, I'm sure that every one of my subsequent students should actually thank my siblings, along with Suril and Haka, for their unmentioned and unnoticed suggestions. I always make a point of telling all my students this, without specifying the points that had been made.

After the lesson that day, a lesson which could have gone on even longer, Haka started to get out her implements again and Suril went to meet Masters Bezan and Fedren along with the foreman of the builders to position and design their new home. It was to be built just behind the Watchhouse. He was to have his first day at work starting at the fifth bell when he was to meet the Sheriff in the Watchhouse, Master Fedren having explained that it was always quiet at that time.

I sat back and started to plan my day, which was remarkably quiet compared to recent ones. I remembered that I had a meeting with Mistress Hasinet and …

“Oh Maker! Haka, Haka – quick. I need to talk to you.”

“What is it, 'Lina?”

“Can you leave Haris with everyone here for a bell or two, or can you get him ready to go outside really quickly? I need you to come with me this morning. It's very important. Something has just occurred to me. You can be of great help. And I might have a surprise for you – a really nice one. Please trust me on this. But I have to go to an appointment for the third bell and we must therefore leave in a quarter of a bell, at the very latest. Can you do it?”

Swayga had come across with Haka when I called so urgently and it was she who promised to look after Haris, thus allowing the two of us to leave shortly afterwards, much to Kissa's anger. She and Julu, and I think Kords, had wanted more sewing lessons. I could see the love Haka had for Haris shining out of her but she tore her heart and her head apart, and accepted Swayga's offer. It was quite humbling, the trust she thus demonstrated in me to do this.

Together, we walked downslope and I enjoyed it as she tried hard to find out what was happening, while I resisted telling her anything, since I was feeling mischievous. She started laughing when she realised that she wouldn't get anything out of me and conceded 'defeat' by changing the subject. I pointed out to her how annoyed the kids were that I had 'stolen' her this morning and she promised to make up for it in the afternoon.

I asked her where Suril had found the different cloths yesterday and she explained that it was all left over from when her mother had died a few years ago and Mistress Jorine had promised to store it for her until such time as it was required. Mistress Jorine had been a colleague of her mother's and had a good store for cloth, where it would not rot so quickly. When our family had shown so much help and compassion, she felt that she must get the cloth out of storage and help repay some of her thanks by using her skills. So our curtains and cushions had been repaired and she had done the dresses.

But, she said as she went further in her explanation, she was astounded to find out how much she enjoyed giving lessons to the kids. She explained feelingly that she felt really useful for the first time since a long, long, long time ago.

I couldn't imagine living a life in which I didn't feel useful, and my heart went out to her. She struggled with tears as she sensed my feelings. There was obviously a lot in her earlier life that she had not told us, and I could feel a deep sadness in her. This was another occasion I held back from prying, another point to be added to a lengthening list. Neither I nor the others at home would press her to talk about these points, since we thought we knew her well enough that she would tell us if she felt like it, at a time when she felt it right to do so.

It was not long before the two of us arrived at Mistress Hasinet's and there met a large group of women waiting in line outside the house. At first, they were a little hostile when we tried to push through but in a short while, they allowed us to 'jump the line' when I explained that we were working with Mistress Hasinet and that the line couldn't get moving until we were inside. There were some grumbles about young girls and no respect to elders and so on, but most accepted my explanation with no further hindrance. Haka and I shouldered our way through the throng and just opened the door without knocking or ringing – I having reckoned that the Mistress wouldn't open the door to anyone else who rang or knocked, probably having answered it so many times already.

And so it transpired. She nodded approvingly when I loudly announced our arrival after closing the door behind me. Mistress Hasinet came out of her workroom to confirm who was there. She was taken aback slightly when she saw two of us.

Mistress H grunted a welcome and mentioned that she was glad I was on time. Then she significantly looked a query at Haka. I expected Haka to introduce herself, but she was in no hurry so to do.

On the way down the slope, I had noticed a tensing of Haka's muscles when I mentioned Mistress Hasinet's name but shrugged it off as something imagined. But the following happenings told me I had NOT imagined it.

There was a short silence until I realised that I would have to make the formal introductions and so I brought the two together, making a bit of a show of it by introducing the one to the other with what I imagined to be old-fashioned flourishes, all in an attempt to lighten the mood.

I started with introducing Haka and immediately noticed a small but definite heartbeat of something strange on both sides. It was no better when the introduction was made in the other direction.

I fell silent, my light-hearted antics just withering in the wind.

There was a silence for several heartbeats, maybe even as much as a quarter of a moment, before Mistress H almost barked: “Haka! Are you Liamet's girl?”

“Yes, Mistress. My mother was indeed named Liamet.”

Haka didn't look at all defensive, seeming to stand a little straighter. In fact, she was almost aggressive in her stance, but carefully not so in her tone.

I was very taken aback by this development. What on Anmar was happening here?

“You're the ingrate that ran off with a no-hope pakh farmer of all people! You left her alone. Just like her so-called husband had done after you were born. You even let her die alone!”

I was truly and fundamentally shocked. This just didn't sound like the Haka I had come to know. It didn't tie in with the maternal instincts I had seen her display. And it didn't tie in at all with my instincts about her.

Her answer, however, was spoken clearly and carefully not aggressively, which made it all the more shocking to me when I heard it.

“Indeed, Mistress.”

She fell silent again. But … but … but … - something here did not add up, there was more to be said I somehow knew.

Mistress Hasinet's eyebrows rose, but, as I mentioned, there had been something in the tone that suggested there was more to come. She kept her peace, allowing Haka to continue.

I was suddenly made acutely aware that I was privileged now to hear some of the history about which I had been pondering. My inquisitiveness was delighted.

My heart had dropped, however. Had I made an enormous mistake – do the two hate each other?

Haka swallowed and took a breath. Was that a hint of a tear in her eye I could see?

With a calm tone, however, she continued: “I had to get away from my mother, she was controlling anything and everything about me, not allowing me out until I had done her work for her, which meant I met no-one and had no life. I was a virtual prisoner in her home. She sewed very little herself once I could do it. She wouldn't tell anyone, but her sight was failing, and all the stuff she did, she didn't.

“I did it.

“But she was the one who got paid for it, and her reputation for good work was in fact mine. Her slave in the background, unacknowledged, unappreciated and unpraised.”

The bitterness in her voice during that last sentence was to me the most compelling reason to believe her story, but her passion, her body positioning and the fire in her eyes, all were highly convincing as well. I could see Mistress H accept that maybe there was another side to the story she thought she knew so well. She bit her tongue as Haka carried on.

“I don't regret leaving for one moment,” she stated almost defiantly. “For long periods, I never saw the sun. She beat me with a stick to make me work harder, and she went out to collect more work, leaving me at home with a huge pile already. I would not be fed until it was finished, and I was frequently sent to bed hungry. She blamed me for the departure of her man, my father. How I could be to blame, I have no idea, he disappeared when I was less than one year of age. I don't know, nor am I in the remotest interested to learn what stories she told her cronies,” at this point she stared very hard at Mistress Hasinet, “but I doubt there was much truth behind them.”

She was openly crying now, making no attempt to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

“Look here! She once beat me so hard with her stick, that she broke my leg. But I still had to work while she just tied two more sticks either side of the break and said that would have to do. I couldn't find any more tears to cry for those two or three months, and it was a year before I could walk again without limping.”

She lifted her dress hem and showed Mistress Hasinet the scarred and misshapen calf and ankle area on her right leg. I had seen it before of course in the bathhouse, but she hadn't wanted to talk about it then, so Swayga, Kords and I had let it pass, preferring to allow her to make the first move.

Mistress Hasinet eyes widened and we could see her take in this information and compare it with what she thought she already knew. We could see that she was not rejecting these new facts, but her initial hostility was not completely won over: “Well what do you want here?”

“I know not, Mistress. Julina here told me it was urgent I came with her.”

They both turned sharply and directed the focus at me as they looked at me queryingly.

“Mistress Hasinet, I met Mistress Haka coincidentally the other evening. You said that you required an assistant to help you, and I had discovered how talented she is at sewing, how swift and sure she is at it. I have seen her love for her little son, it shines as brightly as a bonfire. My family have been of some assistance to her and her husband and I have seen her determination to thank my family for helping her family. She has done all those little sewing jobs round the house that I could never muster the enthusiasm for, and on top of that has made some extra clothing for some of us, at no charge I would add – she believes it to be her way of repaying a debt. This does not sound like the heartless and callous girl you first described. This sounds to me like a responsible, honest woman, with a strong sense of integrity. She has, I am certain, a heart, and your earlier description of her character just leaves me convinced that you are talking about someone I have never met. Or the information you have been given about her is plain wrong.

“I had very little idea of her history, and much of what she has just said comes as a shock to me. This morning, as is my usual habit, I was simply sitting there at home, planning my day and thinking over the tasks I have to perform. I started, of course, with my appointment here. As I was contemplating it, it just occurred to me that various factors had come together here. She requires a little coin. You require some help. I realised there and then that the two would go together fittingly – tailor-made if I might be allowed a little joke at such a serious heartbeat.”

They both looked a little stunned by my explanation and the plan I had put together.

Finally, after what seemed an age, I could see Mistress H relent, and I released the breath I hadn't realised until then I was holding.

“Liamet's girl, eh? Well I know your training will have been good, at least. Alright, I'll take you on trial. Most of us in town have learnt to trust Julina and her instincts. You can start by helping Julina measure that great herd of women who have turned up. When the two of you have done the half of them, let Julina do the last half and then you, Haka, come to me; I will teach you about these bras. If you are any good, then I will take you on until the entire bra order book is completed. Any problems with that?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

Both Mistress Hasinet and I gasped in shock as Haka again paused. And also again, Mistress Hasinet's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Haka rushed on: “I have a little son, as Julina here mentioned a while ago. I would needs bring him with me to work, or I would take the work home with me and do it there – we could agree on an amount to be done by a certain time, for example, or maybe some other arrangement that we could agree upon – I am most flexible. But the coin would be more than welcome, as we have very little at the moment. Our house is about to be demolished for the new Loop Road and we need all the help we can get. I have a baby minder at the moment, but would have to return at the noon bell today to relieve her.”

“Very well. Let's see how the morning goes. Now you two need to reduce that line that's waiting.”

And so we worked our way through all those women; well, more accurately, we did the first half together and I did the last half alone. We soon discovered the most efficient way was to take a hand of women at a time into the room, get them to strip to the waist, helping each other in and out of their bodices, and then we would throw the measuring bands around their bodies one after the other. When we had finished that, we went back to each individual and measured the roundness of each breast. I would write it all down and then that woman was 'finished'. It took longer for the women to get undressed and redressed than it took us to measure the hand of them.

Mistress Hasinet was astounded that I got the job done so swiftly and thanked me profusely. I told her that it was no problem, that we had had a deal and therefore I was happy to do my side of the bargain. I had now measured a good fifty women, and it felt like more than half the female population of the town!

She handed me what she named a 'Call bra' which she had made to my measurements and told me to try it and see what I thought. The two of them helped as I stripped off my bodice and, clumsily at first, tied the new garment in place. They both watched intently.

Oh Maker! How nice it was to leave off that bodice and still have something to hold my chest in control. I understood at last what this was all about. Haka was astounded and Mistress Hasinet smiled a little smugly. I remembered that she already wore one. That was why she was so smug!

My latest idea had also worked, since Haka was all but now employed by Mistress Hasinet, despite the slightly frosty start. I was confident her skills would be enough to gain her a more permanent position, personal feelings were another matter. When I left them that first morning, I had severe and grave doubts about whether this had been a good thing for me to have done – the introducing them to each other, I mean. My inner turmoil was churning and churning around in my stomach, which did not weigh very well with all the other sensations as a result of my Call.

However, I had also another scheme that my brain had devised while I had been working that morning, and I needed to put that into motion as soon as I could. I went over and over it again and again, but could only see one major possible problem with it, and another one less so.

This meant that my next visit was to Michet, where I asked her and Kassama for a smallish favour, which would bring them in some coin, or perhaps more accurately, save them some coin. It would also aid the preparations for both the schoolroom and the salon, and also provide some domestic help. They agreed with very little hesitation, and I promised to return later that evening, just before dusk.

They had assured me that Master Morden, my major possible problem, would be happy to go along with my plan. My less major problem had been the appearances of Michet when in her own home, but M assured me it would be fine for the relatively short period of time. None of us could see any further problems and so it was agreed.

I was practically skipping with delight as I departed the house that was rapidly becoming my second home, it seemed. I wondered if I might get fed up with it after spending my working hours there.

I reached home just after the noon bell, arriving from the campingplace just as Haka arrived from downslope. Suril had apparently got there some moments before, for we heard his voice laughing with someone inside.

She took me to one side just before we went in and told me not to tell Suril about the possible work, so I agreed – she reported that Mistress Hasinet had been very pleased with her work that morning and that she had invited her back for a full day on the morrow. If that worked out, then she would have a good contract; failing that, she would get a fair payment for what she had done so far. She had already been given one bra (it was her training piece of work – to construct one to her own measurements) and declared herself delighted with it. She also had the knowledge now to make herself some more. She couldn't necessarily make them for others as she didn't have the full pattern set.

(In the end, Haka and Mistress H became friends and colleagues, rather than boss and employee. Mistress Hasinet in fact fell in love with the little Haris, and later, with the second child, Harkin, and their working together was a mostly joyful affair, helped considerably I think because Mistress Hasinet's two children had left Blackstone and she never got to cuddle her grandchildren.)

We all of us lunched well and gave the necessary thanks to both Swayga and Kords.

After that we went and napped – the first nap I had had in what seemed forever - while Suril went off to work, all worried that he might be dressed inappropriately and things like that.

After the nap, Haka got out all the equipment we had at home and spent another two bells giving the children sewing lessons. They made a tunic each for 'Kin and Kord, in that time AND cut out the panels for a dress for Kords. But time was running out by now, with maybe half a bell to go before the Dusk Bell.

Swayga and I had for some time now been busy in the kitchen as we made the dinner. Suddenly, we heard a small commotion in the other room. Haka had apparently stated, after they had put everything away, that Suril and she wanted to express their determination not to be a burden upon us any longer and that they would return to their hut right then.

It was obvious that they didn't really want to return there, and it was obvious my siblings would have liked them to stay longer; but we all knew that it was slightly inconvenient, and it was embarrassing for our guests, so it was indeed best they went.

It was then that I sprung my surprise on her.

I explained that we loved their company but they needed to start being more independent. Their hut was obviously unsuitable for living, so I had therefore arranged for them to overnight at Master Michen's house, where a pair of rooms had been made available for them. Haka's mouth dropped open.

There would be a small cost, but not one that would be too damaging to them. They were to clean the kitchens and do much of the domestic work required for the preparation of that house, to bring it into a state for its new functions to come. They would do the repairs and keep the household running in return for their food and accommodation, until such time as their house was built, or the salon started its business – the chances of a baby crying were too much for the stated purposes of the salon to be successful, and so they would have to move out at that point. Whilst living there, the kitchens and bath-house would be at their disposal and they would be responsible for ensuring enough hot water for the household. Haka was astounded at such a good deal, and promised not to let me down.

It was a tearful departure, particularly from the younger ones, despite everyone knowing that they would be back in a bell to eat with us – yes, I HAD extracted a promise from her that they would once again eat with us that evening.

I led her and Haris down to Michet's, er... Master Michen's, I mean.

I knocked and entered, as had become habit for me now, and there stood all three of the inhabitants, waiting to see what this woman I wanted to introduce into their household was like.

It was down to me, of course, to make the introductions, which were accomplished quite swiftly. Haris was asleep, and Haka quietly acknowledged the others. It was to no avail, however, as little Haris woke with a small whimper and then cuddled into his mother with a wide yawn followed by a wide smile.

Kassama, Master Michen and even Master Morden fell in love with Haris immediately and Kassama indicated her acceptance to me with her eyes.

I was relieved. I had a much lighter step, now that I knew they would be accepted. I had foreseen that Master Morden might prove to be a problem, perhaps not wanting a young child in the house, but he seemed to be delighted with the idea.

Haka was nearly crying with gratitude once she had been shown the two rooms allocated to them upstairs, and the internal bathroom and kitchen downstairs. She said just one of the rooms upstairs was nearly as big as their hut.

She declared she needed to just arrange a few things here, make the beds that were provided and that sort of thing, and would then return to our house to eat. She was delighted to be able to surprise Suril once again and looked forward to seeing the expression on his face when she led him here after dinner. She giggled with glee as she described his face when they would leave from our home, with him thinking they were returning to their hut.

Master Michen offered to take Dralla and a dray to her old hut, with her of course, in the morning to fetch anything she wanted to retain. I would have to cancel the lettering lesson tomorrow since I would have to accompany M on her first visit to Dralla's stable stall, and this all needed to be done before Haka went off to work. Mistress H and Haka had agreed that she be there from the second Bell and would work until the Noon Bell without Haris. Mistress H had suggested that she bring the child for working in the early afternoon, to see if they could all get on.

While she was at work, M and I could load up the things she said she wanted to keep and bring them to M's home, leaving them in her room for her to sort later. I could look after Haris and/or take him to Swayga. So my morning was now booked. Well, there was a surprise!

I left her there talking with Kassama as they re-arranged furniture and discussed such things as drying cloths, and so on. I went gaily out of the front door onto the street.

And literally bumped straight into Suril. He was knocked off balance and toppled towards the road just as a wagon laboured upwards towards the campingplace. There were shouts and calls, and a loud dranakh bleat – Master Fedren reached out a giant hand and plucked Suril back to safety, averting a disaster only very narrowly.

Of course, I apologised at the same time as did Suril, which noisy events added to the chaos. The passing wagoneer swore at Suril for being drunk and his passenger looked on in amazement at the chaos. This was the evening shuttle arriving, heavily laden with boxes and packages and all sorts. Suril and I burst out into relieved laughter as we both thanked the Sheriff, again at the same time. Once all the kerfuffle had died down, we were able to have a more normal conversation.

“I was just saying to the Sheriff that I needed to send an urchin across to you. I regret the trouble, but I will be unable to dine with you tonight. I shall grab a small bite in the Bell when my duties permit. We must also remove to our hut for this night, both Haka and I would feel uncomfortable invading your home for a further sleep. Much as we like it there, it is not right that we kick you out of your own bed.”

I had to think fast, trying to balance all the factors and I just couldn't see a way out. I would have to spoil Haka's surprise.

“Um, Sheriff?”

“Mistress?”

“I am fully aware that Master Suril is on duty at the moment, but may I borrow him for a hand of moments, certainly not more? There is something he needs to know and I feel it will relieve some of his problems. Actually, thinking about it a little deeper, you yourself are indirectly involved, so maybe I can borrow you both, just for that very short while?”

They looked at each other and shrugged. The Sheriff said: “Well, she has a reputation for both truth and for unexpected events, so I suppose I must trust her - again.”

“And I trust her implicitly and without doubt. She has been our saviour from poverty. So lead on, Mistress Julina.”

“Then, Masters, please come in here. But be quiet, maybe Master Morden is napping.”

I felt a little guilty saying that since I knew that Master Morden was in fact awake, but I wanted them to tread a little warily, hoping somehow to get a message to Haka, to prevent her being surprised. I opened the door and ushered the men in, closing it firmly, but not too noisily, behind me.

As I suspected, Kassama heard the door and came immediately downstairs. Master Morden and Master Michen had previously told me they needed to go out the back to see about widening the alley at the side, to allow for delivery wagons, so I was aware that Kassama was effectively alone with Haka. Her eyes widened as she saw me usher two men in. She knew the Sheriff of course but not the other. I was behind the men, so I mouthed 'Suril' at her and she showed her surprise. I jerked my eyes upstairs and she caught on immediately. She nodded to me to let me know she had received my message and covered it by saying: “Ah, Mistress Julina. Back so soon. Please show the gentlemen up.” She turned on her heel and scurried back to Haka to let her know.

I took a little longer than necessary to manoeuvre myself past the men in the hallway, before preceding them up the stairs – I gained a few more heartbeats that way. Of course, I turned and spoke with them a couple of times, bringing our progress to a halt whilst doing so – more heartbeats gained.

Once we reached the top of the stairs, I paused for a little while as though I was getting my bearings. Delaying as long as I felt I could, I snapped my fingers as though I had just remembered where to go and then led them straight, but slowly, to the first of the joined back rooms from which I could hear faint sounds of giggles. I immediately understood that Haka and Haris had retreated into the further room so she could still spring a surprise on her man, despite it not being how she had originally planned it all.

I paused before the door and deliberately spoke loud enough to be heard from within.

“Masters, I need to show you this room. Please bear with me for a moment, and everything will become clear very shortly. I wish to …”

I opened the door and ushered them in, keeping talking to them so they turned their backs to the room and concentrated on me in the doorway. This was enough to enable a grinning Haka, carrying Haris, to glide silently out behind them.

“Now Masters, I think you saw this room reasonably well when you came in. Would you care to turn and inspect it a little closer now?”

The surprise worked well and they both gaped with open mouths at seeing Haka and Haris standing there. Of course, the 'secret' was then revealed in all its details and Suril was struck speechless.

“Well made, Mistress Julina. An excellent solution.”

“Thank you, Sheriff. It all seemed to come together. Suril will be far closer to his work, and easier for you or someone to fetch him, while Haka has some comfort for a while until their house is finished. Kassama will have some company, and the kitchens and salon and bathrooms will be cleaned and repairs actioned. It seems to me like everyone wins something with this arrangement.”

“Again, you have produced a solution, or, rather, solutions, from nothing. Well done indeed!”

We agreed on the timings for the morning, Suril not being required to work then as the Sheriff realised that Suril would need time to sort out his old hut, and therefore gave him the time off, accompanied by heartfelt thanks from Suril.

The two men turned and left to go and do whatever their Sheriffing required and Haka decided to accompany me back to have the supper she had been promised. We had an animated conversation as we worked our way upslope to home.

The conversation over the dinner table was just as lively as we rehashed the fun of the surprise played on Suril. There were explanations as to where he was, and what they would be doing at Master Michen's and so on, so we did not lacked for topics to talk about.

We also covered Haka's new work, but we glossed over the frosty start. The younger ones were pleased for Haka, but upset for themselves, as their sewing lessons wouldn't be quite so easy to arrange. I was proud of them actually, that they weren't all selfish, and didn't whine and moan at their disappointment. I think Swayga and Haka also recognised those facts, but kept their peace. Kissa's face took on a calculating look, and we all knew she was scheming something. We older ones all hid our grins though, Kords a little less successfully than the rest of us.

After all the supper things were cleared away and the boys put to bed, we all had a chance to look at today's activities on the home front. Kissa was bubbling with suppressed enthusiasm so we knew she had something to show us. Sure enough, we admired Kissa's work when she showed us that she had been practising by sewing some parts of Kords' new dress together.

Haka struck EXACTLY the right balance of praise and criticism once she had inspected the work. Haka then picked the less good stitching apart, before swiftly redoing it. She showed Kissa what she had done and explained why it was better, in such a way that the child was enthused to do it again rather than be angry about being criticised.

Haka then handed the dress over to Kissa for her to complete and settled back, as the youngster grabbed the work and the thread and needle. With her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she concentrated, she studiously showed she was bent on doing the best job she could. Haka praised her every stitch of the way, and even I could see that she relaxed into it and started doing it proficiently.

When it was done, Kords grabbed her up and hugged her practically to death, thanking her profusely. We all could see Kissa both glow and grow with the praise. I was certain that in fact we were witnessing the very beginning of an expert in her field.

And so a very enjoyable evening wound down to its inevitable close. The kids were put to bed, Swayga went to do the closing down chores since I decided to accompany Haka and Haris back to their new rooms to settle them in with as little fuss as possible, I being the link if you like between their old and their new lives.

Once at their new home, I spent a half bell with them as Haka made ready for bed; Haris nestled into my arms as he slept while Haka was busy down in the bathroom.

I felt a warm glow inside as I had this precious little bundle cuddled against my chest. Although I usually groaned at the necessity of my Calls, it was little moments like these that made me prepared to put up with the discomforts and indignities. I was still glad that it would all be over again after the morrow, but the knowledge that some day it could be my own little one in my arms like this made me very weepy and not a little broody.

I decided to go home by going up to the campingplace and across from there. I had been intrigued by that wagon that had nearly hit Suril. There was something I had noticed that was tickling a nerve in the back of my brain. I just wanted to see if there was anything that would help me put that itch to rest.

… … ...

“How much?”

“I beg your pardon, Master?”

“How much do you charge?”

The blood drained from my face as I realised that maybe I should not be walking around unaccompanied at this time of night. For the first time ever it was brought home to me that this was no longer really the town in which I had grown up, with many strangers now camped about the place.

I looked around me and saw I was surrounded by six or seven very strong men all looking at me with lust in their eyes. They were also all slightly drunk, I could tell.

“Excuse me, please. I am merely on my way home after babysitting for a friend. Please let me through.”

“Oh no you don't, missy! No-one innocent would wander alone through a miners' camp at the fifth bell. There's no need to play hard to get. We can all have our fun. I'll go first, then you can …”

“No way you'll be first. I saw her coming first, so I get first go.”

“Yeah but I let her through when I could have just kept her to myself. So I get first go.”

“You always try to muscle in after everyone else does the groundwork, you miserable pakh-packer. This time, it's MY turn to be first.”

“Why you low-down lying little …”

A fist was thrown and before I could blink, there was a fight going on. I gathered up my skirts and run through a gap, hoping to get away. Unfortunately, this direction took me no nearer my path and just deeper into the tents – the occupants of which were starting to emerge as the sounds of the brawl swelled. I confess that I started to get very worried, as I cut back towards the Cistern in the hope of making it to Kelly's. A man's hand reached for me but I was able, just, to avoid it and kept going. Another hand, another swerve and I was suddenly out into the more open area and I had more room to swerve about in. I headed directly for my refuge and began to slow down as it became less crowded, ready at any instant to start sprinting again. My eyes were darting in all directions as my heart was pounding. Mind you, I had just discovered a new advantage of a bra. Had I been wearing a bodice, my breathing would have been reduced and the discomfort probably painful.

I didn't make it to Kelly's though.

For the second time today, I literally bumped into Suril. Both he and the Sheriff were heading towards the brawl when I stumbled into them.

Although panting heavily, I managed to gasp out what had happened and they thanked me for the information. They placed me with the people they had just been chatting with – the Blackstone Vale family, Brethen and Rathina and their children – before going to calm the fighting men down, or at least trying to. Looking at it with eyes no longer clouded by terror, I could see that it wasn't a very large incident, just maybe a dozen men trading blows, most of which appeared quite ineffectual. All the other men were just surrounding the brawlers and jeering or cheering them on.

Rathina held me as the reaction set in and I started shaking. By and by, I calmed down enough to talk, and I was able to explain all the events that had led up to it. She promised me that Brethen would walk me back home while she stayed here with their children.

They had all come into town again to 'fetch' the menfolk that they had left behind a few days ago. Although there was little to do up in their Vale at this time of year, they still wanted to be all together to get certain tasks done. They would be returning 'Upvale' in the morning. Maybe some of the men would return here next week, if the coin was worth it. Rathina didn't know how much they were being paid. The family realised that they couldn't just ignore the town and would have to work with us. They also realised that their children needed to interact with others, it would be unfair to shut them away from contact with 'outsiders'. While they were here, they also wanted to find out if the schooling had advanced far enough to give them some concrete information with which to make plans. Despite the relatively short while since they were last here, they were astounded at the increase in the number of bodies. I explained that there were construction crews in town as well as extra miners and wagoneers.

When Rathina asked if we could get together in the morning, I told her that I was quite busy first thing, but would come over to see them, if they were still here, between the third and fourth bells.

We had a giggle about the fact that I was supposed to be enjoying my freedom, but that from now on, I would always have to have someone with me.

Finally, after talking with the ones who were still awake for maybe a quarter of a bell, Brethen escorted me home and I managed to get to sleep in my own bed for the first time for a while.

---

Julina's day started out relatively unencumbered – started out, you will have noticed

---

Disclaimer:

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 awoke after a good and solid night's sleep and I felt lighter in both body and head somehow. The last day of my Calls was always a relief, but this one was somehow extra nice as it began.

Despite the absence of Suril and Haka, the three of us still found it was possible to use the lessons learnt to find the most efficient way to stir up both the embers and also the household. Getting the bath hot enough to enjoy was always the time-taker. I felt a sort of tingling in my head as I thought that last thought, and I was distracted for a heartbeat or two. There was an idea coming, but I knew myself well enough not to try to force it out. It might take a few days, or even a week or two, but I knew it would eventually pop out when it decided it was ready. Or, as had sometimes happened, I would forget entirely about it!

The floors were quite chilly underfoot, again, so I stopped putting it off and went straight to the appropriate store cabinet and rummaged in there before retrieving the 'winter slippers' I had stashed away for the summer. This was a little awkward for Swayga of course, not having hers in the pile I produced, but she was fully understanding. This simple action was, however, of some significance in our household and so I started a fresh topic of discussion with her, intent on finding out her views on the subject.

In one way, I always looked forward to the winter, which may seem strange as it was the time of year when sudden stormy gusts found any and every little crack in our walls and window frames, not to mention the door frames! It is the time of year when we could spend days on end in clouds, which we called either mist or fog, depending upon how thick it was. The longest misty period I could recall was a day or two over three weeks long. In winter, too, we could get sudden rainstorms and there were always a few days of snow, sometimes three of four times over the entire season.

But the thing I liked about it was a change in our routines.

Ancient practices, by generation after generation, tell us that we humans don't actually prefer to sleep for six or seven bells at a time; we naturally slip into a rhythm in which we have two sleep periods, the first of three or four bells duration, then a gap of two or three bells, and then a second sleep of two or three, maybe even four, bells.

Our modern development of 'sleeping right through' is designed to not waste too many of the daylight moments in the summer months, in the growing period for crops and fruits and so on – and it never feels right to go to bed when it is still light outside, unless you are a child, of course; but in our winter months, when we can have up to twelve bells of darkness and as little as eight of light, we all basically revert to the normal, traditional sleep pattern. We go to bed a couple of bells after dusk, have the 'Big Sleep' until after the Midnight Bell, then rouse ourselves and do things for a period. After this we have the 'Little Sleep' and get up to start the day at Dawn, or just before – to make the absolute most of daylight. Of course, that makes an after-lunch nap not required – indeed, that after-lunch nap is to be avoided, otherwise you are just wasting some of the scarce daylight.

As from this approaching winter, I would be using those bells between sleeps to write my notes (and these chronicles), to plan my lessons and to prepare for the day. (I always have the feeling that I do my best work in those shortish periods of wakefulness.) One of the chores I always did in this wakeful period, every winter since Mama departed, was to refuel the range to get it to top temperature whilst we slept the second sleep. I would then place a multitude of buckets filled with water on the top. This made heating the water for the bathhouse a lot quicker once we all awoke from that Little Sleep.

A further advantage I had found was that the younger ones were somehow a little calmer, more mellow if you like, when in the 'two sleep' phase. Mind you, I could never be sure whether it was the sleeping pattern or the season itself that calmed them down just that little, but noticeable amount.

But the morning I am currently describing was one upon which we had yet to revert from 'sleep right through'. This change appeared to be delayed more and more each year, it seemed to me, despite my instincts telling me that the 'two sleep' approach was the more natural.

Bath and breakfast on this day, the sixth of my 'freedom', followed our awakenings at half a bell before the Dawn Bell, the children being a bit upset that we had no guests here for a change. It was strange how just two days of guests had made that seem the norm, as opposed to the years we had had without guests. Very strange indeed.

I was in a good mood that morning, but was still a bit hurt when I saw the glee on the faces when I cancelled the lettering lesson for the morning. Swayga was considerate enough not to smile, but I was getting to know her sufficiently well that I could see her laughing behind her straight face. Part of me wanted to grin too, but we looked at each other, both knowing the truth we kept hidden. It was actually, looking back at it, another bonding moment.

The children saw the winter slippers I had put out, and each child, individually, asked Swayga if we were switching over to 'two sleeps' that day. She replied that we were indeed going to do that. For the umpteenth time, I marvelled at the resilience and trusting nature of children, which itself fosters the determination not to let them down - in most normal people. I could never understand how some parents could just not 'get' that.

I wasted no time preparing myself as soon as possible after breakfast, knowing my morning at least was going to be hectic. I left the table, went to the bathhouse again where I cleaned myself up, certain that I would not have much opportunity once I left. I came out with a little bit of time to spare, so I helped Swayga do some clearing up and preparations, but then needed to cut it short, being as how I had to be at M's at an agreed time, arranged to be as early as possible – but not TOO early to wake them up! I stood up from where I had been rummaging in the floor-standing cabinets, twitched my dress back into place, and left with a wave as soon as I heard the third quarter after the Dawn Bell.

I fast walked down the slope, angling slightly off the track to come directly to the back of M's. I started to think that I would soon wear a path into the surface, but then remembered that we were going to move home before that could happen.

Going that way meant that my attention wasn't all on our new house and I had a better look around as I progressed. I suddenly saw something that I hadn't actually noticed before and I sort of chastised myself for not seeing that development coming. It made me stop and study the area more closely.

It had suddenly become obvious to me that they were building another road, one that ran parallel to the Main Street, but which was to the East, and therefore slightly higher up the slope. I could now see the markers all the way down from the camping place to behind the Stonemason's whose sprawling building was the second largest (after the Claw) and was the first major building on the right as you came into town. This new road would pass between the Claw and the Paddock, so would also be directly between our new house and the Messenger Office. It seemed to angle back to the Main Street as soon as it had gone down to just past the Stonemason's, but from where I was I couldn't see that bit.

I also saw that the groundwork for Suril's new house had already been done, the plot was flattened and water channels were being dug as I watched. Such a speed of progress! The flattening team was now busy upslope, preparing the roadway, heading up towards the back of M's.

As I thought about it more, it was obvious that the flattening team had just been diverted, pulled off the roadway and done the building site which was five or so strides distant, and it wouldn't have taken more than probably half a bell to do the groundwork for the new home. I could see where they had come through the passage between the Watchhouse and the Steward's House. The new roadway was being properly started from that point and was heading up towards the campingplace.

And then I saw a SECOND flattening team – one had appeared down at the bottom of the town, obviously having been working out of my sight behind the Stonemason's. I was tempted to go down there for a closer inspection, however, I remembered that there were others probably waiting for me, so I tore myself away from satisfying my curiosity.

… … ...

“Good morrow, Julina”

“Good morrow Kassama, Master Morden, Master Michen.” I looked around for the others.

“Suril and Haka have departed to their hut. We just needs fetch Dralla, bring her back here to attach the dray and then we can get over there. Suril has described to me exactly where to go and they are but five moments gone, so we can go whenever you feel ready. Mayhap you require the facilities before we get busy?”

“I thank you for your consideration, but it is unrequired at the moment. Shall we therefore get busy?”

He agreed, we took our leave of the others, and passed out the front door. He knew that we had to go to the Claw, but no more than that, so I went with him to show him first where the animal was kept and so on. I had told M to take some tidbits to feed Dralla. I had also placed some in my pouch.

As we went down the slope, I warned M that there was likely to be a deluge of animals demanding nibbles. And so it proved. As soon as Dralla (naturally I made him feed his own animal first) was given a munchie, then Trumpa demanded one. Then Tixi, much to the surprise of both Parry and Sookie. They explained that Tixi was very wary of men and far more accepting of women. M and I shared a smile at that. I suggested that maybe Tixi was mellowing, and they accepted that as an explanation.

M was impressed with the attitude of all the animals he met there and very much approved of the set-up and stabling facilities: “This is better than any military stables I have ever seen!”

We then explained to Parry and Sookie what we were going to do, but were interrupted as Pomma came scurrying in. Sookie, Pomma and I were now on an informal name footing and the 'Mistress' bit had been dropped.

“Oh Sookie, Julina, Parry …. oh! Well met, Master Michen!”

“Well met, Mistress Pomma.”

We all turned to her as her excitement was bubbling over. It occurred to me what she was about to say, but I kept my peace, this was after all HER moment, not mine.

“I have a frayen! I actually have a frayen! And my saddle will be finished today! I can ride! I can ride! I can ride!”

“Well goodness me! How did this all occur?”

“Sookie, it's a fantastic story. The new shoemaker, Master Wainer, purchased Mistress Sandara's two frayen just before she left – and there is a big story THERE too, I can tell you!” Sookie and I grinned at each other. “He was generous enough to repay our hospitality by giving us one of the beasts! He decided to keep the buck, Kenlin, for himself, but gave me the doe, Wiget. Mistress Patilla tells me that Julina's and my riding attire will be delivered later this morning – I told her to deliver them both, yours and mine, to me, if it pleases you, Julina. I know you seem to be always moving around during these days!”

Sookie was delighted at last to have someone to go riding with and her eyes also shone with excitement. She turned to Parry.

“We have space here do we not, Parry? I feel that Wiget should get to know the other animals with whom she will be mingling, say for 3 or 4 nights to start with – well, a minimum of 2.”

“Yes, Mistress. We have more than a hand of empty stalls here in the 'residents' end for the next week, saving unexpected arrivals, of course.”

“Then why don't you bring Wiget down here as soon as you may, Pomma?”

“Mistresses, may I interject?”

We all turned to M as he politely waited permission to explain. It was Sookie who told him to go ahead.

“I happen to know that Master Waldan also has a beast, a buck named Boxin. If it is a good idea for Wiget to be stabled here to get to know some animals with whom she shall go on trips, then surely she should also be stabled with Boxin to get to know him, the two are after all most likely to be together for longer periods than with the animals here? How can the one beast be in two places at once?”

“You are correct, Master Michen. I had not considered that. Let me think.” Sookie pondered for a little while and then asked Pomma: “Can Master Waldan be persuaded to let Boxin also come here for those few nights?”

“I'm sure that can be arranged, Sookie.”

“So be it! Problem solved. Thank you for your input, Master Michen.” We all trilled our thanks as well.

“You are much welcome, Mistresses.”

“I shall bring the beasts here at this time tomorrow, then Sookie. I may persuade the old grump to let me do it this afternoon, but definitely by tomorrow morning.” She smiled brightly at us all as she gaily waved her goodbyes before skipping off, her excitement taking years off her apparent age.

It was time for M and I to get on with our task and Parry went to let Dralla out. He reappeared after a heartbeat or three, having put a harness and a leading rein on Dralla.

“You shouldn't really need the rein since Dralla is extremely well behaved, but with the traffic on Main Street nowadays, it might prove useful to help in an emergency. Remember that frayen try to help you when they can. Especially when you are riding them - they do a lot of work to make sure you stay on their back. In return, they expect YOUR trust too.”

With those words ringing in our ears, we led Dralla up the back track for the six or so buildings to M's. I pointed out the new road being built there and we saw various link roads being made and/or strengthened which would obviously connect the Main Street with this new road. M explained that someone had actually called on them yesterday evening to say that the alley between his home and the one to the south would be strengthened, but he and his father assumed it was because of the deliveries that would be required for the Salon – no-one had mentioned the new road to the east.

We reached the back of M's, threading our way through the levellers there much to their disgust.

Only to see a THIRD flattening team working in the alley.

It looked to us that they were going to do this preparing/strengthening just about every third alley between houses on the Main Street. M's home had a wagon entrance on the south side, albeit with a very tight turn at the entrance, but we could not access it due to the workers there, so we carried right round the house and entered the courtyard from the north, through a gate that was only just wide enough for Dralla and someone walking next to her. We finally made it to the inner yard where we attached the dray and then headed out once more through that north gate.

This time we turned left and used that rough passage to get to Main Street. We had to use Main Street as the workers were scurrying about where that new road was going to replace the rough track behind the main buildings, and we had already disturbed them once. This was as well as the workers busy to the south of the home.

Our destination was, of course, the head of the Bray Valley along beyond the current furthest extent of the new Loop Road, but there would be more roadworkers there, M explained, so we would approach their hut from below.

We had to wait to get out the side passage for more than two whole moments, and this brought home to us just how strained the Main Street was to handle everything, and why they were building that new road to the east. There was the normal traffic of the everyday business of our town, as had been going on for years; on top of that was all the coal traffic, and now also the construction crews and the materials that they required, going in both directions it seemed. And then there was an increased incidence of supply wagons as all the tradesmen expanded their stocks, and brought in more raw materials to work with.

It made me wonder just where all the money was coming from. Obviously the tradesmen and the Guildsmen were gambling a little with their savings, but the sheer volume of works that were going on in the town had to be paid for somehow.

M told me as we walked beside Dralla that the Baker had twice now run out of supplies and that the shuttle was the thing that enabled him to keep up with demand. He had now employed three more women and would have to find another one or two if the trend continued.

We managed to traverse the crowded campingplace – I waved to Rathina as we passed – and headed along the new road towards the third quarry. I was amazed to see in the distance that another fifty or so strides of road had been laid, right up the far end beyond the turning circle, the curve there now becoming obvious as was the dip in level as the road started to descend. I saw also that the sidewalk had been extended almost as far as the main quarry, well beyond the townsfolk's quarry.

I was surprised when we turned off at the first ramp that led down through the three levels of the Miners' Village, both of us marvelling at the fact that there were already a hand of apparently nearly completed huts and a further hand or two of huts under construction. The almost completed ones had empty spaces where the windows would be, and also most had a large section of wall not yet fixed. M explained that this made a good gap for the ranges and fireplaces to be brought in.

Passing over the lowest segment of this ... this ... this … growth I suppose is the best word to describe that area, we reached the end of the ramp and the way immediately got far less smooth as we turned towards the source of the river. Half a mark or so further on, maybe a little less, we came across Suril and Haka. She was soothing the baby who was upset at something, and Suril appeared to be making two piles of belongings.

“Good morrow, Julina!”

“Good morrow Suril, and to you two, Haka and Haris. Come - explain and then put us to work.”

And so my morning's labours began.

Suril was apparently tireless as he dashed hither and thither. The hut was indeed small, and I hoped that I kept the shock I felt at seeing its dilapidated state from my face. I could see that the leaking roof had ruined the two walls that joined just below it. This hut was on the verge of collapse.

Suril interrupted my thoughts as he explained that the larger pile was of stuff that they no longer wished to keep, and the smaller pile was stuff they felt they could not do without.

M and I estimated that we would need two trips with the dray to transport the 'keep' things. I suggested that we got someone along to see if any of the 'discard' pile would be of use to anyone – even if only for fuel to burn in, for example, the smith's furnaces.

The baby was being a handful that morning and we soon dispatched Haka and Haris back to M's, leaving the three of us to do the work at this end. It didn't take long to load the first dray, and M and I began the return journey to their new place of residence. Suril stayed behind to ensure that the rest was still going to be there when we returned for the last load. He also knew that he could help his neighbours by letting them have some of his discarded stuff.

There was nothing heavy on the dray and so M kindly allowed me to stop with Rathina as we passed through the camping place, saying he would collect me once more on his way back. Thus I managed to fit in some time with my friend from the Blackstone Vale.

I told her about the setting up of the school and how we would arrange the basic training and so on. And then we discussed the difficulties of her children attending, living as they did so far away. As we tossed various schemes and plans around something occurred to me. I went on to expand that thought. I mentioned that, actually, all that was required was just one to come down and stay somewhere safe and learn the basics, then that one could return and bring the rest up to the standard. She was taken aback by that, but slowly grinned as she thought it through. She promised to let me know what she decided.

Our discussions changed to the changes in town, and the additional bodies and so on – we walked about as I pointed various things out and thus I nearly missed M who was looking for me somewhere where I wasn't – but arguably should have been!

I called loudly which got his attention – and the attention of many people around. He responded with a wave and I scampered over to him, intending to tell him to go ahead and that I would catch him up.

“Julina, why don't you stay here? What's left to load up is easily handled by Suril and myself, he will accompany Dralla and I back anyway and I know where the animal lives now. Your very valuable assistance is no longer required, as it happens. Would you be able to go and take the baby, so Haka can get to work?”

By this time, Rathina had come over to join us and I performed the introductions. When M discovered where she lived, I detected a certain anxiety suddenly make itself felt. M muttered a few pleasantries and departed as soon as it was polite to do so.

Rathina had a puzzled look on her face as she eyed the retreating back. “There's something confusing me about that person, but I know not what.”

I changed the subject quickly by asking her if she wanted to come and see the schoolroom / dining room where I was going to work. Her face lit up but then fell once more as a shadow crossed it. She had just remembered that they would be leaving in half a bell.

To fill in a little of the short time I had left, I decided to quickly tell her about bras and show her mine before I popped down to get little Haris. She was intrigued enough to dash off with me to one of the 'facility' huts dotted around the perimeter of the campingplace.

Once we achieved the relative privacy of the nearest outhouse, which I confess was not the sweetest smelling of places, I quickly stripped to the waist and showed her my bra, explaining the advantages as I did so. I rapidly took mine off after helping her out of her bodice and used that as a comparison measure. She was quick to see the advantages and I promised to get her a set for when she next came to town.

We were just getting redressed when she straightened slightly and asked, in a quiet voice: “That man, Master Michen, is he one of those that prefer his own sort?”

I laughed in astonishment, which convinced her more than anything I could have said. “I can definitely say that that is not the case.”

“There was something strange. What was it? … Oh! I know. When you called and waved, he waved back. That wave was very feminine. And at the same time somehow familiar. I sort of recognised it. Hmmmmm … now where could I have seen it before?” She shook her head as she tried to break the thought free.

I hoped that she wouldn't connect the person and the frayen with the woman who used to ride the higher slopes studying riddris. It was shocking to me that she continued immediately after I had had that thought: “And that frayen looks somehow familiar, with the lighter skin between the forelegs.”

“That's the animal I am going to learn to ride tomorrow! When I can, I will come up and visit you there in your Vale. Is it nice at this time of year? Oooh – maybe I could overnight with you, and do some lettering lessons? Would THAT be a good idea?”

“Oh, indeed! That IS a good idea, Julina. But don't forget that nowadays you shouldn't be abroad alone. You would need a companion/chaperone to be with you. How could you manage that?”

My face fell – admittedly I added a little extra to get a stronger effect – as I remembered I couldn't be alone any more. But, thank the Maker, I had changed the subject and taken her mind off M.

“I keep forgetting about that, after all I have been running all over this town on my own since I could toddle, just about. I'll think of something or someone. Or find someone to advise me, at the very least. But I have to pop and get the baby now, so Haka can get to work at the third Bell.”

We escaped from the heavy smells of the outhouse into the relatively fresher air and had to laugh as a dranakh, pulling a laden wagon, passed and farted loudly.

I then realised with a shock that this was exactly the wagon I had wanted to inspect closer which had led me to get into my trouble. I could see that it was laden with two large ranges, and a hand of smaller ones, also there were covered things whose shape suggested bathtubs. In the daylight it was far easier to see than in the murk of a swiftly falling dusk.

But all this tickled whatever it was in the back of my brain once again. This idea was struggling to emerge into the light, but just wasn't strong enough yet.

Rathina and I hugged a farewell and then I dashed down to M's to get the baby so Haka could get to work. As I passed the forge, Master Brydas called to me so I yelled back to him that I would return in ten moments maximum, and we waved to each other in confirmation. I dashed across the road, earning a shout of protest from each of the approaching wagoneers, one coming up towards me and the other heading downslope. But I was nimble enough to avoid any problems.

I ran into M's house and saw a relieved look on Haka's face. I took the baby from her and she left immediately to go down to Mistress Hasinet's. Kassama and Master Morden were both grateful to me for introducing the family into their home, saying that breakfast was so much more enjoyable now and that everyone had slept well, and so on and so forth. I told them that I would take the baby to my home, but first had to pop quickly into the forge. I also remembered that M and I had to get together soon to plan the food for the Salon's trial run, now four nights away, so I asked Kassama to remind M when he got back.

Haris was a lot quieter than he had been earlier, and again I felt a strange feeling strike through me as I held this bundle in my arms, his head in the crook of my left elbow. He actually grinned at me as he settled into my embrace, and just for a moment he opened his mouth as if he was going to suckle on me.

Oh how delightful THAT feeling was.

I supposed he realised that, as I was dressed, he wouldn't be getting anything - so he yawned loudly and snuggled down, falling asleep soon after. It shot into my head that he had been fractious earlier because he didn't like the hut and much preferred here.

Wrapping him carefully, I let Kassama open the front door for me. I was struck immediately by the feeling of added responsibility, just having this toddler with me. I was certainly not going to run across the road tightly to oncoming traffic, however nimble I had been just moments before. The traffic was heavy still, so I ascended the slope using the sidewalk this side and encountered a FOURTH flattening team, sure enough doing the alley three buildings higher. No wonder the roadbeds advanced so quickly if there were so many workers doing the preparations.

I waited patiently to cross the road, by now I was a stride or two upslope of the Forge, and an upcoming wagon slowed at the right moment for me to take advantage of a gap in the downslope traffic. The wagoneer waved me across and I bowed my head in acknowledgement.

Then we both gasped. We each recognised the other. It was the man who had accosted me last night. He looked at me, saw the baby, and looked back into my face with a slightly embarrassed expression.

Just then, Master Brydas, on the other side of the road, loudly called his thanks to the man. His head swivelled and saw the smith's imposing figure. He went pale, and I grinned to myself inwardly when I realised that he thought Master Brydas was my father and therefore how close he had come last night to getting himself on the wrong side of the town's smith. I could actually see his hands shaking as he avoided our eyes and continued upslope without letting his eyes leave his dranakh's ears.

“Well met, Mistress Julina – oh it does sound good to give you a title rather than just your name. It tells me that you have grown into a splendid woman.”

I was of course blushing as I replied: “Well met, Master Brydas. You wanted me?”

He looked at the baby and up at me, his eyes twinkling a question.

“No, no – not mine,” I said with a laugh. “This belongs to Haka and Suril.”

“Ah! The new deputy. He is an impressive fellow I have heard.”

“I managed to arrange for them to overnight from now until their house is completed in Master Michen's abode. Their own hut was falling down, so they needed to move in immediately. They will each do at least a bell each day working for Master Michen to help prepare the Salon, and also get the water heated in the mornings and get breakfast and so on. The one big problem that I foresaw turned out not to be a problem – Master Morden has welcomed the family with no grumbles. I have also found Haka some temporary work with Mistress Hasinet, as she is a talented seamstress herself. Today, I have agreed to take little Haris here, so that Haka can work the morning with no distraction, her first after the trial day yesterday.”

“As usual, your solutions benefit a large number of people.” He paused.

“So, Master Smith, what can I do for you?”

“Mistress Sukhana tells me that you and she will be riding soon. Well, Mylady Garia explained that the King himself insisted on her wearing some head protection whenever she rode, in case she fell off or something. I hesitate to remind you of your poor mother's demise, but some head protection might have saved her. Mylady showed me her hat, and suggested I make one for Senidet as Senidet would also now be able to ride. It occurred to me that you too should have one, and with your permission I shall make one for you as your coming-of-age present. You have been a good friend to Senidet over her life, and I still treasure memories of you and she, and others, playing your complicated children's games strewn over the floor of our sitting room.

“More recently, I know that Senidet appreciated your sensible but understated support after her Trogan experiences.”

A shadow passed over his face as he said that. He swallowed and continued: “I am aware that she sometimes left here troubled in spirit, but returned from being with you, soothed to a greater or lesser extent.”

Again he paused as tears sprang to his eyes before he again resumed: “Something that I was never able to do for her, particularly since her mother left us.”

He swallowed and gathered himself before continuing. “So I need therefore to measure your head, which I deem to be of as much value to this town as Mylady's is to Palarand.”

Master Brydas has always been an uncle-figure in my life, and for me to receive such praise and obvious affection from a man up to whom I had always looked was almost overwhelming. My eyes too welled up and there was a catch in my voice as I replied. “You do me great honour, Uncl … er, I mean, Master Brydas.”

“Julina! Do you really see me as an Uncle? Oh how I wish …” he broke off, a hope lighting up his face.

“Mistress, I know I said I was pleased to be able to address you at last with a title, but I would desire to drop that title for a friendlier relationship. It would please me enormously were you to call me your Uncle! Would you, could you, do me that honour?”

I was choked with emotion, and nodded my acceptance. Then we came together and hugged – very awkwardly because of the baby nestled to my bosom!

We stood apart again, and when he cuffed his own eyes with the back of a hand, I nearly started sniffling again. But we managed to return to more normal behaviour after a few heartbeats during which we both knew we could not have any eye contact.

He cleared his throat and I started cooing at the baby, who had woken up – but without yelling, thank the Maker!

We were finally brought back to a semblance of normality by a gasp from the direction of the workshops. Master Brydas had to turn round to see who it was whereas I simply had to shift my eyes to look over there.

Sethan looked directly at me as he began, a strange look of wistful longing on his face; but this was not lustful longing, it was more a longing for something that was perhaps missing: “Mistress Julina, please don't get me wrong, but that was beautiful. I want one day to be able to make a woman look like that. Narrin and me, we run didn't we? From parents what abused us. We drifted into bad company, and could find no way out. We just sank deeper and deeper into the sludge at the bottom of the pond. Such hopes we had, such certainty that things would get better! But we lost our way and, in the end, we found no reason to look forward to any day.

“But Mylady first, with her leniency, and now Master Brydas here, they both have given me a reason.

“And you, Mistress, have given me a target. I now feel I want to make a woman show the love what you just did. Why I even think, now, after the help from this town, I could one day do that. Excuse me!” he half sobbed as he scurried away.

We two left there looked at each other, sobered by the hints at such a turbulent life.

“Come Julina, let me find my measurer,” he said finally.

“Certainly, Mast … Uncle.”

How nice it felt to say that.

We walked back into the bustling centre of activity where people scurried to and fro, into and out of a myriad of huts and workshops, some joined by rickety rooves, some standing alone. It was bewildering to my untrained eyes. Uncle led me gently to a quiet corner and indicated I should wait there, while he went off to fetch his equipment. I looked around me idly, not expecting to see anything I understood.

Uncle returned and swiftly measured round my head, noting the number on a slate. I grinned as I realised that now just about every part of me had been measured in the past few days and we shared a laugh when I told him that!

Just then, a young man approached us. I recognised him and the strangely-shaded green container he was carrying. He was the man I had watched operate that press thingy the other day.

“Master, this is now nearly full, and the used strips are back in the furnace melting once more. You said I was to take it to a Mistress Hassina or something. I dunno where she can be found.”

“Ah, Jerbin. May I present Mistress Julina, my niece?” I grinned with delight as he said that.

“Julina, this is Jerbin, one of my journeymen. He has been making those little buckle thingies for your ladies' underwear.” I must have looked puzzled for a moment. “The bra things, I believe you call them.”

“Ah! Yes. Now I understand.” I turned to the young man. “Well met, Jerbin. I watched you the other day as you used the press. Now I know what the things you were making are.”

I turned back to the Smith. “Uncle, if it pleases you, I have a small commission to fulfill at Mistress Hasinet's. I could conduct Jerbin down there to show him where to go.”

“That would be so very …”

His sentence was obscured as a great hiss of steaming something drowned all noise for a moment. I looked around to see red hot metal had been plunged into a metal tank. Great clouds of steam boiled up from the water in the metal tank there, at least I assumed it was water. I was briefly amazed that this tank was raised on little legs, just like the one next to it, and yet this tank didn't have fires lit under it, unlike its partner. I half wondered why one needed to be cold, and one hot, but that thought soon disappeared.

Someone else called for him, so Uncle shrugged at me and waved the two of us away. Jerbin looked amazed as I turned to go with him and asked where my companion was. I was taken aback as yet another reminder came of my future lack of freedom.

I thought quickly and replied: “You work for my Uncle – I don't believe that you would do anything that would make him annoyed with you. And I am well known around this town. I don't believe that you would be able to get away with doing anything untoward. Therefore, I am prepared to take the risk.”

I felt a little sorry for the poor lad, as he was quite cowed by my assertiveness and my claims of virtual immunity. We went out onto the sidewalk by Main Street and I had to stop and grin.

For there was Pomma walking down the street with a frayen on either side of her. I swiftly took a couple of titbits out of my pouch and fed each of the animals. One, Boxin as it transpired, was a bit snappy but I gave him a good 'stern mother' glare. By chance, my companion requirement had been coincidentally filled and I could feel Jerbin relax slightly.

“Mistress Pomma! Well that certainly didn't take you very long! May I present Jerbin, a journeyman with Master Brydas. I was just taking him down to Mistress Hasinet. He has a precious cargo. The buckles for our bras!”

“Jerbin, well met.”

“Mistress Pomma.”

So we all three walked down Main Street together and Pomma told me our riding attire had been delivered already. I promised to return to hers as soon as I was finished, but she said to pop into the Claw first in case she was still there.

She was very interested in the babe in my arms and made a fuss of him even as we were progressing down the street. There was a certain amount of traffic, so we couldn't just stop like maybe we could have done a few months ago – indeed we had to walk quite a bit quicker than just the casual saunter we wanted to take.

And so we proceeded on our way as a trio until Pomma took the two beasts into the Claw's courtyard and we two carried on that bit further, but, unlike before, staying on the pavement, much to the relief of the wagoneers.

This time there was no long line of women waiting outside, so I knew to knock at the door and wait. It was opened by Haka, who immediately thought something was wrong with Haris, but I hastily reassured her. Mistress Hasinet had been drawn to the door by the initial panic in Haka's voice, so there were four of us crowded into a reduced place.

Once I had regained some normality of the situation, I explained Jerbin's presence, and the fact that I was merely acting as a guide for him this first time. Haka had of course taken Haris to her chest and Mistress H was mostly interested in inspecting the little thing. She took the container from Jerbin, disappeared into her workroom and we heard a metallic shooshing sound that told us she had poured the contents into some other container. She returned and handed Jerbin the original container with a gracious thank you.

I grinned ruefully as Jerbin and I walked away together, his arms carrying the now empty container and my arms carrying … nothing. The little lad's quiet contentment had quite won over Mistress H and she insisted he stay with his mother.

Jerbin and I chatted desultorily as he escorted me to the Claw where I took my leave of him. His conversation would have to cover a wider range than just smithy details if he was to impress a girl! However, I did learn that he was earmarked to be the one to assist the glassmaker when that Master arrived – apparently there was a higher degree of cooperation between the two trades nowadays, but I couldn't work out why that might be.

I said my goodbyes to Jerbin and entered the Claw's courtyard where I saw Pomma still talking with Parry. I had to grin at the sight of the two animals. Boxin was looking round with a slightly puzzled almost confusion and Wiget with a delighted amazement, or at least that's the way I interpreted their expressions.

Parry was just leading the two into the so-called 'residents' area' as I came in, so I followed, calling gently to Pomma and Parry as I did so. Boxin and Wiget looked on as I fed munchies to the two for whom I was responsible, if you like. Pomma had come prepared and she slipped Wiget a cube of malm. Boxin was too busy being puzzled and looking around to demand something. It seemed to me that the two newcomers were sniffing in the atmosphere somehow.

Eventually, Pomma and I left the animals and walked upslope with just one thing on our minds – to try on our riding attire. However, a secondary consideration occurred to me so I popped into M's to let them know where the baby was. I decided to use the facilities while I was there and I showed Pomma round what would be my work area soon. She liked the arrangements in the toilets with the buckets and I explained my suggestion for an improvement or two. We went into the kitchen and she liked the fact that there was a large metal water tank hung on the wall to provide an instant feed of water to the sink and for filling pots.

The kitchen was in fact cosy and warm, more so than I had experienced before – obviously a result of Haka's work helping rouse the house earlier. Finally, we departed to go and try on some clothes. My excitement was mounting.

We walked across the road, it being empty for once, before going up the sidewalk on that side. On the way, I explained to her my need for arranging a companion or chaperone and she understood the difficulty, especially with us living relatively remotely. She did point out something that had not occurred to me – that when the Miners' Village was occupied, then the campingplace would once again be relatively free and maybe things would get better. I supposed that could be true, and yet the population had so far expanded so quietly and yet so thoroughly that I had my doubts whether the hoped-for relief would become apparent.

I then mentioned the problems of getting the children up in the Vale educated in lettering. She couldn't come up with any other suggestions than those that Rathina and I had previously. She did say she would think about it and I had to be satisfied with that.

Then she told me that she and Mistress Shantoona had been talking, and they, and several others, including Master Wainer, had offered some rooms to the wives of the miners in exchange for coin and/or domestic duties, keeping these women occupied and keeping their men clean with the use of the bathrooms. In fact, one of the wives lodging with Mistress Shantoona was organising a laundry service as the towns laundresses had already been overwhelmed by demand.

Already, some extra income had been generated. I was pleased for the Town.

---

New clothes, newcomers and new dishes – Julina's education continues apace

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Disclaimer:

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.

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New clothes!

Obviously, this was the highest priority for Pomma and myself.

By then we had arrived at her home and we nearly ran in, anxious to see the attire.

In a very short space of time, we had tried on the new breeches and skirts, discovering that they all fit perfectly. We giggled together in anticipation of our first rides tomorrow morning. Of course, we both wanted to be there at dawn, but knew that that would not be the most convenient time for Sookie. We agreed to get there at the Second Bell.

This meant that there was another lettering lesson to be cancelled. I could already see the glee on the kids' faces.

I said that I would pop down to the Claw and tell Sookie what we had decided. If there was any change, then I would return. Changing quickly back into our day dresses, we both felt a pang. How we wanted to make use of the new attire immediately!

She opened the door for me and we were greeted by a wave of sound from outside. Looking down the slope, I could see that a wagon was attempting to turn into one of the side alleys that had been levelled earlier, the one on the south side of M's. In order to make the turn, the wagoneer needed to use the full width of Main Street which was, of course, blocking traffic from both directions. One driver coming downslope had decided that the stationary wagon in front of him was parked, so he pulled out to go by and only discovered his mistake once he was on the 'wrong' side of the road. Various drivers were shouting at him and he was shouting back.

Meanwhile, the wagon pulling into the alley had cut the corner too closely and locked one of his wheels on the wooden sidewalk. He was also getting shouted at by everybody. The wagon immediately upslope, heading downslope, had started too early and there was just not enough room to squeeze past the blocked wagon. So the blocked wagon could not now reverse out of the trouble.

It needed someone to take control, and I saw the Sheriff run out of the Bell to try to sort it all out. Pomma and I were amazed at the way the traffic was all snarled up like a dropped ball of wool. It gave us a thorough understanding as to why some of the construction was being rushed through now. At least we pedestrians could now use the street without fear, just for a short while.

I scooted down the slope, mostly using the road surface, but changing to the sidewalk when I got to the blockage. I didn't have far to go when I got to the Claw, for Sookie was standing out in the road looking up at the chaos, shaking her head.

We talked about the congestion at first before getting round to my reason for coming down. She took me into her office to check her appointments and we finally agreed on a time of half a bell after the Second Bell. We then went out to the stabling and saw the animals – and fed them a titbit or two, of course – looking for Parry to give him the news. We eventually found him down in the other stabling block, the 'non-residents' one.

By the time I had finished chatting with them both, I suppose that a half a bell had passed. When I regained the pavement by Main Street, traffic was flowing once again. I later discovered that the wagon going down had been unloaded to a certain extent and then backed up the hill just enough to allow the alley-seeking wagon to be freed. Whilst that wagon was manoeuvred into the alley, the other wagon had been reloaded and then sent on its way, which allowed the down-direction wagons to roll, which itself allowed the other wagon to get back into the stream. So normality was returned with not SO much disturbance.

As soon as I had got as far as M's, the upslope stream halted once again, to much muttering from the wagoneers who would have to start again pulling upslope. This blockage though was not for long, since the Sheriff was there and kept his remarks to the minimum.

“Welcome, Master Pocular, to our booming town. We look forward to meeting with you. But for now, if you would lead your wagons up to the level area, you will find we have cleared a space for you in the south-west corner, next to the Bell Tower. I shall walk up there to give you a better welcome.” He continued after turning to me: “Mistress Julina, would you be so kind as to inform Master Brydas that Master Pocular has arrived and maybe he would like to join us at the reserved area of the campingplace? I have to go and fetch the Steward, and Master Bezan if I can find him, and it wouldn't do to keep our new arrival waiting too long.”

“With pleasure, Sheriff. I shall go and inform him immediately.”

One by one, the upslope-headed wagons, one with two frayen hitched to the back, lurched back into motion, and before a further moment had passed, traffic again returned to normal.

Which was a pain, as I needed to cross that busy road again. But I managed it with a little skipping from one foot to the other as I ran and twisted through the traffic.

I entered the Forge grounds and looked around, but could not spot Uncle immediately. I did, however spot Jerbin and I waved to him. He and another were carrying a metal thing, very similar to the water tanks I had seen before. They put it down on a large metal object out of which some smoke was pouring. Jerbin had a word with the other man, picked up a bucket of water from the ground and poured it into the tank, obviously demonstrating what had to be done. Some spilt drops hissed, sizzled and danced on the metal object below the tank. Jerbin went to one end of the tank and fiddled with a spigot there. I realised that he was checking that the spigot was fully shut.

He started to walk over to where I was standing; I had attempted to make sure I kept out of the way of all the men working around here, so I had chosen the same spot into which Uncle had ushered me before.

I felt something stirring in my brain, something was screaming to get out. I blinked and suddenly I was shocked into immobility.

That idea I had been nurturing suddenly sprang forward into my consciousness, fully formed. I was stunned at the thought, and started to look at it for problems, trying to see if the idea would in fact work. What if …

I was brought back to my surroundings as Jerbin, obviously not for the first time, demanded: “What is it that you want, Mistress?”

“Oh! Er ... yes ... I'm sorry ... I was distracted ... where are ... Ah! Yes, is Master Brydas around? I have a message from the Sheriff.”

“I'll go and fetch him,” he said as he looked at me with puzzlement.

“Um ... yes ...” I murmured as I went back to my thoughts, barely acknowledging him.

... … … …

“Julina! Hello, Julina! Are you aware now? Julina?”

“Hmmm? Oh, hello Uncle. Let me see, I have a message for you from the Sheriff – he has gone to … to ... ah! Fetch the Steward. That glassmaker - Master Poculen or whatever - has arrived and the Sheriff invites you to join him and the Steward in welcoming the new man. Up in the ... the ... ah, yes! Reserved, that was it. The reserved area of the campingplace. By the Bell Tower.”

“Ah! I thank you, my dear.” He paused for a little. “You are thinking something through, I can tell. You're just like Senidet. I recognise the signs. May I be of assistance in any way?”

“Possibly, Uncle. Possibly. I have to go and ask the plumber something first, but I suspect that both you and Master Bezan may be interested in my idea, and be able to tell me if it's possible.”

“Well you hurry down to see Master Rostan, and then get back to me. But I shall go now to meet our glass man. See you later.”

I turned once more back to the Main Street. Was I to spend my entire day going up and down this one road?

I decided to delay going down to the plumber's and instead went up to Pomma's to deliver my message there, the one about the start tomorrow being a half-bell later than we had decided between us. She wanted to talk some, and had some spare time. I told her about the new glassmaker so she wanted immediately to go and inspect him – for that was exactly what we intended to do, but we couldn't be so obvious about it.

She came with me up to the next, and final, house on that side – Malet's and Kelly's. I had mentioned that Kelly might be interested in accompanying us. As it happened, Kelly was entertaining my other two special friends as well as Mistress Lendra, which was a surprise – a pleasant surprise, but nevertheless a surprise. Molly's mother Mousa was also there.

We weren't inquisitive at all, you will understand. We just wanted to look at the development of the Miners' Village, and if our route just happened to take us past the south-west corner of the campingplace then that was entirely coincidental to anything else that might just happen to be occurring there.

So it was that Pomma, Kelly, Malet, Gyth, Molly, Mousa, Lendra and I just happened to wander along there, and we just happened to bump into Epp and Grizanthet coming up from the Epphouses. Close observers may have noticed that this was an unusually quiet group of women, but that, of course, was because we didn't want to disturb any meeting between some men that was going on there. It's not that we wanted to listen at all, you'll understand. It was just respect for the men.

Surprisingly, we women all managed to gather there before the designated townsmen, so there was no conversation for us to accidentally overhear. We made a big thing of meeting the two women coming up the rough slope, making it seem as if this was an arranged occurrence. But then it got awkward for a little moment. It was difficult to find a topic of conversation to bring in what were complete and utter strangers to us.

I saw Epp whisper to Grizanthet and then she sort of drifted round the group, and struck up a conversation with me as though it was a continuation of something we had just recently had. I went along with it, and answered in like spirit, as the others turned to us. All, we could see, about to jump in.

“If it pleases you, Master?” came Grizanthet's voice, which sounded just a trifle overloud to me, but maybe I was being a little sensitive. “I don't wish to be rude, nor nasty, but these parking spots here have been reserved for a valued newcomer who is due soon. Perhaps you should park in another spot. Our new glassmaker will be arriving some time today, my husband suggests even sometime this early afternoon, and it was our town's intention to honour him by …”

His laugh boomed out.

Oh Maker!

I don't think any female within two casts was unaffected by the tone of that laugh.

“Mistress! I am he. I am the new Glassmaker. If I may introduce myself, my name is Pocular.” The richness of his laugh was also reflected in the timbre of his voice. A little shiver went through me and I was aware that my companions were all ... Oh Maker! Molly!

The same thought occurred to my two other best friends at the same heartbeat.

Gyth and I were closest to her so we took a hand each, while Kelly moved to stand between her and the man. Poor Molly was vibrating!

I don't think I would have been human if a flash of resentment hadn't shot across me. I wanted to be here to meet the newcomer, to listen to the introductions and to learn more, but I knew I would have to take Molly away.

That fleeting flash of resentment was however exactly that – fleeting. And therefore my brain had started zooming as to how to achieve Molly's extraction from our group, with her mother's help, of course.

Lendra stepped forward and reached a hand to the back of Molly's neck. She made a calming noise, did something with her fingers and suddenly Molly was collapsing! Lendra just managed to catch her and lowered her gently to the ground, saying that the poor girl had fainted. We all clustered round the prone Molly and Master Pocular jumped down from his wagon, offering to carry her to somewhere more comfortable.

“No!” I said a little too sharply. I modified my tone. “No, Master, it is something the poor girl suffers from quite often, particularly in these days, if you see what I mean.”

He almost screeched to a halt when the significance of my words reached his brain. It would have been quite funny if the situation wasn't so tense.

Lendra, Mousa and Malet, managed to carry the unconscious form to Malet's back door, some eight or ten strides distant, before they took her indoors and disappeared from view.

We all muttered generalities and so on, and, before we knew it, Malet was back, saying that Molly was resting and Mousa would look after her. Lendra had given her some herbal concoction and would be out very soon.

Meanwhile Epp had engaged Master Pocular in conversation again, and the excitement was gradually pushed into the background.

The Master introduced his team; he had brought no fewer than three apprentices and a journeymen with him. Then there were the four drivers for the four wagons and six guards/labourers. And two frayen. Epp managed to extract from him that he was without a wife, feeling too young at the moment to start a family.

By then we were back on the conversational track we had wanted to be on. And every single woman just wanted to listen to that incredible voice.

So when the town's Assembly welcoming committee arrived a few moments later, some rapport had already been achieved. The Steward, and Masters Brydas, Fedren, Bezan and Jepp had come as a team. Which explained the slight delay before they all arrived. We women took a sort of step back as the men went through their introductions and chats. Whilst this was going on, Mistress Lendra returned and Master Michen also came across, so the group was steadily increasing.

The men used the vantage point to show the newcomer the town and its surroundings, pointing things out as they spoke. There were some things I and the others learnt from the chats here.

One was that the development plans for the town were based on having TWO streets parallel to Main Street. One on each side. The current high level of traffic had forced a change in priorities and the most important development now was that of East Street.

We had actually, or so we all learnt just then, five flattening teams busy in town or close by. One at each end of the Loop Road, as those ends gradually neared each other, one had been used at the Miners' Village and two were for the new housing, priority being given to the replacement houses for those like us whose houses would have to be moved or demolished. Four of these flattening teams had been taken off all other duties to concentrate on East Street, the one that stayed where it was, was the one most remotely situated way over there above the west bank of the river, making the western bridge approach so there was no incline.

Master Bezan expected the road bed of East Street to be completed along its entire length by dusk tomorrow. The stone road surfacing would begin to be laid on the morrow, but the stones were a difficulty, there being so few of them, as Mostar had been pulled hither and thither with all the stonework required, and Master Blandel had only just recently started being effective once more. They all looked at me as this was said. I wished I could control my blushing.

Master Bezan then continued by explaining that East Street would then become the road for the downslope traffic and Main Street would be reserved for upslope traffic. Four connecting alleys would be provided so access downvalley for the lower houses and businesses would not require them to go all the way up to the campingplace before turning downslope.

West Street would be developed once the Loop Road had come into use and traffic patterns in town had settled down into THAT new arrangement. West Street would start from the campingplace, just like East Street and would rejoin the Main Street exactly opposite where East Street does that.

However, as it was expected that, once the Loop Road opened, then ALL traffic that wasn’t actually bound for the town would use it (it would add maybe three marks to the journey for the coal traffic, but that wouldn’t cause too much of a problem) then West Street might well prove to be of a lesser priority. West Street would be built, of course, to the west of Main Street, but it would be more awkward than East Street since several of the houses on the west side sprawled down towards the stream much more than their neighbours.

They all looked pointedly at Master Brydas at that point, who was quick to point out that the Tanner was worse!

For those reasons, Master Pocular should inspect what had been set aside for him, but he would be free to choose another site.

Mention was then made of creating a workshop area for all the Guildsmen over to the west of the Bray, with easy access to the Loop Road. Master Bezan hastened to add that those facilities were still some weeks and months away, but the advantage would be that the smoke and grime and smells would be kept at a distance from the residential areas. This was a novel idea to nearly all of us, and there were plenty of gasps and, a bit later, nodding of heads knowledgeably.

We also discovered that Master Bezan had written some while ago to Master Pocular and given him the precise measurements of the window holes left in the walls of the buildings here. Whilst clearing all his affairs and packing all his belongings and equipment and so on, Master Pocular had kept busy as he and his colleagues down in, or rather near, Palarand City had constructed a number of windows to fit into these holes. He had escorted a wagon all the way from the capital which was laden with no fewer than sixty of these windows.

We all gasped. So many?

And what was more, we now learnt, apparently they had been paid for by the Palace! No doubt some complicated arrangement with Mylady’s finances. The surprise settled in and we all waited for the next revelation. A few heartbeats went by until a voice broke the silence.

Master Pocular demonstrated a clarity of thought when he asked: “Masters, from what you have said it seems plain to me that my workshop shall eventually be across the stream but my home shall be here on this side. It seems most sensible to set up for the initial week or so only a small workstation this side then, rather than set up a full workshop twice. What do you imagine the demand will be for?”

It was Uncle who first broke the silence brought about by us all thinking deeply for the answer.

“If it was left to all the womenfolk here, you would be confined to making looking glasses, like the one we have hanging in the Bell!” The men all laughed.

“You have a proper flat mirror here? I never would have expected … oh wait! Of course, Guildmistress Garia was up here recently wasn’t she? The Guild sent her one as a present. So it arrived, and she left it here??!!”

“Did you not encounter her on the road, Master? She is gone scarce a week. Ah, but mayhap she overnights in accommodation that you might not have access to!”

“Aye, you have the right of it! But, with due respect ladies,” he said to us with a little bow, “apart from women’s fripperies, what will be the greatest demand?”

Master Bezan stepped in at this point, and answered simply: “More of these windows. My estimates suggest we will need more than four hundred just for the currently planned new builds.”

We all gasped at the numbers. Master Pocular chuckled in surprise, which surprised us women with an instinctive inner reaction to the warm sound.

“And establishments like the Bell and the Claw will want to replace their small, thick glass with these larger sheets. And then all the other houses will want to change over.

“And then in the new year we will be constructing the Community Hall,” he twisted and pointed in the direction of where it shall be, “over yonder. And I should tell you that Mylady wanted it to have mostly glass walls rather than windows. She assures us that it is possible, but admits the technology is unlikely to be available for some years. But she is insistent that it be as light and airy as possible.”

This was the first that any of us women had heard of glass WALLS. We were shocked – well more amazed I suppose. And we all wanted to see the new windows, never having considered that glass could be so different to what we were used to. Yet once again, the changes that were coming far exceeded anything that we could have imagined.

I could write many, many lines about who said what and who did what at this point, but I fear that any readers I might have would be bored silly. We prevailed upon the men to show us the windows, or at least one of them. It was carefully unwrapped and we stood with mouths open – the men as well as us women.

We had been used to each piece of glass in a window being little larger than a fist, held both in place and together by thick surrounds, usually made of lead. Those pieces of glass were thick and made wavy, mostly indistinct views of what was on the other side.

The sheets of glass in this window frame were thinner than we were used to and each was rectangular, the long side being about half again the size of the short side – Master Pocular said that he could make them larger than that, but then as weather protection they would become vulnerable to breaking easily – so this window frame, which was about a stride wide, had just eight sheets of glass in it, two rows of four, the longer sides going up and down. But the gaps between the sheets were filled with just thin strips of wood. And each sheet of glass was so clear with almost no distortion. This was going to make our houses so much lighter inside.

“These sheets are so clear, Master Pocular!”

“We actually call them 'panes', Master Jepp, not sheets, but yes, this 'float glass' as the Guildmistress dubbed it, means that there are no clumps and irregularities. People will be able to see what's going on outside so easily. Mind you, people outside will be able to see what's going on inside equally as easily.”

His chuckle made all us women shiver again.

But that was soon forgotten as he continued his demonstration.

What was more amazing to us was that the window was divided into two vertically, within the frame of course, and each side was attached to the overall frame with hinges on the inside of the outside side. Master Pocular demonstrated that the half-window could be swung open on these hinges, thus allowing more air into the room. We already understood the idea of hinged windows, but all of ours were hinged either at the top or the bottom, and the entire window moved, either propped open with stout wooden props, or suspended from cords tied to hooks.

This really would revolutionise our houses in the future.

Any other thoughts were driven from my mind as I immediately started to consider if we had designed the new house properly. I caught Master Bezan’s eye as he caught mine. We both shook our heads wonderingly.

“What on Anmar do you suppose Master Kordulen is going to say when he sees these in place?”

I just did an exaggerated shrug in reply.

“Did you say Master Kordulen? I met him down the road, near the Chaarn Fork! He surprised me by just appearing suddenly out of the forest. My guards here nearly shot him! It was only that he had one of the new saddles that made them hesitate for that critical heartbeat. We didn't expect the new saddles to be found all the way up here just yet.”

“I am extremely glad you did not shoot him, I should like to see my father again!”

“Ah! My apologies, Mistress er ... Jolanda ...”

“Julina” chorused just about everybody, which made me blush again.

“Rest assured, Mistress Julina, that he is fit and healthy and has absolutely no extra holes in him. He said he was doing some surveying based at the Roadhouse just down from the Chaarn fork, and that he would spend a night at the Forest Roadhouse to do some surveying round there before returning home.”

That chuckle in his voice made many of us females squirm a little yet again!

However the news, once again, made Master Bezan and I exchange glances – neither of us could work out why he would want to survey around the Roadhouse. But we knew we would eventually find out, so we would just have to be patient. (But my brain filed the information away and kept worrying about it at extremely strange intervals during the next day or so.)

The meeting eventually broke up and we all went our separate ways.

Master Pocular had been assigned a bed with Master Brydas, as was his journeyman, so they went off to inspect the arrangements in the Forge House – the drivers and guards would camp by the wagons and the apprentices would have to join them in the first instance.

I quickly arranged to meet Master Bezan and Uncle Brydas down to the Bell in a bell’s time, and then all the men dispersed in every direction it seemed.

Pomma, Epp and Grizanthet all went back to their respective homes, as did Master M, leaving Lendra, Malet and we three to go and check on poor Molly.

… … …

“… any metal really. Mylady has told us not to use lead, but it is the easiest to work with as it is quite soft. I don’t understand Mylady’s restriction I have to confess, and think that she is creating a bit of a fuss about nothing. However, apparently there IS a good use for lead in some other field so all spare lead has been requested.”

“And putting some tap on the end would be no problem?”

“No, no. We have the ability to do that.”

“Thank you so very much, Master Rostan. You have been very helpful indeed.”

“You are very welcome, Mistress Julina. My regards to your father.”

“Thank you. I shall pass the message on.”

With that I took my leave and made my way, yet again, up to and then up Main Street, stopping at the Bell.

Yanda ushered me to a table in the corner and kept me company whilst I waited. I told her about poor Molly fainting and that Mistress Lendra had given her something that should keep her sleeping for the rest of today and overnight until at least dawn. She was well looked after, so I had found no difficulty in leaving her where she was and going back out around the town. The whole episode made me want to seek help for Molly as soon as I could, and I knew I would have to take her with me to Tranidor, which would mean her mother would have to come as well.

I made a joke with Yanda about my freedom not being actually freedom, as I needed a companion or chaperone nowadays. She laughed and was kind enough to be a little worried when I explained that I would have to travel to and from home alone, so that sort of defeated the object of the exercise.

The two men arrived and looked round for me, spotting me only when Yanda stood and waved. They ordered an ale each and I some pel, and some pastries for us all. We chatted about roads and bridges until the refreshments arrived. A healing sip on my part, a healing swig on their parts, and then the main discussion got under way.

“Masters, please let me explain some background. This idea I have had has had roots in various observations, in various places. So let me please first list the influences that have formed this.

“It started in the bathroom and kitchen at home, and went on in the bathrooms and kitchen at Master Michen's. I saw the contents of one of the wagons up to the campingplace. It continued with practices at your forge, Uncle, and was finally confirmed by Master Rostan.

“Ever since we have been about to move, and influenced by yourself Master Bezan and the designs for the new house over which we have spent so many bells, I have looked around deliberately wherever I go to see if there is a good idea we have overlooked.

“I have an idea for almost constant hot water to be available! And to save space in houses. Which I'm sure will save the town and maybe her Ladyship some coin.”

I paused to let my enthusiasm and my clues sink in. Both men sort of hitched their seats closer and put their drinks down. I'm not quite sure why relinquishing your grip on something helps to hear what another person says, but that seems to be a natural human reaction.

“I saw the new ranges that are to be placed in the new houses, they are of a different design and shape to the ones in the houses that I have known all my life. They seem to have a raised back to them, behind the cooking areas. And that raised back is flat on the top, for the full width, about a hand or two wide?”

“Indeed, Mistress Julina. The new one has just been placed into your new house.”

“Really? Already? I must go and look …” I gushed enthusiastically before bringing myself back to the matter in hand. I transferred my attention now to the other man. “Uncle, I saw you use water tanks in your forge. Metal tanks that can be heated?”

“Quite right, my dear.”

“I realised that they were about the width of the ranges. That was the final piece that created this idea, which I think is workable.

“So, why don't we mount a water tank like that, with a flat bottom to fit over the high bit of the range, and let the range keep the water in it permanently warm?”

I paused, I admit, for effect.

“Master Rostan assures me that pipes can be run from such a tank into neighbouring rooms. Master Michen's kitchen has a tank mounted on the wall with cold water in it, and that water is distributed via pipes to the facilities there. This would just be the same principle. And as a result we wouldn't need to carry buckets about the place and have a hand of them all heating up at the same time. And we wouldn't need separate water heating equipment in the bathrooms, which would make for more space or smaller bathrooms. Mind you, we might still require small fires to keep the chill out of the air of the room, so they could also be used for top ups ...”

They looked at me without speaking for a considerable time, so I got nervous and rushed on, just to fill the silence.

“I am no expert, which is why I have come to you two – the two persons I most respect. You can tell me if this would work or not, and I …” I paused as Uncle held up his hand.

“Julina, this is most DEFINITELY an idea that needs pursuing. Right, Bezan?”

“Most definitely, most definitely indeed.”

“Will you trust us with this idea, 'Lina? Will you allow us to go and test things and so on?”

“But of course, Uncle,” I said, wondering why he would ask me such a strangely-worded question. “I have no knowledge of how to go about making this work. That's why I asked to speak to you both. I thought, frankly, that anything to help me have some hot water for an early morning was worth chasing down. Particularly as we are switching to the two sleep system tonight. I thought that if I could use the middle wake time to set up the hot water it would make life so much more pleasant.”

“Oh Maker! Yes, I had nearly forgotten about two sleeps. I suppose we must change over to that soon.”

“Yes”, said Master Bezan. “It makes sense, I suppose it might actually help me to get an earlier night, I could use the middle wake to deal with the correspondence and daily plans. But we have an Assembly meeting in four nights time where we get some more of Julina's delicious cooking, so maybe I shall wait until after that before switching over.”

“Oh Maker, Master Bezan, I wish I had thought of that before. I have told our family now that we shall do two sleeps from now on – I totally forgot I would have to work in the evenings.”

“I'm very glad you said that, Mistress. I was beginning to think that you were a person without faults!”

I started to blush and searched desperately for another subject. Something jumped into my head.

“Now Master Bezan, I have a question or two for you. I have seen a stone construction at our new house on the back wall, and none of the workers could explain to me what it was. They all referred me to you. What is your secret there?”

Master Bezan laughed out loud. “It is connected in a way to your idea, Mistress. Your friend Master Deegrum has shown me the parts into which I could fit of the water supply. With the flowing water and the cool of the tunnels and rooms, he has noted that food keeps from spoiling so quickly. I know also that much mountain ice is transported to Palarand City to assist in keeping foodstuffs fresher for longer. That stone work behind your house will contain a small food store which will be mostly surrounded in water. It has been positioned there to be as much out of the sun as possible so it should be much cooler than in the house. I anticipate that it will be of great benefit, and if it works, then I foresee it being installed over a widespread area. You have a warm idea, I have a cool idea.”

“Ah! So THAT'S why you wanted me to make those metal cabinets which open at the top with a watertight seal!”

“Aye, Master Brydas. Precisely that.” He turned then to me. “So I look forward very much to doing this together and maybe us making something together for the future.”

“And just what do you think you might be doing with Mistress Julina?” laughed Sookie as she came up behind Uncle and laid a hand onto his shoulder. He raised his hand to cover hers.

Master Bezan sprang to his feet and greeted her as I smiled a welcome across the table to her. The men invited her to join us.

“Let me see. It is just after the Fifth Bell. I don't believe I have anything desperately urgent to do, so yes, it would please me to sit and relax if just for a few moments.”

So more pel for us two, more ale for those two, and only just a few more pastries were ordered.

For the next while, it must have ended up being nearly a bell I estimate, the four of us had a most pleasant gathering, passing the time by talking over many subjects both funny and serious. It was almost a wrench when it came to an end. I could see that the men had managed to relax somewhat, a pleasing few moments away for them from the stresses they had.

It came to an end when Garbel came in. He looked around and saw his Master, so he came over and nervously hovered while Uncle finished his sentence. Uncle had already acknowledged his presence.

“If it pleases you, Master, Master Pocular has returned from his walk around town and wonders if you might be available for discussions.”

This acted as a sort of wake-up call and both men soon stood and made their farewells, taking Garbel with them. This left us two to sit there until the pastries were finished. I raised the subject of companions and chaperones with Sookie as well, and she also appreciated the difficulties with which I was faced. She also said she would think about it; at which point, it was time for us to leave.

Again I was not allowed to pay, Yanda telling me that the Masters, on their way out, had declared the meeting as being Town business and thus to be added to the Town account.

I found myself quite shocked at having nothing I actually HAD to do. So I searched my mental list and found a little task.

I sighed.

Once again I had to walk up Main Street.

… ... …

“We have ten men on the Assembly, and then there will be yourselves, which makes fourteen. Father and Kassama and I make seventeen. And Suril and Haka will be here for that night, as it's a trial run, but they will be eating upstairs. So that's nineteen.”

“I must confess that I have never cooked for quite so many. I believe fourteen has been my highest so far. But Sookie and Yanda have done so for many more, and they have given me a few tips and hints, and promised me I could come to them for advice.”

“Do you have any favourite things to cook?”

“Not really. I believe I have cooked most things before. I just need to know how hungry the men shall be!” I laughed.

“They're men – so assume very hungry!” she said with a grin. “But seriously now, is there one dish you can just cook in your sleep, if you like to put it that way? I will explain a little later, if it pleases you.”

“Well, I suppose a Brifil or Ganifil on the avian side, or a Vikhan on the animal side. Any of those I could do without thinking.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at me, then paused.

“Now, please don't take this the wrong way. This is a very important evening for us, so to have to rely on just one thing to be cooked fills me with unease. I am certain that you can do it, and I am sure that it will be perfect, but there are all sorts of factors at play here. You will be in a strange kitchen, using a range with which you are not familiar, with utensils and tools in different places than those to which you are accustomed. And you will have kitchen helpers with whom you have not worked before. So I propose you cook something easy for you to do and we keep it to one side, just in case. And then cook the 'real', if you like, meal.”

She was nervous saying this to me, but I fully understood what she was saying, and, in fact, I was quite relieved.

“My dear Michet, you have no idea how relieved I am to be able to have a safety margin. Thank you.”

She looked surprised at first, and then gave me a hug, saying: “I should never have worried so much about saying this to you! Thank YOU for being so understanding. Now ...”

I grinned as I had come to know her well enough that when she started like that, she had some plan already worked out.

“... what I thought was that I would get a Gavakhan ...”

My jaw dropped. A Gavakhan? A whole Gavakhan? Oh Maker! H H H E E E L L L P P P.

“... and we could do the ribs for that evening, leaving the easier steaks for us the next day and using the other bits to make some tasty stews and soups and sauces and the like ...”

My heart stopped racing quite so much.

“... and then have some vegetables with that and finish with a fruity dessert. What do you think?”

“Now …” I paused teasingly and she grinned, “it all seems very doable.”

“Good.”

And so the broad planning for our trial run was done – just as simply as that.

I checked how the clean up was progressing and the equipment in the kitchen, and played for half a bell with Haka and Haris when she came back, carrying a bag of work that she could do in her own time, in return for leaving early. We had had a quick panicked confusion as we hid Michet from Haka, and soon thereafter Michen appeared.

When we were all gathered together once more, I introduced a new subject, and everyone there was interested that our family were going back to two-sleep nights from now on. They were tempted to do it themselves, until I reminded them that this house would be busy in the evenings soon, so was it worth doing it?

I left shortly after that, having decided that I would just go and see the animals at the Claw once more before going back home from there. I wished them all a wonderful evening and left.

As I went down Main Street (yes – again!), I met our Steward just turning into his house. A thought zoomed through my head.

“Excuse me, Captain?”

“Yes, Mistress Julina? How may I be of help?”

“Master Michen and I have just had a preliminary meeting about the catering for your Assembly meeting in four nights' time. With the topic fresh in my mind, it suddenly occurred to me that you will have eaten many meals in places varying from palaces to pastures. So I hope to receive some pointers or advice based upon your experiences. Would it be permissible for Master Michen and I to meet with you some time tomorrow to 'pick your brains' as it were? We are both getting a little nervous about what you and your colleagues might expect, and what we might have to supply in the future.”

“Of course, Mistress. I shall be glad to pass on any knowledge I may have. Do you have any appointments tomorrow that I should avoid when setting a time?”

“If it pleases you Captain, I have my first riding lesson in the morning with Mistress Sukhana down to the Claw at a half after the Second Bell. Mistress Sukhana has no-one to ride with on a regular basis, and Mistress Pomma and I now have the attire, the saddles and the animals to be brought along, so that we might soon accompany her into the countryside.”

“What a splendid idea – I should have thought of exercising my animal in such a fashion. I shall think about what we might do once you are more proficient. You ladies might like an escort sometimes. So, tomorrow, shall you and Master Michen join me and Master Mesulkin for a light lunch at the Noon Bell, here? I will then attempt to answer your questions.”

“Why, Captain! That is most generous of you. I am honoured, and I believe that I can safely say the same on Master Michen's behalf.”

I parted from him and retraced my steps up Main Street to M's to give him the news. M thanked me for both thinking of it and for organising it.

I left, again.

I walked on the sidewalk by Main Street, again.

I went into the Claw, again.

I fed some titbits to the animals, again.

I parted from Parry, again.

I went to the new house, again.

The foreman there was shouting words of warning to the workers, who were installing the first window into the north-facing wall of what would be Papa and Swayga's sitting room. The vision of the workers breaking some of the glass hit me, and I suddenly realised that maybe it wouldn't be quite so easy to just fix these windows as I had first thought.

To keep out of the way, I went into the kitchen and saw the newly delivered range. It was just standing in the middle of the floor on some wooden cylinders so it could later be rolled into position.

I turned round and went to watch the window fitting being completed. They took some shredded pakh-wool and squidged it in all round the outside of the frame, then they took something that looked like liquid mud and plastered it all round where the wool had been put. They did this inside and outside. When I asked, they explained that this would dry and set hard, sealing the frame into the hole. They would then nail a surround round the outside and all draughts should be excluded that way.

Once they finished with that window, the workers moved over to do the north side window of the kitchen and I went into the room they had just left.

I just stood there in P and S's sitting-room-to-be and looked out of the new window in total amazement. The views afforded by this clear glass were like nothing I had ever seen from a room before. I knew that the entire family were going to be amazed. I made a mental note to discuss with Swayga that maybe Papa should be with us when we did an inspection visit.

The light was just beginning to fail when I shook myself out of my wonder and I decided I needed a rest.

I climbed the slope to the old house, again.

It was nice to get home and relax with nothing to do but watch Swayga and Kords get the meal.

Again!

There was a different smell in the air this time though, and I asked Swayga to tell me what she was doing.

“Steef has sent me a present! He has been fishing in the lake behind the Roadhouse and had a bumper catch. So he sent us six in a water tank, on one of the supply wagons that left the Roadhouse early, to keep them alive until they got here. I have to send the tank back on the next shuttle.

“I am making you all a surprise dish this evening, a dish he and I loved when we were children. I just have to slice up the fish after removing the skin and make sure there are no bones, then cook it gently in a sort of broth made with water, some Irris Bean spice and chopped koonkle. When it is cooked, I take it out of the liquid and put it to one side. I then cook up a little freehee in the fishy liquid, one spoonful per person. This will absorb most, if not all, the fishy, spicy liquid. Just before this is done, I slide the fish pieces on a tray into the oven to get thoroughly hot. When all is ready, I make a nice bed of freehee on the platter, place the fish on top of that and scatter the whole with some extra pieces of raw chopped koonkle. The yellow of the fish is a lovely contrast on the plate with the deep red of the koonkle, and the white of the freehee.

“As you yourself have often said, making the dish look nice makes it taste nicer. In spring and summer, when the fresh young herbs are growing, then a sprinkle of their chopped leaves makes it look even better with a green confusion over the top as well.”

“I am looking forward to this immensely. Does the fish have a name?”

“Oh yes! This one is a medium-sized one and is named 'Foti'. For a main course you need a whole foti per adult man, less for women and children. The recipe works for other fish as well, but I and Steef much prefer it done with these.”

“Thank you!”

The Foti dish was a big hit with everyone and even Kord wanted to know when they could have it again.

So it was a cheerful group who, albeit still reluctantly, were packed off to bed earlier than they had been recently.

Swayga, Kords and I cleaned everything up as we chatted. Swayga made sure to leave the doors and windows open for a good quarter of a bell, as she said the smell of cooking/cooked fish can linger unpleasantly. It got quite cold actually, so we huddled by the range until we heard the bells.

Of course we chatted as we were there, which I'm sure is no surprise. They were shocked as I related my experiences of trying to get home last night, and they asked why I hadn't mentioned it before. I explained that I was worried about the children more than for myself, but I would have to be careful too. Swayga emphasised that actually I was the most vulnerable and Kords the next!

This gave rise to some lively discussion, but at the end they both were concerned about my need for a companion and they too said they would think about it. They agreed with me that maybe the upcoming move to the new house might change the situation slightly.

I then told them about the windows and they also agreed with me that we should wait until Papa was back before taking the entire family on an inspection trip. But something told me that they would both sneak off and have a look for themselves. I hid my knowing grin.

And so I went to bed on the sixth night of my freedom, finally actually relaxing into my new life, even if it was just a temporary state.

I knew I would wake soon after the Midnight Bell, I always did. I would need to use the facilities. So I would stay awake at that point and rouse the others, to get us all into the two sleep system.

That, however, was always a time of some grumpiness.

And so it transpired.

In the awake period between sleeps, I showed Swayga my way of banking the fires and loading the surface of the range with big pans of water. She approved of it and promised to check everything before settling in for the second sleep.

I told the rest of the family I wanted to do some writing and they left me alone in my corner, savouring the peace. Everyone knew that these wake bells were for quiet contemplation of whatever it was each did.

What I did was to sit down and write a long letter to Mylady Merizel, hoping that she remembered me, and that she didn't mind if I sent her a letter occasionally. I told her basically what I have written in these tales, but not to so much detail of course.

I felt the sleepiness creep up on me for the second time, so I finished off the letter, signed it, and let my ears sink onto my pillow once more.

I had a warm, content feeling as I drifted off once more.

---

Julina does get to ride a frayen, but getting to that point isn't as easy as expected – and the aftermath has a surprise or two as well

---

Disclaimer:

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 awoke just before dawn, and I felt a lot better. That might have been due to the first day after my Call, but I believe that the two sleep system works far better for my body than the sleep right through.

It may also, of course, have had to do with the excitement of my first ride on a frayen that was going to happen shortly. I had not told all my family about this, I had vague plans of one day riding up to the house and surprising them. Because of that, I had left my riding breeches and skirt down to Pomma's, thus avoiding any questions from those inquisitive siblings.

The heated water thing worked well, and Swayga complimented me by saying that she would never have thought of it. She and Kords really appreciated it and Kords, I think, gave me a further measure of respect as she realised some more little things that I had been doing over the years to make everyone's life easier, things that had not been apparent.

We had our breakfast as normal and, just before everyone left the table, I called for all their attention by tapping on my water mug. It took a little while but eventually they quieted down.

I started by asking a question, but toned it as if I were making an announcement.

“I hope you all slept well and found the two sleep system easy to slip into?”

They all nodded, but I noticed that little Kord scowled as he did so.

“Good. Then there won't be any problem to keep doing it. That is GOOD news.” I didn't dare look at Swayga, who had turned round quickly to hide her laughter. “Now, I'm afraid I have some BAD news for you all.”

Hah! THAT got their attention. 'Kin even stopped swinging his permanently moving leg – if it wasn't swinging, it was jigging on his foot, or bouncing on the opposite knee.

“There is a LOT to do this morning and Swayga will tell you your tasks.” More scowls. “But, the bad news is … that this morning's lettering lesson is cancelled.”

There was a silence for a brief heartbeat or two, but then they all cheered and jeered at me, smiles breaking out all over as they realised I had been teasing them. I grinned back at them, and we all ended up having a group hug, the children automatically pulling Swayga into it, which brought some unshed tears to her eyes.

I let it go for maybe a moment before coughing meaningfully. Without anyone releasing the group hug, I had each one waiting for me to say something more.

“Yesterday I sort of had a message from Papa. He is well and is on his way back. He will be here either tonight or tomorrow, unless any difficulties arise. So please make sure the house is clean and worthy of welcoming him properly.

“Now, I have to go somewhere this morning and have an appointment at noon, but as it stands, I have little to do this afternoon. So I shall be back at around the Fifth Bell to help you all finish, note I said FINISH, your tasks. I am NOT going to be here to do them for you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, 'Lina,” they all chorused, including both Kords and Swayga which made us all laugh some more.

“Now, I do have to be serious for a moment. What I have to say is going to affect us all. And it is very, very, very important.”

The seriousness in my tone sobered them all up quite rapidly, and Swayga looked a worried question at me. I signalled back that it would be fine.

“Our Town, where we have lived all our lives, has changed recently. You all are aware of the many new faces around, but you may not realise that the number of people in town has now doubled since the time that Mylady arrived, all those weeks ago.

“This means that there are many strangers around, many people we don't know. It is highly unlikely that any of them are as evil as Trogan and his crew, but some may not be as good as our neighbours have been all our lives. So from now on, we all have to be far more careful than we are used to being. I will let Swayga tell you more details once I have gone, but it means much more for all us girls than it does for you two boys – nevertheless it applies to you boys too, until you are grown enough. It is no longer sensible for ANY of us to walk around on our own. Ever. WHATEVER the temptation, from now on, none of you are to go out without someone alongside. Is that clear?”

As I suspected, they all looked a little confused, but Swayga promised to explain more.

“This means that today, Kords AND Kissa will accompany me to Mistress Pomma's where they will leave me. Then the two of them can escort each other back here. Maybe there will be some errands for them to do in town, but they will ALWAYS be together. I want you all to promise me, here and now, and repeat the promise to Swayga as well. You will never walk about town, not even for five strides only, alone. You will ALWAYS have someone near you.

“I am very serious about this, as serious as anything I have ever said to you before. If something happens to your partner, then you may run somewhere safe to get help or hide or do whatever is necessary, but that is the ONLY time you can be alone. There will be no excuses allowed. Is that clear? I want to hear each of you individually say you understand what I have just said.”

I went round them one by one.

And then, I went round again extracting their promises.

Then I made them individually promise Swayga too.

“Thank you, children. That means a lot to me. I can be less fearful for you now. Now, I can go and do MY chores before I leave, and you two boys can have a bath this morning, as we have much hot water.”

I turned away, and went to my room, where I had a sudden need to have a cry.

Kords came in a little later, and just sat next to me and hugged me, without a word being spoken.

By and by, I stopped my sobbing, and she whispered: “Why?”

“Oh the world, our world, is changing so fast, dear Kords. It will never again be as it was. I guess I am mourning our lost innocence. There are more and larger difficulties ahead of us, but it is all still exciting. I just feel sad that a way of life is now behind us. But, I say again, there is much to look forward to.” I hugged her fiercely. “I just hope I have prepared you all properly for it.”

“Oh 'Lina. Every day that goes by, I learn something that you have done for us and none of us have ever thanked you. You could not have done anything any better. I appreciate your selflessness more and more, each evening. You have been wonderful. And we have been a trial to you. I will help you in every way I can. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Of course, no two girls can say all that to each other without waterworks.

So we had another little crying session after which we again wiped our eyes, stood up, twitched our dresses into place as we straightened our backbones, and went out once more to the waiting world.

I smiled inwardly as I saw Swayga's eyes ask Kords if everything was all right. Her eyes twitched over to me, and mine told her that she had nothing to worry about.

… … …

A few chores followed by chopping up some malm and popping it into my pouch made the time pass. Eventually I heard the chimes of the Second Bell and announced that it was time for me to leave. I had a small coin pocket in the skirt of my dress, so I dropped a few soos and feniks into it, picked up my letter and gathered Kords and Kissa to me. I had packed my carry bag already, and after looking at my two companions, I turned and slipped an extra something into it.

We waved goodbye to the others and set out along the path to the campingplace.

“Have you got your list of errands, you two?” Something in me couldn't just let go of the mother role.

“Yes” they sighed, a little grumpily, just tapping their slates attached to their belts.

“And have you got some coin?”

“Yes! We're not babies you know!”

I knew when it was wise to keep quiet, although I was tempted to tell them to go and fetch a carry bag, as neither had thought to bring one. But, I couldn't treat them as babies, now could I? Another lesson for them to learn the hard way. Fortunately, I had seen this and that was what I had slipped into my personal carry bag just before leaving. I would give it to them when we parted at Pomma's.

I started humming to myself as we swished our way through the longish grasses.

“I can tell you're all excited about something, 'Lina. What is it?”

“Oh Kissa. I just want to keep it a secret for a little while. I promise you you will be surprised, pleasantly, when I reveal it to you.”

“Is it a boy? I bet it is, you're sort of humming inside. Oh! Is it that Denesar? He's working for the carpenter I heard.”

Oh how I wish I didn't blush so easily! This started the two of them off, giggling and teasing me.

“It is! What's he like to kiss, then 'Lina?”

Life is all about decisions. Should I deny that it was about a boy that I had already forgotten about, and thus open myself to further probing questions? Or should I use this inaccurate thinking to my advantage and thus be able to avoid those probing questions?

Just then, little Kissa dropped her kerchief and bent to pick it up. As she did so, her slate rattled on a largish stone just to one side of the path. I recognised this as being the one almost exactly halfway between our house and the campingplace.

She lifted the slate away from the stone, careful not to erase any of the marks on it. She checked that she had not done so.

I could almost see her mind work.

She stood up and looked at Kords' slate, which was as equally filled.

“Oh Kords! How are we to manage all this? I'll just run back and get a carry bag. Silly us!”

I let her get three strides away before bellowing: “Stop!”

She juddered to a halt and turned round. She looked at me a little fearfully as she recognised the anger in my voice, even from so short a word.

“I am disappointed! Disappointed in both of you! And you tell me you are not babies ...

“You have both already forgotten the solemn promises you made to both Swayga and I only this morning. You, Kordulissa, ...” she winced as I used her full name, “... were going to run back home – alone! And you, Kordulet, were going to let her.” I shook my head in dismay, and let my disapproval show in my face. “Now we will all three continue to my appointment, and you can tell me when we get there what you are going to do about the carry bag you two non-babies completely forgot about. I am not going to be late for my appointment because neither of you can think, so we are NOT going back home now.”

Well that put a stop to their teasing me all right.

And also a stop to any conversation.

I knew I had to let them stew on their own for the lesson to be really learnt, but it was difficult being so mean.

We walked across the campingplace, and as we went across there, I made them even more confused since I made several enquiries of people who happened to be about.

Finally we found the daily shuttle wagon – which immediately annoyed me, as only the shuttle wagons have that special seating arrangement and I should have remembered that. Rather than asking about, I could have used my eyes to find it.

We approached the driver and I began by introducing my two sisters to him, which puzzled all three of them – at first.

“We have a metal tank that was used to bring some fish up here. This tank has to be returned to Steef at the Forest Roadhouse, who sent it up as a present for his sister. Is it likely you might have room for it?”

“Oh aye, Mistress. I can slide it under my seat if the belly is too full. Especially if it's from Mistress Swayga. She's a good woman that. Some lucky man up here has asked her to marry him, a Kord-something if my memory serves.”

“Yes, you are quite right. Master Kordulen has indeed asked Mistress Swayga to be his bride – and our mother!”

His eyes widened and he doffed his cap to us.

“Delighted to meet you, young ladies. Mistress Swayga is a favourite of us drivers what with the details and help and thoughtful changes she made down to the Roadhouse. 'Twill be a pleasure to do her a small favour – at no charge, of course. But I have to leave at the Noon Bell. I cannot, dare not, wait for after it. The tank MUST be here before that.”

“Understood!”

I turned to the others: “You got that, girls?”

I got a nod from each still-silent sibling before I turned back to the driver: “I myself shall not be here but one or both of these two shall. Swayga will send her thanks, I'm sure.”

At that, I wished him a good day and we passed on our way.

… … …

“... and you should have seen their faces when I pointed out that they were doing exactly what they had promised not to do, just before!”

“That must have been quite funny.” She paused. “You know, despite the difficulties you describe so well, how I wish I had had children. We tried, but somehow I never 'took' if you get what I mean.”

“Sometimes, Pomma, every mama wishes that she HADn't had children. They are the most awkward, intolerant, frustrating, irritating, selfish, rude, mucky, untidy and worrisome things ever invented. And yet the most rewarding! Although, of course, I have never been responsible for really tiny ones – and I have never been through the pain of producing them, nor the delights of breastfeeding!”

“So what happened outside the door when you arrived? I heard some sort of squealing?”

“Well I had let them think that they had to accompany me, then go back home together to get a carry bag and then come back to town before they could do their errands. But I actually had seen them leave home without a carry bag, and therefore slipped one unnoticed into MY carry bag. I decided to give them it when we got here. They were pleased with me and annoyed at me all at the same time. But we have to do things like that to get our messages home to them. I wasn't too upset with Kissa, because she is still young, but I had expected more of Kords, and I think that made it worse for her, because she knew she should have been more thoughtful, both about the bag and about the need for a companion.”

I stopped for a moment and then laughed out loud as I continued: “I bet they never tell me that they're 'not babies' ever again!”

While we had been chatting, we had also been changing. And we were now ready. My heart was beating faster. Pomma recognised my nervousness at walking around town in a skirt considerably shorter than anything I had even worn before, and also considerably shorter than any other inhabitant habitually wore in public, reaching as it did to JUST below my knees. It did swirl and sway interestingly as I moved, a most unique sight and a unique feeling for the wearer!

I took comfort in knowing that Pomma would also be in exactly the same circumstances. Pomma had a sort of barrier between her and the world as she hugged her saddle to her. I had no such item to hide behind.

It would be nice to record that we went unnoticed as we walked down the sidewalk and crossed the road as soon as we could, to gain the opposite sidewalk. However, that would be a lie.

We passed the Forge and were aware of a certain disruption to normal activities as the lads and men there caught sight of us. There was a chorus of whistles and adolescent 'humorous' remarks, but we kept our faces forward and our backs straight, not acknowledging them in the slightest.

We passed Master Horbelan's where a sudden discordancy suggested that someone in there had seen us and fumbled their playing of their instrument. We were aware of a relative silence that followed us as we progressed. Just then, a good gap appeared in the traffic, so we crossed Main Street and gained the sidewalk on the other side, just down from M's. This was the side of M's where one of the connecting alleys to East Street was being prepared with a stone surface. All work in that alley stopped as we passed by the mouth of it.

Continuing downhill, we passed the Watch Office and the Steward's house without incident and I was just beginning to think we could make to the Claw without any major moments when we got to the Messenger Office. I had that letter for Mylady Merizel to send, so we just popped in to do that. I think we were both relieved that the place was empty of other customers. Master Selden had a slight cough as he started talking to us, but it didn't seem too serious. He took my letter and my money and then complimented us on our attire: “Mylady would be proud to see her fashions were being used in her town!”

This made us feel a whole lot better and we smiled at each other. It's not as if these skirts had never been seen before, and Myladies Garia and Merizel, and Jenet and Senidet had all worn one at various times, some quite frequently. They had of course departed but Sookie had also been seen in such attire, and she was still here.

We turned to leave with a lighter step, and were met outside by a far larger group of people than we remembered being about when we went in. Some of them sort of looked and turned round, pretending not to be looking at us, but others did not have that self-control and politeness; they just, frankly, gawped.

Our new found confidence, courtesy of Master Selden, fled like pakh-wind in a gale.

With a big swallow, I braced myself again and Pomma clutched her saddle harder to her chest. We would have held each other's hand had she one available.

We marched forward, unconsciously falling into step with each other, and the crowd eased to afford us a passage. There were shouts from wagoneers as those at the back stepped in to the road and there was a scattering of heads back there, as they hurriedly re-sought the refuge of the sidewalk. We reached that sidewalk and turned left to make our way to the next building. People in front of us scattered out of our way and those behind us seemed to crowd forward.

We stepped off the sidewalk down to the level of the alley that passes to the north of the Claw. This was not one that was being surfaced, that was the alley to the south of the Claw, so we wordlessly decided to use this one and simply turned into it, away from the throng. Fast walking took us to the end of the alley fairly quickly, we turned right, went another few strides and turned once more to the right, into the courtyard from the east, from the paddock direction – from my new house direction.

We scurried down the stable side and slipped into the refuge of the stables themselves, glad to be hiding from the gawpers. In there, we found Parry and Sookie just about to start preparing. Sookie was also dressed in a shorter skirt, of course, and we felt that maybe our fears outside had been groundless.

“You two look flustered? What's the matter with you?”

“Oh Sookie, we changed into our riding skirts at my house and simply walked down the Main Street to get here. I think seeing two women in riding skirts has been a bit of a shock to some in town, particularly those who were not here when Mylady was. After Julina dropped a letter into the Messenger Office, we came out and there was quite a hefty crowd gathered. No-one actually touched us or anything but we felt …”

Just then we heard shouting from outside; Sookie, who had been growing angry as Pomma related our experiences, spun on her heel and went out to deal with whatever it was. We followed her less speedily.

It wasn't too difficult to see what had happened. The crowd on the pavement had overspilled into the carriage entrance to the Claw and blocked it temporarily. A wagon had tried to turn in and couldn't advance due to the press of bodies, so the Main Street was blocked again. It looked like one of the gawpers had fallen and was sitting there clutching an ankle, with both a pained expression on his face, and foul language on his tongue.

It took a good quarter of a bell to get everything sorted out and the Main Street clear for traffic once more. There were many strong words and the Sheriff and Suril dragged three of the most noisy arguers to the Watch House, aided by a bevy of wagoneers and stablehands supplied willingly by Sookie. Sookie was particularly incensed by some loud gawpers calling her establishment a 'whorehouse', and Master Tanon's men required no extra incentive to use muscle to get some of the idiots to move along.

Sookie was quite magnificent in her anger. Standing there, in a skirt that was actually just a little bit shorter than ours were, she made just about every one of the disrupters fully aware of the stupidity of their actions and their antisocial attitudes. Some took note and looked sorry, but there were just a few who were angry and unaccepting, their minds for whatever reason completely closed.

Then one of those ones made the mistake of threatening Sookie.

… … …

“Just speak to your beast. Gently, but firmly. Today is all about establishing a trust between the two of you. All four of you actually have silly grins on your faces, so the process has started, and started well. I can tell that Dralla and Wiget are really enjoying this just as much as you two are.”

“Oh Sookie. I never realised how wonderful this feeling could be. I'm so grateful to Master Wainer and to you. And to Parry, of course,” she added, glancing over at him.

The four of us were mounted, and try as hard as I might, I couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face. This was such a marvellous feeling. It more than made up for the earlier unpleasantness.

Almost as soon as that silly man made his insulting and threatening remarks, he was surrounded by men from the Claw, most of whom had by now returned from the Watch House, or come down from their dormitories or out from the Common Room.

I had to be told what had happened next, because, through a fleeting gap in the crowd, I had caught a glimpse of Kords and Kissa, holding each other's hands, and I took a quick step back into the stable door, hiding in case they saw me and tried to come in – I didn't want them involved in what looked like a nasty moment.

Pomma told me that the one man and his colleagues were surrounded within a heartbeat. She didn't know how, but all four were suddenly on the ground with circles of men around them. The one who appeared to be the leader started to get up but a gentle foot on his chest and a shake of the head eventually got the message through without a word being spoken. He opened his mouth to speak, but a finger to the lips and another shake of the head stopped him. He paled as the full significance of his position dawned.

Sookie pushed through until she was at his feet. She looked at him hard, and then just said: “Name?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Oh, you don't have to. I have seen your face and I shall find out within a bell at the very most, what your name is. You have a choice, and dare I say it, one final chance to retrieve your problem situation. It starts with telling me your name. If you refuse, then you will have no chance left whatsoever.”

“I don't negotiate with whores.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from many of the surrounding men and then there was a distinct thump. He jerked as a boot hit his ribs.

“Hold! Don't strike him, or any of the others! Unless they try to get up that is. Just call the Sheriff and get him here as soon as possible. When he gets here, send him to me in my office.”

Someone must already have gone to fetch Fedren, because Sookie didn't have time to make it to her office. I judged enough time had passed for my sisters to move on, and besides which, I just HAD to be a witness, so I stuck my head out again round the door frame.

“Mistress Sukhana, what is happening here?”

“Good morrow, Sheriff. I confess I don't know. This man and his cronies have been rude and threatening for some reason, I know not why. My loyal men here took objection and have immobilised them.”

“Who are you?” demanded the ringleader.

“I am the Sheriff here, a term in this land that means I am the Watch Master. It is my job to keep the peace. And who are you?”

“I am one of the new construction team leaders, though why anyone wants to build so much in this ridiculous village, I know not. So just make them let me up, and then throw these whores into your keep.”

“Whores? We don't have whores here.”

“Of course you do, there were two of them walking down the Main Street flaunting themselves and they came here and joined that whore there.” The man was working himself back up into a rage again, but grunted when another boot met his ribs. “Did you see that? The whore's protectors ...” Another grunt as another boot landed again. The man kept silent, but was still fuming.

The Sheriff's voice took on a silky tone that anyone else but Master Stupid there would have recognised as dangerous: “What makes you think that they are whores?”

“Their short skirts and the way they sway their bottoms as they walk. It is obvious.”

“And would you say that anyone who wore a skirt like that was a whore?”

“Well of course they are. There can be no other interpretation. And the way that those skirts move as they sway when they are enticing us, just adds confirmation.”

“I see.” He held a hand up to Sookie who was about to explode, and she backed down a little, then suddenly she appeared to be almost grinning; I think she had a glimmering of what was about to come, although I was lost as to what the Sheriff was doing. He indicated to the men standing round not to kick the 'captives' any more and they reluctantly allowed the men to stand, but stayed circling them.

The Sheriff continued: “As for this ridiculous village, do you know to whom it belongs?”

“I was told that it belongs to some harlot of the King's to pay her off.” A gasp again came from many looking on.

“And who do you imagine is paying for your skills as a constructor?”

“I don't care. We was offered this job by a broker down to Tranidor – to come and work in this out-of-the-way dead-end shit-heap for a three-month contract. I had nothing else on and so I thought I might as well. But the people here are stupid, the town is ridiculous and the construction plans are a joke. The jobs to be done change every bell, it seems.”

“These other three, are they of like mind?”

“Of course. They are my chargehands. We can see that we need to get this place proper organised. There's obviously no-one capable in charge of anything here. We don't even have enough wood to burn to keep warm at night, and someone told us some ridiculous story of burning some rocks. We have had to use some of the construction wood just to keep warm at night. I am obviously going to have to take charge here, and the first thing I need to do is get rid of the things that take the men's minds off their work. I will rid the town first of these whores, then I shall find whoever thinks they're in charge and tell them what to do.”

“You have been here now how long, exactly?”

“We came into town two days ago. I like to come early to a work site if possible. The rest of my crew will be arriving today. I have a meeting apparently with the boss man this evening, but he was supposed to meet me last evening. Some little boy ran up to me yesterday and told me to have a day off and meet tonight. A little grubby boy. No proper welcome and chaos everywhere I look! Now enough questions of me, just lock these whores away and kick them out of town tomorrow.”

There was a distinct growl from the men around, but again the Sheriff held up his hand.

“Let these four come with me to the Watch House and I can then produce all the necessary but tedious documents.” He swung round on Sookie and her men, and put on a mock-ferocious voice: “I shall see that the right steps are taken to remove this stain from the town.”

The four men nodded as they agreed with the Sheriff. They brushed themselves down, twitched their shoulders and sneered at everyone around.

“At last, someone sensible!”

Sookie whispered in the ears of two of her men, who nodded and they all grinned together.

The Sheriff beckoned to some of Sookie's men to follow him too, “to get their just rewards,” he said.

And so the four troublemakers happily followed the Sheriff up to the Watch House, followed by two hands of Sookie's men who were all trying to look dismayed.

By this time, everyone had understood what the Sheriff planned and all were trying to hide their grins.

Sookie later told me that the men she had sent had told her that the Sheriff led everyone into the Watch House and then stood back, letting the Claw men herd the four into two of his cells. Once the cells were locked, he swung on his heel and ushered everyone out, not saying a word – unlike the men who were calling and shouting and protesting.

And so it was, that FINALLY we three women, and Parry, got to saddle the frayen (Parry was paired with Trumpa) and our first ride got under way. It was such a wonderful event.

For that first time, Pomma and I mounted in the relative privacy of the stable area, Parry having been banished for a moment or two (which was fortunate, because I did it all wrong to start with, and my skirts ended up all tucked up in the wrong places), and then we rode – we actually RODE! - out of the stables into the courtyard. Parry was waiting there and led us all to the paddock, across the new roadway using the quite thin strip of freshly laid surface stones to avoid churning up the levelled areas that were not yet finished.

I rapidly came to grips with the motion under me, and Dralla seemed to like the new arrangements too. Pomma, at first, felt uncomfortable until she got the hang of it. After that, we progressed famously, and Sookie was as pleased as I have ever seen her. But she wouldn't let us do too much, even though we both begged her for more.

“Your muscles will thank me, I promise you! Shall we go for a little ride then tomorrow? You come to me at the same time?”

“Oh, thank you Sookie. I shall definitely be here.”

“And I, I know how to get round old Waldan, so there won't be a problem.”

Thus my first time astride came to an end, far too soon as far as I was concerned.

We didn't care what the reactions to our attire were as we walked back up Main Street to the Saddler's. Our delight was written clear upon our faces and we analysed every one of our feelings of that momentous morning as we went, so we were far too engrossed to be aware of anything going on around us!

… … …

“Most people are right-handed, just like your good selves, so therefore the drinking vessels are placed on the table to the right of the place setting. They are placed sufficiently far back, away from the person, to allow space for the food to be served between the person and the drinking vessel.”

The Captain's explanation was both simple and logical, and therefore easily understood – which in turn meant easily remembered.

“Now you, Mistress. May I show you a little demonstration? Or, more accurately, would you allow me to guide you through a small experience?”

“Of course, Captain,” I said somewhat nervously.

He placed a platter in front of me upon which rested a large slab of meat. He demonstrated how to serve an eater from the eater's right as he did so.

“Now please pick up your knife and cut the meat – but don't use any other tool.”

I tried this and of course it was near impossible. This is why we always use two knives, cutting in opposite directions at the same time. I knew this.

“Now, you would normally use another knife at this point, right?”

I nodded.

“Hold the meat still with the points of the fork, and then try again.”

I did so and was able to cut the meat easily now it didn't slide about. And I didn't have to balance the pressures of two opposing knives. And I found I could be far more accurate in the cutting. What simple, but wonderful devices these forks were!

“Do you see how you automatically dropped the knife from your left hand and picked up the fork with that hand? So the primary reason for the fork is simply to hold the piece steady whilst you cut it with the knife. Right-handers choose to use the knife in the right hand because the cutting is more skilled work than the simple holding. So that's why the fork is placed to the left of the place setting and the knife to the right.”

I nodded in complete understanding.

“We have not had forks long, and already there are some fierce arguments about how they should be used. Who is to say which way is right?! Once the first bite-sized piece has been cut off the original, that piece is already stabbed by the points of the fork. So it has to be removed from the fork, before the fork can be used again. There are really only two options available at this point.

“So some say to use the fork to immediately bring that piece to the mouth, as it is already ready to be consumed.

“But some find raising the fork to the mouth with the LEFT hand is unnatural and an awkward feeling. Personally, I have learnt to do it that way and now it feels normal. And I at least get my first few bites of hot, or at least warm, food.

“So anyway, these other people say that what you should do is first cut up the entire piece into bite-sized pieces and then transfer the fork to the right hand and use it naturally to convey the food to the mouth – just as we used to drop the right hand knife and take up the spoon. I find that cutting the entire piece first into numerous bites leads to only consuming lukewarm food due to the time taken to do the cutting operation.

“But whichever way you decide to use your forks, we all agree that it should be set to the left of the place setting.”

M and I nodded to show we understood.

“Food is always served to the eater from the right, again due to the right-handedness of most people. If anyone WERE to try to attack you from the right, then they would have to lunge from THEIR right across to their left. It is, just, easier to get a defence in. Or so the thinking went many hundreds of years ago. This tradition has stayed with us through the generations.

“Of course, if you are serving the fresh platter from the right, then the old platter of the last course needs be taken out of the way. Again, many generations ago, eaters had two servants assigned to them, so the other servant would remove the previous platter to make room for the new platter to be served. Which is why we have the tradition of REMOVING platters to the eater's left. Remove to the left and serve from the right, almost as though the eater was continuing a half-circle, from right to left.”

I had never before known all these secret traditions and I sat there fascinated, soaking up all that knowledge. Once I knew the background to it all, it all made sense, and was far easier to remember.

M and I were so grateful for the insights into how the nobles ate, and we agreed to maintain those traditions in the Salon.

The Captain then went on to mention meals that were of just a single dish, and meals that were of up to nine different ones, one after the other. And the consequent portion sizes and so on. He told us that a normal 'rounded' meal (that was the word he used to describe it – I would have said 'fulfilling') consisted down in Palarand itself of a starter of some sort, usually a soup, and then a light fish dish followed by the meat and vegetables and finished off with something sweet, usually some sort of fruit sweetened with vayter and/or honey.

“Of course,” he added, “being up here we will have to do without fish, but down there by the sea, fish is far more easily available. I would expect small avians would be the norm.”

M and I looked at each other and smiled, we would be able to surprise them after all. This meal wouldn't be from small avians – unless I got the cooking totally wrong and we had to go to the reserve menu. And then I flashed back to that Foti dish Swayga had made us. And made a mental note to tell M about it once we left. Now THAT would really surprise and delight them. I hugged myself in glee as I planned on a four-course meal.

We gained much from the kind lessons of the Captain and Master Mesulkin and were delighted when Master Mesulkin was also to be included in the guest list for The Dinner, as we both thought of it.

When we had learnt as much as they had to teach us, conversation changed.

Eventually, the Captain asked me how the riding went. My face gave him a large part of the answer.

“I remember seeing a face like that before. When Mylady Merizel learnt, AND when Sookie learnt.”

“It wasn't too pleasant to start with though …”

And so I went on to describe the kerfuffle, but trying to make more of a joke of it. It was only when his face went like thunder, that I remembered his rank in the town's affairs. He was most indignant about the discomforts that we had suffered, but I think he reserved his anger for when I described the culprit's response to the Sheriff's question about anyone with skirts so short being whores.

“They called Mylady Garia a whore? I shall see they are well and truly whipped.”

It wasn't until he said it that I realised that indeed they had, indirectly, called her a whore – and why the Sheriff had asked that particular question in that way. I can be so stupid sometimes.

Then when I tried to make light of them not understanding that coal could be used to heat homes, his face darkened even more.

“They have been stealing the town's property and BURNING it? I shall definitely have to deal with them harshly.”

Again, I suddenly realised that yes, they had been doing that. And I admired the Sheriff for getting them to say so in front of so many witnesses.

M then made a suggestion that made us all giggle – well, the rest were men so they chuckled of course, I was the only giggler. Even Master Mesulkin, who had cringed when the subject of the cells came up, actually laughed out loud with glee.

“Maybe the Sheriff should borrow one of those new little heating ranges and install it just outside of their cells, stoke it with coal and get the whole place uncomfortably hot. THAT would teach them about burning rocks.”

And so the mood was broken, back to the friendly chatting of before.

… … …

M was delighted when I mentioned the Foti and my now decided four-course meal. We would start with a light soup made from Ganifil, follow that with the Foti dish, then the big Gavakhan ribs and vegetables. We could finish off with the Malm and Vayter. (S)he laughingly acknowledged that that would surprise them indeed and so the final menu was chosen.

(S)he escorted me to Malet and Kelly's where the three girls were gathered, waiting for us to come and report on our findings. They sat fascinated as we described what the Captain had told us, and we did a few practices setting places and serving imaginary dishes. All in all, a valuable bell or two of practice.

M got up to leave, announcing that he (for he had to be a he in front of these others) would take a trip down to the roadhouse tomorrow morning early, and try to arrange for the Foti. He would leave soon after dawn and should be back by dusk. I made a mental note to tell Swayga this, just in case she had anything to send her brother, or wanted anything from him. We all waved goodbye to M, and I noticed Gyth particularly studying him closely as he left. She was the only other one who knew his secret. M noticed the studying (I had of course told him that I had told Gyth as soon as I had done so) and came to a decision.

“Julina, I must go now to a prior engagement, but I believe the time is right. Would you please tell them all once I have gone? Usual conditions, of course.”

Malet was busy elsewhere as I gathered the girls around me and told them of M's secret and so on. They all gasped with the surprise of it, and started chattering loudly until I reminded them that it was a secret. Not even Malet was to know. They had been told only because we would all be working closely together in the near future.

They all agreed to maintain the secret, swearing an oath each never to reveal it.

Molly was fetched by her mother to go and do some errands and chores and Kelly and Gyth escorted me back to my home, where I was met still with some sullenness from my two nearest sisters, but with particular delight from the boys. I knew that meant they wanted me to do most of their chores, but I was in a good mood and let them think they had tricked me into it.

Not that all the chores got done, mind you.

“Where's Trumpa?” came a loud demand from the doorway to the kitchen.

This was followed by an avalanche of children screaming “Papa! Papa!” at the tops of their voices.

They nearly knocked him over as they rushed to him. Swayga and I hung back, and so did Kords after starting to join the melee. She took the opportunity of the diversion to give me a quick hug and whispered a “Sorry” to me, so I hugged her back to show her I wasn't mad at her any more. But I knew the lesson had been learnt without any major tears and so was content to let the matter lie.

The children were all still talking nineteen to the dozen and all trying to explain their important events to Papa all at the same time. He gathered them to him and hugged them to himself whilst looking over their heads, first at Swayga, then at Kords and I. We all blew him kisses and he smiled, reserving his warmest one for Swayga it seemed, but we weren't upset at all by this.

Swayga and I looked at each other to see which of us would be the one to start to try to calm the chaos down. I signed to her that that was now her job, with a big grin which she returned, with a thank you. Kords and I turned and went to make some pel, as …

“Right children, let your father come in and sit down and rest after his journey. You will each have a chance to tell him all your news, all this chaos is just giving him a headache.”

Slowly they dispersed from entangling his legs, realising the sense of Swayga's words. This was the start of the calming down period.

It was a full bell later that I had my turn to give him all the news and I dragged him off to show him all the important stuff that was required, leaving the others in the house amidst several disgruntled complaints.

I showed him the new house and he was amazed at the development already – and was equally as struck by the windows as I had been. We had brought Judd with us and delivered him to the stables. Papa was then amazed at the attitudes of the animals there and what I termed the 'feeding frenzy' as I doled out titbits to the now five animals with whom I was familiar. He was shocked at first, but then quite admiring when I told him I had started riding. He also approved of Trumpa being exercised regularly, and made a point of thanking Parry who we bumped into as he was just setting off to his home.

We then walked up Main Street together to the campingplace and I pointed out all the changes. Yet again, he was amazed at the pace of change. But frowned at something of which he didn't approve. He didn't tell me what it was, but I knew him well enough that I knew immediately he had found some fault.

Whilst in the town, we met Master Bezan so Papa asked him how Papa could best give his report. The upshot of this was that Masters Bezan and Yarling would come to dinner tomorrow night and Papa could do it then.

Thus was it all agreed and we went home for a joyful evening and some fun story telling. Later, when the young ones were off connected to the moon, Kords, Swayga and I spoke more seriously, and Papa approved of my edict about going round accompanied, particularly after I told them all about all my awkward encounters. Kords got thoughtful when I revealed the full extent of my misadventures and squeezed me once more.

I did remember to tell Papa that we had switched to the two sleep system, and he acknowledged the sense of it and his acceptance of it.

So we retired for the night, the house once more full and with a feeling of contentment pervading it.

---

Julina gets a taste of travel and learns even more about the extremes of the valley

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

Another day started much as many before it. This time of course Papa was with us, and I was surprised when, over breakfast, he praised me for my forethought and told the children in no uncertain terms that they should no longer walk about alone, saying that I had been right to introduce that rule and to try to remember it at all times.

'Kin and Kord had been a little put out the previous evening when Kissa stole all the attention by demonstrating her sewing skills, so Papa made a point of paying them extra attention this morning.

Which left poor Julu lost somewhere in the middle, so I took her into the kitchen and let her make some honey cakes. As soon as she had one of her frequent breaks to go and use the facilities, I had to throw her horrible mess of a dough away and make some to replace it – fortunately I had experienced this before, so I had been busy doing some when she was concentrating on her own efforts. I told both Kords and Swayga to tell everyone tonight that Julu had made them.

Papa had of course spoken to Swayga about having guests for dinner that night so Kords, Swayga and I planned the meal while Kissa sewed on the dining table and Julu got flour and water and fruit peelings and cubes and spoons of honey all over every surface, not excluding her face and clothes and hair.

I particularly wanted to do a Ganifil for dinner that night, to my recipe, and Swayga graciously allowed me to do so, saying that she would be pleased to learn how to do it. Kords jumped at the chance as well, as that was her (current!) favourite meal. I wanted to use the leftovers of this to make a soup afterwards, which, if successful, would be the starter at The Dinner. I told them about the planned menu for The Dinner in the Salon, and Swayga promised to show me how to do the Foti, agreeing that as it was a four-course meal, a half fish per person would be more than enough – assuming always that we could get the fish sent up.

A look crossed her face as a thought passed through her brain. We kept quiet as she thought it through. After maybe a moment, possibly two, she slowly said: “You know what we should do? We should find somewhere to have a big pool and stock it with live fish from downvalley. Then we could have a supply of the larger fish like Foti, rather than the tiny ones we can get up at the dam. Maybe we could also get some other fish types from somewhere else and have several breeding up here.”

What a brilliantly simple idea, so I told her to mention it to our guests this evening. - but to say absolutely nothing about serving a fish dish in the Salon, not even give them an idea that it might be possible. Between us, we came up with a story using Swayga's background and making it a suggestion to help with feeding an expanded town in the new year.

Once Julu's (!) honey cakes were done, it was time for me to disappear. I would have to go to Pomma's to change so I and the two girls would take the track to the campingplace again.

But this plan was changed when Papa said that he wanted to accompany me. He found he required a first hand experience of what I was up to.

So he and I walked across to the campingplace, where he was surprised at the number of people. I was starting to recognise some of the faces by now, and the fussy little man we had seen supervising several of the construction projects was busy packing up his belongings and loading a wagon with his stuff.

“Good morrow, Master! You seem in a hurry to depart this town?”

“Well met, Master! No, I am not leaving. I doubt I could, there is something wondrous about the projects going on here that I find I need to stay and observe them all. Somehow this place has got under my skin. We had a draw amongst the supervisors here and I have been one of those selected to be the first to live in the new homes built yonder, by the coal quarry. We are testing them out to check for problems before the mass building takes place. I confess I am looking forward to it. I fear my old bones are no longer too suited to a camping existence.”

“Ah. Well then my daughter and I wish you a happy home.”

“I thank you. Er ... if I may say, Mistress, I recognise you from several places ...?”

“We met, Master, when you showed me how our new house was progressing behind the Claw.”

“Ah, indeed. Then you, Master, must be of note in this town. Street maintenance, I deem, was your speciality. You are in an allied trade as it were. My responsibility has now been given to the new Loop Road, although my levelling crews have been taken from me. It seems that Master Bezan must need change his priorities quite bewilderingly frequently.”

“Indeed, Master, I deem the town is choking with its traffic problems, so that new East Road is urgently required. I have been away for nigh on a week, on a project for Master Bezan, and am astounded by the developments that have taken place in that short space of time.”

“Quite so, Master. Why, I can recall very recently, that …”

I tugged on Father's arm to remind him of my appointment, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

“Please excuse us, Master, we are a little pressed for time. We have an appointment mere moments away. I would be fascinated to talk with you far more. Perchance we might meet in the Bell at the first bell after the Noon Hour announcement?”

“Why 'twould be my honour, Master. But maybe the second bell after noon, that would be the Sixth Bell, I have to see someone else at noon and I fear that will be quite a long session.”

“Until then then, Master.”

They half bowed to each other, I dropped a short curtsey, and then we scurried on.

… … …

“Might I suggest a short excursion, Mistress Sukhana? I deem our lady companions to be comfortable enough now with their mounts to be led out of this paddock. Master Parrier is welcome to ride Trumpa, and Judd and I are accustomed well to each other. We would be pleased to escort you further afield, and I happen to know that Mistress Julina is all agog to see this new bridge. We could travel down there to view it, now that construction has moved on. And it would be a pleasant excursion that would take a mere couple of bells. The weather is set fair, and I'm sure Wiget in particular would like to see something other than the town, having been cooped up here for a good few weeks now.”

“What a splendid suggestion, Master Kordulen. Let me just go and inform someone of our plans, and then we can go.”

Oh Maker! The expansion of my horizons was suddenly brought home to me. With an animal between my legs, I could range far, far wider and see much, much more. Quite why I had not fully appreciated this beforehand was beyond me. My brain was fizzing with possibilities all of a sudden.

And so we travelled much further than I had ever done in my life since I was able to walk around on my own, and then travelled back – all before lunch. What an amazingly glorious feeling that was.

I found the new bridge fascinating. We had followed the normal road south out of town, travelling noticeably more swiftly than the dranakh-drawn wagons. As we overtook some of the wagons, or some wagons passed us going in the opposite direction, we heard some expressions of surprise at women riding, but nothing nasty occurred.

Soon after we passed the first roadstone, which meant we were one mark from the Steward's house, we passed abreast of the bridge. I expected us to turn off the road and go cross-country, but Papa kept going. The road that connected to the bridge, which was about a mark distant at that point, was easily seen, to both sides of the bridge, which seemed to have something, or things, on top of it. But Papa held us to our course, leaving the bridge over our right shoulders.

And we kept going after the next markstone as well!

By this time, we could see that new road, to the right of course, gradually coming nearer to us, curving gracefully somehow. It joined the main road just a cast or so north of the third markstone. Anyone travelling towards town could choose to keep straight and use the road we had come down upon, or make a very slight angle to the left to head towards the new bridge. The turn for us to join the bridge road was far sharper but was a steadily curved connecting road, making a sort of triangle at the junction, a triangle with a very sharp point and a curved top edge.

As we progressed closer and closer to the bridge, I was aware of Papa studying the road and the rain ditches either side. I knew him very well, of course, and could tell that he was impressed and approving of what had been done. I doubted anyone else would have noticed this though.

This road was wide enough for two wagons AND OUTRIDERS to pass each other and the surface was very smooth. I was very impressed.

By the time we reached the bridge, we had travelled probably five marks in total – all in less than a bell! I was however, beginning to feel some strain in muscles that I hadn't used before. Pomma and I whispered to Sookie that we were grateful to be wearing a bra, the more usual bodice would have added far more discomfort. She grinned in agreement.

Papa insisted on dismounting to inspect the bridge from below, so we all swung down and led the beasts to the water for a welcome drink.

The bridge itself was not as wide as the road, so we could see immediately that traffic could cross it only in one direction at a time. Papa pointed out to us some blocks downstream from the bridge, saying that he suspected these were the foundation blocks for a second bridge, so that eventually there would be no hold-ups at this narrow point. He also pointed out that the road on the far side had been built-up so that the roadbed flowed onto the bridge with no upramp, so wagons wouldn't have even the slightest upslope to negotiate.

But to me, the most impressive thing was that there were four heavily laden wagons parked on top of the bridge. They were in two pairs, side-by-side, but had to be so close together to fit into the width, leaving no spare room whatsoever. When I asked why they had been left there, Papa explained that it was a weight test – if the bridge could support 4 wagons at a time, then there would be no problem with one wagon and a dranakh.

I could see the basis of the bridge was two of those thingies I had seen on the back of the wagon in town. What had the Sheriff called them? – not tresses … trusses, that was it, trusses. Papa was surprised I knew the word. I noticed a grudging respect from Parry as well.

Further upvalley, we could plainly see the route of the new road. It was complete and surfaced for at least half a mark up from the bridge, and we could see dotted patches as it went uphill, patches where the ground had been built-up, and, in a couple of places, dug in, all to keep the slope even. We could also see that the curves were made gentle and started some hundreds of strides before any hindrance. None of this go straight up to the problem and then veer off sharply. Papa's trained eye followed the route and he nodded appreciatively.

He turned and carefully went down the bank of the stream just by the bridge support. After a brief inspection, Papa said that the under-bridge arrangements were first class, with overflow channels provided as well for the excess waters of the rains. I think he would have spent more time down there, but Sookie reminded him that she needed to get back to town and he apologised profusely, before swinging himself back into the saddle at the same time as we all did. I giggled, as it reminded me of a formal dance – the five of us all swinging our legs around in unison.

Papa led us back across the normal ground to rejoin the road where a stream crossed under it, just south of the first markstone. I estimate that we travelled about a mark off the road, and Papa and Sookie made us go faster than just a gentle walk. Pomma and I were nervous at the increased speed, and the consequently altered gait of Wiget and Dralla, but only for a little while. We could feel the animals enjoy the increased speed, and soon we settled into a surprisingly comfortable rhythm. This was fun – so much so that I felt I might want to explore going even faster.

But maybe on another day, when my muscles had had a chance to recover!

We got back to the Claw just as the Fifth Bell announcement was rung, that being the first after the Noon Bell. Papa asked Sookie if he could pay her for a light lunch for us all, and they came to some agreeable arrangement. By the time we had put the animals back into their accommodation, the food was on a table in the corner of what was the Common Room. We got some curious stares from the other occupants, but they relaxed when Sookie joined us and we ate in a companionable group.

I wanted Papa to accompany me to Epp's house so he could witness my discussions with her, but I also had to get busy in the kitchen at home, so we broke up our little lunch group sometime just before the three-quarter bell and said our good-byes. Pomma promised to get an urchin to return my clothes to me at home.

It didn't take long at Epp's, she agreed with me about the composition of our group, and Papa added his endorsement. I had spoken to the relevant mothers who were happy knowing that Mousa was going with us as well.

The group we ended up with was:

Epp,
Me,
Kords,
Molly,
Molly's Mum Mousa,
Kelly,
Gyth, and
GB.

We left Epp's and popped into the Bell, so Papa could let them know he was some quarter of a bell delayed. We then hurried back home, reaching there at the same time as the urchin brought my bag from Pomma's. Papa turned to go back to the Bell as I went indoors.

I then had an awkward few moments having to show the girls my riding skirt and breeches and yet wanting to get on with the cooking. Bless Kords, she had done a lot of preparation already, showing Swayga as she went, so I wasn't under an enormous amount of pressure. I went and swiftly changed, then swung back into cooking mode.

I put a large pot of water on to boil, and then I plunged my freshly washed hands into the innards of the ganifil, and pulled out all the bits that weren't actually meat. Mama had shown me which bits of these could be used and which couldn't so I repeated what she had told me, and dropped the discarded bits into a bucket. We would later take those bits some three or so casts upslope to a little piece of ground in the centre of a rough circle of stones, where we would leave them for the wildlife to feast on should they so choose.

Most of the usable bits I then dropped into the pot on the range – this would be the base for my soup. The rest of those bits, I would use to make things to keep for the week.

Once the ganifil was cleaned and washed out, then I prepared it with my blend of herbs and spices and could then slide it into the hot oven in the range. I set a sanddropper going, telling the others that when the sanddropper came to the end, then the ganifil would need to be transferred to the low-temperature oven. Meanwhile I roughly chopped a bunch of vegetables and popped them into the soup pot, which was by now simmering nicely.

Something occurred to me, and, since I had a few moments just at that time, I went out to talk to Papa. Only to find out that he had yet to return. I also found out that he had sent an urchin requesting that Julu and Kissa join him wherever he was now.

I was sort of shocked at myself. Normally I would be aware of all comings and goings. But I had so easily allowed that responsibility to be taken over by Swayga, without even discussing it with her.

… … …

“Welcome Masters Bezan and Yarling.” Papa said as he ushered both men in, taking their coats as they passed him. “Master Bezan you know everyone, but Master Yarling, allow me to introduce my family. This is Mistress Swayga, my intended. And ranging down in height, and age, are my children – Julina, Kordulet, Kordulissa, Jululet, Kordulkin, and Korden.”

“Master Kordulen, I thank you for this invitation. I have been jealous for some time of the reports my colleague Master Bezan here has given me of the standard of cooking that Mistresses Julina and Kordulet have produced. I am honoured to have been invited and I'm sure that Mistress Swayga has added her touches too. I have rarely been so anticipatory.”

“So we'll be in trouble, if the meal is not up to expectation, then?” said Swayga with a twinkle in her eyes and voice.

“Oh! Forgive me. I didn't mean to add any stress!” said Yarling, with an apologetic and slightly panicky tone.

We all laughed, as the gentle teasing worked on a guest for a change. He visibly relaxed as he realised that we weren't being nasty or anything like that.

Swayga then made a point of informing everyone of the fact that five of us had been involved this evening – all the womenfolk, including Julu. She then offered Julu's honeycakes around, explaining whose they were.

And so the evening commenced.

The conversation was kept fairly light to start with, but we all knew that the men were here to receive Papa's report of his investigations downvalley.

'Kin was going to be upset, but that report was going to wait until the four younger ones were off to bed.

So we discussed the town developments first, which led onto the new house, which led onto the new water supply which led onto the new Community Hall.

Papa asked about the new roads, not too bothered about the lack of surfaces at this moment, but the fault he had found yesterday, he brought up now.

“When the rains come, those new roads will need to have a run-off shape and quite deep ditches either side to cope with the surface water. The slopes here about produce a lot of water that has to be channelled away, we actually have channels running down Main Street under the sidewalks which cope with the rainstorms on all but the very worst of days. I don't think we had a rain problem this year – other man-made problems certainly, but not rain problems.”

“Thank you Master Kordulen for your input. I will check into that. As it happens, I have a small temporary problem with the construction crews. One of the new team leaders and three of his chargehands have been banished from the town, just a day after arriving. They had stolen construction supplies, wood to be specific, breaking up some of the pre-built modules, to burn to keep warm at night, not believing that they could quote 'burn rocks' unquote. Then they compounded the problem by calling the Baroness a whore and a harlot …”

“And me!”

“What? Were you involved also? How? Why?”

And so I told my story a little more fully than I had done yesterday to much amazement from all, particularly from my siblings when they learnt I could now ride a frayen. I saw Papa and Kissa exchange a glance then, so I guessed that Papa had promised her some riding lessons too.

We then explained to Papa some more of the changes that had happened during his absence and we all spoke in glowing terms of the brilliant change to the townsfolk's coal quarry. Both our guests were emphatic that the Steward was the one to be congratulated.

Which led on to me seizing an opportunity by asking Master Yarling about the third. We were all fascinated at his explanation.

Which began by us being amazed at the first question he posed as he started: “Have any here at table seen the Stone Sea?”

“You mean there really is something with that strange name?”

“Why, certainly Mistress Julina. It is called that because it stretches for hundreds, maybe thousands of marks. It is a huge area of split, twisted and tumbled rocks totally unsuitable for humans or animals with feet. Avians can live there unworried about any other than avian predators. The Palar river cuts through it which enabled the road to Tel Botro to be built, but that is the only crossing that anyone has ever mentioned.

“Hold! I have just realised something. Let me just fetch the sketch I made, naturally only of a tiny bit of it – I drew the basics when I was up there with the Guildmistress, and then coloured the details in once we returned.”

He left his seat and fetched his over-the-shoulder carry bag, which hangs down his back from two shoulder straps. He called it a 'backpack' which we all thought was a good name for it. He rummaged in it for a few heartbeats, then extracted a sheaf of parchment and papers, held in between a stiff covering both front and back, and tied with cord at the top and bottom and also at the sides, to prevent the sheets from sliding out. He loosened the cord and removed one of those covers.

As he was leafing through the many sheets in there, he kept talking about what was to be seen up there in the hills above the Bray valley head. Suddenly, he came out with a very surprising statement: “Tell you what, one day I will take you and your riding companions up there to see it.”

This was the wrong thing to say, as the entire brood of children all loudly demanded to be taught to ride.

It was again chaos for several moments, until Papa firmly told them off, and apologised to Master Yarling for interrupting his account. Master Y just smiled understandingly in response.

“So – the Stone Sea.” He paused as he garnered our attention once more. “I spoke with Mylady Garia, I suppose that maybe her title as a Guildmistress could be more appropriate right now, and she explained that it is the way it is because of the type of rock it is made of.”

He had found the sketch he wanted, but kept it to himself for now by holding it against his chest.

“Anyway, this type of rock sort of melts when it rains, only a tiny little bit at a time, but nevertheless it melts – just like Irris Bean spice is melted in a soup or sauce. Alternatively, you can think of it as the water washing away parts of it, if you like a different description. Anyway, after years and years of this, some parts are worn away more than others. Here, this is what it looks like.”

He laid the sketch on the table, and we all crowded round to see it.

It wasn't very obvious what we were looking at, at first.

But Master Yarling put it into perspective when he said: “That flattish bit that comes in from the bottom right and then turns to go straight up, with the whitey-greeny top surface? That is about as wide as one of my feet is long. The little growing bush-like thing at top right is about as big as my fist.”

Now we had an idea of scale, the picture became far more meaningful.

“So when we have the rains, where does that water go? It must go somewhere. Our Guildmistress explained that this type of rock is in fact a rock layer. Like a coal seam is a layer. So at the bottom of that layer, the water must collect. Of course, if the harder layer that makes up the base is sloped, then the water will try to flow away.

“Now, it has become quickly apparent to us that we have insufficient water supply here for the town to grow much bigger. There is a finite amount of water we can take from the dam, and once we start taking more than nature can supply, then we are in trouble. So we must find some more water from somewhere.

“I have thought hard about this and also observed the ground around the spring where the Bray bubbles up. The spring is the largest source of water there, but I have discovered that it is not the only one. I have in fact been able to identify more than twenty separate places where water appears out of the ground. Based on what the Guildmistress said, and using my observations, I have a theory that this limestone rock extends down from the surface where we can see the Stone Sea, to the same height where the Bray bubbles out of the ground. I believe the Bray itself is where the harder layer under the limestone has directed the water that drips down onto it. That in turn leads me to believe that we might find a further water supply there under the rocks of the bowl that forms the head of the valley.

“So I have started further coal extraction at what you referred to as the 'third quarry'. I can use the extracted coal as a contribution to our overall coal output, but now I also have a tunnel making its way through the mountain towards the Stone Sea. I have started it high up and made the tunnel slope down slightly so that, if we do find water then it is less likely to flood the tunnel we have made. The miners in this tunnel know that the priority is to advance as far as the Stone Sea levels rather than be a major contributor to the coal output. So this tunnel is barely taller than a man and wide enough only for two or three men to work at the face and have a railed wagon to haul the coal out. As a result of the more limited size, we are advancing much quicker than at the other quarry, the second one. So far, our best advance has been over 15 strides in one day, when we found a pocket more loosely packed. Our worst was just five strides.

“Even so, I estimate that it will be late summer next year before we break through into the limestone. I make it just over a mark's distance to get to below the edge of the Stone Sea. Secretly, I am hoping that the limestone slopes towards us to make the distance shorter. But the town needs water as a priority and this is my best guess as to how to get it. There are other sources we could use, but that would be much more awkward to bring to the top of the town.”

I think we were all amazed at the amount of thinking and exploration that was going on under our very noses, and we not being aware of the true depth of it!

Suddenly we heard a loud hissing from the kitchens, and Kords gave a little gasp and ran off, waving away my, admittedly half-hearted, offer to help. So I was there with the men when Swayga asked HER big question.

“Talking of water,” she started, “I have had an idea and wondered what you gentlemen might make of it. I believe you are aware that my background is from the sea, and that my parents were fishers. I have heard, from various conversations around town, that there is also a potential problem with feeding all the anticipated bodies that might settle here. My brother still works down to the Forest Roadhouse, and I have heard from him that there is a fine-tasting variety of fish called a Foti that abounds in the lake down there. If we could bring some up here and introduce them into some sort of pond or lake, then we could have another source of food to help with sustenance for the population. The fish require running water, so this would have to be fed from one of the streams, and have nets or something to stop the fish from swimming away. Maybe we could also import other varieties and breed them as well.”

“Mistress Swayga, that is a very sensible idea, I shall investigate if there is anything we could do with the Blackstone River below the dam. I have to go there tomorrow, so can scout possibilities as I do so. Thank you for a most sensible suggestion.”

Kords called to us older women which served as a reminder to all that it was time to serve the food. The close group that had been hanging on Master Yarling's every word broke up quite quickly, as Master Y gathered together his sheets. I for one was wondering at some of his other drawings that we could half see, but was now required in the kitchen so would have to forego the opportunity.

… … …

The meal passed off very successfully, and we three main cooks, and our helper Kissa, were all proud of the satisfied grin on the men's faces. Julu had already forgotten her pride when everyone congratulated her on her honeycakes earlier.

Again, the conversations had been lively and intelligent, and I particularly appreciated the way both our guests included even the younger children, and listened to their replies most attentively.

There was a down side to this however as it made the usual battle to get the kids to bed even more awkward. The protests were particularly loud that evening and it took four of us, Swayga, Kords, Papa and I, to get the other four to bed, particularly Kissa who felt she should be able to stay up as she had helped with the cooking.

But, at long last, the three grown men sat with Swayga, me and Kords.

All of us were fully agog to listen to Papa, to whom the floor had been given by unspoken agreement.

He started off by doing something I can't describe too well. The original word that sprang to my mind was complain, but that would be wrong. Moan doesn't do the job I want. The best I can do is to say that there was a mixture of contentment and complaint in his voice as he explained:

“Those new saddles are a thoroughly excellent innovation, I must say. My frayen, Judd, and I have had a far more comfortable week than any of the many that we have had before. There was, however, a slightly negative side that I experienced. The need to employ unfamiliar muscles took a lot of getting used to. I could not believe that I ached in places I didn't know I had – and this for a goodly number of days. Why, I needed a hot bath every evening until my body became accustomed to the new strains. It was difficult on two or three of the mornings to force myself up onto the beast's back. But now, I would never return to the old way. They are, quite simply, an excellent innovation. Something else for which I understand our Baroness should be both thanked and congratulated.”

The two men nodded their agreement and they all laughed when I said how much I enjoyed it too, but agreed about the muscle aches, which I was now feeling particularly fully.

I shrugged an apology to Papa for interrupting his moment in the centre of attention. He acknowledged my apology and indicated that it was nothing.

Papa was aware that there was an important and official aspect to our evening and as a result of that, he then continued by actually making the announcement that it had now become the time for serious business.

He switched from his more normal mode of being a relaxed and chatty host into his, to us, rarely seen 'responsible official' mode. I looked on in not a little amazement as his whole body posture changed, which made him seem suddenly several thumbs taller, and also made him seem far more imposing; far more than I for one had ever seen him. I have reason to think that Swayga was also particularly impressed. I could see her looking at him with a sort of admiring and wondering expression on her face. My sister Kords, not to be outdone, was also most noticeably impressed – as a result, I must therefore suppose that my own face might also have conveyed the same approving and encouraging message. The two men, being just guests of course, did not know him quite as well as we did and so couldn't fully appreciate the apparent change.

Papa took a drink from his water mug and then cleared his throat. He made sure that we were all ready before he restarted. I find I must mention here in passing that the following passage proved very important to me. This was because I learned a very valuable lesson at that moment; he started by repeating the instructions he had been given. I realised that this simple action set the tone and the perspective for all that followed, and I made a mental note to use that technique, when appropriate, for my teaching sessions once they got under way in the new year.

“My task was given to me by Master Bezan here. He stated that the objective was that of attempting to find a route down to the Tranidor area that would remove the need for the road to climb as it does, where it goes up to join the Chaarn road. As far as I can recall, Master Bezan used these words: 'That uphill climb to join the Chaarn trade route makes it so we cannot fully load the wagons. This then requires us to use more wagons and animals and also more time. Before this incline, the route is all downhill. After the road joins the Chaarn road, it is also all downhill.' Now, that may not be exactly word-perfect, but it is close, I deem.

“Master Bezan then continued by saying: 'The route must eventually be wide enough for three wagons, but in the first instance we could make it so that traffic going downvalley only is able to use the new road, the old road can be used exclusively to service the upvalley traffic, at least for the time being. Therefore, we could start with a way large enough for just one wagon and sideriders. What is very important is that there must be no sharp bends, but, having said that, it does not have to be straight. Any bends would have to be sweeping ones.' He then went on to describe the degree of sweeping by comparing the curves to parts of circles that would be not less than a tenth of a mark across, gentler curves being preferred if at all possible.”

Master Bezan nodded and murmured his agreement that those were indeed the instructions that he had given and that Papa had not therefore misunderstood the task.

“My report tonight could be very detailed, however I think more of an overview is called for ...

“First I shall state that the project is, in my opinion, feasible, but with one major problem - but which I do not feel to be completely insurmountable. However, this is not within the scope of my knowledge and expertise.

“The full details should be held back maybe until we have a scribe with us, but my report tonight will be of what I did, and of what information I was able to glean. I hope to provide sufficient detail to be understandable, but not the full details which might serve to obscure the overall picture - things like the fact that there were six strides and two feet between this and that rock, or that that tree would have to removed from that particular position.”

The two men sat back, making a pleasant nod of agreement to each other and to Papa, but obviously waiting to hear some more, confined to that level of detail that Papa had indicated.

“I must also say that I expanded my task slightly, based on one assumption. That assumption being that the brief I was given would actually eventually apply to a roadway that would go all the way from Blackstone itself down to Tranidor, if not even further. I could see no reason that the curves would have to be gentle solely in this eight or so mark stretch. Thus I assumed that I should consider the entire way, not just the few marks required to get round the incline problem at the Chaarn junction. I fully appreciated that that had to be a priority, and its logical extension to find some way to integrate the 'by-pass' route, if I may call it that, to link in with the existing route.

“So it was with these thoughts in mind that I set out upon my task.

“I began by investigating the foresters' tracks that abound in that part of the forest between the road and the river.

“I would estimate that it would take very little work to widen some of these tracks and to cut through the trees to make some connections to the road that exists. At the north end of this stretch, there is an easy access track which leaves the main road at the bend where the slope down from the junction ends and the road starts going upwards again. This track slopes gently downhill as it heads towards the river. After a little more than a mark, there is a steep canyon carrying a tributary stream only a little wider and wilder than the Blackstone where it joins the Bray just down there.” He nodded in the direction of where our two waters joined.

He continued giving his report in such a way.

The major problem that he had come across was an area where two tributary streams almost converged, maybe a cast or at the most two apart as they reached the river itself. One had a far greater flow-rate than the other, but there was the high cliff of an intervening peak between the two as they tumbled from deepish canyons into the Bray. He felt that a tunnel could maybe be driven through the 'nose' of the peak and a bridge constructed on either side to span each of the canyons, but would require someone more expert to make that decision.

He began to end his report by adding just one more aspect: “This investigation of that area had taken me two full days, following up and down the banks of those two tributaries, so I overnighted at the first roadhouse below the Chaarn junction and returned to 'our' roadhouse, the now-called Forest Roadhouse, for the third night.

“I was tempted to make straight back here but, as mentioned earlier, I had had another thought, so I went to the Forest Roadhouse instead and did some investigation around there. I was unfortunate enough to be there as Mistress Sandara, the widow of our ex-shoemaker, was making life most unpleasant for just about everybody. She was complaining bitterly about having to pay extra for the shuttle as her belongings were of such a quantity that they exceeded the terms of the shuttle contracts. She had wanted to persuade the shuttle to leave early, but then she herself caused such a fuss that apparently the shuttle had to leave a full half a bell late, and the other two passengers were most put out. As was the driver.

“However, this was not my concern and I made some quick observational trips into the forest around there. I must also confess that I was intrigued by the workers building something up on the top of the Strettalm. They told me it was a semi-four station, whatever that is. Ah, I see you both know, so perhaps you would explain later, if it pleases you. For now, please let me finish my report.

“As you are aware, the road from Blackstone goes straight downhill with some undulations until it 'hits' the side of the Strettalm. There it takes a sharp right turn and descends quite steeply diagonally down the face of a rock-fault until it reaches the roadhouse. It occurred to me that maybe I should investigate the backside of the Strettalm to see if a gentler, more gradual descent could be made round the back of that peak. I discovered some almost surprising things round there.

“There is a river/stream that runs down the south-east of Strettalm and curves quite sharply to the west, almost as soon as it reaches the valley floor. It works its way, first west, then south again and then west again, down to the Bray river itself which it joins just south of some falls. These falls are themselves about 3 marks south of the roadhouse.”

“Yes, we know them. We overnighted there on our way up.”

“Although the ground behind the Strettalm is quite broken, I estimate that it would be possible for a roadway to be constructed round there that fulfills the terms of my task. It would require some cutting and filling, and at one point, it would require being split to pass either side of a tall rocky outcrop, but yes, it could be done – and has the advantages of both cutting out another bridge across another waterway, and also getting round a steep part of the existing route. I can, however, see why the Chivans didn't build a route through there – it is certainly not as obvious as the route up the rockface must have been, and it requires a certain amount of construction by cutting away rock here, and filling hollows and the like there.

“The drawback I see is that it would completely by-pass the existing Forest Roadhouse, such that a new roadhouse would have to be built. That is not my decision, but seems to me to be a factor against.

“So to summarise, I believe that, with the exception of that one problem area with the two canyons and the peak, it would be possible to construct such a roadway down the east side of the Bray, from Blackstone all the way down to the Tranidor bridge and beyond.

“I do have something further to add, and I confess I might be influenced by Swayga's brother here, but, as I was riding back up here to Town, an additional thought did occur to me. The loneliness of the forest does tend to induce much thinking.”

He grinned engagingly as he said that, before continuing: “It occurred to me that the problem of dealing with the incline is that full loads are not feasible on the route. So I asked myself what other ways are there of getting goods downvalley without having to climb that incline.

“It suddenly hit me that even if the required works take a long time, or indeed prove impossible, and I'm referring to getting past the twin canyons and the peak area, then the envisaged gently curving and sloping route could actually end at those problem canyons and peak. Loads could be transshipped to river traffic at that point, there being no more rapids from there downstream. There would, of necessity, be required an arrangement of some sort to create a tow path beside the river there, but otherwise there is no difficulty.”

I noticed the two men have a thoughtful look settle on their faces as Papa made that suggestion, but they still kept quiet until Papa officially ended his report.

“There is a natural rocky ledge just there that could form the basis of some sort of wharf, should that prove to be an advantage. An extension from that across the north canyon could be made and a base for tunnelling or excavating through the peak could be constructed quite simply. There is in fact a shallow cave in the face of the opposing cliff some two or more strides higher than the near bank. But I am untrained in the details of moving stones and ore. Nor am I certain of the disbursement of water during and just after the rains. I would be happy to take someone down to my problem area for a second opinion.”

He took a deep breath before continuing: “Thus ends my official report.”

“Phew! Now hand me that wine bottle. All that talking certainly produces a thirst.”

With that, Papa returned to being the cheerful host.

We continued to talk about what we had heard and thought during Papa's report, and what it all might mean. Master Bezan explained that our Baroness had suggested a new mode of transport, and that with it we could get to Tranidor and back in a day. We all gasped at that vision, but he was being very serious – he even said that with development of that method of travel, a day return to Haligo, or even Teldor would become possible. He hastened to say that this was some years away yet, but that it would be sensible to set some of the groundwork in motion as soon as possible.

Both men thanked Papa for his work and his report. They then turned to us women and thanked us for their meal.

“Master Bezan did not exaggerate. It has been an absolute delight and I thank you all for your outstanding abilities.”

We all three blushed.

And so it was that our home settled down for another night. I used the wake hours to write down my notes of the day I have just described, and it was no difficulty to return to sleep afterwards.

---

Julina's day starts in a strange way – and doesn't get much less strange as it progresses

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

Another day, another start – all perfectly normal, unaffected by any events near or far.

But that didn't last long.

Before we had finished our breakfasts even, there was the sound of an animal drawing up outside. Papa opened the door before whoever it was had a chance to knock.

“Master Fedren.”

“Master Kordulen. My apologies, but may I have a word with Mistress Julina. You will understand this is urgent.”

I was already walking towards the door when Papa called for me.

And so was everyone else in the household, judging by the number and volume of noises behind me.

I was naturally intrigued by this unnatural turn of events, and so I can't really blame the others for being equally inquisitive, but I felt somehow as if my privacy was being invaded – as did Papa, who shooed everyone away, leaving me relatively alone.

“Mistress Julina, good morrow.”

“Sheriff, good morrow to you. How may I be of assistance?”

“An unforeseen event has taken place. I am aware that you are, how shall I put it, less occupied these days and would beg your presence in the Watch House. We had occasion to detain some women last night and I need a feminine presence to maintain the proprieties until we can get something else sorted out. Already Suril and I are overwhelmed with the males we have to deal with – it never occurred to us that we might need some females as well. I need to recruit two more males and get them trained, and now some females too.”

“Ah! I believe that I under...”

“Sheriff, shall she be in any danger? She is yet a minor do not forget, albeit for a mere week or two. Nevertheless ...”

“Oh no, Master Kordulen. The women are all contained and shall be released in a bell or two. But I need to take down particulars like names and so on and it wouldn't be seemly if there were not another woman present. As it was, Suril, Haka and I had to erect a tarpaulin between the women's cell and the neighbouring one, and then move the men from that one into a third some distance away, causing a certain degree of overcrowding.”

“Very well. Julina and I shall call upon you at the Watch House as swiftly as we might. Until then!”

“My thanks Master and also to you Mistress.”

With that, the Sheriff swiftly remounted and went back to the town centre.

I scuttled about finding my best available dress and getting Swayga and Kords to help with my hair and so on. It was scarce a quarter of a bell later that Papa and I set forth across the bare ground, taking the direct way. This was slower going as we had to pick our way across the uneven terrain, but the slowness was balanced by the shortness of the journey and I would estimate we saved maybe five moments by going that way.

We walked in - and nearly walked out again!

The women were screeching at the top of their lungs, and complaining about the lack of facilities. We could only hear them though, the Sheriff had given them some privacy by mounting a tarpaulin on two sides of their cell – the other two sides being solid walls.

I looked at the Sheriff and he looked at me, pleadingly. I nodded back to him, but signed that he had to make an announcement.

He went over and banged a hand on the tarpaulin to attract attention, and then he yelled above the barely diminished noise from the women. Eventually he managed to get over the message that he had fetched a woman to help both the inmates and himself.

With a great deal of nervousness, I pulled the edge of the front curtain to one side.

… … ...

“Phew!”

Papa and the Sheriff both laughed, but it was a relieved laugh. The Watch House cells were once again empty and the opened windows were airing the place out – a necessary operation after the waste bucket in the women's cell had been spilled as the women scrambled to be first heard when I pulled the curtain back.

“That story the women told – did you believe them?” Papa asked Master Fedren.

“Well they had had all night to concoct a tale, so it was to be expected in one way that their complaints would be similar. And yet there was just enough variety for me to think that maybe they had been telling the truth. What were your thoughts, Mistress?”

“I am inclined to believe them. I confess that that name Battona has been mentioned amongst us girls before, and usually as a trouble-maker. I think you're going to need a separate house for the women to be locked up in, and you're going to need some female deputies, I think that's the word you used to describe Suril?”

The Sheriff sat back in his chair and put his boots up on a corner of his table. He puffed his cheeks out and was obviously replaying the events of the morning though his head.

I had replaced the curtain very quickly and turned back to the Sheriff.

“Sheriff, I believe you have indicated that the six men there in the end cell are going to be released today? I would suggest that you do that at the very soonest. And then send an urchin or someone to fetch Mistress Grizanthet. She is the first name I can think of who has very little to do nowadays. I am going to need some help here.”

“Very well. I shall start immediately.”

“Give me two moments please before you let any of the men out.”

I turned back to the curtain, took a deep breath and went into full angry mother mode. I saw out of the corner of my eye my father wince slightly but didn't let that distraction stop my momentum – I just filed it away for later consideration.

I think it was a shock to the women to be addressed by someone so young in such a scolding way and they stopped their noise quite quickly. I got them to tell me their names while they were still quite shocked, and then I settled them down and asked them if they were happy for me to draw the curtain back a little, bearing in mind there were two men left in the room, and that the men in the other cell were about to be released.

I received their permission and drew the curtain back slightly, trying not to react too strongly to the smell. The men were not quite so controlled.

I told Papa to get another urchin to run up to M's and fetch him as well as some cleaning cloths, a swab and two buckets. Then I gave the women the bad news that THEY would be cleaning up the mess they had made. It was quite simple to get them to see sense, as I told them they would all stay there until it was done. At first they tried to lay the blame on one of them but I stopped them by treating them as naughty children and they subsided. I could see both men turn their backs and I knew that Papa was laughing, because I know him so well, and I suspect that Master Fedren was as well. He had suddenly developed a bit of a cough and a splutter.

Papa went over to the six men in their one cell and growled something at them before letting one of them out and leading him over to the Sheriff's table.

The Sheriff called him by his name, told him off for disturbing the peace and said he didn't want to see him again. He fined him three soos, about which the man complained.

“Ok, I'll change it then. The fine is now – one fenik.”

“Now wait a moment, that's more! That's the same as four soos. I can get a meal for that! All I did was punch a man a bit.”

“And wake up your neighbours. And try to punch me. It will go up a soo for every complaint about it. You want to try for a fenik and a soo?”

The man grumbled but paid up. And Papa then ushered him out, closing the main door before going over to get the next man from the cell – giving the Sheriff time to write up the paperwork.

Just then the door opened.

I spun round expecting to see M or Grizanthet, but it was Suril, back from whatever task he had been performing. His eyes opened in surprise as he saw Papa and I standing there, but the Sheriff quickly brought him up to the necessary state of knowledge, and it was Suril who went to let out the next man.

It was obvious that the men had been muttering a plan amongst themselves and I suspected they would try to burst out all together. But the three men outside the cell were aware of the danger and let them know there would be trouble if they did that. The men were ordered to the back of their cell and just one selected man was allowed to approach the cell door. Suril turned the key and they all charged at that moment.

But Suril had not actually turned the key and the one in front was crushed up against the bars, quite painfully, as they all rushed to the supposedly open door. He cried out in anger at the others.

Then the Sheriff picked up some loops of rope from a desk drawer and approached the cell. He made them all put their hands through the bars and he tied the hands together on four of them. They were then in no position to make a charge.

So the potential rebellion was nipped in the bud, and the next man was led to the desk.

The sequence of events was similar, but this man's fine was heavier.

“Three soos for disturbing the peace, three soos for breaking the leg of a valued worker required here and a further soo for attempting to escape. Finally a soo for threatening me or my deputy. Two feniks in all. An extra soo if the fine is not paid immediately. That is a soo for every day late in paying. Your works supervisor will be informed and he will deduct it from your pay if you don't honour your debt.”

The man grudgingly handed over the coin and left muttering.

The next was similar but had an extra soo added for being a repeat offender.

Eventually all the men were released, but not before both M and Grizanthet had arrived.

I explained to M that at least one of the women would need at least a shower and asked if he could make some hot water available. He was amenable - “just this once” - and escorted the women to his place after their release.

But first, I had made the women scrub the floor of their cell, and clean out the bucket using the little room attached to the main room. Then we dealt with them individually, one woman at a time in front of the Sheriff as he took down their names, the names of their partners and where they lived.

He fined each a single soo, plus a soo for M's hot water.

One, however, burst into tears, explaining that her man didn't give her an allowance. She covered her face with her hands as she sobbed, and we all sucked in a breath as her extensive bruising was revealed on her forearms. The others confirmed her story, so the Sheriff just said that he would charge her man.

There was a look of sheer terror on the woman's face when he said that, and the others hastily scraped together two more soos for her.

Mistress Grizanthet and I shared a meaningful glance and we knew we had to help this poor woman, Vittima. We were not sure that the men had understood the significance of her story, but we knew that we had to get the Women's Circle involved somehow, if nothing happened soon. We recognised she was in great danger. We had heard of such tragedy before but never expected to have to meet it face to face. My brain was whizzing, trying to find a solution to something that was very complex.

Just then, the main door swung open again and we had no chance to discuss it as Master Bezan strode in, coming to an abrupt halt when he saw we women standing there.

After the usual greetings, we explained what had happened to the Sheriff and why he needed my help. It was then my turn to explain why I had asked for Mistress Grizanthet.

“Yours, Mistress, was the first name that shot into my head as I was aware that you have been looking for something to do for some while. It occurred to me that you know a portion of the town's inhabitants far better than I do and therefore between us we could probably have some knowledge of nearly all the females. Thus we could maybe make some suggestions to the Sheriff here to help him get started.

“Master Bezan, it is perhaps fortunate that you have arrived as I can tell you straight away that there will need to be another room or building for the Sheriff to house his overnight 'guests' that are female. Regretfully, we females need access to toilet facilities more frequently than do men. A privy will be necessary to avoid the less than pleasant events of this morning. Also, it is extra work for the Sheriff to have to erect a tarpaulin each time a rowdy woman needs to be 'cooled down'.”

All the men were a little taken aback by my forthright speech, but they did accept that I was right and Master B sighed deeply: “Another building project! And I suppose this has to be top priority as well as all the others?”

“Let us discuss this tomorrow night at the Assembly.”

The Sheriff and Master B agreed to that and then the latter said, almost casually: “Master Kordulen? Perhaps you should also attend the evening as we have to discuss your report and it may be handy to have you there should there be any questions. It is why I came here from the Steward's house. I had been told you were here so I thought to invite you for tomorrow and also to ask you if you have any knowledge on another matter.”

I slapped my head and tutted loudly. All the men looked at me and I just said: “Any more you want me to cook for? I tell you now that we are reaching our limit. We have already begun the preparation of the food and to add extra mouths would be awkward. This you will remember is not a restaurant as such, and food is SUPPOSED to be ordered several days in advance, for a fixed number of eaters.”

“Oh! I had forgotten that! My apologies, Mistress. Would it be possible to fit in a further two? The Captain wishes to ask Mistress Lendra to attend also, as he has some questions for her and felt that she could be of assistance.”

I sighed theatrically, but gave a sharp retort: “But no more, clear? And it is your job to go and tell Master Michen. You may report that I have said I can squeeze an extra two mouths in. He will have to find the seating and utensils and so on. Now I have to return home and change for my riding lesson so can we please get on with finding female deputies for the Sheriff?”

“Ah, Mistress Julina. I was hoping to prevail upon you to fit in some riding lessons for Suril here at some time. I can see that most, if not all, my deputies will have to be able to ride, just to get about quicker than on foot.”

I looked at Papa and mouthed 'Trumpa?' and he nodded.

“Certainly Sheriff. But now we need to discuss females,” I repeated firmly.

I indicated to Mistress Grizanthet to take the lead.

“Sheriff, Masters Bezan and Kordulen, Master Suril, I would like to start by saying that I have been thinking about this since I came in response to Julina's call for assistance. From what I have seen here this morning, Mistress Julina has summed up the situation well. I will state that recently my husband, Master Boxklee, and I have been looking to sell our herd of pakh and do something else now we are 'getting on'. I had thought maybe to help Mistress Megrozen, usually called Mistress Epp, but maybe Mistress Gramobona would rather not be too crowded, as she too is cutting down on her work and going to help Mistress Epp. It is apparent that you require an assistant to deal with the paperwork, Master Fedren, and it is something that Master Boxklee could do quite easily. I also propose myself to do a similar administrative duty for your female staff. This is something that I can do readily. I therefore commence by stating that myself and my man put ourselves forward for consideration.

“As regards your female deputies, then I believe that you should define the duties first. Are they simply to be kept in the Watch House, or do they also have power of arrest? If the latter, then can they also arrest men? That might be somewhat awkward in many cases! Maybe you should have patrols just walking around, showing a presence, two females with a man as well as single man patrols? However, I would suggest you know your own business better than I.”

“Excellent thinking, Mistress. I will consider what you have said very carefully and let you know as soon as I can. I expect we will have an answer from the Assembly tomorrow evening. There will need to be approval of wages for administrative staff. And you are right with regard to defining duties. I imagine that you would have differing suggestions for people depending upon the duties that are to be done?”

“Certainly. One woman springs immediately to mind for someone for in-house duties. And that is that woman who was here earlier – Vittima. She needs to get away from that brute of a man as soon as possible; Neerkel was his name I believe. He is obviously hitting her and she lives in fear of him. She needs security and to be protected from such a bully. We women almost expect a certain amount of 'correction' as you men call it, and for some it is indeed justified. Once we are married, then society tells us we are the property of our men – a state of affairs that is at times vastly unfair. However, the best marriages are those where the two work as a team, as Boxklee and I do. That marriage is far, far, far from that ideal. I tell you now, that man has overstepped the boundaries as far as I am concerned, and I know of no other woman that could or would disagree with me. That Vittima would be perfect for your job, the job that you got Julina here for this morning. She would be highly motivated, and has experience of the other side of the matter as well. But she would need protecting from that brute somehow, which complicates the matter considerably.”

A thoughtful look settled on the faces of us all as we pondered that – there was a certain logic to it that grew the more we thought about it. The Sheriff began nodding first and soon we all were, all except Master Bezan who looked on in some confusion.

Mistress Grizanthet and I mentioned a few more names with little grunts of agreement as one or another of us thought about it.

Eventually, we were finished and the Sheriff thanked us after running once more through the list of our suggestions for confirmation of what we had said. There was one name he had forgotten to add so he did that and Mistress Grizanthet and I were finished.

Master Bezan could then ask Papa his further question: “Master Kordulen? Do you perchance know anything of the Little Lake farm?”

“Let me think. Little Lake. Little Lake. Ah, yes – it used to be called the Pond Farm, many years ago, when I was a lad. Isn't that the one close-up to the east wall of the valley. The one just by that narrow canyon where traces were found of the bandits?”

“Aye, Master. That is indeed it.”

“I haven't been there for some long while. Might I ask why you are asking? That way I might have some direction for my thoughts.”

“The farmer has just told the Captain that he would like to take advantage of Mylady's offer and depart southwards, so we must find an agreeable valuation.”

“Ah! I understand. Let me see. The canyon above is one of those that is narrow and is surprisingly drier than most. This is because the top of it tips the other way, so the water from the top, which is a lake really, flows away from the Bray valley. Thus there is little water flowing down this side under normal conditions – it changes of course in the rains.

“There is however a lake at the foot of the canyon and on the floor of the valley and a small stream from there runs down southwards, parallel to the valley 'wall', until it joins the stronger stream from the next canyon. There is a track that follows the stream's course.”

“Ah yes, I remember that from a ride we took with Mylady, and the lake comes back into focus too. A thick bed of reeds all around, if my recall is to be relied upon.”

“That is correct. It being so close to the valley side, then that farm gets little morning light, but basks in the evening sun. The soil is no better nor worse than anywhere else, but I should imagine that undersoil drainage is not too good, but there is a definite slope to the land. The lake, even though called 'little' is quite large in fact, I would guess it to be maybe 140 strides by 100, but more triangular in shape than round or square. I believe the entire farm is four or five dranatilis round the lake with another five or six in a rectangular component heading down towards the road. I can remember these details since my cousin was a tenant farmer down there for many years. I know not, of course, of any additions to or selling off of any portions since those far off days.”

“I thank you Master Kordulen. That has been most helpful, most helpful indeed. I feel it would be difficult to find another farmer to take that on, so we will have to think heavily upon it. It …”

“Why? It seems to me that this is something you are looking for!”

“I'm sorry, Mistress Julina. Why am I looking for a farm such as this?”

“Mistress Swayga's idea? Somewhere to encourage fish to breed?”

“Oh Maker! What a tremendous idea. I apologise for not thinking of that. I was going to check out the Blackstone below the dam for that and it just never occurred to me to connect it with this farm. Once again, Mistress Julina, I am in your debt.”

And so it was that our meeting broke up and Papa and I dashed home so I could change into my riding attire.

… … ...

We went down to the Claw and met Sookie, Suril, Pomma and Parrier there. Suril had already explained why he was there and Papa gave permission for him to use Trumpa. Sookie allocated another animal to Parrier so that he could take Pomma and I around the paddock at a faster pace just as a way for us to get used to it, while Sookie spent half a bell with Suril.

… … ...

“Master Suril is a natural it would appear, and Trumpa is an obliging old lady. I feel we could make an excursion again this morn. Does anyone have a suggestion?”

“Maybe the dam?”

“Oooh – yes please Papa! May we go and see the dam? Is it too far? If it is, maybe that farm we were just talking about?”

“Good suggestions. We have lost a half bell from normal, but either the dam or the farm are about the same distance and we could get there and back for lunch, as long as we don't hang around at either destination. So where then?”

There was a silence as everyone waited for someone else, so I just said: “Dam!”

And dam it was.

… … …

Oh I could go on and on about what we saw that day and how amazed we were. Sookie and Papa of course had seen it before, but the other four of us were totally fresh to the sights and sounds and even feels of the journey.

The valley leading up to the dam was an eye-opener for me and when we turned that final corner and saw the impressive wall of the dam, my breath was taken away.

Papa and Sookie were quite pressing that we should just turn round as soon as we saw the dam, but I insisted on being allowed to go up the side of the valley and at least see the lake behind the wall. The other newcomers agreed with me so we all ascended the side and I saw the lake for the first time in my life.

What a privilege that was.

Reluctantly, I allowed myself to be dragged away.

We returned by riding along the roof of the aqueduct all the way to the campingplace, where we caused a bit of a stir amongst the mostly women there. The men were off working of course and the women were doing their chores in relative peace. The noon bell sounded and we watched the shuttle pull away, empty today.

A silence fell as we approached the centre of the campingplace, having to thread our way gently through the unordered dwellings.

Suddenly we heard a scream and a dull thump and then deep sobbing. A man stumbled out of a nearby tent shouting at the woman within. The tent seemed to be on its own somehow, as though the neighbours were trying to distance themselves. The heavyset man with powerful shoulders was rethreading his belt through the loops of his work trousers. His face was a livid hue and his eyes were bulging in ferocious anger. We heard his words more clearly as we neared.

“... you will not do a thing unless I first give you permission. Now get on and clean this shit up, you lazy whore. I catch you looking at another man once more, and I'll break your neck just like that. You were told at least twice already. You don't get told a third time.”

One of the neighbours emerged just a little from the gathering crowd of women looking on. She firmly and yet somehow timidly approached the man, but kept a reasonable distance as she called to him: “Neerkel, don't you think …”

“You mind your own business you ugly pakh's-arse. Just get on with your chores and leave me alone with my wife.”

There was a mass hissing as breaths were drawn in by most of those around, myself included.

Neerkel had swung round menacingly towards the speaker, and those who could see his eyes were chilled by the fires raging there.

An anonymous voice from the ever-thicker crowd called:“Don't you talk to her like that you big bully. What's the matter? Got such a small one you try to make yourself a bigger man by hitting defenceless women?”

A vast cackle of glee arose from the gathered throng and that infuriated the man even further.

He snaked his belt out once more, took two swift strides towards the woman who had tried to intervene and swung hard. The belt wrapped round the woman's upraised forearm which she used to defend her face. She screamed in pain and he tugged her hard off-balance towards his other fist which was swinging towards her. She ducked at the last moment and the fist swung by her cheek but she was in danger of being trapped.

Suddenly he gave a huge grunt and sank to his knees.

Somehow Suril had slipped off his frayen, covered the ten strides or so to the man and smashed his knee sideways. The man subsided into a position in which both his fists were close together on the ground below his great head as it swung sideways, trying to dispel the pain.

Papa and Parrier were halfway there by then, and I watched amazed as Suril wrapped the man's belt round his wrists and pulled it tight. Those brutal hands were thus partially immobilised, and the deed was done almost before he had time to react, being so shocked by the surprise and the pain. Suril was really, really quick.

Papa grabbed a piece of rope that was offered by an onlooker and swiftly tied one end round the man's right ankle, calling Judd to him. He tied the other end round the saddle on the animal and got Judd to back up, dragging the man onto his side and scraping him along the ground, which gave him something else to shout and curse about. Parrier caught on and got another rope, which he tied round the thrashing man's belt which was itself tied around his wrists – this being a whole lot easier to do than anywhere else. And then that rope was tied to the other frayen which was also backed up. The man was stretched out, immobile, except for one wildly kicking leg as he bellowed threats to everyone around ...

This position of the now-prisoner enabled an easier securing of further ropes to his extremities, in case the first hurried ones worked loose. The man was then released from the frayen and made to sit on his knees, despite the obvious pain this caused in the one that Suril had attacked first. Parrier then refined the whole trussing. He quietly but efficiently looped a rope round the man's neck and tied the ends to his ankles. If the prisoner ever tried to stand up, he would strangle himself.

He had been very loud to start with and during the trussing, but Suril leaned close to his ear and whispered something which made him keep quiet immediately. His face paled and most of the fight and anger was driven from him, a certain almost panicked look taking over his face. Suril smiled in a most chilling way and used his large knife to clean under his nails as he whistled tunelessly while staring hard at the man. The man swallowed heavily and looked away.

Sookie had meanwhile sent Pomma down to the Watch House to fetch the Sheriff and he turned up with a severe look on his face.

While all this was happening, Sookie had gone into the tent where she found Vittima sobbing and bleeding from the beating she had received. I had gone to the other woman that Neerkel had hit. She would have some nasty bruises on her arm, but was otherwise undamaged, except for a scratch close to her eye, where the belt buckle had flicked and nearly blinded her.

Sookie's first question was a little surprising at first, but I quickly realised that she had her priorities right: “Any children?”

Vittima shook her head in answer and we breathed in unison: “Thank the Maker!”

A large crowd had by now gathered outside the clearing round the sad little tent. Every woman spat at the trussed prisoner as he was unceremoniously dumped onto a small dray and hauled off to the Watch House. I'm sure the Sheriff chose a route that went over every pothole and bump ...

Sookie told me to rush over to Malet's and get a reedlet and a piece of parchment or paper. When I returned, Sookie then asked me to write down all the names, and asked me to also record some witness statements.

Pomma surprised me as she returned from her home with a sketchblock and she started making a drawing of Vittima's injuries. She was surprisingly swift and accurate, saying that she would colour it in later. She then switched to the other victim, who was being comforted by her friends. It was immediately apparent that these woman were more than fed up with that Neerkel.

Parrier, Papa and I took the animals back down to the Claw before returning to the Watch House for the formalities.

We all missed our lunch that day.

… … …

It was well into the afternoon by the time we were all finished with this episode. All statements had been collected, our own statements given and sworn, and Vittima, just for that night, had a spare bed in M's.

M had been outraged at the events and promised to try to find a more permanent solution to Vittima's accommodation, so that was something to occupy M's afternoon. I did manage to receive the message secretly that the Foti would be available for tomorrow night. And I reassured him that I could cope with the numbers. It was a relief to talk, albeit very briefly, about another subject.

We were all out of breath and stressed by the whole incident by the time it was finished. And grateful that for now, the incident could be put behind us.

And so a more normal life resumed.

Papa had had an idea that morning as we were riding, so we went down to the Claw and waited a few moments until we could talk with Sookie, who by now was deep into cooking her evening meals.

“Mistress Sukhana, it has occurred to me that you are responsible for all these new riders we have. And I must say I approve. Until I saw Julina's delight, it had not occurred to me just how isolated most of our townsfolk are. Just the delight that illuminated her face as she saw things that she had never before seen. The delight with which her horizons have been widened. It further occurs to me that others may benefit equally.

“And so I deem that it would be of benefit to have a 'riding' school. Would it be possible to base it in your establishment? I would donate Trumpa to the cause and allow you to keep what coin you might receive from these endeavours. I shall purchase a younger frayen for myself, and one for Julina for surely Master Michen will eventually heal sufficiently to use his own mount.

“I would suggest Master Parrier to be in charge of the animal side, and be active in this 'school' as well. He could also benefit from the income. I would suggest that you set the tariffs. What think you? Maybe have a further four animals, making it a hand in all. Thus people could learn and maybe even hire the animals for a morning, say?”

“I believe that you have a good idea there, Master Kordulen. We could also tie in with the saddler and the seamstresses maybe. Hmmm, let me think on it. I would immediately say yes, but I need to check the details first. Now please excuse me, I have to get on with my duties. Allow me please to reply tomorrow or the day after?”

“Naturally, Mistress. Thank you for sparing me some of your valuable time.”

And so it was left like that, with another morning ride arranged as well for the morrow. Time to go to the head of the valley, we decided.

Next, Papa and I went up to the Forge; I wanted the men, Uncle and Papa to understand each other and not to have any unspoken issues. I had detected a little something in Papa's attitude when I first referred to Master Brydas as 'Uncle'.

We got there and were asked to wait for a few moments as Uncle couldn't just stop what he was doing right then. I tugged on Papa's sleeve and herded him into the safe corner that I was beginning to know so well.

This time, the workshop nearest was open and I saw Sethan in there, so I asked him if he was available for a chat as we waited upon his chief.

“Of course Mistress Julina, and Master …???”

“Kordulen. This is my father. Papa, this is Master Sethan, who was assigned to Uncle's care as a punishment for his involvement with Trogan's band.”

“I remember,” he growled. “I hope, Sethan, you have learned your lesson with your enforced apprenticeship?”

“Master Kordulen, this is far and away the best thing that has ever happened to me! I am learning a trade and have discovered an unknown ability within myself. In one way, I welcome the fact that I was taken up by that thug. I am now the expert for Master Brydas on coke production. We have only a small coke oven, but that suffices for my experiments. We have now produced some excellent quality steel, but not in usable quantities.

“Today, I am experimenting with uses for the gases given out by the coke oven during the process. So far, I have managed to make a reliable lantern using it. Tomorrow evening, we shall light that lantern out above the sidewalk and see how long we can get it to burn. I must then discover some way to store those gases more efficiently. I have a cunning pla...”

“Well met, Master Kordulen,” came the booming and jovial voice of Uncle, cutting off Sethan's sentence. Sethan took no umbrage and just nodded to us before fading back into his workshop.

The apparent joy in Uncle's voice was no false note, as he met with Papa. Papa was a little reserved at first, but Uncle's honesty was apparent, as was his loneliness now that his daughter had departed for richer fields. I could see Papa's agile mind relaxing almost from the start of the conversation.

It didn't take very long for the men to be happy and friendly with each other. It wasn't too much longer before an invite was issued for an evening meal. It seemed to me that I was almost forgotten as the men forged – I am grinning at using that word here – a deeper friendship than they had hitherto had.

… … …

“And so Mistress Pomma, I would very much like a likeness of Julina!”

“With absolute pleasure, Master Kordulen. I have long wished to do so, ever since our friendship blossomed but I did not know how to broach the subject.”

Again a conversation about me but not with me. I blushed for the umpteenth time that day.

Papa had been impressed with Pomma's abilities as she sketched the awful damage that Neerkel had caused, and had had the idea to commission a portrait of myself, so we just popped into the Saddler's as it was so close to the Forge. There he had simply asked Pomma the question and I had then to sit still for nearly half a bell. I was not allowed to speak and had to try to keep my head as still as possible.

I don't know which was the greater torture!

… … …

“Oh look, Papa! Those bits of mirrors are reflecting the candle and making it seem brighter somehow.”

There was a sudden silence as Master Pocular looked at me and then at Papa. He swiftly finished what he was doing, and came across to us, for the third time in our visit.

Once again, we were keeping out of the way in a corner. Master Pocular had been explaining his early experiments with his temporary workshop, and with using coal. He was just 'playing' he explained as he settled in. He was trying various ways of making mirrors – his apprentices being fully occupied with producing that marvellous clear glass for which Papa had decided to thank him, as we were in the neighbourhood.

As the men were talking, I idly picked up some of the different pieces of mirror he had left lying on a bench top and tried to see myself in them. I was just trying to see how accurate Pomma's sketches of my face had been. I manipulated the pieces of glass here and there, twisting it in my hand as I moved myself about, trying to catch the light properly. This resulted in the first silence and the associated approach of Master Pocular.

He watched as I tried to see my image and it was a good few heartbeats before I looked up and saw him staring at me.

As was Papa.

As were the apprentices.

It was Master P who broke the silence.

“Wooden frame, with a handle.”

“Round or square?” added Papa. “Square I should imagine would be easier.”

“Aye, but maybe round is more attractive somehow? Curves, you know. Always somehow less harsh.”

“Aye. Happen you're right.”

Master P turned back to his task as he switched back to making the commentary of how he was establishing his business.

“What?” I asked Papa.

“Never mind,” was the reply. “And don't frown like that, you'll end up with permanent marks in your face.”

I was totally and completely lost. So I put down the latest piece of mirror and started observing other stuff around me. My ears were listening but my fingers were busy shuffling the pieces of mirror about, just desultorily playing with them.

This workshop was hot, uncomfortably so, and I was beginning to chafe at Papa's conversation. It was time, I felt, for us to go.

There was a piece of parchment on the top of the bench, which was more a cupboard really, sitting on the ground. I idly picked up the parchment intending to hold it nearer the candle lantern so I could read it but a gust of hot air as a furnace was opened plucked it from my fingers and it slipped down between the bench/cupboard and the wall. I squatted down but was unable to see it in the gloom, so I lifted down the candle lantern to help. This was too thickly built to cast its light in the right direction so I had to fumble around, relying on my finger tips and 'feel'.

Suddenly, I had an idea and picked up a piece of mirror from the top and used it to direct the light into the right place. But holding the lantern and the mirror meant my hands were full and I had nothing with which to retrieve the parchment. I called for help and explained my difficulty.

This was the second silent moment.

“Don't move, Mistress. Just show me what you did.”

“Well, I picked up the parchment and it slipped down the back here …”

“No, I meant what you did with the candle and the mirror.”

So I demonstrated my use of angling the mirror and he and his apprentices looked at each other and a sudden light suddenly showed in Papa's face as something clicked in his brain.

“Another use of a handle!” he exclaimed.

“Aye. This lass of yourn. She's a bright one eh? We needs to talk, us two.”

“Then come to dinner with my family, e'en after tomorrow?”

“A delight. You honour me.”

“Ours is the honour.”

One of his apprentices used the time to retrieve the parchment and so I thanked him, once again a little lost by Papa's conversation with Master P.

So I sighed to myself, knowing that we would not be leaving in the next few moments.

I amused myself by casting sparkles of light on the walls and ceilings by playing with the candle lantern and the pieces of mirror. I noticed that the edges of the glass pieces seemed to make coloured flashes.

Purely accidentally, I created a configuration of glass pieces that somehow magnified the light at one point on the bench top. It was so unexpected, I let out an exclamation of delight.

“Oh look, Papa! Those bits of mirrors are reflecting the candle and making it seem brighter somehow.”

There was a sudden silence as Master Pocular looked at me and then at Papa. He swiftly finished what he was doing, and came across to us, for the third time in our visit.

… … …

Swayga was sitting down, with such a beautiful smile upon her face.

Over dinner Papa and I had recounted our adventures of the day to many gasps and sighs from our family. He wanted to keep my having a likeness made a secret for the moment, so he made much more of our visit to the new glass workshop. I began to understand some of what he had said earlier when he took the time to spell some things out to the others. Swayga rolled her eyes at me when Papa told her we would be having a visitor for dinner in two evenings time.

We were now sitting relaxing once the young ones were in bed and connected to the moon.

Papa had started this conversational thread by following up the bit about the Fish Farm as he now referred to it. He wanted information from Swayga about how to breed fish, and how to manage their environmat (hah – I can use that word properly now!)

We both smiled delighted smiles when Swayga mentioned that reeds were good in a fishpond. She repeated that it had to be running water, so that the water didn't get tired and lack what she called 'body'. The more she said, the more likely it was that the Little Lake farm was perfect for the proposed job, with its stream ensuring that the water would keep moving. The down-canyon flow was said to be very little, but still a contributory factor. Presumably there was a spring nearby, maybe the lake itself was where water emerged from the ground. But we knew it had that stream running away from it, so there must be something bringing the water in. So it would always be refreshed.

The conversation twisted and turned as conversations do, and we began to talk about the sea.

It was difficult for me to imagine such a large expanse of water, and my mind nearly closed down when she mentioned that waves were just very large ripples, but sometimes were higher even than the roof of our house. We all know that water tries to go downhill, so how can it possibly rise up to such heights?

She promised faithfully that she was not exaggerating and I had to believe her, but this was very difficult for me to visualise in my head.

And so she started to use stories from her and Steef's childhood to explain. Her descriptions made me want to run away (on a frayen, of course) and see these marvels for myself. I could actually feel the delight with which she recalled those events. She oozed her content at her delightful childhood memories.

Hence her beautiful smile.

One of her mornings' events in particular stuck in my mind, as I could visualise it so well thanks to her beautifully-chosen words which seemed to weave a living picture round and about us …

“ … a girl's brown body dancing through the turquoise, her footprints making us follow. The sparkling waves were calling us to come and kiss their white lace bits. She led us to a huge rock and we dipped our toes in the warmth of its own private pool - a hollow in the rock filled with sea water left behind by the retreating tide, the water warmed by the overhead sun. We leant forward and first submerged our hands in the pool, then we stepped into the waist deep water, as we waved our hands under the surface, letting tiny purple fishes swim laughing through our fingers …”

Oh what a wonderful mental image was conjured up. I knew there and then that someday I would see this beauty. This was certainty. That intention has never wavered from that moment.

My dreams were intensely coloured that night, as though I had carved deep blue ripples in my mind.

---

Julina starts her involvement with the evening very early on – and what an involvement!

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

Another day, another start, another frayen-riding visitor before we had finished our breakfasts, with another problem that required hasty discussion.

But this time, the gentleman caller was for Papa, not for me.

And we all scrabbled round, making ourselves tidy and giggling with embarrassment at our varying states of undress. And clearing space for the men to sit and discuss and so on.

At least at first.

“Your Honour, Captain. Welcome to our humble abode.”

“Master Kordulen, Mistresses Swayga, Julina and Kordulet, girls and boys. I humbly apologise for disturbing your household so early, but I find I have need of Master Kordulen's expertise and that I must have the knowledge before our major Assembly meeting tonight. I have taken the liberty of summoning Masters Bezan, Fedren and Yarling as well. I find I must request some things from you. We will need some table surface, and perhaps Mistress Julina, knowing your abilities, I could prevail upon you to make some notes of our discussions. I have brought a parcel of that paper with me and some reedlets, in case you have none handy. Naturally, I would have summoned Master Jepp but he is down to the Forest Roadhouse on another matter for me.”

“Of course, Your Honour. I must get dressed, if it pleases you, before the others arrive.”

“Thank you Mistress Julina.”

A small silence fell just then, broken only by a slight gurgle from the Steward's tummy and the rustle of my clothes as I walked away.

“Your Honour,” said Swayga, “perhaps you have not yet had the time to break your fast? If you are here for a discussion, then perhaps some space next to you might be found for a platter and a mug? We have some porridge, some cold cuts, cheese, bread, eggs. And I dare say you might appreciate some pel? How may I serve you?”

“Mistress Swayga! That would be a life-saver. Please don't go all mad and try to present everything with a flourish, a simple mug of pel and maybe some bread and cheese or whatever you have already to hand?”

Kords was already headed to the kitchen before he had finished speaking and Swayga bobbed a little curtsey before rounding up the others and ushering them away. She led them to their rooms and then she went to check on Kords getting the refreshments before returning to chivvy the children into making themselves more presentable.

I hopped smartly to my room and found my dress. I cursed my hair for being particularly awkward today, and was silently shouting at it, if you understand what I mean, when Kords rushed in and helped me without asking. She is a very thoughtful young lady – at times.

We chatted quickly, both of us wondering what on Anmar could have caused this minor chaos. But we knew well enough to leave it to be explained, recognising a moment when patience would bring us our answers. Kords also told me that she would help take notes, for which I was astonished to find myself extremely grateful. Two minds to recall the events for the final report would be an advantage, as I suddenly discovered myself to be surprisingly nervous about doing something new; and it being so very official – a job for the very highest person in our immediate lands. I then helped her tidy her hair quickly and she slipped into her dress before going off to finish the pel for everyone.

I heard another two animals arrive, the riders talking to each other as they approached: so their voices told me it was Master Bezan and Master Fedren. The third arrival came up shortly afterwards, just as I finally twitched my dress into place and pushed my feet into my slippers.

Soon the five men, Kords and I were seated round our dining table, the pot of pel in the middle, and a pile of paper in front of us. The bread and cheese for His Honour had disappeared in a trice and Julu whisked the empty plate away, blushing as the Captain thanked her nicely. Meanwhile Kissa enquired if any of the others required something to eat; however, they all indicated a negative to food, but were happy to have some pel.

Swayga then ushered all the rest of the family away into the depths of the house, making it clear they were to be as still and quiet as possible. This then left the meeting free to get under way with an introductory speech from His Honour.

“Masters all, Mistresses Julina and Kordulet. I must thank Master Kordulen for allowing us to invade his privacy and I thank you all for attending at such short notice. The urgency will make itself clear as I report the relevant events, and we need to be as informed as possible to make some decisions tonight at the Assembly meeting.

“I received from the shuttle last evening an official document from His Grace, Lord Gilbanar. I must briefly take a moment or two to praise the efficiency of the Valley Messenger Service. It was sent as a 'fast' delivery rather than as an 'urgent' one, and also as a 'no immediate reply required'. So the Valley Messenger Service rider caught up with the shuttle just at the top of the incline, by the Strettalm bend and handed it over to the driver there. Naturally he knew the shuttles are licensed to carry. He had left Tranidor, near where he had overnighted, that dawn. The message was despatched from Dekarran at noon and they got it to just north of Teldor that night, then up to near Tranidor the next night. He tried to get to the Forest Roadhouse before the shuttle departed but just missed the noon deadline. A valiant effort indeed. So I repeat: praise to the Valley Messenger Service for efficiency. Part of my mind wonders what they would have done had it been an 'urgent' delivery.

“Now circumstances constrained such that I only read the despatch this morning. I had been out last night and the message was left with Master Mesulkin, who handed it to me when we met first thing. It gave me some degree of urgency this morning, I can tell you.”

He paused and looked around. Every single one of us was waiting with bated breath to discover what the message might have been.

“Our Baroness, you will recall, left us eleven nights hence. She, the Prince and their party managed to reach Dekarran after some several delays on the road; they were delays of a political nature I hasten to add, it's not that there were any more attacks or anything like that! Lord Trosanar of Tranidor was 'invited' to accompany the party and this all resulted in a very important discussion or two down there in the Duke's castle, between the Duke and his vassals, Lady Garia and Lord Trosanar. These discussions resulted in some changes for all of us, all the way up here in the farthest reaches of the kingdom.”

He took from one of his pockets a much-folded piece of sturdy parchment. He dropped the item onto the table with a certain flourish and I, along with all the others, strained to read the hand-written words at the bottom. There were only two words, but my head was at the wrong angle to make them out clearly. However, it mattered not at which angle my head was to determine what the document was all about, since the basic premise was absolutely plain. It was obviously a hastily-drawn copy of a part of a map.

It was Master Bezan who was the first to hiss his breath in and say: “Maker!”

Master Yarling took away my confusion by saying: “New borders.”

This was the trigger that made it suddenly became clear to me.

Duke Gilbanar has handed over more land to Mylady.

And the direct result of that was that it meant that Captain Bleskin was suddenly responsible for a larger area – a much larger area it would appear, but this was beyond my capabilities and I had to leave it to the men to pick the information out of it.

I include at this point a copy of the map fragment that had been sent all the way up to us from Dekarran, for you to refer to …

There was more silence as the men studied the fragment and then sat back in their chairs to think through the foreseeable results of such a change.

The Captain allowed a good while for their thoughts to be gathered as I just sat back, not having anything at all to contribute – this was, I repeat, all far beyond my range of capabilities.

“There is more!” added the Steward suddenly. “The east / north-eastern border of House Blackstone lands is now along the Chaarn Road up to the crest of the first pass which is roughly where we see the Chaarn road stop on this map. All this means we now have a hand or thereabouts of roadhouses under our control and some extra roads to be maintained. Hence Master Kordulen's involvement here. We have gained some fertile farmland with this so maybe we have some increased food supplies. We have control of the entire forests down to this new border here on the west bank and this new border on the east bank here,” he tapped the map for emphasis, “so that might make finding the wood for our expansion up here in town a little easier, but I would remind you that Mylady is adamant that any trees felled must be replanted to sustain adequate growth in the future. These are just my first thoughts at this moment. Gentlemen, the floor is open to you and your initial thoughts.”

I could feel Kords tense up just as my own nervousness increased; we poised our reedlets ready to note down what was said …

There was silence.

It was obvious that each man was thinking furiously. And Captain Bleskin was wise enough not to fill the silence. He himself was thinking hard.

Kords and I glanced at each other and giggled. We replaced our reedlets onto the table, knowing the wax doesn't like being gripped in hot hands and fingers. It suddenly occurred to me that we might have a problem, so I leant into Kords and whispered into her ear: “I'll note what the Steward says, and what Papa and Fedren say, you take the other two. OK?” She nodded in acceptance.

When the men began to speak, then it was both of Kords' candidates, so we hastily changed our agreement and made it alternate speakers. Somehow, this impromptu method enabled us to muddle through with making the notes of the discussions.

“There are more and more topics affected each heartbeat I think on it.”

“I agree, Master Bezan. I can see my miners being involved again with matters other than digging out coal. I shall have to go and survey the route up to the crest on the Chaarn road I suppose, to see if there are easier workings for coal extraction along there. Mylady had already requested me to do a survey of the Chaarn road for some distance, in case some arrangement needed to be made with whoever, probably Vardenale, but whoever it is who might control the lands to the east of the Chaarn road. Previously, Mylady's demesne was restricted to this area up here, but now it extends so much more, I must investigate all possibilities so swiftly as I can.”

“Aye Yarling, Happen so. And I shall have marks more of roads and their sides to inspect and maintain. I can see I shall require additional staff. There will be accommodation to pay for unless I can recruit from down there.”

“As you say, Kordulen. And shall I have responsibility for peace-keeping over all that area, Your Honour?”

“It seems so, Sheriff. But they must have some system in place that works at the moment. I myself shall have to visit each community, and soon, and I need to discover Mylady's desires with regard to taxes and so on. So tonight, we shall require a plan of action. Which is why I want us all to think about it during the day, so we waste little time later. There is already a packed agenda and this will change priorities, I'm sure.”

“Hah!” said Master Bezan, almost bitterly. “It's not as if we have had to do that before, huh?”

There were some sympathetic chuckles from all around, before the Steward continued.

“This will also increase our expenditure considerably, so we will have to increase the coal production as soon as we can to pay for it all.”

Master Bezan groaned theatrically again. “It's a cycle. A vicious cycle. Increase coal production, so increase traffic, so increase roadbuilding, so increase housebuilding for the displaced ones, so increase water supplies, so increase the workforce, so increase coal production to pay for it and so on. I wonder I have any hairs left to tear out!”

“Gentlemen, if I may? Just for a moment? I believe I might have an idea here that could be of assistance.”

His Honour waved Papa forward.

“We require the income from the coal, thus this must be maximised as soon as practice can make it so. One major problem we have that is restricting the quantities is the uphill part of the route, where the road to Tranidor starts climbing at a small bend and works its way up the flank of the valley to the junction with the Chaarn road. The coal wagons cannot be fully laden because of this climb.

“I have a solution to that but which would require some new infrastructure. Not much, but nevertheless some. I have been assured that my suggestion is practical. And I believe that it could be brought into life as early as next spring. I know all this since Master Bezan here asked to me to scout out a route that would negate the necessity for that uphill stretch.” He reached out to the map on the table.

“Here look, on this border map. Going up from the bottom and following the red road upwards, we see it climbs up the east flank of the Bray Valley just after passing the new border. Then comes the junction that leads to us – there, the slightly narrower red road.” His finger stabbed the map fragment showing us all where he meant. “The road descends from that junction, through the kink to the right, the kink to the left, across the river marked, and another lesser stream only faintly marked and reaches the final of the three kinks, this one to the right. Can you all see that?”

He waited until everyone round the table had nodded assent.

“From the road junction to that northernmost kink is something like seven or eight marks. It is 17 marks from the junction to the Forest Roadhouse, so you can all see this is slightly less than half that distance.

“Now that northernmost kink is the point at which the road ceases sloping down and starts sloping up again.”

A further thought was signalled by a flash across his features, so he turned to the Captain directly. “Er, Your Honour – I could spend a few moments reporting in more detail this point here or I could just give you an overview? I feel maybe that it will prove better down the line if we all have some of the detail now, so that time can be gained in this evening's meeting? The information will make clear just how I know these things and will explain my conclusion.”

“Very well. Let us have the depth now – but maybe as shallow as possible?” he finished with a friendly grin.

“Thank you, Captain. The key to what I wish to explain is that northernmost kink. There is a forester's track that runs almost straight down to the river there. If you look closely at this map, you might make out a second stream north of the main stream, this main stream as I have termed it is the one which comes down from the Chaarn Road pass. Let me tell you what I did when I went down there scouting. I followed that forester's track and as I got near the river Bray, I came across a narrow, quite steep-sided canyon. I was on its north bank of course.

“The canyon I emphasise is not that wide – too wide for a man to leap, but really not much more than that. The major problem I came across is that the south bank of this canyon is in fact the side of a small peak. I followed the canyon all the way down to the river itself, a further cast or two but the steep side across the stream showed no sign of diminishing. There is a cliff that finishes that peak, and that cliff drops vertically down to the river some hand of strides below. It was impossible for me to see what was further downstream along this bank of the river.

“I tried going back upstream of the river Bray to see if that afforded a better view but it didn't. I made a note of noticeable signs and markings on both sides of the river and headed back to the main road. I wanted to cross that stream and then go back to the river's edge, following the south bank this time. Which is what I attempted to do. But all I achieved was to come across the back of the peak. I could not pass to the north side of the peak as I had suspected. The flank of the peak falls directly into the canyon. I therefore followed the foot so to speak of the peak in the other direction, leaving the stream and canyon behind me, thus working my way downvalley. A little further on, I came across a second stream, almost a river in itself. This was much bigger than the first, and far faster flowing. This too was in a steeply-edged canyon, and once again I was on the north bank. I followed this downstream as far as I could, but again did not reach the river, the blocking peak preventing me just as it had done on the other, upvalley, side. So again I had to turn back, going this time upstream along this second cross-river. I followed it, as near as I could in the thickness of the forest, back up to the main road. There was little difficulty in the ground and the canyon-like nature of this river route shallowed gradually out. It was just the trees that made passage awkward. Once I gained the main road again, I realised that in fact this second cross-river is the very river that flows down the pass that the Chaarn road follows. It is plainly visible on this map.”

Again he tapped the parchment on the table.

“I crossed this large stream using the main road, and again followed the river/stream towards the Bray river, this time of course on its south bank; the canyon developed steeper and steeper sides as it neared the main river. This time, however, I made it all the way down to the Bray. The peak was blocking my view upstream, of course.

“I looked around to see if there was anything that would enable me to judge the distance to the other side of the blocking peak. Imagine how much I was astounded to see a tree across the river that had a particular scar where the bark had peeled away. I had last seen that tree when I went down to the river at my very first attempt, following the waters of the first cross-stream, on the upvalley side.

“As a result, I estimate that the two canyons reach the river only a cast or so apart, which in turn means that the peak is quite narrow as it reaches the river. Both canyons are easily bridged distance-wise, but these two bridges are separated by at the most one and a half or two casts of sheer rock. I suppose that a way could be constructed around the point of the peak, on some sort of gallery, but then it would not be a gentle curve as my task was described. It occurred to me that maybe a tunnel could be bored through there, but there would be a difficulty finding a starting platform for such a thing. I would require some mining expert to confirm my feelings. It must be feasible. Maybe the nose of the triangle of the peak could be sliced off, so to speak. This would allow an almost straight stretch of road, thus fulfilling the terms of my brief.

“The rest of the way downvalley from there is simplicity itself to construct a roadway of gentle slope which could in fact rejoin the main road almost opposite the fifth roadhouse after the junction, as you descend, of course. There are far fewer trees in comparative fact downslope from the junction itself, although it is still a forest. To have a completely gentle slope from the start point I suggested to rejoin the main road below the junction, I would estimate could take up to fifteen marks depending upon how soon you might want to regain the existing road. Master Bezan did suggest maybe a single direction system so that laden wagons descending are the only ones to use the new road, upvalley traffic could use the existing road.

“However, that I feel is probably some years away. There is another possibility, which seems to me to offer some rapid advantages.”

He paused and took a sip of pel. Bezan and Yarling nodded to each other, having heard this already, at this very table, while the rest listened eagerly, if that's possible.

“There is only at most three casts of dense forest from which to hack out a passage. The forester's track would also need widening, but of course there is space there already between the trees. At most a single mark of new road, maybe a mark and a half, but I doubt it is so much. We could thus have a functioning road down to the very water's edge. And transship the coal to a barge.”

He sat back with a certain amount of pride.

“A barge, Master? But we would then need to negotiate with barge companies and so on, not to mention other landholders nearby. I don't see that as being conducted in any degree of haste.” He must have seen the look on Papa's face, because he continued queryingly: “Do we have any experience with barges?”

“Actually, Captain, we do.”

Suddenly, our Steward sat up straighter.

Papa continued: “My brother-in-law-to-be, that's the brother of Swayga, works down at the Forest Roadhouse. He used to work for a barge company before coming upvalley. His name is Steef and he is second-in-charge of the Roadhouse. Swayga might be able to give you more details, but Steef was one of the bosses of that barge company until it was squeezed out of existence, some say by Lord Trosanar down to Tranidor.”

“Yes, I have been informed of the thinking of Lord Trosanar. I am also reliably informed further that that thinking has changed and barges could now be a viable option. I must arrange to meet this Steef at the earliest opportunity. Now, Master Kordulen, you are the only man here that can tell us … what DISadvantages of this proposal do you see?”

He shook his head as he answered: “Your Honour, there is even a rocky ledge down there that is almost a ready-made wharf. The only disadvantage I can see is I have no knowledge of water levels during the rains. All the rest is eminently doable. The tree-felling is relatively minor, and would provide needed wood for the expansion here. And it could be brought into action by spring, if not earlier, given an easy winter. Maybe one other awkwardness is that there is no life down there and the workers would have little civilisation at first.”

“Thank you, Master. Your information is excellent, and it was wise to go to that level of detail. Do any of you others have any questions of Master Kordulen?”

They all shook their heads and the Steward took over once more.

“So we have a relatively easy option to increase the flow of coal departing our lands, using the increased lands Mylady has been granted. Let me now ask each individually of the difficulties you foresee in each of your areas of expertise. Fedren, you start.”

The Sheriff simply reported that he was already stretched just dealing with events in the town. If the greatly enlarged Barony were also to be included in his brief, then he needed to recruit aggressively and rapidly. But maybe first he would need to travel downvalley and ask the people down there how it functions at present. He should also establish some contact with his counterpart in Tranidor, but that would have to be done once he had sufficient staff here to cover his absence.

Yarling followed and made a good point when he said that if coal was to be found in the Chaarn Road Pass area, then it would likely be far easier to transport it out of there and that Blackstone's development would as a consequence be able to be cut back.

Bezan finished the session by saying that Yarling's point was perhaps the most fundamental, and should be pursued as soon as possible. Thinking of the logistics, he felt that maybe a small village should be built down there, which would address Papa's point about the loneliness of the workers and also maybe assist Fedren by having somewhere to base some of his staff. He wondered if maybe the Steward should like to base himself down there. More in the middle of his responsibilities rather than have so far to travel from the uttermost end.

“I understand the logic behind your suggestion, but that might be something I'd consider in a few years. At the moment most activities will be here – unless Yarling finds something of value. Maybe then we would have to consider moving the baronial seat.”

He thought for a moment or two – but I confess it seemed a lot longer.

“Right then. Yarling and Kordulen, can you both together go down and investigate the coal possibilities of the Chaarn Road Pass, if it pleases? You can also establish an initial contact with the roadhouses that are now ours. Then Kordulen, you can show Yarling your wharf/tunnel/gallery area and get his opinion of the rocks around there. It's around 40 marks to the junction from here, so you could get down there in a little over half a day on frayen, it being downhill all the way! If you start tomorrow early, then you could be at one of the resthouses, settle in and do a little investigation in the late afternoon. You could then spend the morning doing some more and pass on to another of the roadhouses for that night. Work your way back to the two canyon area and have the third night in the Forest Roadhouse. That way you could be back here by noon of the fourth day. I don't see you can do it any quicker, unless you don't visit the roadhouses and simply camp out.”

Again there was a silence as each man tried to think of anything else relevant.

“Right then. Keep this in mind for this evening's meeting and off you go about your normal business. Sheriff, you may inform that ruffian in your cell that his trial will be on the morrow at the sixth bell. I have too much to do today and it will do him good to sit and stew for a while. I want this to be a public trial so I will ask Mistress Sukhana if we can use her courtyard again. Master Jepp informed me of the details after Mylady and His Highness told me what had taken place. I deem many women will want to be present, and I want to be sure that they see justice is done. They will be less complaining if they see that we care. It may be of great benefit to us.”

He stood up.

“Master Kordulen, we thank you both for your hospitality and your neat possible solution. We also thank your two valuable daughters here, who have done such a good job as makeshift scribes. Please convey our thanks to Mistress Swayga and also to your other children for keeping this meeting interruption free. Gentleman, I shall see you all this evening – and no doubt your good self too Mistress Julina. It would appear I have many letters to write and others to see. If I rush, maybe I have time to get to the Forest Roadhouse and back. Steef I believe you said the name was. Or maybe I should send for him. That would probably be best. Otherwise I have to rearrange too many other meetings. I'm sorry, I was thinking aloud. I must away.”

With that, he swept up his hat and strode to the door before hurriedly mounting his animal and moving smartly off.

The other men followed, after generous thanks. They also went quite swiftly and suddenly we who remained were left alone, breathing quite rapidly it seemed.

What a whirlwind of a way to start the day.

… … …

The levelling teams were back to their usual positions now that the work had been done on East Street. Perhaps that's not quite accurate. They were now concentrating on the Loop Road, working their way round the valley head and angling down in a great gentle arc towards the new bridge. Already the Loop Road had been extended from the last place I had seen it, although the surfacing of the new road sections was noticeably absent.

I was fascinated both to see our town from the west side of the valley and to see the sights as we passed round the head of the valley on our morning ride to get there. We, Papa and I, had nearly been late after the 'emergency' of the morning but our companions were fascinated by our news, which of course we passed on as we rode up that way.

“Good for the Duke,” declared Sookie forcefully. “He is obviously very bright, and knows that Mylady will manage this well.”

“It seems so,” agreed Pomma as Papa and Parry rumbled noises of approval.

Our chats about the new lands were interrupted as we passed by the third quarry, the entrance to which was so far above our heads. There was a new contraption there which fascinated us all. Lumps (and dust!) of freshly mined coal were being carried down from the mine entrance to a waiting wagon at our road level by a long piece of cloth, it seemed to me. A few moments of study revealed how it worked, and, as always, the simple things give the most delight.

No less than three, one of them ancient, dranakh were harnessed to a turntable. To this turntable, a stout rope was attached. The rope we could see was a big loop going round some machinery at one end of this cloth thing that ascended the hill to the mine entrance, or descended the hill from the mine entrance laden with coal. We saw that the cloth was actually a giant loop of cloth, maybe a stride wide. When the coal reached the end of the cloth, it simply dropped off into the belly of the waiting wagon. The cloth went round a roller and was dragged back up to the top of the incline once more, this time not being laden of course as it went under the descending other half of the loop.

We rode nearer to the apparatus at the end and could then see that the machinery caused another wheel to turn and this wheel was attached somehow to something that at first we could not see clearly. But we could see that it was this something that drove the cloth bit which was loaded with coal, carried on rollers that rotated. When we got even nearer we could see a complicated arrangement of gears that was providing the driving force. The coal simply fell off the end of the cloth into the wagon's belly. The piece of cloth it had been travelling on looped down over a roller before travelling back up to the top again, underneath the loaded portion of cloth.

As we rode on past, we discussed what it might be called and we all decided that the name 'continuous carpet' was our favourite.

We rode on to the point where a track joined ours as it descended from an acute angle to our right. Papa told us this was the track that led up to the Stone Sea, as Sookie nodded her agreement, and added there would not be time to go all the way to the Sea, but maybe to what they called the 'false ridge'. Of course, everyone else wanted to go up there, but I knew I had not the time – I had a meal to prepare for about twenty people! Papa agreed to accompany me back and let the others return at their own pace. We said goodbye to the other three, agreeing – of course – to meet for another ride on the morrow. We retraced our way and again marvelled at the continuous carpet.

As we got next to the Miners' Village, there was some sort of ceremony or celebration going on. So of course we had to slow and observe. We could see the water channels sloping down through the three levels, but what was interesting was that these channels were covered only until about half-way down. As we watched, there was a cheer and we could see water cascade down the channels on the extreme left. Enquiring of a worker nearby, we learnt that the lowest level of all, where there were six sheds evenly spaced round the edge of the lowest semi-circle, was the level for the privies.

Here is a quick description, as given in an earlier tale:

There were three levels prepared, each a half circle. The levels were joined to each other by two wide ramps that cut the half circles into three equal areas. These ramps were just wide enough for a wagon. The upper level was about thirty strides from one side to the other. The next level was two strides lower, I could judge that fairly accurately by seeing the height of one of the wagons being used down there compared to the upper surface. This level was about a cast wide as its circle was that much greater than the one above. The third level I guessed to be much the same, two strides lower and a cast or so wider. There was a final level that was NOT a half circle – instead a number of simple circles all of their own.

My memory says that I counted a hand of the privies before, but six makes much more sense, two for each third.

The celebrations were that now the left-hand segment (as we looked from the main road) was fully integrated with a water supply. The workman laughed wryly as he added: “Without a lid on the waste channel, the smell might be quite strong!”

“Why are there no covers all the way on the channels?”

“Oh, the stone required has been allocated to another project that came up, the new street over to the east of the town. We have run out of cut stone it appears and that new street doesn't have enough to surface it either, so we end up with two projects not completed. This place is a shambles.”

We took our leave and rode back down to the Claw where we left the animals, before scampering up the slope to home. I changed swiftly, and then Papa and I loaded our arms with various buckets, carry bags and containers and went down to M's.

I got to the kitchen half a bell before I had arranged to be there and started checking that the ovens were hot and so on. Kassama and Haka had done marvels, the kitchens were clean, the ovens were indeed hot and the water tank was filled, as well as several cooking pans. I thanked Papa and waved him away, knowing that I would be here for many bells now. Papa was to be included in the evening's meeting, so he could escort me home afterwards.

Tonight, I would be cooking for 22 people, 7 of whom would not be in the dining room. Which thought made me want to do another check before I got started in earnest.

I quickly went to the dining room and tables had been grouped together to make one large one. I counted quickly and there would be space indeed for 15 diners. Gyth and Kelly were going to be the ones to serve the diners, so they could do the table setting. Michet would supervise. I had to learn to let others do things and not control them myself. I think that turned out to be my most awkward job of all!

Back to the kitchen, then. There were three ganifilis to be done first. I would make some more stock and some more soup from these, then cook them as the back-up dishes in case anything went wrong. I slipped an apron over my head, and got started after moving the tank of fish out of the way of my chosen place, where the most light spilled onto the work-surface.

… … …

The meal was a success.

I shouldn't boast, but it really was a success and everyone was delighted. I could tell this wasn't simply a formal nice polite saying – it was a genuine expression of delight.

I reacted as you will have expected – I blushed at the lavish praise, but I did make sure that Molly got her share of praise too.

And the whole evening was also a very valuable exercise for the five of us most closely involved with the organisation of the Salon.

Yes, there were things that didn't go right. A simple accident meant that two of the main dishes were dropped on the floor as they were being carried to be served. They had to be thrown away. We learnt from that that we must always have a spare dish or two on the side, just in case. This evening we had seven people to feed who were not in the dining room, so it was simple to slip two of those plates in, with time to remake two more in the privacy of the kitchens.

A few things went wrong in the kitchen, a few in the dining room. All very valuable lessons indeed and so, as far as we were concerned, the evening was a huge success. The Foti dish was a complete surprise to those not in the know, and the Captain was delighted, Kelly said. And everyone declared that the food we served was delicious.

A certain amount of Assembly business had been conducted whilst they ate, the girls informing me that they were minor topics, but still necessary for the overall running of the town. The major topics had been left until after the meal was out of the way, mainly because, Papa told me later, the Captain wanted me to be there in case any questions arose about the notes of the morning's meeting.

That part of the evening started at around the half bell announcement after the second bell. It was heralded by the four of us girls being called into the dining room where, as I mentioned, we were all embarrassed by the lavish praise. The Steward then apologised to the three others that he had a need for me to be in the room for the next topics to be discussed and would thus have to leave the clear-up to the others just this once. He announced that an entire Solly would be donated by the Assembly to be shared amongst us as a thank you for what we had done. We were amazed – that was a whole hand of feniks for each of us! We stuttered our shocked thanks, and then the girls left to clear up. Michen went with them to help after escorting Master Morden to his sitting room, where he apparently fell asleep almost as he was sitting down into the chair. Kassama was just finishing her meal in the kitchen as the others trooped back in, followed by “The Boss”, who was grinning with delight that his/her Salon was a success.

… … …

“… and so Masters, and Mistresses Lendra and Julina, there is now a MUCH larger area to administer. Master Yarling, accompanied by Master Kordulen, will travel down to the junction and from there up the Chaarn Road to the pass to see if there are any easier-mined coal seams. If so, then the development here in town may be put off, at least for a while. So their report is crucial as to how we proceed. They will depart tomorrow morn, early, and I would expect them back by dusk of the fourth day after that. So on the fifth morning, we shall all reconvene here at the second bell – Master Michen has agreed that we may use this room as our Assembly room until the Community Hall is built.

“With the increased size of the lands, there will come a time when we need to raise a few more guards and they will need to be trained. And not just for guard duties. Forgive me, that is the years I have had at the Palace talking. There is not much here to guard and the men we will need to recruit are hardly likely to need to be as proficient with weapons as real guards are. If any invaders get here, then the professionals downvalley will have been defeated already. However, men will be required for a variety of duties. Communications, controlling, expediting. I don't know what to call them really. Militia maybe. There is a military aspect to the requirement. Even now, we require staff for the semaphore system, and this I feel should not be a burden to the Sheriff in HIS duties. Maybe, it would be sensible if the Valley Messenger Service were to take over those semaphore duties, after all it IS about getting messages about the place.

“The Sheriff himself will require to recruit some more staff and a recent development means that we shall have to have some females working for him as well. Quite how the differing duties can be resolved between the Sheriff's department and a more military department is a matter for further discussions, maybe not this evening – in fact almost certainly NOT this evening. We have a lot of detail to get through, and we must not clutter up the time we have.

“What is absolutely clear and obvious is that I myself cannot devote all my time solely to the guard , sorry, militia that will have to be here; I have a host of other duties to perform. As a result, I therefore have an urgent need of someone to whom I can delegate these more military tasks. That person would have to be responsible to the Assembly and to my mind, it makes sense that he is also a member of the Assembly.

“Do any of you object to having someone in such a position? Please feel free to discuss this openly. As usual, if you have anything against, then I expect you to say so. I shall never, I hope, become a dictator. It is my duty to think ahead and prepare this now expanded Barony for the immense development that is envisaged and for the inevitable problems that will be brought along as a consequence. Our entire country is going to change within the younger generation's lifetime and indeed within some of ours.”

There was a general murmur of agreement and those seated at the table looked round at each other.

But no-one took up the Steward's offer to make a discussion of it.

So, with no gainsayers, the Captain continued: “I therefore officially propose that such a position is created and becomes a member of this council. All those in favour?”

Everyone raised their hand.

“I see I have no need to ask if anyone is against, nor if there are any abstentions.”

Everyone chuckled as the Steward gave Master Jepp time to record the events.

“Now, we need to find a candidate, or candidates, to fill that position. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have one in mind, but would be interested to see if any of you have any ideas.”

There was a general conversation at this point, with various names half-suggested and mostly rejected. But one name was suggested from various sides and they all sat back in their chairs and breathed the equivalent of “Of course” when they heard it.

I didn't know what to do, but just then the Steward said: “Excellent. Master Michen was my candidate too. Mistress Julina may I trouble you to go and fetch him? Thank you.”

I was in turmoil at this moment as I could foresee some difficulties ahead. Outside the room, I met Kassama and asked her where Michet was – she told me that she was using the toilet and would be out very soon. I told her that Master Michen was required in the Assembly room and she promised to send HIM in as quickly as he could get there.

I returned to the Salon and heard the Steward making the case: “... the details will need to be thrashed out, but as we are all here, and we all foresee that this may become a larger requirement in the future, then I see no reason to delay. As far as I am aware, we have no other decorated guardsmen in town, the Assembly room is now in his house, and he also has the time. He is the leader of the hunters. He is furthermore fully aware of the ideas and aims of our Baroness, and is still injured from the battle up in the Vale in which he distinguished himself, again. He has fought at her side, and he has discussed many things with her, and he has added ideas to the town and its development. Are there any gainsayers to or abstainers from this proposal? If so, please raise a hand now.”

There was silence for a full moment, and not a single hand was raised.

The Steward said: “So be it. Again, unanimous.”

At that moment, Master Michen came into the room. Master Brydas was the first to start clapping but none of the others was too far behind.

“Master Michen is therefore voted onto our Assembly with the rank of Quadrant and he can be our militia leader. Please remark it as so in the record, Master Scribe.” The Captain beamed, and turned to M as he said: “Welcome Quadrant Michen to our body. You now have full voting rights in our Council.”

M blushed very heavily and looked directly at me anguishedly before saying: “If it pleases you all, can we just hold back on that, I beg of you. I'm not at all sure I can accept that.”

---

Julina is closely involved with the Assembly meeting, and then another day with some tough decisions to be made.

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

My mind was racing for a way out of this difficulty when we were all shocked (well, I, for one, was shocked, and some others' faces seemed to be as well) by Master Jepp laughing out loud. This was a surprise on two counts. Just to see him laugh was a surprise, as he was normally a very staid and … solid … citizen.

“I thoroughly approve of your sense of humour, Master Michen,” he chuckled. Then he turned to address the Steward, saying directly to him: “If I may be permitted to point out, Your Honour, that this body is not, as it happens, allowed to appoint Quadrants – that particular function has to be done by either Mylady Garia or the head of her guard, Commander Feteran. As a result of that, I have been thinking of which title we might provide for this appointment and I remember there is a word, a name at the back of my mind, which I seem to recall is of Chivan origin – I know we covered it when I was learning all this. There is another word from possibly another source that might also be appropriate. Neither word is springing easily to mind. With your permission, I shall leave the title open in the records of the meeting, to be ratified at our next occasion. I shall have had time to research it by then. As I recall, then the original Chivan word for which I am striving describes a person who was responsible for various things: for representing the folk to the lord of the land (or, as in this case, her Steward) and for representing the lord or Steward to the folk, thus allowing the Steward to concentrate on the many other aspects of governing a region. This official was responsible also for collecting taxes and rents, which would not apply in this case, unless it happens that the town imposes some, and responsible too for chasing down unpaid fines and the like. I shall look forward to researching that. This is the sort of thing that I find gives me pleasure in my quieter moments.”

All this gave M and I time to flash messages to one another, which the Steward caught – he is a VERY observant man. Which I suppose should not have surprised me as much as it did.

“Thank you, Master Jepp for your accurate observations. I regret I overstepped the line there – please mark this down, all of you, to a lack of a thorough grounding in Stewardly procedures. I have been accustomed all my life to making these decisions in a military environment and just extended that to here. I stand corrected, and rightly so. Now, before we continue, I suggest a comfort break. I remind you we have a lot to get through this evening and we must not be distracted. I myself do not require it, but I see a few of you fidgeting. We will break now and reconvene in precisely five moments, if that is sufficient for you all?” He looked around. “Good, then a hand of moments break. Perhaps, Mistress Julina you would be kind enough to show me your kitchens where you produced such a marvellous feast. It seems an appropriate use of our time whilst the others are relieving themselves. Master Michen, it is after all your house, so would you like also to accompany us?”

Oh, how very cleverly done! I admired the smooth way he had guided us into a reclusive place, where a private conversation could be had, and how he had fitted in this fact-finding moment into a busy schedule in case it threw out any of his plans.

We reached the kitchens where all activity stopped at our entrance. The girls had been busy cleaning up and tidying away, aided by Kassama and Haka. I had to catch M's eye when I saw Haka there and got a resigned shrug that said 'so be it' in reply. We had already agreed with our eye messages that I should inform the Captain.

I spoke quickly to prevent the others being dismissed.

“Your Honour, I saw that you caught the unspoken exchanges between myself and Master Michen in the other room. Please allow me to explain. Everyone here, except Haka, knows the secret. May I present Mistress Haka, a talented seamstress, mother of a lovely son called Haris, and wife of Suril, the Sheriff's deputy? Mistress Haka, may I present Mylady's Steward in these lands, his Honour the Captain Bleskin?”

The two murmured a formal and non-committal greeting as one does in those circumstances. More formal than actually meant. Haka found herself compelled into dropping a deep curtsey, from which the Captain graciously waved her up to her normal stance.

“Mistress Haka, my pleasure.”

He turned to me and said: “And you Mistress Julina are very observant. Was it so obvious I caught your exchange with Master Michen?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak just at that moment. If I agreed, it could be seen as saying that his Honour was naïve and easily read. If I disagreed, maybe I was being rude. But he himself was very observant as I reported, so I could also have come back and 'accused' him of the same thing. This was an area of uncertainty I did not wish to enter.

Haka was more than a bit flustered at the formal presentation but I could see her alive with inquisitiveness as to what everyone else knew, other than herself and the Captain. Dranakh could not have dragged her away just then.

The Captain turned to M and raised a querying eyebrow.

“I shall have to leave this to Mistress Julina, your Honour,” stammered a very uncomfortable M.

The Captain turned to me, again not saying a word.

I drew in a deep breath, being aware that M trusted me and hoping against hope that I could find the right words.

“It is a matter of honour, your Honour.” I inwardly cringed as my tongue used the word 'honour' too much. “A solemn undertaking; a promise made. Master Michen is honour-bound,” (cringe – there it was again) “not to tell anyone. However, we have discovered that the original promise was that Master Michen could not tell anyone. I discovered the facts purely by accident, and I am not therefore bound by that original promise. However, I am bound by a promise myself. I can only tell anyone with Master Michen's explicit permission.”

We all turned and looked at M, who was still crimson with embarrassment. We did hear a mumbled “Granted” from the middle of that tortured face.

All eyes turned back to me.

“Your Honour, my personal feelings are based on my disapproval that this promise was extracted from a child who was far too young to understand the decision, and I find it reprehensible in the extreme that another person's entire life has been made so very difficult by a promise extracted from a six-year old. I am quite angry with the person who insisted on the promise, and hope one day to be able to express that great dissatisfaction. However, it doesn't alter the facts. Up to about a week or two ago only three people in town knew the truth, one of them is here present, Mistress Kassama, the housemistress hereof this home. Once we started this venture, and selected the workforce for it, it was determined that those who work here would also need to know, thus my friends were also informed. Your Honour, I have extracted a solemn promise from each of them here never to repeat this information without permission from Master Michen. So before I go further, I require the same promise from yourself and from Haka. Do I have that promise?”

Haka was quick to give hers.

The Captain, however, was more cautious.

“I am unprepared to give such an undertaking at this moment. If the information you are about to reveal causes problems with my duties, or with the well-being of these lands, or anything like that, then I may have to reveal it myself without gaining permission. I ask you to trust my judgement on that, but otherwise I shall willingly make the solemn undertaking of such a promise.”

I looked at M and she looked back at me, nodding the once.

“Very well, then I shall accept that as agreement in principle, with matters of state maybe overruling.”

I paused.

Then, very formally, after I took a deep breath and exhaled some, I said: “Your Honour, I have occasion now to present to you a further person. On the one hand we have here his Honour, Captain Bleskin, Mylady Garia, Baroness of Blackstone's Steward of Blackstone lands. On the other hand I present to you, Mistress Michet, daughter of Master Morden. Mistress Michet has been a girl and woman all her life, the manly front is a mere mask.”

Haka let out a gasp to show her surprise and then, to MY surprise, she breathed “Of course! NOW it makes sense.”

We all looked at the Steward.

His reaction was even more surprising, surpassing anything I, or anyone else present, could have expected.

“And when …... ah! Master Morden is close to his pyre. You have to wait until then?”

“Exactly, Your Honour.”

“Thank you for your trust in me. And Mistress Julina, I believe you have served your friend here excellently. I commend you.”

He continued to surprise us by turning to M and saying: “So you, Mistress Michet are the one! We knew of a woman in the guard at Dekarran for years, it was an open secret, but no name was ever mentioned. I did not expect to meet her. It is my honour to do so. I have seen the reports of the action for which you were decorated. You should have a further decoration for your part up in Blackstone Vale.”

There was a pause as he thought rapidly.

“I still feel my instincts are right, and would value your involvement. I shall change my tactics in the chamber there. May I expect an affirmative to my proposal? We will find a title and a job description by the next meeting. And you may retain your secret for now. I shall not breathe a word nor make any indication that anything has changed.”

“I should be honoured, Captain.”

“So be it. Now we have a meeting to get through. Mistresses Michet and Julina, please attend.” His eyes twinkled. “Though I suspect it should at this moment be Master Michen I am ordering about.”

With that, he turned on his heel and marched back into the Salon, we two trailing in his wake.

… … …

“Thank you all for a prompt restart. We had a small unresolved matter from beforehand which has made me reconsider our progress – slightly. Most of us were round the table, not this one of course, when Mylady had her last meeting. She made a strong 'suggestion' at that meeting which I wish to address now. As usual, her 'suggestions' gain value and credence the more we think them through. Recent events in the town have also added their weight, as Master Fedren our Sheriff is only too willing to attest. Mistress Julina here is to be thanked on several happenings, but the most immediately relevant is the rescue of our valued colleague here, Master Blandel, from his depression. Another of Mistress Julina's friends, having been introduced by Mistress Julina, made a suggestion that has increased production of our coal.

“I am aware of the women's circle here in town – there's no need to be so shocked Mistresses, I would be a very slack Steward if I was not aware of it – and also that Mistress Megrozen runs businesses both up here and in Tranidor. I could go on for the whole evening about various other incidents, but will leave that to your sensible and objectively applied knowledge. In my considered opinion, we would do well to harken to Mylady's words. I have considered the matter and I have concluded that Mistress Lendra here, with her contacts and broad reach throughout the community would be the most suitable to be our first female council member. I therefore officially propose that she be voted onto our Assembly. Please use a part of your mind to consider that as I continue. We will return to this in a few moments.”

There had been some sharp intakes of breaths around the table, but, in accordance with the Captain's wishes, no words were yet spoken.

“My immediate predecessor, Master Mesulkin there, has much valuable information and experience that it would be most criminal simply to discard. He has indicated to me that the function he most misses is that of formalising marriages and so I therefore propose that he also be voted onto our Assembly, specialising in marriages, but making his vast experience available to us all on most subjects. Master Jepp and I have discussed this beforehand, and the title to be bestowed upon Master Mesulkin would be that of Alderman – this word begins with an 'A' by the way, for reasons lost to us. I am informed that the original was Elderman, with an 'E'. This is a title which is particularly appropriate here, as it was a post created for semi-retired leaders, the so-called Elders of the community, to take up. This was designed precisely so their knowledge would not be lost.

“Now I want you all to be brutally honest with yourselves. Is there any reason, other than tradition, that these appointments should not be made? I wish to make these appointments now, so that the following topics can be voted upon by us all. If so, please voice those reasons clearly and concisely. However, I will state clearly here and now that I am NOT prepared to accept any reason as valid if it is just another way of saying 'but we have never done it that way'. We need to get on, so please keep your remarks now to the minimum. Master Bezan, your views?”

“I have had the pleasure of talking and working with her Ladyship, I have also learnt to be grateful, particularly to Mistress Julina, for some ideas from the townswomen. And you are right about Master Mesulkin. I am in favour.”

“Master Yarling?”

“I agree with Bezan, although I confess the female thing leaves me uneasy, but I cannot justify that. In favour.”

Masters Fedren and Brydas also indicated they were in favour, also with unquantifiable reservations, while Master Blandel was almost over-enthusiastic in his support for having a woman – he cast a beaming smile at me as he said this.

Master Selden saw no reason to have a female just because they were female, when nearly all business decisions were made by males. However, he did agree that Mistress Lendra was a very suitable candidate if it really had to come to that.

Masters Torin and Sinidar were against having a woman in their number but failed to convince with their arguments. They both looked a little ashamed as they tried to justify their statements.

This just left Master Jepp. He pointed out that he himself had argued for women apprentices and felt that women could provide much valuable insight to their deliberations on how to develop the town for ALL its citizens. He therefore had no qualms whatsoever in supporting the motion and would “indeed, be proud so to do”.

“Thank you all. So I ask now for a show of hands. All those in favour of these appointments to the Assembly, please raise your hands now. Ah, a clear majority. Are either of you who have not raised their hands voting against the motion? No! So therefore you must be abstaining, is that correct? Thank you. Master Scribe, please note that the three appointments are now made with a vote of 8 to 0, with two abstentions. So now Mistresses and Masters Landra, Mesulkin and Michen - welcome. Your views on all are expected, and furthermore expected to be open and honest, with no other influences apart from your own thoughts. We know enough never to adjust our views according to what we think the other or others might like to hear. As of now you are entitled, and indeed fully expected, to vote on each subject that arises.

“As for myself, I shall only cast my vote from now on in the event of a tied decision. I doubt though that we will have many of those with twelve of you!

“Now, for those newcomers, I will mention the urgent things we have to discuss this evening. Essentially they all come under the heading of town developments, and Master Bezan will be able to report on most of that. There are some things that will seem strange to you, but we all know them and you will have to trust us when we say they have all been thought through and indeed discussed. Just to give you a flavour, Mylady Garia has told us, and shown us in some small ways, that it will be possible, if not in our lifetimes, certainly within the life of someone like Mistress Julina, to travel from Blackstone to Tranidor AND BACK within a single day!”

There were gasps from those who did not know – the loudest probably from me. I heard Papa breathe to himself: “Ah! Hence no sharp corners! At those speeds the curves must be gentle.” He sat on the edge of his chair, full of attention now he realised the importance of his research.

“It is therefore incumbent upon us to lay the groundworks for that to occur. Mylady has called this method of transport a 'railroad'. Most of you will have seen the mining wagons on their rails inside the mine entrance? Well, Mylady, or, more appropriately, Guildmistress Garia has told us about a giant version of this, with wagons pulled by machines, powered by steam engines. Master Brydas is working with steam engines, and correspondence from downvalley indicates that more powerful ones than just the demonstration version Brydas has here are available. Most of the development costs of this railroad will have to be funded by the extraction of coal, so we have to prioritise that. But that gives us conflicting necessities as we try to balance our resources.

“However, there is something else more important to report to you all. Some here know already, and I shall explain that. But the fact is we have today had a further disruption to our plans. The information became available when I received it only this morning. It was actually delivered at dusk last night to Master Mesulkin who passed it on to me first thing this morn since I was absent at delivery time, and we didn't meet until after we woke.

“Mylady Garia is a vassal of Duke Gilbanar whose seat as we all know is down in Dekarran. The message I received was sent from his Grace, and was countersigned by both Mylady and also Lord Trosanar of Tranidor. Mylady has been awarded ALL the land between here and almost the end of the forest. That means that WE all present here are making decisions for things that happen from here down to beyond the Chaarn Road fork. And also on the west bank of the Bray.”

Again, there was a combined hissing in of breath from those who had not been present this morning.

“Master Kordulen has recently been sent down to those regions by Master Bezan to scout the route for that possible railroad. He is here tonight to be available for questioning about his report. This morning I naturally required a quick meeting with several of us here and Master Kordulen as he knows more than anyone else about those far parts. Master Jepp was away and it occurred to me that Mistress Julina can write, so it made sense for the morning meeting to be at Master Kordulen's home. Mistress Julina is here tonight in case we have any questions arising from her notes she made. Personally, I must say that my belly as well is extremely pleased that she was here tonight!”

I tried not to be proud as the gentle laughter was accompanied by looks and gestures of thanks.

“We are unaware of exactly what the newly-awarded lands will provide, but I repeat our existence is underpinned by coal extraction. If coal is to be found in the new parts, and is found to be more easily extractable from there than from here, then all our efforts and priorities will be switched as soon as possible. However, we cannot make that decision without knowledge. So until that knowledge is acquired, we must continue on the assumption that we will be at the heart of things here in the town.

“Masters Yarling and Kordulen are leaving first thing on the morrow to make an initial survey down there. We estimate that the entire thing will take some four days, so our next meeting will be here, in this room, at the second day bell in five mornings time. Then we can know the priority of our efforts.

“Now, I believe I have set the foundations for the rest of the meeting and I can therefore hand over to Master Bezan to detail all we need to know. And to allow my tortured throat some liquid refreshment.”

Grins appeared on the faces round the table, and then Master B stood to start his discussion.

This was the first I heard of the three more street blockages that had occurred this afternoon, whilst I was busy with my cooking. Master Bezan decided to start with the traffic problems and explained how the East Street solution would solve many of these. The problem at the moment was the lack of stone to finish the road surfaces. Master Blandel explained that the demand for stone was excessively high with extra roads being built as well as water supply channels – and while he was 'ill' his senior man, Mostar, had been taken off for other duties involving the aqueduct and dam. More stone was being quarried but it takes time. He apologised for his lack of efficiency in recent weeks, but he would make up for it as soon as he could. He was also looking for other sources of stone, and apprentices to train in stonemasonry.

Papa interjected at that point, just asking people to remember this bit, he had something to say about it later.

M was encouraged by Papa's contribution so he then felt it was alright to add a little something to the discussion. It didn't stop him looking a little embarrassed whilst doing so: “In my duties with the guard, and with the wagons I started out on, I have seen many different roads. One particular one springs to mind at this moment. But first allow me to set some background and to check some facts.” He paused briefly. “Now I believe that the four cross alleys are all fully surfaced, am I correct?”

There was several nods from others.

“Good, then we solve the problem by taking up those surface stones again. Hold!” he said smiling while holding up a hand, which gesture silenced the potential clamour we could all sense was about to burst out.

“What do we need on East Street? More surfacing stones. Where do we have them? In the alleys. The alleys are not being used right now, at least not as the design requires them to be. They are designed for the one-direction system to work, so that lower buildings do not have to go all the way up to the campingplace before turning downhill. Lower buildings would simply need a short uphill journey before using the cross alleys as access routes for the new downhill one-direction road we all call East Street.

“At the moment we have two-direction traffic on Main Street. The blockages come there. So we provide East Street with a workable surface, and the traffic that is designed to use the alleys can use the Main Street as we do now in two directions, in other words, keep it exactly as it already is.

“But the bulk of the traffic will be routed downhill on East Street, making that a one-direction street. A vast diminution of the traffic on Main Street. Far fewer blockages.”

There was a moment of silence, and then everyone was wondering why they hadn't thought of that.

Until Master B said: “An elegant temporary solution, but even the alleys have insufficient stone to surface East Street – and we cannot allow traffic on there without a reliable surface. The levelling would be ruined within a few moments, and the water channels would be knocked down in a heartbeat.”

“Ah but Master Bezan, this is where my memory of a particular road type comes in. We just need two stripes of stones for the wagon wheels to run on; a third stripe in the middle would be best, one for the dranakh to walk on, but their footpads are wide and won't damage the surface too much, particularly as the traffic would be descending. As more stone becomes available, the road can be completely covered without disturbing traffic too much. Then the alleys can be redone, starting of course at the bottom end, until Main Street becomes one-direction too.”

Another silence ensued as people realised how simple a solution it was.

The Steward broke in: “Excellent. You have already proved your worth amongst us. Thank you.”

And so the meeting progressed.

I was involved in an unexpected way when I was asked about the fish I had cooked earlier, obviously a ploy by Master B to talk about the fish farm. I told them about the foti, where they were caught and how they were transported. I also mentioned we still actually had four swimming in a tank in the kitchen. Master B then suggested we travelled tomorrow down to Little Lake farm and introduce the extra fish to the lake there, to see if they would survive. That would make a good excursion and I looked to Papa before remembering he would be away early on. It just meant that I would have to think of another meal for the family for tomorrow evening. Then there was all the food left over from earlier since we had cooked an 'emergency meal' as well. Why we …

The others round the table were impressed that already extra ways of feeding the population were being considered already, and my thoughts were brought back to the subject matter by a scattering of applause. It suddenly occurred to me that Papa had invited Master Pocular to dinner, so I would have to tell him about the changed circumstances. Maybe he would still co.....

I was jerked back to the present once more though, this time a little more harshly.

Master B's next topic was more serious and more shocking.

“Master Deegrum is a splendid individual in nearly every way, and I am proud to consider him a friend. However, he is causing us a problem, which, at worst, is more drastic than anything else we could ever imagine. He does his job, for which we, that is the Town, recompense him. But he just does his job. He knows WHAT to do, but sadly does not know WHY he does it. He simply does what his father told him to do. He lacks the imagination to expand on his knowledge. And therefore there may be hidden problems awaiting us, from leaks in the aqueduct to requiring a new dam. We may be in danger of losing our water supply.

“We need to find a capable and dedicated team to thoroughly inspect what we have. Deegrum has removed bushes for example from the wall of the dam. He did this by chopping them down. But he never dug the roots out. If those are still burrowing their way unseen, there may be a huge problem. Of course, we will need to find some emergency plan and some plan for possibly replacing the existing dam. More requirements for stone work.

“And this indeed is my greatest problem. Changing priorities. We originally stated that the building of the Community Hall would be our priority, but to do that we had to remove some houses, so we had to provide new houses first, so the new houses needed new water channels and we needed access roads for the materials, so we needed to have new roads, so we needed........ and so it went on and on and on. I can do nothing on many tasks until some things settle down. I believe that Master Michen's excellent suggestion about the road surface will mean that we gain a little breathing space, and will be able to ship a little more coal as a result.

“However, we are limited in the amount of coal we can transport out, since the long incline up to the Chaarn Road junction has dictated that we cannot completely fill the wagons. This is why we sent Master Kordulen down there, to try to find another route that would remove the incline. And also scout out a possible route for the railroad. He has in fact, with one problem, found a workable route. But more than that he has made a further suggestion, which, coupled with the news out of Dekarran, means that we should be able to ship more coal than we are doing at the moment. Master Kordulen, would you explain?”

So Papa got up and gave a shortened version of the report I had now twice heard. He concentrated naturally on the route to bypass the incline and mentioned his idea about barges, which was greeted with muted enthusiasm, as barges were not going to affect us up here in the town. He did, however, conclude his report by picking up on the earlier point that he had asked everyone to remember.

“I have done now a rough survey, more details would naturally be required, but it seems to me that the route for this railroad would cause least confusion and involve the least tree-felling if it roughly hugs the eastern edge of the valley almost all the way down to the incline. It seems to me that this is a golden opportunity to re-open the ancient stone quarry in the valley wall behind Strettalm. By widening the access to that stone quarry, then that could also play a valuable part in the construction of the railroad route, if my suggestion for that route is adopted. If we make it the best we can make it now, then we have far less work to do further along in time. I would consider that to be the prudent thing to do. This would allow us to have two stone sources being productive. Some say that there must be a third one somewhere as we have never found sign of the Chivan workings for the dam stones, but at least we KNOW of the one behind Strettalm, it is just unused at the moment.” He paused at this point, before continuing with a twinkle: “But, it may upset Master Bezan's priorities again, what with yet another new road to be built.”

There were loud chuckles at this from all around, and Papa sat again with many thankful and congratulatory nods cast in his direction. I was glowing with pride for his good job.

As it happened, I was not required to expand on my notes from the morning meeting, Master Jepp congratulating me on the clarity of my writing, and that of Kords. I was offered the chance to leave but there was no way I was going! I was fascinated to learn about all the things that were discussed and considered by these people, so I sat through the entire event.

Each Assembly member had many valuable things to say and to talk about and my eyes were opened to a lot more that was going on around us, unnoticed in everyday experiences. I gained an appreciation for the giant balancing act that was going on, and how resources needed to be closely managed.

Every person there gave a report, some briefer than others, and it was all to the point. This was truly Papa's favourite saying in action - “Economy of Speech” indeed.

But looking back on the evening, the thing that astounded and fascinated us (me) most was the description of the message system that Papa had misheard as being the 'semi-four'. I asked Master Jepp after the meeting how this should be written and he kindly gave me a lesson in some of the words. It was here I learnt that I had always been spelling Milady wrong, and environment, and semaphore, and camping place and a few others. He also mentioned that my dialect use of saying “down to the Claw” was wrong, it should be “down at the Claw”, to use one example. I was very grateful for his help and corrections.

But back to the semaphore system.

Leaving aside some of the details as being irrelevant, Captain Bleskin gave us enough information to see how valuable such a service might be – and of course, why this too should have a priority. We were amazed at how it might work and the things it could be used for. Ask a question here in Blackstone, for example, and get a reply from Tranidor within a morning perhaps.

Then came the difficulties in using it, as far as they could foresee. There would need to be an active and observant team of operators. But to cope with the narrowness of the valley and the potential weather interruptions, the stations would need to be relatively close together. The more stations, the slower the message. Also, how could we construct a station on top of a peak for example, and then expect someone to go all the way up there to work, far from any supplies and human contact? So many factors to take into consideration. There were several discussions and suggestions on these topics.

Finally, the meeting was brought to an end by the Captain announcing the trial of the man who was beating his wife, Neerkel was his name. It would be held in the courtyard of the Claw at the sixth bell. He wanted some discussions before that with the Sheriff and with Master Jepp, to get some legal procedure advice.

I was sure there would be many interested observers in attendance at that trial – it being the first public one presided over by the Steward, and many would want to see the tone he set on his rule of us. He had, to behind-the-scenes approval, banished the men who had insulted Sookie, the Town and Milady Garia. That didn't need a trial as such, it was generally agreed. Those men had come here to work and had insulted their hosts. This other one was different, with many differing facets to be examined.

“I thank you all for coming, and for our two non-members, Master Kordulen and Mistress Julina, for their very valuable contributions. I believe we have found a comfortable semi-permanent home here in this room, and indeed you will notice two cupboards open. We have been allocated that as storage space for us, to save us having to carry things to and fro. Feel free to use the space as you will. We will have all our meetings here from now until we move again – but as that depends upon having the Community Hall and that in turn depends upon Master Bezan getting his priorities sorted out, then ….......”

He left it there and laughter broke out.

He signalled the end by saying: “Good night all.”

Amid the gentle-natured teasing of Master Bezan, the meeting broke up with some good laughter.

There was one more thing from that evening which was a major surprise. Uncle Brydas, I see now looking back upon it, made sure he was the first to the street door and he quietly controlled affairs from there.

He opened the door and ushered his fellow Assembly members out onto the street. There was a gasp from each as they exited.

For across the road, attached to the corner of the Forge House, was a bright flickering light casting its radiance all about, lighting the hitherto darkness, but I noticed it was also creating deep dark shadows never seen before in our town. It was shocking, fascinating, attractive and scary all at the same time.

Which feelings were reflected from the now visible faces of each and every one of the crowd gathered around and, frankly, gawping at the flickering light. It was the middle of the night, but we could see faces clearly. I saw that this was the lantern fuelled by those gases that Sethan had gathered from his coke oven.

I felt as if the starlight and moonlight had been dimmed somehow, and something made me shiver at that thought.

… … …

“Good bye little foti. Enjoy your new home.”

Sookie, Parry, Pomma and I watched as Master B released the final fish into the lake. It was obvious that the fish were near the end of their strength, having been in a small metal tank for nearly two days. We wouldn't have had any fish to release back into the wild had we waited another half day, I'm sure.

Sookie had asked me if they were different genders, but I just didn't know. All I did know was that three of the four had the same colour on the topside fin, whilst the last had a different one. I couldn't see anything else that might be a difference between them.

Our six frayen were munching gently at some of the vegetation on the banks of the lake. We had followed the only visible path which led us through the reed bank onto an obviously man-made stretch of packed earth that poked out into the water. Try as hard as I could, I could see no life in the water but I did see some late insects skimming the surface, and one or two actually walking on the water. I wondered how they managed that. It wasn't there for long though. A gaping mouth popped up, sucked and disappeared below the surface. I recognised the colour of the fin on the back, it was our singularly coloured foti. At least one of them had had a little snack, so I felt hopeful.

I had slept well for a shortened first sleep and was thankfully woken by Kords for the between-sleep period. At the time I wasn't thankful, and was distinctly grumpy. I felt like I had glue in my mouth and in my brain and it took an enormous effort to get into motion. But I forced myself to do it, and went to help with the water set up, you know, for warming it all up ready for breakfasts. It was only later that I realised that the weariness worked itself unnoticed away.

I sat down and wrote my notes of the day from which of course I have built this report for you.

The second sleep was different. It was long, it was deep and it was needed. And I awoke after everyone else. Papa was long gone by the time I emerged, bathed, fed and dressed.

My first visit of the day was to Kelly and we rehashed the previous evening, learning some lessons. We decided to call all the girls together for a talk about what had happened and what improvements could be made. We agreed to do that at this time tomorrow morning. Kelly agreed with a suggestion I made, and we would confirm with the girls.

After that, I popped into Pomma's and together we went down to the Claw for our riding excursion, going via the glassmaker's to tell him that Papa was out of town on urgent business. He declined the invitation to come anyway and welcomed my suggestion that Papa would call upon him when he returned.

Pomma and I made our way to the Claw and found that Master B had already arrived. He had explained what was required of us today, and everyone was ready when we turned up. The load was placed on another frayen, one tank, each holding two fish, on either side to keep a balance.

And so we rode down to Little Lake farm, and found the access to the lake. I dare say the spot might be beautiful on a spring, summer or early autumn day, but today was overcast and there was a cold wind blowing downvalley. We were glad of our coats.

Sookie invited us all to take a luncheon with her so we could have a good seat for the trial, and we set off back to the Claw quite smartly. It was not a day for lingering.

… … …

“Please stand to honour the president of this trial - his Honour, Captain Bleskin, Baroness Blackstone's Steward of Blackstone lands. Master Scribe Jepp will be recording. Bring forth the prisoner.”

Neerkel was brought forward accordingly, struggling and swearing all the way – until Suril caught his eye and again used his knife to clean his nails. The contrast in his behaviour could not have been greater. Uncle no longer required his considerable strength to fight the man for every inch of progress.

Soon a silence descended as the Sheriff raised his hands and brought the gathering to order.

“Please state your name for the record,” began the Captain, addressing the man directly but with a trained voice that carried.

“My name is Neerkel.” A dig in the ribs from Uncle prompted a further “Your Honour”.

“Do you have any family, Neerkel?”

“Yes Your Honour. I am married – to Vittima.”

“Will Mistress Vittima please make herself known?”

There was no movement, no call.

“It appears that your wife is not here. Why might that be, Neerkel?”

“I expect it's because I told her not to do anything without my permission.” Rib-dig. “Your Honour.”

“I see. Is this your normal behaviour to your wife? Does she obey you in all things?”

“She'd better.”

“Oh, and what might be her incentive so to do?”

“She knows better than to disobey …. your Honour. I know how to keep women in control. My belt is never far away.”

There was a murmur from the gathered audience, making a close-packed crowd that filled the Claw's courtyard. Well over half were women. Such a murmur, and some hisses were heard frequently during the following chain of events.

“I see. And is it your belief that all women should be treated in this fashion?”

“How else, your Honour? They are all the same and they need the wilfulness knocked out of them.”

“What of the notion that women are smaller and weaker than men, and thus require protection?”

“That's for other women, your Honour. A wife is a property and just does what her man tells her.”

“Why do you imagine any woman would get married, if that were the case?”

“A woman needs a strong man to survive. That's why they attach themselves to one. Her job is then to breed sons. Mine has failed in that, so she needs some encouragement. So you see your Honour, nothing untoward has happened.”

“What think you of Blackstone, Neerkel?”

“Frankly your Honour, it seems to be an out of the way backwoods town. All this activity appears to have made it lose its head. There is a lot going on, but I fail to understand why.”

“Neerkel. There is indeed a lot going on, and there is much to do before winter arrives. So we require every able-bodied worker we can have. To work properly, those men require adequate sleep and good relaxation. It is our duty to provide as well as we can such an atmosphere. The first phase of the overall project here is to provide accommodation and resources for the workforce to come. We do not need anyone who disturbs that plan. You may now keep silent, whilst we enquire of others. You might do well to recall exactly why I am here today, upon whose behalf I am acting!”

And so a string of people were all called up to publicly explain the disturbances that this man had caused. And observations of the effects he had had on his neighbours. And declarations of how terrified Vittima was of him. And some of his neighbours apparently also went in fear.

His work foreman was called to ask about his working skills and attitude and his was the only positive testament upon Neerkel's behalf.

“Neerkel. Do you have anything to say at this point?”

“Your Honour – you will have heard how I am a valued worker, a worker on your workforce, working to improve your Town. The other tales were just from women. I urge you to let me go.”

“We have heard testimony here today that even some of your male neighbours walk in fear of you. Let me ask one final question of you. Have you ever brutally attacked a woman, outside of your wife?”

“Never your Honour.”

“Are you quite sure, man?”

“Certainly, sir. It is the responsibility of other men to control their wives and daughters.”

“And that is your final word?”

“It is, your Honour.”

“I call upon Julina, daughter of Master Kordulen – she remains a minor, so the Court will treat her lightly.”

I was shocked to be called but stepped up and calmly and clearly stated the injuries suffered by the other woman. Sookie was also called and gave her description of the injuries suffered by both women.

Finally Suril was called, his credentials established, and his description of events entered into the record.

“The Court has heard all relevant witnesses and will pass judgement now unless anyone else has anything further to say?”

There was an expectant silence but no-one else had anything to add, not even Neerkel who seemed to think he didn't need to.

“Very well. It is NOT the place of this court to come between a man and a woman who are married. We have been told by many that the wife lives in terror of her husband, and that she desires to be rid of the burden placed upon her by a brute of a husband. A court such as this has no jurisdiction in marital affairs. We shall send despatches to her Ladyship and her liege, Duke Gilbanar for advice, with the recommendation that a divorce is ordered. But I repeat, this is not the function of this court here and now.”

A broad smile spread across the prisoner's face and a low hiss of disappointment spread from the crowd. The Captain held up his hand and his smile somehow conveyed a message to everyone there – Neerkel started to look worried.

“However, the prisoner has lied to the court, and has caused grievous harm to a woman to whom he is not married. We have witnesses to that event, including a sworn member of the peace-keeping force. Others have told of other assaults for which we have no witnesses, but of a regularity that cannot be overlooked. This court finds that the prisoner is a coward, a liar and a bully. He has assaulted women and caused them damage. He has disturbed fellow workers in their rest and he has therefore hindered the development of the town. For most of this latter, the punishment would be a stiff fine and a warning to behave in the future. However, to attack a woman, any woman, is unforgivable. The prisoner is therefore sentenced to be branded on the left hand and to work in his current position for one year from today, whilst shackled at the ankles. He will receive no pay for this. He will be handed over into the care of his wife. Neerkel, there is one other fact of which you need to be aware. Vittima has been offered a job with the town, and she has accepted that employment. Any attack on her, even within the privacy of a marriage, will be considered an attack upon the Town. The punishment will be severe. I strongly suggest that you obey whatever commands your wife gives you for the next year. She after all will be earning the money in your marriage. And let there be no more disturbances of your neighbours. The court will not be so lenient at any further complaint against you. Take him away and shackle him. If he resists in any way, then a further month shall be added to the year. Remove him from our sight.”

There was a surprised silence as the sentence was pronounced and then there was a current of approval that made itself felt. Some indeed laughed at the thought that the bully was now dependent upon the very person whose life he had made so dreadfully miserable. Neerkel was visibly stunned as it all sank into his brain. It was in a way amusing to watch his face as he realised that maybe it was time for him to get angry. That was exactly the moment when once again Suril went up to him and whispered in his ear. He went quietly with Suril, Fedren, Uncle (and a few more large men) up towards the Forge.

As everyone drifted away, they were of course all talking, rehashing and dissecting what had just gone on. It was an interesting opportunity, so I indulged myself by listening to the other women chatting away as they dispersed. Some took the time to actually seek me out to thank me for my statement. Others were so disgusted with what that man had done, and were upset that the Captain had been so lenient. Now THAT was a surprise. Branding and shackling for a year was being lenient?

The main theme, though, that I detected was generally that they approved of the Steward – what with this decision and the previous banishment of those men that had insulted Sookie and Milady. It appears that they were pleased at last - at long, long last - to have somewhere to live where they felt an extra degree of safety. I had the feeling that they would support many of the town's plans in the future.

… … …

I went first of all down to visit the animals, as I was already in the Claw. From there, I went out and inspected the new paddock, the plantings and the new house. It was only as I got there that I realised I had negotiated the way entirely on my own. I had to laugh at the thought that that was probably the safest time I could ever have done that.

So, as I said, I went out to the new house, which I felt I had neglected recently, and looked around at it. It was just about finished, but had no water connections. I peered up East Street and could see some of the parallel stripes of stones that M had suggested, but by then the dusk was falling rapidly so I went back up the hill to our home.

I got some strange looks from Swayga as I turned up alone, but she was wise enough to keep quiet about it.

And finally I had a family evening after a very busy day or two, and I confess it was lovely to relax with those I love.

I was questioned closely about the events of the night before, and what I had learned. There were gasps of amazement as I related all that was going on in the background. Swayga was excited about the news of the possible barge traffic starting up again, and was delighted that we had already tried to start the fish farm.

I myself was delighted to learn that the differently coloured topside fins were the only way to differentiate the boy fish from the girl fish. So we had at least one of each down there in the lake.

And it was thus that I related what had happened, what was happening with the lands, what the semaphores were, what staff would be required and they actually cheered when I told them the details of the trial.

As I lay in my bed that night, and all the things were whizzing round my head, I was shocked to realise that my entire viewpoint had changed in less than a week. Not that long ago, I was just worried about what was happening inside our four walls – at least that's how it seemed. Now I was worrying about what was happening for the 40-odd marks down the road.

And I realised that I cared.

That I think was the biggest revelation.

Mind you, no further revelations were possible.

I was fast asleep.

---

Julina learns more and more, some of which maybe she didn't want to learn.

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

So I awoke refreshed in both body and mind, and yet my mind was already buzzing away. It appeared I had slept through a noisy storm which had been based over to the east, probably up in Blackstone Vale. It had not reached us here, so must have been another one of those ferocious but short-lived ones we get, particularly in spring and late autumn.

As usual, I reviewed what I had in store for me today as I lay in the warm bath with Kords and Swayga.

I had the review of the Salon's trial run with the girls, and M of course; this had been arranged for early on.

I had a riding excursion, of course, but that had been put back a bell today.

And that was about that.

And I realised I had nothing at all planned for the next few days. I would go down to the fish farm in a week or so, being the impatient person I am, but I didn't really hold out any hope of there being anything for me to see. But in the immediate future, I had nothing to do – a very strange state of affairs.

Oh, wait. There WAS something else. I had to deal with the huge mound of extra food we had cooked, that M decided we would be charitable and give away up at the camping place at the dusk bell. We would have a small market stall set up and when it was gone, it was gone. The food had been cooked for a full day and an overnight, so it wouldn't keep very much longer – two full days being the generally accepted limit. And the rest of the Gavakhan needed cooking. So I would be busy down to the Salon, oh no that's wrong, down AT the Salon for a bell or two this day. The thought did not worry me. I found myself looking forward to it.

I came out of the bathhouse and went into the kitchens, where sweet little Kord made a fuss of me, which was pleasing.

Soon we were all sitting round the table while Swayga fed us and generally looked after us. We chatted again about some things I had said last evening, and the children were annoyed they hadn't seen the 'lantern on the street', as we had dubbed Sethan's light at the Forge House. They realised that maybe they could see it now, it still being dark but I pointed out that by the time they were all dressed properly to venture outside, it would be light. The pleasure of seeing it wouldn't be for a while for most of them, as they had to sleep when it was alight.

As I had said, a few moments later we could all see the sky lightening quickly outside and I knew I would have to leave soon.

It was then we talked about the expanded Blackstone lands.

Which made Kord ask his question.

Which caused an amazing uproar in the house. Both Swayga and I eventually had to calm everyone down.

Questions from a five-year-old rarely have such an effect, and Kord was both scared by the raised voices and proud that he had contributed something of importance to his family, and garnered some attention that way. I just hoped that he didn't think this was the right way to get some attention.

Such a simple question it was.

What's the difference between a wood and a forest?

'Kin started the 'conversational' ball rolling.

“Duh! EVERYONE knows THAT. Just a typical Kord question! You're just too young to understand!”

“You don't know yourself!”

“Of course I do, you silly little boy.”

“Well, go on then you big know-it-all. Tell us.”

In a VERY condescending way, guaranteed to anger his younger brother, 'Kin said: “A forest is just a big wood. Same as a wood is just a big copse.”

At this, Kords, as well as Kord, got angry with the elder of her two brother's attitude and she decided to cut him down to size: “Now who's being dumb? That's not the difference at all. A forest is different to a wood because, because, because … oh, I know it's nothing to do with size. Papa told me that parts of the forest are open grassy meadows and gently rolling hills. Things with NO trees on them. A Wood is ALWAYS filled with trees.”

And so it started, all five of my siblings yelling at each other. I was shocked to find that I didn't know, but I did remember Papa saying something like that to Kords one evening when the others were safely abed. I wasn't sure that Kords had represented Papa's words entirely accurately. I did however realise that we all somehow used forest as a sort of measurement of size.

Eventually, after it had all calmed down some five moments later, I asked them who they would believe if I brought that person home with me.

I had already guessed the answer - of course.

Master Michen, if it couldn't be Papa.

Thus it was I set off to M's to meet her/him and the other three girls, in a rush as the fuss had delayed me slightly. We had agreed to start almost as soon as it got light as two of the girls would need to leave for other things they needed to do, and I wanted my ride, even though it would start later at the third bell today; everyone had something to do early it seemed. M had taken the idea from Milady that all involved should get together after an event to describe what had happened, and to learn lessons from mistakes and so on. I thought this was a good idea and approved of this 'debriefing' as M called it.

We found that we had done pretty well all in all, some small errors were recognised (Kelly served the food from the 'wrong' side once, Gyth splashed some wine on the table). Molly and I made suggestions as to how to keep the food as hot as possible before the girls came to serve it – for example, we won't plate up all twenty plates again before starting to release it to the girls.

M thanked us all deeply again and hoped that we all were still happy to start working for the Salon, and we all agreed. There was an excited sense of anticipation now that the project was definitely going ahead. And M gave us all a hug, saying she was so excited at providing the best food and service in town.

I chose then to present my suggestion to the girls.

“The Town kindly provided a Solly for us to share, a hand of feniks each. We could not have done such a good job as we did had we not had help. The kitchens and the room would not have been in any state for us to use had not Kassama and Haka worked hard in advance. And they helped us to clear up – particularly as I was required elsewhere. I feel that therefore the cleaner or cleaners should always have a share of our little extras. Now this might, in the future, be hard on Kelly and Gyth, as they are most likely to be given extras, we in the kitchens being mostly out of sight. I would propose that all extras are pooled together and split between us five. I say five since Haka will be moving out soon. I would be happy to let Michet here make the allocations. What do you all think?”

They all agreed with me, which was very heartening.

“As regards our trial run, then Haka helped as well. I therefore suggest that we each contribute a fenik, so that those ladies can have a pair each. If you agree, I shall give Michet here four feniks myself and each of you can slip me one when we next have a chance. What do you think?”

The girls all readily agreed, and only Molly didn't have any coin with her, so we did what I had suggested. I think we all expected M to do her bit when we weren't there, but he called Kassama in immediately and she was reduced to near-tears of gratitude that someone else should think of her. So we were all extra glad to have done it.

I proceeded to cook the rest of the food so it didn't spoil, with the help of all the others. M assured me that the household had enough for the rest to be donated this evening, we just had to portion up the give-away food before the distribution.

… … …

I left M's in her and Kelly's company – no, that's not true – I left M's in the company of Kelly and Master Michen. I still had just over half a bell to go before our agreed time for our abbreviated ride so I thought to go up and say hello to Malet, before swinging by Pomma's and going down with her.

As we emerged into the sunlight, there was a cheerful hail from a mounted frayen-rider.

“Mistress Julina, Master Michen ... oh, and Mistress Kellonika!”

“Well met, Master Walden,” we all greeted him back. M almost forgot to do her 'manly' bit though.

“Mistress Julina, look after Mistress Pomma for me please. Your riding together has made her so happy, and I thank you for it – and thus value the friendship that has grown. I have to travel to Tranidor to chase up some supplies and make some other business arrangements. We shall be a party of five for safety, and shall be away for a week, we expect. I trust you shall be a good companion to my poor abandoned woman?”

“It will be a pleasure so to do,” I replied, laughing. “Safe travels.”

“I thank you, and wish you a pleasant week. Master, Mistresses!” So saying, he urged Boxin into a faster gait, to avoid any more blocking of the busy Main Street. He raised one hand in farewell.

We turned uphill for a few paces to time our moment to cross the street, and scuttled across as soon as the right gap appeared.

We gained the relative safety of the opposite sidewalk just under the Sethan lantern and turned uphill once more. As we got to the entrance to Uncle's world of metal and heat, we heard a scream that changed into a grunt quite quickly. All of us were wondering what that was, so we looked of course into the working area. We saw four men holding another who had shackles on his ankles. The man's left arm was held taut by a quivering rope round the wrist, tied to one of Uncle's anvils. The left hand was over another anvil and we realised, just as the smell of burnt flesh assailed our noses, that this was the branding of the bully Neerkel.

At the base of the furnace was a pile of rods lying on the ground, which I recognised as a number of differing brand-irons.

“Michet, why are there so many different ones? Do you know?” I asked quietly enough to be able to use her name.

“As it happens, I do know,” came the reply. “There is a code for the offence. So first the right brand has to be found, to show the world what he has done wrong. Then there must be a symbol as to how long the sentence was for. Then there must be a month/year code so anyone can know when the sentence is finished. So four differing rods must be found, bundled firmly together and then heated. Offence, duration, month, year. This month is, of course, Zuberak and the year is 1174 since the Great Flood. Some forgemasters have a rod for the decade, and then another for the individual year in that decade. That way only one new one needs to be made every ten years, rather than one each year. In this case, that would be a hand of rods to be used. But all at once. To do one after the other would be too cruel to the recipient.”

By this time, we had reached Kelly's front door. We were all about to go in when another frayen rider called to me. This one was looking very strange as he was using the old-style saddle. I wondered at how quickly this had become old-fashioned to my eyes.

“Master Brethen, well met. How may I be of assistance?” I then did the introductions.

“Goodman, Mistress, not Master. I am a master of nothing. If it pleases you, Rathina was wondering if you knew any more about the possibility of schooling for the children? I have been in town, as have the other menfolk, earning good coin, but must necessarily travel back from time to time to keep up with the maintenance up there. I return there first thing in the morning, so wondered if there was any answer I could convey?”

“At the moment, I must confess that I have had no chance to …” I gasped as a thought struck me most forcefully. “... Nay! Hold! I have an idea! Where may you be found? In the camping place? Then I shall be here with your answer at the eighth bell.”

“Mistresses, Master, I wish you a good day. Mistress Julina, I shall look forward to seeing you later,” he finished as he rode away towards the Miners' Village.

“Farewell, Goodman,” we all trilled at the same time, even M - which brought forth a frown from both of us. He blushed, which was almost as much of a give-away.

Talking of which …

“Now what are you up to, Mistress 'Lina? I know you well. You are bubbling with excitement.”

“Oh, Kelly! This would be the most wondrous thing if I can get it together. I need to speak to Pomma first …”

I wasn't so deep in my thoughts that I missed my companions rolling their eyes at each other.

“We shouldn't ask her yet, Mich...en. She's got that 'planning' look. You'll see her face totally change when she's … look, did you see that? We can ask her now.”

I had to laugh at how well Kelly knew me, but her words had triggered another memory.

“Ah! You just reminded me. I have something to ask our well-travelled friend here. Tell me, Em, ooops I mean ...”

“No! That's fine. I like it. And it's sensible. Particularly under these circumstances. Em it is.”

“So, Em, can you tell me please what is the difference between a wood and a forest?”

… … …

“ … and because you told me you had always wanted to see it!”

“Julina! What a … well, I'm … I mean … Would it be right?”

“And why shouldn't it? What think you, Sookie?”

“Well actually, you have given ME to think furiously. I shall be unable to ride from the day after tomorrow. The usual four or five day problem. And Brydas and I,” she still blushed prettily as she mentioned her now-obvious partner, “have long said that we must have a day together. I know that he has a slight slacking off of demand right now, having capable assistants. Hmmm. You know, I think that would work out really well. Yes, let's do it. Leave at dawn. Oh, how exciting! Suril, can you take a full day and leave early? Parry, would you care to accompany us too?”

Suddenly my idea had turned into an expedition.

Suril and Parry both agreed with obvious delight, Suril saying that he would get permission from Fedren as he could clearly demonstrate a job-associated reason to do it.

“I shall tell Brydas he is coming. So that makes the six of us … Hold! What's this?”

She exclaimed as she pointed down the road. We saw a frayen approaching at pace. The yellow headband told us all that it was a messenger from the VMS. We made room for him on the road and he thanked us with a wave as he swept past.

We were on a short ride, as I mentioned earlier, and decided to go down the road to the fourth markstone and back. The idea being to see if an average of eight marks a bell was actually a reasonable amount to take into calculations. We had nearly completed our four mark downhill half when the messenger came up to us.

Of course, we all speculated upon the nature of a message that was so urgent and we all agreed that it must be some addition about the award of the extra land, probably a 'hurry-up' to get the semaphore completed or something like that. We actually chuckled and giggled at that – an urgent frayen message to encourage a system that would make the frayen message of the future take a back seat.

I could see, however, another look on Sookie's face, and wondered what that heralded.

We reached the fourth markstone, and cut across the naked land to the river to give the beasts some refreshment. The denser trees on the far bank showed us the start of the woodland, whereas, on our bank, there was still a half mark or so (by my estimation) before the trees became dense enough to obscure other details.

We sat and chatted awhile and there was a pleasant fellowship feeling between the five of us. Sookie related an event on her journey up to Blackstone when Milady Garia and Milady Merizel mounted their beasts and took off at a full gallop, leaving Feteran and the Prince scrambling to catch up. Sookie explained that that moment was when she became determined to ride, and to do things like that. The speed of the VMS messenger had triggered that memory. Although he wasn't going as fast, probably because he had to harbour his beast's resources.

We remounted and made our way back to the road, probably having used a half a bell since we left the surface.

We turned to face uphill and started out at our usual quick walk. Sookie put on a face full of mischief and said hurriedly: “Last one back to the stables at the Claw does the animal maintenance!”

With that, Sookie shook up Tixi's reins and off they went.

We four looked at each other, nodded and joined in.

Oh, how exhilarating that was!

We went faster than I had ever gone before, and the rush was indescribable. Something however made me slow Dralla down. Surely she could not maintain this pace for four whole marks. Sookie was already over a hundred strides in front, going like the wind; the rest of us were spread out behind her. I was in third place at that moment. I looked around and saw Pomma just behind me, her face a grin of fear and delight. Suril was just behind her, also torn between the two emotions.

I eased back slightly on the reins and sensed Dralla's displeasure. But she obeyed my commands. It occurred to me that I actually knew nothing about the stamina of frayen. Was I making too great an assumption?

Pomma passed me with a whoop of triumph and Suril came alongside. I told him my thoughts.

“Mayhap you're right, Mistress. I will match you all the way and we shall learn much that way. And we will share the duties if we are wrong.”

“Deal!”

… … …

We turned into the Claw, all grinning widely. I had been vindicated in that we had caught up with the others. Sookie was screaming with laughter and enjoyment and still took the time to acknowledge my thoughts as being quite valid. Tixi was breathing very heavily indeed whereas Dralla was comparatively fresh. In an unrehearsed gesture of solidarity, we all turned into the Claw's courtyard at the same moment. No-one was the winner and no-one was a loser.

There had been some consternation when we all appeared in such a rush, but the fears were dispelled by the laughter and fun we had obviously enjoyed. Even the men and workers milling around the courtyard broke into smiles.

We dismounted, made a fuss of the animals as we tidied them away and exited the stable block. Sookie was delighted to throw herself into Master Brydas' arms. For a moment there, the two were in their own world.

Sookie then told him of her plans for the morning and he instantly, without the slightest hesitation, agreed. Now we had six of us committed, seven if you counted the instigator who had yet to be informed.

We were discussing some more of the details when there was a cough from behind us. None of us had noticed the approach of Captain Bleskin nor Master Bezan.

They both had very grim faces which sobered us all up rapidly.

“I find that the timing of this to be uncanny. I believe that Master Bezan and I shall accompany you tomorrow, at least for the majority of the expedition. I find it imperative to visit those parts as soon as I can. I must study the lay of the land.”

His seriousness affected us all even more than just before.

“Mistresses and Masters, I regret to have to inform you that a state of war now exists between Palarand and Yod. I have strict instructions as to what is required of us – mostly increased coal production and shipment.”

We were all shocked into silence, although we must have had a hundred questions each.

“Forces of Yod invaded Palarand in an attempt to capture or kill Milady Garia. They were repulsed and utterly defeated, but 'twas a close-run thing. I regret to have to report that there were both fatalities and casualties.”

“Not Milady, nor Merizel?” gasped Sookie. “Commander Feteran? Or any of the team. Please no. Oh Maker. Who?”

“The Prince and Milady survived, as did Commander Feteran and nearly all of the party that left here.”

“Only nearly?”

“The driver Helen, I regret to report, did not make it, along with one of the wagon guards, Samir. And neither did young Jasinet. There have been some injuries to others of your ken but none appear to be life threatening, with the exception of another wagon guard, Keet. He is in the healer's care, and they are unable to predict the outcome. The full roll of honour is included with the documents recently arrived, but I believe that those names are the ones that you will know best. I do not mean to belittle the other sacrifices. Mayhap there are others that some of you may know, or may have got to know whilst they were all here.”

The hidden bitterness in his voice was threatening to make itself known, making me realise the depth of his feelings – and suddenly I was aware that he wished to have been there himself, to wreak havoc upon those who had dared to offend him so deeply. I shuddered at what might happen if he ever had one of those near him.

But poor Jasinet. How much hope she had in her, able at last to escape the unreasonable demands of her parents. A tear trickled down my cheek as her face was reproduced in my mind.

This news changed the way that I viewed our planned happening on the morrow. I had thought that Pomma, with no duties at home as her man was away, could give her staff a couple of days break and could come up with me, riding of course, to the farmhouse up in the Blackstone Vale. We would naturally require an escort. We could stay overnight for two nights, I could make a start with the children's lettering and numbering, and we both could see sights we had never seen before. Knowing Pomma's abilities when it came to sketching, I imagined that there would be more than a few opportunities for her to indulge her hobby. We would return on the third day. But the news would ensure that it wasn't the joyous trip I had first envisaged.

The others I could see were torn as to whether or not they should go, but The Captain said: “This is an opportunity that may not repeat itself for some while, and the more people that can see the land up there the better. I apologise for removing some of the joy that might otherwise have been involved, but all the original reasons to do the trip still pertain and are still valid. There is little I can do here in town until I gather information so it appears I must travel up there. Goodman Brethen is definitely going. So you ladies will have an escort. You know it makes sense.”

Sookie has wanted to see the Vale ever since Milady's excursion up there, and Parry and Suril were happy to have another opportunity to see something new, so they had decided to make a full day of it, escorting Pomma and I up there, having a quick look around and then returning to town for the evening, leaving we two with the family there. We would get Goodman Brethen to escort us back when it was time, if that was convenient to him.

Now there would be another two with us, for the Captain wanted to be able to discuss some matters with Master Bezan as we rode, which meant that the reasons for the excursion had changed and the lightness, the holiday mood, had indeed been dissipated.

It was a very subdued lunch of which we five riders partook.

… … …

With little to do, I decided to return to Em's, to finish off portioning the food we were going to distribute later. I was escorted there by Pomma and Kelly and we parted company on the doorstep, still feeling sombre.

I went in and made my way towards the Salon. I heard voices from the room and poked my head round the door.

Em and the Captain were there, studying maps and discussing heavily matters of a very military nature.

“As usual, Mistress Julina, you are the answer to a problem. Would you, could you, bear to make some more notes for me?”

“Of course I shall, your Honour. But I must warn you that there may be words, certainly even concepts, with which I am totally unfamiliar.”

“My child, please don't let that worry you. I am struggling to make notes myself as we discuss these things. I constantly need to refer to other documents and the like. Any assistance would be invaluable. I can indicate the important things to note.”

And so it was I sat down again to be a scribe. The men started again from scratch, to make sure that I was more familiar with the topic, and to ensure they were both clear with each other. It was fascinating, if chilling, stuff.

I will not list everything that was said but just say that I learnt there were two natural defensive positions on the route to us – one just after the Chaarn Road junction at the two cross-stream area that Papa had reported, where the land was restricted between the valley wall and the river, and the dense forest constrained anyone to the road. The second was the route as it climbed across the face of the rock from the Forest Roadhouse to the Strettalm bend. A light defensive force should be able to deny the road to any invaders and the passage behind and round the Strettalm did not permit of an army's traverse. It would not take much to just throw rocks, and other more nasty things, down on to the road and create blockages.

The talk then changed to creating false passages through the trees that any invaders would have to investigate, and have these passages lead to what they called “killing fields”. The dispassionate way they discussed these things made me shudder.

Logic told me that this is what soldiers must do, but my instincts were rebelling against the logic. I knew I could never treat with these men in the same way I had up to now. And Michen was very much a man at that moment.

One thing did come out of this session poring over maps. The final decision was taken about the placing of the semaphore towers. Apparently the weather, particularly at this time of year, frequently cut the direct line of sight from the Strettalm to the Cistern, both of which plainly had to be stations. So an intervening one would be built on the WEST bank of the Bray, just townside of where two canyons came together and whose streams combined to create a broadening of the main river. A small access road would be required.

At any other time, I would have giggled at that thought and how Master Bezan would take it – but this was a very much more sombre affair.

Another semaphore station was to be erected at the junction itself, and then one halfway between the junction and the Strettalm. Apparently, there is a taller hill, not really a peak, just beside the main falls in the river. This too would require an access road, probably less than two marks long.

A final semaphore station would be built on the border of the lands which should be visible downvalley from either bank.

So, to cover the entirety of the Bray valley that lay within Milady's lands, there would be six semaphore stations in all, covering a total distance of some fifty marks.

“Access?” The Captain looked stern as he said that.

“Only via the road to be practical. I suppose that a determined enemy could ship all the way round to Chaarn itself and then march the thousand or so marks along the road, and then across some of the cross valleys. But even we hunters get confused and lost up there. As for the other side, then it would have to be from the Tel Botro road and across untold valleys and ridges. It doesn't make sense.”

“How did those bandits attack Milady up in the Vale?”

“Ah, they used the canyon behind Little Lake farm, where the fish farm is now to be. So their access point was already this side of the forest. There is no other way to get in unnoticed. The Vale itself is defended by a very narrow defile, very narrow indeed. You shall see tomorrow.”

“A pity you are unable to accompany us, yet.”

“The arm, according to Mistress Lendra, may recover most of its use, as long as I don't use it at all. Riding would be too much of a risk. Mistress Lendra says to look at it again in the new year. She was most indignant that I had used it for the removals. That can be one very scary lady.”

“Could you handle some crossbow training? We have been warned to raise a levy. I would be happy with a fifty man force in the first instance, but suspect that we might have to do with only twenty or so. We need to find some volunteers and ex-military men among the workforce. In the first instance we could have a short training sessions either first thing in the morning or at the end of the day, before the light fails. But I find I need to go and see the country up the Vale. In desperation that would be our final retreat destination.”

“My number two in the hunters could do the demonstrations, while I do the theory and the shouting, so it would be possible.”

“Mistress Julina, I am aware that the subject matter has been distressing for you and I trust that we have not disgusted you too much. Once again, I am in your debt. Your notes will prove to be most valuable, and your taking of them has saved us as much as a bell.”

I bobbed a curtsey to him, and to Em and took my leave. I didn't trust myself to speak and simply went to Kelly's where she and Malet allowed me to run off my agitation with suitable noises of support and help and disgust and so on as I let loose the flood of emotions that had welled up in me.

… … …

The distribution of the extra food was well-received by most. It was spoiled by some who came too late and then complained at receiving nothing. But they were mostly shouted down by their neighbours.

Whilst there, Em was interrupted by a hail from the day's shuttle. Apparently the first load of plates and pots for the Salon had arrived, so Kelly and I went and unloaded that delivery whilst Em stayed serving food. Using the arm to move heavy boxes might have been damaging to it.

I had met Goodman Brethen and told him the news for which he was grateful, but he too was worried about the war. I knew I had to keep quiet and let the men, and Em, sort it all out, but I was concerned at the wildly inaccurate rumours that were buzzing around. It was my introduction to the human ability to weave vast fantasies from very few facts and indeed from twisted and misunderstood or misinterpreted facts. At least one rumour was based on selecting some convenient facts and ignoring other facts because they didn't fit in.

I was escorted home quite early and spent a while packing a carry bag which of course led to numerous questions from Kords. Swayga was actually very approving of an opportunity for me to see something new, but the news of the war cast a spell even over a family gathering.

However, the mood was picked up a little when I told them I had asked Em the question and had received an answer. I made them promise to not fight about it and not to crow should one or the other be proved correct.

“Is that clear?”

“Yes, 'Lina.”

“Right then, everyone was correct. And everyone was wrong. The big lesson from this is never to take only part of an answer and assume that it is the complete answer. Always look for the complete picture.

“I shall start with a wood. A wood is always filled with trees, for its purpose is to provide trees for heating and shelter. Its use and indeed cultivation was and is solely for that purpose. Woodsmen are responsible for keeping these areas maintained, felling mature trees, planting new growth, disentangling encroaching undergrowth and so on.

“A forest however is something else. Its primary purpose is to provide a hunting area for the landowner. A forest itself must therefore be far bigger than an individual wood. A forest contains many woods, and many fields, and many copses, and many pastures, and many ponds, indeed many villages in some areas.

“Her Ladyship has declared that she wishes most of the forest lands to be retained as unspoilt land, and now these large areas are hers to control, then it shall happen with foresters and woodsmen employed to keep it as unchanged as possible, areas of natural beauty that should not be lost to future generations of humans AND animals. This particular forest has seen little or no hunting activities for many years and so the animal life is probably well-established, indeed may require a certain amount of control.

“Some parts of these forest lands may need to have trees felled and ground cleared to make way for this new railroad I have mentioned, but Milady has even told the roadbuilders to provide secure passage for animals either over or under the new roadway.

“So everyone was right this morning. A wood is always made of trees, a forest may contain empty spaces. As a forest may involve many woods, then it must be bigger than a wood. So all that fuss, shouting and general bad behaviour was totally unnecessary. You should really be ashamed of yourselves.”

It was a subdued evening as we went to bed, and a strange between sleep period. My writing came slowly for some unknown reason.

… … ...

But when I awoke, it was if the bad news had been absorbed and there was a determined feel to get on with life while we could – at least that was how I interpreted it.

I hugged my family for the farewells, and yes there were a few tears all around.

Then I left the house for the first time in my life with the firm intention of leaving them behind, even if it was to be only for a few short days.

Fear and anxiety, excitement and anticipation. Also a sense of unreality somehow.

I think that Pomma felt the same, but then I knew her better than I did the others who were travelling with us, except maybe Suril. I looked around at them as we all gathered down in the Claw's stabling. I had gone down there on my own, explaining to all at home that I would be safe at such an early hour by going down the deserted track directly to my destination. Swayga and Kords had still accompanied me part of the way.

So we mounted up, eight riders in all, and made our way up Main Street. Captain Bleskin and Master Bezan were leading a pack animal each. We met Goodman Brethen just by Kelly's front door. Kelly and Malet were there to wave to me and I waved back. Again there was that hint of tears.

There were some grumbles from the people who were wanting just a few more moments of sleep as eleven frayen picked their way through the unordered sleeping arrangements littering the camping place. We got to the Cistern, headed up the short slope to its right and set out along the roof of the aqueduct towards the dam, led by Goodman Brethen. Behind him, we rode in pairs, Pomma and I behind Sookie and Uncle. They had Parry and Suril in front of them and we had the Captain and Master Bezan behind us, bringing up the rear with the pack animals. Already the pair behind were deep in discussion, and Pomma and I were treated to tantalising snippets but were unable to hear the entire conversation. Not that we wanted to, you understand, nor were we silent for long. I pride myself on the fact that our chatter lifted the mood somewhat, so that there was a certain relief from sombriety, if such a word exists.

We reached the dam and carried on past it along a track that had obviously been used sometimes by a wagon, as there were marked ruts. But it was also obvious that there had been few of them, that a wagon passing this way was not a common occurrence. This was new territory for all of us except Brethen, so we all kept our heads swivelling as we progressed.

At one point, the edge of the track had crumbled into the lake and we all could see that it would be extremely difficult for a wagon to squeeze through what was left of the width. We passed on, heading ever closer to a rock face that appeared to block our passage. But as we neared it, where the lake narrowed down to just a stream, we saw the passage that led off to the right of it. The face itself was obviously the site of an ancient rock fall as boulders of different sizes were scattered haphazardly down the face. The age was given away by the plant life all over the spill. I asked Uncle if he knew how old this was and he didn't know, so the question was passed up all the way to Goodman Brethen at the front. It was quite amusing that the entire column came to a halt while the answer was passed back.

“Not known.”

An extra instruction reached us too – we would have to dismount and lead our animals through a narrow gorge that was only a few casts long, but was very tight, the footing made awkward by the stream that runs though it and feeds the lake. Brethen also pointed out that the stream was a little more active this morning after the short storm of last night, but it wouldn't be uncomfortably deep if we were to step in it.

Brethen led off again and Parry and Suril were just starting to do the 'you first' dance, when I could have sworn I heard the bleat of a pakh. I hadn't noticed any around but Pomma heard it too. I asked the two behind us if they had heard anything, and the Captain was studying the rock fall closely, raising a hand for silence. Then I heard it again as did Pomma, Master Bezan and the Captain.

“How very strange! The sound appears to come from behind these rocks, but there is no gap through there. It must be a complex echo, tumbling down from above and reflecting off the different faces of the stones.”

We all nodded our agreement as we continued to make our way into the narrowing gap.

I found myself swallowing a lot and tensing up, which mood transferred itself, it seemed, to Dralla.

I was frightened.

There, I admit it.

The walls of stone were so high that the light that came down from the clear blue sky above was restricted in amount. I felt I could stretch my arms sideways and touch each wall at the same time. If we had been mounted, then our legs would have been almost rubbing the walls since the bellies of the animals were filling most of the space.

A curious flickering quality in the light made me look up and I saw it was caused by clouds scudding across the narrow view, cutting out more direct light as they went.

I felt as though the world was squeezing me and the passage seemed ever longer. I felt as though I was about to panic. My feet were stumbling a little in the bed of the stream which also looked frightening somehow – I think it must have been the speed of the water. As Brethen had said, the water wasn't that deep, but it was still an extra hazard that I really didn't need right at that moment.

I kept my eyes on the flanks and rump of Pomma's animal just in front of me. I suppose that there was in fact space for a person to be next to an animal, just.

But I felt my wits were scattering.

I had never appreciated before that I had a fear of narrow places. I had only that animal in front of me and Dralla behind me. I felt, unreasonably, that I had no escape from this giant's press.

The rock faces forced us into a slight left turn, but the walls did not release their threats.

Just as I thought I could take it no more, the light improved and I could see the walls pulling apart from each other up ahead. A few strides more and we were through and into quite wide country that was such bliss to encounter, despite being obviously wilder than the country back the other side of that narrow passage.

It had a rugged beauty that made me understand how this family could live out here. But I knew that I myself could not, not with that terrifying bottle-neck as the only means of access, and not without possibilities of reacting to other people, seeing and chatting with them. And not to forget, I was a rather special eating place manager now.

To the left of us the valley wall ran away from us, dotted here and there by rockfalls and waterfalls and small canyons, whilst the right wall ran away from us almost equally quickly but was markedly smoother than the other wall. It was still rugged, mind you, but not as much so as the one to our left. Maybe the rockfall just a cast or so away, with signs of new falls made up an observer's mind up very early on.

“Goodman Brethen!”

The column halted again as the Captain rode up to the head, the valley having widened out so suddenly that we could already have ridden all of us abreast.

“Your Honour?”

“Is that passageway the only access to your Vale here?”

“Not exactly, your Honour. We can go over the top of the hill here to the north, in other words to our left. The landscape leads you up almost to the Stone Sea and then you can drop down from there, by Larsenar's semi-ruin and lean-to down into the Bray Valley. Or the ridge to our right drops into another valley, down which the stream flows in the opposite direction to this one. After that another valley, and another and another, all in different directions and all wild country. Even we get lost up here sometimes. But this next valley, well the top narrows into a thin canyon and leads upwards until at the very top there is a long canyon, slightly wider, going up to a lake. The far end of the lake, there is a ridge from which another canyon drops down into the Bray Valley, through a passage narrower than the one we used. That was the one the bandits used when they attacked Milady.”

“So there is no way an army could invade us through here?”

“Oh Maker, your Honour. They would have to be a very determined army to get up here. To the north there is the Stone Sea and that is impassable to men and beasts, only avians can manage to traverse that. To the west, north-west is only the saddle across to the Bray Valley head, and from there a further forty or fifty marks across very jumbled country to the Palar Valley. To the east and south-east is just a maze of high-altitude valleys, canyons and more jumbled country, broken eventually by the road to Chaarn.”

“And how might I inspect the access to the tops of those walls we came through?”

“Ah! Now that, your Honour, is not easy. I have found no access at all to the wall on the south side, from here. As for the north side, there is a narrow scramble that needs squeeze between some rocks at one place, and a hop over an awkward split at another point. When I was a lad, I carried a stout board up there with me and laid it across the two walls. Once I had crossed, I saw immediately that the ground up there is difficult. That valley top just leads back to the Bray Valley and the steep sides. Yes there is a shortish canyon that digs into it, but that is not climbable. And it drops sheer into the bandits' canyons so there is no access from there.”

“Thank you, Goodman. A good report!”

All of us were looking around and all of us were impressed. Sookie and Uncle held hands as we started off once more, this time abreast rather than in column; we were heading for the building with the plume of smoke climbing into the sky like a welcoming beacon.

“Goodman, why don't you go on ahead and tell your family of your two visitors and their companions for the day? And then, if it pleases, I would have you show me round the battle field, that I might put real sights to my mental vision of the site. I would suggest that the women do NOT accompany us, I'm sure there will still be some grisly traces.”

That was a sobering thought again, but the sheer beauty of the wild and hidden Vale was so worth the trouble it took us to get there. It was impossible to imagine it being despoiled by war.

“That might take a little longer than you have, your Honour. I can point out the ptuvil stone circle from below, from the camp circle, that would save a little time. But with this terrain it would be close to two bells duration, and here we are already just about a bell before noon,” he explained by taking a quick look at the sky. Which I noticed was clouding over.

Suril suddenly exclaimed: “Maker. So much good food for pakh up here. We should keep this Vale for pakh, your Honour. They would thrive up here. We could feed the town from up here,” he laughed as he continued, “as long as they would be happy with an unrelenting diet of pakh meat.”

I realised with a start that Suril had only experience of farming pakh over in the Bray Valley and I looked around, trying to see what he saw, with his eyes.

As he scanned the area, he pointed out “Dranakh!”, “Pakh”, “Ganifil”, “More Pakh” and it was like my eyes were opened to the animals and wildlife. They were still where they were when we emerged but I had just seen the valley walls, the rocks, the plants – suddenly it seemed to be teeming with animals and avians. I guessed that one of the dranakh was Josten, for I knew Jafferkin was in town, and many of the dranakh wandered off in this direction when they were released to forage.

But I was glad to be nearing the home – I suspect all us females were. It had been quite a while since our last 'break'.

And I felt we deserved a mug of pel.

Good old Rathina had got THAT underway the moment her man told her there were 3 women with the party, so when we arrived some hand of moments after Brethen, the water was almost ready for the making of the life-saving drink.

And it was nice to see the whole family once more – even nicer to see them all lined up to welcome us to their world.

---

Julina's horizons expand yet again as she and Pomma pay a visit.

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

Oh beautiful sweet relief!

And followed by beautiful sweet pel!

I suppose it was somewhat inconsistent that all three of us women were in such a hurry to replace the fluids we had just delightedly ejected, but there is something calming and settling to sit in a friendly home and sip on a warming mug of well-made pel, after a few bells in the saddle.

These pleasures had, for me, been just a little delayed since it was I who was the one who actually knew the most people here and thus it was I who was required to make all the introductions.

There were 8 in our party – Captain Bleskin, Master Bezan, Master Brydas, Mistress Sukhana, Mistress Pomma, Master Suril, Parrier and I.

Then at the farm were the ones I knew – Goodman Brethen, Mistress Rathina, Venna, Kalisel, Matwyn, Portra, and the older woman, Tarina.

Two of their men were down in town, earning coin – Denesar and Brandar - and the grandfather, Hamenar, was still hanging on down there as the healers did what they could.

There were three faces I didn't know, who turned out to be Jorilda (the ancient one they also called Ganna), Renys, a shy girl about 11, I guessed, and young Toren, who was 6, I was told. These last two were a little reserved somehow, as if they felt they didn't really belong – but I couldn't work it all out right then.

So our entire collection numbered 18, exceedingly crowded inside the sitting room of the house – a room that was getting warmer with every second. They opened all the windows and doors, and kept the small ones out of the way in a corner so we just managed somehow. You can imagine how long it took before all these introductions were done, and how quickly the pots of pel needed replenishing! Once introduced, then the children were ushered away which helped with the overcrowding, and also the faster delivery of pel!

The family were grateful that I had found the time to give them two full and two half days for some writing training, and fully understood the need to travel with a companion, so were just as grateful to Pomma for making it all possible.

Later, when it was less crowded in the house, the women were even more grateful when I unpacked one of my little chests and gave them enough food for Pomma and I for a week! I also offered to help a little in the kitchen, but wanted to have two or three bells a day to see more of their almost private vale. One thing led to another and I offered to do a ganifil that evening, a task I enjoyed always, and which was almost second nature to me. There were the usual protests and so on, but I insisted and got my way.

As the Captain had a limited time for his look around the vale, he and Master Bezan were keen to get on, and Uncle and Sookie, Suril and Parry were going with them, so there was a little friction as they struggled to get under way, with Goodman Brethen leading them. Eventually, they managed to organise themselves and get going.

Once he had mounted, the Goodman issued some terse instructions having called Venna, Kalisel, Renys and Matwyn to him, led by Rathina.

“You will have to take the fodder to the captive pakh – I'm sorry, but you'll have to manage on your own this time. Take the dray. And don't go in there, any of you! Your Honour, we may depart!”

And off they went, promising to return to say goodbye on their way back to town.

The Goodman's instructions were very intriguing to me, so I asked Rathina about them.

“Down near the narrow access passage, to the right as we look at it from here, there is a rock fall. You can see it as different to the others by the fresh rock scars up near the top, comparatively speaking. We had a low-flying grakh and, when some of the pakh panicked, they fled down there. Now you probably know that pakh are very stupid. Very stupid indeed. So twenty or so of these stupid creatures rushed to the rock fall and squeezed through a narrow gap. We know there must be a cave of sorts behind there because we can hear the animals. They just can't find their way out again, even if we lay food right by the only way in and out.

“Brethen went down there once with Denesar and Brandar, they tried to widen the passage and were nearly injured when a further rock fall came down. I was furious. The only three able-bodied men in this family were nearly all killed at the same time. It took a very concerted effort to get my message through but eventually the three of them finally understood how they had endangered us all. I actually asked them if they were stupider than the pakh! And all they achieved was to make the entrance smaller. Men!

“Now, of course, he, well, they rather, are over-protective of the rest of us. We are thinking that the work down in town will provide enough for us to hire a dranakh team to clear that rock fall. It will, we hope, afford a cave large enough to protect our herd from the worst storms, and prevent us having to repair our outhouses. It's a gamble, but we feel that it would be worth it as we see that most of the pakh farming must be up here or above the ridge that leads to Larsenar's when you go directly from town.”

“Larsenar? I heard the name recently, I feel.” I felt my brain searching for a connection or something. But the simple name didn't seem right somehow. There was something, though. Something else. Something not to do with this man. I tuned back in to what Rathina was saying.

“...... years up there. He is an ancient recluse who lives above the Bray Valley head, up against the Stone Sea wall. There is a tumbled down ruin there and he has built a lean-to against the one good wall. He makes Jorilda here look young.”

“Ah yes. Goodman Brethen mentioned him in describing the Vale access points to the Captain.”

“Mayhap. Seems likely. Now, we must load the dray and get down to the rock fall, we are running short of time.”

“Oh, Pomma and I can help you, and we have frayen that are rideable. Surely we can make it a little more efficient?”

And so it was that Matwyn and Renys were able to stay behind, for which they were grateful. It was plain that they did not like this chore. Actually, the other two children could have stayed behind as well, but they wanted to be with these freshly-arrived strangers as much as possible.

We went down to the rock fall in question, and I could see what they meant. The gap at the entrance was not big enough for an adult, and the only ones small enough would be the children, who certainly couldn't be asked to go in there. I could see where the recent rock fall had made the gap smaller than it had been, and I could also see that dranakh were required to pull the rock fall away. Right up at the top, there was clearly a quite large gap above the jumbled rocks, between there and what appeared to be the roof of a cavern leading back into the gloom. That roof must have been ten or so strides above us, and I guess that the top of the rock fall was seven or so strides above us. The floor of the cave was obviously uneven, but there was a slightly deeper channel that emerged under the jumbled rocks, down which a little strongly-smelling water flowed, eventually joining the stream just before it went into my hated narrow gorge.

We laid some food by the entrance hoping to entice some activity from within but nothing happened except for a few pakh bleats that sounded far away. We waited quite a long period but, with no sign, Rathina and the girls turned to get some long poles. Each I would estimate to be four strides long, with a smallish flat board attached to the end. I wondered what they were for.

Just then, there was a scrambling accompanied by a loud and pathetic bleat. We all swirled round and saw a tiny baby pakh emerge down the tunnel. I suppose seeing five humans, most of whom were armed with poles, scared it, for it screamed in fright, at least that was what sounded to me like a scared pakh scream, and then it turned round as soon as there was space and it dived back in again as though a whole army of grakh were swooping down. I had time for my brain to wonder if grakh actually swooped in armies, or maybe it should be herds, or flocks, or …...

I blinked and found we were all looking at each other in amazement. That poor animal had had wide eyes that melted our feminine sensitivities.

But it was absolutely filthy which upset our feminine sensitivities.

No matter how entreating we made our tones, we were unable to encourage any further sign of the poor baby, so the fodder was poked in with the poles, using the flat boards (now I understood their design) and we headed back towards the house.

But first I had them pick up some chalky rock that I tested by scribbling on a darker rock. Yes, it made marks and could be rubbed away. Another teaching tool found, one that would protect my little stock of precious reedlets.

I had an idea and asked if Venna would like to sit up on Dralla in front of me so I could hold her. Her little face nearly burst with her smile, and of course Kalisel had to go up with Pomma. This left Rathina alone, which was good since she had an old-style saddle. It was also good, since the children were not carried in the dray and so we could all progress at a faster rate than that which we had used on the way out.

Of course, upon our return there were jealous cries of envy from the other children once they saw the young riders, and they were followed by even more jealous cries when they heard of sighting the baby pakh, an event that the two who had accompanied us loudly declared before they even dismounted.

“Julina? Hello, Julina?” Again there was some idea was trying to make itself felt.

I shook my head to dispel my thoughts as I dragged myself back to the assembled company. I swung down from Dralla's back.

I must have stood still again, because Pomma nudged me quite hard, and we all trooped indoors. That idea was forming in my head, something to do with that entrance the baby pakh had come out of, but I still hadn't managed to get it all lined up. I sent it back to the back of my head to simmer there, while I went to fetch my paper and my reedlets. I had also found a large slate that Rathina allowed me to use, and I tested it with the chalky stones I had found. It all worked perfectly.

And so the day turned to lettering lessons.

I wanted to start by showing the children these tools and to impress how precious they were. I mentioned not to hold the reedlets for long, since the wax might melt, and they seemed to get the message. So I let them make some meaningless marks with them on one piece of paper and then did most of my teaching with the chalk and slate.

One thing led to another, and I found myself fully into the delights of training receptive minds when there was a call from Matwyn, who was peering from time to time out of the opened window.

“They come!”

So suddenly everyone swung into action. Pel was put on to brew, and a handful of honey cakes were set out for the travellers, to give them strength before moving on.

… … ...

“No, no, Mistress. We could not possibly.”

“Oh we have had ours whilst waiting for you, your Honour,” lied Rathina with a straight face.

“Oh very well, we thank you.”

Sookie came in from the outhouse at that moment and smiled a heartfelt 'thank you' to us all. They told us of their ride, and of the sights that they had seen. A field picnic had been their lunch, hurriedly consumed to waste as little time as possible.

Goodman Brethen asked about the task he had given them as he left and the children told him about the baby pakh. He paid attention to the young ones, but nodded his thanks over their heads to Pomma and I for helping.

“You went back to the lakeside of the gorge?” asked the Captain disbelievingly.

“Oh no, Your Honour! We stayed this side of the gorge! There is a rock fall that has trapped some pakh, and we have to feed them through a small entrance tunnel. It is too small for a grown man and I will not allow the children to risk entering. We hope soon to be able to afford a dranakh team to clear the cave entrance that we might then have a cave for weather protection of the beasts. 'Twould be best to leave a stout wall across the front and have a safe passage through it.”

“Hold! We heard pakh noises behind a rock fall when we arrived.”

“Of course, your Honour. That's what we were telling you.”

“No, no, Mistress. We were the far side of the gorge.” Master B, Pomma and I all nodded in agreement.

There was a stunned silence.

The quiet was broken by my voice saying: “Deegrum! Deegrum and Jeefer! It must be investigated.” That brewing idea had just come together and forced its way out of my lips.

Master Bezan hissed an intake of breath before he agreed with me: “Why you are right, Mistress Julina. That would be an excellent idea, if he would take the risk. I will speak with him this evening, and if he is agreeable, I shall bring him back on the morrow, or the day after. No, hold! The day after that, then we can escort you two ladies back to town, leaving Goodman Brethen to his duties here.”

The Captain expressed himself in agreement with that and Sookie and Uncle eventually started nodding. Everyone else was left looking very confused.

“I shall explain later, to everyone here, and you can bring Suril and Parry into the know on your way home.”

“Thank you Mistress Julina. So be it! And now, good people we must take our leave. We are grateful for the refreshment.”

So saying, the Captain stood up and went to the door, followed by his fellow travellers.

… … …

Brethen and Pomma went off somewhere on frayen, taking the two younger ones who had not ridden, Matwyn and Renys, with them, much to their delight. They wouldn't be the first to have done it, but they would be getting a MUCH longer ride. So ran the sibling rivalry that erupted at that moment. Brethen and Rathina told them that unless it stopped immediately, no-one would ever mount a frayen again as long as we were with them. That worked.

I told Brethen to take Dralla so both children could be carried. Pomma had mentioned, far too modestly, that she had some talent with drawing and Brethen had said he knew just the place to take her. He would like a picture for his family too, to remind them of their beginnings.

I had, in fact, been put out a little by all this as I had imagined that I would have all the children at once, but we arranged it such that Venna and Kalisel were to be taught to be the teachers, so they had priority. This also went some way to mollifying their disappointment that the younger two would have so much more time in the saddle.

Jorilda and Tarina declared themselves too old to be bothered to learn to write and count, since they had comparatively little time left to them. And I could find an easy exercise for the little ones (Portra and Toren) to keep them occupied, which left an intensive lesson for Rathina and the two elder sisters. The younger ones would pick up some information as they listened while working on their task.

I actually started all five of them off with the same little exercise.

“Who would like some pel?” I asked.

Tarina and Rathina both got up to get it but I waved them down and sent a message with my eyes. They subsided and looked on with interest.

The four children politely held up their hands and chorused: “If it pleases, for me!”

“Fine. Then you shall have some,” I paused, “as soon as one of you can write the word 'pel'.”

The grown women grinned.

This is what the final version SHOULD look like ------

My earlier lessons were then employed, for I had told them back then about words being made of letters, and we had all begun to do a 'p' already.

This was always a favourite letter to do, being squiggly and curly curves, so I had long ago discovered it was a good one to start with. Actually, 'a' is a simpler letter, being as its symbol is in fact just the top half of the 'p', but I find it causes a little confusion to teach 'a' then later 'p'. Doing it the other way round is simpler to grasp for students, it appears.

(I interrupt this story to explain a little more about what I have just said. This is because in an 'a', the symbol in question is the body of the letter, indeed is the whole letter, whereas, in a 'p', the same symbol is merely a top to the body of the letter. Sigh. Tops and bodies. I didn't want to do this right now, so I hadn't mentioned any of this to the students. I would soon be telling them about the body of each of the letters, and how some letters have tops and some have tails (and some words have letters with both), but it is easier just to let them draw the basic letter first in their own way. In our script, what we call the bodies of the letters are all lined up next to each other, creating the line on the page; the tops or the tails then extend either above or below this line-up. The bodies of each letter are supposed to be all the same height, but I confess that not doing so is a minor flaw in my writing. Here is how the word 'paper' should appear …....

….... as you can see, the bodies are all the same size and all in line. See also that the letter 'a' is larger than the same symbol used simply as the top on the letter 'p'. And now back to the tale …..)

So I told them now to write a 'p' on their scrap of paper.

(By the way, I was deliberately repeating the word 'paper' because that was going to be a word to do soon – bringing in the difference between 'a' and 'p' – and I was using other related words such as 'scrap' – we teachers need to be cunning sometimes.)

Rathina had the best memory and was soonest finished with her 'p'. The other two were not so far behind. The letters were a little uneven, but I knew practice would soon ease out the shaky handwork. I told them not to try to be so painstakingly accurate as that was just blocking their fingers and their wrists. Try to let it flow. We would refine it as we went along.

Then I told them to draw a hand of 'p's – as quickly as they could. Then we went back to writing our word 'pel' and, sure enough, the first letter just flowed much easier, and they understood my message about just doing it.

“So, the word 'pel'. How many letters do you think there are in it?”

We settled on three quite quickly as I went “Per - eh - ell”.

“Do any of you know how to draw that middle letter? No? Well some say it is the easiest one of all. Look, this is what we do …....”

… … …

“ …. and can you remember the colour of the rocks over there? Were they covered with little plant life?”

Pomma was teaching the two children who had gone with her how she coloured the sketches she did. She had some dyes which she mixed with water and then brushed onto her drawing to bring the subject matter to life. All six children were closely attentive, and also the older ones in the room were impressed by her drawing, even uncoloured.

We had had a simple, but pleasing supper, the older women being impressed with the way I did my ganifil dish and they thanked me for showing them.

I was impressed that little Portra could do honey cakes so much better than my little Julu. But I was pleased to know that there was a chance Julu would improve.

Just before we sat down, I had introduced the idea of the 'vowels' to my students, now including the other two, since they returned a bell or so before we ate. I used things around the table to reinforce the use of vowels and the children enjoyed having a game made of it – I had the impression that family meals were normally more sedate and quiet affairs. I believe that Pomma and I made them more fun for everyone – even Brethen had a smile occasionally. At the end of the meal I am certain that everyone round the table knew what a vowel was and how to name each of the eight.

The younger children were sent off to bed, then the older ones, and we grown-ups were finally left to talk amongst ourselves.

We swapped stories of childhood – mine being the shortest naturally – and so we forged a friendship between us all and titles were soon dropped.

Even after their explanation I still didn't understand the exact family relations, it seemed that Brethen and Brandar were brothers but thought they were cousins, or something like that anyway.

I explained the remarks earlier about Deegrum, how he was shorter than most adults and how he worked in dark tunnels all his day. They were also impressed when I mentioned that he had been a pakh-farmer until his father retired from dam work, and that he was a grenn trainer, Jeefer being a fully trained pakh grenn. Then they understood just why he was the perfect candidate to go in the tunnel and see what was behind the rock fall.

Pomma and I went quite late to the large bed we had been allocated to share but neither of us were awake very long.

… … …

"Don't turn around now", I heard a whisper in my ear.

Out of the land of shadows and darkness, we were returning towards the morning light.

Almost in reach of places I knew, escaping the ghosts of yesterday. Someone was behind me following closely.

Just on the very verge of the morning, daylight was dawning, freedom was but a step away.
Now with the deep dark river behind us, what could go wrong?

My head turned all on its own, and …....

“Hush now, sweet child. Hush. It's just a bad dream. You're safe. Gently now, gently. 'Tis I, Pomma, here holding you. You are fine. We are staying in the Vale with Brethen and Rathina and the children. Gently, sweet, gently.”

“Oh Pomma,” I sobbed. “I was inside that cave where the Pakh are, and there were ghosts and monsters and a huge deep river with a tiny ferry and a single man to operate it. He had held out his hand as though he required coin. I felt I had nearly escaped this strange world with some unseen, unknown companion, when I turned my head and all resolve left my legs.”

“There, there. You were just dreaming. You had a fright yesterday when you learnt you do not like enclosed spaces. It is just your mind playing tricks, weaving a complicated story around your newly-discovered fears. Just think about letters and vowels and numbers. And KNOW that you are safe.”

It took a little while but seemed much longer (looking back at it, I felt better quite quickly actually) and decided to use this awakening as my between-sleeps period; so I wrote my notes of the day, made some plans for the next lessons and so on. I went back to sleep and managed to pass the night with no more scares.

… … …

And so we started the next day without the bath I had become used to; they did not have a proper bath up here. They had a hand of things that looked like half-barrels with a slat in it to sit on. All waste water was taken by dray to a large marshy area, to avoid pouring any waste into the stream that ultimately fed the Town. They relied upon Nature to leach the impurities out before the waters joined the stream down near the gorge.

We breakfasted, and again it seemed that Pomma and I introduced some fun and smiles to which the others were unaccustomed. Even the old ladies giggled at one or two events or tales.

Pomma went off with Brethen again, but again he used Dralla and the new saddle. We decided that it might be unfair to his beast to use my saddle on it, as then it might be unpleasant to go back to the old style. Rathina and Brethen both remarked that the introduction of Dralla and Wiget into their family stockade seemed to have changed their beasts. They seemed less gloomy somehow. The family were amazed when Pomma and I fed our animals the nibbles and this morning their three had all come across and got some too.

So the day started, Pomma helped me with the lessons when she returned by going with the younger ones, who were still doing the 'pel' and 'paper'.

Rathina and the older girls were reading my notes, asking what this or that letter was, and were doing very well as their reading increased their vocabulary and their deductive skills.

“Is this word 'fikt'? I recognise the 'f' and the 't'. And I must suppose that the second letter is the vowel 'i', so that third letter must be a 'k'. Oh how super! I worked it out myself!”

“Excellent! You are right. Now write it on the slate!”

And so we progressed through the morning, taking a pel break (and a comfort break) before we started again. Pomma made the three breaks we took in the morning interesting by continuing to colour her drawing of that Vale view. I noticed that actually she had done two copies of the drawing so she would need to colour all three. Applying that particular colour to each of the three made sense to me, rather than have to come back and mix that colour for each of the versions. The children grasped that way of thinking very well.

I taught, we broke, we wrote some more, we broke again, a bit more colouring, I tested their knowledge, I taught some more.

Then it was time to have some light lunch. The plan was that after the lunch, Brethen, Pomma and I would go for a ride.

But those plans were shelved for a moment, when Brethen exclaimed: “Visitors! It looks like that Master Bezan and someone else, someone with a grenn. Maybe it's that Deegral fellow, he looks short enough! Oh – there's a third man too. And three or four pack animals.”

“Deegrum,” I automatically corrected.

A quick flashing of eyes told me that Rathina would stay here with everyone else, whilst we three would ride down to meet the newcomers.

When we got close, I recognised one of the miners' foremen; he was also quite a small man when compared to Master B.

Brethen had indeed recognised those other two. It was an impressive feat from such a distance.

I dismounted and greeted Deegrum with a quick hug. I dragged Jeefer's nose out from where it was aimed for. Wretched grenn.

Master Bezan greeted us and made the introductions before explaining: “The Captain and I discussed this on the way back yesterday and we have a suspicion about this. We think that there is a cave system that runs through this nose of rock here. But we actually suspect it may not be a cave system, it may be an ancient Chivan coal mine. If it is, then we need to find out quickly. So he despatched us up here as soon as possible. This is just an investigation, and we expect to be returning to town inside two bells. But I must say that that will mean it will be close to dark by the time we get back to report, if we stay the full two bells. We have brought our food,” he finished as I offered to go and fetch them something.

The scene there was so unremarkable that I was able to laugh at the fears of my dreams last night. I actually felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Deegrum sent Jeefer through the entrance and we heard a few pakh bleats and other kerfuffle. Two moments later, Jeefer returned. I really do believe that Jeefer told his owner that it was alright for him to go through.

With no more ado, Deegrum picked up a miner's lamp, lit it, closed its door and just stooped down with no hesitation and disappeared down the entrance.

He reappeared quite soon and in his usual way, barked: “Bolts, cords, ropes, ladders. Right. Left.”

And with that he was gone again, back into the darkness he was so used to.

Master Bezan and the miner each took a crossbow and loaded it with a bolt to which was attached a thin cord. I saw the cord was regularly marked with white chalk marks. Master B told me when I asked that there was a mark each ten strides. They laid the cord out on the ground so that no tangles would impede the flight. Each length of cord on the ground showed three marks, before it curved back on itself and headed in the other direction. There were four lengths laid out, making it that each cord was one hundred and twenty strides long.

The miner fired his bolt, not taking any particular aim, over to the right side. The bolt shot up, into the gap above the rock fall and below the ceiling of the vault. There was a rattle as it struck the rock roof and dropped out of sight.

Nothing happened.

Still nothing happened.

The miner started laying out the cord attached to another bolt whilst Mister B was doing the same, but on the left of the entrance. Just as the miner loaded his crossbow again, the original cord was jerked, and pulled. He unloaded his bow before placing it on the ground. He went to the original cord and tugged it three times. He was answered with a further three tugs.

A thicker rope was then tied to the cord, and a further tugging signal started the pulling of the thicker rope into the cave. The miner called across to Master Bezan: “Forty strides, Master.”

Master B then went to one of the pack animals and unloaded four coils, one after the other. He unrolled the first and I saw that it was a ladder made with rope sides and wooden steps. He attached one end of the first roll to the start of the second roll and I realised that he was going to make a long ladder, forty strides long, which would be dragged up and over the rock fall. The cave would then be accessible to an adult. I was very impressed at the thinking that made this possible.

And so it happened, first on the right hand side and then on the left; so were two ladders positioned.

The ropes and the cords were drawn back to the outside by Deegrum as he exited once more.

“Smelly. Pakh shit everywhere. Doesn't smell like coal.”

He dropped the cords and ropes, then turned round and went back in.

The men this side explained that Deegrum must be securing the ends of the ladders on the inside, just as they were doing this side. When they had done that to their satisfaction, there was some small discussion after which the miner picked up a lamp, lit it, closed its door and crawled through the entrance, disappearing rapidly from sight. I was quite amazed that a man could wriggle forward so quickly on his belly.

The whole exercise had so far taken less than a bell, as we discovered when Rathina came down to us with a packed lunch. She also brought the fodder for the animals, explaining that it was silly to do so many journeys. She was present when the miner returned through the entrance, again on his belly, which was now filthy. She gasped when he came out, and he just grinned at her.

Then his eyes caught sight of the poles they used for pushing the fodder in there. He explained something to Master B, but I was chatting with Rathina and didn't hear what was said. Master B then left in a hurry, going back to the narrow access gorge and walked into it. Meanwhile the miner took the fodder push rod and marked it with chalk, one mark for each stride in length. He pushed it in front of him as he wriggled back in, taking a bundle of fodder with him, tied to an ankle.

After a good quarter of a bell, Rathina and Pomma departed back to the house after making sure I would be alright being alone with men. So Brethen and I chatted for a while and suddenly there was a scrambling and both men emerged with all the equipment they had taken in there. Jeefer was close behind them.

The men poled the rest of the fodder into the entrance.

They stood up, faced each other and then …....

They started hitting each other.

… … ...

Brethen and I stood well back as the clouds of dust and dirt flew off their clothing.

Jeefer went and jumped in the stream, wriggling like a fish.

Master B reappeared from the gorge, a little out of breath showing that he had run most of the way.

He said to the miner: “One, two, two – and, finally, one and a half.”

He laughed when we demanded an explanation: “The men inside said they travelled to the far end and spotted some tiny shafts of daylight, chinks between the rocks of the fall there. There were four such holes which would handle that fodder pole, so he stuck the handle through the holes. The holes were all hidden from eyes from the outside due to the angles of them, but those numbers I gave were the lengths of the handle that I could see in the fresh air OUTSIDE the rock fall. So both ends of this cave, or whatever it is, are blocked with fallen rocks. The blockage the far end is not so very thick, it seems to be about two or three strides.”

He turned to the men and asked if they knew what it was inside there.

It was the miner who answered: “I'm fairly sure it ain't coal, Master but need more light to be fully certain. At far end from here, there was a smashed wagon, and a few human bones, what with there being a skull and all. There was another of them funny wagons standing there away from the fall, except I ain't seen no wagon nothing like that 'un. Seems to have 'ad only two wheels, a rounded front where the yokes stretch forward and an empty back end. Any driver would have 'ad to stand, I reckons.”

“Deegrum, do YOU have any idea what it might be there?”

“No. Never seed a wagon like that 'un.”

“And what did you think they used to do in that cave?”

“Dunno. Strange marks, slits in stone. Need light. A bit familiar, like.”

“Familiar?”

“Somehow, but not comin'. Blasted thought's stuck in blasted head.”

Brethen looked sharply at me when he swore, but I just ignored it and he relaxed slightly.

Master B and I knew not to press Deegrum, and we both indicated to the other men not to do it.

After a short silence more, Master Bezan got things moving again: “Right, we'd better pack up and make our way back to town then. At least we have some knowledge to report now.”

The men quickly and efficiently packed up their equipment and waved goodbye as they left, the pack animals following Master B in the lead, with the miner following them, trailing his frayen. Deegrum and HIS frayen brought up the rear.

We called our farewells.

We were just turning away when Deegrum yelled: “Stones. Dam stones. They was in there.”

… … ...

Brethen, Pomma and I eventually had our ride. Without getting too close to the areas where men had died, Brethen pointed out the relevant sites of the battle and talked us through the events as they happened.

I understood the Captain's remarks then.

To actually see the countryside made it easier to imagine the dreadful frightened scrambling run of Milady and the Prince, with Jenet and Commander Feteran. I could see the attackers sweeping over the ridge. I could almost hear the crashing of weapons at the lower stone circle, and the Ptuvil Circle, as it was now named, loomed somehow gloomily up there, higher up the slope. Brethen made sure we did not get too near, assuring us that we would not enjoy it.

The scenery was spectacular, the wildness was something I had not imagined could be so near to the relatively domesticated town. That gorge I hated so much was without doubt a dividing gate. The views from high up were indescribable as my eye swept round in a large circle.

Brethen took us over to the South Ridge and positioned us so we could just see, high above the north ridge, the saddle that led to the headlands of the Bray Valley. It became obvious that the gorge was the preferred way to go back to town.

Brethen then led us back to the spot from which Pomma had made her sketch, and I gasped at how well she had captured the view. She had only coloured in the half of it, but her eye for colour and detail was breathtaking. I really appreciated at that moment the fact that she was a near-genius at this.

We dismounted here for Pomma to study the scene again, once again fixing the colours and shadows into her mind. Brethen indicated that he would keep quiet so as not to disturb her, and I took the hint.

For the first time, a feeling of insignificance spread over me, a sort of awe at the grandeur of Nature. I started to think of a wider picture than any I had previously considered. The peace, broken only by avian calls and the odd sounds of grazing frayen, was almost mind-altering. I lay back, keeping quiet so as not to disturb Pomma, and pondered weighty matters.

This feeling reminded me of how insignificant we all are when compared to Anmar and the sun and the stars and the moons - “are they even aware of us?” I wondered as Brethen and I looked together up to the skies.

Pomma suddenly said she was done and I realised that it was far too nice a day to lose myself in such imponderables.

Brethen took us over the south ridge and showed how the stream ran in the opposite direction to 'his' stream and we started out to go up the canyon at its upper end, the one down which the bandits had come. But the walls started leaning in on me again, and I could not go on.

My companions were understanding and we rode back to the farmhouse, with a new feeling of association.

I explained to the entire family, once we got back, about the need for stone quarries and that it seemed their pakh cave had been where the Chivans chipped out the huge stones used for making the dam. I told them that they could be almost certain that it would be opened up again, and probably be a much broader passage than that nasty gorge. Stone was important to the town right now.

They were worried that any works would have to be done from the lake end, and their pakh might run away. I think they believed me when I told them that the town wouldn't let that happen. I made a mental note to tell Master B of their fears.

It was obviously a long journey to come over the Bray Valley Head and then over the saddle up there and down into the Vale. It made sense that the works would be done from the lake end. It would be far easier to bring dranakh there. I smiled to myself as I thought of the fact that there was another new road for Master Bezan to fit into his schedule. Mind you, the surfacing stones wouldn't be too far away in that case, would they?

Then I got down to work again, drumming as much knowledge as I could cram into their heads.
I repeated some of the stuff they had already done, just to break them in gently, and to help fix those bits in their minds. Then we got going on new stuff. I wanted to have every letter at least shown to them by tonight.

Pel, lettering, numbering, colouring, pel, lettering, numbering, supper, lettering, testing, bed for the little ones.

The little ones wanted a story though before they would go off that night, and I was surprised when every female settled down and started relating the requested tale. Suddenly I understood how family traditions were passed down. Everyone in the family knew every word, and there was a satisfying peace, or something like that, that descended as they all played their parts. The children were asleep before the story reached its end, smiling as they nodded off.

Then there was just us older ones. Chats, jokes, interest in my tales of town expansion.

Suddenly I had another idea.

“How many of those tales do you have? Your family tales?”

“Why we have a hand of them. That one tonight is Portra's favourite.”

“Can you bear to tell me it again? I confess I would like to know how it ends, but it just occurred to me that each of you know every word, right?”

They all nodded.

“So if I write it down on some of these paper sheets, then you have something to help you with your reading. You will see every word written down. And you already know what that word is.”

“What a clever idea. We could do all five!”

I laughed as I said: “And my hand will drop off the end of my arm if I have to write all that!”

Well we managed one and a half of those stories before I had to admit defeat.

Long after I had got to the point of regretting this foolish suggestion of mine.

It was another later night for Pomma and I as I needed to rest from my tasks before we went to bed.

Again, it seemed I was the one talking most as I expanded on some of the things I had told them. When I got onto the fact that Milady's lands had been extended, a part of my mind realised that Papa would have returned home by now. And I further realised that there was going to be an Assembly meeting tomorrow morning, which I was going to miss. This last thought was just very silly, since I wouldn't have been invited to attend anyway, but I had this funny resentment that things were happening without my involvement, and that bothered me somehow.

Pomma was good and she contributed some towards the conversation with tales of saddle making, of the new shoemaker, and tales we all hung on of the old shoemaker. Then I remembered that Jasinet had been killed in the battle when Milady had crossed the river. I couldn't believe that I hadn't mentioned anything about that yet and so that started another round of memories from all.

I think that everyone was impressed at my knowledge of so many people in the town, and I promised to tell them Epp's tale tomorrow after dinner.

I also had their attention when I discussed Suril, Haka and Haris. Pomma was surprised at the revelations about Haka's mother and the others all tutted at how cruel families can be.

Which led on to me describing Vittima's horrible life, and the trial and the sentence. And the different brands. And the shackles.

All of which they found fascinating, and then Rathina asked a simple question.

As mentioned elsewhere, it is the simple questions that cause the most consternation.

“And did anyone ask Vittima what SHE thought of the sentence?”

---

Julina does what she can up in the Vale and then gets back to Town

---

Disclaimer:

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 waking routine here was so different to the one I was used to at home.

And yet it wasn't that different from the one that I had had yesterday, of course – just a little different, just subtly other somehow. I think the major cause of the difference was that the children had got used to us by then, and thus the second breakfast was less of an unknown quantity to them.

For me, it was also different because I had had very little sleep.

And neither, consequently, had Pomma.

Rathina's question had opened a completely new way of looking at things, which brought with it hundreds of possibilities.

Pomma and I agreed with each other that we should be ashamed.

We, and many, many others, had been pleased to see the bully punished and pleased that a strong message had been sent out. Pleased indeed to see that the authorities care.

But we, and many, many others, had given not one single thought to the victim in all this.

Was Vittima better off?

Well yes, fairly obviously, she would no longer be beaten. But the sentence on her man now made her responsible for looking after someone she didn't even want to have to look at. Someone she was desperately trying to get away from.

For the first time ever in her life, she was now earning coin – and she would have to spend it on maintaining the brute that had married her.

This was hardly fair.

On the other hand, she WAS his wife. And men have certain rights as regards their wives. It was ever thus. In normal circumstances, a father handed over responsibility to the husband for looking after the woman. She was no longer a drain upon the father's resources which is why it was usual to offer a present to the husband, to ease the inevitable transition caused by a newly-added burden to HIS resources.

From what little I had gathered here and there, it seems that it was this present that had attracted Neerkel rather more than Vittima herself. Apparently, Neerkel had been smiling and charming, particularly when Vittima's father was around, until shortly after the marriage.

Pomma and I agreed that not one single woman in the town would look after the brute – they would let him rot; we had never heard a single good word about his domestic behaviour. So it would have to be his wife that would feed him, and do all the many chores that a wife has to do for her man.

The Town, represented by his Honour, required workers, so was this all actually a sop to the women, when they wanted this man, and as many others as possible, to continue to do work for them? Neerkel's job did carry some responsibilities and so the thought lingered that maybe they wanted to keep this resource working rather than have to spend time training a replacement.

And so our discussions had gone fore and back throughout the long dark bells.

I knew I would have to be extra careful during the lessons this day, for without sleep I tend to get irritable and grumpy. It wasn't the children's fault, nor Rathina's really, that I had so little sleep.

Young Kalisel was shaping up to be the most able, but Venna wasn't that far behind. Rathina had intelligence but was torn between learning and running the household, so she was dropping behind a little. The other four children were much as I expected, they were receiving a little less of my time, since the plan was that Kalisel and Venna took over a teacher's role once I had departed. We all knew that it was impossible to learn to read and write in just three days, but hopefully I could introduce a solid base for them.

My writing of their familiar family stories would be a big help to them so I gritted my teeth, strengthened my wrist, and made the second session of the morning one that was happy for them, and a chore for me. We managed to get the second story finished, and the third one started. Some bits went a little slower than others. We took some time with complicated words like 'porridge' and they crowded round as I slowly wrote it down.

After a while, in the middle of the third, my wrist and fingers required a break – so it was time to set my students a little test. A thought sprung into my head that made me grin a little. THIS exercise was going to be interesting.......

I started it by getting each to write their own names.

First we said each name out slowly, making all of us find out how many letters were in each one.

Then, when all understood, I got them to write their own names out.

I helped when we came across unfamiliar letters to be used and they were all proud that they had done it by the end. I made a mental note to include that in my future lessons; it involved the student at a very personal level.

I donated another precious sheet of paper to get each of them to write their own name on it a hand of times. Again, the repetition did wonders for everything other than paper usage.

Then I made them write out the names of the others gathered round. Very soon, all could write every name down legibly. The paper was filled to every corner it seemed.

There was still a little time before we would all have to start the chores so I pondered upon ways to continue. I thought I would try something out …...

I made up some phrases in my head and got them to write them down. Simple statements using the letters they were most familiar with, and expecting them to ask when we came across more difficult ones.

“Feed the frayen fodder.”

“The scrap of paper” and then added “was spoilt by the pel spilling.”

“Ganna goes green with no water.” (That one fetched out a shout of laughter, even from Jorilda herself. The others seemed more surprised at that than at my made-up sentence.)

“Porridge produces (difficult those two words, so I was a little mean there) strong men and women.”

…... and so it went on …... and on …..... a few more of such a nature.

… … …

Lunchtime appeared, and we all gratefully took an extended break. Little Toren delighted the assembled company when he took an extra mug of water across to Jorilda and, with a big twinkle in his eyes, told her he didn't want her going green. She laughed at that, and her whole body jiggled to such an extent that we thought the water would end up on the floor.

That little event was cut a bit short by Brethen announcing: “Visitor! Three casts to us from the gorge. Lone man on a frayen.”

The household jumped to it, and a welcoming group was in place before the visitor had time to ride halfway to the house.

I recognised him some way off, as did Pomma, so we told everyone his name, Kalkulin, and that he was a chargehand working for Master Blandel, the stonemason. We all had a fair idea of why he was here, and so it was proved.

“Good morrow,” he called, his eyes sweeping across us all and focussing on the only grown male amongst us.

We each murmured a reply.

“Have I the honour of addressing Goodman Brethen?”

“Happen so, young Master. Kalkulin, isn't it?”

He was taken aback by that. “Err....., I'm sorry Goodman. Do we know each other? I think I recognise you from around town. I regret I can recall no introduction. And I 'aven't been too drunk recently.”

Brethen chuckled: “Nay lad! 'Twas Mistresses Pomma and Julina here that recognised you as you approached.”

Kalkulin looked at us and his eyes widened. He hadn't expected to see anyone he knew all the way up here. His male eyes had just seen women and children and had skipped across our actual faces. We all could see him readjust his thinking.

“Mistresses, good morrow.” We bobbed the smallest possible of curtseys in an easy greeting.

“Now lad, you've come to tell us that you have to remove that rockfall on the lake side of the gorge. Correct? And you're starting on the lake side because it's easier to get your dranakh there, rather than have to climb all over the saddle above the Bray Valley head, since the dranakh cannot pass easily through our narrow gorge?”

His eyes widened again. We all giggled – well Brethen chuckled, the rest of us giggled.

“Why ….yyyyyesss,” he stammered. “Master Blandel done sent team up to do that. There's an Assembly Meet this morn otherwise he'd a bin 'ere 'imself.” His speech dropped back from that over-formal way he had initially employed. As he got more off balance, his speech returned more to his roots.

But I could easily understand him, as could we all. And I had a pang that I wasn't down in town for the meeting. I know it's silly, but a flash of resentment scooted through me.

The men sorted out quite easily what to do with the captured pakh once they were freed – just lead them through the gorge and let them wander – and Kalkulin promised to number them. He was told there were young in there so not to be surprised when they popped out.

Kalkulin explained that they would use their three dranakh to tug out the topmost boulders from the right side as they looked at it – the side nearest the gorge. They would then work their way down the edge and across the top simultaneously. The first steps would take some time as they weren't sure of the stability of it all, but they did expect to be finished clearing the slide after three of four full days work. He expected the dranakh teams would have turned up by the time he got back to the worksite.

We waved as he turned and went back, his message delivered.

And so we tidied up after the lunch and then Pomma and I joined Brethen for another ride round the Vale. Pomma and I giggled at Brethen's complaints about the old style saddle.

The wildness of the Vale was seeping thoroughly into our souls. It was taking our breaths away at every twist and turn. That day was a little warmer than the day before, the clouds having mostly disappeared. I was glad there was still some cloud though, the sudden shafts of sunlight shining on features created real beauty. One such happened to spill onto a small pond fed by a smaller stream, round in one of the many mini-valleys in the sides of the Vale. The colour explosion was startingly pretty and even Brethen was moved. My eyes took it all in, and then we turned, following this little stream as it exited the pond and trickled its way down to the main stream that ran all through the Vale.

Pomma and I appreciated that ride very much. We knew that this time tomorrow, we would be on our way back to town; who knew when we might be able to return.

… … …

“Oh Mistress Pomma! That is SO good.”

The children were all gathered round her as she put the finishing touches to all three of her pictures. The older people in the room nodded in agreement, but were not rushing to see it. Pomma had told them that she would leave one of them behind – they could have the choice – and give one of the others to me, keeping the last for herself.

We were just after the last lesson before supper, having a break which Pomma had filled with her final dobs of painting. The pictures would be put to one side to dry, and then, after supper, the family would make their choice.

The afternoon lessons had gone well, better in some ways than I had expected, and I was actually hopeful that they could practice enough to get them up to the beginner's standard that Epp and I had agreed. There was still the question of how these children could actually attend the school, but with enough minds thinking of it, I was sure there would be a way found. Another small exercise I set them, this time to do without any help, had enabled me to do a little more of the third story, using many of the words as examples.

After supper was finished, it was getting dark outside. The younger ones would have to get to bed soon, so they decided to start the fourth story. This was so I could make a start on it, and the children would listen to the start of one rather than picking up the by-now-disjointed third story.

And so my fingers and wrist were again put to a severe test.

Finally, the younger ones were abed and asleep, and the next batch were being prepared to be sent to bed.

Brethen, Rathina, Tarina and Jorilda studied the three copies of Pomma's painting and selected one. Pomma then handed one to me, and I was delighted.

Here is why …..

… … …

Getting up that third morning was a little easier than on the previous day. We had slept like the dead as the previous night and day caught up with us. I noticed that Pomma found it a strain and supposed that the older you got, the less easy it is to go without a proper sleep.

The breakfast was a peculiar affair. The children were sorry that Pomma and I would be departing later, and we were too in a way, and yet both of us were looking forward to getting back to our own homes. Brethen, I suspect was not looking forward to a journey back to town to provide us with an escort and then having to camp again for a night before returning. I knew that our afternoon rides had strained his resources about getting necessary things done in preparation for the winter, and that extra journey would not make it any easier.

But he and Rathina were determined that their children would have a better set of opportunities in life than they themselves had had. So they embraced the writing and numbering lessons with an almost overwhelming enthusiasm.

I gave some more lessons in the morning, did a LOT of revision with my students and still managed to complete the copying of the third and fourth stories.

Our pending departure weighed ever more heavily on the children, so our lunch was quite a bit sadder, even more so than the breakfast had been.

We three loaded our animals and, after a strangely tearful leave-taking from the women and children, set off towards the dreaded gorge. I was already steeling myself for coping with it and Brethen had suggested that actually I led our little column through it, thus having better vision in front of me. I agreed to give it a try.

It was a little better I have to confess. Having unobstructed views forward helped me and I didn't feel quite so bad as I had before.

This was probably a big part of why I screamed so much when I turned the bend that goes to the right, in the middle of the gorge, and bumped full tilt into someone.

… … …

The workers at the end-of-the-lake rockfall all had a good laugh.

I can sympathise slightly with them as it must have been a very unusual sight when they saw a woman astride a frayen, facing the backside of the beast, as the said frayen backed out of the gorge.

I think it helped Judd though, that I was able to gently guide him as he walked backwards.

For it was into Papa's breast that I had bumped.

It took a little rapid explaining from Brethen for Papa to understand the depth of the problem, so, once the problem had been grasped, he just lifted me onto Judd's back. Which helped immensely, and I could help the beast as Judd backed out of that side of the gorge. It was slightly wider there and there was room for my legs to dangle. The saddle wasn't comfortable mind you.

But being raised, having unblocked vision and gripping my father's hand all allowed me to negotiate the short journey with relative ease.

I scrambled down from Judd's back as soon as I could, and was quick to remount Dralla. When the workers saw me remount, then some of their laughter drained away to be replaced by a certain amazement. A shout shook them back into work mode soon enough.

Papa and Brethen had a short conversation while Pomma and I rode our beasts off to one side to keep out of the way of the workers and possible rockfalls.

Ropes, leather harnesses and metal spikes, some with spreading metal hooks, were lying about, as men on ladders drove other spikes into the gaps between the jumbled rocks with heavy hammer blows. On the ground were a few rocks lying around that had obviously been dragged down before. Two dranakh were waiting patiently for the ropes round the rocks in the rockfall to be connected to their harnesses. One worker slid down his ladder far faster than I could ever have imagined, and then he teamed up with three others as they dragged the ladder out of the way. The other ladder was similarly dealt with.

The dranakh were eased forward until the ropes tautened then they leaned forward to take up the strain. They pulled steadily and in perfect time with each other; and made ground a thumb at a time. Soon, the rock at the top wobbled in its seat and the animals strained more. Suddenly, the rock toppled forward, the dranakh almost ran until they released their pull (again, in perfect timing with each other) and there was a huge crash as the rock piece thumped into the ground. This was followed by a strange sound, almost a whistle and on top of that were suddenly louder pakh noises.

One of the workman called across to Papa and Brethen and asked if either knew what was the other side. He was most disconcerted when I, a mere female despite being mounted, answered: “It is a cave system. The far end is also blocked to humans by a rockfall, but there is a gap between the top of the rockfall and the roof.”

“Ah! No wonder we have such a gale blowing through here then. Now we have created a gap, there is nothing to prevent the wind blowing through.”

His call though had brought the two mounted men over to us, and suddenly I was just a mere female again.

It wasn't, I decided, worth making a fuss about.

We watched for another half a bell, as two more rocks were brought down. The third dranakh was employed to drag the tumbledown rocks into a sort of curving wall, which the foreman explained would guide the released pakh into the gorge. The gap was slowly widened as two or three more loosened rocks came down with less effort required and so the wind noise diminished as a consequence. Now some of the top rocks were cleared, two of the men scrambled up the ladders again and stood on top of the 'wall' where they swept, kicked and tossed down more and more rubble.

Papa wanted to stay for a bit longer. He had come to fetch us for which Brethen was grateful, as that allowed Brethen to return to his now less-interrupted tasks. And so there were just we three onlookers. However, Pomma and I suggested that it might not be wise to stay for too much longer. We were, after all, a long way from an outhouse.

We did all agree that we would be back soon, though.

“I particularly wish to see those funny wagons the miner described, as well as see what else the removal of that wall exposed. I'm not sure, though, that I would be able to bring myself to actually go in there.”

“I know what you mean, Julina. I am also drawn to it and yet have a fear of entering, although the gorge did not worry me as much as it did you. Maybe it's just a fear of the unknown.”

“That is entirely possible, Mistress Pomma,” said Papa, nodding. “Many is the time I have observed that in my life. Often it happens that the person involved laughs about it afterwards and wonders what the fuss was all about.”

… … …

As it was, Pomma and I managed to make it all the way back to the Claw before needing the facilities.

And we went the long way round!

Papa kept up a conversation with us as we wended our way along the lakeside. We came across a spot where the track had obviously been dug out of the hillside by a stride or so. The markings were extremely fresh.

“The track had crumbled here, Papa and was scarce wide enough for a wagon. I see they have already made it safe. Such a difference.”

“Aye, lass, I can see the signs of the work. Very recent this is. But this is nothing really. A trivial difference.”

His tone made me look sharply at him, but he deflected my unspoken enquiry: “So did you get up higher in the Vale, maybe to the Ptuvil's Circle, as Master Bezan tells me it is now called?”

“No, we did not approach that place. Goodman Brethen ….....”

… … ...

And so we carried on, reaching the dam not that long afterwards.

“Now, ladies, it is time for you to choose. We can scramble down the flank here to the stream bed, and we can be at my home relatively quickly, should you require a comfort break. Or we can follow the aqueduct round to the Cistern. The overview of the town would be better going the long way round.”

Pomma and I glanced at each other as we wondered why Papa should think we needed to have an overview. But there was something in his tone, indeed in his entire body posture that suggested strongly we should take the longer route. Our eyes told us that neither were in need of a comfort break, and unlikely to be so for another maybe bell.

“Very well then Master Kordulen. Be pleased to lead us to town by your preferred route.”

“So be it.” Papa led off along the roof of the aqueduct. “So no doubt you picked up a new recipe or two?”

… … ...

As we rode along, the town slowly exposed itself to our view. We came round the slight right-hand bend where the aqueduct seems to make its break from the Blackstone river, and looked eagerly as the houses came into view. The obvious first thing that was different was that East Street was now in full use. Seeing the stream of wagons descending really brought home just how much traffic Main Street had carried. It itself was very busy, but we could see that there were many more gaps for foot-goers to use to cross safely.

We could further see that East Street was now actually fully paved all the way up to the Claw.

Actually, I should reword that statement as it is a one-direction road. East Street was paved from the Claw all the way down to where it joined Main Street again.

We could see some workers adding paving stones to the surface for about a cast upwards, and some were adding an extra layer just inwards of the stripe. Again, I admired the way that they were obviously doing it. The outside of a stripe was finished first, a task that was unaffected by the traffic passing, and which then gave a certain more room for the wagons to use, then they added a next bit to the inside of the stripe, done when there was a gap in the traffic. Then they did the same exercise on the other side, the other stripe. And then finally they would fill in the middle. This caused almost no disruption whatsoever.

“Oh what very clever thinking! I see how they can expand that surface even whilst it is in use. Very few complete interruptions I should imagine.”

“Aye, lass. And I'm proud of your intelligence.”

“You are clever, 'Lina. Why, I could never have gleaned that detail just from the quite short glances we have had.”

“Oh, tush, Pomma! Had you been there at the meetings, then the subject would have been equally as interesting to you. You would have been looking at the scene with different eyes. I could never look at some scenes with YOUR eyes. Oh Papa, wait until I show you the absolutely brilliant picture she has made of part of the Vale …...”

We went on whilst still both talking and observing, getting ever closer as our roof-top route above the aqueduct angled in towards the buildings at the top of the town.

Mind you, we still couldn't see the very top end of the town, but we could grasp many of the details slightly lower down. It looked to me like our new home might be connected to the water supplies, both fresh and waste, judging by the channels that had been dug. But those water channels were still open to the elements.

I could see that Suril and Haka's new home was …... hold! That was them, surely? Carrying furniture and belongings into the new residence. Yes, definitely that was them. And I could see a thin spiral of smoke from that chimney. And I could also see that the water channels had yet to be connected.

Just behind was the start of another new building, closer to the Watch House. Hmmm. What on Anmar could that be?

Oh! Maybe that would be the female lock-up! Yes, that must be it. A much smaller thing altogether.

By this time, we had progressed to the next kink and rounding that had exposed the top of the town.

Pomma and I reined in in surprise.

We just stood there for a good moment or two while Papa was chuckling to himself. My mouth was dropped open and Pomma later told me hers was too. We didn't look at each other though. Our eyes were goggling at the sights that had just come into view.

I realised now just why Papa had heavily suggested we came this way.

… … ...

Oh where to begin to explain? Now I am writing this some little while after the event, it is easier to set it down logically, but at the time my eyes darted hither and there, skipping from one change to another.

“Oh Maker! So many changes. Some small, some major. Hold a while that I might take them all in.”

“I agree, Pomma. We need time for this. Thank you Papa, for keeping this all a surprise.”

All the major changes had a common factor, it seemed, except for the obvious expansion of Master Pocular's space, and an obviously new settlement of two adjacent workshops that had sprung up way, way over there on the west bank of the Bray. There must have been nearly a mark of roadbed laid now on the Loop Road, and it became obvious now that those workshops would be inside of the roadway.

For the rest, the common factor could be described as the camping place.

But as that was so large, I have found it to be difficult to choose with which change to start.

I suppose the best place would be with something I have already mentioned, and to then work my way round from there.

East Street. And its junction with the camping place at its south-eastern corner.

“Look you, the top two or three casts of East Street are fully finished! That is indeed very sensible as traffic entering it might not always do so at the same angle, therefore the wheel stripes may not have been convenient for all. This way the traffic has time to line itself up with the stripes that continue down the hill!”

“Aye lass. Excellent observation! Now if you also look …..”

… … ...

A quite technical conversation then ensued regarding road building, which left Pomma and I a little time to look at some other wonders while Papa was going off about one of his favourite subjects. The two of us listened with half a brain.

To continue to describe the changes, I shall continue working my way round the stretched circle that made up the camping place then.

(Older Julina says: Nowadays of course, the levelled area is less and there are more houses around what has become the market place, but back then it was quite different.)

So then I shall resume my descriptions, going from its south-east corner, from East Street, and starting out heading west, towards the sun that was now visibly sinking in the sky.

All the haphazard tents that had spread along the south side of the camping place had disappeared.

Completely.

I shall return to these.

Instead, there was now one quite large structure. I don't mean to imply that this structure took up the entire space along that edge of the camping place, but it was positioned some three or four strides in from the edge and was fairly central between the places where the two major roads intersected the south side of the area – Main Street and East Street.

This was like a house but without an end wall as far as I could see. At my first sight, we could see only the east end of the structure, and only at an oblique angle at that.

But before I come to more of this 'house', let me first deal with the embedded wagon marks within the entirety of the camping place. There were several obviously favourite routes, but nearly all were lightly marked into the surface.

The most obvious came down from the track that led to the quarries and the Loop Road which, you probably know by now, approached the camping place from the north-west, the far corner from our current viewpoint.

There was a clearly etched wagon track that entered the camping place there and headed towards the new structure before turning off. We actually watched as a laden coal wagon lurched from the Loop Road / Quarry track, down to this new building, almost hitting it before turning left and heading for East Street, following the strong marks in the surface. A sharp turn right led into the exit from the camping place, and the wagon was on its way out of town, with no traffic coming in the opposite direction to hinder it. It was immediately apparent just how much of a relief to the traffic this new one-direction system was proving.

So, back to the new structure, whatever it was. It had no obvious tracks into or out of it.

I asked Papa what it was but he just shrugged and didn't answer, his eyes sparkling at me.

The way he did that told me he knew what it was, and was waiting for me to be amazed. Grrrrrr. Sometimes I could get angry with him.

Pomma just mouthed: “Men!” to me and I had to grin.

But there was too much else to take notice of for me to be angry really.

Main Street had always approached the camping place uphill from the south, at an angle across the slope. It had ended at the camping place, with maybe one third of the camping place to the west (left) of where Main Street joined it, the rest being to the east. The track to the quarry, and now to the Loop Road, had always been almost a continuation of Main Street, considered so as, if that street had run directly up to the north side of the camping place, it would meet the mouth of the Quarry track.

I would estimate that the camping place was some three or four casts wide at that point. You will remember that Malet's and Kelly's home was on the corner there, where Main Street joined in, to the left as you came up.

I have described this is some detail since it is now time to describe the next major change that had taken place in the four days of our absence.

If you drew a straight line from Main Street to the Quarry track, this line would form the side of a new area.

The entire west side of the camping place had been cleared, and marked off somehow. I was too far distant at that moment to see clearly how it was marked.

“Look Pomma. There, the western end has been separated off. What have they used for markers? I can see that they're white but I can't make out what they are?”

“Nor I. Do you know, Master?”

“They are large stones, stones that have been squared off, much like the marker stones on the main road downvalley, but without the domed top. They have been whitewashed in the same way, though.”

I saw small groups of men moving about within this marked-off area. A few heartbeats of observation told me that they were most probably military or something similar. I wondered at the validity or usefulness of ten or so men in groups arranged in rectangles and marching about as lonely figures shouted at them.

Continuing my description of the changes by continuing to travel round in that direction, we got, of course, to the start of the quarry track, which I shall from now call the Loop Road. On the west side of that road, the walls of what I knew to be the new public bath-house were already erected. Indeed, I fancied I could make out some steam from heated water being made ready already.

“Aye lass, happen you're right. The workers can now have warm showers, and some take baths, at the end of the working day. I cannot express to you how much the atmosphere has improved in the workforce since that happened.”

On the east side of that road, as you are all already aware, sits the squat, windowless, looming block of the Cistern. This takes up almost all of the north side of the camping place.

And contained probably the greatest of the changes I need to describe. Although 'contained' is the wrong word.

On top is the accurate description.

On top of the Cistern was an enormous structure, which seemingly consisted of a middle-sized hut with pairs of tall poles either side. Arranged between these tall poles were horizontal poles which stuck out either side. Attached to the ends of these extensions, were arms that were either up or down. The whole contraption seemed to be connected with ropes and so on to the hut below. It was some strange, almost menacing structure.

As we watched, several arms flicked up or down, waited a few heartbeats, and then did some more. This continued for a moment or two, before the hut door opened and two men came out, stretching and easing their backs. They seemed to nod to a group standing by and at that moment several of these men started swarming over the structure, attaching other ropes, testing the movements of the arms and so on. I realised that the operators had finished for the day, and the maintenance men were checking and testing the structure, to be sure that everything was in order.

It took my breath away.

“So that's a semaphore station!”

“Semaphore what, what's that?”

“Oh sorry Pomma, I should have told you all. It never really came up in conversation. Actually, it should have done. It's a good reason to concentrate on spelling. Why, I could have ….”

“Yes, my dear. But WHAT IS IT?”

“It's a way of sending messages. So much quicker than by frayen. ….. ” I trailed off as I thought about how to describe it easily for her.

“Mistress Pomma! On a clear day, we can see the Strettalm from here, right?” Papa attracted her attention.

She nodded. “Indeed, Master. It has often been a wonder to me to see that peak rising above the trees. When the sunlight catches it right, it can be quite startlingly beautiful. I have a picture I made of it once.”

“Well, there is another of these on top of the Strettalm. The operators have things called telescopes. They make distant objects seem closer. With a telescope, it makes it seem like the top of the Strettalm is as close as the start of the forest, or even closer. By arranging the arms in a certain way, a letter can be sent from here to the Strettalm, followed by another letter and then another. In five moments, the operators on top of the Strettalm can have received an entire message.”

“But why would they?”

“They then take that message and send it on to the next station. Before you know it, the message has reached to Tranidor! Or at least, it will happen so when the chain of stations is complete. We can ask a question of someone in Tranidor, and receive an answer within a matter of bells, rather than take a whole week.”

“Maker!” she said faintly, as the full implications began to set in.

“Yesterday we had our first ever useful message via this method. A wagon has broken down at the Forest Roadhouse, and the wheelwright was able to load a spare wheel onto the shuttle before it departed. That saved at least a day's delay.”

Finally, to complete my descriptions of the changes, back on the camping place, north of the track marks joining the Loop Road to East Street, were arranged the tents of the workers. In orderly rows and columns. I was amazed at how neatly they fitted into so small a space compared to what had been there when I left.

So you can now readily understand that much had changed. And why Pomma and I were quite so amazed.

Hold!

A further change caught my eye and I saw now why the tents were seemingly taking up so much less space.

It was because there were in fact so many fewer tents. The Miners' Village had far more buildings there now.

I saw that there were many bodies scurrying round over in the Miners' Village, but it was just too far distant to make out details, and the closer we got to the end of the aqueduct, the more the Cistern blocked off of the views up there. But I still had seen the change over there.

So many changes in all.

And we had had only three nights away!

… … ...

We dropped down the slope close to the east side of the Cistern, skirted the foot of it, then rode diagonally across to the top of Main Street, this time not having to thread our way through tents and campfires and the like.

We got a closer look at the new structure as we crossed. Both ends were open, no walls at all. Under the roof, against each wall was a sort of raised edge and both had some packages or baggage or baskets stacked on them. There were some notices attached to the walls in various places.

I looked a question at Papa, but he shook his head, mouthing to me to wait. Really! Some men! Sometimes I could scream!

… … …

Pomma and I, as mentioned earlier, made it back to the Claw before requiring a comfort break. Sookie was delighted to see us and we had a little time to let her know what we had been up to before Papa started to get irritated. We arranged to have a further morning ride on the day after next, Sookie being certain she could get back into the saddle by then. Instead of the morning ride tomorrow, we agreed to come down here and fill Sookie in more properly on the events that we had experienced up there. Papa was pleased with that arrangement as it meant we could leave a little earlier.

He escorted us up to Pomma's and made sure that everything was in order for her to return to. Nothing was untoward, and it was apparent that her housekeeper was pleased to have her back. Both Papa and I were relieved that everything was good enough to allow her to come home without difficulties. We left her and made our way across Main Street and down to the Watch House. I was intrigued to see the latest arrangements in the life of Suril and Haka – and Haris, of course.

Of course it didn't work out like that.

Kassama caught sight of us leaving Pomma's and got Em to interrupt our stroll. We were taken straight to the Salon.

Where another surprise waited for me.

The entire room had been coloured – I detected Gyth's influences here – and the tables were so improved with cloths, they were no longer recognisable.

The door had been rehung such that it opened outwards into the corridor, giving a little more space inside the room and the corridor had been fitted with a door either end to minimise draughts. As a result of this, there was space to hang coats of the diners outside of the dining room, but inside the corridor. There was also a small room created for the doorkeeper.

The new colours made the room seem a little lighter than it had been, which must be an improvement; it would have been difficult to be more gloomy. The colours were considerably aided by the fact that there were two of the new windows that had been installed. They were standing open to help clear the smell of the paints. The outlook was merely to the wall and backyard of the neighbouring building upslope of this one. The special alley to connect Main Street to East Street passed on the downslope side of 'our' building, so there would be no interruptions from that source.

The kitchens had not been neglected, and there were beautiful new pots and pans and kettles and bowls and boards and everything you could imagine.

Em was delighted, and I was caught up in the moment. There were only a few things left to complete and then the Salon could open.

“Em, don't forget that I shall be going down to Tranidor shortly, with the girls. The grand opening will have to wait until my return.”

“That might not be happening, daughter.”

I turned to Papa, shocked to my core.

“We need to find out what this war business will cause, first.”

… … …

Once again, this far-off war had burst the bubble of my happiness.

I gushed appropriately when we got to Suril and Haka's. They were moving out of Em's but would be back for bathing and feeding. Little Haris was in Haka's arms, and was almost asleep, his fingers entwined in her hair.

They showed me the new building that was indeed a lock-up for females, and it was well thought out. There were two cells themselves, and a properly equipped bathroom for THOSE days. There was an outer 'office' with two desks, one for the duty officer, usually going to be Vittima, and one for the female boss who was indeed Mistress Grizanthet. The building would require a few more days before it was usable.

Papa was getting uncomfortable, constantly checking the door and the angle of the sun. I suddenly realised that he was waiting for something.

“And just what are you getting twitchy about, Papa?”

“Ah! You know me too well, my child,” he said shamefacedly, “it is always so difficult to surprise you. I have seen you get irritated this afternoon with me when I don't tell you things you want to know. Just be patient a little longer, I beg of you.”

The others around, I became aware, were all smiling, so they also knew what was in store. And my mood brightened just a little. I think it showed, since I felt a tension in the room lessen.

My mood was further improved when little Haris gurgled at me and played with my finger. There was something about that little mite that tugged at my heart.

We chatted about the experiences I had had up in the Vale, but I had barely scratched the surface of all that could be said when the door opened and in walked Master Fedren. His arm was in a sling but his face was still a healthy colour, so I knew that his injury, whatever it was, could not be so bad.

“Master Kordulen – it comes!” He nodded to me before he turned and left as suddenly as he had appeared.

… … …

And so it was that Papa, Suril, Haka (and Haris), Em and I found ourselves up the hill, under the roof of the new structure.

I looked around, trying to make sense of what I saw.

On either side, was a raised platform maybe a stride above the ground. There were bundles, bags, boxes and baggage of all sorts piled up. On the left as we walked in, the setting sun casting our shadows further into the structure, were four large notices on the wall. One said 'Roadhouse', the next said 'Brayview', the third 'Tranidor' and the final one simply said 'Farther'. Each had a distinct pile under it, the second being the smallest. On the other side, the piles were a little more spread out.

Between the two platforms, which had a set of steps at either end, I could just make out some wheel marks, so I realised that wagons must come in here, hence no walls at either end. Then I suddenly realised what this whole building was.

It was the end station for the shuttle.

“Why a building like this?”

“The roof keeps off the worst of the weather from goods that have been delivered, or from goods that are to be sent. Goods to be sent are sorted by destination, so unloading the wagon is easier when they are loaded in sequence. Also, passengers have here easy access to an outhouse, and may remain out of the weather as they wait.”

I nodded as the explanation made sense. But what didn't make sense is why we were all here.

That was explained a few moments later, when the shuttle turned into the level area after climbing Main Street, came across the intervening distance and pulled into the 'shed' as Em called it. I could see now why the platforms were the height they were, and why they were the distance apart that they were.

The two passengers to get off could step easily onto the raised wooden floor, and the driver could easily unload the goods, everything being at the same height. The wagon itself fitted neatly between the platforms with only a very little gap.

I noticed this only in passing, for one of the passengers had come to me and given me a hug.

“Master Steef,” I sputtered in surprise. “What brings you here?”

“Two things really. I have a meeting with his Honour to discuss more details about the barges. First thing in the morning.”

“And the second thing?”

He didn't say a word, just nimbly hopped into the belly of the wagon and twitched aside a goods blanket after untying the ropes that held it from slipping or flapping.

I gasped in surprise, and delight, at the two metal tanks of foti fish, each with at least a hand of fish swimming around in them.

“We shall take them down to your fish farm tomorrow,” said Papa. “Steef shall stay with us tonight and travel back on tomorrow's shuttle. We have arranged that the shuttle shall pick up the empty tanks from the roadside at the second roadstone. It makes no sense to transport them back here just so they can be taken back down the hill.”

I caught a smile on Steef's face as Papa said that, and another on the wagoneer's face. Something else was going on. I made sure not to show my impatience.

We then left to go back home, but going by way of the Claw since my packs were still down there. So the entire group of us retraced our steps down the Main Street taking our leave of Em first, that being the first home to pass, of course.

We neared the Watch House area and Master Fedren was just approaching it from the direction of the Bell, talking to a quite heavily built man I recognised from somewhere.

When Fedren caught sight of us, he laughingly 'hid' behind his companion, and everyone sniggered and looked at Haka. She blushed a deep red and looked uncomfortable.

I plucked at her sleeve and asked: “What's that all about then?”

She looked at me and said: “I shot the Sheriff.”

---

Julina has some more firsts – and initiates some too.

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

”But I didn't shoot the Deputy,” continued the stricken Haka.

You will readily understand that there was no way on Anmar I was going to leave without getting a full understanding of what was involved in THIS story, even if it took all night.........

With what seemed to be about a hand of hundreds of people all talking at once, it was unnecessarily complicated to piece together the events, but I believe I have done so at long last. I may actually have stamped my foot once or twice. And my glare certainly worked on more than one occasion.

The Sheriff and Suril had recruited an extra six people, four men and two women, as deputies and Em and the Captain had also found some dozen trainees to form the basis of a part-time soldiery. With some overseeing by their respective bosses, both Em and Suril started the required training for each of the two groups.

It soon became apparent that there were several areas of overlap and the two leaders worked ever more closely together to save duplication of effort. This was not a permanently on-going activity for the soldiery, who had also to do other work, whereas the fresh deputies were being paid to be deputies. On one of the days, they decided to combine an exercise with the objective being to see how capable all these fresh recruits were when it came to shooting crossbows.

Using the garden at the corner of our new house, and shooting across the Claw's empty paddock, the test firings took place on the morning of the day before Pomma and I returned. One recruit, one of Suril's team, was detailed to carry out a stand-up target for the other recruits to aim at. The idea was to place the target quite near the assembled personnel, let them have at it, then move the target back a hand of strides and repeat the exercise, eventually finding those who could still be accurate at farther distances.

The recruits started shooting their bolts at a mere ten strides and some of them proved to be quite accurate. The target was then retreated by the hand of strides and so the exercise was repeated. No-one was eliminated at this stage, so it was time to start again. And again.

As the next rotation took place, the first shot at the target had knocked it over, it having been placed unsteadily on the ground. As a result, the target man was despatched to restand it at a better place. He repositioned it and stepped away, but then saw one of the feet was sinking so he turned back. At that moment an over-eager recruit let a bolt loose. It struck the target man in the thigh, who collapsed with a bellow, clutching at the injured and bleeding leg.

All the rest immediately dropped their weapons to the ground and rushed to help the wounded man.

Haka, with Haris in her arms, had been inspecting our new house and came out to see what the commotion and fuss was all about. The first thing she saw was a discarded but loaded bow pointing straight at her. She immediately skipped to one side, shielding her baby. Deciding that this could be dangerous to someone else, she thought to change things. She reached down with her one spare hand, intending to point the thing in a safe direction.

Her finger touched the trigger. Unfortunately, the bow had not been latched properly and the apparatus shot its bolt as soon as she touched it, narrowly missing her. The thing arrowed up into the clear skies before lazily turning point down and plummeting earthwards once more.

The Sheriff was just crossing East Street to view the training session when the bolt from the blue slashed down the length of his forearm, fortunately only scratching the skin rather than actually penetrating the flesh. That didn't stop him yelling mind you. It took but a heartbeat or two to discover that the damage was minor and nowhere near as bad as it could have been. Nor was the other man injured seriously, the bolt there 'just' passing through the fleshy part and missing any vital bits inside.

Needless to say, safety standards were devised and strictly enforced from that moment on!

… … …

Finally, we managed to return to the Claw so I (and Papa) could retrieve my packs. There was a note on them to call on Sookie before departing, so, amid harrumphs and tutting from Papa, we had another short delay.

“I forgot to say earlier, Julina, that you should be at the parade ground at First Bell tomorrow morning.”

“Parade Ground?”

“Yes, the western end of the camping place that the Sheriff and your Master Michen have taken over. I really strongly recommend that you come, and get your Father to accompany you too, maybe even the whole family. Now I have to dash back inside, I have some meat in the oven, and your father's patience may not last much longer! See you up there tomorrow morning.” So saying, she turned on her heel and scurried away.

Papa looked at me as I looked at him. We both shrugged at the same moment, neither being any the wiser as to Sookie's strange request. And Sookie had not given me a chance to tell her that I was in fact going for a ride in the morning after all, and would have to fit in my tales of the Vale after that. I realised that maybe I should also tell Pomma, and said so, but Papa took me firmly by the elbow and hustled me up the slope towards our house.

Thus it was that we finally made it back to our old home. As we went past, I had noticed a slight difference at the new one but again Papa refused to let me linger, saying that tomorrow was time enough for all that.

… … …

It was very gratifying to have been missed so deeply, but the welcome from my siblings nearly bowled me over. They all rushed to me at the same time, yelling their heads off and making enough of a din to be heard down in Tranidor, it seemed. I was swamped by reaching arms, and young Kord needed to be picked up. He was very sniffly which made me feel a little guilty that I had abandoned him, but then I realised that actually I hadn't really and I told myself that he would have to get used to it. Swayga looked over their heads to me and smiled her own welcome back, and I responded in kind.

The chaos was immense at first until Papa enforced some order upon them all: “If you would have a little patience, then I'm sure dear Julina will answer all your questions. And she will only have to explain things once rather than once for each of you. So let the poor girl at least go to her room and change out of her travelling attire, and then she can keep us entertained as we eat.”

Although I was the one talking most throughout that meal, I did discover some new differences. Both Swayga and Kords could now ride, having bras and riding skirts and breeches. The Claw had a hand of new saddles cut for generic use rather than tailored as Papa's, mine and Pomma's were, and fully two hands of frayen had been delivered up to us, all of which were currently being used to train riders, but the deputies and the militia leaders would gradually stake claims to them, thus reducing the number of beasts available for the 'riding school' as they called it. They also used the beasts to hire out to riders who could prove their competence.

Sookie, Parry and Papa were all making some (little) coin from this new enterprise, Papa saying that he had already recouped the outlay of half of one of the hand of beasts he had purchased. The other hand had been purchased by the Town as the deputies would be using them. Sookie was beginning to get concerned about these 'outside' activities overwhelming her responsibilities as Tanon's 'depot manager', but realised that half the new intake of beasts would soon be leaving as would Boxin and Wiget return to Waldan and Pomma's home.

They all oohed and aahed when I showed them the drawing that Pomma had done, and they were fascinated by the tale of the discovery of the old Chivan stone quarry. There were some sighs from the girls about the baby pakh. One part of my mind was amazed at how matter-of-fact all this seemed to me already, having related the tales before, and yet, to this audience, the stories were still fresh.

And so the evening drew to an end, Kords and I leaving the adults to do whatever it is that adults do by retiring to our bedroom and we chatted for a little while before sleep claimed me.

… … …

The awake period was strange for me, I suppose because of the disruption of the travelling. It was only later that I discovered I had lost all my notes of that evening, the notes from which this part of the tale was wrought. Thus this one is more purely memory than anything else. It was sort of worrying to me, because I had never done anything so silly before. I put it down to tiredness. And hoped that it would not come over as being too disjointed a tale.

… … …

And so another day began.

A beginning so completely different that I felt there should have been a thunderclap, or a peal of bells or something similar.

But it didn't seem like that at first.

I could feel in the air that we had a cold start, and when we went outside we could see we had one of those funny weather periods, that could sometimes last up to three or even four weeks. The skies here were clear and crystal bright. And cold. Looking down the valley, I saw as I had by now expected, a sea of cloud, out of which the peak at Strettalm rose with a grandeur and a disdain all at the same time. The background of the clouds behind it meant that I could just about make out the semaphore structure balanced precariously on the peak with my unaided eyes. From many stories related over the years, I knew that under the cloud, the land would be having miserable weather, rain, sleet or even snow. It seemed to me always as if this weather pattern sucked out the moisture from our air up here, and moved it all down valley. We all went back in to get a thicker coat, or add an extra layer to our clothing.

Note, I said: 'We all'.

Every single one of us in the family went along to the 'Parade Ground' as Sookie had suggested we do. And every single one of us was amazed when we got there.

I was initially very shy but let myself be persuaded by Sookie to join in, so Swayga and Kords did as well, we three feeling some safety in numbers, and after some initial reluctance, so did Papa. It was not too hard to join as there were a good fifty people all gathered there, and each and every one of them welcomed us politely and without any outward sign of being judgemental. We stepped into the crowd of doers, I suppose that's the right word, rather than just joining the observers. Molly, Kelly and Gyth all saw me start, so they took part as well.

Not that anyone was actually doing anything at that precise heartbeat. As for us newcomers, none of us had any idea what this was all about. We stood around and asked questions, which were not really answered, when there was a short, sharp and yet authoritative triple clap from the middle of the throng.

“Good morrow, all.”

Everyone turned and looked at the speaker, falling immediately into a respectful silence, after murmuring a reply. Sookie, of course, was there with Uncle. Also Masters Bezan and Yarling, and I saw with a little shock, Master Blandel. Suril, Haka and Em, although Em was restricted by the bandaged arm, as was Master Fedren. Epp was there, and Grizanthet, and …..... It brings nothing for me to name everyone present, so I shall cut the list short there, and continue my report with what this stranger then said.

“My name is Tarpsik, and I have been honoured to be selected as today's leader for the Tiechee (or some word like that – it was new to me). I have been doing this for many weeks now, and indeed I noticed yesterday that we have another form we practice downvalley that comes after the last of the forms I observed when I arrived. I understand that Milady departed a few weeks ago and maybe she did not have the time to demonstrate the extra one before she left. I know them all as I am based in Palarand City and have been with her trainers down there. I ask that today we try to ensure that an experienced practitioner is at hand to ease the awkwardness for the many newcomers I see, recognisable due to their extreme but unwarranted nervousness.”

With that, he smiled a gentle and yet commanding smile, spread his arms wide and concluded with: “So, my Lords, Ladies, Gentlemen. We shall begin.”

He turned his back to us as everyone gathered themselves together, Sookie whispering instructions to me and Swayga.

And this strange dance, this Tai Chi as I later learned it should be written, commenced. I followed as best I could, my awkwardness rapidly disappearing as I saw all manner of people following these steps, movements and body twists. Some men were extremely stiff, some children ungainly as they unconsciously tried to force their movements. Maybe I'm biased, but I thought the women were the most graceful.

And it was surprisingly invigorating both physically and mentally. I knew that I would want to continue to do this and thanked Sookie for the encouragement. She assured me that it would not take that long to learn.

Once the exercise was over, it was noticeable that the observers were making more noise than the practitioners, who to my eyes were contemplative and yet somehow charged up. Those who had not participated felt able to criticise those who had, and I found that very irritating indeed.

I took the opportunity and explained to Sookie about the changes to the plans for the day, following which we all turned away to head towards the Claw.

However, there came an interruption, one that made Sookie, Swayga, Kords, Kissa, Kelly, Molly and Gyth all giggle, and me blush.

“Mistress Sukhana, a moment if it pleases! This lovely young lady with the red hair I have not seen before. Will you not introduce me?”

As I was the only redheaded young lady amongst this large group, it was obvious about whom Tarpsik was talking.

“Ah! Certainly,” said Sookie after a quick eye check with both me and Papa. Laughingly, she continued: “Goodman Tarpsik, may I present Mistress Julina, who has been away with friends up in one of the valleys round here for a few days? Julina, my dear, may I present Goodman Tarpsik, a leading wagoneer in Master Tanon's company. He arrived the day before yesterday, together with another wagon sent by the authorities in Palarand City, no less. He and his colleague Danfik were delivering two new and far larger steam engines to Master Brydas here, sent from the Guilds once they read Milady's letters about the need for more powerful machinery to help with many aspects.”

“Mistress Julina. It was nice to see such a willing newcomer to the Tai Chi. I regret I know the town not at all well, else I would invite …..”

“And Goodman Tarpsik, may I present Master Kordulen, Julina's father? Mistress Swayga, Julina's soon-to-be step-mother. Her sisters, Kordulet, Kordulissa and Jululet. Her brothers …..”

The poor man had to stand there as Sookie drew out the introductions to everyone else around. It would have been rude in the extreme to have walked away in the midst of the list, and he kept flicking nervous glances towards Papa as Sookie continued. I think some others caught on as to what was happening, as it seemed to me that several others sort of wriggled through the throng and caught Sookie's eye, giving her another name to add to the list. There were several grins all around while this was going on and I was hard put not to show mine. The man was probably ten years older than I and certainly did nothing for me, but nevertheless I felt a little sorry for him and the situation in which he found himself; this helped me hide any grin that might have crept out.

I, as was proper, had my eyes downcast – for the most part. I did however, notice an unusual event going on in the background and watched out of the corner of my eye as a messenger boy was despatched from the semaphore station above the Cistern and ran over towards us, obviously searching for someone. He changed direction abruptly as he caught sight of his target, and I kept watching, trying not to be obvious about it, as he ran up to where Masters Bezan and Yarling were strolling off towards the Steward's House, in the company of the Captain and Master Fedren. There was a certain amount of consternation amongst the recipients of whatever the message was once it had been delivered, and the lad dismissed; their heads all swivelled around. Finally, one of them spotted someone else, and they all went over towards that extra person, but then my vision was blocked.

By that time, Sookie had reached the end of her enormous list and Tarpsik nodded a genial and smiling acknowledgement to everyone around, his eyes twinkling as he realised what had been going on. That spoke well for the man, not that it made him any more attractive to me, mind you!

“And for your information, Goodman Tarpsik, Julina is not yet counted an adult. You would require my permission if you really wished to pursue this matter.” I'm not sure I have ever heard that stern note in my father's voice before.

“My apologies, sir. She has the air of someone far more mature. Had I known the circumstances, then I would naturally have approached you. Now if you would forgive me, Danfik and I have to be leaving in the morning with loads of coal and the letters that several here will have written to the Guildmasters. We have much to do today to prepare for the long journey.”

He backed away and took his leave with no lingering awkwardness and everyone bade farewell before turning to each other and continuing to make small talk.

I wanted to ask more about this Tai Chi business, but was again interrupted.

“Mistress Julina, good morrow. And Mistresses Kellonika, Molleena and Gythy. And of course, all here assembled.”

“Your Honour, Masters Yarling, Bezan, Michen. Good morrow.”

“We have just received a message from the Forest Roadhouse via the semaphore. Apparently, a party of three men has just departed there bound for here. One is a Guildmaster, travelling with two assistants. It would be best if we were to provide them with one of your special meals in the Salon this evening. Would that be at all possible? Master Michen here has no objection.”

I flashed a look at the others in our team and got my answers from each.

“Certainly, your Honour. Provided always that Master Michen can provide the food, of course. For how many mouths do we have to cater? And how many courses?”

Thus it was decided there and then, that there would be eight to feed, not counting household members. They made it clear that they wanted it a fairly simple meal, to convey a certain simplicity of life up here. And so it was confirmed with no further discussion that I and Molly would get to the Salon at the first full bell after noon, the girls a little later.

Finally, we all separated on our own tasks, chores and events.

… … …

They all laughed at my face when I saw the extra surprise that had been hinted at the night before. Only Pomma showed any surprise, so I knew all the others knew.

We had left the Parade Ground and made our way down to the Claw, collecting Pomma on the way. I explained what was happening and she was delighted to have another ride, and to have some time chatting with Sookie about our Vale adventures once the ride was over.

So it was that Papa, Swayga, Kords, I, Pomma, Parry and Master Bezan set off from the Claw. It was a gentle ride, to be kind to Swayga and Kords, just down to the Fish Farm with the two tanks of foti that had been delivered the night before. The twin tanks were draped across my animal's back as we walked down the road. We would release the fish into the lake and then go back to the Claw – just a gentle 'break in' for the newer riders.

We progressed down the road, slipping into a position, sufficiently far away from either to prevent dust problems, between two coal wagons although the temperatures were cold enough to make even the dust want to stay in bed and not venture out into the air. Crisp would be the right word to describe that air, I feel. Not quite cold enough to freeze the water in the metal tanks, but enough for the fish to be noticeably slower in their movements. At least I assumed that was the reason for the slower movements. I hoped they weren't dying or anything like that.

I noticed something different as we approached the second roadstone. And not just the wagon sitting stationary there. There was also a pile of something just off the road, covered with a tarpaulin. As we had approached, the driver of the wagon in front of us had alerted me to it; he gestured to the pile and spoke about it to his labourer/guard. What they said I have no idea, they were too far away to be audible, but their gestures were eloquent enough.

Papa went a little faster so he could get to the pile and remove the coverings before the rest of us got there. The others were all grinning, which made it obvious that just Pomma and I were not in on the secret. I didn't need to get all the way up to them to recognise them for what they were. I just needed to be closer to be able to count them. Another hand of pairs of fish tanks. Papa assured me that there were a hand of fishes in each. So all in all we had a further sixty fish with which to stock our lake. I was struck by the confidence everyone had that they would survive here. The driver of the stationary wagon grinned delightedly as the full surprise was finally sprung. I recognised him as the shuttle driver from the previous evening, when all in the plot had make it seem that that pair of tanks was the totality of the present sent up by, presumably, Master Steef.

Certainly, their plan had worked – giving me the glimpse of the two tanks last night had in turn given me something to look forward to, and also a good reason for selecting the Fish Farm as our ride's destination this morning. A perfect distance for the new riders. Swayga and Kords particularly were grinning still with the delight of being astride an animal, just as they had been all the way down here.

And so the men loaded the tanks, including those on my beast, onto the wagon, and also a strangely lumpy pair of sacks. We all moved on, once again dismounting near that passageway through the reed wall.

There is not a lot of interest in describing the release of the fish, but I feel the awe on Swayga's and Kords' faces is worthy of a mention. They too were amazed at the expansion of their horizons, just as I had been oh so recently and they were fascinated to actually see the lake which I had only described to them beforehand. The sacks turned out to be filled with something an expert (Master Steef?) suggested would be good fish food, and half of one of the sacks was scattered on the surface. We were gratified to see a frenzy of activity as the fish realised that they could rise and scoop the stuff off the surface. I think they were anxious to add to their reserves for the winter which was obviously well on its way. Master B, with a nod from Parry as well, explained that the other half sack should be scattered in a week's time, and then the final sack emptied over the following two weeks. By then the fish should have settled in and slowed down for the winter. Swayga immediately volunteered herself and one of Kords or I to come down to feed the fish each week. The Spring would tell us if out attempts to establish a food supply were successful or not.

Thus it was that we all returned towards the Claw smiling and chatting as we slowly made our way up the road, unhampered by much other traffic going in our direction. The extra wagon had left as soon as it was unloaded, the driver being required to leave with his shuttle at the noon bell. In direct contrast, a constant stream of coal wagons was passing downhill; I did not envy them that as the cloud cover, which started not much farther down from where we were, was not looking very inviting. It was much more fun up here in the sun.

We knew that these wagons took nearly half a day to get to the Forest Roadhouse, and that therefore the volume of traffic would decrease sharply after lunch. In fact, there had developed a habit of 'afternoon wagons' parking on the level ground by the bridge if there was insufficient time to reach the Forest Roadhouse, and the drivers would then awaken early and set off at first light, some apparently getting all the way to the Brayview roadhouse during the day that followed.

Some took this idea a little further, literally, and actually drove down to the junction where the Loop Road would join the Main Road, once it was opened, and parked there. Giving themselves a few more marks less to travel. But the long walk back from there was sufficient to deter most of the drivers from doing that. Getting back down there of a morning was never going to be a problem, of course. So by mid-afternoon on most days, the level place was already mostly filled. I could see a time when we would need a larger parking area.

I felt an idea brewing in my head, and I turned round to check a few things out. I looked behind us down the road, and just had to laugh. We all reined in and turned to see what had amused me.

There were five heads, bobbing up and down just above the top of the clouds, their mounts being totally invisible. Even as we watched, first one, then another, pair of frayen ears appeared as well. I guessed that the riders had another quarter of a mark to go before they were fully out of the cloying clouds. Every step though that they were taking revealed more and more. But to have just seen their heads was a remarkable coincidence of time and weather, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the moment. A descending wagon waded into the cloud and we watched as it disappeared until finally only the drivers' head was left. I doubt any of us will see the like of that again in our lives.

We turned back and started out again. I estimated that the travellers would catch us up as we got near the bridge at the bottom of town.

And so it transpired.

… … …

“Might ha' known. Don't pay you for picnicking with women, Bezan. I want to see you this afternoon, tell me why you're not working proper. And you!” said this short prickly, pugnacious person to Parry, “who are you and what do YOU do?”

Master Bezan was obviously trying to formulate a polite reply but Parry had no such qualms: “I don't know who you are, sir. And we are at war I am told. I shall tell you nothing until I know your allegiance.” With that he walked on ahead of the rest of us who had all stopped in one large group.

That didn't last long. A shout from a wagoneer left no doubt his opinion of riders that block the road. What annoyed me was that, as soon as he saw there were some women riders here, then of course the blockage was entirely due to women, even though every one of us was actually on the verge and it was the men blocking the road, particularly the five men who had caught us up.

I recognised two of these men, they were Blackstone residents. Apparently, they had accompanied the other three up from the Forest Roadhouse, just for that journey. They tipped their hats to us all and continued on to their destinations, leaving the pompous, noisy man, who was obviously in charge, and his two assistants to join together round Bezan, leaving us women unacknowledged. We decided to leave the men here, now that we had all moved off onto the level place by the bridge, and we women would return the animals to the stables at the Claw. We started to move off, but a call from Master B stopped us.

“Hold, ladies, please. I shall escort you, as I should.” He turned back to the little man. “Guildmaster, if you would bear with me, I shall accompany these ladies to their stabling and can then come with you to your allocated rooms.”

“Allocated rooms? We've only just arrived on a surprise visit. How can we 'ave allocated rooms?”

“The semaphore told us of your departure from the Forest Roadhouse, Guildmaster, and we laid plans accordingly.”

“Don't be daft, man. There was so much cloud and snow down there, not even a light could penetrate the overcast.”

“There is a peak near the roadhouse and if you turn and look, and your eyes are still sharp enough, you can see the top of it there ABOVE the cloud layer.”

“Harrumph. And I suppose in this frontier town, t' accommodation will be quite crude? Some inn perhaps?”

“The Steward has agreed to accommodate you as his personal guest for the time of your visit. You will find him a very pleasant fellow, but a stickler for 'form' and not one to accept injustice in any form. I believe you will have heard of him. Captain Bleskin?”

“Bleskin? Of the Palace Guard? Well blow me down. What's HE doing up here in the wilds?”

“He is a personal friend of Milady and is her representative here. His word is Law as far as anything goes around here. Not someone anyone else would wish to upset. He believes in people using their minds, but comes down hard on those of us who fail to take ALL knowledge into consideration before making judgements. He does NOT accept jumping to conclusions.” There was a quiet but distinct warning in Master B's tone as he said this, a message clearly received and understood by the Guildmaster, who was torn between showing his now-recognisable natural aggressiveness and a more sensible business or even political attitude.

Whilst this exchange was taking place, two more coal wagons had started their descent into the snowy conditions that awaited them; their drivers and labourers and guards had all recognised the Guildmaster and straightened to attention as they passed, looking, to my eyes, faintly ridiculous as they saluted whilst remaining seated. The Guildmaster acknowledged each with a peculiar wave that hovered somewhere between formal and informal. I realised that these wagoneers were ones that worked for the Miners' Guild and were not working for Master Tanon.

… … …

Pomma and I spent some time with Sookie, telling her about our time up in the Vale, and we agreed that tomorrow's ride would be to the Chivan stone quarry, to see developments there. Pomma told us that actually that would be her last ride for a while. Swayga and Kords wanted to accompany us as well and Sookie and I agreed that it wouldn't really be too much for beginners. We did warn them that their muscles would be protesting, but they laughed that off. Sookie and I looked at each other and raised our eyebrows.

Pomma, Swayga and Kords all came with me up to the Forge, from which came a lot of clamour and puffing and hissing.

Yes, we had to go in and investigate. I for one was impressed at the size of the new steam engines, when compared to the little one I had seen before. It looked far more powerful, and Uncle told me they were going to test its strength on the morrow.

“In the afternoon, I trust? We are riding to the far end of the dam lake in the morning!”

“Very well, I shall arrange my day to fit round yours!” But he was laughing as he said that, knowing that Sookie would want to be there too.

I went home with Swayga and Kords after that and we had a nice lunch, all the family together before I had to go off to work.

… … …

Molly and I were getting to be a much better team now we had some experience, so we arrived at the kitchens and got straight into it. This time it was a simpler meal than before and that, coupled with our growing abilities and experiences, enabled us to get nearly all the preparations done before the sun disappeared. We went outside and sat on a rock to watch the last of the direct sun – it was a pleasant, cold admittedly but still pleasant, little break that we took as we watched the sun disappear from our view behind the western ridges and peaks. The eastern peaks were still basking in direct sun even after we had been plunged into shadow.

Molly drifted off in her thoughts somewhere and I knew her well enough to let he do what she wanted without interruption. She was muttering to herself for a good few moments before she sighed and said: “Got it! Tell me what you think?”

She took a breath and spoke again, in the tones people use for reading stories to others.

“And now the day is over,
See the shadows start to grow.
The sun has done us well today -
In flaming crimson he'll explode;
In a burst, a million colours
Are sent to spill across the sky.”

I was silent for a heartbeat or two, and she was getting really worried. I realised that I needed to reassure her.

“Molly, that's just beautiful. It's just perfect. I am very impressed. Well done indeed. Remember it and I'll write it down for you. No, better still, we'll get Pomma to make a picture of a sunset and add your words to it. Ooooh – that might be an idea for a little extra coin. We should think about that. But now it's time to go back into the kitchens and start the actual cooking. The other two will be here soon, and we'll have …..”

“Hah! Look at this Kelly. I found two lazy kitchen staff just sitting around doing nothing.”

We stuck our tongues out at Gyth, leaning there in the doorway; all four of us laughed and had a quick hug before returning once more to the warmth of indoors. Our team swung into action as I told them what we would be serving this evening and to how many and so on. Soon we were all working merrily together, setting the tables and starting the meals. We knew that we would also be feeding Em, Master Morden, Kassama, Suril and Haka too, as well as ourselves, making 17 meals in all. It no longer seemed the huge task that it would have appeared only a week ago!

… … ...

“I don't like him! He's far too well dressed to ever go down a mine so what makes him the big boss, huh? And he's hardly big is he? Why should he get a lot of money because other men dig coal and ores out of the grounds?”

“It's just because he didn't acknowledge you properly.” Nor had he me, either, but then I had an idea of what to expect after the earlier meeting with him.

“Nonsense. He's aggressive and so sure of himself. I hope that meeting in there puts him right. And his associate, that Brathan. He hates women, you can tell. Fancy trying to tell Gyth and Kelly they weren't allowed in the room!”

“The Captain soon squished him, though. I thought I would laugh when he told Brathan to go and eat elsewhere if he felt that the Captain's arrangements were unsatisfactory. At least that Horran, horrid as he is, backed up the Steward's point of view on that point.”

“True, true. … … Here, what do you think? Are these desserts serveable like this?”

“They're excellent Molly. Even the sourpusses should smile at THOSE!”

Which is exactly what happened.

As usual, we were called into the dining room to be thanked and the only sour face was that of Master Brathan. I think we were all surprised when Guildmaster Horran offered another Solly for us to share, by way of thank you. I caught a quick look of respect flash across the Captain's face, before we were ushered out again to get on with the cleaning up. Again Kassama and Haka helped us and it was all soon done. We shared the gift in the same way as we did before.

We chatted, I'm sure you will be surprised to learn, as we did the tidying up, and the girls reported that His Honour was often irritated by the Guildmaster but they actually had constructive conversations.

His Honour did pull the Guildmaster up on one point and laid down the law to him. He made it plain that the Miners' Guild were not paying Master Bezan anything, that Master Bezan was employed directly by Milady and that the Guildmaster had neither responsibility nor authority over anything that Master Bezan might do. This had been confirmed and agreed with the Guildhall and the documents were handy for inspection should they be required. The Guildmaster objected that it was he who arranged for Bezan and Yarling to join the caravan initially and was corrected immediately and firmly by the Steward, who pointed out that the Guildhall in Palarand had nominated the persons, the Guildmaster merely had to arrange for them to join the caravan.

Kelly told me that there had been hints about secret instructions given to the men, particularly Master Yarling, and the Guildmaster wriggled a little in his seat at that. However, the three visitors, His Honour, Masters Bezan and Yarling, Master Fedren and Master Michen generally had a good meeting. Once the developments that had occurred and were envisaged had been thoroughly explained, the Guildmaster actually expressed his approval. They all agreed that the most limiting factor was actually the water supply, Master B announcing that they were, just but measurably, using now more water than was provided by the dam and aqueduct system. There was no danger of running out in the next half year, but sense dictated that no more residents were taken in – this in turn meant that the miners present would also have to help with some of the other jobs around, as they were doing now. The rainfall at this time of year was a factor, of course, there being obviously less.

Kelly and Gyth were reasonably certain that the Guildmaster was left with an appreciation of the required juggling of priorities, and a new viewpoint of how developments should be handled in less civilised areas. He was a little put out that his secret visit was announced before he reached us, but understood the huge advantages the semaphore could give. It was all weather-dependent of course, everyone understood that, but even so, to be able to pass messages so swiftly on most days of the year would be a great boon in many ways.

We were just packing up the very last of the things when Kelly asked if anyone knew where the Guildmaster was staying.

“He is in the Steward's house and his associates are sharing a room down to, sorry down AT, the Bell.”

As I said this, it was like a bell sounded in my head, and that thought I had had this morning sprang into my mind. I put down my cloth and told the others I would be back immediately. I went to the dining room door, knocked and poked my head round.

A silence fell in the room, except for a shocked and disapproving 'Tut' from that Master Brathan. I knew enough to wait until asked to speak, so I was prepared for a little delay.

“Mistress Julina,” said the Captain. “To what do we owe this pleasure? Don't look so worried. You have not interrupted anything of major importance.”

Brathan could not hold back his disgust. “You allow mere servant women to just interrupt whenever they feel like it? Really Your Honour – I am most astounded.”

“Master Brathan, you have had enough warnings as to your behaviour to have realised that your attitude is hopelessly out of date and is in fact offensive. I shall expect an apology before you leave, if you are incapable of giving one now to us all, including the young woman you have just offended. Do I make myself clear?”

“.......Your …. Honour,” he stammered in reply.

“I repeat my question. Do I make myself clear?”

“But Your Honour, she is a mere kitchen worker – a woman. I fail to see any requirement for an apology.”

“Master Brathan. You have been present at a meeting between your Guildmaster and Milady Garia, have you not? Did you really think that what Milady said was nonsense and to be just brushed under the carpet? This young lady here has done more for this town in the past weeks and months than just about anyone else. It was she who cooked your dinner tonight and it was she who had the idea for this room to be a private dining room. There is a list of her achievements almost as long as this table. I for one, and Master Bezan for another, would probably drop whatever we were doing to listen to one of her ideas. So yes, an apology is expected and already overdue. I suggest strongly that you think hard about it.”

He turned to me and smiled nicely: “Mistress Julina. Do I detect from that expression on your face that you have indeed had another idea?”

I had blushed heavily during the preceding, so I could only squeak out: “If it pleases, Masters, I have indeed had an idea. Perhaps Master Bezan could have a chat before he leaves. I shall wait in the kitchen.” I drew my head back hurriedly and returned, shaking, to the others.

I quickly explained what had happened and there was much tutting and sympathy from the others. I told them not to wait for me as I had no idea how long Master B would be, but they all stayed with me, whether out of sympathy or inquisitiveness I wasn't sure. Probably both. But I wasn't prepared to speak up about my idea until I had dealt with my doubts about it, and those answers would only come from Master B.

So we sat there, still chatting away for a full quarter of a bell before Master B arrived.

I sprang to my feet: “Oh Master Bezan, I am so sorry to have caused a problem. Should I go and apologise?”

“Do not dare do so. It is not you that requires to apologise. That man's manners were appalling and I have never seen Captain Bleskin so angry, apart from when he received the news of the attack on Milady. That man brought it entirely upon his own head and has been banished from the town. Even Guildmaster Horran agreed that he had overstepped the bounds. His Honour told him that he could overnight tonight in the Bell, but that he had to leave before the first bell tomorrow. Even then he refused to apologise, so I feel a letter shall be sent to the Guildhall. If I am any judge, the man has just shot himself in the foot, to refer to crossbow accidents for a moment. I suspect he can kiss his career goodbye. His only hope is to claim the wine got the better of him and that he apologises in the morning; I just don't see it is going to happen though.”

“Oh I wish I had never come in now.”

“Now, now, Mistress Julina. This is not your fault. He has been upsetting nearly everyone since he arrived. Yours was not the sole cause. There is something in his background that has made him thus. Now, what is this idea of yours?”

“Oh it seems so trivial now. I wonder if it's worth all the fuss!”

“Come on, girl. We all know your ideas have merit. Now tell us!”

“Well, I was thinking. There are many wagons parked at the level ground near the bridge, right? So they can get away early in the morning? So many in fact that some are now parking off the main road all the way down by the third roadstone, using the unused bottom end of the Loop Road. By doing that, they can get away first thing, and with good conditions get all the way down to that other roadhouse, Brayview, I think it's called?”

“Yes, that is indeed happening. Not many do it, because it's awkward getting back to town once they have parked. They can always get a lift down in the morning of course, as all the other wagons set out.”

“But that seems to me to waste the very advantage of parking down there in the first place. They need to get a lift back down to their wagons, and then they start out later than they could.”

“Hhmmm, true.”

“Just opposite the junction is an old building, that seems sturdy to me. The occupants today were wondering if they should depart, but maybe they could be persuaded to take on the responsibility for the Fish Farm. Their current home would then become available. Why not turn that building into a bunkhouse? The drivers could spend a night there. Get some breakfast at dawn, and get immediately underway. Some staff could go down on the shuttle maybe each day, prepare the beds and the breakfasts, and return on the evening shuttle, or even stay overnight to serve the breakfasts and get a lift back to town with the first traffic that comes along. Surely that would get the coal downvalley just a little quicker? And that seems to me to be a priority nowadays. It would also provide another small business opportunity for someone to gain just a little coin.”

“Once again, you have seen a simple and sensible solution to a problem that we hadn't even seen. This just might fit in with another little problem I have. Again, we all thank you. I shall get back to you to let you know how it develops.”

… … …

And so it was that another day came to an end, and I slept easily and well. Ready for my next day.

---

Julina gets a little forceful as developments continue

---

Disclaimer:

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 - 2020Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

---

“But it's so cold out!” whined Kord. “I don't want to go outside. It's the middle of the night.”

“You'll be sorry if you do not take this opportunity. I myself have seen the like less than a hand of times in my entire life. I promise you you will be fascinated. Now hurry up. Don't spoil it for everyone by making us all miss it. It won't last forever.”

All the while, I was helping the others into warm clothes, and arranging things that would be required. I got Papa to heat a lot of water for the pel we would need to warm us up again once we came back in, and he said he would open up one of the fires as well, the one in the family room. He wouldn't come out himself having seen the effect several times in his longer life.

So much chaos and activity was a rare event indeed in any awake period, but the prospect of seeing a happening that occurred so very seldom made me drive the others. I had noticed the flickering lights when I poked my head out to do a quick check on the weather; I was lucky enough to choose the right heartbeat to do so. Had the lights not flickered just then, I would not have known what was going on.

“Come on, come on, come on. We must hurry, all of you. And Kord, if you try one more delaying tactic, then you shall stay in here and forever wonder about what you missed. Now, MOVE it!”

My chivvying worked, possibly along with Papa's whole-hearted agreement and encouragement, and we all trooped outside before scrambling up the slope a cast or two. I was really worried that the sight would have finished its spectacular show before we all got there, but thankfully the splendour continued long enough for all to be awed by it. Even Kord. Little brat.

The western peaks and ridges were being lit by intermittent flashes. As mentioned, even Kord stopped whinging as the beauty of the near-silent light show worked its magic on his soul. No-one said a word, just stared open-mouthed up at the ridge on the western side of our valley. We had a good quarter of a bell of observation before my voice shattered the spell, and the silence. I ushered them all back in, to a welcome merrily blazing fire and a steaming mug of pel.

Just before I went in, as the last one of course, something caught my eye and made me pause, one hand still holding the door open. I gave a little horrified gasp, which only Kords heard. She turned round immediately and came back to me, worry and concern in her eyes. I just pointed downvalley and she gasped too, her hand going automatically to somewhere between her chest and the base of her throat, just exactly as my hand had done to mine. We looked at each other in concern and looked back downvalley. The awful sight was still there. We were unable to tear our eyes away until, all of a sudden, it just disappeared. We sort of blinked and were about to say something about it.

Just then, Kord wanted help inside; Kords and I we looked at each other, both more than a little scared. Our eyes agreed not to say anything to the others, so we made our faces neutral and went back in to join the rest of them in the family room. It was surreal to see everyone else acting so … so … so normal.

Swayga held Papa's hand and smiled a thank you at him as he poured mugs of pel, handing them round as Kords and I helped the others out of their outdoor clothes and back into their sleeping clothes. They all wanted to talk about what they had just seen and experienced but didn't really know where to start. Meanwhile Kords and I were struggling with our little 'secret'.

It was Swayga who asked the first question: “Well that was certainly impressive, I have seen nothing like it before. Pray tell us, Kordulen or Julina. What exactly was it? I can make a guess, but would like to know for certain.”

I glanced at Papa, but he nodded for me to take the lead here in this chat. After all, it was I who had raised all this middle-of-the-night activity.

“What, my dear mother-to-be, is your guess? But first, does anyone else want to make a guess?”

I looked round, but they all decided to wait for Swayga to continue so I gestured for her to do so.

“I have seen something similar before. I remember when I was a little girl, sitting on the sea wall that makes Viridor's harbour, wondering if I could see my parents out there on the huge expanse of blue. I was sitting in the sunshine, swinging my legs over the waves that were crashing against the wall. It never occurred to me that what I was doing was dangerous, until I became an adult. It was just something all we kids did, lined up on the top of the sea wall, just sitting there, giggling and telling jokes and sometimes punching each other. Normal kids stuff. ... Hmmmmm ... But I have drifted away from the topic. Sorry. While I was sitting there one day, I observed a thunderstorm way out to sea, and the silent flashes I saw then were similar to what we have just seen, but that storm had only dark clouds to see the flashes against. Here we had mountains and the night sky to provide a far more impressive picture.”

“Excellent. Good observations. That is exactly what it was. A thunderstorm, but not here, it was in the next valley. The storm itself was probably about our altitude, maybe even a little lower, but the rock walls of the valley hid it from us. All we could see were the flashes of light from the lightning, light that was travelling UPWARDS from the storm clouds and bouncing off the rocks. And we could hear the odd rumble of the thunder, but muted by the distance it had to travel. It always amazes me just how long the sound takes to reach us as compared with the time taken for the light to reach us.”

“Thank you, 'Lina, for making us go and see something so eerily beautiful,” finished Swayga, looking meaningfully round the other faces. It worried me slightly that I could see no sign of tiredness from the children. Had I made them do too much to be able to sleep again for the rest of the night?

The others did all add their thanks, even little Mister Grumpy, Kord. Then a torrent of conversation started as they all described to each other what they had seen. I actually grinned a little at the futility of that, since they had all been there and seen it for themselves – but children will be children, I suppose.

As I suspected, it took them a considerable time to get back to sleep after this awake period, but they did.

Thank the Maker I had slept well in the first sleep period.

It took Kords and I much, much longer to sleep again. We could not dismiss the scary sight that only we had seen.

And my dreams were scary as well. It was not an easy rest. In fact, Kords and I ended up in one bed, cuddling for security and comfort.

… … …

The next morning's Tai Chi helped us both, and I confess I was delighted when I saw all the members of my family taking part. Kissa seemed to be more of a natural at it than any of the rest of us. I got flustered in the second form when I advanced the wrong foot at the wrong time. It seemed very simple but remembering all the moves was taking a lot of my mental strength so I was usually half or maybe a whole heartbeat after everyone else. Kissa on the other hand just seemed to flow from one movement to the other with no effort whatsoever. And I wasn't the only one observing that. Some around her were copying her rather than the day's leader, and that created a sort of mini-knot of people. Sookie and Master B took particular notice.

… … ...

“You four run down to the Baker's please, and get our bread. Here is some coin to pay our account. Swayga and I need to talk to 'Lina and Kords for a second. Make sure you bring back the correct change.”

They scampered off, delighted to be doing a chore for Papa. I was just a little hurt, as every time I had given them chores there had been scowls and grumpy faces. But the crisp air, and the bright sunshine that suddenly poured over the ridge to the east as the lazy sun finally got out of bed and shone directly on us at last, and the empowerment from the Tai Chi all combined to ensure that any negative feelings were quite despatched.

Nearly.

There was still a remnant of my scary experience from the night before.

“Now, you two. There is something worrying you both. It was noticeable when you all came in from watching the thunderstorm over yonder, and you were sleeping together when we roused you this morning. Pray tell us both what it is that has happened to worry you both so deeply?”

I looked at Kords and she looked at me, finally gesturing that I should be the one to explain. I took a heartbeat or two to consider how to say what I had to. That pause was almost too long, as Papa took a breath to speak again. I rushed in to fill the gap before he could start.

“Papa. I … we … were scared by something we saw outside just as we were coming in the door. I have worried about it and can find no explanation at all.”

Another pause before, and after, my next sentence: “We both saw a frightening sight,” I swallowed this time as well, and cast a quick glance at Kords, mostly for support. She nodded encouragingly.

“I glanced down the valley to see if I could see in the bright moonlight what was happening to the clouds - to gain a clue as to what to expect from the weather today.” Pause. “As I did so, I saw a strange light. It sometimes seemed just one source, and then two. It was like some animal staring at us with a pale silvery light in its eyes. The head seemed to be floating in mid-air and its unblinking stare looked at us. Again, I stress that sometimes there seemed to be two eyes, sometimes just one. It quite chilled me to the bone. And Kords saw it too, so it wasn't my imagination. Here, now, in the sunlight it doesn't seem so dreadful, but in the middle of the night, I found it very worrying. We didn't want to upset the other children, so we kept quiet about it.”

“Maker! I can understand your concerns. Disembodied eyes staring at you. There must be some other explanation. You are not one to make up stories like that, so I must believe you. I will see if I can find an explanation during the day today – failing that I shall observe this strangeness myself if it reappears at the same time this coming night.”

“Thank you, Papa. I confess I feel just a little easier now.”

We turned to go and meet the children when we were joined by Masters B and Yarling and Horran, the latter of whom looked a little uncomfortable. But it was he who wished to communicate, as we could tell by all their body postures. He cleared his throat and swallowed before opening his mouth to speak. His eyes went first to Papa, as was normal, but somehow I knew that his remarks were really for me. I waited patiently as the politenesses were performed.

“Master Kordulen was it? Mistresses Swayga and Julina ... young lady.” He paused after looking at Kords and acknowledging her presence. We all murmured a greeting back, as he switched attention once more to Papa. “Happens that I find I must apologise to your daughter for the behaviour of the man I brought with me.”

He turned his head slightly and spoke directly to me: “Mistress, Julina – I don't understand what 'is problem were, but 'e were ever tenser as we came up 'ere. He departed, alone, some three quarters of a bell ago, t' Steward having banished him. 'e'll be troubling you no longer. As man in charge, I must apologise on 'is behalf. 'e were rude, and that's a fact. We're all sorry.” He took a breath before continuing: “On t' other hand, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on a fine dinner, and 'twere good to see a well-run team in action. I'm told ye're the one as runs it. So I give you both apologies and congratulations.”

“Guildmaster, it was really almost nothing. The man was rude certainly, but not anything I have not previously encountered. And he is departed. I confess I dislike the man intensely and am grateful we built in the fork checks in the Salon. I wondered if he was deliberately trying to take one of our forks or whether it was indeed the habit that he claimed to pocket his fork. Kelly handled that really well I thought.”

“Aye, she did. A good reflection of their team leader, I see. I must confess it surprised me, for I couldn't recall seeing 'im use a fork at meals. But then we eat together rarely. It's only on this trip that we have been so close day in and day out.”

“I thank you for your concern and also your appreciation of our efforts to provide you with a good meal.”

“'Twere better than most I 'ave 'ad in Tranidor and many I 'ave 'ad in Dekarran, I can tell you. I shall be tellin' many as come 'ere to try to get an invitation to your Salon. Now, if only you could get some decent wine to go with t' food, then I would ha' been in t' Palace!”

“You are very kind, Guildmaster. I'm flattered, and I appreciate your taking the trouble to do this. Now, may I present more formally my father, Master Kordulen, and his wife-to-be Mistress Swayga? And this is my sister, Kordulet. I know you met them all briefly on the road yestere'en, but 'twas very informal. Father is Blackstone's road inspector and responsible for the maintenance of all the roads, roadside ditches and roadstones.”

“A big responsibility, Master. But from what I seen, you 'ave done well. Most orderly indeed. Most orderly! And a family to be proud of.”

“I thank you.” said Papa, inclining his head in acknowledgement, “on both counts. The road responsibility has but recently become even larger, Guildmaster, now Milady's lands have expanded. I find I must recruit some extra assistants. And yet I am conscious that the town's payroll is ever widening. Our Assembly do wonders balancing both the tasks to be done and the finances. I know not what contract you have with the Town and such matters are probably above my head, but it seems we have found a workable and mutually beneficial balance for the time being.”

A strange look settled on the Guildmaster's face at that moment, one I didn't recognise. Papa told me much later, just before I wrote this tale in fact, that it was the same look I get when I have the start of a thought. If I had recognised the signs, I would have wondered if the idea was a grower, or if it was one that was ready to spring out, fully formed. I assumed his mind worked the same way mine did.

“I thank ye all again, Master Kordulen, Mistress Julina, Mistress Swayga, and you, young lady. Mayhap I shall meet y'all on the road again sometime! Although I confess I still find it strange to see women astride a beast.” He turned from us and looked once more at his companions. “Now, Masters, tell me more about your current construction projects.”

“Well, Guildmaster,” began Master Bezan. “Look downvalley and you will see that the clouds are just a tad lower than they were yesterday. Some of the trees are visible now, and to the west side of the valley, you can see some more features. Indeed, down there, just where that lighter rock face disappears into the cloud, you can see an outcropping. We need to build another semaphore station there, to give us a little more communication for those days when the Strettalm is not so easily visible as it is now. See there, the tall peak more to the left, that is the Strettalm. It towers over the Forest Roadhouse.

“From time to time, the air here is not so clear; Strettalm lies beyond easy sight. And thus we need a further station roughly halfway between here and there. Just as we have had to build another down on the outcrop to the east of the main falls on the Bray. That one is nearly complete thanks to the forester's tracks down there. It will enable Strettalm to communicate with the station up on the hill above the Chaarn road junction, both these not being able to directly see each other. A sixth station is being erected on the border of Milady's lands; we should be able to send messages to beyond Brayview from next week. A seventh is envisaged for the crest of the pass on the Chaarn road which is now the limit of Milady's lands to the north, which will also be visible from the road junction station.

“But for us up here, for more reliability in less favourable weather, we need that extra station, over on the west side where I pointed to beforehand. Of course, to build that intermediate station, we need to make a supply track to the site. And we will make that as a lane leading off the new Loop Road to save the expense of yet another bridge or two. So we must needs finish the Loop Road before we can do that. And now we have the new road to the new stone quarry too. And one to the ancient stone quarry. And before we can finish the Loop Road, then we must …”

“Hold, Bezan. Hold, man!” The Guildmaster interrupted in some agitation. His face had taken on an angry twist, and I think even the men standing next to him were more than a little scared by the ferocity that appeared. I know we women were, every one of us.

“That slimy, conniving, scheming, cheating, coin-grabbing nasty little bastard! Oops, 'scuse me ladies!”

“Guildmaster?”

“I 'ave been more than a little slow, 'aven't I? It just occurred to me when you made your explanations Bezan, just how involved you personally are 'ere in this enterprise. You identify with it very strongly. 'WE need to do this, and WE need to do that. WE decided this and WE discussed that …'. That realisation 'as made summat trip in my mind – sorta like opening some door in there. That, and summat what were said yesterday; Steward told me ye're on t' Town's payroll, ain't yer?”

“Aye, Guildmaster. I have been for many a week now, since long before Milady departed. Why is that relevant?”

“That schemin' little thievin' pakh-rutter (sorry ladies)! That slimeball Brathan. 'e's bin chargin' us for your salary every month. So t' Miners 'ave been paying HIM not you. Maker! No wonder t' man was nervous coming up 'ere. I must needs check every one of his contracts. Is it too late to chase after 'im and arrest the blighter?”

“Mayhap it is, Guildmaster. With that weather, he could disappear into the woods with no trace.”

“I'll have that scheming blighter's balls … Ladies, forgive me. I am overwrought. I need to get a message down to Guildhall as soon as possible to prevent 'im from destroying evidence. Let's away to the Valley Messenger Service office!”

“Excuse me, Guildmaster?”

He was just bustling away when I interrupted his activities.

“Mistress Julina? We are pressed for time.”

“Why not send a message with the semaphore, and have the man arrested when he gets to the Forest Roadhouse? The message would easily overtake him. You would then have plenty of time to get a message downvalley to wherever.”

He stopped his bustling and turned some very shrewd and calculating eyes my way, looking at me with a certain dawning amazement, before saying slowly: “I begin to understand much more. I thank 'ee, Mistress.” He turned to Master B and said: “Aye, a valuable resource that 'un!”

… … …

We rode up to our house, much to the delight of the younger ones, leading the mounts for Swayga and Kords. Sookie, Papa and I had decided that it would help to lessen the amount of riding that Swayga and Kords would have to do, as they were still relatively newcomers. To that end, those two had been sent home along with Pomma who had agreed to look after the younger ones for the estimated three to four bells we would be away.

I can and will never understand how it is that children can cause such chaos, even if not directly involved themselves. This time it was Julu who caused the most problems and she upset me immensely. It's not worth repeating the details, but I was very hurt and very offended by what she did and said. Both Papa and Sookie were getting irritated as we had quite a long ride planned for that morning and time was pressing. Somehow it took another quarter of a bell to leave, so we went quite fast across 'raw' country in a relatively direct direction towards the dam.

I had long since turned on my heel and remounted, otherwise I would have been stuck disciplining the children. I guess that something must have shown on my face because Swayga and Sookie both asked if I was upset. They didn't seem reassured by my terse answer that “Everything's alright.”

I didn't look back as we turned away and commenced our ride, and the others found it awkward to include me in their conversations somehow. This was making my mood worse, so I just shook up Dralla's reins and we ran ever so fast across the ground, ahead of the others for half a mark or so and I screamed out my anger and frustration when I stopped. By the time the others caught up with me, I felt a lot better and apologised. That broke the awkwardness and soon we were all chatting again together. It took a little longer for the laughter to reappear, but it did.

You will remember that Pomma and I had returned from the dam lake just the afternoon before last, accompanied by Papa. So you can imagine my surprise when we turned the final corner in the canyon/valley, the narrow bit just before the dam, and we saw a huge bustle of activity. It reminded me of something, which only occurred to me much later – it was akin to the busy-ness (a word I just invented to be different from 'business') that surrounds Epp's epprihouses.

Anyway, there was the making of a sloping road from the valley floor up to the top of the dam. Which was a complete surprise to me. The way was quite long, more than a few casts.

“Papa? Why are they building a road there and at such an angle?”

“Well, 'Lina m'dear. Why do we need a road here at all? Why the sudden activity here and at the end of the lake?”

“Er – to open the stone quarry and thus have more stone available for the roads and drains, I thought.”

“Precisely. So when things swing into production, what sort of traffic would be using this piece of territory?”

“Wagons, mostly. Or at least, so I deem.”

“And what would be in those wagons?”

(It was at this point that I realised Papa was using me and my answers to educate the others as well.)

“Why the quarried stone of course.”

“Very good. And a wagon full of stone is light in weight?”

I laughed. “No, of course not!”

“So what other route is there for the laden wagons?”

“The way we came back with Pomma the other evening.”

“And please tell the others what way that was.”

“Well, along there, that thing that looks like a path up there. The roof of the thing we now know is called the aqueduct.”

“And what does the aqueduct do?”

“It delivers all our water to the town.”

“And what would happen if a heavily laden wagon were to break through the ancient roof of the aqueduct?”

“Oh!”

The others all drew in their breaths too. Even young Kords.

Sookie said: “Oh Maker! That would be a disaster wouldn't it? I had never fully appreciated just what that aqueduct does for us all. And it's thousands of years old. That is a real danger to us all, isn't it?”

“Aye, Mistress Sukhana …”

“Oh. Please just call me Sookie like most everyone. Julina has become a real friend and it seems so stuffy to keep being so formal with her father.”

“I thank you for the honour, Sookie. And I am Kordulen, usually shortened to 'K'. My parents loaded a big mouthful upon me, I regret.”

I said, sort of under my breath but made sure it was loud enough for him to hear, and in a pretend disgusted tone: “And it's not as if you continued the tradition is it?”

Everyone giggled at that, Kords and Swayga particularly. Even Parry was trying to hide a grin. Papa smiled as well and nodded in my direction, acknowledging a good point made fairly.

“But please, K. Continue.”

“Now, where was I?”

“The dangers of losing the water supply.”

“Ah, yes. The Chivan design is clever, very clever. Most admirable really. But it is very wasteful. Constantly streaming water in both channels whether being used or not. I understand that Milady sent some details that we should try to help with water conservation, and they are being tested – I believe that is another of your Brydas' projects at the moment. However, the increase in population has meant that we are now requiring more water, so the sluices have been opened ever wider and this cannot continue as it stands. So we must ensure we do everything we can to protect that most valuable resource. Which includes not running the risk of collapsing the only system we have.”

“Papa?”

“Yes, Kords?”

“But where will the wagons go when they are down here on the floor? How will they get into town?”

We all murmured in agreement with that question, or those questions, to be more accurate.

“There is still some debate about the exact route, but it will probably follow the way we just used to get up here. That has the advantage of being the gentlest incline. And having a gentle incline is why this sloping road here is so long. We don't want wagons to have to struggle up a steep slope, even if they will mostly be empty. But back to Kords' questions.

“Now, you all know where the new Community Hall is going to be, right? It will have a road approach it from each side. The one to the south of it will zig-zag first up the slope from where the new East Street currently joins the Main Street at the bottom of Town. This road will gain the height of the Hall and then will remain at that height as it follows the hillside round to that new Hall. The road on the other side of the Hall, actually a continuation of the road I have already described, will continue at that height until it reaches the Camping Place, roughly where East Street now starts.”

“But Papa, why this talk about the Community Hall, which isn't even built yet – they've only just started the foundations and then the crew got called off, again, probably to work here, seeing as how I recognise some of the men? I was actually asking about the road to town from the dam.”

He smiled gently at her as he kindly and carefully explained: “Would you have us build yet another road? Suppose we make this road from here join in with the Hall road I have just described, somewhere roughly at the top of its zig-zags? Isn't that a better solution? That way this road will be shorter and will use another already planned road. Advantages all round, really.”

“Ah! Of course!” We all nodded wisely as the facts sank in and came together.

It was Parry who thanked Papa on all of our behalves. I got the impression that all this exposure of his to the decisions being made about the town was maturing him rapidly. Gone was the brashness of his youth in only a few days – it was now about ten days since my first ride, and he was far more confident in himself now than he had been then.

I found myself surprised to be thinking about him at that moment, so I swiftly concentrated once again on what was happening in the group as a whole, and the information that was flowing.

A few more questions and explanations passed forwards and back and then it was pointed out that it was definitely time to move on.

So it was a thoughtful group who continued, trying hard to minimise the disruptions to the workers. We had a few moans from them, but nothing major. It was quite a steep scramble to get up to the level of the dam, we couldn't use the new roadbed yet, and Kords squealed at one point as the angle became uncomfortable – her mount however ensured that she would be safe and she quickly settled back, trusting the beast and our words of support. I suppose our setting an example was also a good help there.

Soon after that, after threading our way past the tangled confusion up at the dam level, we were on the track that ran along beside the lake. I noticed immediately that it was far more worn that it had been only the afternoon before. Even here there were more workers, and I could see two levelling teams – they seemed to be making wide bays beside the track, each bay being some two or three casts long. Sookie asked Papa to explain, which he did willingly – he always likes to be able to explain things to people – and he adopted his 'lecture' tone, which made Kords and I, and, to my surprise, Swayga all roll our eyes and giggle a little bit. Hmmm. Thinking about it, then maybe that's where I get it from, my happiness and willingness to teach. I decided that too was a thought to file away and ponder later.

“These largish bays you can see they are creating – they are going to be passing places for the traffic. At first, this will continue to be a single track, so, as traffic will be in both directions, they will need to be able to pass one another. One wagon will pull into the passing place and wait until the other wagon, the one going in the opposite direction, has passed. That way there will admittedly be a slower progress, but at least progress will be able to be made. The road will thus be brought into use much sooner. Then, the workers can work on the passing places, making them longer and longer, so first making short stretches of two-way road. They can do this work even while traffic is flowing. Eventually, the passing places will all be expanded and elongated until they are all joined up, making this a two-way track like all the other roads round town.”

Again, the explanation made sense to us all, especially after the careful way Papa had given the information. We all forgave him the lecturing tone; indeed most of us had forgotten it.

Thus it was that we passed on in a pleasant and comfortable companionship, Swayga's and Kords eyes were round as they took in the sights that were so new to them. They were seeing for the first time the dranakh grazing on the far bank of the lake, and the free-wheeling avians coursing through the air above us and to the sides; the mysterious shadows caused by the sunlight and the little canyon walls, the scudding clouds across the blue of the sky. Something about those clouds distracted me for a little while but once again I filed it away for future pondering. It was a delight to watch the delight on their faces. I could only imagine what my face must have been like the first time I came this way.

Thus it was we came to the final area of eppriness.

That word shocked me as it tumbled out of my head and into my writing hand; but it was a term that seemed most sensible to me and I found I enjoyed using it; so I shall claim I have invented a new word. It seems to me to be so much better than 'busy-ness'.

But I should really get back to my descriptions.

The area here outside of the quarry had, of course, changed quite considerably since we left it two days ago. Not all the rockfall had been cleared as yet, and I was disappointed to discover that that strange wagon thing had not yet been able to be excavated. Oh well! I'll just have to come back again.

However, observation and conversations with the workers made it obvious the way things were to be developed.

The workers reassured me, on my first question, that all the poor pakh who had been trapped inside had indeed been released and herded back through that narrow gap I hated so much.

Most of the rockfall was cleared away on the right-hand side as we looked at it, and a huge column of rock had been built about one third of the way across the entire quarry from the right-hand edge. This, we learnt, was to minimise the risk of any further rock falls as any 'supporting' rocks might have been taken away. Another column of rock was also in the process of reaching the ceiling, this one about one third of the way in from the left-hand side. Once this second pillar of rock was completed, then the careful excavation of the strange wagon could begin. But the second example of one of those wagons was plain to see, parked there as it was, inside the giant cave, and with daylight now flooding in.

It was very strange indeed, a flat platform above a single axle with a wooden spoked wheel at either end. One side of the platform was open entirely while a curved wall constituted all the rest of the perimeter. On top of the curved wall were little metal bridges, but I could not imagine what they would be used for. From the sides, above the wheels, long wooden rods led forward. One had broken, but the one on the left, the side farthest away from our vantage point, was still intact, so we could see what the pair must have looked like. This was something else that was odd to us. Was this where they carried loads? And there was indeed no driver's seat. Did they do everything standing up?

We were not allowed to enter the quarry (thankfully, since I confess I was scared to do so) as it was still so dangerous, but the clearance had enabled some viewpoints. I could see the way the ancients had worked the stone, and marvelled at how much they had managed to achieve without our more modern tools. As we watched, a laden wagon creaked out of the gloom at the back of the quarry. We could see its load was not shaped stone, just a jumble of various sized and coloured rocks. We learnt that it was an early load from the clearance of the rockfall at the other end.

We watched and looked and inspected and asked various questions for maybe half a bell before remounting and heading back. Discussing as we went, of course, what we had seen and heard.

Papa was impressed with the plans they had made for the entrance to it. Apparently, as the whole thing was even now being opened at the other end as well, the one where the Vale rockfall was, then some method would have to be provided to prevent animals from just wandering all the way through. The solution they came up with was to build a wall at ground level from both sides of the dam-side opening, these walls being slightly staggered. Then a gate could be made to cover the gap between the walls. Wagons would have to make a sort of S-bend to negotiate the hindrance but that was just a trifle.

As I thought it all through, I couldn't help but squeal in enthusiasm: “Yes. That would work for everyone. Goodman Brethen and Mistress Rathina will then have their covered protection for their animals and the town will have another stone quarry, one that is far more accessible than the current one. And the journey time to the Vale will be reduced, making life a little easier for those in the Vale.”

I thought I had finished but then something else shot across my brain: “Oh! It just occurred to me! They could have wagon access too! Brethen and Rathina and all of them. I bet they'll be pleased. That would ease some of their burdens, being able to move large loads in and out.”

“Aye lass, you have the right of it. And that cleared rockfall has provided much stone for the roadbed along …. hello, what do we have here?”

We all looked ahead at where Papa was looking and saw another group of riders approaching us. I glanced at Papa and saw he was calculating something. He raised his hand.

“Hold, all! We don't have time to make it to the next passing place, so we will wait here and attend this other party. It looks like Masters Bezan and Yarling, so the little one will probably be the Guildmaster. I see he still has one of the old saddles. So that other with an old saddle must be his remaining assistant. Is that Master Jepp with them, and mayhap the Steward too? There's another as well, but the indistinct ones are bunched at the back of their pack.”

It was noticeable that the other party, as soon as they realised we were waiting for them and thus leaving their route clear, put on a quickening of pace, showing that they too were considerate of the other party.

Papa's view of the make-up of the other group proved to be accurate and the one he couldn't identify turned out to be Master Blandel. I suppose it made sense for the chief stonemason to inspect the new quarry, so I was surprised that I was surprised. Thinking about it later, maybe it was because I thought he would have already been, but I acknowledge that that was slightly unfair. After all, it was only a matter of days before this project started, so maybe this was the first opportunity he had had. So much had happened in my life in just a few days, that it actually felt like a week or more since I was here.

There was the usual round of introductions that went on forever, and then the conversation started. We were asked for our impressions of what we had seen and so it continued. Questions were asked, answers were given, some supplementary questions were asked, a couple of which opened up a new thought or two. A few separate conversations sprung up as threads were picked up upon and continued. Sookie and I were a little surprised that the men actually, sometimes, listened to what WE said. It was a refreshing change and we eyed each other.

It was Kords actually who broke up the mounted meeting.

“Hey, 'Lina, look. Those clouds are like water pouring over a waterfall.”

I looked where she was pointing and saw she was right. The weather was as if it was boiling up out of the valleys to the east, and spilling down into our one.

“You're right, Kords,” I replied. “And experience suggests that we will have a storm this afternoon. The clouds in the valley will rise, we will have some rain and at least it will be a little warmer for a few days. This early cold snap we have had will disappear. With luck, for a good few weeks.”

“Happen you're right, lass. Gentlemen, I recommend you get up to the quarry as soon as you can, because we are getting some weather coming in.”

“Thank you for your advice, Master Kordulen. We will part without formalities, if it pleases you. Ladies, Gentlemen.”

“You're very welcome, Captain. Gentlemen.”

And so we parted once more, each group travelling in our required directions. We continued our discussions as we went, and when we descended to the level below the dam, Papa repeated the weather warning to the chargehand there, who thanked him and immediately started issuing instructions to protect as much as they could. I realised that it would take quite a while to do the job. Obviously, it would be impossible to protect everything, but they could try to minimise the effects of rainwater washing away some of their efforts. I remembered the dejection of the workers when that sudden storm had flattened the new house quite early on in the build. I hoped their entire sloped roadbed wouldn't be washed away. Imagine how depressing THAT would be.

We dropped down from there to our old house and left Kords and Swayga there. They were both grateful, and I could tell, although they said nothing, that their muscles had been almost overused. I could remember MY muscles at that stage of my riding. I suspected that the two of them would slide into a hot bath as soon as they could.

Papa and Parry, Sookie and I went back down the hill, leading the two spare mounts. We stabled them all, cared for them as we could and then we split up; Parry and Sookie to their other duties, Papa and I up to the new house.

… … ...

Where I saw that there was yet another alteration to the original plans. I was about to ask about it when Papa started talking first.

“Now 'Lina, lass. Swayga and I are pleased and delighted that you thought of us and allowed that private sitting room. We will keep it and think of you when we use it. What we have done though, is to add an extra room to the west end of the house, a room with its own entrance from the outside and, of course, with a connecting door to the rest of the house. Our only worry is that it is quite some way away from the 'facilities' so we thought to have an extra 'outhouse' placed nearby, and the water channelling for that still has to be finished. Otherwise we would have moved in already.”

“But what would that achieve, Papa? An extra room and an extra toilet?”

“I was hoping to leave all this as a secret until we moved, but Swayga and Kords pointed out the impossibility of doing that, particularly as you will needs be heavily involved in the organisation of the move itself. That extra room shall be yours. Your own private area, since you turn into an adult in a matter of days. Kords shall therefore also have a room of her own, as you would effectively be moving out of hers. So that room can be a little smaller than planned. Thus we have saved a little space there. It wasn't at all too hard to adjust the walls and things and we have just about finalised everything. Tomorrow that final piece of roof will be finished. I just hope the tarpaulin will hold in the storm that is coming in.”

I instinctively glanced outside where the sun was shining but knew that Papa was right. About half the time this weather pattern happened, the accompanying disturbance was quite strong. Occasionally nothing happened other than a little rain and a warm period following, usually under cloud, for a week or more. But this one just felt a little more violent than that. Neither of us could justify that feeling, but we both thought that this one would be quite nasty.

I flung my arms around Papa's neck to thank him for the present of a room of my own, with my own private entrance to enable me to come and go as I wanted. He started to get all sentimental about what I had done for the family and I felt tears welling up in my eyes as he half-spoke and half-sobbed.

So I just hit him on the shoulder and gruffly told him not to be so stupid.

But I must confess it was nice to be hugged in some strong and caring arms.

We broke apart and both became business-like as we walked through the house, planning where what would go and so on and so forth. It was pleasantly warm in the building and I saw how very superior this all was to our old well-worn home. There was a strong smell of fresh wood, of course, which had been alleviated by opening those marvellous new windows. We went round shutting them all again, in view of the impending weather, which we both felt would descend in three or four bells time.

We left and went up the hill, our arms linked and a very companionable silence between us. I gave him a little kiss on his cheek just before we went in to join all the others, and his eyes moistened again when I did that. Which made me sort of snuffle. But we straightened our shoulders, drew in a breath and marched into the home and the chaos of younger siblings.

As I had foreseen, Kords had had a bath and was now organising everyone else, whilst Swayga soaked her muscles in some warm water. Pomma had departed before we got back, but nevertheless her influence could be felt by the preparation that had been done for a mid-day meal.

And by the shy and tearful apology I got from Julu. She was quite relieved when I forgave her. I didn't hold much store, mind you, of her promises to “never do it again.”

I realised with a start that I was really quite hungry, so I joined in the throng of helpers with enthusiasm. Soon the eight of us were seated and stuffing our faces amid a lively conversation that flowed amongst us all. It was one of those rare, fun and peaceful meals that make you wish we had more just so.

---

Julina's afternoon could hardly be described as peaceful.

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

“But what can we do? You all seem to just know, but I don't. It's not fair.”

“That's for you to decide not me, nor Swayga, nor Papa. You have to learn to stand up for yourself sometime, so why not make a start now?”

“How do I decide that? For that matter, how do I decide anything?” he nearly wailed.

“Make a little list in your brain, and start with the thing that you most want to do. Then think about that. Think about it BEFORE you start to do it, don't just leap in and start doing it. Does it annoy or inconvenience anyone else? Yes, it does? Then pass onto the next in your list. No, it doesn't? Then start with some more questions. For instance, ask yourself if there is time to complete it before whatever is to happen next in the household. … Is there time to complete it? Yes, there is? Then get on and do it. No, there isn't? Then ask yourself if it can be left unfinished until you have the time to get back to it. And so on and so forth. All sorts of questions come up. Do I need someone else to do this with me? If yes, do THEY want to do it? Have THEY got the time. And so it goes on.

“This is what WE all have to do all the time. YOU need to start doing this now you are getting to be such a big strong lad. You can always ask any of us older ones for advice, but I don't want you to rely on them any more to tell you what to do.”

I looked Kord straight in the eye as I was saying this, holding his eyes with mine, almost daring him to look away. I knew he dare not, so I added one last command: “And when there are chores to be done, like laying the table, or carrying pel pots, then you won't be told any more. You do it. Even, and I want to make this perfectly clear, even if you are in the middle of doing whatever it is you have decided to do. Chores have priority and it is YOUR responsibility to look around and observe and see where you can help. No more babying for you, young man. If you ever want to be respected as a Master, then now is the time you start earning that respect. This is what everyone else in this household does and you are now old enough to do the same. Leaving that window open just the other day when it started to rain was just plain thoughtlessness. From now on, YOU will clear up any mess that your thoughtlessness causes. And it will be worse for you if you do not even recognise the necessity.

“Think on this for now, and then come back to me later – or any of the others. Your time will start from when we wake tomorrow. Are you fully clear?”

He nodded, somewhat reluctantly, but nevertheless he nodded. I sighed inwardly. Another child growing up all too fast. I reflected that maybe it was for the best to get him started before I became officially an adult. With that, I turned away to continue with packing up my private things, which was a task that I had set myself for that afternoon.

And a task I had strongly suggested that the others start doing.

… … ...

After lunch, most of the others had put their heads down for their afternoon nap, even though we were doing the two sleep nights, but Papa, Kords and I went down the slope to the new house to discuss practicalities. Swayga stayed at home, of course, to be there for the children should they wake.

We three decided that it was time to take some things with us, to make it a little less empty down there, so we managed between us a small table and three chairs. The table was in fact my night table, but we solved any problems that might cause by shifting Kords' one into the space between our beds, and we could share that for the short interim period. We also took a candlestick, some candles and an oil lantern, so we were all quite well-laden!

As we descended the slope, we saw the party of men returning from the far end of the dam lake. We would have waved but our arms were full. Master B started to detour towards us, signing that he wondered if we required help. Papa somehow, despite having full hands and arms, conveyed that it was not necessary, so they went on down to the Claw, whilst we stumbled our way to our destination.

When we three arrived at the house, we met a team working feverishly to get the last roof pieces attached and properly finished.
They had re-opened the windows, the ones you will remember that Papa and I had closed before, to let some of the new wood smell escape. We placed our burdens in the family room and went to chat with the roofers and to see what they were doing.
But we didn't make it there before we were distracted.

There were some totally unexpected and very loud clanging noises from the kitchen area that attracted our attention, so we went down there to see what was happening. A pile of piping had been dropped on the floor, which action created the clatter that had drawn us there. There we found two of Master Rostan's apprentices and one of Master Torin's, the carpenter. The first two I didn't know well, just having seen them around town, but the carpenter's man, that was Denesar. Kords dug me, none too gently, in the ribs and swayed out of the range of my retaliation. The three of them looked up at our footfalls.

“Hello men,” started Papa. “I am Master Kordulen, the soon-to-be occupier of this new house, along with my family. I wasn't expecting to see anyone in here today. What, pray, are your assigned tasks?”

The two plumber's men all looked at Kords and me and sort of dismissed us, before turning their attention to Papa, but Denesar gave a grin and a little wave to us both, trying to acknowledge us without interrupting the men's explanations. This didn't work, since they were more interested in why Denesar should be so friendly. It took a meaningful cough from Papa to regain their attention.

“Seems, sir, we have to run some piping from the kitchen to the bathrooms. Some new-fangled idea that is bound to go wrong, but that is what we was told to do. The other lad here is to drill the holes for the pipes in the wooden walls. 'E works for Master Torin, like, and we's from Master Rostan.”

I realised suddenly that they were going to try my idea of a hot water tank in the kitchens and pipe feeds of the water to the baths. I gasped in surprise and must confess I sort of had a private glow of pride.

But as they described their task further, I grew more and more uneasy. They wanted to run a separate pipe for each use, rather than have one big pipe that was gradually split as it approached a usage point. There would be two baths, well three actually since there would be a second smaller one in the women's room for THOSE days, and a hand basin in each of the bathrooms and in each of the privies.

“No, no, no. Don't do that,” I said. “That's just a waste of effort. Run a bigger pipe from here to the first bathroom, for example, and then split it there. Don't have many pipes all from here. Apart from the waste of pipe, it means that there have to be so many more connections into the tank. Just have one. Maybe have two just in case, but certainly no more.”

They all looked at me in astonishment, the plumber's men with a sort of sneer, showing that they couldn't grasp the fact that a mere woman could correct them. They looked at me long enough to be sure I had seen, then they turned away dismissively, using the movement to return their attention back to Papa.

“So anyway, Master. We will put these seven pipes through here …..” there was a very slight emphasis on the word 'seven' and I think that was the thing that tripped Papa's anger.

“Enough! Get out now. Don't come back. I shall be speaking with Master Rostan as soon as I am able.”

They looked up in astonishment, mouths hanging open much like the foti I had seen down at the fish farm. The spokesman was about to speak when Papa beat him to it.

“Begone! Now! Say not a word. Just go. NOW.”

They scrambled to their feet and beat a hasty retreat, leaving Denesar standing there wondering what he was supposed to do.
They tumbled out of the kitchen door into the 'courtyard' and stood there for a moment, looking completely confused. They started muttering to themselves and gesticulating, then they cast dark looks towards Papa standing in the doorway and went off, heading directly towards the plumber's.

Papa turned round again and went over to the third of the workers.

“I'm sorry, young Denesar. It appears there is nothing for you to do right now. Until we know the correct size of piping to be used, we won't have to drill any holes in the wooden walls. My compliments to Master Torin, and tell him the plumber's boys were insubordinate and I sent them home, so you have currently nothing to do. This will all be able to be done actually at any time, so we may even be moved in before you needs cut your holes.”

“Very well, Master. Farewell. And farewell too, for now, Julina, Kordulet.”

We smiled, admittedly with somewhat strained ones, but nevertheless we smiled our goodbyes.

When he had gone, Kords said to Papa: “Papa! Wasn't that a little strong? Those boys were just trying to do what they had been told to do! They weren't rude or anything.”

Papa looked gently and fondly at Kords, before saying: “They were disrespectful, disrespectful in the extreme. They disparaged your sister and showed no respect for you either.”

“Oh poo, Papa. It's not anything unusual. We are women, girls. It's the sort of behaviour we get every single day of our lives. Even from YOU!”

“From me? When have I ever put you down like that?”

“Every single time you answer for us, make decisions for us, accept other people's greetings on our behalf. Every time you carry on a conversation with us standing around behind you. Every time someone greets us as a family group, they always direct their remarks to YOU. Just now you even told them that this was YOUR home, with your family, but you didn't even acknowledge us standing right here with you. Then there's the times …... oh, I can't be bothered to go on. Every single man treats us as incompetent, weak, thoughtless, mindless, useless, not worthy – until they want something, usually food, washing, pressing or nursing!”

Papa looked shocked. He glanced at me, about to say something, but a little shake of my head let him know that it would be better not to protest further.

There was a pregnant silence broken when he took a little breath, obviously having been thinking deeply about what Kords had burst out with. His face cleared slightly as he gently spoke once more: “And also, Kords – dear Kords. Thank you for your very educative remarks. You should know that there was another factor as well. This change they wanted to do, this running of pipes and so on. You remember that they said from the outset that it was a stupid scheme that wouldn't work?”

Kords nodded.

“Well, it was your sister's design! They were telling me that they thought your elder sister was incompetent.”

Kords was struck speechless and glanced over to me for confirmation, which I gave her using my eyes and a little nod. It was Kords' turn to have her mouth drop open.

“Come on you two,” I said brightly, “let's go and annoy the other group of workers.”

… … …

We scurried up the hill to the old house where the others were waiting, probably awake from their naps by now. Despite our scurrying, we were still caught by the first drops of the downpour to come. Heavy drops, but thin and icy, striking our exposed bits quite painfully. I would describe it as like being stabbed by blunt needles. We had cut it just too fine. Fortunately we were only a couple of casts from the shelter, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Down at the house, we had gone along to the workers who were adding the roof over the area allocated to just me. They had brought with them two large pre-built blocks of wood which proved to be simplicity itself as they attached them to each other and to the roof resting bits at the ends, as well as to the rest of the house at one end. I have no idea what they call those resting bits, but the roof pieces simply rest on them, each side angling down, so the resting pieces can be described as being triangular.

Now, some of you will have noticed that I said it was simplicity itself to attach the giant roof slabs to the resting pieces. What I have not reported is that it was awkward, but not TOO difficult, to get those resting pieces into position.

It was, however, EXTREMELY difficult to get the heavy and unwieldy roof slabs into place in order to be attached.

It was at that time that we found that Papa's dismissal of the plumber's apprentices was a fortunate happening after all.

For they returned to the house, along with Master Rostan and also Master Bezan who had been drawn into the discussions, apparently meeting them all on the footpath of Main Street, just below the Claw. They all decided to come up to our new place, to get the problems solved as soon as possible. (It was only later, as you shall see, that I learnt that my design had been incorporated in several houses, and thus any changes needed a rapid solution – if there was a fault in the design, then it had to be identified as soon as possible.)

Thus it was that there were five extra male bodies present (the two apprentices, Masters Rostan and Bezan, and Papa) just when the roof builders needed a lot of help. With all those willing hands, the job was a lot sooner done and the roof-builders were very grateful.

I was fascinated to watch how they did it.

First they loaded one of the giant roof bits on the back of a wagon, along with some large number of equally-sized stone blocks. Then they backed the wagon up until the tailgate was just touching the wall of my room. You must bear in mind that all our houses have a large overhang of the roof when looking at the walls. This is because the walls are almost always followed, on the outside, by a walkway, so people can remain relatively dry in the rains.

I had been told that the overhanging part of the roof was referred to as the “eaves”, a strange word that I needed help with to spell out properly, but this is necessary as you shall soon see.

When it rained, then the water would cascade down the roof and drop off onto the ground a stride or more away from the walls. This way, the walls need not be quite so stout, protected as they were from the greater part of the weather. In the hot sunshine, the overhang provided some degree of shade. One minor disadvantage, but as it happened so rarely it really was very minor, was that anyone standing there, under the roof overhang, could hear what was said inside the house. They had made a special word for that, a word I found excellent because of the mental picture it conjured up. Anyone standing under the overhang was between the house and the point where the rain dropped off the roof – or, better said, the point where the eaves forced the water to drop. So we described these folks out there, unseen by those inside but listening to the conversations within, as being “eavesdroppers”.

Anyway, back to the roof construction.

Half the wagon, well maybe not exactly half, but a stride and more was under where the eaves would stick out to. (I am told that this should read '….. where the eaves would project to', but that seems wrong somehow – it doesn't feel like MY sort of language.)

The men then swung the roof bit around until it was on its bottom edge and was standing vertically, the sides in line with those triangular resting pieces I described earlier. The men then tipped the roof piece to one side, raising the bottom edge on one side. They then slipped one of the stone blocks under that corner. Then they strained and tipped the roof piece the other way, slipping two stone blocks, one on top of the other, under the opposite corner. Then they tipped it the first way again, and so on, building up the blocks under the roof piece, until it was above the correct required height. Using ropes, they then lowered, as gently as they could, the roof piece into place. Of course, it wasn't quite right the first time, so they had to raise it upright again, shove the whole thing a thumb or so to the right, and then lower it again.

Thus they found the first roof slab its correct position and it was gently eased into place before being secured to the resting places and the top of the walls. As this was an addition to the house, then it could also be secured to the main wall of the house, this roof being a step down from the already built main roof, and its overhang.

Then they had to do the same exercise for the roof on the other side of the ridge. This was even a little trickier since the ground there did not allow for the approach of a wagon, so they had to first build a sort of platform that would take the weight of the roof slab AND of the stones AND of the men.

Finally it was in position and fixed. They would normally have then stuffed the joints and sealed them, but as mentioned elsewhere, time was getting short.

Master Bezan and I went back to the kitchen with the three Plumbers, whilst Papa scrambled up a ladder onto the roof, calling for a few buckets of water to pour over the joins to see if they kept the water out properly. He commanded Kords to stand inside and check.

Meanwhile, my conversation was going on as we passed along inside the house, and I could point to the various doors and rooms as I went.

“Master Rostan, when we first spoke, you told me that making a joint in the side of the tank weakens the tank. And yet these men of yours told me that they were going to make no fewer than seven. And if you think about our water supply as we get it now, there is one large 'pipe' which brings it to the Cistern, and then a series of smaller 'pipes' which supply each place in which it is used. I just applied the same principle here. Let's have one larger pipe running from the kitchen, through the stores cupboards corridor, and into the first – the men's - bathroom, through that, then through the first and second privy and into the second bathroom, our bathroom – the women I mean.

“You further told me that it is easier to make a joint in a pipe than in the side of a tank. So it seems to me that it is far better to just run thinner pipes to where they are required as branches from the thicker pipe, once that thicker pipe has reached the relevant room.

“This will allow simpler maintenance everywhere, and will also mean that there are far fewer holes to be carved out in each of the walls through which the pipe shall pass. Each room should also have a control valve, as we discussed, so that in the event of a break in a pipe or a spigot, we don't simply lose all the hot water we have been at such pains to produce.”

The two apprentices, once again, had their mouths wide open as they observed a mere girl talking to two Masters almost as an equal, and being listened to respectfully. I could almost hear their brains creaking as they struggled to accept what had until then been absolutely unthinkable to them. Under any other circumstances, I would almost have laughed out loud, but this whole thing was my idea and my idea alone. I had conceived it, planned it, discussed it and formulated it all by myself before telling anyone about it. Papa, Master Rostan, Uncle and Master B had all been involved in various ways, but this was my idea, and it felt like it was my baby somehow, something I had breathed life into and brought into this world.

So I was really quite ferocious in my opinion.

The rest of them gathered around all managed (eventually) to accept my point of view, and (eventually) the others, the Plumbers, went off back to their workshop to work on the new design, Master Rostan having filled Papa in when he came in with Kords and they both joined us after testing the new roof.

Apparently, it was a fairly water-tight fit all the way around, and also at the joint of the two slabs, only a few spots where drips might get through. The roofers and Papa had been keeping an eye on the weather, and they saw the first curtain of rain high up on the hillside. The rain was approaching but not too rapidly. The roofers would nail down a tarpaulin as a short-term measure, there being insufficient time to stuff and seal the joints (with boiling pitch) properly and to finish the new pieces of roof with slates. They would cover what they could and then scurry off to shelter before the weather broke upon us.

Thus it was that Kords, Papa and I were left to close all those marvellous new windows once again and to make haste up the slope to where Swayga and the others were awaiting us. We dashed, as mentioned, the last few strides to get out of the painful rain. Of course, all three of us could not fit through the door all at once, this time Kords scrambled through first. For the umpteenth time in my life I was grateful for the overhang provided by the eaves, as Papa and I did the 'you first, no you' dance, which Kords interrupted by laughing at us. I lost, and entered before Papa, just turning my head once more to observe the horrible weather. Already the new house was lost to sight, as was the great majority of the land that separated us from there.

I had a little shudder as I remembered seeing those spooky eyes from exactly that spot. I think Kords had felt the same but she was already inside, as reported.

Water was pouring off the eaves almost in a curtain and I was grateful we didn't have a wagon to ….... an idea sprang up in my idea-birthing place somewhere in the deep recesses in my mind, only to be replaced by another, more urgent one that was also something to do with the water curtain pouring down. But quite why this second one was so much more urgent, I was then unable to determine. Both ideas were not yet formed fully enough for me to use in any way.

… … …

I was therefore distracted somewhat as I came in, shaking water as well as I could from my clothing. I nodded to Swayga and the children, lost in thought, but something in their attitude made me sharpen my focus upon the others.

They were all up, dressed and being suspiciously well behaved.

I looked around and saw all except Kissa were present and grinning at me.

Little Kord started chanting: “'Lina has an idea. 'Lina has an idea.” It was so childish, I just had to grin.

But there was something else too. Something I had obviously missed. I looked again at them, I counted them, a slight frown starting as I saw nothing out of place, except the missing Kissa. A movement of Swayga's eyes made me look behind me, towards the dining table, which was, as usual, majestically commanding its place in the family room.

And I saw we had a visitor.

Well two actually.

Haka and Haris were there, Haris sleeping peacefully while Haka had the cloths, some clothes and all the sewing kits out, as she and Kissa pored over the work table, deeply engrossed in whatever it was they were doing. They barely looked up, according to Swayga, when the rain started drumming on the roof; they certainly hadn't even registered our return. They conversed in an almost inaudible murmur, the sounds of the actual words drowned by the downpour beating on our roof. Their fingers moved, stroking, rubbing and pointing, it seemed to me, on various pieces of work lying there.

So the grins hadn't been entirely at my expense; they were also for the two seamstresses, so totally lost in their world, oblivious to their surroundings.

It transpired that Haka had actually come to see me, sent by Hasinet for some reason, but decided to wait and got sucked into more sewing by Kissa. Julu wanted to join them but Swayga made her do something else first. As soon as that task was finished, Julu scooted over to the other two. Her arrival prompted a little blinking on their behalf and they broke out of their technical world and came back once more to us.

“Julina! You look lovely, as usual. And you Kordulet, too. Oh! Master Kordulen, forgive me, I didn't see you come in. I just popped up to ask Julina a sort of favour, which is also from Mistress Hasinet and also Master Fedren in a way and somehow I got sidetracked when you all weren't here. My goodness, that's a heavy rainstorm, isn't it? When did that start? Maker! It seems I must stay here until it eases, with your permission, of course.”

And so my afternoon continued, chatting with family and a friend, allowing little Haris to play with my fingers and hair – which again caused some strange feelings to course through my body – and learning some more about sewing, needlework and cloth cutting.
Oh, and pricking my fingers more than once on a sharp needle point.

The downpour continued for nigh on three bells before easing, during which time, under Haka's expert supervision, a dress 'for best' had been completed for Kords, and two more started, one for each of Swayga and Kissa.

At one point, the conversation had switched to the Tai Chi. We all found it very interesting and were amazed when Kissa just upped and repeated the first few 'forms', as we had learnt to call them, with no hesitation and no stumbles.

“Oh, it just flows together in my mind, just like the way I can feel the cloths we are sewing with. Somehow, it is obvious to me what should go where and so on. This evening, 'Lina, if you like, I will take you through the forms again, ready for the next time. I'm sure you will gain much from this as it will allow you to benefit without being stressed by what comes next. Just feel the flow and movement and forget about pre-planning it all. Pre-planning is one of your strengths of course, one from which we have all benefited through the years, but if you can let yourself relax into it, I am convinced, even after so little exposure, that you will gain much.”

I think we were all taken aback by Kissa's confident assertions and we all looked round quickly at each other. My little sister was growing up – rapidly.

Papa had poked his head out of the door, and offered to escort Haka back as it seemed the rain had ceased and the skies were brightening. I decided to go with them, and carry little Haris, since I wanted to also go with Papa to Uncle's – we were both intrigued by the newer steam engines, and Uncle, you may remember, had promised a demonstration/test this afternoon. We assumed the weather had not made him cancel.

We soon started out, slipping a little as we went down the slope rather than across, to cut short the travelling time.
I think we were all amazed at the clarity of the air as we stared down the rain-dirty valley, and gasped at the swelling of the streams we could see.

We three could also discuss the request, which, as Haka had said, involved both Mistress Hasinet and Master Fedren.

It was no secret that there was an expedition planned for me and the girls to travel down to Tranidor, although that impossibly far-off war may affect that. Mistress Hasinet had blossomed since Haka (and Haris) had come into her life, and now she had a trusted companion to work with. She wanted Haka to accompany me down to Tranidor and for her to do a search and buying session down there. This was to be a kind of test for Haka, one of which Haka was fully aware. Haka was treating it as another, by no means the last, opportunity to impress upon Hasinet her trustworthiness and abilities.

At the same time, Master Fedren, wounded as he was, was not up to such a journey just yet, and wanted to send Suril down to Tranidor to meet with the equivalents there, to set up some sort of working relationship. There were also a few other things to be done, so it made sense that their little family accompany us all. Yes, there were obvious disadvantages, but also advantages.

It seemed that there were tests for the entire Suril family.

I would need to talk it over with Epp, of course, and maybe the girls as well, but to me, it seemed a sensible and proper thing to do.

I said so, and Papa agreed with me too. I had the sudden sense that maybe the 'officialness' of this request, may have tipped the balance into Papa letting us go, so my heart lightened as that realisation set in.

Haka's face was a picture of delight, when I cautiously agreed, but made certain she understood it was not a definite 'yes'.
As we passed the level of the new house, we looked across at it of course, and again something made my previous idea/thought spring to mind. I didn't notice Papa sign to Haka to keep quiet and to not ask questions. (She told me much later that that had happened.)

Wagons. Wagons, were somehow in my thought. Wagons, and curtains of rain. The latter being in both of my ideas.

I tried to force them to come out into the light of reason, but both the thoughts turned all shy and scurried back into the recesses of my mind, hiding once more until either one or the other, or both, wanted to be considered.

… … …

“Er, Uncle? May I ask a question?”

He was about to snap off a reply to the effect that they were all very busy, but something made him stop before he uttered anything. He looked at me questioningly, before adding: “Of course, m'dear.”

I was quite surprised when His Honour, Masters Bezan, Yarling and Blandel as well as Papa all turned attentively to me. I think some of the other men around were actually shocked that a woman would command so much attention, but a frown from the Steward made them bite their tongues.

All the attention made me nervous, of course, but I swallowed and continued: “The new steam engines. Are they easily moved? I would assume so, as you had planned a demonstration before the weather intervened. So my guess is that it wouldn't be too difficult to move one around, at least a little bit.”

“Yes, my dear, you are quite right. But we must first dig out this wagon load of stone from the mire. The rain softened the ground too much for it to roll easily across the surface, and it has become bogged down.”

“Yes, but you told us you were fairly sure this steam engine here could pull three loaded wagons up the slope of Main Street, provided that the ropes were strong enough. And that that was your planned demonstration?”

“I'm very glad you listen to me and remember my words.”

“So may I make a suggestion?”

“We are all waiting for it, Julina,” Uncle replied with just a touch of exasperation.

“Could you not try to use the steam engine to pull out that bogged down wagon full of stones? Rather than try to manhandle it out? If it works, you may not have to unload it so much. And it would be a good demonstration at the same time, wouldn't it?”

Sookie's delighted laughter rang out and several of the men slapped themselves on their foreheads. The Steward was heard to mutter: “She does it again!” as he shook his head.

“It's worth a try! Thank you again, young Julina. Don't worry about asking permission in the future. Just suggest away to your heart's content.”

Uncle issued a series of commands and people scurried around in every direction it seemed. The engine was loaded, with great effort, onto a wagon and driven the short distance to the top of the slope above the stuck vehicle. There, with equally great effort, it was unloaded onto a solid base and anchored there as firmly as the men could manage.

Meanwhile, a burning fire was brought from elsewhere and placed in the fire compartment of the steam engine, with added fuel shovelled in alongside. As much already hot water as could be scrounged up was brought and poured into the water compartment and the process of heating the water got underway as rapidly as these humans could manage.

A doubled, or maybe even tripled, rope was prepared and wound round the special drum attached to the steam engine. This was led down to the stricken wagon and firmly attached. I was interested to see they attached it to the FAR end, and not the near end, the end most downslope rather than the end nearest us.

“Why do they do that, Papa?”

“I know not, my child. Mayhap, Brydas, you might care to explain?”

“Well, I have to confess that I know not the full strength of this machine. If I release the full might too rapidly, and the wagon down yonder is too deeply mired, then I just might pull the wagon apart, if it is not sufficiently sturdy. This way we are pulling the bottom towards us directly, rather than dragging it by pulling on the rest of the wagon. Hopefully the strain on the rest of the wagon will thus be reduced, and 't will survive our rough handling of it.”

His explanation made sense to me, after a while, but it was not a factor about which I would have ever thought nor considered. It made me realise that I wasn't quite so clever as all the others seemed to think I might be. I blushed at that realisation.

Soon, or so it seemed, a loud hissing prompted Uncle to announce that they would shortly be ready to make the attempt.

He would not allow everyone to be too close to the steam engine “just in case” which made Sookie grab my arm in anxiety.

Fascinated though I was by the events unfolding before my eyes, I still had a look around and counted the number of people there watching. I made it no less than a hand of hands, with two further hands being involved in the operation in some way or another.

There was a loud whistle that silenced everyone and Uncle pushed a few levers and checked a few things over and then shouted: “Ready! Three, two, one, go!”

He eased a lever forward and there was a great “Chuff” as the big wheel revolved and all the slack was taken up in the rope. Another “Chuff” and we could see the machine straining. The rope was now so taut, I fancied I could hear it humming.
“Chuff” - and a loud cheer echoed up from the bottom, followed immediately by loud cries of “Hold! Hold! No more!”

Uncle immediately reset the controls, relinquished his position and scrambled down the slope as best he could, slipping over and getting entirely muddy in the process. I stifled my giggles, and Sookie punched my arm, saying “I'll have to wash all those now – again. That's the third set he's had today.”

I wandered over nearer to the steam machine, but didn't get too near to it, in case I slipped and hit some control or other. Papa and Sookie came with me, and I suppose we emboldened a few others to do so too.

As we went, a sudden bright light hit Papa in the eyes. I turned to see from where the light came and I was blinded for an instant. Someone over there had opened one of those new windows in their home or workplace, and the glass had reflected the sun straight into our faces. It was dazzling in the extreme and it took a fair while for the bright light spot in front of my eyes to fade away again. Papa and Sookie were likewise affected, but Papa had a funny frowning look on his face as well as the contortions caused by the dazzlement.

I recognised this as HIS 'idea look' and left him to it as I used my clearing vision to try to inspect the steam engine that was sitting there hissing, it seemed to me, in a most menacing way.

Both Sookie and I stayed quite a way away from it, feeling a sense of danger somehow, but the men appeared to have no such inhibitions.

Uncle came back up, making his way as well as he could. He gestured at his sopping clothes and pulled a wry face as he shared a look with Sookie. He grinned and shrugged at me when he caught my eye and I grinned back, pretending to hold my nose as a defence against a great stink.

He laughed before he started a quick explanation: “It seems that attaching the rope to the far end was not quite such a good idea, after all. The pull wasn't exactly central and the wagon was beginning to swing sideways. So we will now attach some more ropes to each of the near corners, and then attach them to the pulling rope. That way the wagon should stay fairly straight. If that doesn't work, then we will have to try just pulling from the near end. But we did get the wagon to roll a hand of thumbs at least, so we have much more hope now. I have no idea why I didn't think of this solution, so I thank you Julina for pointing out the obvious to us. I hope we can get it all done before the light goes this evening. I deem we have scarce a bell at most remaining to us.”

He turned to Sookie and continued: “I apologise for ruining our afternoon and evening together. I had been looking forward to it so much. It now seems you must cook for me after all. Not quite such a rest as we had planned, huh?”

Papa suddenly signalled to me from behind their backs and I flashed him an agreement. I saw that Papa had a very self-satisfied, almost smug, look on his face, so I knew his idea had popped out into his mind. And I was glad that he thought to invite Sookie and Uncle to dine with us. I knew we had enough, since it was a normal 'prepare for the next few nights' occasion. They were delighted to accept, and I was surprised at just how delighted I was to be able to entertain them for the first time.

After three more, gradually better, attempts, the final arrangements of ropes and guides and drivers and steam engines and whatever else was involved allowed for the wagon to be hauled back up into the Smithy's yard. There was a great cheer that went up when it finally arrived intact and nearly fully-laden. There really could not have been a better demonstration of the capabilities and power of this machine and many of the men there were quietly thinking about the possible changes that this might mean. I think many of them began to be almost nervous about the power demonstrated here this afternoon so the chatter was in a way quite subdued.

A number of people had crowded round us to congratulate me for my idea and I was very busy blushing for a good few moments. Papa was basking in the glory and ended up inviting Masters Bezan and Yarling to dinner as well, but I noticed that he first asked Uncle and Sookie's permission to expand the guest list. This was a politeness that I filed away for future use, not having considered it before – one invitation had been issued and a second one might have changed the factors involved that were current at the time of the first one. I was so busily kicking myself for never having considered that before, that I nearly missed the question that Master Yarling had addressed to me.

“I'm sorry, Master. I was elsewhere in my thoughts. Would you please repeat your question that I may be certain I understood it correctly?”

“I merely enquired as to whether there might be something for me to bring that you would like?”

“Nothing as regards food or drink, Master. But I would be fascinated to see your pictures, as I had a glimpse of some of them. I would be delighted to hear something of the stories behind them. I am but recently very much involved in this ability and would learn more.”

“As you command, dear Mistress. I shall bring my portfolio.”

I turned to Master B and asked: “Do YOU have any pictures to share with us and perchance discuss. I can't ever recall seeing you with any.”

“I fear that that is an ability with which I have not been blessed, Mistress. I am but a simple hewer of wood and hacker of stone. Not like this delicate creature here, who is more gifted in the artistic pursuits – probably because he was somewhat work-shy when younger,” he finished with a teasing twinkle – which remark brought forth a round of chuckles and laughs from all the men surrounding us, many of whom joined in with the teasing of the poor unfortunate Yarling. I admired the way he accepted the joshing and gave back many jaunty jabs. It was all in fun, and there was not a single note of malice to be heard.

But it was still a very male environment, not one in which Sookie or I could join. I was actually, once again, impressed with the way Em had managed to fit in with this world. I wondered how she would fare when it came to joining the female half of the world on a permanent basis.

I also wondered how the rest of the world would accept that change. I suspected there might be a few who would be nasty about it.

I was grateful for all this as it enabled me to step quietly backwards and allow the attention to be on someone else at long last.

I tugged on Papa's arm and mentioned that we should perhaps slip away as soon as we could, to let Kords and Swayga know there would be an extra four mouths to feed this night. He acknowledged the reasoning and so we bid our farewells and tried to slip away.

This however, served only to re-attract the attention and it took us far too long, in my opinion, to get away.

… … …

“Well I suppose that it's alright. At least we have been doing the meals for the next few days. You will have to go and get some more wine, just in case. And if you had actually given us a little more notice, I would have had time to straighten the place and to change into a better dress. Sometimes, Kordulen, I feel you don't think things through far enough.”

“It's fine, Swayga! I was there and I assure you I considered it all carefully. I shall quickly tidy up the privy and then I shall change, taking over from you when I return, then you two can go and get ready. It is all doable, if we act sharply.”

And, interspersed with a few more grumbles, that is entirely as it worked out. Papa went off for the wine, I hastily tidied the privy, quickly changed and went to relieve Swayga and Kords.

The children were delighted to have some more company – it meant that again they could have a delayed bedtime.

I think Kords and Swayga joined in with my deep breath of relief.

I chivvied them all and indeed everything was acceptably ready when the first heavy knock came on the door. Uncle's fist was instantly recognisable.

---

Julina has a very full evening followed by a less remarkable day.

---

Disclaimer:

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 then he said: 'Like a pakh does!'”

A storm of laughter erupted from us all as Uncle finished yet another tale. Another storm of laughter, to be more accurate in my reporting, for my sides were already aching.

I looked round the table and saw Swayga wiping the tears from her eyes. The three other grown men were all chuckling still and little Kissa had to dash out in that funny, scuttling way that told me she had had a little 'accident' brought on by the laughter.

Little Kord was delighted and 'Kin was especially pleased that a character very, very, very like him had been the hero of the story. The grinning Julu and Kords were busy handing round little cloths for people to wipe their eyes, whilst I felt my face would split with the wideness of my grin and/or smile. And my ribs protested that they were nearing their limits.

Which left just Sookie.

Her eyes were bright as she too was laughing freely, but those eyes were for just one man and the adoration that shone out of them was just SO intense somehow. I suspect that I was the only one to notice it, maybe Swayga had as well, but there was no doubt where the wind lay in THAT relationship. And the subject just sat back to take another draught of the beer in the huge tankard in front of him, a look of surprise and innocence plastered on his face that made us all laugh some more. But he too had been, from time to time, casting looks designed for Sookie's eyes only. And their hands would reach out and touch the other as the occasions permitted.

Both of them oozed contentment and their bodies were saying to each other: 'For me to love you now would be the sweetest thing'.

And we all heartily approved, it must be admitted. I could see the men swallowing some ribald remarks which they would probably think were funny, but wouldn't say out loud in front of the children. I thought it was sweet, and Swayga had a misty-eyed and somehow wistful smile on her face before going to fetch another pot of pel.

Uncle and Sookie had brought with them, on a hand-dray, a cask of the now-famous ale she brews down at the Claw, and Uncle had also brought his own personal flagon to drink it out of; but, judging by his actions, maybe it would be more accurate for me to say 'quaff' rather than 'drink'. He had also brought along the favourite mugs of both Master Bezan and Master Yarling, having fetched them from the Bell specially.

As well as that of Papa, which was a bit of a shock to us all – we had no idea that he attended the Bell often enough to have a favourite mug there. Certainly, Swayga, Kords and I viewed him in a slightly different light from that moment on.

The evening had actually started out a little awkwardly – Sookie was feeling guilty about having some time off from her hostessing and managing at the Claw, and my adoption of Master Brydas as my honorary uncle was highly confusing to my brothers and sisters. Swayga was worried to be catering for a renowned caterer, for some silly illogical reason, and Papa had been worried that all these invitations might have been too much for Swayga and Kords to cope with, particularly since tomorrow night was a scheduled Deegrum night.

I smiled fondly at Papa for that. He was a good provider for us all and he was a good Papa (on the whole – there was not one of us who could claim to have never found some reason to doubt that from time to time) but he was hopeless when it came to organising the household. Of course, he maintained that he was just letting me do it my way and was trying not to interfere, but I shudder to think of the chaos we would have had had I not imposed some order these past few years. Now I had 'retired' from those duties, I noticed Swayga also had to overrule him sometimes, at which point he would throw up his hands and disappear.

To the Bell it had now become apparent.

As it transpired, the slight awkwardness at the beginning of the evening was made ever so slightly more so by Uncle's attempts at joviality with the younger ones. They were totally unused to a character with quite so large a figure and personality, so they started to withdraw from him and search for my or Swayga's protection. It was here that Sookie's character came out and saved the day for it was she who quietened him down (at first!) and who settled the children's nerves. She soon won them over and from that point in time it was easier for them to accept her man.

Sundown had already paled the sky when our further guests came a'knocking. The arrival of these two other Masters, both of whom were, of course, by now familiar to us all, and the obvious respect and friendliness that they had with the Smith and with Sookie, must also have been of assistance in allaying any fears the younger ones might have had. As a result of all of this, I don't suppose that any of that awkwardness lasted for more than half a bell, during which we each had a serving of whatever we would drink – pel for all the women, ale for the grown men, water for Kord and water with a splash of Papa's wine for 'Kin.

“.... there are some pastries here, just to soak up some of that drink, but you are not to eat too many, lest you spoil your meal. Is that understood?” asked a mock-stern Swayga.

“As you command, Mistress,” was the general tone of the replies. I had the feeling that, were they guardsmen, they would have leapt to attention and saluted.

The meal was tasty and filling and the conversation flowed well, Master Brydas warming the kids up with his attention, once they had overcome their natural shyness. I had spotted the quick interchange from him with Papa and Swayga, asking their permission, before Uncle started to let 'Kin have a sip or two of the beer, pretending that they had to hide it from Papa particularly. Papa made sure to not notice, as did Swayga, once she caught on to what was happening; which was after Papa tapped her on the arm to stop her making a fuss about it. 'Kin was soon a firm follower, and that helped enormously with Kord. Both boys declaring before their night's end that they would become smiths when they grew up!

And they would have flagons to drink from.

Not only the boys were won over, for the girls had also fallen under his spell, since he also made sure to address them individually and to include and involve them in the conversations that were, at times, fast and furious.

Now I do not wish to imply that Uncle took over the entire conversation at table, not by any means. The others all contributed too, and they also involved the children as and when they could. I loved it, especially as it meant that the kids were exposed to a variety of points of view, which could only be of benefit to them – a sort of rounding of their education, if you like.

Once all the supper things had been cleared away, which event I had never seen performed so thoroughly and rapidly (all the kids not wanting to miss anything that might be said) then it was time for Master Yarling to take the lead, since I had encouraged him to bring along his stock of pictures to show us and to discuss with us.

Now I, of course, had seen some of Pomma's work and her picture of the Vale had impressed us all, none of us imagining that her skill could be much bettered. But I feel a tad disloyal here by having to declare that Master Yarling's work was at least a step better, and it showed. His lines were somehow superior, his colouring somehow more vibrant, his subjects unfailingly of interest.

I really have to jump in now and say that Pomma's work is acknowledged by others as being good, far better than just adequate; there was a life and a tone to her work which was noticeable. But these drawings done by Master Yarling seemed to draw you into them, seemed to make you feel you were actually there.

Ah! That's the difference I am trying to explain! I had been struggling with how to present this difference, but there, it just leapt to my fingertips as I was scribbling.

Pomma's pictures were accurate reporting, which made you gain an understanding of the subject. They were like mental images that you retain, but of someone else's viewpoint which was presented to help the viewer understand. But Master Yarling's pictures made you feel somehow involved, somehow present IN the picture itself. They made you live the picture rather than Pomma's more simple recording of a view.

(Older Julina says: I filed away these ideas at the time since I was aware that I was breaking some new ground in my thoughts, and I would need to mull over all this. At that time I knew not the meaning of 'philosophy' but I was certainly indulging in it!)

And so it was that Master Yarling entertained us for a bell and more. With twelve of us round the table, the pictures were passed, reverently, from hand to hand, right to left as the picture circled the table, whilst he gave a condensed, but nevertheless thorough description of what, where and when. He did not make the mistake of handing out too many pictures at once, such that his commentary could then well have been about a picture that an observer did not have actually in their hand, they looking at a different one entirely.

As it happened, I was sitting at his side as he went through his collection, so I, and Master B who was to his other side, got to see many more than he showed to everyone else. I was fascinated, but totally in the dark as to understanding it, by his selection process. Some he just skipped over, some he considered, some he took out straight away.

“I really don't know why I keep this one,” he muttered to himself at one point and went to tear it up, obviously having meant to do that on frequent occasions beforehand.

I cheekily and swiftly grabbed it from his hand and studied it. I couldn't help but gasp, since it was one I found particularly arresting.

“No, no. You cannot destroy this one. It's beautiful!” I placed it face down on the table with my hand on top, keeping it until the previous picture had finished it's round. I then handed that picture round for others to see, looking for support for my statement.

Which was not long in coming. Everyone that saw it also exclaimed that it was a particularly good picture, and wanted to know, not just all about the picture, but also why he wanted to destroy it.

“It is one of the worst pictures I have ever done!”

“Oh nonsense man! It is excellent, although I feel you have now cast a small doubt in my brain. Maybe I imagine it after your words, but it gives me a slight feeling of unease, but I could not say why.” Master Bezan managed to say what we were all thinking.

“I must confess that most of this picture is as good a representation as I have ever done. But I have made a mistake, a fundamental mistake, which I suspect is the root of your unease. Just above the bottom left corner I have ruined it, and it annoys me every time I see it. I have got the angles of the reflections wrong. And that is what bothers. For some unknown reason, I drew the first tree at an un-lifelike angle, and then I aligned all the others on THAT, rather than on a sensible angle. I may have been able to rescue it had it just been that first tree, but I did all those trees, and the light gaps between them, which are as well too wide, all at the wrong angle. I have no clue as to why! And, as the painter, it annoys me to distraction when I see it.”

Here – you be the judge:

“Is that up the Telar Minor? From that small island we all used for fishing?” asked Master Bezan.

“Indeed it is. You have a good eye and a good memory. When were you there?”

And so the two of them discussed their experiences in that valley as we all looked at the picture he wanted to destroy. Everyone, when it came round to them, agreed he should keep it.

'Kin asked: “Why don't you just cut that bit out? Or overpaint it and start again?”

“I see your brother, Mistress Julina, gets his directness from you. It must be a family trait. It is most refreshing. Just speaking thoughts, unlike us adults who are burdened with all sorts of considerations that just don't occur to those a little younger.”

He turned to 'Kin to continue: “Well young Kordulkin, those were splendid suggestions, and believe me when I tell you I have considered those actions often. So, to answer your questions, let's examine the possibilities, shall we? The whole point of doing anything like that would be to preserve the picture, to render it still useful without the glaring mistakes, right?”

'Kin nodded in agreement.

“So just cutting that bit out would also remove much of the 'useful' part. I have looked and looked, and can find no obvious cut lines, so the excised part would have to be very oddly shaped, and that in itself would detract attention from the picture itself. So I feel that cutting out a great lump would be too much of a distraction.

“Which leaves the repainting option. Now that is certainly a doable option. However, it is a highly complicated operation. First the existing piece would have to be overpainted with a neutral base colour. This is easy but would add extra thickness to the picture in just that part, and then more thickness would have to be added on top of that when I did the repainting. This would make a ridge which would cast a shadow, even if it was ever so slightly.

“Also there's the question of matching the colours. These colours have faded over time, so if I mixed up a shade to match exactly the colours at the moment, then they, with a different base and a different start composition, would fade differently in the future making it obvious in time to come that alterations were done. I see no way out of the difficulty, so I thought to just throw it away.”

There was a small silence as we all thought about what he had said, broken by Kords with a nervous-sounding question.

“Master Yarling, do you have any other pictures of that spot?”

“That is precisely my problem, Mistress Kordulet. I regret that I have no other. That's the only reason I have kept the picture, even though it annoys me so much.”

“I just thought that maybe I have a solution for you.”

There was a silence all round the table as everyone sharpened their attention upon her. I could see her get nervous at that, and her voice was shaky as she continued, but there was also a determination in her to get over the anxiety. I think we all admired her greatly for that; I know I felt a swelling of pride in my breast. As she was talking, she took one of the pieces of paper we had used for lettering lessons and was using a sharp knife to slice it into a strange shape.

“Have you considered using a piece of paper? You could cut out a piece of paper to the correct shape and simply paste it over the bit you dislike. You could write a description on the piece of paper and the writing and the material of the paper would hide nearly all that is below it, but allow a hint of it to show through. It would disguise the worst of the bad bits, but would tell a viewer that there is still a part of the picture that has simply been covered up.”

She took the piece of paper she had sliced and placed it on top of the picture. There was meaningless writing on it of course, but it was excellent for use as an example.

There was a short moment of silence before we all applauded her, which made her blush ferociously. She announced that she needed to just go and do something in the kitchens, just so she could escape the attention. I went with her and we had a good 'sisters session' away from prying eyes. I was touched when she told me that it was my example that had made her think of things, and made her brave enough to suggest them, so half the applause was for me really.

By and by, we dried our tears and, with a final hug, we returned to the other room, only to find a fierce argument in full swing.

A very friendly argument, mind you, with many laughs and jokes and teases and everything like that. All about the wording to be used on what someone had suggested should be called a 'caption'.

… … …

It was too much to expect that we would have an evening without tears, and they, totally unsurprisingly, came when the younger boys had to go to bed. I could sort of sympathise with 'Kin as he was roughly two years older than Kord and so, logically, should have been allowed to stay up even later. However, I had made it clear to him earlier that this was a special treat for Kord to be allowed to stay up later rather than a hardship for 'Kin – thus it was that the tears came from Kord and the (reluctant) acceptance from 'Kin. And Kord's tears were really just a factor of over-excitement and over-tiredness.

I suppose it was more embarrassing for Masters B and Y as they had no children and had had no exposure to them. All the rest of us were, in our way, used to it, even Sookie had some past exposure we discovered.

That unpleasant interlude over, the rest of us settled down to some more discussions, Julu being fully aware she had another half a bell at most, and Kissa to go soon after that.

So we chatted about generalities for that first period, Uncle taking care not to cause too much laughter, aware that that would just make it worse for Kord and 'Kin. The discussions got more serious once the two younger girls had gone to bed and I saw suddenly that, nowadays, Kords was very much counted amongst the grown-ups. That state of affairs had crept up on us somehow or other, but we as a family were all happy with it, and I don't recall any problems stemming from that in the times that came from then on.

When the discussions started about the town and developments, Papa demanded attention as he wished to clear up a mystery, or so he said. He wanted to talk about the semaphore and it was Master Yarling, surprisingly, who opened the chat on that subject.

“Well, Kordulen, I'm glad you picked that topic as I have some developments to report. They are starting to build one up there at the top of the pass on the road to Chaarn, where you and I visited – the extent of our travel. That will join in with the one at the Chaarn road junction, again built where we suggested. The one at the edge of Milady's lands and the road junction one have now been completed, and the one at the falls is due to be finished tomorrow or the next day. Staffing for these has yet to be finalised, but the builders have been told to stay for a maximum of 3 days for testing and the like. The one between here and Strettalm has been surveyed and a suitable spot chosen. All this means that, with the better weather conditions and with a bit of luck, we could, from tomorrow be in touch with the southernmost point of Milady's lands. The weakness being, of course, the distance between here and Strettalm, a connection available only in the very best of weathers. Mayhap, Bezan, you know a little more?”

“Actually, I do have some more for you. The station at Milady's borderline is positioned close to the river and from there southwards, the other stations are easily positioned on the river banks, or nearby at the very least. Sightlines are considerably easier. I am told that one has been built on the EAST bank of the river by the bridge into Tranidor and another on the hill above Count Trosanar's keep, and a third at the mouth of the Sufen. How they are arranged up the Sufen valley, I have no idea and, frankly, no interest; just as likewise I have no interest in how they arrange the flow of messages between their three stations dotted around the town. For us, it is the Palar valley downwards from Tranidor that is of significance. So, finally, on the inside of the large sweeping bend in the river south of Tranidor, another has been erected. Tranidor is already in touch with Holville, where it has been erected on the bit that used to be an island, and we shall join in in the next day or two. South of Holville, I know not, but I feel there lacks just one other station to join Haligo to Tranidor and thus to us.”

“Well, I confess I am quite shocked by the speed, although I understand not why I am so shocked,” said Papa. “We knew that they were building stations even as Milady departed, so I suppose the surprise for us is simply the knowledge that they are already prepared, having heard nothing of the ongoing process. Now I think more clearly upon the matter, I can see that we would only really be involved with our station here and on Strettalm – and the intervening one. But for now, with permission, I wish to concentrate upon the Strettalm station. I understand that, due to the awkward access, a bunkhouse has been built atop the peak?”

“Ah – bunkhouse. I have something else to report to you later Julina, please don't let me forget,” replied Bezan. He returned his attention to Papa before continuing: “Indeed so, Kordulen. They have placed a bunkhouse with a kitchen and latrine up there, although, of course, the water supply is a problem up there. They are working on that, constructing I believe a device to lift buckets from the stream, with an access point some halfway down. But at least it is now considerably more civilized than it was.”

My thoughts were grabbed by one of my background ideas, one that was once more bubbling up, one that I had begun to think about earlier to do with curtains of rain and so on.

But again I was distracted before I could delve deeper.

“And may I suggest that maybe the bunkhouse is some two or three casts from the station?”

“Why yes it is! It's actually just under four. How on Anmar did you know? Or has someone already told you?”

“It is a logical conclusion from what I believe to be the solution to a problem that Julina and Kordulet had the other night.”

Kords and I looked at each other, not knowing what Papa was going on about. I was still trying to regather my thoughts, so I was more than a little fuzzy in my head.

He looked at us and said: “Your 'spooky eyes'?”

MY eyes widened at that, and so did Kords'. We were all agog to hear Papa's solution, but first he asked Kords to describe the problem which she did with a noticeable shudder. The men smiled indulgently, which sort of irritated me as it was obviously being written off as mere female imaginings. But Papa picked up on that and spent some time addressing that impression. Soon, his earnestness convinced them of the scariness and they were suitably contrite after that.

Papa continued by talking to Kords and I, and we nodded our agreement of each of his points as they came up: “It was near a full moon that night, was it not, Kalikan shining brightly? And not too cloudy? And the 'eyes' appeared downvalley from here? Almost exactly along the line of the wall outside? And Kalikan was over your shoulders when you looked at the 'eyes'?”

He paused, unnecessarily dramatically, at this point.

“Both Julina and I had an experience in town earlier which tipped my thinking to the solution. Julina, m'dear and sweet Kords, I believe that your 'spooky eyes' were in fact the reflection of the moon in the new glass windows of the buildings atop Strettalm.”

He stopped at that point and stood back, exuding a sense of self-satisfaction and self-gratulation.

The memory of being blinded by the reflections of the sun from one of the windows was almost as blinding as the realisation that Papa had indeed solved our mystery for us.

Kords and I breathed a sigh of relief and looked at each other quite sheepishly when we realised the plain and simple explanation rather than the fanciful conclusion to which we had originally jumped.

But even then I could feel another idea birthing in my idea-forming pool, an idea connected to what was just said and to my visit to Uncle's smithy a short while ago, or was it Pocular's?. Hmmmm, another idea that would need to simmer there at the back of my mind.

Thus it was that the spooky 'eyes' were forever banished from bothering us, all the facts neatly dovetailing into Papa's hypothesis.

… … …

I asked for a reminder about what had been said about civilization on the top of the Strettalm and Bezan nodded knowledgably, saying: “Ah yes! The bunkhouse. Well remembered. Well your idea about the bunkhouse at the end of the Loop Road …...”

“No. No. Hold! Something was said about about the one at the top of Strettalm that made me think about something else, something that's been worrying me all afternoon.”

“Let me see, bunkhouse on Strettalm. Four casts from the semaphore station? Newly built. Getting water up to ….”

“That's it! Water! Water supply. Water runs downhill not up. The hot water tank in our new kitchen. To get the hot water to the bathrooms and the privies, the tank will have to be higher than the outlet, and the pipes will have to run DOWN. How can it work? The tanks aren't that high up, perching there on top of the ranges. That's what's been bothering me. Do we have a design problem?”

“Ah! I must say I am impressed that you managed to work that one out. No, I believe that we have found a design or two that gets round that problem. One is something called a 'siphon'. If no air can get in, then a pipe can be filled with water and automatically make water flow as long as the output point is lower in height than the input point. So we can have a pipe that descends from a small 'header' tank, runs across the floor and CLIMBS again the other side. The water will still flow properly through it. The other solution, which is probably the most practical, is to raise the water as it comes out of the hot water tank and pour it into the pipe system as high as possible, using a header tank there. A simple pulley arrangement should work for this. But we have thought of that problem, I assure you.”

“Your solutions seem to conjure up more questions, Master Bezan. The pulley system seems to defeat the object of having pipes in the first place. But that is just a first thought. I feel I need to sit and discuss this so I understand it, but I deem it too complicated for an evening such as this. Perhaps we might chat soon?”

“I should be delighted. I shall let you know when would be best.”

“Thank you. Now, you were saying about the bunkhouse at the Loop Road?”

“Yes,” interrupted Papa. “That sounds like something I have not yet heard about.”

The others all nodded as well and so Bezan explained the background and then continued: “...so the family have agreed to move to the fish farm, they shall get more space to live in and they could also provide cleaning services for the bunkhouse, and it makes the breakfast production and serving so much easier. So all around, there is an advantage, any which way you look at it. We shall start converting the building to a bunkhouse as soon as both the weather breaks and we can get the existing house builds finished up here in town. We reckon at most three days for the conversion.”

“I strongly suspect that the weather will break this night – I fancy I saw some clear patches just before the light went.”

“Aye, Kordulen. Happen you're right. I noticed the same.” Uncle nodded as he agreed. “That Guildmaster should have an easier trip in the morning, when he departs. Oh, talking of that, Fedren tells me that there was a problem arresting that assistant of his down at the Forest Roadhouse. Apparently, the semaphore operators were not believed and the men to be used for the arresting at the roadhouse were employed by the miners. So Brathan simply told them that it was just a hoax used to test the semaphore system and went to his room. When they went to call him for a meal, it was discovered that he had disappeared. And his frayen was no longer in the stables, as was another traveller's beast. It would appear that Brathan has stolen that as well, for whatever reason. A Valley Messenger Service urgent message has been sent. He will be having a miserable time of it in the weather with no civilised shelter for many marks. But of course it took time to bring the message up to us and then get the Valley Messenger Service into action. Fully a day will have passed before the message can even be imagined to overtake the thief.”

Master Bezan then picked up the conversational thread. “Talking of shelter, that shed for the shuttle has proved to be a boon. With the known arrivals and departures of the shuttles, many of the 'campers' used its cover to escape the worst of the weather recently, and the wagoneers, of course, are pleased to have a comparatively dry space to ….”

“That was it! That was my other thought!” I burst out, unable to stop my tongue for the moment. “I'm sorry Master Bezan to interrupt you, but I had two thoughts not quite formed before this evening. One was jogged into existence by the conversation earlier and it was the pipes question. Now this one has been jogged into being – our new house, and more specifically its roof line. The way it is at the moment, any wagon delivering to the house would back into our 'courtyard' as we designed. But only the back part of the wagon would be under shelter, the roof there would make a curtain of rain descend into the belly of the wagon.”

“Maker! You are right. We need to change that roof part. Well spotted!”

I sighed a huge sigh of relief. Always carrying round those unformed thoughts was exhausting. Now I had rid myself of two of them. Only one left now, the one that had been triggered earlier in the conversations this evening. I had the feeling that it was a refinement of a thought I had already had and mentioned, some while ago.

But before we could go any further, Uncle jumped in on the word 'roof' and another topic was opened.

“What has always puzzled me,” he began, “is the way we build these rooves. They are all the same, all over the place. Even down in Tranidor and Teldor. They all have steep pitched angles. And when I asked about it, they explained to me that a flat roof might gather too great a weight of snow and collapse under the strain. Rain, they explained, wasn't a problem as even the slightest angle would make it slide off, but snow can stick and gather. I have always wondered why we need snow-protective rooves up here. Our climate, even when it gets cold, is not such that we get a great amount of snow. And yet, somewhere there is something that says we must have a roof that slopes so sharply. It's like no-one dare think for themselves. Which is why Julina and her family are a breath of fresh air to us all.

“Long may you and Kordulet, and the others, keep having these ideas, 'Lina. My fear is that, as you grow up, you will begin to be weighed down with all the so-called important stuff that we elders burden ourselves with, so much so that we lose sight of the simpler things. I feel we look at matters in a far more complicated way and have more inhibitions about speaking our minds. Your ideas, and please don't be offended by this, appear to be born of a child's curiosity, and are unhampered by the host of considerations that we elder ones tend to heap upon such matters, unimportantly it seems, now you have shown us the way.

“I find myself thinking slightly differently nowadays, having been exposed to your insights and viewpoints. Your father has started to think in different ways too – previously he would probably not have found the solution to your 'scary eyes' or whatever it was that you called them. But he did. And so many others are also doing it, I have remarked. It's almost as if our minds are awakening after a long sleep.”

I was naturally blushing so much by now, I could barely reply: “It was something that just seemed so right once I had observed Milady. It was HER attitude that made me sit up and take notice. It's nothing really to do with me. I just have these thoughts and questions – like why do we do something in a certain way, is there something else, some other consideration, that everyone else seems to know about but not me? So Milady taught me that I should ask. That's all it is.”

“But it requires a certain intelligence to apply the knowledge and that is what amazes us so much. But enough of that, I don't wish to embarrass you further. I have little further to report, other than we have decided definitely to go ahead and create a new village downvalley exactly where the road kinks and your proposed railroad route crosses, Master Kordulen. We can clear a road there down to the riverbank, though the last few casts are very dense, and investigate the possibilities of using barges to ship the coal downstream.”

“Excuse me,” I interjected. “Do I understand that you want the road to go all the way to the riverbank? Would it not be possible to use one of those continuous carpet thingies like from the third quarry up here in town? Then you would just need a walkway and a passage just wide enough for the conveyor.”

Again the men looked at each other, shaking their heads.

“Another worthy suggestion, Mistress Julina. I feel you may have saved Milady much more coin now. And we can get going sooner. I shall make a note of that. I find your mind a wonderful thing. Long may it so continue.”

“Er, it was nothing, Master B.” I managed to stammer out.

Yarling decided to change the subject to save yet more blushing from me. “Kordulen, what of you? Which projects are benefiting from your experience at the moment?”

“Well, I am having a sort of half-holiday at the moment as you are aware – this, for the benefit of you others, is for me to be able to supervise the move into our new abode. But in practice it means that I accompany my wife-to-be and my two talented daughters on a morning excursion as they get more and more practice at riding frayen, where I can not only provide them, and Mistress Sukhana as well, with an escort, but I also get to see most of the new roads that are being built and can keep an eye on their developments. I have made suggestions for the improvement of the new dam slope road and I am pleased to be able to report that my suggestion is being acted upon.”

“And what might that be?” asked Uncle and Sookie at the same time, after which they both laughed at them selves.

“Well, there will be a lot of heavy traffic on that road, wagons laden with stone mostly, so I proposed that actually they start by reinforcing the roof of the aqueduct just where the dam lake road joins it presently. At that point the road will not be able to be straight and so we might as well have a bend or two there. They will also create a solid foundation on the outside of the aqueduct to provide the base for the roadbed, and they will ramp that foundation down at a gentle slope parallel to the aqueduct for as much as four casts, more if we can make it so, to make the slope as gentle as possible. The slope they have just constructed will be for access to the work site as the construction takes place, and later for light traffic, since the slope is that much steeper than my proposed one.

“Then, once that slope is completed, we will be in the narrower part of the canyon, and the road can follow the side, at its base of course, of the aqueduct for a bit more, gradually losing height as it gets to the point where the canyon widens out, the point where the aqueduct makes its only remaining sharp bend. All this will have to be a single-track road with passing places, at least in the first instance. Eventually I imagine a divided road, with one for upvalley traffic and another for downvalley traffic, but I know not whether the traffic density will be such as to justify the expense. And the narrowness of the valley just there would make it difficult, there really being only room for a single width.”

Swayga spoke up then: “Kordy,” I think we all winced a bit at that, “if there is lateral place for just a single width, would it be possible to do what we used to do back when I was a child? On the boat, we often needed to have two or more separate channels for things, but needed to use as little space as possible, so we built the channels on top of each other. You surely have no vertical space problems? Could you not have a roof over the lower road, and use that roof as the roadbed for the upper road? Or simply strengthen the roof of the aqueduct for much farther, and then construct a further slope down from there?”

I confess I was reeling with shock at that point, since I was still amazed at the 'Kordy' business, that was the first time we had heard her use that term of endearment, and that amazement was nearly as great as that created by her suggestion; not just because the suggestion had much merit, but because Swayga had made it. I don't wish to imply that Swayga is in any way stupid, but that was the first such practical suggestion she had ever made in our hearing.

All conversation stopped and many mouths dropped open.

It was Yarling who said: “It must be catching. There must be something in the wood of this house.”

Papa slowly answered: “My dear, that is certainly a suggestion that I should consider, and I would have to discuss load strengths and so on with these three Masters as well, so it is excellent that they were here to hear it. My immediate reaction is to go with the two-tier solution as I fear the effects of possibly blocking the water flow to the town by working on the aqueduct, even if only temporarily, could be very grave. But the problem I immediately see with the two-tier system is that, at least in one direction, we would be restricting the height availability of the loads. Hmmmmm.”

“But how many existing loads are so tall? I can barely recall a single one that extended above the driver's head level.”

“Ah that may be so at the moment, but what do we see in the future? Maybe …........”

… … ...

A very pleasant, laughful, interesting and absorbing evening came to an end a while later. Further topics had been raised, Yarling's third quarry and the progress there, Uncle's bridge supports, Sookie's problems down at the Claw, Bezan's expanded problems now Milady's lands were so much bigger and his continuous need to juggle resources, our house move. The final topic was the start of the schooling and I had some things to say which made all my listeners open their eyes a little.

“Mistress Epp tells me to plan for a two week absence for our trip down to Tranidor, although it is anticipated that it may be as short as a pair of hands of days. Once that is over then the Salon can open in earnest and the schooling can begin. Mistress Epp and I will try to finalise as many details as possible whilst on the trip, but I can foresee a problem coming up that I do not know how to solve. So maybe I dare ask all of you here to consider it with a part of your brain and we can discuss it properly upon my return. The children up in the Vale. They will also require schooling, but they cannot travel back and forth each day, no matter how much of a shortening is achieved with the dam lake quarry. I have thought about and discarded so many schemes for accommodating them, that the new ones are getting more and more fanciful and less and less practical.”

“How many are involved?”

“Let me see, Sookie. Denesar is the oldest, but he is already here in town, apprenticed to the carpenter. But his siblings and cousins are a different matter. There are two boys, Matwyn and Toren, aged 10 and 6 respectively. And there are four girls, two of whom are twelve or thirteen, that's Venna and Kalisel, then the ten year old who is Renys, she's a little shy and withdrawn, and finally there's Portra, also a six year old.”

“So six in all. What thoughts, sensible ones that is, have you had?”

“Epp and I have a strong feeling that two days a week would be good to start out with, so we thought that the Vale children could stay somewhere for the nights before and after school days. They would thus be four nights a week in town and three back at home. However, that schedule would depend upon one of the adults being available to either bring them or fetch them. We here in this family would have nowhere to accommodate more than one of them, and even then it would be a pinch, we are already so many. If M.... Master Michen's Salon starts soon, as is foreseen, then having any of them staying in the rooms above would not be too helpful, considering the probable noise that that enterprise will generate. Furthermore, Epp and I feel that none of the children should be alone, being as how everything would be so strange for them at first, so we would need somewhere for at least two of them to stay together.”

“Well the women's accommodation down at the Claw is scarce used so we could take all four girls together, with the parents' permission of course. I could make one or two of the individual rooms available, I suppose, keeping the larger dormitory free for any travellers. It is above my own accommodation, so the noise should be at a minimum. But I confess I have no suggestions regarding the boys.”

“Well that is a BIG help, and an excellent start. My problem has now diminished considerably.”

… … …

“I think I have just become a fair weather rider!”

Swayga, Kords and I sat there listening to the drumming of the rain on the roof. We were dressed for riding, we were all disappointed, and we were all wondering about which of the many chores to be done we would make a start on instead.

It hadn't been raining last night when the evening finally broke up. The moon was shining but we couldn't repeat the 'spooky eyes' thing so our guests left and we quickly cleared away before doing the night chores. I slept well and enjoyed writing up the notes of the day during the wake period. I also made some plans for the day. They were quite exciting actually so I tossed and turned a lot during the second sleep.

So when I got up and pottered around, thinking and thanking that, at last, morning has broken, I had my day already sorted in my mind; my time would be occupied by some simple but satisfying plans.

Which were totally destroyed when the heavens opened again just after we had got ourselves prepared.

Kords it was who volunteered to brave the rain and scoot down to the Claw to let them know we were not keen on a ride that day and I confess we were getting worried about her when she eventually returned some bells later, quite some time after that final flurry of rain had moved on and the sun had reappeared. But she explained that Sookie had provided her with some dry clothes and then they had fed nibbles to the animals and they had had a chat whilst her own clothes dried in the heat of the kitchens. She was fascinated by events there, and learnt some tricks that would be useful for mass catering, which she offered to tell me. But there was an air of something else about her, something she was delighted with but wanted to keep to herself.

I tried, using subtle and direct methods, to extract her secret, but nothing I could say or do during the entire day worked, which was mystifying because usually I could worm information out of her. I felt quite frustrated actually.

It was with some surprise that I realised as I went to bed that night, after an excellent meal this time with Deegrum as our guest, that for the very first time since the arrival of Swayga, I had actually had a full day at home, going nowhere and burying myself in the household chores. And I STILL hadn't found out what she was keeping to herself. But I also had a strong feeling that some, if not all, of the others knew as well. It was all very, very frustrating.

I suppose I should have been surprised at the ease with which I fell asleep; but, being asleep, I had neither opportunity nor capacity for surprise.

---

Julina has a day full of surprises

---

Disclaimer:

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.

---

An introduction from Older Julina: If you are reading these tales, then you may notice some inconsistencies in spelling and terms of address. Please be aware that they were written by a much younger me, naïve, trusting and at times over-confident; however, untutored formally and having lived my entire life up in a remote mountain village at the very end of a road, I could hardly be expected to be an expert, now could I? Our dialect there was that with which I grew up and it seemed perfectly natural to me then. For instance, we added -ian to the end of every country name to refer to the people who came from that country. I have since learnt that 'Yodan' is the correct term, and not 'Yodian', 'Plifan' and not 'Plifian' and so on. Same for towns: 'Brikantan' not 'Brikantian', 'Viridoran' not 'Viridorian'. We also had had no contact with nobility way up there, so it took us a while to learn the correct forms of address, so sometimes we got Milady in when it was inappropriate to her title - and things like that. Even some of the characters are perchance affected by my earlier writings – Dear Sookie for example - she was, I should in all honesty report, a little coarser and a little harder than my words might convey, but she had then not the mollifying influence of Uncle to smooth some of her edges. I have left those 'errors' in the narrative merely to give a flavour of the times and the places.

... ... ...

“But I can't just lie here all day and do nothing, there's too much to do! I have already missed attending the Tai Chi!”

“'Lina – I just want to give you a special treat for once. I want you to have a mug of pel, served to you as if you were the Queen herself sitting up in her silk-strewn bed with maidservants running round doing everything for her before she even thinks of it herself.”

“But why? There's so much to do if we are finally going to change houses later today or tomorrow. I can't just lie here, or even sit up here in bed, noticeably withOUT the silk finery, and let you scurry around doing things I should be doing. There are things that Swayga may not know, or may not be too familiar with …”

“Oh! Hold! I have just thought of something. I'll be back! Do NOT come out, just stay in bed if you can, please – pretty please. Just this once! Promise? Come on, promise me you will stay here, just for a few minutes. Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaassssssseeeeee?”

“Oh all right! If it means so much to you. Just this once. But I won't wait for your return forever.”

I looked at Kords in amazement as she scuttled back out of the room. She set off down the corridor, but then returned to close the door with a smiling “Your Majesty!”

I laughed as she went off to do whatever it was she wanted to do and let my active brain start making the usual lists of what to do for the day. The first job of course was to decide the destination of our ride. Ah! Wait! Would Swayga and Kords be coming along as well? I hopped out of bed and opened the door, to call to Kords. My voice caused an instant silence which was a little suspicious to me.

So suspicious that my brain started analysing what I may have heard without realising it.

“... doesn't even realise!” “How can she not?” “Are you sure?” “Shhhhhh.”

I couldn't make anything of that, try as hard as I could. And then I didn't have a chance as Kords ran up to me, screeching: “You promised! You promised! But then you got up!” She was almost in tears, which made me realise I had made a HUGE mistake.

I was so taken aback at her vehemence, and the realisation of my own fallibility, that I staggered backwards and got back into bed, muttering apologies as I went.

“Why, 'Lina? Why? You have taught us that a promise is sacrosanct. And you broke yours! How could you?”

“You left me on my own, so I was planning the day and I just wanted to know if you two would ride today, that's all. I didn't leave the room, which is what I thought I had promised not to do. I have to do SOMETHING and you know I like to plan ahead. It wasn't THAT serious was it?”

She had calmed down a bit by then, but my words seemed to mollify her further.

“No I suppose not, not really. I was just shocked, is all! You didn't really break your promise I suppose, I just assumed that you would stay in bed, but you interpreted it as staying in the room. I should have been more specific.”

“And I should have been more thoughtful. I'm very sorry I upset you by not thinking. Will you forgive me?”

“Of course! Now, Your Majesty. Back into bed properly with you, and I'll go fetch your pel. Oh, and Swayga and I will NOT be able to ride today. Now stay there, please.”

With that, she was off again, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

… … …

Eventually, I was allowed to get up and went to the bathhouse, where I found a full tub just for me, which was a delight. Kords explained that as I was so much later today, they had already all used the facilities. I pointed out that I wouldn't have been this late if she hadn't forced me to stay in bed for that extra half a bell. She grinned and actually agreed with me, when I was expecting an argument, so I was a little taken aback by that. Something strange was going on, things weren't quite normal somehow, but I couldn't work out what.

As I lay there in the warm water, Swayga and Kords came in and washed me thoroughly giving me a light massage at the same time. It was wonderful.

But strange.

And it was even stranger when I emerged from the bathhouse and my favourite breakfast was waiting for me. All alone. I was about to demand an explanation, when I realised what was so strange. There were only the three of us here in the house. Papa and the others were elsewhere. It was quiet in the house for once. I supposed the others were Tai Chi-ing, but I would have thought they would be back by now. I didn't have time to ponder this further, as both Swaga and Kords were displaying a body attitude that was more immediately a factor for me to ponder. I decided to try a more gentle approach to get to the bottom of what was going on.

“Well this is most pleasant, I must say. Very unusual, but most pleasant for a change. I haven't quite worked out why it is happening just so, however, I shall enjoy it.”

Swayga and Kords looked at each other and Kords was about to say something when Swayga gave a little gasp and her face somehow cleared itself of a worry. A thought had obviously just occurred to her. She gripped Kords arm hard, I saw Kords wince, before saying, just a little over hurriedly: “Well Julina, the entire family want to thank you for all you have done over these last few years.”

Kords started to protest but a little shake of the head and a further arm squeeze from Swayga, accompanied by a reassuring little nod seemed to stop Kords in her tracks.

Major alarm bells were ringing in my head now. These two were not being totally open with me.

Swayga continued: “It is very likely that today or tomorrow will be the last day we live in this house, so the family decided to leave you with fond memories as we all start a new phase in our lives.”

As she said this, I saw Kords breathe an almost silent “Oh!”, which seemed somehow inappropriate, especially as it was accompanied by a relaxing of her shoulders which told me that she had been anxious about something. I suspected that Kords was worried that Swayga might say something to me, but what she said was not what Kords was worried about. The circles in my head starting all revolving in different directions.

Swayga continued: “And so we all got together to let you have just a little special start to this day.” She gave a little giggle as she then went on in a now-familiar mock-fierce way: “Just don't expect it every day!”

I gave a little “Oh!” myself. That my family would do this for me almost brought forth an eye-water, but I am made of sterner stuff than that, so I sniffed, fought the tear back down again and then thanked them, making a mental note to thank the rest of the family a little later. I was really touched that they had thought of this for the last morning in this house. My worries about what was going on started to fade rapidly, but there was still a niggle in the back of my head and that part of my brain was worrying at it like a feltris at a freshly deceased pakh. The clamour in my mind was enormous, but not as large as it had been just a bit earlier. I plastered a smile on my face and turned my attention to the other two.

The three of us had a pleasant chat about this, that and the next thing, and some of Swayga's ideas for this pending move of establishment were really very sensible. I had a sneaking suspicion that some of them would never have occurred to me.

Our girly moments were brought to an end when Kords reminded me that I was expected down at the Claw in half a bell's time. So all that relaxation with which my day started was nearly wasted as I rushed to get dressed and presentable.

… … ...

“Good morrow, 'Lina.”

“Good morrow, Sookie - and you dear Epp, too. I wasn't expecting you to be here, I must confess. Kords, you said nothing when you returned yesterday and told me of this arrangement. I understood only that Sookie had some matters to discuss.”

“Plans change, m'dear. Plans change. Deal with it!”

The older women looked a little shocked at Kords reply, but I burst into laughter. She was just quoting my own words back at me. And I had a little bet with myself as to the next thing she would say; she did not disappoint me, as she grinned very infectiously: “Maybe not today, some day soon you'll be alright, don't turn the other way.”

I continued the exchange by quoting myself further: “I always see you searching as you try that bit harder, getting closer to the life you're imagining.”

We spoke, no, actually we SANG, a further line together: “No worries, no worries.”

All four of us were laughing after that, so Kords and I didn't have another chance to bandy more of my 'words of wisdom'. The older ones did laugh again after Kords explained that she was just using words I say sometimes – well, far more often, it would appear, than the 'just sometimes' that I thought I did.

“So Kords, what made you scamper down here while I was getting ready?”

“I just wanted to thank Sookie for her help and her education yesterday,” she said casting a sideways glance at Sookie as she did so, “because we are going to be so busy later. I just grabbed the moment.”

I saw Sookie sort of relax as she said that, but supposed that was a reasonable reaction to Kords' words, if looked at in a certain light. But something made that clamour in the back of my head flare up again.

We chatted all together for maybe a hand of moments and then Kords went back home to help Swayga and the kids, who should be back by now.

Which meant that then we got a little more serious.

“Julina,” began Sookie, “I have been thinking about the schooling factors we mentioned at your excellent evening dinner, for which I must again thank you, from Brydas as well as myself. As Megrozen here will be involved, I thought we could discuss it all together. I have a bell before my next appointment, which is also true for Megrozen, so I think we should be able to cover most of the requirements in that time.”

She turned and raised a querying eye-brow in Epp's direction, who nodded her agreement.

“Now, I have had a quick word with Megrozen …”

“Oh, for goodness' sake, just say Epp like everyone else, it's a lot shorter and trips off the tongue far easier.”

“... with … Epp,” she moved her lips as if she were tasting the new word, nodded briefly and focussed once more upon my face, “and she sort of agrees with a feeling I have. It will be a little more work for the two of you, but in the end will save some effort we expect.”

I darted my eyes between the two of them as Sookie continued: “Epp tells me that she and you have already discussed having separate sessions for children and for adults, and then separate sessions within those broad groups for beginners and those more advanced than that.”

I nodded at this, and also at the appropriate moments as she went further: “So, here is my suggestion for you both. I understand from your brief stay, that the Vale children will be more advanced than mere beginners... So let me give you my proposal and then justify it, if I may? … Have two sessions for the advanced ones in the week, on consecutive days. That way the Valers can save a night down here in town, overnighting before and after, maybe, the sessions. If the second day session is early, then maybe they could even save the third night! … Following on from that, if the first session is run later in the day, then that could be another night saved … The problem with that would be possible interference with your duties in the Salon. But it is theoretically possible for them to require a mere single overnighting. And Epp would be glad to take some of the later sessions ...”

I raised a hand to interrupt her there, as I wanted time to think it through.

To cut a long description short, I realised that the idea had a great deal of merit, and yes, maybe one day a week would be hectic for me, on those days that Epp was unavailable. Epp and I would need to co-ordinate closely, but there would be a certain amount of repetition involved so the preparation for the lessons would soon be a routine, and one that I could do up to five days in advance. The food thing would probably also become routine, so all in all it seemed to me to be both workable and sensible. I nodded my acceptance before actually speaking it.

“Excellent! Now as for the two lads, I could make it that, just for that one night, they could have the end room, nearest the bathrooms, of the women's corridor. Any other women would have to use the stairs nearer the common room, or accept that two young lads might see them in their bathrobes. I would, by far, prefer some other arrangement, but, as I have learnt from the more military of my contacts, that solution would be a 'fall-back' position.”

“Fall-back?”

“Yes, apparently in battles, the men try to fight on their preferred terrain, but, if they have to retreat from that place, they like to have a preferred second prepared position. One which they are able to fall back to.”

“Ah! I see. Yes, that seems appropriate.” My thoughts were taken back to that discussion His Honour and Em had had, about killing grounds and the like. I shuddered with distaste, which action was caught by my two companions; so I had to explain. They also felt the distaste, which we quickly skipped over by moving on to discussing the trip to Tranidor.

Which surprisingly was also a topic that Sookie had been involved in.

She had been chatting about it to Epp, wondering if an extra wagoneer would be required, since she had heard that there was quite a large party. Between the two women, they had decided that we should also take three or four frayen and saddles. Some riders could get some practice in, some beginners could be introduced to riding, and there would also be an emergency possibility to summon help more quickly, in the unlikely event of some catastrophe or similar.

“Papa hasn't actually given me permission to go as yet. He was worried about the war with Yod.”

“Yes, that was another thing that we talked about yesterday - Brydas, Kordulen, Epp and I, along with His Honour and Master Michen. It appears that the invading Yodian forces were comprehensively defeated and there are no enemies nearer than Joth, as far as anyone knows.

“The Captain told us all that the following general rules can be applied to travel:
- A fast frayen messenger can make 80 marks in a day, but that is hard work; nevertheless consider 80 as a reasonable maximum.
- A loaded wagon can make 40 marks in a day, again it is hard work.
- Lightly loaded, small groups of troops can barely make 20 marks in a day.
- An army can only make 12 or so marks in a day, as most soldiers have to carry their own kit and belongings.

“Obviously, weather and road conditions and time of year can change these numbers slightly but they are what all planners have been using for many a year. Even if an invader were to land right now, there would be a battle to get past Dekarran which would take days. Then the invaders would have to travel uphill, harried all the while. Then get through the bottlenecks at Teldor and particularly Haligo, all of which would take even more time. Dekarran to Tranidor is around 120 marks, so just travel time would be 10 days, add at least two weeks for the battles, plus another two for the organisation of reinforcements and the fights all the way up the valley, then His Honour does not believe that any invaders could reach Tranidor in any time less than a month, and feels that three months would be more realistic. Particularly since the winter will have set in by then.

“He added that he doubted there were any invaders capable of destroying all Palarandi forces anyway. And, if there were, then nothing could prevent them from getting here, so why change our plans. Or, as you two put it so eloquently earlier, 'no worries'. All of which is a long way round to tell you that your father has approved the trip.”

I squealed and couldn't help but to jump up and down in delight.

“So,” said Epp, “that means we leave tomorrow morning, before the sun comes up. I want to be at the forest's edge by that time. We shall depart from here where we can have some light to load by, then we will start out in the false light of the dawn. We have just over 43 marks to travel tomorrow, we need to get all the way to Brayview before we stop for an overnight. Everyone else has been told, you are the last.”

“Tomorrow? But we are supposed to go on a day after my …” my voice trailed off as I felt SO stupid.

Everything suddenly dropped into place.

People's behaviour, the sort of secrecy, the strange events of this morning.

It was today!

TODAY!

It was my birthday, and I hadn't even realised it.

More stupid than a pakh, Julina!

… … …

I would have turned and run out, if Papa and Swayga weren't holding me. To have so many people sing the birthday song here in the common room of the Claw was just completely embarrassing.

“Today is the day of your birthday.
For the longest time, may the fun stay.
Sweet Julina, we're happy to be here,
As your life moves into a new year.
Such special days, we wish many more
As you open a fresh year's new door.”

This, you will understand, is the standard song sung to everyone, just the name gets changed and the 'sweet' dropped if another syllable is required (or an extra 'sweet' is added if it happens the other way). But I had never had more than seven people sing it before for me, until today.

I gave up counting at forty.

Yes, forty.

I wished a storm would come and sweep me away. I have never been so embarrassed in all my short life. And there were the rest of my family all laughing at me, and my close friends, and their mothers, and Uncle and Sookie, and Epp and Shemel, and Hasinet and Suril, Haka and Haris, all who reside at Em's and Deegrum, and Masters galore – Bezan, Yarling, Pocular, Blandel … – indeed the entire Assembly was there, and the Vale dwelling parents and Waldan and Pomma, and … oh goodness me, far too many more to mention.

It could not get any worse.

And then it did.

His Honour stood, and requested silence. Of course, a request from Milady's representative was tantamount to an order, and it was made in such a commanding tone of voice, that silence fell in a heartbeat.

“We are here today to honour one of Blackstone's foremost citizens. I shall not enumerate her many qualities, qualities of which all in Blackstone are well aware, particularly those she has demonstrated long before Milady Garia, Baroness of Blackstone, set foot here. I am here to make you aware of several other things that Mistress Julina has done to improve all our living conditions, things that have become apparent since I assumed my duties.

“Let us start with Milady's expressed wish to provide education for all. The obvious first step in such an education is to bring writing and reading to a wider circle of people. The Blackstone education system is essentially the brainchild of Mistress Julina, greatly assisted by Mistress Megrozen. Others have helped, but Mistress Julina has already made a start, she has tirelessly chased round town to get candidates and lessons have already been planned, ready to begin as soon as is practical. All will be welcome, and all abilities will be covered. She has just a few more details to settle but an announcement will be made soon. She has found and equipped a room for use as a schoolroom until a purpose-built one is provided. All this has saved Master Jepp a considerable amount of both time and effort as it was he charged by Milady to set it all up. He has been able to concentrate on other topics because of Mistress Julina's ideas and energy.

“Master Bezan assures me that she has made many suggestions that are practical for the improvement not only of the Town but also of the way these improvements are to be implemented. If she could not actually help in some problems, she was able to direct Master Bezan to someone who could. She has advanced our plans by several weeks. Perhaps her most valuable contribution to the town's planning is a suggestion that has yet to be implemented, but it will be quite soon – to do with Milady's request for a Community Hall to be built. I shall not, at this moment, begin to explain that one – that will become apparent.

“From the same source, I am told that some of her suggestions for the design of her family's new house were of such a quality that they have been incorporated in all of the other new builds.

“Furthermore, she has found a simple and yet far-reaching practical idea with regard to personal hygiene, an idea eagerly taken up by almost everyone who has been told about it. That of using the waste water from hand-washing to contribute to the flushing of privies. Now that she has pointed out the possibility of so doing, as is typical with many of her ideas, we elders are left scratching our ageing heads and wondering why WE didn't think of that.

“She has brought back to us an Assembly member who was suffering, she has personally persuaded many residents to stay and contribute to the Town, she even helped one to leave with minimum fuss when it could have turned nasty.

“She has made a very valuable suggestion that, if successful, something we shall know in the Spring, will go a long way to helping with our food supplies, and she has eased the wagoneers lot with a suggestion that is being implemented right now, for a bunkhouse down near where the Loop Road shall join the existing road.

“She has been instrumental, I understand, in making life easier for all you women-folk with the rapid and efficient assistance she gave to Mistress Hasinet. I believe that you all approve of your new underwear and you were most likely measured for it by our day's heroine.”

A titter ran round the room as the women present all giggled. The men looked vaguely embarrassed somehow.

“There are many other instances of ideas that she has had that have made things easier for individuals and/or for the community at large. And many of her ideas have enabled us to speed up some developments and/or do them more efficiently.

“As a result of all this, and in a desire to give my throat a rest, I shall simply announce that the Assembly has unanimously decided to make a present to Mistress Julina, as a thank-you for all her valued contributions, of a Crown, a Solly, a Fenik and a Soo. Since she has now attained her majority, the payment can be made directly to her herself. Prior to today, her father would have had to receive any of this on her behalf, therefore we have all agreed to say nothing until today.”

He beckoned me to him and handed over a small leathern purse with drawstring closure. I knew enough not to look into it. I curtsied in front of him, but my embarrassment was too much to be able to speak. I scuttled back to Papa as quickly as I might, as the Captain continued his little speech.

“Such award being made, I need to point out that it is intended to encourage her ideas in the future. A review shall be held in a year's time to evaluate her ideas made from now on, and a further award shall be made, if warranted. Maybe this will also encourage others to make similar contributions. We shall judge similarly for them. Fellow citizens, please show your appreciation of Mistress Julina with a round of applause.”

Oh Maker! How I wished I could escape as the room reverberated to what sounded as loud as thunder.

The Captain raised his hand once more, and asked Master Pocular to step forward. What on Anmar did HE have to do with my birthday celebrations? Then I remembered his voice and shot a look over to my friends, one of whom was already leading Molly away.

“What am I, a relative newcomer to your, nay, our, Town, doing here at this birthday celebration? Well, I wish to amaze you, and give her a present. But first a word or two of explanation. Mistress Julina and her father, Master Kordulen, visited my workshop one day, whilst still in the throes of setting up. I was experimenting with various things, and samples of discarded experiments were cluttering up the place already. Whilst there, Mistress Julina was very much left in a corner whilst we men discussed things of grave importance. After all, she was just a woman, so why should we afford her any attention?”

He waited for a small growl of disapproval before grinning his most attractive grin. His melting voice was working its effect on the females present, and several of us started slightly squirming. This meant that he could get away with being dismissive of females a little easier than many other men. Despite that, his words did serve to cast a dampener on the squirms.

“And this was a good thing! For she was left alone to make some discoveries for herself. She was playing with some pieces of glass, some different compounds I had used to try to create a clearer mirror. Now I know you all have seen the mirror on the wall over in the Bell, so I know that many of you have seen the advantages of having a mirror made of glass, rather than the much duller, and far more indistinct, polished metal versions that all have had for many years. What Mistress Julina did was play with those pieces of glass mirror whilst she was being ignored. She discovered no less than three things whilst we left her to herself.

“Now it is obvious that she doesn't have the skills to construct stuff herself, but her 'playing' gave her father and I sufficient direction to invent something. I made it and then I made another. The SECOND one has been sent to Palarand to apply for an exclusivity licence. For every one made and sold for the next two or so years, then a royalty will be paid to the combination of myself and Master Kordulen, as the nominated inventors. Mistress Julina is involved only because she gave us the basic idea. And besides, at the time she was still a minor. Master Kordulen and I refined her idea, added our own ideas to that and then I constructed it. Therefore, we have decided to reward Mistress Julina with a quarter of our royalties, whenever they arrive. We are convinced that this item will be an extremely popular luxury and will prove to sell well. Why I'd wager that at least half of you here right now will want one.

“Now some of you will be wanting to know what this item is, but you will still have to wait. For there are another two discoveries to describe first. The second one connects the first and the third.

“For the second one is basically a hitherto unrealised use of the first one and the third is an extension of that second use. I remind you this all came about from things that Mistress Julina discovered simply by 'playing'.

“So it is time for me to show you the first discovery. The one I made first. This is the first ever one in all of Anmar. I must ask you all to not rush, for it might get broken, but this is a present for Mistress Julina and she will show it to you as and when she can and will. I repeat, please show patience and consideration and not grab it. Coming from me, you must realise it is made of glass, and you must all realise that glass can be broken easily. So CARE is the watch word!”

He beckoned me to stand up next to him (cringe, cringe) and then gestured behind me into the crowd where my family still stood. Papa turned and lifted something from the table behind him. He walked forward with a carry bag that had something of a very strange shape in it. He held it out to me, holding the bag handles so that I could fetch the contents out. I peeked into the bag and was surprised to see a round piece of wood that was extended on one side into a longer, straighter, but still rounded, piece of wood which Papa whispered to me was the handle. He then told me to turn it over.

“Maker!” I gasped, in a loud and high squeak.

It was a glass mirror, a clear and perfectly reflective piece of glass mirror, set into a wooden frame, with a handle. The glass was about the size of my face. My hands were trembling as I withdrew the precious object from its carry bag. I could almost not hold it firmly and debated just leaving it in the bag, but the audience would want to see it, so I carefully lifted it out, keeping the glass away from the audience, keeping it to my chest - at the beginning, so they had the same first view as I had had.

Master Pocular nodded his approval and I waited a little before suddenly turning it round. I made sure I had a good grip first.

There were gasps from everyone as they suddenly realised what it was. Some started forward to inspect it but a warning grunt from Master Pocular reminded them quickly of his earlier words.

He held up his hand again and silence fell quite quickly. He then turned to me, and very formally asked: “Mistress Julina, may I please have your hand mirror for a moment?”

I nodded, completely tongue-tied, as I handed it to him.

“Please note that this article now belongs to Mistress Julina. When, or rather I should say if, she agrees to let you inspect it, then it is not yours to hand to your neighbour, it is hers. So do not be inconsiderate enough to pass it on without her permission. I remind you that this is the first one ever made, once broken it will lose its history, its provenance. You may temporarily have charge of it, but it shall never be yours. Treat it with caution and with extreme care.”

I caused a laugh when I looked at my two brothers and reinforced Master Pocular's words. They both scowled and I felt mean, but I knew that they needed constant reminders to be careful, so I lightened the message slightly by saying, semi-jokingly: “That means no staffglobe, or globestaff or whatever you boys call it in the same room as it, and no shevesty anywhere near it. And you do NOT touch it under any circumstances!”

After the polite laughter died down, Master Pocular started once more: “But, Your Honour, Masters, Mistresses, I wish now to demonstrate the second thing that Mistress Julina brought to our attention. Please look at the hand mirror as I hold it against my chest. Those to my left can see those to my right reflected in it, and similarly in the opposite direction, whilst those ahead can see only themselves. Do you all see that? Move your heads slightly from one side to the other to see how that reflection moves. I know we all know this from looking at reflections in pools, and in polished metal mirrors, all our lives, but it is fundamental to what I wish now to explain.

“Now, it works because the room is light, therefore we can all see what there is to see in this room. Without light, any mirror is useless. Mistress Sukhana and young Kordulet have been busy yesterday and today preparing this room for the next demonstration, and I thank them now for their work. Mistress Kordulet, would you please be kind enough to bring your box and place it on the table in front of me?”

I watched in amazement as Kords picked up a heavy-looking box and brought it forward. This was kept a complete secret from me. As for the box, well there were two slots cut into the side walls, a bit like lonely doors into a model windowless house. Master Pocular then placed a general lantern by one of the front corners of the box. This lantern illuminated the top and the plain front of the box.

I need at this moment to describe our lanterns to you. A flame is lit at the centre and there are six (some do have more, admittedly, but six is the norm) sides which can be slid up or down, making the light flow out in all directions, if all slides are open, or just in one direction if five of the six slides are shut. When all slides are open, then we call it a general lantern. When three are open, three all next to each other, then it is a half lantern. If each alternate one is shut then it is a half general lantern, or sometimes an old description (apparently it is old Chivan) is used, and it is called a trivial lantern. I mention in passing that there are names for each possible combination, but the others are not relevant here.

“So you can see that this general lantern here is in no position to shine into the slots in the sides of the box. Yes, we all know that a polished metal mirror will reflect SOME light, but it is considerably dulled in the process. But, if I use the hand mirror so, then some light is reflected off the mirror and INTO the box through the slot; a light of unusual clarity. I can demonstrate this better if we shut off all light except this lantern. Please move until you can see the sides of the box, those nearest should perhaps lower themselves slightly so others can see from behind you. If my assistants could just close the rooms lanterns and darken the windows, leaving this one general lantern here alight?”

And so the curtains were drawn across the thick glass windows (the Claw had yet to have the modern windows installed), the other lanterns darkened and we were all plunged into gloom, relieved solely by the one lantern. When all indicated that they could see one or other of the slots, Master Pocular took the hand mirror and held it at such an angle that some light was reflected into the slot on one side, which was of course also visible through the slot on the far side.

“We now have the ability to direct a clear light into dark places. Without waving a lantern around.”

It was only when Master Pocular said that, that several people drew in their breaths. The realisation of what that could mean had dawned on those ones. I confess it took me a good few heartbeats before the full significance struck me.

“This was the second thing that Mistress Julina discovered whilst we ignored her. She actually used it without thinking to retrieve a parchment from behind a chest near the wall.”

He paused.

“And now for the third thing she discovered that day. I have here another lantern, but this time the inside of the slides are mirrors, not the dull metal usually used. Here let me light the flame … See how the light is the same as the other lantern when both are generals. Now let me close five of the slides so we have a simple single direction lantern on each.”

There was another gasp as the mirrored light showed itself to be much brighter.

“You now have the basics of what Mistress Julina did. I have taken this a little further in my experiments and have here a special lantern, which I call a beam lantern. It opens only on one side, the five remaining sides are made of many carefully adjusted fragmental pieces of glass mirrors carefully arranged to produce this effect.”

He opened the one slide and again we all gasped at a thin beam of concentrated light that shot out across the room.

“I have measured this beam of light and found it to be good to read with up to a cast and more away. I can think of several uses for something like this, and I have no doubt that many more will appear as we continue to experiment. All this is directly due to what Mistress Julina did that day. With the arrangements of the mirror pieces inside the lantern we now have a much brighter source of light, all from the one inner candle.

“What does this mean? Well, just for one, we now have a concentrated beam of light that we can use for signalling in the dark. We can pass messages in the night! We can even use a concentrated beam to cast a light forward from a wagon or a coach, and light up the roadway ahead, to help those poor wagoneers who are delayed on our roads and have been caught by nightfall.”

I gave a gasp, as that was exactly the idea I had had in the back of my mind, the one that had been mentioned a while ago, using lights to pass messages. I had not thought about the wagoneers assistance.

“Now, I have been presented with a great difficulty. The way the Laws and Rules of this country of ours work, we can gain exclusivity licences on things. But not on ideas. Mistress Julina did not invent the mirror, she did not invent the hand mirror, she did not invent a lantern. She has no ability to construct any of these things. But she had IDEAS to expand their use. So how do I thank her for that? I cannot pay anything for just an idea. But without her, these things would not exist.

“I have discussed this with the Assembly, and with Master Kordulen and we have decided to copy the Assembly's idea and pay her a sum of money to thank her for the ideas. So I have here a half-crown with which to pay her. Here mistress, a few more coins for that leathern purse you received earlier from His Honour. Mayhap we can have less darkness now, once more, that I may hand her the coins without spilling them?”

The room lightened once more and Master Pocular handed over the hand mirror, again formally, to my waiting hands. He took a half-crown's worth of coins from his pouch and placed them into my now-vacant spare hand, the mirror being easily clutched in just one.

“Finally, I will point out, yet again, that Mistress Julina has the first ever hand glass mirror in her hand. To give her a special feeling of exclusivity, then I shall refrain from selling any of these until the end of this month. Further hand mirrors will be available for purchase from the 1st of the next month. That does not stop you from placing orders of course,” he finished with a chuckle.

… … …

Then it was the turn of Master Bezan and Master Rostan to pile more embarrassments upon my poor head. They described first my hot water tank idea, then my questions, and finally my design. Then they shocked me by saying that no fewer than two hands of my design have already been installed in various of the houses around town and that I would, now I am considered an adult, be receiving royalties from that.

After that were a few more speakers who had some nice and good things to say, like Master Jepp who made some mention of the schooling developments, and then the formalities were, at long, long last, over.

But that meant that I was now open to the demands of individuals.

I showed a few my hand mirror and only one went to hand it on to someone else, but she was quickly reminded of what Master Pocular had said, and I gave my permission for her to do so. Many wanted to just chat and so on, so I smiled and chatted and nodded - and wished to be somewhere else entirely.

… … ...

And so it went for a few moments more, with several others giving me presents, most of which I found it necessary to place on the table behind me.

I had some more riding clothes from Hasinet and Haka, and Haka and Suril gave me a new quilt for my new bed.

Swayga had somehow found a delicious silk nightdress from somewhere, I never did discover how she managed that, whilst Papa promised me his gift a little later and so it went on.

I shall list no more but I was aware I was a very lucky woman indeed.

It rapidly became obvious that they had all talked beforehand for I was told I now had a fully furnished bedroom in which I could also sit in an easy chair at a small table. With a general lantern AND a beam lantern.

Almost all the presents were of a practical nature like that, the one exception being the portrait of me that Pomma had done, originally commissioned by Papa, but ending up as a gift to me from her.

Here it is:

The girls gave me the usual things that we girls exchanged each year, combs and hair clips and the like and I received many other thoughtful things from others, like bedclothes and extra leggings and a fine pair of shoes. Em and family gave me my own fork, suitably engraved, which I found delightful. I wrote down the list so that I might formally thank the givers, but will not bore you all with it right now.

… … …

And so it was that the surprise meeting came to an end and we went from the Claw across to the new house, where I could admire all the furniture and clothes that were waiting for me there. I was nearly in tears by then, as the kindnesses from so many people were showered upon me.

It had taken a while to leave the meeting, with so many farewells to be made. The Steward was particularly nice as HE thanked ME, and promised his support in the future. My back must have been black and blue from all the 'gentle' pats and slaps I received. Everyone had something to say and everyone congratulated me, even the two Assembly members who had voted against women, Masters Torin and Sinidar.

Papa and Kords struggled to carry everything so I could keep my precious hand mirror to myself. But we made it to my new room, where I almost dropped the hand mirror in surprise.

The room was fully furnished, the bed made and many of my personal trinkets neatly and tastefully arranged on various storage surfaces. On the bed, open, was a partly packed travelling baggage which I knew was the work of Swayga and Kords, whom I thanked with my eyes.

The whole surprise event had proved itself to be extremely emotionally draining and I was relieved to just have my family and closest friends nearby for supportive hugs when I was finally away from the throng that had by now become oppressive.

I reacted as I usually do.

I burst into tears.

… … …

They were all sensitive enough to my needs to leave me in peace for just a little while. Female tears seem to throw males off their stride, they seem unable to grasp the emotional release and sometimes cleansing nature of a good cry. So Papa and the boys rushed away leaving the girls - my three sisters and my four friends – and the two adults, Swayga and Mousa, Molly's mother. They were all for that moment crowded into my new room, until all the air was used up, it seemed.

Swayga took the younger two away, along with Mousa, which just left my four friends and my eldest sister, who was becoming closer and closer to a friend as time went by.

We were soon all chittering and wittering about the journey tomorrow and what we might get up to – and groaning at the so early start. Soon, everyone had drifted off leaving just Kords and I to get on with our packing for the morrow.

There was a tentative scratching at the door and Papa put his head round the frame.

“Is it alright to come in?” he inquired almost fearfully.

“Of course, Papa. It would be an honour.”

“Kords, my dear. Could you please give us some time alone, just the two of us? I would be most grateful.”

“Certainly, Papa. I'll see both of you soon, then.”

… … …

I am aware that I am writing this as a sort of detailed description of what our life was like in those days, and as a sort of family history, but the conversation that followed with Papa was sad and happy, bitter and sweet, history and future, awkward and free-flowing – and most shall remain private, I'm afraid.

Again and again he thanked me for taking over the family as I had done. We had mixed emotions as he called up memories of Mama and things that we had done. He told me some stories from his own youth, funny and serious ones. We discussed each individual sibling and where they might be headed in life, we discussed the town, we discussed this new house and he surprised me with yet another purse that jangled as he handed it over. Apparently, on each of our birthdays, he had placed an initial Solly in a leather purse, one purse per child. On each of our birthdays, he then added half a Solly (= 10 Feniks or 40 Soos), meaning that each of us would have 9 Sollies on our 16th Birthday, that's the initial full Solly plus 16 half Sollies. As a further present for making it to adulthood, he would add a further Solly to round it up to an even Crown. He apologised that he could not afford more over the years, but he was determined to be even-handed and make sure that each kid got exactly the same.

He wanted me to have something else though, something that was private and personal, and then he wanted to give me something else as a reward for running the family for all that time.

This is where it started getting more than embarrassing again, but he insisted. He told me I had one year to decide what I wanted, and he would get whatever it was for my next birthday. Maybe a frayen, for example, or a wagon, or a range if by then I had my own separate home, and so on and so forth. He wanted this to be separate from my 16th birthday celebrations as this was a thank you for my work as a sort of mother, and would be a present the others did not receive. His reasoning was that I had as yet no experience of being an adult, and what I might think I wanted now may not be what I wanted in a years time. How very wise that proved to be! He extracted a promise from me that I would choose two things, maybe a frayen and a steam engine, or a … oh, neither of us knew what other examples to give.

But I gave the promise to that effect and so it was that I was eventually left to pack my belongings for the trip that was so suddenly upon me.

I did though cause some consternation as I decided that I would sleep in my new room for that night and Kords could share the house with me; we would still eat at the old house, as it was obvious we would not be able to move in totally on that day. So a priority was to get Kords' bed and belongings moved. We actually achieved much that day, and we gave Julu and 'Kin a treat, by moving them as well. Thus for the first time ever, none of us children had to share a room! Papa promised to come down to the new house to fetch the younger ones when Kords and I left for our meeting at the Claw, before it even got light.

With so much that had happened and so much physical work that we put in, Kords and I collapsed into our respective beds and fell asleep immediately, after deciding, just for one night, not to have a split sleep.

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