[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Beryal s pale blue eyes appraised Cerryl, and he felt as though she had looked
right through him. A new apprentice? About time. You need someone who listens
to you.
That s true enough. Tellis laughed. Beryal and Benthann are better at
directing than listening.
Cerryl nodded, wondering what sort of household Tellis really had.
You need directing, master scrivener, at anything but scrivening.
Beryal s cool eyes flicked back to Cerryl. I ring the bell once for meals.
Just once. Supper is true midday. Be noodles and quagroot today& and dark
bread. You get brew with dinner, water any other time, unless you want to buy
something and share it. After a quick nod, she turned back to the stove and
the heavy iron skillet in which something simmered.
Tellis gave a rueful smile and motioned for Cerryl to follow him through
the kitchen, past Beryal, who did not look up. Cerryl could smell warming
butter, a spice he couldn t identify, and something that smelled good but
unfamiliar.
Beyond the spare common room, Tellis stepped through the rear door and into
a small stone-paved courtyard, empty except for the hand pump and catch basin
in the right-hand corner. We don t use this much. It s too hot in the summer,
and too cool in the winter. He gestured. There was a wooden gate in the
middle of the back wall, between what looked to be two small rooms. The
supply storeroom-that s the door on the left. The space on the right is yours.
You can come and go as you please through the back gate. Works better that
way.
Cerryl glanced around the courtyard again. There was a third door on the
right wall, and a narrow door near the common room door on the left.
Tellis followed his eyes. Those are our rooms.
The youth didn t ask who ours included, or what room was whose, but
nodded.
Put your things in your room. Arrange it how you like and then come back
to the workroom.
Yes, ser.
Tellis nodded and left Cerryl standing in the empty courtyard, his pack on
his shoulders. Cerryl crossed the courtyard, perhaps ten cubits square, and
gingerly lifted the latch and opened the door.
Page 55
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
He let his breath out slowly. The space was perhaps four cubits by five and
contained a pallet bed-wider than the one he had used at Dylert s-a washstand
with pitcher and basin, and a narrow doorless wardrobe of plain and battered
pine, plus a stool. The floor was stone, and the faintest film of white dust
covered everything.
His nose itched, and he rubbed it, then set his pack on the foot of the
pallet. He took another deep breath before opening the canvas flap and lifting
out his jacket. He left his battered half-copy of Colors of White inside the
pack-and his medallion from his father. He would need to find a hiding place
for them, and soon.
XXVIII
As soon as Cerryl had arranged his things and returned to the workroom, Tellis
stopped his work. Might as well freshen the water. Empty the basins in the
house first. Then fill the pitchers.
Another figure appeared behind Cerryl. Beryal tapped Cerryl on the
shoulder. Be more than that. Use the polished bucket on the peg. The rough
bucket s for scrubbing. Always pump a bucket first and empty it. No telling
what be in the pump. Empty the basins into the sewer catch before you start
pumping water, and don t be using the bucket for dirtied wash water. Sewer
catch be outside the courtyard gate. If there s dirt in the basins, wash them
under the pump. That s before you bring water into the house. Understand?
Cerryl nodded and headed for the courtyard, carrying the empty basin. After
emptying it and the one on the kitchen washstand, he rinsed them and replaced
them. Then, heeding what Beryal had said, he began pumping, letting a bucket s
worth of water spill over the polished wash stones before rinsing the bucket
itself and filling it. He carted the water back to the workroom to refill the
pitcher.
When you finish with the water, Cerryl& Tellis did not complete the
sentence, preoccupied as he was with the nipping press in the corner.
I ll come back.
Tellis grunted without looking up.
Cerryl trudged back out to the kitchen, where Beryal was kneading read. The
faint odor of yeast filled the room, and he took a deep breath.
You can refill the pitchers on the corner table.
They re next, Cerryl said, knowing that was what she wanted.
Good.
He slipped past her and carried the bucket through the common room and out
into the courtyard, back to the long-handled pump. He lifted the pump handle.
While it still amazed him that clean water flowed beneath the streets, he was
happy enough not to be lifting buckets from a deep well. With the bucket
three-quarters full, as much water as he dared carry, he turned and started
back across the courtyard. A cool breeze, foreshadowing winter, ruffled his
hair.
Hello& A girl s face peered over the whitened wood of the rear gate. Are
you Tellis s new apprentice? She giggled, then offered a shy grin before
brushing a strand of brown hair back off her forehead. You must be. Only
apprentices carry water.
Cerryl set down the bucket and walked toward the gate, stopping several
cubits back and studying her, knowing he d seen her. Then he nodded. You re
Pattera, the weaver. I m Cerryl.
Pattera s smile vanished. How did you know my name?
I was walking by the shop, and your father told you to mind the loom.
Cerryl offered his own grin. That was when I was looking for Tellis s place.
Oh& you were the boy in the window.
Cerryl wasn t sure he liked being called a boy, but he nodded and kept
smiling.
Father doesn t like it when I look at boys. She glanced over her shoulder
Page 56
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
and down the alleyway. I d better go. I m supposed to be at the market.
Another shy smile, and she was gone.
Cerryl picked up the bucket and reentered the house.
Those weaver girls are nothing but trouble, Cerryl. Mind that, said
Beryal. After a moment when he didn t answer, she added, Cerryl? Did you pump
one pail and empty it out first? I didn t see that.
I rinsed the bucket.
Like I told you? Just like I told you?
No, ser.
Go do it, and be thankful I m asking. Benthann would have emptied the
pitcher over you. Beryal had covered the bread dough with a gauzelike cloth
and was slicing pale green roots into a skillet. Then she would have made you
mop the floor.
Without speaking, he turned and went out and through the courtyard and the
gate and lifted the access stone to the sewer, pouring out the bucket. It was
easier to comply with Beryal s whims than to argue that he d cleaned the
bucket before he d started and run the pump through several cycles, letting
the water flow over the wash stones.
Cerryl replaced the stone and straightened, feeling eyes upon him, then [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Beryal s pale blue eyes appraised Cerryl, and he felt as though she had looked
right through him. A new apprentice? About time. You need someone who listens
to you.
That s true enough. Tellis laughed. Beryal and Benthann are better at
directing than listening.
Cerryl nodded, wondering what sort of household Tellis really had.
You need directing, master scrivener, at anything but scrivening.
Beryal s cool eyes flicked back to Cerryl. I ring the bell once for meals.
Just once. Supper is true midday. Be noodles and quagroot today& and dark
bread. You get brew with dinner, water any other time, unless you want to buy
something and share it. After a quick nod, she turned back to the stove and
the heavy iron skillet in which something simmered.
Tellis gave a rueful smile and motioned for Cerryl to follow him through
the kitchen, past Beryal, who did not look up. Cerryl could smell warming
butter, a spice he couldn t identify, and something that smelled good but
unfamiliar.
Beyond the spare common room, Tellis stepped through the rear door and into
a small stone-paved courtyard, empty except for the hand pump and catch basin
in the right-hand corner. We don t use this much. It s too hot in the summer,
and too cool in the winter. He gestured. There was a wooden gate in the
middle of the back wall, between what looked to be two small rooms. The
supply storeroom-that s the door on the left. The space on the right is yours.
You can come and go as you please through the back gate. Works better that
way.
Cerryl glanced around the courtyard again. There was a third door on the
right wall, and a narrow door near the common room door on the left.
Tellis followed his eyes. Those are our rooms.
The youth didn t ask who ours included, or what room was whose, but
nodded.
Put your things in your room. Arrange it how you like and then come back
to the workroom.
Yes, ser.
Tellis nodded and left Cerryl standing in the empty courtyard, his pack on
his shoulders. Cerryl crossed the courtyard, perhaps ten cubits square, and
gingerly lifted the latch and opened the door.
Page 55
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
He let his breath out slowly. The space was perhaps four cubits by five and
contained a pallet bed-wider than the one he had used at Dylert s-a washstand
with pitcher and basin, and a narrow doorless wardrobe of plain and battered
pine, plus a stool. The floor was stone, and the faintest film of white dust
covered everything.
His nose itched, and he rubbed it, then set his pack on the foot of the
pallet. He took another deep breath before opening the canvas flap and lifting
out his jacket. He left his battered half-copy of Colors of White inside the
pack-and his medallion from his father. He would need to find a hiding place
for them, and soon.
XXVIII
As soon as Cerryl had arranged his things and returned to the workroom, Tellis
stopped his work. Might as well freshen the water. Empty the basins in the
house first. Then fill the pitchers.
Another figure appeared behind Cerryl. Beryal tapped Cerryl on the
shoulder. Be more than that. Use the polished bucket on the peg. The rough
bucket s for scrubbing. Always pump a bucket first and empty it. No telling
what be in the pump. Empty the basins into the sewer catch before you start
pumping water, and don t be using the bucket for dirtied wash water. Sewer
catch be outside the courtyard gate. If there s dirt in the basins, wash them
under the pump. That s before you bring water into the house. Understand?
Cerryl nodded and headed for the courtyard, carrying the empty basin. After
emptying it and the one on the kitchen washstand, he rinsed them and replaced
them. Then, heeding what Beryal had said, he began pumping, letting a bucket s
worth of water spill over the polished wash stones before rinsing the bucket
itself and filling it. He carted the water back to the workroom to refill the
pitcher.
When you finish with the water, Cerryl& Tellis did not complete the
sentence, preoccupied as he was with the nipping press in the corner.
I ll come back.
Tellis grunted without looking up.
Cerryl trudged back out to the kitchen, where Beryal was kneading read. The
faint odor of yeast filled the room, and he took a deep breath.
You can refill the pitchers on the corner table.
They re next, Cerryl said, knowing that was what she wanted.
Good.
He slipped past her and carried the bucket through the common room and out
into the courtyard, back to the long-handled pump. He lifted the pump handle.
While it still amazed him that clean water flowed beneath the streets, he was
happy enough not to be lifting buckets from a deep well. With the bucket
three-quarters full, as much water as he dared carry, he turned and started
back across the courtyard. A cool breeze, foreshadowing winter, ruffled his
hair.
Hello& A girl s face peered over the whitened wood of the rear gate. Are
you Tellis s new apprentice? She giggled, then offered a shy grin before
brushing a strand of brown hair back off her forehead. You must be. Only
apprentices carry water.
Cerryl set down the bucket and walked toward the gate, stopping several
cubits back and studying her, knowing he d seen her. Then he nodded. You re
Pattera, the weaver. I m Cerryl.
Pattera s smile vanished. How did you know my name?
I was walking by the shop, and your father told you to mind the loom.
Cerryl offered his own grin. That was when I was looking for Tellis s place.
Oh& you were the boy in the window.
Cerryl wasn t sure he liked being called a boy, but he nodded and kept
smiling.
Father doesn t like it when I look at boys. She glanced over her shoulder
Page 56
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
and down the alleyway. I d better go. I m supposed to be at the market.
Another shy smile, and she was gone.
Cerryl picked up the bucket and reentered the house.
Those weaver girls are nothing but trouble, Cerryl. Mind that, said
Beryal. After a moment when he didn t answer, she added, Cerryl? Did you pump
one pail and empty it out first? I didn t see that.
I rinsed the bucket.
Like I told you? Just like I told you?
No, ser.
Go do it, and be thankful I m asking. Benthann would have emptied the
pitcher over you. Beryal had covered the bread dough with a gauzelike cloth
and was slicing pale green roots into a skillet. Then she would have made you
mop the floor.
Without speaking, he turned and went out and through the courtyard and the
gate and lifted the access stone to the sewer, pouring out the bucket. It was
easier to comply with Beryal s whims than to argue that he d cleaned the
bucket before he d started and run the pump through several cycles, letting
the water flow over the wash stones.
Cerryl replaced the stone and straightened, feeling eyes upon him, then [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]