Chapter 89: Interlude: Fifteen

First day, Eighth Moon, 257 AC (+1 day)

Brise rubbed at the bridge of her nose. She was too old to learn so many new things.

It went against nature – everyone knew that you learned when you were young, you had to learn a lot to not be foolish and then grew to be old and wise. Now that she was older, not old, she knew the last part to be a lie – the elders could be just as foolish as the young – but the betrayal of that promise still irked her.

Not that it wasn't without benefits. Her new house was beyond imagining – and her old farmstead was freshly remade and housed some of her children and grandchildren. Her new home, along the main road, housed her husband, and one set of her children and grandchildren – the ones that also worked in the village. The house gave everyone privacy – privacy – and kept remarkably warm in the winter, a blessing for her bones.

She sat out on the street outside the warehouse, where she had pulled out a table and a chair and used the sunlight to look over the records – candlelight just hurt her eyes.

She was lucky; her Mother had taught her how to read, so she had been able to get this job from Michael. Her Mother, may she rest in peace, had taught her this but would never have expected it would lead to where she was now – in charge of the sewing warehouse.

She was responsible for watching over all the women who carded the wool, spun it, dyed it, dried it, and even the men who lugged around the heavy piles of raw and finished products. It was a heady experience and very different from what she had known as a child.

Hunger was the biggest thing. The last time she had gone hungry was when the last trade fleet at visited and there was an issue with processing the wool, and she had been forced to work a lot. Even then, she had to go without dinner, and that was hardly a struggle. Her grandchildren had never gone hungry – even in the depths of winter. Winter!

Of course, with this coming trade fleet visit, everything was put in place to make sure nothing went wrong.

Something would, of course, as it always did, but she did her best – Michael had even approved.

She wasn't looking forward to dealing with some of the merchants – the new ones always caused issues. Couldn't fathom a woman being in charge, even if it was mostly over other women. Sometimes Brise could talk them around – sometimes it was even fun to lead them on the nose a bit and pretend like they were getting a really good deal because she was incapable of negotiating.

The stubborn few – and there was always a few – would refuse to negotiate with her at all. In those cases, she would grab a man from the warehouse and together they would rip off the merchant. Michael didn't mind, so long as the goods sold, and that Blise didn't get hurt.

A few of the girls exited the warehouse and made their way over to her.

"Brise, we were going to head over to the bakery and pick up a few pastries. Did you want us to get you any?" asked Alia, a pretty young woman who married half a year back.

Brise clucked her tongue. "Are you really going to spend your precious coin on that?"

One of the girls, Joy, shifted guiltily. "It's to celebrate," she protested.

Brise raised an eyebrow. "Celebrate what?"

"We finished the preparations," Alia stated proudly.

Brise rolled her eyes. "Still expensive – especially for food."

"It's so good though!" exclaimed the third girl in the group, Dyanna.

"And what will your parents say, when they find out what you've been spending your coin on?" she asked.

"Nothing!" protested Dyanna. "My parents make me save most of it for a dowry but said I could spend some of it on whatever I wanted."

Brise looked to Joy, who just shifted her gaze guiltily, and then to Alia, who raised her head proudly. "I've already talked it over with my husband," said Alia. "Besides, I'm also getting some for him! I'm pregnant!" she squealed excitedly.

Brise congratulated her, along with the other girls, and so she decided to go with the girls to celebrate. Maybe even pick up some bread for her family as well – give her son's wife a break from having to make some.

Brise gathered up her papers and put them in her satchel and joined the girls. As they walked through the town, they passed by a few Rangers who were out patrolling – both Joy and Dyanna giggling at their attention – as well as some other people that were out and about. The streets were fairly clean after the recent rain which made it a pleasure to walk about – especially since you could stay nice and dry, even if the ground around the road had turned to muck from the rain.

Michael had said he was still deciding on how to clean the streets and if it was worth it. Personally, Brise thought that such a wonderful – and expensive – thing should be kept as clean as possible. It kept the stink down too, which was nice on the nose and health.

The bakery was empty as they arrived as it did most of its business in the early morning or late evening as people went to and from work. Another new building, the brick-face gave it that distinctive Redbridge look that so many of the new buildings favored.

The baker, Tim, greeted them as they walked in. "'Lo, Alia. Here for the pastries?"

"Aye, Tim. The girls and Brise wanted some as well."

"One for me," said Joy.

"For me as well," echoed Dyanna.

"Six for me – if you have it," said Brise.

Tim frowned. "Sorry, I didn't make that many – not many people willing to pay for them usually. I've got four for 'ya Brise if you want 'em."

She nodded. "That'll be fine, Tim."

Tim grabbed the pastries off his cooling rack and handed the single pastries to Joy and Dyanna. He placed Alia's two pastries into a weird little box.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Ah, a new thing off of the paper mills. Its basically thick paper made with the stuff that ain't so good for writing on. Still costs a pretty penny, but it's good for packing up these delicate things. Want one for your order?" He smiled encouragingly. "It'd be a shame to squish these beautiful apple pastries. So warm and delicious!"

Brise chuckled. "And how much extra?"

Tim smiled roguishly. "Not too much."

She held out a cloth sack. "I'm too old for all these new things. I'll stick with my sack and save my coin. But since you don't have everything I wanted, how about you throw in the box for free?"

Tim laughed. "Oh, that's hardly my fault. But next time you want some, you just let me know ahead a' time."

"I'll buy a loaf of bread too."

"Two," he replied.

"Two," she agreed.

He passed her the loaves of bread to place in her sack while he boxed up the pastries, as the girls examined Alia's paper box.

Tim caught her eyeing the girls exasperatedly and said, "I know the feeling. A lot of new things, but they are ever so handy."

She harrumphed. "You're still young." She cut off his reply. "Oh, I know – I know. But you've only got kids, say that again once you've got grandchildren scurrying underfoot."

He chuckled as he passed the box to her. "I will; you can count on it. Have a nice day now."

The group said their goodbyes and left the shop. Alia glanced up to the sky and said, "Brise, since we've got everything ready, can we be done for the day?"

She nodded. "Aye, I won't have any more work for the next week. The last shipment of wool is to come in then, so don't go wandering off now!"

Brise couldn't see her, but she knew well enough that Alia was rolling her eyes at Brise. Kids.

Dyanna and Joy murmured their thanks and left after Alia.

She dodged out of the way of a careless wagoneer who didn't have the courtesy or intelligence to watch where he was going. She looked down at the box, which had remained in her hand, in good condition if a little crushed. She quickly opened the lid and saw that the pastries were perfectly fine.

A handy thing this box. A handy thing indeed.