Chapter 95

Being in the second day of the bleeding days was not as uncomfortable as the first; I was not feeling ill, the fatigue had diminished a bit, and I could normally eat – of course, only simple food that was not that seasoned. However, I still had to worry about the heavy flow. 

Under those circumstances, I braved going to town. I cleaned myself with a wet rag in the loo as I did not want to leave stains of blood in the tub. The loo was not a good place to clean as it smelled a bit, and the hole on the ground was a hazard in itself.

What if I fell in?

Maybe making a different space to clean would be nice. But, that was for later. For the time being, it was better to focus on the work I had on my back. 

The Chief's daughter-in-law was very punctual and right after I finished eating breakfast together with my husbands, she presented herself. 

The cart and the horse – that still had no name – were already prepared by Joseph, the one who was going to accompany me to town. He said he wanted to buy the vegetable saplings or seeds to plant for the summer and fall harvest.

I also thought it was a good idea to take advantage of the trip with the cart to get them. 

Though, I felt a bit bad for making the thin colt pull me and Marisse, the Chief's daughter-in-law's name, to town while Joseph guided it and Ethan walked by the side. 

"We bought it for you, not for us." That was all Ethan said when I told him he should use it to go to work. With those words, my plan to get stamina vanished. Maybe I should not use it that often, or just to carry stuff. I really worried about the horse's well-being.

On that note, we had to look for the perfect food for horses. Good thing I carried money on me to do all those extra purchases.

"So, do you have any idea for the clothes you would like for your husband?" I asked Marisse. Mostly to make conversation and not spend close to one hour of travel in silence.

"I just liked the long-sleeved shirts your… husbands wore. So, maybe something like that." Marisse said. Long sleeves were not commonly used in the village. I had seen most men used shirts with no sleeves or with the normal ones.

In Basin Town, many men who worked at the offices wore long sleeves. I noticed that when we entered the Civil Affairs Office. I assumed it was a matter of practicality. However…

"Long sleeves are not hard to sew..." I commented. If most of the women in the village made the clothes for the whole family, then it would not be hard for Marisse to sew them herself.

There was a pause. Since Marisse sat behind the cart's seat, I had no idea what expression she had on her face. "I can sew the usual long sleeve. But… it's not as elaborate..." Oh, so it was a matter of design. Though, it was kind of dispiriting to hear women not wanting to try new things.

But, well, that was something I was not going to meddle with. "Shirt designs can be simple. Sometimes, it is the accessories that do the magic. In fact, for a teaching job, it is good for the person to present a humble but neat appearance."

"Then… are we going to buy fabric for simple shirts?" Marisse asked, discouraged.

"We are going to buy fabric for a scholar design." I corrected her. "I did say a humble looking teacher gives a good impression, but what we want to avoid is for your husband to look poor. Do not worry, I will make him look good." I promised.

Marisse seemed more reassured as we kept an amiable conversation the rest of the way. At the entrance, Ethan headed to his job while we headed to Mrs. Attile's store after leaving the cart and the horse at the stables area.

Basin Town's streets were wide enough for carriages to travel; however, the area we were going to was too narrow, and the gendarmes did not allow for people to leave carts in those streets for long periods of time.

It was the most torturous moment in my whole life… well, the return could be the same, but I was starting to think that if the cart did not stop, then Joseph could pick me up. 

"Oh! Isabell-"

"No time to speak, Mrs. Attile! Lend me your loo!" I interrupted the woman, who blinked disconcerted yet still showed me the way to the personnel's loo. 

I was lucky enough to arrive on time as a heavy discharge made its way down as soon as I squatted. Unfortunately, since there was no Felix to immediately wash the pad, I could only discard it. I had to buy new pads anyway. 

With a clean pad, I was in an even better mood. 

The moment I walked out of the loo and appeared in the store area, the three women there: Mrs. Attile, Ginna and Marisse, looked at me as if I was a strange creature. I looked at Joseph, but he was busy walking around the store.

I had no choice but to wade through this situation alone. "Thanks for lending me the loo, Mrs-"

"Forget about that! How can you come out of the house in this condition?" The older woman chided me. 

I blinked. "Because I feel well?" I uncertainly answered. It was the wrong answer.

"You're not well! You're…!" Mrs. Attile cut herself off and came closer to hiss in my ear. "You're in your bleeding days! You have to stay at home!" Well, I did agree with her that I had to be at home to be more comfortable; however, she made it sound as if I was a useless person in my condition.

"It does not matter. I am already here." I waved in dismissal, and went to the point to prevent the older woman from descending into yet another scolding. "Marisse here needs to buy fabric for some suits. Her husband is a teacher and they are moving to a new town." I explained.

Mrs. Attile narrowed her eyes, but thankfully dropped the matter. She turned to Marisse who had no idea where to look, what to do, or what to say. "What kind of fabric are you looking for, Mrs..?"

"I… um, I'm Mrs. Ryon, and, well, I have no idea." Marisse nervously said, lowering her head.

"Flannel." I said, going to the shelf where the mentioned fabric was. Flannel was perfect for casual shirts since it had a slight brushed, fuzzy effect to the material, which lent to its feeling of coziness. It could be used in semi-formal attire depending on the accessories.

That was why I told Marisse that I could make her husband look humble – more like comfortable – but not poor. 

"White one… and maybe this cream color." I patted on the bolts. "Does he have black pants?" I asked Marisse, who nodded dumbfounded. "Ok, you can save on that then. Finally, black Sateen!" The mere thought of making that neckwear with Sateen made my heart beat in excitement.

"… I only brought 5 coins..." Marisse softly said. My enthusiasm greatly dimmed at her words. I had gotten used to spending big quantities of money, for a villager, that I forgot the real budget villagers managed. To Marisse, those 5 coins must be a lot of money.

"Flannel is 5 dimes the yard while Sateen is 3 coins." Mrs. Attile helpfully commented, so Marisse could decide what to do. She could even retract her order if she so desired. After all, I was not forcing her to buy anything.

The woman was obviously troubled with the situation. While she decided what to do, I approached Mrs. Attile. I saw the human-like figure was already placed in front of the store's window; which was actually amplified to show the whole sewing process. 

"Did you get the fabrics for the dresses?" I asked her. Together with the designs, I wrote down a list of fabrics that could be used for making the dresses.

"My cousin almost has a heart-attack when she read the list. You actually chose quite the expensive fabrics." Mrs. Attile said, giving me a weird glance. 

I frowned. I had no idea about the prices for those fabrics, I just knew their feeling and appearance. "So, she said no?" I carefully questioned.

"Are you joking? She was very interested in the designs and also cannot wait to see them!" Mrs. Attile madly grinned. "She still chose the less expensive ones for us to use. They are at the back. Just tell me which dress you're going to make first to move the bolts to the front."

I might as well start with the biggest one. "The one with the veil. I will start the day after tomorrow because of my… 'condition'." Mrs. Attile nodded, accepting my suggestion. Though I would have to hurry with the sewing, I still thought it was best to begin when my bleeding days was almost over.

"I will buy them." Marisse's voice interrupted our conversation. She was pursing her lips, and looked as if she was going to war; her eyes shone with determination.

I smiled at her. "Two yards of white, two of the crème color for the Flannel, and one yard of black Sateen." I told Ginna, who got ready to cut. "You will not regret it, Marisse. You will see."

She could only nod and swallow, seeing how her 5 coins were gone just like that.

I felt a bit bad to make her do such a big expense, but I was also not going to disappoint her with the shirts I was going to make.

Once things at Mrs. Attile's store were done, Joseph and I headed to the market while Marisse made her way back to the village.