14

Petre moved closer to Mairyn and put his arm around her shoulder. They sat quietly together enjoying the sun light playing on the water. Petre took one of Mairyn’s hands and put it to his lips. Mairyn’s breathing became quicker. She sat stiff next to Petre, wondering what he would do next. He continued to hold her hand his both of his and looking out at the water. Then he took her chin in one hand and kissed her on the mouth, just lips pressed to lips. He looked her in the eyes, his as wide open as hers felt. Then he let her go, swatted the braid hanging down her back, picked up her paddle and handed it to her. He picked up his own paddled and began rowing. She did not move, so he swatted her with a splash of water. She splashed him back and then laughing like twelve year olds, they paddled back to town as the sun touched the peaks of the mountain tops.

They tied the boat to the dock and walked back to the halle. People were returning to their homes for the evening and they called out greetings to Mairyn and Petre who waved back. Petre told Mairyn’s the names of people she had seen before but had never been introduced to when she lived with Madame Gertrude. They walked on the opposite side of the street from the Lindwurm, with Petre on the street side of them. He did not want to take any chances of Madame Gertrude coming any where near Mairyn. Mairyn was quiet as they passed by the Lindwurm and she quickened her steps and looked only at the ground. Petre took her hand and squeezed it. He did not let it go until they reached the halle. Once inside, he reluctantly let her go. People were busy setting up the tables for the evening repast. Some of the men were working by one of the fires. As they walked by, Mairyn saw some of the men weaving new fishing nets and other men were sewing some leather items. Mairyn and Petre stopped to watch them. Shepp was among the men working by this fire. When Mairyn was with Petre, she just realized, she had no other guard. While they stood there watching, a woman who Mairyn had seen before but whose name she did not know, came up to them.

“Miss Mairyn, my name is Joscelin. I am the wife of Shepp. If you are well enough this evening, perhaps you would care to join me and some of the other women around our fire as we sew and embroider.”

“I would be delighted to join you, Joscelin. I will need sewing supplies, if I may borrow some.”

“I think you will find all you need in your chest in your room, miss,” said Joscelin, “but anything you may need we will gladly find for you.”

“Thank you for asking me,” said Mairyn.

“I will come get you after the meal with a basket for your sewing things. We usually do the fine sewing in the evening.”

“I will go to my room now and see what I have,” said Mairyn. Shepp rose to follow her.

“Stay put,” said Petre. “I will accompany Mairyn as I have nothing else pressing to do at the moment.” Shepp sat back down. Joscelin went off in another direction. Petre and Mairyn went to Mairyn’s room. They went in and left the door open. Petre put more wood on the fire and lit a few oil lamps. While he was doing that, Mairyn took off her outside shoes and put on her soft, fur lined indoor shoes. She went over to her chest and opened the lid. It was attached to the base of the chest with leather straps and held up by pieces of wood that stood up from the back of the chest and they kept the lid from falling all the way back to the floor. In her chest, Mairyn found the bolts of fabric that were part of her dowry given to her from Madame Gertrude. She was surprised at the excellent quality of the fabric but then she remember that if Madame Gertrude had tried to cheat Mairyn by giving her inferior stuff, Madame Gertrude would be required to give Mairyn twice as much. There was a heavier bolt of wool that had been died a berry red that Mairyn decided she would use to make a cloak for herself. This she could begin on this evening as it would require very little cutting and piecing the way a dress would. Mairyn found several skeins of thread and died yarn. She took all of these out and sorted them on the table. Thread in one pile and yarn in another. She returned the yarn to the chest for another time and took all of the thread over to the bed. Here she sorted the thread but color and texture. She was so involved in the sorting she had completely forgotten that Petre was in the room with her. He had taken a seat on the stool by the fire and just sat there watching her. They both jumped when Joscelin knocked on the door.

“I beg your pardon, Miss,” said Joscelin. “I thought you might like to have a sewing basket now to put your things in so that you will be ready later.”

“I thank you, Joscelin.” Mairyn enjoyed saying the names of the people she got to know and she wanted them to say her name, as the only person who had ever used her name with kindness had been Petre.

“Do you think it would be all right if you called me Mairyn, instead of Miss? I’m afraid I feel quite odd when I am called Miss.”

“If that is your wish, I do not see that there would be anything wrong with that. Wulfgard and Petre also prefer to be addressed by their names. Only Master Gideon insisted on being called Master Gideon.” Mairyn could well believe that to be true.

“I have not found any needles in my chest so I think I will need to borrow some until I can get my own.”

“May I look?” Joscelin stepped into Mairyn’s room tentatively.

“Yes, by all means,” said Mairyn. Joscelin went over to Mairyn’s chest and looked inside. She moved the clothes from Lauryn and frowned.

“Lauryn made those dresses,” said Mairyn.

“I never saw her with dresses that had such poor stitchery,” said Joscelin. She gasped and looked at Mairyn, stricken. “I am so sorry Miss.”

“Remember, I wish to be called Mairyn. Please do not distress yourself. I am not offended. Lauryn never had to do her won sewing. She only did bits so she could sit in the sewing circle with something in her hands. I sewed and embroidered all of her clothes.”

“That makes sense, Mis.. Mairyn. Her dresses are always so fine. You are very gifted.”

Mairyn blushed with pleasure and pride. Joscelin reached into the chest and pulled out a roll of fabric that had embroidery all over it. “This is a sewing kit if I am not mistaken and one made with great care and skill.” Joscelin took it over to the bed, untied the ribbon holding it closed and unrolled it open on the top of the bed. Inside the roll they found several pairs of white knitting needles, a couple of white crochet hooks and a tatting shuttle for making fine lace.

“These are all crafted from ivory,” said Joscelin. She ran her hands over the needles and hooks. “They are so beautiful. And look here, an alabaster cutting knife. These never get dull. See these fine sewing needles, not only those made of bone and ivory, but some made of metal. You have a very fine sewing kit, Mairyn.” Mairyn could only stare. She had never seen anything so beautiful. She dropped to the floor covered her face and began to cry. Petre ran over to her.

“Are you hurt?”

She shook her head.

“I think that Mairyn is very happy, Petre,” said Joscelin.

“She is? You are?”

Joscelin smiled and Mairyn laughed through her tears and nodded her head. She wiped her face off with her hands. Petre helped her up.

“I have never had such a beautiful thing before. I am overwhelmed. And this looks like it was put together by someone with great care and is perhaps old. I wonder where it came from?”

“With this sewing kit and these lovely threads, I would say you are ready for our sewing circle. I think you will do them justice if your work on Lauryn’s clothes is anything to go by.”

“I look forward to this evening,” said Mairyn.

“I will see you after supper, then.” Joscelin gave a small bow and left.

“It is so wonderful to see how much you enjoy everything,” said Petre. “I look at everything with new eyes because of you.”

“I want to make something special for Wulfgard. What do you think he would like to have?”

“He is always complaining about cold feet and hands. Perhaps you could make him some warm socks and mittens.”

“Thick, warm and soft. Don’t tell him. I want them to be a surprise.”

“What will you make this evening?” asked Petre.

“The evenings are getting colder now and I have no decent cloak, so I will make a cape for myself.”

Mairyn used the rest of the afternoon to cut out a simple pattern for her cloak. She used the alabaster knife to round the edges of the hem and to cut a round neckline. Petre went back to his stool and quietly watched Mairyn work. He smiled to himself as she stuck the tip of her tongue out of the side of her mouth when she concentrated. Roban came in when it was time for supper. Mairyn folded up the cloth for her cape and put it in the bottom of her basket. She balled up the bits of cut off material and put it in the corner of the chest for use as stuffing for something later. She put the cutting knife in the sewing kit, rolled it up and tied it round with the ribbon. She added that to her basket. Then she chose threads in differing shades of blue and added those to the basket. They would be perfect against the pale natural brown of the wool cloth. She put the rest of the thread away in her chest and closed it. She put her sewing basket next to her bedroom door and she, Roban and Petre went out to supper. The meal was a lively and fun affair. Wulfgard did not insist on silence in his halle the way Madame Gertrude had insisted on quiet in the Lindwurm. There were times when she would actually yell at her custom if they made too much noise. Here people talked to each other and laughed at each others’ jokes and stories. Mairyn ate quietly and listened to those around her. She was getting used to having as much food as she wanted and to having regular meals so she ate slowly and enjoyed what was available on the table. Supper was not as large and varied a meal as dinner at midday. They had a thick and hardy soup made with chunks of mutton and root vegetables. As always, there was goat’s milk to drink and wine. Most of the adults drank wine. Mairyn preferred the milk, which was thick and rich with cream. And there was the thick brown bread and sweet butter that they used to soak up the stew’s gravy. Platters of cheese and apples were also on the table.