A Basket of Mending

by **Dove Brown** on November 26th, 2015, 2:23 am

47 Fall 515

Dove stepped cautiously through the door of Mithryn's general store and looked round at everything. Unlike the Bazaar, where she was used to seeing each stall with a different focus, there were all kinds of things here. The sheer variety in one place was almost overwhelming. Everything was also new, unused by anyone else. She wasn't used to having anything that wasn't passed down to her or passed over by richer buyers, but she wanted blankets for her bed. Last winter had been cold enough that she'd used, and needed, her cloak as an extra makeshift blanket, and the word going round was that the coming winter would be cold too. Unlike clothes, which got sold on when the next fashion came round, blankets stayed put. Which meant she needed to come to the store.

She shook herself out of her dream, ventured deeper into the store and found the blankets. They came in different colours, some plain, some patterned, soft under her hand as she brushed them. She eyed them all, struggling to decide. Finally she fingered them, looking for the thickest and warmest ones. Of the two that felt best, one was a beautifully soft plain cream, the other had used natural shades of russet and brown and black to create an impression of fallen leaves massed together. Dove looked from one to the other, and then gave into her impulse and gathered both up in her arms. She did have ten gold mizas with her for winter preparations, after all, and although buying both blankets would cost an entire gold in themselves, that still left her with 9 for other things.

Her path to the counter took her past stacks of plates and bowls and cups, and her eyes widened wistfully. It would be so nice to have spare things and be able to prepare food without wondering what she was going to eat off. She set the blankets down at the end of the counter. "I'll be back with more," she said to Bunde's inquiring look, and backtracked her way to the crockery.

by **Dove Brown** on December 14th, 2015, 7:53 pm

The bowls and cups and dishes were all alike except for the range of sizes - plain and sturdy for everyday use. She looked the different sizes over, then measured them with her handspan to find the ones that were the same size as those she aready had. She carried three of each to the counter, then went for a bread knife, so she wouldn't have to hack slices off a loaf with her eating knife. Knives and forks and spoons for eating and preparing food, and a teaspoon so she had something other than her fingers to measure spices with. That was all she would allow herself, even with it only being coppers apiece, coppers added up to silver. And silver to gold, as the blankets showed.

She set the last of her choices on the counter, and nodded to show that that was all. Bunde tallied them up and asked for 1 gold, 3 silver, and 5 copper mizas. That matched with Dove's calculations, and she didn't quibble over it. Instead, she counted out 13 silver mizas and 5 copper ones onto the counter, and watched them vanish. Bunde packaged up the purchases, and Dove piled them into her arms and carried them carefully home. She didn't stay there any longer than it took to stack everything neatly where she could find it again without risk of cutting her fingers on any of the knives.

Then she took herself out again, heading this time for Mithryn's little Bazaar in the central square. There were other things she had to check as well, but the Bazaar was her next stop after the general store. Her feet veered instinctively towards the usual stalls she visited, but today she wasn't after food, so she moved on, looking for one that sold secondhand clothing.

Receipt2 blankets, winter - 1 GM
3 Cups, 6 oz - 9 CM
3 Bowls, 5" - 3 CM
3 Dishes, 7" - 9 CM
4 dinner forks - 4 CM
4 table spoons - 4 CM
4 dinner knifes - 4 CM
1 bread knife - 1 CM
1 teaspoon - 1 CM

Total: 1 gm, 3 sm, 5 cm

by **Dove Brown** on December 15th, 2015, 11:25 pm

She found it tucked away in the back of the square, distinguished by bags and baskets full of cloth. Most held particular types of clothing for people to sort through, though some were random piles, or rags. Dove crouched by one. "May I?" she asked, and the stall holder nodded. Dove nodded back and began to pick carefully through it. That basket was all shirts, mostly all far too large for her, so she moved on to another one, and quickly found a pair of dark brown woollen gloves that would be warm, if not proof against the wind. She set those on one side and kept looking. Next was a bag of rags, offcuts too small for anything else, and bits of clothing so ragged they couldn't even be sold as cheap clothes. "How much for a bagful?"

The stall holder poked through them and offered, "Eight coppers."

Dove sat back on her heels and considered, then flicked a hand to dismiss the offer. "They aren't worth more than three," she countered.

"Six. It's more offcuts than rags."

"Five. Final offer."

"Deal." The stall holder shook Dove's hand and Dove handed over the coppers. As she moved her eye was caught on dark blue linen. She had a shirt that colour. If that was something she could wear, she'd have a matching outfit. A prettier one than work clothes. She unfolded it from the top of a mixed basket and found it was a skirt. The hem was torn and frayed, which was probably why it was in the second hand baskets, but when she held it against her it was clear it had been made for someone taller than she was, but not much wider. Under the skirt was a felt hat faded to a pinkish grey. When she looked inside, she could see originally it had been reddish brown, like her tunic. Despite the faded appearance, it was still sturdy enough to protect her from sun and rain, and warm enough to shield her ears from winter. She picked it up and took it with the skirt and gloves to be paid for. It took some more haggling to get the combined price down to something she could afford, but she managed it and handed over almost all her remaining money.

Receipt1 coarse wool gloves - 5 sm
1 used felt broadbrimmed hat - 6 gm
1 used dyed (dark blue) linen skirt - 4 sm, 5 cm
1 bag of rags - 5 cm

Total - 7 gm
note to gradersI priced the bag of rags as equivalent to 2 poor quality cotton togas. If it should be different please tell me and I will correct it.

by **Dove Brown** on December 16th, 2015, 12:57 am

She went home via the riverbank and checked her fish trap. There were two small trout in it, and she pulled them out, killed them with a rock to the head, then gutted, beheaded, and cleaned them right there on the river bank. The guts and heads went back in the woven trap to bait it for next time - this sort of trap was a never-ending gift that way once it was started - and the trap went back into the river, tethered to a tree. The rags immediately came in useful for wrapping up the fish, and later some watercress she found in a backwater. Watercress grew all year round and tasted soooo good. Not to mention it was free and easy to find. Dove grinned to herself. She'd need to forage more to make up for the money today had cost her, but she had budgeted that in when she worked out how much she could afford to spend.

She kept her eyes open as she headed home, and when a pigeon clattered up into flight from a bush, she whipped out her sling. Getting a bullet in place was harder with her hands already full and it took longer than she wanted. By the time she was ready, the pigeon was vanishing into another patch of plants. Dove thought for a minute and fished out a second bullet. She swung her sling round and slung the first bullet into the new bush, then slapped the second bullet in. The pigeon took flight again in fright at the first bullet and this time she was ready. She swung the sling round her head and let go, holding her breath. The bullet hit with a puff of feathers, and the pigeon plummetted. Dove dashed to its landing point, snatched it up, and wrung its neck. She added it to the fish, then checked the bushes. The only berries in either of them were unripe blackberries, so she left them for another day and went on to her cottage.

Inside she hung the hat on the same hook as her cloak, stored the gloves away with the rest of her spare clothes, but left the skirt out and draped over one end of her bed. She set the bag of rags beside her storage chest and the food on the table. She would eat well tonight, but first she needed to rehem the skirt. She collected her needle and thread from the chest and turned the skirt inside out so she could see what she was doing. She turned the hem upward to hide the torn and frayed bits and tacked it in a few places. Tacking stitches were easy, large and loose and not intended to do more than temporarily hold cloth in place. Then she tried it on again for length and felt it swirl around her ankles. She smiled at the feeling, slipped it off and began to fasten it more securely with smaller, tighter stitches. She didn't notice that the hem wasn't quite straight, nor was she experienced enough to know that a double hem would be better at hiding the frayed edges.

by **Elias Caldera** on February 13th, 2016, 12:26 am

Behold, Your Just Reward!

Dove Brown

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