Counting On Lunch

Writers: Arale, Suzee
Date Posted: 8th July 2012

Characters: Arippa, Mertha
Description: Arippa offers a bit of conversation and lunch to a drudge.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 8, day 13 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Zelanka

Arippa

Mertha wiped her hands off as she stood from the crouched position.
She'd been taking inventory jars of preserved fruit for the Headwoman
and it was surprisingly dusty work. Or, perhaps not too surprising.
She didn't know of too many of her fellow drudges who made much of an
effort to dust the preserves on a regular basis.

"Hello," Arippa called as she came into the kitchen. The drudge had
never come to pick up her lunch tray and Lady or no, she didn't feel
it beneath her to bring it back down to the kitchens. That was one
thing the headwoman at Amber Hills had taught her, to be a little
considerate of others. She might be 'blood' but that didn't give her
the right to talk down to anyone.

Mertha blinked in surprise, but her astonished expression melted into
a true smile after a moment. "Oh, you didn't have to do that! But
thank you. I was just thinking of taking a break to eat but there's
still a lot to be counted so I hated to do it."

Arippa looked down at her tray. She hadn't eaten everything but she
hadn't thought that the drudges might want to finish it off. She slid
it onto the counter. She was unfamiliar with the workings of Emerald
Falls so she thought she'd ask some questions. "I'm Arippa," she
started. "What are you counting?"

"Mertha. And I'm just doing inventory on the preserves. We do it every
so often, along with the other foodstuff." It was a boring job, but
there were worse to be sure, and keeping tabs on how much food the
Hold had stored was too important to begrudge a day of tedium and
dust. She kept reminding herself of that anyway.

She nodded, Zelanka had taught her that much when she was learning
houshold management. Of course she hadn't gone to the extent of doing
it herself. "Do you know where the headwoman is?"

"Last I heard, she was going to check on the inventory of the cold
storage. That was a while ago though. She ought to be making the
rounds, collecting the counts. She'll be back by here eventually, if
you want to wait."

"Sure," she smiled. "I'll wait." She slid onto the stool to watch the
drudge. Then she thought better of it and stood. She didn't know much
about cooking but she thought she could make a sandwich or find the
girl a meatroll at least. "Can I find you something to eat," she
offered.

"If you wouldn't mind?" Mertha beamed.

"Sure," she said with a smile and went to the larder to retrieve some
bread that she slathered with butter. A bunch of grapes and some
cheese. It was nothing she had to cook but what the girl could eat
with her fingers.

"Thank you! I'll be here for a bit longer, but if I don't have to stop
to fix something, I'll be done faster." She smiled in gratitude at
Arippa before marking off the row she'd counted before the other woman
had come in on the slate board she'd set on a shelf and moving on to
the next row.

She brought the tray of finger foods toward where the girl worked and
set it on a vacant shelf within her reach. "You should be able to eat
these while you work," she smiled. "Sorry I don't know how to make
much."

"That's perfect though!" And ir really was. Something she could reach
over and pop in her mouth between rows was just the thing. The young
woman really was thoughtful!

"Good," Arippa smiled. She wondered briefly what it would be like to
have to work like this girl had without food prepared for her. She had
never been one to take things for granted but it had never struck her
like this before that someone was working away all by themselves
without taking a break for lunch. The girl seemed dedicated to her
task though. "Well I should probably be going," she told the young
woman. "Good bye Mertha, I hope your count is done soon."

As she walked back toward the family's living area she made a mental
note to make mention of the girls diligence to the headwoman.

Last updated on the August 3rd 2012

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Counting On Lunch