Chapter 10: The First Twenty Bundles

The old loading shelter Ines knew stood two streets away from the washhouse. Its stone floor was raised above the road, and even the drops falling through a seam in the roof ran into a channel at the edge. Sara walked the floor with the carrier, checking how much space they had to keep the wood dry.

“It belongs to the town, but we can’t just use it. Let’s see the person who keeps the key. I used to collect washing here—that’s how I remembered the place.”

Ines took her to the caretaker, and they arranged to rent it from the following morning until noon. The f*e would fit within their planned storage budget, provided they swept the floor and cleared out at midday. By the time Mika had checked the terms and Sara had notified the carrier, rain had soaked into her shoes.

The next morning, the sound of wheels on paving stones drew the waiting residents toward the entrance. Firewood lay under a cover on the cart. Sara almost hurried forward too, then stopped when the driver raised a hand. With people standing in front of the wheels, arriving was one thing; unloading was another.

“Please wait over here to collect your wood. Let’s get the cart in first.”

She turned as she spoke and found Rowan standing beside the entrance pillar. His coat was wet across the shoulders. He said he had come to see how things were going after hearing her report, but Sara pointed to an empty space before she could greet him.

“Your Grace, could you wait over there? We need to clear this area.”

“So I’m in the way too. Is there anything I can do?”

Before he could offer to summon more people, Sara surveyed the space between the entrance and the intake desk. Ines was occupied checking slips, while Mika recorded the delivery.

“Then could you direct people collecting their wood to Ines’s table? Please just keep them from coming into the unloading area.”

“Of course. Shall I put them in numerical order?”

“These are the people arranged for the first shipment. They should go to the desk regardless of their number. Please leave the slips to Ines.”

Rowan nodded and stepped aside for a man with a walking stick. But people stopped when the duke addressed them, and a small knot of residents gathered at the entrance instead.

“Everyone, you needn’t finish paying your respects there before you come in. His Grace is helping with directions just now.”

At Ines’s call, Rowan raised a hand.

“Quite right. Don’t lose your turn greeting me.”

The knot loosened amid laughter. Sara silently thanked Ines and turned back to the cart.

Toma was checking the uncovered firewood with the measuring stick and cord they had agreed on. He counted the bundles, checked the kind of wood and its length, and compared the drying records with the driver. After the agreed test splitting, he had the twenty inspected bundles moved onto the dry floor.

“You can accept this lot. But don’t spread it into that wet patch by the wall. Let it soak up water after I’ve checked it, and you’ll undo my work.”

Sara laid a cord along the floor to mark where the bundles could be stacked. As the sounds of dry wood knocking together filled the shelter, she felt for the first time that they had really bought firewood.

Edda collected her allotted bundles too. She tried to gather them in her arms, reconsidered her grip, then began placing the sticks one by one into the carrying basket she had brought. When Sara steadied the rest, Edda laughed as she checked the basket’s bottom.

“I thought so much about where to put it in my room that I forgot how I’d get it home. But this way, I think I can manage it in one trip.”

“If it’s too heavy, take it in stages. You can leave some here until noon.”

Edda stood with the basket on her back, walked a few steps, and nodded. Sara was relieved not to have sent her off on nothing more than an assurance that she would manage.

Once the rush had eased, Ines took a pot off a small charcoal fire. She had brought bean soup cooked at home and warmed it again here. She stressed that it was lunch for her family and the people helping with intake, then handed Sara a bowl.

“Don’t suggest feeding everyone to celebrate the wood arriving. That would be my family’s supper gone.”

“I won’t. Are you sure there’s some for me?”

“I counted you in when I made it. Eat before it gets cold.”

The steam warmed Sara’s nose, and at last the tension eased from her shoulders. Beside her, Rowan seemed a little at a loss with the bowl he had been given. When she handed him a spoon, he looked at her hands.

“You should eat too. I can still manage the directions.”

“Then could you take the next person who arrives? These beans are very good just now.”

She felt embarrassed as soon as she said it, but he merely smiled and turned toward the entrance. Sara took another spoonful and swallowed it while it was warm.

Before taking the empty cart out, the driver called her over. There was something he needed to check about tomorrow’s delivery.

“This little cart can turn that corner out front. The big one carrying the rest can’t. To get in here, we usually take the track across Dorn’s warehouse grounds. I asked his caretaker, but he says he can’t promise we’ll be allowed through this time.”

Sara set down her bowl and went out into the wet street. Wheels had gouged the corner of the wall, and a broad cart bed would catch in the space the driver indicated. Finding a roof had left her feeling as though she had secured the road to it as well.

“Then let’s look for a route that doesn’t cross his land too. We need to settle it before tomorrow’s load leaves.”

Under the roof, Ines was counting the wood that remained. Twenty bundles had arrived. Holding on to that solid achievement, Sara looked down the street toward the work of bringing in the other eighty.