A Helping Hand

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 24th July 2006

Characters: Mariss, Larstad
Description: Mariss takes the initiative in the laundry, but not everyone approves.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 12, day 18 of Turn 3

"Shards!"

"Livvy!" The eldest of the women washing tablecloths turned and glared at the young girl, putting her hands on her hips and scowling fiercely enough to curdle milk. "Watch your tongue! You'll never marry if you continue on like that!"

"But- I _broke_ the wringer!" Livvy pointed at her machine, where one of the rollers was sitting at odd angle against the tablecloth. "I didn't mean to!"

The old auntie looked horrified. "_Livvy_!"

Mariss smiled behind her hand and returned to her task. Since she was better at book keeping than the other girls, most of whom were barely literate, Zelanka had asked her to do a quick inventory of the laundry rooms. With so many people using so much linen, the laundry soap stash was shrinking quickly, and the laundry was only allotted a small stipend that had to cover not only supplies, but the drudges' nominal wages. It was more of an honorarium than anything, since their meals and lodging was already provided by the Hold.

Still, the laundry room fascinated Mariss. Unlike Amethyst Cliff Hold, the laundry here was partially driven by _electricity_. The large vats for washing blankets, sheets, and towels was stirred by an enormous mechanical paddle that was turned on and off by the push of a button. Items of clothing, depending on whose they were and what they were made of, were either washed by hand or thrown into a smaller version of the industrial washers. And off in another room was a huge fan which was turned on to blow air at people's clothing rather than hang them outside where everyone could see. It wasn't proper for the Lords' and Ladies' underthings to be on display, and the fan dried them much quicker than the musty, smoky room did at home!

The old auntie sighed in resignation. "You clumsy girl! Get up and start wringing things by hand, and you can wring by hand for the rest of the day, too. I'll get someone to call the technician. Or that blasted Smith. It looks like you've well and truly broken it this time."

Livvy groaned. "Not Larstad!"

"What's wrong with Journeyman Larstad?" Everyone looked up at Mariss, who had dared to say something. Up until that point she'd been as silent as a ghost in the laundry, content to watch and listen to second-hand gossip. The Steward's daughter felt herself go beet red. "I- I only meant..."

"I know fine well what you meant, young lady!" The old auntie descended upon her, her double chins wagging in time with her scolding finger. "Fishing for gossip, were you? You immigrants are all the same; lazy as anything and too good for the lot of us!"

Mariss gaped at her, open mouthed. "That's not what I meant at all!"

"Pull the other one, dearie. I know your type." The auntie sniffed dismissively. "Got your head stuffed full of unnatural ideas, and that father of yours allowing you to run wild. If you were my girl, you'd learn your place, and quickly."

"But thankfully for both of us, we are entirely unrelated," Mariss said stiffly. "What I do or do not do is none of your concern, but that broken wringer is. I'd suggest that you go find someone to fix it before there's too much of a backlog. Ma'am."

The old auntie wagged her finger at Mariss a second time, giving her a look that would turn her to stone if it could. "Watch your lip, missy. I've got my eye on you."

Mariss gave her a cool look, then returned to her books. The old auntie glowered for a moment longer before leaving the laundry. It was only then that Mariss realized how unnaturally silent the room was. Aside from the mechanical hum of the paddle machines, there wasn't a peep. She glanced up from her book to find that the remaining girls in the laundry were all staring at her.

Livvy cleared her throat. "Is it true that you're and understeward?"

"Livvy!" One of the other girls shushed her.

"What? I'm only asking." Livvy stuck her tongue out at the blonde young woman, then turned back to Mariss. "So?"

Mariss hesitated, then nodded. "Sometimes. When my father needs me.
Sometimes I work for Zelanka. I just... do what needs to be done."

"Shells." Livvy was silent a moment. "Ever been to a Weyr?"

"No. But I rode dragonback to get here. On a bronze, too!" Livvy's eyes grew wide; Mariss was startled to see that they were an intense shade of green. Almost unnaturally so. "Cor, really? What was it like?"

"Livvy, stop pestering her and get back to work!" the blonde drudge hissed. "If Auntie Fawren finds you yapping again..." The 'and to her' was implied, but both Mariss and Livvy got it. Livvy rolled her eyes at Mariss, and Mariss hid a smile. "Oh, leave off, Beva. I can't do much wringing tablecloths out by hand anyway. It's pointless."

Beva huffed in annoyance, then turned back to her own wringer muttering under her breath. Livvy grinned at Mariss.

"You know... I could probably fix that for you..." "What, this?" Livvy glanced at the wringer. "You mean you can fix stuff too?"

Mariss nodded. "Probably. It looks simple enough, just like the roller slipped its axel. As long as the axel isn't broken I can probably do something for you."

Livvy looked impressed. "For honest?"

"For honest." Mariss set down her pen. "Do you want me to try?"

"Shards, yes! The less we have to see of Larstad, the better!" The laundress shuddered theatrically. "That man is positively frightening. He comes in here and glowers and stomps around and he looks like a bandit. It wouldn't surprise me if he gets arrested one day for piracy on the road."

The Steward's daughter stood up and went to look at the wringer.
"Really? He didn't seem that bad to me..."

"When did you meet him? Did you break something?" Livvy stared over Mariss' shoulder, then helped her free the tablecloth from the roller's teeth. Mariss shook her head. "No. I brought him lunch once, and he asked me all sorts of odd questions."

"Really? Like what?"

Mariss pulled the end of the tablecloth free, then bent to inspect the roller. It hung off one axel end crookedly, but from what she could see the axel was undamaged. The roller's other end had a small knob fit into a groove on the washer; that was what had jumped its place. "Looks easy enough to fix; we just need to force it back into place. You probably forced too much tablecloth through once."

Beva snorted. "Typical."

Both girls ignored her. Livvy sighed. "Shards. Fawren-"

"_Auntie_ Fawren," Beva interrupted.

Livvy rolled her eyes. "_Auntie_ Fawren will have my hide if she finds out I broke it because I wasn't paying attention. She's always after me for daydreaming or talking too much."

"Well, she won't have to know." Mariss grit her teeth, grabbed the roller with both hands, and braced the wringer with a foot. Livvy grabbed the board and pulled, and after a moment they'd forced the roller back into place. Mariss gave it an experimental poke with her finger, and was satisfied to see that the wringer was turning properly. "There!"

"You fixed it! You really fixed it!" Livvy grinned and unexpectedly grabbed Mariss in a tight hug. "You're my hero! Not only did you save me from the Smith, but you saved my hands from a whole lot of blisters!"

Mariss blushed and wriggled free. "It wasn't that hard to do. Anyone could figure it out if they just looked at it-"

"Yes, but Fawren-"

"_Auntie_ Fawren. Honestly, Livvy!" Beva rolled her eyes.

"Sorry. _Auntie_ Fawren thinks fixing things is a man's job, and that us _ladies_ should simply sit around and wait and look pretty. I didn't even _think_ of fixing it myself. Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Mariss straightened her dress, which had been pulled a little crooked by Livvy's enthusiastic embrace. "But I'd still get him to look at it. The axel might be a bit crooked after all that yanking it around. But it should do you for today."

"Pish posh." Livvy waved her hand dismissively. "As long as I don't have to wring by hand today, I'm happy. Honestly, the blisters you get from doing that? It's torturous!"

"Well, you're welcome." "And you never _did_ tell me what sort of questions that Larstad asked you."

Mariss hesitated, then smiled shyly. "Just - he gave me bits of machinery to look at and asked me what they were."

"And did you know?" Livvy's eyes were bright with curiosity.

"Most of them, yes."

"Cor..." The laundress was quiet for a moment. "I couldn't imagine being interrogated by him like that. My knees would be knocking, and not just because I can't tell a- an axel from a.. something else.
Give me stains to remove, and I'm your gal! But- why'd he ask you anyway?"

Mariss shrugged. "I got caught snooping in his office."

Livvy shuddered theatrically again. "Brave woman. You wouldn't catch me lingering in _that_ feline's den."

Beva rolled her eyes. "Oh, come _on_ Livvy. He's not a monster."

"But he might as well be!"

"Girls! Get to work!" The door to the laundry banged open and Auntie Fawren rolled in like a thundercloud. Mariss returned to her seat, and Livvy sat demurely back down by the wringer. Behind the old auntie came Larstad, who, true to Livvy's word, was glowering fiercely. Fawren turned back to Larstad, and Mariss was surprised to see her do something akin to simpering. "Well, here we are, Journeyman. That idiot of a girl over there," she pointed to Livvy, "broke the wringer. Perhaps you could fix it for us?"

Larstad strode past her to look at the wringer. He was silent a moment, then he turned back to Fawren. "There's nothing wrong with it."

Fawren looked surprised. "What? But the roller came right off!"

"There's nothing wrong with it. Don't waste my time, woman," Larstad growled.

"But- but it was broken!" Fawren glared at Livvy. "You broke it! What did you do?!"

Livvy shrugged helplessly. "Nothing!"

"But _Mariss_ fixed it," Beva interjected. She gave Mariss a sly look as the attention in the room shifted to where the Steward's daughter sat behind her books. Fawren muttered something about 'unnatural' and Larstad's glower changed to something entirely unreadable. "Go on, tell them," Beva prompted.

Mariss cleared her throat. "Well.. uh, I didn't mean anything by it.
But the roller just slipped its axel, so I popped it back in. I think the axel might be a bit bent, though, so it won't be good for much longer..."

Larstad bent down to take another look at the wringer. He stared at it a moment, then turned to Fawren. "Bring it to my workshop tonight, and I'll have it fixed _properly_ for tomorrow."

"Of course, Journeyman. I'll have it sent down right away!" Fawren said.

Larstad nodded, then left, but not after giving Mariss a long, speculative look. She dropped her gaze quickly back to her books and pretended not to notice the sudden silence in the laundry room after he'd left. When she looked up again, she was face to face with Auntie Fawren. "Impudent girl!"

Mariss schooled her expression into something that could be called pleasant. If you squinted. "What did I do?"

"You made a fool out of me, that's what! Dragging the Journeyman away from his work to fix something that isn't broken- why didn't you just let things be?"

Mariss glanced at Livvy over Fawren's shoulder, and the laundress winked at her. She looked back at the old auntie. "I'm sorry. I thought I was helping-"

"Well, you weren't!" Fawren's double chins shook with anger as she talked. "You're sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, and it isn't wanted. Go back to your father and stop bothering us here!"

Mariss picked up her pen and turned her attention back to her books.
"I'll be glad to, Auntie Fawren, as soon as I'm finished with the book keeping."

Fawren huffed and muttered to herself for a moment, then turned back to where Beva and Livvy sat watching. "Well? What are you waiting for, you lazy chits! Get back to work!"

It took another candlemark and a half until Mariss finished, but as she was packing up she glanced at Livvy again. The other girl winked at her and made a funny face, and the Steward's daughter left the laundry with a smile. At least _everyone_ at Amber Hills Hold wasn't a monster!

Last updated on the July 26th 2006

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A Helping Hand