hired hand, of Kuttenberg
“I haul sacks by the Italian Court for a handful of pennies. I keep my head down and wait for rest.”
Things Wilhelm had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the Wednesday before Whitsun, at Vespers
Erhard asked me again to walk up the valley and carry word to his family. I told him my feet are heavy enough from carrying Julian's gravel all day. I will not walk another step past the cellar door.
Nota scribaeThe man spoke so softly I had to ask him thrice to repeat it.
the feast of St Pancras, at Prime
Hynek whined all night about the foul water dripping from Matilda's ceiling onto his bed. The noise of it grated on my nerves. When they finally slept, I closed my eyes and spoke to Emma in the dark.
The landlady takes a whole groschen a week for us to sleep in a puddle. God's nails, it is a disgrace.
the second day of Easter week, at None
Julian pointed me to the heavy sacks of stone today. My shoulders burn like fire, but it pays for my pottage and my straw. Standa works beside me and keeps his mouth shut, which is a mercy.
Ay. We carry the stone, we eat the pottage. There is nothing else to it.
the Monday after St Gregory, at Terce
Ralph nurses a bruised heel and begs for bread. He earns a woodcutter's wage using the axe he took from me, but I have no pity for him. I am simply too tired to fight him for the tool.
I only borrowed it, Wilhelm. I will return it when the wood is chopped.
You are a fool if you think you will ever see that axe again, old man.
Nota scribaeHe stared at the floor the entire time he spoke.
the morrow of Candlemas, at Prime
Ralph scrounged my best axe yesterday and has not returned it. Now I must stand at the back of the timber yard with empty hands, hoping Julian picks me to haul gravel. The axe cost a month's work.
See that you still pay your groschen for the cellar, axe or no axe.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
It is not so far, Wilhelm. They have heard nothing from me since Lent.
Walk there yourself.