mender of sacks and tunics, of Kuttenberg
“I am a mender, and a bloody good one when I have the right tools. I mind my own business and try to keep my belly full, despite what the others say.”
Things Milada had written, latest first, with the glosses of her neighbours.
the Monday before Ascension, at None
Constance Polner came whining for that stack of leather jacks today. The town council did not pay us a single groschen by Easter like they promised, so I pawned the bloody lot to buy bread. You cannot eat leather, can you? The council can bloody well wait until I have the coin to redeem it.
Nota scribaeDictated with her arms crossed tight across her chest.
the third day of Easter week, at Prime
This cheap iron needle is tearing the fine cloth. I swear Ellen is a bloody thief. I lent her my best bone sewing needle back in Lent, and she always has a reason not to hand it over. If anyone will fetch it back for me, I promise them a good favour.
the Wednesday before Palm Sunday, at Vespers
My fingers are calloused and pricked black. Working from first light to dusk by a smoking tallow candle is ruining my eyes. And there is Anne, drinking her life away since Emma died, wasting good coin at the alehouse while the rest of us starve. A bloody waste.
Leave Anne be. Emma made sure the masters paid us properly, and Anne is lost without her mother. Have some pity.
Mind your own bloody business, Milada. My coin is my own.
Nota scribaeThe woman squinted terribly at the page as I wrote.
the feast of St Gregory, at Compline
Annabel is worrying herself sick over pawning Sybil's gear, but I told her she frets too much. A working woman must look after her own belly first. With the Hungarian troops about and the bread dearer than last year, we do what we must to keep from begging by the church doors.
Candlemas, at Terce
The winter is bitter and there is scarce any food to be had. I gave Ellen my prized bone needle to hold, just for a while, and she shared a loaf of bread and a string of onions. I will be glad to have my tool back when the spring comes.
Nota scribaeShe asked me to write 'lent', then changed it, then insisted it was a loan after all.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
You pawned the town's war gear, Milada. When Thomas the quartermaster comes back, he will take a cudgel to both our heads if it is not ready.
Let Thomas pay my wages first, then he can have his bloody canvas.