housekeeper at the yard, of Kuttenberg
“I am the mistress of Lambert's hauling yard, keeping the mud out and the men fed. It is a hard house, but a respectable one.”
Things Gerta had written, latest first, with the glosses of her neighbours.
the Wednesday before Whitsun, at None
The damp spring air has put a terrible ache in my bones, and I cannot easily walk to the fields. If someone were to quietly bring me three handfuls of chamomile for a poultice, I might find a certain key to a locked master chest for them. Tell no one, least of all my husband.
Nota scribaeShe rubbed her bad wrist the whole time she spoke, speaking softly.
the third day of Easter week, at Prime
I spent half the day sweeping the dirt from the yard and stoking the hearth, only for Lambert to tell me Annabel did it better. God rest her soul, but his first wife has been in the ground ten winters. It is my hands scrubbing the mud from his boots today.
Annabel never complained of a little sweeping. You should learn from her memory.
the feast of the Annunciation, at Vespers
Young Nicholas was out sifting through the yard mud again looking for that little copper cross. I nearly fell over his boots on the step. I told him the Lord knows where it is, but it is not under the grain sacks.
My mother gave it to me. I know it is out there somewhere.
the morrow of Saint Matthias, at Terce
Lambert caught Bartel sneaking out to pawn a good tin plate for that washer-girl Lida down at the ponds. The boy is a spoiled fool. His father locked the plate away and shouted until my head rang. A respectable hauling yard needs order, not thieves.
Keep your nose out of my business. Lida is worth ten of you.
Nota scribaeDictated over the sound of shouting from the yard.
Candlemas, at Prime
Lambert's tight-fisted allowance buys less meat and more gristle from the butchers every week. I stretch it as far as I can in the pottage, but feeding five in this household is a heavy cross to bear.
It is the same in every house, Gerta. The butchers charge what they like with all these soldiers about.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
I will see if the apothecary has any left, Gerta. Keep your voice down.
God bless you, Isabel. Bring it round the back by the kitchen door.