cook at the keep, of Miskowitz
“I command the cooking pots in this keep, and I strike hard with my wooden spoon.”
Things Matilda Cross had written, latest first, with the glosses of her neighbours.
the second Tuesday in May, at None
Edith will not stop whispering at me when the other maids are out of the kitchen. She demands what is not there to give. I swear by Saint Lawrence, if the bailiff hears her loose tongue, we will both swing. She must hold her peace.
Nota scribaeDictated while wiping her hands furiously on her grease-stained apron.
the morrow of St Mark, at Prime
Old Prokop says my hound Sturdy broke his fence and took two of his precious chickens. Now the miserable bastard wants silver for them, or he will have the dog killed. I need to find a few groschen from the kitchen budget to shut him up.
Easter Monday, at Vespers
The master's table was full today. Good fresh venison, roasted hare, and a fine boar in mushroom gravy. None of that rotting meat Margery brought from Kuttenberg. I paid the lad who brought it in hot pie, and I did not ask where he shot it.
The high table left us nothing but bones to scrape.
Be glad you got bones, girl. I cooked it all from sunrise.
Nota scribaeShe smiled for the first time this week.
the Wednesday before Easter, at Sext
Margery carted her meat into my yard today, stinking so foul I thought the dead had risen. I threw a wooden trencher right at her head and chased her back to Kuttenberg. I need a quiet man to bring me fresh game from the woods by Sunday.
I saw her running down the path. A very good throw!
You could pay for proper butcher's meat if you opened your box.
Nota scribaeThe priest asks that I record his disapproval of feeding stolen deer to the lord.
the second Thursday of Lent, at Terce
These housemaids are no help at all. Alice dropped a custom-ground knife on the stone floor, and Anna just stands there blinking at the fire. If I want my heavy pie baked right, I have to do every bloody thing myself. Lord give me patience.
It slipped from my hands! The grease was thick on the handle.
Then wash your hands before you touch my steel, you clumsy mare.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
You promised me a half share of what we found in the mud. I want it.
Keep your voice down, you foolish girl. It is locked anyway.