Juliana

the eve of Whitsun, at Vespers

Alice asked again if I found a merchant going to Prague to take word to her brother Havel. I told her I asked three men at the alehouse, but they were headed south. The truth is I asked no one. The boy is either dead of plague or a whoreson who left her to starve. I have no time to beg favors for ghosts.

• 
  Alice

  You promised you would ask, Juliana! He is learning the tanner's trade, he will send for me when he is settled.

• 
  Juliana

  Reckon he's too busy tanning hides to send a single penny these two years.

Nota scribaeShe sighed heavily three times while saying this and rubbed her red knuckles.

the second Tuesday in May, at None

Bloody soldiers on the road mean twice the mud on the linen. Hungarian mercenaries rode through yesterday and left us a pile of tunics smelling of horse sweat and worse. My hands are cracked so deep I can barely hold the scrubbing board.

the Wednesday after Easter, at Compline

I coughed this morning and felt a chill in the loft. Praise be it was just the wind through the roof. If I take the fever like poor Bohushka did, who will bring me water? God rest her soul, she never complained about the cold. Not like some.

• 
  Alice

  I would fetch you water, Juliana. You do not have to be so sharp.

the feast of the Annunciation, at Sext

Caught a carter trying to pay Alice with half a groschen shaved down to nothing. I told him to take his dirty coin to hell and threw his tunic in the mud. The girl is hardworking but she has no eye for a cheat. Someone has to watch her.

Nota scribaeThe woman gestured so wildly she nearly knocked over the inkhorn.

the Thursday after Candlemas, at Prime

Bread is dearer than last year, and the lye bites worse in the frost. We had to break the ice in the buckets before the sun was up. Alice slipped and spilled half the water, but we got the fires lit. Sakra, it is hard work, but it keeps us from starving.