Gilbert

the eve of Whitsun, at Vespers

Praise the Lord for the bounty of the forest, which is mostly bark and dirt today. Prokop has gone to Jicin until Saint John's Day and our meal is running out. We will be eating pine needles by Sunday.

• 
  Simon

  My mother Zlata used to make a good broth from nettles when the meal ran low. I can try to find some.

• 
  Havel

  Stop your whining and swing your axe, Gilbert. A hungry man cuts faster.

the second day of May, at None

Drslav rode by today to cheat us on our tallies from the comfort of his saddle. A fine thing to sit on a horse while we drag logs with a borrowed ox. I pray his stirrup breaks.

Nota scribaeDictated at the camp edge. The speaker was picking callouses off his palms the entire time.

the Tuesday after Easter, at Compline

Some men sleep very soundly under heavy leather coats they did not pay for, while righteous men freeze in the damp. I wonder what the magistrate would say about certain things found by the roadside last autumn.

• 
  Osbert

  Shut your mouth. The bailiff would hang the lot of us just for being there, you included.

• 
  Gilbert

  Then pay what is owed from the silver, you whoreson, and I will be quiet.

the feast of Saint Gregory, at Sext

Simon dropped his axe today because his crushed hand gave out. God provides us with useless boys, it seems. I did his share of the stripping so the foreman would not cast him out to beg.

• 
  Simon

  Thank you, Gilbert. It aches terribly in the cold wind.

Nota scribaeThe man sighed heavily before speaking.

Saint Blaise's day, at Terce

Havel cannot find his rusty backup axe and is screaming at Osbert like a stuck pig. I am sure it is a mystery known only to the saints where it went. I will just sit here and stir the pot.

• 
  Havel

  He took it! I know he took my iron, the thieving bastard.

• 
  Osbert

  I did not touch your bloody axe, you blind old brute.