housekeeper at the camp, of Nomad camp
“I wash the mud from the mercenaries' backs and mind the debts. Nobody pays for a clean shirt willingly, but I keep a strict tally of every penny.”
Things Sarah had written, latest first, with the glosses of her neighbours.
the second Tuesday in May, at Vespers
Martha curses me because her lamp sits on my shelf. Let her sit in the dark. She owes me for mending her torn skirt back in January. A labourer is worthy of her hire. She will get the light back when she pays her debt, not a moment before.
Nota scribaeShe spent a long time rubbing her red hands together while saying this.
the eve of Saint George, at Prime
Martha still demands I redeem that padded jack she bought for the spring muster. I pawned it to Vlasta the ale-wife in Troskowitz for exactly five groschen to buy bread for this camp when the flour ran out. Vlasta cheated us, as always, but hunger makes the rules.
the third day of Easter week, at None
The mud is finally thawing, but the water in the washing pots is still cold enough to bite. My hands are cracked so deep they bleed into the wash. God grant me a warm day and a mercenary who does not shit himself in his sleep.
Nota scribaeDictated by the washing tubs. The water looked utterly foul.
the Wednesday after Saint Matthias, at Compline
Since Prokop drowned in the flooded creek at Semine, the camp is nothing but tears and hunger. His wages are gone. Mary, Anna, Elizabeth, and Susanna point fingers at each other every night, but I say they all panicked and dropped the rope. Cowards, the lot of them.
Ash Wednesday, at Sext
Anna uses the memory of her late husband Denis to dodge the sweeping again. If Denis were alive, he would not let her starve, she says. Well, Denis is dead of a fever in Prague these two years, and the dirt in these wagons will not sweep itself.
Have you no heart? Denis was a good man, and I am too weak to haul these sacks today.
Nota scribaeThe speaker named exact sums of missed wages before I told her I would not write them down.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
I cannot sew my leathers without it, you stubborn mule! How am I to earn your bloody coin if I cannot work?
You should have thought of that before you decided my needlework was free.