Rancid Chronicles: part 14

[Lo Ki]

I have been practically giddy the last couple of days. It only took a couple of hours to put away my few belongings in the new place. I had lunch with the ladies in the big kitchen at the back. Happily I am welcome to take all my meals with them; I never was much of a cook. After lunch, I finally broke down and went to check on my money. It took me nearly an hour to locate and figure out how to open the secret panel. Rancid had neglected to show me that part. Once I finally got it open I quickly counted my money. Not only was it all there, but also the number of those gold coins I still possessed had doubled. There was also a small note from my patron which said “Thought you might need some new furniture. Rancid.”

I spent the after noon wandering from room to room planning on what to buy and where to put it. I had dinner with the ladies again that evening. I was relieved to learn that my predecessor had died of old age. That night I could hardly sleep. It seemed like the night would never end.

The next morning I helped two of the women fetch water in the cart out back. I think I will take that task on myself; it’s the least I can do considering the way my appetite has suddenly expanded.

After breakfast I went shopping I bought a more comfortable chair for my desk, two couches, two chairs, and a small table for the parlor. The kitchen I decided to leave empty for now as I have little use for it. I purchased new linens for my bed as my old ones were too small. I also bought some new clothes; it’s amazing how the presence of women can bring out a man’s vanity.

The furniture was delivered that afternoon and I spent more time than necessary arranging it. I never had such problems before as I never had so much furniture before.

That evening I went over their books. They are doing fairly well. Their biggest income is from the lace they tat. That night I was tired and slept better.

The next morning I fetched the water and then spent much of the day fixing things around the building. I had never realized how handy I was. In my old place things were always falling apart and my landlord could not have cared less; so, it was up to me to fix them. Those skills came in very handy now and seemed to impress the ladies. That was nice as my conversational skills were severely lacking; in other words, I was usually tongue-tied. That did not seem to bother them however. A few of them apparently enjoyed talking to someone who did not interrupt them very often. I learned quite a bit about them that day.

About the ladies; there are eleven of them in all. Most of them found this place through Rancid. The two youngest are in their teens. One was orphaned and one ran away from her stepfather. One of them, Lydia, apparently has quite a talent for sewing and Sarah (the widow Anders) thinks she will one day be much in demand as a seamstress for the upper classes.

Four of the women are in their twenties. Two are soldier’s widows, one was kicked out by her husband when their first child was stillborn, and one ran away from an abusive husband. Apparently the husband followed her here and threatened everyone once. He never came back and has apparently had an amazing string of bad luck since then. Somehow I doubt that is a coincidence.

Three are in their thirties. All three are widows. One, Catherine, is the expert at tatting lace. She could easily go it alone, but she likes the security this place gives her.

One is in her forties. Her husband left her for a younger women.

The last and oldest is Sarah. She is in her sixties, quite an achievement considering few but elves and the rich live past fifty. As has already been said, she is a widow.

A couple of the women are rather plain but none are ugly. One in particular has caught my eye. Madaly is thirty-nine, only a couple of years older than me. She is a handsome woman with a quiet grace and steel-grey eyes. One of the ladies insists that Madaly has elvish blood in her veins. Madaly laughs at that; she says her parents and grandparents were all human and surely they would have mentioned if she had an elvish ancestor. I am not so sure about that, considering the bias some people have against elves. I’m afraid I haven’t made much of an impression on her though. I never was much of a ladies’ man.