They tied their horses to a rail in front of the house and walked in the indicated direction. Sure enough, when they got around the house, they could see a figure in a field, plucking wheat shoots from the ground, chewing on them, and then spitting them out and moving on.
“She’s checking for moisture in the leaves,” said Cadwulf. Yozef didn’t know why that was important and didn’t ask.
When the woman saw them, she gave a slight wave and moved to where they waited just off the field. As she got closer, Yozef recognized the woman from the fair, dressed more workmanlike today. His previous impression was stocky, bordering on plump, but perhaps it had been the clothes. Sturdy she was, but without much excess weight, probably attributable to regular farm work. Her face and arms were browned from the sun. She’d wrinkle before forty, given this much tanning. Her bare arms looked strong, as did what he could see of her legs, as her skirt swirled around her calves. But of her femininity, there was no doubt. The curve of hips below her waist and swells under her top-shirt made that clear. Her brown hair was braided into a bun, and a straw farmer’s hat provided shade to her face.
“Ser Beynom, welcome to my farm.” Though she addressed Cadwulf, her eyes never left Yozef. “And I take it this is the mysterious Yozef Kolsko whom everyone talks about.” She smiled.
“Guilty as charged, Sen Linton,” said Yozef, smiling back.
Her eyebrows rose at his offhand remark, then she looked at Cadwulf. “And to what do I owe your visit?”
In the next half hour, Yozef described his interest in running test plots with the powdered guano fertilizer and what he hoped to find out about efficacy and application amounts. Sen Linton quickly agreed with the potential but confirmed no immediate advantage to increased yields.
“I already use about half of my crops for animal feed. The other half I sell for island consumption at lower prices than before.”
“I noticed there were more cattle and horses than I expected as we rode in today,” Yozef remarked. “I thought you only farmed crops.”
“Normally, yes,” said Linton. “But since the crops don’t keep that long, I’m raising more animals than usual, since they keep longer. Many farmers are doing the same.”
A longer shelf-life. Yozef approved. Very smart and thinking long term.
“There’s no problem with helping you with your tests of this new fertilizer, Ser Kolsko. We already spread manure on the fields, but there’s never enough. Having another fertilizer source would be useful, if this idea of yours works. As for your paying me to do these tests, what if instead we agree that should the fertilizer work as well as you think, and if the conditions for selling improve in the future, that you’ll sell me all the fertilizer I need at half the going price?”
Yozef was about to say, “Done deal,” when Cadwulf jumped in.
“Half price for how long, Sen Linton? Surely not indefinitely. Shall we say for five years?”
Her eyes glinted, and the corners of her mouth suggested good humor. “Five years hardly makes it worth my time. I couldn’t possibly agree for less than twenty years.”
Ten minutes later and with protestations of being robbed from both sides and how much they were conceding, Linton and Cadwulf agreed on eight years of reduced price once trade off Caedellium resumed, if the guano worked.
The basic deal settled, they proceeded to details. Yozef explained they’d need multiple plots to vary the amount and number of guano applications. Since he had no idea of the proper amounts, they settled on the initial test with four different amounts of guano, one and two applications, two different sites, and a control plot of no application at each site for a total of thirty-four plots. Yozef was encouraged that he didn’t have to explain the need for the control plots.
What crops to use was the next question? Yozef had thought of wheat, but Bronwyn suggested that barley and turnips were better cool weather crops. Though she had already finished the current plantings, there were several fields being left fallow she could use for the tests. Bronwyn suggested the plots be of a sixteenth of an acre, about fifty-five square feet each.
The business concluded, Bronwyn invited them to stay for evening meal, but both Cadwulf and Yozef were due to eat with Cadwulf’s parents that evening and gave their thanks for the invitation. Based on Linton’s estimate of the time needed to set up the test plots, Yozef said he would return in one sixday with sacks of fertilizer.
Chapter 27: A Close Encounter
A sixday later Yozef returned to the Linton farm with a wagon holding enough bags of powdered guano for the trials, plus extra. One of his workers drove the wagon, with Yozef as passenger and Seabiscuit tied behind. Linton saw them coming up the road to the farm and met them at the house.
“The wagon will return to Abersford once we’ve unloaded the sacks,” he explained. “I’ll ride back after checking the plots you’ve prepared and see the first applications.”
Linton nodded. “Then we’d better get to it.” She climbed onto the wagon bed and began handing sacks to the two men to transfer them to a farm cart with a pony hitched to it. She wore similar working clothes as on his previous visit, although her shirt was untied several inches lower than before. Yozef caught a brief glimpse of considerable breast the first time she bent to hand down a sack. He averted his eyes, but they betrayed him on the next two sacks. The views were impressive.
Yozef and his worker had gotten a later start from Abersford than planned and had arrived in early afternoon. As a consequence, by the time he and Linton finished with checking the first set of plots, observing the applications, and checking her record keeping, the sun was setting behind the eastern hills.
It had been an awkward day for Yozef. He couldn’t resist positioning himself to catch further glimpses down Linton’s shirt whenever she leaned over. Yet at the hint of a nipple, which elicited unmistakable stirrings, he steeled himself to avert his eyes during the last hour of work.
His face had a sheen of sweat, and his heart thumped as they finished the final plot, only partly due to exertion.
“That’s the last one, Sen Linton. I’ll be riding back to Abersford now. I’ll come and check back here next sixday.”
“Ser Kolsko, you’d be returning in the dark, and since you’re not familiar with these roads and by your own admission are not the most experienced rider, perhaps it would be best if you spent the night here and returned in the morning. I’d be pleased to offer you hospitality for evening meal and the use of the extra bedroom.”
Yozef wasn’t sure but suspected a hint of anticipation in her offer. He wondered whether there was the same in his acceptance.
They washed up after the day’s work. He expected a washbowl and maybe some soap, but she directed him behind the house to a small enclosure containing a tub of water, soap, and a drying cloth. The water was ambient temperature, meaning on the chilly side, but by now he was accustomed, or resigned, to only occasional hot water. He’d brought a change of clothing, not knowing what and how much work he would do at the farm, and when he entered the house, he was greeted by a similarly scrubbed and reclothed Bronwyn Linton.
Where’s the other tub? In the house?
It had to exist, since her hair was still damp and she didn’t seem to exude the natural odors most working Caedelli carried with them after a full day. Her work clothes had been replaced by slippers and a red dress with a more than suggestive plunging neck. Bras were unknown on Caedellium, and the sleeveless, form-fitting dress left little to the imagination.
Dinner combined the efforts of Linton and an older woman who excused herself and exited when the meal was ready. While waiting, Linton served Yozef a pre-dining aperitif. The first swallow burned on the way down.