He contemplated licking the bowl out but finally convinced himself not to. Instead he carried it over to the stack of dirty dishes and got a large dipper of water from a barrel.
“Herzer, here,” Jody said, coming up behind him with a large bowl of cornmeal mush. Herzer could see some bits of mystery meat embedded in it.
“Hey!” Earnon shouted. “I didn’t get any lunch, neither! Why the hell does he get extra?!”
“Because he didn’t sit on his ass all afternoon,” Jody answered to a chorus of chuckles. “If you don’t have something to eat, you’ll be useless in the morning. And you deserve it.”
“Thank you,” Herzer said, taking the bowl carefully. After a moment he shrugged and sucked it down just as fast as the beans.
Jody chuckled and set the bowl on the pile with the rest. “Don’t worry about it; the cooks will clean up.”
“Okay, folks, here’s the deal,” Jody said, striding over to where most of the cutting crew was finishing eating. “You can walk back to Raven’s Mill or you can stay over on this side of the river. If you stay here, I’ll show you some ways to make a shelter. Either way, breakfast is before dawn tomorrow. So if you stay over there you’d better get somebody to wake you up and walk back or you’ll miss it.”
“What’s for breakfast?” Earnon asked. “And why can’t we just eat over there?”
“Because you don’t get chits for meals, yet,” Jody said. “We’re feeding you for your work. And this is where we’re feeding you. Any other questions?”
“How do I get out of this chicken-shit outfit?” Cleo Ronson asked with a bitter laugh.
“Any time you want you can walk away,” Jody said. “And if I hear enough complaints you will be out of this outfit. Any more questions?”
“Same thing on the agenda tomorrow?” Mike asked.
“Pretty much,” Jody said. “We need to clear a large area by a couple of weeks from now. We’re going to work on cutting for three more days, then clear the logs and burn the trash. After that we’ll work on making some rough buildings. Then you’ll be done with this portion and I’ll get another crew.” He looked around and nodded. “Okay, grab the tools and stack them and we’ll start making some shelters from all this trash.”
Herzer grabbed his axe and carefully stacked it, feeling a massive and unexpected wave of fatigue flow over him. Before he knew it, it was all he could do to stay on his feet. He listened while Jody explained how to make a lean-to. But in the end, between his swollen and puffy hands and his overwhelming fatigue, he couldn’t find the energy for the effort. Taking one of the blankets that had been provided he went over to the giant tree that had missed felling and collapsed onto one of the large roots, resting his head partially on it and partially on the dirt. Before he could even squiggle around to get comfortable he was asleep.
“You need some sleep,” Edmund said as he entered the wooden hut that had been set up as a temporary hospital until there was time to build a real one. Daneh was at a bucket of steaming water, washing her hands as Rachel and another woman scrubbed at blood-covered tools.
“Don’t start,” she said tiredly. “I’ve had to do two amputations today, one major and one minor, while trying to get the heads of all the women in the camp around the fact that they’re about to start bleeding.”
“We need to talk about that,” Edmund said. “You’ve requisitioned just about every scrap of cloth in the town for this and all the unspun cosilk. We have other needs, Daneh.”
“I know, but this one is a right now need, Edmund,” she snapped. “I’m running out of bandages. And the women are either going to have the material or they’re going to run around bleeding all over the place. Which would you prefer?”
“Do you need so much is what I’m asking, as pleasantly as possible,” Talbot replied, taking a deep breath. “We need the cloth in making tools. We need it to repair clothes; most of the people’s clothes are getting to be in tatters.”
“If we don’t need it all, we’ll turn it back in,” she replied. “We won’t be throwing any of it away; the women are being told to wash the material and reuse it. We’ll only use as much as is needed. And this is for the benefit of the whole camp, Edmund.”
“All right, Daneh,” he said with a sigh. “You said that you’ve talked to the women in the town, what about out in the camps?”
“I hadn’t even given it a thought,” she said tiredly, looking out the open window to the darkness. “It’s too late now…”
“And you’re needed here,” Edmund continued. “Rachel. You’re doing it. Tomorrow. Go to each of the camps and all of the groups that are going through familiarization. If anyone gives you any trouble tell them to come see me. Talk to all the women, tell them what’s going to happen and that we’re getting materials ready.”
“Yes, sir!” she said sarcastically.
“You’re still young enough for me to turn over my knee, young lady,” Edmund said with a smile. “Watch that tone.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want Daddy mad at me,” Rachel said, again snippily. “You realize I’m going to start any time, don’t you?”
“Yes, I had thought about that,” Talbot replied with another smile. “Take the appropriate precautions.”
“Appropriate precautions,” Daneh said with another sigh. “You realize that includes avoiding pregnancy?”
“Or terminating it after it starts,” Talbot answered with a nod. “Sheep guts for the first and tansy for the second.”
“You’re serious,” Daneh said with a shake of her head. “What do sheep guts have to do with preventing pregnancy?”
“Well, see, you rub them all over your body…” Edmund started and then laughed at her expression.
“Edmund…”
“Okay, seriously, you use the outer, hard, layer of sheep intestines as a prophylactic condom.”
“A what?” Rachel asked. “What in the hell does that mean?”
“Prophylactic is a term for a preventative…” Daneh replied. “But…”
“You take a section of sheep intestine that is of appropriate length, cut it off and sew one end shut,” Edmund said dryly. “The male slips the sheep intestine, which can be kept dry but has to be softened with water before use, over his penis. This prevents the ejacula from entering the woman’s body.”
“That’s… obscene,” Rachel said with a grimace.
“And of course some men have to use bigger animals than sheep,” Edmund continued with a chuckle, shifting up his belt theatrically.
“That would probably work,” Daneh said with a nod. “But the seam would tend to leak. And I’d have to find you a rabbit…”
“I think they probably waxed it,” Edmund said thoughtfully, ignoring the jibe. “You’d test it by filling it with water and seeing if it held.”
“I can’t believe you’re talking about this,” Rachel said. “Come on.”
“Rachel, you’ve long wanted to be treated like an adult,” Edmund replied without turning around. “Welcome to being treated like an adult. We could treat you like a child and tell you to leave if you wish.”
Rachel opened her mouth to reply hotly then snapped it shut.
“Okay, I had that coming,” she admitted. “But let me point out that you’re my mother and father. Maybe I am too young to handle some conversations because discussions of my father’s penis size is definitely one of them. Okay?”