Looking at anything but the two girls who preceded him, he followed Rachel to a tub that was unoccupied. There were about ten people in the room scattered around in groups and more than one of the males watched the two girls with a healthy amount of interest.
“This is why I hate coming in here,” Rachel said, turning around to sweep the other bathers with a glare. “I hate to be ogled.” She waited until she was sure no one was looking and shifted the skimpy towel around so that she could use it as a shield as she lowered herself into the bath.
Herzer thought it was quite the most erotic thing he had ever seen.
“Well I don’t ogle you,” he said, primly.
“Well, of course not,” she snorted. She lowered herself until everything from the neck down was submerged in water and let out a sigh. “We’ve known each other since we were kids; of course you don’t look.”
“Well, yeah,” Herzer said, taking a covert deep breath and willing himself to utter flaccidity. Once he was sure he was under control he flipped the towel off with becoming modesty and lowered himself into the bath quickly.
“What about me?” Shilan asked, raising one eyebrow and smiling in what could be taken as invitation.
“You’re a friend,” Herzer replied with a shrug. Down boy! Down! Bad boy!
Shilan wrinkled her eyebrows and peered at him as if attempting to divine what his real answer was.
“Shilan,” Herzer sighed. “Do you want to go to bed? Or more precisely, do you want to go to bed to have sex?” When her face closed down he nodded. “Even if I was interested, it would take a real son of a bitch to press you right now, right?”
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“I am many things. Well… I can be a son of a bitch. But in this, I’m not willing to be.”
She wrinkled a brow again and then nodded, accepting the statement but still puzzled.
“Herzer,” Rachel said dryly, but looking at him in a very searching way, “always the paladin.”
“Not… always,” Herzer corrected with a grin. “Paladins don’t get laid much.”
Shilan laughed delightedly and even Rachel had to smile.
“Can anyone join this party or are only young folk allowed?”
The man who addressed them was small and wiry with a graying beard and bright blue eyes.
“Hello, Augustus,” Rachel said. “Of course you can join us.”
The man whipped off his towel immodestly and hopped into the water like a frog.
“These were a grand idea,” he said, ducking his head under the water and coming back up blowing. “I’d prefer a leathern tun, but we haven’t enough leather to make a decent shoe!”
“And, Lord knows, we’ve got wood,” Herzer said, shaking his head ruefully.
“Augustus, this is Herzer Herrick and… Hsu Shilan. They’re in one of the apprenticeship programs. Herzer, Shilan, Augustus Scharpf. He’s one of the reenactors who’s started an industry since the Fall, in his case, tanning. You’ll probably be working with him sometime soon.”
“And you’ve been cutting wood, have you?” Augustus asked, peering at them dubiously. He seemed to like what he saw for after a moment he nodded at them approvingly. “It’s good that you’ve gotten experience in the woods, you’ll be needing it!”
“Why?” Shilan asked. “I mean, we don’t have any idea what we’re going to be doing. I might never go into the woods again. I understand most people who were in period didn’t.”
“Well, there’s period and period,” Augustus said. “We’re more early industrial pioneer than High Middle Ages. And I meant for the Great Hunt, lassie.”
“The Great Hunt?” Herzer asked.
“Gee, ye hadn’t heard,” Augustus replied with a wink. “It’ll be grand bonny fun.”
Herzer contemplated Augustus’ appearing and disappearing brogue for a moment the shrugged. “Anyone going to tell us what it is?”
“My father’s brilliant idea to give Mother and me more work,” Rachel replied.
“Ah, you know better than that, lassie,” Augustus corrected. “T’was not Edmund, t’was Myron that had the idea.”
“Point,” Rachel admitted. “Okay, Myron’s great idea to give us more work!”
“I said before that we had no leather,” the tanner said, ignoring the change. “The point is we’ve few enough slaughter animals as it is; the hunters have been bringing some in, but not enough. We need meat, bones, hooves, everything that you get from slaughter animals. And skin of course.
“Okay,” he said, splashing water on his face and grimacing. “I was a huckster before the Fall, one of the people who could make things to sell at the Faire. I made leather goods, custom order, all very nice, hand stitched and tooled. A hobby, really, but they were all hobbies, weren’t they, I pick up a few energy credits, who cares?” he added with a grimace. “But the point is, I can go from a raw skin to tooled leather. If I’ve got the skins! Do you know what the hunters brought in all of last week?”
“No,” Herzer said, fascinated by the diatribe.
“Two feral cattle, we’re eating them now, six boar, five deer, a mess of furs, three turkeys and an emu. That’s not enough meat for three thousand people and it’s definitely not enough leather.”
“Not to mention the other things,” Shilan added with a smile.
“Ack! Aye!” Augustus replied, winking at her. “The hooves for the glue! The bones for the tools and the fertilizer! And a fine mess of brawn for a pretty lady?”
“Brawn?” Shilan asked.
“Pig brains,” Herzer replied without thinking. “Usually served in gravy.”
“Yuck!”
“So we need more animals,” Herzer said. “The Great Hunt.”
“Yes, and…” Rachel replied. “There are people who are already lining up to be farmers. One thing that makes farming easier is if you’ve got animals as part of your farm. There are ferals in the woods so the idea is to gather some of those at the same time.”
“And as my former…” Herzer paused for a moment. “Lady-friend pointed out there are also tigers in the woods.”
“Aye!” Augustus said, winking madly. “Un thet’s were it sta’ts to get interestin’!”
“Ooo,” Shilan said. “Now I begin to understand the comment about work for the doctors.”
“Oh forget the tigers,” Rachel shrugged, sitting up so her breasts were just under the water. Herzer tried very hard not to notice the interesting ripple effect from the shrug. “They’re out there, but there are feral pigs all over the place.
“Pigs?” Shilan asked, wrinkling her brow. “What’s the problem with pigs?”
“Oh, sure,” Rachel said acidly. “Squeak, squeak, see the funny little pig, ah-hah-hah. Pretty and pink and fluffy. Wait ’til you see these things.”
“Oh, I haven’t seen them but I’ve heard of them,” Herzer laughed. “Four hundred kilos of bristle and tusk. This is gonna be so much fun. When are they planning this? I think I’m going to have a broken leg.”
“If you’ve got a broken leg, they put you on skinning duty,” Rachel said.
“Broken arm?”
“Carrying buckets of slop.”
“Agh! I’ve seen videos of a skinning out. No thank you. Yuck!”
“You should have run away with your lady friend,” Rachel said.
“Which one?” Shilan asked with a malicious grin.
“Begorum boy!” Augustus cried. “How many do you have?”
Herzer just groaned and slid down until his head was under the water.