Lesson
1660 Words
Tuesday, 20th September 1442
When we were preparing pottage for breakfast, some of the residents were curious with the three types of wicker chests that we had at the back of the supply and provisions wagons.
The children climbed aboard was sat down as they watched chilled vegetables and frozen game neat and poultry been extricated from the wicker baskets.
There was bread that was chilled and there's a wicker basket that had been imbued with Priestess Farah special abilities to warm the bread at an even 158° Fahrenheit.
The other two wicker chests were the separate chiller and freezer for perishable goods. The children sat there with awe as they watched the chefs took out the provisions of game neat and poultry to make a sumptuous pottage along with warned bread for breakfast.
"Uncle Chef... Why are these wicker baskets so special that you can keep this meat inside as if its wintertime? And also the vegetables were all so fresh and cool when you removed these our from the wicker baskets to prepare for our breakfast?"
Asked the children as they sat down on the edges of the wagon and watched the chefs removed the items from the wicker baskets. "Oh, these wicker baskets are very special. They can keep our foods longer than usual and there's a similar wicker basket at home for your mummies to use too."
"It's an upright wicker basket with two separate doors. One is for the frozen section where you can keep fishes that you catch from the rivers and also poultry, game neat and also wild boar and venison that your mummies can purchase from the grocery store."
"As for the bottom part, you can keep a pitcher of water inside and it's cooking to drink on a hot summers day. The below section is where you store eggs, vegetables and fruits."
"Our town has plentiful vegetables and fruits you can purchase from the grocery store and its very cheap. There are at least 10 to 15 types of yummy vegetables grown in our fields and do you know what?"
"You can also earn coins if you helped your mummies in the fields. As long as you register your name with our Minister for Trade and Manpower, you would want your own coins too."
"But would you like to go to school to learn how to read and write and be better artisans in the future lime accountants, bookkeepers, warehouseman and also plant managers?"
"We have some factories in our town too as well you know and you can work to help your parents too."
The chef stopped talking as he had removed the main ingredients to make pottage they would be able to serve up to 400 people as he knew there would be others who need seconds especially those pregnant wives who were now resting on the wagons and not exposed to harsh wet ground, made wet by the morning dew.
"Wow... Uncle Chef... You really had a lot of things to say, don't you? Well, we wish to go to school to learn how to read and write but do you think we would be able to fit in since we are all peasants and peasants are scorned on many ways."
The chef stopped at what he was doing and he told the children a very simple meaning of life..." We may have different coloured hair, different build and different heights but here in Gracehaven, everyone is equal whether he comes from a miners family, a farmers family, an Irish Traveller or even a Romani Gypsie."
"Look at your hand and see your fingers, are they all not of the same length but comes to form a single hand and if one is missing, would the hand function normally? It won't, right, lads?"
The children held their hands in front of them and knew that their fingers were all not of equal lengths and if one loses a thumb, the functions of the hand would be very limited.
The meaning behind was quite deep and only one or two of the children that sat huddled, watching the chef at work, could fully understand what he was trying to convey.
The curious children opened up the wicker baskets to see the contents and true enough, it was like wintertime for the freezer as the meat inside were well frozen and preserved. They checked out the food warmer which was a too down version and discovered that bread could easily be kept warm inside as well.
Since the bread was kept inside one of the chillers (the chef had drawn out 100 loaves of bread just in case) and the children could see that once the bread had been popped inside the food warmer wicker basket, it would be ready to be served in a short while thereafter.
"Uncle Chef, so in every home, there would be this wicker basket to store our food when our mummies buy them from the grocery store? How big is the grocery store, Uncle Chef?"
One of the children queried and was answered affirmatively. The child squealed in delight and knew that since fishing was allowed and there's a river surrounding the areas, the first thing these children wanted to do was to catch some fish and bring them home for their mommies and daddies.
"The grocery store is quite big... There are the fruits and vegetable sections, then they also have the grains and flour section as well."
"Plus, at the back of the grocery store, there would be butchery and a Fishmonger. There's game meat, poultry, eggs, milk, cheese and butter as well as wild boar meat and venison meat on sale there."
The children listened and asked if they were allowed to eat meat all the time since they were not allowed to have meat or hunt for meat themselves as the Lord at their precious Town would punish the folks if any of them were discovered to hunt meat for themselves.
"Hahaha. In our town, you could eat meat as much as you can. There's no one stopping any of you from buying meat or catch your own game."
"However, if you happen to live far away from the main gate, you might consider buying them instead. It's going to be like a walk of several miles before you meet the main gate from where you live."
"But, there are at least 3 marketplaces along the street where you would be living soon."
Hearing the marketplaces and also a rather lively place where they would be putting up soon, the children were ecstatic to hear and were rather expectant to arrive at the town.
The small group of children were soon getting larger as other children soon gathered round to listen to the chef narrating about the things that the children asked.
As usual, the news that the children had heard was brought back to their own family members and they too were ecstatic and expectant to receive what they would be getting when they got to Gracehaven soon.
Very soon, the chefs began to work on their tasks at preparing the morning breakfast and by the time the main task had been completed, the sun had just broken above the horizon as a new day began to shine new hope on everyone faces.
When the children began to spread the news to their parents, they too were eager to look at the contraptions as Gwen and Frank were busy explaining to them about the Standing Icebox that would be installed in every home, even the thatched homes as well.
After explaining the functionality of the Standing Icebox, the parents were intrigued and wondered what kind of special abilities that the Priest and Priestess have.
They subconsciously pointed to Priest Hendry with their pouted lips and Gwen took the initiative to explain that Priest Henry's special abilities were to find medicinal plants and herbs in such a way much simpler than finding around the bushes.
She explained that Priest Hendry contributed to a lot of rare herbs that were grown successfully by his wife next to him. Little did the residents knew that originally Priest Hendry was a Wizard or a male witch...!
Breakfast was brisk as everyone had more than a bowl full of pottage. The bread that had been brought over was quickly earned inside the portable food warmer and then served a pound of bread to every 4 people. Even if the bread was just enough to satiate a child but it was well worth the meal.
As the journey was long and arduous ahead, they would only break for meals and encampment once the carriages had passed Aidi Village and then to the pine forests ahead. Since there was no more bread, the chefs decided to use some of the grains to make a thick gruel later on.
Meat and vegetables were bountiful while hares, rabbits and woodchuck could be found readily in the wilderness. There was no shortage of supplies and it would be till the end of the day before another meal would be prepared.
After the meal, everyone cleared their stuff and embarked on their respective wagons as they proceed onwards towards our town.
Before the evening sets, the wagons had soon arrived at the designated stop point where a simple encampment was set up inside the pine forest.
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