Veronika studied the man. His broad shoulders stretched the woolen fabric of his doublet, while his legs were covered by heavy full-length woolen trousers in the new up-time pattern. He also looked sufficiently affluent that it probably wouldn't be a waste of Stephan's time to speak to the man. "You'll want to talk to our land lease specialist. If you'd like to take a seat, I'll see if he can see you."
She left Catrin to watch the desk while she left reception to talk to Stephan. She found him in his office with his nose buried in a massive legal tome. "Stephan, there's a man in reception who would like to talk to someone about taking up coppice rights."
"Coppice rights? I wonder what he wants to do with them." He took off his spectacles and polished them. When they were cleaned to his satisfaction, he put them on. "And you think it might be worth my time to talk to him?"
Veronika nodded.
"Well, go and get him then."
****
An hour later Veronika watched Stephan escort his visitor out of the building. It must have been a most productive meeting to have taken so long. "What did you talk so long about?" she asked Stephan when he returned from showing his visitor out.
"Coppice rights," Stephan said most un-helpfully.
"But what would you find to talk about for an hour?" Veronika asked.
Stephan stood tall and puffed out his chest. "I'll have you know coppice rights can be very complex."
"You can't have been talking about available coppice rights all that time," Veronika insisted.
Stephan smiled. "We could have, but we got to talking about why Herr Spengler was interested in purchasing coppice rights."
Veronika sighed, and glared at Stephan. "Why does a man who looks like he's a journeyman want coppice wood?"
"He wants to use wood pulp in place of rag pulp to make paper."
"Can he do that?"
"He believes so. Certainly the up-timers seem to have done so."
"How much money does he have?" Catrin asked.
"Catrin!" Veronika cried. "You shouldn't ask questions like that?"
"Well, what else is there worth knowing about a man?"
"Whether or not he is available for marriage," Stephan said. "And I believe Herr Spengler is uncommitted."
"There you are, Veronika, the perfect man for you. Not only does he have money, but he's also cute."
"I am not thinking about marrying a man I've only met once," Veronika protested.
"His name's Gottfried Spengler, from Naumburg, and he's been a journeyman papermaker for over a decade," Stephan told Catrin.
"Veronika needs to visit the library to find out everything she can about papermaking so she can impress him with her knowledge," Catrin said.
"I am standing right here, you know," Veronika said. "And what's the good of going to the library? Everything will be in English."
"Stop being so negative, Veronika. You'll never catch a man that way. There are dictionaries. Besides, I'll be there to help you."
That didn't reassure Veronika as much as Catrin probably hoped. It was one thing to be embarrassed in front of Stephan. The older man had been a friend and confidant ever since she first started work at the council. She just hated to think about what level of embarrassment Catrin could induce in a public place like the library.
****
The Grantville Public Library was as busy as usual that evening. It wasn't totally due to the knowledge in the books. The fact that the building was heated also had something to do with it. Veronika and Catrin considered themselves lucky to get almost immediate assistance from the front desk.
"My friend is interested in finding out something about how up-timers made paper," Catrin told the library aide.
"The main library at the high school is better equipped to handle that kind of request," Yvette Tyler said.
"Veronika doesn't need to know everything about it, just enough to hold a conversation." Catrin leaned closer to the up-timer and whispered loudly across the counter. "There's this guy she's interested in, who's a papermaker."
"Catrin!" Veronika grabbed her friend and pulled her away from the counter.
Yvette's lips twitched. "That level we can probably help you with. How good is your English?" she asked Veronika
"Not very good."
"Then you probably don't want to use any of the encyclopedias." Yvette pulled out a draw and started flipping through cards.
"We'd like use an encyclopedia. We just don't think we'd understand what they said," Catrin said.
"Well, it seems you might be in luck. Someone's written a monograph on paper and papermaking in German, and we have a copy. Are you a member?"
Veronika passed over the library card she'd first been issued when she started training at the Vo Tech.
"Right, that seems to be in order. I'll be right back."
Yvette returned with a hard-covered monograph of about thirty pages. She flicked through all the pages to prove they were there and in good condition before passing Veronika a borrower's form to fill out. When that was done she exchanged the form for the monograph. "Remember, no drink or food near the book. Any note taking to be done with a pencil, and no writing in the book."
A few days later
Gottfried stood, breathing heavily from the hard climb, on the highest peak of the land he'd acquired the coppice rights to, and gazed around him. To the west, about a mile distant, were the cliffs of the Ring Wall around Grantville. A quarter mile to the south was the Saale and the Grantville-Kamsdorf railroad. The land was steep, but that was all the better for moving wood down to the river flats where he planned to locate his mill.
There was one thing wrong with this land, and that was the lack of water. There was a creek in the valley, but its flow didn't amount to much. That meant he'd need to negotiate for a waterwheel on the Saale, or invest in one of the new steam engines.
He took one last satisfying look over his new domain before setting off in search of some of the charcoal burners still working the land. Friedrich's new friend had suggested that they might be happy to work for him if it meant they could stay in the hills they called home.
****
Gottfried left the hill a happy man. He'd found himself a workforce who actually wanted to live and work on his hills. Now all he had to do was put together a design for the sulfite-process mill of his dreams and acquire the necessary consents.
April 1633, Saalfeld
"What do you mean, no?" Gottfried glared at the petty bureaucrat who was denying him his dream. "Why has my application been declined?"
"The quality of the water you wish to discharge into the Saale is not of sufficient standard," Nikolaus Rorer said. "His Grace has enacted regulations that demand a higher minimum water quality of all discharges into the waterways under his control."
"That doesn't seem to apply to USE Steel," Gottfried muttered, thinking of the company in which Duke Johann Philipp was known to have a major shareholding.
"USE Steel has been given until June to have their discharge water up to standard, or they will have their right to discharge water cancelled. USE Steel is subject to the same regulations as any other enterprise with existing water rights. His Grace is not playing favorites, and it ill becomes you to suggest otherwise."
Gottfried cursed his tongue. Even if he wasn't going to get the chemical discharge consent he needed, it was counterproductive to offend the person with the power to stall any subsequent consent applications he might file. "But cleaning the discharge to the standard you're demanding will make the whole project uneconomic." He had employed the Grantville wastewater treatment plant's Otto Kubala to design and cost various options. The one he'd presented to the council had been the cheapest he thought they might accept, but even that was so expensive his new paper would be barely competitive.
"Unfortunately, too many people depend on the river for us to allow any further deterioration in the water quality. However, the council is willing to grant you consent to build your mill on the Saale, just
as long as you don't introduce any new chemicals into the water."
"But making paper uses all sorts of chemicals."
"The conventional sizing agents are not considered to be a problem."
Gottfried wanted to protest, but he knew it was best to retreat whilst he was ahead. "Thank you," he said, before walking out of Rorer's office.
He stopped at the reception counter and called to the young women hammering away at their typewriters. "Excuse me," he called to gain their attention, "I understand I can request a copy of the decision on my consent application?"
"That's right. Was your application successful?" the older of the two said as she approached the counter.
"No, and that's why I want to have my own copy. I want to see if there is any chance of having the decision reversed."
The older woman handed a form to Gottfried. "You need to fill out this form and pay the appropriate fee. What did your application fail on?"
"The quality of the waste water I wished to discharge."
"Oh, dear. Then I don't think you have much chance of getting the decision reversed. The council is very strict about water quality. They even insisted that USE Steel improve the quality of their waste water discharge or have their right to it revoked. Does this mean you won't be building your paper mill?"
"How did you know I want to build a paper mill?" Gottfried demanded.
The woman blushed and lowered her eyes briefly. "I was curious why anybody would want coppice wood, and asked Herr Wachter."
That blush had Gottfried paying more attention to the young woman. She was quietly attractive, and had a pretty smile. "Wood is the way of the future."
"So, are you still going to build a paper mill? I understand you can make paper out of ground-wood pulp as well as chemically pulped wood."
Gottfried's brows shot up in surprise. "You know about making paper?"
"Only what I read in the library."
"Now why would a young lady be reading about papermaking in the library?" Gottfried asked, wondering how she'd answer.
She blushed, but stayed mute, confirming Gottfried's suspicion that she had read up on papermaking because of him. He looked her up and down, adding further to her rising color, and he definitely liked what he was seeing. "I've already sunk too much into the project to just give up, so I guess I will still build a mill, even if I have to make paper that's good for nothing better than the newspapers."
"Why would the paper you make only be good for newspapers?"
Veronika-he'd finally realized her name was printed on the card pinned to her jacket-sounded indignant on his behalf, and that made him even more interested. "Straight ground-wood pulp contains something called lignin, which causes the paper to turn yellow after a few weeks."
"And nobody's going to care if their weeks old newspaper goes yellow?"
"That's right. Besides, I can make nearly twice as much paper from ground-wood pulp as I can from chemically pulped wood."
That evoked a wrinkled brow from Veronika. "If you can make twice as much paper from ground wood, why would you ever want to use chemically pulped paper?"
"Because with chemically pulped wood I can make high quality white paper that doesn't yellow as it ages," Gottfried said
"But can't you already do that using rag?"
"Yes, but I want to use wood pulp." Gottfried was most emphatic about that. Wood really was the material of the future. Rag suffered from shortages of supply forcing up the price of paper. "It would have been a fine challenge to make fine white paper from wood pulp."
"Ah, so it's an ego thing."
"There are sound economic reasons for wanting to make white paper. It commands a much higher price and . . ." Gottfried suddenly stopped talking and stared straight into Veronika's eyes. What he saw there had him pointing an accusing finger at her. "You are laughing at me."
"No, I'm not."
"A likely story." Veronika wasn't even trying to be convincing. "Just you wait. Before summer I'll be producing paper in my mill."
"But it'll be ground-wood pulp suitable for nothing but newspapers."
"Don't be so mean to the nice man, Veronika." The other woman, Catrin, if her name card was to be believed, smiled at Gottfried. "Veronika's really interested in how paper's made."
That was too good an opening to miss. "Maybe you'd both like to be shown around the mill where I work?"
"Yes, when would be convenient? Saturday afternoon?" Catrin asked.
"I'll be expecting you. Do you know where Merkel's mill is?"
Catrin nodded.
"Until Saturday afternoon." Gottfried sent one last lingering gaze over Veronika and Catrin before he walked out of the office.
****
"How could you?" Veronika demanded the moment Gottfried was out of earshot.
"It was easy. You should be thanking me, you know. You've now got the perfect opportunity to further your acquaintance with your journeyman."
"He's not my journeyman," Veronika said.
Catrin smiled. "But it's obvious he could be."
With the heat building up in her face, Veronika knew there was nothing to do but return to work, and dream about Saturday afternoon.
Saturday
Gottfried sat down outside the main entrance to Merkel's mill to await his guests. Beside him, already sitting his chair back on its legs, was Friedrich, who'd lost no time in inviting himself along when Gottfried had mentioned his guests.
"Are you sure they know where to come?" Friedrich asked.
"If they didn't know where Merkel's mill is, I'm sure the one called Catrin will find out."
"What's she like?"
"Catrin? She's a pleasant enough youngster, but a bit forward."
"No, not her, the other one. The one you're interested in. What'd you say her name was?"
"Veronika. She's smart, with a sense of humor. Did I tell you how she poked fun at me wanting to make white paper?"
"Just a couple of hundred times. So, is it serious?"
"Who knows? She might not even be interested in marrying me."
Friedrich snorted. "Of course she's interested. You're a journeyman planning to build a mill. I'm surprised all the young women aren't sniffing around."
"Not many know I'm planning on building a mill. So you really think Veronika might be interested in me?"
"Not you, the mill."
Gottfried almost responded by tugging Friedrich's chair further back, but a couple of shapes walking up the path stopped him. "They're here."
Friedrich let his chair fall back on all four legs and shot to his feet. "Well, come on, let's go and meet the fine ladies."
"I hope Catrin takes a shine to you," Gottfried muttered as he got to his feet.
****
Gottfried stood right behind Veronika feeling the warmth of her body as he pointed out the features of the Hollander beater. "The Hollander beater was invented by the Dutch, hence it's name. That heavy roller rotates, dragging the rag between it and the bedplate, shredding the rag into a pulp. It also generates a current so the contents of the beater are properly mixed."
"Is it much of an advantage over the old techniques?"
Gottfried smiled into her upturned face. "You wouldn't believe how much better the Hollander is. Previously we had to hammer the rags into pulp, move the pulp to a mixing vat, and then mix in the sizing agents. The Hollander does it all in one operation."
"And when the beater has done its work you drain the pulp into the headbox?" Veronika asked.
"Yes."
"It's just like the description in the monograph in the library. But where is your Fourdrinier table?"
"That's one up-time innovation we can't get to work. I don't know what the up-timers used, but everyone who has tried to make a proper Fourdrinier table has hit the same problem-the constant flexing of the wire mesh belt around the rollers causes the wires to break. What we've done here is to replace a single mesh belt with a belt made up of regular paper molds."
"Wh
at sort of advantage is that over the old way?"
"By mechanically filling the molds we can get consistent paper using unskilled labor, and we're making paper at twice the rate a skilled journeyman could make it the old way."
"But if there's no skill element in papermaking, doesn't that mean you're not needed?"
That was Veronika poking fun at him again. He almost dropped a kiss onto her nose. "I am needed, but mostly just to set everything up, and to keep an eye on the workers."
"You mean you're just a supervisor? I can't think of anything more boring than that."
"That's why I want my own mill."
"But you'll want to use the same machines in your own mill, won't you?"
"I have my own ideas for a better system."
"So you're looking for job satisfaction in producing the system, not the paper?" Veronika asked.
Gottfried stared at her. He hadn't thought of it that way. "Well, yes, I guess so."
"And will you be able to get enough satisfaction out of developing a production system to make up for making newsprint rather than white paper?"
"I hope so. Do you want to see my plans for my mill?"
"Yes, please"
****
"That went rather well," Gottfried said as the young women disappeared down the path.
"She still got you interested?" Friedrich asked.
"Yes, and she seems to be very interested in papermaking."
"Of course she's interested in what you do. How else will she know if it's worth dragging a proposal of marriage out of you or not?"
"Veronika's not like that," Gottfried protested.
"She's a woman. All women are like that.'"
"Well, she's gone a bit further than just being interested in what I do. Veronika seems to have a firm grasp of the concepts. She even had some good ideas on the possible layout of the mill."
"What would a woman know about the layout of a mill?" Friedrich asked.
"She's working towards her GED, and has done some business papers at the Vo Tech in Grantville."
"Book learning," Friedrich muttered.
"Yes, book learning. But her book learning with my practical knowledge . . ."
"So it's got that far?"
Gottfried shook his head. "No, but I'm definitely thinking about it."
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