Phwolfe Song (Golsidan Revival Series Book 1)

by Kimberly McLaughlin

  Anna yawned. “Well, that worked out. Do you think people will take the contracts, honey?” She asked as she headed to bed.

  Des crawled into bed and pulled Anna to him. He belly chuckled. “They will all sign a contract of one sort or another. You are going to get a lot of bureaus and sheets made love.”

  “Good, we will need a lot for children’s hall.” Anna snuggled into Des and fell asleep. She woke up early and trotted up to Heroes’ Hall. She stored all of the packaged tienara biscuits. She made up five more batches with the last of the flour and put them directly on the serving platters.

  At eight sixty, Anna trotted down to East 6. Sato arrived just after her. “Sato, I want to do mostly tienara tonight. We need the nuts to make flour for the feast. I have used up all the flour I made earlier.”

  “I like tienara biscuits too. We will do tienara. Just have the process crew, throw the nuts in boxes. You plan to bake them so they don’t need to be packaged. Let’s go fill the scaffold and bring in some to start.”

  Anna nodded. They filled the scaffold together. Sato unsnapped, what Anna sent over. Once the carts were full, they pushed them in. By the time the crew arrived, they had seven nets of tienara at each station, the boxes set up, and the scaffold full.

  Sato nodded to Anna. “Okay people, two things. First, we need tienara nuts for the feast, so that is all we plan to do tonight. Just throw the nuts in the boxes, we need them to roast and make flour, no sense in packaging them. Second, Phwolfe has some labor trade contracts posted on the trade page. The payment will come out of my Hunter’s Share.” Anna smiled widely. “Please fill what contracts you can. I have high hopes and plans for those items. They will be stored in supply depot East 1 for now. But eventually Des and I would like to be hall parents. Those items are going to go to Children’s Hall when we know which Children’s Hall, we will be in.” Anna nodded to Sato.

  “Okay people, sign in.” Sato led Anna out to second level. He asked in a low voice. “What are you contracting made?”

  “The bureaus and steps, I also designed some sweaters, vests, and sheets. Those can be contract made too. I put in for all the sizes from youngest to eldest. I want them done in solid colors with a tough denua fiber tag, so I can mark them.”

  “Can you really mark them with a mind image?”

  “Bring your wolf sculpture tomorrow night. I will mark it, if you want me to.”

  Sato nodded. “I will bring it.” They jumped rail and went to work. Tienara clusters grew so huge they filled the carts fast. The carters had to go at a run to keep up. After the shift was done, Anna loaded a cart with boxes of nuts.

  “Thanks people. If any of you carters want to stay, you can push the nuts to the corridor of Heroes’ Hall. I’m going to fill the roasting ovens, so don’t go in the center station room. May your blood stay strong.” Anna trotted off.

  Anna managed to get two roasting’s done and the third one in the ovens. She finished four batches of flour and had more crushed nuts drying before it was time to leave. She racked everything and pushed it to East 4. Des had supper waiting when she got home. She decided she should try to find some time, to make some of Des’s salad for the feast.

  Des yawned as they crawled into bed. “All of the healers kept asking about the Wolfe mark. I told them about the labor contracts. Most of them talked about doing sheets, vests, or sweaters. A few wanted to make bureaus. We should contract Tanake to make some designed clothes for the young tai’twain and the eldest and then contract some of them made. The children will need lots of clothes. You have a dozen of everything and are always doing laundry to stay in clean clothes.”

  Anna yawned. “The split day causes it. I wear one set for the warm and dirty them. Then I need another set for the cool. We’ll need lots of pajamas too for the same reason. The children will need to learn how to do their own laundry or else the hall parents will never have time to do anything else.”

  “You must teach the first children in each parent’s hall. The older children can teach the newborns. First showers and laundry, then you can teach them how to use the central stations. The heat won’t bother them.”

  “They could get burned!”

  “How have you kept from getting burned?”

  “I have a set of pot holders on each oven.”

  “You will teach the children to always use them. They will have to be at least through their first transition growth before they are big enough to move pans. They can learn to bottle first. The bottling tubes reach the floor. That is where I learned to bottle. Set the bottles on the floor, fill them, put the tops on, and slide them onto the bottom level of a cart. I remember it well. First teach them to bottle, then to weigh and package, and then they learn to help prepare. Make steps up to the countertop. I used to be lifted up. They can lay savti in pans and pour gesar syrup. They can mix flatbread. I loved helping to do things as a child, didn’t you?”

  Anna nodded sheepishly. “Andy and I stayed with one family that taught us how to cook. They even let us help with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. We stayed with them for almost three years, before we got moved. I’ll teach the children how to cook. I bet they’ll love helping with feasts.”

  Anna felt Des nod, then she fell asleep. She woke up early and trotted to Heroes’ Hall. She set to roasting more tienara nuts and making more flour. She stayed at it until she ran out of pans. Tamsi, Tawai, Pealo, Krea, Marfi, and Miasla were all working at East 4 by one ninety. She decided to give them some time to catch up.

  Anna ran to East 6 and harvested as much unripe greal as she could carry. She took it back to Heroes’ Hall. She washed it, diced it up, and set it in trays of gesar syrup to soak. She trotted down to Midsoutheast 4 and harvested a cart full of salad makings, belao, oesla, and catronu. At Heroes’ Hall, she washed and sliced them up. She found some big serving bowls. It took four carts to fill them. Lastly, she mixed in the soaked greal and drizzled on the leka. By the time the salads were done, a clean stack of pans waited for her in East 4.

  Anna put the next five roasting’s of tienara nuts directly onto the serving platters. She re-filled them and put the sixth batch in to roast. She trotted to East 4. “Hi, everybody! Do you need additional leka, gesar syrup, or catronu oil to make some more tienara biscuits?”

  “Yes, to all three.” Tamsi said. “How many more batches?”

  “Three more batches will do the feast, and then I don’t know seven or eight to go to honor gifts. I’ll drop the ingredients off here. I plan on working this cool till ten. Tomorrow, I’ll work just on the feast, no over the rail.” Anna shrugged. “I’ll offer them gardens Midsoutheast 4, 5, and 6 to harvest in. The invalid crew cleared good paths.”

  Miasla nodded. “The healers are saying that they won’t stay invalids for much longer. Soon there will be no invalid list only a few on restricted!”

  “Excellent! We will have to rearrange the harvest, once the invalids go back to their trades.”

  Marfi smiled. “I am agri-farmer. I stay with cool shift.”

  “As will I, my first trade is teaching, then agri-farmer, then spacemanship. I will do agri-farmer until I can teach.” Miasla smiled widely at Anna.

  “About thirty-six months till the first one Miasla, then more will come. In forty-two to forty-six months, Wolfe will need many teachers. I’ll start a list. Kali has already spoken for Gresa. Do you want to be the second teacher, Wolfe offers a contract to?”

  “Yes, please. I wish to teach. Kambu and Telluri were my students. I wish to teach youngest again. I teach life lessons, history, agri- and space trades. Please?” Miasla pleaded.

  Anna nodded. “You’re second on the list. Spread the word amongst the others with teacher trade. Eventually Wolfe will need lots of teachers. I’m headed home now. Thanks for the help. May your blood stay strong.”

  Anna called Jatlo when she got home. She told him to offer gardens Midsoutheast 4, 5, and 6 to her watchers tonight and her over rail crew tomorrow. “I’ve got to finish up
for the feast. How are the honor gifts coming along?”

  “Most of them have been decided. I put what was needed in the packaging room. You didn’t notice the missing stock?”

  “I noticed the unverified gesar syrup and catronu oil took a serious hit. I’ll try to start some more this cool. What about the high level honor gifts?”

  “Have you looked at the arts page lately?”

  “No, are there showings and listings? People have been doing arts again, really?”

  “Really!” Jatlo chuckled. “Now that there are dyes, cloth, yarn, tough denua fiber, and glues available, people have gone back to the arts with a passion.”

  “That is awesome. Jatlo, I wanted to ask you and I will ask Tanake this cool. Would you consider contracting some designs for Wolfe? I would like to have some rugs made for the children’s rooms, beside the bed and in front of the bureau would be nice and maybe one at the foot of the beds. The floors feel cold in the mornings.”

  “What sizes and colors were you thinking of?”

  “Nothing elaborate, I want functional rugs not ornamental ones, solid colors or simple mixtures of a couple of colors. Beside the beds about one by three meters and we could use one big one to go between the beds about two by four meters. That’s for the youngest rooms. I’m not sure what would be needed in the young tai’twain or eldest rooms.”

  “Well, youngest would need to be done first anyways. I will do the designing for one of the bigger bureaus and one of the boxes for the bottom of the bed.”

  “Deal, I’ll make your bureau and box tonight and put them beside the kitchen table; you can pick them up whenever you want.”

  “Don’t forget to mark them. Even items, you make for trade should be marked. I will pick them up, tomorrow warm. What did you want Tanake to design?”

  “Some simple clothes for the eldest and young tai’twain also some pajamas to wear to bed. All the children will need pajamas. We could use the three-quarter tunics, but those are a complex pattern. Something simple that could be worn by both the girls and boys would be much better.”

  “Talk to Tanake. No one can design clothes better than him. May your blood stay strong.” Jatlo rang off.

  Anna went over to supply and ordered up what she needed for Jatlo’s box and bureau. Des arrived, followed by a brigade of medics who all carried an item of some sort, as she was setting the table. Some of them lugged bureaus between them. Anna mentally queried Des. Is that all contracted stuff? Des nodded and gave her a hug.

  “Wow! All right people! Bureaus first, we will need them to put everything in. Des, can we set up a way to store the sizes separately, a bureau or drawer for each size?”

  “I will figure it out. Liso and Tava said they would stay and help. You just mark the stuff and we will store it. Tava is great at organizing and will set up an efficient system.”

  Anna smiled at Tava and Liso. “Thank you!” She motioned everyone in or at least as many as fit. More people crowded into the hall. She shook her head. “Wow! Okay, let’s get started. Could everyone have the tags on the outside where I can see them, when it’s their turn? Hi Liso, you made a bureau. It’s a nice one. Thank you; I’ll put the mark right on the top right drawer.”

  Anna tried to say something nice about every item as she marked it. Such a pretty color, what fine stitching, this will look lovely with the quilts. It was mostly sheets of various sizes, about two dozen of the smaller vests and sweaters, and eleven bureaus, all the bigger ones, thank goodness. When Des called the time, only a dozen people remained. Anna finished them up.

  Anna turned to Des, Liso, and Tava. “I had no idea; so many people would take the contracts. How did we do?”

  “The smaller sizes are quicker to make. You have a hundred and sixteen sheet size smallest, seventy-one sheet size small, fifty-three sheet size medium, eleven sheet size big, and fourteen sheet size biggest.” Liso recited.

  “Plus, you got eleven small smallest size sweaters, nineteen small smallest vests, and eleven bureaus.” Des added.

  “I organized them into sections, come. I will show you.” Tava motioned Anna into the supply depot. “Five rows, one each for smallest, small, medium, big, and biggest. The first two sections in each row will be the bureaus and steps. They will take a lot of room. Then you have the sheets section, then vests, then sweaters. Use the big bureaus to store everything in. I think you will need a lot of bureaus until you have the time to make shelves and hanging racks. Or maybe built in color coded drawers would work best.”

  “This is great, thank you Tava. We can go further down the row as we add items.”

  “You will get a lot more tonight. They only brought what they had finished. They all have more to do and some decided to wait until they finished all of their order, most contracted for at least three or four dozen.” Des explained.

  Tava nodded. “I contracted a dozen bureaus. I have finished four but we can only carry one at a time.” He smiled widely.

  “Use one of the takosund carts. The sideboards come off. You could fit at least four or five bureaus on them. The two of you could manage the cart alone.” Anna smiled.

  “We will do that and bring them this cool. You will need them. May your blood stay strong.” Tava waved and walked out. Liso followed with a grin.

  “I can’t believe my Hunter’s Share is paying for all of this.” Anna said in awe.

  “Honey!” Des shook his head. “Number four takosund measured up as the biggest takosund ever taken on the ship at twenty-seven point three meters long and scaled in at four thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven pounds. Your six point nine eight percent of just that takosund comes to three hundred and thirty-two point seven pounds which equals over eight hundred portions of takosund. Plus, your percentage of the other five comes to seven hundred and eighty pounds. Shalo finished the numbers and came to tell me. He wanted me to know that I am married to a very rich woman.”

  “Oh!”

  “The contract fee for the smallest sheets is eight sheets sewn for one portion of takosund. Wolfe supplies the cloth and sewing is easy. Shalo had some pins and needles made up and loans them out. They must be returned, when the item gets finished. The people only invest their time. It is a good deal for them. Shalo said your Hunter’s Share will cover everything, you wanted done. All the sheets, vests, sweaters, steps, and bureaus, you asked Jatlo to open for contract. Plus, he said, you will still have the equivalent of four hundred and eleven portions left. Most of the portions get traded to the equivalent value of cloth or yarn. They equal quite a lot, even in colors. Shalo said one portion of takosund, switched to cloth is enough to do two ornate three quarter tunics. Not a bad trade for sewing eight little sheets.”

  “I didn’t know takosund was worth that much. I mean we put quite a lot onto commodities the first time.”

  “Did you even look at the credit, it gave you?”

  Anna shook her head. “There was nothing I could buy with it. I figured once commodities came up with some stuff, I wanted. I’d check it out.”

  “Boy! I am glad you hired Jatlo and Shalo. You have no trade sense whatsoever. If Wolfe becomes a sub-clan right now, it has enough credit to pay its hundred founding members for approximately five annuals.”

  “Really! But would that be fair. Well, there’s stuff on commodities for them to buy, now.” Anna shrugged. “I didn’t really think it was fair before with nothing for anyone to buy.” Anna yawned.

  “Come on, to bed with you.” Des pushed Anna toward the bed and followed her with a tray of food.

  Anna crawled under her blankets. “So if I use my Hunter’s Share, every time towards contracting stuff for children’s hall. Even if there is no Wolfe, children’s hall would still get outfitted pretty good.”

  Des nodded. “A hunt every twenty or twenty-five days is plenty, love. Don’t overdo it.” Des shook a finger at Anna.

  “I won’t.” Anna barely finished eating before she fell asleep. She woke up at the alarm alone. She headed down
to East 4. She grabbed a cart full of packaged goods and pushed it to Heroes’ Hall.

  Anna put the packaged items away. Then she started working the roasting and drying ovens again. She concentrated on the drying ovens as much as she could. When packaged correctly, the flour never went bad. After she stacked the full trays at East 4, she made some garden runs at Midsoutheast 4 and 5. She hit just the gesar and catronu. She had seventeen big pots boiling, a stack of rinds in pans, and three presses full, when she went home.

  A line of people waited at the door. Anna cut through it. She left the door open and motioned the people in. They had a lot more steps and bureaus tonight. She spotted Liso and Tava in line and asked them to come to the front. “Everyone please let Liso and Tava through. They helped put stuff away this hot, so I owe them.” The people parted. She marked Tava’s bureaus like she marked them all, on the top right drawer.

  “We will direct people, if you send them back.” Liso offered.

  “Thank you.” Anna marked items and asked the people to carry them through to the supply depot. Des, Sato, and Fienu showed up and went to help Liso and Tava.

  Tanake showed up in line with an assortment of twenty-six sheets, mostly in the big and biggest sizes. Doru came along behind him with seven small bureaus on a takosund cart. “Liso said you didn’t mind us using the carts.”

  Anna smiled. “It makes it easier, I don’t mind.” Thank goodness, it went quick. Everybody had been taken care of by thirteen of eleven. The guys came out of the supply depot. “Wow! At this rate, the contract orders will be filled pretty quickly.” She sighed. “Join us for supper Tanake, Doru, Liso, Tava.” They nodded. The table was crowded, but none of them minded.

  At eight of eleven, Gresa pushed a takosund cart through the door. Kali struggled behind him with another cart. The carts barely cleared the door frames rounded high with net’s holding everything down. Fienu and Sato helped unload. Everybody else carried thirty-two steps, twenty-two small bureaus, and three big bureaus back to supply. Anna shook her head. “Have either of you slept, since the contracts went out?”