Elves- the Book of Daniel

by R Brent Powell

  "I thank you for your courtesy, Henry. My name is Daniel and I would be pleased if you addressed me as a friend." This isn’t so hard, Daniel thought, they have no reason to fear us and Barton seems to be pretty well accepted. The thought had barely appeared in his mind when Barton stopped short trying to avoid running into Henry.

  Henry had turned without a word and stepped toward Daniel moving past Barton as if he took it for granted that Barton would yield ground and move out of his way. Daniel stopped short to avoid Barton and took a half step back to steady himself. Henry stopped half a stride in front of Daniel looking at him calmly. Suddenly, Daniel became fully aware of Henry’s size. Daniel was used to being one of the tallest people in the room, and Henry’s extra inch or two in height was not the intimidating part. Henry clearly outweighed him in bone and muscle mass by fifty pounds and Daniel’s knee quivered as he fought the urge to back another step. Daniel was beginning to wish he had paid more attention to how that sliding wall opened and closed from the inside.

  "I see three kinds of people," Henry said not taking his eyes from Daniel's, "those are friend, those who are foe, and the most dangerous of the three, those who could be either. I sense no malice or threat in you, Daniel, and more importantly, no falseness. That leaves only a fool or a fair man. It is unlikely that a fool could escape from the dungeon or be brought here by Barton. That leaves you a fair man, and until proven false, you may count me as friend to you." With that Henry extended an enormous hand to Daniel.

  Daniel stared at the hand briefly then looked squarely into Henry's eyes before extending his own hand. Henry's handshake was powerful but not painful. Daniel remembered a discussion he had had once on the original meaning of the word ‘meek’, controlled power, someone had said, and controlled power described Henry.

  "I am new here," Daniel said, "and this land is very strange to me, so a new friend is more than welcome and I will do my best to prove your reasoning correct." With that their hands bobbed up-and-down once as if to seal the bond, and Henry turned back to leading them down the corridor without another word.

  Daniel smiled to see Barton's face so clearly surprised. The expression was only beginning to fade as Barton turned back to follow Henry. All in all, Daniel was feeling pretty good about the whole exchange. He really had no idea what was going on here and he hadn’t completely given up on the idea that he was in a delusional state. Whatever the reality is, he thought, I’ve played enough video games to slide into role playing mode when I feel like it. He was smiling to himself as he fought the urge to look up and see his purple name text floating in the air over his head.

  SIX

  They followed Henry through corridors, or hallways; exactly what they were, Daniel couldn’t decide. They were stone-lined and brick-lined passages that were too well finished to fit his mental picture of sewer waterways. The doorways from one section to another would change in size and constructions with some square and some arched. The changes in design and construction were frequent and some of the sections were not as long as a small house.

  They passed many closed doors in the side walls before Henry opened one of them on his left. Entering the room Daniel was surprised to see it brightly lit with large candles as well as oil lamps and decorated brightly and lavishly. The room was large like the master bedroom in a mansion, with walls arching up to a cathedral ceiling a dozen or more feet overhead. The plaster looked new and freshly painted and the four-poster bed was so large Daniel wondered how they had gotten it in the room. It was ornately carved and like everything else in the room, it seemed chosen for its own merits not its ability to fit in with anything else.

  "Henry, if it's all right to ask, where are we? We came in through a cellar and now we've covered quite a distance, passing doorway after doorway. How has all this building come to be?"

  Henry glanced at Molly who stood in the doorway looking as if all she was interested in was them getting on with their tasks. Henry saw no reason a little history would hurt and Molly’s disdain was something to which he was long accustomed.

  "About 100 years ago the city caught fire and most of it burnt to the ground. When it came time to rebuild, the Baron above in those days had the city rebuilt to his liking. The wide streets and alleyways we have now, replaced those that used to wander about the city following the new houses and buildings as they were put up.

  Since it was easier to bring in new dirt and cover-up what was left, that's what they did. Leaving all this below untouched and forgotten.” Henry explained.

  “Barton added, “It wasn’t long before most people forgot about the old sewers, cellars, and storage rooms lost beneath the roads and alleys when the new city was built. Over time the folks down here have found most of them, but every now and then a new trash heap or treasure trove turns up behind a crumbling wall. Henry, when was the last valuable cellar discovered?"

  Henry looked away for a moment thinking and said, “About a month back I think. Molly?”

  Scowling, she answered, “Closer to two but I wouldn’t expect someone to remember who doesn’t have to dig through all that trying to find something of worth. And finding is what I need to be doing," Molly continued.

  Molly had remained quiet and apparently disinterested the whole walk to Basil’s quarters, but when she spoke there was nothing quiet about her voice. She had the twang and pattern in her speech of sturdy, practical, working women. The look she gave all three of them said she brooked no nonsense and her cynical tone made it clear she expected to be heard, if unappreciated.

  It was bad enough having to follow behind you all the way here, and it will take a week for the air to clear, but I don't suppose I have much choice,” She said as she reached into her apron pockets. Extracting several pieces of string while she walked toward them she said, “I'll have to measure you to figure out what clothes you can wear. Now the both of you stand still and do as I say."

  Molly circled the two of them looking them up-and-down with a well-practiced eye. Reaching into one of the pockets in her apron she withdrew a piece of string and began measuring Daniel. She made him extend his arms and measured from wrist to wrist, then around his waist, and from his waist to the floor. With each measurement she quickly tied a knot in the string that had some meaning to her. When she was done with Daniel, she moved to Barton and repeated the process with a second piece of string.

  "Traveling clothes,” she said, I suppose you’d be needing boots as well." It wasn't really a question directed at either Barton or Daniel, it was more of a statement that she was making to herself. "I'll see if I can scare up some proper boots and stockings fit for a hike." The whole time she spoke she was either making mental notes or tying knots in a piece of string.

  Apparently finishing with her knots and mental notes, she placed a piece of string in each of two pockets to separate them, and turned to Henry with a more formal stance as if clearly drawing a line. "It's your task to see that they get clean and I can tell you I wouldn't want them in my tub, but Basil says to get them bathed, so I guess they will get bathed."

  Casting one more look at Barton and Daniel as if double checking her mental notes, she spun on her heel and headed for the door. Opening the door, she looked back over her shoulder and said, "I'll have hot water sent this way," and with a quick sniff added, "lots of hot water." Daniel could hear her amused chortle as the door closed behind her.

  "She'll do her best for you," Henry said as he smiled at the closed-door. "Molly takes care of a lot of us and has a good heart, even if her tongue gets a bit sharp at times. The tub is in here." When he mentioned the tub he nodded towards the door in the right hand wall before walking over and opening it.

  The room was about ten feet square with two ornately carved chairs and a matching wooden wash stand supporting a porcelain sink-shaped bowl. It had a matching porcelain water pitcher on the left of the bowl and towels neatly folded on its right. Dominating the room was large high-backed brass tub sitting on four legs
ending in clawed feet. Daniel was surprised at the shiny brass tub. Something about its curvy lines and ornate feet made him think of something out of a ‘Three Musketeers’ movie. Since it was always his impression that Europeans in that era hadn't bathed much, he was surprised that anyone here would have a private tub, let alone such a fancy one. But it was the size of the tub that had Daniel most concerned. It was definitely large enough for two and he began to wonder if he was expected to bathe with Barton at the same time. He seemed to remember that on annual taxing day in old England the household was required to take a bath. The head of the house bathed first and when he was done the next one in the hierarchy bathed and so on until the lowest in the pecking order, usually the stable boy, had his turn. Daniel always wondered if the stable boy came out of the water any cleaner than he had gone in. He looked at the giant tub again and while he wasn't exactly shy; locker rooms all have communal showers after all, but showers in a locker room were a far cry from climbing in the tub with Barton.

  "Henry, is this bathtub from France?" Daniel asked hoping for information.

  "I've heard some say the Franks built it, but I don't know for sure. It was found in one of the lost cellars and Basil took a liking to it, particularly because it's big enough to share, if you know what I mean." Henry added the last with a brief clearing of his throat for emphasis. “Took some of the boys a week to polish it up to Basil’s liking.”

  Right on cue the door swung open and the parade of people carrying buckets of steaming water filed into the bath chamber and emptied the buckets into the tub. "Shall we flip for who goes first?" Barton asked. Daniel nodded with more than a little relief with the tub question answered. Barton pulled out the silver dollar and flipped the large shiny coin in the air in plain sight of Henry. "Heads or tails?" Barton asked as he caught the coin in the air and flipped it onto the back of his wrist covering it with his hand. Daniel tried to hide his concern when he realized what Barton was doing and looked quickly at Henry seeing that the large silver coin had not gone unnoticed. "Well, what's it's to be Daniel. Call it and you have your choice."

  "Heads." Daniel called watching intently as Barton peeled his hand slowly off the coin. It was heads. Barton shrugged and pocketed the coin. The choice was easy. "I'll go first if you don't mind." Barton nodded his head slightly in acceptance.

  "There is soap on the washstand you can use," Henry said with a slight smile. "It may take a bit of scrubbing to get the moat and whatever is living in those rags off your skin." The discomfort really had not been too bad until Henry had made the comment. Then, all of a sudden, Daniel started to itch and could feel things crawling all over the tattered sack he was wearing. "Give a shout when you're done," Barton said as he and Henry left the chamber.

  It didn't take much effort to remove the clothes. Examining them by the light of the lamps in the bathing chamber, he wasn't really sure what had held them together this long. He found the soaps on the washstand and walked back to the tub. The soap was hard and felt rough, like it had pumice in it. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt him and he might need the pumice for serious crud removal. He put his hand in the water to test it and jerked it back out quickly. The room was cool but the brass tub was already beginning to radiate heat. Waiting for the water to cool he examined the workmanship of the tub more closely. The sides were hammered and it appeared that the entire tub was made from one sheet of brass. The legs were welded on in some fashion and while the feet seemed feathered and had four toes and claws the decorations along the upper edge of the high-back looked like grapes and leaves. When he eased his hand back into the water a few minutes later the heat had dissipated enough for the water to lose its sting so he eased in his left foot with the rest of him to follow.

  After several minutes of scrubbing with the soap, he was sure the smell would be gone along with the outside layer of skin. He was sitting angled in the tub with one leg over the side so he could scrub it more easily and inspect for anything crawling. He was working on his right calf when Molly walked into the room. With a shout of surprise he pulled his leg back into the bath and quickly placed his hands strategically over his private parts. Before he could assemble the first word of his sentence, Molly started in.

  "Ha! Bashful are we? I've raised four sons and two daughters and seen all the naked boys and men I ever wanted to so don't you be acting like you got anything I want to see. That pumice soap won't do anything but take the hide off. I knew well enough that Henry wouldn't know how to get clean. I brought you two some real soap from the laundry and I figured it might be strong enough to kill the smell, the lice, and whatever else has taken up residence. When I was a girl and first started helping with the laundry my hands and arms would burn from using this soap. But they toughened up after a while so I don't think this will kill you. If I was you I would scrub myself fast and not stay in that wash water too long. When you get dried off you'll find your things on Basil's bed."

  Molly held out the lump of a soap but Daniel’s hands remained in place, and the red in his face wasn’t from the hot water or the soap. After realizing he wasn’t going to reach for the soap, she dropped it unceremoniously into the tub so it would land near his hands.

  Daniel’s head jerked down to watch the soap land with a splash and then back up to Molly who seemed to tower over him in a cloud of disdain.

  "Men," she said shaking her head while she looked at Daniel, "nothing shy about them when they are trying to talk some girl into doing something she knows she shouldn't do, but catch them in a tub of water and you would think they had never seen a woman before." With that, she turned and rustled out the door.

  Daniel examined the chunk of soap she dropped on him. When he brought it close enough to smell it his eyes began to water immediately. He quickly moved the soap away from his nose and face. Some choice, he thought, scrub off all my skin with a piece of soap sandpaper or burn it off with some hunk of caustic alchemy. Daniel decided to follow Molly’s advice, and keeping her soap as high and away from the water as possible, he dunked his head underwater and with his hair thoroughly wet applied the soap. Five minutes later he was out of the tub, and toweling off. His skin was in between pink and red with the worst of the damage where he had already used the pumice soap. His scalp didn't feel any worse than after using one of those strong dandruff shampoos, so he consoled himself with the idea that when his hair fell out all of the critters left behind would be dead.

  The towel wrapped around his waist, he did his best to walk nonchalantly into the other room. "Your turn, Barton," he said, "The water is fine but that soap Miss Molly brought may be eating through the brass tub right now."

  "I've used that lye soap many times, boy. The trick is not getting it on anything tender, but I suspect you’ve discovered that on your own by now." Daniel’s sigh of red faced resignation started Henry laughing and Barton and Henry were both still laughing when the door to the bathing chamber closed.

  Daniel looked at the clothes lying on the bed. Barton had obviously already examined his and moved them off to a corner of Basil's bed. What was left for Daniel was a long off-white shirt similar to the one Henry was wearing, a wide leather belt, and tanned britches that seemed to be made of something like velvet. There was a wool jerkin (or maybe it was a tunic? He wasn't sure what to call it) and a pair of calf high boots that looked to be made of deerskin with a thick flexible sole and no heel.

  Henry watched Daniel staring at the clothing and examining it for some time before Henry finally spoke up, his voice flat and questioning. "Not to your liking, Daniel?"

  "No, no, the clothes are fine and I'm happy to have them it's just that the way people dress here is different than what I'm used to and," taking up the night shirt he lifted it toward Henry and said, "I'm not sure what to do with this."

  Henry’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Daniel, trying to spot some sign that Daniel was making sport of him. Apparently the expression on Daniel's face made it quite clear that he had no idea h
ow to dress. "Well, most folks here put on their leggings first, then put on the blouse. Myself, I put on the boots next, then tunic and belt to hold the leggings up and to keep the blouse and the tunic out of the way. You can't do much with a knife or a sword if you have to sort through what you're wearing to find that handle in time."

  They were both quiet while Daniel dressed. Daniel was wondering what kind of an idiot he must appear to be. It was what Henry had called the blouse that had confused him, it was a little long for a shirt and too billowy, but too short for one of the Middle Ages gowns he had seen in paintings. Once he had the blouse on, he understood why it all had to be belted. The leggings were more like loose leotards and would need the belt to stay up. The belt held your pants up, the tail of your shirt down, and the tunic provided a little warmth and protection for the shirt. The round-toed boots were soft enough that they fit him fairly comfortably. It occurred to him that soft leather would stretch to fit and hard leather had to be made accurately to fit the foot.

  Daniel was still experimenting with different ways to adjust his clothing when Barton walked into the room wearing nothing but a smile. "Much better," he said, "sometimes I forget just how good a bath can feel and I'm sure those nearby appreciate it as much as we do, Daniel." The clothing Barton put on was similar to that of Daniel's except that Barton's tunic was a bit longer and a dull green.