Grantville Gazette 45 gg-45

by Paula Goodlett

  Her mother patted her daughter's arm reassuringly. "You needn't worry about Christoph marrying that girl, Lottie my dear. Your father intends to make an offer for you soon enough, and with your dowry, the Wolfs won't be able to resist."

  "You know what I heard? Emma and Albert left for Grantville the day after the wedding. It must be costing a fortune!"

  "Those Wolfs and Brummes are getting above themselves," Master Gench said. "The Americans are giving young people too many unsuitable ideas. What are the Germanies coming to?"

  "You want to do what?"

  "Make limbs, bodies, like for people."

  The up-time researcher blinked and nudged the boy next to her. After whispering in his ear, he shook his head.

  "I. Uh. That's. I don't think you can do that. Maybe like Dolly. You know the sheep-clone? Except in scifi. "

  Emma stared in confusion and shook her head. "Dolly? Is she related to Brillo?"

  "No, no, never mind. Look, maybe we're working at cross purposes, not understanding each other. Why don't you start at the beginning?"

  Emma nodded and sat down across from the up-timer. "My parents, they got me and my husband those plastic model dolls, like Barbie, very expensive. "

  The girl snorted. "Tell me about it. The girls from the Consortium cleaned up, um, made a lot of money from even the cheap ones. I wish I'd been able to join, but my mom gave all my dolls to my cousin before the Ring."

  "My friend, Margarethe, is a seamstress and she makes dolls to help her business. She wishes to make dolls like Barbie, only of wood, but it takes time. What we need is a fashion doll like Barbie that we can produce quickly."

  The researcher nodded. "Well. I see. I tell you what, let's look in the craft section."

  The craft section of the library was not very large.

  "Susanna Oroyan's Designing the Doll has a lot of neat ideas. Your friend might be familiar with a lot of them if she does a lot of doll-making, but it might be worth it to copy the text."

  Emma nodded enthusiastically as she flipped through the pages. "Margarethe does do a lot of doll-making in her spare time, especially since her father died. I wish there was some way to copy the pictures. "

  "Here, Dawn Hertocher's Two Hundred Years of Dolls might provide you with some ideas about what was done up-time, and so might Douet's Identifying Dolls. But you know, if you wanted to do something really quick, you could do paper dolls or maybe coloring books. I hear the grade schools are crying for them."

  "Paper dolls? Why would anyone buy paper dolls? Those are easy to make. Mothers make them with their children for games during the winter. Or you can buy them from a printshop."

  "You can buy paper dolls?"

  "Oh yes. My father-in-law says they were the second thing Master Gutenberg printed after he finished the Bible. They're expensive though. You have to color them after printing or buy water colors or something to color them with after you buy them."

  "Like a coloring book?"

  Bert, who had joined Emma, scratched his head. "What's a coloring book?"

  The researcher led them to the kid's section and pulled out a thin book. "See? It's a basic outline drawing that kids color in. My teachers used it to teach us to draw inside the lines."

  "But how do they color them?"

  "Crayons. Oh, right. I forgot we don't have them yet down-time. Let me at least see what I can find out about how to make them."

  "The fashion books are doing well," Christoph reported at a business meeting. "But not the coloring books."

  "We need something to make them stand out," Julius grumbled. "The printers I sell them to place them on their shelves with the American's how-to guides and the Brillo pamphlets so they get lost. Who wants to buy something they could make at home just as easily?"

  "I told you they should have the coloring sticks with them," said Emma.

  Julius shook his head. "It would take time and another investment to make them work."

  Bert grunted. "Researcher said tallow would work. A bit greasy but with the cheap paper we're using it would be fine."

  Margarethe smiled and bounced slightly, noticing Christoph's jealous look at his brother-in-law. "I love this!" she said, just to make Christoph jealous.

  Why did Bert have to choose this of all times to make a speech? grumbled Christoph silently.

  "Ah, thank you my dear. That was just what I needed after a long trip."

  Margarethe smiled. "It is good to see you, Master Gench. You were so kind after Papa died."

  "Hardly a trial, Margarethe, child. Your papa was a good man and an upstanding member of the guild. My wife and I shall be proud to take over Calvin's business and welcome you into the family."

  She stared. "Take over Papa's business? Welcome me into the family? I. I don't understand."

  "Of course you do, child. Surely you've heard your neighbors' complaints? You are a young unmarried woman living alone. Even in this new world the Americans brought, it is unacceptable. Completely unacceptable!"

  "I don't. "

  Master Gench waved her to silence. "Here is what we shall do. My boy is almost past his apprenticeship. We will post the banns now and you can marry once Rolf has finished his apprenticeship. You will, of course, live with us until the wedding."

  "No. I will not marry your son. My papa left his business to me and I will keep it and I will not hand it over to you or your son! Not ever."

  "Margarethe, child, I just have your best interest at heart. If you were a seamstress to a noble family, few would question your unmarried state. But the guild cannot allow an unmarried orphan female of your age to continue to operate on her own in a town, and it will not. Either you will marry my son or you will end in a charity institution. Those are your only options."

  Agathe cradled Margarethe as she cried.

  "And he can do it! He can take everything! Everything my mama and papa, everything my grandparents built. "

  "How?" Emma asked. "The guild doesn't have control over who people buy their clothing from? We've always bought clothes and fabric from your family and so have the Brummes."

  "They can find other ways. Convince my suppliers to stop selling to me or increase their prices. Vandalize the shop. Convince the city authorities to arrest me on some crime or make me leave town. Undercut my prices until all my customers leave, then bring their prices back up once I'm in the poorhouse."

  "Isn't there any relation you could stay with while you work?" Agathe asked. Gesturing to Emma to bring Margarethe a cup of tea while she mopped Margarethe's face with her handkerchief as though she were a child.

  Margarethe shook her head. "Papa was an only child. Mama had some family in Altenburg, but it's been years since I heard from any of them."

  Emma came back carrying a mug. "Well I don't see why a woman can't run a business on her own if she's good enough at it. Or why a woman has to marry. I'm happy to have Bert, don't get me wrong, but I'll always wonder what I could have done on my own. Papa, what about that woman in Bamberg? The Ram printer? She defied the guild."

  "She had a powerful political movement behind her by the time it came to that. Unfortunately, Margarethe doesn't. What do you think, Gus?"

  Gus rubbed his head. "As I see it there are three choices. First Margarethe marries Rolf Gench as soon as his apprenticeship is over."

  Christoph stiffened. "I know Rolf. He's a fool and a bully. There's a reason why his parents haven't been able to arrange a marriage for him yet."

  Gus waved Christoph's comments away. "Second, Margarethe continues to run her seamstress business until the guild shuts her down. Hopefully by then the doll business will have taken off and it won't matter. The third option, if you want to find a better husband than Rolf Gench, and that wouldn't be hard. "

  Christoph sat up in his chair, smoothed his hose and pulled his doublet down. Emma and Agathe noticed and exchanged smiles.

  ". is to stop sewing clothes and concentrate on the dolls. The tailor's guild doesn't have jurisdiction over t
hem, in fact as far as I know no guild regulates doll-making."

  "But what happens if the dolls don't take off? And how do I live in the meantime? If I refuse Rolf Gench, his father may go to the town council and find a way to make me leave town. And I can't accept him and then call off if the doll business does well. "

  Tears formed again in Margarethe's eyes and Agathe motioned for a clean handkerchief.

  "I have an idea."

  Everyone looked at Bert, surprised since he rarely spoke.

  "Emma and I could rent Margarethe's house and she could live with us or with my parents. It will buy us time to find a good lawyer."

  Gus put his hands on his hips. "And just where do you plan to get the money to rent a house? And what happens to the three of you if this business doesn't succeed?"

  Bert set his mouth in a tight line. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Papa. But I'm not going to abandon a friend."

  Lukas Gench didn't expect the hearing to take long. He was the head of the Tailor's Guild and member of the Town Council, a man of influence in the duchy. And if that wasn't enough, he'd made sure to send an exquisite bolt of his finest cloth and a silver cup to the magistrate. Once he had Margarethe's inheritance and her share in the fledgling doll business it would be easy to repay the Jew money lenders, not only for the money to bribe the magistrate, but for his other debts.

  "Master Gench, please present your case."

  Lukas bowed and swaggered forward. "Mein Herr, Margarethe Klein is an unmarried orphan, currently residing in this town and holding herself out as a member of the Tailor's Guild. It is my duty as a friend of her late honored father and the head of the guild to see this situation righted. I insist that Mistress Klein be placed under my guardianship so that a proper marriage may be made for her so that she is no longer styling herself as a tailor."

  The magistrate nodded and Lukas permitted himself a triumphant smile at Margarethe who sat with Masters Wolf and Brumme and their families on the opposite side of the aisle.

  Then the town's Swiss-born lawyer, Walter Boose stood. "Mein Herr, if I may?"

  The magistrate nodded again and Boose approached him with a sheaf of documents.

  "As you can see, in the Year of Our Lord, Sixteen Hundred and Thirty-Four, Calvin Klein, Master of the Tailor's Guild, applied for and was granted, legal emancipation for his only daughter, Margarethe. As you know, Mein Herr, this law grants a woman the legal rights of a man. "

  "Yes, I know. Hmmm. These documents do seem to be in order. Master Gench, do you have any proof that these documents are false?"

  "I do not, Mein Herr. I had no idea such documents existed!" It was a lie of course, but since Lukas figured he was on the side of the angels putting that girl in her proper place, it wouldn't matter. Why didn't the magistrate just rule in his favor as he was supposed to?

  The magistrate sighed and continued flipping through the documents. Finally he looked up.

  "Well. these could be forgeries. "

  Lukas glanced at his opponents, not quite able to suppress a smile of triumph. Victory, vindication! Perhaps he ought to have that engraved on a plaque for the wedding.

  "Mein Herr! As you can see, the seals of the notary. "

  The magistrate nodded. "Still it is highly improper for a young woman to live alone. "

  "Mistress Klein is not residing alone." With a flourish, the lawyer presented the magistrate with another wad of paper. "As you can see, Mistress Klein is currently renting a portion of her home to Master Albert Brumme and his wife, an upstanding young couple. Also, there is an affidavit from Mistress Klein's pastor stating that she is a regular attendee at church and. "

  Lukas felt his elation disappear. Why hadn't he thought of bribing the pastor as well? It would have meant more money he'd had to borrow against the girl's inheritance.

  "Hmmm. well. " The magistrate looked over the pile of evidence that had accumulated on the table. "I need time to review all this evidence in detail. Yes. Great detail. And consult a few people. Master Gench deserves time to review the evidence himself, and perhaps see counsel. Yes, yes. Time. One month."

  Lukas smirked at Margarethe, assessing her as Emma Wolfe guided her out of the room. So she'd thought to win easily had she? Well, well. A stalemate is better than a failure, at least for me. He'd been right that this hearing wouldn't take long.

  ****

  "Monstrous! Simply monstrous! That man ought to be ashamed of himself!"

  "He smells profit, Agathe, profit he and his family can collect without effort on their part. Those pandores have made us a modest profit and we've started getting orders from the catalogs we sold with them. The little ones Emma calls 'farthing' dolls are beginning to pick up too. And once the farmers start producing a wood Barbie replica, we stand to make a fortune if all goes well. And let's not forget Calvin's house and equipment. She may not be a catch for a noble family, but for us she's quite an heiress."

  "Then why have you prevented Christoph from making an offer? I told you when Master Gench started this whole thing what we should have done. If Bert and Emma hadn't moved in with her, those Genchs would have swallowed the poor girl and her fortune up by now."

  "And I told you, Agathe, I want to be sure this doll-making venture didn't ruin us. It still could. And then what would we do with an extra mouth to feed?"

  Agathe put her hands on her hips, anger making her face red. "We would have a hard-working daughter-in-law with enough skills to help keep us afloat. I want you to announce that you have taken care of the matter by arranging her marriage to Christoph. And if you don't, Julius Wolf, I swear I will!"

  Margarethe was crying as Christoph led her into the workroom. Silently, he sat beside her and offered his handkerchief, which she took with a sniff.

  "They haven't made a judgment yet, and even if they rule for Master Gench, Papa and Master Brumme can appeal to the duke."

  Margarethe mopped her eyes and shook her head. "The duke will never listen. I suppose I could sign everything over to your papa and run away, but Master Gench would find me and force me to marry his son."

  Christoph reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Margarethe, I have a present for you."

  "Oh? For me?"

  "Two presents actually, one from Papa and the other from me."

  Gently, he opened a cloth bag and pulled out a large hank of angora wool, dyed a soft blonde. "I know you ordered this from the crayon profits, but Mama told Papa she'd never forgive him if he charged. well. family. The salesman called the color 'Kristina Blond' so he was sure it was the right color."

  Margarethe stroked the soft wool in amazement, her tears slowing. "Ohhh! Christoph! It's perfect! Softer than I could ever imagine! But you said you had a present for me?"

  Smiling he handed her a box. Opening it, Margarethe stared. Laying in the box were two wooden dolls, one boy and one girl.

  "I. I made them special. With the knob joints in the arms and legs like Emma's. I painted them too. I know the hair is only paint. "

  "Oh. Christoph! They're exquisite! I don't know what to say!"

  "Say you'll marry me, and not just to avoid Rolf Gench. Though it would be a massive blow to me if you preferred him. I want a room full of dolls and little girls of our very own to play with them."

  Margarethe smiled. "And what if we have boys?"

  "We could always expand the business into toy soldiers. But first we have to do a little promotion."

  Magdeburg Palace security, plagued by crack-pot religious fanatics, spies, and an ever widening circle of foreign and native enemies, were pleasantly surprised to find that the package contained not a bomb, but a eighteen-inch doll of Princess Kristina holding a miniature Brillo doll and a note:

  TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS

  FROM M. KLEIN amp; COMPANY, FASHION DOLLS

  Epilogue

  "Hurry up! Get that wagon loaded and going!"

  "Lukas, calm down!" Hilda Gench placed her arm on her husband's, trying to
calm him, but he shook it off.

  "Hilda, be silent and get that useless son of yours out here! We need to get out of town as soon as possible!"

  "But there's no reason. "

  "Of course there's reason, fool woman! Were you deaf when you heard the pastor read the banns for the Wolf boy and the Klein girl? Well, if you did, then you also remember the loans I took to try and get that girl for our boy! Money to bribe the other guild masters, money for the magistrate, not to mention our other debts! If we don't get out of town right now, we're done for!"

  Hilda whimpered as Lukas raised a meaty hand toward her. "But Lukas. "

  "Go!"

  "Men coming," Rolf called from where he slouched in the doorway.

  Toward the end of the street, Lukas saw men dressed in the uniforms of the town guard riding toward the house. Ignoring his wife and son, he clambered onto the wagon and grabbed the reins. "I'll write from Prague!"

  The Midnight Garden

  Griffin Barber

  Salim let the door to Baram Khan’s sickroom close before addressing the man who walked out. “Any change?”

  The physician started, wheeled to face him. “I didn’t see you there.”

  Salim stepped into the light of the candle the man held, and quirked an eyebrow.

  The local man shook his head. “No, no change. I must be going. A-another patient, you understand.”

  Salim did not blame him for being frightened. Knowing the fate of physicians who failed to save the lives of powerful men in his own nation, Salim could forgive the man thinking Salim might attack him.

  Waving him away, Salim turned to look at the door. Beyond it, surrounded by a very few of his remaining loyal servants, the emperor’s envoy was dying a slow, painful death. A week, perhaps a bit longer, and the man would breathe his last and go to his final reward, whatever it might be.

  Taking his prayer beads in hand, Salim said a prayer in the darkness to speed Baram Khan’s passage to Paradise. Just because one thought little of another man’s deeds did not make them less likely to attain Paradise. It only showed the unworthy state of one’s own soul.