Post by Janice Olivia Monroe on May 5, 2009 13:33:25 GMT -6
Ada: Her rather Spartan apartments upstairs were emptier than usual with the hunter gone, even though dawn had barely graced the cracks between her shutters when she woke. She pulled on a dress to make herself somewhat decent, unbolted the door and opened the downstairs shutters. There was a patient to look after in the still room and a few projects that required her attention, and suddenly, it was mid-morning and she had not even had breakfast yet! She also had not, as she was planning on doing, managed to run a brush through wild curls, and each time she bent over to pick something up, a fluent stream of colorful French curses sounded like music in the apothecarist's desmesne. She put a kettle of water on over the fire in the still room, hoping she would have some time to eat a little porridge between customers, though it was nearing noon when she emerged from the back garden door and into the main room with a tray full of seedlings for transplanting between customer consultations that she remembered her neglected breakfast.
Janice: The Spartan would have been a good adjective-come from- historic noun to describe Janice when she had first come to be seen by anyone at all? Deep colors (hardly beyond a blue at brightetst, lavendar had required prayer in the first weeks, though it seemed ghastly of a maiden to wear red, so berry was the closest one could come) and long sleeves (thankfully, that fact had been remedied) were the staples. The only ornamentation had been a white cap to cover her hair and the crucifix about her throat. We come to today with the youth in buttercup yellow with blue underskirt revealed while the first was tucked up to avoid the dirt in the cobbled streets. All of her hair was pulled back into a jaunty ribbon who's twined curls snapped hither and yon with each turn of the head. Had she come the right way? Ah ha! Another turn. Why yes! The shops in the market place involved navigating a throng of people. She executed mannerful pardons that would have had the Lady of Inveryne beaming with pride, and mannerful conversation that would have set the Lady St.Laurence into actual fits of grinning. So one could forgive the slight trip that landed her on the wooden decks just before the front door of Ada's shop. Despie the slightly open door, our little darling would ring the bell before entry. "Miss Ada, are you about?" The late risen Ada might topple from her chair, plants, pooridge and all. Was that ...Janice's actual neckline? (d)
Ada: Ada's shop wasn't all that far from the Briar Rose, nor the blacksmith's. It was a prime location that she'd had absolutely no hand in securing, though on a quiet lane branching from the main market street. It was busy during the day and quiet at night, and Ada counted her blessings each day that Master Benoit had been so astute in business -- in other areas, too, but business being of primary import. For the moment, her shop was empty, as the crowds seemed to favor a noon meal over harrassing Ada for remedies for gout and weightloss teas, and she upended the small pots holding her baby plants, grabbing them gently by the stems, and shook the blocks of soil free to plunge them into holes made in the new planters. Just as she was embedding dill fern in its new home, she heard the bell ring merrily over the door, signalling the arrival of Miss Janice. She wiped her dirty hands on her brown shopkeep's apron and looked up, smiling immediately at the girl's bold choices for today. "My, my, my!" she exclaimed warmly, hurriedly taking a spoonful of porridge before hopping off her chair and rounding the counter. *
Janice: This part of the market with its standing shops and bustling people reminded Janice of what it was like in London or during a busy day on the square of the no-name villages outside of Avignon. As a person passed by with parcels in hand, another came, and off to the tavern they went for a bit of sup. Church bells tolled the mark of a quarter to mid day's prayers. Doe eyes reflected the sheen of a happy-day dream in which the familiarity of the scene settled in feelings of home. With the shuffling inside, she turned her head just in time to see Miss Ada coming to the door. Arms locked solid over the parcel to be delivered her: payment for services rendered, sheets for additional orders carefully marked by a caring hand. "Good morning, Miss Ada! How are you today? I have brought some things for you!" Amazing what a few weeks, thought, and a little misadventure could do to boost a girl's zeal to live! (d)
Ada: "Good morn, Miss Janice, what a flattering color. Makes your cheeks glow." Ada gave the girl a playful look, rather hoping it was the dress that made the girl's cheeks glow, though it might just have been the certain young man Ada had espied Janice talking to at the dance. Yes, Ada had seen something in the room beyond the Smith, would it surprise? "Come, come, let us go inside -- no use standing on the front stoop when there are comfy stools inside." She shepharded the young woman inside. Her shop was beginning to take on a more lived-in feel. The wood floors no longer smelled so new (so they could blend in, naturally, with the more ancient wood of the old building), and the baskets of herbs lining the shelves on the right hand wall looked as if they had always been placed just so, mounds of dried herbs bright in the sunlight pouring in through the front windows. There were small tables in the front with displays of soaps and toners, and lining the walls on the left were inset shelves lined with hundreds of little jars, all labeled in Ada's spidery script. The counter, which was usually immaculate, hosted scales that had been shoved to the long side of the L-shaped counter,a tray of half-transplanted seedlings that looked as wide as Ada was long, and the bowl of porridge. She took another spoonful as she rounded the counter and resumed her seat, the papers somehow now in her hands. She gave them a cursory look, brows popping skyward. "Oh, I do love presents," she teased. *
Janice: "Thank you, Miss Ada, how very kind of you to say! Yes, yes let us inside.." It could be a little of both. Did Ada see Janice's shining moment of 'carpe diem' in order to seize the object of interest. Maybe, thankfully, she'd not mention that part of Janice would have a stained face and Carlotta would think she had a flush of fever in need of rest. As it was the lady's maid was doing business across the street, and if eyes were upon her they hadn't followed into the shop outright. A little breathing room went a long way. She was always happy to be around Ada's hands, being taken here or there because Ada brought a magic everywhere she went. Like this old shop, creeping alive with greenery and jars of who knew or what for. The scent of fennel, the tart of dill, and a always a sprig of mint somewhere seemed to put her at ease. Her breathing moved at a steady pace as she spoke over what was there once seated. "There is your payment, 'pon the first page with the coin and paper monies in the pouch here. These others are rather lengthy, but I've written each Master's name at the top, and how much of what they require...and they wonder if you might sell them some of your plants outright for growth in the gardens? They are constantly utilizing their studies and science rooms, additional stores in the garden would be favorable if you could do such?" She didn't stammer over paper, business, and math! (d)
Ada: She hummed absently, dark eyes meeting the high ceiling for a moment in thought, her dirty index finger tapping her chin. There was even dirt under her nail, but Ada didn't much care! The healer was as earthy as they came, in literal and figurative meanings.Constant, optimistic for renewal, and filled with knowledge that only came from the understanding of the cyclical nature of the environment and those who filled it, she didn't much care for those who did not know how to stop and distinguish the lemony-tartness of dill from the smoother tang of lemon balm. And it seemed,or so Ada thought, Miss Janice was one of those would could make the distinction. "Ah, but I am certain I told Lady St. Laurence my garden was burned out? It is only the planting season, so I hope she does not have any great plans for full-grown herbs. Unless she does not mind seedlings." She gestured rather gracefully to the little terra cotta pots filling the large tray, none more than four or five inches tall. "I have a full-grown mint plant," Ada offered after a moment, turning to the ledge behind her and picking up the homely little thing. "All that survived was a damned weed, my dear, but how nice it smells!" With a grin, she set down the plant, which had come to symbolize a lot for the quirky healer, and went back to the order. "The dried herbs and balms, of course, I will be happy to provide, along with written instruction on their use and dosage. If they could specify which fat they prefer to carry the herbs, I have the equipment here to do the packaging." Ada preferred goose fat herself, but each healer had a personal opinion on which was the best and why. While she let Janice settle in, Ada put the money in the strongbox beneath the counter, and then went to get the tea fromthe still room. She had manners, after all. She set the two steaming cups down on the counter. *"
Janice: "Oh, what a pity! I am so sorry of your garden. In her absence, Master Voltaire sees to her affairs, but something called him away to join her in England, so I am afraid Novice Kendrick doesn't have the best memory, mam. If you told him to tell you the Sky was blue on Thursday, he' d tell you the aldernman said it was pink on Saturday." Novice Kendrick had the saavy to survive in the city but a head full of pickled herring and fluff. It was preserved for the basics and nothing past the involuntary. "A full grown mint would be good, the strength in it Master Laurence will certainly favor." Did anyone really want to know what she'd do with dried herbs, balms, and mint plants? To patron an established apothecary with time to denote to the craft would mean when Claramae had a chance to put he rhands on the stores, well, she'd gladly owe Ada an exceptional lot! (Again, did Ada really want to be thanked?) "Goose fat, please." She peered down to see what kendric had conveyed...."Fat of a lark..oh for pity's sake." If you wanted something done right, do it yourself! She sat at the counter, her head looking at the different objects on the shelves with a perpetual smile. "This may be my favorite place in all of Turas Lan." (d)
Ada "Oh, then indulge me and stay a bit longer," Ada replied, pulling one of the larger planters out and handing it to Janice. "I have a little sentimental attachment to my mint plant, but you should be able to separate the thing and take some back with you, no? It is not difficult."A test? Oh, Ada didn't have an unsubtle bone in her body, and that was the honest truth. She flattened the paper and memorized the first four of the list, finding jars large enough to fit the contents of what was asked for. There was a burlap sack of soil appropriate for the transplant, and all the tools one would require in basic gardening at hand, so Ada had no real worries that if she wandered off to see if she had more stock in the back, Janice would be left twiddling her thumbs. Stars, but did Ada need an apprentice! "That Kendrick of yours sounds a bit simple," Ada continued with the conversation, through the door of the still room, sounds of rummaging apparent even from where Janice was. She came back out with her arms filled with jars, and carefully sorted them into a box, checking their contents both visually and with a sniff. Ah, the practiced nose knew mold when mold was to be hand, and luckily, the stoppers on the bone jars were tight enough that none had formed. *
Janice: "Yes, miss, and gladly! There aren't many other errands today." Janice said with enthusiasm, an aim to please that lent itself with her own want to smell the lilac just a little longer..was that a tincture somewhere of a rosemary or was that only her imagination? "Yes, miss, I can do that. Oh, I fear Kendrick is simple. Yet the Masters find some use for him, or they would not have him there. There is something of a craftiness he has in building things.. that doesn't require him to talk or remember for anyone." Janice cuffed up her sleeves and fastened the loops on buttons just before the inside of her elbows. Looking over the mint plate, and took up a shovel just to dig in slightly for a gander at the roots. One wanted to take off a good section where the network would happily reach in. Covering that back up, she took up the hand held gardening sheers for just the right snippet of the plant. Were the leaves good and not too dry, not too moist? The object was to get a piece, and that she did, only enough that would be of use to the master while encouraging a full grown plant to come from a good sprig. What hearty wick, too! A little lodging into the stem just enough to see how hearty the inner green was. Oh yes, this was going to do just well! Her portion of the mint she began to transplant into the burlap with the soil. God-a-goshon...Janice's hands were nimble! She really seemed to take no notice of it though, doing only what came natural of instinct. The plant was seperated, each piece would appease each keeper, and she was busy tying off the burlap bag once the soil was in place as she remarked. "This is wonderful." (d
Ada: "Genius works in strange ways, and who are we to understand a master at work?" Ada responded philosophically, causing the bone jars to clink together as she organized them. Of course, she would not send Janice or her lady's maid through the markets with so many breakable objects. There were errand boys for this sort of thing, and they could make use of the emptying streets at the end of the day to ensure her product arrived safely. But she always liked to be prepared. With such a large order, not having one of the requested itemsmight cause her some trouble, too! But eventually, she had everything together on one side of the counter and resumed her stool. The porridge was on the cold side of tepid, but she finished it off anyway, swallowing down the last spoonful with her tea, and then she went back to tipping the little seedlings from their pots. Ada always smelled lavender and basil in her shop, with a bass note of calamus, and the sweetness of mallow root, but there were so many open baskets ofherbs for scent, strewing, and whatnot, it was quite possible each customer smelled something a little different. "How is Mr. Renquest doing?" Ada asked casually, though her dark eyes twinkled with amusement. The poor Englishman had insulted her line of work,but Ada was a forgiving sort. She also liked encouraging the brighter side of Janice's personality. *
Janice "God has a reason for everything he makes. Genius would then be in may showings, wouldn't it? How right you are.." Janice bemused while setting down the sheers at last and pulling her fingers back from the mint plant. When it was propped up properly, she sat down on a stool near an open box of thyme. Maybe influence came from the room as the tune of Scarborough Faire was hummed before it drifted off into the air with the heat from the tepid porridge. A balm didn' thave to be made out of goosefat to do any good. Sometimes, sights for the heart were good enough. Picking up her tea, the question of Mr. Renquest was answered with an earmark more joviality than most who care as just a friend would imply. "He is well! His leg has mended and he does not use the cane anymore. We have covered a great many lengths in the last few days, I'd dare say." (d)
Ada: Healing came in many forms, Ada was convinced. A sound, a touch, a scent -- they were all as important as the bitterness of medicine. In her years as Benoit's apprentice, she had also discovered healing was more than a bodily affair. Sometimes, the mind was as much key as the festering wound. And something about the solid, comfortable warmth of Ada was just the right balm to horrors of a mental variety. She was good at listening, for one, her head slightly canted to listen to Janice's voice though her hands continued the mechanical routine of transplanting the basil, hardly caring when dirt splashed across her apron. It was her shop and she could get it dirty if she wanted. "I am glad! A break in the leg is a dangerous affair, but it is good he is mending so swiftly. He seems a most interesting young man. I suppose you have much in common?" The gossip was Renquest came from a monastery of some sort, and with Janice's modesty, Ada could only imagine the girl coming from a nunnery. And recently. Peasants did not have time for such notions of chastity. Shy or no, there was a certain amount of brashness that Janice lacked. She was not just from a nunnery, she was nobility of some respect, and well ...this was all very intriguing. "I have a balm that will make your lips soft and full," she mentioned absently, poking a new hole in the large planter. *
Janice:soil called to the rifts inside. Without so much as a prick of evidence, the needle was laced so the gaps could be sewn shut at long last. Ada was a steady constant in a fluctuating world. Pieces of her were like home - her French accented English. Jars of herbs. Medicine. The world to which she had been enclosed before the nunnery was a wonderous place where the flower or a blade of grass could be cooked up into a cure for near about anything. Ink stained fingers and if she were quiet, why, she listened to people seek all sorts of remedy. Turning the tea cup around in her hand, she smelledthe brew as if to remember it by scent before drinking it in. "Do you need any help with the seedlings, Miss Ada?" Idle hands were the devil's playthings and while it went unvoiced it fostered a good work ethic lacking in youth of privelege. That would be where Janice differed - she was gentry. Higher than peastentry and lower than blue-bloods, the sort of comfort garnered from hard earned work instead of inherited appointments. "He got it during the seige of the city, but he has recovered just fine. We are not so far apart I suppose! We both had a religious education, him from a monastery and myself from a nunnery, we were both there for some number of years. He is a scholar and I have my head stuck in books, too. I keep books of orders and figures, and read so much words may fly out of my ears!" She chuckled, and did she get a little dreamy? Only enough that her mind didn't utterly fly away. (too trained for that) "We both know of London and seem to get along in a capital way.." Right up to the point of lip balm - Janice paused in consideration of this, "Miss Ada, why ever....ah..." She turned and drank her tea, if only to look down into her lap as her face began to peel out a bright red (d)
Ada She laughed, though not unkindly, and gestured for Janice to put those hands to work with the seedlings. "I could use the help, ma cher." And just like that, the comment about the lip balm vanished into the air, dissolving like water in porous soil.Work was nice for busying the mind. It was also nice for calming it, which was often Ada's excuse. If she sat still, thoughts swarmed into her head, and it often became difficult to discern the productive from the ridiculous. But she did hear Janice's tone, and if the young woman thought Ada had let go of this bone, she was in for a surprise. "How do you feel about the nunnery? I have always wondered about those places. They cannot be all bad, I suppose? But they are a lot of wall," Ada concluded, hoping she'd never be so imprisoned. "And your books -- I suppose they must be very interesting, or I do not see a mind like yours suitably occupied with copying religious texts with no variety noroption for education." Ada saw those ink-stained fingers, after all. She patted soil in place around her newest transplant. *
Janice: "Oui, madameouselle," Miss Ada wasn't maried so the term settled easy. An interchange in language boded well. Janice didn' t have to think on the flower and if the conversation leaned toward French it was as if she spoke to her Maman or Papa, for they spoke both languages in the home. No more talk on lip balm, instead it turned to nunneries and books. No one had ever taken such an active fascination in her life before! It must seem dull to the likes of the free Ada, "Not too much different than home, really. The nuns are strict, but not impractical or unkind. Rising, prayer, meal, prayer, chores, prayer, meal, prayer, copying prayer. But they still gave time for such things: sewing, reading, recitations of saint story. The Reverand Mother would let me copy and read from her library, so there were more than just religious books, but even those were fascinating! Saint stories are terribly tragic, bloody and rather adventurous. Then there were histories, or philosphies. The occasional story of romance and fairy tale the Reverand Mother had, and let me to keep my own from home. And now there are tales of far off places and stories of other lands in the Masters' house." From the larger into the smaller, the seedling was tended by hands that new dirt as much as they knew ink. She'd cared for her father's greenery.. (d)
Ada: "You mentioned on one occasion we met that you came to Skye for a marriage," Ada said, watching Janice's hands with amusement. She was practiced, with all the efficiency and grace of someone who mixed her own inks. Or who had perhaps indulged in a bit of gardeningat one point in her life. "So you were not always meant to live behind convent walls. I suppose that made it easier, and then there were the luxuries of the occasional romance and fairy tale. I suppose, a convent would be safe and as regimented as a well-run household." Ada's childhood home had been anything but. However, Ada did not reveal much about herself, preferring to ask the questions rather than answer them, a quirk no one had yet to call her out on. Yet with such questions, who ever would?"Did you garden in the convent?" was her next question, asked with a smile of approval at Janice's handiwork. "My mother had a wonderful garden, and she cared for it ... well, as if it was a child of her own. She brought the plants inside each winter, and kept them alive by the fire. And every summer, she grew as dark as a Moor weeding and tending beans and herbs." The garden and all it produced smelled like sunlight to Ada. Warmth. *
Janice: "Yes, indeed, but the one I would have been promised to lost his son in the war, and there after did not last long himself.." So Claramae had managed to locate a potential match, only age was often the detriment to the elderly and the bane of a young girl's exsistence, so all for the better. In truth, Janice even offered "God rest them, take them to heaven both. I rather think that in the end....since the Master's have offered me a choice, I shall..use that." She lifted up one of the seedlings to the light, "Miss Ada, mind you if I prick the edge of this brown so it doesn't spread through your seedling?" Each had a different preference, some trimmed away browning or traces of disease, others believed it would root itself out in the end. It was still young yet, so soil and sun could be all it needed to further growth toward the better. "I did help the cook by gardening, yes. My Papa , once he retired from being a physician, set up shop as an apothecary before I was born, my Maman tended his garden, and along come I.." She grinned, "I feel close to them here." (d)
Ada "Oh, no, it is tiny yet. And if it is disease, likely the shock of transplant will kill the plant whole and entire. But if you wish to, that is your choice." Ada nodded to Janice's other comment. The girl was very wise and forgiving for being so young. Adawould not have tolerated anyone telling her what to do, despite how passive she was in other aspects of life. She let others do as they willed, assuming they would, eventually, find the right path. Very rarely did she lay a hand to anything and direct it where to go, but when she did, few had the desire to resist her. A witch, indeed. "It shows. You have a very skilled hand, and I am not sure if it does not also have something to do with a blessing from your mother and father! If you ever wish to help with more gardening, I have told you my garden could use all the help it can! The fire burned out the weeds, at least. The yard was so overgrown from neglect, I am rather ashamed to say the fire was a little bit of a blessing, at least for me.It is primed for planting, if only I had seedlings strong enough to go into the ground." They were in no danger of heavy frost again, but the nights did get cold here, and she treated her plants like infants -- if the night was too cold for an infantto survive to morning, her plants were certainly not spending the night alone when they were perfectly content indoors until daylight. *
Janice: "Hmm." At once a no yet offer of other directive, Janice didn't go for the brown portion but instead tried to track down a weaker root to sever so that the weak link wouldn't thrive. A strong system could cure it during transplant, no? It left the blemish in place. A distinguisher, really. They continued to work on the plants with another bit of praise that encouraged a wide smile from Janice. To work in the garden simply made her beam. Really, the girl lived for it..ink..parchment. "Oh, Miss Ada, I would be honored to help you! You know, if anything the fire would have treated your soil. Burnt soil is very enriching. My mother would purposely tinder tiny fires with large weed patches when she had a finicky plant to put in the ground from the pot. And....if you had braziers, you could with a tarp and some sticks erect a sort of hot house you might cover and tie down to the ground, thus warming it if it
gets chilled.. We would do that, when Papa hadn't the energy to fix the green house he'd muck with his experiements or when money was slow, once." She offered the idea for consideration in case she had some that needed warmth but did better outside. Did she talk to her plants too? Janice was guilty of that. But the Laurence House had a nice patch of roses! "if you also have any other needs, book keeping or orders ......i will be of use however you would require. We owe you much." She curtsied with a glow of happiness about her!(d)
Ada She laughed and wished, almost, to hug Janice. She was just too adorable. But Ada had some impulse control, and merely let her dirty hands continue their work with the seedlings. "The braziers is a good idea. Perhaps! But the weather is almost good enough, I think,that I should not worry much over it. Maybe another week? The seedlings will not be harmed in waiting." Of course, Ada talked to her plants. They did much better with a voice of reason. It was also the reason why she wasn't giving the entire mint plant to Laurence House. The mint plant was her mascot, even if it was a weed. She'd never used a greenhouse, though she had heard of them, in theory. Glass was too precious for Ada's budget, even with Master Benoit's help. But herbs and vegetables did not need nearly as much nursing as foreign flowers, which she did not sell. Why grow what did not grow naturally? It was a waste of resources and always led to a case of gardener's heartache when the plant, for all your love and attention,simply did not thrive. Roses, for example, were Ada's bane. "I would appreciate any help you can give, Miss Janice, but you should really not be concerned with my books when you have Mister Renquest to explore." Explore? It might have been an accidental slip of Ada's nearly fluent English, or quite intentional. She wouldn't clarify in French, but merely smiled beatifically and indicated Janice take that jar of lip balm. Cosmetics made for a confident woman, and in Ada's opinion, confidence was what made Janice shine almost as brightly as the dress she was wearing today. "I will send what stock I have to Laurence House tonight. I hope I have everything, but I will check against the invoice to make sure." *
Janice: "Oh yes, yes. I am simply excited to do gardening of this sort, why, it will allow me to refine my skill with such a good teacher! Then when Master Laurence returns home she shall have a fine thing to greet her. Were that I could : do more for her and Master Sorschal to say thank you..but m'thinks helping their associates is a good way to begin, and pleasurable.." Excitement over dirt or book keeping? Did the girl do windows too? "Oh no, keeping your books is not trouble miss! Why Mr. Renquest has much work to do for the Scholars, he couldn't be bothered with me at all intervals of the day.." Ada was a person to make someone very comfortable! The way she said that allowed made her blush all the more as she finished her tea. "Thank you so much, on behalf of the masters, for your business Miss Ada..." First a tea for concentration now a balm for lovely lips ...A little of this, a little that. Temptation thy name was Ada! But she did pocket the little balm for Ada's advice was quite sage. (d)
Janice: The Spartan would have been a good adjective-come from- historic noun to describe Janice when she had first come to be seen by anyone at all? Deep colors (hardly beyond a blue at brightetst, lavendar had required prayer in the first weeks, though it seemed ghastly of a maiden to wear red, so berry was the closest one could come) and long sleeves (thankfully, that fact had been remedied) were the staples. The only ornamentation had been a white cap to cover her hair and the crucifix about her throat. We come to today with the youth in buttercup yellow with blue underskirt revealed while the first was tucked up to avoid the dirt in the cobbled streets. All of her hair was pulled back into a jaunty ribbon who's twined curls snapped hither and yon with each turn of the head. Had she come the right way? Ah ha! Another turn. Why yes! The shops in the market place involved navigating a throng of people. She executed mannerful pardons that would have had the Lady of Inveryne beaming with pride, and mannerful conversation that would have set the Lady St.Laurence into actual fits of grinning. So one could forgive the slight trip that landed her on the wooden decks just before the front door of Ada's shop. Despie the slightly open door, our little darling would ring the bell before entry. "Miss Ada, are you about?" The late risen Ada might topple from her chair, plants, pooridge and all. Was that ...Janice's actual neckline? (d)
Ada: Ada's shop wasn't all that far from the Briar Rose, nor the blacksmith's. It was a prime location that she'd had absolutely no hand in securing, though on a quiet lane branching from the main market street. It was busy during the day and quiet at night, and Ada counted her blessings each day that Master Benoit had been so astute in business -- in other areas, too, but business being of primary import. For the moment, her shop was empty, as the crowds seemed to favor a noon meal over harrassing Ada for remedies for gout and weightloss teas, and she upended the small pots holding her baby plants, grabbing them gently by the stems, and shook the blocks of soil free to plunge them into holes made in the new planters. Just as she was embedding dill fern in its new home, she heard the bell ring merrily over the door, signalling the arrival of Miss Janice. She wiped her dirty hands on her brown shopkeep's apron and looked up, smiling immediately at the girl's bold choices for today. "My, my, my!" she exclaimed warmly, hurriedly taking a spoonful of porridge before hopping off her chair and rounding the counter. *
Janice: This part of the market with its standing shops and bustling people reminded Janice of what it was like in London or during a busy day on the square of the no-name villages outside of Avignon. As a person passed by with parcels in hand, another came, and off to the tavern they went for a bit of sup. Church bells tolled the mark of a quarter to mid day's prayers. Doe eyes reflected the sheen of a happy-day dream in which the familiarity of the scene settled in feelings of home. With the shuffling inside, she turned her head just in time to see Miss Ada coming to the door. Arms locked solid over the parcel to be delivered her: payment for services rendered, sheets for additional orders carefully marked by a caring hand. "Good morning, Miss Ada! How are you today? I have brought some things for you!" Amazing what a few weeks, thought, and a little misadventure could do to boost a girl's zeal to live! (d)
Ada: "Good morn, Miss Janice, what a flattering color. Makes your cheeks glow." Ada gave the girl a playful look, rather hoping it was the dress that made the girl's cheeks glow, though it might just have been the certain young man Ada had espied Janice talking to at the dance. Yes, Ada had seen something in the room beyond the Smith, would it surprise? "Come, come, let us go inside -- no use standing on the front stoop when there are comfy stools inside." She shepharded the young woman inside. Her shop was beginning to take on a more lived-in feel. The wood floors no longer smelled so new (so they could blend in, naturally, with the more ancient wood of the old building), and the baskets of herbs lining the shelves on the right hand wall looked as if they had always been placed just so, mounds of dried herbs bright in the sunlight pouring in through the front windows. There were small tables in the front with displays of soaps and toners, and lining the walls on the left were inset shelves lined with hundreds of little jars, all labeled in Ada's spidery script. The counter, which was usually immaculate, hosted scales that had been shoved to the long side of the L-shaped counter,a tray of half-transplanted seedlings that looked as wide as Ada was long, and the bowl of porridge. She took another spoonful as she rounded the counter and resumed her seat, the papers somehow now in her hands. She gave them a cursory look, brows popping skyward. "Oh, I do love presents," she teased. *
Janice: "Thank you, Miss Ada, how very kind of you to say! Yes, yes let us inside.." It could be a little of both. Did Ada see Janice's shining moment of 'carpe diem' in order to seize the object of interest. Maybe, thankfully, she'd not mention that part of Janice would have a stained face and Carlotta would think she had a flush of fever in need of rest. As it was the lady's maid was doing business across the street, and if eyes were upon her they hadn't followed into the shop outright. A little breathing room went a long way. She was always happy to be around Ada's hands, being taken here or there because Ada brought a magic everywhere she went. Like this old shop, creeping alive with greenery and jars of who knew or what for. The scent of fennel, the tart of dill, and a always a sprig of mint somewhere seemed to put her at ease. Her breathing moved at a steady pace as she spoke over what was there once seated. "There is your payment, 'pon the first page with the coin and paper monies in the pouch here. These others are rather lengthy, but I've written each Master's name at the top, and how much of what they require...and they wonder if you might sell them some of your plants outright for growth in the gardens? They are constantly utilizing their studies and science rooms, additional stores in the garden would be favorable if you could do such?" She didn't stammer over paper, business, and math! (d)
Ada: She hummed absently, dark eyes meeting the high ceiling for a moment in thought, her dirty index finger tapping her chin. There was even dirt under her nail, but Ada didn't much care! The healer was as earthy as they came, in literal and figurative meanings.Constant, optimistic for renewal, and filled with knowledge that only came from the understanding of the cyclical nature of the environment and those who filled it, she didn't much care for those who did not know how to stop and distinguish the lemony-tartness of dill from the smoother tang of lemon balm. And it seemed,or so Ada thought, Miss Janice was one of those would could make the distinction. "Ah, but I am certain I told Lady St. Laurence my garden was burned out? It is only the planting season, so I hope she does not have any great plans for full-grown herbs. Unless she does not mind seedlings." She gestured rather gracefully to the little terra cotta pots filling the large tray, none more than four or five inches tall. "I have a full-grown mint plant," Ada offered after a moment, turning to the ledge behind her and picking up the homely little thing. "All that survived was a damned weed, my dear, but how nice it smells!" With a grin, she set down the plant, which had come to symbolize a lot for the quirky healer, and went back to the order. "The dried herbs and balms, of course, I will be happy to provide, along with written instruction on their use and dosage. If they could specify which fat they prefer to carry the herbs, I have the equipment here to do the packaging." Ada preferred goose fat herself, but each healer had a personal opinion on which was the best and why. While she let Janice settle in, Ada put the money in the strongbox beneath the counter, and then went to get the tea fromthe still room. She had manners, after all. She set the two steaming cups down on the counter. *"
Janice: "Oh, what a pity! I am so sorry of your garden. In her absence, Master Voltaire sees to her affairs, but something called him away to join her in England, so I am afraid Novice Kendrick doesn't have the best memory, mam. If you told him to tell you the Sky was blue on Thursday, he' d tell you the aldernman said it was pink on Saturday." Novice Kendrick had the saavy to survive in the city but a head full of pickled herring and fluff. It was preserved for the basics and nothing past the involuntary. "A full grown mint would be good, the strength in it Master Laurence will certainly favor." Did anyone really want to know what she'd do with dried herbs, balms, and mint plants? To patron an established apothecary with time to denote to the craft would mean when Claramae had a chance to put he rhands on the stores, well, she'd gladly owe Ada an exceptional lot! (Again, did Ada really want to be thanked?) "Goose fat, please." She peered down to see what kendric had conveyed...."Fat of a lark..oh for pity's sake." If you wanted something done right, do it yourself! She sat at the counter, her head looking at the different objects on the shelves with a perpetual smile. "This may be my favorite place in all of Turas Lan." (d)
Ada "Oh, then indulge me and stay a bit longer," Ada replied, pulling one of the larger planters out and handing it to Janice. "I have a little sentimental attachment to my mint plant, but you should be able to separate the thing and take some back with you, no? It is not difficult."A test? Oh, Ada didn't have an unsubtle bone in her body, and that was the honest truth. She flattened the paper and memorized the first four of the list, finding jars large enough to fit the contents of what was asked for. There was a burlap sack of soil appropriate for the transplant, and all the tools one would require in basic gardening at hand, so Ada had no real worries that if she wandered off to see if she had more stock in the back, Janice would be left twiddling her thumbs. Stars, but did Ada need an apprentice! "That Kendrick of yours sounds a bit simple," Ada continued with the conversation, through the door of the still room, sounds of rummaging apparent even from where Janice was. She came back out with her arms filled with jars, and carefully sorted them into a box, checking their contents both visually and with a sniff. Ah, the practiced nose knew mold when mold was to be hand, and luckily, the stoppers on the bone jars were tight enough that none had formed. *
Janice: "Yes, miss, and gladly! There aren't many other errands today." Janice said with enthusiasm, an aim to please that lent itself with her own want to smell the lilac just a little longer..was that a tincture somewhere of a rosemary or was that only her imagination? "Yes, miss, I can do that. Oh, I fear Kendrick is simple. Yet the Masters find some use for him, or they would not have him there. There is something of a craftiness he has in building things.. that doesn't require him to talk or remember for anyone." Janice cuffed up her sleeves and fastened the loops on buttons just before the inside of her elbows. Looking over the mint plate, and took up a shovel just to dig in slightly for a gander at the roots. One wanted to take off a good section where the network would happily reach in. Covering that back up, she took up the hand held gardening sheers for just the right snippet of the plant. Were the leaves good and not too dry, not too moist? The object was to get a piece, and that she did, only enough that would be of use to the master while encouraging a full grown plant to come from a good sprig. What hearty wick, too! A little lodging into the stem just enough to see how hearty the inner green was. Oh yes, this was going to do just well! Her portion of the mint she began to transplant into the burlap with the soil. God-a-goshon...Janice's hands were nimble! She really seemed to take no notice of it though, doing only what came natural of instinct. The plant was seperated, each piece would appease each keeper, and she was busy tying off the burlap bag once the soil was in place as she remarked. "This is wonderful." (d
Ada: "Genius works in strange ways, and who are we to understand a master at work?" Ada responded philosophically, causing the bone jars to clink together as she organized them. Of course, she would not send Janice or her lady's maid through the markets with so many breakable objects. There were errand boys for this sort of thing, and they could make use of the emptying streets at the end of the day to ensure her product arrived safely. But she always liked to be prepared. With such a large order, not having one of the requested itemsmight cause her some trouble, too! But eventually, she had everything together on one side of the counter and resumed her stool. The porridge was on the cold side of tepid, but she finished it off anyway, swallowing down the last spoonful with her tea, and then she went back to tipping the little seedlings from their pots. Ada always smelled lavender and basil in her shop, with a bass note of calamus, and the sweetness of mallow root, but there were so many open baskets ofherbs for scent, strewing, and whatnot, it was quite possible each customer smelled something a little different. "How is Mr. Renquest doing?" Ada asked casually, though her dark eyes twinkled with amusement. The poor Englishman had insulted her line of work,but Ada was a forgiving sort. She also liked encouraging the brighter side of Janice's personality. *
Janice "God has a reason for everything he makes. Genius would then be in may showings, wouldn't it? How right you are.." Janice bemused while setting down the sheers at last and pulling her fingers back from the mint plant. When it was propped up properly, she sat down on a stool near an open box of thyme. Maybe influence came from the room as the tune of Scarborough Faire was hummed before it drifted off into the air with the heat from the tepid porridge. A balm didn' thave to be made out of goosefat to do any good. Sometimes, sights for the heart were good enough. Picking up her tea, the question of Mr. Renquest was answered with an earmark more joviality than most who care as just a friend would imply. "He is well! His leg has mended and he does not use the cane anymore. We have covered a great many lengths in the last few days, I'd dare say." (d)
Ada: Healing came in many forms, Ada was convinced. A sound, a touch, a scent -- they were all as important as the bitterness of medicine. In her years as Benoit's apprentice, she had also discovered healing was more than a bodily affair. Sometimes, the mind was as much key as the festering wound. And something about the solid, comfortable warmth of Ada was just the right balm to horrors of a mental variety. She was good at listening, for one, her head slightly canted to listen to Janice's voice though her hands continued the mechanical routine of transplanting the basil, hardly caring when dirt splashed across her apron. It was her shop and she could get it dirty if she wanted. "I am glad! A break in the leg is a dangerous affair, but it is good he is mending so swiftly. He seems a most interesting young man. I suppose you have much in common?" The gossip was Renquest came from a monastery of some sort, and with Janice's modesty, Ada could only imagine the girl coming from a nunnery. And recently. Peasants did not have time for such notions of chastity. Shy or no, there was a certain amount of brashness that Janice lacked. She was not just from a nunnery, she was nobility of some respect, and well ...this was all very intriguing. "I have a balm that will make your lips soft and full," she mentioned absently, poking a new hole in the large planter. *
Janice:soil called to the rifts inside. Without so much as a prick of evidence, the needle was laced so the gaps could be sewn shut at long last. Ada was a steady constant in a fluctuating world. Pieces of her were like home - her French accented English. Jars of herbs. Medicine. The world to which she had been enclosed before the nunnery was a wonderous place where the flower or a blade of grass could be cooked up into a cure for near about anything. Ink stained fingers and if she were quiet, why, she listened to people seek all sorts of remedy. Turning the tea cup around in her hand, she smelledthe brew as if to remember it by scent before drinking it in. "Do you need any help with the seedlings, Miss Ada?" Idle hands were the devil's playthings and while it went unvoiced it fostered a good work ethic lacking in youth of privelege. That would be where Janice differed - she was gentry. Higher than peastentry and lower than blue-bloods, the sort of comfort garnered from hard earned work instead of inherited appointments. "He got it during the seige of the city, but he has recovered just fine. We are not so far apart I suppose! We both had a religious education, him from a monastery and myself from a nunnery, we were both there for some number of years. He is a scholar and I have my head stuck in books, too. I keep books of orders and figures, and read so much words may fly out of my ears!" She chuckled, and did she get a little dreamy? Only enough that her mind didn't utterly fly away. (too trained for that) "We both know of London and seem to get along in a capital way.." Right up to the point of lip balm - Janice paused in consideration of this, "Miss Ada, why ever....ah..." She turned and drank her tea, if only to look down into her lap as her face began to peel out a bright red (d)
Ada She laughed, though not unkindly, and gestured for Janice to put those hands to work with the seedlings. "I could use the help, ma cher." And just like that, the comment about the lip balm vanished into the air, dissolving like water in porous soil.Work was nice for busying the mind. It was also nice for calming it, which was often Ada's excuse. If she sat still, thoughts swarmed into her head, and it often became difficult to discern the productive from the ridiculous. But she did hear Janice's tone, and if the young woman thought Ada had let go of this bone, she was in for a surprise. "How do you feel about the nunnery? I have always wondered about those places. They cannot be all bad, I suppose? But they are a lot of wall," Ada concluded, hoping she'd never be so imprisoned. "And your books -- I suppose they must be very interesting, or I do not see a mind like yours suitably occupied with copying religious texts with no variety noroption for education." Ada saw those ink-stained fingers, after all. She patted soil in place around her newest transplant. *
Janice: "Oui, madameouselle," Miss Ada wasn't maried so the term settled easy. An interchange in language boded well. Janice didn' t have to think on the flower and if the conversation leaned toward French it was as if she spoke to her Maman or Papa, for they spoke both languages in the home. No more talk on lip balm, instead it turned to nunneries and books. No one had ever taken such an active fascination in her life before! It must seem dull to the likes of the free Ada, "Not too much different than home, really. The nuns are strict, but not impractical or unkind. Rising, prayer, meal, prayer, chores, prayer, meal, prayer, copying prayer. But they still gave time for such things: sewing, reading, recitations of saint story. The Reverand Mother would let me copy and read from her library, so there were more than just religious books, but even those were fascinating! Saint stories are terribly tragic, bloody and rather adventurous. Then there were histories, or philosphies. The occasional story of romance and fairy tale the Reverand Mother had, and let me to keep my own from home. And now there are tales of far off places and stories of other lands in the Masters' house." From the larger into the smaller, the seedling was tended by hands that new dirt as much as they knew ink. She'd cared for her father's greenery.. (d)
Ada: "You mentioned on one occasion we met that you came to Skye for a marriage," Ada said, watching Janice's hands with amusement. She was practiced, with all the efficiency and grace of someone who mixed her own inks. Or who had perhaps indulged in a bit of gardeningat one point in her life. "So you were not always meant to live behind convent walls. I suppose that made it easier, and then there were the luxuries of the occasional romance and fairy tale. I suppose, a convent would be safe and as regimented as a well-run household." Ada's childhood home had been anything but. However, Ada did not reveal much about herself, preferring to ask the questions rather than answer them, a quirk no one had yet to call her out on. Yet with such questions, who ever would?"Did you garden in the convent?" was her next question, asked with a smile of approval at Janice's handiwork. "My mother had a wonderful garden, and she cared for it ... well, as if it was a child of her own. She brought the plants inside each winter, and kept them alive by the fire. And every summer, she grew as dark as a Moor weeding and tending beans and herbs." The garden and all it produced smelled like sunlight to Ada. Warmth. *
Janice: "Yes, indeed, but the one I would have been promised to lost his son in the war, and there after did not last long himself.." So Claramae had managed to locate a potential match, only age was often the detriment to the elderly and the bane of a young girl's exsistence, so all for the better. In truth, Janice even offered "God rest them, take them to heaven both. I rather think that in the end....since the Master's have offered me a choice, I shall..use that." She lifted up one of the seedlings to the light, "Miss Ada, mind you if I prick the edge of this brown so it doesn't spread through your seedling?" Each had a different preference, some trimmed away browning or traces of disease, others believed it would root itself out in the end. It was still young yet, so soil and sun could be all it needed to further growth toward the better. "I did help the cook by gardening, yes. My Papa , once he retired from being a physician, set up shop as an apothecary before I was born, my Maman tended his garden, and along come I.." She grinned, "I feel close to them here." (d)
Ada "Oh, no, it is tiny yet. And if it is disease, likely the shock of transplant will kill the plant whole and entire. But if you wish to, that is your choice." Ada nodded to Janice's other comment. The girl was very wise and forgiving for being so young. Adawould not have tolerated anyone telling her what to do, despite how passive she was in other aspects of life. She let others do as they willed, assuming they would, eventually, find the right path. Very rarely did she lay a hand to anything and direct it where to go, but when she did, few had the desire to resist her. A witch, indeed. "It shows. You have a very skilled hand, and I am not sure if it does not also have something to do with a blessing from your mother and father! If you ever wish to help with more gardening, I have told you my garden could use all the help it can! The fire burned out the weeds, at least. The yard was so overgrown from neglect, I am rather ashamed to say the fire was a little bit of a blessing, at least for me.It is primed for planting, if only I had seedlings strong enough to go into the ground." They were in no danger of heavy frost again, but the nights did get cold here, and she treated her plants like infants -- if the night was too cold for an infantto survive to morning, her plants were certainly not spending the night alone when they were perfectly content indoors until daylight. *
Janice: "Hmm." At once a no yet offer of other directive, Janice didn't go for the brown portion but instead tried to track down a weaker root to sever so that the weak link wouldn't thrive. A strong system could cure it during transplant, no? It left the blemish in place. A distinguisher, really. They continued to work on the plants with another bit of praise that encouraged a wide smile from Janice. To work in the garden simply made her beam. Really, the girl lived for it..ink..parchment. "Oh, Miss Ada, I would be honored to help you! You know, if anything the fire would have treated your soil. Burnt soil is very enriching. My mother would purposely tinder tiny fires with large weed patches when she had a finicky plant to put in the ground from the pot. And....if you had braziers, you could with a tarp and some sticks erect a sort of hot house you might cover and tie down to the ground, thus warming it if it
gets chilled.. We would do that, when Papa hadn't the energy to fix the green house he'd muck with his experiements or when money was slow, once." She offered the idea for consideration in case she had some that needed warmth but did better outside. Did she talk to her plants too? Janice was guilty of that. But the Laurence House had a nice patch of roses! "if you also have any other needs, book keeping or orders ......i will be of use however you would require. We owe you much." She curtsied with a glow of happiness about her!(d)
Ada She laughed and wished, almost, to hug Janice. She was just too adorable. But Ada had some impulse control, and merely let her dirty hands continue their work with the seedlings. "The braziers is a good idea. Perhaps! But the weather is almost good enough, I think,that I should not worry much over it. Maybe another week? The seedlings will not be harmed in waiting." Of course, Ada talked to her plants. They did much better with a voice of reason. It was also the reason why she wasn't giving the entire mint plant to Laurence House. The mint plant was her mascot, even if it was a weed. She'd never used a greenhouse, though she had heard of them, in theory. Glass was too precious for Ada's budget, even with Master Benoit's help. But herbs and vegetables did not need nearly as much nursing as foreign flowers, which she did not sell. Why grow what did not grow naturally? It was a waste of resources and always led to a case of gardener's heartache when the plant, for all your love and attention,simply did not thrive. Roses, for example, were Ada's bane. "I would appreciate any help you can give, Miss Janice, but you should really not be concerned with my books when you have Mister Renquest to explore." Explore? It might have been an accidental slip of Ada's nearly fluent English, or quite intentional. She wouldn't clarify in French, but merely smiled beatifically and indicated Janice take that jar of lip balm. Cosmetics made for a confident woman, and in Ada's opinion, confidence was what made Janice shine almost as brightly as the dress she was wearing today. "I will send what stock I have to Laurence House tonight. I hope I have everything, but I will check against the invoice to make sure." *
Janice: "Oh yes, yes. I am simply excited to do gardening of this sort, why, it will allow me to refine my skill with such a good teacher! Then when Master Laurence returns home she shall have a fine thing to greet her. Were that I could : do more for her and Master Sorschal to say thank you..but m'thinks helping their associates is a good way to begin, and pleasurable.." Excitement over dirt or book keeping? Did the girl do windows too? "Oh no, keeping your books is not trouble miss! Why Mr. Renquest has much work to do for the Scholars, he couldn't be bothered with me at all intervals of the day.." Ada was a person to make someone very comfortable! The way she said that allowed made her blush all the more as she finished her tea. "Thank you so much, on behalf of the masters, for your business Miss Ada..." First a tea for concentration now a balm for lovely lips ...A little of this, a little that. Temptation thy name was Ada! But she did pocket the little balm for Ada's advice was quite sage. (d)
