Sixth Son: Villager in Another World 15

During the next few days, I finished a knife by stripping and wrapping tree bark around the hilt. I also added a knob of fallen oak as soft hammer to put a finer edge onto a blade. Helen received the arrowhead with an absentminded thanks and put it into her pocket.

Knife in hand, my crafting branched out from stones to weaving once I was able to cut away some serviceberry and willow branches to store the stone tools and a few chicken feathers I kept from cleaning the Archers' coop.

The first knife was functional, but was still crude. I wanted to make a better one, but I also needed a better work space than the outcropping beside the road. To do that, I would need a workspace. Ideally, it would be sheltered from the wind. I found just the place near some white birch that my father coppiced. There was a time worn stone that kept the outline of its angular shape and had splotches of deep red over the surface. More importantly to me, it had the hardness and the mass to serve as an anvil.

There were rough rocks at the outcropping that could be used to sharpen my tools against. As I wondered how to move them, Helen approached me with a bow and arrow in hand. At the tip of the arrow was the flint arrowhead that I had shaped.

Sixth Son: Villager in Another World 14

My morning was taken up by chores and lessons. After lunch the next day, I walked a circuit around the surrounding area our houses. I held my ever present bamboo staff. Last night, Tertius had been kind enough to trim off the split ends with his blade, which reminded me of my sore need for a knife. I was on the lookout for rock outcroppings, whether by the road or the stream.

Most of the rock near the stream was crumbly. They were easily broken with a hard stone that was the size of a walnut that lay in the stream bed. None of the gravel were the right size. I still noted the location, since clay lay underneath the eroded stone.

I had better luck near the road. I found an outcropping of gray stone. A large slab sticking out of the ground served as my anvil. A piece slightly larger than my hand served as the stock for my future stone age tools, while I held a third piece as a hammer. I struck firmly at a shallow angle away from myself.

The stock rock gave a satisfying split into a variety of flakes. The smaller, thin pieces would serve as razors that could be used to trim a quill, once I procured feathers. I set those aside. Some larger pieces would become knives or smaller hammers. One piece mostly shaped itself into  an arrowhead.

I put the proto-arrowhead piece against my thigh and tapped away at in. My fingers were clumsy at first, but quickly acclimated to the force necessary to flake off what didn't belong on the arrowhead. As the triangular head took shape, I found myself wishing for other tools, like a pad to cushion my thigh, a soft hammer to smooth out the crude edges, or a pointed metal stick to have better control while making edges. Those thoughts were pushed aside to focus on the task at hand.

I not only finished the arrowhead, but also put the edge on a crude knife, though the handle still needed work. That reminded me that I needed something to store my tools in. At least I could cut some reeds or tall grass to weave into a bundle for storage. I could also make a mat to work on.

Such was the way of man that one desire led to another.

Sixth Son: Villager in Another World 13

Under the house eaves were stacks of cut birch. They needed to be peeled to let them dry out, so they didn't rot. That worked for me, since I wanted the bark. I pulled a shard of bark from log that was already shedding. I put a slight bend in the shard with a pressure from my thumb to stiffen it and used it to strip the logs.

After being soaked in water, the paper birch bark could be peeled into thin strips similar to their namesake. I planned to sun bleach a portion to increase the contrast.

To write on the makeshift paper, a pen and ink would also be necessary. I could find a wild feather or, at worse, gather chicken feather from the coop and cut it into a quill. I needed a knife first to cut it.

Quartus had only received a used knife from Tertius this past Yuletide, and I would not get a knife before Quintus. I bundled the bulk of bark with another thin strip and tied it to a peg on a column in my shared room. By the time I stowed the bark, it was nearly dinnertime, so I stayed indoors for the rest of the evening.

Sixth Son: Village in Another World 12

Twelve.

Each following morning, after breakfasting on brown bread and small beer, I went over the Archers’ to help. It was expected, since I was a sort of an apprentice. In addition to the various gardens, there were the animals to tend to. Both mother and daughter seemed to share the knack of handling animals. The both milked the goats and gathered eggs with ease. The chickens always tried to peck me if I approached carelessly, but I was still able to clean their roosts.

Helen’s father and brother cut the wood and fetched the water before leaving for the woods, but they often left early in the morning. This left the Archers short of hands and Helen grumbling under her breath. 

My family, which was larger, helped them tend to their fields in exchange for part of theharvest. My kind brother Tertius also helped with cleaning out the sty and the goat stall, since it was still beyond my strength.

After chores, Agnes gave lessons to both Helen and I. Helen did try hard, but her head did not seem to be suited for figures or letters. She would give them a try and would occasionally turn to me for help as a last resort. In turn, Agnes had Helen teach me about herbs and mushrooms.

After we were let out from lessons by mid to late morning, Helen grabbed her bow to dash out into the woods. I thanked Agnes for the lesson and continued to repeat the contents to myself, but I was not confident that all of the information would all stick. I wished that I had something to write with and on.

Ink and parchment were valuable. I was not so shameless as to ask to use any of Agnes’s valuable stores. My Ma and Dad had never written anything as far as I could see, though I had seen my Dad use an abacus and scratch a few roman numerals in the ground.

I returned home and ate lunch slightly distracted, while considering everything I saw in the house. Quartus took advantage of my it and pinched a piece of turnip pinched from my soup. Without an answer, I stepped back outside and immediately saw the answer stacked under the house’s eaves.

Sixth Son: Village in Another World 11

Eleven.

Both Agnes and Helen seemed pleased with my presence at their lessons. Agnes spoke to Ma during the afternoon. During dinner Ma and Dad spoke it over. Dad thought it over.

He looked me in the eye and asked. "Is this something that you want to do?"

The spoons stopped for a moment. All eyes turned to me. I did not hesitate before nodding vigorously.

"I'll speak to them tomorrow morning," Ma said.

Right after breakfast, we met Agnes drawing water from the well. After greetings, Ma had warned Agnes about my lax weeding. Agnes glanced over at me as I toed a milkweed plant that grew next to the well. Agnes said that she would show me what to do.

It seemed like I was not only going to join them for lessons, but would help Agnes with some chores as well, meaning that I was going to be somewhat like an apprentice. I tailed after Agnes that morning to her gardens.

While commoners did not have family names like the nobles, our neighbors were called the Archers by the villagers, because the father was an archer. My family was called the Woodbys, because we lived by the woods.

Anyway, the flatter part of the Archers' land was devoted to growing grain like the other villagers. Unlike the other villagers, a fairly large portion was devoted to gardens. Some patches were devoted to the familiar turnips, onions, and vegetables. Others parts were devoted to herbs and various other plants that were used in Agnes's brews.

Agnes pointed out various plants and showed me what to keep and what to weed out. To my satisfaction, she did keep the milkweed plants.