Snippet Saturday: Adventures and Adversities #2
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If you read the story before, share your thoughts on the scene. If you haven't read the book...Well, now you can try it out. Remember, all my books are free to read if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
If you read the story before, share your thoughts on the scene. If you haven't read the book...Well, now you can try it out. Remember, all my books are free to read if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
The inside
of the castle walls was nothing like what Alditha had envisioned. They entered
through an opening in the wall, which the captain said was a half-finished
gatehouse. Everywhere she looked in the large open area inside the walls,
people were busy. Off to one side were merchants selling their wares; to the
other side there were men hammering away on blocks of stone. In the very
middle, workers were placing finished blocks on what appeared to be the
beginnings of a large house. She eyed the captain, knowing better than to ask.
“The beginnings of the keep,” he
offered.
Alditha wasn’t sure what a keep
was, but she didn’t want to bother him with a question.
As they began to cross the
courtyard, Alditha took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. The bad
smells seemed to be trapped by the walls. It was so different from the openness
of her village. She looked to the sky, wishing a breeze would come and clear
the air of the foul smell. She reached up and rubbed her already wrinkled nose.
Captain Harold chuckled. “You’ll
get used to the smell soon enough. The first day is always the worst.”
“Does it always smell like this?”
“In the summer it is worse, but in
the winter things freeze over, and you don’t smell it as much,” the captain
said as they reached an area that appeared to be the stables. It was a big
wooden structure with room for a large number of horses inside. The captain
handed the reins of his horse to a stable boy and put his hand on Alditha’s
shoulder, guiding her through the people and horses that were moving about,
past the stable and toward a door that seemed to lead into the wall of the
castle.
“Maggie? Maggie? Are you there?”
the captain called, banging on the door. He then stepped to the side.
“Who’s hollering my name loud
enough to be heard clear to the sea?” a strong female voice called back. A
moment later, a large woman filled the doorway, wiping her hands on a rag. Her
faded indigo dress, as well as her chubby cheeks, were dusted with flour. Her
long head-covering fully covered her hair and draped in a semicircle in the
front.
Maggie regarded Alditha severely.
“Who might you be? Did you see the rogue that was hollering for me?”
“Is that the way to treat the girl
I have brought to help you?” Captain Harold stepped into her view.
Maggie’s mouth dropped open. The
rag she had been holding fluttered to the ground, and her hand went to her
heart. “Harold? I mean Captain, what a surprise! I didn’t expect you for
another week.”
Captain Harold shrugged. “I made
good time. I hope you have something for a hungry soldier to eat. I have been
dreaming of your bread for weeks.”
The color rose in Maggie’s cheeks.
“Then bread you shall have.”
Alditha followed the captain and
Maggie through the door. The stone room was much longer than it was wide. It
was uncomfortably warm from the heat of several ovens. Alditha’s stomach
grumbled at the delicious smells that greeted her nose. Two girls were standing
in front of a table nearby, kneading bread. One of them, a young girl of about
ten or eleven, gave Alditha a shy smile.
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