Banished Prince Charming

Chapter 18 - Have You Touched Her Yet?

Many hands do make light work. That was pretty true in the case of GraceHaven and soon, we were able to have the following processes from the cattails and reeds.

From the cattails, the settlers were able to produce gluten, thick sweetener syrup, corms that can be cooked in stews that tasted like asparagus, tinder for lifting up fireplaces, fluff for fillings of pillows, leaves for thatching, torches as well as medicinal benefits.

When the settlers had completed the tasks in the cattails, they moved on next for the reeds project. From it, they were able to produce sugary gums that were a delight for the kids including me as well! It was further processed to make strong, papyrus paper, ink, pens as well as the walls for the small roosting shelter.

Altogether it took a total of 4 days to complete clearing off the harvest load of cattails and reeds. Since reeds were favoured over the manufacturing of arrow shafts, Gwen and her husband had set aside a few hundred shafts before heating them in the fires to harden them before it was given a pointed edge and fitted with fletching.

At the meantime, since there wasn't any sign of geese and ducks, the feathers from the fowl were being used instead. As it was not as balanced in flight compared to the goose feathers, it would be mainly used for the small game instead.

So the quiver of metal topped arrowheads was reserved and the barbed arrow tip would be used instead. I looked at the way the duo worked and was touched as they knew the values of their tools and weapons. Since there was only a short and a longbow, I hadn't had a chance to learn anything archery at all.

Not that I would be using it for gaming but also as a choice for self-defence. Having a ranged weapon and a melee one, it would be able to provide a sense of security rather than having a piece of short sword beside me. Furthermore, it was an heirloom and without a whetstone, Jack would not be able to sharpen it properly to be wielded in times of need.

I looked at the broom that was made from reed and discovered that it was made into a fan shape instead. To hold the shape in place a few stalks were placed to hold them together and make the effects even much better than a normal outdoor broom.

I held the finished product and was quite elated by it. Maybe this could be sold to the merchant and at least there's more than a source of income coming from this tiny settlement. I proposed the idea in the next meeting and everyone agreed to prepare these brooms for sale together with the weaving mats of various sizes.

Since the materials could be found freely and costs almost nothing to produce them, the ladies decided to produce them and then a small storage place was built just for the sole purpose of handling all the goods.

Within the storage place, a tree trunk of almost 5 feet tall was placed in the corner. There were several pieces of wood wedged inside the trunk that served as hooks and the brooms were hooked on them by the ends.

This prevents the Brook from being deformed during storage and it loos more organised in the manner. A single tree trunk with 6 of those hooks would be able to store up to 60 brooms altogether. The floor was literally b.a.r.e so a small wooden base that serves as a pallet was being constructed and rolls of woven mats were being stored there.

The twins from the reeds were bound to secure the rolled-up mats. And there were 3 groups of woven mats. There were made up of 2' by 5', 5' by 5' and 10' by 10'. The price I was told was about 10c for the brooms and 5c per square foot for the woven mats.

That means that the woven mats would be sold to the merchants at 50c, 125c and 300c or 50c, 1s 25c and 3s respectively. (the 10' by 10' was sort of a bargain instead of a price of 500c or 5s instead)

Since the settlers had informed me that they would prefer to trade them for grains and flour, I let them decide since having coins would not be beneficial as there aren't any market stalls as far as the eyes can see!

"Young Master, would you like to partake to observe the making of the clay oven to see if the designs would be to your liking?" Ben approached me with his hands covered in clay and woke me up from my daydream as I was standing at the doorway of the storage space that was about the size of 5' by 5'.

"Oh, definitely. However, I would not know how it would look like at first but as long as it is able to bake four loaves of bread at a time or even eight if the earthen oven is enormous, I wouldn't mind though." I replied as I sauntered with Ben to the place at the riverbank where the children were either making clay toys or were frol.i.c.k.i.n.g in the knee-deep waters, basically scaring those dishes away.

I watched as the men were constructing the clay oven which had taken shape. They had used a frame made from reed and were mixing the clay from the riverbank to mould and shape the oven.

It was unlike a normal clay oven found in most kitchen as this was meant for the use of the outdoors. It's simply shaped like a kiln with an opening for placing of food and a raised platform were built about a foot from the base. Of course, the base was lined with clay as well.

A small rectangular shaped opening at the rear was where wood would be fired from. With a large mouth acting as a feeder to push in the food, it acts as a draft for air to enter and feed the fire.

On top of that base, several grill holes were being made to aid the baking or smoking process of bread and other foods. 3 tiny holes for ventilation were being made at the very top of the oven and overall the oven stood almost 4 feet high.

I understood from the men building them that this took a few steps in the process making and I was delighted when it was being made within a day with the assistance of 3 men. Furthermore, it had been placed on top of a wooden platform and would be lifted off and carried to the clearing where we prepare most of our meals.

Once the earthen oven had been sun-baked for several days, it would then be fired slowly for at least 2 to 3 days to ensure that the insides are dry and it would be bisque dry.

I can't help to congratulate the men for their job well done and with a little bit of ingenuity and science, a clay oven was born for GraceHaven.

"Haha... I can't wait for the sweet scent of freshly baked bread from GraceHaven from now on. Guess we would be stocking more on our grains and flour in the future." I chuckled and was feeling proud for the settlers themselves too.

As any sales proceeding could be calculated and offset with the barter exchange for food, the settlers vouched to produce these brooms and woven mats for sale. A few clay jars and bottled were being made as well as it would be used to store medicine, heavy syrup and other materials.

I looked on the right-hand side and saw that the project to make the bridge had not taken place. I announced that we would be discussing the matter of the bridge platform after dinner later. Once again I congratulated the men for their hard work and they carried the clay oven further away from the river bank and toward the clearing.

Dinner was simple yet sumptuous enough as we added some tubers for our meal to compensate for the gruel that we had from the earlier breakfast. After the meal, we sat around and discussed how to build a basic bridge platform for the merchants that would travel across using their horse-drawn wagon.

Wood from branches would rot over time and would be out of the question. Chopping the logs off trees would also be another hassle because with the combined strength of 4 men dragging the log across the forest floor would be proved to be non-conducive extremely strenuous.

"I've got an idea. I saw some clumps of bamboo overgrowth quite a distance from here. They are light, and once heated over fires would also make them sturdier and more lasting."

"Furthermore, it could be made into a bow as well, provided it has the same straight length needed. Just like my short bow, it has a strength of at least 90 pounds and 140 pounds for the longbow."

"Tomorrow I would lead to where it is so we can start harvesting it," exclaimed Gwen in excitement as she remembered about the discovery of the bamboo plants when she set her traps nearby there.

"That's a splendid idea, Gwen. Frank, Ben and Crystal would be able to follow you and bring some rope and machetes with you. Heather will assist me in discovering some other plants and vegetables and bring back another bunch of bananas as well as their younglings."

"This old man and our young master would help to look after the children and take care if the camp as well. It won't be too far away, would it, Gwen?" Kayla suggested and started to deploy the settlers into separate groups tomorrow so that work would be able to run smoothly thereafter.

"By the way, young Master. Have you touched Heather yet? It's been a week since you both had been together right now." Gwen aimed a question as if it was an innocent one and shot it straight at me.

"T... Touch Heather...?! EH...?! WHAT...?!" I suddenly blubbered out as Sir Blackie moved beside me and lay its head on my l.a.p and looked at me with its forlorn eyes as if it also wanted to ask the same question to me.