Banished Prince Charming

Chapter 50 - Another Use Of Windmill..

I went to the shed and took a sack of grains. It was half empty and I scrutinised the material closely and saw that the sack was weaved with jute or hemp. Then I thought of something and slapped my forehead. I had totally forgotten about the weighing scale that was given by Marcel and it was placed at the bottom of the open cabinet in the house.

Once we start the mill, we need to have a sack to retrieve the flour that would drop from the chute. How could I forget about this matter? Furthermore, we need a winnowing tray to get rid of most of the hulls.

These hulls would be collected, then mixed with flour and cane sugar or other vegetables or fruits that could be inserted as fillings and served to the horses as sweet treats. The bread would definitely be high in fibre and it would be welcomed by the horses for sure.

After going through the sheds, I noticed that the new batch of grains and flour were packed in 5 pounds each and was consolidated in one big sack of 5's. "Hey... I could use this instead. It is able to store more than 30 pounds of proceeded flour...!" I slapped my forehead and had the perfect solution for tomorrow's dry run of the flour mill.

I slowly removed the individual smaller sacks of grains and place them neatly on the b.a.r.e ground that was lined with hay to prevent any moisture from the ground to be absorbed into those sacks of grains and flour. After taking out the sacks of flour and grain, I had 8 huge empty sacks that would serve its purpose.

I went inside another shed and retrieved a sack of wheat that had been sundried before being stored inside the sacks. This was used to 'trade' with Marcel pound for pound for flour. I remembered that one of the engineers were telling about 'rice pounder' that was used to crush this wheat to removed its Hull for consumption. I wondered if those hulls would be available since it could be used as feed for the pigs and horses as well.

I smiled to myself as I hung the empty sacks on the fences of the jungle fowls enclosure. Hearing from Crystal earlier that goats would eat almost anything, I would want these sacks to be eaten by them!

I placed a sack of grains and wheat outside the shed so I would take the opportunity to bring it to the mill to discuss with the engineers. I looked at the enclosures and saw the numerous chicks that were scampering around as they slipped through the gaps of the enclosure to follows its mother.

It was a sight to witness these cute little chicks and the nature of their natural behaviour was akin to ducks and geese. Even though the hens had managed to take flight outside of the enclosure,

The goats' enclosure was next to the jungle fowls and I could see those goats munching their food in the mouths. I called for some to come near me but they ignored my furious waving of hands. "Hmph... I think they would only respond to food if I were to offer to them." I thought to myself as I reached out and patted Sir Blackie that was beside me all along.

I still remembered the first time Sir Blackie entered our small settlement and was glad that it had decided to remain at our sides.

"Young master, what do you have in your mind?" Gwen sauntered over with Heather and greeted me after both of them had completed their first task. "Well I was meaning to ask you something but I totally have forgotten it. Furthermore, I had found the sacks that I needed to use it for the trial run of the mill before they handed over to me."

"Yes, I am amazed at their speed in doing things. Besides, it's no wonder they had brought the dismantled parts of a windmill if not it would take months for them to build one from scratch."

"Yes, I've noticed that. Could you kindly assist in bringing these sacks of grain and wheat to the mill later? And don't forget about these sacks too."

"Sure thing. I thought you weren't able to find any sacks but right now you have a handful of them. Where did these appear?"

"Oh... I thought these eight sacks were filled with grains and flour but when I peered inside I saw that there are individual 5 pounders inside each sack. Lucky for us, we could have these sacks ready on hand."

'Oh... By the way, do you know how to make a winnowing tray? These would be used to remove those crushed hulls after it goes through the mill."

"Eh... Won't the mills suffer any stress because this wheat has a hard hull covering the grains? Those hulls were sure tough as hell but it's a great feed for the livestock."

"The engineers were telling me that the millstones would be able to mill these into flour. The only thing is that the hulls would be crushed as well and I learnt that these hulls were hard to digest as it was a form of fibre nutrients."

"Ah...i just remembered the question that I wanted to ask you. It's about the planned farmlands that we intend to extend next to the livestock. There won't be a problem, would it?"

'Definitely not. These clearing near the banks was a blessing since it would be quite rare to find such clearings near riverbanks. However, we need to clear these cattails and reed before we mark out the ground."

"A 30 feet by 30 feet piece of farmland would be on a 2x2 just like the one across the riverbanks of the residential lots. So these cattails and reed would be removed totally? That's a pity, right?"

"Young master, these are grasses and they are hardy. Even if we dug them out from the ground, they would still grow unless the ground would be covered by sand or finely crushed rocks then there's a possibility that only a handful might grow from it."

'Besides, bamboo is grasses too. There are some species that could grow a few inches per day before it became a.d.u.l.t and grew slowly from then. There are 2 kinds of bamboo that existed here. The thick ones that are being used for the construction of the houses while the smaller ones could be used for making trellises."

I nodded my head as I discovered additional knowledge from Crystal "Another matter, once there's farmland beside these enclosures, would there be a space for the wagons to pass through?"

"If there's not enough space for the wagons to pass through, we could fell these trees to make way. My husband is a woodcutter and I am sure he and his buddy would find ways on how to fell these trees. They won't be starting here though but they would work on these trees from the edge of the planned farmland. If not how would the trees be cut into sizeable logs to make planks am I right... Hahaha."

Crystal laughed at my short-sightedness of the matter and what she had mentioned was true. Furthermore, the sawmill would need at least 2 hands to help hoist the lumber on the machine. It seems to be hard work but once the lumber was placed on the sawmill, it would be smooth sailing thereafter.

"Alright then, forget about the favour I had asked earlier. At least I could bring these sacks myself. Wouldn't be a man strong enough to carry a mere 5 pounders on each arm, right?" I finally decided to bring these so I could discuss with the engineers. Even though they were contracted mainly for the purpose to set up this windmill, having them around would also be an additional help to build the village.

"Heather, could you gather information on the fillings for the bread? From fruits to vegetables down to meats? I would like to compile the list and see how many kinds of bread we would be able to supply to Marcel for his distribution."

"Sure Mars, I would get down to it. Mind if I take some papyrus and use your writing materials?"

"Sure, there won't be a problem at all. Alright, I'm off to the mill to speak to the engineers and find out as much as possible about them. It's a bit disturbing to find out that outsiders were able to uncover my identity as the Prince."

"Please update me as well okay? I should be of some help to you if you need me." I thanked Heather for her kind assistance and kissed her to peck on her cheeks, placed the 2 sacks under my armpit and walk towards the mill with several empty sacks that I had retrieved from the sheds.

"Good morning, gents. Here are the two sacks of grains and wheat for the dry run tomorrow. Once the run is complete, I guess there's more to be discussed." I walked in and placed the two sacks on the floor near dispensing chute.

"I guess you would like to speak to our Cap... I mean our senior engineer, right? He would be back in a short while, why not I take you around and explain to you about these blades. There are secret messages that could be delivered to the masses, so you know that?" a young engineer stood up and went to me while I saw some of his mates were clearing up some of their stuff in the floor.

"Oh, I didn't know about that. Could windmills do that? To send messages to the public?"

"Oh yes there is. Our English windmills are 4 bladed but it's also uncommon to see 5 to 6 blades too. But here, come let's go outside and I explain to you the fundamentals of how the miller could send certain messages.

I went with the young engineer outside and stood before the windmill blades that the edge of the blades was just a distance from the ground.

"Alright, these 4 windmill blades, when it was stationed at a certain position, would send a general message. Observe carefully then."

The young engineer moved the windmill blades using his hands and rotated it. He then carefully explained since there were 2 positions that looked nearly similar. The windmill blades'motion could be stopped and 'parked' using a wood block to wedge it between the gears to prevent it from moving and working the millstones. But as to explain things in a clearer manner,

When the miller stops the sail just before it reaches the highest vertical position, it means there is something to celebrate like the birth of a child or a marriage.

When the upper sail has been fixed after having passed through the highest position, it means that the culminating point has been passed and life is going downhill, meaning that there is a reason for mourning.

Leaving the sails locked in a '+' position means that the miller is taking a rest for a short period of time and when the sails are locked in an 'X' position means the miller is taking a longer rest.

"Golly... Didn't realise that these could be used as a message. Are these messages known thought the country?"

"Then how about unrest or insurgency? The last time maybe the scouts had put them up but of course, I won't be able to understand." I asked since I don't want the rest of the engineers to start discovering my identity even though the head of the engineers claimed that every engineer had known about it.

"In the case or any insurgencies, all the gates and central would be notified and then the last actions would be made by the scouts from the Manor. Do you have a flag at your house? Would you mind bringing it over to me?"

"Sure, hang on a minute as I rushed back home to retrieve one of the banners at the side of the house. It was made up of 3 copies of the then fallen Kingdom of Darlington."

=*=

"Quick, conceal all our gears... We won't want the Prince to think otherwise...." the young engineer took the opportunity to inform the rest to hide their stuff while waiting for me to return, totally oblivious of what's happening within the windmill.

=*=