The Bee Keeper's Daughter. Kingdom of Meridian. Vol 1.. Shian Serei

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СКАЧАТЬ searched her mind, trying to find an answer but realized her objection was to the idea of touching a woman, not how it actually felt. In fact, it only felt feminine and natural to touch someone so familiar and kind. Maria let out a deep breath and laid her head on the soft curtain of Sveta’s hair as it spilled across the pillow as they both drifted into sleep.

      Weft Threads

      Things moved slowly the next morning; Maria awoke in Sveta’s bed to see she was already up and getting dressed. Sveta seemed late for getting to the galley and said very little before quickly slipping her shoes on and heading for the door.

      Maria felt guilty for not having a task to perform, she could hear people all over the ship working, moving things about and shouting for help with this or that. She got dressed and headed for the top deck to see what the ship looked like after the storm.

      At first glance, everything seemed normal until she noticed a few barrels were missing from where they had been lashed the day before. Then she turned and saw several members of the crew looking at the sail, it had a large tear at the base where it had been pulled hard against the grommets and was split completely open from the breeze running through it. Her eyes grew big at the idea the wind could be so violent.

      «We didn’t get it down in time.» The quartermaster said as he saw her looking at the damage. «That storm caught everyone by surprise.» He added as he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck in frustration.

      «Can you fix it?» Maria asked.

      «In the next port we can, but that’s bad news for the oarsmen, they have to push upstream against this current.» He said gritting his teeth in anger.

      «Well get it down before it rips sideways as well!» he shouted at the crew.

      Maria stood in a trance, as she watched the breeze flickering through the loose threads of the torn sail. She instantly remembered her mother teaching her how to make blankets on a loom. Each winter the snow would cover the doors and windows, burying the family inside for days at a time. They always had a fire, food, and tasks to keep their mind off the harsh cold that imprisoned them.

      Maria’s mind immersed her in the scene of her mother guiding Maria’s hands across the loom, teaching her how to stretch the main threads in the loom before completing the piece with a shuttle and fill thread. The process took days to complete as they wove blankets and sewed quilts from scraps of cloth.

      Maria slowly blinked, staring determined at the sail as she walked toward it. «I can fix this!» Maria said excitedly.

      The quartermaster looked up from his tools, feeling annoyed by Maria’s interjection. He searched for a reason to excuse her from the task. «Oh, I couldn’t impose on you miss, you’re our passenger, and mending a sale is a very dangerous job, the weight of it alone is…» he continued in a patronizing voice.

      Maria could sense she had to prove her abilities and felt the school teacher voice of her mother emerge in complete authority, interrupting the quartermaster before he could finish speaking.

      «Look right there! See how the tear is perfectly straight?» She asked insistently.

      The quartermaster sighed and nodded, hoping she would stop talking.

      «Those are weft threads, they just the fill the sail, the stronger ones… the warp threads that go up and down are fine! I can patch on both sides through the warp threads, all I need is a needle, thread and a piece of canvas.…do you have that on board?» Maria said looking up from the sail at the stunned quartermaster.

      The quartermaster stood speechless as the young lady spoke in a language he had only heard among shipwrights and riggers.

      «You have the tools, yes?» Maria said confidently.

      The quartermaster turned and shouted at one of the crew, «Fetch me the sail gear in the tackle box and the old sail from down below!»

      A member of the crew rushed down the stairs, returning moments later with the items.

      The quartermaster placed his hand on Maria’s back gently and spoke quietly in her ear, «If it’s not done right, the sail will be ruined. You’re sure about this?» The quartermaster said as he handed the tackle box to Maria.

      Maria nodded confidently and walked toward the sail rigging. She felt she was being taken seriously for the first time, rather than a helpless kitten with no value to those around her. The crew unleashed the base of the sail and lowered it for her. They laid the old sail out on the deck and stood like an audience, watching a performance. Maria immediately went to work measuring the tear and size of the patch she would need to cut from the old sail.

      The quartermaster watched from his post with a smile as she had all the deck hands helping her. Each man seemed eager to be her hands and teased each other in the process.

      «Those are weft threads there.» said one crewmember to another, as if he knew it already.

      Maria giggled and corrected him, «Actually weft threads go up and down, those are the fill threads that go across, they are the weaker of the two.» Maria said as the man nodded in embarrassment.

      She walked out the length of patches to be cut and looked around for a knife. The quartermaster stepped down from his post and pulled a blade from his belt, working it along the sail where Maria pointed.

      He cut a large set of patches and placed them over and under the main sail to be sewn together. The men held the weight of the sail as Maria set out to stitch the patches in place, ignoring the attention she drew from each man watching her. Her long blonde hair dancing in the breeze as she knelt and turned over and under the sail.

      She looked up and saw their blank faces, all looking at her. «Sorry gentleman, I know it’s heavy, I’ll go as quickly as I can.» She said keeping her eyes on the sail.

      «It’s not heavy to me!» One man said, «Nor I!» said another, as each of them wanted to boast of their strength in hopes of impressing her.

      After two hours, the stitching was complete, and the quartermaster returned. «Well I’ll be!» he said as he inspected the work, pulling at the edges to test the strength. «That’s excellent work!»

      «Thanks, we still need a grommet.» She said still focused on the task.

      «Now that I can do!» said the quartermaster as he motioned to one of the men to cut a whole and clamp a ring around it for reinforcement.

      Moments later, the sail was lashed to the cross arm and hoisted up as it caught the wind, and the ship made a familiar pull forward. The patch held and took the weight of the breeze as before.

      Suddenly the oarsmen, covered in sweat, began to appear on deck, one after another in a long line. It was evident they had been told the news and were all looking at the sail with an inspired smile. Then the quartermaster began to clap as he walked toward Maria acknowledging her with a big smile, the entire deck began to cheer with applause as the men felt relieved to have their sail back.

      Maria didn’t understand how important her contribution was to the ship, the southern currents of the Volga routinely made hard work for the oarsmen, but without a sail to help propel the ship it would have been almost impossible to travel North. She was their hero.

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