Notice: market day
Market day at Three Wells is once a week, from dawn until the noon bell.
Stalls stand around the three wells. Carts wait on the east side of the square.
Do not sell from a cart in front of the south well. People need to reach the water.
Do not wash fish in the wells. Do not wash sheep in the wells. Do not wash anything in the wells.
No pigs in the square on market day. Last spring a pig ate a whole table of pies and then sat in the south well. We all know which pig. Its owner says this notice is unfair to pigs. The notice stays.
The market board checks the loaves. If your bread is small, the board will know.
Ida's bakery opens at dawn. The line starts before that.
Lost children wait at the north well. Lost parents may wait there too.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, spring of 208
%%
Notice: lost and found, spring 208
Things found this season. Ask at the mayor's house to claim them.
Found: one green mitten, small, by the east well.
Found: a wooden horse with three legs. The fourth leg was found later. Both are here.
Found: a book and quill, wet. It says BEL on the first page.
Found: a hat with a feather. It is Pell's hat. It is always Pell's hat.
Found: one cat, grey and very fat. She found us. She will not leave.
Found and claimed: one sheep with a black face, asleep by the south well on market day. She ate the flowers from the mayor's window box. Her owner walked all the way down from Kettle Ridge to take her home. Her name is Biscuit. Everyone knows that now.
Lost: a blue wool blanket, from a cart on market day.
Lost: the second bell of the school house. If you have the bell, please bring it back. We will not ask why.
Things not claimed by the end of summer go to the children's stall at the fair.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells
%%
Notice: the autumn fair
The autumn fair is at Three Wells on the first fine day after the harvest moon, as always.
Morning: the market, with stalls from every town on the Long Road.
Noon: the pumpkin contest at the east well. Bring your biggest pumpkin. Bring help to carry it.
Afternoon: the bread contest, the honey contest, the beetroot contest, and the horse race to the second waymark and back.
Evening: songs at the north well, lamps on all three wells, and stew for everyone. At dusk, wishes at the south well. Do not tell anyone what you wished.
For the children: games, a fishing pool, and a stall of things nobody claimed from lost and found.
New rules this year: No pigs in the tents. No apprentices in the pie tent. No singing before noon.
The inn has twelve beds. There will be more people than twelve. Bring a tent, or find a friend in town.
Keep your torches lit on the way home. It is creeper season.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, autumn of 208
%%
Notice: road works on the Long Road
From the third day of spring, the Long Road is closed between Three Wells and the Halfway Inn.
The old stones are broken. The carts sink in the mud. We are laying new cobblestone, two carts wide, with a torch on a post every twelve blocks.
Carts go round by the old mill track. It is slow and it is muddy. It is only for twenty days.
Two apprentices from Vell are hauling the stone. Some of you have never seen an apprentice. They are made of copper and iron. They follow a pattern. They do not stop to talk.
Please do not stand in their way. Please do not give them bread. They do not eat it, and then the birds come.
The masons of Copperhold are in charge of the work. If you want to help, ask for the mason with the red hat.
The Halfway Inn is open. You can reach it by the mill track. Hobb says the soup is on, and the second bowl is still free.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, spring of 202
%%
Notice: keep the torches lit
Creeper season is here. The nights are long and the fields are dark.
Every house keeps a torch at the door from dusk until dawn.
Every corner of the square has a lamp. The lamp boy lights them at dusk. If a lamp is out, light it. Do not wait for the lamp boy.
Close doors and gates at night. Bring in the cats.
Do not walk the Long Road alone after dark. Walk with a friend and a torch, or stay at the inn.
If you hear a hiss, do not stop to look. Run. Then shout.
Last autumn a creeper took the corner off the bakery. Ida and Hollis have built it again. Ida is still cross about it. Please do not ask Ida about it.
Spiders on the walls are only spiders. Leave them alone and they will mostly leave you alone.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells
%%
Notice: the new school house
The new school house by the east well is finished. No more lessons in the back room of the inn.
School begins on the first day of autumn, at the first bell, two hours after dawn.
Every child of Three Wells from six to twelve may come. There is no fee.
Children from the farms may come too. In winter, when the roads are bad, there are six beds in the back room.
Sorrel will teach letters and numbers, the towns and the roads, the care of animals, and how to write a proper letter. You start with Dear. You end with your name.
Bring a book and quill if you have one. If you do not, the school has twenty.
The stone came from Copperhold. The glass came from Saltreach. Every town on the Long Road sent a cart.
The children of Three Wells painted the door. It is very blue.
Parents may visit on the last day of each season.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, autumn of 201
%%
Notice: the pumpkin contest
The pumpkin contest is at noon on fair day, at the east well.
1. You must grow the pumpkin yourself, on your own farm or in your own garden.
2. One pumpkin each. Two if you are under ten.
3. No pumpkins from last year. We can tell.
4. The biggest pumpkin is measured with the rope, by the market board.
5. Faces are carved on the day, with a small knife, by the one who grew the pumpkin.
6. Apprentices may carry pumpkins. Apprentices may not grow them for you. We can tell that too.
7. Pumpkins come to the square on a cart. Not by themselves. You know who you are.
8. The biggest pumpkin wins 5 emeralds and a jar of Ambrook honey. The best face wins a lantern to put it in.
9. Pumpkins left on the square at dusk go to the bakery, for pies.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells
%%
Results: the autumn fair of 207
Biggest pumpkin: the Hollow farm of Ambrook.
Came the furthest by itself: the pumpkin of Tam of Kettle Ridge. It rolled down the ridge road, over the bridge and across the square, and stopped at the east well at noon. A new prize, made on the day.
Biggest beetroot: Tam of Kettle Ridge. Nine beetroots in the contest. The mayor said: now that is a beetroot. The mayor stands by it.
Best three beetroot: Brin of Kettle Ridge, as every year. Second: Tam, as every year.
Best face: Bel of Three Wells. The face looks a little like the mayor. The mayor does not see it.
Best bread: Ida of Three Wells. Hollis says he will win next year. He said that last year.
Best honey: Ama of Ambrook, for the dark honey.
Horse race: Fog, a grey mare from Saltreach. Her rider fell off at the second waymark. Fog won anyway.
Orders given to Peg at the east well: 140. Peg got nearly all of them right. Old Hob told it to fetch the moon. Peg stayed where it was. Good answer.
Lost at the fair: two hats, one of them Tam's. One boot, a song book, and the mayor's voice.
Thank you, everyone. See you next autumn.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells
%%
Notice: the new relay tower at Ambrook
The new relay tower at Ambrook is finished.
It stands on the hill above the mill pond, where the old oak was. The old oak is now the door.
On the first day of summer, at dusk, the tower will light its lamp for the first time.
It will send its first message to Three Wells. Three Wells will answer. Then Vell, then the others, all the way to Northpoint.
Until now, a letter from Ambrook went by cart and waited at every inn. A message from Northpoint reaches Vell before supper. Now it can reach Ambrook too.
Everyone may come to the opening. Bring a lamp. Ambrook will bring apples and honey.
The keeper is Linnet. Linnet asks that nobody touch the lamp glass.
We hope it is not the last new tower.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, summer of 199
%%
Relay log, Ambrook, first evening
First page of the Ambrook tower log. First day of summer, 199. Written in short. Kept by Linnet.
Ambrook to Three Wells: this is Ambrook. Lamp lit. Is this working?
Three Wells to Ambrook: yes. Welcome, Ambrook.
Ambrook to Three Wells: seen. Everyone here is shouting.
Vell to Ambrook: welcome. The Archive asks for this log at the end of the year. Oren.
Ambrook to Vell: seen. We will send it. Every word.
Kettle Ridge to Ambrook: welcome from the ridge. Windy here. Tam says send apples.
Copperhold to Ambrook: welcome from the Deep Works. Hesk.
Saltreach to Ambrook: welcome. Fog here, but we read you.
Lowmarsh to Ambrook: welcome from the marsh. Come and visit. Bring boots.
Northpoint to Ambrook: welcome, Ambrook. Snow on the hills still. Send honey. Mira.
Ambrook to Northpoint: seen. Ama says yes. One jar on the next cart north.
Ambrook to all towers: thank you all. First night done. All well. Linnet.
%%
Notice: Founding Day, the 200th year
Founding Day is the first day of spring. This spring begins the 200th year of the Archive at Vell.
Long ago, the eleven first keepers dug the first room into the hill at Vell. On one page they wrote their names and one line: "We will keep everything we write." They also wrote that it was raining.
They did keep everything. Every letter, every song, every ledger, every notice. Every notice on this board goes to Vell at the end of the year. This one too.
For Founding Day:
Morning: the school children read a copy of the first page aloud at the north well.
Noon: at Vell, the clerks take the first page out of its oak box and read it in the front hall. Here, bread and honey for everyone, from the town.
Afternoon: copies of the oldest notices from this board, in the back room of the inn. The oldest one is about a lost pig.
Evening: every tower sends greetings. Come up the hill to the relay tower and hear them read.
Bring something you wrote, for the Archive. A letter, a list, a song. It will be kept.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, spring of 200
%%
Relay log, Three Wells, Founding Day
First day of spring, 200. Greetings for the 200th Founding Day, read aloud at the tower door. Written in short. Kept by Sedge.
Vell to all towers: two hundred years. We kept everything. Thank you for writing it. Oren, for the Archive.
Northpoint to Vell: two hundred years, and still nobody has sent me a warm coat. Happy Founding Day. Mira.
Kettle Ridge to Vell: greetings from the ridge. Tam baked a cake. The cake did not go well. Tam ate it anyway.
Copperhold to Vell: greetings from the Deep Works. Every miner sends a lump of coal, for your stoves. Hesk.
Saltreach to Vell: greetings from the sea. Corin has named the new boat Founding Day.
Lowmarsh to Vell: greetings from the marsh. The frogs say it too. Wren.
Ambrook to Vell: greetings from the orchards. A cart of apples is on the road to you.
Three Wells to Vell: greetings from the crossroads. Our children read the first page aloud. Nobody cried. Almost nobody.
Vell to all towers: all greetings seen and written down. All well, from Northpoint to Saltreach. Good night.
%%
Notice: apprentices in the square
More apprentices come to the market every season. Most of them are carrying for someone. Please be kind to them, and keep out of their way.
Rules for apprentices in the square, and for the people who send them:
1. Every apprentice in the square must have its test paper tied to its arm. No paper, no market.
2. Do not send an apprentice to buy. It cannot count emeralds. Send it to carry.
3. Speak plainly. Give one order at a time. A good apprentice understands orders like these:
> carry these sacks to the cart
= haul
> wait here by the well
= stay
> go home now
= home
4. Peg from the bakery knows all eight meanings. Most apprentices do not, yet. Be patient with them.
5. Do not shout at an apprentice. It does not help, and it frightens the children.
6. If an apprentice is lost, bring it to the north well. Someone will know it.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, spring of 208
%%
Notice: something new at the fair
At the autumn fair this year, Nessa, tutor of apprentices at Vell, brings an apprentice that understands orders.
Not one word for one job. Orders, said the way you would say them to a friend.
Say "bring me an apple" and it brings you an apple. Say "wait here a moment" and it stays.
Its name is Peg. After the fair it stays in Three Wells, to carry for the bakery.
This summer a miner at Copperhold said a whole sentence to his apprentice, in a tired voice, and it understood him. The tutors say this is the next thing.
Nessa says Peg took a long time and a new drill box. At first it answered stay to every order. Nessa says that was her fault, not Peg's. Each time it was wrong, it changed a little. Now it is wrong much less.
Come to the east well after the pumpkin contest. Everyone may try one order. Plain words, please.
Do not try to trick it. Old Hob, that means you.
If you think this is a trick, come and see. The mayor thought so too.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, autumn of 207
%%
Notice: snow on the road
Snow came early this year. The north road is closed until the thaw. The road to Kettle Ridge is open, but slow.
Every house clears the snow from its own door to the middle of the street. Your neighbor does the rest. That is how it works.
The wells will freeze. Break the ice each morning with the long pole by the north well. Do not use your foot. Ask Old Hob about his foot.
Bring the animals in. Bring the cats in. The cats will not want to come in. Bring them in anyway.
The school is open unless the bell does not ring. If the bell does not ring, there is no school.
The coal carts from Copperhold come when the road allows. Coal is shared by the house count, not by who shouts loudest.
Mira at Northpoint says this is not real snow. Mira says this every year.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, winter of 206
%%
Notice: lost and found, autumn 206
Found after the fair. Ask at the mayor's house.
Found: a fishing rod, a good one, with a red float.
Found: a child's boot, left foot. The right boot was found in the north well. Both are drying.
Found: a song book from Lowmarsh, with a frog drawn on every page.
Found: a crystal in a cloth bag. It may be a mind. Please do not put it in anything. Nessa of Vell has been told.
Found: a cart wheel. No cart.
Found: Pell's hat.
Lost: Pepper, the brown dog from Ambrook with one white ear. Again. If he is under Pell's cart, he is not lost.
Lost: a plain gold ring, on the east side of the square. It was a wedding ring. Please look.
Lost: the mayor's voice, at the songs. Again.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells
%%
Ledger: Pell, spring 204
Ledger of Pell, merchant of Ambrook, on the Long Road. Spring of 204. All sums in emeralds.
Day 1. Ambrook. Loaded 40 jars of our honey, 12 sacks of our apples, and a box of comb for the candle maker at Vell.
Day 1. The Brown Hen. Bed and stew. Told Marda the stew was better than last year. Paid 1. It was better.
Day 2. Three Wells, market day. Sold 20 jars at 2. Got 40. Sold 8 sacks of apples. Got 8.
Day 2. Three Wells. Bought 12 loaves at Ida's bakery, for the road. Paid 2.
Day 2. The Halfway Inn. Bed and soup. Paid Hobb 2. The second bowl was free, as always.
Day 3. Vell. Sold 15 jars to the Archive kitchen. Got 30. Oren paid in very clean emeralds and counted them twice.
Day 3. Vell. Sold the comb. Got 6. Sold 4 sacks of apples. Got 4.
Day 3. Vell. Bought 30 blank books for the school at Three Wells. Paid 15.
Day 4. The Halfway Inn. Paid Hobb 2.
Day 5. Three Wells. Sold the 30 blank books to Sorrel, for the school. Got 15. No gain. Do not tell anyone.
Day 5. Three Wells. Sold the last 5 jars. Got 10.
Day 5. The Brown Hen. Paid Marda 1. Said the same thing about the stew.
Day 6. Ambrook. Home.
Spent: 23. Got: 113. Barley is happy. So am I.
Also bought at Vell: one blue ribbon, 1 emerald. Not counted. Not for sale. For Tilly.
%%
Ledger: Pell, autumn 204
Ledger of Pell, merchant of Ambrook. Autumn of 204. All sums in emeralds.
Day 1. Ambrook. Loaded 50 jars of our honey, 8 of them dark.
Day 1. The Brown Hen. Paid Marda 1. Said the stew was better than last year. It was the same. She knew.
Day 2. Three Wells, fair day. Found a dog in the cart, under the honey. Brown, one white ear. Sent word home by relay. Paid 1.
Day 2. Three Wells. Sold 16 jars at 2 and 4 dark at 3. Got 44.
Day 2. The Halfway Inn. Rain. Stayed two nights. Paid Hobb 11. Hobb says I owe one more, for a stool. I do not.
Day 4. Vell. Sold 10 jars to the Archive kitchen. Got 20. Oren counted them twice.
Day 6. Copperhold. Sold 10 jars to the miners. Got 20. Bought 20 iron ingots. Paid 20.
Day 8. Lowmarsh. Sold 2 jars at the inn. Got 4.
Day 9. Saltreach. Sold the iron to Corin, for the shipyard. Got 25. Sold 4 jars and 4 dark. Got 20.
Day 9. Saltreach. Bought 30 ink sacs from Kell of the Heron. Paid 15. For Oren, next spring. They keep, if dry.
Day 11. Ambrook. Home. Gave the dog back to the boy at the Hollow farm. The dog is called Pepper.
Pepper ate 2 loaves and a pork chop on the road. Cost: 1.
The boy gave me a drawing of Barley. Paid in full.
Spent: 49. Got: 133. A good season, and a dog.
%%
List: owed to Pell
Who owes what, end of autumn, 208. In emeralds. Pell is patient. Pell is not that patient.
Old Hob of Three Wells: 3, for a saddle. Since spring. Says next market day. Has said this five times.
Ida the baker: 2, for honey. Ida pays in bread. Bread is fine.
Tam of Kettle Ridge: 1, for a hat. Bought at the fair. Lost at the fair. Tam says a hat he never wore should be free. Tam says his sister will pay. His sister sent word down the line that she will not. That cost her 1.
Hobb of the Halfway Inn: says I owe 1, for a stool. I say the stool owes me, for the bruise.
The Archive at Vell: owes nothing. Oren pays on the day, and counts twice.
Sorrel of the school: owes nothing. I do not take emeralds for school books.
Kell of the Heron: owes me a fish supper. Promised in spring.
What I owe:
Tam of Kettle Ridge: four days of barn, kitchen and soup, when Barley was lame. He would not take emeralds. He took two jars of honey. That is not enough.
Barley: a long rest, and apples.
Juna and Tilly: a whole winter at home.
%%
Tally: Kettle Ridge harvest, 207
Harvest count of the top farm at Kettle Ridge, autumn of 207. Counted by Tam. Counted again by Tam, because he got a different number.
Wheat, top field: 1900 bundles. Low. No rain for twenty days in summer.
Beetroot, long field: 640. Sown twice. Do not ask Pip why.
Potatoes, bottom field: 410. Carrots: 300.
Pumpkins: 22, and one very big one that went to the fair by itself.
Honey: 7 bottles. 3 for the house, 3 for the fair, 1 for Mira.
Kept for seed: 6 sacks of wheat seed, 2 sacks of beetroot seed.
To the mill: 20 sacks of wheat. Pip took them up. I only asked once. Sefa sent Pip home with a sack of flour on its head.
Biggest beetroot at the fair: ours. Best three: Brin's. As always.
Pip worked every day of the harvest and did not complain. I worked most days and complained a lot.
Signed: Tam. Pip put its hand on the page. It left a copper mark. That counts.
%%
Tally board: Kettle Ridge, 208
The ridge tally, from the board at the mill. Autumn of 208. Every farm brings its count to the mill.
Top farm (Tam and Pip): wheat 2600, beetroot 1300, potatoes 700.
Brin's farm (Brin and Fence): wheat 1500, beetroot 1100. Best beetroot on the ridge, as always. Biscuit got out twice. Found twice.
East farm (Hanna and Rolf): wheat 1900, beetroot 800. The twins helped. Not much.
North farm: wheat 2400, carrots 900.
Low farm: wheat 1100, beetroot 1500.
Windy farm: wheat 1700, beetroot 900.
All farms: wheat 11200, beetroot 5600. The best year on the board.
The mill (Sefa): 3400 sacks ground. It squeaked on every turn. Sefa is not worried.
The big wind in summer took one sail off the mill and the roof off Tam's hen house. The roof came down in Brin's field, with Biscuit standing on it. Thanks to Mira at Northpoint for the warning. Without it we would have lost every sail.
Apprentices on the ridge: 8. Two are new since spring, tested at Vell. One is Sefa's, for the flour sacks.
The mill thanks everyone. The mill asks everyone to stop leaving cats in the flour room.
%%
Deep Works count board, autumn 207
The count board at the top of the shaft, autumn of 207. Copied by Hesk, for the Archive, because Oren asked. Counts in carts.
Level one: copper 210, coal 380.
Level two: copper 180, iron 60, coal 300.
Level three: copper 150, iron 90, gold 4, redstone 20. Ola found 3 of the gold.
Level four: copper 420, iron 130, coal 610, lapis 6. Coal week was on four.
Level five: copper 160, iron 70. Rivet tipped 2 carts at the bend. Clank tipped none. Clank remembers that bend.
Level six: copper 40, iron 30. Wet at the far end. The channel holds.
Level seven, the deep stone: iron 120, and 300 blocks of deep stone for the wall builders. Picks sharpened: ask Bram.
Coal for the north: 70 sacks to Northpoint, 40 to each tower on the north line. On the last cart, with the note.
Apprentices: 3. Clank and Rivet in my crew. One on the lift.
Miners: 42.
Hurt this season: nobody badly. Bram wants it written down that he was brave. He was brave.
All up safe, all season.
Hesk
%%
List: Copperhold tool store
What is in the tool store at the top of the Deep Works shaft. Counted at the end of winter, 207.
Iron picks: 64. Good ones: 51. The rest are blunt from the deep stone. Bram has them.
Copper picks: 20. Nobody likes them, but there they are.
Shovels: 40.
Buckets: 11. Clank knows where they all are.
Lanterns: 80. Torches: 2 chests.
Rope: 30 coils.
Carts: 22. Rails: 400. Every eighth one powered.
Helmets: 40 iron, 1 gold. The gold one is mine. It was a gift. I wear it on founding day.
Wax for apprentice joints: 6 tins. Use more in winter.
Spare arm for Clank: 1. Copper. Very shiny. Spare arm for Rivet: none yet.
My father's pick: on its nail, not in the store. Do not take it.
Bread: 3 sacks. Stew pot: 1, very big, very old.
The rule: take what you need. Write it on the board. Bring it back.
Hesk
%%
Archive copy count, spring 207
Count of the Archive at Vell, spring of 207. Kept by Oren, clerk.
Records that came in this season: 244.
Of these: letters 101, logs 12, notices 33, ledgers 24, recipes 17, songs 13, school work 26, manuals 3, other 15.
Logs: Northpoint's came in last, as always.
Every record is copied by hand and read back aloud by a second clerk. The first goes to the deep shelves. The copy goes to the reading rooms. Copies made: 244.
Records in the hill in all: 40962, not counting copies.
Shelves filled this season: 4. Shelves left empty: 9. Ulla says dig.
Clerks: 14. New this season: 1, young Cob of Ambrook. Good eyes.
Mistakes found in reading copies: 17. Each one crossed through with one thin line, and copied again from the first.
Letters from Bel of Three Wells: 2 this season. Answered: 2.
Records lost: none. One record not in its place, which is nearly as bad: an orchard book from Ambrook. I am looking.
Oren
%%
List: Archive stores, winter 205
Stores of the Archive at Vell, counted at the start of winter, 205. Oren.
Ink: 180 bottles. Also 30 ink sacs from Saltreach, still to be made into ink.
Blue ink: 12 bottles, from the new lapis at Copperhold. For titles only.
Paper: 44 crates. More reed paper is on the cart from Lowmarsh.
Wax from Ama's bees at Ambrook, for sealing shelves: 20 blocks.
Leather for covers: 300 pieces. String: 90 rolls.
Lanterns for the halls: 60, all behind glass. No candles near the shelves. That is my rule.
Coal for the stoves: 20 carts. The deep halls must stay dry.
Buckets: 4. We have never needed more.
Empty shelves: 40.
Chairs: 48. Chairs that do not wobble: 39.
Cats: 1. Ink, the archive cat. Silverfish caught this season: 31. Ink does more than some clerks.
Quills lost this season: 1 (mine). Quills found: 1 (mine, in my sleeve).
Oren
%%
Bill: the Halfway Inn
The Halfway Inn, on the Long Road between Three Wells and Vell. Hobb, innkeeper. Autumn of 204.
Bill for Pell, merchant of Ambrook, with one horse, one cart and one dog. Pell says it is not Pell's dog.
Room, 2 nights: 4 emeralds.
Soup, 2 nights: 2 emeralds. Second bowls: free, as always. Pell had five.
Breakfast, 2 mornings, eggs and bread: 1 emerald.
Hay and stable for Barley: 2 emeralds.
Supper for the dog: nothing. The dog took it from the kitchen himself.
One window, broken by the dog: 2 emeralds.
One stool, broken by Pell: 1 emerald. Pell says the stool was broken before. It was not.
Total: 12 emeralds.
Paid: 11 emeralds. Pell will not pay for the stool.
Hobb
%%
Bill: bread for Founding Day
From Ida and Hollis, bakers of Three Wells, to the town, for Founding Day in the 200th year.
Bread, 600 loaves: 100 emeralds.
Pumpkin pies, 80: 20 emeralds.
Honey cakes, 200: a gift.
Flour, 40 sacks from the mill at Ambrook: the town paid already.
Coal for the ovens, 3 carts: 6 emeralds.
Two helpers in the bakery for three nights: 6 emeralds.
One oven door, cracked from too much fire: 4 emeralds.
Total: 136 emeralds.
Below, in another hand: Paid in full. Thank you, Ida and Hollis. Everyone says it was the best bread in two hundred years. Dace.
%%
Cargo list: the Heron
The Heron, fishing boat of Saltreach, built by Corin. Kell, master. Out nine days, autumn of 204.
Taken out:
Salt: 40 barrels. Bread: 120 loaves. Water: 30 barrels. Nets: 12. Rope: 20 coils. Torches: 1 chest.
Crew: 9, and the boat's cat.
Brought home:
Cod: 900. Salmon: 310.
Ink sacs: 30, for the Archive at Vell.
Kelp: 60 bundles, dried on deck.
One boot, not ours.
Left over:
Salt: 4 barrels. Bread: none. Water: 2 barrels. Nets: 11. One went to the sea.
Crew: 9. The boat's cat: 1, fatter.
The cod and salmon went to the fish market. The kelp went on the Lowmarsh cart, for Wren. The ink sacs went to Pell, for Vell.
Kell
%%
Honey tally, Ambrook, 204
Honey tally of Ama, beekeeper of Ambrook, for the year 204.
Hive 1: 22 jars, 6 combs. Calm bees.
Hive 2: 18 jars, 4 combs.
Hive 3: 9 jars. Cross all summer. Stung me twice and Pell once. Pell deserved it.
Hive 4: 26 jars, 8 combs. The best hive. It sits under the old apple trees by the mill pond.
Hive 5: 20 jars, 5 combs.
Hive 6: new this year. 7 jars. Give them time.
Hive 7: nothing. The bees left in spring and came back in summer. Now they sit on the roof and look at me.
All hives: 102 jars, 23 combs.
Sold at the Three Wells market: 80. To Ida's bakery, for honey cakes: 10.
Kept for the house: 6. Given to Wren at Lowmarsh, for her remedies: 4.
For the fair contest: 1. It won.
Sent to Mira at Northpoint: 1, as every year since our tower opened. She asked on the first night, and I said yes.
Pell says his own hives did better this year. They did not.
Candles from the combs: 40. Blue ones for my sister.
Ama
%%
Tally: Lowmarsh reeds, 207
Reed cutting at Lowmarsh, summer of 207. Kept on the wall of the boat house.
Reed bundles cut: 1240.
Sent to the Archive at Vell, for paper: 800.
Sent to the Three Wells market: 200.
Kept for roofs: 240.
Fish from the slow water: 640, mostly small.
Frogs: too many to count. We tried.
Mud: also too many to count.
Boots lost in the mud: 7. Boots found again: 3.
A dry summer. The water went down past the third post. The frogs complained.
Moss, the healer's apprentice, carried 300 bundles to the boat house and did not fall in once.
Everyone else fell in at least once. Wren fell in twice.
%%
List: Northpoint winter stores
Stores at the Northpoint relay tower, start of winter, 203. Counted by Mira. Counted again by Mira, who got a different number.
Coal: 70 sacks from the Deep Works, with the note: "Keep it lit. Hesk, Deep Works." And 4 sacks from last winter.
Wood: 4 stacks of spruce. Torches: 400.
Spare lamp glass: 12 panes.
Potatoes: 6 sacks. Bread: 80 loaves from Kettle Ridge.
Beetroot: 1 sack from Tam, with a note that says "eat it".
Honey: 1 jar from Ambrook. Saving it for the longest night.
Wool socks: 5 pairs, and one sock. A fox has the other.
Books: 9. Read them all twice. Send more.
Letters from Tam this season: 2. Send more.
Rungs on the ladder: 90. Counted every night.
Foxes that come to the door: 3. Foxes fed: 3. Do not tell the Archive.
Days until the sun comes back: too many.
Mira
%%
Notice: the mill pond
Notice on the gate of the mill at Ambrook. From Jory, miller.
The wheel turns from dawn to dusk. Do not swim near the wheel. Swim at the far end, by the reeds.
Do not open the sluice. If you think it should be opened, ask me, and I will tell you why not.
In winter, a red flag on the gate means the ice is too thin. Do not walk on it, even if the dog does.
Bring your grain dry. Wet grain makes bad flour and a sad miller.
Sacks are ground in the order they come. Pell is not first because he talks the loudest.
The mill has a new stone. I ran it with old grain for a month, as my father said. The flour is clean. If you ever find grit in a sack, bring it back, and I will grind it again for nothing.
The bees drink at the pond on hot days. Ama says leave them be. Ama is right.
Wick, our apprentice, will carry your sacks to the cart. Say thank you. It does not need it, but say it anyway.
The pond is very fine at blossom time. There is a new bench on the far side. It seats two.
Jory, the mill, Ambrook
%%
Register of apprentices, Three Wells
Apprentices that work in Three Wells. From the board at the mayor's house, spring of 208.
1. Peg. Carries for the bakery. Knows all eight meanings. Ida says it is the best listener she has ever had.
2. Dot. Keeps the storehouse with Clem. Sorts by use, and inside each chest by color. Nobody minds.
3. Trowel. Works with the masons. Builds walls from a pattern. Do not change the pattern while it is building.
4. Thimble. Sorts the stores at the inn. Knows where every sack is. The innkeeper does not.
5. Ladle. Helps in the school kitchen. Sorrel says it stirs better than any child.
6. Sprout. Tends the town garden by the north well. Knows farm and store.
7. Cog. Hauls carts on market day. The strongest of all. The slowest of all.
8. No name yet. New this spring. Not tested. It stays in the mayor's shed until Nessa comes.
Never send an untested mind to the fields.
In 205 there were 2 apprentices in Three Wells. Now there are 8. Next year, who knows.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells
%%
Births at Three Wells, 205
Births and namings at Three Wells in the year 205. Written in the town book, and sent to the Archive.
Spring: a boy to the Brook family by the north well. Named Alder.
Spring: a girl to Holt the smith and Wenna. Named Clover. Holt made her a spoon before she was a day old.
Summer: a boy to Elm and Nell, the weavers. Named Flax.
Summer: a girl to the lamp boy's sister. Named Ember. She was born at dusk, while the lamps were being lit.
Autumn: a boy on fair day, in the middle of the pumpkin contest. His brothers call him Pumpkin. His parents say his name is Rowan.
Winter: a girl on the longest night. Named Robin. Her mother says she has not stopped looking around since.
Also born: lambs 40, calves 9, kittens too many.
Every child born in Three Wells gets a spoon from the town and a page in the Archive.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells
%%
List: up the north line
Nessa's list for the trip up the north line, summer of 208. To test the apprentices at every tower, Northpoint last.
Box of drills. Book of marks. Test sheets: 60. Each one an order and its meaning.
Spare crystals: 2, empty, wrapped in wool. In case.
Warm coat. Two scarves. Wool hat. The good boots. Mira says it is summer at Northpoint too. I do not believe her.
Bread for 8 days. Dried kelp for 4 more, in case.
Honey: 1 jar, for Mira. Mira will say she did not want it.
Letters for Mira: 2 from Tam. Neither one is short.
At every tower: walking, carrying, ladder, lamp. Then the orders. The same drills, the same way, every time. Do not get cross.
Never send an untested mind to the fields.
Before leaving: count the test sheets again.
%%
Accounts: the autumn fair of 207
What the autumn fair cost the town, and what it brought in. Kept by Dace.
Cost:
Lamps and torches for the wells: 8 emeralds.
Stew for everyone, 3 big pots, filled three times: 30 emeralds.
Prize for the biggest pumpkin: 5 emeralds and a jar of Ambrook honey.
Prize for the biggest beetroot: a blue ribbon and a jar of Ambrook honey.
Prize for the best face: 1 lantern.
Prize for coming the furthest by itself: 1 card, written on the day.
Prize for the horse race: 10 emeralds. Fog won. Fog does not need emeralds. Her rider took them.
Musicians from Lowmarsh: 12 emeralds and supper.
Cleaning the square after: 4 emeralds. Peg and Cog did most of it.
In all: 69 emeralds, two jars of honey, a ribbon, a lantern and a card.
Brought in:
Stall fees, 46 stalls, 1 emerald each: 46 emeralds.
Gifts: 20 emeralds from Vell, a barrel of fish from Saltreach, a cart of coal from Copperhold.
The town is 3 emeralds short and very full of fish. A good fair.
%%
Prices: Three Wells market, 204
Prices at the Three Wells market, spring of 204. Set by the market board. All prices in emeralds.
Bread: 6 loaves for 1, at Ida's bakery.
Wheat, beetroot, carrots, potatoes: 1 a sack.
Apples: 1 a sack.
Pumpkins: 4 for 1. Melons: 3 for 1.
Eggs: 12 for 1.
Honey: 2 a jar. Dark honey: 3 a jar.
Milk: 1 a bucket. Bring the bucket back.
Wool: 1 a bundle.
Cod: 6 for 1. Salmon: 4 for 1.
Coal: 2 a sack. Torches: 32 for 1.
Copper: 8 ingots for 1. Iron: 1 an ingot. Gold: 4 an ingot.
A chicken: 1. A sheep: 4. A horse: 30.
A relay note: 1 for ten words, at the tower on the hill.
A cat: free. You may not give it back.
If a seller asks for more, tell the board.
%%
Prices: Saltreach fish market
Prices on the board at the Saltreach fish market, summer of 205. In emeralds.
Fish is sold on the day it comes in, or not at all.
Cod: 8 for 1. Cheaper here than anywhere. You are standing by the sea.
Salmon: 5 for 1.
Pufferfish: not for eating. Ask the healer why.
Ink sacs: 2 for 1. The Archive buys all we have.
Dried kelp: 10 bundles for 1. Salt: 1 a barrel.
Nets: 2 for a mended one, 5 for a new one. Mended by Marit, on the harbor wall.
Iron, for the shipyard: 5 for every 4 ingots. Corin buys all of it.
A day of fishing on the Heron: 3, and you help with the nets.
A small boat, built by Corin: 40. It takes two seasons. Corin will not hurry.
Fish brought in after dark: half price. Fish from yesterday: no price. Give it to the cats.
%%
Prices: the Copperhold ore board
Prices on the ore board at Copperhold, by the top of the Deep Works shaft. Spring of 207. In emeralds.
The board buys from the miners, by the cart:
Copper: 3 a cart. Iron: 5 a cart. Coal: 2 a cart.
Gold: 4 for each piece. Redstone and lapis: 1 for 10 pieces.
Amethyst: 1 for 4 shards. For the glassmakers at Vell.
Deep stone: not bought. Take it to the wall builders. They take it for free.
The board sells to the Long Road:
Copper ingots: 8 for 1. Iron ingots: 1 each. Gold ingots: 4 each.
Coal: 1 a sack. Lanterns: 2 for 1.
All ore is weighed at the board, not in the tunnel. Ore that is almost gold is not gold.
Pay day is the end of every week. One extra for whoever finds the gold.
Clank brings ore for Hesk's crew. Clank does not sell. Clank does not know what an emerald is. Hesk says it is the happiest miner in Copperhold.
%%
Prices: the wet year, 203
Prices at the Three Wells market, summer of 203. The rain has not stopped since spring.
The board has changed the prices. We are sorry.
Bread: 4 loaves for 1. It was 6.
Wheat: 2 a sack. It was 1. The ridge fields are mud.
Potatoes: 2 a sack. It was 1. The low fields are under water.
Beetroot: 1 a sack, the same. Beetroot does not mind rain. Beetroot does not mind anything.
Apples: 2 a sack. The wind took the blossom at Ambrook.
Honey: 2 a jar, the same. The bees stayed in all spring. Ama does not know how.
Cod: 8 for 1. The boats go out in any weather.
Wool hats: 2 for 1. Everyone wants one.
Torches: 24 for 1. It was 32. Wet torches do not light.
Frogs: everywhere. Not for sale.
If you have food put by, share it with the farms. Last year the farms shared with us.
Dace, for the market board
%%
Wanted: a tutor for apprentices
Wanted at Kettle Ridge: a tutor for apprentices, for the winter.
We have eight apprentices on the ridge. Five are good. Two still sow the path. One stands in the field and watches the windmill.
We need someone to drill them before spring. The same drill, again and again, until they get it right. Then test them on a field they have never seen. Never send an untested mind to the fields.
You must be patient. You must not mind wind. You must like bread, because there is a lot of it.
We give: a warm room at the mill, all meals, and 30 emeralds for the winter.
Nessa of Vell cannot come this year. We asked twice.
Ask for Tam at the top farm. If Tam is not there, he is at the Kettle Inn. If he is not there, ask Brin. Brin always knows where Tam is, and what he is doing wrong.
Kettle Ridge, autumn of 208
%%
Wanted: a cook
Wanted at Copperhold: a cook for the kitchen at the mine gate.
Forty-two miners come up at noon and at dusk. They are very hungry. They are not polite about it.
You must make stew in the big pot, bread every morning, and something hot at night. Rabbit stew, beetroot soup, baked potatoes.
Nothing with mushrooms. The last cook liked mushrooms.
You must not mind coal dust in everything. You must not mind Hesk saying the stew is too thin. Hesk says this about all stew.
We give: a room above the kitchen, warm from the ovens, and 2 emeralds a day.
Ask at the ore board. Come soon. We have eaten bread and potatoes for nine days.
Copperhold, spring of 205
%%
Wanted: a helper at Northpoint
Wanted at the Northpoint relay tower: one helper, for one winter, maybe more.
You will climb ninety rungs to the great lamp, three times a night when it storms. You will clean the glass, inside and out. You will haul coal up the outside of the tower in a bucket on a rope.
You will pass messages on and write them in the tower book. You will shovel snow. Then you will shovel more snow.
You must like quiet and cold. You must like foxes, because they come to the door and take your socks.
In winter it is dark most of the day. You will not have many visitors. You will not have fresh apples.
We give: a warm bed by the stove, all the potatoes you can eat, and the quietest nights in the land. Pay: 25 emeralds for the winter, from the relay board at Vell.
Send word by relay. Say who you are, and if you can read. Do not say you like snow if you do not.
Mira, keeper of Northpoint, autumn of 206
Under it, in the same hand, the next summer: Nobody came. The tutors at Vell will send an apprentice on the last cart. It will not talk back. We will see.
%%
Wanted: clerks for the Archive
Wanted at the Archive at Vell: two clerks, to copy and to file.
Every season more records come in. Every one is copied by hand and read back aloud by a second clerk. The first goes down to the deep shelves. The copy goes to the reading rooms. We are behind. Not very behind. A little behind.
You must write clearly, and write the same letter the same way every time.
Copy what is written, not what you think was meant. If a letter says the cat is blue, the copy says the cat is blue. If a baker writes "bred", the copy says "bred".
Do not eat at the desk, sneeze on the pages, fold the corners, or fix other people's spelling.
The halls go a long way into the hill. Bring a lantern the first time. Never a candle.
We give: a room in the clerks' house, meals from the Archive kitchen, and 3 emeralds every ten days.
Ask for Ulla, the head clerk, or for Oren. Oren is usually in the third room, with the tea.
%%
Wanted: apple pickers
Wanted at Ambrook: pickers for the apple harvest, from the fifth day of autumn, for twenty days.
We have 400 trees and not enough hands. The apprentices pick the low branches. We need people with ladders for the high ones.
You get 1 emerald a day, a bed in the barn, apple pie at noon, and all the apples you can eat.
Please do not eat all the apples you can eat. The last picker could not walk.
Bring good boots and a song. We sing while we pick. It keeps the bees calm, and it keeps us calm.
Children may pick up the fallen ones. 1 emerald for 3 baskets.
Mind the hives by the pond. Ama will tell you where they are. Ama will tell you twice.
Do not cut the grey branch on the oldest tree. It is not dead. It is late.
Send word by the Ambrook tower, or ask Pell on the road. Pell knows everyone.
%%
Rules of the Three Wells school
Rules of the school house at Three Wells, by the east well. Written by Sorrel, teacher.
1. School starts at the first bell, two hours after dawn. It ends at the noon bell.
2. Wipe your boots. Mud stays outside. So do frogs.
3. One cat may come in, if it is quiet. Only one. You know which one.
4. Bring your book and quill. If you forget them, you share. Sharing is also a lesson.
5. Ask questions. Questions are good. Bel, you may ask ten a day. Write the rest down, and we will send them to the Archive.
6. Be kind to Ladle in the kitchen. It is learning too.
7. Nobody walks home alone after dark. Wait for someone with a torch.
8. Parents visit on the last day of each season. Clean your desk the day before, not that morning.
9. If you break something, say so. Nobody is cross if you say so.
Sorrel
%%
Rules for borrowing records
Rules for borrowing from the Archive at Vell. Please read them before you ask. Oren, clerk.
1. A first never leaves the deep shelves. Ask a clerk for a reading copy.
2. You may borrow a reading copy for one season. If the road is closed, send word by relay, and we will wait.
3. Wash and dry your hands before you touch a page.
4. No food in the reading rooms. No drink. No apples. Not even small ones.
5. No candles past the front hall. Use the lanterns behind glass. I am fussy about candles.
6. Write your name, your town and what you took in the borrowing book.
7. Do not fold the corners. Use a ribbon. We have ribbons.
8. If you find a mistake in a copy, tell a clerk. Do not fix it yourself.
9. Children may borrow, the same as everyone. Bel of Three Wells has borrowed 12 copies and brought back 11. Bel, we know about the frog book.
10. Everything you write may come to the Archive one day. Write as if someone will read it. Someone will.
%%
Notice: sending a relay note
How to send a relay note. Pinned by the door of the tower on the hill, past the school. Sedge, keeper.
1. Write your note on the form. Who it is from. Who it is for. Then the words.
2. Count your words. A note costs 1 emerald for ten words. Count them again. Some people on the ridge never count. Do not be like them.
3. Haste is for fire, flood, sickness and lost travelers. Haste notes go first. Socks are not Haste.
4. A note from here reaches Northpoint before supper, if the glass is clean and the fog stays home.
5. Every letter is its own pattern of long and short blinks. Please do not blink at the tower from your window with a candle. The keeper is watching the next tower, not you.
6. Messages are private. The keeper reads every word and repeats none of them.
7. Do not shout at the tower. It cannot hear you. It can only see.
%%
Rules of the Long Road
Rules of the Long Road, painted on the board of every inn from Saltreach to the north road.
1. Carts going uphill have the road. Carts going downhill wait.
2. Close every gate you open. Sheep are clever and cows are patient.
3. Do not take stones from the waymarks. Put one on, if you like.
4. If the torch on a waymark is out, light it, and tell the waymark keeper at the next inn.
5. Never move a waymark. Apprentices count them to find their way home.
6. Apprentices hauling carts do not stop and do not turn quickly. Step aside and let them pass.
7. Pay the innkeeper before you leave, not after.
8. In creeper season, do not walk the road alone after dark. Wait at the inn.
9. If you find a lost traveler, a lost animal or a lost apprentice, bring it to the next inn.
10. Greet everyone you pass. It is a long road.
%%
Relay log, Vell tower, spring 204
Kept by Brann, keeper of the Vell tower. Written in short, one line for each message, as it came. Third day of spring, 204.
Northpoint to Vell: all well. Snow since noon. Mira.
Vell to Northpoint: seen. Rain here. Oren asks for the year's log.
Northpoint to Vell: will send in spring.
Vell to Northpoint: it is spring.
Northpoint to Vell: not here.
Three Wells to Vell: all well. Market tomorrow. Pell is here with honey.
Kettle Ridge to Vell: all well. Wind from the west. The mills are turning.
Copperhold to Vell: all well. Twelve carts of copper on the Long Road today.
Saltreach to Vell: fog here. Say again.
Vell to Saltreach: all well at Vell.
Lowmarsh to Vell: all well. Frogs very loud. No other news.
Ambrook to Vell: all well. Blossom on the trees. Ama says the bees are awake.
Vell to all towers: the Archive thanks you for the logs of 203. All but one are in. Northpoint, we are looking at you.
Northpoint to Vell: seen. We know.
End of the day. Lamps trimmed. Brann.
%%
Relay log, Northpoint, winter 203
Northpoint tower log, the longest night of winter, 203. Written in short. Kept by Mira.
Northpoint to Vell: all well. Dark since the middle of the afternoon. Snow, no wind.
Vell to Northpoint: seen. Clear and cold here. Oren says happy longest night.
Northpoint to Vell: seen. Tell Oren the same. Tell Oren the log will come in spring, as always.
Kettle Ridge to Northpoint: from Tam. The barn roof blew off. The pigs are in the kitchen. All is well. Do not laugh.
Northpoint to Kettle Ridge: I am laughing. Mira.
Northpoint to Vell: foxes at the door again. Three of them. I gave them the bread crusts.
Three Wells to all towers: the mayor wishes everyone a warm longest night. Songs at the north well.
Northpoint to Three Wells: seen. I will sing here too. The foxes do not like it.
Midnight. Up the line, from tower to tower: Good midwinter. The days get longer now.
Northpoint: seen. There is nobody north of us to send it to. Written here instead.
Northpoint to Vell: all well at midnight. Opening the honey from Ambrook now.
Mira
%%
Relay log, Three Wells, autumn 207
Three Wells tower log, fair day, autumn of 207. Written in short. Kept by Sedge.
Three Wells to all towers: fair results. Biggest pumpkin: the Hollow farm of Ambrook. Biggest beetroot: Tam of Kettle Ridge. Best three beetroot: Brin of Kettle Ridge. Best face: Bel of Three Wells. Best bread: Ida. Best honey: Ama of Ambrook. Horse race: Fog of Saltreach.
Kettle Ridge to Three Wells: seen. The whole ridge is cheering. The wind is bringing it to you.
Saltreach to Three Wells: seen. Fog's rider asks if anyone found a blue cap at the second waymark.
Northpoint to Three Wells: seen. Well done, Tam. Tell him the beetroot is still smaller than his head. Mira.
Three Wells to Northpoint: we are not passing that on. It is rude.
Northpoint to Three Wells: pass it on. Rule one.
Read out in the square, to Tam: the beetroot is still smaller than his head.
Three Wells to Northpoint: from Tam. Thank you, Mira. Love, Tam. Five words. He counted.
All well at the crossroads. Lamps on all three wells too. Sedge.
%%
Relay log, Kettle Ridge, summer 205
Kettle Ridge tower log, middle of summer, 205. Written in short. Kept by Wynn.
Kettle Ridge to all towers: twins born at the east farm, to Hanna and Rolf. A boy and a girl. Both well. Both loud.
Three Wells to Kettle Ridge: seen. Congratulations. The mayor sends two spoons, even though they are not ours.
Vell to Kettle Ridge: seen. The Archive will give them a page each.
Kettle Ridge to Vell: wind from the north. Wheat high. Beetroot good. The mill turned all day.
Northpoint to Kettle Ridge: for Tam. Is the wheat up? Mira.
Kettle Ridge to Northpoint: from Tam. Wheat up to my knees. Beetroot good. Pigs fat. Sky blue. Hat lost. Tam.
Copperhold to Kettle Ridge: the kitchen at the mine gate asks for 20 sacks of flour. The new cook is good, but has no flour.
Kettle Ridge to Copperhold: seen. 20 sacks on the cart in two days. Sefa says the mill squeaks, but it grinds.
Kettle Ridge to all towers: all well on the ridge. Wind dropping. Wynn.
%%
Relay log, Saltreach, spring 205
Saltreach tower log, spring of 205. Written in short. Kept by Harl.
Saltreach to Vell: fog since dawn. The lamp is hard to see. Messages slow today.
Vell to Saltreach: seen, slowly.
Saltreach to Copperhold: Corin needs 40 iron for the new fishing boat.
Copperhold to Saltreach: seen. 40 iron on the Long Road in four days.
Saltreach to all towers: the Heron is home. 700 cod, 200 salmon. Fish is cheap at Saltreach for ten days.
Lowmarsh to Saltreach: send dried kelp for Wren, two bundles.
Saltreach to Vell: 30 ink sacs ready for the Archive. Who will carry them?
Vell to Saltreach: Pell is on the road. Give them to Pell. Count them first. Oren.
Saltreach to Vell: seen. Counted twice. Tell Oren.
Saltreach to all towers: dolphins in the bay this morning. The children ran down to see them.
Saltreach to Vell: fog lifting. All well. Good night. Harl.
%%
Relay log, Copperhold, autumn 205
Copperhold tower log, autumn of 205. Written in short. Kept by Coll.
Copperhold to Vell: all well. Coal dust on the glass again. Cleaned it twice.
Copperhold to Three Wells: 6 carts of coal for the winter leave tomorrow.
Three Wells to Copperhold: seen. Thank you. The mayor will share it by the house count.
Copperhold to Vell: the mine master asks the tutors for an apprentice, for the carts.
Vell to Copperhold: Nessa says yes, in spring. She will test it first. She says: never send an untested mind down a mine.
Copperhold to all towers: a vein of lapis on level four. The Archive may have blue ink this winter.
Vell to Copperhold: seen. Oren is very happy. Oren says thank you three times.
Ten days later.
Northpoint to Copperhold: coal here. Thanks. Mira.
Copperhold to Vell: all well. Good night. Coll.
%%
Relay log, Ambrook, autumn 204
Ambrook tower log, fair week, autumn of 204. Written in short. Kept by Linnet.
Ambrook to all towers: lost, a brown dog with one white ear. Name: Pepper. He belongs to the boy at the Hollow farm. Last seen by Pell's cart.
Kettle Ridge to Ambrook: seen. No dog here. Only wind.
Vell to Ambrook: seen. Oren says there are no dogs in the Archive, but the clerks looked anyway.
Three Wells to Ambrook: found. Pepper is in Pell's cart, under the honey. He has licked a jar open.
Ambrook to Three Wells: seen! The boy is crying, the good kind. Can Pell bring him home?
Three Wells to Ambrook: Pell says yes, at the end of the trip. Ten days. Pepper is going to see the sea.
Ambrook to all towers: the dog is found. Thank you all. The apples are ripe. Pickers wanted, ask at the mill.
Northpoint to Ambrook: seen. Glad about the dog. Mira.
All well. Linnet.
%%
Relay log, Lowmarsh, spring 208
Lowmarsh tower log, spring of 208. Written in short. Kept by Tull.
Haste. Lowmarsh to Three Wells: flood on the lower path. Nobody hurt. Carts come by the reed bank.
Three Wells to Lowmarsh: seen. How high?
Lowmarsh to Three Wells: up to the second step of the boat house. Frogs on the first step.
Lowmarsh to Vell: Wren asks for two crates of glass bottles, for her remedies.
Vell to Lowmarsh: seen. Glass from Vell, on Pell's cart, in ten days.
Lowmarsh to Vell: 800 bundles of reeds for the Archive paper, when the path is dry.
Vell to Lowmarsh: seen. Oren says thank you. Oren says please keep them dry. Oren says it twice.
Lowmarsh to all towers: the frogs are very loud this spring. No other news. Just frogs.
Saltreach to Lowmarsh: seen. We can hear them from here.
Lowmarsh to all towers: the water is going down. Moss carried old Tansy from the end of the path to dry ground. She did not want to go. She went.
All well. Tull.
%%
Relay log, Vell tower, autumn 207
Kept by Brann, keeper of the Vell tower. Written in short. Middle of autumn, 207.
Kettle Ridge to Vell: first frost on the ridge. The harvest is in. Tam asks the Archive to write down that Pip took twenty sacks to the mill, and he only asked once, in a whole sentence.
Vell to Kettle Ridge: Oren says: written down.
Copperhold to Vell: coal for the north is dug. 70 sacks for Northpoint, 40 for each tower on the north line. Hesk.
Vell to Northpoint: the last cart goes north tomorrow. Coal, flour, potatoes, lamp glass, and one long crate with your name on it. From the tutors.
Northpoint to Vell: seen. A corner by the stove is ready.
Three Wells to Vell: Bel asks if the Archive kept the day of the school visit.
Vell to Three Wells: Oren says yes. Kept.
Vell to all towers: the Archive is out of shelves again. The diggers start a new room tomorrow.
Five days later.
Northpoint to Vell: the last cart is here. The crate is open. It is looking at the stove. Mira.
All well from Northpoint to Saltreach. Brann.
%%
Relay log, Northpoint, autumn 205
Northpoint tower log, the last days of autumn, 205. Written in short. Kept by Mira.
Northpoint to Vell: all well. The last cart is here. Teg drove it, as always. Coal, flour, potatoes, lamp glass, and two letters from Tam.
Northpoint to Copperhold: coal here. Thanks. Mira.
Vell to Northpoint: Oren asks for the year's log, before the cart road closes.
Northpoint to Vell: the cart road closed this morning, behind Teg. Will send in spring.
Kettle Ridge to Northpoint: from Tam. Did the letters come? Did you read them? Both?
Northpoint to Kettle Ridge: yes. Yes. Yes. Mira.
Northpoint to all towers: first big snow. Foxes on the ice. The north road is closed until the thaw.
Three Wells to Northpoint: seen. The mayor asks if it is real snow.
Northpoint to Three Wells: yes.
All well, from the end of the line. Mira.
%%
Relay log, Three Wells, winter 207
Three Wells tower log, the first days of winter, 207. Written in short. Kept by Sedge.
Three Wells to all towers: snow at the crossroads. The north road is closed until the thaw.
Vell to Three Wells: seen. Snow here too. The Archive is warm. Come and read.
Copperhold to Three Wells: the coal carts are two days late because of the snow. Sorry.
Three Wells to Copperhold: seen. We will wait. The bakery ovens are keeping the square warm.
Kettle Ridge to Three Wells: the windmill froze. Sefa is on the roof with a kettle of hot water. Tam is holding the ladder. Pip is holding Tam.
Three Wells to Kettle Ridge: seen. Tell them all to come down.
Kettle Ridge to Three Wells: Sefa says no.
Ambrook to Three Wells: Ama asks if the school wants candles for the winter. 40 candles, free.
Three Wells to Ambrook: Sorrel says yes, thank you. The children will write to say thank you. Bel has started already.
Northpoint to all towers: snow. Of course. All well. Mira.
Three Wells to all towers: all well. Good night from the crossroads. Sedge.
%%
Count of Three Wells, 206
Count of Three Wells, spring of 206. The town counts itself every five years. Kept by Dace.
Houses: 86. New since the last count: 9.
People: 344. Children: 71. Children at the school: 42.
Wells: 3. Still.
Inns: 1, with 12 beds. Not enough at fair time.
Bakery: 1. Ida and Hollis say one is enough. Everyone else says it is not.
Storehouse: 1. Clem says it is tidy. It is.
Horses: 40. Cows: 55. Sheep: 210. Pigs: 30. All of them behave, for now.
Chickens: nobody can count chickens.
Cats that live in houses: 61. Cats that do not: more. Dogs: 23.
Apprentices: 2, both tested.
Relay tower: 1, on the hill. Keeper: Sedge.
Notices on the board this year: 31. All sent to the Archive.
People who say Three Wells is the best town on the Long Road: 344. Ask them.
%%
Guest book: the Halfway Inn
Guests at the Halfway Inn, summer of 205. Written by Hobb. Names as they gave them.
Nessa of Vell, tutor. 1 night. Paid. Quiet. Had a box of drills and would not let anyone carry it.
Pell of Ambrook, merchant. 2 nights. Paid, except for a stool. Again. Had six second bowls.
A family from Lowmarsh, going to see the Archive. 5 people and 2 frogs in a jar. The frogs did not pay.
Corin of Saltreach, shipwright, going to Vell to see the old boat drawings. Said our roof beams were good wood.
A young clerk from Vell, going home to Kettle Ridge. Read all night by our lamp. Paid for the lamp.
Tam of Kettle Ridge, with a cart of wool for Vell. Had three bowls of soup and paid for one. He says the second and third were both second bowls.
Fog, the grey mare, with her rider, on the way to a race. The mare had the best stall.
Dunn, waymark keeper. Once a week, for the waymark book behind the counter, next to the pies.
Riddles answered right: 40. Free soups: 40. The cat riddle has cost us a lot of soup.
Guests this summer: 214. Stools broken: 1. Pell.
%%
Relay count, the year 204
Messages sent from the town towers in the year 204. Counted by the relay board at Vell. The small towers between them passed everything on, and are not counted here.
Vell: 9420. Three Wells: 7310. Copperhold: 4100. Kettle Ridge: 3880.
Saltreach: 3650. Ambrook: 2960. Lowmarsh: 2210.
Northpoint: 1120. The shortest messages on the line. The three longest that came to Northpoint were all from Tam.
Said again because of fog: 611. Most of them at Saltreach.
Haste: 38. Fires 9, floods 14, sickness 11, lost travelers 4. All answered.
Lost dogs: 14. Dogs found: 13. The board hopes the other one is happy somewhere.
Messages for apprentices: 212, most of them from the tutors at Vell. The rest were all for people.
Messages lost: none.
Lamp glass broken: 9. At Northpoint: 4. Foxes, says Mira.
Every log is in the Archive at Vell. Northpoint's came last, as always.
%%
List: what the school needs
What the Three Wells school needs, autumn of 207. If you can give any of it, bring it to the school house. Sorrel.
Quills: 30. Children press too hard.
Ink: 10 bottles. Oren at Vell sends some, but it is never enough.
Blank books: 20.
A second bell. The first bell is fine. The second bell is still lost. We have stopped asking why.
Wool, enough for 30 scarves. The older children will knit them.
Coal: 2 carts, for the winter stove. Candles, for the dark mornings.
A big map of the Long Road, for the wall. Since the visit to Vell, everyone wants to know where everything is.
A cat that keeps the creepers away. Ours only sleeps.
A new door handle. The old one came off in Bel's hand. Bel did nothing wrong. It was old.
More time. We will not get it. We will do our best with what we have.
%%
Notice: market stalls
Where to find things on market day at Three Wells. From the market board.
North well: bread and buns from Ida and Hollis. Eggs and milk. Lost children.
East well: fish from Saltreach, dried kelp, salt and rope. The fish sellers say the water in this well tastes like home.
South well: Pell, with honey and apples from Ambrook. Wool from Kettle Ridge. Seeds. Do not sit on the south well.
Between the wells: copper, iron and coal from Copperhold, on carts. Tools and lanterns.
By the school: paper, ink and books from Vell. You may order copies from the Archive here.
Under the oak: songs. Pay if you like them.
By the storehouse: apprentices to hire for carrying. Tested minds only. Ask Clem.
At the edge of the square, far from the bread: the animals. No pigs. You know why.
The market board sits by the north well. Bring your complaints there. Bring them politely.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells
%%
Notice: the spring fair, late
The spring fair will be late, because of the snow.
The north road is still closed. Half the stalls cannot come. The square is ice in the mornings.
The new day is the first dry day after the snow goes. The bell will ring the evening before, and the towers will send it down the line.
Until then, the market is open as usual, from dawn until the noon bell.
Stall fees paid for the spring fair are kept for you. Ask at the mayor's house.
Children: the egg race is still on. The eggs are not. We will use potatoes.
The keepers up north say they will see spring when they see it. Down here we are more hopeful.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells, end of winter, 207
