Cal's winter kitchen list, 171
Notes on the kitchen wall at the Kettle Ridge farm, winter of 171. Cal's writing, mostly.
This is the third long winter in a row. The snow came early in Frost and has not gone since.
We measure the winter in soup. So far this one is forty-one pots.
Keep the beetroot clamp open at one end or it goes soft.
The potatoes in the dry store are holding well. Check them for eyes.
The hens will not lay in the dark. Give them light and a warm corner.
The cows are in the barn and the barn smells like the whole summer.
Pip knocked the honey jars off the high shelf. Two broke. The floor was sticky for a week and the apprentice was sorry.
We are low on salt for the pork. Send to Saltreach if the road is open.
The road is not open.
The windmill is frozen. The mill wheel has stopped. It squeaks, then it does not squeak, and that is worse.
The bees are keeping to the hives. Do not open a hive in this wind.
Bread every second day. The oven is our best friend.
The Long Road inn is a day away and the waymarks are under snow. Do not go out in the dark.
If a traveler knocks, give them soup and a place by the fire. That is the rule.
Ask them for news. The road is how we know the world.
Recipe for the pot: beetroot, carrot, potato, a little pork, salt, and time.
Stir it. Talk to it. It comes out better.
%%
Board: the harvest prices, Apple
Prices at Cold Hollow for Apple, the harvest month, in emeralds. Sage wrote them out on the first day and has changed four since.

Apples, one: 1
Pears, one basket: 3
Cheese, one wheel: 6
Melons, the good ones: 5
Pumpkins, the large kind: 3
Pumpkins, the small kind, which taste the same: 1
Wheat, one sack, from the Ambrook carts: 8
Straw, one bundle, for bedding: 1
Lamp oil, one jar: 4
Mending of a cart wheel, by the smith: 6
Mending of a child's boot, by the smith, while you wait: 2

The east well is still dry. Tam dug a hand deeper and found grey stone with lines in it. Do not dig further. Tam says the stone is cold, and the lines are only lines.
%%
Price list: the Longday fair, Lowmarsh
Price list for the Longday fair at Lowmarsh, written by Tansy. Everything is in emeralds. The old prices are in brackets, so you can see what has changed since last year.

Stalls on the north boardwalk:
Wool blankets from Kettle Ridge, one each: 4 emeralds (3 last year).
Wool hats, grey and brown: 2 emeralds.
Wool socks, a pair: 1 emerald.
Lamp oil from Copperhold, a small pail: 3 emeralds (2 last year).
Glass panes from Saltreach, a crate of ten: 6 emeralds.
Copper nails from Copperhold, a handful: 1 emerald.
Coal from Copperhold, a sack: 2 emeralds.
Iron hoes, new from the forge: 4 emeralds.

Stalls on the south boardwalk:
Apples from Ambrook, a basket of ten: 2 emeralds.
Honey from Ambrook, one jar: 2 emeralds. It sells out by noon, as always.
Melons, a large one: 2 emeralds.
Pumpkins, a large one: 3 emeralds.
Beetroot, a bunch: 1 emerald.
Carrots, a bunch: 1 emerald.
Potatoes, a sack: 4 emeralds.
Dried herbs from Wren's healing house, a bundle: 1 emerald. The bundle is for sleep. Do not drink the bundle.

Tables by the reeds:
Reed baskets, woven tight: 2 emeralds.
Reed mats, large: 3 emeralds.
Wax candles, a bundle of six: 2 emeralds.
Boots from the cobbler at Kettle Ridge, a pair: 5 emeralds.
Salt from Saltreach, a small bag: 1 emerald.
Toy foxes, carved from birch and painted red: 2 emeralds. The children have bought every one, so ask me for the next batch.

Notes for the fair: the new relay lamp on the hill above the reeds was lit on the first day of Longday. A message came from Vell before breakfast, and the whole fair cheered as if the sun had come up twice. A cart came in from the Long Road with new pails and a sack of salt. The Long Road inns are full, and every inn has a new roof. The fair ran from noon to dusk, and nobody went home hungry.

Counts at the close: sixty baskets sold, twenty-two blankets, fourteen boats hired, and one cow. The cow was sold to a farmer from Kettle Ridge, and she was fat and healthy. The sick cow from the north pen is up and eating again. Greer says so, and Greer is not a liar.
%%
Market board: Juno's summer prices
Prices in emeralds. The cider shed opens after the morning field work.
Apples, one basket: 2
Apples, three baskets: 5
Cider, one jug: 3
Cider, small cup: 1
Honey, one bottle: 4
Wheat flour, one sack: 5
Beetroot, six roots: 1
Potatoes, one basket: 2
Carrots, one basket: 2
Pumpkin, small: 3
Pumpkin, large: 6
Oak kindling, one bundle: 1
Clean jug returned: 1 back
A cracked jug: no refund
Mended basket: 2
The market was slow today. The windmill turned, though the miller said the wind had dropped. Tam said the wind had not dropped, only turned around. They both stood by the mill for a long time, watching the sails. Then they came to my shed and bought cider.
I am not selling the old cider until the new press is ready. The old cider is sharp enough to make a person remember every sour apple. Tam likes it. Tam also eats beetroot raw.
A quarrel began by the north fence. Tam says the fence line was marked by his father. Sella says the line runs past the old oak stump, not through it. They pulled no posts, which is something. I sold them each a small cup. They drank by the well and still disagreed.
The relay lamp above the ridge has a new pane. The first pane broke in the night. The keeper found no stone below it, and no bird in the grass. Sella says a fox could have struck it. Tam says foxes do not throw stones. I said foxes have not been asked.
A traveler said there were lights over the north hills. He called them fires. A second traveler said they were reflections from the sea. Tam said there is no sea to the north. The second traveler said he meant the sky, then took his bread and left.
The harvest is not here yet. We have jars to wash, posts to mend, and apples on the trees. I have written the prices in large letters. The miller can read them from the road now, unless he is looking at the wind.
%%
Pell's board: what the road costs
Pell's own board, kept in the back of his cart, and read out to his partners at Ambrook each autumn. Pell says it is the only honest list of prices on the Long Road. The carters say it is only the honest list of Pell's prices. Autumn of 196.

Inn, one night, with supper and a bed: 4 emeralds on the Long Road. Halfway is 3. The Brown Hen is 3, and the soup is better.
Inn, one night, bed only, with no supper: 2. Supper only, a bowl and a loaf: 2. Save your coin for the second bowl.
Hay for a horse, one night: 2. For a mule: 1, and the mule will eat the hay and then your cap.
Lantern for the road, a good one with a glass front: 3. A lantern with no glass: 1, and it goes out on the bridge.
Torch on the Long Road waymark post: free, and every twelve blocks, so do not believe anyone who says otherwise.
Crossing the bridge over the Ambrook stream: free. Crossing the bridge at the bend, where the plank is loose: free, but bring a friend to hold your hand.
Cart rope, a spare coil: 2. Spare wheel grease, a tin: 1.
Sack of flour, Ambrook mill: 5 for a full sack, and the miller will check it is full.
A waymark stone: 3 if you carry it. Pell will not carry it for you, and he will not pay for the one that falls off the post.

The road does not give any refunds. Pell says that is why he is rich. The carters say that is why he is careful. Both of them are right, and neither of them has had to ride the loose plank in the rain.
%%
Letter: Pell to Tam, a fair and a riddle
From Pell, on the Long Road, to Tam at Kettle Ridge. Winter of 198.
Tam,
I am at the Halfway Inn and the fire has not gone out in twenty years. I believe it. The innkeeper will not let it.
Prices on the road are up. Wheat is 3 at Three Wells, which is one more than your board. Sell there and not here. I am telling you as a friend and not as a merchant, though I am also that.
The fair at Three Wells is on the third of Longnight. Bring honey and wool. Do not bring the pig. Last year the pig got loose in the stalls and the mayor has not forgotten.
A riddle from the board by the hearth. A thing that turns and turns and never goes anywhere. Pip will know it. The answer is a windmill.
Your sister's letters come down the relays fast this winter. The keeper at Vell is careful and the lamps are bright. Tell Mira we are all well on the road.
Bring the horse if the horse will come. Bracken is a good name. I have written it in my ledger.
Pell.
P.S. I am sending you a box of apples from Ambrook. Do not sell the box.
%%
Letter: Tam to Mira, moving Pip's things
Winter of 198. From Kettle Ridge to Northpoint.
Mira,
We moved Pip's things up to the loft room today. It took three carts and one borrowed horse. The horse was Bracken, who is ours, so I borrowed her from myself.
Pip has more boxes than a person should. Stones, mostly. One box is only stones. I asked why. Pip said they were good stones. I could not argue.
The loft is warm. The windmill squeaks all night, so Pip will sleep well or not at all. I have put a lamp by the ladder.
The fields are under frost. The beetroot is in. The pigs are fat. The hens have stopped laying and started complaining.
How is the snow at Northpoint? Do the foxes still come to the door? Tell Lantern to keep the lamps lit and the stove fed.
Your brother, Tam.
At the bottom, in smaller letters: Pip says the loft is the best room in the world.
%%
Notice: horse for hire, Kettle Ridge
Tacked to the market board, winter 198.
Tam has a horse for hire. Her name is Bracken. She is brown with one white foot. She is patient and she does not bite.
Four emeralds for a day. Twenty for a week. You bring her back fed. If you do not, Tam will find you. He is cheerful but he remembers.
Bracken is good for the road to Three Wells. She is not good past Lowmarsh. She does not like the water.
The horse is shared with Pip. Pip is Tam's apprentice. Pip is learning to ride. Please be kind to Pip.
Ask at the Kettle Inn. Leave a stone on the board if you want her.
%%
Market board: Juno's shed, summer
Prices in emeralds. Pay before you take the goods.
Apples, one basket: 2
Apples, three baskets: 5
Cider, one jug: 3
Cider, small cup: 1
Honey, one bottle: 4
Wheat flour, one sack: 5
Beetroot, six roots: 1
Potatoes, one basket: 2
Carrots, one basket: 2
Pumpkin, small: 3
Pumpkin, large: 6
Oak kindling, one bundle: 1
Clean jug returned: 1 back
Mended basket: 2
Fresh cider is ready. It is sweet this year, unless it sits in the sun. Keep the jugs in the shade. I wrote that on the board last summer too, but the board was behind the shed then.
The fence quarrel has begun again. Tam says the old boundary stone is under the north post. Sella says it is under the stump by the ditch. They both brought shovels. I asked them not to dig while I was pressing apples. They waited until I went inside.
When I came out, the post was loose and the stump was full of dirt. No stone was found. Tam says Sella moved it years ago. Sella says the stone was never there. I sold them cider at the same price and made them drink it on opposite sides of the yard.
The relay lamp on the hill is still dark. A keeper came down with a broken glass pane wrapped in wool. The copper ring was whole, and the redstone line was still in place. The keeper said a branch may have fallen against it. There is no tree close to the tower.
At supper, a traveler said the northern lights were fires beyond the snow. Another traveler said they were lights on the clouds, and that there were no fires. Both had come from the Long Road. Neither had gone north.
We still have good apples. The bees are working the flowers, and the mill wheel turns. The wind has changed twice since noon. My brother says it always does in summer. My brother says this while holding his hat with both hands.
I will close the shed before dark. The cats have been waiting beside the cider press. They know the sound of a jug being opened. I do not know how they know, but I have stopped asking.
%%
Notice: swarm and honey, the Long Road
Notice at the Halfway Inn, nailed by the hearth where the riddle board hangs. Written by Teague in the swarm month, after the bees came off the hive by the wall and went up the road in a dark cloud. Autumn of 196.

The bees have swarmed. They are in the old oak at the bend, and they are not hurting anyone, but they are loud.
Do not hit the cloud with a pot. Do not chase it. The cloud will go where it likes, and the bees will settle when they are ready.
Iona says if you sing the honey song, they will follow you. Iona has been known to be wrong.

Honey, from the Ambrook hives, in a jar with a cloth top: 2 emeralds. Honey in the comb: 3, and the comb is sticky, and so are your fingers.
Honey sold on the road by a carter: 1, but check the jar. Pell's honey comes in jars with a red seal. Anyone else's is cheap for a reason.
Honey wax for the candles: 1 for a bar. Not for the stable, either.

We have had no honey on the board since the swarm. That is not because we are short. It is because the bees went to the mill pond, and nobody wants to be the one who fetches them back.
%%
Board: the lost sheep, Kettle Ridge road
Notice from the Kettle Ridge carters, pinned up at the north well on market day, spring.

Lost: one white sheep with a black face. She is quiet and very greedy. She went over the wall on the Kettle Ridge road, at the bend past the old oak, and nobody saw her go. She was last seen by the west well eating a basket of turnips.

She is called Biscuit by the children and Lady by her owner. She will come if you shake a bucket of bran at her.

If you find her, bring her to the windmill at Kettle Ridge. The miller will give you a copper. The miller will also give you a lecture about the wall, which he has been meaning to give for years.

Tam says the sheep is not his, and that he has never seen her before. The sheep's ears say otherwise.
%%
Price board: the Copperhold market
Chalked on the board at the Copperhold market gate, by Nell, stonecutter. This is the last board before the winter store is shut. Prices in emeralds. Frost.

Stone and cut blocks

Cobblestone, one block: 1 emerald for 5 blocks.
Smooth stone, one block: 1 emerald for 4 blocks.
Deep stone, one block: 1 emerald for 2 blocks. Cold to the hand. Ask for gloves.
Stone bricks, one stack of eight: 2 emeralds. For the good walls, the ones with the pattern.
Glass, one pane: 1 emerald for 2 panes. From Saltreach by cart, so mind the cracks.
Clay, one bucket: 1 emerald for 3 buckets.

Ore and fuel

Copper ore, one cart: 4 emeralds. Down the shaft, up the lift, and out of the gate, by Hesk's own hand.
Iron ore, one cart: 5 emeralds. Hard to find, hard to carry. The forge pays it fast.
Coal, one sack: 2 emeralds. Good coal from level three. Bad coal from the old tunnel is free to anyone who will carry it. Nobody will.
Redstone, one pouch: 3 emeralds. Keep it in the dry box. It goes strange in the wet.

Food and goods

Bread, one loaf: 1 emerald for 3 loaves.
Potatoes, one sack: 1 emerald for 2 sacks.
Rabbit stew, one bowl: 1 emerald. At the kitchen by the mine gate. Nothing with mushrooms.
Honey, one jar: 2 emeralds. The last of Ama's summer.
Apples, one sack: 1 emerald. A little soft. Good for the pie.

Notes for the buyer:
The count board at the mine gate is the last word on what was bought and sold. If you think the count is wrong, come and argue with the board, not with the kitchen.
Miners are paid on the day. Those who are paid late are paid in stew, and nobody wants that.
Winter stores close at the Longnight bell. Anything not bought by then will be eaten, not sold. The mine kitchen is very fast at eating.

Nell
%%
Ledger: the stone yard, the debt paid
A page from the stone yard ledger, kept by Nell, stonecutter, below the hamlet near Copperhold. The accounts are written in emeralds, day by day. The last entry is in her own hand. Spring, and a good harvest.

Day one, the thaw: Hesk owed the yard 9 emeralds for the block of deep stone that went into the forge wall. Paid 2 today, in coal, which the yard can use. 7 owed.

Day three: stone for the new barn at the top farm. 6 emeralds to be paid at harvest. Entered.

Day six: Ama of Ambrook bought 4 blocks of cobblestone for her mill-side wall. Paid 4 on the day, in honey, 2 jars. She said I am a good cutter. I said she is a good honey woman. We are agreed.

Day nine: a cart of clay from the pit. 2 emeralds. Paid.

Day twelve: Pell brought the road money for the waymarks. 5 emeralds. This is for the stones on the Long Road, the ones with the figures on top. Pell sent a message to say the figures were cut neatly. I will keep that message.

Day fifteen: Hesk paid his debt. 7 emeralds, all at once, in a bag tied with red string. He said the bag was heavy and he was glad to be rid of it. I said the bag was a fair weight. We both laughed, and he went back up the shaft.

Day sixteen: the seven emeralds are in the yard box, with the seal of the stone yard on the lid. The debt is paid. Nell is glad. It was not a large sum, but it sat in the book for a long time, and the book does not like that.

Notes:
A debt is a small weight. Carry it for a month and it is heavy. Carry it for a season and you forget your arms.
Hesk does not pay late because he is a bad man. He pays late because he is a miner, and miners think about the next shift first.
When the debt is paid, cross it out with one line, like this. Do not scrape it. The next clerk should be able to see that it was once owed.

Nell
%%
Board: Cold Hollow, Leaffall notices
Prices and notices from the Cold Hollow council, pinned to the board by Sage on the first day of Leaffall. Prices in emeralds.

Bread, one loaf: 2
Honey, one jar: 3
Carting to Vell and back, one load: 5
Hire of a helper for the harvest, one day, sent from the tutor house. It carries and it does not talk back: 4
Winter wood, one cart: 9
Winter lamp oil, one jar: 4
Blankets of wool, one: 6
Beetroot seed for the spring, one sack: 5
Wax for candles, one block, from Merle at Three Wells: 3
Mending of a pot, by the tinker: 2

Notices:
The east well ran dry in Thaw. The council has voted to dig a new well at the end of the lane. The digging costs 30 emeralds, and the council has 18. We ask the rest from anyone who carries.

The old map is in its box at Dunn's stall. The council has asked Dunn to copy it for the school. Dunn says a copy would be a guess, and each guess costs 3 emeralds.

Carters: the north lane is slippery in the mornings. Walk the horse at the bend.

The red bucket from the east well has a dent in its side and has been missing since Thaw. If you have seen it, say so. It is not in the well.

The school at Three Wells will take two children from Cold Hollow this winter, for letters and sums. Ask the mayor. Dace says the beds are ready.

Tam says the lines in the east well stone are only lines. He has asked the council to stop asking him about them.
%%
Prices for carts, horses and the road
Written on the back of the Brown Hen board, for the carters who ask. Pell copied it out in his own hand and sent it to Ambrook, where people said it was a fair price. Autumn of 196.

A new cart, built at Three Wells, with two wheels and a bed: 30 emeralds.
A new wheel for a cart: 6. A second wheel to match: 5, and the wheelwright will not sell one without the other.
An axle, oak: 4. An axle, iron: 9, and it does not break at the bend.
A horse, a good one, from the farms at Kettle Ridge: 60. A horse that is not good, but works: 25. A horse that bites: nobody asks.
A mule: 20, and do not ask it for anything it does not want to do.
Shoeing a horse, four shoes: 3. Shoeing a mule: the mule decides.
Rope, a long coil: 2. Two coils: 3, because the second is always too short.
Lamp oil for the cart lantern, a jar: 1.
A waymark stone, carved with the figure and the arrow: 2, if you carry it yourself. 4, if the mason does.

Pell says the carters should not be cheated, and the carters agree, and then they go to the wheelwright and get cheated anyway.
%%
Notice: the Reed Bed inn, prices
Notice from Yarrow, keeper of the Reed Bed inn, Lowmarsh.

The roof is mended. The new reed on the north side is tied down with rope and wet clay. It should keep the rain off the beds now. Thank you to Jem and his crew, who worked two days in the wet and never once complained. Well, only twice.

Prices from this day:
A bed for one night: 2 emeralds.
A bed for one night, with a blanket: 3 emeralds.
A bowl of fish stew: 1 emerald.
A cup of warm milk: 1 emerald.
A boat across the pond, with a pole: 1 emerald.
A spoon of honey for the sick: no charge. The healer Wren asks us to say so.
A bowl of beetroot soup: 1 emerald.
A dry blanket, lent free to anyone who comes in wet from the road.

The beds were two emeralds while the roof leaked. They stay at two now that it is mended. Call it my gift to the travelers on the Long Road. The Halfway Inn may charge what it likes. We will not.

Please wipe your boots on the mat by the door. The mat is new too, and it is proud of itself. If you come in with a wet horse, leave it in the yard with the hay. Keep it out of the reeds, please.
%%
Price list: the hamlet hall
Posted on the hall door after the harvest, by Nell, stonecutter. The hall has been asked to give the prices for the winter market, which will open on the first day of Frost. Prices in emeralds. The harvest was good. Some things are cheaper than they have been in years, and some things are not.

Wheat, one sack: 1 emerald for 2 sacks. Cheap this year. The Kettle Ridge farms did very well, and sent wheat down the road in carts.
Flour, one sack: 2 emeralds. Ground at the mill by the river. Keep it dry, or it will go to paste in the first wet week.
Bread, one loaf: 1 emerald for 4 loaves. The baker says this is a loss. The baker has said so every year since the bakery opened.
Beetroot, one sack: 1 emerald for 3 sacks. A very good crop. The beetroot soup at the Kettle Inn is made from it, and the Kettle Inn says the soup is better than ever.
Pumpkins, one: 1 emerald for 2 pumpkins. Big ones only. The small ones go into the pig pen, and the pigs are pleased.
Melons, one: 1 emerald for 2 melons. Sweet and cold from the well.
Apples, one sack: 1 emerald for 1 sack. From Ambrook. Four hundred trees and a lot of hands. The oldest tree is not for sale.
Honey, one jar: 2 emeralds. Dark honey: 3 emeralds. Ama says the dark honey is for the sick. Wren agrees.
Carrots, one bunch: 1 emerald for 5 bunches. Stored in the cellar. They keep until the thaw if they are not wet.
Potatoes, one sack: 1 emerald for 2 sacks. Also stored in the cellar. Potatoes do not like light, or rain, or anyone who talks to them too much.
Coal, one sack: 2 emeralds. From the Copperhold shaft. The miners bring it up in carts, and the carts come down the Long Road in a line that goes past the hall window.
Stone, one cart: 4 emeralds. Cobblestone only. Deep stone is 8.
Rope, one coil: 1 emerald. Oak fiber. It will hold.
Glass, one pane: 1 emerald for 2 panes. From Saltreach. Breakable. Bring a box.

Notes for the buyer:
Pay in emeralds, or pay in goods at the price on the board. Do not pay in promises. Nell will write them down, and then she will mention them at the hall meeting.
The hall keeps one emerald in five for the roof. The roof has been leaking since the winter before last, and the hall is very cross about it.
Children may buy one honey cake each on market days, for 1 emerald the pair. The baker's boy sells them. He is not allowed to give them away. He does, sometimes, to the smaller children.

Nell
%%
Letter: Cal to his sister in Ambrook
Winter of 174. From Cal, cook at the Kettle Ridge farm, to his sister in Ambrook.
Dear Sella,
It has been a long winter here and I have had time to write. The snow is up to the top of the well and the hens will not come out at all. We carry their feed in and they look at us as if we owe them something. We probably do.
The bees are quiet. Last summer they swarmed twice, and Tam chased them across the ridge with a box and a smoke pot, and Pip ran behind with honey on his hands and wasps in his hair, and the whole thing took an afternoon and ended in a bush. We got the swarm. Tam said the queen had chosen a bad tree. I said the queen had chosen a good tree and we were the ones in the wrong place. The honey from that swarm was the best of the year, so I was right.
Do you have swarms in Ambrook? You must. Send me a jar of yours and I will send you a pot of beetroot soup. Do not laugh. My soup is famous on the ridge.
The windmill has been stuck since Frost. When it turns it squeaks, and when it is frozen it is silent, and I miss the squeak. The miller says the tally board will be short this winter. We will manage. There is hay in the barn and the cows are warm and the pig pen is smaller by one and we are grateful.
Pip has been drilling with the small apprentice again. It brings wood from the woodpile now, mostly the right size, and it comes when you call it. The tutor says it is not ready for the fields. The tutor says never send an untested mind to the fields. Pip says but it brought the wood. Both of them are right, I think.
Write back with news of the orchard. Is the old tree still standing? The one with the grey branch that everybody says will fall in the next storm. I hope it does not fall. It has stood through worse than this winter.
Tell mother I am well and warm and that I have not lost my spoon.
Your brother, Cal.
%%
Bel's price book, market day, spring
This is my price book. I am keeping it for the school, so the children can see what things cost. Sorrel says it is a good idea. Everyone else says I am bossy.

Bread from Ida, the big loaf: 1. The little loaf: 1 and a half, if she is in a good mood. She was not in a good mood today.
Honey, the light kind: 2. The dark kind: 3. The dark kind is better, but Pell says the light kind is better for the teeth.
Apples, a sack: 1. Ambrook apples: 1 and a bit. The bit is for being from Ambrook.
Eggs: 12 for 1. I counted. The man at the egg stall says he counted too, and that I should not count, because the eggs have feelings.
Wool, a bundle: 1. It is very scratchy. Pell says it is good wool. I still think it is scratchy.
Copper, an ingot: 8 for 1, which is cheap, but nobody will carry it for me.
Milk, a bucket: 1. Bring the bucket back. Mr Oddo puts a mark on the buckets, so he knows which ones are his.

Things I did not buy. A blue ribbon, because it is 2, and I only had 1. A wooden horse, because it has three legs and Mum says that is enough legs for anyone. A kitten, because Mum says no.

Things I saw. A goat with a red collar that ran up the new road with a rope on its neck. A man chasing it who said it was his. The goat did not agree. Everyone helped chase it, and then the goat ate Garrick's hat, and then it stopped running, and then it was caught.

Total spent: 3 emeralds. Total left: 2. That is good, Sorrel says, if I am not going to buy the kitten.
%%
Board at the Brown Hen, autumn
Prices for the bar and the kitchen. Maud keeps the board by the door, and she will change it when the carts change. Autumn of 196.
Bread, one loaf: 1 emerald. Warm bread: 2.
Bowl of soup: 1. Second bowl: free, as always.
Ale, a cup: 1. A full jug: 4, and bring it back.
Apples, a bag: 3, from Ambrook. Pell says they are worth 5, and Maud says Pell has never paid for one.
Cheese, a wedge: 2. Cheese for the carters: 1, if you bring your own knife.
Stable for a horse, one night: 2. For a cart, one night: 1, if the cart stays in the yard.
Room with a bed: 3. Room with two beds: 5, and two blankets, which the cat will steal.
Hot water for washing: 1 bucket. Wash your own bucket.

Maud says the cat is not on the board. The cat is not for sale, and she will not pay the cat a wage, whatever Pell says.
%%
Gil's inn board, Three Wells, summer
Twelve beds. One kitchen. One cat, who is not for sale and not for hire. All sums in emeralds.
Beds.
A bed, by yourself: 2. A bed, shared with a stranger: 1. A bed, shared with a friend: 1 each, and the friend pays for the snoring.
A bed in the loft: 1. It is warm in summer. It is very warm in summer. Bring water.
A bed on market day: ask early. We have twelve. Three Wells has more than twelve people who think they are coming.
Food.
Stew of the day: 1. Ask what it was yesterday and you will know what it is today.
Cold fish and bread: 1.
Bread and honey: 1.
Cider, a mug: 1. A jug: 3. A barrel: do not.
Breakfast: 1. Eggs, bread and whatever is hot.
Other things.
Children: half price. Babies: nothing, though they are loud.
Thimble, who sorts our stores, is not charged for anything. It knows where every sack is. I do not.
Warm water for the feet: nothing.
A towel: nothing. Returning the towel: also nothing, but we would like it.
A candle: nothing. A lantern: 1. We would sooner you took the lantern. It does not catch the bed on fire.
A stall in the stable: 1 a night. Hay is extra. The horse will tell you how much.
A broken window: 2. A broken stool: 1. A broken heart: nothing. Sit by the fire.
Rules of the house.
Boots at the door. Frogs at the door. Cats at the fire.
Songs are welcome before the dusk bell. After the dusk bell they are welcome if they are good.
Gil
%%
The whole board, Cold Hollow, autumn
The whole board at Cold Hollow, copied out in autumn by Sage, who is ten now and says so. Prices in emeralds. The board is the only paper in the hamlet that nobody has ever tried to eat.

Prices, first:
Bread, one loaf: 2
Eggs, four: 1
Milk, one cup: 1
Honey, one jar: 3
Apples, one basket: 4
Pears, one basket: 3
Cheese, one wheel: 6
Beetroot, one sack: 5
Potatoes, one sack: 4
Wool, one bundle: 6
Straw, one bundle: 1
Lamp oil, one jar: 4
Water, one bucket from the north well: 2
Map, to look at: 1. Map, to take out of the box: 10.

Notices, in the order they were pinned:
Reaping: the east well is dry. Nobody is to dig in it. Tam dug in it anyway, to be sure, and was sure.
Reaping: Dunn sends word that he will sell the old map to whoever can name the road on it. Nobody has named it yet. Sage thinks it is a trick. Dunn says it is not a trick. He is only tired.
Apple: the harvest is in. Fourteen sacks of wheat from the strip at the top. The beetroot is small. The potatoes are fine. The pumpkins are very large, and the pig has been told.
Apple: the bridge at the bottom of the lane has a new plank. Walk on the left, not the middle, where the old plank was.
Apple: a traveler from the Long Road asked the smith to make a copper ring for his wife. The smith did. The ring is a little too big. The traveler says that is what a good ring is for.
Leaffall: the council will meet at the mill on the first day of Frost, to talk about the well.
Leaffall: eleven pairs of school boots are under the board. Take the pair that is yours, and leave the pair that is not.
Leaffall: the smith is putting up a sign that says Mending while you wait. He wants to know if it means while you wait for the mending, or while the mending waits for you. Sage says both.
Leaffall: the first frost was on the board this morning, and it ran the ink of the wool price. Sage has written it again.
Leaffall: the new well at the end of the lane is nine paces deep and wet at the bottom. The water is cold and tastes of stone. It costs 1 emerald the bucket, as the east well did.
Leaffall: the old map is still in its box. Dunn says it is safe. Sage has checked, and it is.

Kept by Sage, who keeps the board. The board is clean, except where the frost got in.
%%
Boat sheds: hire and mending, Lowmarsh
Hob keeps the boat sheds on the east landing. These are the prices for the summer season, written on the wall by the tally.

A small boat for one day: 2 emeralds.
A large boat for one day, with oars: 4 emeralds.
A new oar: 1 emerald.
A new seat for a boat: 2 emeralds.
A coil of rope: 1 emerald.
A fish net, mended: 2 emeralds.
A new net, woven at Vell and carried down the Long Road: 6 emeralds.
A horse to pull a boat up the slip: 2 emeralds. The horse keeps its own opinions.
Mending a hole in the hull: 3 emeralds. You bring the new wood, and I bring the nails.
Copper nails from Copperhold, a handful: 1 emerald.
A boat built to your order at Saltreach: 40 emeralds, and a year to wait.

The tally on the wall shows fourteen boats out this Longday. Three came back with holes. Two came back with fish. One came back with a cat who would not get out, and she still lives in the sheds.

Drag your boat up the slip before dark. The slip is slick with mud, and the frogs are loud, and they will tell you what they think.

Tansy has asked for two boats for the spring trade. She will pay when the carts come up from Saltreach. Hob says he will believe that when he sees the carts. If she pays by Frost, I will paint the new boats myself, and I will paint them blue, because blue is the only color left in the sheds.
%%
Board: Kettle Ridge farm stall
Prices at the farm stall on the ridge road, winter of 166. In emeralds.
Cal keeps the stall and the kitchen both, so ask him if the board is wrong.
Winter wheat, a sack: 4. The top field did well before the frost.
Beetroot, a basket: 3. The long field is under snow, but the clamp is full.
Potatoes, a sack: 2. The bottom field gave us a good clamp.
Carrots, a basket: 2. Small ones, but sweet.
Pumpkin, one: 3. Good for soup and for lanterns.
Hay, a bale: 1. The barn is stacked to the roof.
Eggs, a dozen: 2. The hens have opinions about snow.
Honey, a jar: 4. The hives are quiet now. They sleep.
Pork, a cut: 5. The pig pen is smaller by one, and we are grateful.
Milk, a pail: 2. The cows are warm in the barn.
Bread, a loaf: 2. Baked in the mill oven.
Pie, a slice: 1. Cal makes it from the apples in the dry store.
Mending, a coat: 3. Pip will do it by the fire.
A place by the fire, and a cup: free, if you bring news.
The windmill squeaks on every turn in this cold. Nobody has oiled it.
Nobody wants to go up the ladder in the wind.
%%
Market board: Juno's cider shed
Kettle Ridge, summer prices. Juno has set the board beside the well.
Apples, one basket: 2 emeralds
Cider, one jug: 3 emeralds
Cider, small cup: 1 emerald
Honey, one bottle: 4 emeralds
Wheat flour, one sack: 5 emeralds
Beetroot, six roots: 1 emerald
Carrots, one basket: 2 emeralds
Pumpkin, small: 3 emeralds
Pumpkin, large: 6 emeralds
Firewood, one bundle: 1 emerald
Empty jug, returned clean: 1 emerald back
A jug returned with cider in it is not empty.
A jug returned with a bee in it is not clean.
No credit after sunset. Juno has a bad memory for debts and a good memory for faces.
The windmill is turning well today. It squeaks on every turn, as it should.
Tam says the squeak is worse than last summer. Tam says many things are worse than last summer.
%%
Prices: the wedding week
Gil's inn, Three Wells, for the wedding of Bryn and Ula. All sums in emeralds.
Bed for a guest: 2. Bed for two guests who are married: 3. Bed for two who say they are married: 4.
Cider, a mug: 1. A mug for the bride: free. For the groom: free, once.
The hall for the dance: 5. The lamps are included. The dancers' feet are not.
A cat: free. The cat will not come to the wedding. It is too proud.
%%
Prices: the first market of Longday
Three Wells market, as posted by the market board. Bring your own bag. Bring your own opinion. We have plenty of both here.
Bread: 6 loaves for 1.
Eggs: 12 for 1.
Milk: 1 a bucket.
Wheat: 1 a sack. The harvest is not in, so nobody can say what next month will cost.
Honey: 2 a jar. The first honey of summer. Dark honey: 3.
Melons: 3 for 1. The first melons are small and sweet. Ask before you thump.
Cod: 6 for 1. The boats came in on the dusk bell yesterday.
Wool: 1 a bundle. Shearing is done, and the sheep are cold and very cross.
Apples: 2 a sack. Last year's. They are good, and they are old, and they know it.
Torches: 32 for 1.
Pumpkins: not yet. Do not ask.
Frogs: not for sale. Ask at Lowmarsh. They will say no.
%%
The day we moved the mill tally
Written by Tam, at Kettle Ridge, winter of 198, for the archive.
The mill keeps the tally board. Every sack that comes in is chalked on it, and every sack that goes out is rubbed away. In winter the board is full.
This winter we moved the board. It was old and the chalk would not stay. Jory's cousin came up from Ambrook with a new board of birch, and we carried the old one down to the barn.
It took four of us. Pip held the ladder. The horse Bracken pulled the cart. We went slowly, because the old board was heavy and the wind was up on the ridge.
Halfway down the chalk blew off. All the numbers went into the snow. We stood and looked at the empty board and then we laughed, because there was nothing else to do.
Then we wrote the numbers back from memory. We argued about them. Pip was right and I was wrong, which Pip will tell you about for years.
The new board is up in the mill. The tally is chalked and it stays. The old board is in the barn and it is good for leaning on.
The windmill squeaks on every turn. The bread is fresh at the Kettle Inn. All well at Kettle Ridge.
%%
Market board: Kettle Ridge yard
Juno's summer list, beside the cider shed.
Apples, one basket: 2 emeralds
Cider, one jug: 3 emeralds
Cider, half jug: 2 emeralds
Honey, one bottle: 4 emeralds
Wheat, one sack: 5 emeralds
Beetroot, six roots: 1 emerald
Potatoes, one basket: 2 emeralds
Carrots, one basket: 2 emeralds
Pumpkin, small: 3 emeralds
Pumpkin, large: 6 emeralds
Oak kindling, one bundle: 1 emerald
A clean bottle, returned: 1 emerald
A bottle with a bee in it: no refund.
Mara brought two baskets of apples and asked for the old price. I told her the old price was before the hail. She said the hail had missed her trees. We looked at the trees. One had lost half its apples, and the other had lost none.
The miller bought a jug for his wife. He asked me to write the price large enough for him to read from the road. I did. He still asked.
%%
Price board: the stone yard, spring
Chalked on the board at the stone yard below the hamlet, by Nell, stonecutter. Prices in emeralds. Spring.

Cobblestone, one block: 1 emerald for 4 blocks.
Cobblestone, a full cart: 12 emeralds. Bring your own rope.
Deep stone, one block: 1 emerald for 2 blocks. It is hard to cut and harder to carry. We charge more for the trouble.
Smooth stone slab: 1 emerald for 6 slabs.
Stone steps for a stair, each: 1 emerald for 3 steps. Ask for the good steps. They are the ones we cut twice.
Clay, a bucket: 1 emerald for 2 buckets. Fetched from the pit by the river. Mind the frogs.
Gravel, a sack: 1 emerald for 1 sack. Sold by the sack, not by the handful. The handfuls come to nothing.
Sand, a sack: 2 emeralds. Dry sand only. Wet sand is not sand, it is mud, and we do not sell mud.
Copper ore, a cart: 4 emeralds. From the Copperhold shaft. Carried down by the mine cart, carried up by Clank's cousin.
Coal, a sack: 2 emeralds. Dusty. Sweep it before you sit on the cart.
Lapis, one block: 6 emeralds. Blue as a lake. The buyers from Saltreach come for it and then say it is too blue.

Notes for the buyer:
Cut stone is paid on the day. Do not ask for a week. Nell has been asked for a week too many times by the same people.
A broken block is half price. A block cracked by the buyer is full price. Bring your own hammer and we will not argue.
Stone out of the old wall is cheap. It was made to be used again. Ask Hesk where it came from, if you want to hear a long story.

Nell
%%
Notice: the cat that will not stay out
Notice on the post by the Halfway Inn stable. Teague wrote it, and the carters added to it all summer. It is a list of what the cat has done. It is also a list of what it costs to fetch her.

The cat is ginger. She has no name. Teague calls her Trouble, and the carters call her the Inn Cat, and the children call her Mrs Tuppy, which is wrong, because a sheep has a name already.

She has been on the cart of Pell twice, under the flour sacks.
She has been in the stable loft three times, asleep on the hay.
She has walked into the kitchen through the window five times, and eaten the cheese once, the whole of it.
She has been found on the road to the Brown Hen, sitting in the middle, watching the carts go round her.

Fee to fetch the cat, from the stable: 1 emerald, to the stable boy, who has to climb.
Fee to fetch the cat, from the road: 2 emeralds, to whoever is brave enough to get close.
Fee to fetch the cat, from the kitchen: free, if you do not mind the cheese.

The cat does not pay. She does not come when called, and she does not stay put. The sign is for anyone who finds her, and who wants a free second bowl of soup. Teague says that is the only reward he can afford. The cat has not been asked.
%%
Prices for the school play
At the school house at Three Wells, on the 21st of Longday, at dusk. The children in Sorrel's class will act "The Girl and the Third Well". All money goes to buy the school a second bell. Posted by the school and by Gil's inn. All sums in emeralds.
Seats.
A bench near the front: 1. It has a clear view. It also has Old Hob.
A bench at the back: 1. You will hear everything. You will see a hat.
A seat on the floor: nothing.
A seat on your father's shoulders: nothing, if your father agrees.
A seat on someone else's father's shoulders: ask first.
To eat and drink.
Pie: 1. Cider: 1. A honey bun: 1. A bun for the actors: free.
The program: nothing. It is one page. It says who is a tree.
The cast.
The Girl: Piper. The Rope: Nim, who is very good with a rope. The Well: Sim, who is a good well, and stands very still, and does not itch.
Three trees, two cows and a farmer: the rest of the class. Everyone has been told that a tree does not wave.
Rules.
One cat may come in, if it is quiet. You know which one.
No clapping until the end. Then as much as you like.
If a tree falls over, it is part of the play.
We hope to take 40 emeralds. A second bell costs 38. The rest is for the clapper.
%%
Tally: Kettle Ridge farm
Tally board on the wall of the barn at Kettle Ridge farm, winter of 188. Kept by Tam, with help from Pip.
This is the longest winter anyone here remembers. The snow came in Leaffall and stayed.
Wheat in: 20 sacks. Wheat sold: 18. Kept for seed: 2.
Beetroot in: 140 baskets. Sold: 90. Soup: 50. The soup is the best trade we make.
Potatoes in: 90 sacks. Sold: 60. Kept: 30.
Carrots in: 60 baskets. Sold: 40.
Hay in the barn: 300 bales. Used for the cows and the pigs and the hens and one very cold dog.
Eggs: the hens have opinions. We have stopped arguing with them.
Honey: 30 jars. The hives are asleep. Do not wake them. We will have the swarm in Blossom, if it ever comes.
Pork: 4 cuts sold, 2 kept. The pig pen is smaller by two this winter, and we are grateful to both of them.
Milk: the cows are warm and kind and we are grateful to them too.
Fires lit along the ridge road: 40. Torches replaced: 200.
Travelers given a place by the fire: 19. One of them played the pipe. One of them ate three bowls of soup and said it was the best on the Long Road. I told him the soup is Cal's. He said tell Cal.
Apprentices: one, small, brings wood and hauls water. It has never been wrong twice.
Pip's drills: every morning in the drill yard, in the snow, with a torch in a bucket. The tutor says he is doing well. The tutor says never send an untested mind to the fields. Pip says the fields are under snow. The tutor says then test it on the snow.
The windmill: still frozen. The miller has climbed the ladder twice. The ladder is icy. Do not climb the ladder.
The old dog sleeps by the oven. The hens sleep in the barn. The bees sleep in the hives. The whole farm sleeps and waits.
In Blossom, when it comes, we will let the bees out and they will swarm and we will chase them with a box and a smoke pot and we will be happy in the sun.
%%
Market board: Lowmarsh, Longday
Things for sale at the reed market, on the boardwalk by the east landing. Ask at the stall. Prices in emeralds.

Fish from the weir, fresh: 2 for 1 emerald.
Smoked fish, a string of six: 3 emeralds.
Reed mats, large: 3 emeralds. Small: 1 emerald.
Reed baskets, woven tight: 2 emeralds.
Apples from Ambrook, a basket of ten: 2 emeralds.
Honey from Ambrook, one jar: 2 emeralds.
Carrots, a bunch: 1 emerald.
Potatoes, a sack: 4 emeralds.
Milk: none this morning. The cow in the north pen is sick. Greer, who keeps the cows, says she will mend in a few days, and then the milk comes back.

Ask at the boat sheds if you want a boat for the day. Ask at the inn if you want a bed. Tansy keeps this board, and Tansy says the prices are fair. Nobody argues with Tansy about that.
%%
Prices at the summer fair, Three Wells
The summer fair, on the 12th and 13th of Melon. Posted at the notice board by the market board and by Gil's inn. All sums in emeralds. Dace will open the fair at noon, in his tall hat, if he can find it.
At the pie tent.
Pumpkin pie, a slice: 1. There is no crust. There never has been.
Honey cake: 1.
Fruit pie: 1. Which fruit it is depends on what the pie tent had.
Cold melon, a slice: 1. The melon cooler by the north well is free, one cup each. Children may have two. Grown folk who say they are children may not.
At the games.
The fishing pool: 1 a go. Everyone catches something. Some catch a boot.
The egg race: 1 to enter. Hold the egg in a spoon. Run to the east well and back. If you drop it, you may have another egg, for 1. The hens are grateful.
The horse race, to the second waymark and back: 2 to enter. The prize is 10.
The beetroot judging: free to watch. The winners are always the same people. It is a comfort.
The rope pull, Copperhold against the rest: free to watch, 1 to pull. Copperhold has never lost. Everyone pulls anyway.
At the stalls.
Wool hats: 2 for 1. Wool scarves: 1. Wool socks: 1 a pair. It is summer. Buy them now, and see how you feel about it in Frost.
Honey, a jar: 2. Dark: 3.
Cod, fresh from Saltreach, at the east well: 6 for 1.
Torches: 32 for 1.
A wooden fox, carved while you wait: 2. A wooden pig: 2. A wooden fox that looks like a pig: also 2.
Orders at the east well.
Peg, the bakery's apprentice, will take five plain orders for 1: fetch, come, stay, haul, home. It does not take riddles. It does not take jokes. It does not take the moon.
The children's stall.
Things nobody claimed from the lost and found: everything 1. The money buys ink for the school. Last year's stall sold a left boot, a book of songs and a very small hat.
Music.
Songs at the north well from the first bell to the dusk bell. Pay if you like them.
The Lowmarsh musicians play on the long table at the dance. They are paid by the town. Do not pay them again. They will take it, and play louder.
The dance on the green, after the dusk bell: free. Wear shoes you can afford to lose.
Water from the north well: free. It is the coldest. This is known.
At noon on the 12th there is a wedding at the east well, of Bryn the baker's boy and Ula of the Dunn farm. No charge to watch. Throw petals. Please do not throw the pie.
Lost children wait at the north well. Lost parents may wait there too. Lost hats are at the mayor's house, in the box. One of them is the mayor's.
Dace, mayor of Three Wells
%%
Prices: the Long Road inns
Set by the innkeepers of the Long Road at their meeting in the Brown Hen. All prices in emeralds, per night, unless it says otherwise.

The Brown Hen. A bed for the night, 1. A bed with a bath, 2. Stew, 1 a bowl. The second bowl is free, as always.
The Halfway Inn. A bed, 1. Hay for a horse, 1 a night. A horse with a stable, 2. The riddle board is free.
The Oak Post. A bed, 1. Bread with the bed, 1 a loaf, and the heel is free.
Kettle Inn, on the ridge. A bed, 1. Wind in the room, 0. It comes with the view.
Three Wells, the inn of twelve beds. A bed, 1. A cot for a child, free. A dog, 1. A dog must sit by the door.

Carts. A cart in the yard, 1 a night. A cart with a driver who sleeps in it, 2.
Apprentices. An apprentice sleeps in the hall for free, if it is tested and has a card. An untested mind sleeps outside with the cart, and is not to be let in.
Animals. Pigs, none. Hens, 1 a night and an egg for breakfast. Cats, free.

Notes. The Brown Hen will not sell a bed to a man who has already slept there twice in one week. Marda says he snores too loudly, and she is right.
%%
Board: Cold Hollow prices, Reaping
Market board at Cold Hollow, the hamlet under Vell hill. Written by Sage, who is nine, in big letters so the carters can read it from the road. Prices are in emeralds.

Bread, one loaf: 2
Eggs, four: 1
Milk, one cup: 1
Honey, one jar: 3
Apples, one basket: 4
Beetroot, one sack: 5
Potatoes, one sack: 4
Wool, one bundle: 6
Map of the hills, to look at: 1. To take out of the box: 10.
Water from the east well, one bucket: 1

The east well ran dry in Thaw. Water from the north well is two emeralds the bucket, and it is cold. Sage keeps the board clean. The map is in the box under the board. Ask nicely.
%%
Tansy's prices at the fish weir
Tansy's prices at the fish weir, Lowmarsh, in Melon.

I write these down because a price is a kind of news. If you know what fish costs today, you can ask for less tomorrow.

Fresh fish, the small silver kind: 2 for 1 emerald.
Fresh fish, the long brown kind: 1 for 2 emeralds.
Dried fish, a string of twelve: 3 emeralds.
Salt fish from Saltreach, a barrel: 10 emeralds. It keeps through the cold months, so buy the barrel if you can.
Fish stew, a bowl: 1 emerald at the inn, 2 emeralds in the square.

Vesper keeps the weir. She says the catch was poor for three days in Longday, and then it came back all at once. She thinks the water is warm and the fish are sleepy. She says this is only a guess.

The boardwalk is muddy again this morning. The reeve has been asked to bring sand. The frogs think the mud is a party, and they sang all night about it.
%%
Market board: Copperhold, after the thaw
Chalked on the board at the hamlet hall, by Nell, stonecutter, for the market on the first day of Sowing. Prices in emeralds. Spring, and the roads are open.

Bread, one loaf: 1 emerald for 3 loaves. The baker is not happy with this price. The baker is happier than last year.
Beetroot, one basket: 1 emerald for 2 baskets. The first beetroot of the season is small and sweet. It will not last.
Potatoes, one sack: 1 emerald for 1 sack. The last sack of the winter store. There is not much of it.
Carrots, one bunch: 1 emerald for 4 bunches. Bring the tops back for the rabbits.
Eggs, one dozen: 2 emeralds. From the hen house behind the hall. Hens do not care about prices.
Milk, one bucket: 1 emerald. Cold from the well. Drink it here, do not carry it far.
Honey, one jar: 2 emeralds. From Ambrook, by the cart. Ama sends her best and then sends the rest.
Rabbit, one: 1 emerald. Skinned. Do not ask for it hung.
Fish, one: 1 emerald for 2 small fish. Bring a bucket. The fishmonger from Saltreach is sulking again.
Melon slices, one plate: 1 emerald. Sweet, and the plates are washed in the well.
Wool, one bundle: 1 emerald. Not the best. The best is at Three Wells and costs twice.
Torches, one stack of eight: 1 emerald. Lit torches are not sold. Only the stacks.

Notes for the buyer:
The stone yard owes the hall two emeralds. It is good for it.
Nell takes no bread in trade. She has tried it. Her teeth are not what they were.
Copperhold's miners pay in coal for the winter. Coal is a sack for 2 emeralds, or a sack of bread for 1. This is a fair trade, and nobody here will say it is not.
Do not leave a jar on the bench in the sun. It goes sour, and the sour jar comes back to the board.

Nell
%%
Notice: the farm stall in the long
Posted at the farm stall on the ridge road, Kettle Ridge, winter of 181. Cal wrote it. Tam nailed it up.
The stall will stay open all winter. The cold has been long and the snow is deep and the road is slow.
Come if you can. Bring a sack and a lantern.
What we have: wheat, beetroot, potatoes, carrots, honey, eggs, milk, bread, and soup by the fire.
What we need: salt, oil for the windmill, and news of the road.
Prices are on the board. Prices are the same as summer, because it is not your fault that it snowed.
If you cannot pay, bring something to trade. A coat to mend, a song, a pair of hands for the woodpile. Cal will take any of these.
The windmill is frozen and the wheel is still. The miller says the tally board will be short. We will manage.
The bees are asleep in the hives. Do not knock on a hive in winter. The bees are sleeping and they do not want visitors.
The hens are in the barn and they are warm and they are cross.
The apprentice brings wood from the woodpile. It is slow and it is careful and it has learned to come when called. Pip is proud of it. We are all a little proud of it.
Keep your torches lit along the ridge. The nights are long and the path is a step from the ditch.
If you are lost in the dark, follow the squeak of the windmill. It squeaks even when it is stuck.
If you hear nothing, shout. We will come with a lantern and a rope.
The farm stall has been here for thirty years. It will be here in the spring.
%%
Board: the mapmaker's prices, Leaffall
Maps for sale at Dunn's table in the Vell market, Leaffall. Dunn the mapmaker keeps the prices. He does not keep his cloth clean.

A map of the Long Road, Vell to Saltreach, with every inn marked: 8
A map of the hills around Cold Hollow: 4
A map of the marsh and its boardwalks: 5
A map of the coast from Saltreach: 6
A correction drawn into a map, one line: 2
A copy of a map, drawn by hand: 3 for each copy

The old map is not for sale. It is in the box at the back of the stall. You may look at it for 1 emerald. You may take it out of the box for 10 emeralds, which is what it cost Dunn to find it.

It is the oldest map on the ridge. It shows a road going north from Vell, and the road is drawn in ink that has faded almost to brown. Dunn has drawn the road to the edge of the paper, and no further. He says he does not know what is past the edge, and he would rather not guess.
%%
Market board, Kettle Ridge, winter 198
Prices at the Kettle Ridge winter market, the twelfth of Longnight, year 198. One line for each thing. Prices in emeralds.
Wheat, one sack: 2
Flour, one sack: 3
Beetroot, one basket: 1
Potatoes, one basket: 2
Carrots, one basket: 2
Pumpkin, one: 1
Honey, one jar: 4
Apples, one basket: 2
Eggs, twelve: 2
Milk, one pail: 2
Wool, one bale: 6
Coal, one sack: 3
Firewood, one bundle: 1
A hen: 5
A piglet: 8
A sheep: 12
A horse, on loan, one day: 4
A horse, on loan, one week: 20
Repair of one cart wheel: 5
Warm mittens, a pair: 3
The board is kept by Tam. Pay at the stall. No credit past Longnight. The windmill is turning. Bread at the inn is fresh.
%%
Market board: Juno's summer shed
Prices in emeralds. Bring your own baskets.
Apples, one basket: 2
Cider, one jug: 3
Cider, small cup: 1
Honey, one bottle: 4
Wheat flour, one sack: 5
Beetroot, six roots: 1
Potatoes, one basket: 2
Carrots, one basket: 2
Pumpkins, small: 3
Pumpkins, large: 6
Oak kindling, one bundle: 1
A clean jug returned: 1 back
The cider is from this year's apples. The first press was sour, so I gave it to the pigs. They did not complain. Pigs are good judges of cider, but poor judges of manners.
The east fence is still standing. A post leans toward Tam's field, but it has leaned that way since spring. Tam says it was straight when he mended it. I say the post has grown tired.
A traveler from the Long Road bought a jug and asked whether the relay lamp above the ridge was lit. I said it was. He said he had seen no light from the road. I sent Jessa to look. The lamp was burning, though the glass was dark with dust.
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Board: the market day
Market day is the first day of Sowing. Stalls on the square from the first bell. Bring your coin. Bring your sense.

Wheat, beetroot, carrots, potatoes: 1 a sack, at the north well.
Apples from Ambrook: 1 a sack, at the south well. Ambrook's apples are the best. Ambrook says so.
Pumpkins: 4 for 1. Melons: 3 for 1, if they are ripe. Ripe means the stalk is dry.
Cod: 6 for 1. Salmon: 4 for 1. From Saltreach, by cart, and the cart is late.
Copper: 8 ingots for 1. Iron: 1 an ingot. Gold: 4 an ingot. Copperhold only, no shouting.

Lost: a brown and white goat, with a red collar. Last seen going up the new road toward the Halfway Inn. She is called Maud. She does not answer to her name. Ask at the east well.
Found: one hat, grey, with a bird feather. Ask Pell.

The new road to the Halfway Inn is open. The carters say it is smooth. The carters are liars, but they are good liars. Watch the bridge.
