Carack

Carack Ch 13 revised and complete

Chapter 13 Chun

The kitchens were hot and noisy; there was a large steaming pot on an large impressive spit over a huge fire. A small, thin boy on a stool was stirring the contents as best he could, as he had to stretch to reach the pot, it looked as if the fire was slowly roasting him. A tall girl in a white apron, that was much too big for her, was rolling pastry and dusting flour around the table, the chef, a sallow faced man, cuffed her head as he passed with a bowl under one arm.

‘Too much flour Anita! Look at the mess!’ He pulled up short at the sight of Euny and Gerent in the doorway.

‘Well and what have we here?’ he walked around Euny, who was taller than he was, eyed her up and down and said, ‘pretty, very pretty. Now what do you two urchins want?’

‘Please sir we need work,’ replied Euny in a very winning girl’s voice, ‘my brother and I hoped you might have a place for us in the kitchens.’

‘You I could use.’ The chef replied rubbing his hands together with relish, ‘but the scrawny brat there you call a brother, no.’

‘Then I cannot stay,’ replied Euny, ‘for we have lost both our parents and must stay together. Come brother!’ Euny turned and the chef hurriedly called out:

‘Now, now! No need to hurry, I don’t need a boy at the moment,’ he glanced at the sweating individual over the fire, ‘but I soon might, I could put him to work if you will stay, I need a good serving maid and you would be ideal, have you dished up before?’ Euny nodded in a shy way, Gerent was in awe of the knight’s acting and remained silent, ‘good,’ continued the chef, ‘start now. Aprons over there,’ he pointed, ‘wash bucket over there, plating up here, trays there, cutlery in that box, got that?’ Euny nodded, ‘good, you boy, what’s your name?’

‘Uh, Ulf sir,’ said Gerent taking off his cap and twisting it in his hands.

‘Oh ho! Ulf the oaf eh? That’s good that is, like that do you boy,’ he nudged the boy stirring the pot so hard in the back he almost fell in to the pot, ‘eh? Ulf the oaf, well oaf, sorry I mean Ulf,’ he laughed at his own words, ‘take this to the midden,’ and he kicked at a large bucket, brimming with peelings and waste food.

‘Sorry where?’ asked Gerent.

‘The midden boy! The midden! Just out that door and round the back near the pig’s keep, go on!’ He stepped toward Gerent and raised the back of his hand to him. Gerent did not need to guess what that meant and so he ducked under the hand, grabbed the heavy bucket and disappeared out the door to the rear of the kitchen. Gerent found himself in the open air he was in a small, enclosed yard. In one corner he saw a low wall and could hear the sound of pigs on the other side of it. Gerent carried the bucket across the yard in that direction and going behind the pigs, he found a small wooden hatch in the wall. He smelt, before he saw, the open tip of rubbish that lay outside the wall on the ground below the hatch. This then, he concluded, must be the midden and so he hoisted the heavy bucket up and tipped it out onto the putrid heap below. He returned to the kitchen after having a quick look around the yard and noting the only other exit, a large, solid wooden gate, which appeared would lead into the courtyard of the castle when open.

When he returned from the yard he saw Euny had laid up some meat and vegetables onto a plate, she had set it out very appetisingly and was adding a sprig of parsley and watercress to garnish, the chef was watching her with pride.

‘Well done missey!’ he praised, ‘I can see you are going to be an asset!’ Euny glanced up at Gerent with a wry smile, the chef caught the glance and stepped swiftly across to Gerent cuffed him around the ear.