Harmindon's Finest

Chapter 13 - Different Kinds of Determination

"Jeddah?"

"My lady?"

"You are very quiet this morning. Is anything the matter?"

I glanced up from my cross-legged position at her feet, where I was pinning up the hem of an overly-long sample dress. She had fallen in love with it on my display some weeks ago, and only now had I time to come to the Ramyah's house in person for a fitting. I was planning on taking it home again to make the alterations, and return it the next day.

In the months since Túrien's wedding, she and I had become quite good friends. As I suspected, she had no female friends of similar age, and often came to my stall to chat even when she didn't want new clothes. And she wanted new clothes fairly often - putting it mildly, Túrien was a spirited creature, and her clothes often got torn or stained. Ramyah Sawda flatly refused her to wear them again, even when I had mended them so well it could hardly be seen in the brightest of lights. Consequently, Túrien spent rather a lot of time at my stall.

This did not go unnoticed, of course. Túrien stood out even when she wasn't trying to - especially when she wasn't trying to. As a result I received more and more custom.

There was no putting it mildly - Túrien was a lifesaver. Many wealthy, influential ladies now demanded to wear the clothes that the Ramyah herself approved of, and we became more well-off than our family had been for several generations. Even Mother, at her most popular, had not done as well. For the first few weeks I was satisfied with making sure we were financially stable - I even invented a method of saving, putting the money in an old clay pot which I hid under our old bed and covered with a blanket. We hadn't been able to save anything for years.

Then, I got that awful roof fixed. We bought a new bedstead, and Miarka and I helped Grandmother every evening for a week stuffing the mattress cover I'd fashioned with soft goose down I'd bought from the butcher. Every time we walked into our house that week we could not help but laugh - soft little bits of feather were stuck everywhere, and I had to make very carefully sure none of it stuck to the finished items I brought to the market.

So now we had two beds, and although it was a bit of a squeeze in the tiny bedroom, it was far more comfortable. I now shared with Miarka (a decision I began to regret, as I could not believe at first how much that girl kicks in her sleep) on the old bed - Grandmother got the new one, as her joints were bothering her again and I wanted her to be comfortable. Still, it was the first time in years I had slept in a proper bed, and it was almost unbelievable how much easier our life now was, thanks to Túrien.

"Jeddah, are you daydreaming?" Túrien laughed, bending down to wave a hand in front of my face.

"My lady, look out! Those pins aren't secure," I groaned, and Túrien straightened up again, apologising hurriedly.

"Seriously though, Jeddah, you aren't yourself. What is the matter?"

I secured the last pin with a sigh, and stood up, stretching my legs, w high were beginning to cramp from the uncomfortable position they'd been in.

"I must get going, my lady, if I'm to finish that dress by tomorrow."

"Bother that dress, sit down and tell me what the matter is."

I sighed again. "Four years ago today, my mother died. But that isn't it.... although partly it still is.... I just think, that if I had done better back then, like now, I might have been able to afford something to make her better. I don't know what, I'm no healer, but maybe if she had the right medicine...."

"Oh, my dear, don't think like that! Why you must have only been a child then, you could not help it!"

I shrugged, and sat down when she gestured.