Chapter 16

Jón saved the next business related destination of the day as his last. The people he had to deal with were not usually easy to get along with and Yngvi the smith was the worse of them.

As soon as Jón entered the premises the smith came almost running out and fawned over him for his skill with the weapons. This was a dramatic departure from the way he had acted before. It was easy to see the avarice here because the smith would have a veritable goldmine if he made swords just like what the hero used.

Yngvi said, "When will you be able to start converting my iron to steel?"

"Right now. You hammered out the metal for Sander. You have to do the same thing for yourself."

"I have done that already."

"Have you made the clay jars with good fitting tops?"

"I have a dozen of them ready for you."

"That's very good. I like to see a man eager to learn and not put up any obstructions. You will need fuel but you are lucky because you can get by with wood. It takes a bit longer because it is not as hot. The result though is the same."

"I have a great deal of wood on hand along with many bags of charcoal. I even have made the crushed variety you need for the jars."

"Then the final requirement is the men that have to tend the forge for two to three days depending on the heat you generate."

"They are available but I wanted you to stay with them."

"I will stay as long as I am needed but I will not tend the fire nor sleep here just to keep your people company. Once the fire is made and it settles down they will just have to keep it that way for a few days."

"I suppose that may be alright but you said you will help."

"I will not tend your children nor will I tend your fire. Reasonably intelligent men can make my metal without problems."

All of us entered the forge and Jón directed the smith into how to fill the jars. Yngvi didn't take the casual approach and I figured that he was still thinking it was magic and had to have everything perfect.

Jón said, "You could just as easily made an kiln and put the jars into it. With many jars all lined up you can make a great deal of steel. This can be done later though after you understand the process better."

It occurred to me that the stone cutter could make the blister steel too and not have to use any extra fuel. It would only slow down production of the ashes because the men would have to extract the jars from the oven.

It was easier to get this fire going because the smith and his apprentices were both strong and eager to help. Large stones were used to contain the heat and most of the wood had to be cut smaller to fit the volume. The jars were put in place and Jón had to keep telling Yngvi that the placement was simply good enough.

The fire started slowly and Jón mentioned that this was good to keep the thermal shock as low as possible.

When the fire was going and nothing needed but some occasional air from the bellows Yngvi said, "Are you satisfied with the iron I sent you?"

"I trust you to have given me a good product though I have been too busy to check it. Sander had been using the same process as you are doing now to turn it into steel."

"He was not hesitant to show me everything I asked about though he didn't know all the reasons for doing something."

"Sander is a potter and knows his craft but I am educating him as I am you. It takes time to absorb knowledge and some of ideas are just too complicated to bother telling him."

"What do you mean?"

"You do not leave a sharp knife around and tell an infant that it is sharp and should not be touched. He is simply too uneducated to understand. What you do here could not be taught to an infant either. The best that can be done is to allow them to watch and in time they will remember what you have done."

"That is true. I have had some very difficult apprentices."

"One day all this will be different. Your shop will be many times larger. There will be lamps both above your head and on the walls to supply a lot of light. Our steel will be formed into beams with steel wheels on it. Chain will descend from a device something like the block and tackle I made. You will pick up a crucible twenty times the weight of your anvil. You could melt the iron or steel and pour it into forms like you did for my bronze bushings. You could pour swords better than the one you have purchased from me."

Yngvi let some anger show on his face and Jón casually added, "You have the very first sword I made. It is steel and if it is protected then people will marvel at what you own for thousands of years."

"Thousands? Why would they do that?"

"Bronze is very good. Iron is more plentiful but weak. Steel will be plentiful and strong. We are entering a new age and you are part of it. Your sword is the first of its kind."

The smith said nothing but stared at the fire and did some thinking. Eventually he asked, "Will my job be turned into a man simply melting metal?"

"Not really. Many more people will be doing your job or just part of it. A man is still needed to make horse shoes and to fit them. Another man works at a hammer that weights more than you would believe. Steam is used to make it go up and down. If you place hot steel in a mould made of hard steel and hammer the top of the mould then out will come a very good part that is almost already complete. In fact hammering steel in some cases makes it stronger like wars make our people stronger."

"I think of my iron that way. I knock out the dross and I have a good weapon then."

"Yes, I can see that. It is like the way I give education to the people the same way you give the atoms from the charcoal to the iron. Both get strong."

Fires have always been hypnotic and we stood quietly watching the flames. The smith was probably always busy and would be laying out his daily work while the fire grew hotter. Now he was just thinking.

It was one of his apprentices that broke the spell and the smith looked to be angry but didn't let too much of it reach his voice.

It didn't take long to get the fire burning as we wanted. The smith didn't even mind us leaving because he had no reason to detain us.

The children were quiet as we left the warmth of the forge and after Jón and I talked, he said, "Let's go home. We have to get cleaned up and then go for a meal. We have some more needles to make. You all have to do a bit of mending." Jón didn't even get any complaints.

Geiri was pumping the bellows slowly and smiled when we approached. Her husband Sander was turning his potting wheel and making articles to sell.

Sander said, "Did you get what you were after?"

Jón replied, "Some of the things. There are always important matters to take care of." Sander made his thoughts known and Jón said, "The children are very important to me, Sander. They are always important. They are not like seeds that grow alone on the ground but they need nourishment and guidance along with a lot of love and understanding. They will then grow strong and tall with the right attitude to go out and do what is right."

Sander said, "I said nothing."

"Your look was enough." Jón turned to Aagt and Edana one of the new girls. "Will you two get a bucket of water? We need to clean our faces and hands then go find something to eat."

Edana was not sure about leaving her band but Aagt was the lest frightening of the group she was now in. She was surprised when Aagt held her hand and coaxed her to the bucket.

Jón said to me mentally, "I can't wait to have your hot water in an endless supply."

"I would love that too but it means a lot of work. First there is steel for a tank then more for the pumps. This can be driven by the wind, a river or a cage with either an animal or a person in it. I suppose a hand pump would do just as well. We would then have to make a sewer and a leaching pit because there would be a lot more dirty water produced. We can't have that get back into the wells."

"Why?"

"You don't have those memories?"

"I guess not."

"In my time people have died when bacteria from cattle shit got back into a well people used for drinking water. If you went over the death records you would find that this had happened the same way for hundreds of years. I remember a place called Walkerton that this happened to them for hundreds of years. They didn't see the link between the rain washing the shit into the wells."

"That could happen here."

"Yes it can. The land is flat and water will not normally flow anywhere. You need to dig a deep pit and line it with rock and concrete. Pipes from all over town have to lead to this tank. When the tank is filled, then pumps are needed to push the water out onto the fields. It is a good fertiliser and keeps the plants watered."

"We would need a very large tank and a great deal of pipe."

"Very true. You will need a lot of people to work too. Horses can help but it will still be labour intensive."

"We can build our steam engine?"

"It takes time."

The water had come in and was put in an iron pot but it was not very large. Jón and I thought of a way with the right anvil that we could make a much larger pot of steel that would weigh far less than iron. This meant that we needed to make the anvil too.

More water was brought and the children were shown how to clean their hands and face. Jón had to use a rag to take care of some spots they had missed on their faces. The new people especially didn't seem to understand this.

Since the current batch of steel had come to an end, the adults would come to the meal along with the two other infants. Tonight everybody would get a chance to sleep.

We made it slightly early to the dining room and Jón got his people seated. Usually a seat was thought to be reserved but Clovis had people move if only for the sake that they not be complacent. When Helga saw us she started serving right away and the new children got even larger portions for their size.

Helga for all her bluster was a motherly type and watched over these children even more than the others that came here to eat. Jón sat with them but knew he had to eat at the head table. He did act as a good host as he talked to the people at the table and tried to encourage the newcomers to participate. I could feel his happiness for all of them had given some indication of adjusting.

When the head table started to fill, Jón said, "I have to go with my other family now. They like me to eat with them. My father makes sure of it. He likes to have ceremonies."

When he stood to leave he rubbed Hafgan's hair and said, "I am going to have to talk about what we did and you may want to leave." He looked at Sander and said, "If the children look uncomfortable I want you to take them home. I will tell you after what you have missed. This is important. I don't want you thinking that you can just stay here and ignore them."

"I will do what I must. You treat them as if they are going to break. How are they going to get strong?"

"We will talk later about this," he said with a voice similar to what his father used.

The priests came again to make sure they were seen and performed a ceremony that had to be cut short again by Jón. It was easy to see that the priests were not happy with this. I was sure they would not have stood for this treatment except for the fact that Clovis would come back and set things straight.

Fálki was now here and came in late but there was no sitting room. Usually he and his men were given seats but many didn't want to move now. He had to eat standing up or at the end of a table.

Soon enough the tables had to be moved and then taken completely out of the room. People came in and many more were in the halls. Jón had signalled Sander and got the children all put behind him. It was not for protection but to monitor them. Forni and Aagt were ordered through the back rooms to get the two camo suits and wear them back.

Jón thanked everybody for coming then began. "Talking is a way of exchanging ideas. Teaching is a way of exchanging ideas too. One of the things I want to talk about is the new saddle. Fálki, will you and Albrecht come up here and talk about how the saddle and the lance worked and then how it would have if you had tried the lance on the old saddle or even bareback."

The two men came up. Fálki pushed out his chest and said, "The saddle was a good idea. You can climb onto the horse easier. The lances were long and most of them were made for practice so they didn't do as much killing as they could. I thrust into the shoulder of an enemy and knocked him off his horse. I was pushed back hard but the back of the saddle kept me in place. The horse was pushed back too and the strap across his chest kept the saddle from sliding back."

Albrecht pushed himself forward and said, "I got six in a row. I took out one in the head then lowered the lance and took out the next by swinging the lance behind his shield. He fell off and I got my horse to walk on him. The third was big and the lance slid across his shield but the end of the lance went down. I got him in the guts and pushed him off his mount. The forth was a little guy and he slashed at the lance and the bastard cut off the end. The end was now pointed and I managed to run the lance through him. The bastard stuck to my lance and I had to get my horse to back up so I could get rid of the filth.

"The next tried chopping my lance but since it was shorter it was easy to move and he didn't shorten it more. I ran him through too and again I had to back up. The last was another big man but I got him through the neck. By then I was through the bastards and had to turn around and take them. They didn't seem to understand what was happening but they were learning fast. I must have got nearly twenty of them and it was easy.

"It was the ones that were afoot that made me finally drop the lance. It was good for them too but it became difficult to move in all the bodies. I had to drop the lance when they ringed me and I had to take to my sword. One bastard stabbed my horse and he reared up. I didn't fall off but when the horse came down I had to jump for it. I got the bastard that killed the horse but there were just too many of them. One of them hit me on the head and that was the last I knew until I woke up laying across the back of a horse."

Jón asked him, "How would you rate the saddle and lance against the Gauls? Were you able to kill more than you would normally?"

"Yes, I got four or five times as much. I heard from some of my men that were not so good with the sword that they unhorsed almost a dozen men. The saddle is a good idea but an arrow will still strike and so will a spear."

"Thank you Albrecht, now what do you think Fálki?"

"We didn't practice much with the lance but if we did we would have got a lot more. The tip needs to be like your sword and made of steel. It goes through the armour easy. I had trouble getting the bodies off until I learned to just take off an arm or a head."

Jón looked at the children and saw that they were not really bothered by the descriptions of mayhem and death.

Fálki went through his kills and gave the technical data that the men in the room needed to feel the excitement as if they were there. When he wound down he talked about how he used his sword to kill his enemies and save his friends in passing.

Forni and Aagt had been back and listened to the monologue and it was good that Aagt was the one in black. The new children shied from her but she was already a short thin child and less threatening accept for her costume.

Jón said, "Thank you Fálki and Albrecht. We have all benefited from your knowledge and fighting abilities. I am sure if there were more of you then we would have taken all the Picts with little problem.

Jón turned to the audience and said, "I want to show the two costumes." He helped Aagt to stand on the wooden chair and Forni into another.

Starting with Forni he said, "In the forest this costume blends in. With some branches and leaves, it is difficult for the eye to pick out the shape of a person. We have used this particular costume to hide from our own men and it worked. Some were even shocked when a small hand sneaked out and grabbed their leg." There was some chuckling about this and most of it was from Fálki.

Jón started his own monologue about the battle by recapping how the children were hidden in the tree and then the wagon hidden before donning the forest suit. Forni was helped down and Jón went through the way he was able to kill but not be noticed. This was done in a dry way so as to not emphasize the glory and gore that the Germans loved.

One of the survivors of the first battle was brought up and he talked of what he had done. When this was finished, including their harrowing return trip Jón said, "We will have to talk tomorrow of the next segment."

Astrid, Dagmar and in fact everybody else wanted to hear more but Jón was playing them like a showman where he left them wanting more. He at least gave the excuses he used last night and mentioned his wound and fatigue.

When the others left the hall, Astrid and Dagmar got close and Astrid said, "You may need a bath for your health."

"I may at that but I promised Forni something." Forni smiled and got close. Now the women seemed put out but they had been informed of this yesterday.

Jón took his group back to the forge and got them settled in for the night. The straw that they slept on was crushed and he said, "I want you to go to the stables and bring more straw for bedding. Sweep up what we have and take it to the stables for the animals."

The children questioned this with their faces but said nothing. Apparently the straw they had was comfortable enough.

Jón just tugged Forni's hand and the two left the large room. Forni stopped them and said in a whisper, "Hafgan would like to come too."

I did some quick explaining to Jón and he said to Forni, "Hafgan has his testicles cut off. He is young and has never had the urges we have. He looks like a girl and must have been fucked since he was very young and by men and not boys his age. With no testicles, he cannot feel the joy we have. The only reason he wants to come is to fit in. He is worried he will be cast out. It is his way of getting me to keep him."

"We can still fuck him."

"Forni, he would be doing it only to buy his position. I will not have you or any of the boys fuck him. He needs hugs and to know that he is loved but not for sex."

"But he wants to suck me."

"Forni, he knows that you are my friend. He wants to buy your love. If you have sex with him I will have less love for you."

"I won't touch him then."

"I want you to touch him but not for sex. Think of him as a younger brother."

"I'll try. Now let's go."

They hurried to Jón's room and both boys removed their clothes quickly. They sucked each other with Jón trying to hold off longer but Forni enjoying many dry orgasms.

I was not adverse to this at all but it was distracting. Watching a porno movie was good but this one ran a long time.

Forni was cuddled in Jón's arms and he said, "I told you about how the men took me."

"Yes you did."

"Well the man used grease on his finger to all of us."

"Yes, you told me that."

"Well after a while it didn't hurt very much." Jón was quiet and then Forni said, "It hurt at first when he fucked me but he went slow. After a while it didn't hurt so much." Jón was again noncommital and Forni finally said, "After a while it felt kinda good. The next guy was smaller and didn't hurt at all. I liked it then."

After a long silence Jón said, "That's natural. You have a gland in your butt that likes to get pushed around."

Again there was a long silence and Forni asked, "Am I going to be like the prince?"

"I don't know. From what I hear, he likes his butt fucked and likes to do that to others. He is happy to fuck or have someone move his gland around. It doesn't matter who it is as long as he has that good feeling. He may not really like men to do that but now that he has felt it he wants to keep it up. Does that answer your question?"

"No. I want to do everything with you. If I could, I would have your baby so you would not have to go with a woman."

Jón squeezed the boy and said, "That is natural too. You may grow out of it completely or just a bit to allow a woman to help you feel good."

"I don't want a woman."

"Not now but it may happen. In fact I hope that you will want women some day. I will have to marry a woman to have a family but we can always be friends. Haven't you looked around? Men still have their boyhood friends and I think some still do things."

"Really?"

"Really."

"My hole is big now. Do you think you can try fucking me?"

"In a month. I want you to heal."

"You are not as big as the men."

The erection that was sticking between Forni legs kept him asking but Jón said, "In four weeks. Not before."

"Can I suck you again?"

"What do you think of the taste?"

"I love it and I want more."

"Then you better turn around. I seem to be ready again."

The next morning came early for the boys but now I had to push. They had a quick breakfast then I had them hurry to begin their duties. A new batch of iron had to be prepared and both Sander and Wiebe were busy at this. The old hands began to fill the clay jars and they told the newcomers what they were doing and why.

Forni and Dina had got dressed thinking the worse when I lead them back to the kitchen for a lunch. "It may not be advisable to set our own hours over those of the bootmaker."

Andsvarr was already up and working on the last saddle of our old contract. It actually looked very good. Jón and I admired the work and the man didn't object when Jón ran his hands over it.

Jón said, "You make a beautiful saddle. Perhaps people from all over the Roman Empire will be asking you to make a saddle for them."

Andsvarr puffed up and said, "I am good at leather work."

"I think the hundred saddles I want will help you grow in fame. Any surviving Roman or Pict will want to know about your saddle. You should think now about making a larger workshop and hiring more people."

"You think they will all come?"

"I do. A person that makes saddles is called a saddler. He can either make the trees himself or buy them. If you buy them then you could make your silver quicker. A hundred saddles is just a start."

"I will think on this."

"Have you thought on the price?"

"Yes I have. My boys are interested in making the saddles and in training the children you claim as your own."

"That's good. You may then be more of a supervisor that has to ensure that everybody is doing as they should. You could still work but if you hire more men then you don't need to work yourself."

"That is true. Anyway I want two full weight denarii for each saddle. The ones the children make will be double that because my sons could spend their time more profitably making their own saddles."