Chapter 3: Tastes Like Chicken

Two hours later Saul is not smiling any more. "You can't put your hand in to check the temperature!" he shrieks at me.

I have my hand in a pot of boiling water, well almost boiling according to my readings. Saul is trying to pull my hand out of the pot. He looks a little green until I remove my hand and show it to him.

"But it is artificial and I have a temperature calibration built-in." I try to reason with him.

"It is unsanitary," he huffs indignantly.

"Look, this is not working," I wipe my fingers off on the apron and take it off.

"I guess I'm just not as good a teacher as I thought," he says gloomily at our lack of success

"Love, I am just not the best student," I am willing to shoulder the blame as long as he stops looking at me like that.

"But you understood the herbs and tinctures?" he can't seem to understand what he is doing wrong. I can only guess it is in his nature to figure out how people work, it is what all good teachers do.

So I try to explain to him,"But those are things you teach all the time you know how to teach about medicine."

Saul blinks at my words, he face suddenly lights up. "You just need the right person to teach the right thing. I get it."

"I guess," I shrug my shoulders.

"Come on," he then grabs my hand and drags me out of the cabin. Quickly we head over to the Chow Hall.

"Rule one with Chronos she need observation and instruction," he says echoing Nimrod's words this afternoon.

"And the Chow Hall always needs helpers," he smiles at me, at being so clever.

"I love you, you clever man," I grin at him and kiss him soundly as we get to the door way. "I am good, I will go and ruin someone else dinner."

His laughter follows me into the hall. I pause in the door way of the kitchen and look around, there are a number of people all looking busy, but I am unsure as to who I need to speak to until a someone looks up and smiles at me. She them pokes a the lady next to her.

"Hello, Nosis," says the lady greets me. She is big, at least a big as Gwen but with some extra muscle and fat that comes with age, she has lots of red hair plied high on her head.

"Hello, I am here to help," I return her greeting.

"Help you be wanting," she gives a hardy laugh at my announcement and waves me over. "Well, help ye be doing." With a wink she has me washing vegetables and when I am done she has me chopping them up.

"Ye'er a find handy with a knife." She comments as she walks by to inspect my handy work.

"I have a way with sharp implements," this comment has her laughing again.

"Ye can call me Latches," she mentions after I remember to ask her name when she makes her next pass. Everyone knows mine, and everyone know each other, I think they forget I don't know these things.

"The weaver," I wrinkly my nose as I think of it. "what are you doing here?"

"Being safe, I ain't no good with them contraptions. I didn't learn that till I was already named," she explains to me good naturedly.

"Are you related to Annie?" I ask at the end of the day as everyone starts to put things away and set up for dinner meal.

"Ach, the girl was me daughter," she wipes her eyes as the mist for a second. "But she choose to be a hero, she did die a hero."