A Curse Dark As Gold by Bunce & Bunce Elizabeth C

Author:Bunce & Bunce, Elizabeth C. [Bunce, Elizabeth C.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2010-05-19T04:00:00+00:00

The ice gave up its grip on Shearing within a day or two, thawing the village into mud and debris. There was not much damage, overall—a few fallen limbs, some loose shingles. Only Stirwaters had received a mortal blow. After the initial cleanup, Harte took advantage of the break in his duties to head home for a spell, and Randall delayed his return to Harrowgate, as though I had gone fragile with the injury to my mill.

“For heaven’s sake, I shan’t go mad if I sit idle for one minute,” I exclaimed in exasperation once, as Randall expressed concern over my well-being yet again. “Besides, it’s not as if there isn’t work still to be done—cloth doesn’t finish and catalogue itself, you know.”

Rosie had been to the joiner’s; she knew the cost of the new wheel and shaft, and I had told her to order them, but she dragged her feet. Oh, she had excuses: The joiner had to order the right-sized bolts; the log for the shaft was too green. I took her at her word, until she descended on me one chill morning and beckoned me into the office.

Rosie spread an armload of papers across the desk: schematic drawings of Stirwaters and its workings, sketched-out maps of our land and the river, pages and pages of calculations. I thought they must be Father’s; the hand was his, and we were forever finding scraps and scribbles he had left behind.

“Where did you find these?” I asked, sliding one long drawing from beneath its fellows. It depicted a new millwheel—a much larger one—driving the Stirwaters power train.

“I didn’t find them,” Rosie said. “I’ve been working on them for days. Well, with Harte’s help. He’s not much with pen and ink, but he’s something of a genius when it comes to machines.”

“You! But what is it all?”

“Look—” she indicated the schematic before me. “These are plans for the new millwheel. I think we could increase the horsepower half again if we went with this design. It will take some tinkering, since it reverses the direction of flow—”

Oh, it was a grand idea, and she had such hopes for it! She talked on for a few more minutes, pointing out the elements she’d put so much time and care into—how Rosellen Miller would put her mark on Stirwaters for still and all. Her eyes were bright, her face flushed.

“If we just replace the old wheel, how much will that cost?”

“About fifty pounds.”

I cringed, though we should manage to save back nearly that much from our dealings with Captain Worthy. “And this larger one? And everything to fit it into place?”

“Perhaps three times that.”

“You know we don’t have that kind of money!” I hadn’t meant to burst out like that.

Rosie sat stiffly in her chair. “I thought maybe Randall might advance us some funding.”

“You can’t be serious! How can you suggest such a thing, after what we’ve gone through to get out of debt to him!”

“Yes, well—things are different now, aren’t they?” She was glaring at me, her jaw thrust out stubbornly.

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