Miners and Empire by Alma T. C. Boykin

Author:Alma T. C. Boykin [Boykin, Alma T. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-01T22:00:00+00:00

8

Fire and... Feathers?

The first smelter had indeed gone too well, and had attracted Radmar's notice. At least the problem happened before the chimney rose too high, Aedelbert told himself as he studied the collapsed bit of wall and scattered stones. Two of the stones had cracked, and Caedda picked up some of the fragments. His eyes relaxed, then snapped back into focus. "Problem's not in the stone."

Aedelbert groaned, and the two men inspected the foundation. "Here's the problem," Caedda snapped. "Crumbled out along the trench and dropped the rock into the trench. Schaef dung." He tossed the broken bit as far and hard as he could.

"Keep the other bits. We'll use them to shore up the trench wall, then rebuild the gap." Aedelbert wanted to snarl as well, but there wasn't any point. "Radmar turned the Wheel." Since Caedda had dug that portion of the slag trench, Aedelbert understood his frustration.

They removed the stones from inside the trench and around it, then used the broken ones to shore up the sides of the trench, along with some of the waste rock left from digging the trench. Once the sides of the trench felt and looked stable, the men began re-building the wall. Now they had to fit stones into an existing structure without disturbing the others, and then seal it with clay. At least they had not gotten to that part, Aedelbert allowed. Trying to remove and redo the clay as well as the stones, and get a smooth enough interior finish, that meant far more work than simply filling the hole in the wall. And it had fallen before they had more than five courses above the foundation. If it had waited until they'd finished... The entire chimney would have fallen, probably onto the main smelter, given Radmar's habits.

"Should we have Ehric stand on it to see if it shifts?" Caedda inquired as they covered the interior with clay and smoothed it.

"No." He'd seen that done, but Ehric had gotten a little clumsy as well as taller, and if he fell, he'd likely break a bone.

Once the chimney wall reached eight courses, they assembled two sets of scaffold, one level high. One set went on the south, one on the north. Caedda studied the framework, frowning. "Sir, wasn't there an additional piece here," he touched base of the platform. "I don't see the cross brace."

Aedelbert left his task and checked the frame. "You're right. Should be two cross braces each side." The two sorted through the wood for the next level, in case they'd overlooked some pieces. "I don't see it."

"Hey!" A man bellowed, then hurried over to them. "You get away from our building timbers. Those'r for shelters for us."

Aedelbert straightened up. "No. That wood is over there," he pointed with his chin to the heap beside Turold's shelter. "This is scaffolding material we cut and fitted two eight-days back."

"Bird shit it is! That's for us an' you're stealin', ye damn Scavenger-born."

Caedda swung, catching the man and sending him reeling back, doubled over by the blow to his gut.

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