A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

61  The Colour Red - Part 2

The woman at the door was one such person, though it would be hard to tell just from a single glance. She was probably just about as clean as the rest of the villagers – not exceptionally clean, but not dangerously unclean either – and she was pretty enough too, with brown hair and a kind, shapely face, looking to be in her thirties. But something must have happened. Her husband had probably died, Beam guessed, and now she was struggling to support her family alone.

The woman fidgeted anxiously as she opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. "Uhm… I don't have the money to pay you… We were just going to layer up more to get through the winter. I made a few extra blankets at work, so we're fine really… You can skip us," the woman said awkwardly.

Beam sympathised. In her situation, he would feel just as bad, if not worse. In fact, Beam was liable to go through an unimaginable amount of suffering just because he hated asking for help. He was the type that would sooner catch hypothermia than accept charity. But in this current situation, Beam shook his head.

"You don't have to pay me. I'm getting paid by Greeves," he said honestly, figuring there was no harm in it. He was just as honest with the other people, sort of as revenge, so the Elder wouldn't target him exclusively if he decided to retaliate, and would focus on Greeves too. "He got a request from Ferdinand, asking that he make sure everyone in the village had enough firewood and food to get them through winter."

The woman raised her eyebrows and held a hand to her chest as she sighed in relief. "My goodness. That's so, so helpful… But are you really sure it's okay? I've never heard of the Lord's son giving out help before? I thought it was the job of the Elder?"

Beam shrugged. "At the very least, I don't think you have to worry about it," he told her. "Now, what would you like me to do? Do you need firewood, or meat? Or both?"

When it came to firewood, Beam would have to go into the forest and collect it himself, going back and forth until they had enough. It was tiring work, but it was simple, and it wasn't too badly paid either. He was getting five coppers for what turned out to be just a few hours a day of work. And at the rate he was going, he reckoned he'd be finished By the end of next week, so that made it far better than his digging job.

Food was more difficult though. But Greeves seemed to accept that would be the case, for the merchant begrudgingly gave him what he needed to keep them fed when they needed it. So Beam guessed it was apparently still profitable for him to do so.

"Ah… I really don't know," the woman said with a hand to her cheek. "Nila's been helping me you see – so she can likely tell you more than me." She turned back into the house to shout for whoever Nila was. "Nila! Come on, wake up, Nila!"

"I'm already awake! I'm getting dressed!" A reply was shouted a few seconds later.

Beam stood there awkwardly and waited.

"She'll just be a few moments," the woman said, smiling at him. "Would you like to come inside as you "…" Beam stood there wordlessly. He got the feeling that this woman was something of an airhead.

11:19

A girl came stomping to the door a few moments later, with a wild head of uncombed red hair and a wait? It's starting to get cold these days."

"Uhh… I'm pretty sure she said she was getting dressed," Beam reminded her, not that he was intent on going inside anyway.

"Oh, that's right…" The lady said, as though she'd completely forgotten.

"…" Beam stood there wordlessly. He got the feeling that this woman was something of an airhead.

A girl came stomping to the door a few moments later, with a wild head of uncombed red hair and a sharp look in her eyes. She looked Beam up and down. "Who's this?" She asked, more than a little impolitely.

"He's going to be helping us with firewood and food," the woman told her.

The girl wrinkled her nose, as she attempted to brush her hair behind her head, only for it to spring straight back. "He's tryna scam you, mother. The Elder has already refused us aid. There isn't anyone else who'd give us charity. Besides, I told you we'd manage without them, didn't I?"

Beam's eyebrow twitched in irritation. He hated dealing with people already, but noisy girls were even worse. She was somewhat pretty; he supposed. But she was small. At least a head smaller than him. She was probably fourteen or something, Beam guessed. 'What's a kid like that acting so high and mighty for?' He thought to himself, ignoring the fact that he himself was only fifteen.

"No, no, he's working for Greeves," the woman told her with a smile, "he's commissioned by Ferdinand."

"Huh? No way. Judas works for Greeves. There's no way he'd send some kid when Ferdinand asked him to do it," the girl said, her tone suggesting that they were both stupid.

"When was the last time you went outside?" Beam asked, unable to hide his irritation. "You're one of the last people that I have to help. I already helped that old man two doors down from you."

"That's right," the girl's mother said with a nod. "I just thought we had to pay him… but apparently not, since he's already getting paid by Greeves. Isn't that right dear?" She smiled at him again.

"Yeah," Beam agreed, wishing he'd been able to continue dealing with just the woman.

"Hmm… Well, I guess if you aren't asking for money…" The girl said, looking him up and down again. Beam wished she would stop doing that. Was it simply what girls did?

 "Are you going to tell him what he needs to know?" The lady pressed. "I need to get started on my work. There's all that weaving to do that I didn't manage to do yesterday – ahhh, they're going to fire me at this rate, even after letting me work at home like this… Ahhh, I'm in so much trouble," the woman said, seeming to forget that Beam was even there as she went scuttering back inside.