ANDY SILK in the 12th CENTURY
Written and Illustrated by
Skinnie Stallion and Amber
1. St.Valentine’s early morn
The new log began to steam in the hearth as it drew heat from the old ashes. The wood was still green. Andrew closed the door to the scullery to prevent smoke getting into the hall before the chimney started to draw. He prepared oats and barley in a pot for his Mistress's breakfast mush while waiting for the log to begin to blacken and char. Andrew would have to speak with Edmund. It was unacceptable that the timber merchant was supplying Lady Jane with such unseasoned logs. Worse than words, he'd deny Edmund a kiss. That would teach him.
When the edges of the log started to glow, Andrew packed a second beside it. He opened the back door and shivered in the cold morning air as he went out with a pail to where Ermintrude was tethered. Warm goat milk went well with breakfast mush.
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As the light improved, Will poured fine sand on to his chamois cloth and began to polish Sir Donal's breastplate. It was always best to do the breastplate first, it's what caught the eye. Sir Donal liked to catch the eye. The backplate would follow. No need to burnish the helmet today. Will inspected the greaves and silently cursed. He'd need to go to the tanner later to replace the frayed straps. At least he could get some offcuts for more cloths while he was there. A new leather jerkin would have to wait until his Master settled his bill with the tanner. It was like that with Sir Donal: debts all over town with just promises to pay. To be fair, Sir Donal normally did settle before Lady Day after he'd made one of his trips to the port.
It was going to be a busy day. Sir Donal had a meeting with the village dignitaries later that morning. He'd want to put on a good show especially given the significance of the day: the Feast of St.Valentine. And Will would need to make his visit to the Manor House.
Will heard the cook calling. Sir Donal must be stirring and wanting his first cup of wine. Will went to the kitchen. He liked the heady aroma of cloves and nutmeg that the cook stirred into the wine with heated water and honey. Why couldn't Sir Donal drink small beer like the rest of them? If cook hadn't boiled the water properly, Sir Donal often got the flatus or worse. And it was Will's job to clean him and his clothes if he beshat himself. Shame his knight couldn't do his shitting in the tanner's pit. Will would go to the tanner after presenting his Master's suit at Lady Jane's.
ANDY SILK in the 12th CENTURY
Written and Illustrated by
Skinnie Stallion and Amber
ANDY SILK and the DRAGON TRIBUTE
2. To the Manor House
Will's visit on Valentines Day to Lady Jane had become an annual ritual ever since Sir Roger failed to return from the Crusade. Every Valentine morning, Will went to her manor house where, as Sir Donal's squire, he'd offer Lady Jane a silken square as Sir Donal's favour and token of his love. Every year Lady Jane refused to accept it.
Lady Jane might be ageing but she was still extremely comely. However, it was Lady Jane's income from her flock of sheep that seemed to attract the roguish, impoverished knight more than her looks and sharp wit. Wool, meat and cheese and clever management of her estate had made her the wealthiest person in the county. Will liked his visits to her Fullerton House but was thankful only Father Dominic and Andrew knew about the stirrings in his loins that he felt at the mere thought of her. Andrew just smiled when Will told him about his feelings for Andrew's Mistress though it was more a look of sadness than criticism.
Will envied his young friend working as her scullery boy. He did not know how Andrew coped with working for such a beautiful mistress. Will would have to confess his envy to Fr Dominic since he knew from Sunday School and the sermons that envy was just as much a deadly sin as lust. He wondered whether Fr Dominic would want to whip him again rather than give him Hail Marys to say. Fr Dominic might show outrage at Will's longings but seemed to prefer whipping the young man than getting him to seek redemption through prayer. But why did Fr Dominic have to beat his naked bottom with a cane rather than scourge his back with knotted cords?
Lady Jane and Andrew seemed especially close. They always had done. There was a story in the village that Andrew was Sir Roger's bastard, left behind after a fling with one of his wife's maids before his departure to the Holy Land. Some said there was a resemblance and that keeping Andrew was a reminder of her missing husband. Or that Andy was a foundling. Or that Andrew had been offered by his mother to Lady Jane as a help and comfort after Sir Roger's disappearance. Will preferred to believe the last.
Either way, Lady Jane had treated Andrew kindly and had sent him to the Dame School where he'd learned his letters and his numbers. Perhaps at Lady Jane's insistence Mistress Hood of the Sisters of Pitiless Mercy ( - or the Sisters of Hood as they were referred to by many in the village) had allowed Andrew to study in her classes alongside the poor girls of the parish. The girls were all genteel second or third daughters with no dowry, who were sent to study ahead of going to the nunnery or becoming teachers or governesses. The girls had accepted Andrew as another poor waif and treated him as one of their own.
Will had met Andrew at compulsory Archery practice and a friendship had formed. Andrew didn't mix with the village lads except at Archery Practice. Andrew was slight of frame and appeared delicate alongside the other lads with his flawless complexion devoid of pox marks helped by milking Lady Jane's cows, sheep and goats since an early age. The lads were rougher and mocked Andrew's gentleness and his knowledge, although really they were jealous of him being allowed to mix with girls.
Will liked Andrew. It wasn't just that Andrew was always clean and nicely presented, though he looked far neater and groomed than any scullery boy had a right to be. He even smelled nice. Will guessed that Lady Jane applied one of her pomades to his lustrous hair. Despite all that, it was how Andy spoke and talked. Andy was book learned. He read things. He knew things. He could tell stories. Stories of mystery and wonder. He could draw pictures not only with crayons but with words. Will even liked watching Andy's carmine red lips as he spoke. Andy could make a whole new world open up for Will.
Will's spirits soared when he was with Andy. They'd often go into the forest together after Archery practice. Will didn't even mind when Andy held Will's hand while they walked or as they sat close beside each other on a log while Andy told his stories and stared into his eyes. Will loved Andy's stories of people in shiny clothes who travelled through the air towards the stars. Still, Will pulled his hand away quickly if anyone came upon them unawares. He didn't want to be mocked by other squires or apprentices for holding hands with a scullery boy.
Will made sure that he left the Manor House through the kitchen rather than through the main hall and porch. Lady Jane had rebuffed Sir Donal's favour as usual. Still she looked kindly on Will and suggested that he might like to taste one of her kitchen's sweetmeats as a treat before he left.
Will asked the cook for the taste of a sweetmeat as instructed by Lady Jane. The old cook paused and looked across at Andy who was cleaning a pot. Will followed her gaze and smiled at Andy. The scullery boy was bare legged and wearing a skirt-like apron and had his hair swept up in a little white cap like the cook. Will had never seen Andy at work and was surprised to notice that his friend had large hoops of thin copper wire hanging from his ears. Will was used to seeing peddlers with a little gold sleeper in one ear but had never seen a man wearing two earrings, nor so large and so fine. The cook waited before letting Will pick a tasty morsel from a tray Will didn't notice Andy's wistful gaze follow him as he left, nor the cook look at them both and shake her head in despair.
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