Innkeeping with Murder - Tim Myers [67]
As Yadkin started to pull the steel from the fire, he warned, “You’d better move.”
Alex and Elise took a few steps back as the young blacksmith pulled the glowing rod from the fire. In a practiced motion, he began pounding the steel with a scarred and worn hammer on the broad, flat top of his anvil. The anvil seemed to sing with each strike, and in moments the shaft’s tip was tapered to a point. Yadkin studied it a moment, then plunged the steel back into the fire for another heat.
“That’s fascinating,” Elise said after he was done. “It’s like alchemy.”
“I guess,” Yadkin said with a shrug.
Alex asked, “How did you learn to do that?”
“My dad had his own forge when I was growing up. It was a hobby for him, but it’s the only thing I know how to do.” The young blacksmith was a great deal more eloquent with his hands than with his words.
Alex looked at some of the pieces on the display table in front of the blacksmith’s booth. “That’s an interesting swoop,” he said as he fingered a delicate curlicue on the end of a fireplace shovel.
“It’s my trademark,” Bill said heatedly, “no matter what Jefferson Lee says. I hear he’s been making pieces using it just to spite me!”
“You don’t get along with the other blacksmith?” Alex asked gently.
“He’s not a blacksmith,” Yadkin said with a snort of derision. “He’s a showboat and a bully, but he’s not a blacksmith. Not in my book, anyway.”
Yadkin’s tongs dove back into the fire as he pulled the tapered shaft out again. He laid the metal across a wedge protruding from the top of his anvil, and with a quick strike, he separated the spike from the body of the iron. Another flurry of strikes, and the butt end was bent at a ninety-degree angle. After a rapid dunk in the bucket of water beside his forge, the spike was done. It was beautiful, even with its simple form and function.
“I’ve got to get this to Rachel,” he said, dismissing them in an instant.
As Alex and Elise moved on, she whispered, “He’s an interesting fellow, isn’t he?”
“Rachel seems to think so,” Alex answered. “You know, I never would have put those two together.”
“Love has a mind of its own sometimes,” she said as they approached the next exhibition spot.
Jenny Harris, an attractive blonde in her early thirties, was working at her loom, weaving an intricate pattern of yarns into what looked like a shawl. As she worked, a clamor of bracelets and necklaces tinkled like wind chimes. Jenny obviously made all of her own clothes, using material laced with splashes of colors and designs unique to her work. Alex noticed that
Jenny’s feet worked the pedals of the loom in a constantly shifting yet graceful dance as she shot a threaded block back and forth across the top. She stopped the second she saw them approach.
“Hi Alex, it’s so good to see you again,” Jenny said as she abandoned the loom for a moment and stood.
Alex explained, “Things have been crazy at the inn lately.” Elise coughed gently beside him.
He added, “Jenny, this is Elise Danton. Elise, I’d like you to meet Jenny Harris. She’s an old friend.”
Jenny laughed. “I was a great deal more than that not so long ago.” Jenny gave Elise her brightest smile as she said, “Pleased to meet you.”
Elise said, “I’ve got to admit, I’ve always been fascinated by weaving. Could you give me a quick lesson?”
Jenny said, “Absolutely, I’d be delighted.”
As Jenny sat back down on her portable bench at the loom, she pointed to different parts of the setup as she explained, “This is the reed. These are harnesses and heddles. See the threads of yarn going through?” She held up the wooden spool. “This is called a shuttle. It rides back and forth like so. The foot pedals control the raising and lowering of the warp, that’s these long strands of yarn here, and the shuttle bobbin carries yarn across for the weft.” As she slid the shuttle back and forth in easy, practiced motions, the shafts rose and fell in a graceful dance at the touch of her foot pressure. As Jenny pulled the main frame back to her, she said, “The beater comes back to snug things up, and you’re ready