Chapter 11
“Gosh you reek,” Rod gagged as Niall entered the lodge. “You smell like a wet dog that just rolled around in a chicken house.”
“Leave him alone,” Dom cried from one of the couches, nose stuck in a book. “Why don’t you take him to the bathhouse? You could go for a wash too.”
“Fine, come on Niall,” Rod said, “at least you had the sense to not put on your new clothes.”
Rod led Niall through town, they headed east going through the square. It was the silent hour between work and evening when people were home unwinding from the day and preparing for the night. They stopped in front of an ornate building. Decorative columns lined the face of the building creating a narrow portico to shield the metal door.
“It’s a copper to get in but I’ll treat you this time,” Rod said as he opened the heavy iron door for Niall.
Through the door, he came into a plain waiting room empty save for two doors against the far wall and a metal box between them.
“Come on, guys are on the left,” Rod said, urging Niall forward. Rod took the lead, dropping two copper coins in the metal box before going through the left door. On the other side of the door was a narrow changing room. A long wooden bench ran through the center of the room and cubbies occupied both side walls. By the door, a tall stack of towels had been set up.
Rod grabbed a towel for himself and Niall followed suit. Then without announcement Rod stripped down to nothing. Niall looked away in awkward silence and shuffled to the other side of the room. To his relief, Rod had wrapped his towel around himself.
“Come on Niall, lose the modesty,” Rod said playfully. Niall didn’t move and Rod rolled his eyes. “I’ll head to the showers then, right through there,” he pointed to an opening at the end of the room. “Wash down then come into the bath.”
When he was gone, Niall finally took all his clothes off and wrapped his towel around his waist. When he walked into the shower room, Rod had already moved on.
The showers were even smaller than the changing room. The rectangular room consisted of two showers each on opposite walls with a drain in the center of the tiled floor. A closed door led to what Niall assumed was the baths. Niall stood in front of one of the showers. The only thing on the wall was a single metal lever. I guess there is no temperature control.
He hesitated then pulled the lever. Instantly a flood of water rained down on him drenching him. He let go of the lever but the water continued to pour for a half minute longer. Through the downpour he scrubbed at his skin getting as much dirt out of as many crevices as he could. The water was cooler than what he was accustomed to, but sheer shock made him ignore cold.
When the water finally stopped, he grabbed his towel from the wall. When he went to open the next door he was surprised to be greeted by a slight resistance. He tugged harder and then a waft of steam streamed into the shower room. Niall shut his eyes.
“Come on Niall,” Rod called.
Niall slowly opened his eyes to see Rod soaking in a shallow pool the size of a small bus. Steam gathered on the surface of the water, clouding its depths.
“Come on, don’t be shy,” Rod called. The bath water distorted everything but Niall could tell that Rod was completely naked.
Niall groaned then thrust his towel to the side earning a whistle from Rod, before plunging into the water.
The bath was warm, just less than the temperature of a hot tub. Niall settled so the water stood at his shoulders but he had to traverse the bath on his knees. He glided to the opposite side of the bath from Rod and they sat staring across from each other.
“This place is amazing,” Niall commented, trying to keep his mind off the fact he was sitting naked in a bath with another person. He tried to kick off his American prudishness. “How does it all work?” He hadn’t confirmed it, but he suspected something in his new world was suppressing modern energy like electricity and oil and even coal to an extent.
“I don’t know the whole of it,” Rod said, “but it’s one of the first buildings Jorge built. It's actually vital to the town's sewer system. All the water that runs through the baths is used to flush the pipes under the town.”
The baths were even more complex than Niall had thought. He had been amazed by the running water let alone its vital role in literally cleaning the community and more ways than one. “Where does all the water come from and how does it get warm?”
“You might have noticed but most of the buildings in town have water tanks built into their roofs that collect rainwater. Romulus watches the furnace that heats the water, but Jorge built this place tight,” Rod taps the bullnose tiles of the bath’s edge.
“Why isn’t there any electricity? You’d think it wouldn’t take the right people long to rebuild cars, engines, factories…” Niall pointed out.
“Niall, this world isn’t perfect but it's better than the old one,” Rod said flatly. “To be honest I don’t know why none of those things work, no one does really, but in my opinion we’re better off not having them. I’ve seen what machines, tanks, and bombs can do to a world and I’ll stick with this any day if all it takes is lighting a candle rather than flicking a switch. Have you ever seen a city burn Niall?” Rod ask shakily
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Niall shook his head.
“The fire has no feelings. No sympathy for the innocent. It doesn’t care if your family lived in a town for a thousand years, it will burn up all your memories as easily as a piece of kindling. We were all such fools, but the sad thing is, we haven’t changed. We just find different ways to hurt each other.” He went quiet letting a sullen silence linger with the steam.
“So what doesn’t work?” Niall asked, trying to shift the topic.
“Electricity like you said,” Rod said. He pulled a hand out of the water and used it to count off. “No oils or gasses good enough for running engines have been found, and for unknown reasons alcohol won’t burn. There’s no coal but we can make charcoal even though its very inefficient. Oh, and no potassium nitrate so no guns or bombs.”
“But people still fight, and there are countries that go to war?”
“Yes but they do it the old fashioned way, bows and arrows, swords, and trebuchets,” Rod answered.
Niall sat quietly pondering the revelations. Finally he said, “what happens when we die?”
Rod sighed, “I haven’t died yet but every once and a while there's an accident and you hear of someone who does. The body decomposes rapidly, even the bones, and a few days later they appear again, just like the first time you appear here. Their memory is a little hazy but they're the same person.”
“So we can’t really die?”
Rod shakes his head, “not that I know, and you won’t age either.” Rod splashed Niall, “now enough of these questions, they depress me. Let's get out of here before I turn into a prune.” The he stood up and gave Niall a full frontal view.
Niall and Rod changed into fresh clothes then headed back to fetch Dom for dinner. Being in new clothes was a million times better than Niall had anticipated. All the harassment from Haruki had been worth it for how comfortable his new clothes felt. He felt like a million bucks walking around town in his new clothes. He wore a thin cotton blue sweater and flexible trousers. The only thing he needed were new shoes.
They were some of the first few patrons at Talia’s and Rod helped Niall set up a tab. He would have to pay it all back on friday when he got paid otherwise he would have to pay off his tab in full before getting anything else and he wouldn’t ever be able to open a new tab.
Feeling good and knowing he’d have a new stack of coins in a few days, Niall splurged three coppers on one of the better bottles of wine on the menu for the table. Niall listened to Dom and Rod argue over the best Italian wine as they waited for the bottle. Dom spewed the superiority of Chianti from their native Tuscany while Rod debated the subtle qualities of wine from the Asti region. Niall just liked good wine.
Talia brought the bottle and uncorked it for them then poured three healthy glasses. The menu had said the bottle was from the Jarden region. Niall asked Dom and Rod where that was and they said it was in the south along the Toren river.
Niall brought the glass up to his nose, taking a good whiff of the drink. It smelled of fig and pepper and the slightest hint of green apples. Niall sipped. The rich fruits gently graced his tongue and left a robust fullness as they went down his tongue. The wine was reminiscent of a heavy Pinot Noir but Niall suspected it was some kind of blend.
“Good stuff,” Dom said, chugging his glass. He poured himself a second glass, nearly emptying the bottle.
They munched on peanuts and sipped their wine as the pub filled. The masons gave up their debate and moved onto small talk. When they polished off the bottle, Dom went to the bar and put in an order of food and drinks for them. From above, Maximillien played a slow minuet.
“Mind if I join you all tonight?” a familiar voice asked. Niall turned and found Charlie, the first person he met from Silvermoss.
“Of course you can Charlie,” Rod said, he pulled out the seat between him and Niall. “Sorry we finished off the first bottle of wine, otherwise we’d offer you a glass.”
“Oh don’t worry about it,” Charlie said, sitting down. She set a glass on the table, “I already bought my own on my way in.”
“Where’s Charlie?” Rod asked, looking around.
“He’s not feeling well, he’s taken the last two days off,” Charlie explained. “Oh poor Niall looks confused. My husband’s name is Charles, but he goes by Charlie also.”
“The two Charlies,” Dom boomed as he set three tankards of light beer on the table. “Talia said she’ll bring the food over soon. How are you doing, my girl?” He asked Charlie as he gave her a half hug before sitting down.
“Busy,” she sighed. “Between work, taking care of Charlie, and getting ready for the Flower Fair I feel like this has been the first time I’ve been able to relax in the last few days. And to make matters worse, Charlie was supposed to be working on a fair stand for me. But you guys don’t want to hear me complain. How have you been adjusting Niall?”
“Quite good, I think,” Niall said, nodding his head.
“Any progress on starting that farm?”
“No, just saving up money for now,” he explained.
Across the table, Rod shook his head. “Niall is temporarily the town’s new carpenter,” he announced dramatically. “He’s about to start repairing the stables.”
“Oh it's about time those were fixed,” Charlie said, “we can never have too many horses for the field.”
“Yes, and I’m sure Niall is looking for some side projects,” Dom said followed by a suspicious cough.
“Oh Niall,” Charlie turned to look at him. “I wouldn’t want to impose, you must be busy.”
“No,” Niall said a little too loudly finally catching on, “not at all, um what do you have in mind?”
Charlie leaned in and lowered her voice. “I don’t have any plans on me at the moment, but it's a secret. Think of a mountain of flowers,” she hissed, waving her hands. “If you really are interested, come by my house tomorrow and I’ll show you the plans. There will be a few silvers in it for you. Charlie said it wouldn’t take a long time to do it just needed getting done.”
“Ok, I’ll come by after work tomorrow,” Niall told her. “Where do you live?”
“We have a townhouse on the north side of town. It's the corner one with the green door. Thanks Niall,” she said sincerely. Niall gave her a small smile in return. He wondered if he checked his book if this conversation would show up on his quest page. This world is so weird, he thought in disbelief.
Their food came, a hearty beef stew with lots of potatoes and carrots as well as a heaping basket of warm biscuits. They ate and drank, and Niall racked up his tab. They played a few friendly card games before calling it a night.