Chapter 4: Cement and Tea
When Alexander arrived at the work site John, the new foreman came to greet him.
"My lord, we have completed the digging closest to the river, the rest of the digging should be complete within the next few days." He says as he bows.
"Excellent, excellent, but I have another job for about ten or so of your men."
"Oh? My lord, what is you need us to do?"
"See all of this lime here, we will be using a special mortar made out of it and the sand"
"I am no mason my lord, but I have never heard of such a mortar. Lime is just used to whitewash and protect buildings isn't it?"
"That is one use, true. But this mortar will be very effective for our needs, it is called cement."
"I think I understand, how is this cement made?"
"Come with me" Alexander said picking up a pail and walking down to the river, he filled the pail with water. And then walked up to where all of the small rocks which made up the lime were. "Dig me a small hole, please"
John immediately got to work digging the hole about a foot square. When John finished Alexander shovelled some of the lime into it, he then dumped the water on the lime and it began to react violently bubbling and foaming as the water boiled.
"Just keep adding lime to this until it forms a thick paste, once you have that add about three times the amount of lime you added of sand. Have someone mix it with a stick. Add water so it is the consistency of mortar. Once you have done all of that start adding it to the bottom of the hole you dug, once it is about five inches thick add a layer of rocks." Alexander explains, "I would also suggest mixing the cement close to wherever it is going to be used and working out roughly how much cement each layer will need and making it in batches that size."
"My lord, I think I understand. This filling will take at least today and tomorrow to complete and will delay the digging of the other section."
"That should be fine John"
Whilst walking back towards the manner house Alexander was thinking of how regrettable it was that the work crew needed to use shovels with heads made of wood. Metal was just too expensive to even be considered to make something so simple as a shovel, and the brittle iron most commonly found everywhere couldn't be used to make shovel heads anyway. Alexander was certain he would change this eventually. The smiths were bound to play an important role in his plans so he decided to pay them a visit, and also to order the final two components of what was being built by the river.
"Ah my lord, it is a surprise to see you. How may we be of assistance?" asked the oldest smith, Gerard, as Alexander walked into the forge.
"I came to order a few things from you, I hope you will be able to make them."
"Oh what kinds of things do you require? Cutlery perhaps my lord?"
"Not quite" Alexander withdrew his drawing from a small satchel bag he had begun wearing to carry them in, "I need you to produce a few grates of this rough size and design, the exterior dimensions are very important. I also need a small chute produced from plate iron."
"Interesting, very interesting, and my lord, what are these being used for?"
"They are being used in the construction project down by the river."
"Even more interesting, we should be able to produce the grating from wire, although it will be costly trying to draw such thin wire out. Would it be acceptable if we used bronze my lord?"
"Bronze should do well, especially if it is faster to work with"
"Fast? My lord"
"Yes, reasonably, I need both of the to be completed within a week and a half"
"Ah, that may be a little costlier, my lord. But in bronze we can make both of these quite easily. Perhaps a silver ring? I will have all of the smiths work on producing the wire over the next few days, eight men in total."
"A silver ring would be acceptable, I will have my clerk deliver payment tomorrow"
Gerard nods slowly a few times.
After his visit to the smiths, Alexander goes to check on the masons and the carpenters.
"Alan, it is great to see you. Please show me how much progress you have made." Alexander calls out greeting the master carpenter who is in charge.
"My lord, yes, of course! We are actually slightly ahead of our current schedule." Alan calls back excitedly.
"Ahead?" Alexander asks as he raises his eyebrows.
"Yes, allow me to show you" being led into the wooden barn the carpenters use to make furniture Alexander was shocked to see a completed cylinder of wood with small wooden blades poking out of its sides.
"This is quite impressive. What of the rest?"
"My lord, if you direct your gaze over you will see the strange pointed wheels you ask us to make as well as the square ended shafts. They have been tested for their fit. Also, we have begun constructing the largest wheel in parts as you suggested."
"Excellent, excellent, but I must ask, what about the 'A-frame', that will be needed at the site in just the next few days."
"Oh, well, we can certainly build it by then. Will it be necessary to send apprentices down to the site with it to assist with the installation, my lord?"
"If the entire frame is taken by cart in one piece it should be fine, otherwise a few apprentices will be very useful. I will make sure to be present on the day"
"That would be of great help, my lord"
"Well Alan, good day to you" Alexander left the carpenters confident the entire project was running well on time and should be completed in time to be useful. However, considering the methods being used by farmers here, it was quite likely that without this project the processing of grain would take throughout the whole winter.
Returning to the manor Alexander found Amis being followed by a very bored and restless Lucio. The young woman appeared to be Lucio's new friend and he always remained two steps behind her following her as she went on about her duties. The whole display had Alexander chuckling.
"Amis, can you prepare some tea for me. I will be in the drawing room." Alexander walked leisurely to the drawing room where he sat in one of the comfortable upholstered chairs.
Lucio, having heard his master's voice was torn and conflicted as to what to do. After much looking back and forth longingly between Amis in the kitchens and Alexander in the drawing room he eventually trotted over to the drawing room, his bear-like paws clicking and clacking on the wooden floor boards until he collapsed onto the floor at Alexander's feet.
Alexander was happy to finally have an opportunity to relax, he hadn't slept properly the past days, working through the night to complete his designs and diagrams. Now he had the opportunity to sit down and finally taste the black tea of this world, he only hoped it was as good as he remembered from earth.
When Amis entered the room, he gulped in nervous anticipation, he poured his own cup, black and without anything to sweeten it. He blew over the top before taking a long sip. With a long sigh Alexander lay back into the soft chair enjoying the smooth taste of the tea, seemingly mixed with a slight smokiness.
A few days after experiencing the exquisite nature of this world's tea Alexander was back at work guiding John. Early in the morning the frame had been delivered by the carpenters, and at the end of the previous day the men had finished filling the long trench with cement only a half foot gap from the top of the trench still left unfilled.
"John, have the men mix a batch of cement large enough to fill the rest of the hole"
"Okay my lord, but how are we going to mount this frame?"
"It is quite simple we are going to bury the bottoms of the legs in the cement, now bring a few men over to wrestle it into place before we put the cement in."
Five men were used to wrestle the large three-legged frame into place on the stone like floor. The frame stood just under a yard tall, the two legs closest to the river forming an 'X' where they met at the top and the third leg sprout from the point the joined across down to the edge of the foundation closest to the river. Once the cement was poured into what remained of the trench, the foundation was completed with the frame embedded into it.
The day the frame was put in place the other hole was already half full, the grey cement mixed with large rocks slowly rising as the men worked. The next day it was filled, the workers now proficient in mixing and distributing cement. Now the foundations where complete Alexander ordered a yard-deep trench to be dug between the two foundations and some of the way towards the very close by river, this trench was only to be filled with one foot thick of stone and cement. The walls of the trench beyond the foundations was also to have stone and cement lining 7 inches thick which had to be slowly built up.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Kharus_Turian
Kharus_Turian I couldn't help myself so here is another chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it. A map of the world is currently in the works and will be included sometime soon.
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