After Rufina and Aden depart, Sophia and Helen start unloading the panniers, first removing the purchases they had made. Beside the linen that Rufina had paid for, Sophia had purchased two measures of silk. These are placed out of the way on the chest at the foot of the bed. As Helen removes each piece of clothing Sophia places it in the wardrobe. There are a couple of gowns, two pair of trousers, three blouses, two skirts and a long tunic. Plus assorted under garments; drawers, chemise and stockings, these go into the drawers of the wardrobe.

She is nearly finished unpacking the panniers when Helen finally notices the state of the clothes she is removing, "When were these clothes washed last?"

"They have never been washed, as I have been aboard ship since shortly after I arrived on planet, and there is no extra water for laundry aboard ship."

"Oh dear, this will never do. Which outfit do you wish to wear to supper tonight?" Sophia takes one of the skirts and a blouse back out of the wardrobe laying them on the bed.

Picking up the skirt and blouse from where Sophia has lain them Helen takes them down to the kitchen. "Tilly is there any way that these clothes can be laundered and be returned in time for supper?"

"I really don't know, you'll need to ask Emi or one of the other maids."

Helen finds one of the maids before she finds Emi, who is still talking with Mark outside. "Molly, our guest has been aboard ship for eleven days and has not had access to fresh water to launder her clothes. Is it possible to have these clothes laundered and returned before supper?"

"We can ask but if that's the case all of her clothes will need laundering."

'Oh dear, she's right.' thinks Helen. "Will you fetch one of the other maids, it will take two to carry the panniers. When you find her, come to the rooms over the domain office, please." She then goes to the study to speak with Rufina.

"Rufina, we have a small problem, Sophia's clothes have not been laundered since she arrived on planet. I intend to have them all sent to be washed but she will need something to wear in the mean time. Do you have a extra robe that would fit Sophia?"

"My robe should fit, though it will be a little short on Sophia, but as it almost drags the floor on me, that shouldn't be a problem." As Helen turns to leave Rufina adds, "Sophia would probably appreciate a bath, also."

Running up to Rufina's rooms, Helen fetches the robe, then returns to Sophia's rooms. Once there she instructs the maids to reload the panniers with the contents of the wardrobe, except for the gowns which are still clean. Taking Sophia by the hand she leads her to the bedchamber where she tells her to strip and wear the robe. As the clothes came off Helen gathers them up to be placed into the panniers. Helen places the skirt and blouse that Sophia wishes to wear for supper on top of one of the panniers. "Take the panniers to the laundresses. This skirt and blouse are to be done first and returned by supper if possible. Now hurry along, and thank you." As Molly and Christina leave with the pannier, she and Sophia moved the other one out to the balcony.

Returning to the kitchen, Helen fetches a pitcher of hot water and a chunk of soap. On the way back to Sophia's rooms she stops at her own, collecting a wash cloth and a towel. When she returns to Sophia she mixes hot and cool water to the correct temperature. As she soaps up the cloth she tells Sophia to stand in the middle of the room and drop the robe. She then proceeded to scrub her from head to toe, hair included. She has to change water a couple of times as it turns gray quickly. When she is done Sophia was pink from the scrubbing or so Helen thinks, in actuality Sophia is aroused by Helen's administrations. Sophia put the robe back on, as Helen cleans up the basin, pitcher, soap and cloth.

"Helen, what am I supposed to wear to dinner?"

Looking at Sophia, Helen thinks, 'Her hips look about my size, we can try anyway.' Taking Sophia by the hand, "Come along." , leading her to her room. Once there she get out a pair of drawers, a chemise, a skirt and a blouse. As she hands her each piece Sophia puts them on. Everything fits, though the chemise and blouse are tight as Sophia has a larger bust.

Once more taking Sophia by the hand, Helen leads her to Rufina's sitting room. There she has Sophia remove the skirt again, so she can be measured. As Helen ties knots in twine Sophia gets a look on her face before telling Helen to stop. Sophia closed her eyes, holds her hands in a cup in front of her then with a look of concentration speaks a word. There is a flash of light from her hands. With a sigh she handed Helen a object. Helen examines it, it's a roll of bright yellow cloth with black lines and numbers on it. "Sophia, what is this?"

"It's a measuring tape. Rosa has been wanting something similar to it since she arrived, so show it to her and she will explain how to use it. While you are doing that I intend to take a nap," saying that she stumbles into Rufina's bed chamber, collapsing on the bed and is asleep within seconds. Helen arranges her in a more comfortable position then leaves, closing the door behind herself.

Going down to the study, she shows the tape measure to Rufina who grabs it, "Where did you get this?"

"Sophia made it appear. She said that you had been wanting something similar since you arrived here."

Rufina turns to face her room and Sophia, "Thank you, Sophia."

"So, how do you use it."

Unrolling the tape, Rufina places the end on Helen's wrist then encircles it, over lapping the tape, "You either encircle something like this, recording the number that is even with the end or," she places the end on Helen's shoulder at her neck and extends it down her arm to her wrist, "measure from one point to another like this. See, your arm is 49 cm long from your neck to wrist. You have your measuring twine on you?" Taking the twine she measures Helen's hips with the twine, tying a knot, then does it again with the tape. Laying the twine on the desk, then placing the end of the tape at the end of the twine she measures the knots. "What was the number I said when I measured your hips?" when she answered, Rufina pointed to the tape at the knot, the number are the same. Rufina did the same with her waist and breast, all were the same.

"Now imagine you were measuring many people, what would be easier to explain to someone, their waist is 84 cm or this string? Instead of a pile of strings you have a page of numbers. If two people have tapes they can make the same size things. I could send you a message saying I want a piece of cloth 25 cm long by 5 cm width, you could cut it and send it to me, and it would be exact size I need. Or I can order a pair of trousers with a 76 cm waist, 84 cm hips and an inseam of 76 cm, you could make them and send them to me and they would fit."

"Now I have to figure out how to copy this to a piece of metal, so that we can make copies for other people to use." Rolling the tape back up she hands it to Helen, "Take care of this, please. Have you started to make Sophia's clothes?"

"I was measuring her when she made this appear. Then she told me to talk to you to find out how to use it because she was going to take a nap. She collapsed on your bed and was asleep instantly."

"If she is that tired you could measure her in her sleep, she wouldn't wake up if you are careful. You want me to help?"

"Yes, please."

They go back up to Rufina's room where they measure Sophia as she lay sleeping. Rufina has brought a piece of paper, writing the different sizes down with the location. She has Helen measure parts of Sophia that she had never measured before. Around her neck and from her collar bone to her jaw. How long her arms are from the arm pit to the wrist and elbow, and how big around at the wrist, forearm and upper arm. The diameter of her head just above her ears. The distance of her legs from the crotch to the floor,the ankle, to the knee, the diameters around her ankle,calf and thigh. The length and width of her feet, to Helen's surprise, the right is slightly larger than the left. The length, width and diameter of her hands, the length of each finger and thumb, again the right is larger than the left. The length of her torso from collar bone to crotch.

"Why take so many measurements? I only need a few of them to make her under garments and swimsuit."

"Like I said, she could want a hat, a pair of gloves or a pair of trousers, if you have the measurements you could make them without her having to come be measured, saving you both time."

"Sophia showed me the what her swimsuit should look like yesterday. But how long should I make her shorts? "

"Depending on style, ending anywhere from here to here," Rufina's hand goes from just below her crotch to just above her knees. "I think Sophia's should be end about mid thigh and be fairly loose except at the waist. Oh, we forgot a measurement." She goes in and measures Sophia from the collarbone to the underside of her breast.

"Do you need anymore help? I need to get back to sketching." Helen shakes her head, " No, alright, see you at dinner then." Rufina gives me a kiss on the cheek and a hug before leaving.

Going to Sophia's rooms I bring back the fabric we purchased. I decide to make high waisted panties and a support bra similar to Tilly's, considering Sophia bust size. After making patterns for the various pieces of clothing, I cut out the waist and breast bands, then some strapping. I sew them together, before working on the balance of the garments.

After Rufina had returned to the study it dawned on her that she hadn't seen Emi return. She went out the front door and looked around. No Emi visible. She went to the kitchen, "Tilly, have you seen Emi lately?"

"No, sorry."

"Thank you."

Going up the stairs to the guardroom, my first time there. Wandering down the hall to the left as the doors to right were closed and I didn't want to barge in on someone. There are a pair of double doors at the far end about where the wall would be. Opening one, I am now in a largish room with stairs in one corner and two other doors, one each on the east and west walls. Turning to the left again, I open that door, stepping out to the top of the wall. From there I can see down the hill to the town. I don't see anyone on the path to town. Looking around, I spot a guardsmen on the front wall. Walking up to him I ask, "Did you see where Emi went?"

"She accompanied one of the merchants to town, your majesty."

"Thank you."

I return to the study, to continue working on the sketches. The cleaner is complete and I am now working on a spinning wheel. There are those stupid bearings again, I hadn't realized that so many things required bearings, though think about it, if it moved in another part it would need a bearing of some sort.

Emi returns shortly before 1000, with a happy smile on her face. She comes in to the study, flopping in the chair acoss from me, getting a raised eyebrow from me. "You must of had a nice long talk be gone so long. So spill, what did you learn?"

"He unmarried, twenty four years old, has two brothers and three sisters, his parents and grandparents are still alive, he is the second oldest after a sister, they live about a months journey to the east of Calvi. He has been a merchant for twelve years, though a journeyman for only two of those. If he can show a profit on this trip he will be able to setup a shop of his own, your order this morning is a big help toward that goal. He asked me all kinds of questions, about myself, about you, the kingdom, what our main crops were, how you know about the vegetables that you bought as they had only been known for a year or so, just all kinds of things. I told him what I could, I didn't lie but stretched the true quite a ways. Is it alright if I continue to see him?"

"Yes, dear one, you can continue to see him, just exercise caution in answering his question like you have. Don't lie, if you lie to much you can forget which lies you have told, which will cause problems. It would be most helpful if he could open a shop here."

Tilly steps into the study, "Dinner is almost ready, you have about ten more minutes." Leaving she goes to tell Aden in the domain office.

Taking Emi by the hand we go up stairs to tell Helen and to see if Sophia is willing to wake up. She has been asleep for a over an hour, close to two. Helen is more than willing to stop and eat. We all go in to wake Sophia, who doesn't look like she has moved since we measured her. I give her shake, then a harder one, which gets a groan out of her. I lean down murmuring in her ear, "Food, tasty tasty food. If you don't wake up we'll eat it all and you'll have to wait until supper." That does it, her eyes open slowly and with a big yawn, she sits up. "Don't tease like that Rosa." With her up and about, we go to dinner.