As Bob is walking away I ask, "Do we have time to visit the cooper, Aden?"

"If you are quick, yes." With that we head to the cooper's workshop.

Once we are there, I pull the plan for the washing tub out of the basket. "Good afternoon, Claude. I have need of a special barrel. Would you be able to make it?" Showing him the plan, he gets a thoughtful look on his face, then nods.

"This is very doable, your majesty. These staves are the only things that need to be changed from a normal barrel. The cost will be five coppers. I see by the plan that this basket goes in the barrel, but to what purpose?"

"It's a clothes washing device. The clothes go in the basket which is pushed up and down in the barrel of soapy water. The water flows though the gaps in the basket, washing the clothing. Then the basket full of clothes are rinsed and hung to dry." Thinking back over what I just said I realized something, "Claude, I need two of them, please."

"Very well, your majesty. Is that all I can do for you?"

"What is the largest barrel you can make?"

"Come with me your majesty." He leads us to the rear of his shop, where there is a large barrel sitting. It's taller than I am, about two meters by 120 cm across the middle. "To what propose would you be using such a large barrel, your majesty?"

"I wish to improve the dock. Instead of sinking pilings to the sea floor I was thinking of building a floating dock. To support the dock, barrels would be used, depending on size, eight to twenty four per section, with up to ten sections."

"That would be a lot of barrels, your majesty. Could you use boats instead?"

"Yes, but do we have some one that could build the number of small boats needed, in the time allowed?"

"There are boat builders on the island, the fishermen need new boats every now and again. Would you like to talk to one of them? I could introduce them to you."

"I would but can't today, I have an appointment shortly. Could we do that at a later date?"

"Of course, your majesty."

"Like I was saying, I have an appointment so need to leave. Thank you for your time. Ah, when will the barrels be finished? Emi, the purse, please. And paper, pen and ink."

She hands me the purse, laying the paper, ink stone and pen on a near by table. I count out ten coppers, then write a receipt in my usual style. 'I need to write up a bunch of these, so all I need it to fill in the item and price, then sign it. Or get someone else to do it.'

"The barrels will take about a week, your majesty. And thank you for your patronage."

"Good afternoon, Claude." I hand him the receipt and the coin, then we leave.

On the way back to the palace, I ask Aden if Claude or any of the boatwrights are going to be at the meeting tomorrow. He would have to consult the notification letter.

After we reach the palace, I go to my rooms, change to a pair of trousers and a short tunic. Meeting Kalvin in the garden, I put my boots back on, then we head out. Kalvin leads me around the outer wall again, varying the speed a little today. There are a few men working to clear the area from the base of the hill to the wall. Piles of brush are being loaded into a carts to be hauled away. We run hard until I have a hard time breathing then we slow to a walk, then after I can breath again speed up again. Soon as we are approaching the front of the palace, Kalvin speeds up to a sprint. I start out well but am soon breathing too hard to keep up. "Your are doing better, your majesty."

"Thank you, Kalvin." We are slowly walking to the garden gate. Spying the pile of bricks, I remember I need to make more for the laundry water heater. I see there is the ingredients I need to make more laying near the wall. Once I have removed my boots, I go talk to Tilly. Supper is about 40 minutes off, no time to make bricks tonight. "Would tomorrow be a good time to start building your stove, Tilly?"

"Actually yes it would. I baked bread yesterday, I can use the oven in the guard room to bake some meat pies. How long is it going to take?"

"The actual construction, two to three days. Waiting for it to dry enough to use, most of a week, so ten days, give or take."

"So only three days that I can't work in here, correct?"

"That's right. You can use the oven and the tables just not the hearth. Can you have the hearth empty by breakfast?"

"I can arrange that."

"Would you like a new recipe for a breakfast dish?"

"Oh, yes please. Let me get paper." She searches for a piece of paper and a charcoal stick. "Ready."

"This is an egg dish, you will need a pie crust partially baked so it will not be soggy when finished. You know how to do that? What size is the pie dish you use?" she points to a pie dish, it's pretty large, 25 cm by 8 cm deep. "Okay, eight eggs, enough cream, milk or a mixture of cream and milk to make to fill the dish so there is a finger joint of room. Chopped onions, mushrooms, chopped ham, crumbled bacon, sausage, fresh spinach, cheese can all be used. Any vegetables or meat is cooked before being used, then patted dry. Whip the eggs and milk or cream until well mixed, add seasoning to taste. In the prebaked pie shell, add the cooked meat and vegetables, pour in the egg mixture. Then bake in a moderate oven until the center is firm and the top golden brown. It basically a custard with meat and vegetables added. Like a omelet, you can use whatever meat and or vegetables you want. It can be served hot or cold."

"The amount of milk is vague, why?"

"I'm not sure if the volume of our cups is the same. On Earth, the teacup was 3/4 of a full cup, while the standard drinking cup was two teacups. How would you measure the milk for a custard?"

"Three parts milk for one part egg. Should I just do that instead, if it's basically a custard?"

"I think that would be best. You are a much better cook than I am, so let your experience guide you."

"To prebake a crust, what do I do?"

"I remember you have to put something in it to prevent the crust from bubbling. Beans, clean pebbles, something dry anyway. I better go clean up or there will be protests at the table."

"You have 25 minutes or so. See you then."

As I walk out of the kitchen I meet Emi, who is searching of me. "Do you wish me to help you clean up?"

"Yes, please."

"I have hot water in your room. Did you have a good run?"

"Yes I did, Kalvin says I did better. What have you been doing?"

"Cleaning mostly. Prepared your water. Oh, there is a bucket with some plants in it in my room, do you have any idea what they are?"

"What do they look like?"

"They are about this big," she rings her index finger and thumb," around, jointed in sections about a hand long. Shall I fetch them?"

"Yes, please." As we are on the balcony outside of my room, she walks around to her room. Stepping in the door, she picks up a bucket, carrying it out to me. After placing the bucket down I can see the plants. Ah, they are the sugar canes that I received, luckily Mark placed them in water so they hadn't died. "It's the sugar cane I ordered, Mark said it had arrived, but with everything else going on I forgot about it. Leave them by the door, we can take them down when we go to supper." Picking the bucket back up, she moves it to beside the door.

"How is sugar made from that?"

"When it's mature, sugar canes is three to four measures tall. If it was growing in the atrium, the top would be to the second floor. To make sugar, you cut the canes off near the ground, crush them, catching the juices. Then you filter and boil the juice, soon crystals of sugar form, when the juice is dried out, sugar in left. Sort of like making salt from seawater."

"Wouldn't you need a lot of canes to make much sugar?"

"Yes you would, many many acres of canes. For the first few years we will need to use the canes to make more canes. Hopefully the climate is mild enough that the canes survives the winter year to year. If not, there will never be a sugar industry here."

We have entered my bed chamber, Emi soon has me stripped down, scrubbed and redressed. As she is fastening my blouse, I leaned in and kissed her. She returns the kiss with growing passion. Sighing I break it, "This has got to change, we never get enough time alone. Instead of cleaning armor tonight, let's snuggle."

"I like that idea. I should go set the table now anyway. Will you help?"

"Sure." We snuff the candles and head down stairs, picking up the sugar cane on the way. When Emi goes to the kitchen I go down the hall toward the garden carrying the bucket. I place it by the door out of the way. Returning to the kitchen I am handed a tray of dishes which I take to the table. After laying the tray on the table I start setting the plates around the table. On the next trip around I lay out the cups and their saucers. Emi comes out and lays the utensils out, we are using the wooden set I had made, as everyone likes the forks.

People start arriving, sitting themselves at their places. I sit myself, greeting them. Emi returns to the kitchen. Soon everyone but Emi and Tilly are at the table waiting, chatting. Emi comes around the corner carrying a tray, followed by Tilly. Emi unloads her tray, handing the bowls and plates out so they can be passed down the table. Tilly places the platter she is carrying in front of me, then goes to help Emi. Soon they are sitting.

"Good evening everyone. I hope you all had a productive day. We met with Bob this afternoon, some good news and some bad news. The basement floor is going to have to be stone, brick or tile, the ground water lever is too high for a wooden floor. The basement windows are possible. And the rest of the modification to the house are a go."

The food is being passed around as I am talking so we start eating. Once we are close to finishing I tell them of Molly's question and the answer. "So, B.o.B.s are going to be required of everyone on the island. Also there will be designated places to goto in case of emergences. We will have to sit down a discuss where these places will be."

"Tobias, near the garden door is a bucket of plants, would you find someplace to plant them, they need fertile, moist soil in full sun, some where that is frost free. I have a page of planting instructions for them."

"Very well, your majesty. They could be planted along the south wall of the garden."

"Thank you, Tobias. There has been no word on the raiders. The guard are still on alert. Kalvin, Tilly how would I get the stink out of my gambeson, it's very ripe?"

"You could boil it." suggest Tilly.

"It being an enchanted item, I'm not sure, but boiling could work." replies Kalvin.

"Change it to an all metal item then scrub it well with hot water and a strong soap." says Sophia. That one may be the best.

"Thank you for the suggestions. I'll try them."

"Are we going to go to dream space and practice hair cutting?" asks Helen.

Damn, I forgot about that. Glancing at Emi I see a pout for a second. Sorry Emi.

"We can do that after Emi and I try cleaning my armor. Would that work for everyone?" They all are nodding.

"Your majesty. I have a few designs for the pages of the new book ready, could you look at them?" ask Eliza.

"Sure, go get them." I don't remember telling her what kind of book was next. She returns, laying several page in front of me. She has done a mockup of the first two pages, There are two rectangles, with a large A and an a drawn in one corner with an apple below them and the word Apple under that. The other page has a B and b, with a boat. "These are very good, Eliza."

"I ask Sophia what an alphabet book was last night after we returned from the house. She told me what it looked like. Are an apple and a boat the proper thing to go with the A and B?"

"Yes they are, prefect actually. What do you intend for C, D and E?"

"C a chicken, D a duck and E an egg. As most people live on farms I was thinking of using farm things. F is going to be a fence, G a goat, H a horse, I an inn. After that I am stuck, I don't know enough words."

Knot, knight, knit, humm, every word I think of at starts with K the K is silent.

"Key." says Emi.

"Jump." says Helen.

"Lamb." says Aden.

"Maid." says Tilly.

I look the pages over, finding one that is blank on the back I start writing a list of letters. Beside each one I write a word for it, if I can think of one or using one the others have said. I hand the list to Eliza. There are four letters unfilled U,V,X and Y.

"Continue thinking about it people, there are four letters left. Tell Eliza your suggestions."

"Aden, did I ever ask you to get some replacement tarps for the ones we used to make the cabana? If not I need a couple to replace them as I'll be starting on Tilly's cook stove in the morning."

"I'll get some after breakfast then."

"Thank you."

I stand, taking my dishes I put them on the tray, then gather a few of the empty bowls. Emi does the same, soon we have a tray full which we take to the kitchen and start washing. Tilly soon brings us another tray full then returns to the table with a empty tray. When she comes back again I ask her if there is any soap stronger than what we all ready use available? She goes to the shelf and takes down a brown chunk of something.

"This is strong soap, I didn't get the mix correct when I made it so it has a lot of lye in it. Use it with care." She lays it on the table then takes the tray for another trip to the table.

"Emi, I'll finish here, you go get the pitchers. We will need some hot water. On the way, get a chemise to wear to bed." I lean over, my hands still in the dish water and kiss her cheek. She turns her head a bit and gives me a real kiss. Putting down the towel she had been using she left, turn right outside the door. Tilly returns with the tray, laying it down she starts placing the dishes in the tub. She picks up the towel Emi had been using and started drying. Soon Emi returns with the pitchers. I scrub the last of the dishes, placing it in the rinse water. "Good night, Tilly. See you in the morning." Emi has one of the pitchers filled and second near full so I pick the full one up. When her pitcher was full she heads to the stairs with me right behind.

When we are in my rooms, I placed my pitcher on the floor while Emi fills a basin from hers. I start taking armor off the rack, laying it on the floor. Once I have the gambeson off the rack I thought at it, turning it into a smooth sheet of thick plastic which I lay on the floor. Picking up the gauntlets I transformed them into rubber gloves. 'Ah, thought that would work.' After stripping to my panties and bra then putting the gloves on I picked up a soaped cloth and started scrubbing the plastic.

"Emi, once I get about a third of this washed you use another cloth to rinse it off."

She stripped down to panties and bra and joined me on the floor, wiping the sheet free of soap. I use a lot of soap, I want the bacteria dead and their odors gone. "Once this side is done, we'll dry it then do the other side. Then snuggle for a bit." Emi likes that idea, she speeds up. It's dried and turned over shortly after. I think it only takes twenty minutes to do both sides. When it is dry, I picked it up transforming it back into a gambeson again except this time I formed it with a layer of titanium mail as the second layer. So now it's linen, a layer of wool, a layer of Kevlar, the mail, another layer Kevlar, more wool and a finally a double layer of linen. And it doesn't weight much more than it did when it was just cloth. There are still leather straps and metal buckles and it is still green with black and silver trim.

"Emi would you take a smell of this?" She comes up, taking a light sniff, then a deep one.

"It smell much better, there is a little stink, barely discernible. What was that you changed it in to?"

"That was plastic. Have you ever seen dried flax oil? That is a type of plastic. On earth plastic is used for a lot of things, what we would use wood or ceramics for." I was picking up the armor and putting it back on the rack. When it was all put away I changed the gauntlets back, making them out of Kevlar and Titanium disguised as leather and brass. Touching the greaves they get the same treatment, then the vambrace and finally the helmet. The belt the sheath is on got a steel reinforcement, if some one tried cutting it they wouldn't get far.

Once I was finished I turned to Emi, gathering her in my arms I kissed her. By the end of the kiss we were on the bed, naked. Fifty minutes and several orgasms for each of later I heard Sophia say in my head, 'We are coming, you had better get dressed if you are going to. Eliza is coming also.'

I told Emi we are about to have company so unless she didn't mind being naked she should put on her night wear. She hopped off the bed, slipped her clean panties and chemise on then got some out of the wardrobe for me. I was adjusting the chemise when Sophia, Helen and Eliza knock on the door.

They are dressed in their robes, which get removed and folded up and placed on the chest. They are wearing chemise and panties like Emi and I. We all climb on the bed, laying cuddled together, Sophia in the middle, Eliza and I next to her then Helen and Emi behind. Sophia put Emi to sleep first, it takes a minute with the special adjustments then the rest of us join her.

We materialize in the beauty shop. Emi sits Helen in the chair and starts trimming her hair, going slow at first but slowly speeding up. When she finished we all checked Helen's new do. It's a little ratty and lopsided which we tell Emi. With a click of her fingers Sophia returns Helen's hair to what it had been and Emi tries again. After the third time, which turn out well, Emi switches to me. My hair is trimmed back to the pixie cut from last weeks dream space adventures. It only takes two tries to get it right.

Eliza asked what style would fit her. We looked over the pictures on the walls, looked at her face, then tried some different styles on her, finally deciding on shoulder length cut for her which removed about half the length of her hair. Emi practices on her three times before she felt satisfied with the outcome.

Sophia declined a hair cut or styling saying that her hair didn't grow unless she wanted it to and she liked it the way it was.

"When you leave dream space instead of waking up you will go into normal sleep tonight." she walks up to Helen, kissing her on cheek as Helen fades away. Next is Emi. Then Eliza. When it's my turn she kisses me on the mouth. "Good night, Rosa." I fade out.