10 Chapter 10 - Soup For Lunch (1/2)

Joseph woke up, feeling very refreshed the next morning. Stu had bags under his eyes when he served breakfast. Apparently, he hadn't gone to sleep the night before as he was busy working on new recipes. He seemed to be obsessed with seeing what he could smoke in the smoker other than meats.

All of the comments that Joseph had mentioned the day before had his head twirling, and he had been working on new recipes as well. He was so preoccupied with the new ideas, it never occurred to him, to ask where Joseph might have encountered any of the dishes before. He was hoping it didn't occur to him, or that he a.s.sumed it had something to do with his father's traveling habit.

Fortunately, his father could simply order him not to talk about anything concerning him if it became too much of an issue.

In only three days, it would be time to depart again, and Joseph was determined to comprehend the FOOD rune. He spent all his waking time in his father's study, staring hard on the rune and concentrating on nothing else. The trance that had taken hold of him the first time did not return, and he found it incredibly difficult to stay focused. Staring at an object that he knew was not moving, but appeared to be, reminded him very much of the optical illusions from his other lives.

After two hours he simply couldn't handle it. His head was splitting. Maybe there was something he wasn't doing right. He went to talk to Stu. On his way, he checked in the system, and those agonizingly slow two hours still counted towards his goal.

Stella was in the kitchen, stirring soup.

”Is Stu around, Stella?” he asked, sniffing something that looked like a thick stew, in another pot.

She whirled around in surprise, obviously not having heard him enter.

”Oh! I'm so sorry! Master Stu is asleep. He was standing at the table, talking about smoking something, when he just fell over, out. I can try to wake him, if you want?” She glanced over at the cot uncertainly, where Stu's feet were just barely visible.

Joseph smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt, and turned to the table. There was an a.s.sortment of different foods scattered. Some had been smoked, and others were probably ready to be smoked.

”No, that's alright. What are you doing?”

”Well,” she said, still uncertain. ”Since Stu is the one who normally cooks for everyone, but he's out cold, I figured the master would get upset if there wasn't anything to eat for lunch. Except, the only thing I know to make is soup, so I hope that's okay?”

”You made all this by yourself?” He looked around at the numerous pots of varying types of soups, all boiling away and about ready to be eaten.

”Well, there are a lot of people to serve. I also have breads to go with them all. I just hope I didn't forget anything.” She looked around, obviously worried, and Joseph couldn't help but chuckle at her disheveled appearance.

The girl couldn't be much older than himself, and he couldn't imagine preparing all of this.

”Even if father doesn't like it, I think you will be okay. The fact that our bellies will get something in them, will be enough.”

”Well, I tried to make all of them the same, but I ran out of some of the ingredients, so I tried to improvise like Master Stu does sometimes…” she trailed off, looking a little lost.

”He said that you should always add buckwheat flour to the potato soup, but normal flour in the others...” her voice trailed off again as she ran from one pot to the next.

His head was starting to feel much better after witnessing her troubles. Even if she got something wrong, she couldn't possibly have done worse.

”I'll send for some of the slaves to help you serve this up. And if Stu gives you any trouble for it, just remind him that he needs to try smoking cheeses. That should distract him well enough for you.”

She nodded, still with that lost look in her eyes, looking around at the pots.

He left her to the kitchen, ready to try studying again. Maybe he just couldn't handle trying for so long. He would set a time limit of an hour and rest for fifteen minutes before starting back up, until he could talk to Stu about it.

Lunch was fantastic, and he never had to say a word to his father about the incident. His headache was starting to come back around the edges by supper time, which had him a little worried. Fortunately, Stu was up and he could ask him about how long he should study at a time.

His response was very rea.s.suring. What he had been doing, by setting a time limit and allowing his mind to rest, was exactly what he should be doing. Apparently, most children couldn't handle concentrating for long, and headaches were the number one clue that it was time for a break. Though, Stu a.s.sured him that he shouldn't have to worry about it. No one could stand to stare at a piece of paper and think about it for that long. The willpower necessary would just be impractical. The more he practiced, the better his mind should get, and the longer he could handle it.

Joseph remained quiet after this revelation, and allowed Stu to continue.