ambush. So I put my hand to my sword. Then I heard a sound from within the bushes. I didn’t wait to see what would come out.”
“And so you ambushed them instead.”
“We were unreasonably lucky. They were stupid, and they were most likely new to this game. They should have run when they saw my sword at the ready.”
“Perhaps they were afraid you’d follow them into the thicket and take them from behind.”
“Then I’d have been the fool. There was no way to know whether I’d run straight into more of them. And that one you kept from my back should have known that a good many travelers carry pistols that can shoot more than once, leaving aside that fancy little German revolver you carry.
“And, Richard?”
“Yes?”
“You won’t stop beside any more such places, will you? Whatever poets may imagine, soldiers really don’t crave such excitement. After three years in the Germanies with hardly a scratch, it would be embarrassing to be killed by a pair of clumsy louts like those.”
“No, Nathan. Learning lessons is what I do.”
“I’m profoundly relieved to hear it. Well, it’s not over five miles from this place to my family’s home. Perhaps you’ll stop with us for some moments before you go on to Cambridge. I think my father would be most interested to hear the things you’ve been telling me, and he could surely find some wine that would be to your liking.”
Nathan led the way around the side of the warehouse to the office door. As he and Richard entered, old Edmund looked up from some papers he was frowning over.
“A good day to you, Edmund!”
Edmund Blake stared over his spectacles. “And you are?” He paused. “Young Nathan! Well, not so young any more! You were clean-shaven when I saw you last. A moment, I’ll call your father.” He stepped through the inner doorway. “Master Brantley! Nathan has come.”
Sounds of heavy things being moved came from within, followed by rapidly approaching footsteps.
“Nathan! It’s good to see you, indeed! And who is this you’ve brought? A companion from the German wars?”
“No, Father. I present Scholar Richard Leamington, of Trinity College. We met on board the boat from Lynn, and traveled together since. Even so, we lately became comrades in arms, after a fashion. Richard, this is my father, Master Mercer Jeremiah Brantley.”
“Welcome, Scholar Leamington. Edmund, I’ll take these two hungry-looking fellows to the kitchen. Dinner is past, but no doubt Cook has some odds and ends that will serve.”
“Why, Father! I’d think on such an occasion you’d bring out some of the best.”
“What? The best we have cost a pretty penny, and it had better fetch a pretty penny, or we won’t be in business for long. Drink it ourselves…”
He seemed to catch sight of the corners of Nathan’s mouth, turned up beneath his mustache, and the crinkles at the corners of his eyes.
“Arrr! You always were one for a straight-faced jest. Well, if you don’t have the soul of a merchant already, you’d best grow one quick. I’ll be relying greatly on you.”
“Yes, Father. Of course.”
With bowls of thick stew set before the young men, Jeremiah poured three glasses. Nathan took his up and tasted, and smiled. Nectar of the gods it most certainly was not, Jeremiah well knew, but it was a respectable wine. Entirely respectable.
“I believe your mother will be home shortly, Nathan. She’s gone to deal with some matter with a greengrocer, which Cook wasn’t able to settle. Daniel is occupied with business in Cambridge. We can expect him this evening. He’s been looking forward to your return as well. Though, it may be it’s as much because he’s eager to enroll for the Michaelmas term as from any brotherly affection-he could hardly be spared from the business without you to take his place.”
“Yes, well, as things have come to pass, it’s for the best, for all of us. With the French so thoroughly undone, the army was happy enough to let a good many of us go. I’ll not miss campaigning in all weathers, either. These new generals believe in giving the enemy no rest, but that gave us little rest either.”
“Speaking of fighting, what was the import of that remark about you and Scholar Leamington here?”
“Oh, that. A pair of robbers set upon us a couple of hours ago. He kept one off my back while I dispatched the other.”
Leamington said, “And then you dispatched him as well.”
“I merely made sure of him. I doubt he’d have lived more than a few heartbeats longer. That is, if he’d still had a heart to beat, which I don’t believe he did after you shot him the second time.”
Jeremiah considered, then turned to their guest. “So, you stood by my son at the moment of need. Shall we count you a friend of the family then, and speak as such?”
“I’d be honored. Just Richard, then.”
“I’m also honored, and grateful as well. Jeremiah.” He reached across the table to shake hands.
“Father, Richard and I had leisure for much conversation on the boat. He told me many things I think you’d find of considerable interest. He’s just come from two years of studying mathematics in Grantville.”
“The notorious town that’s confounded all and sundry? Has it upset the world of scholarship as well?”
“The world of scholarship has hardly begun to feel the upset as yet. You might say it’s been tipped up on edge a little, with the great overturning still to come.”
“I’ve heard somewhat from Mistress Chapman’s report, and through acquaintances in trade. I’d have thought you’d still be there taking stock, you scholars being what you are.”
“Indeed, I could happily have stayed years longer. I could have stayed a lifetime. Leaving was hard, and not only because of the glories of the mathematics they brought with them. I made many friends there. But, Cambridge is my own university. It’s past time to come home and teach as much as I can of what I’ve learned, having come to understand the great benefits that learning brought to the England of the other history.”
Nathan nodded. “This is what I wanted you to hear. But perhaps we might do Richard the courtesy of letting him clean and reload his pistol while we talk.”
“Of course. If you like, Richard.”
“I thank you. Best to get it done before returning to the road.” He reached down into his traveling bag for his cleaning kit, and unrolled the cloth wrapping. Laying his pistol and the partly fired cylinder on it, he extracted the full cylinder and laid it aside. Jeremiah eyed the well-made parts thoughtfully as they were laid out before him.
Richard was obviously marshaling his words as he removed the copper caps and prepared the cleaning rod to swab the bore. Jeremiah put down his empty glass and watched him expectantly. Suddenly Richard’s right hand trembled slightly, and he nearly dropped the cleaning rod. Then he seemed to recover. Jeremiah wondered-it seemed odd, in someone who had just fought so well. But he hesitated to inquire into personal matters on such short acquaintance. Nathan’s eyes narrowed momentarily; clearly, he’d noticed too. After perhaps half a minute Richard spoke.
“How to put into a few words what I found in Grantville? I went to study the mathematics they brought to our time, and came to understand the roots of their power and wealth. They teach a most learned profession called mechanical engineering, which is essential to understanding and creating their many marvels. It rests on the science they call physics, which is a form of natural philosophy accumulated by centuries of careful experiment. Both rest on mathematics for their expression and system of reasoning. I came to a new understanding. At Cambridge we’re accustomed to study mathematics to shape the mind. They learn it to shape the world.”
“We have many mechanicians who create most artful devices, though.”
“To be sure, but often with great difficulty and many false starts. The difference is in the depth and completeness of understanding. A mechanic may make what has been made before, or by a series of trials work out how to make a new thing. But the mechanical engineer has no need of the many trials, or not nearly as many. He calculates, and reasons out what to build. Think of the difference between a printer and a philosopher. The printer can make great numbers of copies of a book, but the philosopher is needed for the knowledge to go into the book. In like manner, what the engineer designs, the mechanic makes.”
