He chuckled, not sure what to make of her but nervous either way. “I think I’m that one, yeah. Are you Ósk? I’m Erik. I’d love to help out.”
“Expecting pay too, I bet.”
“No, I mean—”
“Fool enough to work for no pay, is it?”
“I don’t—”
She threw a bag at him which Erik caught. It was warm, full of soft loaves of bread. “Work pays two coins. Don’t eat it. If there’s red wood hung outside, they want bread. Knock. That’s it.”
She slammed the door and Erik stood in the street, not entirely sure which way he should walk or what he was supposed to say. He looked around, seeing no red wood on any of the doors around. What he did see were small black hooks to the side of some doors and in the center of others. He went for the side streets, deciding that would be the best place to start and quickly found the first house.
He walked up, standing awkwardly in front of the door for a minute, listening for the sounds of people inside. He heard the creaking of wood and decided he’d be alright. He knocked and immediately heard footsteps coming toward the door. It opened just the slightest, a man peered out, his grey-streaked beard pressing through the crack.
“What? Bread?” He opened the door. “Alright, let’s have it.”
Erik opened the bag and reached into it, pulling out a loaf. The man looked at it and then at Erik.
“You’re new.” He reached into the bag on his own and pulled out a loaf, then pulled the red wood block off the peg beside the door. “Don’t touch the bread.”
The door shut and Erik stood there holding the bread in his hand and feeling like most of an idiot. He told himself there was no way he could know. The man wasn’t even particularly clean looking, really, so it made no sense he’d be upset at someone touching his bread. Erik smelled the bread in his hand, figuring it couldn’t do any harm. He’d had barley bread a few times and it smelled like that. Not something he really enjoyed immensely. He put the loaf back in the bag and moved to the next house with a red block on the peg.
He knocked and an old woman answered in a loose gown that looked like it was for sleeping. He smiled.
“You wanted bread?” He held the sack out, opening it.
“You intend for me to bend over’n reach down into that bag?”
She did, holding her back with her other hand, shaking her head when she’d retrieved her loaf of bread. She didn’t say anything else, only pulled the wooden block and gave Erik a disapproving look.
When the door closed, Erik closed the bag, gripping it tightly in his hands, and stomped around in the dirt outside the old woman’s door. Somehow, he didn’t scream.
The next houses went smoothly enough, with Erik offering to grab it for them if they wanted. They declined and didn’t seem to suggest that he was disgusting or in some way mentally deficient. As he worked his way back toward the square, he began to see white and yellow blocks on the pegs as well. He stopped a man who was walking toward the square.
“Hey, sorry. Are these… do I have to do anything about the white and yellow blocks?”
The man looked down at his hands, seeing the bag. “Bread? No. Those mean they’ll have milk and eggs as well.”
Erik thanked him and the man continued on. The houses were a bit farther apart in this part of town and as he neared the end of one row, he noticed there were no more red blocks. Deciding he was being clever, Erik decided to cut between a pair of houses. He was halfway down the way when the houses came closer together than he’d expected and he had to turn sideways. As he did, he looked behind and saw the silhouette of a head looking at him. He froze, watching it for a minute.
“Hello?”
There was no response and it didn’t move.
“Hey! Why are you staring at me?”
He saw the head look to the side and then back to him, but the sun had become too strong to see any features. Erik started shuffling sideways between the houses as fast as he could, the head still watching him. He started to panic even though he was only a few feet from the back of the houses. He stopped looking behind, worried there might be an accomplice at the other end waiting for him.
“Shit, shit, shit.”
He popped out into the small side street, stumbling and whipping his head back and forth. The street was empty except for a few women talking to each other a few houses down. One turned to look at him but quickly lost interest and returned to her conversation.
It was nearly impossible for Erik to relax as he finished handing out the bread he’d been given but even when he decided to randomly spin around and walk a different direction he didn’t catch anyone following him. There was an amount of whispering, though. It wasn’t the best way to make a decent impression.
He returned to the bread shop, not looking forward to another interaction with Ósk. He could hear arguing through the door before he knocked and Ósk’s annoyed voice came closer. Erik put on his best smile when she opened the door.
“What’s wrong with your face, boy?” She stuck her head out the door and looked up at the sky. “Took you long enough.” She grabbed the bag from him. “I’ll get your coin.” She closed the door for a moment and then came back. He held his hand out and she pressed two coins into it. “There. Deal’s done.”
She started to close the door and, against his better judgment Erik spoke.
“Sorry, wait! Please!”
She
